Healing in Chiapas

I am writing to you from Comitan, Chiapas, Mexico, on the frontier with Guatemala, where I am staying with a big extended Mexican family. I took a side trip to San Cristobal de las Casas, a rather interesting town where indigenous people in local dress coexist with tourists from all over the world.

While there I traveled to the village of San Juan Chamula and was amazed to see first hand traditional tribal government and health practices that I had only read about. While I do plan to write an article, I wanted to share some of the things I saw while they are fresh in my mind.

The main church looks like many churches here in Mexico from the outside. Tthe inside had no seats, although it did have an altar and pictures of saints around it. Instead there were groups of people kneeling on the floor in groups of three or four.

In each group there was a *Pulse Reader" (I´lol). This Santeria feels the patient´s pulse with three fingers in order to diagnose the person´s illness. Then the pulse reader uses "elements of nature" to cure the illness.

The pulse reader chants prayers loudly while setting out candles of different colors. The number and color correspond to the type of illness. He or she also passes eggs or a chicken over the patient to cleanse him.

Interestingly, the ceremony also requires a bottle of Pepsi or Coke to rid the person of evil, and Posh, a very strong local liquor. Both of these are spit by the Pulse reader at the patient.

I was told that although this is Catholic church, the Pulse Readers and their patients are the main users. A priest only comes once a month.

While you might think that this is one exotic use of traditional medicine, I also visited a ¨Museum of Mayan Medicine" in San Cristobal. There I learned that it is run by an Organization of Indigenous Mayan Medics of the State of Chiapas. This is a group of 850 herbalists, bone healers, pulse readers, and midwives throughout the State. They not only administer to the sick, but also teach their trade. While there I watched and then purchased a fascinating video of childbirth with one of their midwives. I also visited their pharmacy and herb garden.

While it is possible that many of you might think traditional medicine is little practiced, this trip has shown me that there is a very strong effort to not only keep it alive, but to grow it.

As many Mexicans from this region who immigrate to the US may come from the tribes of Tzotzil and Tzeltal Mayans in this region, I feel it is important for caregivers to have some knowledge of their beliefs and practices.

While I will be going home to Guadalajara in a few days, I plan to try to research more about these practices and learn from the US Embassy about how many from this region do move to the US. For me, it has been a fascinating experience to see traditional medicine in practice.

Suzanne Salimbene, Ph.D.
Inter-face International
www.inter-faceinter.com