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Bloodsucking Witchcraft: An Epistemological Study of Anthropomorphic Supernaturalism in Rural Tlaxcala »

Authors: Hugo G. Nutini, John M. Roberts
ISBN-13: 9780816511976, ISBN-10: 0816511977
Format: Hardcover
Publisher: University of Arizona Press
Date Published: April 1993
Edition: (Non-applicable)

Author Biography: Hugo G. Nutini

Book Synopsis

In the rural areas of south-central Mexico, there are believed to be witches who transform themselves into animals in order to suck the blood from the necks of sleeping infants. This book analyzes beliefs held by the great majority of the population of rural Tlaxcala a generation ago and chronicles its drastic transformation since then.

"The most comprehensive statement on this centrally important ethnographic phenomenon in the last forty years. It bears ready comparison with the two great classics, Evans-Pritchard's Witchcraft Among the Azande and Clyde Kluckhohn's Navaho Witchcraft." Henry H. Selby

Booknews

Based on information gathered in some 50 communities over more than 25 years, describes all facets of bloodsucking witchcraft and analyzes its social and psychological aspects within the overall system of magic and religious supernaturalism prevalent in Tlaxcala (Mexico). Also provides a history and review of other forms of supernaturalism in Mesoamerica. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

	List of Maps and Tables
	Preface
	Glossary
	Introduction	1
1	An Outline of Weathermaking, Nahualism, and Sorcery in Rural Tlaxcala	39
2	The Belief System and Structural Context of Bloodsucking Witchcraft in Rural Tlaxcala	54
3	The Syncretic and Historical Development of Anthropomorphic Supernaturalism in Mesoamerica	80
4	The Comparative Distribution and Definition of Witchcraft and Sorcery in Mesoamerica	117
5	Anatomy of a Bloodsucking Witchcraft Epidemic	132
6	The Empirical Evidence of Bloodsucking Witchcraft Methodology and Systematic Presentation	154
7	Natural and Supernatural Explanations: The Logic of Witchcraft and Normative Expectations	209
8	The Diagnostic and Etiological Analysis of Bloodsucking Witchcraft	226
9	Social and Psychological Manipulations and the Ex Post Facto Rationalization of the Tlahuelpuchi Complex	264
10	Aftereffects and the Psychological Context of the Postsucking Period	302
11	The Social and Psychological Functions of Bloodsucking Witchcraft	353
12	An Epistemological Approach to the Study of Magic and Religious Supernaturalism	371
	Conclusions	400
	Notes	437
	References Cited	447
	Index	459