South African Traditional Medicine

Traditional medicine features in the lives of thousands of people in South Africa every day. In fact it is estimated that 80% of the population uses traditional medicines.

 Yet, so many stereotypes exist for the traditional healers and their medicines that are collectively called muti.

 To begin to properly understand the healing dynamics of South African traditional healing and medicine lets begin looking at the medicines: the muti.

 Muti is a word derived from medicinal plant and refers to traditionally sourced plant, mineral and animal based medicines.

Muti has come to be associated and equated with body parts used for witchcraft in South Africa. One often hears about sensational stories of human killings to obtain human muti.

This may happen on occasion but this is done by deranged individuals who have twisted beliefs, akin to serial killers in the western psyche. These atrocities are not truly indicative of what traditional healing is.

 True traditional healing uses plants, minerals and animal products so as to bring about physiological or psychological effects in a person.

Even though animal products such as Rhino horn have aroused much anger due to exploitation, many of the animal products used such as horns and fats used in TCM etc have been shown to have hormonal actions on the body and are therefore medicinal. Minerals too often have effects on mood and can be used to relax a person.

All of nature can be used as medicines, even poisons in very small doses. The problem with animal muti is that it is not sustainable and the animal dies in the process of obtaining the medicine.

Plant muti is a sustainable source of medicines without the type of animal suffering associated with animal muti.

 South African traditional plant medicines are fascinating with so many colors forms and effects. It is an art to know these and to use them correctly to bring about health and harmony, the aim of all true traditional healers.

Mama Hadija is a traditional healer & spell caster  http://www.mamahadija.com

Love spells     http://www.mamahadija.com/love-spells.html

Money spells   http://www.mamahadija.com/money-spells.html

Lotto spells      http://www.mamahadija.com/lotto-spells.html

Lost love spells     http://www.mamahadija.com/lost-love-spells.html

Revenge spells    http://www.mamahadija.com/revenge-spells.html

Psychic healing  http://www.mamahadija.com/psychic.html

Traditional healing    http://www.mamahadija.com/traditional-healing.html

Witchcraft spells      http://www.mamahadija.com/witchcraft-spells.html

Traditional medicine

Traditional medicine (TM) refers to the knowledge, skills and practices based on the theories, beliefs and experiences indigenous to different cultures, used in the maintenance of health and in the prevention, diagnosis, improvement or treatment of physical and mental illness.

Traditional medicine covers a wide variety of therapies and practices which vary from country to country and region to region. In some countries, it is referred to as “alternative” or “complementary” medicine (CAM).

Traditional medicine has been used for thousands of years with great contributions made by practitioners to human health, particularly as primary health care providers at the community level.

TM/CAM has maintained its popularity worldwide. Since the 1990s its use has surged in many
Traditional medicine is 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 or treatment of physical and mental illness.

Complementary/alternative medicine (CAM) The terms “complementary medicine” or “alternative medicine” are used inter-changeably with traditional medicine in some countries.

They refer to a broad set of health care practices that are not part of that country’s own tradition and are not integrated into the dominant health care system.

Herbal medicines Herbal medicines include herbs, herbal materials, herbal preparations and finished herbal products, that contain as active ingredients parts of plants, or other plant materials, or combinations.

• Herbs: crude plant material such as leaves, flowers, fruit, seed, stems, wood, bark, roots, rhizomes or other plant parts, which may be entire, fragmented or powdered.
• Herbal materials: in addition to herbs, fresh juices, gums, fixed oils, essential oils, resins and dry powders of herbs. In some countries, these materials may be processed by various local procedures, such as steaming, roasting, or stir-baking with honey, alcoholic beverages or other materials.
• Herbal preparations: the basis for finished herbal products and may include comminuted or powdered herbal materials, or extracts, tinctures and fatty oils of herbal materials. They are produced by extraction, fractionation, purification, concentration, or other physical or biological processes. They also include preparations made by steeping or heating herbal materials in alcoholic beverages and/or honey, or in other materials.
• Finished herbal products: herbal preparations made from one or more herbs. If more than one herb is used, the term mixture herbal product can also be used. Finished herbal products and mixture herbal products may contain excipients in addition to the active ingredients. However, finished products or mixture products to which chemically defined active substances have been added, including synthetic compounds and/or isolated constituents from herbal materials, are not considered to be herbal.

Traditional use of herbal medicines Traditional use of herbal medicines refers to the long historical use of these medicines. Their use is well established and widely acknowledged to be safe and effective, and may be accepted by national authorities.

Therapeutic activity Therapeutic activity refers to the successful prevention, diagnosis and treatment of physical and mental illnesses; improvement of symptoms of illnesses; as well as beneficial alteration or regulation of the physical and mental status of the body.

Active ingredient Active ingredients refer to ingredients of herbal medicines with therapeutic activity. In herbal medicines where the active ingredients have been identified, the preparation of these medicines should be standardized to contain a defined amount of the active ingredients, if adequate analytical methods are available.

In cases where it is not possible to identify the active ingredients, the whole herbal medicine may be considered as one active ingredient.

Mama Hadija is a traditional healer & spell caster  http://www.mamahadija.com

Love spells     http://www.mamahadija.com/love-spells.html

Money spells   http://www.mamahadija.com/money-spells.html

Lotto spells      http://www.mamahadija.com/lotto-spells.html

Lost love spells     http://www.mamahadija.com/lost-love-spells.html

Revenge spells    http://www.mamahadija.com/revenge-spells.html

Psychic healing  http://www.mamahadija.com/psychic.html

Traditional healing    http://www.mamahadija.com/traditional-healing.html

Witchcraft spells      http://www.mamahadija.com/witchcraft-spells.html