Sicun

SICUN.

(By Sword.)

The word Sicun is from the sacred language of the shamans. It signifies the spirit of a man. This spirit is given to him at birth to guard him against the evil spirits and at death it conducts him to the land of the spirits, but does not go there itself. In the course of his life a man may choose other Sicun. He may choose as many as he wishes but such Sicun do not accompany him after death; if he has led an evil life no Sicun will accompany him.

A shaman should direct a person in the choice of his Sicun. When the Lakota chooses a Sicun such is the Ton of a Wakan or it may be the Ton of anything When one chooses a Sicun he should give a feast and have a shaman to conduct the ceremony, for no one can have the knowledge necessary to conduct his own ceremony unless he has learned it in a vision. One's Sicun may be in any object as in a weapon or even in things to gamble with or in a medicine. But the Sicun that a man receives at birth is never found in anything but his body. This Sicun is like one's shadow.

No one ever had the Ton of the Sun for a Sicun, for the Sun will not be a Sicun for anyone. On the other hand, the Ton of the Sky, while a very powerful Sicun, may be secured through old and wise shamans. The Sicun of the earth is the next most powerful and next in rank is the Sicun of the rock. The Sicuns of the bear and the buffalo are often chosen; but that of the bear more frequently. A Shaman's Wakan bag is his Sicun and all Sicun are considered Wakan. A doctor's medicine is his Sicun and the implements used by a shaman in any ceremony are the Sicun of that shaman. Implements that are in such Sicun will not be appropriate in a ceremony. A person may lend his Sicun to another. The term Wasicun is applied to any object used as a Sicun or it may represent anything which is Wakan. If a ceremony by which one gets a Wasicun is performed in the most acceptable manner that Wasicun will be the same in essence as the Wakan thing it represents. An evil man cannot secure a good Sicun, but may secure an evil one. If the ceremony be performed, a Sicun is secured. Then that Sicun must do as it is directed to do by the one who chooses it; but the chooser must know the songs that belong to it.