Verified Document

Dine Cosmology Reflects A Sophisticated Term Paper

Directionality and the compas points denote the sacred geography that characterizes the Navajoland and Dine cosmos. As a result, the hooghan is constructed with four main structural poles. Each pole corresponds to a direction with the entrance of the house always in the east. The poles create special sections within the hooghan that are also linked to sacred geography and directionality. A fifth pole flanks the doorway, demarcating the presence of the fifth element. Birth offers the opportunity to hear and speak the First Language, which is forgotten and inaudible to contemporary humans ("The Nature of Life in the Navajo World"). These so-called "mind sounds" are a substance in themselves ("The Nature of Life in the Navajo World"). Like the other four more concrete elements, primal sound is consciousness. All the elements possess consciousness and therefore all objects are sacred, with the potential to hold both knowledge and power.

The Dine creation story reflects the structure and order of the cosmos. The First Man and First Woman also represent the gendered construction that is manifest in the hooghan. However, the creation story is not binary; male and female are viewed as syntheses of the four basic elements, united by the fifth through sound and chanting. Chanting often occurs in sets of four, because the creation story emphasizes the role of the number four in the emergence of the universe ("Dine (Navajo) Creation").

The number twelve (which is four times three) is also integral to the Dine cosmos. As four times three, the number twelve contains the...

Just as the basket contains four rings to represent the four levels of knowledge, it also symbolizes the twelve days of creation. The fifth element of sound becomes the chant in ritual, embedded in the creation myth itself.
Dine cosmology is highly structured. As a homology, it shows how all elements derive from a common source. Primordial elements combine in different proportions to create matter. Matter is imbued with spirit, spirit imbues matter. All human creations are automatically expressions of cosmological patterns. However, the Dine people deliberately create objects in a ritualized fashion to respect the structure of their universe. Thus, baskets, hooghans, and textiles represent universal structures, elements, colors, numbers, shapes, and forms. Dine ritual reenacts these forms and the creation of the universe.

References

Dine (Navajo) Creation." First Americans. Retrieved June 29, 2007 at http://www.ic.arizona.edu/ic/kmartin/School/navajo44.htm

Francisco, N. (1977). "The Hooghan." In the Sacred. Navajo Community College Press. Retrieved June 29, 2007 at http://www.hanksville.org/voyage/navajo/hooghan.php3

Lapahie, H. (2001). "The Navajo Creation Story." Retrieved June 29, 2007 at http://www.lapahie.com/Creation.cfm

The Nature of Life in the Navajo World." Class Readings.

Navajo Cosmology and Worldview." Retrieved June 29, 2007 at http://www.mc.maricopa.edu/dept/d10/asb/anthro2003/religion/navajo_worldview.html

Sources used in this document:
References

Dine (Navajo) Creation." First Americans. Retrieved June 29, 2007 at http://www.ic.arizona.edu/ic/kmartin/School/navajo44.htm

Francisco, N. (1977). "The Hooghan." In the Sacred. Navajo Community College Press. Retrieved June 29, 2007 at http://www.hanksville.org/voyage/navajo/hooghan.php3

Lapahie, H. (2001). "The Navajo Creation Story." Retrieved June 29, 2007 at http://www.lapahie.com/Creation.cfm

The Nature of Life in the Navajo World." Class Readings.
Navajo Cosmology and Worldview." Retrieved June 29, 2007 at http://www.mc.maricopa.edu/dept/d10/asb/anthro2003/religion/navajo_worldview.html
Cite this Document:
Copy Bibliography Citation

Related Documents

Ring of Fire
Words: 597 Length: 2 Document Type: Case Study

Ring of Fire is a swampland in Northern Ontario. The area, found within an aboriginal area, consists of boreal forest, lakes, and rivers. This area is covered by a treaty and is protected under Canadian aboriginal law. In 2006, large deposits of minerals were uncovered leading mineralogists to reach the conclusion that there would be large, deep deposits of Chromite, a key ingredient in stainless steel. With this discovery, it

Earth Science Ring of Fire Ring of
Words: 1387 Length: 4 Document Type: Term Paper

Earth Science Ring of Fire Ring of Fire originally aired on the National Geographic Channel in August, 2007 as part of the Naked Science series produced by Ben Fox and Ian Hunt. The hour-long Ring of Fire program focuses on scientific efforts to understand the danger posed by the 25,000-mile long chain of volcanoes and earthquakes that makes up the Ring of Fire. The video explores scientific explanations for a rise in

Fire Hazards of Trusses
Words: 2599 Length: 8 Document Type: Term Paper

Fire Hazards of Trusses: Sample Report Structures often play the important role when a building is on fire. Upon many reviews, there are a lot of fires claiming for lives of the inhabitants of the building, but there are also some cases, which had taken the firefighters' lives as well. Such cases should not have happened, but limited information of the building's structures and length of fire could have caused it. Chesapeake

Fire Service the Hackensack Fire
Words: 1776 Length: 4 Document Type: Term Paper

(The Hackensack Fire Radio Communications Issue) Although there was plenty of controversy surrounding the issue, wherein some stated that it was plain human error, and bad judgment, while some others stated that it was because of interference, or due to mechanical malfunction, the actual truth, as it was later discovered, was that the firefighters had been inadvertently transmitting their communications on a general channel, and since nobody listened to it,

Fire Alarm Systems
Words: 1430 Length: 5 Document Type: Research Paper

Fire Alarm Systems Every year, thousands of people die in home and commercial building fires, but far more are saved as a result of fire alarm systems that provide them with sufficient notice to evacuate the premises. In the distant past, fire alarm systems consisted of men and sometimes animals, but more recently, increasingly sophisticated systems have been developed that form an essential part of the concentric layers of building

Lord of the Rings: Absolute
Words: 1413 Length: 4 Document Type: Essay

Frodo cannot resist the Ring, and only the forces of chance and circumstance can separate him from it. While some individuals are more easily and swiftly affected by the Ring, like Gollum, no one, not even Bilbo Baggins can fully divest themselves of the desires it sparks in their hearts. Even Sam, the most stalwart and stable of all of the characters knows: "He himself, though only for a

Sign Up for Unlimited Study Help

Our semester plans gives you unlimited, unrestricted access to our entire library of resources —writing tools, guides, example essays, tutorials, class notes, and more.

Get Started Now