Volume 2, Number 4 September 15, 2002 THE CTHULHU PRAYER SOCIETY NEWSLETTER

The Providence H.P. Lovecraft Friends’ Group Celebrates Peru and the Mysteries of the Incas SEPTEMBER 15, 2002 — The local “Friends of Lovecraft,” also known as the Cthulhu Prayer Society, met on September 15th at Union Station Brewery to celebrate the lost-but-still-living civilization of the mysterious Incas. Once again, the merry crew of artists, writers, musicians and oth- ers who love the dark, the strange and the wonderful gathered under the mysterious ale and beer vats to enjoy brunch before heading off to Rutherford’s domain for an afternoon of Inca lore and Andean music. Prayer Society member Thomas D. Jones, recently returned from a ten-day trip to Notes from Inca-land Cuzco and a tour in Inca ruins, devised an by THOMAS D. JONES informal program covering the Incas, their history and civilization, and an account of Incas worshipped three elements: sun, mountain, and earth, but their main source of Peru in the post-Fujimori era. worship was the sun, probably because when it wasn’t shining, their world became bru- Attendees also shared fond memories of tally cold. There are but two seasons—rainy and dry. In Cuzco, the dry season means be- the small but moving August outing to low freezing temperatures at night. With the wind, the windchill can be enough to warrant Swan Point Cemetery in Providence, where full winter clothing. poetry and eulogies to and about H.P. The Inca world view was personified by: Lovecraft were read round the refulgent Pachamama: Earth Mother spreading beech tree at the Old Gent’s Mountain: Father grave. This was followed by an ice cream Sun: Inti orgy at Maximilian’s on Hope Street, where Moon: Quilla Prayer Society founder Brett Rutherford Below earth: snake (underworld) was possessed to order a banana split and Earth surface: Puma consume it in honor of HPL. Heavens: Condor In early September, many members of the In Cuzco, the Andean terrain reminds one very much of the mountain chain that begins group were also seen carrying carloads of in Flagstaff, Arizona, with a lot of scrub pine, low growth, and cacti. In Machupicchu, it is sinister-looking cartons around the East bizarre to see pineapple plants growing up the sides of the mountain. Side. With a heroic effort, the gang moved Rutherford’s entire library to his new abode Peruvian & Inca Names & Places on lower Hope Street. Thanks to Allison, Pi- erre and Jen, Tom, Lindsay, Pieter, Paul Cuzco Cathedral—Rather than a total effacement of Incan iconography, Peruvian and es- and Denise, and Eddie R — and especially pecially Cusquenean iconography is an Incan overlay on top of the Christian. All Peruvian to Hal Hamilton, who prophesied correctly, Marys are shaped like mountains with a crown on their heads representing the sunrise, “You can move. Your friends will help you.” and if you trace the lines, you see the same trapezoidal shape in Mary that you do in Incan Please note our new address: 66 Hope windows in all their ancient cities. This means we have both the vision of mountain and Street #2, Providence, RI 02906. Phone and earth mother combined in the Virgin. e-mail remain the same. Ollantaytambo—City built with monumental rocks Chinchero—Tiny Spanish town built in the highlands on top of Incan temples and ru- ins. Pisaq—Didn’t get to see the ancient city of Pisaq but did go to Pisaq market where every imaginable Incan item was sold. Qoricancha—Sun Temple on Avenida El Sol used by Incas as a center of worship. Also a museum below the temple that contains mummies in the fetal position. Tambomachay—Contains Incan dwellings and temples, agricultural terraces, includ- ing aqueducts and dwellings and ritual bath houses for the Incan equivalent of Vestal Vir- gins. Pukapukara—Incan city Quengo—Incan city Saqsayhuaman (pronunciation close to “Sexy woman”)—The monolithic stones are ar- ranged in the shape of the Puma, and this was a serious Incan center of worship. Every year, just as in Inca times, on June 21, the winter solstice and shortest day of the year, the people gather to perform the ancient Incan ceremony celebrating the sun. Published every little while by The Poet’s Press, 66 Pikillacta—Incan agricultural center Hope Street #2, Providence RI 02906. Tel. Tipon—Row upon row of houses. Incan urban center not far from Pikillacta. Incans 401-861-3272. Subscriptions free to contributors and probably traveled from here to Pikillacta to gather the produce they grew. Perhaps from members of the Cthulhu Prayer Society; others $10 for here they went to Ollantaytambo to visit the sun temple there. There’s also a sun temple at 12 issues. Website: www.thepoetspress.org. E-mail: the very top of the mountain at Tipon [email protected]. Contents Copyright 2002 by It’s true the Spanish murdered many Incas and destroyed their villages; however, the The Poet’s Press. Spanish destroyed only the tops of Incan buildings. The foundations were so sturdy that the Spanish decided to keep the foundation stones and build on top of them. September 15, 2002 Volume 2, Number 4

