El Nino Fidencio the Mythical Curandero
El Nino Fidencio The Mythical Curandero Throughout the book Curanderismo: Mexican American Folk Healing Trorrer and Chavira make mention of el Niño Fidencio in countless areas of the book. It is mentioned that one of the most important spiritualist movement is based on “the life teaching, and the spirit of a famous young folk healer (now dead) from northern Mexico el Niño Fidencio” (1997:35). Even today el Niño is an important figure in many aspects of the belief system and practice associated with the Curanderismo folk healing. History plays a major role in culture when it comes to establishing religion and medical practices, which in the case of the Mexican Curanderos many times martyrs or perhaps people with supernatural or mythical abilities lay the foundation for the belief system and its practice. Consequently, this allows such people (those with supernatural abilities) to become saints thus becoming an important part of the Catholic faith, which has become syncratic with the traditional folk healing system. What is interesting about el Niño and his legacy, is that he not only serves as an influential figure in the history of Curanderismo but also plays a large role in the spiritual practices and the contemporary culture associated with the Mexican folk healing practices. In a modern society where immigration has promoted syncretism and a separation between those who still live in or near Mexico and those who have moved to other regions causing them to lose many of their traditional beliefs and practices el Niño serves as an icon from the folk saint movement that helps draw a culture and the people back together. One of the things the turned Fidencio into a saint and a man of great power was the vision or hallucination that he had of a bearded man with a halo who came to him under a tree when he was a young man right after he had been run off by the family with which he had been living with this is what he says he was told in his hallucination.
Fidencio,
Fidencio,
Cited: Burbank, J. (1997). Catholics, too, venerate el nino fidencio. National Catholic Reporter, 33(14), 3. Macklin, B. J., & Crumrine, N. R. (1973). Three north mexican folk saint movements. Comparative Studies in Society and History, 15(1), 89-105. Spaulding, G. (1995, January 8). JOURNEY OF THE SPIRIT ; pilgrims by the thousands are drawn to the town where curandero el nino performed his legendary healings. The Houston Chronicle, pp. 8. Trotter, R. T. I., & Chavira, J., Antonio. (1997). Curanderismo: Mexican american folk healing (Second ed.). Athens, Georga: University of Georgia Press.