‘The Hermit Next Door’: The Role of Eremitism/Asceticism in Contemporary Shamanic Healing Practices in North-East Scotland

Based on an ethnographic study of ‘Western’ forms of contemporary shamanism in North East Scotland, the article discusses the significant role that eremitism plays in folk healing systems, particularly in shamanism. The tendency to live an isolated life is not only a key feature of traditional shamanic healing practices, but it can also be found in contemporary manifestations of them. Two such cases are discussed in this article. Terry Mace and Norman Duncan are two contemporary shamanic healers who live and offer services in the wider region of North East Scotland. For different individual reasons, they have self-consciously decided to isolate themselves geographically, living simply and self-abundantly, and leading an eremitic way of life away from materialism and socialising. The article thus focuses on examining the role of eremitism in the life of these two healers in an attempt to highlight the significance of the phenomenon in contemporary shamanisms.

Medicinal Plants Used by Tai Lao Healers in Roi Et Thailand

Background: Local knowledge of herbal medicine in rural communities is rich. This part of cultures plays an important role in societies where knowledge of indigenous medicine and folk healing has been passed down from generation to generation. Most of the knowledge was never written down and much such knowledge has disappeared over time when it was presented orally and through memorization. The objective of this study was to compile knowledge related to medicinal plants used by Tai Lao traditional healers in Roi et province and identify their explicit use in order to preserve the useful wisdom for the people. Methodology: In this study we identify and document medicinal plants and associated ethnobotanical knowledge held by 14 traditional Tai Lao healers. They were selected by snowball and purposive sampling and questioned using semi-structured interviews. Interviews about their knowledge, covered their training, the ailments they treated, the techniques they used, their methods of preparation and, in addition, several healing sessions were observed. During walks in the fields, we searched for the medicinal plant with help from the healers to review and document their availability at each locality and in different habitats around the villages. Use Values (UV) were calculated to estimate the importance of each medicinal plant and Informant Agreement Ratios (IAR) were calculated to understand how widely known the uses were among the healers. Results: We found 146 species of medicinal plants in 127 genera and 60 plant families that were used for medicinal purposes by the 14 traditional healers interviewed. The family with most medicinal plants was Fabaceae (12 spp., 8%) followed by Poaceae (9 spp., 6%) and Zigiberaceae (8 spp., 5%). The most important and widely used medicinal plants were the sedge Cyperus rotundus (UV=0.71) followed by the dicot tree Salacia dongnaiensis (UV=0.64) and the palm Borassus flabellifer (UV=0.42). The most common preparation method was decoction, which was done for 99 species (68%) followed by grinding with water to produce a drink for 29 species (20%). The 14 healers together used medicinal plants to treat 53 specific conditions. Itching had the highest informant agreement ratio (IAR) value among the specific conditions with 0.33 (4 use-reports, 3 spp.). The general category of digestive system disorders had an informant agreement ratio (IAR) value of 0.35 (57 use-reports, 37 spp.) and this category of treatments also had the highest degree of consensus. The most common life form among the medicinal plants was trees (56 spp., 38%), followed by herbs (41 spp., 28%). The medicinal plants were mostly collected in homegardens (60 spp., 41%). The most commonly used plant parts for medicine was the stem which was used for almost half of the species (69 spp., 48%), followed by the roots (54 spp., 37%). The age of the Tai Lao healers varied from 26–87 years. All of them were male. Their age and educations were not correlated with the number of known medicinal plants. The highest number of known medicinal plants was held by a 70 years old healer (55 spp.). Conclusion: Considering the richness of the healers’ pharmacopeia, and the fact that their profession is not being perpetuated, this study points to the urgent need to document the traditional knowledge from the old herbalists before it disappears with the last practitioners in the rural communities.

