Folk Medicine, Superstition and Ancestral Knowledge in a Mountain Culture
In the Pasiego Valleys, traditional life was shaped by the landscape, livestock and seasonal mobility. But it was also defined by something less visible and yet essential: the way its inhabitants understood health, illness and protection against uncertainty.
For centuries, in these mountains of Cantabria, a doctor was not always nearby. Roads were long, isolation was real, and families depended largely on their own resources. In this context, illness was not faced solely with physical remedies, but also through symbolic gestures, amulets and practices passed down from generation to generation.
Pasiego folk medicine was not simply a collection of “superstitions.” Above all, it was a cultural and practical response to a demanding way of life. In the book Los pasiegos (1960), Adriano García-Lomas records some fascinating examples of this intersection between experience, nature and belief.
The Evil Eye and the Protection of the Vulnerable
One of the most widespread fears in Pasiego health traditions was the so-called “evil eye,” also known as maldao: an invisible negative influence believed to affect especially young children. It was thought that a gaze filled with envy or ill intent could cause weakness, persistent crying or illness.
To prevent it, people relied on simple but highly symbolic amulets. Adriano mentions the use of garlic or jet stones worn around the neck, as well as the higa —the “little hand” charm— tied to the wrist of nursing babies. These objects acted as symbolic barriers, a way of “blocking the path” of harmful forces.
What is interesting is that these practices were not seen as something marginal. They formed part of everyday care, just like keeping a child warm or watching over their diet. The religious, the magical and the practical coexisted without contradiction.
Remedies from the Land: Plants and Healing Powders
Beyond amulets, Pasiego culture preserved a wide range of cures based on observation and the use of natural resources.
One especially striking example is the treatment for diarrhoea in calves, known as juria (and bajera in humans). To cure it, people used toasted and powdered Saxifraga geum, or alternatively powdered oak acorns.
It is worth pausing for a moment to understand this properly: Saxifraga geum is a small but hardy mountain plant that grows in damp, rocky areas. Toasting and grinding it into powder was a way of preparing a concentrated remedy, almost like a homemade medicine. These practices reveal an empirical botanical knowledge: people knew which plants could help, how to prepare them and when to use them.
Acorn powder, meanwhile, makes sense because of its astringent properties, useful for stopping diarrhoea. These were solutions born from accumulated experience, not from a laboratory, but certainly not from chance either.
Livestock Diseases: Family Health
In the Pasiego Valleys, caring for livestock health meant caring for the health of the household. A sick cow could mean ruin, because milk was the foundation of the family economy.
Adriano records that the same acorn powder was also used for viaraza in horses, showing that these remedies were not limited to humans but were applied to animals with equal attention.
Another feared condition was mastitis, or malera, an inflammation of cows’ udders. In this case, a ritual element appears: as a preventive practice, people would trace a cross over the animal’s body using a pair of scissors.
From a modern perspective this may seem strange, but it follows a clear cultural logic: the cross was a protective symbol, and the gesture combined practical action with the sacred. It is a perfect example of the meeting point between folk medicine and belief.
A Broad Repertoire of Illnesses
García-Lomas also mentions traditional remedies for mouth ulcers, tumours, sores, insect bites, as well as poultices and liniments made from natural ingredients.
Although he does not always describe every recipe in detail, the list itself makes it clear that there was a broad therapeutic knowledge shared within the community. It was not written knowledge, but oral tradition passed down by elders, neighbours, women caring for the household and men accustomed to livestock work.
In this sense, folk medicine was also a form of social cohesion: healing took place collectively, advice was exchanged and remedies were shared.
Witches, Curses and the Fear of the Invisible
Traditional Pasiego culture also included beliefs in curses and harmful spells. Adriano records, for example, practices intended to ward off harm attributed to witches: throwing salt onto the fire and reciting an incantation.
These gestures speak to the fear of the unexplained in societies where illness could appear suddenly and without scientific explanation. Magic functioned as a cultural language for naming what could not be understood and, above all, for creating the feeling that something could be done in response.
An Invisible Heritage
Today, many of these practices have disappeared or survive only as anecdotes. Yet they form part of a deep cultural heritage: that of a community that learned to survive in a demanding environment using the resources available, combining nature, experience, faith and symbolism.
Visiting the Pasiego Valleys is not only about exploring a beautiful landscape. It is about walking through a territory where every cabin, meadow and custom preserves the memory of a complete way of life. And within that memory, health —understood as a balance between body, community and the invisible world— holds a central place.
Because in the Pas Valley, for centuries, healing was not only about applying a remedy: it was also about protecting, accompanying and enduring.
