1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:16,169 This series presents information based in part on theory and conjecture. 2 00:00:16,169 --> 00:00:20,689 The producer's purpose is to suggest some possible explanations, but not necessarily 3 00:00:20,689 --> 00:00:27,689 the only ones to the mysteries we will examine. 4 00:00:27,689 --> 00:00:33,370 With the magic powers believed to dwell inside a cloud of smoke, a Mayan healer performs an 5 00:00:33,370 --> 00:00:38,010 ancient cure. 6 00:00:38,010 --> 00:00:44,690 The rising smoke will lift away the patient's evil spirits. 7 00:00:44,690 --> 00:00:50,370 In an age-old Inca ritual, the fertile power of a tiny rodent is symbolically transferred 8 00:00:50,370 --> 00:01:02,730 to a troubled patient. 9 00:01:02,730 --> 00:01:08,210 To us, this kind of medicine may seem primitive and strange, for it is the work of people 10 00:01:08,210 --> 00:01:19,370 we call witch doctors. 11 00:01:19,370 --> 00:01:24,730 According to many old movies, witch doctors are fierce-looking natives, frantically performing 12 00:01:24,730 --> 00:01:36,731 strange rituals. 13 00:01:36,731 --> 00:01:43,331 Based on their apparent healing ability, however, witch doctors should not be shrugged off lightly. 14 00:01:43,331 --> 00:01:46,371 Among the Zulu of Africa, he is the Garnjah. 15 00:01:46,371 --> 00:01:49,731 The Tungus tribes of Siberia call him Shaman. 16 00:01:49,731 --> 00:01:52,971 To the North American Indian, his name means Medicine Man. 17 00:01:52,971 --> 00:01:56,251 In Latin America, he is the curandero. 18 00:01:56,251 --> 00:02:00,651 The familiar term witch doctor was invented by European explorers to describe the role 19 00:02:00,651 --> 00:02:05,291 of healers in foreign cultures which they did not understand. 20 00:02:05,291 --> 00:02:09,051 If we attempted to scoff at the work of witch doctors, we should remember that throughout 21 00:02:09,051 --> 00:02:14,651 history, witch doctors have enjoyed as much success in their respective cultures as physicians 22 00:02:14,651 --> 00:02:25,212 have in ours. 23 00:02:25,212 --> 00:02:30,052 In the Yucatan region of Mexico, an annual religious ceremony intermingles the strong 24 00:02:30,052 --> 00:02:42,092 traditions of both Spanish and Mayan culture. 25 00:02:42,092 --> 00:02:52,652 A holy procession invokes the power of the Mayan rain god, Shok. 26 00:02:52,652 --> 00:03:01,012 The culmination of the ceremony, however, takes place in a Christian cathedral. 27 00:03:01,012 --> 00:03:05,732 Adorning the cathedral's face are ancient Mayan signs for the gods of the sun and the 28 00:03:05,732 --> 00:03:08,732 moon. 29 00:03:08,732 --> 00:03:13,892 Here, where Mayan culture is still alive, ideas about illness and health are often 30 00:03:13,892 --> 00:03:19,293 sphrankingly different from our own. 31 00:03:19,293 --> 00:03:26,453 At 86, Philippa Chu is a respected Mayan witch doctor with a reputation for possessing especially 32 00:03:26,453 --> 00:03:31,733 strong powers. 33 00:03:31,733 --> 00:03:38,853 Today, a mother has brought her daughter to Philippa for help. 34 00:03:38,853 --> 00:03:46,013 The young girl wishes to marry a man her mother does not approve of. 35 00:03:46,013 --> 00:03:50,813 The mother hopes that Philippa's powers can dispossess the girl of her seeming obsession. 36 00:03:50,813 --> 00:03:57,013 She has brought several special plants and a strong local alcohol which will aid Philippa 37 00:03:57,013 --> 00:04:07,293 in her cure. 38 00:04:07,293 --> 00:04:13,653 Using the potent alcohol as well as herbs believed to have curing properties, Philippa concocts 39 00:04:13,653 --> 00:04:20,654 a powerful potion. 