As Old As Tomorrow

Modern Buddhist monastics and healing arts practitioners of Tibet are increasingly engaging in a syncretism of sorts with interdisciplinary, foreign medical and scientific scholars and institutions- not unlike that which took place almost 1,400 years ago in central and upper Asia. By official invite of Tibetan King Songtsen Gampo (Chi: Qizonglongzan), physicians from China, India, Nepal, and Persia (Tagzig, Tajikistan) convened on the "Roof of the World" in a 7th century CE Pan-Asian symposia ('The Old Medical School') which produced the first collation of their collective medical knowledge translated into the Old Tibetan language: mijigpei-tsoncha (Fearless Weapon).

The 8th century CE Tibetan King Trisong Detsen hosted an international medical conference at the Sam-Ye Gompa (Tib: བསམ་ཡས, Samye Monastery) where he gathered together native Tibetan masters of secular and non-secular sciences, lotsawa (discipled translators), along with scholars and skilled practitioners of the medical systems of China, Dol-po, Greece, Guge, India, Kashmir, Mi-nyag, Mongolia, Nepal, Persia (Sogdiana), and East Turkistan. Post-conference proceedings resulted in a translated synthesization of the differing foreign medical traditions of Indian Ayurveda and Siddha, Græco/trans-Arabic/Persian Unani Tibbia, traditional Chinese medicine (TCM), native curative therapies of Iron Age elders of the Qingzang Plateau, mi chos family folk medicine, and indigenous, pre-Buddhist root culture of Bönpo healers of the Himalayas.

[At its genesis, systematization of traditional Tibetan medicine (TTM) was informed and influenced by earlier Bön belief systems, including those observed by Yungdrung, hermits, ascetics, and shamanic invokers existing outside of the monastic construct. Born from this mystifying matrix were medical and veterinary teachings (gSo rig mdo dgu 'bum bzhi, among others) attributed to founder Tönpa Shenrab Miwo, said to be transmissions transcribed in the Zhang Zhung sMar-yig script and transliterated into Tibetan. Scholarly disputation remains unresolved regarding recension and reconstruction of the earliest Bön tantric texts (otherwise known as the Four Volumes of the Healing Sciences) and the protohistory and epistemiology of Bön medicine vis-à-vis evolution of TTM as understood and acknowledged by mainstream Buddhists. Certain botanic medicaments denoted in Tibetan Materia Medica do bear archaic BCE names of Bön origin].

The amalgamated conference compilation of 156 chapters presented to King Detsen reconciled the foreign medical methodologies with Vairotsana's translated Four Medical Tantras said to be originally transmitted by Shakyamuni Buddha (Siddhartha Gautama). Known as Gyud-Shi (Tib: rGyud-bZhi ,Chi: Sibu Yi Dian) – redacted by Tibetan royal court physician Yuthok Yonten Gonpo the Elder, supplemented later in the 12th century CE with revisions and the Yuthok Nyingthig Root Text and Commentary composition of Gongpo the Younger and his disciple Sumton Yeshe zung – these formed the classic, fundamental medical treatise of the Tibetan healing sciences system (gso ba rgba) upon which Gonpo the Elder's 'New Medical School' (Tanadug Institute) was founded in 762 CE.

Forward-thinking bhikkhuni, bhikkus, lamas, and geshes of this era are similarly engaged in scientific and medical knowledge exchange efforts with pre-meds, other undergrads, and faculty teams in fully- formalized East/West collaborations such as those between the Library of Tibetan Works and Archives (LTWA) and Emory University.

Envisioned as a bridge of discourse between the "inner and outer sciences" by Emory College's Dean Robert Paul and the 14th Dalai Lama (Tenzin Gyatso), the Emory-Tibet Partnership (ETP) has yielded significant contributions to interdisciplinary scholarly communications, not the least of which is the Library of Tibetan Works and Archives' Emory-Tibet Science Initiative (ETSI). Administered via the College's Program in Science and Society and by the Emory NeuroScience and Behavioral Biology Program, ETSI oversees curriculum development, training materials creation, and instructional model design in the implementation of comprehensive, standardized, sustainable coursework for monastics. Coalescing scientists, science educators, philosophers, physicians, scholars, and Buddhist practitioners from cross-disciplinary fields of biology, religion, physics, neuroscience, behavioral biology, psychiatry, and philosophy, ETSI's pedagogical approach is grounded in principles of problem-based, collaborative, experiential learning, with opportunities for discourse and discovery anchored by field work. The Science Curriculum for Tibetan Monastics introduce advanced-level concepts of cosmology, life sciences, and neuro/cognitive sciences, augmented by mathematics.

