Eliseo Torres ends each shower by rubbing rosemary onto his skin. The plant, which grows in New Mexico, can also be used to cook and to treat minor illnesses.
It is something his mother used for earaches, and is an herb curanderos, or folk healers, use in their practice.
Curanderismo, or Mexican folk healing, is a practice based on using plants and remedies common to the Spanish and indigenous peoples, Torres said.
It is a dying tradition in New Mexico, but has been sparking the interest of some students and faculty at UNM, he said.
"People seem to be coming back to it," Torres said. "It is a $14 billion industry now. All over the country, and all over the world, it is gaining popularity."
Torres, vice president for Student Affairs, is offering the second section of the class starting Monday. The class has attracted 80 students, and is cross-listed under women studies, Chicano studies and the University Honors Program.
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One of the most common plants used in New Mexican folk healing is Yerba Buena, or mint leaves. When boiled with water and drunk, it is a known cure for nausea and upset stomach, Torres said.
Though the plant is readily available in New Mexico, it can also be found in stores specializing in folk healing, Torres said.
He said people who live in remote areas have relied on herbal medicines, massage therapy and other forms of natural healing because conventional medicine was either not available or not affordable.
But traditional healing is not a substitute for conventional medicine, nor is it necessarily any better, Torres said.
"Sometimes they need medical attention, and sometimes they just need tea," he said.
Torres said curanderos mostly prescribe teas and herbs good for the digestive system, and often perform rituals when curing a person.
The two-week course, titled Traditional Medicine without Borders: Curanderismo in the Southwest and Mexico, will have students interacting with more than 40 local and Mexican folk healers. Torres, who before Monday had been in Mexico teaching the same class, begins with a history of curanderismo dating back to 1519.
He said he starts with the history so students understand why things are done the way they are.
During the second week, Mexican curanderos will come to UNM to give hands-on demonstrations and visit local healers.
"The courses help us get the word out and popularize a previously neglected body of knowledge that is venerated among Hispanics in the Southwest and Mexico," Torres said in a news release. "They convey information about knowledge that is culturally relevant, and that I think will also prove to be medically important in the long run."