40 00:04:20,654 --> 00:04:25,374 Philippa is renowned for her use of so-called white magic, ridding people of spirits or 41 00:04:25,374 --> 00:04:35,254 hexes which they believe can afflict them. 42 00:04:35,254 --> 00:04:39,894 In her native Mayan language, Philippa chants to the spirits that are believed to affect 43 00:04:39,894 --> 00:04:51,214 the girl, urging them away. 44 00:04:51,214 --> 00:05:16,775 When the spirit is directly onto the skin, the potion purges the spirits from the body. 45 00:05:16,775 --> 00:05:19,895 The unwanted spirits have been completely driven away. 46 00:05:19,895 --> 00:05:25,375 The potion is given a final blessing. 47 00:05:25,375 --> 00:05:31,815 To ensure that the spirits will not return, the potion must be swallowed. 48 00:05:31,815 --> 00:05:36,175 Whether the result of Philippa's magic will merely the power of a mother's persuasion 49 00:05:36,175 --> 00:05:40,735 and concern, the cure was successful. 50 00:05:40,735 --> 00:05:57,255 The girl decided to give up her plans for marriage, at least for now. 51 00:05:57,255 --> 00:06:10,256 In the lush jungles of the Yucatan, Anciana Santana stalks a valuable quarry. 52 00:06:10,256 --> 00:06:20,936 The objects of his hunt are berries, herbs, and plants with medicinal power. 53 00:06:20,936 --> 00:06:25,496 Santana is an herbalist, familiar with the special properties of hundreds of different 54 00:06:25,496 --> 00:06:30,176 tropical plants. 55 00:06:30,176 --> 00:06:45,496 With them, he will make an incredible variety of folk medicines. 56 00:06:45,496 --> 00:06:50,896 Santana's knowledge dates from ancient times. 57 00:06:50,896 --> 00:06:56,736 Both the Aztecs and Mayans had a highly developed medicinal pharmacopia. 58 00:06:56,736 --> 00:07:02,176 Those contained chemicals still used for the treatment of burns. 59 00:07:02,176 --> 00:07:05,977 Ipicac roots provided a cough remedy. 60 00:07:05,977 --> 00:07:13,617 The Dioscoria plant relieved skin disease. 61 00:07:13,617 --> 00:07:19,097 Every day outside his simple hut, Anciana Santana is called upon to provide treatment 62 00:07:19,097 --> 00:07:20,097 for the ill. 63 00:07:20,097 --> 00:07:37,617 A troubled man complains of persistent headaches. 64 00:07:37,617 --> 00:07:42,697 Santana often determines if he can indeed provide a cure by dividing the nature of the illness 65 00:07:42,697 --> 00:07:54,617 with the aid of a small glass ball. 66 00:07:54,617 --> 00:07:59,697 Once having decided that a cure is possible, Santana carefully prepares the proper plants 67 00:07:59,697 --> 00:08:01,257 and herbs. 68 00:08:01,257 --> 00:08:11,258 Often the leaves are cooked to enhance their medicinal power. 69 00:08:11,258 --> 00:08:28,578 Finally, the herbal medicine is ritually sealed in a bottle. 70 00:08:28,578 --> 00:08:39,098 Santana prescribes the dosage and tells his patient to return if the remedy is not effective. 71 00:08:39,098 --> 00:08:44,178 A surprising number of present-day drugs owed their discovery to primitive herb doctors 72 00:08:44,178 --> 00:08:47,898 throughout the world. 73 00:08:47,898 --> 00:08:54,098 Common aspirin has its origin in the bark of willow trees. 74 00:08:54,098 --> 00:09:00,499 The geotallus from foxglove leaves still is used to stimulate failing hearts. 75 00:09:00,499 --> 00:09:11,699 Quinae from Sincona bark provided the first cure for malaria. 76 00:09:11,699 --> 00:09:16,059 There is more to ancient medicine than a knowledge of healing plants. 77 00:09:16,059 --> 00:09:20,499 We are now beginning to understand the other forces at work in the witch doctor's rites 78 00:09:20,499 --> 00:09:22,019 of healing. 79 00:09:22,019 --> 00:09:30,299 Plants that are still performed with astonishing results. 80 00:09:30,299 --> 00:09:44,739 The Peruvian Andes, jagged domain of ancient Inca civilization. 81 00:09:44,739 --> 00:09:49,499 The magnificent city of Machu Picchu perched at the edge of a world filled with magical 82 00:09:49,499 --> 00:09:55,140 forces. 83 00:09:55,140 --> 00:10:00,540 In the cool mountain winds, there coarsed hundreds of spirits whose powers affected all aspects 84 00:10:00,540 --> 00:10:04,660 of life. 85 00:10:04,660 --> 00:10:11,260 The power to cause illness was thought to reside in the spider. 