The interplay between Culture and Health.-

Let me address the interrelation of food and Culture, an interesting phenomenon that has not gone unnoticed in the field of Anthropology and Social Psychology.

1- Food and culture -

“Michi” in Nahuatl language (the language of the Ancient Mexicans) means “Delicious fish”, and, until this day, particularly in the area of Michoacan, Mexico, a special soup is prepared with this fish, which is called “Caldo Michi”. I don’t know how many of you have tried it, but let me tell you, it is indeed, delicious.

Anyhow, there was a place in what is now called United States, where this particular fish was abundant. In Nahuatl, to say “place” you say “Tlan”, that is why this suffix is so commonly found in the names of places of Mexico, such as “Autlan”, “Cihuatlan”, or “Mazatlan”.

The place of the “Michi” fish became known as “Michi-tlan”. Eventually other people came and given their lack of proper accent they called this place “Michigan”. Nobody is perfect.

I still remember when in an old big house in central Mexico, we used to have supper at a large dinner table. My uncles were there and my grandmother would prepare “chocolate” (another Nahuatl word by the way) and “Pan dulce” (sweet bread). Every now and then, I was asked to go to my room and then my uncles would ask Grandma real interesting questions such as:

“Is is true that the Devil took Old Julian?”

“Tell us about the time that Grandpa saw the ghosts on his way to Santa Rosalia”

“What is it that you found in the corral the night of the fire?”

“Is it true that a black dog came out of the fire when they burned the books of Uncle Jacinto?”

“How can the Llorona be at so many places at the same time?”

“How is it that herbs can change the heart of a man?”

And many other questions that were answered by Grandma with long dissertations that used to go way into the middle of the night.

My Grandma had no formal education, but she was a master with words. She could keep you holding to every word that came out of her mouth. She would use intonations and mannerisms that would add to her usage of words as if she was a magician.

I remember how I used to sneak back close to the kitchen so I could hear my Grandma talk. This I did with great ambivalence, because, more often than not, I could not fall asleep after hearing stories of ghosts, apparitions, extraordinary animals, the living and the dead, hunted places, mysteries, and all kinds of unusual things.

Every now and then, when I get to enjoy a good cup of Chocolate and pan dulce at night, some of those stories come to mind, as if Grandma is telling them for the first time, and as if I am there, by the kicthen door, still and quet, listening to her voice.

Given that it is not nighttime, and I don’t have a cup of chocolate, I cannot tune myself with the “story’s” cadence to well, otherwise I could tell you, word per word, a “Grandma supper story”.

2 - Plants, herbs, and weeds -

The dictionary defines “herbs” as “a plant whose properties are known.”

That is why William James, the founder of American Psychology, once said that a weed was a plant whose properties have not been discovered.

Interestingly, all plants of the American Continent were named and classified by the Indigenous people. The problem was that Europeans didn’t see any “herbs” when they came to America. All they found were “weeds”, thus losing out when it came to food and medicine from the natural kingdom.

Bernal Diaz del Castillo, the official historian of the conquistadors, tells us in his book “La verdadera historia de la conquista de la Nueva Espana” (The real history of the Conquest of New Spain) that the indigenous peoples of what is now Mexico believed that Europeans were gods, because wherever they went they were received with flowers, perfumes, and incense. No one back then asked the Indians what they really thought about the whole situation. As a matter of fact, Indians were forbidden to either write or speak their own version of those events. Five hundred years later, relying on a collection of Indian writings compiled by Mexican anthropologist Miguel Leon-Portilla in his book “The Reverse of the Conquest”, we read an account of the Indians in their first encounter with Europeans. They say “And we smell them even before we saw them. And not even with flowers, perfume or incense could we get close to them.”

One event, two different interpretations. After 500 years, it is time we considered the Indigenous perspective. It is my opinion that there are common characteristics that most Native American Indians, as well as the farmworker community and other groups, share when it comes to healing and health. These include the following:

* Life comes from the Great Spirit, and all healing begins with Him.

