(03/13/23)
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Junglepixiebelize - Recollections of a Gringa Pioneer
Nancy R Koerner - Copyright@2023 - All Rights Reserved
CHAPTER FIFTY-TWO
"Don Elijio - Part Two - The Disciple"
In mid-1976, Mick and Lucy Fleming, a British-American couple, had landed on one of the most beautiful properties on the Upper Macal. Their place was on the western bank, opposite us, about a mile or so downstream from Macaw Bank. Like the rest of our scattered little band of impoverished gringo pioneers, Mick and Lucy were living simply in a little thatched house, scratching a few veggies from the ground, and trying to creatively invent a way of making a living. Little did they know that, one day, they would turn this vast property into the best-known inland holiday accommodation in all of Belize – the legendary Chaa Creek Resort, and that, one day, they would even host British Royalty’s very own Prince Harry.
In early 1977, Lucy had introduced me to Rosita Arvigo, a tall dark-haired, statuesque American woman, originally from Chicago. With a ready smile, and a friendly manner, Rosita was a student of natural medicine, having spent three years living with the native people in the Mexican outback. She referred to it as “a place so distant from civilization, it took three days to walk out.” Now, Rosita was staying at Mick and Lucy’s, looking to buy the piece of river property just north of theirs
In early 1977, Lucy had introduced me to Rosita Arvigo, a tall dark-haired, statuesque American woman, originally from Chicago. With a ready smile, and a friendly manner, Rosita was a student of natural medicine, having spent three years living with the native people in the Mexican outback. She referred to it as “a place so distant from civilization, it took three days to walk out.” Now, Rosita was staying at Mick and Lucy’s, looking to buy the piece of river property just north of theirs
As before, Rosita’s goal was to pursue natural healing, and she had hoped to find a traditional Mayan herbalist with whom to study. I told her about Don Elijio, and how, by that time, he had already successfully treated me for a second health concern. Likewise, for years, Don Elijio had been yearning to train a young Maya acolyte to take over his role as healer, but none had wanted to learn – a source of great distress. Young people in San Antonio had become fixated on modernity and materialism; they wanted cars and trucks, clothes, dances, and parties – not to study herbs and ancient ritualistic prayers.
The match between Rosita and Don Elijio had been the greatest serendipity.
Much like Mick and Lucy’s eventual destiny with Chaa Creek Resort, Rosita would also become an international rockstar as a natural healer. She would study with Don Elijio for 12 years, staying in San Antonio for long stretches at a time, or walking miles daily in traveling back-and-forth to get home – which included canoe trip (or a swim) across the river to the western bank. She assisted the great shaman in every aspect of traditional herbalism – the arduous collection of the plants, their uses, preparation, and dosages – even learning the incantations of the Mayan prayers.
“Every time an old traditional healer dies,” Rosita would say, “it is as though a whole library has burned down. I want
to preserve that ancient wisdom, and pass it on.”
With the purchase of her property next to Chaa Creek, Rosita initially built a small thatched house, and created a simple “herb walk” along the forested pathways of the river. She later founded Ix Chel Tropical Research Foundation, and eventually, co-founded a line of natural herbal healing products called Rainforest Remedies.
Throughout her life, Rosita has authored nine books (so far), and developed a practice called “The Arvigo Techniques of Maya Abdominal Massage,” based on the teachings of Don Elijio. To this day, she continues to hold various classes all over the U.S., and speak at international seminars.
Rosita also contributed to the creation of Noj Kaax Meen, the Elijio Panti National Park – a 13,000 acre reserve, south of San Antonio Village, which hosts a vast biodiversity of flora and fauna. And through Rosita’s efforts, Don Elijio also received recognition for his lifetime achievement in a certificate from the New York Botanical Society, Institute of Economic Botany, for his “valued assistance for the furtherance of the Institute’s research programs in Belize.”
Don Elijio Panti was the last in the line of medicinal oral tradition that dated back a thousand years. He was regarded as *the master* – the most famous of the traditional Mayan shamans in all of Central America. A soft-spoken, self-effacing, humble man of peace, he knew nothing of artifice, posturing, or self-aggrandizement. Don Elijio died in his little thatched hut on a hill in San Antonio, in February 1996, at age 103.
The match between Rosita and Don Elijio had been the greatest serendipity.
Much like Mick and Lucy’s eventual destiny with Chaa Creek Resort, Rosita would also become an international rockstar as a natural healer. She would study with Don Elijio for 12 years, staying in San Antonio for long stretches at a time, or walking miles daily in traveling back-and-forth to get home – which included canoe trip (or a swim) across the river to the western bank. She assisted the great shaman in every aspect of traditional herbalism – the arduous collection of the plants, their uses, preparation, and dosages – even learning the incantations of the Mayan prayers.
“Every time an old traditional healer dies,” Rosita would say, “it is as though a whole library has burned down. I want
to preserve that ancient wisdom, and pass it on.”
With the purchase of her property next to Chaa Creek, Rosita initially built a small thatched house, and created a simple “herb walk” along the forested pathways of the river. She later founded Ix Chel Tropical Research Foundation, and eventually, co-founded a line of natural herbal healing products called Rainforest Remedies.
Throughout her life, Rosita has authored nine books (so far), and developed a practice called “The Arvigo Techniques of Maya Abdominal Massage,” based on the teachings of Don Elijio. To this day, she continues to hold various classes all over the U.S., and speak at international seminars.
Rosita also contributed to the creation of Noj Kaax Meen, the Elijio Panti National Park – a 13,000 acre reserve, south of San Antonio Village, which hosts a vast biodiversity of flora and fauna. And through Rosita’s efforts, Don Elijio also received recognition for his lifetime achievement in a certificate from the New York Botanical Society, Institute of Economic Botany, for his “valued assistance for the furtherance of the Institute’s research programs in Belize.”
Don Elijio Panti was the last in the line of medicinal oral tradition that dated back a thousand years. He was regarded as *the master* – the most famous of the traditional Mayan shamans in all of Central America. A soft-spoken, self-effacing, humble man of peace, he knew nothing of artifice, posturing, or self-aggrandizement. Don Elijio died in his little thatched hut on a hill in San Antonio, in February 1996, at age 103.
In 2007, I met up with Rosita, here in south Florida, to reminisce, and go kayaking together. She gave me a copy of her first book, "Sastun: My Apprenticeship with a Maya Healer," and autographed it for me.
**********
As I opened the flyleaf, and read the inscription, I felt my heart flutter, as I had forgotten this detail of our shared past:
“To Nancy, who first introduced me to Don Elijio.“
As I opened the flyleaf, and read the inscription, I felt my heart flutter, as I had forgotten this detail of our shared past:
“To Nancy, who first introduced me to Don Elijio.“