Latest / Aaron Mahnke's Cabinet of Curiosities / 203 | The Bird God

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203 | The Bird God · Aaron Mahnke's Cabinet of Curiosities

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  Speaker 1: Welcome to Aaron Menkey's Cabinet of Curiosities, a production of
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  Speaker 1: I Heart Radio and Grim and Mild. Our world is
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  Speaker 1: full of the unexplainable, and if history is an open book,
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  Speaker 1: all of these amazing tales are right there on display,
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  Speaker 1: just waiting for us to explore. Welcome to the Cabinet
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  Speaker 1: of Curiosities. Animals have long been revered in mythology. We've
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  Speaker 1: depicted them as everything from God's to evil spirits, and
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  Speaker 1: sometimes a little of both. So it wasn't unusual for
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  Speaker 1: a team of researchers to discover that in three b C.
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  Speaker 1: The Maya people indigenous to Central America, used jewel foul
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  Speaker 1: extensively in their drawings and artwork. The ancient Maya had
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  Speaker 1: one of most advanced civilizations in the world at the time,
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  Speaker 1: and from the amount of artwork the researchers found, it
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  Speaker 1: was clear that they had a deep love for one
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  Speaker 1: bird in particular. In fact, researchers found it everywhere in
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  Speaker 1: Maya archaeology and iconography, and even on ancient calendars. It
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  Speaker 1: turns out that the Maya viewed this bird as a
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  Speaker 1: vessel of the gods and had celebrated their featherly friend. Accordingly,
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  Speaker 1: much of the Maya imagery portrayed the animal as a
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  Speaker 1: godlike figure immensely important to their culture. The bird even
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  Speaker 1: stood in place of God's during their religious ceremonies. Represented
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  Speaker 1: as elite and gifted with power, it wasn't surprising that
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  Speaker 1: one Mayan ruler included the bird as part of his
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  Speaker 1: royal nickname. The Mayans worship these birds and help them
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  Speaker 1: in such high regard that they buried them in temples
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  Speaker 1: and even alongside human beings, perhaps as a way for
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  Speaker 1: their beloved animals to offer companionship in the afterlife. Now,
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  Speaker 1: although the Maya practiced a culture, they didn't domesticate a
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  Speaker 1: lot of animals. So, in an effort to learn more
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  Speaker 1: about the bird's life with the Mayan culture and traditions,
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  Speaker 1: researchers examined the bird's bones, and this is where they
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  Speaker 1: made an unexpected discovery. Yes, there was evidence to suggest
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  Speaker 1: that the Maya sacrificed a few of them. No one
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  Speaker 1: in the Maya culture was safe from the occasional sacrifice,
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  Speaker 1: it seems, But it was what the Maya didn't do
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  Speaker 1: that those researchers found so surprising. You see, none of
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  Speaker 1: these birds had been eaten. Of course, the Maya weren't
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  Speaker 1: the only people to worship birds, or even this particular bird.
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  Speaker 1: In fact, the same bird played a variety of roles
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  Speaker 1: in the folklore of different Native American tribes. Some legends
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  Speaker 1: portrayed it as a wily, overly proud trickster. In other
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  Speaker 1: ancient tales, it's seen as a shy and elusive creature.
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  Speaker 1: In as Tech mythology, there's even a powerful sorcerer and
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  Speaker 1: bird god, whose name translates loosely as either jade bird,
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  Speaker 1: night bird, or sickness God, depending on the sources you read.
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  Speaker 1: In ancient manuscripts, he's shown as mostly bird sporting the
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  Speaker 1: animals prized green plumage, and in his animal form, it
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  Speaker 1: said that the bird god could cleanse people of contamination,
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  Speaker 1: absolve them of guilt, and even alter their fate. But
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  Speaker 1: this deity had a dark side to him, for sure,
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  Speaker 1: and not just because he was mostly seen at night.
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  Speaker 1: In Aztec mythology, the people knew him as a formidable
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  Speaker 1: god of disease and plague who ruled thirteen days of
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  Speaker 1: the Aztec calendar, while in his mostly human states. Ancient
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  Speaker 1: manuscripts and artwork that picked him, slightly bent over and
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  Speaker 1: with black and white eyes, an image reserved only for
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  Speaker 1: the evil gods, and this sacred Central American bird almost
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  Speaker 1: became America's national icon, losing out to the bald Eagle,
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  Speaker 1: much to the disappointment of Benjamin Franklin. Of course, this
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  Speaker 1: bird is still celebrated today, and while we don't bury
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  Speaker 1: them in temples, we certainly do with the Mayans. Never
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  Speaker 1: did we eat them. After all, how else could we
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  Speaker 1: possibly celebrate Thanksgiving without the turkey. The brothers were securely
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  Speaker 1: tied to the table, and that's when the lights went out. Suddenly,
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  Speaker 1: musical instruments appeared from nowhere, seemingly playing on their own.
