ABSTRACT
This chapter is concerned with the privileged possession of knowledge by traditional healers and the potential power that this possession offers. In accord with a similar perspective on the acquisition of knowledge, it sets out to discover how traditional healers in Mashonaland, Zimbabwe, learn. The chapter identifies when they establish their empirical orders and in relation to what fundamental codes. There is a wide variety of practice amongst healers. The norm is used as a yardstick with which to measure individual claims to healing powers. Many healers refer patients to clinics and hospitals staffed by Western-trained personnel. The many networks linking healers and the people could be utilised in the interests of the wider population. Stall-owners proudly claim knowledge of the far greater number of medicines than most healers have. The process of becoming a healer involves much more than the acquisition of knowledge about flora and fauna.
