Sastun: My Apprenticeship with a Maya Healer

able to treat the mind, body, and soul, regardless if the ailment began in the
belly or the disquieted soul.
In treating spiritual ailments Panti relied on the same formidable team
he used with physical ailments: medicinal plants, prayers, and his sastun.
However, the plants and prayers were more potent, and he guarded
information about spiritual illnesses much more carefully than that about
physical ailments.
The main ingredients he used were holy water from any Catholic
church, an herb called Rue, and Copal incense, which he garnered from the
resin of the sacred Copal tree.
Rue, known the world around as the Herb of Grace, has many uses in
both physical and spiritual healing. It is a favorite household remedy for
many ailments, but it is best known for its sure action against evil spirits.
The Copal tree is considered a Spirit in its own right and is also capable of
canceling out evil.
To this powerful mixture, Don Elijio added a white powder that was
made from a calcium-based stone found at a sacred mountain in Guatemala.
The stone was called Piedra de Esquipulas. It was named for the Christ of
Esquipulas, the black Jesus, one of the many versions of Jesus Christ
revered in Latin America.
To make an amulet, I placed a sprig of Rue, a chip of Copal incense, and
a tiny piece of Esquipulas stone onto a small piece of Balsam bark. I folded
a piece of black cotton around the contents, forming a neat little bundle,
then sewed up the edges with black thread. It ended up looking like a lumpy
pouch, one inch wide and two inches long.
Just as I was tearing a piece of black thread apart with my teeth, I saw a
woman run into Panti’s yard. She looked agitated and was holding a badly
bruised and swollen arm against her breasts. Her arm had begun to turn a
grayish shade of blue.
I knew her. Her name was Carla, and she owned a bright blue house we
regularly passed on our way to the bush. She always waved at us, holding
fresh-cut vegetables from her yard.
“I’ve come to see the old man because my life is not right,” she said
breathlessly. Hearing a patient’s panicked voice, Panti popped his head out
from behind the curtain, then came out to join us.
While she described her symptoms, Panti touched her pulse and nodded
his head with increasing melodrama.