1981 · San Pablito Pahuatlan in Puebla state, Mexico
by Tellez, Alfonso Garcia
San Pablito Pahuatlan in Puebla state, Mexico, 1981. Very good. Crown 8vo (18 x 14 cm). Original handmade paper wrappers with muñeco illustration on front, with manuscript title and production information, red ribbon ties. Handmade and handbound codex, folded accordion style, text in written reddish ink on amate bark paper, original snap enclosures (two snaps on front pulled away but present). 22 numbered leaves with 18 muñeco illustrations (including cover) cut out from handmade amate bark-paper (brown and red). With the author's autograph on front cover ("Firma"). EXTRAORDINARY EXAMPLE OF MEXICAN BOOK ARTS, CREATED BY PUEBLA ARTISTS UTILIZING INDIGENOUS MATERIALS, NAMELY AMATE BARK PAPER IN THE MAYAN CODEX TRADITION.
The text was written by a well respected curandero, who gives detailed instructions for curing the sick, and offers valuable information concerning other traditional ceremonies. There are rituals for the guardian of the hearth spirit (dios de tequil) to protect household members. "The Otomis, along with most other American India groups in Middle America, believe that a spirit lives in the stones surrounding the family hearth. This ritual is held to make offerings and pleaded for abundant food in the future" (Sandstrom 1981, pp. 10-11). An alternate name for Dios de Tequil is Maka Xita Sibi, or Grandfather Fire, which is associated with the three stones surrounding the household cooking fire and protects the family (Sandstrom & Sandstrom 1986, p. 136).
Alfonso Garcia Tellez is one of three known Otomi from San Pablito who produced books, the other two being Antonio Lopez M. and Santos Garcia (see Sandstrom and Sandstrom 1986, p. 33), This manuscript was created in the Mayan Aztec bookmaking tradition, namely as an "accordion / concertina" folded codex, and really must be seen UNFOLDED to be fully appreciated.
¶ The scholarship for the amate paper is quite prolific, as well it should be. Indeed, an entire monograph on Garcia Tellez was published in France in 2018, entitled: Alfonso M. Garcia Tellez, Ecrits: Manuscrits a miniatures otomi." Nonetheless, actual curandero books are unrepresented in many important libraries worldwide; they should be recognized holistically for both their agricultural craft and indigenous spiritual beliefs.
¶ The culture of amate paper dates back to pre-Columbian Meso-American times. The word amate derives from amatl, the Nahuatl word for paper. Mayan and Aztec Indians painted on amate paper to create codices (accordion folded books) depicting stories historical events and even astrology. The Otomi people still use amate paper today for creating cutout figures for religious ceremonies while other village artisans use it for Mexican folk art depicting colorful urban scenes festivals and celebrations. The paper is created from the bark of the amate wild fig tree (xalama) the nettle tree (jonote) and mulberry (morus celtidifolia). Each type of bark produces a different tone of color ranging from coffee browns to silvery whites. The pulp from these barks is often combined to produce a swirling marble effect. The artisans first wash the bark, then boil it in a solution of limejuice for several hours and lay the strips on a wooden board. They beat the strips until they fuse together to form the desired texture, and then dried in the sun.
¶ San Pablito, a settlement of Otomi speaking Indians in the Sierra Norte de Puebla, is renowned as a village of brujería (witchcraft) and the only remaining major center of indigenous papermakers in Mexico. At one time, the village of San Pablito was banned from producing the "magical" amate bark books, as considered a form of witchcraft. Curanderos (curers), sometimes called witches (brujos and brujas in Spanish), cut images of spirit entities from this paper for use in various rituals. Earlier researchers reported that light paper is used in white magic and dark paper is used in black magic, but modern investigators have not affirmed this assumption. Both types of bark paper are used in rituals associated with agriculture, divining, and curing. The brujos/curanderos, or more appropriately termed as ritual specialists, use scissors to cut anthropomorphic images (in Spanish muñecos, dolls) of spirit entities, each with iconographic motifs that indicate whether the spirit is benevolent or malevolent.
