Earth Medicines: Ancestral Wisdom, Healing Recipes, and Wellness Rituals from a Curandera

by Felicia Cocotzin Ruiz

Winner of the 2022 Eating the West Award! 
Winner of the League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC) Book Award! 

An accessible guide to time-honored Indigenous wisdom, healing recipes, and wellness rituals for modern life from an experienced curandera.

In Earth Medicines, Felicia Cocotzin Ruiz, a curandera (or traditional healer) who is a Xicana with Tewa ancestry, combines Indigenous wisdom from many traditions with the power of the four elements. This modern guide is designed to support readers on their path to wellness with lifestyle practices and recipes perfected by Ruiz in her twenty-five years of training and working as a curandera. Ruiz teaches readers to be their own healers by discovering their own ancestral practices and cultivating a personal connection to the elements.

These healing recipes and rituals draw on the power of Water, Air, Earth, and Fire—a reminder that the natural elements are the origins of everything and can heal not only our bodies, but the mind and spirit as well.
 
In chapters organized by each element, readers will first find recipes and advice for:

Promoting inner harmony through Hydrotherapy for Headache Relief, Mayan Tea to Calm the Mind, or Ginger Fire Honey Chews

Nurturing beauty inside and out with Tepezcohuite Honey Mask, Salt of the Earth Deodorant, or Sweetwater Herbal Mouth Rinse

Taking care of the spirit by creating an ancestral altar, making loose incense, or performing a Mayan Bajo Steaming Ritual

• ISBN10: 161180843X
• ISBN13: 9781611808438
• Publish Date: 2 November 2021
• Publish Status: Active
• Publish Country: US
• Imprint: Roost Books
• Format: Hardcover
• Pages: 224
• Language: English
• URL: https://penguinrandomhouse.com/books/isbn/9781611808438

Reviews

[annieb123]

Originally posted on my blog: Nonstop Reader.

Earth Medicines is a beautifully illustrated handbook to natural healing and wellness by Felicia Cocotzin Ruiz. Due out 19th Oct 2021 from Roost Books, it's 224 pages and will be available in hardcover and ebook formats.

This is a book dedicated to and written around traditional Indigenous healing practices. The author is a healer (Curandera) and educator on the methods traditionally used by her culture to maintain and bolster health naturally.

The book itself contains four thematic chapters with recipes and tutorials: Water, Air, Earth, and Fire. The recipes are varied and include many skin and beauty treatments, bath and skin care products, as well as some ritualistic and meditative practices to improve health and lifestyle.

Recipes contain background information and purpose in the description, ingredients in a bullet list sidebar, and step by step directions. Ingredient measures are given in American standard units only (not metric). The instructions are clear and easy to follow.

The book is beautifully illustrated throughout. Photos are clear and in color.

The emphasis throughout is on alternative methods of thinking, gentle and natural body care, and philosophical mediation and affirmations. The author has included a resource and links list as well as a cross-referenced index.

This would be a good choice for readers interested in natural/native medicine, meditation, and alternative philosophy.

This is a five star read for the target audience.

Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.