Animal Souls and Human Destiny in Chamula Author(s): Gary H. Gossen Source: Man, New Series, Vol.

10, No. 3 (Sep., 1975), pp. 448-461 Published by: Royal Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/2799813 . Accessed: 03/04/2013 17:57
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ANIMAL

SOULS

AND

HUMAN

DESTINY

IN

CHAMULA
GARY H. GOSSEN

University ofCalifornia, SantaCruz The Chamula(Maya) Indians of southerni Mexicoexplainmuchof individual fateand fortune, as wellas personality differences, in terms ofa system ofclassification ofanimal soul companions, ranging from jaguarsfortherichand powerful, to skunks forthepoor and humble. Thisprecolumbian concept involves theassociation ofanindividual-not ofa group, as signified by theconcept oftotemism-with a soulcompanion, givenat birth, who shares for a lifetime every stroke offate ofitshuman counterpart. Thissystem andrelated soulconcepts arearticulated withtherest ofChamula society in sucha waythat a single conceptual and vocabulary dealswithsuchdiverse aspects oflifeas personality and economics, destiny text sex,beauty and cosmology, illness andphysical distance. Indiandrawings and a native arealsoincluded in an attempt to translate Chamula ideasaboutself, body,soulanddestiny in relation to society andcosmos.

This article describes and interprets someprinciples of selfhood, body,souland destiny amongtheChamulaIndians ofsouthern Mexico. Thesepeoplemaketheir livingas subsistence maize agriculturalists and craftsmen, and as day-labourers in Chamulaand in theMexican-Mestizo community. They speakTzotzil,whichis in one of the Maya family of languages. Althoughthereis some bilingualism and Tzotzil,perhaps Spanish as muchas tenpercent.amongmen,thecommunity is predominantly in its sense of monolingualand is culturally conservative conseparateness fromMexico national culture. The municipio of 40,000persons and sists of over IOOscattered patrifocally organised hamlets whichare politically ritually' dependent upon a singleceremonial centre, whichis in turnthe comwith Mexican government munity'spoint of articulation agencies and the of overfourcenturies of CatholicChurch.Chamulais thusthesyncretic product contact withSpanish andMexicancustoms andinstitutions. of theAncient Descendants Maya, the Chamulassharea pan-Meso-American or tonalismo in the beliefin what is generally indigenous known as nagualismo literature of thearea(Adams & Rubel I967; Colby I967; Foster anthropological this 1944; Madsen I967; Villa Rojas 1947; I963; Vogt I969: 369-74). Although theassociation ancient belief hasmanylocalvariant ofan italwaysinvolves forms, as generally oftotemism-with an individual-notgroups in theconcept signified fora lifeanimalsoulcompanion whichroams habitat andshares in a quasi-natural timethesickness and health, In of itshumancounterpart. good and bad fortune, with Indiansocieties, associated theconceptis specifically manyMeso-American of witches. the behaviour In others, such as Chamula,animalsoul companions of all people in thecommunity. and dynamics affect The nuances of thedestiny inparticular butworth this andelusive concept communities arecomplex pursuing
Man(N.S.)
10, 448-46I.

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GARY H. GOSSEN

449

nevertheless, forin thisconceptlies,in a shadowy, what mightbe covertform, to calleda philosophy of individual being.In otherwords,thisarticle attempts translate someChamulaideasaboutselfhood.' I shallfirst define some Chamulacategories soulsand thatrelateto body,self, destiny. I shallthendescribe of the dynamics and pointsof structural resonance to these ideaswithother parts of Chamulasociety and cosmology, forit is striking note the extentto which a singleconceptual vocabulary deals with aspectsof Chamulalifeas diverse and sex, as bodyand beauty, illness and economics, destiny and cosmology I will concludewith an illustration and 'theoryof personality'. in a narrative text. interpretation of theconcept as it appears Peopleandanimal souls themostsuccessful and Chamulas believethatthey livein theFourth Creation, mostrecent offour successive on thepartoftheprimary attempts Sun/Christ deity arethe to establish an ordered universe withproper beings. Theybelievethat they onlytruly successful bao'ik'op, 'thetrue beings (speaking language'or Tzotzil)and thattheyinhabit This givestheman the verycentre of the squareearth-island. in dealingwiththe Sun/Christ fortheybelievethat advantageous position deity, from thefulldirect they occupytheonlyplaceon earth whichbenefits raysof the sunwhenit is at itszenith. The sun is ultimately forall lifeand land responsible forms on earth, as well as fortheprimary of timeand space.In fact, the categories boundaries of theuniverse are delimited by thesun'svertical pathover(day) and
II

