Ceremony by Leslie Marmon Silko is a multidimensional novel full of Laguna symbols and themes that are easily overlooked in a superficial reading. Like many of the elements of this work, Josiah's spotted cattle can be interpreted in several ways: as cultural metaphors, water spirits, and animal guides. Tayo's search for the lost cattle is a type of quest: in recovering the cattle, he seeks to end the drought plaguing his people and also to heal himself by restoring his cultural identity. The two elements of his research are deeply intertwined: healing brings water just as water brings healing. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay Silko's depiction of the spotted cattle creates a strong metaphor that connects them closely to the Lagunas. Josiah buys the cattle because they look more like wild animals than the dull Herefords favored by white ranchers. While Herefords die of thirst if someone does not bring them water, piebald cattle find water on their own, that is, they are self-sufficient and close to the land like Native Americans. They are also desert natives, "descendants of generations of desert cattle" (74). Unlike the white man's cows (and the white man himself), these animals are able to live off the land without altering it or requiring outside assistance. They are "everything that [the white man's] ideal cow was not" (75). The parallels between the white man and his defenseless cattle are clearly drawn in one of Josiah's early reflections: Cattle are like any living thing. If you separate them from the land for too long, keep them in barns and paddocks, they lose something. Stomachs get to where they can only eat oatmeal and dry alfalfa. When you release them again, they run all over the place. They are afraid because the land is unfamiliar to them and they are lost. (74)Herefords are a metaphor for white culture that is disconnected from the land and incapable of existing without artificial means, while spotted cattle represent the connection to the land associated with Native American tradition. It is this connection that Tayo has lost and seeks to restore. Silko uses frequent descriptions of the spotted deer-like qualities to connect them to Tayo's relationship with drought. According to Hamilton Tyler, author of "Pueblo Animals and Myths," in Pueblo mythology, deer spirits are rainmakers. Therefore, it seems significant that Silko so often mentions their resemblance to deer: "They were tall and had long, thin legs like deer" (75) and "they moved like deer" (188), "running more like deer than cattle " (197). Tayo believes that his condemnation of rain in the jungle caused the drought, that he "prayed for the rain to stop" (14). Only through repentance and healing can he restore the rain, and only by completing the Betonie ceremony can he find that healing. Recovering livestock is a vital part of the process. Cattle and deer, rain and healing are all intricately woven together. The spotted cattle also serve as animal guides, indirectly leading Tayo to the spiritual deity Ts'eh. It is unclear what spirit Ts'eh represents, but her blue and yellow colors may indicate that she is an incarnation of the Corn Woman, who is synonymous with Mother Earth. In two of the traditional stories told in the book, Corn Woman holds back the rain: first when Reed Woman angers her and then again when the people neglect the corn altar in favor of a C'ko'yo wizard. When Tayo meets Ts'eh at the beginning of his hunt, the first thing he asks for is water for his horse. (1975).