Food for the Soul: Eternal Co-existence in the Mayan – Catholic Traditions of Pomuch, Mexico.

Abstract

The Mayan village of Pomuch is well known for theparticular burial customs of its inhabitants. As a result ofa process of religious syncretism that began with thearrival of the Spaniards in the early sixteenth century, thePomuch people fused elements of ancient Mayan beliefsand Christian doctrine. The aim of this paper is to observethe rituals about death and describe the cultural meaningof the stages in the process. The Pomuch people begin theritual with the treatment of the body just after death, andthe process continues until the skeletal remains areexhibited at the cemetery. Janal Pixan is the Mayan nameof a ritual that consists of preparing food in an oven dug inthe ground and making offerings to the soul of the dead,since Pomuch people believe that the dead visit themannually on specific days at the end of October and thebeginning of November. These days coincide with thePomuch agricultural calendar and correspond to thebirthdays of honoured Catholic saints. The burial customsof Pomuch are a valuable cultural heritage of the pre-Hispanic traditions of Mexico, and also show a syncretismwith Christian beliefs, offering us an understanding ofindigenous ways of thinking and their feelings towardsdeath.