Stars, djinns, and the air : reconciling natural and supernatural in explaining diseases in the Ottoman healing domain in the 1660s

Abstract

This paper delves into the relationship between the natural and supernatural realms in the understandings of disease and sickness in the late seventeenth century, particularly in the 1660s. Its main objective is to explore both the boundaries and the points of reconciliation between the natural and supernatural realms as they relate to disease and sickness during this period. The historiography of early modern Ottoman medicine has placed emphasis on categorical distinctions between various medical sectors such as learned medicine, folk medicine, and prophetic medicine.1 Seeking to underscore intersecting epistemologies instead, the study argues that such reconciliation of natural and supernatural phenomena in contemporary etiologies fosters a more comprehensive understanding of healing practices in the Ottoman world. To that end, what follows is an examination of a case study on Ibn Sellum’s medical manual Gâyetü’lBeyân fi Tedbir-i Bedenü’l-İnsan (The Utmost Explanations on the Protection of the Human Body),compiled in the early 1660s.