Mooney The Sacred Formulas of the Cherokees

Illustrated Edition
1. Auflage 2018
ISBN: 978-80-268-8863-5
Verlag: Madison & Adams Press
Format: EPUB
Kopierschutz: 6 - ePub Watermark

E-Book, Englisch, 134 Seiten

The sacred formulas here given are selected from a collection of about six hundred, obtained on the Cherokee reservation in North Carolina in 1887 and 1888, and covering every subject pertaining to the daily life and thought of the Indian, including medicine, love, hunting, fishing, war, self-protection, destruction of enemies, witchcraft, the crops, the council, the ball play, etc., and, in fact, embodying almost the whole of the ancient religion of the Cherokees. The original manuscripts, now in the possession of the Bureau of Ethnology, were written by the shamans of the tribe, for their own use, in the Cherokee characters invented by Sikwâ´ya (Sequoyah) in 1821, and were obtained, with the explanations, either from the writers themselves or from their surviving relatives.

Autoren/Hrsg.

Mooney, James

Leseproben

Medicine

Table of Contents

DIDÛnLE´SKi ADANÛn´WÂTi KANÂHE´SKi.

Sge! Ha-Nûndâgû´nyi tsûl‘dâ´histi, Gi´‘li Gigage´i, hanâ´gwa hatû´ngani´ga usinuli´yu. Hida´wehi-gâgû´, gahu´sti tsan´ulti nige´sûnna. Ha-diskwûlti´yû ti´nanugagi´, ase´gwû nige´sûnna tsagista´‘ti adûnni´ga. Ulsg´eta hûnhihyû´nstani´ga. Ha-usdig´iyu-gwû ha-e´lawastû´n iytû´nta dûhilâ´histani´ga.

Sge! Ha-Uhûntsâ´yi tsûl‘dâ´histi Gi´‘li Sa‘ka´ni, hanâ´gwa hatû´ngani´ga usinuli´yu. Hida´wehi-gâgû´, gahu´sti tsanu´lti nige´sûnna. Diskwûlti´yû ti´nanugai´, ase´gwû nige´sûnna tsagista´‘ti adûnni´ga. Ulsge´ta hûnhihyûnstani´ga. Ha-usdigi´yu-gwû ha-e´lawastû´n iyû´ta dûhitâ´histani´ga.

Sge! (Ha)-Usûhi´(-yi) tsûl‘dâ´histi, Gi‘l´i Gûnnage´i, hanâ´gwa hatû´ngani´ga usinuli´yû. Hida´wehi-gâgû´, gahu´sti tsanu´lti nige´sû´nna. Diskwûlti´yû tinanugagi´, ase´gwû nige´sûnna tsagista´‘ti adûnni´ga. Ulsg´eta hûnhihyûnstani´ga. Ha-usdigi´yu-gwû ha-e´lawastû´n iyû´nta dûhitâ´histani´ga.

Sge! Wa´hala´ tsûl‘dâ´histi, Gi´‘li Tsûne´ga, hanâ´gwa hatû´ngani´ga usinuli´yu. Hida´wehi-gâgû´, gahu´sti tsanu´lti nige´sûnna. Diskwûlti´yû ti´nanugagi´, ase´gwû nige´sûnna tsagista´‘ti adûnni´ga. Ha-ulsge´ta hûnhihyû´nstani´ga. Ha-usdigi´yu-gwû e´lawastû´n iyû´nta dûhitâ´histani´ga.

Sge! Wa´hala tsûl‘dâ´histi Tû´ksi Tsûne´ga, hanâ´gwa hatû´ngani´ga usinuli´yu. Hida´wehi-gâgû´, gahu´sti tsanu´lti nige´sûnna. Ha-kâ´lû gayûske´ta tsatûn´neli´ga. Utsina´wa nu´tatanû´nta.

(Degâsisisgû´ni.)—Tûksi uhya´ska gûnsta‘ti´ na´ski igahi´ta gunstâ´i hi´ski iyuntale´gi tsûntûngi´ya. Ûnskwû´ta kilû´ atsâ´tasti sâ´gwa iyûtsâ´tasti, nû´‘ki igû´nkta‘ti, naski-gwû´ diûnle´niskâhi´ igûnyi´yi tsale´nihû. Nû´‘kine ûnskwû´ta kilû´ nû´‘ki iyatsâ´tasti. Uhyaskâ´hi-‘nû ade´la degû‘la´i ta´li unine´ga-gwû´ nû´nwâti-‘nû´ higûnehâ´i uhyaskâ´hi usdi´a-gwû. Une´lagi-‘nû sâi´ agadâ´i agadi´di û´nti-gwû´ yiki´ âsi´yu-gwû na´ski-‘nû aganûnli´eskâ´i da´gûnstanehû´ni u‘taâ´ta. Hia‘-nû´ nû´nwâti: Yâ´na-Unatsesdâ´gi tsana´sehâ´i sâ´i-‘nû Kâ´ga-Asgû´ntage tsana´sehâ´i, sâi-‘nû´ Egû´nli-gwû, sâi-nû´ (U)wa´sgili tsigi´ Egû´nli Usdi´a tsigi´, nûnyâ´hi-‘nû tsuye‘dâ´i Yâ´na-Utsesdâgi naskiyû´ tsigi´, usdi´-gwû tsigi´. Egû´nli (u)wa´sgili tsigi´; sâ´i Wâ´tige Unas(te´)tsa tsigi´, sâ´i-‘nû Û´nage Tsunaste´tsa, Niga´ta unaste´tsa gesâ´i.

