The Mayan peoples of highland Guatemala live within an animate world, where the physical environment, ancestors, and surrounding people, plants, and animals are infused with spirit and presence.
At the heart of this daily engagement are the ajq'ija', Mayan spiritual guides who serve as mediators between human communities and the rajawala'-the vital, living energies of the world. This book offers insight into the foundational knowledge ajq'ija' use to communicate with the rajawala', revealing how the sacred becomes visible through time and space, shaping and protecting the landscapes where Maya communities live. Each community is surrounded by its own constellation of guardian energies and sacred altars. The authors also confront the modern threats facing these sacred spaces: restricted access by private landowners, the loss of traditional roles, vandalism, religious opposition, environmental degradation, and violence against spiritual practitioners. Structured like a ritual itself, the book embodies the ongoing creation of sacred space and the deep dialogue with spiritual forces that sustain it. Through this work, the authors aim to share Mayan perspectives and practices for living within a sacred, interconnected world.

Judith M. Maxwell is Professor of Anthropology at Tulane University.

Ajpub' García Ixmata' teaches at Universidad Rafael Landívar.