Meaning
Spiritual and herbal healing in the Jamaican folk tradition. A 'balm yard' is where a healer — a 'balmist' — treats the sick and troubled with bush medicine, prayer, cleansing baths, and ritual, a practice bound up with Revivalism and folk religion. To be 'balmed' is to receive this healing, at once of the body and of the spirit, and to be freed of a spell, protected, or set right. Balm belongs to the deep world of Jamaican folk faith, where sickness may have unseen causes and the balmist works with herb, water, and spirit to cure them.
Examples
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She carry di sick pickney go a di balm yard.
She took the sick child to the healing yard.
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Di balmist mix up some bush fi him.
The healer prepared some herbs for him.
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Dem believe inna balm an prayer.
They believe in folk healing and prayer.
Origin
From English 'balm' (a soothing, healing ointment), extended in Jamaica to name the whole practice of spiritual-herbal healing.
How it’s used
Belongs to Revival and folk-religion culture, alongside obeah and bush medicine. A 'balm yard' is both a place and an institution.