A curious legacy of the ancient Maya "Ah Men"

The ancient Maya were not only great astronomers or mathematicians, but also had advanced medical knowledge. Much is known about how Maya practices and cures the disease that some of the scattered descendants of this once mighty civilization still practice today. Who was the maya "Ah, men?"

Mayans had physicians and therapists, as they do today, but the fundamental belief in how the disease was caused is different. According to the Maya, the disease was equated with the wrath of the Gods, and the doctors were both spiritual and natural healers, called "Drug people", or "Akhami."

When someone suffered from an illness, they would call "ah men." It was believed that the disease was caused by the fact that the soul was captured by a supernatural being. The medical man first investigated any past behavior that would annoy the Gods.

But it was a mixture of spiritual healing with ritual cleansing, taking traditional herbal medicines, and therapy that could heal the sick. "Ah-men" were excellent herbalists, and drugs often skipped snow, swallowed, rubbed, or used as an ointment.

As soon as the spiritual cause of the disease was identified, fasting and other rituals were also necessary in order to feed the sick person with health. Therapy will include massage, induced sleep and perspiration. Today’s practice of many therapists in our societies.

"Ah-Men" held a special place in Maya society and were considered close to the gods, allowing them to use medicines that could change their patients' minds so that they would be supportive of the gods and spiritually healed. Plants such as peyote, morning glory, certain types of mushrooms, and sometimes tobacco, have been used to induce trances.

Medicines were collected from rich forests and the environment around major Mayan cities. Many of these medicines contain natural ingredients used by our own medicines to treat or prevent diseases. Scientists regularly search the forests of tropical forests, which remain - discover and check the plants for their medical value.

It is curious that since most of the ancient Mayan texts were destroyed after the Spanish request for the traditional Mayan territories, medical texts were saved and are now a record of how these medicines were made and what they cured. It may be used by the first European settlers as a cure for malaria and syphilis. Commonly recorded diseases that settlers registered were recorded both in church records and in magazines of new European settlers in that era.

The Mayan legacy that caused the disease had a positive effect on how diseases are being treated today. And the natural conditions around the now abandoned Mayan cities often grow the plants needed to develop the drugs that we usually use today.