A folk healer is an unlicensed person who practices the art of healing using traditional practices,

herbal remedies Herbal medicine (also called herbalism, phytomedicine or phytotherapy) is the study of pharmacognosy and the use of medicinal plants, which are a basis of traditional medicine. Scientific evidence for the effectiveness of many herbal treatments ...

and the power of suggestion.

Origin

The term "folk" was traditionally associated with medical and healing practices that weren't explicitly approved by the dominant religious institution. People who didn't seek help from an approved priest or religious figure would seek the help of the local folk healer. Folk healers, despite their technical illegitimacy, were often viewed as being more involved with the healing process and made their patients more comfortable than other practitioners. With modern medicine being preferred, some look towards folk healers to get consoled from the sacred use of traditional medicine.

Region-specific names and practices

Although common across the globe, each region has its own unique cultural practices and names for their folk healers.

US Appalachian Mountain region

''Granny women'' are purported to be

healers Alternative medicine refers to practices that aim to achieve the healing effects of conventional medicine, but that typically lack biological plausibility, testability, repeatability, or supporting evidence of effectiveness. Such practices ar ...

and

midwives A midwife (: midwives) is a health professional who cares for mothers and newborns around childbirth, a specialisation known as midwifery. The education and training for a midwife concentrates extensively on the care of women throughout their ...

in Southern

Appalachia Appalachia ( ) is a geographic region located in the Appalachian Mountains#Regions, central and southern sections of the Appalachian Mountains in the east of North America. In the north, its boundaries stretch from the western Catskill Mountai ...

and the

Ozarks The Ozarks, also known as the Ozark Mountains, Ozark Highlands or Ozark Plateau, is a physiographic region in the U.S. states of Missouri, Arkansas, and Oklahoma, as well as a small area in the southeastern corner of Kansas. The Ozarks cover ...

, claimed by a few academics as practicing from the 1880s to the 1930s. They are theorized to be usually elder women in the community and may have been the only practitioners of

health care Health care, or healthcare, is the improvement or maintenance of health via the preventive healthcare, prevention, diagnosis, therapy, treatment, wikt:amelioration, amelioration or cure of disease, illness, injury, and other disability, physic ...

in the poor rural areas of Appalachia. They are often thought not to have expected or received payment and were respected as authorities on herbal healing and childbirth. They are mentioned by John C. Campbell in ''The Southern Highlander and His Homeland'': The ''Foxfire'' books, consisting of 12 original books, is a collection of written entries that have been comprised to preserve

Appalachian culture Appalachia ( ) is a geographic region located in the central and southern sections of the Appalachian Mountains in the east of North America. In the north, its boundaries stretch from the western Catskill Mountains of New York, continuing sou ...

. Inside these books, readers can find a variety of recipes, how-tos, and descriptions of what it was like to live in rural Appalachia before technology was widely adopted. These books have been viewed as a source of the very intimate daily life of rural Appalachians throughout history and are believed to perpetuate the values and belief systems of the people of the time, and, arguably, of the region today. ''Foxfire'' volume 11 specifically elaborates on common herbal remedies and healing procedures of historic Appalachia, all of which had been created and passed down through families and folk healers. Book 11 also details tasks such as how to grow a successful garden,

beekeeping Beekeeping (or apiculture, from ) is the maintenance of bee colonies, commonly in artificial beehives. Honey bees in the genus '' Apis'' are the most commonly kept species but other honey producing bees such as '' Melipona'' stingless bees are ...

, and the effective and proper ways to preserve food. Folk medicine in Appalachia has historically included non-traditional methods of treating

skin cancer Skin cancers are cancers that arise from the Human skin, skin. They are due to the development of abnormal cells (biology), cells that have the ability to invade or metastasis, spread to other parts of the body. It occurs when skin cells grow ...

. In the early 1900s, for example, a Virginia man named Thomas Raleigh Carter became renowned for his prowess in healing skin cancer in addition to his midwifery. Although he was a minister, his treatments focused on the application or ingestion of specific herbs and plants rather than on faith in a higher power. Carter kept his formula secret, even from his immediate family, and treated many people for lesions and skin conditions believed to be cancerous.

Gendered profession

Historically, women have taken on roles of communal folk healers. While some men learned the practices associated with healing, women tended to dominate the field because of their association with child care and at-home remedies. Women were assigned the responsibility of caring for sick loved ones because of their historic restriction to other professions and tasks in society. Particularly in African-American communities, due to their extended

marginalization Social exclusion or social marginalisation is the social disadvantage and relegation to the fringe of society. It is a term that has been used widely in Europe and was first used in France in the late 20th century. In the EU context, the Euro ...

from society, it was not unfamiliar to have a designated female healer in the community to provide healing and medicinal treatment because of their exclusion from white medical practices and institutions. Women throughout history were typically the ones who were concerned with the physical demands of pregnancy and childbirth. A large majority of the earliest forms of folk healing focused on a woman's body during these life stages. Because of this, folk healers have come to be associated with women's

fertility Fertility in colloquial terms refers the ability to have offspring. In demographic contexts, fertility refers to the actual production of offspring, rather than the physical capability to reproduce, which is termed fecundity. The fertility rate ...

, something the religious institutions at the time grew dissatisfied with. The men who dominated these religious spaces wanted to have the main control over fertility as a way to exert their power. However, folk healers did not stop their work with pregnancy and childbirth and often became very well-versed in the needs and potential complications that could come from childbirth in early history. Since folk healers refused to abandon this area of medicine, they were recognized as a negative force by religious institutions. This is why folk healers were often viewed as

witches Witchcraft is the use of magic by a person called a witch. Traditionally, "witchcraft" means the use of magic to inflict supernatural harm or misfortune on others, and this remains the most common and widespread meaning. According to ''Enc ...

and became connected to the earliest forms of

abortion Abortion is the early termination of a pregnancy by removal or expulsion of an embryo or fetus. Abortions that occur without intervention are known as miscarriages or "spontaneous abortions", and occur in roughly 30–40% of all pregnan ...

care.

References

Sources