Talk:Traditional healers of South Africa/Archive 1

Better image to use
this would be a much better image of a xhosa sangoma in authentic dress to use than the current one of the five ladies in singlets http://www.ezakwantu.com/Amagqirha%20-%20Joan%20Broster%2004.jpg 123.200.251.147 (talk) 03:43, 2 November 2010 (UTC)

Great work guys (and girls)!
See http://www.mg.co.za/articlePage.aspx?articleid=256607&area=/insight/insight__national/ - Ta bu shi da yu 03:27, 18 November 2005 (UTC)

Gender
This page is linked as an example of a bi-gendered identity over on Two-Spirit, but doesn't mention anything about gender identity. Does anyone have any further information on this? -- VoluntarySlave 00:52, 4 December 2005 (UTC)

Substantive change without citation
changed "in the Zulu, Swazi, Xhosa, Sotho, Tswana, Venda and Tsonga/Shangaan traditions" to "in the Zulu, Swazi, Xhosa and Ndebele traditions" without explanation or citation. I have no idea what is correct; will someone who knows the topic please sort this out and cite? Thanks. - Jmabel | Talk 02:25, 7 November 2007 (UTC)

Sangoma is a word only used by the Nguni cultures in South Africa. In the Tswana, Sotho, Venda and Tsonga cultures traditional healers are referred to by different names. This article has has not made distinctions between how Sangomas from different cultures practice in different ways. For instance, whilst in trance the Swazi sangomas become posessed by the ancestors while in Xhosa culture the ancestors sit on the shoulders of the Sangoma. There are many other differences of note, but there are not many written sources about Sangoma's available for citation. Sephiroth21 (talk) 08:00, 14 March 2008 (UTC)

I've found some sources and have clarified this in the first paragraph of the article. I've also tried to structure it better, and give it a bit of an overhaul in the comming weeks41.0.59.24 (talk) 20:16, 9 January 2012 (UTC)

Substantial revisions required
I'm pleased that the M&G approved of this article, by and large - but it seems to me (having recently published on the topic, based on research including ethnographic fieldwork) that it needs some considerable reworking. It is a good start, and a commonsense understanding of 'who izangoma are', but it doesn't reflect the diversity of practices gathered under the this title, nor recent academic discourse on the subject, nor, most importantly, the acute legal and political issues facing izangoma and other 'traditional health practitioners' in recent legislation in South Africa and elsewhere.

A revised version of this page would bring it up to date, in terms of the diverse contemporary contexts in which izangoma operate, and recent research, including publications byizangoma themselves, on the subject.

It's very difficult trying to write a single definitive definition/explanation of a term applied to a diverse range of roles and practices, but if there are no objections I'd like to try my hand at such an update. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 86.133.136.146 (talk) 11:23, 25 February 2008 (UTC)

Recent deletions
The edit summary says "Unreliable source. The comments section of an unrelated article, even in on a proper website, is not a reliable academic resource". I disagree. A lecturer at the school of psychology at the University of KwaZulu-Natal, asked for her opinion on this very article, suggested this improvement. How can this possibly be construed as unreliable ? Wizzy&hellip; &#9742; 13:54, 11 October 2009 (UTC)
 * Agree, inappropriate application of a policy. Most of the article is uncited anyway, so having something cited is a vast improvement. Greenman (talk) 15:55, 11 October 2009 (UTC)

Improvements
So, I'm not an expert on the subject, but I think that the Xhosa call their healers igqirha. The two words seems to mean almost the same thing, but I'm not sure. Also, I think Sangoma can be called to the profession by a dream as well as an illness. Can anyone with more knowledge of the Xhosa add some detail to the article? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 68.29.255.66 (talk) 03:11, 15 February 2010 (UTC)


 * igqirha is the Inyanga (the herbalist).


 * regarding dream vs illness...
 * "If you heed the call, you will not need to suffer." —Preceding unsigned comment added by 41.185.167.233 (talk) 23:24, 15 February 2010 (UTC)

sangomas
its a versatile subject that maycome across as very sensitive to others as thery have grown specificaly in backgrouds whereby they are seen as witches...but for some of us it is seen as a way of life transfered from on generation to another through elderly people of whom have lived with it. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 198.54.173.194 (talk) 14:02, 18 July 2011 (UTC)