* Healing is due to the harmony between body, heart, mind, and soul.

* Our relationships are an essential component of our health.

* Death is not our enemy, but a natural phenomenon of life.

* Disease is not only felt by the individual, but also by the family.

* Spirituality and emotions are just as important as the body and the mind.

* Mother Earth contains numerous remedies for our illnesses.

* Some healing practices have been preserved throughout the generations.

* Traditional healers can be either men or women, young or old.

* Illness is an opportunity to purify one’s soul.

3 - The use of magical herbs -

There is an old mexican song that says:

“Dime, que me diste

Prieta linda,

creo que me tienes enhierbado,

porque todo cambia

en esta vida,

solo tu carino

no a cambiado.”

(Translation:

“Tell me, what you have given me

Beautiful Dark Woman,

Everything changes in life

only your love

has not changed at all.

I believe you have given me

a magical herb.”)

There may be something more than romanticism to this song. Now we know that some herbs can have powerful effects on our nervous system.

There are some herbs that were held in high regard by the Ancient Mexicans. Their usage is delicate and, at times, even dangerous. Some parts of these plants can be toxic, while other parts have healing properties.

Several of these plants have a strong stimulating effect, which, like every other stimulant have also an indirect depressive effect. This principle, known to many Traditional healers, was used to retain a loved one. The herb was given in a drink and given to the loved one (who presumably was having an affair). Then, the potion will go into effect and he or she would go into a fever of love. This was a critical period for the person giving the herb, an ideal time for an intimate relation. Once the act of love was consummated, the depressive cycle of the herb will go into effect and the enchanter was given the instruction to find a way to send the loved one out of the house for three days. During this time, the depressive effects of the herb will be active and the loved one would not be able to perform their intimate functions. Most likely, the enchanted person would be with the lover and things would tend to fall apart between them.

After three days, when the loved one returned home, the enchanter was instructed to take them in, and provide them with another potion of the herb, reliving the passion between them.

So, be carfeful with what you eat or drink. Magic may be on its way.

4 - The wisdom of traditional meals -

In the Latino community, when invited to eat it is not common to ask “What can I bring?” because everything is provided by the host.

I always wondered how Grandma knew how much food to prepare, especially for fiestas. One day I finally asked her about this, at a time when a fiesta was going on. This is what she told me:

“From the kitchen I peek my head out every now and then to see who is coming. All I need is a couple of seconds at a time. If I see someone I know who they are bringing-along. If I run into real trouble, and I think that we are not going to be able to serve all of the people then I use my “tricks.” I add more water to the soup, spicy-it up real good and make it last. The same with the drinks. The same with the tacos. It is just a matter of making more tortillas and putting less meat to them. This way things go a long way and there is food for everybody.”

It could have been that the prophet knew a lot about the kitchen before he was able to multiply the bread and the fish for his disciples. One never knows.

Every now and then, when I venture into the camps of the farmworkers I am invited to eat when I am not expected. Then I see that there is food for all of us, as if Grandma is still peeking out of the kitchen. And I feel welcomed, as if I have been a guest all along.

5 - The use of spiritual herbs -

We live in a society prone to get involved in addictive behavior. Thus, when a plant is known for it’s hallucinogenic properties growing numbers of people want to ingest these plants whenever they get a chance.

Still, this is not the way Indigenous communities treat these herbs. All we have to do is study the historical usages of tobacco, marijuana, peyote, mushrooms and cocaine in Indigenous settings. There is a systematic knowledge in the cultures that surrounds these plants, knowledge that has been preserved in rituals, procedures, stories and traditions, knowledge that maximizes the healing properties of these plants while minimizing its negative effects. Before we ingest these plants, we better listen to the people who have a millieniary experience with their properties, after all, that is what we do with our physicians whos practices have been in existence only for a couple of centuries.

