|
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 generally inherited their positions and received extensive education. These shamans acted as a medium between the physical world and spirit world. They practiced sorcery for the purpose of healing, foresight, and control over natural events. Since medicine was so closely related to religion, it was essential that Maya medicine men 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. In understanding Maya medicine, it is important to recognize that the Maya equated sickness with the captivity of one’s soul by supernatural beings, angered by some perceived misbehavior.〔Colby, 84〕 For this reason, curing a sickness involved elements of ritual, cleansing and herbal remedy. Research of Maya ethno-medicine shows that though supernatural causes are related to illness, a large percentage of Maya medical texts are devoted to the treatment of symptoms based upon objective observations of the effects of certain plants on the human system.〔Roys 20〕 Herbal remedies were ingested, smoked, snorted, rubbed on the skin, and even used in the form of enemas to force rapid absorption of a substance into the blood stream. Cleansing techniques included fasting, sweating and purging flushed substances out of the body.〔Houston, Stuart, & Taube, 277〕 ==Medicine ways== Medicine men, known to the ancient Maya as ''ah-men'', held the special ability to alter consciousness to determine causes for events not understood, such as reasons for illness or misfortune.〔Sharer 750〕 Since it was perceived by the Maya that sickness was a punishment for a mistake or transgression, it was important that the healer inquire about details of the past of the sick person. This was done in a methodological fashion, first inquiring about ascriptive attributes, followed by specific events of the person’s life, and lastly about circumstantial or acquired attributes.〔Colby, 90〕 This aspect of the medicine man’s job would be similar to a modern-day therapy session. In addition to ritualistic and spiritual elements, the medicine man had extensive knowledge of medicinal plants and how they should be used. After studying the symptoms of a sickness, a medicine man may prescribe a remedy to his patient. The number of times or days that the remedy should be ingested or applied depended on an individual’s gender; typically the number thirteen was associated with men, and the number nine with women. The medicine men of ancient Maya society provided many services to their communities and were held in high regard. Known for their extensive knowledge and spirituality, medicine men were called upon for many reasons, but most often for their healing capabilities. These Maya doctors often employed specialists for specific healing techniques such as bone-setting and childbirth, similar to the method of modern doctors. In addition to his duties as a doctor and sorcerer, a medicine man not only cured diseases, but also sporadically accepted compensation to cause them. The ''ah-man'' was also called ''ah-pul-yaah'', the “disease thrower”.〔Roys, 23〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Maya medicine」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
|