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RC 015 788

Torres, EliseoThe Folk Healer: The Mexican-American Tradition ofCuranderismo.ISBN-9612008-1-28465p.; For related document, see RC 015 789.Nieves Press, P.O. Box 2205, Kingsville, TX 78363($4.95 plus postage).Reports - General (140)

MF01/PC03 Plus Postage,*Cultural Background; *Folk Culture; *HispanicAmerican Culture; Medical Services; *Medicine;Mexican American Hi3tory; *Mexican Americans;Traditionalism*Curanderismo; Fidencio (Nino); *Folk Medicine;Jaramillo (Don Pedrito); Mexico; Traditional Healing;Urrea (Teresa)

ABSTRACTThe book explains for the general reader the history

and present practice of curanderismo--Mexican American folk healingpractices--and gives biographical sketches of three famous nineteenthcentury folk healers--Don Pedrito Jaramillo, Nino Fidencio, andTeresita Urrea. Characteristics and training of curanderos, orhealers, are discussed and the specialties within curanderismo areexplained. Eleven common ailments and symptoms treated by curanderos,rituals used, and folk beliefs dealing with everyday occurrences aredescribed. Sketches of the three folk healers illustrate biographicalchapters which recount legends and current practices of theirfollowers as well as biographical information. Modern curanderos aredescribed and their place in the Mexican American community explored.An annotated bibliography listing 10 books about curanderos isincluded. (LFL)

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Copyrightc by Eliseo Torres

All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce this book or portionsthereof in any form whatsoever

Lib.--ary of Congress Catalog Card Number 83-062529

ISBN 9612008-1-2

THE FOLK HEALERThe Mexican-American D-adition

of Curanderismo

by Eliseo ibrres1 984

Drawings by Clark Magruder

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Foreword

Even as a child growing up in a small South texasccmmunity, I was fascinated by the practice of curan-derismo or folk healing. I vividly remember the ritual tocure ma/ de ojo the evil eye with its prayers andthe use of the egg. There were days that I would have amild cOlico and would get the treatment for that. Also,there were many times that I would experience a badfright and suffer from susto and have to be cleansedwith a broom or ruda. Still, though I grew up with it, itis difficult to explain, not so much the rituals of curan-derismo, but the love and the faith associated with it.

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Nonetheless, I wanted to try. I felt it was verj impor-tant to keep curanderismo alive, and also to acquaintthe general public with its importance in the Mexicanand Mexican-American culture. I began to do this whileI was still a doctoral student at gems A&I University inKingsville.

At first I concentrated on the herbs. It was naturalto begin here, remembering as I did that for every ill-ness and with every ritual there would always be afreshly brewed cup of tea perhaps manzanilla or yerbabuena or anis. During visits to relatives or friends, cut-tings of different varieties of plants that were used tomake the teas were always given to my mother, whoquickly got them into the earth once we got home!

With this in mind, I developed a teaching unit onFolk Medicine and Medicinal Herbs of South Texas andNorthern Mexico. I interviewed several curanderosfolk healers and yerberos herbalists in Mexicantowns and in towns in the Rio Grande Valley and alongthe border in the United States. After that, I gave manylectures, in person and on television, about the subject.

It became clear that interest in curanderismo washigh, and yet available works on the subject particu-larly works aimed at the average person rather than thesociologist or scholar were few and far between. I feltI had to expand my lecture notes into something moresubstantial to fill this need.

So it was that my first book, Green Medicine: Tradi-tional Mexican-American Herbal Remedies, came intobeing. From there, it seemed only natural to go on todescribe the practices surrounding the use of thoseherbs the same rituals that I recall from my childhood.Thus I was led to prepare this companion volume, TheFolk Healer.

I hope you will enjoy it.

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A Brief History

The term curanderismo may be translated 'folkhealing'. A curandero or curandera. then, is a healer,with the letter at the end of the word signifying whethermale or female. All three -words derive from the Spanishverb curar, which means to heal.

The roots of curanderismo are many. The Moors,for instance, brought in Arabic elements, which cameto the Nt-tvr World via Spain. The theory of "the humors",with its emphasis on balance between light and dark-ness, heat and cold, was introduced this way. Somebeliefs associated with curanderismo, particularly theinsistence that all power to heal comes from God, areBiblical and therefore Judeo-Christian in origin. And,of course. these are powerful Indian particularly Aztec

influences, too, most often in the herbal remediesthat are used.

Curanderismo has always embraced three levels,though certain curanderos may choose to emphasizeone above or even to the exclusion of the others. Theseare the material (the most common, with its emphasison objects such as candles. oils, herbs). the spiritual(here the curandero is often a medium), and the mental(psychic healers, for example). Rituals formulaic orpatterned ways of treating the various illnesses of thosewho come to see the curandero are present on allthree levels.

One needn't be familiar with cuienderismo norbelieve in it in order for it to work. Evelyne Winter, inher Mexico's Ancient and Native Remedies, collectedthis story from a woman named Muriel Balfour. Mrs.Balfour's husband had obviously been treated by acurandero, but just as obvious the Balfours hadno idea that this was so. nor that the treatment givenwas pretty much "standard operating procedure" incuranderismo. The point is, though the Balfour's were

not predisposed to believe, the cure worked! Here's Mrs.Balfour's account:

"My late husband one time had a very bad eyeand headache. A man came to see him to cure him.el -Is 'doctor' asked me for a raw egg which I gave him.While the egg was still in its shell he passed it manytimes over my husband's head and face. Then heasked me for a dish and he opened the egg which hadbecome hard boiled. We asked if it had cured him andhe said not entirely. The 'doctor' came the next dayand went through the same procedure with a freshegg but after the treatment the egg was not hard boiled,only coddled. The 'doctor' was not satisfied that thecure had been completed and came the third day. Theegg the third day was unchanged by the treatmentand the man pronounced him cured. And my hus-band was cured."

The use of the egg is quite common in curander-ismo, perhaps because, as scholars Robert T Trotter IIand Juan Antonio Chavira note in their book, Curan-derismo, "The material properties of the egg include itsordinary use as food; its mystical properties, however,include its ability to absorb negative influences (sick-ness) from a patient. Still another reason is that manyrituals demand a sacrificial object, and, again notingTrotter and Chavira, "the egg qualifies as an animalcell."

In addition to the egg, the lemon figures in therituals of curanderismo, as does agua preparadaspecially prepared water. Water, especially water thathas been blessed (holy water), is considered a physicallink with the spiritual world. In fact, it is not uncom-mon for a curandero to dip the other objects he is usinginto holy water to enhance their curative powers.

Fire, too, in the form of candles and incense, plays apart in many of the ceremonies, vs do many herbs (seemy Green Medicine) and aromatic oils.

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But.. as with lemon and the egg, curanderismo alsorelies on items which are very ordinary indeed. Purpleonion, for instance, and garlic are often used. Theseitems are said to protect one, while the aforementionedegg and lemon are thought to actually absorb negateforces.

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The Curandero

It is the state of consciousness that distinguishesthe curandero working on the material level: He is awakerather than in a trance and is himself that is, has notassumed the being of another.

Curanderos also have specialties. A yerbero will bean herbalist, able to prescribe botanical remedies. Apartera is a midwife. A sobador or sobadora will 'De amasseuse or masseur. That the three levels touch andcross each other can easily be seen when we use thesobador as an example.

A sobador might well work only on the materiallevel, using his hands and perhaps an aromatic oil or apoultice or even a tea. But a sobador might also healeven an ill that exists deep beneath the surface of theskin indeed, perhaps in the nervous system or in themind. That sobar:or might be said to operate on thepsychic level as well. There are sobadores, for instance,who have been said to cure paralysis.

A senora, however, because she reads cards in orderto foretell the future or reveal the influence of the past,can be said to emphasize the mental or psychic level.An espiritista or medium would work entirely on thespiritual level.

While it is true that most curanderos work on thematerial level, the spiritual mode is growing in popular-ity. This is particularly due to the Fidencistas, followersof Nitio Fldencio, a Mexican healer. These followers aresaid to assume Nitio's spirit now that he is dead, thatis, become him, in order to heal.

Is belief in curanderismo a religious belief, or is it abelief in the supernatural? Well, it is often both. Theaforementioned belief that all healing power comes fromGod makes it religious, as does the very prevalent idea

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that a curandero can only bring about God's will. Thebelief that certain rituals or practices can effect a cer-tain outcome is, however, a belief in the supernaturalthat is, a belief that outside forces can be changed,controlled. In this way, curanderismo partakes of boththe religious and the supernatural. In fact, a curanderocan be a brujo a witch capable of casting evil spells!Curanderismo, therefore, is careful to distinguish be-tween white magic and black magic, with most curan-deros espousing the former.

How does one become a curandero? Often as youwill see when you read the stories of the most famoushealers it is a matter of recognizing that one has theGod-given gift the don, as it is called. Sometimes, too,it is the result of a long apprenticeship. Many caran-deros renounce steady jobs in order to work as healers.

In defining who is and who isn't a curandero, theamount of time one spends healing is usually consid-ered. While most cities and barrios within cities havesomeone whom they call upon to prescribe teas andother herbal remedies for minor ills, the curandero isone to whom one brings more serious cases. The curan-dero does not have another job; healing is the basis ofthe curandero's livelihood.

