indigenous population, which belongs to Nagualism, and is a survival
from the ancient cult; this is the Tree. The species held in especial
respect is the ceiba, the silk-cotton tree, the _ytzamatl_ (knife-leaved
paper tree) of the Nahuas, the _yax che_ (green, or first tree) of the
Mayas, the _Bombax ceiba_ of the botanists. It is of great size and
rapid growth. In Southern Mexico and Central America one is to be seen
near many of the native villages, and is regarded as in some way the
protecting genius of the town.
Sacred trees were familiar to the old Mexican cult, and, what is
curious, the same name was applied to such as to the fire, _Tota_, Our
Father. They are said to have represented the gods of woods and
waters.[48-*] In the ancient mythology we often hear of the "tree of
life," represented to have four branches, each sacred to one of the four
cardinal points and the divinities associated therewith.
The conventionalized form of this tree in the Mexican figurative
paintings strongly resembles a cross. Examples of it are numerous and
unmistakable, as, for instance, the cruciform tree of life rising from a
head with a protruding tongue, in the Vienna Codex.[48-[+]]
=32.= Thus, the sign of the cross, either the form with equal arms known
as the cross of St. Andrew, which is the oldest Christian form, or the
Latin cross, with its arms of unequal length, came to be the ideogram
for "life" in the Mexican hieroglyphic writing; and as such, with more
or less variants, was employed to signify the _tonalli_ or _nagual_, the
sign of nativity, the natal day, the personal spirit.[48-[++]] The
ancient document called the Mappe Quinatzin offers examples, and its
meaning is explained by various early writers. The peculiar character of
the Mexican ritual calendar, by which nativities were calculated,
favored a plan of representing them in the shape of a cross; as we see
in the singular _Codex Cruciformis_ of the Boturini-Goupil collection.
=33.= But the doctrines of Nagualism had a phase even more detestable to
the missionaries than any of these, an esoteric phase, which brought it
into relation to the libidinous cults of Babylon and the orgies of the
"Witches' Sabbaths" of the Dark Ages. Of these occult practices we of
course have no detailed descriptions, but there are hints and
half-glances which leave us in no doubt.
When the mysterious metamorphosis of the individual into his or her
_nagual_ was about to take place, the person must strip to absolute
nudity;[49-*] and the lascivious fury of bands of naked Nagualists,
meeting in remote glades by starlight or in the dark recesses of caves,
dancing before the statues of the ancient gods, were scenes that stirred
the fanaticism of the Spanish missionaries to its highest pitch. Bishop
Landa informs us that in Yucatan the dance there known as the _naual_
was one of the few in which both men and women took part, and that it
"was not very decent." It was afterwards prohibited by the priests. We
have excellent authority that such wild rites continued well into the
present century, close to the leading cities of the State,[49-[+]] and
it is highly likely that they are not unknown to-day.
=34.= Moreover, it is certain that among the Nagualists, one of their most
revered symbols was the _serpent_; in Chiapas, one of their highest
orders of the initiated was that of the _chanes_, or serpents. Not only
is this in Christian symbolism the form and sign of the Prince of Evil
and the enemy of God, but the missionaries were aware that in the
astrological symbols of ancient Mexico the serpent represented the
_phallus_; that it was regarded as the most potent of all the
signs;[49-[++]] and modern research has shown, contrary to the opinion
long held, that there was among these nations an extraordinary and
extensive worship of the reciprocal principle of nature, associated with
numerous phallic emblems.[49-Sec.]
Huge phalli of stone have been discovered, one, for instance, on the
Cerro de las Navajas, not far from the city of Mexico, and another in
the State of Hidalgo.[50-*] Probably they were used in some such
ceremonies as Oviedo describes among the Nahuas of Nicaragua, where the
same symbol was represented by conical mounds of earth, around which at
certain seasons the women danced with libidinous actions. Although as a
general rule the pottery of ancient Mexico avoids obscenity, Brasseur
stated that he had seen many specimens of a contrary character from
certain regions,[50-[+]] and Dr. Berendt has copied several striking
examples, showing curious _yoni_ symbols, which are now in my
possession.
We may explain these as in some way connected with the worship of
Pantecatl, the male divinity who presided over profligate love, and of
Tlazolteotl, the _Venus Impudica_ of the Aztec pantheon; and it is not
without significance that the cave-temple of Votan, whose contents were
destroyed by the Bishop of Chiapas, in 1691 (see above, p. 39), was
located at _Tlazoaloyan_, both names being derived from a root
signifying sexual action.[50-[++]] The other name of the divinity,
called "the Heart of the Hills," is in Quiche, Alom, "he who begets,"
and the Zapotec Cozaana, another analogue of the same deity, is
translated by Seler, "the Begetter." Such facts indicate how intimately
the esoteric doctrines of Nagualism were related to the worship of the
reproductive powers of nature.
