Mexica Calendar

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c7xoyrjm8l0&feature=youtube_gdata_player

La Doncella Pipil Citaxuchil

La Doncella Pipil Citaxuchil

Cuentan los abuelos quienes dicen que se encuentra en este barrio, “La Tumba de una Princesa Pipil” muy hermosa, característica de las princesas pipiles, esta doncella quien prefirió morir antes de ser esclava y ser poseída por los invasores en la batalla de la Piedra de la Conquista de nombre Citaxuchil que según la tradición oral se lanzo a las pocas aguas con fondo de piedra de la posa que se ubicaba a unos metros de la Piedra de la Conquista siglos atrás en la cercanías del límite entre el barrio Cruz Galana y San Juan, dicen que hay encanto en esta zona, que cuando se pasa por el callejón que conduce, donde aún se encuentra esta pila, se escuchan susurros.

Abya Yala

Examining Capitalism Through Quantum Mechanics

Op-Ed By Michael Ortiz, Truthout

Saturday, 28 July 2012 08:42 

As human beings, we don't just construct social realities and social systems, but we literally help construct the physical universe of which we are a part. Therefore, understanding the relationship between human beings and the quantum reality of the universe becomes paramount if we seek to truly understand and transform the social and structural systems of inequality that we have created for ourselves.

According to quantum mechanics, the subatomic level of reality exists in an undifferentiated state of dynamic flux until a conscious observer measures it (or looks at it), thus, giving that matter a particular form. In other words, an atom is spread out all over the place as a wave of potential until a conscious observer localizes it as an actual particle through that very act of observation.

The famous double-slit experiment actually captured this protean nature of the quantum world. The double-slit experiment essentially launched particles through a single slit, whereby each particle left a residual mark on the back wall where it landed (creating a single band pattern). However, when particles were launched through two slits, they left a residual interference pattern on the back wall (which can only be created by waves that interfere with each other). Even when particles were launched through the two slits one at a time, they still created an interference pattern. (This occurrence is impossible according to classical quantum physics.) So, in order to figure out how this interference pattern was occurring, physicists placed a measuring device by the slits to observe the particles after they were launched. Astonishingly, when the particles were launched with the measuring device in place, they actually created a residual mark of a double band pattern (which was expected in the first place). What physicists determined was that, prior to being observed, each single particle actually existed as a wave of potentials that simultaneously went through both slits at the same time; thus interfering with itself and leaving a residual interference pattern. So in essence, conscious observation then collapses the quantum wave function of particles and thus localizes them at a fixed point.

Moreover, quantum superposition "holds that a physical system - such as an electron - exists partly in all its particular, theoretically possible states (or, configuration of its properties) simultaneously; but, when measured, it gives a result corresponding to only one of the possible configurations (as described in interpretation of quantum mechanics)." The more we look at elementary particles, the more we realize that there is actually no such thing as one electron or one photon on its own. A particle exists only in relationship to the state that it finds itself in, with no generic or concrete form. So, the more we examine "solid matter" in great detail, the less solid it actually becomes.
(Photo: Earth with cogs and wheels via Shutterstock)Now, contradictory to contemporary quantum mechanics is the traditional conception of solid matter as the "substance" of the universe. Why is this important? Because "belief that the substance of the universe is matter (or physical material) sets the precedent for people to accumulate as many material possessions and riches as possible [especially under the system of capitalism]," says UK author David Icke. Most of us in contemporary Western culture have been socialized to view the world through a consumerist lens (among a plethora of other social lenses) which implies that a solid, material realm objectively exists. Furthermore, the system of capitalism creates the conditions necessary for more and more people to actively participate in practices that perpetuate the misconception that a solid, material world inexorably dictates our perceptions and belief systems. Maximized material conquest and material gain becomes the modus operandi of a capitalistic system.

Further illuminating the nature of capitalism, Chris Hedges states:

"The quest by a bankrupt elite in the final days of empire to accumulate greater and greater wealth is modern society's version of primitive fetishism ... When the most basic elements that sustain life are reduced to a cash product, life has no intrinsic value. The extinguishing of 'primitive' societies, those that were defined by animism and mysticism, those that celebrated ambiguity and mystery, those that respected the centrality of the human imagination, removed the only ideological counterweight to a self-devouring capitalist ideology." 

