Traditional Iberian Folk Medicine in Dermatology
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Traditional Iberian Folk Medicine in
Dermatology
MANUEL AMEZCUA, RN
T
he consideration of folk medicine places us in a limiting it to those ideas and medical practices with
hazy domain where meanings are clouded by magical, religious, and natural (empirical) bases.1 Ac-
interests and assumptions which are often at cording to Martinez-Hernáez et al., it is a concept de-
odds with one another. This article on folk medicine in veloped in the context of Western medicine which was
the Iberian Peninsula reveals that while there is no subsequently borrowed by anthropology.2 Thus it was
doubt of the vitality of the practice and the relevance of an Italian folklorist, Guiseppe Pitre, who first invented
the concept, its content and function depend on the the epistemological concept in the late 19th century;
context in which it is used. prior to this time popular medical wisdom had gener-
Folk medicine is at once a body of practice and study. ally been considered part of the quack heterodoxy
Those who practice and benefit from it in Spain also call which lay well outside the bounds of science, as super-
it household or domestic medicine. In the past it gave stitious falsehood indistinguishable from quackery it-
rise to a number of written treatises which were highly self.
diffused among popular sectors, whence its common Although the concept is some 100 years old, folk
designation medicina de pobres (of the poor) or medicina medicine is still difficult to define. In Spanish, folk-
vulgar. Folk medicine today continues to be defined in medicina, folklore médico, and medicina tradicional are the
contradistinction to an official system of medical terms scholars use to refer to a partial system which is
knowledge, as a form which draws on both empirical framed between medicine and popular culture, knowl-
principles of this official system and on magic and edge of which is transmitted orally. Their meaning is
religious knowledge. Those who have approached folk distinct from that of medicina primitiva, which refers to
medicine as an object of study did so, at first, with a non-Western native medical systems, and from that of
view toward collecting data on popular practices and Etnomedicina, which alludes both to a discipline and its
beliefs about health and illness (folk medicine), empha- object of research referred to any medical system, be it
sizing the cultural values which shape these (ethno- rural or urban3, folk or official.4
medicine); later and more recently their investigations
have also served to legitimize folk medicine as a distinct “Tesoro de Pobres”
branch of medical anthropology. The fact that folk medicine has not been the object of
The purpose of this article is to review and summa- systematic study until recently has precluded neither its
rize the status of research on folk medicine in the Ibe- use in the community nor its status as a body of knowl-
rian Peninsula. In the first part we suggest some key edge communicated orally and via the written word. In
features of the relationship between folk and academic the Iberian Peninsula, abundant texts generated over
medicine and trace the history of the study of Iberian centuries by practitioners and their detractors consti-
folk medicine. In the second section, we focus on skin, tute a veritable treasure for contemporary scholars. The
a subject of paramount interest and indeed specializa- source for the many descriptive texts about diverse
tion within Iberian folk medicine, and provide a sum- dimensions of health, diseases, and their therapies is a
mary of some of the most relevant and representative particular type of medieval divulgative literature which
investigations of this subject for various regions of provided collections of empirical knowledge for the use
Spain and Portugal. of common people who had no access to professional
medicine. An early example of such treatises on domes-
Folk Medicine as Object of Investigation tic medicine is Menor daño de la medicina, by Alonso
The concept of folk medicine has traditionally been Chirino (1429), one of the doctors of Juan II of Castile.
opposed to that of academic/professional medicine, This “regimiento de sanidad” (health regimen), written
in the Romance style, pretends to heal diseases without
medical care.5
From the Laboratory of Cultural Anthropology, University of Granada, Chirino’s work was followed by other treatises, writ-
Granada, Spain.
