A while ago we published the article "A Young Circumcision Surgeon's Quest To Preserve Tradition" by Siyanda Nkonyeni and with today's post we are following up on the great interest this topic has created amongst our readers, South African and foreign alike.
The historical images shown today on our site are all property (we do not claim any rights to them, they are shown here for the sake of sharing them with our readers) and are exhibited at the Amathole Museum in King Williams Town in the Eastern Cape.
We also encourage our South African readers to make use of the cultural and historical sites we have in South Africa. Museums have to be visited to keep them growing and glowing. Our interest in the past of our country is the encouragement, that institutions like museums and galleries need to continue doing their work in a passionate and dedicated manner.
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| Historical Picture of A Mfengu Diviner (Amagqirha ), Grahamstown 1982 - The Amathole Museum in King Williams Town |
Amagqirha have been labelled as witchdoctors, diviners, traditional doctors, Sangoma and Ngaka, but in
the Eastern Cape of South Africa they are known as the Amagqirha.
They are the
custodians of customs that survived through the centuries and remain the
foundation of tribal life.
In Southern Africa there are two main types of traditional
practitioners.The first group are the herbalists - in the Xhosa language their name is amaxhwele and in the Zulu language izinyanga.
The diviners belong to the second group, called in Xhosa amagqirha and in Zulu izangoma.
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| Explanation of the role a diviner - Amathole Museum in King Wiliiams Town |
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| A Diviner In His Consulting Room at Grahamstown 1982 - Amathole Museum King Williams Town |
It is the diviner's work to discover the hidden causes behind misfortune
and prescribe appropriate action. This action occurs usually in the form of
divination or healing, using
plant remedies, which could be practised without a knowledge of
divination since all diviners are also healers at the same time, and have an extensive
knowledge of medicines.
ASC (altered states of
consciousness) are an important feature in the initiation and training
of diviners in South Africa, as well as in their divination practices.
As elsewhere around the world diviners make use of trance/ ASC to
connect with what are believed to be spiritual powers or higher human
awareness.
In Southern Africa dance, song and psychoactive plants are
all inducers of visionary phenomena.
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| The Diviner's Consulting Room - Amathole Museum King Williams Town |
Through the use of these inducers, the diviner is able to connect with
the ancestral "spirits" which is crucial in diagnosing the problem the patient has.
Powerful healers are
said to be able to see the illness in the body of the patient which is
reminiscent of similar abilities employed by shamans around the world.
The Southern African diviner is
characterised by his/her ability to communicate with and learn from the
ancestor spirits (Amadlozi).
Diviners are most commonly not possessed by
their spirits but communicate with them or use a
medium by which their guidance is interpreted.
The
healers mostly use the bones and dreams to
communicate with their ancestors. Their spirits may also communicate
information to them through thoughts. The ancestors always close.
It appears
that the ancestral spirits, who are said to be responsible for the
initiation illness, and for sending visions and giving information to
the healer, are an intangible force or power that the healer is
connected to..
THE CALLING
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| Amathole Museum in King Williams Town About How A Person Is Called By The Ancestors To Become An Amagqirha |
Diviners are
specifically called to their profession by their ancestors through the
sending of a illness syndrome, referred to as thwasa or intwaso. This term is derived from the verb ukuthwasa which refers to
the process of gradually becoming or emerging as a diviner.
The person does not to choose to be a diviner but is chosen by
the ancestors.
The intwaso condition is characterized
by the initiate suffering from various illnesses, dreams,
visions and mental disturbances such as madness and anxiety sent by the ancestors.
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| A Diviner In the Ciskei Circa 1984 |
To become a diviner the initiate has to be first cured of
the illness (intwaso) through a series of rituals, which include the use
of special plant based medicines of the home and
training in techniques of divination and curing.
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| Medicine Bag Of A Diviner |
This novice or candidate diviner (umkwetha) becomes now the apprentice of a experienced practising healer who teaches him/her the ways of
traditional healing.
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| Diviner Pondoland Circa 1930's - Amathole Museum in King Williams Town |
The Amagqirha are an integral, deeply embedded and important part of the South African Society. They can be seen in the big cities, rural areas as well as in townships, like Mdantsane. Divination and Healing through traditional herbal remedies exists side by side with modern western medicine. Moreoften the two complement each other.
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| Historical Image of A Diviner - Amathole Museum Kind Williams Town |
Often patients who undergo a classical on western medicine based treatment consult an Amagqirha as well.
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| Zulu Diviners |
With Western medicine not having all the answers the West has become more and more interested in traditional healing techniques like the ones practized in Africa for centuries.
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| Divinatory Charges, Grahamstown in 1982 |
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| Rain Maker Kei Road circa 1940's - Amathole Museum inKing Williams Town |
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| A Display Of A Proprietary Medicines From A Trading Store circa 1940's at Ngqutu Transkei |
where can i get a hold of a competent igqirha?
ReplyDeleteI have dreams like wearing beads of different colours nd also rain appears nd meeting amagqirha amaninzi
ReplyDelete