The extraordinary category of people who have come to be known as an Andean shaman is a person chosen by the spirits to mediate between the human and the spiritual realms. It is the most ancient spiritual practice of all in the Andean world, because it entails no natural dogma, it is about experiencing and knowing. It is a path of the heart that opens and enfolds all that exist in the natural world. A spiritual journey of beauty and balance.
The Andean shaman, typically through a trance state during a ritual, gain access to altered states of consciousness in order to perceive, interact with and influence in, the benevolent or malevolent spirits in the spirit world and channel these transcendental energies into the world of the living, in order to achieve healing or negotiate life and death of the individual or a community.
The Andean shaman is considered a man of high degree; that is, men who have taken a spiritual degree in the secret life beyond the material world, a step which implies discipline, mental training, courage and perseverance. He is a man of respected and often standing personality and is of immense social significance. The psychological health of the group largely depends on faith in his trained power. Many of these powers have specialized in the working of the human mind, and in the influence of mind on the body and mind on mind.
The more attuned the shaman is to the ways of old ancient practices, far greater power he is entitled to wield, because he is in closer touch with the spirits.
A shaman's ability to achieve a proper lasting healing, be in the physical or psychological, depends primarily on his personal motivation or intention to heal. He must be alert and focused, persistent, caring or loving, courageous and flexible. He has to asses the patient's cognitive skills, that is the ability to think subjectively and objectively, as well as the understanding of the emotional responses to the experience on both sides. He assesses the patient's spirit and the ability to recognize and understand the symbolic messages received from the spiritual realms that are trying to guide the patient along the spiritual path.
The energy forces of the spirit world are understood as similar to the 4 cardinal points. The shaman of the North would check to see that all is well with his Southern relatives, and make sure the relatives of the South are full filling their part of the time-honored cosmic deal of holding up the universal energy forces by living according to law.
The Andean shaman avoid to live inside a world of continual and unrelenting distraction, separated from the natural world, and ever changing life-styles in which the minds are never still. For people that live inside this type of life-style, a shaman is a primitive tribal doctor who sing and dance around a patient doing all sorts of weird things. The life-style of an Andean shaman is far from being primitive and therefore useless in our modern world, instead it is immersed in a time-tested meditative journey in order to listen and experience important spiritual lessons and truths. A shaman needs to be familiar with the powers that are most influencing his own life as birth totems. But as well as totems, which are characteristics of the soul and from the universal forces that come at the time of birth, he can, by studying the characteristics or powers of other beings, gain understanding and use of other powers which are often referred to as spirit guides, spirit helpers or angels. The knowledge that comes through this journey is not limited and superficial, because shamanism itself does come from a very ancient and old school of knowledge in which a selective progress is mandatory, regardless culture, race, or ethnicity.
We, as human beings, are part of nature. We need to learn again to reconnect ourselves with it and be aware of the symbolic messages that we receive from the spirit world and then discern what the message is trying to say. There are many symbols that are common, and therefore a good shaman who is very alert to his own human spirit can be of great help in translating these cryptic messages.
We are made up of all the same elements that plants, birds, animals, and minerals are made of in this planet. The characteristics or powers of all bird, plant, herb, animals and mineral beings must be clearly known to all of us. It is experienced differently for different individuals and the understanding behind all of these would fill a complete spiritual encyclopedia. This understanding has a lot to do with the understanding of Andean Mythology, it's functions and physics.
Saturday, October 22, 2016
Saturday, October 15, 2016
THE HIGH-ALTITUDE ADAPTATION OF THE ANDEAN HIGHLANDERS.
For thousands of years, high-altitude populations have inhabited plateaus in the Andean Mountains.
The first humans that lived on the highlands of the Andes arrived there for more or less than 12,000 years. High-altitude adaptation in animals and humans has been an instance of evolutionary process.
Since the time of the European arrival, which started in the early 1,500s, considerable genetic admixture has occurred with the Andeans, resulting in the introduction of 5% to 30% of European genes into the contemporary Andean gene pool.
At high altitudes barometric pressure is reduced and less oxygen is inhaled. As a result, the arterial oxygen content, being a measure of the oxygen carrying capacity, determined by hemoglobin concentration and oxygen saturation, is found higher in the Andean highlanders, compared to the sea-level population. That is, more oxygen per blood volume. This confers an ability to carry more oxygen in each red blood cell, making a more effective transport of oxygen in their body, while their breathing is essentially at the same rate.
The Andean highlanders are known to have their reproduction levels at a normal rate, without any effect in the giving birth or the risk for early pregnancy loss, which are common to hypoxic stress.
They have developmentally acquired enlarged residual lung volume and its associated increase in alveolar area, which are supplemented with increased tissue thickness. Though the physical growth in body size is delayed, growth in lung volumes is accelerated.
High-altitude environments can be debilitating to sea-level individuals exposed to elevations above 3,000m/9,843ft for periods ranging from several hours to days. Moderate symptoms induces substantial alterations in physiological and psychological parameters within a few hours. Immediately upon ascent to high altitude, there is a decreased blood oxygenation, which reduces the oxygen supply throughout the periphery and in the brain. With time the body compensates, at least in part, for the lack of oxygen, with a variety of responses.
High altitude then produces substantial impairments in a number of cognitive performances. Changes in psychomotor performance, mental skills, reaction time, vigilance, memory, and logical reasoning have all been measured at altitudes above 3,000m/9,843ft. Observed behaviors suggest that the initial mood experienced at altitude is euphoria, followed by depression. Individuals may also become quarrelsome, irritable, anxious, and apathetic.
Although disturbances in emotional control have been noticed since the time the first Europeans arrived to the highlands, there are few studies assessing mood changes at altitude.
In 1543, the anatomist Andreas Vesalius was the first to distinguish clearly between White Matter and the Gray Matter that overlay regions of the cerebral cortex. In the 19th century, the physician Jean Martin Charcot advanced in the understanding of White Matter's role with his studies of multiple sclerosis, a disease of young adults characterized by primary damage to the White Matter of the central nervous system. At the turn of the 20th century, the ascendancy of Sigmund Freud turned biomedical thinking toward psychoanalytic explanations of behavior, and for more than 50 years all of the brain- white and gray matter alike- was neglected. In 1965, Norman Geschwind, M.D., proposed that one mechanism underlying dysfunctional brain-behavior relationship rests on cerebral disconnection. He also advanced the view that the dense connectivity of the brain underlay its mental operations. Central to this concept was the idea that an intricate web of white matter pathways course exists within and between the brain's hemispheres.