This summer, in a new ETSI collaboration, Emory faculty and students undertook an intensive Tibetan Mind/Body Sciences program in Dharamsala, India (residence of the Dalai Lama and location of LTWA). While devotees were lectured in math, philosophy, cosmology, biology, physics, and neuroscience, University students simultaneously explored Buddhist contemplative ethos of mind/body medicine, subtle anatomy, and science of the spirit. Several pre-meds were introduced to aspects of ethnobotany and medical anthropology while collecting botanical samples during their Himalayan field trips – just as the ancients sought out pharmaceuticals and adapted uses and laws of the Materia Medica (Menze-rigpa) based upon regional resources provided by the landscape of the Land of Snow.

(Photo: © Ajay Pillarisetti. Courtesy of Emory-Tibet Partnership, Emory)

LTWA and ETSI expanded the Sager Science for Monks Program (which included introductory biophysics, math, computer workshops) and now offers the Sager Science Leadership for Tibetan Monastics (SSLTM) program. This June past, LTWA organized the 1st Science Exhibition by Monastics, presenting interactive projects of ETSI and SSLTM participants. Students from Drepung Monastery presented distinctions and correlations between Buddhist texts (San: Abhidharma-kosha, Tib: chos mngon pa mdzod) which expound on sense power and perception of manifested phenomena in relation to sound source, vibrations, waves, and the mechanism of hearing. Fellow truth-seekers from the same Drepung Monastery discerned dialectical challenges to prevailing "big bang" and quantum fluctuation theory within the cosmologic precepts as taught in the Kala-chakra (དུས་ཀྱི་འཁོར་ལོ, time-wheel, time-cycles) texts - yet discovered agreement with lesser-established modern scientific theories of multiple universes and space particles within the same tantric texts. The Zhang-Zhung group from Menri Monastery demonstrated scientific properties and nature of light in accordance with Dzogchen teachings and tantric texts within the Bön tradition. Inspired by Mendeleev's periodic table of chemical elements reduced to quantum particles, exhibitors from Saakya Dhongag Choeling Monastery generated a comparative Buddhist table of elements of subtle consciousness as constituent factors in the experienced world in keeping with the Abhidharmasamuchaya (Compendium of Higher Knowledge).


(Photo: ©Theresia Hofer. Courtesy of Wellcome Trust Images Collection.
Tibetan doctor with an old copy of a Gyu Shi ("Four Tantras") and a book on compounding medicines, which was composed by the previous generations of his medical family lineage and takes into account the locally available materia medica, Tibet Autonomous Region, China, 2003.
Released under Creative Commons Attribution-Non-Commercial No-Derivatives version 2.0 licence, England & Wales.)


Further contributing to cross-continental medical and scientific knowledge transfer, L TWA maintains world-wide manuscript exchange projects such as with the Gorky Scientific Library in Leningrad. It disseminates information on doctors and medical practitioners, medical history, and medicinal plants in its annual Tibetan Medicine publication. Under Directorship of LTWA's Geshe Lhakdor, its Research and Translation Department conducts intensive 3-months-long translation training sessions year-round (its current cycle ends this October). Its Seminar on Science Terminology (ཚན་རིག་གི་ཐ་སྙད་ཕབ་སྒྱུར་ཚོགས་འདུ) has generated a science textbook (produced by Emory University professors and Buddhist translators who hold degrees in life sciences, engineering and philosophy) in the Tibetan and English languages and a contemporary science glossary introducing into contemporary Tibetan lexicon concepts such as electromagnetism, climate change, cloning. LTWA produces Science Journal, a bi-annual Tibetan/English publication of translations of in-depth articles on neuro-biology, foundations of science, solar system, and meterology. Published quarterly, its Science Newsletter presents short articles, stories, and facts about science and science-related subjects. Section features include news, cosmology, physics, biology, scientists' biographies, and articles along the science/Buddhism paradigm. ETSI and ETP organized the 1st International Conference on Science Translation into Tibetan (ICSTT) at Emory this past March, expecting to further extend discourse while developing translational techniques in this developing field.

(Provided here is a list of LTWA desiderata in an appeal for donated titles for its Foreign Language Reference (in- and out-of-print), University Dissertations/Theses, and Journals collections. http://www.ltwa.net/Support_edited.html. Many medical and sciences works are denoted).