Address correspondence to Manuel Amezcua, Apartado de Correos, nr. ten by both doctors and laymen, which were widely
734, 18080 Granada, Spain. propagated and which shaped the style of the “medi-
© 1999 by Elsevier Science Inc. All rights reserved. 0738-081X/99/$–see front matter
655 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10010 PII S0738-081X(98)00066-234 AMEZCUA Clinics in Dermatology Y 1999;17:33– 40
cine of the poor.” Tesoro de los pobres (1519) by Pedro varez (“Demófilo”), who introduced the British folklore
Hispano, Tratado breve de medicina y de todas las enfer- trend to Spain.
medades (1579) by Fray Agustin Farfán, Tesoro de medici- Among the studies promptly spawned by Machado’s
nas (1672) by Gregorio López, Medicina y cirugı́a racional translation are Olavarrı́a Huarte’s article, “Superticiones
y espargı́rica (1674) by the priest Juan Vidós y Miró and españolas y medicina popular” (included in the second
the work which responds to it, Medicina doméstica, nec- Spanish edition of Black’s work in 1889), Dr. Manresa
esaria a los pobres y familiar a los ricos (1686) by a Dr. Olaguer Miro i Borras’ Aforı́stica médica catalana, confron-
Felipe Borbón—these, among others, were books of tada ab la de altres llengues (1900) and, for Portugal,
great popularity. Juan Sorapán de Rieros’ Medicina es- Castro Pires de Lima’s remarkable labor, Arquivio de
pañola (1616), a compendium of proverbs, is worth spe- medicina popular. Perhaps the most outstanding work is
cial mention for many editions were made of it, proof of that of Salillas, who discusses the diffusion of concep-
the high popular esteem in which it was held. Medicina tions of disease on a national level in his La fascinación
española constitutes a true Treatise of Dietetics.6 en España. Brujas, brujerı́as, amuletos (1905).
At another extreme of folk medicine we can situate In the 1940s a new approach to folk medicine— one
the heterodox wisdom which gave birth to some man- which is still in vigor today—was introduced by a new
uals like Libro del aojamiento (evil eye treatment) o fascino- breed of scholars known as medical folklorists. With no
logia (in a letter of 1411), by Enrique de Villena. This and pretensions but detailed ethnographic documentation,
other astrological and magic books were viewed as they focused on the collection of household remedies. I
superstitious and were consequently vilified by men of describe some of these nuevos recetarios (new prescrip-
the church like friar Martı́n de Castañeda (Tratado de las tions) in the second part of this article where represen-
supersticiones y hechicerias, 1529), Pedro Ciruelo (Rep- tative works on dermatological practices are reviewed.
robacion de las supersticiones y hechicerias, 1529), and Gas- Among the early Spanish medical folklore contribu-
par Navarro (Tribunal de la superstición ladina, 1631). tions is the immense, but scattered, corpus of Antonio
These latter, repressive books gave rise to a new genre Castillo de Lucas, Assistant Professor of Medical
of literature which not only shunned “superstition” but Hidrology at San Carlos University in Madrid. He fo-
also the very people and body of knowledge which cused on proverbs and sayings, characterizing them as
gave rise to it. “condensations of experience and knowledge,” and at-
In short, information about popular medicine ap- tempted to link them with certain elements of
pears condensed in both prescriptive books and the Hipocratic and Galenic medicine. The validity of these
writings which proscribed them. Due to their clear efforts are discussed by Kuschick.1 Pujadas and col-
evolution and diversity, these are indispensable ethno- leagues made an index of Castillo de Lucas’ work,
graphic sources. Moreover, a further genre of relevant coming up with more than 100 titles8, which may be
scientific literature, known as topografı́as médicas, ap- further supplemented with titles such as those cited by
peared during the Enlightenment. These belong to the Caballero Venzalá.9
intellectual tradition of hygenism and they provide ho- Other pioneers in medical folklore include Victor Lis
listic descriptions of the relationship between environ- Quiben, who describes quack doctors in both rural and
ment and illness; of particular interest for our purposes urban contexts in his work on Galician folk medicine8,
are references to conflict between official and domestic Gallardo de Alvarez for Extremadura, and Barriola for
medicine and their practitioners, conflict which hinged the Basque country.10
