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Mountain Spirits is an integrated and interdisciplinary analysis of the Mescalero Apache Mountain Spirit ceremonial tradition. Based on the cultural metapattern of the four directions, the Mountain Spirits are analyzed as embodiments of Mescalero conceptions of the scared. Originating in the visions and dreams of medicine people, masked dancers are painted and decorated with sacred symbols and then perform their ceremonies to bless and heal. Weaving together thick description, commentary by Mescalero Apache medicine people and ceremonial singers and dancers, Mountain Spirits provides a fascinating perspective into how Mescalero Apache tradition encodes, symbolizes, embodies, and actualizes through ritual, Mescalero theology, philosophy, ecology and sacred geography. Mescaleros speak for themselves in these pages, sharing their sense of identity and connection to the sacred through their traditions, lending their own voices to the study of Native American religion and ceremonial practice.
About the author
Martin W. Ball received his Ph.D. in 2000 from the University of California in Religious Studies with an emphasis on Native American traditions, entheogenic shamanism, and comparative mysticism. He currently resides in Ashland, Oregon where he teaches Religious Studies and Native American Studies at Southern Oregon University.
