Thrills, Magic, Health, Faith and Riches: In Pursuit of Treasure

If I had to create a definition for the word treasure, it would not be traditional. In my eyes treasure can be many things. I don’t believe that precious metals and gems are the only physical things which possess value. For example, an archaeologist would consider old bones to be a treasure, and a historian would find wealth in certain records. An entomologist would treasure the discovery of a new insect, while a lover of code may prize a new script.

Within the last couple of years, a book by the Santa Fe author Forrest Fenn has been sought-after by treasure hunters. Thrill of the Chase: A Memoir is a book Fenn has used to drive people into a maddened search for a treasure chest the author has hidden. On March 9, 2013, a 34 year old woman from Texas was found after she got lost in Bandalier National Monument while searching for the treasure. This month, officials with the New Mexico Department of Game and Fish threatened to file charges against a man they found digging under a descanso (roadside memorial or grave marker) for the treasure. What are these people thinking?

Web sites across the world proclaim the words “somewhere in the mountains north of Santa Fe, a magnificent treasure box is hidden. Will you find the treasure? Join the chase!” The book is only being carried by one bookstore here in Santa Fe. The delirium led me to consider the human fascination with treasure, so I decided to peer into a small part of this history.

~Funk and Wagnalls Standard Dictionary
of Folklore Mythology and Legend (©1949)~

Why are humans so fascinated with the hunt for treasures? Aside from the fact that many people are extremely broke right now, what drives them to partake in the hunt? According to the Funk and Wagnalls Standard Dictionary of Folklore Mythology and Legend (©1949), “gold has been consistently the most highly prized of metals thorough the ages…” The book says that “gold was so highly valued, it early became associated with religion. It was used to make idols, as tribute, and as offerings to the Gods.” This means that the symbolism of gold has been ingrained into humans since it was first discovered. Not only has the warm colored metal been associated with the heavens, but the Chinese “believed gold leaf” was “the most perfect form of matter; an unguent containing it was the most powerful remedy of Chinese medicine as it gave renewed life to the human body.”

I have discovered that gold was “a potent curative force” in “early medical practice,” and that it was associated with the Gods. I believe that the value of this metal is inherent in our collective memory for at least two good reasons. I found some interesting articles and books which explore lost treasures. I thought it would be great to share these stories which begin in 1902 and end in 1963. These stories shed light on the quest for treasure and the hunters who obsess about the hunt. The Dictionary of Folklore Mythology and Legend also describes hunters who “go into a trance” while being under the spell of “hunting magic.” A search for gold could not both invite and “repel” madness~ could it? For as long as many people can remember, there have been oral stories of: money walled up in houses; gold being buried in mountains; and unknown treasures which are not considered “lost.”

The Santa Fe New Mexican ran an article on July 24, 1902 in the “Special Correspondence” section of the paper. In this article, it was reported that there was “supposed hidden Spanish Treasure” in Grant County. The special report said that the treasure was hidden in an “old cave near San Lorenzo.” Apparently over the years many people tried to locate the Spanish treasure. I had to laugh out loud in the silent library when I read that the “treasure-seakers” had found many skeletons, but not any treasure. I guess if you were talking to a person interested in straight forward wealth, bones would just be worthless? On the other hand, an archaeologist would find much wealth in that type of finding.

~Article printed in the Roswell Daily Record
on August 3, 1922~

On August 3, 1922, in Racine, Wisconsin it was was reported that the “lure of hidden treasure” surrounded “an old building on one of the principal streets.” The Roswell Daily Record issued a news release titled “Wealth Hidden by Baker During the War Be Sought by K. of C.” This was a very interesting story. It was reported that a “miser’s hoard of gold” was “buried there, according to pioneers.” It was apparently a “mystery, more than half a century old” that members of the Knights of Columbus wanted to solve. The article seemed to speculate that a German baker starved his wife to become rich. The reporter described her as a “gaunt, silent woman.” During the Civil War, the baker feared “the loss of wealth” so he “withdrew his savings, cashed all his securities and bonds and under cover of darkness buried the treasure somewhere within his house.” The poor starved wife wasn’t even told where the treasure was buried. The baker figured that if she was captured, she would be tortured to reveal the secret location. After the baker died, the wife searched for the loot to no avail.

In the book Hidden Treasure in the Wild West by Oren Arnold (©1966), the author wrote about “Pancho Villa’s Mountain Bank.” Here was one case amongst many cases of hidden treasure being buried in a mountain scape. “The poor people of Mexico considered” Pancho Villa a hero. According to the book, Villa had told his friends “I have some money hidden away in a secret mountain bank.” The hero assured the people by telling them “when it is needed for our experimental work here, I will go get it. Perhaps we can build a testing laboratory with it and hire good scientists. I will look into the matter soon.” What a nice thought! Unfortunately Villa was killed on July 20, 1923. Arnold’s book says that “when he had driven his automobile to a nearby town, old enemies ambushed him.” Before he could reveal the location of his mountain bank, “the harsh staccato bark of machine guns sounded, and Pancho Villa, the great liberator, fell across the steering wheel, dead.”

“Writing in a geological bulletin published by the New Mexico Bureau of Mines in 1935, K.C. Dunham told” the story of Padre LaRue’s mine. In Mines of the Old Southwest by Jack D. Rittenhouse and Rex Arrowsmith (©1963), I located information on the “Organ Mountain Silver Mines.” Arrowsmith was a geologist and gave a particular professional flavor to his account of the mines. The report said that LaRue was “stationed at a hacienda in Chihuahua (Mexico)” and that the priest “was told by a dying friend of placers and a fabulously rich gold-bearing lode in the mountains two days’ journey north of Paso del Norte.” LaRue migrated north with others to the Organ Mountains so that he could find the gold. According to the report, they located the gold, and then buried it at the request of Padre LaRue. The priest was located by the Church in the City of Mexico and he was later “murdered” by a soldier for not divulging the location of the treasure. In case number three, the secret location followed LaRue to his grave.

~Treasure Land map in Arthur L. Campa’s book
Treasure of the Sangre de Cristos: Tales and
Traditions of the Spanish Southwest (©1963)~

The only thing I found in common with the small amount of stories I looked at for this research was the fact that all the men died without telling anyone where the treasure was buried. It is possible that all of these stories were simply not true. It is possible that there was never any treasure at all. Though I guess I could say that as an archivist, I do tend to value stories as a type of treasure. I do find a sort of wealth in that! The author who really put this into perspective for me was Arthur L. Campa. In his book Treasure of the Sangre de Cristos: Tales and Traditions of the Spanish Southwest (©1963), Campa published a “Treasure Land” map which focuses on New Mexico treasures. The map shows places from the north to the south (Taos, Sangre de Cristo Mountains, Cuba, Las Vegas, Santa Fe, Sandia Peak, Albuquerque, Tome, Magdalena Mountains, Santa Rita, Mesilla, and the Organ Mountains among others). I was particularly intrigued with Chapter 11~ “Natural Phenomena and the Growth of Legends.”

It is more than safe to conclude that the value of treasure is inherent in our collective memory for several reasons. Campa said that “legends are an interesting product of folk society, the origin of which dates back to pre~Christian days, to Greece, Babylon, and the valley of the Nile. They are so deeply imbedded in the cultural texture of the folk thinking that today, as in the days of the Greeks, even geological formations assume anthropomorphic shapes and are indued with the attributes of folk heroes.” Contemplating the forces which drive humans to insanity can be a good way to peer into the mind. Where are are these behaviors and beliefs rooted?

The treasure Forrest Fenn says he buried may or may not exist. We may never know. Maybe Fenn will take the secret to his grave like so many did before him? Then again “a simple story may be gradually embellished with whatever attributes are important to folk, and with whatever concepts are current and acceptable at the time when it begins.” According to Campa, “very often the actual fact or historical account that gives rise to a particular legend may be totally forgotten, lost, or modified to such an extent that only the legend growing from the original happening survives.”

Finding the Beauty Within

*****Finding the Beauty Within*****
Digital composite by Felicia Lujan. Includes two images- one of a Roman statue of a woman (using a colored pencil artistic filter), and an abstract spiral design.

Following is my overdue look at beauty for analysis
by Sahm of the Arkside of Thought…
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Beauty… What is my interpretation? I have never been asked. Beauty can be many things. It can be shallow. It can be deep. It can inspire. It can cause pain. Maybe you will spend your whole life looking for beauty because you are asleep? If you look up the definition of beauty, you will find definitions which say “a combination of qualities, such as shape, color, or form, that pleases the aesthetic senses (especially the sight)” or “a combination of qualities that pleases the intellect.”

The first question I asked myself when I started to write this was— when you think of beauty what do you feel? So I had already decided that beauty begins with a feeling. Feelings come from our psyche and our soul. Yes we all have eyes, and beauty can be superficial, but I think real beauty is so much deeper. It may also depend on: our professions; how we were nurtured; how we dream; or even what we care about or value. Like what about the book by Gary William Flake titled The Computational Beauty of Nature: Computer Explorations of Fractals, Chaos, Complex Systems, Adaptation? Or what about the article by Przemyslaw Prusinkiewicz and Aristid Lindenmayer titled The Algorithmic Beauty of Plants: The Virtual Laboratory? Are computers and plants beautiful? I think they are!

