Mesoamerican Indigenous Healing Trip
The World Indigenous Wisdom Traditions Emphasis
and the Office of Diversity at ITP
Unite with Mexican Curanderos (Healers)
To Present an Intensive Experiential Opportunity in
Traditional Mesoamerican
Indigenous Healing in Mexico
August 1 – 10th, 2005
Program Purpose and Outline:
This seminar will focus on practical, hands-on techniques and philosophical knowledge of healing used by ancestral indigenous groups of Mexico. These practices cultivate and restore the natural balance of the mind, body, Spirit, and heart through the applied understanding of indigenous cosmovision. Indigenous healing techniques have long been practiced throughout Mexico by native healers and mixed blood – Mestizos. Today this approach to healing is finding increasing recognition across an ever-widening spectrum of social, ethnic and geographic environments. It is grounded in a deep knowledge of the body’s underlying structure; the ways in which bones, muscles and tendons are connected to various illnesses, and the relationship between disease and unresolved emotional and spiritual pain.
Because traditional healing techniques are rooted in the indigenous cosmovision, our skill in applying them develops as we increase in our understanding of our relationship with the cosmos. In this seminar, we will explore that cosmovision, particularly those aspects which relate to the physical body and the role our body plays as a microcosm of the cosmos. We will learn about ollin (Spirit of Movement), one of the foundations of this worldview, and how it applies to the body and to healing. Our connecting joints function as doorways for energetic currents and we will learn how indigenous healers work with these doorways and currents. Because humans are as much a part of our environment as cells are part of the body, indigenous healers have long understood that there are consequences when we become disconnected from the whole.
In this seminar we will look at some of these causes and effects, including the relationship between the agricultural cycle and various physical and spiritual ailments both of past generations and today. The concept of duality, or polarity, is another foundation of the indigenous cosmovision. In this seminar we will learn how duality expresses in the body in the polarities of hot and cold, feminine and masculine, open and closed, and we will apply this learning through practice in closing areas of the body such as the joints of the hips, back, hands and feet. Native healers recognize the pulse as the energetic center of life. In this seminar we will learn about specific mechanisms through which old emotions often stagnate in the center of the body and how the pulse diffuses around the stomach. We will also learn how to bring the pulse back to its natural place and to a regular rhythm. The integration of duality, Ometeotl, is a central principle of this worldview. In this seminar, we will discuss how to live a balanced and integrated life according to this worldview.
Through a variety of experiences we will sense and feel into the body, learning to recognize polarities and the ollin within ourselves and others. We will learn about our energy blockages and how to neutralize them, feeling into both our body’s innate healing potential and our own barriers to healing. We will learn how to neutralize the body’s flows of negative energy and increase positive energy, using imagery, to live in accordance with Ometeotl. Through breathing exercises we will explore and learn to identify areas of the body that relate with the ollin, to recognize and work with information received through our senses and from the body, and how to listen for the messages of the winds, los aires (similar to elemental energies), that travel through the breath. On the practical side, participants will learn what goes into preparing oneself to do healing work; how to protect oneself and their clients from emotional distress and “winds” that may emerge through the healing process, and how to apply knowledge about the element of movement in the body to increase various means of moving energy and releasing pain.
Coordinators in Mexico: Estela Roman, Curandera, estelaroman@hotmail.com, and Asarel Vazquez; coordinator in the U.S.: Rosalva Vega Vargas, ITP faculty, (650) 493-4430, ext. 22, rvargas@itp.edu. Please contact Rosalva to reserve a space. Space is limited to 12 people. Interested individuals will be interviewed by Rosalva for preparation for this seminar. Note that this is a sacred/transformative experience – spiritual preparation is necessary.
Traditional Mesoamerican indigenous healers and teachers include: Vicenta Villalba, Dora Diaz, Ofelia Hernandez, Romulo Vera, Vicenta Villalba, Estela Roman, Maria de Jesus Valencia, Ruth Castaneda, Martin Guerrero, Dario Guerrero, y Enriqueta Contreras
Estimated costs: 1) seminar fee $450.00, 2) air fare $400.00, 3) housing & food $150.00, 4) ground transportation $100.00, total $1,100.00. A deposit of $100.00 is requested by July 10th, 2005. The deposit will be collected by Rosalva, which then will be sent to Estela Roman (note: your check should be made out to Estela Roman). Room and board will be provided by members of the community. Individual sessions with the healers and teachers are also available for a donation.
