Hello, my name is Eliseo Cheo Torres. I'm an administrator and a professor at the University of New Mexico. Today we have a class that is part of a series of modules on traditional medicine, and were going to be discussing the sahumerio, or the popochcomitl, or the incense burner, and how its used in cleansings and healing. With us we have Rita Navarrete from Mexico City, and Toñita Gonzáles from Albuquerque, New Mexico. Good afternoon. Its a great honor again to be invited by the University of New Mexico and Doctor Cheo Torres to be here to share our traditions of the sahumerio and how we work in Mesoamerica. For us it is very important, the sahumerio. In every single home in Mexico, specifically in the villages, you would always find the sahumerio in the home. We need them for different ceremonies that we do, different traditions. In Nahuatl, the sahumerio is called popochcomitl in the language of Nahuatl. We also know that there are different names throughout the different regions, even including the city of Mexico. For us, what is important is that every state or region, they all have developed their own creativity according to their customs and their traditions. In the history of the popochcomitl, in the museum of Anthropology, this is one that you would see that would be more representative, they are the more traditional sahumerios. We would use them in many sacred ceremonies. This, in addition, has very representation with the long handle. The objective is to use this, and we see them being modified. This is one of the traditional symbols, we also have other forms. One that really calls my attention, which is very important in Mexico; this represents the Grandfather Fire. He helps us to purify ourselves. Using everything that we have here, traditionally, in Mexico, what we use is the copal. The copal comes from the south of Mexico City usually, it's called either a copal tree or an elephant tree. It's very aromatic, we use it in different ceremonies and harmonizations of the body when we're using it too as a cleansing of copal. This is copal, eventually turns into Amber. So if it got hardened and crystallized, this is what Amber, the stone Amber, becomes. Traditionally we say, when we use the sahumerio, traditionally what we would do, normally we would use ocote, which is called fatwood. It always has the representation to ask permission and to light the sahumerio. The fatwood has a resin in it, so it quickly lights. Whenever we're going to light the sahumerio, we ask permission to the four directions, and we accommodate it in each direction from the direction where the sun rises, where it sets, the north and the south. This represents the heavens and the earth, and in the center, on top, you would put the charcoal. What fire represents for us, is our hearts. There's different ways and different cultures, traditionally. I have participated in different ceremonies, where they also use sage, where they use a shell, a conch, especially here in the north. But also for us, we've been invited and gifted in Minnesota. We've learned how they use the sweetgrass. The sweetgrass, is very interesting the way the Native Americans have used it. Normally it's gathered by women, and each gets a strand, so that it becomes stronger together, but their prayers are carried together. So it's a very sacred way, and normally, when you gift sweet grass, its gifted in a circle to indicate that we're all unified. We also know that throughout different regions different types of plants; cedar and juniper are very commonly used throughout New Mexico. We also have palo santo, which we see more in South America which would be these. A lot of times when we're doing inside healings, we'll use this type of wood. Looks very similar to ocote, but it's not, this is actually called palo santo. We use it more in South America or even South as in Nicaragua or Belize. But it has a very sweet aroma. So when we're inside buildings we're able to use this in a very different way, but the same quickly as it burns, it just has a very different aromatic sweet smell. You can see with the same concept that you use the smoke, that we're able to do healings. The idea for us is to cultivate with different traditions and to learn to respect them. This is different ways that which we clean and harmonize the body and cleanse the aura. The copal that I'm going to use today is a Mexican copal. It's very strong, and normally, especially before we go into temazcal to cleanse ourselves, we ask the receiver that's going to receive to get center to receive the smoke. For us it is sacred, the smoke is sacred. The two with me becomes the inspiration where I'm going to conduct with the individual, and to send him everything that is positive that we can. He's going to prepare himself to transmit his emotions to the smoke, and that the smoke takes it to the heaven, and he starts in his own way doing his own prayer. With positive thoughts, we go cleansing the body. I'm explaining this to you now, but normally this would be in prayer and silence. We normally traditionally start at the bottom and go up, because we're going to carry all the heaviness that happens from the bottom of the feet, and as gravity pulls it forward, that the smoke takes it away. We normally ask the person that it's important that they inhale through their nose and exhale through their mouth, taking very deep breaths. Lot of times when we're doing this, when especially if there's more than one of us, we'll do this with song and we'll sometimes ask the person to sing with us. We sometimes know that there are different ways throughout different communities, we sometimes here in New Mexico use trementina, which should be put on ash as well. We also see a lot of modern versions even through Mexico, where we can encourage people they can do their own house cleansings with the type of incense. But whether it's in Uganda or Guatemala or different places, we always have different ways of healing. This is where we would like to exchange and to learn from others. The idea here is that we need to respect traditions and cultures. This for us for the healers, traditionally. We always carry first sahumerio with your blanket and its own blanket and its carrier. [inaudible] is very important, it's a handkerchief that is also used to hold sahumerio [inaudible] and for the tradition also. So the pocochcomitl, [inaudible]. Thank you.