If I were writing my very own dictionary, beauty would need to be defined using multiple facets. For instance- I believe that the word beauty can be defined at least three ways. The hierarchy would start on the most basic level and would then work down to the most complex. I would also note that beauty does not simply apply to people. The most complex level would include those people and things which can be deemed beautiful because they touch us in profound ways. There is a great piece by Percy Bysshe Shelley titled Hymn to Intellectual Beauty. In this hymn, the writer mentions “unseen power” and the “spirit of beauty.” The most complex definition of the word beauty would include things which touch us to the very core. These are the things which will melt your mind. I must admit I have grown tired of the simple ways of looking at beauty. When you are truly awake, you will see all the beauty around you. It may be beauty you have never noticed or maybe the beautiful things you have missed.

My first definition would be superficial beauty. This would include the eyes or sight, and a symmetrical look at other people or things. I mean— how perfect are things visually? A second definition would be inner beauty or an asymmetrical look at people or things. That would be the beauty within ourselves or the beauty within another person or thing regardless of looks. What can I say? You know the third definition is my favorite and is also all encompassing. My third definition of beauty would be conscious beauty. This would be the ultimate form of beauty. This form of recognizing beauty involves all of our senses- sight, touch, scent, and listening. It is more than superficial beauty, and it is more than inner beauty. This type of beauty is something that moves you in a way that you have never been moved. When are you awake?? Now, when you think of something beautiful, what do you feel? When you experience conscious beauty you will tap your most intimate, and deepest feelings. Your spirit will be touched. That is true beauty.

UNM Ph.D. Can­di­dates Baca and Turo Spill Knowledge

For those of you in the Albuquerque area, these lectures would be great to attend. Unfortunately, I will be unable to go because we have been so busy at work, and tomorrow is also Election Day (don’t forget to vote ). I have known Jacobo for many years. I met him when he was working in the Political Archives at UNM. That now seems like eons ago. He is also a patron of the archives. I did get to attend his lecture for the 2012 New Mexico Statehood History Conference in Santa Fe. On May 4^th, he delivered a presentation titled John Collier’s New Mexico Boundary Bill and New Mexican Sabotage, which was well researched. If you get a chance, you may want to check this one out.

***************************************************************************

Historians Offer Two Talks about New Mexico History on June 5

May 30, 2012 | By Karen Wentworth

Originally published on the UNM web site under the “research.”

Two Ph.D. can­di­dates in His­tory at UNM will speak on Tues­day, June 5 at 1 p.m. in the Waters Room (105) of Zim­mer­man Library on the UNM Cam­pus.  The talks are co-hosted by  the Cen­ter for South­west Research and Spe­cial Col­lec­tions, the His­tor­i­cal Soci­ety of New Mex­ico and The Office of the State His­to­rian as part of the 2012 His­tory Schol­ars Lec­ture Series.

Jacobo D. Baca, a Ph.D. can­di­date in the Depart­ment of His­tory at UNM speaks on “Pueb­los and His­panos in the Era of Fed­eral Relief: The New Deal, 1933–1945″ on Tues­day, June 5 at 1 p.m. in the Waters Room (105) of Zim­mer­man Library on the UNM campus.

Jacobo Baca

Dur­ing the New Deal, the fed­eral gov­ern­ment inau­gu­rated more than a half-decade of inten­sive stud­ies of Pueblo and His­pano vil­lages that demon­strated sim­i­lar­i­ties between their depen­dence on and rela­tion­ships to the land.  Led by Indian Com­mis­sioner John Col­lier, activists-turned-bureaucrats held on to their notions the Pueblo Indi­ans and His­panos were fun­da­men­tally dif­fer­ent peo­ples whose for­tunes depended on mutual hos­til­ity and depri­va­tion.  Build­ing from these ideas they fash­ioned dur­ing the cru­sade for Pueblo land rights in the Pueblo Lands Boards fight of the 1920s, advo­cates worked to use New Deal lib­er­al­ism to repa­tri­ate land to Pueblo Indian communities.

They faced stern and steady oppo­si­tion to their uni­lat­eral pro-Pueblo approach from Sen­a­tor Den­nis Chavez, who stood firm against Collier’s will to aid the Pueb­los at the expense of sur­round­ing His­pano vil­lages.  This lec­ture focuses on how the Indian Pueb­los and His­pano vil­lages in the Tewa Basin expe­ri­enced New Deal reform and how this reform impacted their ral­tion­ship with one another and with the fed­eral and state governments.

Baca is work­ing on his dis­ser­ta­tion “Somos indi­gena: Eth­nic Pol­i­tics and Land Tenure in Mod­ern New Mex­ico, 1904–2004.”  In it he explores eth­nic pol­i­tics and mod­ern land tenure in the Indian Pueb­los and His­pano vil­lages in New Mexico’s Tewa Basin.  He also stud­ies the chang­ing rela­tion­ship with fed­eral, state and local gov­ern­ments and how that impacted social and struc­tural rela­tions among the Pueblo and His­pano peoples.

Bryan W. Turo will speak on “An Empire of Dust: Thomas Ben­ton Catron and the Rise of Cor­po­rate Enter­prise in New Mex­ico, 1866–1921.”  As a Repub­li­can Party boss in New Mex­ico for half a cen­tury, Thomas Ben­ton Catron con­tributed to the growth of the ter­ri­tory and its incor­po­ra­tion into the larger frame of democ­racy and cap­i­tal­ism in the United States and abroad.

Bryan Turo

But more than that, Catron’s life can help to explain how Amer­i­can cul­ture and insti­tu­tions infil­trated the west­ern ter­ri­to­ries in the years fol­low­ing the Civil War.  This lec­ture will explore how Catron grew an empire out of the acqui­si­tion of land in New Mex­ico and other parts of the west and how he used it to make money in the form of joint stock companies.

Turo was raised in White Plains, N.Y. and com­pleted his Bachelor’s degree in Bing­ham­ton Uni­ver­sity.  After tir­ing of harsh win­ters, he moved to Tuc­son, Ariz. To earn a Master’s in His­tory at the Uni­ver­sity of Ari­zona in 2008.  Since then, he has lived in Albu­querque where he is in the process of earn­ing a Ph.D. from UNM.  He stud­ies U.S. his­tory, with a focus on the West and South­west.  He is cur­rently fin­ish­ing his dis­ser­ta­tion on the life and times of Thomas Catron.

The lec­ture is free and the pub­lic is welcome.

Preparing Snow White for a New Hunt

Tomorrow is the day I have been waiting for! The movie I feel like I have been waiting for all my life will open, and of course I have tickets for opening night! I’m sure the movies will be packed, but it will be well worth it to see Snow White and the Huntsman starring Charlize Theron (as the Evil Queen Ravenna), Kristen Stewart (as Snow White), and Chris Hemsworth (as the Huntsman). I am absolutely sure that I will love the movie, and I am in eager anticipation. I started preparing this past weekend by changing my web site background to feature Queen Ravenna, and a quote from her magic mirror. Tonight I decided to look into some historical aspects of this classic fairytale to edify myself. I was so pleased to discover that Snow White has come a long, long, long way baby! Snow White was once portrayed as a timid, girly girl (sometimes in a corset) who waited for her man.

1908- San Antonio Newspaper Ad

The new day Snow women are tough and domineering yet still beautiful, and in need of a lovely touch from the men they desire. I have not seen Kristen Stewart in action as Snow, but I am sure that she will pull through in a strong and sexy role tomorrow night. The most current version of Snow was in the TV series Once Upon a Time (of course a favorite). In this series, Mary Margaret took on more of the traditional timid traits of Snow, while her fairytale counterpart was a woman who knew exactly what she wanted. We can’t really understand this fairytale without looking at some historical perspectives. I was curious where this tale originated? All I knew was that it was created by the Brothers Grimm. There have been several white papers published with regard to the tale, but I wanted a fresh look.

1913- Des Moines News Ad

I was able to confirm through two scholarly sources that the Brothers Grimm did publish the first version of the Snow White fairytale in 1812. In 1977, the Journal of American Folklore published a white paper titled Initiation and Meaning in the Tale of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs by NJ Girardot. In his paper, Girardot discusses the 1812 “classic Grimm story of Snow White.” Another date confirmation for the origin of this tale derived from Guardians of the fairy tale: the Brothers Grimm by T O’Neill. The author published his findings in a 1999 issue of National Geographic. O’Neill says that the Brothers Grimm, Jacob and Wilhelm, “named their story collection Children’s and Household Tales and published the first of its seven editions in Germany in 1812.” The book included the tale of Snow White.

