Sastun: My Apprenticeship with a Maya Healer

Before he died, Jerónimo had warned Panti that he would receive a
dream visit from the Spirits after he received his sastun. Jerónimo had told
him that dreams were the lines of communication the Spirits preferred and
that every dream would leave him feeling like he would live forever.
Jerónimo had also told him that he would never forget any instructions
revealed in a dream.
Panti’s dream occurred the first night he slept with his sastun. After
drifting off to sleep, he felt his hammock was being pulled from side to side
by a pair of forceful and determined hands. He was frightened at first, but
within an instant the dream vision began and his anxiety gave way to
anticipation.
Suddenly, standing before him was an ancient Maya, striking and
confident in a white tunic that barely brushed the tops of his knees. The
robe was gathered at the waist with a belt dripping with regal strips of
animal skins, glorious remnants of the revered jaguar. The Maya wore
macasinas, a simple foot covering of rubber soles and straps coming up
between the toes that fastened around the ankle. In the middle of his bare
chest dangled a sparkling jade pendant, and crowning his head was a
feathery headdress of large, brightly colored plumes.
Another Maya, wearing a simple cotton tunic, stood by him silently.
The first Maya clutched his carved staff, which resembled a writhing,
menacing snake, and said, “Elijio Panti, we see you are working hard and
we are pleased. We send you now this sastun to help your work. Use it to
help people but do no harm with it. Wash it every Friday and use the
following chant when you wish to ask it a question.”
The ancient Maya repeated the chant that enabled the sastun to be
blessed and then taught Panti how to read the bubbles that would form
inside the marble as answers to his probes. Before departing, the Maya told
him that he and other Spirits would visit him often in the future.
As soon as he awoke the next morning, Panti realized that the ancient
Maya was one of the Maya Spirits. Just as Jerónimo had promised, he
recollected all the details of the dream, and he was filled with a sense of
wonderment and well-being.
That morning Panti held his sastun, turning it, washing it, and rolling it
about inside an old cup, making it twirl the way the Maya had showed him
in the dream.