CHARACTERISTICS OF A MEDICINE MAN IN TRADITIONAL AFRICAN RELIGION.
Source: www.intechopen.com
- These class of people are highly respected because of their unique role between the community and the ancestral spirit.
They are also public servants who help to combat witches.
They use the same power as witches.
A medicine man can also be called: a diviner, a rain maker or even a priest.
A MEDIUM:
They are devotees and they are possessed by a spirit of god or an ancestor.
Most of them are women, sometimes they attach themselves to a diviner or a shaman- where people will consult them to ask them about things in the spirit world.
They use familiar spirit. The mediums under go training for them to work effectively. One of their training center is in Benin republic called cult house or “convent”.
THINGS THEY DO THE FOLLOWING:
Beating of drums and dancing around will make them fail into trance and began to prophecy from what they see in the spirit world.
A medium intermediates with the death people.
This medium claims to be able to receive messages from the spirit of the death. She acts as a go between (middle man) especially in spiritualism. 1 Samuel 28.
The spirit believed to possess the medium may vary.
Mediums may impersonate the type of god they represent, strutting like a worrior; wadding like a pregnant woman, or backing like a dog.
- The mediums dress up to fit the part and have their special regalia (garment) with bracelets and other ornaments which are put on when the beating of drums induced the ecstatic state.
- The spirit is not living permanently with the medium, but only comes occasionally when the drums are beating.
- As she dances round and round as the drums are beating the spirit will then comes in and she began to prophecies.
A DIVINER:
A diviner or soothsayer is a specialist who seeks to diagnose diseases or discover solution to problems by means of inspiration or manipulation of object through various techniques.
A diviner works closely with medicine man and may be medicine man themselves.
THEY USE VARIOUS EQUIPMENT TO DIVINE SUCH AS:
Divining stones.
Numbers.
Water.
Reading the palms.
Throwing dice, seeds, nut, etc.
A diviner may also serve as a medium to gain help from the ancestral spirit.
NOTE: When the diviner and the mediums are different persons, the diviner is often a male and a medium a female.
Source: cdn.britannica.com
THE RAIN MAKERS:
They are great friends of society. In some society in Africa the office of the rain maker is hereditary.
The son or daughter of the rain maker takes up the profession after the death of their father, and the father will start to train them at the early age.
There position is often highly respected and may combine it with other forms of leaderships; such as, being rulers or priests at the same time.
A part from hereditary, a person may be called to do it through dreams, messages from the spirits, or a natural interest in the work in this case training is involved.
PRIESTS:
Priest especially in west Africa serve at the shrines of various divinities or gods.
In East Africa the priest often regarded as specialist medicine man.
These priests were often called to their vocation and were always trained, how to offer prayers, libations and ritual sacrifices by their tutors or masters.
After being called by their ancestors spirit or inherited their vocation from some one else, they must observe various taboos such as:
a. Abstaining from certain foods the gods considered unholy.
b. Fixing with people any how.
c. Some of these priests use special cup and plates when they come for occasion.
d. There are time they will not sleep with women.
Having sex with other people’s wives are forbidden, also with some priests, while others indulge in immorality.
These priest are called shaman, they are not only offering sacrifice, but often serve as a medium.
Priests are often recognizable by their dresses, white is a favorable color and in sacred. Some priests have their bodies smeared with lines in white or red chalk.
Their hair is shaved in various pattern. They may wear symbolic ornament or a great variety of charms or amulet.
MYSTICAL POWER:
Africa is not the only place where mystical power is practiced. Many people today are depending on the mystical power throughout the world.
“ABRACADABA” This is the first magical word coined by Quietus Serums.
SAMMONICUS: The Magicians are using this word to invoke spirits for the supply of powers.
The magicians are known as cunning folks, but not cunning as it is used today to mean deception, but that they extraordinary knowledge from the spirit world and they are consulted frequently for help.
Contiguous magic is very prevalent throughout the world today. Divination means sooth saying or fortune teller and people who are practicing it are called diviners.
Many ways diviners use in telling peoples future are.
Divination by examining dead animals and it was just used among the Babylon man around 200, B.C. and is on today every where.
Divination by examining living animals and is call augury.
By examining the stars by the astrologist.
Divination be mechanical means, this people read people’s palm (hand) also use dies or beads like the fortune tellers.
Divination by possession, it is rampant in white garment, spiritist churches today.
Divination through dreams and vision, the first person to practice it was Jeanne Dixion. Witchcraft also are practice in other parts of the world.
Witchcraft become popular during the dark age, about A.D.400-1200.
They carry out their obnoxious activities by night.
They use animals that are familiar, like birds, insects etc. The most common animal familiars used both in developed world is black cat. They kills children, before they do that they impose some charms that can cause the parents to sleep and then they come and kill the child.
A diviner may not necessarily be a magician, but a magician can be a diviner.
Leviticus 19:31 (NIV)
"Do not turn to mediums or seek out spiritualists, for you will be defiled by them. I am the LORD your God.