Rediscovering the Healing Wisdom of Curanderas

Let's talk about it: what our community said

Printed replies from readers on our page-2 conversation.

• “My mom knew the old ways herbs, massages for sprains, and care for dislocations. She was the neighborhood curandera. People would come to her by word of mouth because they trusted her healing hands and knowledge. I grew up around curanderas and Native American medicine elders, learning from their wisdom, traditions, and ways of healing.”

  Ramiro Rodriguez

• “I am not religious. I don't believe in witchcraft or similar things. Yet, when I was little, I suffered a big scare and stopped eating for days. Until the old lady cleansed me with branches. Whatever she did, put me back together. She knew how to coax my parts back in harmony. * Loretta Marin: “My grandma was a curandera. She passed before I could find out more about her life and knowledge.”

  Amparo Collazo

• “I'm a curandera and I also have RA. Herbs are my choice of medicine. I also help those that come to me. “ * Karen DiTrapani: “My grandmother was Sicilian and she did the limpia with the egg and grew herbs”

  May Gambino

• “From infancy until the age 10, I had a curandera Doña Lupe. She was my grandmother's back door neighbor. She was an old woman with very red leathery skin and wore her hair in two trensas. She’d walk around the block to come see me Sundays after church at my grandma's house as I always came back with fever. My grandpa would drive her and my grandma to my parents house when I was home sick from school. They never forgot to bring the net bag of naranjas. I don’t remember being told she passed, but I feel when I stopped needing her I became very much more “in tune”. I always felt a strong connection with her when she’d come see me and at a young age I’d experience things I never told anyone until I became an adult. I wish I knew more about her living family.”

  Marissa Castro

• “My grandma was a curandera and a midwife, I learned a lot from her.”

  Maria Guevara

• “I remember my grandmother Sebastiana practicing this kind of medicine on us * Mimi García-Rodríguez: “Incredible story about the depth of ancestral knowledge and its impact on our lives. “ *”

  Lupe Delgado

• “The local neighborhood Bruja * Maria Montoya: “Curanderismo is alive and well in Northern New Mexico *”

  Vern Turner

• “My mom used all of these healing methods on each of her 10 kids. They worked * Miguel Esteban Báez Reyes: “I'm sure it was far more effective than the current Health System. We'll be soon going back to the widespread use of natural healing to get around the shortcomings of the previous and last administrations. I mean, people are already forced to consult "drugstore doctors" because they simply won't get any attention at public hospitals, ... This info, despite its past time outlook seems to point towards our future. Good call. * George Knight: “There are two types of curanderas, One does Limpias and performs witchcraft, which is not recognized by the Catholic Church. The second is the curandera who heals with herbs and plants. An Herbalist and is recognized by the Catholic Church. I knew a lady who saved my life when I was 8 months old, and got to know her when I was 8 years old. Doctors used to seek her for advice when everything else didn’t work. This was 1951 through 1960. * Ericka Herrera: “I was born knowing. I am blessed to be who I am. * Dora Holguin: “Ancient herbalist and plant based alternative medicinal remedies have been used for centuries before biochemistry took over. * Mota Lilia” My mother used the huevo for the ojo (evil eye)and herbal teas for other issues. Yes, they work. * Delia Torres: “My grandmother did a limp on me as a child and it worked. * Irma Villarreal: “I need a good curandera!”

  Maria Cardenas