CROW CALLS No. 1

Medicine Men and Medicine Women The Medicine Man is recognized as a Medicine Man after he has received the dream and undertaken the Vision Quest, and has received two kinds of instruction. First, he receives information in dreams and visions, and the other Medicine Men teach him traditional spiritual knowledge, including spirit names and powers. The skull or skeleton is an ancient symbol of the Medicine Man, denoting one who has died to the everyday consensus world in order to be reborn oriented to spiritual forces. This is one who is said to be 'dead to the world,' in the world but not of it. Many Medicine Men have had dreams of entering the Underworld, where they were killed by their Medicine Animals and then brought back to life. The old self, the natural order of the universe, dissolves back into primordial chaos preparatory to re-establishing itself in a new self, a new order. Medicine Men typically use a skull to represent the Medicine power of their Medicine Animal. Often, the Medicine Man is given a symbol of his Medicine Power. Usually, the Medicine Man carries out a ritual to symbolize his visions and recreate their reality in the everyday world, and these rituals become part of his spiritual repertoire.

Pawnee Medicine The Medicine of the Pawnee is called 'Waruksti,' which can be translated as 'holy,' mysterious,' or even 'wonderful.' Among the Pawnee, there are two kinds of Medicine Men. First, there are the wise men who are associated with the Star Gods, the 'priests' who officiate at ceremonies conducted for the welfare of the tribe. This master of ceremonies is called 'Kurahus,' literally, 'old man.' These wise men watch the movements of the stars and tell when it is time to hold ceremonies or conduct other tribal activities, such as planting. They normally hold a number of tribal ceremonies throughout the year, made up of several solemn ritual acts of sacrifice and offerings, interspersed with long cycles of songs that recount events in mythological times. They are long and repetitious, with an emphasis on detail. Their purpose is to gain the attention of the spirits and their good fortune.

The principal Kurahus of the Pawnee is the Skiri Pawnee who is the holder of the Evening Star Medicine Bundle, followed by those who hold the four bundles associated with the Star Gods of the Four Directions. These five wise men conduct all of the Medicine Bundle ceremonies of the Pawnee.

The other kind of Pawnee Medicine Man is the shaman, a 'doctor' who obtains his spiritual powers from earth spirits, mostly animals. Called Kurau, shamans heal the sick and administer to the social needs of the individual. Shamans believe visions and dreams come from the spirits, and they interpret signs and dreams. Shamans are all members of one of the secret Medicine Societies. Each Medicine Society is dedicated to the Medicine of a particular tutelary earth spirit, such as the Wolf or Bear. Pawnee Medicine Societies trace their origin to dream visits by Medicine Men to the place under sacred waters, where Medicine Animals taught them spiritual knowledge and powers. The Medicine Societies hold two day-long ceremonies a year, one early in the spring, one in the autumn, for the purpose of purification and renewing the power in sacred objects.

The shamans also have a Medicine Lodge, a tribal organization made up of the most powerful shamans who have mastered the powers of all of the Medicine Societies. They hold a 20 or 30 day ceremony in the early fall, which includes demonstrations of hypnotism and sleight-of-hand. They sing their power or vision song while apprentices dressed as the shaman's power animal dance; they are re-enactments of the shaman's encounter with power. To validate that encounter, the shaman performs magic tricks.

Both kinds of Medicine Men paint themselves, make offerings of tobacco and food, and smudge themselves and their ritual objects. However, while the office of the 'priest' is often an inherited position, the position of the shaman is attained through training or visions.

Knowledge is 'bought' by students because knowledge is power and a life-sustaining essence, and for a Medicine Man to divulge everything shortens one's life, so a student only learns the last secrets of a teacher when the teacher is ready to die. Payment for knowledge shows that one respects the knowledge and has the right to possess and utilize it. During his training, each Medicine Man must acquire his own Medicine Bundle. This can be done by the ritualistic gathering of a bundle from an aging Medicine Man or by making up a new bundle. The type of ceremony that the Medicine Man knows will determine the kind and size of the Medicine Bundle. Small Medicine Bundles are called Medicine Bags, and each individual carries their personal Medicine in this.

