Nagual or Nahual (both pronounced [na'wal]) is a word used in the study of the religion, mythology, folklore and anthropology of Mesoamerican peoples. A religion is a set of Tenets and practices often centered upon specific Supernatural and moral claims about Reality, the Cosmos The word mythology (from the Greek grc μυθολογία mythología, meaning "a story-telling a legendary lore" History The concept of folklore developed as part of the 19th century ideology of Romantic nationalism, leading to the reshaping of oral traditions to serve modern ideological Anthropology (/ˌænθɹəˈpɒlədʒi/ from Greek grc ἄνθρωπος anthrōpos, "human" -λογία -logia) is the study of Mesoamerica or Meso-America (Mesoamérica is a Region extending approximately from central Mexico to Honduras and Nicaragua, defined The word is used with different intended meanings.
It usually refers to one of two common concepts in Mesoamerican cultures:
- that certain persons are able to take on animal forms, or
- that all persons have an animal companion to whom they are spiritually linked throughout their lives.
Within Mesoamerican anthropology, Nagual is most commonly used negatively to refer to a person who has a particularly strong animal companion and who uses this companion to cause harm to others, or who himself changes shape into animals in order to cause harm to others. The normal practice is to refer to the animal companion itself as a Tonal, following the Aztec practice. Tonal is a concept within the study of Mesoamerican religion myth folklore and anthropology Aztec is a term used to refer to certain ethnic groups of central Mexico, particularly those groups who spoke the Nahuatl language and who achieved political
History
The word comes from the Nahuatl word nahualli which was used to refer to practitioners of harmful magic. Nahuatl ( is a group of related languages and dialects of the Aztecan or Nahuan branch of the Uto-Aztecan language family In the Aztec belief system the day of a persons birth calculated in the Tonalpohualli would determine the nature of the person - each day was associated with an animal which could have a strong or weak aspect. The tonalpohualli, a Nahuatl word meaning "count of days" is a 260-day sacred period (often termed a " Year " in use in Pre-Columbian The person born on the day of, for example, "the dog" would then have the weak aspect of the dog. In Nahuatl the word Tonalli was used to refer both to a day and to the animal related to that day. Tonal is a concept within the study of Mesoamerican religion myth folklore and anthropology Since practicioners of harmful magic were normally born on certain days related to animals with a strong or harmful aspect they would often have specific tonals such as the jaguar. In Aztec mythology the God Tezcatlipoca was the protector of nagualism, since his tonal was the jaguar and since he governed the distribution of wealth. Tezcatlipoca (Tezcatlipōca teskatɬiˈpoːka was a central deity in Aztec religion, associated with a wide range of concepts including the night sky the night
In modern rural Mexico the nagual is often the same as "witches" or "brujos" who are thought to be able to shapeshift into animals at night (normally into an owl, a bat or a turkey) and suck blood from innocent victims, steal properties from others, cause disease etc. In some indigenous communities the position of the Nagual is an integrated part of society and the community knows who is a Nagual and tolerates them or even fears and respects them, sometimes hiring their services in order to remove curses from other naguals. In others the accusation of being a nagual may result in violent repercussions by the rest of the community towards the accused - much like the witch processes of renaissance Europe. "Witch trial" redirects here For the song by Rush, see Fear series.
The study of Nagualism was initiated by noted archaeologist, linguist and ethnologist Daniel Garrison Brinton who published a treatise called "Nagualism: A Study in Native-American Folklore and History" which chronicled historical interpretations of the word and those who practiced nagualism in Mexico in 1894. Archaeology, archeology, or archæology (from Greek grc ἀρχαιολογία archaiologia – grc ἀρχαῖος archaīos Linguistics is the scientific study of Language, encompassing a number of sub-fields Ethnology (from the Greek ἔθνος, ethnos meaning "habit custom convention" is the branch of Anthropology that compares and Daniel Garrison Brinton ( May 13, 1837 - July 31, 1899) was an American Archaeologist and Ethnologist. In Mesoamerican folk religion a Nagual or Nahual (both pronounced) is a human being who has the power to magically turn him- or herself into an animal form most He identified the different beliefs associated with nagualism in some modern Mexican communities such as the Mixes, the Nahuas, the Zapotecs and Mixtecs. The Mixe or Mije (always pronounced) is an indigenous group inhabiting the eastern highlands of the Mexican state of Oaxaca. The Mixtec (or Mixteca) are an indigenous Mesoamerican people inhabiting the Mexican states of Oaxaca, Guerrero and Puebla
Subsequently many studies have described Nagualism in many different Mesoamerican cultures such as the Zoques,the Jakaltek Maya, the K'iche', the Q'eqchi' and the Tzeltal. The Zoque are an indigenous people of Mexico; they speak variants of the Zoque languages. The Jakaltek people are a Mayan people of Guatemala. They have lived in the foothills of the Cuchumatanes Mountains in the Department of Huehuetenango in northwestern This page is about the Native American people for other uses the dish see Quiché (disambiguation. Tzeltal is a Mayan language spoken in the Mexican state of Chiapas. An interesting pattern has been described for some societies in which the fear of Naguals is a social factor inhibiting modernization in the community because the Naguals are believed to punish those who enter into contact with the mestizo society. Such is the case among the Jakaltek. [1].