Thus,man and theuniverse werecreated by theSun/Christ and are constantly at hismercy. of order. He is thefirst and grandoverseer principle The Sun/Christ and hiskinsmen, thesaints, demandremembrance in constantly and supplication theformof people'sprayers, songsand sacredsubstances, manyof whichare in factactualor metaphorical of heat-such as incense, representations tobacco,rum and candles.In analogousfashion, the whole realmof the normative and the desirable-models of and forproperhumanbehaviour, to borrowfromClifford Geertz-is typically discussed by Chamulasin relation to thehot (desirable)/cold (not desirable) For example,the humanlifecycle beginsas a cold dichotomy. foetus (calleda 'monkey', mas, formonkeys precededthe creation of the Sun/ Christ's orderin the FirstCreation).It continues as an ever-increasing cycleof heat, the hottest beforedeath. However, human point being reachedshortly as thecycles of sacred heatof theSun/Christ, musthave control energy, and predictable formin orderto become sociallyuseful. From thesetwo factors, then, accumulation of spiritual heatand control ofit,derives partof theexplanation for human difference orpersonality. Some Chamulas becomepolitically, economically or spiritually dominant over others;theyhave hotter hearts (mask'isinyo ?nton arelesssuccessful; yu?un).Others havecolderhearts they (mas sikil yo?nton yu?un). Still otherstatesinvolve greatheat (energy)wvithout properformor control. aredrunkenness, andwitchcraft. Examples anger The samekeymetaphors describe fertile active, sexuality (heat)as opposedto impotence, sterility or barrenness (coldcontrolled heatserves ness).Likewise, as metaphor fordescribing mastery of the wordandevaluating individual spoken performances, as forexample, in oratory or

under the earth. (night) (SeeGossen more I972 andI974, for dataon cosmology.)

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GARY H. GOSSEN

prayer. To speakwell,by thisartistic canon,is to 'speakwitha heated heart.'To speak'coldly', in contrast, is not desirable (Gossen, I975). In spiteof their professed interest in attaining a many-faceted state of balanced spiritual heatas adults, Chamulasare well aware thatpeople approachthisideal withvarying of success. degrees Some die at theage of twenty; some live to be respected, 'hot' elders. Some achieve economic success,with regularannual surpluses of maize; others die in debt.Some are powerful and influential; others mustlive theirlives in subservience and deference to others.Some have good health, whileothers areconstantly ill. One oftheperplexing mysteries ofChamula is thenature ofindividual life, then, difference andindividual fortune in theworld ofthesun.Whilediffering degrees and qualities ofspiritual heatdescribe differences in people,these do not really metaphors accountfor or explain thevariation. Conof thisproblem, sideration if I may call it that, leads to the mainsubject of this and deternmines in article-just whatconstitutes individual nature, fate and fortune Chamula.2 Centralto the Sun/Christ's plan for managing and maintaining orderin the was a schemeof delegation universe of powersto his mother (theMoon/Virgin saints and other Mary)and several supernaturals. He gave to StJerome (knownin 'Our FatherJaguar'), Tzotzilas totik bolom, theresponsibility forman'sindividual The senioraspectof St Jeromesitswith the Sun/Christ on the third destiny.3 levelofthesky.Hisjunioraspect mountain calledTzonte(highest) livesin a sacred In bothofhisaspects, outhis vitzwhichliesin Chamulaterritory. StJerome carries humandestiny mandatefor overseeing through the mediumof threetypesof or soulswhichareassociated spirits witheachand every humanbeing. The first of these is called ?ora,meaning'time,' 'fate,'or 'destiny.' A kindof whichis irrevocable predestination frombirth onward,the ?oraforeach person in thethird has theform of a multicoloured candlewhichis placedby StJerome level of the heavensat the timeof an individual's Different birth. (uppermost) for different The longerones of coursehave potential lengths represent lifespans. in the than shorter heat lifespan do the associated individual's generating greater As longas hiscandleburns andhisanimal candles. in thesky, theassociated person live. When it goes out-eithernaturally, soul companion by burning up itsfuel, of the camel or 'thrower or prematurely, of a witch through intervention (h?ak' andhissoulcompanion die.Becauseofitscrucial sickness')-the person importance the ?oracandleis nearly to thefateof theindividual, alwayssymbolically present candles which in shamanistic ceremonies. multicoloured It is curing represented by are readily availablein all placeswhereChamulastrade. in the Related to ?orais a secondtypeof individual spirit.?orais represented locatedat thetipof essence livinghumanbodyby thec'ulel, whichis an invisible thetongue.It is thefirst to becomeassociated withthebody as a foetusspirit of the ?oracandlein the sky-and is the lastto depart thelighting symbolising thebodyseveral from daysafter physical death-symbolising thetotalextinction in of the ?oracandle.It is thisessence of theindividual thatgoes to live eternally and that theunderworld returns to visit relatives eachyearat theFeastoftheDead (October3I and Novemberi) as long as they put out foodforit. Duringlifethe as a c'ulelmaybe afflicted classified by an illness calledc'ulelal, whichis generally whichthreatens graveillness death.Since thec'ulel has thirteen parts, any or all

