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by
Arysio Nunes dos Santos
Where did you come out
from my Children?
From yonder, where the Whirling Mountain stands.
Navajo Shooting Chant
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Introduction
The Navajos are the most populous of all surviving
Indian nations in the USA. They comprise about 100,000 individuals,
and inhabit New Mexico, Arizona and Utah. The Navajo Indians are
close of kin to the Apaches and were, as these, deeply influenced by
the more civilized, agrarian Pueblo Indians. Under this influence,
the Navajos adopted a sedentary existence, based on agriculture and,
later, in the herding of goats, sheep and cattle.
The Pueblo Indians instructed the Navajos and the
Apaches not only in agriculture, but also in the arts, crafts and
religion. Navajo pottery and their famous rugs derive their design
from that of the Pueblos. So do their silver smithing and, above
all, their remarkable sand paintings, which we will be discussing in
depth.
In the present chapter we analyze, to a certain detail, one of the
main myths of the Navajo Indians, that of the Twins. We show its
unequivocal connection with certain myths of the Old World,
particularly those of India and Indonesia. Moreover, we interpret
this myth in detail, showing that it is indeed an allegorical
exposition of the myth of Paradise and its secret whereabouts. This
Paradise is no other thing than Eden or Atlantis, the original
homeland of Mankind and Civilization, as will become clear from the
present discussion.
We are of the opinion — after having researched the matter for quite
along time now — that the real reason behind the theory that holds
the autochthonism of the Amerinds was, and perhaps
still is, part of a concerted effort to deny them their humanity and
the divine origin that the whites claim for themselves. With this
the Conquistadores and the Bandeirantes — as well as their
counterparts elsewhere — were justified in plundering the land and
the possessions of the natives, as they did, and in enslaving them.
So, while the white missionaries thumped the
Bible, attempting to convert the Amerinds
forcefully, with the menace of all too real bonfires, they
opened the way for the soldier and the colonists who would rob the
natives of everything, inclusive their very humanity. Of course,
this missionary and civilizatory influence would not be
needed if the natives partook of the very same Tradition, the
Primordial Religion and culture that came to us from Paradise,
brought by the
angels themselves, in the dawn of times. So, the
modern anthropologists who cling to this view are but the legitimate
heirs of this ancient tradition, which they defend irrationally,
despite all sorts of compelling contrary evidence.
The Religion of the Navajos
The Navajo religious system is intricate. Like most Amerindian
nations, they claim to have come from a subterranean world through
caves or vents that connect with this upper world. Theirs is a
Mystery Religion based on Drug Cults (Peyotism), on shamanism, and
on amuletic songs, dances, design and rituals.
But the idea of a subterranean Creation — one in which Mankind somehow
originated underground and later ascended to this earth in some
manner — is peculiar not only to the Navajos,
but to most Indian nations of the three Americas. As a matter of
fact, this conception of a subterranean Paradise whence Mankind
sprung into the present era coming from a former one was also
widespread in the Ancient World as well. For instance, Civilizing
Heroes such as Osiris, Serapis,
Mithras
and several others originally rose from a cave or a subterranean
abode, more or less in the way that Christ too rose from among the
dead.
This cave or tomb is the Primordial Cave, the Cave of Archetypes of
which Plato tells us in his dialogues. It is the Pacari-tambu
of the Incas, and the Cave of Illusion so masterfully described in
the Ramayana. In fact, this cave is no other than the sunken,
submarine realm of Atlantis-Eden. Again, the
Polynesians also claim to have come originally from a sunken island
or continent which they called by names such as Hawaiki (or
Javaiki), which mean something like "Sunken Grove", that is,
the same as the sunken Garden of Eden. And, as we argue elsewhere,
the Polynesian Paradise, just as all others indeed lay in the
submerged portion of primordial Indonesia.
The Dual Creations
Throughout the whole world, traditions tell of two basic types of
Creation Myths. In one, the Ancestors fall down from Heaven
above, and civilize the semi-bestial humans, with whom they breed
the new humanity. In the other, as with the Amerinds, the Ancestors
come from the Netherworld, and effect what amounts to a second
Creation which is in all respects the dual of the former one.
This dual Creation and, indeed, Dualism in general, derives from
Hinduism and seems to form the base and essence of the Urreligion
("Primordial Religion") postulated by certain anthropologists of
note. We encounter this Dual Creation even in the Book of Genesis.
There, the first Creation — attributed to Elohim — is told in
chapter 1 of that book, whereas the second one, attributed to
Jahveh, is narrated in chapter 2, as the reader can verify for
himself.
