A study of Navajo symbolism - Free History Ebooks

.THE PICTURE WRITING: FISHLER 65g. This is said to represent nothing.h. Five. This represents the five stars,with five stanzas (above numbers a, c, d, e, f).i. This is the singer; as he sings he usesthese figures. He sings: "I am a Black BigStar, War Twin, etc."j. Seven Stars (Pleiades). 23k. These colors represent the colors ofthe stars.9. a. This represents the five stanzas usedin this ceremony.b. This represents the same star as above,Black Big Star.c. Monster Slayer.10. Blue (green) Star. This has five stanzas.These are the same as above.Yellow Star. This also has five stanzas.1 112. White Star. The White Star has fivestanzas.13. Pronged Star. This has five stanzas upin the sky. 2414. Silver Star. This has five stanzas.15. The informant claimed this representednothing, but is used merely to tell the orderof the verses. One at first might wonder atthis, but a similar explanation of its purposewas given at the end of the ceremony (number26).16. Wind. This is the Wind with all fivestanzas telling about the black, blue, yellow,white and silver Wind.17. Thunder. This is the Thunder withfive stanzas telling about the black, blue, yellow,white and silver Thunders.18. Big Snake. This is the Big; Snake withfive stanzas telling about the black, blue, yellow,white and silver Big Snakes.19. Bear. This is the Bear with five versestelling about the black, blue, yellow, whiteand silver Bears. The red on his back representsthe power of the Bear.20. Monster Slayer.a. "Big Star above his head."b. "Lightning from his head."c. "Lightning from his hand."d. "Lightning from his knee."e. "Lightning from his feet."21. Hand of the Twin. This holds hisshield.22. These are the same and are used as protectionby the Twin. The Twin said, "Powerholding the shield in front of me," i.e., a protectionshield.23. Thirteen. This is the name of it (?).24. "Enemies falling away," and, "Enemiesdying from witchcraft."25. Shield of Protection. This is as innumber 22. This means, "The red (witchcraft)will bounce off the shield." The ceremonyitself is the shield, which deflects danger,evil or witchcraft.26. Beginning of ceremony. This showsthe beginning of the ceremony and the end.27. Hogan. This represents the hoganwhere the ceremony is to take place. Thesinger symbolically goes out to the east, wherethe first red dot is shown, and prays. He thengoes out to the south and prays; goes to thewest and prays and then goes out to the northtwice and prays. The five stanza prayer of"9" is used when to the east, at the red dot.To the north are used the stanzas of "10" onthe red dots. On the west is used "11" and onthe north are used the prayers of "12" and"i3-"The red in the diagram represents witchcraftor the evil spirits against the sick person.Numbers 14 and 15 are used at the hogan also,as are 23 and 26, which are the same. The*" Haile, 1947, p. 9. The informant specificallymentioned seven stars, but of course, only six arevisible in the skv. Upon the cloth were eight stars.The informant followed the distribution of the actualrepresentation, as is shown in Tozzer, 1908, p. 31,but with two additional stars. Nor does the informant'sdistribution follow that used on the mask of theBlack God as shown in Haile, 1947, p. 3. The differencemay be explained in several ways: ( 1 ) extensiveknowledge of star lore is not esoteric; (2) miscopyingon part of the author; (3) accurate reproduction byinformant is not important since symbols are mnemonic;(4) ceremonial restrictions. Father Berard Haile,1947, p. 11, adds that difficulty in identifying the starisbecause verifications can be made only during certainmonths and the tendency is to find the figurerepresented in star groups, so a larger area must beincluded in order to accommodate all of the stars.The informant follows Tozzer's belief, of eight starswithout the additional five of Haile's, 1947, p. 11, tocomplete the Pleiades, Haile, 1947, p. 12.24This is also called White Star, but differs fromthe above, which is probably the morning or eveningstar. Haile, 1947, p. 7. Although the number five israther ambivalent in that it can be associated withthe practice of witchcraft, it is as often used in thecuring of witchcraft. Reichard, 1950, pp. 244-47.