I saw a pattern once upon a time, and to the astonishment of my mentor, I pursued it with the earnest passion and harebrained dedication that only a naïve man in his mid-twenties can muster. Through articles and old photographs, I pieced together the tapestry of a vast religious network that extended beyond the borders of the Olmec empire all the way to South America.
The subject under consideration was none other than the mysterious Jaguar.
This predatory cat stalked the Americas in great numbers in the past. Now they have dwindled but the creature is no less mysterious.
Today, we have guns and other weapons to prevent or fend off attacks from these very wild animals. But just imagine yourself a thousand years ago, huddled in the dark jungle where you have to spend the night, and in the steamy swampy atmosphere of the dark, you hear heavy breathing near your neck~ grhawh grhawh grhawh!
You know who it is. It’s unmistakable scent. It will stay there waiting for the right moment to pounce. So you either stay awake worrying all night and ready to fight for your life or lie down to sleep, and possibly wake up with a pair of fangs cracking your skull.
Then you have an idea. Through the use of mysterious herbs and fungi, with words of power and magic, you can become a jaguar yourself. At the right moment, when the evening star is low on the horizon, you can use spells and potions to transform yourself into a fearsome beast. Indeed, you begin to feel a tail grow out of your ass, your ears pull up, fangs protruding gnashing, hide mottled slick and thick to protect you, as you growl at the rising star of Venus.
Far out, ain’t it?
That’s precisely what cultures of Mesoamerica (Olmec, Maya, Aztec, and others) believed. They admired the strength, stealth, fearlessness, and agility of the jaguar. Lord of the night and the underworld. Virile and fertile. The undisputed chief of the jungle.
I put this puzzle together independent of research that may have already been there, and which I hadn’t come across yet, though I'm not denying it could have existed. Yes, I was that guy from the conspiracy meme connecting the photographs with red string. Wild stuff. I learned about the shamans and priestesses who entered trances to transform into or communicate with jaguar spirits. Their forms embedded in sculptures, pottery, and hieroglyphics. I learned about the unwholesome rituals that included human sacrifice and genital piercing. The cult of the jaguar/were-jaguar was well established in the Americas and in heaven, for Venus was often associated with the jaguar and the shamans ability to transform. Rulers donned all the regalia based on the jaguar chic of the day in order to justify their rule as ordained by their cosmological models.
If this is true, you might ask yourself, then where is this brilliant piece of scholarship? Or is this just a ploy to show some cool AI Art?
I am afraid I can say no more. Perhaps I have already said too much. Thus, this story must remain nothing but an anecdote in time from your favorite Internet crank.
Thank you for visiting.
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