Orion and ancient Hopi

[Gary David]

Northern Arizona researcher Gary A. David has discovered a link between the locations of traditional Hopi villages and the stars of the Orion constellation. His new book called The Orion Zone: Ancient Star Cities of the American Southwest discusses the first native people of Arizona and their fascination with the heavens. After about 1100 A.D. the migrating Hopi clans began to build pueblos in a pattern on the ground that mysteriously mirrored Orion in the sky.

In 1997 David was driving I-40 while gazing off toward the Hopi mesas. He had just read a book describing the correspondence between the Egyptian pyramids and the stars of Orion. "I suddenly wondered whether the three main Hopi mesas also matched the belt stars of Orion," he said. "When I got home, I took out an Arizona map and a sky chart. What I found stunned me. Every major star in the constellation was represented by an ancient village or ruin."

This sent David, a previously published author and poet, on a seven-year journey of research and writing. He studied and photographed all the sites talked about in his book. He also found prehistoric rock art to support his theory. Astronomical software can now chart the positions of stars centuries ago, David said. By combining these with the wealth of archeological facts about the Anasazi (ancestors of the Hopi), he ended up with a unique blend of old and new.

David learned while completing his 300-plus-page book that Hopi legends and religious rituals show the importance of Orion. He said that many cultures around the globe also see this grouping of stars as spiritually significant. In the book David explores the possibility that the Hopi had contact with Central America, the South Pacific, India, and the Middle East long before Columbus.

The author draws some startling conclusions about why the Hopi copied this constellation onto the earth. He believes the star pattern that gradually took shape on the high desert is connected to ancient Hopi stories of flying saucers. David said it reflects the metaphysical wisdom of the phrase "As above, so below."

Published by Hayriver Press of Colfax, Wisconsin (a division of "Ancient American" magazine), the book can be ordered from www.theorionzone.com or at this toll-free number: 1 (877) 494-0044.



Details:

The Orion Zone: Ancient Star Cities of the American Southwest
333 pages; soft cover, glossy, 6" X 9"

57 black & white photos, diagrams, maps, and sky charts; 40 pages of notes and references

Cover price: $21.95 + $3.00 shipping & handling

Purchase a signed copy with a check, money order, or PayPal at www.theorionzone.com

Use your credit card to order from the publisher at this toll-free number: 1 (877) 494-0044

[izzy]

Gary --

I just finished browsing your website at http://www.theorionzone.com/

The reference to the "Four Corners" area reminded me of a message to
the BPMaps discussion group at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/BPMaps/
I will cross-post that message here:

From: "daghaalsuii" >
Date: Tue Oct 11, 2005 2:40 pm
Subject: Chuska and Carrizo mountains (near 4 Corners) daghaalsuii

Actually, my master's thesis is exactly on this topic of Navajo
delineation of geography through the mapping of deities and their
accoutrements to the landscape. Our more recent work extends this modis
operandi to the domains of astronomy and architecture as well.
Constellations, geography, and architecture all fall under the rubric
of iikaah - or sacred graphs. Iikaah is commonly translated as
"sandpaintings," however, sand-paintings are just one of many exemplars
of iikaah.

A means for oral cartography from the use of metaphor and metonymy
within Navajo placenames (2000).

Also, Trudy Griffin-Pierce (1992) mentions this in her Earth is My
Mother, Sky is My Father, p. 14-15.

Jay

In , "Israel \"izzy\" Cohen" wrote:

The Chuska and Carrizo mountains are just south of "Four Corners", the
point where

Utah | Colorado
------------|------------------ meet.
Arizona | New Mexico

You can see a std map of the area at
http://www.bfro.net/avevid/nelson/chuska.asp
For unusual views of the area, see
http://rst.gsfc.nasa.gov/Sect6/Sect6_7.html

