The Magical Cosmovision of the Native Peoples of America

Abstract

The first inhabitants of America must have come from Siberia, from the extreme north of Asia, and entered the American continent during the last glaciation, which began 110,000 years ago and ended around 10,000 BP. They had a magical worldview, felt closely connected to nature, and expressed their way of thinking through various rituals, ceremonies, offerings, songs, melodies and dances, while the new environment prompted them to create traditions, cults, and myths about their origin. At the same time, the indigenous people of America introduced a pantheon of deities for each event, for each fact of their existence, hence demonstrating that although humans are different because they are mortals, they speak the same language as their deities and ask them for sustenance and protection. In Mesoamerica and the Andean region, there are groups that still perform ceremonies and rituals to honor different deities. The indigenous world of America has been sustained in a parallel dimension where magical traditions and rituals help people to adapt and survive in the modern world. However, the religious interference of the Catholic Church during the Spanish colonial period affected indigenous groups, even the most radical ones, and led to a syncretism based on a new understanding of traditions. Nowadays, people perform rituals in the same snow-capped mountains where their ancestors worshipped deities and communicated with them. Images of Christian saints and the liturgy conducted in temples built by the Catholic Church were combined with the magical ideas of the indigenous population about common origin and the world. Thus, Christian doctrine transformed by incorporating traditional beliefs and ceremonies of the indigenous peoples, as it is these rituals that help them live harmoniously.

Keywords

• magical thinking
• native peoples of america
• deities
• religious homage
• mythology
• songs
• dances
• syncretism