Abstract

SALDANA RAMIREZ, Adriana. En busca de la cura: Prácticas adivinatorias y terapéuticas entre los nahuas del Alto Balsas (Guerrero) presentes en Morelos. Cuicuilco [online]. 2013, vol.20, n.56, pp.203-222. ISSN 0185-1659.

This article analyzes a divination process known as "the raffle" ("la rifa") and some therapeutic, ritual practices among the people from two Nahua communities in Alto Balsas, Guerrero, many of whom now live in the state of Morelos. The objective is to show the different ways in which the residents of Tula del Río and San Agustín Oapan deal with their health problems, while immersed in a complex of practices pertaining to the logics of different cultures. The ailments emphasized are basically those related to fright (espanto), which involves the "raising of the soul/shades;" witchcraft that calls for a treatment based on drinking the "cure" prepared on the basis of an entheogen. Other sicknesses, which are considered to be those that should be "treated by a doctor," are also viewed.

Keywords : divination; witchcraft; loss of the soul (pérdida de la sombra); therapeutic practices; entheogens.