Antall József szerk.: Népi gyógyítás Magyarországon / Orvostörténeti Közlemények – Supplementum 11-12. (Budapest, 1979)

TANULMÁNYOK - Hoppáy Mihály: „Anya és gyermek" a magyar folklórban — A hiedelemvilág etnoszemiotikai megközelítése (angol nyelven)

-92 Comm. Hist. Artis Med. Suppl. 11- 12 (1979) see: Ehrenreich—English 1974). Her healing knowledge was based on the local traditions, but as shown by the witchcraft-trials, midwives also had a good command of superstitions. In the inheritance of a midwife there were found magic instruments including a string of pearls worn around the neck to heal epilepsy, materials against bewitching, a three-pointed measuring tape used at births. The young mother and the baby had to be protected against different charmings during some weeks after birth. The mother was laid in a so called Blessed Virgin-bed covered with a sheet in order to be protected. Midwives, as other healers or specialists, also used a number of medicaments together with the magical means (Rørbye 1976:220). There are other international or universal features of midwifery in Hungary (for comparisons see Nikolsky 1929:24— 29, Szychowska

—Boebel 1972:69-77, Reinila 1971). Ethnomedical history will be more interested in data pertaining to folk abortives and the use of procedures, instruments (e.g. delivery chairs) assisting delivery. There are to be found in the folk-belief—folk customs collections of the Ethnographic Museum the magic intruments and curette used in abortions of a village midwife. The scraping spoon (originally used for scraping dough off the kneading trough) was a brutal instrument used frequently in causing abortions, but also more simple methods were practical: roots (e. g. oleander) were inserted, ice-cold baths were taken, heavy objects were lifted in order to be freed of unwanted children. My father, who is a gynecologist-obstetrician in the Zemplén-region, can tell long stories about the application of beliefs and magical techniques for such things as induced miscarrige, etc. A less dangerous practice, for example, was the tying of some red material on a child's wrist. The young mother explained to him that it was for the prevention of an evil spell. Symbolic meanings were assigned to colours. Certain colours possessed definite meaning in the Hungarian folk belief system. Most prevalent was the role of red to counted evil and bewitchment and spells. Red rags were tied on the threshold and door post, too. Obviously the basic principle of the role of colours was similarity and analogy. This can be observed in the healing of certain illnesses. The illness known as St. Anthony's fire (erysipelas) can be recognized through the redding of the skin, therefore one of its cures was fumigation with red grains of corn and bandaging it with red cloth. An epileptic ring was used to cure childhood epilepsy. This was a circular or pretzel-shaped baked dough ring. The child was slipped through the prepared ring. This analogical cure symbolized liberation from illness and rebirth. There is an other example of analogy. Boils on the body or the extremities were pressed with dolls made of small pieces of rags, then encircled, finally a determined number of dolls were thrown backwards at the crossroads. The basic idea was that those picking up the dolls would be infected with the illness. A relatively rich collection of materials in museums' archives and written records rectify to the prevalence of this belief. The use of animals for medical purposes, is linked to shamanism. In Finno-Ugric mythology certain animals were revered as totem-symbols, which were religiously respected by our ancestors (Diószegi—Hoppá 1978). So it is understandable that the thought the medicines prepared from these animals to be panaceae. Equally prominent is the role of the snake in folk medicine. It is best known in the prevention of maladies linked to bewitching. Specific illness, such as the shivers and toothache