Porkhani and Ishani: Women Healers in the Turkmen Community in Iran

Abstract

The Turkmen of Iran migrated from Central Asia westward and took up residence in northeastern Iran some ten centuries ago. They have been able to save the greater part of their cultural heritage, including Porkhani, the healing method among them. Nonetheless, the Turkmen cultural heritage was transferred, combining with Islamic elements in their shamanistic traditions. Ishani is one of the traditional healing methods that focus on Islamic tradition.

There is a wide spectrum of beliefs and practices in the Turkmen community. At one end, there stands a very traditional Turkmen society, which is close to shamanism. The healing method of Porkhani is a representative of this part (Maghsudi, Two Indigenous Healing Methods Among Iranian Turkmen. Shamanism and Islam, ed. Thierry, Z. and Angela, H., 95–115, I. B. Tauris, 2013, p. 100), while at the other end there stands a very Islamic belief and tradition. Ishani is representative of the other part. Therefore, there exist two peculiar healing techniques among the Turkmen community, and women are active in these two healing techniques (Maghsudi, Healing Rituals among female Turkmen of Iran. Women’s Rituals and Ceremonies in Shiite Iran and Muslim Communities, Iranian Studies, V.1, ed. P. Khosronejad, 63–76, Lit Verlage GmbH and Co. KG Wien, 2015, p. 70).

Compared to the other ethnic groups in Iran, the Turkmen are one of Iranian minorities. Within the Turkmen community, women may also be considered a minority, as they have fewer rights. Compared to Turkmen men, women’s social status is very low. The Turkmen social structure is patrilineal, and according to their common law, marriage is endogamous and patrilocal (Maghsudi, Anthropology of Family and Kinship. Shirazeh. Tehran, Iran, 2007, pp. 89–90).

The healing ritual that is originated in their particular culture, however, is one of the remarkable cultural phenomena among the Turkmen women that grants them an unusual social standing. This ritual serves to strengthen and promote their culture, which finds its roots in the broader culture of Central Asian tribes. In this chapter, I will present the role of the women healers in the Turkmen Sahra community. I will follow the key question of what happens to the Turkmen women when they become healers. Do they still maintain the same lowly position? What are the differences between women healers and non-healers? What will be the relationship of women healers with their husbands? Further, what will be the relation of women healers with their relatives, as a whole?

This research is ethnographic, and documentary based on my fieldwork among the Turkmen Sahra community. I used various techniques of observations and interviews with men and women healers in different villages and cities over a period of 15 years of intermittent research. This research covered three different Turkmen descent groups: the Yomut, Gooklan, and Tekke.