Having hiked four miles to the head of Nightmare Gulch (35° 22' 43.992" N, 117° 57' 56.79" W), with the sun now highest in the sky (47° elevation, 168° South) on this late October day, it was time for a stop in the shade. My mind shifting out of photographic mode, it was time for water and lunch. Refocusing on photography, noticing a wonderful play of light and shadow from under the Joshua Man providing me shelter, I composed a few shots. Then a panorama. Then a few more compositions before moving on. It was a restful stop with solitude in the air.
On I went, back into the canyon to see what was around the many next bends, taking a short stop wherever shade was provided. When I came across a Tyrannosaurus Rex guarding the upper canyon I decided it was time to turn around. T-Rex turned in a nice composition, facing away from the camera with his tail blocking the canyon path. Back to camp I went, changing my photographic view toward a focus on reaching home.
In reviewing the photos of the day, a wondrous discovery was made in Nightmare Gulch – I was not alone that day. When taking my rest in the mental Netherland, I was in the shadow of Kokopelli, a trickster God and spirit of Music. When in the desert, you hear things, you imagine things, you see things. That day I did not hear music, just the quiet sounds of the Mojave. I did not imagine things, just my T-Rex friend guarding the upper canyon. I did not see Kokopelli, my new friend who emerged from the shadow of a Joshua tree.
These few photographs begin to answer some very important, long standing questions about this trickster musician: Where did Kokopelli come from and why is he hunchbacked? He comes from the shadow of a Joshua Man, and is hunchbacked because that is the shape of a Joshua tree. Why is his name Kokopelli, translated essentially as “wooden back”? The Hopi name is kokopilau (koko = wood, pilau = hump). Might be a stretch, but possibly because he is manifest from the wooden Joshua Man? Or maybe he is a witch. Being a shadow creature, he likely does not float, so likely he is not in fact a witch.
Clearly more photographic research needs to be done, capturing the shadows of Joshua Men across hours of the day, seasons, and localities. Research to answer the questions of what Kokopelli looks like in the moonlit shadow of a Joshua Man or what his flute sounds like in a heavy wind. What he looks like in the Spring with a full head of hair as the Joshua trees bloom or in the Winter with snow cover.