Here we see some of the characteristics of neoliberal capitalism which subscribe to the notion that the world be defined in "material" terms. The ruling ideology of capitalism has sought out to extinguish any alternative thought or knowledge that understands the world in immaterial terms and replace it with the narrow ideology of materialism, consumerism, commodification. The more people who are complicit in capitalist ideology (among other forms of dominant ideologies), the stronger the possibilities become to fetishize and develop the concept of "the material." all while the expropriation of vast forms of land, wealth, resources and capital become normalized and accepted. Furthermore, once all "material" resources have become accessed (or more importantly not accessed by the majority of people), exploited and exhausted, then the majority of people become even more subjected to the harsh and misleading conditions that capitalism inflicts upon them.

So, as far as quantum mechanics is concerned, capitalism is based on the (false) assumption that an absolute "material" world actually exists "out there." Traditional criticisms of capitalism typically focus on the exploitation of labor and human bodies, as well as massive class inequalities and social injustice; however, they leave out one crucial aspect in it all: that capitalist ideology and capitalist operation mislead us about the nature of the universe (which includes the nature of ourselves since we are part of the universe, as well). With that said, we can actually use our knowledge of quantum mechanics to transform our perceptions about the world around us, thus alleviating some of the conditions that capitalism creates for us. Even Einstein alluded to the idea that we can utilize science to "potentially change the world itself" by using "rational thinking and technology to improve the conditions in which we live."(1) As Peter Dreier states:

"Einstein criticized capitalism's 'economic anarchy' and the 'oligarchy of private capital, the enormous power of which cannot be effectively checked even by democratically organized political society.'"

If Einstein could apply his knowledge of science and the quantum reality to social injustice and systemic inequality, then there is no reason that we cannot do the same here and now.

Given the fact that the underlying premise of capitalism acts in opposition to the principles of quantum mechanics and, therefore, the nature of the universe itself (as understood through quantum mechanics), then we should not be confounded in the least when we experience the destructive consequences of a system that is based on prodigious wealth and material accumulation. This systemic discord or imbalance is bound to perpetuate the likes of environmental devastation and vast human suffering. Furthermore, one of the unspoken consequences of capitalistic operation is the alienation from one's humanity and from nature. Not only are we inundated by a social and economic matrix of domination every single day, but that very matrix detaches us from the universe (or nature) in a sense. So, we should not just look to eradicate the deleterious conditions of capitalism, but rather, we should look to understand and work in accordance with the universe, so that destructive systemic conditions do not even come into existence in the first place.

Consequently, when we look at the world through the lens of quantum mechanics, we see that the economic systems of capitalism, socialism and communism actually have more in common with each other since they all are based on material acquisition and distribution and on the assumption that our world is a fundamentally material realm. However, we can use quantum mechanics to create an entirely new way of viewing and operating inside of the world, which would require a drastic philosophical and ideological change of epic proportion. Epic change, perhaps, is a concept that we may need to start entertaining.

Lastly, as if world hunger, poverty, class inequality, sickness and disease, permanent war and ecological ruination weren't enough to present a critical case against capitalism, then consider the following. In relative terms to the rest of the entire universe, quantum mechanics shows us just how narrow, constrictive and destructive the system of capitalism actually is.
References:

(1) Dreier, Peter. 2012. "Albert Einstein: Radical Citizen and Scientist." Truthout, June 25.

This article is a Truthout original.

Michael Ortiz

Michael Ortiz holds an advanced degree in sociology. He works on equitable diversity initiatives for college institutions and writes about issues that focus on consciousness raising and empowerment.

Yolohuitzcalotl: Quetzalcoatl

One of the key celestial bodies of our Tonal Machiotl (Aztec Calendar) is Venus, Earth's "twin" planet which orbits the Sun in a direction opposite Earth. Every 584 days Venus overtakes Earth's and shifts its rising from the west to the east. This transformation is know in the Tradition as the return of Quetzalcoatl, when the Evening Star becomes the Morning Star.

