[Aztlan] Left hand

[Justin Kerr]

Mark and all,
Yes, it is true that a "lefty" would find it easier to paint backward on a
vase. However, the possibility exists that these example of backward and
mirror writing may be more magical than anything else. Magical in the sense
that the text may never have been meant for human eyes, only the eyes of the
otherworld.
It is possible that the artist who designed the Yaxchilán lintel may have
been showing off, that is, proving that his technique as an artist was
boundless. I think we may lose sight of the fact that these people (the
artists) may have had egos as big as ours. 
The corpus, as you know is rather small, only a tiny percentage of vases
have backward figures and text; a far smaller percentage than the probable
amount of left handed scribes.   
Justin

-----Original Message-----
From: aztlan-bounces at lists.famsi.org [mailto:aztlan-bounces at lists.famsi.org]
On Behalf Of Mark Van Stone
Sent: Friday, May 01, 2009 12:40 PM
To: Greg Sandor
Cc: Aztlan at lists.famsi.org
Subject: Re: [Aztlan] Left hand

In reply to Robert Hall, Greg Sandor, and the others on this topic:
     Some years ago, Tom Jones, a lefty, confided in me the suspicion that
Maya 'Mirror texts' on vases were primarily written by left-handers, who
simply find it easier to write retrograde rather than orthograde... as did
Leonardo da Vinci.  Whatever metaphysical and religious overtones this
behavior might have generated came as an intellectual response to this
initially-practical behavior; and that Yaxchilan Lintel 25's reversed text
may have been inspired by one of these.  I think that many a peculiar
practice enshrined in ritual had its origin in such natural behaviors.
Sometimes such behaviors are restricted to a subset of the population (such
as lefties, or dwarfs), sometimes they simply go out of date, like the
European wimple, the standard housewife's headgear in 14th-century Europe,
which, signaling "marriage" to Christ, is still standard attire for nuns.  
    Yours, Mark Van Stone
________________________________________
From: aztlan-bounces at lists.famsi.org [aztlan-bounces at lists.famsi.org] On
Behalf Of Greg Sandor [gregory_sandor at hotmail.com]
Sent: Friday, May 01, 2009 9:01 AM
To: Aztlan at lists.famsi.org
Subject: Re: [Aztlan] Left hand

Were those glyphs meant to be read in  a mirror?

--------------------------------------------------
From: "Robert Hall" <robertleonardhall at sbcglobal.net>
Sent: Friday, May 01, 2009 10:22 AM
To: <Aztlan at lists.famsi.org>
Subject: [Aztlan] Left hand

 Listeros,
      I found Diane Winters comments very pertinent to some of my own
interests. I am in process of writing an article in which I briefly mention
Maya "mirrored" glyphic texts as possible archaeological examples of reverse
speech. Reverse or contrary behavior, including reverse speech has
associations with the underworld, death, and the night sky as a
manifestation  of  the underworld. The most familiar example south of the
border is the reverse speech associated  with the Huichol peyote
pilgrimmage. In this case reverse speech is not initiated until the passing
of a "cloud gate," which suggests a symbolic entrance into the (night?) sky.
Among the Pawnees the direction of certain rites are reversed when they
represent events that once took place in the night sky.
   Frank Lipp indicates that "movements of personnel in Mixe ritual is in a
sinistral fashion, starting with the east, except for those carried out for
Mihku', the lord of the underworld, which are in a clockwise movement" (The
Mixe of Oaxaca, U of Texas Press, 1991, p. 57).

  Bob Hall

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