Path: typhoon.sonic.net!not-for-mail Newsgroups: alt.magick.tyagi,alt.pagan.magick,alt.satanism Subject: Etowah Mounds/Sign of the Times From: Seyfert-1 Reply-To: spam@luckymojo.com User-Agent: nn/6.6.0 Lines: 55 Message-ID: Date: Tue, 10 Dec 2002 02:37:44 GMT NNTP-Posting-Host: 208.201.242.18 X-Complaints-To: abuse@sonic.net X-Trace: typhoon.sonic.net 1039487864 208.201.242.18 (Mon, 09 Dec 2002 18:37:44 PST) NNTP-Posting-Date: Mon, 09 Dec 2002 18:37:44 PST Xref: typhoon.sonic.net alt.magick.tyagi:35218 alt.pagan.magick:35141 alt.satanism:218381 Orig-To: sacredlandscapelist@yahoogroups.com Orig-From: Barry Carroll swbell.net@palladin A Sign of the Times On my summer trip to Atlanta, i detoured to visit Etowah Mounds northwest of the city at Cartersville,Ga. The site was spectacular but there was also something here i had never seen before--a First Amendment Rights Area. It would seem that the Creek Indians have successfully demonstrated that they are the descendants of the builders of Etowah (PS i think 'wah' is a place name, like burg, ville, or ton, in English). As such, they assert that they have the right to control the ceremonial 'sacred space' at the site. Preceeding their rituals they magically open the site to supernatural forces at at the end the close it again. In between times, they don't want anybody to 'jimmy' the magical lock on the door, so to speak. In recent years the proliferation of groups and individuals who wish to use the site for magical purposes has created a conflict. "Witches, Satanists, New Agers, folks wishing to perform voodoo ceremonies or charge crystals all want to use the grounds" , said the Park Ranger I spoke with, "The Indians don't like it." "But now if these people buy a permit, they can do whatever they like in the First Amendment Rights Area. It solves a lot of problems." I asked if Georgia had these areas at other parks or if it was mostly a local problem. He said, " They have them at Macon Ocmulgee and other places. South Carolina probably has their signs up by now too." While I was there another Ranger rushed off to follow a young black man wearing a three color beret. She had to make sure he did not break the ban on rituals outside the First Amendment Rights Area. . She said she recognized him as a member of a group that has been removed from the site previously for holding unauthorized rituals. According to the Ranger, this mostly black group maintains that the mounds, including Etowah, were built, not by Indians, but by blacks who came here in pre-columbian times. I remember her saying that these folks have a leader in South Carolina and one or more communities where some of them live together. I couldn't get any more information, like what they call themselves, since she had to rush off. Watch for a First Amendment Rights Area coming soon to a sacred site near you. B