failed to do so. Though the kachina dolls are often identified with the Hopi deities, this is highly inaccurate: one should not confuse the dolls with the kachina themselves. The dolls are merely props and many have fallen for the mistake, to take the prop for the god. One might argue that their closest parallel is the voodoo doll or the Egyptian ushabti – though one needs to de-cinematise these artefacts in order to appreciate their true role and function.
Indeed, one of the reasons that many of the ceremonies of the Hopi are now closed to outsiders is because a Marvel comic had characterised the kachina as violent avengers.
The kachina themselves – rather than the dolls – are largely described as“ spirit messengers”, whereas some believe they might represent the spirit of the dead – if there were a difference. The Hopi state that at one time in the past, the kachina deities visited the Mesas in person, but that they now do so in the form of masked dancers. Whereas kachina dolls are sold and hung from beams or walls, the real deities are surrounded with far greater respect. The Hopi deities live on the San Francisco Mountains, though are present amongst the Hopi for part of the year. As such, the religious year is divided into two parts. The deities arrive at the Hopi Mesas in the form of rain-bearing clouds and normally arrive in early February
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failed to do so. Though the kachina dolls are often identified with the Hopi deities, this is highly inaccurate: one should not confuse the dolls with the kachina themselves. The dolls are merely props and many have fallen for the mistake, to take the prop for the god. One might argue that their closest parallel is the voodoo doll or the Egyptian ushabti – though one needs to de-cinematise these artefacts in order to appreciate their true role and function.
Indeed, one of the reasons that many of the ceremonies of the Hopi are now closed to outsiders is because a Marvel comic had characterised the kachina as violent avengers.
The kachina themselves – rather than the dolls – are largely described as“ spirit messengers”, whereas some believe they might represent the spirit of the dead – if there were a difference. The Hopi state that at one time in the past, the kachina deities visited the Mesas in person, but that they now do so in the form of masked dancers. Whereas kachina dolls are sold and hung from beams or walls, the real deities are surrounded with far greater respect. The Hopi deities live on the San Francisco Mountains, though are present amongst the Hopi for part of the year. As such, the religious year is divided into two parts. The deities arrive at the Hopi Mesas in the form of rain-bearing clouds and normally arrive in early February