THE WAY OF THE CHEROKEE
by Tsquayi

THE FOUR SOULS

The ancient Cherokees lived in a world in which the Spiritual and the physical were of equal importance. Virtually every waking moment, they were aware of the effect of the Spirits on every aspect of their lives in the physical world. The Spiritual beliefs of the early Cherokees were beautiful in their consistency, detail, completeness, and relevance to their lives. The concept of the four souls was one segment of their Spiritual beliefs. It tied together Cherokee beliefs relating to human physiology, doctoring, conjuring, witchcraft, death and funerals.

It was believed that every person has four souls and that there are four stages of death. The souls are each referred to as Askina (Ah skee nah; soul, Spirit or ghost).⁵

The first soul is the soul of conscious life which animates the other three souls. This soul is human, not physical, is conscious, has memory, personality, continuity after death and is unitary in its essence. This soul is located under the top of the head, where the “soft spot” of a young baby is located. The practice of scalping is magic directed against this soul. This soul creates the watery fluids of the body such as saliva and lymph. Magical attack upon this soul by a conjuror⁶ is sometimes called “spoiling his saliva.” A conjuror, bent on harm, might secretly follow a person until the person spits upon the ground. The conjuror retrieves the spittle and uses it to create a magical potion or object to use against the person.

Upon the death of the person, the first soul immediately leaves the body and continues its personal life, sometimes remaining nearby for awhile and sometimes seen as a ghost. Some say this soul eventually finds its way to the Land of the Dead in the West and some say it goes into the river, follows it upstream to its source at a spring, where the soul then goes down into an underworld. This departed soul might continue to communicate with a loved one, still living, through a ringing in the ears of the loved one.

The second soul is the soul of physiological life. This soul is possessed by all animals, is a substance, has no individuality and is quantitative; there being more or less of it in the person or animal. This soul is located in the liver and it creates yellow bile, black bile, and digestive juices. It is of primary importance in doctoring and conjuring and often the target of witches. Witches strengthen themselves and lengthen their lives by drawing out the liver soul from their victims. Conjurors can also attack this soul, producing similar effects. The effects of liver soul depletion or destruction produces listlessness and the “yellows” (jaundice) or depression and the “black” (gall bladder attacks or pancreatitis). Exhaustion of the liver soul substance produces death.

Upon the death of the person and the departure of the first soul, all life processes stop and the other three souls begin to die. In about a week, the liversoul is gradually diffused back into Nature as a life force. Immediately after death, before a significant amount of the liver soul has diffused away, the liversoul is sought by witches to extend their lives. Although its loss to witches does no harm to the first soul or to the living community, it is viewed as a desecration of the corpse so a wake is held to prevent intrusion by witches. Knowing that the death will attract witches, a conjuror may use the wake to attempt to kill a witch, thus eliminating an enemy of the community. The best defense against witch attacks, before and after death are the strength of the victim, if still alive, the strength and magical power of the fire on the household hearth, and the magical power, vigilance and knowledge of the conjuror.

(Photo - Right)
Being in Mexico brings out the child in us Cherokees. Here White Chief Al “Tsquayi” Herrin & his wife Frankie “Ajila” (Fire) are all smiles.

The third soul is the soul of circulation. This soul is possessed by all animals, is a substance, has no individuality and is quantitative; there being more or less of it in the person or animal. This soul is located in the heart and it creates blood. The living may be attacked, by a conjuror’s magic, through the blood soul by methods called “blood sucking” which produces anemic diseases.

After death, this soul takes a month to die, gradually diffusing back into Nature as a life force. It is of no use to witches or conjurors.

The fourth soul is the soul of energy and is located in the bones. This soul is possessed by all animals, birds and fish that have bones. The bone soul does not create physical substances but creates Spiritual energy which can be used by the conjuror to promote healing, treat illness that reduces energy, and as an aphrodisiac. In many Native American cultures and other cultures around the world, a powder of bone, horn or antler is used for medicinal purposes or as an aphrodisiac.

After death, this soul takes a year to die, gradually diffusing back into Nature, contributing its energy to the growth of crystals in the ground, especially to quartz crystals which are used in divination and conjuring. While this energy is diffusing from the corpse and before it becomes concentrated in crystals, it is of no use to witches or conjurors.

The grave should be tended and kept free of weeds for a year after the person’s death. After that, it is no longer tended because all the four souls have departed and there is nothing of significance left in the grave. At that time, all mourning ends.

Conjurors and witches vary greatly in their power. Ordinary witches are solitary, secretive and use their magical powers selfishly only to extend their lives and health by stealing liver soul from others. Among the ordinary witches, a few become conjurers of great knowledge and moderate magical power, sometimes called “white witches”, and rise above the ordinary witches to unselfishly aid members of their clan or tribe. They will not admit to consuming liver soul.

A few, rare individuals become great conjurors or Adawehi with great knowledge and vast magical power. They are the great “Raven Mockers” who assault the liver souls of other tribes and of great rival conjurors like magical warriors. The last such conjuror, among the Cherokees, was Usawi (Oo sahwee) who lived more than 150 years ago. I have read about others, nonCherokees, whose achievements indicate that they probably reached the level of the Adawehi. They include Crazy Horse, Sitting Bull, Tecumseh, Moses and Jesus.

Pagenotes:

⁵ Before Christianity, the Cherokees had no words for devil or hell. Translators of the Bible used Askina as the word for devil or demon.

⁶ The term “medicine man (or woman)” is often seen instead of “conjuror.” Conjurors and witches are basically the same, depending on whether they are for you or against you. One man’s conjuror is his enemy’s witch

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