This is a great post about magical healing in fantasy settings. If you really think about it magical healing is incredible scary in context. It’s great and keeps casualties down, but man that stuff is scary:
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The latter part reminds me of what happened to Paul Edgecomb and the mouse from Green Mile. Was the healing really a blessing? In the same vein there is also the idea of magically transferring the injuries from one person and giving it to another. That would be terrifying power in the wrong hands.
I’m quite fascinated by the premise of healing in Maria Snyder’s Healer series. Healers in her world heal by taking on injuries or illness to themselves. They heal faster than normal people, but if they heal a broken arm, their own arm will break. They carry scars with pride, knowing that they saved others from the pain of it. And a strong injury or illness can still kill a healer, as they still have to assume it to heal it. And healing faster still doesn’t make you immune to death by blood loss, or a fever cooking your brain.
The Adventures in Brad by Tao Wong, has the premise that too much magical healing will cause tumors, inability to heal, and possible death. Add to that that Healers are severely lacking in numbers…