Folk Medicine

If you have had the opportunity to be with your elders and spend any length of time with them, you must have surely heard stories about ‘their times’. How in ‘their times’ people were so much nicer, how in ‘their times’ things were not so complicated, and how in ‘their times’, they did not need to run to the doctor for every little health problem. They cured everything, from teeny-tiny problems to serious ills, with just a little bit of this and a little bit of that.

Well, the little bits of this and that are what Folk Medicine is all about. Living in the modern world, even a little child knows who a doctor is and is aware of what modern medicines are. But how many of us, children and adults alike, know exactly what Folk Medicine is. This articles aims to educate people about folk medicine, its origins, and its uses in today’s world.

What Is Folk Medicine

The earliest forms of medicine, much before present day drugs, pills, and medications were even envisaged, comes under the category of folk medicine. Perhaps you may know folk medicine as herbal medicine, home remedies, alternative medicine, or traditional medicine; but whatever you choose to call it; they all refer to the same thing - Folk Medicine.

Today we call folk medicine as an alternative form of medicine. But there was a time when folk medicine was the only kind of medicine there was. There were no doctors with medical degrees or diplomas, nor were there any hospitals and drugs. Wise men, their knowledge, and their unwavering faith; these are the things that were present and are what folk medicine is made up of.

Thus, to sum it up, folk medicine can be called a form of medicine that originated many thousand years ago, and depends on naturally found substances, such as plants, animals, and other things for medicinal and healing purposes.

Folk Medicine and its Forms

There are basically two main forms of folk medicine. Here’s looking at both of them:

1) Healing by Faith or Belief: This form of folk medicine worked because of the immense faith and belief that people had in their own powers and that of nature. When faith healing is undertaken, various objects that have religious significance are usually used in the healing process. A combination of the powers of such objects, man’s own abilities, nature’s force, and God himself; all these come together to cure a sick person and make him whole again. Some examples of this form of folk medicine are:

• Exorcism: The Bible, a cross, holy water, and prayers are the things used to exorcise a person’s demons. Someone who does not believe in these practices would find it very difficult to understand exorcism. But not everything that can’t be explained by Science is untrue, and the same holds true for this type of healing by faith, which is a form of folk medicine.
   

• Healing by Touch: Healing people, simply by touching them, is another type of faith healing. Such practices work on the basic principle that everything has energy, and by transferring this energy to a sick person by touching them, you can treat their health problems. Without a doubt, faith is a big part of the healing equation.

2) Healing using Herbs, Plants, and Animals: This form of folk medicine is understood and has been practiced by many people over the centuries. The different parts of various plants, fruits and seeds of herbs, barks of trees, blood of animals, various body parts of different animals, sand and earth; all these natural things are used in folk medicine because of their excellent therapeutic health benefits and healing properties.

Learning Folk Medicine

The wise men of old had some uncanny abilities and talents. Just by looking at a sick person, without even touching or examining them, they would know what herbal cure or potion to give them, so as to ease their suffering. More often than not, the remedies would effectively cure the disease and make the person hale and hearty. These people were the proponents of folk medicine and their remedies have stood the test of time till the modern day.

The remedies used by folk healers have been passed down to their children, who in turn passed them on to their children. In this manner, folk medicine cures and remedies have been introduced to each new generation by the previous one. Thus, folk medicine is something that has spread completely by word of mouth and is not something that can be learned in the traditional sense.

Folk Medicine Remedies and Cures

In recent times, there have been some compilations of folk medicine remedies and cures, most of which have been sourced from writings of people who practiced folk medicine. Here are some practical folk medicine remedies; some which have been collected from published works on folk medicine, and some which we have come across from tales told by our elders.

• Boiling and inhaling the leaves and branches of red cedar is known to treat bronchitis.
   

• Rhododendron oil is effective in treating rheumatism.
   

• Boiling the bark of the chokecherry and using it as a tea, is a great remedy for curing pneumonia and treating cough and cold.
   

• Sorghum molasses, onions, and raisins are very good for purification of blood. They help to prevent boils on the skin and also acne.
   

• Asthma and hay fever can be treated by drinking a tea made from sumac leaf.
   

• Shingles can be cured by applying the blood of a black chicken on them.
   

• Eating garlic reduces cholesterol and lowers high blood pressure.
   

• Malaria can be cured with the juice of neem leaves.
   

• The sap from the balsam fir tree is very useful in healing cuts and wounds, when applied locally.
   

• Flowers of the pitcher plant, when crushed and eaten, help to relieve constipation.
   

• To cure a stomach ache or cramps, a tea made from the leaves, stem, and flowers of the violet plant is very effective. The leaf or petal of a violet can also be chewed raw to cure stomach ailments.
   

• A nosebleed can be stopped by pressing a key made of iron, to the back of the neck.
   

• By tying a string around the small finger of the right foot, you can treat a toothache on the left side of your jaw. The same holds true for the left foot and right jaw toothache.
   

• Cranberries are highly effective in treating urinary tract infections.

The above are just some of the many cures and remedies of folk medicine. The validity of folk medicine is something that is always questioned. But as more and more people in the modern world are turning to herbal and home remedies from folk medicine, to treat various health problems, it does seem like, grandma was right after all!