Ingeborg i Mjärhult ('Ingeborg of Mjärhult') (1665 – 23 July 1749) was a Swedish natural healer, natural philosopher, soothsayer and spiritual visionary.
Life
Ingeborg i Mjärhult belonged to the peasantry of the parish of Virestad in Kronoberg County in Småland. She was born to the farmer Daniel i Uthövdan, and married the farmer Måns Gudmundsson i Mjärhult (d. 1716), with whom she had four children. By marriage, she was customarily called "i Mjärhult", which referred to the farm of her spouse.
Early on, she became active as a natural folk healer. By the time she became a widow in 1716, she had achieved national fame. Her medical activity included a type of religious natural philosophy, which she also shared with the public. Reportedly, she adjusted herself to follow all the church duties the law demanded and was in fact described as quite devout. She was on several occasions questioned by the church and the authorities for superstition, but she always defended herself by stating that she had not harmed anyone, was given great support by the public and enjoyed great popularity. In 1740, the bishop of Växjö questioned her, warned her for superstition and advised the public not to seek her help. Ingeborg responded that she only used bandages prepared with herbs plucked at midsummer moon as she had learned from her mother, and that she did not harm anyone. The public ignored the bishop's order. In fact, the harassment from the church only increased her good reputation.
During her last years, she lived in the cottage of her son Måns Månsson, where she died in 1749, at the age of 84.
Activity
Her view was that the nature spirits of folklore were in fact the fallen angels of Lucifer. She taught that humans consisted of two beings; the human above the earth, who walked with her feet above the earth, and the human of the underworld. These two beings walked adjoining each other, with the soles of their feet against each other, above and below the surface of the earth. She had been inspired to this belief by seeing animals looking down upon their reflection on the surface of the lakes. When someone became ill, she claimed, it was because the underworld part of that person, the antipode, had collided with some of the spirits of the earth.
It was said that she could tell what sickness a person had, simply by handling a piece of that person's clothing. She then revealed exactly what spirit the sick person had disturbed and recommended that he or she apologize and offer milk to the spirit, to a stone or something similar. She specialized in epilepsy. She was very popular and her reputation spread throughout the country.