Wednesday, July 15, 2009

Spanish Inquisition

Nobody expects the Spanish Inquisition!
Monty Python was right!

Here's the story.....

I identified some of the artifacts as "Bloodletting Stones". Not hard to do really, if you know what to look for. It took me so long because I was looking for the answer to the question of "why was this made?", and the answer turned out to be so foreign to my upbringing that it was difficult to comprehend. (not actually foreign I guess....George Washington, the father of our country, was "curred" to death by it.). Turns out to be a thread that I can pull to try to unravel the mystery that I've been presented with.

So, I look up "bloodletting stones" and "tattoo" on the Internet to try and come up with some info and images for comparison. Google spit out a bunch of stuff, and high on the list was a page posted by a bible-thumper, meant to persuade folks from getting tattoos and engaging in bloodletting. It turns out that the bible is filled with references about folks who use stones for bloodletting. Not just in one or two passages, but a whole bunch. Strange that something is mentioned so much, yet in Museums there are no examples of the "stones" that were preached so fervently about. My interest was piqued. (Looks like Mohammad used to pay for bloodletting..)

I found that Mayans were into bloodletting, as well as other Meso-American cultures. So I looked at what written history was available. The Popol Vuh (national book, from Guatemala) was written down after the Spanish came. Most of it was a typical creation myth, why it's okay to hunt animals, why rabbits have short tails, which Deity begot whom, that sort of stuff. A large part deals with the warrior twins defeating the lords of the underworld. But the last third or so references the war they had with the "Bloodletters, Sacrificers", who were their relatives (they had the same ancestors). Three Nations mustered together 24,000 troops to wipe-out folks who were causing them grief. They sent "Lady Lust" and "Lady Weeping" to get naked at the river mouth where the dudes hung-out, and get friendly. Guys brought the chicks to the Citadel to party, showing the army where to go, to do what they do. End of Bloodletting Sacrificers story.

Here's where the Spanish Inquisition part of the story comes in. Every group of folks has their own history. People come from somewhere, stay and breed for a while, then descendants go off to somewhere else. The Spanish were interested in this stuff, always looking for the "seven cities of gold" or the "spring of immortality", what have you. They wrote down the clan travelings of the Toltec, who trace their beginnings in this land to their emergence from "seven caves" (as a side note, I read interesting speculation that the "caves" were actually the holds of large sea going vessels, supporting the claim that they came from a place covered with water....but back to the story...). The story of the travels is quite detailed, staying in a place for a while, then travelling two days north, then so-many days east, that sort of stuff. The implication is they left descendants in all these locations. Scholars who attempted to map the travelings became frustrated because of missing details (what direction? it says they went four days, but it doesn't say where...). The person who wrote these (incomplete) directions down was none other then the grand inquisitor himself, Torquemada.

I think my site, which I call the "Terrapin Station Hunting Grounds" could be the old Citadel of Iqui Balam. This site was lost to history by folks who wanted to wipe-out their competition.

Here is the Bloodletting Artifacts Video:



Wednesday, April 15, 2009

New Playlists

Hi Buckaroos!

I've started puting my videos together into playlists.
Here is the one of "Stone Videos made in Vegas":


Here is an older playlist, "Stone Videos made in the Desert":


More Later.........
-Bruce

Wednesday, March 25, 2009

I've relocated to Las Vegas!

Hi Buckaroos!
I'm now in fabulous Las Vegas, working on classification of my artifact and meteorite finds. Check out this cool "morph" video that shows 50 projectile points with faces on them:


Friday, February 6, 2009

Quetzalcoatl or Sho'tokununwa

Hi Buckaroos!
Been reading Rock Art books trying to figure out "ascribed meanings" and have come up with the following tid-bits.

Quetzalcoatl,Star, Cross, Plumed Serpent
-Single or double outlined cross
-Snake with head plume
-Human Head with Tall Hat, may have snake body



A beneficent deity at Teotihuacan, Quetzalcoatl later became an astral figure, demanding human sacrifice [Soustell 1967:94]

That could explain the "pointed hatted skulls" I've been finding, and the "Meteor" theme.



The chief deity of the great Toltec civilization of Mexico was Quetzalcoatl, god of learning. Legend describe him as a bearded white man who taught the Toltecs the Arts, the calendar, writing, and the law.

That could explain "Santa Claus" amulets I've uncovered.

Sho'tokununwa,Creator, Sky God, Star God
-circle with cross design
-Head with one horn

Shotuqnang-u, god of Sky, the clouds, and the rain, is good, dignified and powerful. He is occasionally impersonated in one of two forms, masked and unmasked. When masked the impersonator wears a white case mask with one horn. When unmasked the impersonator wears a hat shaped like a star with feathers hanging over his face and his hair down his back.
[Colton 1949]

That could explain why I found a statue with a "mask", or the "pointy hatted" skulls, or all the meteor stuff.

In Cueva La Palma, Baja CA, Mexico, there is rock art of a "Sack Hat" man associated with a clan symbol for bighorn sheep...bighorn mountain sheep Shaman.
Big horn sheep are the spirit helper for rain makers.

What I've been calling "Shadow Skulls", because the eyes and mouth are shallow depression visible when light is shined from the side, have been identifies in one book as "Boundary Stones" with the face of the God of Death or Metamorphosis. Apparently they used to be painted to keep the kids from moving them and messing up the property lines.
The eyes and nose marks are merely round shallow holes with a black rim painted around them.
[footnote in Stephen 1936;390]

I would be interested in passing on care taking responsibilities for the site, to someone who knows or is willing to learn the right words, in exchange for a place to live.

More Later-
-Bruce a.k.a. Brave Eagle, Son of White Eagle

Tuesday, January 13, 2009

Skull Stone Close-up and More Carved Rock Finds

Hi Buckaroos!

Here is a "close-up" video along with more carved rock finds.
Remember, I don't make 'em, I just dig 'em up and stand 'em up.

Wednesday, January 7, 2009

Elephant Rock Close-Up

Here is the next in the series of carved rock close-ups,an intriguing find with an animal with a trunk...



It looks like the stuff I'm finding is really, really old. All the "pointy hatted skulls" seem to be projectile points, and Meteor Crater was formed 50,000 years ago.

Archaeologists, please help me.....

Saturday, January 3, 2009

Buffalo Calf's Head Close-up

Here is the next in the series, a close-up of a Buffalo Calf's Head...



More Later Buckaroos!
(Happy New Year, by the way...)
-Bruce