By the hot springs, in the green forest, egrets fly high in the clouds, and wild foxes hum in the grass. The imperial guard warriors wore armor and held sticks, and were on guard at the periphery. The dignitaries gathered around the dying stag, meditating and discussing, breathing life into traditional witch medicine.
Na slender and tall, her face delicate and calm. After hearing His Highness's order, she nodded solemnly, moved her long legs, and walked to the dissected stag. Then, she stretched out her slender right hand, not caring about the blood in front of her eyes, and accurately stretched out the dagger.
"Your Highness, princess. In the priest's inheritance, every part of our body strictly corresponds to the days of the calendar. Our body contains the enlightenment of destiny and communicates with the entire world."
Naxiu's expression was serious and her voice was like smoke as she spoke eloquently. She talked about the basis of the entire witch medicine and the world in the eyes of the priests, which is the correspondence between time, destiny and the human body!
"In the calendar, January has twenty days. The first day is an auspicious day, the Crocodile Day, which corresponds to the heart. Children born on this day are blessed by the gods and have an excellent destiny. The second day, the Wind Day, corresponds to the heart. Tongue. The third day, the day of the palace, corresponds to the brain. The fourth day, the day of the lizard, corresponds to the liver... These are the first four days of the month. They are all auspicious days blessed by the gods, and they also correspond to the most sacred part of the human body. Four organs.”
Hearing this, Shulot nodded slightly. According to traditional concepts, the first four days are all auspicious days, and the corresponding four organs contain special powers.
Let’s not mention the brain, heart, and liver for now, let’s talk about the tongue first. The leader of the alliance is known as the Big Talker, "Tlatoani". The etymology of this name comes from the human tongue, "Tlachtoli". Because, in people's perception, the tongue has the power to make people obey and is the power to rule.
After speaking, Na Xiu paused for a moment. She quietly glanced at the girl in white who was listening attentively, with a faint smile on her face.
"...In the month, there are also several bad days involving death. The ninth day, the water day, corresponds to the skin. The tenth day, the dog day, corresponds to the nose. The eleventh day, the monkey day, the twelfth The sun corresponds to the hands. The grass sun corresponds to the intestines... This is the fourth day of the month, which contains unknown signs. The organs corresponding to these four days can reflect the proximity of death. Of course, there is also the sixth day , the day of death, corresponding to the hair.”
Hearing this, Shulot lowered his eyes slightly. He uses the title "God of Death" and is most familiar with these statements. Wrinkles appear on the skin, the smell of old people smells in the nose, the hands and feet are unsteady and trembling, the stomach and intestines have trouble eating, and the hair begins to turn white... these are all symbols of death in Nahua religion. Children born on these unlucky days are often regarded as curses and may even be intentionally discarded.
"Finally, at the end of a month, there are usually days that are neither good nor bad. The seventeenth day, the earthquake day, corresponds to the teeth. The eighteenth day, the stone knife day, corresponds to the ears. The nineteenth day, the rainy day, corresponds to the eyes. .The twentieth day, the flower day, corresponds to the chest...The last four days symbolize a peaceful life, and the child born will have an ordinary life. The corresponding organs have no special religious meaning."
Having said this, Naxiu looked at His Highness and smiled complicatedly. She was born on the fourth day, and she should have been calm and ordinary. But after she was selected by the priesthood as a child, her destiny completely changed. From then on, she only lived for another person.
"very nice."
Xiuluo nodded, with a look of praise on his face. Then, he looked at the cold and charming female warrior and ordered in a deep voice.
"Naxiu, keep talking!"
"I obey you."
The female warrior bowed her head in greeting. Then, she murmured to herself and recited difficult incantations, faced the dead wild deer, reached out and touched the deer's head, heart and liver respectively, and performed a simple requiem ceremony.
"Your Highness, our body contains three special life forces, which are located in three sacred organs. That is the 'Tonali' in the brain, the 'Teyolia' in the heart, and the 'Taiyolia' in the liver. 'Ihotel'!"
"'Tonali' is located on the head. When we were born, it was given to us by the Lord God and placed in the body. This life force controls our growth and arranges our destiny. It determines the vitality and vitality of the body. Vitality also determines the aging and fatigue of the body... By holding rituals to communicate with the gods and taking sacred mushrooms and herbs, priests can affect the 'tonali' in the head and even make it temporarily leave the body. When we die, 'Tonali' will remain in our bones and return to the earth..."
Hearing this, Shulot touched his chin and fell into deep thought.
The concept of "tonali" is similar to human divinity in religion, but in medicine, it is roughly a collection of nervous and endocrine systems for thinking, perception and body regulation... The traditional witch medicine is exactly Explore from these cognitions and practices.
Based on the practical experience of generations of witch doctor priests, the priests generally know the role of the brain in the human body. In order to affect the "tonali" on the head, they will use black feather jade, datura, psilocybin mushrooms, ayahuasca, as well as frog venom, scorpion venom, snake venom... to gain fantastic insights and heal the body. and mental illness.
These animal and plant medicines contain special alkaloids and hormones, which can act on the brain and the whole body, effectively anesthetizing, sedating, analgesic, sterilizing, and even completely changing a person's mental state.
"Tonali...the nervous and endocrine system...the corresponding drugs...well, Naxiu, go on!"
