M0005981: Traditional healer driving out sickness from a patient

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Photograph by Herbert Vladimir Meyerowitz (1900-1945), British colonial administrator, of a traditional healer from the Ewe people of West Africa driving out sickness from a boy. According to the Wellcome Historical Medical Museum accession register, this is done by placing fowl in the boys arms so that the sickness leaves the boy and enters the fowl instead. The patient holds a bottle of palm oil which is used as part of the treatment and afterwards when sacrificing the fowl to a Legba, a protector of families. The photograph was acquired by the Wellcome Historical Medical Museum and accession in 1939 (accession number PHO 11183). Related images: M0005982.

M0005981: Traditional healer driving out sickness from a patient

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