A curandero (or curandera for a female) is a traditional folk healer or shaman prevalent in Latin America, and especially in Mexico and in Chicano communities in the southwestern United States. They are often respected members of the community, being highly religious and spiritual. Literally translating as "healer" from Spanish, curanderos often use herbs and other natural remedies to cure illnesses, but their primary method of healing is the supernatural. This is because they believe that the cause of many illnesses is evil spirits, the punishment of God, or a curse.

Curanderos treat ailments like espanto (Spanish for "shock"), empacho (Spanish for "surfeit"), susto ("fright"), mal aire (literally, "bad air"), and mal de ojo ("evil eye") with religious rituals, ceremonial cleansing, and prayers. While curanderos are capable of treating these ailments (and do), in reality they seldom treat for these ailments. The reason is that ailments such as empacho are very well known to Mexican and Chicano families. Mexican and Chicano families have at least one member who knows how to treat these ailments.

The remedies of the curanderos are often helpful, but sometimes have negative effects on the health of their patients. For example, a common method of healing mollera caída, a condition in which an infant's fontanelle has sunken, is to hold the infant's feet with its head down and perform a ceremonial ritual. Other remedies are harmless – a common method of treating mal de ojo is to rub an egg over the body of the sick to draw out the evil spirit causing the disease.

These methods of treating health problems often lead to conflict with modern medicine, because doctors reject the curandero's healing as superstitious and worthless. As a result, curanderos have often experienced discrimination and been likened to witches, both by the medical profession and non-hispanic communities. However, because of the importance of the supernatural in traditional Mexican culture, these insults generally lead only to disagreement and rejection of modern medicine by traditionally-minded Mexicans. Other medical doctors, recognizing the benefits of the spiritual and emotional healing offered by curanderos, have begun to work in conjunction with them, supporting their use of rituals and ceremonies in the healing of the sick while insisting that patients receive modern medical attention as well.

Curanderos in Fiction

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Curanderos, probably because of the mystery and intrigue that surrounds them, are frequently included in fictional works:

• "Bless Me, Ultima", by the Chicano author Rudolfo Anaya.
• The life and writing of Miguel Ruiz was also influenced by curanderismo, since his mother was a curandera.
• The original screenplay for the film Viva Zapata! involved a curandera predicting the birth and death of Mexican revolutionary Emiliano Zapata. The original played much more heavily on the supernatural than the chosen script.

References

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• Riding, Alan. Distant Neighbors: A Portrait of the Mexicans. New York: Vintage, 2000.
• Robert T. Trotter II/Trotter II, Robert T., Juan Antonio Chavira/Chavira, Juan Antonio. Curanderismo: Mexican American Folk Healing. University of Georgia Press, Second Edition, October 1997.

Latin American folklore | Mexican Spanish | Traditional medicine | Shamanism