Austin – Generations of Latin families across Texas have turned into traditional therapists in illness or pain. “Sana Sana Colita De Rana” from Abuelita, an egg that rolled through the skin to absorb negative energy, or brown of herbs in tea. These rituals are not only helping to connect the body, mind and spirit, but also societies across generations.
The practices of traditions dating back to centuries are still moving within societies of Spanish origin around the world. While these healing methods were seen negatively by many – they were often rejected due to cultural biases or misunderstanding – they are still prosperous. The Latinists remained steadfast in preserving the knowledge and participation of their ancestors, residents, professors and practitioners that these traditions are alive in and around Austin.
What is a comprehensive healing?
A comprehensive recovery of traditional Spanish origin is a way to link the individual to the practice of recovery – the knowledge that is learned organically and decreases over time. Rachel Gonzalez Martin, a professor of Mexican American studies at the University of Texas, said she consists of generations and practices from different regions.
Along the borders of Texas and Mexico, one of the most common practices is Cuanderismoand Which combines original knowledge, Catholic faith, and African spiritual effects. The Spanish word “Cuar” for healing “and practitioners – known as Curanderos or Curanderas to restore balance in the body, mind and spirit.
Like Curanderismo, there are many cultural healing systems around the world.
“Curanderismo, Santería, Palo, Candomblé, Voodoo, Hoodoo- These different concepts based on the regional culture of a comprehensive recovery alive,” said Gonzalez Martin. “There is a constant source of new Mexican Latinians who bring traditions from Popito everywhere. We are always ready to see a new thing, as well as maintaining what works in the past.”
She said that Latin societies turned into traditional popular therapists before the presence of traditional medicine, and even later, when access to official health care was limited.
Various types of healers
Ricardo Gonzalez, a Curanderismo teacher in central Texas, practiced nearly four decades. He said that every Latin society has its own version of Curanderismo, and there are many different types of healers.
- Sobadores/as – Therapists who use their hands to treat pain and injuries, and even what they describe as “emotional knot”. The roots in the traditions of healing from the indigenous population and mestizo work in their hands, but also with herbs, oils, eggs, candles, rituals, prayer and spiritual guidance.
- Yerbros Herbs who describe tea, dyes, or petat made of plants such as street, chamomile, basil, the gymnasium and many others. Slaves in the original, African and Spanish traditions, and Yerbros is community doctors in both rural and urban areas. They may also use oils, candles, incense, prayers, homemade fans and ritual elements.
- Candelero/a Candle workers who use candle flames to guide lives for protection, divination and spiritual work. They perform Limpias, ritual performance, breakage clips, or offer petitions for health, love or justice.
- Parters Traditional midwives who help in childbirth and postpartum care, mix original knowledge, spirituality, and practical medical techniques.
- Magos/Espiritualistas Treatment who use candles, massacres, rituals tools to work with divine and mixed lives, mixes, original practices, and the Caribbean Afro.
- Marines of God – Treasurers who work with saints, trustee angels, Santa Moire, or deities within the systems of original beliefs that precede colonialism. Their work often includes natural elements, songs, dances and shows.
- Santero/a A priest or priest of Saniteria, a religion of the Caribbean, began to mix spirituality and Catholicism. They may perform distress, celebrations, and ritual celebrations.
- Oral Palu Miumen practitioners, a tradition in Central Africa, rooted in the slave trading. They work with lives, natural forces, sacred things for recovery and rituals.
“Corendro will work with all faucets, not one or another,” said Gonzalez.
Trust and faith in practice
From candlesticks and Hala bathrooms to Taro and Alian readings, Latin societies have long turned into traditional therapists for both spiritual and physical treatments.
Gonzalez Martin said that confidence in popular recovery dates back to the sixteenth century, when Spanish colonialism forced the indigenous peoples to mix the practices of grandparents with African spiritual systems and Catholic rituals.
“For many people, they did not want to walk on the western medical road, but this is what they did not know either. Maybe they have grown up in places they said,” Oh, yes, we go to Señora in the street, and if we bring it a bag of beans, we exchange it for my herbal treatment. My grandmother sent me to “Gonzále.”