86 00:10:11,260 --> 00:10:21,540 The spirit of health lived in the sun. 87 00:10:21,540 --> 00:10:28,340 With an old Inca witch doctor, or San Coyac, Dr. Fausto Aguilar practices an ancient Inca 88 00:10:28,340 --> 00:10:33,900 ritual. 89 00:10:33,900 --> 00:10:38,700 Leaves from the sacred coca plant are offered to the sun god in request for the power to 90 00:10:38,700 --> 00:10:50,460 cure. 91 00:10:50,460 --> 00:10:54,541 Dr. Aguilar holds degrees in both medicine and psychiatry. 92 00:10:54,541 --> 00:10:59,661 Yet Aguilar has found that with many of his patients, he must also use traditional healing 93 00:10:59,661 --> 00:11:08,821 rituals which are deeply ingrained in Peruvian culture. 94 00:11:08,821 --> 00:11:14,821 In his offices on the outskirts of Lima, symbols and customs serve as powerful medicine. 95 00:11:14,821 --> 00:11:20,941 Dr. Aguilar still performs the ancient ceremonies which are believed to ensure protection from 96 00:11:20,941 --> 00:11:24,861 the powers of evil spirits. 97 00:11:24,861 --> 00:11:39,581 This patient is a woman who was infertile. 98 00:11:39,581 --> 00:11:44,461 Though the patient is technically cured of her physical problem, Dr. Aguilar must also 99 00:11:44,461 --> 00:11:48,742 take into account the effect on the patient of cultural beliefs. 100 00:11:48,742 --> 00:11:51,422 And so the cure begins. 101 00:11:51,422 --> 00:12:05,982 A long wooden rod symbolizes the healer's divine power. 102 00:12:05,982 --> 00:12:11,182 The rod will create a protective barrier to guard the patient from the return of malevolent 103 00:12:11,182 --> 00:12:30,182 spirits. 104 00:12:30,182 --> 00:12:49,623 Final prayer invokes the curing powers of the gods of the sun and the moon. 105 00:12:49,623 --> 00:12:54,083 In the early 19th century, when western trained physicians began to practice their skills 106 00:12:54,083 --> 00:12:59,543 in Africa and Asia, they found that patients often did not respond to treatments and therapy 107 00:12:59,743 --> 00:13:01,543 that were effective in Europe. 108 00:13:01,543 --> 00:13:06,543 Increasingly, we are discovering that cultural tradition and belief play a powerful role 109 00:13:06,543 --> 00:13:16,543 in healing, that a patient often cannot be understood or cured away from his culture. 110 00:13:16,543 --> 00:13:22,823 Today in Los Angeles, a unique program recognizes the power of culture in healing. 111 00:13:22,823 --> 00:13:27,583 At the Metropolitan State Mental Hospital, certain patients receive regular care from 112 00:13:27,583 --> 00:13:31,983 a witch doctor. 113 00:13:31,983 --> 00:13:39,743 Leon is a Mexican curandero. 114 00:13:39,743 --> 00:13:45,664 Before each curing ritual, he appeals to a great master for the power to heal and exercise 115 00:13:45,664 --> 00:13:47,944 evil spirits. 116 00:13:47,944 --> 00:13:53,504 His patients are Mexican-Americans with strong ties to their native culture. 117 00:13:53,504 --> 00:13:58,704 The ceremony begins with prayer. 118 00:13:58,704 --> 00:14:04,384 Afterwards, Leon ritually exercises each patient's evil spirits. 119 00:14:04,384 --> 00:14:11,744 His first patient, Pedro, suffers from a kind of cultural shock. 120 00:14:11,744 --> 00:14:17,464 Raised in a small Mexican village, Pedro's first exposure to the urban world of Los Angeles 121 00:14:17,464 --> 00:14:20,304 was emotionally overwhelming. 122 00:14:20,304 --> 00:14:36,224 Out of fear, he detached himself from reality and lapsed into a catatonic state. 123 00:14:36,224 --> 00:14:41,705 With all the powers he can summon, Leon concentrates on the particular spirits which he perceives 124 00:14:41,705 --> 00:14:51,145 to afflict each patient and works to drive them away. 125 00:14:51,145 --> 00:14:56,825 When Leon has completed his spiritual exorcisms, each patient receives a cup of water which 126 00:14:56,825 --> 00:15:07,665 is ritually blessed and imbued with beneficial power. 