Roadside Stone Great Serpent on an Outcrop
“How could I have missed that?” I thought
to myself as I pulled over. “There’s another example of the Great Serpent variation I've come to call the "Uktena" style, with its head turned slightly
toward the trail, that long collar like stone that looks like an antler rest,
and even a sugar loaf shaped stone as a “jewel” on top of the Serpent’s head.”
Looking at at the stone structure from this
perspective, in this light, I can’t help but see this as a Great Serpent along
an old Indian Trail, now a modern road, “hidden in plain sight,” like so may others, assumed to be modern constructions related to European agriculture, unrecognized as Indigenous creations, Ceremonial Stone Features on the Sacred Cultural Landscape of Turtle Island:
"Finally, I’d
say that while many stone features have been destroyed, there are still
thousands left. They are hiding in our back yards, in our state forests, along
our waterways—everywhere in plain sight. Help others realize why they should be
respectful of these when they find them, help them imagine what it might mean
to have a religiously-important structure (e.g. something built to honor
someone in your family) technically belong to someone else, or be at risk from
vandals, pot-hunters, and developers. These stone structures are examples of
how humans found a way to interact respectfully and in a mutually-beneficial
way with nature. They are Natural Cultural nodes, blueprints for how we will
need to think in the future if we are to survive and allow our natural world
survive. They are important beyond the specific, and they should give us hope,"
writes Lisa McLoughlin of the Nolumbeka Project.
See also:
https://www.facebook.com/nolumbekaproject/
https://www.facebook.com/nolumbekaproject/
But as I pulled forward, I found that I was
seeing an illusion, a trick of the eye that also speaks to the artistic skill of
the creator (or creators) of the Stone Serpent basking in the sun, its body
draped across a bedrock outcrop.
But there’s
structure to the construction from this angle, a dark shadow perhaps a snake
eye, the stones stacked as if to resemble scales from a short distance, maybe
even a snake with an egg in its mouth:
A look back to
autumn of 2014, an eye added to bring the Great Stone Serpent to life:
More from the Flickr Album of details of construction, the
inclusion of effigies and symbols:
A Turtle on the Serpent's back...
An "open mouth" of a stone something or other...
...eyes, faces...
...a red rhomboidal stone, or "healing diamond" that lent its name to this album:
More Uktena:
Incredible wall. I wonder if there is any local history or info on it? These stones in the wall that stand out, or appear to be intentionally encased by other stones, have always interested me. Just got in from hunting for stone walls near Cartersville Ga. Found three of four. Took 12 hours in the woods. 602', 258', and 58' long and many unusual features, such as these unusual embedded stones.
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