=35.= It will readily be understood from what has been said that Nagualism
was neither a pure descendant of the ancient cults, nor yet a derivative
from Christian doctrines and European superstitions. It was a strange
commingling of both, often in grotesque and absurd forms. In fact, the
pretended Christianity of the native population of Mexico to-day is
little more than a figment, according to the testimony of the most
competent observers.[50-Sec.]
The rituals and prayers of the nagualists bear witness to this. It is
very visible in those I have quoted from Nunez de la Vega, and I can
add an interesting example of it which has not heretofore been
published. I take it from the MSS. of Father Vicente Hernandez Spina,
cura of Ixtlavacan, in Guatemala, a remote village of the Quiches. He
wrote it down in the native tongue about forty years ago, as recited by
an _ah-kih_, "reader of days," a native master of the genethliac art,
who had composed it in favor of a client who had asked his intercession.
_Prayer of an Ah-Kih._
"O Jesus Christ my God: thou God the Son, with the Father and the
Holy Spirit, art my only God. Today, on this day, at this hour, on
this day Tihax, I call upon the holy souls which accompany the
sun-rising and the sun-setting of the day: with these holy souls I
call upon thee, O chief of the genii, thou who dwellest in this
mountain of Siba Raxquin; come, ye holy spirits of Juan Vachiac, of
Don Domingo Vachiac, of Juan Ixquiaptap, the holy souls of
Francisco Excoquieh, of Diego Soom, of Juan Fay, of Alonzo Tzep; I
call the holy souls of Diego Tziquin and of Don Pedro Noh: you, O
priests, to whom all things are revealed, and thou, chief of the
genii, you, lords of the mountains, lords of the plains, thou, Don
Purupeto Martin, come, accept this incense, accept to-day this
candle.[51-*]
"Come also, my mother Holy Mary, the Lord of Esquipulas, the Lord
of Capetagua, the beloved Mary of Chiantla, with her who dwells at
San Lorenzo, and also Mary of Sorrows, Mary Saint Anna, Mary
Tibureia, Mary of Carmen, with Saint Michael the Archangel, the
captain St. James, St. Christoval, St. Sebastian, St. Nicolas, St.
Bonaventura, St. Bernardin, St. Andrew, St. Thomas, St.
Bartholomew, and thou my beloved mother St. Catherine, thou beloved
Mary of the Conception, Mary of the Rosary, thou lord and king
Pascual, be here present.
"And thou, Frost, and thou, excellent Wind, thou, God of the plain,
thou, God of Quiac-Basulup, thou, God of Retal-Uleu, thou, lord of
San Gregorio, thou, lord of Chii-Masa. [These are mountains and
localities, and in the original there follow the names of more than
a hundred others. The prayer concludes as follows:]
"... I who appoint myself godfather and godmother, I who ask, I the
witness and brother of this man who asks, of this man who makes
himself, your son, O holy souls, I ask, do not let any evil happen
unto him, nor let him be unhappy for any cause.
"I the priest, I who speak, I who burn this incense, I who light
this candle, I who pray for him, I who take him under my
protection, I ask you that he may obtain his subsistence with
facility. Thou, God, canst provide him with money; let him not fall
ill of fever; I ask that he shall not become paralytic; that he
may not choke with severe coughing; that he be not bitten by a
serpent; that he become neither bloated nor asthmatic; that he do
not go mad; that he be not bitten by a dog; that he be not struck
by lightning; that he be not choked with brandy; that he be not
killed with iron, nor by a stick, and that he be not carried off by
an eagle; guard him, O clouds; aid him, O lightning; aid him, O
thunder; aid him, St. Peter; aid him, St. Paul; aid him, eternal
Father.
"And I who up to this time have spoken for him to you, I ask you
that sickness may visit his enemies. So order it, that when his
enemies go forth from their houses, they may meet sickness; order
it, that wherever they go, they may meet troubles; do your offices
of injury to them, wheresoever they are met; do this that I pray, O
holy souls. God be with you; God the Father, God the Son, God the
Holy Spirit: Amen, Jesus."
