"Jaśniejący obłok, turkusowy wąż, kometa"
"Fulgent cloud, turquoise serpent, comet"

Luminous specter in narratives and beliefs of the Nahua from Central Mexico

Author(s): Piotr Grzegorz Michalik
Subject(s): Theoretical Linguistics, Semantics
Published by: Wydawnictwa Uniwersytetu Warszawskiego
Keywords: luminous beings; Mexico; Nahua; phenomenology of religion; micromparative studies
Summary/Abstract: The article is based on author’s fieldwork and ethnographic literature. It introduces beliefs and narratives concerning luminous beings, as disclosed by the contemporary indigenous Nahua from Central Mexico, and early colonial chroniclers. Some of those beliefs and narratives seem to reveal presence of features characteristic of the shamanic complex, consistent with schema outlined by phenomenological currents within classical studies of religion, shaped mainly by the monumental work of Eliade. The fire appears there as an essential element of process of transformation of the luminous beings. Careful microcomparative analysis of diverse versions of the tale of the luminous beings originating both from small, culturally homogenous regions, such as Sierra Zongolica, or Sierra Norte de Puebla, and the Central Mexico in general, unveils an unexpected intricacy of the studied complex of beliefs. The complex is associated with vampiric beings, dwarfs, and broadly understood nagualism. Depending on specific context, the luminous beings might perform various functions and have different atributes. This rules out possibility to describe these beings using essentializing schemas, such as the shamanic complex of Eliade.

• Details
• Contents