The Zuni have traditionally used small stone carvings of animal figures as power objects and mediators between themselves and the spirit world. Any object that has special meaning can be used as a fetish. In this fascinating, informative, and beautifully illustrated guide to the fetishes of the Zuni people of New Mexico, Hal Zina Bennett explores key principles of Native American spirituality and how early Zuni teachings can benefit us all today. He provides an excellent guide to Zuni traditions and an intriguing picture of their early life, along with detailed instructions for using fetishes for mediation, reflection, and insight in modern life. He describes key fetish figures, including the Guardian of the Six Regions, their legendary meanings, and the personal qualities each figure can support and help its owner develop. In explaining the nature of fetishes and the psychological and spiritual benefits that we can gain from their use, Bennett provides illuminating cross-cultural comparisons, stimulating exercises, and journaling opportunities.

This book explores the magic and mystery behind the animal figures or fetishes skillfully carved by artists from the Southwestern Pueblos. Pictures and text highlight the impressive variety of forms, materials, and traditional and contemporary styles available to collectors along with a price guide to current market values. It also discusses the symbolic meanings associated with each one and explains how they are "borrowed" for use by members of non-Native American cultures.

The Zuni have traditionally used small stone carvings of animal figures as power objects & mediators between themselves & the spirit world. In this fascinating, informative, & beautifully illus. guide to the fetishes of the Zuni people of New Mexico, Bennett explores key principles of Native American spirituality & how early Zuni teachings can benefit us all today. Provides an excellent guide to Zuni traditions & an intriguing picture of their early life, along with detailed instructions for using fetishes for meditation, reflection, & insight in modern life. Describes key fetish figures, including the Guardians of the Six Regions, their meanings, & the qualities each figure can support & help its owner develop. Provides stimulating exercises & journaling opportunities. Illus.

From Beast Gods to Directional Guardian Spirits, this book explores the magic and mystery behind the charismatic, mostly stone, animal figures or fetishes skillfully carved by artists from the Southwestern Pueblos. Hundreds of pictures and insightful text highlight the impressive variety of forms, materials, and traditional and contemporary styles available to collectors. A price guide is included.

Rounds out Edward J. Lenik’s comprehensive and expert study of the rock art of northeastern Native Americans Decorated stone artifacts are a significant part of archaeological studies of Native Americans in the Northeast. The artifacts illuminated in Amulets, Effigies, Fetishes, and Charms: Native American Artifacts and Spirit Stones from the Northeast include pecked, sculpted, or incised figures, images, or symbols. These are rendered on pebbles, plaques, pendants, axes, pestles, and atlatl weights, and are of varying sizes, shapes, and designs. Lenik draws from Indian myths and legends and incorporates data from ethnohistoric and archaeological sources together with local environmental settings in an attempt to interpret the iconography of these fascinating relics. For the Algonquian and Iroquois peoples, they reflect identity, status, and social relationships with other Indians as well as beings in the spirit world. Lenik begins with background on the Indian cultures of the Northeast and includes a discussion of the dating system developed by anthropologists to describe prehistory. The heart of the content comprises more than eighty examples of portable rock art, grouped by recurring design motifs. This organization allows for in-depth analysis of each motif. The motifs examined range from people, animals, fish, and insects to geometric and abstract designs. Information for each object is presented in succinct prose, with a description, illustration, possible interpretation, the story of its discovery, and the location where it is now housed. Lenik also offers insight into the culture and lifestyle of the Native American groups represented. An appendix listing places to see and learn more about the artifacts and a glossary are included. The material in this book, used in conjunction with Lenik’s previous research, offers a reference for virtually every known example of northeastern rock art. Archaeologists, students, and connoisseurs of Indian artistic expression will find this an invaluable work.

The best general reference for collectors.