The language in both passages is (purposefully) obscure, but is
unmistakably dual. The god of Gen.1, Elohim is
clearly Celestial. But the one of Gen.2, Jahveh,
starts his Creation from below, as "the mist that came up from
under the earth". In other words, the spirit ("mist") of God ascends
from below, together with the subterranean waters and, certainly,
followed by his hosts (or people), much in the manner of the
Indians.
The Earth-Diver
In several Cosmogonies, we have the so called "Earth-Diver" fetching
the earth from under the seas, in contrast to the Fallen Sun that
drops from the skies down to earth, as an avatar of the Celestial
God. The archetype of the Earth Diver is Vishnu, in
his Boar avatar (Varaha). The one of the Fallen Sun is, again,
derived from a Hindu archetype; that of Vishvasvat,
the Sun, and his many aliases. Both of these Cosmogonic motifs date
from Vedic times in India, and there can be no question of Hindu
precedence.
As we said above, the Navajos learnt their Mystery Religion
from Pueblo Indians such as the Zuñi of New Mexico.
The Zuñi in turn relate to the Aztecs and the Mayas of Mexico, whose
advanced civilization is well-known. This diffusion of civilization
can be traced further back to the Incas of Peru and, across the
Pacific Ocean, all the way to Indonesia and to India.
The Pueblos and the Architecture of Çatal Huyuk
It is sufficient to compare the unique pueblo constructions of
the Pueblo Indians with those of Çatal Huyuk,
in Anatolia, or those of
Harappa and Mohenjo-daro, to conclude that
they were undoubtedly built (or designed) by the one and same people
(see Fig.1 below). The pueblos are, like their Old World
counterparts, a sort of human "beehive" in which the individual
apartments form "cells" destitute of doors and windows.
The only access is through the roof, by means of a manhole and ladder.
In case of attack, the ladders could be withdrawn, and the "city"
became an impregnable fortress. Çatal Huyuk has been
dated at 9,000 years ago, and is one of the oldest known cities.
Burial methods, the advanced agriculture, bull-worship and the cult
of the Great Mother, and several other similarities further testify
to an ancient connection among these distant sites.
Indeed, the sun-dried mud bricks — fired when firewood was available —
lead us to think of Adam, made of the same stuff.
Zuñi mythology
depicts their ancestors actually emerging from the underground mud in
Paradise and immigrating to their present location.
Atlantis, Eden and the Seven Golden Cities of Cibola
The Pueblos were early associated by the Spaniards with
the Seven Golden Cities of Cibola and with the legend of the
Eldorado. And these are, as we argue elsewhere, the same as the
Seven Islands of the Blest, which are no other than the sunken Eden
of the Judeo-Christians. The name of the Golden Cities of Cibola
very obviously came from the Dravida civ-pola, meaning "golden
city" or, yet, "city of the reds". It is
interesting to note that "Reds" or "Golden" are usual epithets of
the Atlanteans. Adam too was a "Red", that is, a
Chamite, as his name (means "red") unequivocally indicates.
Moreover, the number seven attached to the cities of Cibola is also
the one of the Isles of the Blest and similar sunken
 r ealms
of the ancients. In fact, the number alludes to the seven great
islands of Indonesia: Java, Sumatra, Borneo, Celebes, Philippines,
New Guinea and the Malay Peninsula, which the ancients counted as an
island.
We recall that the fundamental rule of the science of symbolism is
that a symbol or a convention cannot be invoked to explain the
origin of another symbol, for this just transfers the problem. So,
the sacredness of the number seven — the holiest number of the
Hindus — can only derive from their seven Dvipas or Paradises,
that is, from precisely the above islands. Can you think of another
sacred seven that is not purely conventional in origin?
The Spaniards mistook the Americas — which they later called
West Indies — for the East Indies, which they knew to be the site of
Paradise and, hence, of the fabled Seven Golden Cities of Cibola.
Cibola, "the Golden City", is just one of the many names of
Lemurian Atlantis.
The name of "Seven Golden Cities" or "Seven Golden Islands" was
applied by the ancients to the Indonesian islands, and to no other
place. This name is indeed a translation of the Sanskrit
Suvarna-dvipa, which gave the Greek Chryse Chersonesos and the Latin
Aurea Chersonesus, all meaning the same thing as "Golden City" or
"Golden Island".
The Twins and the Great Mother
The Navajos trace descent through the mother, and their
families centers around the grandmother. This is another evidence of
their cult of the Great Mother, which is a feature of Dravidian
Hinduism. The Navajo rites, chants and dances are based entirely
on the characters, incidents and places of their mythology and
ritual designs. The dancers wear masks and dresses according to
exacting standards, and impersonate the gods and heroes (Kachina) of
their mythology.
