Special Instructions for the Ceremony

SPECIAL INSTRUCTIONS FOR THE CEREMONY.

When these provisions are made, the Mentor should instruct the Candidate relative to his conduct while in the Sacred Lodge, as follows:--

Before entering the Sacred Lodge a Candidate should strip and wear

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only a breechclout and moccasins. While in the Lodge he must wear no other clothing, though his attendant may provide him with a robe to wrap about himself to lie upon. After entering the Lodge, he should not leave it until he goes on the trail of the Sun. His attendant should provide the food and drink that he will be permitted to take and should care for his other necessities. While in the lodge he should converse with no one other than the occupants of the lodge; the Mentors, and attendants. He should meditate continually on his undertaking and talk little of other things. He may smoke the pipe and make incense with sage or sweetgrass as often as he pleases. While he is in the Sacred Lodge is a fit time for him to compose a song that will be known as his song. Then, if he becomes a person of distinction the women will sing his song to honor him. He must fast and take no drink from the beginning of the last day lie occupies the Sacred Lodge until he has danced the Sun Dance. Only a Shaman can release him from any of the requirements for his conduct while in the Sacred Lodge.

The Mentor, having instructed the Candidate relative to his correct behavior in the Sacred Lodge, should then inform him of the tortures inflicted as part of the rites of the Sun Dance. Such torture should cause the blood to flow, for when the blood flows as a token, it is the surest guarantee of sincerity, and without such a guarantee the people or the Sun may doubt the professed purposes of the dancer. They should cause pain, for to endure pain willingly for the accomplishment of a purpose proves fortitude, the greatest virtue that he must manifest when in the presence of the people he appears before the face of the Sun. The first great virtue, bravery, is made most manifest by enduring the greatest flow of blood and the most suffering that the rites of the Sun Dance demand.

A dancer should endure the torture of gazing at the Sun while dancing, so that no one can say that he did not dare to look into the face of the Sun when making a request of Him. One who endures the tortures to the uttermost of the demand of the rites of the ceremony performs his part in a manner acceptable to the Gods and can expect a communication from them. He is thereby fitted for the accomplishment of the purposes of his dance. These instructions should be continued until the Candidate becomes a dancer in the Dance Lodge, when his formal relation with his Mentor ceases.