After taking a close look at newspapers from the time period in which the Brothers Grimm published their German fairytale classics, I came to some interesting conclusions. Most of the digitized newspapers I located were published in London, which is not far from Germany. There were three things I was able to establish in my research. First, “snow white” was actually used as a descriptive phrase during the time period I looked at (1812-1820). Second, Snow White as a character is highly symbolic of purity, innocence, and love. Third, though Snow White’s contemporary character has morphed into that of a capable female, the symbols which permeate the character still remain true (in my opinion with the addition of strength).

From 1812-1820, London newspapers published articles and advertisements describing many things as “snow white.” The papers talked about how to “turn sugar into snow-white powder,” and how “summits alone were snow-white.” They also described the “colour from the snow-white Limestone,” snow white doves, snow white hands, snow white dust, snow white culinary salt, snow white pages of books, parties decorated with snow white favors, snow white chenille, snow white palfrey bead, and snow white sheep. I think that since the phrase was used commonly to describe things that were pure or beautiful, the Brothers Grimm borrowed the phrase in creating the Snow White character. By 1820, there is evidence of the phrase snow white being connected to innocence.

Tickets for Snow White and the Huntsman
opening on Friday night (6.1.2012)

In some historical versions of the tale, the Queen orders a huntsman to kill Snow White and return with one of her organs as proof. There are often different organs requested from the huntsman as proof of Snow’s death. Most say her heart (yes— so very symbolic), but there are apparently some which call for the delivery of her lungs, or liver. In some versions, the Queen eats these organs though she does not realize they are not actually from Snow White, but other animals. Once the Queen’s mirror tells her that Snow is still alive, she visits the cottage where Snow is living with the dwarfs. On her visit she “laces” Snow White up, and makes her faint. It was interesting that I found some early advertisements in newspapers which featured corsets during what was called a “Snow White Sale.” Yikes- look at that waist!

1908- San Antonio Newspaper Ad

There are still other symbols to explore as part of this tale, like the poisoned comb, the poisoned apple, the magic mirror, the glass coffin, the evil queen, the brave and captivating prince, and of course the magic kiss. Since this classic has been analyzed and re-analyzed over and over again, I will provide my symbolic breakdown with a focus on the new film. I will write something this weekend once I can report my findings. Popcorn, a double flavor Icee, Ravens (my bird sign), intricate weapons, and heart stopping gazes! I can’t wait!!!

Tough: Training Your Mind for Battle

_______________________________

All men can see these tactics whereby
I conquer, but what none can see is the
strategy out of which victory is evolved.
=>=>=>=>=>=>=>=>Sun Tzu
______________________________

Almost every morning as I drive off to work, I pass several members of the New Mexico National Guard running. The look on their faces would not be described as effortless. I am familiar with the difficulty of the path they run, and it is far from easy. The guardsmen and one guardswoman continuously trek the dirt path along the frontage road in the early hours of the morning. Today was the first day in many, many, many days that I have seen these people run with a fully loaded military backpack. While I was driving by each (and I may have passed three or four), I tried to imagine how hard running like that would be? I mean the packs had to weigh at least 80 pounds? I glanced into the rear view mirror to look at my son, and I noticed he too was in awe. There we were, both amazed. Being the nerd I am, I used the time to slip in a bit of education, because I felt inspired. I asked Daryn “why do you think they are training like that?” Though he is very aware of the importance of fitness, he responded questionably “because they don’t have cars???” Hum? I laughed and then I went on to explain.

After I dropped him off for his last day of 1^st grade, I continued on to work. During the drive, the word battle came to mind. Daryn and I had talked about the need for these men and women to prepare. This is one reason they were running with the heavy packs. We had talked about the preparation for a war- physical battle, but I realized what I had not told my son was that the guardsmen were also preparing for mental battle as well. All battles start in the mind, and if our minds are strong, we shall endure any war. So what is the definition of the word battle? The physical definition of the word is captured by a noun, but the mental definition of the word can be captured by both a noun and a verb. Battle as a “thing” (or noun), is defined as “a sustained fight.” Battle as an “action” (or verb) is defined as a “fight or struggle tenaciously to achieve or resist something.” The Nation Guard motto is “Always Ready, Always There.” What a great motto! The guard is “the oldest component of the Armed Forces of the United States and one of the nation’s longest-enduring institutions.” The guards were preparing for battles, with each beginning in the mind.

New Mexico National Guard Building in Santa Fe, New Mexico.
I took this photograph on the way home from work today.

After looking into the fitness programs with the guard I found a regimen published in 1998. The regimen is called “Battlemind Training.” The program is specifically designed for “Building Soldier Resiliency.” The regimen was designed by Carl Andrew Castro of the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research. He is with the Department of Military Psychiatry, in the Division of Psychiatry and Neuroscience. Battlemind training ha? I like that. Apparently this is a very tailored kind of training, which prepares the guard for combat (physically), as well as for a return home following combat (mentally). What a great program! Castro defines battlemind as “a Soldiers inner strength to face adversity, fear, and hardship during combat with confidence and resolution.” He says that “in essence it is psychological resiliency.” The intensive training was designed to “develop psychological resiliency which contributes to a Soldiers will and spirit to fight and win in combat, thereby reducing combat stress reactions and symptoms.” There are two criteria associated with this training and they are “self-confidence” and “mental toughness.”

In 2008, Graham Jones published an article titled Managing Yourself: How the Best of the Best Get Better. The article was published in Harvard Business Review. A business review you ask? Why would an article about fitness be published there? It is because athletes and intellectuals all face the same battles. The differences between the athlete and the intellectual may be: the environment (in the office and/or on the track); the methods (how we fight and/or weapons used); individual thresholds for stress and pain; and commitment to a goal and/or end result. All of these things play a key role in the physical and mental battles each of us face. In many cases, (more cases than some are willing to admit) intellectuals and athletes are one in the same. It is just that the smarts that an athlete chooses to employ as a weapon of choice are focused differently. In his article, Jones says that the main obstacle to achieving “the impossible” may be a “self-limiting mind-set.”

*****Digital composite by Felicia Lujan*****
“Mental toughness” backpack we should all
run with. The backpack composite has an
image of neurons, and words that enhance
the “mind-body connection.”

The author is a sports psychologist who consults with Olympic and other world champions in various sports. During a time when Jones “teamed up with an Olympic gold medal swimmer,” he compared sports to business. This is obviously why his article was published in Harvard Business Review. He said “sport is not business, of course, but the parallels are striking. In both worlds, elite performers are not born but made.” This is so true. He goes on to say that “the real key to excellence in both sports and business is not the ability to swim fast or do quantitative analyses quickly in your head; rather, it is mental toughness.” Jones also says that “elite performers in both arenas thrive on pressure; they excel when the heat is turned up. Their rise to the top is the result of very careful planning- of setting and hitting hundreds of small goals. Elite performers use competition to hone their skills, and they reinvent themselves continually to stay ahead of the pack.” Maybe while running with a backpack!?

The Journal of the Indian Academy of Applied Psychology published a white paper by E. Bhambri, P.K. Dhillon and S.P Sahni in 2005. The paper was titled Effect of Psychological Interventions in Enhancing Mental Toughness Dimensions of Sports Persons. I loved that these three researchers of the mind referred to something they called the “mental toughness dimensions of sports persons.” It is great to see academics acknowledge the mental fortitude of athletes. This team’s research found that “sports persons who enter the competitive arena soon realize that there is more to competition than simply learning the physical skills. It is one thing to possess the physical and mental skills and yet another to be able to use them when needed. Every athletic contest is a contest of control. Control of the delicate mind-body connection, which is dramatically clear within the competitive arena.” I love these guys! Yes- yes- the mind-body connection. Do you think that it takes just as much mental toughness to write a white paper as it does to run 14 miles? Of course it does! These researchers even acknowledge the fact that some athletes “spend so much time on physical practice to get an edge in the competition, yet they ignore one of the basic aspects of the game that is mental skill.”

Battles… We all have all sorts of wars to win. Some of our battles will be quick and painless, but others will be long and difficult. The battles we face can bring us to our knees. If our “backpacks” in this life get really heavy, there are a few things we can do. The choice is ours and ours alone. We can drop the backpack and walk or stop completely. We can ask a friend for help carrying a load that is hard to handle alone. Or…. we can trek on and endure by making the most of our innate ability to utilize the mind-body connection. Be inspired… Trek on…

Battlemind Training: Building Soldier Resiliency by Carl Andrew Castro, Walter Reed Army Institute of Research, Department of Military Psychiatry, Division of Psychiatry and Neuroscience, 1998

Managing Yourself: How the Best of the Best Get Better by Graham Jones, Harvard Business Review, 2008

Effect of Psychological Interventions in Enhancing Mental Toughness Dimensions of Sports Persons by E. Bhambri, P.K. Dhillon and S.P Sahni, Journal of the Indian Academy of Applied Psychology, 2005

Inked: Marking Identity

I find explorations into the concept of identity intriguing. Identity is complex, and there are so many variables which constitute individuality. Some of the variables playing into identity can be inked in vibrant colors, or even gray scale. These marks are often dismissed and may be seen as nothing more than novelty, however, it is time for those dismissing to take a closer look. As portions of society slowly awaken from and shun restricting stereotypes, more people are opting to become carriers of ink. I love it when I see intellectuals rocking symbolic pieces. The puncture marks have stained the skin, but are a reflection of the what is beneath the skin. A tattoo is communicative, it can tell people: who you are; where you have been; what you find important; who you have loved and who you hate (if it has been removed or covered); where you are from; as well as mistakes you have made and achievements you are proud of. These signs or visual messages are created to “mark (a person or a part of the body) with an indelible design by inserting pigment into punctures in the skin.”

