the willoughby disk

8/9/2019 The Willoughby Disk

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The Willoughby Disk1

Alabama

Clifford C. RicheyAugust 2010

1Moore, Clarence B. 1905. Certain Aboriginal Remains of the Black Warrior River. Journal of the

Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia 13, pp. 125-244.

Illustration 1: Willoughby Disk


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The Willoughby Disk presents itself as a Circle meaning two things. On the Linguist level it means a

location.Numerically it is the Number one. Next we look at the Notches around the edge of the disk.

There are 20 Notches which may represent a month in time and as we shall see somehow related to the

Venus cycle. The Notches also represent a breakin the land's surface. Viewing these notches edgewiseor horizontally it can be seen that only one break in the surface can be seen at a time due to the

curvature of the Disk. Therefore what is seen is two Rectangles separated by an indentation or space.

The Rectangles represent the signs forplaces.

What we can understand of the Form's signs so far is:

The Great One(relatively large size for a number sign)

His Location

The Twenty

The Breaks, The Holes

The Places

On the Side of the Earth

(the Edge of the disk)

Illustration 2: The Total to Initial Form of the Disk


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When viewing the Spatial Patterns or Sub-Forms on the Disk we can see that the Disk was essentially

divided into two halves (itssides) by the Narrow Vertical Rectangle, down its Center. As structured into

the gesture sign system the left side represents the direction,East while the Right side represents theWest. Metaphorically, the West relates to the setting sun, darkness, the color black, and death. The East

relates to the rising sun, the color red, and re-birth or resurrection.

Illustration 4: The Sub-Forms found on the Disk

Illustration 3: The Disk's Basic

Organization


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We immediately recognize the Two Forearms and Hands on the Disk's upper right corner. These are

the Arms, the Hands of the Sun as we have learned from previous papers. These Hands are the

Associational Forms for the Arms, the warriors, the Hands.stewards of the Sun. In today's terms we

would probably call them Warrior-Priests of the Sun. Both hands are Facing downwardon the right sideof the Disk which indicates the direction, west. Attached to the furthest right of the Hand Forms is the

Form of a the Head of a viper like Serpent (a stream of water) with a Single Tongue sticking out

straight (the gesture sign forstraight-talkor the truth. This sign was used in opposition to the Forked-Tongue meaning a lie orfalsehood. The Rightmost Hand is attached to the Serpent's Head showing that

the two are connected. This Triangular connection is the sign forearth-female and turning. We also

can see that the Serpent's bulging Eyes are the signs forthe sides. The Warrior-Steward of the Sun isconnected to thestream of water(a female flow) which locate (positionally) below in the west. The

artesian stream is heading downwardinto thefemale-earth, so the Hands are turning-female.. The

Leftward angle or Stance of the Head is one ofwaitingan expectation of an event about to happen.

The Hands,

The Warriors, The Stewards

of

The Sun

Turning FemaleDescending

in the

West

Waiting

in

The Serpent,

The Stream

The Truth

HereThe Great One

(the finger pointing at the hole in the side of the disk)

in the

Hole

The Fox, The Wonderon the Side

The Flight-Place

The Female-earth

The Movement

The Long WalkBelow

Held

as in a

Bowl

The Duck, The Water Bird,

The Water-flight(the duck upside down for dead or heading downward)


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The Flight

from

The Bowl

Like

a

Feather Arising

(a part of the Bird, its featherarising lightly like a feather in the breeze)

We must now turn our attention to the Central Vertical Bar which represents a vertical-place. This is, of

course the interior of the earth-female. Sticking out of the Vertical Place are the side signs and the Vshaped signs which mean, held-in. There are Ripples on the side of the Bar which are the signs for

movementormotion.

Next on the eastern side (of earth-female) we see the Form of a, single, Large Snail (the Great One)

and the essence of a Snail is itsslow-movement. The Snail is heading upward. We can see the Circle

(locational) or rounded Form of its Foot (possibly a Positionally related statement to the Foot, meaninga walk or a journey). The rear point of the Shell (possibly a reference to sea-water) is in the Form of an

on-the-side sign. The Jagged upper part of the Snail's Shell is the sign for water.

The spacing between the sub-forms allows us to perceive the sub-messages contained in the Form.

Further, this very spacing was consciously laid out to create intervening Forms. Between the Serpent's

Head and the Hands we can make out the imagery of a Fox (reddish brown) (the sign for a wonder orsomething very clever. His long bushy upright Tail is actually in the Form of a Feather indication flight

in the form of something very light such as mist or smoke. This is probably also the rationale for the

smoke from stone pipes and their relationship to the spirits the pipes represent and the wafting of their

essence upward toward the sky.

