Twisted Gourd (xicalcoliuhqui): The Symbolic Language of the Pre-Columbian Rainmakers, a Cosmovision of Divine Rule of a Triadic Universe

MAY 22, 2020 ~ KATHRYN DEVEREAUX, PHD

quotes

The people of Chincha were very bold and smart, we are told “because only they in the kingdom trade with money.”

http://lookatsouthamerica.com/16b-metalworking-in-the-mala-valley-2/

“Actually it is reflected. Such transformations arise naturally in weaving, and figures with double meanings are common – a feline that is also a fish. I wonder if it parallels the step and wave motif. Highlands and coast, llamas and sea birds.”

http://lookatsouthamerica.com/18b-the-huarochiri-manuscript-2/

I tell her briefly about the stones and the engravings at Cochineros, which seem quite insignificant compared to the elegant complex of giant stone pyramids around us.

“I am particularly interested in the continuity of this site, from the Teotihuacanos, to the Toltec and the Aztec. I believe, though I can’t yet prove it, that the first drawings were made on the stones in Peru at the time when these temples were being built, and the last were shortly after the coming of the spanish and the destruction that they brought.”

... ... ...

“In simple terms, I could describe this as a flat topped pyramid,” I observe. “In coastal Peru, we call them platform mounds. And there is a staircase up the front of it. In Peru, at Pachacamac and elsewhere, they are called pyramids with ramps. They are very similar structures.”

“The architectural style here is seen at Mayan sites in Yucatan and Honduras, and Mayan inscriptions refer to a ruler of Teotihuacan taking control of city-states such as Tikal in Guatemala, a thousand kilometres away. But from here to Pachacamac is more than four thousand kilometres.”

“I am just thinking aloud. I am not suggesting people from Teotihuacan travelled to Pachacamac and built ramped pyramids. But ideas travel faster than people, faster even than trade goods. This architectural form has spawned imitations.”

... ... ...

I am particularly intrigued by the conch shell held by the jaguar god.

“I have seen that before,” I tell Thelma. “The drawing of the conch has a spiral and steps. In Peru this was a symbol for many cultures, over thousands of years. It is said to represent the sea and the mountains.”

... ... ...

“It is well know here in Mexico too. The step-fret motif dominates Maya buildings at Mitla. It even has a name. It is called Xicalcoliuhqui.” (Thelma)

http://lookatsouthamerica.com/24b-mexico-2/

But to me, it brings to mind the sacred dance of the Yanesha. “After one turn around the dance area the undulating row of dancers reproduces the X-patterned movement of the Milky Way in a twenty-four hour period.”

http://lookatsouthamerica.com/and-yet-they-dance/

unquote

Notes: listened to Astros at Angels...again with the grand slam-Astros 8-2...Ohtani with #39...so, soh, I was searching "wari step fret" and happened on David Haigh's wordpress site...this needs to go together with Devereaux's site...Haigh added to my list of those noting the correspondences of motifs, specifically the step fret triangle, up and down the pre-Columbian Americas...he's like number seven I've collected that says as much...I've been skip reading his posts...needs more illustrations!...anyway, that Milky Way X note is special...I've been adding to my collection of Xs!...for sometime...soon...he lives in Peru, and travels to Mesoamerica/Mexico, for his job as professional journalist, a big help for his motif interest...he writes "journalism", and it's curious to see his thinking as he comes across the real life motifs, and the conversations with locals...I've wondered myself what I would say traveling about, trying to prompt mention of the step fret triangle...the seven I've collected don't seem to know or reference one another...someday, step fret triangle conventions!...too much...

DavidDavid