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 the formula the shaman identifies himself with the warriors,
asserting that “_we_” have lifted up the red war club, red being the
color symbolic of success and having no reference to blood, as might
be supposed from the connection. In the first paragraph he invokes
curses upon the enemy, the future tense verb _It shall be_, etc.,
having throughout the force of _let it be_. He puts the souls of
the doomed enemy in the lower regions, where the black war clubs are
constantly waving about, and envelops them in a black fog, which shall
never be lifted and out of which they shall never reappear. From
the expression in the second paragraph, “their souls shall never be
knocked about,” the reference to the black war clubs moving about like
ball sticks in the game would seem to imply that they are continually
buffeting the doomed souls under the earth. The spirit land of the
Cherokees is in the west, but in these formulas of malediction or
blessing the soul of the doomed man is generally consigned to the
underground region, while that of the victor is raised by antithesis
to the seventh heaven.
Having disposed of the enemy, the shaman in the second paragraph turns
his attention to his friends and at once raises their souls to the
seventh heaven, where they shall go about in peace, shielded by
(literally, “covered with”) the red war club of success, and never to
be knocked about by the blows of the enemy. “Breaking the soul in two”
is equivalent to snapping the thread of life, the soul being regarded
as an intangible something having length, like a rod or a string. This
formula, like others written down by the same shaman, contains several
evident inconsistencies both as to grammar and mythology, due to the
fact that A‘wanita is extremely careless with regard to details and
that this particular formula has probably not been used for the last
quarter of a century. The warriors are also made to shield themselves
with the white war whoop, which should undoubtedly be the red war
whoop, consistent with the red war club, white being the color
emblematic of peace, which is evidently an incongruity. The war whoop
is believed to have a positive magic power for the protection of the
warrior, as well as for terrifying the foe.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account