"The sky came down upon the earth." -- Constance G. Du Bois, anthropologist, The Mythology of the Diegueños, Journal of American Folk-Lore, Volume XIV, Number 54, Pages 181-185, 1901
"Kwayu, the meteor ... is mentioned also in other Mohave legends as a destructive cannibalistic being." -- A.L. Kroeber, anthropologist, Two Myths of the Mission Indians of Southern California, Journal of American Folk-Lore, Volume XIX, Number LXXV, Pages 309-321, 1906
"That the meteor was important in the beliefs of the Indians of southern California is further shown by the Luiseño Dakwish myth given below, and by a somewhat similar story from the Saboba, a more northern division of the Luiseño, printed in this journal some years ago. It must therefore be concluded that the meteor is one of the most important special conceptions in the mythology of all southern California ...." -- A.L. Kroeber, anthropologist, Two Myths of the Mission Indians of Southern California, Journal of American Folk-Lore, Volume XIX, Number LXXV, Pages 309-321, 1906
"The clocks stopped at 1:17. A long shear of light and then a series of low concussions." -- Cormac McCarthy, author, The Road, 2006
James, G. W., A Saboba [Luiseño] Origin Myth, Journal of American Folk-Lore, Volume XV, Number 61, Pages 36-39, 1902
Before my people came here they lived far, far away in the land that is in the heart of the Setting Sun. But Siwash, our great God, told Uuyot, the warrior captain of my people, that we must come away from this land and sail away and away in a direction that he would give us. Under Uuyot's orders my people built big boats and then with Siwash himself leading them, and with Uuyot as captain, they launched these into the ocean and rowed away from the shore. There was no light on the ocean, Everything was covered with a dark fog, and it was only by singing as they rowed that the boats were enabled to keep together.
It was still dark and foggy when the boats landed on the shores of this land, and my ancestors groped about in the darkness, wondering why they had been brought hither. Then, suddenly, the heavens opened, and lightnings flashed and thunders roared and rains fell, and a great earthquake shook all the earth. Indeed, all the elements of the earth, ocean, and heaven, seemed to be mixed up together, and, with terror in their hearts and silence on their tongues, my people stood still awaiting what would happen further. Though no voice had spoken they knew something was going to happen, and they were breathless in their anxiety to know what it was.
Then they turned to Uuyot and asked him what the raging of the elements meant. Gently he calmed their fears and bade them be silent and wait. As they waited, a terrible clap of thunder rent the very heavens, and the vivid lightnings revealed the frightened people huddling together as a pack of sheep. But Uuyot stood alone, brave and fearless, facing the storm and daring the anger of Those Above. With a loud voice he cried out 'Wit-i-a-ko!' which signified 'Who's there? What do you want?'
But there was no response. The heavens were silent! the earth was silent! The ocean was silent! All nature was silent!
Then with a voice full of tremulous sadness and loving yearning for his people Uuyot said: 'My children, my own sons and daughters, something is wanted of us by Those Above. What it is I know not. Let us gather together and bring "pivat," and with it make the big smoke and then dance and dance until we are told what is wanted." So the people brought pivat--a native tobacco that grows in Southern California--and Uuyot brought the big ceremonial pipe which he had made out of rock, and he soon made the big smoke and blew the smoke up into the heavens while he urged the people to dance. They danced hour after hour until they grew tired, and Uuyot smoked all the time, but still he urged them to dance. ...
Thus were settled the original inhabitants on the coast of southern California by Siwash, the God of the Earth, and under the captaincy of Uuyot.
But at length the time came when Uuyot must die. His work on the earth was ended and Those Above told him he must prepare to leave his earthly friends and children. He was told to go up into the San Bernardino Mountains, into a small valley there, and lie down in a certain spot to await his end. He died peacefully and calmly, as one who went to sleep. He was beloved of the Gods above and Siwash, the God of Earth, so that no pain came to him to make his death distressful.
As soon as he was dead the ants came and ate all the flesh from his bones. But the spirit messengers of Those Above looked after him and they buried him so that the mark of his burying place could never be wiped out. ...
Ah! my people were strong and powerful then. There were many of them. Uuyot had led them to be a great people. They made a solid ring around the whole earth. Alas! that ring is broken now.
-759725.jpg){kind=link}
5 comments:
Jupiter's Red Spot Glowing....OIM, have you seen any electical hypothesis for this?
Glowing in infrared. The Great Red Spot is a cold patch on Jupiter that averages about minus 256 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 160 degrees Celsius).
Sci-Tech Links of Interest
QF,
Haven't heard anything yet but I'm sure something will be forthcoming.
Scientists make interior weather map of Jupiter's giant storm system
2010-03-17 15:30:00
Using new ground-breaking thermal images obtained with ESO's (European Southern Observatory's) Very Large Telescope and other powerful ground-based telescopes, scientists have made the first detailed interior weather map of Jupiter's giant storm system linking its temperature, winds, pressure and composition with its colour.
The images show swirls of warmer air and cooler regions never seen before within Jupiter's Great Red Spot.
"This is our first detailed look inside the biggest storm of the Solar System," said Glenn Orton, who led the team of astronomers that made the study.
"We once thought the Great Red Spot was a plain old oval without much structure, but these new results show that it is, in fact, extremely complicated," he added.
The observations reveal that the reddest colour of the Great Red Spot corresponds to a warm core within the otherwise cold storm system, and images show dark lanes at the edge of the storm where gases are descending into the deeper regions of the planet. he observations, detailed in a paper appearing in the journal Icarus, give scientists a sense of the circulation patterns within the solar system's best-known storm system.
Sky gazers have been observing the Great Red Spot in one form or another for hundreds of years, with continuous observations of its current shape dating back to the 19th century.
The spot, which is a cold region averaging about -160 degrees Celsius, is so wide that about three Earths could fit inside its boundaries.
The thermal images were mostly obtained with the VISIR instrument attached to ESO's Very Large Telescope in Chile, with additional data coming from the Gemini South telescope in Chile and the National Astronomical Observatory of Japan's Subaru Telescope in Hawaii.
"One of the most intriguing findings shows the most intense orange-red central part of the spot is about 3 to 4 degrees warmer than the environment around it," said lead author Leigh Fletcher.
This temperature difference might not seem like a lot, but it is enough to allow the storm circulation, usually counter-clockwise, to shift to a weak clockwise circulation in the very middle of the storm.
Not only that, but on other parts of Jupiter, the temperature change is enough to alter wind velocities and affect cloud patterns in the belts and zones.
"This is the first time we can say that there's an intimate link between environmental conditions - temperature, winds, pressure and composition - and the actual colour of the Great Red Spot," aid Fletcher. (ANI)
Post a Comment