SZÉKELY FOLK-MEDICINE,
HERE are about forty different diseases which are known by their popular names among the people. Any other disease, the name of which is not known, is simply called “a heavy illness” or “a great illness” (nyavalya in Hungarian).
According to their origin, the diseases may be grouped under two heads, viz. those which are contracted in a natural way, and those the origin of which is attributed to some superstitious cause. To the latter group belong, for instance, madness and its various symptoms (the patient is said to have been “deceived” or “tempted by the spirits”), and the illness is brought on by the evil spirit having possessed the patient; lunacy ( = somnambulism under the influence of the moon), the patient is carried off by goblins or “white women,” who make him dance every night; convulsions are also the doings of the evil spirit; some boils originate by the person stepping on to a place where a horse has been lying, or also by his walking into “outpourings” (where a liquid or some decoction of seeds has been poured out amidst witchcraft ceremonies);[1] wens are caused by trying to count the number of the stars, &c.[2]
- ↑ See description of cure by pouring out water.
- ↑ One day as I (translator) was travelling on the Northern Railway in Hungary, I noticed a woman who had cancer in the face. On mentioning this fact later on to an elderly lady, I indicated the spot on my own face, and drew an outline of the shape of the cancer. The old lady was very much shocked, and informed me that it was an exceedingly unlucky thing to do, as by so doing I myself ran the risk of being similarly affected in exactly the same spot.—(L.L.K.)
