Quand les morts reviennent… Réflexion sur l’ancestralité chez les Mayas des Basses Terres

When the dead come home… Remarks on ancestor worship among the Lowland Mayas. In Amerindian ethnographical literature, ancestor worship is often mentioned but evidence of its existence is lacking. This article will try to demonstrate that some Lowland Maya do worship ancestors; it will use precise c...

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Main Author: Olivier Le Guen
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Société des américanistes 2003-06-01
Series:Journal de la Société des Américanistes
Subjects:
Online Access:https://journals.openedition.org/jsa/1560
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author Olivier Le Guen
author_facet Olivier Le Guen
author_sort Olivier Le Guen
collection DOAJ
description When the dead come home… Remarks on ancestor worship among the Lowland Mayas. In Amerindian ethnographical literature, ancestor worship is often mentioned but evidence of its existence is lacking. This article will try to demonstrate that some Lowland Maya do worship ancestors; it will use precise criteria taken from ethnological studies of societies where ancestor worship is common, compared to maya beliefs and practices. The All Souls’ Day, or hanal pixan, seems to be the most significant manifestation of this cult. Our approach will be comparative, through time – using colonial and ethnographical data of the twentieth century, and space – contemplating uses and beliefs of two maya groups, the Yucatec and the Lacandon Maya.
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publishDate 2003-06-01
publisher Société des américanistes
record_format Article
series Journal de la Société des Américanistes
spelling doaj-art-af0c0b258958499c8ab2c0ae966e7bdc2025-02-05T15:53:44ZengSociété des américanistesJournal de la Société des Américanistes0037-91741957-78422003-06-0189217120510.4000/jsa.1560Quand les morts reviennent… Réflexion sur l’ancestralité chez les Mayas des Basses TerresOlivier Le GuenWhen the dead come home… Remarks on ancestor worship among the Lowland Mayas. In Amerindian ethnographical literature, ancestor worship is often mentioned but evidence of its existence is lacking. This article will try to demonstrate that some Lowland Maya do worship ancestors; it will use precise criteria taken from ethnological studies of societies where ancestor worship is common, compared to maya beliefs and practices. The All Souls’ Day, or hanal pixan, seems to be the most significant manifestation of this cult. Our approach will be comparative, through time – using colonial and ethnographical data of the twentieth century, and space – contemplating uses and beliefs of two maya groups, the Yucatec and the Lacandon Maya.https://journals.openedition.org/jsa/1560ancestorsdeadancestor worshiphanal pixan
spellingShingle Olivier Le Guen
Quand les morts reviennent… Réflexion sur l’ancestralité chez les Mayas des Basses Terres
Journal de la Société des Américanistes
ancestors
dead
ancestor worship
hanal pixan
title Quand les morts reviennent… Réflexion sur l’ancestralité chez les Mayas des Basses Terres
title_full Quand les morts reviennent… Réflexion sur l’ancestralité chez les Mayas des Basses Terres
title_fullStr Quand les morts reviennent… Réflexion sur l’ancestralité chez les Mayas des Basses Terres
title_full_unstemmed Quand les morts reviennent… Réflexion sur l’ancestralité chez les Mayas des Basses Terres
title_short Quand les morts reviennent… Réflexion sur l’ancestralité chez les Mayas des Basses Terres
title_sort quand les morts reviennent reflexion sur l ancestralite chez les mayas des basses terres
topic ancestors
dead
ancestor worship
hanal pixan
url https://journals.openedition.org/jsa/1560
work_keys_str_mv AT olivierleguen quandlesmortsreviennentreflexionsurlancestralitechezlesmayasdesbassesterres