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GARY H. GOSSEN

45I

of one's Poracandle.A finalsignificant factabout the usuallydone by witches) is that withall of thesameattributes, on thetipofthe it is also present, c'ulelspirit tongueof one's animalsoul companion. Thisleadsto thethird typeofindividual spirit, theanimalsoulcompanion itself, calledcanul, from to the deriving con, whichmeans'animal.'The canul is assigned individual atbirth by StJeromne andtheSun/Christ. Thisanimal stroke shares every that It is also of thesamesex as its of fortune itshumancounter-part experiences. human associate.The canulhas two 'aspects,'a junior (?iiinal) and a senior (bankilal), each of whichhas thirteen parts.4 Thejunioraspectof thecanul livesin the sacredmountain namedTzontevitz locatedin Chamula municipal territory, The senior whereit is tended by thejunioraspectof StJerome. aspectof thesoul animalliveson thethird levelof theskywhereit is tended by thesenior aspectof associated animals roamthewoods and fields of StJerome. Duringtheday,these territories their muchas an ordinary animalwould. However,at night, StJerome, in bothhisjuniorand senioraspects, herdsthemintocorrals-the junior one on thesacredmountain, in thethird thesenior levelof thesky.Here theyspendthe in relative night from theperils ofdarkness-atimewhenmostmisfortunes, safety those causedbywitchcraft, occur.It isin order to guarantee this particularly nighttimecarethat one mustmakeoccasional ofsupplication to StJerome. prayers (See i and 2 forChamulaIndiandrawings figures of theseanimalsoul corrals and St theattendant.) Jerome, By farthemostcommoncauseofillness in Chamulais believed to be thelossof or injury inflicted uponone or several ofthetwenty-six parts of thecanul (thirteen foreachaspect, juniorandsenior). Losscan occurduring sexualintercourse, fright, excitement, pleasure, angeror accident. Thus humanillnesses are typically caused afflictions by numerous of the canul,and, somewhatless frequently, fromthe afflictions of thec'ulel, associated withthecandleof destiny in thesky.Thismakes

over or nibbledwax (all is manifested c'ulelal illness by the flickering, toppling

Thiscauses and kinds ofsickness. various In thesky, parts maybe afflicted. degrees

FIGURE I. Animal soulcompanions (senior aspect) in their corral inthe third levelofthe sky. Drawing byMarian LopezCalixto. Notedeadanimal (a coyote) in theforeground; theartist that this explained coyote andhishuman counterpart diedafter an attack from theanimal soulcompanion of a witch. StJerome, patron ofanimal souls, is helping a small animal (a deer)intothecorral.

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4S2

GARY H. GOSSEN

FIGURE 2. Animal soul companions (junioraspect)in their corral nearthe top of in Chamula Tzontevitz mountain, municipio. Drawing by Marian LopezCalixto. The that artist thethree explained animals waiting to theright of the corral are thesoul animals ofwitches as cow,a dog,anda horse); companion (here shown they arewaiting for'good'soulcompanion animals to venture outofthecorral.

a total ofthirty-nine ofthe human for the double and parts spirit (twenty-six canul thec'ulel) canbe afflicted thirteen for which singly, plusa very large number of ofparts which canbejointly combinations afflicted or lost.It is theshaman's role toascertain andbyobservation ofsymptoms bypulsing what ofthe parts soulare He must then flowers afflicted. thenecessary andfoods prescribe candles, herbs, and saytheproper at a formal to restore health and prayers curing ceremony to thesoulconfiguration. on curing integrity (See VogtI969: 4I6-76 fordetail inneighbouring ceremonies Tzotzil-speaking Zinacantan.) are with Allanimal soul animals five Itisthis wild companions digits. sympathetic tie between establishes mankind and these trait-five thespecial digits-which theTzotzil tonote that 'man'(vinik) isthe animals. Itissignificant here wordfor that thetotal is conoftwenty sameas thewordfor'twenty,' indicating digits ofhuman andanimportant sidered to be a striking anatomical aspect physiology aswell.5 Allaremammals. animals ofsoulcompanion are trait Furthermore, they isthemost levels. Thethird level tothree bankilal and ranked according ('senior') withrichand powerful animals associated includes those the thus individuals; andthe the level with successful first with and second humble moderately people; animal which allinformants Theonly tobea third level the was canul poor. agreed andpolitical shamans andreligious Themost leaders the jaguar. powerful typically In thesecond levelare generally havethejaguarsoulcompanion. ranked the andocelot. The first level(most ?ie'inal or 'junior')typically weasel incoyote, There isgeneral the andskunk. cludes informrabbit, opossum agreement among andabout the lowrank first rank ants ofopossum, skunk about thejaguar's position the second-level andrabbit. isnotconsistently from individual However, reported toindividual. (Seetable i, below.)

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GARY H. GOSSEN
TABLE I.

453

concrete: animal souls Chanmula Thescience ofthe (Clovenhooves, claws, etc.,unlike humans) Hervibores and Omnivores
Domestic and other anomalous animals

Wild soul companion animals

likehumans) (5 toes,

Carnivores Stronger people,richpeople and cargo-holders. jaguar ocelot coyote fox weasel

Herbivores and Omnivores

Weaker people, ordinary Witches have one of these plus a strong wild animal people.
soul companion.

rabbit skunk raccoon opossum squirrel Latercreation. More frequently seen in highlands. Nocturnal, diurnal and crepuscular.

cattle sheep pigs chickens turkeys wildbirds insects Recentcreation. Seen everyday nearhouse compounds. Diurnal.

