Clairvoyance in African traditions

Life is a constant becoming

This life can be expressed in three different ways: firstly, the life of plants, which is limited to growth and reproduction with their seeds and fruits, then dry up to die. Secondly, there is the life of animals, beasts which are endowed with mobility, multiply, communicate by cries, and live solitary or in packs, instinctively to flee from danger, to go in search of their food or shelter. They are incapable of ensuring a future, even if some can stock up on food, make their nest, their hole, their lair, or produce honey, a form of work unchanged for millennia. Thirdly, human life which reproduces and like its Creator completes the creation of the world through its work, at its convenience by assuming always uncertain tomorrows which arouse an anxiety to be mastered by the accumulation of accessories which leaves man hungry to possess even more. This idea of ​​the future, of time passing, inscribed in our unconscious generates religion of which plant or animal life is devoid. For the African, a world exists beyond the grave. The dead are not dead. If the grave is the destination of the mortal in us, it is the departure of the immortal towards the house of the Father, its provenance, and like a spirit, remains concerned with our earthly existence. This is why, for important events in life… illness, death, marriage, success or failure, etc…. divination is necessary to know the intention of the ancestors to decide whether a sacrifice is required or not. Hence the role of clairvoyance in our African traditions in relation to the invisible which holds a certain authority over our destinies. The divinatory arts have an important role on the mental state of individuals by reassuring or alarming. There is certainly listening during the sessions. Listening allows you to assess the customer’s personality to respond to their request. In fact, fortune tellers, marabouts, astrologers and others are fine psychologists who have the art of handling speech and silence. They are informal psychotherapists who are effective in the mental health register in our countries. Clairvoyance finds its importance in the diagnosis and treatment of diseases in the practice of traditional medicine based on clairvoyance. We become sighted by heredity, most often from father to son, or by the birth of twins, triplets or by breech. These births require worship and prohibitions which mean: “that one must control one’s instincts to be master of one’s destiny”. This destiny is the object of exploration through clairvoyance. Instinct saves discernment and judgment of values. Clairvoyance would enlighten the individual on his imponderable. Clairvoyance is part of the habits and customs of Africans, it is a component of their culture. It is not idolatry. Because we must not confuse worship and culture. The sacrifices required in clairvoyance are propitiatory to fulfill a duty of remembering the spirits and not to worship them. It is to be deplored the greed of certain diviners who exploit the naivety or distress of their client. This would be the case for certain marabouts who are even found in the Caribbean to benefit from the after-effects of the religiosity of the ancestors of these populations. In short, man is structured much more by what worries him than by what reassures him. Clairvoyance would shed light on this beyond, always worrying filled by our HOPE which gives meaning to the life of the being. Dr. Raymond Messanvi JOHNSON Psychiatrist; Psychoanalyst Mental Health Advisor and Former Honorary President of INAD