Abstract
This study explores the role of money in spiritual healing practices, focusing on the moral tensions healers face between their spiritual calling and the need to earn a living, and questioning whether healing has become commodified. Using qualitative methods− including interviews, participant observation, ethnography, digital ethnography, and auto-ethnography−the research draws on data from eight healers and two clients. Fieldwork was conducted in Soweto, with visits to Mpumalanga, Gqeberha, Diagnol Street, and Kwa Mai Mai in Johannesburg, as well as on digital platforms such as WhatsApp, Facebook, TikTok, YouTube, and Twitter.
The findings challenge the common belief that healers are primarily motivated by financial gain. Most healers do not earn enough money to sustain themselves and view their spiritual gifts as a responsibility to help others rather than as a source of income. The study also shows how healers are adapting to modern contexts by using digital spaces for divination, consultations, and the sale of traditional medicines.
Importantly, the study reveals that money in spiritual healing practices carries meaning that extend beyond its economic value. It possesses social and spiritual agency, functioning as a medium through which intentions are transmitted and relationships among healers, clients and ancestors are maintained, repaired, and reaffirmed. Money also operates symbolically, expressing gratitude and moral recognition rather than simple payment for services rendered. Finally, the findings demonstrate that gift exchange and ritual offerings are not exclusive to spiritual healers but are embedded within broader Nguni cultural practices, forming a constitutive aspect of personhood, relational ethics, and collective wellbeing.