Winged wonders of the insect world
January 9, 2009 San Miguel de Allende
Slide Show and Lecture
Monarchs, Butter?ies Without Borders
Bob Graham
Tues, Jan 13, 3pm
Teatro Santa Ana
Biblioteca Pública
Insurgentes 25
50 pesos, Audubon members free
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The Audubon Society of San Miguel hosts Bob Graham’s annual and consistently popular slide show, “Monarchs, Butter?ies Without Borders.” Graham is a retired naturalist from Parks Canada and his slide show details the life cycle of the Monarch Butter?y |
and its fantastic yearly migration from the milkweed ?elds of the northern US and Canada to Mexico. Graham is also very knowledgeable about the problems threatening the very survival of the endangered phenomenon that is the Monarch, both in Mexico and in the north.
Scientists believe that Monarch Butter?ies (Danaus plexippus) belong to a family whose evolutionary origins are tropical. None of this family is able to tolerate freezing at any stage of their life cycle so they cannot winter in the north. Nevertheless, over tens of thousands of years, Monarchs have extended their breeding territory into the extensive milkweed ?elds of the US and Canada. In the winter, they must get out.
Accordingly, each fall, like many Canadian and American humans, Monarchs abandon their northern homes and head south. Exactly what triggers this exodus among Monarchs in time to save them is uncertain, but decreasing hours of daylight and cooler temperatures almost certainly play a major role.
The Monarchs’ ?nal destination is high in the mountains that make up the Sierra de Angengueo in the state of Michoacán, only a half-day’s drive south of San Miguel. A short journey for humans, but a very long one for Monarchs—for some of these tiny, exquisite butterflies, their journey spans much of North America.
Given the size of this dainty creature, this migration is one of the most perilous and spectacular in the world. Their trek and the insects’ beautiful, jade-colored, bejeweled chrysalis have made Monarch Butter?ies one of the most popular of North American insects, to the extent that there is a move afoot (a-wing?) to make them the National Insect of the US.
Audubon members can attend the Monarch presentation at no charge, as they can all Audubon presentations. For others, tickets can be purchased at the event. Another alternative is to join the Audubon Society there for 300 pesos and attend the Monarch talk free. All proceeds, in any case, go to the Sociedad Audubon de México. For additional information, call Bob Graham at 154-9856.
Open body, open mind
By Ana Maria Muñoz
Lecture/demonstration
Ana Maria Muñoz
Fri, Jan 16, 3pm
Sala Quetzal
Biblioteca Pública
Insurgentes 25
Donation 50 pesos
Since people stood up for the first time on Earth, our brain has developed, grown and turned very sophisticated, especially because of language and community organization. Now we even forget that we are still mammals, however much we want to be gods. As mammals we have the same kind of reactions as all of them: emotions.
One big problem arising from our standing posture is that it’s very difficult to maintain balance against gravity. Additionally, the way we process emotions as young children becomes a pattern for the ways we live in our bodies as adults. Emotional patterns of the body plus the effect of gravity determine a great deal of our posture.
As we age, muscles turn weak and don’t have enough strength to keep the posture up against gravity, so we shrink. The joints get compressed, we lose cartilage and even bone tissue, while body and posture patterns struggle to keep the balance. At this point we often get joint pains which are all too often treated through surgery.
These effects of aging also affect breathing. Compression of joints due to gravity while aging, affects your whole posture and reduces breathing. The oxygen exchange in the brain and whole body loses efficiency. Old emotional patterns in the body are activated by this compression and negative thoughts and fears show up, so we get narrow.
You can learn how to move and walk in a way that keeps your joints open. You can learn how to handle gravity by improving your posture and your everyday movement. When your body is open, your mind is open, too. An open body maintains good circulation, increases oxygen exchange and brings positive thoughts, making living in the present moment easier.
I invite you to a lecture/demonstration where you can have a little taste of how an open body feels.
Tracking the ‘tecs
Lecture
Ancient Cultures of Mexico: Part I
Guillermo Méndez
Wed, Jan 14, 3pm
Teatro Santa Ana
Biblioteca Pública
Insurgentes 25
50 pesos
| “Aztec, Toltec, Mixtec, Zapotec.” We know they were some of the great cultures of ancient Mexico, but how can you tell one ‘tec from another? If this question has been on your mind lately, you may be interested in a lecture this week by retired professor of humanities Guillermo Méndez. | |
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He examine four major pre-Hispanic cultures described by one Mesoamerican scholar as the four “unifying forces” in ancient Mexico: the Olmec, Teotihuacan, Toltec and Aztec civilizations. The lecture is illustrated with over 200 digital images of the art, artifacts and architecture of the four cultures.
