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
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 Rat), both which words mean "hand").
Fire.—"The Father of the Four Reeds" (because the ceremony of making the new fire was held on the clay Four Reeds, 4 Acatl); "the shining rose the yellow Hyer;" "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).
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