accustomed to call their magicians or sorcerers by the same terms.
It was a kind of magic which they invoked in order to transform
themselves into eagles, lions, tigers, etc. Thus, they said, _ru
puz_, _ru naual_, _pedro lae cot_, _balam_, 'Peter's power, his
_naual_, is a lion, a tiger.' They also applied the words _puz_ and
_naual_ to certain trees, rocks and other inanimate objects, whence
the Devil used to speak to them, and likewise to the idols which
they worshiped, as _gazlic che_, _gazlic abah_, _huyu_, _k'o ru
naual_, 'The life of the tree, the life of the stone, of the hill,
is its _naual_,' etc.; because they believed there was life in
these objects. They used to have armies and soldiery to guard
their lands, and the captains, as well as many who were not
captains, had their _nauales_. They called the captain _ru g'
alache; rohobachi, ti ru gaah, ru pocob, ru gh' amay a ghay ti be
chi naualil_ [he works magic with his shield, his lance, and his
arrows].
"To practice such magical arts: _tin naualih_ ('I practice magic'),
an active verb. They use it, for instance, when a man asks his wife
for something to eat or drink, and she has nothing, owing to his
negligence, she will say: 'Where do you suppose I can get what you
want? Do you expect me to perform miracles--_xa pe ri tin
naualih_--that they shall come to my hands?' So when one is asked
to lend or give something which he has not, he will exclaim: _Tin
naualih pe ri puvak_, etc. ('Can I perform miracles,' etc.)
"It also signifies to pretend something, concealing the truth, as
_xa ru naualim ara neh chu g' ux ri tzih tan tu bijh pedro_, 'Peter
is feigning this which he is saying.' They are also accustomed to
apply this word to the power which the priests exert (in the
sacraments, etc.)."
A long and foolish account of the witchcraft supposed to be practiced
among the Pokonchis of Guatemala, also a tribe of Mayan stock, is given
by the Englishman, Thomas Gage, who was cura of a parish among them
about 1630, and afterwards returned to England and Protestantism. He
described, at wearisome length, the supposed metamorphosis of two chiefs
of neighboring tribes, the one into a lion, the other into a tiger, and
the mortal combat in which they engaged, resulting in the death of one
to whom Gage administered absolution. No doubt he had been worsted in a
personal encounter with his old enemy, and, being a man of eighty years,
had not the vigor to recover. The account is of interest only as proving
that the same superstitions at that time prevailed among the Pokonchis
as in other portions of Guatemala.[24-*]
=15.= A really mighty nagualist was not confined to a single
transformation. He could take on many and varied figures. One such is
described in the sacred books of the Quiches of Guatemala, that document
known by the name of the Popol Vuh, or National Book. The passage is in
reference to one of their great kings and powerful magicians, Gucumatz
by name. It says:
"Truly he was a wonderful king. Every seven days he ascended to the
sky, and every seven days he followed the path to the abode of the
dead; every seven days he put on the nature of a serpent, and then
he became truly a serpent; every seven days he assumed the nature
of an eagle, and then he became truly an eagle; then of a tiger and
he became truly a tiger; then of coagulated blood, and he was
nothing else than coagulated blood."[25-*]
It may be said that such passages refer metaphorically to the
versatility of his character, but even if this is so, the metaphors are
drawn from the universal belief in Nagualism which then prevailed, and
they do not express it too strongly.
=16.= Among the Maya tribes of Yucatan and Guatemala we have testimony to
the continuance to this day of these beliefs. Father Bartolome de Baeza,
cura of Yaxcaba in the first half of this century, reports that an old
man, in his dying confession, declared that by diabolical art he had
transformed himself into an animal, doubtless his _nagual_; and a young
girl of some twelve years confessed that she had been transformed into a
bird by the witches, and in one of her nocturnal flights had rested on
the roof of the very house in which the good priest resided, which was
some two leagues from her home. He wisely suggests that, perhaps,
listening to some tale of sorcery, she had had a vivid dream, in which
she seemed to take this flight. It is obvious, however, from his
account, as well as from other sources, that the belief of the
transformation into lower animals was and is one familiar to the
superstitions of the Mayas.[25-[+]] The natives still continue to
propitiate the ancient gods of the harvest, at the beginning of the
season assembling at a ceremony called by the Spaniards the _misa
milpera_, or "field mass," and by themselves _ti'ch_, "the stretching
out of the hands."
