Welcome to Cherokee Indian Guide
Cherokee Shelter Article
. For a permanent link to this article, or to bookmark it for further reading, click here.
Cherokee Indian Colors
from:
Deb St. George, Publisher, Cherokee-Legends.com
The symbolic color system was as follows:
East = red = success; triumph
North = blue = defeat; trouble
West = black = death
South = white = peace; happiness
Up Above = yellow
Down Below = brown
Here in the Center = green
The Red Man, living in the East, is the spirit of power, triumph, and success.
The Black Man, in the West, is the spirit of death. The
shaman would invoke the Red Man to the assistance of his patient and
consign his enemy to the fatal influences of the Black Man.
According to Thomas Mails, in his book, "Cherokee People,"the
mythological significance of different colors were important in Cherokee lore.
Red was symbolic of success.
It was the color of the war club used to strike an enemy in battle as well as the other club used by the warrior to shield himself. Red beads were used to conjure the red spirit to insure long life, recovery from sickness, success in love and ball play or any other undertaking where the benefit of the magic spell was wrought.
Black was always typical of death.
The soul of the enemy was continually beaten about by black war clubs and enveloped in a black fog. In conjuring to destroy an enemy, the priest used black beads and invoked the black spirits-which always lived in the West,-bidding them to tear out the man's soul and carry it to the West, and put it into the black coffin deep in the black mud, with a black serpent coiled above it.
Blue symbolized failure, disappointment, or unsatisfied desire.
To say "they shall never become blue" expressed the belief that they would never fail in anything they undertook. In love charms, the lover figuratively covered himself with red and prayed that his rival would become entirely blue and walk in a blue path. "He is entirely blue," approximates meaning of the common English phrase, "He feels blue." The blue spirits lived in the North.
White denoted peace and happiness. In ceremonial addresses, as the Green Corn Dance and ball play, the people symbolically partook of white food and, after the dance or game, returned along the white trail to their white houses. In love charms, the man, to induce the woman to cast her lots with his, boasted, "I am a white man," implying that all was happiness where he was. White beads had the same meaning in bead conjuring, and white was the color of the stone pipe anciently used in ratifying peace treaties. The White spirits lived in the South.
About the author:
Deb St. George is Publisher of Indian Folk Culture and Cherokee Indian Greeting from Cherokee-Legends.com
Cherokee language lesson Colors
Cherokee Shelter News
Cherokee County Commission OKs Sunday beer sales in rural areas
The Cherokee County Commission on Monday approved a resolution allowing Sunday beer sales at stores in the unincorporated areas of the county.
Read more...FOX Carolina viewers donate $3K to Humane Society
FOX Carolina viewers helped the Cherokee County Humane Society on Friday, donating $3,000 and 300 pounds of food.
Read more...What's going on today?
Here's what's going on around Athens today, May 12: EVENTS Cherokee Rose 5K: 9 a.m., State Botanical Garden of Georgia, 2450 S. Milledge Ave.
Read more...Flanagan Wins BMW Charity Pro-Am
Flanagan Wins BMW Charity Pro-Am
Read more...Book Drive Gives Back to Elementary Students, Homeless
All of Cherokee Elementarys 455 students will be taking home at least one book to read over the summer. Thats thanks to a book drive spearheaded by SoGiv, a nonprofit that sells footwear and apparel and donates a portion of the proceeds to different worthy causes each month.… [ Read more ] [ Subscribe to the comments on this story ]
Read more...Community Calendar, May 19
CONTRA DANCE: 7-10:30 p.m. today in the Arsenal Hill Park Building, 1800 Lincoln St. Music by INexplicabillies; caller will be Marolyn Floyd. Beyond beginners workshop, 6:15-7 p.m.; new dancers workshop, 7-7:30 p.m. $8; bring clean, soft-soled, non-marking shoes. (803) 760-5881; www.contracola.org
Read more...Time’s Afghanistan reporter returns home armed with stories
By jeanne starmack starmack@vindy.com youngstown He misses it most about home — the stone
Read more...