Ayahuasqueros and Curanderos

 For our last set of readings from A History of Magic: Witchcraft and the Occult, I was drawn to the page that discussed curanderos and ayahuasqua healing (pg. 283). Not only was the artwork visually intriguing, but these were terms I was familiar with.

I am an avid podcast listener, and one of the podcasts I have been listening to is called Mile Higher. Nowadays, they primarily cover true crime cases and deep dive into those. However, a few years back, the podcast focused more on conspiracy theories, natural healing, and vice/fringe topics. I vividly remember one of the hosts, Kendall, speaking about her experience living with severe depression and anxiety, and how ketamine therapy helped her transform her life. I found this interesting, as the only content I had heard of ketamine being used was for illicit activities. I was also a fan of watching Vice News at the time, a media outlet that (surprise) covers the vice side of society. In the podcast, the second host, Josh, also spoke about his interest in trying ayahuasca and going to a healer in Central America. He spoke about how people’s lives were changed after doing ayahuasca, almost as if their third eye had been opened. It allegedly helps people uncover past trauma or hardship to become to best, most self-actualized version of themself. However, his wife and co-host Kendall shared the possible risks of taking ayahuasca, such as disassociating, becoming physically ill, and not being able to reconcile with reality. Needless to say, she never let him go on an ayahuasca healing journey.

Additionally, I have also heard of curanderos before. My mom grew up in rural Zacatecas, a landlocked state in Mexico. She has told me many stories of her upbringing, one of them being about a curandera that lived in her neighborhood. Being that she grew up in a strict catholic household, she was advised to never approach this woman's house or look in her eyes. She lived by herself and would frequently roam the streets claiming that she could help heal people of their ailments. They would also call her a bruja (a witch), which (can) unfortunately have derogatory undertones in Spanish.

Seeing this section in the book peaked my interest to learn more about this portion of society. To expand my knowledge, I watched a documentary on YouTube titled “Curanderos”.

In the first five minutes of the film, the interviewer asks a student healer to define what ayahuasca is. The student struggles to answer this simple question because, to him, it is impossible to simply define what this plant is capable of. After chuckling at the question, he responds, “it's a plant, a vine called ayahuasca… it's a very powerful medicine, they call it here. Yes, it is a medicine”. He then describes it as a tool that can be used for both good and evil. When the interviewer asks how one can determine who is a real curandero versus a charlatan, the man says to use your intuition. 

The documentary then interviews a healer who has been using ayahuasca for decades, named Don Ignacio. He describes the visions one sees when they are on the drug, and how these have meanings/lessons to teach you. It seems as though he feels this plant gives him secret/sacred knowledge about the earth. 

What I found interesting was how ayahuasca and other drugs are being studied in Europe for their ability to alter human consciousness. The researcher suggests that these psychedelics simply make people more impressionable, and that's why it is needed for a healer to be present for these drugs to have their desired effect. I find it interesting that curanderos hold centuries of passed-down knowledge, but for some reason, it is more acceptable in our society to listen to this new-age scientific research on the drug and take that as fact. It is deemed more reasonable to write off the plant as a hoax rather than to accept the centuries of people's lived experience using this plant. With that being said, I do think it is important to point out the risks of using psychedelics improperly. These drugs seem to be powerful, so they should be taken seriously and with care.