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Transcriber's Note:
A number of typographical errors and inconsistencies have been maintained
in this version of this book. Typographical errors have been marked with
a [TN-#], which refers to a description in the complete list found at the
end of the text. A list of words that have been inconsistently spelled or
hyphenated is found at the end of the present text. Oe ligatures have
been expanded.
The following codes are used for characters that are not present in the
character set used for this version of the book.
[=u] u with macron
[=o] o with macron
[||] double vertical line
[+] Dagger
[++] Double dagger
NAGUALISM.
A STUDY
IN
Native American Folk-lore
and History.
BY
DANIEL G. BRINTON, A.M., M.D., LL.D., D.Sc.,
Professor of American Archaeology and Linguistics in the
University of Pennsylvania.
PHILADELPHIA:
MACCALLA & COMPANY, PRINTERS, 237-9 DOCK STREET.
1894
_Nagualism. A Study in Native American Folk-lore and History._
_By Daniel G. Brinton, M.D._
(_Read before the American Philosophical Society, Jan'y 5, 1894._)
CONTENTS.
1. The words _Nagual_, _Nagualism_, _Nagualist_. 2. The Earliest
Reference to Nagualism. 3. The _Naualli_ of the Aztecs; their Classes
and Pretended Powers. 4. The Sacred Intoxicants; the _Peyotl_, the
_Ololiuhqui_, the _Teopatli_, the _Yax Ha_, etc. 5. Clairvoyance and
Telepathy during Intoxication. 6. The _Naualli_ of Modern Mexico. 7. The
_Tonal_ and the _Tonalpouhque_; the Genethliac System of the Nahuas. 8.
The Aztec Sodality of "Master Magicians." 9. The Personal Guardian
Spirit.
10. Folk-lore of the Mixe Indians. 11. Astrological Divination of the
Zapotecs. 12. Similar Arts of the Mixtecs. 13. Nagualism in Chiapas, as
Described by Bishop Nunez de la Vega. 14. Nagualism Among the Quiches,
Cakchiquels and Pokonchis of Guatemala. 15. The Metamorphoses of
Gukumatz. 16. Modern Witchcraft in Yucatan and Central America; the
Zahoris and Padrinos.
17. Fundamental Principles of Nagualism, Hatred of the Whites and of
Christianity. 18. Its Organization and Extent; its Priesthood. 19. Its
Influence in the Native Revolts against the Spanish Power. 20. Exalted
Position of Woman in Nagualism. 21. This a Survival from Ancient Times.
22. A Native Joan of Arc. 23. Modern Queens of Nagualism.
24. The Cave-temples and the Cave-gods; Oztoteotl, Tepeyollotl, Votan,
etc. 25. The Sacred Numbers, 3 and 7. 26. Fire Worship of the
Nagualists. 27. Fire Rights Connected with the Pulque. 28. Fire
Ceremonies of the Modern Mayas. 29. Secret Significance of Fire Worship.
30. The Chalchiuites, or Sacred Green Stones. 31. The Sacred Tree and
the Tree of Life. 32. The Cross and its Symbolic Meaning. 33. The
Lascivious Rites of the Nagualists. 34. Their Relation to the Symbols of
the Serpent and the Phallus.
35. Confusion of Christian and Native Religious Ideas; Prayers of Nagual
Priests. Their Symbolic Language. 36. The Inquisition and Nagualism. 37.
Etymology of the Word _Nagual_. 38. The Root _Na_ in the Maya, Zapotec
and Nahuatl Languages. 39. The Doctrine of Animal Transformation in the
Old World. 40. The Doctrine of Personal Spirits in the Old World. 41.
Scientific Explanations of Nagual Magic. 42. Conclusion.
REPRINTED FEB. 23, 1894, FROM PROC. AMER. PHILOS. SOC., VOL. XXXIII.
=1.= The words, a _nagual_, _nagualism_, a _nagualist_, have been current
in English prose for more than seventy years; they are found during that
time in a variety of books published in England and the United
States,[4-*] yet are not to be discovered in any dictionary of the
English language; nor has _Nagualism_ a place in any of the numerous
encyclopaedias or "Conversation Lexicons," in English, French, German or
Spanish.
This is not owing to its lack of importance, since for two hundred years
past, as I shall show, it has been recognized as a cult, no less
powerful than mysterious, which united many and diverse tribes of Mexico
and Central America into organized opposition against the government and
the religion which had been introduced from Europe; whose members had
acquired and were bound together by strange faculties and an occult
learning, which placed them on a par with the famed thaumaturgists and
theodidacts of the Old World; and which preserved even into our own days
the thoughts and forms of a long suppressed ritual.
In several previous publications I have referred briefly to this secret
sodality and its aims,[4-[+]] and now believe it worth while to collect
my scattered notes and present all that I have found of value about the
origin, aims and significance of this Eleusinian Mystery of America. I
shall trace its geographical extension and endeavor to discover what its
secret influence really was and is.
