Native-American shamanism.
Part One-an overview and tale.
The biggest Native reservation is that of the Navajo, who call themselves “Dineh” (The People). The tribe owns the north-eastern corner of the state of Arizona, and part of New Mexico and Utah. The reservation is beautiful; it is also quite haunted. Shamanism is big. Medicine men practice herbalism, religious treatment and some shamanism. Some medicine men cast spells and some work only to free others of spells. It is not clear who does good and who does evil. Then there are those who are shamans only. I do not remember rightly whether there are women shamans, but I am pretty sure there are a few that have been identified as “witches”.
Shamans are big on shape-shifting. They are called “skin walkers” because they allegedly pull on the skins of coyotes and other large animals and become them. They also practice other strange acts, like running alongside of speeding vehicles. White people who are in the know, have a very healthy respect for shamans, and have also reported strange, otherworldly experiences, similar to those the natives report. They have also suffered from spells. The “medicine” is powerful. The Navajo do not like handling the dead, that is why ancient ruins have remained undisturbed for centuries.
Other tribes allegedly, have among them, those who practice witchcraft, but the Navajo tales are the most common. (Disclaimer: I did not experience these stories directly. I cannot vouch their veracity. Most of these tales I will recount where second hand…a couple third hand).
Two people from Kayenta:
I lived in this college town in the mid - late 1980′s, where Natives had a free scholarship. A Navajo couple moved in next door to me and we became friends. His wife was at the college; I think she was pre-med. Her husband worked in town. Anyway he told me that when his wife was awarded the scholarship, some others in the town were upset that she would study at the “White man school”; others were simply jealous. One day, a strange woman offered her some coffee the day they were about to leave. It was odd, as she was not a friend. After drinking the coffee, she went back to college where she became very ill… almost causing her to drop out.
When she arrived back home, it was decided that they should go back to Kayenta, and contact a medicine man.
The medicine man asked her to take down her top and then he plunged his index finger deep into her skin – just above the nipple, on her left breast. She yelped in slight pain, and he withdrew a piece of turquoise stone, with a drop of blood. The medicine man said, “there, daughter”, handing over the piece of turquoise stone. Apparently the stone formed after the alleged spell. “You will be fine now”. He then explained that the woman who offered the coffee was a witch, who had cast a spell and also added something to the coffee. Spells are often applied by putting something in food, or touching the victim with some power object.
The lady was fine by the end of the afternoon. He showed me the tiny turquoise stone, which they kept as a souvenir of the spell. I was lucky Natives rarely like discussing the witchcraft among them… afraid to do so. He talked freely… almost casually of that event.
Wherever that couple is now, I wish them well!
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By JHC, copyright 2010 @ World Mysteries And True Ghost Tales.
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Thanks for that JHC, it was very interesting. I made it into a post as it would have just got lost in comments.
I hadn’t heard that much about skin walkers, only briefly and i had no idea they were Shamans.
It’s amazing how powerful black witchcraft is, it’s very rife here in England, especially in a place called Dartmoor. Have you read my post on Dartmoor JHC?
EP,
The Dartmoor tale is very intriguing. It is interesting how there are often clusters of shamanism in different parts of the world. England has a great deal of historic notoriety for witchcraft. Not so much in Europe, though Prague rabbis wrote a book on their activities (The Kabbalah). The Salem witch trials in the 1690s (in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts), are also well-known. Some recent sceintific speculation is that the mass hysteria blamed on alleged “witches” may have been induced by a grain bacteria that is historically known to create natural LSD. There are a few Americans who claim to be witches, shamans, etc, but America has a long history of charlatans who make all kinds of claims. As I complained on other posts, such pretenders with their outlandish claims and opportunism have gone far in discrediting the legitimate discussion of the unexplained, making the subject a laughing stock.
Besides Native shamanism, the there is, or was some extensive practice of witchcraft in Southwestern Hispanic culture. It seems to have died out. I would also take the opportunity to moderate some comments in the above essay. Shamanism is not “big” on the Navajo reservation. It is just an aspect of the “medicine” discipline. There was an interesting article last week in a local paper, telling how a Native American physician mixes traditional medicine techiques with Western medicine discipline. Medicine men’s billing is actually covered by our over-65 government insurance, “Medicare”.
