Negotiating with evil. Power artefacts, shamanic relics and brain responses in African healing practices
Silhouettes africaines January 1, 2016 Alberto Salza
The human brain, since its evolution in Africa about 100,000 years ago, has been predisposed to engage with immaterial entities in a spirit world, accessed by shamans through an integrated mode of consciousness (IMC). This shamanic 'soul flight' produced internal imagery now regarded as art, aimed at negotiating with evil spirits causing disease and social disorder. Such practices elicit psychoneuroimmunological responses and symbolic healing. Today, relics of this worldview persist in African rock art, music, rituals, and healing practices. The analysis connects the psychophysical structures of various African artifacts to the IMC of the perceiver, examining cross-cultural brain responses in healing, from San trance dances to Kongo fetishes and modern Ebola reactions.