May in Her New San Miguel Shoes

I love good shoes. My sister and I used to go to our local department store (formerly Dayton’s, now Macy’s) for the discounts. If you bought at least five pairs, the prices got ridiculously low—so we would keep trying on shoes until we each found five pairs and then laugh about how much work it takes to buy the best quality shoes at such good price.

Pictures of Imelda Marcos’ shoe collection defined extravagance, but I said to my sister, “When it comes to shoes, I think we all deep down have sinned that way.” The truth is, shoe lovers we can never have enough good shoes of different shapes, colors and sizes.

During my recent scouting trip to San Miquel de Allende for my upcoming “Tao of Youth Age Reversal Retreat” (March 9-11, 2012), I noticed my American shoes were not adequate for navigating the narrow, cobblestone streets of this 16th-century town in the middle of Mexico. My shoes did not provide enough ankle support for those bumpy streets. My feet wobbled and I [Read more...]

Shopping for medicinal herbs at the Mercado de Artisanías (Artisans' Market) in San Miguel

When I was recently in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico, I came across a book called Sastun, written by Rosita Arvigo, a Chicago native who moved to Belize and became the apprentice to a Mayan healer. I devoured the book in a single night.

Sas in Mayan means light, pure, and unblemished, and it also means mirror; tun means stone, or age. Together the words can mean Light of the Ages, Stone of the Ages, or Stone of Light, all of which are names for a cherished tool of divination and spiritual power used by Maya H’mens (healers) since ancient times. Basically, a sastun looks like a big marble. In her book, Rosita describes how she received her sastun and became a powerful healer. She was already an herbalist, and with her sastun she learned to communicate with [Read more...]