Last weekend I attended a presentation at Vermilionville, a historic Cajun/Creole Village. The speaker was a Creole traiteur or healer, Rebecca Henry. I created this poem from my notes.
Advice from a healer:
Always think positive.
Eat an odd number of pumpkin seeds, 3, 5, 7 for back ache.
Don’t search for roots if you don’t know them.We had our own names for stuff.
We were never poor.
We had a momma, a daddy, our brothers, our sisters.
We had everything we needed.Every leaf, every plant, every flower is for food.
For croup, wear the flannel collar soaked in goose grease until Easter.
Use mud from the mud dauber nest for diaper rash.
Those mud daubers know the best dirt.We never measure.
Treat the whole person.
Clean out in August.
Grease your machine real good.Say why not me instead of why me.
If you believe, you will be healed.
[…] at Reflections on the Teche Margaret has written a poem from the notes she took while listening to a traiteur, a Creole […]
I love that you made a poem from your notes, and captured the voice of the traiteur (a new word for me!) And now I’m off to eat seven pumpkin seeds.
Such interesting treatments! I love this reminder: “Every leaf, every plant, every flower is for food.” And I’ll try to remember that August is clean out time!
I certainly felt the spirit of the healer in your poem, and the way she recognizes the positive, even though circumstances may suggest differently, “Those mud daubers know the best dirt.”
“We never measure.”
Truth.
Everything is for food–in France the traiteur is where you go to buy beautiful dishes for your dinner party, and “traiteur” would be translated as caterer. Both treat us, don’t they! I love how this came out, Margaret, and I love hearing how you’re spending your summer.
Leave it to you to turn your notes into a poem, Margaret! I worked for a while with a couple of acupuncture and herbal medicine practitioners. One of them was what I would call a “healer” for sure. Somehow even her presence went beyond that of a “doctor”– it was an amazing thing to witness and I learned so much about the power of the human spirit. I guess that’s why the last line of your poem, especially, hit home for me.
Margaret, your poem speaks highly of positivity oozing from nature. I have heard so much about natural healing but have never met a healer. It is amazing to me that people who are truly holistic know so much of the healing qualities of plants. Wonderful approach to writing – using your notes.