 

This year we were lucky to be able to see this shift during a 100 plus year cycle of Venus known as a Transit and that it coincides with the Sun in alignment with the black hole at the center of the galaxy, an event that happens every 5,125 years.  From the pyramid, just before sunset we witnessed a dark little ball enter the belly of the sun, move across from right to left, and then both bodies slowly sink into the west. Next morning Venus rose in the east as the Morning Star. This happening was also part of a time in which our ancestors chose to measure the end/start of the Hue Teoxihuitl or "Great Year", a cycle of nearly 26,000 years.

Please let me remind you that on August 12 will be the 5,125 year annivesary of this "era", the time in which people of central Mexico had established a civilization project based on our covenant with teocentli, the Spirit of Corn---which changed from being a sprout looking plant to a tall carrizo-type species giving us cobs of teozintli of seven colors. On this night every year the meteorite showers appears to fall over Cygnus, the constellation representing our Tree of Life.

This will be our fourth celestial cycle as part of "2012", the time during which several sky and Earth cycles occur during the same year span. During this time the Pleiades (7 star cluster) is entering the galactal womb (location of the black hole) just above the Milky Way center line where they will meet the Sun, then on the morning of December 21, the sunrise will be the "tying" of these cycles and entrance into a new era.

Earth herself is undergoing important cycles that will alter her body, climate, and seasons. She will be at a midpoint of a 48,000 years cycle in which her orbit expands into an elliptical (oval) and near circular orbit. At the end of this cycle, Winter and Summer switch places. She will also be at a midpoint of a 26,000 year cycle in which the tropics (Cancer and Capricorn) shrink and expand. We are on a shrinkage phase. This cycle drastically alters climate and weather. Mostly likely our ancestors "synchronize" the tracking of these cycles with the celestial ones.

This knowledge is by no means complete and there are those who know even much more. Please believe that what i share is driven by  sincere desire for all of us to grow in the knowledge of the ancients who were able to construct a civilization based on a natural way of Life.

Tlazo, Carlos Aceves (Yolohuitzcalotl)

The Teotlachtli of Huehuetlapallan

The Teotlachtli of Huehuetlapallan

Spring of 2008

And then I realized that I was in the netemihuiliztli, I was a ballplayer on the court in and within the field of play, along with many others. Some of these others I could sense were my teammates, relatives, allies and ancestors as we ran in crisscrossing surges on the grass winds of the verdant court.

The ball court walls rose on either side beyond dimension to the turquoise sky, following the design left by Smoking Star when he released the Arrow of Awe into the world drawing the quadrant window in the sky, rising and turning like the great canyon walls of our beloved Huehuetlapallan and her sacred waters that carry the Rain of Time.

And the tlachtli, the pulse, the momentous sacred ball whose presence was movement, direction, and measure, the all of alls - shone.  Tlahuilia.  In the illumination, a line was defined: one side black, one side red. One side was the shade of light, the other the colors of light.  It was the boundary of the ball court, the teotlachtli: the context of the contest.

And so it occurred. With the shift of polarity, the intermission of the xinachtli released the regeneration of the Izkalotekah and sent the ball along the boundary line, and then, across. And I - ollamani, a ballplayer: I followed and so here I am now. 

(As told by Tupac Enrique Acosta, Ikalotekatl)

Where the power lies

http://www.indiancountry.com/content.cfm?id=1096417792

Posted: July 25, 2008

by: Editors Report / Indian Country Today

The expression that American Indians are organized into tribes is common everyday and legal language. The expression, in part, comes from the Commerce Clause within the U.S. Constitution in which Congress is granted the right to regulate trade with Indian tribes. All federally recognized Indian communities are now considered tribes for legal and political purposes. Indian people and leaders have taken up the expression and use of ''tribe'' as the legal and political form of their communities, regardless of their history and culture.

