Kalmyk Cultural Heritage Project (TRADITIONAL MEDICINE/HEALING METHODS): Recent Episodes
Cambridge University
Methods employed by folk healers are varied and eclectic, consisting of herbalism, medicinal diet advocacy, massage, magical objects, as well as shamanic and Buddhist elements such as pulse treatment, prayers, cleansing rituals, and divination. Magical objects include medicinal stones, metals, animal bones, meteorite fragments, silver and copper coins, sticks, rosaries, lamps filled with oil, a Buddhist bell and vajra, statues and depictions of deities, etc. As a repository of diverse knowledge, the institution of folk healers employs a number of assumptions about the causes of illness or misfortune. For example, depending on the patient, sometimes folk healers work on the assumption that illnesses are caused by the dissatisfied or angry spirit of a deceased relative. Once the needs of this spirit are satisfied – for example, by offering food if the cause of the spirit’s dissatisfaction happens to be hunger – the patient is expected to return to health. Another healing method is used when a child becomes frightened or psychotic. Firstly, the head of the child is covered with a white sheet. Then a piece of melted lead is poured into a bowl with cold water held by another person above the head of the child. When the lead cools down, the folk healer takes it out to read for the shape(s) which indicate what the fear was – for example, a dinosaur or a dog. Afterwards, the shapes are destroyed with a hammer, signifying the destruction of the cause of fear or phobia. The child is advised not to watch cartoons with dinosaurs or keep away from dogs. Magical objects such as meteorite fragments (called ‘dragon’s arrow’), animal bones, and saigak horns are used to cure various tumors and bone growths.
Nikolai says that in his childhood Kalmyks ate a lot of dairy products including cheese, butter, milk and so on. Thanks to this healthy diet many old people of his generation still have good teeth. Accoring to Nikolai, toothache can be treated by chewing something that is tough such as dried bread crust or wood. A person who has appendicitis should lay down and lift his/her legs; in this position the pain will diminish and the condition heal by itself.
Maria says that people who are destined to cure sick people often come across a snake with a horn. If one sees such a snake, he/she should spread a white handkerchief in front of the snake and read prayers, after which the snake shades its horn. This horn is used to treat sore skin or swellings.
Bosya says the following: A ‘dragon’s arrow’ falls on earth with lightning and disappears into the ground only to resurface in 9 years. It is used to cure sick people. In 1928 my mother got hold of a dragon’s arrow with which she cured people. I inherited the arrow from my mother. Sometimes I use it. Not everyone is destined to find an arrow. On the steppe sometimes people come across snakes with horns. This means that such people are supposed to cure others. If you see a snake, read prayers and put a white cloth on the ground for the snake to leave its horn. The horn is used as a medicinal object.
Yefrosinya says that in the past people used ‘kimr’ (boiled water mixed with milk) as medicine. Boiled water mixed with vodka is also good for the lungs.
Alexandr says that Kalmyks used various medicinal objects in healing, including a snake’s horn and lead (which is used to treat frightened people). Kalmyks have a custom to bury one’s nails in the ground while uttering the following incantation: ‘Until the camel’s tail reaches the ground, and the horns of the goat reach the sky (this nail should stay buried).’
Olga says that in the past in order to cure themselves from fever, people rolled three times over somebody’s grave. Once, when Olga fell ill, a monk told her to stop eating the meat of wild animals. She has not broken this prohibition since. In order to protect or treat someone from an evil or envious look, people performed a ritual involving molten lead. The patient’s head was covered with a white cloth, and molten lead was poured into cold water.
Tatyana talks about traditional healing methods and medicinal objects, including herbs, snake’s skin, onion peel, cream, hair, hedgehog’s urine, copper sulphate, wolf’s bile, one’s mother’s clothing, and wool.
Elza says that in the past people used boiled water and herbs for treatment. A liter of water was boiled down to 200 mg and drunk. People also added various herbs to their drink. Elza herself keeps some medicinal herbs at home. In the past there were no hospitals or doctors in Kalmykia. Kalmyks have a healing ritual involving hot lead. Once Elza celebrated her anniversary where she wore her medals. After that she fell ill. Her daughter took her to a folk healer who performed this ritual. The healer melted lead, poured it into a cup with cold water and saw the lead take the form of human tongues. After the ritual Elza says she recovered. Elza tells how to perform this particular ritual: ‘Melt a piece of lead in a pot, cover the head of the patient with a white cloth, and pour the molten lead into a cup with salty water, which has to be held over the patient's head. Once in water the lead sets and takes on the form of whatever has caused the illness. For example, jealousy can take the form of human tongues.
