In my country we dont have werewolfs but we do have THE NAHUAL!!!!!!


Nagual or Nahual (both pronounced [na'wal]) is a word used in the study of the religion, mythology, folklore and anthropology of Mesoamerican peoples and which is used with different definitions. It is related to the concept that certain persons are able to take on animal forms, which is present in many Mesoamerican cultures. It is also related to the equally common concept in Mesoamerican cultures of all persons having an animal companion to whom they are spiritually linked throughout their lives. The most common usage within Mesoamerican anthropology is to call Nagual a person who has a particularly strong animal companion and who uses this companion to cause harm to others, or who himself changes shape into animals in order to cause harm to others. The normal practice is to refer to the animal companion itself as a Tonal, following the Aztec practice.

The word comes from the Nahuatl word nahualli which was used to refer to practicioners of harmful magic. In the aztec belief system the day of a persons birth caluclated in the Tonalpohualli would determine the nature of the person - each day was associated with an animal which could have a strong or weak aspect. The person born on the day of for example "the dog" would then have the weak aspect of the dog. In Nahuatl the word Tonalli was used to refer both to a day and to the animal related to that day. Since practicioners of harmful magic were normally born on certain days related to animals with a strong or harmful aspect they would often have specific tonals such as the jaguar. In Aztec mythology the God Tezcatlipoca was the protector of nagualism, since his tonal was the jaguar and since he governed the distribution of wealth.

In modern rural Mexico the nagual is often the same as "witches" or "brujos" who are thought to be able to shapeshift into animals at night (normally into an owl, a bat or a turkey) and suck blood from innocent victims, steal properties from others, cause disease etc. In some indigenous communities the position of the Nagual is an integrated part of society and the community knows who is a Nagual and tolerates them or even fears and respects them, or hire their services in order to remove curses from other naguals. In others the accusation of being a nagual may result in violent repercussions by the rest of the community towards the accused - much like the witch processes of rennaisance Europe.


Pencils and inks by me :