Sacred Formulas of the Cherokee

James Mooney’s work preserves Cherokee prayers, charms, rites, and sacred speech, many of which were gathered through close engagement with Cherokee informants. It remains a major source for Native American religious studies, offering readers translations, contextual notes, and insight into the ceremonial and healing uses of spoken formulae.

James Mooney (1861–1921) was an American ethnologist whose work focused on Native American religions, mythology, and ceremonial life. Although not an occultist, his detailed studies of indigenous ritual and belief became important for comparative religion and later esoteric scholarship.