on the notion of medical faults.7 The publication of the prominent anthropologist
Carmelo Lisón Tolosana’s Brujeria, estructura social y
Studies and Students simbolismo en Galicia (1979) marked the beginning of
The German anthropologist Ingrid Kuschick points out ethnomedical studies in Spain and turned folk medicine
that at the time she began studying Spanish ethnomedi- into a topic of interest for anthropologists. A year later
cine (in the late 1970s), she was the first foreign scholar Kenny (who, prompted by the American anthropologist
to contribute to the subject.1 This situation had already George Foster, published one of the first articles on
been noted by Padujas and his colleagues when they ethnomedicine) and de Miguel summarized the re-
introduced their bibliography of Spanish Medical An- searches to date in ethnomedicine and the sociology of
thropology in 1980. Here, they also regret that the sub- medicine for Spain.11 By this time there was a seminary
ject had been consistently overlooked by university of folk medicine in the bosom of the Madrid Anthro-
disciplines.8 Until very recently, then, Spanish folk pological Association, but not until 1982 and under the
medicine has received attention only from Spanish folk- auspices of Catalan medical or anthropological organi-
lorists. Their work in Spain dates from the late 19th zations were the significant contributions that anthro-
century translation of William George Black’s Medicina pologists could bring to the study of practices and
Popular, un capı́tulo en la historia de la cultura (1888 and systems of representations involving health and illness
1889) by the famous scholar, Antonio Machado y Ál- first formally recognized and explored.12 Recently, theClinics in Dermatology Y 1999;17:33– 40 TRADITIONAL IBERIAN FOLK MEDICINE 35
Laboratory of Anthropology of the University of sionally incorporated into the regulations, for example
Granada has organized a series of works on quackery in the practices of ensalmadores, spice and herb mer-
Eastern Andalucia. Some of these papers were pre- chants.19 And over the centuries other practices typical
sented at the international colloquium, “Creer y curar: la from charlatanes have become legitimate specializations
medicina popular,” celebrated in Granada in 199413; oth- within the official medical system; thus the exercise of
ers appeared in the monographic edition of Demófilo the old sacamuelas (molar puller) now belongs to the
entitled Enfermedad y muerte en Andalucia.14 domain of odontology and must be considered its his-
Once again it seems worth stressing the quality of torical antecedent, and traditional midwives have now
Kuschick’s work, as hers was the first general attempt disappeared in favor of a new profile of matrons with
to approach folk medicine in Spain based on abundant university education. The justice system continues to
and detailed published material. Comparing various prosecute those who encroach upon official medicine,
regions of Spain and neighboring countries such as from swindlers and quacks to doctors who carry out
Portugal and France, the author emphasizes the diver- unconventional therapies.
sity of interpretations of concepts and therapies which There have also been transfers of knowledge be-
fall outside the domain of orthodox medicine. She also tween academic and folk medicine. Eduardo L. Menén-
examines the historic layering of some popular medical dez argues that although biomedicine is characterized
practices such as the animism and worship of natural by a continuous process of expansion, popular knowl-
elements characteristic of the Ligurian, Iberian, Celtic, edge changes through a continuous process of modifi-
and Germanic peoples; the doctrine of humors promul- cation whereby concepts and practices of diverse sorts
gated in Iberia by Greek and Arab medicine; and the of knowledge, including biomedical knowledge, are
worship of saints introduced via Christain symbolism.1 synthesized and incorporated.20 For instance, sanitary
education and its attendant concepts relating to “self
The Popular and the Medical care” are now popular practices which used to be ex-
The relationship between folk and academic medicine clusive to professional sanitary workers. Even many
has always been marked by conflicts turning on con- medicines which were formerly subject to prescription
cepts of competence and complementarity. That doctors are now freely available over the counter.
