Morocco and Eastern Atlantis

[Horus]

QUOTE FROM REPLY #16

In 1981, an expedition along the underwater shelf off the Canary Islands…..
An undersea wall, off the Moroccan coast, extending several miles in length, has also been discovered and photographed

.

So then this IS the wall that Berlitz was referring to in his book!

I would like to think so for convenience sake, but the keyword to pay attention to is "also" meaning in addition to, implying that it's another structure.

Nice to see that I’m not the only one who thinks that the Atlanteans played with fire and got burnt, LOL. 

LOL! I think Cayce beat you to that punch with the firestone crystal readings.

If you edit the title in the very first post of this thread you can change the whole thread to "Eastern." I think.  It worked for me in changing my Poseidian temple thread's title

Horus

[Bianca]

Right, Horus!

The FIRST and LAST have to be changed.  The posts in-between don't matter.

[Bianca]

AGADIR - MOROCCO

[Bianca]

GUELMIN, Morocco is across from Lanzarote.






                                                              Guelmim




Guelmim (also spelt Goulimine or Guelmin) is a town with a population of 95,749 (2004 census) in southwestern Morocco, often nicknamed "Gateway to the Desert" (la porte du désert). It is the capital of the Guelmim-Es Semara region which includes Southern Morocco (south of the Souss-Massa-Draa region) and northern Western Sahara. Situated in the southern Anti-Atlas Mountains near the northwestern edge of the Sahara, Guelmim is a walled town with houses built out of sun-dried red clay and is encircled by date palm groves. Historically it was a caravan centre linked (especially in the 19th century) to Timbuktu (now in Mali), and it remains a commercial gateway to Mauritania.

When hippies "discovered" certain types of colourful African trade beads there in the 1960s, these became known as "Guelmin beads", although they were actually manufactured in Europe, mainly in Venice.

As with most other places in Southern Morocco, public life in Guelmim is easygoing and the people are fantastically friendly. This is a place where you can meet everyone approaching you as the friend they claim to be. Even female travellers can open up to advancing strangers.

[Bianca]

                       






Guelmim is home to the biggest camel market in Morocco and is held every Saturday at daybreak. The absolute stars are the "Blue Men of the Desert" or Tuareg, so called because they wear an indigo coloured outfit, consisting of robes and a long blue scarf or tagilmust they use to swathe their heads and faces.

These indigo-dyed garments are most prized. Because water is scarce in the desert, the indigo is pounded, instead of boiled, into the cloth. This method of dying the fabric imbues the cloth with a shimmery blue-black patina. With
                           
wear, the colour seeps into the pores of their skin, casting a bluish-violet hue. Since indigo is precious and expensive, their bluish skin has become a status symbol among them - the darker blue a man’s skin, the wealthier he appears. Guelmim is one of the trading towns where the Tuareg come for supplies and to have their robes made.

If you come on a Saturday, you will have the chance to meet the real Tuareg nomads as they come to the market. If you plan your trip to coincide with region's annual moussem in May, you will have the chance to see big crowds of real Tuareg Blue Men.

On top of the weekly Camel Fair, the people of Guelmim hold an annual Camel Festival at Tan Tan Road every July. While once evoking images of Lawrence of Arabia, the festival is more of a tourist attraction than an actual market, due mainly to the decline in camel transport and the rise in 4x4s.

The festival is still extremely fascinating and offers the opportunity to witness the ancient dance ritual known as the Guedra, which is associated with Guelmim. The dance is performed by a woman to the beat of a drum made from a kitchen pot (guedra) and the chanting and clapping of onlookers. The dance often induces a hypnotic state and is carried out to serve as a blessing or to submit oneself to God.

A good place to visit is Fort Bou Jerif, which is the remains of a Foreign Legion fort. This place is really in the middle of nowhere, in miles of undulating hills and sandy shrubbery, halfway between Guelmim and the Atlantic coast. It can only be reached by tracks and a tour guide is pretty essential, or you could get lost. As if from nowhere, the Fort will appear, with lovely looking buildings, including a hotel, a motel, a restaurant, a shop, a place to camp, and all the accommodation anyone could desire.

A short drive away is Plage Blanche, an enormous sandy beach, which is completely unspoilt. An alternate beach to visit is at Sidi Ifni, an odd little cliff-side town. The town and surrounding territory were controlled by Spain until 1969 when the Moroccans forced them out. Its appeal lies not just with the beach but its beautiful art deco buildings.

[Bianca]

                       
                         TUAREGS [BLUE MEN] AT THE CAMEL MARKET

[Bianca]

                                   

[Bianca]

[Bianca]

                                             






                                                Kel Tamashiq..."tuaregs"





  The Tuareg belong to the large Berber (Imazighen) community, which stretches from the Canary Islands to Egypt and from the Mediterranean Sea to the Niger River. They are the only Berber speaking community, to have preserved and used the Tifinagh writing. Nomads of vast arid lands, the common denominator of the dispersed Tuareg are the language, Tamasheq.
                                       
 They identify themselves variously such as: Kel Tamasheq (people of Tamasheq), Imouhar, Imuhagh, Imazaghan, or Imashaghen (the free). For the sake of simplicity; Tuareg is used in this document. Although the origin and early history of the Tuaregs are cloudy, these tribal nomads appear to have travelled down from North Africa in a series of migrations as early as the 7th century. By the end of the 14th century, Tuareg tribes had established themselves as far south as the Nigerian border.