The German traveler, Dr. Scherzer, when he visited, in 1854, the remote
hamlet of Istlavacan, in Guatemala, peopled by Quiche Indians,
discovered that they had preserved in this respect the usages of their
ancestors almost wholly unaffected by the teachings of their various
Christian curates. The "Master" still assigned the _naguals_ to the
new-born infants, copal was burned to their ancient gods in remote
caves, and formulas of invocation were taught by the veteran nagualists
to their neophytes.[26-*]
These _Zahoris_,[26-[+]] as they are generally called in the Spanish of
Central America, possessed many other mysterious arts besides that of
such metamorphoses and of forecasting the future. They could make
themselves invisible, and walk unseen among their enemies; they could in
a moment transport themselves to distant places, and, as quickly
returning, report what they had witnessed; they could create before the
eyes of the spectator a river, a tree, a house, or an animal, where none
such existed; they could cut open their own stomach, or lop a limb from
another person, and immediately heal the wound or restore the severed
member to its place; they could pierce themselves with knives and not
bleed, or handle venomous serpents and not be bitten; they could cause
mysterious sounds in the air, and fascinate animals and persons by their
steady gaze; they could call visible and invisible spirits, and the
spirits would come.
Among the native population of the State of Vera Cruz and elsewhere in
southern Mexico these mysterious personages go by the name _padrinos_,
godfathers, and are looked upon with a mixture of fear and respect. They
are believed by the Indians to be able to cause sickness and domestic
calamities, and are pronounced by intelligent whites to present "a
combination of rascality, duplicity and trickery."[26-[++]]
=17.= The details of the ceremonies and doctrines of Nagualism have never
been fully revealed; but from isolated occurrences and partial
confessions it is clear that its adherents formed a coherent association
extending over most of southern Mexico and Guatemala, which everywhere
was inspired by two ruling sentiments--detestation of the Spaniards and
hatred of the Christian religion.
In their eyes the latter was but a cloak for the exactions, massacres
and oppressions exerted by the former. To them the sacraments of the
Church were the outward signs of their own subjugation and misery. They
revolted against these rites in open hatred, or received them with
secret repugnance and contempt. In the Mexican figurative manuscripts
composed after the conquest the rite of baptism is constantly depicted
as the symbol of religious persecution. Says a sympathetic student of
this subject:
"The act of baptism is always inserted in their records of battles
and massacres. Everywhere it conveys the same idea,--making evident
to the reader that the pretext for all the military expeditions of
the Spaniards was the enforced conversion to Christianity of the
natives; a pretext on which the Spaniards seized in order to
possess themselves of the land and its treasure, to rob the Indians
of their wives and daughters, to enslave them, and to spill their
blood without remorse or remission. One of these documents, dated
in 1526, adds a trait of savage irony. A Spanish soldier is
represented dragging a fugitive Indian from a lake by a lasso
around his neck; while on the shore stands a monk ready to baptize
the recreant on his arrival!"[27-*]
No wonder that the priests of the dark ritual of Nagualism for centuries
after the conquest sought to annul the effects of the hated Christian
sacraments by counteracting ceremonies of their own, as we are told they
did by the historian Torquemada, writing from his own point of view in
these words:
"The Father of Lies had his ministers who aided him, magicians and
sorcerers, who went about from town to town, persuading the simple
people to that which the Enemy of Light desired. Those who believed
their deceits, and had been baptized, were washed on the head and
breast by these sorcerers, who assured them that this would remove
the effects of the chrism and the holy oils. I myself knew an
instance where a person of prominence, who resided not far from the
City of Mexico, was dying, and had received extreme unction; and
when the priest had departed one of these diabolical ceremonialists
entered, and washed all the parts which had been anointed by the
holy oil with the intention to destroy its power."[27-[+]]
Similar instances are recorded by Jacinto de la Serna. He adds that not
only did the Masters prescribe sacrifices to the Fire in order to annul
the effects of extreme unction, but they delighted to caricature the
Eucharist, dividing among their congregation a narcotic yellow mushroom
for the bread, and the inebriating pulque for the wine. Sometimes they
adroitly concealed in the pyx, alongside the holy wafer, some little
idol of their own, so that they really followed their own superstitions