The American government wants to work with Indian tribes, with central leadership and collective rights and obligations. During the colonial period, colonial governments did not like working with many decentralized political leaders, and began recognizing centralized leaders among Indian communities when none existed. There were men such as Teedyuscung, who was recognized by the English colonial governments as ''King of the Delaware,'' and others among the Cherokee who were recognized as the ''Cherokee Emperor'' during much of the 1700s.

Often the tribal communities did not pay much attention to the colonially recognized leaders, since they were created for political and trade interests by the colonists, and did not conform to the political and social traditions of the Indian communities. The colonists preferred that Indian governments reflect their own forms of political and social organization, which in those days tended toward centralized leadership by patrilineal males, such as kings.

In the present American period, the U.S. government wants Indian tribes to reflect American social and political forms; hence the current emphasis on constitutional government. Nevertheless, how is the term ''tribe'' defined? How well does a uniform application of tribe as social and political form accurately reflect the diversity of social and political forms of present-day and historical communities? These questions are not well-addressed in Indian policy, if they are not completely ignored altogether.

During the 1950s, the famous anthropologist Alfred L. Kroeber was hired by the California Indians to supply support for an Indian Claims Commission case. Eighteen treaties were negotiated in the early 1850s, but were not ratified by Congress. While several reservations were subsequently created by executive order, many, if not most, California Indians were left landless.

As part of the claims argument, Kroeber and other anthropologist colleagues, such as R.F. Heiser, provided background support for the California Indians and in the end they were successful in gaining a settlement that was paid out in 1972. Kroeber is often in disfavor these days by California Indian tribes, but he was instrumental in helping achieve the claims settlement. Kroeber is also often castigated for developing a linguistic conception of California Indian political and tribal organization, but the writings he provided to the Indian claims court defy that interpretation. He argued ''that more often than not in Native North America, the land-owning and sovereign political society was not what we usually call 'the tribe,' but smaller units.''

Kroeber is not trying to destroy the Indian sovereignty argument; rather, he wants to point out that colonial and now U.S. government officials are not using the expression ''tribe'' in a way that actually reflects the political power and organization of Indian peoples. He suggests that tribes should not be confused with nationalities. Nationalities are groups that share similar customs, ceremonies, languages, and shared social and cultural rules.

Nevertheless, nationalities, and many Indian tribes, do not share a common collective or centralized political organization. The political units of Indian peoples are often located in local bands, villages or lineages. The governing units were local groups that managed and identified local territory, rather than an overall government that held large amounts of collective territory.

Many Indian communities, like the Tlingit or Hopi, did not have centralized principal chiefs, and government and economy was mobilized through villages and clans. Kroeber says, ''Ordinarily, the nationality, miscalled tribe, was only an aggregate of miniature sovereign states normally friendly to one another.'' Kroeber does not deny the sovereignty of Indian government, but suggests that the expression ''tribe'' in many cases - not all - is a creation of colonial and American officials who want and need more convenient political entities to negotiate treaties, trade and policy.

Kroeber and Hieser analyze the Indian signatories to the 18 California treaties and they say that out of 139 groups, only 67 were ''tribes'' and 45 were representatives of villages. Of the 67 tribes, Kroeber suggests that most of them were local sovereign entities that did not have power or authority to surrender the large territories that American treaty officials sought.

''The commissioners evidently pressured the chiefs or representatives they met with, into signing 'treaties' on which they had no possible jurisdiction, and which they probably did not understand.'' The treaty signatories were not representative of the whole of California Indians, and the representatives who attended the treaty meetings were asked to surrender land they neither occupied nor claimed.

Tribes and tribal sovereignty now are central concepts in the discussion and negotiation of indigenous rights and political process in the United States. Of course, larger more powerful groups are much more effective in the political relations of contemporary national and international politics. Nevertheless, political power in many contemporary Indian communities continues to lie in lineages and local groups. Much of what media and anthropologists call factionalism in Indian communities is largely a misreading of where social organization and power lie: not in national or tribal entities, but in local families, groups or villages. Nation building in many Indian communities will succeed only if there is recognition of local political power and organization that is respected and consensually included in the processes of reclaiming, building and sustaining political, cultural and territorial sovereignty.

 

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