Sacred Matter
Animacy and Authority in the Americas
John Wayne Janusek
320 pages | ~9 hrs
Sacred Matter
Animacy and Authority in the Americas
By John Wayne Janusek
Sacred Matter invites readers into the profound spiritual worldview of Pre-Columbian America, where the boundary between animate and inanimate dissolved into something far more complex and meaningful. This scholarly exploration reveals how ancient peoples of the Andes, Amazon, and Mesoamerica understood objects, places, and landscapes as living entities capable of wielding social and political influence.
Through archaeological, artistic, and linguistic perspectives, the book illuminates practices where communities breathed life into monumental buildings, engaged in dialogue with sacred stones, and ceremonially destroyed precious objects as acts of spiritual significance. These weren't merely symbolic gestures but fundamental expressions of how authority and social order were established and maintained.
The work demonstrates how ancient Americans positioned themselves in relationship to an animated world where mountains demanded offerings, artifacts required care and nourishment, and places themselves became active participants in community life. People took on specific roles as caretakers, worshippers, and stewards within this interconnected web of relationships.
For contemporary readers seeking to understand alternative ways of relating to the material world, Sacred Matter offers insights into worldviews that recognized the sacred presence within all things. The book challenges modern assumptions about the nature of objects and environments, presenting ancient wisdom about the reciprocal relationships between humans and the living world around them.
This interdisciplinary approach provides a window into spiritual practices that transformed both people and places through rituals of creation, conversion, and renewal.
What You'll Discover
- ✓ Explore South america, politics and government
- ✓ Explore Kultgegenstand
- ✓ Explore Mexico, politics and government
- ✓ Explore Animisme
- ✓ Explore Religionsausübung
- ✓ Explore Congrès
- ✓ Explore Indians of south america, religion
- ✓ Explore Indians of Central America
Topics
Details
- Published
- 2020
- Publisher
- Dumbarton Oaks
- ISBN-13
- 9780884024668
- ISBN-10
- 0884024660
- Pages
- 320
- Language
- EN
