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| | Honoring the Dead | | | | Sunday, November 1, 2009 (3:42 PM) | |
Photo: Eneas
It is New Year's Day for we Celts, and in Mexico there is an observance that traces back to the Aztecs which is a very similar celebration to our Samhain festival which acknowledges the souls of the departed.
The costumes and candies are vestiges of this tradition of offering soulcakes and painting oneself as a spirit to tap into the spirit world. Remembering this will bring back meaning to one night of partying and gorging on sweets.
Courtesy Matador Trips:http://www.facebook.com/matadornetwork?v=wall
“The Mexican…is familiar with death, jokes about it, caresses it, sleeps with it, celebrates it…”
Octavio Paz
Marigolds, sugar skulls, and tequila-adorned altars — Paz was right. No holiday celebrates death like Día de los Muertos.
Its Aztec roots reach back millennia. Surviving colonial absorption into Catholicism’s All Saints’ and All Souls’ Days, the holiday retains the Aztec idea of death as a continuation of life in a parallel form; souls of the departed have an easier time visiting this world on Día de los Muertos, aided by the ofrendas (altars of offerings) the living set out.
Here’s a roundup of some of the best places to catch a celebration, both traditional and modern:
1. Pátzcuaro, Mexico
The sleepy streets of Pátzcuaro in central Mexico explode during Día de los Muertos week with truck-fulls of marigolds, street stalls selling pan de muerto (sweet bread), and one killer craft market. Look out for signature Catrinas, painstakingly ornate handmade calaca (skeleton) figures.
Photo: AlexPears
The local Purépecha people’s observance retains a more spiritual, traditional aspect than anywhere else — a soulfulness that counterbalances the slew of tourists.
Locally referred to as Noche de los Muertos, all-night graveside vigils are held in the villages surrounding Pátzcuaro on November 1.
In Tzintzuntzan, the next pueblo over, camping families cuddle up and tell stories about deceased loved ones at the foot of candlelit ofrendas. The local cemetery is open to the public, admission is free, and photographs are allowed (remember to be respectful).
Separate observances are held for angelitos — the souls of children. The most well-known occurs on the tiny island of Isla Janitzio in the middle of Lake Pátzcuaro. Mothers of angelitos hold a special procession to the children’s cemetery, while fishermen surround the island in candlelit boats.
As this is a popular observance, the island is uncomfortably full of tourists. Tip: Go after 3am.
2. Mexico City/Mixquic
Mexico D.F. sprouts marigolds and spontaneous streetside ofrendas during Día de los Muertos week. An altar contest is held in the Zócalo (main square) and big-time museums such as Casa Azul, Anahuacalli, and Museo Dolores Olmedo Patiño get in the spirit with larger-than-life papier-mâché calaca scenes.
Major vigils are held at the city’s largest cemeteries, Panteón Civil de Dolores and Bosque de Chapultepec.
Within the urban areas of Mexico City, the holiday is celebrated as a folk tradition, rather than a spiritual or religious affair.
This is not the case in the once-small-town of Mixquic, which has been geographically — but not culturally — swallowed by the southeasterly sprawl of the D.F.
Here, a cardboard coffin leads a candlelit procession through the streets to the town’s graveyards, where families gather to celebrate. Candles remain lit to guide spirits home and midnight bells toll to call them back.
3. San Francisco Bay Area
Día de los Muertos observances in the Bay Area blend the familial focus of its large Latino population with the creativity of its arts community. San Francisco’s Mission District is ground zero for the November 2nd procession and altar exhibit, a 30-plus-year tradition.
The free event draws an impressive cross-section of the city’s population and some heavily politicized, artistic works.
Across the Bay, Oakland’s Fruitvale district holds a daytime street fair on the Sunday preceding the holiday. Even with throngs of people and scores of vendors, the vibe is local, with traditional altars and dance performances, radio stations’ speakers throbbing hip-hop, local merchant booths, and some bangin’ Cali-Mex food stands.
Museums around the Bay embrace Día de los Muertos. Altars, events, and exhibits are held at the de Young and Oakland Museums and community galleries like SomArts, Galería de la Raza, and The Crucible.
