Three Rivers

This is a view from the Carnegie Science Center of "The Point" in Pittsburgh, where the Allegheny River(left side of the picture, with the steamboat), and the Monongahela River (right side of picture, with the yellow bridge), converge to form the Ohio River.


This was in part interesting from a geographic perspective: the Ohio River flows from here down to our home area, forming the border between Ohio & Kentucky -- we cross it regularly, every time we travel a few miles north into Cinicinnati.


The location is also interesting to me because of the historic and spiritual significance, particularly to the Mayans, who helped lead a Mass Meditation for Peace a few weeks ago that I attended when I travelled solo to Pittsburgh for the People's March to the G20 .

While I don't have any interest in religon as any sort of One Right Way, I am fascinated by various spiritual traditions and the ways people make sense of the world and of life and by the paths they choose to make their way toward greater and greater Love.




Meditation for Peace during the G20, Flagstaff Hill, Schenley Park, Pittsburgh, PA.
Sept. 25, 2009

The People's March to the G20

Sept. 25, 2009

For Maya, the Three Rivers stories are an intersting subject, too, since she always likes anything to do with the Mayans, simply because of the shared name. She feels connected to them and, while they may not be traceable ancestors that we know of, she calls them her "anSisters."

Mayan tradition has also been a topic at our house, recently, since my kids had been upset by the trailers for the 2012 movie & associated "end of the world" hype. It's been very reassuring and helpful for them to go to the source for the reason 2012 is being talked about rather than to only hear the mainstream media/hollywood hysteria version.

Below is part of a Point of Light magazine article written by Vikki Hanchin, LSW. The full article is here. The section below is about Pittsburgh and these rivers.

Our Pittsburgh history confirms that the Point Park area, where our three rivers converge, was a sacred site for tribal rituals of the Native Americans who inhabited this region. All indigenous cultures recognize the sacred power of any geographical area where three rivers merge. Our area is even more unique with the fourth, underground river (more accurately defined as an aquifer), that feeds the fountain, and empties into the Ohio River. The four rivers carry special significance regarding our area’s surprising connection to the origins of the Maya themselves as well as the Mayan 2012 prophesies.

Recent archeological studies conducted through the University of Pittsburgh (Adovasio, The First Americans) have confirmed that the Western Pennsylvania area of the Meadowcroft Rockshelter near Greater Pittsburgh is the area where the first Americans established themselves in permanent settlement over a 16,000-year period. These first Americans dated back to 15,000-19,000 B.C.E.
Tracking the migration of what appears to be their cultural footprints of sacred mound technology along the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers into the Yucatan, one witnesses the sacred mounds evolving into the mathematically sophisticated step-pyramids typical of the Maya. This evidence leads to an interesting conclusion. It appears that these first Americans, established in our Western Pennsylvania region, were the predecessors of the ancient Maya. If this conclusion is valid, this would link our Pittsburgh area with the Maya historically.