Syncretism of Healing Rituals in the Carpathian Mountains of Ukraine Vinnichenko Oksana Chair: Philosophy and Social Sciences, I. Ya. Horbachevsky State Medical University, Ternopil, Ukraine E-mail: vinnichenko.oksana@gmail.com Online published on 31 August, 2012. Abstract In the Carpathian Mountain region of Ukraine the individuals are known as moljars. They are purportedly quite adept in esoteric knowledge associated with the art of healing. That knowledge can give them the possibility or extraordinary power of "managing" people's feelings and moods, curing their illness, influencing natural phenomena, and even people's fate. Their healing practices combine folk traditions and some religious beliefs found in faith traditions, and thus are clearly syncretistic with affinities to what might be designated today as Complementary and Alternative Medicine. The focus is on the healingphenomenon that is associated with syncretistic rituals in the field of religion and clearly seems to intersect with the concerns of any national healthcare system and of conventional medicine. More specifically, it might be asked whether the moljar healing practice is to be viewed as belonging to the category of either religious phenomenon, alternative medicine, conventional medicine, or plain sorcery. An answer, even a tentative one, would serve to deepen the understanding of the phenomenon and in postulating whether it might be considered as an adjunct to the practice of allopathic or modern medicine that flow occupies a defining role in any national healthcare system. Top Keywords Conventional Medicille, Diversity, Carpathian, Phychoemotional, Sorcery, A lternative Medicine, Para-Scientific Systems. Top |