=2.= The earliest description I find of its particular rites is that which
the historian Herrera gives, as they prevailed in 1530, in the province
of Cerquin, in the mountainous parts of Honduras. It is as follows:
"The Devil was accustomed to deceive these natives by appearing to
them in the form of a lion, tiger, coyote, lizard, snake, bird, or
other animal. To these appearances they apply the name _Naguales_,
which is as much as to say, guardians or companions; and when such
an animal dies, so does the Indian to whom it was assigned. The way
such an alliance was formed was thus: The Indian repaired to some
very retired spot and there appealed to the streams, rocks and
trees around him, and weeping, implored for himself the favors they
had conferred on his ancestors. He then sacrificed a dog or a fowl,
and drew blood from his tongue, or his ears, or other parts of his
body, and turned to sleep. Either in his dreams or half awake, he
would see some one of those animals or birds above mentioned, who
would say to him, 'On such a day go hunting and the first animal or
bird you see will be my form, and I shall remain your companion and
_Nagual_ for all time.' Thus their friendship became so close that
when one died so did the other; and without such a _Nagual_ the
natives believe no one can become rich or powerful."[5-*]
This province of Cerquin appears to have been peopled by a tribe which
belonged to the great Mayan stock, akin to those which occupied most of
the area of what is now Yucatan, Tabasco, Chiapas and Guatemala.[5-[+]]
I shall say something later about the legendary enchantress whom their
traditions recalled as the teacher of their ancestors and the founder of
their nation. What I would now call attention to is the fact that in
none of the dialects of the specifically Mexican or Aztecan stock of
languages do we find the word _nagual_ in the sense in which it is
employed in the above extract, and this is strong evidence that the
origin of Nagualism is not to be sought in that stock.
=3.= We do find, however, in the Nahuatl language, which is the proper
name of the Aztecan, a number of derivatives from the same root, _na_,
among them this very word, _Nahuatl_, all of them containing the idea
"to know," or "knowledge." The early missionaries to New Spain often
speak of the _naualli_ (plural, _nanahualtin_), masters of mystic
knowledge, dealers in the black art, wizards or sorcerers. They were not
always evil-minded persons, though they seem to have been generally
feared. The earliest source of information about them is Father Sahagun,
who, in his invaluable History, has the following paragraph:
"The _naualli_, or magician, is he who frightens men and sucks the
blood of children during the night. He is well skilled in the
practice of this trade, he knows all the arts of sorcery
(_nauallotl_) and employs them with cunning and ability; but for
the benefit of men only, not for their injury. Those who have
recourse to such arts for evil intents injure the bodies of their
victims, cause them to lose their reason and smother them. These
are wicked men and necromancers."[6-*]
It is evident on examining the later works of the Roman clergy in Mexico
that the Church did not look with any such lenient eye on the possibly
harmless, or even beneficial, exercise of these magical devices. We find
a further explanation of what they were, preserved in a work of
instruction to confessors, published by Father Juan Bautista, at Mexico,
in the year 1600.
"There are magicians who call themselves _teciuhtlazque_,[6-[+]]
and also by the term _nanahualtin_, who conjure the clouds when
there is danger of hail, so that the crops may not be injured. They
can also make a stick look like a serpent, a mat like a centipede,
a piece of stone like a scorpion, and similar deceptions. Others of
these _nanahualtin_ will transform themselves to all appearances
(segun la aparencia), into a tiger, a dog or a weasel. Others again
will take the form of an owl, a cock, or a weasel; and when one is
preparing to seize them, they will appear now as a cock, now as an
owl, and again as a weasel. These call themselves
_nanahualtin_."[6-[++]]
There is an evident attempt in this somewhat confused statement to
distinguish between an actual transformation, and one which only appears
such to the observer.
In another work of similar character, published at Mexico a few years
later, the "Road to Heaven," of Father Nicolas de Leon, we find a series
of questions which a confessor should put to any of his flock suspected
of these necromantic practices. They reveal to us quite clearly what
these occult practitioners were believed to do. The passage reads as
follows, the questions being put in the mouth of the priest:
"Art thou a soothsayer? Dost thou foretell events by reading signs,
or by interpreting dreams, or by water, making circles and figures
on its surface? Dost thou sweep and ornament with flower garlands
the places where idols are preserved? Dost thou know certain words
with which to conjure for success in hunting, or to bring rain?
"Dost thou suck the blood of others, or dost thou wander about at
night, calling upon the Demon to help thee? Hast thou drunk
_peyotl_, or hast thou given it to others to drink, in order to
find out secrets, or to discover where stolen or lost articles
were? Dost thou know how to speak to vipers in such words that they
obey thee?"[6-Sec.]
=4.= This interesting passage lets in considerable light on the claims and
practices of the nagualists. Not the least important item is that of
their use of the intoxicant, _peyotl_, a decoction of which it appears
played a prominent part in their ceremonies. This is the native Nahuatl
name of a certain plant, having a white, tuberous root, which is the
part employed. It is mentioned as "pellote" or "peyote" in the
_Farmacopea Mexicana_ as a popular remedy, but its botanical name is not
added. According to Paso y Troncoso, it is one of the Compositae, a
species of the genus _Cacalia_.[7-*] It is referred to in several
passages by Father Sahagun, who says that it grows in southern Mexico,
and that the Aztecs derived their knowledge of it from the older
"Chichimecs." It was used as an intoxicant.
