Hanks, William F. 1984. ''Sanctification, Structure, and Experience in A Yucatec Ritual Event''

Sanctification, Structure, and Experience in a Yucatec Ritual Event
Author(s): William F. Hanks

Source: The Journal of American Folklore, Vol. 97, No. 384 (Apr. - Jun., 1984), pp. 131-166
Published by: American Folklore Society
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WILLIAM F. HANKS
Sanctification, Structure, and Experience

in a Yucatec Ritual Event
THIS PAPER PRESENTS a brief analysis of the sadntiguar, a type of ritual prayer
performed by Yucatec Maya shamans in order to prevent and cure illness in
humans. The term sadntiguar means "to sanctify" or "to bless," and the
prayer so described is a highly specialized type of formal discourse, canted in
breath groups and marked by dense paralinguistic, morphosyntactic, and
semantic parallelism. Like other types of formal and ritual discourse, it is in
large part shaped by the traditional values that it embodies, and thus has the
appearance of relative invariance and anonymity. Upon close examination,
however, this appearance dissolves. It becomes clear that the discourse in fact
varies significantly from one performance to another, and moreover that this
variation is not unsystematic departure from an idealized text, but, on the con-
trary, an inherent part of what sadntiguar is and what makes it effective. To a
considerable extent, the discourse of the prayer is shaped by the concrete situa-
tions in which it is performed and to which any analysis of its structure is
therefore accountable.
There is a basic duality in the sadntiguar. It is a quite rigidly constrained type
of language, an object which can be uniquely identified and described by rules.
Some of these rules are unique to sadntiguar, while others are shared by several
types of sacred speech. Sacred speech, in turn, is typologically distinct from
nonsacred speech in Yucatec. Hence, the evidence for sadntiguar as a normative
structure is compelling. Yet it is equally obvious that this structure is embed-
ded in individual and intersubjective experience. Sadntiguar happens. Its gener-
alized structure as an object cannot be grasped without attention to its variable
features as a situated process; nor the inverse.
The relation between symbolic structures and experience has been con-
structed and reconstructed many times. Sapir (1949[1934]:565-567) for exam-
ple speaks of "condensed symbols" whose meanings are saturated with emo-
tional overtones, and hence experiential correlates, far beyond their referential
values. Elsewhere Sapir explores the relation between norms of language use
and individual speech styles, arguing that the two are interdependent
(1949[1927]). Benveniste (1974) examines the verbal categories of tense, per-
son, and deixis. He sees in these categories evidence of the irreducible role of
Journal of American Folklore, Vol. 97, No. 384, 1984

Copyright ? 1984 by the American Folklore Society 0021-8715/84/3840131-36$4.10/1
132 WILLIAM F. HANKS
individual speech events in shaping discourse and ultimately grammatical struc-

ture. From a quite different perspective, Geertz (1973:361) describes symbols
("ideas, values and expressive forms") as "independent but not
self-sufficient." They must be seen, he argues, "as acting and having impact
only within specific social contexts to which they adapt, by which they are
stimulated, but upon which they have, to a greater or lesser degree, a deter-
mining influence." Hence, the dichotomy between structure and situated use
is assumed but resolved via adaptation, stimulation, and influence. V. Turner
deals with what appears to be a similar distinction in his treatments of domi-
nant vs. instrumental and referential vs. emotional symbols in Ndembu ritual
(1967:27-32). Despite very significant differences in focus, methodology and
conclusions, then, all of these works attempt to relate normative structural
properties of symbolic forms to the users and uses of those forms.
One of the boldest statements of the opposition of structure to use is made by
VoloSinov (1973[1930]). Volosinov polarizes the distinction into contradictory
viewpoints, which he calls "abstract objectivism" and "individual subjec-
tivism." The former he associates with structural analysis, particularly with
de Saussure and Durkheim. Language is viewed in this perspective as a formal
grammatical system which remains relatively "fixed and identical to itself" in
use. The verbal system is guided by an inner logic of opposition and com-
plementarity which is independent of any individual user or event. Talk is
meaningful to the extent that it conforms with the normative system, of
which it is a merely "fortuitous refraction" (VoloSinov 1973:52-61).
The contradictory approach holds that language is an emergent activity, the
product of individual creative acts. The stable system depicted by a structural
analysis is just the "inert crust" of creative acts. Abstract meanings (seman-
tics) are convenient fictions extrapolated from thoroughly concrete, particular
uses. The diacritic feature of verbal form is not its immutability, but its
plasticity (Volosinov 1973:48-52). In Saussurien terms, VoloSinov's individual
subjectivism holds that the structure of langue, to the extent that it exists,
derives entirely from parole. This position is commonly associated with
ethnomethodology and is indeed a close approximation of Garfinkel's conten-
tion that semantics derives from "routine practice" (Garfinkel 1967:28-29,
1972; see also R. Turner 1974:197-203; Cicourel 1972:256-258).
Though Volosinov is describing approaches to language in general, his
remarks have particular relevance to the analysis of Yucatec ritual performance.
The saantiguar is a formally definable, named type of discourse and yet, it is
also a social activity that is never quite the same. This suggests that
VoloSinov's contradictory perspectives are best understood as corresponding to
different aspects of the ritual performance itself. Like other types of formal and
ritual speech, the saantiguar is defined by both normative principles that tend to
objectify it and intersubjective processes that tend to alter it. The main ques-
tion then becomes how these two aspects come together in acts of perfor-
mance.
The theoretical goal of articulating conventional verbal or symbolic systems
SANCTIFICATION, STRUCTURE, AND EXPERIENCE 133
with communicative performance is also a familiar one. It has remained one of

the dominant themes of the ethnographic analysis of speaking (Bauman 1975;
Bauman and Sherzer 1974; Gumperz 1977; Hymes 1974; McLendon 1977;
Sherzer 1974; Silverstein 1976, 1979), as well as of linguistic pragmatics (Cole
and Morgan 1975; Morgan 1978; Sadock 1977, 1978), and the philosophical
bridges between them (Austin 1962; Grice 1967, 1975; Searle 1969). The saan-
tiguar is an ideal topic for investigation of this issue, because it displays the
richness of structure associated with highly formal discourse and yet also the
quick plasticity of individual creative acts.
The concrete goals of the present analysis are to describe the type of
language called sadntiguar, and to show why and how it must also be viewed as
an emergent production. The discussion will be in five sections. The first sketch-
es major cosmological premises embedded in the structure of the prayer. This
is followed by a description of the general features of language of the sacred
in Yucatec, and more precisely of sadntiguar as one type. Having individuated
the type in terms of its general features, the discussion will turn to the
evidence that aspects of token performances determine the structure of the
discourse. I will conclude that structure and performance are mutually entail-
ing dimensions of the prayer, and that they must be defined relative to one
another. Sadntiguar has a paradigmatic structure as a cultural type, and this is
an indispensable part of the meaningfulness of performance. It is also a situated
process, whose social and individual features have a determinant impact on
paradigmatic structure.
I. Cosmological Premises
Sadntiguar is based on a system of categories that define spirits and their rela-
tions to human society and experience. Spirits are, literally, the focal referents
of the prayer. They are defined primarily by three underlying dimensions,
which will be called vertical, directional, and agentive.1
The concept that the world is organized on a vertical axis is most fully
developed in the esoteric thought of shamans but is also reflected in the every-
day language and practices of nonspecialists. Whereas we speak in English of
being born into the world, of living and acting in it, the corresponding
Yucatec expressions situate human life over the earth (yook'ol kaab). One often
hears the cliche td'on e' hac ceen hun suuituk 'anil6'on yoo'kol kaab ("us, just an in-
stant are we above the earth," or roughly, "life is short"). Whereas in
English we walk in the woods, in Yucatec one usually speaks of walking under
the woods, as in hbinen e'oon yaanal k'ada' ("I went hunting under forest").
This expression conveys more than the height or age of the trees, however,
since one walks in, and not under, an orchard: kinsii'mbal 'ic soolar ("I walk in
(the) orchard"), not kinsii'mbal yaanal sodlar. The difference is that an orchard is
planted and worked by humans and is therefore an extension of social space.
The forest is definitionally outside of social space and requires a level of
vigilance not necessary in the orchard. The forest is chaotic in that it is known
to be the place of venomous snakes and potentially dangerous trickster spirits

referred to in the folklore as 'alus. That is, it is a kind of above-ground under-
world and for that reason ambiguous.
The strength of association between the under and the chaotic in everyday
Yucatec thought is perhaps most evident in attitudes toward caves ('adktuun).
These are almost universally considered to be uncanny. The stagnant, dank at-
mosphere is itself perceived to be polluting to the body, but beyond this, it is
the potential for harboring evil that motivates caution.
If the idea of a vertical axis is represented in common sense, it is in the
esoteric knowledge of shamans that it receives its most elaborate construction.
Virtually all aspects of shamanic practice in Yucatec are pervaded by attention
to the hierarchical relations among elements of the cosmos. Witches ('eiseroh),
for instance, are known to wreak their havoc on victims from out of the
bowels of caves. There are two reasons usually offered for this. First, the cave
provides proximity to the nether forces mobilized in witchcraft, and second,
by practicing under the surface of the earth, the witch hides himself from
discovery. According to some shamans, the sadstuun ("divinatory crystals")
used in diagnosis are effective only in the above world.2
One of the most widely known features of Mesoamerican medical practices
is that they incorporate a system of hot/cold classification of body states and
ingestible substances (Logan 1977; Neuenswander and Souder 1977). In the
practice of at least one shaman in the region where this research was con-
ducted, the hot/cold opposition is overlaid by another, namely high/low. This
applies to herbal substances and classifies them according to the primary source
of their effectiveness, high coming from the sun and low from the earth.3
It is in the organization of the spirit world, to be sure, that vertical hierar-
chy plays its most important role. Spirits are associated with determinate places
in the hierarchy, as shown in Figure 1. This displays the spirit classes in the
vertical order in which they are located according to local shamans. Note that
above the surface of the earth there are nine layers in ascending order: the
yodk'ol kaab ("over earth"), the seven muuiyal ("cloud layers"), and the en-
trance to heaven. All spirits of the underworld are vertically equivalent.4
The high/low axis of spirit classification has two important corollaries. The
first is the idea that the underworld is evil, or at least ambiguous. The forces
mobilized in witchcraft, as well as the named spirits who can possess and
destroy humans, are all located in the earth or under it. At the same time,
there are helper spirits in the earth, which are axiomatically good and which
participate in curing.5 All upper world spirits, on the other hand, are good.
Thus, according to local shamanic knowledge, the earth marks the dividing
line between ambiguity (potential for chaos) and goodness (inherent order).
The second corollary of the high/low axis is temporality (cf. Gossen 1974a:
28-40). As a general rule, the high spirits are understood to have been created
before the lower ones. Thus, the high spirits antedated the creation of the
earth and also the appearance of Christ. This temporal relation is less salient
than the vertical relations and, unlike the latter, is not often spoken of explicit-
HIGH Glorya ("heaven"), k'iin ("sun")

kd'anal Guardians of Glorya
Guardians of the 4 Temples 7 muuyalo'ob

("cloud layers")
Archangels
Planets, yun4il ~adko'ob ("rain spirits")
yundil balano'ob, kanadno'ob
yundil 'ik''ob ("naturaleza")

