| This article is part of a series on |
| Alternative medicine |
|---|
 |
Muthi is a traditional medicine practice in Southern Africa as far north as Lake Tanganyika.
In South African English, the word muti is derived from the Zulu/Xhosa/Northern Ndebele umuthi, meaning 'tree', whose root is -thi. In Southern Africa, muti and cognates of umuthi are in widespread use in most indigenous African languages as well as in South African English and Afrikaans, which sometimes use muti as a slang word for medicine in general. [1]
This noun is of the umu/imi class so the singular ('tree') is umuthi and the plural ('trees') is imithi. Since the pronunciation of the initial vowel of this class is unstressed, the singular is sometimes pronounced muthi. The word is rendered as muti by the historical effects of the British colonial spelling.
In colloquial English and Afrikaans the word muti is often used to refer to medicines in general or medicines that have a 'miraculous' effect, e.g.
African traditional medicine makes use of various natural products, many derived from trees and other plants. Botanical medicine prescribed by an inyanga or herbal healer is generally known as "muthi", but the term can apply to other traditional medical formulations, including those that are zoological or mineral in composition.
Vulture brains are used for prophecy in muthi. [2]
Isicakathi is a term that is used by Xhosa people when referring to plants with supposed pharmacological and therapeutic properties that are used as medicine for various ailments. [3]
The people in the Eastern Cape of South Africa still strongly rely on traditional medicine and believe in its potency as an alternative to western medicine. [3] There are various herbs that fall under isicakathi , used for pre-natal and post-natal medicine (although they can also be used for non-pregnancy related health issues). [3] The plants that fall under the isicakathi category differ according to the districts in the Eastern Cape, hence it is a general term used when referring to traditional medicine. [3] There are eleven species of plants that fall under isicakathi, namely Commelina africana , Agapanthus praecox , Chlorophytum comosum , Ledebouria ovatifolia , Ranunculus multifidus , Thunbergia atriplicifolia , Kohautia amatymbica , Plantago major , Gazania linearis , Helichrysum pedunculatum and Senecio coronatus . [3] The use of these plants differs according to the various areas/ districts of the Eastern Cape. [3] Commelina africana is used for menstrual problems, pelvic pains and bladder related issues. [4] Agapanthus is found in pre-natal and post-natal medicine, which is used by pregnant women. [3] Chlorophytum comosum is used as a protective charm against evil spirits for both mother and child. [5] Ledebouria ovatifolia is used for medicinal purposes, including pregnancy, diarrhoea, influenza, backaches, skin irritations and wounds. [6] Ranunculus multifidus is used for epileptic fits in adults, lung problems and used as an emetic. [3] Kohautia amatymbica is also used as an emetic. [7] Plantago major is used for wounds, inflammations, and eye irritations. [8] Gazania linearis is applied on small cuts made on the body close to the joints to protect someone from evil spirits. [3] Helichrysum pedunculatum is used as a dressing after circumcision and to prevent the wound from getting septic. [3] Senecio coronatus is used to get rid of pubic lice. [3] Generally, isicakathi or plants that are regarded to fall under isicakathi are mostly used by pregnant women and children. [3] Thus, it is also used as a protective measure against sorcery during pregnancy. [9]
Agapanthus praecox is one of the plants that falls under isicakathi used during pregnancy. It is taken orally from the six month of pregnancy until delivery. The plant is put in a container full of water and half a cup of that water is taken orally, twice a day, in the morning and in the evening. [3] It is believed that the plant’s growth determines the health of the unborn baby. The wilting of the plant is regarded as a symbol with regards to the baby's health, usually associated with death. Isicakathi is widely used to induce easy childbirth. [3] It ensures that excess water is drained, reduces vaginal discharge and placental size. [10] The plants treat high blood pressure in both antenatal and postnatal care for women, whilst also preventing constipation. [11]
Rhoicissus tidentata is used to induce labour; its root can be used to prepare an enema. Erythrina lysistemon is used to induce labour pains during the childbirth process via pieces of the trunk's bark bound together and infused for the woman to drink. The crushed bulb of Gunnera perpensa is used to reduce swelling of the feet by infusing with boiling water and ingesting. [12]
Salvia scabra , mixed with the mother’s milk, is given as medicine to infants. The mixture is given to the baby to ingest every day for two months. [3] Isicakathi is generally used to induce growth and prevent diseases. It is also used as an alternative to the mother’s milk and to counteract the milk’s sourness. [3] The use of Agapanthus praecox ensures that the baby is strong, whilst preventing bowel problems and crusts on its head. [13]
An ointment is used to hasten the parturition of the baby and placenta using the leaves of Scutia mytina . Erythrina humeana is used to heal the umbilical cord of the baby by burning the bark and using the powder to apply on the baby. [12]
Occasions of murder with mutilation associated with some traditional medicine practices in South Africa have been termed muti killings. These are not human sacrifices directly, but rather involve the murder of someone in order to harvest body parts for incorporation into traditional medicines and rituals.
