Volcanoes

Volcanoes

Volcanoes are areas on the Earth where a liquid, molten rock known as Magma, can escape from the inside of the earth's crust, creating a new liquid type of molten rock known as lava that erupts and spills onto the earth's surface. These large areas can either be found most notably within a mountain, or even underwater, where most of the active volcanoes can be found at this current time.Volcanoes are often associated with being one of the most dangerous places in all the natural world, especially active ones, as hundreds of thousands of people have been killed at the hands of volcanic eruptions. Therefore, many people have looked into why these cataclysmic events have occurred over history and have come up with various different explanations, both within the realms of science and the supernatural, as to why volcanoes erupt and cause so much destruction.

Supernatural Explanations

Their are many beliefs that volcano eruptions occur due to the influence of gods/demi-gods. In Hawaii, the one often deemed responsible is Pele, the goddess of volcanoes. She was thought to have the ability of causing earthquakes by merely stomping of her feet on the ground. Volcanic eruptions were believed to happen she would use her magic stick called a Pa'oa to dig out lava from inside a volcano. 

Another example comes from an old legend from New Zealand of a man-eating demon named Tamaohoi. For centuries, the demon was said to have been imprisoned inside Mount Tarawera in New Zealand. And he laid dormant within the mountain, until one day, when the morals of man had to declined so far under the white man's influence, that Tamahoi was called upon to punish the people for their sins, so he burst out of the mountain, causing a volcanic eruption and killing an entire village in his wake. 

These example show that volcanic eruptions are often seen as these acts of god to punish the people for insolent behavior, or as a way for these gods to inflict their wrath upon the people. The destruction that volcanoes can cause does imply this, as the lava from volcanoes destroys almost everything in its path, and can't be stopped. 

Scientific Explanations

In the scientific realm, volcano eruptions happen do to rises in density and pressure.  When the pressure inside of a volcano is increased, it causes the gases and the magma inside to increase as well, and start flowing upwards to where the vents at the top of the mountain or underwater sea floors. When that occurs, the magma escapes from the volcano and turns into lava that bursts out of the volcano and spill to the surface.

There are many ways a volcano's pressure and density can increase. One way is movement within tectonic plates, where volcanoes can often be found located in between two or more. As the plates start moving apart, the magma will fill the gap left by the separating plates and slow rise out, and if two plates start colliding together, the volcanic chamber will start to fill with other sea materials, such as rock, seawater, etc., each turning into additional magma and cause the volcano to overflow and erupt. Another cause can be decreasing temperatures that freezes old magma, causing it to sink to the bottom of the volcano and just like adding ice to a glass, makes the magma at the bottom rise upwards, til it eventual reaches the top and erupts.

So there are many sound and logical explanations as to what can cause a volcanic eruption to happen. Most cases however is just a matter of natural occurrences on the planet that shift the volcano's inner chamber and make the pressure and density rise up, to the point where it explodes and causes lava to travel to the outside. And it does seem that a volcano can be forced to erupt on purpose, at least as far as the magical explanation is concerned.

Work Cited: 

• Perkins, Sid. “Explainer: The Volcano Basics.” Science News for Students, 6 May 2018, www.sciencenewsforstudents.org/article/explainer-volcano-basics.
• “Volcanic Myths and Stories.” Exploring the Parts of Trees and Flowers, www.msnucleus.org/membership/html/jh/earth/volcanoes/lesson5/volcanoes05a.html.
• Heffernan-Marks, Ariella. “Why Do Volcanoes Erupt?” Cosmos Magazine, 26 Sept. 2017, cosmosmagazine.com/geoscience/why-do-volcanoes-erupt.

Crystal Healing by Alyssa Filippone

Photo Credit: Pinterest

What Is it?

An alternative medical technique used to cure ailments and protect others from disease. Most people who use this type of healing aren't doctors or scientists, many people refer this type of healing as a pseudoscience. Crystals are often a common use within Neopagans. They are a tool used for healing, prophecy and communication.



There are many different crystals for many different healing properties. One of the most common crystals is called Amethyst. Amethyst is a crystal that is known for helping people with anxiety. For Neopagans it is also used for enhancing spiritual properties like the third eye.

