Juego de aire: relatos, mitos e iconografía de un ritual curativo en Tlayacapan (Morelos, México)

Abstract

Felipa Hernández and her daughter María del Refugio are the only two ceramists in Tlayacapan that make a unique set of clay figures called juego de aire, consisting of 12 figures used for a healing ritual to cure mal aire. After the patient has a limpia with the figures, the healer takes them outside the village and leaves them in an anthill, where the señores aires appear as a giant whirlwind. Each of the elements of this ritual may be identified with symbols of an indigenous worldview that is still prevalent not only in craftworks but also in a series of tales. This paper analyzes the healing ritual and its symbolic elements in relation with other cultural expressions.