Foremost among these ancestral heroes of the Navajos are
the Twins, the sons of Sun and Earth-Mother. These Twins are also
called "Little War-Gods", a name which closely evokes
that of the Hindu Ashvin Twins and, more exactly, the two brothers
Skanda and Ganesha, respectively the
generalissimos of the gods and of the devils in Hindu mythology.
The Twins free the earth from all sorts of monsters, creating order
out of the prevalent chaos. The Navajo Twins closely
correspond to the ones of the Pueblo Indians and those of the Mayas
and even the ones of the Indians of South America. Indeed, the
Navajo Twins are the counterparts of those of the Old World, pairs
like Castor and Pollux,
Atlas and Gadeiros, as well as the Ashvin Twins of
Vedic India. In all cases the function of these Twins was
ridding the world of monsters and pests, including diseases and
vermin. This is true on both sides of the world. Hence, it is naive
to think that such perfect correspondences can be the result of
chancy coincidences.
A close comparison of these and other mythological personages
discloses the fact that Amerindian religion is very much the same
all over the three Americas, particularly insofar as their Cosmogony
is implied. However, as is so often the case with the oppressed
races, the Indians disguise their true religion under a heavy veil
of allegories and symbolisms that have to be deciphered before the
underlying unity and purpose become evident. Even in this regards,
the religion of the Amerindians closely parallels the Mystery
Religions of the Old World, whose secret contents was never divulged
to the profanes, particularly if these belong to the despicable
white races.
Djos y Ley, the Archetypal Twins
Frequently, the Navajo own gods are synchretized to the alien deities
and saints, despite the fact that they are indeed their duals. For
instance, the Pueblo Indians disguised their Twins,
during Spanish dominion, under the characters of Djos
and Ley. These two are characters akin to the
Trickster, and figure in vulgar tales tending to the fescenine.
In fact, their names are corruptions of the Spanish Dios and Rey
("God" and "King") and embody the two types of divine authority that
we encounter the world over. These two types correspond to the
powers the Hindu impersonated in Mitra and Varuna, as so amply
discussed by
Prof. G. Dumézil. Mitra ("twin") is the Solar Twin, and
personifies Royalty (Ley), much as Varuna is the Lunar Twin who
corresponds to Magic and Religion (Djos).
The Twins personify, everywhere, the two races of Man, from which
all humans arose. The junior (or lesser) twin is often likened
to a woman, and is dominated by his elder twin. Sometimes they are
made into a Male and a Female and their role is switched as the eras
alternate. The Twins are often likened to the Sun (or Sky) and the
Earth (or Hell), which are esteemed to be their parents.
With the Barasana Indians of the Brazilian Amazon
jungle, the Twins are substituted by the Primordial Couple. These
two consist of Jurupari and Romi Kumu. Romi Kumu somehow lost
his/her phallus, and became the Great Mother, just as Jurupari, the
Great Father, also lost his own, in a later occasion. But in many
other South American nations, the male (or androgynous) character of
the Twins is preserved, with one of them dominant, and the other one
dominated and effeminate.
These two Primordial Castrates closely evoke the ones of Greek
mythology (Ouranos and Kronos),
themselves copied from Brahma and Shiva, their Hindu archetypes.
When one pauses to reflect, it is difficult not to realize their
common origin somewhere. And when one thinks even harder, it is easy
to see that this origin can only have been in the Indies, whence we
all came from, in the dawn of times.
The Twins as Fire and Water
More exactly, the Navajo Twins are, respectively, like
their Hindu counterparts, the children of the Sun and Water by the
Earth Mother. Again this dualism is of Hindu origin, and the Sun is,
indeed, Agni
(the Fiery Principle), whereas the Water corresponds to Indra
(the Watery Principle).
Vedic mythology is extremely difficult to penetrate. But it is
possible to show that Mitra ("twin") is
really an epithet of Indra (ind = "water"), whereas Varuna is really
the Celestial (or Sun) god fallen down into the Ocean. When this
reversal of roles happened, Varuna was degraded and descended to the
bottom of the seas, trading role with his Twin (Mitra), that
ascended to Heaven.
The Navajos and the Apache express their religion in the
ritual dances and chants of the whole community. These ceremonies
are intended to reestablish Cosmic Order and, hence, bring back
health to the sick; rains to the crops; game to the hunters, etc..
They also drive away the evil spirits that disturb Cosmic Harmony,
and invite in the good ones that foster it.
All their arts are combined in the rituals: the elaborate poetry of
the chants; the mythical geography; the beautiful masks and feather
head-dresses; the deep symbolism of the intricate sand paintings
and, finally, the spectacular dancing of the characters who wear the
godly regalia.
Both the Apache and the Navajos call the Twins by names such as
"Killer-of-Enemy Gods" and "Child-of-the-Waters".
