What is a Santiguadora
Santiguar is a practice is closely tied to Catholicism and its symbols, saints, angels and the Virgin Mary.
Role: A Santiguadora is a spiritual healer who focuses on rituals involving prayers, blessings, and the sign of the cross (santiguar means “to make the sign of the cross”).
Focus: Healing through faith and Catholic blessings, with a strong emphasis on spiritual cleansing and protection. Santiguadoras are closely tied to Catholicism and their practices often overlap with those of curanderas, though their methods are more explicitly religious and ritualistic.
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The term "santiguadora" comes from the Spanish verb "santiguar," meaning "to make the sign of the cross." These women act as community healers, providing remedies and spiritual assistance for ailments that are manifestation of bad energy and/or mal de ojo (evil eye).
They often invoke the names of saints, angels, and the Virgin Mary, while also using herbs, water, and fire in their rituals. Santiguadora practices also involves the use of specific words or phrases believed to have healing properties. They also spend hours praying, sending them into a mystical state.
History of Santiguadoras
Santiguacion started in the Canary Islands, and then became wide spread through Latin America. In the Canary Islands, they are traditional healers with a rich history that blends elements of indigenous Guanche culture, Spanish Catholicism, African influence, and folk medicine.
Santiguadora in prayer.
The indigenous Guanche people had spiritual practices centered around nature and energy. They worshipped celestional bodies, mountains, and natural phenomena, believing them to house powerful deities, such as Achamán (a creator god) and Magec (the sun god).
Rituals often included offerings, sacred chants, and ceremonies led by spiritual leaders to honor these forces and seek protection, fertility, and balance. It also goes without saying that these practices were influenced by other African groups, given it’s geographic location and historical connections to the main African continent.
Arrival in the Americas
During the colonial period, there was mass migration from the Canary Island to the various colonies, where it transformed through adaption and interaction. Parts of the practice was adopted and main their own by various other groups that arose in the colonies. In Cuba, for example, whisper of the practice can be found in local traditions and even religons like Santeria. However, at its core, matriarchs of the family in Latin America made it their own, and have incorporated into their own kitchen magick and practices.
Common Practices and Uses
Santiguar traditions are passed down orally, with each santiguadora typically learning from a mentor, often within the family. The santiguadoras often invoke the names of saints, angels, and the Virgin Mary, while also using herbs, water, and fire in their rituals.
Blessing and Prayers
Santiguadoras use diverse tools and recite prayers that calls upon God, the Virgin Mary, and various saints to cleanse the afflicted person from a specific negative energy causing an ailment and/or evil eye.
Protection, Cleansing and Spiritual Balance Rituals
The use of diverse rituals is common, with many focused on restoring. It can involve the placement of a glass of water on the head, rubbing eggs, or using herbs to remove spiritual disturbances.
Herbal Remedies
Santiguadoras often work with herbs such as ruda (rue), albahaca (basil), and romero (rosemary). They may create herbal bundles that are burned or steeped in water. The healer then traces crosses over the afflicted area of the body while reciting prayers or phrases.
The practice of using a glass of water on the head of an individual as a healing ritual is a traditional remedy. The water acts as a conduit for energy, absorbing negative influences or spiritual disturbances. The head is considered a focal point for the body’s energy, making it a symbolic location for cleansing. Prayers, blessing and chants are recited, invoking saints, the Virgin Mary, and other sacred figures for divine intervention.
Preservation of the Tradition
The santiguadora tradition in the Canary Islands is at risk of disappearing, as modern medicine and changing social norms have led to a decline in these practices. However, in rural parts of the Canary Islands, it is still possible to find santiguadoras who continue to perform these rituals, often viewed more as a cultural heritage rather than as active medical practice.
In Latin America, while more widely practiced, as it has it been intertwined with other traditions, a similar threat is faced, as a result of modernity.
