Disclaimer: Say "No" to any faith healer who wants you to strip you naked for so-called healing benefits.

Whether you are on business or just visiting some friends in Mexico city, you need all the advice possible to remain safe in this megapolis. If this is going to be your first trip to this North American country, you need to be aware of a few safety tips. The idea is to remain aware of your surroundings and avoid getting into situations that may turn out to be detrimental to you. Unless you are with a native or somebody familiar with the Mexican culture, you want to stay away from "Curanderos."

What are Curanderos exactly? If you do any traveling to Latin America and the Caribbean Basin, you will encounter a few variations of this group of people who enjoy excellent status in their respective countries. For the most part, they know the properties of herbs, grass roots and leaves to concoct strong potent to heal the ill. For these reasons, they tend to occupy a position that is near a medical doctor here in the US or any first-world country.

In Cuba, for example, the natives have their own sort of faith healer. The practitioners of this religion-based healing worship spirits. They claim to communicate with spirits to help the living. Healing becomes a result of the intervention of the dead and strong her-based medications. In Haiti and Jamaica, they also have spirits called loas that are worshipped. The faith healers work for the benefits of the living. By now, you must know about the voodoo phenomenon widely publicized by Hollywood. For example, in Haiti, the faith healers are called "hougans." They serve with two hands. With one hand, they can do good. They can provide medications to heal those who are sick or those against whom bad spirits were cast. With the other hand, they can provide potions strong enough to kill any enemy. It's like a sword with two blades.

What do some curanderos do? Beware of the illegal stuff A few years ago, I was visiting a good friend in Mexico city when I was invited to watch a curandero in action. I had only been there for a few days when my friend took me to a ceremony. I was surprised by the number of people who came to seek help from bad spirits. They also came for many reasons.

I ran into a middle-class couple who were there to get blessed so their business could flourish back in the Houston area in the US. Actually, these people truly believed what the healer could do for them. Then, I was invited to be in a room with the healer and a young, beautiful woman who wanted to find out why she could not conceive. The healer started asking her questions, sometimes very private. The unfortunate woman started saying that she was not treated well by her husband because he thought she was at fault. "My husband keeps saying that if I don't give him a son, he is going to find another woman who can..." Any way, it was a lot of trauma in that room. The healer became privy of a lot of social problems which he was supposed to fix. He is a general fixer in a sense.

At least, that's the power they thought he had. Well, some people, practitioners were willing to dish him any amount of money to get what they came for. There was the case of a father who brought his sick daughter to get treated. The examples could continue. What I found out was that in the most remote villages where medical doctors are scarce, curanderos seemed to conduct a prosperous business. They are the kings of the hill.

Stay away from any crooked curanderos... While I was there, I also heard of reports about some crooked healers who make any demand of their patients. They usually are prone to take advantage of foreigners and those who don't know too much about the real purpose of faith healing. Some even go as far as stripping their patients of their clothing and asked them to perform some sexual acts with them in order to take out the evil spirits. Some of these types of abuse of authority and power occur even in the US where there is a large concentration of Mexican immigrants.

Actually, just a few weeks ago, I read in the newspaper from California that some faith healers were apprehended for having sex with young girls. Don't fall for this scheme besides paying good money for a service! While visiting the beautiful country, stay safe. Mexico has a lot to offer to you! Take advantage of the pleasures, but don't be a victim!



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