Madagascar's Witch-Doctors Talk to the Dead (Article)

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Madagascar's Witch-Doctors Talk to the Dead
(http://today.reuters.com/news/newsAr...DOCTORS-DC.XML)

Tue Jan 25, 2005 12:34 PM ET

By Tim Cocks IFOTAKA, Madagascar (Reuters) - Manahira Mahateraka communicates with the dead.

By scattering dried seeds across the ground and arranging them into astrological formations, the 73-year-old regularly calls up ancestral spirits and asks them questions.

If they feel like it, they will answer him.

Using their wisdom he can prescribe a remedy for a serious illness, tell you a good day to build a house, end a run of bad luck or cast a spell on someone to make them fall in love with you.

Manahira is one of Madagascar's numerous witch-doctors -- known as ombiasi -- who still practice throughout the Indian Ocean island but are especially common in its remote South, where Manahira's village of Ifotaka lies......