MOONEY 1 



OlbrechtsJ 



THE SWIMMER MANUSCRIPT 



43 



As will be noticed in the formulas, the same spirit that causes a 

 given disease is never appealed to to eliminate it; Cherokee medicine 

 men constantly put into practice a "policy of equilibrium" as did the 

 European diplomats of pre-war days, and according to which every 

 spirit has one or more antagonists that are appealed to in order to 

 undo the work and to combat the nefarious activities of their oppo- 

 nents. The application of this theory is best studied in the formulas. 

 A glance at the following table will also be found instructive in this 

 regard. If a disease is held to be caused by worms, various kinds of 

 birds that are known as worm eaters are called upon to wage the fight. 

 If the disease is thought to be of an unusually tenacious and obstinate 

 nature, such animals as beavers, rats, weasels, the dogged stubborn- 

 ness of which is proverbial, are commanded to gnaw and tug at it 

 until no trace of it is left. Should the most striking feature of the 

 "important thing" be its cunning, its evasiveness, such a sly and 

 wary individual as the otter is commandeered to effect the relief. 



It has been deemed expedient to use some abbreviations in the fol- 

 lowing table, the meanings of which are given below. The analysis 

 of the traits of each spirit has been effected under eight headings. 



Under the first the name is given. These names have been put 

 into alphabetical sequence, in order to make the list the more service- 

 able. The Cherokee names of the spirits will be found without dif- 

 ficulty by looking up the formula in which they occur. This formula 

 is referred to in the last column, under the caption "Reference." 



The second column mentions the color of the spirit. Abbreviations 

 used: 



P Purple. 



R Red. 



Y Yellow. 



W White. 



Br Brown . 



Bl Blue. 



B Black. 



The third column lists the location, the place of residence, of the 

 spirits. Abbreviations used: 



E In the east. 



N In the north. 



S In the south. 



H On high. 



C In the center. 



Ab Above. 



W In the west. 



The fourth column lists the diseases caused; the fifth, the ailments 

 cured by the spirit. It is obvious that a spirit who is listed under 

 the fourth caption will be found wanting under the fifth, and vice 

 versa. 



The sixth column lists eventual helpers or collaborators of the spirit 

 and the seventh his eventual antagonists. 



Only rarely is a spirit appealed to who is not sufficiently described 

 in the formulas to make his identification possible; such is the case in 

 the formulas Nos. 26 and 39. 



