Cape Town and the Izangoma
Perhaps the most incredible places on the African continent is Cape Town. This beautiful city may be the core of any trip to Africa. If you've come to Cape Town for business or for pleasure, you can find a great deal to do and to see; this is a city that has an abundance of history, of natural resources, and a truth depth of human cultures. The very cosmopolitan nature of the city is suggested in the number of languages spoken here: from English to Afrikaans, to Dutch and French, and any number of native African varieties.
The healing arts, too, are steeped in traditional African roots, and you'll find in this city intriguing stories of the iZangoma and their practices. The IZangoma (the plural of Sangoma) is a word meant to describe the traditional doctors of the area, consisting of about 200,000 people. These doctors practice alongside the doctors of western medicine; occasionally, they even work together; most often, though, they are worlds apart. Western doctors tend to mistrust traditional African medicine, largely due to its history and reliance on nature; conversely, the iZangoma often don't trust the doctors from the West because they treat the illness and not the entire patient.
Western doctors usually attend medical school to acquire their titles; however, to be a Sangoma, most likely the individual was born into the tradition, with a line of ancestors who bore this title. The iZangoma, then, grow up in these traditions and are taught basic information about plants as well as the spirit world. In order to heal their patients, the Sangoma works alongside the spirits of ancestors as well as the spirits of nature, obtaining advice from them for cures and what method might best be used to cure.
Sometimes, these African doctors employ trances and even possession, all based on the type of spirit they contact, as well as that spirit's temper. Very clearly, to western eyes, if your doctor began consulting ancestor spirits for help to cure a patient, you might quickly begin looking for another doctor. However, in Africa, the iZangoma still bear a great deal of trust with the patients who see them. Not everyone in Africa, though, still follows these traditions. While most people are aware of the iZangoma, not everyone respects what they claim they can do.
In some cases, though, the Western world of medicine and the traditional African world of the iZangoma come together. Recently, for example, Western doctors have asked for the help of iZangoma, in order to help their patients become better aware of HIV/AIDS, hoping that the traditional doctors will take this information to their patients.
The healing arts, too, are steeped in traditional African roots, and you'll find in this city intriguing stories of the iZangoma and their practices. The IZangoma (the plural of Sangoma) is a word meant to describe the traditional doctors of the area, consisting of about 200,000 people. These doctors practice alongside the doctors of western medicine; occasionally, they even work together; most often, though, they are worlds apart. Western doctors tend to mistrust traditional African medicine, largely due to its history and reliance on nature; conversely, the iZangoma often don't trust the doctors from the West because they treat the illness and not the entire patient.
Western doctors usually attend medical school to acquire their titles; however, to be a Sangoma, most likely the individual was born into the tradition, with a line of ancestors who bore this title. The iZangoma, then, grow up in these traditions and are taught basic information about plants as well as the spirit world. In order to heal their patients, the Sangoma works alongside the spirits of ancestors as well as the spirits of nature, obtaining advice from them for cures and what method might best be used to cure.
Sometimes, these African doctors employ trances and even possession, all based on the type of spirit they contact, as well as that spirit's temper. Very clearly, to western eyes, if your doctor began consulting ancestor spirits for help to cure a patient, you might quickly begin looking for another doctor. However, in Africa, the iZangoma still bear a great deal of trust with the patients who see them. Not everyone in Africa, though, still follows these traditions. While most people are aware of the iZangoma, not everyone respects what they claim they can do.
In some cases, though, the Western world of medicine and the traditional African world of the iZangoma come together. Recently, for example, Western doctors have asked for the help of iZangoma, in order to help their patients become better aware of HIV/AIDS, hoping that the traditional doctors will take this information to their patients.
