Tonal (mythology)

Tonal (mythology)

Tonal is a concept within the study of Mesoamerican religion, myth, folklore and anthropology. It refers to the belief found in many indigenous Mesoamerican cultures that a person upon being born requires a close spiritual link to an animal, a link that lasts throughout the lives of both creatures. It is in this way similar to the concept of Totem.

The word comes from the Nahuatl word "tonalli", meaning "day" or "daysign". In the Aztec belief system the day of a person's birth calculated 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. In Mayan belief the concept of an animal companion of a person was referred to as "Way". The modern Mixe people refer to it as "Ts'ok"(Lipp 1991). The Jakaltek Maya people of Concepcion Huista, Guatemala call it "yixomal ispiIPA|ʂan nax" meaning "soul bearer".

The study of tonalism was initiated by noted archaeologist, linguist and ethnologist Daniel Garrison Brinton who published a treatise called [http://library.case.edu/ksl/ecoll/books/brinag00/brinag00.html "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 the different beliefs associated with tonalism in some modern Mexican communities such as the Mixe, the Nahuas, the Zapotecs and Mixtecs.

References

*Brinton, Daniel g, 1894, [http://library.case.edu/ksl/ecoll/books/brinag00/brinag00.html "Nagualism: A Study in Native-American Folklore and History"]
*Kaplan, Lucille, 1956, Tonal and Nagual in Coastal Oaxaca, Journal of American Folklore 69:363-368
*Lipp, Frank J, 1991, The Mixe of Oaxaca: Religion, ritual and healing, University of Texas Press
* Stratmeyer, Dennis & Jean , 1977,"The Jacaltec Nawal and the Soul Bearer in Concepcion Huista", in "Cognitive Studies of Southern Mesoamerica", Helen L. Neuenschander and Dean E. Arnold eds.,Summer Institute of Linguistics, Museum of Anthropology Publication 3

ee also

Nagual


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Нужен реферат?

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Tonal — may refer to:* Tonal (mythology), a concept appearing in the belief systems and traditions of Mesoamerican cultures, involving a spiritual link between a person and an animal * tonal language, a classification of languages where some combination… …   Wikipedia

  • Dæmon (His Dark Materials) — Leonardo da Vinci s Lady with an Ermine (1489–90), along with two portraits by Giovanni Battista Tiepolo and Hans Holbein the Younger, helped inspire Pullman s dæmon concept.[1] A dæmon (pronounced /ˈdiːm …   Wikipedia

  • Southeast Asian arts — Literary, performing, and visual arts of Myanmar (Burma), Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam, Malaysia, Singapore, and the Philippines. The classical literatures of Southeast Asia can be divided into three major regions: the Sanskrit region of… …   Universalium

  • Chinese literature — Introduction       the body of works written in Chinese, including lyric poetry, historical and didactic writing, drama, and various forms of fiction.       Chinese literature is one of the major literary heritages of the world, with an… …   Universalium

  • printmaking — /print may king/, n. the art or technique of making prints, esp. as practiced in engraving, etching, drypoint, woodcut or serigraphy. [1925 30; PRINT + MAKING] * * * Art form consisting of the production of images, usually on paper but… …   Universalium

  • arts, East Asian — Introduction       music and visual and performing arts of China, Korea, and Japan. The literatures of these countries are covered in the articles Chinese literature, Korean literature, and Japanese literature.       Some studies of East Asia… …   Universalium

  • painting — /payn ting/, n. 1. a picture or design executed in paints. 2. the act, art, or work of a person who paints. 3. the works of art painted in a particular manner, place, or period: a book on Flemish painting. 4. an instance of covering a surface… …   Universalium

  • Nagual — A pre columbian Chatino stela depicting a nagual transforming into a jaguar. His name is inscribed in Zapotec glyphs on his abdomen and translates to 5 Alligator . In Mesoamerican folk religion, a Nagual or Nahual (both pronounced [na wal]) is a… …   Wikipedia

  • music, Western — Introduction       history of Western music from ancient times to the present.       All ancient civilizations entered historical times with a flourishing musical culture. That the earliest writers explained it in terms of legend and myth is… …   Universalium

  • painting, Western — ▪ art Introduction       history of Western painting from its beginnings in prehistoric times to the present.       Painting, the execution of forms and shapes on a surface by means of pigment (but see also drawing for discussion of depictions in …   Universalium

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
… Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”