Sastun: My Apprenticeship with a Maya Healer

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“I leave these jícaras with you today, my daughter,” he said, looking at me with fatherly pride. Tears of joy and gratitude fell from my eyes onto his wrinkled hands. He smiled and grasped my hands in his rough, calloused palms. We had forged a bond of honor to the Gods of healing.
CHAPTER TWELVE Copal Tree Pom Protium copal The tree and its resin are sacred to the Maya, who burn the aromatic resin as incense during ceremonies of purification, thanksgiving, and supplication to the Gods. The burning of Copal incense is a specific treatment for spiritual diseases such as envy, fright, the evil eye, grief, and sadness. It is believed to ward off evil spirits and black magic. The powdered bark is applied to wounds and infected sores. The boiled bark relieves stomach cramps and destroys intestinal parasites. The resin forms the basis of a varnish used on many fine woods. Shortly after the Primicia, a refugee from El Salvador named Orlando showed up at our gate asking for work. We had a herculean task before us of felling several dead sixty-foot trees, sawing up the branches, and burning them so the snakes wouldn’t take up residence in the underbrush. We knew we couldn’t do it alone, so after counting our scarce cash, we agreed to hire him for the next three days. By the end of the second day, we had felled dozens of trees and were preparing to burn the piles of branches. I hated clearing the forest, thinking it sad to see such noble trees lying on the ground, having surrendered their lives to our needs. That day our farm looked like a graveyard to me, with our machetes dripping with the trees’ life-giving sap. We knew it was imperative to set the brush on fire at the appropriate time of day, due to the wind’s ability to carry away the flames, especially during the dry season. One had to have the experience and knowledge of the bush to do it right, and after talking with Orlando, he assured us with supreme confidence that he did. He puffed up his chest and said, “Si, señor, yo sé bién.” Yes, sir, I know well. At eight the next morning he ceremoniously set fire to a dozen piles of brush and tree trunks only ten yards from our two huts. Within minutes Greg and I knew he and we had made a serious mistake. The early morning wind began swirling around the farm carrying menacing tongues of flame. We quickly were engulfed as ten-foot-high flames whipped around in every direction.
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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
Page 44 and 45: CHAPTER FOUR Amaranth Amaranto Cala
Page 46 and 47: One day he stopped to trade and tal
Page 48 and 49: uins of the Maya city of Tikal. The
Page 50 and 51: would become seriously ill. This he
Page 52 and 53: CHAPTER FIVE Jackass Bitters Tres P
Page 54 and 55: that cure. I was sad when he left m
Page 56 and 57: three places, using the sharp end o
Page 58 and 59: myself to sleep in the dust. I had
Page 60 and 61: CHAPTER SIX Corn Maize Im Che Zea m
Page 62 and 63: “I’m willing to wait three year
Page 64 and 65: nothing about them. Please, I want
Page 66 and 67: strapping on plastic flour sacks, m
Page 68 and 69: We’d been steadily trudging uphil
Page 70 and 71: acks and the emerging midday heat.
Page 72 and 73: Where were we now? How far was it y
Page 74 and 75: we had our share of arguments. The
Page 76 and 77: the northern strain—I bathed them
Page 78 and 79: CHAPTER NINE Anal Psychotria acumin
Page 80 and 81: “Claudia, at your service. Maybe
Page 82 and 83: CHAPTER TEN Wild Yam Cocolmeca Dios
Page 84 and 85: He also believed in the Nine Malevo
Page 86 and 87: I had to admire Don Elijio’s simp
Page 88 and 89: stone tools, spinning whorls, shard
Page 90 and 91: four-star hotel. Panti put down his
Page 92 and 93: Spirits. All of our crystals came o
Page 96 and 97: Crystal was sleeping on her bed und
Page 98 and 99: The aroma of moist, rotting humus w
Page 100 and 101: There was no evidence and no case,
Page 102 and 103: We opened the door wide to let the
Page 104 and 105: make them tired and dizzy. We must
Page 106 and 107: When I returned with the three-part
Page 108 and 109: Doña Juana held the lantern overhe
Page 110 and 111: 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
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CHAPTER NINETEEN Duck Flower Contri
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“They don’t understand,” he s
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Doña Rosa spent the night and we h
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men who had asked him to give up hi
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to offer. As we left, one suggested
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Che Xiv, the chief herb formula tha
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CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE Billy Webb Tree
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whispering, kissing and whispering
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“I lost my daughter. I lost my wi
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Antonio who shared his respect for
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I was unable to refuse his request.
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By the time I had finished, Antonio
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CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE Cross Vine Cru
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I followed him in, and he sat down
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I saw that he was crying and bent o
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and met Saint Peter. He looked at m
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A few weeks later, on February 4, 1
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pamphlet. On the back, we printed a
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esembles a basement. There is a cla
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PICTURE SECTION
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Rosita with Don Elijio on the trail
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Don Elijio with patients
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Jackass Bitters
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Contribo (photos by Michael Balick)
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Polly Red Head
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Don Elijio gathering herbs on trail
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Rosita with Don Elijio chopping med
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GLOSSARY OF MAYAN WORDS c’ox ca
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Castor Bean Tree, Oil Nut Ricino, I
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Palo Verde Eupatorium (Critonia) mo
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ABOUT THE AUTHORS Rosita Arvigo Now
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COPYRIGHT HarperSanFrancisco and th
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ABOUT THE PUBLISHER Australia Harpe
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Sastun: My Apprenticeship with a Maya Healer

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