***Felicia’s Wizard Tattoo by Leo Gonzales***
I went to school with Leo and I graduated with
his brother Frankie. Leo and I were in art class
together for many years. I always loved his dark
art. I have had this tattoo for many years and I
love wizard imagery. When I decided I wanted
this marking, there was no question that it would
be by Leo. I think he is still in Albuquerque, New
Mexico if you are looking for a superb artist
to ink you up! Visit his web site at:
http://leogonzales.com/

In 1874, a London newspaper had a typescript of what appeared to be a criminal case. The Hour News report noted the following: “I understand that your Lordship was at Stonyburst with Roger Tichborne, and that during that time he had tattooed on his arm Faith, Hope, and Charity. The family were aware that he was tattooed; and if you could ascertain when and by whom he was so tattooed it would tend to settle the question.” The tattoo played a major role in the arguments for this case. In this case not only the identification(s) of the wearer were important, but the identity of the artist was also in question.

1874- Newspaper
Transcript of a Criminal Case in The Hour News of London

The lovely Pacific arts include the “patterned” and “permanently coloured” skin of the Māori which is “high relief incised and scarified.” At a 2002 symposium of the National Māori Graduates of Psychology, Ngahuia Te Awekotuku presented a paper titled Ta Moko: Culture, body modification, and the psychology of identity. In this paper, the author cites a work from 1921 which reads “Taia o moko, hai hoa matenga mou. Of your moko, you cannot be deprived. Except by death. It will be your ornament, and your companion, until your last day.” When we talk about where we are from or who we are, the markings of the Māori are critical. According to Awekotuku’s paper, the 1840 “Treaty of Waitangi was signed between the many (but not all) Māori chiefs, and the British Crown. It is significant that a number of the signatories actually chose to inscribe the document with a small pattern from their facial moko, this subtle glyph effectively conveying their mana, or chiefly authority, to the process. Other legal instruments, particularly land deeds, were similarly authorized. Within a few years of its signing, the settlers breached the treaty, and decades of conflict, aggression, distrust, atrocity, and invasion ensued. The tattooed face became a powerful symbol of resistance for many Māori, whereas for others it seemed in decline.” Today, the “contemporary realities” of the Ta moko – Māori tattoo “manifests pride, celebration, and identity.”

In 2007, Emilio Mordini and Corinna Ottolini published a white paper titled Body identification, biometrics and medicine: ethical and social considerations. A section of the paper was devoted to “Personal Identification and the Body.” The authors say that “the human body lies at the heart of all strategies for identity management, from Homer to globalization. It is obvious because for most people a sense of personal identity includes an embodied component: when describing themselves they describe those aspects of their physical bodies which can be easily codified: height, hair colour, sex, eye colour.” I found it very interesting to read that they understand the fact that “body requires mind.” They even go as far as to call “the human body” a “language and a fundamental means of communication” by recognizing and receiving “communication directly from other bodies, allowing posture, gesture, and imagery to develop as alternative means of transmitting knowledge and feeling of various states of being.”

Last but not least, Mary Kosut called tattoos “ a form of visual communication created within a multiplicity of contexts” in her study titled Tattoo Narratives: The Intersection of the Body, Self-Identity and Society. In the paper from 2000, she discusses the “personal and social aspects of embodied storytelling” relative to the markings. I love that she argues “that the tattooed body is a distinctively communicative body.” Like Kosut, I agree that tattoos have “a great deal to say, not only about the identity of the wearer, but also about the culture in which she lives,” and that tattoos serve as a “conceptual latchkey—a tool that may enable researchers to begin to unlock the complicated relationship between the body, self‐identity and society.”

So who are you? Ink up!!!
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Related Post:

Māori: Origins of a Warrior by Felicia Lujan_January 26, 2012
http://myvoyagethroughtime.wordpress.com/2012/01/26/maori-origins-of-a-warrior/

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Sources:

1874- Newspaper

Transcript of a Criminal Case in The Hour News of London

2000- White Paper

Tattoo Narratives: The Intersection of the Body, Self-Identity and Society by Mary Kosut, Visual Sociology, Vol. 15, Iss. 1

2002- White Paper

Ta Moko: Culture, body modification, and the psychology of identity by Ngahuia Te Awekotuku, The Māori and Psychology Research Unit, University of Waikato, Proceedings of the National Māori Graduates of Psychology Symposium

2007- White Paper

Body identification, biometrics and medicine: ethical and social considerations by Emilio Mordini and Corinna Ottolini, Centro per la Scienza, la Società e la Cittadinanza (Rome, Italy), Ann Ist Super Sanità, Vol. 43, No.1

Foolish: The Illusion of Intellect

The Fool- A Tarot Card- “El Loco?”

Today I read a post about The Fool card in Tarot. One of my favorite gals- Lily Wight of The Arcade of Arts & Arcana posted Tarot art – The Fool on May 9, 2012. I absolutely loved the art work created for that card. Ms. Lily reblogged the tarot post from Tiana Setka’s Divination Blog. After reading the post, I started to contemplate what it means to be foolish? The word foolish can be interpreted in so many ways. The synonyms for the word foolish include: stupid, silly, idiotic, unwise, imprudent, thoughtless, and of course irrational. The antonym for the word foolish is simply wise. At any given time I could be described as all of thee above. Since I take pride in wisdom, how is it that all of thee above can possibly describe me? I am at a loss for words it seems. I guess that my apparent inability to explain my simultaneous identification with synonyms and an antonym for the word foolish, will insure that I remain a humble human.

In 2004, the European Psychologist Journal published a white paper titled Why Smart People Can Be So Foolish. The paper was published in Volume 9, Number 3 (2004) by RJ Sternberg. Sternberg stated bluntly in his article that “not only stupid people act foolishly.” Is that indeed a fact? I do agree. He said that smart people who “tend to act foolishly” can be connected to “five cognitive fallacies.” Those fallacies or misleading notions include unrealistic optimism. Unrealistic hopefulness and optimism come with inevitable disappointment. The author goes on to say that “the antidote to foolishness is wisdom.” Hum? Is there really an “antidote” to foolishness? Maybe I could use a dose of that antidote? What about you? Or is believing that there is indeed an antidote yet another form of unrealistic optimism? You decide…

Deane P. Lewis compiled a web site in 1999 titled Owls in Mythology & Culture. Lewis says that “throughout history and across many cultures, people have regarded Owls with fascination and awe. Few other creatures have so many different and contradictory beliefs about them. Owls have been both feared and venerated, despised and admired, considered wise and foolish, and associated with witchcraft and medicine, the weather, birth and death.” Here we see a similar pattern demonstrating a range of human characteristics which travel from one extreme to another— fear and respect, hate and love, wise and foolish, as well as birth and death.

We can also look at the myth of Pandora in regard to a wise fool. Pandora is sometimes referred to as the first of the women on Earth. It is said that Zeus himself commanded Hephaestus to create the most beautiful woman from Earth and water. To me— creating her from “Earth” would be symbolic of the human form. Think of the phrase “from dust to dust.” Hephaestus then gifted her with the breath of life. As the myth goes, Zeus wanted her to be almost perfect, and foolishly human. This woman was Pandora, and she can be seen as the fool of fools for unleashing the secrets of Pandora’s box or in some versions of the myth, a jar. The jar was as beautiful as she, but she was never to open it. She is said to have been so tortured by what may be in the jar that she felt compelled to lock the jar away in chains so that she would not be tempted to open it. Eventually, Pandora thinking she was so intelligent opened the jar. When she opened the intricate, and inviting container, Pardora simply unleashed a world of pain. What a fool!

The patterns of our human character often demonstrate such a colorful spectrum of extremes. Just as we must be born, we must die. Just as we must be loved, we must be hated. Just as we must smile, we must cry. It is unfortunate that no matter how hard we try to remain wise, the foolish illusion of intellect can blind and burn the eyes of our souls.

