The Ohio Democrat. (Logan, O. [Ohio]) 1886-1906, 1892-07-09
CHEROKEE TALlsMANs.
Carefully Guarded stones, of Which this
Grcntrgt Is the Tlosutti

Stones endowed with magic powers
have held an important place in the
worlds belief from the days of the
oracular stone in the brcastplate of the
ancient Jewish high priest down 70 the
Lee penny and the murrain stone of
modern times. The Cherokee medicine
men make use of several stone tails
mans, commonly crystals found among
their native mountains One is trans
lucent purple stone about an inch
long, with n sharp point With this
the couiurer claimed to be able to find
lost or stolen articles or to tell the
whereabouts of game in the mountains.
To test the matter, "a coin was thrown
into the grass at random while he was
not looking, aud he was told the money
was his if he could find it. Procuring
string about yard long, he tied one
end of il around the middle of the stone.
Then, holding the stone suspended SO as
to swing freely, he set it whirling in u
circle, with q stroke of his finger, at the
same time reciting in an undertone
some secret formula. The stone re-
volvcd rapidly, then more and moro
slowly, and stopped with the point to-
ward the north He walked few feet
further in that direction. gave the stone
another twirl, and again repeated tho
formula, explaining that it must be
done seven times, and that on the sew
enth trial the stone would point to the
exact spot where the money was lying.
Having gone through the whole per-
formance, he finally halted at the wrong
place. After hunting in the grass for
some time he was obliged to give it up.
He declared that his failure was due to
the fact that the stone was not fastened
as it should have been. The other In
dians said that the stone was all right,
but that the man was liar, which was
perfectly true, and that, although
pretty good doctor, he knew nothing of
magic. They asserted that in the hands
of certain coniurcrs, whom they named,
the charm never failed.
To obtain a knowledge of future
events, they use another talisman.
They put it into bowl of water,
where, according to their testimony, it
moves about on the surface, following
the direction of a knife in the hand of
the conjurer, who all the time repeats
his secret formula. Whipple describes
that ceremony as he witnessed it
among the western Cherokees forty
years ago. The talisman was small
piece of very dry bread.
The greatest of all Cherokee tails
mans is the Ulasutti literally transpar-
ent) stone. There is no end to the
stories concerning this stone, which the
Indians invariably speak of in half
frightened manner, as children speak of
ghosts. They assert that it is magic
scale from the head of u great horned
serpent with body as large as tree
trunk and two blazing Goals of FIRE for
eyes, which lived ages ago and worked
terrible destruction among the people
until it was killed by famous magi-
clan. In the encounter Il single drop of
the serpcnt's poisonous saliva fell upon
the head of the slayer, whose hair was
transformed into mass of writhing
snakes.
The Indians describe it as a trian-
gular crystal, fiat on the bottom and
tapering up to point, and perfectly
transparent with the exception of a
single red streak running through the
center from top to bottom. 1t is evil
IDENTITY beautiful specimen of rutile
quartz, so exceedingly rare that the con-
juror who can obtain one outranks all
his rivals.
The stone must be fed, the Indians
say, with the blood of small game every
seven days-rubbedo over with the blood
of the animal as soon as killed. Twice
year it demands the blood of deer
or some other large animal. 1t is
wrapped in whole deer skin and kept
in some secret cave in the mountains
Were the tribute of blood to be with
held or neglected the Ulasutti would
issue from it's hiding place at night as
great blazing ball of fire. and fly
through the air to satisfy its appetite
by drinking the life blood of the con-
juror
The original owner was afraid of it,
and he changed it's hiding place fre-
quently, so that the stone might not be
able to find its way out. When he died
it was buried with him, as otherwise it
would issue from its cave by night, like
a fiery meteor, to search for his tomb
night after night for seven years. But,
if unable to find its owner, it would go
back to sleep forever where he had
placed it.
AS far back as 1862 Timberlal1e heard
of the stone with the wonderful story
of its origin. lie said that it was kept
hidden in some place known only to
two women, who refused to betray the
secret. Adair, the celebrated trader,
also speaks of it few years later The
conjurer refused to let him see it for
fear of proclamation.
When consulting it for an unknown
or future happening the conjuror gazes
into the Ulasutti, and there sees mir
rored all that he wishes to know, and
by the action of the specter, or its posi-
man, he learns not only the event but
also its proximity in time or place.
1t is believed that only one of these
stones Is in possession of the eastern
Cherokees. The owner has refused all
inducements to show it. He said that
he kept it hidden in a cave, wrapped in
its deerskip covering, and that if he
should expose it to the profane gaze of
IL white man he could kill no more
game, even if he were permitted to
live. 1t was very evident that he be-
lieved what he said, for no offer could
change his determination. Y. Sun.
An Uuwholesome Occupation.
What is called in common parlance
''brooding' is Il very unwholesome occu-
patton of the mind and leads to most
i I