Home Is Where the Rajawala' Are

Living in Time and Space the Highland Maya Way

AvJudith M. Maxwell,Ajpub’ García Ixmata’

Inbunden, Engelska, 2026

1 324 kr

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Beskrivning

The Mayan peoples of highland Guatemala live within an animate world, where the physical environment, ancestors, and surrounding people, plants, and animals are infused with spirit and presence.At the heart of this daily engagement are the ajq’ija’, Mayan spiritual guides who serve as mediators between human communities and the rajawala’—the vital, living energies of the world. This book offers insight into the foundational knowledge ajq’ija’ use to communicate with the rajawala’, revealing how the sacred becomes visible through time and space, shaping and protecting the landscapes where Maya communities live. Each community is surrounded by its own constellation of guardian energies and sacred altars. The authors also confront the modern threats facing these sacred spaces: restricted access by private landowners, the loss of traditional roles, vandalism, religious opposition, environmental degradation, and violence against spiritual practitioners. Structured like a ritual itself, the book embodies the ongoing creation of sacred space and the deep dialogue with spiritual forces that sustain it. Through this work, the authors aim to share Mayan perspectives and practices for living within a sacred, interconnected world.

Produktinformation

Utgivningsdatum:2026-10-01
Mått:152 x 229 x 28 mm
Vikt:503 g
Format:Inbunden
Språk:Engelska
Antal sidor:264
Förlag:Bloomsbury Publishing Plc
ISBN:9781666933925

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Mer om författaren

Judith M. Maxwell is Professor of Anthropology at Tulane University.Ajpub' García Ixmata' teaches at Universidad Rafael Landívar.

Recensioner i media

Much has been written about Mayas’ spiritual practices, but nothing measures up to Maxwell and García Ixmata'’s splendid, Home is Where the Rajawala' Are. This ethnographically and linguistically rich book is both a primer on how Mayas communicate with their ancestral, spiritual, and cosmological world and a detailed description of the sacred geography in which their practices take place. Moreover, throughout their book, they include historical and political context and deeply personal anecdotes from decades of experience.

Innehållsförteckning

Table of ContentsForewordChapter One: Rajawala’ in an Animate UniverseChapter Two: Mayan TimeChapter Three: SpaceChapter Four: The Spatial Distribution of the Avatars of TimeChapter Five: Town Guardian Altars: a sample located in time and spaceChapter Six: The Responsibilities of the Caretakers of the Sacred SpacesChapter Seven: Threats to Public AltarsChapter Eight: Founding New Towns and Seating their AltarsChapter Nine: Home AltarsChapter Ten: Regional and International AltarsChapter Eleven: RegulationChapter Twelve: Health and Spiritual PracticeChapter Thirteen: Creating and Re-creating Safe, Protected and Protective Mayan SpacesBibliographyIndexAbout the Authors