Category Archives: Folk medicine

A Georgian home remedy for the flu

Interviewer: Do you have any special healing practices in your family? 

NJ: Yes. My grandma used to wrap garlic cloves in bread, put a little honey on them, and feed them to me to protect me from the flu.

Interviewer: I can’t decide if that sounds delicious or disgusting to me.

NJ: Oh, believe me, the honey didn’t help. It was still mostly garlic.

Interviewer: When was the last time she fed you this medicine? 

NJ: Not in a long time because I’ve learned how to say no to her, but she continues to try.

Context:

The informant is 22 years old and lives in Tbilisi, Georgia. The conversation was recorded over a video call. He lives in a large home with his parents, two brothers, and his grandma. 

Analysis:

This is an example of folk medicine. This preventative home remedy is meant to protect from the illness. In this case, the grandmother acts as a tradition-bearer and a domestic healer within this large household. The remedy uses ordinary home ingredients such as honey, bread, and garlic, which are common in folk medicine. The remedy has a performance of sorts associated with it. It is always fed by hand from the healer to the receiver. In this way we can think of this simple practice as a caregiving ritual performed by the elder woman of the household.

Tell It to Running Water

Interviewer: What should I do if I have a bad dream? 

MJ: Well, something I do that I was taught as a kid is to tell whatever is mothering me to running water.

Interviewer: Tell it to water? What do you mean?

MJ: Well, you find running water, which can be a river or more commonly a bathroom faucet. And you tell it all the bad thoughts that are bothering you. The water will take the bad thoughts with it, and the bad dreams should stop. I promise you this works. I’ve been doing this my whole life, and I’ve never had trouble sleeping. 

Interviewer: I’ll be sure to try this next time I’m feeling anxious about something.

Context:

The conversation is between me and my grandma. She inherited many such beliefs and practices from her mother, who was Polish. This conversation happened during our weekly phone call. 

Analysis:

This is an example of folk belief because it assumes that anxious thoughts can be transferred, in this case to water, through a symbolic action. The water removes bad thoughts through transference. This practice can be described as apotropaic; it is meant to ward off fear and negative energy. We can choose to disregard this practice as outdated or see it as an analog to therapy of the past. Talking about the problems that are bothering us, even to the water, helps us suppress the immediate alarm system, work through them, and find solutions we wouldn’t otherwise have found.

Georgian Home Remedy for The Cough

Interviewer: Does your family have any strange ways of curing a cough?

IK: Definitely strange. I doubt it cures anything, though. 

Interviewer: Tell me more, please.

IK: Whenever I had a cough as a kid, my grandma used to take a leaf of cabbage, smear honey all over it, and place it on my throat. I wasn’t allowed to speak during this, and it often lasted for an hour or maybe more. 

Interviewer: Wow, that sounds uncomfortable. Was this a common practice?

IK: Not really, only if the cough was very bad.

Interviewer: How did you feel afterwards?

IK: Well, I don’t know. I love my grandma very much, so I wanted it to work, but to tell you the truth, I think it’s the not talking part that made my throat feel better.

Context:

The informant is 23 years old, and she grew up in Tbilisi, Georgia, where she currently lives. The interview was conducted over Zoom and lasted about 15 minutes. This practice was passed down to her grandma matrilinearly. She was skeptical towards healing practices her grandma used to perform but said that she might do the same for her own children one day. According to her, the true merit of these practices is to calm the child down and reassure them that everything is being done to make them feel better. 

Analysis:

This is an example of folk medicine or home remedy. The cure functions as a caregiving performance. Even if the remedy is medically uncertain, the informant experienced touch, attention, and reassurance from her grandmother. It is worth noting that her skepticism towards the practice does not remove the folklore value, and she plans on herself becoming a tradition-bearer by performing the same healing ritual for her children. Such domestic healing rituals are common, where typically an elder woman becomes the healer.

A Strange Hangover Remedy

Interviewer: Do you have any special hangover cures you can recommend? 

GM: Promise not to judge me? It’s a little strange. 

Interviewer: Promise!

GM: My friend taught me the method some time ago. After my 20th birthday, I woke up so hungover that I wished I hadn’t been born at all. My friend, who was in a similar situation, suggested a method his dad had taught him that never failed to cure him. Here is the recipe: you take the cold pickle jar from your fridge, drain the pickle brine, mix it with sparkling mineral water, and add one shot of vodka. That’s it. You drink the whole drink in small sips, and you’re cured.

Interviewer: That sounds like it might just work. 

GM: It totally does! I don’t know whether it’s the electrolytes in the pickle juice, the carbonation, or the hair of the dog, but this concoction took me from a walking corpse to a semi-functioning human, so I can’t complain. 

Interviewer: Wow, I will make sure to try it next time I find myself in a similar situation. 

GM: You should, and you know what? The taste isn’t even that bad. I actually kind of like it. 

Context:

The informant is a 22-year-old male from Georgia. He is a student at University College London, and he has been living in London since he was eighteen. He is a social drinker and utilizes this cure method after particularly heavy nights of drinking. The origin of the recipe is unknown past the dad of the resplendent’s friend.

Analysis: 

Hangover cures are examples of folk medicine. Hangover cures such as this one are passed down through social networks rather than formal medical authority. It can also be noted that they are more prominently passed down between men. Cures are a natural extension of drinking culture, and they therefore must exist all around the world in variation. The performative and sensory aspects of this practice additionally add merit to them being a folk practice. The making of the drink, the strange appearance, and the strange taste and texture are all part of the performance.

Thai Yellow Balm

Interviewer: So does your family have any special home remedies for when you have a cold? 

KB: Do you mean something not necessarily medically accepted? 

Interviewer: Something traditional that may be passed down in your family. Have you yourself inherited any such practices, or do you remember any from your childhood? 

KB: Let me think about that … Oh, I know, the yellow balm my grandma always uses. 

Interviewer: The yellow balm? 

KB: Yeah, it’s a Thai thing that my entire Thai side of the family swears by. 

Interviewer: Oh, interesting! How is it used?

KB: It’s basically a panacea, at least according to my grandma. Any time I hurt myself as a kid or had a flu of some sort, my grandma used to apply this balm to my chest or anywhere I had hurt myself. 

Interviewer: Do you use it to this day? 

KB: Not really. I doubt it does anything, but as a kid I actually kind of liked it when my grandma made me apply it because it smelled nice. 

Context:

The informant is of half Indian and half Thai descent. She described her childhood experience with a popular Thai medicine made from Zingiber cassumunar (Plai), turmeric, and menthol.

Analysis:

We find this trope of a “cure-all” balm with often secretive recipes in many cultures around the world. More often than not, they are made from herbs that have a long history of use in folk medicine. I remember my Georgian grandma had a version of her own, and she insisted my mom, who is very skeptical towards these sorts of things, keep it in the house for emergencies. Despite traditional medicine, such as yellow balm, having questionable medical properties it still plays a significant role as tradition-bearer practices.