Itinerary (may be subject to change – modifications will be disseminated to participants):
Sat. – Mon., August 1st, arrival flight to Mexico City, depart by bus to Cuernavaca, Mexico. Note that classes start at 10:00 a.m. – students are expected to arrive at Estela’s house by 9:00 a.m. for spiritual preparation for class (i.e., smudging, meditation, etc.).
Tuesday, August 2nd, time: 10:00 – 2:00 p.m. (bring journal, art paper, color pencils, a snack such as a power bar, and water)
Teachers: Estela Roman and Dario Guerrero.
Topics: Introduction to concepts of indigenous Mesoamerican cosmovision in Mexico. The philosophy behind our healing process, recognizing the healers in ourselves and others. Developing our strength and power for healing, the ethics of healing, respect and protection of indigenous knowledge, and protection of self. Time for questions.
2 – 4:00 p.m. – lunch at Estela’s
4 – 6:00 p.m. – Talk with Dario Guerrero – Mesoamerican cosmovision and art. Creative expression piece on our cosmovision and group sharing.
6:00 p.m. and on – free time
Wednesday, August 3rd, all day (bring 2 towels, extra clothes, flower, food, or incense offering, plenty of drinking water)
Topics and experiential: The Mexican sweatlodge, Temescal, and Mesoamerican indigenous cosmovision, the power of “La Palabra” (the spoken word) and vibration, medicinal plants and healing
Thursday, August 4th, all day with a lunch break (bring offering for the elders, journal, water, and a snack)
Teachers: Ofelia Hernandez, Estela Roman, & Ruth Castaneda
Topics: traditional healing massage, the power of our hands, the mind and the spirit in the healing process & the “limpia” (energy extraction)
2:00 – 4:00 p.m. lunch at Estela’s
4:00 – 6:00 p.m. practice and applications
6:00 p.m. on free time
Friday, August 5th, all day with a lunch break (bring an appetite & instrument/songs)
Teachers: Estela Roman’s family
Topics and experiential: traditional foods and their healing powers, aromas and colors, the art of preparation, feasting, & celebration with music and song
Note: Meet at Estela’s house at 7:00 a.m., travel to “El Mercado” (the market) then back to Estela’s for cooking
Saturday, August 6th, 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. (bring an offering for the elder, journal, water, and snack)
Teacher: Dona Cucha
Topics: Interpretation of two main aliments that separate our soul from our body: “susto” (fear/trauma) and “espanto” (fright) and how to heal from them, calling our souls back or soul retrieval
2:00 – 4:00 p.m. lunch at Estela’s
4:00 – 6:00 p.m. practice & applications
6:00 p.m. on free time
Sunday, August 7th, all day (bring an offering for the elder, journal, camera, water, snack)
Teacher: Dona Vicenta
Field trip to Amatlan de Quetzalcoatl & walk to the sacred ruins & mountain of Tepoztlan (main meal to be eaten at a local restaurant)
Topics: traditional herbs and healing, drawing energy & vision from sacred sites
Alternate field trip for Sunday, August 7th (for advanced students – to be determined by Estela Roman)
Teacher: Dona Queta Contreras
Field trip to Oaxaca to meet and learn from this elder & healer about traditional healingMonday, August 8th, 10:00 a.m. – 2:00 p.m. (bring an offering for the elder, journal, water, & snack)
Teacher: Dora Diaz
Topics: Using the agricultural calendar in the healing process, the role of “La Danza Azteca” (indigenous dancing) in healing
Experiential: Sweatlodge in the evening
Tuesday, August 9th, 10:00 a.m. – 2:00 p.m. (bring an offering for the elders, journal, water, & snack)
Teachers: Don Romulo & Don Martin
Topics: the role of dreams in healing, using hands and plants for healing, & massage
2:00 – 4:00 p.m. lunch at Estela’s
4:00 – 6:00 p.m. – practice and applications
Wednesday, August 10th, 10:00 a.m. – 2:00 p.m. (bring an offering for the teacher, journal, water, & light lunch)
Teacher: Estela Roman
9:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m.: Fieldtrip to Xochitlcalco, Mexico to learn about traditional healing in sacred spaces. Xochitlcalco is a sacred site honoring the Spirit of Quetzalcoatl.
2:00 – 6:00 pm.: at Estela’s house - integration of teachings and practices, discussion & review of the spoken words of the elders and teachers, closing ceremony
