Phytotherapy in the folk medicine of the Pokuttia’s people (in the works of foreign researchers of the second half of the 19th – early 20th centuries)

Author

Trynyak Liliya

candidate of historical sciences, head of the research department of the National Museum of Folk Art of Hutsul Region and Pokuttia named after Y. Kobrynskyi.

Phytotherapy in the folk medicine of the Pokuttia’s people (in the works of foreign researchers of the second half of the 19th – early 20th centuries)

Abstract

Folk medicine is a set of folk knowledge that combines two components: the first is the actual empirical knowledge formed over millennia and based on worldviews, beliefs and observations of nature, while the second is an irrational part that embraces traditional medical and magical ritual actions.

The study of folk medicine in terms of ethnography has begun since the mid-XIXth century, and this branch of traditional culture was the subject of attention of not only domestic but also foreign scholars.

The article covers conventional methods of folk medicine in Pokuttia, the ways of preparing drugs, as well as the latter’s range and application. At the same time, the paper considers the state and development of medicine generally in Halychyna, and particularly in Pokuttia. It is noted that in modern ethnology, there are no specialized professional studies on folk treatment of the Pokuttian inhabitants. The authoress points out that brief information about folk medicine in Pokuttia is observed in the works of Polish researchers Oskar Kolberg, Jуzef Schnaider, Le- opold Wajgiel and the Russian researcher S. Petrovich. Based on their ethnographic information, it was ascertained that a patient was treated at home at the first signs of his / her illness. If a disease was serious, then people most often turned to healers and sorceresses. A professional doc- tor was consulted only when the available means and folk healers did not help. While treating and preventing diseases, herbal medicine was most often used. It comes to about 200 species of herbs that grew in Pokuttia. Locals were well acquainted with the healing properties of trees and shrubs, cereals and agricultural nonfood crops. Herbs were usually picked at the beginning of plants’ flowering. Various medicines were made from the processed vegetable raw materials. In particular, there were made, for internal use, various decoctions, tinctures, juices, and powders; while for external one the processed plants were used for baths, lotions, poultices, compresses, and ointments. The most common were tinctures on water and vodka; sometimes they were made on honey, beer, or vinegar. Among the Pokuttians, a special heed was paid to the plants, which were often used as talismans.

Keywords

Pokuttya, phytotherapy, traditional medicine, herbal plands.

References

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