Flower Worlds: Religion, Aesthetics, and Ideology in Mesoamerica and the American Southwest

The recognition of Flower Worlds is a significant breakthrough in the study of Indigenous spirituality in the Americas, encompassing solar and floral spiritual domains shared by pre-Hispanic and contemporary Native cultures in Mesoamerica and the American Southwest. This multidisciplinary book explores the origins, role, and materialization of Flower Worlds through ritual practices, metaphors, and material objects, shedding light on their significance in shaping ritual economies, politics, and cross-cultural interaction. It emphasizes contemporary perspectives and experiences, blending scientific and humanistic research and highlighting Indigenous voices. Contributors include Oswaldo Chinchilla Mazariegos, James M. Córdova, Davide Domenici, Ángel GonzÁlez LÓpez, Kelley Hays-Gilpin, Michael D. Mathiowetz, Cameron L. McNeil, Felipe S. Molina, Johannes Neurath, John M. D. Pohl, Alan R. Sandstrom, David Delgado Shorter, Karl A. Taube, Andrew D. Turner, Lorena VÁzquez Vallin, and Dorothy Washburn.

Format: Hardback
Length: 400 pages
Publication date: 04 May 2021
Publisher: University of Arizona Press

Flower Worlds is a groundbreaking study of Indigenous spirituality in the Americas, encompassing solar and floral spiritual domains shared by pre-Hispanic and contemporary Native cultures in Mesoamerica and the American Southwest. This multidisciplinary volume brings together scholars from various fields to provide a comprehensive understanding of Flower Worlds, highlighting their antiquity and geographical extent across the New World. Flower Worlds are not merely ethereal realms but are deeply embedded in lived experience, activated through ritual practices, expressed through metaphors, and materialized through the use of material objects and ritual spaces. The book explores the origins of Flower Worlds as a significant aspect of religions and histories among societies in Mesoamerica and the American Southwest, examining their role in shaping ritual economies, politics, and cross-cultural interaction among Indigenous peoples. Flower Worlds extends into multisensory realms, offering diverse disciplines, perspectives, and collaborations to understand these domains. Today, Flower Worlds are expressed in everyday work and lived experiences, embedded in sacred geographies, and ritually practiced both individually and in communities. The volume emphasizes contemporary perspectives and experiences by opening with living traditions before delving into the historical trajectory.

Weight: 724g
Dimension: 159 x 235 x 30 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9780816542321