St. Patrick, Warts and All!

Did you know that Irish folk healing was known for having several odd yet effective treatments for warts? I recently came across the following in a book on traditional remedies:

WART REMEDIES OF OLD IRELAND

"On meeting a funeral, take some of the clay from under the feet of the men who bear the coffin and apply it to the wart, wishing strongly at the same time that it may disappear, and so it will be.'


"Tie up some pebbles in a bag with a piece of silver money, and throw it on the road. Whoever finds the bag and keeps the money, to him the warts will go, and leave you forever."


"Also, steal a piece of meat and apply it raw to the warts, then bury it in the ground. As the meat decays the warts will disappear. But the charm is no use unless the meat is stolen, and no one should see you either stealing or burying it."


"Rub a dirty washcloth over the warts, saying, "Away, away, away." Bury the dirty washcloth in the ground by the light of the full moon."

Clearly no theories of modern pharmacology would back these nostrums, however we do know that the skin is highly responsive to your mood and thoughts. All these remedies were designed to work upon the belief system of the patient and quite often they did produce positive results.

Nowadays you would be hard pressed to find people who would "buy in" to the idea that taking clay from the shoes of pall-bearers or applying a dirty washcloth is going to have much effect. Yet the same mechanism of positive belief and expectation (along with the relief of tension) facilitates the subconscious healing response to this very day.

Hypnosis counseling is gaining more recognition as a viable complementary treatment for conditions like tinnitus, irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), chronic pain and skin conditions. If you would like to learn more, please visit my newly posted Medical Hypnotism page.

Slainte',

James Malone