A study of Navajo symbolism - Free History Ebooks

"9 6 A STUDY OF NAVAJO SYMBOLISMin New York gives this version of the legendof King Bali: "There was a very charitableKing, but he had great pride in his charityand the Lord wanted to calm his pride. TheLord came to the King in the guise of a dwarfand the King asked him what he wanted; theLord said as much land as he could cover withthree steps, and the King agreed to give himthis. With one step the dwarf covered thewhole earth, and with the second he coveredthe heavens; and King Bali said to the Lord,'Where can you step now?' And the Lordstepped on his head making him helpless, andsaid to him, 'Be still, there is no place left exceptAntipolis.'I have seen patterns, of the type used in theceremony held in honor of King Bali, beingmade by housewives in southern India atsunset outside their front doors on the earth,after work was over. Outdoors they are madeout of rice water squeezed out of a piece ofcotton held in the hand. When used indoors,for weddings and other festive occasions, theyare painted on the floor in wet color with afinger. In southern India these are calledRangole patterns; in northern India Alpona.Near Puri similar decorations are made on theoutside walls of houses of Brahmins.In the Kandy Museum in Ceylon were examplesof painted plaques one and one-halffeet long with a handle at the bottom, usedin ceremonies that were similar to plaquesused in the Navajo Water, Shooting and otherceremonies.