Driven by forces internal and external to Tibet (political exigencies," biomedicalization", medical tourism, epidemiological vicissitudes, insurance approval for complementary/alternative therapeutics, and health market globalization), momentum is rapidly accelerating in the worldwide adoption and adaptation of TTM. TTM formulae have been manufactured for years in Switzerland (covered by health insurance), Denmark, Lithuania, and Latvia. Evidence-based clinical studies, formalized coursework, controlled experiments in cancer, hepatitis, diabetes mellitus, cardiovascular function, hypertension and other afflictions have been conducted by universities, medical schools, and hospitals of Harvard, Yale, Stanford, Virginia, Texas, Miami, Toronto, Austria, Scotland, Italy, China, Russia, Japan, and elsewhere. As of this month, India's Medicine Central Council has accorded legal status to the TTM system. China has issued an international call for paper presentations at its March 2010 TTM conference. "Biomedicization" and modernization of TTM is not welcomed by all, won't be a cure-all, nor necessarily will it be cohesive or even comprehensive, and vigilance should be maintained with a view towards mutual benefit. But as ailing, aging populations face the frontiers of tomorrow, we'll all be drawing from the waters of very ancient wells. Ostensibly, the way forward is back.

LaVerne Poussaint
Plutonic Research & Knowledge Teams Intl (PRAKTI)
Email: laverne.poussaint@deepmed.net

Medical Spanish Programs and Courses

In the 1969 movie “Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid” Butch and Sundance and Etta moved to Bolivia and were unsuccessful in robbing a bank because they couldn’t give instructions in Spanish. For example, “Raise your hands” and Back against the wall” and Give me the money” and Where’s the safe? Open it.” Etta teaches them phonetic Spanish so they could give the instructions during their next bank robbery, but they didn’t practice saying the phrases aloud. And, Etta reminds them that their “line of work requires a specialized vocabulary”.

There are many occupational Spanish programs and courses in the U.S.. The most common are legal, medical, and business. This article will describe several programs and courses of medical Spanish which I have connections with. They are offered by college departments of Spanish, schools of nursing, and the private companies that offer community education courses on college campuses.

Command Spanish provides occupational Spanish language training materials and programs for the workplace. These classes require no prior knowledge of Spanish. They try to eliminate grammar instruction. Beginners use a phonetic system to allow immediate control of Spanish pronunciation. One-way communication techniques are used in order to give commands and statements that require only a “yes” or “no’ response or a “screen question” that requires only a plausible response.

At Texas Woman’s University in Denton, Texas Command Spanish is offered as continuing education. This CE program is called “Survival Spanish in the Workplace.” The instructor lived and was educated in the United States and Mexico and trained by Command Spanish. Classes can be offered on campus or any location that has necessary facilities, such as a computer, a projector, a white board, chairs and tables. Students need only a pencil or pen to make notations in a manual which includes 2 CDs. The instruction includes a medical vocabulary and controlled situations and choral response and modeling and role-playing and situation response. You can read more about the CE program at TWU at www.twu.edu/ce/Survival-Spanish.asp and Command Spanish at www.commandspanish.com.

The University of Texas at Austin was the first university to require medical Spanish in the nursing program. This required course instituted by the UT School of Nursing is titled “Spanish for Health Care Professional.” This course also focuses on conversational Spanish. All class activities and course materials are linked to nursing practice. This course will help nurse to communicate with Spanish-speaking patients. Nursing students will learn to converse in Spanish using medically related expressions. This approach will enable students to articulate and respond to patient concerns and be able to conduct basic interviews in Spanish. Students will also learn cultural and social factors that influence practitioner-patient communication with Latinos.

The textbook used in the UT School of Nursing program is titled “An Introduction to Spanish for Health Care Workers: Communication and Culture.” This textbook is designed for students with little or no formal background in Spanish. It uses readings, exercises, interactive activities, Spanish medical vocabulary, and colloquial terms needed most by health care professionals. And, the textbook contains cultural notes that explain customs and communicative styles of Latinos. In the new third edition there is a DVD video featuring interactions between a family and health care providers. There is a companion Web site at yalebooks.com/medicalspanish which provides self-correcting quizzes and links to medical and language sites.

