Plant communication among the Ralámuli people: Dreams, songs, iconography, and the interconnected fabric
Sabina Aguilera
Anthropology of Consciousness September 1, 2023 DOI: 10.1111/anoc.12174 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Ethnography Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Population | The northern Mexican Ralámuli people, including healers |
| Key findings | Argues that Ralámuli understandings of plants as kin and of an interconnected world of roots, threads, and nátali (consciousness, remembrance, ancestral memory) frame communication with plants, especially by healers through dreams and chants. The article further proposes examining whether motifs in textiles, originally made from vegetal fibers and tied to origin stories of a woven Earth, relate to information plants deliver in dreams and chants. |
Abstract
AbstractThe northern Mexican Ralámuli people consider plants to be their kin. First‐ and secondhand ethnographies bring forth fundamental issues that convey the possibility of communicating with plants. For example, the notion of an interconnected world has to do with roots, with threads, and with thought or nátali (consciousness, remembrance, ancestral memory), all of which embrace the life path. This path also refers to that used by healers, who in their dreams and through their chants communicate with sacred plants. This article also deepens the understanding of textiles—originally made from vegetal fibers and considering that in Ralámuli origin stories the Earth was woven—and their iconography, which also appears in healing contexts, to see if there is a relationship between specific motifs and the information that, via dreams and chants, the plants are delivering.