The Anglo Saxon usage of medicinal treatments was largely rooted in their belief in their pagan gods. The practice of medicine was a combination of folklore, “faith healing”, and other magical means. The Anglo Saxons believed their medicine could cure physical and spiritual ailments. They were very superstitious and believed in magic charms, rhymes, stones, potions, or jewels would protect them from things like evil spirits and the common cold. Things like cattle loss and evil influences were thought to be curable or preventable by things like charms and amulets.
Charms were widely used and covered a ginormous plethora of different ailments and problems. Charms were used to cure people with fevers, skin blemishes, sudden pains, infection, and disease. Charms were also used for obscure, strange reasons, such as, protection from a swarm of bees, and healing unfruitful land. Metric charms were instructions that when preformed, magically healed a disease, or resolved some issue. There was usually some physical action involved such as a movement, or writing certain symbols on certain objects, or saying certain phrases or words so many times. These rituals were all spiritual based and relied solely on “magic” and
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not medicine to heal the sick, or the “spiritually ill”. “The medical procedures and herbal remedies in these Anglo-Saxon medical charms are not based on science, but on other "spiritual" qualities that they were believed to have at the time.” The Anglo Saxons believed the nine herbs had special powers against illness and evil. The first being Mugwort. Mugwort was primarily used to flavor ale. It was believed to be able to promote good dreams when added to a pillow, return vigor when infused with bath water, and give stamina when drunk. The second of the nine was Waybroad. It was called the “mother of herbs” by the Anglo Saxons, and was a tough herb that grew on paths and was very resilient to the weather. It was used to draw out poison, and would stem bleeding in minor cuts. Its application would also ease burns and stings. Watercress, or Stung, as known to the Anglo Saxons, was a common “cure all”. As was Betony. Number five on the list was Chamomile, and it was said to lift spirits, and was known to have antifungal qualities. It was also made into teas. The next on the list was Nettle, and it was used to stimulate appetite. Its leaves had thorns and stung a person when picked so to remedy that, the Anglo Saxons only picked young, thorn-less leaves, and boiled them to rid them of their sting. Nettle leaves were used in stews and were very salty. Crab Apple promoted sleep and renewed energy, the Anglo Saxons also believed it was a deterrent to poison. The next herb of the nine is Chervil. Chervil was said to “restore the will to live”, and the final of the nine was a, now very common culinary herb, fennel. The Anglo Saxons believed that fennel promoted good eyesight, and gave courage and strength. While these nine were not the only herbs used by the Anglo Saxons, they were said to have special status. Amulets were jewelry prescribed to protect against disease, and were used to “repel misfortune or to ensure good fortune”.
Amulets were pieces of jewelry that had had incantation or enchantments placed upon them. Sometimes amulets were made via verbal charms or potions combined with “magical acts”. Anglo Saxon amulets had certain symbols or jewels that represented something, such as Thor’s Hammer on an amulet for strength and protection. During the conversion years of the Anglo Saxons to Christianity, many priests believed that amulets were works of the devil, and purified them by praying the Lord’s Prayer over them and blessing them, cleansing the amulets of evil taint. Amulets were a large part of the Anglo Saxon culture and were worn for varying
reasons.
...uals, even if they don't agree with them. It really falls to nurses to address the situation properly, and effectively ensure that the cultural communication between the doctor and the patient does not break down. Nurses most of all have to communicate with patients in a healing way, even if they do not agree with mystical remedies because the nurse has to recognize that there is nonetheless a function that mystical ritual remedies do serve, even to western medicine: to comfort the patients and their families. Ancient rituals or customs, retained to some extent or respected by western caregivers, can serve to maintain a healing and positive attitude, and as a psycholgocial support which the nurse can provide through respect and symbolic use of non-western cultural myths as a psychological stimulant to assist the healing process and inspire the patient thereof.
In Cherokee medicine, it is believed that councils of animals created diseases in order to avenge the loss of their families and living spaces. The plants, being sympathetic to humans, decided to each furnish a cure for these diseases. It is believed that the spirit of the plant will tell a sick person which one to use to cure his illness.
