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Mexican Brujx, Part 1: Divining Witches
Throughout October 2019, I’m going to share various kinds of (mostly indigenous, pre-Colombian) witches from Mexico. This project originally began on Twitter before becoming a Medium series back in October 2018. I’ve found people prefer reading articles, however.
Hang on to your broomsticks, folks! Here come the brujx!
The generic word for a diviner in Nahuatl is Yolteotl, meaning “supernatural soul” or “divine-hearted.” Such a person could also be called tlayolteohuiani, from the verb yolteohuia, to divine.
Let’s look at the various sorts of yolteotl that exist.
Tlapouhqui
A broad class of diviner whose Nahuatl title means “one who counts/reads.” Also called a tlapōhuani, this witch is a fortune-teller or caster of lots.
- Pronunciation: “tlah-POHW-kee.”
- Plural tlapouhqueh.
- Magic type: tlapohualiztli (divination)
The tool of choice for tlapouhqueh is the “tehuilotl” (teh-WEE-lohtl), a rounded sort of rock crystal in whose transparent depths they can discern the past, future, and other secret things.
These special “crystal balls” were mined from the mountains of what is now Veracruz and sent as tribute to the Triple Alliance of Anahuac (“Aztec…
