Primitive healing rituals Flashcards
What does Primitive mean?
Refers to non-medical treatment and does not imply naivety of beliefs
All based on the concept of suggestion
All nurtured by one’s beliefs and expectations
Psychological interactions (rituals) leading to the improvement or cure of an illness
What are rituals?
A set of regulated behaviours expected to bring a desired outcome.
What is the basic goal of a healing ritual?
To bring a cure
They aim at creating a cathartic reaction in the patient
What is catharsis?
Catharsis means purging; whether physical, psychological (emotional) and/or spiritual
ALL primitive healing rituals can only be successful IF…?
The healer must believe in his own power
The patient must have faith in the healer’s power
There has to be social support from the group (for both)
What is disease-object intrusion?
Disease is caused by the presence of a harmful foreign substance
How is a disease-object intrusion treated?
Disease usually removed by Medicine-Man (with his mouth: e.g. the bloody worm )
This technique is part of a more elaborate ritual (involving dances, music and a public audience
What is a loss of soul?
Is a widespread theory of disease that is based on naturalistic observations (eg. sleepwalking, fainting, dreaming)
How is a loss of soul treated?
The soul can be retrieved in different ways:
A shaman (medicine-man) travels to the world of the spirits
Special incantations, rituals
What is possession?
The idea that spirits, often evil, have entered the patient’s body and taken possession of it
Characteristics of the possessed individual:
Physical changes: include voice, language, behaviors, strength and possible anesthetized areas
Psychological changes: include delusions, hallucinations, aggression etc.
Basically, a general loss of identity
What are the two kinds of possession?
Artificial: Done at will and voluntarily
Spontaneous: Occurs outside of will or control
What are the three kinds of spontaneous possession?
Somnambulistic: Involves a possession that spurs depersonalization and amnesia
Lucid: Involves an obsession that becomes a conscious struggle (i.e.: no amnesia)
Circumsessio: possession that imitated a given natural illness (ancestor of psychosomatic and somatoform disorders)
What are the three ways of ridding the body of possession?
Mechanical extraction: through the use of e.g.: Beating, whipping, bleeding, noises and smells (link with Hysteria)
Transference: to another substance, usually another animal
Exorcism: release the possessed body through ritual chants, prayers and incantations
What is the chain reaction of a breach of taboo?
breach of taboo = SIN -> guilty feelings ? illness
What is one expected to do when they have breached a taboo?
Confess (personal, social or cultural) and/or propitiation (appease and regaining status previously held in community)