Supernatural traditions was basically people in the “sixteenth and seventeenth centuries” (Dr.Heffner) who believed that the reason somebody was acting different was the doing of the devil, the supernatural tradition is also known as the “demonological method” (Dr.Heffner) during the stone age they would perform some type of surgery, where they would cut open the victim’s skull and drain the evil spirits out of there brain, “Ancient Chinese, Ancient Egyptians, and Hebrews, believed that these were evil demons or spirits and advocated exorcism” (Dr.Heffner) if after the exorcism the victim still did not show and improvements, the victim was then torture to leave them with a body that was no use for the evil
The medication in the Elizabethan Era was very basic.When horrible diseases came such as the bubonic plague which is also known as the Black Death. They medication back then wasn’t strong enough to fight off the symptoms(Philip Stubbles). The Physicians in this era had no idea where the bubonic plague came from and they were very skeptical about finding a cure. The Physicians started to study patients that had the plague, studying there blood flow to see what caused this disease(Linda Alcin 1).Even though they study their patients they still couldn’t find what had caused this disease the best answer that they came up was to bleed there
The roles Anglo-Saxon women played in their society depended on the status they had in their community. As in most cultures, the roles of women in Anglo-Saxon society included mother, wife, caregiver, and teacher. Because Anglo-Saxon women had many different roles, I will only focus here on marriage, divorce, and their daily life in their society.
and European society scrambled to find a cure to this mysterious disease. This study ponders the effects of medieval methods of treatment on this once ravaging disease.
Daily life was occasionally exceedingly hard to fathom. Medicine was immensely limited, but some methods were tested in hopes of finding a secure lead to restoring health. That fact that there were no antibiotics during the middle ages is what turned the hard times into the absolute most difficult times. ...
Throughout time, mankind has persistently been seeking ways to maintain their health and to cure those that had not been so fortunate in that task. Just about everything has been experimented with as a cure for some type of illness whether physical, spiritual or mental. There has always been evidence of spiritual healing and it will continue to be an important part of any healing process, large or small. In particular, the roots of Native American Medicine men (often a woman in some cultures) may be traced back to ancient times referred to as Shaman. A special type of healer used by the Indians is referred to as a medicine man (comes from the French word medecin, meaning doctor).
To understand folk medicine, we must first understand how folk medicine came about in the Appalachian region. According to Mathews, the Appalachian area, especially Virginia and North Carolina, was one of the first areas of America to be colonized by Great Britain(Euro-Americans). With a thriving population of Native American and African-American culture, folk medicine was able to flourish in the region due to sharing of remedies, herbs, and...
Many people didn’t believe in medicine at all. The most commonly used treatment was prayer. Ordinary people relied on methods their parents and grandparents used, such as lucky charms, magic spells and herbal cures. Some of the herbal cures were quite useful.
The introduction of the supernatural in the Elizabethan-Jacobean mind as human beings, we tend to perceive concepts like “supernatural” as a sort of phenomena beyond scientific explanation, a notion largely identified with religion and belief. It might be portrayed as events or occurrences introduced by powers outside nature. These obscure powers have been, since the start of mankind incorporated in every social and literary interpretation, the presence of the supernatural is for the most part acknowledged as an unavoidable truth by the masses, and even by the best researchers and scholars, in the Elizabethan and Jacobean times. Throughout the Elizabethan Era, and with the development of science, started the superstitions. The roots of the supernatural can be directly traced from the Celtic tribes of the Bronze Age, the convention of making medicines was given over to women, and hence the old women of this period were distinguished as witches and their medical prescriptions as magic potions.
Aleut traditional medicine before the 1800s was treated in various spiritual and practical ways, after the 1800s many of these methods of healing were lost. Aleutians most healing medicine came from medicine women/men and shamans. Shamans were the aboriginal specialists in dealing with the supernatural. They cured the sick and were requested in cases of difficult childbirth (Ransom 348). Shamans were link to the spiritual world, and because they had this link to this world they were able to determine the illness and treat it accordingly. As with many Aleut traditions, shamans and medicine men/women vanished with contact with Russians and European nations.
With the start of the high Middle Ages came a notable increase in witch-prosecution and an undeniable fascination with all things occult, the devil, demons and the obliteration of such heretics. While the great strife between Catholicism and Lutheranism began the number of those accused of consulting with the devil, and condemned of the heinous crime of witchcraft began to rise. This was due in part of the teachings of the reformers and the church itself, refuting any argument against witchcraft and its infection of traditional catholic, obedient society. In Luther's catechism, the control held by the devil over man's body and soul, life and property, wife and children amounts almost to omnipotence. According to Sister Antoinette Maria Pratt the interest in the occult increased in the 1200s as “Satan became, their whole lives through, the dominant idea. This was particularly true of the fifteen and sixteenth centuries, when the doctrines of Luther had permeated all classes of society and were producing their terrible resu...
Sharpe, James. Instruments of Darkness: Witchcraft in Early Modern England. Paperback Edition. Philiadephia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1997.
Before the year 596, almost everybody had strong pagan beliefs. In 596 missionaries had begun to attempt to convert the Anglo-Saxons to Christianity. By the year 650, almost all of England had converted to Christianity- at least in name. Although almost everyone claimed to be strong believers in Christ and the church, most still held on to their pagan beliefs and traditions. No matter what they believed, everyone applied their religious beliefs to their everyday life. (Chin et al. Glencoe Literature, p.35).