Most of such invocations are expressed in terms far more recondite and
symbolic than the above. We have many such preserved in the work of
Jacinto de la Serna, which supply ample material to acquaint us with the
peculiarities of the sacred and secret language of the nagualists. I
shall quote but one, that employed in the curious ceremony of "calling
back the _tonal_," referred to on a previous page. I append an
explanation of its obscure metaphors.
_Invocation for the Restitution of the Tonal._
"Ho there! Come to my aid, mother mine of the skirt of precious
stones![1] What keeps thee away, gray ghost, white ghost?[2] Is the
obstacle white, or is it yellow? See, I place here the yellow
enchantment and the white enchantment.[3]
"I, the Master of the Masters of enchantments, have come, I, who
formed thee and gave thee life.[4] Thou, mother mine of the starry
skirt, thou, goddess of the stars, who givest life, why hast thou
turned against this one?[5]
"Adverse spirit and darkened star, I shall sink thee in the breadth
and depth of the waters.[6] I, master of spells, speak to
thee[TN-5] Ho there! Mother mine, whose skirt is made of gems,
come, seek with me the shining spirit who dwells in the house of
light,[7] that we may know what god or mighty power thus destroys
and crushes to earth this unfortunate one. Green and black spirit
of sickness, leave him and seek thy prey elsewhere.
"Green and yellow ghost, who art wandering, as if lost, over
mountains and plains, I seek thee, I desire thee; return to him
whom thou hast abandoned. Thou, the nine times beaten, the nine
times smitten, see that thou fail me not.[8] Come hither, mother
mine, whose robe is of precious gems; one water, two waters; one
rabbit, two rabbits; one deer, two deers; one alligator, two
alligators.[9]
"Lo! I myself am here; I am most furious; I make the loudest noise
of all; I respect no one; even sticks and stones tremble before me.
What god or mighty power dare face me, me, a child of gods and
goddesses?[10] I have come to seek and call back the _tonal_ of
this sick one, wherever it is, whithersoever it has wandered, be it
nine times wandered, even unto the nine junctures and the nine
unions.[11] Wherever it is, I summon it to return, I order it to
return, and to heal and clean this heart and this head."
_Explanations._
1. The appeal is to Water, regarded as the universal Mother. The
"skirt of precious stones" refers to the green of the precious
green stones, a color sacred to water.
2. The question is addressed to the _tonal_.
3. The yellow enchantment is tobacco; the white, a cup of water.
4. That is, assigned the form of the nagual belonging to the sick
man.
5. This appeal is directed to the Milky Way.
6. The threat is addressed to the _tonal_, to frighten it into
returning.
7. The "shining spirit" is the Fire-god.
8. The yellow tobacco, prepared ceremonially in the manner
indicated.
9. These are names of days in the native calendar which are
invoked.
10. The priest speaks in the person of his god.
11. Referring to the Nahuatl belief that there are nine upper and
nine under worlds.
From the same work of de la Serna I collect the following list of
symbolic expressions. It might easily be extended, but these will be
sufficient to show the figurative obscurities which they threw around
their formulas of conjuration, but which were by no means devoid of
coherence and instruction to those who could understand them.
_Symbolic Expressions of the Nagualists._
_Blood._--"The red woman with snakes on her gown" (referring to the
veins).
_Copal Gum._--"The white woman" (from the whitish color of the
fresh gum).
_Cords_ (for carrying burdens).--"The snake that does woman's work"
(because women sit still to knit, and the cord works while itself
is carried).
_Drunkenness._--"My resting time," or "when I am getting my
breath."
_The Earth._--"The mirror that smokes" (because of the mists that
rise from it); "the rabbit with its mouth upward" (the rabbit, in
opposition to the one they see in the moon; with its mouth upward,
because of the mists which rise from it like the breath exhaled
from the mouth); "the flower which contains everything" (as all
fruit proceeds from flowers, so does all vegetable life proceed
from the earth, which is therefore spoken of as a flower); "the
flower which bites the mouths" (a flower, for the reason given; it
eats the mouths, because all things necessarily return to it, and
are swallowed by it).
_Fingers._--"The five fates," or "the five works," or "the five
fields" (because by the use of his fingers man works out his own
destiny. Hence also the worship of the Hand among the Nahuas as the
god Maitl, and among the Mayas as the god Kab, both which words
mean "hand").
_Fire._--"Our Father of the Four Reeds" (because the ceremony of
making the new fire was held on the day Four Reeds, 4 Acatl); "the
shining rose;" "the yellow flyer;" "the red-haired one;" "the
yellow spirit."
_A Knife of Copper._--"The yellow Chichimec" (because the
Chichimecs were alleged to tear out the bowels of their enemies).
