Shi`a Pajoohi

Shi`a Pajoohi

The Social History of Supernatural Therapeutic Methods of Iranians during the Safavid Era

Document Type : Original Article

Authors
seyed mahdi beheshti 1
hasan zandiye 2
mehrab sadeghniya 3
1 PhD Student in the History of Shiism, University of Religions and Denominations, Qom, Iran
2 Assistant Professor, Department of History, University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran
3 Assistant Professor, Department of Abrahamic Religions, University of Religions and Denominations, Qom, Iran
Abstract
Iranians of the Safavid era, in addition to natural treatments, also believed in supernatural treatments, in a way that most of the society held this style of treatment and used it in their daily lives. The explanation of this style of therapy based on social history propositions is one of the subjects worthy of research to understand the status of therapy in that era when in addition to conventional medical solutions, other methods were also used. It is a dimension of therapy that has not been addressed much, while in the society of the Safavid era, it was prevalent among the people and most of the social strata benefited from it. Using a qualitative method, the current research described and analyzed this style of therapy based on historical first-hand sources and some new studies. The findings show that Iranians at that time, in addition to natural therapy methods, also used supernatural therapy styles for treatment. The different social classes of the Safavid era used widely supernatural healing methods such as writing prayers and amulets, spells and magic, jinns and fairies, pilgrimage and recourse, healing by royal power, vow therapy, charity therapy, prayer therapy, and healing by the Holy Quran.
 
Keywords
Supernatural Therapy
Safavid Era Medicine
Social History
Prayer Writing and Amulets
Spells and Magic
Islamic Therapy
Subjects
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