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Navajo religion ceremonies - page 3 of 3

Some rites are short, like the diagnostic ritual in which the hand trembler (diviner) observes a sick person to determine the nature of his illness and the appropriate healing ceremony. A significant short rite is the morning prayer to White Dawn to welcome a new day. Pollen from corn tassels is used and is richly symbolic of purity as well as of peace, happiness, and prosperity. Pollen sprinkling along with specific chants consecrate and sanctify hogans, patients, prayer sticks, dry (sand) paintings, and cornmeal mush that is eaten ceremonially. Navajos call the haze in the air, pollen of morning sky and pollen of evening sky.

Healing ceremonies can continue for a period of ' one to nine days, with each being performed for the purpose of curing a particular affliction. The degree of participation required of an individual for whom a ceremony is performed is clearly defined by tradition. The person must follow exactly the medicine man's instructions. These may include fasting, praying, performing certain actions, avoiding certain objects or people, and other ritual restrictions. Navajo ceremonies usually involve the patient, his or her family, and a medicine man and singers. Because Navajo recognize family ties on a number of different levels, a person's "family" can be quite large. A ceremony might attract several thousand people, but the central parts of the actual ceremony are conducted inside a hogan and are witnessed only by immediate members of the family.

The roster of mythical figures in ceremony sings appears to be endless; each has an important role in the history of the Dine', and their names instantly relate the Navajos to certain periods of time in their past. A few of these names are Rock Crystal Talking God, Happiness Boy, White Shell Woman, White Corn Boy, Yellow Corn Girl, First Man, Big Snake, Pollen Boy, and Cornbeetle Girl.

Many ceremonies also include activities which are strictly social, such as dances. The Social Song and Dance is part of the three-day Enemy way ceremony, which is held during the spring and summer solstice. In earlier times the ceremony, Enemy Way, was often performed to cleanse the warrior returning from battle from the taint of the enemy's spirit. It now may be performed for patients suffering from illnesses diagnosed as being caused by contact with non-Navajo.

The Gourd dance is a blessing dance, which deals with the many aspects of healing, the cycle of moisture, the seasons, and the balance of maintaining harmony.

The Navajo Ribbon dance has been modified to respect the actual religious songs and dances that are part of the Great Mountain Way Ceremony, which is held in the fall and winter solstice. The purpose of this dance is to help as an ailment to cure any individual who is ill, or who may need spiritual healing. This dance is by far the most dynamic at public displays. The colors of the ribbons used in this dance are; white, turquoise, yellow, black and red, which represent the seasons, stages of life, and the six directions.

Although Navajo ceremonies are handed down from one generation to another orally, the basic framework has remained essentially unchanged. The accompanying histories may differ slightly when told by different medicine men, but the chants and other rituals are never varied deliberately. Fewer ceremonies are performed today than in earlier times, with some ceremonies having been completely lost. Others, forgotten for a period of time, have been reconstructed without the aid of a living medicine man who has actually been trained in the many details of that ceremony. Although some parts of the ceremony may have been lost or modified, the ceremony can sometimes be brought back into usage, through its reconstruction.

• Navajo Creation
• Navajo ceremonies
• Navajo medicine men
• Navajo ceremonial sandpaintings
• Navajo sacred lands

Navajo religion ceremonies - page 1

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