Tracking the Elusive Beast

Question: What are some good reading resources to learn more about the Nagual? Can you recommend some books?

Oh, man, I wish I had awesome easy answers on this one, I really do. Unfortunately, as far as I know, there are no really good scholarly books devoted exclusively to the nahualli or nagual. It's a niche subject in a niche interest that falls under the dreaded heading of History, and as such it's paid little attention by people who aren't Mesoamerican scholars, historical ethnographers or us. Those books there are focus more closely on nagual in the second meaning of the word, a sorcerer or magician in Aztec folk beliefs, and so slogging through them looking for information on the animal spirit twin meaning of the word can be time-consuming (though if you're also interested in Aztec sorcery, bonus!).

However, there are a few books on ancient Aztec spiritual and religious practices and beliefs that have some good material on the nahualli. My best recommendation is probably the old-school Nagualism: A Study in Native American Folklore and History by Daniel Brinton; it's old and crochety and more concerned with sorcerers than animals and wants to tell you all about how dumb the Aztecs were for not being Christians, but there are still some gems of information in there and Brinton does an excellent job of recounting native practices (though take his assertions about some word meanings and ceremonial roles with a grain of salt; he was working long before current scholarship). You can take a look at it for free over at Project Gutenberg if you like.

Honestly, your best bet is just to read as much about Aztec religion as you can; the nahualli comes up unexpectedly in bits and pieces all over the codices and academic books about the myths, but I don't have any good dedicated sources to head to. Miguel Leon-Portilla (weird theories about monotheism, but lots of good stuff) and David Carrasco (strongly academically dry but very informative) are good authors to start with if you already have a basic knowledge of the mythology.

My obligatory word of caution: you will definitely find books if you google "nagual", but unfortunately most of them will be totally useless. Things like The Sexual Practices of Quodushka: Teachings from the Nagual Tradition or The Way of the Toltec Nagual or Twilight Language of the Nagual: the Spiritual Power of Shamanic Dreaming are almost without exception New Age spirituality books that have nothing whatsoever to do with historical Aztec practices, so give them a pass when you're looking for research materials. (They're pretty easy to spot. If they mention the Toltecs, run the other way.)

Now I've probably given poor Griffinguy a stroke by posting those titles. And speaking of Griffinguy, he might have some sources, too, considering that Aztecs and nahualli are one of his favorite subjects, too. Where you at, GG?