Earth guardians, Apostles of Jesus Christ yook'ol kaab
("above earth")
EARTH
LOW Underworld spirits

kaabal
Figure 1. Vertical principle. Any spirit or class of spirits is located in a deter-

minate place in the vertical hierarchy.
ly. Nonetheless, one shaman was able to articulate it in the story of creation,
and moreover, it plays an important role in the organization of ritual
discourse.
It is obvious then that the concept of a vertical hierarchy is one of the funda-
mentals of Maya cosmology. This is of course well known from the historical
sources on Maya since the conquest, but it is worth emphasizing that it has a
pervasive influence on shamanic practices today as well.
Alongside the premise of a vertical hierarchy, and equally pervasive, is the
concept of directionality. Any horizontal plane within the hierarchy is divided
into five sectors corresponding to East, North, West, South, and Center. Like
the vertical axis, these sectors cross-classify spirits, so that it is possible to
assign individuals both an order and a sector class. The opposition between the
five sectors, and the resulting grid, are among the most salient premises of
Maya cosmology. The four corners of the kahtalil ("homestead") define the
boundary between its inner space and the outside, just as they do the kool
("cornfield"), the soolar ("orchard"), the kaah ("town") and so forth.
Within any relatively large spatial frame of reference, the sector terms lak'in
("east"), saman ("north"), cik'in ("west"), noohol ("south"), and cuumuk
("center") are typically used to localize objects and events. This is evident in
the ways that locations are formulated in everyday talk; assuming knowledge
of some landmark, it is incorporated as an implicit center point from which
directional paths are defined, as in,
kahook'ol yo6' beh, kamaan noohol . . . seegir amaan tak nah

You come out on the road, you go south . . continue until the place of
le beeko', kan ac'akteh, ka?'ifk bweelta lak'in . ..
the bek tree, when you reach it, you turn east....
There is not a single type of ceremony performed by shamans that does not
embody the directional principle. For all of the major ceremonies, including
rain, thanksgiving, and earth cleansing (see section II below), the altar is nor-
matively placed so that it faces south to southeast, and the fire or pit oven in
which food offerings are prepared ought to be to the west of the altar.6 Offer-
ings set on the altars for all of these ceremonies are themselves arranged accord-
ing to the sectors to which they are directed. In the he lu'um ceremony, which
is performed within the perimeter of the homestead, offerings are buried in the
earth at each of the five canonical points. In both the c'adh cadk and waahil kbol,
offertory wine and corn gruel are cast in the five directions. The milpa,
homestead, and town are all embodied with guardian spirits at the canonical
points which protect the space from evil. The five spirits that are collectively
referred to as naturaleza take their very names from their respective locational
sectors (see Figure 2). In short, space is divided into five regions for reasons
practical and esoteric, and this division motivates much of the form of ritual
discourse and practice.
lak'in
E
saman N C S noohol
cuumuk
cik'in
Spirit Class Name Sector
Archangels miguel 'arkanhel N

nina 'arkanhel N
Temple Guardians can k'uhe' kdan N
'ah k'in kolon te' d'iib E
'ah k'in koba' S
'ah k'in tuus W
Naturaleza yun lak'in 'iik' E
yun Taman 'ik' N
yun cik'in 'iik' W
yun noohol 'ik' S
yun cuumuk kdan 'ik' C
Figure 2. Directional principle. Most spirits are located in a determinate sector

of the five-way spatial division, East, North, West, South, Center.
Partial display of spirits.
In terms of the broadest level of cosmological space represented in Figure 1,

the directional principle is neutralized by the hierarchical. At the upper and
lower extremities of the vertical axis, the five sectors are collapsed into one.
Neither the spirits labelled "guardians of gloria" nor those of the underworld
are associated with particular directional sectors, whereas those located on the
intervening levels are. The only exception to this rule appears to be the
Apostles and the Planets (mars, mercurio, venus, saturno, jupiter), which, accord-
ing to my data, are devoid of directional association.
Taken together then, the vertical and directional axes provide a framework
within which spirits are located with considerable precision. Though they
codetermine spirit classification, they do so in slightly different ways. For the
most part, any class of spirits, such as those in Figure 1, is located on a single
level, and this is part of what distinguishes the classes. For example, any rain
spirit is higher than any baladm spirit, but lower than any archangel. The
directional sectors become distinctive only within classes. Thus, the temple
guardians are vertically equivalent but directionally distinct, as are the five
naturaleza spirits. To these two dimensions must be added a third, which
specifies the agentive capacity of spirits, and which is shown in Figure 3.
Spirits, and entire classes of them, have relatively limited domains of agency
which are constituted by the ways in which they manifest themselves in the
world. Part of the definition of a temple guardian, for example, such as the one
called Ah k'in kolon te' 'iAb, is that he guards the eastern temple at the top of
the sky (tuho'oh kdan). In the particular case of this spirit, he is also responsible
for recording in his sacred book the date and offerings presented in V'aah cadk,
heV lu'um, and waahil kool performances. His role is to guarantee that the ritual
act will be recalled. This specific role, indeed, is coded directly in the spirit
name, which means literally "Male-sun lord-kolon-tree-write." Furthermore,
in those ceremonies in which he is invoked, charcoal for writing figures obliga-
torily among the offerings. On the other hand, a rain spirit such as papal kool
Spirit (class)* Domain of Agency
sdn peedroh Guardian of glorya

'ah k'in tuius Guardian of temple
'ah k'in kolon te' /'iib Guardian of temple
'ah k'iin koba' Guardian of temple
can k'uhe' kdan Guardian of temple
yun?il caLdk'ob Distribute rain
yunfil balano'ob Guardian of earth
kt"i''pam ko'olebil Smisi'tuun 'ik' Sweep away disease
smoson 'ik' Fan flames for burning of milpa
Figure 3. Agentive principle. Any spirit or class of spirits has one or more
determinate functions in the maintenance of order in the cosmos.
Asterisk indicates partial display of the more than 79 spirits invoked
by a single shaman.
cadk, of the southern sector of the third muulyal layer, has no role in recording
performances. Instead, he is in charge of steing to it that the rain falls abun-
dantly on the milpa, a function transparently coded in his name: "Pelt down-
milpa-thunder." The Apostles of Christ, to add a third example, guard over
one and only one thing, that is, the power of the resurrection by which Christ
was to have arisen from the dead.
The most significant point here is that spirit classes and their individual
members are defined in part by their capacity for doing things. This character-
istic is assumed in the common sense of nonspecialists and informs their inter-
pretations of perceived events. When it fails to rain, virtually any adult Maya
can state that the cadk spirits are ignoring their appointed tasks and that it is to
them that offerings must be made.7 Similarly, the baland'ob are widely known
to be directional spirits that watch over the forest and milpa. Shamans, as spe-
cialists, of course know the implications of agency in much greater detail than
do nonspecialists.
The premise that spirits are agentive in determinate ways provides a
background structure of relevance that must figure in any explanation of ritual
performance. It would make no more sense in Maya to petition a rain spirit
while curing disease than it would in our own society to call the gas company
for a case of stomach cramps. This simple fact goes a long way toward explain-
ing why certain spirits figure in the discourse of the sadntiguar, whereas others
do not. Depending upon its purpose, each ritual type involves different
elements of the spirit world.
In summary, the premises that the world is ordered by vertical, directional,
and agentive principles together provide major elements of the background
cultural context of sadntiguar in Yucatec. The premises themselves are tacitly
assumed by shamans in performance, but emerge clearly from discussions
about performance, the spirit world, or other aspects of shamanic practice. The
conceptual linkage between these premises and the structure of sacred language
is straightforward: ritual performance entails the invocation of spirits. This re-
quires their identification by proper name in an orderly sequence, which in
turn cannot be ascertained without reference to their paradigmatic relations to
one another and to the phenomenal world. Hence, embedded in the sadntiguar
is a classificatory scheme. Detailed knowledge of the scheme is a fundamental
part of what separates specialists from nonspecialists, and a shaman's status as
great or petty is commonsensically summed up by the number of spirits he
knows.8
II. Language of the Sacred
The most general and commonly used term for referring to the ritual
discourse performed by shamans is reesar ("recite, recitation"). The closest
equivalent to this in Maya appears to be payal ci' t'aan (literally "summons-
mouth-speech"), though this description is rarely used. There is a sharp dis-
tinction drawn by Yucatec speakers between reesar, and everyday t'aan
("speech, language, address") and bikbal ("conversation, recounting").

Sacred recitation is performed in highly constrained circumstances, for specific
purposes, by acknowledged specialists, and in most cases at the explicit request
of a beneficiary.9
All forms of reesar are designed to effect an encounter between spirit forces
and human beings. Shamans speak of lowering ('eensik) spirits through reesar, a
descriptor that draws on the axiomatic hierarchical order of the cosmos. As
part of establishing an encounter, all major types of reesar are performed at an
altar, which may be minimally a saantoh ("saint, sacred image") and some
flowers, or in the more elaborate cases, an entire structure made of lashed
branches with an intricate system of vine and corn stalk arches over it. In all
cases, the function of the altar is to provide the place at which the encounter
occurs. The language of reesar is always delivered in a special style, typically
divided into breath groups and either canted or sung in a high pitched nasal
voice.
The use of parallelism pervades all sacred language in Yucatec and is exempli-
fied in the following breath group.10
Parallelism in Sadntiguar
# sefior mio # My lord

mi hesu kristoh My Jesus Christ
'in yuum My god
'ilawilen See me
waliken I stand
debilen tulu'umil le k'eban I am weak on the earth of sin
kut'anab'al inwok'oh'o61 It is voiced I cry out from my will
'insolanpiis I genuflect
'ink'aatik bakaan san I ask now too
unuupeh bakaan They gather now
tulaakah bakaain san All now too
asaantoh bakaan Your saints now
tasiihlaantah bakaan san All of whom you gave now too
asaantoh podeer ! # Your blessed power ! #
Taken from Appendix, breath group 2.

