Belarusians Whisperers-Healers Get Into The Guardian

The British newspaper published the story of the Belarusian healer who cured a communist.

The British newspaper The Guardian published the photo-report of the Belarusian photographer Siarhiej Leskiec “The Last Whisperers of Belarus” (translation – Radio Liberty).

There are eight photos and eight stories of the Belarusian whisperers from different areas of the country.

The newspaper presents the Belarusian whisperers to the English-speaking audience as “women who believe they have God-given powers to heal the sick and exorcise evil”.

Among the eight stories there is one of Babka Katia, who healed a communist who had been stung by a snake:

“There was a communist in our village called Misha. One day he mowed the grass near the river and he was bitten by a snake. He became really ill and was close to death. He sent his wife to me, to ask for help. I was scared because he was a Communist. They disliked us believers so much; they mocked us, closed churches and sent priests to Siberia. But I could not say no, so I whispered in the water and he drank it and he got better. I don’t know if Misha ever believed in God but he knew the power of the word”.

The Guardian calls the tradition of whisper healing disappearing. This is confirmed by the story of another heroine of the photo report – Babka Maria.

“Old people who know the word are dying and young people don’t want to learn. They don’t believe. But the evil in the word has not become less. Old people and children come to me every day but I don’t know who will whisper after my death,” - says whisperer Babka Maria.

Siarhiej Leskiec - ethnographer, traveler, photographer. He graduated from the historical faculty of the Belarusian State Pedagogical University named after Maxim Tank and the contemporary history department of the Belarusian Collegium. He has spent four years documenting ancient eastern European healing practices.