"Those who eat or drink of this _peyotl_ see visions, which are
sometimes frightful and sometimes ludicrous. The intoxication it
causes lasts several days. The Chichimecs believed that it gave
them courage in time of danger and diminished the pangs of hunger
and thirst."[7-[+]]
Its use was continued until a late date, and very probably has not yet
died out. Its composition and method of preparation are given in a list
of beverages prohibited by the Spanish authorities in the year 1784, as
follows:
"_Peyote_: Made from a species of vinagrilla, about the size of a
billiard ball, which grows in dry and sterile soil. The natives
chew it, and throw it into a wooden mortar, where it is left to
ferment, some leaves of tobacco being added to give it pungency.
They consume it in this form, sometimes with slices of _peyote_
itself, in their most solemn festivities, although it dulls the
intellect and induces gloomy and hurtful visions (sombras muy
funestas)."[7-[++]]
The _peyotl_ was not the only herb prized as a means of casting the soul
into the condition of hypostatic union with divinity. We have abundant
evidence that long after the conquest the seeds of the plant called in
Nahuatl the _ololiuhqui_ were in high esteem for this purpose. In the
Confessionary of Father Bartholome de Alva the priest is supposed to
inquire and learn as follows:
"_Question._ Hast thou loved God above all things? Hast thou loved
any created thing, adoring it, looking upon it as God, and
worshiping it?
"_Answer._ I have loved God with all my heart; but sometimes I have
believed in dreams, and also I have believed in the sacred herbs,
the _peyotl_, and the _ololiuhqui_; and in other such things
(_onicneltocac in temictli, in xiuhtzintli, in peyotl, in
ololiuhqui, yhuan in occequitlamantli_)."[8-*]
The seeds of the _ololiuhqui_ appear to have been employed externally.
They were the efficient element in the mysterious unguent known as "the
divine remedy" (_teopatli_), about which we find some information in the
works of Father Augustin de Vetancurt, who lived in Mexico in the middle
of the seventeenth century. He writes:
"The pagan priests made use of an ointment composed of insects,
such as spiders, scorpions, centipedes and the like, which the
neophytes in the temples prepared. They burned these insects in a
basin, collected the ashes, and rubbed it up with green tobacco
leaves, living worms and insects, and the powdered seeds of a plant
called _ololiuhqui_, which has the power of inducing visions, and
the effect of which is to destroy the reasoning powers. Under the
influence of this ointment, they conversed with the Devil, and he
with them, practicing his deceptions upon them. They also believed
that it protected them, so they had no fear of going into the woods
at night.
"This was also employed by them as a remedy in various diseases,
and the soothing influence of the tobacco and the _ololiuhqui_ was
attributed by them to divine agency. There are some in our own day
who make use of this ointment for sorcery, shutting themselves up,
and losing their reason under its influence; especially some old
men and old women, who are prepared to fall an easy prey to the
Devil."[8-[+]]
The botanist Hernandez observes that another name for this plant was
_coaxihuitl_, "serpent plant," and adds that its seeds contain a
narcotic poison, and that it is allied to the genus _Solanum_, of which
the deadly night-shade is a familiar species. He speaks of its use in
the sacred rites in these words:
"Indorum sacrifici, cum videri volebant versari cum superis, ac
responsa accipere ab eis, ea vescebantur planta, ut desiperent,
milleque phantasmata et demonum observatium effigies
circumspectarent."[8-[++]]
Of the two plants mentioned, the _ololiuhqui_ and the _peyotl_, the
former was considered the more potent in spiritual virtues. "They hold
it in as much veneration as if it were God," says a theologian of the
seventeenth century.[9-*] One who partook of these herbs was called
_payni_ (from the verb _pay_, to take medicine); and more especially
_tlachixqui_, a Seer, referring to the mystic "second sight," hence a
diviner or prophet (from the verb _tlachia_, to see).
Tobacco also held a prominent, though less important, place in these
rites. It was employed in two forms, the one the dried leaf, _picietl_,
which for sacred uses must be broken and rubbed up either seven or nine
times; and the green leaf mixed with lime, hence called _tenextlecietl_
(from _tenextli_, lime).
Allied in effect to these is an intoxicant in use in southern Mexico and
Yucatan, prepared from the bark of a tree called by the Mayas
_baal-che_. The whites speak of the drink as _pitarilla_. It is quite
popular among the natives, and they still attribute to it a sacred
character, calling it _yax ha_, the first water, the primal fluid. They
say that it was the first liquid created by God, and when He returned to
His heavenly home He left this beverage and its production in charge of
the gods of the rains, the four Pah-Ahtuns.[9-[+]]
=5.= Intoxication of some kind was an essential part of many of these
secret rites. It was regarded as a method of throwing the individual out
of himself and into relation with the supernal powers. What the old
historian, Father Joseph de Acosta, tells us about the clairvoyants and
telepaths of the aborigines might well stand for a description of their
modern representatives:
"Some of these sorcerers take any shape they choose, and fly
through the air with wonderful rapidity and for long distances.
They will tell what is taking place in remote localities long
before the news could possibly arrive. The Spaniards have known
them to report mutinies, battles, revolts and deaths, occurring two
hundred or three hundred leagues distant, on the very day they took
place, or the day after.
