Types of Healers and Practices

Curandería/Curanderismo: A folk healing system that has its roots in Indigenous and African traditions.

Curanderos/as: Healers who use a combination of herbal remedies, spiritual rituals, and folk medicine (Curandería) to address a range of physical and spiritual ailments

Divinations: Spiritual practices used to gain insight, guidance, or knowledge about a person’s life, future events, or hidden truths. Common forms include reading tarot cards, interpreting dreams, using shells, bones, or reading patterns in natural elements like smoke or water. In many traditions, divination is performed by trained spiritual practitioners who act as intermediaries between the physical and spiritual realms.

Herbalists: practitioners who use plants and herbs to treat physical ailments, such as teas. 

Limpias (spiritual cleanses): Rituals used in many Latin American cultures to remove negative energy, spiritual blockages, or emotional distress. They often involve the use of eggs, herbs (such as rosemary or rue), incense, and prayers. Limpias are performed by curanderos/as or family members and are believed to restore balance and harmony to the body, mind, and spirit.

Santería: An Afro-Cuban religious tradition that blends West African spiritual practices with Catholicism. Healers (santeros) perform rituals, offer prayers, and make offerings to orishas (spiritual deities) to invoke healing and protection. These healers work with both spiritual and herbal remedies to treat physical ailments and restore spiritual balance.

Shaman(s)/Shamanes: Spiritual leaders in Indigenous cultures who connect with the spirit world to facilitate healing. They are believed to have the ability to journey between worlds to find solutions for their community’s spiritual and health-related challenges. Shamans may perform rituals such as drumming, chanting, or using plants to aid in spiritual guidance and healing.

Spirituality: A deeply personal and often cultural sense of connection to something greater than oneself. It can involve a search for meaning, purpose, and inner peace, and may include practices like prayer, meditation, rituals, etc. Spirituality is not limited to religion—it can be expressed through relationships, community, creativity, or traditions.

Vodou: Religion that has African, Caribbean, and Catholic influences

Houngans (male priests) Mambos (female priests): perform healing rituals, often by invoking the spirits of their ancestors or deities. They tend to use rituals, music, and sacred herbs for the physical and spiritual needs of their community.