Curanderismo and Home Remedies

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Curanderismo and Home Remedies
There are many traditions within the Chicano culture that are carried over from Mexico. Curanderismo and home remedies are among them. These traditions both concern the healing of the body or the mind by sources other than modern medicine. Older people in the community are the ones to teach the younger generations about these forms of healing.
Curanderismo can be translated to folk healing. Curanderismo requires a healer, or a curandera(o), to help a person through the healing process. Curanderos are awake and not in a trance. It is believed that they have a God-given gift for healing. Home remedies are different from curanderismo. It is said that “the roots of curanderismo are many. The Moors, for instance, brought in Arabic elements, which came to the New World via Spain. Some beliefs associated with curanderismo, particularly the insistence that all power to heal comes from God, are Biblical and therefore Judeo-Christian in origin. And, of course, there are powerful Indian – particularly Aztec - influences, too, most often in the herbal remedies that are used. (Torres 6)”
Home remedies are passed down from generation to generation. They are usually beliefs that have been handed down on how to cure small, everyday afflictions, rather than big problems. The cure comes from things around the house, especially foods. These remedies are usually learned by hearsay. People firmly believe that these remedies help to cure the afflictions.
There are many reasons why someone would have a need of a curandero. Some of the most common are mal de ojo, susto, empacho, salar (o estar salado), muína and bilis. Mal de ojo happens when a person admires excessively another. Usually babies are the most susceptible to it. The symptoms of mal de ojo include irritability, fever, headache, vomiting, and drooping eyes. The cure for this ailment is to get the admirer to touch the object of his/her ad...