6 - Aliments and Health -

Aliments are more than the material food we eat. Aliments can be ideas (food for thought), emotions (aliment of the heart), inspiration (aliment of the soul), or, as with the Christian Eucharist, where bread and wine are also the flesh and blood of Christ, a combination of aliments.

What we eat has to do with our stomach, aliments have to do with our entire being. A skillful healer takes a look not only at the things we eat but also to our aliments. Two thousand years ago, Plato observed:

“The great error in the treatment of the human body is that physicians are ignorant of the whole. For the part can never be well unless the whole is well.”

I confirmed the truth of this statement at an early age, when I was living in a small town in central Mexico. During that time I was not doing well in school. I was constantly into some fights. I was determined not to allow anybody to bully me down there, and there were quite a few bullies at my school. My mother decided to send me to the only person that could put up with me: My grandmother. When I arrived at my grandmother’s town, I was greatly disappointed. No movies, no place to hangout, not even a television set. I was sent to a Catholic school (with nuns in charge of everything) and people of the town had the bad habit of getting up before 6:00 a.m.!

Little by little, I enjoyed doing some things: Feeding the chickens, cutting down the mangos and papayas, going up the mountain, lighting a candle in the chapel, reading to my Grandma and learning from her the healing properties of the numerous herbs she had on her garden. Every now and then, people would come to our home seeking my Grandmother’s healing abilities. Like the prophets of the Old Testament, my Grandmother also acted like the Consciousness of the town. She would not hesitate to tell the mayor to stop abusing the poor and running around with other women, but he, too, would come to see her when he got sick.

In my family’s eyes, there were three professions that were “sacred”: Priesthood, School Teacher and Medical Doctor. It was during this time that one of my uncles had graduated from medical school and had decided to begin his medical practice in my grandmother’s town. When my uncle got off the bus, all dressed in white, he was welcomed by the mayor, by the priest, by the nuns of my school, by the charro league, by most of the people of the town and even a musical band.

Weeks later, as my uncle began his practice, my grandmother decided to refer the people that came to see her to my uncle. My uncle did not have a nurse, or a receptionist, or an Office Manager, so he decided to train me in these affairs. When patients came in I would have to make a chart for each one of them, fill out several forms with their demographic information and then ask them about their reason for seeking medical help. Then, chart in hand, I would go and call my uncle, never addressing him as “Uncle” but as “Doctor.” My uncle said I needed to learn to be “professional.” On one of the days I was on “duty,” helping the doctor, a middle aged woman came to the house, asking to see my Grandmother. I had been instructed to say that Grandma had retired from the healing practices, but that now, patients could be seen by a real doctor, my uncle. Reluctantly the lady agreed to see my uncle. When I had completed my part of the chart, I went to call the doctor. The lady had been complaining of stomach pains and, after a few questions, my uncle prescribed something for an ulcer.

A week later, the same lady came back. She grabbed me by my shirt and told me “this time I want to see your Grandma!” By the tone of her voice I knew I was not going to be able to convince her otherwise, so I went to get my Grandmother.

After I explained the whole incident to Grandma, she came out to see the lady. My Grandma opened her arms and looking the lady in the eyes, she said “What happened to you my dear?” The woman broke down crying and just hugged Grandma. The lady cried for a while and Grandma, not saying a word, just held her. Later she would tell me that, most of the time, crying is good for the body. According to her, we would get rid of some pain and restore some of our energy when we cried.

