Exploring the Roots of Natural Healing and Massage Therapy in Latin America

In honor of Hispanic Hertiage Month this year, we will be diving into the roots of natural healing in Latin America. As a region characterized with rich diversity and an overlap of intersecting Indigenous, African and European communities, these powerful cultural roots all combined to create a concept of natural healing known as 'curanderismo.' Deriving from the verb curar-- to cure. A curandero/a is a healer who performs the practice and is treated in the same regard as a shaman or native medicine man. The practice of natural healing, with it the practice of massage therapy, is deeply engrained in Latin American roots.

Venezuelan Curandero making an herbal blend c/o curioso teatro global

The Origins of Curanderismo

Indigenous communities in Latin America have been healing each other naturally since the early days of civilization. In Indigenous culture, identities and actions are all representative of nature. Indigenous ideology embraces a reverence for how we are born from nature, sustained by nature and returned to nature as part of the natural balance of life. The term 'curanderismo' developed post-colonization when the Spanish arrived in the Americas and designated the name to the long-withstanding practice. With it, adding Catholic influences, such as holy water and candles with photos of Saints. Similar to the Natives, African communities had long-been performing their own natural healing rituals and their influence became intergrated in the practice upon contact with the native people of the Americas. This sharing of knowledge intertwined to form curanderismo as we know it. (Munoz, The Humanities Collaborative)

Curanderismo is commonly labeled 'folk healing' but it is much more than folklore. It is not 'witchcraft' but it is a tradition with deep roots in Indiginous Latin American lifestyle and culture. It is not specific to one country of Latin America, but expands across the region as a whole with each nation having its own variation, in the use of herbs or rituals. It utilizes plant-based cures, incense, massage, ritual baths, energy work and prayer. It is an incredbily powerful, holistic healing method.

When the Spaniards first encountered Indigenous and African healing methods, they quickly labeled them as 'pagan' or 'savage.' Often times, punishing and condeming the rituals in an effort suppress their prevalence. Although the Spaniards remained susupicious of the methods, they eventually realized that it provided great benefits. The Spanish began to partake in Afro-Indigenous curanderismo for its ability to heal and alleviate ailments. Regarding the shamans and medicine men as 'noble savages', yet recognizing that they were undeniably men and women of knowledge.

The patronizing of Afro-Indigenous way of life persisted as the Spanish language and Christian belief systems continued to be forced on Indigenous and African populations. Overtime, some even willingly adopted Eurocentric practices and their spiritual influence became interwoven in the way many curanderos practice today. However, Afro-Indigenous origins remain an integral component of the practice (Norton 2008, 53-62) and even during their forced suppression, many still preserved their cultural-healing practices in secrecy.

This multicultural influence seen in curanderismo is at the heart of the Latin American identity. We can break it down and trace its origins, but ultimately curanderismo is a representation of the 'Nuestra America', the term coined by 19th century independence activist, Jose Marti, which exemplifies the individual, diversified, unique and unified identity of Latin America. Marking it as its own distinct culture, with its own history and national identities seperate from Europe and the United States. (Smith & Green 2019, 422). Truly becoming their own 'race', a blended one.

Curanderismo is not just a physical practice, but one that addresses the body, mind and spirit. The idea being that in order to cure the body and mind, one must heal their spirit too. Since no true healing can be done if your core foundation, the spirit, is unsettled. It centers around a deep connection to ancestral knowledge as curanderas use intuition, physical touch and medicinas tradicionales to help those who seek their gifts.

Traditionally, true curandero/a's may be called healers by others out of respect, but they do not refer to themselves as healers. In the nature of being connected to spirit they are detached from the ego and earthly desires, so they do not charge for their services, but only accept donations. (Munoz, The Humanities Collaborative)

Curanderismo and Curacion con Hierbas (Herbal Healing)

What makes curanderismo special is its connection to nature and the power it provides to heal ourselves. It also acknowledges and respects the presence of a higher power, teaching us to purify our spirit in order to prevent ailments or disease. This process of spiritual cleansing, called limpias, are the essence of curanderismo. Practitioners will do this through the burning of dried herbs, prayer chanting and embracing a connection to something bigger than ourselves. Being that Latin America is a terrain abundant with natural beauty and enchanting nature, its easy to see how the land was seen as the primary way in which we can heal ourselves. In addition to that, rural Latin American communities that have limited access to modern hospitals or doctors utilize these methods to cure the ill, but that does not have to make them symbolic of poverty, instead it’s a realignment with ancestral knowledge. (Munoz, The Humanties Collaborative).

