Talk:Folk healer

Umbrella Page Erasing Cultural Nuances and Practices

I wanted to start a conversation, since my previous attempt to separate this umbrella term "folk healer" didn't go over well and the page I started "Appalachian" got resorbed. But I think attempting to cover the multitude of cultures that have their own unique folk healers and traditions erases the nuances found in each. I'd like to start pages for Appalachian granny healing, curanderas, spae women, cunningfolk, etc. All of them have their own nuances and practices, and I think it's important to preserve that history and not let it get mashed together. Let me know what your thoughts are, or if you have another solution to preserving the cultural integrity of these practices. BionicOven28 (talk) 17:41, 12 February 2025 (UTC)

Requested move 7 September 2025

The following is a closed discussion of a requested move. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made in a new section on the talk page. Editors desiring to contest the closing decision should consider a move review after discussing it on the closer's talk page. No further edits should be made to this discussion.

The result of the move request was: not moved. (closed by non-admin page mover) Jeffrey34555 (talk) 16:46, 28 September 2025 (UTC)

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Folk healer → Traditional healerTraditional healer – Common name per ngrams by 5x. On Google Scholar hits, 43,900 for "Traditional healer", 4,710 for "Folk healer". On regular old Google, 2,820,000 hits for "Traditional healer", 79,800 hits for "Folk healer". Kowal2701 (talk) 22:39, 7 September 2025 (UTC) — Relisting. Jeffrey34555 (talk) 17:13, 14 September 2025 (UTC) — Relisting. CNC (talk) 18:03, 21 September 2025 (UTC)

• Oppose "Traditional" is simply too vague. Being a doctor is also an old enough profession for it to be "traditional". It also feels like a euphemism in certain ways for something that may be based more on myth and legend than reality. I might support a move to Healer, replacing the disambiguation page, as the potential primary topic for the word, but, otherwise, it should remain as-is. ᴢxᴄᴠʙɴᴍ (ᴛ) 18:34, 14 September 2025 (UTC)

  I don’t think we can oppose titles based on semantics without policy, AFAICT it doesn’t have any other usages Kowal2701 (talk) 09:37, 15 September 2025 (UTC)

  So for my other question, is there any argument that it SHOULDN'T be moved to healer? A "faith healer" is essentially never just called a "healer", and a doctor generally isn't. ᴢxᴄᴠʙɴᴍ (ᴛ) 19:13, 16 September 2025 (UTC)

  Searching on Google Scholar I had to go to second page to find it referring to this. The WikiNav for healer shows a pretty even split among the 9 pages listed there. More people are looking for The Healer (John Lee Hooker album) than Folk healer (which comes second). Kowal2701 (talk) 19:35, 16 September 2025 (UTC)

  "The Healer" is an alternate name under WP:SMALLDETAILS. It can still redirect to the DAB page. ᴢxᴄᴠʙɴᴍ (ᴛ) 16:48, 18 September 2025 (UTC)

  I agree "healer" has no primary topic. Physicians and other health professionals are still referred to as "healers"; it's not the norm and it's usually used with particular connotations. --MYCETEAE 🍄‍🟫—talk 21:31, 23 September 2025 (UTC)

Note: WikiProject Appalachia, WikiProject Alternative medicine, and WikiProject Occult have been notified of this discussion. CNC (talk) 18:03, 21 September 2025 (UTC)

• Oppose. Too vague, as is "Healer". "Folk healer" evokes a particular type of person who heals. More importantly, WP:COMMONNAME advises us to follow reliable sources. I haven't done a broad survey but I note that the first two references cited in the article refer to "folk healers".--Srleffler (talk) 05:05, 23 September 2025 (UTC)
• Oppose. I agree that "traditional" is too vague and euphemistic here. Additionally, this article covers specific usage of "folk healer" that is not entirely synonymous with "traditional healer". --MYCETEAE 🍄‍🟫—talk 21:34, 23 September 2025 (UTC)

The discussion above is closed. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page. No further edits should be made to this discussion.