Medicine, Fetish and Secret Society in a West African Culture

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Periodical article

Title:	Medicine, Fetish and Secret Society in a West African Culture
Author:	Jedrej, M. Charles
Year:	1976
Periodical:	Africa: Journal of the International African Institute
Volume:	46
Issue:	3
Pages:	247-257
Language:	English
Geographic term:	Sierra Leone
Subjects:	secret societies healers Mende Health and Nutrition Peoples of Africa (Ethnic Groups)
External links:	https://www.jstor.org/stable/1159397 http://gateway.proquest.com/openurl?url_ver=Z39.88-2004&res_dat=xri:pao:&rft_dat=xri:pao:article:4011-1976-046-00-000023
Abstract:	The substance of this essay concerns Sewa Mende beliefs and practices relating to and involving hale, a Mende word that is usually glossed as 'medicine' or 'fetish'. In the first part examples are given of hale as medicine and hale as fetish; in the second part hale is examined as secret society: the author considers the sande rituals as an instance of hale as 'secret society'. Conclusion: sande hale as a secret society is an illusion created by the ritual separation of the sexes. Fig., notes, ref. Résumé en français.