Free eBook - The Mountain Chant

The Mountain Chant: A Navajo Ceremony
by Washington Matthews

 

Among the Navajo Indians of Arizona, the nine-day Mountain Chant marks a transition in the seasons. It takes place in late winter, at the end of the thunderstorms but before the spring winds arrive. The chant is also considered a healing ceremony, performed not only for individuals who are sick but to restore order and balance in human relationships. Matthews, an army major and one of the earliest Anglo recorders of Navajo culture, describes not only procedures and objects used, but emphasizes the ceremony's vision of humankind's place in a broader scheme. 

 

The ceremony centers around a recitation of a cycle of myths about a Navajo culture hero, Dsilyídje Qaçàl. His journey takes him to the land of the gods and goddesses, where he learns powerful magic. The narrative is compelling and compares well with the Homeric Odyssey, which it resembles both thematically and stylistically. The ceremony incorporates dance, song, prayer, sand-painting, drama, sculpture, conjuring, and even a bit of farce.

Navajo cures are targeted at body, mind, and spirit, calling on the patient, his kin, singer, and divine people to restore his harmony with the world. Before a singer, or medicine man (they are seldom women), is called, a hand trembler, or ndilniihii (often a woman), will diagnose the source of illness. Through prayer, concentration, and sprinkling of sacred pollen, her hand will tremble and pinpoint the cause, which then determines the proper ceremonial cure. Then a medicine man, or hataałii, meaning "singer," who knows the proper ceremony is called and preparations are set in motion.

There are nearly 100 Navajo chants of varying range and intricacy. Originating from the Creation Story, they are so nuanced and complex that a medicine man learns only one or two ways over many years of apprenticeship. Ceremonies last anywhere from one to nine days (the Mountain Way Chant lasts nine days) and include chants, songs, prayers, lectures, dances, sweat baths, prayer sticks, and sand paintings. In order for a ceremony to be effective, everything must be done as prescribed in the legends. Download The Mountain Chant.epub.

Terence McKenna's Time Wave Theory

I discovered Terence McKenna's 1975 book, The Invisible Landscape: Mind, Hallucinogens and the I Ching while researching my 1997 book, I Ching: The Tao of Drumming. I was fascinated by McKenna's theory that the I Ching's King Wen sequence of the 64 hexagrams represents a wave model of time. I spent hours trying to decipher the complexities of the "Time Wave Theory" in order to write about it in my own book. Simply put, the King Wen sequence is a symbolic blueprint of the unfolding continuum of time in which events and situations recur on many different scales of duration. Each hexagram represents a unique yet integral wave cycle within the continuum. Many reputable scientists and physicists have embraced it. It has broken the barriers between esoteric philosophy and pragmatism. And, as you will see, its discovery is predicted within the theory itself. Read more.

Free Podcast of First Sami Drum Joik

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In this first Sami Joik podcast, Sami musician Piera Jovnna Somby, accompanied by Ingebrigt Pedersen on sunshaped traditional drum, perform a special joik dedicated to Piera’s cousin. Discover this talented musician and an old traditional Sami vocal art. A joik is more than a song. One's joik, is one's way. One's way of doing things, one's way of living and singing and making music. Click here to download the first Sami Joik podcast in HTML5 of "About My Cousin" by Piera Jovnna Somby. This app is the first of 8 web-guides dedicated to the immense natural and cultural heritage of Iceland by World On Communications.

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