Curandero
The folk healer of Latin America and Mexican America, who treats with prayer, herbs and cleansing alongside Catholic faith.
Also: curandera, curanderismo, limpia, don pedrito
Curandero, curandera in the feminine, comes from curar, to cure. It names a healer found from Mexico and the American Southwest to Peru, and the tradition is curanderismo. A curandero is asked about illness that a family suspects has an unseen cause, such as susto, mal de ojo or envy, and may perform a limpia, a cleansing, with herbs, an egg or prayers, usually with the help of saints and the Virgin. Healers often say that the gift came from God. In Texas, Don Pedrito Jaramillo, who died in 1907, is still honoured at his shrine near Falfurrias. Many patients also use clinics, and health workers in the United States have studied how to work with curanderos. Cases of unsafe advice exist.