Culture & Travel

Notes from the Ital Grove: May

By Gregor Altman 5/18/04

To satisfy the curiosity of one of my readers who has an interest in traditional Jamaican herbalists, this past month I made a trek to the upper reaches of the Bronx to track down a renowned Bush Doctor. Riding on a crisp Saturday afternoon up to the next to last stop on the #5 subway line (Baychester Avenue), I made my way to Sundial Herbal Products, a bustling natural food and herb marketplace on Boston Road. In an office adjacent to the store, Rashan Abdul Hakim, known to most simply as ‘Babba Rashan,' was holding his twice-weekly open office hours. It is in this ‘Healing & Learning’ center that Rashan offers consultations with the public on how they can best care for their health and selves using natural and traditional methods.

The name ‘Babba’ is a term that is used much like one would preface the name of a priest with "Father." I was naturally curious as to why it was used for a Bush Doctor, and what it meant to be one. In Jamaica, a Bush Doctor, Rashan explained, is the person in a community who is a healer, who is a resource for people with physical problems and ailments. “Actually, in every family, someone is well versed in the techniques of natural healing and nutrition.” When that person is older, he/she looks for a younger member of the family who may have the knack or curiosity to learn these ways. They are chosen, and then training is continuous so as to pass along this wisdom.” The apprentice would often be the one sent out to gather herbs, and this would even be done at night so he/she could learn how to find herbs by smell and touch. The village or community, however, would tend to have one healer who is considered senior in healing wisdom and stature, who would be referred to as The Bush Doctor. This person would look after the physical being in everyone.

The community would also have someone who looks after the spiritual well being of the community members, known as the ‘Prophet.' The presence of these two figures is actually analogous to that of most ancient tribes, the form of human social organization that had been predominant until only recently. In the novel ‘Clan of the Cave Bear’ by Jean Auel, there is the ‘Medicine Woman’ (healer) and the ‘Mog-Ur’, the character known as the magician, and the one who communicates with the spirits. Native American tribes had a similar tradition. In some ways these two entities work together to help bring a person’s whole being into harmony and wellness. If Rashan could sense that a person’s spiritual side was seriously out of harmony, he would give them something to calm them down, then bring them to the prophet for help.

So what tools does a Bush Doctor use? He only uses forces found in nature: herbs, food, and drink. Sunlight forms the basis of some therapies. Deep respiration, what Rashan called “Breath of Life”, is also considered important to purging impurities and infusing the body with strength. Dew water (the only type considered truly pure) can sharpen vision if dropped in the eyes, and can help those on long journeys when massaged into the joints, “You can go on dem tracks and not get tired.” In diagnosing those he treats, he pays attention to blood pressure and sugar regulation. Brush baths, or smoke baths, are used to take impurities out of body, and bring electrical forces in harmony. Massage and color therapy can be effective means to round out treatments.

This all seemed to fit a holistic view of healing, but as Rashan spoke of the beliefs behind the Bush Doctor tradition I saw that things went much deeper.

It was clear from what Babba Rashan told me, and how he spoke, that one had to adhere to strong principals as a Bush Doctor. Once chosen, you make a pledge to your community to serve for the good of everyone. You must be available at any hour, to any deserving person, and put no time limit on dealing with a patient. Any fee collected is only a donation that a patient gives willingly. Above all you must be honest and truthful to the patient about his or her condition. This is a way of life, one that Babba Rashan has brought with him to us from the Islands.

As for the beliefs that guide a Bush Doctor, they are mainly based on a physical principal. The cells in the body according to this principal are actually vibrating at a certain speed. This speed can determine the health or well being of a person, and the natural forces mentioned earlier, food a person eats, or herbs he/she takes can affect this speed, which will put a person on a certain level or plane. Herbs like spirit weed, or ‘Dead Man Get Up’ can speed up the vibrations in your body. Rashan told me of the Koramantu people (known popularly as the Maroons), who were able to scare and defeat the British, who would take such herbs to make them invisible.

By addressing this principal, Rashan says that Bush medicine can go much further than modern medicine. “Modern medicine is very backward, lacking, barbaric, and responsible for most of the ailments that go around today. It is just an industry that treats the symptoms, but doesn’t really go to the cause. It may make you feel better, but it won’t make you well. It suppresses feeling while your condition gets worse. 80% of the world population has never seen a western style doctor, taken pills or injections. Without bush doctors or natural healers we would be lost. But traditional medicine is not as well valued as it should be.”

DIET

“People living in cities in developing countries now tend to lead a western and unhealthy lifestyle.” This unhealthy life style is based in large part on diet. Rashan told me that the mainstay of anyone’s diet should be composed of fruit & seeds (also grains) both raw and cooked. Basically what he calls a ‘fruit’ is anything you can pick off of a tree or plant, anything it gives up freely. Can’t eat fruit without seeds. Unnatural, out of balance, this can make you think and behave unnaturally. ‘Vegetables’ are parts of a plant that that it needs to live, and should only be used sparingly as a supplement to one’s diet. I mentioned a disturbing part of a jungle tour that I had gone on once, when our guide hacked, sliced and diced a palm tree, to produce some heart of palm. “If you have to kill a tree to get your food, it will eventually rob you of life.”

Rashan continued by explaining that after man disobeyed the lord, we needed to turn to herbs to heal the body. Man went on to upset the balance of nature by bringing in animals to eat. “When we started to eat meat, our mentality changed. That is when we lost control of our emotions. Hate, vanity, envy, lust, and greed took over. Eating meat brought us down to an animal level. We started to think and behave like animals. Unmerciful animal instincts and mentality, coupled with human intelligence, have been devastating to the earth.”

“The less you abide by these laws of what is right to eat, the shorter your life will be, the sicker you will become over time.”

“Most people's frequency of their brain cells today is close to an animal level. People are fighting each other, hating each other, because of what they are eating. This modern diet brings you lower down, and opens you up to influence from Satan, negative influences. Only if people change their diets, it will change their mentality.”

“With proper diet, you can raise the frequency of your brain cells and open yourself up to higher levels of divine inspiration. You will see things clearer."

I’ve heard many good endorsements for a proper diet, but this all brought things into a fresh perspective.

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Gregor Altman is a longtime student and willing participant of explorations in exotic cultures and cuisines. He has gravitated to those which make use of hot spices and medicinal botanicals. Recent involvements include managing a natural food producer in New Mexico, and volunteering at a community supported agriculture (CSA) farm on Long Island, New York. He can be reached at gregornyc@earthlink.net.