Belief Systems Society of the Great Cat Feline Fraternity Knights of Datura Men wear mountain lion skins

ins with heads during ceremony The Cat Men all receive secret training concerning datura They wear panther claws around their necks The head shaman wears an entire panther claw necklace inherited by generations, and added to by each new leader. These men are seen as strong and supernaturalat least during the ceremonies possessing great life force They are thought to be fierce and ready to attack Underlying tension because the panther can overpower the deer. The big cat hunts the deer. The cat is a predator KayaumariFurst 2006 Kayaumari spears Kieri in the side, then pierces him again through the ribs near the heart, etc., 5 directions. By defeating Kieri, balance is restored. Tamatsi Kayaumari Our Elder Brother Kayaumariwhat people begin to call K after he kills Kieri IxumariKayaumaris other selfhis shadow or nocturnal self Culture Hero as dualistic, as are the people Methe story is told through the eyes of Kayaumarihis breath, his heart beat He is the leader of the peyote cult for the groups living in the Trans-Pecos How K kills KieriFurst 2011, pp 126-131 What happens to Kieri after K kills himFurst, 2011, p. 122 Kieri falls but rises again. He flies away to the mountains where he continues to try to seduce people to follow him. His death is only apparent Schaffer and Furst, p. 29 Leon Diguet assumed the legend was actual history Deer Tail called Majakuagy in legend led his people from near San Luis Potosi to the Sierra Madre Occidental Religious Ideas Creation vs. Transformation they believe in transformation of the human spirit No reference to a creator, no reference to creating a world from nothing Rather, Grandmother Growth is a facilitator of the creative urge in the world Annual ritual cycle rooted in a non-linear cosmology Benevolent ancestor deities created this worldFather Sun and Mother Rain

The human soul is recycled after death to help keep the world going Many landscape features have names in Huichol. Together they are referred to as kakauarite which sort of means land of the gods or ancestor deities. It is a veneration of the natural world and landscape, from which all things come. Mountains have names, springs have names, rocks have names. All bodies of water are sacred. One of the first rituals upon returning home from the pilgrimage is to fling water from bunches of wild flowers onto relatives, wives, and others. Water from certain springs is thought to be especially potent for fertility. Waters from different springs are also used for different purposes: sipped at certain rituals; added to fermented drinks; mixed with ground peyote powder and drunk; sprinkled on fields, animals, people, tools, hunting gear, and effigies of various deities. Before filling a gourd or other container, an arrow is dipped inside, suggesting sexual symbolism.

Snaring the deer The deer runs into the snare and offers itself for sacrifice Catching deer in noose traps or snares. Huichol commit suicide by hanging themselves in a noose, thus becoming a deer sacrifice. Sacred power objects are splattered with deer blood in ceremonies (Preuss) the circle of sacrifice and union for deer and mountain lion the concept of prey for deerdeer, peyote, human, rain the concept of predator for mountain lionmountain lion, datura, human, sun each connected. Each sacrifices for the other to exist. All are one. All humans must honor deer, peyote, and rain as well as the cat, datura, and the mountain lion to keep life going and the universe intact.