_The Maguey Plant._--"My sister, the eight in a row" (because it
was planted in this manner).
_A Road._--"That which is divided in two, and yet has neither
beginning, middle nor end" (because it always lies in two
directions from a person, and yet all roads lead into others and
thus never end).
_Sickness._--"The red woman;" "the breath of the flame;" "our
mother the comet" (all referring to the fever); "the Chichimec"
(because it aims to destroy life, like these savage warriors); "the
spider" (because of its venomous nature).
_Smoke._--"The old wife" (_i. e._, of the fire).
_The Sun._--"Our holy and pockified Uncle" (referring to the myth
of Nanahuatl, who was syphilitic, and leaping into the flames of a
fire rose as the sun).
_Tobacco._--"The nine (or seven) times beaten" (because for sacred
purposes it was rubbed up this number of times); "the enchanted
gray one" (from its color and use in conjuring).
_Water._--"The Green Woman" (from the greenness which follows
moisture); "our Mother, whose robe is of precious stones" (from the
green or vegetable life resembling the turquoise, emerald, jade,
etc.).
=36.= It might be asked how the dark arts and secret ceremonies of the
Nagualists escaped the prying eyes of the officers of the Holy
Inquisition, which was established in Mexico in 1571. The answer is,
that the inquisitors were instructed by Cardinal Diego de Espinosa, who
at that time was Inquisitor General and President of the Council of the
Indies, "to abstain from proceedings against Indians, because of their
stupidity and incapacity, as well as scant instruction in the Holy
Catholic faith, for the crimes of heresy, apostasy, heretical blasphemy,
sorcery, incantations, superstitions," etc.
Energetic inquisitors, however, conceded very grudgingly this exemption.
In the imposing _auto de fe_ celebrated in the city of Mexico, in 1659,
a half-breed, Bernardo del Carpio by name, son of a full-blood Indian
mother, accused of blasphemy, etc., endeavored to escape the Holy Office
by pleading his Indian blood; but his appeal was disallowed, and the
precedent established that any admixture whatever of European blood
brought the accused within the jurisdiction of the Inquisition.[55-*]
Even this seems to have been a concession, for we find the record of an
_auto de fe_ held in 1609, in the province of Tehuantepec, in which
eight full-blood natives were punished for worshiping the goddess
Pinopiaa.[55-[+]] Mr. David Ferguson, however, who has studied
extensively the records of the inquisition in Mexico, informs me that in
none of the trials read by him has he observed any charges of Nagualism,
although many white persons were accused, and some tried, for consulting
Indian sorcerers.
=37.= It will be seen from what I have said, that the rites of Nagualism
extended as widely as did the term over Mexico and Central America. It
becomes, therefore, of importance to discover from what linguistic stock
this term and its associated words are derived. From that source it is
reasonable to suppose the rites of this superstition also had their
origin.
The opinions on this subject have been diverse and positive. Most
writers have assumed that it is a Nahuatl, or pure Mexican, word; while
an eminent authority, Dr. Stoll, is not less certain that it is from a
radical belonging to the neighboring great stock of the Mayan dialects,
and especially the Quiche, of Guatemala.[55-[++]] Perhaps both these
positions are erroneous, and we must look elsewhere for the true
etymology of these expressions. Unquestionably they had become
domesticated in both Maya and Nahuatl; but there is some reason to think
they were loan-words, belonging to another, and perhaps more venerable,
civilization than either of these nations could claim.
To illustrate this I shall subjoin several series of words derived from
the same radical which is at the basis of the word nagual, the series,
three in number, being taken from the three radically diverse, though
geographically contiguous, linguistic stocks, the Maya, the Zapotec and
the Nahuatl.
_From the Maya, of Yucatan._
_Naual_, or _nautal_, a native dance, forbidden by the
missionaries.
_Naatil_, talent, skill, ability.
_Naat_, intelligence, wisdom.
_Naatah_, to understand, to divine.
_Nanaol_, to consider, to contemplate, to meditate, to commune with
oneself, to enter into oneself.
_Noh_, great, skillful; as _noh ahceh_, a skillful hunter.
_From Maya Dialects._
QUICHE-CAKCHIQUEL.
_Naual_, a witch or sorcerer.
_Naualin_, to tell fortunes, to predict the future.
_Qui naualin_, to sacrifice, to offer sacrifices.
_Na_, to feel, to suspect, to divine, to think in one's heart.
_Nao_, to know, to be alert or expert in something.
_Naol_, a skillful person, a rhetorician.
_Naotizan_, to make another intelligent or astute.
_Natal_, the memory.
