The Yaya Ceremony

The Yaya Ceremony is a ritual performed by the Hopi of the Pueblo tribe. This ritual would grant the participant the ability of a certain animal which particularly includes the wolf. The details of the said ceremony is not divulged to the public and currently forbidden for an unknown reason.

Participants should first gather the animal which possesses the ability that they want to inherit. They would then start to invoke the spirit of the animal that would grant them of their abilities. The shaman would then start the ceremony where the participants are required to apply oil or an ointment to the desired body parts where they wish to gain the ability of the animals. If a warrior wishes to inherit the speed of the wolf, he has to rub the oil in to his feet and legs; if he wishes to gain the strength then he has to rub it on his arms and shoulders. Coincidentally, ointment and oil are also known to be the element used by the witches to gain the appearance of the wolf during the medieval ages in Europe. But in this ceremony, only the ability of the animals would be inherited and not the physical appearance.

There was a time that a Hopi tribe wanted to gain the eyesight of a wolf, thus they rub it on their eyes. But eventually the tribe was afflicted by a plague that affects the eye of the tribesmen. The Hopi tribe thought that the Gods may have punished them for abusing the power of the Yaya Ceremony that is why they were given such a disease.

The Yaya Ceremony is a highly forbidden ritual these days.