Baira talks about two healing methods, namely khorglzh tsutgkh (pouring lead) and amnya dolig (substitution ritual).
In the past, everyday treatment was simple: the wound was burnt and sprinkled with ash, for example. People also used urine as a saline solution. When sick, people drank mutton broth and consulted with lamas. For fever people drank boiled water or water mixed with oats. This improved the heart muscle. Diseases often originated from dirty hands, dysentery, and infections. Since surgery did not exist, people died of internal diseases. Child mortality was high.
Valentina talks about a ritual of ‘pouring lead’ (to heal scared children), a ritual of ‘life substitute’ and other traditional healing methods.
Vladimir talks about divination. This is his story. Kalmyks used a wooden stick for divination. Its length was supposed to be equal to the space between one’s index and little fingers. This divination permitted three answers only, namely ‘joy’ (bair), ‘delay’ (totkh) and ‘obstacle’ (torlgn). Kalmyks also used a rosary and a whip for divination. Divination with a rosary was done as follows. The diviner rolled the rosary around his hand and counted the beads. This divination was usually done to find lost livestock or people, or to make a decision. Each person should choose a rosary for personal use very carefully. Kalmyks mainly used wooden rosaries, and those made from the maple tree were especially valuable.
Sometimes small children have fever or they cry without any reason. The elders say that a child was frightened of something. To cure from a fright, people perform a ritual of removing fear. It is done as follows: parents take the child in their arms and cover the child’s head with a white cloth. At that time the lead is melted. A bowl with cold water is held over the child’s head and the hot lead is quickly poured into the water. The lead takes the form of the cause of fear. If a child has an evil eye, nine matches are lit and moved around the child’s body. Then the burnt matches are thrown into a cup with water, if matches drown then it is definitely an evil eye. Then the child’s face is washed with the water from the cup, then the child spits three times in the remaining water, which is then poured outside in the easterly direction. People did this. I do not know other methods of curing. There was also a ritual of prolonging one’s life. If there was no possibility to go to a temple then this special ritual would be carried out at home. Ulankin Sandhzi himself, a gelyung, told us so, especially for women. This ritual is conducted as follows: one needs to cut nails from feet and hands, cut off some hair and bury all this in a place where people do not walk. It can be close to the root of a tree or under the fence. This is the ritual of prolonging one’s life. As for traditional medicine, for high temperature Kalmyks consume kimr. Consuming kimr was similar to fasting. Kimr was made of milk and water, people drank it until the temperature subsided. Another medicine is shirgyamr: one litre of water should be evaporated to half a litre. Probably, sodium was produced by boiling the water.
Dzhidzha relays a story about how her mother performed a ritual of removing fear on her children which involved melted tin. The ritual is performed as follows. A piece of tin is melted in a metal scoop. Then the tin is poured into a big bowl of water diluted with butter. The bowl is held over the head of the patient, then at the level of the forehead and then at the throat. In the water the liquid tin consolidates and takes various forms that are believed to represent the source of fear (i.e. animals, birds, etc.). After this the child spits into the bowl three times. Three pinches of ash from the oven are added to it. After the contents are poured far away, the bowl is left outside the house for three days.
Alexandra says that one day her son went to see Shurgan lama. During the session the lama said to him that the wheel in his car had a problem. Indeed, when her son went out to check his car, everything turned out as it had predicted by the lama. About traditional medicine. A stick of maple tree is good to subdue a pain in the joints or in the breast. A saiga antelope’s horn is good for a tumor or a headache. She points out that people should not receive religious objects, such as rosaries, without repaying the giver. In the end, Alexandra shows how to tie a rosary.
Sanal talks about traditional healing methods involving a ‘snake’s horn’, wolf’s meat, and a gallbladder.
In this interview Dordzhi talks about folk healing methods applied to humans and horses.
Alexei talks about how copper coins collected from the ground were used by folk healers to cure sick children.
