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Kokopelli Books
Kokopelli (Look West Series)
by Lawrence W. Cheek
According to legend, Kokopelli, a magical figure with a hump on his
back, used to wander from pueblo to pueblo across the American West,
playing sweet music to everyone—and also playing Don Juan among the
women. Possibly this legend began with a real man, perhaps a trader
carrying a pack. But over time Kokopelli has become a symbol for
many different things, as Lawrence W. Cheek points out in this
entertaining and informative addition to the Look West series
from Rio Nuevo Publishers.
Sometimes, when his image appears in pre-Columbian rock art and
pottery, Kokopelli is clearly a fertility symbol. He also represents
the coming of spring, the spirit of celebration, and the joy of
music. On another level, he is a traveling salesman with a roving
eye, the hero, or villain of many stories, some not suitable for
prime time. His musical instrument may actually have been a nose
flute, and the purported contents of his bulging pack include seeds,
rain, clouds, rainbows, songs...and babies....Kokopelli, the
mythical humpbacked flute player, prances across the cliff dwellings
and into popular culture—and thousands of curio shops.
Kokopelli Ceremonies
by Stephen Hill and Robert Montoya
The figure of Kokopelli is found chipped into desert stone at various
ancient sites throughout the American Southwest. It also appears in
contemporary forms, painted on canvas, etched into glassware, printed on
Christmas cards, and sculpted into candelabra, in presentations that range
from the holy to the kitschy. What energizes the frequent appearances of
the enigmatic hunchbacked flute player? The authors suggest that the
centuries-old drawing power of this archetypal figure may lie in both its
protean nature and its spiritual origins.
Hill acquaints the reader with images of Kokopelli as hunter, warrior,
healer, gambler, fertility bringer, and even mythological insect who
appears in some Native American accounts of the Creation, by presenting a
broad review of the available literature on the topic. Wisely, he presents
Kokopelli's multiple manifestations without seeking to narrow them to a
definitive representation that would deny the complexity of the image. His
smart narrative contains a mine of information that yields a pocketful of
nice nuggets with each perusal; and his readable style turns them up
without a lot of digging.
In stunning visual images that complement the text, Montoya presents
Kokopelli as an avatar figure who both generously offers and thankfully
celebrates the receipt of the gifts of a bountiful earth. To Hill's
scholarly analysis, Montoya adds the cultural insights of one steeped in
the kind of ceremonialism from which Kokopelli likely first emerged, and
the imagination of a skilled contemporary artist. Their collaboration is a
complimentary one in which the text illuminates the paintings, and the
visual images add an intuitive content that transcends the text.
Kokopelli: The Magic, Mirth, and
Mischief of an Ancient Symbol
by Dennis Slifer
MORE!
More Kokopelli Books: Complete
Listing
Kokopelli Home & Garden Gifts
Kokopelli Jewelry
Also See:
Culture Planet
Bookshop
Global Gifts
Spirituality
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