There in the north sat the great Island Weight, created by the hands of Earthmaker himself. Nor was the Creator unmindful of the powers needed by his creation. To this end he made a thing of great holiness and power. It was a gourd painted with white clay, and this he gave to North that he might drive all evil things into the vast perpetual snows of the far north. Now came the time that North seized his gourd and shook it. The holy gourd became as a dream, transfigured into a young and beautiful maiden swift afoot, with her black hair flowing in the rush of the wind. Then she stopped suddenly. It was then that North swept away the evil things, pushing them far to the north. Immediately, Our Grandfather in the center of the lodge began to stand upright.

Again North shook his gourd. Now they saw a woman in middle age, her hair having but a touch of white. It seemed as if she sped around the lodge. Then, suddenly, she stopped. Grandfather now stood up erect, and the light reached for the sky above. Now a third time did North cause his messenger to shake. An apparition of a woman, the horns of her hair in salt and pepper color, seemed to rush around the lodge. Suddenly she stopped, and Our Grandfather shown with perfect light, like a day of sunshine. The flames of the fire reached heavenward without waving or twisting. Now, when North shook his gourd for the fourth and last time, an old woman appeared, bald except for a few coarse hairs upon the back of her neck. Such is the length of life that the spirits of the Medicine Lodge wished to bestow upon mankind. She sped around the lodge, and when she stopped the fire rose up in perfection. The sacred gourd pushed the evil spirits to the far north, there where the sun dispels not the dark of night. [1]

Commentary. "Our Grandfather in the center of the lodge" -- this is the fire which is in best communion with the spirits when its flames are perfectly vertical.

"the horns" -- the usual tonsure of Siouan tribes is braided hair, usually in two long queues. These are often called "horns" (he). Several spirits are called after their hair: Bluehorn has blue hair, and Redhorn is a redhead.

Links: Island Weights, Earthmaker, Fire, Gourd Rattles.

Stories: mentioning Island Weights: The Creation of the World, The Island Weight Songs, South Enters the Medicine Lodge, East Shakes the Messenger, East Enters the Medicine Lodge, Wolves and Humans, Cûgepaga, Traveler and the Thunderbird War (v. 2), The Lost Blanket, Thunderbird Clan Origin Myth (v. 1), The Medicine Rite Foundation Myth, Hare Secures the Creation Lodge, South Seizes the Messenger, Earthmaker Sends Rucewe to the Twins, The Messengers of Hare, Paint Medicine Origin Myth, Four Steps of the Cougar, The Petition to Earthmaker; in which fire plays a role: The Creation Council, Thunderbird Clan Origin Myth, The Warbundle of the Eight Generations, The Twins Retrieve Red Star's Head, Hare Secures the Creation Lodge, The Four Steps of the Cougar, East Shakes the Messenger, East Enters the Medicine Lodge, The Descent of the Drum, V. 2, see Young Man Gambles Often (Commentary); mentioning sacred gourd rattles: East Shakes the Messenger, The Brown Squirrel, South Seizes the Messenger, Holy One and His Brother; pertaining to the Medicine Rite: The Medicine Rite Foundation Myth, The Journey to Spiritland, Holy Song, Maize Origin Myth, The Necessity for Death, Hog's Adventures, Great Walker's Warpath, see also Other Stories from Jasper Blowsnake's account of the Medicine Rite.

Stories from Jasper Blowsnake's account of the Medicine Rite (The Road of Life and Death) in notebook order: The Shell Anklets Origin Myth, V 1, Keramanic'aka's Blessing, The Woman's Scalp Medicine Bundle, The Blessing of Kerexûsaka, Historical Origins of the Medicine Rite, Hare Secures the Creation Lodge of the Medicine Rite, Lifting Up the Bear Heads, East Enters the Medicine Lodge, V. 1, The Creation of the World, V. 12, The Creation of Man, V. 8, Otter Comes to the Medicine Rite, The Journey to Spiritland, V. 4, East Enters the Medicine Lodge, V. 2, Testing the Slave, South Enters the Medicine Lodge, V. 2, The Descent of the Drum, V. 1, The Commandments of Earthmaker, The Coughing Up of the Black Hawks, The Animal Spirit Aids of the Medicine Rite, The Arrows of the Medicine Rite Men, V. 2, East Shakes the Messenger, The Medicine Rite Foundation Myth, V. 4, The Messengers of Hare, V. 2, Grandmother's Gifts, South Seizes the Messenger, Four Steps of the Cougar, The Messengers of Hare, V. 1, The Island Weight Songs, The Petition to Earthmaker, A Snake Song Origin Myth, The Completion Song Origin, Great Walker's Medicine, V. 2, Great Walker and the Anishinaabe Witches, The Diving Contest, The Sweetened Drink Song, The Plant Blessing of Earth, Tobacco Origin Myth, V. 3, The Tap the Head Medicine, The Claw Shooter, Tobacco Origin Myth, V. 4, Peace of Mind Regained, The Journey to Spiritland, V. 5, A Wife for Knowledge, The Shell Anklets Origin Myth, V. 2, The Descent of the Drum, V. 2, South Enters the Medicine Lodge, V. 1, Death Enters the World.

Themes: someone possesses a gourd rattle of great magical powers: East Shakes the Messenger, The Brown Squirrel, South Seizes the Messenger; something is of a (symbolic) pure white color: White Bear, Deer Spirits, The Journey to Spiritland (v. 4), White Flower, Big Eagle Cave Mystery, The Fleetfooted Man, Thunderbird and White Horse, The Orphan who was Blessed with a Horse, Worúxega, The Two Boys, The Lost Blanket (white spirits), Skunk Origin Myth, He Who Eats the Stinking Part of the Deer Ankle, White Wolf, A Man and His Three Dogs, The Messengers of Hare, The Brown Squirrel, The Man Who Fell from the Sky, Bladder and His Brothers, White Thunder's Warpath, The Shell Anklets Origin Myth, The Dipper, Great Walker's Medicine (v. 2), Creation of the World (v. 12), Hare Secures the Creation Lodge, The Descent of the Drum, Tobacco Origin Myth (v. 5), The Diving Contest, Otter Comes to the Medicine Rite, The Arrows of the Medicine Rite Men, The Animal Spirit Aids of the Medicine Rite, Grandmother's Gifts, Four Steps of the Cougar, The Completion Song Origin, Lifting Up the Bear Heads, Thunder Cloud is Blessed, Peace of Mind Regained; a powerful spirit sweeps away evils to the bad place (the arctic north): The Descent of the Drum, V. 2, East Shakes the Messenger, South Seizes the Messenger, The Four Steps of the Cougar; evil clouds are swept away (to the north): The Four Steps of the Cougar, East Shakes the Messenger, The Descent of the Drum, V. 2, The Medicine Rite Foundation Myth, V. 4, The Arrows of the Medicine Rite Men, V. 2, South Seizes the Messenger; flames that stand upright and unwaving are propitious: East Shakes the Messenger, The Twins Retrieve Red Star's Head, South Seizes the Messenger, Four Steps of the Cougar, The Descent of the Drum, V. 2.