4. Los Angeles
Nothing may capture LA’s dichotomy of culture quite like the city’s most well-known Day of the Dead celebrations.
On the one side is the Self Help Graphics & Art’s festivities in the Evergreen Cemetery in East LA. This Chicano-centered art collective has been putting on the free November 2nd event since 1972, taking a community-based approach — local artists, residents, youth, and even nuns come together.
Of similar authenticity is the Olvera Street Merchants’ nine nightly processions down their historic street in the evenings preceding the holiday, where you can sip free champurrado (a thick Mexican hot chocolate) and munch pan de muerto.
On the other side of the spectrum, across town, is the popular Hollywood Forever Cemetery’s admission-based celebration.
Faint whiffs of tradition mix with hip altars honoring celebrities, overpriced craft vendors, and a heavy taste of commercialization.
The altar contest draws some wryly imaginative creations, though, and the event serves as a fascinating example of the Hollywood-ification of culture.
5. Santiago Sacatepéquez, Guatemala
While the exact connection between Mexico’s Aztec-based Day of the Dead and Guatemala’s Mayan-based version are not totally clear, the parallels are undeniable. Both pre-Columbian holidays were co-opted into the Catholic All Saints’ Day, and both retain a celebratory approach towards death.
Guatemalans take to the graveyards, decorating gravestones in similarly elaborate altars adorned with marigolds.
What sets celebrations in Guatemala apart are the barriletes gigantes — extravagant and enormous kites central to the festivities.
These hand-constructed kites guide the departed souls back to life on November 1. As a link between life and death, they’re covered with special messages and designs to the deceased, written by the living.
Also unique to Guatemala is fiambre, a cheesy cold-meat-salad smorgasbord placed in altars to lure the dead back.
Guatemala’s best Día de los Muertos celebrations are held in the town of Santiago Sacatepéquez, outside of Antigua. Plenty of tourists pile in but, as in Pátzcuaro, celebrations are steeped in tradition, not tourism.
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| | Disenfranchised | | | Thursday, October 22, 2009 (6:06 PM)
(I'm feeling haunted) | |
image by Richard Heeks of Exeter
The Fall Equinox marks the point in the Celtic calendar in which darkness takes the throne. Days grow shorter, and we begin to turn inward to examine how we navigated through the year.
We are rapidly approaching Samhain which is the new year among pagan practitioners: a time when the veils between worlds is most transparent and the honoring of our ancestors is observed. It is in this month of death and transition that I was born.
November 1st - "All Souls Day" will stand as a banner, for me personally, insofar as I have shifted my spiritual pursuits towards a serious exploration of my bloodlines, in an effort to know where I came from, and what memories run through my veins. The Elders of the First Nations who were so gracious to open their doors to me nine years ago, advised me that I was finally ready to take this step and it was a crucial part of my self-growth and healing.
To this day I have not come to terms with the fact that I am on foreign soil, even though I was brought here by my parents at the age of two, in order to provide me with opportunities to experience the freedom that comes with new beginnings. The fact remains, that my parents abandoned secure occupations and upper middle class status in Europe, to find themselves in a young country full of potential and bereft of much history ( as far as Caucasian invasions go ).
When we arrived in 1962 we spoke no English. My first sentence was "Sunny, with cloudy periods" courtesy of the weatherman we religiously gathered to watch on the black and white television set our landlord owned. I hardly ever saw my father, as he went to night school for English classes, worked two labor intensive jobs so he could prove he had "Canadian experience", and my mother served as a nanny/caregiver to a variety of households, as that would allow me to tag along before I was old enough to go to school.
We survived on a diet of boiled chicken and lived in a basement for five years. I nearly died of bronchial pneumonia five times before the age of seven, as the basement was damp and moldy in the winter. My parents were proud, self-reliant people who never dreamed of asking for assistance from any institution or government program. This independent, "grin and bear it" mentality, was drilled into me and has been completely internalized to this day. My mother who is nearly 80 still refuses to ask for help, even though her mobility is severely compromised.
I have been very fortunate to travel many places in my adolescent years and throughout adulthood, but the one thing that remains a gaping hole in my heart is the fact that I was denied the benefit of direct exposure to my clan. Many clinicians claim that tattoos and piercings are cries for help among those who have tribal callings that remain unanswered. I can relate to that, and yes, I have a tattoo and piercing.
