Folk Healing Practices in Sanandaj: An Analysis of Disease Perception, Treatment Processes, and Healer Characteristics (Case Study: nawk kæwtin, særkæwtin, and Tekandin)

Bayangani, Bahman; Hosaeni, Sarah

doi:10.22054/qjik.2026.86953.1465

Folk Healing Practices in Sanandaj: An Analysis of Disease Perception, Treatment Processes, and Healer Characteristics (Case Study: nawk kæwtin, særkæwtin, and Tekandin)

Document Type : Research Paper

Authors

Bahman Bayangani ¹

Sarah Hosaeni ²

¹ Assistant professor of Sociology, Golestan university, Gorgan Iran

² Bachelor of Social Research

https://doi.org/10.22054/qjik.2026.86953.1465

Abstract

Traditional medicine, as an integral part of folk culture, is deeply rooted in a society's history and civilization. Accordingly, the main objective of the present research is an anthropological study to identify and analyze three prevalent folk treatment methods in the city of Sanandaj. This research was conducted using a qualitative approach and an ethnographic method. Data were collected through in-depth, semi-structured interviews with 17 participants (including 8 healers and 9 patients). Participants were selected via purposive and snowball sampling, and data collection continued until theoretical saturation was reached. The obtained information was analyzed using thematic coding. Data analysis revealed that these treatment methods are based on a fundamentally different ontological understanding of the body, illness, and treatment, where illness is not considered merely a biological phenomenon. Key analytical findings of this research include cultural components such as the belief in the role of psycho-spiritual factors (like fear and work pressure) in causing illness, as well as the social structure of knowledge transmission (through healers' inherent, hereditary, and acquired characteristics). The findings of this study attest to the richness of folk knowledge and the dynamism of the traditional and folk medicine system in the city of Sanandaj.

Keywords

Traditional Medicine

Folk Knowledge

nawk kæwtin

særkæwtin

Tekandin

Sanandaj

Subjects

Indigenous Knowledge

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