Sastun: My Apprenticeship with a Maya Healer

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Antonio who shared his respect for plants but were themselves rapidly succumbing to old age. Some plants I purchased from herb vendors or paid people to collect. Greg and I and a local herbalist named Polo Romero also began visiting farmers before they burned their milpas, so that we could harvest their medicinal plants. Mostly, I spent hours alone in the forest and the fields, gathering his plants. Sometimes I collected on Ix Chel’s thirty-five acres, or in the forests and fields near San Antonio. Wherever I was, I missed my longtime companion. As much as I loved my solitary forays into the rainforest, it was never the same without Don Elijio.
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO Pheasant Tail Xiv Yak Tun Ich Cola de Faisán Anthurium schlechtendalii A bath or steam bath of these leaves boiled in water is considered a specific treatment for muscle aches, backaches, rheumatism, arthritis, paralysis, and swelling. The leaf is crushed with a stone and then applied directly to sore muscles or backache. Antonio was a friendly vendor from whom I bought beets and onions every Saturday morning. His booth was a regular stop on my weekly shopping trip to San Ignacio’s busy outdoor marketplace, overlooking the Macal River. One Saturday morning, Tony looked uncharacteristically grim. “Are you still working with Don Elijio? Can you cure now, Doña Rosita?” I could tell from his expression that he was not just making small talk. He seemed genuinely anguished. “Maybe you could help me? My wife and I will come see you this week, yes?” he continued. I was just about to say “of course” when he added, “Things are not right for us, Doña Rosita. Something is not natural.” Those last few words pierced through the voices of buyers, shouting orders for corn and plantains. I’d heard them enough times at Panti’s clinic and I’d been dreading the time when they would be addressed to me. After seeing hundreds of cases at Don Elijio’s clinic, I couldn’t deny the existence of evil forces. But it was one thing to assist Don Elijio. It was another to make that final leap of faith alone into the frightening and ambiguous sphere of spiritual healing. Nor did I have confidence that I could treat spiritual diseases. Physical, yes, but spiritual? That was a different story. Was I as strong as Panti? I didn’t think so. “You better go see Don Elijio,” I warbled. “No, I want to see you, Doña Rosita. I have faith in you,” he said.
Page 4 and 5:
DEDICATION Dedicated to Don Elijio
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CONTENTS DEDICATION EPIGRAPH ACKNOW
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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I would like to tha
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The Whole Earth Review for assignin
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tenderness reserved for a favorite
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sometimes combining nutritional or
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MAP
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unsolved mystery until years later
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CHAPTER ONE Linden Flowers, Basswoo
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As soon as I heard his name, I almo
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The old man’s friend had come for
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the soil was impoverished, hardpan
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opposite bank. In Belizean fashion,
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of the village farms, finding an un
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“Are there no curanderos in your
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Hours later, he reappeared—showin
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CHAPTER THREE Wormseed Epasote Chen
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“It is too damp and muddy for me
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“This is Man Vine. This plant is
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man’s hand back and forth, causin
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CHAPTER FOUR Amaranth Amaranto Cala
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One day he stopped to trade and tal
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uins of the Maya city of Tikal. The
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would become seriously ill. This he
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CHAPTER FIVE Jackass Bitters Tres P
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that cure. I was sad when he left m
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three places, using the sharp end o
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myself to sleep in the dust. I had
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CHAPTER SIX Corn Maize Im Che Zea m
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“I’m willing to wait three year
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nothing about them. Please, I want
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strapping on plastic flour sacks, m
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We’d been steadily trudging uphil
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acks and the emerging midday heat.
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Where were we now? How far was it y
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we had our share of arguments. The
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the northern strain—I bathed them
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CHAPTER NINE Anal Psychotria acumin
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“Claudia, at your service. Maybe
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CHAPTER TEN Wild Yam Cocolmeca Dios
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He also believed in the Nine Malevo
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I had to admire Don Elijio’s simp
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stone tools, spinning whorls, shard
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four-star hotel. Panti put down his
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Spirits. All of our crystals came o
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“I leave these jícaras with you
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Crystal was sleeping on her bed und
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The aroma of moist, rotting humus w
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There was no evidence and no case,
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We opened the door wide to let the
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make them tired and dizzy. We must
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When I returned with the three-part
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Doña Juana held the lantern overhe
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ailing women came from all over Cen
Page 112 and 113: He instructed her to boil a handful
Page 114 and 115: weakness in the legs, and constipat
Page 116 and 117: Not too confidently, I began to exa
Page 118 and 119: CHAPTER FIFTEEN Balsam Tree Balsamo
Page 120 and 121: Later in the day, one of the crew,
Page 122 and 123: Panti wanted to consult his sastun
Page 124 and 125: CHAPTER SIXTEEN Allspice Pimienta G
Page 126 and 127: He was both excited and bewildered,
Page 128 and 129: I also knew what he meant when he p
Page 130 and 131: able to treat the mind, body, and s
Page 132 and 133: that once belonged to a child’s e
Page 134 and 135: Viento de descuido means Wind of Ca
Page 136 and 137: worthy of her. She comes out of the
Page 138 and 139: loodcurdling cry, followed by the s
Page 140 and 141: Panti spoke quietly to her as she g
Page 142 and 143: had first seen the book in the 1950
Page 144 and 145: CHAPTER NINETEEN Duck Flower Contri
Page 146 and 147: “They don’t understand,” he s
Page 148 and 149: Doña Rosa spent the night and we h
Page 150 and 151: men who had asked him to give up hi
Page 152 and 153: to offer. As we left, one suggested
Page 154 and 155: Che Xiv, the chief herb formula tha
Page 156 and 157: CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE Billy Webb Tree
Page 158 and 159: whispering, kissing and whispering
Page 160 and 161: “I lost my daughter. I lost my wi
Page 164 and 165: I was unable to refuse his request.
Page 166 and 167: By the time I had finished, Antonio
Page 168 and 169: CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE Cross Vine Cru
Page 170 and 171: I followed him in, and he sat down
Page 172 and 173: I saw that he was crying and bent o
Page 174 and 175: and met Saint Peter. He looked at m
Page 176 and 177: A few weeks later, on February 4, 1
Page 178 and 179: pamphlet. On the back, we printed a
Page 180 and 181: esembles a basement. There is a cla
Page 182 and 183: PICTURE SECTION
Page 184 and 185: Rosita with Don Elijio on the trail
Page 186 and 187: Don Elijio with patients
Page 188 and 189: Jackass Bitters
Page 190 and 191: Contribo (photos by Michael Balick)
Page 192 and 193: Polly Red Head
Page 194 and 195: Don Elijio gathering herbs on trail
Page 196 and 197: Rosita with Don Elijio chopping med
Page 198 and 199: GLOSSARY OF MAYAN WORDS c’ox ca
Page 200 and 201: Castor Bean Tree, Oil Nut Ricino, I
Page 202 and 203: Palo Verde Eupatorium (Critonia) mo
Page 204 and 205: ABOUT THE AUTHORS Rosita Arvigo Now
Page 206 and 207: COPYRIGHT HarperSanFrancisco and th
Page 208: ABOUT THE PUBLISHER Australia Harpe
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Sastun: My Apprenticeship with a Maya Healer

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