Working with Spirit

<p> In the current model of health dispensation in South Africa there are two major paradigms the spirit-inspired tradition of <i>izangoma sinyanga</i> and biomedicine. These operate at best in parallel but more often than not are at odds with one another. This book based on the author's personal experience as a practitioner of traditional African medicine considers the effects of the absence of spirit in biomedicine on collaborative relationships. Given the unprecedented challenge of the HIV/AIDS epidemic in the country the author suggests that more cooperation is vital. Taking a critical look at the role of anthropology in this endeavor she proposes the development of a language of spirit by means of which the spirit-inspired aetiology of <i>izangoma sinyanga</i> may be made comprehensible to academic scientists and applicable to medical interventions. The author discusses white <i>izangoma</i> in the context of current debates on healing and hybridity and insists that there exists a powerful role for<i> izangoma </i>in the realm of societal healing. Above all the book constitutes a start in what the author hopes will develop into an ongoing intellectual conversation between traditional African healing academe and biomedicine in South Africa.</p>