The Shamans of Yucatan, Mexico

The Yucatecan shaman, called in the Yucatecan Mayan language H-Men (he who makes) or H-Men Dzac (he who makes medicine), is still a very important person in Yucatecan folk culture. His rituals play a very important part in the agricultural cycle, especially in the growing of corn and the raising of bees. He also is still very frequently used for the curing of illnesses, since there are certain illnesses which in the folk mind can be cured only by him and not by the doctors which practice European type medicine. In this article the masculine form of the word shaman will be used, mainly because the majority of Yucatecan shamans are males, but it should be understood that X-Men (she who makes) is equally implied. While I personally do not know a X-Men, it is my understanding that X-Menoob are considered to be as powerful as, and in some cases more powerful than H-Menoob.
There are two ways in which a person becomes a H-Men. Either he is born to be one or he chooses by becoming an idzat (apprentice to a H-Men) to learn to be one. The born H-Men, all things considered, is thought to be the more powerful of the two.

Pic 1: Late postclassic ceramic censer from Cozumel; the figure depicted has a bee on his abdomen and a honeycomb in his hands, with miniature artificial hives on both sides. Museo Regional de Antropología, Mérida

While the foregoing is the common explanation of what a born H-Men is, there are certain facts which should be noted. First, the child born in the above situation is born into a family already strong in the H-Men tradition even if there is no practitioner in the family. The family members know many of the general attributes of being a H-Men. Furthermore, the rituals which are used in agricultural ceremonies and the herbs and substances used in common home remedies are of common knowledge by those interested in such things. Thus the born H-Men will be surrounded by those factors which are basic to the H-Men’s profession as he grows up. It seems safe to say that for those “born” H-Menoob who succeed that it is a case of self-fulfilling prophecy.

Pic 3: ‘Nacimiento’/’Birth’ by Salvador Reanda Quiejú, 1990

There are many types of H-Menoob ranging from H-Dzac Ya (he who medicates pain) to H-Pul Ya (he who throws pain). There are H-Dzac Yaob who never do pul ya although of course they must have the knowledge of the powers of a H-Pul Ya in order to undo the damage inflicted by one. I have also heard that there are H-Pul Yaob who never do dzac ya, but this might have been said out of spite. Generally though the H-Menoob are capable of doing both, and it seems to rest on the character of the individual as to how much of which practice he will do. There are those who rarely do agricultural ceremonies and those who seem to prefer to specialize in doing them. Thus, just as there are many types of medical doctors ranging from the general practitioner to the various specialists so too there are various types of H-Menoob.
The H-Dzac Yaob have various ways of divining the sickness of a patient. The use of a zaz tun with the aid of chants is a common method. Also common is padz (massage) in which the H-Men tries to feel the site of the illness. There are also H-Menoob who use European divining methods such as the use of cards or dice. The truly powerful H-Men though will know the site and type of ailment even before the patient enters to see the H-Men. A common story relating to successful cures is that even before the patient has had the chance to speak and tell the H-Men what ails him the H-Men will say that the patient has such-and-such an ailment and must undergo the following treatment.

Pic 5: Late Classic limestone sculpture of a male facing upwards. The scarifications between his eyebrows and on his cheeks are symbols of shamanic initiation; round his neck is a knotted rope, identifying him as a shaman in a trance. MNA, Mexico City

The H-Pul Yaob are approached by patrons who want to do harm to some individual. Often the motive is to even the score or to get revenge for some harm done by that individual to the patron, be it real or imagined. That is, many Yucatecans, both Mayans and the acculturated Spanish speaking people, take offense very easily, and sometimes in cases where no offense was intended.
Once the magnitude of injury has been determined by the patron and the H-Pul Ya then the H-Pul Ya will take what he considers to be the appropriate action. Some of the more talked about methods are:-
1) making of an image, for example of wax, of the individual to be harmed or killed, and then to inflict the damage upon this image. Sticking needles into the region in which the damage is to be done is the method most talked about.
2) taking a X-Tun (described below) and ritually “throwing” it to pierce some organ of the victim, thereby causing pain or death depending on the intent is also a practice of common knowledge.

