“Mythical Event”

Meticulously etched and painted upon this ancient canvas of rock are images of the sun, moon, and stars. Celestial bodies and events are very important to the Native Americans. The moon, specifically, is very sacred to the Native Americans of today as well as their ancestors of long ago.

Rock art sites like this may have been a depiction of a witnessed celestial event, such as a comet, or super nova. The true interpretation of these wonderful images may never be fully known.

Unlike the durable petroglyphs that are incised into the rock, this shaman spirit and flute player are pictographs. Ancient pictographs were created using paints made from berries, minerals, and oils. Even after thousands of years these sacred images remain, in part to the locations in which they were painted. Ancient artist-shamans had the foresight to protect these images from the elements. They were often created within a cave or alcove. Effectively shielding them from the sun and weather. Some of these pictographs are believed to be 4,000 years old!

All of these celestial images and symbols create a sacred place in this rust-colored canvas of rock and lichen, but it is the handprints that hold the magic and keep the doorway open between our world and that of the spirits. When a reverent shaman puts mineral or animal pigment on their hands and presses them to the rock surface, they have created more than just an impression of their own hands: they have personally identified their self forever to the spirits that reside there.