Earlycreation. Distant habitat (lowlands, hot). nocturnal. Infrequently seen,

someofthesameanimals areusedfor which ritual in curing Note theparadox:that sacrifice of witches. also are thefamiliars and other rituals ceremonies Ambiguous powerthatmakes makescattle, chickens and turkeys useful forbothsacred themeffective and asocial symbols or otherwise; ends.Sheeparenever eaten, ritually porkis eatenonlyoccasionally. to theworkofClaudeLevi-Strauss I am ofcourse indebted in (I966) in myattempt, shown to translate thelogicofanimal soulclassification. thistable,

arerelated to thereluctance ofChamulas Thesebeliefs tokillanyofthese animals, be killing or a relative. themselves This is not to say that fortheymight thereby theydo not do so, onlythattheykillthemwithsomefearand trepidation. Most arenotanimalsoul companions individuals of these ofanyone;yetthere is species of Chamula aboundswith Narrative folklore always a dangerous uncertainty. of suchmisfortunes. The following is an abstract of a 'truerecent reports narraofherown soul companion tive' abouta Chamulawoman'smistaken killing and herconsequent death.6
Therewas a womanwho scoldeda weasel,not knowing it was actually herown soul The weasel anddecided to eatthewoman's animal. wasangry andeggsthat babychicks had The womansawtheweaselgo intothechicken's notyethatched. nest andranitoff, chasing it to itscave.She dugit outandclubbed it to death andthen itup withfuel burned oil. She forit hadbeenherown soulanimal. diedthree dayslater,

havea strong Although peopleshouldhaveonlyone canul,witches animalsoul anomalous is outside creature that companion plusan aberrant, theclassof animal soul companion creatures. It is significant thatthenumber and typeof digits, e.g., claws and cloven hooves,are the traits which Chamulasnote as makingthem animals. 'different' from soulcompanion Suchsecondanimal soulsforwitches are animals and fowland wild birds. domestic It appears typically thattheanomalous of domestic 'of thewoods' nor humananimals-neither classificatory position animals givesthemimportant intermediary powerbothas sacrificial (particularly so in thecase of chickens and turkeys) and as witches' soul companions. Witches animalsoul companion thepowerof a strong require so as to be dominant over

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454

GARY H. GOSSEN

all other in orderto do them ill iftheir clients so desire; they also require canuletik, theanomalous animalin orderto give themaccessto placessuchas housecomsurpoundswheretheywill not be noticed.This enablesthemto do evil things would reptitiously, as in the formof a turkey or chicken, forpotential victims normallynot expect a domesticanimal or bird to hurtthem. Furthermore, domestic animals ofall areconstantly present in and aroundthelivingcompounds thusgivingthemintimate families, contact withthemembers of thehousehold. This enablesthemto harmindividuals in thehousehold moreeasily. (See tablei, above.) All people,including witches, maylearntheidentity of their animalsoul companionthrough dreams (see textbelow). Typically, people have thesamedream times. three an individual's animalsoul companion Although figures prominently in thisdream,its meaning is not alwaysclear.In thesecases,a shamanmustbe While shamans consulted. and witches can usually makesureof the meaning of their own and their clients' animalsoul dreams, manypeopleare not sureof the of their identity soul animals even in adulthood. Even if theydo know,theyare reluctant to discuss thematter publicly. In sum,then, thefactors whichdetermine individual fate andfortune arealmost control. from completely beyondtheindividual's They derive primarily theSun/ and from the of Christ and StJerome, thecandleoffate, juniorand senior aspects The healthy thisconstellation of influtheanimalsoul companion. body carries of forces overwhichit really has no it is thepassive bearer encesin equilibrium; from a disequilibrium situation in thewhole; a The afflicted control. body suffers As preventative about the only partis missing, injuredor destroyed. measures, are I) to pay homageto the Sun/ can affect his own destiny ways an individual so as to encourage themto continue StJerome their and theothersaints Christ, and 2) to be a conservative, and compassion formankind, conforming, vigilance forthese couldbe turned individual so as notto attract generous angerorjealousy, the only traditional of witchcraft. As a curative into attacks way to measure, to intervene on one'sbehalf one'safflicted condition is to hirea shaman by remedy over' or 'seeing' respectively) rituals performing (calledk'elelor ?ilel,'watching situation to theseveral an equilibrium individual whoseprimary goal is to restore whichaffect theorganism. spirits

III Dynamics Four Chamulaaxiomsabout selfhoodmay be gleanedfromthe above. First, are governed forces one's healthand fortune by a complexset of extra-somatic andthen whichone mayinfluence onlymodestly, onlywiththehelpofa specialist. amountssimplyto copingwith the inSecond,livingin healthand happiness followsfromthesimple not are evitable. Third,all people equal. This principle and others soul a with witha that born fact some people are jaguar companion a in dominance-submission rabbit. Nevershallthetwainmeet, relationship. except of discovering, a matter and is essentially To fulfil one's destiny, then, accepting, one's animal soul is what its discover and to with that coping oneself; is, probably

