Ekaterina Boldyreva, Healing and Upbringing Children

Abstract

Ekaterina cures sick children. She says that she first heard about her curing abilities from an old woman called Bosya who lived in the village of Dzhalykovo. Being a teacher herself, Ekaterina did not believe what the old woman said. Bosya gave Ekaterina a coin with which she was supposed to massage sick children and said that Ekaterina’s healing gift came from her mother. She also asked Ekaterina to sew a pink robe. Ekaterina did what she was asked to do and came back to see the old woman. Bosya explained to her how to cure sick children. For example, if a child cries and bends her/his neck, stretch the child’s legs and hands and metaphorically cut the belly with the coin. The child will gradually calm down. If a child is scared of something, the following ritual should be performed. Cover the head of the child with a white cloth, hold a cup with cold water over the child’s head and pour hot lead into the cup. The figures that form in the water (people, animals, objects etc.) indicate the source of fear. The sore eyes of children should be treated with their mother’s milk. Ekaterina says that she received her healing knowledge from Bosya. The reason for children’s illnesses may be envious looks from others. Since children are pure and innocent, even envious words can harm them. The face of a sick child should be cleaned with the skirt of their mothers. According to Kalmyk tradition, newborn babies should not be shown to strangers until they are a year old. The first bath of a child should be performed in a bathtub placed on four red bricks so that the child grows strong and healthy. The people who bath the baby should be their mothers and paternal grandmothers. During the first haircut boys’ hair should be shaven completely and kept in the house.