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
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Correspondence should be directed to
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Latin American & Iberian Institute
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87131-0001
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