Africa
African Ritual Specialists
sangoma / isangoma · n/om-kxaosi (Ju/'hoansi) · babalawo · bokono
Southern, West, East and Central African societies
EthnographyComparative
African traditions are frequently mislabelled as shamanism. Divination systems, ancestral mediumship, herbal medicine and healing-dance traditions each have their own structure, training and vocabulary.
Ritual specialists
- Diviners trained in formal corpora such as Ifá
- Ancestral mediums called through affliction and initiated in lineage houses
- Healing-dance practitioners among Ju/'hoansi and neighbours
Cosmology
- Ancestral presence in daily life
- Witchcraft and misfortune as social diagnostics
Ritual practice
- Divination consultation
- Night healing dance
- Herbal and offering therapy
History and pressure
- Colonial witchcraft-suppression laws
- Mission opposition and later reappraisal
- Modern professionalisation and statutory recognition in some states
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