Maya Divination: Ritual Techniques of Distributed Cognition

Abstract

Based on more than 24 months of ethnographic research among Maya ritualists in the western highlands of Guatemala, this article examines howpajooneem, ortz’ite’seed divination, facilitates decision-making and distributes cognition between client, diviner, and ritual techniques.Tz’ite’seed divination exhibits a stylized routine that draws on important ‘mediating structures,’ including the 260-day ritual calendar known throughout Mesoamerica. Because it is both a ritual and cognitive practice, Maya divination grounds decision-making in a perennially relevant set of cultural values.