Traditional Healing Practices and Its Practitioners: "Women Healers"


KAPLAN M.

MILLI FOLKLOR, cilt.2015, sa.108, ss.189-196, 2015 (AHCI) identifier identifier

  • Yayın Türü: Makale / Tam Makale
  • Cilt numarası: 2015 Sayı: 108
  • Basım Tarihi: 2015
  • Dergi Adı: MILLI FOLKLOR
  • Derginin Tarandığı İndeksler: Arts and Humanities Citation Index (AHCI), Scopus, TR DİZİN (ULAKBİM)
  • Sayfa Sayıları: ss.189-196
  • Anahtar Kelimeler: Healing, women healers, traditional medicine, treatment
  • Ankara Üniversitesi Adresli: Evet

Özet

Articles on the history of healing and myths of different cultures talk about the time where women know the secrets of life and death, and therefore only women can exercise the "magical" healing arts. "Magic" and "Art" emphasis mentioned on many texts about "Healing", in fact tell us a lot about the healing of historical appearance and origin. It is "magical" because in reality folk healers perform treatments which are of "magic" and "religion" origin. Healing is considered to be a form of art, because it. is observed that each of the talented healers turn this to an artistic ritual. Folk medicine healing practices within the field, are treatment methods based on experience and pass from generation to generation. There are "healing" women specialized in public and who are often associated with holiness in this therapy practitioners. Although there is healing in all societies, it also covers variety of beliefs, rituals and people formed around it. Therefore, it also expresses variable meanings and practices in different cultures. This study represents the evaluation of women's historical and cultural perspective with "healer" identity based on "healing" concept. Today "women healers" continue to heal people with their own methods around the world even if materials they use when treating patients and their names in different cultures change. There are basically two reasons for this; traditional medicine's approach to health with mental and physical/holistic integrity and social/historical role of women.