Role of Symbol in the Onikare

The Role of Symbol in the

Onikare

Understanding the Purification Rite of the Plains Indiansthrough a Discussion of Symbolism

Eric HoeflerWith special thanks to Jacquelyn Bralove for her knowledge, time and encouragement.

2

The Role of Symbol in the

Onikare

Understanding the Purification Rite of the Plains IndiansThrough a Discussion of Symbolism

Outline of ThesisEric Hoefler

I.

Thesis:

An understanding of symbolism as reification of the sacred is essential for understandingcorrectly the

onikare

purification ceremony of the Plains Indians.

II.

Description of the

onikare

A.

Construction1.

Dome2.

Fire3.

Central Altar4.

Path and DomeB.

Leader enters for initial purification and preparation of lodgeC.

All enter for first smoking of the pipe--recollection of White Buffalo Calf WomanD.

Four Ages (steam, prayers, open door and water, pipe) [Invoking of powers, rememberingall powers to be ultimately one power]1.

Rock Age: Power of the West2.

Bow Age: Power of the North3.

Fire Age: Power of the East4.

Pipe Age: Power of the SouthE.

Exit lodge (sweet grass over coal)

III.

Ceremonies in general

A.

Based on revealed knowledge of the workings of a higher reality (the celestial realm)B.

Purpose of ceremonies:1.

participation in the higher reality, walking according to it, sharing its life.2.

Cooperation

, not control.C.

The

Onikare

1.

Importance: purification before other sacred undertakings2.

Gives strength to participants

and

tribe

IV.

Precautions on approaching symbolism generally

A.

Too diverse to speak of generallyB.

Not one-to-one correspondence or decoding (if this were possible, then there would be noneed for the symbol)C.

Must be approached within context

V.

Studies in Symbolism

A.

Religious Studies1.

All religious studies imply symbolism (the symbol engenders the ineffable, the domainof religion)2.

Development of symbolism from a need to communicate with and express theexperience of the ineffable3.

Most similarities; Generally understood to be “representational”

B.

Psycho / Linguistic Studies1.

Some similarities2.

Subjective synthesis (between unconscious and conscious mind attempting to relate toexternal reality)

3C.

Two important distinctions1.

Non-subjective: not through imposition of meaning upon but revelation of meaninginherent within.2.

Not merely representational, but actually

is

that which it symbolizes.

VI.

Not Merely Representational

A.

Sign: reality only on one level; representational; arbitrary [ex: eagle and MWC]B.

Symbol: meaning on all levels of reality; one with its object; necessary [ex: eagle feather >eagle > sun > Creative Principle]1.

Levels of realitya)

Three levels: Celestial, Intermediate, Corporeal (Hierarchical and Interior)b)

Source at center, giving reality to all levels through emanation.(1)

Source =

Wakan-Tanka

(Great Spirit, Great Mysterious); immanent andtranscendent [

Ate

and

Tunkashila

as distinctions in metacosm](2)

Not

a pantheistic religionc)

Emanation = spirit, breath,

wakan

2.

All things interrelated through breath and four elementsa)

Four elements, on all levels of reality, give inner structure (connection to otherrealities along the horizontal)b)

Breath fills that structure, giving it reality (connection to source along thevertical; across the horizontal by virtue of sharing one breath)C.

Symbols contain and reflect some aspect of the Divine Source (through the principle of emanation, interrelation and connection to the source). This aspect is known as the sacred(

wakan

, spirit, breath).

VII.

Non-Subjective

A.

Revelation of inherent meaning1.

Revelation of Structure and Order of an object (process of expansion “up through” the

inner realities of an object)2.

Revelation of the aspect of the source present in the object (aspect = the sacred) [the

“song”

--

the breath as it moves through the inner structure, the “name.”] Ultimately =

revelation of the source (union)3.

Micro / Macro correspondencea)

Universe is mirrored in the individualb)

Three levels: spirit, soul and bodyc)

Man, as created last, can contain the fullness of all previous creation. (“You arethat bluff.”)

B.

Not culturally determined, but culturally specific1.

People given a certain land, created specifically for each tribe2.

Land encodes the sacred reality within itself (natural symbols--necessary quality; notsubjectively determined)3.

Knowledge of the sacred and eventual union with the Source possible through theencoded messages of the sacred within the land.a)

Separation from land = separation from sacredb)

Distinction between imposition and revelation of encoded sacrality (Navajo vs.Eskimo)

VIII.

Reification of the sacred = making concrete of the ineffable.

The sacred, the breath of

Wakan-Tanka

, is made concrete or embodied in the macrocosm. Access to the divine source possiblethrough a symbol by virtue of the sacred made concrete within that symbol.