¶ The cut paper spirits are also named as deities, including dios de abeja, dios de antiguo, madre tierra. In addition, the Otomi cut paper camas (beds), upon which the paper figurines are laid during rituals. Ritual specialists first fold the paper before it is cut, producing symmetrical images when unfolded. The munecos and camas are central features of Otomi rituals. During certain curing ceremonies, the specialist (healer, curer, medicine man, sorcerer, shaman) might even kill a chicken and sprinkle its blood over the paper figurines lying on their paper beds, while praying and chanting, in an effort to rid the patient of malevolent spirits.
¶ A lesser known aspect of Otomi tourist art is the making of small books from handmade paper where the lighter paper is used as a background surface, and brown and darker munecos, the "sacred paper cuttings," are glued on. These figures are accompanied by texts in Spanish written in capital letters with felt-tipped pens. The description and explanation found in the texts focus predominantly on ceremonies involving offerings to rain deities and countless spirits of seeds, fruits, and plants, as well as traditional, old curing practices. The bound manuscripts are essential testimonials, written by indigenous curanderos, revealing their knowledge of the beliefs, the religious world, the cosmovision, and secret costumbres (customs) of their ancestors. The libritos (booklets) indeed represent valuable indigenous ethnographic reports.
It is a remarkable fact that Garcia Tellez's daughter also helped construct the books. Whereas the present example is signed on the front cover, it is possible that she was involved in its production as the handwriting appears to be slightly different from published examples of his work.
¶ FURTHER LITERATURE: "Amate manuscripts of the Otomí of San Pablito, Puebla," in: Mexicon, Journal of Mesoamerican Studies - Revista sobre Estudios Mesoamericanos, Vol. XXXIV, Nr. 6, December 2012. Alan and Pamela Sandstrom. Traditional Papermaking and Paper Cult Figures of Mexico (1986). Christensen / Marti, Witchcraft and Pre-Columbian Paper / Brujerias y papel precolombino, 3rd edition (1979). Sandstrom, Traditional Curing and Crop Fertility Rituals among Otomi Indians of the Sierra de Puebla, Mexico: The Lopez Manuscripts (1981).
COMMENT: the editors of Ecrits offer, as Annex IV, a reduced facsimile of an "Version Alternative" of a similar title composed by "Alfonso Margarito Garcia" [Tellez]; this is in fact completely different from the present book. (Inventory #: 4236)
The text was written by a well respected curandero, who gives detailed instructions for curing the sick, and offers valuable information concerning other traditional ceremonies. There are rituals for the guardian of the hearth spirit (dios de tequil) to protect household members. "The Otomis, along with most other American India groups in Middle America, believe that a spirit lives in the stones surrounding the family hearth. This ritual is held to make offerings and pleaded for abundant food in the future" (Sandstrom 1981, pp. 10-11). An alternate name for Dios de Tequil is Maka Xita Sibi, or Grandfather Fire, which is associated with the three stones surrounding the household cooking fire and protects the family (Sandstrom & Sandstrom 1986, p. 136).
Alfonso Garcia Tellez is one of three known Otomi from San Pablito who produced books, the other two being Antonio Lopez M. and Santos Garcia (see Sandstrom and Sandstrom 1986, p. 33), This manuscript was created in the Mayan Aztec bookmaking tradition, namely as an "accordion / concertina" folded codex, and really must be seen UNFOLDED to be fully appreciated.
¶ The scholarship for the amate paper is quite prolific, as well it should be. Indeed, an entire monograph on Garcia Tellez was published in France in 2018, entitled: Alfonso M. Garcia Tellez, Ecrits: Manuscrits a miniatures otomi." Nonetheless, actual curandero books are unrepresented in many important libraries worldwide; they should be recognized holistically for both their agricultural craft and indigenous spiritual beliefs.