and practitioners of folk medicine, mostly specialists Meanwhile, and in light of new holistic and ecolog-
and healers, have always been in conflict has been ical perspectives, many professionals are looking back
manifested in endless polemics about the rationality of to traditional procedures and incorporating some of
folk practices and debates over competence which often them in new medical specializations. As their efficacy is
end up in court. It is known that the positivistic atti- demonstrated such practices find their place in the ac-
tudes of some theologians and doctors lead them to ademic context.
classify some popular certitudes as superstitions or
medical fallacy. Such intransigent attitudes are refuted Skin and Its Care from the Perspective of Folk
by the practitioners of folk medicine, who combat them
Medicine
dialectically through continuous debates in the media.15 As in orthodox medicine, a classificatory system of
However the great debate over competence is limited to disease determines which ailments are important and
practitioners: the users of both systems seem little in- treatable in folk medicine. This system pays relatively
fluenced by it, convinced that they are separate and special attention to factors such as the timing of illness,
complementary systems. Thus they may turn to them the intensity of malaise (especially that of pain), and the
alternately for specific ills, or simultaneously for the likelihood that the ailment portends disease. For this
same illness.16,17 last reason, everything pertaining to human skin (cuero
The intransigence of the establishment against pop- or pellejo in archaic terms) is worthy of special attention:
ular healing practices has repeatedly resulted in trials not only do such afflictions alter people’s appearance,
against those who profess to practice them publicly. being more evident than interior ones, but some color
The repressive attitude of the Inquisition against or skin texture changes are viewed as signs of a general
witches and sorcerers is well known, although in imbalance of the organism which will cause disease.
Spain—as opposed to the rest of Europe—these trials Accordingly, there is an enormous variety of popular
involved some consideration of the rational component practices concerning dermatology, and in some parts of
of such practices, so that punishments here were some- the Iberian Peninsula there are many specialists in this
what less harsh than elsewhere.18 The institution of the field.21 Becoña has even surveyed the advices of differ-
Protomedicato, introduced in Spain under Ferdinand and ent popular specialists on skin disease, recording the
Isabel (late 15th century), regulated the practice of med- distribution of different classes of remedies around
icine and its assistant disciplines and combatted intru- Spain.22
sions such as quackery. Due to historic ambiguities in Certain skin ailments, such as warts, culebrillas (her-
this system, certain types of folk medicine were occa- pes zoster), isipula or disipula (jaundice), and certain36 AMEZCUA Clinics in Dermatology Y 1999;17:33– 40
inner conditions which manifest symptoms in the skin, Barandiarán (1889 –1991), in his monumental work
such as tericia have been relegated almost exclusively to on Basque folk medicine, collected numerous remedies
folk medicine. Most skin diseases are treated at home for skin diseases and alterations such as warts, corns,
with a wide knowledge of household remedies and a chilblain, inflammations, eczemas, whitlows, burns,
set of beliefs which mix magic formulae and popular thorns, wounds, any kind of bites, jaundice, frenckles,
religious symbols. Popular dermatology employs the scabies, baldness, etc.26 Although the author does not
entire realm of therapeutic folk knowledge, as Erkoreca give a detailed account of ailments and their remedies,
demonstrates in his classification of remedies common he makes useful descriptions of the context where the
in the Basque country23: curative phenomenon happens. In the case of a boy
affected by commun impetigo, we can appreciate how
Y The fluids and substances of the patient’s organism,
the social meanings are necessary to understand the
such as saliva for cutting hemorrhages or for treating
remedy effectiviness:
hemorrhoids; urine for cleaning wounds or for treat-
ing bites; menstrual discharge for warts, etc. Viene a mi casa hoy -2.I.1950- Luisa de Kapetenia a pedirme
Y Foods, such as hot and cold water used for chilblains; limosna para estipendio de misa. Se trata de curar a un niño de
Jomildegiko-borda que sufre saindu-mina. Para curarla, una
salted water for corns; oil for burns; the lamp oil of a
