{"id":1101,"date":"2016-04-12T06:00:10","date_gmt":"2016-04-12T11:00:10","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/sickpilgrim\/?p=1101"},"modified":"2016-04-12T08:09:20","modified_gmt":"2016-04-12T13:09:20","slug":"an-interview-with-a-traiteur","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/sickpilgrim\/2016\/04\/an-interview-with-a-traiteur\/","title":{"rendered":"Popular Piety: An Interview with a Traiteur"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

(With this post, we\u2019re kicking off a series called\u00a0Popular Piety, exploring the physicality and magic of traditional, cultural Catholicism.<\/a>)<\/em>
\n
\n<\/b><\/em>Gerald\u00a0Boullion is a\u00a0traiteur<\/em>, a Catholic faith healer popular within the Cajun culture of southern Louisiana for hundreds of years. Like the Native Americans, the Protestant Christians of the Appalachians, and countless other remote populations for whom\u00a0doctors were scarce or nonexistent, the Cajuns used their faith as medicine.<\/p>\n

Like so many of the more mystical aspects of Catholicism, this tradition seems to be fading with time<\/a>. But the\u00a0Catechism of the Catholic Church has this to say about healing by faith:<\/p>\n

(1508) The Holy Spirit gives to some a special charism of healing so as to make manifest the power of the grace of the risen Lord. But even the most intense prayers do not always obtain the healing of all illnesses. Thus St. Paul must learn from the Lord that \u201cmy grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness,\u201d and that the sufferings to be endured can mean that \u201cin my flesh I complete what is lacking in Christ\u2019s afflictions for the sake of his Body, that is, the Church.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The irony of sitting in a wheelchair, listening while a faith healer speaks of curing warts and sunburns, isn\u2019t lost on me. I\u2019ve bathed in the uncomfortably cold waters of Lourdes, France, and I\u2019ve visited healers throughout the country, expecting a miracle. A life of depositing faith made the withdrawal of a miracle expected. Quid pro quo. But I\u2019ve come to believe that relying on God to provide prosperity is selfish and simplistic and, frankly, it doesn\u2019t work.\u00a0I\u2019m still\u00a0excited to bring you\u00a0this\u00a0particular dose of Catholic mysticism.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Gerald Boullion, a Cajun Traiteur<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

ML: So, what is a traiteur?<\/em><\/p>\n

GB: A traiteur is somebody that basically says prayers over a person to help heal ailments, or if they burn themselves, like sunburn, or they can help to stop the bleeding. They have different treatments for different ailments. I don\u2019t know all of them; I just know some of them.<\/p>\n

ML: And is it specifically within the Catholic culture?<\/i><\/p>\n

GB: The old French people handed it down from generation to generation to help heal themselves, because doctors were often rare in the old days, the settling of the Acadiana area. These prayers were handed down from generation to generation. Was this actually part of the Catholic religion? I\u2019m not really sure, but it\u2019s been around for ages.<\/p>\n

ML: You said it\u2019s a part of Acadian-French culture. Is it only among them?<\/i><\/p>\n

GB: No, from my understanding, they have \u201cfaith healers\u201d or \u201chealers,\u201d as they call themselves, in the hills of Kentucky and Tennessee. They have \u201chealers,\u201d and in French, it\u2019s \u201ctraiteurs.\u201d It\u2019s someone who treats ailments.<\/p>\n

ML: Is this line of\u00a0traiteurs distinctly within your family?<\/i><\/p>\n

GB: Yes. It was passed onto me from my great uncle. He taught me how to treat people with warts. And my grandmother taught me how to stop the bleeding and to treat burns, sunburns, sunstroke \u2013 that\u2019s what my grandmother taught me.<\/p>\n

ML: So<\/i> they were two distinct types of traiteurs?<\/i><\/p>\n

GB: Exactly.<\/p>\n

ML: So you have the power of two?<\/i><\/p>\n

GB: Yes, I was fortunate enough to learn from both of them.<\/p>\n

ML: Do you know anything about the origin of your grandmother\u2019s and your uncle\u2019s gifts?<\/i><\/p>\n

GB:\u00a0The only thing I know is it was handed down to them from someone in the family. Whether it was taught to them by my great-grandfather, or my great-great-grandfather, I\u2019m not sure. My grandmother taught my father and me. My father has since passed on, so to my knowledge no one in my family knows it except me. And I can only tell two people before I die, and they have to be younger than me. Preferably someone in the family, but if it\u2019s someone I trust not to give away the treatment, even if they\u2019re not in the family, then I can teach them if I so wish.<\/p>\n

ML: Does it put pressure on you to practice that healing, since it\u2019s getting rarer and rarer these days?<\/i><\/p>\n

GB: It doesn\u2019t put any pressure on me, as a matter of fact. If I can help someone, it feels good. The only drawback to it, is if someone has a sunstroke and I treat them, I\u2019ll actually feel when it goes away because I\u2019ll start getting a severe headache.<\/p>\n

ML: \u00a0Wow. \u00a0So you take it on, is that what you\u2019re saying?<\/i><\/p>\n

GB: It was never explained to me \u2013 so whether I\u2019m taking it on, or whether I\u2019m just concentrating so hard, I don\u2019t know. But whenever I treat someone for sunstroke, I can tell when it goes away. I can call that person when I get that intense headache and say, \u201cIt\u2019s gone?\u201d And they\u2019ll tell me, \u201cYeah.\u201d<\/p>\n

ML: So it doesn\u2019t even need to happen while you\u2019re in the room?<\/i><\/p>\n

GB: No. The only thing is there can\u2019t be a body of running water between us.<\/p>\n

