codex badiano 1 codex badiano 2 Cheo photo codex badiano 3 codex badiano 4

Above images from Codex Badiano, first book about Aztec medicinal herbs, composed in 1552; above center, Dr. Torres

Dr. Eliseo "Cheo" Torres

Student, Scholar, and Teacher of Curanderismo

Dr. Torres can be reached at cheo@unm.edu or at: Office of the Vice President for Student Affairs, The University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM 87131. Phone: 505-277-0952.


During the Summer of 2006, Dr. Torres will teach a course in curanderismo, or Mexican Folk Healing of the Southwest and Mexico. Click HERE to view the website for the course.


Click on the three roll-over images below to find out about each of the Three Great Ones -- or Los Tres Grandes -- who were among the most powerful and influential Curanderos of their times and places in Mexico and the Southwest.

Or, click HERE to view Dr. Torres' PowerPoint show on Curanderismo.

El Nino Fidencio

teresita

Don Pedrito

This is El Niño Fidencio. The fidencista movement inspires thousands of pilgrims from all over Mexico and beyond to come to the tiny town of Espinazo twice a year to celebrate El Niño's brief life and work as a powerful healer during the early part of the twentieth century. Like the other two members of Los Tres Grandes, El Niño is considered a folk saint. Click on the image at left to learn more about El Niño.

 

 

 

 

This is Teresita Urrea. Of the Three Great Ones, she led probably the most dramatic life, filled with tragedies, triumphs, and a seemingly endless devotion to the sick charges who came to visit her in droves wherever she went. Her short life played out against the backdrop of revolution and the machinations of national and regional politics in Mexico during the early years of the twentieth century. To learn more about Teresita, the Saint of Cabora, click on the image at left.

 

 

 

This is Don Pedrito Jaramillo. The only one of the Three Great Ones to live a long life, Don Pedrito's beginnings were not auspicious, since as a younger man he worked in the bootlegging business. How he came to have a vision after suffering from a serious injury that led to him to realize he had a don, or a gift from God to heal people, is just one element of his fascinating life that deserves further study. Click on the image at left to learn more about this famous folk saint and healer.

This page was last updated on June 14, 2006