(#) indicates breath group boundaries.
The first nine lines of this example are composed of three parallel triplets. The in-
itial one encodes successive descriptions of Christ grammatically possessed by
the first-person forms mio, mi and 'in, all meaning "my." In the next triplet,
the person markers are also all first person, but the case relation has been
shifted from possessor (ergative) to absolutive, that is, object of transitive
("see me") and subject of nontransitive ("I stand," "I am weak"). Shifting
again in the third triplet, the shaman identifies his communicative act in a
series of three predicates, the first two of which are intransitive ("I cry out,"
"I genuflect") and the last of which is fully transitive ("I request it").
These lines are a particularly interesting example of parallelism, because they

utilize both underlying and surface grammatical structure. mio, mi, and 'in are
distinct on the surface but all encode the same grammatical relation, whereas
the three instances of -en encode both object of transitive and subject of
stative/equational. In the final five lines, the object of the shaman's request is
presented within the sequential frame A (bakadn), B (bakadn san), A (bakadn), B
(bakadn san), A (repetition of 'asadntoh and syllable structure CVCVVC). The
breath group begins and ends with overhigh pitch on the first and last
syllables. Between these two points, the normal tonal contour and rhythm of
Yucatec phrases is levelled into a single, relatively low pitch. This overriding
contour is recapitulated in successive breath groups throughout the prayer (see
Appendix).
In the verbal form of reesar, then, linguistic resources are coopted for the pur-
pose of creating the appearance of constancy through multiple parallelisms.
Were one to focus specifically on this phenomenon, more complex examples
could be readily adduced, and the analysis of them much refined (see note 10).
The point would remain essentially the same, however: parallelism establishes
a background of equivalence relations superimposed on the sequential develop-
ment of the discourse. This creates the appearance of simultaneity across
segments of definitionally nonsimultaneous speech, which in turn makes the
progression from beginning to end appear ineluctable (akobson 1960:358).
The global organization of all types of reesar is clearly marked by transition
points which break from the parallel structure of intervening breath groups.
The most common transition marker is the sign of the cross, which marks the
onset and the closing of sacred speech, thus insulating it from the nonsacred.
Internal transitions, such as presentation of offerings once the spirits have been
lowered, or the stage at which they are returned to their place, are also in-
dicated by the cross as well as by special prayers.1l
Finally, unlike everyday speech, reesar is peppered with explicit metalinguistic
verbs such as kink'adtik ("I request"), kint'anik ("I address") and
kinwok'oh'odl ("I cry out from my will"). The presence of such expressions in
reesar is as striking as their absence in normal speech. They are rarely used to
address an interlocutor in everyday talk, yet in the course of a ten-minute
stretch of reesar, one can easily encounter over 40 instances. This drastic shift in
style appears to be motivated by the necessity to characterize precisely inten-
tions and requests when speaking to the divine. Shamans frequently exhort
participants in reesar to give themselves over to total concentration on God and
their request during the performance. Their compulsive use of metapragmatic
descriptors suggests that they feel similarly constrained.
There is, then, more than ample evidence on which to constitute the dif-
ference between reesar, as a block, and everyday speech. This is only the first
step toward typology however, since there are many kinds of reesar, some of
which are shown in Figure 4. The c'adh cadk, waahil kool and he' li'tum are the
most elaborate. They last between 12 and 24 hours, require the construction of
a special altar and pit-oven, entail the participation of many people (in excess of
c'aah cadk "get thunder" rain petition

waahil kool "loaves of milpa" thanksgiving
he lui'um "fix earth" cleanse and protect homestead
pa' iik' "drop spirit" exorcism
'oknahk'iin "entered sun" self-fortification, cure in absentia
tiiTk'adk' "illuminate" diagnosis, divination
sadntiguar "sanctify" prophylaxis and cure
Figure 4. Major types of sacred language in Yucatec.
30), and the offering of meat, loaves, and sacrificial beverages. In each case, the
beneficiary is a socially defined group rather than an individual: all those who
share the same irrigation source for the c'adh cadk; the extended family and in-
timate friends for the waahil kool; and the coresidents of a single homestead for
the he/ lu'um. The remaining four types shown are focused on the manage-
ment of individual well-being; the pa' 'iik' for treatment of illness caused by
spirit possession; the sadntiguar for general prophylaxis and treatment of a
broad spectrum of illnesses both spiritual and nonspiritual; the oknahk'in for
long-distance treatment of illness and for self-fortification of the shaman; and
finally, the tii''k'aak', which is the basis of all diagnosis.
Despite their common features as reesar, each of these types is in various
ways unique. Corresponding to their respective purposes, each type entails in-
vocation of special subclasses of spirits. The paa' 'iik', for instance, mobilizes a
class of powerful and potentially dangerous earth spirits which are said to enter
specific parts of the body of the patient. This appears to be the only type of
reesar that engages these spirits. Similarly, the cadk spirits, 'ah k'iin kolon te' V'ifb
and various others, are engaged exclusively in ceremonies performed for social
groups, as opposed to individual beneficiaries.
A further paradigmatic distinction among kinds of reesar is the sequential
order of spirit invocation. Preliminary analysis indicates that spirits are men-
tioned in the order high > low (vertical) and E > N > W > S > C
(directional) during the opening phase of c'adh cadk and waahil kool ceremonies
(see Figure 5). This is the phase described as he'ik beel ("to open (the) road"),
or k'asik meesa )"to secure (the) altar"). The closing phase, on the contrary,
proceeds E > S > W > N > C and is described as wac'ik meesa ("to untie
(the) altar"). During this latter phase, spirits are returned from the altar to
their axiomatic places in the cosmos. In brief, though the precise ordering con-
ventions have not been established, it is clear that there are principles and that
these diagrammatically reflect paradigmatic aspects of the spirit world.
III. Saantiguar as Type
The sadntiguar is performed in order to bless individual human patients and

lasts approximately 8 to 12 minutes. As the discourse unfolds, it embodies
specific aspects of the cosmological structure and of the typological
characteristics of reesar.
Figure 5. Principal offering in a Maya waahil kbol ritual, performed by shaman

and witnessed by adult men. Photo by William Hanks, Southern
Yucatan, 1980.
The primary focus of the sadntiguar is the power of the resurrection, called
baalsamenkwento. This power is associated uniquely with the spirit Jesus Christ
and represents the cosmological mystery of his ascension from the dead. It is
this mystery that is actualized in the prayer in order to cure illness. The spirit
Christ is represented in the text as the addressee, in the sense that it is coded in
the second person (you) and in numerous instances of the vocative expression
'inyuum ("my lord"). The general rule for all other spirits is that they are cod-
ed as referential objects, not in the second person 'a- ("you"), but in the third,
or nonperson forms 'u(y)-..(-o'ob) ("he," "she," "it," "they"). This shift is
significant, since the third person is not used for address in everyday Yucatec,
regardless of the social relations between participants. Furthermore, though
the spirits are cited by their proper names, which could be used vocatively, they
are not marked by the vocative tone contour (rising tone). Most spirits are not
explicitly addressed, but instead referred to. Their relation to the shaman is
mediated by the propositions in which they figure, that is, by what is said
about them.
Spirits may be coded as the subjects of certain verbs, but by far the most
characteristic grammatical role for them is possessor. They possess two things,
one of which is inherent in their identity and the other of which is transitory.
The first is "grace" or the power of benediction, described as beentisybon,
which all above world spirits have as refractions of divinity. It is this power
that is differentially channelled through the agentive domains of each spirit.
Throughout the discourse, reference is constantly made to 'ubeentisyoon ("its
grace"), as in,
. . . kubin int'anik san ubeentisyoon haarion egron simion

suwal balan kubin int'anik san ubeentisyoon6'ob. ...
... it goes on I address also the grace of Harion, Egron, Simion,

Suwal Balan it goes on I address also their graces ....
What spirits possess in a transitory manner is the altar at which the saan-
tiguar is performed. This is ephemeral in that it is only within the discourse
itself that the altar belongs to all the spirits. Outside of sacred speech, it is
described only as "the blessed altar" or simply "the altar" (le meesa), and there
is no clear sense in which it is "the altar of so and so." It is precisely in
predicating the possessive relation between axiomatically distant spirits and the
current place of performance that the encounter between the two is brought
about. In becoming the property of the spirits, the altar becomes the locus of
their copresence with the shaman.
'inyuuin k'uci bey san ink'aatik bakan san ubeentisyoon6'ob

bakaan tucuun umeesa bakaan yun lak'in 'iik'o bakaan . . .
tucuun umeesa bakaan santo saman kaan 'iik'o bakaan
tucik'in 'iik'o bakaan noohol e 'iik'o yun cuumuk kaan 'iik'
My lord! it has arrived so also I request now also their graces

now at the foot of the altar now of lord east wind now . . .
at the foot of the altar now of blessed north sky wind now
to the west wind now south wind lord center sky wind!
The fundamental trope whereby spirits are made present is therefore based
on an equation of place. This of course presupposes the cosmological principle
that spirits have distinct locations from which they can be brought down to
the altar, and that once lowered, they can intervene in human experience.
In addition to the matter of how spirits are lowered, there is the separate
issue of what treatments are supplicated of them. These are coded either direct-
ly in transitive clauses of which the spirits are grammatical agents, or in passive
clauses in which the patient is subject and no agent is mentioned. Consider the
following example. What is interesting about this passage is the relation be-
tween the female spirits invoked and the treatments supplicated. To sweep
away, to blow away, to brush away with the hand, to make salty the disease-
these are actions which most spirits cannot perform. As far as I have been able
to establish, they fall primarily or only within the agentive capacities of the
female spirits named just before in the discourse. This exemplifies a general
feature of the sadntiguar, namely that it gives explicit propositional form to the
cosmological principle of agency, by requesting highly specific treatments of
particular spirits.
kf'icpam ko'olebil kanaan kf'icpam ko'olebil 'k'an lool

kf'icpam k6'olebil smisi tuun bin san int'aniko'ob san
umiislaantik6'ob upuuislaantiko'ob upikitk'a'tiko'ob
u['o6r'laantik6'ob ten "an tulaakal le k'oha'anilo' inyuum
Beautiful Woman Guardian Beautiful Woman Yellow Lily

Beautiful Woman Sweep Stone it is said also I address them also
they all sweep they all blow off they all brush off
they all make salty for me also that disease my lord!
The paradigmatic relations of vertical hierarchy, order of creation, and the

five directional sectors are also embedded in the discourse. It is these principles
that motivate the sequential order in which spirits are invoked. In the course of
the prayer over 40 spirits are named, and the order in which they appear is con-
sidered significant by shamans. For the more elaborate discourse of c'adh cadk
or hee lu'um, the vertical rule stated by several specialists is that low spirits
must precede high spirits. The rule for sadntiguar is not simply high to low or
low to high, but a periodic alternation between the two. The covert order of
spatial reference entailed by reference to spirits is, from beginning to end (see
Figure 1): earth up to heaven, down to the naturaleza spirits, up to the arch-
angels, up to the guardians of heaven, up to heaven, back down to earth, up to
the planets, up to heaven, back down to beneath the surface of the earth, up to
the surface, up to the temple guardians, down to the earth guardians, and
down to the (now fully constituted) altar. Instead of a simple movement
definable in strictly local terms, what is projected is periodic oscillation.
But if the order of referents is not unidirectional in terms of space, it is
unidirectional in the corollary dimension of time. The prayer represents a
single trajectory from the pre-Christian past toward the present. Spirits created
before Christ, collectively referred to as the "apostles of God the father,"
precede those that came to exist after Christ. In the overall sequential order of
spirit classes then, cosmic space and time are diagrammatically recapitulated.
The directional principle exerts a complementary influence on the order of
spirit invocation. In this case, the rule is more straightforward. For any class of
spirits the members of which are distinctively located in one of the five sectors,
the order of invocation is E > N > W > S > C. This is a cyclic constraint
that applies to spirits on the same vertical level. It says simply "start in the
East and proceed counter-clockwise." Note, for example, that this is the order
in which the naturaleza spirits occur, as given expression in the third textual
example presented above.
Briefly summarizing then, the invocation of spirits in the sadntiguar
discourse is governed by constraints that derive from principles of Yucatecan
cosmology. Spirits are not routinely addressed, but are referred to as agents of
verbs of curing, as possessors of grace, and as possessors of the altar at which

