Incantations: Songs, Spells and Images by Mayan Women

by Ambar Past (Editor), Xpetra Ernandex (Collaborator), Xalik Guzmán Bakbolom (Collaborator)

This book of poems and stark, vivid illustrations is rooted in the female soul of indigenous Mexico. The Tzotzil women of the Chiapas Highlands are the poets and the artists. Ambar Past, who collected the poems and drawings, includes a moving essay about their poetics, beliefs, and history. In the 1970s, living among the Maya, Past watched the people endure as an epidemic swept through a village. No help came. Many children died. One mother offered her dead child a last sip of Coca-Cola and uttered a Take this sweet dew from the earth, take this honey. It will help you on your way. It will give you strength on your path. Incantations like this—poems about birth, love, hate, sex, despair, and death—coupled with primitive illustrations, provide a compelling insight into the psychology of these Mayan women poets. The Cinco Puntos edition of Incantations is a facsimile of the original handmade edition produced by the Taller Leñateros. It was reviewed in The New York Times. At the age of twenty-three, Ambar Past left the United States for Mexico. She lived among the Mayan people, teaching the techniques of native dyes and learning to speak Tzotzil. She is the creator of the graphic arts collective Taller Leñateros in Chiapas and was a founding member of Sna Jolobil, a weaving cooperative for Mayan artisans.

Genres: Poetry

230 pages, Paperback

First published August 1, 2007

About the author

At the age of twenty-three, Ambar Past left the United States for Mexico. She lived among the Mayan people, teaching the techniques of native dyes and learning to speak Tzotzil. She is the creator of the graphic arts collective Taller Leñateros in Chiapas and was a founding member of Sna Jolobil, a weaving cooperative for Mayan artisans.

Reviews

[Scarlett Sims · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was one of the harder "read harder" tasks to find: read a collection of poetry in translation on a theme other than love. I was trying to use books I could find at one of my local libraries and this was the only one that fit the bill. I also noticed some of the bias inherent in the Dewey Decimal system: in the 800s, American, english, German, French, Greek, Latin, and Italian all get their own set of 10 numbers (like, English is 820-829). 890 and above is "other languages," which basically includes anything non-western. So that's where this book was.

It's a translation of poems by Mayan women in the 20th century. Most of the poems are more like prayers or spells. Incantations, as the title says. There is also a lot of cultural information about the environment these women live in, which was enlightening. Let's just say if indigenous women are treated poorly in Canada, you can assume it's not better in one of the poorest areas of Mexico.

The poems themselves were interesting as well. They are very nature-centric, although the fact that they were written in the 20th century means there are also sometimes very contemporary references. The religion is apparently a mix of ancient customs along with Catholic and Protestant traditions. I'm really happy to have read this book and heard these voices that so few get to hear.

[Annette · Rating 4 out of 5]

Stories and then poetry in the form of incantations. The short bios of the poetesses are a great addition.