La Botella
La Botella ( Spanish bottle ) is a natural product mainly used in Latin America but also in North America in the field of alternative and complementary medicine from the Dominican Republic and contains preparations of the plant species that occur on the island of Hispaniola ("the Spanish island"), which are traditionally used for medicinal purposes Healing methods are used.
Even after several hundred years of medical development and the import of all common and proven helpful medicines, many Dominicans, but mainly the older generation, still prefer the use of medicinal plants .
In rural areas and also in the mountain regions, most resident families have their own herb garden, with the plants of which they treat their own health problems and those of family members or neighbors. People with special knowledge about the healing powers of plants are known as curandero (healers or shamans ).
A traditionally used product is "La Botella", which is mostly made by naturopaths.
product
Botellas are homemade home remedies that can have many different contents. That is why it cannot be said which original recipe a Botella has. Some contain honey, some contain sugar, some contain seeds and other flowers of plants, some contain roots and other leaves, some contain ground peels or fleshy leaves, some botellas are only heated and others boiled for a long time. Many botellas also add iron powder, lavender, chamomile, aspirin, rum or malt.
In the countryside, it is said that the more complex the disease, the more extensive the list of ingredients in Botella to cure the disease or to alleviate the suffering. The most common recipes relate to fertility problems in women and men and the regulation of menstrual cramps. La Botella is prepared by experts. These also prepare botellas for children and young people in the developmental stage. Botellas are as diverse as hepatitis or tuberculosis diseases. Furthermore, Curanderos produce botellas for respiratory diseases, rheumatism, bone loss and to eliminate digestive disorders.
La Botella - medicinal plants and their active ingredients
Science tries to track down the healing effects of certain plants by analyzing their ingredients and classifying them into groups. The last secret of a medicinal plant, however, lies in its special combination of many substances, which are still largely unknown today. It should be noted that many herbs and medicinal plants that are used in La Botella are not approved by the pharmaceutical industry. These plants are usually recommended and used by healers, shamans, alchemists.
Product variants
The variety of uses of La Botella is very extensive. However, the most common recipes relate to fertility problems in women and men and the regulation of menstrual cramps. Botellas are also prepared for everyday complaints such as sore throats, fever, vomiting, diarrhea and many other health problems.
Imitators
Botellas are prepared throughout the Dominican Republic. Often, however, not by experts, but by self-appointed healers who neither have sufficient knowledge of medicinal plants nor of the ailments for which they prepare the botella. The success rates are often correspondingly poor, if in the worst case, consequential damage to health is not to be expected from an incorrect composition or recipe of a botella. A guarantee, reimbursement of costs or even compensation are excluded from the outset and the buyers of La Botella know that too. However, the trust in this product or in the curador who makes the botella leaves no room for these doubts among the locals.
Making a botella
All of the contents of La Botella are purely plant-based, obtained from plants and herbs that grow in the Dominican Republic. The leaves, woods, roots, seeds of these plants and herbs are used to cook a brew over a longer period of time. Then the solid components of this brew are completely removed by filtering several times and only the liquid remains and it can be viewed as a tea-like drink.
Consumption and taste of La Botella
La Botella is given to users or buyers in a quantity of 2.0 liters. During the application period of 10 days (the user has to drink a glass of 0.2 liters a day) La Botella must be kept in the refrigerator, as it does not contain any preservatives that extend the shelf life. The taste is different from botella to botella due to the different ingredients, but in almost all botellas a taste of liquorice predominates .
Recipes
There is no single, universal recipe to alleviate or cure one or the other illness. Rather, the knowledge of medicinal plants and the art of preparing an effective botella have been passed on to the descendants over generations. Effective recipes have become established - but have not been made available to third parties. For many curadors, selling a botella is the only source of income to be able to make a living. Publishing these effective recipes would threaten its very existence. Many Dominicans are very poor .
ingredient list
Hispaniola Island has the highest biodiversity in the Caribbean . There you will find such a large variety of plants and animals as nowhere else in the Caribbean.