the prayer is performed. They are referred to in a predetermined order, which
recapitulates cosmological relations of space and time by way of vertical-
temporal and cyclic rules. The sequence of reference in sadntiguar, then,
becomes a covert diagram of the paradigmatic places from which referents are
lowered. It should be emphasized in this regard that the systematic constraints
on different types of reesar are explicitly formulated by shamans. Indeed, the
definition of evil prayer, designed to effect chaos rather than order, lies just in
minute deviations and reversals of the preestablished order of things. Even
nonspecialists, though they do not know the system in detail, do know that
sequential order of spirit reference is paradigmatically constrained (see Figure
6). The 'ecisero ("witch") is said to start in the West and proceed
clockwise-or worse, without sense-wafting up out of the underworld like a
mephitis, rather than descending from the heavens.
The ordering constraints on reesar merit special attention as evidence of the
normative substratum of the discourse. They govern the process of mediation
embodied in the prayer. By lowering spirits in the proper order, the shaman
systematically collapses vertical, temporal, and directional coordinates into
copresence on "the earth of sin" (tulu'umil le k'eban). Whatever mediation sadn-
tiguar achieves, it does so in the emergent equation of distinct sectors of the
cosmos. Step by step, spirits are brought down from their ordained places to
be copresent at the altar. But the collapsing of sky with earth is only the first
step in the equation, since the body of the patient is also equated with earth.
Note in the Appendix (breath groups 11, 19, 23, 25) that the physical aspect of
the person is described as 'ulu'umil le kweerpo ("the earth of the body"). This
same description is commonly used by shamans in talking about the effects of
illness, and in other types of illness-related ritual. Hence, the human loci of ill-
ness, the earth and the spirit world, though fundamentally distinct, are
unified. Sadntiguar discourse has the inherent potential to mediate between
distinct aspects of the world, and it is this potential that is expressed diagram-
matically by ordering constraints.12
There is one more principal aspect of the discourse of saantiguar that unifies
it as a single structure. This is the set of markers of major phases and bound-
aries, shown in Figure 7. The journey through space-time has five major
orientation points: the onset, which is spoken of as "opening the road"; the
in-dwelling, spoken of as "a little rest," which marks the arrival at the place-
time of the life of Christ; the consummation, which marks arrival at the resur-
Agentive: treatment requires relevant spirits

Vertical-Temporal past > present
Cyclic: E>N>W>S>C
Figure 6. Ordering conventions for spirit invocation. Where X > Y indicates

"X precedes Y in surface sequential order."
Phase Sign
Opening Cross time
invocation of pre-Christian spirits
In-dwelling Cross
invocation of post-Christian spirits
Consummation Cross
Contrition Special prayer
Closing Cross
Figure 7. Sequential stages in sadntiguar.
rection and its visitation on the patient; the act of contrition, described as an
"Our Father," which asks forgiveness for having mobilized the spirit world;
and the closing, which brings the prayer to an end. All transition points except
the act of contrition are indicated by signs of the cross, and these are the only
points at which this sign occurs. All five break from the parallel structure of
invocation and are delivered in a clear, noncanted style. They are, furthermore,
explicitly recognized by some shamans as the five major phases, or backbone of
the prayer.13
There is abundant evidence that the sadntiguar constitutes a unique and
systematic type of discourse. It embodies specific aspects of the cosmology in a
distinctive configuration. It fits among other named types of reesar with which
it shares numerous features. It has the inherent potential to mediate between
paradigmatically distinct elements of cosmic space and time. Indeed, the
essence of the foregoing description is that it would be possible to treat the
sadntiguar as a relatively self-contained code for which a grammar could be
written. The main issue that would arise in such an analysis would concern
fine points of interpretation-an issue predicated on the evidently reasonable
assumption that there is a system to be described.
But such a line of argumentation risks obscuring something crucial. Sadn-
tiguar is not only an object, but an activity that occurs in concrete social situa-
tions. Moreover, many of its most salient typological characteristics derive
from the contexts in which it is performed. Embedded in the discourse are par-
ticipant structures, illocutionary formulae, verbs of curing, the altar, and many
other features of events of performance. The entire process of mediation and
copresence presupposes an event in which it is brought about.
To overinvest in purely formal and typological analysis is to miss the point
that sadntiguar is effective in curing illness. For it makes no sense to say that the
system is effective, just as it makes no sense to say that the linguistic type
MAN refers to so and so, or that PROMISE performs an act (Linsky 1971:76).
Symbolic systems have the potential to categorize and transform experience,
but they can effect transformation only insofar as they are realized in activity.
This leads back to the question of how the system of sadntiguar locks into inter-
subjective experience. To what extent is the discourse structure contingent
upon features of the performance situation? There is a kind of compulsive per-
formativity to the discourse that emerges in the commentary of native
specialists, and that engenders a great deal of observable variation in its form.
IV. Saantiguar as Activity
The overall self-reflexivity of the language of sadntiguar is perhaps the most

compelling prima facie evidence of the role of performance in its structure. The
discourse is thick with references to context. It is not only referential elements
that lock into events of use, however. Systematic features such as voice quality,
speed, pitch range, peculiar turns of phrase, and the very segmentation of the
text into breath groups, also indicate the situatedness of the language. Such
features are independent of the referential structure of the discourse in the sense
that the same concatenation of words, with the same configuration of
referents, can be variously delivered. Native specialists are not only aware of
this variation, but justify it as necessary.
Saantiguar displays many of the characteristics of the "performance mode"
described by Bauman (1975, 1977). Bauman proposed four diacritic features:
(1) "the performer is accountable to the audience for the way the communica-
tion is carried out, above and beyond its referential content"; (2) "the act of
expression is . . . subject to evaluation for the way it is done"; (3) it "calls
forth special attention to and heightened awareness of the act of expression";
and (4) it is "constitutive of the domain of verbal art" (Bauman 1977:18-19).
Saantiguar is a special instance of the performance mode in Yucatec. Though
none of Bauman's features can be applied to it without some qualification, it is
clear that the distinctive relation between performer, act, and audience on
which he focuses is central also to the discourse under discussion here.
These initial observations can be given consequence by examining the ways
in which the structure of sadntiguar covaries with the contexts in which it is
realized. The basic idea behind this approach is that covariation reflects
systematic interaction (cf. Labov 1972:237; Hymes 1974:4, 17-19). There are
at least six foci that automatically anchor the text in performance context: par-
ticipant structure, images of the patient and his or her body, delivery style, and
spatial and temporal expressions. These will be examined in the order
presented.
Of the various participants in sadntiguar, the shaman is central in the sense
that it is he who voices the prayer. The manner in which he does this, in-
cluding delivery style and much of the content of the prayer, depends in large
measure upon his own experience. Shamans learn spirit names primarily
through personal experiences such as dreams, nocturnal encounters, and other
highly charismatic and individual events. While many apparently undergo a

period of apprenticeship, they go on to establish an individual identity in their
practice. One starts off with a sense of perhaps a dozen spirits and a single
minimal prayer by which to call them. As the shaman grows and continues to
practice, his speech becomes more and more finely differentiated.
There is no academy of shamanism in Yucatan, and no group to oversee
which spirits are invoked when. Situations in which it is appropriate to talk
about reesar or the details of the knowledge it entails are very rare. It is simply
not up for negotiation with other humans. Indeed, the knowledge of and in
reesar is held secret and only judiciously revealed in order to teach or make a
point. All forms of sacred speech are progressively beautified (had'u/kinad'an),
not only as a precaution against mishap, but as an expression of individual
adoration. Thus the shaman's own life history inevitably influences his rendi-
tions of reesar, and sadntiguar becomes, on one reading, a highly condensed
autobiography of the performer.
A second major interface between performer and text lies in the way the
discourse is known. In the course of eliciting detailed commentary from a
shaman who performs sadntiguar dozens of times per week, it became clear,
paradoxically, that he could neither accurately recall nor reproduce the
discourse unless he was actually performing it. This initially curious fact did
not disturb him, but was instead justified on the grounds that reesar is "just a
representation" with no direction of its own. The flow and sense of the
discourse are the products of concrete acts of attention. Never part of the text,
they are always up for grabs. It is obvious from the commentary and behavior
of shamans that the text does not exist in any coherent form outside of events
of curing. To speak of sadntiguar as an object which is known by rote and
simply repeated, is simply wrong, as witness the following statements by
a shaman:
. . . tumeen ump'eeh ba'ah kuk'aatah tec tapeensamyeent6 e'

... .because (it's) a thing (which) passes by you in your thought,
hmm, ?'a'an tec uderecoil awa'ak o' leti' kan a?'aah te'elo'
hmm, (it's) given to you the right to say it, what you put there
le kun h bin i', le kun h bin u'iiloil i', le skun to6karkec e'
what goes there, it's (how) its thread goes, what touches you,
beey kan awa'aleh . . . tumeen lelo ceen ump'eeh representasyoon

so will you say it . . . because that, it's just a representation
kumeentik
(that) it makes. [67.A.121]
.. een ka ho6k'ec awi'al bey mini'an presentasyoon ti'

. . (if) you just come out and say it so there is no presentation of
untuuil cambah wa ti' untuul maak a', ma'a taka'tik,

a child or of a person, you won't find it,
ma'a tuyantal udiireksy6on i' lelo', tak ti' teen bey

it has no direction. That, even to me so
uyuucul o' ken presentaarnak ken kaahak e reesar e',

it happens. When it comes forth, when the prayer begins,
kuho6p'ol utaal, tuhuun kutaal i'

it starts to come, all alone it comes. [66.A.608]
. . . pr 'eheemploh he'es ten a', tene', kutaal ump'eeh k'oha'an

... .for example just like me, me, a sick person comes
tinwiknal, tene ?'6'ok inwilik ba'as k'oha'anil . . .

