Kit'Yowahthose
from Creator YoWaH Belief
in one supreme being formed the central theme of the Cherokee
religion. This being’s name
was Yowah, a name so sacred that it could not be spoken aloud,
except by certain priests.
Even such individuals, dedicated from childhood to the performance
of religious rites, uttered
it in public only while singing a hymn — a hymn that was sung
but once a year. Yowah,
the supreme god, was conceived of as a unity of three beings,
referred to as “The Elder
Fires Above” who were the creators of the universe. These Elder
Fires* first created the sun
and the moon and gave the world its form. Then they returned to the
seventh heaven in the
sky, leaving the sun and the moon to finish the creation of the
stars and all living things, and
to rule over them. This
explains why Cherokee prayers used the expression, ‘Sun, my
creator’ During the process
of creation, the sun and the moon appointed fire as the protector of
human beings and
to be the intermediary between man and the sun. Smoke was the
fire’s messenger who bore
the prayers of man from earth to heaven. Native
American YHWH - Rock Medicine
Native
American Prayer Oh
Great Spirit, Whose
Voice I Hear in the wind, Whose
breath gives life to the world, hear
me. I
come to you as one of your many children, I
am small and weak, I
need your strength and wisdom. May
I walk in beauty, Make
my eyes behold the red and purple sunset, Make
my hands respect the things that you have made, and
my ears sharp to hear your voice. Make
me wise so that I may know the
things that you have taught your children, The
lessons that you hide in every leaf and rock. Make
me strong.. Not
to be superior to my brothers but
to be able to fight My greatest enemy.. myself. Make
me ever ready to come to you with straight eyes so
that when life fades as the faded sunset, My
spirit will come to you without shame.
