The Sacred Formulas of the Cherokees by James Mooney (best ereader for epub .txt) 📖

Wa´hĭlĭ galûnlti´tsa hetsadâ´histĭ, Kâ´lanû Tsûne´ga, hida´wĕhĭ. Gahu´stĭ tsanu´l‘tĭ nige´sûnna. Hanâ´gwa hetsatsâ´ûntani´ga. Nigû´nwatû´nnigwalâe´sti-gwû tsalâsû´nĭ. Ha-nâ´gwa detal‘tani´ga. Sanigalâ´gĭ gesû´n hastig´û‘lani´ga ulsge´ta, duwâlu´watû´‘tĭ nige´sûnna nitû´neli´ga. Usûhi´yĭ wĭtitâ´hĭstani´ga. Dadu´satahû´nstĭ nige´sûnna nitû´neli´ga. Utsĭnă´wa adûnni´ga.

(Dega´sisisgû´nĭ)—Hiă´agi‘li´ya unitlûngû´nĭ adanû´wâtĭ. Askwanu´tsastĭ´. Tsâ´l(a) Agayû´nlĭunitsi´lûnnû´hĭgû´ntatĭ, anû´nsga‘lâ´-gwû; Kanasâ´la-‘nû unali´gâhû, ade´la´-‘nû nû´‘gi-gwû ani´gage´ĭ dahâ´ĭ, Tsâliyu´stĭ-‘nû Usdi´ga. Gahu´sti-´‘nu yuta´suyû´nna sâwatu´hi-gwû atĭ´ dawâ´hila-gwû iyû´nta.

Translation. TO TREAT FOR ORDEAL DISEASES.

Listen! Ha! Now you have drawn near to hearken and are resting directly overhead. O Black Raven, you never fail in anything. Ha! Now you are brought down. Ha! There shall be left no more than a trace upon the ground where you have been. It is an evolute ghost. You have now put it into a crevice in Sanigalagi, that it may never find the way back. You have put it to rest in the Darkening Land, so that it may never return. Let relief come.

Listen! Ha! Now you have drawn near to hearken, O Red Raven, most powerful ada´wehi. Ha! You never fail in anything, for so it was ordained of you. Ha! You are resting directly overhead. Ha! Now you are brought down. There shall remain but a trace upon the ground where you have been. It is an evolute ghost. Ha! You have put the Intruder into a crevice of Sanigalagi and now the relief shall come. It (the Intruder) is sent to the Darkening Land. You have put it to rest in the Darkening Land. Let the relief come.

Listen! Ha! Now you have drawn near to hearken, O Blue Raven; you are resting directly overhead, ada´wehi. You never fail in anything, for so it was ordained of you. Ha! Now you are brought down. There shall be left but a trace upon the ground where you have been. You have put the Intruder into a crevice in Sanigalagi, that it may never find the way back. You have put it to rest in the Darkening Land, so that it may never return. Let the relief come.

Listen! Ha! Now you have drawn near to hearken; you repose on high on Wa´hĭlĭ, O White Raven, ada´wehi. You never fail in anything. Ha! Now you are brought down. There shall be left but a trace upon the ground where you have been. Ha! Now you have taken it up. You have put the Intruder into a crevice in Sanigalagi, that it may never find the way back. You have put it to rest in the Darkening Land, never to return. Let the relief come.

(Directions)—This is to treat them for a painful sickness. One must suck. Use Tsâ´lagayûn´-li ("Old Tobacco"—Nicotiana rustica), blossoms, and just have them in the mouth, and Kanasâ´la (Wild Parsnip), goes with it, and four red beads also must lie there, and Tsâliyu´sti Usdi´ga ("Little (plant) Like Tobacco"—Indian Tobacco—Lobelia inflata.) And if there should be anything mixed with it (i.e., after sucking the place), just put it about a hand’s-length into the mud.

Explanation.

The Cherokee name for this disease gives no idea whatever of its serious nature. The technical term, Tsundaye´liga´ktanû´hĭ, really refers to the enthusiastic outburst of sociability that ensues when two old friends meet. In this instance it might be rendered “an ordeal.” The application of such a name to what is considered a serious illness is in accordance with the regular formulistic practice of making light of a dangerous malady in order to convey to the disease spirit the impression that the shaman is not afraid of him. A‘yûninĭ, from whom the formula was obtained, states also that the disease is sometimes sent to a man by a friend or even by his parents, in order to test his endurance and knowledge of counter spells.