Photo Credit: Energy Muse Jewelry

How Its Supposed to Work

The philosophy of modern crystal healing stems from traditional concepts borrowed by mostly Asian cultures and the Buddhist concept of chakras. Chakras are known to be parts of the body that store supernatural energy and crystal healing is a tool used to connect the physical and spiritual energy within our body.

Photo Credit: Yoga Merge

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q3SNAzEJHC8

Sources: 

Palermo, Elizabeth. “Crystal Healing.” LiveScience, Purch, 23 June 2017, www.livescience.com/40347-crystal-healing.html.

Mastin, Luke. “Witchcraft Terms & Tools .” Crystals - Witchcraft Terms and Tools - Witchcraft, 2009, www.witchcraftandwitches.com/terms_crystals.html.

The Pyramids

The Pyramids

The pyramids have been a large point of magical speculation.  Many people over many lifetimes have speculated on how exactly the pyramids were built.  The Pyramids of Giza are so old that no one is entirely sure how they were constructed.  While nobody truly knows how they were built, there have been many magical, and scientific theories regarding their construction

One of the largest and most popular magical theory for how the pyramids were built was, of course, aliens.  This theory may seem farfetched, however the basis of the theory does bring up many questions on how exactly this ancient civilization was able to build these gigantic tombs.  These pyramids were the tallest structures in the world for almost 4,000 years.  The first reasoning that the pyramids could not have been made by man was because at the time the ancient Egyptians had not even invented the wheel yet.  Doing the math, without the use of the wheel, the ancient Egyptians would have been able to transport, give or take, 10 blocks a day.  10 blocks a day would take well over 600 years to complete.  However based on the most current data it only took the Egyptians 20 years to complete one of the pyramids. 

The second reasoning has to do with the dimensions of the pyramids.  If you divide the perimeter of the pyramid by twice the height, the number you get is pi.  However the number pi had not even been discovered or calculated until the the 500's AD.  The pyramids are also completely in line with the north pole, over 3,000 years before the invention of the compass.  Lastly when it was finished the pyramid was in perfect alignment with the star that our solar system revolves around.  There are also many features of the pyramids that are perfectly aligned with stars and constellations, such as the descending corridor that is aligned with the north star, and the southern shaft that points to the constellation Orion.  It was these final points that led many people to believe that the pyramids were built with the help of some being that is not of this earth.

Many of the magical reasonings to how the pyramids were built heavily relies on the fact that the ancient Egyptians appeared to use technology and mathematical equations that were not yet invented, or proved.  However there is evidence that suggests that they could have used a more primitive version of these equations and technologies.  First the compass.  The pyramids are almost exactly in line with the north pole, far before the compass was even invented.  However finding an exact north is not that difficult.  To find north in Egypt all that has to be done is to watch where any star rises and sets, and then cut that angle in half.  The second is measuring a right angle.  While the ancient Egyptians did not have as much mathematical equations as we have today, they did know that a 3, 4, 5 triangle created a right angle, thus that is what they used to create the angles of the pyramids.

Another question that arose was how were the Egyptians able to cut, and transport all the necessary stone to build the pyramids.  The stone was actually dug right next to the pyramids, so there was not much distance to travel in order to get the stones to the site.  Despite the wheel not being invented, it is known that the Egyptians often used sleds to transport large objects.  It is theorized that they would pour water over the sand in front of the sled, creating a very slick surface, making it much easier to transport the blocks. 

There is one important part that the ancient Egyptians never depicted and thus, can never be truly known, how the were able to transport the stone all the way up the massive structure.  There are many theories that are held, and all of them are mathematically possible.  Most of these theories involved a ramp being built.  Some of these ramps could have been built alongside the pyramid, building the height of the ramp along with the height of the pyramid. However other scientists suggest that a spiral ramp was built up with the pyramid and these ramps were later deconstructed.

