24 replies to this topic

[Still Waters]

The dream of El Dorado, a lost city of gold, led many a conquistador on a fruitless trek into the rainforests and mountains of South America. But it was all wishful thinking. The "golden one" was actually not a place but a person - as recent archaeological research confirms.

http://www.bbc.co.uk...gazine-20964114

[Abramelin]

"The real story behind the myth has slowly been pieced together over recent years using a combination of early historical texts and new archaeological research."

I bought books about it 20 or more years ago. Interesting news, but very old news.

[Talion]

Still its an interesting read,

Quote

Science in general and History in particular - links
Oera Linda Book and the Great Flood (Part 1)

http://oeralinda.blogspot.nl/

This is fascinating.

[wolfknight]

I find that very interesting. Not being a place that myths and legends are made of but a person

[lightly]

That was interesting...  there must be a LOT of gold , offerings,  still unfound.

[Abramelin]

lightly, on 15 January 2013 - 04:16 PM, said:

That was interesting...  there must be a LOT of gold , offerings,  still unfound.

And I hope you remember that I mentioned "El Dorado/Muisca/Colombia" in the "Inca" thread, a week or so ago.

For those who Google is their only source of information, try "Kogi"/"Chibcha"

[PersonFromPorlock]

I still like the explanation that when you've got a yard full of heavily armed strangers looking murderous, telling them about "the golden treasure in the next valley" is a very sensible thing to do. And for the people in the next valley, too.

[burkorobe]

Not being a place that myths and legends are made of but a person

[TheSearcher]

This is hardly a new theory though. I mean this was recorded from quite early on,  Juan Rodriguez Freyle, Juan Rodriguez Troxell both described the same ritual around the 1630's.

[Abramelin]

An interesting book is "The Heart of the World" by Alan Ereira.

I haven't even searched for it online, but I have it here in front of me, and it's about the Kogi (and Tairona), the inheritors of the "El Dorado" culture.

[Abramelin]

An interview with Alan Ereira

‘When I first went into the Kogi world, I had originally gone there because I wanted to make a film about ‘The Lost City.’ Since there was this extraordinary phenomenon - that the culture that had built it was still alive - I wanted to see whether they would be prepared to tell us anything about it. It took a year to establish contact and get back to the Sierra with a real invitation to meet the Kogi - it was a very surprising thing that they invited me at all, for they had refused all previous proposals to film them.

More here:
http://tairona.myzen...shara_magazine/

http://ngm.nationalg...ure3/index.html

http://tairona.myzen..._and_cosmology/

http://rupestreweb.t....com/motif.html


The Kogi/Tairona are but a remnant of a culture that once extended from San Augustin (Colombia) to the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta (Colombia). And archeologists have found many clues that it once extended far into the east, in present day Venezuela. Those Tairona belonged to a group of cultures (around the nothern part of the Andes) that were responsible for the many legends about 'El Dorado', the 'Golden One'.That group of cultures consisted of Calima, Tolima, Quimbaya, Muisca, Sinu and the Tairona.


THE GUILDED MAN

One of the cultures I mentioned, was the one of the Muisca, aka the Chibcha, after one of their gods. Their culture existed for about a millenium before the arrival of the Spaniards and their capital was near present-day Bogota.

The homeland of the Muisca, in the very heart of ancient Colombia, was a civilisation made up of numerous villages that extended across a high plateau of savannas, rich farmlands, and shimmering lagoons. To the Muisca many of these lagoons were sacred, and one of them , a round lake called Guatavita by the Spaniards . was very likely the site for an extraordinary ceremony that was held upon the appointment of a new ruler.

The young chieftain would make his way to the shore of the lake, where his people stripped him naked, applied a sticky resin (some say clay) to his body, and with the use of blowpipes dusted him all over with powdered gold, which united with the resin to form a second glittering skin. Made brilliant by sunlight, and surrounded by minor chiefs, the golden man took his place on a raft, with heaps of gold and emeralds piled at his feet. The raft set off from shore to the sound of music from flutes and trumpets. When it reached the middle of the lake, a signal was given and all were silent as the chieftain lofted his treasures into the still water. The raft then made its way back, whereupon the music and shouting began again, and the people on shore received the golden man as their new lord and king.

On May 1998 I watched a documentary on the BBC, called: "The Lost World of Eldorado".
The documentary told of a slightly different way the ceremony of the "Guilded Man "(whom the Spaniards called "El Dorado") was held , and an interesting explanation of that ceremony.

One of the conclusions of the makers of that documentary (yep, I made notes..) was, that gold was valued by the Indians mainly because it emitted/reflected such an intense glow. A glow that reminded the shamans of the powerful light they experienced when they were under the influence of certain drugs. They came to this conclusion by studying certain golden figurines, figurines that showed people carrying items which the present day Indians (=The Kogi) still use during rituals in which drugs are being used to conjure up visions (=> the item they mean is the "poporo").

Offering of golden items took place on the smooth-as-a-mirror, crystal clear lakes high in the mountains of the Andes. It was believed that by passing the surface of those lakes, one entered a different world, a different reality. Under the influence of some drugs everything seemed to emit a golden glow. And that's why gifts, offerings to the gods, had to be made from gold. And that's why the chieftain-to-be had to be dressed in gold, before diving through the surface of the lake to enter the 'other world'.

(That being said, I can't leave out another reason why these people interested me so much: they (the Muisca) believed that Light and the World were created by Big Black Birds    , using Gold. Which is similar to what some Native American Indian tribes from North America believe. )

[Abramelin]

And here is that very interesting documentary on YouTube:

From The Heart Of The World-The Elder Brothers Warning

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U2tIVwGwiDc

[King Fluffs]

Riveting.

I like gold.

[Abramelin]

Abramelin, on 16 January 2013 - 09:24 AM, said:

And here is that very interesting documentary on YouTube:

From The Heart Of The World-The Elder Brothers Warning

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U2tIVwGwiDc

Actually, that is the wrong documentary (ie: NOT "The Lost World of Eldorado", but it's about Alan Ereira's expedition into Kogi territory, the one he wrote about in his book "The Heart of the World".

What is kind of special is that this is a still living pre-Columbian culture. They managed to keep out any foreign intruders for many centuries, and they still do.

.

Edited by Abramelin, 16 January 2013 - 12:17 PM.

[CuriousGreek]

lightly, on 15 January 2013 - 04:16 PM, said:

That was interesting...  there must be a LOT of gold , offerings,  still unfound.

I wonder, if it's gonna remain hidden for centuries to come or will be discovered soon (and by ''soon'' i don't mean tomorrow)