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Post by Montezuma on Oct 9, 2024 10:33:51 GMT -5
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Post by Montezuma on Oct 10, 2024 8:15:09 GMT -5
Bear Myths and Traditions: The Moon and Mounds in North America by Herman Bender (Note: a selected text is being post, for more and full information please see the full-downloadable link.) Abstract
The Kolterman Mound site, a premier petroform and archeoastronomy site overlooking the vast Horicon Marsh, is located 20 miles (32 km) south and east of Fond du Lac, Wisconsin (USA). Viewing of the long anticipated 2006 lunar maximum moonset event from this site enabled the author to connect the singular bear effi gy mound at Kolterman with other (lunar) aligned bear effi gy mounds in the area. Looking farther afi eld in Ohio by extension of known bear cult imagery and lunar maximum alignments, combined bear and moon symbolism was also established at the prominent Newark giant earthworks site with links to another at High Banks, the two sites connected at one time by the Hopewell Road. Physical expressions on the cultural landscape, the sites are likely related to ancient bear cult shamanistic traditions and inherent cosmologies, and although modifi ed by time and distance, appear to exhibit shared beliefs and function of design.
The fundamental and very noticeable shape shift or change from the full disk of the moon to a crescent within less than a half hour would have been recognised by the indigenous people as transformation, a fundamental part of Native American beliefs and cosmologies generally associated with bears, spirits, shamans and shamanistic abilities (Howard 1955, 170; Conway & Conway 1990, 32–33, 72–73; Rockwell 1991, 64–66; Bender 2004, 17; 2009, 142, 150; Berres et al. 2004, 7–9; Comba 2014). Somewhat like the moon, the same may be said about the bear. It is generally depicted in most Native American sculptures, carvings and images as crescent-shaped with a head’s down posture (Fig. 11.4). What the observation at Kolterman did, though, was to firmly link the moon (whether crescent-shaped or not) and the crescent-shaped bear mound with moon/bear traditions found in the northern latitudes of North America and the ancient, circumpolar bear cult (Bender 2017a). Perhaps as important as the mounds and alignments are the large springs northeast of and directly in-line with the two long-tailed bear effi gy mounds. Among the Algonquin and Siouan speaking tribes in Wisconsin, bears were said to reside in springs during the winter (Overton 1928, 217). Both effi gies would appear to have been emerging from the springs, a link to the bears’ den underground in the womb of the earth and water which is the medium of birth (Bender 2017a)
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Post by Montezuma on Oct 10, 2024 8:20:34 GMT -5
"The crescent shape of the bear is again encountered at Lizard Mound Park c. 15 miles (25 km) due east of the Brummond mounds (Fig. 11.1a). Sometimes described as ‘panther’ mounds, the crescent shape of the mounds, each with a robust front quarter and shoulders as seen in mound nos 6, 30 and 31, suggests a ‘long-tailed’ bear in the head’s down posture far more than a panther or otter (Figs 11.6 & 11.7). Because each mound is aligned to face a lunar maximum moonset azimuth at either azimuth 228.5° (±0.5°) or azimuth 311.5° (±0.5°) and they are almost identical in shape to the crescent-shaped bear mound (No. 13) at Kolterman, identifying them as bear mounds makes far more sense than a panther or otter which they in no way resemble (Fig. 11.1b & 11.2a). What then, is the connection or association between the crescent-shaped bear, the bear’s den (Figs 11.4d & 11.5), the lunar maximum, the shaman’s journey, the background of stars, the cosmos or space itself? An ethnoastronomy link to the nest or den and the attendant bear/star stories can be found by examining Micmac, Lenni Laenape (Delaware), Anishanaabe (Ojibwe), Munsee-Mahican and other eastern North American Indian traditions. To them, the constellation we call Corona Borealis was known as the ‘Bear’s Den’, the ‘Bear’s Lair’ and sometimes the ‘Bears Head’ (Langford 2007, 32; Miller 1997, 37, 292; Stewart 1978, 166).  Corona Borealis is an arc or crescent-shaped constellation (Fig. 11.8a) reminiscent of the crescent-shaped bear effi gy mound (Figs 11.1b, 11.4a–c, 11.5 & 11.6). When observed setting in the night sky slightly above the horizon at the mid-latitudes, its azimuth (~311° ±0.5°) and position, at Kolterman for instance, mirrors that of the crescent-shaped bear effi gy mound lunar maximum alignment (Fig. 11.8b). Furthermore, the setting of Corona Borealis, i.e. the ‘Bears Den’, in late fall/early winter mimics the time and season when the bear begins its hibernation. Therefore, the observed crescent-shaped moon setting slightly above the horizon during the lunar maximum would be seen to directly enter into same part of the sky the crescent-shaped constellation Corona Borealis was seen to set and occupies at that time of the year, i.e., the place of the bear’s ‘den’ (Fig. 11.8b). By extension, it thus becomes an earth womb metaphor. In the spring of the year when the bear comes out of hibernation and is ready to leave its den, Corona Borealis is seen rising in the northeast at the same approximate azimuth as the lunar maximum northernmost moonrise (Fig. 11.8c).  
