Encounters with forces of pepo; Shamanism and healing in East-Africa

Jessica Erdtsieck
University of Amsterdam

About the author.
Jessica Erdtsieck is a student of anthropology at the University of Amsterdam and is now in the final stage of writing a PhD thesis that mainly concerns a comparative study of reputed pepo healers in Southwest Tanzania. In her thesis she directs specific attention to accounts and experiences with spirits of two female healers and their clientele. In doing so, she questions what types of spirit forces healers use and how these affect their lives and their practice. This is placed against various personal, geographical, historical and cultural dynamics. The findings serve as a frame of reference for a broader discussion of inland and coastal healing practices in Tanzania to which recommendations will be added for further research and policy implementation.

Abstract.
Intermediaries between spirits and men are central in African religious life. They do not block the way between man and God, but rather they form bridges. Certain intermediaries can be seen as the African equivalent of shamans. Our contemporary understanding of the shaman owes much to the influential work of Claude Lévi-Strauss (1963) who pointed out that the shaman provides a sick member of his society with a language by means of which unexpressed and otherwise inexpressible psychic states can be immediately expressed. In African society the language of sick people is imbedded in spirit illness and spirit manifestation. Certain spirit healing interventions enable patients not only to improve their individual well being but also spur visionary sights or a vocation to heal. To demonstrate how this takes place, I present this article with special reference to a female healer from Mbeya Region, Tanzania, called Nambela. For this study I used a grounded theory approach and qualitative research methods, like narratives, in-depth interviews, action participation and audio-visual recordings.

TANZANET Journal - Vol. 1 No. 2