The Nagual
In Mexican tradition, some people can take the shape of an animal at night: a jaguar, a dog, a coyote. People say you'll know one by its eyes.
What was reported
In beliefs that go back to the Aztec and Maya, a nagual is a person, often a sorcerer, who can turn into an animal. Stories tell of strange dogs, coyotes, owls or jaguars prowling villages at night, which are really people in disguise.
In some communities, the word also means a person's animal spirit, a companion born at the same moment as them, whose fate is tied to theirs. If the animal is hurt, the person is hurt too.
Explanations offered
The nagual belongs to living Indigenous traditions in Mexico and Central America, and has changed over centuries. The Spanish saw it as witchcraft; anthropologists see a rich idea of the links between people and animals.
- When
- Told since before the conquest
- Where
- Oaxaca, Mexico
- Witnesses
- Mesoamerican tradition
- Status
- Legend
Famous cases are real, widely reported events. Each file sets out what witnesses said and the explanations that have been offered, without taking a side.
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