Traditional Homeopathic HEALER versus Modern Allopathic Physician
HEALER Physician
1. Maintains informal, friendly, affective relationship with the entire family
2. Comes to the house, day or night
3. For diagnosis, consults with head of house, creates a mood of awe, talks to all family members, is not authoritarian, has social rapport, builds expectation of cure
4. Generally less expensive than the physician
5. Has ties to the “world of the sacred”; has rapport with the symbolic, spiritual, creative, or holy force
6. Shares the worldview of the patient— that is, speaks the same language, lives in the same neighborhood, or lives in some similar socioeconomic conditions; may know the same people; understands the lifestyle of the patient
1. Businesslike, formal relationship; deals only with the patient
2. Patient must go to the physician’s office or clinic, and only during the day; may have to wait for hours to be seen; home visits are rarely, if ever, made
3. Rest of family usually is ignored; deals solely with the ill person and may deal only with the sick part of the person; authoritarian manner creates fear
4. More expensive than the healer
5. Secular; pays little attention to the religious beliefs or meaning of an illness
6. Generally does not share the worldview of the patient—that is, may not speak the same language, live in the same neighborhood, or understand the socioeconomic conditions; may not understand the lifestyle of the patient
138 ■ Chapter 6
He examined me by asking questions (history); examining my head and hands (palpation and observation); and casting cowrie shells (in-depth examination). He then told me a story, asked me to interpret it, and then, based on my inter- pretation, told me how to treat my “problem.” I visited another Santero in Los Angeles in 2008 and was treated for a knee problem. He massaged my knee with a dark liquid, recited several incantations, and then I was wrapped in a large white sheet, placed in the center of his patio for a limpia (cleansing), and a circle was made around me with alcohol and that was then lit on fire (Figure 6–2). Of course, I relished the treatment, and my knee was actually better for a long time!
■ Ancient Rituals Related to the Life Cycle Today, just as it did in antiquity, religion also plays a role in the rites surround- ing both birth and death. Many of the rituals that we observe at the time of birth and death have their origins in the practices of ancient human beings. Close your eyes for a few moments and picture yourself living thousands and thousands of years ago. There is no electricity, no running water, no bathroom, and no plumbing. The nights are dark and cold. The only signs of the passage of time are the changing seasons and the apparent movement of the various planets and stars through the heavens. You are prey to all the elements, as well as to animals and the unknown. How do you survive? What sort of rituals and practices assist you in maintaining your equilibrium within this often hostile environment? It is from this milieu that many of today’s practices sprang.
Generally speaking, 3 critical moments occur in the life of almost every human being: birth, marriage, and death (Morgenstern, 1966, p. 3). One needs to examine the events and rites that were attendant on birth and death in the past and to demonstrate how many of them not only are relevant to our lives today but also are still practiced. Rites related to marriage are not included in this text but certainly are related, in the long term, to a person’s HEALTH.