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While much of postcolonial education focuses on what is lost, it is a form of resistance to identify areas of resistance itself. One such way that religious resistance can be identified is the preservation of curanderismo, a set of practices surrounding sickness and healing, through the precolonial, colonial, and postcolonial eras in Mexican history. Historically, women have played and continue to play a predominant role in this healing practice and are called curanderas.
Note: Despite women’s position at the forefront of curanderismo, men also held this healing role and are called curanderos. However, for the sake of this text, I will refer broadly to these healers as curanderas.
Watch an introduction to the practice of curanderismo.
Watch as two curanderas prepare an altar for ritual.
Temazcal Toci
Curanderismo has been formulated over centuries to what it is today, but the practice has maintained a set of core concepts across time. It combines ancient Mesoamerican cosmology and health, acting as a guideline for determining and treating issues that have supernatural roots; the cosmological aspect is based on “duality and fluidity, with its divinized feminine presences and all-pervasive deity, and its human-divine homologies and reciprocities.” An emphasis is placed on a balance between femininity and masculinity, between good and evil; in this, however, there are absolutes, as androgynous features and fluidity are highly valued. In this gender balance, there is reference to Mother and Father, to Tonacatecuhtli-Tonacacihautl (god and goddess of fertility), and to other pairs of powerful deities. Even in Pre-Colombian times, women’s roles dominated curanderismo and are still leaned on for their specialty in religious health rituals, in some part due to the depiction of goddesses such as Temazcal Toci, the goddess of medicine: “the heart of the earth and our grandmother;… doctors, surgeons, and bleeders venerate her as well as the diviners who foretell the good or bad fortune that children will have according to their birth.” It should be noted that there has not been a specific demographic of women that serve(d) as curanderas, with no criteria based on social origin, age, marital status, or literacy, as noted by one source. Those who were healers ended up in high positions of religious, social, and doctoral power and authority.
There is also a balance and equilibrium to be made between body and universe, described as how “sickness localized in the body cannot be separated in certain form from disorder at a cosmic level.” Pre-colonial Aztec practices note that Tonalli, Ihiyotl, and Teyolia (areas of the body) must be in balance to achieve health. Evil entities and spirits are driven out through curanderismo through a mixture of herbal treatments, prayer or invocation, and other practices. One study formulated eight main tenets of curanderismo based on a historical and contemporary review of the practice and are as follows:
"Tenet #1: Curanderismo teaches clients to heal themselves
Tenet #2: Each Curandera utilizes his or her unique gift
Tenet #3: Curanderas utilize and understand energy
Tenet #4: Curanderas attend to the whole individual
Tenet #5: Curanderas use prayer to get centered for their work
Tenet #6: A Curandera is the instrument between the natural and supernatural
Tenet #7: Curanderas have a gift of intuition
Tenet #8: Curanderas do not charge a fee"
When encountered during colonization by the Spanish both sexism and intolerance for unfamiliar religious rituals led to colonizers steering the practice in new directions. Colonizers, most of whom were missionaries of the Catholic Church, began associating the practice of curanderas to devil-worshipping, and accounts have discussed these women as them each being “a seer, a liar, a healer” and as sorcerers, which has a negative connotation in American and Western European cultures. Eventually, in 1629, a Treatise on the Heathen Superstitions That Today Live among the Indians Native to This New Spain was published, leading to the arrest and punishment of indigenous Mexican women practicing curanderismo. Slowly, the practice incorporated some Christian elements, including invocations referencing Jesus, Mary, and the crucified Christ – a mixing of colonizing and indigenous cultures often referred to as mestizaje.
Still at the forefront of Mexican health practices, it is largely regarded as “a continuation of women’s role in healing [from] before the conquest,” as women in Mexico continue to pass down their skills from generation to generation. The relevance and and weight of curanderismo in Mexican culture has superseded colonial pressures of Western religion, misogyny, and domination to serve as an example of religious resistance through ritual practice led by women.
Interview about Curanderismo with Rodrigo Perez Novelo, Mexican international student at Concordia College
Is curanderismo still a pretty integrated part of the healthcare/healing process? Is it a common practice?
Curanderismo is not part of the healthcare provided by our government. We have a private and public healthcare system. Curanderismo therefore will only be offered privately, and most likely to be practiced in rural areas, low-income parts of metropolitan areas, and/or more predominantly indigenous communities. I personally have always used private healthcare, but I think there is a lot of skepticism and lack of credibility in the Mexico City Metro area and to find a proper traditional curandero that is not a scam. However, the people I know that have used [curanderos] have traveled to the south of Mexico and have interesting experiences. I don't know if I'll try it at some point but it's super interesting.
Have you or your family utilized curanderas/os for healing?
Not me personally, but I know some family members that have tried it or believe in it. [The experience you have] depends on what you want -- curanderos "heal everything". If you are struggling emotionally, you get the energy to cleanse; they do that if you are feeling ill, they use herbs, mushrooms, incense, teas, and other stuff like animal totems that are supposed to help you to overcome whatever is making you feel bad.
What is the biggest distinction between curanderismo and Western medicine?
I think the biggest difference for sure is the technology in use. Something I find fascinating about Curanderos is how healthy and long-lived they are. They consume mostly organic and natural stuff, and they have the habit of being extremely active.
Are there a variety of perspectives on curanderismo within Mexico? Is it widely accepted, or is it accepted more among certain groups of people? If in certain groups, what groups?
It's not widely accepted; it's only accepted in certain communities and groups; predominantly groups that fall in low-income brackets or that are from indigenous decent.
Is it true that curanderas/os don't charge a fee? Are there some who do and some who don't?
It depends, [they do] not in indigenous communities, but they do charge in the cities. I think that developed in cities because they need an income to survive and I don't blame them for that -- at the end they perform a service to the community.
What other information is important or interesting to know?
I think that is really interesting their [curanderos] ability to use natural things to heal the body effectively; of course they're limited to what they have in the environment and that's why it's easier to find [curanderos] in the jungles in southern Mexico.
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