to my place, me I've seen what sickness (it is) ...
yaan ump'eeh k'oha'anil ti'uneerbios, desbiaado uneerbios

there's a sickness in his nerves, his nerves are detoured
k'asa'an uneerbios . . . 'ink'aatik poder ti'dyoos ka siibik

his nerves are ruined . . . I request power of God, that be given
ten upoderil e' in4'akik le k'oha'an o', 'entons kuho6p'ol

to me the power that I cure that sickness, so it begins
tuuin ak'aatik ti' leti' yaan6'ob ka'anal o', leti' kumeyah6'ob

then you request to the ones (who) are high, those ones work
ti' e kweerpoh umanoh

on the human body. [66.A.131]
The paradox of ritual performance is not that the shaman has a short memory,
but that in order to characterize structure, one must look to performance.
Many of the situational presuppositions of sadntiguar are contained in the last
of the three quotes just presented. First, it requires a patient. Without an ac-
tually copresent individual, the discourse is inaccessible. The patient's presence
is not in itself sufficient either, since it is necessary to know the concrete pur-
pose of the performance, namely what is wrong with the individual. The
reason for this is clear from Section I above: spirits are differentially relevant
because of their paradigmatic domains of agency. As a matter of routine, this
means that the diagnostic process of tii''k'adk' usually precedes sadntiguar as an
earlier phase in the clinical episode.
The purposiveness required by performance has further implications for the
nature and intensity of participant involvement in the event. Underlying the
remarks in the first two statements just quoted is the idea that one must ex-
plicitly intend the cure in order for it to come about. On the part of the pa-
tient, this means total concentration on the divine and the will to be well.
Shamans typically exhort patients with phrases such as 'adnten wale', bik
maanak atzuukul ("You better help me, don't let your thought wander"). There
are multiple signs of the shaman's intense involvement. He never turns away
from the altar and does not interrupt the flow of reesar once it is initiated. Con-
stancy of posture and gaze reinforces the rhythmic unfolding of parallel struc-
tures within parallel breath groups. The descriptive images of total presence
are conveyed primarily by metacommunicative expressions, whose very fre-
quency indicates the seamless focus of the performer. Phrases such as kink'adtik
("I request it"), kinwok'oh'ooltik ("I cry out for it from my will"), and kin-
Solanplis ("I kneel as supplicant") make the shaman's relation to his utterances
maximally explicit.
These constraints on performance and involvement are widely recognized by
specialists and nonspecialists alike. If the event is to be successful, it must ex-
press utterly focused thoughts and feelings. Whereas the basic trope of the
discourse lies in an equation of place, that of its performance lies in the equa-
tion of outer forms with inner states.
The language of participant reference has two major foci beyond the per-
former, namely the patient and the spirits invoked. The patient is overtly cod-
ed as a third person, or nonparticipant referent. Those patient attributes that
receive explicit representation in the discourse are social age and sex and the
body parts relevant to the treatment. The individual is described as le 'anhel
("the angel") if it is an infant, as 'aiihoh ("your son") if it is a postpubescent
male, and as 'a''ihah ("your daughter") if it is a postpubescent female. The
body is globally referred to as the earth of the person (see Section III) and is
variously subcategorized. Which body parts are mentioned depends upon
relevance to the illness at hand. For a woman suffering menstrual cramps
caused by an ovarian fever (an indigenous disease category), for example, the
blood (k'iik'el), the veins (beeneld'ob) and the abdominal area (hobonel) are men-
tioned. For a man suffering nightmares or headaches, the abdomen is not rele-
vant and so is not mentioned. Thus, the descriptive content of sadntiguar
covaries with aspects of patient identity, precisely because the prayer describes
the patient.
Spirits are coded as both referents whose names are uttered and, in the case
of the spirit Jesus Christ, as addressee. From the agentive principle and its rela-
tion to treatment, it follows that the spirits invoked are not always the same.
For example, the k('i5pam ko'olelo'ob ("beautiful women") spirits apparently
are only mentioned in the treatment of women and children, and then only for
certain physical ailments. On the other hand, the ya'aS mutuyal kaan ("first
cloud layer sky") spirits are associated with the powerful and cold process of
rain cloud formation. They are invoked in the treatment of nonsevere fever in
relatively healthy patients but not in the treatment of infants or the very ill,
since they are considered to be too strong.
The thrust of these observations is that choice of spirits invoked reflects the
age, sex, and relative well-being of the patient. Note that this covariation is
not referential like earlier examples, since the names refer to spirits and not to
the patient. Because of the agentive principle and the conditional relevance of
treatments supplicated, however, spirit selection (both inclusion and omission
from the prayer) becomes an indicator of the individual being treated. The
relation between text and context in these cases is not one of reference, but of
indexicality as defined by Peirce (1955:107-111) and later interpreted by Jakob-
son (1971[1957]) and Silverstein (1976). Spirits in the context of invocation

stand for patient attributes because they are in a relation of contiguity with
them. In more recent terminology, it may be said that spirit selection
pragmatically presupposes the patient.
Another vehicle of indexical representation of the patient is delivery style.
As used here, this term subsumes the paralinguistic and kinetic features of ar-
ticulation, including variable speed, rhythm, pitch range (from highest to
lowest), and tension of the articulatory musculature. These features comprise a
continuum of intensity between soft style, described as suave, and fast style,
described as peekd'an ("moved, quick") (see Appendix). As the labels suggest,
the former is gentle, and used for infants and the gravely ill; peekd'an is con-
sidered more powerful and is used only for patients who can withstand it. The
number and duration of individual breath groups also varies as a measure of in-
tensity. It is these delivery factors, explicitly attuned to patient attributes, that
account for the variation in length between roughly 8 and 12 minutes.
Though comparative analysis is beyond the scope of this paper, it is worth
noting the striking parallel between this continuum of intensity and what
Gossen (1974a:49, 1974b:399) describes as the "metaphorical heat" of
Chamula ritual speech. In both cases, systematic elaboration of verbal form is
proportionate to the intensity and potential effectiveness of utterances.
The relations of performance time and space to narrative time and space pro-
vide further instances of the special situatedness of sadntiguar. In these cases,
however, it is not pragmatic context that determines textual content, but the
inverse: reesar takes place in a purely geometric, potential space-time. Recall
that the altar provides the place of encounter between the patient and the
spirits, and moreover that the shaman stands at the foot of it (tuciun) during
performance. It should follow from these facts that the altar is "here" during
recitation, and that the spirits are lowered to the place of the performing
shaman. In everyday Yucatec, this spatial configuration would be described as
waye' an ego-centric deictic meaning roughly "here where I am (we are)"
(Hanks 1983:189-193). Yet this is apparently never the case in reesar. Indeed,
though deictics are extremely common in everyday speech, they are all but ab-
sent in reesar. Instead of being "here," the place of the altar is described only as
te" tulu'umil k'eban ("there on the earth of sin"). Unlike the expected form
waye', the deictic te' does not encode reference to the speaker's current loca-
tion, and may be used for reference to points close or far (Hanks
1983:193-196). None of the spatial descriptors in reesar directly relates the
place of performance to any of the participants. From the text, one knows only
that it is delivered at an altar that is on the earth of sin, and therefore lower in
cosmic space than the spirits invoked.
Although performance of sadntiguar does not take place in any "here" as
normally defined in Yucatec, it does occur in an intricately structured space.
Rather than being determined by the speaking ego, this space is defined in rela-
tion to each spirit invoked. Hence the shaman says waliken tutcuun umeesa hesu
kristoh ... tucuun umeesa yuium bartolomen . . . sdn pedroh bin ("I stand at the foot
of the altar of Jesus Christ . . . at the foot of the altar of Lord Bartholomew . . .
Saint Peter"). Each spirit, one after the other, becomes the anchor of perfor-
mance space by becoming the lord and owner of the altar. What is a zero-space
from the perspective of the speaking ego is home space from that of the spirits
invoked. Thus also, the place of utterance of sadntiguar shifts continually dur-
ing the discourse, as different spirits are lowered. To look at the text as a self-
contained, inert artifact with no altar and no performance, is to miss its
significance as an instrument of spatial transformation.
The case of performance time is similar in that there is no "now" of ut-
terance beyond the age of sin. Now in sadntiguar is the historical moment of
the spirits who possess the altar. Therefore there are many nows as the cosmic
events leading up to the resurrection of Jesus Christ are recapitulated. External
event time, like event space, is a void filled by the inner duration of spirits ad-
dressed and referred to. Once again, to ignore event time is to ignore its
transformation, and therefore to lose much of the sense of the text.
These are therefore some of the ways in which the structure of the discourse
routinely reflects the situations in which it is actualized. Sadntiguar is neither
learned, known, nor recalled as an abstract, purely normative form. It is in-
stead saturated with the biographical particulars of the performer. Hence it
changes and is made to change by a conscious process of beautification. Much
as Goffman (1974:40-83, 1981:124-157) argued for everyday interaction, the
nature and intensity of participant involvement in sadntiguar is another crucial
aspect of its social meaningfulness. The text never really exists outside of
highly focused token performances, and furthermore, its efficacy is perceived
to be determined at least in part by participant concentration. These facts all
point to the subjective and ultimately intersubjective substratum of the text.
The interpretation of the I, you, he/she/it, here, and now of the discourse, as
well as the style of delivery, all lead into concrete events. None of these coor-
dinates has quite the same value as in everyday speech, but like their everyday
analogues, each is a point of covariation.
The underlying structure of performance time and place derives from the
cosmological system, that is, from the text and its symbolic "lexicon." On
the other hand, this same text unavoidably derives its relative intensity and
much of its content from the particulars of performance events. Text and event
are mutually presupposing. This relation is played out in the lamination of
referential and indexical meanings in sadntiguar. Most of the key elements of
the prayer have both semantic and pragmatic values.
It should be emphasized that the covariation of text with context is an
obligatory feature of performance, and that pragmatic mismatches can render
the prayer ineffective or even cause misfortune. It is widely taken for granted
that visitation by the wrong spirits, or excessively intense visitation can injure a
patient, just as the wrong antibiotic might. Such token variation of the discourse
is automatic in the sense that it is standard procedure and follows regular cor-
respondence rules, many of which can be explicitly formulated by shamans.
The final examples of covariation involve special cases, in which automatic pat-
terns are purposely violated in order to adapt to extreme conditions. The result
is what Havranek (1964[1932]:9-12) called highly "foregrounded" forms, in
which the order of spirit reference is scrambled or inverted.
The cyclic order E > N > W > S > C is sometimes randomized so that
spirits with directional correlates are realized in a highly anomalous sequence.
This was a troubling discovery, since it directly violates an important aspect of
the system, both as I have constructed it and as shamans describe it. The
justification offered by one shaman was that the scrambling was done on pur-
pose in order to hide "the path" ('ubeel) of the reesar; kinsu'usutik ("I spin it
around") he explained, because the illness being treated was caused by an
'eiseroh ("witch"). Witches attack shamans who attempt to undo their work,
and they can identify them by following the recitation to its performer. In
order to remain hidden therefore, the shaman scrambles the directional values
of the prayer; not even a witch can follow a path without direction.
The second case of foregrounding was not attested, but recounted by the
same shaman in the course of describing encounters he had had with evil dur-
ing ritual performance. He told of a case in which a caah caak ceremony he was
performing was plagued by a turkey vulture sent by a witch. Just when the
altar was set and recitation about to begin, the vulture descended to it, took
the offering and began to fly straight up with it. In order to counteract this ex-
treme pollution and bring the vulture back to earth, the shaman, by his ac-
count, began to recite in his most peekd'an ("fast") style, not from low to
high as expected, but from high to low beginning right at Gloorya, the highest
point in the cosmos. Though this is not a case of sadntiguar, the point remains
the same: automatic structure is sometimes ill-suited to the extreme demands
of concrete situations, and when this is so, it is not simply reproduced but
transformed.
V. Conclusion
The social effectiveness of saantiguar is derived from an aggregate of a priori

structural features and variable situational ones. The system as an abstract ob-
ject derives in large measure from fundamental premises embedded in Yucatec
cosmology. Among the most important of these are the principles that spirits
are defined by vertical, temporal, directional, and agentive characteristics.
These constitute a background system of paradigmatic oppositions among
referents. This system is embedded in saantiguar in the form of constraints on
the sequential order of spirit invocation. These can be readily expressed in one-
time correspondence rules that map cosmology into the discourse. Such points
of articulation guarantee the symbolic resonance of the text, its sacredness. A
similar relation pertains at the level of the prayer as a whole, which is unified
by five boundary markers. The evidence for saantiguar as a specific type of
discourse is extensive and detailed. Typology cannot explain the shape of the
text in any instance however, nor its social effectiveness. For these, one must
look to performance.
Some performance features are themselves systematic, such as the classifica-

