Past or Present
Superstitions are part of our daily lives. We deal with these superstitions as we go on with our everyday lives, whether we are fully aware of it, or not. Even with the progress we have with modern science and technology, it is still very hard to shake of these superstitious beliefs. Mainly because it is so deeply rooted in our culture, and has been with us almost since the beginning of time. The adamant belief of the vast majority with these superstitions, also aid into the etching these beliefs in our daily lives.
Before the arrival of the Spaniards, or any colony to the country, the Philippines had its share of various medicine men ranging from hilot to manghihilot, manghihila, magtatawas, and the familiar, herbolario. During the time, these practices were considered to be effective mainly because the doctors of the past were dedicated to treating their patients. The skill of alternative healing was passed on from generation to generation, often in the form of apprenticeships. The kind of medical assistance these healers provided were quality service and the results were even greater. The kind of medicine that the early medicine men provided were even considered to be more advanced by the ones in Europe, says Edward Bourne (26). The number of healers that the Philippines had at the time was one of the reasons why traditional medicine helped improved the health of the people.
As time passed, and technology has improved, most of the rural areas in the Philippines have been isolated and thus, are stuck in the past with what is now considered to be outdated forms of medication. In addition to this, bizarre superstitions regarding medicine have arisen, as well. Superstitions are still as popular as it were back the...
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Hippocratic medicine is one of Greece’s most ancient and lasting contributions to science and medicine, unlike today physicians depend more on equipment’s when diagnosing patients. Physicians in the Hippocratic era had nothing to depend on but where forced to create a journal system which explained the steps to curing based upon their common scientific theories of their time. Hippocrates is seen as the father of medicine even in our modern era, even though he lived before the birth of Christ. He worked on the assumption that all diseases and illnesses had a natural cause as well as a natural cure rather than supernatural one. It was Hippocrates who finally freed medicine from the shackles of magic, superstition, and the supernatural. (Greek Medicine: Hippocrates 2014)
It is important to consider that the Hmong had their own way of spiritual beliefs and religious healing practices. However, after the community decided to exclude Lia from the applications and advantages of modern medicine, the condition of the young girl worsened (Parish, 2004, p. 131). It was not at all wrong to humanize medicine, but apparently, as a multi-cultural community, the Hmong people became too ignorant and indignant over the applications and benefits of modern medicine applications. Staying firm over their religious affiliations and conduct, the maximum effect of healing became misaligned and ineffective. This was the misunderstanding that should be cleared in the story. There would have been probable results if the Hmong community chose to collaborate with the modern society without needing to disregard or compromise their own values and religious affiliations and
Illness was treated in many ways but the main goal was to achieve a sense of balance and harmony.(p82). Applications of herbs and roots, spiritual intervention, and community wide ritual and ceremonies were all therapeutic practices.(p71). “It was the healer who held the keys to the supernatural and natural worlds and who interpreted signs, diagnosed disease and provided medicines from the grassland, woodland, and parkland pharmacopoeia.”(p18). The healers knowledge of herbs and roots and ways to administer and diagnose had been passed down from generation to generation.(p85). Healers stood as an advantage for the Aboriginal people. “Trust and a personal relationships would naturally build between the patient and the healer.”(p77). This must have ...
reason for the superstition and the rituals that come along with them are they are one of
2) Selin, Helaine, 1946-, and Hugh Shapiro. Medicine across cultures : history and practice of medicine in non-Western cultures. Kluwer Academic Publishers, 2003. Book Index with Reviews. EBSCO. Web. 31 Jan. 2010.
In fact, Native American medicine men belief is firmly grounded in age-old traditions, legends and teachings. Healing and medical powers have existed since the very beginning of time according to Native American stories. Consequently they have handed down the tribe's antediluvian legends, which i...
It seems that people these days have a lot of superstition from sports teams to the mysterious friday the thirteenth. Mark twain's Character Jim from The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn also had many including ones about snake skins, Body hair, and the supernatural.
...ing the future of a disease process, physicians gathered confidence and trust from their patients and were elevated in status above traditional healers.
Looking through these times, medicine slowly advanced over the past centuries. Native Americans where the main source of these new advancements and helped contribute to the Europeans and colonial medicine. Although remedies and herbs were their from of medicine during these early times this was there way of restoring health and helping medicine evolve to where they are today.
Despite the rapid advances of modern medicine, a large portion of developing countries points to herbal remedies as to curing ailments and other sicknesses needing medical attention. People around the world have been using herbal remedies since humans have existed on earth. They have used herbs, plant, and roots during their healing rituals in curing both physical and spiritual illnesses. Countries such as Africa, Asia, and the Mariana Islands still use traditional treatment as their primary healthcare. Guam, one of the most developed islands in the Mariana Islands, has been using traditional remedies since the Spaniards conquered the ancient Chamorros. Ancient Chamorros used plants found around the island to cure the sick and identified the people who used traditional remedies as suruhanus for men and suruhanas for women. They have come to believed that suruhanus or suruhanas as the doctors we have today. Other than the suruhanus and suruhanas, ancient Chamorros also had another type of healers: the makahna and kakahnas. Makahnas and kakahnas, believed by the Chamorros, are shamans who had the connection between in both physical and spiritual worlds, and had magical powers. Reading about these healers had caught my interest in doing an in dept research about the suruhanus of Guam, especially after stumbling upon Ann M. Pobutsky’s “Suruhanas: A Profile of Traditional Women Healers in the Village of Umatac, Guam.” Although stumbling to a chapter based on traditional healers was just pure coincidence, I have come to a decision of researching about these people. Doing this research had helped me identify the major factors leading to a sense of spiritual and ritual identity of Guam. It had aided me to recognize the cultural uniqueness...
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.
Origins of superstition are deeply rooted in history and have a variety of reasons for the appearance, such as psychological, religious and economic aspects. Despite the fact that superstitions had different origins, according to Smith (2008), their function was to express the ideological associations of people and to indicate fears and anxieties of society at that time. To begin with, the psychological foundation of superstitions is the most deep-seated. It refers to the lack of knowledge and the impossibility to explain occurring events because of this. As Lindeman and Aarino (2007) argue, this fact can be compared with an understanding of the world by a child. As authors said, this understanding is explained by developmental psychologists by a notion of a core knowledge, which means process of cognitive learning about physical, psychological and biological entities and processes without any explanation, help or instructions. For instance, Lindeman and Aarino (ibid) recognize that animated subjects, such as ...
In conclusion, superstition in the past and today does indeed impact humans and their behavior. When the human brain is unable to comprehend a phenomenon, people turn to superstition to secure his or her self from unexplained fear. Superstitious people can be affected by this in a positive or a negative way. The only person that determines their fate when it comes to superstition is the person themselves.
For centuries people have been fascinated by these superstitions. Superstitions have bewitched, bemused and befuddled the minds of millions, billions of innocent people. Because believing superstitions is simply showing ignorance and fear of the unknown. This is why so many people have fallen into the traps and beliefs that are superstitions, taboos. These superstitions have been deeply influential in history. You look back in history and you’ll find them 600, 700 back in time.
When a typical Filipino thinks about the influences of the Spaniards, Religion and Christianity would immediately come to mine. Since without a doubt, the spreading of Christianity was their main priority of coming in the Philippines. However, often shadowed are the contributions of the Spaniards in other aspects in Philippine culture. Specifically, the idea that the Spaniards; particularly, the friars brought the natives the whole new world of “culture”. Hence their name culture heroes of the Filipinos.