In the past, another consideration when measur-ing the authenticity of a given person's claim to being acurandero was whether or not that person charged forhis services. The true curandero was said to take whathad been offered, and there are many recorded in-stances, too, of curanderos refusing to accept even smallpayments when these were offered by the very poor.

Now that is no longer the case. When KPRC-TV inHouston did a mini-documentary on two moderncuranderos, for instance, they found that the youngest,a woman named Maria, not only charged f,_ her services,but had an hourly rate. "I charge ten dollars for onehour," Maria boasted. "What I really should be charging

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is a hundred and fifty dollars an hour ... 'cause I'mdamn good!" Maria, however, is still the exception.

In many cases, the fact that money is not needed isone reason curanderismo still thrives in Mexican andM:sican-American neighborhoods. Still others are thatthere is no language barrier, no need for an appointment,and, frequently, no necessity to travel great distances.Also, a curandero does not require that his patientshave medical insurance nor that they fill out compli-cated forms.

Equally important is the fact that the curanderotreats many ailments not even recognized as such bythe formal medical establishment. In many cases, theseailments reflect the patient's psychological state. As AriKiev, an author and psychiatrist, has pointed out,curanderismo is a system of medicine which recognizesthe profound effect the emotions can have on health. Ittakes into account the physical manifestations of suchfeelings as anger, sorrow, shame, rejection, fear, desire,and disillusionment. When one considers that the holis-tic movement is one arm of formal medicine which .a:finally begun to recognize this, the centuries-old p ac-tice of curanderismo seems advanced indeed.

What is formal medicine's attitude toward curaAi-derismo? Well, as you might guess, curanderismo w,islong regarded as superstition or medicine which, atbest, treated only imagined ills. Now, 11' /ever, the medi-cal establishment has become more tolerant. Again, theholistic movement has done much to promote forthe most part, inadvertently acceptance of thisancient system. In any case, a lot of writing aboutcuranderismo is addressed to health care professionalsand urges them to think of curanderismo as either analternative or a supplement to formal medicine.

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Ailments

The most common ailments treated by curander-ismo are mal de ojo, sometimes referred to as mal ojo,or just plain ojo, susto, caida de mollera, and empacho.

There are also a number of ailments less frequentlyencountered, and these would be found in Mexico moreoften than in the United States. These are mal acre,sometimes just called afire, desasombro, espanto, bilis,muina, and latido.

Then, too, there are ills brought about by evil orwitchcraft. These are envidia, mal puesto, salar, andmaleficio.

A curandero might be called upon to treat any ofthese. On the other hand, in mild cases, a member ofthe family might administer an he: bal remedy. If a fam-ily member tried to remedy the ill, lowever, and it per-sisted, it is likely that a curandero m 2...ild be consulted.

Definitions of the various ailments and their causesdiffer, but those which follow are generally accepted:

Mal de ojo

Although this sounds as though it is inflictedthrough malice, the opposite is the case. Mal de ojothe evil eye comes about through excessive admira-tion, usually of those too weak to absorb it. Babies arethe most frequent victims, but animals can contractojo, too. Charms are worn by those susceptible to evileye. The most common is the ojo de venado or deer'seye.

Why would admiration cause illness? Some schol-ars say that it arises from the belief that a person pro-jects something of himself when he admires another. If

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the person receiving the admiration can't handle it,either because of youth or weakness, illness results.

lb counteract the effect of the admiration and guardagainst mal de ojo, the admirer must touch the person,animal, or object of his admiration.

The symptoms of ojo are similar to those of colic:irritability, drooping eyes, fever, headache, and vomiting.

Susto

Sometimes susto is translated as loss of spirit oreven loss of soul. Occasionally, it is translated as shock,though it shouldn't be confused with the life-threaten-ing medical condition known as shock. A common defi-nition is fright.

Receiving bad news can cause suste, as can anybad scare. It is thought that such a scare can temporar-ily drive the person's spirit or soul from the body. Suscohas to be treated immediately or it will lead to a muchmore serious version, called susto pasado or, in Mexico,susto meco an old susto which is much more diffi-cult to treat and which can lead to death

Weakness is a symptom of susto. Or, as DoloresLatorre describes it in her Cooking and Curing WithMexican Herbs, "the victim suddenly feels wobbly, chilly,shaky, limp, and drowsy, or he may develop a headacheaccompanied by nausea" On the other hand, when AilKiev describes the symptoms in his Curanderismo, hewrites that they are "a mixture of anxiety dyspnea,indigestion, palpitations, and depression loss of inter-est in things, irritability, insomnia, and anorexia." Kievrelates one curandero's belief that a susto untreatedcan lead to heart attack.

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Caida de mollera

This condition in English known as "fallenfontanelle" afflicts only babies. The symptoms areirritability, diarrhea, and vomiting. The baby thusbecomes dehydrated and exhibits the most prominentsymptom, the one that gives the condition its name: adepressed fontanelle (soft spot).

Caida de moltera is thought to be caused by roughhandling or from pulling the baby's bottle or the mother'sbreast from his mouth while he is sucking it. It canalso, however, be caused by a fall from the bed or crib.Or the baby can cause it himself by sucking too greedily.

Empacho

The main symptom of this ill is diarrhea and afeeling of weight in the pit of ones stomach. Loss ofappetite (not surprisingly) follows.

The symptoms of empacho are thought to be pro-duced by something actually stuck in the stomach orblocking the intestines. It can afflict adults, 'put chil-dren are the usual victims.

Empacho is an ailment that reficLts the need forbalance that is expressed in the theory of the humors

that is, it is thought to be caused by improperlymixing hot with cold foods, or eating such foods inimproper sequence. Eating too quickly and thus notchewing food completely is another act thought tocauseempacho.

Ari Kiev points out as an interesting sidenotethat both empacho and caida de mollera "are associ-ated with the proper management of children" and aretherefore ailments whose presence arouses feelings ofguilt in the parents.

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Mal aire

This seems similar to an upper respiratory infec-tion, in that it produces earache, stiff neck, chills,dizziness, and headache. What is often called "a cold"can be referred to as acre.

Desasombro

Desasombro is thought to be a more serious formof susto, though it is not to be confused with sustopasado or susto meco, which are more serious becausethey've been permitted to persist. Nor is desasombro asserious as espanto, which will be discussed next. Desa-sombro should be thought of as a susto with a moresignificant cause. If stepping on a snake resulted in asusto, stepping on a poisonous snake would result indesasombro.

Espanto

This, like susto, is a form of spirit loss, but it ismuch more severe. The difference between the two, asdelineated by Dolores Latorre, will explain why this isso. Laton e writes that "susto takes place when the vic-tim is in possession of his spirit, and, although thespirit may temporarily leave the body due to the fright,the sprit is believed to be nearby and can easily bepersuaded to return to the body through the prescribedritual. espanto, on the other hand, occurs when a per-son is asleep. Since at this time, the spirit may leave thebody to wander far and wide during dreams, it may notbe nearby to return into the body when entreated."

She goes on to outline the causes of espanto. Theseinclude being awakened suddenly by something fright-ening say, a burglar or a disaster such as a fire orflood, by a fall from bed, or by a nightmare.

Bilis

This is best described as having excessive bile inthe system. It is thought to be b, ought about by sup-pressed anger. Symptoms include gas, constipation, apasty-looking tongue and sour taste in the mouth.

Muina

This, Dolores Latorre reports, is sometimes called"anger sickness", but it differs from bilis in that itre-sults from a show of rage rather than its suppression.The victim, Latorre writes, "becomes tied up in knots,trembles, and may lose the ability to talk or may becomemomentarily paralyzed. The jaws may lock, or hearingmay stop." Like bilis, muina can result in a discharge ofbile throughout the body. Latorre says that it can leadto jaundice.

Latido

Originally, the symptoms of latido, which translatesas 'palpitation' or 'throb,' were a feeling of weakness, anda throbbing, jumpy feeling in the pit of the stomach.Now, how ver, the term latido is often used to describea stomach ache. Both forms cf latido tend to strikethose who are weak and thin.

Some liken latido to a nervous stomach, thoughothers, probably describing the original ailment, say itis like the condition which medical authorities callhypoglycemia Indeed, symptoms of latido usually occurwhen a person has not eaten for a long period of time.

Envidia, mal puesto, salar, maleficio

These are all the result of evil-doing, and most aremotivated by envy (or, less often, revenge). The threat ofthese ills is often enough to make a person live modestly,

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never making an obvious show of anything that mightinspire the jealousy of another.

Some of these conditions can be brought about byan individual, but often the individual will engage theservices of a witch, or brujo, sometimes called a blackcurandero. Most curanderos, however, are white curan-deros not those who cause illness, but rather thosewho heal in the name of God.

A curandero who is not a witch, fortunately, canremove a hex or spell. Or, as happens less frequently, ablack curandero can be hired to counter it with a spellof his own. Indeed, sometimes feuds or battles betweenblack curanderos have been recorded. Patrick Boulay,writing in the San Antonio Light, noted, for example,"Of nine curanderos The Light attempted to track down,three had died and one contracted a serious illness atthe time the last battle was said to have occurred." Oneof the people Boulay interviewed for the article said thatfeuds between black curanderos "have taken a tremen-dous toll in San Antonio."

More often, a curandero who is not a witch (andmost aren't) will be called upon to cure an ailmentbrought about by witchcraft. This is true even of themost famed curandros.

