Curanderismo: Healing and Ritual

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Curanderismo

Curanderismo is the traditional healing practice that began in rural Mexico and spread to the Southwest United States and beyond. While the healing techniques have been common among Mexican American population, Curanderismo is currently gaining popularity as people interested in natural alternatives to allopathic medicine seek traditional healers, as well during this time of widespread illness, where people are contemplating ‘wellness’ more broadly.

A Message Regarding Curanderas/Curanderos in the Time of a Global Pandemic, by Estevan Rael-Galvez

La Curandera – The Healer

As we navigate a global pandemic, I am grateful for all those working in the medical fields, doctors and nurses, as well as all of the support staff who are checking people in, cleaning rooms and supporting these critical positions fighting for people's lives at the front lines.

Healers are important in any society and there are many names for healers in our ancient and sovereign landscape, including curanderas and sandoras. Like doctors who have relied on the science underlying medical practice, curanaderas did the same. Theirs is an ancient practice that was always based on science, experience as much as experimentation, centering human health by connecting what grows from the ground to its effect upon body, mind and spirit.

As a part of the Manit@ Community Memory Project, we developed Manito Personas  to recover and restore the icons that reflect more accurately the people of our region and that move us past the static and stereotypical. Initially we thought about developing superheroes but recognize that these personas already are heroic.

The designs of the Curandera was done by New Mexico Highlands University Media Arts & Technology student Natasha Vasquez, a Taoseña with roots in the village of Questa, New Mexico.

#culturacura #curandera #sheroes #culturaentiempordecorana #notconquistadores #sanasana #indigenousknowledge

Dr. Estevan Rael-Gálvez is a writer, scholar and creative strategist/consultant. He has served as State Historian of New Mexico and Senior Vice President at the National Trust for Historic Preservation. He is currently working on his book on Native American slavery and its legacy in the region. A native son of New Mexico, he has ancestral connections to both Hispano and Native American communities.

More on Curanderismo

Curanderismo is rooted in cultural knowledge from across the globe, since the time of contact of the colonists with the Indigenous inhabitants of the Americas. It includes Moorish and Arabic elements; Judeo Christian concepts, and herbal traditions of the Maya and Aztec. Treatments and therapies were popularized by turn of the century Curanderos Niño Fidencio, Teresita, and Don Pedrito Jaramillo who have since become folk saints. A multi-layered practice born of many cultural influences, Curanderismo has, in turn influenced contemporary localized practices of culture, politics and religion. This can be seen in the way that folk saints or political figures might be associated with Curanderismo and the way that contemporary Pop culture engages with the imagery and ideas of Curanderismo.

Curanderismo is practiced on three levels: the material, the spiritual and the mental.  The material level, most commonly practiced, emphasizes the use of herbs, plants, candles, oils, incense, tinctures, and amulets, etc. Practice on the Spiritual level consists of the curandero(a) (healer) mediating with the soul or energy of the person being healed.  The mental level is the most difficult level on which the curandero(a) operates, in which they channel mental vibrations to the patient.

Curanderismo continues to prosper in Mexico and Latin America and has a strong and growing presence in the United States, particularly because of increasing Mexican immigration to the US.  Mexican healers train and inform Americans in this practice through short programs and classes such as the Traditional Medicine without Borders:  Curanderismo in the Southwest & Mexico class at the University of New Mexico.

Curanderismo is Most Commonly Practiced on the Material Level

The Curandero(a) (healer) who specializes in this practice, working with plants, is known as a yerbero(a) often owning their own yerberia or botánica (herb store).

Yerberias or botánicos are found in most towns and villages in Mexico, and are increasingly becoming more common throughout the U.S. Yerberias sell plants in various forms, including: fresh, dried, in teabags, in capsules, in tinctures or as microdosis (water-based form), which may also include plant-based oils, alcohol-based tinctures and water-based plant microdosis

Incense is another material used in the healing process, used to cleanse a person's spirit, home or business. The most common incense is a resin called copal derived from copal trees.

