07-21-03 @ 12:09 pm EDT

Firstly, I FOUND SPICED CHAI TEA AT WAL-MART!! SPICED CHAI! That might sound like nothing but I could only before find it in sampler packs but now I found it in boxes. Yayness! The only thing is it pulls this weird trick on me. I drink one cup and it's nice and spicy and...chai-ey...and then I drink another cup and...it's like I can't taste it at all. ??? Very odd. :/ Well, I shouldn't look it in the mouth, I guess...

Ger, I just remembered I forgot to go to Fotolog today, maybe yesterday...my days are all running together lately. Oh well. I've been browsing ANOTHER photo site, but I will not give the URL because I had to join just to friggin' look at images over 24 hours old, and it takes forever for pages to load. They have a critique system similar to the one here, though if you're a free, unreferred member you can't post photos of your own without critiquing others' first...I fully understand and don't really care since everyone else's pics are so much better than mine (they all use PROFESSIONAL cameras, unlike me with my dinky digital Polaroid, doesn't even have a zoom lens, as if I'd know how to use one anyway >_< ), I'd never be caught dead submitting something there anyway. I'm just browsing to see if any would make good wallpapers...

And I've been getting zero done on RTMI. :/ I feel guilty. Readership in it appears to have tapered off, though that's not really the reason. I think it's just reworking the Chronicles keeping me distracted. And for some reason, I don't even consider that "real" writing because I'm just filling in what should have been included in the first place. I wonder why I don't consider working on the Chronicles to be real writing? God knows I put just as much effort, maybe even more (do you ever see me rewriting my other works around here?), into those as I do into anything else. And I don't think the series sucks or anything. But it just doesn't feel like legitimate writing. I have no clue why. It's bothersome to be working so hard on something, yet to feel it's not even worth the trouble to be called "writing."

Meh. Anyway, who cares. Today I went looking around a bit to try to find out info about the different types of medicine men recognized among the Ojibwa. And I'm trying to clarify the system of medicine men as recognized by the Manitou Islanders. It is NOT 100% clear yet and is subject to tons and tons of revision, so anything I post here may be utterly ridiculous and stupid in the near future if I decide to change my mind. I was debating whether I should post this in Skew or not, or if I should create an entirely new journal dedicated to Manitou Island essays. Do you know that for months I have had private, unfinished items about such things as Manitou Island's history and the physiology of Ocryxes sitting in my portfolio? Such a journal would be a lovely place for those things to go, but I think I'll just post this here for now; maybe I'll change my mind and start an MI journal in the future.

ANYway. Here's what bit I've started to untangle so far...regarding The Medicine Man System On Manitou Island. I'll write in an informal style rather than an essaylike, formal one just to spare myself the trouble since the words "Manitou Island" probably bored most of you off by now anyway.

From what I could tell, there were three primary types of medicine men recognized by the Ojibwa Indians:

* The jessakid (chessakee, jessakeed, tchessakid, ji-sa-ki, tcisaki, tshisaqka, etc.), or "tent shakers";

* The nanandawi, or "sucking doctors" (bone suckers) (at least I think that's the equivalent--can't be 100% certain);

and of course,

* The wabanos (wabeno, etc.), or "Morning Star men" (Eastern men, etc.).

In addition there are the members of the Mide Lodge, which I'll get to in a sec.

From what I could tell, these were the differences between the three types above.

The jessakid, tent shakers, were known as the conjurers. They attempted to speak with the spirits by supernatural means and were believed to possess clairvoyant abilities which they used to seek out the causes of illnesses, or to determine who had broken tribal taboos. Their primary ritual was the tent-shaking ceremony; there is much info available on this subject, so I didn't look into it indepth just yet. They were also known as "jugglers," probably because of some of the sleight-of-hand techniques they used. They had wider powers than the nanandawi. They could be, but were not often, members of the Midewiwin.