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Post by Montezuma on Oct 12, 2024 12:20:29 GMT -5
"The pairing of the crescent moon (and bear) with Corona Borealis is a cosmic representation of the dualism between the womb and the den where the female bear gives birth. There is historic evidence that supports the premise. The Jesuit priests and French traders who lived among the Algonquin-speaking people in the 17th century recorded many customs and traditions concerning bear beliefs tied to the womb of the (deep) earth. They stated that, ‘[t]hey have besides many other divinities to whom they pray, and who, they claim, reside in the air, under the land, and beneath the earth. The gods beneath the earth, [especially] are bears who pass the entire winter without eating, nourishing themselves only from substance they extract from their navel (umbilicus) sucking’ (Campbell 1988, 147; Heming 1896, 119; Kinietz 1965, 287–288).
Adding credence to early historic bear and den associations, there are also Ojibwe legends and stories about the ‘spiral-tail bear in [the] abyss of the earth’ (Fertey 1970, 266; Schoolcraft 1853, 352). Describing the legend of the spiral-tail bear, Mallery (1894) stated, ‘… the tail … is of great length and extends completely around the body … this spirit lives in the earth … [and is] sometimes seen above ground’ (Fig. 11.9a).
These descriptions are likely of a deep earth (or den) refl ection of part of the night sky, sometimes thought to be where the (curved celestial bear) tail stars of what we call the constellation Ursa Major revolve around the North Star (Polaris) forming a spiral shape in the northern night sky. However, the constellation we call Corona Borealis is not only seen as the bear’s den or lair, i.e. the abyss, but together with its somewhat dimmer stars the complete pattern of stars can easily be interpreted as a spiral shape (Fig. 11.9b).
Important in Algonquin and Chippewa culture, the long or spiral-tailed bear was more than a legend. The Chippewa totem or clan of the Long-tailed Bear was famous for its leaders, warriors (and shamans), sometimes described as ‘fabulous’ because of its mythical base (Schoolcraft 1853, 418–419). Their members were represented by a crescent-shaped bear with a long tail, ‘the peculiar feature in which [it] diff ers from the northern black bear, is formed of copper, or some bright metal’ and was shown curving around the bear like that in the image of the spiral-tailed (Fig. 11.10a).
Moreover, there is a place in south-eastern Wisconsin named Mukwonago, a word or place name which has two translations. One translation is ‘bear constellation or constellation of the bear stars’, the other is ‘bear’s hole’ or ‘bear’s lair’ (Gard & Sorden 1988, 186; Vogel 1991, 140). Therefore, a definite correlation can be made between the ‘abyss’ or ‘hole’ of the underworld, certain ‘bear stars’ of the upper world and the bear itself. In the Algonquin cosmological base, the abyss or underworld is viewed as a reflection of the night sky (Hall 1993, 28–300).
