Kalmyk Cultural Heritage Project (TRADITIONAL MEDICINE/HEALING METHODS)
| Created: | 2015-02-07 19:01 |
|---|---|
| Institution: | Department of Archaeology and Anthropology |
| Description: | Methods employed by folk healers are varied and eclectic, consisting of herbalism, medicinal diet advocacy, massage, magical objects, as well as shamanic and Buddhist elements such as pulse treatment, prayers, cleansing rituals, and divination. Magical objects include medicinal stones, metals, animal bones, meteorite fragments, silver and copper coins, sticks, rosaries, lamps filled with oil, a Buddhist bell and vajra, statues and depictions of deities, etc. As a repository of diverse knowledge, the institution of folk healers employs a number of assumptions about the causes of illness or misfortune. For example, depending on the patient, sometimes folk healers work on the assumption that illnesses are caused by the dissatisfied or angry spirit of a deceased relative. Once the needs of this spirit are satisfied – for example, by offering food if the cause of the spirit’s dissatisfaction happens to be hunger – the patient is expected to return to health. Another healing method is used when a child becomes frightened or psychotic. Firstly, the head of the child is covered with a white sheet. Then a piece of melted lead is poured into a bowl with cold water held by another person above the head of the child. When the lead cools down, the folk healer takes it out to read for the shape(s) which indicate what the fear was – for example, a dinosaur or a dog. Afterwards, the shapes are destroyed with a hammer, signifying the destruction of the cause of fear or phobia. The child is advised not to watch cartoons with dinosaurs or keep away from dogs. Magical objects such as meteorite fragments (called ‘dragon’s arrow’), animal bones, and saigak horns are used to cure various tumors and bone growths.
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Media items
This collection contains 74 media items.
Media items
Alexandr Tarancheev, Healing Methods and Incantations
Alexandr says that Kalmyks used various medicinal objects in healing, including a snake’s horn and lead (which is used to treat frightened people). Kalmyks have a custom to bury...
Collection: Kalmyk Cultural Heritage Project (TRADITIONAL MEDICINE/HEALING METHODS)
Institution: Department of Archaeology and Anthropology
Created: Sun 28 Apr 2019
Alexandra Sangadzhieva, Shurgan Lama, Folk Medicine and a Rosary
Alexandra says that one day her son went to see Shurgan lama. During the session the lama said to him that the wheel in his car had a problem. Indeed, when her son went out to...
Collection: Kalmyk Cultural Heritage Project (TRADITIONAL MEDICINE/HEALING METHODS)
Institution: Department of Archaeology and Anthropology
Created: Sat 12 May 2018
Alexei Naranov, About Curing Sick Children with Coins
Alexei talks about how copper coins collected from the ground were used by folk healers to cure sick children.
Collection: Kalmyk Cultural Heritage Project (TRADITIONAL MEDICINE/HEALING METHODS)
Institution: Department of Archaeology and Anthropology
Created: Mon 7 Aug 2017
Anatoliy Safinov, About Traditional Medicine
In the past, Kalmyk milk tea and a soup made of sheep’s neck were used as medicine. Since many illnesses among the Kalmyks were connected with cold, or exacerbated by catching a...
Collection: Kalmyk Cultural Heritage Project (TRADITIONAL MEDICINE/HEALING METHODS)
Institution: Department of Archaeology and Anthropology
Created: Sun 27 Sep 2015
Anna Bembeeva, About Healing Methods
Collection: Kalmyk Cultural Heritage Project (TRADITIONAL MEDICINE/HEALING METHODS)
Institution: Department of Archaeology and Anthropology
Created: Sun 16 Jun 2019
Anna Mandzhieva, About Luugin Sum (A Dragon's Arrow)
Anna relays a story she heard from her father-in-law who claimed to have found a luugin sum (a dragon’s arrow). There is a belief that only those who are supposed to find it, find...
Collection: Kalmyk Cultural Heritage Project (TRADITIONAL MEDICINE/HEALING METHODS)
Institution: Department of Archaeology and Anthropology
Created: Mon 15 Jun 2015
Badma Ochirova, About the Healing Properties of Hare's Fat
Badma says that when her family lived in Siberia her grandmother collected hare’s fat. It is good for both burns and frostbite. In Siberia people also drank hare’s fat and that of...
