Sastun: My Apprenticeship with a Maya Healer

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GLOSSARY OF MAYAN WORDS c’ox ca’ax: “Let’s go to the mountains.” comal: a round clay disk used to make corn tortillas and to toast food or plants H’men: Doctor priest(ess), “One who knows” ik: wind inca: “I’m going now.” sas: light, mirror sastun: a divining stone used by the H’men tato: an affectionate term used to address the elderly and the revered tun: stone, age Tzibche: (literally) letter tree
A BASIC CATALOG OF MEDICINAL RAINFOREST PLANTS Allspice Pimienta Gorda Pimenta dioica Amaranth Amaranto Calalu Amaranthus sp. Anal Psychotria acuminata Avocado Pear Aguacate On Persea americana Balsam Tree Balsamo Na Ba Myroxylon balsamum Basil Albahacar Ca Cal Tun Ocimum basilieum Billy Webb Tree Sweetia panamensis Breadnut Ramon Chacox Brosimum alicastrum Cancer Herb, Cat Tail Hierba del Cancer Acalypha arvensis (male) Priva lappulacea (female) Use the leaves and berries as an old household remedy for stomachache, colic, indigestion, and fever. Apply the crushed berry over the gum of an aching tooth to bring quick relief. A “pot herb” used for both food and medicine. Leaves are high in iron and calcium; seeds are rich in protein. Several varieties; all are used for part of herbal bath formula. Boil leaves with other species for cough syrup. Drink as a tea for pain, colds, and fever. Boil and drink bark for all conditions of urinary tract, prostate, liver, and inflammation. A wild and cultivated spice also prized for its use to ward off evil spirits and break spells. Boil bark and drink for diabetes, uterine congestion, to cleanse internal organs, for low appetite, and for dry coughs. A major source of staple food to the ancient Maya, and still eaten today. Boil the nut to make gruel, cook like a tortilla or like new potatoes. Feed the leaves to horses, cows, sheep, and goats with recent young to increase milk supply. Boil entire plant to bathe chronic skin conditions and ulcers. Mix with Tres Puntas (Jackass Bitten) to make a dry wound powder. Drink tea of leaves for stomach ailments or ulcers. Best to combine male and female if possible.
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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
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He instructed her to boil a handful
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weakness in the legs, and constipat
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Not too confidently, I began to exa
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CHAPTER FIFTEEN Balsam Tree Balsamo
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Later in the day, one of the crew,
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Panti wanted to consult his sastun
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CHAPTER SIXTEEN Allspice Pimienta G
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He was both excited and bewildered,
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I also knew what he meant when he p
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able to treat the mind, body, and s
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that once belonged to a child’s e
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Viento de descuido means Wind of Ca
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worthy of her. She comes out of the
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loodcurdling cry, followed by the s
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Panti spoke quietly to her as she g
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had first seen the book in the 1950
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CHAPTER NINETEEN Duck Flower Contri
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“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 162 and 163: Antonio who shared his respect for
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 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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