Religious Meaning and Cultural Values in Traditional Healing Mantras of the Banjar Ethnic Group

Abstrak

This article examines the religious meanings and cultural values embedded in traditional Banjar healing mantras. The study uses a qualitative library research approach supported by documentation and content analysis of published Banjar mantra texts and relevant scholarly literature. The findings show that Banjar healing mantras represent religious meanings through monotheistic expressions, basmalah, prayers, Qur’anic phrases, and the belief that healing ultimately comes from God. These mantras also contain cultural values, including respect for nature as a source of healing materials, social solidarity in communal care, and ethical principles requiring healers to act with sincerity, humility, and responsibility. These findings indicate that Banjar healing mantras function not only as verbal formulas for treating illness, but also as religious-cultural texts that shape holistic understandings of health, illness, spirituality, and community relations. This study contributes to the preservation of Banjar oral tradition and to broader discussions of ethnomedicine, religious healing, and culturally grounded health practices.