The Sacred Formulas of the Cherokees: Seventh Annual Report of the Bureau of Ethnology to the Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, 1885-1886, Government Printing Office, Washington, 1891, pages 301-398Mooney, James
Religion
The Sacred Formulas of the Cherokees: Seventh Annual Report of the Bureau of Ethnology to the Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, 1885-1886, Government Printing Office, Washington, 1891, pages 301-398
Mooney, James
Cherokee Indians -- Religion; Cherokee language -- Texts; Indians of North America -- Medicine
In this case the doctor first invokes the Red Dog in the Sun Land,
calling him a great adáwehi, to whom nothing is impossible and who
never fails to accomplish his purpose. He is addressed as if out of
sight in the distance and is implored to appear running swiftly to the
help of the sick man. Then the supplication changes to an assertion
and the doctor declares that the Red Dog has already arrived to take
the disease and has borne away a small portion of it to the uttermost
ends of the earth. In the second, third, and fourth paragraphs the
Blue Dog of the Frigid Land, the Black Dog of the Darkening Land, and
the White Dog of Wáhală are successively invoked in the same terms
and each bears away a portion of the disease and disposes of it in
the same way. Finally, in the fifth paragraph, the White Terrapin of
Wáhălă is invoked. He bears off the remainder of the disease and
the doctor declares that relief is accomplished. The connection of the
terrapin in this formula is not evident, beyond the fact that he is
regarded as having great influence in disease, and in this case the
beads and a portion of the medicine are kept in a terrapin shell
placed upon the diseased part while the prayer is being recited.
The formulas generally consist of four paragraphs, corresponding to
four steps in the medical ceremony. In this case there are five, the
last being addressed to the terrapin instead of to a dog. The prayers
are recited in an undertone hardly audible at the distance of a few
feet, with the exception of the frequent _ha_, which seems to be used
as an interjection to attract attention and is always uttered in a
louder tone. The beads--which are here white, symbolic of relief--are
of common use in connection with these formulas, and are held between
the thumb and finger, placed upon a cloth on the ground, or, as in
this case, put into a terrapin shell along with a small portion of the
medicine. According to directions, the shell has no other part in the
ceremony.
The blowing is also a regular part of the treatment, the doctor either
holding the medicine in his mouth and blowing it upon the patient, or,
as it seems to be the case here, applying the medicine by rubbing,
and blowing his breath upon the spot afterwards. In some formulas the
simple blowing of the breath constitutes the whole application. In
this instance the doctor probably rubs the medicine upon the affected
part while reciting the first paragraph in a whisper, after which he
blows once upon the spot. The other paragraphs are recited in the
same manner, blowing once after each. In this way the whole formula
is repeated four times, with four blows at the end of the final
repetition. The directions imply that the doctor blows only at the end
of the whole formula, but this is not in accord with the regular mode
of procedure and seems to be a mistake.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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