In one story, a woman reported witnessing the sei-zure of still another woman who was embrujadabewitched. The seizure took place in the presence of thefamous Don Pedrito Jaramillo of Falfurrias, Texas. DonPedrito, according to the account in Ruth Dodson's TheHealer of Los Olmos, attempted, without success, torevive the woman, who had lost consciousness. Thewoman is said to have awakened, but during anotherseizure, long after leaving Don Pedrito's, she is rumoredto have fallen into an open fire where she burned todeath.

More successfully, the famous curandero of Espin-azo, Mexico, Nino Fidencio, is said to have left posterity

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a formula against being hexed. It requires, according toDolores Latorre, that an Aloe Vera plant be tied with ared ribbon knotted twelve times and that a lime beattached to the plant with yet another red ribbon. Bothshould be looped around the Aloe Vera's roots and thenthe plant should be suspended, upside down, above theinside of the front door. But this was not enough! EachFriday before sunrise. the plant had to be taken out-doors and placed in water until just before noon. Whenthe plant was brought inside again, the water in whichit had soaked was to be sprinkled around the house.Whether this is an effective preventative or simply some-thing to take one's mind off witchcraft and hexing isnot known! These stories do demonstrate, however, thateven the most famous of curanderos have had to dealwith brujos and their work!

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The Rituals

While many of these ailments require that thepatient eat, drink, or otherwise use a specific substance

an herb, say their cure also involves ritual and theuse of what an anthropologist would call "symbolicobjects." To define the latter, think of the stereotypicalview of the jungle "witch doctor" as presented in moviesor even comic books: in all likelihood, he wears a maskand carries bones or a rattle. Well, the mask, the bones,and the rattle are clearly "symbolic objects." They aresupposed to have a certain power in whatever ceremonythe "witch doctor" performs.

A curandero uses symbolic objects, too, but becausehe feels his power comes from God, the symbols arethose which are shared by many religious people whoare not healers: the cross, pictures of saints, votive can-dles and the like.

The curanderc also uses everyday materials: oliveoil, water, or, most commonly an egg. The moderncurandera, Maria, who was interviewed on television,said that she uses growing plants. "These plants ... arevery sensitive to their surroundings," Maria said. "WhenI tell a person that I am going to work on a particularproblem for them ... if they have an illness of some sort,then what I do is I tell them to buy me a plant. Whenthey buy me a plant, they have automatically put theirown vibrations ... their own thoughts, feelings ... nega-t've and positive ... into the plant. The reason a plantworks is that, once a ritual has been performed, wheretne plant takes on the identity of that person, a spirit-ual link is formed between that plant and that person.No other person can take on the identity of the plantand vice versa."

Don Pedrito often used mere water, instructingpatients to drink, for example, a glass at bedtime eachnight for a certain number of nights.

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But the egg figures in most rituals of curanderismo,past and present. Earl Thompson, a novelist of aston-ishing talent, described one such ritual in his CaldoLargo:

"(The curandera) straightened Lupe s body so shelay face ip like a corpse, even crossing her hands onher breasts. As she crossed her hands, she slipped some-thing into Lupe's palms, closed her hands into fists,and told her to hold what she had put in them verytight.

'What is it?' Lupe asked.

'Herbs. Now don't talk again until I tell you.'

The curandera placed candles on the table at Lupe'shead and feet. She then poured some fragrant oil froma bottle that had once held tequila into her own largehands, warmed it between her palms and began to workit back through Lupe's hair until her thick reddishtresses were fanned around her face and down over herbreasts and body until Lupe gleamed with the oil, allthe while chanting some sort of prayer which I couldnot understand except for the occasional mention ofthe mother of Jesus. It was in a dialect I had neverheard before. It was hypnotic. I thought Lupe had goneto sleep or fallen into a trance. She seemed hardly tobreathe. The smell of the oil was that of jasmine mixedwith fresh herbs. The room was very warm and close ...

She massaged Lupe front and back and front again,chanting all the while. The last time she had Lupe holdthe egg in her clasped hands on her breast.

Then she took the egg from her and began gentlyrubbing it over her, forehead, face, neck, and shouldersand then over the rest of her body. She traced the perim-eters of Lupe with the egg as if drawing a pattern of her

She then described a cross on her with the egg ...

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she brought the egg to rest finally on Lupe's navel."

Compare the ritual undergone by Lupe to thosedescribed by Trotter and Chavira in their book oncuranderismo, written to provide health care profes-sionals with a better understanding of the subject. Whilerituals vary in detail from healer to healer, they have acertain common theme.

Ma/ ojo, the two say, "is treated by having the childlie down and sweeping him three times with an egg.The sweeping is done by forming crosses with the egg,on the child's body, starting at the head and going tothe feet. While sweeping, the healer recites the Apostles'Creed three times, making sure that he sweeps boththe front and the back. The egg is cracked and droppedinto a glass or jar filled with water. The jar may then beplaced on the child's head, and another Creed recited.The jar is then placed under the child's bed, usuallyunder the place where the child rests his head. Thenext morning at sunrise the egg may either be burnedor cast away in the form of a cross."

In a book intended for school cA.ildren entitledDiscovering Folklore Through Community Resources,the ritual described to cure ojo is very similar, thoughless solemn, in that, in the morning, the egg, it is said,can either be buried or flushed down the toi!2t. The egg,once it is broken into the water, too, is used for diagno-sis: "If the white becomes solid and forms an oval (aneye-shaped ring), people believe that the patient hasindeed been suffering from a case of ojo and that he hasbeen cured.

A curandero whom Ari Kiev interviewed said: "Youhave to break an egg and say a prayer. You break youregg, put it in the glass, and then put some little piecefrom the broom, you know, on top like a cross, and thenthe egg starts bubbling. You have to brush (the victim)with the egg first make like a cross. The ec_f,g takesout the evil from the child and makes the person caus-ing it stop ... When the egg starts boiling, that is when

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you know he had ojo. When the egg goes down. if it doesnot boil, it means that ne doesn't have the ojo.'

Remember the woman whom Evelyne Winter inter-viewed? When her husband was first rubbed with theegg, it was hard-boihd afterwards, then coddled, andfinally raw. It was only when the egg emerged raw thatthe curandero considered the man cured.

The litual for curing susto in °Ives a broom. AsTrotter and Chavira describe it: "The sick person liesdown and is completely covered with a sheet. The healersweeps the patient with the broom, saying the Apostle'sCreed three times. At the end of each Creed, the healerwhispers in the patient's ear, 'Come, don't stay there'.The patient responds, 1 am coming'. The sick personmust perspire and is then given some tea of yerba antsto drink. The healer then places a cross of holy palm onthe patient's head and asks Almighty God, in the nameof the Holy Trinity, ..o restore the patient's spiritualstrength."

The cure for susto which Dolores Latorre describesinvolves both the broom and the egg: "The cure must bedone on three consecutive nights: Wednesday, Thursday,and Friday, the last day being the most effective. Thepatient lies on the bed with arms extended in the formof a cross while his entire body is cleansed with alum ora whole egg and he is swtpt with a bundle or broom ofherbs, preferably horehound, rosemary, California pep-pertree, redbrush, or naked-seed weed, tied together orseparately. Each evening, fresh herbs al e used."

Both rituals involve an invocation to the patient'sspirit to return, and the patient's reply. In Trotter andChavira, the appropriate response is said to be 'Aquivengo,' while Latorre reports that 'Hay voy' is used.Both may be interpreted as an affirmative response sug-gesting that the spirit is indeed returning.

Discovering Folklore Through Community Re-sourr,!s reports, as did Latorre, that the cure takes place

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over a Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday, but shows acurandera first blessing the susto victim's bed with aknife. The healer then sweeps the patient with Cenizoand blesses him with holy water. The Apostles Creed isused in this ritual as well, but in addition to it, thecurandera recites from her own personal prayerbook.Only then does she call the spirit, enjoining it to return.After the ritual, the herbs used to sweep the patient arctaken home to be placed under the patient's pillow inthe form of a cross.

Ari Kiev describes sweeping, too, but the curanderoshe interviewed suggested that Granada leaves be used.One of Kiev's healer informants reported that occasion-ally, massage with an egg was also used for susto.

Don Pedrito, whose cures were often offbeat, is saidto have cured a susto by divining what had caused it(the victim had witnessed a murder) and prescribingthat a draught of beer be drunk on three successivenights. Still another legend about Don Pedrito is thathe once cured one susto by subjecting the victim toanother, in fact, appearing to the victim in the guise ofa bandit to provide the scare! Both of these stories weregathered by Ruth Dodson in her The Healer of LosOlmos.

The treatment for caida de mollera is more stan-dard. As Kiev reports, "It involves turning the baby overon his heels, pushing up against the roof of the child'smouth, packing the fontanelle area with moist salt,and/or binding the area."

By "binding" the area, smearing it with a stickysubstance either soap or egg-white is meant. It isnot uncommon to see babies who have had this area sotreated out in public.

The thumb is usually used against the roof of thebaby's mouth.

An egg can be used to pinpoint the site of the block-

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age causing empacho. A Mexican-American motherwhom Kiev interviewed, for instance, told of her methodof diagnosis: "To treat it, you rub their stomach realgood and rub them with an egg at room temperature,not from the fridge, and then you rub their ston-P-shreal good with it. Wherever that egg burst, that is wi.the empacho is in the stomach."

