Healing

Folk and spiritual healing, said as tradition and never as medical advice.

Traditional healing joins remedy, ritual and relationship. Healers of many kinds are said to treat the body, the family and the spirit together: the curandero in Mexico and the Andes, the sangoma in southern Africa, the hakim in the Islamic world, the Ayurvedic vaidya, the Korean mudang and the Siberian shaman. This page describes these as traditions, not as medical advice. Illness needs real medical care. Healing is also the intent most often exploited, so the page states its limits plainly.

How tradition frames illness

Many traditions treat illness as a matter of balance, relationship or disturbance, not only of the body. A sickness may be linked to an offended ancestor, a broken taboo, soul loss, envy, or a spirit. Treatment therefore includes consultation, confession, offerings, cleansing and a family gathering. Healers describe the aim as restoring a person's place in the community. Examples include the sweating, singing and plant rites of the Americas, the chanting and massage of Southeast Asia, and the Ayurvedic and Unani systems of South Asia, each with its own theory and texts.

Healers and training

Healers are called, apprenticed or hereditary. A sangoma is described as called by ancestors, often after an illness, and trained under a senior. In many places, healers are women, midwives and elders, whose standing does not come from a licensed degree. Governments have set up registers: South Africa recognised traditional health practitioners by law in 2007, and India supports Ayurveda through its AYUSH ministry. The ritual side is often described as being as important as the remedy, since attention, ceremony and support from family are part of the experience.

Working with medicine

Many people use traditional and clinical care side by side. Some healers refer patients to clinics and some campaigns in Africa have trained them to do so. Problems arise when ritual replaces treatment: delayed care for serious illness, harmful substances, and bans on medicine have cost lives. The World Health Organization supports research on traditional medicine while insisting on evidence for safety and effect. Patients also say the healer sat with them for hours, gave time and attention, and spoke the local language, which busy clinics may not manage.

Fraud and abuse

Fake healers exist everywhere: sellers of miracle cures, practitioners who charge to remove a curse, and exorcists who beat or starve people with mental illness. In several countries the courts have prosecuted deaths during exorcism. Scholars separate what communities value in healing, such as attention and meaning, from claims about cure, which should be tested. None of this removes the need to see a doctor for serious or lasting symptoms, and people should not stop prescribed treatment because of a ritual or a remedy.

Healing on EveryJaadu

The entries written up so far, best known first.

RegionSouth Asia Southeast Asia East Asia Central Asia and the Caucasus Middle East North Africa Sub-Saharan Africa Europe North America Latin America and the Caribbean Oceania

KindTradition Rite Charm Oracle Substance Being Figure Text Illusion Belief

WhoShamans Folk healers Priests and ritual specialists Witches, sorcerers and cunning folk Diviners and readers Mediums and the possessed Ceremonial magicians and alchemists Households and ordinary people Stage magicians Scholars and sceptics

BeliefHindu and Tantric Buddhist Jain Muslim and Sufi Jewish Christian Sikh Zoroastrian Shinto and Taoist Indigenous and shamanic African and Afro-diasporic Pagan and Neopagan Esoteric and occult Folk and village custom Secular and stage Other traditions

OccasionWeddings and betrothal Festivals Birth and childhood Death and remembrance Harvest, farming and weather New year Initiation and coming of age Illness and misfortune Journeys and voyages Everyday use

StandingLiving Revived Fading Historical Legendary Performed

OrderBest known A to Z Newest Living first

🇺🇸 United States and 5 moreMojo bag A flannel pouch holding charms for protection and luck in African American Hoodoo traditionCharm · Protection · Healing Living

🇮🇳 India and 5 moreFountain of Youth A legendary spring said to reverse aging and cure illness, appearing in myths across the world.Belief · Healing · Change and initiation Legendary

🇺🇸 United States and 4 moreRainmaking Efforts to induce rain through technology, ritual, or prayer.Tradition · Protection · Healing Living

🇺🇸 United States and 2 moreSéance A gathering to communicate with spirits, ranging from religious services to stage performances.Rite · Speaking with spirits and the dead · Healing Living

🇺🇸 United States and 3 moreSandpainting A ritual art of pouring colored sand to create temporary images for healing or spiritual teachingTradition · Healing · Speaking with spirits and the dead Living

🇺🇸 United StatesNavajo medicine Traditional healing practices of the Navajo people focused on restoring harmonyTradition · Healing · Protection Living

🇭🇹 HaitiBaron Samedi A Haitian Vodou spirit of the dead who also controls healing and resurrection.Being · Healing · Cursing and harm Living 🇺🇸 United StatesBraucherei A Pennsylvania German folk healing tradition using prayers and gestures to cure illness and remove curses.Tradition · Healing · Protection Fading

