With 63 years of accumulating knowledge and being heir to the gifts of her ancestors, the traditional doctor, popularly known as a yerba mate, Zully Patron Canché, affirmed that this knowledge is far from disappearing.
She is an example that traditional Mayan medicine shines among modern technology because students in the health field of the Autonomous University of Yucatan resort to medicinal plants to complement their professional training. Moreover, herbalists from Africa, the United States and other cities in Mexico attend her workshops and her two botanical gardens to learn about the species and mixture of plants that cure diseases.
Zully Patron is originally from Izamal and was one of the special guests at the exhibition “Between gifts, trades and knowledge. Traditional Mayan Medicine”, convened by the Yucatan Scientific Research Center (CICY) and the Ministry of Culture and the Arts, and which will be open to the public until next July at the CICY Botanical Garden.
In an interview with the newspaper, Zully Patron assured that young people pay a lot of attention to traditional medicine, despite the fact that it could be thought that due to technological advances, the ancient Mayan practice is destined to disappear.
But she sees that it is quite the opposite, she receives groups of students from the degrees of Medicine, Chemistry and Nursing of the Uady, mainly, as well as foreigners who know about this alternative medicine and who want to learn the healing properties of the plants of the region, as well as people who want to alleviate illnesses that have not subsided with allopathic medicine.
“When young people come I always tell them to pay attention, to take advantage of the knowledge because I give it with my heart and for free,” he said. “I ask you to get to know the medicinal species and when you see them in the bush or the street, do not pull them up, but take care of them and protect them because, yes, there are species that disappear from the earth due to fumigations and fires.”
She has a botanical garden with more than 350 varieties of healing plants and another botanical garden in Izamal, where she grows and harvests the species to make her combinations in capsules and syrups.
He makes more than 300 medical combinations and healing teas and, as he stated, they are effective in treating simple to complicated diseases such as diabetes. Precisely its effectiveness yields greater clientele and people interested in learning this ancestral trade.
“This knowledge comes from my great-grandfather Remigio Patron, my grandfather Paulino and my father Feliciano. I have been accumulating the knowledge and practice of traditional medicine for 63 years,” he stated. “For a few years now, I have transferred everything I know to my children so that they do not lose this valuable ancestral legacy of the family. I have a lot of clients and I receive many visitors, I give consultations, and I can’t handle everything. Today they help me and I hope that the knowledge of the five generations of the Patron family will pass on to the grandchildren and other descendants”.
The traditional medicine reported that people from Africa come for periods of four months to learn Mayan herbalism, planting and harvest times, spraying plants and making combinations for capsules. They know that it is a long transfer of knowledge, but there are people who want to learn everything in a couple of months, which is almost impossible.
“I started this business with pure herbal teas, but the same people encouraged me to dedicate myself more to traditional medicine,” he said. “I made infusions, drops and then capsules. As they are plants that heal, people returned or sent others with problems; fortunately today there is a lot of demand and I produce in large quantities to sell”.
He has offices in Izamal and in the Nora Quintana neighborhood (number 594 on Calle 138 between 65 and 65-A) in Mérida, which is run by his son José Feliciano. His children Erica Amelia, Beningno and Cecilia also learn this knowledge.
One of its botanical gardens is open to the public and offers free tours for visitors to learn about the plants and have a basic understanding of traditional Mayan medicine.
The exhibition in the lobby of the CICY Botanical Garden consists of a sample of articles used by midwives, sobadoras, traditional doctors, snake makers, herbalists and Mayan priests. In addition, a brief explanation of the history of each of them is included. A tour of the area of plants in conservation completes the exhibition. It will be open from Monday to Friday, from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., until next July.
The inauguration was led by the teacher Ana Eugenia Méndez Peterson, general director of Museums and Heritage of the Sedeculta, and was presided over by Dr. Pedro Iván González Chi, general director of the CICY; teacher Rosaura Martín Caro, director of planning and management; teacher Abraham Guerrero Escobar, director of Patrimony of the Sedeculta; doctor Azucena Canto Aguilar, responsible for the research project of the natural resources unit, and Judith Alanís Figueroa, artist and author of the exhibition.— Joaquín Chan Caamal