Traditional healers of Southern Africa are practitioners of traditional African medicine in Southern Africa. They fulfil different social and political roles in the community like divination, healing
Five sangomas in KwaZulu-Natal
Sangomas greeting each other
Sangoma performing a divination by reading bones after they are thrown
Preparing and drying out freshly picked muthi
Ukuthwasa
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Ukuthwasa is a Southern African culture-bound syndrome associated with the calling and the initiation process to become a sangoma, a type of traditional healer. In the cultural context of traditional
Traditional healers of Southern Africa
…relies primarily on divination for healing purposes and might also be considered a type of fortune teller. A trainee sangoma (or ithwasane) starts their ukuthwasa or ubungoma (in Xhosa) journey which is associated with the "calling" to become a sangoma, though this event also involves those with schizophrenia. A…
iThwasa after drinking the blood of a goat at a sangoma initiation (Ukuthwasa) ceremony
An initiate (ithwasa) being led towards the goat that will be sacrificed at her initiation into becoming a sangoma
Tsonga traditional healers celebrate at initiation dedicated to the Ndau spirit