From silence to revival
Over generations, the knowledge of popular recovery has passed quietly through whispering prayers, common treatments and private family rituals. Many elderly people arose at times when such practices were deaf as magic or myths, which led to the blocking of traditions from their children.
This was the case for Austin Subadura Monica Castillo. Her mother and her grandmother carried her spiritual gifts, but Castillo grew up during a period that was looking at such traditions as “evil” or “demonic”.
“We felt comfortable, we were attacked, or in many cases, we were killed because we did this work, because we were in contact with a different way that people did not know how to keep it,” said Castillo.
Castillo eventually turned into Gonzalez and his school in Texas Korendesmo when she struggled to understand her abilities.
“He opened this path for me in a way that many people were not comfortable,” she said. “It made me feel that I was not crazy … it was a space that made me feel safe.”
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City Alchemist is the Botanica in the Modern Age on East 6th Street Street, which is owned by Eric Labrado and Alexis Ardondo. -
City Alchemist is the Botanica in the Modern Age on East 6th Street Street, which is owned by Eric Labrado and Alexis Ardondo. -
City Alchemist is the Botanica in the Modern Age on East 6th Street Street, which is owned by Eric Labrado and Alexis Ardondo. -
City Alchemist is the Botanica in the Modern Age on East 6th Street Street, which is owned by Eric Labrado and Alexis Ardondo. -
City Alchemist is the Botanica in the Modern Age on East 6th Street Street, which is owned by Eric Labrado and Alexis Ardondo. -
Sol Solace is a traditional structure studio that blends massage with Central American medicine and other ancestral practices. This studio is owned by Monica Castelo and is located in Austin, Texas. -
Sol Solace is a traditional structure studio that blends massage with Central American medicine and other ancestral practices. This studio is owned by Monica Castelo and is located in Austin, Texas. -
Sol Solace is a traditional structure studio that blends massage with Central American medicine and other ancestral practices. This studio is owned by Monica Castelo and is located in Austin, Texas. -
Ricardo Gonzalez Korendro was practiced in central Texas for more than four decades. He devoted his life to passing the practice of the younger Latin generations in an attempt to maintain traditions. -
City Alchemist is the Botanica in the Modern Age on East 6th Street Street, which is owned by Eric Labrado and Alexis Ardondo. -
City Alchemist is the Botanica in the Modern Age on East 6th Street Street, which is owned by Eric Labrado and Alexis Ardondo. -
City Alchemist is the Botanica in the Modern Age on East 6th Street Street, which is owned by Eric Labrado and Alexis Ardondo. -
City Alchemist is the Botanica in the Modern Age on East 6th Street Street, which is owned by Eric Labrado and Alexis Ardondo. -
City Alchemist is the Botanica in the Modern Age on East 6th Street Street, which is owned by Eric Labrado and Alexis Ardondo. -
Sol Solace is a traditional structure studio that blends massage with Central American medicine and other ancestral practices. This studio is owned by Monica Castelo and is located in Austin, Texas. -
Sol Solace is a traditional structure studio that blends massage with Central American medicine and other ancestral practices. This studio is owned by Monica Castelo and is located in Austin, Texas.
Transfer knowledge and traditions
González-Martin and González work to transfer knowledge. González-Martin shares teachings with students at the University of Texas, and teaches González through the Tendas School Curanderismo
“I noticed that the younger generation is really interested, but they do not know where to go,” said Gonzalez. “When I built the school, I built it for the next generation so that they could learn how to do this work – and therefore the older generation can pass the craft.”
In East Austin, Eric Labrado and Alexis Arndondo invented Chemical city. They copied them from Botanica in the modern era, where they sell the elements used in purification, protection and rituals, while providing services such as Taro readings, Limpias, and the identification of candles.
“Our mission is to stimulate the botanica and make it easier for people,” Labrado said.
“We also offer lessons, we want to know that this is really important, especially since many of these traditions and these practices disappear. Therefore, it is important for us to keep them continuous.”
The future of traditional healing practices depends on the transfer of knowledge to new generations, and still is a legacy that is rooted in the center of Texas.