Ancient mayan backstrap loom8/14/2023 ![]() Kan, the nahual of the serpent, is a protective symbol and represents the authority and the heart of heaven and the heart of Mother Earth. There are also many depictions of birds and snakes which are symbols from the Mayan calendar the Tzikin nahual is represented by the eagle or other messenger birds which are considered intermediaries between God and humans. You’ll also find many designs such as stars, which are very important to our ancestors they were used to predict life cycles, death, and other events in nature. In the weavings, the prevalent colors are always red, black, yellow, white, blue, and green which represent our Mayan communities and symbolize sunrise and clarity, night or our time of rest, yellow is the material aspect of life, while white is our spiritual side, green represents the mountains, and blue represents the sky/heavens. The relationship between textiles and spirituality is very important and at the moment of creating a textile, a connection is formed with nature. The Grandmother weavers tell us that their weavings are based on the observation of nature, of plants, animals, and birds. In this way, the clothing is a manifestation of our identity.įor the Maya, our spirituality is very important and we are in constant relation with nature and the cosmos, respecting the values of simplicity, harmony, and co-existence with animals and humans. They are woven using one of the oldest textile weaving traditions, the back-strap loom, on which a variety of weaving techniques are utilized depending on the region and cultural tradition. Traditional Mayan clothing is made from cotton fabrics with an infinity of designs woven into them, in a variety of colors. As our Grandparents (ancestors) say, huipiles are an open book that narrate our lives and have a direct link to our community. Mayan clothing in particular is closely tied to our culture as it is an important expression of spirituality- you could say that it is in fact a language that expresses wisdom, full of meaningful symbols based on ancient knowledge. The Maya have lived in different cities in Mesoamerica for the last 6,000 years. The Maya are recognized for their writings, buildings, artwork, their precise math calculations, full of symbolism and representations of the past, present, and future- today we can find many books with unlimited information about our culture. Isabel is a backstrap-loom weaving teacher, textile-lover, and Yabal’s Store Coordinator in the Yabal shop in Xela, Guatemala. Huipiles motifs and design change over time, and can tell stories of the town's history that go generations back by introducing a difference in technique, rendering of motif, or color.We invited our colleague, Isabel Coxaj Boj, to contribute to the blog today to share more about the deep spiritual symbolism in traditional Mayan textiles and clothes. Western trade and the introduction of machine looms and synthetic dyes have complicated and commercialized the traditional huipiles, but Mayan women today still continue to use and wear the huipil, and place a great emphasis on the use of traditional design forms to celebrate their heritage and strengthen their ties to their communities. ![]() ![]() Anthropologists today have identified over 150 different municipal styles of dress. The design, color usage, placement, and overall execution of these motifs serve to distinguish members of different towns from each other. Motifs such as birds, corn, human figures, diamonds, triangles, and other plant and animal forms are shared across regions. Huipiles can be used for daily wear (often plain, undecorated), ceremonies (fragile materials, labor intensive), and mourning (black and lilac thread). These identifications serve as symbols of the wearer’s ethnic identity as well as indicates their social and economic status within the community. Huipiles are identified through their decoration, motifs, color combinations, and how they are worn. Huipiles are perhaps the most exemplary articles of traditional Mayan clothing. ![]() ![]() Huipil Maya Tsotsil, Maria Elena Lowe, 2018 ![]()
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