The cerebral hemispheres work together to store memories, make judgments, form thoughts and learn new information. The left hemisphere of the brain controls writing, speech, comprehension and arithmetic. It is dominant in language and hand use in around 92 percent of people.
The distinct fissures of the brain made it be seen as divided into lobes. Both the left and the right hemispheres have 4 lobes: frontal, temporal, occipital and parietal. They have complex relationships, and they do not function alone. The frontal lobe is responsible for controlling speech, which involves writing and speaking. It also controls personality, behavior and emotions; problem solving, judgment and planning; intelligence, self awareness and concentration, and body movement.
On the other hand, the right hemisphere plays an important role in spacial processing and interpreting visual information.
Exercise promotes a greater demand for oxygen, so exposure to high altitude affects directly the neurotransmitter levels in the brain inducing a number of neurological and behavioral disturbances affecting the mood states of the individual. Cognitive performance is more vulnerable than psychomotor performance, then complex tasks are typically more affected than simple tasks. It manifests itself in increased errors, slowing of performance, or combination of these factors. Impairments occur in a graded manner.
Because human cognitive function is sensitive to changes in oxygen availability, exposure to high altitude should produce a continuum of effects as altitude level and duration increase.
Interestingly, some studies have reported that some of the changes in performance after exposures to extreme altitudes persist for up to a year after return to lower altitudes.
The first humans that lived on the highlands of the Andes arrived there for more or less than 12,000 years. High-altitude adaptation in animals and humans has been an instance of evolutionary process.
Since the time of the European arrival, which started in the early 1,500s, considerable genetic admixture has occurred with the Andeans, resulting in the introduction of 5% to 30% of European genes into the contemporary Andean gene pool.
At high altitudes barometric pressure is reduced and less oxygen is inhaled. As a result, the arterial oxygen content, being a measure of the oxygen carrying capacity, determined by hemoglobin concentration and oxygen saturation, is found higher in the Andean highlanders, compared to the sea-level population. That is, more oxygen per blood volume. This confers an ability to carry more oxygen in each red blood cell, making a more effective transport of oxygen in their body, while their breathing is essentially at the same rate.
The Andean highlanders are known to have their reproduction levels at a normal rate, without any effect in the giving birth or the risk for early pregnancy loss, which are common to hypoxic stress.
They have developmentally acquired enlarged residual lung volume and its associated increase in alveolar area, which are supplemented with increased tissue thickness. Though the physical growth in body size is delayed, growth in lung volumes is accelerated.
High-altitude environments can be debilitating to sea-level individuals exposed to elevations above 3,000m/9,843ft for periods ranging from several hours to days. Moderate symptoms induces substantial alterations in physiological and psychological parameters within a few hours. Immediately upon ascent to high altitude, there is a decreased blood oxygenation, which reduces the oxygen supply throughout the periphery and in the brain. With time the body compensates, at least in part, for the lack of oxygen, with a variety of responses.
High altitude then produces substantial impairments in a number of cognitive performances. Changes in psychomotor performance, mental skills, reaction time, vigilance, memory, and logical reasoning have all been measured at altitudes above 3,000m/9,843ft. Observed behaviors suggest that the initial mood experienced at altitude is euphoria, followed by depression. Individuals may also become quarrelsome, irritable, anxious, and apathetic.
Although disturbances in emotional control have been noticed since the time the first Europeans arrived to the highlands, there are few studies assessing mood changes at altitude.
In 1543, the anatomist Andreas Vesalius was the first to distinguish clearly between White Matter and the Gray Matter that overlay regions of the cerebral cortex. In the 19th century, the physician Jean Martin Charcot advanced in the understanding of White Matter's role with his studies of multiple sclerosis, a disease of young adults characterized by primary damage to the White Matter of the central nervous system. At the turn of the 20th century, the ascendancy of Sigmund Freud turned biomedical thinking toward psychoanalytic explanations of behavior, and for more than 50 years all of the brain- white and gray matter alike- was neglected. In 1965, Norman Geschwind, M.D., proposed that one mechanism underlying dysfunctional brain-behavior relationship rests on cerebral disconnection. He also advanced the view that the dense connectivity of the brain underlay its mental operations. Central to this concept was the idea that an intricate web of white matter pathways course exists within and between the brain's hemispheres.
The cerebral hemispheres work together to store memories, make judgments, form thoughts and learn new information. The left hemisphere of the brain controls writing, speech, comprehension and arithmetic. It is dominant in language and hand use in around 92 percent of people.
The distinct fissures of the brain made it be seen as divided into lobes. Both the left and the right hemispheres have 4 lobes: frontal, temporal, occipital and parietal. They have complex relationships, and they do not function alone. The frontal lobe is responsible for controlling speech, which involves writing and speaking. It also controls personality, behavior and emotions; problem solving, judgment and planning; intelligence, self awareness and concentration, and body movement.
On the other hand, the right hemisphere plays an important role in spacial processing and interpreting visual information.
Exercise promotes a greater demand for oxygen, so exposure to high altitude affects directly the neurotransmitter levels in the brain inducing a number of neurological and behavioral disturbances affecting the mood states of the individual. Cognitive performance is more vulnerable than psychomotor performance, then complex tasks are typically more affected than simple tasks. It manifests itself in increased errors, slowing of performance, or combination of these factors. Impairments occur in a graded manner.
Because human cognitive function is sensitive to changes in oxygen availability, exposure to high altitude should produce a continuum of effects as altitude level and duration increase.
Interestingly, some studies have reported that some of the changes in performance after exposures to extreme altitudes persist for up to a year after return to lower altitudes.
Saturday, September 10, 2016
THE IMPERIAL WAY OF THE INCAS.
Of the big civilizations of the New World, the Maya, one of the first in Middle America, had to cut its way out of the jungle. The Aztecs had to conquer their way through Mexico. Far to the South, other mighty civilization, the Andean, thrust upward through some of the world's most forbidding terrain: the towering mountains and desert coast of Andean Peru.
