Sawan: exploring the knowledge and wisdom of Javanese traditional healing practices
In the current digital era, despite technological advancements and increased access to education, there remains a significant population in Indonesia that believes in traditional healing practices associated with ‘mystical’ illnesses. One such illness is sawan. This research aims to provide a compre...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Taylor & Francis Group
2025-12-01
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| Series: | Cogent Arts & Humanities |
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| Online Access: | https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/10.1080/23311983.2025.2451517 |
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| author | Suyami Suyami Fakhriati Fakhriati Ninawati Syahrul Devi Fauziyah Ma’rifat Sumarno Sumarno Yustina Hastrini Nurwanti Titi Mumfangati Mirna Yusuf Pantaria Noor Fitri Hapsari Triyasinta Noor Laksmita Dewi |
| author_facet | Suyami Suyami Fakhriati Fakhriati Ninawati Syahrul Devi Fauziyah Ma’rifat Sumarno Sumarno Yustina Hastrini Nurwanti Titi Mumfangati Mirna Yusuf Pantaria Noor Fitri Hapsari Triyasinta Noor Laksmita Dewi |
| author_sort | Suyami Suyami |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | In the current digital era, despite technological advancements and increased access to education, there remains a significant population in Indonesia that believes in traditional healing practices associated with ‘mystical’ illnesses. One such illness is sawan. This research aims to provide a comprehensive description of the forms, factors, as well as treatments or prevention of sawan through qualitative research and case studies. Data was collected through participant observation and in-depth interviews with 40 informants from various regions in Java. The findings reveal five types of sawan: sawan mayit, sawan bayi, sawan manten, sawan sambaing dalan, and sawan candhikala/sawan celeng. Additionally, the data also uncovered that sawan, along with preventive and curative measures available, include the use of mantras and traditional herbal remedies known as singgul. This research provides insights into alternative healing in the health field and serves as a foundation for further research on this subject, including studies beyond the island of Java and the exploration of the origins of sawan terminology. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-093aa8404dce4d1f81e241e3c8f821da |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 2331-1983 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-12-01 |
| publisher | Taylor & Francis Group |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Cogent Arts & Humanities |
| spelling | doaj-art-093aa8404dce4d1f81e241e3c8f821da2025-01-21T09:01:43ZengTaylor & Francis GroupCogent Arts & Humanities2331-19832025-12-0112110.1080/23311983.2025.2451517Sawan: exploring the knowledge and wisdom of Javanese traditional healing practicesSuyami Suyami0Fakhriati Fakhriati1Ninawati Syahrul2Devi Fauziyah Ma’rifat3Sumarno Sumarno4Yustina Hastrini Nurwanti5Titi Mumfangati6Mirna Yusuf7Pantaria Noor Fitri Hapsari8Triyasinta Noor Laksmita Dewi9Language and Literature Archaeology Research Organization, The National Research and Innovation Agency (BRIN), Jakarta, IndonesiaLanguage and Literature Archaeology Research Organization, The National Research and Innovation Agency (BRIN), Jakarta, IndonesiaLanguage and Literature Archaeology Research Organization, The National Research and Innovation Agency (BRIN), Jakarta, IndonesiaLanguage and Literature Archaeology Research Organization, The National Research and Innovation Agency (BRIN), Jakarta, IndonesiaLanguage and Literature Archaeology Research Organization, The National Research and Innovation Agency (BRIN), Jakarta, IndonesiaLanguage and Literature Archaeology Research Organization, The National Research and Innovation Agency (BRIN), Jakarta, IndonesiaLanguage and Literature Archaeology Research Organization, The National Research and Innovation Agency (BRIN), Jakarta, IndonesiaFaculty of Social and Political Sciences, Gadjah Mada University, Yogyakarta, IndonesiaFaculty of Public Health, Airlangga University, Surabaya, IndonesiaFaculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences, University of Indonesia, Depok, IndonesiaIn the current digital era, despite technological advancements and increased access to education, there remains a significant population in Indonesia that believes in traditional healing practices associated with ‘mystical’ illnesses. One such illness is sawan. This research aims to provide a comprehensive description of the forms, factors, as well as treatments or prevention of sawan through qualitative research and case studies. Data was collected through participant observation and in-depth interviews with 40 informants from various regions in Java. The findings reveal five types of sawan: sawan mayit, sawan bayi, sawan manten, sawan sambaing dalan, and sawan candhikala/sawan celeng. Additionally, the data also uncovered that sawan, along with preventive and curative measures available, include the use of mantras and traditional herbal remedies known as singgul. This research provides insights into alternative healing in the health field and serves as a foundation for further research on this subject, including studies beyond the island of Java and the exploration of the origins of sawan terminology.https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/10.1080/23311983.2025.2451517Tradisional healing‘mystical’ illnesssawantraditional medicinelocal wisdomjavanese society |
| spellingShingle | Suyami Suyami Fakhriati Fakhriati Ninawati Syahrul Devi Fauziyah Ma’rifat Sumarno Sumarno Yustina Hastrini Nurwanti Titi Mumfangati Mirna Yusuf Pantaria Noor Fitri Hapsari Triyasinta Noor Laksmita Dewi Sawan: exploring the knowledge and wisdom of Javanese traditional healing practices Cogent Arts & Humanities Tradisional healing ‘mystical’ illness sawan traditional medicine local wisdom javanese society |
| title | Sawan: exploring the knowledge and wisdom of Javanese traditional healing practices |
| title_full | Sawan: exploring the knowledge and wisdom of Javanese traditional healing practices |
| title_fullStr | Sawan: exploring the knowledge and wisdom of Javanese traditional healing practices |
| title_full_unstemmed | Sawan: exploring the knowledge and wisdom of Javanese traditional healing practices |
| title_short | Sawan: exploring the knowledge and wisdom of Javanese traditional healing practices |
| title_sort | sawan exploring the knowledge and wisdom of javanese traditional healing practices |
| topic | Tradisional healing ‘mystical’ illness sawan traditional medicine local wisdom javanese society |
| url | https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/10.1080/23311983.2025.2451517 |
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