Joining Ceremony

What It’s For

Overseen by the Women of the Order of Zedeqetelebab, this ceremony addresses a growing modern problem — how thoroughly technology and addiction can cut people off from the earth, from God, from other people, and from themselves. Its core element of righteousness is the Song of the Dance, the same way Cavah, the first mother, once joined all creation together in harmony after Yaatsekawd first gave meaning to the spirits of every living thing. Before it can happen, though, careful groundwork is needed to make sure no unresolved conflict or resistance to correction is lingering beneath the surface — if it is, the ceremony won’t work, and has to wait until that’s resolved.

Preparing

Pink and light yellow face paint (for women and men) plus black; sand paints in every color; a grindstone and pestle; a stone gift — an arrowhead, knife, or awl, found or handmade — for the candidate to keep and use for life; five trumpet vine cuttings about a foot long, including flowers and roots (the roots kept in water, meant to be replanted after); a four-strand braid of Father’s grass (yellow prairie cordgrass); communion kelly bread and cherry juice sweetened with maple syrup or honey; and a small, flat rock of witness set aside permanently for this purpose, which may be reused at future ceremonies as something to rest the kelly bread on. The ceremony takes place in the morning.

Preparing the Day Before

The candidate and everyone participating does the repentance needed to approach Kabodiel, the Watcher of trees, whose role here is acceptance of others.

The Ceremony

Everyone present wears patched clothing — patches are said to carry their own feeling of being specially loved, and this is one of the twenty-four conditions. Anyone with final confessions still to make does so beforehand, to Kabodiel and the Lord. The community decides together who is eligible to carry out the joining and who will dance.

The candidate sits at the center of a sand painting — its specific design varies by what’s being joined, though every version includes a five-petaled flower at its center — and explains fully what they need to be joined to, so everyone present can genuinely feel the need and hold real compassion for them. The sacred fire is lit with a prairie sunflower spindle, and allowed to speak if it has anything to add. The candidate then shares what they understand of their own vision, who among the Eerkodeshiy they’re kin to, and what feeling from Anokeesed they need — followed by full discussion of what exactly needs joining and who will carry out each part. Up to four women volunteer, and each receives a trumpet vine cutting.

The minister kneels at the sand painting’s east side, facing the candidate — kneeling because this prayer is offered to God — and asks a blessing for each element the volunteers have chosen to bring. The dancers then circle the candidate, delivering that element and joining them to it. The candidate’s cheeks are painted in their gender’s color, marking their determination to pursue these new relationships. Communion follows — kelly bread and sweetened cherry juice — and the candidate is anointed with oil and blessed in prayer, then given the community’s stone gift. The Mother’s Song is sung, and any mothers present offer the closing prayer.

What the Ceremony Actually Does

Trumpet vine is a follower of Kabodiel, which is why everyone must first repent and confess to her — in this ceremony, she serves as the link between man and Anokeesed through Motsah’s repentance. The candidate is committing to real endurance and prudence in relentlessly pursuing the righteousness revealed here — this isn’t a ceremony of gifts. The women aren’t giving presents; they’re joining the candidate to an element, and the face paint marks the candidate’s own commitment to follow through on that joining. Most people are joined to about four things at once — there’s no fixed limit, but there’s only so much any person can genuinely commit to at one time.

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