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GARY H. GOSSEN

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revealsone's relative positionin the rankedorderof beings.This information universe. A fourth axiom placein thesocialuniverse and in itsimage,thespiritual ofhissituation: although preordained, relates to theindividual's discovery process thefact, are discovered after by a one's long and short rangehealth and fortune posteriori reasoning. The discovery an understanding of the cosmos process is complex.It requires ofothers. to those It and ofthecondition ofone's ?oracandlein theskyin relation and its of one's animalsoul companion also requires knowledgeof the identity animals. 'role' in theuniverse of soul companion Of these in thediscovery process, an understanding requirements ofthecosmos as thefirst is themostaccessible of the Sun/Christ to all Chamulas.The primacy countless timesin narratives and in related principle of timeand space is stated adultknows every ritual sequences. The first notion ofbeingwas theSun/Christ's; and andhisfirst vertical orbit-under abouthisoriginal delimitation oftheuniverse in the thenovertheearth Creation, and abouthisfourefforts island-in theFirst beings.Even now, in the Fourth successive Four Creations to createsatisfactory the Sun/Christ remains the key symbolof orderas evidenced in the Creation, to whichare viewedas essential seasons and in thedailycyclesof heatand light, humansurvival. tied to the continuing Human destiny is therefore ultimately is so of the sun deityand his kinsmen, the saints.This principle benevolence fundamental as to constitute commonknowledge(see Gossen1972; 1974). Yet is known satisfaction withone's behaviour nearly alwaysthestateof thedeities' onlyafter good or bad fortune occurs. Less accessible to ordinary people is knowledgeabout one's Poracandle of claimto in thesky.Only thebestshamans witches and mostdangerous destiny a strenuous journeyof the know thiswithcertainty: to findout aboutit requires levelof animalsoul companion candles on thethird specialist's to thesiteof these for thesky.I have been told thatit is not usually considered worththetrouble, of the ?ora i) it is hardto getthere, and 2) it is veryhardto changethecondition candleexceptby specialpetition or theSun/Christ. However,these to StJerome souljourneys whichare beand petitions are made in thecase of graveillnesses lieved to involvea toppledor damaged ?oracandle.Good shamans are able to ascertain thegeneral hiswrist. Thus,alcondition of a patient's c'ulelby pulsing is extremely hardto come by, though absolute knowledge aboutthecandleitself of shamans to read the 'reflex'presence have as their stockand tradetheability it (all thirteen parts) in theform of thec'ulel. powerof one's ctanul or animalsoul comDiscovery of theidentity and relative withabsolute certainty. Humblepeopleare said panionis also hardto accomplish to haveonlythegeneral animalsthat they haveone of thehumble understanding for example,a rabbitor an opossum.However,most shamans and major relevel and political information at a much'firmer' ligiousfigures figures have this of certainty. is thedream.In this By farthemostcommonmediumof discovery the a dream discovers three times-theperson way-usuallythrough whichoccurs and relative of power identity socialposition of his animalsoul in thehierarchy and influence whichprevails The person may amongall of thesoul companions. also discover in relaposition of his soul companion thefavoured (or doubtful) tionto theoverseer, 'Our Father Jaguar'or StJerome.

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GARY H. GOSSEN IV

A text of thisarticle upon substantive data In orderto base the concluding remarks andtranslate rather than on myown modest efforts to paraphrase ChamulaabstracI would liketo quotein fulla ChamulaTzotzilnarrative. Originally recited tions, and effectiveness as a curer, this by a shamanas evidenceforhis own strength theextraordinary testimony chronicles a dreamin whichtheshamandiscovered strength of hisjaguar soul companion.7
Animal SoulCompanions Concerning toldme this whenhe hada dream onetime whenhe was sleepWell,mygodfather story ing. A jaguarwalkedtowards a road.Whenhe arrived at theroad,he climbed a tree. When then hesuddenly grabbed him. he sawa mancoming, heclimbed downandbithimquickly; buthe didn't eatall ofthem. He just He cutouthisheart andateit alongwiththetongue; atthecave,he gavelittle bites to atea little bit.He carried them to hiscave.Whenhe arrived biteto eachofhisrelatives. hisfriends because they werehungry. Thatiswhyhe gavea little night he wentoutto look Theywereafraid to go outto look fortheir own food,so every for he wentto theplacewhere thebigtree night food.He didnothing buteatpeople.Every was. Finally thepeoplerealised that there wasa jaguarbytheroad.Theywenttokillhim;they at theplacewhere arrived the wentat night to killhim.Theytooktheir guns.Whenthey in thetree.When thehunters arrived, theyturned on jaguarwas,theyfound himsitting there. their in thetree. he was sitting Theysaw that Theytook lights andsaw himtrapped a shot hadshot athim.He knewright they awaywhen [athim]. Thenmygodfather sawthat it withhishand.The gunroared again; thegunfired. He stopped thebullet. He grabbed Whenthebullet hithimin theribs, this time he didn't stopthebullet. It hithimin theribs. had entered. Thatis why he quickly lifted hishairand cleaned theplacewherethebullet missed him.He grabbed a lot ofblood.The gunroared it in there wasn't again.The bullet He his hand.Finally he realised thathe was not goingto be able to escapethe bullets. die.WhenmygodHe didn't downthetree, scrambled fleeing. He wentto hidein thehills. He was very he woke up. He was really father saw thejaguarfleeto thehills, trembling! His bodywasstill soulhadbeenscared. inbed.His animal scared, buthe was still lying there asleepin hisbed. he couldn't headache. He hada fever, wokeup,he had a terrible Butwhenmygodfather He slowly buthe died.He was in bed fortwoweeks. recovered, getoutofbed.He almost a little corngruel. Sincehisanimal soulhaddefended didn't four He onlydrank eatfor days. Just had beenburned. all theskin himself imagine, withhishands, theylookedas if they weeks.My,buthe was very The workforfour hishands!He didn't frightened. peeledoff he talked. sick. He toldme: 'I wasvery fact is that he almost died.Then,whenhe gotbetter, I almost andall theskin simply peeledoff myhands. They died.I didn't eatforfour weeks, I [i.e.,myanimal 'The fact is that soul]wentalongtheroad really hurt,' saidmygodfather. realised that theroadwas weregoingto killme. It'sthat they eating people,andthen they was a jaguaron theroad.Then theywentto killthe thatthere dangerous. They realised Thatis whyI almost died.Theyshotat memany times, jaguar,buthe wasmysoulanimal. withmyhand. thebullets wentto one side.I grabbed hitme. The bullets buttheydidn't 'But this a cameoff,' saidmygodfather. Sincemyhandprotected happened me,all theskin hissoulanimal was a jaguar,forhe outthat longtimeago,' he said.Thatis how he found I know 'I am on thethird level.I am themostpowerful. saw himwhilehe was sleeping. saidto me.It is I am on thethird level.Thatis how I defend that myfriends,' mygodfather the level.The opossum, because the jaguaris thestrongest [animal soul].He is on thethird thesouls The first levelis for level.Theyaretheweakest. weaselandthefoxareon thefirst of peoplewho don'tknowhow to cure.The secondlevelis fortheanimalsoulsof those Thatis where the curers. levelis forthemostpowerful bit.The third who can curea little because theman ofgood curers. I wastoldthis animal soulsofthewitches are,andalsothose was mygodfather. A. Gossen.) (Translation by Eleanor