The nanandawi, or sucking doctors (I think these two were the same, based on what I read, but I can't be positive), were the tribal medicine men who tended to their own people. They used techniques of sucking the illness out of a patient to heal them. There was also some information involving sucking on bones, but I did not read it indepth. Of the three types of medicine men this was the one I could find the least info about, possibly because I don't know alternate spellings of the name by which to search for information. I would assume that they can be members of the Midewiwin, but I wouldn't be sure.

The wabanos, or Morning Star medicine men, were what were typically thought of as practitioners of "bad medicine." This didn't necessarily mean they were evil or vindictive; it just meant they used their talents for selfish means, to influence the behavior of others. (For example, love medicine, punishment medicine, etc.) Wabanos were often hired out by jealous spouses to seek revenge, by jilted suitors to win someone's love, etc. Rather than "evil" they seemed to occupy a "neutral" place in society. (The Morning Star was believed to have a somewhat malignant influence, hence the name wabano, most likely.) They were also known as "fire jugglers" because of their usage of fire in their rituals; like Bearwalkers, I believe, they could sometimes be seen floating through the woods at night in the form of a ball of fire. (Yah, that there is a big SPOILER, I know!) They were probably the most feared of the three types, although they were often sought out by others. Bad medicine, however, was always thought to eventually come back to the one who cast it; slighted medicine men often engaged in long, drawn-out battles which involved plenty of deaths on both sides.

And then you have the Midewiwin, or Grand Medicine Society (aka the Grand Medicine Lodge, or the Mide Society, etc.). This was a sort of "secret society" of the Ojibwa. Membership required a special initiation involving being shot with the megis shell (a cowrie shell) and "coming back from the dead"--there is much info available on this, but I have yet to go over it in detail as there are so many conflicting stories, naturally. According to the most frequent versions there were four levels of membership, and one's medicine powers increased the higher they got. The face paint worn by a member changed with each level, as did their abilities as medicine men--only members of a certain level or higher, I believe, were allowed to handle bodies for burial. (Could be wrong on that.) The Mide seems to have been a highly respected society even though Mide priests (medicine men) were also sometimes feared; according to The Ojibwa Woman, at least, medicine men of all stripes were almost always regarded with terror and tended to be very vain and arrogant. (More on that later.) The Mide was a beneficial society, devoted to the preservation of knowledge and wisdom, and they taught heavily in the healing arts, concerning such things as plants and herbs and such. In fact, some initiations in the Mide came about when a sick patient was brought in and shot with the megis shell in the hopes of recovery. Both men and women could be members, although women were generally not allowed to become practicing medicine women until menopause, as menstruation was considered unclean and a medicine woman could not be under such a malignant influence. However, medicine MEN, also, usually did not start to practice until late in life, as it was believed they could forfeit their lives if they started practicing too early. "Old man" was pretty much synonymous with "medicine man." Medicine women were rare. Based on the accounts I've read so far in The Ojibwa Woman, if someone became a medicine person early in life it seems to have generally been with a negative influence, for example in the cases of wabanos. Members of the Mide carried a special medicine pouch, and there were other implements associated with the society; I'll have to look into it more later on.

That, in general, is what I know about the Ojibwa medicine man system. (I could be VERY wrong on some important details, keep in mind. It's hard to find accurate info on the subject. If you happen to know more about the Ojibwa culture than I do, please feel free to correct me.) Now here is how it should be set up on Manitou Island--and again, remember that while the natives there are BASED ON the Ojibwa, they are not REALLY of that tribe. The way I see it, they were likely Ojibwa who migrated to the Island and were cut off from their kin on the mainland when the Island disappeared in the fog; and, being unable to travel back properly, their customs, although highly similar to those of the people they'd left behind, changed and evolved somewhat so there are some key differences between the two. Like the differences between the British and the Americans, for example, only not QUITE so extreme.

Anyway...here we go.

There seems to be at least a little bit more variation on the types of medicine practitioners on Manitou Island than there was on the mainland. The jessakid, nanandawi, and wabanos, as well as the Mide, are likely all still present in some form or another, but because of the supernatural powers present, there are other influences as well.

