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This Paper is a report on, and an analysis of, a healing ceremony which the authors attended and recorded. It is essential to appreciate that African healing is experiential, and a too-scientific intellectual approach can destroy its effectiveness. An igquira (indigenous healer) said about the effect of an intlombe, ‘There are things which cannot be properly explained; it is felt, not put in words’. The reader must be prepared to approach it with imagination and intuitively to subject himself to the archetypal nature of the experience. The whole ritual is a mandala which is acted out; the authors as participant observers were subjected to the power of the numinous effect of the intlombe. The aim of this paper is, therefore, to present the material in such a way that the reader is enabled to share the experience to some extent. The main purpose is to get some understanding of two consecutive dreams of a particular person, to share the way in which it was dealt with. Usually dreams are discussed between the parties concerned or discussed in general conversation. Those which are particularly obscure, anxiety provoking or for some reason regarded as particularly significant, are subjected to an intlombe.
The relevant material from this approximately four-hour-long ceremony will be reported. An effort will be made to distort the original as little as possible, but it is inevitable that much of the beauty of the oratory and the symbolic use of language will be lost even with the best translation. The dream material will be dealt with in detail but, for the understanding of the healing potential, other material is also included.
Previous articles dealing with healing ceremonies elucidate some of the points which cannot be enlarged on (BÜHRMANN 2, 3, 4, 6). This paper should be read in conjunction with the one on songs (BÜHRMANN, GQOMFA 7) as it is a continuation of the same weekend ceremony. The relevant details about the life history of Mrs T., the key figure, w