Curandero

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A curandero (Spanish:

The term curanderos can be traced back to the Spanish colonization of Latin America. Curanderos in this part of the world are the result of the mixture of traditional Indigenous medicinal practices and Catholic rituals. There was also an influence from African rituals brought to Latin America by slaves.[7] Curandero/a comes from the root curar in Spanish which literally translates to cure. Thus, a curandero/a is one who heals. Curanderos go beyond Western medicine, linking illness with evil spirits. This extends a curandero's duties to cover not only physical ailments but also psychological and interpersonal issues. Among the illnesses that Curandero/a's help with range from the mundane stomach ache to certain spiritual illnesses such as susto, mal de ojo, and even reversing black magic. Traditional communities see all of these issues as a loss of spirit.^[8] They believe that the curanderos can enter different dimensions where they are able to find the solutions to a person's illness or problem. Furthermore, they believe that God or the Higher Creator gives curanderos difficult and painful experiences so that they are better able to assist their patients.^[9] In Colonial Latin America, female folk healers, or curanderas, were often conflated with brujas (witches), which refers to those who cast spells; although curanderas were persecuted during such times, it is likely because they were females in positions of authority, not because of their healing methods.^[10] Today many women and men continue the curandero tradition in Mexico and the southwestern United States.^[7]

History in the United States

Historically, in the United States, curanderos were only found in concentrated Amerindian populations. It was largely thought that curanderos mainly practiced in New Mexico & along the Mexico–United States border. However, recent historical research shows that the practice of curanderismo (traditional healing) was not restricted to the American Southwest. The practice of curanderismo was prevalent in the 1880s in Northeastern Tennessee.^[11]

In the mid- to late 1970s the rise in ethnic minority and immigrant populations grew in tandem with the public presence of curanderos in areas outside of the historical geographic regions of the United States which had large Indigenous populations.^[12] Since the 1990s, it has become more commonplace to see curanderos in northern-tier cities in the United States.^[13]

Types of curanderos

There are many different types of curanderos. Yerberos are primarily

Among these broader terms, there are several subspecialties. For instance, yerberos who work primarily with tobacco to heal patients are known as tabaqueros. Healers who work primarily with ayahuasca are known as ayahuasqueros. Healers who work with peyote are known as peyoteros.

Although many curanderos do have a specialty and may identify with it, that does not mean that these healing modalities are necessarily strict and do not overlap. As an example, an oracionista may also be a yerbera, and so on.

Practices of curanderos

A curandero can treat the negative consequences of encounters a person has had had with a duende (a "spirit creature" such as a pixie, imp, fairy, leprechaun, brownie, dwarf, gnome, or troll. A duende can be a beneficial, neutral, or malicious spirit. Duendes are believed to live in the countryside of Latin American countries.

Effects of Mal aire or mal viento

Mal aire or mal viento is something invisible movements of the air are believed to cause. These can be defined as the result of "bad" or "evil" air or an illness caused by hot or cold air. For example, if a person is outside on a hot day but enters a much cooler building, they can catch an aire. This can also be caused by supernatural forces carried through the wind. Something can be caught by walking around or encountering places with bad energy. Examples of such places can be graveyards, abandoned houses, and other places where these "bad" forces reside. The harmful energy attaches itself to a person when such forces are encountered and can quickly takes over their entire body. It is believed that this harmful energy can also result in the decaying of a person's internal organs and can be fatal if left untreated. Many other common symptoms of mal aire include headaches, nausea, fatigue, diarrhea, and paleness.

Soul Loss

A person can "lose their soul" (also known as soul loss) when being frightened or experiencing a frightening experience. This is called espanto or susto. Usually, susto has much milder symptoms, and children and babies are more prone to getting in regarding this illness. Examples of such experiences that can cause this is having scary dreams, receiving devastating news, facing a wild animal, etc. Symptoms associated with this disease can be nausea, crying, bad dreams, and insomnia.^[16]

For all of the illnesses mentioned above, a curandero can perform a mal limpieza ("purge of evil" or "cleansing of evil") in order to get rid of the "bad" and restore the client to health. Examples of materials used in these limpizas are sugar, liquor, holy water, perfume, eggs, chickens, and Guinea pigs. Others include a dog's skull, a dove's blood, and a head from a doll, or some other power object. Limpieza can also be performed with plants. These magical plants can be helpful in cleaning houses as well. If a house has been abandoned or something terrible has happened in it, such as a sudden death or act of violence, a curandero will do a ritual that cleanses the home from all the mal ("evil"). Once a limpieza has occurred, the materials used in it are disposed of. Given that the mal has been transferred to them, they must be disposed of far from human inhabitants in order to prevent others being harmed.

Further information

In the 21st century as the popularity of alternative medicines grow, some curanderos are concerned about the appropriation of these practices.

The

• César Calvo, Las Tres Mitades de Ino Moxo y otros brujos de la Amazonías (Iquitos 1981), translated as The Three Halves of Ino Moxo. Teachings of the Wizard of the Upper Amazon. A novel by the Peruvian author based on the life of Manuel Córdova-Rios.
• Bless Me, Ultima, by the Chicano author Rudolfo Anaya.
• The original screenplay for the film
  Mexican revolutionary Emiliano Zapata
  . The original played much more heavily on the supernatural than the chosen script.
• Curandero, a 2005 film by Eduardo Rodríguez.
• Changes for Josefina, one of the American Girl series of books about 10-year-old Maria Josefina Montoya set outside Santa Fe in the mid-1820s, features Tía Magdalena as a curandera and the most respected woman in the protagonist's village. She is also featured in the American Girl novel Secrets in the Hills.
• Forests of the Heart by Charles de Lint features a curandera protagonist.
• Chicana author Ana Castillo
  , features the curandera character Doña Felicia.
• (Notes from the Trial of) La Curandera, a song by the band Clutch off their 2004 album Blast Tyrant. It features a fictional trial of a curandera for curing a demon.
• Nightmare by Joan Lowery Nixon
• The Hummingbird's Daughter by Luis Alberto Urrea tells the story of Teresita Urrea, a curandera at the end of the 1800s.
• The House of the Scorpion by Nancy Farmer features a character named Celia who is a curandera.
• Dark Obsession by Terri Molina features a character named Ramon Chavez who is warned of danger by the spirit of a curandera, and contains a healing experience based on real life.^[20]
• The Codex by Douglas Preston
  features two curanderos: Don Alfonso Boswas and Borabay. A North American character, Sally Colorado, is also honoured with the nickname Curandera.
• In the Medical Center (TV series) episode 'Tio Taco', Dr. Joe Gannon confronts Mondragon, a curandero who tries to treat a woman with an internal hemorrhage.
• Marta's Ride by Gordon Rottman mentions curanderas attempting to save a possessed man.
• "La Bruja", a short story by Derek Hawke, tells the story of a good Curandera who is betrayed by the town she serves and condemned as a bruja. She makes a dark pact to take revenge on the townspeople who sentenced her to death.
• The Terror: Infamy features a curandera during segments set in New Mexico in the 1940s.
• The Case of the Toxic Spell Dump by Harry Turtledove includes a curandero named Cuauhtémoc Hernandez.
• The Curse of La Llorona (2019 film) features a curandero (played by Raymond Cruz) who fights the titular spirit of the "weeping woman".