The word nagual is pronounced ‘nahwil’ and comes from ancient Toltec culture, a shamanic culture that flourished between 900 and 1168 CE. And whom the Aztecs regarded as their cultural predecessors. In his book on Carlos Castaneda The Teachings of Don Carlos, Victor Sanchez helps us get a sense of the nagual:
‘The nagual is that about which it is not possible to think. ... No one knows anything about what lies beyond the borders of the island. The nagual would be all that space of unfathomable mystery surrounding it. Although the nagual cannot be understood or verbalized, it nevertheless can be witnessed and experienced. ... Ultimately everything occurs in the nagual, which is all encompassing. ... The nagual aspect of the world also has a corresponding expression in every human being. In the work of Castaneda, it is called awareness of the left side, awareness of the other self, awareness of the dreamed. Teachings for the left side ... have the purpose of bringing the apprentice to directly witness the nagual in such a way as not to lose sanity.’