Spiritual healing A comparison between New Age groups and African Initiated Churches in South Africa

1996 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
pp. 109-133 ◽  
Author(s):  
H.C. Steyn
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Age Groups ◽  
Spiritual Healing ◽  
New Age ◽  
New Age Movement ◽  
Current Growth

AbstractThis article explores and compares spiritual healing in two contemporary guises: the New Age movement and African Initiated Churches (AICs). A third component which cannot be ignored is the traditional African healing practices which (to a large extent) have shaped practices in the AICs. Firstly, the current growth in the prevalence of these groups is considered. Secondly, the two major components are compared with regard to illness and its causes, gifted healers, rituals, and transformation. And finally, the possible effects of these practices on the restoration of the country is considered.

A Chronology of the New Age Movement

Bijdragen ◽  
1997 ◽  
Vol 58 (4) ◽  
pp. 426-436
Author(s):  
Martin PARMENTIER
Keyword(s):  
New Age ◽  
New Age Movement

scholarly journals A cross-sectional study measuring contact patterns using diaries in an urban and a rural community in South Africa, 2018

2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Jackie Kleynhans ◽  
Stefano Tempia ◽  
Meredith L. McMorrow ◽  
Anne von Gottberg ◽  
Neil A. Martinson ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Age Groups ◽  
Cross Sectional Study ◽  
Rural Site ◽  
Urban Site ◽  
Contact Rate ◽  
Sectional Study ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Contact Rates ◽  
Contact Patterns

Abstract Background Describing contact patterns is crucial to understanding infectious disease transmission dynamics and guiding targeted transmission mitigation interventions. Data on contact patterns in Africa, especially South Africa, are limited. We measured and compared contact patterns in a rural and urban community, South Africa. We assessed participant and contact characteristics associated with differences in contact rates. Methods We conducted a cross-sectional study nested in a prospective household cohort study. We interviewed participants to collect information on persons in contact with for one day. We described self-reported contact rates as median number people contacted per day, assessed differences in contact rates based on participant characteristics using quantile regression, and used a Poisson model to assess differences in contact rates based on contact characteristics within age groups. We also calculated cumulative person hours in contact within age groups at different locations. Results We conducted 535 interviews (269 rural, 266 urban), with 17,252 contacts reported. The overall contact rate was 14 (interquartile range (IQR) 9–33) contacts per day. Those ≤18 years had higher contact rates at the rural site (coefficient 17, 95% confidence interval (95%CI) 10–23) compared to the urban site, for those aged 14–18 years (13, 95%CI 3–23) compared to < 7 years. No differences were observed for adults. There was a strong age-based mixing, with age groups interacting more with similar age groups, but also interaction of participants of all ages with adults. Children aged 14–18 years had the highest cumulative person hours in contact (116.3 rural and 76.4 urban). Conclusions Age played an important role in the number and duration of contact events, with children at the rural site having almost double the contact rate compared to the urban site. These contact rates can be utilized in mathematical models to assess transmission dynamics of infectious diseases in similar communities.

Grassroots spirituality as a holistic expression of the psyche

2011 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 36-52
Author(s):  
David Tacey
Keyword(s):  
Religious Tradition ◽  
New Age ◽  
Jungian Psychology ◽  
High Culture ◽  
New Age Movement ◽  
Collective Psyche ◽  
Recent Attack

Jung was aware that any new experience of the sacred would not be welcomed as sacred by religious tradition or intellectual high culture. In fact, new experiences of the sacred are often rejected by religions, and regarded with utmost scepticism by critical traditions. I suggest that a grassroots spirituality movement is to be viewed in this context today. I distinguish this movement from the New Age movement with which it is often conflated and confused. I argue that the grassroots movement is an expression of the holistic directions of the collective psyche. Finally, I explore the Vatican's recent attack on Jungian psychology as an example of a senex tradition that seeks to destroy creativity, and suggest that Jung's theory of the religious function of the psyche is being deliberately misread by a besieged and failing tradition.

scholarly journals Deploying a Fotonovela to Combat Methamphetamine Abuse among South Africans with Varying Levels of Health Literacy

2021 ◽  
Vol 18 (12) ◽  
pp. 6334
Author(s):  
Burt Davis ◽  
Carel J. M. Jansen
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Health Literacy ◽  
Healthcare Providers ◽  
Age Groups ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Western Cape ◽  
Western Cape Province ◽  
Disadvantaged Communities ◽  
South Africans ◽  
Health Related