More often, a massage, followed by the administra-tion of a laxative, is used. The same woman concludesthe description of treatment thusly: "Then they tie apiece of linen around to hold it there. After they do allthe rubbing and applying of the egg, they give them agood dose of castor oil or something to make them movetheir bowels."

Trotter and Chavira found this combination: "Income cases the healer massages that part of the backbe.ind the stomach with warm olive oil and pulls onthe skin. The skin is said to make a snapping noisewhen the trapped food particles are loosened. In eithercase, a tea is given to treat the damaged stomach."

One home remedy is to rub the patient's stomachwith shortening and - again, this conveys the notionof loosening something that is stuck - pulling the skinon the patient's back until it pops.

Mal wire is treated like a cold with tea, lemonjuice, even whiskey. Liniments and poultices are used,too.

The treatment for desasombro is much more elab-orate, for it is a much more serious ill. One popularmethod of cure is outlined in Discovering FolkloreThrough Community Resources. The treatment is to bedone outdoors at eleven in the morning. It begins whenthe curandero digs four holes in the ground in the shapeof a diamond. One hole is for the head, one for the feet,and two are for the hands. The area is covered with awhite sheet, and the patient stretches out, face down,in the form of a cross atop it, with his limbs in the

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appropriate spots. Another white sheet is placed atophim. The curandero, reciting the Apostle's Creed, thensweeps the patient from top to bottom.

It is interesting to note that in various recordedremedies for susto, curanderos have been quite specificabout what should be used for the sweeping. In onecase it was Granada and in another Cenizo, for in-stance. The ritual outlined above says that an ordinaryhousehold broom can be used.

This is just to illustrate how these rituals areadapted according to what is available.

In any case, the curandero sweeps the patient andrecites the Apostle's Creed three times as he does so.Now the patient rolls over, face up, hands still out-stretched in the form of a cross. The sweeping ritual isrepeated.

Now the patient is uncovered and stands. Thecurandero strikes the patient's shadow. Then the cur-andero drags a piece of clothing which the patient hasworn into the patient's house, calling the spirit as hedoes so. He continues to call until he reaches thepatient's bed. The patient comes in, sits on the bed, anddrinks a cup of ants tea The patient finishes drinking,leaving a bit of the tea in the cup.

Next the curandero takes some of the dirt that wasremoved from the four holes he dug when the ritualbegan. This dirt is mixed with the tea that the patientleft. With the resulting mud, the curandero marks thesign of the cross on each of the patient's joints.

The patient then gets under as many covers as itwill take to make him sweat. The curandero swet.ps thepatient now with Cenizo and completes the ritual byreciting the Apostle's Creed three more times.

Treatment for bills is far less exotic. Epsom salts orsome other laxative would be given once each week for

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three weeks. On the other ha-id, the treatment for muinathe other illness caused by anger is very formulaic.

As Dolores Latorre reports: The affected person is sweptwith three red flowers on three consecutive days, Wed-nesday, Thursday, and Friday, and afterward is given adecoction made with flc,wers and leaves of the orangetree or other citrus. This will calm the patient. If it doesnot, the person is struck, shaken, or addreased withunkind words in order to break the fit of anger." Inter-estingly, the symptoms which Latorre attributes tomuina (given earlier in this book) are much like thoseof someone we would call hysterical. For a long time,2 _id even today, aii hysterical person is slapped orshaken, much the way the victim of muina would be ifhe didn't respond to the ritual of the flowers.

Latido is usually treated by administering nourish-ment. Some suggest that a patient take, for nine consec-utive days, a mixture of raw egg, salt, pepper, and lemonjuice. A more appetizing cure requires that the patienteat bean soup with onion, coriander, and garlic. Latorredescribes a romfortatiuo made of a hard roll which issplit, sprinkled with alcohol, filled with peppermintleaves, nasturtiums, some cinnamon, cloves and onions.After this is done, the roll is closed, wrapped in whitecloth, and bandaged over the pit of the patient's stomach.

The fact is, as far fetched as some of these ritualsmay sound to those of us accustomed to the cold, sterileadministration of medical aid, they work! And as thestory from Evelyne Winter's book, -related earlier, dem-onstrates, one does not have to believe in the cures inorder for them to work.

Perhaps most importantly, the curandero focusseshis attention one hundred percent on his patient. Thiscannot but be an important component Jf the healingprocess.

Then, too, touch figures largely in the healingrituals. Only recently has the medical establishmentcome to admit the therapeutic importance of touch.

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The rituals often involve other members of thepatient's family, too, and many are done in the patient'sown home. The person who is ill thus has a very deepsense of belonging while the rituals are performed.

The status of the curandero also figures in hissuccess. As Ari Kiev points out: "The curandero is neverin doubt as to the diagnosis or treatment and does notundermine confidence in himself among nontechnicallyoriented patients by ordenng laboratory tests and X-rays.He turns to meaningful sources of strength such as thesaints and God."

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Folk Beliefs

There are numerous beliefs associated with curan-derismo that do not necessarily have to do with illness.Many of these involve the color red. A red thread laidacross the forehead of a person with hiccups is said tocure them A red ribbon, tied in knots to represent theproblems of the person, when buried, is said to rid thatperson of the problems the knots represent. A red dress,worn by a mother, is rumored to cure an apathetic orlistless child.

Red is considered the color of love, and it figures inlove-related ceremonies. A San Antonio curanderamelted two red candles together, molding them by handinto something resembling human form, in order toreunite a separated couple. In the same ritual, watertinted red was also used.

There are many beliefs involving preventatives. Theojo de venado or deer's eye charm which keeps itswearer safe from oral de ojo is one such. A bag of pars-ley worn about the neck is said to ward off snakes. Apregnant woman is advised to hang some keys aroundher waist during a lunar eclipse to keep her baby frombeing deformed by the moon's shadow.

Beliefs about the moon itself are interesting. It isthought, for instance, that a person can become be-witched by the moon alunado.

Simply carrying a bud of garlic is supposed to wardaway a host of potential ills.

A ban -ida or spiritual cleansing is a preventativeritual performed by a curandero. It serves to eliminatenegative influences by transferring them to anotherobject. Trotter and Chavira describe the ceremony:

"Patients are swept from their head to their feet,

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with the carandero making sweeping or brushingmotions with an egg, a lemon, an herb, or whateverappropriate obje 't is deemed necessary. According tosome informants the object must be held in the curan-dero's left hand and must touch the person being swept... Standard prayers used in this ritual include theLord's Prayer, the Apostles' Creed .....

An article in the San Antonio Light mentioned sev-eral preventatives mainly amulets or, in Spanish,amuletos: "Many are made of what looks like dirt, glitter,gold colored corn, a broken cross-shaped twig paintedsilver with metal shavings packaged in a cellophanebag.

Candles are also a common item. They come in vari-ous colors, each denoting a particular meaning.

Burning a black candle brings freedom from evil, ablue candle brings peace, harmony and joy, and a redcandle denotes love and affection.

An old wive's tale reminds pregnant women to burnpink colored incense and look at a colored picture of St.Ramon. This is supposed to be good for the mother andher unborn child.

Another long-time practice is the idea of putting acoin in the mouth of the image of St. Ramon so badthings won't be said about you."

II, Proponents of curanderismo have enormouslystrong beliefs in luck and do what they can to court it.Various types of incense are used for this purpose. Notonly was incense used in Aztec and Mayan ceremonies,but it figured largely in the Judeo-Christian past aswell. The three wise men or Magi. for example, were saidto bring the Christ child gifts of gold, frankincense, andmyrrh. And, of course, in Roman Catholic celebrations

either in the Mass or at a Benediction, to name twosuch events incense was often used. Today, in Mexi-can and Mexican-American curio shops. one can find

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the traditional incense thai, is burned as well as variousaerosol varieties.

Michael Quintanilla, in the San Antonio Express-News, catalogued a good many offerings in one typicalurban Mexican-American botica or drugstore:

"Each vial has a purpose and no two are alike. Thevarious vials claim to bring the wearer good luck, moremoney, success or movie-star good looks in addition toCupid's arrow. They can also work to ward off the jeal-ousy and envy of others or those who want to see thewearer fail in life, marriage or business."

Perfumes and oils, too, are popular. Quintanillaquotes the owner of the store: "For wealth, he says, adab or two of Exito (Success) will have the wearer roll-ing in dough ... And, if all else fails, Una Gota de Suerte(One Drop of Luck) is bound to be the definitive firewater to solving your agony, ridding your hex, curingyour illness or getting back at someone. Like an all-purpose cleaner, Una Gota will clean up the mess inyour life."

An Austin free-lance writer, now living in New York,says that she went on assignment to a place in Houstonknown to sell the items used in curanderismo. Shejokingly told the woman behind the counter that sheneeded something to change her life. The woman re-turned with something called Special Brown Oil.

"It smelled like the kind of disinfectant they use inpublic rest rooms," the writer laughed, but she dutifullydabbed it on as she'd been directed. "The next week,"the writer said, "I had a call from -1 publishing company.They wanted to publish my doctoral dissertation, whichI'd done more than ten years earlier. Then an old boy-friend called my high school sweetheart:' The writeris now engaged to marry him. "Trouble is," she says,only half joking, "I'm almost out of the oil!"

