The Creation and Sacrifice of Witches in Classic Maya Society

Abstract

Worldwide, witch persecution occurs in times of trouble including untimelydeaths, drought, floods, famine, and disease (e.g., Bacigalupo, 2005; Krug et al.,2002; Sanders, 2003). Supplications are made to no avail. It is not the fault ofgods or ancestors; consequently, there is no other way to explain the disastrousevents other than to blame mortals (Evans-Pritchard, 1979). Someone has broughtmisfortune to the community, and they must pay, often violently. Witches,whether or not the term exists in any given society, can be defined as people whoare blamed and punished for perceived or real problems by community census.We explore this phenomenon in ancient Maya society after a brief discussion ofwitches and their treatment cross-culturally.Throughout the world, latent jealousies and fears are first expressed in rumorsand gossip that quickly can develop into witchcraft accusations “at times ofunusual or epidemic deaths” (Stewart and Strathern, 2004:7). In sixteenth andseventeenth century England, for example, the belief in witches “helped toaccount for the misfortune of daily life” (Thomas, 1970:54), as well as the unex-plainable. One had no recourse if it was God’s will; however, if a person believedthat a witch was at fault, they could do something about it (Thomas, 1970:68).In Central America, misfortune and disease often are attributed to witchcraft(Pitt-Rivers, 1970). The search for scapegoats then begins (Stewart and Strathern,2004; e.g., Krug et al., 2002:128).Who is accused of witchcraft and why? Sometimes it is people on the fringesof society or strangers; sometimes it is people who are too successful(Gluckman, 1965:59) or too miserly (p. 69). Un-neighborly behavior can leadto witchcraft accusations, and those accused typically were those who weredependent on others such as elderly women and widows and the indigent(Macfarlane, 1970; Thomas, 1970). Or sometimes it is healers or shamans; afterall, “. . . the same power(s) harnessed today in a healing ceremony may be used