Rampagonia
23-05-2004, 16:46
I Present to you, The Mayan Legend of Rampagonia.
http://www.nationstates.net/images/flags/uploads/rampagonia.jpg
Handclaps evoke chirped echoes from the staircases of the Pyramid of Kukulkan at Chichen Itza. The physics of the chirped echo can be explained quite simply as periodic reflections from stepfaces. But until now, no one has bothered to do so.
What is very interesting is that the chirped echo sounds arguably like the primary call of the Mayan sacred bird, the resplendent Quetzal. This magnificent bird, now near extinction, has for thousands of years represented the "spirit of the Maya". Spirits, in many traditions, speak in echoes. Think of the legend of Echo and Narcissus in the western tradition. Echo, lacking a body, was pure spirit.
A Mayan glyph from the Dresden Codex makes the connection between the pyramid of Kukulkan and the Quetzal bird. This glyph shows Kukulkan, the "sovereign plumed serpent" with a gigantic Quetzal behind him. We argue that the Quetzal bird represents the spirit of the Maya. We also argue that spirits often speak in echoes. It seems most appropriate that the spirit echo of the Pyramid of Kukulkan would speak in the echo-voice of the Quetzal."
Even today, the Quetzal plays an important part in modern Mayan culture. (Many modern Maya live in Guatemala, and in the Mexican States of Chiapas and Quintan Roo). Examples: the Quetzal is the unit of currency in Guatemala. The Guatemalan government issues a prestigious award named "The Order of the Quetzal." The most recent recipient of this award is the great Mayanist, Dr. Linda Schele.
Could the Maya have intentionally coded the sound of their sacred bird into the pyramid architecture? I think it is possible. In the millenium since this pyramid was built, though the plaster has eroded from the limestone staircases, the sound is still recognizable.
Where else in the history of the world have an ancient people preserved a sacred sound by coding it into stone so that a thousand years later people might hear and wonder?
The Mayan Legend of Rampagonia. The Legend Lives on. The people have risen. Welcome back to Maya. We will reign again.
The Region is alive: MAYA (http://www.nationstates.net/cgi-bin/index.cgi/39725/page=display_region/region=maya)
http://www.nationstates.net/images/flags/uploads/rampagonia.jpg
Handclaps evoke chirped echoes from the staircases of the Pyramid of Kukulkan at Chichen Itza. The physics of the chirped echo can be explained quite simply as periodic reflections from stepfaces. But until now, no one has bothered to do so.
What is very interesting is that the chirped echo sounds arguably like the primary call of the Mayan sacred bird, the resplendent Quetzal. This magnificent bird, now near extinction, has for thousands of years represented the "spirit of the Maya". Spirits, in many traditions, speak in echoes. Think of the legend of Echo and Narcissus in the western tradition. Echo, lacking a body, was pure spirit.
A Mayan glyph from the Dresden Codex makes the connection between the pyramid of Kukulkan and the Quetzal bird. This glyph shows Kukulkan, the "sovereign plumed serpent" with a gigantic Quetzal behind him. We argue that the Quetzal bird represents the spirit of the Maya. We also argue that spirits often speak in echoes. It seems most appropriate that the spirit echo of the Pyramid of Kukulkan would speak in the echo-voice of the Quetzal."
Even today, the Quetzal plays an important part in modern Mayan culture. (Many modern Maya live in Guatemala, and in the Mexican States of Chiapas and Quintan Roo). Examples: the Quetzal is the unit of currency in Guatemala. The Guatemalan government issues a prestigious award named "The Order of the Quetzal." The most recent recipient of this award is the great Mayanist, Dr. Linda Schele.
Could the Maya have intentionally coded the sound of their sacred bird into the pyramid architecture? I think it is possible. In the millenium since this pyramid was built, though the plaster has eroded from the limestone staircases, the sound is still recognizable.
Where else in the history of the world have an ancient people preserved a sacred sound by coding it into stone so that a thousand years later people might hear and wonder?
The Mayan Legend of Rampagonia. The Legend Lives on. The people have risen. Welcome back to Maya. We will reign again.
The Region is alive: MAYA (http://www.nationstates.net/cgi-bin/index.cgi/39725/page=display_region/region=maya)