Tag Archives: remedy

Diaper Rash

Nationality: Mexican American
Age: 52
Occupation: Housewife
Residence: Los Angeles, California
Performance Date: 04/19/2018
Primary Language: Spanish
Language: English

Main Piece: Diaper Rash

The following was an interview of a Participant/interviewee about a folk remedy that is passed within her community. She is marked as MS. I am marked as DM.

MS: Te voy a dar un remedio para lo rosado de los babies. Agarras y compras un manojo de hierba mora. La pones a hervir con agua suficiente para sentar un baby. Cuando hierve la agua y esta mas o menos la agua verde los pones en un traste donde el baby cepa bein. Cuando ya esta la agua tibiecita agarras y haciendas el baby por como una hora. Después, lo bañas completamente. Lava su partecita, o sus pompis bien bien lavaditas y lo dejas que se hore sus pompis. Vas agarrar aceite de olivo, 3 ajos, y los vas a quemar hasta que el ajo se pone cafecito. El aceite que queda, los vas a poner en el pompis del bebé con un trapo limpio. De ahí, vas a conseguir fecula de maiz y le pones poquito micena en sus pompis que se ore por quince minutos. Despues le pones su pamper y lo dejas tranquilo.

Translate:

MS: I’m going to give you a remedy for diaper rashes. You put it to boil blackberry weed with enough water to sit a baby. When the water boils and the water is more or less green, put it in a container big enough for the baby to sit. When the water is lukewarm you sit the baby in the water for about an hour. Then you bathe it completely. Wash his/her parts thoroughly then let air dry. You’re going to grab olive oil, 3 garlics, and you’re going to burn them until the garlic gets brown. The remaining oil, you will put them in the baby’s behind with a clean cloth. From there, you will get starch of corn and you put little on their behind. Let this sit for fifteen minutes. Then you put their pamper and leave them calm.

Background/Context:

The participant is 52 years old. She grew up in Michoacan, Mexico. Maria, who is marked as MS, is my grandma. When I was growing up, my grandmother was the one who looked over us while my parent was at school or work. She was able to take care of us with her home remedies that she learned from her grandmother’s. Below is a conversation I had with MS for more background/context of the remedy, which was originally in Spanish.  

DM:Why do you know this remedy?

MS:    I know this because I practiced this with my kids and my grandkids.

DM: Why do you like this remedy?

MS:  I like this remedy because it is effective and it does not affect the kids health.

DM: Where/who did they learn it from?

MS: I learned this in my hometown Michoacan, Mexico through her grandmother and her dad’s side.

DM: Why is this remedy important to you?

MS: This remedy is inherited from my grandparents. I saw this in my family for a long time. I want my future generations to have a reliable remedy and it has been passed down in my family and I want to keep it going.

Analysis/ My Thoughts:

I know there is an abundant amount of home remedies that all take care of one symptom like swollen tonsils. The people have the power to choose which ones they will use for themselves. I have never used this home remedy, but MS said it worked for her family.

Sowllen Tonsils

Nationality: Mexican
Age: 52
Occupation: Housewife
Residence: Los Angeles, California
Performance Date: 04/19/2018
Primary Language: Spanish
Language: English

Main Piece: Swollen Tonsils

The following was an interview of a Participant/interviewee about a folk remedies that is passed within her community. She is marked as MS. I am marked as DM.

MS: Un remedio que es buenisimo para las anginas inflamadas. Son tres limones verdes grandes. Agarras y los pones asar en el comal son la flama que no esté muy fuerte. Cuando están bien asados los vas a partir en la mitad y vas a empezar a juntarlos en las coyunturas de tus brazos, atrás de tus oídos en like coyunturas de tus piernas, en tus tobios, y en la planta de tus pies. Y de ahí, cuando ya hiciste todo eso vas agarrar la mitad de un limon lo mas calentito que los aguantes le pone vicks vaporub en el limón y los a poner en el centro de tu cabeza. Después vas a poner los limones en el pecho y tu garganta. Amarás los limones en tu garganta y en la cabeza por un buen rato hasta que se le quite lo caliente a los limones. De ahí vas hacer un té de canela y le vas a poner tres cucharadas de miel de abeja natural. Vas a tu cama y te envuelves lo mas que puedes y vas a empezar a sudar. Con eso vas mejorar.

Translate:

MS: A remedy that is great for inflamed tonsils. You get three big green lemons. You grab and put them on the griddle and make sure the flames are not too strong. When they are well roasted you will start to place them in the joints of your arms, behind your ears, in the joints of your legs, and in the heels of your feet. And from there, when you’ve done all that you’ll grab half of a lemon as warm as you can handle put Vicks Vaporub and put them in the center of your head. Then you’re going to put more lemons on your chest and your throat. You will live the lemons in your throat and in your head until the limon are no longer warm. From there you go make a cinnamon tea and you will put three tablespoons of natural honey. You go to your bed and you wrap as much as you can and you’re going to start sweating. That’ll make you better.

