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Ahighly adaptable cat, the puma lives in habitats ranging from snow-covered mountains to tropical rainforests of the Western Hemisphere. Because of her wide range, she has been called many names by many peoples. “Cougar” is derived from a Tupi word, which means “false deer,” because of her brown coat and large size. “Puma,” from the Quechua language of the Incas, means “power.” “Mountain Lion” was a joke that Native Americans played on the Dutch in New York. They told the Dutch that the puma was a female lion that lived in the mountains. (Note 1)
 
Known by many names, the puma is a member of the Small Cats (Felinae Sub-Family) (Note 2) rather than the Big Cats (Pantherinae Sub-Family). Often called “panther” (Note 3), this is a misnomer since the puma does not belong in the Big Cat Family. (“Black Panther” is either a black jaguar or leopard.) Like all Felinae, the puma cannot roar. However, she screams like a woman, which frightens people and other animals.
 
Because she is an exceptionally successful generalist, the puma survived the late Pleistocene extinctions of other large North American felids. Wherever she lives, the puma migrates to follow deer and other prey. She prefers living in caves or among rocky outcrops.
 
Among Native Americans, the puma has a mixed reputation. The Anishinaabe (Note 4) believe She is a being of chaos. (Note 5) The Shawnee see Her more positively, since they think She possesses the gift of prophecy. More familiar with the puma, the Apache People consider Her to be a good mother. The Seminole respect the Florida panther (a subspecies of pumas), who is associated with the winds. (Usually, the members of their Panther Clan are also their leaders.) At the ruins of the Pecos Pueblo is a burial mound honoring Puma as one of the “Beast Gods.”
 
The Huron-Wyandot and the Seneca connect the puma to comets. As the “Death Panther,” He warns the people of imminent disaster. With tobacco offerings, they ask “Death Panther” to “turn aside impending evil.”
 
In Mayan and Aztec cosmology, the puma represents the sun and the Upperworld. (The jaguar is the moon and the Underworld.) The Solar Puma is shown with a crown of rays at Teotihuacan. During the eclipses, the Solar Puma and the Lunar Jaguar form a sexual union or fight each other.
 
For the Incas, the Puma, with the Condor and Serpent, make up the Sacred Trilogy. (Note 6) The Puma represents the wisdom and strength of the earth. This Small Cat is associated with the Land of the Living (Kay Pacha). In fact, Cusco, the capital of the Inca Empire, is laid out depicting the Puma.
 
The puma has long been a part of North American folklore. Among the woodsmen, the ball-tailed cat is more feared than the puma. This cat is a puma with a giant bone ball at the end of his tail. It uses the ball to drum to attract females. The other use is to drop down on an unsuspecting lumberjack and beat them to death.
 
Another puma-like cat is the Wampus cat, a jet-black panther with glowing eyes. The Wampus cat, with her six legs, is a part of the folklore of the Appalachians. This cat has exceptional speed and agility. This makes it hard to protect livestock from the Wampus cat.
 
Long and lean, the puma is immensely powerful and capable of killing a black bear in a single bite. Stalking him, the puma makes a powerful leap on his back and knocks him to the ground. In forests, she races through the trees with great agility and speed. Concealing herself, the puma follows people closely without them sensing it. In fact, she is an “UFO,” often talked about but little seen.
 
By whatever name the puma is called, she is the epitome of personal power. Elusive and agile, the puma either strikes or watches as she chooses to do. As the graceful ruler of the mountains, she deals out life and death on her timetable. Just remember not to be so elusive and agile that no one can find you. Gary Urbak, a naturalist, noted “It’s sufficient just to know that sometimes in the shadows of dusk, felines on huge paws still creep across the land.”
 
Notes:
Note 1: Names for the puma: cougar, mountain lion, panther, catamount, leopardo.
 
Note 2: Scientists have traditionally split the Cat Family into two groups – the Big Cats (Pantherinae) and Small Cats (Felinae). Although many Felinae are small, the puma (cougar) and ocelot are not. However, they are smaller than Big Cats. Felines differ from Big Cats in other significant ways. Felines hunt by biting the back of their prey’s neck with their needle-sharp teeth. They sever the neck vertebrae of their prey. When felines eat, they crouch. Meticulous, they strive to keep themselves clean, and spend many hours grooming themselves.
 
Note 3: “Panther” is a commonly used word for several cats. The puma (cougar), a member of the Small Cat Sub-family, is called “panther.” The leopard and jaguar are also called “panther.”
 
Note 4: The Anishinaabe People are the Ojibwe, Odawa (Ottawa), Potawatomi, Mississaugas, Nipissing, and Algonquin.
 
Note 5: The Mishipeshu (Underwater Panther) is a Master of the Water and a foe of the Thunderbird, who is a Master of the Air. (Post on this Water God is forthcoming.)
 
Note 6: The Sacred Trilogy represents the Three Worlds of the Inca religion. The Condor, Emissary to the Gods, is associated with the Upper World (Hanan Pacha), The Serpent (Anaconda) with the Lower World (Ukhu Pacha). (A Post on the Trilogy is forthcoming.)
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 When we encounter moths, they are flying into lights in the dark of the night. We hear about the destructive Gypsy Moths, who have eaten entire forests in eastern North America. Perhaps we learn about the Silk Moth that feeds on mulberry leaves and wraps himself in a cocoon of silk in which he transforms himself into an adult. Moths are mysterious insects that flutter about, not quite butterflies. (Note 1)
 
Most people do not know about daytime moths like Mother Shipton. Poplar Hawk Moths rest on tree trunks where they are perfectly camouflaged by their gray-brown wings. Recognizable by her large eyespots, the Emperor Moth uses the spots to confuse and frighten attackers. The Death’s-Head Hawk-Moth makes a squeak when picked-up, scaring people. The Peppered Moth exists in two dramatically different forms – the normal pale, and the dark one that lives in smoky towns. Moths use a variety of strategies to cope with life as they find it.
 
Moths of myths have reflected people’s ideas of them. Moths in the Bible represent the frailty of humans and human existence. Psyche of the Greeks, depicted with moth wings, as the Goddess of the Soul, guides the soul from life to death. In the Appalachian Mountains, white moths mean that the ancestors are present. Meanwhile, the Death’s-Head Hawk-Moth has a reputation of being an harbinger of doom. (Note 2)
 
One notable moth is the Black Witch Moth, a large dark colored moth, shaped like a bat. In the Mexican, Central American, and Caribbean cultures, seeing one means death, sickness, or misfortune. Called “duppy bat” in Jamaca, the moth is a lost soul. In Hawai’i, the moth is a loved one’s soul returning to say good-bye.
 
The Orizaba Silk Moth, a large moth, represents the Aztec Goddess, Itzpapatotl, the Obsidian Butterfly. Itzpapalotl rules in Tamoanchan, a paradise for still-born infants and women who died during childbirth. Her wings are tipped with either obsidian or flint knives.
 
The Mothman of West Virginia is a being from the great beyond. This bipedal moth-human has glowing eyes and large wings. West Virginians tell of strange sightings and tragic events when The Mothman is about. (Note 3)
 
In all of the moth’s forms, he copes with life as he finds it. Larvae of Pine-tube Moths tie needles together with silk for protection. Larvae of Bagworm Moths construct little bags out of plant debris and silk to live in. The larvae poke their heads and feet out to feed and move. Learn from the moth various strategies of coping in all aspects of your life.
 
Notes:
 
Note 1: The differences between butterflies and moths: Butterflies have clubbed antenna. Moths form a cocoon, butterflies, a chrysalis. Moths have a frenulum which holds their two wings together during a flight.
 
“Despite their small size, butterflies and moths are some of the world’s most wondrous animals. Their beauty, seemingly miraculous metamorphosis, and apparently carefree flight all spark our imaginations.” – Barbra Feldman, Surf Net Kids.
 
Note 2. “Ode to Melancholy” by John Keats. “Make not your rosary of yew-berries, Nor let the beetle, nor the death-moth be, your mournful Psyche.”
 
Note 3. An in-depth post on The Mothman will be forthcoming.
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Writing about Tezcatlipoca (the Great Smoking Mirror) is difficult since most of the materials are written from the Western point of view. Most say He is the God of Evil, and emphasize the human sacrifices done by the Aztecs to Him. To know this God means going beyond Western sensibilities to understand Aztec cosmology. In Aztec philosophy, balance is essential since the world is constantly transforming. To stabilize the world, the Gods did sacrifice Themselves to ensure that life would thrive. Therefore, offerings of blood, flowers, and food would nourish the Gods in their efforts.
 
As the God of the Night, Tezcatlipoca is a significant part of maintaining this balance. Since He represent change through conflict, He is intimidating. Moreover, Tezcatlipoca is one of the Four Creator Gods of the Aztec. (Note 1) (Since Each is associated with a direction, He rules the North, as the Lord of Ursa Major.) This God created the First Sun, and then destroyed it later by transforming into a Jaguar. Tezcatlipoca is the darkness that offers balance to the light.
 
Tezcatlipoca’s face paint represents the jaguar aspect of his Being. Yellow and black bands (Note 2) appear across his body. Because He sacrificed his right foot in creating the world, this God is usually shown with his symbols – the Obsidian Mirror, Bone or Snake – in its place. He often wears a headdress of feather, flowers or flint knives.
 
Tezcatlipoca is best known as the “Smoking Mirror.” Obsidian mirrors were used by priests to access the spiritual world. For them, the Mirror is the tool that Tezcatlipoca uses to see what is happening in the world. The Mirror represents his omnipresence.
 
Tezcatlipoca, the Fifth Sun, is the Patron of Warriors and the Nobility. This God would appear at crossroads in the dead of night to challenge warriors. In that aspect, Tezcatlipoca usually comes as a Jaguar. Meanwhile, the Chief Speaker (King) of the Aztecs would stand before the God naked to “show how unworthy he was” to speak for the God.
 
Tezcatlipoca is a complex and fluid God. He represents the constant change that occurs in life. He governs power and gain, as well as the loss and conflict that comes with that. He embodies the duality of creation and destruction, as the Harbinger of Change.
 
Bernardino de Sahagun in Book VI of the “Florentine Codex” listed 360 aspects of Tezcatlipoca demonstrating this God’s complexity. (Note 3) Some of them are:
 
Chalchiuhtecolotl: “Precious Owl”
Chalchiuhtotolin: “Precious Turkey”
Icnoacatzintli: “The Merciful”
Ipalnemoani: “He by whom all live”
Ilhuicahua: “Possessor of Heaven”
Tloque Nahuaque: “Lord of the Near and Night”
Titlacahuan: “He whose servants we are”
Tehimatini: “The One who understands people”
Tlalticpaque: “Possessor of the Earth”
Tlacatlé Totecué: “Our Master”
Telpochtli: “Young Man”
Yáotl: “The Venerable Enemy”
Yoalli Ehécatl: “Night Wind”
 
Notes:
Note 1. The God are Huitzilopochtli (Left-Handed Hummingbird) ruled the South, Quetzalcoatl (Feathered Serpent), the West, and Xipe Totec (The Flayed One), the East. They are the offspring of Ometeotl, God of All Things and Duality.
 
Note 2. This paint is called “mixchictlapanticac.”
 
Note 3. Bernardino de Sahagun was a Franciscan friar (d. 1590) who wrote the ethnographic study, the “Florentine Codex.”
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Once ranging from Arizona to Argentina, the jaguar is now only found in the rainforests of Central and South America. The largest Cat of the Americas, he is the only representative of the Panther Sub-Family (Pantherinae) (Note 1) in the New World. This powerfully built, relatively stocky Big Cat (Note 2) likes to roam close to rivers and lakes. A strong swimmer, he likes the water, unlike most other cats. The jaguar catches fish, otters, and caimans that live in the tropical rivers. In addition, he is the only Big Cat that regularly kills his prey by piercing the skull with his canines.
 
Worshiped and feared for his ability as a hunter, the jaguar’s lifestyle is still unknown to people. Nocturnally prowling through the moist lowland forests, the jaguar became mystically associated with the underworld, night, and fertility. Since the jaguar is the only Big Cat that cannot roar, He silently “escorts” people out of his rainforest. The Mayas and Aztecs thought that the jaguar could shape shift as well, because of his elusive qualities.
 
Important to Central American religions, Jaguar is a fierce God of Fertility and Sacrifices, the Ruler of the Underworld. The Mayas and Aztecs formed religious, military, and political structures around their worship of Jaguar. The Jaguar granted warriors fierceness in combat. Tezcatlipoca, Jaguar God of the Aztecs, is the God of the Night. (Note 3) For the Mayas, Jaguar is the Night Sun who journeys through the night. Modern Mayas believe that the jaguar protects their villages at each entrance.
 
In South America, the Bororo have a cosmological relation with the “Jaguar Spirit.” The Caingua believe that a jaguar roaming near a burial ground was the transformed spirit of the Dead. The Kogi believe that the jaguar defends the archaeological sites.
 
Because of his mythic power, the Catholic Church, in the 17 Century, outlawed Jaguar images and costumes. However today, masked Jaguar festivals are held on Corpus Christi throughout Central America. Even in the modern age, Jaguar is still feared and revered. “It is a dweller of the forests …It is the lord, the ruler of the animals,” observed Fr. Bernardino de Sahagun. In Mexico, the “danza de los tecuanes” (jaguar dances) are still performed.
 
Meanwhile, the “black panther” (Note 4) is actually a jaguar with melanistic (black) coloration. Quite frequent in jaguars, the black color helps them hide more effectively in the dark jungles. Forest (dark) Jaguars are usually smaller in size than Golden Jaguars.
 
To the Aztecs, Black Panther saw the shadow inside every being. He represented the Great Smoking Mirror. In this role, He foretold the future, kept Time, and was the Gatekeeper to the Unknownable. He is the God Tezcatlipoca, the Obsidian Mirror.
 
In his jungle, the jaguar walks without fear as the Master of the Night. He teaches those who have the courage to face him, also to live without fear. People, who calmly go with the jaguar as their escort, walk in the darkness with a protector.
 
Notes
Note 1: True panthers (Panthera pardus) live in the Old World. The jaguar (Panthera onca) is found only in the New World. The jaguar is stockier, and more powerful than the panther (also known as the leopard.) However, they belong to the same Sub-Family. Meanwhile, the Snow Leopard (Panthera uncia) is a separate species in the Big Cat family. However, the Clouded Leopard (Neofelis nebulosa) is considered neither a Small Cat nor a Big Cat.
 
Note 2. Cats are traditionally divided into two groups – Big and Small Cats. Big Cats (Pantherinae) differ from Small Cats (Felinae) in several ways. They roar instead of purr, with their roars being very loud and resonant. Unlike Small Cats, Big Cats attack animals larger than themselves. They suffocate the prey with a strangle hold on the neck or by covering the prey’s snout with their jaws. Messy eaters, Big Cats do not groom themselves as meticulously as Small Cats.
 
The Cat Subfamilies: Felinae includes the puma, ocelot, jaguarundi, and margay cat. Pantherinae includes the bobcat, jaguar, lion, leopard (panther), lynx, and tiger.
 
Note 3. A post will discuss this God in depth.
 
Note 4: “Panther” is a commonly used word for several cats. The puma (cougar), a member of the Small Cat Sub-family, is called “panther.” The leopard is also called “panther.”
 
 
 

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