In Mesoamerican beliefs, a nahual (also called nagual or nawal (from Nahuatl: nahualli 'hidden, concealed, disguise') is a kind of sorcerer or supernatural being who has the ability to take animal form. The term refers both to the person who has this ability and to the animal itself that serves as his alter ego or animal guardian.
The concept is expressed in different native languages, with different meanings and contexts. Most commonly, nahualismo is the practice or ability of some people to become animals, elements of nature or to perform acts of witchcraft.
In Maya, the concept is expressed under the word chulel, which is understood precisely as "spirit"; the word derives from the root chul, which means "divine".
According to some traditions, it is said that each person, at the moment of birth, already has the spirit of an animal, which is in charge of protecting and guiding him or her. These spirits usually manifest themselves only as an image that advises in dreams or with a certain affinity to the animal that took the person as its protégé. A woman whose nahual was a mockingbird will have a privileged voice for singing, but not all have such a light contact: it is believed that the sorcerers and shamans of central Mesoamerica can create a very close bond with their nahuals, which gives them a series of advantages that they know how to take advantage of, the vision of the sparrow hawk, the wolf's wolfhound or the ocelot's ear affirm.
Beliefs
Naguals use their powers for good or evil according to their personality. The general concept of nagualism is pan-Mesoamerican. Nagualism is linked with pre-Columbian shamanistic practices through Pre-classic Olmec and Toltec depictions that are interpreted as human beings transforming themselves into animals. The system is linked with the Mesoamerican calendrical system, used for divination rituals. Birth dates often determine if a person can become a nagual. Mesoamerican belief in tonalism, wherein every person has an animal counterpart to which their life force is linked, is drawn upon by nagualism
The Western study of nagualism was initiated by archaeologist, linguist, and ethnologist Daniel Garrison Brinton who published Nagualism: A Study in Native-American Folklore and History, which chronicled historical interpretations of the word and those who practiced nagualism in Mexico in 1894. He identified various beliefs associated with nagualism in modern Mexican communities such as the Mixe, the Nahua, the Zapotec and the Mixtec.
Description
In Mexico, the name nahuales has been given to sorcerers who can change their shape. However, it is believed that contact with their nahuales is also common among shamans who seek to benefit their community, although they do not use the ability to transform; for them, the nahual is a form of introspection that allows those who practice it to have close contact with the spiritual world, thanks to which they easily find solutions to many of the problems that afflict those who seek their advice.
Since pre-Hispanic times, the gods of the Mayan, Toltec and Mexica cultures, among others, have been attributed the power to take the form of an animal (nahual) to interact with humans. Each deity used to take one or two forms; for example, Tezcatlipoca's nahual was the jaguar, although he indistinctly used the form of a coyote, and Huitzilopochtli's was a hummingbird. According to Michoacán traditions, the nahuales sometimes transform into elements of nature, and are sometimes confused with the graniceros, although there are similar references in various cultures that lend themselves to confusion, and it is likely an amalgam of other cultures where the change of form is to elements of nature and not to animals.
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this 🤏 close to learning programming and writing a bot for smacking people about social democracy being wing of fascism
. Its a wing of liberalism, which never was very opposed to the empire (more like rabidly pro-empire).
If social democracy is just the left wing of liberalism and liberalism is the moderate wing of fascism then social democracy is....
No, liberalism is a not wing of empire, it is ideology of exploitation and thus its not a wing, its the whole fucking thing.
Fascism is mass politics of petit bourgeoisie, to beat up workers/minorities. Like proud boys and 3 percenters are fash, but even then, they are glimmers of the whole system.
Empires are not fascist by being empires, they are perfectly able to be expoitative liberal shitholes without fascism. Brit empire was not fascist, didnt stop them from inventing concentration camps.
And offloading horrible stuff liberals do onto fascism is letting them off scot-free.
Just as seeing socdems as primary target of one's ire was counterproductive during rise of fascism in 1910s-30s.
Liberalism isn't a real ideology. The internal contradictions between property rights and individual rights cannot be resolved. The right of a small group of individuals to own all the means of production conflicts fundamentally with the rights of to liberty and equality for all. Liberalism is a grouping of idealist hopes and dreams with no ability to bind them together. It is a nothing burger.
Liberalism is a disguise for fascism. "The rich deserve their wealth (even though that wealth came from exploitation, theft, and murder.) The rich have the right to do whatever they like and you cant do anything about it. If you try the police will stop you because the rich own them."
Liberals when pushed reveal that they are fascists or just ignorant. They either demand that we all respect the divine right of wealth as the source of all authority, otherize the poor and wish for their extermination, silence any views that are contrary, Or the ignorant ones will come around to see the conflicts and even agree with leftist ideas but they will let it all slip because they would rather be an ignorant fascist pawn than realize they are the bad guy.
There are no liberals just confused and dishonest fascists.