At the Brummond mounds there are large springs (Fig. 11.5), a perceived underground entrance to the abyss, i.e. the womb or den of the underworld and place where bears were said to hibernate (Overton 1928, 217). The long-tail bear effigies may well be physical, earthly representations of the ‘spiral-tail bear’ with its long, coiled tail straightened, the bears aligned to face the southernmost lunar maximum moonset. The alignment would seemingly indicate the place or ‘portal’ on the horizon where the moon sets at its far south point on the southwestern horizon (i.e. ~Az 228.5°±0.5°). The two bears are, in essence, on a journey between the lower world and upper world moving from the north-east to the south-west, the direction determined by the lunar maximum rise and set points. What then, was the purpose of the journey and to where or what in the south-west?
"After a person died, the soul was said to journey for 4 days on what the Anishinaabe or Ojibway, Menomimee and other Algonquin-speaking Indians called the Jibekana meaning ‘the path of the dead’ or ‘the path of souls’ (Keesing 1987, 51; Bender 2009, 147–149). The path has its counterpart in the night sky, the Milky Way, and the Ojibway and others who practiced the Midé had precise rites and ceremonies to help direct the dead along it. The Milky Way was seen by many tribes as a bridge stretching across the night sky toward the south or south-west, i.e. the ‘Ghost road’ (Heming 1896, 135), along which the souls of the deceased travelled on their way to paradise (Russel 1980, 46–47; Hadingham 1984, 94; Krupp 1991, 272–273; Goodman 1992, 22–23, 38; Schwartz 1997, 93–96; Langford 2007, 201–215)."
www.researchgate.net/publication/358710161_Bear_Myths_and_Traditions_The_Moon_and_Mounds_in_North_America
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Post by Montezuma on Oct 12, 2024 12:28:43 GMT -5
"The midewiwin or Midé Society, i.e. the ‘Grand Medicine’ (lodge) ceremonies of the Ojibway and other northern tribes (Keesing 1987, 48–50) hold additional clues that may help define both purpose and function. As Grim (1983, 156) says, ‘The midewiwin ceremony draws extensively upon the psychic techniques of earlier forms of Ojibway shamanism … the trance states both structured and spontaneous …’ where the candidate for a Midewiwin degree or patient to be healed ‘participates in the cosmic symbolism of the Ojibway origin stories’. One of the ‘earlier forms of Ojibway shamanism’ with roots in that ‘cosmic symbolism’ was known as the Wabeno, a shamanistic society whose members included both men and women (Grim 1983, 144). The name Wabeno translates as ‘men of the dawn sky’ or ‘red dawn sky’ (Grim 1983, 67, 113). Thought to descend from the northern Archaic culture, Wabeno ceremonies and practices would then predate the Midé by millennia (Kinietz 1965, 291; Miller 1982, 282; Schlesier 1987, 71–72; Brehm 1996, 690–692). The Wabeno were said to manipulate fire, danced until dawn in their ceremonies, were capable of transformation, specialised in the regulation of the natural order on earth, fertility, reincarnation of souls, studied the stars and moon, and during the day gained spiritual power from the sun (Grim 1983, 67, 113; Conway & Conway 1990, 70). The moon and star knowledge together with their traditions were very likely passed on and incorporated by the Midé and other medicine lodges (Conway 1992, 236–240, 252)."
"Many times the services of a shaman were sought to act as a psychopomp (Murray 2004, 59, 107) whose job it was to help guide the soul to the land of departed spirits (Smith 1995, 58; Leeming & Page 1998, 116–117).5 According to the Midé, that land was said to be located ‘somewhere – as though in space’ (Densmore 1979, 75). It is at this place ‘… in space’ near the horizon, sometimes referred to as ‘portals’ or ‘sky holes’ (Langford 2007, 52, 224, 226–232), that the soul could pass over when, during certain times of the year, e.g. the solstices, the veil was thinned between this reality and the spirit world. The lunar maximum far north and south rise and set points were most noticeable during the time of the solstices using the extreme declinations of the sun for comparison (Bender 2011; 2017a). To help make the journey, the shaman was said to be assisted by a bear spirit guide able to penetrate all the layers of the cosmos, moving from the bottom-most level of the abyss to the top layer of the sky (Grim 1983, 77–78).6 The landscape and placing of the bear mounds at Brummond were likely meant to represent a physical representation of the cosmic journey and to assist the soul of anyone interred in the mound.
