Ancient Mesoamerica, 27 (2016), 461–478

Copyright © Cambridge University Press, 2016

doi:10.1017/S0956536116000304

CASTING MAIZE SEEDS IN AN AYÖÖK

COMMUNITY: AN APPROACH TO THE STUDY
OF DIVINATION IN MESOAMERICA

Araceli Rojas
Faculty of Archaeology, Leiden University, Einsteinweg 2, 2333 CC Leiden, Netherlands

Abstract
Recent investigation among the Ayöök (Mixe) people of Oaxaca showed that the on-going use of a 260-day calendar complements the
divinatory technique of casting maize seeds. This paper offers a detailed description of this mantic practice as a means to approach and
better understand precolonial divinatory practices and the people who practiced them, such as the tonalopouhque among the Nahua. In
particular, this new data will also serve to shed light on the use of the pictorial manuscripts that portray the 260-day calendar, such as the
so-called Borgia Group Codices. Along these lines, historical and colonial accounts, origin narratives, visual culture, and the archaeology
surrounding divination will also be re-examined. This article will show that, similar to the Ayöök contemporary daykeepers and diviners,
those that lived in the past were also wise women and men who were specialized in managing the complicated system of symbolism
surrounding prognostication and prescription set out over 260 days. Furthermore, they employed divination for medical purposes and aided
people with afflictions, curing them of sickness.

INTRODUCTION culture where the casting of maize is portrayed. The aim here is to
highlight the strong relationship between, and complementary use
This article is the product of recent research carried out among the
of, maize divination and the 260-day calendar in the correct prog-
Ayöök (Mixe) people of Oaxaca, Mexico, in a small town called
nostication of, for instance, a disease. In other words, both were
Poxoyëm. The investigation aimed to document the on-going use
most probably used together as one single oracular device.
of a Mesoamerican calendar of 260 days in its social context, ac-
In this article, the use of sources diachronically, from precolonial
companying ritual activities, and other related worldview symbol-
Mesoamerica, through colonial to contemporary times, will follow
isms (Rojas 2014). One of the most interesting revelations of this
an ethno-iconological approach. Ethno-iconology is based on the
research was the close and strong bond between the calendar and
premise that contemporary cultures that show cultural continuity,
divination, in this case using the technique of reading maize
such as in the case of Mesoamerican societies, offer great potential
kernels. Generally, when consulting a daykeeper to learn of possible
for the interpretation of precolonial visual and material culture. The
“good” or “not good” predictions for days that affect illnesses,
strong cultural continuity in Mesoamerica complements historical
dreams, presages, conflicts, and afflictions, the daykeeper will
sources, corrects Eurocentric distortion, and explains the meaning
also cast maize seeds in order to confirm a preliminary diagnosis,
and function of religious concepts (Jansen 1988:92). That is not
recover more information, and prescribe the most adequate
to say, however, that indigenous cultures have been stable
remedy which consist of paying respect to the divinities, such as
throughout time: continuity implies development and change.
It Naaxwin (Earth deity), God, the patron saints, and ancestors.
Mesoamerican peoples show a diachronically persistent affiliation
This article describes this maize divinatory practice and shows
to ancestral traditions or, in other words, their cultures, languages,
that this data can improve understanding of the people who
and religions have been resilient to the passage of time, the clash
managed and used the 260-day calendar in precolonial
and trauma of colonization being the most dramatic event (see
Mesoamerica. In particular, it will be proposed that divination
also Bartolomé 1997; Gossen 2007:527; López Austin 1990). An
was an integral part of consulting the calendrical and mantic
ethno-iconological approach has proven to be successful in the
manuals that are now called the Borgia Group codices or the
study of codices (see Anders et al. 1994; Oudijk 2000; van
Teoamoxtli (the latter following the terminology of Jansen and
Doesburg 2001, among others). For instance, based on ethnography
Pérez Jiménez 2004). With the support of accounts from colonial
study of the their rituals of counting offerings and sacred bundles
sources, it will be suggested that maize divination was physically
conducted among the Tlapanec people, we now understand that
practiced on the painted pages of these books. The ethnographic
the Borgia Group codices were employed as manuals by experts
data will also be used to better understand some Mesoamerican his-
in calendars, divination, medicine, and rituals in precolonial times
torical accounts that describe divinatio and examples of visual
(Anders et al. 1993; Nowotny 2005 [1961]; van der Loo 1987).
Following the scholarship of Nowotny (2005 [1961]) and Jansen
E-mail correspondence to: a.rojas@arch.leidenuniv.nl (1982), the contemporary use of the calendar and divination can

