A
Medical
Medium
In the late 19th century, the city of Jutiapa in Guatemala became the birthplace of a spiritual healer, Francisco José García. Like Anthony William, the present-day Medical Medium and New York Times bestselling author, or the Mayan ah-men, Mr. García helped his community overcome illnesses.
Today his great-granddaughter, Natalie Saldarriaga, with only a single photograph of her great-grandfather, works to recuperate Mr. García's healing contributions and tell his story.
Francisco José García
was raised by a single mother and took his surname from the García family, who gave his mother a home and job when she needed one. He studied pharmacy and became a well-known spiritual healer in Jutiapa—from Náhuatl, meaning river of flowers. He channeled natural recipes from spirits to fill his medicine book, serving his community in many ways.
Courtesy of Natalie Saldarriaga
Natalie heads to Jutiapa to locate his medicine book.
Courtesy of Natalie Saldarriaga
Farmacia San Jose belonged to Natalie's grandparents and it's there that the medicine book was last used.
Only a few recipes were recuperated from memory, one is La Essencia Maravillosa used for fevers, measles, and the dreaded chickenpox.
Thank you Natalie Saldarriaga and Raíces Cultural Center for allowing CAHAAS to share and produce this visual online exhibit based on A Medium in the Family originally posted on
