> Didn't the Muskogee "Traditional" year consists of 13 moons of 28 days each? > I think this is what you were referring to as the Lunar Calendar. Twelve of > these moons recorded as the center and corner posts of the four cabins of > the Square Ground while the 13th that completed the year was recorded as the > center point of the square (the fire). When the fire was moved to the "Round Cabin", the > "Dark Days" came until the Berry Ceremony was conducted after the > first of the year (presently used calendar that is). Each of days of the > "traditional" Muskogean year were given animal names...not the moons like we > do for months today. Each medicine animal represents (present tense) 13 > days each...so 28 days times 13 days equals 364 days. The order of the > named animals were given a number with name. The first day of the year was > always the summer solstice. > > This subject being discussed and in what appears to be a simple square of > houses (Shelters today) with a fire in the center of the sacred open ground is > very complicated and yet enlightening...is a honored tradition about our people of the > past and what we practice in the present.....some of us that is. > > Allow me to recommend a recently released book entitled, "TIMES SQUARE: An > Introduction to the Esoterica of the Muskogee (Creek) Square" by Michael > Kendrick. He is the Square Ground Leader (And a really good one > at that.....great leader) at the Lower Muskogee Creek Tribe, (TAMA Town) > Whigham, GA. Contact: Yvtekv Press, 2885 Duffell-Martin > Road, Comer, GA 30629 ISBN : 978-0-615-30276-8. NOTE: YOU CAN ORDER THIS BOOK THROUGH AMAZON.COM ($39.95), OR FOR A $27.00 MONEY ORDER (FOR US CREEKS :)) YOU CAN SEND YOUR CONTACT INFORMATION DIRECTLY TO THE PUBLISHER'S ADDRESS I JUST GAVE YOU. Remember....money order, not a check, made out to Yvtekv Press. (Yvtekv is Muskogee for "Interpreter") For the Square Ground traditionalist that worry about "The Secrets of the Square" or tribe being > revealed in this book for exploiting, fear not......it does not do so. This > book is pretty much a large excerpt from a much greater recorded record. No...I > don't have a phone number or email address for the book publisher....it is > copyrighted as well, by the way. Mike wrote a long Foreword and understands this book > will produce pro and con conversations, based on what I read that is. I can > not speak for the author....would get lost in the conversation anyhow. > ----- Original Message ----- > From: <talliyasoutheast@aol.com> > To: <creek-southeast@rootsweb.com> > Sent: Sunday, December 20, 2009 7:36 AM > Subject: [CREEK-SOUTHEAST] The Significance of Winter Solstice in Creek > TownPlanning Traditions > > > > > > Most Native Americans have heard of the Creek Green Corn Festival or in > > Mvskoke, Poskita. Several other tribes hold similar ceremonies at the > > Summer > > Solstice, but their rituals are not as extensive. It was the Creek New > > Year's celebration. The Creek Solar Calendar contained 12 months of 30 > > days > > each. There was also a Lunar Calendar, which seems to have gone back to > > the > > days when our ancestors were hunters and gatherers. To adjust the solar > > calendar with the actual cycle of the earth around the sun, 5 1/4 days > > composed Poskita. The Keepers of the Day monitored the sun, planets and > > stars > > from mountain top observatories, and set the days for Poskita. It was > > time > > when engagements were announced, marriages were held and grudges > > forgotten. > > Old fires in the domestic hearth were extinguished. Happily married > > couples > > would walk together to the temple, each carrying one thong attached to a > > special Poskita pot. The Keepers of the Fire priests would then give > > them > > coals from a new fire, that had been ignited by the sun, using mirrors > > and > > crystals. With these coals, the couple would renew their marriage vows > > and > > rekindle their hearths. > > > > With the importance of the Summer Solstice, one would expect that > > ancestral Creek towns would be oriented to the east or west where the sun > > rose on > > the Summer Solstice. This in fact, was the case in the first towns with > > mounds, that started developing about 2200 years ago. There was temple > > mound, > > covering two acres, built at a town on the Etowah River in NW Georgia. It > > was constructed and occupied during the exact same period that