Marcos, an expert on gender issues in ancient and contemporary Mesoamerica, works from colonial documents of the period of contact with European cultures and testimonies of indigenous people of the period and modern ethnological studies to describe the spiral that is current practice which is based on ancient belief. She begins with the curing rituals of contemporary Mexico, then passes from the past to a multitude of present times to describe duality, fluidity, equilibrium, the concept of sacred earth, the influence of gender within healing rituals, perceptions of women healers as embodying the sacred, corporate religious metaphor and narrative, the clash of indigenous eroticism and colonial morality, gendered moral discourse of the wise old women and men, and the hermeneutics of orality beyond Mesoamerica. Annotation ©2006 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)