Certain men profess to have an unusual amount of the wakan or divine principle in them. By it they assume the working of miracles, laying on of hands, curing of the sick, and many wonderful operations. Some of these persons pretend to a recollection of former states of existence, even naming the particular body in which they formerly lived. Others assert their power over nature, and their faculty of seeing into futurity, and of conversing with the deities. A third class will talk of the particular animals whose bodies they intend to enter when loosed from their present existence [§§ 260, 267, 287]. In endeavoring to sustain these pretensions they occasionally go through performances which are likely to deceive the ignorant throng.[206] Pond wrote thus of the Dakota wakaŋ men:[207] They do not spring into existence under ordinary operations of natural laws, but, according to their faith, these men and women (for females, too, are wakan) first arouse to conscious existence in the form of winged seeds, such as the thistle, and are wafted by the * * * influence of the four winds till they are conducted to the abode of some Taku Wakan, by whom they are received into intimate communion. They remain there till they become acquainted with the character and abilities of the class of gods whose guests they happen to be, and until they have imbibed their spirits, and are acquainted with all the chants, feasts, dances, and rites which the gods deem necessary to impose on men. Thus do some of them pass through a series of inspirations with different classes of divinities, till they are fully wakanized and prepared for human incarnation. They are invested with the invisible wakan powers of the gods, their knowledge and cunning, and their omnipresent influence over mind, instinct, and passions. They are taught to inflict diseases and heal them, discover concealed causes, manufacture implements of war, and impart to them the ton-wan power of the gods; and also the art of making such an application of paints that they will protect from the powers of the enemies. This process of inspiration is called “dreaming of the gods.” Thus prepared and retaining his primitive form, the demi-god rides forth on the wings of the wind over * * * the earth, till he has carefully observed the characters and usages of the different tribes of men; then, selecting his location, he enters one about to become a mother, and, in due time, makes his appearance among men. * * * When one of these wakan men dies he returns to the abode of his god, from whom he receives a new inspiration, after which he passes through another incarnation as before, and serves another generation. In this manner they pass through four incarnations, * * * and then