Sunale´-gwû ale´ndi adanû´nwâti; ta´line e´ladi tsitkala´i; tsâ´ine u´lsaladi´‘satû´; nû´‘kine igû´ ts´kalâ´i. Yeli´gwû´ igesâ´i. Nû´lstâiyanû´na gesâ´i akanûnwi´ski, nasgwû´ nulstaiyanû´na.

Translation.

FORMULA FOR TREATING THE CRIPPLER (RHEUMATISM).

Listen! Ha! In the Sun Land you repose, O Red Dog, O now you have swiftly drawn near to hearken. O great ada´wehi10, you never fail in anything. O, appear and draw near running, for your prey never escapes. You are now come to remove the intruder. Ha! You have settled a very small part of it far off there at the end of the earth.

Listen! Ha! In the Frigid Land you repose, O Blue Dog. O now you have swiftly drawn near to hearken, O great ada´wehi, you never fail in anything. O, appear and draw near running, for your prey never escapes. You are now come to remove the intruder. Ha! You have settled a very small part of it far off there at the end of the earth.

Listen! Ha! In the darkening land you repose, O Black Dog. O, now you have swiftly drawn near to hearken. O great ada´wehi, you never fail in anything. O, appear and draw near running, for your prey never escapes. You are now come to remove the intruder. Ha! You have settled a very small part of it far off there at the end of the earth.

Listen! On Wa´hala you repose. O White Dog. Oh, now you have swiftly drawn near to hearken. O great ada´wehi, you never fail in anything. Oh, appear and draw near running, for your prey never escapes. You are now come to remove the intruder. Ha! You have settled a very small part of it far off there at the end of the earth.

Listen! On Wa´hala, you repose, O White Terrapin. O, now you have swiftly drawn near to hearken. O great ada´wehi, you never fail in anything. Ha! It is for you to loosen its hold on the bone. Belief is accomplished.

(Prescription.)—Lay a terrapin shell upon (the spot) and keep it there while the five kinds (of spirits) listen. On finishing, then blow once. Repeat four times, beginning each time from the start. On finishing the fourth time, then blow four times. Have two white beads lying in the shell, together with a little of the medicine. Don’t interfere with it, but have a good deal boiling in another vessel—a bowl will do very well—and rub it on warm while treating by applying the hands. And this is the medicine: What is called Yâ´na-Utse´sta ("bear’s bed," the Aspidium acrostichoides or Christmas fern); and the other is called Kâ´ga-Asgû´ntagi ("crow’s shin," the Adianthum pedatum or Maidenhair fern); and the other is the common Egû´nli (another fern); and the other is the Little Soft (-leaved) Egû´nli (Osmunda Cinnamonea or cinnamon fern), which grows in the rocks and resembles Yâna-Utse´sta and is a small and soft (-leaved) Egû´nli. Another has brown roots and another has black roots. The roots of all should be (used).

Begin doctoring early in the morning; let the second (application) be while the sun is still near the horizon; the third when it has risen to a considerable height (10 a.m.); the fourth when it is above at noon. This is sufficient. (The doctor) must not eat, and the patient also must be fasting.

Explanation.

As this formula is taken from the manuscript of Gahuni, who died nearly thirty years ago, no definite statement of the theory of the disease, or its treatment, can be given, beyond what is contained in the formula itself, which, fortunately, is particularly explicit; most doctors contenting themselves with giving only the words of the prayer, without noting the ceremonies or even the medicine used. There are various theories as to the cause of each disease, the most common idea in regard to rheumatism being that it is caused by the spirits of the slain animals, generally the deer, thirsting for vengeance on the hunter, as has been already explained in the myth of the origin of disease and medicine.

The measuring-worm (Catharis) is also held to cause rheumatism, from the resemblance of its motions to those of a rheumatic patient, and the name of the worm wahhili´ is frequently applied also to the disease.

There are formulas to propitiate the slain animals, but these are a part of the hunting code and can only be noticed here, although it may be mentioned in passing that the hunter, when about to return to the settlement, builds a fire in the path behind him, in order that the deer chief may not be able to follow him to his home.

The disease, figuratively called the intruder (ulsgéta), is regarded as a living being, and the verbs used in speaking of it show that it is considered to be long, like a snake or fish. It is brought by the deer chief and put into the body, generally the limbs, of the hunter, who at once begins to suffer intense pain. It can be driven out only by some more powerful animal spirit which is the natural enemy of the deer, usually the dog or the Wolf. These animal gods live up above beyond the seventh heaven and are the great prototypes of which the earthly animals are only diminutive copies. They are commonly located at the four cardinal points, each of which has a peculiar formulistic name and a special color which applies to everything in the same connection. Thus the east, north, west, and south are respectively the Sun Land, the Frigid Land, the Darkening Land, and Wa´hala´, while their respective mythologic colors are Red, Blue, Black, and White. Wáhala is said to be a mountain far to the south. The white or red spirits are generally invoked for peace, health, and other blessings, the red alone for the success of an undertaking, the blue spirits to defeat the schemes of an enemy or bring down troubles upon him, and the black to compass his death. The white and red spirits are regarded as the most powerful, and one of these two is generally called upon to accomplish the final result.

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 Wáhala 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 Wáhala is invoked. He bears off the remainder of the disease and the doctor...