Collection: Kalmyk Cultural Heritage Project (TRADITIONAL MEDICINE/HEALING METHODS)
Institution: Department of Archaeology and Anthropology
Created: Fri 19 Feb 2016
Baira Goryaeva, About Traditional Healing Methods
Baira talks about two healing methods, namely khorglzh tsutgkh (pouring lead) and amnya dolig (substitution ritual).
Collection: Kalmyk Cultural Heritage Project (TRADITIONAL MEDICINE/HEALING METHODS)
Institution: Department of Archaeology and Anthropology
Created: Wed 19 Sep 2018
Bembya Lidzhiev, Healing Methods and Ghost Stories
Collection: Kalmyk Cultural Heritage Project (TRADITIONAL MEDICINE/HEALING METHODS)
Institution: Department of Archaeology and Anthropology
Created: Sun 16 Jun 2019
Boba Kokueva, About Traditional Healing Methods
Collection: Kalmyk Cultural Heritage Project (TRADITIONAL MEDICINE/HEALING METHODS)
Institution: Department of Archaeology and Anthropology
Created: Wed 17 Jan 2018
Boris Dochkaev, A Ritual to Remove Fear
Boris talks about how to perform a ritual to remove fear in children by melting lead.
Collection: Kalmyk Cultural Heritage Project (TRADITIONAL MEDICINE/HEALING METHODS)
Institution: Department of Archaeology and Anthropology
Created: Wed 18 Jul 2018
Boris Dochkaev, Fortune-Telling with a Stick
Boris shows how to do fortune-telling using a stick.
Collection: Kalmyk Cultural Heritage Project (TRADITIONAL MEDICINE/HEALING METHODS)
Institution: Department of Archaeology and Anthropology
Created: Wed 18 Jul 2018
Bosya Barzueva, About a Dragon's Arrow and a Snake's Horn
Bosya says the following: A ‘dragon’s arrow’ falls on earth with lightning and disappears into the ground only to resurface in 9 years. It is used to cure sick people. In 1928 my...
Collection: Kalmyk Cultural Heritage Project (TRADITIONAL MEDICINE/HEALING METHODS)
Institution: Department of Archaeology and Anthropology
Created: Tue 7 May 2019
Bosya Ochirova, About Traditional Medicine
Bosya talks about how she found a luugin sum (a dragon’s arrow). It looks like a small metallic object with a sharp end.
Collection: Kalmyk Cultural Heritage Project (TRADITIONAL MEDICINE/HEALING METHODS)
Institution: Department of Archaeology and Anthropology
Created: Mon 11 May 2015
Bulgun Mankirova, About Traditional Medicine
Collection: Kalmyk Cultural Heritage Project (TRADITIONAL MEDICINE/HEALING METHODS)
Institution: Department of Archaeology and Anthropology
Created: Thu 17 Aug 2017
Bulyash Chumudova, About Traditional Medicine
This video features an interview with Bulyash about traditional healing methods.
Collection: Kalmyk Cultural Heritage Project (TRADITIONAL MEDICINE/HEALING METHODS)
Institution: Department of Archaeology and Anthropology
Created: Tue 16 Jun 2015
Chimdya Anyasheva, About Traditional Medicine and Divination
Collection: Kalmyk Cultural Heritage Project (TRADITIONAL MEDICINE/HEALING METHODS)
Institution: Department of Archaeology and Anthropology
Created: Mon 1 Apr 2019
Danara Dordzhieva, About Healing With Snake's Horns
Collection: Kalmyk Cultural Heritage Project (TRADITIONAL MEDICINE/HEALING METHODS)
Institution: Department of Archaeology and Anthropology
Created: Thu 22 Mar 2018
Danara Dordzhieva, Folk Healing Methods and Mystical Stories
Collection: Kalmyk Cultural Heritage Project (TRADITIONAL MEDICINE/HEALING METHODS)
Institution: Department of Archaeology and Anthropology
Created: Thu 22 Mar 2018
Dolgan Lidzhiev, An Interview
Collection: Kalmyk Cultural Heritage Project (TRADITIONAL MEDICINE/HEALING METHODS)
Institution: Department of Archaeology and Anthropology
Created: Mon 27 Nov 2017