Folk healers
Curanderos, sangomas, hakims and the village healer, who mix remedy and ritual.
Folk healers are the people communities turn to when someone is ill: the curandero and curandera of Mexico and the Andes, the sangoma and inyanga of southern Africa, the hakim of the Islamic world, the vaidya of India, the bone-setter, the village midwife and the Siberian shaman. They combine remedies, ritual and counsel. This page describes them as tradition, not as medical advice, and illness needs real medical care. They are found in every society and are usually the nearest source of help.
What healers do
A healer listens to a person's story, names the trouble, and prescribes a course that may involve plants, diet, prayer, cleansing, a gathering of kin, or a sacrifice. The framing often covers the family and the spirit as well as the body. Healers are frequently the first and sometimes the only help available in places far from clinics. Treatments often involve plants, massage, steam, prayer, fasting and dietary rules, and the healer's own reputation counts for a great deal.
Who becomes one
Some healers inherit the role, some are called by ancestors, and some train as apprentices. Women are prominent as midwives, herbalists and spirit healers, though status and income often go to male specialists and licensed practitioners. In Latin America, curanderos draw on Catholic saints, Indigenous plant knowledge and Spanish folk medicine. In Ethiopia, the debtera works with scrolls and church learning. Some healers are called through illness themselves, which is described as a mark that they can heal others.
States and doctors
Law treats healers in different ways. India's AYUSH ministry supports Ayurveda, Unani and others. South Africa passed a Traditional Health Practitioners Act in 2007. Elsewhere, healers face police action under witchcraft or quackery laws, and in colonial times many were banned outright. Doctors sometimes work with healers, for instance in HIV outreach in Africa. Healers in some regions are also asked to settle family quarrels, since illness is held to follow from tension in the household.
Harm and caution
Harm can come from delay, from unsafe substances, from sexual or financial abuse of patients, and from fraud. Exorcism of mental illness has led to deaths. Anthropologists add that healing rites can bring comfort and social support that clinics sometimes lack. Anyone with a serious symptom should see a qualified clinician, whatever other help they seek. In places where clinics are far away, a healer may deliver babies, set bones and treat fever, and the quality of that care varies widely.
Folk healers on EveryJaadu
The entries written up so far, best known first.
RegionSouth AsiaSoutheast AsiaEast AsiaCentral Asia and the CaucasusMiddle EastNorth AfricaSub-Saharan AfricaEuropeNorth AmericaLatin America and the CaribbeanOceania
PurposeProtectionHealingSeeing and foretellingLuck and prosperityLove and attractionCursing and harmCleansing and purificationSpeaking with spirits and the deadChange and initiationBinding and oathsPower and authorityWonder and entertainment
BeliefHindu and TantricBuddhistJainMuslim and SufiJewishChristianSikhZoroastrianShinto and TaoistIndigenous and shamanicAfrican and Afro-diasporicPagan and NeopaganEsoteric and occultFolk and village customSecular and stageOther traditions
🇲🇳 Mongolia and 2 moreMongolian shamanismBöö mörgöl
The animistic and shamanic ethnic religion of the Mongol peoples, centered on sky worship and ancestral spirits.Tradition · 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 KingdomCharmer
English folk healers who used gifts or verses to treat natural ailments without chargeTradition · Healing Historical
🇰🇪 Kenya and 1 moreMaasai religion
The spiritual beliefs of the semi-nomadic Maasai people of East AfricaTradition · Protection · Healing Living
🇮🇩 Indonesia and 2 moreDukun
A traditional healer and spirit medium in Indonesian folk practiceTradition · Healing · Seeing and foretelling Living
🇬🇷 Greece and 5 moreCrossroads (folklore)
A junction between worlds where spirits are met and deals are madeBelief · Speaking with spirits and the dead · Cursing and harm Living
🇩🇿 Algeria and 1 moreAhmad al-Buniأحمد البوني المالكي
A medieval Sufi scholar known for works on letter mysticism and talismansText · Power and authority · Seeing and foretelling Historical
🇨🇱 Chile and 1 moreCultrunkultrung
A ceremonial drum central to Mapuche spiritual practice and identity in Chile and ArgentinaTradition · Healing · Protection Living
🇫🇷 France and 5 moreKabbalahקַבָּלָה