One woman had a son who grew up, got married and had a son of his own. That child cried nonstop. The woman understood that her daughter-in-law had watery milk and that the baby cried out of hunger. She went to the market and bought fat from a sheep’s tail. One evening her son said: ‘Mama, we are going to the cinema, could you look after your grandson?’ The woman relied: ‘Of course, off you go’. As soon as the young couple were gone, the woman boiled the fat and gave it to the baby. The baby sucked it and slept without interruption until the next morning. This is a real Kalmyk tradition. Today people say many strange things like ‘don’t eat this or that, because it is fatty’. Let people eat whatever meat or fat they want. Not long ago someone asked me whether I eat honey. I replied that I do not eat anything sweet. As a real Kalmyk, I drink milk tea with butter, eat bread with butter and horse meat sausages. I really like horse meat sausages. In the past, there were neither doctors nor medicine. When a person feels weak and sick, the following should be done. Cut meat into thin slices, put it into a pot and boil, without adding water. 2 spoonfuls of soup is what you get from the meat. Give this soup to the sick person. Some people say that water diluted with milk is also good. Half a spoon of milk is added to a cup of water. Here it is important to have the correct ratio, which we have already forgotten today. It is important to know the correct ratio. Sometimes it is difficult to determine what is wrong with a child. A Kalmyk person would immediately say that the child has a bad diet and that he/she needs a mutton soup. I think all people have their own remedies. A relative of mine used to chew tea leaves and say that it was good for his teeth. Today when we cook mutton, we throw out the head and legs. I personally think it is wrong, because no part of the sheep should go to waste. Why do we have a tradition called ‘ze byarlgn’ when we give a sheep’s tibia bone to our grandchildren to eat? The reason is so that their teeth become strong. Today, by contrast, people boil meat until it falls apart. The Mongols boil it a little bit and then eat with a knife. Why? So that the meat tastes like meat. When we boil meat for too long its taste goes to the soup (and little remains in the meat itself). Bone marrow is also edible. I teach children to eat bone marrow. They sit, knock the bone on the table to push the marrow out.
Purvya talks about a ritual to cure people with amnesia or who have lost their soul. She also talks about the medicinal property of spring water that flows near the famous Poplar Tree.
In this interview Ekaterina says that in the past traditional medicine was very limited.
Ubush’s cousin suffered from anxiety and continuously cried at night. The following ritual was performed for her. A piece of melted lead was poured into a cup with water. When it hardens, lead turns into shapes that indicate the source of fear and anxiety. In the case of his cousin, the lead turned into shapes resembling dogs and pigs. After the ritual, the girl was explained that she should not be afraid of these animals. Ubush says that the Russians have a similar ritual, but they use wax instead.
In the past, Kalmyks used boiled water, melted butter, and salted butter as medicine. Zinaida says that, after her family returned to Kalmykia from Siberian exile, her son fell ill with a typhoid fever. She approached an old folk healer who asked her to bring her son’s urine. After examination, the folk healer told her to give the boy a soup made from 100 grams of fatless meat. Then the healer told her to increase the meat to 200 and then 300 grams. After drinking the soup, the boy gradually recovered. Datura grass is good for toothache. It is used as follows. A folk healer reads prayers and then smokes the patient with the grass. The same method is used for a cold or angina. When Zinaida was young, her ears secreted pus. Her mother used all sorts of remedies that she learnt from folk healers, including putting a hare’s tail on the inflamed ears, inserting cotton pads into the ears, and filling the ears with yoghurt. Nothing helped. Then Zinaida’s mother cut fresh beef into long thin slices and inserted it into Zinaida’s ears. She heard about this method from her friends. Although Zinaida recovered, one of her ears remained permanently damaged. Whenever water gets into it, the ear inflames. Also, she has headaches when exposed to noise. Zinaida talks about how to heal a stye in the eye, a stomach ache, and a cough.
Ekaterina cures sick children. She says that she first heard about her curing abilities from an old woman called Bosya who lived in the village of Dzhalykovo. Being a teacher herself, Ekaterina did not believe what the old woman said. Bosya gave Ekaterina a coin with which she was supposed to massage sick children and said that Ekaterina’s healing gift came from her mother. She also asked Ekaterina to sew a pink robe. Ekaterina did what she was asked to do and came back to see the old woman. Bosya explained to her how to cure sick children. For example, if a child cries and bends her/his neck, stretch the child’s legs and hands and metaphorically cut the belly with the coin. The child will gradually calm down. If a child is scared of something, the following ritual should be performed. Cover the head of the child with a white cloth, hold a cup with cold water over the child’s head and pour hot lead into the cup. The figures that form in the water (people, animals, objects etc.) indicate the source of fear. The sore eyes of children should be treated with their mother’s milk. Ekaterina says that she received her healing knowledge from Bosya. The reason for children’s illnesses may be envious looks from others. Since children are pure and innocent, even envious words can harm them. The face of a sick child should be cleaned with the skirt of their mothers. According to Kalmyk tradition, newborn babies should not be shown to strangers until they are a year old. The first bath of a child should be performed in a bathtub placed on four red bricks so that the child grows strong and healthy. The people who bath the baby should be their mothers and paternal grandmothers. During the first haircut boys’ hair should be shaven completely and kept in the house.