461

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 462
shed light on past practices, symbolism, and the tools related to div-
ination rituals. Calendars, and the ancient codices that contained
them, were used by daykeepers as essential tools for healing and
worshipping or addressing gods and ancestors. In particular, ac-
counts of divinatory practices in contemporary communities give
us the opportunity to understand what “divination” and “diviner”
mean within their historical and cultural contexts, and most impor-
tantly, in the original indigenous languages. This permits a closer
look at indigenous worldviews and thus attempts to correct distor-
tions that were created, in the case of Mesoamerica, by colonial ac-
counts. Hereafter, this work will undertake this challenge and try to
give a closer view of Mesoamerican divination, its people, and
tools.
AYÖÖK CALENDAR AND MAIZE DIVINATION
The Ayöök calendar and maize divination have an intrinsic bond:
consulting the 260-day calendar and its predictions also implies
consulting maize. A complete consult with the daykeepers includes
asking and learning the prognostications and recommendations of
both systems. The 260-day calendar and maize divination comple-
ment each other. The following analysis will demonstrate that this
would also have been the case in precolonial times.
The Ayöök calendar, besides being used as a notational system
to mark the passage of time, works as a prognosticative and pre-
scriptive tool by itself (Rojas 2013, 2014). The 260-day sacred cal-
endar is handled and stored in the memory of the xëë maywë
machowë (or xëë maypë machopë), literally the one that “divines
and counts the days” (translation by author). Today in the town of
Poxoyëm, in the western part of the Ayöök region, it is only
female experts who maintain this knowledge. They do so for the
benefit of community members seeking medicinal remedies and
ritual solutions to alleviate life’s afflictions. The most significant
source of prognostication and prescription for each day is given
by one of the 20 possible signs (see Rojas 2013, 2014 for a complete
list and analysis of the days). The numeral, from one to thirteen,
gives intensity to the features of the sign. The day signs are ambiv-
alent: they can be not so good in terms of prognostication and still
positively suggest following a ritual prescription, and vice versa.
Each day has a particular general prediction (good or not good), a
ritual recommendation (in which, for example, a marriage celebra-
tion could be included), a birth augury, which suggests personality
traits or possible risks to the future life of the newly born, and a level
of intensity of any of these layers given by its number.
People consult the experts of the days and divination for many
reasons. Afflictions are one of the main motives to consult the xëë
maywë (short for xëë maywë machowë). In the context of poverty
and marginalization, sickness is one of the main sources of afflic-
tion. Susto (or illness caused by fright), derived from a shock or dis-
tress, may perhaps be the most common ailment caused by the
imbalance of body and the spirit (see Lipp 1991:154–166). It is
usually diagnosed after the feeling of a gust of cold wind (mal
aire, “bad air”) or by a recurrent, chronic, or aggravating sickness.
Those people in the community who are able to experience transfor-
mation into animals or natural phenomena, the so-called tso’ok and
perhaps more commonly known as the nahualli in Mesoamerican
literature, can also visit persons whom they want to harm in
dreams, and cause them susto.
Dreams and presages may also be a source of affliction when
they announce illness, danger, bad luck, or even death. Presages
are events where meaningful signs occur, for example, when an
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Rojas
owl sings close to the house, seeing a buzzard or a puma, or
when a snake crosses one’s path in direction of the sunset
(a presage that in colonial times was interpreted as something that
“cuts the thread of life,” according to Serna [1953:225]).
Similarly, visions in dreams such as burning candles, a wedding cel-
ebration, money, blood, being bitten by an animal, a broken pestle,
or losing teeth, are a forewarning of risk, physical ailment, or lack of
respect to the Earth and the ancestors.
Further causes of distress can be family problems, conflicts with
others, infertility, alcoholism, missing persons or objects (money),
and relatives moving away. The latter is particularly relevant in
Poxoyëm, since most of the adult men have left the village, many
of them to migrate to the United States to look for work. The
wives and mothers who are left behind constantly pray for them
and their lives, work, health, and safe return to the village.
The xëë maywë are the most capable of knowing the causes of
afflictions, susto, and bad announcements, as well as restoring
health to the sick by leading acts of respect to the Earth deity, It
Naaxwiin. These women then inquire into the context or the symp-
toms of the illness and link the source of the ailment, dreams, pre-
sages, or conflicts between persons, with time, i.e., a day in the
calendar. That day offers very important information about the
state of the problem. For example, if the persisting ailment started
on Jëm (“Ashes”), the xëë maywë will know that it is a serious
illness, that it will be difficult to cure, or has been caused by a con-
flict with someone, perhaps a tso’ok. If a bad dream occurred on
Tëëts (“Teeth”), it announces a serious illness, perhaps sent by an-
cestors who feel unattended to. If no action is taken and no acts of
respect are performed, the sickness will continue and could lead to
death.
Just as a doctor would, the xëë maywë inquires about the pa-
tient’s physical symptoms. In the case of Ayöök medicine, the
xëë maywë, like other holistic practioners, will also ask after the
emotional status of the patient. All of this information will be con-
nected with the prognostications of the days, with the time in which
the ailments started, when the dreams and presages occurred, and
when the patient experienced sadness, anger, or conflict. The xëë
maywë will then have a preliminary idea of what kind of illness is
afflicting her patient, and what would be the remedy to cure it. As
in the case of a doctor, who would perhaps asking for blood tests
to verify her or his diagnosis, the xëë maywë will also run further
tests. It is at this stage that she performs maize divination.
Maize is able to transmit and confirm whether the source of an
illness is an upset ancestor, susto, the non-observance of acts of
respect to It Naaxwin or the ancestors, or harm sent by another
person. Maize reading can also help to ascertain the potential of a
job, house, couple or baby, and, according to the Ayöök calendar
and the expertise of the xëë maywë, when is it proper to ask It
Naaxwin, God, the Virgin Mary, and the saints for any of these
things. Maize can also reveal if family members will manage to suc-
cessfully cross the United States border and if they will have job op-
portunities. Divination can reveal whether a lost object or stolen
money can be recovered, if a love interest will lead to marriage, if
the matrimony will have the tendency to be good and fruitful
(with children), if infidelity is or could be present, and if somebody
has lied, betrayed or gossiped. In the past, people used to consult the
xëë maywë before leaving the town in order to know if they would
travel safely and find the solution to their problems (for example,
when bringing a doctor to Poxoyëm).
After maize divination and after the diagnosis is verified, the xëë
maywë will prescribe the correct medicine. In this case, the remedy
 Casting Maize Seeds in an Ayöök Community
consists of following the indicated procedure of offerings and ritual
acts, designated on a propitious day and place, so that they will be
effective.
MAIZE DIVINATION AS AN INSTRUMENT OF
“SEEING”
In Poxoyëm to divine with maize is called mook pajk wëjwë. Mook
means “maize,” pajk means “seed,” and wëjwë is “to divine” (trans-
lations by author). Maize is a central aspect of the worldview and
culture of Mesoamerican civilizations and the Ayöök are no excep-