For each culture a distinguishing concept is given and discussed, which help differentiate one group from another. For example, the concept for the Olmecs is “The Mother Culture,” for that is the role they played in Mesoamerican history. Most of the salient characteristics of later cultures were present in the Olmec several centuries before the year zero in our Gregorian calendar.
The ancient cultures of Mexico shared a unique calendar that combined a 365-day solar calendar and a 260-day ritual calendar. This calendar combination repeated after 52 years. These 52-year “centuries” acquired considerable importance in the cosmic expectations of the Aztecs, for example, demanding vital rituals like the “new fire ceremony.” Every 52 years all the fires in the Aztec capital city, Tenochtitlan, were extinguished. On a hilltop outside the city a “new fire” was started on the chest of a soon-to-be-sacrificed person. From the new fire all the extinguished fires of the city would be reignited.
Each of the four cultures had its own style in art and architecture. Again distinguishing visual images will be presented that characterize each culture. In the case of the Olmecs, the colossal heads carved of basalt will be discussed and the unique were-jaguar images, many carved from jadeite, will be examined and interpreted.
A second lecture next week using the same format presents the Zapotec, Maya, Classic Veracruz and Mixtec cultures.
Migrations cover generations
By Arturo Morales Tirado
Lecture
The Monarch Butterfly
Tue, Jan 13, 1:30pm
Teatro Santa Ana
Biblioteca Pública
Insurgentes 25
50 pesos
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Before visiting the biosphere reserve of the monarch butterfly, it is important to understand its life cycle and cultivate a critical awareness of the threat human activities impose on it in Canada, Mexico and the US. |
This incredible insect weighs less than two grams and its long-distance migrations span several generations during a year. Sanmiguelenses can visit the sites in Michoacán from November to March.
The Michoacán monarchs migrate 4,000 kilometers from the US east of the Rockies. During their journey they encounter snow, hail, rain, sub-zero temperatures, natural predators like sparrows and the destruction of their habitats in Canada, the US and Mexico.
This unique natural phenomenon has been threatened during the last year. We know this because the relative population in colonies at 12 hibernation sites was not found at all in five sites, and at the other seven sites the occupied surface diminished by 75 percent from three years ago.
I have visited the Monarch site at least 20 times each cycle over the last seven years. My Thursday lecture is profuse with images to illustrate commentary on this amazing phenomenon.
Talk and movement experience
By Richard Adelman
Lecture
Aging Gracefully: Flexibility After 50
Richard Adelman
Tue, Jan 13, 3–5pm
Sala Quetzal
Biblioteca Pública
Insurgentes 25
50 pesos
The aging process itself is inevitable but how we age is up to us. Body awareness education offers us a way to age with dignity and grace. This practice can be safe, pleasurable and rewarding. In fact, it should be—it works better that way!
Joint stiffness brought on by aging can be annoying and painful. It can interfere with the quality of daily life. The simplest everyday movements like turning your head, getting up from a chair, bending over and walking can become difficult or even impossible. Some people feel so restricted that it is as if they were in conflict with their own selves, trapped in an uncooperative, alien body.
Yet, during my 35 years of experience in the body awareness field, I have learned that movement flexibility and bodily grace can often be regained. To accomplish this I use movements from the Feldenkrais Method, Rehabilitative Pilates, Osteopathy and Somatic Psychology. These approaches go beyond the traditional “no pain, no gain” mechanical approach. Rather than straining to perform uncomfortable stretches, you invite more flexibility by reprogramming your nervous system through gentle movements. With deepened body awareness you relearn to move all the parts of your body together in harmony.
Anthropologist Margaret Mead recognized the Feldenkrais Method as “the most sophisticated and effective method I have seen for the prevention and reversal of deterioration of function. We are condemning millions of people to a deteriorated old age that’s not necessary.”
This is a gentle way to work with yourself with interest, empathy and love. Developing a more flexible attitude toward your body helps you to develop a more fluid and flexible physical body. Perhaps best of all is this: having a practice to help yourself can enhance your self-confidence and brighten your outlook for the future. Optimism is a natural anti-depressant!
This event will include very gentle movements to increase your ease and flexibility in turning your head (e.g., in your car). You will discover how improving your stability can paradoxically also help to increase your flexibility—and vice versa. We will explore how to create more “living space” for yourself inside your very own body. (Those who prefer not to participate in the movements are most welcome to simply observe.)
In addition, I will do a brief hands-on therapy demonstration with an audience member. If you have any questions about this event or my private sessions at LifePath, Recreo 80, between Sunday, January 11 and Sunday, January 18, contact me at 044 (415) 114-3069 or richard@lifepathretreats.com.
