PALHIK MANA

The Butterfly Maiden
Image

1. Palhik Mana Landscape

Palhik Mana or Butterfly Maiden is a kachina, or spirit being, in Hopi mythology. Every spring she dances from flower to flower, pollinating the fields and flowers and bringing life-giving rain to the Arizona desert. She is represented by a woman dancer at the yearly Butterfly Dance, a traditional initiation rite for Hopi girls. Goddesses For Everyday

by Julie Loar 

2. Butterfly Maiden

Northeast of Sunset Crater, lying upside-down on the map, is the wild and beautiful landscape of what appears to be Palhik Mana, the Hopi Butterfly Maiden. She is a full three miles in length and width. Like all Hopi maidens, she is identified by the great swirls of hair on the sides of her head known as Squash Blossoms. In this massive landscape each of her hair swirls are 2,300 feet wide. This hair style signals a maiden’s full bloom and readiness for marriage. Standing steadfast in her dark moccasin feet, Palhik Mana’s great butterfly wings trail behind her, flowing over 7,720 feet.

Monarch Butterfly

3. Monarch Butterfly

Butterfly Swirl Hair

4. Butterfly Swirl Hair

Squash Blossom

5. Squash Blossom

Palhik Mana’s undefined face, at 1300 foot wide, allows her to represent all woman kind. Her moccasins are 2,500 feet wide and at her waist lies the USFS Fire Tower of O’Leary Peak.  The beautiful Wukoki or “Big House Pueblo” and Sunset Crater Volcano are positioned directly one mile above her head. To the left of her feet is the Lomaki or “Pretty House Pueblo.” You may wonder why these ruins are called living pueblo’s. It is because the Hopi truly believe that the spirits of their ancestors reside there.

  • 6. Wupatki Pueblo

  • 7. Wukoki Pueblo

  • 8. Lomaki Pueblo

Butterflies adorn Hopi basketry, pottery and jewelry and are an ever-present reminder of the beauty within us and without. The tiniest thread of beauty can seed a world of splendor. There are no beings in nature that are finer expressions of the myths and ceremonial life of the Hopi than the butterfly.

Hopi Butterfly Basket

9. Hopi Butterfly Basket

Luzi Papago

10. Luzi Papago

palhik-mana_kachina_doll

11. Palhik Mana Kachina Doll

Among the Hopi people Butterfly Maiden/Palhik Mana is an important energy of renewal, youth, and beauty. She is known as a nature spirit of springtime. She heralds the season of regeneration, newly blossoming hopes and warm breezes from the south. Butterfly Maiden is a gentle spirit who reminds us of the larger picture of which we are a part. Butterfly Maiden can awaken in us wonder, trust, and serenity, which we too often neglect. She offers her lessons of beauty, peacefulness and hope, all without making a sound. owlsdaughter.com

owlsdaughter.com

HOW TO LOCATE THE LANDSCAPE

Finding landscapes is a matter of patiently searching small areas of your map at varying levels of altitude. Some landscapes are only 500 feet in length while others are more than 2,000 miles long. The larger the landscape the farther away you have to be to see it. Check places that you have always liked to go, as familiarity can help you see the unseen. There is another consideration: not all landscapes are found right side up!

DIRECTIONS FOR FINDING: Palhik Mana

  • Using Google earth Pro, go to Coordinates 35°24’26.33”N by 111°31’40.44”W  
  • Make sure that the North is pointing South by Southwest.
  • Zoom into map till you reach eye Alt of 23,932 feet. (listed under each landscape-right side)
  • Eye alt is necessary in order to see the full size of the image.

*Satellites: © 2011 Digital Globe, © 2011 Google. A similar, though not very clear, image has been reinstated in Google’s Historical Imagery File, dated July 13th, 2006.

  1. palhik_mana_landscape.jpg: Google earth map
  2. butterfly_maiden.jpg; Arizona, Google earth map
  3. sketch_butterfly_monarch.jpg; art by SLK
  4. monarch_butterfly.jpg; bigstockphoto
  5. butterfly_swirl_hair.jpg; art by SLK
  6. squash_blossoms.jpg; bigstockphoto-828601
  7. wupatki_pueblo.jpg: photo by Arizona, Wukoki State Park
  8. wukoki_pueblo.jpg; photo by Arizona, Wukoki State Park
  9. lomaki_pueblo.jpg: photo by Arizona, Wukoki State Park
  10. hopi_butterfly_basket.jpg; File:Lucy Telles basket.jpg; woven by Miwok-Mono Paiute Native American artist Lucy Telles; photo by Ernest Amoroso, National Museum of the American Indian; wikipedia.org
  11. luzi_papago.jpg: File:Luzi - Papago.jpg; photograph by Edward Curtis circa 1905; Public Domain
  12. palhik_mana_kachina_doll.jpg; Palhik_mana_(butterfly_maiden)_kachina_Arizona,_Hopi_people,_Honolulu_Museum_of_Art.JPG