_Natub_, the soul or shadow of a man.
_Noh_, the god of reason ("Genius der Vernunft," Scherzer).
_Noh_, to fecundate, to impregnate (_Popol Vuh_).
TZENTAL.
_X-qna_, to know.
_X-qnaulai_, to know often or thoroughly (frequentative).
_Naom_, wise, astute (_naom vinic_, hombre sabio).
_Naoghi_, art, science.
_Naoghibal_, memory.
_Ghnaoghel_, a wise man.
_Alaghom naom_, the Goddess of Wisdom.
_From the Zapotec, of Oaxaca_.
_Nana_, _gana_, _gona_, to know.
_Nona_, to know thoroughly, to retain in the memory.
_Nana ticha_, or _nona lii_, a wise man.
_Guela nana_, or _guela nona_, wisdom, knowledge.
_Hue gona_, or _ro gona_, a teacher, a master.
_Na lii_, truth; _ni na lii_, that which is true.
_Nacina_, or _naciina_, skill, dexterity.
_Hui naa_, a medicine man, a "nagualist."
_Nahaa_, to speak pleasantly or agreeably.
_Nayaa_, or _nayapi_, to speak easily or fluently.
_Rigoo gona_, to sacrifice, to offer sacrifice.
_Ni nana_, the understanding, the intelligence, generally.
_Nayanii_, the superior reason of man.
_Nayaa_, } superiority, a superior man (gentileza, gentil hombre).
_Naguii_, }
_From the Nahuatl, of Mexico_.
_Naua_, to dance, holding each other by the hands.
_Naualli_, a sorcerer, magician, enchanter.
_Nauallotl_, magic, enchantment, witchcraft.
_Nauatl_, or _nahuatl_, skillful, astute, smart; hence, superior;
applied to language, clear, well-sounding, whence (perhaps) the
name of the tongue.
_Nauati_, to speak clearly and distinctly.
_Nauatlato_, an interpreter.
=38.= I believe that no one can carefully examine these lists of words,
all taken from authorities well acquainted with the several tongues, and
writing when they still retained their original purity, without
acknowledging that the same radical or syllable underlies them all; and
further, that from the primitive form and rich development of this
radical in the Zapotec, it looks as if we must turn to it to recognize
the origin of all these expressions, both in the Nahuatl and the Maya
linguistic stocks.
The root _na_, to know, is the primitive monosyllabic stem to which we
trace all of them. _Nahual_ means knowledge, especially mystic
knowledge, the Gnosis, the knowledge of the hidden and secret things of
nature; easily enough confounded in uncultivated minds with sorcery and
magic.[57-*]
It is very significant that neither the radical _na_ nor any of its
derivatives are found in the Huasteca dialect of the Mayan tongue, which
was spoken about Tampico, far removed from other members of the stock.
The inference is that in the southern dialects it was a borrowed stem.
Nor in the Nahuatl language--although its very name is derived from
it[58-*]--does the radical _na_ appear in its simplicity and true
significance. To the Nahuas, also, it must have been a loan.
It is true that de la Serna derives the Mexican _naualli_, a sorcerer,
from the verb _nahualtia_, to mask or disguise oneself, "because a
_naualli_ is one who masks or disguises himself under the form of some
lower animal, which is his _nagual_;"[58-[+]] but it is altogether
likely that _nahualtia_ derived its meaning from the custom of the
medicine men to wear masks during their ceremonies.
Therefore, if the term _nagual_, and many of its associates and
derivatives, were at first borrowed from the Zapotec language, a
necessary corrollary[TN-6] of this conclusion is, that along with these
terms came most of the superstitions, rites and beliefs to which they
allude; which thus became grafted on the general tendency to such
superstitions existing everywhere and at all times in the human mind.
Along with the names of the days and the hieroglyphs which mark them,
and the complicated arithmetical methods by means of which they were
employed, were carried most of the doctrines of the Nagualists, and the
name by which they in time became known from central Mexico quite to
Nicaragua and beyond.
The mysterious words have now, indeed, lost much of their ancient
significance. In a recent dictionary of the Spanish of Mexico _nagual_
is defined as "a witch; a word used to frighten children and make them
behave,"[58-[++]] while in Nicaragua, where the former Nahuatl
population has left so many traces of its presence in the language of
to-day, the word _nagual_ no longer means an actor in the black art, or
a knowledge of it, but his or her armamentarium, or the box, jar or
case in which are kept the professional apparatus, the talismans and
charms, which constitute the stock in trade or outfit of the
necromancer.[59-*]