The Annals of the Cakchiquels, page 29 by Daniel G. Brinton
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generally be rendered "his magic power, his sorcery," though it has a number of allied significations. Naval as a noun means magician, naval chee, naval abah, the spirit of the tree, of the stone, or the divinity embodied in the idols of these substances.
Another root from which a series of such words were derived, was hal, to change. The power of changing or metamorphosing themselves into tigers, serpents, birds, globes of fire, etc., was claimed by the sorcerers, and is several times mentioned in the following texts. Hence the sorcerer was called haleb, the power he possessed to effect such transformations halibal, the change effected halibeh, etc.
Their remarkable subjection to these superstitions is illustrated by the word lab, which means both to divine the future and to make war, because, says Ximenez, "they practiced divination in order to decide whether they should make war or not."[47-1]
These auguries were derived frequently from the flight and call of birds (as in the Annals, Secs. 13, 14, etc.), but also from other sources. The diviner who foretold by grains of maize, bore the title malol ixim, the anointer or consecrator of maize (Dicc. Anon[TN-4]).
The priesthood was represented by two high priests, elected for life by the ruler and council. The one who had especial custody of religious affairs wore a flowing robe, a circlet or diadem on his head ornamented with feathers, and carried in his hand a rod, or wand. On solemn occasions he publicly sacrificed blood from his ears, tongue, and genital organ.
His associate was the custodian and interpreter of the sacred books, their calendars and myths, and decided on lucky and unlucky days, omens and prognostics.
In addition to these, there were certain old men, of austere life, who dwelt in the temples, and wore their hair in plaited strands around their heads (trenzado en circulo), who were consulted on ordi