Hopi Spiritual Traditions

12 Jun Hopi Spiritual Traditions

I had the great fortune once to witness a Hopi dance ceremony in person. The authenticity and reverence were awe-inspiring. I watched the noble carriage of the body, an erect posture rarely seen in white culture, proud but not arrogant. There was rhythm from the drums, songs, and dancing. There were a bright variety of colors, and many sacred objects in evidence. Dancers sometimes impersonated animals, wearing their skins and putting on masks. Being able to witness this ceremony brought feelings of calm centeredness, quiet joy, and grief that our white ancestors have tried to destroy these people who were in many ways more advanced than we are.

As we learned in the readings this week these rituals are intended to keep humans in harmony with the natural cycle. Waters states that every significant motif of Hopi religion is expressed in its complex and esoteric rituals. By participating in these rituals and ceremonies, individuals are only one piece of a complex whole made up of the family, the tribe, nature, and the spiritual world. Banycaya  teaches that to keep nature in balance the techniques used are prayer, fasting, ritual, meditation and performing ceremonies.

The Hopi live in a magical, enchanted world, which includes a body that has potential magical properties. A person’s hair or a dead person’s bones can be used to cast spells. Bodily illness can be cured by magic. People can come back from the dead, as told in stories of the dismemberment and reconstitution of a chief’s body. It is possible for the body to shapeshift into the body of an animal. For the Hopi, everything in the world is imbued with spirit.

Certain people called shamans especially are skilled in the use of magical powers. They can influence storms by exposing their naked buttocks toward the wind. Shamans can die and be brought back to life. Shamans can fly, which now would now be called out-of-body experiences (OBEs). They are able to navigate between the sacred and profane domains and communicate with the spirit world. They can conduct a dead person’s soul to the underworld. Some dark shamans were involved in killing relatives as a magical technique to lengthen their lives.

© 2024 Catherine Auman

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