N'anga

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Among the Shona people of Zimbabwe, a n'anga is a traditional magician, of the type also known as a witch doctor.

They are believed to have magical powers to fortune tell, influence the future, change, heal, bless or even kill people. They have existed since decades going far beyond the British colonial era, and traditionally N’angas were people’s main source of help in all matters of life. The current ruling party is said to have consulted a lot with N’angas during the war for independence^[1].

With increasing christianity mostly due to British invasions, N’angas lost popularity while gaining notoriety as evil-doers. Multiple competitve versions of N'angas so-called 'Apostoles' –some people say they are holy versions of N'angas– began to surface. However, there are constant rumors that the same traditional N'angas simply upgraded their positions to a holy status, pretending to be what they are not! This would allow them to be accepted by the christian majority

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