The practice of the power of healing by the Hmong shamans and the cambodian traditional healers of Indochina

Author(s): Eisenbruch, M.

Journal/Book: Homme. 1997; 37: Marie Louise Dufour, 131 Boulevard Saint-Michel, 75005 Paris, France. Ecoles Haute Etud Sci Sociales. 69-103.

Abstract: The power to heal by simple dissolution of the pain is an ancient quest of humanity. Among the Hmong of Laos and Thailand, this power is exerted by the shamans, among the Khmer of Cambodia, by the traditional healers. These two cultural groups consider healing and recovery, whether from the point of view of the healer or the patient, as a holistic phenomenon and offer us a unique vantage point onto healing. The main contrast between the two systems resides in the inversion of means : in the case of the Hmong, through the transformation of the Hmong shaman's body image, by which he establishes his power of healing; in the case of the Khmer healer, through the transformation of the patient's body image. This is perhaps an indication that, whatever is the therapeutic system in cause, healing consists fundamentally in the communication that is established between the healer and the patient, and by the healer taking over the sphere of suffering that envelops and separates the patient.

Note: Article Lemoine J, CNRS, Ctr Anthropol Chine Sud & Peninsule Indochinoise, 27 Rue Damesme, F-75013 Paris, FRANCE

Keyword(s): REFUGEES; TRANCE

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