Spirituality has existed for thousands of years, possibly since the beginning of humanity. In our African Traditional Religion of Palo Mayombe or as it’s proper name, Nkisi Malongo, it has existed as a set of religious beliefs for thousands of years. Medicine is a more modern practice that only really began it’s journey somewhere about the 18th century (1701-1800). While many may not know the connection between the two, there is definitely a connection. In our past, we used to have a title of Priesthood that was also used as a title to describe a Doctor, this would be Nganga. This is because to us, the medicine man was the spiritual leader, they were two sides of the same leaf. At a certain point, the knowledge of the ancestors along with many others, was taken and documented, studied and improved upon in a scientific way. This would be the birth of modern medicine. This is to say that modern medicine is not some artificial wisdom that was imagined, it is ancient wisdom that was taken and improved upon. A lot of spiritual influencers have resorted to giving advice that directly undermines medicine by implying that spirituality can replace medicine. This is simply not true and is a dangerous belief being taught and held by people that have no formal teaching or guidance, just people learning from random people and books online.

First, I have to emphasize that in undermining medicine you are undermining the religious beliefs of many across the world that served as the foundation of medicine. This is evident even in the core concepts of medicine. In the past, to be an Nganga meant to train under an Nganga and to be observed until that Nganga felt that you were worthy of that title and only then can you claim that title. In medicine, to be a Doctor means to train under Doctors and showing your knowledge (dissertation & acquiring licenses) as a Doctor before being accepted and acknowledged as one. Historically, a lot of traditional religions held on to remedies and these are used commonly for smaller things but surgery, etc. are not something your spiritual healers engage in anymore because medicine stepped in and is available. Medicine was born, studied and advanced specifically for this purpose. You need to walk towards medicine for medical issues and walk towards spirituality for spiritual issues. That includes mental health issues and its critical that this be observed. People who claim otherwise are dangerous to everyone who looks to them for spiritual guidance.

Speaking of spiritual influencers, there are too many spiritual influences that are practicing dangerous things and teaching them to everyone who will listen. There is a new age spirituality spreading like wildfire across social media where people are just freelancing spirituality. There are no elders, they are just learning, believing and practicing whatever they want, completely unchecked. This has always been a dangerous practice and one that has been flawed and based off Spiritism and Spiritualism, which have been known to have appropriated beliefs from others and has created the void in which the need for elders and lineages are unnecessary for learning to be spiritual. When there are no elders, there are no boundaries and no lines that remain uncrossed. There is no wisdom of past mistakes to be observed, this means that people are really just taking their own imagination and the imagination of others as fact and religious belief but there is nothing stopping someone from writing a “spiritual book” teaching things that are completely dangerous and having thousands of people believing in these things and practicing them. For example, nothing stops a person from writing a book that says “to be spiritual means to avoid modern medicine at all costs, especially if you have schizophrenia.” This would lead someone suffering from this condition to isolation, in which they now believe that their hallucinations are spirits guiding them, in which those hallucinations can instruct them to do violent things against themselves and others. This is not okay, this is unacceptable. These elderless practices and traditional beliefs without lineages need to be disavowed immediately, they are a danger and them being as popular as they are only further amplifies how dangerous they are because people practicing these beliefs are growing large followings and then teaching their followings that these are correct and safe practices, putting everyone in danger.

It is important to remember that medicine exists for a reason, it may not be perfect but it is the best chance of survival for so many people. Medicine is not an adversary of spirituality, it is not something to be avoided, it is not something that spirituality replaces. Medicine is a form of spirituality that has evolved into its own category and has become a powerful force for saving lives. For someone spiritual to guide people away from medicine in favor of their spiritual beliefs is truly a dangerous thing. There are too many people that claim to be spiritual and are practicing the most dangerous things and are leading others towards danger because they themselves have been lead towards danger.

It is time to heal, to return to actual traditional spirituality and to let medicine heal medical issues.