Today saw the launch of the first ever book on Maya Herbal Medicine. It is a straightforward guide to all the medicinal secrets of the ancient Maya. It was authored by a well-known Maya cultural revivalist, Aurora Garcia Saqui. She launched the book today at the Image Factory in Belize City and Emanuel Pech was there to find out more.
This assortment of herbal medicines were on display today at a local book launch. They are traditional Mayan remedies for diabetes, common cold, heart burn, skin rash and just about anything else you can think of.
It is centuries of medicinal knowledge passed on through the generations are all encapsulated in this one book.
The author Aurora Garcia Saqui, is definitely no stranger to Belize. In 2013 she launched her first book- which focused on traditional Mayan cuisine.
She is also a well-known Maya craftswoman and slate carver. Now while Garcia has always had an enduring interest in keeping her culture alive, this piece on traditional Mayan medicine was particularly close to her heart because it was inspired by her late Great uncle.
Aurora Saqui- Maya Healer/Author
"When I started to learn from my uncle, I was thinking that I was only going to write, but he had a plan for me which I didn't know. When he was dying in bed a few week before he died, he handed me his healing bag which contained his crystal balls. After he handed me that bag I went back to my village where I now live, in Maya Center and a few weeks later I was dreaming him and my dreams is almost true, because I can hear him talking to me and he said 'mama, get up, this is your time now to heal the people.'"
And that is exactly what she did. Now with the help of her editors at Producciones de la Hamaca, she hopes to share her knowledge with others in the community.
Judy Lumb- Editor, Producciones de la Hamaca
"The idea behind all the books we do is to make things that are scientifically accurate, use for the scientist, but available, accessible by the general public. Aurora's biggest concern is passing the information unto the next generations. So that would be ours as well."
Dorothy Beveridge- Assistant Editor, Producciones de la Hamaca
"The traditional knowledge, the culture from Aurora is the healing. The linguistic is using the local names for the plants, the local terms, the Mayan terms - she has other local names too and then incorporating this local knowledge of names of plants with the scientific names that can be utilized around the world, because science has one name for a plant and every culture has another name or 6 names for the same plant. So this way the scientist can learn about local knowledge and local people can understand that their knowledge is important too."
Aurora Saqui- Maya Healer/Author
"I am very happy that you all are here today and I feel I am celebrating today with all of you together. For me I feel very accomplished today, because this is a dream I have been having from a long time."
With this work and others like it, Aurora hopes to bridge an ever widening gap between the modern and ancestral cultures. Reporting for 7 news Emanuel Pech.
The book is available at a retail price of $60 at every book store country wide and is also available for purchase on Amazon.
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