© Brad Busenius 2012 - Page 1

Jaloj-Kexoj - Examples in Mayan Weaving

In the beautiful mountains of Guatemala, just south of Mexico, people in Mayan communities carry out their daily routines, making tortillas, doing laundry by hand, and working in the fields. Many Mayan women produce table cloths, huipiles (women’s traditional clothing), hair ornaments and belts by weaving on back-strap looms. In the heart of this scenic country Mayan weavers produce some of the most remarkable tapestries in the world. These Mayan weavers make imagery that reflects their cultural logic and religion. The central concept in Mayan religion and culture has been defined as Jaloj-K’exoj: The Flowering of the Dead (Carlsen and Prechtel, 23). There has been little research done to verify the existence of Jaloj-K’exoj in Mayan weavings, and just a small amount about the term in general. Though the absence of this term in the research seems like a void at first glance, the topic is thoroughly explained under subject matter such as the Mayan number zero, the Mayan calendar, the Mayan rhombus, Mayan concepts of geography and ideas about agriculture. These topics are especially discussed in the works of Mayan anthropologists and cultural workers. I believe these terms are not only related, they are all part of the same cultural logic and idea that can not be defined simply using any one of the above terms. Jaloj-K’exoj is just one way of viewing the central concept in Mayan religion but there are many other manifestations of the concept. Though these ideas are expressed in Mayan weaving other concepts are communicated as well. In this visual ethnology, I will show that these terms are all part of the same concept and will support my findings with visual examples found in Mayan weaving. Some visual examples will lend support to theories that Mayan cultural logic has adapted to western attempts of acculturation to preserve its original integrity i.e. Carlsen and Prechtel. While certain visual examples will express ideas not related to this fundamental Mayan religious concept, they will illustrate different cultural concepts that are important in their own right and will thus be explained as well. Jaloj-K’exoj is a Mayan concept existing in both ancient Mayan societies and in Mayan societies of today. It exists both consciously and within the social collective conscious. Though a Mayan individual might be able to explain aspects of Jaloj-K’exoj consciously, the concept is often expressed without intent. It is part of the cultural logic that underlies Mayan society. Before describing Jaloj-K’exoj as defined by anthropologists, it will help to try and understand what is cultural logic. This idea is well explained by Edward F. Fischer, Assistant Professor of Anthropology at Vanderbilt University. According to Mr. Fischer every culture has an underlying “cultural logic.” Fischer states that in order

...to understand the processes of Maya identity maintenance and formation we must look beyond surface representations to uncover the cultural logic (the generative patterns of relations) realized in and transformed through observable practice. We should thus focus not simply on how these forms are cognitively integrated, in a culturally consistent (i.e., logical) manner, into cognitive schemas. This logic is not static, for it is predicated on practice and common experience, and yet through its generative nature it is more resistant to change than the surface elements it organizes. This logic provides the basis for interpreting foreign introductions and for maintaining a distinctly Maya worldview (a worldview based at least as much on continuity as on resistance to an Other) in an ever-changing world (478).

Fischer uses the Kaqchiquel Mayan term k’u’x, meaning heart or soul, to illustrate Kaqchiquel cultural logic, which according to him “is based on the conventional relationship between humans and cosmic forces and the dynamic cyclicity of history” (1999, 481). As stated by Fischer on page 480, it is “through the conventional relationship between humans and the divine cosmic force, balance is maintained in cyclic, cosmic rejuvenation, agricultural rejuvenation, and procreation (cf. Carlsen and Prechtel, 1997).”

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