ACQUISITION OF FOLK HEALING PRACTICES: A PHENOMENOLOGICAL STUDY GROUNDING THE EXPERIENCES OF PARASANTIGWAR IN CAGRARAY ISLAND, PHILIPPINES

For many years, folk medicine has been the resort of many less privileged families who do not have access to modern health care facilities. A parasantigwar is a term coined to a folk healer in Cagraray island, Philippines, a native version of a doctor trained in traditional manner providing indigenous medicinal help in the locale. This study aimed to ground the lived experiences of these parasantigwar on their acquisition of folk healing skills. Phenomenology approach was conducted by immersion and interview to 8 identified parasantigwar through referral sampling technique. Result revealed that (1) apprenticeship to a folk healer in the family and (2) life setbacks of families were grounds which opted the parasantigwar to resort into traditional healing through cultural transmission and motivation by needs deficiency. This resulted to the parasantigwar’s acquisition of practices through (1) passed knowledge and (2) aggregated learned skill. It was concluded that family plays an important role in the assimilation of the folk healing skill where this immediate environment is responsible for the transmission of the observed culture and development of motivation to suffice needs. Further studies need to be conducted to understand healing practices especially to the surrounding islands showing similarity in origins of folk healing practice.

Ravitsejad Siberi eesti kogukondades

The article is based on manuscripts as well as sound and video recordings on folk medicine collected during fieldwork conducted by the researchers of the Estonian Folklore Archives in 1991–2013 from Estonians born and raised in different Siberian Estonian communities. The ancestors of the visited Estonians had either left their homeland in search of land in the last decades of the 19th and the beginning of the 20th centuries or were descendants of those deported and exiled by the Russian tsarist authorities in the first half of the 19th century. Fieldwork at Siberian Estonians in the last decade of the 20th century enriched the Estonian Folklore Archives with invaluable lore material, including the material related to folk medicine. Although the advance of the state medicine system with small hospitals and first aid posts had reached Siberian villages half a century before, and the activity of healers had been banned for decades, the collectors were surprised by the number of healers in villages and the extent of the practical use of folk medicine. The folk medicine tradition was upheld mostly by older women (as was the case also with other fields of lore), which resulted, on the one hand, from the demographic situation, and, on the other hand, from women’s leading position in the preservation of communal traditions. In the older Siberian Estonian communities, which had been established by the deportees (e.g. Ülem(Upper)-Suetuk, Ryzhkovo), it was believed that healing words and skills were available and could be learned by anyone; they were often compared to God’s word. Some people thought that knowledge and skills could only be shared with those younger than yourself. In the villages established by exiles people were considerably more cautious about passing on healing words and the like. In most villages with southern Estonian background, healing charms were kept in secret, as it was believed that when sharing their knowledge, the healers would lose their abilities. It was only at their death’s door that the healers selected their successor. Not all the people who were offered to learn the healing skills were ready to accept the responsibility. The first or last child in the family was thought to have more prerequisites for becoming a good healer. In the first decade of the 21st century, the situation with passing on the healing words and skills had changed considerably in older Siberian villages. Many of the healers had passed away, and there were not enough young people who were interested in continuing the tradition. So the healing skills inevitably concentrated into the hands of a few wise women. Currently, the folk healing tradition in Siberian Estonian communities is fading away, above all, due to the fast aging and diminishing of the communities.

Bioactive Compounds and Antioxidant, Antiperoxidative, and Antihemolytic Properties Investigation of Three Apiaceae Species Grown in the Southeast of Morocco

For a long time, Apiaceae species have been widely employed in the southeast of Morocco for culinary and folk healing purposes. In the current study, we investigated three Apiaceae herbs known as coriander (Coriandrum sativum), celery (Apium graveolens), and parsley (Petroselinum crispum) for their antioxidant, antiperoxidative, and antihemolytic properties. The HPLC-DAD has been used to classify and measure phenolic compounds. The major phenolic compounds studied were p-coumaric, chlorogenic, caffeic acids, luteolin, and quercetin. The polyphenol level was also estimated via Folin–Ciocalteu’s method, aluminium chloride, and acidified vanillin. Parsley showed the highest polyphenol level and, thus, showed potential antioxidant activities demonstrated by DPPH, ABTS scavenging tests, and reducing power (FRAP), as well as TBARS assays. Very strong correlations were depicted among phenol levels and antioxidant assays (R2 ≥ 0.910) and among antihemolytic activity and flavonoids (R2 ≥ 0.927), indicating the implication of phenolic compounds, mainly flavonoids, in the antiradical properties. These finding may prove the traditional use of these Apiaceae species in the management of numerous disorders cited within the Moroccan pharmacopoeia.