tion. Every one of the seeds, in each cob, is a product of It Naaxwin,
the Earth. She is an omniscient and omnipresent entity that witness-
es the development of our lives. She knows and hears all; she is ev-
erywhere. It could be said that maize is her favourite son, designated
as sacred nourishment and a daily source of food. Therefore, as with
It Naaxwin, maize deserves respect. Just as It Naaxwin is alive, so is
maize. It has a spirit and can see, listen, and feel. If, for example, by
mistake, we let maize fall on the ground, we should immediately
pick it up and give it a kiss as a gesture of apology. Sahagún
(2006:268) also stated that if somebody saw a maize seed on the
floor, it was his or her obligation to pick it up because if not, it
would be taken as an offense to the Maize God, which could
result in hunger as a punishment.
It is not strange that maize is a vehicle for divination, as the seeds
are capable of communicating what humans are not able to perceive.
In this way, we could say that humans are partially blind to the
things that happen on Earth. Dreams, presages, and maize divination
are vehicles of communication which transmit information, most
often about possible dangers to come or the lack of fulfillment
toward ethical, societal, communal, and religious values on behalf
of It Naaxwin, the ancestors and the Adojk It, literally the “Other
Side,” or the Other World. The hills are extensions of the Earth;
altars and sacred places are also vehicles of communication, in
this case from humans to It Naaxwin, ancestors, and other divinities.
The xëë maywë is a genuine mediator between these elements and
the people of the community. Her or his work is not easy: she or
he has a special gift of helping, healing, and providing ease in
moments of affliction.
Among the Ayöök people, someone consulting a daykeeper and
diviner will say that he or she wants to know his or her joo’nkjyën
ixët. This term is very close to what we understand as “destiny.”
Joo’nk means “life,” yën refers to “length,” and ixët comes from
the verb “ixp” which means “to see.” All together, the phrase can
be translated as “to see [the things] along the course of life.”
Joo’nkjyën ixët highlights the capacity to see.
In addition, to divine refers more to “seeing” rather than guess-
ing or foretelling. Accordingly, the etymology of the word “divina-
tion” is derived from the Latin divinare, means “to discover what is
hidden” (Karcher 1998:215). Lamentably, the development of
Western science since the Enlightenment and Positivist movements
condemned divination, placing it within the realm of charlatanry and
falsehood, without the possibility of becoming a method of gaining
knowledge (see extended criticisms in Anders and Jansen 1993:159;
Jung 1980; Raphals 2003:537). The skeptical treatment of oracular
topics in the social sciences has, on various occasions, impeded a
closer look at divinatory practices in contemporary and ancient
societies.
Joo’nkjyën ixët can also be defined as a narration of oneself:
an oral representation where time and space intersect, where ex-
pectations and personal identifications within a social and
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463
historical context connect with other entities, not necessarily
only persons but also feelings, events, and situations, among
others. The narration of oneself both implies and requires the
taking of experiences to a conscious level (Ochs and Capps
1996:21). Divinatory narratives are constructed by personal expe-
rience and molded according to alternations and encounters with
(significant) points in time and space (Hatfield 2002:857). Maize
divination provides a graphic representation (images), in which
the seeds personify the patient or the client along with other
actors and situations or feelings involved in the inquiry (Rojas
2016). It makes visible a complete temporal and spatial scenario,
which may well not be clear for the person making the consult
beforehand. In this way, the process allows to gain conscious-
ness of oneself. Maize divination is a tool for seeing (and
better understanding) a problematic situation.
MOOK PAJK WËJWË: THE SEEDS, THE RESPECT, AND
THE REVELATION
Mook pajk wëjwë always implies an act of hope and respect towards
It Naaxwin. Every consultation must be made with respect towards
the Earth, asking her permission to find out what she can see. The
xëë maywë will then invoke some words and pour mezcal for It
Naaxwin, asking her for permission, license to consult, to know
the things that occur, and to find the best way to help the patient
or client. A prayer is also given for the well-being and health of
the consultant, who holds a lot of maize and makes the sign of
the cross (see Lipp 1991:166–167 for the sacred discourses before
casting maize among the Mixe; Tedlock 1982:153 for those
among the K’iche’; and Ruíz de Alarcón 1953:130–132 for those
pronounced by sixteenth century Nahua diviners, which are exam-
ples of the esoteric and secret language nahuallatolli). Every
session will also end with the advice of the diviner with regards
to carrying out acts of respect and offerings to It Naaxwin, God,
the saints, and ancestors at the proper time and place. Even if the
outcome of the maize seeds predicts misfortune, it can always be
mitigated or inverted.
The xëë maywë starts by choosing 13, 16, 18, or 30 maize seeds.
In some colonial sources, it was said that the daykeepers used 20
maize grains (Cervantes de Salazar 1971:vol. I, p. 136) or 13
seeds in accordance with the 13 gods that ruled the 260 day-calendar
(Balsalobre 1953:352). Today among the Mixe, the use of 15 maize
grains (González Villanueva 1989:69) or 13 larger maize seeds,
which are submitted to an initiation ritual beforehand, has been
recorded (Antonio Martínez from Tamazulapan, personal communi-
cation 2010). In Poxoyëm, the xëë maywë say that 16 or 18 seeds are
a perfect number with which to obtain a clear reading, as the maize
can communicate what is happening; with 30 grains it is more
confusing. Some diviners carry their seeds with them all the time, al-
though the seeds can also be obtained from the bags where the family
keeps their grains or from a cob found in the kitchen.
The anatomy of the maize seed is relevant for a correct reading.
The tip cap or pedicel, the part that attaches to the cob, and the body
or endosperm, should be identified (Figure 1). Every seed has a fore-
part, like a face with nose and eyes situated where the tip cap is, and
a back part that corresponds to the squarish end of the endosperm.
On one side of the body, the surface has a concavity, where the
embryo is situated, and on the other side the seed is flat. This essen-
tial feature determines a living or a deceased person. Ancestors are
fundamental figures in every divinatory session. It should be re-
membered that deceased relatives, if left unattended, may be the
 464
Figure 1. The maize seed and its parts. Drawing by the author.
cause of diseases, bad dreams, troubles, and bad luck. When a seed
falls with the concavity facing upward, it indicates a living person; if
the flat surface is facing upward, it signals a deceased individual.
Depending on the situation, the seed with a concavity may point
to positive answers and good fortune and to the contrary when
showing the flat surface. In the seventeenth century, Ruíz de
Alarcón (1953:31) and Serna (1953:265) also mentioned that the
seeds that fall with their face up signify good luck, that a medicine
will appear, or that a lost item will be found, indicating otherwise
when the seed falls upside down.
Since reading the seeds implies the creation of a logical narrative
in time and space units, it may be easier to recognize the seeds as
agents, either alive or dead, such as parents, grandparents, uncles,
sons, daughters, friends or compadres, and agencies that correspond
to events or feelings such as love, abandonment, deception, treason,
lies, gossip, problems, happiness, triumph, job, money, sickness,
anguish, abortion, pregnancy, and so on.
On top of a table or flat surface, the xëë maywë places a tortilla
napkin (sometimes finely embroidered) and casts the maize on it.
The tortilla napkin offers a genuine spatial dimension, essential