An esoteric school of thought within Judaism focused on the hidden meanings of scripture and the divine.Tradition · Speaking with spirits and the dead · Change and initiation Living
🇿🇦 South Africa and 1 moreMutiumuthi
Traditional medicine practice in Southern Africa using plants, animals and mineralsTradition · Healing · Protection Living
🇨🇫 Central African Republic and 5 moreWitchcraft in Africa
Beliefs about supernatural harm and the social responses to accusations across the continentBelief · Cursing and harm · Protection Living
🇨🇩 Democratic Republic of the Congo and 4 moreNganga
A spiritual healer and ritual specialist in Kongo religion and its diaspora traditionsTradition · Healing · Seeing and foretelling Living
🇱🇰 Sri Lanka and 1 moreKataragama templeකතරගම / கதிர்காமம் முருகன் கோயில்
A Sri Lankan shrine shared by Buddhists, Hindus, Muslims and VeddasTradition · Protection · Speaking with spirits and the dead Living
🇲🇲 MyanmarBurmese folk religionNat Worship
Animistic worship of nature spirits and ancestors in Myanmar, often practiced alongside Buddhism.Tradition · Protection · 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
🇮🇸 IcelandGaldergaldr
A Germanic incantation and the written charms derived from itText · Protection · Cursing and harm Historical
🇧🇯 Benin and 5 moreVodun art
Religious sculpture and temple painting from West African Vodun traditionsTradition · Protection · Speaking with spirits and the dead Living
🇰🇭 Cambodia and 3 moreSak Yantសាក់យ័ន្ត
A Southeast Asian tattoo tradition using sacred geometry for protection and powerTradition · Protection · Luck and prosperity Living
🇨🇬 Republic of the CongoNkisi
Spirit containers and power figures from the Congo Basin used for justice and healingCharm · Protection · Healing Living
🇧🇷 Brazil and 1 moreQuimbanda
An Afro-Brazilian religion focused on male and female street spirits for worldly mattersTradition · Protection · Luck and prosperity Living
🇮🇸 Iceland and 2 moreSeiðr
A Norse magic of fate and spirit, practiced by seers and sorcerers in the Viking Age.Tradition · Seeing and foretelling · Cursing and harm Revived
🇲🇽 Mexico and 5 moreWitchcraft in Latin AmericaBrujería
A syncretic blend of Indigenous, African, and European magical practices across Latin AmericaTradition · Protection · Healing Living
🇸🇸 South Sudan and 1 moreAzande witchcraft
A Zande belief that certain people harm others by an inherited power, judged by oraclesBelief · Cursing and harm · Seeing and foretelling Living
🇵🇭 PhilippinesAlbularyo
A Filipino folk healer who uses herbs, massage, and prayer to treat illnessTradition · Healing Living
🇨🇺 Cuba and 2 moreSanteríaRegla de Ocha
An Afro-Cuban religion blending Yoruba beliefs with Catholicism and SpiritismTradition · Protection · Healing Living
🇦🇺 Australia and 1 moreTattoo
A permanent mark made by placing pigment under the skin to form a design.Tradition · Protection · Power and authority Living
🇿🇦 South AfricaSympathetic magic
A magical principle based on imitation and contact to influence the worldTradition · Protection · Healing Historical
🇬🇭 GhanaWitchcraft in Ghana
Beliefs in harmful magic and the social violence that follows accusations in GhanaBelief · Cursing and harm Living
🇰🇷 South Korea and 1 moreKorean shamanismKorean shamanism (Korean: Korean shamanism)
A traditional practice of ritual specialists who mediate between the human and spirit worlds.Tradition · Healing · Protection Living
🇮🇳 IndiaPashupata Shaivismपाशुपत
An early Hindu ascetic school focused on liberation through ritual and devotion to ShivaTradition · Cursing and harm · Power and authority Historical
🇪🇬 Egypt and 5 moreZārزار
A spirit possession tradition and healing ritual in the Horn of Africa and Middle EastTradition · Healing · Speaking with spirits and the dead Living
🇫🇮 Finland and 1 moreFinnic mythologies
The traditional beliefs and spiritual practices of the Finnic-speaking peoples of northern Eurasia.Tradition · Speaking with spirits and the dead · Power and authority Living
🇿🇦 South Africa and 4 moreWitch doctor
A traditional healer who identifies supernatural causes of illness and performs rituals to restore balance.Tradition · Healing · Protection Living
🇮🇱 Israel and 4 moreIsaac Luriaיִצְחָק בן שלמה אשכנזי לוּרְיָא
A sixteenth-century rabbi who founded modern Kabbalah through oral teachings in Safed.Text · Speaking with spirits and the dead · Change and initiation Living
🇿🇦 South Africa and 5 moreTraditional healers of Southern Africa
Practitioners who blend herbal medicine with ancestral divination in Southern AfricaTradition · Healing · Protection Living
🇩🇪 Germany and 2 moreFranz Anton Mesmer