It has been a point of discussion to which degree nagualism represents a pre-Columbian belief system and to which degree it is modelled on European popular religion. The pre-Columbian era incorporates all period subdivisions in the history and prehistory of the Americas before the appearance of significant European influences Some scholars such as Correa[2] have argued that the concept is wholly imported from Europe, where he compares it to the medieval belief in werewolves. See also Lycanthropy (disambiguation Werewolves, also known as lycanthropes, are mythological or folkloric humans with the ability to This assumption has been all but rejected, however, since indigenous sources of pre-Columbian origins such as the Popol Vuh describe concepts clearly related to the modern day practice of Nagualism.
Kaplan[3] concluded that in Oaxaca the belief in Naguals as evil shapeshifting witches were common among both indigenous and mestizo populations whereas the beliefs associated with Tonalism, that is the belief in animal spirit companions, was limited to the indigenous communities.
Within New Age circles the word nagual has in recent years come to mean a spiritual leader. New Age ( New Age Movement and New Age Spirituality) is a Social Collective Phenomenon and a Spiritual Nature This usage of the word originates in California and Arizona New Age groups. New Age ( New Age Movement and New Age Spirituality) is a Social Collective Phenomenon and a Spiritual Nature
Nagual in the works of Castaneda
'Nagual' (pronounced nah-wa'hl) appears in the works of Carlos Castaneda. Nagual (pronounced nah-wa'hl is a term used in the books by Carlos Castaneda to describe a person who is able to lead people to new areas of consciousness. Carlos Castaneda (December 25 1925 – April 27 1998 was a Peruvian born American author There it is used primarily to describe those aspects of the world that lie beyond rational analysis and are not readily perceived by most people. The main objective of training in sorcery is to enable one to perceive the Nagual, function in it and remain capable of returning to the rational world. In Castenada's books the term Nagual is also applied to don Juan, Castenada's teacher, by some of his apprentices.
Castenada relates a story in which don Juan explained the Nagual to his apprentices by taking them on a long grueling hike high into the mountains. One of the apprentices had to carry a table on his back. Finally, at a point where one could see for vast distances in all directions, don Juan had the table set in place. He told them that it represented the rational world that we each construct. Everything else that they could see stretching out in all directions represented the Nagual.
Don Juan also used a table when explaining the Nagual to Carlos. They were in a restaurant in a hotel in Mexico City. Everything that could be put on the table, in the sense that it could be rationally defined, be it a ketchup bottle or a philosophical concept, was "tonal", that is, it belonged to the world we construct. The Nagual was everything else. Castenada writes of "the island of the tonal" reinforcing the sense of a constructed world floating in the Nagual.
References
- ^ 1977, Dennis & Jean Stratmeyer, "The Jacaltec Nawal and the Soul Bearer in Concepcion Huista", in Cognitive Studies of Southern Mesoamerica, Helen L. Neuenschander and Dean E. Arnold eds. ,Summer Institute of Linguistics, Museum of Anthropology Publication 3
- ^ Correa, Gustavo, 1955, "El espiritu del mal en Guatemala" in Nativism and Syncretism , Middle American Research Institute Publications 19:37-104, Tulane University.
- ^ Kaplan, Lucille, 1956, Tonal and Nagual in Coastal Oaxaca, Journal of American Folklore 69:363-368
Dapyx Software network: MP3 Explorer | Ebook Manager | Zenithic