The Curandera's Garden
It is not uncommon for a Mexican to consult a curandera for spiritual healing while under a medical doctor's care.
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In the 15th century Florentine Codex of Aztec physicians, the healer is "well versed in herbs, who knows, through experience the roots, the trees, the stones. She keeps her secrets and traditions." The healer is clearly female. But where the Codex covers Aztec physicians, the text indicates this role applies to the male gender.
Today the role of healer or "curandera" still exists in Hispanic culture. It is not uncommon for a Mexican to consult a curandera for spiritual healing while under a medical doctor's care. For the very poor with no access to modern medicine, the curandera serves both roles, blending the art of healing the mind with the administration of botanical medicines.
In the Mexican neighborhoods of most Southwestern cities you'll find botanicas, which are herb stores that carry dried traditional plant cures of the curandera's trade. If she is fortunate enough to have a plot of land, the curandera would tend a garden of useful plants for her own fresh harvest.
Some of these plants are quite toxic poisons, but in her training she learned the proper dosage and preparation. Many, such as morning glory and peyote, would be divination plants handed down to her from the Aztec Nahuatl traditions. The most common of these potent medicines is called 'tlapatl' in Nahuatl or 'toloache' in Spanish. It is the wild datura of the desert and Mexico. This nightshade contains serious medicine and may be the single most powerful plant in this garden.
The curandera's garden would also contain New World natives and some European herbs introduced by the Spanish early on. Maguey agave is perhaps the most ubiquitous plant in Mexico because of its use in the fermentation of an alcoholic beverage known as "pulque." Its fiber is utilized for everything from scrub brushes to weaving cloth. The agave leaf was scraped and boiled to treat assorted venereal diseases
The many benefits of "nopal" or prickly pear, Opuntia ficus indica, are just now coming to light in the alternative medicine community. Flat paddle-shaped stems of this plant are chopped and simmered down to a potent brew. It is the main component of treating maladies of the heart such as angina and edema. The mix is drunk on a daily basis as a preventative.
The many forms of sagebrush, genus Artemisia, are known as 'ajenjo.' They include both native and European species, all of which are strongly bitter and potentially toxic. The herbs have been used in the Old World and the New to treat intestinal parasites. They also can make up a powerful antibacterial for treating infected wounds.
Some very long-lived woody shrubs also fall into this curandera garden pharmacoepia. Bushy apache plume, Fallugia paradoxa, is a desert shrub known as 'ponil.' Aspirin-like qualities are found in its inner bark, much like that of aspen and willow. A strong tea of the root and bark is also used for hair-loss treatment. Bright red Ocotillo blossoms from the woody 'oqueria splendens' are boiled, and the tea used to treat sore throat and tonsillitis. The leaves of a bright yellow trumpet flowered shrubby vine, Tecoma stans, known as "tronadora," are used to treat adult diabetes.
It is important to remember that these uses of plants are not medical advice or recommendations. The way each is gathered, prepared and administered can range considerably. This is folk medicine handed down verbally from curandera to apprentice, and all are combined with a strong dose of love and personal attention.
The curandera's garden is beautiful because it reflects how people have helped one another for centuries. And no one can deny that when the ocotillo turns to fire and datura perfumes the night air, the Aztec gods are pleased that Nahuatl ways live on in the 21st Century.
Find an excellent compendium of plants and their uses in:
Los Remedios, by Michael Moore
Traditional Herbal Remedies of the Southwest
Red Crane Books
Maureen Gilmer is a horticulturist and host of Weekend Gardening on DIY-Do It Yourself Network. For more information, visit www.moplants.com or DIYNetwork.com. Distributed by Scripps Howard News Service.
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