As with most diseases, the name simply indicates the shaman’s theory of the occult cause of the trouble, and is no clue to the symptoms, which may be those usually attendant upon fevers, indigestion, or almost any other ailment.

In some cases the disease is caused by the conjurations of an enemy, through which the patient becomes subject to an inordinate appetite, causing him to eat until his abdomen is unnaturally distended. By the same magic spells tobacco may be conveyed into the man’s body, causing him to be affected by faintness and languor. The enemy, if bitterly revengeful, may even put into the body of his victim a worm or insect (tsgâya), or a sharpened stick of black locust or “fat” pine, which will result in death if not removed by a good doctor. Sometimes a weed stalk is in some occult manner conveyed into the patient’s stomach, where it is transformed into a worm. As this disease is very common, owing to constant quarrels and rival jealousies, there are a number of specialists who devote their attention to it.

The prayer is addressed to the Black, Red, Blue, and White Ravens, their location at the four cardinal points not being specified, excepting in the case of the white raven of Wa´hilĭ, which, as already stated, is said to be a mountain in the south, and hence is used figuratively to mean the south. The ravens are each in turn declared to have put the disease into a crevice in Sanigala´gi—the Cherokee name of Whiteside Mountain, at the head of Tuckasegee River, in North Carolina, and used figuratively for any high precipitous mountain—and to have left no more than a trace upon the ground where it has been. The adjective translated “evolute” (udanûhĭ) is of frequent occurrence in the formulas, but has no exact equivalent in English. It signifies springing into being or life from an embryonic condition. In this instance it would imply that whatever object the enemy has put into the body of the sick man has there developed into a ghost to trouble him.

The directions are expressed in a rather vague manner, as is the case with most of A‘yûnini’s attempts at original composition. The disease is here called by another name, agi‘li´ya unitlûngû´nĭ, signifying “when they are painfully sick.” The treatment consists in sucking the part most affected, the doctor having in his mouth during the operation the blossoms of Tsâ´l-agayû´nlĭ (Nicotiana rustica), Kanasâ´la (wild parsnip,) and Tsâliyusti Usdiga (Lobelia inflata.) The first and last of these names signify “tobacco” and “tobacco-like,” while the other seems to contain the same word, tsâ´la, and the original idea may have been to counteract the witchcraft by the use of the various species of “tobacco,” the herb commonly used to drive away a witch or wizard. During the sucking process four red beads lie near upon a piece of (white) cloth, which afterward becomes the perquisite of the doctor. Though not explicitly stated, it is probable that the doctor holds in his mouth a decoction of the blossoms named, rather than the blossoms themselves. On withdrawing his mouth from the spot and ejecting the liquid into a bowl, it is expected that there will be found “mixed” with it a small stick, a pebble, an insect, or something of the kind, and this the shaman then holds up to view as the cause of the disease. It is afterward buried a “hand’s length” (awâ´hilû)12 deep in the mud. No directions were given as to diet or tabu.

HUNTING. GÛN´HILÛ´nTA UGÛ´nWA‘LĬ.

Una´lelŭ´ eskiska´l‘tasĭ´. Iskwa´lelŭ eskiska´l‘tasĭ´. Yû! Ela-Kana´tĭ tsûlda´hĭstû´n, tsûwatsi´la astû´n detsatasi´ga. Ts’skwâ´lĭ uda´nisă´‘testĭ, ugwala´ga udu´yaheti´dege´stĭ. Sunûsi´ya-gwû udanisă´‘testĭ, ts’su´lti-gwû nige´sûnna.

Hĭkayû´nlĭ Gi´gage-gâgû´, tsine´tsĭ gesû´n aw’stitege´stĭ. Tsăstû´ utatiyĭ, nâ´gwa tsăs‘tû gasû‘hisă‘tĭ atisge´stĭ. Ha-nâ´gwa nûnnâ tsusdi´ tutana´wa-tegû´ digana´watû´nta atisge´stĭ. Utalĭ´ udanû´hĭ ugwala´ga gûnwatuy´ahĭti´tege´stĭ, hĭlahiyû´nta-gwû wustû´‘stĭ nige´sûnna. D’stiskwâ´lĭ deudû´nisă‘te´stĭ. Yû!

Translation. CONCERNING HUNTING.

Give me the wind. Give me the breeze. Yû! O Great Terrestrial Hunter, I come to the edge of your spittle where you repose. Let your stomach cover itself; let it be covered with leaves. Let it cover itself at a single bend, and may you never be satisfied.