Questions about the sort of luck the future will

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bring are common. Trotter and Chavira report that everycurandero to whom they spoke had knowledge of card-readers or senoras, who have a particular specialty.These use either the tarot, the fifty-two card Americandeck, or the forty card Mexican deck. "These senorasmake specific predictions," the authors say, "normallyin three areas: health, home life, and social condition(including legal and business matters).

Perhaps the most interesting thing about Mexican-American folk medicine is that its believers rely upon,transfer to, or blame, to a remarkable degree, objectsand causes that are external. Nowhere is this more obvi-ous than in the use of what are call -1 Trouble Dollsrecently quite popular.

These small figures reside in a gaily decorated box.At night, the troubled person removes a number of dolls

one to represent each of his problems. The dolls arethen placed back inside the box. In the morning, thedolls viill have assumed all of the person's woes! This issaid to work very well with children.

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Don Pedrito Jaramillo

When author James Michener was researching hisbook on Texas, one of the first things he did was visitthe burial site of Don Pedrito Jaramillo. Most histori-ans would agree that Don Pedrito is the most famouscurandero of all time. In fact, some severity five yearsafter Don Pedrito's death, Texas Monthly magazinecalled him "one of the most powerful men in Southlbxas."

The Texas Monthly article (January19821was enti-tled "The Saint of Falfurrias," and indeed, that's whatDon Pedrito has become: a folk saint a personage towhom people pray in order to combat their illness,change their luck, their habits, or as an expression oftheir faith.

In 1964, Octavio Romano, a doctoral candidate inAnthropology at the University of California at Berkeleydid his dissertation on the phenomenon. It was entitled"Don Pedrito Jaramillo: The Emergence of a Mexican-American Folk-Saint." A folk saint, as Romano definesit, is "a deceased person who is considered a saint bythe people but not by the Catholic Church." This, hesays, is "relatively rare."

A visitor to the shrine of Don Pedrito might be dis-appointed to find it is a simple, tin-roofed shed. Inside,however, are a myriad of candles lit ..r gratitude or inpetition. There are crutches affixed to the wall andtucked beneath the beams of the ceiling. And eery-where there are drawings handmade thank you cards

and other items left behind to link the believer withthe healer. Divers' licenses, because they carry thebeliever's photograph, are thought to be especially potentwhen asking Don Pedrito for help. In truth, very little ofthe original wall space at the Falfurrias shrine can beseen because of these items.

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And, of course, almost at any hour of the day, some-one will be there, kneeling in prayer.

The land upon which the shrine is built was known,in Don Pedrito's lifetime, as Los Olmos The Elms.There were occasions when the surrounding country-side was thronged with those seeking the healer's aid.In addition, each mail brought hundreds of petitionsfrom those unable to make the trip in person. At onepoint, postal authorities suspecteci Don Pedrito of somesort of fraud, because the outgoing replies were far inexcess of the number expected, using the stamps soldat the small rural post office as a guide. The postalinvestigators were appeased when they learned thatmost of the people who wrote enclosed stamps to insurea reply.

The definitive biographical details come from RuthDodson, who collected lore about I' on Pedrito over agreat many years and who published it, first in Spanishand later, as The Healer of Los Olmos, in English, 'nderthe sponsorship of Southern Methodist University andthe Thxas Folklore Society. What follows is a condensedversion of Pedro Jaramillo's life and miracles.

Don Pedrito's given name was Pedro Jaramillo andthis is what his tombstone reads. Pedrito is a diminu-tive of Pedro, and Don is a title of respect. Interestingly,curanderos often refer to their ability to heal as a don,which means 'gift' in Spanish.

Don Pedrito was born in 1829 in Mexico. Nothing isknown of his childhood, but he was either a shepherdor a laborer, in any case, he was poor.

Don Pedrito is said to have asked God to heal hismother, pledging that, if his mother were not healed, hewould leave Mexico. Thus, when his mother died, DonPedrito crossed the border into Thxas.

This was 1881, which would make him 52 years oldwhen he came to Falfurrias. Another item of note is

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that Don Pedrito is said to have known the area, havingonce come that way to deliver alcoholic beverages to oneof the ranches.

Don Pedrito is said to have learned of his healinggift when he suffered a fall from a horse (even later inhis life, he was said to have been, at best, a mediocrehorseman). In the fall, he injured his nose. The pain, inthe days that followed, was excruciating. Then some-thing led him to a nearby wallow where he, for no rea-son he could name, dabbea mud all over the injuredspot. This assuaged the pain and he was able to sleep.During that sleep, Don Pedrito said that God spoke tohim, telling him to spend the rest of his life healing thesick and injured. From that day forward, this is whatDon Pedrito did.

Many of his cures, like the one that he applied tohimself, involved bathing. Mud earth and waterdid not cost his patients a cent. Other of his curesinvolved simple ritual: drinking a glass of water, forinstance, for a prescribed number of days usuallythree or nine, the so-called mystical numbers.

It is said that, in addition to his ability to heal, DonPedrito had psychic powers. Many of the legends abouthim note his uncanny ability to detect the unbelievers.Still other of the stories demonstrate that he could "readminds." On more than one occasion, particularly whensomeone who had suffered a susto came to him, he wasable to pinpoint the traumatic event the person hadundergone.

Some of the tales reveal Don Pedrito's sense ofhumor. One involves a woman with migraine headacheswho sent a surrogate to seek a cure. The remedy thatDon Pedrito prescribed was this: that the woman cuther head off and feed it to the hogs. The woman was soangry when the substitute she'd sent came home andtold her this that she sputtered and fumed and neversuffered another headache as long as she lived!

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There are patients of Don Pedrito's who were reluc-tant to tell of the cures he'd prescribed. There are otherswho reported that he asked his patients to do whatseemed bizarre: one woman was to dip her head in abucket of water before retiring, and then, in the morn-ing, put half a can of tomatoes into each shoe! Indeed,there are even cures requiring that his patients con-sume large amounts of alcohol!

The thread common to all and perhaps it is mostvisible in those cures that seem especially odd is thatthe faith of the supplicant was thus tested. Some expertsfeel, then, that the very belief played a large role in thehealing.

Surely this is true even in formal medicine. Butwhat would those experts conclude in some of the casesinvolving animals? For instance, Dodson reports thiscure:

"A man had a very fine horse that got sick. DonPedrito told the man to tie the horse to a chinaberrytree at twelve o'clock sharp, and at one o'clock sharp totake him away from the tree. With this the horse wouldget well and the chinaberry tree would die."

This is said to have worked!

One story that I especially like is about a man whodrank water so quickly he had failed to notice a grass-burr in it. This, he swallowed, and it stuck on the waydown. A medical doctor told him only an operation couldremove it, and so the man continued to suffer until hewent to Don Pedrito. Don Pedrito's remedy was, as wereall the things that he prescribed, utterly simple: theman should drink all the saltwater that he could. Theman did so, became nauseated, and vomited up theburr, which the story says had by this timesprouted two little leaves.

Although many of these stories seem written to

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amuse us, they are documented and presumably trueaccounts.

Don Pedrito, like other curanderos, did not takemoney for his services. What he did accept, he used tofeed the pilgrims who came to Los Olmos, and to financehis travels to heal those who could not make the trip.

During a drought which struck South Ryas in1893and which lasted for many years, Don Pedrito is said tohave fed enormous numbers of people. Wher the stateof Thxas sent food, Don Pedrito was selected -o distrib-ute it.

Rumor holds that someone he cured gave DonPedrito his own son in gratitude. This has never beensubstantiated, but Don Pedrito, who never married andwho never sired a son of his own, did adopt SeverianoBarrera, who is now considered his descendant.

Don Pedrito died in 1907. His tombstone calls him"The Benefactor of Humanity," which, indeed, he was.He had asked that his grave be opened after three days,but, inexplicably, this was not done.

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Niiio Fidencio

Nino Fidencio's healing powers might not have cometo the attention of all of Mexico had he not cured thedaughter of Plutarco Elias Canes, then the president ofthat country. From that time forth, El Nitio's famethough he never ventured out of the small and dustytown of Espinazo was assured.

Nino Fidencio had been born in Guanajuato. Hecame to Espinazo in 1925 at the bidding of a friend. It issaid he was a sort of tutor, but, in legend, anyway, hehad been performing cures since the age of eight!

El Nino was born in 1898. He was forty when hedied in 1938. Nonetheless, stories persist that he wasthirty-three at his death one of many conscious effortsto link Fidencio's life with the life of Jesus Christ ofNazareth.

El Nino had, for example, twelve disciples. He wouldoften go to a nearby mountain to meditate some-thing that compares, some say, to Christ in the Gardenof Gethsemane. In any case, this sort of parallel is veryoften drawn.

Nino Fidencio is remembered as a childlike, happyman. Indeed, for the hoards of sick and injured whocame to him, he often prescribed laughter, food, andmerriment. When anyone gave him gifts and the Presi-dent of Mexico seemed to with great frequency ElNino used the occasion to share, thus lightening theotherwise gloomy existence of many of the pilgrims.There are stories that say that El Nifio Fidencio hiredmusicians so that everyone even arthritics and crip-ples might dance. The same stories swear that every-one did just that!