For the most part, I think the jessakid are the same as what I've read about--conjurers good at sleight-of-hand and impressive tactics, who try to communicate with the manitous by supernatural means. I believe the tent-shaking ceremony is known on the Island. Jessakid tend to be solitary practitioners on the Island as they are on the mainland. I think they are more flash than substance. So far, I can't think of any characters of mine who would fit in this category of medicine man.

The nanandawi are the type I know the least about, so I don't feel very confident speaking about them. For the sake of argument right now I will just say they are the tribal doctors who tend to healing and curing and limited communication with the spirits for the good of their own people; they tend to the group, rather than being solitary practitioners who may travel around. Their powers seem more sincere than those of the jessakid, but more limited than those of the wabanos. Based on this description, I think Stick-In-The-Dirt (and possibly Two Owls, from the short stories) might be a nanandawi as he dabbles a bit in limited spirit communication (he's not very good at it, apparently), and sticks primarily to caring for the sick and injured; he doesn't really go for the flash and deception involved with the jessakid (though he might know some of their rituals), and he doesn't use selfish medicine like the wabanos. Of the three types of medicine men, the nanandawi seem most closely aligned to the Mide Lodge; more on that soon.

The wabanos are the most feared type of medicine man on the Island as well, and the most distrusted, although they are often quite intelligent and sought for their knowledge. They are solitary practitioners and one must often go to difficult means to locate them, and even should they be found, the price required for services is usually high. Plus, any bad medicine a wabano casts is likely to come back to the supplicant (the one paying for the service). All sorts of bad luck is blamed on them, and they tend to get into petty spats with each other over perceived slights. They are not necessarily evil; it's just that they use a form of medicine which is inherently selfish in that it influences the behavior of others without their knowledge. Into this category fall Snow Bear and Moon Wolf, although Moon Wolf gave up the occupation of wabano to become strictly a teacher of medicine; however some of his wabano talents persist.

Jessakid get their powers by asking the spirits, though much of their perceived power is in fact just trickery. Nanandawi get their power by asking the spirits, and through their own knowledge of healing. Wabanos get their power by either asking or coercing the spirits (usually spirits of negative or at least neutral alignment, as good spirits generally don't like their powers being used for selfish ends).

The Mide Lodge also exists on the Island, and most medicine men of good alignment have attained at least some level of membership. Initiation and an often long period of teaching and learning is involved in order to join, and there are four levels to be attained; an initiate can stop after attaining any level, however, and does not have to go through all four. Of course, those at the fourth level are the most powerful and wisest members of the Society. There is a strict emphasis on good living, on being upright and goodhearted and not using one's powers for selfish ends. People may quit the Mide at any time they wish, though if they then use what they have learned for "bad" purposes, they are often seen as having betrayed the Society. Healing and the preservation of knowledge are the primary concerns of this group; they're similar to the nanandawi in this respect, except that they have a greater influence. The initiation ceremony of the Mide is not likely to be as involved on the Island as it is on the mainland, if only because I have difficulty getting all the details straight. o_o; Into this category of medicine men fall Silver Eagle Feather, Stick-In-The-Dirt, Two Owls, Moon Wolf, Yellow Turtle, and possibly some other characters. Moon Wolf abandoned the Mide when he became a wabano. Stick-In-The-Dirt attained one of the middle levels and decided not to pursue a higher one; Silver Eagle Feather, Two Owls, and Yellow Turtle, I believe, are/were all fourth-level members of the Society.

Unlike on the mainland, one can decide to join the Mide or take up one of the other medicine paths at any point in life, although they are generally adults, and in the case of women, at least, they are generally older; men can take up the profession at any point they like, but women are usually expected to have reached menopause. Silver Eagle Feather was an exception as she already possessed great powers which were recognized by the others, and they did not want to slight her by refusing her admittance to the Lodge. Another potential exception is White Deer, daughter of Stick-In-The-Dirt, who, in lieu of finding a husband or starting a different profession, decided to follow in her father's footsteps to become a medicine practitioner; she is not yet a Mide priestess, but is so far dabbling in the healing and herbal arts despite her young age. Young aspiring medicine women are frowned upon and regarded with more negativity than young medicine men, but it happens, and they are not always of the wabano variety.

