Woman Who Glows in the Dark

A Curandera Reveals Traditional Aztec Secrets of Physical and Spiritual Health

By: Elena Avila, Joy Parker

Narrated by: Joana Garcia

An exploration of the healthful powers of curanderismo, a combination of Aztec, Spanish, Native American, and African medicine, from a registered nurse and professional curandera, advocates a holistic approach to healing, showing how to creatively combine Western and folk medicines.

©1999 Elena Avila, Joy Parker (P)2021 Tantor

Therapy for mi SOUL

What a marvelous book! It captivated every cell of my body, mind, and soul as a Chicana myself navigating the limited constructs of Western medicine. So much validation received as every word transcended beyond my DNA, into cosmic fields of deliciousness. It was like each chapter gave me permission to continue decolonizing my life, and the world of therapy as a licensed psychotherapist. She was speaking directly to me, to all of us “healers” part of such sacred movement!

curanderos

I loved this book as it brought me back to my roots. I didn't like the mispronunciations of some Spanish words while listening to it.

Great book, performance is just ok.

Elena’s book is great! The content and teachings are wonderful to learn. My only critique is the performance, there any many important native and Spanish words that are mispronounced. A bilingual reader would have made this audiobook so much more palatable and pleasant to listen to.

Beautiful story- narration is cringe

Beautiful story that weaves personal stories with the curandera ways. The language used is dated, as many references to mental disabilities would not be appropriate in this time. It doesn’t bother me, as it shows how much we have grown as a society. However, the voice over needs to be redone. The narrator butchers Spanish and Nahuatl words so bad that it feels like a stab every time she mispronounced a word. I recommend you read it on your own and not be subjected to the disrespect of the narration.

Beautiful story

I was hoping to learn more specific practices on how the Curanderismo is used to heal people. It gives a few examples here but not as structured as I thought. However this story is a much broader understanding of the Curandrea herself. It’s a beautiful story and if you’re going down the folk medicine journey, this is a beautiful book to add to your collection. Very glad I read! Wishing the author was to reach out to.

Wonderful book, needs different narrator

It’s worth the listen, but unfortunately the narrator botches a lot of the pronunciation, and her animated voices to vary speakers/characters were borderline offensive. I don’t think she quite understood the tone of the book, and overall it would have been a better performance and experience for the listener with someone who is a native speaker and directly invested in the cultural context.

Loved this Curandera book

I enjoyed learning. I enjoyed listening about my people. I highly recommend this book to everyone. Blessings to you all.

Fantastic read!

My family is from New Mexico and this book was vivid and detailed. Her story was incredible and I was happy to read this for Hispanic Heritage Month. My daughter is reading Bless Me Ultima for her NM History high school course, but I think this book is just as valuable. I wish it was on the lists for reading. I took Chicano studies in college and never heard of Elena before Audible recommend this based off of my reading history. I finished this in just a few days. Highly recommend, especially for those into Chicano or NM authors.

Very relatable story telling.

This book is well written with great insight into curanderismo. The voice of the reader is easy to listen to.

Amazing book, rough pronunciation

I have enjoyed everything about this book. The author is phenomenal. I only wish that my language, Nahuatl, were better researched and respected by the narrator or production crew. The narrator does an ok job with the Spanish, but it felt like the Nahuatl was completely neglected. This author deserved better.