Career
Don Elijio was heir to generations of knowledge about traditional healing and spent his life in service to others He was recognized throughout the Americas for his skills in using the simple but ancient system of Maya healing, employing plants, prayers, massage, acupuncture, and herbal baths. Beginning in 1931 he practiced his art of healing in San Antonio, a village of Mopan and Yucatecan Maya people.
Don Elijio Panti was trained in the forests of the Peten, Guatemala, by a Cadbe Indian, Jeromine Requena, when they were both employed as chicleros or collectors of the Sapodilla tree sap that is made into chewing gum.
Although he could never read or write, alongside his teacher, Don Elijio enthusiastically learned about Maya medicine.