Chimayo

Chimayo, a small town in rural New Mexico, is the site of a world-famous healing shrine now located within the Roman Catholic Church called El Sanctuario de Chimayo. In a small room adjacent to the main altar is a small hole containing mud that is believed by the many who come to the room to possess healing powers. The many crutches and braces that have been left at the church by those who have reported a healing attest to the mud's power. It appears that the mud is a remnant of the active volcanic past of the area. The oldest Native American legends remember the region as a land of hot springs and geysers. At one time there was a healing hot spring at Chimayo that had dried and left only the mud behind. The site has been inhabited for at least 900 years and the Tawa people used the mud as a healing remedy over the centuries.

The Catholic Church moved into New Mexico with the Spanish colonists. In 1818 a proposal to build a church at Chi-mayo was accepted and construction began. Interestingly enough, it was modeled on a similar church in Guatemala where an older shrine built around healing mud had previously been erected. The Guatemala healing shrine is associated with a wooden crucifix. The church in Chimayo has a carved crucifix that reproduces the one in Guatemala.

Little research has been done on the mud to see if it possesses any unique properties that promote healing, though the majority of healings that have been reported are not of the kind that appear to respond to a medicine. Thus, healings have been attributed to the spiritual environment of the church or to what doctors term the placebo effect. The idea of using mud placed on the body for healing has biblical roots; Jesus was noted to have cured a blind man by placing dirt moistened with spittle on his eyes (John 9:6).

Sources:

Borhegyi, Stephen. "The Miraculous Shrines of Our Lord of Esquiplas in Guatemata and Chimayo, New Mexico." Il Palacio 63, no.3 (March 1953).

Kay, Elizabeth. Chimayo Valley Traditions. Santa Fe, N.Mex.: Ancient City Press, 1987.

Trento, Salvatore M. Field Guide to Mysterious Places of the West. Boulder, Colo.: Pruett Publishing, 1994.