Smoke and Mirrors: My First Lucid Dream

This morning it was very hard for me to get out of bed. The second I opened my eyes, I could feel an indescribable ache in my head. I couldn’t understand why I felt so horrible? In my moment of contemplation, I realized that I was smoking in my dream. I am not a smoker, but yet I was blowing smoke like my first name was Puff (yes the Magic Dragon). But it was just a dream? Wasn’t it? I laid around for awhile. I tossed, I turned, I debated calling in to work because I literally felt sick. When I finally got out of bed, I rushed over to the bottle that I felt would give me some hope for the day. I popped an 800 mg Ibuprofen, washed it down with some caffeine, and then convinced myself that the headache would disappear. By the time I darted out the door for the day, my headache was gone. I thought about it all morning… I mean how strange is it to have a headache from smoking in my dreams? I did dream about many other things, but I knew the smoke caused my head to ache. As the day progressed, I wondered… Did I ever really have a headache at all? Or was it all in my head? No pun intended! I know in my waking life any kind of smoke often causes me to get real headaches, but can it cause a headache in the dream world as well, or did last night mark my first concrete proof of a mind-body connection?

Let Me Dream- Bookplate of Anita Herriman Vedder (ca 1870-1923)- Item No. LC-DIG-ppmsca-15533- Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division Washington, D.C. 20540 USA

The more the day went on, the more I believed that my experience was purely metapsychological. Now I know that I was likely still asleep when I believed I awoke with a headache. I know that I had the first lucid dream that I can actually recall. It was a lucid dream with something that is called a false awakening. Metapsychology is basically the psychological connection between mind and body. Many say that metapsychology is “beyond what can be studied,” but am I not studying it right now? “Meta” is derived from the Greek word for transcendence and/or going beyond something. For example… Have you ever had a dream where you were doing anything physical and then really woke up with soar muscles? Apparently I am not the only person who has experienced this type of phenomenon. There are some extreme cases out there. Some people wake up with scratches, bruises, and other serious injuries. Just look for yourself, and follow some of the subject threads available online. Since I am a woman who prefers well rounded research, I prefer to look at four things to make my own conclusion. Those four things are: my personal experience; the experiences of everyday people; scholarly approaches; and scientific studies.

In lucid dreaming, the person dreaming can control what they do in a dream. The dreams are often realistic, but are still fluid enough to be influenced by the dreamer. Maybe because I love writing and being creative, I am able to control some of the data which infiltrates my mind (to some degree)? If I was indeed having my first identifiable lucid dream, then it is highly likely that I experienced a false awakening from that dream. If this is the case then it makes total sense that I was in my own room when I opened my eyes and discovered I had a headache. During a false awakening, the dreamer almost always thinks they are awake because they are in the exact place where they originally drifted off to sleep. Some scholars would say that if I had a lucid dream last night, it would make sense that I was not even awake when I thought I woke up! I probably actually woke up just seconds before I actually got out of bed.

A Study in butter the dreaming Iolanthe- butter sculpture of sleeping woman by Caroline S. Brooks (c1878)- Item No. LC-USZ62-93747- Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division Washington, D.C. 20540 USA

In 2007, the Journal of the American Psychoanalytic Association published a white paper by Peter Fonagy and Mary Target. The paper examined Theory and Psychoanalytic Thought, and was titled The Rooting of the Mind in the Body: New Links Between Attachment. Fonagy and Target studied “the relationship between psychoanalysis and attachment theory” and they described that relationship as “complex.” The scholars researched the “whole idea of the mind comprehensively expressing itself exclusively through bodily referents,” and state that this expression derives from Sigmund Freud’s studies of the “ego” and “body-ego.” According to the paper, “any separation between cognition and physical manifestations at the level of brain, bodily sensations, or actions is an artifact of the cognitivists’ computer metaphor, which implies that cognitive processes can be independent of the body, just as software exists more or less independent of hardware. In general, it is the link of brain and body that generates mind and consciousness. Emotion, mood, and motivation act in concert with cognition, primed by evolution to ensure the survival of the person as a whole.”

Dr. Donald DeGracia published his study in 1997 out of Wayne State University titled Paradigms of Consciousness During Sleep. In his study, Dr. DeGracia attempts “to conceptualize conscious sleep experiences.” His paradigm research confirms that “the most common conscious sleep experience is dreaming.” The paper goes on to say that “dreams are a form of conscious awareness during sleep, and that “when we dream, we are consciously aware of visual, auditory, tactile, kinesthetic and emotional content, as well as thought (both cognitive and metacognitive) and to lesser extents smells, taste and pain.” Hum?? Very interesting. This PhD has discovered that “in a lucid dream, the brain undergoes some kind of change that gives the dreamer metacognitive access to their waking memories. Hence, it may be that a lucid dream is a dream in which the dreamer can compare their present condition with their waking life. It is this ability to compare the dream experience to waking experience that really appears to distinguish lucid dreams from nonlucid dreams.”

The dream of Pilate's wife by Alphonse Francois (c1879)- Item No. LC-DIG-pga-01296- Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division Washington, D.C. 20540 USA

So here is my conclusion… I am 99.9% sure that I had my first recognizable lucid dream. Amazing… It seems that I may have been dreaming I had a headache because I was tapping into latent memories of my experiences with things that cause my head to ache! I had a headache because my mind caused my body to believe it should. I would even go as far to say that muscle memory could have been at work here. I can thank the long gone love of my life, Sigmund Freud for a few things today. Some of those things include: his beautifully sexy brain; the ability of his once lively mind to spark my contemporary mind; his amazing breakthroughs in 1895 relative to the philosophical study of the relationship between the body and the mind; and his still unmatched 1899 study on the Interpretation of Dreams.

Sources:

Theory and Psychoanalytic Thought,
The Rooting of the Mind in the Body:
New Links Between Attachment (2007)
Peter Fonagy and Mary Target
Journal of the American Psychoanalytic Association

http://apa.sagepub.com

Paradigms of Consciousness During Sleep (1997)
Donald J. DeGracia, PhD
Wayne State University
www.med.wayne.edu/degracialab/metaphysics/paradigms.pdf

Blood Diamonds: Tragic Riches

Tragic Riches digital composite by Felicia Lujan. Image includes 4 contemporary images, 1 archaeological image, and 7 layers.

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“Whether we fall by ambition, blood, or lust,
like diamonds we are cut with our own dust.”

***John Webster
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Marilyn was an iconic woman. I can’t help but wonder if she had some part in our materialistic attitudes with her 1953 film Gentlemen Prefer Blondes. When the sexy Monroe performed Diamonds are a Girl’s Best Friend with the attention of handsome men in flawless suits, she likely created perpetually spoiled monsters. Luckily, some of us are able to dismiss the bourgeois and stay practically beautiful. I do not feel that diamonds are a girl’s best friend. Not my best friend anyhow…… I much rather prefer a symbolic diamond in the rough to a physically polished stone. As Thomas Browne Sr. once said, “rough diamonds may sometimes be mistaken for worthless pebbles.”

I rarely insist on having nothing but the best, except for when it comes to coffee! I am proud to say that my inner pampered maiden left this building long ago. I am rich in ways which are complex and reach far beyond the tragedy of mindless consumerism. William Shakespeare believed that his “crown” was in his heart, not on his head. He felt that his crown was not “to be seen,” and that his crown was “called contentment,” which “seldom kings enjoy.” Maybe women insist on having diamonds to fill a void that should actually be filled with happiness? Who knows? Still, it should come as no surprise that those precious stones created under extreme pressure are also shrouded in just the same as an end product wrapped around your finger, or hanging from you neck.

I was prompted to write this post by one of the most powerful quotes in the movie Blood Diamond (2006). Jennifer Connelly as Maddy Bowen says “people back home wouldn’t buy a ring if they knew it cost someone his hand.” This quote makes me feel bad for wearing the one diamond that I rarely go without. Blood Diamond remains one of my all time favorite movies. The movie is a captivating and heartbreaking political thriller which stars Djimon Hounsou, Leonardo DiCaprio, and Jennifer Connelly. I love all of them in this film. It was on television last weekend (but I also have the movie). The Blood Diamond movie is about conflict diamonds which are mined in African war zones. The movie brings the viewer up close and personal with a look at the rebel violence associated with the Sierra Leone Civil War (1992-2002).

I loved actor Djimon Hounsou as the driven Solomon Vandy in the 2006 film Blood Diamond.

In November of 2011, Erica Hernandez published an article titled Are blood diamonds a thing of the past? In the article Hernandez, talks about Christmas and “buying gifts for loved ones.” She says that “the thought of buying, or receiving” a diamond “from a loved one may momentarily excite you, but considering the incidents those diamonds may have encountered on their way into your hands might make you think twice.” Within the last decade, blood diamonds have been of such a concern, that the Kimberley Process Certification Scheme was instituted to help certify that diamonds are conflict-free. I just wonder how often that is really the case? When it comes to money, the brightest of hearts seem to darken like clouds on the most dreary day. Even though there are efforts to stop the trade of these violence riddled stones, it is still up to the consumer to ask about what it is they are consuming. Like with so many other things in life, education is easy to ignore. It takes heart and mind to listen, and ultimately to care.

