Ancient Wisdom Atlas

Motif

central ritual fire as endurance ordeal

central_ritual_fire_as_endurance_ordeal

A motif of the Initiation and Transformative Ordeal family. Every row below is a tagged passage; each rests on a quote in its source text.

1 occurrences

1 traditions


native american southwest

  • The Mountain Chant: A Navajo Ceremony NOTE ON THE ORTHOGRAPHY OF NAVAJO WORDS. / ILLUSTRATIONS / THE MOUNTAIN CHANT: A NAVAJO CEREMONY. / INTRODUCTION.; lines 2396-2485 confidence: high

    At 8 o'clock the musicians sit by a small western fire and begin continuous music; the central fire is lit, sending flames, sparks, ashes, and intense heat through the corral and preparing an endurance test for dancers.

    The central fire is lit at the start of music and its heat is explicitly described as a test of dancers' endurance.

    read in the book