Hispanic Folk Healing

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Hispanic Folk Healing

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Honduras
Belize
Panama
Mexico
Spain
El Salvador
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Objectives

• Review the beliefs of the Mayan Aztec and
  Catholic religions.
• Describe and discuss the core beliefs behind
  Hispanic Folk healing practices
• Identify common rituals and healing practices of
  Hispanic heritage
• Explore the role the Curandero plays in health
  practices of Hispanic people

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Latin (Spanish) Chicano, Puerto Rican, Mexican,
Latino

• Latino population grew 58 percent over the 1990s,
  to 35 million. Latinos now rival African American
  as the nations largest minority group.

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Hispanic American

• Spanish speaking
• 11.9 of the 2000 census
• Fastest growing ethnic population the US
• Birth rate Immigration
• Greatest portion Mexican decent

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Immigration Began in 1690

• Greatest concentration
• Near borders
• Large cities
• Airports, sea ports, land borders

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Foundation Religions

• Mayan, Aztec, Inca

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Beliefs

• Nature base
• Agrarian deities
• Time, space, color
• Earth is center with 7 cosmic directions
• N S E W, center, above and below
• Dualism
• Light vs. Dark
• Good vs. Bad
• Health vs. Illness
• Life vs. Death

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Destiny

• Each person is incarnated or possessed of his
  soul at the moment of birth.
• The placement of the suns, and the gods in
  ascension and the god of light determined a
  persons fate.

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Importance of sacrifice

• Gifts to god
• Food, fruit labor, blood, suffering

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Primary God/Goddesses

• Agricultural, food, transition
• Sun, Rain, corn, fishing, water
• Birth, death, puberty

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Aztec vs. Maya

• Native/indigenous
• Time more important to Maya
• Aztec more religious, metaphysical, more complex,
  more gods, more stories
• Ordering and social organization more important
  to Maya

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Counter Parts

• Personal duplicate
• Often animal
• Harm the counterpart harm the original

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Color DirectionNORTH SOUTH EAST WEST
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Mexican Indian Beliefs

• The universe has fire, the human body has as its
  essence in heat
• The heat of the seed and of the uterus are the
  origin of all life
• The body attracts air so heat can be tempered
  by cold
• Healing occurs with respiration.

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General Rules of Dualism Apply

• Cold disease treated with hot intervention.
• Wet disease treated with dry intervention.

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Birth Is a Hot Event Hot Food Will Cause a Birth
Related Illness

• Birth related illness must be treated with a cold
  intervention
• Penicillin is a hot drug, cannot be used to treat
  a post partum infection
• Chilies cause hot, cause respiration,
  perspiration- healing properties, human essence
  is heat

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Draw Breath with a puckered mouth eating chilies

• Active ingredient Capsaicin, neurotoxin at higher
  doses, draws breath increase air or increase
  heat

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Wholeness and Balance Guide the Treatment

• 2, 4, 6 balanced numbers
• Treatment for even numbered days
• Even number of times

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Vision seeking

• Bloodletting was an important part of healing,
  both as a sacrifice to the gods and a way of
  calling forth the vision serpent, from whose
  mouth ancestors from the other world would appear
  and speak.

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Healing, Diagnosis?

• Material level, collection of negative forces
• Intervention to redirect and diffuse
• Herbs, diet, poultice, no trance necessary
• Spiritual level
• Prayer, penance, trance
• Mental level, rare gift
• Psychological, supernatural level

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Logical Ties to Greek Medicine

•   Due to the exchange of the cooling external air
  and the fiery internal heat causes the moment of
  both respiration and circulation which stimulates
  the absorption and elimination of liquid and
  solid nourishment.

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Health

• Four elements
• Earth, wind, fire, water
• Four humors
• Blood/ hot wet
• Yellow bile/ hot dry
• Mucus, phlegm/ cold wet
• Black bile/ cold dry
• Three energies
• Wind
• Heat
• Cold

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Definition of Health

• Balance in the body
• Result of good luck
• Reward or gift for good behavior

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Illness

• Punishment
• Bad luck
• Someones envy

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Illness Imbalance

• Between hot and cold
• Wet, dry

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Treatment Is Aimed at Returning Balances and
Harmony
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Classification of Foods and Illness Does Not
Translate From Community to Community Therefore
the Need for Local Healers Is Reinforced.
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Healing Starts at Home

• Healing behaviors
• Making promises and keeping them
• Acting moral and helpful
• Pilgrimage to shrines, both restore and protect
• Wearing medals
• Carrying pictures

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Common Folk Diseases

• Table 11-4
• Spector, Pg. 251

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Common Folk Diseases

• Empacho GI Symptoms
• Suesto Anxiety, fright
• Mal ojo Evil eye
• Envidia Jealousy, Envy
• Cures
• Make and keep promises, pray, pilgrimage,
  offering (sacrifice),
• Herbs, massage, return to work, penance service
  (sacrifice)

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Healers, Shamans and Priests

• Central America
• Shamans/Shamana
• Mexico/Latin
• Curendaro(a)
• Partera
• Priests

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Hierarchy of Healers

• Family is the main socialization unit for health
  beliefs.
• Healing is a gift from god.
• Family members first, female mother, grandmother.
• Curandero/Curandera.
• Physician, nurse,midwife.
• God heals with light, it is a gift to the sick.
• Witches heal with sorcery and gain from their
  healing.

