What do you think of when you hear St. Patrick’s Day? For many of us, we think of shamrocks, four-leaf clovers, leprechauns, the world of fairies, and yes, of course, green beer! As March 17th is fast-approaching, it is equally an excellent time to explore the world of Irish healing practices.
Celtic Healing | Irish Healing Practices
Most of the Irish healing practices date several centuries back and those include the techniques offered by the Celts. The Celts’ history dates farther back than the 4th century BCE. Their healing practices came from the spiritual world. As they believed that all things came from the Celtic Otherworld, they based most of their healing practices on the guidance and observations through the lenses of their perceptions of what pleased their deities.
Notably, and a lesson we can take from the Celts, they heeded the concept of balance diligently. They believed that all negative consequences stemmed from imbalances with the Otherworld. Keep your worlds in balance, all will be fine. Don’t keep your worlds maintained, chaos ensues. Does that resonate with you in the modern era? I’m sure it does.
Celts believed in 10 elemental constructs for healing, including water, herbs, stones, fire, music, Nature, symbols, storytelling, deities, and rituals. Each healing element underpinned or connected to another element as a facet of Celtic life. If you’re interested in learning more about the Celts and Ireland generally, check out the fantastic book, How the Irish Saved Civilization: The Untold Story of Ireland’s Heroic Role From the Fall of Rome to the Rise of Medieval Europe (The Hinges of History), by Thomas Cahill, the former director of religious publishing at Doubleday.
Medicinal Herbs | Irish Healing Practices
As early back as the 4th century AD, myths and legends began on the use of herbal medicines. As the story of Miach goes, his death (murdered by his jealous father) and burial lead to the growth of the 365 healing herbs of the world, that his sister’s tears helped nourish and then she harvested.
So, much of Irish traditional medicine is based on herbal remedies. But, this mythology turns to real science today as we have learned time and time again. Natural remedies used by ancient healers are explored by scientists and used for pharmaceutical drugs (e.g., morphine, salicin (of willow bark) turned into aspirin, and ephedra sourced for ephedrine). Here too, with Irish herbalism, we can learn about the source herbal medicines and mixtures that can help us in understanding healing remedies that don’t necessarily have to be harsh drugs.
And, Irish medical herbalists continue to thrive today, experiencing a modern renaissance. Herbalism in Ireland is seeing renewed interest in treating a wide variety of diseases, including most recently this study on the use of boswellia (an Indian tree) for reducing fluid inflammation in cancer patients.
Therapeutic Waters in Ireland | Irish Healing Practices
As an island state off the coast of Great Britain, Ireland has a culture built around water dating back to 10,000 BCE. So, it’s only natural that the Irish have many healing practices that incorporate water and the natural waters in the environments.
Ronan Foley, professor at National University of Ireland, has written Healing Waters: Therapeutic Landscapes in Historic and Contemporary Ireland (Geographies of Health Series). Healing Waters is a fascinating discussion on the “holy wells, spa towns, Turkish baths and sweat-houses, sea-bathing and the modern spa” in relation to how the Irish culturally connected to water and health.
Foley focuses on five specific curative aspects of water in Ireland—spirituality, rest, sweating, thalassic therapy (sea bathing), and the modern spa. Spirituality as a cure with holy wells through Ireland. Rest as a cure with spa towns, which are resorts that usually contain hot springs and copious opportunities to relax. Sweating allows toxins to excrete from the body (mind and spirit, according to Irish ancient healing practices) in Turkish baths and sweat-houses. Thalassic therapy cures many ailments for the Irish with bathing in the mineral-rich seas of the island. And, finally, the use of the modern spa that combines many different healing modalities to rejuvenate the body.
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All told, the rich historic tapestry of Ireland and the Irish healing practices can fill books (and probably has). The more we explore the variety of ancient healing practices in contemporary society and using modern science, the more useful, validated and widespread these natural healing modalities can be applied.
Are you of Irish descent? Do you know any Irish home remedies that your parents or grandparents have shared?