"'Tayolia' is located in the heart and is the seat of knowledge and vitality. It determines a person's vitality and also determines his fate after death. When we die, 'Tayolia' will separate from the body and go To the sky of the Kingdom of God, and then into the afterlife of man... The fate of a person after death, the whereabouts of 'Taiyolia', are all determined by the way he dies, especially the destination of his heart. Therefore, the sacred sacrifice Not only to satisfy the gods, but also to promise the sacrificer the next life..."
Shulot looked solemn. The reason why the Alliance's sacrificial rituals value the human heart so much is precisely because of the "Tayolia" in the heart. In religion, "Teyoria" can be seen as the soul. In medicine, "Taiyolia" is the blood circulation system. Thinking of this, the young man asked loudly.
"Naxiu, what results have the witch doctors achieved in their research on 'Tayolia'?"
"Your Highness, 'Taiyolia' is integrated into the blood and is the source of vitality for the human body. Once a person is injured and too much blood flows away, he will lose vitality and even lose his soul. Therefore, witch doctors will try every means to reduce human trauma. time, the loss of blood.”
Na Xiu pondered for a while, recalling the commonly used methods to stop bleeding.
"Applying ink leaves, spicy grass, yucca juice, honey or even clumps of spider webs to the traumatic wound can effectively stop bleeding. In order to prevent the wound from cracking, you can also use cotton or vines to wrap it. If the wound rots and suppurates , you can put the larvae of the mung bean fly to eat away the necrotic pieces of meat and speed up healing... Of course, the high priests of the alliance also have a secret method to stop bleeding, which was learned from the Mayans, and can deal with long and narrow war sticks. Cuts.”
"Yes, indeed. As long as the larvae of the mung bean fly are cultured in a clean environment, they can be used to treat rotten wounds. The larvae of the mung bean fly are strictly scavengers and will only eat rotten and necrotic tissues and will not affect healthy living bodies. Part. These larvae also secrete chemicals that kill microorganisms..."
Shulot thought for a moment and nodded slowly. Maggot therapy is quite popular in the Alliance. It may seem disgusting, but it has saved many injured warriors from infection. Then he became more interested and asked with a smile.
"What is the secret method of the Mayans to stop bleeding? How can they deal with long and narrow cuts?"
Alyssa next to her blinked, as if she thought of something.
"Hmm...is it an ant?"
"Yes! The princess is knowledgeable."
Naxiu smiled and gave a few instructions to the nearby bodyguards. Soon, a warrior came forward carefully holding a sealed clay pot. Naxiu opened the clay pot, stretched out her slender fingers, and quickly pinched it, then quickly took it out and closed the clay pot.
"Huh? Are these army ants?"
Shulot looked between Na Xiu's two fingers. A tropical army ant half the size of a fingernail was opening and closing its strong upper and lower jaws, shaking its big head, struggling in vain.
Naxiu smiled softly and brought the army ant close to a knife wound on the stag. When the army ant smelled the blood, it suddenly opened its jaws and bit hard on the wound. Then, with a precise pinch of the delicate white fingers, the army ant's body fell off, leaving only its round head, biting tightly on the wound.
"That's it!"
Na Xiu bent her fingers and gently touched the army ant's head. The two jaws on the head closed together and bit the buck's wound, which happened to sew the corner of the knife edge, forming a natural "suture". This kind of "suture" not only sews tightly, but also carries sterilizing saliva, which can help disinfect the wound.
"Your Highness, you see, as long as there are enough army ants, you can sew the wounds on the body. And these army ants in the clay pot are all prepared for you..."
Seeing this, Shulot was amazed and filled with emotion.
"Teyoria values blood! Various herbs treat wounds, maggots fight infection, and ants sew wounds. In Europe at this time, bloodletting was still widely used... The medical level of the ancestors of Central America was actually not at all It’s not weaker than the West of this era, it’s even much stronger!”
Of course, in the Mexican Union, these precious witch doctor inheritances are only monopolized by middle- and high-level priests and serve a very small number of distinguished people. The great nobles of the alliance often live to be over fifty, and it is not uncommon for elders to be sixty or seventy years old. But at the same time, the average life expectancy across Central America is only in the early twenties. There is a distance between heaven and earth between the divine nobles and the common people, from the quality of life to the length of life.
"Your Highness, the last kind of life force, 'Ihotel' is located in the liver. It controls a person's emotions and desires, and also determines his health and charm. The meaning of 'Ihotel' is breathing. 'Qi'. It is intangible and invisible, and its function is extremely mysterious... Priests are still exploring its understanding, and there are many different opinions. And the common snacks in villages and towns, fried grasshoppers, are shaped like Complement the shape. Use grasshoppers that look like livers to strengthen the 'Ihotel' in the human body... and after death, Ihotel will die."
Shulot recalled for a moment and remembered what exploding grasshoppers were. That was the Mexican snack of later generations, Chapulines. It is also a medicine that can help diuresis, treat kidney disease, and relieve gastrointestinal pain. Then he thought about the last life force, Ihotel.
"Ihotel is the breath of Qi, and is somewhat like the 'Yang Qi' of traditional Chinese medicine. In religion, it symbolizes the mysterious and unknown. In medicine, it is related to the respiratory, urinary, endocrine, and digestive systems. Well, it is mysterious and unknown...that is...that is, full right of independent interpretation!"
The young His Highness straightened up, his thoughts suddenly brightened. He raised his head and looked at the steaming mist above his head, changing into different forms, and sighed softly.
"Like fog, like rain and wind, like clouds, like snow and like dreams... To integrate the two systems and spread the medical knowledge of future generations in this ignorant era... we still need to learn from the ancient expositions of Chinese medicine from the Celestial Dynasty !”