Of interest, the Midé ‘Ghost scrolls’ may offer further insights into what was to be encountered at the end of the journey or, perhaps more importantly, how to get there and the purpose for the journey. In two of the Midé ‘Ghost scrolls’, a circular ‘village of the dead’ is pictured at the (west) end of the ‘path of the dead’. Within the village on one illustration is a slightly north-east to south-west oriented ‘Ghost Midewagun’ while the second scroll shows the ‘Ghost Midewagun’ with a west/north-west–east/ south-east axis (Dewdney 1975, 103, 105). The north-east–south-west and west/northwest–east/south-east orientations seen in both of the ‘Ghost Midewagun’ scrolls are almost certainly veiled indications of the seasonal movement of the Milky Way as it rotates from a north-east–south-west orientation in the late Spring of the year to a west/north-west–east/south-east one in late autumn. In the late Summer to late Fall, when the Cygnus rift in the Milky Way lays on the western horizon, its Y-shape is seen as the head of the open-mouth serpent with its coiled body stretching back to the east. Like many Native American traditions, this conceptual view of the Milky Way is not new. Furthermore, the arc along the western horizon from the south-west to the north-west is consistent with the parameters which bracket both the Lunar Maximum moonsets and the Milky Way or Ghost road from late Spring to early winter. In the Midé scrolls, it is the same processional path the bear is traversing on its way to its (celestial) den (Fig. 11.4e)."
www.researchgate.net/publication/358710161_Bear_Myths_and_Traditions_The_Moon_and_Mounds_in_North_America
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Post by Montezuma on Oct 14, 2024 23:18:20 GMT -5
Bear Mounds and Cosmic Function
Although none of us will ever truly know why the mounds were constructed or can state so with any degree of certainty, I propose that the bear mounds at Brummond may have been carefully laid out to be utilised as a metaphor which represents the long (spiral) tail bear in the abyss or womb of the earth on its journey between worlds. On the surface is the crescent-shaped bear shown within a crescent or the womb (Fig. 11.5), built and aligned to reflect the direction of the bear’s journey between the lower and upper worlds. In the earth and earth mound metaphor, the springs represent the entrance into or, more likely, from the earthly womb with the moon alignment to the south-west (the direction the bears are facing) establishing the direction of journey. Bearing all in mind, the entire scene would, along with the setting moon at the lunar maximum, act to complete the transformation of the landscape into the sacred, a profound transmutation needed to aid the journey of souls and shamans at a critical time of the year when souls can more easily pass between worlds. Intrinsic in all are the pervasive feminine attributes associated with the bear, the womb, the moon and birth or rebirth after death (Bender 2017a).
The Newark (Ohio) Giant Earthworks, Moon and Bear Connection
Perhaps the most ancient site known in North America where there is a confirmed lunar maximum alignment and associated bear imagery is at the Newark (Ohio) Giant Earthworks. This site and what was discovered there were key elements in linking the moon, bear and shamanism (Bender 2017a). The Newark Earthworks (Fig. 11.11a) were the largest set of geometric earthworks ever built in Ohio (Lepper 1998; 2006). They were constructed by the Hopewell people sometime between 200 BC and AD 400 (Seeman 1979, 237; Birmingham & Eisenberg 2000, 84–86). Two elements stand out at the Newark Earthworks, the first being the alignment of the axis of symmetry of the circle and octagon to the 18.61 year lunar maximum moonrise northernmost extreme (Fig. 11.11b). The alignment was confirmed at the Newark Earthworks in December, 2005 by Dr Michael Mickelson (Fig. 11.12a). The second is the bear shaman carving or figurine discovered in 1881 at the base of the largest burial mound at the Newark Earthworks (Fig. 11.12b). The bear shaman in the figurine may be either a male or female, but because of its association with the lunar aligned earthworks and the moon’s link to women, its discovery helped to suggest a further connection between the moon, the bear and the feminine (Bender 2017a).
