What is a sangoma

Sangoma is a Zulu term that is colloquially used to commonly describe all types of Southern
African traditional healers, there are differences between practices: an inyanga is concerned mainly
with medicines made from plants and animals, while a sangoma relies primarily on divination for
healing purposes and might also be considered a type of fortune teller.

In modern times, colonialism, urbanisation, apartheid and cross-cultural mixing have blurred the distinction between the two and traditional healers tend to practice both arts.

Traditional healers can alternate between these roles by diagnosing common illnesses, selling and
dispensing remedies for medical complaints, and divining cause and providing solutions to spiritually
or socially centred complaints.

Each culture has their own terminology for their traditional healers. Xhosa traditional healers are
known as ixwele (herbalists) or amagqirha (diviners).

Ngaka and selaoli are the terms in Northern Sotho and Southern Sotho respectively, while among the Venda and Tsonga people they are called mungome. The Tsonga people also refer to their healers as n'anga.

A sangoma is a practitioner of ngoma, a philosophy based on a belief in ancestral spirits (Zulu:
amadlozi) and the practice of traditional African medicine.

Sangoma perform a holistic and symbolic form of healing by drawing on the embedded beliefs of the Nguni culture who believe that ancestors in the afterlife guide and protect the living.

 Sangomas are called to heal, and through them it is believed that ancestors from the spirit world can give instruction and advice to heal illness, social disharmony and spiritual difficulties. Traditional healers work in a sacred healing hut or ndumba, where they believe their ancestors reside.

Sangomas believe they are able to access advice and guidance from the ancestors for their patients
through possession by an ancestor, or channelling, throwing bones, or by interpreting dreams.

In possession states, the sangoma works themselves into a trance through drumming, dancing and
chanting, and allows their ego to step aside for an ancestor to take possession of his or her body and
communicate directly with the patient, providing specific information about the problems of the
patient.

It can be dramatic, with the sangoma speaking in tongues, or foreign languages according to
the specific ancestor, or dancing fervently beyond their stated ability.

Ancestral spirits can be the personal ancestors of the sangoma or the patient or they might be general
ancestors associated with the geographic area or the community.

It is believed that the spirits have the power to intervene in people's lives who work to connect the sangoma to the spirits that are acting in a manner to cause affliction. For example, a crab could be invoked as a mediator between the human world and the world of spirits because of its ability to move between the world of the land and the sea.

Helping and harming spirits are believed to use the human body as a battle ground for their
own conflicts. By using ngoma, the sangoma can create harmony between the spirits which results in
the alleviation of the patient's suffering.

The sangoma may burn incense (like Imphepho) or sacrifice animals to please the ancestral
spirits. Snuff is also used to communicate with the ancestors through prayer.

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