Unlike my parents, the choice to migrate was not mine. I hear echoes of voices four generations back, that I can only access through Vision Quests and rituals like those performed during Samhain in which communication with loved ones who have crossed over is much easier to achieve.
The difficulty for me arises from the simple fact that the sacred oral traditions of my people, on both sides, were virtually annihilated by power hungry Roman Imperialists and Christian Zealots. The voices I hear, when I do manage to briefly connect, are traumatized and crippled by staggering loss and near extermination.
They too migrated, not by choice, away from their beloved birch forests on the Danube clear to the British Isles, until they could go no further, and either submitted to conversion or died as martyrs to their way of life. We proud Celts: fiercely independent, stubborn, freedom loving observers of the cosmic rhythms of life. These are my people, my tribe, and I hope to honor them by living according to natural law in harmony with the as above. | | | | 15 Views | 0 Thumbs Up | 0 Comments | |
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| | What Are You Missing? | | | Wednesday, October 14, 2009 (10:25 AM)
(I'm feeling contemplative) | |
Washington, D.C.
Metro Station on a cold January morning in 2007.
The man with a violin played six Bach pieces for about 45 minutes. During that time approx. two thousand people went through the station, most of them on their way to work.
After three minutes a middle aged man noticed there was a musician playing. He slowed his pace and stopped for a few seconds and then hurried to meet his schedule.
4 minutes later:
The violinist received his first dollar: a woman threw the money in the hat and, without stopping, continued to walk.
6 minutes:
A young man leaned against the wall to listen to him, then looked at his watch and started to walk again.
10 minutes:
A three-year old boy stopped but his mother tugged him along hurriedly. The kid stopped to look at the violinist again, but the mother pushed hard and the child continued to walk, turning his head all the time.
This action was repeated by several other children. Every parent, without exception, forced their children to move on quickly.
45 minutes:
The musician played continuously. Only six people stopped and listened for a short while. About 20 gave money but continued to walk at their normal pace. The man collected a total of $32.
1 hour:
He finished playing and silence took over. No one noticed. No one applauded, nor was there any recognition.
No one knew this, but the violinist was Joshua Bell, one of the highest profile musicians in the world. He played one of the most intricate pieces ever written, with a violin valued at $3.5 million dollars. Two days before Joshua Bell sold out a theatre in Boston where the seats averaged $200.
Joshua Bell playing incognito in the metro station was organized by the Washington Post as part of a social experiment about perception, taste and people's priorities.
The questions raised: in a common place environment at an inappropriate hour, do we perceive beauty? Do we stop to appreciate it? Do we recognize talent in an unexpected context?
One conclusion reached from this experiment could be this: If we do not have a moment to stop and listen to one of the best musicians in the world, playing some of the finest music ever written, with one of the most beautiful instruments ever made... How many other things are we missing? | | | | 26 Views | 0 Thumbs Up | 0 Comments | |
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| | How Do You Handle Adversity? | | | Friday, October 9, 2009 (6:19 AM)
(I'm feeling hopeful) | | A young woman went to her mother and told her about her life and how things were so hard for her. She did not know how she was going to make it and wanted to give up, She was tired of fighting and struggling. It seemed as one problem was solved, a new one arose.
Her mother took her to the kitchen. She filled three pots with water and placed each on a high fire. Soon the pots came to boil. In the first she placed carrots, in the second she placed eggs, and in the last she placed ground coffee beans. She let them sit and boil; without saying a word.
In about twenty minutes she turned off the burners. She fished the carrots out and placed them in a bowl. She pulled the eggs out and placed them in a bowl. Then she ladled the coffee out and placed it in a bowl. Turning to her daughter, she asked, ' Tell me what you see.'
'Carrots, eggs, and coffee,' she replied.
Her mother brought her closer and asked her to feel the carrots. She did and noted that they were soft. The mother then asked the daughter to take an egg and break it. After pulling off the shell, she observed the hard boiled egg.
Finally, the mother asked the daughter to sip the coffee. The daughter smiled as she tasted its rich aroma. The daughter then asked, 'What does it mean, mother?'
