Description
European debates about the theological characteristics of embodiment address issues of mind/body bifurcations as well as mythological notions of “bodies”. I focus in this contribution on indigenous conceptions of healing, which usually reunite mind and body into holistic notions of the embodiment of health. Participant-observation in eastern Kenya as well as a meeting with healers who are also religious leaders in Senegal both demonstrate the importance of embodiment in notions of both illness and health, and bring together spirituality and bodily healing in ways that necessitate going beyond Euro-focused debates on conceptions of religion, the limits of embodiment, and connection to spirituality. Attention to these understandings from Kenya and Senegal have important implications for any exploration of the political theology of the international.
