Tonal is a concept within the study of Mesoamerican religion, cosmology, folklore and anthropology.
In Mayan belief the concept of an animal companion of a person was referred to as "Way".
[1] The Jakaltek Maya people of Concepcion Huista, Guatemala call it yixomal ispiẍan nax, meaning "soul bearer".
The study of tonalism was initiated by archaeologist, linguist and ethnologist Daniel Garrison Brinton who published a treatise called "Nagualism: A Study in Native-American Folklore and History"[2] which chronicled historical interpretations of the word and those who practiced nagualism in Mexico in 1894.
He identified the different beliefs associated with tonalism in some modern Mexican communities such as the Mixe, the Nahuas, the Zapotecs and Mixtecs.