Limpia

The limpia is the working centre of curanderismo and of much Latin American folk healing besides: a cleansing passed over the body to take off what has settled on a person - susto, mal de ojo, envy, a heavy run of luck. It is done with an egg, a lemon, a handful of herbs, a bundle of branches or a live animal in some regional forms, and it is followed by a reading of what the instrument has absorbed. It has close relatives in Cuban despojo and in the Afro-diasporic bath.

The curandera passes the instrument over the patient's body - head to feet, in strokes, often with prayers - while the patient stands or lies; the egg may be rubbed over the joints and the head, or the herb bundle swept down the body and out through the hands and feet. Afterwards the instrument is broken into a glass of water and read, and its appearance is taken to show what the condition was, whether it was taken off, and what else needs doing; the remains are disposed of outside the house, and the patient is given herbs, rest and instructions.

The limpia is a healing act performed by a person recognised by the community as having the gift, and its authority is not transferable to a reader of books. It is also an act of touch on a patient's body, with its own rules about modesty, consent and who may treat whom, and a curandera who breaks those rules loses standing. The egg and herb forms are widely taught in books and workshops now; the practice that the tradition recognises is the one done under a curandera's judgement, with the reading that follows.