Healers and Healing Skills in the Ryzhkovo Vironian Community

Abstract

This article explores the implementation of folk medical practices and procedures in the Viru (i.e. Estonian and Finnish) group in the village of Ryzhkovo, founded as a mixed Lutheran settlement in Western Siberia around 1803. The material is based on the author's fieldwork in 1999, 2000 and 2004. Despite the currently multi-national and multi-ethnic nature of the village, Ryzhkovo still maintains separate territories for Latvians and Vironians - the Latvian side and the Vironian side. Viru, the term originally used by the Finns to refer to the people living in North-Estonia, has obtained a wider meaning and is used as a self-designation for both Estonians and Finns in Ryzhkovo. Since healing skills are perceived as heritage-related knowledge shared by a group, passed on from generation to generation, available to all and attainable by anyone, folk healers do not stand out much in the Ryzhkovo Vironian commu- nity In a multicultural and lingual environment, there is also quite a lot that is borrowed from neighbours. In part, the survival of folk medical practices and procedures has been supported by actual practical needs. The decline of tradi- tion has been induced by the prolonged socio-political pressure on folk healers, the effective development of the national health care system, and the attitudes within the group itself that have mainly accepted healers of respectable age. Changes are manifest in the modification of healing procedures resulting in a narrower selection of spell types and texts available. Nevertheless, in today's conditions of greater political and economic freedom, there tends to be an in- creasing interest in folk medical practices and procedures.