be that of causing illness and death among their relatives. They are greatly feared, and the fear of witchcraft is a strong sanction in Hopi society (Thompson & Joseph, 1965, p. 41). As late as the 1930s, people believed their loved ones were witches when they died prematurely--because they did not make a greater effort to live--and it was feared that these dead ones would lure the living to the world of the dead (Titiev, 1972, p. 8).
In the Hopi world, the spirits identified with natural forces are for the most part benign. They are invoked for help and well-being, not propitiated out of terror and to avoid calamity. An exception is Masau'u, the spirit of fire, war, and death, and the guardian of the underworld (O'Kane, 1958, p. 166). Masau'u owns the Upper World, but beyond giving people fire, he performs no creative deeds, but he permits the Hopis to settle on his land. His existence and reality are believed in by many older Hopis today. On some ceremonial occasions he is represented as a kachina, and sparks or fires that are seen moving in t
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