Blog week 2

"A system of symbols which acts to establish powerful, pervasive, and long-lasting moods and motivations in men by formulating conceptions of a general order of existence and clothing these conceptions with such an aura of factuality that the moods and motivations seem uniquely realistic." 

"Long a mysterious part of the Wisconsin landscape, the effigy mounds are now regarded by some as monumental representations of the same underlying belief systems encoded on woodland pottery and other artwork... "

The effigy mounds in Wisconsin do fit into the description of "a system of symbols" using the definition above. As i described in my last post, you can't separate the intentions behind most art from spirituality and/or religion. Even with the passage i took from the section on effigy mounds, they even describe the mounds as representations of the meaning behind the artwork in the woodlands. That to me says that this is a symbolic representation of our belief systems. formulating concepts and general order could be for the mounds where they are located, and how they also can represent certain areas on the landscape that are important for them, such as water, good land, ect. marking out areas with symbolic territorial markings like that represents an attempt to create order. Any kind of creation and attempt for order will help define ones existence.