About noon a circular bed of sand, some four inches in height and four
feet in diameter, was made. Five grains of corn and five pine boughs were
laid thereon; four of the grains of corn and four of the boughs were
placed to the cardinal points. The fifth and center branch of pine covered
most of the circle, its tips pointing to the east. The fifth grain of corn
was dropped in the center of the sand bed. (See Pl. CXVII, 1). Four of
these pine boughs were cut from the east, south, north, and west sides of
one tree. The fifth bough may be taken from any part of the tree. Of the
five grains of corn one must be white, one yellow, and one blue, and the
other two grains may be of either of these three colors. On this
particular occasion there were two blue, two white, and one yellow. These
grains were, after the ceremony, dried and ground by the theurgist and
placed among his medicines. The boughs and sand absorbed the disease from
the invalid, and at the close of the ceremony they were carried to the
north and deposited in a shady spot that the sun might not touch and
develop the latent disease that had been absorbed by them. The boughs and
sand were never afterward to be touched. An Apache basket containing yucca
root and water was placed in front of the circle. (See Pl. CXVII 2.) There
was a second basket south of it which contained water and a quantity of
pine needles sufficiently thick to form a dry surface, and on the top a
number of valuable necklaces of coral, turquois, and silver. A square was
formed on the edge of the basket with four turkey wands. (See Pl. CXVII
3.) The song-priest with rattle led the choir. The invalid sat to the
northeast of the circle; a breechcloth was his only apparel. During the
chanting an attendant made suds from the yucca. The basket remained in
position; the man stooped over it facing north; his position allowed the
sunbeams which came through the fire opening to fall upon the suds. When
the basket was a mass of white froth the attendant washed the suds from
his hands by pouring a gourd of water over them, after which the
song-priest came forward and with corn pollen drew a cross over the suds,
which stood firm like the beaten whites of eggs, the arms of the cross
pointing to the cardinal points. A circle of the pollen was then made
around the edge of the suds. The attendant who prepared the suds touched
his right hand to the four points of the pollen lines and in the center
and placed it upon the head of the patient who first made a circle
embracing the sand and basket and then knelt upon the boughs in the center
of the sand.(3) A handful of the suds was afterwards put upon his head.
The basket was placed near him and he bathed his head thoroughly; the
maker of the suds afterwards assisted him in bathing the entire body with
the suds, and pieces of yucca were rubbed upon the body. The chant
continued through the ceremony and closed just as the remainder of the
suds was emptied by the attendant over the invalid's head. The song priest
collected the four wands from the second basket and an attendant gathered
the necklaces. A second attendant placed the basket before the invalid who
was now sitting in the center of the circle and the first attendant
assisted him in bathing the entire body with this mixture; the body was
quite covered with the pine needles which had become very soft from
soaking. The invalid then returned to his former position at the left of
the song priest, and the pine needles and yucca, together with the sands,
were carried out and deposited at the base of a piñon tree. The body of
the invalid was dried by rubbing with meal.
[Illustration]