All the museums in Cuzco contain either Christian/Incan art and/or pre-Christian Incan pottery, clothing, jewelry, head- pieces, masks, and other relics. OOPS--NO PICTURES! Machupicchu—Includes an urban cen- THIS PDF OF THE SEPTEMBER NEWSLETTER IS INCOMPLETE: ter, storehouses, agricultural terraces, and THE FINAL PRINTED VERSION WILL INCLUDE PHOTOS OF THE AUGUST temples to the sun. LOVECRAFT CEMETERY GATHERING. WE HAVE MOVED AND THE Huynapicchu—One huge staircase SCANNER IS NOT YET CONNECTED. HOPE TO SEE YOU ALL SUNDAY! leads the traveler to the summit of the mountain adjacent to Machupicchu. At the top is what may have been a dwelling for a priest, and next to this is an outcrop of rocks with a hole in the middle. Inside is a cave where Incas probably performed sac- rifices to the sun, since this is at the very top of the mountain. BENEATH LOVECRAFT’S You just never listened. I should have There’s also a temple to the moon, but I GRAVE kept didn’t see this. you home more, I knew it. In the city below Machupicchu, called by Aguas Calientes, are hot springs suppos- Brett Rutherford Now, mother — edly used by the Incas as thermal baths, [This poem was writen for the August 2002 gathering But I couldn’t bear to look at you. and still in use today by tourists and resi- at H.P. Lovecraft’s grave. It is written for four voices, dents. That face! — how like your father’s. and was performed by Carl Johnson, Jen Ford, Pi- When you were off at school I could go There are 6,000 species of potatoes in erre Ford and Brett Rutherford. The text in italics Peru. out represents the speech of Suzie Lovecraft, HPL’s and face the world. But even so, There are 16,000 species of orchids in mother; the text in SMALL CAPS represents the Peru the people on the streetcar knew — speech of Lovecraft’s father. Section 1 precedes the how they’d whisper — subterranean conversationsas a prologue.]] That’s Suzie Whipple Lovecraft, the one whose husband…. HPL on the Internet: the one with that hideous child… Cthulhu Prayer Society i Listen! The worms, always. YOUR DADDY’S AT BUTLER, Starts Yahoo Group for Millions of teeth, YOUR MOTHER, TOO. Members earth-moving cilia on pulsing tubes, PRETTY SOON THEY’LL the parting of soil, the tiny pop COME Members of the Cthulhu Prayer Society of subterrane surprise FOR YOU! can receive special news and notices by as a cavity opens e-mail and send messsages instantly to ev- the drip, drip, trickle, drip My God, who was that? eryone in the group by subscribing (no as rain water instantly rushes to fill it. charge!) to the newly-founded Yahoo A mole like a distant subway car, Some child three plots over, mother. on-line group “lovecraftinprovidence. snuffling about for edible roots. You know he does that when we Some members of the group with known raise our voices. e-mails have been invited to join this The put-a-put sounds advancing, retreating — group. If you would like to join, go to THAT”S MY SON YOU’RE INSULTING! all the dead can hear of automobiles. www.yahoo.com and look for the word A LOVECRAFT FACE IS A DISTINCTION. “groups” on the home page. Click there and The door-slams (count them!) you will be taken to the groups home page. of nearby visitors — Now see what you’ve done, mother — After you register, you will be able to search clickedy-click high heels of the women, You’ve awakened Father again! for our group and join it. bump-thump of the men and the boys. Membership is limited to those approved That’s on the pavement — upon the lawn Lantern-jaw! Son of a travelling man! by the High Priests of Dagon, so you will not the sound of someone walking That freakish long face! receive spam. Only members may post is always just so quiet Drawing monsters messages. that the dead are always imagining on every sidewalk! No good at games! This site also contains an archive of back they hear it. The mothers would send me notes: issues of the Cthulhu Prayer Society News- Is that someone now? Is it night or day? Your Howard is not permitted to play letter, photos of some of our gatherings, What year is it, anyway? with our Joshua. Our old cat Flavius links to interesting sites. Other features will NOT come down from the tree, may also be added. Any member who Beneath the earth, inside the casket, and something awful has taken root wishes to post files or photos related to our inside the shroud or winding cloth, in the rhododendron garden. activities may do so. even inside the mummified skin, We will not have our children Some folks are reluctant to join on-line the shriveled organs, inside the bones pronouncing groups, but we have done our best to make where the marrow is flaking to rust, Arabian spells and Egyptian curses sure this one doesn’t get out of hand, and it even inside the brain, at our Christian dinner table. will be limited to its stated purpose. It will a desiccated thing be especially helpful for those of us wishing no bigger than a walnut, That must have been all over town! to announce an imprmptu film outing or consciousness clings. special event that could not reach others in (How do I know? From the whispers Ah, my Arabian Nights! time via the newsletter. Join and prosper! I hear beneath the willow-weave, Playing at Grandfather Whipple’s the message no wind house. alone could have invented.) GOOD! A HIGH SPIRITED LAD! Their eyeless sight sees shades of black- TOO BAD I WASN’T THERE ness, TO SEE YOU TO MANHOOD, HOWARD! their earless ears are perfect receivers SO MUCH I COULD HAVE TOLD YOU. for what their lipless mouths SOME BOOKS YOUR MOTHER have to say. NEVER SAW…