However, a percentage the “Dineh” are quite superstitious. As cultures become more educated, shamanism and witchcraft has waned. However, it may still be there, under the surface.
That’s amazing that your medicare insurance covers medicine men’s treatment!
There is another story you may find interesting too, it it called, Witchcraft to Christ, by an ex-high priestess of Dartmoor, who is called, Doreen Irvine. When her book came out it was all over the UK about it, everyone seemed to have heard something about it. She tells of the powers of witchcraft and how it turned her life with demons into an unbearable existance. Dark powers like that, come at a high price.
Yes, I have heard and seen the film ‘the Salem witch trials’. That incident was taken to the extreme as everyone was at risk of being branded a witch.
Over here in the UK, many young people think it is cool to be thought of as a witch, it’s part of the new age era. It’s stated in Rome that exorcisms over the last ten years has increased dramatically because of young people dabbling in the unknown, and messing around with spells and ouija boards.
EP,
I will google Ms. Irvine. I am no church-goer, but nothing like encountering or at least understanding evil can make you appreciate the Forces of Light.
The whole “medicine society” is very slippery in the Native world. Are they shamans? What powers do they summon? Are they good or evil, or a little of both? Obviously they do not tell anyone of that! Their treatments is basically long incantations, sprinkling blessed corn meal on the subject, and making “medicine bags”. Medicine bags are protection, sometimes cures. They even make a bag that protects the subject from driving off the road when drunk! In some special cases, as with the woman I told of, they perform highly specialized treatments. There has to be very powerful knowledge behind their “medicine”. How they persuaded the federal government to pay for some treatments I do not know. My observation is the US government feels a deep guilt for their state-sponsored genocide subjected to the First Nations in the 19th Century, and has acceded to a number of such wishes.
The whole “goth” thing among youth, starting in the 1990s is not real positive. They are the “anti-hippies”, perhaps a reaction to their parents’ past. It also a reaction to the almost corporate attitudes of athletes, popular schoolmates, school authorities, etc., and the very unfair totems created in teen-age life. Nerds, outcasts and the alienated have to express themselves somehow. They may be experimenting with witchcraft to generate outrage, or a vain attempt to create their own personal power. As discussed, fooling around with the otherworld is dangerous to the extreme. Another example of what happens when travelling to the “dark side’.
The New Age movement means well. It is an extension of hippie era ideals. Some of the intellectual foundation is visionary, imagining better worlds based on humanistic thinking and action. Alas, much of what I have seen is poorly-digested Native shamanism, often executed by charlatans who have made their alleged knowledge a cottage industry. New Age types talk much of special minerals and power spots, which a Navajo woman I dated told me of. The center of much of this movement is in Sedona, Arizona, an astonishingly beautiful and inspiring location. Supposedly it has dozens of “power spots”, some I have seen. I don’t know if the news story made it to the UK, but last year several people died of a combination dehydration and asphyxiation in a sweat lodge ceremony in Sedona. Using sweat lodges is a purification rite in the Native world. As could be guessed, the white man conducting it didn’t do it properly, and 5 people lost their lives.
Here is the link JHC to the story about Doreen Irvine, which i wrote on here: http://www.worldmysteriesandtrueghosttales.com/black-witchcraft-to-christ/
I’ll reply later on as i have to go out today!
Tales of Native-American shamanism
Part 2 A footrace at dusk
I was over at a close friend’s place today, and asked him to recount a tale he told me of his encounter with a “skin walker”.
He was driving east on US 160, about 10 miles east of Kayenta, Arizona. In his peripheral vision he noticed a short, naked man with long gray hair running alongside him, on the right side of the car. He looked long enough at him to see a smirking smile on his face. He was going about 55 mph. He sped up to 80. The runner fell back then caught up with him. He slammed on the brakes. The runner ran into a ditch, and emerged as a coyote, looking directly at my friend. My friend got out of the truck, and said, “Come over here and have a beer with me, Gawdamnit!” He sat on the tailgate, and opened two beers. He was angry, but shaking. He sat there 45 minutes watching the sunset, trying to figure out what just happened. When the shaman did not come back for his beer, my friend drank it. He proceeded east without further incident. My friend added he knew of an Arizona state policeman who quit his job after several similar encounters on that highway.
