Ch.+9+Tribal+medicine+and+ogbanjes


 * The Ogbanje: **


 * Ogbanje is the Igbo for the West African myth of the 'spirit-child' (also known amongst the Yorubas as Abiku though what is true of one may not be true of the other). ... **


 * The Igbo is the largest ethnic group in south east Nigeria and most of the Igbo are farmers **

They would bring misfortune to the family believed to be an evil spirit when they would die and they would die young they would come back again and dying again repeating a cycle of grieving for the family.

The child that died would be cut or mutilated some do return but they return with the scars that they bear from the mutilation.

Not as many believe in ogbanje today some still do

Ogbanje was almost like a myth and literally translates to changeling a named to describe unknown causes of childly death

Tribal medicine:

In African society, many people seek out diviners on a regular basis. There are no prohibitions against the practice. Those who tell fortunes for a living are also sought out for their wisdom as counselors and for their knowledge of herbal medicine.

Preists allegedly were thought to have a good knoledge for illness, medicine and herbs and surgery.

The Preist/ healer helped in physical, psychological, spiritual, moral, and legal matters

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Malevolent ogbanje: recurrent reincarnation or sic... [Soc Sci Med. 2001] - PubMed result." //National Center for Biotechnology Information//. N.p., n.d. Web. 8 Nov. 2010. <http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed