Myths of the Cherokee · 155 of 220
Myth 97b
When you get to the town, you must call the people together and tell them all that has happened.
You must go to the long house and take off your skirt and carry it on your shoulder.
Then you must go inside and go around once, singing, ‘We have come home; we are here.’ This is the Yontoñwisas song, and it shall be for women only.
Know now that we are the Hadionyageonoñ , the Sky People, who have watched over you all this time.” When the girl awoke, she told her sister, and they said, “We must do all this,” and they began to sing as they went along.
About noon they heard the sound of chopping, and when they went to the place they found it was their uncle cutting blocks to make spoons.
He did not see them until they spoke, and at first could hardly believe that they were living women, because he knew that they had been taken by the Cherokee.
He was very glad to see them, and as they walked on to the town they told him all they had been commanded to do by the Sky People.
When they arrived at the town, he called all the people together, and they went to the long house.
There the two women sang their song and did everything exactly as they had been told to do, and when it was over they said, “This is all,” and sat down.
This is the same Yontoñwisas song that is still sung by the women.—Arranged from Curtin, Seneca manuscript.
§ Ask Guru about this passage →Themes
Living Godtheology
The divine conceived as active, present, and dynamic—not an abstract principle but a personal responsive reality.
The Sky People are depicted as active, personal entities who intervene in human affairs, give commands, and express gladness upon the women's return. [quarantine-w2: living_god x native_american — see rellm data/quarantine/dossiers.jsonl]
All passages →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 narrative emphasizes that singing a specific song (Yontoñwisas) and speaking exact words are necessary ritual acts commanded by the divine to effect a return or restoration.
All passages →Related passages · 7 parallels
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Shared concept: Living God — The divine conceived as active, present, and dynamic—not an abstract principle but a personal responsive reality. (derived)
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Shared concept: Living God — The divine conceived as active, present, and dynamic—not an abstract principle but a personal responsive reality. (derived)
neoplatonism|Iamblichus: On the Mysteries|Chapter XXI
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Shared concept: Living God — The divine conceived as active, present, and dynamic—not an abstract principle but a personal responsive reality. (derived)
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Shared concept: Word Power Incantation — 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. (derived)
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Shared concept: Word Power Incantation — 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. (derived)
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Shared concept: Word Power Incantation — 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. (derived)
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“CHAPTER LXXI.
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Shared concept: Word Power Incantation — 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. (derived)