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The Soul of the Indian · 14 of 29

Chapter IIIe

The sacred beast, bird, or reptile, represented by its stuffed skin, or by a rude painting, was treated with reverence and carried into battle to insure the guardianship of the spirits. The symbolic attribute of beaver, bear, or tortoise, such as wisdom, cunning, courage, and the like, was supposed to be mysteriously conferred upon the wearer of the badge. The totem or charm used in medicine was ordinarily that of the medicine lodge to which the practitioner belonged, though there were some great men who boasted a special revelation. There are two ceremonial usages which, so far as I have been able to ascertain, were universal among American Indians, and apparently fundamental. These have already been referred to as the “eneepee,” or vapor-bath, and the “chan-du-hu-pah-yu-za-pee,” or ceremonial of the pipe. In our Siouan legends and traditions these two are preeminent, as handed down from the most ancient time and persisting to the last. In our Creation myth or story of the First Man, the vapor-bath was the magic used by The-one-who-was-First-Created, to give life to the dead bones of his younger brother, who had been slain by the monsters of the deep. Upon the shore of the Great Water he dug two round holes, over one of which he built a low enclosure of fragrant cedar boughs, and here he gathered together the bones of his brother. In the other pit he made a fire and heated four round stones, which he rolled one by one into the lodge of boughs. Having closed every aperture save one, he sang a mystic chant while he thrust in his arm and sprinkled water upon the stones with a bunch of sage. Immediately steam arose, and as the legend says, “there was an appearance of life.” A second time he sprinkled water, and the dry bones rattled together. The third time he seemed to hear soft singing from within the lodge; and the fourth time a voice exclaimed: “Brother, let me out!” (It should be noted that the number four is the magic or sacred number of the Indian.) This story gives the traditional origin of the “eneepee,” which has ever since been deemed essential to the Indian’s effort to purify and recreate his spirit. It is used both by the doctor and by his patient. Every man must enter the cleansing bath and take the cold plunge which follows, when preparing for any spiritual crisis, for possible death, or imminent danger. Not only the “eneepee” itself, but everything used in connection with the mysterious event, the aromatic cedar and sage, the water, and especially the water-worn boulders, are regarded as sacred, or at the least adapted to a spiritual use. For the rock we have a special reverent name—“Tunkan,” a contraction of the Sioux word for Grandfather. The natural boulder enters into many of our solemn ceremonials, such as the “Rain Dance,” and the “Feast of Virgins.” The lone hunter and warrior reverently holds up his filled pipe to “Tunkan,” in solitary commemoration of a miracle which to him is as authentic and holy as the raising of Lazarus to the devout Christian. There is a legend that the First Man fell sick, and was taught by his Elder Brother the ceremonial use of the pipe, in a prayer to the spirits for ease and relief. This simple ceremony is the commonest daily expression of thanks or “grace,” as well as an oath of loyalty and good faith when the warrior goes forth upon some perilous enterprise, and it enters even into his “hambeday,” or solitary prayer, ascending as a rising vapor or incense to the Father of Spirits.
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Themes
◆Animismcosmology

The doctrine and worldview that natural phenomena, places, and objects possess inherent spirit, soul, or personality — and that the cosmos is populated by countless local, plural, embodied divine agents: kami in mountain and tree, sidhe in cairn and well, landwights in field and stone, nymphs in spring and grove, haltija in forest and lake, lares and penates in household and threshold, Iamblichean daemons in element and place. Distinct from monotheism (single transcendent God), pantheism (one underlying substance), and emanation_hierarchy (cascading single source); animism's signature is the plurality, locality, and embodied-in-landscape character of the divine.

The passage is a quintessential example of animism, describing spirits inhabiting beasts, birds, reptiles, stones ('Tunkan'), and plants, which are treated as personal agents with whom humans interact.

