Offerings of the desert. A programme of work

Abstract

This text sets forth the principal themes of a research project in its initial phase. It set out to analyse –from an anthropological point of view– the ritual objects left in offering in the North Mexican deserts by actors of different social origins who either live in or come to visit this area. The geographical starting out point is situated in the area called Wirikuta by the Huicholes in the semi-desert high plateaux of San Luis Potosí, also inhabited by a local rural population (owners of ranches, peasants, nomad cattle breeders, etc…). Visitors from other regions also frequent the area amongst whom should be mentioned the adepts of the New Age movement. Our aim is to study the processes of fabrication, the forms and the meanings of these artefacts, where they are to be found and where they circulate, while keeping in mind how the artisans themselves conceive them, and how they are considered by those who admire them, handle them or transport them from one place to another. We are not only concerned by the offerings which are left in places dedicated to diverse cults in the aforementionned landscape but describe also the ensemble of rites, systems of representation, gestures and discourses associated with these artefacts.