When Atava Garcia Swiecickiwas a student in herb school in the 90s, she longed to know more about the healing traditions of her Mexican ancestors. After decades of research, study, and practice, she gathered enough material to write a book dedicated to the plant medicine practices of curanderismo, the traditional healing art of Mexico.
In this class, Atava will introduce the philosophy and practice of curanderismo and share some of the highlights from her book. She will give a brief history of Mexican curanderismo and focus on the herbal knowledge that existed before Spanish colonization.
She’ll share some of the most beloved plants used in curanderismo and talk about common practices such as limpias and baños. She hopes to expand awareness within the herbal community about the important contribution Mexican herbalism, and healing practices have made to North American herbalism.
In this class you will learn:
???? The practice & philosophy of curanderismo
???? Mexican herbal history
???? Essential plants in Mexican herbalism
???? Important healing practices such as baños and limpias
About Atava Garcia Swiecicki
Atava Garcia Swiecicki (she/her/ella) is the author of The Curanderx Toolkit: Reclaiming Ancestral Herbal Medicine and Rituals for Healing, which was published in 2022 by Heyday Books. Atava is guided by her dreams and Mexican, Polish, Hungarian, and Diné ancestors. She works as a clinical herbalist and teacher and is dedicated to remembering the healing traditions of her ancestors and supporting others to reconnect with ancestral Medicine.
Atava studied Feminist Studies at Stanford University and received her master’s degree in the Indigenous Mind Program at Naropa University Oakland. Atava has studied healing arts extensively for over thirty years and has been mentored by herbalists, curanderas, and traditional knowledge keepers. She also loves helping people build relationships with plants, whom she considers some of our greatest teachers and healers. After living for over three decades in the Bay Area, she recently relocated to Albuquerque, New Mexico, and is learning to grow herbs in the high desert.
Her website is www.ancestralapothecary.com, and she can be found on Instagram: @curanderxtoolkit.