Karanga religious perception of health and well-being

IntroductionThis paper constitutes part of an extended study about the Karanga people in Mberengwa, a sub-group of the Shona people of Zimbabwe, in which I develop an argument which contends that the core of the Karanga religion is health and well-being, and that this central concerti is logical, rational and consistent (Shoko, 1993: 4). The study discusses a methodology that has developed out of, and partly in response to, the scientific approach to the study of religion in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries called the phenomenological method that sought to identify essential structures within religious phenomena. I commence with a section on the philosophical background to phenomenology centred on E. Husserl whose writings influenced, in varying degrees, subsequent phenomenologists of religion. I then trace the developments and debates through the writings of several scholars in the field of phenomenology like P. D. Chantepie (1848-1920), G.van der Leeuw (1890-1950), W.B.Kristensen (1867-1953), CJ.Bleeker (1899-1983), J.Wach (1898-1955), M.Eliade (1907-1986) and G.Widengren (b.1907), with a view to show that there have been different approaches and understandings of phenomenology and numerous criticisms and queries concerning its operation as a research methodology (Shoko, 1993: 11-39). As C.J. Bleeker has pointed out, some critics went so far as to deny its right of existence (Bleeker, 1963: 6). However, I will argue that despite its limitations, the method offers a frame of thinking based on hermeneutics which I adopt and use to test my hypothesis that the core of the Karanga religion is the effort to achieve and to maintain a condition of health and well-being both for individuals and the community as a whole (Shoko, 1993: 4).As part of my argument, I explore the relationship between the phenomenology of religion, anthropology and sociology in my subject area by reviewing previous literature on traditional religion and medical practices in Zimbabwe. In doing so, I critically examine the studies of pioneer and contemporary scholarly writings on the Shona perceptions of illness and health and medical praxis, such as the travellers, colonial administrators, missionaries, anthropologists and sociologists. The works of M.Gelfand, an empathetic medical doctor and lay anthropologist; M.F.C. Bourdillon (1976), an anthropologist; H.Bucher (1980), a Roman Catholic Church Bishop's sociological approach; H. Aschwanden (1987)'s symbolic analysis, G. Chavunduka (1978), a sociologist and M.LDaneel (1970, 1971, 1974), a missiologist are reviewed (see Shoko, 1993: 40-52). Such studies demonstrate, using different approaches, that health and illness behaviour, as well as health and medical care systems, are not isolated but are integrated into a network of beliefs and values that comprise Shona society. However certain ideological and methodological constraints are exposed (Shoko, 1993: 40-52). This provides the basis for an alternative methodological approach which this paper sets out to explain.I conclude by presenting the practical methods of data collection in the field. The methods include the different types of interviews comprising open-ended structured interviews, free-association and group interviews, as well as participant observation (Shoko, 1993: 52-58). With regards to my own field-research in Mberengwa, I will show how the phenomenological approach was employed to examine key religious phenomena related to illness and health by examining expressions of beliefs, ritual activities and the role of sacred practitioners.Definition of Key TermsCore concern refers to the basic, underlying thrust of the Karanga religion. It is the essence of religious phenomena under observation (see Bleeker, 1963:136). In this case, religion is chiefly orientated towards the achievement of health and well-being and is of ultimate value in the Karanga religion. The term can also be interpreted in the study as referring to the defining factor of the Karanga religion

Perception · Psychotherapist · Sociology · Well-being · Psychology · Religion, Spirituality, and Psychology · Social Science and Policy Research · Theological Perspectives and Practices

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