I found them, Father. They were very ii … If you had taken more milk as a child, instructive. you might have lived to eighty, Howard. No one wants to be eighty, Mother — And I took them away! Such filth! forty-seven was painful enough an age And what a horrible turn he took. to come unnailed and fall apart — A mere nervous breakdown, Mother. Does it still hurt? We had to take him from school. No, mother, The shame of his father’s death, not since the autopsy, anyway. Volume 2, Number 4 September 15, 2002

2002/2003 LOVECRAFT FRIENDS EVENTS Here it is, with all meetings except those starred with double asterisks commencing at 11:30 am at the Union Station Brewery.

SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 15th. Mysteries of the Incas, with Thomas D. Jones

SUNDAY, OCTOBER 13th Program to be announced.

**THURSDAY, OCTOBER 31. Samhain (Halloween). A grand celebration, place to be announced.

SUNDAY, DECEMBER 15th. Decorating the Baba Yaga tree at Rutherford’s place. Bring mystery presents to be unwrapped on Russian Christmas, January 6th 2003

SUNDAY, JANUARY 5th, 2003. Russian Christmas Eve celebration. Bring Russian and/or Greek food and see what surprises await you under the Baba Yaga trree.

mad at Butler; his grandfather’s death, our move to the apartment That’s right, Mother. I checked it myself. where we had to share Everything is angled in some way. with common people. The shock of finding You are sure? we had so little money. Yes, Mother. Somehow, Mother, none of us ever actually I must be sure. They come out went out and worked: not you, of the corners, you know. not me, not the Aunties Right angles are weak places (let’s not disturb their sleep, please!) through which they come and go from their cold and sunless world SEE, THE BOY HAS SPIRIT. to feed in ours. SOMETHING YOU ALWAYS LACKED AS A WIFE — First it’s a grazing NO WARMTH, NO ANIMAL SPIRITS! against your cheekbone. Then one touches It’s all animal with you, you madman! the small of your back. Razor-sharp talons, Mother, Father, enough! long, melon-shaped heads You’ve made your peace. and no faces

