Miraculous Healing Narratives of Kalmyks: Analyzing Field Recordings of 2023

Introduction. The article examines some 2023 narratives recorded in Kalmykia from informants who had recovered from various ailments with the aid of folk healers or who had witnessed such facts. The recorded accounts contain information about individuals with folk medical knowledge and skills, about diagnostic techniques and treatment methods, about medicines of plant, animal and mineral origin — the stories of miraculous healing being the leitmotif of those oral testimonies. Goals. The study investigates individual facts of traditional medicine preserved in the people’s memories in the form of tales, recollections, stories considered hereinafter as narratives. Methods. So, the word ‘narrative’ denote a text recorded at the time of its oral reproduction by the informant, a summary of past events in the time sequence and to the extent how it was preserved in the memory of each particular narrator. The recording procedures involved a number of practical methods instrumental in conducting informal interviews and observations to obtain new empirical material and answers to specific questions pertaining to the research topic. Results. Our efforts aimed at identifying the desired material revealed that various regions of Kalmykia are still represented by efficient individuals possessing certain traditional medicine knowledge and skills. The recorded oral narratives testify to real cases of ‘patients’ who had turned to folk healers with health disorders, describe a variety of employed treatment methods that did prove success. The paper suggests folk knowledge about ancient healing methods has not lost its significance to date, and can successfully coexist with contemporary academic medicine. The warnings and prohibitions presented in oral narratives are as important nowadays to preserve, develop, and transmit traditions relating to human health.

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