Just as with Don Pedrito Jaramillo, therf;, are hu-morous accounts of some of El Nino's cures. For in-

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stance, he is said to have cured a mute by making himstand in front of a swing. El Ni;;o rocked in the swingand bumped into the man often enough to make himangry. The man, furious, found the voice that had eludedhim for several years. Similarly, El Nino is said to havetricked a paralytic into standing by tossing swee mistout of her range had she continued to sit.

But there are other cures. too cures sufficient toinspire some 30,000 or more to trek to Espinazo twice ayear (in March and in October, the anniversaries of hisbirth and death) to pay homage to the famous curan-dero. And those who come do so from all over the UnitedStates and Mexico. Some come year after year. Usuallythey are those who come in gratitude for a miraculousresponse to their prayers.

There is something special, however, somethingquite particular about the way El Nino, as opposed toother curanderos, is praised, beseeched, or honored.

Those who are his followers the Fidencistas whodress In white shirts and red kerchiefs are said toassume his very spirit. They are called "boxes" or cajonesand are thought, for the duration of their trance, actu-ally to become El Nino.

Indeed, this has been observed by sociologists, whooften make the pilgrimage as well. It is said that themost striking difference in those assuming El Nino'sspirit is a softening for El Nino is said to have beenvery gentle, very benign. The number of Fidencistascontinues to grow, and there are shrines to Nino Fiden-cio, as mentioned in the introduction to this book, evenin Northern cities throughout the United States.

Not everyone who goes to Es;.)inazo is a FidenLista,capable of this psychic feat. Most are simple folk whomEl Nino has cured, or those who are hoping for a cure.In Espinazo, proofs of some of Nino Fidencio's curesabound, too:

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At his tomb, for instance, there are tumors he is said tohave removed on display in formaldehyde-filled jars.

The people who wish to petition him arrive by car,on foot, or by rail to throng the narrow, unpaved streets.The first thing that they do, however, is circle the Pirultree at the base of the hill three times. It is this treeunder which El Nirio often sat. The tree has been namedEl Pirulito and it has even been assigned its owncaretaker!

Next, the people walk uphill to El Nirio's burial site.

The road they walk is El Camino de Penitencia orThe Road of Penance, and many of them interpret thatliterally, crawling, or walking on their knees the wholeway.

Some locales choose to honor El Nino by sending,not just a few folk, but a mision, a contingent of follow-ers often costumed and bearing musical instruments.These go uphill in a more festive fashion than do thoseseeking to atone. Other groups, however, mirror the cru-cifixion of Christ, carrying long wooden crosses up thesteep and dusty road.

Many choose to climb into a muddy trough at thetop or the hill. It is here, at El Charquito, that El Nino issaid to have bathed lepers.

Elsewhere throughout the town is a carnival-likeatmosphere. There are stalls with all sot is of native foodas well as remembrances of the pilgrimage and El Ninofor sale. There are medals bearing his image alongsidethose of established saints who are recognized by theCatholic Church. It is this that leads many to call ElNitio, as they call Don Pedrito, a "folk saint.' One veryunusual religious image that appears rather often isNino Fidencio's face superimposed upon the face of OurLady of Guadalupe.

To be sure, Ni lio Fidencio is the most revered faith

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healer in the history of Mexico. He is often called "thecurandero of curanderos." His believers paint a strikingvisual image of the man, who walked barefoot, wore awhite tunic, and is said to have cured madmen as wellas _hose with more conventional ills.

His death Is shrouded in rumor and mystery. Somesay his throat was slit while he was in a trance; others,that he died of exhaustion. 1 he latter makes some senseas El Nino is said to have slept but three hours eachnight, so busy was he healing those in need. He alsofasted regularly. When he did eat, he preferred fruitsand vegetables to meat.

But biographical details of El Nino's life are noteasy to come by. Most have been changed a bit, toenhance the legend. Citing the age of his death as 33,for instance, is but one example.

But on one point all of the stories agree: that NinoFidencio tirelessly dedicated himself to others.

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frresita

The life of Teresa Urrea, as documented by WilliamCurry Holden, who researched the subject for sometwenty years, reads like a movie script. Hers can bepresented here more fully than the lives of the othercuranderos precisely because of Holden's fine research.

leresita was born in Mexico in 1873, the illegiti-mate daughter of a fourteen year old Indian peasantgirl and a dashing but philandering member of thearistocracy. She lived for a while in a dirt-floored villagehut, but evidently hankered after something more. Leg-end says she confronted her father demanding her right-ful place, but she, herself, in an interview, said that herfather sent for her when she was sixteen years old.

Her father, Don Tomas Urrea, on this and otheroccasions, was evidently impressed by the girl's spirit.She did indeed go to live with him at Casa Grande. Heacknowledged her as his daughter forevermax.

The family lived on an enormous ranch at Cabora,and leresita quickly apprenticed herself in an informalway to Huila, the woman who distributed herbs andmended bones. Soon the old curandera realized thatleresita had powers that exceeded her own.

Hypnosis appeared to be one. On two occasions,leresita, assisting Huila, was able to calm patients and,indeed, relieve them of their pain with her eyes alone.Huila is said to have reported her charge's gift to DonTomas.

Prophecy was another of leresita's powers. The firstreported episode occurred when she was riding with afriend, Apolonaria. The twc, girls then about sixteenyears old passed a dashing young stranger. leresitastartled Apolonaria by saying she had just met her

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future husband. What is more, she predicted Apolon-aria's wedding day, more than two years hence!

A man who became enamored of Thresita attemptedto rape her after she rebuffed him. Thresita was trauma-tized by the attack and began to have seizures. Oneresulted in a coma and, indeed, it seemed that Teresitehad withdrawn into death.

She was dressed for burial, and her hands werebound across her breasts. Candles were lit. A coffin wasbuilt. The mourners gathered.

But suddenly Teresita sat upright, puzzled by thefuneral preparations.

Three days later, however, Huila died. She was bur-ied in the coffin that had been built for her belovedTeresita.

lbresita, from that day forth, assumed Huila's roleas healer. In addition to preparing herbs and settingbones, however, she added her own aforementioned psy-chic feats.

leresita's reputation grew, and soon La Casa Grandewas overrun with those seeking her ak.. Some of theoccasions which were documented are dramatic indeed.

One man, carrying his paralyzed wife, was astound-ed to hear his name. "Fortunato Avendano, bring yourwife to me," the voice called. Then it demanded that away be cleared for the man. It was lbresita's voice, ofcourse, and she claimed to have known the pair wouldcome.

After Teresita enabled Mariana, the wife, to walkmost say through a combination of hypnosis and mas-sage the couple pledged undying devotion. Indeed,they remained from that day forward in Teresita'semploy.

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But the hoards of people tramping through Cabora,most of whom needed to be fed, enraged Don ibmas. Heis said, after one particularly weighty confrontation withhis daughter, to have come into her bedroom with agun. He found he could not shoot, and from then on, hedid not argue.

Instead, he built separate quarters for his daughter,so that she could hold audiences with her followerswithout disturbing him or his holdings.

Not too long afterward, a reporter went to Cabora.His description of Thn..-sita was: "Loveliness rather thanbeauty. What she has transcends beauty. It is some-thing that projects. Projects and disarms .. A warmth,a glow, eagerness and sincerity, a magnetism. Eyes thatinspire confidence and faith, that probe and hypnotize.An arresting and remarkable woman. With the uncon-scious talent of a great actress, she establishes a spell-binding rapport with her audience. It is clear whybelievers find her irresistible. She tells them to walkand they walk. But for all her saintliness and good works,she is still a woman ..."

The reporter was soon to witness the first of manyincidents that would lead him to believe with the othersin Teresita's powers.

Meanwhile, under the dictatorship of Porfirio Diaz,Mexico, as Holden puts it, "became the safest place onearth for everyone except the unfortunate Mexicans andIndians."

Diaz made an agreement with the Roman CatholicChurch in exchange for its support wherein he wouldnot confiscate church property to reward his men. Thismeant the communal holdings of the Indians would betaken instead.

Tbresita was a favorite among the Yaquis, who sawher as an oracle and who came to Cabora in greatnumbers. The Yaquis told her about Diaz' policy of con-

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fiscating their lands and asked for her advice. She toldthem, as she was later to tell the Mayo (not Mayan, whoare a wholly different tribe) Indians who sought hercounsel, to be patient and tolerant.

The Mestizos who inhabited Tomochic becamedevoted to her, too. In fact their leader, Cruz Chavez,began a lengthy correspondence with Tetesita. ButChavez' devotion to Teresita went too far. Images ofRresita, for instance, were placed within the Tomochicchurch and the people prayed to these. Indeed, Chavezwrote an entire liturgy to accomodate the "living saint."

This was enough to enflame a Catholic pr test, FatherManuel Gustelum, to speak out against her from theibmochic pulpit. The priest was stunned to hear himselfcontradicted immediately following his denounciationby none other than Cruz Chavez. The priest immedi-ately reported the people of ibmochic to the government,saying they were in a state of rebellion.

This same priest had once crudely ordered thatTeresita in her trance state be tested. What he'd donewas approach two nuns, extracting a hatpin from theheadpiece of one, and asking that she use it to piercethe flesh of Rresita's leg. If she were indeed in a trance,the priest reasoned, she would not be injured, and, ifnot, it would be better that the fraud be exposed. Underorders, the nuns went to T-resita's bedside and did whatthe priest had described. The pin went in ane side ofThresita's calf and out the other without bleeding ana,evidently, without inflicting pain since Teresita didn'tstir from her trance state.