while seemingly adoring the Host. They assigned a purely pagan sense to
the sacred formula, "Father, Son and Holy Ghost," understanding it to be
"Fire, Earth and Air," or the like.[28-*]
Whoever or whatever was an enemy to that religion so brutally forced upon
these miserable creatures was to them an ally and a friend. Nunez de la
Vega tells us that he found written formulas among them reading: "O
Brother Antichrist, Brother Antichrist, Brother Antichrist, come to our
aid!"--pathetic and desperate appeal of a wretched race, ground to earth
under the iron heels of a religious and military despotism.[28-[+]]
=18.= The association embraced various tribes and its members were
classified under different degrees. The initiation into these was by
solemn and often painful ceremonies. Local sodalities or brotherhoods
were organized after the manner of those usual in the Roman Church; but
instead of being named after St. John or the Virgin Mary they were
dedicated to Judas Iscariot or Pontius Pilate out of derision and hatred
of the teachings of the priests; or to the Devil or Antichrist, who were
looked upon as powerful divinities in opposition to the Church.[28-[++]]
There were certain recognized centres of the association, near which its
most important dignitaries resided, and where their secret councils and
most imposing ceremonies were held. One of these was Zamayac, in the
province of Suchiltepec; a second near Huehuetan, Soconusco; a third at
Totonicapan, Guatemala; a fourth at Cancuc, Chiapas; a fifth at
Teozapotlan, Oaxaca; and a few others may be surmised.
The high priest who resided at each of these centres exercised control
over all the nagualistic teachers and practitioners in an extensive
district. On the occasion of an official inquiry by the Spanish
authorities it was ascertained that the high priest of Zamayac included
under his rule nearly one thousand sub-priests,[29-*] and no doubt
others of his rank were not less potent.
The unity between the members of the association over an indefinitely
wide area was perfectly well known to the Spanish priests and civil
authorities. The ceremonies, formulas and methods of procedure were
everywhere identical or alike. This itself was justly regarded as a
proof of the secret intelligence which existed among the members of this
cabalistic guild.[29-[+]]
To a certain extent, and at least in some localities, as Chiapas and
Guatemala, the priesthood of Nagualism was hereditary in particular
families. This is especially stated by the historian Ordonez y Aguiar,
who had exceptional opportunities for acquainting himself with the
facts.[29-[++]]
A traveler of the first decade of this century, who has left us a number
of curious details of the superstitions of the Christianized Indians in
Mexico of that day, Benito Maria de Moxo, informs us that he had
discovered the existence of different grades in the native soothsayers
and medicine men, and that all in a given locality recognized the
supremacy of one whom they referred to as "the little old man," _El
Viejito_. But he was unable to ascertain by what superior traits or
rights he obtained this distinction.[29-Sec.]
According to some authorities, the highest grade of these native
hierophants bore among the Nahuas the symbolic name of "flower
weavers," _Xochimilca_, probably from the skill they had to deceive the
senses by strange and pleasant visions.[30-*] In the south they were
spoken of as "guardians," which may have been derived from the classes
of priests so-called in the Zapotec religion.[30-[+]]
=19.= It will be seen from the above, that Nagualism, beginning in an
ancient superstition dating back to the time of primitive barbarism,
became after the Conquest a potent factor in the political and social
development of the peoples among whom it existed; that it was the source
from which was drawn and the means by which was sustained the
race-hatred of the native American towards his foreign conquerors,
smouldering for centuries, now and then breaking out in furious revolt
and civil war.
There is strong reason to suspect its power where, for obvious reasons,
it has not been demonstrated. It has always been a mystery and a matter
of surprise to the historians of Yucatan how rapidly spread the plans of
the insurrection which secured lasting independence for the natives,
after these plans had been agreed upon by the two chiefs, Antonio Ay and
Cecilio Chi, at the remote rancho of Xihum, in July, 1847. Such
unanimity of action could only have been possible through the aid of a
powerful, well-disciplined and widespread secret organization. There can
scarcely be a doubt they were the chiefs or masters of the redoubtable
order of Nagualism in the Peninsula.[30-[++]]
There is no question that such was the case with the brief and bloody
revolt of the Mayas in 1761. It suddenly broke out in a number of
villages near Valladolid, Yucatan, headed by a full-blood native,
Jacinto Can-Ek; but some of the participants afterwards confessed that
it was the outcome of a conspiracy which had been preparing for a year.