Illustration 5: Sub-Forms Continued


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Beneath the Tail of the Fox is a Rectangularplace sign The part of the Body shown is the Triangular

sign forearth-female and below it a Leg and Foot indicating a long walkorjourney. The upper part of

the Triangle (earth-female) appears to be the undulating motion sign. The Fox's Head has it Ears(positionally, orifices or holes) Forming the U shaped held-like-in-a-bowlsign. Above and between

the Ears (light blue) is a Duck Form (a water-bird or the flight of water).The Duck's Head is facing

downward while its Body is also, like the Fox Tail, a feather indicating a part in flight. This containsthe concept of the Feathered-Serpent as a representation ofa stream of water with is parts (feathers) in

flightaka as evaporation. Of course, the Fox, the wonderis on the side of the vertical-place, thesideof the earth.

Below the Serpent's Head (cream color) is what appears to be a crude Finger pointing toward or ending

at the Notch, representative of a hole in the land's surface. The Finger also incorporates the, on-the-

side sign( the Serpent's (green) lower Eye. Here, the Eye, on the side of the earth-female, the hole.

Finally on the left side of the Disk we see the Form of the Snail is surrounded by a crude human profile

Face (meaning he appears oras he appears). The Face has the Profile of an Eye Socket and a Nose, anopen Mouth with the undulating movementsign starting at the Mouth (a sign fora water-source) and

ending at the Eye Socket (positionally the location of the Eye). The Eye representsThe Eye of the Sun(Venus) moving upward from the water-source. A possible lock of hair ends at the side of a hole signjust as did the Finger beneath the Serpent's Head.

Presumably one reads the foreground Forms (green) first as the identification of the subject lies there.We can be sure that the composer of this composition knew the reason behind each subtle detail. But

we cannot so our translation may be a very poor substitute for what was probably a very eloquent

message,

The Arms, the Warriors,The Hands. The Stewards

(of the Sun)

In the West

(right side of the earth)

Downward

(the Hands pointing downward)

Into

(connected)

The Serpent, The StreamOn the sides

of

Earth-Female

(the earth)

The Truth

(The Serpent's straight tongue)

Here on the side of the Earth-Female,

The Hole

(a possible reference to the vagina a birthing place)


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The Great One(relative size of snail form)

Slowly Arising

(heading upwards)

His Foot, His Journey

(positional)His Location,

(Circle-shape of Foot)

Below

(positional)

On the side

(point of shell)

(of the earth)

The Water-Place

(the Snail's shell -perhaps indicating salt water or the ocean)

(zig-zag sign for water)

The Opening(Form of eye stalks)

on

The Surface

Bird Heads, The Flightsthe Journey

Illustration 7: Form,

The Snail, Slowly

ArisingIllustration 8: Imagery

of Fish and Bird


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(leg and foot form, blue)

of the Eye, Venus

the Five

(The five locations a count)

Turning

on the side

of

The Containerwithin it

the

Female-spirits

Caught in the Snare

on the

High Hillside

The Nine

(a count, probably a reference to the nine levels of the underworld))

Leading To

The Places

of

An Opening

(the eye stalks)

in the

Surface.

The Unsee Ascensions

(Form of Eye stalks as double-lined ascension sign)

in the

East and West

The Fish, The Swimmer(the one who swims)

The Star

(Form of the fish's tail)

taken-upward

The Female Journey

The Hand, The Steward(the fish's fin, its hand)

in

The Flow

The LocationFemale-earth

the Journey


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on the side

The Underside,

The Underworld

The Deep Hole

The Great OneHis Location

Hereon the

Hillside

The Long Journey

Female-earth

of

The Dead

The Great Bird,

The Great FlightAbout to Fly

(Stance of bird looking upward)

Illustration 9: Imagery Level of the Disk


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The Arms, The Hands (the warriors, the stewards) in light brown. At the Palm we see the Imagery of

Eyes (the eyes of the Sun, its scouts). Venus was referred to as the Eye of the Sun as it arose before the

Sun and scouted ahead for moisture for the Sun's nourishment at least as metaphor. The darker brown

areas above the Eyes are Doubled Fingers pointing a direction. They point downwardon the sides ofthe Rectangularplace signs. A similar sign (white) Doubles the Lines of the Eye meaning it, the Eye--

Venus, is unseen. The Pupil's of the Eyes are locationalsigns and the number one. The ones... the

Fingers are long or Deep Turning signs referencing Venus turning below the earth. The Thumbs pointDownward.

