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"In his orientation scheme, the Cakchiquel shaman
clearly seems to be distinguishing among the celestial
equator, the ecliptic, and the lunar orbit. He utilizes
the celestial paths not only to keep the time of year
but also to mark the time of day and night. When [anthropologist J. A.] Remington queried an informant about where a star visible in the sky earlier in the year could be found now, the respondent replied by pointing downward at a 30o angle under the horizon to the east. He then pointed upward to where it would have been located at sunset. The response was corroborated by similar replies given by other medicine men in separate interviews. But as any ethnologist ought to be aware, even the native population of the remote Guatemalan highlands cannot escape Westernization. One day while interviewing a Quiché priest, Remington asked about a UFO sighting which had been reported there a few years ago. The shaman casually stated that it was probably an experimental aircraft of the Russians or the Americans. When the anthropologist suggested that the supposed technology seemed more advanced that that, the shaman, seeming indignant at the questioner's lack of faith in technology, proposed that any civilization able to land a man on the moon could surely develop such an advanced aircraft." (Skywatchers) |