When the appointed day arrived, Jacinto boldly announced himself as the
high priest of the fraternity of sorcerers, a master and teacher of
magic, and the lineal successor of the famous ancient prophet, Chilan
Balam, "whose words cannot fail." In a stirring appeal he urged his
fellow-countrymen to attack the Spaniards without fear of consequences.
"'Be not afraid,' he exclaimed, 'of their cannons and their forts;
for among the many to whom I have taught the arts of magic (el arte
de brujeria) there are fifteen chosen ones, marvelous experts, who
by their mystic power will enter the fortress, slay the sentinels,
and throw open the gates to our warriors. I shall take the leaves
of the sacred tree, and folding them into trumpets, I shall call to
the four winds of heaven, and a multitude of fighting men will
hasten to our aid.'"[31-*]
Saying this, he took a sheet of paper, held it up to show that it was
blank, folded it for a moment, and then spread it out covered with
writing! This deft trick convinced his simple-minded hearers of the
truth of his claims and they rushed to arms. He led them, clothed in the
robe of the Virgin and with her crown on his head. But neither their
enthusiasm nor their leader's art magic availed, and soon Jacinto and
his followers fell victims to the stake and the gallows. After their
death the dance of "the tiger," or of Chac-Mool--the "ghost dance" of
the Mayas--was prohibited; and the use of the sacred drum--the favorite
instrument of the native priests--was forbidden.[31-[+]]
In fact, wherever we have any full accounts of the revolts against the
Spanish domination during the three centuries of its existence in New
Spain, we can manifestly trace the guiding fingers of the powerful
though hidden hand of Nagualism. An earlier revolt of the Mayas in
Yucatan occurred in 1585. It was led by Andres Chi, a full-blood Indian,
and a descendant of the ancient royal house of the Cocomes. He also
announced himself as a priest of the ancient faith, a prophet and a
worker of miracles, sent to instruct his own people in a new religion
and to give them an independent political existence. Seized by the
Spaniards, he was charged with idolatry, sorcery and disturbing the
peace, and was ignominiously hanged.[32-*]
Not less definitely inspired by the same ideas was the Mixe Indian,
known as "Don Pascual," who led the revolt of the Tehuantepec tribes in
1661. He sent out his summons to the "thirteen governors of the Zapotecs
and Chontales" to come to his aid, and the insurrection threatened to
assume formidable proportions, prevented only by bringing to bear upon
the natives the whole power of the Roman Church through the Bishop of
Oaxaca, Cuevas Davalos.[32-[+]]
Nearly the same locality had been the scene of the revolt of the
Zapotecs in 1550, when they were led by a native priest who claimed to
be an incarnation of the old god Quetzalcoatl, the patron deity of the
nagualists.[32-[++]]
In the city of Mexico itself, in the year 1692, there was a violent
outbreak of the natives, when they destroyed three million dollars worth
of property. Doubtless this was partly attributable to the scarcity of
food which prevailed; but that the authorities traced it also to some
secret ceremonials is evident from the law which was immediately passed
forbidding the Indians to wear the _piochtli_, or scalp-lock, a portion
of the hair preserved from birth as part of the genethliac
rituals,[32-Sec.] and the especial enactments against the _octli_.
As for the revolt of the Tzentals of Chiapas, in 1712, it was clearly
and confessedly under the leadership of the nagualistic priesthood, as I
shall indicate on a later page.
The history of the native American race under the Spanish power in North
America has never yet been written with the slightest approach to
thoroughness. He who properly qualifies himself for that task will
certainly reach the conclusion expressed a number of years ago by the
eminent American antiquary and historian, Mr. E. G. Squier, in these
words:
"Among the ruling and priestly classes of the semi-civilized
nations of America, there has always existed a mysterious bond, a
secret organization, which all the disasters to which they have
been subjected have not destroyed. It is to its present existence
that we may attribute those simultaneous movements of the
aborigines of Mexico and Central America, which have more than once
threatened the complete subversion of the Spanish power."[33-*]
That mysterious bond, that secret organization, is _Nagualism_.
