click
image for enlargement
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
This
unique pipe is a representation of the ancient Mayan Temple
of Kukulkan at Chichen Itza, Yucatan, Mexico.
Here
is a passage detailing the origins of this magnificent structure:
The
Temple of Kukulkan, the Feathered Serpent God (also known as
Quetzalcoatl to the Aztecs) is the largest and most important
ceremonial structure at Chichen Itza. This ninety-foot tall
pyramid was built during the eleventh to thirteenth centuries
directly upon the multiple foundations of previous temples.
The architecture of the pyramid encodes precise information
regarding the Mayan calendar. Each face of the four-sided structure
has a stairway with ninety-one steps, which together with the
shared step of the platform at the top, add up to 365, the number
of days in a year. These stairways also divide the nine terraces
of each side of the pyramid into eighteen segments, representing
the eighteen months of the Mayan calendar. The pyramid is also
directionally oriented to mark the solstices and equinoxes.
The axes that run through the northwest and southwest corners
of the pyramid are oriented toward the rising point of the sun
at the summer solstice and its setting point at the winter solstice.
The northern stairway was the principal sacred path leading
to the summit. At sunset on the vernal and autumnal equinoxes,
an interplay between the sun's light and the edges of the stepped
terraces on the pyramid creates a fascinating - and very brief
- shadow display upon the sides of the northern stairway. A
serrated line of seven interlocking triangles gives the impression
of a long tail leading downward to the stone head of the serpent
Kukulkan, at the base of the stairway. Adjacent to the head
of Kukulkan, a doorway leads to an interior staircase ending
at a small and very mysterious shrine.
The
stem is handmade of a dark green metallic fleck Acrylic and
an ebonite tenon with a thick Fossilized Mammoth Tusk accent.
The windcap is composed of Blue Bark Mammoth Tusk, Doe Skin,
Ebony and Cork. This pipe has good airflow and passes a cleaner.
Hand
Crafted by Michael Parks