The Arms, The HandsThe Warriors, The Stewards

of the

Sun

The Ones

(the fingers as ones)

Below

Turnings Four

(all directions--everywhere)

on theSides

of

Earth-female

Her Caverns,Her Ovaries

Unseen

Above

On the Side

The SevenMale-spirits

The Seven

Female-spirits

within

(the caverns or ovaries)

(meaning of the count is unknown)

The Earth-female(blue triangle)

Within(positional)

Her

Unseen CrossingsVertically

and

Horizontally

Between Them


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(the caverns or ovaries)

The Serpent's Mouth,The Water-source

the

Places

thatHold-down

Below

The connection between the Serpent's Head Form (gray) is a turning-female sign that indicated thespirit(s) of the deceased turning-female are moving downward into the female domain. The blue

Triangular (earth-female sign) has a Double Lined Cross (crossing through both vertically and

horizontally) within it. The Double Lines indicating something that is hidden from sightorunseen. Thearea of the Serpent's Mouth (a water source is two compoundedplace signs Formed into the V

shaped held-down sign. Thus the spirits are held with in the earth or in its water and are crossing

underneath it and also vertically through the surface. This combination creates the Form of the hidden

Cross. On each side of the Triangular (blue) earth-female sign Location and a count (white) are in the

Form ofmale-spirits meaning remains unknown. The count is six on the left side and seven on the rightside. The male-spirits are on the roof of a Double Lined hidden or unseen cave sign. Within the Cave

are six small female signs again on the left while the number on the right is seven. signs and there is aconnectionbetween the two hidden cave signs. The cave sign was used as metaphor for the womb of

the earth-female. This particular combination of signs seems to encompass the entire female

reproductive system (see the comparison between Illustration 6 and Illustration 7. The male spiritshaving been placed on the roof is in agreement with the cosmology that the upper world is male while

earth and its contents (the under-world) was considered female.

Illustration 10:Reproductive System of the

Earth-Female

Illustration 11: Human

Female Reproductive System


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In the eastward facing Profile we see the Hair as composed of an underworldsign, an on the side sign

and a water-droplet. As in the Profile Face above it we see the taken to the water-source, the turningsign, and the Teeth that represent the houses of the spirits. It should be noted here that the Hair when

associated with water was associated with cleansing orpurification. We are being told here that thespirit in the underworld of wateris undergoing a kind ofpurification.

We find another count below the bottom Profile. If we count both the Vertical Bars and the ovalsturning-place signs as the number five we receive a total of fifteen and the count ofthirty for the

Vertical Bars. However the Stance of the Oval turning-place signs is that of the sign forstopped. Thus

the Oval Bars may represent a negative in terms of the Cycles of Venus that ofnot turning for aperiod of time. Whether turning or not turning the total count here would be forty five. An an

astrophysicist might be able to help us figure out the proper count by comparing the various

combinations of numbers with the known cycles of Venus.

Between

the Sides(of the earth, the division of the disk into a center bar and two sides)

(positional)

The Cord, The Measurethat

Binds

the Two

Together

as

One

Their Faces,Their Appearances

in

The East and West

Above and Below

(positional)

The Count

(unknown count)

The Hair(positional)

The Cleansing, The Purification

Taken downwardon

the Sides

in

the Water-drops

the Long Journey


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The Mouth,The Water-source

The Teeth, The Houses

The Female Places

of

Crossing-through

The Eye, Venusits

Location

Next we come to the final Imagery of the Sub-Forms, the Snail.

We will start from the bottom of this composition because we know that the Profile is facing eastwardtoward the rising sun and where Venus arises.

We continue to follow the progress of the deceased male who upon his death is plunged into the under-

world of the earth-female. Because this is a water-journey the spirit is described as a Fish, the one who

swims. The Tail of the Fish is the Crook sign for taken or brought-upward(positional) where the

stem of the Crook is upward. The Form of the Tail (light blue) is somewhat reminiscent of a

seahorse but it actually the gesture sign fora star. The one who swims, the star, taken upward. The nextsign, light yellow, is not too clear but seems to be thefemale sign, then a possible Foot (green, thejourney). We then see the Fish's Fin, its Hand, the steward of the Sun. The Fin has the curved lines of

the sign for aflow orflowingattached to the Foot (green). The steward of the Sun with the flow.Next

Illustration 13: Slowly Arising

The Snail Form Imagery


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we see the (yellow) male-spirit sign indicating the spirit is now approaching the surface of the earth.

