Fasting in civilizations and religions.. Native Americans abstain from food and seclude themselves
These days, Muslims around the world are performing the obligation of fasting , to celebrate the advent of the blessed Ramadan, which is the holiest month of the year in the Islamic world. Fasting is one of the most sacred Muslim rituals, an obligation, and one of the five pillars of Islam, where millions of Muslims gather daily throughout the month of Ramadan. Blessed to perform the obligation of fasting, obedience to God, and Tarawih prayer.
But fasting is not an Islamic ritual. Humans have known it since the beginning of creation, and many different civilizations and cultures have known it. It is also an obligation among all Abrahamic religions, and some ancient peoples, including the American Indians, have also known it.
According to a study by the Iraqi researcher Laith Al-Jadir, fasting among the American Indians is somewhat different from other forms of fasting. For the American Indians, it is associated with the stage of puberty among boys, and in it those who are certain of their sexual maturity are gathered and then transferred to remote and isolated places, where they abstain from food. And water for a period of four consecutive days, which may exceed one or two days. During these days, by practicing seclusion and solitude, the fasting person seeks to have a dream vision in his sleep through which he recognizes the spirit of his totem, the “symbol,” which is responsible for caring for the bond between the fasting person and the spirit of the supreme being.
Laith explains that although the concept of fasting is common among Native American tribes, its practice and timings differ from one tribe to another. There are fasting people who urge themselves to cry while begging for a vision, while there are those who carry a drum with them to beat and beg, and others place clay on their heads as a kind of protection. Gaining the sympathy of the higher spirit with them. The other difference is in the timing. There are some tribes who link the observance of this fasting ceremony to the possibility of war or a natural disaster, while other tribes exceed this timing and monitor the number of boys who have reached sexual maturity.
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