Maya health and medicine

Health and medicine among the ancient Maya was a complex blend of mind, body, religion, ritual, and science. Important to all, medicine was practiced only by a select few, who generally inherited their positions and received extensive education. These men, called shamans, act as a medium between the physical world and spirit world. They practice sorcery for the purpose of healing, foresight, and control over natural events. Since medicine was so closely related to religion and sorcery, it was essential that Maya shamans had vast medical knowledge and skill. It is known that the Maya sutured wounds with human hair, reduced fractures, and were even skilled dental surgeons, making prostheses from jade and turquoise and filling teeth with iron pyrite.

In understanding Maya health and medicine, it is important to recognize that the Maya equated sickness with the captivity of one’s soul by supernatural beings, angered by some perceived misbehavior (Colby, 84). For this reason, curing a sickness involved elements of ritual, cleansing, and often herbal remedy. Research of Maya ethno-medicine shows that though supernatural causes are related to illness, a large percentage of Maya medical texts are devoted to the treatment of symptoms based upon objective observations of the effects of certain plants on the human system (Roys 20). Herbal remedies were ate, drank, smoked, snorted, rubbed on the skin, and even used in the form of enemas to force rapid absorption of a substance into the blood stream. Cleansing techniques such as fasting, sweating, and purging flushed substances out of the body and reshaped consciousness (Houston, Stuart, & Taube, 277).

hamanism

Divination is a cultural decision mechanism that mediates consciousness and cultural processes as a society responds to such stressor situations as sickness and social conflict. Furthermore, a codified divinatory system translates the behavioral, biological, and physical conditions in which individuals of a culture typically find themselves and how it relates to the universe (Colby, 84). Given this information, it is easy to see the importance of the shaman in Maya society. Shamans, known to the ancient Maya as "ah-men", held the special ability to alter consciousness to determine causes for events not understood, such as reasons for illness or misfortune (Sharer 750).

A complicated process, the shaman takes from his spiritual reading, his acquired knowledge and skill, and details from the sick individuals past to prescribe a remedy. Since it was perceived by the Maya that sickness was a punishment for a mistake or transgression, it was important that the shaman inquire about details of the individuals past so that he could assign weight to certain attributes. This was done in a methodological fashion, first inquiring about ascriptive attributes, followed by specific events of the person’s life, and lastly about circumstantial or acquired attributes (Colby, 90). This aspect of the shaman’s job would be similar to a modern day therapy session. In addition to ritualistic and spiritual elements, the shaman had extensive knowledge of medicinal plants and how they should be used. After studying the symptoms of a sickness, a shaman may prescribe an herbal remedy to his patient. The number of times or days that the remedy should be ingested or applied depended on an individual’s gender; typically the number thirteen was associated with men, and the number nine associated with women.

The shamans of ancient Maya society provided many services to their communities and were held in high regard. Known for their extensive knowledge and spirituality, shamans were called upon for many reasons, but most often for their healing capabilities. These Maya doctors often employed specialists for specific healing techniques such as bone-setting and child birth, similar to the method of modern doctors. In addition to his duties as doctor and sorcerer, the shaman not only cured disease, but also sporadically accepted compensation to cause them. In this capacity the "ah-men" was called "ah-pul-yaah", or the “disease thrower”, causing problems such as children screaming and yellow fever (Roys, 23).

Ritual practices

Maya rituals differ from region to region, but many similar patterns in ceremonies, whether being performed for individual or group need, have been noted. First, all rituals are preceded by foresight of a shaman, who determines the day of the ceremony through calendrical divination. The shamans of the Ixil Maya of Guatemala, who kept track of days in their heads, would lay out red seeds from the coral tree onto the pre-Columbian calendar to count them and figure out what day best suited the specific ritual (Colby, 86). As a symbol of spiritual purification, the individual or individuals would observe a fasting and abstinence period before the ritual day.

Consistent patterns are shown throughout the Maya world as to the happenings of the day of the ritual as well. During the ceremony, elements including expulsion of the evil spirit from the participant, incensing of the idols, prayers, offerings, and sacrifices were all practiced. If the ritual was used to cure a disease, the offering may be in the form of food or ornaments, and sacrifice in the form of human blood letting (Sharer 748). Following the ceremony would be dancing, feasting, and ritual drinking by all; characterized by the Spanish as general drunkenness.

Today the Maya keep many of the ritualistic traditions of their ancestors. Elements of prayer, offerings, blood sacrifice (replacing human blood with that of sacrificed chickens), burning of copal incense, dancing, feasting, and ritual drinking continue in traditional ceremonies. It is noted that even if illusory, ritualistic practice can have real effects on neurotransmitters, immunological functioning, and other information substance of the body; all of which figure into the healing process (Colby, 101).

weat baths

An important purification element to the ancient Maya was the sweat bath, or "zumpul-ché". Similar to a modern day sauna, sweat baths were constructed of stone walls and ceilings, with a small opening in the top of the ceiling. Water poured onto the hot rocks in the room created steam, offering a setting in which to sweat out impurities. Sweat baths were used for a range of conditions and situations. New mothers who had recently conceived a child would seek revitalization in them, while individuals who were sick could find healing power in sweating.

