Hi'iaka's Healing Herb Garden

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The Loving Art of Herbal Healing Baths

Deep in the jungles of Central America, descendants of the Maya Indians still live and practice their herbal and spiritual healing. "Maya architectural, astronomical, mathematical and engineering feats have fascinated us for generations, but few people are aware of their sophisticated and effective medical system," writes Rosita Arvigo in her book Rainforest Home Remedies. According to Dr. Arvigo, the Mayans have many remedies for physical ailments, but they also treat ailments of the spirit -- things that we might call psychological problems -- such as grief, sadness, fright and envy. These illnesses can manifest themselves as physical symptoms, which can interfere with a person's ability to heal. This makes sense as modern Western medicine finds links between physical ailments like high blood pressure, heart disease and cancer with "unresolved emotional stress and distress."

Reconnecting the Soul to the Person

At the root of the Mayans' concept of spiritual illness is loss of the soul. They believe that our souls can be frightened away from our bodies because of the traumas of modern life. "Incest, abuse, loss of a loved one, accidents, and major illnesses are some major assaults that can catapult the soul from the body. Faced with these stresses, the sensitive human soul may flee the body, never to return." The soul leaves the body "to survive by escaping the full impact of pain." When your soul is lost, you feel "dispirited, weak, fragmented, and disassociated from yourself and the world. Many people make misguided attempts to reconnect with their souls, filling the void with drugs, alcohol, food, or obsessive relationships. Therapy may not help because 'nobody's home' to be helped." Here is where the Mayans perform a safe, gentle practice to lure the soul back from the underworld. It involves herbs, water, and prayers. I have used it on numerous occasions and am always astonished at how quickly and miraculously it works.

A Recipe for Spiritual Healing

Many of us never learn how to pray, "or we associate prayer with stodgy churches and sexist ceremonies... Spiritual healing is not a science -- there are no hard and fast rules or formulas. As long as you are sincere, say the prayers with faith and love, and follow your intuition, you will do fine." Don't be afraid to adapt all of this to suit your particular religious beliefs and lifestyle.

Here is how I have adapted Mayan practices for use in a Hawaiian herb garden.

1. I begin my treatments with a stroll through the garden. We do what I call a walking meditation, where we simply observe and try to truly SEE the mana of the plants. We then pick three sprigs of three different plants, each about 9 inches long. These are plants that somehow speak to the person. As we cut each plant, we say a short prayer, which goes, "We praise you, we bless you, we thank you, we ask for your permission and your help in our healing." This opens the door to the spirit of the plants and helps to connect us with them. We then tie the cut plants into three identical bundles with string, a ti leaf or lemon grass.

2. The next step I do in two different ways, depending on the illness to be treated. One option is to get into a bathtub, swimming pool, hot pond or ocean. However, I don't do this when I'm treating an open wound. Instead, I make a decoction of several plants that are good for skin healing such as noni leaf, spilanthes, comfrey, plantain, and tea tree. To make a decoction, chop the plants and place them in one quart of bottled water. Bring it to a boil, then simmer it for 20 minutes. When it cools, I pour it over the wound into a basin or bathtub. I don't use a decoction in a pool or the ocean. Wherever I do it, the rest of the ritual is the same. I begin with an opening prayer, similar to the one that Rosita Arvigo uses:

"In the name of God the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, I am the one who prays to the nine Maya spirits to help sick people. I ask the spirits to help me... I believe in them and I have faith in their great power to help and to heal. Nine times I say my prayers. In the name of God the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen."

3. Next, I take the first of the three herb bundles and place it on the person's right wrist, at their pulse below the thumb. I then repeat a short Hawaiian chant three times. This can be any prayer or words that you feel comfortable with. Rosita often uses a positive affirmation, such as this:

"With this sacred water, I wash away all illness and begin to live wholly again. I have faith with all my heart that this bath and these prayers will relieve me completely."

4. I then hold the second herb bundle on the person's left wrist and repeat the same prayer three times.

5. Finally, I hold the third herb bundle on the person's "third eye," in the center of their forehead, and repeat the prayer three more times.

6. I close the ritual by repeating the "In the name of God the Father" prayer.

To be truly effective, you should "repeat the bath every three days, at least three times, even if you feel wonderful after the first bath."

In her book, Rosita documents many patients she has worked with. One of the most interesting ones to me was her story about a young woman who was broken-hearted after her boyfriend broke up with her. Rosita performed a simple prayer ritual with the woman, without even using a bath. The next morning, the woman came to her and said that she had "decided that he did me a favor." Her broken heart was mended and she was ready to move on with her life. Now that's what I call spiritual healing!

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All quoted passages in this article come from the book Rainforest Home Remedies by Rosita Arvigo and Nadine Epstein, copyright 2001.