Untitled - Smithsonian Institution

f,'i°«'ilrLJ OlbeechtsJ
THE SWIMMER MANUSCRIPT 233
This Is To Take Those That Have Been Left (Alive) To the
Water With
FREE TRANSLATION
Now, then! Thou Old White One, (the moment) thou hast taken
thy (protecting) grasp away from the soul, it has become worthless.
(But, do not despair:) the Fire of the hearth has been left in its place
for thee;^^ thou*^ vnit (yet live to) be old. Come on!
Now, then! Long Hmnan Being, now thou hast withdrawn thy
(protecting) hand from the soul, (etc. . . .).
In the first upper world, thou Woman by excellence, thou hast
prepared the white tables. The white food wiU be circulating. It
will be covered over (by the hands of the ghost?) but the covering
(hands) will be pushed away. The fire (of the hearth) will be left
in its place for thee;^^ thou wilt yet live to be old.
In the second upper world, thou Woman by excellence {etc. . . .).
In the third upper Vv^orld, thou Woman by excellence {etc. . . .).
In the fourth upper world, thou Woman by excellence {etc. . . .).
In the fifth upper world, thou Woman by excellence {etc. . . .).
In the sixth upper world, thou Woman by excellence {etc. . . ,).
In the seventh upper world, thou Woman by excellence {etc. . . .),
{with, at the end:) Sharply!
EXPLANATION
This is a typical example of a formula "for taldng them to the
water with." [It has been discussed at length by Mr. Mooney in
his "Cherokee River Cult," pages 4 et seq.]
This is the most impressive of all the ceremonies of the Cherokee
and is performed only on important occasions, such as the birth of a
child, the death of a relative or a very close friend, to obtain long life,
in preparing for the baU game or for the green corn dance, at each
new moon, to counteract the evil conjurations of an enemy, and in
connection with some of the more important love formulas. A
similar but less elaborate ceremonial may be performed for the less
important of the purposes enumerated above, by a layman, without
the intervention of the medicine man.
The various formulas for taking patients or clients to water usually
differ but slightly from one another, the principal feature of all of
them being the lifting up of the cKent's soul by successive stages to
the seventh upper world.
The one here given is performed for the joint benefit of aU the
members of a family, who are all present, after the death of a near
relative, for the purpose of making them forget the deceased (see
P- 26).
81 Addressing the patron.