The Inca Empire, which crowned these early civilizations of the Southern half of the globe, ruled from a capital 11,152ft/3,400m in the clouds, near the Urubamba Valley of the Andes, Peru.
The Andean civilization centered far more than that of Middle America on the material techniques of life: - Planning big cities and irrigation works, - Building highways and a network of communications, and - Perfecting the domestic arts of weaving and pottery making.
The Inca passion for organization in every field extended even to their art work. The best in Andean art was produced by the Andean peoples who preceded the Incas and they simply absorbed and perfected the technique.
Civilization around the world traces their origins to the time when men settled down and started cultivating rather than hunting their food. The early people of South America showed a versatile talent for domesticating plants, many of them unknown in the Old World. Some 5,000 years ago they were already cultivating squash, peppers, gourds, beans, and cotton on the Coast of Peru.
By the time of the European invasion, these early people of South America were already better farmers that their Europeans contemporaries. They had domesticated the potato, the corn, the tomato, the yam, and the lima beans. They found a source of wool by taming the llama and the alpaca. They terraced the mountainsides and built vast irrigation systems.
Since very ancient time Pre-Inca civilizations of the Central Andes occupied an area, at over 4,000 m of elevation, which today is regarded as marginal for many basic crops. The ancient People of the Andes were able to build a dense population that supported both a city life and a highly organized social and economic society as evidenced from archaeological findings. Part of it lie in the type of agricultural technology employed, together with the choice of food plants, which together ensured both quantity and quality of sustenance. A strong economic base was in existence from at least 2000 years before the present time.
The extensive agricultural cultivation and irrigation system still work today and produce just like they did long time ago. The vast majority of these agricultural terraces are built on the sides of mountains and hills, and required hard work for creation, but ensured food production over a long period of time. The reason for creating stepped agricultural fields are various. For example, the Sacred Valley region, in which the Vilcanota River, the main artery of life, flows surrounded by abrupt mountains that are over 4000 m high, the sun's rays don't reach deep enough in the Valley, which remain cooler in their bottoms. Then the mountain sides ensure more intense sunlight for longer time during the day. In some parts there is little space in the Valleys, so the usage of steps actually increases the area available for agriculture.
The benefits of the steeped technology included defense against landslide and floods. In this way the water did not accumulate and run down over the towns below. The rocks used for creating the steps strengthened the sides of the mountains, that protecting what was in the Valleys from possible mudslide during heavy rainfall. Higher grounds protected the plantations from disasters.
The Vilcanota River is terrifying when its affluent and intense rain increase its volume. During the glorious period of the Inca Empire, the Sacre valley of the Vilcanota River was one of the most agriculturally productive region of the world. When Europeans waited for the rain to come, the incas were controlling the irrigation of the terraces by diverting small quantities of water from mountain rivers, making a sort of balance in the ecosystem of the land. The threat of drought was practically eliminated.
Up to this point in history, no culture in the world had spread a civilization over a similar terrain conditions like the whole of Peru's arid Coasts and High Mountains.
The Inca Empire, which crowned these early civilizations of the Southern half of the globe, ruled from a capital 11,152ft/3,400m in the clouds, near the Urubamba Valley of the Andes, Peru.
The Andean civilization centered far more than that of Middle America on the material techniques of life: - Planning big cities and irrigation works, - Building highways and a network of communications, and - Perfecting the domestic arts of weaving and pottery making.
The Inca passion for organization in every field extended even to their art work. The best in Andean art was produced by the Andean peoples who preceded the Incas and they simply absorbed and perfected the technique.
Civilization around the world traces their origins to the time when men settled down and started cultivating rather than hunting their food. The early people of South America showed a versatile talent for domesticating plants, many of them unknown in the Old World. Some 5,000 years ago they were already cultivating squash, peppers, gourds, beans, and cotton on the Coast of Peru.
By the time of the European invasion, these early people of South America were already better farmers that their Europeans contemporaries. They had domesticated the potato, the corn, the tomato, the yam, and the lima beans. They found a source of wool by taming the llama and the alpaca. They terraced the mountainsides and built vast irrigation systems.
Since very ancient time Pre-Inca civilizations of the Central Andes occupied an area, at over 4,000 m of elevation, which today is regarded as marginal for many basic crops. The ancient People of the Andes were able to build a dense population that supported both a city life and a highly organized social and economic society as evidenced from archaeological findings. Part of it lie in the type of agricultural technology employed, together with the choice of food plants, which together ensured both quantity and quality of sustenance. A strong economic base was in existence from at least 2000 years before the present time.
The extensive agricultural cultivation and irrigation system still work today and produce just like they did long time ago. The vast majority of these agricultural terraces are built on the sides of mountains and hills, and required hard work for creation, but ensured food production over a long period of time. The reason for creating stepped agricultural fields are various. For example, the Sacred Valley region, in which the Vilcanota River, the main artery of life, flows surrounded by abrupt mountains that are over 4000 m high, the sun's rays don't reach deep enough in the Valley, which remain cooler in their bottoms. Then the mountain sides ensure more intense sunlight for longer time during the day. In some parts there is little space in the Valleys, so the usage of steps actually increases the area available for agriculture.
The benefits of the steeped technology included defense against landslide and floods. In this way the water did not accumulate and run down over the towns below. The rocks used for creating the steps strengthened the sides of the mountains, that protecting what was in the Valleys from possible mudslide during heavy rainfall. Higher grounds protected the plantations from disasters.
The Vilcanota River is terrifying when its affluent and intense rain increase its volume. During the glorious period of the Inca Empire, the Sacre valley of the Vilcanota River was one of the most agriculturally productive region of the world. When Europeans waited for the rain to come, the incas were controlling the irrigation of the terraces by diverting small quantities of water from mountain rivers, making a sort of balance in the ecosystem of the land. The threat of drought was practically eliminated.
Up to this point in history, no culture in the world had spread a civilization over a similar terrain conditions like the whole of Peru's arid Coasts and High Mountains.
THE PARACAS PEOPLE OF PERU.
Paracas is a desert peninsula located within the Pisco Province in the Ica region, on the Southern Coast of Peru.
