M- My old lady - may she rest in peace! - that is my mother - my she rest in peace! - she, before bringing me to the light, I cried and I spoke while still in her womb, because I was going to have a special gift. Well, perhaps this which I have of curing, to cure and to help all of humanity who need my services, by the grace of God, as I have said.

H- Was you mother a curandera all her life?

M- Well since I had reason she already cured, because an uncle of my - may he rest in peace! - already died also for plying cards.

An Indian who had lost fifty cents to my uncle just went crazy. It made him crazy. So my mother, since she cured, and my uncle didn't want him to go to her, my uncle whose name was Nicolás Gonzáles.

He didn't want him going to my mother. He said, "No! Get out of here you dirty so-and-so!" - because he cussed a lot, because he did not not use my God's speech.

H- And you also remember how your mother and yourself, she was and you are also trained in the use of herbs to cure?

M- To cure with medicinal plants?

H- Yes. And then, for example, if people come, would you know what the symptoms in the sense of, for example, medicine, and could you recommend which plants to use, and they could then go downtown and buy them?

M- If they are gong to go buy them her with Lupe Mora, preferably; there is where I send them because there isn't anywhere else where they can get them other than [those which are] more expensive. But with Lupe Mora they give you more. If in a given case you are of scarce resources they might sell as cheap as 5000 thousand pesos ("old pesos") per plant (less than two dollars). That's for each plant, and you can be cured with nothing but medicinal plants. And I said to the person, if you are sick with your nerves through whatever sickness, through the sicknesses placed through evil, through the sickness placed on you, that is, for this the people come here to me and thanks be to God they get well. Not long ago a certain Pancho Juárez could not move his fingers like that. (Gestures).

I cured him the first time on a Tuesday, and on Wednesday he arrive here in bad shape. Well, I was about to go fishing, since that's my day off, Wednesday. After the noon hour, as I've said before, I go get bread to take bread to the fishes (i.e. bait).

But in that, here comes this man, but now it was already 3:30 and I told him, Look sir, I'm going to cure only because, because I told you that only between 8:00 and 12:00 in the morning on Wednesday because Wednesday is my only day off.

Okay. I cured him. Okay, his granddaughter had to get him into the truck because he couldn't. The disease was removed from him. By Thursday he was back. Now he came driving by himself very happy and as of this date he is very well, thanks to God.

H- That's good! And this science of the use of medicinal plants is something, I imagine, rather complicated. Right? One needs much practice, much study in order to know the use of them since there are cases where one plant only does not work but you have to use a mixture of several.

M- Yes, several, yes. So myself when I greet the person then, then he presents himself here and in his body the medicinal plants which I am going to prescribe, as I said, well I don't know. There are things that even I don't understand how they are, it might be for my special gift I have that I prescribe them - Look, buy these medicinal plants and drink these together or this by itself a half a cup in the morning.

H- What do you recommend for gall stones?

M- For gall stones?

H- Yes.

M- Prodijiosa is very good since it's very bitter. They go about getting smaller. But, well for the person who has gall stones, or in the liver or in the bladder, well they need to drink prodijiosa, one half cup three times a day. No, it's one half cup in the morning only.

H- What's it called?

M- Prodijiosa.

H- Prodijiosa? And can you buy it in the herb stores?

M- In Lupe Mora's herb shop. Because, look, the herbs which I prescribe, hierba del Indio, Prodijiosa, Cuasia, Bisbirinda, Simonillo, Yerbamola, are all very bitter. Any one of these can help you. Any one of them can help you; they are all very bitter. Therefor they always cure some diseases and others, and others. Therefor you put, that is, you drink a half a cup only. But if the disease is in an advanced stage then you drink a half a cup three times a day.

One half cup three times a day and the stones get smaller in the gall bladder.

H- And then they won't hurt when you eat something greasy?