Mom was Wrong...So was Carlos

Sorry Mom. Sorry Carlos.

I've been having trouble sleeping and bad dreams for the past four or five months. I am convinced that it's because of the medication that I'm on for my thyroid, though my research on the meds has only turned up muscle fatigue as a common side effect, not nightmares. Both Mom and Carlos had suggested (repeatedly) that the only solution is to visit the curandera.

Yesterday I finally went to the curandera. A curandera is like a witch doctor. They are all female and trained by their mothers and grandmothers, etc. Mom and I had gone when she visited in July, so the photos of the process are going to be the ones that I took of her.

First, the curandera puts together a bouquet of flowers, herbs, leaves, and branches. Then she bruises and crushes them to release the aroma and shoves it in your face for you to inhale.


Then, she hits you with the bouquet for about five minutes while repeating "chuka, chuka, chuka..." to get rid of your evil spirits.


Next comes the egg, which is rubbed all over your body to see what is bothering you. This part can be dangerous. The day I went with Mom the curandera squeezed the egg a bit too hard while rubbing my back and I ended up with yolk in my pants.


But most of the time this does not happen and after being rubbed with the egg, it is broken into a plastic bag and is "read," i.e., checked to see if the bad energy has been absorbed.


Finally, the curandera spritzes you with some sort of holy water/alcohol and puts ash crosses on your forehead, stomach, and back to protect you against other evil spirits.


Now, the reason that Mom was wrong, and Carlos too, was that last night, after my visit to the curandera, I had one of the worst nightmares ever. I was almost crying when I woke up and had no idea what was real and what was a dream.

The thing that confuses me the most about Mom's and Carlos's unwavering belief in the curandera is that they are both scientists. I understand a holistic approach to medicine and the power of plants and herbs, but I really don't see how the "chuka, chuka, chucka..." repetitions and the ash cross will help me.

But then again, the meds I'm on now aren't really helping either.