Post by Okwes on Jun 14, 2007 10:44:59 GMT -5
Deer Spirits - Winnebago
by Richard L. Dieterle
Deer spirits live in the village of Earthmaker, where they are famous
musicians, playing the flute and singing. These spirits can take on a human
form to communicate with men. There is a deer mound in the Wazidja where
dwells the Great White Doe. At this mound, under her supervision, all the
souls of deer who have died enter, and out of it all the souls of deer who
are to be reincarnated are born. During the tenth month (the Strawberry
Moon), the Great White Doe always remains inside the mound, since this is
the time when does conceive.
The spiritual nature of the deer is bound up with the four cardinal
directions and with the winds that emanate from them. This reflects the
connection between sound and pervasiveness -- the cries of the deer radiate
out to the four corners, so their nature is to control air and what air
pervades. Also, deer as animals that rely on speed to survive, have
unusually well developed lungs, which means that they, more than most
species, have a special control of air. If the voice of a deer is heard, the
weather will change from good to bad or vice-versa. Thus if a Deer clansman,
who has inherited the spiritual nature of deer, were to sing his clan song
too loudly or wail in grief, someone might die. This same activity can also
raise a gale force wind. This is because air and sound, being part of the
spiritual constitution of deer, make up both the essence of weather and the
essence of human life, the breath. To create too much of this power, which
apparently subsists in a finite reservoir, is to draw it away from some
other spiritual reservoir, such as a human being; or in nature, a mass of
air. Because pervasiveness commands the four quarters, the Deer Clan has
some claim to government. It is said too that were it not for the breath
that the primordial Deer chief blew upon the simmering embers of the first
fire, it would not have lit up at all. Thus they have a share in the
sovereignty inherent in the possession of the first fire.
Another figure associated with cardinal directions is Redhorn. He is also
the deity Herok'a, whose eponymous spirit-followers give magical powers to
hunters. In his youth he was known as He at whom They Throw the Deer Lungs,
since his older brother Kunu once threw them at Redhorn when he refused to
fast. The deer lungs symbolize the wind and centrality of the deer, the seat
of its essence by which it commands the four quarters. Thus the deer are
particularly cooperative with Redhorn and the Herok'a spirits. Once a man
shot at a cave painting of a deer during an initiation ceremony for a
neophyte devotee of the Herok'a, and from out of the wall a deer fell dead
at their feet. Deer hunting can sometimes lead a man into mysterious
encounters. A young man once shot a deer, but although it was mortally
wounded, it kept on running, obliging him to chase after it. It took him out
of the way just so that when he packed it back, he found himself walking
through an abandoned village where he was destined to rendezvous with the
ghost of his departed lover. In recent times, P'edjga's brother went hunting
for a deer that also failed to fall when hit, so that the hunter was obliged
to club the animal to death. It was too heavy to carry, but when the man
returned with help, the deer had mysteriously disappeared. Deer not only
have human hunters to contend with, but wolves as well. Wolf Spirits have
some control over deer. Once two Wolf Spirits were reborn in the flesh, one
as a wolf and the other as a human. As long as the human left the deer liver
from his kill for his brother, the human enjoyed bounty beyond limit.
However, his wife induced him to keep the deer liver, ever after which he
was not able to kill a deer. Only by cooperating with his brother, as humans
do with dogs to this day, was he able to kill a deer and regain his
strength. Humans and wolves are like brothers. In the earliest times, Deer
Spirits, because they control the wind, enlisted the North Wind to lure off
hunters who came to kill them. The North Wind captured twelve deer slaying
brothers and confined them in a snowbound prison, while their parents fell
into want. The Deer Spirits appeared and tormented the old couple by dancing
around the inside of their lodge, singing spiteful songs. So the old man
took oysters and incubated them between his legs, and two wolves hatched
from them. These two gave rise to the race of wolves. The wolf brothers
conquered the Deer Spirits and rescued the brothers from the captivity of
the North Wind. In those days, all the deer lived together, but the wolf
brothers scattered them over the face of the earth, a pattern of
distribution to which they hold down to the present day. Coyotes, near
relatives of wolves, are in some debt to deer. Once Coyote had the tip of
his tail bitten off by an animated human corpse. When a deer passed by in
response to his calls for help, it took pity on him and gave him the tip of
its white tail. Thus, this kind of deer has a short tail, and the coyote has
had a tail with a white tip ever since.
Deer suffered setbacks of other kinds which had an impact on their present
constitution. Once the spirit known as the "Green Man," encountered a deer.
He yelled to it, "Younger brother, come here, I need to borrow your heart."
When the deer came, Green Man took out its heart and replaced it with one
made of dirt. This is why deer hearts today are so dry. It is also why deer
are so skittish: -- for if the earth were to quake, so would their hearts.
This may also poke fun at the Deer Clan name, "Shakes the Earth"
(Mâgiksuntcga ?), which was meant to express the power of the cervid
founders of the clan.
