The Lost & Mysterious Chacaon Civilization

Great civilization rise and fall. Others just disappear like the Chacoan. One thousand years ago, the city center of Chacoan culture in an American canyon was sealed, burnt and abandoned. It’s fascinating history and I couldn’t resist writing about this lost civilization in the prehistoric Four Corners area.

Hello Friends,

In February of this year, the mysterious Chacoan Civilization was in the news. Researchers were conducting DNA studies of the women buried at the Pueblo Bonito site in the Chacoan Canyon. The canyon is located in New Mexico, south-western USA. The new research has found the society was led by a "maternal elite" who passed power from female to female, or through a mother-daughter linage from 800-1130 A.D.

You can read more about the DNA studies here; Chacoan Maternal Lineage

The "Pueblo" Native American people are descended from the Chacoan civilization. Pueblo Bonito was the center of the Chacoan society in the desert canyon. Pueblo Bonito was a site used for ceremonial, cultural and trade purposes. The half-circle shaped city from a thousand years has buildings 4 to 5 storey’s high. There are great houses with over 800 rooms. Yet, it’s doubtful people lived in the rooms. For what reason were the great houses originally built? The mystery remains unsolved.

Pueblo Bonito houses made of sandstone blocks and the remains of timber poles used for the ceilings.
source: Google Earth

Pueblo Bonito was constructed of sandstone walls with pine log ceilings and roofs. Engineered road building was also part of the Chacaon complex. The stone blocks and timber were transported from great distance and perhaps carried over several centuries.

Further below, I have inserted a youtube documentary about the Chacaon civilization. The video is almost an hour long and is narrated by actor, Robert Redford.

Pueblo Bonito circular Kivas and houses set against the canyon walls.
source: Google Earth

From the video, there are many sites in the canyons that are aligned with the sun’s equinoxes and solstices. The Chacaon complex is a rare ancient site that aligns with the Moon’s rising and setting position on the horizon. The position of the moon’s ascent and descent is an 18.5 year cycle. It’s thought that generations of people would have been needed to record the moon’s cycle as it appeared over the Chacaon city.

Since the 1970’s, Anna Sofaer has been researching the Chacaon city sites. She’s discovered single and double spiral carvings in rocks, which remind me of the Celts. She speaks of the symbols creating light markers on stone solar and lunar calendars.

Some of the people interviewed in the documentary spoke of the canyon city being a sacred center where the sky and the earth mother were united. Cosmology and the relationship to earth were understood.

 That people of great power once lived there. People who had power over the weather, animals, and other people. This great spiritual power might have led to a corruption of some sort. Some people sense a dark energy lives on at the site.

The city was sealed by the Chacaon. The stone and timber were burned to purify them. Guardian spirits may watch over the scorched buildings.

Lessons about having power over nature were learned by the Chacaon and perhaps that’s one of the reasons why the sites were abandoned. The lessons were learnt, and the people moved on. 

Nothing quite like Chaco existed before or since...

Have a peaceful weekend. 
♥ Ashlyn

Movie - "Snatched"

Deep in the Amazon forest, two American tourists are lost.

Their map is hard to follow. It’s useless for finding directions.

Because the map is a place mat from a restaurant.

Welcome to the movie mayhem of “Snatched” starring Amy Schumer & Goldie Hawn.

Mother and daughter, Emily (Amy S) and Linda (Goldie H) were trying to enjoy their holiday time together at a luxury resort.

A car trip along a scenic route through the countryside ends with a bang. An evil bad guy kidnaps them and threatens to kill them if a ransom is not paid for their return.

The women’s exotic trip to South America turns into a vacation-from-hell.

And then it’s not long before the evil gang leader is living in his own nightmare created by the madcap Emily and Linda.

The movie features occasional violence and rude jokes from a mother-daughter tag team who are robbed of all their possessions. No smartphones or money or passports. No more selfies. All they have left is the clothes on their backs. They’re alone in a foreign country and they can’t speak the local lingo. They become two crazy women living on their wits and dodging bullets in the jungle.