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Comparison of Curandero to Allopathic Physician

• Spector Pg. 248

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Common Foods Used for Healing

• Eggs, water, lemons,garlic, purple onions,
  candles, incense,local herbs, chilies
• Ritual cleansing, bathing

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Plants of The Gods

• Euphoric, analgesics
• Opium, coca
• Sedative, Tranquilizers
• Reserpine, Belladonna Atropa (nightshade)
• Hypnotics
• Kava-kava
• Hallucinogens or psychomimetics
• Peyote, marijuana, psilocybin, amanita(soma)

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Modern Indigenous Religion

• Fusion of Native Beliefs and Catholicism

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Creating alters (alteras)

• Protect, restore, near door or facing door

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Making pilgrimages

• Restore, protect
• Redemption of sin

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Religious Images in the Environment for Protection

• Statues
• Amulets
• Shrines

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Crucifix With Immaculate Heart, Our Lady of
Guadalupe
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Milagros

• Symbol of petition
• Images of healed part
• Thanks

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Catholicism scripture based

• Gift of the Spanish invasion
• Monastic, missionaries
• Charismatic element
• Jesus as special
• Guiding Principle Do unto others as you would
  have them do unto you.
• Triune god father, son, holy spirit
• Celebration of the Eucharist (gift)
• Transubstantiation of bread and wine
• Blood offering greatest gift

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Beliefs

• Based on the teachings of Jesus and a group of 12
  followers (apostles)
• Jesus Identified himself as the messiah of the
  Jewish Torah
• Christianity is born with the resurrection of
  Jesus _at_AD33 on Easter morning as documented in
  Four gospels written 40-100 AD
• New Testament

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Catholic traditions

• Baptism with water,
• Circumcision/baptism
• Appointing of Bishops
• Oversight, teaching, apostles, holy, grace filled
  teachers
• Keep the Sabbath Holy
• Celebrate the resurrection (Eucharist)
• Daily Prayer 3,6,9 _at_ hours

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• Jesus Is the Son of God and Mary Is the Mother
  of Jesus Non sexual creation
• Jesus, Mary can both intercede on ones behalf
  with God
• Saints Martyrs or people who lived exemplary
  lives in service to God
• Saints and holy ones can also intercede

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Saints Can Aid Human Activities

• Example of Fusion
• Saint Jude saint of lost causes
• Spell casting?

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Patron saints

• Accountants St. Matthew
• Loneliness St. Rita
• Actors St. Genesius
• Long Life St. Peter
• Adopted Children St Thomas More
• Lost Article St. Anthony
• Amputees St. Anthony
• Lovers St. Raphael
• Animals St. Francis of Assisi

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Saints Bring Luck, Health, Devils Bring Illness

• Treatment must include petitions to the saints
  for appeasement for wrong doing and protection
  from demons.

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God Has Power Over Man

• Can and does heal over time
• Chooses healers, apostles
• His name (saints name) has power
• Saints related to various illnesses pg. 253
• Saint Jude, Lost causes

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Virgin of GuadalupePatroness of the Americas

• First vision, December 12,1531
• "Call me and call my image Santa Maria de
  Guadalupe".
• http//ng.netgate.net/norberto/materdei.html

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Basilica De La Virgin De GuadalupeMexico City,
Mexico
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Death Rituals

• Very special time for the family and the
  community.
• All souls day, spirits are close to this world.
• Dia de Los Muertos, November 1-2.
• Honor the dead with a celebration, they attend.
• http//www.dayofthedead.com
• www.mexconnect.com/mex_/feature/daydeadindex.html
  with multiple links

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Dia de Los Muertos

• Dia de los Muertos, or day of the dead, is a
  celebration that brings unity between life and
  death. It emphasizes death as part of the cycle
  of life. It came into being after the Spanish
  conquered Mexico in 1521.

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• This celebration merges the catholic feast of all
  souls' day with Indian rituals of death. Theses
  ancient traditions, beliefs and superstitions
  are from the pre-Colombian Indian cultures dating
  as far back as 300 B.C.
• Family alter, candles, marigolds, food.

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Movie

• Food for the gods