Abstract

MARTINEZ GONZALEZ, Roberto. Neo-nahualism and other contemporary evolutions. Alteridades [online]. 2006, vol.16, n.31, pp.107-117. ISSN 2448-850X.

As it is well known, Spanish, Mexican, Afro-Mexican and even North-American cultures have had great impact over Mesoamerican’s thinking systems. Their ideologies have modified Mesoamerican beliefs and practices in order to produce a variety of religious mixtures. Nevertheless, it doesn’t mean that, within the colonization process, the fluxes of ideas have always been unidirectional. Mexicans and Occidentals have re-signified Mesoamerican beliefs and practices in order to incorporate them to their own culture. Thus, the main intention of this work is to determine how the non-indigenous peoples have re-signified and utilized the Aztec concept of nahualli within the context of their own cultures. The first part of this article deals with an explanation of the historical evolution of non-indigenous points of view concerning nahualism. The second part analyzes the Internet discourse of those who nowadays call themselves nahuales.

Keywords : nahualism; indigenous conception; new religious movements; religion on-line.