In Odessa, Some Seek Spiritual Healing through Santeria

February 18, 2005

Source: Midland Reporter-Telegram

http://www.mywesttexas.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=13949374&BRD=2288&PAG=461&dept_id=475621&rfi=6

On February 18, 2005 the Midland Reporter-Telegram reported, "Maria Vázquez of Odessa is of Mexican descent and claims to have a gift for fortune telling and healing. These abilities, according to Vázquez, appeared during her childhood years while she lived in San Juanito, Chihuahua, Mexico, where she grew up in contact with the local indigenous people of the Tarahumara Mountains... There are not any sound official government studies on the subject of spiritual healing, but it is a practice Hispanics frequently turn to. While Americans often spend small fortunes on psychologists, doctors and therapists, those Hispanics who believe in the power of spiritual healing can opt for a one-stop shop: a blend of magic, Catholicism and African rites known to them as curandería or santería. Maria is a highly solicited curandera in West Texas. Her clients come all the way from Las Vegas, Oklahoma, New Mexico and Ciudad Juarez for her help with counseling in amorous affairs or for cures for their illness."