The Jaguar's PawA Moche Ceramic

ByClifford C. Richey

September 2009

Illustration 1: Moche Ceramic Photo Credit: C-Monster.net

This is a very interesting Moche ceramic as the Mountains are in the Form of a Jaguar's Paw (orange dots). The overall Form is a compound of the signs for earth-female and place signs.

The Upper-WorldThe Place

This is from the two signs that make up the form of the ceramic.

The Great Jaguar's Paw,The Great Hand of the Sun

The seated figure on the Mountain (green circle) has a headdress with a jaguar's face on it. There are two hands in the gesture sign for flight (the Hand's Their Flight). The curved sign above the jaguar is an upper-half-upper world sign

and its curve represents the arc of the sky.

AboveThe Hands, The Stewards

(of the Sun)In The Sky-Arc

The Hands of the Spirit above the headdress delineate the arc of the sky between them.

His Seat This figure is the representative of the Sun on Earth and Inca like leader. His seat is a place sign.

On The Mountainside The seated Figure

Illustration 2: The Jaguar's Paw -The Hand of the Sun

The Dead BelowBelow him is the prostrate body of a dead person who appears to be floating in water.

The Female Water-spiritsOn the left side of the scene is a small figure with the female ,Triangular, (yellow) sign in the genital area. The same is true of the figure directly above (yellow circle). These figures are female water-spirits.

The One About to Arise.On the right side of the scene (blue) is a kneeling figure whose Stance means, about to arise.

Sitting and WaitingAll The Water-Spirits Looking Upward

(expectantly, see the prophecy below)To

The Sky-ArcThe overall Form or shape that the upper tips of the Mountains make.

The Dog, The Prophecy of AscendingThe figure in violet is holding a Dog which means a prediction or prophecy.

The Dog's Tail forms the signs for a place and ascending

His Face, His AppearanceUnder A Covered Place

The signs for place and covered over the face.Below On The SideThe Turning-Place

The Frog, The One Who LeapsThe Head of a Frog that is protruding from the water.

The Bird, The One Who FliesThe signs for surface, a hole, male and taken-upward combine to form a Bird's head, the sign for flight.

The Hands, The StewardsOn the right side of the scene the hands of two spirits are placed next to the hole, an actual indentation on the

mountainside.On The

Side of the Hole

The Snow on the Mountain PeakBegins Its Cleansing

FlowThe central mountain peak has a figure draped over it as if killed by the claw of the jaguar (since it is a mountain peak

and a claw all at the same time). So this figure is someone's spirit that had been killed by the Hand of the Sun –perhaps a Jaguar-Warrior, a Ray of the Sun. Thus this is a lifeless female-water-spirit which is the still snow (frozen

water) on the peak. The Back of the figure is a location sign and the long hair (sign for cleaning or cleansing). Is flowing (snow as melted by the Great Paw of the Jaguar -The Great Hand/Ray of the Sun)

The 4 mountain peaks on the side of the central peak that cannot be seen from this frontal position represent the four directions –all directions The water-spirits are on the sides of all the peaks.

The Mouths (springs or a water-source) of the water-spirits appear to be a compound of the Oval sign for all and two Circular locational signs and may mean all locations. Thus:

The Springs in All Locations

This ceramic seems to have remnants of red coloring on it. There may have been many more signs on the original piece. Mistakes may have been made regarding some of the smaller signs as they cannot be

clearly seen in the photograph. The general theme of the ceramic scene is fairly clear and meshes well with other translations that have been made of Moche cosmological material.