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.

What every you would like to send Richard I would be pleased to add to the website. Thanks Judy On Sun, Dec 20, 2009 at 4:36 AM, <talliyasoutheast@aol.com> wrote: > > 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 > -- Native American Genealogy http://www.accessgenealogy.com/native/ AccessGenealogy http://www.accessgenealogy.com/