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Traditional Healing Practices
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Traditional Healing Practices
Traditional healing methods have their origins in a rich cultural legacy and are
fundamental to the nation's people's way of life. Since ancient times, this nation has
employed a variety of conventional remedies as a vital part of its medical care for a wide
range of illnesses. Along with the rise of contemporary medicine, traditional medicine has
experienced significant growth in this nation in recent decades. Traditional healing techniques
have taken on a distinctive role in the health care of individuals residing in distant regions of
the country. In addition to natural medicine, conventional medicinal procedures involve
amulets, offering sacrifices, rituals, incantations, charms, talismans, religious texts, amulets,
and even intrusive physical and mental suffering. This treatment approach is "traditional"
since it has been used for many generations to address various psychological and physical
conditions.
Forms of Traditional Healing
Different techniques constitute traditional medicine, which varies widely among
civilizations and geographical areas. These traditions are sometimes thought to have come
from angels or the divine, have been handed down throughout the ages, and are highly
developed and recorded. Alternative healing forms are oral traditions understood by certain
practitioners and heavily impacted by the surrounding environment and norms. Comparative
research on healing across civilizations has found shared connections despite inclusions
unique to each culture.
In addition to acknowledging and frequently highlighting the mind-body-spiritual
relationship and holding that surroundings and society are crucial components in individual
therapy, the majority, for instance, adopt a holistic approach to treatment. As medical
professionals treating patients in a world growing more interconnected by the day, we will
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probably come across patients who turn to traditional health for treatment while also seeking
conventional Western modern medical treatment.
This paper offers a foundation for culturally aware dialogue about the potential
integration of mind-body-spiritual healing principles into traditional medical care. Using
examples from many healing practices, the paper will emphasize culturally distinctive
techniques and highlight parallels in exploring broad recovery concepts within Traditional
Medicine.
Traditional methods of treatment and their main distinctions
In a rural environment, conventional methods of healing primarily fall into two
categories: (i) religious and (ii) nonreligious;
Religious Healing Methods
Verse readings from religious texts have been employed in religious healing systems
to wish clients recovery; the verses were typically written on paper and distributed as
amulets, or Tabij. Religious phrases were occasionally chanted and blown on the face, water,
and food items, which were then used as sacrifices in honor of God or gods, etc., or for
drinking or eating. The three categories of religious healing methods used in the research
communities were Spiritual, Bhandari, and Kalami. While the practice of spiritual healing
was primarily carried out by supposedly defining a relationship with various sacred beings
and deceased pious ancestors employing the practice of meditation, Kalami and Bhandari
restoration traditionally used scripture or other religious chants in recovery, and practitioners
of these traditions worked as spiritual guides in the society.
Kalami Healing Practice:
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Kalami, also known as Kalam locally, is a healing method recommended by religious
leaders in the Muslim community based on passages from the Quran. This treatment
approach clearly distinguishes between illnesses founded in medicine (physical ailments) and
spiritual problems. According to Kalami healers (Hujurs), they provide healing for issues that
don't have visible signs, such as the manifestation of demonic creatures, the eradication of
black magic, difficulty traveling overseas, infertility, and family conflict resolution. But
occasionally, they also take care of patients sent back from hospitals.
The bodna would shift naturally if the condition were spiritual; if not, it could be
viewed as a physical illness, in which case the patient would be recommended to see a doctor.
Bhandari Healing Practice
In the name of Darbar Sharif (Mausoleum) of Islamic Saint Gousul Azam Baba
(spiritual "Father") Maiz Bachari, located in Bangladesh's Chittagong district, Bhandari
curative technique assisted individuals in overcoming a variety of issues. The Bhandari
healers claimed a supernatural ability to fly silently and reach Heaven if desired. Their
unusual exterior is typically adorned with numerous necklaces, some of which are
constructed of strange materials and believed to hold spiritual significance for them. They
initially identified the illness during meditation with the help of ancestor Baba in their
treatment chamber, which included more strange devices and a chair set aside for Baba. The
Bhandari healing method frequently used a paper purportedly containing Persian texts, but it
was too complex for civilians to comprehend. Water in a vessel was filled with paper. People
held a strong belief that by drinking the water and mentioning Gousul Azam Baba Maiz
Bahandari, they would heal not only physical illnesses like cancer and AIDS but also all
spiritual problems.
Spiritual Healing Practice:
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Individuals were believed to be healed through humans mediating with various holy
beings and religious ancestors; frequently, they received painful therapies and incantations to
ward off the impacts of sorcery, fictitious wicked beings, or greedy and vicious characters.
Locals referred to spiritual healers as "Boiddya." According to the healers, they provided
services for any spiritual issue, including the manifestation of evil spirits, sorcery or black
magic, difficulty traveling overseas, infertility, and settling disputes within the family or the
community. They even frequently handled individuals with complicated and chronic illnesses
who came back from modern medical facilities after their treatments had failed.
The interviews involved the female spiritual healers from the two villages, who were
Buddhists. The healers within the system also attempted to identify the problems in
meditation by singing some words or rhymes in Hindi in an engaging, tuneful manner. They
then pleaded with "Ma"—specifically, sacred beings referring to them as "Mother"—and
other devout ancestral beings to help identify the issue and cure the patient.
The healers gently inquired about the individual's name and the origins of the issues
before diagnosing the various types of difficulties and obtaining the information they needed
to perform contemplation. Spiritual rehabilitation requires a list of treatment tools, resulting
in the process being subconsciously expensive—sometimes substantially more so compared
to the modern diagnosis—despite the low cost of the evaluation and consultation.
