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It is often mistranslated into English as "witch doctor" or "medicine man". Many self-styled dukun in Indonesia are simply scammers and criminals, preying on people who were raised to believe in the supernatural. [2] The dukun is the very epitome of the kejawen or kebatinan belief system indigenous to Java.
A witch's ladder (also known as "rope and feathers", witches' ladder, witches ladder, or witch ladder) is a practice, in folk magic or witchcraft, that is made from knotted cord or hair, that normally constitutes a spell. Charms are knotted or braided with specific magical intention into the cords.
A curandero (Spanish: [kuɾanˈdeɾo], "healer"; f. curandera, also spelled curandeiro, Portuguese: [kuɾɐ̃ˈdejɾu], f. curandeira) is a traditional native healer or shaman found primarily in Latin America and also in the United States. [1]
A witch doctor (also spelled witch-doctor), or witchcraft doctor, [1] is a kind of magical healer who treats ailments believed to be caused by witchcraft. [2] The term is often misunderstood, and they could more accurately be called "anti-witch doctors".
Apotropaic marks, also called 'witch marks' or 'anti-witch marks' in Europe, are symbols or patterns scratched on the walls, beams and thresholds of buildings to protect them from witchcraft or evil spirits. They have many forms; in Britain they are often flower-like patterns of overlapping circles. [25] such as hexafoils.
The Swedish cunning woman Gertrud Ahlgren of Gotland (1782–1874), drawing by Pehr Arvid Säve 1870. In Scandinavia, the klok gumma ("wise woman") or klok gubbe ("wise man"), and collectively De kloka ("The Wise ones"), as they were known in Swedish, were usually elder members of the community who acted as folk healers and midwives as well as using folk magic such as magic rhymes. [10]
Azande witch doctor. Witchcraft among the Zande people of North Central Africa is magic used to inflict harm on an individual that is native to the Azande tribal peoples. The belief in witchcraft is present in every aspect of Zande society. They believe it is a power that can only be passed on from a parent to their child.
Among the Pennsylvania Germans, the 'plain folk', such as the Amish, Dunkers, and the Mennonites, as well as among the Lutheran and German Reformed church members – Pow-Wow and the Pow-Wow doctor has a significant following. [16] Another characteristic practice of powwow magic is the Himmelsbrief or "heaven's letter".