Her mother explained that each of these objects had faced the same adversity: boiling water. Each reacted differently. The carrot went in strong, hard, and unrelenting. However, after being subjected to the boiling water, it softened and became weak. The egg had been fragile. Its thin outer shell had protected its liquid interior, but after sitting through the boiling water, its inside became hardened. The ground coffee beans were unique, however. After they were in the boiling water, they had changed the water.
'Which are you?' she asked her daughter. 'When adversity knocks on your door, how do you respond? Are you a carrot, an egg or a coffee bean?
Think of this: Which am I? Am I the carrot that seems strong, but with pain and adversity do I wilt and become soft and lose my strength?
Am I the egg that starts with a malleable heart, but changes with the heat? Did I have a fluid spirit, but after a death, a breakup, a financial hardship or some other trial, have I become hardened and stiff? Does my shell look the same, but on the inside am I bitter and tough with a stiff spirit and hardened heart?
Or am I like the coffee bean? The bean actually changes the hot water, the very circumstance that brings the pain. When the water gets hot, it releases the fragrance and flavor. If you are like the bean, when things are at their worst, you get better and change the situation around you. When the hour is the darkest and trials are their greatest, do you elevate yourself to another level? How do you handle adversity? Are you a carrot, an egg or a coffee bean?
The happiest of people don't necessarily have the best of everything; they just make the most of everything that comes along their way. The brightest future will always be based on a forgotten past; you can't go forward in life until you let go of your past failures and heartaches.
May you have enough happiness to make you sweet, enough trials to make you strong, enough sorrow to keep you human and enough hope to make you happy. | | | | 23 Views | 0 Thumbs Up | 0 Comments | |
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| | Think before you opt for a flu shot this Fall | | | Wednesday, October 7, 2009 (8:22 AM)
(I'm feeling appauled) | | I can't emphasize enough how critical it is to get informed about this vaccination campaign against flus this fall. Now is the time to exercise your right to choice as these rights are being aggressively challenged on a daily basis. Here is an article you should read in entirety.
SOURCE: http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2009/10/06/Why-You-Should-NOT-Vaccinate-Your-Children-Against-the-Flu-This-Season.aspx
Confusion and Irrational Conclusions Reign
First of all, nearly all of the swine flu vaccines that will be made available in October will be a nasal spray type that contains live virus’, which is not recommended for pregnant women, people over 50, or those with asthma, heart disease or several other health problems, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
The nasal spray causes a much greater immune reaction, and since it contains live virus’ they may multiply too quickly if your immune system is already compromised.
The injectable vaccine will supposedly contain only killed and fragmented virus components, but in order to “make it more effective” it also contains adjuvants; ingredients designed to cause a greater immune reaction by lowering your immune function.
Some of these adjuvants, such as squalene, have already been shown to carry considerable health risks. Thimerosal, a preservative, is also being added to the non attenuated vaccines.
While I’m glad the CDC offers some warning about the FluMist vaccine, what about the fact that none of the coming vaccines have undergone any form of safety testing? Some media reports have stated vaccines will be approved following a five-day safety review. What safety data could possibly be gleaned in a matter of five days?
And what about the possibility that people who have received seasonal flu vaccines may be twice as susceptible to contracting the swine flu?
Health officials everywhere are now recommending each man, woman and child get as many as four flu shots this season; two doses for the swine flu, and one or two doses for the seasonal flu, depending on whether you’ve ever had a flu shot before.
Is it really prudent to mass-administer an untested swine flu vaccine along with a seasonal flu vaccine that may increase your chances of contracting the swine flu?
And, last but certainly not least, while the number of swine flu cases is increasing, the severity of the flu is decreasing, with many doctors and health experts stating it’s actually turning out to be a much MILDER version than your average seasonal flu.
So where is the logic in this season’s vaccine campaign? | | | | 21 Views | 2 Thumbs Up | 2 Comments | |
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| | Forewarned is Forearmed | | | Saturday, October 3, 2009 (3:02 PM)
(I'm feeling curious) | | SOURCE: http://www.facebook.com/home.php#/note.php?note_id=171640746412&ref=nf
I applaud Mark Cocking for taking the initiative, and having the courage to stand up for his right to choice while Big Brother tramples over Great Britain. We're next people!