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A reading in the narrative is the strict The moststriking revelation identity relationship and hissoulcompanion. Thejaguaris notmerely a metaphor between theshaman forthenarrator's of hisstate of being. being,butis an integral, causalcomponent to hishumancounterpart. All thathappened to thejaguar also happened It is not was a witch(forhisjaguar soul clearwhether theinformant's entirely godfather he was a virtuous shaman companionactually killedmanypeople) or whether in ridding ofwitches or perhaps ofother interested thecommunity non-Chamulas. a demonstration In thelatter case,themurders wouldnotbe asocialactsbutrather in thecommunity's oftheman's(jaguar's)moralstrength andinterest welfare. The thelatter informant who toldme thenarrative suggested interpretation by noting fullof evil thatthe victims were probablywitchesthemselves, non-Chamulas In thiscase,their on thefortunes of Chamulas. deaths werea good thing. designs thetext.Thisattitude the ofaltruism runs Thus,a theme through justifies jaguar's forthesakeof hisrelatives and hiscommunity. His He doeshiskilling fierceness. selfless. To use hiswords,'That is how I defend actions arepurely myfriends.' thetextis predatory themewhichrunsthroughout Another important biting occurredamong the people of the First and eatingbehaviour.This traitfirst withcurrent asocialhumanbeand is now identified Creation (Fourth Creation) haviour in distant, non-Chamula Chamulasconstantly asked places.For example, in our country, sincethey knew mywifeand me ifpeople bitand ateone another thatwe came fromveryfaraway. The logic of thisfavourite became question clearwhen we learnedthatthisindeedwas the habitof thepeople of the First Thatwas one of thereasons these Creation. whytheSun/Christ destroyed people, meatoftheir forthey madestewing own children. that Thus,itis significant great andgreat socialdistance, deepantiquity supernatural strength (suchas that exhibited a possibly orientation to therest of theuniverse. To by the jaguar)share predatory be exact,strong animalsoulsare associated withthetotality of humanexperience thefourcreations through (largeanimals, particularly jaguars,have been around sincethe First to narrative Furthercontinuously Creation, according accounts). withthemostdistant reaches in that more,theyare associated of spaceon earth, theirhabitatis the tropicallowlands,an area populatedby Spanish-speaking The lowlandsare believedto Mexicans,whom Chamulasdo not like or trust. faraway fromtheir reachto theveryedgesof theearth, cool highland homein the centreof the earth.In contrast, smaller and less powerful soul companion in theSecondand ThirdCreations animals werefirst created and thusdo nothave thecumulative whichthelarger onesdo. Also,mostof these temporal experience humbler creatures are foundcloserto the Chamulas'home highlands, making themmorenumerous, morevisibleand morevulnerable. All of thismakessense whenone reflects on thefact there arecertainly moreof the that, amonghumans, weak thanthere are of thestrong. of timeand space seem to be underlying Thus,basicprinciples factors which of jaguars vis-a'-vis give ordernot only to the strength othersoul companion butalsoto thegeneral ofanimal animals, concept soulsas a component ofindividual is summarised in table i. In general,stronganimals, being. This information

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particularlyjaguars, havedistant time-space associations, giving them a kind ofoverviewofuniversal experience. Furthermore, thestrongest soulanimals arenocturnal carnivores thatare infrequently, if ever,seen in the highlands. In contrast, the weakest soul animals (e.g., skunks and rabbits) are diurnal and crepuscular herbivoresand omnivores who are associated withtheveryclose reaches of timeand spaceknownto Chamulas, i.e.,theareasaroundtheir homecompounds. Theyare seenfrequently, and areoften killed, thus explaining in explicit fashion thevulnerability of theweak and thepoor. Returning to the text,the shamanappearsto have ambivalent feelings about control ofhispower,i.e.,how to explain his jaguarsoulanimal's on others. attacks Although he states that this behaviour amounted to an assertion ofhisstrength for defence of hisweakerfellows, thechronicle does not makethejaguar's of events motives entirely clear.It appears thata predatory attitude of an individual's own soulanimal withregard to others' animalsoulsmaybe usedforthedefence of the community as well as foritsdetriment. This is exactly theambivalent of position shamansand politicians powerful vis-a-visthe community. They could easily 'bite' their countrymen, but do not. This is thesupremely of socialcomponent their behaviour. Theyarethedefenders ofthecommunity evilandchaos,for from theirsoulsare hot (k'isin), the analogousto the essence of the Sun/Christ deity, original as well as to createand life-giving forcewho has thepower to destroy maintain thesocialorder.It is significant thatthesoul animals of thehumbleare believed to be 'colder' thanthoseofthepowerful. from that Thisfollows thefact theyare moredistant fromthesymbolic essence and exampleof the Sun/Christ deity than, say,the jaguar.Relatedto this narrabelief, itis generally knownfrom tives that smalleranimalswere createdlater,usuallyin the Second or Third Creations. hadlessexperience, as species, withtheenduring Theyhavethus cumulative truths of the universe, embodiedin the sun. They are in thisway 'junior' to the more seniorsoul animals and so have less heat.Thus, (bankilaT), (?iW'inal) muchof humandifference, arerelated inequality and diversity of fate and fortune to deep-lying principles of cosmoswhichderivefromsun-primacy in Chamula thought. VI
Conclusions

