space: sacred and profane
After death, the nagi can become a wanagi, or dangerous ghost, that
grieves for its loved ones and attempts to entice family members to join
it. In order to appease the wanagi, relatives keep it for one year by feed-
ing it. Thereupon, the wanagi departs to the south along the ghost road
(equated with the Milky Way) where it meets an old woman who assesses
its deeds on earth. Those souls judged good pass to a place that reflects
their life with their ni, whereas bad souls are pushed over a cliff and roam
the earth as evil spirits where they endanger the living.
Further reading: Levison (1997); Perrett (1987); Peters (2003); Powers (1977)
SPACE: SACRED AND PROFANE
The basic distinction between profane and sacred space is implied in the
work of Emile Durkheim (1858–1917), father of sociology, and is devel-
oped more fully by Mircea Eliade (1907–1986), a historian of religions.
For Eliade, profane space is neutral, homogeneous, without structure or
consistency. This amorphous mass, which is experienced by humans as
chaos, is relative and lacks orientation. For ordinary profane space to
become sacred, it must be transformed by the appearance of a deity or
consecrated by ritual means. Within the homogeneity of undifferentiated
profane space, sacred space represents a radical break in such space
because it provides orientation and a fixed point, which implies being
able to establish a world and order in which to live safely. According to
Eliade, this is accomplished by humans following the paradigmatic model
of the creation myth, resulting in the transformation of profane space into
something sacred along a horizontal point of reference and a vertical axis
of communication that consists of the central axis of the world.
Among the Tewa Pueblo of the North American southwest, sacred and
profane space is a bit more complicated than suggested by Eliade’s basic
distinction because their creation myth relates that they lived under a lake
with animals and gods. There are two co-mothers of the people: Blue
Corn Mother (associated with summer) and White Corn Woman (associ-
ated with winter). A man is sent forth to examine the world, and he finds
that it is green or unripe. A further journey above witnesses him encoun-
ter predatory animals, which initiate him and accept him by giving him
things necessary for hunting. The original man returns to his people as
the Hunt Chief to lead his people to the surface of the earth where they
have adventures and suffer from illness. The Tewa world consists of a