The Origins of Traditional Mexican and Central American Medicine part II

In the previous section I gave a brief account of the roots of our traditional medicine. In this section y will speak about the current state of our traditions.

FIRST OF ALL I WOULD LIKE TO TOUCH UPON AN EXTREMELY IMPORTANT MATTER

a stereotypical image is imprinted in many peoples mind  of curanderos, curanderas and traditional practitioners as being poor, living in remote villages and with low academic education. There are many of our practitioners that live in conditions similar to those described and I pay them the highest respect and admire them for preserving our ancestral ways despite of hardships they might face.

Another stereotypical image that exists is that of a Mayan or Nahuan priest or priestess with ancient vestiment, jade jewelry and an obsidian knife climbing a pyramid and practitioners are expected to use these traditional vestiments and tools.

In Mexico and Central America there are times when ancient traditional clothing and objects are used some examples of this are the Voladores of Mexico, the Danzantes, and the Talciguines of El Salvador etc. Furthermore thanks to the creator there are still certain regions with communities taht preserve a very traditional way of life and they wear things like el refajo, coton, caites, huipil and the colorful clothing of the Maya and other groups.
For the most part practitioners of traditional medicine wear westernized clothing just like the rest of the population and you would not be able to tell them apart and recognize they are a curandero or curandera just by looking at them.

A practitioner (or an individual that seeks their aid) such as a curandera, partera, huesera (sobadora) etc. from modern times can be a person who lives in an apartment, wears western style clothing, watches television, knows how to drive and can even be a doctor, lawyer etc.!

As you can see how a person looks HAS NOTHIN TO DO with her or his abilities. BE CAREFUL BECAUSE THERE ARE MANY PEOPLE WITHOUT ANY MORAL CHARACTER AND THEY SCAM PEOPLE SAYING THEY ARE TRADITIONAL PRACTITIONERS!!!! With the resurgence of interest in our ancestral customs there are many people that exploit our knowledge and charge many people large sums of money promising them that they will make them financially richer, or that their "treatment" will large amounts of money. THIS IS A DISGRACE AND HELPS EFFORTS TO EXTINGUISH OUR ANCESTRAL CUSTOMS.

Normally traditional practitioners donot charge for their services and accept donations. I am in complete agreement with the fact that some practitioners charge a nominal and just fee which covers the cost of the herbs etc. we live in a world much different from our ancestors and many practitioners live in countries or regions where the support network that existed in their communities is no longer available and they must survive just like anyone else.

The beauty of our medicine is that it has survived and will survive thanks to its ability to adapt to any situation to illustrate this point I provide the following example:

Traditionally in Mexico and Central America there are certain ceremonies that utilize Copal, Myrrh, Rue etc. and this is the optimum thing to do nevertheless if the practitioner does not have the optimum herb at their reach they will substitute the herb with another one. If the practitioner does not have any herb at their disposal for whatever reason it may be they can use a substance that has a strong aroma such as a perfume to realize the ceremony.

As you can see the beauty and strength of our ancestral legacy that we have inherited (us mesoamerican peoples) is that the practitioner, the community and faith in some spiritual force whether that be a mayan or nahuan being or a christian entity and mother earth is what constitutes the core of our ancestral medicine.

In a future post I will speak about the philosophy and cosmovision that governs the traditional medicine of Mesoamerica

Ashta Nemanha Nuiknew (Nahuat= until next time my friends!),

The Origins of Traditional Mexican and Central American Medicine part I

In this post I will focus on talking about the influences on what is today known as traditional Mesoamerican medicine.

No one knows exactly since when humans have inhabited the area of MesoAmerica. What is known is that there has been human presence in this region for several millenia.

The Toltec culture is recognized as the mother civilization to all urbanized cultures of MesoAmerica. The Toltecs were idolized by the Mexica in ancient times, so much so that artisans and great orators were given the title of Toltec. Groups of Toltecs migrated southward the most famous of these migrations was the one carried out by the legendary leader Topiltzin son of Mixcoatl after having suffered a defeat during a civil war carried out by rival Toltec factions. These groups of Toltecs would contribute greatly to the formation of the civilization that would one day be known as the Mayans.

The Mexica in their oral and written history maintain that they originated in an  Chicomoztoc (place of 7 caves) and lived in a "northern" area called Aztlan from which 7 Nahuan tribes escaped an oppressive regime and ended up settling in the Valley of Anahuac. After priests saw the sign of an eagle devouring a snake atop a cactus, which fufilled an ancient prophecy the mexica established the city of Tenochtitlan(present day Mexico city). Furthermore some Nahuan groups such as the Nicarao, Pipil, Lempira, Cacaopera and others continued to migrate further southward and settled in Central America.

The Maya Quiche in their sacred book known as the Popol Vuh speak of how the Creator Heart of Sky attempted to create human beings on various occasions and finally materialized this feat by making first man and first woman out of corn masa (meal). The Popol Vuh also speaks of how when the different mayan groups grew in number they dispersed themselves throughout Central America and founded their city-states. Most present day Mayans live in the southern part of Mexico, Guatemala, El Salvador, Belize and Honduras.

It is not my intention to leave out other indigenous groups of the area. The reason why I fail to speak about the Zapotec, Mixtec etc. is frankly because I dont know much about them due to the fact that I have concentrated on learning about my roots. Nevertheless without a doubt I can say that all of the indigenous groups of MesoAmerica have contributed to the history, culture and identity of the inhabitants of their respective regions.

In 1492 with the arrival of the Europeans to American lands the course of history of the peoples that had inhabited region for millenia was forever altered. In my opinion the arrival of the Europeans was a horrendous misfortune due to their arrival whole nations were violated, humiliated, and were forced to convert to Christianity and speak foreign languages or die by the sword. These aforementioned events lead to the sowing of the seeds of racism and intolerance against our peoples even in the present day.

The Europeans brought christianity, the medicinal knowledge they inherited from the greeks, romans and in the case of the Spaniards the Arab influences.

What happened when the two culturers collided was a syncretism where a base of indigenous ceremonies and cultures were covered with thin icing of Christianity and other european influences. What this means is that the majority of traditional mesoamerican of Mexico and Central America is comprised of indigenous elements and a smaller percentage by that which is wholly European/Christian.

Examples of this syncretism are the worship of Maximon, The Black Christ, Day of the Dead, use of tarot cards, hens during some ceremonies that require sacrifice, the use of candles with images of saints plastered on them and the use of the rosary while praying to a mayan or nahuan being. There are many more examples of this syncretism they wil someway or another be touched upon in this blog  over time.

This concludes part 1, I hope this has been an informative and educational post.

Ashta Nemanha Nuiknew (Nahuat: until next time)