Curanderismo Monthly Course Topics and Related Questions

April: Decolonizing Healing Practitioner Titles, Labels, Identities, & the Processes of Reclaiming Them

• Do we need to decolonize healing practitioner titles, labels, identities?
  • If so, which ones and why?
  • If not, why?
• Are healing practitioner titles-labels necessary?
  • If so, why or why not?
• Are you comfortable with healing practitioner titles-labels?
  • How do you identify your healing practices?
• What are some ethical concerns with identifying ourselves as a certain type of healing practitioner?
• Assuming there is a need to decolonize, how do we go about decolonizing and reclaiming healing practitioner titles, labels, & identities?
• How do you define appropriation, misappropriation, and reappropriation?
• When is someone ready to claim the title of curandere/a/o/x?

May: Putting Our Healing Gifts (aka “Don”) into Practice

• We discuss some of the most well-known curanderx in that last 200 years and then assess what does it look like when we put our healing gifts into practice?
• Who should decide what it looks like to put our healing gifts into practice?
  • Your teacher
  • Your community
  • You
  • Someone or something else
• Is training required before we put our healing gifts into practice?
  • If so, how much training and from who?
  • If not, what is needed, if anything?
• Assuming some kind of training is needed, who should define the amount of training?
  • Your teacher
  • Your community
  • You
  • Someone or something else
• Assuming some kind of training is needed, should the amount of training we have correlate or be commensurate with:
  • Whether we accept some kind of exchange for our services, our healing gifts
  • Charging for our services, our healing gifts
  • How much we charge for our services, our healing gifts
• Does the “certification culture” or “certification mindset” need to be decolonized?
  • Is a certification needed to practice as a healing practitioner?
    • Why or why not?
  • Should a certification be commensurate with our value as a healing practitioner?

June: Multi-Purpose Limpias & Moving Beyond the Fears of Offering them to Others

• How do you define limpias?
• Identify the many purposes limpias can serve? exs.
  • Platicas
  • Sweeps or Barridas: Egg, Herbs, Flowers, Feathers, Crystals
  • Fire Limpias: White Fire, Fire Ceremonies, Velaciónes, Puros
  • Space Limpias
  • Divination Work & Readings
  • Ceremonial group limpias: Cacao, Lunar, Deity, Ancestral
  • Solar & Lunar Limpias
• How do you move beyond any fears of serving as a healing practitioner?
  • imposter syndrome
  • causing harm
  • being questioned
• Do you want to offer limpias in your healing practice?
  • Which ones and why?

July: The Importance of Platicas (Heart-Straightening Talks) & Homework  

• What do platicas (heart-straightening talks) help facilitate?
• What are some of the fundamentals of platicas?
• Are there occasions that interjecting in a platica is necessary? If so, what are they?
• What are the purposes of giving the client “homework” after the platica?
• What kind of homework is there?

August: Sacred Limpia Tools, Barridas (Sweeps) 

• What are some of the essentials for barridas
  • Sacred Tools (pahwawtztli)
  • Understandings
  • Methodologies
• What are ways to prepare and care for our sacred barrida tools
• When is giving someone an egg, onion, garlic, or a lemon barrida a good idea
  • Fact patterns a client shares
  • Intuitive sense
  • Practical necessity
• When do you provide remote or online barridas
• When is giving someone an herbal, flower, or feather barrida a good idea
  • Fact patterns a client shares
  • Intuitive sense
  • Practical necessity

September: Sacred Limpia Tools—Fire and Water, and Space Limpias 

• What kind of fire limpias can you provide for a client in-person or remote session, and when would you know which one to use?
  • Which ones would you assign for homework and why?
• What kind of solar or lunar limpias would you assign as homework?
• What kind of water limpias can you provide for a client in-person or remote session, and when would you know which one to use?
• What kind of space limpias would you provide for a client or assign as homework, and what are the scenarios in these recommendations?

October: Sacred Limpia Tools, Yerberismo (working with plants in our healing practices)

• Do you normally work with plants for healing in your personal lives and the lives of your loved ones?
• What are your favorite and natural ways to work with plants for healing purposes?
• What are the benefits of introducing working with plants in your online or in-person sessions, or ceremonies?
• What are ways of introducing healing and limpias with plants in online and in-person sessions?
• Is it necessary to work with plants as a curanderx? 

November: Spiritual Hygiene & Discernment 

• What can we do ensure to that the space we are working in fosters an ideal limpia environment?
• What can we do to ensure we don’t pick up our client’s “stuff”?
• What are some practical daily limpia practices?
• Which more-involved limpia practices are recommended on a monthly basis?
• Do our services have limitations?
  • Is it necessary to convey limitations?
  • If so, when does it become necessary to convey limitations?
• How many clients can and should we see a day?

December: Determining Which Curanderismo Practices Are a Good Fit

• What are your favorite curanderismo practices for yourself and to offer for others? Why?
  • platicas
  • sweeps or barridas: egg, herbs, flowers, feathers, crystals
  • fire limpias: white fires, fire ceremonies, velaciónes, puros
  • space limpias
  • divination work & readings
  • ceremonial group limpias: cacao, lunar, deity, ancestral
  • solar & lunar limpias
• Do you feel comfortable with facilitating limpias in-person and guiding people to facilitate them remotely?
  • What are the essentials to guiding barridas and fire limpias remotely?
• What does the limpias you gravitate towards say about your practice?
  • will you be working with people in-person, online, groups
  • what spaces do you currently have access where you could offer services?
    • friends
    • online
    • at a home
    • at a park, beach, hiking trail..
    • at a community center

January: In-Person & Online Classes, Group Ceremonies, Dynamics, & Facilitating

• What are your favorite in-person and remote classes and why?
  • How large are the groups on average?
  • What activities do the participants engage in?
• What should the facilitators do and say to ensure a safe, conducive for healing and/or learning, loving, and open environment for in-person and remote classes?
• What are your favorite group ceremonies and why? How large are the groups on average?
  • How large are the groups on average?
  • What activities do the participants engage in?
• What should the facilitators do and say to ensure a safe, conducive for healing and/or learning, loving, and open environment for in-person and online group ceremonies?

February: Understanding Your Clientele, Promoting, & Collaborating  

• How do you want to work with and offer curanderismo-based services to and why?
  • Have you already worked with or are you currently working with this or these group(s) of people?
  • How can you expand your reach to this or these group(s) of people?
• Can you offer referral incentives?
  • What kind of referral incentives can you offer?
  • Who do you know may be interested in referral incentives?
  • Should these referral incentives be limited in anyway?
• What are the most ideal spaces to promote your practice and why?
  • Friends?
  • Social media, which ones?
  • Studios, which ones?
  • Stores, which ones?
  • Communities, which ones?
• Is collaborating with others a good option for you?
  • What are best practice approaches for collaborating with others?
  • What are collaboration pro’s and con’s?

March: Pricing, Policies, and Boundaries

• What is your pricing for services and time?
  • Is your practice accessible to the group(s) of people you want to work with?
  • Is your pricing an expected price range for the group(s) of people you want to work with?
  • Does your pricing feel fair and reasonable to and for you?
• Will you make any clientele preparation requests for the sessions?
• Is a cancellation policy for services important?
  • Why or why not?
• If you have a cancellation policy for services, what will it or they be?
• Are boundaries for services necessary with regards to,
  • access to you? If so, what will they be and why?
  • time they have with you? If so, what will it be and why?