The spiritual causes of disease in the discourse of modern folk healers

Anthropologists interested in the therapeutic practices of individuals who claim to have some special and secret knowledge, always record in the discourse of their interlocutors some surprising interpretations of disease, well different than the biomedical ones. During my fieldwork in Belgium, I have met some healers that combined a big variety of healing practices as diverse as catholic prayer treatments, homeopathy, mesmerism, exorcism, aromatherapy, etc. The information I could gather from about forty syncretic healers, enabled me to identify four etiological models.

There are, first, ailments conceived like autonomous beings as if they exist independently of the sufferer’s body, like “things” in itself, things that are said growing, moving, hanging on... Secondly,there are ailments that are interpreted as the consequence of the prolonged exposure to “negative vibrations” which disturb the body’s equilibrium.Thirdly, there are health problems that are considered to be caused by a spirit, a dead man’s soul, who became a spiritual entity, who "sucks up" energy from living beings, like a vampire. There are, finally, some symptoms that are identified like the sign of a spell, caused by the evil thinking of a sorcerer.

These etiological models reveal conceptions of the world and beliefs that do not concern the human body, but a kind of discourse on clumsiness, anguishes and fears of a society towards the technological progress, a religious vision of the man’s place in the cosmos, and the state of social relationships of the cursed patient.

Speaker

Dr. Olivier SCHMITZ, University of Louvain, Belgium

Organisers

Department of Social Sciences, French Institute of Pondicherry

Venue

Jawaharlal Nehru Conference Hall, French Institute of Pondicherry, 11, St. Louis Street, Pondicherry-605 001

Time

16h30