Maya Intimacy with the Mountains: Pilgrimage, Sacrifice and Existential Economy
In this paper, I present two very different and yet very similar ethnographic examples of mountain-related pilgrimage and sacrifice rituals performed by the present-day highland Maya. The question I ask is why the sense of sacredness, animation and power of the mountains endures among the traditiona...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Sciendo
2016-06-01
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| Series: | Journal of Ethnology and Folkloristics |
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| Online Access: | https://www.jef.ee/index.php/journal/article/view/231 |
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| author | Jan Kapusta |
| author_facet | Jan Kapusta |
| author_sort | Jan Kapusta |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | In this paper, I present two very different and yet very similar ethnographic examples of mountain-related pilgrimage and sacrifice rituals performed by the present-day highland Maya. The question I ask is why the sense of sacredness, animation and power of the mountains endures among the traditionalist as well as Pentecostal Maya in spite of the extensive transformations of the world today. In so doing, I examine the native concept of the mountain not merely as a social or cultural representation, but as an expression of everyday lived experiences and existential relationships between people and the physical and spiritual world they inhabit. Finally, I argue that the experience of interaction, communication and intimacy between the Maya and their mountain deities can be best defined as a dynamic participation in the course of the world – an existential economy of ‘working the world’. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-a3880c3bd2c04af2bc763d10d080f823 |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 1736-6518 2228-0987 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2016-06-01 |
| publisher | Sciendo |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Journal of Ethnology and Folkloristics |
| spelling | doaj-art-a3880c3bd2c04af2bc763d10d080f8232025-02-02T18:36:54ZengSciendoJournal of Ethnology and Folkloristics1736-65182228-09872016-06-01101254110.1515/jef-2016-0002139Maya Intimacy with the Mountains: Pilgrimage, Sacrifice and Existential EconomyJan Kapusta0University of Hradec KrálovéIn this paper, I present two very different and yet very similar ethnographic examples of mountain-related pilgrimage and sacrifice rituals performed by the present-day highland Maya. The question I ask is why the sense of sacredness, animation and power of the mountains endures among the traditionalist as well as Pentecostal Maya in spite of the extensive transformations of the world today. In so doing, I examine the native concept of the mountain not merely as a social or cultural representation, but as an expression of everyday lived experiences and existential relationships between people and the physical and spiritual world they inhabit. Finally, I argue that the experience of interaction, communication and intimacy between the Maya and their mountain deities can be best defined as a dynamic participation in the course of the world – an existential economy of ‘working the world’.https://www.jef.ee/index.php/journal/article/view/231Maya cosmologypilgrimage ritualcultural continuitylife-worldexistential anthropology |
| spellingShingle | Jan Kapusta Maya Intimacy with the Mountains: Pilgrimage, Sacrifice and Existential Economy Journal of Ethnology and Folkloristics Maya cosmology pilgrimage ritual cultural continuity life-world existential anthropology |
| title | Maya Intimacy with the Mountains: Pilgrimage, Sacrifice and Existential Economy |
| title_full | Maya Intimacy with the Mountains: Pilgrimage, Sacrifice and Existential Economy |
| title_fullStr | Maya Intimacy with the Mountains: Pilgrimage, Sacrifice and Existential Economy |
| title_full_unstemmed | Maya Intimacy with the Mountains: Pilgrimage, Sacrifice and Existential Economy |
| title_short | Maya Intimacy with the Mountains: Pilgrimage, Sacrifice and Existential Economy |
| title_sort | maya intimacy with the mountains pilgrimage sacrifice and existential economy |
| topic | Maya cosmology pilgrimage ritual cultural continuity life-world existential anthropology |
| url | https://www.jef.ee/index.php/journal/article/view/231 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT jankapusta mayaintimacywiththemountainspilgrimagesacrificeandexistentialeconomy |