Curandero Conversations

AuthorHouse

Chapter One

"I came to the realization that the lack of cultural knowledge is like soul loss initiated by the void of our ancestral and family legacies."

-Rachel Edith Barrera, doctoral candidate

Learning to Walk Between Worlds: A Latina's Spiritual Journey

by Rachel Edith Barrera

The Spanish word for healer is curandero/a, and comes from the verb curar meaning to heal. Healing is the defining part of the word curandera. A curandera is a female healer and a curandero is a male healer. In Latino culture there are those who are born with a special gift called el don. This gift of healing can manifest itself in a variety of different ways: parteras (midwives), hierberas (herbalists), hueseras (bonesetters), sobadoras (massage specialists), materias (spirit mediums) and other types of healers who are as unique as the people they help. The gift can manifest in both men and women at any point in their lives; from the moment they are born to the time they become grandparents. The gift can also be passed on from generation to generation like it has with mine.

The mystical world of curanderos/as has been a part of my family for generations. I was born with a special awareness. From my earliest recollection, family, friends and strangers noticed this difference. Some described it as a luz, or light, while others told me I had the gift of healing. Since I was a child, information about and experiences with curanderismo have come to me through a variety of ways, transforming my life into a unique and wonderful apprenticeship in healing and shamanism.

My mother's stories were an early chapter in my apprenticeship. Stories like the time a young girl was possessed in my mother's village or the time my grandmother saw a black cat visit her grandfather, who was a known brujo, warlock, in the community. He lived until my mother was 10 and was easily over a century old. My great-grandfather was also a curandero in the same community. My mother's experiences within the context of her curandera heritage taught her many things, some practical and others esoteric, which she passed on to me. Through these stories, I learned the healing beliefs and practices of my mother's family. I learned the practical application of this knowledge. As a child I eavesdropped on my mother's consulting sessions, as she gave advice to those who came to her for help. I can still smell the herbs she used in her barridas, or ritual sweepings of the body. I learned the art of passing a fertile hen's egg over the body as a cure for mal de ojo, evil eye. I learned the many rituals one must know by heart including those that offered protection against enemies and those which broke trabajos, works of witchcraft. I learned how to identify and prepare medicinal plants for healing. My childhood was filled with wonder and magic. But that soon changed.

During my teenage years my mother became part of an evangelical sect and stopped healing in the ways she learned from her family. Her new church saw her "old ways" as evil, and, little by little, my mother "forgot" the healing ways of our ancestors. However, I did not forget. My mother could not erase what I had learned. My memories resonate with a vital part of my being and define who I am today. Against my mother's wishes, I continued to learn the ways of my ancestors. Luckily, and unintentionally, early in my childhood I learned to interact within the non-ordinary reality, a unique world where shamans and curanderos/ as interact. When my mother no longer shared her knowledge, I continued to be taught and to learn through dreams and visitations from my ancestors and by one very special teacher. My mother will never cease being a healer. My mother's don, or her gift of healing and intuition, has not abandoned her. She continues to apply her medicinal plant knowledge, and her other more esoteric practices continue to evolve. Prayer is now my mother's tool of choice to heal and interact with God. Just as my mother's gift evolved over the years, so did my apprenticeship.

The next part of my apprenticeship began during my undergraduate work at The University of Texas at Brownsville and Texas Southmost College, where I crossed paths with Dr. Antonio Zavaleta. I visited his office one day and we began a conversation and a collaboration that has spanned two decades. It was then that I began my deconstruction and re-interpretation of curanderismo through an academic lens. I learned of the syncretic nature of the healing traditions I had been taught-the mixture of the Old World and New World ways. I've read the different histories that created many of the practices seen today in curanderismo. I also worked alongside materias, or trance mediums, of El Nio Fidencio, Mexico's most important folk saint. I learned their traditions, rituals and beliefs. I documented the practices via multi-media techniques; including digital photography, field research, participant observation, and I translated these experiences into the El Nio Fidencio Curanderismo Research Project's initial website. Through these projects, I found myself researching spirit channeling, possession and the ethno-pharmacology related to traditional medicinal plant uses. I delved ever deeper into the knowledge base established by my heritage. I learned the significance of spirits, saints and angels within different contexts, and learned more of the vast richness and resources that curanderos/as use in their healing repertoire. I learned how votive candles are used, about oils, amulets and talismans, and countless other items used by folk practitioners. I visited the crowded and mysterious Mercado Sonora, Sonora Market, known as the Witches' Market, in the heart of Mexico City, and walked alongside countless healers, witches and shamans. I learned to recognize the material resources used by the darker arts, brujera, witchcraft, as well as those of the light.

I have also witnessed how curanderismo is constantly evolving such as curanderos/as, who now use concepts like chakras, understand the positive use of meditation, and blend traditions from around the world. Because of the knowledge gathered through my unique learning opportunities, I formed two conclusions. One conclusion, based on my collaborations with the El Nio Fidencio Curanderismo Research Project, is the lack of knowledge and understanding that the newly trained generations of health care providers possess regarding cultural healing beliefs and practices of the Latino/a community. This failure to incorporate traditional knowledge into the health care delivery system affects the availability of medical treatment options. The other is based on my personal experiences and reflections: some of my generation and younger Latino/as, especially those of Mexican descent are losing vital parts of their diverse cultural heritage. This includes folk beliefs, family traditions and their native Spanish and/or their indigenous language. Some are intentionally no longer being taught...