Chavin Culture (900-200 bce) Ceramic

[powerinformation]

awesome!

Im into making clay statues and pots currently waiting to get some back from firing

[Sobieski]

that's fascinating micromegas, always interested in hearing more of your thoughts

[Caudata]

Picked up "Shamanism & the Sacred Cactus" today, took photos of 16 of the pages for you guys and uploaded them here:

http://imgur.com/a/ePE1R

Sorry it's not the best quality. If you're interested you should try and find this book at a library as it gives context to the images.

Of particular interest to this discussion is page 38, which shows cactus slices with 5 and 6 ribs. On the rest of the ceramics it appears there's a mix between 4 ribbed and 5-8 ribbed specimens

Also, it has been hypothesized that the boa, jaguar, and deer found with the cactus in Cupisnique pottery probably has some geographic significance: these may relate to water holes in the upper valley foothills where these animals are found as well as where alkaloid rich cactus are known to occur.

"Elera cites an interview with a north coastal shaman, Julio Navarro, to indicate how, in contemporary shamanism, sacred flora and fauna energize a mythical geography when the healer enters into a hallucinogenic trance to effect his 'magical flight': 'Sometimes I transform into an eagle and with my good vista [second sight] I see the good clusters of huachuma at the water holes where the curing plants also grow. Sometimes I converse with the tigre and the great serpents that live close to the huachuma clusters.' After the trance the shaman treks up to water holes on sacred mountains (Chaparri and Colan) to collect medicinal plants and the best San Pedro which enhance intuitive 'vista,' the hallmark of the shaman" (Sharon 2000, 4).

Edited February 24, 2016 by Caudata

[Quixote]

Thanks for uploading this! However, I am not completely convinced that those "slices" are in fact slices. They might be flowers for all we know. The "petals" a bit look too rounded to me, a cactus slice has more of a rounded triangular shape..