The High Bank Earthworks and Hopewell
There is, however, another remarkable Octagon and Circle giant earthwork that may share far more than its shape with the one at Newark. Nearly 60 miles (96 km) south-east of the Newark earthworks, the High Bank Works was constructed near present day Chillicothe, Ohio (Fig. 11.13). Unlike at its almost identical counterpart at Newark (the circles share a nearly exact diameter), the main axis of symmetry of the octagon and circle at the High Banks Works is aligned perpendicular to Newark’s axis of symmetry, i.e. to the south-east. Furthermore, it has also been demonstrated that the High Banks Works circle and octagon incorporated not only both the summer and winter solstice sunrise and sunset alignments but, more importantly, alignments to all eight Lunar Maximum and Minimum rise and set points (Hively & Horn 1984).
In addition to sharing Lunar Maximum alignments, the two giant earthworks also appear to have been connected by the ‘Hopewell Road’ (Lepper 1995, 52–56; 2006), a straight track composed of parallel walls that, at one time, linked the two sites over the distance (Fig. 11.14). The High Banks Works anchored the south-west end of the Hopewell Road and the Newark earthworks anchored the north-east end. Remarkably, the 1848 map of the Newark earthworks compiled by Squire & Davis showed the road as ‘Parallel’s 2½ miles long’ running due south from the octagon (Fig. 11.11).
Lepper (1995, 56) suggested that the Hopewell Road may be a long earthly reflection of the Milky Way and, because of a directional similarity both share, I concur with his assessment. As we have seen with the long-tail bear effigy mounds aligned north-east to south-west which connect the lunar maximum moonrise and moonset azimuths at both the Brummond mounds and Lizard Mound Park, a credible argument can be made to support Lepper’s hypothesis. A tentative link exists with the Newark earthworks at the northern terminus of the road which is aligned to the north-east azimuth where the moon rises at its far northern declination (Fig. 11.11b). There is also a Milky Way seasonal component associated with the declination."
www.researchgate.net/publication/358710161_Bear_Myths_and_Traditions_The_Moon_and_Mounds_in_North_America
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Post by Montezuma on Oct 14, 2024 23:24:59 GMT -5
"Both have tentatively been identified as ‘Black’ stars in Pawnee cosmology; Vega likely the Black Meteoric Star, Deneb the Second Black Star (Chamberlain 1982, 126, 134). In Pawnee and Plains Indian cosmology, the colour was black associated with the north-east direction and, perhaps more importantly, the bear (Wedel 1977, 136–137; Miller 1997, 226). Therefore, the ‘best fit’ candidate for the Bear or spirit star that ‘… that receives the Pawnee after they are dead [and which] stands at the end of the Milky Way, in the north’ is Deneb, the Second Black Star, at the north end of the Milky Way Cygnus Rift (Figs 11.15a, 11.16–18)."
"Deneb should not be confused with nearby Vega, the Black Meteoric Star. They are distinctly different stars. The medicine bundles for each separate star and village where kept were apparently associated with animal powers, but different animals. The Black Meteoric Star represented animal powers and, in particular, the buffalo (Murie 1981, 39, 42). The Second Black Star bundle and village was associated with left-handedness, conveyed cosmic power and the ability to directly communicate with the animals (Murie 1981, 39), classic bear cult traits (Bender 2017a). Shamanic feats were also learned through the Second Black Star bundle (Murie 1981, 39, 42, 155; Chamberlain 1982, 124–125), another likely link to ancient bear cults and shamanic healing (Bender 2017a). Furthermore, Cygnus and the bright star Deneb were seen in the western high plains and basin as a ‘part of a Grizzly bear’ (Milller 1997, 296)."
www.researchgate.net/publication/358710161_Bear_Myths_and_Traditions_The_Moon_and_Mounds_in_North_America
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