The Paracas culture was an Andean society between approximately 1000 to 100 BC, with an extensive knowledge of irrigation and water management and significant contributions in the textiles arts. Most information about the ancient lives of Paracas people comes from excavations at the large seaside territory of the site on the peninsula.
It is here where Peruvian archaeologist, Julio C. Tello (1880-1947), discovered 429 mummies bundles from two clusters in the subterranean structure (necropolis) at Wari Kayan, during excavations in 1927-8 on the Northern side of the Red Mountain (Cerro Colorado) area of the Paracas Peninsula.
It was a massive and elaborated graveyard containing tombs filled with the remains of individuals with the largest elongated skulls found anywhere in the world. The mummified bodies were swaddled in colorful fabrics, some of which were richly embroidered with wool to create elaborated patterns, which are among the best South American textiles ever found. The individuals were then placed in baskets in a sitting position, and interred facing North; as with all South American mummies. Their preservation is due to natural desiccation. Almost 400 embroidered cloths were recovered. All the burials were of males and the quality of their grave gifts suggests that they were of high status.
The men interred in the graveyard had conical, and so unusual elongated skulls. The cranial volume were measured and they were up to 25% larger and 60% heavier than conventional human skulls, containing only one parietal plate, rather than two.
The parietal bones are two bones in the human skull which, joined together at a fibrous joint, form the sides and roof of the cranium. Each bone is roughly quadrilateral in form, and has two surfaces, four borders, and four angles. The external surface of the parietal bone is convex, and marked near the center by an eminence which indicates the point where ossification commenced. The parietal bone is ossified in membrane from a single center, which appears at the parietal eminence about 8th week of fetal life. Ossification gradually extends in a radial manner from the center toward the margins of the bone; the angles are consequently the parts last formed, and it is here that the fontanelles exist.
A 19th century doctor Johann Jacob Von Tschudi claimed that the parietal bone found on the skulls was an evidence of a very ancient race of people inhabiting the land. The skulls had two abnormal holes and only one parietal plate instead of two. The little holes appeared to be a common human variation allowing the passage of veins connecting the venous system inside the skull to that on the outside.
DNA tests for the skulls were performed and they had concluded that the individuals were not fully humans, because other examples of cranial deformation did not alter the size, wight or cranial volume, as seen in the Paracas skulls. Although, the test did not confirm they were from one of our earlier ancestors instead. But there is a little more to say about of these Paracas skulls. The fact is the remains were found almost a century ago, but since the 1850's the idea of the elongated skulls has been around for a very while.
David Forbes wrote and submitted a research paper, "On Aymara People of Bolivia and Peru" to the Ethnological Society of London in 1870. In it he describes not only his examinations of the skulls, but those of his predecessors Mariano Eduardo de Rivero & Ustariz and Johan Von Tschudi who also had investigated the elongated skulls as early as the 1850's. Undoubtedly, the People of the Andes knew about them long before the Europeans put their feet in South American Lands.
The average cranial capacity of the skulls from the necropolis is about 1600 cc. Normal human cranial capacity varies widely, with 1350 cc. being the modern average.
The human skull has 3 bones (plates) that comprise the spherical shape of the skull. They are the frontal lobe, the parietal bone (left and right) and the occipital bone. The main difference in elongated skulls is that they have 2 major skull bones, the frontal and the back plates.
The Peruvian archaeologists, Julio C. Tello had previously excavated at Chavin of Huantar and recognized that there were cultural afinities between its products and those found at Wari Kayan and suggested that the Paracas People was related to the largely Chavin Culture. Comparisons have also been made between the later Paracas textiles and those of the Nazca Culture, suggesting another relationship. The pottery was largely plain and thin walled; and very similar to ceramics found in the Canete and Chincha Valleys, to the North of Paracas.
A Paracas Necropolis settlement has been found at White Sand (Arena Blanca), in the Coastal Plain below the Red Mountain (Cerro Colorado). It covers an area of some 5 hectares, divided into 20 separate districts, with buildings made from cobbles in dried mud. Its inhabitants had cultivated plants, while cotton nets may be evidence for fishing. Further settlements are known in the Ica Valley to the South.
The Ica Valley of Peru is one of the driest places in the world. Ground water is provided by the Ica River, rising in the Mountains of Huancavelica. The Mountain People there is already lacking water because of the British and American mining pollution and depleted ice caps which feeds the River. Much of the water supply is diverted to the British funded asparagus farms in the Ica Valley, as a result wells are drying up and water rate prices are astronomical high, forcing farmers to sell their farms to the asparagus trade. Supplies are severely rationed, yet one giant asparagus farm can use much water as the entire city of Ica every day.
Greed as an inordinate or insatiable longing, especially for wealth, status, and power did not exist in this region of Peru. The ancient individuals interred in the land graveyard came from a time when the world were completely different than the one we live today, and there is a common belief that they will return and do justice to people of all kinds and the land entrusted to them.
The Paracas culture was an Andean society between approximately 1000 to 100 BC, with an extensive knowledge of irrigation and water management and significant contributions in the textiles arts. Most information about the ancient lives of Paracas people comes from excavations at the large seaside territory of the site on the peninsula.
It is here where Peruvian archaeologist, Julio C. Tello (1880-1947), discovered 429 mummies bundles from two clusters in the subterranean structure (necropolis) at Wari Kayan, during excavations in 1927-8 on the Northern side of the Red Mountain (Cerro Colorado) area of the Paracas Peninsula.
It was a massive and elaborated graveyard containing tombs filled with the remains of individuals with the largest elongated skulls found anywhere in the world. The mummified bodies were swaddled in colorful fabrics, some of which were richly embroidered with wool to create elaborated patterns, which are among the best South American textiles ever found. The individuals were then placed in baskets in a sitting position, and interred facing North; as with all South American mummies. Their preservation is due to natural desiccation. Almost 400 embroidered cloths were recovered. All the burials were of males and the quality of their grave gifts suggests that they were of high status.
The men interred in the graveyard had conical, and so unusual elongated skulls. The cranial volume were measured and they were up to 25% larger and 60% heavier than conventional human skulls, containing only one parietal plate, rather than two.