Maya kings made a habit out of visiting the sweat baths as well because it left them feeling refreshed and, as they believed, cleaner. In addition, Maya rulers performed ritual purification ceremonies to appease the gods and secure the well-being of their communities (Benjamin, 2). It is hypothesized that kings popularized this method of healing because of their regular use of sweat baths. Archeologists have uncovered sweat baths at sites including Tikal, Aguateca, and Nakbe, but the most impressive find to date is in Piedras Negras, a Classic Maya city in Guatemala. In addition to the recognizable palaces, temples and ball courts, archaeologists have uncovered eight stone buildings that served as sweat baths to Maya royalty.

Plant and herbal medicine

The study and observation of plants has been of high importance to the Maya for centuries. However, the study of medicinal plants was limited to the priestly class. Plants and herbal remedies were often used in collaboration with other techniques to cure disease and sickness. Knowledge of the effects of certain plants on human beings was often used to prescribe an anecdote to a particular ailment, but it is also important to note that shamans also frequently relied on the color of a plant or other remedy in certain situations. For instance, yellow plants and fruits were used in curing jaundice; red for problems characterized by blood; and burned feathers of red birds in curing yellow fever (Roys, 21).

In cases of skin irritation, wounds, bruises, and headaches, fresh vegetation was often used in the form of plasters applied directly to the skin. Plasters were also rubbed on the skin to shield evil spirits. Depending on the ailment, plants were boiled and used in herbal drinks and/or baths, eaten raw, snorted, smoked, or inserted into one of the body’s orifices. Common plants used for medicine include, but are not limited to, chili peppers, cacao, tobacco, agave, and the pitarilla tree. In addition, animal parts, such as those from the crocodile, insects, fish, and birds were combined into the herbal concoctions. In most cases, a mixture of plant and animal product was prepared to cure a specific ailment. The Maya shamans were not simple healers through plant medicine. Listed below are a description of broad sicknesses and diseases by Roys, for which shamans used their plant remedies. These categories also contain subcategories to specialize the mixtures used even further.

HERBAL REMEDIES FOR: Aches and Pains; Asthma; Colds; Disease of the Lungs and Breathing Passages; Birth and Obstetrics; Diseases of Women; Bites and Stings of Animals and Insects; Bleeding; Bowel Complaints, Abdominal Pain and Vomiting; Burns; Charms and Magic; Chills and Fever; Convulsions, Nervous Complaints - Irritability, Depression, Loss of Sleep, Nightmares, Vertigo, Insomnia; Dislocations and Complaints of the Bones; Earaches; Eye Complaints; Fainting and Unconsciousness; Falling; Hair and Disease of the Scalp; Headache; Hiccoughs; Inflammation; Insanity; Jaundice; Mouth and Tongue Problems; Nosebleed and Excessive Sneezing; Poisoning; Skin Diseases, Ulcers, Abscesses, Cancer and Tumors; Sunstroke; Sweating; Teeth and Gums; Urine (bladder problems); Wounds, Cuts, Bruises, and Ruptures.

Use of mind-altering substances

For the most part, mind-altering substances were used in ceremony or ritual by shamans to achieve a higher state of consciousness or trance-like state. However, the common Maya citizen used these substances for the same reasons, in a controlled environment. For the most part, these substances were used for mental and spiritual health purposes. Flora such as peyote, the morning glory, certain mushrooms, tobacco, and plants used to make alcoholic substances, were commonly used. The smoking of tobacco mixed with other plants produced a trance-like state. Alcoholic substances were used at rituals and were extremely strong and mind-altering. Hallucinogens were used to communicate with the spirit world. A number of these substances were used not to cure sickness or disease, but instead for pain relief. In addition, as depicted in Maya pottery and carvings, ritual enemas were used for a more rapid absorption and effect of the substance. In contrast to modern culture, these remedies were used to restore balance and harmony to the body.

References

* Anderson, E.N. (2005) Political Ecology in a Yucatec Maya Community. University of Arizona Press.
* Benjamin, Patricia. (2006) Massage and Sweat baths Among the Ancient Maya. Massage Therapy Journal. Spring 2004:144-148.
* Colby, Benjamin N. (2004) Calendrical Divination by the Ixil Maya of Guatemala. In Divination and Healing: University of Arizona Press.
* Houston, Stephen, David Stuart, and Karl Taube. (2006) The Memory of Bones. University of Texas Press.
* Kunow, Marianna. (2003) Maya Medicine. University of New Mexico Press.
* Roys, Ralph L. (1931) The Ethno-Botany of the Maya. Tulane University.
* Sharer, Robert. (2006) The Ancient Maya. Stanford.

External links

* [http://www.authenticmaya.com/maya_medicine.htm Ancient Maya Medicine]