Old Wives' Tales: The History of Remedies, Charms and Spells

ISBN-13: 9780752458090 / Angielski / Miękka / 2010 / 240 str.

Mary Chamberlain

Opis

From goddesses and witches to modern-day doctorsan entertaining history of women healers featuring an AZ of remediesThe woman healer is as old as historyfor millennia she has been doctor, nurse, and midwife, and even in the age of modern medicine her wisdom is handed down in the form of old wives' tales.Using extensive research into archives and original texts, and numerous conversations with women in city and countryside, Mary Chamberlain presents a stimulating challenge to the history of orthodox medicine and an illuminating survey of female wisdom which goes back to the earliest times."What are old wives tales? Where do they come from? Do they really work?" These questions, and many more, are answered in this fascinating compendium of remedies and cures handed down from mother to daughter from the beginning of time. We may all know that stewed prunes are a cure for constipation, but how many of us were aware that a poultice of chicken manure is a remedy for baldness? Or that eel liver will aid a difficult labor?"