The parietal bones are two bones in the human skull which, joined together at a fibrous joint, form the sides and roof of the cranium. Each bone is roughly quadrilateral in form, and has two surfaces, four borders, and four angles. The external surface of the parietal bone is convex, and marked near the center by an eminence which indicates the point where ossification commenced. The parietal bone is ossified in membrane from a single center, which appears at the parietal eminence about 8th week of fetal life. Ossification gradually extends in a radial manner from the center toward the margins of the bone; the angles are consequently the parts last formed, and it is here that the fontanelles exist.
A 19th century doctor Johann Jacob Von Tschudi claimed that the parietal bone found on the skulls was an evidence of a very ancient race of people inhabiting the land. The skulls had two abnormal holes and only one parietal plate instead of two. The little holes appeared to be a common human variation allowing the passage of veins connecting the venous system inside the skull to that on the outside.
DNA tests for the skulls were performed and they had concluded that the individuals were not fully humans, because other examples of cranial deformation did not alter the size, wight or cranial volume, as seen in the Paracas skulls. Although, the test did not confirm they were from one of our earlier ancestors instead. But there is a little more to say about of these Paracas skulls. The fact is the remains were found almost a century ago, but since the 1850's the idea of the elongated skulls has been around for a very while.
David Forbes wrote and submitted a research paper, "On Aymara People of Bolivia and Peru" to the Ethnological Society of London in 1870. In it he describes not only his examinations of the skulls, but those of his predecessors Mariano Eduardo de Rivero & Ustariz and Johan Von Tschudi who also had investigated the elongated skulls as early as the 1850's. Undoubtedly, the People of the Andes knew about them long before the Europeans put their feet in South American Lands.
The average cranial capacity of the skulls from the necropolis is about 1600 cc. Normal human cranial capacity varies widely, with 1350 cc. being the modern average.
The human skull has 3 bones (plates) that comprise the spherical shape of the skull. They are the frontal lobe, the parietal bone (left and right) and the occipital bone. The main difference in elongated skulls is that they have 2 major skull bones, the frontal and the back plates.
The Peruvian archaeologists, Julio C. Tello had previously excavated at Chavin of Huantar and recognized that there were cultural afinities between its products and those found at Wari Kayan and suggested that the Paracas People was related to the largely Chavin Culture. Comparisons have also been made between the later Paracas textiles and those of the Nazca Culture, suggesting another relationship. The pottery was largely plain and thin walled; and very similar to ceramics found in the Canete and Chincha Valleys, to the North of Paracas.
A Paracas Necropolis settlement has been found at White Sand (Arena Blanca), in the Coastal Plain below the Red Mountain (Cerro Colorado). It covers an area of some 5 hectares, divided into 20 separate districts, with buildings made from cobbles in dried mud. Its inhabitants had cultivated plants, while cotton nets may be evidence for fishing. Further settlements are known in the Ica Valley to the South.
The Ica Valley of Peru is one of the driest places in the world. Ground water is provided by the Ica River, rising in the Mountains of Huancavelica. The Mountain People there is already lacking water because of the British and American mining pollution and depleted ice caps which feeds the River. Much of the water supply is diverted to the British funded asparagus farms in the Ica Valley, as a result wells are drying up and water rate prices are astronomical high, forcing farmers to sell their farms to the asparagus trade. Supplies are severely rationed, yet one giant asparagus farm can use much water as the entire city of Ica every day.
Greed as an inordinate or insatiable longing, especially for wealth, status, and power did not exist in this region of Peru. The ancient individuals interred in the land graveyard came from a time when the world were completely different than the one we live today, and there is a common belief that they will return and do justice to people of all kinds and the land entrusted to them.
Saturday, August 27, 2016
THE STARGATE OF HAYU MARCA.
A huge mysterious door-like structure in the Hayu Marca mountain region of Southern Peru near Lake Titicaca, and hour drive from the city of Puno, has long been revered by the locals as the "City of the Gods." The door has been carved out of a natural rock face and in all measures exactly 23' in height and width, with a smaller alcove in the center at the base which measures 6' in height.
The remote area is known as a Valley of the Spirits, or Stone Forest, made of strange rock formations that resemble animals, beings, buildings, dinosaurs, and artificial structures.
The local people of the region had a legend that spoke of a 'Gateway to the Land of the Gods', and in that legend, it was said that in times long past great heroes had gone to join their gods, and passed through the gate for a glorious new life of immortality, and on a very rare occasions those men returned for a very short time with their gods to inspect all the lands in the kingdom, through the gate.
Dreams about the use of the doorway appears to be common by the local population and in them they see a pathway made of light colored marble, with a small door open with a brilliant blue/white light coming from what looked like a shimmering tunnel. Others see that the Gate is made of two doorways, almost in a T shape. The larger door is for the gods themselves and the smaller door is for the mortals, to pass through.
Another legend of a mortal passing through the doorway appears to lend credibility to the alleged dreams of the locals about the gate. The legend tells of the time when European invaders arrived in Peru in the 16th CE, looting Inca sacred places taking their gold and precious stones along their way.
One Inca priest fled his temple with a sacred golden disk known as "the Key of the Gods of the Seven rays," and hid in the mountains of Hayu Marca. The priest eventually came upon the gate which was being watched by shaman priests. He presented to them the golden disk, and a ritual was performed immediately by them, with the conclusion of a supernatural occurrence initiated by the golden disk which opened the portal, and behind it was a tunnel that shone with an intense blue/white light. The priest handed the golden disk to the shaman priests and then passed through the portal and never to be seen again.
Investigators have observed a small, round, hand sized, circular indention in the rock on the right hand column of the small entrance doorway. The examinations led them to believe that should a disk shaped object be inserted into the indention, it would be held in place by the surrounding rock.
It is interesting to note that the structure resembles the Gate of the Sun at Tiahuanaco and 5 other archaeological sites which link together a cross by an imaginary straight lines crossing each other exactly at the point where the plateau and Lake Titicaca are located. Locals report glowing blue spheres and bright white and rainbow-colored objects sighted over the Lake.
The aforementioned legend concludes with a prophecy that the door of the gods will one day open many times bigger than it actually is, and allow the gods to return in their Sun Ships and all the Americas once united by a common spiritual tradition and leader, will be again reunited in the same spirit.