Background/Context:

The participant is 52 years old. She grew up in Michoacan, Mexico. Maria, who is marked as MS, is my grandma. When I was growing up, my grandmother was the one who looked over as while my parent was at school or work. She was able to take care of us with her home remedies that she learned from her grandmother. Below is a conversation I had with MS for more background/context of the remedy, which was originally in Spanish.  

DM:Why do you know this remedy?

MS:  I know this because I practiced this with my kids and my husband.

DM: Why do you like this remedy?

MS:  I like this remedy because I like to try what is natural before trying any medicine.

DM: Where/who did they learn it from?

MS: I learned this in my hometown Michoacan, Mexico through her grandmother and her dad’s side.

DM: Why is this remedy important to you?

MS: This remedy is inherited from my grandparents. I saw this in my family for a long time. I want my future generations to have a reliable remedy and it has been passed down in my family and I want to keep it going.

Analysis/ My Thoughts:

I know there is an abundant amount of home remedies that all take care of one symptom like swollen tonsils. The people have the power to choose which ones they will use for themselves. I have never used this home remedy, but MS said it worked for her family.

Peanut Butter Hiccups Remedy

Nationality: American
Age: 56
Occupation: Entrepreneur
Residence: Los Angeles, CA
Performance Date: 3/31/18
Primary Language: English

I asked my mother if she has any unique home remedies:

 

“I swear by my home-remedy cure for hiccups. All I do is eat a spoonful of creamy peanut butter straight out of the jar and it always works for me.”

 

I then asked where she learned this:

 

“I actually figured it out for myself. Hiccups always annoyed me so much so I tried all of the typical remedies people suggest and nothing ever worked. I figured out my peanut butter trick sometime around my last year in college and it’s worked ever since.”

 

Background: Tamara has lived her entire life in Southern California and attended USC from 1979 to 1983.

Context: My mom shared this trick with me while sitting at our kitchen table eating breakfast.

Analysis: A remedy is such an interesting thing in and of itself because each one is so different depending on who you ask, and most typically, people swear by the specific remedies that work for them and disregard remedies from other people. One remedy that could work every single time for one person could never work once for another, which I think makes them a really interesting topic of study in cultures around the world. I have grown up attempting to cure hiccups by eating a spoonful of peanut butter because it is what I learned from my mom. Depending on where and how you were raised, you have a very different view of what really has the ability to heal.

 

 

For other hiccup remedies access the link below:

https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/9896.php

Sore Throat?

Nationality: Indian
Age: 41
Occupation: Nurse
Performance Date: March 17 2017
Primary Language: English

This entry comes from the interviewer’s mother, P, in a conversation they had about homeopathic medicine. Coming from an Indian family, the interviewer, DP, was curious as to whether or not his mom encouraged him to take homeopathic remedies for common ailments as a child. It should be noted that Eastern medicine is much different than and often rejects Western medicine. At this point, the informant tells the interviewer:

 

“You used to take a drink made of roasted turmeric root. Once the turmeric was dried, I would grind it into a powder and combine it with milk.”

 

DP: “did it help any?”

 

P: “it was supposed to”


 

From the point of view of the interviewer, it is perfectly reasonable for Eastern medicine to be effective in curing common ailments. These remedies have been around for such a long time that there must be some base element of truth – or they wouldn’t be so strongly encouraged. The interviewer also concedes that it isn’t the best to take over-the-counter medication every time one’s throat hurts or they have a headache. In these cases, folk remedies provide the best application.

 

Remedy for Curse of Mexican Evil Eye

Nationality: Mexican
Age: 19
Occupation: Student
Residence: Los Angeles, CA
Performance Date: 4/12/17
Primary Language: Spanish
Language: English

The informant’s family is originally from Mexico. She learned this cure from her grandmother who performed it on her and her siblings. She doesn’t think that it’s really a cure, however her mother and grandmother told her that it helped cure her when she was cursed with the “ojo”, or eveil eye.

“Some of the things they do to get rid of the curse from el ojo I learned from my grandma. She blesses your whole body with an egg. She grabs it from the fridge and rubs it all over your body and cracks the egg open over water. If it floats, then your good and if it sinks, it’s bad…like the egg absorbs all the bad from your body and it sinks, but I can’t remember…it might be the opposite actually.”

This remedy is used when a baby is cursed by “El Ojo”, or the Evil Eye, as it’s known in other cultures. It’s usually performed in the home, as the informant told me. There are also different variations to it concerning what one does with the egg when they crack it. Some say to leave it under the victim’s bed overnight and check it in the morning.

I had previously never heard of this remedy and I’m very curious as to why they use an egg. I don’t know if there’s something symbolic about it or where it came from originally. I did some more research and there are various methods to this. Some say you have to crack the egg in a bowl and leave it under the victim’s bed, and by morning something will happen that let’s you know they have been cured. It’s apparently a well-known remedy among their community, and I’m surprised it’s so well-revered. When I think of a remedy I usually think it’s something that a person needs to ingest in order for them to be cured.