Spontaneous Chest Abscess Caused by Salmonella Enterica subsp. Arizonae in the Desert Southwest; A Case Report and Review of the Current Literature

: Salmonella enterica subspecies arizonae is a rare pathogen but has been reported in the literature in immunosuppressed and rarely immunocompetent patients. Most disease states have been reported in animals and reptiles. Human exposure has resulted in a range of complications from skin and soft tissue infections to bacteremia and periprosthetic joint infections. Predisposing factors such as age, comorbidities, and use of Mexican folk healing practices increase the risk of developing an infection. S. arizonae has been associated with gastrointestinal infections in several parts of the country and on rare occasions have been isolated from skin and soft tissues, prosthetic joints, and empyema. Case: This is a unique case of a large de novo chest abscess that developed in a 59-year-old diabetic male from the Southwest region with cultures growing Salmonella enterica subspecies arizonae. This patient presented without predisposing factors and did not appear to be ill at the time of admission. He was treated successfully by aspirating the abscess along with a 2-week course of ceftriaxone intravenously.

Diffraction or Delusion: An Ethnoarchaeological Investigation to the Magico-Medicinal Practices (MMPs) of Mayong, Assam

Magic and Medicine were intertwined in ancient civilization and are acutely embedded in folk healing culture currently. The Indigenous Knowledge (IK) of healing as cultural intangible heritage have been widely discussed by anthropologists, historians and fictional novelists. But within archaeological discourse, these practices have been neglected by the community of archaeologists. Here, the focus has been placed to the ethnoarchaeological investigation of the Black Magic (BM) practices of Mayong, Assam through the re-elucidation of its the material culture and symbolism used during Magico-Medicinal Practices (MMPs) or Magical Practices (MPs). Whereas, the fundamental objective is to critically review the existing archaeological as well as a socio-cultural approach to IK of Magico-Medicinal healing, in which MMPs and MPs have been diminished to the extent of social exclusion.Keyword: Indigenous Knowledge; Magico-Medicinal Practices; cultural intangible heritage; ethnoarchaeological, material culture and symbolism.

Dziedinošās darbības un to veicēji folkloras un valodas liecībās

This article summarizes the various healing-related activities used in the Latvian healing tradition. To explain these activities and describe their performers and specialization, folklore sources and linguistic materials were used. The aim of this article is to demonstrate the diversity of folk healing activities and their names, while also clarifying their nature and use as much as possible. The linguistic and etymological analysis was used to investigate the healing activities and the names of their performers, but folklore examples were used for clarifying the meanings. By studying the healing tradition, the names of medical practitioners were collected from various sources, adding up to over 60 labels. When compiling the report, the representatives of the healing activities were divided into conditional groups according to the type of their main medical activities. Thus, the following groups of healing activities were formed: healing activities using the body, actions with spoken word and blowing, ritual and magic activities, defense techniques and liberating rituals. In addition to the medicinal practitioners who were active in healing, there were also counselors who sought out the causes of diseases through various means and searched for their best remedies. The survey in the article shows that the healing tradition uses diverse and specialized medical terms. However, as the examples show, most of them have used a combination of different practices. The name of the healer in question usually described the skills that were particularly developed and had been used most frequently. During tradition bans, names of healers became more general, and tabooed names were used instead. The general term “healer” has only been naturalized into society after the restoration of national independence.