Hoffman] MEXICAN RAIN PRIESTS 151 



weasel; and when one is preparing to seize them, they will appear now as a cock, 

 now as an owl, and again as a weasel. These call themselves nanahualtin. 



In this connection it maybe said that the powers of both the juggler 

 and the wa'beno of the Algonquian tribes appear to be combined. It 

 it is quite probable, however, that more specific distinctions might have 

 been observed to exist between the two professions had more thorough 

 investigation and careful discrimination been made, though this is 

 always a difficult proceeding with shamans when attempted by eccle- 

 siastics, the so-called agents of the Kishii' Ma'nido of a common enemy. 



THE Wi'BENO 



The term wa'beno has been explained by various intelligent Indians 

 as signifying " men of the dawn," " eastern men," etc. The profession 

 of the wa'beno has not been thoroughly understood and little mention 

 of it has been made by authors, but from personal investigation it 

 has been ascertained that a wa'beno does not affiliate with others of 

 his class so as to constitute a society, but indulges in his pretensions 

 individually. A wa'beno is primarily prompted by dreams or visions 

 which may occur during his youth, for winch purpose he leaves his 

 village to fast for an indefinite number of days. It is positively 

 affirmed that evil ma'nidos favor his desires, and apart from his gen- 

 eral routine of furnishing " hunting medicine," " love powders," etc, 

 he pretends also to practice medical magic. When a hunter has been 

 successful through the supposed aid of the wa'beno, he supplies the 

 latter with part of the game; then, in giving a feast to his tutelary 

 daimon, the wa'beno will invite a number of friends, but all who 

 desire to come are welcome. This feast is given at night; singing and 

 dancing are boisterously indulged in, and the wa'beno, to sustain his 

 reputation, entertains his visitors with a further exhibition of his skill. 

 Through the use of plants he is alleged to be enabled to take up and 

 handle with impunity red-hot stones and burning brands, and without 

 evincing the slightest discomfort it is said that he will bathe his hands 

 in boiling water, or even in boiling sirup. Ou account of such per- 

 formances, the general impression prevails among the Indians that the 

 wa'beno is a " dealer in Are," or a " fire handler." Such exhibitions 

 always terminate at the approach of day. 



The wa'beno is believed to appear at times in the guise of various 

 animals, in which form he may inflict injuries on an individual for 

 whose destruction he has received a fee. At night he may be seen 

 Eying rapidly along in the shape of a ball of fire, or of a pair of fiery 

 sparks, like the eyes of some monstrous beast. 



The nahual or sorcerer of Mexico of the present day is accredited 

 by the lower classes with similar powers. Orozco y Berra 1 says: 



The nahual is generally an old Indian with red eyes, who knows how to turn him- 

 self into a dog, woolly, black, and ugly. The female which can convert herself into 



'Historia Antigua de Mexico, vol. ii, 25. (Quoted from Brintou's Nagualism, op. cit. p. 18.) 



