Nagualism Part 1

Nagualism.

by Daniel G. Brinton.

=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 a.s.signed. 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 friends.h.i.+p 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 c.o.c.k, or a weasel; and when one is preparing to seize them, they will appear now as a c.o.c.k, 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 pract.i.tioners were believed to do. The pa.s.sage 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--]

=4.= This interesting pa.s.sage 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 pa.s.sages 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 G.o.d above all things? Hast thou loved any created thing, adoring it, looking upon it as G.o.d, and wors.h.i.+ping it?

"_Answer._ I have loved G.o.d 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, c.u.m videri volebant versari c.u.m superis, ac responsa accipere ab eis, ea vescebantur planta, ut desiperent, milleque phantasmata et demonum observatium effigies circ.u.mspectarent."[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 G.o.d," 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 G.o.d, and when He returned to His heavenly home He left this beverage and its production in charge of the G.o.ds 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 cla.s.ses 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 pa.s.sages of the Bible is deemed to be one of the most potent.[10--]

The learned historian, Orozco y Berra, speaks of the powers attributed at the present day to the _nahual_ in Mexico among the lower cla.s.ses, 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, p.r.o.nounce 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 pa.s.sage 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 rest.i.tution of the _tonal_," and was more than any other deeply imbued with the superst.i.tions 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.