Nyx in the House of Night

guide humanity on its journey through life, in preparation for entry into the spirit world.
Anigilohi (the Long Hair Clan): the human people
Anisahoni (the Blue Holly Clan): purification in preparation for ceremonies
Aniwaya (the Wolf Clan): the doorway to the world of spirits and the development of a higher social consciousness
Anigatogewi (the Wild Potato Clan): earth or physical matter
Anikawi (the Deer Clan): the spirit of life or procreation
Anitsiskwa (the Bird or Red-tailed Hawk Clan): the development of the human intellect
Aniwodi (the Paint Clan): the four directions, the structure of society, and the evolution of social organization
    The number seven is also associated with purity and sacredness, a challenging state to attain. In the animal kingdom, both the owl and cougar are believed to have reached such a state, and one Cherokee creation story explains that this is because they were the only two animals able to stay awake during the seven days of the Creation. (That’s why they are nocturnal animals today, according to legend. Perhaps the same is true of vampyres.) The pine, cedar, spruce, holly, and laurel had achieved this rank of sacredness because they, too, stayed awake—which is why they all play an important role in Cherokee ceremonies and medicines even today. Cedar is the most sacred of all. The wood from the tree is considered very revered, and in ancient times, it was used to carry the honored dead (Sylvia recommends cedar needles be burned while Stark travels to the Otherworld). Rivers, or “Long Man,” are also sacred, and water is used for purification by the Cherokee, as Zoey mentions learning from her grandmother in Marked .
    Sylvia taught Zoey many things about her sacred Cherokee culture and spiritual values that turn out to be very useful to Zoey when her life changes. At the end of Marked , Zoey relies on her knowledge of Cherokee rituals as well as the protection of Nyx to fortify her before she confronts Aphrodite. Specifically, she uses a variation on a purification ritual to summon positive energy. As Zoey says, traditional Cherokee purification rituals are usually performed with running water nearby. But when running water isn’t available on school grounds for her to conduct her ritual (or at least not anywhere private), she decides to use a smudging stick instead and holds her ceremony under a massive oak tree where she had found her cat Nala. (Oaks are also revered by the Cherokee.) To magnify her prayer, Zoey conducts her ceremony before dawn, along with her grandmother who performs the ritual simultaneously at her lavender farm.
    The simultaneous rituals at dawn and the words of the prayer are fiction, a product of the authors’ creativity, but there is a traditional Cherokee practice that Zoey’s predawn purification ritual closely reflects, called “going to water.” This ritual, which is still practiced by some Cherokee today, is performed at sunrise, and involves facing east and immersing oneself in water seven times to cleanse both body and spirit.
    The smudging ritual, too, is an authentic part of Cherokee beliefs. In smudging, the Cherokee do use different types of herbs or plants, including sage, cedar, and sweetgrass. Sage is believed to drive out evil spirits, negative thoughts, and feelings, and keep Gan’n (negative entities) away from the people, places, and things protected by the ceremony. (In a traditional sweat lodge, the floor of the lodge is strewn with sage so the Cherokee can rub it on their bodies during the sweat to protect themselves.) And the way Zoey uses sage reflects a traditional method of smudging, in which the herbs are burned in a bundled “wand” and the smoke is directed with a hand or feather over the person, place, or thing to be protected. However, the white sage and lavender Zoey uses is not a traditional combination for smudging. Instead, it reflects her own preference for lavender, perhaps because it reminds her of her grandmother.
    In Zoey’s ritual, she takes her cue from the circle cast at the Dark Daughters’ Full Moon Ritual. The Dark Daughters’ circle has a strong impact on Zoey, stirring the elements of Air, Fire, Water, Earth, and Spirit within her, but the circle is a familiar symbol to Cherokees today, as well. The Stomp Dance and other tribal ceremonies involve moving in a circle pattern. And in Cherokee history, the Native council built its fires by arranging the wood so the flames would burn in a circular