rdmc

CynAq, 8 months ago to actuallyautistic

Throughout the entire human history before modern medicine, each culture had their own version of a witch doctor, or shaman.

Regardless of which culture they appear in, these people were generally some kind of social outcast. Kept at arms length due to their utility for the communities.

Generally regarded with an apprehensive respect, they are the source of story tropes such as the wise hermit people went to for advice, or the old lady herbalist, with a temper as bitter as the concoctions she made.

These people served many functions as observers of nature, healers, keepers of calendars, and even psychotherapists of an ancient kind.

Many theories attribute the characteristics of these people, common across many quite diverse cultures, to certain neurodivergences, and some go as far as claiming they were mostly autistics.

One common thing found in almost all shamanic cultures are methods (masks, curtains, reflective surfaces etc) to make it possible for the shaman (healer, herbalist...) to talk to their patient and study their face and body without making eye contact.

Just an interesting thing to think about.

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