Abstract
The objective of this study is to understand the experiences (personal, religious, social and cultural) and the developmental transformations of the folk healers throughout their life trajectories, as well as their relation with the promotion of health in their communities. Ten folk healers were interviewed in cities in the interior of the states of São Paulo and Minas Gerais, with a mean age of 62.5 years and a mean of 26.2 years in office. The theoretical reference used was that of the Network of Meanings, associated to ethnopsychological contributions. Most reported transmission of the craft from a family member, highlighting the practice of folk healing as something that can be taught, learned and transmitted through oral tradition. Still, the craft is understood as a gift that runs through the development, which requires dedication, patience and self-denial. The difficulty of transmitting the job to the younger ones may be related to greater urbanization, greater access to formal health equipment, as well as revealing the submission of the blessing to a biomedical logic, within a health system that sometimes neglects popular systems of care.
Religious Practices; Healing Rituals; Religion and Mental Health; Developmental Psychology