Midsommar: Horror Redefined

Happy Black History Month!

Tezcatlipoca, or "One Leg".

NO. 1

Tezcatlipoca is the god of the night sky, hurricanes, obsidian, conflict, and providence. When depicted, he usually wore a talisman with a disk worn as a chest pectoral. While depicted with black and yellow stripes painted across his face, he is usually shown with his left foot replaced with an obsidian mirror, bone, or snake, as it was lost to the sea monster Cipactli in the mythos. In the Aztec religion, he was the central deity. In Aztec or Mesoamerican folklore, he and other gods could shapeshift, and he was no different as his counterpart was the illusive but powerful jaguar, which is why he is known as the jaguar god.

NO. 2

This figure is extremely popular, and worshipped by the Mayan and Olmec communities. His name in the Mesoamerican language means ‘Smoking Mirror.’ This deity has numerous epithets which allude to different characteristics, like Ipalnemoani ("He by Whom We Live"), Necoc Yaotl ("Enemy of Both Sides"), and Tioque Nahuaque (‘Lord of the Near and the Night’), etc. His power to omnipresence was more a connection that extended far beyond obsidian since ritual bloodletting and human sacrifice were conducted with obsidian. Apart from being a creator god, he was also a trickster and ruled over the modern Aztec pantheon.

NO. 3

Tezcatlipoca, according to Aztec mythology, was born to the primordial creator deities Ometecuhtli and Omecihuatl, and had four siblings; one of whom, Quetzalcoatl, the god of the wind, patron of priests, and inventor of calendars and books; he was known as the Serpent Feathered god. The brothers feuded as much as they worked together, working towards the same goal but sometimes in opposition towards each other. After being born, this deity spent over 600 years for his youngest brother Huitzilopochtli to grow flesh before Tezcatlipoca and Quetzalcoatl, together, made the world. Before the world was made, the only thing that was technically alive were a few gods, a massive ocean and the sea monster, Cipactli, which Tezcatlipoca successfully lured away and killed by using his foot as bait. Both brothers were able to create the world on the sea monster’s body.

Warrior Women!

NO. 1

Many women were able to fight in battles, defend their kingdoms, and take up leadership roles, titled ‘warrior women,’ throughout the centuries. Their stories are inspiring and motivational for women everywhere to continue to be independent, strong, and courageous. The Dahomey Amazons were a real-life all-female warrior militia that existed from the 17th century to the 19th in the kingdom of Dahomey, today Benin of West Africa. They resulted from the male population facing high casualties from war and frequent violence from neighboring West African states, and the king at the time, King Houegbadja, implemented them. They called themselves the Mino, meaning ‘Our Mothers,’ in the Fon language, and were recruited as young as eight. Some voluntarily enrolled, while others involuntarily by their fathers or fathers. The Dahomey women warriors earned their reputation as fierce warriors, often earning the praise of enemies that they defeated in battle.

NO. 2

For the Greeks, they had the Amazonians; several tales from Greek mythology have been written about them. They were raised to fight from birth, where they would defeat and kidnap male warriors and keep them as enslaved peoples, mated with them, and kept their daughters raised as Amazons while having their sons be returned to their fathers. In one tale, the fight against the mythical Heracles, where one of his labors was to obtain the girdle from queen Hippolyte, the queen of the Amazons. They weren’t just mythical though; they were just real as well. Many burial sites revealed that ‘‘In the grasslands of inner Asia, from the Black Sea to western China, Scythian women had the same skills as their men: wielding bows, riding and herding animals, fighting – and dying from their injuries. Their remains have been found in tomb mounds from Crimea to western China.’’

NO. 3

The Valkyries were the Norse equivalent of female warriors, who, in mythology, guide the souls of the noblest of the dead to Valhall. Many famous poems and Eddas are centered around these famous warriors of Odin, king of the gods. Still, we’re not talking about mythology but actual female Viking warriors. In 2019, archaeologists uncovered the remains of a decorated female warrior from the 10th century, proving women held high-status positions in Viking culture. ‘‘Several weapons were buried alongside the body, including a sword, armor-piercing arrows, a battle knife, an axe, a spear, and two shields, indicating that the skeleton was likely that of a warrior. Accompanying the wide array of weapons were two horses, a full set of game pieces, and a gaming board. The gaming pieces suggest that the person buried was a high-ranking combatant who was knowledgeable of strategies and tactics.’’