Amulets are objects used to aid in fulfilling wishes and needs in work, love, and business.  Amulets attract positive vibrations while preventing negative ones.

Candles are also used their purpose being related to their color.  For example, blue candles are burned to provide serenity; pink, good will; white, purity; red, love or to combat illness; and green and black fight negative forces.

Plants/Herbs: How are they used?

The plants and herbs listed here are the most important and commonly used, with their names in English, Spanish and their scientific or Latin names:
• Chamomile Manzanilla (Matricaria recutita) - as a tea, calms the nerves and aids digestion as well an eye wash
• Rosemary Romero (Rosmarinus officinalis)- as a skin wash for baldness, sitz bath, memory enhancer
• Basil Albahaca (Ocimum basilicum)- digestive system, sore throat and heal sores in the mouth
• Arnica (Arnica Montana)- rub for inflammation, bruising, sprains, arthritis, prevent infection
• Osha Chuchapate (Ligusticum porteri)(one of the most popular herbs in NM) - sore throat, colds, coughs and congestion
• Horsetail Cola de caballo (Equisetum arvense)- helps with uric acid, diuretic, for inflamed bladder or intestines
• Linden Flowers Flor de Tila (Tilia cordata)- used as a tranquilizer
• Eucalyptus Eucalipto (Eucalyptus sp.) - as a steam inhaled relieves congestion and cough, used as a tea or syrup
• Bricklebrush Prodigiosa (Brickellia sp.)- liver and bile cleanser, for stomach ailments
• Spinach Tree Chaya (Cnidoscolus chayamansa)- diuretic, maintains sugar levels, blood cleanser, supports the immune system
• Prickly Pear cactus Nopal (Opuntia sp.) - blood cleanser, disgestion, burns fat, sugar reducer 
• Passion Flower Passiflora (Passiflora sp.)- sedative for insomnia or headaches
• Rue Ruda (Ruda sp.)- stomach inflammation, stimulates menstruation
• Sage Salvia (Saliva hispanica or tilliaefolia, Saliva sp.)- digestion, relaxation, anti-depressent
• Feverfew Santa Maria (Tagetes lucida) - colds, flu and fever
• Lemon balm Toronjil (Cedronella mexicana, Melissa sp.) - depression, insomnia and stomach ailments
• Vervain Verbena (Verbena sp.)-  reduces fever, induces perspiration, for colds and flus
• Aloe Vera Zabila (Aloe barbadensis, Aloe vera)- for burns, stomach ailments
• Cat's Claw Una de gato (Uncaria tomentosa)- strengthens the immune and digestive system, general disease prevention
• Tepezcohuite (Mimosa tenuiflora)- burns and skin rashes, promotes cellular regeneration, acne antibiotic
• Swamp Root Yerba mansa (Anemopsis californica)- antibiotic and stringent, anti-inflammatory
• Mugwort Estafiate (Artemisia ludoviciana)- fever reducer, dysentery and vomiting
• Dandelion Diente de Leon (Taraxacum officinale)- diuretic and blood cleanser
• Drumstick Tree Moringa (Moringa oleifera)-support of the immune system
• Great Morinda Noni (Morinda citrifolia)-support of the immune system

Authors: Dr. Eliseo "Cheo" Torres, Vice President for Student Affairs, UNM
Devorah Romanek - Curator of Exhibits, Maxwell Museum of Anthropology

(Part of this text, excluding the essay by Estevan Rael-Galvez, has been adapted from the Maxwell Museum of Anthropology’s 2013 exhibition Curanderismo: Healing and Ritual. Visit the forthcoming full online version of that exhibition soon, checkback!)

Additional resources on curanderismo:

UNM Curanderismo Class, UNM
Public Health New Mexico
N.M. museum to hold ‘curanderismo’ exhibit, Albuquerque Journal
UNM professor shares tradition of curanderismo with community, Albuquerque Journal
The Call of the Curandera, Santa Fe Reporter
Food & Spirituality, KQED
La Curandera, SAAM
Border Studies Archive, University of Texas RGV