Nagual (Nahual)
The nagual (Nahuatl nāhualli) is a Mesoamerican shapeshifter bound to a person's animal spirit-double. Sorcerers and dreamers transform at night into jaguars, dogs, birds or other beasts; the Maya know the same being as way, written with a glyph of a jaguar-spotted spirit. Good or harmful, the nagual expresses a deep, lifelong link between a person and an animal guardian.