Personal communication from David M. Mark:
>>... But the last couple of years, we have been working with the
Navajo, and they see two people, male and female, lying in opposite
directions, one forming the Chuska and Carrizo mountains. I think I
read some of this in McPherson, Robert S., 1992. Sacred Land Sacred
View: Navajo Percetions of the Four Corners Region. Salt Lake City:
Brigham Young University. ...<<

http://www.cpluhna.nau.edu/Places/chuska_mtns.htm
Chuska Mountains and Defiance Plateau, Navajo Nation
Original essay for CP-LUHNA by Patrick Pynes, Ph.D.
.... [The Chuska mountains] are considered a [Navajo] sacred male deity
whose head is Chuska Peak, whose throat is Narbona Pass, and whose legs
are the Carrizo Mountains, at the northern terminus of the range. ...
The Carrizos, Tunichas, and Lukachukais are all considered part of the
Chuskas, a transliteration of the Navajo word choosh'gai, meaning
"white-colored spruce trees...

http://www.twinrocks.com/legends/legends/dine.html
For the Navajo, most aspects of the natural world are divided into male
and female beings; underlying this conceptual division is the idea that
only through pairing can any entity be complete. Thus, it is not
surprising to find a male and a female figure represented in groupings
of these mountains, with each responsible for separate
realms of existence: the male figure rules all plants and wildlife
while the female being is in charge of water and water creatures. The
late chanter, Frank Mitchell, said that the male figure lies along the
Chuska and Carrizo mountains, which are often spoken of as a single
person. His legs are located at the Carrizos, his neck at Beesh
Lichii'ii Bigiizh [Red Flint or Washington Pass] and his head at Chuska
Peak. He is paired with a female figure who lies across the valley with
her feet resting at Balakai Mesa, her body at Black Mesa, her arms in
Shonto Wash, and her head at Navajo Mountain. Aghaala, a
tall black rock near Kayenta, is her cane.

http://dizzy.library.arizona.edu/users/jlcox/class/archive/fall97/206/classnotes\
/cnotes21.html
Lecture 21: Fajada Butte
...one female feature has a head at Navajo Mountain, body is Black
Mesa, and feet are Balukai Mesa and El Capitan. A male feature laying
next to her (head to feet) has a head at Chuska Peak, body is
Chusak-Tunicha range and Carrizo mountains, with feet located at
Beautiful Mountain, New Mexico. Shiprock is his sacred pouch (P. 21).

ciao,
Israel "izzy" Cohen
BPMaps moderator
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/BPMaps/

[Gary David]

izzy,

In my new book The Orion Zone: Ancient Star Cities of the American Southwest
www.theorionzone.com I mention a question that an unidentified Navajo man
asks of the director of the Hopi Cultural Preservation Office. It's about
stories that this Navajo heard in his culture regarding a human figure in
the landscape. The Hopi responded by saying he didn't know anything about
it, but he may have been trying to protect sacred knowledge.

Thanks for the links. Do you have a web site for your work?

