The Work of the Traditional Healer

Traditional Healers and Modern Doctors

In most urban and suburban areas throughout the world, sick people are taken to a
doctor’s office or to a hospital for treatment. But among tribal and village people in
many countries, patients are taken, instead, to a local healer. This person is a
combination of a doctor, a priest, and a psychologist. Some of his or her folk methods
are similar to those of a doctor, but most are very different. The difference in methods
is a result of the fact that disease –to the modern, scientific mind- is viewed as
something natural; it is caused by viruses, bacteria, and other small things that we
can’t see without a microscope. By contrast, in much of the world disease is considered
to be something supernatural; in other words, sickness is not caused by something
physical but instead is a result of deep anger, broken religious laws, the hatred
enemies, and so on. A physician knows how to treat a specific disease. A traditional
healer, however, treats the whole person –and often the patient’s family and friends as
well.

Prevention of Disease
Of course, there may be no need for treatment if people know how to take care of
themselves to prevent sickness. A modern physician might tell patients what to eat,
how much to exercise, when and how to relax, and the like. A traditional healer, on the
other hand, might tell patients to wear amulets –special necklaces for protection
against bad spirits. Nevertheless, in both villages and urban societies, people do
become ill and sometimes need medical help.

The Diagnosis
The first step in any treatment, of course, is the diagnosis: The doctor or the healer has
to find out why the patient is ill and decide what to do about. For the diagnosis, both
ask about symptoms. (Is the patient complaining about headaches? Stomachaches?
Insomnia? (Skin rash?) But the similarity in methods ends there. The doctor’s next
step is to give blood test, take X-rays, etc., while the healer might use supernatural
methods. Healers might ask patients about their dreams, use astrology to find the
cause of the problem in the stars, or go into a trance (a condition of deep concentration
in which they don’t function normally) in an effort to contact spirits or other beings
outside the world.

The Cure
After the diagnosis comes the cure. In modern medicine, this solution usually means
one or more of the following: the same methods that are used for prevention (healthful
food, rest, exercise), perhaps warm baths or massage, drugs, or surgery. Likewise, folk
medicine includes some of the same cures. Two of the most common are exorcism and
soul hunts. Exorcism is based on the belief that disease is caused by bad spirits. Thus,
in an exorcism ceremony, the healer performs a number of traditional activities to take
the evil beings out of the victim’s body. Songs, dances, and religious prayers are part of
any exorcism, and soul hunts include them as well. In these ceremonies, the healer
tries to persuade the victim’s souls, which are believed to have left their bodies, to
return.

A Typical Ceremony
The Ndembu people of Central Africa believe that illness is often the result of the anger
of a relative, friend, or enemy. This emotion, they say, causes a tooth to enter the body
of the person who is target of the anger and to create disease. When the healer decides
which body part contains the evil tooth, he calls together the victim’s relatives and
friends to watch a ceremony, at the end of which he “removes” it from the patient’s
throat, arm, leg, stomach, etc. Although the patient and the villagers know what has
happened –that the tooth has been hidden inside the healer’s mouth the whole time,
the patient is often cured. The Ndembu ceremony is typical of treatments around the
world, in which stones, insects, or small spears are taken out of sick people. Despite
scientific evidence that disproves the effectiveness of such methods, the fact remains
that the treatments are often successful, and many villagers prefer to be cured in this
way than by a modern physician.

The Success of Traditional Healers

Scientists ask how traditional healers can actually be successful in their treatments
and why they are so popular. The answers probably lie in a combination of the
following reasons. First, supernatural ceremonies are symbolic, and the people who
participate in them believe deeply in the symbols. Even Western physicians agree that
patients with deep faith –belief in God, their doctors, the drugs they take, images, or
symbols –will regain their health faster than patients with little hope. Second,
ceremonies may be effective because people come together for a common goal; patients
see how many people in their communities care about the cure. In addition, these
communal meetings provide socially acceptable opportunities for the people of the
village to express what they feel. Social and psychological problems can be solved along
with the physical ones of the sick person. Fourth, scientists theorize that the trance
parts of the ceremony produce certain chemicals in the body, which then work to help
cure the disease. Finally, many of the healer’s natural drugs, which come from his or
her surroundings (a nearby forest, jungle, or desert), have been found to be medically
effective. Scientists are fascinated by what they learn from the methods of traditional
healers.