You in your hospital bed, drooling, No faces at all! I know, Mother, with that leering face, I invented them repeating obscenities, in my own nightmares! boasting about the women you had ruined! Real! they are real! Filthy things, like dust rags, YOU WITH YOUR NIGHT GAUNTS ammonia on their breath STREAMING FROM THE CORNERS and old blood WITH NEEDLE FINGERS! I COULD NEVER TOUCH YOU, hovering, holding AND FINALLY NOT EVEN A SHADOW COULD! you down, touching, GO TO BALTIMORE, HOWARD! touching! THERE’S A NEGRESS THERE WHO RUNS AN ESTABLISHMENT. WHY DIDN”T THEY BURY YOU ASK FOR THE DWARFS. AT BUTLER, ANYWAY? THEY’RE SISTERS, AND ACROBATS. YOU ARE A TIRESOME WOMAN! YOU CAN’T IMAGINE WHAT THEY DO! AH, BUT I SUPPOSE THEY’RE DEAD, NOW. You! freeloader! whose family plot is this anyway? What’s that! Is that YOU touching me? Mother! Father! There are people here! NO, SUZIE, IT MUST BE — A dozen at least! Hear them! ONE OF THOSE WORMS, There’s the poet, and that actor THE ONES WITH A THOUSAND LEGS. who imitates me! Pretty damn good! And all the others, too! They’re back — I know it’s you. I can’t bear it. I think it’s my birthday — Quiet, quiet! Listen to them! Listen! YOUR DADDY’S AT BUTLER, YOUR MOTHER, TOO. PRETTY SOON THEY’LL —Lovecraft’s Birthday, August 2002 COME FOR YOU!

Howard, you promised me there would be no right angles anywhere in my casket. September 15, 2002 Volume 2, Number 4