“Getting newsrooms out from under the management of hedge funds, tech billionaires, and other corporate conglomerates and into the hands of citizen-activists providing oversight for the proper reporting and representation of crucial community issues would be game-changing to the practice and consumption of journalism, promoting real trust and engagement in news through the active participation of the people it serves.”

— Trustworthy News for a New Normal

The Tuskegee Experiment

NO. 1

The Tuskegee Experiment was a hoax experiment used to study how black Americans differ from white Americans in catching a disease. It was a study truly held on the biases and stereotypes of other races. No scientific experiment inflicted more damage on the collective psyche of black Americans than the Tuskegee experiment. ‘‘In 1932, following a survey of the incidence of syphilis in a number of Southern regions, the venereal disease division of the U.S Public Health Service (USPHS) began what turned out to be a forty-year project in Macon County, Alabama, to follow the effects of untreated syphilis in some 400 black men. The study continued through World War II, when a number of the men who were called up for the draft and, had they not been research subjects, would have received medical attention for their infection. It continued through the 1950s, after the efficacy of penicillin treatment was established, and after the Nuremberg trials produced a code of ethics for biomedical research. It lasted through the 1960s, untouched by the civil rights agitation, and unaffected by the code of research adopted by the USPHS itself. It ended only in 1972 when an account of the experiment in the Washington Post sparked a furor.’’

NO. 2

One question that boggles the mind is how could an experiment of such degree that violated both moral and medical ethics continue on for so long? Unfortunately, no questions were asked about the rights and welfare of the men who became study/research subjects, and those same men didn’t even understand that they were unwillingly participating in a research project. Each man was given many treatments, placebo’s mostly, including a ‘spinal tap’, where the needle went directly into the spine without anesthesia, just to see what would happen. ‘‘At least three generations of doctors serving in the venereal disease division of the USPHS, numerous officials at the Tuskegee Institute and its affiliated hospital, hundreds of doctors in the Macon County and Alabama medical societies, and numerous foundation officials at the Rosenwald Fund and Milbank Memorial Fund. It also includes the many readers of such medical journals like the Public Health Reports, the Archives of Internal Medicine, and the Journal of Chronic Diseases. These readers could not have escaped the conclusion that untreated blacks had been severely damaged. In July 1954, an article in the Public Health Reports, to choose one example from many, concluded that ‘the life expectancy of a Negro Male between the ages of 25 to 50 years, infected with syphilis and receiving no appreciable treatment for his infection, is reduced by about 17%.’’

NO. 3

As the 400 men were being ‘treated’, government officials were ecstatic to see that syphilis was the same in blacks as it was in whites, by looking at the many and various autopsies of the men who did not survive, due to organ failure and damage. Racism was at the forefront of this tragedy, as scientists saw black men as expendable and looked forward to seeing the disease progress. Men who were affected tried to seek out treatment elsewhere, in other counties but were called back by the very doctors and nurses they trusted, since they were apart of the study. Once the news story broke out, many in the black community lost faith in the government and no longer believed health officials who spoke on matters of public concern. For example, when the AIDS crisis began in the ’80s and ’90s, ‘‘the Tuskegee experiment predisposed many blacks to distrust health authorities, a fact many whites had difficulty understanding. The NYTimes on May 6, 1992, many black Americans believes that AIDS and the health measures used against it are part of the conspiracy to wipe out the black race. To support their assertion, their editor cited a survey of black church members in 1990 that revealed ‘an astonishing 35% believed AIDS was a form of genocide.’

Tyre Nichol’s mother has set up a memorial fund to help pay for mental health services for his family and a memorial skate park in his name. If you cannot donate, please share.

i am begging you all to stop treating this site like instagram if you dont want it to be content free by next year

Blog #1 : my definition of being alone

I should have started this, this week, but today I feel like I should write this down. Or at least write it here so I don't feel alone. And that is my problem, I guess. Going to a small college was supposed to be a good thing for me, a way to make friends. And I did, for the first two weeks I came to Wells. But they promised we all would go out to eat, and they all drove off without me, texting me 'Sorry'. Did I mention that we all live in the same floor? As if I didn't have enough problems, today, a Thursday, November 1st, my stupid teacher, who's only job is to ease freshmen into the stages of college. Whatever that means. Anyway, he asked me, flat out in class, if 'don't you have friends?' Leaving the rest of the class to snicker and whisper just pound enough for me to hear, answer for me, 'No.' I assured my mother that I would be fine like this, but I'm not. That I'm here for my education and that's that, but that's just an excuse, and a dumb one at that. I feel like I haven't left the Bronx. Cause that's where I'm from, and if you don't have a mean face, you look vulnerable, and my face hasn't been like that in four years. The four years I've been in high school. But I don't think I've let it go. And that may be my problem, having a stone face.

