ABSTRACT
The legitimate supernaturals of Mazahuas from El Nopal thus remain quite "safe" in their vague aesthetically-supported traditionalism. The clothes of the angelito are admired, and both during the wake and afterwards the villagers talk a great deal about the flower arrangement within the coffin and about other aesthetic qualities of this ceremony. Their cognitive orientation toward their communal identity has been combined with a strong moral commitment to the preservation of "what is essential" in their traditional life. Every individual in El Nopal, every action, every proposal has been morally evaluated in terms of the generally accepted communal goals, Mazahua leaders are rudimentary social philosophers rather than rudimentary sociologists. However, their activistic approach to society has been strongly restricted by such traditional moral taboos, as for instance the taboos on manipulation of other people and on violence. Their attitudes toward objects are at the same time more activistic and more sentimental.
