10/3: Cuenca, Ecuador: Medicine Women or Faith Healers?

Earlier on October 3rd, Steven and I had gone on one of our most exciting and challenging treks ever, trekking for several hours at an altitude of 12,500 ft in El Cajas National Park, near Cuenca, Ecuador. The hike was led by Milton, undoubtedly one of the most knowledgeable and fascinating guides one could ever hope for. Nadine and Oliver, two friends from Luxembourg, rounded out the small group.

During the hike, Milton had explained that twenty percent of the people in Ecuador were indigenous and many believed in the power of special spirits. Milton was  not indigenous but had come to believe that some people had certain powers. He told us one of the most interesting stories we’d heard in a long time. He related how his young son had gotten sick and both he and his wife could do nothing to alleviate his crying and fussiness. His granny was there visiting and offered to help as long as Milton agreed to pay her for performing a purification ritual on her great-grandson. Milton related how he was incredulous that his own granny would charge him and his wife but she maintained that she needed to be paid in order for their son to be healed.

Milton explained the 'healing' or cleansing or purification ritual involved picking a certain plant, brushing it repeatedly over the boy's head, back and tummy. Then she opened up an egg into a glass half full of water and peered at the shape of the egg. Because the egg was seen as the devil’s eye, Milton's granny was able to tell how their son might be. After making a sign of the cross while touching the top of the boy’s head, back and belly button, she then took a small swig of alcohol and spat on the boy’s face. 

Milton, who had been a non-believer in the ways of certain women who had special powers, said that his son immediately stopped crying after the ritual and began walking around again, evidently feeling fine. He and his wife now take their son twice a month to the ‘medicine women’ in Cuenca's market for preventative reasons as his granny only visits infrequently. Milton told us that we could all see the purification ritual taking place at one of the markets in town after our hike if we liked. We unanimously said we would enjoy that so we were dropped off at the market after the hike so we could watch the ceremony for ourselves.

 

I struggled writing the following description because of not knowing the correct terms to use. I don’t know whether the women providing assistance were or would consider themselves to be ‘medicine women’ or 'faith healers' or what exactly. Not knowing, I have used those terms interchangeably and hope that they are not offensive.

 

The Mercado 10 de Agosto was pretty large so we had difficulty finding the women until one of us remembered Milton having said the women would be under the staircases. We saw about 15 women, two groups of about eight under each staircase and just a few feet away from each other with each woman sitting on low stools. 

Most of them were busy with ‘clients’ working cheek by jowl, i.e. with no space in between the women and the clients for lack of a better word. I didn’t know where to look because so much was happening in front of us. I could only think it would be like having front row seats at a live theater performance where there are ten stages and the actors were simultaneously performing the same show but acting different scenes in it!

I had incorrectly assumed that only children would be the ones receiving aid from the faith healers because Milton had told us how his son was helped. However, we saw a number of men and women seeking solace although most of the clients were indeed children.

My eyes kept flitting back and forth among the faith healers and their clients as I didn’t want to miss a thing. However, I realized soon that I wasn’t getting a sense of the interaction between one healer and one client.

The four of us watched in absolute fascination as the faith healer 'hit' the woman for a good five minutes with about two-foot long leaves all over her body.

It was clear the leaves didn't hurt as the client only squirmed as the leaves were brushed all over.

Then the medicine woman rubbed an egg all over her.

Next the faith healer broke that same egg into a glass that was half full with water. The woman peered into it, reading it as if it were like tea leaves, so she could tell her client important information about what was contained in the egg and water mixture.

Clearly this wasn't the place to be if you were modest.

The faith healer then drank some spirits and spat some of it all over the young woman’s face and body. 

The faith healer then made a sign of the cross on the young woman's forehead, back and tummy. That concluded the cleansing or ritual. The same process and order of it was repeated with each client and each healer.

We noticed that the woman in red was the only one who talked to each parent the entire time the procedure was taking place. I wished I could have been a fly on the wall and understood what she was saying.

I found it interesting that one of the women performed the entire ritual while talking on the phone a good chunk of the time.

There was a steady stream of clients wanting or needing their services either for themselves or, more commonly, for their children. I was amazed that only one child seemed to have a tough time with any part of the long procedure and we must have stood there watching for close to an hour.

A photo of Nadine watching the cleansing ritual taking place.

We were all asked if we wanted to be cleansed or purified but we each said no, preferring to be gawkers rather than participants.

Other photos of the faith healers:

After watching the rituals with such fascination, I had so many questions: What did the women’s training consist of that enabled them to be regarded as ‘healers?’ Were they ‘chosen’ or selected to be healers or was it something they chose? Why were a few of the women particularly sought out by some clients as opposed to others? What did they charge or was the service done on a donation basis? How often do clients bring their children for the healings? were the rituals unique to Cuenca or did they take place in other cities across Ecuador, I wondered?

I could have continued watching the rituals for a lot longer but I think as it was, we stood pretty glued to our spots for close to an hour. I found the ceremony or ritual so intriguing because it was totally different from anything we’ve ever come across before.

The four of us strolled around the rest of the market for a bit but certainly nothing came close to capturing our interest for long.

I thought Steven looked very dapper in his 'Panama hat!'

Since none of us had been able to see the Catedral Vieja in Parque Calderon yet, we walked the few blocks there next. We hadn’t realized until then it was not a working church and that there was an admission fee because it was now the Museum of Religious Art.

I read that during the colonial period the church was known as the 'Parish of the Spaniards' as it was reserved for the people of Spain. The locals had to stay outside or worship in other places.  

In 1880 the construction of the New Cathedral began and with its consecration, the Old Cathedral ceased to be used for regular services. 

This chapel was built under the patronage of Benito Mendana who donated the best house in town to the Monastery of the Immaculate Conception in 1568. The altar was painted and gilded in 1868. The walls were bleached in 1930. 

This gorgeous chapel was built in 1573 under the patronage of Guillermo de Hernandez who belonged to a wealthy family who owned flour mills. It was consecrated to Our Lady of Sorrows in the 19th century.

The chapel's ceiling was particularly lovely.

 The Virgin with the Children fresco was painted in the 16th century.

It was sad to read that during the 1940s when the entire church was repainted with industrial paint, the beauty of the original decorations were hidden. The doors to the cathedral were closed in 1981 which contributed to the acceleration in the church's deterioration. Thankfully, restoration of the Old Cathedral was begun in 1999 as the Museum of Religious Art was a great addition to Cuenca.

Before saying goodbye to Nadine and Oliver after visiting the Old Cathedral, we made plans to meet in the morning to tour a couple of neighboring towns. On the way back to our hotel, we stopped at Cuenca's other market, the August 19th Market. I wondered why the city's markets were named after specific dates.

The market was pretty busy, not surprising given the approaching dinner hour.

Wish I knew what these were as we've also been seeing them here in Peru, too.

This couple was praying in front of the shrine located near the building's exit. I don't recall seeing a shrine inside a market building before.

We reached our hotel at 6 just seconds after the rain started. What perfect timing! We were both pleasantly tired after the long hike but not exhausted as we'd feared.

Next post: Riding the buses!

Posted on October 27th, 2017 from Cusco, Peru.