127 00:15:07,665 --> 00:15:25,025 The water is a universal symbol of cleansing and health. 128 00:15:25,025 --> 00:15:40,346 The curing ritual ends as it began, in communal prayer to the spirits of health. 129 00:15:40,346 --> 00:15:46,426 Ignacio Aguilar is the founder and director of this remarkable clinic named Zipetotec, 130 00:15:46,426 --> 00:15:50,386 after the Aztec god of spring and rebirth. 131 00:15:50,386 --> 00:15:56,026 In treating people who believe that mental disorders are often caused by curses or bewitchment, 132 00:15:56,026 --> 00:16:05,826 Aguilar uses ancient curing ceremonies to augment conventional treatment. 133 00:16:05,826 --> 00:16:21,986 Maria suffers from a severe loss of identity and self-esteem and a crippling sense of personal 134 00:16:21,986 --> 00:16:27,906 guilt. 135 00:16:27,906 --> 00:16:33,547 As part of his efforts to treat Maria's complex emotional problems, Aguilar performs an age-old 136 00:16:33,547 --> 00:16:36,987 Aztec healing ritual. 137 00:16:36,987 --> 00:16:42,627 Smoke from fire, the visible form that all spirits take, symbolically draws malevolent 138 00:16:42,627 --> 00:16:51,947 forces out of her body. 139 00:16:51,947 --> 00:17:06,387 Aguilar commands that Maria's evil spirits go away. 140 00:17:06,387 --> 00:17:12,267 The leaves on a branch represent these spirits still clinging to her body. 141 00:17:12,267 --> 00:17:37,748 As each leaf breaks off, an unwanted spirit is symbolically cast away. 142 00:17:37,748 --> 00:17:54,788 Aguilar tells Maria that she has been cleansed, that she is no longer possessed. 143 00:17:54,788 --> 00:18:24,148 Now he tells her she is a new woman. 144 00:18:25,149 --> 00:18:46,349 The ancient ceremony has a powerful cathartic effect. 145 00:18:46,349 --> 00:18:51,069 Symbols have very important things in our lives, and it's very important that we surround 146 00:18:51,069 --> 00:18:56,509 a patient who comes to a hospital where everything is alien to him in terms of his culture, that 147 00:18:56,509 --> 00:19:02,989 these symbols be a vivid connection in order to establish a therapeutic relationship. 148 00:19:02,989 --> 00:19:06,269 Hence the importance of having symbols like what you see on the walls and what you have 149 00:19:06,269 --> 00:19:08,149 seen throughout the ward. 150 00:19:08,149 --> 00:19:13,029 And what we're trying to do here is to provide treatment that in effect works to the extent 151 00:19:13,029 --> 00:19:14,749 that the person gets well. 152 00:19:15,749 --> 00:19:20,869 When a patient comes with this kind of problem to the hospital and we provide the proper 153 00:19:20,869 --> 00:19:32,870 mediums, he leaves and he lives well. 154 00:19:32,870 --> 00:19:41,230 Familiar music is another powerful cultural tool that Aguilar uses. 155 00:19:41,230 --> 00:19:48,230 With the once totally withdrawn Pedro, it has provided the first step back into reality. 156 00:20:12,230 --> 00:20:18,230 When viewed outside of their cultural environment, the magical art of the witch doctor can be easily dismissed. 157 00:20:18,230 --> 00:20:23,231 Yet in places where beliefs about the causes of illness are different from our own, the 158 00:20:23,231 --> 00:20:27,231 so-called witch doctor can function as an effective healer. 159 00:20:27,231 --> 00:20:32,231 A mastery of natural herbal remedies and the fact that most illnesses are overcome by the 160 00:20:32,231 --> 00:20:36,231 body's own defenses greatly aid the witch doctor's power. 161 00:20:36,231 --> 00:20:41,231 Perhaps more important, however, is the fact that many illnesses are psychosomatic. 162 00:20:41,231 --> 00:20:48,231 The ability to inspire confidence, trust and faith is one of the most potent medicines of any doctor. 163 00:21:06,231 --> 00:21:13,231 Thank you.