The Hopi Religious Life

1
The Hopi Religious Life
2
Roads of Life

• Religious Awareness Through Disenchantment

3
The Kachina Cult

• The way to awareness

4
The Kachinas

• Are the spirit of the invisible forces of life.
• They are attired to represent certain spirits.
• Their dances are part of various ceremonies
  representing seasons and phases in life.

5
What the Kachinas mean

• Prior to initiation the children have been
  protected from seeing the kachina dancers without
  their masks and from seeing masks not worn.
• The kachinas are known to give the children
  gifts.
• Stories are told about them.
• They are heroes.

6
The Symbol of the Kachina

• Children imitate kachina dancing and emulate the
  high qualities identified with the kachinas.
• They are role models for the Hopi way of life and
  so are mimicked by the children including their
  dances.
• Some kachinas have a fearful appearance which
  threaten children who are acting badly.

7
The Transformation

• The initiation rites during the Powamu ceremony

8
The Powamu Ceremony

• It is the first major ceremony of the kachina
  season.
• The children are taught many new things about
  their culture.
• They undergo ritual whipping.
• During the conclusion of the ceremony at night in
  a dance a major transformation takes place.

9
The Kiva
10
Transformation

• The children hear the kachinas approaching and
  the kachina father invites them to come into the
  kiva to dance.
• As the kachinas descend the ladder the children
  see for the first time the kachinas without
  masks.
• Furthermore, the kachinas were male relatives of
  theirs.

11
The Disenchantment

• The children begin to question their reality.
• However, this demonstrates to the children that
  things are not what they appear.
• There is more to reality than meets the eye.
• They learn that a spiritual reality is conjoined
  with, and stands behind, the physical reality.

12
Sources

• http//www.uwec.edu/greider/Indigenous/Student.Web
  .Pages/Art.indigenous/web.kachina/images/hopi.misc
  _copy.JPG
• http//www.adsforever.com/kachinas1.html
• http//www.adsforever.com/kachinas2.html
• http//www.ortegasjewelry.com/Images/Hopi1.jpg
• http//www.grandfathersspirit.com/cards/312Kachina
  sOfPowamuth.jpg
• http//www.cjasper.com/MesaVerde/Kiva.jpg
• http//www.upstairsgallery.com/gifs/kiva.jpg
• http//www.santafe.edu/images/kiva.gif
• http//biocycle.atmos.colostate.edu/marek/archive
  /polaroid_pix0/kiva.jpg
• http//www.4kids.org/backissues/98/4kidsHTML12-20-
  98/kiva.jpeg