Nagual
A nagual or Nahual ( Nahuatl naualli , "something hidden", " mask ", "disguise" or "veiling") is a personal protective spirit ( alter ego ) in the mythologies of Mesoamerica .
The Aztecs and Maya assumed that it could appear in animal or vegetable form and that it was so closely connected with a person that death or injury always affects both: nagual and human. Naguals were also assigned to deities: for example, the hummingbird is said to have been the nagual of Huitzilopochtli .
This mythological figure stimulated the imagination of the Spanish colonial rulers so strongly that Brasseur de Bourbourg (1859) and Brinton (1894) saw it as much more than a traditional pagan myth that had survived in fragments and mixed with Christian influences. They recognized nagualism in it , a supposedly strong secret organization that was supposedly widespread and whose members came from different cultures and linguistic backgrounds. They should be connected through occult rites, the highest goal of which would be (according to the fear of white gentlemen in the midst of indigenous people ) to overthrow their western social order, to abolish the Christian religion and the state.
The word nagual had a variety of different meanings among the various tribes of Central America due to the decay and Aztec migration. One of the meanings was The Transforming Witch and was used for individuals who were believed to be capable of metamorphosis . Another meaning was the personal guardian spirit or totem .
There are links to the 260 day Maya Quiché calendar . The Christian version: An old woman spontaneously mentioned St. John as the nagual of El Palmar . Another example: An Indian medium possessed by the earth spirit is known as aj-nagual mesa .
In the New Age movement , Nagual is primarily associated with Carlos Castaneda , as he used this old and ambiguous term in his books and made it the mainstay of his doctrine and the teaching of Don Juan Matus .
In ethnology of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, this notion was often attributed to religious totemism . Many authors later distanced themselves from this.
See also
literature
- CE Brasseur de Bourbourg: Histoire des nations civilisées du Mexique et de l'Amérique-Centrale . Paris 1857–59, 4 vols.
- Daniel G. Brinton: Nagualism: A Study in Native American Folk-Lore and History . Proceedings of the American Philosophic Society, Vol. 33, No. 144 (Jan. 1894), pp. 11-73.
- Martin Broussalis, Martin Arvillo: Castaneda for Beginners . Writers & Readers, London 1999, ISBN 0-86316-281-9 .
- Benson Saler: Nagual. Witch, and Sorcerer in a Quiché Village . In: John Middleton (ed.): Magic, witchcraft and curing . The Natural Press, Garden City, NY 1964, ISBN 0-292-75031-5 , pp. 67-100.
- Victor Sanchez: Toltecs of the new millennium. The magical legacy of ancient Mexico for the coming age ("Toltecs of the New Millennium"). Barth Verlag, Munich 1997, ISBN 3-502-61001-0 .
Individual evidence
- ↑ Tuxtla Gutierrez: ICACH. Instituto de Ciencias y Artes de Chiapas, 1970. p. 53.
- ↑ Gerhard Kubik: Totemism: ethnopsychological research materials and interpretations from East and Central Africa 1962-2002. Volume 2 of studies on ethnopsychology and ethnopsychoanalysis, LIT Verlag, Münster 2004, ISBN 3-8258-6023-X . Pp. 4-9.
