Hombres de maíz (Men of Maize, 1949). The anthropologist Carlos Castaneda also addresses it in his books, particularly in The teachings of Don Juan, with the Yaqui Indians, in Mexico.
The phenomenon of transformations or metamorphoses permeates mythology and popular wisdom, which is almost the same thing. Ovid already wrote it in his famous book. Only sometimes these transformations are accompanied by a halo of a certain horror, as in the case of the story you tell @nancybriti. Certainly, the American Indian cultures (Mesoamerican, Caribbean or Andean) strongly contain this phenomenon. In Mesoamerica it is very present, be it in the Nahuas, Mayas or other ethnic groups, and it has passed into literature. This is where the nagual (guardian spirit) comes from, which is very well recreated by the Guatemalan writer (Nobel Prize in Literature) Miguel Ángel Asturias in his novel
Your post, @nancybriti, is very interesting and gratifying. Thank you and greetings.
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That's right, @josemalavem. I remember reading Hombres de maíz and being surprised by the magical world presented by Miguel Ángel Asturias. In it we can appreciate the amount of references made to nature, as a way of demonstrating the worship that the Mayas had to her and their gods. In the case of the character you mention, the healer becomes a deer, which in the end dies and with him dies the animal part of the healer. This analysis can be interesting, because perhaps in each of us there is an unfathomable animal part, unknown to oneself. As always, thank you for commenting. ;)