528 INTRODUCTION TO ZUNI CEREMONIALISM (eth. ann. 47 



dance and the O'winahaij^e. The Wood society holds a ceremony in 

 which the Bow Priesthood participates. The Great Fire society is 

 privileged to wear the great feather, part of the war chief's regalia. 

 The arrow order of this society uses the body paint of the war chiefs. 

 The Hunters' society is also a war society. The members of this, as 

 well as those of the Cactus society, can not be inducted into the bow 

 priesthood, because they are already warriors. Members of the 

 Cactus society offer prayer sticks to A'hayuta. The Hunters' and 

 Cactus societies have male members only. 



All these groups, however, are devoted primarily to the worship of 

 the Beast Gods and receive from them their sanctions and power. 



THE CULT OF THE BEAST GODS 



In the east at Cipapolima live the Beast Gods (we'ma'we or we'ma 

 a-'ciwan^i). These are the beasts of prey and partake of their rapa- 

 cious nature. They are the most dangerous and violent gods in the 

 Zuiii pantheon. They are the priests of long hfe (onaya^naka 

 a-'ci'wan'i, literally road fulfilling priests). They are the givers of 

 medicine, not only medicinal plants, but the magic power to make 

 them effective. They are the source also of black magic or witch- 

 craft. Their leaders are associated with the six directions, as follows: 

 North, Mountain Lion; west. Bear; south, Badger; east, Wolf; above. 

 Knife-wing;"^ below, Gopher. Of all, the most powerful is the Bear. 

 He is compelled through impersonation at curing ceremonies. The 

 symbol of his personality is the bear paws which are drawn over the 

 hands and have the same properties as the masks of the gods. The 

 worship of the beast gods is conducted by 12 societies or fraternities. 

 Membership in these societies is voluntary and is open alike to males 

 and females.'^ All offices are held by men, and only they have the 

 ultimate magical powers — the powers of impersonating the bear, 

 the use of the crystal, the power to remove sickness by sucking, and 

 the use of magical songs. Some knowledge of therapeutic plants is 

 hereditary in certain matrihneal families. Except for midwifery, 

 which is practiced independently, all medical practice is in the hands 

 of these societies. They are, in fact, medical guilds, closed corpora- 

 tions which guard their secrets jealously. The combined body of 

 esoteric knowledge and ritual held by these groups is enormous, and 

 this is genuinely esoteric. To collect it one would have to be on 

 terms of utmost intimacy wdth all the officere in all the societies. No 

 knowledge is more closely guarded than this. 



"5 A mythical monster with wings of knives. Mrs. Stevenson names eagle as god of the upper regions, 

 and shrew for below. The present list is quoted from a prayer of the Great Fire society. 



" E.xcept the Cactus society, a war society, and Hunters which have only male memhers. The Cactus 

 society cures wounds made by bullets or by any pointed object, including cactus. The Hunters have 

 no curing rituals. 