They were all killed, as well as those who were carried in the other litters and ham- mocks.... Capture of The Governor went to his lodging, with his prisoner Atahualpa despoiled of his robes, which the Spaniards had tom off in pulling an Inca him out of the litter. It was a very wonderful thing to see so great a lord taken prisoner in so short a time, who came in such power. King The Governor presently ordered native clothes to be brought, and when Atahualpa Francisco Pizarro was dressed, he made him sit near him, and soothed his rage and agitation at finding from Narrative of the Conquest of Peru, by himself so quickly fallen from his high es- his secretary, Francisco de Xeres, 1530-34 tate. Among many other things, the Gover- Governor what had passed between him nor said to him: “Do not take it as an insult [Pizarro sends for Atahualpa.] and Atahualpa, and that he had thrown the that you have been defeated and taken pris- As soon as the messenger came before Scriptures to the ground. Then the Gover- oner, for with the Christians who come with Atahualpa, he made an obeisance to him, nor put on a jacket of cotton, took his sword me, though so few in number, I have con- and made signs that he should come to and dagger, and, with the Spaniards who quered greater kingdoms than yours, and where the Governor waited. Presently he were with him, entered amongst the Indians have defeated other more powerful lords and his troops began to move, and the most valiantly; and, with only four men who than you, imposing upon them the domin- Spaniard returned and reported that they were able to follow him, he came to the litter ion of the Emperor, whose vassal I am, and were coming, and that the men in front car- where Atahualpa was, and fearlessly seized who is King of Spain and of the universal ried arms concealed under their clothes, him by the arm, crying out, “Santiago!” world. We come to conquer this land by his which were strong tunics of cotton, beneath Then the guns were fired off, the trumpets command, that all may come to a knowl- which were stones and bags and slings; all were sounded, and the troops, both horse edge of God, and of His Holy Catholic Faith . which made it appear that they had a and foot, sallied forth. On seeing the horses ..” treacherous design. Soon the van of the en- charge, many of the Indians who were in the . . . Atahualpa feared that the Spaniards emy began to enter the open space. First open space fled, and such was the force would kill him, so he told the Governor that came a squadron of Indians dressed in a liv- with which they ran that they broke down he would give his captors a great quantity of ery of different colors, like a chessboard. part of the wall surrounding it, and many gold and silver. The Governor asked him: They advanced, removing the straws from fell over each other. The horsemen rode “How much can you give, and in what the ground and sweeping the road. Next time?” Atahualpa said: “I will give gold came three squadrons in different dresses, enough to fill a room twenty-two feet long dancing and singing. Then came a number and seventeen wide, up to a white line of men with armor, large metal plates, and which is halfway up the wall.” The height crowns of gold and silver. Among them was would be that of a man’s stature and a half. Atahualpa in a litter lined with plumes of He said that, up to that mark, he would fill macaws’ feathers of many colors and the room with different kinds of golden ves- adorned with plates of gold and silver. sels, such as jars, pots, vases, besides Many Indians carried it on their shoulders lumps and other pieces. As for silver, he onhigh... said he would fill the whole chamber with it On reaching the center of the open twice over. He undertook to do this in two space, Atahualpa remained in his litter on months. The Governor told him to send off high, and the others with him, while his messengers with this object, and that, when troops did not cease to enter. A captain it was accomplished, he need have no then came to the front and, ascending the fear.... fortress near the open space, where the ar- After some days some of the people of tillery was posted, raised his lance twice, Atahualpa arrived. There was a brother of as for a signal. Seeing this, the Governor his, who came from Cuzco, and sisters and asked the Father Friar Vicente if he wished them down, killing and wounding, and fol- wives. The brother brought many vases, to go and speak to Atahualpa, with an inter- lowing in pursuit. The infantry made so jars, and pots of gold, and much silver, and preter. He replied that he did wish it, and he good an assault upon those that remained he said that more was on the road; but that, advanced, with a cross in one hand and the that in a short time most of them were put to as the journey is so long, the Indians who Bible in the other, and going amongst the the sword. The Governor still held bring the treasure become tired, and cannot troops up to the place where Atahualpa Atahualpa by the arm, not being able to pull all come so quickly, so that every day more was, thus addressed him: “I am a priest of him out of the litter because he was raised gold and silver will arrive of that which now God, and I teach Christians the things of so high. Then the Spaniards made such a remains behind. Thus on some days twenty God, and in like manner I come to teach slaughter amongst those who carried the thousand, on others thirty thousand, on you. What I teach is that which God says to litter that they fell to the ground, and, if the others fifty thousand or sixty thousand pe- us in this Book. Therefore, on the part of Governor had not protected Atahualpa, that sos of gold arrived, in vases, great pots God and of the Christians, I beseech you to proud man would there have paid for all the weighing two or three arrobas, and other be their friend, for such is God’s will, and it cruelties he had committed. The Governor, vessels. The Governor ordered it all to be will be for your good. Go and speak to the in protecting Atahualpa, received a slight put in the house where Atahualpa had his Governor, who waits for you.” wound in the hand. During the whole time guards, until he had accomplished what he Atahualpa asked for the Book, that he no Indian raised his arms against a Span- had promised. might look at it, and the priest gave it to him iard. closed. Atahualpa did not know how to open So great was the terror of the Indians at [After receiving the huge ransom from it, and the priest was extending his arm to seeing the Governor force his way through Atahualpa, do so, when Atahualpa, in great anger, gave them, at hearing the fire of the artillery, and Pizarro charges the Inca with him a blow on the arm, not wishing that it beholding the charging of horses, a thing conspiring against him.] should be opened. Then he opened it him- never before heard of, that they thought ...Iwill say something of the place that self, and, without any astonishment at the more of flying to save their lives than of was subject to the Cuzco and now belongs letters and paper, as had been shown by fighting. All those who bore the litter of to Atahualpa. They say that it contained two other Indians, he threw it away from him Atahualpa appeared to be principal chiefs. houses made of gold, and that the straws five or six paces, and, to the words which with which it was roofed were all made of the monk had spoken to him through the gold. With the gold that was brought from interpreter, he answered with much scorn, Cuzco, there were some straws made of saying: “I know well how you have behaved solid gold, with their spikes, just as they on the road, how you have treated my would grow in the fields. If I was to recount chiefs, and taken the cloth from my store- all the different varieties in the shape of the houses.” The monk replied: “The Christians pieces of gold my story would never end. have not done this, but some Indians took There was a stool of gold [the throne of the the cloth without the knowledge of the Gov- Incas, which Pizarro himself took] that ernor, and he ordered it to be restored.” weighed eight arrobas. There were great Atahualpa said: “I will not leave this place fountains with their pipes, through which until they bring it all to me.” The monk re- water flowed into a reservoir on the same turned with this reply to the Governor. fountains, where there were birds of differ- Atahualpa stood up on the top of the lit- ent kinds, and men drawing water from the ter, addressing his troops and ordering fountain, all made of gold. It was also ascer- them to be prepared. The monk told the tained from Atahualpa and Chilicuchima, Volume 2, Number 4 September 15, 2002