tion of patient identity (age, sex), body parts, relative illness, and treatments
supplicated. These affect both the referential and indexical values of the prayer
token. Though these are variable pragmatic features, they appear to be highly
regular. To the extent that this is so, they too can be represented in cor-
respondence rules such as Patient (male, senior) - 'aiihoh. Spirit selection is
determined by several rules simultaneously, some of which derive from a priori
cosmology and some from participant attributes. In this sense, sadntiguar is a
complex of precisely interwoven pragmatic and semantic features. Relations
pushing the system into performance context are unavoidable.
More subversive to the systemic view of the prayer are cases of idiosyncratic
performance features. The shaman's personal identity has a pervasive influence
on which spirits he invokes. His assessment of the patient's state of health, his
own health and concentration, and his reaction to extreme circumstances, all
impinge on the form of the discourse and are all in some degree subjective.
Automatic patterns may be overridden in order to create new structures for
new problems. No system of rules, however pragmatic in character, can
predict this process. Despite its formality then, saa'ntiguar is contingent on ir-
reducibly subjective features.
Variation is only the most obvious evidence of a tension that is always pres-
ent in the prayer between the constituted system and ongoing experience. The
play between normalization and particularization is in evidence at all levels of
analysis. This is never fully resolved but constantly rearticulated, and it is in
this process of rearticulation that the effectiveness of the prayer in transform-
ing experience lies.
Appendix
1. Orthography The transcription system used in all examples cited is the
standard one for Yucatec, explained in Blair and Vermont-Salas (1965),
Straight (1972) and McQuown (1979). [C'] indicates glottalized consonant,
[V] short, neutral tone vowel, [VV] long rising tone vowel, [VV] long low
tone vowel and [V'V] 'broken' or glottalized vowel. [c] corresponds to
English [ch], ['] to [sh], [?] to [ts]; [b] indicates bilabial continuant (occurring
only in Spanish borrowings).
The delivery style described as peekd'an ("fast") is characterized by tension
of the articulatory musculature, sometimes to a point of apparent "lock-jaw,"
with the lower jaw remaining immobile and lips drawn laterally in a grimace.
In very peeka"'an style, the lips move only slightly and the airstream necessary
for phonation appears to be initiated by rhythmic pulses of the diaphragm, giv-
ing the impression of jerky or ballistic rhythm. Over-high pitch on the initial
and final syllables of breath groups may be accompanied by nasalization, giving
the impression of a whined delivery. Due to speed, rhythm, and the partial
leveling of tonal distinctions within breath groups, the phonetic rendering of
saantiguar differs markedly from everyday speech. The transcription is nor-
malized for ease of identification of morphemes and no attempt is made to
systematically represent phonetic values.
The recording was made with a Sony E-C 3 cardioid condenser microphone
and Superscope C-104 cassette recorder on a Sony low-noise cassette. Copies
are available at cost of handling and reproduction from the author, Depart-
ment of Anthropology, University of Chicago (Tape F.57.B.254).
2. Translation Translations of the Maya forms are approximate, in order to

achieve readability. The particles bakadan (- bakan), san, and bin posed special
problems, since they have no obvious correspondences in English. [bakaan] is
best described as "counter-expectative." It indicates that the proposition in
which it occurs is (1) not known for certain by the speaker but thought to be
so, as in yaan bakaadn utaal ("he will apparently come (I have reason to believe,
but am not sure)"); or (2) known for certain, but not having been expected
beforehand, as in 'o6'ok bakaan ak'ucul ("you've evidently arrived (there was
some doubt as to whether you would)"). It is this latter interpretation of fac-
tivity in conjunction with counter-expectation that is reflected in the transla-
tion of bakaadn as "now." This gloss is obviously inadequate, but has the ad-
vantage of being short and conveying the sense of current validity of the prop-
osition in which it occurs. I am unable to explain adequately the high frequen-
cy of bakadcn in sacred speech, and the shamans whom I asked about it had no
justification other than asserting that "that's just the way it's said." I believe
it is related to the ontological status of the spirits as (1) assumed beyond doubt
to exist, but (2) not expected to be easily manipulable nor directly perceivable
by men. The particle qualifies otherwise factive statements as not entirely cer-
tain or obvious, thus introducing an element of subtle indirection into the
discourse.
The word san is variously glossable as "too," "also," and as an emphatic

marker. Both it and bakaan appear to be used in part in order to establish the
repetitive, rhythmic sound of the discourse and thus contribute to parallelism.
The word bin is a reportive particle, glossable as "it is said" or "they say." It
indicates that the speaker does not vouch for the truth of his utterance and is
speaking from hearsay or indirect evidence rather than first-hand experience.
Like bakaan, this qualifies the status of utterances in relation to the speaker and
introduces a further kind of indirection.
3. The Text The following saa'ntiguar was performed in order to relieve a

young woman of a "fever of the ovaries," which was diagnosed to be the
cause of irregular menstruation, cramps, and the sensations of fever and ver-
tigo. It was recited in peeka'an style. The numbered sections of the transcript
correspond to individual breath groups, each delivered without pause or intake
of air. The major transition points are:
Onset 1
In-dwelling 18
Consummation 25
Contrition 26
Closing 27
Note that not all of the examples adduced in the body of this paper are taken
from the following text, and there are therefore some minor discrepancies.
1. p6r la serial de la santa krus del nuestro enemigo librenos sefior

dyos padre en el nomre del padre del 'iho de los espiritu saanto 'in yuum
By the sign of the sacred cross from our enemy free us, lord god father,
in the name of the father, the son, the holy spirits, my lord!
2. seiior mio mi hesu kristo in yuuim 'ilawilen waliken d6bilen tulu'umi

le k'eban tut'anabal inwok'oh'ool inSolanpifs ink'aatik bakaan
san unuupe bakan tulaaka bakan san asanto bakan tasiihlaantah bakan
san a santo podeer
My lord, my Jesus Christ, my god! see me, I stand, I am weak on the

earth of sin. It is coming my supplication, my kneeling, my asking
now (that) all now your saints be brought together (whom) you gave
as gift, now your sacred power!
3. 'in yuuim k'uci beey san ink'aatik bakan san ubeeintisioon6'o bakan
tucuun umeesa bakan yuun lak'in 'iik'o' bakan kubin int'anik bakan
san ubeeintisioono' bakan tucuun umeesa bakan yuun santo saman kaan 'ifk'o'
bakan tucik'in 'ifk'o bakan n6o(h)ol e 'ifk'o' yuun cuumuk kaan 'iik'
My lord! it has arrived also (that) I request now the benedictions, now
at the foot of the altar, now of lord East winds, now it goes on that I
speak now also the benedictions now at the foot of the altar of saint
North-sky winds, now to the West winds, now South the winds Lord Center-
sky wind(s)!
4. tyal uyeemba bakan san uyifk'6'o bakan tan usiihk6'o bakan san ubeeintisioono'
bakan tulu'umi bakan san e kwerpo bakan kubin ink'aatik bakan san
ubeeintisioono' bakan takantf'i?i le kaan bakan kubin ink'aatik bakan san
e beeintisioon
In order that they come down now, their spirits now (that) they
give now their benedictions now to the earth, now of the body, now
it goes on (that) I ask now the benedictions of your four corners
of the heavens, now it goes on (that) I ask now for the benediction!
5. tucuun umeesa bakan milgel arkanhel bakan tukantaasi bakan san (l)e
muuyal bakan tucuun umeesa bakan yuum baartolomen bakan kubin ink'aatik
bakan san ubeeintisioono bakan tucuun umeesa bakan suuhuy san peedro bakan
tuh6'o(l) kaan
At the foot of the altar now of Miguel Arcangel, now at the four layers
of the heavens, now at the foot of the altar, now of lord Bartolomen, now
it goes on my requesting now the benedictions now at the foot of the
altar now of blessed San Pedro at the zenith of the sky!
6. 'in yuum tial ahe'eh t6'on bin 'an aglooria bakan san awi(l)ik6'on
bakan walik6'on bakan tuicuun ameesa bakan k'uci bey san inmaansik
ulu'umi bakan san a'iiha bakan tucuun ameesa bakan kubin ink'aatik
bakan san ubeeintisioono bakan 'an ut'a'aka bakan san uk'iik'e(l)
bakan san uyiik'al bakan tan e kweerpo bakan san asiihmah bakan
tulu'umi k'eban
My lord! in order that you open to us, they say, your Gloria (Heaven)
now, that you see us now, we are standing now at the foot of your altar
now, it has arrived so also I manifest the earth now of your daughter,
at the foot of your altar now, it goes on my requesting now the benedictions
now that it may be cured, its blood now, its life-force now, of the body
now, which you have given now, to the earth of sin!
7. 'in yuuim k'ucik bey San ink'aatik bakan 'san ubeeintisioono bakan
waliken bakan tuFcuun ameesa bakan kubin ink'aatik bakan san ubeeintisioono
bakan tucuun umeesa bakan cilaam balaam bakan kubin ink'aatik bakan san
ubeeintisioono bakan tuvcuun umeesa bakan yiuun 'ah k'iin ci' kukulkaam
ureen san saalo bakan siuhuy saanto kanaam
My lord! it has arrived so also (that) I ask now the benedictions

now, I stand now at the foot of your altar now, it goes on (that) I
ask now the benedictions now at the foot of the altar now of Chilam
Balam now, it goes on (that) I ask also the benedictions at the foot
of the altar now of Lord Ah Kin Chi, Kukulkan, the kingdom of San Salo
now, blessed saint Protector!
8. tial uyeemba bakan san ubeeintisioono bakan san amiis ink'aatik

bakan san tulaaka uyiik'al bakan san (l)e ho'ne bakan 'uiuik ink'aatik
bakan san ubeeintisioono bakan san usiih(i)k6'o bakan San usaanto poder
In order that it come down (to us) now the benedictions, now also
(that) you cleanse I ask now, all of the life-force of the inner
belly, it has happened that I ask now also the benedictions now,
(that) they give (to us) now their sacred power!
9. 'in yuum k'ucik bey san ink'aatik bakan san ubeeintisioono bakan
waliken bakan tuc'uun ameesa bakan kubin int'anik bakan san
ubeeintisioono bakan tuFcuun ameesa bakan san adyoosi bakan san.
ayuumi bakan kubin int'anik bakan san ubeeintisioon
My lord! it has arrived so also (that) I ask the benedictions now,