for bringing a logical narrative where time and space intersect
(a chronotopic narrative, in terms of Bakhtin [1981]). The
napkin, therefore, represents the geographical space, which can
be the house, a part of the town, the town itself, a region, a
country, or even the entire world (Figure 2). This is the cloth or
lienzo that represents the horizontal ground of the world (López
Austin 1967:104). During the reading session, it is common to
hear diviners referring to geographical features, for example
“your job is out of town,” “a person gossips in the place where
the sun sets,” “your road is free of obstacles,” “the north is free”
(the way to the United States).
There are two ways to cast the maize seeds. One consists of
throwing the whole bunch of seeds smoothly with one hand, at
once, on top of the napkin (like throwing dice). The second
method starts by placing one seed in the center of the napkin.
Often, this seed represents the client, so it must be laid in the
“living” position, with the concavity upside and “looking” down-
wards, toward the diviner. It can also be the case, for instance in
marriage prognostications, that the diviner will place two “living”
seeds parallel to each other. In other situations, regarding an
inquiry that deals with more persons, the necessary amount of
seeds would be placed on the napkin with a clear identification of
the persons involved. Afterwards, the seeds inside one hand will
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be thrown one by one to the maize in the center, holding them in
a “living” form. Once they fall, because they bounce and hit other
seeds, their position may stay or change to “alive” or “dead.”
With this method, throw after throw, and little by little, the seeds
provide images on top of the table, or make the “client” or
“people” in the center change place and move in different directions,
or change its status to “dead.” The arrangement of seeds when the
last seed is thrown brings a final diagnosis. The cast of seeds is per-
formed several times for every question, with one or both methods,
until the reading is clear. Three throws is an adequate number for
each session (for other forms of divining with maize among the
Nahuas, see Sandstrom 1991; the K’iché, see Tedlock 1982; the
Ixil, see Colby and Colby 1981; the Tlapanec, see Oettinger 1979).
In Poxoyëm, when the seeds are thrown on the table, different
maize may represent the client in different times and spaces. In
other words, in a single cast the client may appear several times
and face diverse persons, alive or deceased, circumstances, and feel-
ings. At the end of each casting, the xëë maywë shows her gift, given
in part by her intuition and her connection with the hidden sources
of wisdom of this and the Other World, to correctly identify the
“living kernel” that represents the client as well as the different
agents and agencies that influence or affect him or her (see examples
below).
There are multiple possibilities for configuration when throwing
18 seeds. It is beyond the scope of this article to make a more
in-depth analysis of the reading, although for better comprehension
it is sufficient to explain that certain grains are only significant when
they comply with a known sign, a convention, which can be placed
in logical time and space (chronotopes (Bakhtin 1981); see Rojas
2016). As such, they become resources for the symbols to be ex-
plained and expressed in a coherent narrative constructed between
the diviner and the client in a dialogical manner. In other words,
one sign can appear in different maize divinatory sessions but can
only bring significance if it coincides with the given situation (the
same happens with Tarot cards, for instance, with “The Lovers”
card, which can signify union and a couple falling in love of but,
in other instances, it might also be taken as a dilemma or a decision
to be made between two options). In this way, ambiguity constitutes
a fundamental principle of maize reading. As opposed to the de-
scription given by the Colby and Colby (1981:247) regarding
maize divination among the Ixil, in which divination is described
as a fixed instructive list similar to a computer program, here
there are no definite formulas. A narrative is brought up as a
 Casting Maize Seeds in an Ayöök Community
Figure 2. Spatial dimension and the place of the client at the beginning of a divinatory session. Drawing by the author.
combination of the experience, background and intuition of both the
diviner and client, depending on the situation. Some brief examples
are given below in order to illustrate the features of maize divination,
including the ambiguous character of the images created by the con-
figuration of the seeds.
Maize in Opposition
When the maize seed that represents the client lies directly in front
of another seed, with both tips touching, the result is clear and
straightforward. If it is against a “dead” seed the response is nega-
tive. It may mean the thing being looked for or the aim pursued
will not be achieved, that there are obstacles on the road, that the
question asked is not part of the client’s destiny, that the illness is
strong, perhaps provoked by someone else by susto (fright) or
mal de ojo (the evil eye). Depending on the situation expressed, it
may well be the case that a deceased relative is upset and feels aban-
doned, without offerings and nourishment. He or she may also have
left an unfulfilled promise (a manda) to a saint or the hills and so is
asking their son or daughter to fulfill it. If this is the case, the xëë
maywë would ask if the client has dreamt of certain significant
images, perhaps the dead relative, and in such a way the diagnosis
would be confirmed (Figure 3).
Conversely, if the seed identified as the client is surrounded by
other seeds but is not directly touching any and has perhaps slightly
moved in another direction, either forwards or behind, it could be a
signal of some influence over him or her (Figure 4). These seeds
do not badly affect the client, but definitely have value. For instance,
if they are “living” agents and they are placed in front of the client-
seed, they could be relatives or friends that give support in a positive
way or await the arrival of the consultant. They can be interpreted as a
good augury, such as the arrival of money or job opportunities. If they
are “dead” they could be deceased relatives supporting and protecting
the well-being of the client in the same way. If a maize seed falls on
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465
top of the “client” seed, it might be an indication that somebody
within the family is suffering from an illness or some affliction.
Free Road
It could also be the case that there are no seeds in front of the client-
seed, creating a free road in front of him or her. This indicates good
fortune. It might be seen as a road free of obstacles or as the start of a
trip or a purpose in life that will not be affected by problems, sick-
ness, envy or third parties (Figure 5). In the same way, if one “dead”
maize appears with a free road, maybe even turning to another direc-
tion, it might indicate that the ancestors are well, are in a good mood,
feel nourished, left no promises unattended, and have no demands to
make on the living.
Maize Kernels on Top of Each Other
When a seed falls on top of the client-seed, this commonly ex-
presses a negative response or prognostication (Cervantes de
Salazar [1971 (ca. 1560):vol. I, p. 136] asserted the opposite by
stating that a maize kernel that lies over another is an indicator
of the upcoming cure of an ill person). In Poxoyëm it may be a
sign of sadness, offense, deceit, gossip, or anguish. The same con-
clusion might be reached if the client ends up upside down after
casting all seeds toward him or her or if a seeds ends standing
up on one of its sides (Motolinía 1971:153 and Torquemada
1986:84 mentioned that if one of the seeds fell “standing up”
then this indicated death) (Figure 6). If the seed that falls on top
is in the “dead” position, this confirms an adverse outcome such
as a serious illness, conflict with others, or evil or bad intentions
toward the consultant. It could also be interpreted as problems
sent by ancestors.
 466 Rojas

