Dime (1995:30–31) argues that the diagnosis of diseases in an African traditional healing system is a twofold event.
Firstly, the organic or physical cause of the sickness has to be established by careful examination and questioning by the medicine man. Secondly, this is complementary to a divination of the spiritual or mystical cause for the illness.
The following are some of the methodologies many traditional healers in Ghana have been using.
Consulting the spirit world (divination): They consult the ‘spirit world’ to identify the cause of the disease or to discover whether there was a violation of an established order from the side of the sick person. This is established through the use of cowry shells, throwing of bones on strips of leather or flat pieces of wood.
The divining bones are not strictly all bones but comprise shells, money, seeds, dice, domino-like objects or even dominos themselves, and other objects that have been appointed by the sangoma and the spirit to represent certain polarities.
Animal bones from lions, hyenas, ant-eaters, baboons, crocodiles, wild pigs, goats, antelopes and others form the large majority of the objects.
There are bones for all psycho-socio-spiritual polarities. The bones represent all of the forces that affect any human being anywhere, whatever their culture (Cumes 2014).
In some African cultures, it is performed using sacred divination plates made of wood or performed on the ground, within a circle (Lindsay 2005:214–215; Thorpe 1993:60), or the use of divination pots and slaughtering of animals (Sarpong 2002:103). Croucamp (2013) argues:
Divination is a technology that is used to deliberately initiate a process of accessing and collecting information, through the use of randomly arranged symbols and then, using the brain's capacity for analogical thinking, making associations that are ordinarily inaccessible. It is therefore a transpersonal field of information to gain healing knowledge. (p. 4)
It is also viewed as a way to access information that is normally beyond the reach of the rational mind. Diviners base their knowledge on communication with the spiritual forces, such as the ancestors, spirits and deities (Olupona 2004:103–104).
In view of this understanding, divination is, therefore, an integral part of an African traditional way of diagnosing diseases. Because of the revealing powers of divination, it is usually the first step in African traditional treatment and medicine (Omonzejele 2008:122).
Interviews and medical reports: Some of the traditional healers in Kumasi, Ghana, confirmed that they do sometimes interview their patients in order to find out the history behind the sickness, where they have been for treatment, and how long the person has been in that situation.
This approach informs them on how to handle the matter at hand. If the client is unable to speak, other family members speak on behalf of the sick person.
Furthermore, some clients and practitioners of African tradition health care in Kumasi reported that some traditional healers do consider medical reports. Sometimes, after the healing process, they also advise their clients or patients to go for medical diagnoses to confirm that they are healed.
These medical reports sometimes serve as a form of pride for the traditional healers and are a way of assuring other clients of their ability and credibility.
Traditional Healer http://www.traditional-healer.net
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Voodoo healer http://www.traditional-healer.net/voodoo-healer-spells.html
Money spells http://www.traditional-healer.net/money-spells.html
Fertility spells http://www.traditional-healer.net/fertility-spells.html
Magic rings http://www.traditional-healer.net/magic-rings.html
Ancestral spirits http://www.traditional-healer.net/ancestral-spirits.html
White Sangomas http://www.traditional-healer.net/white-sangomas.html
Spiritual healer http://www.traditional-healer.net
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