Interview:

“I’m from Turkey, there are people called Hoco, who are religious leaders, people go to them as a way to heal their medical problem, problems can be physical problems or like psychological problems, like mental health issues, they would usually go to these people before doctors or after they try doctors and get no results.”

So kinda like a faith healer?

“They believe that these people have mystical powers that allow them to heal people.  They have certain stories that they believe they have djinn inside them.  They bring kids to hoco to remove spirits from the bodies. He uses medical herbs and medicine from nature.”

Background:

When asking about any particular things from his culture, the subject described a type of shaman like healer who is held at a great reverence in the country from where he’s from.  According to the subject, this type of faith healer is very prominent in Turkey, and often are the go-to for any type of ailment.

Analysis:

I couldn’t help but notice the similarities that tie these hoco to traditional practices of medicine.  While the healing with the power of the djinn might be merely a placebo effect, the use of these herbs reminds me much of traditional Chinese herbal medicine.  While many of these practices seem to be outlandish and impractical to foreigners, many of these remedies are from decades of trial and error.  The magic of these shamans are upheld by the religious and wives that keep these legends alive demonstrating an example of old folk traditions.    It was interesting to discover a country that also still practiced it’s ancient forms of healing through herbal medicine.