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◆Cosmic Sympathycosmology

The Stoic and Plotinian doctrine that all parts of the cosmos are bound by hidden affinities, so that a movement in one part resonates through the whole; the metaphysical basis for astrology, magic, and divination.

The text states that symbolic attributes of animals are mysteriously conferred upon the wearer, implying hidden affinities between parts of the cosmos.

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◆Cosmogonycosmology

Narratives or doctrines of cosmic origin — how heaven, earth, and the primordial deities first came into being. The Kojiki's deities born alone on the Plain of High Heaven, Voluspo's Ginnungagap, Genesis's tohu wa-bohu, the Timaeus's Demiurge fashioning the Receptacle, the Hesiodic Theogony, the Kalevala's egg-cosmogony, Egyptian Nun-and-Atum. Distinct from emanation_hierarchy (structural-ontological cascade), letters_of_creation (mechanism of creation), and apocatastasis/frashokereti (end-state restoration); cosmogony is temporally-narrative beginning.

The text recounts a Creation myth involving 'The-one-who-was-First-Created' and the origin of life from dead bones, serving as a narrative of cosmic or cultural origin.

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◆Numerical Mysticismtheology

Numbers, proportions, and mathematical relationships as the underlying structure of divine reality.

The passage explicitly identifies the number four as a 'magic or sacred number' central to the ritual of resurrection and the structure of the myth.

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◆Prayerpraxis

Direct address to the divine, whether petitionary, contemplative, or liturgical; speech and silence offered upward.

The text details the ceremonial use of the pipe as a form of prayer and 'grace' ascending to the Father of Spirits.

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◆Ritual Puritypraxis

The maintenance of a state of cleanliness—physical, moral, or spiritual—required for encounter with the divine.

The 'eneepee' (vapor-bath) is described as essential for purification and recreation of the spirit before any spiritual crisis or danger.

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◆Sacred Namestheology

Divine names or formulas that carry ontological power, used in prayer, liturgy, or magical practice.

Specific reverent names like 'Tunkan' for rocks and ceremonial names are used to invoke spiritual power.

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◆Theurgypraxis

Iamblichean ritual practice that engages the gods directly through consecrated material symbols and actions, on the premise that divine power descends into properly prepared matter — distinct from philosophical contemplation alone.

The passage describes rituals involving material symbols (skins, stones, pipes, cedar) and actions (chanting, heating stones) intended to invoke spiritual power and effect change (resurrection, purification).

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◆Word Power Incantationpraxis

The doctrine and practice that spoken or sung word carries causal-magical force — that uttering names, formulas, songs, or incantations alters reality directly rather than merely communicating about it. Vainamoinen's runo-songs that move mountains and command iron, Norse galdr, Vedic mantra, Shinto kotodama, the magician's barbarous names in the Greek Magical Papyri, Iamblichean arcane signatures and inexplicable symbols, biblical creation-by-word. Distinct from sacred_names (the ontological power of names themselves) and prayer (address to the divine); word_power_incantation is the magical-causal efficacy of the spoken word as such.

The 'mystic chant' sung during the vapor-bath ritual is depicted as having causal power to bring life to dead bones.

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Related passages · 1 parallel
◆western_esoteric|The Secret Teachings of All Ages (Manly P. Hall)|The Ancient Mysteries and Secret Societies Which Have Influenced Modern Masonic Symbolismv
“The Odinic Mysteries were given in underground crypts or caves, the chambers, nine in number, representing the Nine Worlds of the Mysteries. The candidate seeking admission was assigned the task of raising Balder from the dead. Although h…”
Both passages describe rituals and ceremonies that involve symbolic acts of resurrection or rebirth. In Passage A, the vapor-bath ritual is used to bring life back to the dead bones of the First Man's brother, symbolizing purification and recreation of the spirit. In Passage B, the candidate in the Odinic Mysteries undergoes trials and rituals that symbolize death and rebirth, ultimately being hailed as a man reborn. Both passages highlight the importance of these rituals in their respective traditions.