Processes for Transferring Folk Medicine Healers’ Wisdom about the Use of Herbs for Treatment in Communities of Loei Province

Abstract

The purpose of this research was to study processes for transferring folk medicine healers’ wisdom about the use of herbs for treatment in communities of Loei Province. The qualitative research methods used included an in-depth interview, participatory observation and focus group discussion. The findings revealed that bodies of herbal knowledge could be learned and classified from drug formularies for the treatment of various illnesses. The method of treatment by the folk healers was related to different beliefs and local cultures. As Buddhists, the folk healers believed that illnesses were caused by the Four Great Elements and the Five Aggregates. In addition, they believed that astrology and the horoscope could help predict the diseases of a person. The processes for transferring the wisdom of the folk healers included the inheritance from the ancestors, the transfer among the family members, the transfer by the traditional healers to interested persons, the transfer from the traditional healers to the patients completely cured by the treatment, the transfer from the academic institutions and the transfer by the traditional texts of drug formulary. The methods of transferring folk healers’ wisdom included the transfer at the family, community and national levels by the use of verbal communication, such as word of mouth and lectures. The transfer could be done by other means, such as demonstration, actual practice, self-learning from media, exhibition at learning resource centers and written records.