ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on life history interviews and participant observation conducted in 1983 of ten Hispanic women identified as healers and currently living in urban centers in the continental United States. Three main factors emerge from their life histories: the "calling" to a healing role by events that are interpreted as manifestations of the supernatural; the unique opportunities for empowerment provided to women by the role of healers; and stresses on the participants created by the process of acculturation to US society. The chapter discusses the impact of these factors on the selection and development of Hispanic female healers presently living in urban centers in the United States. In addition to the experience of a calling and the opportunities provided by the healer's role, the acculturative stress to which Latinos are subjected in the United States may also be a factor influencing the selection of Hispanic female healers in urban centers in the United States.
