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Overview

López Austin's 1967 classification treats tlacatecolotl as an umbrella category for people accused of directing supernatural powers against others. A nahualli could fall within it when acting harmfully, while similar powers could serve beneficial purposes. The discussion connects owl imagery with ominous night activity and the realm of the dead. Its categories concern activities and social judgments, rather than separate monster species.

A 1560 Matrícula de Huexotzinco glyph illustrates another use: Tlacatecolotl is a personal name. Stephanie Wood's visual lexicon describes a horned animal head with feathering, an open mouth, and visible teeth. This named person's sign is not a documentary portrait of a supernatural creature. Molina's 1571 vocabulary renders the term as devil; reading that gloss alongside the personal-name manuscript shows how Indigenous naming and missionary interpretation occupy different documentary settings.

Harmful use distinguished from beneficial powersOwl and nocturnal imageryPersonal-name and missionary lexical witnesses
01

Origins & earliest records

The inspected Huexotzinco personal-name witness dates to 1560, while UNAM's dictionary identifies Molina's 1571 vocabulary entry at folio 115r. Neither is a first-origin claim. They document colonial uses of the word, whose meaning must be established from the genre and purpose of each surviving source.

02

Records & interpretation

The original 1967 article was read directly, especially its introductory distinction between a person's powers and harmful use. The University of Oregon's glyph record supplies the manuscript date, location, and modern iconographic description. UNAM preserves Molina's missionary gloss. These sources establish terminology and representations; they do not verify allegations against historical individuals.

Selected bibliography

Documented works and useful reading. This is not a list of every appearance.

  1. 01

    Cuarenta clases de magos del mundo náhuatl

    Alfredo López Austin · 1967

    Estudios de Cultura Náhuatl 7, pp. 87–117; activities can overlap within one practitioner.

  2. 02

    Tlacatecolotl (MH641r)

    Stephanie Wood; Visual Lexicon of Aztec Hieroglyphs · n.d.

    Analysis of a personal-name glyph in the 1560 Matrícula de Huexotzinco, folio 641r.

Family & connections

A source-supported family tree or inspiration record has not yet been compiled for this profile. Related reading below indicates a connection in subject matter, not a proven lineage or creative influence.

Located primary passages

Specific passages supporting details in this entry, grouped by their published witness.

Primary source witness

Alfredo López Austin, Estudios de Cultura Náhuatl7, pp87–117, 1967; publisher PDF. Modern research/translation, not public-domain text.

  1. López Austin explains that his names classify activities rather than mutually exclusive personal offices. A nahualli may also be a harmful practitioner, reader of sacred books, weather specialist or healer. This supports treating Tlacatecolotl as a harmful-practice category in this study rather than a single universal animal-bodied species.

    p87, introductory classification; PDF page1

  2. The study groups socially harmful practitioners under this designation, contrasting their aims with beneficial practitioners despite potentially shared powers. It discusses an owl-associated reading alongside a harm-related etymological argument and cites different colonial descriptions; those arguments remain attributed linguistic and historical analysis.

    pp88–89, I Los tlatlacatecolo; PDF page2

  3. López Austin summarizes calendrical and prenatal accounts of power, possible youthful animal transformations and harmful action on selected days. He attributes to Sahagún the report that cutting a captured practitioner’s crown hair removes power and precedes death. This is a reported historical belief, not evidence that such powers or effects occur.

    p90, powers and loss of tonalli; notes8–14; PDF page4

Article is modern copyright under CC BY-NC-ND4.0. Exact evidence reproduced across this article totals 14 words; no excerpts added to quotation collection. Underlying Sahagún and other editions remain explicitly indirect until independently inspected.

References

Sources supporting this profile. Linked pages have their own scope and editorial standards.

  1. ResearchLópez Austin 1967: Cuarenta clases de magos del mundo náhuatlResearch access: 2026-10-05
  2. ResearchVisual Lexicon: Tlacatecolotl (MH641r)Research access: 2026-10-05
  3. ReferenceGran Diccionario Náhuatl: Molina 1571, folio 115rResearch access: 2026-10-05

Image credits

A sourced illustration has not yet been added. This gap is included in the coverage record.

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