Pic 7: Late Classic Maya Jaina ceramic ritual mask, showing facial markings typical of shamanic practices and sorcery. The sign on his face symbolises a portal into the underworld. Museo Nacional de Antropología, Mexico City

It must be noted that there are diseases and psychological situations and resulting deaths which are ascribed to pul ya even when no H-Pul Ya was actually involved. For example a young neighbor of ours in Kom Cħeen began to feel very poorly shortly before he was about to get married. We happened to see him and his mother at one of the hospitals in Merida and I asked what the problem was. The mother’s answer was that the doctors mentioned something about the kidneys. I said to my wife that if it is kidneys he will be dead within the month. Well in fact he did die as I mentioned. (My wife later mentioned that at the time she thought I might have some powers of a H-Pul Ya because I had predicted this death.) In any case, it was decided by the parents of the boy that in fact their son had been witch crafted, and the suspected patron was a girl who the boy had recently jilted for the girl to whom the boy was about to get married. The police were called in to investigate, but much to the disappointment of the parents no charges were brought against the jilted girl. The parents still believe though that this girl had employed a H-Pul Ya. In another case with a neighbor across the street from our house in Kom Cħeen is that his daughter found a freshly unearthed human skull in the backyard.

Pic 9: Late Classic fleshless stone head sculpture from Uxmal, representing the Maya god of death. Museo Nacional de Antropología, Mérida

Picture 11 contains a sequence of photos showing where a coffin has been exhumed (A), the coffin itself next to the back wall of the cemetery (B), and the bone boxes where the bones of the disinterred are placed (C). The family of the deceased is obligated by the town to disinter their family member after two years which is the amount of time it takes for nature to do its work, leaving only bones, and for those people who are buried in synthetic clothing, their clothes. Often, for lack of money, the bone box is not immediately constructed and so the bones are bundled up and hung in the little building where corpses are prepared for burial. If the bundle hangs there for too long the cemetery caretaker will throw the bundle over the back wall, making it an excellent place for medical students to gather complete skeletons. In any case, there are plenty of skulls available for mischief makers and dogs so that they can travel to unwanted places.

Pic 11: (See accompanying text)

H-Menoob typically have an assortment of objects (nucul) which they use for various purposes. The following list includes some of the more common items:-
1) zaz tun (“clear rock”, a glass marble about 2 to 5 cm in diameter). It is common to have several zaz tunoob, and some H-Menoob always carry these with them in a little pouch called pauo. Aside from being used to divine the sickness of a person zaz tunoob are used to forecast events and to view a stranger’s personality and intentions. As an example of this type of usage, when I first went to see Don Antonio Hau I was taken by one of his sons to the milpa where he was working. As we entered the milpa he immediately opened his pauo and took out a zaz tun so that he could view me. I must have passed the test because he allowed me to come for several visits thereafter.

Pic 13: A ‘zaz tun’ catches light and flashes it for the shaman to communicate with spirit beings

3) X-Tun (“stingray stinger”, but may be a shin bone which has been sharpened to a point about 10 to 15 cm from the joint end of the bone, forming what appears to be a awl. There are pre columbian examples of the sharpened shin bones and one of the purposes of these sharpened shin bones were to aid in shelling corn.). This is used by H-Pul Yaob to throw pain into a person’s body. In theory the H-Pul Ya is able to mentally locate the victim and then “throw” the x-tun and pierce the target organ (heart, lungs, genitals, leg, etc.)

Pic 15: A ‘x-tun - stingray stinger’

6) Zuhuy Ha (virgin water). This is water taken from specific small cenotes which are generally covered with a flat stone. Not far from Kom Cħeen going towards the coast there is the ruin site X-Colelbil Ek Tun (Lady Black Rock). Around this set of ruin mounds there are several small cenotes with openings ranging from 30 to 50 cm in diameter. Depending on the rain fall, the water level in these cenotes is between almost surface level to about 2 meter below grade level during the dry season. I am not aware from how far away H-Menoob will make the journey to this site to collect the zuhuy ha from these cenotes, but in chants by a {itlalicH-Men in Tecoh which is some 50 km distant this site is mentioned. Most assuredly there must be other sites where zuhuy ha can be collected.

Pic 17: ‘Homa’ and ‘chuyub’

9) Zip Che (Bunchosia glandulosa). Five to ten sprigs, about 50 cm. long, of this shrub are picked and bundled to make a small broom. This broom is then used to “sweep” and “dust” the sickness from a person during a santiguar. Depending on the predilection of the H-Men performing an agricultural ceremony sprigs of the Zip Che are also placed on the table in a decorative fashion. Aside from the cleansing and healing powers of the Zip Che I am not sure the use of the plant has some special significance when used for decoration.
While Zip Che is the preferred source for making these brooms, in the case of scarcity the branches of some other bush-like plant are used.
10) Zuhuy Veladora (virgin vigil candle). The lighting of vigil candles is a common feature of Yucatecan rituals and ceremonies, and is not limited to being used by H-Men alone. Almost any spiritual act requires the lighting of at least one vigil candle.

Pic 19: Illustration of Bunchosia plants