The Sweat Lodge The sweat bath is the basic spiritual practice of the Plains Indians. This ceremony is carried out to purify people and to bring them back in balance and harmony with the powers of the earth and the spirit worlds. Sweats are often held to prepare for other ceremonial undertakings, as well as to promote healings. After the coming of the white man and his religion, new rules were implemented insuring that men can sweat with other men and women with other women, but they may not sweat together.

Sweat Lodge Medicine is passed on by one Medicine Man to another, and only those who have received this Medicine have the right to build a Sweat Lodge and conduct a sweat. Generally, the Medicine Man who conducts a sweat has assistants to help him, and these are often women.

First, the sweat lodge must be constructed. Ideally, this consists of sixteen poles set in the earth with their tops bent over and tied to form an inverted bowl. One or two rows of poles are then bent around the structure horizontally and tied to the uprights. The poles are often made from willow or cottonwood, due to the flexibility of these woods. The framework is covered with a tarpaulin or blankets, leaving a crawl-in entryway closed with a movable door flap. The interior is nearly dark when the flap is in place and is closely sealed off from the outer air. A shallow pit is dug in the center of the lodge and the floor is covered with sage. The entrance always faces west, the opposite of the Medicine Lodge, because the Sweat Lodge purifies us to experience the powers of the spiritual worlds given to us by the Evening Star, while the Medicine Lodge represents the power of the Great Spirit on earth coming from the Morning Star.

The Medicine Man conducting the sweat places a symbol of his Medicine Animal, often a skull, outside the lodge opposite the entrance. Near the lodge is a fire pit where layers of wooden embers surround and cover the rocks being heated for the ceremony. These should be round rounds taken from a stream of clean running water. A fire tender must pass heated rocks or water into the sweat lodge when they are asked for by the Doorman, a participant who sits closest to the entrance.

The men crawl through the doorway and sit in darkness in a circle. The Medicine Man conducting the sweat always sits in the west. Usually, the participants are naked or wearing only underwear or swimming suits. The sweat begins when the Medicine Man conducts an opening prayer with the pipe raised to Grandfather Sky, Grandmother Earth and the Four Directions. The pipe is passed around the circle and smoked by each participant, with the bowl being filled four times. The shallow pit in the center is filled with hot rocks. First Cedar and then Sweet Grass are placed on the rocks to fill the lodge with their scent. Water from a bucket is splashed on the stones, and breathing becomes difficult as the lodge fills with steam. The men shake their rattles as the Medicine Man summons the power of his Medicine Animal. When he signals the end of his work, everyone shakes their rattles four times. The doorway is opened for a second set of heated rocks, and then the singing of sacred songs and prayers commences. After a set of four songs are sung, the lodge door is opened for a third set of heated rocks, and a second round of Medicine Songs commences. After the fourth set of heated rocks are brought in, everyone sits in silence in the darkness, silently praying to the Great Spirit and their Medicine Animal for whatever help they seek. At the end of the fourth sweat, the lodge door is opened and the participants crawl out. They scrub themselves with towels or their shirts and handfuls of the sage from the lodge. They dress, pray again, and the pipe ceremony is repeated. The ritual is now complete.

The Vision Quest In the old days, the Vision Quest was called "Crying for a Vision." The Crier for a Vision voluntarily undergoes fasting, isolation, exposure and discomfort to evoke a mystic experience. He places himself as fully as he can in the world of gods and spirits, where human loneliness and vulnerability and the presence of the fearsome unknowable, opens the soul to the Great Mystery. This usually lasts four days, at least in ritual definition. Actually, the time depends on how long it takes to achieve a vision.

The Vision Quest is undertaken by those who seek a guiding vision for their life, or for a special purpose. First, the seeker goes into the sweat lodge. After the sweat lodge, the seeker goes to a remote place without food or water to listen to the voices of the living earth. The seeker on the Vision Quest goes to caves, mountaintops, rivers, or the desert, waiting, and inviting the voices to come. For the next three or four days, the seeker prays for a special vision. After receiving a vision, the seeker returns from the vigil. If the seeker is not a Medicine Man himself, he goes to a Medicine Man, who interprets his vision. Sometimes the seeker is given a name taken from the vision.

The Vision Quest can be undertaken whenever a need is felt for renewal or guidance. Typically, Medicine Men and those seeking to become Medicine Men undergo Vision Quests at regular intervals. A Vision Quest is a quest for the visions in anyone's life that will heal them and make them whole.