The story is an adventure, it’s unpredictable and has some funny moments. I particularly liked the facebook humor, ‘cause a couple of years ago, I was that mother who didn’t understand the facebook wall. I would ask my fb savvy kid. “What facebook wall? Where is the wall? Show it to me.” The answer was eye rolls from the young teenager. “Mum, you don’t understand…”

Linda is a cat-lady, a worry-wort and an older mother. Goldie Hawn stays in character playing Linda. Sadly, we miss out on Goldie’s signature funny and wacky acting from films in the past. Throughout the chaos, Linda and Emily work on the rift in their relationship and grow closer together.

Here’s The Blurb

After her boyfriend dumps her on the eve of their exotic vacation, impetuous dreamer Emily Middleton persuades her ultra-cautious mother, Linda to travel with her to paradise. Polar opposites, Emily and Linda realize that working through their differences as mother and daughter - in unpredictable, hilarious fashion - is the only way to escape the wildly outrageous jungle adventure they have fallen into. Written by 20^th Century Fox.

 “Snatched” was an entertaining movie. Here's the movie trailer. 

The New York Times, Women in the World website has posted an article about, “How Amy Schumer ‘snatched’ Goldie Hawn for her latest movie.”

“Comedian Amy Schumer was convinced that only one actress could play her mother on the big screen: Goldie Hawn,…The studio executives behind Snatched… thought she might want to consider other actresses for the role…”

You can read the article here; Amy & Goldie

Have a good weekend. 
♥ Ashlyn

Mother's Day Tribute

Hello Friends,

Sunday is Mother’s Day in Australia, and in many other places around the world. To remember mothers, I have written two stories about difficult times when women were in need of charity. While to celebrate mothers, I have links to four stories about inspiring women who turned their good ideas into reality.

At the Charity Shop

source: fotofolia.com

During this last year, I’ve shared two holidays at the seaside with my mother. It’s been hard to accept my Mum is in her twilight years and her will to keep living is fading. My father is deceased and Mum has had a heart attack and major surgery since he passed.

As an adopted child, I owe my life to my mother. In her own way, she did the best she could by me. Nothing in her life was easy. Recently, I was reminded that in my hometown, there are mothers having difficulties raising their children.

One Saturday morning last April, I was at a charity shop that raises money for a women’s and children refuge. I like pre-loved shopping for vintage kitchenware, comfortable clothing, and items for dance costumes. I also like my money going toward much-needed help in the community.

I was the only customer in the small store when a supervisor and a woman from the refuge walked inside. The woman needed a change of clothes as if all she now owned were the clothes on her back. I mean she needed everything, including underwear. She was shoe-less and looked like she had been living in rough conditions.

The staff at the charity shop rallied to help the woman. They asked her about her clothing size and other information. It was a walking conversation around the shop's clothes racks between the woman and staff. Only the woman didn’t answer the questions. It was a one-sided conservation.

The staff didn’t give up on the silent woman from the refuge. They started making guesses, and placing items of clothing in her arms. She didn’t try on any of the garments for size or fit. She didn’t express an opinion on colors or styles like dresses or skirts etc. At the end of charity shop visit, the woman paid no money for her garments. They were gifts from kind strangers who’d donated the items to the shop. The woman allowed herself to be meekly guided back to the refuge which was located in a building behind the shop.

I kept my eyes averted the whole time which lasted about ten minutes. I imagined the woman wouldn’t want a stranger staring at her during this low point in her life. She was homeless, clothes-less, bare-footed and had lost her voice to speak. I sensed some embarrassment in the woman. I wondered how many children she had with her in the refuge home.

Deep down, I also sensed there was strength in this woman.  She had made a change in her life. She’d left a troubled situation of some kind. As a mother, she was struggling on, and surviving in her own way. Against all odds, a lot of mothers keep going through life’s grinder for the sake of their children and families.

“A Gift For Mother” – Going Back in History

source: fotofolia.com

An Australian woman, Janet Heyden is credited as starting a campaign in 1924 to collect gifts for lonely aged mothers. In 1954, Janet was interviewed by a Sydney newspaper about the tradition of giving gifts on Mother’s Day.

Janet was described by the newspaper reporter as a little old lady. She could be anything from 70 to 75. In fact she is 86 and very proud that few people realize it.

Janet told the staff reporter, she was the one who started the idea of gifts for mothers (in Australia), stabbing her chest with a forefinger. Thirty years earlier, she was on the committee of the Home for Destitute Women and Children in the Sydney area. She spoke of the lonely mothers she visited who were living at a State run home. She thought something needed to be done to brighten their lives. She organized gifts for them on Mother’s Day.