A German physician who proposed a universal fluid of natural energy and founded mesmerism.Tradition · Healing Historical
🇬🇧 United Kingdom and 1 moreNicholas Culpeper
An English herbalist and astrologer who translated medical texts into English for the poor.Text · Healing · Power and authority Historical
🇪🇸 Spain and 5 moreIbn Arabiمحيي الدين أبو عبد الله محمد بن علي بن عربي الحاتمي الطائي
A medieval Andalusian mystic and philosopher whose teachings shaped Sufi metaphysics across the Islamic world.Text · Speaking with spirits and the dead · Change and initiation Living
🇬🇧 United Kingdom and 4 moreCunning folk
European practitioners of folk medicine and helpful magic from the Middle Ages to the twentieth centuryTradition · Protection · Healing Historical
🇺🇸 United StatesBraucherei
A Pennsylvania German folk healing tradition using prayers and gestures to cure illness and remove curses.Tradition · Healing · Protection Fading
🇨🇭 SwitzerlandMagic circle
A ritual boundary drawn or visualised to create sacred space and protectionTradition · Protection · Speaking with spirits and the dead Living
🇺🇸 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 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
🇲🇽 Mexico and 3 moreCurandero
A folk healer in Latin America and the United States who blends indigenous and Catholic traditions.Tradition · Healing · Protection Living
🇺🇸 United StatesNavajo medicine
Traditional healing practices of the Navajo people focused on restoring harmonyTradition · Healing · Protection Living
🇧🇷 Brazil and 2 moreCandomblé
An Afro-Brazilian religion blending West African spirits with Catholic imageryTradition · Speaking with spirits and the dead · Healing Living
🇯🇲 Jamaica and 5 moreObeah
A Caribbean tradition of ritual healing and spell-casting with African rootsTradition · Protection · Healing Living
🇯🇲 Jamaica and 1 moreMyal
An Afro-Jamaican healing tradition rooted in Arawak and Akan spiritualityTradition · Healing · Protection Living
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
- Maasai religion: Dr. Ondřej Havelka (cestovatel), CC BY 4.0, source
- Dukun: Unknown author, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Crossroads (folklore): MiddleOfAfrica, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Ahmad al-Buni: Khalili Collections, CC BY-SA 3.0 igo, source
- Sak Yant: Mikhailovich, CC BY 3.0, source
- Nkisi: MiddleOfAfrica, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Seiðr: John Bauer, Public domain, source
- Witchcraft in Latin America: Unknown author, CC BY 4.0, source
- Azande witchcraft: Unknown author, CC BY 4.0, source
- Santería: Jorge Royan, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Tattoo: Muyayo tattoo, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Sympathetic magic: Marie-Lan Nguyen, CC BY 2.5, source
- Witchcraft in Ghana: SALTN, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Korean shamanism: Hyewon Shin Yun-bok (申潤福: 1758-early 19th century) (혜원 신윤복 (申潤福: 1758-, Public domain, source
- Zār: Emad Nemati, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Witch doctor: Lucjan Wędrychowski, Public domain, source
- Isaac Luria: Louski1, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Traditional healers of Southern Africa: Wizzy, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Franz Anton Mesmer: Unknown author, CC BY 4.0, source
- Nicholas Culpeper: Richard Gaywood, Public domain, source
- Ibn Arabi: Omar.Hafez, CC0, source
- Cunning folk: Midnightblueowl at English Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Magic circle: John William Waterhouse, Public domain, source
- Hoodoo: Hoodoowoman, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Sandpainting: Mnolf, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Navajo medicine: Edward S. Curtis, Public domain, source
- Candomblé: André Koehne, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Obeah: Various, published by David Nutt, Public domain, source
- Mongolian shamanism: Enrique Bendicho, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Cultrun: Universidad Nacional de La Plata, CC BY 3.0, source
- Kabbalah: Joseph ben Abraham Gikatilla, Paulus Riccius, Leonhard Beck, Public domain, source
- Muti: Nicholas Roux, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Kataragama temple: Ghostface Buddha, CC BY-SA 2.0, source
- Burmese folk religion: Wagaung ( talk ), CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Marie Laveau: E. W. Kemble, Public domain, source
- Galder: Bengt A. Lundberg, CC BY 2.5, source
- Vodun art: Fraipont, Gustave (1849-1923), Public domain, source