Unfortunately, this no longer applies to Haiti, the western part of the island, but it does to the Dominican Republic. There are 5600 different plant species here.
At least 1,800 of these plants are endemic - that is, they are only found on Hispaniola Island and nowhere else. But many are at risk; the botanists worry. This diversity results in the unique composition and not least the success of La Botella.
The manufacturers of La Botella use around 250 types of plants that they differentiate according to their various qualities and healing properties, according to nutritional, aesthetic and magic plants.
Myths
The mothers in rural areas say that "cleaning with a botella" during menstruation plays an important role in the healthy development of the female organs and in the social behavior of young people. If the young person does not behave appropriately, for example eating a forbidden fruit, a botella is prepared as a laxative from the leaves, the roots or the seeds of the tree from which he ate the forbidden fruit to cleanse the body. In this way, the "polluted body" is cleansed again. The practice of forbidding certain fruits to be eaten and the subsequent “cleansing of the polluted body” can be compared to controlling young people and keeping their bodies in balance. In rural areas, it is widely believed that physical imbalance causes illness and inappropriate behavior in young people. Botellas are used to restore this balance.
Connection to voodoo and African medicine
The island of Hispaniola is home to 2 states: the Dominican Republic and Haiti.
In the event that the healer or curandero is a Haitian, there is a likelihood that he belongs to the voodoo religion. On April 4, 2003, Voodoo became the official religion in Haiti .
In her conclusion, Marit Brendbekken shows that traditional Dominican medicine - which also includes “La Botella” - has concepts and practices related to Voodoo (Haiti) and African medicine as well as in the humoral theory of body fluids and traditional Spanish medicine based. These include the medicinal plants mentioned in her book - experiences accumulated over centuries by the Taíno (natives of the Dominican Republic), Spanish conquerors, African slaves and others ...
Loco (also Papa Loko) is the loa of trees and plants in the voodoo religion . He is the patron of all remedies that are made from plants and thus also the protector of the healers who work with plant medicine.
He is mainly called upon during rituals that involve healing. The healer asks Loco for support and that his medicine will work. A tree or a flower is often planted for him after the ritual. It can also be tree bark (from an already dead tree).
literature
- Marit Brendbekken; Hablando con la Mata: Estudio Antropológico de la Interdependencia Entre “La Vida Social de Las Plantas” and the Construccíon de la Identidad Campesina en the area Fronteriza de la República Dominicana; Instituto de Medicina Dominicana; December 1998; ISBN 976-8160-76-4 (pbk)
- Carlos Roersch, Instituto de Medicina Dominicana; Medicina tradicional 500 años después: historia y consecuencias actuales: II Seminario Latinoamericano sobre la Teoría y la Práctica en la Aplicación de la Medicina Tradicional en Sistemas Formales de Salud; Instituto de Medicina Dominicana; 1993
- Yvonne Schaffler; Vodu? It's up to the others !: Dominican Republic; Spirituality; Medicine; Ethnomedicine; cultural identity; Cure; Illness; Conception; Caribbean area; Developing country; Central America; Latin America; Vienna: Lit Verl., 2009. ISBN 978-3-643-50064-9
Individual evidence
- ^ Instituto de Medicina Dominicana: Medicina tradicional 500 años después. Instituto de Medicina Dominicana, 1993 ( limited preview in Google book search).
- ↑ a b c d e f g h i j Marit Brendbekken: Hablando con la Mata . Instituto de Medicina Dominicana, 1998, ISBN 978-9-768-16076-8 ( limited preview in Google book search).
- ↑ Yvonne Schaffler: Vodu? That’s up to the others! LIT Verlag Münster, 2009, ISBN 978-3-643-50064-9 ( limited preview in Google book search).
- ↑ Medicinal plants: active ingredients. In: fid-gesundheitswissen.de. August 6, 2009, accessed January 15, 2015 .
- ^ Rolf Lohberg, Redaktion@reiserat.de: Dominican Republic - Largest variety of Caribbean plants. In: reiserat.de. December 2, 2010, accessed January 15, 2015 .
