Pow Wow time is the Native American people's way of meeting together, to join in dancing, singing, visiting, renewing old friendships and make new ones. Today Pow Wow are held all across the North American continent, from small towns such as White Eagle, Oklahoma, to some of the largest, such as Los Angeles, California. They can take place anywhere from cow pastures to convention centers, and occur year round. These festivals last only one weekend, but usually draw Native Americans and visitors from hundreds and even thousands of miles away. Pow Wow is also a compilation of European folk magic that crossed the color line in America. During the 1940s, cheap newsprint editions of "The Black Pullet," "The Sixth and Seventh Books of Moses," and the so-called "spurious" magical writings of Albertus Magnus were typically offered through the catalogues of Jewish-owned curio companies like King Novelty and Clover Horn, right alongside an assortment of policy players' dream books and pamphlets on "The Art of Kissing" and "How to Make Love." However today I would like to talk about a completely different Pow Wow, neither sole Indian, nor solely European, but old remedies that were passed on from generation to generation. Many of these recipes still work today, except we dont call them Pow Wow, but natural herbs, organic herbs, holistic medicine, and/or just good old common sense. Here are a couple of non-medical examples: To mend broken glass: take a common cheese and wash it well, unslaked lime and the white of eggs, rub all these well together until it becomes one mass, and then use it. If it is made right, it will certainly hold. Here is another one for all you chicken owners: To make chickens lay may eggs: take the dung of rabbits, pound it to powder, mix it with bran, wet the mixture till it forms lumps, and feed your chickens with it, and they will keep on laying a great many eggs. Interesting. I should try this one day when I decide to raise chickens. You have probably heard of Shamanic healing in the Amazon or the traditional medicinal plants in the modern Quepoan society in Costa Rica. For example at the core of Shamanism is a strong relationship with Nature and an understanding that our ultimate survival depends upon this relationship. Shamans work with trees, stones, the waters, wind, and with the spirits that reside therein. Their awareness of the sanctity of life and their ability to communicate with a multitude of life forms gives them knowledge that is otherwise unavailable. Traveling in the spirit realm they receive wisdom and great power allowing them to overcome seemingly unconquerable obstacles. In an article by the WSU Today, Prof Clark says: "Based on his experiences learning from healers and medicine men takes time and participatory observation. Shamans dont respond to direct questions asked by typical western scientists. Instead, one must become immersed in the culture and lifestyle over time to gain the greatest amount of knowledge." Now, think of the old witch doctors who in their native lands were or in part still are healers who treat maladies caused by witchcraft. The Witch Doctor is able to ward off witchcraft or turn it back upon the supposed sender. Just think of Africa where the traditional healers have been using ritual in combination with herbal remedies to treat Africas people for generations. A number of these medicines seem to be effective where modern science has failed to find a cure. Yet for some reason, modern science is regarded as infallible, as an absolute truth. It is because of this faith in modern medicine that the traditional healers in Africa are now regarded as primitive witch doctors. In going to over the Pow Wow, I noticed lots of human as well as animal, spiritual and non spiritual spells, wards and talismans. What an interesting book and I would highly recommend it, if for nothing else but interesting reading material. Great Christmas present, since it is the season that the days get shorter, while the nights are longer. One last recipe since we all love a good beer: To Make Good Beer: Take a handful of hops, five or six gallons of water, about three tablespoons of ginger, half a gallon of molasses; filter the water, hops and ginger into a tub containing the molasses. Yummy. I guess Ill try that over the holidays. |
