Folk medicine is important for understanding how Romanians approach welllness and connect to their surroundings. Romanians have had a written tradition of folk medicine since ancient times, but their first printed manual, the Herbarium by P. Melius, was published in Cluj in 1578. Since then, monks using cultivated medicinal plants and wild harvested plants have expanded the tradition. There are now over 800 species of medicinal plants in Romania.
I first learned about Romanian folk medicine when I saw "natural medicine" stores scattered around my city in Romania. I was skeptical of them and asked my students what kind of medical treatments people find at these stores. They informed me that in the countryside, people use tei (linden tree) and vinegar on sheets for fevers, chamomile for irritated throats, cabbage leaves around inflamed injuries and hot salt around their necks for infections.
In much of Romania (specifically rural Transylvania where modern medicine is difficult to access), natural remedies are often the first line of defense for fighting disease. Even as modern medicine has improved, many are still skeptical of its uses or cannot afford it, and folk medicine is considered more trustworthy.