These names are shared by the other Athabascan-speaking peoples. The
enemy gods are the monsters that inhabited primordial earth, and
which rendered it unfit for human occupation before they were
exterminated by the Twins.
Most such monsters are cannibals like Big Owl and
Kicker-off-the-rocks. Child-of-the-Waters is the junior twin; the
helper of his elder bother. His name is a direct translation of that
of the Hindu Apam-Napat, himself an alias of Skanda, the Hindu
War-god. These two should be compared to the Twin War Gods of the
Pueblo Indians, as commented above.
The Exploits of the Twins
Navajo mythology hinges on the exploits of the Twins in
their quest of the mythical Center of Origin, the Paradise they
identify with the
Whirling Mountain at the Center of the World. In certain
versions, this Paradise was reached by a man who went down the
Colorado River inside a hollow log. This myth can be understood in
the light of similar South American Indian myths.
The hollow log is really a giant serpent (Anaconda) which is a sort of
submarine, inside which they came out from the underwater primordial
abode. In other words, the hollow log is an alias of the Ark,
which is often likened to a giant serpent both in the New and the
Old Worlds.
South American Indian mythology is presently far more
complete than that of the North American Indians, for
down here many tribes still survive in their pristine state, and
have not yet been acculturated by the missionaries and other white
influences. But an in depth study of south American mythology
clearly shows a fundamental identity with that of their northern
brothers, particularly insofar as the myths of origin are concerned.
The Death and Resurrection of Wiyot
The Pueblo Indians and the Luiseños turned migrants in imitation of
the Twins. They thus attempted to reach the Center of the Earth
where their god, Wiyot, had hidden himself after he
died. Wiyot was the first of all men to die, and his death taught
his people the example. In fact, Wiyot later resurrected as the New
Moon, and became immortal.
The example of Wiyot is literally copied from the
Hindu one of Yama
("twin"). Yama is an alias of Varuna as the lesser of the two Twins.
Indeed, the stories of both Wiyot and Yama anticipate that of
Christ, who died and resurrected in order to teach his worshippers
that it can be done in practice. The death and resurrection of
Wiyot is an instance of those of the so-called Vegetation
Gods of the Old World. To this famous confrary also belong gods and
heroes such as Tammuz,
Attis, Adonis, Agdistis,
King Arthur, Hercules, and, of course,
Jesus Christ, Osiris and Dionysos.
What the story of Wiyot is indeed telling is that the
elder, the Solar Twin, dies and resurrects as the lesser one, the
Lunar Twin. In other words, what we have here is the alternance of
the eras and that of the ruling and ruled races with the passage of
time.
Even Plato seemed to believe in this concept, as he held that
we are sequentially born as males and females (i.e. Solar and Lunar)
in successive metempsychoses. Apparently, victims and oppressors
also change places. As one philosophical Indian once said, "when we
were on top, we stepped on the necks of the whites. Now they’re on
top, and step on ours."
The Primordial Migration
The migrations of the Luiseños, the Apaches
and
the Pueblos recall the identical ones of the
Tupi-Guarani Indians of Brazil. Even before the Portuguese
arrived here, they knew their world was doomed. So, they started
migrating to the coast, awaiting for the Saviour that would lead
them safely across the Ocean, just as Moses, Christ, and other such
Tirthankaras ("Ford-makers" or, rather, "Saviours") had done
in Primordial times.
This mass migration precipitated the downfall of the once mighty
Tupi-Guarani nation. Out of their own bases, these Indians became an
easy prey for the Portuguese invaders, who cornered them against the
seas, and killed them off through starvation and purposefully spread
diseases such as smallpox and syphilis. More or less as happened in
North America, except that in a far larger scale, for the
genocide there was conducted by the government itself.
The pungent story of the Tupi-Guarani migrations in quest of their
Paradise, Yvymaraney (or "evil-less land"), is one of
the most touching dramas of the Amerindian saga in the three
Americas. We have told this sad story elsewhere, and will not return
to it here. Suffice it to say that the pilgrimages in quest of
Paradise and the Holy Land are perhaps the most prevalent of
religious rituals in the world.
Pilgrimages are done by the Hindus and the Arabs, as well as by the
Jews and the Christians alike. Pilgrimages are a sort of ritual
return to Paradise. Phony heroes seek to return to phony, purely
spiritual Paradises, whereas true Heroes like Alexander,
Ulysses,
Osiris,
Dionysos and Gilgamaseh seek for the true
site of the Terrestrial Paradise. And this they invariably do, just
as their New World counterparts, by crossing into the Indies, as we
can read in the ancient sagas.
