Basque ethnography at a glance

Irune Rotaetxe

Aita (father in Basque) though very highly of Lorenza Amorrortu and I believe he still remembers her, wherever he now may be. 

For some time, he suffered from quite a lot of stomach problems. He complained about stomach pain, indigestion, feeling sick and weak. He seemed sad. He used to hold his stomach with both hands to relieve that discomfort. He even stopped eating.

Aita was seen by more than one doctor. Most of them put his suffering down to nerves and what they prescribed did nothing to make him feel better. A friend advised him to go to a healer who treated this type of disorders. Even though we were not very hopeful, we decided to go and see her.

Lorenza lived in the El Manzanal neighbourhood of Llodio (Álava). She would be around 70 back then. She was very lively and enthusiastic. The fact that she spoke to him in Basque made it easier for them to communicate and create a good relationship.

Lorenza was born in Zeberio (Bizkaia) in 1926 and was the mother of three children. She started to work as a healer when she was 50 and treated anyone who asked her for over three decades. She said that she been born with that gift, a certain something in her hands that cured certain ills. It seems she inherited that gift from her grandmother, who was also a healer. Her grandmother passed it on to her and Lorenza, in turn, to one of her daughters, to the one who had most promise. What she was sure about was that the gift could not be lost.

Aita told her that he had stomach problems, that food upset his stomach and he felt weak. Lorenza told him to raise his arms and put his palms and legs together. She saw that his left hand was slightly lower than his right, and then immediately gave her diagnosis: fallen stomach ―estamangukoa or urdailekoa, in Basque―.

Fallen stomach, technically a stomach prolapse, is when the bottom of the stomach falls or drops lower than normal. It is often a constitutional disorder and mainly occurs in thin and tall people. This pathology can be triggered by sudden losses of weight, surgery on the stomach or several pregnancies, in the case of women. According to Lorenza, shocks or frights can also cause the stomach to drop.

Lorenza got my father to lie on a treatment table and massaged his abdomen. She then placed several pieces of wax on it and used Chimbo soap to hold them in place. She lit them one by one. She placed a glass upside down over them and waited until a vacuum was created to create an upward sucker force. She thus got the stomach to return to its place. Lorenzo then used a piece of string to measure around the waist and the distance between the pit of the stomach and the pubis. She repeated this treatment on three consecutive days, during which time Father had to wear a corset day and night until the pain gradually disappeared. 

Lorenza only asked for as much as we could spare. 

Itziar Rotaetxe

Popular Cultural Heritage Department – Labayru Fundazioa

* Other treatment for fallen stomach can be consulted at Popular Medicina, part of the Ethnographic Atlas of the Basque Country.