What is an inyanga?

Inyangas are healers that make medicines from herbs, roots and bark. Ground up rocks, animal horns and bones can also be used in the making of their medicine. After a patient has been diagnosed by an inyanga they then go into bush to find the specific plants necessary for healing.

What is the main difference between a sangoma and an inyanga?

Although sangoma is a Zulu term that is colloquially used to commonly describe all types of Southern African traditional healers, there are differences between practices: an inyanga is concerned mainly with medicines made from plants and animals, while a sangoma relies primarily on divination for healing purposes and …

How do you become a sangoma?

An individual who is called to be a sangoma must be called by spirit. The calling, ukutwasa, denotes an ancestral and cultural responsibility and is initiated usually by an illness, which is accompanied by strange dreams and visions.

What is a sangoma in South Africa?

Sangomas or inyangas are shamans, healers, priests, and prophets that have been the backbone of Bantu communities, especially in the rural areas of Southern Africa for eons.

What are the signs of Ukuthwasa?

The symptoms manifest themselves in different ways, such as anxiety, fear, mental confusion, auditory and visual hallucinations, delusions, mood swings, social isolation etc. Buhrmann (1986) describes the symptoms as restlessness, violence, abuse and aggression.

Why do sangomas wear beads?

Many sangomas/n’angas or traditional healers wear distinctive amulets and beadwork which aid in identifying them and their work, or for help during their work. They originate beadwork for anyone who feels that they need support in particular spiritual issues or areas of their life.

How long does it take to Ukuthwasa?

Depending on some cultures and how the ancestors want it to be done, this process normally takes between five and nine months and sometimes even longer. In spite of all the sacrifices and the money she has to spend, Nomathongo is ready to accept her calling.

What is Ukuthwasa English?

According to traditional South Africans, ukuthwasa is a term meaning “to come out” or to “be reborn” (Booi, 2004; Bührmann, 1982), and is the calling to become a traditional healer (Wreford, 2008). The calling emanates from the deceased ancestors, typically in the form of a dream or a vision (Laher, 2014).

How do you know if you have a calling from ancestors?

And for some, ancestors speak to them until it is like they are mentally disturbed. And some cannot find a job or cannot have children. The physical symptoms most commonly related to the calling, are: (severe) headache, stomachache, burning feet, back pain, loss of appetite, fatigue, palpitations and fainting.

How can I connect with my ancestors?

In addition to prayer, calling in your ancestors in meditation is likely the easiest and fastest way to feel their presence. Take time to sit in meditation for 10-30 minutes and specifically call in whichever ancestor by name you feel most connected to and ask them to talk to you!