Medicine Vision Quest Member of Medicine Societies often go on Vision Quests together. The Star who fell to Earth left behind Grandfather Fire, the spirit who led the first pilgrimage to the place of power where men become Medicine Men. Such places can be mountaintops, caves or bodies of water. In order to be empowered as a Medicine Man, one must go where there is power. At the place of power, men must pray to the spirit of the place for dreams or visions of power. After a man (or woman) has made five pilgrimages to the same place of power, and received spiritual guidance in the form of a dream or vision, he is considered to be a Medicine Man. When a man becomes a Medicine Man, it is said that he has completed himself. Afterward, the Medicine Man continues learning Medicine the rest of his life, because he has become apprenticed to the spirit worlds.

A Medicine Man must learn to communicate with Grandfather Fire. Telling your dreams to Grandfather Fire is a common Medicine practice. Medicine Men must also attend many ceremonies in order to store spiritual power, especially seasonal ceremonies held throughout the year. A sacred trinity that exists throughout the tribes is that of corn, which heals the body, the Medicine Animal, which heals the heart, and the power plant, which heals the spirit. The most common power plant used is tobacco, although peyote, jimsonweed and marijuana are also used. In late spring, when the corn is a certain height, the Green Corn Ceremony is held. In the fall, the Drum Ceremony or harvest festival is held. After this, the sacred pilgrimage is held.

The head Medicine Man leads the Medicine Men and Women on a pilgrimage to a place of power. Before going on a pilgrimage, each participant must be restored to a spiritual state by listing all of their sexual partners since their last pilgrimage as the Medicine Man ties a knot in a cord for each name. After all have done this, the cord is burned. This is done to help the pilgrims to pass successfully through the Gate Between the Worlds, which divides the everyday world from the sacred place they journey towards. The pilgrimage can be made at any time, but is traditionally carried out in the fall, after the harvest Ceremony. All along the way, they stop at sacred places or places of power or natural beauty.

Elder Brother, the Medicine Animal, is the Medicine Man's helper. He holds open the doorway between the worlds for the pilgrims. Those who are new to the trip must be blindfolded before they can go through the gate, and they are only allowed to see after stopping at a sacred waterhole and being doused with water to purify them farther, along with all the rest of the pilgrims. A fire is started as soon as the sacred place is reached for protection, and each participant must feed the first fire. The fire is not allowed to go out until the pilgrimage has ended. Then, offerings are made to Grandfather Fire and the fire is put out with sacred water.

Dream Journal In the old days, a Medicine Man who had an inspiring dream of spirits or spiritual power often told his dream to others, and it was remembered by being repeated or made into a ritual. Today, most Indians can write and keep a written record of their dreams. Often your Medicine power will give you dreams with spiritual knowledge and power. Keeping a dream journal will improve your memory of your dreams. You should keep a pen and your journal next to your sleeping area so you can write down the details of your dreams as soon as you awaken and before they slip away. The last dream you have is usually the most important. Write something everyday, even if only to note that you don't remember anything. ALWAYS write the full date. If you sleep somewhere other than your regular location, don't forget to take your dream journal with you. By reading your journal at a later date and remembering your dreams, you are pushing your consciousness to return to its focus in the spiritual world. This may be the most important reason for keeping a dream journal.

The Spirit Journey The Spirit Journey is accomplished by the Medicine Man projecting his spirit or dreaming body out of the physical body while he is awake. The spirit normally separates from the physical by itself every night when we sleep, and can also be partially or wholly projected when any great shock is experienced. This results in anything from a sense of numbness, to a complete black-out to an experience of being in two places at once. The ability to control the projection of the spirit is pursued by Medicine Men for several reasons, including seeking Medicine Power and knowledge of the spirit, healing others and seeking answers to tribal problems, and exploring the spirit worlds. The spirit journey can only be accomplished after one has attended many ceremonies and gathered spiritual power for the dreaming body. Typically, the Medicine Animal gives the Medicine Man directions on how to get the dreaming body ready for the spirit journey.

