“Todo Tiene su Espacio”: Vernacular Religion and Healing in Señora Estevez’s Botánica

This thesis presents a case study of a North Carolina botánica operated by healer and practicing curandera, Señora Estevez. As an ethnography of vernacular spiritual healing, it traces the ways that Señora Estevez weaves together ancestral knowledge, her gift of el don, her personal beliefs, and spiritual guidance to address her clients’ spiritual, mental, and bodily concerns. Señora Estevez’s botánica functions as an eclectic space where she enacts consultas, confers with spirit guides, creates altars, and provides remedies, offering holistic care for her clients. By focusing on a single botánica and illuminating how Señora Estevez grounds her practice in both tradition and lived experience, this thesis foregrounds the situated singularity of vernacular religious and healing practices. It also highlights the practical tensions of balancing commerce with spiritual integrity. In so doing, this project reveals how Señora Estevez intertwines spirituality, healing, and commerce to produce holistic forms of care.