The Pepperdine Dispute Resolution Law Journal published a paper in 2012 by Shannon K. Murphy. The paper was titled Clouded Diamonds: Without Binding Arbitration and More Sophisticated Dispute Resolution Mechanisms, the Kimberley Process Will Ultimately Fail in Ending Conflicts Fueled by Blood Diamonds (Vol.11). Murphy opens with the quote “in America, it’s bling bling but out here it’s bling bang.” She says that “conflict diamonds” that have been “mined in the resource-rich nations of Africa, have led to the displacement and death of millions.” Her research statistics show that “roughly $8.5 billion worth of diamonds are exported from the African continent each year, with over sixty-five percent of the world’s diamonds originating in African countries.” Wow! It is disheartening to think about. Her paper is actually very informative.

In the end, it is best to ask questions before you purchase diamonds. The seller should be able to tell you more about the stone you are about to spend thousands of dollars on (what if it was your life?). Ask for a certification– ask where the diamonds are from– just ask. I know one thing is true for me- each time I look at the diamonds I have (which are few, and many of them are family heirlooms), I will wonder where they came from? I may wonder if a little boy shot someone that he really didn’t want to shoot, or if a man suffered unspeakable torture so that I could parade a sparkly thing. The older I get, the more I realize that there is true power in education. If you can do anything at all to make a difference in this world, you can continue to learn, change, and grow.

Sources:

Are blood diamonds a thing of the past? by Erica Hernandez (2011)- http://collegian.csufresno.edu/2011/11/18/are-blood-diamonds-a-thing-of-the-past/

Clouded Diamonds: Without Binding Arbitration and More Sophisticated Dispute Resolution Mechanisms, the Kimberley Process Will Ultimately Fail in Ending Conflicts Fueled by Blood Diamonds by Shannon K. Murphy (2012)- http://digitalcommons.pepperdine.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1008&context=drlj

Dragon Heart-Tiger Mind: Working Through the Pain

*Baby Doll from Sucker Punch* Her character embodies the mind/body connection with regard to pain.

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I assess the power of
a will by how much
resistance, pain, torture
it endures, and knows
how to turn it to its
advantage.

…Friedrich Nietzsche

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The infamous poet and philosopher Nietzsche (1844-1900) recognized the necessity of will power. Enduring pain is a major part of being human. At times, pain can seem unbearable, still without pain, true pleasure can never be experienced.

Yesterday I made a stop by Sunflower Market to pick up a few snacks, water, and some Tiger Balm. Over the years I have relied on the balm to get me through some of my physical injuries. Like many, I have a demanding life. Between the gym, home, and work, it seems like I gotta lube up with the extra strength every night. In passing through the line, my Tiger Balm caught the attention of the woman ringing me up. She asked what I was buying, and I explained. I told her I have been working out for years, and that this stuff “was the best.” The little man sacking my snacks happily added “people swear by the stuff!” The woman looked again curiously at the small glass container, shrugged her shoulders, and insisted that she would “just work through the pain.” And so we must. On my drive to work I thought about how I work through the pain. I wondered how others worked through theirs? We all have pain. In my bag, I had some balm to rub on my wrist, but there is no balm for the mind…

The extra strength Tiger Balm I picked up yesterday…

So what is pain? Dictionary.com defines “pain” as “physical or mental suffering” or “to hurt.” On the contrary, the phrase “feel no pain” means “to be intoxicated.” Intoxicated by what? Drugs? Alcohol? Maybe… That can work sometimes for a temporary fix, but the pain remains. What is the true intoxicant and natural painkiller? If you want to kill pain, endorphins can help you work through. Bring on some heart, and some endorphins, and you could be a painless super hero! The natural pain killers are similar to opiates (peptides our bodies produce). They can alter, and can even block the perception of pain. The word endorphin is actually a combination of two words- one of which is morphine. I guess the natural painkiller thing makes sense right?

Now that we can sort of define pain, how do physical and mental worlds fuse and/or diffuse to promote or demote pain? The September 2009 issue of Scientific American Mind featured an article titled MIND on Pain: The Psychology of Pain. The article was written by Howard L. Fields. The author talked about how “pain reaches into our psyches.” Ouch! Yeah- it does… Fields said that “our expectations, mood and perspective on pain powerfully influence how much something actually hurts—and the decisions we make every day.” I couldn’t agree more. In his research, Fields discovered that “most people think of pain as resulting from physical injury or disease, but psychological factors play a huge role in pain perception.” Anybody ever seen the movie Sucker Punch? I love me an amazingly strong, still beautifully soft woman. The Baby Doll character completely embodies the mind/body connection. If you want to see a hot movie about displacing mental and physical pain, that is one to watch.

Oh- and what about the US Pain Foundation mission? The foundation is on a mission, “empowering fulfillment, despite the pain.” I use the heart of a dragon, the mind of a tiger, endorphins, and Tiger Balm to work through my pain. In the end, I respect and appreciate my pain. Pain makes me a better person. The steady sting makes me run faster, push harder, inspires my creativity, and makes me a better writer. That’s how I work through my pain. How do you work through yours?

The Perplexing Concept of Identity

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This weekend I attended a lecture in Albuquerque sponsored by the New Mexico Genealogical Society. The lecture was on Saturday, February 25, 2012, and was focused on the New Mexico DNA Project. This presentation was delivered by Ángel de Cervantes, who now resides in Albuquerque, but was originally from Las Vegas/Montezuma, New Mexico. Ángel is the New Mexico DNA Project Administrator, and is also part of the Iberian Peninsula DNA Project. Ángel is currently a History Instructor, however, he was once a archivist with the State Archives. Since he was once an archivist, he understands the importance of primary documents relative to research, and encouraged the audience to “take the time to do the research” and not just do “the online thing.” The lecture was Part 1 in a series, and was titled Castas, DNA, and Identity: Who are we? What did our ancestors say about themselves? What does DNA tell us about Identity? Ángel explored “the connection of the Castas system in colonial New Mexico” and discussed how “DNA studies compare to the Spanish Castas system and the ramifications on modern identity.” So following is what I have come away with…
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Identity… What is identity? Some online sources define identity as: the condition or character as to who a person or what a thing is; the sameness of essential or generic character in different instances, and all that constitutes the objective reality of a thing; and the distinguishing character or personality of an individual. What does that mean? Well… I think identity is very complex. It is rooted in: psychology; oral, familial, and social history; and of course genetic connections. How do you see yourself? Where do you stand in society- socially, economically, and from a religious perspective? How do others see you? It is all complicated. If it was up to me (and it is not), I would say that none of it really matters. Well maybe how we see the man in the mirror is important? The notion of a “correct analysis of identity over time” is critical according to the Stanford University Encyclopedia of Philosophy. The encyclopedia also mentions a “notion of identity across possible worlds.” But what are “worlds?” Is there more than one world we live in? No, but I think it is referring to the multiple worlds that we can socially and psychologically place ourselves in. Of course our familial ties, and oral histories play a major role in the identity we choose to seize.

Ángel de Cervantes delivering a lecture on DNA and identity. He is the New Mexico DNA Project Administrator, and is part of the Iberian Peninsula DNA Project. Ángel is currently a History Instructor in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

I have taken a look at the Encyclopedia of Religion and Society put forth by Hartford Institute for Religion Research. According to this encyclopedia, “identity is a characteristic defining one’s sense of self,” and the term was “popularized by Erik Erikson” through the 1950s and 1960s, “as a central psychoanalytic concept.” Some of this definition, incorporates “a sense of uniqueness” or “completeness” with regard to identity. Ángel de Cervantes opened his lecture with a clip of Jessica Alba. Alba was a special guest on George Lopez Tonight in 2009. For his show, Alba and her father both agreed to take a DNA Test. Alba submitted for an mtDNA (maternal) and her father for both Y-DNA (paternal) and mtDNA. I think it was a great clip to open with because Ángel set the scene for his lecture on the historical and contemporary problems each of us have faced, or face with regard to identity. As an advocate of DNA testing he said that one reason he likes Y-DNA testing is because “it is what it is if you like it or not.” Alba’s test results were returned to her by Lopez with percentages of 87% European and 13% Indigenous or Native American. You can see that even she did not fully understand her “identity” in that moment.

Artwork on Cuadro de Castas or a Historical Caste System

So what does “casta” mean in terms of identity? A caste system is comprised of an intermixture of race and social class (ethnic, economic, religious). My tiny New Webster Dictionary defines caste as “an inherited socioreligious rank.” Really? Rank? Funny… Personally, I feel that this was more of the case in the Colonial caste system, and not in the contemporary. In 1995, Stuart B. Schwartz published a paper titled Colonial Identities and the Sociedad de Castas in Colonial Latin American Review (Volume 4, Issue 1). In his paper, Schwartz “framed” castas “in terms of race and class” for “multi-racial and multi-ethnic societies of colonial Latin America.” This may still be the case today, though I am not sure that caste is always maintained by an individual even if it can be seen as inherited and ranked? Maybe a number 1 on the ranking system would see me as a number 10? But since I don’t care what others think of me, it would be irrelevant. The Spanish doctoral program in the Department of Spanish, Italian, and Portuguese at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign has a website with pictures of the historical castas or caste system called Cuadro de Castas. The images provide an interesting look at the system.

