[Aztlan] responses to my "silly question"

[D. M. Urquidi]

Folks:
   
  Martha seems to have the secret to studiying ethnoastronomy, commonly known as archaeoastronomy.  I also have found that it is a "no-no"  for students of astronomy.
  Her reasons are valid:  Unless one understands the components of the verbal symbols, one cannot possibly understand the glyphic quality of such texts.
   
  Why "verbal"?  Because most myths come from tradition and [tribal] lore. Very little was "written" until the ethnologists began to record what they thought they were hearing from the elders.  Many times, they got it recorded correctly, but incorporated up their more current personal knowledge and it became a different type of knowledge upon its exposition.
   
  The changes from [tribe] to [tribe or culture] cannot be charted or put into graphs. There are too many variations, depending on whether the tale was for child, student, or adult. Children may have learned how to find their way home in the middle of the night, but a student had to study the forms, and adults were glad they had studied with their elders.  
   
  Many times they were eager to pass their knowledge on . . . . until that knowledge came back to them in a completely "off-the-wall" format. They knew that there had been no comprehension. And so they began to tell researchers "what they wanted to hear" instead of what was known by the elders. IT became a "catch-22"; because some actually got the concept and others had to use only what they knew as comparatives.
   
  Dea





D. M. Urquidi
  P. O. Box 49485
  Austin, Texas 78765
  http://www.mayalords.org  
  http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/ancientamericas/

       
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