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The Were-Cougar |
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The reproduction rights for this image belong to Jim Zintgraff.
It may not be reproduced without written permission.
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| The central theme at Panther Cave is the ability of the shaman to assume the shape of his animal familiar, in this case the mountain lion. At one end of the shelter, a nine-foot long leaping feline has been painted in blood red. Woven throughout the elaborate pictograph panels are at least eight other cats in various poses and colors. The persuasiveness of this theme provides the context for the dominant human figure -- the shaman in his feline incarnation. He stands erect on human feet and holds the traditional spear thrower and darts in his clawed hands. His cat ears stand erect atop his head, and his elongated striped torso mimics the soft fur of the feline's underbelly. His face is blank, all humanity submerged. In another site on the Pecos River, this feline equivalent of Europe's werewolf is flanked by leaping mountain lions, in a pose often translated as the "'master of the animals" but it is more likely that their relationship was symbiotic rather than dominant. The were-cougar, or composite feline-human, is found throughout the Lower Pecos region, peering down from cliff walls as far as 90 miles south of the Rio Grande. |
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