Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
the Diviner or Fortune-teller
Diviners and fortune-tellers are seers and priests, usually consulted for diagnosis of not only
what is wrong with the patient but also why the patient was singled out from the population to be
afflicted. They are usually responsible for and prescribe all the rituals associated with the commu-
nity's religious worship and are respected for their powers of extrasensory perception. They are not
witch doctors. The “Ifa” system of Yorubaland is an example of a highly organized system of divi-
nation, religiously connected with Orunmila, the divinity of divination. Fon and Ashanti systems in
Ghana and the “Afa” systems of the Igbos (Nigeria) are also organizations of mediums and seers;
they exist as close professional bodies, observing strict codes.
The instruments used during divination vary according to the community. Some fortune-tellers
use magic stones that they cast against the ground; from the sounds emerging, they understand
how they should act in the various circumstances on which they are consulted.
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They understand
the language of the sound through occult powers that were conferred on them by their teacher, by
means of a sort of vaccination performed with secret ointments, applied to cuts on their arms and
foreheads. The stone is usually cast on the ground with the right hand, and the hand of the operator
will begin to tremble at the beginning of the session. It has been claimed, in some instances, that the
stone reacts to questions not by sounds but by remaining tenaciously stuck to the ground, resisting
the fortune-teller's efforts to pick it up if the answer is negative, or by not opposing resistance of any
kind and even “jumping up” if the answer is positive.
Some seers claim to be able to discern the unknown by interpreting the ripples in a glass of
water, while others depend on the throwing of cowries, para-rubber seeds, and even coins for guid-
ance. The use of divining rods and sticks is also common. Consultations are usually made “when
there is no sun,” either very early in the morning or late in the evening. The fee is usually very small.
Most diviners also employ their skills to find lost objects or farm stock, to discover thieves, and
sometimes to determine ownership of disputed ancestral lands.
the herbalist
The herbalist or herborist cures mainly with plants, which he gathers fresh. When such required
herbs are seasonal plants, they are collected at the appropriate times of the year and preserved in
the doctor's goatskin bag. Herbalists devote much time and personal attention to the patient, thus
enabling the herbalists to penetrate deeply into the physiological and psychological state of the
patient and the nature of his or her particular illness. After careful diagnosis, but without expressing
any opinion regarding the origin of the illness, the herbalist prescribes a regimen of drugs. It is the
seer, not the herbalist, who discerns the origin of the illness. The herbalist can consult an oracle at
any time during the treatment to ascertain his ability to cure the sickness—nothing is ascribed to
chance. Sometimes, however, the medicine man serves as both herbalist and diviner. In some parts
of Africa, if a treatment fails even after proper diagnosis, it is believed that an enemy is counteract-
ing the treatment with a stronger “medicine.”
The herbalist is like the general physician in Western medicine. He is expected to be knowl-
edgeable in all aspects of healing, although he uses herbs for treatment. He knows the functions of
various organs of the body and usually determines the nature of the patient's illness.
Enormous variation exists in the use of these plants among different tribes and even among
herbalists in the same locality. The bark and the roots are the most common plant parts employed;
occasionally, leaves, flowers, and fruits are used in the preparation of remedies. In East Africa, drug
plants are generally referred to as
dawa ya miti
, Swahili for “medicine of the trees,” or colloquially
as
miti shamba
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to denote the most traditional remedies.
The preparation of the plant drugs is dictated by the nature of the illness and the plant part used.
The plant could be pounded or simply pressed (if soft) and the juice applied directly on the affected
