Curanderismo Soul Retrieval: Ancient Shamanic Wisdom to Restore the Sacred Energy of the Soul - Erika Buenaflor M.A. J.D. 2019

Ancient Mesoamerican Roots
Introduction

Recognizing the Cardinal Spaces to Work in Sacred Space and Engage in Sacred Rites

It is problematic to say that any modern Mesoamerican indigenous practice is completely grounded in ancient Mesoamerican indigenous traditions and practices due to complex dialectical processes and factors, including conquest, colonialism, contact and interaction, sex, race, class, religion, and temporal and spatial differences. Quibbling about whether a practice or tradition is authentic or inauthentic tends to obfuscate and misconstrue the complexities of developing cultural practices and the numerous factors that shape them. The arguments over the “authentic/inauthentic” dichotomy often simply result in consolidating the presumptions of the status quo, and masking the power dynamics of who controls what is considered normative. The ancient Mesoamerican peoples may or may not have journeyed into the wisdom of each cardinal space for soul retrieval; at least I was unable to find any records of such. Nevertheless, ancient Mesoamerican indigenous ideologies form the core base of this soul retrieval practice and guide the undergirding reasons for journeying into and honoring the cardinal spaces.

Curandera Maria Elena Avila, in Woman Who Glows in the Dark, and Jamie Sams, in Dancing the Dream: The Seven Sacred Paths of Human Transformation, both explain practices of soul retrieval like those in this book: the meanings of and associations with the five cardinal directions are similar. The process of soul retrieval they describe is generally predicated on creating a nurturing and loving space before the soul piece returns. Avila explains that the process she learned comes from ancient and modern Aztec traditions. Sams asserts that her process originates with Seneca and Cherokee traditions. My mentor learned her practice from both modern Nahua curanderx from Puebla, Mexico, as well as modern Yucatec Maya curanderx. She explained to me that the fundamental premise of this modality is shared by the ancient Mexica and Yucatec Maya; by honoring and working with the five cardinal spaces—South, West, North, East, and Center—we can open up a portal to nonordinary realms, work within sacred space, and replenish our sacred essence energy.

The ways in which the ancient Mesoamerican peoples called in, recognized, and honored the cardinal spaces and their supernatural associations varied greatly. The purposes included working within a portal to access nonordinary realms; acknowledging that the work is sacred and is being done in a sacred space; welcoming in divine guidance; renewing, healing, and cleansing oneself and the space where the rites are taking place; and retrieving something within nonordinary realms.

In their rites the ancient Mexica and other peoples of the Aztec empire would make offerings to the cardinal spaces, welcoming their deities into the earthly realms. During the Ochpaniztli rites, corn of the four colors was cast to the cardinal directions to honor and welcome in the maize deity Chicomecoatl.² The Mexica often raised their incense ladles full of copal in the direction of the cardinal spaces to welcome in, honor, and seek the blessings of their deities.³ To activate and renew the spirit essence of a home, they would make offerings to all four corners of the rooms and to the hearth as the center of the house. They regarded the home as a replica of the cosmos, a space where sacred rites could be performed and be supported by divine entities.⁴

Ten days before the Mexica feast of Toxcatl, a feast in honor of the god Tezcatlipoca, the titlacahuan, a hierarch of the temple of the god Tezcatlipoca, would invoke him by honoring the cardinal spaces, thereby creating a portal and acknowledging the sacred space that Tezcatlipoca would permeate. The titlacahuan came dressed as Tezcatlipoca, wearing the same clothes and fanciful accoutrements, and carrying flowers and a small clay flute. The flute gave a shrill sound, waking and calling the spirits and ancestors of the four world spaces. He would turn to the East, West, North, and South, playing the flute in all four directions,^*4 and would hold and embody the central space—a bridge to the nonordinary realms.⁵

In their sacred rites, the ancient Yucatec May honored the cardinal spaces by making offerings to them or having people represent the four chacs, the deities who held up the sky in the East, North, West, and South. During the month of Pop’ of the 365-day ha’b calendar, after the ah-kin (shaman) purified the temple, the four chosen chacs would seat themselves in the four corners of the room and fasten a rope to one another. The shaman would hold the center space and act as the bridge to the nonordinary realms. The participants replicated cosmic space and sacred space so that the divine entities associated with the world spaces would join in and bless them, the coming year, and the community.⁶ In the caput-sihil ceremony, participants placed benches in the four corners of the patio. The four honorary chacs would sit on these with a long cord tied from one to the other; the children were placed in the middle with the ah-kin. The chacs visually defined the four-corner spaces and the cosmos, while the ah-kin in the middle was a mediator between the levels of the cosmos, as well as a bridge between the divine and mundane. This ritual space and the performance of this renewal limpia rite fused cosmic space and time with that of the living community.⁷

When working with the cardinal spaces, we will be drawing from the ancient Mesoamerican shamans and using analogous reasons to work with these spaces. But we will adapt our goals to our contemporary needs. They include opening or activating a portal to access nonordinary realms; acknowledging that the work that is being done is sacred and is being done in a sacred space; welcoming in divine guidance; renewing, healing, and cleansing; and creating a space where guidance from nonordinary realms can intersect with the mundane world.

Wherever we are in the soul retrieval process, I recommend treating it as sacred. Even if we are not trance-journeying into the cardinal realms, we can remain connected to these divine realms, which provide medicine, wisdom, and insight, and we can anchor them into our day-to-day lives. Providing a space for sacred healing, self-awareness, and spiritual growth tends to create or reawaken a respect, love, and zeal for life and our interactions with it. We become aware of the synchronicities that are always taking place for our benefit.