In Ecuador, ancestral or traditional medicine is the medicine of the different Indigenous peoples and nationalities who live there. While the Ecuadorian Constitution guarantees its recognition, respect, and promotion, Afro-Ecuadorian ancestral healer María Eugenia Quiñónez Castillo explains that there is still a long way to go to reach a real convergence of wisdom and practices in the country. In this interview, she took time off working at the La Fe (Faith) Ancestral Medical Center and teaching at the Los Andes Higher Technological Institute for Social Studies (ILADES) to invite people to have a deeper understanding of ancestral medicine.
María Eugenia: Western medicine offers a quick cure to relieve symptoms or treat urgent ailments, such as a fracture or a headache, for example, while ancient medicine looks for the origin of the disease. In the early days, spirituality and science went hand in hand, but later Western medicine separated them and focused only on the physical realm. Ancestral medicine involves the whole individual, encompassing the body, mind and spirit; and it is non-invasive. Another very important characteristic is that in ancestral medicine we heal with herbs and plants, with what comes from Mother Earth, because she has everything we need to heal us.
María Eugenia: I think people are afraid of ancestral medicine because they have been alienated from it and they don't know much about it. They think that we seek to replace one medicine with another and that's not the case. What we seek is a convergence of knowledge. They are two different schools, but equally valid. Why don't we put them together? It is necessary that both advance together for the good of humanity and happiness. They in their science and us in spirituality, being humble, we must join together to achieve harmony in comprehensive health.
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