fabian_lidman
Scholar
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- May 11, 2006
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Just thought i'd share this wonderful news with y'all: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/5134244.stm
Zimbabwe says witchcraft exists
- Thread starter fabian_lidman
- Start date
StewartP
Critical Thinker
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- Feb 5, 2006
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The Zimbabwean Government formally recognised the Zimbabwe National Traditional Healers Association at independance in 1981.
Traditional healers, also known as witchdoctors or "N'angas" in Shona employ a variety of methods ranging from herbal and mineral remedies through to contact with ancestor spirits and control over demons and goblins as well as the casting of curses and protection from, or lifting of curses.
All traditional healers are supposed to be registered with ZINATA and the organisation is commited to protecting the public from fraudulent and fake witchdoctors.
As the country has descended into economic and political chaos the government has boosted the authority of N'angas to suppliment the failing medical system as doctors and nurses emigrate and there is no foreign currency to import medicines. Hospitals suffer from the same power failures as the rest of the cities, and there is no fuel for backup generators. Fridges in the morgues can not run.
Aids is endemic in the country which now has the lowest life span in the world.
Traditional healers, also known as witchdoctors or "N'angas" in Shona employ a variety of methods ranging from herbal and mineral remedies through to contact with ancestor spirits and control over demons and goblins as well as the casting of curses and protection from, or lifting of curses.
All traditional healers are supposed to be registered with ZINATA and the organisation is commited to protecting the public from fraudulent and fake witchdoctors.
As the country has descended into economic and political chaos the government has boosted the authority of N'angas to suppliment the failing medical system as doctors and nurses emigrate and there is no foreign currency to import medicines. Hospitals suffer from the same power failures as the rest of the cities, and there is no fuel for backup generators. Fridges in the morgues can not run.
Aids is endemic in the country which now has the lowest life span in the world.
rikzilla
Ninja wave: Atomic fire-breath ninja
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- 5,009
Meanwhile....
They're still busy hunting down witches and killing them in the CAR.
bloody amazing!
-z
Deetee
Illuminator
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- Jul 8, 2003
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- 3,789
Similar thing happened to me, but the wife was a bit more sceptical when I explained witchcraft was responsible for the lipstick marks on my shirt.
Anti_Hypeman
Graduate Poster
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- Jul 15, 2005
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Witchcraft does exist. It just dont work.
drfrank
Critical Thinker
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- Nov 24, 2005
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The story in that article is an obvious case of alopecia that went away naturally, regardless of how much juju he shoved at it.
Note that he spent seven months visiting traditional healers but the hair grew back `in a few days'. Yeah, after the umpteenth pointless and painful treatment
Witchcraft in South Africa
I come from Limpopo Province in South Africa, where the belief in witchcraft is rife, and where many people, often elderly men and women, have been murdered by community members after being accused of practising witchcraft. But on a lighter note, here is my favourite witchcraft story (which was related to me by a person who did not doubt its truth...): A woman lived in a rural area of Limpopo Province, while her husband worked as a migrant labourer in Johannesburg. For the first few years, he sent money home to his wife and children every month, but then he met another woman in Johannesburg, and started spending all his money on her. His wife, who was now struggling to support the kids, complained about the situation to her mother. Her mother was (of course) a witch, and brewed up a potion, which the two women rubbed on their bodies that night. Immediately, a supernaturally large and fast hyena appeared, and the women climbed onto it's back. In a flash, the hyena transported them all the way to Jo'burg, where they found the philandering husband asleep in bed next to his girlfriend. Next to the bed was his wallet, containing his months' salary, and his wife carefully removed the money, got back onto the hyena, and - whoosh! - zooted back to Limpopo. When the husband awoke the next morning, he found his money gone, and his girlfriend promptly left him for another man who could take her shopping. The husband, sad and broke, decided to return home to visit his family in Limpopo. There he found the children well fed and wearing new clothes, while his wife was hanging up some pretty new curtains...
And the moral of the story is: who needs the Maintenance Courts, when you can get yourself a dead-beat-dad-busting hyena!
I come from Limpopo Province in South Africa, where the belief in witchcraft is rife, and where many people, often elderly men and women, have been murdered by community members after being accused of practising witchcraft. But on a lighter note, here is my favourite witchcraft story (which was related to me by a person who did not doubt its truth...): A woman lived in a rural area of Limpopo Province, while her husband worked as a migrant labourer in Johannesburg. For the first few years, he sent money home to his wife and children every month, but then he met another woman in Johannesburg, and started spending all his money on her. His wife, who was now struggling to support the kids, complained about the situation to her mother. Her mother was (of course) a witch, and brewed up a potion, which the two women rubbed on their bodies that night. Immediately, a supernaturally large and fast hyena appeared, and the women climbed onto it's back. In a flash, the hyena transported them all the way to Jo'burg, where they found the philandering husband asleep in bed next to his girlfriend. Next to the bed was his wallet, containing his months' salary, and his wife carefully removed the money, got back onto the hyena, and - whoosh! - zooted back to Limpopo. When the husband awoke the next morning, he found his money gone, and his girlfriend promptly left him for another man who could take her shopping. The husband, sad and broke, decided to return home to visit his family in Limpopo. There he found the children well fed and wearing new clothes, while his wife was hanging up some pretty new curtains...
And the moral of the story is: who needs the Maintenance Courts, when you can get yourself a dead-beat-dad-busting hyena!
Supernatural hyenas cont.
Also, with hyena transport being so fast, convenient and free (as long as your mother is a witch, but hey, whose isn't), why would anyone still risk their lives travelling between Limpopo and Jo'burg in all those battered, unroadworthy mini-bus taxis I saw on the highway last weekend....?
Also, with hyena transport being so fast, convenient and free (as long as your mother is a witch, but hey, whose isn't), why would anyone still risk their lives travelling between Limpopo and Jo'burg in all those battered, unroadworthy mini-bus taxis I saw on the highway last weekend....?
Beady
Philosopher
No, it works. Under the right conditions and with a sufficiently faithful patient.