Lietuvos istorijos institutas

Erysipelas, called rožė (‘rose’) in Lithuanian, is one of the very few diseases that still make patients turn to traditional charmers for help. Using narratives from the remote village of Musteika (in the Varėna district) and materials recorded elsewhere in Lithuania, the author attempts to establish the ethnomedical concept of erysipelas, and to what extent the treatment by charming can be effective. The research in Musteika allows for the conclusion that the ethnomedical etiology of erysipelas includes both physical and mental causes, and the disease might be a somatic expression of mental experiences. Traditional charming therefore serves as an effective treatment practice.