Mid-day Demons
The ancients frequently made mention of certain demons who became visible especially towards mid-day to those with whom they had a pact. They appeared in the form of men or of beasts, and let themselves be enclosed in a character, a figure, a vial, or in the interior of a hollow ring.
Midiwiwin, The: A secret society or exclusive association of the Ojibway Indians of North America. The myth of the foundation of this society is as follows Michabo, the Creator, looking down to earth saw that the forefathers Espying a black of the Ojibway were very helpless... object floating on the surface of a lake he drew near to it and saw that it was an otter-now one of the sacred animals of the Midiwiwin. He instructed it in the mysteries of that caste, and provided it with a sacred rattle, a sacred , a sacred drum, and tobacco. He built a Midiwigan, or Sacred , or Sacred House of Midi, to which he took the otter and confided to it the mysteries of the Midiwiwin. In short, the society is one of these medicine " or magical associations so common among the North-American Indians (q.v.). When a a candidate is admitted to a grade and is prepared to pass on to the next, he gives three feasts, and sings three prayers to the Bear Spirit in order to be permitted to enter that grade. His progress through the various grades is assisted by several snake-spirits; and at a later stage by the power of certain prayers or invocations, -a larger snake appears and raises its body, thus forming an arch under which the candidate takes his way to the higher grade. When the Indian belongs to the second grade he is supposed to receive supernatural power, to be able to see into the future, to hear what comes afar off, to touch friends and foes however far away they may be, and so on. In higher grades he can assume the form of any animal. The third grade confers enhanced power, and it is thought that its members can perform extraordinary exploits, and have power over the entire invisible world. The fourth is still more exalted.
When an Indian is ready to undergo initiation, he erects a wigwam in which he takes steam-baths for four days, one on each day. On the evening of the day before initiation he visits his teachers in order to obtain from them instructions for the following day. Next morning the priests approach with the candidate at their head, enter the Midiwigan, and the proceedings commence. publications of the Bureau of American Ethnology contain several good accounts of the ritual of this society.