TY - JOUR
AU - Colas, Pierre Robert
AB - 174 Journal of the American Academy of Religion Contemporary Maya Spirituality: The Ancient Ways Are Not Lost. By Jean Molesky-Poz. University of Texas Press, 2006. 224 pages. $35.00. In Contemporary Maya Spirituality, Jean Molesky-Poz argues that the Ancient Ways of Maya spirituality and religion still live on in Maya commu- nities in the northwestern highlands of Guatemala, and were not wiped out by Spanish conquest. Molesky-Poz writes that her inquiry about Maya religion and spirituality “grew into an investigation of ethnography, archaeology, anthropology, political history, mythology, and hieroglyphics” (2), implying an all-encompassing anthropological study. Molesky-Poz opens with a narrative of an eyewitness account of “giving thanks to the mountain” ceremony among the Maya of Zunil, describing her spiritual involvement in this ceremony. Molesky-Poz is tied to the community through her husband, Martin Poz, whose brother is one of the Ajq’ijab’, the spiritual leaders of a group of K’iche’ Maya in northwestern Guatemala. She describes how the Ajq’ijab’ conduct the ceremony by calling the names of deities and heroes, offering candles, chocolate, alcohol, sesame seeds, copal, along with much else; in this way, she paints a vivid picture of a modern Maya ceremony. Despite her intimate relationship with the Ajq’ijab’, 
TI - Contemporary Maya Spirituality: The Ancient Ways Are Not Lost. By Jean Molesky-Poz
JF - Journal of the American Academy of Religion
DO - 10.1093/jaarel/lfm097
DA - 2008-03-12
UR - https://www.deepdyve.com/lp/oxford-university-press/contemporary-maya-spirituality-the-ancient-ways-are-not-lost-by-jean-cd4ZyyWiU5
SP - 174
EP - 176
VL - 76
IS - 1
DP - DeepDyve
ER -