The first Europeans in America emphasized the differences and the
"savagery" of the Amerinds as an excuse to force them
into submission and slavery, and in order to be granted royal and
papal permission to steal their land and property and to
disorganize their nations and their religion. Thus deprived of their
values, the acculturated Indians became an easy prey of the far
more bestial Conquistadores and Bandeirantes who inevitably
follow
the missionaries everywhere they show up among the
primitives.
You know how it is: send the missionaries first. If they fail in the
task of destroying the social structures of the natives and in "converting"
them — a sure sign of their pact with the Devil — send in the
soldiers to butt in, and to punish the savages, and to force them
into complying. Once their culture and their religion and social
structure are disrupted, send in the colonists to take away their
land, their property and even their very humanity, through
enslavement and sheer genocide. Look into History, and
you will see that this sad reality is the rule rather than the
exception everywhere in this world of ours.
The Meaning of Drug Cults
Like the Luiseños and the Mescalero Apaches,
the Pueblos and the Navajos often adhere
to Drug Cults. These are based on hallucinogens such as the sacred
mushroom, the peyote and the mescal. Indeed, most Indians use one
type or another of drug-induced ecstasy, in order to enhance their
mystical union with God.
Such was also the original purpose of the Holy Communion of the
Christians, where wine (a hallucinogen) substitutes for other drugs.
All such rituals ultimately derive from the Soma rituals
of the Hindus, as many specialists have recognized. Soma
was prepared from many plants such as hemp, mushrooms,
asclepias, etc., as well as from animal poisons obtained from toads
and snakes.
Drug cults were generalized in the whole ancient world as well, as
archaeological research is unequivocally uncovering. Even the
Egyptians were apparently addicted to such rituals. A recent study
of several Egyptian mummies by the meticulous Germans unmistakenly
revealed that the Egyptian pharaohs routinely used drugs such as
hemp, opium, tobacco and coca.
Now, hemp is an Indian plant, whereas tobacco and coca are of South
American origin, and opium was usually produced in the Near East.
So, what this remarkable research unequivocally discloses is the
existence of an ancient international naval trade in drugs (and
other goods as well) throughout the world, and encompassing
principally the Indies and the Americas in its routes.
Another often-used hallucinogenic drug is datura or jimson.
This is also called loco-weed or thorn-apple (Datura stramonium).
The datura is common to both the Old and the New World, and is also
widely used in India for the same ritual purposes as in the
Americas. Jimsonweed is particularly popular among the Chungichmich
of Southern California, and is much used in initiatic rituals
involving nagualism and shamanism.
Peyotism is based on the peyote (or mescal) cactus (Lophophora
Williamsii), native to Mexico. In the US, Peyote is eaten in a
communal meal that closely resembles the Holy Communion of the
Christians, which it apparently parallels. Indeed, modern Peyote
religion actually claims that Christ instituted the "White
Communion" to Whites and the Peyote (or "Red")
Communion to the Reds. Interestingly enough, the ancient Hindus also
spoke of two similar types of Soma Communion, one "red" (or "golden"
or "Solar"), and the other "white" (or "silvery" or "Lunar").
Peyotism has been forbidden or, at least, persecuted, since early
times in the Americas. In 1620, the Inquisidor General of New Spain
forbid the use of peyote by all Christians, a fact that meant that
those caught in the practice were not Christians and, hence, liable
to prosecution and burning-at-stake for heresy or witchcraft or
both. As recently as the late 1960s, Peyotism was still outlawed in
several regions of the United States of America.
The name of the peyote derives from the Nahuatl
peyotl meaning "divine messenger", which is more or less
synonymous with "Angel (or Envoy) of the Lord". In other words,
Peyotl is the "Christ", the Messias (or Emissary) sent down to the
Indians as the Celestial Messenger, the bearer of the Good News of
the Gospels. More exactly, Peyotl is the Third Coming of the Saviour
so ardently expected by the Gnostics and the Mystics everywhere.
When he comes, shortly, he shall bring the Celestial Bread to all
humans, the white one to the Whites, and the red one to the Reds, in
fair, equal shares to all of us humans.
1
The Great Mother, Venus and Nagualism
In Navajo mythology, the Great Mother is called Changing
Woman. Changing Woman represents the Earth. And her name refers to
the idea that our planet periodically sloughs off its old skin (the
crust) like a serpent, being reborn as fresh and virginal as a young
bride. This motif is ritually enacted in Navajo dances and chants of
an initiatic character.
This periodic renewal of the world is connected not only with the
daily or the yearly ones, but with the eras of humanity dictated by
the Precession of the Equinoxes. In other words, Changing Woman is
the same as the Nagis ("Serpent Women") of the Hindus,
and her myriad counterparts such as Mélusine, Kokilan, Ganga, the
Queen of Sheba, Echidna, etc. who, all, symbolize the renewed earth.
