Medicine Stones

Nicholas Wood describes the ancient use of stones as power helpers and companions and shows how to construct a stone-keeping bag which can be worn around the neck, or tied to other objects.

To many cultures, rocks are objects of veneration, oracle, personal power, and healing. Often these rocks are unusual in their shape. Many have 'eyes' in them, others have holes, images of animals, or other parts of creation reflected within them.

Lakota holy man John Lame Deer describes some ceremonial uses of stones thus:

" 'Yuwipi' is our word for the tiny, glistening rocks we pick up from the anthills. They are sacred. They have power. We put 405 of these little rocks into the gourds (rattles) which we use in our ceremonies......'Yuwipi wasicum' - that is the power of the sacred rocks. It is also another name for 'Tunka', our oldest God, who was like a rock, old beyond imagination, ageless, eternal.

The ancient ones worshipped this God in the form of a huge stone painted red. The old word for God, and the old word for stone are the same - 'tunkashila', grandfather - but it is also a name for Great Spirit.(1) The Lakota word 'yuwipi' is also the name of a powerful spirit-calling ceremony, in which the power of the rocks is often used.

Ed McGaa Eagle Man tells how, in a yuwipi held by the holy man Frank Fools Crow, a Wotai (2) came into being in the room. The ceremony was held for Ed, before his departure to fight in Vietnam. He carried the stone as a protector during his many flying missions.

Upon his return home another yuwipi was held to thank Spirit for his safe return. During this ceremony the stone dissapeared once again. Stones were, and no doubt still are, worn as protective charms by warriors going into battle the world over.

In a yuwipi ceremony, called to help find a plane lost in the deep winter snows of South Dakota, the yuwipi leader Bill Eagle Feather called his spirit animal helpers, who brought a stone to the ceremony. The spirits told Bill the location of the plane, but for good measure also caused the rock to have markings on it which formed a sort of map (3).

The sacred stones of the Blackfoot Nation are called iniskim. These stones were used in hunting ceremonies, to call to the buffalo. Legend tells how, when the people were starving and in great need, the spirit of the rock came to a woman and told her where the buffalo might be found (4) using medicine stones.

I have two stones. One is the stone I found on the beach, the other is a small red and black stone that appeared on the altar of a sweatlodge I led in Wales a few years ago. Both stones have 'eyes', and I use them as aids to my own vision when I need to see beyond the 'everyday' world.

Ed McGaa recommends using a wotai as a prayer tool. He recommends greeting life each morning by holding the stone up to each of the Six directions and asking for help and blessings on the day.

Stones can be used as healing tools, as diagnostic extra 'eyes', or they could be used as dreaming aids. Some people may simply have the stone as a reminder of their connection to a special place, or to the web of life.

Finding A Stone

You cannot find a medicine stone - they find you. They may find you on a beach, in the mountains, in the garden, in a carboot sale, anywhere. Trust yourself, you will know when one comes; you may even have your stone now but you have not recognised it yet.

Enjoy your relationship while it is with you, and when it passes out of your life, remember it is on a long, long journey of its own.

The main thing is that they are used with respect, and love. They have a much longer life than we can ever dream of. So we must treat these grandparents with the respect due to them for their long life and knowledge as they energy dance with us.

Materials

(Small medicine stone).
Very soft and thin buckskin or other leather.
Small (I suggest size 13) glass seed beads.
A selection of larger trade beads for the tassles.
Beading & sewing needles.
Sewing thread.

Construction

The construction of the bag is very simple, although a certain amount of trial and error may be needed to get the shape of the bag exactly right to fit the stone snugly. The bag is made of two pieces of leather large enough to form the bag as well as to allow a flap to extend below each side from which the tassles can be cut.

These two pieces are sewn together with a thread or a lace of thin leather. Sewing is best done with the stone between the two pieces of leather, so that the bag can be shaped to fit the stone tightly.

Sew with the leather wet. Wet leather will stretch more than dry leather, and the stone can be fitted in to its 'nest' even tighter.

Once you are sure that the bag will fit the stone really well, it can be fixed in place with the drawstring. This runs all around the top opening of the bag, and once pulled tight, shuts the neck of the bag keeping the stone from falling out.

Insert the drawstring by making a series of small holes for the leather cord to pass through. Six holes at the front of the bag, and six at the back is a good number. Now you insert the drawstring and begin cutting the tassles.

Start by cutting upwards vertically from the bottom of the leather until you nearly reach the bag seam(cut A). Be careful not to cut too far, or you may cut into the seam thread.

Once the top flap of leather has been divided into two in this way, divide one half in half again (cut b). Each of these quarters can then be cut in half (cut c) and by dividing the leather again and again, fine evenly - distributed tassles can be achieved. Once one flap of leather is completely fringed, repeat the process on the other one.

You will now have a tightly fitting stone, it's top peeping out, held in the small bag with a series of tassles hanging all the way round the bags seam. If you decide that the bag is to be left unbeaded, then at this point, a neck thong can be tied on to its drawstring, at the rear of the stone, and the bag is ready to wear, or tie onto other items.

Beading the Bag

If you do decide to bead the bag, you can simply use large, big holed glass beads threaded on to the tassles. Try and use good beads - reproductions of old beads, or even the original antique beads themselves can be fairly easily obtained (for types of beads available see the 'Glass Trade Beads' features SH. Issues 2&3). To bead the front of the bag, you will need to use small beads to get a fine effect.*

The beadwork stitch is basically lazy stitch, (explained in 'Paint Bags', SH. Iss 2), but with quite a few beads strung on very long threads. Because of the length of the thread, it needs to be stitched down in the middle of each row to stop it flopping about.

There are two ways to do this. The first is to use two needles and threads, one to thread the beads, the other to stitch down the one on which the beads are threaded.

The other way is to use one thread, and once the beads are in position, bring the needle back to the middle of the row and stitch down to the threading strand to hold the row in place.

Once the beadwork is finished a neck lace can be tied to the back of the drawstring, and the bag is finished.

References.

'Lame Deer, Sioux Medicine Man'. John Fire Lame Deer, & Richard Erdoes. (Quartet Books 1980) ISBN 0-7043-3324-4.
Medicine stones are often called wotai stones from the Lakota word 'wotawe' meaning small personal charm.
'Mother Earth Spirituality'. Ed McGaa Eagle Man. (Harper Collins Pub. 1990) ISBN 0-06-250596-3.
'The Indians of the Great Plains'. Norman Bancroft-Hunt, & Werner Forman. (Orbis Publishing 1981) ISBN 0-85613-338-8.