In a place where thunder hits the ground one can find small metal objects that resemble the head of an arrow. In Kalmykia these objects are referred to as lugin sum (the dragon’s arrow) and are used in the treatment of both sick animals and people. It is believed that a lugin sum contains powerful energy. Snakes with horns come to some people. If you see one, put a white cloth on the ground and pray to the snake. The snake will throw off its horns. These horns are also used for the treatment of sick people.
Apart from supernatural powers, people could be affected negatively by other human beings. For example, people envy each other. Envy or jealousy turns into a negative energy and blocks the life of the person who is the object of the envy. People who are envied feel that something is not completely right with them. In this case, it is advisable to perform a special ritual of pouring melted lead into a vessel with water.
When people, no matter what their age, are afraid of something, a ritual is performed to deal with their fear. It is performed as follows. After a mantra, the head of the patient is covered with a white cloth and a vessel with water is held over their head. Then melted lead is poured into the vessel. The ritual is performed three times. In Kalmyk understanding there are 5 elements in nature, including a fire, water, air, earth and metal. During this ritual all the 5 elements are believed to interact with each other, thus producing a splash of energy which cleanses the frightened person.
Roman heard from elderly people that in the past the Kalmyks dried the wolf’s gall bladder, turned it into powder and mixed it with food. A fresh gall bladder was also mixed with bread pieces and refrigerated to be consumed later in small portions. The gall is believed to be good for lung inflammation and pneumonia. If a wolf’s skin was damaged and not fit for use, the skin around the wolf’s mouth, usually that of a female one, was cut off to use it in the following ritual. Toddlers were passed through this piece of skin in a belief that this keeps them healthy. Roman also heard that the wolf’s genitals are used in the treatment of infertility. The male’s genitals are used for the treatment of men’s infertility and that of female wolves for women. The wolf’s lung and liver are also believed to have medicinal properties. They are fried wrapped in the wolf’s own fat.
Oleg says that he heard about sweating stones from the Kalmyk writer Sandzhi Kalyaev, who spent his entire life looking for an elixir of immortality. These stones, the whereabouts of which Oleg cannot recall, produce a droplet every half an hour. These droplets, which are believed to be medicinal, are salty and sour by taste. In the past, old men collected these droplets in small bottles. Oleg’s father also collected such droplets and mixed them with something, probably with seeds of some kind. In Yashaltinskiy rayon of Kalmykia there is one salty lake that has medicinal mud. In a laboratory in Moscow it was established that this mud has medicinal properties.
In her childhood Gerel witnessed in Lagan' how sick people were cured with leeches that were collected from the local lake. In Gerel’s native village there is a hydrogen sulphate spring which is good for mosquito bites. But the spring is poisonous and many children in the village suffered from goiter. Gerel says melted butter was widely used in the treatment of many diseases. People smeared their hair with butter, massaged their ailing joints and drank butter with Kalmyk tea (which is believed to be good for breastfeeding mothers). Also, soup from mutton or wolf’s meat is believed to help to recuperate. People made a decoction from wormwood to cure alcoholism. Alcoholics were also treated with powdered lobster shell. When she was a child Gerel was frightened and had seizures. An old woman treated Gerel with a coin: she drew a line with the coin along Gerel’s arms and body, imitating a cutting movement. Another woman performed a ritual consisting of pouring melted lead into water. To cure Gerel’s seizure, healers also massaged her head and face. Gerel’s furunculosis was cured with sulphuric ointment made from various ingredients, including pig’s fat. Since traditional medicine helped her, Gerel has a respect for those who practice it.
In this short interview Maria talks briefly about how people cured their children in Siberia.
Galina talks about two medicinal herbs, namely shagan budg (silverweed) and sharljn (wild grass). Shagan budg grows in Kalmykia. It is good for coughs. People with tuberculosis must drink an infusion made from it. The herb grows in April and May in places where sheep graze. It is collected as follows. After a sheep steps on it, bring the herb home and dry it. Then boil it in water to make a medicinal drink. Sharljn, by contrast, does not grow in Kalmykia but is imported from Tibet. That is why it is an expensive herb. People with tuberculosis should drink it, especially when they have a lung inflammation.
Badma says that when her family lived in Siberia her grandmother collected hare’s fat. It is good for both burns and frostbite. In Siberia people also drank hare’s fat and that of the ground squirrel. Since it is very cold in Siberia, hare’s fat was in great demand. A Tatar man, Badma recalls, would ask her grandmother to give him hare’s fat, which means that other nationalities were also aware of its medicinal qualities.