Raids against settlements

As they advanced, the Tuareg met the Songhay and the Hausa, who were forced to acknowledge their regime. Raids against sedentary settlements and caravans were central to their ethos and hierarchy, and increased their herds of cattle. Because of their swift camels and superior weapons, the Tuareg generally had the better of their enemies.

 

The Tuareg also conquered the Harratine, who were a farming people of Negroid stock. These people were not trained for war and gave in without a struggle. In return for protection from other desert marauders, they agreed to give the Tuareg half their garden produces. Thereafter they continued to farm their land as serfs.
                                     


The Tuareg population

The Tuareg themselves claim to be more than three million. Yet, their number has variously been estimated at some one point five to two million, with the majority of some 750,000 living in Niger, and 550,000 in Mali. In Algeria, they are estimated at 40,000, excluding some 100,000 refugees from Mali and Niger, and the same number is officially admitted to live in Burkina Faso. Proper figures are not established in Libya and other West African French-speaking countries.

Location and country

Tuareg country ranges from Savannah in the south, with 10-20 inches (50cm) of rain per year, to barren desert in the north, dominated by the mountains of Ahaggar, Tassilin-ajjer, Adrar-n-Foras and Air. The northern region is very hot in summer, often reaching temperatures of 130 degrees Fahrenheit (55C). Violent winds are also very common and add considerably, to the discomfort of the climate.

 A sandstorm does far more damage than rain and they are much feared. Travelling is extremely hard under such conditions and most people spend the day in the shade of rocks and trees, sleeping and drinking water. The rains in the Sahara are irregular and in some places, it has not rained for six years. In contrast, it sometimes fall snow, on the higher slopes of the Ahaggar during winter.

 

Shelter of tents and huts

Shelters take the form of small lightweight tents of leather or sometimes grass huts. The average size of a tent is about 10 feet (3m) deep and 10 to 15 feet (4.5m) wide. The average household can pack its goods on the backs of two camels, while a donkey or two may be used to carry the small stuff. Clothing is loose, voluminous, and light in weight. A Tuareg would also consider himself undressed, if he does not carry a knife. Women go barefaced but with a head kerchief.
                                       
People of the Veil

In direct contrast to Arab custom, all Tuareg men wear a veil ,while their women are unveiled. The men's veil is the most distinctive and arresting article of clothing among the Tuareg. Self-respecting Tuareg think it shockingly indecent for a man, to let his mouth be seen by anyone to whom he owes formal respect.

Nor will he show his face to anyone, whose social standing he considers superior to his own. Both young men and young women adopt the veil or head cloth at initiation or marriage, which shows that their social functions are identical. The most preferred veils are dyed indigo, though many make do with black ones.

[Bianca]

                               Trance dances: mysteries of the Guedra of the Tuareg.



                          


 
Southern Morocco is the home of the Guedra dance, Morrocos most known Tribal Dance or ritual dance. Specially the city of Goulimine is known for Guedra shows but became too much touristic in that respect.
                           

The origins of the guedra is hidden is a distant past. On the trance rhythms of the tbol - the big drum or rather some sort of big cauldron covered with goats or camel skin which is painted with geometrical figures in henna or other natural paint. Guedra is also the name of this large drum used to beat the rhythms of the dance. Female dancers make mesmerizing movements with the arms while swaying their heads from left to right. It's a tuareg blessing dance done on the knees where the dancers can get in a sort trance. Typical for this dance are the flickering movements of the hands which are decorated with henna paintings. The torso makes vertical pulses. Some Guedra dancers move or rather shove in a sort of back and forward movement on their knees over the sand or carpets.

Besides the Guedra dance, Morrocco has many other particular tribal Berber dances such as the Hassada, Houara, Qalaat Mgouna (dance of the bees)and the dance of the Aït Bouguemaz. Other danses like the spectacular gnaoua dance is reserved for men only. The North African Tribal Berber population is called Amazigh in Berber language.
                           

[Horus]

Hi Bianca,

Very interesting and wonderful photos you've found, but you took down one I just came back here to copy!  It was of a girl with a very intense look and expression.  She looks like the blending of several races (and probably is!)  I'm an artist and I'd like to do something with that.  Can you point me to the site where you found it?

Thanks,
Horus

[Bianca]

Sure, Horus, as soon as I find it again.  It was a beautiful picture, both it and the one I kept.
Very much like the Afghan girl that was such a sensation in the '70s in National Geographic.

The reason that I took it down is that, as I progressed with the story, I realized that Tuaregs
extend into Niger and other countries.  By intermarriage, their visage becomes more Negroid,
where here I'm trying to make a connection to the Guanches of the Canaries who were blond,
blue-eyed and tall.  It seems to me that that  also describes a great number of Morocco's
Tuaregs.  The girl in question was from Lybia, I believe.

Great to have another artist on board.  Unknown is one too and you'll find some of his work
at the bottom of our front page, where the writers' and artists' sections are.

I'll get back to you soon with it.


PS I can't believe I didn't list my sources last night, as is my habit.  So It might take me a while.
Google has a nasty habit of being quite swift in changing pics.....

[Bianca]

[Bianca]

Horus,

It's supposed to be here:

http://www.stumbleupon.com/tag/africa/
and originally from here:
www.worldbiking.info/images/niger_traditional

The first does not show it, and the second is a dead link.  I found it going through my 'history'.
Even if I had put up a link, it would have been a dead end.  So I don't feel so bad for being
forgetful last night.

Enjoy!

[Bianca]