Another tale… A lost doctorate
I met this white woman a over quarter of a century ago. Details are sketchy as I heard it so long ago. She recounted that she was seeking a doctorate in anthropology. Her subject was Navajo shamanism.
She went to a location deep in this huge reservation that was a local hotbed of shamanism, and rented a trailer. At first local tribal members were helpful. She received lots of useful information. A few medicine men came to see her. As the spring turned to summer, she felt she was piecing together the medicine practice. Then she heard of the “skin walkers” and the shamans. Then she asked if she could meet them. A medicine man told her that she should leave now, and no one else would talk to her. He was right. All of a sudden, no one would even greet her, except for two strange older men who knocked on the door and just looked at her. A week or two later her trailer was broken into, but nothing apparent was missing. Later she noticed one ear-ring was missing. Nevertheless, she had gathered enough information to finish her doctoral thesis. Soon she was perpetually ill. She was afraid to leave the trailer for fear of another break-in. She became so weak she was sleeping 12 to 14 hours. However her thesis was almost finished.
It was a calm and beautiful autumn day when she eventually finished the thesis. She got up to make some tea. All of a sudden, a gusty wind came up. The door flapped open and she watched her entire thesis get sucked out… off the kitchen table. She ran out and tried to gather the papers. She found only a few pages. She left the trailer almost immediately. abandoning her quest for a doctorate. To this day I am not sure why I believe some stories over others, She was such a fearful, broken woman I for some reason do not doubt her story. She was so obviously a broken person. with a deep undercurrent of fear.
Wow, you heard all of these stories first hand JHC?
EP.
I recount these tales as I remember hearing them. I have had only two (or three) direct confrontations with the unexplainable (I will recount them later). I am no magnet for the otherworld, praise be to the Lord! The woman I met, well, that is only her story. I did not know her at all, personally. It was so long ago that I don’t even remeber the circumstances of that conversation, or even why I was in Telluride that evening! However, judging her intelligence, and HOW (and that is VERY important) the story was told to me made it, if not verifiable, at least thought-provoking, very compelling- and unforgettable. There is no percentage for me to tell tales. In fact, I fear that I will be identified, which could be profession-killing. Mysteries fascinate me, I have a collection of them in my aging memory and I simply like sharing them to anyone who may appreciate them, before I take them to the grave.
The “footrace-at-dusk” tale comes from a very close friend of 27 years. He has such a good memory that he can repeat something I said on an Arizona road-trip twenty years ago. I can’t corroberate what he recounted, but I believe he saw SOMETHING at dusk out on US 160 Eastbound. These two individuals had absolutely nothing to gain from recounting such incredible personal experiences. After a lifetime in this region of the USA, most of these stories, as you may already see, have a consistent and identifiable pattern.
Being something of a historian, a fellow historian drilled into my hard head that there has to be “provenance” or a verifiable trail of historic statements or proof-of-existence. Same thing here if it was only possible! Of course, the unexplained, or the otherworld, is so slippery to verify. Most of these tales are once-in-a-lifetime experiences. When someone comes along and tells tales like they are an everyday occurences in their lives, it is suspicious to me.
These two tales are second-hand to me told by the people who experienced these events. Second hand is weak. That is why I call them “tales”. I will recount a couple of third-had tales soon. I would not repeat them if they were not so interesting!
I’m enjoying reading them JHC. I know it’s hard to back up stories such as these and i have related stories myself which i can’t back up, but we just have to keep an open mind.
I would be very interested to hear of your experiences JHC
Native American Shaminism Part 3
Third-hand tales.
I do not like third-had tales. They are borderline hearsay. However, they are so good that I wanted to recount htem. Believe waht you want!
Murder or what?
I went out with a Navajo woman. She pointed out a power spot, where medicine men picked up powder from a yellow rock. It was not remarkable, other than what she told me. She also recounted a tale that happened in the late 1970s or early 80s. Some Navajo police were called to investigate a large bon-fire, near the village of Fort Defiance. Usually it would be local kids partying. Posession of alcohol is illegal on that reservation. When the two officers arrived, there was a coyote running around the fire. They got up close enough to shoot the animal. When they looked at it they realized it was an old man with a coyote skin on his back. They faced murder charges. Eventually, they were exonerated, though the family of the dead man bitterly protested. Coyotes are a big entity in Navajo culture. They are called the “trickster”, because they are never what they seem.
