The Nazca Cat DemonA Nazca Vessel Composition

Clifford C. RicheyNovember 2009

Based on a drawing by Thomas Freeman1

This composition is found on a tubular shaped ceramic vessel. Its Form is one of a vertical place sign while the vessel represents a hole in the ground or perhaps, a well.

What is called the Cat Demon motif was based on the feline characteristics shown above in orange. This the largest imagery in the composition with its high erect ears, mouth full of teeth, and whiskers. The cat imagery was, of course, intended as an Association for the Jaguar, the Sun in its nighttime phase. It appearance seems somewhat angry or fierce and its Long Arms (the Arms and Hands of the Sun or the warriors and stewards of the Sun) reach out to touch the head of the earth-female imagery. The lower Hand of the Sun holds a sharp object while the other hand and the Hair (gray) make the gesture signs for opening-up. Underneath the lower Arm of the Sun are Nine Phallic Images indicating males (and the nine levels of the underworld ) that are placed into the earth-female by the Arms of the Sun. The main part of each Phallus is made up of three Rectangular place signs (meaning many) while the Head of the Phallus is the sign for a male spirit. The is a short line below the Head of the Phallus indicating, below. The long lower Edge of the Arm is the ground-surface sign (a long Straight Line usually indicates a surface). The message of the composition, so far, probably went something like this:

The Great Angry Jaguar, The Great Angry SunHis Arms, His Warriors

His Hands, His StewardsPlace Men Beneath the Earth-Female's,

Nine LevelsThe Many Places of

the Male-SpiritsIn The Darkness

Below

1 Martin-Vegue, George B. Nazca Pottery at Florida State University, American Journal of Archaeology, Vol. LIII, No. 4. Oct._Dec.,1949 (drawing by Thomas Freeman, page 350, Fig. 3. The Cat Demon).

Illustration 1: The Nazca Cat Demon

The ManyTurning Above

(three turning signs, gray, over the upside down “T” sign for on the surface)And

On Her Sides(Stance, as the Gray turning signs also touch on each side of the hair or head)

His Arms and HandsCut Open Her Head

( or possibly her hair, gray)of the Earth-Female

Here, Here, Here(three fingers pointing)

On Her Face,Her Appearance

The Many Breaks

(cuts)The Places

ofThe Unseen

Crossing Through(through the surface of the earth)

Illustration 2: Cat Demon --Orange Color

The next largest image is that of a Turbaned Warrior. The Turban is in the Form of a Breast (a hill on the earth-female) and was created out of the Triangular female sign, two place(s) signs, and a possible Leg/Foot or journey sign and an Ax (an arm). Thus the meaning is one of a journey within the Breast of earth-female, within a hill, the female places of the long journey of the Arm -- the warrior. Next we see that the Eyes of the warrior are the signs for holes and there is a Dark Triangular shaped sign indicating the dark-female-side. Below the Eyes are more female-places signs.

The warrior seems to have Three Arms (many-warriors) and his right arm has Imagery of scars that are created out of Two Double Lines (unseen) and a crossing-through the earth's surface sign. The unseen-crossing-through-the-surface. Next we have a Rectangular vertical-place sign that appears to be filled with broken bones. A vertical-place of bones (a grave yard)

The lower edge of his right arm serves as a surface sign and below it is the Triangular female-spirit (light green) sign where normally one would expect male genitals. The lines of the legs cross at this sign forming the “X” shaped transformation sign. Thus the warrior has been transformed into a female-spirit. The warrior's Feet are also Triangular in form and the Toes are created from the crossing-through signs. This combined with the Legs and Feet mean, long journeys crossing-through-the earth-female.

The warrior's two left arms are long and limp or weak appearing. The outer Arm also touches the Jaguar's face telling us that these arms are the Arms of the Sun. The arms also represent Double Lined (unseen) pathways the one arm touching earth-female's head next to the “V” shape opening-up sign while the other is open at the end indicating a gateway. Alongside the inner Arm is the Saw Toothed water sign with a line into the “V” of the water (into-the-water-below).

Illustration 3: The Warrior --Blue Turban

From the “V” shaped opening-up sign on the head of earth-female is a a serpentine Double Lined water sign composed of female-spirits. In this case, water-spirits. The Form or Imagery of a Serpent indicates, a stream. The stream is rising to the surface.

Once at the surface we see the, frontal, Imagery of a Bird (blue) which is the sign for flight. The Bird's Mouth (pink) has a yellow Beak protruding from it. The Mouth is, of course, the sign for a water source, or a spring and depending on the angle one looks at it the Beak is either the sign for on the side or arising. The Rectangular Mouth is a place sign. As we followed the Serpent up the surface we can assume that the flight direction indicated by the Bird's beak is continuing upward. The Wing's of the Bird are its hands and there are Three Fingers on each side indicating many while the Eyes of the Bird are also Fingers pointing to the Mouth. The the five rectangular place signs have straight lines in their

Illustration 4: The Warrior

centers to indicate these are bowl-places (all these signs are within the curved bowl sign) on the surface. The meaning of the count of 5 bowl-places is unknown. It may be an association with a then well known location that had five pools of water.

Arising from the bowl-places is a complicated image. The imagery of a Head appears to be that of the Face of a Wasp. This would indicate some kind of warrior. This is followed by the Imagery of the gesture sign for a Wolf created from the signs for see and look down. (the three black fingers) from the darkness. This sign as explained in an earlier paper was related to the habit of wolves jumping up in the high grass to better see their prey. The Wolf became the sign for a scout or a spy. The base of the Hand (the steward of the Sun) is in the Form of the sign for a star (yellow) and is attached or part of the sign for arising. Putting this altogether we get: The Wasp-Star, the warrior's star, the Wolf, the scout or spy arising and looking downward at the surface of the earth. There is also small imagery within the star sign. These signs seem to be a Leg, Foot, (a long journey) Eyes, (see and break in the surface) and Mouth. (a water-source).

The Wasp's Face (he appears or his appearance)is made up of the signs for the dead (upside down Arms, Legs and Feet). Also Four places signs –the places of the dead, the grave yards, everywhere.

ArisingFrom

The Bowl-Like-Places,The Pools

His Face, He AppearsOn The Side(of the earth)

AboveThe Places-Of-The Dead

The GraveyardsEverywhere

( the four directions)

The Wasp-Star,The Warrior's-Star

(Venus)His Long Journey

From The Breaks In

The Surface(of the earth)

The Hand, The Steward(of the Sun)The Scout

Looking DownFrom

The Darkness

When we look at the overall Imagery we note that the Fierce Jaguar Face has changed to that of a Mouse. This is primarily due to the ears becoming rounded as opposed to the tall sharp ears of the Jaguar imagery. His appearance, the great mouse –the little one. The term great is used here due to the relative size of the Mouse imagery compared to the rest of the composition's imagery. The seeming contradiction between being called great and small in the same breath is apparently due to the Mouse having been a great man, a steward and warrior of the Sun, while the Great Jaguar is the Sun itself. We also notice the Three hole signs on each side of the Mouse's Face –the many holes of the mouse. The two diamond shaped Eyes with dark centers or location signs mean, contained, located in the darkness. The Eyes, of course, are the eyes-of-the-sun, on the sides—the left and right, referring to the rise of Venus in the East and West. The Mouse 's Ears are stylized Hands forming a sky-arc and turning signs over the upside down “T” sign indicating, on the surface. The Imagery below the sky is that of a large male-spirit with the signs for a break in the surface and Long Lines between Two other Lines indicating unseen-pathways of female-spirits. The Hair of the large male-spirit was created from opening-up (the break in the ground surface line) and gateway signs to the sky. The left over Center Line indicates above.

The Great Mouse,(a metaphor for Venus in comparison to the Jaguar-Sun)

The Hands, The StewardsTurning Above

OverThe Surface(of the earth)

His Face,His Appearance

AGreat Male Spirit

The Gatewaysto

The Sky-Arc

The Great Opening(from)

The Pathways Of The

Female-Spirits.

Illustration 5: The Great Mouse --His Face

The Many Holes on the Sides(of the earth)

The Eyes(Venus as the Eye of the Sun)

ContainedIn The Darkness

This section of the composition seems to have more to do with the surface side. The largest imagery is that of a Frog (two toned green) with holes as his large Eyes. His Face, his Appearance. The Great Frog (relative size), the great leaper. At the places of the the holes. The Breasts (lighter green on the side of the frog's face), the hillsides. Touching the Frog's face are two Square signs, His houses, his domains. Next we have the imagery of a Leg and Foot on its side. The end of the foot touches a Triangular female-earth sign. The long journey-on the side of earth-female. The Foot touches the (blue) water sign which has the additional signs for unseen (double lines) and into the opening signs within it. The Foot is next to a Breast sign which has the signs for houses (green) and a gateway (black lines) within it. The Breast, the hillside, the gateway, to the many (3) houses or domains. Another Breast is made up of signs for a vertical-place (green) and a place of moisture (blue) then a male-spirit sign (green). Next we have phallic imagery (brown) meaning males and their Stance is one of arising. They are composed of places signs (light brown) and earth-female signs (darker brown). Finally we see a place sign (on the side) that is further composed of a vertical place sign (light brown) and (blue) a moisture-spirit-place sign followed by a Square (light brown) house or domain sign. The sign for moisture(multiple dots) seem to make small faces and spirit signs but they are too small to determine exactly.

His Face, His AppearanceThe Great Frog, The Great Leaper

At The Places Of The Holes

OnThe Breasts, The HillsidesHis Houses, His Domains

The Long Journey-On The Side Of

The Earth-Female

Illustration 6: The Frog

The Breast, The HillThe GatewayTo The Many

DomainsA Vertical-Place

A Place Of

Moisture The Male-Spirit

The Arising MalesFrom

The Earth-FemalePlaces

A Moisture-Spirit-PlaceTheir Domain

Oh, we forgot something, The Initial Form:

Yes, the overall form of the composition is that of a stone knife. The Great Knife refers to the Knife of the Sun, or a Great Ray of the Sun. Presumably this is the title of a Nazca leader, a Jaguar Warrior and Priest or Steward. The concept of the Ray of the Sun as a knife is from the fact that this composition tells us that the Arm and Hands of the Sun cuts the Head and make Marks on the Face of Earth-Female. This metaphor seems to have been derived from the observation that the rays of the sun dried up the earth's soil and caused cracks to appear. Further, it is common knowledge that the Inca called their warriors the Rays of the Sun. Thus a Great Ray would be a leader of, at least, the culture's Jaguar warriors.

What we learn from this composition is that the name applied to this imagery is a misnomer, it is not a Cat Demon at all. Once again we see that the gesture signs and imagery of the Native Americans were actually words. We can also begin to understand that the cosmology recognized the various forces of

nature and structured their societies and culture around these forces.

Illustration 7

: The Great Knife, The Great Ray of the Sun

A group of seven burial cists from Chavina at the mouth of Rio Acari provides clear evidence of social stratification during Phase III (Lothrop and Mahler 1957). They were adjacent rectangular chambers (about 1.1 by 0.8 meters) with plastered adobe brick walls. The roofs consisted of several parallel poles or reeds bound together and then covered with cobbles. Arrangement was in the form of a truncated 'T', with two rows of three cists forming the crossbar and the seventh, the short 'stem'. The central cist in the top (south) row contained an individual of considerable importance, judging by the unusual style of his headdress. The one flanking it on the west contained two adults, one of them female and the other of undetermined sex, along with the head of a mouse. The body of the mouse was in the cist on the east, which also produced the decapitated body of a man whose head had been replaced by a calabash provided with a turban, and an urn containing an infant ...”2

The above quote shows us that the placement of burials and the positioning of objects within burials was a highly conscious act. The seven Rectangular chambers would indicate, seven places and the “T” shape, below. Thus, below the surface (Form), the seven places (Signs). The body of a headless man and a headless mouse were found in the eastern chamber and the head replaced by a calabash had a turban on it much as our warrior in the Cat Demon wore. This would seem to indicate that the Mouse and warrior were considered one and the same. That the Mouse's Head (the warrior's head) was found in the western burial chamber might well mean that His face, his appearance was in the west (we may remember that the direction west represented the setting sun, death, and darkness) while his body was in the east. This Mouse Face would likely be the Face of Venus (a scout of the Sun) arising in the west or at least going toward the west. The body of the infant in an urn might well represent a new birth as does the direction east.

We cannot understand the rationale for the all the burial arrangements but it does seem that the Cat Demon composition does provide us with some hint as to the meaning of the mouse having been placed in the burial. The Mouse appears to have been considered Great in terms of importance or status as a warrior but Little (like a mouse) in terms of comparison to the Sun. The individual in the top central chamber with the special headdress may have been a “Sun” a Great Knife or Great Ray of the Sun with those of lesser rank buried with and around him.

2 Lumbereras, Luis G. People and Cultures of Ancient Peru. Translated by Betty J. Meggers. Smithsonian Institutions Press, City of Washington, 1974 pp 122-133