"To practice this art the sorcerers, usually old women, shut
themselves in a house, and intoxicate themselves to the degree of
losing their reason. The next day they are ready to reply to
questions."[10-*]
Plants possessing similar powers to excite vivid visions and distort the
imagination, and, therefore, employed in the magical rites, were the
_thiuimeezque_, in Michoacan, and the _chacuaco_, in lower
California.[10-[+]]
=6.= In spite of all effort, the various classes of wonder-workers
continued to thrive in Mexico. We find in a book of sermons published by
the Jesuit Father, Ignacio de Paredes, in the Nahuatl language, in 1757,
that he strenuously warns his hearers against invoking, consulting, or
calling upon "the devilish spell-binders, the nagualists, and those who
conjure with smoke."[10-[++]]
They have not yet lost their power; we have evidence enough that many
children of a larger growth in that land still listen with respect to
the recitals of the mysterious faculties attributed to the
_nanahualtin_. An observant German traveler, Carlos von Gagern, informs
us that they are widely believed to be able to cause sicknesses and
other ills, which must be counteracted by appropriate exorcisms, among
which the reading aloud certain passages of the Bible is deemed to be
one of the most potent.[10-Sec.]
The learned historian, Orozco y Berra, speaks of the powers attributed
at the present day to the _nahual_ in Mexico among the lower classes, in
these words:
"The _nahual_ is generally an old Indian with red eyes, who knows
how to turn himself into a dog, woolly, black and ugly. The female
witch can convert herself into a ball of fire; she has the power of
flight, and at night will enter the windows and suck the blood of
little children. These sorcerers will make little images of rags or
of clay, then stick into them the thorn of the maguey and place
them in some secret place; you can be sure that the person against
whom the conjuration is practiced will feel pain in the part where
the thorn is inserted. There still exist among them the
medicine-men, who treat the sick by means of strange contortions,
call upon the spirits, pronounce magical incantations, blow upon
the part where the pain is, and draw forth from the patient thorns,
worms, or pieces of stone. They know how to prepare drinks which
will bring on sickness, and if the patients are cured by others the
convalescents are particular to throw something of their own away,
as a lock of hair, or a part of their clothing. Those who possess
the evil eye can, by merely looking at children, deprive them of
beauty and health, and even cause their death."[11-*]
=7.= As I have said, nowhere in the records of purely Mexican, that is,
Aztecan, Nagualism do we find the word _nagual_ employed in the sense
given in the passage quoted from Herrera, that is as a personal guardian
spirit or tutelary genius. These tribes had, indeed, a belief in some
such protecting power, and held that it was connected with the day on
which each person is born. They called it the _tonalli_ of a person, a
word translated to mean that which is peculiar to him, which makes his
individuality, his self. The radical from which it is derived is _tona_,
to warm, or to be warm, from which are also derived _tonatiuh_, the sun.
_Tonalli_, which in composition loses its last syllable, is likewise the
word for heat, summer, soul, spirit and day, and also for the share or
portion which belongs to one. Thus, _to-tonal_ is spirit or soul in
general; _no-tonal_, my spirit; _no-tonal in ipan no-tlacat_, "the sign
under which I was born," _i. e._, the astrological day-sign. From this
came the verb _tonalpoa_, to count or estimate the signs, that is, to
cast the horoscope of a person; and _tonalpouhque_, the diviners whose
business it was to practice this art.[11-[+]]
These _tonalpouhque_ are referred to at length by Father
Sahagun.[11-[++]] He distinguishes them from the _naualli_, though it is
clear that they corresponded in functions to the nagualistic priests of
the southern tribes. From the number and name of the day of birth they
forecast the destiny of the child, and stated the power or spiritual
influence which should govern its career.
The _tonal_ was by no means an indefeasible possession. It was a sort of
independent _mascotte_. So long as it remained with a person he enjoyed
health and prosperity; but it could depart, go astray, become lost; and
then sickness and misfortune arrived. This is signified in the Nahuatl
language by the verbs _tonalcaualtia_, to check, stop or suspend the
_tonal_, hence, to shock or frighten one; and _tonalitlacoa_, to hurt or
injure the _tonal_, hence, to cast a spell on one, to bewitch him.
This explains the real purpose of the conjuring and incantations which
were carried on by the native doctor when visiting the sick. It was to
recall the _tonal_, to force or persuade it to return; and, therefore,
the ceremony bore the name "the restitution of the _tonal_," and was
more than any other deeply imbued with the superstitions of Nagualism.
The chief officiant was called the _tetonaltiani_, "he who concerns
himself with the tonal." On a later page I shall give the formula
recited on such an occasion.
=8.= There is some vague mention in the Aztec records of a semi-priestly
order, who bore the name _naualteteuctin_, which may be translated
"master magicians." They were also known as _teotlauice_, "sacred
companions in arms." As was the case with most classes of the
_teteuctin_, or nobles, entrance to the order was by a severe and
prolonged ceremony of initiation, the object of which was not merely to
test the endurance of pain and the powers of self-denial, but especially
to throw the mind into that subjective state in which it is brought into
contact with the divine, in which it can "see visions and dream dreams."
