Knowledge Share Description

For the past five hundred years, the practice of traditional Mexican medicine, or curanderismo, has been integral to people’s resilience & survival in the face of colonization. Today, many of the practices of curanderismo continue to be supportive to help us navigate the impact of stress and trauma in our bodies, hearts, and spirits.

This class will cover a brief history of Mexican curanderismo and introduce some of the ancestral cosmovision that informs our cultural healing practices. We will talk about susto (shock, fear, trauma) from a perspective of curanderismo. We will learn ways to treat susto and other strong emotions with herbal medicine, baños (herbal baths) and limpias (spiritual cleansings). During class participants will be guided through their own self-limpia ceremony.

Participants will learn:

• History of curanderismo & the role of the curanderx in today’s world

• Herbs used traditionally in curanderismo for spiritual cleansing

• How to prepare an herbal baño

• How to perform a self-limpia ceremony

Cost

$35 - low income

$50 - standard

$75 - pay-it-forward (if you have financial abundance, this is our pay-it-forward option to fund our full tuition scholarships)

The zoom link will be sent upon registration. Recording will be available for 30 days.

Please apply here for a scholarship.

Accessibility Information

*ASR (automated) captioning provided

Virtual Gathering

Zoom link will be sent out via email upon registration

5:00pm - 7:00pm Eastern Standard Time

Class will be recorded and available for 30 days.

Facilitator

Atava Garcia Swiecicki, MA, RH (AHG) is the author of The Curanderx Toolkit: Reclaiming Ancestral Latinx Plant Medicine and Rituals for Healing. She is guided by her dreams, the plants, and her Mexican, Polish, Hungarian and Diné ancestors. Atava has studied healing arts extensively for over thirty years and has been mentored by herbalists, curanderas and traditional knowledge keepers. She works as a clinical herbalist, curanderx, and teacher and is passionate about supporting others to connect with plants and their ancestral medicine. For most of her life Atava was planted in Huchiun (Oakland, CA,) where she ran an herb school, organized free clinics and enjoyed being part of a thriving community of curanderx. She is currently living with her wife and cat in Tewa Pueblo territory (Albuquerque, New Mexico) where she is learning how to grow food and medicine in the high desert. IG: @curanderxtoolkit