The edge of the male world. We see that the male-spirit sign is below or on the side of the sign for a

deep hole (depth indicated by the number of concentric rings. Unfortunately we don't know what the

yardstick for these levels of measurement were.

The Fish, The Swimmer

(the one who swims)The Star(form of the fish's tail)

taken-upward

The Female Journey

The Hand, The Steward(of the Sun)

(the fish's fin, its hand)

in

The Flow

The LocationFemale-earth

the Journey

on the side

The Underside,The Underworld

The Deep Hole


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The Great Bird,The Great Flight

(Form)

The Great OneHis Location

Here

(blue finger pointing)

on the

Hillside

The Long Journey,

(legs and feet)of

The Dead

(legs and feet upside down)

(the legs and feet could also be cliffsigns relating to the edge of the earth)

on the side

ofFemale-earth

Illustration 14: Slowly ArisingContinued


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Above the Fish is the Imagery of a Bird looking skyward with its Mouth open. The one who will fly. To

the left of the Fish's Eye (Venus) we see what appears to be afemale sign on its side and a small

location sign (gray) and this is next to the Birds Legs (yellow). The Bird's Legs are a repetition of the

idea of a walk or journeyon the side of the earth-female. Behind the Legs (which appear to havesmaller, indistinguishable, additional signs within them) is the (gray) under-half or underworldsign.

This is located next to the sign (black and white) for a deep hole. The rather puffed out Chest of the

Bird is a Large Circle (dark blue, brown, and green) is formed by a location and number one sign. Thedark blue area is the sign forturning-female along with two upside down, double-lined, Legs and Feet,

the unseen walk or Journey of the dead.Next to the Legs/Feet is the (green) female sign. The long,female-earth, walk or journey of the dead(and positionally the Legs/Feet (light brown) are positionedon the side of the female (light green) which is compounded with a cliffsign (an upside down L

shaped sign) the edge of the earth.

Next to the Bird's Chest is a large (red) turningsign. Internal to it is a series oflocationalsigns (white)that numbernine, the number of the levels of the underworld. The Bullseye sign in the center is the

sign fora hill. It is the reverse of the deep hole sign which has a dark center. This related to a partiallytopographical aspect of the compositions. Only a part of the hillsign is shown so as to indicate that it isa hillside that is described. Surrounding the previous signs is the (light blue) sign forwater and a series

of locational signs that probably mean a path of moisture. This path is made up of five locationalsigns

the rationale behind the number five is unclear except one may speculate that since the number four

related to the four directions the number five might include these directions and an additional one

indicating the center. The long necked Bird (blue, with a location sign for an Eye) rests upon the

surface of the underworldsign (gray) below it. Because of the location sign having been placed in theposition of the Bird'sEye we are made aware that these flights (which take the Form of the arising

Illustration 15: Slowly Arising

Continued


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sign) are somehow related tofivearisings ofVenus.

The Turning

Nine

(the nine levels of the underworld)on

The Hillsidea

Water-path

The Flightsfrom

The Surface

The Eye, VenusArisings

Five

The Bird's Head (black & white cross hatched) presents an interesting analog. The Form of the Head isthat of a clay pot or an earthen container. The jar is a metaphor for the earth and within it is a Net or

snare that has aspirit(a sign composed of three, red, dots. Its Triangular Form indicated afemale-spirit

orwater-spirit. The spirit seems to have been captured by the Net. There are other signs such as the +sign used to indicate a crossing-through (usually the earth's surface). At the Mouth of the Jar are two

place signs when combined with the Mouth indicate water-source-places and their Form is that of the

sign forascending.

The Bird's Head,

The Container(metaphor for the earth)

His Appearance

Looking Upward

About to Fly

(stance)

The Net,The Snare

within it

(positional)

the Water-spiritCrossing Through

Caught

(the spirit-catcher)

The Mouth,The Water-source

(mouth of the jar)

The Places


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(two place signs stacked one above the other)

of

The Unseen Ascensions

It does seem a bit strange that such a complicated message would be related to what couldn't be

observed. But perhaps this makes sense when the message is about the spirits in the underworld. Theseunseen movements and events were apparently tied to the Venus cycles as a way of tracking ormeasuring(the Cord) the progress of the spirit's journey in the underworld. This would cover the time

period within which Venus could not be observed.

the willoughby disk

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