viuda tiene que recoger de limosna una cantidad en dinero
special church for dermatitis; fresh cream used as a suficiente para un estipendio de misa. Con este fin Luisa recorre
cosmetic and for treating cutis diseases; bread with las casas de la vecindad. Cada vecino contribuye con una
vinager for warts, etc. pequeña cantidad que con las que aporten los demás vecinos
Y Domestic products, such as soap is used for corns, formará el estipendio de misa que se pide. Es creencia que
siendo muchas las casas que tomen parte en una operación de
bleach for hemorrhoids; snow with oil for burns;
esta clase, el estipendio que representa el sacrificio de muchos
gas-oil for crab louses, etc. tiene mayor importancia. El estipendio ası́ formado será en-
Y Animals and their derivatives, such as snails are viado a Zugarramurdi con encargo de que algún sacerdote de
used for varicose veins; louses for jaundice; slung, aquella localidad celebre una misa a la intención de la
fresh meat or bacon skin for warts; leeches for he- donante.26
matomas; cobwebs for hemorrhages; or ointment [Today (2 January 1950) Luisa de Kapetenia came to my
made with lard and cow kidney fat. house seeking alms for a fee of mass in an effort to cure
Y Plants and medical fruit, perhaps the most studied a boy from Jomildegiko-borda who suffers from saindu-
and called upon such as garlic for dog bites, child- mina. To cure this ailment, a widow must collect alms in
a quantity sufficient for this stipend. Each neighbor con-
blains or warts; onions for boils; figs, potatoes, or tributes a small quantity which, together with those sums
apples for warts; lettuce, elder, or lemon for wounds; donated by others, will provide for the stipend requested.
verbena for inflammations and childblains, etc. It is believed that the more households which take part in
Y Saints and sanctuaries, such as San Juan de Gaztelo- an operation of this type, the better, for stipend which
gatx, who is called upon to heal corns; or Santa represents the sacrifice of many has greater importance
[power]. The stipend thus constituted will be sent to
Eufemia and the Albónbiga churches in the Basque Zugarramurdi, charging some priest of that locality with
Country, for skin diseases. the task of celebrating a mass in honor of the intentions of
Y Magic processes mostly made by healers who know the woman who sent it].26
the cabalistic language of numbers; astrology or
Folklorist Ignacio Marı́a Barriola describes, among
many symbolic rituals used for several diseases.
other ailments, arrosa, el mal de la rosa and gives a
magic and religious recipe and a curative ritual for
Representative Contributions to Iberian Folk
inflamed wounds in fingers. This introduces the sym-
Medicine Applied to Skin Diseases
bolism of number three.27
Alcantara Montiel, a folklorist doctor active today, car- Juan Francisco Blanco carried out an opinion poll in
ries out extensive fieldwork in the province of Málaga the region of Salamanca. He obtained a “recipes book”
where he interviews healers and other connoisseurs of of traditional remedies with a religious, magic, or nat-
folk medicine. A chapter of his recent book is devoted ural origin presented according to diseases classifica-
to dermatology, and he tackles pathologies such as tion. Skin diseases are baldness, corns, culebrón, ecze-
warts, furuncles and spots, corns, labial herpes, ahorre, mas, eyrisipelas, sores, fistulas, furuncules, spots,
impetigoes, alopecia, whitlows, freckles, herpes zoster, chaps, hemorrhages, wounds, herpes, jaundice, ulcers,
and burns, in addition to other nondermatological con- skin and nails spots, bites, whitlow, stings, chilblain,
ditions which are manifested through the skin, such as scabies, hives, and warts.28
eritema pernio (eyrisipelas).24 Cantero Cerezo and colleagues describe not only the
Amezcua describes the case of Lucia, a scholar from use of plants for problems such as skin diseases, burns,
an Andalusian village who specialized in the cure of and eruptions, but also some healing recipes and hair-
culebrillas (herpes zoster) and eyrisipelas. She also gives growth stimulants. They distinguish between plants
the gracia (magic power) in a rural context.25 used directly on the skin surface, such as boiled poul-Clinics in Dermatology Y 1999;17:33– 40 TRADITIONAL IBERIAN FOLK MEDICINE 37
tices, ointments, plasters or rubbings, and those plants Y de azeyte de comer
which are used as curative ritual elements. For example, avéys allı́ de poner
medio azumbre bien tasado
in order to cure warts, one should beat a juniper with y en fuego que sea templado
berries before dawn saying, las dexaréys descozer.