Unlike on the mainland, the majority of medicine men on the Island are NOT feared or held in as great suspicion as they are on the mainland; they're seen as beneficial and helpful as well as necessary for the tribe's well being. (Hence everybody's apparent disregard for Stick-In-The-Dirt, except for where minor injuries are concerned.) They also aren't, for the most part, arrogant; although the wabanos are a different story altogether.

In addition to these types there are the following, which are unique to the Island:

* Those who practice primarily with borrowed elemental power. These are people who call upon the spirits for their power, and generally manifest it in the manipulation of the elements. Such practitioners may be good or evil, though their success depends upon how willing the spirits are to comply with their requests. The only real power they possess of their own is an innate ability to communicate with the spirit world; any elemental powers they manifest belong to the spirits, and can be withdrawn/withheld at any time, leaving the practitioner powerless. Charmian falls into this group, as she calls upon the manitous whenever she needs to make use of an elemental power; she uses her powers for good, and so almost always has the compliance of the manitous upon whom she calls. Drake possessed limited borrowed elemental powers, though he made more use of communication instead.

* Elemental spirits or halflings. These are spirits or those who are part spirit, and may call upon their own elemental powers when they need them. The difference between these and between the above is that these people don't need to rely upon others to gain their power; they use their own, which they have usually been born with. Most of the spirit and demon creatures of the Island--the Ocryxes, the GeeBees, the Michinimakinong, the Windwalkers, the firelings, the Uroona, the manitous, etc.--fall into this category. While there is little risk of them not having access to their own powers when they need them (the drawback of being a borrowed elemental practitioner), there IS the drawback that they can typically rely only upon the elements with which they themselves are aligned. That is, windlings such as the GeeBees can call only upon wind (or ice, being Wendigoes); firelings can call only upon fire; Uroona can call only upon rock and earth; etc.

Halflings, those people who are usually part elemental, part human, or born of two different elemental races, may have more versatile powers; Manabozho, for example, being half manitou and related to the elements of both earth and wind, displays human characteristics, but can call upon two distinct elements to do his bidding. Those who are related to the Ocryxes can usually call upon both wind and water, as Ocryxes are aligned to both elements; if they are in addition related to another element, they can call upon that as well. Etc.

Finally, there are

* Those who possess Ocryx medicine. Although basically just another type of elemental medicine (see the above), Ocryx medicine is distinct in that it conveys its own unique powers. Ocryxes are shapeshifters, and those with at least half Ocryx blood can shapeshift into Ocryx form; there's the possibility that those with less Ocryx blood than that can do the same. Full Ocryxes are the only ones who can kill full Ocryxes, and this strength/weakness holds as well for half- or three-quarter Ocryxes in full Ocryx form. (Meaning, someone who is only half Ocryx can survive a full-Ocryx attack when in human form, but if they are in full Ocryx form, they stand a greater chance of dying--what serves as the best protection can also serve as the worst defeat.) Ocryxes have the bonus of being of two elements rather than just one--wind and water--and almost everyone with some percentage of Ocryx blood possesses at least some extra powers of medicine, in some form or another. Not all part-Ocryxes actively practice medicine, but just about all of them do show signs of their blood ties. Into this group fall Ocryx, Ocryana, and Tal Natha (of course), Dakh and Sikt Natha, Silver Eagle Feather, Red Bird, Justin Dupries, Shadow Water, Sky Dupries, X'aaru, Khiieta, Kawaduk, Winter Born, etc.

One additional advantage (and potential threat) of being a female Ocryx halfling is receiving the attention of Ocryx, who tends to show interest in his female relatives; he may grant them greater powers or bestow more favors upon them than upon male relatives, and much more than upon non-relatives.

There are also various minor practitioners of magic or possessors of certain powers, such as Bearwalkers and different shapeshifters, as well as those who are granted permanent powers by another practitioner (for example Sooleawa Chepi), who do not fall into any set category of medicine men or medicine practitioners.

*bweh* That's all I have for now. I won't even bother proofreading it, so I hope you enjoy typos. Have to go now. Tar. -_-