Along with the textbook the other course materials consist of children’s books, articles about Latinos and health care, a Web site, and dialogs. The chapters of the textbook are based on health and medical themes and these themes are linked to the children’s books such as “My body mi cuerpo” by Rosa-Mendoza because of its illustrations and repetitive use of the language. Each chapter has dialogs related to tasks that nurses typically perform. You can read more about the text at http://yalepress.yale.edu/yupbooks/book.asp?isbn=9780300124262

The School of Nursing at the University of Texas at Austin also offers a study abroad course in Guadalajara, Mexico titled “Spanish for Health Care Professionals.” This program offers students the opportunity to practice Spanish in clinical settings. The first of the two courses is Independent Study of Nursing along with a Spanish language course. Students will take placement test to be registered in one of ten levels of Spanish instruction. In addition to the Spanish language instruction students will do research and make tours of clinics and hospitals. In the second course, “Spanish for Health Care Professionals”, students will learn vocabulary and phrases for health care settings. Although the students will not perform nursing procedures, they will observe patients in clinical settings, explore and research community resources for health, learn about Mexico’s system for health care, and examine social and cultural beliefs of Latinos.

The department of Spanish and Portuguese at the University of Texas at Austin offers a course for pre-medicine students. The title of the course is “Spanish for Health Care Professionals/Pre-Med.” This course is designed to build fluency in both written and spoken Spanish so that the future health care professional can communicate effectively with the Spanish-speaking patient who doesn’t speak English. The primary goal of this course is advanced oral proficiency. The prime objectives of the course are efficiency and clear diction. All assignments will involve translation, scholarly reading and writing in order to build vocabulary and improve reading comprehension and above all improve grammar usage. In order to develop professional speaking and writing skills the students will be given assignments that are in line with patient care. To learn more about oral proficiency take a look at http://www.laits.utexas.edu/spe/ These Spanish proficiency exercises were developed by Dr Orlando Kelm who also developed the medical Spanish program, the first in the nation, for the School of Nursing at the University Of Texas at Austin.

The textbook for this Spanish for Pre-meds course is titled “A Su Salud: Spanish for Health professionals.” The textbook is part of a multimedia package that includes the textbook and 2 DVDs and a CD-ROM and video clips to work with vocabulary and grammar and speaking and understanding and reading and writing skills. The DVDs contain a 96 minute telenovela drama so students can hear authentic Spanish spoken by native speakers in a variety of accents and learn more about the culture of their Hispanic patients.

In addition to improving and practicing the four language skills using the multimedia package, students will listen to medical tutorials and read medical literature and acquire a select medical vocabulary and construct phrases and design questions to ask patients. Students will use this medical vocabulary and phrases and questions to write an original script of a dialogue between doctor and patient. Students will also use academic Spanish to write essays relevant to medical topics and short book and movie reviews of prominent medical issues and current events that affect the medical community. This program is compatible with Blackboard and WebCT. Ancilliary materials are available at yalepress.yale.edu/salud. This multimedia package was developed by health science professionals and Spanish professors at the University of North Carolina (http://salud.unc.edu ).
The University of Texas Pan-American in Edinburg, Texas has created the first academic minor in Medical Spanish designed specifically for heritage language learners of Spanish. The instructional program aims to develop the skill sets of medical interpreting and translation and medical terminology and patient interviewing skills that future health care providers can use to improve communication with Spanish speaking patients. The curriculum is designed to raise awareness about the language issues that intersect with access to health care among Spanish speaking patients. These students will experience evidence-based learning experiences at two local community health centers. The aim is to develop a leadership for the health care professions that will increase access to health care services for Latino patients and engender excellence in the quality of services and make a positive impact on the health outcomes Latino populations.

The course Intermediate Spanish for Health professions students will improve their language skills in two different ways. They will practice the art of medical interpreting and study medical terminology in Spanish. Their general proficiency in conversational Spanish will improve with a systematic study of Spanish words and grammar. By reading cultural and scientific texts students will gain an awareness of the profound impact that language barriers play in the health of the Spanish-speaking linguistic minority in the United States. The course bibliography includes the Merck manual, a family medical encyclopedia and the PAHO’s Health in the Americas. By the end of the semester students will have at least an advanced low proficiency in conversational Spanish, be able to interpret clinical encounters, understand the basic terminology of anatomy, physiology and the structure of words including tense, mood and aspect, and have an understanding of the primary public health concerns related to language barriers and limited English proficiency. This course is also a multi-platform course that uses online instructional tools. UTPA uses the Blackboard interface for its online courses. For more information about this course and the powerpoint presentations, please go to the webpage http://portal.utpa.edu/utpa_main/daa_home/coah_home/mod_lalit/medspan_home/teachers_home/SPAN2317_home.

