University of New Mexico | Latin American & Iberian Institute K’iche’ Maya Oral History Project No. 093 | 00:09:05 minutes Matías Ch’ok Tells about the Hurt a Wizard Caused his Family A member of Matías’ family fell sick. The family believed that the sickness was caused by witchcraft. They hired a diviner from Samayac to help them determine the cause of the illness, and to cure the sick person. The diviner told the family that someone had used witchcraft to cause the sickness. The diviner asked the family if they wanted him to use witchcraft on those who had done it to them. They agreed. He made an animal out of wax and stuck pins in it. He then breathed on it, and the wax animal suddenly disappeared. The diviner told the family that he had sent the witchcraft back upon the people that had bewitched them. Later the sick person recovered. After that another family member fell sick. Again, they summoned the diviner from Samayac to help them. This time he told them an enemy had buried human bones in their house to cause them harm. In the night the diviner’s helper dug up three human bones in the house. They burned the bones, and suddenly they heard people talking inaudibly outside the house. When they looked no one was there. The diviner told them that they were hearing the voices of those who had buried the bones in their house. Later the sick person died. The diviner could not heal her. Matías Ch’ok cuenta que daños causó un brujo a su familia Un miembro de la familia de Matías se enfermó. La familia creía que la enfermedad fue creada por brujería. Ellos emplearon a un zahorí de Samayac para ayudarles averiguar la causa de la enfermedad y para curar al enfermo. El zahorí les dijo que alguien hizo brujería para causar la enfermedad. Entonces el zahorí les preguntó si ellos también querían embrujar a los que les habían causado daño. Ellos estuvieron de acuerdo. El zahorí formó un animal de un pedazo de cera. Metió alfileres en la imagen. Después la sopló y de repente la imagen desapareció. El zahorí entonces le dijo a la familia que él había devuelto la brujería encima de las personas que les habían embrujado a ellos. Después de eso, el enfermo sintió alivio. Más tarde otro miembro de la familia se enfermó. Otra vez la familia empleó al zahorí de Samayac. El les dijo que un enemigo había enterrado huesos humanos en la casa. En la noche el ayudante del zahorí excavó tres huesos humanos en la casa. Quemaron los huesos y de repente oyeron que gente hablaba de forma inaudible afuera de la casa. Cuando fueron a ver, ya no había nadie. El zahorí les dijo que oyeron las voces de la gente que enterraron los huesos en su casa. Después la enferma murió. El zahorí no pudo curarla. UNM LATIN AMERICAN & IBERIAN INSTITUTE Project Background The stories and rituals included in this collection were collected between 1968 and 1973. All of them are narrated in the K’iche’ Maya language of Guatemala with almost all of the narrators speaking the Nahualá-Santa Catarina Ixtahuacán dialect of that language. Collected and recorded by Dr. James Mondloch Transcribed by Miguel Guarchaj Ch’o’x and Diego Guarchaj Funding and support provided by The UNM Latin American and Iberian Institute and the US Department of Education Title VI National Resource Center grant. Title page image provided courtesy of Dennis G. Jarvis Usage rights Copyright © 2011 The University of New Mexico, Latin American and Iberian Institute. All Rights Reserved. You may print, reproduce and use the information in, and retrieve files containing publications or images from, The University of New Mexico’s WWW documents for non-commercial, personal, or educational purposes only, provided that you (i) do not modify such information, and (ii) include any copyright notice originally included with such information and this notice in all such copies. Alternative formats In accordance with the Americans with Disabilities Act, the information contained herein is available in alternative formats upon request. Additional information about this project is available online http://laii.unm.edu/kiche Correspondence should be directed to The University of New Mexico Latin American & Iberian Institute 801 Yale Boulevard NE / MSC02 1690 1 University of New Mexico Albuquerque, New Mexico 87131-0001 Phone: (505) 277-2961 Fax: (505) 277-5989 E-mail: laii@unm.edu Web: http://laii.unm.edu