Guardians of Idolatry: Gods, Demons, and Priests in Hernando Ruiz de Alarcón's Treatise on the Heathen Superstitions

Offers readers a rare, in-depth look at the nahualtocaitl and the native cosmogonies, beliefs, and medical practices they reveal. Through close reading of four incantations - for safe travel, maguey sap harvesting, bow-and-arrow deer hunting, and divination through maize kernels - Díaz Balsera shows the nuances of a Nahua spiritual world.