In the past, Kalmyk milk tea and a soup made of sheep’s neck were used as medicine. Since many illnesses among the Kalmyks were connected with cold, or exacerbated by catching a cold, Kalmyk tea and soup were consumed widely, for they were believed to be good for colds. Folk healers also used various medicinal herbs.
Not far away from where Maria lives is a well called Kets where water is believed to have medicinal properties. People from far away come here for water. In the past people who carried the water from the well were not supposed to greet others on their way home. Toddlers that had a temperature were given a cloth to suck had been dipped in the medicinal water.
Anna relays a story she heard from her father-in-law who claimed to have found a luugin sum (a dragon’s arrow). There is a belief that only those who are supposed to find it, find a luugin sum. Having said this, not all who do find it can benefit equally. A luugin sum looks like a small lump of metal. It falls from the sky during lightening. Once fallen, it is only after about eight years that it resurfaces from under ground. The luugin sum is used in the treatment of swellings not only in humans but also in livestock. Especially cows and sheep that have their udder swollen, for example during suckling, can be effectively treated with a luugin sum by touching or massaging the swollen part with it. Anna keeps her father-in-law’s luugin sum on her domestic altar along with other gods. Sometimes she lends it to others in need. Anna points out that her luugin sum has helped many people. When people return the luugin sum they are supposed to give her white and red coins, which is a custom. Anna heard from her father-in-law the following legend about luugin sum. Once upon a time monks prepared an elixir of longevity in a cup. While they were away, a dragon drank the elixir and filled the cup with its urine. Upon their return, the monks decided to shoot the dragon down. But the dragon flew high up beyond their reach to the sun. Since then the dragon returns to earth during solar eclipses. It is the arrow with which it was shot that falls from the sky.
Bosya talks about how she found a luugin sum (a dragon’s arrow). It looks like a small metallic object with a sharp end.
In this video Galina performs a ritual to remove fear. For this she melts a piece of lead on a gas stove. Her patient is a girl who suffers from anxiety. The girl’s mother covers the head of her daughter with a white cloth and holds a cup with cold water over her head. Then Galina pours the hot lead into the cup. The lead freezes into forms that resemble dinosaurs and prickly objects. Galina takes these figures out of the cup, puts them on the table and destroys them with a hammer, which symbolizes the destruction of the source of fear and anxiety. If the patient experiences a high level of anxiety, this ritual can be performed three times on three consecutive days. One can recycle and use the same piece of lead for these rituals. If anxious children are not treated, they may become ill, cry and throw their heads back. This ritual of removing fear can be performed on toddlers, children and grown-ups alike. Another ritual to remove fear, which Galina performs on the girl, is done with matches. She lights a match and moves it clockwise over the head, shoulders and the back of the patient. Galina explains that this should be done 9 times with 9 matches. She puts the 9 burnt matches into a cup with clean water one by one. Then she gives the bowl to the girl to blow the surface of the water. Then Galina looks at how the matches are floating and which direction their burnt heads are facing. Galina says that this ritual can be seen as a purification with a fire.
Sofia grew up in Dolbanskiy rayon of Astrakhan oblast’. This place is rich in terms of flora and various plants grow there, including the poppy flower which was used by the Kalmyks for medicinal purposes. Sofia’s mother collected poppy flowers, dried them and kept them in bags. Decoctions prepared from poppies were used for various illnesses. For example, a boil on top of Sofia’s head that she suffered with from when she was a child, was treated with a poppy decoction. In Sofia’s childhood decoctions prepared from fish and rice were also used. Sofia used to cook a decoction from rice by boiling it in water without adding salt. For the Kalmyks the Kalmyk tea (a tea with salt, milk and fat) is the most important drink. Not only does it help with tiredness, it also invigorates people. When they were in Siberia, many Kalmyks suffered from frostbite. A decoction from poppy flowers and a dog’s or goat’s fat are good for this. Since there was no medicine available in Siberia, many Kalmyks also used massage. Sofia’s grandmother knew how to do it. Sofia says that every person has a belief inside themselves. Following the collapse of the Soviet Union which created a spiritual vacuum, Sofia decided for herself that she needed to believe in something. She characterizes herself as a spiritual person. Spirituality helps people overcome illnesses and stay optimistic. According to Sofia, there are two aspects to healing – physical and spiritual healings. Physical health depends on the spiritual one.
Svetlana talks about medicinal diet, animal blood, an antidote made from a sheep’s skin, herbal therapy, the medicinal properties of melted butter, medicinal water and a place called Single Poplar where people perform various rituals.