The politics of tradition : folk healing on two continents, Part I.

This article is a continuation of my collaboration with Nancy Cassell Mcentire, former director of the Indiana State University folklore archives in the USA, comparing traditional healing practices in Sweden and the United States. In our first joint presentation the subject of investigation was healing trees; this time we have turned our focus to the healing practices for warts and burns. In Part I of this topic I take a closer look at the explanations for the occurrence of warts, the different types of cures used to get rid of them. I also examine remedies for healing burns, and give examples of the use of ritual acts, which in turn reveal the belief systems surrounding warts and burns. in Part II Nancy Mcentire makes a case study discussing current yet traditional healing practices for warts, burns, and asthma in the USA