Inyanga

Inyanga is also the former name of the Zimbabwean city of Nyanga.

Inyanga (plural: izinyanga) is a traditional Zulu herbalist, or medicine man or woman. The Zulu word inyanga (lit. meaning "man of the moon") is related to the Central African nganga, meaning a priest and medicine man.

System of healing

Traditional African medicine systems generally are founded on the premise that illness and disease, both medical and psychiatric, does not arise from chance occurrences, but through spiritual or social imbalances. It is the work of the healer or medicine person to diagnose and treat these imbalances, often with naturopathic, folkloric, or folk magical remedies.

The spiritually curative medicines prescribed by an inyanga are called muti. They may be employed in healing either the body or spiritual conditions, as warranted in the opinion of the inyanga. Muti is a term derived from a Zulu word for "tree," and African Traditional medicine makes extensive use of botanical products, but the medicine prescribed by an inyanga may also include other formulations, such as those which are zoological or mineral in composition. In South African English and Afrikaans the word muti is sometimes used as a slang term for medicine in general.

The knowledge of the inyanga, including how to collect, compound, and utilize muti, is typically passed through the generations, most often from parent to child.

In modern South African society the status of these medicine men and women has made the transition from rural to urban life, with an accompanying increase in commerce. Most izinyanga in urban areas have shops with consulting rooms where they sell their naturaopathic medicines.

Comparison with Sangoma

Although the word sangoma is generally used in South African English to mean all types of traditional Southern African healers and diviners, and is sometimes applied to inyangas, the two are in fact different: An inyanga is concerned with medicines made from plants and animals, while a sangoma relies primarily on divination for healing purposes and might also be considered a type of fortune teller.

Because sangoma training may involve work with ancestors and dreams, whereas inyanga training involves study of herbal medicines, often with a family elder, it is proverbially said that "the iinyanga learns from the living, while the sangoma learns from the dead."

See also

• Traditional African medicine
• Sangoma