More exactly, Changing Woman is Venus, reborn afresh
from the froth and blood of the castrated phallus of Ouranos thrown
down into the Ocean’s waters by Kronos. Indeed, Venus is the alias
or replica of the Hindu goddess Lakshmi (also called Shri). Shri was
born, exactly like Aphrodite-Venus, from the froth engendered at the
occasion of the Churning of the Ocean of Milk, in consequence of the
dispute between the gods an the devils (devas and asuras) for
possession of the Elixir of Life, the Soma.
The Primordial Castration and the Universal Twins
Again, this churning is a clever allegory of the destruction of
Paradise by the giant volcanism that changed Mt. Atlas
from a volcanic peak into a giant submarine caldera, as we explain
next. This event is also allegorized, again in beautiful images, the
Primordial Castration of the Holy Mountain of Paradise and its fall
into the Ocean, and the rebirth of the renewed Paradise of the
subsequent era.
Another similar allegory is the one we mentioned further above,
concerning the myth of the Fallen Sun, who is also the Primordial
Castrate. The former Sun (male) falls down into the seas, and is
reborn as the New Moon (female) that is the alias of Venus or, yet,
of the renewed Earth and the rejuvenated Great Mother that is her
daughter, the Virgin. Interestingly enough, the birth of the Twins
is also attended by foam which, as we will see below, has a deep
esoteric significance.
According to the Male Shooting Chant of the Navajos, the
Twins were born from Changing Woman, and were fathered,
sequentially, by Dripping Water and Sun. Most mythical Twins are
born likewise, fathered by two different fathers. A well-known case
is that of Hercules and Iphicles, successively fathered by Zeus and
Amphitrion.
Likewise, Cain and Abel were also born of Eve, fathered, respectively,
by both God and Adam (Gen. 4:1-2). Indeed, even Jesus
Christ and his Twin (Thomas Didymus) may have
been bred this way. As usual, this double impregnation scheme
is of Hindu origin, and is instanced, f. i., in the
miraculous conception of Krishna and Balarama and that of the Ashvin
Twins. Several apocryphal gospels tell, often in allegoric but
unequivocal terms, of the dual paternity of Christ and his
many-named Twin. The two fathers are either Joseph and the Angel,
the Holy Ghost and the Father or even Joseph and a mysterious
Roman legionary called Panthera.
The Regaining of Youth
In one Navajo sacred dance, Changing Woman, old, decrepit and feeble,
is led through the four different stations of a ritual sand
paintings and regains her youth, finally coming out as fresh and as
virginal as the Earth in springtime. Apparently, she is reborn as a
male, the Junior Twin or as his twin sister, the Virgin. Junior is
far more than just a companion and mate to the Elder Twin. He/she
also seems to be his lover as well.
This is evidenced, for instance,
when Changing Woman completes the change, and sings:
Changing Woman’s child I have become,
With him I go, being restored to youth,
According to beauty I walk.
All is in accord again,
All is in accord again,
All is in accord again
All is in accord again.
The Navajo Twins and Their Old World Counterparts
The Navajo Twins also evoke Amphion and Zethos, the
builders of the walls of Thebes, in Greek mythology. Amphion was
rough and brutal and gigantic like Slayer-of-alien-gods, whereas
Zethos was slight, gentle and charming like Child-of-the-waters. The
elder twin was born "somewhat precipitately, to the sound of
thunder", whereas the younger one was born "mildly to the
accompaniment of gentle thunder".
Their exploits are also treated in far more detail in those of their
counterparts among the South American Indians. There, the twins are
called Nanderikey and Tiviry by the Apapocuva Guarani,
names that mean, respectively "Our Lord" and "Twin". The Twins are
also worshipped by the other South American Indians, who call them
by equivalent names.
As we said above, some tribes make the second Twin a female, as is the
case of Jurupari and Romi Kumu. These two are, respectively, the
Great Father and the Great Mother of the Barasana Indians.
Among other Brazilian tribes, for instance the Ava-Katu-Etê and the
Aché, the Twins are identified to the Sun and the Moon, and are
actually called Kuaray ("Sun") and Yacy ("Moon").
The Primordial Couple of the Barasana Indians of Brazil also closely
recalls Yama and Yami, their Hindu equivalents and archetypes. These
names mean, respectively, "Male Twin" and "Female Twin", and their
myth and role is highly complex in Indian mythology. An even closer
parallel with the Barasana Twins is afforded by Shiva and Brahma.
Both gods end up by being castrated, like Romi Kumu and Jurupari.
This event takes place repeatedly in different occasions, during
which, in alternation, one of the Twins plays the female to the
other Twin. In this way they engender Humanity and, indeed the whole
of Creation.