The order claimed as its patron and founder Quetzalcoatl, the "feathered
serpent," who, it will be seen on another page, was also the patron of
the later nagualists.[12-*]
The word _naualli_ also occurs among the ancient Nahuas in composition
as a part of proper names; always with the signification of "magician,"
as in that of Naualcuauhtla, a chief of the Chalcos, meaning
"wizard-stick," referring probably to the rod or wand employed by the
magi in conjuration.[13-*] So also _Naualac_, the "wizard water," an
artificial lake not far from the city of Mexico, surrounded by ruined
temples, described by M. Charnay.[13-[+]]
=9.= The belief in a personal guardian spirit was one of the fundamental
doctrines of Nagualism; but this belief by no means connotes the full
import of the term (as Mr. H. H. Bancroft has erroneously stated). The
calendar system of Mexico and Central America, which I have shown to be
substantially the same throughout many diverse linguistic
stocks,[13-[++]] had as one of its main objects, astrological
divination. By consulting it the appropriate nagual was discovered and
assigned, and this was certainly a prominent feature in the native cult
and has never been abandoned.
In Mexico to-day, in addition to his special personal guardian, the
native will often choose another for a limited time or for a particular
purpose, and this is quite consistent with the form of Christianity he
has been taught. For instance, as we are informed by an observant
traveler, at New Year or at corn-planting the head of a family will go
to the parish church and among the various saints there displayed will
select one as his guardian for the year. He will address to him his
prayers for rain and sunshine, for an abundant harvest, health and
prosperity, and will not neglect to back these supplications by liberal
gifts. If times are good and harvests ample the Santo is rewarded with
still more gifts, and his aid is sought for another term; but if luck
has been bad the Indian repairs to the church at the end of the year,
bestows on his holy patron a sound cursing, calls him all the bad names
he can think of, and has nothing more to do with him.[13-Sec.]
=10.= A Mexican writer, Andres Iglesias, who enjoyed more than common
opportunities to study these practices as they exist in the present
generation, describes them as he saw them in the village of Soteapan, a
remote hamlet in the State of Vera Cruz, the population of which speak
the Mixe language. This is not related to the Nahuatl tongue, but the
terms of their magical rites are drawn from Nahuatl words, showing their
origin. Every person at birth has assigned to him both a good and a bad
genius, the former aiming at his welfare, the latter at his injury. The
good genius is known by the Nahuatl term _tonale_, and it is represented
in the first bird or animal of any kind which is seen in or near the
house immediately after the birth of the infant.
The most powerful person in the village is the high priest of the native
cult. One who died about 1850 was called "the Thunderbolt," and whenever
he walked abroad he was preceded by a group of chosen disciples, called
by the Nahuatl name _tlatoques_, speakers or attorneys.[14-*] His
successor, known as "the Greater Thunder," did not maintain this state,
but nevertheless claimed to be able to control the seasons and to send
or to mitigate destructive storms--claims which, sad to say, brought him
to the stocks, but did not interfere with the regular payment of tribute
to him by the villagers. He was also a medicine man and master of
ceremonies in certain "scandalous orgies, where immodesty shows herself
without a veil."[14-[+]][TN-1]
=11.= Turning to the neighboring province of Oaxaca and its inhabitants,
we are instructed on the astrological use of the calendar of the
Zapotecs by Father Juan de Cordova, whose _Arte_ of their language was
published at Mexico in 1578. From what he says its principal, if not its
only purpose, was astrological. Each day had its number and was called
after some animal, as eagle, snake, deer, rabbit, etc. Every child, male
or female, received the name of the day, and also its number, as a
surname; its personal name being taken from a fixed series, which
differed in the masculine and feminine gender, and which seems to have
been derived from the names of the fingers.
From this it appears that among the Zapotecs the personal spirit or
_nagual_ was fixed by the date of the birth, and not by some later
ceremony, although the latter has been asserted by some writers; who,
however, seem to have applied without certain knowledge the rites of the
Nahuas and other surrounding tribes to the Zapotecs.[15-*]
Next in importance to the assigning of names, according to Father
Cordova, was the employment of the calendar in deciding the propriety of
marriages. As the recognized object of marriage was to have sons, the
couple appealed to the professional augur to decide this question before
the marriage was fixed. He selected as many beans as was the sum of the
numbers of the two proponents' names, and, counting them by twos, if one
remained over, it meant a son; then counting by threes any remainder
also meant sons; by fours the remainder meant either sons or daughters;
and by five and six the same; and if there was no remainder by any of
these five divisors the marriage would result in no sons and was
prohibited.
It is obvious that this method of fortune-telling was most auspicious
for the lovers; for I doubt if there is any combination of two numbers
below fourteen which is divisible by two, three, four, five and six
without remainder in any one instance.[15-[+]]
The Zapotecs were one of those nations who voluntarily submitted
themselves to the Spaniards, not out of love for the Europeans, but
through hatred of the Aztecs, who had conquered them in the preceding
century. Their king, Coyopy, and his subjects accepted Christianity and
were generally baptized; but it was the merest formality, and years
afterwards Coyopy was detected secretly conducting the heathen ritual of
his ancestors with all due pomp. He was arrested, sent to the city of
Mexico, deprived of his power and wealth, and soon died; it is
charitably supposed, from natural causes. There is no question but that
he left successors to the office of pontifex maximus, and that they
continued the native religious ceremonies.
=12.= The sparse notices we have of the astrology of the Mixtecs,
neighbors and some think relatives of the Zapotecs, reveal closely
similar rites. The name of their king, who opposed Montezuma the First
some sixty years before the arrival of Cortez, proves that they made use
of the same or a similar calendar in bestowing personal appellations. It
is given as _Tres Micos_, Three Monkeys.
