Sastun: My Apprenticeship with a Maya Healer

had first seen the book in the 1950s, with its pages full of evil spells and
incantations.
“Right there it tells you how to do all manner of evil against your
neighbors. Prayers to the devil using frogs and other animals. I can’t catch
my breath, I’m working so hard to dig up the Zorillo. Thirty years ago, I
might have used a few pounds in a year. Now, I need a hundred pounds a
month. How long can it last if I keep digging up so many roots every year?
What will we do if the Zorillo runs out?
“Men have become selfish and greedy,” he scolded. “They have
forgotten the Maya Spirits and stopped doing their Primicias, which used to
protect them.”
Angelina continued to vomit from time to time, and the dark, steamy
cement house, cooking under the tropical sun, reeked. All Panti said was,
“Good. You need to cleanse yourself of this filthy being. He is inside you
right now and frightened, looking for a way to escape. Soon it will leave
and you will be yourself again,” he said.
“How much do we owe you for our mother’s life, papá?” asked Roberto
with tears in his eyes.
Panti sat down in his chair, shiny from years of use, and whispered,
“Whatever you would like to give me.” They handed him the equivalent of
one hundred dollars.
Ten days later, Roberto and José brought their mother back to Panti for
a checkup. I couldn’t believe the transformation. She was clean and neat
and well dressed. She smiled sweetly and seemed entirely normal.
Her sons stood in the doorway, washed in sunlight, and humbly said to
Panti, “Tatito, we have returned with our mother to kiss your hand and to
give thanks to you and to God.”
Angelina stood just a pace behind them, then came forward to reach for
Panti’s hand, which she kissed according to the old Latin custom.
“Thank you, señor, for my life,” she said graciously.
“It is just as I said, these evil spirits have no real power,” Panti affirmed
as he felt her wrist, whispering nine prayers into her pulse for her continued
well-being.
Her sons said that once they got her home and she began to recover, she
couldn’t recall her behavior.
“But still she slipped away from us at times, drooling and talking
incoherently. Then my sister spent the night with her one Friday to pray.