Maya Divination: Ritual Techniques of Distributed Cognition
Based on more than 24 months of ethnographic research among Maya ritualists in the western highlands of Guatemala, this article examines how pajooneem, or tz’ite’ seed divination, facilitates decision-making and distributes cognition between client, diviner, and ritual techniques. Tz’ite’ seed divin...
| Published in: | Journal of cognition and culture |
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| Main Author: | |
| Format: | Electronic Article |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Journals Online & Print: | Drawer...
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| Fernleihe: | Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste |
| Published: |
Brill
2016
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| In: |
Journal of cognition and culture
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| Further subjects: | B
Agency
decision-making
divination
distributed cognition
Maya
ritual
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| Online Access: |
Volltext (Verlag) |
| Summary: | Based on more than 24 months of ethnographic research among Maya ritualists in the western highlands of Guatemala, this article examines how pajooneem, or tz’ite’ seed divination, facilitates decision-making and distributes cognition between client, diviner, and ritual techniques. Tz’ite’ seed divination exhibits a stylized routine that draws on important ‘mediating structures,’ including the 260-day ritual calendar known throughout Mesoamerica. Because it is both a ritual and cognitive practice, Maya divination grounds decision-making in a perennially relevant set of cultural values. |
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| ISSN: | 1568-5373 |
| Contains: | In: Journal of cognition and culture
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| Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.1163/15685373-12342176 |