Appropriating spiritual help for traditional healing : why ancestors are needed

Abstract

This study investigates the use of traditional medicine by traditional healers in a South African context in the fight against Covid-19. Appropriating spiritual help in fighting the symptoms of the virus would be part of the treatment prescribed by traditional healers. This is not an evaluative study to judge whether traditional healing methods are valid or not. This is a descriptive exercise to show how traditional healers appropriate the help of the spiritual realm in the process of healing. Two different worldviews are discussed to indicate under which conditions the help of the spiritual realm is required in the healing process. The discussion of the porous and buffered worldviews provides insight into how people perceive their reality, and the influence of the spiritual realm in it. By describing how healing functions in an African (porous) worldview by adopting help from the spiritual realm, the importance of rituals as mediating actions, are emphasised. A porous worldview is not only found among African communities; several examples illustrate this. The conclusion drawn is that all illnesses and healing systems are culturally influenced, and one cannot be judged as being better or more efficacious than the other.