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often troubled and estranged. Frequently these consultantswomen as well as menwere regarded as alienated from the very communities which they served. In the course of rethinking this seeming contradiction, and in reviewing related research in Africa and elsewhere, I was struck by the suggestive parallels to the phenomenon found in the English term alienist, a word used at the turn of the century to denote psychiatrists, i.e., the medical doctors who specialize in mental illness. This word, which derives from the Latin alienus, meaning "strange" or "insane," today finds use primarily in the field of medical jurisprudence. |
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The term alienist, in its reference to a group of specialists who treat the various problems of mental illness and in its parallel associations with alienation and strangeness in society, appears to have striking similarities with one of the key features of the Batammaliba view of the consultant. This essay accordingly examines the identity of the Batammaliba consultant as alienist. I suggest that by virtue of their distinct identity as outsiders, these persons are better able both to observe society and to serve as its annunciators. Stated another way, since these consultants are concerned with persons who are viewed as in some way troubled or estranged, they are themselves identified (both by the communities and by themselves) as outsiders. This in turn allows them greater freedom to view and treat the problems of illness and alienation in the community at large. Furthermore, it became clear that the alienist characteristics which are associated with these consultants are actively promoted by the Batammaliba through the means of their selection, training, modes of examination, and later patterns of life. This emphasis on alienation is often defined through the metaphor of a journey which the consultants take both within and outside themselves in the course of their consultation. The idea of alienation is also central in the terminologies which are applied to consultations and consultants. |
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Learning the Consultation Process |
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Children said to be born with the power to consult are believed to acquire this ability through two principal means, inheritance and the killing of an animal who had this power in the wilds. There are varying views on the relative importance of each means of acquisition. |
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Consultants say that they can feel related changes in their bodies when they are in the process of consultation. Some suggest that they feel a "high" similar to one derived from alcohol. As one consultant explained, "You begin to talk a lot. It is like you have had too much to drink and you are drunk" (12:494)
1 Others describe it as a swirling, whirlwindlike sensation, resembling a stream of air passing from one's head into one's chest and stomach. This "rushing" and often "dizzy" feeling is explained as being caused by the passage of the consultation deity, Kupon, into the consultant's body (via the fontanel at the top of the head) as one is about to consult. The weight and motion of Kupon are said to make one giddy. One consultant noted in this light that |
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