Nonreligious Healing Practices
The application of anti-sorcery, "reversed" verses from the Quran or other sacred
works, and the readily apparent curing methods of indigenous plants or animal-derived
substances were all part of the nonreligious healing structure. Specific nonreligious actions
have employed so-called supernatural forces for ill-intentioned and sacrilegious ends,
explicitly harming domestic animals, crops, and the intended targets. Three main categories
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of nonreligious activities were typically accessible in rural areas: home medicine, kabiraji,
and sorcery. Sorcery offered black magic or anti-sorcery for rehabilitation but, on demand,
utilized the purported supernatural power to harm others intentionally. Native medicinal
plants or materials derived from animals served as the foundation for Kabiraji practice.
Sorcery
A sorcerer is someone who, at an individual's covert demand, uses the extraterrestrial
ability to cause damage to others; they can perform anti-sorcery procedures or black magic to
speed up recovery. The sorcerers believed that to access this conventional rehabilitation
method's healing powers, a potential sorcery student would need to adhere to 17 essential
regulations. This made the assimilation of sorcery reportedly tricky. Locals often refer to
sorcery as "Baan-mara." As they worked, saying specific phrases or rhymes, chants, and
antagonistic passages of lore. The sorcerers supposedly healed all kinds of spiritual problems
and eliminated the efficacy of enchantment by another.
Plant/Kabiraji Healing Technique
Referred to as Kabiraji healing, this type of treatment uses medicinal plants, creepers,
herbs, and readily available materials in the area. Both official and informal individuals are
known as Kabiraj. Kabiraj were thought to have effectively treated a few physical ailments by
employing traditional knowledge derived from locally accessible wild plant medicines. The
village had a diverse range of medicinal plants. Over a thousand calculated organisms of
various plants growing along the village's edge were thought to have therapeutic qualities.
Both customary and informal approaches employed these herbs for medicinal use. The
inhabitants in the remote area had incorporated indigenous plants into their culture through
their long history of use in healing practices. Because of this, a sizable portion of those living
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in rural areas still prefers to manage most of their illnesses with the Kabiraji healing
technique, even in this day and age of highly advanced medical technology.
Home Medicine
According to the research, several of the countryside community's residents,
representing each faith, were discovered to be conservative and would instead not visit
conventional physicians or physicians for minor ailments. They referred to home remedies,
which they used as a form of self-medication, and identified herbs, creepers, and other items
they could find around the house. This healing system relied on information passed down
from Native Americans from subsequent generations to generations. Home medical
professionals could identify issues based on their knowledge and experience and manage
minor illnesses on their own, which was an economical option for families.
Services for Disorders Offered by the Traditional Healers
Most village-level medical practitioners made claims of uncanny healing abilities to
convince those to use their services for healing purposes. Through collaborative observations,
the study discovered that they, nevertheless, made use of their charm to identify the
individuals of their patients while giving their verbal histories only a passing glance. Every
healer appeared to be able to distinguish between illnesses that could be treated scientifically
and those that needed to be treated using conventional methods. They typically avoided
treating diseases considered easily treatable by visiting a physician and had distinct physical
manifestations.
It was believed that healers, particularly those who employed religious practices,
could guarantee the cure of illnesses that were invisible, psychological, spiritual, and resistant
to conventional medical center treatment. The complexity of issues that traditional healers
could handle included the manifestation of supernatural forces, black magic or magic,
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resolving disputes, obstacles to traveling overseas, affecting conflicts between families,
incapacity to bear children, pre-obstruction of prying evil spirits, and realization of one's
latent motives. In the countryside, practitioners of Kabiraji and Bhandari asserted that they
made serious efforts to treat every illness, including cancer, diabetes, AIDS, and numerous
other ongoing health issues.
Therapeutic Cultural Environments
Equivalent in conventional methods focusing on medicinal properties. Desires and
principles can challenge and shape how humans and the natural world coexist and work. The
customs, or tikanga, are essential to Māori people because they are the accepted ways of
doing and behaving. Non-Māori people can view cultural and healing environments as a
component of contemporary lifestyles [10]. Apart from that, many rongoā healers talked
about how the landscape needs to be balanced again so that rākau (plants) can develop and be
harvested while also keeping the elements intact. ¯
Similarly to conventional methods, focusing on beneficial desires and principles can
challenge and shape how humans and the environment interact and coexist. Maori places
great importance on their tikanga (customs), which are their accepted ways of doing and
behaving. Cultural and healing environments can be viewed by non-Maori people as a
component of contemporary lifestyles [10]. Furthermore, numerous rongoa healers
mentioned the necessity of restoring the natural equilibrium on the land, permitting the
development and gathering of rakau (plants), and safeguarding the tikanga (customs)
surrounding rongoa. Multiple action areas, such as the construction-related fields, share
similar worries. A salutogenic conduct that connects each person, the community, and the
wider society may create a sense of unity [88]. When environments are designed to promote
an appropriate sense of identity, people report feeling very coherent and at home.
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Conclusion
In rural areas, there is a widespread use of both nonreligious and religious methods of
healing. The fundamental forms of conventional medical systems resemble those of earlier
times. The vast majority of such procedures cater to the essential healthcare requirements of
people living in the study regions, where access to modern healthcare resources is limited and
medical care is costly. In rural areas, people with limited resources and schooling had been
more likely to turn to conventional healers for assistance. The results of this study may assist
with organizing national categories for traditional medical use and create a combined,
affordable healthcare system for Bangladesh's rural population by guiding the creation of an
organized investigation of conventional healing methods in larger contexts.
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