Facing disease in folklore (Case study: folklore of Kerman people)

The environmental determinism governing the primitive human mind caused his knowledge to become one-dimensional in such a way that he thought everything was real and alive, and so created a legend for the unknown and sought the answer to the unknown in his imagination. This one-dimensional reaction and horizontal view of phenomena was also seen in his treatment strategies. That is, he performed some treatments using the drugs he knew in nature or the tools he invented, and attributed some other diseases that he could not recognize to the supernatural and usually resorted to unusual methods such as magic, and actions and tools unrelated to the disease for treatment. These methods sometimes lead to treatment due to the psychological effect on the patient. In the beginning, more unusual treatments were used, but gradually, with the formation of science and the expansion of human knowledge, treatment methods became more scientific and only a small part of these treatments remained in folklore. These therapies are part of the folklore and it seems necessary to preserve this heritage. Kerman is one of the very ancient biological areas of the Iran plateau, which also has a long life and a long history in the field of medicine. Therefore, this research, has endeavored to investigate some beliefs and treatment methods used in Kerman. The data was collected in a library and field method. The research method is descriptive-analytical. The findings of the research show that the people of Kerman face diseases either on the basis of knowledge and awareness, or on the basis of belief and psychological and internal perceptions. Although the latter method of treatment is not scientific, it has sometimes been effective due to indoctrination and psychological influence.