Nonviolent communication
By Sergio Rodríguez
Lecture
Sergio Rodríguez
Thu, Jan 15, 3pm
Sala Quetzal
Biblioteca Pública
Insurgentes 25
50 pesos
Something seems to be wrong. Violence, corruption, impunity, betrayal, planetary catastrophe right around the corner on every night’s news. Some way, somehow it seems like something went seriously wrong. Whether religions call it the fall from the garden, the end of times or the Kali Yuga does not really make a difference. Humanity seems to be reaching the end of the rope and desperately ready for a new approach.
Where to begin? We know the answer. Let’s begin with ourselves. Let’s begin with our family and friends, hoping (but not expecting) for a ripple effect. Let’s not begin by trying to change the world, but more humbly, trying to make life more wonderful for those we love (which hopefully includes ourselves).
Now, what should we do? Surely wherever your heart calls you (“follow your bliss,” remember?). But again, let’s begin close to home. We know that violence begets violence. If we oppose the “evil-doers” (whoever they may be) by violent means, aren’t we part of the same vicious circle? Why not begin by learning to be less violent toward others and yourself?
Do not worry; I am not going to invite you to love your enemies, but simply to stop the violence cycle. Please note that I am not talking about physical violence. If you have read this far, I suspect you already know that it is never a solution. No, I’m talking about a more prevailing and insidious type of violence, one that may very well be the source of all others: the violence in the way we talk. Not just yelling, name-calling and criticizing; again I am assuming that you know about their negative impact; if you don’t, please come to the lecture! I mean language that promotes violence and defensiveness, and blocks compassion, language that implies wrongness or goodness, comparisons, diagnoses, punishment or reward and all forms of denial of responsibility. Such language is one source of violence, first toward those at hand (our children or spouse) and ultimately violence among nations.
Naturally, learning to talk differently won’t solve all the world’s problems, but it definitely is a good place to start. At least, it will make a difference in your life, in that of those around you and perhaps (why not?) eventually even worldwide.
I will explore these issues January 15, in preparation for a class to begin January 19. Questions? Information? Want an appointment? Contact me at LifePath: 154-8465 (#1), 044 (415) 112-5222 or sergio@lifepathretreats.com.
A state of spiritual amnesia
By Alejandro Negrete
Lecture Series
Teachings from Spirit
Alejandro Negrete
Eight-week series; second class:
The Path of Return
Fri, Jan 16, noon–1pm
Sala Quetzal
Biblioteca Pública
Insurgentes 25
50 pesos
“We have to define ourselves because love is clear, exact and precise. It is all that needs to be known. We have to soar with the wings of dpirit and see the depths of the soul with the eyes of the eagle, eyes that shed light on the shadows and uncover what the shadows try to hide. We have to be worthy inheritors of the throne of light and this is achieved by allowing oneself to be taught, not by resisting the spirit of light and fire, but by transforming ourselves into eagles of knowledge.”
Our internal realty is dualistic. Within our psyche we can observe the presence of both good and bad. If we act out the negative impressions of our mind, we create suffering for ourselves and others. If we nurture and express our virtues, they create seeds of happiness and truth. Because our soul has been contaminated by the shadow that hides our true nature from our sight, we exist in a state of spiritual amnesia. We are dominated by the illusory projections of our minds and so have forgotten who we are. That is why we have to learn to, “soar on the wings of spirit and see the depths of the soul with the eyes of the eagle,” because it is only from this panoramic vision of our psyche and its depths, grounded in serenity and objectivity, that we will be able to uncover what the shadows have been occluding—the spark of divinity within our hearts, our eternal spirit.
Defining ourselves means realizing that we are asleep as to who we are and making a profound commitment to wake up. This can only happen if we “allow ourselves to be taught.” This means being humble before our ignorance and asking our heart, our spirit, for guidance, for illumination. It is only by opening ourselves to spirit’s action within our lives that its “light and fire” can transform us into “eagles of knowledge,” one who knows himself intimately and precisely, who sees the darkness within himself and chooses to define himself before the light, knowing that in truth he is one and the same with the eternal light of his heart. Thus he becomes a worthy inheritor of the throne of light, which is realization. Love “is all that needs to be known;” all else is unreal.
Alejandro Negrete is a certified facilitator and teacher of the Pneuma System. He offers spiritual counseling, Christic Reiki Healing and Pneuma Breathwork sessions in his private practice. He also teaches the second module of the Pneuma System called The Transpersonal Universe during January and February. Info:
alepneuma@yahoo.com Pneuma System:
www.inkarri.org.
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