Before pharmaceuticals existed, the properties in herbs, flowers, resins and spices were combined and renowned for their medicinal properties. Once modern chemistry began breaking down the molecular components of these ingredients, they used their specific properties to create synthetic versions for medications. Prior to that, the whole plant was used and combined with other ones to create remedies that have withstood the test of time. These are the blends the curandero/a make. However, these properties are not only used for their medicinal benefit, but their psycho-emotional and spiritual ones too. Herbs for depression, anxiety, spiritual awakening and self love; these are only some of the energies provoked with the blending of particular herbs. They are chosen with knowledge and intuition by yerberas (herbalists).

“Curandero” by Mario Gonazalez Chavajay c/o The Humanities Collaborative

The Role of Sobadores

Massage therapy had its role in curanderismo through the work of the sobador. Sobadores would use bodywork techniques, muscular manipulation and stretching to help heal injuries or conditions in the muscle and the bones. The sobador also helped with digestive issues by using herbs and massage (sobada) to release blockages.

Known as having "healing hands" the sobadores use their hands to alleviate musculoskeletal pain and this can be both painful and relieving. The reason being that working out the tension means having to massage the area of pain directly to release the muscle or in some cases the sobador will manually pop tendons or muscles back into place. (National Library of Medicine, 2018)

Without textbooks or written documents to pass down the knowledge of sobada during pre-colonial times, real sobadores were taught by 'spirit.' They would then teach an apprentice, or student, the ways of sobada once a student was considered worthy of learning. There was no class you could pay for to learn. You had to earn the right to be a student. Making the art of sobada a calling.

Mesoamerican Codices, such as this one from pre-columbian times, depict the spiritual knowledge of healing being passed down from deity to human (source unknown)

Knowing which herbs to use to make rubs and pastes make the sobadores more than tactile practitioners but holistic ones. Combing knowledge of earth, spirit and nature along with solving the problem of curing, aiding and mending disease, pain and chronic conditions creates a magic that science is continuing to explain today. But before Latinos became scientists, chemists, biologists and medical practitioners-- we had the curanderos and the mujeres de conocimiento (women of knowledge) who just knew because, spirit told them.

Their names may not be in scientific journals and no one today would ever call them scientists, but that spirit they had, was science. It was discovery and natural observation. It's the thing that connects us all. The knowledge that gets passed down generations. The wisdom your grandmother teaches you-- and you dont quite understand why she's telling you to 'drink a malta for your hemoglobin' so you can breast-feed better.. but somehow, it works. This is the beauty of how deep our roots run. Of the healers who kept this knowledge alive, even when it was shamed.

This Hispanic Heritage Month, I celebrate them and the history they made.

This section written by Tlahchiloh in the Florentine Codex describes how a curandero heals a rash by massaging an herb on another man. Book 11

Citations:

Smith, Peter H., Green, James N. Modern Latin America. 9th Ed. Oxford University Press. 2019.

Norton, Marcy. Sacred Gifts, Profane Pleasures: A History of Tobacco and Chocolate in the Atlantic World. Cornell University. 2008.

Munoz, Reyna. Preserving Curanderismo in the Borderland. El Paso Community College, The Humanities Collaborative at EPCC-UTEP. Apr 2021. humanitiescollaborative.utep.edu

Sandberg JC, Quandt SA, Graham A, Stub T, Mora DC, Arcury TA. Medical Pluralism in the Use of Sobadores among Mexican Immigrants to North Carolina. J Immigr Minor Health. Oct 2018.1197-1205.

Digital Florentine Codex. An Encyclopeida of 16th Cenutry Indigenous Mexico. The Florentine Codex Archives. https://florentinecodex.getty.edu