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by Raven Hail
"The Cherokee Sacred Calendar" gives us a unique look at Cherokee culture, through the eyes of Cherokee elder Raven Hail. Astrology has played an important part in many cultures - the Cherokee Nation bases their knowledge on a 260 day "Venus" calendar. At one time, the name of every newborn was determined by this calendar (very reminiscent of some Asian cultures). The naming and baptism of the newborn was a rite that needed to take place immediately, for the protection of the child.
At the heart of the Venus calendar are the twenty "day" signs and the thirteen numbers. There is a wonderful graphic in this book that shows the twenty day signs, their Native American name, the direction (East, South, North or West) and element (Fire, Water, Air, Earth) that they are associated with. The signs are as follows: Turtle, Whirlwind, Hearth, Dragon, Serpent, Twins, Deer, Rabbit, The River, Wolf, Raccoon, Rattlesnake Tooth, Reed, Panther, Eagle, Owl, Heron, Flint, Redbird, and Flower.
Hail has included an ephemeris at the end of the book so that one can easily determine one's natal day, and find the sign associated with it. The Venus days move in a never ending circle, retaining their same relationship with each other, just as the houses in an astrology chart do.
Once you locate your Venus day, all you need to do is read the information provided. Each Venus day has a well written section that starts out with the following information:
* Direction
There follows a description of the basic energy of each specific day, as well as a short note on what the "Shadow Dance", or poorly aspected side of each day looks like. As an example, let us take a person that was born on 12/9/48. According to the ephemeris, the Venus day for this person is Wolf. Looking under Wolf, we find is represented by the direction of t he North, and mental activity. The symbol is the Wolf, and the color is Sable Brown. The stone is Obsidian, and the elemental association is Air. The flower association is Bluebonnet, and the herbal association Flowering dogwood.
Wolf is the connecting link between the dark of the Otherworld and the light of everyday existence. The "familiar" for Medicine People is often given as the Wolf. Wolf is good to his own kind, but protective against outsiders. He is a lover of freedom, and very patriarchal in thought. All members of a wolf pack are nurturers. Wolf people have unlimited potential as healers, protectors and transformers.
The "Shadow Dance" for Wolf is that he casts no shadow. It is his nature to set the pattern for others - and to not allow any freedom of choice. Stubbornness is a Wolf trait, and he guards his privacy well. Wolf can also show difficulties in being able to share, and in learning to trust.
What a wonderful amount of information was given in those few short pages! If you want to understand yourself better, if you want to understand someone close to you, or if you want to know how to deal with a business associate - this book is a good beginning reference.
Bonnie Cehovet
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