KNOWLEDGE AND WISDOM TEACHING BONE HEALING: MULTI-CASE STUDIES OF FOLK HEALERS IN LOPBURI PROVINCE

Abstract

The research topic “Knowledge and Wisdom Teaching Bone Healing Treatment: Multi-Case Study of Folk Healers in Lopburi Province” includes four objectives. First, to study the characteristics of the bone-folk healers who used herbal treatment. Second, to study the process of becoming the bone-folk healer (passing on knowledge and experience accumulation). Third, to study the knowledge of bone healing treatment using local healing method and herbal treatment. Fourth, to study the attitude and social contexts toward bone healing by using local healing method and using herbal treatment.

            This study applied qualitative research method using multi-case studies. The case studies included  Klerm Kirdkoon and Soonton Nimnom The research method consisted of six processes: 1) select the local bone  2) define the area of resources 3) create instruments and define data collection process 4) collect and gather data 5) analyse data 6) present the analysed data.

            Research Findings

1. The characteristics of the bone-folk healers that were accepted and trusted by people.
   • Personality: the findings revealed that the folk healers who performed bone treatment had good personality. They had bright smile and knew how to communicate with other people well. They had psychological communication skills that they could understandably communicate with patients and their relatives. They dressed normal lifestyle. Moreover, they need to have good concentration, hardly be distracted, be calm and generous.
   • Level of education: it was found that level of education was not the important or main factors that one person would become a folk healer who performed bone treatment. However, being a folk healer, that person must have enough knowledge to read and write, and earnestly self-study in order to gain more knowledge.
   • Ability and proficiency: the folk healers who performed bone treatment must have ability in healing bone, and other extra abilities such as fortune telling. However, it was shown that these extra abilities were not the main factors that a folk healer who performed bone treatment would get acknowledgement by other people. It depended on the result of the bone healing treatment of the particular folk healer.
2. The process of becoming a folk healer of bone treatment.
   • Causes of motivation: four important factors were found.

• The closeness of one person to the folk healer who performed bone treatment.
• The appreciation of bone healing treatment knowledge.
• The impression of bone healing treatment profession, bone healing treatment method, and the folk healer of bone healing.
• The self-esteem of their proficiency for being honour to inherit the bone healing knowledge from the old folk healers.
  • Process of passing on knowledge: the results showed that the process of passing on knowledge was mostly inherited to relatives or passed on from one generation to another generation of the family. Not much of the passing on to other people who were not the heir of the family was found. The passing on to people who were not relatives would happen when there was no-one in family would be inherited that particular knowledge. The findings also revealed that a person who would be inherited the bone treatment knowledge could not just be anyone, but that particular person had close relationship to the folk healer or had got special mercy from folk healer.
  • Experience accumulation: the accumulations of experience happened all the time after one person became a bone treatment folk healer by accepting the passing on knowledge from the parentage or other people. The findings also showed that the processes of learning or collecting bone treatment knowledge of each person were different. Some people learned directly form bone healing experience which were from their learning mistakes or trying the right methods that became their additional knowledge. Some people might gain knowledge from other resources such as folk medication textbooks, which were inscribed, or recorded, or gained knowledge by additionally changed knowledge with other bone treatment folk healers.

1. Knowledge of bone healing treatment
   • Process and treatment methods: the processes and bone healing treatment methods of each folk healers might consist of different details. The results of the study found that there were two main significant symptoms including patients who had muscle injury, and patients who had bone injury. The major treatment method was the use of holy water, which always used together with superstitious healing. The healing process included the rice pot setting (the way to set the price for treatment) that showed different prices for each of the bone-folk healer.
   • Equipment used in treatment: the important equipment were holy water, spiritual healer’s knife, magic teakwood, and other items for ceremony such as candles, flowers, liquor, etc. One more important equipment for bone healing treatment of folk healer who used oil was splint. The findings revealed that the folk healer who performed bone treatment would create their own splint using bamboo as the major material.
   • The period of time used in treatment: each of folk healer who performed bone healing treatment spent different length of time regarding the beliefs and the practical custom of each folk healer. Generally, it showed that the treatment of folk healers who used oil would not take long time. It mostly took half month or longer.
2. Attitude and social context toward bone healing treatment of the folk healer.
   • The beliefs and trust of people were from the direct experience of the patients and their family members, or words of mouth that was widely spoken by people. The folk healer who performed the bone healing treatments in one particular community would normally be trusted and had reputation among people from other communities or other provinces than people in the same community. The beliefs and trust in a folk bone healer were importantly from the appearance and the reliability of each folk healer who performed bone treatment.
   • The search for healing source: there were two types of searching which consisted of the suggestions of relatives, or acquaintances after having treatment from some other place; and the search of others such as the recommendation of relatives, or the relatives took them to the healing place.
   • There were many social contexts that enhanced the beliefs and trust toward bone healing treatment by the folk healers. The beliefs and trust that retrieved from social contexts and lifestyles of people that still connected with the old social context. Even though the progress of technology nowadays would decrease some of these social contexts, it was inadequate to overthrown the beliefs and trust of people toward the traditional folk healer system.