Prethodno priopćenje
https://doi.org/10.32701/dp.27.1.6
A Microbiological Hypothesis on the Nature of Spiritual Healing Sites
Gerry A. Quinn
; Ulster University, Coleraine, Northern Ireland
*
* Dopisni autor.
Sažetak
Sacred soils and holy waters associated with historical healing traditions are
often located in geologically and chemically distinctive environments, such as
karst limestone systems, alkaline substrates, caves, and mineral springs. These
environments are also recognised as important habitats for Streptomyces, a genus
of soil actinomycetes responsible for most clinically used antibiotics, as
well as numerous antifungal, anticancer, antiviral, and immunomodulatory
compounds. This article explores the testable hypothesis that some historically
designated healing sites may coincide with ecologically distinctive landscapes
capable of supporting bioactive microbial communities. Drawing on the documented
isolation of antibiotic–producing Streptomyces strains from the “Blessed
Clay” tradition in Boho (Northern Ireland), this paper 1. identifies shared
ecological motifs between known Streptomyces habitats and selected healing
sites, 2. examines how such environments have been interpreted within specific
historical religious contexts, without presuming theological uniformity and 3.
explores, at a philosophical level, whether ritual practice, sensory experience
(including olfaction), and environmental exposure might inform contemporary
biomedical inquiry. The broader reflections on ritual and meaning are interpretive
and explicitly distinguished from empirical demonstration. Rather than
reducing religious healing traditions to chemistry, our hypothesis suggests that
cultural sacralisation and ecological distinctiveness may have intersected in
historically complex ways. By integrating microbial ecology, genomics, metabolomics,
and comparative analysis, this study proposes a framework for the interdisciplinary
investigation of environmental dimensions in healing traditions.
Ključne riječi
Streptomyces; Sacred sites; Microbiome; Science and Religion; Healing
Hrčak ID:
345813
URI
Datum izdavanja:
26.3.2026.
Posjeta: 329 *