ABSTRACT
In order to undertake an adequate exploration of pastoral counselling in multi-cultural contexts it is necessary, first, to seek some understanding of the nature and meaning of pastoral counselling in different cultural contexts. It is important to realise that the roots of pastoral counselling in many cultural contexts lie in the healing and restorative rituals and arts practised by priest-healers in antiquity. The traditional healer often combined the roles of priest, therapist and physician. He or she was the one to whom folk went in times of need or difficulty. Their expectation was usually that the priest-healer would offer words and rites grounded in culture, world-view and belief, which would be effective in bringing relief or else offering meaning in the midst of trauma. The traditional healer, as such, had to be knowledgeable concerning a wide range of physical, emotional, social and cultural phenomena. Down through the years these healing arts have, in the West, become separated into specialities which in many cases have proved antagonistic to or else suspicious of each other’s abilities.
