Reflexividad ritual y visiones múltiples en un cuadro de José Benítez Sánchez

Abstract

In this essay I analyse a yarn-painting by José Benítez Sánchez, The vision of Tatutsi Xuweri Timaiweme, currently displayed at the Gran Nayar Gallery of the Museo Nacional de Antropología. Above all, I am interested in understanding a certain aesthetic and iconographical quality that may be defined as the simultaneity of visions. The first way of looking at the painting consists of following an elaborate narrative discourse that is reminiscent of ancient Mesoamerican pictography. This is the esoteric reading. Viewers may perceive it as quite esoteric but actually it is not. There is, however, a second way of looking at the painting that is much closer to peyote-induced shamanic visions. Here, the psychedelic aspect of Huichol style is more important than the figurative one. The aesthetic effect largely depends on the coexistence of both visions in one composition. On the other hand, due to this simultaneity of forms of perception, the painting offers an interesting reflection on the transmission of shamanic knowledge. The articulation of both visions expresses a tension that can be perceived in many contexts of Huichol ritual practice. Whereas Huichol rituals as practiced by non-initiates are characterized by ritualized reciprocal exchange, shamanic rituals are much more focused on transformation.