Then she took the lady to a room where she had a candle perpetually burning. She asked the lady to sit there in silence, observing the light of the candle and breathing softly. Once she left the lady in the candle room, my Grandma prepared a tea with honey. Grandma said that accurate diagnosis could only be made when the patient was calmed. So, the first thing she would do, was to help the patient achieve some kind of peace. Once the lady drank her tea, Grandma asked how her family was doing. Grandma said that a good woman is always more concerned with her family than with her own self, therefore, checking on her family was just as important as checking on her own heart. The lady said that her husband had left for the U.S. almost three months before, and he said he was going to work and write and send money. It happened he had not done either one of these two things. “You must be worrying a lot child,” Grandma said. The lady nodded in silence. Then Grandma asked how she was sleeping, if she was having head or stomach aches, how she was eating. Once the lady responded, my Grandma said, “I’ll tell you what we are going to do my child. I’m going to write to one of my sons who is near where your husband was heading in the U.S. and we will get that sucker to at least write you a note. Your kids will not go hungry, Roberto will go with you to the market once a week and will make sure you get enough food for your family. And for you, I’ll give you one of my special remedies, so that you have enough energy to do the things you need to do, but you must eat well: You are not going to be of much help to your family if you get sick.”

The lady smiled and a few days later, came back with an entire new disposition. She was in good spirits and even smiled when she told me to call my grandmother. The lady hugged grandma as she came to welcome her, and after exchanging a few words with her, she asked her to read a letter she had brought with her. It was a letter from her husband. The man said he had some problems getting a job, but that finally he had found some work harvesting peaches. He was going to have some work for a while. He even managed to send some money. At the end of the letter he added the following postscript:

“I have written to you and sent you some money, now please go and tell Dona Exiquia (my Grandmother) to get off of my back.”

The lady was delighted. She shared her joy with grandma in the same way she had shared her pain. Grandma later told me “Sometimes you have to get on the back of someone in order to heal the stomach of somebody else.”

7 - Food, land, women and Revolution -

It became quite clear to some of our ancestors, that the Earth, just like a woman with a seed could become “pregnant.” There were some critical periods in which the land could shelter seeds and eventualy bare fruit. To assess this process, all cultures around the world developed a lunar calendar, for the lunar cycle was a reliable system to determine the fertility of the land. The lunar month, with a cycle of 28 days had its equivalent in women’s menstruation, in fact that is the root of the word “month”, from menstruation. Incidentally, thirteen lunar months will amount to a 364 day year. That is the main reason for the number 13 in ancestral agricultural calendars.

The word “culture” has to do with the understanding of the way nature works, the cycles of the year, the domestication of plants, the harvesting of food. This is an invention of women, and in all fairness we must state that it is due to the wisdom of women all around the planet and their invention of agriculture, that we were able to develop our humanity.

For the ancient Mexicans, it was Tonatzin, mother Earth, that was the mother of all living creatures.

When the Spanish took over what is now Mexico, and found themselves debating on issues such as if the Mexican Indians had souls, it was Tonatzin that appeared to a young Mexican. She appeared to him wearing a black ribbon, a symbol that for the Aztecs meant “pregnancy”. She also spoke in Nahuatl. She told Juan Diego: “What troubles you, my son? Am I not here? Am I not your Mother?”

Those words came to Juan Diego from an Indian Virgin, the Mother of God.

Others could debate all they wanted, but she came and said “I am your Mother,” directly from the source, Our Lady of Guadalupe Tonatzin. And those words for centuries have nurtured the souls of millions of people.

During the Independence, a group called “The Guadalupes” played a major role in the process of emancipation. The first Mexican president took the name of “Guadalupe’s Victory” for during his time, he kept faith and hope alive. A century later, the followers of Emiliano Zapata carried with them the image of the Virgin of Guadalupe. Today, the Zapatistas that fight for the oppressed in South Mexico, they also have the image of Guadalupe, they too have come to the realization that we are all brothers, that we all carry within us the eternal light of the Spirit. The struggle of the Zapatistas was synthesized in the slogan “Land and Freedom,” a struggle that farmworkers know so well, a struggle that found its voice in the enlightened words of Cesar Chavez and many others who have given their lives bringing some justice to the farm-worker’s world.