Even in Christianism, things apparently accord to this scheme. The
figure of Christ’s twin is often the one of the
Beloved Disciple. This personage is often confused with
St. John the Baptist, with St. John the Evangelist, with Thomas
Dydimus ("twin Twin") or even Judas and Mary the Magdalene. For
instance, in Gnostic figurations such as the famous one of
Leonardo da Vinci, St. John the Baptist is traditionally painted
as an androgynous personage, charming and effeminate.
As we point out elsewhere, the "twin" figures of John and Christ, and
the peculiar circumstances attending their engendering, their birth
and their childhood were copied verbatim from the
Hindu Gospels of Krishna and Balarama. Even the puzzling detail
which the Hindus call samkarshana — the mysterious trading of wombs from one Virgin
Mother to the other — is not lacking in the Christian version.
Actually, these mysterious events are allegories of the Paradisial
events having to do with the Mass (Missa) and the Messias, as
discussed in the previous footnote. But this theme cannot be treated
in more detail here, for certain things may not yet be disclosed.
The Six Veils of Amerindian Myths
The Navajo Twins were born in a mysterious spot, covered
by six successive veils: darkness, the blues skies, dusk, dawn,
mirage and heat. They were reared by the doorkeepers of Changing
Woman, Bear Man and Rattlesnake Man. These two doorkeepers
apparently correspond to
the Polar Constellations of the Lesser Bear
and
Draco, whereas Changing Woman herself corresponds to
Lyra, the third Polar Constellation, which is the female
counterpart of the other two, both males.
But we should never forget that the Celestial constellations, just as
the personifications of the Heroes and Gods are no more than
allegories, symbols and metaphors that stand for an ulterior
Reality. This is a complex subject, whose discussion does not fit
here, and which has been examined by us elsewhere. It has to do with
the alternation of the Eras of Mankind and the sharing of the single
phallus between the two deities, who trade roles and sex this way.
Of course, the stellar images are just allegorical, as indeed are the
personifications and the luni-solar avatars of both Gods and Heroes.
All such, are indeed personifications of nations, races and peoples
that fashioned human history and are considered to be our
mythical Ancestors. More exactly still, the Twins personify
the twin Atlantises, the two Paradises where humanity
originally arose and evolved, becoming civilized, and reaching a
spiritual and technical development that we are still, despite all
our arrogance, incapable of even dreaming about. When we grow up as
much as they did, we can perhaps become gods and angels, as
Pythagoras said we could.
The Mysterious Exploits of the Navajo Twins
Navajo Twins are usually referred to as Firstborn and Secondborn, a
standard designation of the Twins everywhere. Soon after their birth
— they grew up in a few days — the Twins set out to search for their
father, the Sun, in order to be granted powers. Their way is long
and difficult, and fraught with dangers posed by all sorts of
monsters and perils, which they conquer.
This tale closely resembles the one of the Mayan Twins, told in
the Popol Vuh, concerning their return to Xibalba, the
mysterious Land of the Dead. The Land of the Dead is indeed Paradise
Destroyed and, more exactly still, sunken Atlantis,
the former Island of the Sun. In order to get there, the Twins rode
a rainbow, which magically transported them across the skies.
Successively, the Twins meet Spider Woman, Clashing Rocks, Cutting
Reeds, Burying-sand-dune, and finally reach the Sun’s house. There
they are resisted by the Four Guardians: Bear, Rattlesnake, Wind,
and Thunder, who are appeased when they state their respective
names. The Sun, at first, fails to acknowledge the Twins as his own
children, and attempts to kill them. But after several unsuccessful
attempts, the Sun finally recognizes his children in the two valiant
boys. He renders them invisible and immortal, "after his own image",
rendering them "holy forever".
The Twins as Monster-Killing Heroes
The Sun also gives his sons lightning bolts for weapons. These were
capable of killing all sorts of monsters, former children of his
own. The Twins then return to earth, falling from the skies "like
lightning bolts". The place where the first twin landed became known
as "Like-zigzag-lightning-he-came-down", whereas that of the second
twin was named "Let-down-on-a-sunbeam". These "descents from heaven"
in the shape of lightning bolts are avatars, a Sanskrit word meaning
"falling star" and, more exactly, implying the fall of the vajra.
The fall of the Navajo Twins is quaintly reminiscent of
those
of Christ and of Lucifer, the Twins of Judeo-Christian
traditions, to which we return further below. Upon their return, the
Twins start killing off all sorts of terrible monsters: Giant
Monster, Burrowing Monster, Kicker-off-the-Rocks, Tracking Bear,
Kills-with-the-eye, Walking Rock, etc.. Next, the Twins set out
again from their mother’s house, leaving behind their own
counterparts in the persons of Holy Man and Holy Boy.