I stand now at the foot of your altar now, it goes on I speak now
too, to the benedictions now at the foot of your altar now, of your
god now, so of your lord now, it goes on now (that) I speak the benediction!
10. tu'cuun umeesa bakan San udyoosil bakan san (l)e mamah luna
bakan kubin 'ink'aatik bakan san ubeeintisioon seiior mar bakan
kubin int'anik bakan san ubeeintisibon meerkurio beenus
saturno bakan kubin int'anik bakan san abeeintisioon!
At the foot of the altar now of the god of Mama Luna now,
it goes on now that I ask now for the benediction of Mars,
now it goes on that I address the benediction of Mercury,
Venus, Saturn, now it goes on that I address now too your benediction!
11. tial uyeemba bakan san ubeeintisioono bakan san usiih(i)k6'on

bakan san ubeeintisioono bakan tulu'umi ubeenel uk'iik'al uyifk'al
bakan san a'iiha bakan kubin int'anik bakan san ubeeintisioono bakan
waliken bakan tuicuun ameesa
In order that it also come down (to us) now their benedictions now,
that they give to us now their benedictions, to the earth, the veins,
the blood, the life-force now of your daughter now, it goes on (that)
I address now their benedictions now, I stand at the foot of your altar!
12. 'in yuum k'ucik beey san ink'aatik bakan san ubeeintisioono bakan tu"cuun umeesa bakan
senor heeobaa bin 'an kubin int'anik bakan san ubeeintisioon
My lord! it has arrived thus also that I request now the benedictions now at the foot of the
altar now
of lord Jehova they say, it goes on I address now also his benedictions!
13. tucuun umeesa bakan [unintelligible] bakan kubin int'ani bakan san ubeeintisioon
haarion eegron sifhron siimion suwal balam kubin in t'anik bakan san
ubeeintisioono bakan san u?'a'aka bakan san (l)e kweerpo bakan kubin
int'anik bakan san abeeintisioon
At the foot of the altar of [unintelligible] now, it goes on (that) I address

now also the benediction of Aarion, Eegron, Siihron, Simeon, Suwal Balam,
it goes on (that) I address now also their benediction now, that the
body be cured now, it goes on (that) I address now also your benediction!
14. 'in yuum k'ucik beey san ink'aatik bakan san ubeeintisioono bakan
tucuun umeesa bakan 'uucik int'anik bakan 'an ubeeintisioono bakan
tucuun umeesa bakan ki'icpam k6'olebi 'anak bey san kubin int'anik
bakan san ubeeintisioon kf'icpam k6'olebi 'ah k'aas ki'icpam k6'olebi
suusaay
My lord! it has arrived thus also (that) I request the benedictions

now at the foot of the altar now, it has occurred (that) I speak to
the benediction now, at the foot of the altar now of Ki'icpam K6'olebi
Anak, so also it goes (that) I address now the benediction of Ki'icpam
K6'olebi Ah K'aas, Ki'icpam K6'olebi SCuusaay!
15. ki'icpam k6'olebi kanaan bakan kubin ink'aatik bakan san ubeeintisioon
ki'icpam k6'olebi sk'an 16ol ki'icpam k6'olebi Smisi' tuun 'iik'o bakan
kubin ink'aatik bakan san ubeeintisioon
Beautiful Woman Protector! now it goes on (that) I ask now, for the
benediction of Beautiful Woman Yellow Flower, Beautiful Woman Cleanser
of Stone Winds now, it goes on (that) I ask now also their benediction!
16. 'in yuum tial aweembal amiis ink'aatik apuuis ink'aatik bakan
'uucik int'anik bakan 'an ubeeintisioono bakan waliken bakan
tucuun ameesa bakan kubin ink'aatik bakan 'an usaanto poder
My lord! in order that you come down (to us), that you cleanse I petition,
that you blow clean I petition now, it has occurred that I address now
also the benedictions, I stand now at the foot of your altar now,
it goes on (that) I petition now also the sacred power!
17. 'in yuum k'ucik beey san ink'aatik bakan san ubeeintisioono bakan
waliken bakan tucuun ameesa bakan kubin ink'aatik bakan san ubeeintisioono
bakan tuteemplo bakan monte kalbaari bakan tiera saanta bakan saanto
betlen tusaanto igleesya bakan herusalen bakan tucuun umeesa bakan
san yuun krius
My lord! it has arrived, thus also (that) I ask now the benediction now,
I stand now at the foot of the altar now, it goes on (that) I ask now
for the benedictions at the temple now of Monte Calvari now, Tierra
Santa now, blessed Betlem at the sacred church now of Jerusalem now,
at the foot of the altar now of Lord Cross!
18. kiiriic krus tok6'on ti k 'ahwal6'o yuumile' dyoos yuumbi dyoos mehenbi
dyoos 'espiritu saanto in yuum
Sanctified Cross! protect us from our enemies Lord! God Lord, God
Child, God Holy Spirit, my Lord!
19. 'in yuum tial inmaansik ulu'umi le kweerpo bakan tucuun ameesa bakan
kubin ink'aatik bakan san ubeeintisioono bakan tucuun umeesa bakan
san hwaan de bawtiista bakan kubin ink'aatik bakan san abeeintisioon
tucuun umeesa bakan san 'antoonyooi
My lord! in order that I make manifest the earth of the body now,
at the foot of your altar now, it goes on (that) I ask now the
benedictions at the foot of the altar now of San Juan de Bautista
now, it goes on (that) I ask now also the benediction at the foot
of the altar of San Antonio!
20. tucuun umeesa bakan trees reyes saanto miguel arkanhel bakan kubin ink'aatik
bakan san ubeeintisioon san timoteo yuun san kaarlos yuun san romaan
'uucik int'anik bakan san ubeeintisioon tu'cuun umeesa san lubiin
At the foot of the altar now, of the Tres Reyes, Santo Miguel Arcangel
now, it goes on I ask now also for the benediction of San Timoteo, Lord
San Carlos, Lord San Roman. It has occurred (that) I speak now also to
the benediction at the foot of the altar of San Lubiin!
21. tucuun umeesa bakan ceerem bakan ceerem bakan san 'esteebaan beradlino
[unintelligible] bakan san paawlo san soon bakan kubin int'anik bakan san
ubeeintisioon ki'icpam k6'olebi suuhuy saanta maria bakan kubin
ink'aatik bakan san abeeintisioon ki'icpam k6'olebi 'iifmaal
At the foot of the altar of Cherem now, of Cherem now, San Esteban Beradino
[unintelligible] now, San Pablo, Sansom now, it goes on (that) I speak now
to the benediction of Ki'icpam K6'olebi Blessed Santa Maria, now, it goes
on (that) I ask now also for the benediction of Kf'icpam K6'olebi Itzmal!
22. ki'icpam k6'olebi remeedio bakan kubin ink'aatik bakan ian ubeeintisioon
ki'icpam k6'olebi floordes, ki'icpam k6'olebi 'isiidro bakan kubin ink'aatik
bakan san ubeeintisioon ki'icpam k6'olebi 'asunsy6n
Ki'icpam Ko'olebi Remedio now, it goes on (that) I ask now the benediction
of Ki'icpam K6'olebi Flordes, Kiicpam K6'olebi Isidro now, it goes on (that)
I ask now also the benediction of K'icpam K6'olebi Asuncion!
23. 'in yuuim tial uyeembal bakan san abaalsamenkwento bakan tulu'umi
le kweerpo bakan kubin ink'aatik bakan san ubeeintisioono bakan san
ubafiarta'a ten bin san (l)e kweerpo bakan san usiihma bakan hesu
kriisto bakan tulu'umi k'eban
My lord! in order that it come down now also, your Balsamencuento

[resurrection] now to the earth of the body now, it goes on (that)
I ask for the benedictions now also, that it be bathed for me,
they say also, the body now, which Jesus Christ gave now, to the earth of sin!
24. in yuum k'ucik bey San ink'aatik bakan 'an aki'ickelem balsamenkweento
bakan waliken bakan tucuun ameesa bakan dyoos paadre in yuuim tial bin
san ubafiarta'a ten bin san a'iiha bakan San usiihma bakan ulu'umi
k'eban hesukiiisto6
My lord! it has arrived thus also (that) I ask now for your beautiful
Balsamencuento now, I am standing now at the foot of your altar now
Dios Padre, my lord! in order that, it is said, she be bathed for me,
it is said, your daughter now, (whom) Jesus Christ gave now to the earth of sin!
25. 'in yuuim tumeen tec uyuumilec kaan kirickunta'abik uk'aaba bakan
hesukriisto bakan tulu'umi (l)e kweerpoa'
glooria del paadre hesukriisto dyos 'espiritu saanto
My lord! because you are the lord of the heavens! it has been made
sacred now, the name of Jesus Christ now on the earth of this body!
Glory of the Father, Jesus Christ, God Holy Spirit.
26. paadre miiyo saas usfipale un peekadoor 'uuii umeentik nukuc konsuiulta
tucuun ameesa hesukriisto hesukriisto in yuum teJc unohocilec ud6ktorilec
uli'umi le k'ebaan 'uuc int'anik asaanto 'espirito aweensik ten aki'ickelen
noh ak'ab' yo6k'ol le kweerp6o
My father, forgive the wrongs of a sinner, for his having made a

great conclusion at the foot of your altar Jesus Christ. Jesus
Christ my lord! You are the most great, the doctor of the earth of
sin! I have addressed your blessed spirit, that you lower for me
your beautiful right hand over the body.
27. beeintisiisteh hesukriisto yeetel apoder no6mbrart ak'aaba yo6k'ol

