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University Daily Kansan, October 23, 1980
Foreigners leaving doctors for cults, prof says
By KATHY BRUSSELL Staff Reporter
Herbs, magic and "healing cults" are becoming popular alternatives to modern medicine in some European and South American countries, according to a Venezuelan professor at the University of Kansas this week.
The field of ethnomedicine, the study of the healing practices of lower-class peoples, is the most recent interest of Angelina Pollak-Elk, professor of
anthropology at the Catholic University of Andres Bello in Caracas, Venezuela, and the director of the school's center for comparative religious studies.
BECAUSE OF INCREASING medical costs and a lack of faith in contemporary doctors, many of the poor people in Venezuela have been turning to healing cults, which treat both physical and mental illnesses with charms and rituals, Pollak-Eltz said yesterday.
However, poor people are not the only ones turning to cults. Many middle
class and educated people also are turning away from medicine, Polak-Eltz said. There are even cuts in the mountains of Europe, she added.
Pollak-Eltz, who grew up in Vienna, Austria, has lived in Caracas since 1989. She has done extensive research on the Afro-American culture in Venezuela and has begun to work with the country's syncretistic cultures, which are a combination of beliefs from past cultures.
"Syncretistic usually refers to religion," she said. "The cults draw on the tradition, and they them all together. Many of the healing cults are traditional, but came forward
Pollak-Eltz will give a lecture on "Healing and the Cult of Mala Lionaza in Venezuela" at 7:30 tonight in the Forum Room of the Kansas Union.
only in the last few decades. The cults are changing all the time; there are
"The cult of Maria Leonza is basically a utilitarian cult," she said. "When people are sick, or believe they are possessed, or feel lonely and isolated, they go to the cult center in the hope that the spirits will help them.
"A cult center has a cult leader and several mediums, who are supposed to call in the spirits and speak through them. If a person is believed to be
possessed, they may have to exorcise him. Then they will give him a charm to possess them.
"The person feels better immediately, largely because the disease is often psychosomatic in the first instance. This is why must in all of this be cured."
The "medicines" at the cult centers are not simply doctors who provide medical care.
"Actually, they are rather experienced and good psychiatrists and psychologists," she said. "The healers not only cure diseases, but help solve the personal problems of the person. They see the person as a whole."
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THE PERSONAL OR human element of doctoring has been lost in most countries, making health cuts all the more important to the common people, Polak-Eltz said.
"In Europe, where we have socialized medicine, the doctors don't have much time to spend with patients, and they are paid very little. The doctors look only at the tests, not at the person.
"The concept of the old family doctor, whom you grew up knowing, was important to curing," she said. "They didn't need lab tests to treat you."
When a researcher is studying the health cuts in Venezuela, he must be careful not to get caught up in their tactics. In fact, many people who have studied the Maria Lionza cut made the mistake of getting too involved in it, she said.
Pollak-Eitz is also a noted authority on black family and culture inenezuela, and her books on the subject have translated into several languages.
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