Usĭnuli´yu, rendered “instantly,” is the intensive form of usĭnu´lĭ “quickly,” both of which words recur constantly in the formulas, in some entering into almost every sentence. This frequently gives the translation an awkward appearance. Thus the final sentence above, which means literally “they shall never become blue instantly,” signifies “Grant that they shall never become blue”, i.e., shall never fail in their purpose, and grant our petition instantly.
DIDA´LATLI´‘TĬ.
Sgĕ! Nâ´gwa tsûdantâ´gĭ tegû´nyatawâ´ilateli´ga. Iyustĭ (0 0) tsilastû´‘lĭ Iyu´stĭ (0 0) ditsadâ´ita. Tsûwatsi´la elawi´nĭ tsidâ´hĭstani´ga. Tsûdantâgĭ elawi´nĭ tsidâ´hĭstani´ga. Nû´nya gû´nnage gûnyu´tlûntani´ga. Ă‘nûwa´gĭ gû´nnage´ gûnyu´tlûntani´ga. Sûntalu´ga gû´nnage degû´nyanu´galû´ntani´ga, tsû´nanugâ´istĭ nige´sûnna. Usûhi´yĭ nûnnâ´hĭ wite´tsatanû´nûnsĭ gûne´sâ gû´nnage asahalagĭ´. Tsûtû´neli´ga. Elawâ´tĭ asa´halagĭ´a´dûnni´ga. Usĭnuli´yu Usûhi´yĭ gûltsâ´tĕ digû´nnagesta´yĭ, elawâ´ti gû´nnage tidâ´hĭstĭ wa‘yanu´galûntsi´ga. Gûne´sa gû´nage sûntalu´ga gû´nnage gayu´tlûntani´ga. Tsûdantâ´gĭ ûska´lûntsi´ga. Sa‘ka´nĭ adûnni´ga. Usû´hita atanis´se´tĭ, ayâ´lâtsi´sestĭ tsûdantâ´gĭ, tsû´nanugâ´istĭ nige´sûnna. Sgĕ!
Translation.
TO DESTROY LIFE.
Listen! Now I have come to step over your soul. You are of the (wolf) clan. Your name is (A‘yû´ninĭ). Your spittle I have put at rest under the earth. Your soul I have put at rest under the earth. I have come to cover you over with the black rock. I have come to cover you over with the black cloth. I have come to cover you with the black slabs, never to reappear. Toward the black coffin of the upland in the Darkening Land your paths shall stretch out. So shall it be for you. The clay of the upland has come (to cover you. (?)) Instantly the black clay has lodged there where it is at rest at the black houses in the Darkening Land. With the black coffin and with the black slabs I have come to cover you. Now your soul has faded away. It has become blue. When darkness comes your spirit shall grow less and dwindle away, never to reappear. Listen!
Explanation.
This formula is from the manuscript book of A‘yû´ninĭ, who explained the whole ceremony. The language needs but little explanation. A blank is left for the name and clan of the victim, and is filled in by the shaman. As the purpose of the ceremony is to bring about the death of the victim, everything spoken of is symbolically colored black, according to the significance of the colors as already explained. The declaration near the end, “It has become blue,” indicates that the victim now begins to feel in himself the effects of the incantation, and that as darkness comes on his spirit will shrink and gradually become less until it dwindles away to nothingness.
When the shaman wishes to destroy the life of another, either for his own purposes or for hire, he conceals himself near the trail along which the victim is likely to pass. When the doomed man appears the shaman waits until he has gone by and then follows him secretly until he chances to spit upon the ground. On coming up to the spot the shaman collects upon the end of a stick a little of the dust thus moistened with the victim’s spittle. The possession of the man’s spittle gives him power over the life of the man himself. Many ailments are said by the doctors to be due to the fact that some enemy has by this means “changed the spittle” of the patient and caused it to breed animals or sprout corn in the sick man’s body. In the love charms also the lover always figuratively “takes the spittle” of the girl in order to fix her affections upon himself. The same idea in regard to spittle is found in European folk medicine.
The shaman then puts the clay thus moistened into a tube consisting of a joint of the Kanesâ´la or wild parsnip, a poisonous plant of considerable importance in life-conjuring ceremonies. He also puts into the tube seven earthworms beaten into a paste, and several splinters from a tree which has been struck by lightning. The idea in regard to the worms is not quite clear, but it may be that they are expected to devour the soul of the victim as earthworms are supposed to feed upon dead bodies, or perhaps it is thought that from their burrowing habits they may serve to hollow out a grave for the soul under the earth, the quarter to which the shaman consigns it. In other similar ceremonies the dirt-dauber wasp or the stinging ant is buried in the same manner in order that it may kill the soul, as these are said to kill other more powerful insects by their poisonous sting or bite. The wood of a tree struck by lightning is also a potent spell for both good and evil and is used in many formulas of various kinds.