Curandero Conversations offers something for everyone. Following an introduction by renowned Native American healer and author, Jamie Sams, the book examines 190 actual email-based consultations with the curandero, followed by the anthropologist's commentary. The book also offers three major appendices including information for understanding cultural competencies in the delivery of health care, Internet resource links for continued study, and the most complete medicinal plant herbal used by curanderos/as on the U.S.-Mexico border. Curandero Conversations El Nio Fidencio, Shamanism and Healing Traditions of the Borderlands By Antonio Zavaleta Alberto Salinas Jr. AuthorHouse Copyright © 2009 Antonio Zavaleta and Alberto Salinas Jr All right reserved. ISBN: 978-1-4490-0088-2 Chapter One A Testimonial "I came to the realization that the lack of cultural knowledge is like soul loss initiated by the void of our ancestral and family legacies." - Rachel Edith Barrera, doctoral candidate Learning to Walk Between Worlds: A Latina's Spiritual Journey by Rachel Edith Barrera The Spanish word for healer is curandero/a , and comes from the verb curar meaning to heal. Healing is the defining part of the word curandera . A curandera is a female healer and a curandero is a male healer. In Latino culture there are those who are born with a special gift called el don . This gift of healing can manifest itself in a variety of different ways: parteras (midwives), hierberas (herbalists), hueseras (bonesetters), sobadoras (massage specialists), materias (spirit mediums) and other types of healers who are as unique as the people they help. The gift can manifest in both men and women at any point in their lives; from the moment they are born to the time they become grandparents. The gift can also be passed on from generation to generation like it has with mine. The mystical world of curanderos/as has been a part of my family for generations. I was born with a special awareness. From my earliest recollection, family, friends and strangers noticed this difference. Some described it as a luz , or light, while others told me I had the gift of healing. Since I was a child, information about and experiences with curanderismo have come to me through a variety of ways, transforming my life into a unique and wonderful apprenticeship in healing and shamanism. My mother's stories were an early chapter in my apprenticeship. Stories like the time a young girl was possessed in my mother's village or the time my grandmother saw a black cat visit her grandfather, who was a known brujo , warlock, in the community. He lived until my mother was 10 and was easily over a century old. My great-grandfather was also a curandero in the same community. My mother's experiences within the context of her curandera heritage taught her many things, some practical and others esoteric, which she passed on to me. Through these stories, I learned the healing beliefs and practices of my mother's family. I learned the practical application of this knowledge. As a child I eavesdropped on my mother's consulting sessions, as she gave advice to those who came to her for help. I can still smell the herbs she used in her barridas , or ritual sweepings of the body. I learned the art of passing a fertile hen's egg over the body as a cure for mal de ojo , evil eye. I learned the many rituals one must know by heart including those that offered protection against enemies and those which broke trabajos , works of witchcraft. I learned how to identify and prepare medicinal plants for healing. My childhood was filled with wonder and magic. But that soon changed. During my teenage years my mother became part of an evangelical sect and stopped healing in the ways she learned from her family. Her new church saw her "old ways" as evil, and, little by little, my mother "forgot" the healing ways of our ancestors. However, I did not forget. My mother could not erase what I had learned. My memories resonate with a vital part of my being and define who I am today. Against my mother's wishes, I continued to learn the ways of my ancestors. Luckily, and unintentionally, early in my childhood I learned to interact within the non-ordinary reality, a unique world where shamans and curanderos/ as interact. When my mother no longer shared her knowledge, I continued to be taught and to learn through dreams and visitations from my ancestors and by one very special teacher. My mother will never cease being a healer. My mother's don , or her gift of healing and intuition, has not abandoned her. She continues to apply her medicinal plant knowledge, and her other more esoteric practices continue to evolve. Prayer is now my mother's tool of choice to heal and interact with God. Just as my mother's gift evolved over the years, so did my apprenticeship. The next part of my apprenticeship began during my undergraduate work at The Univer