Buenos dı́as enebro enebroso, Y allı́ conviene mecellas
aquı́ está (el nombre del enfermo) el verrugoso.29 hasta ser desechas ellas
y untad con aquel liquor las almorranas, señor,
[Good morning junipery juniper/Here we have warty y ası́ podreys sanar dellas.31
(name of the patient)].29
[Throw four or five frogs/ in an old pot/ so that the oil
Consiglieri collects several Portuguese beliefs and may not be absorbed/ for your hemorrhoids./ And from
superstitions. Some of them must take place on the olive oil/ you must put there,/ half a azumbre (liquid
Night of San Juan, when water is used to improve measure) carefully measured,/ and over a mild fire/
women’s cutis, to cure diseases such as tiña (ringworm), leave the rats to cook./ Now, let them simmer/ and it is
and for skin ailments in general. Among other curiosi- as well to keep there/ until they fall apart./ Anoint your
hemorrhoids/ with this liquid, senor,/ and you will be
ties, he presents this odd remedy for warts, collected in cured of them].31
Meas, Coimbra:
Se cuentan las verrugas y se cuentan después tanto granos de In a similar vein, Luis L. Cortés y Vázquez collects
sal como aquellas sean: a media noche se meten estos granos en this spell written in nine verses and used for eyrisipelas
un pedazo de pan que se da a comer a un perro, quedando ası́ in Hinojosa (Salamanca):
la persona libre de las verrugas: o de otro modo, se envuelven
los granos de sal en un papel y se le dan a un pobre, que al -¿De dónde vienes, Pedro?
cogerlo, hereda también las verrugas.30 -Vengo de Barcelona.
-¿De qué?
[First the warts are counted and then the same number of -De curar el mal de la ampolla.
grains of salt. At midnight these grains of salt are put into -¿Con qué lo curas?
a piece of bread which is given to a dog, and thus the -Con soga de esparto
person is freed of warts. Alternatively, the grains of salt Y aceite de oliva.
can be wrapped in a piece of paper which is given to a Yo te curo,
poor man who, the minute he seizes it, inherits the warts Dios te sane.33
as well].30
[- Where are you coming from, Pedro?/ - From Barce-
The folklorist Angel Carril describes household rem- lona./ - What were you doing there?/ - From healing my
edies used in Castilla-León, classifying them by organs blister(s)./ - And how do you heal them?/ - With olive oil
affected and by curing methods. Thus he refers to buc- and rope made of esparto./ I cure you; God heals you].33
cal affections (lip sores, fever blisters, and ulcers); to
The doctor Antón Erkoreka focuses on dermatology
vascular troubles (gangrene, varixes, hemorrhoids,
in a large chapter in his book on Basque folk medicine,
hemorrhages); and to some topical uses such as mus-
based on his own fieldwork in the region and analyzed
tard plaster and poultices.31 In a previous article, he
from an academic medicine perspective.23 He begins
provides remedies collected in Salamanca for swellings
with anatomical annotations and procedes to common
and hard skin patches, for whitlow, hives, styes, hem-
pathologies such as warts, arrosa, scurf, herpes, pella-
orrhoids, and so on.32 In both works, he includes rich
gra, eyrisipelas, eruptions, furuncules, corns, and so on.
