Mexican Remedies: Folk Healing, Household Magia, and Abuela Wisdom

“Everything has a remedy except death.”

Laura Davila, author of Mexican Sorcery and Mexican Magic, writes, “There is hardly a Mexican alive who hasn’t found comfort and hope in this traditional saying. It is ours, woven deep into the fabric of our daily lives. We invoke it whenever the world feels heavy, as a gentle reminder to have faith, to stop worrying, and to trust that there is always a solution.”

Mexican Remedies is a living testament to that belief, filled with stories, recipes, and remedios—those time-honored ways of healing, soothing, and warding off troubles. Each page carries not only practical wisdom but also the ancestral breath of prevention, protection, and hope.

Mexican Remedies collects, analyzes, and explores everyday Mexican home remedies and healing traditions, the types of things an abuelita (grandma) would swear by and recommend. This is not a nostalgic gaze back at the past but an examination of a vital and still vibrant tradition. The remedies stem from herbal, magical, and spiritual sources, as well as from the power of words.

Many of the remedies in this book are intended for ailments derived from spiritual or magical sources, such as for susto—an ailment resulting from deep fear or sudden shock. Tools for healing range from Davila’s chicken soup recipe to magical limpias (cleansings). Davila shares her own personal experiences as she explores everyday, accessible Mexican healing practices in her book of household remedies.

Mexican Remedies is filled with remedies and traditions whispered softly around the kitchen table, born from love and necessity, and reminding us that our roots carry more power than we ever imagined.