Unfortunately, so far as I know, there has not been published, and
perhaps there does not exist, an authentic copy of the Mixtec calendar.
It was nevertheless reduced to writing in the native tongue after the
conquest, and a copy of it was seen by the historian Burgoa in the
Mixtec town of Yanhuitlan.[16-*] Each day was named from a tree, a plant
or an animal, and from them the individual received his names, as Four
Lions, Five Roses, etc. (examples given by Herrera). This latter writer
adds that the name was assigned by the priests when the child was seven
years old (as among the Tzentals), part of the rite being to conduct it
to the temple and bore its ears. He refers also to their auguries
relating to marriage.[16-[+]] These appear to have been different from
among the Zapotecs. It was necessary that the youth should have a name
bearing a higher number than that of the maiden, and also "that they
should be related;" probably this applied only to certain formal
marriages of the rulers which were obliged to be within the same _gens_.
=13.= I have referred in some detail to the rites and superstitions
connected with the Calendar because they are all essential parts of
Nagualism, carried on far into Christian times by the priests of this
secret cult, as was fully recognized by the Catholic clergy. Wherever
this calendar was in use, the Freemasonry of Nagualism extended, and its
ritual had constant reference to it. Our fullest information about it
does not come from central Mexico, but further south, in the region
occupied by the various branches of the Mayan stock, by the ancestors of
some one of which, perhaps, this singular calendar, and the symbolism
connected with it, were invented.
One of the most important older authorities on this subject is Francisco
Nunez de la Vega, a learned Dominican, who was appointed Bishop of
Chiapas and Soconusco in 1687, and who published at Rome, in 1702, a
stately folio entitled "_Constituciones Dioecesanas del Obispado de
Chiappa_," comprising discussions of the articles of religion and a
series of pastoral letters. The subject of Nagualism is referred to in
many passages, and the ninth Pastoral Letter is devoted to it. As this
book is one of extreme rarity, I shall make rather lengthy extracts from
it, taking the liberty of condensing the scholastic prolixity of the
author, and omitting his professional admonitions to the wicked.
He begins his references to it in several passages of his Introduction
or _Preambulo_, in which he makes some interesting statements as to the
use to which the natives put their newly-acquired knowledge of writing,
while at the same time they had evidently not forgotten the ancient
method of recording ideas invented by their ancestors.
The Bishop writes:
"The Indians of New Spain retain all the errors of their time of
heathenism preserved in certain writings in their own languages,
explaining by abbreviated characters and by figures painted in a
secret cypher[17-*] the places, provinces and names of their early
rulers, the animals, stars and elements which they worshiped, the
ceremonies and sacrifices which they observed, and the years,
months and days by which they predicted the fortunes of children at
birth, and assign them that which they call the Naguals. These
writings are known as Repertories or Calendars, and they are also
used to discover articles lost or stolen, and to effect cures of
diseases. Some have a wheel painted in them, like that of
Pythagoras, described by the Venerable Bede; others portray a lake
surrounded by the Naguals in the form of various animals. Some of
the Nagualist Masters claim as their patron and ruler Cuchulchan,
and they possessed a certain formula of prayer to him, written in
the Popoluca tongue (which was called Baha in their time of
heathenism), and which has been translated into Mexican.[17-[+]]
"Those who are selected to become the masters of these arts are
taught from early childhood how to draw and paint these characters,
and are obliged to learn by heart the formulas, and the names of
the ancient Nagualists, and whatever else is included in these
written documents, many of which we have held in our hands, and
have heard them explained by such masters whom we had imprisoned
for their guilt, and who had afterwards become converted and
acknowledged their sins."[17-[++]]
The Bishop made up his mind that extreme measures should be taken to
eradicate these survivals of the ancient paganism in his diocese, and he
therefore promulgated the following order in the year 1692:
"And because in the provinces of our diocese those Indians who are
Nagualists adore their _naguals_, and look upon them as gods, and
by their aid believe that they can foretell the future, discover
hidden treasures, and fulfill their dishonest desires: we,
therefore, prescribe and command that in every town an
ecclesiastical prison shall be constructed at the expense of the
church, and that it be provided with fetters and stocks (con
grillos y cepos), and we confer authority on every priest and
curate of a parish to imprison in these gaols whoever is guilty of
disrespect toward our Holy Faith, and we enjoin them to treat with
especial severity those who teach the doctrines of Nagualism (y con
rigor mayor a los dogmatizantes Nagualistas)."[18-*]
In spite of these injunctions it is evident that he failed to destroy
the seeds of what he esteemed this dangerous heresy in the parishes of
his diocese; for his ninth Pastoral Letter, in which he exposes at
length the character of Nagualism, is dated from the metropolitan city
of Ciudad Real, on May 24, 1698. As much of it is germane to my theme, I
translate as follows:
"There are certain bad Christians of both sexes who do not hesitate
to follow the school of the Devil, and to occupy themselves with
evil arts, divinations, sorceries, conjuring, enchantments,
fortune-telling, and other means to forecast the future.
