Spiritual Cleansing at the Cuenca Market

This morning I walked to the 10 Agosto Public Mercado nearby for a Limpia, or traditional cleansing. While I waited for my turn,  this mother had her child receive a Limpia. 

Doña Luz Martinez uses a fistful of plants doused with a mint alcohol to repeatedly strike or pat the body, and then she blows the liquid out of her mouth in a spitting spray to drive out anything negative. She also runs an egg along the body. Then she cracks the egg to diagnose what else is needed.

As far as I understood, the yolk being large and whole in the one she cracked for me meant I had more anxiety/nerves to release. She dabbed a cream on forehead and belly button, and then rubbed the liquid on my legs and arms. The whole thing was less than ten minutes. Very vigorous and fairly intimate for a public place. A long line for Doña Luz by the time I left the market.

It was how I felt afterwards that made me so glad for the experience. New. Bright and shiny as a new penny. Young, innocent, easy, lighter. Much, much lighter, almost a sense of floating. Not the physical denseness I was used to. Clean, clean, clean!

FYI, Here’s a youtube of a different Limpia provider at a different market, with a bit more explanation.