Translation.
THIS IS TO FRIGHTEN A STORM.
Yuhahi', yuhahi', yuhahi', yuhahi', yuhahi',
Yuhahi', yuhahi', yuhahi', yuhahi', yuhahi'--Yû!
Listen! O now you are coming in rut. Ha! I am exceedingly afraid of you. But yet you are only tracking your wife. Her footprints can be seen there directed upward toward the heavens. I have pointed them out for you. Let your paths stretch out along the tree tops (?) on the lofty mountains (and) you shall have them (the paths) lying down without being disturbed, Let (your path) as you go along be where the waving branches meet. Listen!
Explanation.
This formula, from A`yû'ninï's book, is for driving away, or ''frightening'' a storm, which threatens to injure the growing corn. The first part is a meaningless song, which is sting in a low tone in the peculiar style of most of the sacred songs. The storm, which is not directly named, is then addressed and declared to be coming on in a fearful manner on the track of his wife, like an animal in the rutting season. The shaman points out her tracks directed toward the upper regions and begs the storm spirit to follow her along the waving tree tops of the lofty mountains, where he shall be undisturbed.
The shaman stands facing the approaching storm with one hand stretched out toward it (the knife in hand). After repeating the song and prayer he gently blows in the direction toward which he wishes it to go, waving his hand in the same direction as though pushing away or cutting the storm. A part of the storm is usually sent into the upper regions of the atmosphere. If standing at the edge of the field, he holds a blade of corn in one hand while repeating the ceremony.
Through research, this is allegedly a Cherokee spell. It was included in a book titled Sacred Formula's of the Cherokee first published in 1891 by James Mooney. You can find PDF copies on Google and read it yourself. I am not Cherokee, so I cannot judge the validity of this spell. However, knowing how historians treated Indigenous peoples, especially the Cherokee, in the 1800s, I do not have high hopes this is authentic. They could have a spell/ritual to dispel storms, this could be complete hogwash to make colonizers go oooh, how primitive. Personally, I would not bother with it. Half because it is probably a white guy trying to sound like he knows Indigenous culture simply for nineteen century street cred. But if this is a genuine Cherokee ritual, and you are not Cherokee, it would be disrespectful. And by Cherokee I do not mean your great-great-great grandmother was a Cherokee princess, I mean you have a close relative and hopefully some connection to your heritage. I say hopefully because I am fully aware how hard white people continue to try and remove Indigenous people from their culture. If you are one of the unfortunate people who have been, I am not invalidating you or your Indigenous experience. It is the person who knows some ancestor, somewhere in their line, might have been some kind of native and therefore claims they are entitled to Indigenous status. If this is you, you should not be dabbling in closed practices. The person who was part of the 60s scoop and is trying to rediscover their culture is of native decent and hopefully can rediscover their roots. There is a big difference, but I know the internet loves to generalize.
Is this content used without proper permission?
Please report any violations of copyright via our contact page.
* All information on this page is provided by the coven or person named and the contents of this page is not mediated by the administrators of the website. Please use common sense when following any directions
on this page. Do not ingest anything which does not seem safe. If you suspect the content of this page to be intentionally deceiving please contact us immediately.
