Balsam Tree
Balsamo
Na Ba
Myroxylon balsamum
Boil and drink bark for all conditions of urinary tract, prostate, liver, and inflammation.
Basil
Albahacar
Ca Cal Tun
Ocimum basilieum
A wild and cultivated spice also prized for its use to ward off evil spirits and break spells.
Billy Webb Tree
Sweetia panamensis
Boil bark and drink for diabetes, uterine congestion, to cleanse internal organs, for low appetite, and for dry coughs.
Breadnut
Ramon
Chacox
Brosimum alicastrum
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.
Cancer Herb, Cat Tail
Hierba del Cancer
Acalypha arvensis (male)
Priva lappulacea (female)
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.
Castor Bean Tree, Oil Nut
Ricino, Iguerra
S’Kotch
Ricinus communis
A weedy tree, all parts of which are toxic. Oil is a purgative when taken internally. Apply oil locally to heal aches, pains, swellings, and bruises. Apply heated leaf to skin for the same purposes.
Chamomile
Manzanilla
Anthemis nobilis
Used universally as a mild tea for nerves, colic, sleeplessness, and indigestion.
Chaya
Jatropha aconitifolia
A semiwild backyard leaf vegetable high in iron and minerals. Eaten much like spinach.
Chicle Tree
Sapodilla
Zapote, Ya
Manilkara bidentata
Principally valued for its resin, used as a base for chewing gum until the 1930s. Has a delicious fruit much prized by ancient Maya.
Chicoloro
Strychnos panamensis
Boil vine and drink for constipation, to cleanse internal organs; use as uterine lavage and as an antidote to poisons.
Cilantro
Coriandrum sativum
A cultivated backyard vegetable used as a flavoring in sauces, soups, and salads. Make a tea of boiled seeds for insomnia and indigestion.
Cockspur
Zubin
Acacia cornigera
Bark is male aphrodisiac; thorns and their resident ants are used to loosen mucus in infants.
Copal Tree
Pom
Protium copal
Burn dried resin as incense to ward off evil spirits, witchcraft, and spiritual diseases such as envy, fright, and grief. Bark may be boiled and drunk for stomach upsets and intestinal parasites.
Corn
Maize
Im Che
Zea mays
Sacred food to the Maya. Boil corn silk hair as a tea for all problems of kidney and bladder. Useful in preventing bed-wetting.
Cotton
Algodon
Tsiin Taman
Gossypium hirsutum
A preconquest plant. Boil leaves in sugar with other species to make cough syrup.
Cow’s Hoof Vine
Pata de Vaca
Ki Bix
Bauhinia herrerae
Boil and drink vine to staunch bleeding and hemorrhaging, and take during menses as a birth control agent.
Cross Vine, Skipping Rope
Cruxi
Paullinia sp.
Boil leaves to bathe skin conditions, headaches, insomnia, and diseases of childhood.
Duck Flower
Contribo
Aristolochia trilobata
Soak vine in pure water all day and take one-fourth glass three times daily for sinus congestion. Plant has some degree of toxicity. Boil vine and drink for fever, gastritis, high blood pressure, and to cleanse internal organs and urinary tract of phlegm.
Fiddlewood, Walking Lady
Yax Nik
Vitex gaumeri
Dry and powder white inner bark to sprinkle on bay sore (leishmaniasis).
Give and Take Palm
Escoba
Crysophila argentea
A thorny trunk palm with many local uses. The dried leaves are woven into brooms. Scrape the inner bark and apply it to wounds and cuts to stop bleeding. The heart of this palm is edible.
Guaco
Aristolochia odoratissima
A woody vine used as a tea for all manner of gastric complaints.
Jackass Bitters
Tres Puntas, Mano de Lagarto
Kayabim
Neurolaena lobata
Boil leaves and drink for malaria, ringworm, intestinal parasites, amoebas, fungus, delayed menses. Dry and powder leaves to sprinkle on stubborn wounds and skin ulcers.
Lemon Grass, Fever Grass
Zacote Limón
Cymbopogon citratus
A pleasant-tasting herb used as a beverage and to reduce fevers in children and adults.
Linden Flowers, Basswood
Flor de Tilo
Tilia cordata
A mild sedative tea.
Mango Tree
Mangifera indica
Boil leaves with sugar until syrupy for cough, or boil with water as a tea to relieve menstrual cramps, headaches.
Man Vine
Behuco de Hombre
Ya Ax Ak
Agonandra sp.
Boil and drink vine for gastritis, constipation, indigestion, nerves, fever, and muscle spasms, and to cleanse internal organs. Boil and drink root for male impotency.
Mexican Wormseed
Epasote
Chenopodium ambrosioides
Take juice of fresh plant for intestinal parasites. Drink tea of root for hangovers. Add leaves to bean pot to prevent flatulence.
Naked Indian, Gumbolimbo
Palo de Turista
Chaca
Bursera simaruba
The bark is a natural antidote for poison-wood condition, used to reduce fevers or as a bath for skin conditions, burns, blisters, bites, rashes, measles, and infections. Drink for kidney infection, stoppage of urine, dropsy.
Palo Verde
Eupatorium (Critonia) morifolium
Boil fresh leaves for use as herbal bath for any ailment. Part of the Xiv formula.
Pheasant Tail
Cola de Faisán
Xiv Yak Tun Ich
Anthurium schlechtendalii
Boil leaves and use as steam bath for rheumatism, arthritis, swellings, paralysis, and fluid retention.
Rosemary
Romero
Rosemarinus officinalis
Drink tea of leaves to cleanse stomach of mucus. Burn with Copal resin as incense to ward off evil spirits and envy.
