Celebrating 100 Years of the Texas Folklore Society, 1909-2009 Page: 291
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MEXI CAN AND MEXI CAN-AMERI CAN FOLK
HEALERS: CONTINUING TO NOURISH OUR
SENSE OF HUMANITY INTO THE TWENTY-
FIRST CENTURY
by Meredith E. Abarca
Traditional holistic healers guide their lives by four principles: faith,
compassion, respect, and reciprocity. According to folklorist John
O. West, these same values are embedded in all aspects of folldore
and folk life. Yet, because many people in our society are suffering
from sustos, these concepts are disappearing into oblivion. Susto lit-
erally means "fright." Susto "occurs when a person has experienced
an emotional shock, an accident or a great fear."1 In its more severe
cases, susto manifests itself in soul loss, "a state in which we ... feel
that 'something is missing' because our spirit, the energetic aura
that surrounds us, has been violated."2 Susto, therefore, is a form of
imbalance that causes physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual ill-
nesses. A society populated with individuals suffering from susto can
diminish our sense of humanity.3
Within Mexican and Mexican-American folk healing traditions,
a susto is combated with a limpia, "cleansing where the body, mind
and spirit are brought into balance, as the negative is removed and
replaced with that which is healthy. "4 Holistic healers strive to
bring into balance the entity of our total being. Through their
limpias, we can claim our humanity and enrich our soul. We can
also obtain a limpia through the power of inspiration. Reading
about people's life stories has the power to awaken the desire to
strive for a healthy, balanced life and a stronger sense of humanity.
For example, one of my students, after reading Lucy Fischer West's
A Child of Many Rivers, wrote in his journal that he felt blessed,
inspired, and hopeful to know that ordinary people can do extraor-
dinary things for their community.5 Perhaps, reading about the
lives of holistic healers and understanding that being physically,29I
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Texas Folklore Society. Celebrating 100 Years of the Texas Folklore Society, 1909-2009, book, December 15, 2009; Denton, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc271470/m1/304/?rotate=90: accessed July 16, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting UNT Press.