=20.= A remarkable feature in this mysterious society was the exalted
position it assigned to Women. Not only were they admitted to the most
esoteric degrees, but in repeated instances they occupied the very
highest posts in the organization. According to the traditions of the
Tzentals and Pipils of Chiapas, when their national hero, Votan,
constructed by the breath of his mouth his darkened shrine at
Tlazoaloyan, in Soconusco, he deposited in it the sacred books and holy
relics, and constituted a college of venerable sages to be its
guardians; but placed them all in subjection to a high priestess, whose
powers were absolute.[33-[+]]
The veracious Pascual de Andagoya asserts from his own knowledge that
some of these female adepts had attained the rare and peculiar power of
being in two places at once, as much as a league and a half
apart;[33-[++]] and the repeated references to them in the Spanish
writings of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries confirm the dread in
which they were held and the extensive influence they were known to
control. In the sacraments of Nagualism, Woman was the primate and
hierophant.
=21.= This was a lineal inheritance from pre-Columbian times. In many
native American legends, as in others from the old world, some powerful
enchantress is remembered as the founder of the State, mistress of men
through the potency of her magic powers.
Such, among the Aztecs, was the sorceress who built the city of
Mallinalco, on the road from Mexico to Michoacan, famous even after the
conquest for the skill of its magicians, who claimed descent from
her.[34-*] Such, in Honduras, was Coamizagual, queen of Cerquin, versed
in all occult science, who died not, but at the close of her earthly
career rose to heaven in the form of a beautiful bird, amid the roll of
thunder and the flash of lightning.[34-[+]]
According to an author intimately familiar with the Mexican nagualists,
the art they claimed to possess of transforming themselves into the
lower animals was taught their predecessors by a woman, a native Circe,
a mighty enchantress, whose usual name was Quilaztli (the etymology of
which is unknown), but who bore also four others, representing her four
metamorphoses, Cohuacihuatl, the Serpent Woman; Quauhcihuatl, the Eagle
Woman; Yaocihuatl, the Warrior Woman; and Tzitzimecihuatl, the Specter
Woman.[34-[++]]
The powers of these queens of magic extended widely among their sex. We
read in the chronicles of ancient Mexico that when Nezahualpilli, the
king, oppressed the tribes of the coast, the _tierra caliente_, they
sent against him, not their warriors, but their witches. These cast upon
him their fatal spells, so that when he walked forth from his palace,
blood burst from his mouth, and he fell prone and dead.[34-Sec.]
In Guatemala, as in ancient Delphos, the gods were believed to speak
through the mouths of these inspired seeresses, and at the celebration
of victories they enjoyed a privilege so strange and horrible that I
quote it from the old manuscript before me without venturing a
translation:
"... Despues de sacrificar los antiguos algun hombre,
despedacandolo, si era de los que avian cogido en guerra, dicen que
guardaban el miembro genital y los testiculos del tal sacrificado,
y se los daban a una vieja que tenian por profeta, para que los
comiese, y le pedian rogasse a su idolo les diesse mas
captivos."[35-*]
When Captain Pedro de Alvarado, in the year 1524, was marching upon
Quetzaltanango, in Guatemala, just such a fearful old witch took her
stand at the summit of the pass, with her familiar in the shape of a
dog, and "by spells and nagualistic incantations" undertook to prevent
his approach.[35-[+]]
As in the earliest, so in the latest accounts. The last revolt of the
Indians of Chiapas occurred among the Zotzils in 1869. The cause of it
was the seizure and imprisonment by the Spanish authorities of a
"mystical woman," known to the whites as Santa Rosa, who, together with
one of their _ahaus_ or chieftains, had been suspected of fomenting
sedition. The natives marched thousands strong against the city of San
Cristobal, where the prisoners were, and secured their liberation; but
their leader, Ignacio Galindo, was entrapped and shot by the Spaniards,
and the mutiny was soon quelled.[35-[++]]