Curanderismo Soul Retrieval: Ancient Shamanic Wisdom to Restore the Sacred Energy of the Soul - Erika Buenaflor M.A. J.D. 2019

The Mexica View of Soul Manifestations
The Soul: Concentrations of Sacred Essence Energy within the Body

The ancient Mexica and Maya shamans believed that the body was a reflection of the Earth, the cosmos, and the divine, as well as a receptacle of sacred essence energies.¹ These were believed to originate outside the body and circulate throughout the cosmos. They were the means by which innate life force increased, and they had the power to make organisms come into being, live, grow, and reproduce. These energies composed the soul and its diverse manifestations and associations.²

These sacred essence energies resided both within and outside the living body and were concentrated in particular regions of it.³ These regions were often associated with specific nonordinary realms and were believed to mirror other aspects of nature.⁴

Souls were fragile essences that reflected and connected people with the Earth, the cosmos, and the divine. The manifestations of the soul had to function in harmony to maintain overall balance within the energy systems of the body.⁵ Soul manifestations could be strengthened or weakened throughout the course of life by nature and by the unseen entities within it.⁶ If one manifestation was distressed, the others could also be adversely affected.⁷ Worse yet, if the soul was fatally injured, the person could die.⁸

The Mexica View of Soul Manifestations

The Mexica believed the soul manifested within the body as the tonalli, teyolia, and ihiyotl, each of which was concentrated in a distinct part of the body and was linked to a particular nonordinary realm.⁹ All three soul parts, which were manifest in the breath, were animating energies within the body that needed to be in balance.¹⁰ The breath was of major importance to the Mexica. Respiration came from the old celestial deities, Tonacatecuhtli and Tonacacihuatl, our lord and lady of sustenance, the creator deities. When a baby was born, the tlamatqui (midwife) would announce, “You were breathed into, you were drilled into your house, in Omeyocan, on the nine levels.”¹¹ The creator deities were believed to breathe the tonalli into the baby and ignite a fire into its chest in an action similar to drilling fire with wood.¹²

Tonalli was concentrated in the crown of the head, hair, forehead, face, fingernails, blood, and joints.¹³ It helped to synchronize the mind and body. Loss of tonalli, which could happen in varying degrees, had to be restored in order to prevent imbalances within the body’s physiology and energy systems. Unlike the other two soul parts, which were always a constant in the living body, the tonalli could be lost or taken without complete cessation of life or breath.¹⁴ The tonalli is the sacred animating energy with which this soul retrieval practice is concerned; consequently, the primary focus will be on the tonalli.

The second soul part, the teyolia, was linked to the lower Upperworld while a person was living. At death, it could ascend to the higher levels of the Upperworld or stay with the physical body in the grave. Found principally in the heart, it was inseparable from the body and was considered to be the divine fire or dynamism that animated humans. It vitalized and shaped the thought processes and emotions.¹⁵ It was responsible for affective states, abilities, and identity. It provided individual characteristics, such as personality, aptitudes, abilities, and desires.¹⁶ Its energy could be increased by performing extraordinary acts in war, art, government, or other valued social expressions. People who embodied deities during festivals could also transmit the sacred energy of teyolia as a gift of good energy to their community. Places and objects that held power, such as cities, mountains, lakes, plants, and objects, could also embody the sacred energy of teyolia.¹⁷

The ihiyotl was associated with air or wind. Linked to the Underworld during life, it dissipated into the air at death. It was concentrated in the liver and/or stomach.¹⁸ As exhaled breath and speech, it could serve as a forceful, invisible energy source that could work magic, manifest, persuade, or compel. It could be found especially in the ritualized words of a ruler.¹⁹ This breath was often depicted as sweet-smelling flowers, but it was also related to the foul odorous gases and vapors that were emitted by bodies and other objects, such as rotting foods and swamp gases.²⁰ It signified control over one’s emotions and the final breath. It held passion, luminous gas, and aggression. The Mexica attributed the origin of anger to the liver, which produced “thick, greenish blue” bile during moments of intense anger.²¹ Illnesses related to ihiyotl were primarily treated with magical rather than physical cures.²²

Tonalli as Life-Force Energy

Tonalli was seen as an animating sacred energy that diffused over and energized the Earth and its inhabitants. It was absorbed by animals, plants, fire, statues, gemstones, brilliantly colored bird feathers, animal skins, warrior’s costumes, and mats woven with malinalli grass.²³ Mesoamerican scholar James Maffie points out that tonalli referred to many things, including “solar heat, energy, or power; solar radiation; life force sensed and transmitted as heat; a day sign of the 260-day tonalpohualli, the Mexica’s ritual calendar [see plate 1]; a day name; a person’s fate, destiny, or birth-merit (mahcehualli) as determined by the day sign; a personal and calendrical name; animating energy, soul, spirit; and vigor, character or temperament.”²⁴ The sun was the principal source of tonalli.²⁵