Gary David

"izzy" > wrote in message
oups.com...
> Gary --
>
> I just finished browsing your website at http://www.theorionzone.com/
>
> The reference to the "Four Corners" area reminded me of a message to
> the BPMaps discussion group at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/BPMaps/
> I will cross-post that message here:
>
> From: "daghaalsuii" >
> Date: Tue Oct 11, 2005 2:40 pm
> Subject: Chuska and Carrizo mountains (near 4 Corners) daghaalsuii
>
> Actually, my master's thesis is exactly on this topic of Navajo
> delineation of geography through the mapping of deities and their
> accoutrements to the landscape. Our more recent work extends this modis
> operandi to the domains of astronomy and architecture as well.
> Constellations, geography, and architecture all fall under the rubric
> of iikaah - or sacred graphs. Iikaah is commonly translated as
> "sandpaintings," however, sand-paintings are just one of many exemplars
> of iikaah.
>
> A means for oral cartography from the use of metaphor and metonymy
> within Navajo placenames (2000).
>
> Also, Trudy Griffin-Pierce (1992) mentions this in her Earth is My
> Mother, Sky is My Father, p. 14-15.
>
> Jay
>
> In , "Israel \"izzy\" Cohen" wrote:
>
> The Chuska and Carrizo mountains are just south of "Four Corners", the
> point where
>
> Utah | Colorado
> ------------|------------------ meet.
> Arizona | New Mexico
>
> You can see a std map of the area at
> http://www.bfro.net/avevid/nelson/chuska.asp
> For unusual views of the area, see
> http://rst.gsfc.nasa.gov/Sect6/Sect6_7.html
>
> Personal communication from David M. Mark:
> >>... But the last couple of years, we have been working with the
> Navajo, and they see two people, male and female, lying in opposite
> directions, one forming the Chuska and Carrizo mountains. I think I
> read some of this in McPherson, Robert S., 1992. Sacred Land Sacred
> View: Navajo Percetions of the Four Corners Region. Salt Lake City:
> Brigham Young University. ...<<
>
> http://www.cpluhna.nau.edu/Places/chuska_mtns.htm
> Chuska Mountains and Defiance Plateau, Navajo Nation
> Original essay for CP-LUHNA by Patrick Pynes, Ph.D.
> ... [The Chuska mountains] are considered a [Navajo] sacred male deity
> whose head is Chuska Peak, whose throat is Narbona Pass, and whose legs
> are the Carrizo Mountains, at the northern terminus of the range. ...
> The Carrizos, Tunichas, and Lukachukais are all considered part of the
> Chuskas, a transliteration of the Navajo word choosh'gai, meaning
> "white-colored spruce trees...
>
> http://www.twinrocks.com/legends/legends/dine.html
> For the Navajo, most aspects of the natural world are divided into male
> and female beings; underlying this conceptual division is the idea that
> only through pairing can any entity be complete. Thus, it is not
> surprising to find a male and a female figure represented in groupings
> of these mountains, with each responsible for separate
> realms of existence: the male figure rules all plants and wildlife
> while the female being is in charge of water and water creatures. The
> late chanter, Frank Mitchell, said that the male figure lies along the
> Chuska and Carrizo mountains, which are often spoken of as a single
> person. His legs are located at the Carrizos, his neck at Beesh
> Lichii'ii Bigiizh [Red Flint or Washington Pass] and his head at Chuska
> Peak. He is paired with a female figure who lies across the valley with
> her feet resting at Balakai Mesa, her body at Black Mesa, her arms in
> Shonto Wash, and her head at Navajo Mountain. Aghaala, a
> tall black rock near Kayenta, is her cane.
>
>
http://dizzy.library.arizona.edu/users/jlcox/class/archive/fall97/206/classn
otes\
> /cnotes21.html
> Lecture 21: Fajada Butte
> ...one female feature has a head at Navajo Mountain, body is Black
> Mesa, and feet are Balukai Mesa and El Capitan. A male feature laying
> next to her (head to feet) has a head at Chuska Peak, body is
> Chusak-Tunicha range and Carrizo mountains, with feet located at
> Beautiful Mountain, New Mexico. Shiprock is his sacred pouch (P. 21).
>
> ciao,
> Israel "izzy" Cohen
> BPMaps moderator
> http://groups.yahoo.com/group/BPMaps/
>

[[email protected]]

> Do you have a web site for your work?

Only the BPMaps discussion group website at
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/BPMaps/

I'm the "moderator" for that group. It is a VERY quiet group, about 1
message per month this past year.

Israel "izzy" Cohen

[Ghostown-usa]

Dear Izz,
Oh great Master....
Tell me what possessed the European people to steal the American Native
Religions and run amuck the entirety of human history?
Personally, I think the American Indians told them to join their religions
or else and got introduced to the power of the Kings, Queens, and Dictators,
or else....
So this would mean that there had to have been Native Americans from native
descent...and if I might add to my own theories....
They had kings too...but they were religious and not militant...no match for
Pizz Izz......

