Tuleina is the ancient system of natural medicine of the Kuna tribe. It is administered by ‘neles’ or kuna doctors that are born with the special ability to match physical, mental and spiritual illness with nature’s medicine, herbs from the jungle. In the kuna tribe, these seers are usually women, and they work closely with their husbands to offer their healing service to their fellow tribe members and to visitors from all over.
I was informed by my Panamanian doctor friends that the kunas possess a miraculous substance called tuleina, which allows their women to enjoy painless childbirth. My friends also informed me that although many Panamanian doctors have witnessed these drug-free painless births on many occasions, so far the recipe has been a secret held only by the neles.
In 2003, I became friends with Nele Lopez (pictured left) and her loyal husband, Laurencio. This couple lives in a ghetto outside Panama City called Loma Coba, which belongs to the city of Arraijan. In light of the information that I received with regards to the secrecy of the kuna medicine system, I was careful not to ask them for their coveted formulas. I learned the reason for their reluctance to disclose this vital information: to prevent pharmaceutical giants from bastardizing ‘God’s medicine’ by creating a synthetic version of the real thing, which is then withheld from the poor people of the world.
For more than a decade, Nele and Laurencio and I have gone on healing missions together. We’ve delved into jungles together and filled my SUV with healing plants that they would later distribute amongst their patients. Over the years they also witnessed my willingness to treat the poorest Panamanians free of charge, if they suffered from one of the conditions that can be helped using the healing system that I created. Eventually, Nele and Laurencio decided to entrust me with their healing formulas, such that they may be preserved and made available to those in need.
Nele knows an infinite number of plants, many of which even she does not have a name for, so the process for collecting, photographing, naming and sharing this information will be lengthy. Following are just a few plants that we collected from The Lotus Garden in Limon, Panama. Among the following are bona fide cures for conditions ranging from diabetes to erectile dysfunction. According to Laurencio and other elder Kuna men that I’ve met, the Kuna’s natural alternative to Viagra is much, much better than the little blue pill, which only produces a mechanical erection temporarily. Tuleina actually cures the underlying problem, allowing men to perform sexually well into their seventies, with no need for the crutch of constant pill-popping.