Some of my notes

Ángel’s study of New Mexico records, as well as the records of the Archivos Enpañoles, allowed him to put together a list of the Spanish Castas he has been able to identify. Some of the castas in Spanish genealogical records include: Chino; Español Criollo; Mestizo; Pardo; Prieto; Negro; Mulato; Tresalvo; Trigueño; and Zambo. Each casta has applicable fractions of race, and may include one, two, or more mixtures. I found it funny when Ángel talked about how his grandmother from Las Vegas called the “dark complected kid in the neighborhood” a “trigueño.” The audience was at odds over that title, and what it means, but that is always the case when dealing with scholars, historians, and genealogists.

So even if I find caste systems irrelevant to my identity today, why should it be important to me as a genealogist and a lover of history? Well of course the main reason is because it is part of history. It is also important because a caste can reveal the status of a person in his or her community at a given point in time. A person in what was a historically higher caste may have: been more educated; could have owned more land; may have traveled more; or may have had royal blood. I think a down side to this is that some of those individuals from a higher caste likely married only those in the same caste, or of a higher caste to stay elite. So much for real connection!? Maybe poor folk married for the right reasons ha?

To sum it all up, I guess I learned that identity really can’t be defined or bottled. I believe identity can be explained to a certain extent, but will always remain a perplexing concept. Since we are humans, we are constantly changing, evolving, growing, learning, and so our identity changes. Identity changes or morphs with time. Personally, I do not wish to be pegged by caste systems. In the end, I know that others will likely classify me with no regard for those complexities which truly define my identity whether I like it or not.

An Archive of Memories: Healing After Repressing Loss

In my book Animal-Speak by Ted Andrews, a bird is very symbolic. Birds are often seen as angels, and flight represents “leaving the earth and rising to the heavens.” The color yellow has long been a symbol of friendship.

Over the years I have combed through historical records on anything and everything. It is rare that I become sensitive in regard to most. Recently, I learned about the early death of two young boys. The boys did not die together, and I read about both of them on the same day. They both died many years ago. One was a teenager who froze to death while lost in the mountains, and the other was a nine year old boy who was run over. The nine year old child died at such a young age, leaving behind his family and friends. Thinking about his death, and considering those left to deal with the loss made me sad for several reasons.

How do children deal with loss? It is complicated. How do adults deal with explaining that loss and comforting their children? Sigmund Freud was an expert in this field. As one of my favorites, he was a master of dreams, healing, and the analysis of the mind. Not long ago, Chris VerWys presented a paper on the Freudian Levels of Mental Awareness. VerWys presented his research as part of the Department of Cognitive Science with the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. In his paper, VerWys identified the three levels associated with Freudian theory.

These levels were: conscious or what we are aware of; preconscious or memories which are easy to access; and the unconscious. The unconscious includes “censored and repressed memories.” Hum? Maybe the unconscious is an archive of memories with restricted access? Maybe the inner vault of the mind? VerWys says that “our earliest childhood memories may be locked in the unconscious, yet might still influence our everyday behavior.” He also said that Freud believed that “understanding the memories trapped in the unconscious” was critical.

In 2003, Nancy Weitzman published a paper titled The Three Stages of Grief. The paper was published online by Suffolk County Community College. In her study, Weitzman identified “three stages of grief that are experienced by” those “left behind.” She said that “these stages include many emotions.” “Each stage” (such as “numbness, disorganization and reorganization)” needs “to be felt and lived through in order to successfully proceed to the next stage.”

The research says that for most “there is no formalized way to sever the relationship you have maintained with the deceased.” I assume there are various forms of closure? What if a child does not attend the funeral? For that child, “the body may be buried, but the emotions of those who love the deceased continue to survive.” Weitzman’s research concludes that “recovery from grief will happen most quickly and successfully if you allow yourself to feel everything you feel and do not repress your fears, your panic or any of your emotions.” If the grief is unresolved emotionally, it is difficult for healing to begin. According to the paper, “unresolved grief will turn into delayed grief.” In children, this can apparently be tricky. Here is what she had to say about children coping with loss.

*****”Children can read their parents usually quite well.  They know when their parents are upset, angry, confused or lying to them.  Deception can harm a child and should never be considered acceptable when dealing with your children for any issue.  When the parents have difficulty facing a death, it will be difficult for the children as well.  When the parents can accept a death and their feelings about the death, the children will begin to come around and be more comfortable with it as well.” 

*****”They should always be told the truth and they must know that their deceased loved one is not coming back to them for any reason.  The death is final.  Should the child attend the funeral, it is helpful for them to know that the deceased is buried in the earth – the finality is clearer for them when they witness a burial.”

*****”Encourage the child to write a letter to the deceased.  Keep pictures around of happy times and of visits to places that were enjoyed.  It is important to have reminders around for the child and for the entire family.  When a cemetery visit is planned, take the child with you and read the gravestone to them.  Help them understand the meaning of remembering their loved one.”

I think these seem like great steps toward healing old wounds, and getting access to the archive of repressed memories. Writing a letter to the person you lost, visiting their grave site, sharing happy memories with others who loved them. We need to remember…

SOURCES:

Sigmund Freud by Chris VerWys- Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI)-Department of Cognitive Science
http://homepages.rpi.edu/~verwyc/FREUDOH.html

The Three Stages of Grief by Nancy Weitzman- Suffolk County Community College
http://www2.sunysuffolk.edu/pecorip/scccweb/etexts/deathanddying_text/Three-Stages-of-Grief.htm

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Chocolate: A Historic Look at the Cliché

A cliché but good image of Montezuma, and what the right amount of chocolate may have done to him.

This weekend I watched two specials on Food Network that were all about chocolate. Apparently my two favorites Giada De Laurentiis and Sandra Lee were celebrating the big V with truck loads of the stuff. Who knew you could fry up beef cubes, and dip them in chocolate fondue? Really? Yuck! I gotta say I will skip Sandra’s recipe for that. Of course Giada is almost always flawless in her explorations of tasteful Italian treats. Sandra Lee did say something that set my mind on “wonder.” She mentioned a few things about the history of chocolate. Now that’s what I like to hear! While preparing one of her dishes, Lee said that an Aztec would drink a cup of chocolate before heading off to be with his harem and she giggled a bit about it. Well- you know I wanted to learn more right? I assumed the foodie was referring to Montezuma (or Moctezuma) but wanted to do some fact checking. What fun this offered! A chance to break from the monotony of red roses and velvet boxes… I mean who isn’t sick of the overdone heart box filled with sad little chocolates? Here is what I found.

I would assume that only dark chocolate could have had any sort of positive mental and physical affect on one man in the presence of a harem. Milk chocolate, and too much of any other chocolate would only make one feel sluggish and chubby! On April 29, 2011, Live Strong (my favorite) published Dark Chocolate and the Human Brain by Beth Greenwood. The author took a contemporary look at the benefits of the dark stuff, which is “made from the dried, fermented meat of the cacao bean.” Greenwood says that chocolate contains “more than 300 chemicals.” Of course, caffeine is one of the best . This author also provided the research of a PhD who “found that flavanols in cocoa — also contained in dark chocolate — increased activity in specific areas of the brain through dilation of blood vessels.”

In 2000, the Journal of Nutrition published Food of the Gods: Cure for Humanity? A Cultural History of the Medicinal and Ritual Use of Chocolate. The research paper was put forth by six individuals for the American Society for Nutritional Sciences (Dillinger, Barriga, Escárcega, Jimenez, Salazar and Grivetti). This team explored “the medicinal use of cacao, or chocolate, both as a primary remedy and as a vehicle to deliver other medicines.” The research concluded the uses of chocolate “originated in the New World and diffused to Europe in the mid 1500s. These practices originated among the Olmec, Maya and Mexica (Aztec).” The paper discusses a creation story in which the Plumed Serpent God of the Aztec named Quetzalcoatl, “discovered cacao in a mountain filled with other plant foods.” This research paper goes on to say that “before initial European–Mexica contact in 1519, cacao was prepared only as a beverage and was a food reserved for adult males, specifically, priests, highest government officials, military officers, distinguished warriors and occasionally sacrificial victims for ritual purposes. This age/gender/status differentiation was imposed because the Mexica perceived cacao to be an intoxicating food, and therefore unsuitable for women and children, as well as a very valuable and prestigious food, and thus reserved for nobility.” Now how was that fair? What the? If Montezuma knew that women are the primary consumers of chocolate on the big V, he would likely die another death in his golden afterlife!

