Maya expert shares herbal medicine ancient knowledge

On the occasion of the Maya New Year, on Friday July 28, a workshop on the properties of medicinal plants was held in the botanical garden of Sister Anselma Chalé Euán, located in the town of Xcunyá, Mérida municipality.

First, the Maya priest Miguel Can Chi conducted a special ritual dedicated to honor honey, plants and the environment in general, and asked for the conservation of beekeeping.

During the workshop, in which thirty people participated, Sister Anselma made emphasis on the relevance of traditional knowledge in herbal medicine that is being gradually lost.

“It is very important to preserve herbal medicine that is a mighty important part of the Maya culture,” said sister Anselma. She deeply deplored that this traditional medicine is in risk of falling into oblivion, since people have stopped trusting in the effectiveness of these remedies.

The workshop included a tour of the Anselma botanical garden, where there are more than seventy varieties of medicinal plants, and the expert’s explanation of the therapeutic properties of each one.

The sister added that everything is useable in medicinal plants: leaves, root, stem and flowers, and that a wide array of deseases can be treated with herbal medicine, dry cough, kidney and nerve problems, just to name a few.

“Medicinal plants can even be used to purify blood”, she said.

Sister Anselma was very clear when she explained that before touching or using a medicinal plant, it is important to request its permission. “We don’t just go and grab the plant, we need to ask for its permission to do so,” added the expert, who was instructed  in these matters by her grandmother when she was a child.

The commemorative activities of the Maya New Year organized by the Uhbel’ki’in group ended up on Sunday July 30.

TYT Newsroom with information from yucatan.com.mx