"These are those who in all the provinces of New Spain are known by
the name of _Nagualists_. They pretend that the birth of men is
regulated by the course and movements of stars and planets, and by
observing the time of day and the months in which a child is born,
they prognosticate its condition and the events, prosperous or
otherwise, of its life; and the worst is that these perverse men
have written down their signs and rules, and thus deceive the
erring and ignorant.
"These Nagualists practice their arts by means of Repertories and
superstitious Calendars, where are represented under their proper
names all the Naguals of stars, elements, birds, fishes, brute
beasts and dumb animals; with a vain note of days and months, so
that they can announce which corresponds to the day of birth of the
infant. This is preceded by some diabolical ceremonies, after which
they designate the field or other spot, where, after seven years
shall have elapsed, the Nagual will appear to ratify the bargain.
As the time approaches, they instruct the child to deny God and
His Blessed Mother, and warn him to have no fear, and not to make
the sign of the cross. He is told to embrace his Nagual tenderly,
which, by some diabolical art, presents itself in an affectionate
manner even though it be a ferocious beast, like a lion or a tiger.
Thus, with infernal cunning they persuade him that this Nagual is
an angel of God, who will look after him and protect him in his
after life.
"To such diabolical masters the intelligent Indians apply, to learn
from these superstitious Calendars, dictated by the Devil, their
own fortunes, and the Naguals which will be assigned to their
children, even before they are baptized. In most of the Calendars,
the seventh sign is the figure of a man and a snake, which they
call Cuchulchan. The masters have explained it as a snake with
feathers which moves in the water. This sign corresponds with
Mexzichuaut, which means Cloudy Serpent, or, of the clouds.[19-*]
The people also consult them in order to work injury on their
enemies, taking the lives of many through such devilish artifices,
and committing unspeakable atrocities.
"Worse even than these are those who wander about as physicians or
healers; who are none such, but magicians, enchanters, and
sorcerers, who, while pretending to cure, kill whom they will. They
apply their medicines by blowing on the patient, and by the use of
infernal words; learned by heart by those who cannot read or write;
and received in writing from their masters by those acquainted with
letters. The Master never imparts this instruction to a single
disciple, but always to three at a time, so that in the practice of
the art it may be difficult to decide which one exerts the magical
power. They blow on feathers, or sticks, or plants, and place them
in the paths where they may be stepped on by those they wish to
injure, thus causing chills, fevers, ugly pustules and other
diseases; or they introduce into the body by such arts toads,
frogs, snakes, centipedes, etc,[TN-2] causing great torments. And
by these same breathings and magic words they can burn down houses,
destroy the growing crops and induce sickness. No one of the three
disciples is permitted to practice any of these arts without
previously informing the other two, and also the Master, by whom
the three have been taught.
"We have learned by the confession of certain guilty parties how
the Master begins to instruct his disciple. First he tells him to
abjure God, the saints and the Virgin, not to invoke their names,
and to have no fear of them. He then conducts him to the wood,
glen, cave or field where the pact with the Devil is concluded,
which they call 'the agreement' or 'the word given' (in Tzental
_quiz_). In some provinces the disciple is laid on an ant-hill, and
the Master standing above him calls forth a snake, colored with
black, white and red, which is known as 'the ant-mother' (in
Tzental _zmezquiz_).[19-[+]] This comes accompanied by the ants
and other small snakes of the same kind, which enter at the joints
of the fingers, beginning with the left hand, and coming out at the
joints of the right hand, and also by the ears and the nose; while
the great snake enters the body with a leap and emerges at its
posterior vent. Afterwards the disciple meets a dragon vomiting
fire, which swallows him entire and ejects him posteriorly. Then
the Master declares he may be admitted, and asks him to select the
herbs with which he will conjure, the disciple names them, the
Master gathers them and delivers them to him, and then teaches him
the sacred words.
"These words and ceremonies are substantially the same in all the
provinces. The healer enters the house of the invalid, asks about
the sickness, lays his hand on the suffering part, and then leaves,
promising to return on the day following. At the next visit he
brings with him some herbs which he chews or mashes with a little
water and applies to the part. Then he repeats the _Pater Noster_,
the _Ave_, the _Credo_ and the _Salve_ and blows upon the seat of
disease, afterwards pronouncing the magical words taught him by his
master. He continues blowing in this manner, inhaling and exhaling,
repeating under his breath these magical expressions, which are
powerful to kill or to cure as he chooses, through the compact he
has made with the Devil. Finally, so as to deceive the bystanders,
he ends with saying in a loud voice: 'God the Father, God the Son,
and God the Holy Ghost. Amen.'
"This physician or healer is called in the towns of some of the
provinces _poxta vanegs_, and the medicine _gspoxil_; and
everything relating to healing among the Indians to which they
apply these terms means also to practice sorcery; and all words
derived from _pox_ allude to the Nagual; for this in some provinces
is called _poxlon_, and in others _patzlan_, and in many
_tzihuizin_, which is something very much feared by the Indians. We
have ascertained by the confessions of many who have been
reconciled that the Devil at times appears to them in the shape of
a ball or globe of fire in the air, with a tail like a comet.[20-*]
"According to the most ancient traditions of these Indians this
idol, _poxlon_, was one of the most important and venerated they
had in the old times, and the Tzentals revered it so much that
they preserved it innumerable years painted on a tablet in the
above figure. Even after they were converted to the faith, they
hung it behind a beam in the church of the town of Oxchuc,
accompanied by an image of their god Hicalahau, having a ferocious
black face with the members of a man,[21-*] along with five owls
and vultures. By divine interposition, we discovered these on our
second visit there in 1687, and had no little difficulty in getting
them down, we reciting the creed, and the Indians constantly
spitting as they executed our orders. These objects were publicly
burned in the plaza.
