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Wayob is the plural form of (or ), a Maya word with a basic meaning of 'sleep(ing)', but which in
Yucatec Maya Yucatec Maya (; referred to by its speakers simply as Maya or as , is one of the 32 Mayan languages of the Mayan language family. Yucatec Maya is spoken in the Yucatán Peninsula and northern Belize. There is also a significant diasporic commu ...
is a term specifically denoting the Mesoamerican
nagual In Mesoamerican folk religion, a nagual (pronounced a'wal is a human being who has the power to shapeshift into their tonal animal counterpart. Nagualism is tied to the belief one can access power and spiritual insight by connecting with the ...
, that is, a person who can transform into an animal while asleep in order to do harm, or else the resulting animal transformation itself. Already in Classic Maya belief, ''way'' animals, identifiable by a special hieroglyph, had an important role to play.


In Maya ethnography

In Yucatec ethnography, the animal transformation involved is usually a common domestic or domesticated animal, but may also be a ghost or apparition, for example 'a creature with wings of straw mats'. Moreover, in the 16th century, wild animals such as
jaguar The jaguar (''Panthera onca'') is a large cat species and the only living member of the genus '' Panthera'' native to the Americas. With a body length of up to and a weight of up to , it is the largest cat species in the Americas and the th ...
and grey fox are mentioned as animal shapes of the sorcerer, together with the or 'underworld transformer'. Some sort of 'devil's pact' seems to be implied. The Yucatec has its counterparts among other Maya groups. In
Tzotzil The Tzotzil are an indigenous Maya people of the central Chiapas highlands in southern Mexico. As cited by Alfredo López Austin (1997), p. 133, 148 and following. As of 2000, they numbered about 298,000. The municipalities with the largest Tzo ...
ethnography, the (here called or ''chanul'') is more often an animal companion and refers not only to domestic animals, but also to igneous powers such as meteor and lightning. In Tzeltal Cancuc, the animal companion is considered a 'caster of disease'. Other names found are: , , or , and or .


In the Classic Period

A Classic Maya hieroglyph is read as () by Houston and Stuart. These authors assert that a glyph representing a stylised, frontal 'Ahau' (
Ajaw Ajaw or Ahau ('Lord') is a pre-Columbian Maya political title attested from epigraphic inscriptions. It is also the name of the 20th day of the ''tzolkʼin'', the Maya divinatory calendar, on which a ruler's ''kʼatun''-ending rituals would fal ...
) face half covered by a jaguar-pelt represents the , with syllabic and elements attached to the main sign clarifying its meaning. Many animals are distinguished by (i) a shoulder cape or scarf tied in front; (ii) a splashing of jaguar spots or other jaguar characteristics; (iii) the attribute of an upturned 'jar of darkness'; and (iv) fire elements. The Classic include a far wider array of shapes than the 20th-century ones from Yucatán (insofar as the latter have been reported), with specific names assigned to each of them. They include not only many mammals (especially jaguars) and birds, but also apparitions and spooks: hybrids of deer and spider monkey, walking skeletons, a self-decapitating man, a young man within a fire, etc. The animal are likely to be transformative shapes of human beings, the walking skeletons (
Maya Death Gods The Maya death gods, (also Ah Puch, Ah Cimih, Ah Cizin, Hun Ahau, Kimi, or Yum Kimil) known by a variety of names, are two basic types of death gods who are respectively represented by the 16th-century Yucatec deities Hunhau and Uacmitun Ahau ment ...
) more particularly of the transformers. At times, the name of the is followed by an 'emblem glyph' giving the name of a specific Maya kingdom (or perhaps its ruling family). The skeletal prominent on a Tonina stucco wall carries the severed head of a defeated opponent.Freidel et al. 1993, pp.320–3.


See also

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Familiar spirit In European folklore of the medieval and early modern periods, familiars (sometimes referred to as familiar spirits) were believed to be supernatural entities that would assist witches and cunning folk in their practice of magic. According to re ...
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Huay Chivo The Huay Chivo () is a legendary Maya beast. It is a half-man, half-beast creature, with burning red eyes, and is specific to the Yucatán Peninsula. It is reputed to be an evil sorcerer who can transform himself into a supernatural animal, usually ...
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Power animal Neoshamanism refers to new forms of shamanism. It usually means shamanism practiced by Western people as a type of New Age spirituality, without a connection to traditional shamanic societies. It is sometimes also used for modern shamanic rituals a ...
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Tonal (mythology) Tonal is a concept within the study of Mesoamerican religion, myth, folklore and anthropology. It is a belief found in many indigenous Mesoamerican cultures that a person upon being born acquires a close spiritual link to an animal, a link that last ...
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Tutelary spirit A tutelary () (also tutelar) is a deity or a spirit who is a guardian, patron, or protector of a particular place, geographic feature, person, lineage, nation, culture, or occupation. The etymology of "tutelary" expresses the concept of safety and ...


Notes


References and bibliography

* * * * * * * * * * Reprint, London: Routledge, 2004. * * * * {{refend Maya mythology and religion Mexican mythology American witchcraft