The body is typically viewed as an “object of purely mental operations, a thing in which social patterns are projected” (Jackson 1983:329), thus the body has no control over itself. It is this view that expresses the body is just a vessel for the mind to use; a slow, lumbering husk for the quick and rational brain. Csordas states the idea that the body is “not an object that is ‘good to think’ but as a subject that is ‘necessary to be‘” (1993:135), thus completely throwing away the notion that the body has any control.

However the body is fully capable of unconscious operations, such as the beating of a heart or the blinking of an eye. According to Jackson “Gestures and bodily habits often belie what we put into words, and give away our unconscious dispositions, betraying character traits of which our verbal and conceptual habits keep us in ignorance” (198

Once the diviner has figured out the problem he will then tell the clients what rituals must be used to appease what ever witch, evil spirit, or unappeased ancestor has been troubling them. Although not a physical form of medicine the diviner uses logic to seek out what is troubling the client, and then issues the prescription ritual to fix the problem (Turner 1968). Very similar to the doctors of the Western, and more modern world.

Although the ideas in the Western world vary greatly from some cultures in areas pertaining to the mind and body, there are some cultures which are very similar to the techniques used by Western Doctors to heal the body. One such culture is the Ndembu tribe of Zambia, and their practice of Divining.

According to Peters “culture can either be a hindrance or a support”(1982:24) to the medical model used in the region. The shaman is a prime example of a culturally segregated form of healing. Walsh states that “Shamanism may be humankinds earliest and longest-lasting healing psychotherapeutic and religious tradition” (1994:7). He goes on to explain that archaeological evidence has shown that there is cases of shamanism used in religion for thousands of years (1994:7-8). But when viewed from a Western perspective a shaman is considered a “psychologically disturbed… mentally deranged … [and] an outright psychotic“ individual (1994:8). However, just like a Western doctor, the shaman must go through several stages of initiation, much like a medical school for the mind, which can take several years. Throughout the course of the shamans journey, there is always a Western view of explaining the actions of a shaman.

The shamans first step in his journey is the call. This stage usually occurs in adolescence or in early childhood. In the Tamang culture this is a period in a young shaman’s life where he is, according to Peters “inflicted by spirits that posses him and drive him into solitude, demanding he become a shaman” (1982:22). The Tamang believe that the spirits that posses the new shaman are those of a dead kinsman, usually a dead shaman, who will teach the new shaman through the spirit world (Peters 1982:23). This possession will lead the new shaman-to-be mad. He will often seek solitude and run off into the woods for days shaking violently and not know the reasons he is doing these. Walsh states that “in the West such behaviour would traditionally be regarded as evidence of severe psychopathology and treated accordingly, perhaps even with enforced hospitalisation or medication“ (1994:13). However since the culture that the shaman is being raised in sees this as a positive mental state and a gift, the

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