Book summary
The Sacred Formulas of the Cherokees summary
- 8 min read
- 8 key ideas
- Audio soon
Swimmer pulls a ragged daybook from his coat, and six hundred secret Cherokee formulas come to light.
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The Sacred Formulas of the Cherokees at a glance
Summary: 8 min to read
- Reading time
- About 2 h 45 min2 h 10 min fast, 3 h 20 min slow
- Length
- 39,600 words
- Library level
- Medium longer sentences, everyday words
- First published
- 1891by James Mooney
Reading time at 238 words a minute (fast 300, slow 200). How long the classics take to read · Updated
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The Sacred Formulas of the Cherokees in short
This book follows one shaman's secret daybook into a whole library. James Mooney gathered about six hundred formulas that Cherokee priests had written in Sequoyah's alphabet. He shows how he won the trust of Swimmer, Wilnoti, Ayasta and others, and he prints a selection with explanations.
What The Sacred Formulas of the Cherokees is about
What would you do if a man you had hired kept his songs secret because hunters paid as much as five dollars for a single one? In 1887 the ethnologist James Mooney faced this problem on the Cherokee reservation in North Carolina. A shaman named Swimmer would tell stories all day, but his sacred songs were his livelihood, and he would not sing them.
This book grows out of that meeting. Mooney gathered about six hundred sacred formulas, written down by Cherokee shamans in the alphabet Sequoyah invented in 1821. You will meet Mooney's own opinions, which belong to his time and need careful reading.
Who it’s for. Readers drawn to folklore, myth and religious history will love this book, as will those curious about Cherokee life, language and people recording their own sacred words.
The 8 key ideas
Key idea 1 · free to read
A new alphabet saved the sacred words
Mooney begins with a bold claim. No other tribe in North America could offer an account of its old religion written by its own priests. The reason is Sequoyah, whose syllabary of 1821 gave the Cherokees a writing system of their own.
The shamans used it to write down prayers, songs and recipes that had passed by mouth for generations. Other peoples were different. Northern tribes seem to have used mission alphabets only for Bibles and catechisms. The surviving Maya books were written under Spanish influence. The Cherokee formulas were written by men who spoke only Cherokee. Mooney says scarcely a dozen lines show any trace of white influence.
These were not scraps of a dead faith. Shamans still treated the sick, prepared hunters and blessed ball teams. A good priest needed a good memory, since a formula was spoken only once for a student. The shamans whispered the words so softly that even the patient could not follow them.
A Cherokee invention turned a spoken tradition into a written record made by the tradition's own keepers.
- 2Start free to read
Swimmer's daybook opened the door
Mooney's first visit in 1887 was about plants.
- 3Start free to read
Four more manuscripts filled out the collection
Swimmer's book led to others.
- 4Start free to read
Disease began as animal revenge
To understand the medical formulas, Mooney retells the Cherokee story of how illness began.
- 5Start free to read
Healing joined plants, taboo and ritual
Mooney lists twenty medicinal plants and compares their uses with the United States Dispensatory, a leading drug reference.
- 6Start free to read
Every formula follows a pattern of colors and directions
Reading the formulas, Mooney finds a plan underneath them.
- 7Start free to read
Hunters, fishers and warriors prayed to nature
Hunting formulas show the same respect.
- 8Start free to read
Love charms and witchcraft show the darker side
Love charms are the second largest group, a fact Mooney finds amusing, since many had been taught that Native men were unmoved by women.
Read all 8 key ideas now
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Check yourself
Why did Swimmer initially refuse to sing a hunting song for Mooney?
Right. “The songs were his secret knowledge, and hunters paid up to five dollars for one.”Not quite. “The songs were his secret knowledge, and hunters paid up to five dollars for one.”
How does the Cherokee account explain the beginning of disease?
Right. “Then the birds, insects and small animals met under the Grubworm, and one by one they invented diseases.”Not quite. “Then the birds, insects and small animals met under the Grubworm, and one by one they invented diseases.”
What links the formulas for disease, luck and love?
Right. “The world is alive with spirits, and disease, luck and love are settled by calling the right spirit in the right color at the right direction.”Not quite. “The world is alive with spirits, and disease, luck and love are settled by calling the right spirit in the right color at the right direction.”
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Questions about The Sacred Formulas of the Cherokees
What is The Sacred Formulas of the Cherokees about?
It presents a selection of Cherokee prayers, songs and charms for medicine, love, hunting, fishing, war and the ball play. James Mooney explains how he collected them, what they mean, and the beliefs behind them.
Who wrote the original formulas?
Cherokee shamans wrote them for their own use in the syllabary invented by Sequoyah in 1821. Mooney bought or copied the manuscripts from Swimmer, Gatigwanasti's family, Gahuni's widow, Black Fox's daughter and others in 1887 and 1888.
What do the colors mean in the formulas?
Each direction has a color. East is red for success, north is blue for trouble, west is black for death and south is white for peace. Spirits are called by color to fit the task.
What does the name Swimmer refer to?
Swimmer is the English name of Ayuninhi, a Cherokee shaman and storyteller. His daybook of about 240 pages was the first manuscript Mooney obtained, and it led to the rest of the collection.
Is this book worth reading today?
It gives direct access to Cherokee prayers and the reasons behind them, with clear explanations after each one. Readers who like folklore, language, religion or the story of a collecting trip will find plenty to enjoy.
Cite this edition
Mooney, James. The Sacred Formulas of the Cherokees. Library of Alexandria, 2026, libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-sacred-formulas-of-the-cherokees.
Mooney, J. (2026). The sacred formulas of the Cherokees. Library of Alexandria. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-sacred-formulas-of-the-cherokees (Original work published 1891)
Mooney, James. The Sacred Formulas of the Cherokees. Library of Alexandria, 2026. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-sacred-formulas-of-the-cherokees.
@book{mooney2026sacred,
author = {Mooney, James},
title = {The Sacred Formulas of the Cherokees},
publisher = {Library of Alexandria},
year = {2026},
url = {https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-sacred-formulas-of-the-cherokees},
note = {First published 1891}
}
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