Susto etiology and treatment according to Bolivian Trinitario people: a 'masters of the animal species' phenomenon
- Author
- Evert Thomas, Ina Vandebroek, Patrick Van Damme (UGent) , Lucio Semo and Zacaria Noza
- Organization
- Abstract
- This article addresses two concepts that are quite widespread among Latin American cultures: susto or "'fright sickness," and the "masters of the animal species" philosophy, whereby individual animal spirits are believed to be "owned" by species-specific spiritual masters. This is the first article to integrate both these aspects, drawing from ethnographic data from the Trinitario people in Bolivia collected through participant-observation and semistructured ethnobotanical interviews on medicinal plants. Although Trinitarios have a long history of agriculture, their worldview is still partly one of animistic hunter and fisherman societies. This worldview is reflected in Trinitario susto etiology and treatment. Susto is locally believed to originate through soul theft by a variety of masters of the animal species and landscape spirits. Treatment is partly based on the principle of similia similibus curantur or "like cures like" and magicoritual ceremonies, but ethnopharmacological preparations are also well known and frequently used.
- Keywords
- ethnozoological preparations, Mojeno, folk illnesses, ethnomedicine, desombro, personalistic etiology, FOLK ILLNESS, SOUL LOSS
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Citation
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication: http://hdl.handle.net/1854/LU-2136533
- MLA
- Thomas, Evert, et al. “Susto Etiology and Treatment According to Bolivian Trinitario People: A ‘masters of the Animal Species’ Phenomenon.” MEDICAL ANTHROPOLOGY QUARTERLY, vol. 23, no. 3, 2009, pp. 298–319, doi:10.1111/j.1548-1387.2009.01065.x.
- APA
- Thomas, E., Vandebroek, I., Van Damme, P., Semo, L., & Noza, Z. (2009). Susto etiology and treatment according to Bolivian Trinitario people: a “masters of the animal species” phenomenon. MEDICAL ANTHROPOLOGY QUARTERLY, 23(3), 298–319. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1548-1387.2009.01065.x
- Chicago author-date
- Thomas, Evert, Ina Vandebroek, Patrick Van Damme, Lucio Semo, and Zacaria Noza. 2009. “Susto Etiology and Treatment According to Bolivian Trinitario People: A ‘masters of the Animal Species’ Phenomenon.” MEDICAL ANTHROPOLOGY QUARTERLY 23 (3): 298–319. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1548-1387.2009.01065.x.
- Chicago author-date (all authors)
- Thomas, Evert, Ina Vandebroek, Patrick Van Damme, Lucio Semo, and Zacaria Noza. 2009. “Susto Etiology and Treatment According to Bolivian Trinitario People: A ‘masters of the Animal Species’ Phenomenon.” MEDICAL ANTHROPOLOGY QUARTERLY 23 (3): 298–319. doi:10.1111/j.1548-1387.2009.01065.x.
- Vancouver
- 1.Thomas E, Vandebroek I, Van Damme P, Semo L, Noza Z. Susto etiology and treatment according to Bolivian Trinitario people: a “masters of the animal species” phenomenon. MEDICAL ANTHROPOLOGY QUARTERLY. 2009;23(3):298–319.
- IEEE
- [1]E. Thomas, I. Vandebroek, P. Van Damme, L. Semo, and Z. Noza, “Susto etiology and treatment according to Bolivian Trinitario people: a ‘masters of the animal species’ phenomenon,” MEDICAL ANTHROPOLOGY QUARTERLY, vol. 23, no. 3, pp. 298–319, 2009.
@article{2136533, abstract = {{This article addresses two concepts that are quite widespread among Latin American cultures: susto or "'fright sickness," and the "masters of the animal species" philosophy, whereby individual animal spirits are believed to be "owned" by species-specific spiritual masters. This is the first article to integrate both these aspects, drawing from ethnographic data from the Trinitario people in Bolivia collected through participant-observation and semistructured ethnobotanical interviews on medicinal plants. Although Trinitarios have a long history of agriculture, their worldview is still partly one of animistic hunter and fisherman societies. This worldview is reflected in Trinitario susto etiology and treatment. Susto is locally believed to originate through soul theft by a variety of masters of the animal species and landscape spirits. Treatment is partly based on the principle of similia similibus curantur or "like cures like" and magicoritual ceremonies, but ethnopharmacological preparations are also well known and frequently used.}}, author = {{Thomas, Evert and Vandebroek, Ina and Van Damme, Patrick and Semo, Lucio and Noza, Zacaria}}, issn = {{0745-5194}}, journal = {{MEDICAL ANTHROPOLOGY QUARTERLY}}, keywords = {{ethnozoological preparations,Mojeno,folk illnesses,ethnomedicine,desombro,personalistic etiology,FOLK ILLNESS,SOUL LOSS}}, language = {{eng}}, number = {{3}}, pages = {{298--319}}, title = {{Susto etiology and treatment according to Bolivian Trinitario people: a 'masters of the animal species' phenomenon}}, url = {{http://doi.org/10.1111/j.1548-1387.2009.01065.x}}, volume = {{23}}, year = {{2009}}, }
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