César Chávez Day

The last time I saw César Chávez was during a visit that he made to El Paso, in the midst of a strike by the Steelworkers Union (it might have been the Phelps Dodge strike--I can't remember exactly).  He spoke at the Mine and Mill to a very enthusiastic crowd.  His ability to move people with his tremendous public presence and speaking ability had not dimmed a bit.  By the end, the place was shaking.  We had been invited by the local leadership of the union to attend.  I have a wonderful photograph of a ragtag bunch of activistas including Carmen Felix and myself with César.  We all look so young and happy.  I would love to reproduce the photograph here, but the copy I have is a scan of the original, and I think that a scan of a scan would produce an image of terrible quality.  I'll try and get hold of the original and post it here sometime.  In the meantime--¡la lucha continua!

Viktor Frankl

We must never forget that we may also find meaning in life even when confronted with a hopeless situation, when facing a fate that cannot be changed. For what then matters is to bear witness to the uniquely human potential at its best, which is to transform a personal tragedy into a triumph, to turn one's predicament into a human achievement. When we are no longer able to change a situation - just think of an incurable disease such as inoperable cancer - we are challenged to change ourselves.

                                                          --Viktor Frankl, MD, PhD (March 26, 1905-September 22, 1997)

http://www.viktorfrankl.org/

http://www.viktorandimovie.com/

http://www.logotherapyinstitute.org/

Óscar Romero

There are certain individuals who manage to transcend the contradictions and confusion of their times and enter into the realm of pure grace.  Bishop Casaldáliga wrote, “Kept at a distance by curia officials and colleagues, how Romero must have suffered through his agony!”  Certainly, his martyrdom was God’s imprimatur on his life and witness, although its cruelty and tragedy was profound.  His martyrdom was both a prophetic event and a sign of resurrection in these dark times.

Vamos a la milpa

You can actually grow a large amount of corn (maiz) in a very small space.  Many native (heirloom) varieties will grow with little water, especially if you plant the seeds pretty deep.  This will also keep birds from eating them. The key to a successful patch of maiz is to plant the seeds closely together and in bunches rather than rows.  Corn produces lots of pollen, which is carried to the pistils by the wind, not by insects.  In order for the pollen to get to where it needs to go before it or the pistils dry out, plants need to be in close proximity.  Ideally, the pollen should produce a “cloud” over your patch.  You will need at least a dozen plants to reach the “critical mass” where the plants pollinate each other well; more is better.  I will sometimes shake the plants to disperse the pollen if there is little wind.  Once the ears begin to form, you will have to water more frequently.  I’ve never grown squash or melons under the corn plants, but a friend of mine who runs a community garden tells me that squash or pumpkin vines help to “mulch” the stalks.  This is an ancient practice.

The Empire’s Insanity Continues…

Only North Americans seem to believe that they always should, may, and actually can choose somebody with whom to share their blessings. Ultimately this attitude leads to bombing people into the acceptance of gifts.

                                                       --Ivan Illich Celebration of Awareness

La Hierberia, Part 4: Herbs of the Mexicas

More herbs and theirs uses, from the pages of Perspectiva Popular—

Cempasuchil (marigold): A Mexican plant (Tagetes erecta) known to the ancient Indians as cempoalxóchitl.  It is an orange or yellow flower abundant in the months of October and November, as people are accustomed to use it for “ofrendas” for the dead in cemeteries and home altars on November 2, the Day of the Dead.  The juice of the plant was used by the ancient Mexicans as an anesthetic.  Remedy: For stomach ailments and biliary colic drink an infusion of 10 grams of flowers in one-half liter of boiling water as a tea.

Camote (sweet potato): From a Nahua word camotli.  It was the ancient Mexicans who also gave the bulb or rhizome, the “potato,” a name which is now used as the scientific name for the whole plant, batata.  The Ipomea batatas is a plant with creeping, branched shoots, alternating heart-shaped and lobular leaves; large bell-shaped flowers, red on the inside and white on the outside, and tubular roots like a potato.  From this root, starch, sugar, organics, and mineral salts of potassium and magnesium are derived.  Remedies: For burns, inflammations, and erisipela, put a plaster on the affected part made by boiling the camote and mixing it with olive oil.  For internal ulcers, drink cups of an infusion of tuber or cooked camote in half a liter of white wine, with a few drops of corn oil.

Epazote (wormseed):  O’pazotili in Náhuatl, it is a Mexican plant, an herbaceous annual, (Chenopodium abrosioides), whose stem, rich in sugars and branched, grows to a height of one meter; with long, lance-shaped, alternating leaves that are toothed and irregular at the edges, dark green and with a very unusual odor.  The flowers are axillary, formed into spikes, conglomerated into limp, slender clusters, small and white; the seeds are shiny with dull edges.  Common in Texas, California, Chihuahua, and other parts of Mexico and Aztlán.  There is a fetid-smelling species called “hierba de zorillo.”  All species contain salts, vegetable fiber, gluten, gum, chlorophyll, starch, soft resin, albumin, and essential oils.  Remedies: For asthma and bad digestion, drink the leaves as a tea boiled in one-half liter of water.  For stomach and side aches, drink a tea made from 10 grams of the grated root boiled in half a liter of water, let sit for a while, strain and drink.

Colorín (naked coral tree, coral bean): Leguminous Mexican Erythina coralloides, whose indigenous name is zompantle.  The Indigenous peoples used its seeds to induce hallucinations, even though the practice created a grave danger of poisoning.  The tree can reach heights of 12 or 15 meters; its branches are spiny, and its leaves are made up of three broad, rounded leaflets; the flowers appear before the leaves, and their fleshy petals resemble sharply-pointed fingers, with a flower at the end of each branch.  They are a bright red color.  The seeds are very poisonous.  (I have personally heard of a child becoming ill from sucking on a necklace made from the seeds—necklaces are made from them wherever the plant grows.)  The fruit is a dark pod, 10 to 12 centimeters long, with polished, scarlet-colored seeds.  The ancient Mexicans used the seeds as markers in the game called patoli.  The seeds and bark contain several alkaloids, including Erythroidine, a strong central nervous system depressant.  Remedies: For chest infections, drink 10 grams of colorín flowers boiled in a liter of water as tea.  For snake bites and scorpion stings, apply the juice of a branch to the affected area and give the patient a few drops of that juice to drink in a glass of water.