Ch. 6: Africa and the Americas or How to Catch a Buzz while Elminating People You Can Live Without

Symbolism is expressed everywhere: national pride, kingship, spiritual leadership, and ceremonies.  Where would we be without symbolism to tout or bemoan our position in this thing called life.

Those poor camels - being hauled off to other countries.  Did anyone bother to ask them if they wanted to go?  Perhaps they were content where they were.

I remember reading the book “The Hot Zone” about 20 years ago that addressed the health issues believed to emanate from Africa, so it is interesting to read that because Africa is bisected by the equator, serious health problems derive from this area.

It makes me sick to think about demand for ivory.  Elephants are sacred creatures and yet they are constantly hunted for their ivory.  Sickening.

Graves – another symbol of life that once was.  In the case of Axum, huge stone obelisks marked royal graves.  Gravestones are chockfull of information.

Who knew that being an ironsmith could bring one such a powerful persona.

I am envisioning a lively market full of people who have not bathed in eons and a swarming about the markets with their beasts in tow, surely unhealthy situations.  The smells alone must have been overpowering.

Aha!  So the Mayans are responsible for complex math calculations much to the chagrin of those who are not good at math.  Thanfully, I am not one of them.  You either get math or you don’t.

 The Mayans seemed culturally and intellectually advanced for their time, but I see the underlying problem as procreation.  Same as in today’s world.

Love the juxtaposition of the “Street of the Dead” and the “Pyramid of the Sun.”

How do we know that “two small sections of the [Teotihuacan] city were reserved exclusively for foreigners” and for what reason?  Were they tourists?

Fertilizer from  bird droppings?  Ay yi yi!

Shaman rulers under the influence of hallucinogenic drugs coupled with human sacrifice – sounds like a horror show.  Well, today’s world still experiences the former, but thankfully not the latter!

Here is a novel visual:  a Moche woman in her late 20s who was heavily tattooed – not so different from today’s world.

What a creative way to get a woman!  Just decorate your furnace with clay breasts and speak of their bellows impregnating the furnaces!  That certainly would draw me in.

OK, I get the human sacrifice thing because who wouldn’t want to eliminate some annoying soul here and there, but sacrificing of animals?  Absolutely not.