Not everyone had the same type or degree of tonalli. It was determined by various factors, such as the day of birth, social class, age, and how well the individual preserved the energy.²⁶ The tonalli that was emitted varied qualitatively from day to day according to the tonalpohualli cycle.²⁷ Holding governmental posts and fulfilling these duties, for example, could strengthen one’s tonalli. Nobles were believed to be born with a stronger tonalli than commoners and preserved it by adhering to a higher moral standard and remaining chaste longer.²⁸ Advanced age was associated with increased tonalli, particularly for people that had lived for fifty-two years. It was believed that a fifty-two-year-old had been reheated with the interior fire of tonalli and was consequently renewed in harmony with the greater rhythms of the cosmos.²⁹

In a way similar to our current understanding of soul loss, the Mexica believed that the loss of tonalli could happen in various ways and degrees. At death, it remained near the body for four days in order to retrieve all of the pieces of itself on Earth. Thereafter its journey consisted of locating and collecting its scattered soul pieces. It was believed that the ritual burning of effigies of the deceased on the four-year anniversary of death offered the deceased another opportunity to attract and recover more fragments of their tonalli.³⁰

Caring for Tonalli and Its Loss

Tonalli was perhaps the most transferrable energy among the living. The hair in particular was thought to be the recipient of power and could protect tonalli and prevent it from leaving the body. People were careful to braid their hair to preserve their tonalli. Warriors captured their enemies by shaving their hair to take their tonalli and increase their own. People also ritually sunbathed for specific periods of time to garner more tonalli, although too much sun could have adverse effects. Before working, people would rest, as physical exertion could cause the loss of tonalli. Physical activities heated tonalli, whereas resting cooled it, so balance was necessary. Remaining chaste until a person came of age was also believed to allow the tonalli to adequately develop and become strong.³¹

Tonalli could be lost in many ways. It could be lost through interactions with people, particularly when they had an intimate connection with one another, such as family members. It could be depleted by sexual exploits, including retaining semen, lack of orgasm, being scared while having sex, interruption of coitus, and having sex while recovering from an illness, too soon after giving birth, or at a young age.³² Drunkenness could result in the loss of tonalli. Tonalli could also be lost while sleeping. During sleep, tonalli normally left the body to visit other realities, communicate with typically unseen forces, and also acquire certain kinds of knowledge. Dream experiences were understood as real in the sense that they could be potentially dangerous and fatal. In the dream state the person’s tonalli could become trapped and unable to return to the body. Skilled shamans, however, could leave their bodies for periods of time as tonalli, as well as their animal coessences and other forms.³³

Tetonalcahualtiliztli (great fright) could cause the loss of tonalli. Sudden fear was believed to imbalance the thermal state of the body, cooling it, which could drive warm tonalli out of the body.³⁴ Encounters with night apparitions could cause loss of tonalli, both because of fear and because these spirits were able to absorb the heat within the body.³⁵ Places known for causing fright included roads, forests, streams, caves, ravines, and even anthills; these places were populated by potentially hostile invisible beings. Tonalli could also be taken by people, typically sorcerers.³⁶

Symptoms of tonalli loss included restlessness in sleep; listlessness; loss of appetite; weight loss; loss of energy and strength; depression; illness, often fevers; introversion; paleness, lethargy; diarrhea; and vomiting. A severe loss of tonalli could result in illness and death, if immediate measures were not applied.³⁷ Tonalli loss explained many things, such as diseases, astrological fates, the capture of warriors, the legitimacy of rulership, and the need for moderation in sex.³⁸

Restoring Tonalli

To restore tonalli, shamans typically first diagnosed whether a soul loss had occurred, where the loss was concentrated, what parts of the body were being affected, and what were the direct and proximate causes of the loss and its effects. Causes could be related to magic, the elements of nature, spirits or divine beings, or natural factors. Once the loss was diagnosed, the shaman began the soul retrieval process.

There were many rites shamans used to restore the tonalli. One common practice was to garner the help of the sun. Roots of the tlacopahtli plant (Aristolochia argentea Willd.) were placed on the crown of a person’s head, the hair of the crown was lifted, and the shaman called upon the sun to restore the tonalli. Thereafter, the shaman drew a line with the tlacopahtli roots from the tip of the nose up to the crown of the head, thereby closing any possible avenues for further loss of tonalli.³⁹ Another ritual included frightening the person by spraying blessed water on their face and then cleansing them with tobacco.⁴⁰ It was also possible to bring back the tonalli through shamanic breathwork.⁴¹

There was also another ritual that involved a tetonaltia (female shaman who retrieves souls) casting maize into water. She would start by stating spells and invocations into a bowl of water. Thereafter, she would cast maize into the bowl of water. Some would determine it to be a good omen for the maize to sink to the very bottom, unlucky if it floated, or determine whether a loss had happened based on the number of maize that float and sank.⁴² They may also place a deep vessel with water on the ground. If the tetonaltia saw that the child’s face was dark or covered by a shadow on the reflection of the water, then she determined that a soul loss had occurred. If the child’s face appeared bright in the water, she would say that the child is not sick or that the indisposition is very light, that they will get better without a cure or just by censing the child. In either scenario, if she determined that their tonalli had left, to restore the soul, she would say invocations, and then may spray water and tobacco with lime on the crown of the person and on their shoulder blades.⁴³