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  Speaker 1: Ghostly forms floated around the table, and unseen hands tugged
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  Speaker 1: at the clothing of the audience members. Gifted performers, Ira
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  Speaker 1: and William Davenport were a sensation wherever they traveled. They
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  Speaker 1: began their stage careers in eighteen fifty five, ten years
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  Speaker 1: into the spiritualist movement, when Ira was sixteen and William
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  Speaker 1: was fourteen. Once they told friends they'd managed to levitate
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  Speaker 1: their sister around the family living room during a seance.
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  Speaker 1: The boy's father managed them and by the end of
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  Speaker 1: their first year, the Davenport Brothers were performing in New
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  Speaker 1: York City, thrilling audiences with their complicated escapes from various
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  Speaker 1: knots and ropes. Their signature act, though it was called
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  Speaker 1: the Spirit Cabinet, About the size of a small closet,
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  Speaker 1: the Spirit Cabinet allowed the Davenport Brothers to work away
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  Speaker 1: from bright spotlights and peering eyes. Unlike other spiritualism acts
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  Speaker 1: at the time, the Davenports often invited audience members onto
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  Speaker 1: the stage to take part in the act. A spectator
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  Speaker 1: was instructed to enter a third cabinet, and once inside,
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  Speaker 1: the door was closed. The brothers were bound and locked
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  Speaker 1: inside their own cabinets. Within moments, the doors of the
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  Speaker 1: spectator's cabinet flew open and he was ejected, his coat
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  Speaker 1: gone necktie around one leg, with a tambourine seated on
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  Speaker 1: his head. A stage assistant to open the brothers cabinets,
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  Speaker 1: reassuring the audience that the Davenports were still inside, securely bound,
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  Speaker 1: just as they'd been moments before. Skeptics eager to debunk
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  Speaker 1: the Brothers as fraud were occasionally invited to tie the
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  Speaker 1: brothers in, often drawing blood. The ropes didn't make a difference, though.
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  Speaker 1: Once the cabinet doors were closed, the instruments played, filling
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  Speaker 1: the room with spirit music, while disembodied hands appeared through
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  Speaker 1: openings in the exterior walls. The Spirit Cabinet Act became
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  Speaker 1: a sensation, prompting spiritualist to claim proof of spirit phenomena.
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  Speaker 1: Critics weren't so sure, though, and called the brothers mere magicians.
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  Speaker 1: The Davenports, though, never claimed to be either, saying it
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  Speaker 1: was up to the audience to decide. Years later, Ira
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  Speaker 1: befriended another magician, a man you may have heard of
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  Speaker 1: named Harry Houdini. After Irish death, Houdini wrote about the
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  Speaker 1: Davenport brothers in his book Called a Magician Amongst the Spirits.
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  Speaker 1: It seems Ira at once told Houdini that he and
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  Speaker 1: his brother had never proclaimed their belief in spiritualism in public.
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  Speaker 1: Sherlock Holmes creator Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, also was a
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  Speaker 1: practicing spiritualist and had a different view. You see. Doyle
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  Speaker 1: claimed that Ira confided in him privately as well, admitting
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  Speaker 1: that he indeed was a practicing spiritualist. So which was it?
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  Speaker 1: Had Ira Davenport told the two famous men two entirely
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  Speaker 1: different things. Well. The answer came in nineteen ninety eight
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  Speaker 1: when a skeptic investigator examined newspaper clippings, notes, and photos
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  Speaker 1: from the Davenport Brothers scrap book, eventually concluding that Houdini
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  Speaker 1: and Doyle were both right. Ira was a spiritualist, although
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  Speaker 1: he and his brother used effects and trickery to accomplish
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  Speaker 1: the deeds others attributed to spirits. But that's not really
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  Speaker 1: the point, is it. From Houdini to Copperfield to modern
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  Speaker 1: street magic, we all like to be entertained by illusions,
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  Speaker 1: sleight of hand, disappearing objects, or tricks that defy logic.
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  Speaker 1: They sit on the edge of the believable and the absurd,
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  Speaker 1: but still have this power to draw us in and
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  Speaker 1: to fill us with delight. Whatever the motivation a performer
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  Speaker 1: might have, the results are often io opinning and unforgettable.
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  Speaker 1: It might not always be real, but it's certainly entertaining,
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  Speaker 1: and sometimes that's enough, isn't it. I hope you've enjoyed
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  Speaker 1: today's guided tour of the Cabinet of Curiosities. Subscribe for
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  Speaker 1: free on Apple Podcasts, or learn more about the show
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  Speaker 1: by visiting Curiosities Podcast dot com. The show was created
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  Speaker 1: by me, Aaron Manky in partnership with how Stuff Works.
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  Speaker 1: I make another award winning show called Lore, which is
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  Speaker 1: a podcast, book series, and television show and you can
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  Speaker 1: learn all about it over at the World of Lore
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  Speaker 1: dot com. And until next time, stay curious.