Imaginary Lines and the Mediators between Heaven and Earth

In Anderson’s Cultural Roots, he explains the differences in the perception of society in the past and present. One of the cultural systems which he mentions is that of “The Religious Community”, which along with the dynastic realm held back the development of nationalism at an earlier date. Anderson sees the three main religions of Christianity, Islam, and Confucianism as creating a world, “imaginable largely through the medium of sacred language and written script,” (13). And further goes on to say that,

“The fundamental conceptions about ‘social groups’ were centripetal and hierarchical, rather than boundary-oriented and horizontal. The astonishing power of the papacy in its noon day is only comprehensible in terms of a trans-European Latin-writing clerisy, and a conception of the world, shared by virtually everyone, that the bilingual intelligentsia, by mediating between vernacular and Latin, mediated between earth and heaven. (The awesomeness of excommunication reflects this cosmology)”

In Leslie Marmon Silko’s Almanac of the Dead, were are shown various Native American societies, that while at first glance seem to have embraced nationalist thought in the wake of Western hegemony, on closer examination, still exhibit either out right, or at least a yearning for the pre-nationalistic world explained by Anderson. Specifically we can look at the Almanac’s portrayal of Native Americans through the lens of Anderson’s Religious Community.

First of all, the idea of sacred language and script is shown by the representation of the Almanac itself, a collection of ancient Mayan codexes and latin translations that surely only the mysterious twins Zeta and Lecha can understand completely. But, the “sacred language” could also be the mystical powers possessed by the usually female, elderly, Native American women; Lecha’s connection to the dead, the Eskimo woman’s ability to crash planes, Zeta’s ability to communicate with snakes, etc. With these abilities, deeply rooted in the religious beliefs of Native Americans, they are comparable to the papal elite Anderson mentions, because like the medieval papacy, are able to mediate “between vernacular and latin”, or combining their mystical powers with modern technology and criminal schemes. The Eskimo woman uses the televisions to crash planes, and Lecha uses her abilities to make money on the daytime talk show circuit. These woman are shown to be at the top of the Native American society, or at least those garnered the most respect, fear, or awe. They truly do, “mediate between earth and heaven”.

Secondly, we are shown that the Native Americans of Almanac are not “boundary-oriented, and horizontal”. Calabazas says to Root;

“We don’t believe in boundaries. Borders. Nothing like that. We are here thousands of years before the whites. We are here before maps or quit claims. We know where we belong on this earth. We have always moved freely...We pay no attention to what isn’t real. Imaginary lines...We don’t see any border.” (216, Silko)

The modern ideas of nationalistic boundaries hold no wait because in Calabazas eyes they are “imaginary lines.” What is important is ones place in the earth; that is what is real. Not the “horizontal” Western imperialist view, spreading out, gobbling everything flatly from all directions. Calabazas and other Native Americans prefer their “Vertical” view. They constantly have to be aware of their place among “the four worlds below this world.” (121), not only concerning themselves with the horizon.

Michael Randolph