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Trust, talk and touch in Balkan folk healing
Social Science & Medicine (1982)
|January 1, 1985
Summary
Folk healing in the Balkans, particularly in Serbia, shows that trust, communication, and touch in the patient-practitioner relationship are crucial for positive health outcomes. This anthropological study highlights the effectiveness of traditional healing methods.
Area of Science:
- Anthropology
- Medical Anthropology
- Folk Medicine
Background:
- Long-term anthropological fieldwork in the Balkans (Serbia, Macedonia, Bulgaria).
- Focus on traditional healing techniques and patient-practitioner dynamics.
- Sociocultural context of oral transmission of healing wisdom.
Purpose of the Study:
- To illustrate the importance of patient/practitioner relationship convergence in folk healing.
- To analyze the treatment of erysipelas ('the red wind') in Sumadija, Serbia.
- To explore the role of communicative modes in ritual psychomancy.
Main Methods:
- Anthropological fieldwork and case study analysis.
- Description and analysis of folk healing for erysipelas.
- Examination of sociocultural factors influencing healing outcomes.
Main Results:
- Shared communicative modes (trust, talk, touch) are essential for folk healing efficacy.
- Ritual psychomancy, driven by these modes, facilitates positive outcomes.
- Peasants perceive folk pharmacology as secondary to the ritual cure.
Conclusions:
- The patient-practitioner relationship is paramount in traditional Balkan healing.
- Cultural responses to illness are linked to physiological responses, mirroring Western behavioral modification.
- Women's ritual roles in a patriarchal society are significant in folk healing practices.