An Aptani woman whose nose is adorned with Yaping hullo (nose plugs).
A long time ago we had written about Kayans, the women from Burma who wear thick rings on their necks from a very young age. Those neck pieces were enchanting and repressing, today we shall take a look at the Apatanis, also known as the Taniis, the tribe from Arunachal Pradesh in India, whose women adorn their noses with huge nose plugs.
Its a strange custom, like the Kayans, but every custom has a reason though different from common beliefs and as the years go by most ancient customs become extinct. But there is lots to learn from every culture, lets take a look at what the Apatanis have to offer.
Apatani Traditions:
Although todays generation of Apatani women choose not to wear the yaping hullo (nose plugs) it has been an integral part of their roots.
Started decades ago, this tradition is believed to make the Apatani women look unattractive to males from other tribes. Apart from the nose plugs, the Apatani people practiced facial tattooing, where the females had one tattoo running from the forehead to the tip of their nose and another one on their chins.
Fractals have always captivated me, the intricacy of the patterns which can be infinitely complex in nature and simple at the same time.
Its like a fragment of an object that is self-similar to the whole, and when you realize that such fractal patterns or better known as, building blocks of God, are all around us, it will leave you amazed – clouds, trees, plants, mountain ranges, various vegetables or shorelines, snow flakes, lightning bolts etc.
Of course there are several fractal generating softwares that can help you create fractals and play around with them, but nothing like spotting patterns in nature.
Let’s take a look at some amazing fractals found in nature. These are a collection of photos taken by us during our trips, that knowingly or unknowingly, represent Fractals.
Flowers
One of the beautiful creations of nature – flowers – can be fractals as well, and they add another dimension to the whole landscape.
Red multi petaled flower
Fractal flowers at Valley of Flowers in Uttaranchal
A beautiful lotus
Bunch of flowers each bunch has the same pattern and so does every tiny flower
Fruits/Vegetables
The repetitive patterns are also found in fruits and vegetables, and are often overlooked.
Fractals in Pineapple
Patterns on Jackfruit
Bitter Gourd might not be a popular vegetable, but it certainly is a perfect example of fractals found in nature.
Bitter Gourd, a fine example of Fractals
Broccoli is another vegetable displaying spiral patterns of fractal that simply looks stunning.
Plants/Trees
Something as simple as a leaf can have fractals in it, like the one below, a macro shot of the leaf shows the veins forming an irregular, recurrent pattern.
Fractals on a Leaf
Fractal Fern
Wild plant is it a Mandelbrot or Julia?
This one is my favorite, which I came across in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. The crowns of individual trees (Dryobalanops aromatica or Camphor tree) form a puzzle-like pattern. This phenomenon is called the ‘Crown Shyness’ because the tips of the leaves appear to shy away from each other, leaving gaps of a few inches.
Crowns of trees forming Fractals
The branching tree form fractals as well.
Branching pattern of a tree
Fractal Mountains
This is a beautiful example of fractals on the mountain range.
Its a lovely picture when you look closely at the rising moon in the background, top left, the moving cloud and fractals to enhance the view.
Fractular Mountains you can see three large peaks and then three small ones on the left of the larger ones! Beautiful 🙂
Clouds
If you observe the skies regularly, its likely to chance upon something like this. The majestic view of the setting sun with fractal clouds, a picture perfect moment captured in Mumbai.
Fractals in the sky
Insect
Caterpillar chewing on a leaf slowly and steadily, it finished quite a bit in a day.
Caterpillar on a leaf, each segment is a perfect reproduction, the geometry of the universe!
The enlightening journey continues… In this second part of a woman’s recovery from Breast Cancer, you will see its profound impact on body, mind and soul, and the shamanistic rituals that have healed many from different illnesses.
The Miraculous Recovery
When Margaret de Wys returned back to New York, she checked with her doctor and found out that the cancer had disappeared and her breast was clear. I asked her views on alternative healing of cancer as compared to modern medicines, Margaret said, “People should seek traditional medicine as soon as possible.
Painting depicting Shaman in an Ayahuasca healing ceremony
Margaret de Wys, US-based music composer, sound artist and author of the book Black Smoke, traversed through various boundaries and ventured on unknown paths to be cured of Breast cancer and it was her faith in indigenous way of Shamanic healing with the use of Ayahuasca, that gave her a new life.
What is Ayahuasca?
Ayahuasca is a Amazonian plant mixture prepared from a combination of plants and chemicals which varies in potency, depending on the maker. The brew is a traditional South American preparation most commonly combining the Banisteriopsis caapi vine (harmaline/harmine as MAOI) and Psychotria viridis leaves (DMT).
This drink is widely employed throughout Amazonian Perú, Ecuador, Colombia, Bolivia, western Brazil, and is used mainly as a medicine for healing under the guidance of an experienced Shaman.
