Medieval Superstitions & Medicine

Use the following websites to start your research:

1. http://listverse.com/2014/03/03/10-completely-uncanny-superstitions-from-the-middle-ages/
2. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/tvandradio/8913709/Tony-Robinson-on-the-top-fivesuperstitions-that-gripped-medieval-Britain.html
3. http://www.stylist.co.uk/life/13-strange-superstitions
4. http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/health_and_medicine_in_medieval_.htm
5. http://listverse.com/2013/07/31/10-bizarre-medieval-medical-practices/
6. https://www.aimseducation.edu/blog/medieval-medical-practices-still-use-today/
After skimming the websites above, choose the 1 superstition AND the 1 medical
practice that intrigue you the MOST. Continue your narrowed research to learn the
specific details of each. Compile a list of at least 10 facts about each. Bookmark the
website(s) where you found your information on your Pearltrees account.
Superstition:
1- In medieval Britain, parents sometimes believed that their child had been taken
away by the fairy people and substituted with a changeling. There were a number
of tests to find out
2- One was to put a shoe in a bowl of soup in front of the baby: if it laughed, showing
it understood the joke, it was a fairy
3- if you pretended to try to make a loaf of bread in an eggshell in front of the child
and it giggled, it wasnt human
4- Suspect babies would be held over a fire to drive the fairies out, or abandoned.
5- One belief is that trolls thought that it was more respectable to be raised by
humans, and that they wanted to give their own children a human upbringing
6- Beauty in human children and young women, particularly blond hair, was said to
attract the fairies.[4]
7- a child born with a caul (head helmet) across their face is a changeling, and of fey
birth
8- Some stories tell of changelings who forget they are not human and proceed to live
a human life. Changelings which do not forget, however, in some stories return to
their fairy family, possibly leaving the human family without warning.
9- The human child that was taken may often stay with the fairy family forever.
10Some folklorists believe that fairies were memories of inhabitants of various
regions in Europe who had been driven into hiding by invaders. They held that
changelings had actually occurred; the hiding people would exchange their own
sickly children for the healthy children of the invaders

Medical Practice:
1. Drinking. The mid stream of the first morning urine is taken. Begin with two-three ounces and increase it to
your personal, comfortable level.
2. Fasts. Fasts with urine and water are practiced for one or more days. J.W.Armstrong, a renowned urine
therapist from England, lets his patients fast for up to 45 days. Fasts are only recommend under trained, medical
supervision.
3. Enemas. The easiest way to take an enema is with a syringe containing two-three ounces of urine. The urine
is kept in the colon for as long as possible.
4. Gargle. Urine is kept in the mouth 20-30 minutes, or as long as possible, for gum problems and other lesions
of the mouth and tongue.
5. Douche. For any vaginal discomfort or cleansing, a solution of Golden Seal and urine will give comfort and
healing.
6. Eye and ear drops. Any pain, burning and tiredness in the eyes may get relief with a few drops of urine
placed into the eyes. The ears also benefit greatly if receiving a few urine drops for ear pain and discomfort.

7. Urine sniffing. This is the most effective way of treatment for any sinus congestion and upper respiratory
problems.
8. This isnt quite as insane as it seems: urine is sterile when it leaves the body and may have
been a healthier alternative than most waterwhich came with no such guarantee of cleanliness
9. Thomas Vicary, recommended that all battle wounds should be washed in urine. In 1666, the
physician George Thomson recommended urine to be used on the plague
10. "Urine is known to contain minute amounts of proteins made by the body, including
medically important ones such as growth hormone and insulin. There is a $500-million-a-year
market for these kinds of urine ingredients.