So after my mother-in-law’s death (See On Life and Liberty), I went for my third time to visit Chencha.
My husband and I arrived at 6:30 and waited until nearly 9 a.m. but we were the first two of the day. My husband went first. He asked about his work opportunities and his mother’s wallet. His egg came back slightly salted, nothing compared to the last time. And Chencha said after this cleaning (3 limpiezas) he should have more options in the way of work. Why he asked about the wallet is beyond me. We already knew that it wasn’t lost at the accident as it turned up later with all the identification, minus the cash of course. Chencha said that the wallet was taken at the hospital when my mother-in-law’s clothes were changed. Again, my sister-in-law L changed her clothes, not the nurses, so it’s obvious to me who emptied that wallet. It’s not important anymore because the money is gone. Chencha went on to say that his mother’s shadow will continue to be with her children until they realize that there isn’t anything they can do for her. There isn’t a way to bring her back, so they need to let her go. She suggested that the family go to Derechos Humanos (The office for Human Rights) in Celaya. I’m not sure if she saw that in that cards or was just giving some advice there, but it seems to be a good idea as there will be no justice here in Moroleón.
Candles are lit at the beginning of a cleansing period.
Chencha sold him a candle, la Divina Providencia, (The Divine Providence) and some double luck bath oils. Card Reading $50, Cleansing $50, Candle $40, Bath oils $100. ChanChing! My husband was supposed to mop the house with the bath water and then wash his hands with the little soap afterward. The candle was lit that evening and stayed lit until it burns out. (Get your own candle here Divine Providence (Divina Providencia)
Then it was my turn. She read the cards and said I will live a long time, that I was a good person but I get no credit or assistance of any kind for my efforts, and that I was very intelligent, however, everything that I tried this year had been a complete failure. Every business I started, after just a short time, closed. Then I start another one, and the same thing happens. (Which is true–Taco Express, the Crap shop, my teaching job at the school, and even my private classes had dramatically dropped off.) This is due, she assured me, not to any lack on my part, but that fact that someone was employing black magic against me for a task that I have that is only half complete. She said that I feel a little depressed and alone and frustrated, but that I have many ideas left to try. She told me twice not to lend money to ANYONE because I won’t get it back. I took this to mean my husband as well. She said the legal issue that involved me must be finished, that it will turn out for the benefit of many people, not just me. Of course, I expect this meant the lawsuit with Chuchi since if we win, more than 500 people will benefit and I may yet get electricity. (See Demanda 1 and Demanda 2) She encouraged me not give up, that this can be overcome, that I’ve suffered much since coming to México, but there was a purpose.
She sold me the same bath oils as my husband but not to mop the floor with them. I was to use a green cloth with the bath oils for money and a red cloth for personal relationships, wiping me and anything else that I wanted to have better luck with (like my wallet, my computer, my family etc.) Then she sold me an aromatherapy spray to counteract the black magic. She then told me to buy 2 prayer booklets, El Niño de Atocha and La Divina Providencia and to do both prayers nightly. They were novenas, 9-day prayers, similar to the prayers for the dead we had for my mother-in-law, (See La Novena) however La Divina Providencia is to help with finances and El Niño de Atocha is for a specific request. The spray also has a nice prayer where not just the user but all humans are included in the benefits requested.
Prayers to el niño de Atocha are made when a particular result is desired. The outcome you wish is included right in the novena session.
The bath oils started on Monday, but the prayers and spray were for that evening. I tried to talk to my husband about this and he got angry and said that my things were for me and his things were for him and nary the two shall mix. I showed him that the novena (prayer) I had was for the candle he had and that we both had the same bath oils. I tried to convince him using an example of 2 burros in the field. If one burro goes in one direction and the other burro goes in the other direction the field will never get plowed. That, I said, was how we had been working. If we want to improve our finances as a family we had to work together. Then he said that he couldn’t work with me because we had different ideas. And I went back to the burro parable. Finally, he gave in and said maybe it would be ok for him to listen to the prayers, which are more like a little bible reading since I don’t know the hail Mary’s or ritual stuff. The first night’s reading was about the fish and the loaves that miraculously fed thousands, (Matthew 15: 32-38) which I thought very apt since my little bitty salary often was used to feed not just the 3 of us, but also my father-in-law and my 3 brother-in-laws that live in La Yacata since the death of my mother-in-law. She had been the breadwinner in her household.
