Kuba Kaminski

Whisperers are people who believe they posses a gift from God, giving them the power to heal all kinds of diseases and physical pain. They claim that they are also able to throw spells and charms and free people from evil possession. The name probably came from the way they treat their believers, whispering special prayers into their ears. At least that's the best known explanation because the few last Whisperers in Poland and Belarus, use little different techniques. Whisperers are most of all elder women. They live in small villages in Podlasie area in eastern Poland and Western Belarus. They derive from the Orthodox church but today the church don't want to recognize them, cutting itself from that kind of practices. They treat patients all day in their houses or special blessed places few kilometers away from the villages they live in. Most of them don't take any money for their seance saying that their are obligated before God to do this. Whisperers have their regular patients from the nearby villages and people from all parts of Poland and sometimes even the world. They have been a part of the local culture for hundreds of years in the Podlasie region, land of mysticism and symbols that dictate the rhythm of life for many people living there. CAPTION: A woman walks through the woods near a small village of CzeremchaA just few meters from the Belarussian border and gives me directions for the whisperer's house nearby.