The question asked whether we believe herbalism and traditional healing is part of African religion. I also talk about some examples, such as Anthony's little scars...

Traditional healing in today’s world

Like most everyone, I agree that traditional African herbalism has a religious context; however, the definition of religion is not exactly what we in the western world think. Jackline’s account was very telling: that ‘religion permeates every aspect of human existence.’ When people live every minute of their lives within a supernatural or spiritual framework, it goes beyond a typical, organized religion and becomes part of their very perception of the world.

If you asked an African today whether visiting their herbalists would be a religious experience, they would emphatically answer no. Yet Jackline’s perception of the ‘mganga’ she visited in Kenya was very different. An mganga is also known as mganga wa kienyeji – local doctor, traditional healer, indigenous herbalist – or as mganga wa jadi, which, interestingly, means ancestral healing. A Kenyan today, though they wouldn’t admit it, may put a bit higher faith in the mganga, yet a western-style hospital is usually the first choice (if available to them - i.e. in the city). If the regular doctors don’t work, a visit to the mganga is definitely next. Tribe doesn’t usually have anything to do with it – for instance, a Meru friend of mine recently went to a Maasai traditional healer (who also happens to be a trained doctor of veterinary medicine!). As well, a lot of people have scars and cuts on their midsection – beyond herbalism is ritual healing, which often involves cutting the skin in definite patterns to then insert remedies. In my husband’s case (a Luhya), he has 3 tiny lines cut into each side of his chest, in which herbs were stuffed once when he was ill. A Turkana friend of mine has thousands of cuts all over his chest and abdomen, presumably for the same reasons.

I’m not sure whether these practices fall under mganga or the more sinister mchawi – this is the Swahili name of the wizard, witch, or shaman. These are the witch doctors referred to by the Europeans. They are still doing business – there’s at least one in every town or section of the city – but visiting one involves more of a superstitious reason for illness. If all other sources of healing have failed, a person may suspect someone has cursed them, so they go to the mchawi to discover who, why, and how they can counteract it.

In today’s context, most Kenyans are very embarrassed to admit their experiences with traditional healing (and would never admit visiting an mchawi). Since the Europeans drilled the concept of ‘witch doctor’ into their heads for every type of traditional healing, combined with the almost complete spread of Christianity, the society is at odds with their indigenous remedies. However, since herbal remedies are becoming more and more popular in Western medicine, and since so many potent pharmaceuticals are made from plants and herbs, traditional healing is now resurging. Many schools are now offering natural medicine courses, and even the mess hall in the UN base camp for southern Sudan serves neem tree broth once a week as a preventative!

 

Copyright Johanna Voerman Khisa, 2002-03. Reprinting or reposting without permission is prohibited.