Re: Nazca religion? Or Paganization?
Posted by: Anthony (IP Logged)
Date: September 29, 2006 03:46AM


Robin Edgar Wrote:
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> These eclipse path maps will be
> very useful to any and all eclipsologists who,
> like me, are interested in investigating the
> influence of solar eclipses on the religious
> beliefs and practices, and religious art and
> iconography, of diverse ancient cultures.


:I find this to be a relatively useless methodology you are employing. You're working from the conclusion... that the eclipses had an effect... and then hunting for an effect that might have been predicated upon your eclipses. Instead, I suggest you look for specific cultural references to eclipses and then find out if there was a concentration of eclipses at the time in question.

I have already done that in my Nazca Lines research and related research on geoglyphs like the Atacama Giant and Great Serpent Mound in Ohio and I will continue to do so; however, one may also look for concentrations of eclipses and then take steps to find out if there were specific cultural references to eclipses at the time in question. . . Either methodology is valid and far from "useless".

:Anything else will only lead you further from an understanding of the culture you are investigating... not closer to it. You are superimposing your worldview onto theirs, eclipsing theirs (if you'll pardon the pun) in the process.

Not really. There is abundant evidence that total solar eclipses had a profound effect on the religious beliefs and practices and thus "world view" of many ancient cultures and there is readily identifiable religious symbolism and iconography that can be shown to have been inspired by eclipse phenomena. In any case I generally take the approach that you suggest of first looking for specific cultural references to eclipses, such as winged sun symbols, winged anthropomorphized sun gods, "radiant divine eye" petroglyphs, sun eating eclipse serpents etc. and then find out if there was a concentration of eclipses at the time in question. The NASA maps will be very useful for this purpose but can also be used to identify locations where there were concentrations of eclipses in the past that may have influenced the culture of the inhabitants that were living in the region at the time of the eclipses.

:Because you find eclipses to be dynamic and exciting does not mean that they found them to be influential. An eclipse can come and go on a cloudy day and nobody will even notice.

I am perfectly aware of that fact, although that is not exactly true of a total solar eclipse. Even on a very cloudy and dull day a total solar eclipse, and most probably a very strong partial solar eclipse as well, will cause day to turn to night and one may see the shadow of the moon advancing on the clouds above. If there are any breaks in the clouds one will see the partial phases of the eclipse through the clouds and may even witness the total solar eclipse "Eye of God" or "Phoenix" in those cloud breaks.

Here is an eerie Wendy Carlos photo that illustrates that -