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''Nganga'' is a Bantu term for herbalist or spiritual healer in many African societies and also in many societies of the African diaspora such as those in Haiti, Brazil, and Cuba. It is derived from '' *-ganga'' in proto-Njila, an early branch of the Bantu family.〔Jan Vansina, ''How Societies Are Born: Governance in West Central African before 1600'' (Charlottesville, VA and London: University of Virginia Press, 2004), p. 51.〕 The verb form related to it, ''-gang-'' relates to wisdom, knowledge and skill. As this term is a multiple reflex of a Proto-Bantu root, there are slight variations on the term throughout the entire Bantu-speaking world. ==In Africa== The owner and operator of an ''nkisi'', who ministered its powers to others, was the ''nganga''. In the Kingdom of Kongo the term "nganga" was the name for a person who possessed the skill to communicate with the Other World, as well as divining the cause of illness, misfortune and social stress and preparing measures to address them, often by supernatural means but sometimes natural medicine as well. They were also responsible for charging nkisi, or physical objects intended to be the receptacle for spiritual forces. When Kongo converted to Christianity in the late fifteenth century, the term nganga was used to translate Christian priest as well as traditional spiritual mediators.〔John Thornton, "The Development of an African Catholic Church in the Kingdom of Kongo, 1491-1750," ''Journal of African History''〕 In modern Kikongo Christian priests are often called "Nganga a Nzambi" or "priests of God." In South Africa, the ''inyanga'' has a medicinal role, in contrast to the ''sangoma'', who deals with divination and the ancestral spirits, however, the dinstinction has become blurred in some areas and many traditional healers tend to practice both arts. In Swahili, ''mganga'' refers to a qualified physician or traditional healer. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Nganga」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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