8 - Food and Mother Earth -

We have been told that we are all one. If you pay attention to the air we breath, you will notice that we all share it. One moment it is out there, and the next it is in you, the next moment it is in me. If you follow your blood components, you will notice that, perhaps six months ago, your blood was sitting at the top of a mountain in the form of snow. The snow melted, it became a river, it eventually got to you, and you drank it. It just comes and goes. We cannot understand the dynamics of nurturement without acknowledging our basic unity with one another and our unity with the Earth. Chief Seattle, over a century ago, in a letter addressed to the U.S. Government, spoke eloquently about this matter. This is his letter:

“The President in Washington sends word that he wishes to buy our land. But how can you buy or sell the sky? The land? The idea is strange to us. If we do not own the freshness of the air and sparkle of the water, how can you buy them?

Every part of this Earth is sacred to my people. Every shining pine needle, every sandy shore, every mist in the dark woods, every meadow, every humming insect. All are holy in the memory and experience of my people.

We know the sap which courses through the trees as we know the blood that courses through our veins. We are part of the Earth and it is part of us. The perfumed flowers are our sisters. The bear, the deer, the great eagle, these are our brothers. The rocky crest, the juices in the meadow, the body heat of the pony, and man, all belong to the same family.

The shining water that moves in the streams and rivers is not just water, but the blood of our ancestors. If we sell you our land, you must remember that it is sacred. Each ghostly reflection in the clear waters of the lakes tells of events and memories in the life of my people. The water’s murmur is the voice of my father’s father. The rivers are our brothers. They quench our thirst. They carry our canoes and feed our children. So, you must give to the rivers the kindness you would give any brother.

If we sell you our land, remember that the air is precious to us, that the air shares it’s spirit with all the life it supports. That the wind that gave our grandfather his first breath also receives his last sigh. The wind also gives our children spirit of life. So, if we sell you our land, you must keep it apart and sacred, as a place where man can go to tast the wind that is sweetened by the meadow flowers.

Will you teach your children what we have thought our children? That the Earth is our Mother? What befalls to the Earth befalls all the sons of the Earth.

This we know: The Earth does not belong to man, man belongs to the Earth. All things are connected like the blood that unites us all. Man did not weave the web of life, he is merely a strand in it. Whatever he does to the web, he does to himself.

One thing we know: Our God is also your God. The Earth is precious to him and to harm the Earth is to heap contempt on it’s creator. Your destiny is a mystery to us. What will happen when the buffalo are slaughtered? The wild horses tamed? What will happen when the secret corners of the forest are heavy with the scent of many men and the view of the ripe hills is blotted by talking wires? Where will the cricket be? Gone! Where will the eagle be? Gone! And man without animals will die of spiritual solitude.

We love this Earth as a newborn loves its Mother’s heartbeat. So, if we sell you our land, love it as we have loved it. Care for it as we have cared for it. Preserve that land for all children and love it, as God loves us all.

As we are part of the land, you too are part of the land. This Earth is precious to us. It is also precious to you. One thing we know: There is only one God. No man, be he red man or white man, can be apart. We are brothers after all.”

9 - Food, Health and Transformation -

Many cultures tell us stories of food and transformation. I would like to share with you a Toltec story of the serpent and the eagle, a story that talks to us about food, health and transformation.

The symbol of the serpent and the eagle have been in the American Contintent for centuries. This is the story:

A long time ago, there lived a serpent. He had no friends, no sense of direction or loyalty and, no concern for any other being. The serpent was selfish. The serpent constantly felt cold, except when he was absorbing the life from other animals, while eating them. The problem was that the warmth never lasted. The serpent was a lonely creature, for no one else wanted to be close to him. One day, a beautiful bird came down from the sky and stopped to talk with the other animals. Contrary to what happened with the serpent, the rest of the animals wanted to be close to the bird of beautiful dark feathers. The serpent thought this was a good opportunity to get an animal, so he got close to where they were gathering, but he was spotted by one of the animals. A second later the animals were gone, all with the exception of the eagle. The serpent decided to get closer, very slowly. Then, the eagle began to speak. “I know what you want” the eagle said “I know what moves you.” The serpent stopped, he wondered what the eagle was talking about. “You want to feel warm” the eagle said, “you want to feel alive and the problem is that you only get to feel it for a brief amount of time, isn’t it so?” The serpent nodded. “I know also how you can feel alive all the time, how you can feel warm day and night.” “How” asked the serpent, impatiently.

