article

Huichol conceptions of the soul

Folklore Americas27 (2) • Published In 1967 • Pages: 39-106

By: Furst, Peter T..

Abstract
During fieldwork conducted in the mid-1960s the author found that traditional Huichol religion remained fundamentally unaltered by Christian influence. The Huichol continued to recognize a number of pre-Christian gods, divine beings, ancestral spirits, and ”owners” or spirits of animals and plants believed to govern both the fertility of the land and the welfare of individuals and families. Descriptions are given of burial practices and healing rituals in which guardian spirits and ancestral souls are personified and beseeched. As in pre-Christian times, the [n]mara'akáme[n] (shaman) continued to play important roles in mediating the powers of these supernatural beings.
Subjects
General character of religion
Animism
Eschatology
Cult of the dead
Burial practices and funerals
Mythology
Cosmology
Prayers and sacrifices
Shamans and psychotherapists
Magical and mental therapy
Medical therapy
Revelation and divination
Theory of disease
culture
Huichol
HRAF PubDate
2016
Region
Middle America and the Caribbean
Sub Region
Northern Mexico
Document Type
article
Evaluation
Creator Type
Anthropologist
Document Rating
5: Excellent Primary Data
Analyst
Teferi Abate Adem
Field Date
1965-1967
Coverage Date
1965-1967
Coverage Place
southern Sierra Madre Occidental (Nayarit, Jalisco, Durango, and Zacatecas), Mexico
Notes
Peter T. Furst
Includes bibliographical references (p. 103-106)
LCCN
58001895
LCSH
Huichol Indians