and many others, that in Xauxa Atahualpa Even the pipes, ornaments and aqueducts EXPLORERS CLAIM TO HAVE had sheep and shepherds tending them, all were gold. In the centre of a large courtyard FOUND LOST CITY OF GOLD made of gold; and the sheep and shepherds flanked by antechambers was a were large, and of the size that they are met gold-covered octagonal platform. Murray —July 30, 2002 with in this land. Hope said, in The Ancient Wisdom of On June 30th two dozen researchers took Now I must mention a thing which should Atlantis, that the Great High Temple., in the up the old quest for the legendary city of not be forgotten. A chief, who was Lord of Atlantean capital, like others in the land, gold, called Paititi by Inca people and El Do- Caxamalca, appeared before the Governor “was octagonal in shape,...surmounted by rado by Spanish conquistadors, who began and said to him through the interpreters: “I an equidistant cross”. searching for it in 1532. The recent search would have you to know that, after There are other similarities between concentrated on a jungle region along the Atahualpa was taken prisoner, he sent to Plato’s citadel and the major buildings of basin of the Madre de Dios River, in the Pe- Quito, his native land, and to all the other Cuzco. Baths were fed by natural hot and ruvian Amazon. provinces, with orders to collect troops to cold springs. [Atlantis and the Cordillera Leader of the expedition, a Polish-Italian march against you and your followers, and Occidental, where Cuzco is located, were journalist named Jacek Palkiewicz, an- to kill you all; and all these troops are com- volcanic.] The Inca Atahualpa’s palace had nounced to EFE he felt "certain" he had ing under the command of a great captain gold and silver basins, and fountains feed- found El Dorado in an area that adjoins called Lluminabi. This army is now very ing stone channels. Plato said that water Manu National Park, southeast of Lima. near to this place. It will come at night and from the Atlantean springs was channelled Palkiewicz was surprised to discover the old attack the camp...” into open and covered cisterns. Both places legends of the city being under a lake were The Governor then spoke to Atahualpa, had life-sized ancestral statues of gold. accurate. Furthermore, written accounts saying: “What treason is this that you have In Atahualpa’s apartments, said that the lost city was a 10-day hike from prepared for me? For me who have treated Garcilaso, “worked in much gold”, were Cuzco, ancient capital of the Inca Empire, you with honor, like a brother, and have “carved engravings of the figures and ex- were confirmed as well. trusted in your words!” Then he told him all ploits of the Inca’s ancestors”. Moreover, A lake was discovered on a 1.5 the information he had received. Atahualpa the Incas told the Spaniards that the square-mile plateau which was entirely cov- answered, saying: “Are you laughing at me? “first inhabitants of the land [i.e. ered with vegetation. Palkiewicz's team You are always making jokes when you Peru] were born in pairs just as used terrestrial radar to confirm the exis- speak to me. What am I and all my people Plato claimed for Atlantis”. tence of underwater caverns and tunnels at that we should trouble such valiant men as [J.M. Allen, Atlantis: The Andes the site. Palkiewicz, who began researching you are? Do not talk such nonsense to me.” ] El Dorado nearly two years ago, wants to He said all this without betraying a sign of Solution, 1998 carry out a final and more extensive search anxiety; but he laughed the better to con- Yet confirmation of possible connections in October and have specialists study the ceal his evil design, and practiced many between Atlantis and Cuzco comes not just caves. other arts such as would suggest them- from Plato, but Homer’s Odyssey. Homer Finding traces of pre-Inca constructions, selves to a quick-witted man. After he was a tells us that the Temple of Poseidon in the led Palkiewicz to assume that the Incas had prisoner, the Spaniards who heard him Phaeacian’s land was built of “blocks of barely begun colonization of the area before were astounded to find so much wisdom in quarried stone embedded firmly into the arrival of the Spanish. Torrential rains and a barbarian.... ground”. The surviving lower foundations of dense jungles, which aborted many previ- Then the Governor, with the concurrence the Coricancha, below the Spanish monas- ous searches for the lost city, hindered the of the officers of his Majesty, and of the cap- tery of Santo Domingo, are built from huge researchers to investigate for further evi- tains and persons of experience, sentenced ashlar blocks slotted together without mor- dence of Inca construction. Atahualpa to death. His sentence was that, tar. Their solidity, unlike the Baroque edi- Palkiewicz led a team of scientists from for the treason he had committed, he fice on them, has withstood centuries of