Aztec Ethnobotany
Religion, Ritual and Medicinal Practices in Aztec Procreation and Beyond
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Beschreibung
The care for pregnant women and childbirth was a milestone in Aztec medicine. In this book, several aspects of procreative medicine are treated, including an overview of the ideas, use and analysis of Nahuatl terminology about diseases, sexuality, and procreation. Medicinal plants formed a major part of this treatment. The ticitl or midwife played a central role in procreation, together with religion and magic which were inextricably linked to any ancient medical practice. The position of the midwife in the medical Aztec hierarchy was far more sophisticated than in many other cultures in the XVI century. She was the most important type of Aztec physician since she knew which plants and other products, such as the tlacuatzin’s tail, the opossum’s tail, could be used against women’s diseases and during childbirth, alongside the physical means to deal with premature abortion. The most common ailment in the procreative process, both for females and males, was the treponemal disease nanahuatl, known as mal de las bubas and later as syphilis by the Spaniards. The treatment of nanahuatl and its relationship with Aztec religion is discussed, together with the linguistic terminology to refer to this and other ailments and related processes. The major role of religion and magic in procreation, in addition to medicinal plants is evident from some diseases that were supposed to be due to the loss of tonalli, known as the vital force or energy by the Aztecs. Therefore, the role of medicinal plants, religion, magic, and associated rituals and the ticitl or midwife interventions are integrated in this book.
Autor*in
José Antonio Flores Farfán
Themen in »Aztec Ethnobotany«
Antropologie Ethnobotanik Azteken Mittelamerika