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witch doctor |
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witch doctor: see medicine man medicine man, among Native Americans and other traditional peoples as far back as Paleolithic times, a person believed to possess supernatural healing powers. Like the shaman the medicine man was a specialist in spiritual healing. ..... Click the link for more information. ; shaman shaman (shä`mən, shā`–, shă`–) ..... Click the link for more information. . witch doctor 1. a man in certain societies, esp preliterate ones, who appears to possess magical powers, used esp to cure sickness but also to harm people 2. a person who seeks out or hunts witches in some African tribal cultures |
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Yet at the kraal yonder," and he pointed to some huts about two miles away on the hillside, "lives a witch doctor named Zweete. The witch doctor came and built a little fire before the infant, upon which he boiled some strange concoction in a small earthen pot, making weird passes above it and mumbling strange, monotonous chants. The balance of the day and evening was filled with preparation for a great hunt--spears were overhauled, quivers were replenished, bows were restrung; and all the while the village witch doctor passed through the busy throngs disposing of various charms and amulets designed to protect the possessor from hurt, or bring him good fortune in the morrow's hunt. |
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