"Even a little remembrance like hairpins… a hankie, or a cake of soap meant a lot to people like that. Then I thought, why stop at them? So I appealed to the public through the newspapers to remember the mothers of Sydney."

A mayor used to drive Janet around to deliver the gift parcels to the old mothers in the district. For seven years in a row the newspaper appeal made sure that hundreds of mothers who would otherwise have been forgotten received a Mother's Day gift.

Thanks Janet Heyden for caring about the old mothers and starting a tradition.

♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

The Carousel is a website where I like to read articles on lifestyle, yoga (I dream of doing it), travel ideas (I’d like to go there) and healthy cooking (I’m trying gluten-free food, and like a rabbit, I’m munching lots of green leaf salads.). 

When I was last browsing the website, I came across four stories about mothers who turned their passionate ideas into businesses and careers. I’m talking about mums embracing a car-sharing network, a Mumpreneur with boxes of baby goodies, Eco-Mum and biodegradable bamboo nappies (wow!) and a Snake Boss Mum, yikes!

♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

source: fotofolia.com

Earlier in the day, I went to school for the Mother’s Day breakfast. Afterwards, I enjoyed going to my child’s art class but I probably wouldn’t get a pass for drawing portraits. I've already received a bouquet of chrysanthemums and pink roses from my oldest child which brought a tear to my eyes. The flowers are sitting on my computer desk and I look at the roses and have sentimental thoughts of her. She lives in the city, and I miss her terribly. 

On Mother's Day, I’ve been promised a home-made cake so I’m looking forward to Sunday’s morning tea.

Happy Mother’s Day to all the ladies who care for children and families.

Thanks for reading, and have a good weekend. 

♥ Ashlyn

My other Mother's Day blogs

2016

I’ve searched the internet looking for touching tributes to mothers. The sickly sweet, all-sacrificing Mum who is a fountain of ever-renewing love is not a woman I can relate to. I’ve had my bad days of being a mother...

2015

Hooray to all the mothers, mums, moms and mammas, young and old!

Thanks for the love and for keeping the world going round.

I’ve put together a small tribute of jokey things, a poem, quote, and video to celebrate the Mothers...

Celtic Jewelry Unearthed

Hello Friends,

This week I’m blogging about two discoveries of Celtic jewelry that were reported during the last year. The first of the golden hoards was found at a grave site located near the Danube River in Germany. While the second discovery came from a farmer’s field in Cambridgeshire, England.

The gold jewelry that’s been unearthed is ancient and beautiful in detail. Celtic artifacts are known for their naturalistic patterns of animals, and geometric shapes like triangles, circles and spirals. Power and magic were believed to have come from the Celts connections to the natural world.

The Grave of the Celtic Priestess

Pendants, and brooches or pins to fasten clothing from the grave of the Celtic Priestess
source: www.news.com.au

The grave of the Celtic Priestess is located in the old hill fort of Heuneberg, near the Danube River. Her burial chamber is made of timber and dated as 2,600 years old. Sharing the grave site is the remains of a young girl aged about three years and another woman. The Celtic Priestess is believed to have been in her 30's when she died. She was buried with gold and amber jewelry, gold ornaments, horse objects, furs, rugs, clothing, and carved wood.

The entire burial site was cut out of the ground to protect it from looters and farming activity. The results from the grave study have been recently published in archaeology journal, Antiquity.

You can read the full news article here; www.news.com.au 

The BIG Golden Torc

The clasp of the ancient Celtic Torc which is one of the largest ever found in Britain.
source: www.news.com.au

In 2016, a treasure hunter with a metal detector, discovered the 3000 year-old Celtic torc and a stash of coins in a farmer’s field in Cambridgeshire, England. The torc is a twisted band of high-grade gold. The twists are evenly spaced and reflect the skills of its maker. Torc’s are commonly known as neck jewelry of the Celts, but this torc’s size is so big, it could have been a belt made to protect a pregnant woman.

Anglo Saxon silver and coins were also found at the site. The finder and the farmer have agreed to split the value of the treasures. The torc is on display at the British Museum.

You can read the full news article here; www.news.com.au

Enjoy your weekend.
 ♥  Ashlyn