The dry heart is not the only venison organ eaten by the Hotcâgara. It is
said that someone raised on a diet of deer brains will grow taller than
others and will be free of disease. Perhaps this has something to do with
the fact that deer brains were used in tanning leather, which protects it as
well as making it more pliable.
hotcakencyclopedia.com/ho.DeerSpirits.html
by Richard L. Dieterle
Deer spirits live in the village of Earthmaker, where they are famous
musicians, playing the flute and singing. These spirits can take on a human
form to communicate with men. There is a deer mound in the Wazidja where
dwells the Great White Doe. At this mound, under her supervision, all the
souls of deer who have died enter, and out of it all the souls of deer who
are to be reincarnated are born. During the tenth month (the Strawberry
Moon), the Great White Doe always remains inside the mound, since this is
the time when does conceive.
The spiritual nature of the deer is bound up with the four cardinal
directions and with the winds that emanate from them. This reflects the
connection between sound and pervasiveness -- the cries of the deer radiate
out to the four corners, so their nature is to control air and what air
pervades. Also, deer as animals that rely on speed to survive, have
unusually well developed lungs, which means that they, more than most
species, have a special control of air. If the voice of a deer is heard, the
weather will change from good to bad or vice-versa. Thus if a Deer clansman,
who has inherited the spiritual nature of deer, were to sing his clan song
too loudly or wail in grief, someone might die. This same activity can also
raise a gale force wind. This is because air and sound, being part of the
spiritual constitution of deer, make up both the essence of weather and the
essence of human life, the breath. To create too much of this power, which
apparently subsists in a finite reservoir, is to draw it away from some
other spiritual reservoir, such as a human being; or in nature, a mass of
air. Because pervasiveness commands the four quarters, the Deer Clan has
some claim to government. It is said too that were it not for the breath
that the primordial Deer chief blew upon the simmering embers of the first
fire, it would not have lit up at all. Thus they have a share in the
sovereignty inherent in the possession of the first fire.
Another figure associated with cardinal directions is Redhorn. He is also
the deity Herok'a, whose eponymous spirit-followers give magical powers to
hunters. In his youth he was known as He at whom They Throw the Deer Lungs,
since his older brother Kunu once threw them at Redhorn when he refused to
fast. The deer lungs symbolize the wind and centrality of the deer, the seat
of its essence by which it commands the four quarters. Thus the deer are
particularly cooperative with Redhorn and the Herok'a spirits. Once a man
shot at a cave painting of a deer during an initiation ceremony for a
neophyte devotee of the Herok'a, and from out of the wall a deer fell dead
at their feet. Deer hunting can sometimes lead a man into mysterious
encounters. A young man once shot a deer, but although it was mortally
wounded, it kept on running, obliging him to chase after it. It took him out
of the way just so that when he packed it back, he found himself walking
through an abandoned village where he was destined to rendezvous with the
ghost of his departed lover. In recent times, P'edjga's brother went hunting
for a deer that also failed to fall when hit, so that the hunter was obliged
to club the animal to death. It was too heavy to carry, but when the man
returned with help, the deer had mysteriously disappeared. Deer not only
have human hunters to contend with, but wolves as well. Wolf Spirits have
some control over deer. Once two Wolf Spirits were reborn in the flesh, one
as a wolf and the other as a human. As long as the human left the deer liver
from his kill for his brother, the human enjoyed bounty beyond limit.
However, his wife induced him to keep the deer liver, ever after which he
was not able to kill a deer. Only by cooperating with his brother, as humans
do with dogs to this day, was he able to kill a deer and regain his
strength. Humans and wolves are like brothers. In the earliest times, Deer
Spirits, because they control the wind, enlisted the North Wind to lure off
hunters who came to kill them. The North Wind captured twelve deer slaying
brothers and confined them in a snowbound prison, while their parents fell
into want. The Deer Spirits appeared and tormented the old couple by dancing
around the inside of their lodge, singing spiteful songs. So the old man
took oysters and incubated them between his legs, and two wolves hatched
from them. These two gave rise to the race of wolves. The wolf brothers
conquered the Deer Spirits and rescued the brothers from the captivity of
the North Wind. In those days, all the deer lived together, but the wolf
brothers scattered them over the face of the earth, a pattern of
distribution to which they hold down to the present day. Coyotes, near
relatives of wolves, are in some debt to deer. Once Coyote had the tip of
his tail bitten off by an animated human corpse. When a deer passed by in
response to his calls for help, it took pity on him and gave him the tip of
its white tail. Thus, this kind of deer has a short tail, and the coyote has
had a tail with a white tip ever since.
Deer suffered setbacks of other kinds which had an impact on their present
constitution. Once the spirit known as the "Green Man," encountered a deer.
He yelled to it, "Younger brother, come here, I need to borrow your heart."
When the deer came, Green Man took out its heart and replaced it with one
made of dirt. This is why deer hearts today are so dry. It is also why deer
are so skittish: -- for if the earth were to quake, so would their hearts.
This may also poke fun at the Deer Clan name, "Shakes the Earth"
(Mâgiksuntcga ?), which was meant to express the power of the cervid
founders of the clan.
The dry heart is not the only venison organ eaten by the Hotcâgara. It is
said that someone raised on a diet of deer brains will grow taller than
others and will be free of disease. Perhaps this has something to do with
the fact that deer brains were used in tanning leather, which protects it as
well as making it more pliable.
hotcakencyclopedia.com/ho.DeerSpirits.html