Peru is a land steeped in ancient prophecies and wisdom. Life in the inca Empire was measured by a 1000 year cosmic cycle called an Inti (Sun). This cycle was then divided into halves, each of which was referred to as a Pachacutec.
The cosmological vision of the Andean world is the conception of duality that is in permanent opposition, but complementary. The same principle applies to each Pachacutec. However, Pachacutec also is used to refer to the transitional time that divided each Pachacutec and this is characterized as a time of great changes.
During the 500 years of the 8th Pachacutec cycle, Pachacutec, the greatest leader of the Incas, ruled. This was a time of Light when the Inca Empire flourished and there were expansion and good fortune. The 9th Pachacutec cycle, on the opposite side of the duality, brought with it the 500 years of darkness when the European invaders looted the land and its resources. We are now entering the 10th Pachacutec cycle, which the local people refer to as the returning to Light, and the sacred Solar Disk is going to be re-activated accessing the cosmic wisdom and reaching again a higher level of spiritual consciousness making the Andean people flourish again but this time in the spiritual realm.
The remote area is known as a Valley of the Spirits, or Stone Forest, made of strange rock formations that resemble animals, beings, buildings, dinosaurs, and artificial structures.
The local people of the region had a legend that spoke of a 'Gateway to the Land of the Gods', and in that legend, it was said that in times long past great heroes had gone to join their gods, and passed through the gate for a glorious new life of immortality, and on a very rare occasions those men returned for a very short time with their gods to inspect all the lands in the kingdom, through the gate.
Dreams about the use of the doorway appears to be common by the local population and in them they see a pathway made of light colored marble, with a small door open with a brilliant blue/white light coming from what looked like a shimmering tunnel. Others see that the Gate is made of two doorways, almost in a T shape. The larger door is for the gods themselves and the smaller door is for the mortals, to pass through.
Another legend of a mortal passing through the doorway appears to lend credibility to the alleged dreams of the locals about the gate. The legend tells of the time when European invaders arrived in Peru in the 16th CE, looting Inca sacred places taking their gold and precious stones along their way.
One Inca priest fled his temple with a sacred golden disk known as "the Key of the Gods of the Seven rays," and hid in the mountains of Hayu Marca. The priest eventually came upon the gate which was being watched by shaman priests. He presented to them the golden disk, and a ritual was performed immediately by them, with the conclusion of a supernatural occurrence initiated by the golden disk which opened the portal, and behind it was a tunnel that shone with an intense blue/white light. The priest handed the golden disk to the shaman priests and then passed through the portal and never to be seen again.
Investigators have observed a small, round, hand sized, circular indention in the rock on the right hand column of the small entrance doorway. The examinations led them to believe that should a disk shaped object be inserted into the indention, it would be held in place by the surrounding rock.
It is interesting to note that the structure resembles the Gate of the Sun at Tiahuanaco and 5 other archaeological sites which link together a cross by an imaginary straight lines crossing each other exactly at the point where the plateau and Lake Titicaca are located. Locals report glowing blue spheres and bright white and rainbow-colored objects sighted over the Lake.
The aforementioned legend concludes with a prophecy that the door of the gods will one day open many times bigger than it actually is, and allow the gods to return in their Sun Ships and all the Americas once united by a common spiritual tradition and leader, will be again reunited in the same spirit.
Peru is a land steeped in ancient prophecies and wisdom. Life in the inca Empire was measured by a 1000 year cosmic cycle called an Inti (Sun). This cycle was then divided into halves, each of which was referred to as a Pachacutec.
The cosmological vision of the Andean world is the conception of duality that is in permanent opposition, but complementary. The same principle applies to each Pachacutec. However, Pachacutec also is used to refer to the transitional time that divided each Pachacutec and this is characterized as a time of great changes.
During the 500 years of the 8th Pachacutec cycle, Pachacutec, the greatest leader of the Incas, ruled. This was a time of Light when the Inca Empire flourished and there were expansion and good fortune. The 9th Pachacutec cycle, on the opposite side of the duality, brought with it the 500 years of darkness when the European invaders looted the land and its resources. We are now entering the 10th Pachacutec cycle, which the local people refer to as the returning to Light, and the sacred Solar Disk is going to be re-activated accessing the cosmic wisdom and reaching again a higher level of spiritual consciousness making the Andean people flourish again but this time in the spiritual realm.
Monday, August 22, 2016
ANDEAN MYTH ABOUT THE TIME BEFORE CREATION.
There is no single creation story among Andean peoples. Some tales hold that the Earth was created by the Most Powerful of the Gods of the Spirit World, others that particular and powerful entities were created by the Most Powerful of the Gods to be in charge of His House.
There was a time when everything was still, and all was dark. There was no life, no death.
All the spirits of the earth were asleep -or almost all, and the earth was a bare plain. The spirits of the sun, moon, and the stars slept beneath the earth. All the eternal ancestors slept there, too.
The great Father of All Spirits was the only one awake. Gently he awoke the spirit of the Cosmic Sun Mother. As she opened her eyes a warm ray of light spread out towards the sleeping earth.
The Father of All Spirits said to the Cosmic Sun Mother, "Mother, I have work for you. Go down the Earth plane and awake the sleeping spirits of the eternal ancestors, and give them forms." They woke themselves out of their own eternity and broke through to the surface and wandered the earth plane waiting for the Cosmic Sun Mother.
The Cosmic Sun Mother glided down to Earth plane, which was bare at that time and began to walk in all directions and everywhere she walked spirited plants grew. After returning to the field where she had begun her work the Cosmic Sun Mother rested, well pleased with herself.
The Father of All Spirits came and saw her work, but instructed her to go into the caves and wake the spirits that were sleeping inside them. This time the Cosmic Sun Mother ventured into the dark caves on the mountainsides, created in the spirited world. The bright light that radiated from her awoke the spirits and after she left insects of all kinds flew out of the caves. The Cosmic Sun Mother sat down and watched the glorious sight of her insects mingling with her flowers, having a mind on their own.
However once again the Father of All the Spirits urged her on. This time the Cosmic Sun Mother ventured into a very deep cave, spreading her light around her spirit. Heat from the Mother melted the ice and the rivers and streams of the Cosmic World were created.