"In other parts they reverence the bones of the earlier Nagualists,
preserving them in caves, where they adorn them with flowers and
burn copal before them. We have discovered some of these and burned
them, hoping to root out and put a stop to such evil ceremonies of
the infernal sect of the Nagualists.
"At present, all are not so subject to the promptings of the Devil
as formerly, but there are still some so closely allied to him that
they transform themselves into tigers, lions, bulls, flashes of
light and globes of fire. We can say from the declaration and
solemn confession of some penitents that it is proved that the
Devil had carnal relations with them, both as incubus and succubus,
approaching them in the form of their Nagual; and there was one
woman who remained in the forest a week with the demon in the form
of her Nagual, acting toward him as does an infatuated woman toward
her lover (como pudiera con su proprio amigo una muger amancebada).
As a punishment for such horrible crimes our Lord has permitted
that they lose their life as soon as their Nagual is killed; and
that they bear on their own bodies the wound or mark of the blow
which killed it; as the curas of Chamula, Copainala and other
places have assured us.
"The devilish seed of this Nagualism has rooted itself in the very
flesh and blood of these Indians. It perseveres in their hearts
through the instructions of the masters of the sect, and there is
scarcely a town in these provinces in which it has not been
introduced. It is a superstitious idolatry, full of monstrous
incests, sodomies and detestable bestialities."
Such are the words of the Bishop of Chiapas. We learn from his
thoroughly instructed and unimpeachable testimony that at the beginning
of the eighteenth century Nagualism was a widespread and active
institution among the Indians of southern Mexico; that it was taught and
practiced by professors who were so much feared and respected that, as
he tells us in another passage, they were called "masters of the
towns;"[21-[+]] that they gave systematic instruction to disciples in
classes of three, all of whom were bound together by pledges of mutual
information and assistance; that a fundamental principle of the
organization and an indispensable step in the initiation into its
mysteries was the abjuration of the Christian religion, and an undying
hatred to its teachers and all others of the race of the white
oppressors; and that when they made use of Christian phrases or
ceremonies it was either in derision or out of hypocrisy, the better to
conceal their real sentiments.
There are a number of other witnesses from the seventeenth century that
may be summoned to strengthen this testimony, if it needs it.
=14.= In the _History of Guatemala_, written about 1690 by Francisco
Antonio Fuentes y Guzman, the author gives some information about a
sorcerer of this school, who was arrested in Totonicapan, and with whom
the historian had something to do as _corregidor_.
The redoubtable magician was a little old man, _viejezuelo_, and when
caught had in his possession a document giving the days of the year
according to the European calendar, with the Nagual, which belonged to
each one. That for January is alone given by our writer, but it is
probable that the other months merely repeated the naguals corresponding
to the numbers. It ran as follows:
_Nagual Calendar for January._
1. Lion.
2. Snake.
3. Stone.
4. Alligator.
5. Ceiba tree.
6. The quetzal (a bird).
7. A stick.
8. Rabbit.
9. A rope.
10. Leaf.
11. Deer.
12. Guacamayo (parrot).
13. Flower.
14. Toad.
15. Caterpillar.
16. A chip.
17. Arrow.
18. Broom.
19. Jaguar.
20. Corn-husk.
21. A flute.
22. Green-stone.
23. Crow.
24. Fire.
25. A pheasant.
26. A reed.
27. Opossum.
28. Huracan (the thunder-storm).
29. The vulture.
30. Hawk.
31. Bat.
When the sorcerer was examined as to the manner of assigning the proper
nagual to a child he gave the following account:
Having been informed of its day of birth, he in due time called at the
residence of the parents, and told the mother to bring the child into
the field behind the house. Having there invoked the demon, the _nagual_
of the child would appear under the form of the animal or object set
opposite its birthday in the calendar, a serpent were it born on the 2d
of January, a flower were it on the 13th, fire were it on the 24th, and
so on. The sorcerer then addressed certain prayers to the _nagual_ to
protect the little one, and told the mother to take it daily to the same
spot, where its _nagual_ would appear to it, and would finally accompany
it through all its life. Some, but not all, obtained the power of
transforming themselves into the _nagual_, and the author declares that,
though he could not cite such a case from his own experience, his father
knew of several, and reliable priests, _religiosos de fe_, had told him
enough examples to fill volumes.[23-*]
The tribes to which this author refers were the Cakchiquels and Quiches,
who spoke practically the same tongue. An examination of some of the old
dictionaries prepared by the early missionaries furnishes further and
interesting information about this obscure subject.
In the Cakchiquel language of Guatemala, the word _naual_ was applied
both to the magician himself, to his necromantic art, and to the demonic
agency which taught and protected him. This is shown by the following
explanation, which I quote from Father Coto's _Vocabulario de la Lengua
Cakchiquel_, 1651, a manuscript in the library of the American
Philosophical Society: