Navajo Glazed Vase. Petroglyphs and Traditional Navajo symbols adorn the vase. This particular vase focuses mainly on the Horse. The Horse was a "late comer" as it did not arrive hot until after the Spanish brought them to the continent. The Native Americans quickly embraced the horse. The horse represents freedom as well as great stamina and strength. Starting with the first horse we see a large horse and a smaller horse. The background are the mountains. After the two horses, we find corn or maize. Corn is a common symbol as it is a widely harvested crop for many tribes. The corn maze symbol is also seen and represents the twists and turns of life. After the corn we find another horse facing a hummingbird which represents beautiful messenger and healer. Lastly a horse head which follows and blends into the pottery glazing. If you love horses, you will love this vase. At the top of the vase the lip or mouth is stepped in such a way as to allow for liquids to be effortlessly poured out.
Ancient Anasazi petroglyphs predate the Navajo arrival in the Southwest.
Anasazi petroglyphs are commonly identified by interconnecting spirals and palm prints. Their contemporary is the Hohokam Style of squares and swastikas; the later—both leftward- and rightward-oriented—signify solar and lunar movement, respectively, and/or ancestral migrations into central and southern Arizona, according to Hopi tradition.
Historic petroglyphs are often obvious enough when they portray men on horseback or warriors carrying weapons.
Astronomical examples are composed of starbursts, crescent moons, or rayed circles.
Spiritual petroglyphs feature horned figures with outstretched arms, or musicians, most famously, the shamanistic Kokopelli flue player of the Hopi. A large, if precisely unknown percentage of this genre were created by shamans themselves; so-called “medicine men,” who entered a deep trance to bring back guidance and healing for their people from the Otherworld.
Tribal elders and Shaman, who were believed to have powers to heal, make rain, control animals, and predict the future, carved their visions in stone immediately after emerging from the trance, because these mind pictures, like dreams, tend to be easily forgotten.” These have evolved into traditional symbols.
Their images were often expressed in repetitive geometric designs recognized by modern medical practitioners as “form constants.” These are the same patterns produced by drugs, severe headaches (i.e., “migraine auras”), and similar stimuli. Shamans routinely used mind-bending hallucinogens to achieve profoundly altered states of consciousness. The medicine man's favored spiritual inducement was Datura stramonium, from the Hindu word for the plant, and the Greek, (“nightshade”) and manikos (“mad”), more commonly known in North America as jimson weed or loco weed.
Datura stramonium contains tropane alkaloids, among the few substances, which cause true hallucinations indistinguishable from reality. The active ingredients are atropine, hyoscyamine, and scopolamine, all classified as deliriants, or anticholinergics, that generate visionary experiences. The user is entirely awake during their effects, but believes he is in a living dream on the flip side of reality. Ingesting Datura stramonium is extremely hazardous, however, and its so-called “recreational use” often ends in death. Only trained experts familiar with the drug generally survive its potential.
A Navajo folk tradition admonishes anyone taking loco weed, “Eat a little, and go to sleep. Eat some more, and have a dream. Eat too much, and don't wake up.”
Shamanistic encounters with Datura stramonium are often expressed in the swirling or geometric designs that typify abstract rock art. Sometimes, the mind-altering flower itself is depicted as a trumpet-shaped figure. Other petroglyphs are an oval, its outline covered with spikes, the interior split into four spaces, each containing a few images resembling kidneys. These illustrations portray the Datura stramonium's egg-shaped, prickle-covered fruit. The size of a walnut, it is divided into four chambers in which the hallucinogenic seeds are found. Good examples of drug-induced shamanism may be seen at an archaeological site known as Painted Cave, north of Santa Barbara, on the Pacific coast. Until 400 years ago, the Chumash Indians brilliantly adorned its walls and ceiling with spirals, sunbursts, serpentine figures, rainbows, and similarly expressionistic designs accompanied by representations of flowers and fruits of the Datura stramonium.
Product code: Navajo hot Glazed Vase