Chapter 1. ‘The Law of Us, the Indigenous’
Chapter 2. Seeing with Eyes of Fire: A Ritual Séance among a K’iche’ Family
Chapter 3. A Future That Already Happened: Time Magic in K’iche’ Rituals
Chapter 4. ‘If You See Me in Dreams, I Can Harm You’: On Witchcraft
Chapter 5. The Struggle for the Earth: The Cosmology of Activism and Resistance
Chapter 6. Altars of History: War, Rituals and Social Memory

Conclusion: What Is Cosmology?

Appendix: Some K’iche’ Cosmological Concepts

Glossary
References
Index

Entanglements of the Maya Universe

Life, Society, and Cosmos among the K'iche' of Momostenango

Alonso Zamora Corona

226 pages, 21 ills., bibliog., index

ISBN 978-1-83695-026-4 Hb Published (July 2025)

eISBN 978-1-83695-027-1
web ISBN 978-1-83695-027-1

Details

“This book constitutes an outstanding anthropological work delving on the current cosmo-sociopolitical configurations by K’iche’ Maya. It is full of keen observations ... an effervescent account of current local political and cultural nonlinear transformations.” • Alessandro Questa Rebolledo, Universidad Iberoamericana

Cosmology or cosmological ideas are often sought to solve problems in our daily lives. This book aims to rethink the topic of cosmology in anthropology through an ethnographic description of the many entanglements of cosmological ideas and the personal and political lives of individuals within the K’iche’ Maya community of Momostenango, Guatemala. It addresses the question of why they turn to cosmology in an everyday context and how it is powerful and efficient for them. It also shows the way Indigenous cosmological ideas are echoed by contemporary philosophical and scientific conceptions.

Alonso Rodrigo Zamora Corona teaches Ethnology at the National School of Anthropology and History in Mexico. His research interests are in Indigenous cosmologies, ontology and Indigenous writing systems in Mesoamerica.

Series: Volume 11, Ethnography, Theory, Experiment

Subject: Anthropology (General) Cultural Studies (General) Sociology

berghahn New York · Oxford

Contents

Entanglements of the Maya Universe

Life, Society, and Cosmos among the K'iche' of Momostenango

Alonso Zamora Corona

Series: Volume 11, Ethnography, Theory, Experiment

Subject: Anthropology (General) Cultural Studies (General) Sociology

Area: North America

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Contents

Entanglements of the Maya Universe

Life, Society, and Cosmos among the K'iche' of Momostenango

Alonso Zamora Corona

Series: Volume 11, Ethnography, Theory, Experiment

Subject: Anthropology (General) Cultural Studies (General) Sociology

Area: North America