the spot where the man was last seen, he will find a transparent crystal, haʼtai tânʼtam, stone white, which contains a spirit that will aid him in all his subsequent undertakings and which will desert the stone at the death of the holder.[1]
The Siʼatcokam treats a wounded man by sucking the evil from the wound. He shows a strand of green that resembles a roll of water plants about 8 inches long. The wounded men sucks this crosswise four times and the Siʼatcokam pretends to swallow it. "This insures complete recovery."
Cause and Treatment of Disease
The Siʼatcokam carries his tcaekut or staff in hand when called to treat the sick. He begins by singing the "cure songs" or causing them to be sung for the purpose of aiding him in correctly diagnosing the case. Then he puffs out cigarette smoke over the body of the patient in order that he may "see" the disease. Most common ailments are attributed to certain definite causes and the diagnosis is easy. When he is well paid for his services he may sing more than one night before announcing the name of the disease. If he is too hasty he may "see" the bear when it is really the deer that is causing trouble. However, he can not sing more than four nights; then, if he fails, he must call in a fellow-practitioner. The case of Sala Hina is an interesting and instructive one and will illustrate very adequately these peculiar methods. Several years ago Sala carelessly ate some weed which poisoned her and she had barely strength enough to reach home. As close relatives are not allowed to treat a patient, a neighboring medicine-man was called in. Her husband rolled a cigarette for the learned doctor, who smoked it, but however skillfully he spread the smoke cloud over the groaning patient he could not "see" the cause of the trouble. Then another Siʼatcokam was called in and a cigarette was rolled for him and he peered through the veil sufficiently to see "something." But he could not tell just what it was and advised sending for another medicine-man who was a specialist in intangible shapes. Sala was suffering the greatest agony in the meantime. If she moved she "felt full of pins inside." Those about her expected her to die at any moment. Number three at length arrived and smoked his cigarette, blowing the smoke across the patient from a distance to dispel the unusually heavy darkness. He said he must have his gourd rattle and magic feathers brought before he could see clearly. Meanwhile the husband had brought in a fourth medicine-man. Number four then smoked a cigarette and pro-
- ↑ "Small rock crystals, supposed to he produced by the shamans, are thought to be dead or even living—a kind of astral bodies of the Theosophists. Such a rock crystal is called tevali (plural tevaliʼr) or 'grandfather'—the same name as is given to the majority of the gods. But it may, however, represent any person or relative, in accordance with the directions of the shaman." Lumholtz, Symbolism of the Huichol Indians, 63.
