HOW TO BE A SANGOMA (South African Witch Doctor/Healer) By Minnie Mgwaza
Different people have different beliefs, and as always are based on what they were taught by their parents and by the community that they were brought up in.
Minnie Mgwaza is 23 and studying to be a Teacher in Durban, South Africa. I asked her about Sangomas one day, and the following morning she brought me the following article. It is reproduced below as it was written.
Before you become a Sangoma there are some symptoms that occur, like getting sick in different ways. You may suffer for some years and sometimes it is not easy to see what it is all about. For example if a black person is going to be a Sangoma you can see that they are losing weight, not wanting to talk to other people and can become hysterical.
All this makes it easy for other people to see their problem, and they are then taken to a Sangoma who has a remedy for their sickness. They will stay there for a long time, maybe a year or so, getting some cure and being taught how to use Muti (Traditional Medicines). If you are going to heal other people it is like training.
They can’t even go home before the Sangoma decides, and even so bringing someone home costs a lot of money. The payment to the Sangoma is a Cow, 2 Goats and many other things. When they come home they can heal people on their own.
The Goat is also important to us, because if there is a newborn baby at home, it is our culture that we must slaughter a goat and put a piece of the skin on her wrist. If you are not doing that, there will be a time when your baby starts getting weak and sick, and slaughtering the goat will make them feel stronger and better again.
Chicken – For our ancestors it has not been accepted for healing a person with a chicken, but it is nowadays. It is accepted as the right thing.
Let’s say that you are getting sick, and you know that you will get better if you find out that you need to slaughter a cow or goat to get better.
The problem will sometimes be money. So you must ask your ancestors for forgiveness, and say that you are willing to do this but cannot afford to, but you can afford to slaughter a chicken. There is no doubt that you will get better soon.
If you have broken something, there is no need to go to the hospital. A Sangoma can mix some Muti with soup made from boiled chicken, and after 3 months you will be able to walk again, and the bones will be joined properly.
You must remember that people have the same amount of faith in their beliefs as you do in yours, and the only way to change it is to experiencing otherwise….. Geoff.