Figure 3. Seeds in direct opposition. Drawing by the author.

Figure 4. Seeds pointing to others. Drawing by the author.

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 Casting Maize Seeds in an Ayöök Community 467

Figure 5. Seeds on top of others. Drawing by the author.

Maize as Couples
One possible outcome is that two seeds fall lying together,
side-by-side, parallel to one another. These may represent the
client couple or be an indication of a new relationship or marriage.
If they lie with their fronts towards each other, this is a sign of
conflict and discussion; if they have their backs to each other then
this might signify a separation and the start of different paths. In
some cases, in the same throw, the patient-seed lies in front of
another maize seed, as though he or she had encountered another
person. This case clearly indicates infidelity (Figure 7). This can
also happen if, at the beginning, two maize seeds are placed in

Figure 6. Seeds with a free road. Drawing by the author.

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 468
Figure 7. Seeds as a couple, ending in separation. Drawing by the author.
the center of the napkin when consulting the fortune of a couple that
plans to get married. If in the end they still are together, without
maize on top or in front of them, with a “free road” ahead of
them, this indicates a good augury and fruitful union. If there are
living maize kernels nearby in a good alignment, these might be
supportive relatives or, even better, babies to come.
MAIZE DIVINATION AFTERMATH: THE
PRESCRIPTION
Of high importance in maize divination is the role of ancestors,
which is often revealed in the arrangement of the seeds. Similarly,
in Momostenango the deceased are asked to help answer the ques-
tions of clients (Tedlock 1982:160). Here again essential notions in
the Mesoamerican worldview are emphasized. In the Ayöök vision,
the deceased live in Adojk it, the Other World, from where they
communicate and interact with the living. They are not at all inert
or passive agents. The Western view, based on scientific reasoning,
rejects such ideas and sometimes condemns them as “superstitious”
or as false beliefs in ghosts and zombies. These judgments hinder a
better understanding of the native world vision, specifically regard-
ing the relations between the living and the dead. In fact, the type of
interaction that takes place with ancestors is necessarily different to
that between equal, living people. Communication with the dead is
achieved through prayers, offerings, and candlelight. Ancestors
manifest their needs or warnings of possible dangers through
dreams, presages, and maize divination. Sometimes, if they feel
abandoned (that is, the family has not given them prayers, offerings
of food and beverages, or candles), they express their perturbation or
annoyance clearly and explicitly by sending sicknesses or bad
fortune (also described by Lipp 1991:159). In such cases, the xëë
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maywë and her maize kernels will determine how to identify any
fault and make atonements.
When the reading is finished, it is possible to address It Naaxwin
once again, offering words of respect and sips of mezcal to the
ground. Then is the moment to prescribe a treatment in aid of the
affliction or illness of the client. Every consultation finishes with
the recommendation to give respect to It Naaxwin, God, the
saints, and ancestors, with emphasis on any particular party depend-
ing on the outcome of the maize reading. Messages of danger or
serious illness provoked by the tso’ok or ancestors imply the risk
of death and, as such, demand urgently-prepared offerings and
ritual performance in the appropriate sacred space. For instance, if
the maize revealed that the ancestors require attention, prayers and
food, it would be necessary to go to the Ujyokm hill or the cemetery
to offer special sacred food to the deceased relatives. Even if the
outcome of the maize reading was positive and there are no
threats to the client, the diviner will still recommend performing
rituals and offering respect to It Naaxwin in order to preserve the
good augury. Well-being is assured when the obligation toward
the divine and natural entities, as well as to the community, are
fulfilled.
THE XËË MAYWË AND THE TONALOPOUHQUI
Ayöök contemporary data on maize divination can be used to gain a
better understanding of this practice, its practitioners, and associated
tools in precolonial Mesoamerica. Nowotny (2005 [1961]) was a
pioneer in this respect, being the first scholar to acknowledge the
potential of the preserved traditions of Mesoamerican cultures to
better study the codices that are now in European museum collec-
tions. He correctly addressed these manuscripts as the tonalamatl
 Casting Maize Seeds in an Ayöök Community
or “books of the days” of the Nahua people and he was the first to
recognize that these were tools for the tonalpouhque or “those who
count the days” in giving advice and “therapy” to the people who
were sick or afraid of an evil augury or bad dream (Nowotny
2005 [1961]:200). He understood that the Nahua used the books
to identify the signs of threat and the methods to counterattack
danger, indicating the necessary offerings of paper, incense, and
rubber, to a specific god or goddess on a specific day.
As is the case in the present day Ayöök community, in pre-
Hispanic times the tonalpouhque and diviners were consulted to
determine the origin of sicknesses, to find lost things, establish
the compatibility of couples or the potential for a marriage, the
fortune of newborn babies, or the augury of a long trip or new en-
terprise (Durán 1967:vol. I, p. 228; Motolinía 1971:153; Ruíz de
Alarcón 1953:118, 130; Serna 1953:258). In the past, another
time to consult maize was at the moment of the death of a relative,
in order to know to which god to make offerings (Balsalobre 1953:
353–354).
It should be first acknowledged that, like the xëë maywë, the
tonalpouhque were knowledgeable persons. The xëë maywë,
besides having faultless math skills (to count 260 days and
manage them in numerous permutations), know the symbolism as-
sociated with each one of these days, with their ambivalences in
prognostications and prescriptions in connection with the system
of beliefs and social norms which rule this and the Other World
(see Rojas 2013). In other contemporary accounts, daykeepers and
diviners are also described having high erudition, like in
Jacaltenango, Guatemala where they are called the ahbe, literally
“those who know” (La Farge and Byers 1931:153). Among the
Nahua of the Huasteca of Veracruz, diviners, healers, and ritual spe-
cialists are called tlamátiquetl which literally means “person of
knowledge” (Sandstrom 1991:233).
In colonial sources, despite the discriminatory and dark dis-
course towards native cultures, it is also possible at times to find de-
scriptions of diviners as wise men and women. For instance, the
diviners of central Mexico were described as people of great
respect, figures of authority within their communities, and are
even compared to prophets (Torquemada 1986:196). Among the
Zapotec of Sola de Vega, Oaxaca, the specialist of the 260 day
count, ritual, and divination with maize was called “letrado y
maestro” (“knowledgeable and a master”; Balsalobre 1953:
351–352). Indeed, as is the case today, they were advisers of
moral and community life (Anders and Jansen 1993:73).
THE BOND BETWEEN THE CALENDAR AND MAIZE
DIVINATION
Ayöök maize divination and the work of the xëë maywë recalls the
strong connection to time of precolonial diviners and their books.
The xëë maywë are indeed keepers and guardians of the days. In
their name, besides having the “maywë” which describes their capacity
“to divine,” “machowë” ascertains that they “count the days.” The
Nahua tonalpouhque were the “counters of the days,” a term which
is derived from the verb “pouhque” meaning “to count” and which
is also related to “read” (Thouvenot 2014). Pre-Hispanic diviners
and daykeepers were able to count and read signs that were probably
not immediately comprehensible to normal people.
Similarly, the diviners (ajk”ij) of Momostenango stressed the
time component in their name because it literally means “timekeep-
ers” (Tedlock 1982). Among the Ixil, diviners and medicine men
read maize by addressing the deities that “reign” on each of the
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469
days (Colby and Colby 1981:223). This idea recalls the Codex
Borgia (Yoalli Ehecatl) where each of the 20 days have images
that signal a general augury of the day and where a god or
goddess is painted next to them (Anders et al. 1993:ff. 9–14).
Each deity appears seated on a throne, conventionally indicating
that he or she “reigns” over that day (Figure 8). As noted by other
scholars (Anders et al. 1993:91; Rojas 2012:56), these images coin-
cide with views among the lowland Mixes where the 20 calendar
signs are conceived as “seats” used by deities for reaching council
(Lipp 1991:62).
The strong link between the calendar and divination as seen in the
Ayöök contemporary case coincides with sacred narratives in histori-
cal sources and visual culture in Mesoamerican archaeology.
According to some creation narratives, the calendar and divination
were created together. For the Nahua people of the Basin of
Mexico, the divine couple, Cipactonal and Oxomoco, were considered
