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 were given an excellent 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.
The Mayan peoples regularly used
hallucinogenic drugs (taken from the natural world) in their religious
rituals, but they also used them in day to day life as painkillers.
Flora such as peyote, the morning glory, certain mushrooms, tobacco, and
plants used to make alcoholic substances, were commonly used. In
addition, as depicted in Maya pottery and carvings, ritual enemas were
used for a more rapid absorption and effect of the substance.
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