The World's Most Fabulous Object

In the fantasy film Time Bandits (Terry Gilliam, 1981), a group of dwarfs steal the map with all the holes in the space-time fabric from the Supreme Being.  They use the map to fall through the holes of their present reality and travel through time and space.  Their ultimate goal is to find the epic treasure, “The World’s Most Fabulous Object”.  On their journey, as they are walking through a barren desert, they run into an invisible wall.  Unable to go forward, the dwarfs argue.  During the argument, one of the dwarfs throws a rock that hits the wall and shatters it like glass.  Behind the wall is the Fortress of Darkness, where “The World’s Most Fabulous Object” is to be found.

 

No, I didn’t see the Fortress of Darkness or a group or rowdy dwarfs while I was driving around New Mexico, but after driving over the Chuska Mountains from Canyon de Chelly in Chinle, AZ to Farmington, NM, my sister Robyn and I came upon a stunning rock formation called Shiprock. Neither of us have ever seen or heard of Shiprock before nor did we know that it is a sacred place for the Navajo, but there was something about this rock formation that made us jump out of the car to get a closer look.

This is not something I normally do.  I tend to be a bit lazy unless I am really inspired, but something about this rock gave me a jolt of energy. I guess there is a reason why it is sacred to the Navajo.  I can't explain what, but there was definitely some kind of magnetic power pulling me there. Look at me go!

The thing that grabbed my attention first was this crazy, massive wall of rocks in the middle of the desert landscape.  I have never seen anything like it before.

 

This wall in the middle of nowhere immediately reminded me of Time Bandits.  And not that this means anything, but when we were coming down the Chuska Mountains and saw Shiprock from afar, we stopped to admire it and on the side of the road we found the remains of sheep.  

Now, look back at the still from the movie on top.  It looks like the dwarfs past very similar bones on their way to the invisible wall.

Strange coincidence and also strange that the Shiprock looks a little like the Fortress of Darkness, which of course it isn’t, but perhaps my sister and I  did stumble upon one of  “The World’s Most Fabulous Objects”.

 

The map used by the dwarfs in Time Bandits to find the holes
in the space-time fabric.  One of them must lead to Shiprock.