In February 2010, Deputy Provincial Commissioner William Mpembe of the South African Police Service (SAPS) in North West Province said that "muti murders, particularly those involving young children, seem to be on the rise in the Tshwane areas including Soshanguve, Garankuwa and Rietgat". [14] That same month, African traditional healers and the Gauteng government convened at a seminar in Pretoria, South Africa to root out the "evil practice of mutilating human bodies for purposes of muti making." [15]
Agapanthus africanus, or the African lily, is a flowering plant from the genus Agapanthus found only on rocky sandstone slopes of the winter rainfall fynbos from the Cape Peninsula to Swellendam. It is also known as the lily-of-the-Nile in spite of only occurring in South Africa.
Zulu people are a native people of Southern Africa of the Nguni. The Zulu people are the largest ethnic group and nation in South Africa, with an estimated 14.39 million people, in total of which 13.78 million people live in South Africa, mainly in the province of KwaZulu-Natal.
Traditional healers of Southern Africa are practitioners of traditional African medicine in Southern Africa. They fulfil different social and political roles in the community like divination, healing physical, emotional, and spiritual illnesses, directing birth or death rituals, finding lost cattle, protecting warriors, counteracting witchcraft and narrating the history, cosmology, and concepts of their tradition.
Tulbaghia is a genus of monocotyledonous herbaceous perennial bulbs native to Africa, belonging to the amaryllis family. It is one of only two known genera in the society garlic tribe within the onion subfamily. The genus was named for Ryk Tulbagh (1699–1771), one time governor of The Cape of Good Hope.
Herbal medicine is the study of pharmacognosy and the use of medicinal plants, which are a basis of traditional medicine. With worldwide research into pharmacology, some herbal medicines have been translated into modern remedies, such as the anti-malarial group of drugs called artemisinin isolated from Artemisia annua, a herb that was known in Chinese medicine to treat fever. There is limited scientific evidence for the safety and efficacy of many plants used in 21st-century herbalism, which generally does not provide standards for purity or dosage. The scope of herbal medicine sometimes includes fungal and bee products, as well as minerals, shells and certain animal parts.
Traditional medicine comprises medical aspects of traditional knowledge that developed over generations within the folk beliefs of various societies, including indigenous peoples, before the era of modern medicine. The World Health Organization (WHO) defines traditional medicine as "the sum total of the knowledge, skills, and practices based on the theories, beliefs, and experiences indigenous to different cultures, whether explicable or not, used in the maintenance of health as well as in the prevention, diagnosis, improvement and treatment of physical and mental illness". Traditional medicine is often contrasted with Evidence based medicine.
Medicinal plants, also called medicinal herbs, have been discovered and used in traditional medicine practices since prehistoric times. Plants synthesize hundreds of chemical compounds for various functions, including defense and protection against insects, fungi, diseases, and herbivorous mammals.
Chlorophytum borivilianum is a herb with lanceolate leaves, from tropical wet forests in the peninsular Indian region. The Hindi name is It is cultivated and eaten as a leaf vegetable in some parts of India, and its roots are used as a health tonic under the name safed musli. In traditional Indian medicine, it is used as rasayan or adaptogen. It is considered a white gold in Indian systems of medicine. This herb belongs to the vajikaran rasayana group in Ayurveda.