The basic form of the spirit journey is the journey to the spirit world of the Earth. The Medicine Man may have an entrance that exists in ordinary reality as well as in non-ordinary reality. Such an entrance can be a cave, a hole in the ground of the lodge floor, the roots of a tree, etc. Entrances into the spirit world commonly lead down into a spirit tunnel that conveys the Medicine Man to an exit, which opens out upon a bright landscape. From there the Medicine Man travels wherever he desires, finally returning through the tunnel to emerge where he entered. The most common purpose of the journey is to seek healing or wholeness through interaction with spiritual powers.

Medicine Men also make the spirit journey to seek the spirits of those who are sick and heal them or return them to their bodies. Sometimes, three Medicine Men will undertake this journey together. After they fall into a trance, their spirits leave their bodies and enter the spirit world. The order in which they travel is determined by the relative strength of their Medicine Power, the strongest going first and last, with the weakest in the middle. When they find the tracks of the sick man, they follow them. If the tracks turn to the left, the person is going to die, but if they turn to the right, the person will recover. From the trail they can also divine whether any supernatural danger is near. The foremost Medicine Man chants a magic charm to avert such evil if it comes from the front, while the last Medicine Man covers the rear. The journey may last one or two nights, and after they rescue the spirit of the sick person, they return to place it in his body.

By placing cedar wood charms in the hands of someone who has not yet received a Medicine Animal, a Medicine Men can impart spirit powers that enable the person to accompany the Medicine Men on the spiritual journey and make observations for them. The souls of Chiefs, instead of following the usual route, go directly to a body of water, where only the most gifted Medicine Men can follow their trail. The sea is a highway to the spirit world, and a sick man is at his greatest peril when the sea is high, but at low tide the danger is less. Medicine Men can lure the Chixu, the spirits of the dead, away from pursuing the spirits of sick persons by conjuring up a spirit deer, and the ghosts will turn to follow the deer.

Practice for the Spirit Journey Lie down comfortably, and loosen any tight clothing. Make sure there is no noise and that you won't be disturbed. Close your eyes and meditate on gathering your awareness from throughout your body to a single point in the center of your brow. Now feel your consciousness expanding to encompass the entire immediate area around you, and then contracting back into a single point on your brow. Then feel it expand to include all of the area you know, and contract back to the brow. Do this several times, then project your consciousness straight up and out the top of your head. Repeat the exercise until you succeed. You'll know you have succeeded when you look down and see your physical body.

The Journey Most spirit journeys are accompanied by drumming and / or rattles, but some Medicine Men do not need any drumming or tapping sound at all, provided they are relaxed and able to clear their minds of ordinary everyday things. They usually avoid drugs or alcohol during the preceding twenty-four hours, so that their power of concentration will be good. They eat only lightly or not at all during the preceding four hours. First, the Medicine Man is blindfolded by his assistants, and sometimes he also has his thumbs tied together behind his back. His clothing is loosened, and he lies down comfortably on the floor or ground, without a pillow. The Medicine Man begins taking slow deep breaths to relax as he thinks about his journey.

Then the Medicine Man visualizes his opening into the earth. He spends a couple of minutes seeing the hole without going into it, seeing all of the details of it. Then, he instructs his assistant to start beating the drum in a strong, monotonous, unvarying and rapid beat. A drumming tempo of about 205 to 220 beats per minute is usually effective for this journey.

When the drumming begins, the Medicine Man visualizes his opening into the earth, enter its, and begins the journey. He goes down through the opening and enters the Tunnel. At first the tunnel may be dark and dim. It usually goes underground at a slight angle, but occasionally it descends steeply. The tunnel sometimes appears ribbed, and often it bends. Occasionally one passes through the tunnel so fast it is not even seen. In following the tunnel, he may run up against a natural wall of stone or some other obstacle. When this happens, the Medicine Man just goes around it or through some crack in it. If this fails, he simply comes back to try again. In any case, he never exerts yourself too hard in making the journey. When this is done correctly, it will be relatively effortless. Success depends on an attitude that lies between trying too hard and not trying hard enough.

At the end of the tunnel he will emerge out of doors. He first examines the landscape in detail, traveling through it and remembering its features. The Medicine Man undertakes the purpose of his journey, then re-enters the tunnel for the journey back. He signals this stage to his assistant, who strikes the drum very rapidly for about a half a minute to accompany the Medicine Man on the return journey, concluding with four more sharp strikes of the drum to signal that the journey is over. When the Medicine Man emerges from the tunnel, he sits up and opens his eyes.

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