The well at the end of the road.
A friend of mine worked in Northwest New Mexico, hauling water to gas wells. At different times in the process of drilling, water was needed to cool the drill bits. My friend worked with a man who was half-Navajo. This man recounted to my friend a tale. He had to take water to a well at the end of a road, on a district on the east side that was interspersed with federal land. His uncle lived at the head of the road, near the highway. He stopped at the “hogan” (an octagonal house)where his uncle lived. They visited, and the uncle asked directly, “Do you believe in skin walkers?” “Hell, no!” the young man replied. “Well, nephew, you should!” This “half breed” proceeded down the road with his load of water. Then a coyote came out and stood in the middle of the road. The man stopped, but noticed the coyote stared directly at him before sauntering off the road. On the way back, shaken by his encounter, he visited his uncle again. The first word was, “Nephew, did you see any coyotes?” WHen he said yes, The uncle replied,”I was watching you!”
Last tale. Kachinas- beautiful dolls or power objects?
The Navajo do not make or worship Kachinas. However the Hopi and Zuni, who are of the Pueblo culture, do. Kachinas are “godlets” or spirits. The Zuni may have as many as 600 of them. They make beautiful, but strange-looking dolls to represent these spirits. Often their faces are highly stylized, with black heads and only white slits for mouth and eyes. Many have beaks. There is a coal kachina. There is even a tourist kachina, with white shirt, shorts and camera! Native Americans have a dry, almost British sense of humor, often understed and self-effacing. Kachinas are very collectible. The Heard Museum in Phoenix has an excellent collection. So does the hoary, spooky Southwest Museum in Pasadena (near LA). Some kachinas are small-less than six inches. The more intricate and impressive ones are 14 inches or more. They are made of cottonwoood, a soft wood that grows along watercourses in the West. The better ones are in animated poses, like they are dancing, with hand holding rattles, and a leg up.
Some even have eagle feathers attached. Only Native Americans are alowed to capture and kill eagles here in the States. They fetch real money-from $500(@ 400 pounds sterling)and up to $5000, and that is for recently made examples.
I met a fellow I will call Bart. He lived with a woman who was starting a collection. She bought only Zuni kachinas. She bought a large, animated version, replete with golden eagle feathers. It was a magnificent piece(I saw it). After they purchased it, they noticed some strange doings. One time they came home, and the other smaller kachinas were all knocked on the floor. That happened a few times, then the set the others on another table. Another time they found the big kachina was somehow moved 10 feet away, from a table to the floor, next to a sliding door. Then they noticed other items were moving all over the house. They agreed to sell the kachina.
A few years later I met a Navajo couple selling kachinas. Though Navajo kachinas are considered not genuine, I bought one anyway, and sent it to my brother, after asking specifically that no shaman had touched it. After all, it had no strange spirits attached!
A final tale- of Hispanic witchcraft.
Again this taxes my failing memory. It was decades ago, but I lived in a remote part of New Mexico. There were a number of tales of witches (called “brujas”, pronounced “bru-hahs”)that practiced in the district. Like medicine men there were women who were “curanderas” who did very knowledgeable and effective treatments with herbs. And like medicine men, there was much talk of those who went from being herbalists to darker powers. I remember some tale where a needle stuck into a doorframe was enough to cast a spell. There was also a canyon where drivers would see old women running along cars, even at highway speeds. One man claimed he ran off the road when a woman appeared on his fender(remember, “fenders”?), glaring at him with ember-red eyes! He ran into the ditch in fright. I would note that I drove that very road many times at all hours and states of mind and saw nothing of the sort!
Such tales have died out in recent years, as this remote region became more mainstream.
This is the end of my tales of shamanism in the American Southwest. Hopefully someone else will come forward with something more illuminating.
Fascinating article with great camp fire stories included!!! Hopefully, some others with equally remarkable experiences will comment in the future.
Thank you for sharing this JHC, it’s been enlightening learning of this culture!
Hope you contribute….
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