¶ The culture of amate paper dates back to pre-Columbian Meso-American times. The word amate derives from amatl, the Nahuatl word for paper. Mayan and Aztec Indians painted on amate paper to create codices (accordion folded books) depicting stories historical events and even astrology. The Otomi people still use amate paper today for creating cutout figures for religious ceremonies while other village artisans use it for Mexican folk art depicting colorful urban scenes festivals and celebrations. The paper is created from the bark of the amate wild fig tree (xalama) the nettle tree (jonote) and mulberry (morus celtidifolia). Each type of bark produces a different tone of color ranging from coffee browns to silvery whites. The pulp from these barks is often combined to produce a swirling marble effect. The artisans first wash the bark, then boil it in a solution of limejuice for several hours and lay the strips on a wooden board. They beat the strips until they fuse together to form the desired texture, and then dried in the sun.
¶ San Pablito, a settlement of Otomi speaking Indians in the Sierra Norte de Puebla, is renowned as a village of brujería (witchcraft) and the only remaining major center of indigenous papermakers in Mexico. At one time, the village of San Pablito was banned from producing the "magical" amate bark books, as considered a form of witchcraft. Curanderos (curers), sometimes called witches (brujos and brujas in Spanish), cut images of spirit entities from this paper for use in various rituals. Earlier researchers reported that light paper is used in white magic and dark paper is used in black magic, but modern investigators have not affirmed this assumption. Both types of bark paper are used in rituals associated with agriculture, divining, and curing. The brujos/curanderos, or more appropriately termed as ritual specialists, use scissors to cut anthropomorphic images (in Spanish muñecos, dolls) of spirit entities, each with iconographic motifs that indicate whether the spirit is benevolent or malevolent.
¶ The cut paper spirits are also named as deities, including dios de abeja, dios de antiguo, madre tierra. In addition, the Otomi cut paper camas (beds), upon which the paper figurines are laid during rituals. Ritual specialists first fold the paper before it is cut, producing symmetrical images when unfolded. The munecos and camas are central features of Otomi rituals. During certain curing ceremonies, the specialist (healer, curer, medicine man, sorcerer, shaman) might even kill a chicken and sprinkle its blood over the paper figurines lying on their paper beds, while praying and chanting, in an effort to rid the patient of malevolent spirits.
¶ A lesser known aspect of Otomi tourist art is the making of small books from handmade paper where the lighter paper is used as a background surface, and brown and darker munecos, the "sacred paper cuttings," are glued on. These figures are accompanied by texts in Spanish written in capital letters with felt-tipped pens. The description and explanation found in the texts focus predominantly on ceremonies involving offerings to rain deities and countless spirits of seeds, fruits, and plants, as well as traditional, old curing practices. The bound manuscripts are essential testimonials, written by indigenous curanderos, revealing their knowledge of the beliefs, the religious world, the cosmovision, and secret costumbres (customs) of their ancestors. The libritos (booklets) indeed represent valuable indigenous ethnographic reports.
It is a remarkable fact that Garcia Tellez's daughter also helped construct the books. Whereas the present example is signed on the front cover, it is possible that she was involved in its production as the handwriting appears to be slightly different from published examples of his work.
¶ FURTHER LITERATURE: "Amate manuscripts of the Otomí of San Pablito, Puebla," in: Mexicon, Journal of Mesoamerican Studies - Revista sobre Estudios Mesoamericanos, Vol. XXXIV, Nr. 6, December 2012. Alan and Pamela Sandstrom. Traditional Papermaking and Paper Cult Figures of Mexico (1986). Christensen / Marti, Witchcraft and Pre-Columbian Paper / Brujerias y papel precolombino, 3rd edition (1979). Sandstrom, Traditional Curing and Crop Fertility Rituals among Otomi Indians of the Sierra de Puebla, Mexico: The Lopez Manuscripts (1981).
COMMENT: the editors of Ecrits offer, as Annex IV, a reduced facsimile of an "Version Alternative" of a similar title composed by "Alfonso Margarito Garcia" [Tellez]; this is in fact completely different from the present book. (Inventory #: 4236)