Three Rivers Petroglyph Site

GEOMETRIC-ABSTRACT MOTIF ON BACKLIT BOULDER AT SUNRISE

Design motif commonly found at the site, emblematic of the same cosmological underpinnings as its Mesoamerica variants:

“All-things (reality, the cosmos) are composed of an all-encompassing, immanent sacred power, force, or energy: dynamic, vivifying, eternally self-generating and self-regenerating. Not a perduring, static state of being but one characterized instead by motion-change [...], by the continual and continuous cyclical struggle of paired opposites and polarities. Dualities locked in a process of agonistic, dialectical alternation with one another. Balance is generated by the back-and forth movement between them resulting in an overarching, dynamic equilibrium that stabilizes the center [...] Each inamic pair is mutually arising, mutually engendering and conditioned, inter-dependent, symmetrically related, and complementary, while at the same time mutually competitive and antagonistic with its partner”. 1

ELONGATED DESIGN MOTIF ON VERTICALLY STANDING BOULDER

“Everything pecked or painted in these dry and rocky corners is a rain symbol”. 2

"Consistent with Pueblo cultural practices is the suggestion that rocks so decorated were clothed with textiles — thought of as 'stones wrapped with clouds' [...] Pueblo texts explain that 'like attracts like'. Cloud-related symbolism pecked on stone is preceived as invested with the power of attracting rain clouds because it is pleasing to them". 3

ARROW-PIERCED BIGHORN SHEEP WITH CAMERA SHOOTING SHADOW

Unlike works of art in museum, the magic of petroglyphs resides derives from our active interaction with them in a place-specific natural environment, on a given hour of a given day in a given season.

Pierced by arrows a thousand years ago, this bighorn sheep must now contend with a deluge of shots from photo-trophy hunters. Is it just part of its archetypal nature to acquiesce and say: “here i am, prey for the taking”?

MOUNTAIN LION RIDDEN BY HORNED FIGURE

Hypothetical reading: mountain lion spirit helper ridden by a shamanic figure holding a vertical rope/ladder that enables their passage between the worlds.

It got quite charged with this one: pecked onto a difficult-to-view boulder, i struggled for a good vantage point. Not only there wasn’t one, but a busy congregation of bees was among the rocks. My getting close ruffled them... it got intense pretty quick: got stung a couple of times, then one bee flew between my eye and sunglasses… Could have ended badly. Hoping from boulder to boulder, wildly gesticulating like a man possessed, i fled... A stark contrast with the previous petroglyph. Some mojo at work, I’d say!

“In the native view, rock art and its settings are perceived as active subjects in an animistic world, charged with perceived powers undaunted by the passing of time”. 3

EHECATL-QUETZALCOATL

The Mesoamerican Wind deity’s conical hat is here depicted as a forward-bent horn/plume — the very same design element found on the Horned/Plumed Serpent of the Southwest associated with Quetzalcoatl, road-sweeper for the rains (we note that a corn petroglyph is pecked on an adjacent boulder).

I found this petroglyph on the day 3 WIND… and right there and then, had a staggering personal realization: Quetzalocatl, deity most associated with both my birthdate and  life’s work, in its anthropomorphic form wears the same diagnostic conical hat as my trademark fleece hat of 29 years!

A hat gifted to me (part joke, part birthday present) on 04-24-1997: 4 AJAW in the Mesoamerican Calendar, fitting date for the head covering of a lifetime (AJAW being the day of ornamental, apogean headdresses). For the Maya, 4 AJAW was associated with calendrical endings — the end/beginning of all time periods. For me, it marked the onset of a rebirth, 29 long years in the making. For such in-your-face connection to take this long to make, that's baffling to contemplate. And to occur here, and to occur now, one Saturn and Progressed Moon cycles later, at the turn of the Wheel. Tip of the hat!

Because of boulder positioning and strong wind that day (naturally!), taking a photo portrait proved challenging. But it turned out fine and symbolically impactful. In the Toltec myth, faced with the ETZN’AB mirror of his arch-nemesis twin Tezcatlipoca, Quetzalcoatl was made to see things. That dramatic confrontation with himself becoming the catalyst for his following life journey.

FELINE-SERPENT GUARDIAN OVERLOOKING THE OPEN PLAIN

The petroglyph that brought me here in the first place. Prominently positioned at ridge’s edge, overlooking the open plain. Evidently here as watchful guardian for the nearby Jornada Mongollon pueblo — whose inhabitants are assumed to have pecked many of these petroglyphs. The elongated neck and snake rattle at tail's end speak for alert watchfulness.

The pilgrimage to this (personally highly meaningful) petroglyph coincided with (indeed, must have triggered) the dream i had that night… involving a strongly revamped anima image — one heralding a welcoming freshness to the path ahead and fresh challenges along it.

1   James Maffie — Aztec Philosophy: Understanding A World In Motion

2   Craig Child — Tracing Time: Seasons of Rock Art on the Colorado Plateau

3   Polly Schaafsma — Blurred Boundaries: Perspectives on Rock Art in the Greater Southwest