Untitled - Smithsonian Institution

MOONEY 1
OlbrechtsJ THE SWIMMER MANUSCRIPT 43
As will be noticed in the formulas, the same spirit that causes a
given disease is never appealed to to eliminate it; Cherokee medicine
men constantly put into practice a "policy of equilibrium" as did the
European diplomats of pre-war days, and according to which every
spirit has one or more antagonists that are appealed to in order to
undo the work and to combat the nefarious activities of their oppo-
nents. The application of this theory is best studied in the formulas.
A glance at the following table will also be found instructive in this
regard. If a disease is held to be caused by worms, various kinds of
birds that are known as worm eaters are called upon to wage the fight.
If the disease is thought to be of an unusually tenacious and obstinate
nature, such animals as beavers, rats, weasels, the dogged stubborn-
ness of which is proverbial, are commanded to gnaw and tug at it
until no trace of it is left. Should the most striking feature of the
"important thing" be its cunning, its evasiveness, such a sly and
wary individual as the otter is commandeered to effect the relief.
It has been deemed expedient to use some abbreviations in the fol-
lowing table, the meanings of which are given below. The analysis
of the traits of each spirit has been effected under eight headings.
Under the first the name is given. These names have been put
into alphabetical sequence, in order to make the list the more service-
able. The Cherokee names of the spirits will be found without dif-
ficulty by looking up the formula in which they occur. This formula
is referred to in the last column, under the caption "Reference."
The second column mentions the color of the spirit. Abbreviations
used:
W White.
Br Brown
Bl Blue.
B Black.
.
P Purple.
R Red.
Y Yellow.
The third column lists the location, the place of residence, of the
spirits. Abbreviations used:
H On high.
C In the center.
Ab Above.
W In the west.
E In the east.
N In the north.
S In the south.
The fourth column lists the diseases caused; the fifth, the ailments
cured by the spirit. It is obvious that a spirit who is listed under
the fourth caption will be found wanting under the fifth, and vice
versa.
The sixth column lists eventual helpers or collaborators of the spirit
and the seventh his eventual antagonists.
Only rarely is a spirit appealed to who is not sufficiently described
in the formulas to make his identification possible; such is the case in
the formulas Nos. 26 and 39.