The Were-Jaguar

Olmec Were-Jaguar, Museo Regional de Antropologia at Villahermosa, 1500 to 400 BCE. 

When examining ancient cultures and their remnants such as statues, decaying buildings, old clothing, the primary purpose are to understand how they lived their lives. The present can easily become the past and because of that, learning from the past is one of the easiest ways that we as humans have to understand people that are different from us. 

The Olmec was a civilization that flourished in early Mesoamerica from around 1500 BCE to around 400 BCE. The Olmecs were known as the ‘mother culture’ of Mesoamerica, and thus, to understand them, we are able to understand the civilizations that were influenced by the Olmecs in an easier way. The quickest method of understanding a culture is through its religion. Religion forms social structures and helps unify people, making people share a set of beliefs and practices. This sharing of beliefs and practices allows for a sense of trust and respect, allowing civilizations to be built.  Because of this, that is why we are examining the Were-Jaguar sculpture. 

The Olmec religion was primarily centered around 8 gods: the maize god, the rain spirit, the feathered serpent, the bird monster, the banded eye-god, the shark monster, the Olmec dragon, and finally, the Jaguar. The jaguar was the shaman of the animal world, referred to as the Nahual, which was the title given to those that were the animal form of a god. Outside of this importance for spirits, they believed that the jaguar was a deity of fertility and rain as well as the embodiment of the living and the dead. Jaguars were believed to be the most powerful and feared animal to the Olmecs, so they held a lot of titles in the Olmec religion. A common practice was to ‘transform’ into a were-jaguar as a common practice of Shamanism during this time. Singing and chanting to the Jaguar deity would occur followed by the Shaman dancing and chanting to the spirit world, at the end of it, it was believed that the man would be half-human, half jaguar. 

The sculpture above is a symbol of this transformation. The Were-Jaguars are often depicted with wide noses, slanted eyes, and a cleft head. It is believed that the meanings of the statues have changed over time, from altars for gifts to the jaguar god to reminders to the Olmec people as a form of symbolization of the religion itself.  By examining these sculptures, we can learn about the importance of them in the society they derived from, thus learning from the past and have a roadmap to learn in the future. 

Sources: 

“ The Olmec Gods.” Ancient Indian Civilizations. Accessed November 11, 2020. https://www.aaanativearts.com/ancient-indians/olmec-gods.htm.

Cartwright, Mark. “Olmec Civilization.” Ancient History Encyclopedia. Ancient History Encyclopedia, November 9, 2020. https://www.ancient.eu/Olmec_Civilization/.