MEDICINE AND HEALING
PAGE 24
LANGUAGE
CURANDERISMO: THE MEDICINAL ROOTS OF MEXICO
BY QUINCY LEE Oftentimes when people think of healthcare, they imagine disinfected hospital beds and orange pill bottles. But for some, healthcare is a cultural and spiritual experience that transcends the formalities of conventional healing. Curanderismo, or Mexican Traditional Medicine, is a holistic approach to wellness that has been practiced in the Americas for hundreds of years. This ancestral approach to wellness synthesizes medical concepts from many different parts of the world, mixing Mexican beliefs with foreign healing philosophies. Mexika, Mayan, Zapotec and Aztec are just a few of the Mexican cultural influences that have contributed to Curanderismo, while Catholic, Sephardic, Greek Humoral, and African concepts have also found their way into this practice through the course of history. Ultimately, the teachings of Curanderismo are a blend of New World and Old World philosophies that produced a healthcare phenomenon which has endured the passage of time.