ML: Wow.<\/em><\/p>\n

GB: It works better if they\u2019re in the room with me, but\u2026 like, the other day my grandson called me up. He had burnt his fingers in some hot grease. He called me and he said, \u201cPawpaw, can you treat me?\u201d And I treated him over the phone.<\/p>\n

ML: That\u2019s incredible. Where was he?<\/em><\/p>\n

GB: He was about five miles away from my house.<\/p>\n

ML: And it worked?<\/em><\/p>\n

GB: It worked; it worked for him. One time, my father and I were building a shed by his outdoor kitchen, and we went to the neighbor\u2019s house so he could weld a piece of metal for us. While he was welding, the slag fell off on the side. My father without thinking grabbed the piece of metal, and then immediately turned it loose because it was hot. And I didn\u2019t tell him anything, but I treated him, \u00a0and he said, \u201cOh, look, it didn\u2019t even blister.\u201d So if I\u2019m close enough to you to treat you as it happens, a lot of times it won\u2019t even blister.<\/p>\n

ML: Ah, so it\u2019s not a physical touch kind of thing?<\/em><\/p>\n

GB: No, it\u2019s prayers.<\/p>\n

ML: I really like what you said about the running water, that rule in there, because this whole process seems mystical or totally spiritual, but the fact that it has physical rules makes it seem more realistic.<\/em><\/p>\n

GB: My grandmother used to have chickens, and skunks and possums would kill the them, so we butchered the chickens for meat. She got some sheep to keep the grass out where the chicken yard used to be. Well, when the lambs are born, they have long tails. So you cut the tail off, so that you don\u2019t have as much problem with feces sticking to the wool and worm larvae, etc. My father and I, we cut the tail off of one of them really close, too close actually. And the blood was spurting out like we cut into an artery. And, unbeknownst to me, my grandmother was in the yard as we were cutting the sheep. I treated the lamb, and so did she at the same time. I didn\u2019t know she was treating it; she didn\u2019t know I was treating it. And it was like turning a water faucet off. The \u00a0bleeding just stopped *snaps* immediately.<\/p>\n

ML: That\u2019s so cool. So it was like a double whammy?\u2026Before I close, we Sick Pilgrims are focusing on the mystical and magical side of the Catholic faith, and how that seems to be getting rarer and rarer. Talking to you and hearing about this practice is exciting to me. I want to ask you, how does this affect your faith?<\/em><\/p>\n

GB: I\u2019m a devout Catholic, a practicing Catholic. I\u2019m divorced, so right when I got divorced I couldn\u2019t get communion, but I still went to church. My ex-wife and I got an annulment, so that I could continue going to Communion and practicing my faith. So it has no effects on my religious beliefs, it\u2019s not like a devil-worship or Satan-worship or anything, it\u2019s prayers. That\u2019s all it is.<\/p>\n

ML: I would think it might have a strong effect, because you \u2013 more than me, at least \u2013 can see the immediate results of your prayer.<\/em><\/p>\n

GB: Right. Exactly, exactly. And they have some people that \u201ctreat,\u201d that I know of, and they don\u2019t charge to do it, but they ask for a donation. But I refuse to take donations. I don\u2019t take anything.<\/p>\n

ML: How long have you been doing this?<\/em><\/p>\n

GB: I\u2019ve been doing this since I was about 21-22 years old and I\u2019m 64 right now.<\/p>\n

ML: And how many healings have you seen?<\/em><\/p>\n

GB: Oh geez, numerous. I couldn\u2019t tell you. Years back, this lady knocked on my door. I had no idea who she was. She told me that a mutual friend told her I treated for warts, and she asked for me to treat her. I said, \u201cAll right, where are the warts at? I need you to show me.\u201d She said, \u201cI can\u2019t show you; they\u2019re on my legs and my pants are too tight.\u201d I said, \u201cI\u2019m sorry; I have to physically see them in order to treat them.\u201d She says, \u201cI\u2019ll be back.\u201d She left and she came back in a dress. \u00a0Her legs were covered with warts. She had to wear pants, \u2018cause she was ashamed to be seen with a dress on. It probably took me a good two hours to treat her, hoping that I hadn\u2019t missed any. I told her, \u201cGive it about a month, and if they didn\u2019t go away just come back and I\u2019ll do it again.\u201d And I didn\u2019t know this, but she was planning to leave town right after our meeting. She moved to Oklahoma, and about three months later, I got a note in the mail from her, saying that they were all gone. She didn\u2019t have one left. So, it works. It works.<\/p>\n

ML: Thank you for taking the time to talk with me. Do you have anything to say to other Catholics who may be interested in hearing about this type of thing?<\/em><\/p>\n

GB: If you get the opportunity to learn it, I would say learn it and embrace it. My father at one point didn\u2019t believe in it, but before he died he really believed. He actually became a traiteur. So it\u2019s not a fairy tale or anything. I\u2019ve seen it work and it does work.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

(With this post, we\u2019re kicking off a series called\u00a0Popular Piety, exploring the physicality and magic of traditional, cultural Catholicism.) Gerald\u00a0Boullion is a\u00a0traiteur, a Catholic faith healer popular within the Cajun culture of southern Louisiana for hundreds of years. Like the Native Americans, the Protestant Christians of the Appalachians, and countless other remote populations for whom\u00a0doctors […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2693,"featured_media":1117,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,11,1087,71],"tags":[1085,874,1086,1072,1069],"class_list":["post-1101","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-catholicism","category-interview","category-popular-piety","category-sick-pilgrims","tag-cajuns","tag-catholicism","tag-faith-healers","tag-popular-piety","tag-traiteur"],"yoast_head":"\nPopular Piety: An Interview with a Traiteur<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"(With this post, we're kicking off a series called\u00a0Popular Piety, exploring the physicality and magic of traditional, cultural Catholicism.)\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, 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