The Spanish department of the University of Texas Pan-American also offers a senior seminar Spanish 4348 Sociolinguistics and Latino Health. This seminar examines the relationship between language, health care, and health among Spanish speakers in the United States. Since limited English proficiency affects the access to health information this course examines measures in place to improve the transmission of health information across language boundaries. You can read about this course and view the powerpoint presentations at http://portal.utpa.edu/utpa_main/daa_home/coah_home/mod_lalit/medspan_home/teachers_home/SPAN4348_home. By the end of the semester students of the senior seminar Spanish 4348 will be required to understand the major language issues that arise in health service delivery and the impact of language diversity on the health status of the Spanish speaking minority in the United States. Students must also understand the protections and entitlements afforded to minority language speakers in the U.S. and understand the major initiatives to improve health services for LEP (limited English proficient) patients.

This course is a combined lecture and study group format and it will use online instructional technologies. Each group will explore one illness or condition that affects the Latino community. They will provide a synopsis of the biology and etiology of the illness or condition in Spanish, the epidemiology of the illness or condition, the availability of information on the illness or condition in Spanish, a survey of bilingual providers in the area that treat the illness or condition, and an assessment of the impact of information availability in Spanish on the prevalence of the illness or condition within the Spanish speaking community in the Rio Grande Valley.

The two textbooks used in this course are part of the Mexican American Experience cluster of modular texts that deal with a single topic concerning the Mexican American population. The titles used in this course are “Mexican Americans and Health: !Sana, Sana!” by Adela de la Torre and Antonio Estrada and “Mexican Americans and Language: Del dicho al hecho” by Glenn Martinez. Dr Martinez is the project manager of the Medical Spanish for Heritage Learners program at the University of Texas Pan-American located in Edinburg, Texas. For more information about this program and contact information about Dr Glenn Martinez, click the link
http://portal.utpa.edu/utpa_main/daa_home/coah_home/mod_lalit/medspan_home/contactus.

These medical Spanish programs and courses help the future health care professional to offer better service to patients. In addition to a textbook or workbook they all use today’s technology. Some courses emphasize grammar. Others require no previous knowledge of Spanish and little emphasis on grammar. One course teaches the learner how to get a one or two word response from the patient. Some of the courses teach grammar and the four language skills in order to have a conversation with the patient. And, all the programs and courses teach the specialized vocabulary of medical Spanish.

James Phillips
South Texas College
Email: phillips@southtexascollege.edu

Mexican Folk Medicine Programs

Submitted by James Phillips

are 254 counties in the state of Texas. 500,000 out of 3,000,000 of the migrants and seasonal farm workers who live in the United States reside in Texas. And, 200,000 of the 500,000 migrants and seasonal farm workers who live in Texas reside here in Hidalgo county which is located in tropical deep south Texas on the Texas/Mexico border.

The migrant health care program of South Texas College is now called “The Center of Excellence for Health Professions Development”. All the courses offer continuing education (CE) credits. The Texas Nurses Association has approved all the courses for Continuing Nursing Education (CNE). And, the Center was certified by the Texas Department of State Health Services to provide continuing education to licensed professional. You can read more about the Center at http://nah.southtexascollege.edu. Scroll down toward the bottom of the page and on the left click on “Milagros: Center of Excellence Health Professionals.”

The Center also offers several activities that include: onsite workshops, an annual conference, presentations at state and national conferences, and a web site containing a virtual library of resources (nah.southtexascollege.edu/Milagros).

The continuing education online courses are offered to healthcare and social services providers. The instruction is provided by expert professionals. The courses are delivered using Blackboard and Horizon Wimba. These are the delivery methods used by the South Texas College Distant Education Department. The curriculum in migrant health is available to all individuals or organizations using web-based online platforms.

The curriculum are adapted to a self-paced format. The course titles are 1) Culturally Competent Healthcare 2)Ethical and legal Issues in Health Care of Migrant Populations 3) Grassroots Approach to Migrants’ Health Issues 4) Health Care Alternatives Used by Special Populations 5) Introduction to Migrant Health 6) Health of the Migrant Child 7) Mental Health and the Migrant Family.

The course “Health Care Alternatives Used by Special Populations” is offered online by Loretta Ortiz y Pino, MD and Elena Avila, RN,MSN/Curandera. Loretta has her own private practice in pediatrics in rural northern New Mexico. Elena is a Psychiatric Nurse and specializes in psychotherapy. She is the author of “Woman who Glows in the Dark: A Curandera reveals Traditional Aztec Secrets of Physical and Spiritual Health.” In this course the Loretta and Elena introduce the healthcare provider to the unique health issues of migrant adults and children growing up along the US-Mexico border that use Curanderismo along side modern medicine. This courses covers the tools used in spiritual ceremonies called “limpias”, folk diseases, ways to include Curanderismo with modern medicine, and the careful investigation and analysis of the cultural practices found in Hispanic communities in order to interact with clients of Hispanic/Native American ancestry.

