From Where Does the Bad Wind Blow?

Book excerpt: This study deals with the phenomenon of spiritual healing and witchcraft within the field of indigenous medicine and African Independent Churches in the contemporary urban setting of Lusaka, the capital of Zambia. Grounded in theoretical concepts of medical and symbolical anthropology, the book analyzes the syncretic character of medical culture and the so-called "therapy shopping" phenomenon. Special attention is paid to the local conceptualization of health, illness and body, cultural aetiology, the social and cultural representation of spirit possession and witchcraft, as well as a description of different types of healers along with their diagnostic and therapeutic praxis. A separate section is dedicated to the symbolical interpretation of witchcraft on the level of theory, system, and practice, based on different case studies. (Series: Anthropology / Ethnologie - Vol. 49) [Subject: Anthropology, African Studies, Religious Studies, Spiritualism, Cultural Studies]