- Main Piece: Rubbing a blend of Honey, “aajma” and hot water on your stomach, and allowing it to sit for 15 minutes will relieve a stomach ache caused by “gas”
- Informant Background:
- What is it: A remedy for gas
- Where did you learn it: My mother used to treat my stomach aches caused by gas in such a way.
- Would you rather be treated this way, or with medication from a pharmacy? This way, it is better to not put foreign chemicals in your body. This is all homeopathic.
- Context of Performance: Medicinal Purposes
- My Purposes: It is very common for the older generation of India to find more comfort in homeopathic treatment. This is the form of medicine they grew up with, especially my grandparents who have only known of homeopathic treatment until the last 20 years of their life due to their upbringing and living in a small village. Thus it is understandable that my grandfather would have so many homeopathic remedies for all different kinds of illnesses.
Category Archives: Folk Beliefs
Cancer Remedy
- Main Piece: Drinking a blend of Turmeric, Garlic and Honey every day can cure cancer
- Informant Background:
- What is it: It is a cure for Cancer. in fact, it is seen as a cure for all health abnormalities.
- Where did you learn: I heard rumors of the incredible healing powers of this blend when I was growing up in my village, however it was only after I read several books on homeopathy that it came to my attention what this blend was actually capable of.
- Do you believe that it works? Absolutely
- Then why do doctors not prescribe it? Because their is no money for them to make in prescribing such a homeopathic treatment.
- Context of Folk Belief: Medicinal Purposes
- My Thoughts: I have been told by my mother and my grandmother about the healing properties of Turmeric, however I do not believe that it can be a cancer-curing process. I have no doubt that it helps your body maintain equilibrium, and that it is also healthy to intake (garlic and honey have also been widely accepted as benefactors for health), however I do not believe it’s power to be that vast. I believe that homeopathic books have exaggerated the power that they possess.
Cold Remedy
Context: My informant first told me this remedy when I was sick with bronchitis. For collection purposes, I asked her about the remedy again and recorded the interview.
Interview Transcript:
Informant: When I was little and I got sick, and I had a runny nose, my grandpa would give me a bowl of brown stuff with ginger in it, and he goes, “Drink this. It’s boiled cola with ginger, and it’ll make you feel better.” And I’d drink it, and he’d tell me to eat all the ginger, and I do, it’s really spicy, and then a couple days later my nose isn’t runny anymore.
Me: Do you think that the remedy helps you?
Informant: Sure. It also tastes pretty good.
Me: It does. How old were you when your grandpa told you about it?
Informant: Three or five?
Me: And was this something that, um, runs in the family? Or did he learn it as a cultural thing?
Informant: Most Chinese people know it.
Me: What type of person would you normally share this with? Anybody, family members, friends?
Informant: People who don’t think I’m crazy.
Me: Do people usually react badly when you tell them about it?
Informant: Hmm… See, I haven’t tried it with anyone who might think I’m crazy.
Me: I see. So it’s more of a self selecting type thing?
Informant: Sure.
Me: How do you think it compares to other cold remedies?
Informant: It tastes better. And I don’t have to swallow any pills.
Analysis:
This remedy is meant to be both enjoyable and healing. Ginger flavored cola is more pleasant to drink than cough syrup, and my informant commented on its good taste. Hot liquids, such as tea and soup, are also commonly consumed by people with sore throats and coughs. This recipe also makes use of the spiciness of ginger to open one’s sinuses. According to the informant, the recipe is most often known by those of Chinese heritage and is commonly used by people within that demographic. My informant commented that she does not share this remedy with those she believes would react skeptically to it. The remedy has not yet gained prominence within Western medicine.
Folk Remedy: Iodine
Context: The informant, who is Armenian, and I were having a conversation on April 24th, the anniversary of the Armenian genocide. She shared this Armenian folk remedy which makes use of staining skin with iodine with me during this conversation.
Interview Transcript:
Informant: The most ridiculous, like some of the Armenian remedies, like I can see them working, but this one makes… no sense. Like, and it’s been done to me since I was a child. Any ailment you have, whether it be a fever, whether you have a lump on your nose, whether you have warts… For some reason, they truly believe… this… does something for you. Like it chemically does something for you, even though it makes no sense. They take pure iodine, the liquid form. They stain your skin, on your chest and your back, in a hashtag. And… you leave it on you. And they keep redoing it on a twenty four hour basis. And supposedly, after you do that a number of times, your ailment is supposed to completely go away. Disclaimer: it has never worked for me.
Me: What’s the rationale behind it?
Informant: There’s none. I don’t know what it is. They just, they truly believe… I think it’s actually a remnant of a time when Armenians were Pagans. When they believed that there were, you know, demons and um… spirits and all those things. And so I think they believed that the hatch-mark in iodine would… I’m sure back then they had a different chemical, but the hatch-mark is supposed to ward away the evil things. So if there was something lingering in your body, or if there was some… ailment or problem in you, the hatch-mark would deflect it, and it would leave your body.
Me: So it’s more about the shape and not the iodine itself?
Informant: Yeah… I think the iodine is just an instrument because it stains. Iodine stains your skin really well, and it’ll stain it for a while. And that’s the point. Um… because I’m sure they… I mean, I’m sure they could have used henna just as easily. It’s just the fact that it stains your skin, and it has to be the hatch-mark shape on your front, and on your back.
Me: So then like… who would do that to you?
Informant: Um… just whoever’s taking care of you. A mother would do it. A mother… Fathers never touch their kids. You know, a father doesn’t really pay attention to the child’s upbringing, until they’re of a certain age where they can do an internship or start pursuing jobs or they’re in highschool and need life advice or whatever. But the mother’s the primary caretaker… of a child.
Me: So that holds true in Armenia?
Informant: Yeah. That’s… ’til this day. It has not changed.
Analysis:
This remedy is an example of a piece of folk medicine that has been passed down through families for generations. My informant does not believe the remedy works for her, though her parents continue to practice it. The remedy is used to treat a variety of ailments and is not specific to one illness.
Irish Proverb
Context:
The informant and I were having a conversation in my apartment, and the topic of our families was brought up. I asked him if his parents or relatives had shared any interesting stories or sayings with him, and he shared this proverb with me.
Interview Transcript:
Informant: I mean, this is just… uh, like a saying, so it’s quite short. Um, but one Irish uh… okay, one Irish saying that I really like is: “The mouth often is what breaks the nose.” Should I maybe explain some of it?
Collector: Yes.
Informant: The idea is that, uh, the reason why someone might get into a fight and then have their nose broken is because of running their mouth. Um, actually, it’s kind of interesting that a lot of Irish proverbs have to do with this kind of loose speaking, like, maybe from drinking. Uh… being careful about that.
Me: So who did you hear this from?
Informant: I think from my… Well… My mother is less aware of these things than my grandmother. Yeah, um… She often… Um… We’d see her during different holidays. Things like that. She would also have like, you know, writing cards for us and write some poetry, and she would have like a little thing that she would say. And it would be just a little funny thing.
Analysis:
This proverb espouses the idea that one should think carefully before speaking, so as to avoid saying something regrettable or angering somebody. The informant’s explanation of the proverb’s meaning plays off of the stereotype that Irish people drink a lot of alcohol and therefore need to be cautioned against behaving recklessly while drunk.