3. What do many persons believe to be the causes of accidents, illnesses and other problems?

³ Look now into an African city and the residence of a diviner or “medicine man.” A mother is there with her sick infant. When it started having fever and stomach disorders she promptly took it to the city hospital. After weeks of repeated visits and the use of medicines prescribed at the hospital, the child is as sick as ever. In her despair the mother has come to the medicine man, hoping for a cure. She is not the only one there. A young man has come seeking some “medicine” to solve his difficulties in finding a job. An older man, preparing for a long journey, has just received some “protection” to take along. All these people, of course, know of bacteria as causes for disease, of economic depression as a cause of unemployment, of drunken driving and faulty vehicles as causes for road accidents. But they also believe that these same misfortunes can be caused or prevented by unseen spirits and that the medicine man has power from these unseen spirits.

Along with practicers of traditional tribal religions, many members of Christendom’s churches and Muslim sects believe that the events of life are controlled by or are related to unseen spirits. If misfortune strikes, such as a severe sickness or a sudden death in the family, they consult a diviner or medicine man. He may throw “magical bones” or use some other method as a means for telling the inquirers whether the spirits of their ancestors, are angered or whether the inquirers are the victim of a spell cast by enemies. He may give them amulets to wear or potions to take for protection. Often a goat, sheep or chicken is slaughtered to appease the unseen spirits.