Then the Cosmic Sun Mother created the cosmic minds of fish and small snakes, lizards and frogs. Then she awoke the cosmic spirits of the birds and animals and they burst into the sunshine in a glorious array of colors to mingle with the cosmic minds of the ones already created by her.
Seeing this the Father of All Spirits was pleased with the Cosmic Sun Mother's work. She called all her creatures to her and instructed them to enjoy the wealth of the earth plane and to live peacefully with one another. Then she rose into the sky and became the celestial Sun.
The living creatures watched the Sun in awe as she crept across the sky, towards the West. However when she finally sunk beneath the horizon they were panic-stricken, thinking she had deserted them.
All night they stood frozen in their places, thinking that the end of time had come. After what seemed to them a lifetime the Sun Mother peeked her head above the horizon in the East. Their children learned to expect her coming and going in the seasonal cycle's she formed, and were no longer afraid.
At first the children lived together peaceful, in complete harmony, but eventually envy crept into their spirited hearts. They began to argue and, harmony was broken forming two opposed natures in the Cosmical World.
Darkness appeared again and engulfed everything but the powerful Light from the Cosmic Sun Mother prevailed in the heart of all the children that loved the time of peace and harmony that they once had.
The duality of the cosmic forces were born due to the conflict and formed itself two entities , the one with the Light and the other with the rebellious Darkness.
The spirits in the earth plane mutated into half animal and half plant entities, and were shapeless bundles, vague and unfinished, not able to settle, lying near where water holes and salt lakes could be created. Their mind force were able to adopt a complete tree form, sometimes human shape, sometimes as part animal and human, and sometimes as part human and plant.
The Sun Mother was forced to come down from her home in the sky to mediate in the laws now controlling the middle plane, the earth, since the upper plane was the domain of the cosmic forces, and the lower plane, the domain of the rebellious forces.
She then agreed to have an agreement between the earth's plane and the forces governing the destiny of the universe, giving them freedom to act in each soul knowing that her powerful minded children will maintain the laws of harmony and peace in the earth's plane, as long as they were able to.
However she was not so pleased with the end result. The rats she had made had changed into bats; giant lizards and large fishes began to appear in a physical form, governed by the mind of the underworld. As a consequence the soul of every man and woman in the earth's plane became a descendant from the bundle of which they were formed, owing allegiance to it, making their journey on the earth's plane harder.
So the spirit of the Sun Mother looked down upon the Earth's plane and thought to herself that she must create new creatures less the Father of All Spirits be angered by what she now saw.
Then the spirit of Sun Mother gave birth to two children, a son and a daughter. The son god was the spirit of the Morning Star and the goddess was the spirit of the Moon. Then two more children were born to them and these spirits she sent to the Earth's plane.
The spirit of the Sun Mother made them superior to the spirit of the cosmic animals because they had part of her cosmic and universal mind. They became the physical form of the Sun, the Moon, and the stars.
There was a time when everything was still, and all was dark. There was no life, no death.
All the spirits of the earth were asleep -or almost all, and the earth was a bare plain. The spirits of the sun, moon, and the stars slept beneath the earth. All the eternal ancestors slept there, too.
The great Father of All Spirits was the only one awake. Gently he awoke the spirit of the Cosmic Sun Mother. As she opened her eyes a warm ray of light spread out towards the sleeping earth.
The Father of All Spirits said to the Cosmic Sun Mother, "Mother, I have work for you. Go down the Earth plane and awake the sleeping spirits of the eternal ancestors, and give them forms." They woke themselves out of their own eternity and broke through to the surface and wandered the earth plane waiting for the Cosmic Sun Mother.
The Cosmic Sun Mother glided down to Earth plane, which was bare at that time and began to walk in all directions and everywhere she walked spirited plants grew. After returning to the field where she had begun her work the Cosmic Sun Mother rested, well pleased with herself.
The Father of All Spirits came and saw her work, but instructed her to go into the caves and wake the spirits that were sleeping inside them. This time the Cosmic Sun Mother ventured into the dark caves on the mountainsides, created in the spirited world. The bright light that radiated from her awoke the spirits and after she left insects of all kinds flew out of the caves. The Cosmic Sun Mother sat down and watched the glorious sight of her insects mingling with her flowers, having a mind on their own.
However once again the Father of All the Spirits urged her on. This time the Cosmic Sun Mother ventured into a very deep cave, spreading her light around her spirit. Heat from the Mother melted the ice and the rivers and streams of the Cosmic World were created.
Then the Cosmic Sun Mother created the cosmic minds of fish and small snakes, lizards and frogs. Then she awoke the cosmic spirits of the birds and animals and they burst into the sunshine in a glorious array of colors to mingle with the cosmic minds of the ones already created by her.
Seeing this the Father of All Spirits was pleased with the Cosmic Sun Mother's work. She called all her creatures to her and instructed them to enjoy the wealth of the earth plane and to live peacefully with one another. Then she rose into the sky and became the celestial Sun.
The living creatures watched the Sun in awe as she crept across the sky, towards the West. However when she finally sunk beneath the horizon they were panic-stricken, thinking she had deserted them.
All night they stood frozen in their places, thinking that the end of time had come. After what seemed to them a lifetime the Sun Mother peeked her head above the horizon in the East. Their children learned to expect her coming and going in the seasonal cycle's she formed, and were no longer afraid.
At first the children lived together peaceful, in complete harmony, but eventually envy crept into their spirited hearts. They began to argue and, harmony was broken forming two opposed natures in the Cosmical World.
Darkness appeared again and engulfed everything but the powerful Light from the Cosmic Sun Mother prevailed in the heart of all the children that loved the time of peace and harmony that they once had.
The duality of the cosmic forces were born due to the conflict and formed itself two entities , the one with the Light and the other with the rebellious Darkness.
The spirits in the earth plane mutated into half animal and half plant entities, and were shapeless bundles, vague and unfinished, not able to settle, lying near where water holes and salt lakes could be created. Their mind force were able to adopt a complete tree form, sometimes human shape, sometimes as part animal and human, and sometimes as part human and plant.
The Sun Mother was forced to come down from her home in the sky to mediate in the laws now controlling the middle plane, the earth, since the upper plane was the domain of the cosmic forces, and the lower plane, the domain of the rebellious forces.
