Healers

1
Healers

• A religious specialist who concentrates on
  healing
• Can refer to either a Priest or a Shaman
• Herbalist
• Specialist in plant-derived cures. May provide
  or prescribe medicines. Intimately familiar with
  uses of local plant life.
• Ex http//video.nationalgeographic.com/video/play
  er/places/regions-places/south-america/paraguay_pa
  raguayshaman.html (Healer/Shaman, Paraguay)
• Ex http//video.nationalgeographic.com/video/play
  er/places/regions-places/africa-southern/zimbabwe-
  healers-pp.html (Traditional Healer in a
  modernizing society, Zimbabwe)
• Ex http//video.nationalgeographic.com/video/pla
  yer/places/regions-places/africa-southern/southafr
  ica_creaturecures.html (South African Shaman)
• Diviner
• A religious specialist who specializes in
  Divination (a series of techniques and activities
  that are used to obtain information about things
  that are not normally knowable.)
• Debre Zeyet villiage in Ethiopia (Healer and
  Diviner) http//video.nationalgeographic.com/vide
  o/player/places/countries-places/ethiopia/ethiopia
  -healingspirit-pp.html
• The future, the present at a distance, revealing
  the identity of supernatural elements in the
  natural world.
• Reading natural phenomena, cards. Entering an
  Altered State of Consciousness and retrieving the
  info there.
• Ex The Tarot, astrology, necromancy

2
Prophets

• Someone who communicates the words and will of
  the gods to his or her community, acting as an
  intermediary between the people and the gods.
• Ex Moses, Mohammad
• Ex Wavoka (Pauite Native American) 1856-1932,
  the Ghost Dance and the Massacre at Wounded Knee
• Ex Handsome Lake (Seneca Tribe)
• Near death experiences and visions with Christian
  overtones. He preached a revitalization of
  traditional seasonal ceremonies, strengthening
  the family and a prohibition against alcohol.
  After his death in 1815, his teachings became the
  foundation of the Longhouse religion.
• Ex Ngundeng Bong (Nuer, Eastern Sudan)
  1830s-1906
• No written records of his life. Instead,
  stories Born when his mother was passed
  menopause after a 12-month pregnancy. Born with
  the power to contact the supernatural. As a
  young man he would often enter Altered States of
  Consciousness through fasting and seizures. He
  was possessed by the god Deng who would make
  prophecies through him. The Nuer believe
  prophets are chosen by a god an are able to
  predict the future, cure the sick and ensure
  fertility.