APACHETA (CAIRN) BUILDING AND OBAMA REDUX

Cairn West

As you can see, I have begun my experiment with cairns ( apacheta in South America), have put together two, placing them on either side of the road as you enter our property.

Apachetas( [ah-pah-chay-tah]) are best known in Latin America and have been a part of the Inca culture since the beginning of civilization.  However, the practice of building apachetas is also widespread among native peoples of southwestern and northern North Americaaccording to Stephen C. Jett in his paper “Cairn Trail Shrines in Middle and South America”.  To a lesser degree, apachetas are also found in the Aztec and Mayan cultures.

Apecheta were built by Incas as they climbed the trail up the Andean mountain passes.
  
They picked up a small stone and carried it for a short distance to the summit.  They then added the stone to an existing apacheta located along the trail or left the stone as the beginning of a new apacheta.  Travelers then said a prayer to the gods for luck and protection during their travels and for the elimination of travel fatigue. If no suitable stone was available, travelers would add other objects such as sea shells or coca leaves.  In addition to being a source of spiritual power, apachetas also served as trail markers for the rugged mountain terrain.

The word apacheta means “the source where the flow begins” and refers to either the spiritual flow or the flow of the mighty Amazon River, the source of sustenance for many Inca people.  In fact, in 2008 a stream of the Apacheta River in the Arequiparegion of southern Peru was confirmed by Peruvian geologists and scientists as the beginning of the Amazon River.

As I mentioned, I scooped about 29 rocks from a fairly dry creek the other day, gathered them around the two areas, and began building two towers.  It's fun to play around with them, see how high they can go, how various shapes create interesting shapes.  One of them fell over yesterday, so I rebuilt it, even higher.  I will let them go for a day or two before I rework them, see if I can make them more sturdy and interesting.  It will be interesting to see how they weather in winter, even a heavy rain storm.  I have yet to put any in Evie's garden but I think they would look neat.  We'll see.

Cairn East

Perhaps there is hope, at least, I feel that way, usually, after being inspired by Obama's speeches  but when it's all over, the reality sets in, the Republican intransigence sets in, and I get discouraged again.  It's hard to be objective about the looks on the faces of the right as Obama spoke, a humorless bunch, ready to pounce at almost anything that smacks of helping the unemployed, the poor, the needy, but ready to applaud anytime tax breaks are mentioned.  I just don't get them, nor the people who seem to support them.  They seem so mean, so un christian, intolerant, and inflexible in their beliefs though I know I am being unfair.   There are lots of Republicans who I like, just their beliefs I find incomprehensible.  Who isn't for tax relief?  Everyone, of course, but when you have a huge deficit, a recession on the brink, you need to do something and government has to be involved.  A telling observation from the other night's Republican debate.  When it was mentioned that Rick Perry had been governor during 234 executions, the audience applauded, perhaps the loudest of the night.  This tells me everything about many of the followers...how can you applaud an execution.


We went and saw the movie THE DEBT yesterday afternoon; it sounded like the right thing to do on a cloudy, gray day.  Of course, the sun came out about an hour before we left, so we almost didn't go.  Perhaps we shouldn't have as it was average at best.  It took quite awhile to fit the pieces together, as it involves flashbacks, actions happening in the present that are only explained by the flashbacks.  And though Helen Mirren seems to be on every poster, she's in the film less than a third of the flick, as she's played by someone else as a young woman.  I did not hate it...it involves Israelis seeking to kidnap and bring to trial a Nazi doctor (now living in East Berlin in the 1960's) responsible for many experiments on the Jews during the war.  How they arrange the kidnapping and its consequences are the major conflicts of the film.