She then agreed to have an agreement between the earth's plane and the forces governing the destiny of the universe, giving them freedom to act in each soul knowing that her powerful minded children will maintain the laws of harmony and peace in the earth's plane, as long as they were able to.
However she was not so pleased with the end result. The rats she had made had changed into bats; giant lizards and large fishes began to appear in a physical form, governed by the mind of the underworld. As a consequence the soul of every man and woman in the earth's plane became a descendant from the bundle of which they were formed, owing allegiance to it, making their journey on the earth's plane harder.
So the spirit of the Sun Mother looked down upon the Earth's plane and thought to herself that she must create new creatures less the Father of All Spirits be angered by what she now saw.
Then the spirit of Sun Mother gave birth to two children, a son and a daughter. The son god was the spirit of the Morning Star and the goddess was the spirit of the Moon. Then two more children were born to them and these spirits she sent to the Earth's plane.
The spirit of the Sun Mother made them superior to the spirit of the cosmic animals because they had part of her cosmic and universal mind. They became the physical form of the Sun, the Moon, and the stars.
Sunday, August 21, 2016
THE NATURE AND INSTINCT OF THE ANDEAN CONDOR.
The Andean condor is the largest flying bird in the world by combined measurement of weight and wingspan. It has a maximum wingspan of 3.3m/10ft10in, and weighing up to 15kg/33lb.
The structure of the wings and the placement of the feathers allows this large bird to soar when it catch thermal air currents that rise up as the sun heats the ground. On the wing the movements of the condor are graceful. The lack of large sternum to anchor correspondingly large flight muscles identifies it physiologically as a primary soarer. The bird flaps its wings on rising from the ground, but after attaining a moderate elevation they seem to sail on the air. The condor's huge wings allows the bird to stay aloft for hours, scanning the fields below. The average flying speed that a bird can reach is up to 88km/55mi per hour, at an altitude of 4,600m/15,000ft or more.
The Andean condor is also one of the world's longest-living birds, with a life-span of over 70 years and mate for life.
The adult plumage is uniformly black, with the exception of a frill of white feathers nearly surrounding the base of the neck which meticulously kept clean by the bird. The male has large white patches on the wings. The head and neck are nearly featherless, which exposes the skin to the sterilizing effects of dehydration and solar ultraviolet light at high altitudes. The skin has a dull red color, which flush and therefore change color in response to their emotional state, which serve to communicate between individuals. In the male, there is a wattle on the neck and a large, dark red fleshy growth or crest on top of the head.
The middle toe is greatly elongated, and the hinder one but slightly developed, while the talon of all the toes are comparatively straight and blunt. The feet are more adapted to walking as in the case of their relatives the storks, and of little use as weapons or organs of prehension as in birds of pray. The female, contrary to the nature and usual rule among birds of prey, is smaller than the male. One or two eggs are usually laid. They nest at elevations of up to 5,000m/16,000ft on inaccessible rock ledges.
Sexual maturity and breeding behavior do not appear in the condor until 5 or 6 years of age. The young are covered with grayish down until they are almost as large as their parents. They are able to fly after 6 months, but continue to roost and hunt with their parents until age 2, when they are displaced by a new clutch.
There is a well-developed social structure within large groups of condors, with competition to determine a 'pecking order' by body language, competitive play behavior, and a wide variety of vocalizations, even though the condor has no voice box. The bird also is known for its extraordinary eyesight, and inquisitive and engaging intelligence.
Wild condors inhabit large territories, often traveling 250km/160mi a day in search of carrion, large carcasses, such as those of a deer or cattle, are their preference. In the wild they are intermittent eaters, often going for a few days without eating, then gorging themselves on several kilograms at once.
In Andean mythology, the Andean condor was associated with the sun deity, and was believed to be the ruler of the upper world.
The structure of the wings and the placement of the feathers allows this large bird to soar when it catch thermal air currents that rise up as the sun heats the ground. On the wing the movements of the condor are graceful. The lack of large sternum to anchor correspondingly large flight muscles identifies it physiologically as a primary soarer. The bird flaps its wings on rising from the ground, but after attaining a moderate elevation they seem to sail on the air. The condor's huge wings allows the bird to stay aloft for hours, scanning the fields below. The average flying speed that a bird can reach is up to 88km/55mi per hour, at an altitude of 4,600m/15,000ft or more.
The Andean condor is also one of the world's longest-living birds, with a life-span of over 70 years and mate for life.
The adult plumage is uniformly black, with the exception of a frill of white feathers nearly surrounding the base of the neck which meticulously kept clean by the bird. The male has large white patches on the wings. The head and neck are nearly featherless, which exposes the skin to the sterilizing effects of dehydration and solar ultraviolet light at high altitudes. The skin has a dull red color, which flush and therefore change color in response to their emotional state, which serve to communicate between individuals. In the male, there is a wattle on the neck and a large, dark red fleshy growth or crest on top of the head.
The middle toe is greatly elongated, and the hinder one but slightly developed, while the talon of all the toes are comparatively straight and blunt. The feet are more adapted to walking as in the case of their relatives the storks, and of little use as weapons or organs of prehension as in birds of pray. The female, contrary to the nature and usual rule among birds of prey, is smaller than the male. One or two eggs are usually laid. They nest at elevations of up to 5,000m/16,000ft on inaccessible rock ledges.
Sexual maturity and breeding behavior do not appear in the condor until 5 or 6 years of age. The young are covered with grayish down until they are almost as large as their parents. They are able to fly after 6 months, but continue to roost and hunt with their parents until age 2, when they are displaced by a new clutch.
There is a well-developed social structure within large groups of condors, with competition to determine a 'pecking order' by body language, competitive play behavior, and a wide variety of vocalizations, even though the condor has no voice box. The bird also is known for its extraordinary eyesight, and inquisitive and engaging intelligence.
Wild condors inhabit large territories, often traveling 250km/160mi a day in search of carrion, large carcasses, such as those of a deer or cattle, are their preference. In the wild they are intermittent eaters, often going for a few days without eating, then gorging themselves on several kilograms at once.
In Andean mythology, the Andean condor was associated with the sun deity, and was believed to be the ruler of the upper world.
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