Helichrysum petiolare, the licorice-plant or liquorice plant, is a species of flowering plant in the family Asteraceae. It is a subshrub native to the Cape Provinces of South Africa — where it is known as imphepho — and to Angola, Zambia, and Zimbabwe. It is naturalized in parts of Portugal and the United States. Growing to about 45 cm (18 in) high and 150 cm (59 in) broad, it is a trailing evergreen subshrub with furry grey-green leaves and small white flowers. Other common names include silver-bush everlastingflower, trailing dusty miller and kooigoed. The foliage has a faint licorice aroma, but Helichrysum petiolare is not closely related to the true liquorice plant, Glycyrrhiza glabra.
Plantago major, the broadleaf plantain, white man's footprint, waybread, or greater plantain, is a species of flowering plant in the plantain family Plantaginaceae. The plant is native to Eurasia.
A folk healer is an unlicensed person who practices the art of healing using traditional practices, herbal remedies, and the power of suggestion. The term "folk" was traditionally associated with medical and healing practices that weren't explicitly approved by the dominant religious institution. If people didn't seek healing from an approved priest or religious figure, they would seek the help of the local folk healer. Folk healers, despite their technical illegitimacy, were often viewed as being more involved with the healing process and made their patients more comfortable than other practitioners. With modern medicine being preferred, some look towards folk healers to get consoled from the sacred use of traditional medicine. "Appalachian folk healing goes by many names, depending on where it’s practiced in the region and who’s doing the practicing: root work, folk medicine, folk magic, kitchen witchery."
Murder for body parts also known as medicine murder refers to the killing of a human being in order to excise body parts to use as medicine or purposes in witchcraft. Medicine murder is viewed as the obtaining of an item or items from a corpse to be used in traditional medicine. The practice occurs primarily in sub-equatorial Africa.
Ethnoveterinary medicine (EVM) considers that traditional practices of veterinary medicine are legitimate and seeks to validate them. Many non-Western traditions of veterinary medicine exist, such as acupuncture and herbal medicine in China, Tibetan veterinary medicine, Ayurveda in India, etc. These traditions have written records that go back thousands of years, for example the Jewish sources in the Old Testament and Talmud and the Sri Lankan 400-year-old palm-leaf frond records of veterinary treatments. Since colonial times scientists had always taken note of indigenous knowledge of animal health and diagnostic skills before implementing their Western-technology projects.
Silene undulata is a plant native to the Eastern Cape of South Africa.
Yorùbá medicine, or egbòogi, is an Yoruba system of herbalism practiced primarily in West Africa and the Caribbean.
Areas of forest which grow in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa mostly on south facing slopes in higher rainfall areas, and along the humid coastal areas. Different types of forest can be identified by their species composition which depends mostly on the altitude, latitude and substrate in which they grow. South facing slopes are favourable for the development of forest as they are more shaded, and therefore cooler and retain more moisture than the northern slopes. The extra moisture on the south slopes is not only favoured by forest trees, but also helps to prevent or subdue wildfires. Fires can also be blocked by cliff faces and rocks or boulders on these slopes, and by streams or rivers at the base of the slopes. The coastal regions are conducive to forest formation, because of high rainfall and humidity which are favoured by forest trees and also help to prevent or subdue fires. The rivers of the coastal areas are also broader than further inland, which may often prevent fires from spreading long distances, and fires generally burn uphill and therefore more often away from areas at low altitude.
Traditional African medicine is a range of traditional medicine disciplines involving indigenous herbalism and African spirituality, typically including diviners, midwives, and herbalists. Practitioners of traditional African medicine claim, largely without evidence, to be able to cure a variety of diverse conditions including cancer, psychiatric disorders, high blood pressure, cholera, most venereal diseases, epilepsy, asthma, eczema, fever, anxiety, depression, benign prostatic hyperplasia, urinary tract infections, gout, and healing of wounds and burns and Ebola.
Gazania krebsiana is a species of flowering plant in family Asteraceae. It is a low-growing herbaceous perennial native to Southern Africa, ranging from Angola, Zambia, and Mozambique to South Africa. It is one of some 19 species of Gazania that are exclusively African and predominantly South African - only Gazania krebsiana subsp. serrulata (DC.) Roessler ventures northwards from the Transvaal into tropical Africa.
Aspilia africana, also known as the haemorrhage plant or wild sunflower, is one of about 50 species of the genus Aspilia.
Amandawe also known as Amandawe Mission, or often informally abbreviated as A.M.A or A.M is a small township in the KwaZulu-Natal South Coast region of South Africa. The area is mostly populated with Black Africans.