Withthis, we comefullcircle and maynotebriefly in conclusion thatChamula concepts an evaluative ofselfhood, destiny, health andindividual share personality vocabularywith many otheraspectsof Chamula life. This shared evaluative language focuses uponthekey hot/cold value syndrome whichis derived in part from theplaceofthesundeity in theChamulacosmos.Fromeconomic to success activesexuality, fromhigh alcoholiccontent of rumto canonsof beauty in the spokenword,from political powerto thequalities of theelderly whichcommand respect and deference, from viewsof emotion is a to ideasaboutpersonality, there key metaphor-highenergy,or heat, containedby form,i.e., rule-governed behaviour-whichsubsumesthesediverseevaluativedomains.The higherthe for goodnessand the greater energy, the greater the potential of the possibility asocialbehaviour. destructive,

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whichthis evaluative scheme Giventhesocialreality hasforChamula apparently think abouttheir overall society as a whole,whatdo individuals or state condition as thesunmight at best. Just at anymoment ofwell-being? It is precarious, destroy so themostpowerful shaman resort to witchcraft theFourth or a Creation, might burndown a thatched house.This fundamental from thehearth spark might unwiththecomplexsetof forces whichdetermines combined certainty, individual call 'spiritual makeswhatWesterners fate, a might peace' or 'generalhappiness' of emotion.A stateof mind which does not occur in the Chamula repertory of fortune, buffeted aboutby at leastfourspheres personis constantly described underhiscontrol. Even powerand wealthand glory above,whichare notreally thecondition are thrust vulnerable upon one, and,eventhen, maybe ephemneral, to a capricious decision on thepartof theSun/ to sabotage by a witchor subject The Fourth evensuddenly Creation cometo an end. or hisassociates. Christ might to have a 'contented heart'(lekyo?nton), The bestone can expectis,perhaps, to forthemoment, theseveral forces knowthat, acting upononeareinanequilibrium to occupy.This thatone is apparently state, copingwiththenicheone is destined used to a pleasant, describe in this termis also agreeable person.It is interesting heart'is mostoften to note thatthestateof the 'contented regard described by timesof ideal ritualstatements of the normative Chamulasin festival situations, ofabundant fireworks and music-all symbols times order, tobacco, rum,incense, direct all to ofparticipants. All peopleofheatand susceptible sensory experience endowedwitha jaguar soul,a long,fatcandleof destiny notjust thosenaturally in the eyes of the Sun/Christ-may and a favoured forthe position experience ofthefestival the'contented an idealstate ofhotequilibrium, moment heart,' when one another all is as it shouldbe,jaguarsand opossums withdue respect, treating their knowing respective placesin theworldof thesun.It is surely not unrelated thattheChamulaTzotzilword 'festival'derives to thisdiscussion froma protoMaya word(kinh) meaning 'sun,heat,timeand divinity' (seeLeon-Portilla I968: 34-40). themorecommoncondition ofemotion which By far peopledescribe is to have Thiscondition is besttranslated a 'sad heart'(satyo?nton). as 'uncertainty.' It need or even explicit not be accompanied by sickness worries;it is simply a 'normal' aboutwhether one is copingwithone's nichein life.Exceptfor stateof anxiety shamans and otherpowerful strong people who are believedto have specialinofselfhood intothemysteries andindividual sight h?ilol, destiny (shaman, actually means'seer' in Tzotzil),it nearly that one learns alwayshappens the'truth'about one's personalsituation has alreadystruck. only aftergood or ill fortune For ordinary people,fateis intelligible onlyin retrospect; hence,Chamulas'fatalism before theinevitable.8 and apparent passivity
NOTES

Thisarticle wasoriginally for a symposium on Images prepared ofBody States, organised by of the American forthe I973 meetings Shelley Errington Anthropological Association, in New Orleans. state ofChiapas, My fieldwork (I968-9) inChamula, wasundertaken as a part ofthe Harvard under thedirectorship ChiapasProject of Evon Z. Vogt.I am indebted to himand to many of the Projectforbackground members work and formanyyearsof ideas, ethnographic whichare thegood things and criticism, encouragement abouta long-term regional project. Dane Archer, TrilokiPandey, Shelley ThomasRohlen and VictorTurner Errington, have