folkloric material such as conjuros (spells), magic
Elsewhere, he highlights the popular religious practices
charms, and even coplas (popular songs). From the re-
invoked for skin problems, describing how these in-
gion of Salamanca comes the following song about the
volve rituals and pilgrimages to remote churches and
medical use of the leech:
sanctuaries, etc.34
En la calle de Santa Ana Paloma Falque Rey and Francisco M. Ferrero study
hay un ratón con viruelas
y a la cabecera un gato the features of healers and folk medical specialists in
poniéndole “sangrijuelas.”32 part of Andalusia, viewing their practice as an alterna-
[In Santa Ana Street/ there is a mouse with warts/ and at
tive and complementary medical service. In describing
his head a cat applying leeches] (Note that the Spanish some of the diseases treated by these specialists, they
word for leech, sangrijuela, contains that of blood, sangre, detail curative processes and record the incantations or
reflecting the history of its use for medicinal purposes).32 conjuros used by healers for culebrina (forked lighting)
Angel Carril also often cites historic materials such as and eyrisipelas.35
in this song sung for hemorrhoids, recounted in 1545 by Emilio Gavilanes deepens the study of numeric sym-
Fray Luis Escobar in Las Quatrocientas Respuestas: bolism and analyzes the variety of forms assumed by
the number nine in both the symbolism of natural ori-
Echado quatro o cinco ranas
en olla que no sea nueva fices (he provides anatomical notes) and in the remedies
porque el olio no se enbeva for various illnesses including dermatological condi-
para vuestras almorranas. tions such as gumboils, scabies, styes, alpecia, spots,38 AMEZCUA Clinics in Dermatology Y 1999;17:33– 40
buccal aphtas, hemorrhoids, finger wounds, jaundice, The “grandfather” of folklore in Spain and the
etc.36 scholar who translated William George Black’s seminal
Angel Goicoetxea publishes the only study we could work in the late 19th century, Antonio Machado y
find which specifically deals with skin diseases from Alvarez, also conducted some important research of his
the popular point of view for the Basque country. He own. He collected diverse ideas, feelings, and popular
describes the development of different ailments and knowledge regarding colors, noting for instance that
their remedies.37 white and black spots on teeth and nails were consid-
The anthropologist Pedro Gómez Garcı́a collects a ered signs of disease or indications of love. He also
wide repertoire of remedies currently employed in the noted some curative remedies based on color symbol-
treatment of culebrilla by healers in the provinces of ism, such as the custom of rubbing the excrement of a
Granada, Jaén, and Málaga. Culebrilla, or herpes zoster, black cat or stew froth on one’s face to stimulate the
is an example of a disease which could be standardized beard growth; or blood from the cut ear of a black cat to
because the rituals performed by healers are consis- cure eyrisipelas.40
tently more successful than the antiviral therapy of The anthropologists Danielle Provansal and Pedro
conventional medicine. The author develops a theoret- Molina study therapeutic resources from their users’
ical explanation for this success based on symbolic ef- perspective along the coast of Almeria, pointing out as
ficiency.38 well the presence of healers in industrial areas. They
The folklorist Alejandro Guichot y Sierra (1859 –1941) contrast techniques applied from afar (e.g., magical
gathered an extensive collection of Andalusian beliefs means for skin ailments like warts, eyrisipelas, and
and superstitions, comparing it with his contemporary cuts) with those performed in the presence of the pa-
Consiglieri’s Portuguese collection. He also collected tient (e.g., suggestion techniques for jaundice). Forms of
remedies of a magical nature used by folk healers for prayers for cuts and eyrisipelas are collected in an
afflictions such as warts, hangnails, eyrisipelas, and appendix.41
rijas, and for nail and hair care. He recounted a tradi- Francisco G. Seijo Alonso, in his book on Valencia,
tional Andalusian copla which reveals a cultural inter- describes information relating to skin and recounts
pretation of skin problems: some incantations for ailments such as herpes or the mal
Mujer de lunares,
de la rosa punxonosa identified as eyrisipelas. He pro-
Mujer de pesares; vides, for instance, the following conjuro:
Hombre de verrugas,
La rosa punxoñosa
Hombre de fortuna.39
por el mundo andaba,
[Woman with moles/ Woman of sorrows;/ Man with y mi señor Jesucristo,
warts/ Man with a fortune].39 por allı́ pasaba.