One of my pages is titled “El consultorio.” This is a glossary of expressions and words in Spanish pertaining to health and medicine. They were collected from recent interviews in deep south Texas and northeastern Mexico. Many are home remedies and cultural beliefs. This page can be found in the “Virtual Library” section of the Milagros Center of Excellence in Migrant Health at http://www.southtexascollege.edu/milagros/virtual_library.html
When migrants and seasonal farmworkers and other living along the border don’t have access to modern medicine they resort to remedies of curanderos.

I’ve received many responses from hospital librarians stating that the collection of expressions and words found in “el consultorio” have been very useful because often someone from this area will seek medical help at the hospitals and they will use some of the expressions and words. For example, a common expression is “sangre de change” or “monkey blood” to refer to “iodine.” Two common expressions I didn’t include yet in “El consultorio” are “ajo” or garlic and “teleraña” or cobweb. After an insect sting it’s common to rub a slice of garlic on the insect sting area to relieve the pain. And, for cuts it common to rub cobweb on the cut to stop the bleeding.

A medical librarian wrote a few years ago and asked why I was suggesting this list of remedies and why the ones who use them don’t just go to a doctor’s office or clinic to seek medical help. If migrants and seasonal farm workers and others who don’t have health insurance could afford medical care and modern medicine, they wouldn’t have to use these home remedies and folk beliefs and visits to curanderos.

There is a summer program pertaining to curanderismo at the University of New Mexico. The title of the program is “Traditional Medicine Without Borders: Curanderismo in the Southwest and Mexico.” The instructor is Dr Eliseo “Cheo” Torres. Dr Torres is the Vice President of Student Affairs at the University of New Mexico. This summer course provides information on the history, traditions, rituals, herbs, and remedies of a folk healing tradition called Curanderismo that is used in the Southwest United Sates and Mexico. The required texts are “Curandero: A life in Mexican Folk Healing” and “Healing with Herbs and Rituals: A Mexican Tradition” which were written by Dr Eliseo Torres and “Woman Who Glows in the Dark” which was written by same Elena Avila who is one of the instructors of the online course offered by the Center of excellence at South Texas College.



This two week course allows students to share knowledge about the art and science of healing. The students include traditional healers of all backgrounds, western medicine practitioners and members of the public. At the 7th UNM summer Curanderismo Progam about 20 of the students are curanderos who come from Mexico. They also share their skills and knowledge. Elena Avila, RN, who lives in Albuquerque conducted a class in psychic healing. Other classes demonstrated energetic healing methods. A physician made a presentation on healing through ceremony. Local healers demonstrated holistic, traditional and integrative medicine. And, a Bolivian botanist gave a presentation on growing medicinal plants. You can read more about this summer program of curanderismo online at http://www.unm.edu/~market/cgi-bin/archives/003068.html and http://www.unm.edu/~ovpsa/curanderismo.html.

A note from the author: Dr Eliseo “Cheo” Torres is a friend and former college classmate. I invited him to the Nursing and Allied Health campus of South Texas College at the end of March. The title of his presentation was “Mexican Folk Medicine and Folk Beliefs: Curanderismo y yerbas medicinales”. The presentation begins with a definition of curanderismo along with its history and historical and geographic influences. He elaborates on the three levels of curanderismo: material and spiritual and mental. Eliseo mentioned several herbs and popular plants and showed examples and explained their uses. Then, he covered candle rituals and massage therapy and different folk beliefs. A few of the common folk beliefs mentioned were “mal de ojo” and “susto”. In addition to giving details of the UNM summer Curanderismo Program Eliseo finishes his presentation by metioning the three great curanderos: Dom Pedrito Jaramillo and Teresita and Niño Fidencio; and several modern curanderos. And, at the end of his presentation he asked students to come on stage and look at the examples he displayed for the presentation.



He gave permission to place his power point presentation on our school’s web page so that students and faculty could make handout copies of the power point presentation. You can view the short power point presentation by going to http://nah.southtexascollege.edu/ and scroll down to the bottom left hand side and click on “Mexican folk medicine and folk beliefs presentation.”



James Phillips
South Texas College
Email: phillips@southtexascollege.edu