curandero

[ koo-rahn-de-raw; English koor-uhn-dair-oh ]

noun

, Spanish.

, plural cu·ran·de·ros [koo-, r, ahn-, de, -, r, aws, k, oo, r-, uh, n-, dair, -ohz].

1. a folk healer or medicine man who uses herbs or hallucinogenic plants, magic, and spiritualism to treat illness, induce visions, impart traditional wisdom, etc.

Example Sentences

April Mayes: “We need more professional, trained, educated people now we're going to call doctors instead of the curanderas and the curanderos.”

From Scientific American

It wasn’t until her 40s that she was ready to begin her apprenticeship with a curandero in Tecate, Baja California, and understand how to heal a whole person.

From Los Angeles Times

The contents of Abuelita’s bulto looked like it may have belonged to El Niño Fidencio, the famous curandero of olden times, and I watched in awe as she sorted the ingredients for Pita’s treatment.

From Literature

Ingrid Rojas Contreras goes on to explore her family’s history as curanderos — South American shamans like her grandfather, whose bones the family decides to disinter in accordance with his spectral request.

From Los Angeles Times

When I told Colombians and other South Americans that my grandfather was a curandero, I often received a story back: “Oh, my grandma used to say this,” or “In my family we do this.”

From Los Angeles Times