Most interesting of all, the team uncovered a manuscript providing some information on an encounter with the historical chocolate consumers. The manuscript recorded the following:

*****”from time to time the men of Montezuma’s guard brought him, in cups of pure gold a drink made from the cocoa-plant, which they said he took before visiting his wives. We did not take much notice of this at the time, though I saw them bring in a good fifty large jugs of chocolate, all frothed up, of which he would drink a little. As soon as the great Montezuma had dined, all the guards and many more of his household servants ate in their turn. I think more than a thousand plates of food must have been brought in for them, and more than two thousand jugs of chocolate frothed up in the Mexican style.”*****

Hummm? Would he really just “drink a little” of a Mexican mocha?? Is that possible? After eating and drinking like that, could Montezuma really satisfy a harem? I don’t know Sandra!!? Highly unlikely don’tcha think? Hahaha…

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Covert Ops on Ops: Apple’s Possible Move from Intel-based Macs to ARM-based Macs

Thesis reveals a secret project on Apple’s OS architecture.

***Apple intern’s thesis leaks secret project to port Mac OS X to ARM processors***

Originally published online via Apple Insider on 2.7.2012 by Josh Ong

An academic paper written by a former Apple intern who now serves as a Core OS engineer at the company has revealed that it was working on a secret experiment to port Mac OS X Snow Leopard to the ARM architecture.

In 2010, Tristan Schaap published a Bachelor thesis on his 12 week stint as an intern with Apple’s Platform Technologies Group, a subdivision of the Core OS department. The thesis was originally embargoed because it contained sensitive information, but it was eventually published by the Netherland’s Delft University of Technology several months ago, as reported by iMore.

According to the paper, Schaap worked with the group to get Darwin, the “lower half” of Apple’s Mac OS X operating system, to boot onto an ARM processor from Marvell. During the course of the project, he achieved his goal of “booting into a multi-user prompt,” though some issues still remained due to a “poor implementation on the debug hardware.”

It is, however, highly possible that Apple’s explorations into porting Mac OS X to the ARM architecture were not meant to ever ship in an actual product. The company has been known to place new engineers on decoy projects in order to determine their trustworthiness.

But, it is interesting to note that, according to Schaap’s LinkedIn profile, he joined Apple as a “CoreOS Engineer” after graduation and has worked there for almost a year and a half. His profile lists his 2009 intern position as an “Embedded Bringup Engineer.”

Schaap wrote in his thesis that he faced three technical issues during the 12-week project. Having to create a build system, including a filesystem and kernelcache, from the ground up was one of the obstacles. A stale kernel source was also a problem, since bugs snuck in due to the ARMv5 branch of XNU not having been exercised “in a long time.” Finally, Schaap said issues with the JTAG debugger resulted in an “entire instruction set” being unusable.

In order to get the product ready to ship, Schaap noted that the L2 cache would need to be reworked. Several more drivers would also need to be written for the hardware in order to “fully utilize the potential.” Also, Schaap recommended that several applications be written or ported from other platforms since the userland the team had ported was “not enough to perform the tasks the unit needs to perform.”

Though rumors that Apple has been interested in switching from Intel-based Macs to ARM-based ones have been around for some time, one analyst poured cold water on that likelihood last week after a meeting with Apple CEO Tim Cook. Citi’s Richard Gardner said he walked away from the meeting “with the impression that Apple feels iPad satisfies–or will soon satisfy–the needs of those who might have been interested in such a product” as an ARM-based MacBook Air.

Misek had previously predicted that Apple would being merging Mac OS X and iOS this year with the release of an A6-powered MacBook Air. Last May, a rumor surfaced that Apple had built a test MacBook Air with the same ARM-based A5 processor that was used in the iPad 2. Company executives reportedly felt the prototype performed “better than expected.”

Speculation that Apple would port OS X to ARM has also been fueled by the fact that Microsoft announced early last year that Windows 8 will run on the ARM architecture. However, Microsoft’s strategy differs from Apple in that it is making plans for tablets with a full desktop operating system accompanied by a Metro UI layer on top that is optimized for touch. For its part, Apple has itself preferred to take inspiration from the iPad and bring it back to the Mac, rather than the other way around.

From PowerPC to Intel

Apple spent years preparing for the last major architecture switch on the Mac: the move from PowerPC to Intel. In fact, former executives revealed that the company’s failed effort to port Mac OS to Intel was one of the circumstances that brought co-founder Steve Jobs back to the company. The failure apparently made it clear to Apple that it needed to modernize its operating system, so it decided to purchase NeXT, which Jobs had founded after leaving Apple, to do so.

Jobs went on to accomplish the company’s goals, first modernizing Mac OS in 2001 with the release of Mac OS X and then announcing the switch to Intel in 2005. Parallel Intel-compatible versions of Mac OS X existed alongside the official PowerPC variants for five years prior to the switch, as Jobs reportedly had wanted to go with Intel back then, though he ultimately decided to adopt the G5 processor.

Fried Food Is Evil…What the??

Evil French Fries- Digital composite by Felicia Lujan includes 11 digital images.

Why is it that special events like the Super Bowl turn us into ravaged, red eyed, snacking beasts? The bowl can actually be a little less than super after all the rubbish. This year, my excuses to eat junk started well before 5:00pm on Friday. I usually wait until after that time to have a Friday night melt down, and I paid greatly for that decision. By Sunday morning I was the Exorcist to the 5^th power! All that junk had me lazy and super moody. I slept really late on Sunday. I stayed in bed until 11:00am, and frankly, I didn’t really feel the need to move at all. I forced myself to get up. I was being such a bum that I decided to completely skip cardio, and even sat in the car while Mike attempted to train Daryn at the park! What the?? That is unheard of for as many Sundays as far back as I can remember.

So where should I start? Ahhh yes— the queso (cheese dip)… How could I possibly miss out on that? By Friday at lunch, we had received word that the deputy of my agency had whipped up a batch of the goods (of course in honor of the Super Bowl what else?). The second those words hit my ears, I decided that I would chalk it all up for the day- and apparently the weekend! I had to do a last minute tour at my work and by that time what was the point of working out? Instead I ran off to Trader Joe’s for an unhealthy salad, which I swallowed down- as well as several bags of random health snacks (which are actually really bad for you in excess). Between Trader Joe’s and the drive back to my work, I had eaten: freeze dried banana chips; deep fried fake tater sticks; one vegan chocolate chip cookie; and salted/dried green beans in addition to that salad. Yikes! That’s like a five minute drive… What the?? Needless to say the eating of junk and fried food had put me on a focused mission.

After work we hit up the old, but new Real Burger across from my work. There I had a BLT (yes fried bacon, but it was on whole wheat bread and did have lettuce so what’s not healthy?). I also ate real potato french fries. That night, I went to bed after watching my show. The next day, we went to Java Joe’s for breakfast. What the?? We never do that. There I had my regular breve, a white flour, green chili and cheese croissant, and half of a scone. I didn’t really eat lunch, but after that we went to Albuquerque. There we went to the Elephant Bar and what did I get? You guessed it… More fried food! I got fried shrimp. I had ordered sweet potato french fries and they messed up my order, so they brought me out more fries. Yeah— I ate each and every one. Disgusting! I couldn’t figure out why I was in such a bad mood yesterday? After I got back on my regularly scheduled program today, ate right, and hit the gym with a vengeance my smile was back! I felt 101% better. Really…

When am I gonna learn? Fried food and junk is straight poison- not just for my body, but for my mind… Evil… evil…. evil fries! You don’t just have to take my word for it. These horrible foods will take hold of your mood and energy levels. Ask New Mexico’s own Dr. Barry Ramo, or ask Dr. Oz. For that matter, look up the research of Dr. Richard Wurtman of MIT. He has done several studies on how certain foods have a negative affect on neurotransmitters. Yes- there is science behind the unexplained tongue lashing and eye rolling. You can also refer to a recent Psychology Today article titled Nature’s Bounty: The Far Reach of Fast Food by Hara Marano. Here Marano says that according to Toronto researchers, “the data trove” she has uncovered “doesn’t even hint at a larger issue.” This issue is “the behavioral impact fast food has on us…” The author of this article goes as far as saying that these foods “may be undermining happiness as well.”

In looking into this tonight, I discovered a book that I would like to buy. The book is by a New York Times Best Selling Author and Health Journalist and is titled The Secrets of People Who Never Get Sick: What They Know, Why It Works, and How It Can Work for You. I checked out some pages of this book on Google Books, and Dr. Mark Hyman seems to have put forth a well researched resource. So in the end- you don’t have to take my word for it, check it all out for yourself. Next time you are feeling a bit evil, try and remember what it is you may have consumed to make you feel that way. Once you pinpoint the culprits (there will likely be more than one)- get in a good workout, burn it off, and start smiling again!

Further Resources:
The Secrets of People Who Never Get Sick: What They Know, Why It Works, and How It Can Work for You by Dr. Mark Hyman- http://secretsofpeople.com/

Secrets to Staying Healthy- Gene Stone & Dr. Tony Japour Offer Some Healthy Hints- http://abcnews.go.com/Health/video/secrets-staying-healthy-never-get-sick-hints-advice-gene-stone-tony-japour-health-12584662

Nature’s Bounty: The Far Reach of Fast Food by Hara Estroff Marano- http://www.psychologytoday.com/articles/201009/natures-bounty-the-far-reach-fast-food