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I, ofcourse, comment andcriticism. muchuseful andhaveprovided article, ofthis readdrafts andcosmology Detailon Chamulaethnography as it stands. forthearticle responsible remain I974). I972; in Pozas(i959, I962) and Gossen maybe found (I97I; I 'Selfhood', to pertaining refers to thebodyofChamulafolkbeliefs article, as usedin this to society. in relation ofself thenature by Evans-Pritchard in his classicaccount, 2 The problem is not unlikethatconsidered in thatit Azande(I937), yettheChamulacase differs andmagic among the oracles Witchcraft, and uponthefate impinge which offactors as onlyone ofa configuration witchcraft involves fortune of theindividual. 3 It appears missionto Catholic response this roleinthesyncretic acquired SaintJerome that Thisprobably at hisfeet. a lionlying include ofhimtypically images becauseSpanish isation for pantheon theslotin thepre-Columbian forfilling saint madehimthemostappropriate that suggests Jaguar as Our Father known is still souls.ThatStJerome ofanimal lordorpatron casesincethecultofthe a likely period, slotin thepre-Columbian filled this thejaguardeity since artandsculpture religious in Meso-American as a motif prominently very jaguarfigures (Coe i965). Pre-Classic in theMeso-American at leastthetimeoftheOlmec Civilisation 4 Thisjunior/senior is well knownin theMaya area of Meso-America principle ordering Generally, to mountains. terminology sibling all thewayfrom phenomena It is usedto classify smaller, Younger, qualities. are 'senior' and morepowerful moredistant richer, older, larger, (See Vogt I969: 230-45.) are'junior' qualities. andlesspowerful closer poorer, as well as reckoning, 5 It is worth and calendrical Maya numeration noting thatAncient the (seeCoe I966). Forexample, type areofthebase-2o systems, most modemMaya counting or 'two men'). ('two twenties' is ca?vinik modemTzotzilwordfor'forty' 6 'Truerecent ofserious narrative which prose is one oftwogenres narrative' (bae'i?ac'k'op) Both are believed narrative.' is called'trueancient genre The other theChamulas recognise. 'true attribute beingtimeof occurrence; thedistinguishing of pastevents, to be truereports narrative' while'trueancient Creation, Fourth ofthepresent, events reports recent narrative' See Gossen197I and 1974 andThirdCreations. Second, abouttheFirst, dealswithnarratives narrative. on Chamula formoredetail 7 This textwas toldto me in I968 by Salvador age 30, of Milpoleta Guzmain Bakbolom, shaman. who was thena practising his godfather, heardthetalefrom He originally hamlet. oftheneighhimto curea member to hire a neighbour to persuade was trying The godfather in that itsperofnearly all Chamulanarratives bour'sfamily who was ill. The textis typical datafora specific anecdotal andsupporting evidence formance context was one ofproviding whichI heardand of others thistextnorhundreds neither words, socialsituation. In other for'entertainment value'alone. socialcontext, recorded weretold,whenin proper 8 On a morespeculative intellectual that theremarkable superit is certainly possible note, at an institutional, to reconcile, ClassicMaya mayhavebeenan effort oftheAncient structure describe view of individual being.Authorities in their 'state'level,some of theambiguities and artas modesof calculating writing calendrics, mathematics, Maya astronomy, Ancient or 'cause' to 'influence' whichconverge of divinetemporal cycles and recording thepattern hascalledAncient Maya religion events at a givenmoment (Coe I966). MiguelLeon-Portilla scheme whichcould locate,in fact a systematic astrological andphilosophy a 'chronovision,' as theguiding 'sign'ofeachgiven whichserved cycles temporal ofdivine thepattem predict, in a general state sense, may, I968). The theocratic moment of humanexistence (Leon-Portilla a full-time priests groupof chiefs, by providing to thepopulace itsexistence havelegitimised thepopulation which ofinformation ofprophecy-providers whohadthegift andastronomers as propitious suchitems included life.Thisinformation at largeneededto guideitseveryday to the and modesforappealing times as well as proper datesto plantmaizeand cuttimber, oftheConthefalloftheClassic Maya andthespasm After well-being. deities forcontinued as a headless amongthe Maya maize farmers no doubtcontinued quest,the chronovision class a professional without prophetic viewofbodyandperson a fatalistic system, astrological of hasmost viewofindividual Chamulas' being andcontrol destiny. whose job itwasto clarify withonlya fewofthe chronovision oftheancient offate, thequalities, suchas preordination in Maya antiquity. clarity mayhaveprovided mediawhich institutionalised also on a speculative note,it seemsclearthatplannedsocial and to thefuture, Turning NacionalIndigenista forChamula charted byMexico'sInstituto suchas that economic change, in thisand resistance insurmountable encounter will surely of IndianAffairs) (Department which and reckon withthechasm do notacknowledge ifplanners other Indiancommunities freewill andfuture of destiny, self-determination, selfhood, concepts indigenous separates concultural that therelative itis entirely possible orientation those oftheWest.In fact, from in to some 3,000,000 persons servatism of the Maya area of the New World (amounting

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cultural insulaMexico,Guatemala andHonduras) maybe inpart explained bytheremarkable apparently incorporated into tionprovided by theMaya concepts of self and destiny. Always affairs, concepts domestic ritual practice (suchas curing), rather thanintopublicceremonial identity andsocial separatesuchas animal souls mayhaveprovided a secure reservoir ofIndian influences. nessevenin themidst of colonial and twentieth century European
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