Resumo

CASTELLANO SALAS, Ángela. Guardian of the spirit of a machi and her dreams. Index Enferm [online]. 2007, vol.16, n.57, pp.65-69. ISSN 1699-5988.

In an intercultural health center of Santiago, Chile, the additional possibility to accede to mapuche medicine is offered to the clients with the purpose of complementing both health systems. This biographical story was written on the basis of an interview in depth to the wife of the machi who gives attention in this place. It describes her perception on the process that he lived since the first manifestations of the illness that were suggesting the gift and the power of the proofs that influence his acceptance, the preparation and initiation, and some experiences of the current period. From a seemingly silent plane, his wife has played a key role in the provision of the necessary conditions for the attention of the patients and simultaneously, she has been his faithful collaborator in what is properly human, and a guardian of the spirit of the machi guided by the message of her dreams.

Palavras-chave : Traditional medicine; Medicine Mapuche; Machi; Spirit; Dreams; Gender.