the father of time and days and the mother of divination and healing,
respectively (Sahagún 1577:246v; conversely and most probably mis-
takenly, Garibay 1979a:25 and Mendieta 1973:60 address Cipactonal
as a goddess and Oxomoco as a god). They were born together with
the help of Quetzalcoatl and Huitzilopochtli into a world with half a
sun and not much light (Garibay 1979a:25). Weaving implements
were given to Oxomoco and Cipactonal was given sowing tools.
From this divine couple, the common people or the macehuales
were born, who had to work as their parents did. Maize kernels for
curing and soothsaying were then bestowed upon Oxomoco, while
the days and months were created and allotted, and in this way, the cal-
endar was created. Both the father and mother of time and divination
were evoked during the prayers of diviners and healers among the
Aztecs (López Austin 1967:101).
This origin narrative seems also to be portrayed on the Piedra de
los Reyes, in Coatlan, Morelos (Figure 9). Here Cipactonal appears
with a headdress of an alligator, in representation of the first day of
the Aztec calendar, and as master painter of the tonalaque (days),
and Oxomoco, with a garment of Itzpapalotl, the goddess of
“knives and butterflies,” who seems to be related to Oxomoco (in
folio 18v of Codex Telleriano Remensis, Izpapalotl is referred as a
sinful manifestation of Oxomoco, “a kind of Eve who was expelled
from Tamoanchan” [Quiñones Keber 1995:182]). This rock engrav-
ing is located not far from the province of Cuauhnahuac
(Cuernavaca, Morelos) where, according to other sacred narratives,
the first man came out of a cave (Garibay 1979b:106).
Correspondingly, Mendieta (1973:60) refers to the story of the in-
vention of the calendar by the peoples of the Basin of Mexico
and Tlaxcala in which Cipactonal and Oxomoco were inside a
cave in Cuernavaca and asked their grandson Quetzalcoatl for
help in naming, counting, and painting the first 13 signs of the cal-
endar. Although Mendieta expresses it differently, it may be possi-
ble that Cipactonal provided the first day “1 Cipactli (Alligator),”
Quetzalcoatl presented the second day “2 Ehecatl (Wind),” and
Oxomoco named the third day “3 Calli (House)” (Anders and
Jansen 1993:77). This would imply that Oxomoco is a deity that
is close to house and family healing and ritual activities.
Another image that immediately reflects the strong connection
between the calendar and divination is seen in the Codex
Borbonicus (Codex of the Cihuacoatl) where Oxomoco and
Cipactonal appear in the middle of the page, surrounded by the
first half (26 years) of the xiuhmolpilli, the 52 Year Round, from
1 Rabbit to 13 Reed (Anders et al. 1991:f. 21). As has been noted
by various scholars (Anders et al. 1991:182; Durand-Forest 1968:
10; Quiñones Keber 1995:254) this image coincides with
 470
Figure 8. Influence and patron deity (Xochiquetzal) ruling over the day Flower (notice the goddess is seated on a throne) in Codex
Borgia. Drawing by the author after Anders et al. 1993:f. 9.
Sahagún’s writings, in which he mentioned that the Nahua tonal-
pouhque painted the creator couple of the calendar and divination,
Oxomoco and Cipactonal, on their books, the tonalamatl
(Sahagún 1577:246v) (Figure 10). Both are seated on thrones
inside a golden temple, from which a precious spring emerges,
with deer shaped batons placed on the entrance. They are depicted
as old and wise, as shown by Cipactonal’s teeth and Oxomoco’s
wrinkles. Cipactonal’s name is signalled by a Cipactli glyph
behind him. He carries ritual instruments: a smoking censer, a
bone awl for the auto-sacrifice of blood, and an incense or copal
pouch. She throws what are probably seeds and holds a bowl,
perhaps with water: these are divinatory instruments. They both
carry a round object on their backs similar to the gourds that
contain piciete (tobacco) in Mixtec Codices (Jansen 1992:21).
Therefore, they are masters of time, ritual, and divination.
Another example of the intrinsic relation between the calendar
and divination comes from the archaeology of the Templo
Calendárico of Tlatelolco (Figure 11). Its façade of rock panels
and the mural on the round structure on its frontal stairway shows
a sequence of the first 52 days as well as a portrayal of
Cipactonal and Oxomoco inside what seems to be a cave
(Guilliem Arroyo 1998). As in the Codex Borbonicus, the man
holds a bone awl, a copal pouch, and a tobacco gourd, and the
woman, as in the Coatlan cave, has an itzpapalotl (obsidian butterfly)
motif in front of her.
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Similarly, the images of central Mexico have parallels with the
Popol Vuh, the of sacred origin narratives the K’iche’ Maya. Here
it was written that at the beginning of time, still in darkness, when
the primordial gods created the world and the first humans, they
searched for someone to worship them with offerings and respect.
The Framer and the Shaper asked Xpiyacoc and Xmucane, the
Seers, to divine by casting maize seeds, to facilitate a new
shaping: human beings (Christensen 2003:79–81). Interestingly,
Xmucane has similar phonetics to Oxomoco, whose name has
been suggested as meaning “Force of the Pregnant” (Anders et al.
1991:183). This etymology is based on the texts of historian
Mariano Veytia (1836:9) who wrote her name as “Otzmozco,” sug-
gesting it derives from otztli meaning “pregnant,” which coincides
with the goddess who is also considered the matron of midwives.
READING MAIZE AND READING CODICES AS
INSTRUMENTS OF SEEING
In accordance with these references to the primordial “seers”, con-
temporary Mesoamerican diviners and precolonial tonalpouhque
possess enhanced capacities to see (Monaghan and Hamann
1998). Among the Ayöök, this means they see and better understand
the conflictive causes and circumstances surrounding the affliction
of the patient or client (Rojas 2016). They actually help the
patient to see with their own eyes the present conditions affecting
 Casting Maize Seeds in an Ayöök Community
Figure 9. The Piedra de los Reyes, Coatlan, Morelos. Drawing by the author after Guilliem Arroyo 1998:50.
him or her, which are represented on the maize kernels on top of a
table. They read and interpret hidden messages revealed through
maize, which behaves as a well-intentioned emissary of It
Naaxwin and the Other World, the long-distance seers of the
events and problems that happen on Earth. Reading and seeing
were certainly also virtues of the tonalpouhque among the precolo-
nial Nahua.
Contemporary Nahua diviners and healers of the Huasteca also
placed an emphasis on this special skill of seeing. Besides
tlamátiquetl, they are also called tlachixquetl, which means “one
who waits, sees, expects something” (Sandstrom 1991:233; similarly
the tlachixqui of the Aztecs was “the one who looks at things”
López Austin 1967:101). In fact, with the aid of lighted candles,
they gaze closely into their trained and highly valued crystals in
order to diagnose causes of problems and ailments (Sandstrom
1991:235). Extremely fascinating is the fact that these crystals
are called mirrors (tescatl) which highlights its capability to en-
lighten in order to see unclear situations, serving as portals from
the Other World. The crystal is not only an instrument of seeing,
but also a “seer.” Likewise, among the K’iche’ in Guatemala, div-
ination starts by placing the largest crystal of a bunch of small
stones and seeds at the center of the table, called ilol, literally
the “seer” (Tedlock 1982:159).
The tonalamatl or “books of the days” of precolonial times, the
same as the maize kernels or the crystals used by Mesoamerican di-
viners, are instruments of counting, reading, and seeing (Monaghan
and Hamann 1998). They were used to observe situations that were
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471
believed to be obscure, such as the cause of illnesses (Boone 2007:
20). As it was described before, Ayöök divinatory sessions with
maize are truly read on top of a napkin and on top of a table,
similar to the way that a book is read and likewise the tonalpouh-
que did with their books of the days (for a full analysis and com-
parison of reading maize and codices, see Rojas 2016). María
Sabina, the renowned wise women who lived in the Mazatec
town of Huatla and healed using psilocybe mushrooms, remark-
ably reckoned that she had received her wisdom in visions when
she read the “immense” Sacred Book of Language and whose
learnings remained thereafter only in her memory (Estrada 1977:
57). Similarly, nowadays the xëë maywë keep impeccable record
of the days and their symbolisms using their memory alone
because they do not have an almanac or book to serve as a
codex as in ancient times or like in other Mixe communities
where the calendar persists (for example in Camotlán, see Miller
1952).
The tonalamatl were essential tools for the precolonial daykeep-
ers and healers on whom they rely to count and keep track of the
days and their different permutations, prognostications and ritual
prescriptions. Most probably they were made by the tonalpouhque
themselves, as Sahagún (2006:538) wrote. Codex Borgia (Yoalli
Ehecatl) is a good example of how to understand that different chap-
ters meant understanding different ways to arrange the 260 days,
useful as different mnemonic devices to apply their knowledge,
and expertise in the best manner in different occasions. For instance,
the pages of this codex allowed them interpret images of dreams
 472 Rojas