in yuum tuk'aaba hesukriisto dyos padre dyoos 'espiritu saantu
Bless it Jesus Christ with your power! Cite your name over it my lord!
In the name of Jesus Christ, God the Father, God the Holy Spirit.
Notes
This paper is based on field research conducted in Yucatan, Mexico between November, 1979 and
March, 1981, under fellowships granted by the Social Science Research Council and the Fulbright-Hays
Doctoral Dissertation Research Abroad Program. Earlier drafts of the paper were prepared during tenure
as a fellow of the Mrs. Giles Whiting Foundation at the University of Chicago. Though I alone bear
responsibility for the analysis, I wish to express my gratitude to these institutions.
Earlier versions of the paper were presented at the Department of Anthropology, Yale University, at
the 81st Annual Meeting of the American Anthropological Association, and at the Department of An-
thropology, University of Chicago. My thanks go to all those who asked difficult questions, but especial-
ly to Ellen Basso, John Comaroff, Jean Comaroff, Conan Louis, Richard Morris, Nancy Munn, Joel
Sherzer, Michael Silverstein, and Michael G. Smith. My greatest debt is to DC, a practicing shaman in
Yucatan, who generously shared with me his knowledge of the sacred and his tininess.
1 My description of Yucatecan cosmology is drawn from data gathered in the field. Though it does not
precisely match other available descriptions, there are numerous points of correspondence. Taken
together, Villa-Rojas (1978 [1945]) and Redfield and Villa-Rojas (1962[1934]) provide a fairly detailed
look at some recent ethnographic background of Yucatec ritual and curing. The ethnohistorical and
philological literature on Yucatec beliefs is voluminous, but Barrera-Vasquez and Rend6n (1948), Jones
(1977), Thompson (1979[1970]:202-397) and Tozzer (1941), along with references cited therein, provide
a useful starting point. Gossen's (1974a) discussion of oral tradition and cosmology in San Juan Chamula
merits special attention. Gossen presents a concise and persuasive treatment of cosmology in verbal perfor-
mance in a Tzotzil community. The ethnographic parallels between the system he describes and that
described in the present essay are striking. Chapters 1, 2, 8, and 9, in particular, contain Chamula analogs
to many of the generalizations made here about the Yucatec.
2 This limitation ascribed to the divinatory crystals is taken for granted in the diagnostic process in
which they are used. A case of diagnosis recorded October 28, 1980 for example, involved a girl of about
14 years who came with her mother to DC's residence for treatment of a mysterious black boil on the
bottom of her tongue. She was unable to speak at the time due to the pain and had missed two menstrual
periods. The boil had appeared nearly two months before and had been treated several times by Western
doctors, but to no avail. In the course of the conversation between the shaman and the girl's mother, it
emerged that just before the boil appeared for the first time, the family had had a severe argument with a
neighboring family, which had never been resolved. This fact, in conjunction with the severity and per-
sistence of the affliction, suggested that it may have been caused by a witch ('ecisero) engaged by the angry
family in order to seek revenge. When, during diagnosis, the cause of the boil failed to appear in the
divinatory crystals, the shaman concluded that it had indeed been caused by a witch who practiced
underground. The helper spirits (yun4il'ob) of the shaman have dominion, he explained, only over the
above world and therefore could not locate the perpetrator. Given this constellation of factors, the girl
was diagnosed as the victim of witchcraft and treated with the pad' 'ik' prayer, sketched in Section III of
the text ([F.68.A.250]). This brief example raises the question of how the etiology of disease is con-
structed and influences the treatment indicated-a question slighted in the present paper but which will
be the focus of a subsequent study.
3 The relation between the hot/cold and high/low oppositions is a subtle one, because though they in-
tersect to yield four feature bundles ([&,-], [&,&], [-,&] and [-,-]), still they are not entirely in-
dependent. There is a tendency for high to entail hot because of the heat of the sun, and low to entail cold
because of the axiomatic coolness of the earth. The opposition of hot/cold, moreover, is not a simple
binary one, but mediated by [cold - hot], [hot - cold], and balanced, the first two of which denote the
sequence of effects brought about on the body by any herbal substance. There is also an association be-
tween hot and dry, and cold and wet, which can be traced to earth:water and sky:sun. No attempt is
made here to work out the distinctive features of medicinal substances. The important point for present
purposes is that the high/low axis is one of the dimensions of classification.
4 It is virtually certain that 'eiseros and hmeen who traffic with underworld spirits differentiate sectors
of the underworld. This knowledge is considered "top secret" due to its dangerous potential. Working
principally with a shaman committed to ignorance of these spirits, because committed to good, I was
unable to learn of the underworld.
5 There appear to be two classes of ambiguous earth spirits: (1) certain female spirits, such as ki'icpam
ko'olebil ah k'aas ("Beautiful-Woman-Male-Evil") are potentially dangerous but deliver illness to the evil
whence it came; and (2) the five body part spirits who reside at the upper surface of the earth and are
mobilized in the pad' 'iik' to cleanse the body of evil, but are dangerous because they actually strike (ha?'ik)
the body and can therefore cause major shocks to the system.
6 The altar is thus oriented, it is said, because east is the source of life and goodness, whereas west is the
source of death and evil. In historical terms, east is said to be where Christ left his heart when he died on
the cross. To place the pit-fire (piib') in the east would therefore be to burn the heart of Christ.
7 There is of course variation in the degree to which individuals consider such knowledge legitimate or
bogus. The most obvious correlate of this is affiliation with organized religions. The numerous Protestant
sects (Presbitariano, Testigos de Jehova, Evangelicos) all represent secularization of beliefs and hence
repudiation of traditional sacred knowledge. What is most indicative is that even those who dismiss the
idea of c'adk spirits as "nothing" (miTbd'al), nonetheless know what they are about. They know, that is,
what the agency of the 'adks would be, were they to exist.
8 Though this knowledge is indeed part of the normative definition of the Yucatec shaman, it should
be pointed out that the common equation is vastly more simple than the facts. Nonspecialists have no
direct way of evaluating the number of spirits known by a shaman, since they do not themselves know
the relevant names, nor the detailed attributes that accrue to them. Most of shamanic knowledge is by
definition esoteric and not displayed for evaluation by the public. In any case biographical and stylistic dif-
ferences between shamans would make direct comparison difficult.
Pat expressions notwithstanding, people appear to evaluate shamans not on the basis of their
knowledge, but of their achievements. The bringing about of practical results-a resolution, a felicitous
diagnosis, a cure-becomes the basis for inferring that the shaman possesses knowledge. When a speaker
says of a shaman, hac yd'ab yohel ("he knows a lot"), or hac yaan und'at ("he really has understanding"),
what he is typically saying is that he feels that shaman can make things happen. This emphasis on effec-
tiveness is coded in the Yucatec word for shaman, hmeen, an agentive nominalization of the verb "to
make or do," meaning literally "doer, maker." These observations suggest that the achievement of social
legitimacy by individual shamans entails managing how people perceive the outcomes of performances.
Success is a matter of construal, and much of the practical politics of being a shaman involves construing
ambiguous situations.
9 There has been a considerable amount of research conducted on native typologies of language in the
Mayan family. Bricker (1974) and Burns (1983) give provocative descriptions of Yucatec metalinguistics
and verbal performance. They help to contextualize reesar amidst other kinds of talk. For comparative
Mayan data see Bricker (1976), Edmonson (1973), Gossen (1974a), Haviland (1977), and Stross (1974).
10 Parallelism is one of the better known features of Mayan ritual languages. See for example Bricker
(1974), Burns (1983:28), Edmonson (1968, 1973), and Gossen (1974a, 1974b). Bricker (1974:381)
describes spayal ci' ("prayer") as a "couplet genre." The primacy of the couplet, however, as opposed to
triplets or more extended parallelism, is questionable. The data under discussion, and the corpus from
which they were taken, reflect not couplets per se, but parallelism more generally. The number of parallel
elements in a breath group and across breath groups appears to reflect cosmological attributes of the spirits
invoked. Hence, the fourth textual example in the text elaborates triplets because it addresses the trinity
of God the father, the son, and the holy spirits. Elsewhere, when addressing the Naturaleza spirits or
historical divinities which are grouped in sets of five, parallelism appears to express a pentuplet structure,
alone or in combination with couplets (Appendix, breath groups 3, 7, 10).
l The sign of the cross functions as a specialized framing device in the sense discussed by Goffman
(1974, 1981: Chapter 3). At the outer boundaries of reesar, it signals a major shift in footing between non-
sacred and sacred speech. From inside, signs of the cross demarcate principal phases in the symbolic pro-
gression of the ceremony.
12 The idea that sadntiguar derives much of its transformative potential from the deconstitution of
order, may shed light on other aspects of ritual practice. Specialists and nonspecialists alike speak of the
danger inherent in all forms of reesar. Having moved spirits from their appointed positions, it is considered
crucial that they be returned. For in the state of disorder induced by prayer, the spirits are abroad and may
cause further illness or chaos. In the more elaborate types of reesar, the process of returning spirits con-
stitutes an explicit phase of the ceremony, whereas in the sadntiguar it is an implicit part of the closing. It
is likely furthermore that the deconstitutive nature of Yucatec prayer is what motivates the contrite at-
titude of the praying shaman. Note that forgiveness is requested for having moved the spirits by invoking
them (Appendix, breath group 26).
13 While discussing the variable length of sadntiguar with one shaman, I suggested that the prayer ap-
pears to be different each time it is said. He responded, md', ump'eedili ("No, it's all the same"), and went
on to point out that it always recapitulates the same event, namely the resurrection. I pointed out that the
number of breath groups also differs widely, and asked how many parts sadntiguar has. He immediately
responded mi'n siinkoh ("I guess five"). This was the principal clue, since there are usually just five breath
groups that fall out of the parallel structure of invocation and which he was able to gloss with the expres-
sions cited in the text.
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Sanctification, Structure, and Experience in a Yucatec Ritual Event

Author(s): William F. Hanks

Sanctification, Structure, and Experience

Journal of American Folklore, Vol. 97, No. 384, 1984

individual speech events in shaping discourse and ultimately grammatical struc-

The theoretical goal of articulating conventional verbal or symbolic systems

with communicative performance is also a familiar one. It has remained one of

to be the place of venomous snakes and potentially dangerous trickster spirits

HIGH Glorya ("heaven"), k'iin ("sun")

Guardians of the 4 Temples 7 muuyalo'ob

yundil 'ik''ob ("naturaleza")

LOW Underworld spirits

Figure 1. Vertical principle. Any spirit or class of spirits is located in a deter-

kahook'ol yo6' beh, kamaan noohol . . . seegir amaan tak nah

Spirit Class Name Sector

Archangels miguel 'arkanhel N

Figure 2. Directional principle. Most spirits are located in a determinate sector

In terms of the broadest level of cosmological space represented in Figure 1,

Spirit (class)* Domain of Agency

sdn peedroh Guardian of glorya

II. Language of the Sacred

("speech, language, address") and bikbal ("conversation, recounting").

# sefior mio # My lord

Taken from Appendix, breath group 2.

These lines are a particularly interesting example of parallelism, because they

c'aah cadk "get thunder" rain petition

Figure 4. Major types of sacred language in Yucatec.

III. Saantiguar as Type

The sadntiguar is performed in order to bless individual human patients and

Figure 5. Principal offering in a Maya waahil kbol ritual, performed by shaman

. . . kubin int'anik san ubeentisyoon haarion egron simion

... it goes on I address also the grace of Harion, Egron, Simion,

'inyuuin k'uci bey san ink'aatik bakan san ubeentisyoon6'ob

tucik'in 'iik'o bakaan noohol e 'iik'o yun cuumuk kaan 'iik'

My lord! it has arrived so also I request now also their graces

kf'icpam ko'olebil kanaan kf'icpam ko'olebil 'k'an lool

Beautiful Woman Guardian Beautiful Woman Yellow Lily

The paradigmatic relations of vertical hierarchy, order of creation, and the

verbs of curing, as possessors of grace, and as possessors of the altar at which

Agentive: treatment requires relevant spirits

Figure 6. Ordering conventions for spirit invocation. Where X > Y indicates

Opening Cross time

invocation of pre-Christian spirits

invocation of post-Christian spirits

Contrition Special prayer

Figure 7. Sequential stages in sadntiguar.

IV. Saantiguar as Activity

The overall self-reflexivity of the language of sadntiguar is perhaps the most

highly charismatic and individual events. While many apparently undergo a

. . . tumeen ump'eeh ba'ah kuk'aatah tec tapeensamyeent6 e'

beey kan awa'aleh . . . tumeen lelo ceen ump'eeh representasyoon

(that) it makes. [67.A.121]

.. een ka ho6k'ec awi'al bey mini'an presentasyoon ti'

untuuil cambah wa ti' untuul maak a', ma'a taka'tik,

ma'a tuyantal udiireksy6on i' lelo', tak ti' teen bey

uyuucul o' ken presentaarnak ken kaahak e reesar e',

kuho6p'ol utaal, tuhuun kutaal i'

. . . pr 'eheemploh he'es ten a', tene', kutaal ump'eeh k'oha'an

tinwiknal, tene ?'6'ok inwilik ba'as k'oha'anil . . .

yaan ump'eeh k'oha'anil ti'uneerbios, desbiaado uneerbios

k'asa'an uneerbios . . . 'ink'aatik poder ti'dyoos ka siibik

ten upoderil e' in4'akik le k'oha'an o', 'entons kuho6p'ol

tuuin ak'aatik ti' leti' yaan6'ob ka'anal o', leti' kumeyah6'ob