Image by: J. Stephen Conn
Ancient myths and mysteries are so fascinating, and although many critics and naysayers are always trying to discredit such notions, there is no smoke without fire. Whether we are discussing the real use of the Pyramids of Giza or whether the Tower of Babel even existed, myths and mysteries are fun! Old stories such as the Legend of Eldorado
, which apparently was a golden city with enough precious metals to keep the pawn shops in Melbourne stocked to the rafters for the next 300 years, are etched on our psyche while appealing to our child-like lust for mystique
Imagine the amount of jewels and gold that is believed to have existed in the legendary lost city of Eldorado
. Some of the world’s most beautiful precious stones and a stash of gold akin to what the Federal Reserve have languishing in their ultra-secret vaults is believed to existed at one time or another, plunged and stolen by the Spanish conquistadors.
Was the city really real, or is it just a lucid dream from the owner of a pawn shop in Melbourne?
Did Eldorado even exist?
Who knows the mysteries of the past, but it’s fun to listen to the myths. Eldorado, is actually a European term that described the tribal leaders of the Muisca people in Colombia at the time. Their initiation rites included being covered in gold dust and then diving into Lake Guatavita, which eventually became the name of the “Lost City of Gold”, which has fascinated explorers since the days of the Spanish conquistadors to modern times. The city was supposedly located in Guyana, South America.
Eldorado as an actual place is up for contention, but in the same way that people who seek the whereabouts of Atlantis, as both ancient places where heavily documented by the people who came after. We laud over Greek Philosopher, Plato, when he talks about a new way of thinking, but pour water on his fire when he talks about Atlantis being a real place. We can’t have it both ways can we now?
The conundrum of Eldorado is very similar because with so much legend, one must assume that it’s highly likely this city of gold did once exist, but if it did, where did it go? Is the gold stashed in secret bank vaults across Switzerland and the rest of Europe? Is the city still there, untouched and untapped, waiting for intrepid explorers to rediscover it? Highly unlikely.
If the golden city was melted down and put on the marketplace, it would seriously affect the gold prices on the stock market, leaving owners of pawn shops in Melbourne
rubbing their hands together like an excited child on Christmas Eve.
The legend still exists
The truth of the matter is that the Legend of the Golden City of Eldorado is still talked about today, much in the same way we discuss if the bible is authentic or not, or whether the Egyptian pyramids where used as giant power stations and energy creators.
We don’t really know the truth and it’s unlikely that we ever will. Some things are best kept as myths, because usually the reality is much more mundane and boring when compared to a legend. The owners of pawn shops in Melbourne will still carry on, dreaming of a golden city, hoping a dark Spanish man will one day walk in their shop and offer them the gold and jewels of Eldorado, for a cut-down price of course!