MAYAN MEDICINE: HISTORY, GOD, PLANTS, DISEASES - CULTURE VOCABULARY - 2025

The Mayan medicine is an ancient practice of healing treatments based on natural elements such as plants, animals and minerals. Its precursors come from the indigenous Mayan population settled in Mexico and some Central American countries.

For the ancient Mayans, diseases had their origin in the imbalance between the body and the soul. According to their beliefs, the sick could only be cured with the intervention of a priest who helped him align his body with the energy of the universe and the earth.

Ancient Mayans practicing medicine

Source: yucatanahora.mx

Treatment usually included medicinal herbs, the applications of which remain to this day, despite factors such as indigenous migration or disinterest in traditional practices, which seriously threaten the future of traditional Mayan medicine.

History of Mayan medicine

The Mayans are a pre-Columbian civilization, whose first settlements were founded in 2000 BC. C. and spread through the Mesoamerican area, where today Mexico, Guatemala, Belize, El Salvador and Honduras are located.

Throughout history they were recognized for their contributions to art, writing, architecture, astronomy, mathematics, and agriculture; the latter, the basis of Mayan medicine.

The ancient Mayans considered that the origin of diseases had moral and religious roots, as a consequence of punishments caused by gods or bad wishes of other humans.

To practice their healing, they gave patients poultices, infusions, steam baths with medicinal plants and even some psychotropic drugs.

The cure of ills could also include bloodletting, prayers, offerings and even sacrifices.

Organic ingredients of Mayan medicine

Mayan medicine used everything that nature could contribute to the healing rituals, this included the use of worms for the sores; insects, iguana blood for warts, burned tarantulas to treat tuberculosis, among others.

The use of excrement, both human and animal, was also common; urine of children and virgins to relieve spleen pain and wash sores; saliva mixed with other herbs to stop bleeding; breast milk with oil to expel fetuses, among other treatments.

These practices were prohibited by the Royal Court of Proto Medicato in 1538, the body in charge of overseeing the medical services and which required that to participate in healing practices an examination of modern medical knowledge had to be presented.

However, due to the vastness of the conquered territory, effective supervision was impossible and, in this way, the Mayan medical practice continued.

Spanish contribution

From the Spanish Conquest, the elements of Mayan medicine began to merge with the knowledge from other lands.

In the records written in Mayan, Chilam Balam, Ritual de los Bacabes and the Cookbooks of the Indians, there can be found fusions between elements of local medicine and ingredients that do not belong to the area where the indigenous settlements were located.

In this way, recipes with ingredients such as mustard, garlic, cloves, wheat, onion, apple, pear, wine or vinegar can be found, which demonstrate the constant evolution of Mayan medicine.

Minerals such as salt and lime were already used in Mayan medicine before the Spanish Conquest, but with the transatlantic trade medicines began to be prepared with gold, silver, copper or iron.

Today's Mayan medicine rescues the best of both worlds and continues to respect the benefits of natural medicine, with the new knowledge that has emerged over the centuries.

Mayan God of Medicine

Mayan medicine has its own deity: Itzamaná, whose origin is absolutely earthly.

Historians claim that he was born under the name Zamna and that he was a priest who in 525 AD. C. participated in the founding of the Mayan city Chichén Itza, whose archaeological zone can be seen today in the Tinum municipality of the State of Yucatán.

Zamna gave names to the lands and promontories in the area and educated with his doctrines those who left the city to found similar ones.

After gaining fame as a wise man, he was elevated to deity. He is considered the god of medicine and agriculture, as well as the Lord of the skies, of night and day.

Itzamná, God of Mayan medicine

Source: wikimedia commons

Plants and diseases it treats

Plant-related medical rituals follow a series of complex steps that include harvesting the plants while respecting certain time parameters.

Depending on the plant or the treatment for which it will be used, this was collected at noon or at night, on Tuesdays or Fridays, depending on the case.

According to his belief, in the moments that these collection rituals are performed, a portal to other worlds is opened that allows the intercession of spiritual beings who are no longer on this plane.

Use of plants

Here are some of the plants currently used in healing rituals:

-Barb: deals with healing, cleansing of toxins and menstrual pain.

-Anacahuite: it is used for headaches, urinary incontinence and bronchitis.

-Azahar: calms the nerves, serves as a diuretic and attacks problems related to nausea, stomach pain, diarrhea, bile, among others.

-Malendula: fed to vaginal infections, anti-inflammatory treatments, regulation of menstrual cycles and conjunctivitis.

-Plum: this fruit is used to overcome constipation and hypertension. While its leaves are used to eliminate rashes.

-The copal: it is used for colds and headaches.

-Guayaba: the leaves of this fruit are used to stop bleeding, to lose weight, and even scabies.

Mullein: designed to combat coughs, throat irritation, skin conditions and even earaches.

-Corn grains: used to lose weight, cleanse the kidneys and lower blood pressure.

-Polmolché: used against dysentery, diarrhea, skin infections and wounds. This plant has an additional benefit in its sap, which is used to treat pimples on the face.

Depending on the case, the plants are mixed to obtain better results or to attack diseases that cannot be cured with a single plant species.

For example, they use cow's foot flowers, eucalyptus, oregano, lemon tea, and soursop leaves for the treatment of asthma; Chaya de monte and nettle for anemia; in addition to avocado and sapote leaves to reduce cholesterol.

Museum of Mayan Medicine

This indigenous medical practice has its own museum located in San Cristóbal de las Casas, Chiapas State, Mexico. The place has six exhibition rooms and an orchard with a representation of the medicinal plants used in Mayan medicine.

In each area, the types of healing rituals that Mayan medicine offers through a priest are explained through figures. You can see the jilol (push button) Kopnej witz (mountain prayer) Tzakbak (bonesetter) Jvetome (midwife) and the Acvomol (herbalist)

The museum, which is administered by the Organization of Indigenous Physicians of the State of Chiapas, received in 1998 the National Museum of Museography "Miguel Covarrubias" award, granted by the National Institute of Anthropology and History of Mexico.

Representative figure. Museum of Mayan Medicine.

www.flickr.com/photos/hectorgarcia/

Endangered medical practice

Currently, Mayan medicine belongs to the biocultural heritage of Mexico, made up of a system of indigenous knowledge that does not correspond to individual but to collective benefit.

Experts on the subject point out that the migration of the indigenous population to urban areas or tourist developments has affected the transmission of medical heritage, to the point of being in danger of disappearing.

To avoid this, initiatives have arisen from organizations such as the Yucatan Center for Scientific Research, which have taken on the task of preserving Mayan medicine, promoting its use and educating new generations about the medical knowledge of this ancient culture.

References

1. Javier Hirose Lopez. (2018). Traditional Mayan medicine: An endangered knowledge? Taken from journals.openedition.org
2. Chiapas Tourism. (2019). Museum of Mayan Medicine. Taken from turismochiapas.gob.mx
3. Yucatán Today. Traditional Mayan medicine. (2019). Taken from yucatantoday.com
4. Marytere Narváez. The future of Mayan medicine. (2019). Taken from Ciencia.mx.com
5. Monica Chávez Guzmán. (2011). Doctors and medicines in the colonial and nineteenth-century Mayan peninsular world. Taken from scielo.org.mx