The Blessingway (Hozhooji) is the central chant complex of Navajo (Dine) ceremonial practice, sung by a trained chanter (hataalii) to restore and maintain hozho, a state of beauty, harmony and well-being, in the person for whom the multi-day ceremony is performed. Rather than treating a single specific ailment the way many other Navajo chantways do, Blessingway is understood as foundational and protective, commonly performed at major life transitions, and its songs recount the Navajo origin narrative as part of restoring the patient to a right relationship with the world it describes.
Facts
Structure
StructureA multi-day chant complex sung by a trained chanter (hataalii), reciting the Navajo origin narrative as part of restoring the patient to a right relationship with the world it describes; understood as foundational and protective rather than treating a single specific ailment as other Navajo chantways do. 1 Practice
Liturgical and Scriptural RoleSung by a trained chanter to restore hozho, harmony and well-being, in the person for whom the multi-day ceremony is performed; its songs recount the Navajo origin narrative as part of that restoration. 1 Origins
RegionThe Navajo Nation, in the Four Corners region of the southwestern United States. 1 Connections
Belongs to Tradition
Source Encyclopedia of ReligionMircea Eliade (ed.); Lindsay Jones (ed., 2nd ed.)
Related To
Sources
1. Encyclopedia of Religion
Mircea Eliade (ed.); Lindsay Jones (ed., 2nd ed.), Macmillan Reference, 2005s.v. Navajo religion; BlessingwayView the Source Reader Challenges (0)
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