was^i'c^uN

["Alfred W. Tüting"]

BTW, got somewhat puzzled so I checked the sources (Buechel and CULP)
for _icu_ and both give the verb as [ic^u'] i.e. with c unaspirated.

 >I'd be doubtful that a term presently glossed as 'evil' always
had that meaning.  In this case, I would guess that *s^ikE
originally meant something like present day wakhaN' or xube',
sacred, holy, mysterious.  It would have been practiced by
shamans, *s^ikE-?uN => s^ic^uN.  Shamans doing their mysterious
things, perhaps wearing masks so they wouldn't be personally
recognized by the uninitiated, could be regarded as "live spirits",
and possibly as returned ancestors, which could lead to the
philosophical conception that the soul has the s^ic^uN' as
its immortal component.

But the practice of *s^ikE could take on a sinister hue if it
were done selfishly.  In this case, it would be what the Old
Norse called seidhr, or witchcraft, magical knowledge and power
that could be used to hurt one's enemies.  Then the concept of
*s^ikE would take on the sense of supernatural malevolence and
mortal danger, perhaps during a period of witch lynching.  When
no one was left who dared to practise *s^ikE, the term would
extend to cover evil generically, and shamans would devote
themselves more righteously to being wakhaN' or xube' instead.

Rory<<

I somehow like this idea - the more so as it was mine too ;-)

Also cf.  "Wasicun: Not a divinity in and of itself, and not precisely
an animate spirit,
 wasicun is nevertheless an important concept. In general, it refers to
anything
 hidden or mysterious, or the container that such a thing is held in. It
often
 refers to the medicine bag borne by the Shaman, containing objects
imbued with great power that he uses in his work. Such objects, together
with the bag they are within, are thought to take on an independent
existence in their own right, and thus must be carefully dealt with. The
term can be applied to any of a wide variety of foci of mystery and
power; one such application was to people of European descent when the
Lakota first came in contact with them..."

http://www.sacred-texts.com/nam/pla/sdo/sdo54.htm
http://www.sacred-texts.com/nam/pla/sdo/sdo49.htm

 Alfred