Figure 10. Oxomoco and Cipactonal in Codex Borbonicus. Drawing by the author after Anders et al. 1991:f. 21.

Figure 11. Mural in Tlatelolco. Drawing by the author after Guilliem Arroyo 1998:51.

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 Casting Maize Seeds in an Ayöök Community
(Anders et al. 1993:ff. 9–14) recommend ritual and offerings to
certain deities (Anders et al. 1993:ff. 1–8), prognosticate marriage
unions (Anders et al. 1993:ff. 57–60), or suggest the character of
the newly born (Anders et al. 1993:ff. 15–17).
If codices and maize were instruments to improve seeing and
reading, it would not have been strange that they were used together.
Eloise Quiñones Keber (2002), in her analysis of the divinatory
ritual representations in the Florentine Codex, concluded that
Sahagún’s missionary description removed the complexity of the
practices related to the calendar and divination, including the
lively and intercommunicative reading of the book of the days,
the tonalamatl. This suggests that during the reading of codices,
besides the interaction between the tonalpouhque and the client,
other ritual performances occurred.
In fact, colonial sources also give clues that the Teamoxtli books
were used as boards upon which maize seeds were thrown. Among
the K’iché, in the town of San Andrés, near Santiago Atitlán,
Guatemala, when describing the rituals and oracle consults to a
stone monument in the shape of a girl called Cinquimil (“Female
Goddess”), it was said:
[…] the elders of the town gathered and took out some old paint-
ings that they had, where they counted the months and years, and
threw lots. And on the painting where the lots fell, they learned
and understood the time when the war, hunger or pestilence
ought to happen, which the demon [Cinquimil] had meant
[…]. (Villacastín 1982:128, translation by author).
Figure 12. Mictlantecuhtli and Quetzalcoatl painted on a codex page in Codex Borgia, possibly used as a board to cast maize seeds.
Drawing by the author after Anders et al. 1993:56.
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473
Durán also wrote, when describing the job of diviners when children
were born:
[…] the astrologer and soothsayer wizard, took out the book of
fortunes and the calendar […] next to these gods the letters of
the days of their calendar were painted; over this paper they
drew the lots and, depending on how they fell, they prognosticat-
ed. And if the fortune fell on top of the god of life, they said it was
a long life; if it fell over the death, they said he or she would live
little, and so on like this with the rest […] (Durán 1967:vol. I, p.
228, translation by author).
Durán might have referred to pages similar to the Codex Borgia
(Yoalli Ehecatl) on which Mictlantecuhtli and Quetzalcoatl appear
together back-to-back, surrounded by all 260 days arranged by de-
picting the first day of each 20 trecenas (group of 13 days) on top of
a “skeletal earth” (Figure 12; Anders et al. 1993:f. 56).
Mictlantecuhtli is the “Lord of Death,” who rules over the world
of ancestors, and Quetzalcoatl is the “Life-Giving god,” who
helped in creating the world and the first humans by stealing
bones from the Other World (Garibay 1979b). However, as in all
mantic systems, both gods have an ambivalent side since
Mictlantecuhtli can also return health to those who are deadly
sick and Quetzalcoatl can destroy everything with his lethal wind
(Anders et al. 1993:302).
In fact, many other images of Codex Borgia might also have
worked as a surface for casting maize. Two layers of reading could
have been achieved by reading the images provided by the kernels
 474
and making associations with the paintings and their symbols under-
neath. In the case of marriage, the same book features pages with
couples with diverse predictive symbols (Anders et al. 1993:
ff. 57–60), which might also have worked as a surface for casting
maize.
DIVINATION AS MEDICINE
Medicine should also be acknowledged as an essential competence
of Mesoamerican diviners. As in the present study, several studies
on contemporary indigenous peoples give account of the use of div-
inatory practices to cure ailments. To find the remedy of illnesses,
Tlapanec healers of Guerrero measure the arms and read maize
kernels (shawha itsu “measure the bone” and shawha ishi “cast
the seeds”), interpret the placenta, the smoke of copal, and the
stars, and perform rituals with counted offerings (Oettinger 1979).
Among the Zinancantec of Chiapas diviners are able to re-establish
the harmony in the body and recover the lost soul by casting 52
Figure 13. Divination with maize and beans used for medical purposes. Drawing by the author after Codex Tudela : f.49r.
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maize seeds on salty water (Vogt 1993). Ayöök people are no ex-
ception to healing practices in which maize divination plays a
central role (Ballesteros and Rodríguez 1974; Beals 1945; Kuroda
1984; Lipp 1991; Rojas 2012).
In colonial accounts, many of the indistinct (and negative) allu-
sions to “wizard,” “trickster,” “soothsayer,” “astrologer,” or “witch”
in fact correspond to the offices of the native priests, specialists in
the calendar, divination, and medicine (Durán 1967:vol. I, p. 228;
Motolinía 1971:59; Ruíz de Alarcón 1953:24; Sahagún 2006:94,
538; Torquemada 1986:304). The Maya priest, or chilan, was an
expert in ritual, feasts, divination, and medicine (Landa 1978:49).
The Zapotec colanij was described as a “master of the science of
healing” by divining and interpreting the meaning of presages and
dreams and counting the days and festivities (Córdova 1886:203).
The tlaciuhque among the Nahuas were the specialists in the art
of “looking for things,” the use of hallucinogenic plants, and
curing (López Austin 1967). The tlaolxiniani was literally the
“maize caster” and was also considered a healer (Ruíz de Alarcón
 Casting Maize Seeds in an Ayöök Community
1953:30). The tetonaltiani, payni, tlachixqui, tlamaceucatzin, and
ticitl were different medical practitioners who also divined the
origin of illnesses and the location of lost things by consuming
and worshipping “spirited plants” such as the ololiuhqui, peyote,
and tobacco (Ruíz de Alarcón 1953: 43,133; Serna 1953:69, 101,
148, 241, 258–260). Eighteenth-century documents that witnessed
the use of the sacred calendar among Zapotec and Mixe peoples
(used in trials as proof of the persistence of “idolatry”) describe
the daykeeper and diviner as a medicine healer, priest, ceremonial
executor, and nahualli (Alcina Franch 1993).
The Codex Tudela (see folio 49r; Ministerio de Educación,
