Home is where the rajawala' are : living in time and space the highland Maya way / Judith M. Maxwell and Ajpub' García Ixmata'

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Maxwell, Judith M. (Judith Marie), 1948- author.

García Ixmatá, Pablo, Author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Mayas--Religion.

Mayas.

Mayas--Social life and customs.

Altars--Guatemala.

Altars.

Spirits.

Guatemala.

Physical Description:

1 online resource

Place of Publication:

New York : Bloomsbury Academic, 2026

Summary:

"The Mayan peoples of Highland Guatemala inhabit an animate universe, interacting daily with the immanent spirits of the physical environment, with their ancestors, and with the people, plants and animals that surround them. Ajq'ija', Mayan spiritual guides, help mediate between these living energies, the rajawala'. The authors detail the basic knowledge that ajq'ija' use to dialogue with the rajawala'. The book explores how the sacred manifests through time and space protecting and defining habitable environs for Maya people and communities. Each community has its own encircling constellation of guardian energies and their altars. The authors address the current threats to these altars, including private property holders cutting off access, traditional caretakers failing to pass on their positions, vandalism, religious opposition, pollution, and targeted violence against practitioners. The book itself mirrors the structure of ritual, the constant (re-)creation of sacred space with concomitant dialogue with the spiritual energies that define it. The authors hope to share Mayan techniques and understandings of how to live within this sacred space"-- Provided by publisher

Contents:

Rajawala' in an animate universe

Mayan time

Space

The spatial distribution of the avatars of time

Town guardian altars : a sample located in time and space

The responsibilities of the caretakers of the sacred spaces

Threats to public altars

Founding new towns and seating their altars

Home altars

Regional and international altars

Regulation

Health and spiritual practice

Creating and re-creating safe, protected and protective Mayan spaces

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index

Online resource; title from home page (Bloomsbury Collections, viewed July 15, 2026)

Other Format:

Print version: Home is where the rajawala' are

ISBN:

9798216256250

9781978770133

1978770138

9798881892258

OCLC:

1586920717

Access Restriction:

Restricted for use by site license