🇺🇸 United States and 3 moreHoodoo A spiritual tradition of the African diaspora in the American South using herbs and charms for protection and justice.Tradition · Protection · Healing Living

🇺🇸 United States and 1 moreOjibwe religion The traditional spiritual practices of the Ojibwe people of North AmericaTradition · Healing · Luck and prosperity Living

🇺🇸 United States and 1 moreMarie Laveau A New Orleans priestess and herbalist who led Louisiana Voodoo in the nineteenth centuryTradition · Healing · Protection Historical

🇺🇸 United StatesDianic Wicca A female-only pagan tradition honoring the Goddess and women's experienceTradition · Protection · Healing Living

🇺🇸 United States and 1 moreCalifornian white sage A California shrub used by Indigenous peoples for food, healing, and ritual cleansingSubstance · Protection · Healing Living

🇺🇸 United StatesFolk healer An unlicensed community member who provides healing care using local plants and traditional knowledge.Tradition · Healing · Protection Historical

🇺🇸 United States and 2 moreLouisiana Voodoo An African diasporic religion practiced in Louisiana from the 18th to early 20th centuriesTradition · Healing · Protection Historical 🇺🇸 United StatesThe Long Lost FriendDer lange verborgene Freund A Pennsylvania German grimoire of folk remedies and magical charms published in 1820.Text · Healing · Protection Historical

🇺🇸 United States and 5 moreNeoshamanism A modern spiritual movement adapting shamanic techniques for Western seekers outside their traditional cultures.Tradition · Healing · Change and initiation Living

🇺🇸 United States and 5 moreNeoshamanism A modern spiritual practice adapting shamanic techniques for Western seekersTradition · Healing · Speaking with spirits and the dead Living

🇺🇸 United States and 1 moreNew Thought A spiritual philosophy linking mental states to physical health and prosperityTradition · Healing · Luck and prosperity Living

🇺🇸 United States and 5 moreSpiritualist church A worship service led by a medium to communicate with the deceasedTradition · Speaking with spirits and the dead · Healing Living

🇺🇸 United StatesJoy of Satan Ministries An occult movement combining theistic Satanism with esoteric and extraterrestrial loreTradition · Power and authority · Speaking with spirits and the dead Living

🇺🇸 United StatesShamanism among Alaska Natives Traditional spiritual practices of Indigenous peoples in AlaskaTradition · Healing · Seeing and foretelling Fading

🇨🇦 CanadaMistapewmistâpêw (ᒥᐢᑖᐤ) A spirit-being of the Cree peoples, known as the Great Man or Bigfoot.Being · Protection · Healing Living 🇺🇸 United StatesLaw of attraction A New Thought belief that focused thoughts draw matching experiences into lifeBelief · Healing · Luck and prosperity Living 🇨🇦 CanadaPinga An Inuit goddess of the hunt and medicine who oversees caribou herds and souls.Being · Healing · Cursing and harm Historical

🇺🇸 United StatesNew England vampire panic A folk response to tuberculosis involving the exhumation and burning of organsBelief · Protection · Healing Historical

🇺🇸 United StatesMedicine man A traditional healer and spiritual leader within Indigenous communities of the Americas.Tradition · Healing · Speaking with spirits and the dead Living 🇺🇸 United States and 3 moreAlaska Native religion Traditional spiritual practices of the Inuit, Yupik, and Aleut peoples of AlaskaTradition · Healing · Luck and prosperity Historical

Photo credits on this page

The small pictures above come from Wikimedia Commons under free licences. Some are cropped to fit.

Folk healer: calliopejen, CC BY-SA 2.0, source
Mistapew: Alarichall, CC0, source
Louisiana Voodoo: I cropped, original authors are Ridpath, John Clark, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
Neoshamanism: Carptrash, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
Fountain of Youth: Lucas Cranach the Elder, Public domain, source
Rainmaking: George Catlin, Public domain, source
Séance: Unknown author, Public domain, source
Sandpainting: Mnolf, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
Navajo medicine: Edward S. Curtis, Public domain, source
Baron Samedi: markbenecke, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
Hoodoo: Hoodoowoman, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
Ojibwe religion: Ryan Hodnett, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
Marie Laveau: E. W. Kemble, Public domain, source
Dianic Wicca: Jean-Baptiste Tuby I (Italy, active France, Paris and Versailles, 1635, Public domain, source
Shamanism among Alaska Natives: Balkanian`s word, Public domain, source
Californian white sage: Stan Shebs, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
New England vampire panic: no credited author, Public domain, source
Medicine man: Smallbones, Public domain, source
Joy of Satan Ministries: Unknown author, Public domain, source
Spiritualist church: Jim.henderson, CC0, source
New Thought: Nyttend, Public domain, source
Mojo bag: Liza Khomenko, CC BY-SA 4.0, source