When she finally awakened of her own accord, sheplucked the pin from her leg as if it were a minor irri-tant and told them to take it back to their priest.

It was this priest, then, who now had denouncedthe villagers who so idolized "Li. anta de Cabora," theirliving saint.

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Meanwhile, two other events had taken place. Oneoccurred when the governor of the state of Chihuahuasent an envoy to remove two paintings probably byMurillo from the little village and hang, in their stead,two mediocre paintings. The men of ibmochic, led byCruz Chavez, stopped the envoy and delivered a mes-sage to the governor on honesty.

This did not predispose the governor to ignoreFather GustelUm's claim now

Simultaneously with GustelUm's complaint cameword that a caravan of expensive merchandise had gonearound Tomochic for reasons of safety.

When President Porfirio Diaz heard all of this, hewas quick to conclude that the men of Tomochic wereindeed in revolt. He sent troops.

Cruz Chavez and his men heard this and went toCabora to consult leresita. When Diaz learned this, heordered Chavez and his men apprehended, and lbresitaplaced under surveillance.

Government troops, led by a Captain Enrique,stormed Cabora. But Earique was a friend of Donlbmas. The two men spoke, and Enrique told Don lbmashe had orders to arrest Thresita. Don lomas and hissons swore they'd give their lives in her defense. Enriquesaid he would withdraw his men while Don Tomasthought this over, and did so, giving Don lbmas andhis daughter a chance to escape.

They rode to a government enclave and gave them-selves up to a general whom, Don lbmas felt, wouldproffer justice.

Meanwhile, at Cabora, Enrique went in search ofthe approaching Cruz Chavez band, only to be slaugh-tered by them.

The general to whom Don Tomas and Thresita had

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turned themselves in ushered them back to Cabora,but, learning of Enrique's death, amassed several hun-dred men to quash Cruz Chavez.

Meanwhile, more events occurred to convince Diazthat Thresita was behind a movement toward revolution.Mayo Indians, for example, attacked a place Navojoaconvinced that "La Santa de Cabora" would protectthem. These attacks included chants to the living saint.When Mayos began converging on Cabora, the govern-ment became convinced that Thresita who was thenbut nineteen years old! was directing the revolt.

In fact, there is some humor in the scene. A contin-gent of five hundred soldiers got to Cabora oefore therumored influx of Mayos. Five hundred armed men con-fronting a nineteen year old girl!

But Diaz was not amused. He called Thresita a dan-gerous agitator and ordered her exiled. Thus she andher father were transported, under guard, to Nogales,Arizona

Thresita's beauty was such that the commander incharge of escorting her out of the country left his horseto the keeping of a friend and took the carriage seatbeside his charge. He proposed marriage, then, rebuffed,suggested that they have a mere liaison. Thresita toldDon lbmas, who threatened the man. This soldier didnot complete the journey, but entrusted the transportto his next in command!

Arizona welcomed Teresita and she began curing ahundred patients a day.

Meanwhile, the Mexican government decided it hadlost control of her movements by sending her out of thecountry, They wanted Thresita back.

After two kidnap attempts were made, Don lbmasmoved with Thr f!sita away from the Mexican border andinto the interior of Arizona

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In Mexico, Cruz Chavez was still honoring lbresita,and, indeed, was fighting the federal soldiers under abanner made by the Tomochic women hearing the leg-end "La Santa de Cabora." The government brutallyslaughtered Cruz Chavez and every male over the age ofthirteen at ibmochic. President Diaz blamed the needfor this hideous government action on lbresita.

In Arizona, a pro-revolution newspaper editor whohad been exiled with leresita and her father tried unsuc-cessfully to have lbresita endorse his cause. He decidedto link her to his movement anyway, thus further con-vincing Diaz of her guilt. What he did was print a photo-graph of Thresita with her name and the words LaEspiritu de Tomochic beneath it.

Her enemies needed little more, but more was tofollow nonetheless. Though lbresita moved to El Pasoand was healing 200 patients a day, bands of revolution-aries continued to attack the government of Mexico inher name. In one organized attack from New Mexico,Arizona, and Texas, the rebels called themselves Teres-istas. And most who were killed were found to be wear-ing the photograph captioned without her knowledgeover their hearts.

Attempts were made on Teresita's life, either byagents of the government of Mexico or the fanatic fol-lowers of Father Gustelum. Don Tomas had her movedto Clifton, Arizona.

This was, evidently, an idyllic time. Visitors camefrom as far away as Mexico City and New York City.Patients, however, were few. Thus Ibresita resumed herold gaiety, playing the marimbas and guitar, and singing.

In 1899, at the age of twenty-seven, she fell in love.

An odd version of the shotgun wedding ensued.Don Tomas refused Guadalupe Rodriguez lbresita'shand, and Lupe, as he was caled, hoisted a carbine anddemanded it! lbresita went to Lupe's side and did marry

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him, though the marriage was never consu mated. Thecouple spent the entire night at a party, and the follow-ing day, Lupe told Thresita to follow him, though hestayed far ahead. She did follow, and he turned, pulled agun, and tried to shoot her something she had, yearsearlier, predicted.

Lupe was jailed and judged insane, though later itwas suspected that he was in the employ of Diaz, hiredeither to lure Thresita back to Mexico or prove that shewas dead.

Meanwhile, so much of a rift had occured betweenDon Tomas and lbresita over her marriage that shethought it best to leave. She went to California, ostensi-bly to cure the child of a relative. She was never to seeher father again.

In San Francisco, lbresita's cures amazed the popu-lace and brought her large-scale publicity. In the wakeof this, a medical company signed her to a contract andsent her on tour. In St. Louis, she found her lack ofEnglish handicapped her, and sent a plea for assistanceto a friend back home.

The friend's bilingual son, John Van Order, thennineteen, joined Thresita in St. Louis to act as interpre-ter. Soon word came to Arizona that the pair were"married" impossible since, legally, 'lbresita was thewife of Lupe. Interestingly, when descendants or otherswho had known lbresita were asked about her saint-hood, they always disputed it, claiming she had beenmarried. Pus author Holden points out, virginity was ncdemanded of male saints!

In any case, during this period, lbresita and Johneven lived in an apartment in New York City (BO East28th Street). In 1902, their daughter, Laura, was born.That same year, lbresita learned of the death of DonTomas.

Though John and Thresita seemed less close with

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each passing day, in 1904, they had another child, a girlagain. Christened Magdalena, the child was born inClifton, Arizona, where Teresita, no longer touring forthe medical company, had returned.

She seemed reduced, diminished. Her healingpowers no longer seemed spectacular, and she, herself,was weak. She developed "lung trouble, and even hadto stop seeing patients because of its contagion.

Before she died, she sought out her long lost mother,Cayetana, the Indian peasant who had bourn her at theage of fourteen. This reunion occurred just days beforeTeresita's death in1906. She was buried in Clifton nextto Don Thomas.

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Modern Curanderos

This book has emphasized the rituals of curander-ismo and the folk ailments they can cure. It should notbe forgotten, however, that this is a d:storted emphasis.Curanderos can, and usually do, treat organic ailmentssuch as migraine, flu, even cancer. In fact, many of thefolk ailments mentioned here can be treated by a famil:member. It is common to call in a curandero if the ail-ment persists or if it is a particularly severe case.

It is by virtue of this that an El Proyecto Compren-(lc:. wript, is able to refer to the practice of curanderismoas "an optional health care system." The description ofthe curandero, as it appears there, is worth quoting,summarizing, as it does, the reasons fo. the markedefficacy of curanderismo:

"The strength of the curandero's success lies in theestablishment of a personal relationship with his patient.He shares with his patient the same culture, language,and many of the same health beliefs and practices. ManyMexican-American families have a long-standing rela-tior. with one particular curandero. much the same asthey might have with a family physician. A curanderomay be compared to a small town physician: he serves arelatively small number of patients, he knows the fami-lies intimately, and therefore is well-prepared to treathis patient's physical, psychological, and spiritualneeds."

And, as Prof. Robert Trotter from Pan American Uni-versity pointed out in an interview with the CorpusChristi Caller Times, the modern curandero is not byany means uncivilized or barbaric. "People try to makecuranderos different," Trotter said. "They equate themwith what can be found in New Guinea. But curanderosare a part of an urban, industrialized society. They watchtelevision, they know about Anacin and Bufferin andthe modern health care system. They're not primitive."

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:till, even a factual and pro-curanderismo article,quoted out of context, can make the practices soundvent peculiar indeed. The followin, is from JenniferBolch, writing in the Dallas 71 rtes Herald:

"... without a thought for the professors and physi-cians who write them off as superstitious, these simple,humble men and women go right on lighting candles,saying prayers, sweeping people with eggs and incenseand lemons, anointing them with specially preparedoils and waters, brewing up herb teas, invoking spirits.Healing. Healing bodies, minds and spirits, tummy achesand terrors."

In capsule fo, .n, the practice of curanderiir:o can-not be adequately portrayed.

Prof. Robert Trotter is wise to enjoin us not to for-get that the contemporary curandero is no stranger tothe so-called miracle drugs and methods of modernscience. "In Mexico," Trotter says, "curanderos prescribeantibiotics as well as to de manzanilla (chamomile tea)because such medicine is sold acrcss the counter therewithout a necessary doctor's prescription. Here in theUnited States, the curanderos are restricted with whatthey can tell the patient to take. They know the value ofpenicillin, so they also know when it's time to refertheir patients to a medical doctor."