"izzy" > wrote in message
oups.com...
> Gary --
>
> I just finished browsing your website at http://www.theorionzone.com/
>
> The reference to the "Four Corners" area reminded me of a message to
> the BPMaps discussion group at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/BPMaps/
> I will cross-post that message here:
>
> From: "daghaalsuii" >
> Date: Tue Oct 11, 2005 2:40 pm
> Subject: Chuska and Carrizo mountains (near 4 Corners) daghaalsuii
>
> Actually, my master's thesis is exactly on this topic of Navajo
> delineation of geography through the mapping of deities and their
> accoutrements to the landscape. Our more recent work extends this modis
> operandi to the domains of astronomy and architecture as well.
> Constellations, geography, and architecture all fall under the rubric
> of iikaah - or sacred graphs. Iikaah is commonly translated as
> "sandpaintings," however, sand-paintings are just one of many exemplars
> of iikaah.
>
> A means for oral cartography from the use of metaphor and metonymy
> within Navajo placenames (2000).
>
> Also, Trudy Griffin-Pierce (1992) mentions this in her Earth is My
> Mother, Sky is My Father, p. 14-15.
>
> Jay
>
> In , "Israel \"izzy\" Cohen" wrote:
>
> The Chuska and Carrizo mountains are just south of "Four Corners", the
> point where
>
> Utah | Colorado
> ------------|------------------ meet.
> Arizona | New Mexico
>
> You can see a std map of the area at
> http://www.bfro.net/avevid/nelson/chuska.asp
> For unusual views of the area, see
> http://rst.gsfc.nasa.gov/Sect6/Sect6_7.html
>
> Personal communication from David M. Mark:
> >>... But the last couple of years, we have been working with the
> Navajo, and they see two people, male and female, lying in opposite
> directions, one forming the Chuska and Carrizo mountains. I think I
> read some of this in McPherson, Robert S., 1992. Sacred Land Sacred
> View: Navajo Percetions of the Four Corners Region. Salt Lake City:
> Brigham Young University. ...<<
>
> http://www.cpluhna.nau.edu/Places/chuska_mtns.htm
> Chuska Mountains and Defiance Plateau, Navajo Nation
> Original essay for CP-LUHNA by Patrick Pynes, Ph.D.
> ... [The Chuska mountains] are considered a [Navajo] sacred male deity
> whose head is Chuska Peak, whose throat is Narbona Pass, and whose legs
> are the Carrizo Mountains, at the northern terminus of the range. ...
> The Carrizos, Tunichas, and Lukachukais are all considered part of the
> Chuskas, a transliteration of the Navajo word choosh'gai, meaning
> "white-colored spruce trees...
>
> http://www.twinrocks.com/legends/legends/dine.html
> For the Navajo, most aspects of the natural world are divided into male
> and female beings; underlying this conceptual division is the idea that
> only through pairing can any entity be complete. Thus, it is not
> surprising to find a male and a female figure represented in groupings
> of these mountains, with each responsible for separate
> realms of existence: the male figure rules all plants and wildlife
> while the female being is in charge of water and water creatures. The
> late chanter, Frank Mitchell, said that the male figure lies along the
> Chuska and Carrizo mountains, which are often spoken of as a single
> person. His legs are located at the Carrizos, his neck at Beesh
> Lichii'ii Bigiizh [Red Flint or Washington Pass] and his head at Chuska
> Peak. He is paired with a female figure who lies across the valley with
> her feet resting at Balakai Mesa, her body at Black Mesa, her arms in
> Shonto Wash, and her head at Navajo Mountain. Aghaala, a
> tall black rock near Kayenta, is her cane.
>
>
http://dizzy.library.arizona.edu/users/jlcox/class/archive/fall97/206/classnotes\
> /cnotes21.html
> Lecture 21: Fajada Butte
> ...one female feature has a head at Navajo Mountain, body is Black
> Mesa, and feet are Balukai Mesa and El Capitan. A male feature laying
> next to her (head to feet) has a head at Chuska Peak, body is
> Chusak-Tunicha range and Carrizo mountains, with feet located at
> Beautiful Mountain, New Mexico. Shiprock is his sacred pouch (P. 21).
>
> ciao,
> Israel "izzy" Cohen
> BPMaps moderator

> http://groups.yahoo.com/group/BPMaps/
>