Divination, Healing, and Deliverance

Abstract

This discusses solutions to trouble, sickness, and misfortune, including deliverance from witchcraft-induced affliction, that are used by traditional healers and in pentecostal churches, and why they are often effective. The widespread belief in the manipulation of power through divination is discussed and how this affects some pentecostal practices and responses. Some of the methods of healing and exorcism introduced by pentecostal and independent churches are described and analysed, including the use of ritual objects and rituals of power. The emphasis on exorcism or deliverance, the reasons for this emphasis, and methods used in pentecostal churches are described.