Preview

Traditionl Healers in Latin America

Powerful Essays
Open Document
Open Document
1475 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Traditionl Healers in Latin America
Introduction
Traditional healers also known as curanderismo are important part of Latin American culture, society and a way of life. Traditional healers have been a part of Latin American culture for thousands of years and even today are considered as important as the traditional health care professionals (Avila, 1999). The services of these healers are used extensively and they are well respected and admired members of the community. Not anyone can be a healer and in order to become one a special talent and extensive training is needed (Avila, 1999). The purpose of this paper is to discuss the role of traditional healers in Latin American culture and to discuss what economic, social and religious reasons traditional healers are still so popular in this day and age in Latin America.
Who Can Be a Traditional Healer?
One of the most interesting aspects of the traditional healers in Latin America is that no everyone can be one. This is a striking contrast with traditional medical professionals where calling has become something secondary and where more people than not go into the medical field not because of genuine desire to help but because it pays well. The story is completely different for the traditional healers as the next generation is carefully hand-picked based on what is called “el don” or a gift (Avila, 1999). This gift cannot be acquired or trained, a person either has it or not. Having gift is not enough though as a new apprentice has to train for a very long time under the practicing traditional healer in order to learn the mastery and the craft of healing (Trotter & Chavira, 1997).
Another interesting distinction between what Latin American traditional healers and regular health care professionals is the core philosophy that underlines their work. Traditional medicine focuses on symptoms and causes, while for the traditional healer the most important core of any problem is spiritual one, as the illness is the essentially an imbalance that has to



References: Avila E (1999). Woman Who Glows in the Dark: A Curandera Reveals Traditional Aztec Secrets of Physical and Spiritual Health. New York: Penguin Putnam. Davidow J (1999). Infusions of Healing: A Treasury of Mexican-American Herbal Remedies. New York: Simon & Schuster. Tafur, M. M., Crowe, T. K., & Torres, E. (2009). A review of curanderismo and healing practices among Mexicans and Mexican Americans. Occupational Therapy International, 16(1), 82-88. Trotter, R. T., & Chavira, J. A. (1997). Curanderismo: Mexican American Folk Healing. University of Georgia Press.

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    Latin American Religions

    • 619 Words
    • 3 Pages

    “Latinos are comprised of a great conglomeration of ethnicities, traditions, and customs, which are traditionally, expressed by a common language (Spanish) and religion (Catholocism). For instance, Latin American values and traditions received a great influence from Catholicism and indigenous beliefs. Similarly, African traditions also permeated the Latin American culture, especially in the Caribbean region. This unique syncretism between Catholicism, and indigenous and African traditions allowed the survival of folk traditions, which led to the creation of several healing approaches,” (www.egochicagoschools.com, 2012).…

    • 619 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    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.…

    • 1922 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Better Essays

    Igbo Healing Practices

    • 1778 Words
    • 8 Pages

    Various healing practices also offer insight on cultures and provide a reason to a person's ideals. A stance…

    • 1778 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Coming from a rural community, it had sheltered me from some of major medical emergencies but also allowed me to observe the hardships that some people face when receiving healthcare is not easily accessible. My medical trip to Nicaragua exemplified this issue even more. There we set-up free local clinics in impoverished areas for people to come and receive a diagnosis for their unknown ailment or simply for a routine checkup that otherwise would not have been accessible to them. Every patient we saw spoke Spanish with only a limited amount being able to speak any English. Suddenly I realized the importance of a physician’s ability to understand a foreign culture and to find a way to communicate with patients who speak a different language. It was here in the rural communities of Nicaragua, thousands of miles away from where I live, that I was a part of practicing medicine the way I had always expected it to be. Seeing the doctors immerse themselves in the native culture and treat patients as fellow humans rather than the diseases they possess, I saw how basic and limited medicine can make such a large difference in one’s…

    • 625 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    The elderly Hmong may not be open to traditional modern medicine. Health care workers should evaluate their approaches and notes to see if they can be more reflexive when working with the Hmong elderly. They should also reflect regularly on how their cultural inquiries are affecting themselves and how they perceive the culture that they are examining. Understand that the Hmong culture has other ways of healing elders through spiritual healers and that they should respect those values. The health care worker should be careful not to generalize the Hmong culture by presuming situations and conditions simply because they are Hmong. Understand that even though their culture is different, there is difference within the…

    • 1054 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Heritage Assesment

    • 1154 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Health maintenance, protection and restoration in a traditional way require the understanding and knowledge of the person’s ethno cultural heritage and health related resources. These methods can be used along with or instead of modern health care techniques and are the integral part of a person’s given heritage.…

    • 1154 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Religious based health also reminds me of the Hispanic culture. They also use Holy water and saint in the faith of curable diseases. In the Hispanic faith saint Jude is the saint of prayer for desperate situations. Candles and long prayer for a period of time would grant them survival and health to love one.…

    • 55 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Native Americans have a different type of healing and different goals of medicine. Native Americans take a more personal, and communal approach to medicine. For example, Native American medicine focuses more on healing the person and the community, while western medicine focuses on curing the disease. Native American healers also ask themselves, “What the disease is trying to teach the patient?”, not “How can the doctor destroy the disease?” Native Americans also look at more aspects, such as the physical, emotional, social, environmental, and spiritual life of the patient (Johnston).…