Cultura y Deporte [ca. 1530–1554]) and one of its copies, the
Codex Magliabechiano (Anders and Jansen 1996:f. 78), portrays
a divinatory session in which a female diviner casts maize and
bean seeds with a shell in front of a Quetzalcoatl effigy in order
to consult on behalf of a sick person who appears in tears
(Figures 13–14). Both glosses describe how the grains are thrown.
Particularly in the case of the Codex Magliabechiano, regardless
of the condemning tone, the writer explicitly calls this divinatory
practice “medicine” and the diviner “doctor,” along with giving
clear prognostications according to the position of the kernels.
Si algun yndio e(n)fermava yvan los parientes ante esta vieja sor-
tilega q(ue) les dixese de q(ue) procedia el mal la qual echava
unos granos de mahiz y frisoles sobre un petate arronjandolos
con una tablilla como la q(ue) tiene en la mano y estando
antel demonio y dezia lo q(ue) se le antojava y llamava al
demonio q(ue) se lo declarase y si caya un grano de mahiz
uno sobre ot[ro] dezia q(ue) de sometico era su mal tanbien
[…] (Codex Tudela, f. 49r, reproduced by Batalla 2009:102).
Esta es una manera de medicina diabolica q los indios
medicos tenian y es q quando alguno estava enfermo, llaman al
medico muger o hombre y luego el tal medico para ver q fin
avia de aber la enfermedad. Ponian luego delante desi un idolo
y de lante el efermo al qual ydolo le llamavan que çalcoatl, q
quiere dezir plumaje qulebra. Y el en medio puesto encima de
un petate, puesta una manta de algodón blanca encima,
tomava en la mano veinte granos de maíz que es delo que ellos
Figure 14. Divination with maize and beans, copy from Codex Tudela in the Codex Magliabechiano. Drawing by the author after Anders
and Jansen 1996:f. 78.
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475
hazen pan y echavalos encima de la manta como quien echa
unos dados y si los tales granos hazian en medio vacio o mana
decanpo, demanera que los granos estuviesen alrededor, era
señal que le avian de enterrar alli, que queria dezir que
moriria de aquella enfermedad. Y si un grano caya sobre otro,
dezia que su enfermedad le avia venido por sometico. Y si los
granos de maíz se apartava la mitad a una parte y la mitad a
otra de manera que se pudiese hazer una raya derecha en
medio, sin tocar a ninguno grano, es señal que la enfermedad
sea de apartar del enfermo y sanar. (Codex Magliabechiano;
Anders and Jansen 1996:f. 78, emphasis by author).
FINAL REMARKS
As has been previously suggested by Nowotny (2005 [1961]) and
Jansen (1982), a valuable corpus of information with the enormous
potential of bringing about an understanding of the archaeological
past lies in contemporary indigenous languages, knowledge, world-
views, daily lives, and spiritual experiences. These ancient and
modern forms of living have proved to be effective and resilient
over thousands of years. It is fascinating that the Mesoamerican
sacred calendar of 260 days along with maize divination have sur-
vived until today. By looking at this corpus of knowledge, it is pos-
sible to achieve better comprehension of the use of these sacred and
mantic systems, the people that used them, and especially the picto-
rial manuscripts of the Borgia or Teoamoxtli Group.
The description of mook pajk wëjwë (maize divination) and the
work of the xëë maywë showed that the knowledge of the calendar,
along with its symbolisms of prognostications and prescriptions,
complements casting maize seeds as a means to achieve further in-
formation in the correct diagnosis of afflictions, sickness, bad
omens, bad dreams, and bad luck. The xëë maywë is able to read
hidden messages transmitted from It Naaxwin and the Other
World through the arrangement of maize on a spatial dimension,
in this case a napkin on top of a table. The maize fall in patterns
that create images, and these can be read with the help of the
diviner and the client. These patterns reveal the joo’nkjyën ixët, or
 476
the things on the course of life. Consulting the calendar and the
maize means to be able to see things more clearly.
The xëë maywe as the tonalpouhque were both wise women and
men. They managed and calculated complicated arrangements of
numbers, ambivalent prognostications and ritual recommendations,
and understand the whole complex of beliefs and social customs that
govern their community, Earth, and the Other World. They under-
stand their moral and spiritual obligations and mediate by teaching
others how to behave according to this world vision.
Consulting the calendar implies consulting the maize. Just as in
oral narratives from central Mexico and evidence in the archaeological
record, the calendar and divination were born together and therefore go
together. Each has individual rules, however, they work together like
one instrument of knowing and seeing: they constitute one oracle.
They both aim at well-intentioned targets: to cure illnesses and
RESUMEN
Una reciente investigación sobre el uso en la actualidad de un calendario de
260 días en una pequeña comunidad de la zona ayöök (mixe) de Oaxaca
demostró que éste va de la mano con la práctica adivinatoria de lanzar
maíces. En otras palabras, consultar los pronósticos y prescripciones del
calendario de 260 días incluye también realizar una lectura de maíz. El pre-
sente artículo ofrece una detallada descripción de esta última técnica
mántica como un medio para el estudio y mejor entendimiento de
prácticas adivinatorias en tiempos precoloniales, así como del oficio de
las personas que las manejaban, como los tonalopouhque entre los
nahuas, y los instrumentos que usaban, como los tonalamatl, mejor cono-
cidos como los códices del Grupo Borgia. Estas líneas son resultado de una
perspectiva etno-iconológica la cual sostiene que en el estudio de las cultu-
ras mesoamericanas contemporáneas existe la posibilidad de acercarse al
entendimiento de prácticas del pasado y el uso de objetos arqueológicos
debido a la fuerte continuidad cultural y arraigo a las tradiciones y
cosmovisión que presentan a lo largo del tiempo. De esta manera, a la
luz de los datos obtenidos en la documentación de la lectura del maíz
entre los ayöök, se ofrecerá una nueva visión a crónicas coloniales,
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
This article was made possible by the financial support from the Nederlandse
Organisatie voor Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek and the European Research
Council. I thank the reviewers for their constructive and valuable com-
ments, which helped me improve this manuscript enormously. Thanks to
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