Katsina - Kiva Mug

Katsinas (Kachinas) - Katsinas are the spirit essence of everything in the real world. We do not believe the Katsinas dolls to be simply carved figurines, they are personifications of the Katsinas spirits. As used by the Hopi it includes, among other things, the spirits of the ancestors,clouds, deities, intermediaries between man and the gods. Too, in a sense, Katsinas is the steam which rises from hot food, the vapour which emits water on a cold morning. These things are the Katsinas spirits, they are the Katsinas themselves. On specific occasions Hopi men dress and mask to personate these spirits; virtually the spirits become part of them, and they are the Katsinas at such times. Power and spirit are vested in the dancer, his mask, his costume, body paint and the regalia which he carries. Katsina doll making today involves both tradition and creativity. The wood is the root of the cottonwood tree. Depicted here is a Katsina dancing after emerging from the Kiva in the background. The Hopi reservation is in what is now Arizona.