The Twins successively go to Trembling Mountain, Whirling Mountain,
Mountain-fallen-away, Striped Mountain and Coiled Mountain, where
they learn the magic chants and the magic diagrams (sandpainted)
from various local deities. These five mountains are all holy. They
closely correspond to Mt. Meru and its four flanking
mountains, which are the sites of the Hindu Paradises, as we shall
see further below. As such, the five mountains — which form a
quincunx like the Hindu and the Pythagorean ones —are endlessly
portrayed in the Navajo sandpainted
mandalas which we will be discussing further below.
The Conquest of the Elixir and its Old World Parallels
Finally, the Twins are given the Elixir, called
"Old-age-restored-in-beauty". This they give to their mother,
Changing Woman, in order to make her young again. After her change,
Changing Woman is made to move out to a place "near Canyon de
Chelly" (the Navajo Indian Reservation in Arizona), forced out of
her pristine home by the Twins and other gods.
As is clear, Changing Woman represents the Indians (Navajos) chased
out of the Primordial Paradise by encroaching nations, including
their own offspring. Most of the features in the Navajo myth of the
Twins can be traced back to the Old World, as well as to South
America and other places. For instance the Clashing Rocks are the
same as the Symplegades of the Odyssey and the Argonautica, and also
have counterparts in South America, in the Yvymomó of the Apopocuva
Guaranis, not to mention the other Indians.
It is impossible to read the relation of the adventures of the
Navajo Twins without noticing the fundamental parallelism with the
similar deeds of Old World Twins and Giant-Killers. In
particular the adventures of the Amerindian Twins closely correspond
to those of Krishna and Balarama of Hindu traditions, of Gilgamesh
and Enkidu of Sumerian myths, or the ones of Horus and Seth in
Egyptian mythology or, yet, those of Atlas (or Orion)
and Hercules in Greece or of Thor and Odin among the Scandinavians.
In fact, all these myths derive from a single (Atlantean)
source, which was endlessly copied and adapted by each nation
along the centuries, and came to form the base of their religion,
again of Atlantean origin. It was also thus that the myth of the
Twins entered Christianism in the dual figures of Christ and the
Anti-Christ (Lucifer), that we mentioned above.
The White Island, which turned into a mountain at night and grew up
into the skies, is visibly the same as the Scylla of the Odyssey,
described in identical terms by Homer. Here, the myth of this
island-mountain has been is blended with the ones of the Leukades
("White Islands") and of Shveta-dvipa (idem) of the Hindus.
In reality, this lofty mountain is Mt. Atlas or Meru, called
Mt. Cassius (that is, Kachi or "White") in some traditions such as
the Greco-Roman and Phoenician ones reported by Avienus. The
dual of the Cosmic Mountain (Linga) is the Cosmic Chasm (Yoni),
figured in Homer
as the terrifying Charybdis faced by Odysseus in his trip to Phaeacia,
which is no other thing than the sunken paradise
of Atlantis. In fact, Scylla and Charybdis —one a giant
volcanic peak, the other the enormous caldera of a submarine volcano
— are allegories of the impassable barrier of the Pillars of
Hercules, as we explain elsewhere in detail.
The Cutting Reeds that reach out to grab and cut up people is another
traditional motif of supreme importance. This legend is connected
with the one of the Sargasso Sea of the ancients
which, allegedly, did the same. Ultimately, the (Phoenician) legend
of the Sea of Sargassos derives from the Hindu one of Nalanala ("Sea
of Weeds") and that of Kushadvipa ("the Island of Kusha Grass"),
whose reeds also retained passing ships and dragged them to the
bottom, just as Columbus and his men feared would happen to
them in the Caribbean region they mistook for the one of the Indies,
which they indeed intended to reach.
In fact, the above legends refer to the islands and seas of Indonesia,
in reality full of such sandbars and muddy shoals, spiny reeds and
weeds, as we comment in detail elsewhere. And it is indeed in
Indonesia that we find the huge chasm which the Greeks called
Symplegades, and which the Hindus call by the name of
Vadava-mukha ("the Mare's Mouth"). The Vadava-mukha is actually the
site of the Krakatoa volcano, which turned into a immense caldera
after the catastrophic explosive eruption that devastated paradisial
Atlantis.
This giant explosion spit huge amounts of pumice-stone which formed
enormous floating banks that presented a terrible threat to
navigation in those seas. This happens even today, when the local
volcanoes, including the Krakatoa itself, erupt
explosively, spewing out cinders and volcanic bombs composed of
pumice-stone which forms enormous banks that hamper navigation in
the local seas. From the magnitude of the banks of pumice formed by
such relatively minor eruptions, we can imagine the huge size of the
colossal explosion that razed Paradisial Atlantis.
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