>
> Esperanza,

Your story reminded me of an almost identical experience when I was about
the same age--14. I got a bad case of the flu and couldn't even get out of
bed. After a day or two, my mother's comadre came over and rubbed an
ointment just like the one you described all over my torso and they wrapped
Saran wrap around me. I slept for about 24 hours and woke up completely
cured too! There was no chanting or praying in my case, but the grainy
greasy ointment worked.

Maria

Message: 10
> Date: Fri, 18 May 2007 19:22:17 EDT
> From: Latina1955@aol.com
> Subject: Re: [Nuestros Ranchos] Defunciones translations
> To: research@nuestrosranchos.org
> Message-ID:
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII"
>
> I remember when I was 14 and in Mexico, I became
> frightfully ill...something
> related to my stomach, as I had constant diarrhea and lost an enormous
> amount of weight (which suited me just fine).
>
> Anyway, I was in Tepatilan, Jalisco visiting elders from my "adopted"
> family...and I came down with a crazy fever (half my body was ice cold and
> the
> other hot), and I had become somewhat delirious. The "elder women" were
> called
> in to help...and I remember that they rubbed all over my body what
> appeared
> to be lard mixed with salt (it was grainy). Then they wrapped me up in
> blankets whereupon I slept for more than 24 hours. As I was falling
> asleep, I
> heard their prayers mixed with chanting...and when I awoke...I was
> completely
> cured.
>
> Years later, as I was talking to an MD, he thought this cure
> fascinating...he said that Native Americans have been using "fat" to
> insulate the body for
> years, and that it made sense to use "fat" to try to break a fever.
> Sometimes
> old "remedios" did indeed work!
>
> Esperanza
> Chicagoland area
>
>