Healing and wholeness in African traditional Religion, African Islam and Christianity

The list of religions and cultures concerned with healing and restoration of wholeness is inexhaustible, but the focus of our study is African Traditional Religion. The aforementioned are proof that the African traditional religion's approaches to issues of sickness, healing and wholeness have their parallels in popular beliefs and practices of most ancient and modern religions of the world. Any proper assessment of the phenomena of sickness, health and healing in African traditional conception presupposes an examination of the African world view. This includes the African's perception of the world around him, his attitude towards the Supreme Being, the gods and spirits (the good and the beautiful, as well as the bad and the ugly) and other creatures with whom he shares the cosmos, his approach towards life in general, his network of relationships (with both the living and the dead members of his family and clan) and the distinction he makes between the physical and the spiritual world. These and similar issues are given adequate attention in this presentation.