the > > Pyramid > > of the Sun at Teotihuacan, Mexico was constructed and occupied. Both also > > faced the point where the sun rose on the Summer Solstice > > > > The Apalachees were a Muskogean people concentrated in northern Florida, > > who practiced a Mesoamerican type religion of multiple gods and goddesses. > > Otherwise, their culture and language were probably almost identical to > > their > > cousins to the north, the Hitchiti provinces, who practiced monotheism > > and ritual baptism. Apalachee towns were oriented to the sunrise and > > sunset > > on the Summer Solstice. This was even true for the Apalachee towns in > > western North Carolina and north central Georgia. That's how the > > Appalachian > > Mountains got their name! Apparently, either the Apalachee were originally > > from these mountains, or else founded a colony in the Hiwassee River > > Valley to > > secure highland resources. > > > > I came upon a big surprise, however, when I began analyzing the many large > > towns that started developing in Georgia, North Carolina and South > > Carolina > > after 900 AD - in the same manner I analyze more recent cities. They were > > NOT oriented to the sunrise on the Summer Solstice. Several > > archaeologists, who had gone far enough in their studies of archeological > > sites, to look > > at the whole town plans, had noticed that the buildings were aligned. One > > professor from the University of Georgia even pondered in his book, why > > the > > largest mounds and plaza at Ocmulgee were aligned to a 25.5 degree angle, > > southwest. > > > > Obviously, these archaeologists had not been Boy Scouts! Modern maps are > > oriented to magnetic North. The difference between magnetic north and True > > (solar) North differs according to a town's location. At Ocmulgee, the > > difference is 6.5 degrees. You add 6.5 degrees to 25.5 degrees and you > > get 32 > > degrees - the declination of the sunrise and sunset on the Winter > > Solstice. > > Most major temple mounds in Georgia built after 900 AD are oriented to the > > sunset on the Winter Solstice! Perhaps, this change in town planning was > > the result of a change in religious practices. We really don't know, > > but > > the symbolism is that life begins again after the apparent death throws of > > the sun. > > > > Analysis of the locations of the major towns in Georgia, South Carolina, > > western North Carolina and eastern Tennessee absolutely astounded me. > > ALL > > of the major towns with large mounds from the Early and Middle Hierarchal > > Period, are precisely located on a triangular matrix formed by True North > > and > > the angle of the Winter Solstice sunset. The principal temple mounds in > > these "mother towns" were five sided. The towns are all located on the > > points of Winter Solstice triangles. In fact, I have found several mound > > sites > > that few people or nobody knew about, merely by using a computer to draw > > the > > triangular matrix over a USGS map of the lower Southeast. Ocmulgee is on > > the same latitude line as Poverty Point, LA, which was community begun > > 2100 > > years BEFORE Ocmulgee, and on the same longitude line as the Great > > Serpent > > Mound in Ohio, which was constructed about 100 years AFTER Ocmulgee was > > begun. > > > > How all this was done . . . I have not a clue. However, this town > > planning tradition reaffirms what we Creeks always have known. Just at > > the point > > in time when it seems that the Darkness has prevailed, the Light > > triumphs > > and begins the cycle of life again. > > > > I will be happy to email you the drawings I did of the Ladds Mountain > > Observatory for Ancient Roots II: The Etowah River Valley - or perhaps > > Judy the > > web site mom can post them on her separate web site. > > Notes on the Creek Indians > > http://www.accessgenealogy.com/native/creeknotes/index.htm > > > > Early Creek History > > http://www.accessgenealogy.com/native/creek/early-history/ > > > > Migration Legend of the Creek Indians > > http://www.accessgenealogy.com/native/creek/migration/ > > ------------------------------- > > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to > > CREEK-SOUTHEAST-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without > > the quotes in the subject and the body of the message > > -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Hotmail: Free, trusted and rich email service. Get it now.