Prayers to la divina providencia are made for financial favors with special emphasis on receiving each day our daily bread.
We went again that Friday for a cleansing, which involved a little prayer for our continued existence, some herb branches swished about and the bad humors drawn out into an egg. And that is that.
This time, my father-in-law also went to see Chencha. She told him that he was being blamed for everything, but that he should fight this. She also told him that the accident was not an accident but had been provoked by a woman with long curly black hair who wore large earrings and had eaten at his table. He believes it might be a woman named Rosa from Cerano who bought a lot in La Yacata behind them. Perhaps envy sparked this “spell”. Chencha claims that this woman is now sorry to have done this thing, but it was a little late for sorries.
Five cleansings in and my father-in-law and my husband had clean, full eggs were ready to be “crossed” the next session, while my egg was still in pieces. Chencha gave my husband an amulet, a silver coin of no particular value, that if it turned brown indicated that someone was performing black magic against him.
I, however, was still embrujada (bewitched). The next cleansing came after the unexpected death of my friend el Maestro which affected me quite a bit. I asked if she would read the cards again, and she said that my husband was making my life very difficult in México and bad decisions. (This after a weekend where the police stopped him and relieved him of all the money he had earned during the week.) She told me not to give up and shook my hand, which I don’t ever remember her doing.
Finally, my egg came back clean, but things had already been starting to go my way. I had found some other classes and was feeling a bit better about life. She gave me an amulet to keep in my wallet full of stones to help with my finances.
I can’t say whether it was the cleansing or that the evil spell just ended of its own accord. Sometimes it just may be that we need someone else to tell us that it will be ok, to just hang in there. And so the curandera does have a place in this world I live in. Although I hope that I will not be in need of her services again anytime soon.
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With the number of visits we had to make to the hospital in order to get a prescription refill (See Seguro Popular—A model of inefficiency) it was no big surprise that we picked up a stomach bug and brought it home. My husband and I just felt a little under the weather for a few days, but my son ended up with the works, aches and pains, fever, vomiting, diarrhea and headache.
Being a champ, he complained a bit, but grimly went to school. However, about an hour later, he called to say that he wanted to be picked up as he had vomited all over his uniform.
When he was tucked into bed, I went to talk to my sister-in-law up the hill. I told her about my son’s unfortunate episode at school and immediately she yanked up a plant root and all, from the side of the road next to the house. She told me to make a tea from the root of this plant, she called lentejilla, to help with an upset stomach.
The root of this small plant is a bit stringy and smells sort of like a radish. I washed the root and set it to boil with just a little bit of water. My son did not want to drink it. He said it tasted terrible. So I had a sip. I admit it wasn’t sweet, but it wasn’t terrible. It had an herby, rooty taste. My husband told him he was going to drink it and that was that. The cup was empty in no time and back to bed, he went. He had a second cup in the morning, despite his protests of being “fine now”.
Although he still felt weak for the next 2 or three days, there was no more vomiting or diarrhea. Yeah, another herbal cure!
So what is lentejilla? It grows wild all over La Yacata and I had never paid it any attention before. It grows mostly in areas that had been formerly cultivated, but now are abandoned; hence it’s profligacy in La Yacata. It is a small green plant with tiny flat, oval leaves and grows little white flowers. I was unable to find any information about it in my Antiguo Recetario Medicional Azteca book, but it may be there just listed under a different name.
In Náhuatl, this herb is called chilacaquilitl or mexixi, in Mazahua it is yo-hi and in Mayan called x-cabal pul. It is also known as lentejuela, pierna de vieja, kuitiski, meshishi, yuku kue eni, lipajna shla, kabal puut or tskam utsun. Botanically it is either Lepidium intermedium Gray or Lepidium apetalum Millar. It is also called Peppergrass.
No matter what it might be named, it is a useful herb to have around.
Surviving Mexico 