Curanderismo
Resources available at the San Antonio Central Library

"Her days are slow, days of grinding dried snake into powder, of crushing wild bees to mix with white wine. And the townspeople come, hoping to be touched by her ointments, her hands, her prayers, her eyes. She listens to their stories, and she listens to the desert, always to the desert."

--excerpt from the poem, "Curandera" by Pat Mora

BOOKS

Alvarez Martínez, Luz, ed. Homenaje a nuestras curanderas = Honoring our healers. Oakland, CA : Latina Press, 1996.
LATINO 615.8 HOMENAJE

Avila, Elena. Woman who glows in the dark: a curandera reveals traditional Aztec secrets of physical and spiritual health. New York: J.P. Tarcher/Putnam, 1999.
615.852 AVILA
LATINO 615.852 AVILA

Kiev, Ari. Curanderismo: Mexican-American folk psychiatry. New York: Free Press, 1968.
615.89 KIEV

Perrone, Bobette. Medicine women, curanderas, and women doctors. Norman : University of Oklahoma Press, 1989.
LATINO 610.82 PERRONE

Roeder, Beatrice A. Chicano folk medicine from Los Angeles, California. Berkeley, CA : University of California Press, 1988.
LATINO 615.88208 ROEDER

Smithers, W.D. Nature’s pharmacy and the curanderos; and, the border trading posts. Alpine, TX : Sul Ross State College, 1961.
TEXANA 976.493 SMITHERS

Torres, Eliseo. The folk healer: the Mexican-American tradition of curanderismo. Kingsville, TX: Nieves Press, 1983.
615.882 TORRES
LATINO 615.882 TORRES

Trotter, Robert F. Curanderismo, Mexican American folk healing. Athens, GA: University of Georgia Press, 1997.
615.882 TROTTER
LATINO 615.882 TROTTER

ARTICLES

Castanón Garcia, Juan. "Healer roles, society and healing efficacy: an anthropological essay." El Grito del Sol Vol. 4, no. 1 (Winter, 1979), p. 75-85.
LATINO 810.5 GRITO DEL SOL

____________. "Witchy-witchy: estilo Chicano." Metamorfosis Vol. 3, no. 1 (Spring-Summer, 1980), p. 11-12.
LATINO 810.5 METAMORFOSIS

Dodson, Ruth. "Remedies of Don Pedrito Jaramillo." In Literatura Chicana: texto y contexto = Chicano literature: text and context. Compiled by Antonia Castañeda Shular, Tomas Ybarra-Frausto, and Joseph Sommers. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, 1972, p. 180-182.
810.8 CASTANEDA SHULAR
LATINO 810.8 CASTANEDA SHULAR

Escalera, José. "Curanderos in our time." In Chicano Border: Culture and Folklore. San Diego, CA: Marin Publications, 1992, p. 37-42.
398.08968 CHICANO
LATINO 398.08968 CHICANO

Garza, Mary Jane. "Healing Spirits." Hispanic (June 1998), p. 30-38.
PERIODICALS STACKS

Gonzáles, Elena. "The Role of Chicano folk beliefs and practices in mental health." In Chicanos: Social and Psychological perspectives. St. Louis, MO: C.V. Mosby, 1976, p. 263-281.
LATINO 301.45168 CHICANOS

Macklin, June. "Curanderismo and espiritísmo: complementary approaches to traditional mental health services." In The Chicano Experience. Edited by Stanley A. West and June Macklin. Boulder, CO: Westview , 1979, p. 207-226.
301.45168 CHICANO
LATINO 301.45168 CHICANO

Madsen, William. "Society and health in the lower Rio Grande Valley." In Mexican-Americans in the United States: a reader. New York: Schenkman, 1970, p. 329-341.
325.272 BURMAN

These materials are available at the San Antonio Central Library.
Check online catalog for branch availability.

WEB SITES

Folk Medicine in Hispanics in the Southwestern United States -  Provides information about the origins and applications of Hispanic folk medicine.

Updated: 09/23/2005