And you, O Ancient Red, may you hover above my breast while I sleep. Now let good (dreams?) develop; let my experiences be propitious. Ha! Now let my little trails be directed, as they lie down in various directions(?). Let the leaves be covered with the clotted blood, and may it never cease to be so. You two (the Water and the Fire) shall bury it in your stomachs. Yû!

Explanation.

This is a hunting formula, addressed to the two great gods of the hunter, Fire and Water. The evening before starting the hunter “goes to water,” as already explained, and recites the appropriate formula. In the morning he sets out, while still fasting, and travels without eating or drinking until nightfall. At sunset he again goes to water, reciting this formula during the ceremony, after which he builds his camp fire, eats his supper and lies down for the night, first rubbing his breast with ashes from the fire. In the morning he starts out to look for game.

"Give me the wind," is a prayer that the wind may be in his favor, so that the game may not scent him. The word rendered here “Great Terrestrial Hunter,” is in the original “Ela-Kana´tĭ.” In this e´la is the earth and kana´tĭ is a term applied to a successful hunter. The great Kanatĭ, who, according to the myth, formerly kept all the game shut up in his underground caverns, now dwells above the sky, and is frequently invoked by hunters. The raven also is often addressed as Kanatĭ in these hunting formulas. Ela-Kana´tĭ, the Great Terrestrial Hunter—as distinguished from the other two—signifies the river, the name referring to the way in which the tiny streams and rivulets search out and bring down to the great river the leaves and débris of the mountain forests. In formulas for medicine, love, the ball play, etc., the river is always addressed as the Long Person (Yû´nwĭ Gûnahi´ta). The “spittle” referred to is the foam at the edge of the water. “Let your stomach be covered with leaves” means, let the blood-stained leaves where the stricken game shall fall be so numerous as to cover the surface of the water. The hunter prays also that sufficient game may be found in a single bend of the river to accomplish this result without the necessity of searching through the whole forest, and to that end he further prays that the river may never be satisfied, but continually longing for more. The same idea is repeated in the second paragraph. The hunter is supposed to feed the river with blood washed from the game. In like manner he feeds the fire, addressed in the second paragraph as the “Ancient Red,” with a piece of meat cut from the tongue of the deer. The prayer that the fire may hover above his breast while he sleeps and brings him favorable dreams, refers to his rubbing his breast with ashes from his camp fire before lying down to sleep, in order that the fire may bring him dream omens of success for the morrow. The Fire is addressed either as the Ancient White or the Ancient Red, the allusion in the first case being to the light or the ashes of the fire; in the other case, to the color of the burning coals. “You two shall bury it in your stomachs” refers to the blood-stained leaves and the piece of meat which are cast respectively into the river and the fire. The formula was obtained from A‘yûninĭ, who explained it in detail.

HIĂ´ TSI´SKWA GANÂHILIDASTI YĬ.

Tsĭgĕ´! Hĭkayû´nl-Une´ga, tsûltâ´histû´n gûlitâ´hĭstani´ga. Nâ´gwa tsûda´ntâ talehĭ´sani´ga. Sâ´gwa igûnsi´ya ts’skwâlĭ´ udû´nisate´stĭ, ts’su´ltĭ nige´sûnna. Wane´(ĭ) tigi´gage(ĭ) tali´kanĕli´ga. U´ntalĭ udanû´hĭ tsăgista´‘tĭ.

Hĭkayû´nl-Une´ga, anu´ya uwâtatâ´gĭ agi´stĭ tătsiskâ´ltane´lûhĭ. U´ntalĭ u´danû´ te´tûlskew´si´ga.

Hĭkayû´nl-Une´ga, nûnna´(hĭ) kana´tĭ skwatetâ´stani´ga. Unigwalû´ngĭ te´gatûntsi´ga. Nûnâ´(hĭ) kana´tĭ tati´kiyû´ngwita´watise´stĭ. Unigwalû´ngĭ tigû´nwatû´tsanû´hĭ.

Hĭkayû´nl-Une´ga, Kana´tĭ, sk´salatâ´titege´stĭ, sa‘ka´ni ginu´t’tĭ nige´sûnna. Sgĕ!

Translation. THIS IS FOR HUNTING BIRDS.

Listen! O Ancient White, where you dwell in peace I have come to rest. Now let your spirit arise. Let it (the game brought down) be buried in your stomach, and may your appetite never be satisfied. The red hickories have