Humor vs. Religion

 There are paradoxes between such serious topics, as nothing is supposed to be considered funny when we’re talking about religion, but as we progress throughout the modern 21st century, humor and comic strips have been presently active and tolerated, at most. ‘’[1]The normative view is that religion is a serious and profound human concern, deserving respect and generating awe. This normative prescription does not deny that many people, including clergy, display a certain sense of humor about religion. However, treating religious matters with too much frivolity or making religious jokes verging on profanation may lead to rebuke. This form of comedy—printed cartoons from the comic pages of newspapers—provides insights into the intersection of humor and religion. We also attempt to develop some generalizations about the role of religious messages and symbols in cartoons.’’ The discourse of the ‘sacred’ has become the talk of the past two centuries, with many stereotypes coming from it.

For instance, the Simpsons’ character, evangelical Ned Flanders, is a popular icon and stereotype for ‘overzealous religious men/women’. ‘’[2]The Simpsons’ portrayal of religion in America has been used to illustrate everything from the revelation of God’s grace (Dark 2002) to religion’s failure in the face of science (Delaney 2008). While each commentator takes their own particular stance on The Simpson’s depiction of religion, there is frequently a conflation between The Simpsons’ satire and reality. That is, The Simpsons’ depictions of religion matter because they are treated not as frivolous cartoon humor, but as satires which criticize competing moral and civic perspectives of religion’s relevance in the United States.’’

  Religious themes take an interesting turn in comedy, as every good joke starts with the truth as it helps some people cope with life. ‘’[3]Humor is a form of self-expression. The jokes we tell and laugh loudest at giving clues to our central preoccupations, needs, and frustrations. It is, therefore, possible to use humor preferences as an indirect means of assessing personality (Eysenck and Wilson, 1976). If jokes are split into three very broad categories—sexual, aggressive, and nonsensical—people who permissive and high in libido (especially men) laugh most at the sexual jokes, people who are overly aggressive (as measured by hostility questionnaires) are most amused by aggressive humor, while controlled, conventional, or ‘respectable’ people go for the relatively harmless nonsense jokes. The fact that humor functions as a form of ‘release’ has been demonstrated by studies in which the motivational state of the subject is made angry by deliberately cussed behavior on the part of the experimenter’s accomplices, this will selectively enhance the environment of hostile humor.’’

   Of course, some critics don’t exactly like humor, or feel that it has any real basis on religious matter. ‘’[4]Religion, for the most part, has not been kind to humor. The early rabbis condemned jesting and laughter as did the church fathers. Rabbi Akiva said, ‘Jesting and levity accustom a person to lewdness.’ Saint John Chrysostom asked, ‘Christ is crucified and doest thou laugh?’ Those fixated on the world-to-come have little sympathy for the distractions of the world in which we live. In this respect, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saint is no different from any other. Salvation is a serious business and the institutions, offices, and practices that ensure salvation merit reverence—not ridicule. But a church is not simply a bundle of beliefs and ritual practices. It is organized for and by people, and those people, whether they like it or not, must work out their salvation in this world. Thus, as examples in this article demonstrate, a bishop, who is supposed to be a wise and effective leader, an inspiration to his ward, can be a fool or philanderer.’’

  In mythology, many characters, including gods, use humor or ‘charm’, which makes the story much more interesting to the reader and the audience. It spins the story along; comedy is a great form of expression, especially when it is used day by day, especially in what is seen in a ‘serious’ society or used for serious topics. ‘’[5]The Nez Perce tribe are a tribe of Indians who in pre-White days inhabited parts of southeastern Washington, northeastern Oregon, and northern Idaho south of the Coeur d’Alene county. At present most of the members of the tribe live in Idaho in Nez Perce, Lewis, Clearwater, and Idaho counties. I [author] have classified the humor in the Nez Perce myth body into six different categories: (1) the humor of the pompous or stupid individual who comes to grief; (2) the trick, including transformations and practical jokes, (3) the obscene, (4) other incorrect or eccentric social behavior, (5) humor following from a lack of knowledge, real or pretended, and (6) sarcasm or irony. In general, humor or language, which Gladys Reichard distinguished from the humor of the situation in the Coeur d’Alene mythology, tends to fall in the fourth category. Humor is undoubtedly the deepest and most vivid element in this mythology.’’ Many mythologies have tricksters, who are basically the president of the humor club, or what people or other characters call, ‘up to mischief’. Not only do they prolong the story, but they also change the society, as it could always be better. Coyote, belonging to the myths seen above, ‘‘has a sufficient compound of vainglory, stupidity, sexuality, and gluttony within his character to make his downfall a humorous element in a story without his actually indulging in any character somewhat like a clown in a circus whose very appearance brings laughter even before he has done anything to merit such a response. This humorous quality which is inherent in Coyote’s character that may well account for his appearance in a large number of stories in which he plays only a minor function. He adds a spice of humor and interest to the story simply by his presence.’’

