Diseases and Their Treatment
According to Jules Mourier
Doctors are rarely consulted because the local population has little trust in official medicine. They find elderly experienced women and folk healers more trustworthy. Here are some recipes from these unusual healers and some rather strange customs performed during illness:
In case of fish poisoning, you should swallow the gall of the same fish!
For stomach pain, weigh a raw egg and mix alum of the same weight with the egg yolk after removing the white. Close the shell with flour, bake the egg in the oven on low heat, and then eat it. It will cure immediately!
For scorpion stings, they simply apply crushed cherry leaves.
For snake bites, there is a special snail that is applied to the bite. It can absorb the venom and extinguish the inflammatory process. In a few minutes, the shell will turn green. Then it is thrown into milk, where it will regurgitate the poison and regain its original bluish color. This method originates from Indian medicine.
In case of dog bites and bites from other rabid animals, a drinkable medicine is used along with special treatment, which is often effective.
When measles or smallpox appears, parents and relatives kneel by the patient's bed and decorate the room with red and bright-colored fabrics. They bring flowers, pour water, play guitar, dance, and utter magical words. The patient is given woman's milk to drink!
To revive a person who has fainted due to great fear or joy, they call a fortune-teller who measures the patient's arm length from elbow to little finger with a belt used on Easter night. If the belt length doesn't match exactly on both sides, it means the heart is diseased. Then the following prayer is uttered: "Heart, stay in your place! Don't exceed your natural boundaries! Be content with your dwelling! Don't wander! I will sew you a colorful nest with colors you will like! God, fulfill my request!"
During epidemics, especially dysentery, the population is particularly afraid; everyone runs away. The poor patient is completely abandoned, and no one agrees to stay with them.
The patient is very rarely allowed to drink wine. If someone among those around has drunk wine, they avoid entering the patient's room.
In the rare case when medicine is prescribed by a folk healer, the first drop of this medicine is dripped on the painful area before the patient swallows it.
If someone cured you during an illness, then you become a member of their family and a close one.
After your recovery, your hair should be first cut by the person who cared for you during the illness.
According to missionaries, there were folk healers in Samegrelo, and they attributed the cause of diseases to the humid climate of the region. Lamberti reports that to escape the damp climate, the inhabitants of Colchis would change their air and living place throughout the year, which benefited their health: "In summer, Megrelians go to stay in mountainous areas, where there are various fruits and clear springs bubbling nearby... They choose suitable places in spring and autumn as well. They don't have houses near the sea, both because of the bad air and for fear of attacks by neighboring barbarians."
In Samegrelo, if a disease did not respond to traditional treatment, they would turn to places of worship for healing.
The ritual of "head circling" was particularly popular. These rituals were mostly held on religious holidays, and the livestock circled around the head was considered sacrificed to the place of worship. Various types of offerings are confirmed: bulls, cows, sheep, roosters, etc.
The purpose of the ritual was to sacrifice something else instead of the sick person and to soften the deity's heart through sacrifice, avoiding their wrath.
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In Samegrelo, the evil eye, curses, and magic were considered causes of disease, and various means were used to prevent their effects. Archangelo Lamberti writes:
"Megrelians are not only afraid of loud verbal curses, but they are also convinced that the air itself is often poisoned by some magic or evil eye, and they are very afraid of such air. To protect themselves from it, they use various means. The main means is considered to be a fisherman's net, which they wrap around the sick person's bed and children's cradles. This net, in their opinion, protects a person from the bewitched air and the evil eye, which they believe greatly harms the sick. In addition, to scare away the devil, they put an unsheathed sword under the patient's pillow, as well as a spear and other weapons. I have seen a local nobleman who was always preceded by a boy. This boy held a stick with several small silver icons of various saints hanging on it. The nobleman thought that by this means, the air in front of him would be purified and nothing could harm him."
To protect against the evil eye, they wore talismans and used incantations rooted in paganism.
For the treatment of mental illnesses, Megrelians believed it was necessary to visit St. George's church, offer appropriate sacrifices, and ask St. George for the patient's recovery, as he was considered the dispeller of all evil spirits and their deeds."
