Astrolabe Body

Traditional medicine is a part of the health and treatment system of the Iranian people, based on their belief structures and cultural values. The semantic and practical domains of terms such as popular medicine, folk medicine, and traditional medicine share similarities, which can cause confusion when these terms are used across different scientific and popular levels. Similarly, if we carefully use other terms like ethnic medicine, home treatment, and popular healing, confusion is inevitable. This has made it difficult to establish a clear and general framework to define the semantic and functional scope of terminology in the world of folk medicine. Moreover, the relativity of the term ‘folk’ and its flexibility in the context of time and history make this unconventional medical practice struggle to adopt a unified scientific model. However, one constant element is that the foundation of this type of medicine is the health beliefs and therapeutic behaviors of the general population. This principle has led scholars to generally agree that in folk medicine, everything from the cause to the diagnosis and treatment of diseases is related to the beliefs and religious convictions of the people. It can be defined as the alignment of specific beliefs about the cause of diseases with the general worldview of society. The deep roots of this medicine in myths and its mixture with superstitious and religious beliefs, as well as its outlook on supernatural and magical forces and the application of specific and unusual treatment methods, have led to the belief that this medicine is unwritten and oral, transmitted through social customs and traditions from generation to generation by word of mouth.