Poor health literacy in the Western Cape Province of South Africa is one of the main factors hampering methamphetamine (MA) use prevention efforts in the area, where the abuse of this drug is a major health and social problem affecting especially previously disadvantaged communities. In the first part of a two-part study, we compared a health-related fotonovela about MA to an existing brochure group and a control group. Main findings show that the vast majority of readers preferred the fotonovela over the existing brochure. This included participants from all three age groups and for both levels of health literacy (low/high) distinguished (N = 372). Furthermore, specifically for older people with low levels of health literacy, the fotonovela outperformed the existing brochure condition for knowledge level. In the second part of the study, we found that healthcare providers (N = 75) strongly prefer a fotonovela over an existing brochure, while this cohort viewed the potential use of fotonovelas in a health care setting as very positive. Our findings add to the promising results of an earlier fotonovela study about MA use in South Africa, providing further support for considering using narratives in health communication as a serious option to effectively communicate convincing health information about this drug to target audiences in the Western Cape Province.

The Main Stages of the Development of Incense Culture in China

2021 ◽  
Vol 20 (10) ◽  
pp. 24-37
Author(s):  
Elena E. Voytishek
Keyword(s):  
Traditional Medicine ◽  
Middle Ages ◽  
Raw Materials ◽  
Spiritual Healing ◽  
New Age ◽  
Animal Origin ◽  
Aesthetic Attitude ◽  
Ritual Practices ◽  
The Middle Ages

The article provides an overview of the main stages and trends in the development of the incense culture of China from antiquity to the present day. It covers religious and magical rituals, sanitary and hygiene, traditional medicine, a set of spiritual, healing, artistic, and game practices and rituals of Taoist-Buddhist and Confucian character. In China, over several millennia, a colossal experience has been accumulated in terms of the use of aromatic raw materials of plant, mineral and animal origin: thousands of treatises and reference books have been written, the properties of individual incense and their combinations have been studied, detailed classifications have been drawn up and principles of religious cults and ritual practices have been developed. Along with the applied value of incense, an aesthetic attitude toward incense aromas also developed, which repeatedly ensured periods of rapid flourishing of incense culture in antiquity, the Middle Ages and on the cusp of the New Age. Currently, the traditional aromatic culture in China is experiencing a period of upsurge and revival. This provides ample opportunities for its study in various fields of knowledge, which indicates the relevance and multidimensional nature of the study of this topic.

scholarly journals Commercialization Potential of Six Selected Medicinal Plants Commonly Used for Childhood Diseases in South Africa: A Review

2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
pp. 177
Author(s):  
Peter Tshepiso Ndhlovu ◽  
Abiodun Olusola Omotayo ◽  
Wilfred Otang-Mbeng ◽  
Adeyemi Oladapo Aremu
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Medicinal Plants ◽  
Rural Areas ◽  
Action Plan ◽  
Economic Value ◽  
Age Groups ◽  
Datura Stramonium ◽  
Childhood Diseases ◽  
Scientific Databases ◽  
Wide Range

Globally, the potential of medicinal plants is increasingly being recognized due to their relative availability, particularly in rural areas. This review explored the ethnobotanical and economic values of six selected medicinal plants widely used to treat and manage childhood diseases in South Africa. Acalypha glabrata, Aloe maculata, Datura stramonium, Gomphocarpus fruticosus, Rhoicissus tridentata and Vachellia karroo were selected based on their high relative frequency of citations for treating a wide range of diseases. Information was obtained from various scientific databases and ethnobotanical books. In addition to being popular for treating childhood diseases, the selected medicinal plants possess diverse applications in traditional medicine for other age groups, highlighting their general therapeutic values. This translates to extensive harvesting, trading and consumption of these plants in order to meet demands on local levels. Currently, empirical data on the economic value of the selected plants remain poorly reported. Even though South Africa has many laws to conserve and promote indigenous knowledge and medicinal plants, their commercialization remains low. Particularly the cultivation of the selected plants needs to be promoted under a participatory management action plan to stimulate the economy of the disadvantaged. A collaborative research framework for the inclusive transformation of indigenous medicinal plants is recommended to reveal their concealed beneficial properties.

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