Rue
Ruda
Sink In
Ruta graveolens
Squeeze fresh plant into water and drink for hysteria, menstrual cramps, stomachache, and onset of epilepsy. Take with Zorillo and white stone to ward off spiritual diseases such as evil, envy, or fright. Fresh plant also used for delayed menses, labor, and delivery.
Skunk Root
Zorillo
Payche
Chiococca alba
Boil and drink root or bark of vine to dispel envy and evil spirits. Drunk by shamans to increase powers, used to cleanse internal organs for stomach ulcers, and as a bath for many skin conditions or sores on mucus membranes.
Sour Orange Tree
Naranja Agria
Citrus aurantium
A wild tree whose fruits are used as substitutes for lemons. Drink an infusion of the leaves for fever, colds, flu, and hangover.
Soursop
Guanabana
&nb
sp; Annona muricata
Boil leaves in sugar with other species to make cough syrup. The fruit is commonly made into ice cream.
Spanish Elder, Buttonwood
Cordonsillo
Ixu Bal
Piper amalago
Over twelve varieties found in Belize; all are medicinal. Mostly used for herbal bathing for a variety of ailments, especially for skin conditions, headaches, nervousness, insomnia, and children’s disorders. Root of most varieties is chewed for toothache.
Tzibche
Crotolaria cajanifolia
Used in herbal bath formulas and to brush Primicia participants to protect them from being harmed by the Winds of the Spirits.
Vegetable Pear
Chayote
Cho Cho, Wiskil
Sechium edule
A backyard vining vegetable bearing pear-shaped fruits with a mild flavor reminiscent of zucchini. Drink mixture of fruits and leaves boiled in water for high blood pressure and high cholesterol.
Wild Coffee, Suprecayo
Café Sylvestre
Eremuil
Malmea depressa
Prime ingredient in herbal bath formula. Use alone as bath for stubborn conditions, especially for backache, muscle spasms, hysteria, nightmares, and insomnia.
Wild Poinsettia
Flor de Pasqua Sylvestre
Euphorbia pulcherrima
Braid nine branches to be worn around the neck of nursing mother to increase milk supply—also bathe breasts with a tea made of plant before nursing.
Wild Poppy
Chicalote
Argemone mexicana
Exudes a white milky sap akin to opium. Useful as a sedative, for insomnia and pain, and to calm coughs.
Wild Yam
Cocolmeca
Dioscorea sp.
ABOUT THE AUTHORS
Rosita Arvigo
Now retired from clinical practice, Rosita Arvigo teaches Maya abdominal therapy and Maya spiritual healing workshops around the world. She is the coauthor of Rainforest Remedies: 100 Healing Herbs of Belize (English and Spanish editions), Rainforest Home Remedies: The Maya Way to Heal Your Body and Replenish Your Soul, Spiritual Bathing: Healing Rituals and Traditions from Around the World (out of print), Medicinal Plants Used in Northern Guanajuato (Mexico) in collaboration with El Centro de Desarrollo Agropecuario (CEDESA), and Food of the Gods: Vegetarian Cooking in Belize. Rosita is at work on a historical novel about Maya women healers of Cozumel Island during the eighth century AD. She lives in Belize and San Miguel de Allende in Guanajuato, Mexico. Visit her online at www.arvigotherapy.com and www.rositaarvigo.com.
Nadine Epstein
Nadine Epstein is editor and publisher of the independent national Jewish magazine Moment and is an award-winning journalist and artist whose many interests include the Maya and traditional healing.
Visit www.AuthorTracker.com for exclusive information on your favorite HarperCollins authors.
CREDITS
Rainforest photograph: R. Frerck. Courtesy of Odyssey.
Inset photograph: Carol Becker
COPYRIGHT
HarperSanFrancisco and the author, in association with the Rainforest Action Network, will facilitate the planting of two trees for every one tree used in the manufacture of this book.
SASTUN: My Apprenticeship with a Maya Healer. Copyright © 1994 by Rosita Arvigo with Nadine Epstein. Foreword copyright © 1994 by Michael Balick. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this ebook on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins ebooks.
HarperCollins Web Site: http://www.harpercollins.com
FIRST HARPERCOLLINS PAPERBACK EDITION PUBLISHED IN 1995
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Arvigo, Rosita.
Sastun: my apprenticeship with a Maya healer / by Rosita Arvigo, with Nadine Epstein, and Marilyn Yaquinto.
Includes index.
ISBN 0-06-250255-7 (cloth)
ISBN 0-06-250259-X (pbk.)
1. Mayas—Ethnobotany. 2. Mayas—Medicine. 3. Traditional medicine—Belize—Cayo District. 6. Medicinal plants—Belize—Cayo District. 7. Rain forest ecology—Belize—Cayo District.
I. Epstein, Nadine. II. Yaquinto, Marilyn. III. Title.
F1435.3.E74A79 1994
615.8’82’0972825—dc20 93-37439
EPub Edition © FEBRUARY 2014 ISBN: 9780062345479
05 06 07 08 RRD(H) 20 19 18
ABOUT THE PUBLISHER
Australia
HarperCollins Publishers (Australia) Pty. Ltd.
Level 13, 201 Elizabeth Street
Sydney, NSW 2000, Australia
http://www.harpercollins.com.au
Canada
HarperCollins Canada
2 Bloor Street East – 20th Floor
Toronto, ON, M4W, 1A8, Canada
http://www.harpercollins.ca
New Zealand
HarperCollins Publishers (New Zealand) Limited
Unit D, 63 Apollo Drive
Rosedale 0632
Auckland, New Zealand
http://www.harpercollins.co.nz
United Kingdom
HarperCollins Publishers Ltd.
77-85 Fulham Palace Road
London, W6 8JB, UK
http://www.harpercollins.co.uk
United States
HarperCollins Publishers Inc.
10 East 53rd Street
New York, NY 10022
http://www.harpercollins.com