The Burden of the Ancients
The Burden of the Ancients
Maya Ceremonies of World Renewal from the Pre-columbian Period to the Present
In Maya theology, everything from humans and crops to gods and the world itself passes through endless cycles of birth, maturation, dissolution, death, and rebirth. Traditional Maya believe that human beings perpetuate this cycle through ritual offerings and ceremonies that have the power to rebirth the world at critical points during the calendar year. The most elaborate ceremonies take place during Semana Santa (Holy Week), the days preceding Easter on the Christian calendar, during which traditionalist Maya replicate many of the most important world-renewing rituals that their ancient ancestors practiced at the end of the calendar year in anticipation of the New Year’s rites.
Marshaling a wealth of evidence from Pre-Columbian texts, early colonial Spanish writings, and decades of fieldwork with present-day Maya, The Burden of the Ancients presents a masterfully detailed account of world-renewing ceremonies that spans the Pre-Columbian era through the crisis of the Conquest period and the subsequent colonial occupation all the way to the present. Allen J. Christenson focuses on Santiago Atitlán, a Tz’utujil Maya community in highland Guatemala, and offers the first systematic analysis of how the Maya preserved important elements of their ancient world renewal ceremonies by adopting similar elements of Roman Catholic observances and infusing them with traditional Maya meanings. His extensive description of Holy Week in Santiago Atitlán demonstrates that the community’s contemporary ritual practices and mythic stories bear a remarkable resemblance to similar cultural entities from its Pre-Columbian past.
An important new contribution to the general study of enduring, ancient Maya traditions adapted to serve in modern times.
That the Maya continued to practice traditional beliefs within their Christianity is not novel, but the details, interviews, photos, and descriptions contained in this book's chapter's contribute a new and exciting window through which to glimpse this blending of worldviews. As a result, the work would be a beneficial read to all with scholarly interests in the Maya.
Christenson's distinct contribution lies in documenting the specific degree of blending of two entire ritual cycles rather than individual elements. For the Mesoamericanist, Christenson's book is well worth reading for his method and its content.
Much has been written about Mayan beliefs but little with the historical depth and ethnographic detail that Allen J. Christenson brings to The Burden of the Ancients...Christenson fills the book with personal ethnographic anecdotes that add richness to both the historical chapters and the contemporary descriptions of the Tz’utujil Mayas of Santiago Atitlán...This is an impressive work of scholarship.
What makes this book unique and important is that it makes the argument that traditional Mayan rituals are about world renewal and that Holy Week is a rich repository of Maya renewal symbolism in convincing, point-by-point detail within the context of a very complete critical review of the conquest and colonial sources and a thorough knowledge of the Atitecan tradition.
- Acknowledgments
- Introduction
- 1. Pre-Columbian Rituals of World Renewal in Yucatan
- 2. New Year’s Ceremonies in the Maya Highlands
- 3. Easter and the Spanish Conquest
- 4. Post-Conquest Ceremonies of World Renewal
- 5. Holy Monday
- 6. Holy Tuesday
- 7. Holy Wednesday
- 8. Holy Thursday
- 9. Good Friday
- 10. Aftermath and Conclusions
- Bibliography
- Index
