Curanderismo

Curanderismo is the tradition of the curanderos and curanderas, traditional healers in Mexico, Central America and the south-western United States. The name comes from the Spanish curar, to heal.

The tradition has several roots. The Aztecs and other Mesoamerican peoples had an extensive medicine, with knowledge of hundreds of plants. The Spanish brought the European doctrine of the humours, the Catholic saints and their own herbs such as rue. African and Arab influences also played a part, via Spain and via the slave trade.

From that mixture curanderismo arose in colonial times. In Texas, Don Pedrito Jaramillo (1829–1907) became a famous healer who helped thousands of people. In Mexico, Teresa Urrea, the “Saint of Cabora”, and El Niño Fidencio became legendary.

Curanderismo knows illnesses that Western medicine does not recognise, but that are very real to many people. Susto is fright that drives the soul out of the body. Mal de ojo, the evil eye, is an illness caused by a jealous or admiring look, especially in children. Empacho is a blockage in the stomach. Nervios are nerves and worries that make the body ill.

As among the Maya, illnesses, foods and plants are classed as hot or cold. A good healer brings the body back into balance.

Health always has a spiritual side as well. Prayer, saints and the help of God are part of healing.

There are different specialists. The yerbero or yerbera knows the herbs. The partera is a midwife. The sobador gives massage, the huesero sets bones. A curandero total combines all these skills and also works spiritually.

Knowledge often passes within families or through an apprenticeship. Many curanderos speak of a gift, a don, that they received from God.

A well-known treatment is the limpia, a cleansing. The healer sweeps an egg or sprigs of rue or pirul over the body while praying, to take away the harm. Another tradition is the temazcal, the Mesoamerican sweat bath.

An important early source is the Libellus de medicinalibus Indorum herbis of 1552. Martín de la Cruz, an Aztec physician, wrote it at the College of Santa Cruz in Tlatelolco, and Juan Badiano translated it into Latin. The book contains 185 illustrations of plants. It ended up in the Vatican Library, and Pope John Paul II returned it to Mexico in 1990.

The Florentine Codex of Bernardino de Sahagún, from the sixteenth century, also describes Aztec plants and medicine.

A special source is made of stone. In the mid-nineteenth century a sixteenth-century Aztec statue of Xochipilli, 'flower prince', the god of flowers, song, dance and art, was found on the slope of the Popocatépetl volcano near Tlalmanalco. It is now in the National Museum of Anthropology in Mexico City. Flowers and mushrooms are carved on the statue and its base. Wasson, Schultes and Hofmann recognised sacred mushrooms, tobacco, ololiuqui and sinicuichi in them, and saw in the raised posture someone in ecstasy; not all researchers agree.

Today the University of New Mexico teaches about curanderismo, led by Eliseo Torres.

Curanderismo is alive in Mexico and Central America, and among Mexican Americans in the United States. People go to a curandero for illnesses a doctor does not recognise, or alongside a visit to the doctor.

At markets such as the Mercado de Sonora in Mexico City, stalls sell herbs, candles and amulets.

More and more health workers are learning about curanderismo, so that they understand their patients better.

The curandero’s pharmacy is rich. Rue (ruda) is used in limpias and against the evil eye. Estafiate (Artemisia ludoviciana) is used for stomach ache. Epazote is used in cooking and traditionally against worms.

Pirul (Schinus molle), the pepper tree, is used in limpias. Copal is burned. Chamomile, mint and lemon verbena are everyday teas.

Other plants act on the mind. Zacatechichi, 'bitter grass', is drunk for clear dreams, and damiana is considered a love remedy and calming herb. The Mazatecs in Oaxaca use sacred mushrooms, Salvia divinorum and ololiuqui in healing ceremonies.

Many plants come from the Aztec tradition, others from Spain.

Curanderismo is a spiritual and cultural tradition. Take the illnesses it describes seriously, even if they are not in a medical textbook.

Some herbs are poisonous. Rue can cause miscarriage in pregnancy, and epazote is poisonous in large amounts. Consult a doctor.

The mind-altering plants belong to ceremonies of living peoples, with a healer who guides the participants. Their cards list the risks and the Dutch law.