This is his recent post on Facebook and here is a link to his interview regarding the monetary system.
http://video.google.ca/videosearch?q=Mark+Cocking&oe=utf-8&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a&um=1&ie=UTF-8&ei=A2XHSsfZIsrL8Qa1_8ThCA&sa=X&oi=video_result_group&ct=title&resnum=4#
My response to the school HPV vaccine parental consent request (sent to the NHS HPV team)
Having conducted extensive research into both the manufacturers of this vaccine and the chemistry of the vaccine itself (including many discussions with GPs and doctors) since it first was proposed, we have decided that the balance of common sense suggests that we do not want our daughter to be part of what is (in effect, if not intent) an experimental drug trial.
It is a matter of fact that the data supplied on this drug has been provided by the manufacturer and interested parties. The trail of adverse reactions across the USA to its ‘sister’ drug and the outright denial practised by the manufacturers generally in the face of disturbing data, leads one to conclude that the interests of the child are not necessarily paramount.
Furthermore, it concerns me that schools and medical practitioners are being subjected to ‘peer pressure’ to proceed with this vaccination. It is a matter of record also that the manufacturers conducted a massive promotional campaign for this drug offering incentives and favourable propaganda to doctors, ministers and other parties. It is also a fact that cervical cancer rates were nearly halved by the education and monitoring programme prior to 1999, which begs the question, why are our children being subjected to yet another unproven chemical cocktail when education and screening is clearly the best way forward?
The risks associated with refusal to accept the vaccination, together with education and screening, seem miniscule in proportion to the risks of accepting it. Consent is therefore specifically denied. Our joint decision was arrived at independently and took into account our daughters thoughts and opinion on this matter too.
Yours sincerely,
Mark S Cocking | | | | 20 Views | 0 Thumbs Up | 0 Comments | |
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| | Supersized David | | | Tuesday, September 29, 2009 (7:07 PM)
(I'm feeling amused) | | After a two year loan to the United States, Michelangelo's David is being returned to Italy.
His proud sponsors were:
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| | Follow the Money | | | | Monday, September 28, 2009 (2:50 PM) | | | Wanna know where the new world order headquarters is going to be? Follow the money and you'll see that North America isn't part of the equation. Pay attention to what these summits choose to reveal.
SOURCE: http://www.thestar.com/article/691774
G20 highlights changing world order
Developing nations emerge with a stronger voice on issues ranging from pay caps to climate change
LONDON–G20 finance leaders have agreed to coordinate a removal of emergency economic packages when recovery takes firm hold, but they struggled on the detail of measures to rein in bank pay and lending rules at the root of the recent crisis.
With the global economy looking brighter than it had in April when Group of 20 finance ministers and central bankers last met, the focus shifted from crisis-fighting to figuring out how to establish a safer financial system for the future.
Policymakers agreed that they must keep spending the $5 trillion (U.S.) already earmarked as economic stimulus. But behind the scenes, some G20 sources expressed frustration that there was not more progress made in curbing excessive pay packages for bankers.
Banks will have to set aside more profits as a cushion against hard times and face limits on how much debt they can run up under proposed new global rules agreed to by top central bankers and regulators yesterday.
The G20 statement Saturday showed agreement that emerging nations such as India and China should have a greater say in the running of the International Monetary Fund and World Bank but did not offer up any formula of how this should be achieved.
Differences between rich and developing countries had also prevented G20 finance ministers from agreeing to measures to curb global warming.
But finance ministers and central bankers did agree to give tax havens until March 2010 to cooperate on tax evasion or face sanctions.
Officials asked the Financial Stability Board to report on criteria and compliance by November 2009. | | | | 21 Views | 0 Thumbs Up | 0 Comments | |
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| | Ghostwriting - What's the Harm? | | | | Sunday, September 13, 2009 (9:29 AM) | |
SOURCE: http://thestar.blogs.com/ethics/
Aug. 31st, 2009 by Stuart Laidlaw of Toronto Star on his medical ethics blog:
Ever since the Toronto Star broke the story of a McGill University professor's involvement with ghostwriters, there has been a growing debate across Canada about the practice.
