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Path of the Shaman Volcanic Tablelands, CA Ancient and weathered symbols etched into a massive block of volcanic rock glow eerily in the moonlight under a haunted sky. Who trod this path before and set hand to rock to record these symbols? What deep meanings did these patterns hold for these peoples? How very long ago did they pass this way? One can only gaze and wonder. This is the first of a series of images at the Red Canyon petroglyph site of the Volcanic Tablelands, near Bishop, CA. This was the second night of a mid-October road trip visiting Mono Lake Tufa SR and the Volcanic Tablelands. This is formation is one of many rock art panels to be found. Many other such rock art sites are scattered about through this high, arid, and rolling plateau of the upper Owens Valley - an area wedged between the ramparts of the Sierras to the west, and the White Mountains to the East. This Volcanic Tablelands were formed some 700,000 years ago as a massive volcanic eruption buried the surrounding area in incandescently hot ash and steaming debris - the Bishop Tuff. Many years later, Native Americans migrated through and occupied this area, which eventually became the territory of a member of the Numic-speaking group of peoples, the Owens Valley Paiute. Estimated dates on rock art in this area span from a century or so ago, back to perhaps 1,000 B.C. Most of the symbols, it is thought, are figures of power associated with shamanistic vision quests - recordings of visions, of ritual, invocation of healing, hunting, and fertility magic - an invocation of the spirit helper and of the supernatural. An expression of the spiritual and supernatural forces which were everywhere around these peoples in their day-to-day life. Copyright © 2004 Jerry Day If you arrived here by search engine, click here to see the rest of site. |
DarkSkyDreams Night Photography by Jerry Day
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