Humor themes may change because the originally ridiculed objects/behaviors have changed to reflect dominant values and hence are no longer defined as deviant. On the other hand, thematic change may reflect a change in the values themselves; what was once defined as deviant now represents the accepted status quo. In conclusion, religion and humor, once two separate topics created by humanity but were called paradoxes, the ‘sacred and serious’ and the ‘profane and humorous (mischief) are now seen together, hand in hand. Each subject, like science, religion, art, math, all have stereotypes, and we could either dwell on those failures or laugh and learn from them.

Thoth's Prophecy of Egypt

Who was Thoth? Thoth was the Egyptian god of wisdom and intellect, the creator of writing and hieroglyphics, science and magic, and is the representative of the gods. He is depicted human-like, but with the head of a baboon, his most sacred animal. Though Thoth is interesting to research, we’re more concerned with his prophecy for Egypt, located in the Hermetic texts. Every god has slight differences but overwhelming similarities. Hermes, the god of flight, was the Greek equivalent to Thoth.

What were the Hermetic texts? They were the philosophical texts dedicated to the Hellenistic figure Hermes Trismegistus, found in pagan circles like Syria and Mesopotamia who never had to endure the rise of Christian Fascist suppression, which escaped Muslim persecution by the artful device of inventing or becoming the religious group known as the Sabians, named in the Koran, hence deserving of respect, as Sabians mean ‘people of the book’. Eventually, the documents ended up in Constinapole. ‘‘The work is basically a dialogue in question and answer form. The two chief interlocutors are the god Thoth and a disciple ‘who wished to know.’ Another God, seemingly Osiris, also speaks with a disciple. This literary frame might suggest a comparison with the Greek Hermetic writings, which are also teaching dialogues between Hermes-Thoth and disciples. This comparison would appear all the more legitimate than in the Demotic text, Thoth is once called wr wr wr, ‘the thrice great one’. ‘‘

Thoth’s prophecy is a description of the nature behind cosmology, on the nature of God, the cycles of life, and the nature of the world. Every culture has what is commonly expressed as philosophical teachings; sometimes they are shared, like Greece and Egypt. Except this Egyptian content was created more than 2,500 years before Greece’s literature on philosophy. ‘‘The Hermetica as a whole is plainly a product of Greek culture in Egypt. The famous case from Edfu of Thoth, the Egyptian Hermes, introducing himself and establishing his direct descendent from the supreme god Ra. In short, the occurrence of the ‘I am..’ formula in a text from Egypt is immediately suggestive of native religious traditions.’’ But what does the prophecy entail? Why the doom of Egypt of course. An excerpt from Acclepius III spins the tale of the fall of the city, of the people, of the gods, and of their empire.

‘‘Nay, it should rather be said that the whole Kosmos dwells in this our land as in its sanctuary. And yet, since it is fitting that wise men should have knowledge of all events before they come to pass, you must not be left in ignorance of this: there will come a time when it will be seen that in vain have the Egyptians honored the deity with heartfelt piety and assiduous service; and all our holy worship will be found bootless and ineffectual. For the gods will return from earth to heaven; Egypt will be forsaken, and the land which was once the home of religion will be left desolate, bereft of the presence of its deities. This land and region will be filled with foreigners; not only will men neglect the service of the gods, but ...; and Egypt will be occupied by Scythians or Indians or by some such race from the barbarian countries thereabout. In that day will our most holy land, this land of shrines and temples, be filled with funerals and corpses. To thee, most holy Nile, I cry, to thee I foretell that which shall be; swollen with torrents of blood, thou wilt rise to the level of thy banks, and thy sacred waves will be not only stained but utterly fouled with gore. Do you weep at this, Asclepius? There is worse to come; Egypt herself will have yet more to suffer.’’