The eagle pointed to the sun. “You have to eat the sun.”

The serpent began to feel angry, which was the way he felt most of the time. “You say that” the serpent said, “because you have legsd and everybody likes you, because you have wings, but look at me, I have to crawl on this Earth!” The serpent was moving closer to the bird as he said these words. The bird knew what the serpent was capable of doing, so he mantained a prudent distance, close enough to talk to the snake, but far enough away to stay out of reach. “You have to strive to reach the sun” the eagle said “otherwise the world of loneliness, perpetual want and destructiveness in which you are trapped will continue to be the only life you know.” The serpent, who was a very rational being said

“what you say makes some sense, but what you ask from me is impossible.” The eagle said “if you do as I say, I assure you that you will reach the sun, what do you have to lose?”

The serpent thought for a moment, and finally decided to test the words of the bird. The eagle told the serpent that there were several things he needed to do, that he would have to be determined, overcome pain and keep his eyes on the sun. The serpent needed to find the highest place on Earth, the pyramid of the Sun, and from there jump into the light. On it’s way to the pyramid, the serpent (who was used to a lazy way of life) felt tired. Right after he began his journey, he wanted to stop.

The eagle reminded him that the process was going to take some effort, so the serpent kept going. As the serpent kept moving, pieces of its skin began to peel, then, for the first time in it’s life, the serpent had a feeling of its own. It felt pain! It cried.

“Life begins with tears,” the eagle said. “We are going in the right direction”. Later, the serpent arrived at the base of a pyramid. “I’ll wait here,” the eagle said. “You are to ascend to the pyramid on your own.”

By then, the serpent had endured enough pain, and realized many things to the point that he was willing to go on: there was no going back for him. “Whenever you are uncertain” the eagle said “listen to your heart and follow it.” The serpent told his friend good-bye and began his ascent of the enormous pyramid, step by step. With every crowl, he felt as if something inside him was dying, but he still went on. Then, he finally reached the top. There, he experienced the greatest fear of his life.

“If you jump you will certainly die!” he heard his mind saying. “If you jump you will be transformed!” he heard his heart saying. For the first time the serpent could listend to his heart. The serpent jumped into the abyss. As the serpent was in the air, he felt wings coming out from the parts where he had lost his skin, from his wounds. He became the “plumed serpent” and his wings carried him all the way to the sun. The plumed serpent went through the sun and became the fire-bird, and his wings turned totally black. He came down as an eagle. He came down looking for serpents. He had obtained the great knowledge and the vision of the eagles, for he saw eagles within the serpents, eagles awaiting to be transformed.

10 - Conclusion: The maraca keepers -

The maraca, a dry gourd in which some seeds are placed, has played an essential part in the ceremonies of numerous Indian groups. When we are born, we are given one of them, a small instrument that fascinates us with its rattle; an instrument with which we create our first music. The maraca of the adults had an additional role to play. It contained the best seeds of the harvest. If for whatever reason, the crops were lost, the maraca keepers would appear, bringing the maracas. Then, for the sake of the community, they would break the maracas and release the seeds of life. Hope then would be restored.

If we take a good look around us, we are going to find that our communities are failing, that our community life is disintegrating. Socially, we are living in a time of famine. It is time to call the maraca keepers. The one maraca keeper tells me that he has alrealdy been here. He tells me that he has broken his precious maraca, the one that he has been saving for this time.

“These seeds, our finest” he says. “They are our best hope to overcome troubled times”.

The maraca keeper shows me his hands. He has the broken maraca. I look around, I see no seeds. The maraca keeper tells me: “Go to the people, look deep into their hearts, tell them: they are my seeds!”