Turtles
Turtles are an honored animal, even a god, in many cultures and are featured in creation myths, morality tales, legends and literature. They have survived from the Age of Reptiles, 225 million years ago. The largest turtle today is the Galapagos tortoise, weighing in at just shy of 850 pounds. The smallest tortoise, the Speckled Padloper Tortoise, weighs in at approximately half a pound!
Distinctions between turtles, tortoises, and terrapins are blurry and depend on where you live. Broadly, turtles are marine reptiles, tortoises are land orientated, and terrapins inhabit both.
Lewis Carroll in Alice in Wonderland offers further insight into turtles: “When we were little," the Mock Turtle went on at last, more calmly, though still sobbing a little now and then, "we went to school in the sea. The master was an old Turtle - we used to call him Tortoise -" "Why did you call him Tortoise, if he wasn't one?" Alice asked. "We called him Tortoise because he taught us," said the Mock Turtle angrily: "really you are very dull!”
Barkcloth Turtles
Barkcloth is made by soaking and beating strips of inner tree bark, creating a strong flexible cloth similar to felt. Patterns are painted or stenciled on the bark with tree sap.
Keya
In Lakota Sioux tradition time is measured by lunar cycles, which the turtle, Keya, embodies on her shell. The thirteen sections on her back correspond to the thirteen moons in a year and are surrounded by twenty-eight smaller segments; the number of days in a month.
Tortoiseshell Pattern
Kikkou is the tortoise shell pattern found in Japanese textiles from the Edo period (between 1603 and 1868) up to the present. This sample is from an Atsuita costume used in Noh performances, an ancient theatrical form. The hexagonal pattern conveys long life. The overlay Chrysanthemum flower is now the Japanese national symbol.
Vishnu in his Turtle Avatar
In Hinduism, Vishnu connects and protects. In his many incarnations he is responsible for holding creation together and safeguarding it from obliteration by evil forces. As Kurma, he rescues creation by tricking demons, winning a massive war between good and evil.
Mayan Cosmic Turtle
A crack in the back of the Mayan Cosmic Turtle is the entree to New Creation for the Maize God. A recently uncovered wall mural in Guatemala shows this scene in great detail and bright, unfaded colors.