Healing “by Grace”?
Folk Medicine and Women Healers in Rural Catalonia
In recent decades, anthropological research has increasingly explored how different systems of healing coexist within contemporary societies. Rather than replacing traditional practices, biomedical systems often coexist with local forms of knowledge and care, generating what scholars have described as medical pluralism (Perdiguero-Gil 2009). This coexistence is particularly visible in rural contexts, where community-based healing practices continue to play an important role in everyday health management.
My research focuses on women healers (“curanderes” in catalan) in the Terres de l’Ebre, a rural region in southern Catalonia (Spain), marked by small communities, strong traditions of popular culture and limited healthcare infrastructure. These women occupy a distinctive position at the intersection of popular religiosity, folk medicine and biomedical narratives. Although their practices are often framed as marginal or residual forms of knowledge, ethnographic evidence suggests that they remain meaningful for many people today.
My engagement with this topic stems both from my interest in the relationship between religion, health and gender and from my personal connection to the Terres de l’Ebre, the region where I grew up. Long before conducting formal fieldwork, I had already encountered stories and practices associated with the local healers. During fieldwork in Catalonia, I became increasingly aware of how practices associated with healing frequently combine religious elements, local knowledge and therapeutic techniques. In particular, the figure of the “curandera” offers a fascinating lens through which to examine how spiritual beliefs and healing practices interact with modern biomedical systems. As medical anthropology has shown, Southern European contexts provide particularly rich examples of the coexistence and negotiation between institutional medicine and local therapeutic traditions (Comelles 2002).
The research was conducted in 2022 as part of a collaborative project on subaltern medicine and gender in Catalonia. Fieldwork took place in several towns in the Terres de l’Ebre and neighbouring regions. The methodology was primarily qualitative and included semi-structured interviews, informal conversations and ethnographic observation with healers, relatives and people from their communities. These encounters provided insight into how these practices are understood and negotiated within contemporary rural communities.
Three preliminary findings from this research help illuminate the role of “curanderes” in this region. First, the relationship between folk healing and biomedicine does not necessarily take the form of direct conflict. Contrary to common assumptions, many participants described these systems as complementary rather than contradictory. Healers themselves often acknowledge the limits of their practices and recommend that people visit a doctor for certain conditions, such as broken bones or serious illnesses. Likewise, some interviewees mentioned cases in which local health professionals informally suggested visiting a healer when biomedical treatments did not provide clear solutions. In this sense, healing practices circulate within a broader network of care where different forms of knowledge coexist.
Second, the ethnographic material revealed an important distinction within the category of “healer”. In local discourse, not everyone who performs healing practices is considered a “curandera”. Many people possess certain remedies or ritual techniques—such as prayers, herbal preparations or small diagnostic rituals—that can be learned and transmitted within the community. However, some women are believed to possess a special gift or “grace” that allows them to heal more effectively. These women are often described as having been born with particular signs or having experienced visions or spiritual abilities. Community recognition plays a key role here: a healer is not only someone who performs certain practices but someone whose ability is socially acknowledged.
Finally, the research also suggests that contemporary “curanderismo” is undergoing processes of transformation and hybridisation. Older healers tend to frame their practices within Catholic popular religiosity, invoking saints, prayers and ritual objects associated with local religious traditions. In contrast, younger generations increasingly incorporate elements from alternative spiritualities and therapeutic movements often associated with what is broadly called the New Age. Practices such as Reiki, astrology or tarot sometimes coexist with traditional prayers and herbal remedies. As studies of contemporary spirituality have shown, these forms of hybridisation are common in contexts where spiritual practices adapt to new cultural and institutional environments (Fedele & Knibbe 2013).
Taken together, these findings challenge the idea that folk healing practices are simply remnants of a pre-modern past. Instead, they show how these practices continue to evolve through processes of negotiation with biomedical knowledge, religious traditions and new spiritual movements. Rather than disappearing, these traditions adapt and reconfigure themselves in response to contemporary social conditions, a process that has been documented in studies of folk medicine across Southern Europe and beyond (Riccò 2019).
At a broader level, this research also raises questions about the relationship between gender and healing practices. Historically, knowledge about the body, care and medicinal plants has often been associated with women. Although these forms of knowledge have frequently been marginalised or undervalued, they continue to play a role in community health practices. Understanding how women healers navigate between tradition, spirituality and contemporary therapeutic cultures may therefore offer important insights into the changing landscapes of health and belief.
A longer discussion of this research will soon be published in a journal article in the journal Revista d’Etnologia de Catalunya. Future research will further explore these dynamics, particularly the ways in which younger generations reinterpret traditional practices and how these healing traditions interact with modern healthcare systems. Examining these processes can contribute to a better understanding of how science, religion and health intersect in everyday life.
References
Comelles, J. M. (2002). Writing at the margin of the margin: Medical anthropology in Southern Europe. Anthropology & Medicine, 9(1), 7–23.
Fedele, A., & Knibbe, K. (2013). Gender and power in contemporary spirituality. Routledge.
Perdiguero-Gil, E. (2009). Sobre el pluralismo asistencial. In M. Bernal, J. M. Comelles & M. A. Martorell (eds.), Enfermería y antropología: padeceres, cuidadores y cuidados. Icaria.
Riccò, I. (2019). Historia de la medicina popular: del modelo clásico al glo-local. Disparidades. Revista de Antropología, 74(2).
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