Roman Sieler
Biographic Data
| ID | 203364 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Roman Sieler |
| GIVEN NAMES | Roman |
| FAMILY NAME | Sieler |
| SIGNATURE | SIELER R |
| AFFILIATIONS | University of Tübingen |
| ORCID | 0000-0002-6753-1645 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 6 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 3 |
| WORKS AS AUTHOR | 6 |
| WORKS AS EDITOR | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2012 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2022 |
| H-INDEX | 1 |
Religion, Alchemy, and Medicine in South India
Siddha traditions are a pan-Indian phenomenon, as we know from David White's seminal study, The Alchemical Body: Siddha Traditions in Medieval India (1996).1 The term siddha has been applied to several groups or unorthodox sects practicing tantra, yoga, and alchemy with the objective of attaining perfection and immortality, existing during various periods but culminating after the twelfth century CE.2 Among these, the Tamil siddha school had its …
Mercurial Medicines
Using ethnographic data, this article suggests that the therapeutic use of various mercury compounds in siddha medicine has so far not decreased despite international regulation of the substance and discussions surrounding the safety of mercury. Siddha practitioners portray mercury as central to their therapeutics. The article demonstrates this for different contexts, including the preparation of mercuric medicines; the production of mercury amul…
Healing the Hidden
This chapter analyzes the intricacies of vital spot medicine and the agency and interaction of patients and practitioners. Treatments include stimulations of particular loci to retrieve patients from unconscious states, treatments for chronic health problems, setting of fractures, and massage therapies, all largely conducted manually. Patients of indigenous Indian medicines, it has been argued, are emancipated and actively involved in therapeutic…
Lethal Spots, Vital Secrets
"Lethal Spots, Vital Secrets provides an ethnographic study of varmakkalai, or "the art of the vital spots," a South Indian esoteric tradition that combines medical practice and martial arts. Although siddha medicine is officially part of the Indian Government's medically pluralistic health-care system, very little of a reliable nature has been written about it. Drawing on a diverse array of materials, including Tamil manuscripts, interviews with…
Patient Agency Revisited
It is often argued that biomedicine alienates patients from doctors, from ailments and from understanding treatment processes, while indigenous and alternative healing systems are portrayed as respectful of patients and their experience. Specifically, South Indian siddha medicine has been seen as diverging from biomedicine in empowering its patients. This approach not only assumes biomedicine to be a homogeneous practice, but also lumps together …
Kaḷari and Vaittiyacālai
International audience
Patient Agency Revisited
It is often argued that biomedicine alienates patients from doctors, from ailments and from understanding treatment processes, while indigenous and alternative healing systems are portrayed as respectful of patients and their experience. Specifically, South Indian siddha medicine has been seen as diverging from biomedicine in empowering its patients. This approach not only assumes biomedicine to be a homogeneous practice, but also lumps together …
Kaḷari and Vaittiyacālai
International audience
Patient Agency Revisited
It is often argued that biomedicine alienates patients from doctors, from ailments and from understanding treatment processes, while indigenous and alternative healing systems are portrayed as respectful of patients and their experience. Specifically, South Indian siddha medicine has been seen as diverging from biomedicine in empowering its patients. This approach not only assumes biomedicine to be a homogeneous practice, but also lumps together …
Healing the Hidden
This chapter analyzes the intricacies of vital spot medicine and the agency and interaction of patients and practitioners. Treatments include stimulations of particular loci to retrieve patients from unconscious states, treatments for chronic health problems, setting of fractures, and massage therapies, all largely conducted manually. Patients of indigenous Indian medicines, it has been argued, are emancipated and actively involved in therapeutic…
Lethal Spots, Vital Secrets
"Lethal Spots, Vital Secrets provides an ethnographic study of varmakkalai, or "the art of the vital spots," a South Indian esoteric tradition that combines medical practice and martial arts. Although siddha medicine is officially part of the Indian Government's medically pluralistic health-care system, very little of a reliable nature has been written about it. Drawing on a diverse array of materials, including Tamil manuscripts, interviews with…
Religion, Alchemy, and Medicine in South India
Siddha traditions are a pan-Indian phenomenon, as we know from David White's seminal study, The Alchemical Body: Siddha Traditions in Medieval India (1996).1 The term siddha has been applied to several groups or unorthodox sects practicing tantra, yoga, and alchemy with the objective of attaining perfection and immortality, existing during various periods but culminating after the twelfth century CE.2 Among these, the Tamil siddha school had its …
Mercurial Medicines
Using ethnographic data, this article suggests that the therapeutic use of various mercury compounds in siddha medicine has so far not decreased despite international regulation of the substance and discussions surrounding the safety of mercury. Siddha practitioners portray mercury as central to their therapeutics. The article demonstrates this for different contexts, including the preparation of mercuric medicines; the production of mercury amul…
Medicine (5 works) · Alternative medicine (3 works) · Art (3 works) · Psychology (3 works) · Siddha (3 works) · Traditional medicine (3 works) · Anthropological Studies and Insights (2 works) · Complementary and Alternative Medicine Studies (2 works) · Diversity and Impact of Dance (2 works) · Doping in Sports (2 works)