They depict objects like the sacred mountains where the gods live, or legendary visions, or they illustrate dances or chants performed in rituals. According to Navajo myth, as a reward to a hero, the Holy People bestowed upon the Din the right to create transient pictures in sand of their own sacred designs, which the gods drew on spiders' webs, sheets of sky, clouds, fog, buckskin, and fabric. Curing ceremonies in which sandpaintings are drawn help restore h zh , which is variously translated as beauty, balance, harmony, or holiness. Navajos try to live in harmony with Mother Earth and Father Sky, and all of nature. But they also believe that h zh is difficult to maintain because of witchcraft, evil spirits, violated taboos, and the fact that the Holy People are sensitive and easily offended.
Ceremonies can last up to nine days, with four or more sand paintings created in that time.
Sandpaintings are made with sand, colored charcoal, pollen, corn meal, white gypsum, red sandstone, yellow ocher, and crushed flower petals. The borders are garlands to ward off evil, such as rainbows, interconnected arrowheads, sunflowers, or multicolored mirages. Sometimes a buckskin or cloth rather than sand is used as a surface. There are from 600 to 1000 sandpainting designs. The east is usually shown at the top of the design, open to let in the light of dawn.