In an unsigned editorial put online this morning, the Montreal Gazette asks, "What's the harm?" After all, it says, there's no evidence Sherwin intended to deceive anyone and the article in question was in line with the rest of her scholarship.
It's an important question. Across the country in Victoria, BC, the Time Colonist offers an answer:
Why is that important? First, DesignWrite is paid by pharmaceutical giant Wyeth to promote its drugs. But there was no mention of those co-authors in the article. That could mislead readers into believing the report was independent, when it was not.
Second, the article concluded that estrogen therapy helps prevent memory loss. But Wyeth is a producer of estrogen-based medications. In the research field, such an obvious conflict of interest could invalidate the findings, if it were known.
The danger, in other words, isn't just that bad science gets portrayed as good, but that good science gets dismissed as tainted. Both outcomes are dangerous to public health.
The Gazette seems to understand this, too, concluding its editorial with a discussion of the importance of the issue and a comparison to politicians -- who rarely write the speeches they give.
And this is different from writing speeches for politicians. The people who do that are usually partisans who share the views of their employer and who, in fact, might well be part of the team developing both policy and political strategy. In other words, both writer and reader share essentially the same goal.
That is very much not the case with a drug-company employee and a scientist. The aims they serve are quite different and often opposed. And maintaining that difference is often quite literally a matter of life and death. Sherwin's "error" suggests that at the very least, academics need to update and clarify the ethics that guide them. | | | | 48 Views | 0 Thumbs Up | 0 Comments | |
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| | Clean Water - Another Right to be Denied? | | | Sunday, September 13, 2009 (9:25 AM)
(I'm feeling aggravated) | | As a practicing water shaman I am particularly sensitive about the way this precious element is regarded - or more precisely, taken for granted by those of us who have never had the horror of experiencing prolonged drought.
Thanks to the work of Maude Barlow, Meera Karunanthanan, the First Nations people, and hundreds of concerned Canadian citizens, progress has been made in the efforts to protect our rights to fresh, clean, potable water.
Excerpt from article: http://rabble.ca/news/2009/09/site-41-underscores-why-we-need-national-water-policy
A decisive victory has been won for water in Simcoe County, in a struggle that had been brewing for over twenty years. Dump Site 41, the landfill that was nearly built atop the Alliston aquifer this fall, points to major shortcomings in water governance at all levels of government in Canada.
Preliminary work on the dump site was approved in a very close vote in 2007 at Simcoe County Council despite much public opposition. Since then, the artesian spring just under the proposed landfill -- declared by a University of Heidelberg study to contain among the purest water in the world -- was dewatered to allow for construction.
The struggle to protect the watershed that serves several communities and wildlife in Ontario had grown to epic dimensions as national organizations and political figures joined First Nations communities, local farmers and residents to voice their opposition.
On Tuesday, August 25, the elected councillors of Simcoe County listened to the people who elected them, and voted for a one-year moratorium on Site 41 construction, which may well spell the end of the dump entirely. They have begun to see themselves as stewards of the water, and are to be congratulated for this important shift in thinking.
This is a moment to reflect on water governance in Canada. As we deal with increasing shortages of clean water, it is vital that water resources be managed according to five key principles.
1. Water is a human right.
2. Indigenous rights must be honoured.
3. Water is a public trust.
4. Public participation.
5. The precautionary principle
The precautionary principle states that the burden of proof falls on those proposing an activity that could potentially harm the environment or the public. In light of mounting evidence that the landfill project could cause irreversible damage to the aquifer, the Council of Canadians and many others argued that decision-makers had a moral imperative to stop all construction until it can be proven beyond reasonable doubt that the landfill will not harm ground water.
Thankfully, Simcoe County decided there is no water to waste. Indeed, there is growing consensus that Canada does not have the abundant supplies of water it was once thought to possess. Unless these five principles are respected at all levels of government and embraced in a national water policy, we are likely to see intense battles like the one against Site 41 in Simcoe County unfold across the country.
Maude Barlow is the National Chairperson and Meera Karunananthan is the National Water Campaigner of the Council of Canadians.
For more information go to:
http://stopdumpsite41.ca
http://www.canadians.org/ | | | | 26 Views | 0 Thumbs Up | 0 Comments | |
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