Soc Sci Med. 1984 ; 18(7): 589-98.

The Tisiyahi Klinik: a Nepalese medical centre in an intracultural field of relations.

Burghart R.

In this paper I present a detailed case study of an exorcist in rural Nepal who has abandoned the explanatory paradigm of exorcism and taken up certain aspects of Brahmanical tradition, medical science and temple healing in order to establish a place of medical resort, called the Tisiyahi klinik. In particular, I investigate the intracultural field of relations of the exorcist and analyse the way in which these different health systems, each with its own domain and powers of explanation, were brought together to form one system at the clinic. In conclusion, I argue that these other health systems served to authenticate and legitimate the folk therapy of the exorcist so that his rural clinic might be seen by villagers as a medical centre of southern Nepal.