The Sacred Ayahuasca Spirit Vine
There are many methods of preparing Ayahuasca, it varies as per the tribes, but the basic procedure would be the same. The bark or whole stem of the Ayahuasca vine is shredded, pounded or ground and soaked in water along with a suitable DMT carrier, such as Psychotria viridis leaves. The liquid is heated or boiled for half a day by the shaman, who will at various stages chant/sing and blow smoke over the brew. The result, a muddy, bitter-tasting liquid, which takes a person to a higher dimension, a different reality.
Shaman preparing Ayahuasca brew
The journey begins…
When Margaret was diagnosed with cancer in 1999 she was on the peak of her music career. The news of her sickness blew her off the lid putting her life and career in total disarray. Like any doctor would suggest she was asked to go for surgery, radiation, and hormone pills, fortunately, around that time she got an invitation to attend a Mayan ceremony in Guatemala in preparation for the planetary transition to take place in December, 2012. She decided to go not only with the intention of being part of this ceremony but also to find a traditional healer from the several Native American healers who would turn up for this event.
Carlos, the healer and spiritual leader from Amazon, conducting healing
That’s where it all began…She was approached by Carlos, a Shuar uwishin (healer and spiritual leader) from the Amazon jungle. An excerpt from her book that describes her healing and life-changing experiences, quotes Carlos – “Your body is transparent, like a drinking glass. The ayahuasca and ‘doctor’ spirits have shown me where to heal you. Black smoke is trapped in your breast. I ‘see’ with my spiritual eyes. I can enter the veins and organs of the infirm.”
Terence McKenna, a modern philosopher, who’s main interest was psychedelics and their role in society, gives an interesting perspective on Shamans.
He said he could cure her. Mesmerized by his spiritual power and with the hope to get healed, she left her family behind in the US and followed Carlos into the jungles of Ecuador to experience a traditional way of healing. Giving her views on opting for alternative healing for Cancer, Margaret told Fractal Enlightenment, “When people learn they have a serious disease it can lead to looking at other healing modalities. That happened in my case. I was cured of breast cancer by a Shuar medicine man and bush doctor. I went to the Amazon in Ecuador to be treated by him.”
The Amazonian jungle where ayahuasca healing takes place
The Sacred Experience with Ayahuasca (also called Natem)
Margaret’s healing included arduous, intense purifications, difficult initiations, and drinking plant medicines. The setting was in the dense jungles inhabited by crocodiles, insects, butterflies and poisonous snakes; canopy of treetops soared high with vines draped around it, and no electricity or news. She stayed in a small community of Quechua and Shuar people in the jungle outside Puyo, where the first ceremony took place.
The long house where the Ayahuasca ceremonies are held
The locals were seated in a longhouse with open sides, thatched roof floor covered in dirt and the only light came from the fire burning in the center of the room. After consuming Ayahuasca brew, some of the locals began to vomit, a common occurrence in these ceremonies (shamans believe that its the physical manifestation of dark energy and toxins being purged from the body while some suggest its better not to vomit and hold the medicine in), others passed out.
The medicine slowly started to show effect on Margaret, as she felt a cold tingling sensation rise through her core, her pupils began to dilate, brain expanded flushing out images and sound, her hearing heightened to a level where she could hear a twig crack hundreds of yards away and she started to shake violently.
Carlos began his shamanic healing, swirling his fingertips and pressing hard in the fleshy parts where the black smoke laid. She cried in pain, while Carlos magnetized the black smoke (cancer), and it followed his motion as he drew it out of her body. She felt the disease being sucked out of her. Margaret described her experience, “My cells were alive, pulsing, beating the rhythm of the cosmos. Some were spontaneously regenerating, sending live signals to others beside them. The dark spots in my breast were black holes sucking energy into another sphere, one in which living things were doomed.”
Margaret continued with the healing ceremonies three times a week, describing each ritual as terrifying, holy and intense. Ayahuasca often induces visions/hallucinations in the taker and it can be monstrous, bizarre and mysterious. “Once, I was forced inside the mouth—the size of a garage door—of a giant anaconda. I passed through diamond-shaped portals, going deeper and deeper, where I was introduced to mysteries,” Margaret describing one of her visions, which of course, vary from person to person.
The medical system of today’s date would rather have patients sick than recover from their illness so that they could reap more returns. But all the apples in the basket are not rotten, here we have Dr. Abram Hoffer, MD, PhD, RNCP (Registered Nutritional Consulting Practitioner) who is the founder of The Orthomolecular Vitamin Information Centre.
Schizophrenics lack the ability to remove a hallucinogenic metabolite adrenochrome from their brains and Hoffer could decrease the concentration of adrenochrome in the brain by using vitamin C
In this enlightening video Dr. Abram Hoffer speaks about todays medical system and how a treatment strategy that uses megadoses of vitamins B-3 and C in conjunction with correct nutrition to treat Schizophrenia. This orthomolecular treatment yields a 90% recovery rate in acute cases and up to 50% in chronic patients.
