Causes of Illness and Disease

The Karanga distinguish between four categories of potential causes of illness and

disease. They are spirits, witchcraft and sorcery, socio-moral causes and natural

causes.

Spirits

The Karanga believe in the existence of spirits that are typically invisible and

intangible but who have power to affect the lives of the living as causal factors of

illness and disease: such as ancestral spirits, vindictive spirits, witch familiars and

stranger spirits.