Argentina, Italy, Poland, Russia and Peru. should die by burning, unless he became a earthquakes. The Spanish described the Two previous visits to the area and the dis- Christian... palace of Atahualpa in great detail. The covery of a 16th century manuscript claim- They brought out Atahualpa to execution; Great Hall had gold doors, silver pillars and ing that Jesuit missionaries had found El and, when he came into the square, he said a ‘brazen’ [bronze] floor. There were gold Dorado kept the team's interested peaked. he would become a Christian. The Governor and silver statues, including dogs guarding The manuscript, found in the Vatican ar- was informed, and ordered him to be bap- the main portals. Homer said not only did chives of the Society of Jesus, indicated that tized. The ceremony was performed by the the Great Hall of Alcinous’ palace possess the pope authorized Jesuits to evangelize very reverend Father Friar Vicente de such a floor, but that the main entrance had natives of Paititi. Valverde. The Governor then ordered that Palkiewicz, described by Britain's he should not be burned, but that he should Guard- “golden doors hung on posts of newspaper as a "self-styled academic" is be fastened to a pole in the open space and ian silver...set in the bronze threshold. an instructor of survival skills and has writ- strangled. This was done, and the body was The lintel...was silver... . On either ten 20 books about his journeys to remote left until the morning of the next day, when side stood gold and silver dogs....as destinations and the Amazon jungles. In the monks, and the Governor with the other 1996, he led an expedition that located the Spaniards, conveyed it into the church, immortal sentries.... Golden statues true source of the Amazon River. A budget of where it was interred with much solemnity, of youths fixed on solid pedestals $1 million was allotted to find the city of gold and with all the honors that could be shown held flaming torches....to light and the search has received support from it. Such was the end of this man, who had the....hall by night”. Peruvian's President Alejandro Toledo, Po- been so cruel. He died with great fortitude, Both Plato’s Atlantis and Homer’s land's Aleksander Kwasniewski and Italian and without showing any feeling... Phaeacia land are high and rocky. Their re- Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi. spective capitals are ringed and overshad- Paititi is considered the last refuge for In- owed by lofty peaks. Plato eulogises about DISPATCHES FROM THE cas from advancing Spanish conquistadors. their size, number and beauty, and their Legend has it that the last Inca rulers bur- INTERNET rivers and lakes. Homer mentions a “long ied treasures under a lake, an enormous mountain range”. The Spanish, in 1533, de- sum to pay the ransom of Inca's last ruler, WAS PERU THE ORIGINAL scribed Cuzco as being “surrounded by high Atahualpa. The lure of finding that wealth ATLANTIS? and snowy mountains”. It is located over has drawn many explorers to their death. 11,000 ft up in the Andes. Plato says the According to Plato, the Atlantean Temple In 1925, Britain's Col. Peter Fawcett dis- plain before the mountains was divided of Poseidon’s exterior was coated in silver appeared while looking for the city of gold. grid-like by canals and bounded by a ditch with gold pinnacles.. The ceiling was ivory Again, in 1970, a French-American expedi- fed by mountain streams. Speed’s image variegated with gold, silver and orichalcum tion led by Serge Debru disappeared and in shows Cuzco was like that. Plato’s Royal [a gold/copper alloy]. At the time of the In- 1997 an expedition led by Norway's Lars City had high triple walls, the outer one cas these metals were abundant in South Hafksjold also disappeared while headed to bronze-coated, just like the Tartarus of America. In their capital at Cuzco was the Madidi River, not far from Palkiewicz's dis- Greek myth The left image depicts three Coricancha, ‘The Place of Gold’, dedicated covery. walls around Santo Domingo. to Viracocha, that so amazed the Conquis- I’m not saying that Atlantis was definitely tadors in the 1530s. This extrordinary Source: BBC in Peru, or, that the Royal City was Cuzco. building was once covered with over 700 It’s just that the similarities are so striking gold and silver sheets, inside and out. Don- that it is possible the Incas, like the Aztecs nelly calculated that the jewels alone at Tenochtitlan in Mexico, were inspired to would’ve been worth [in 1880s terms, when ‘recreate’ the ‘homeland’ of their ancient an- his book Atlantis was published] $180 mil- cestors in their respective capitals. -JJ lion! The eastern end, the most sacred part, was hung with a huge jewel-encrusted gold plate symbolising the Sun. Below, on golden thrones, sat, enbalmed, Inca rulers. [The kings were the Incas, not the civilization.] Nearby was the Garden of the Sun, a para- dise of golden animals, plants and birds.