A leading feature in their ceremonial worship was the sacred dance, or, as the Spanish writers call it, _el baile_. The native name for it is _xahoh_, and it is repeatedly referred to in the _Annals_. The legendary origin of some of these dances, indeed, constitute a marked feature in its narratives. They are mentioned by the missionaries as the favorite pastime of the Indians; and as it was impossible to do away with them altogether, they contented themselves with suppressing their most objectionable features, drunkenness and debauchery, and changed them, at least in name, from ceremonies in honor of some heathen god, to some saint in the Roman calendar. In some of these, vast numbers of assistants took part, as is mentioned by Xahila (Sec. 32). Magic and divination held a very important place in Cakchiquel superstition, as the numerous words bearing upon them testify. The form of belief common to them and their neighbors, has received the name _Nagualism_, from the Maya root _na_, meaning to use the senses. I have traced its derivation and extension elsewhere,[46-1] and in this connection will only observe that the narrative of Xahila, in repeated passages, proves how deeply it was rooted in the Cakchiquel mind. The expression _ru puz ru naval_, should 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.