Y le dijo,
Victor Lis Quiben dedicates a chapter of his study on ¿tu, mujer, quién eres
Galicia to the description of many practices known in que tan colorada vas
this region and in neighboring Portugal. The locals treat y tan colorada vistes
eyrisipela with the following copla recited by the Por- el caballar que tu andas?
Pues soy la rosa punxoñosa,
tuguese to cure rosa maldita: que me pincho las manos
Quando o Senhor pelo mundo andóu, y me desharé
Pedro Paulo encontróu. como la sal en el agua,
E o Senhor ihe preguntóu: ¿quién te corta?
-Pedro Paulo, que vai por lá? ¡la maldita!.42
-Muita erisipela, erisipela,
[The punxoñosa rose was/ wandering about the world,/
E muita gente morre dela.
and my Lord Jesus Christ happened upon her./ And he
-Pedro Paulo, torna atrás e talharás
said to her,/ - You, fair lady, who are you/ who goes
Con agua da fonte,
about in such colored finery,/ who dresses her horse in
Esparto do monte,
such bright colors?/ - Well, I am la rosa punxoñosa,/
E tres vezes dirás:
which attacks my hands/ and will eat away at me/ as salt
Sai-te daquı́, rosa maldita,
dissolves in water./ Who is able to cut you from the
Pró mais alto pinheiral.
stem,/ oh cursed rose?].42
Que esteja á beira do mar.21
[When the Lord walked the world,/ he encountered Pe- In the course of their investigation into beliefs re-
ter Paul./ And the Lord asked him:/ - Peter Paul, where garding the mal de ojo (evil eye) and its unfortunate
are you going?/ - erisipela, erisipela is here/ And many consequences in a rural parish of La Mancha, Ana M.
people die from this./ - Peter Paul, turn back and wash Verde Casanova and Jose M. Pérez Baroja Mendoza
yourself/ with water from the fountain,/ and esparto
from the mountain./ And thrice you must say:/ - Leave collected information regarding diverse ailments and
immediately, cursed rose,/ for the highest pine-tree/ cures which are part of traditional local medical knowl-
Which is near the sea].21 edge. They describe, for instance, popular interventionsClinics in Dermatology Y 1999;17:33– 40 TRADITIONAL IBERIAN FOLK MEDICINE 39
for things like swollen glands, warts, eyrisipelas, and of this branch of folk medicine is due to the aesthetic
herpes zoster or culebrilla.43 and pathological consequences of most skin diseases
and of other internal conditions manifested through the
skin; thus, there are many skin specialists and healers
Conclusions
who continue to practice in the Iberian Peninsula, in
Folk medicine is a complicated concept, in that it refers rural and even urban contexts. Such cases are crying out
both to an ancient praxis and an incipient discipline for investigation for, apart from rare works which ap-
which seeks to situate itself between medicine and an- proach skin problems under the general rubric of folk
thropology. Those who practice and benefit from it tend medicine, they have attracted relatively little attention.
to use it as an alternative medical system complemen- Because a number of skin conditions and their remedies
tary to the official health system. In contrast, those who are already well documented, providing striking evi-
study it, at least at first, viewed it as a system in conflict dence that folk and orthodox medicine continue to be
with academic medicine. applied alternately and simultaneously by those who
As a professional or lay practice in the Iberian Pen- suffer from them, monographic studies on the contents
insula, folk medicine has given rise to a propagative and effectiveness of traditional methods of popular der-
genre of literature based on medieval tradition and is matology are needed to explain their survival in a
still very much in force. Nowadays, not only “recipe developed society like ours.
books” and other descriptive texts written by amateurs
and medical professionals, but also combative writings References
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