Methods differ; time alters some practices (forexample, aerosol sprays are sometimes substituted forincense). On the other hand, consider the striking simi-larity between Teresita's mode of healing as she ex-plained it in a 1900 San Francisco Examiner interviewwith Helen Dare, and that of a modern curandero or forthat matter, a contemporary holistic practitioner:

'When I cure with my hands I do like this,' and shetook my hands in hers hands of singular slendernessand fineness, cool, smooth, supple, firm, delicately made,charming to the toach and placed her thumbs againstmine, holding with a close nervous grasp.

'Sometimes,' she said, 'I rub, sometimes I give alsomedicines or lotions that I make from herbs I gather. Ipray, too, not with the lips, but I lift up my spirit to Godfor help to do His will on earth.

That Thresita's method would be soothing cannotbe denied. One can almost feel her touch, hear her voice,as one reads! Conversely, Don Pedrito would give pre-scriptions or recetas a method much more similar tocontemporary medical practice. One such and it canbe considered typical was:

"Don Feliciano, in the name of God, your wife andyour mother should each take a cup of cold water forseven nights at bedtime."

Most of Don Pedrito's cures were transmitted thisway, perhaps because so many of his clients approachedhim through messengers or by using the mail.

Is curanderismo legal? In Mexico, of course, thereis no problem, and this is why in border towns, wherepatients can cross the border at will, curanderismo isso strong. Even a famous healer like Don Pedrito,however, had difficulties with the law. This occurred inSan Antonio, where Don Pedrito drew quite a crowdand therefore the attention of police. When they foundhe charged nothing for his services, they stopped harass-ing him.

Most curanderos can work openly and freely today.An article in the San Antonio Light explained, "In Texas,curanderos operate with the tacit approval of the Catho-lic Church, whose religious symbolism the healers oftenappropriate, and of the State Board of Medical Examin-ers. (The board focuses on licensing doctors and investi-gating complaints against individual MDs and otherproviders of health care. So far, no complaints have beenfiled against curanderos.)" This observation by report-ers Patrick Boulay and Allan Turner was made in 1981.

Just as Teresita and Don Pedrito both curing

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during roughly the same time period were markedlydifferent, so are curanderos today. A recent televisionpresentation by KPRC-TV News in Houston made thisvery clear. Maria, for example, a young curandera men-tioned earlier in this book, wore no special garb. Sheused, if you remember, plants to absorb the patient'snegative forces. And, contrad4cting what is usually thecase, Maria charged a set fee. Her male counterpart onthe television program, however, was a man perhaps inhis st,:ties. He wore satin robes and a peaked satin capof the sort one might associate with wizardry. He used asword, too, and threatened the evil from the body of thewoman who had come to him as a patient.

Not surprisingly, the patient with whom he wasshown was an older woman. Again, not surprisingly,many of Maria's patients were young professionals, anda number were Anglo that is, not Mexican-Americans.

There are even Anglo healers who have been award-ed the title of curandera. Jewel Babb is one particularlywell known, in part because of the publicity generatedby Pat Ellis Taylor's book, Border Healing Woman.

Jewel Babb's story is not unlike that of many otherfolk healers: It wasn't, for example, until relatively latein her life that Jewel Babb discovered she had the abil-ity to heal. Once she did, she set about doing it full time.She lives in what we would call poverty, charging noth-ing for her services. For the most part. she uses a combi-nation of baths and massage. She sometimes talks abouthealing with the mind," which Taylor says Mrs. Babb

"visualizes as radiating from the palms of her handswhen she raises them in the air, pointed in the direc-tion of the patient."

There are many even Mexicans and Mexican-Americans who refer to Jewel Babb as a curandera.She, Taylor says, "satisfies the more specific expecta-tions of her Mexican clientele, while at the same timeproviding a model for folk healing to which the Anglocounterculture can relate." In fact, 'Paylor sees Jewel Babb

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as "a true representative of a border culture which hasprovided a climate for bringing traditions together." Per-haps this is so because Jewel Babb's is, as Taylor soaptly summarizes, "a healing method which will treatthe whole person."

This is the important thing to keep in mind aboutcuranderismo. It does not isolate, as modern sciencetends to; rather, it embraces. And, like an embrace, itshelters and it warms.

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Further Reading

There isn't a great deal of material available aboutcuranderismo, and some of it may be difficult to find.I've made a list of some of the books thot have appealedto me as well as those I've quoted at various places inthis text. ,,t are nonfiction, but there are a few novelswhich have sce ies or plots involving curandetsmo andwhich ought to be mentioned. One such is Caldo Largoby Earl Thompson (Signet New American Library, 1976).This well-written, hard-hitting adventure story is set inthe ports of South '!texas and Mexico. It is still in printin paperback. Another, though lesser known novel isBless Me, Ultima by Rudolfo A Anaya, w!nnrr or theSecond Annual Premio Qint° Sol National Chicanoliterary award. It is available in paper from lbnatiuhInternational Inc., 2150 Shattuck Avenue, Berkeley Cali-fornia 94704.

You might also wish to consult my first book. GreenMedicine: Raditional Mexican-American Herbal Rem-edies. It is an easy-to-read list of nearly a hundred ofthe most commonly used medicinal herbs. It is available-rom Nieves Press, Box 2205, Kingsville, TX 78363.

Others, in no particular order, are:

Cooking and Curing With Mexican Herbs byDolores L. Latorre (Encino Press, 1977): This text, basedon research done in Mexico, mentions quite a few folkills that are ignored elsewhere. It is also an excellentand handsomely put together cookbook.

Curandt..ismo: Mexican American Folk Psychia-try by Ari Kiev (Tne Free Press, 1968): Kiev examinescuranderismo from the point of view of a psychiatrist.In fact, he relates many of the folk illnesses to psychiat-r,c disorders. He is very good at analyzing the waycuranderismo works and why.

Curanderismo by Robert T. Trotter and Juan An-tonio Chavira (University of Georgia Press, 1981). Thisbook was done as part of a grant given to acquainthealth care professionals in regions with a high Mexi-can-American p. pulation with practices of curander-ismo. It shows the way the traditional folk methodscomplement their formal counterparts. Its descriptionsof the rituals are particularly good.

Stories That Must Not Die by Juan Sauvageau(Oasis Press, 1975-6): These four volumes recount sto-ries and legends collected by Sauvageau and his stu-dents from the South Texas and Rio Grande Valley areas.They are presented in both English and Spanish, sideby side, and each tale is followed by questions to aiddiscussion. In this way, they are effective classroombooks as well as just plain interesting reading.

Discovering Folklore Through Community Re-sources, edited by Magdalena bmavides Sumpter waspublished in 1978 by the Development and AssessmentCenter for Bilingual Education in Austin, Texas. It is anelementary school text put together "in order to redis-cover and preserve a part of the culture of the Mexican-American as it relates to folkloric tradition. It is ex-tremely simplified, of course, and valuable particularlyto the parent who wishes to introduce his children tocuranderismo and its practices.

The Healer of Los Olmos and Other Mexican Lore,edited by Wilson M. Hudson (Southern Methodist Uni-versity Press, 1975). This is one of the marvelous bookspublished by the Texas Folklore Society. The sectionwhich deals with Don Pedrito Jaramillo is the mostfamous and it was compiled by Ruth Dodson, who"decided to collcct and write down the stories the peo-ple told about this man." It is a valuable resource andeven contains photographs of Don Pedrito.

Teresita by William Curry Holden (Stemmer House,1978): In novelistic fashion, Holden pieces together 'Indmakes intensely dramatic the story of Teresa Urrea, a

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Mexican curandera and psychic. Holden researched thissubject for more than 20 years.

Border Healing Woman by Pat Ellis Taylor (Univer-sity of lexas Press, 1981). A very feeling collection ofinterviews with Jewel Babb, an Anglo healer whom somesay has earned the title of curandera. Taylor, whoseappreciation of Jewel Babb shines thr')ugh on everypage, is the perfect counterpoint to her subject.

Arigo: Surgeon of the Rusty Knife by John G. Fuller(Crowell, 1974): I mention this book only because it issuch a fascinating case, relaying as it does the story of asimple Brazilian peasant who. in a trance state, took onthe spirit and the abilities of a German doctor andwho performed incredible teats of healing. The wordcurandero when used in Brazil, interestingly, is a pejo-rative term, always, the author says, connoting witch-craft.

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Afterword

It is my hope that this book and its companionvolume, Green Medicine: iluditional Mexican-Ameri-can Herbal Remedies, will give you a good and accu-rate picture of the compelling beliefs and practices ofcuranderismo. All too often, people outside the Mexican-American culture are unaware of either the proven medi-cal value of many of the practices or the rich historicalroots from which they derive.

Furthermore, they know very little about the famouscuranderos I have cited here: Don Pedrito, Nif lo Fidencio,and leresita, not to mention present-day healers such asJewel Babb. I have attempted to provide sketches of theseremarkable people about whom so little is available.

And in this book, as in Green Medicine, I have pro-vided a list of sources for further reading with my ownnotes about each, should any reader care to delve moredeeply into the subject.

For curanderismo is, indeed, a topic worthy of alifetime of study.

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Designed by Carolyn Banks

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