Great close-up of a pine needles after rain!
Great close-up of a pine needles after rain!
It's archaic rock art from a place in west Texas described by Cormac McCarthy in Blood Meridian (in the scene in which the Judge is recording the art in his notebook and then defacing the original). I photographed several examples of the art in the various small caves there.
It probably represents a shaman dancer being changed into an animal (but who knows?).
It's too bad these two pictures want to come out horizontally here's another picture of the same image, showing how big it is:
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Here's another subject, a star deity apparently associated with the planet Venus, and possibly with the cult of Quetzalcoatl:
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This one used to be my avatar:
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And here is one with the plumed helmet typically associated with Quetzalcoatl in art. The black smudges are from burnsticks used by "historical period Indians" to worship the much older images. If these are images of Quetzalcoatl, it is the farthest north that the cult is known to have penetrated. It may indicate something strange and traumatic going on to the south.
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EDIT: Oh good! All but the first two stood upright.
Last edited by Pompey Bum; 05-04-2015 at 03:14 PM.
Those are wonderful images, Pompey! I'm very impressed.
'So - this is where we stand. Win all, lose all,
we have come to this: the crisis of our lives'
Oh thanks Poe.
I've got others, but they're not uploading for some reason. If I can figure it out, I'll post them, too. Meanwhile here is a cool shot from Carlsbad: not the sharpest in the world, but it's crazy dark down there.
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Last edited by Pompey Bum; 05-04-2015 at 04:08 PM.
Oh beautiful, North! The frozen fern is my favorite.
amish mother and child very small.jpg
Amish mother and daughter in train looking at the snow. (the mother was wary of the camera, so the photo was underexposed)
I pic of an unfortunate robin that flew into the front door window of my house. The palm trees here grow berries a few times a year, and when they've stayed on the branches for too long, and the weather is warm... they ferment. Some birds eat their fill and become drunk, and fly in a frenzy. Sometimes I'll hear a thud and know it's not a kid throwing a ball against the house, just another wayward FUI (flying under the influence) bird. When I gathered up this particular robin, it twitched in my hand... which made my heart skip a beat... because I thought perhaps I might be one of those people who can resurrect the dead. And I really don't need that kind of responsibility.
Last edited by Iain Sparrow; 05-05-2015 at 02:53 AM.
That's an oddly beautiful picture, Iain.
Thanks. That site is pretty close to the border, but it is remarkable to find Quetzalcoatl images (if that's what they are) so far north. And yup, Texas gets it share. Out of curiosity, was the book you read The Son by Philipp Meyer?
Here's a petroglyph from another site (this one in New Mexico). I have many other (and much better) pictures from the site, but for some reason this is the only one that wants to upload. The petroglyph area was on a stony hill, about a quarter of a mile from the probable residential area. The hill may have been a sacred place to see visions and spirits and to capture them on the stones (but again, who knows?). Too bad I can't show you the others, but hey, best to let the spirits have it their way.
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EDIT: Oh well, that looks even worse here than in the original. Here are a couple more from the first site:
Some images that may show South American influence:
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And a weird image that may represent a "far north" depiction of Tlaloc, the Aztec rain god. It is on the ceiling of a low cave, just over a natural stone table. You have to wonder what exactly folks were doing to the poor guy who was lying on table in ancient times, staring up into the rain god's face. It's not a PC thing to talk about, but there is some evidence in some of the surrounding places for some fairly nasty practices.
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Last edited by Pompey Bum; 05-05-2015 at 09:51 AM.
Petroglyph, I had to look it up! Is that a special interest of yours?