    • 859 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Spiritual Diversity

    • 1512 Words
    • 7 Pages

    The healthcare industry is comprised of medical providers from diverse backgrounds, nationalities, and faiths. Due to the nature of their profession, these professionals are often faced with caring for patients that are also from diverse backgrounds. This paper will address three of those different faiths and compare their philosophies regarding healing through culturally competent care. It is critical for health care providers to put aside their own religious and cultural beliefs and be sensitive to the needs of their patients. Healthcare providers, “speak a different language filled with medical terminology, and our understanding and beliefs regarding health and illness can differ greatly from the population we serve” (Wintz & Coope, 2009). A healthcare provider can provide culturally competent care by…

    • 1512 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    They used herbal medicines, sweat bath treatments, and massage therapy in promoting childbirth and treating diseases. Women alongside men visited the sweat baths that were mostly associated with women. Women received frequent sweat baths after and before giving birth to ensure a triumphant reproduction. Women, who were healers, evaluated the prognosis and the causes of illness through different kinds of divination. Currently in Mesoamerica, the ideal interpretation of divination needs dialogue between the diviner and the client. The client gives information on his or her subjective affairs and the diviner employs the knowledge interprets the divination into wise responses and helpful advice.4 Therefore, divination may have given the client pieces of advice on inter-household relationships and family affairs and improved the client’s ability to handle these affairs productively. This signifies how women promoted healthcare to…

    • 957 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    As a prospective medical student, I am fully aware about the sociocultural and socioecononomical determinants of health. In Saskatoon, I was exposed to the lower overall health and the decreased availability of health care services for the First Nations community. Furthermore, these limited health care services often undermined traditional native medicine. These experiences will encourage me to inform myself about the medical practices specific to my future patients' cultures. As a medical student, I would like to have the opportunity to give back to underserved populations, especially the Hispanic community, because my background and upbringing will allow me to empathize and respect cultural diversity, both…

    • 598 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    “Over the years the people of Africa have used traditional medicine and traditional knowledge for their survival.” (Tsiko 2006) Traditional African medicine is a holistic discipline involving extensive use of indigenous herbalism combined with aspects of African spirituality. (Helwig 2005) Traditional African medicine has been practiced for centuries. This ancient system of healing continues to thrive in Africa, despite numerous attempts at government inferences, and practitioners can be found I many other parts of the world. (Helwig 2005) The origins of the traditional African medicine can be traced all the way back to the seventeenth century. (Kale 1995) Traditional African medicine is a holistic system with herbs and spiritual elements at its center. Traditional African medicine practitioners are healers who believe that their methods can cure many conditions including cancer, AIDS, mental problems, infertility, some sexually transmitted diseases, wounds and burns as well as many other ailments and conditions. (Helwig 2005)…

    • 1073 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Health Care Diversity

    • 1656 Words
    • 7 Pages

    The United States of America is “the most religiously diverse nation in the history” (Winslow, n.d., p. 2). With the immense growth in ethnic populations throughout the country, it is essential for health care practitioners to provide an integrative approach, to include a “whole person” care, as in body, mind and spirit. Any effort to increase the understanding of spiritual diversity and integrate these beliefs into daily standard practice, the patient is presented with opportunity of receiving spiritual sensitive care. Each person’s ideas and degree of spirituality differ, even amongst the same spiritual group or community. Therefore, each person’s care and spiritual involvement will differ. For simplicity, faith is being defined, as a strong belief in something for which there is no proof. Three deep seeded religions that America is being challenged, yet welcoming, into western medicine are the Islamic, Buddhist, and Native American practices. As key elements to each religion unfold and practitioners become more culturally competent and culturally sensitive, the alterations to holistic care will support the complete healing process; that of the body, mind and spirit.…

    • 1656 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Best Essays

    It has been estimated that more than 80% of people in African use traditional medicine1. Whilst population-based studies in South Africa indicate a decline in the use of traditional healing2, the number of traditional health practitioners is quite substantial, totalling approximately 190,0003. Traditional health practitioners play an important part in the lives of a large part of the South African population. “The Traditional Health Practitioners Bill was drafted to address the issue that despite their importance as a health resource, traditional healers had no legal status in South Africa, and therefore, not officially recognised as health care personnel. In 1994, the only legislation that related indirectly to traditional healers was the Witchcraft Suppression Act (Act No.3 of 1957), which sought to outlaw the practice of traditional healing. Since the first democratic elections in 1994, traditional healers have been collaborating with government for the purpose of obtaining formal recognition for traditional health practitioners.”4…

    • 2066 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Best Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    the healer

    • 2189 Words
    • 6 Pages

    Throughout David Sowell’s The Tale of Healer Miguel Perdomo Niera both religion and the science of healing are questioned and compared. Miguel Perdomo Niera was an unlicensed doctor who used science and religion to heal his patience. Many of whom could not pay for a doctor in town or had and not been cured until Niera had treated them. This created much disbelief in the medical world. Questions were aroused, how could a man use old Indian religious techniques to cure these people? A curandero at heart through experience in war time he was able to gain surgical training but how was he so effective? All of these questions have one thing in common the people that he healed were eternally grateful and the people that questioned him, questioned him more with every successful healing. All of these people were impacted by the actual act of healing through medical , scientific, religious, and spiritual means these peninsular’s, creoles, and natives found themselves questioning how this was possible. Throughout history in Latin America healers have been influential people Niera may not have gone to school to heal people but through his use of Spirituality as well as practical means he left us to question today the relationship of healing to a society in late colonial and early modern Latin America.…

    • 2189 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Powerful Essays