Candles, rocks, incense and sweet water are used alongside Tili to perfume altars and communicate with the dead. Curanderos , or indigenous medicine men, are also regular customers in these cloudforests. In these valleys, Mejia is a crusader, a mediator between the modern world and the old ways. There, a cooperative of 29 Chiapan communities share the seeds and fruit of their region and exchange ancient ointments and remedies. We use much the same plants that the ancient Maya used and incorporate them into modern-day uses.
Patients travel hundreds, sometimes thousands of miles to purchase the raw cures.
Soon, doctors at the center hope to export the healing powers of the cloudforest to the First World. One just has to look for them. A titan oak marks the trail's peak. Tiny holes dot its palm-sized leaves, gnawed by an insect that gave up on the massive ghost after a few millimeters. We rest for a moment underneath a grass ramada and listen for scurries in the cloudforest.