Sources

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=52V9jmrgSbI

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k2118KSUSF8

https://www.nationalgeographic.com/travel/travel-interests/arts-and-culture/ancient-sites-built-by-aliens/

The Milky Way

The galaxy of which the sun and the solar system are a part of and which contains the myriads of the stars that create the light of the milky way. Understanding the structure if the milky way has long been challenging . The solar system sits on the outer edges of one arm in a disk material and no one can see across the dense center to the other side, it is about 100,000 light years across and about 10,000 light-years thick.

Greek Mythology//Magic View
One legend explains how the milky way was created by Heracles, when Zeus  let him drink the breast milk of Hera. Heracles was feeding himself during Hera's slumber, once she awoke to the event that was taking place she immediately push the baby off her breast. Heracles drank the breast milk for him to become immortal and the milky way is nothing but split milk. The belief is the same in Roman mythology and other myths that the milky way is nothing more than breast milk from a Goddess that is how the galaxy got its milk soft appearance.

Science View
described by the ancients as a river, as milk, and as a path among other things the band has been visible in the heavens since the Earth first formed. In reality, the milky way like all galaxies is surrounded by a vast halo of dark matter, which accounts for some 90% of its mass. It was none other than the wonderful Galileo to prove that the galaxy is nothing more than a bunch of stars. Cassiopie A is a famous supernova  remnant the product of a gigantic explosion of a massive star about 550 years ago. Although discovered in radio observation 50 years ago, now we know that its emitted radiation spans from radios through high-energy gamma rays. The precise knowledge of its nature makes Cassiopie A one of the most interesting and investigated objects in the sky and in the particular the study of its connection with the cosmic rays, sub-atomic particles that fill our galaxy with energies higher than anything achievable in labs on Earth.


http://www.dailygalaxy.com/my_weblog/2017/09/magic-telescope-sheds-light-on-the-cosmic-ray-sea-that-fills-the-milky-way-origin-still-a-mystery.html

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Milky_Way_(mythology)

https://www.huffingtonpost.com/mario-livio/our-home-galaxy-myths-and-facts_b_1914174.html

Devil's Hopyard

Photo Credit: Vincent Sapone 

In East Haddam, Connecticut lies a gorgeous state park eerily named Devil’s Hopyard. This is a favorite place for hiking and camping, despite the spooky legends surrounding the crown jewel of the park – Chapman Falls. The park gets its name from a local legend dating back to the early Puritan settlers. There were several fields of hops and a malt house in the area during the 18^th century. 

Photo Credit: Vincent Sapone 

Not far from the site of the hopyard and malt house lies the spectacular Chapman Falls, a sixty-foot cascade of water which features nearly perfectly cylindrical potholes in the otherwise jagged rock. Puritan’s explained the formation of these holes in the rock as the work of Satan. It was said that the Devil was walking near the falls and got his tail wet. He was so angry that he stomped his hooves, burning deep holes into the rock. Locals also told many stories of Satan himself sitting atop the large boulder at the top of the falls and fiddling while witches of Haddam stirred up various foul brews in the rocky cauldrons below. They avoided the area after dark and legends of spooky happenings continue even today.

Photo Credit: Vincent Sapone 

While not quite as spooky, the scientific explanation is that these potholes are formed by stones being moved downstream by the flowing water become caught in an eddy, a swirling current of water. As the stone spins, it begins to wear away the rock beneath it creating a hole. The original stone will eventually wear away, but other stones are often swept into the same pothole and, through similar spinning action, will enlarge it. These have left behind perfectly cylindrical holes the rocky waterfall.

Works Cited:
http://www.damnedct.com/devils-hopyard-east-haddam

http://www.vincentsapone.com/trips/dh/dh.html

https://www.toyotaofcolchester.com/blogs/901/community/colchesters-own-haunted-legend-devils-hopyard-state-park/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Devil%27s_Hopyard_State_Park#/media/File:Devils_Hopyard_Sign_2_Kevin_Pepin.jpg

Peyote

PEYOTE

(Lophophora williamsii)

Peyote cactus

The peyote cactus is a small and spineless cactus native to the most southern half of North America. They are typically found in Texas and Mexico. They also flower intermittently, producing fruits within the crown (pictured). The name originates from the Aztec language: Nahuatl, which translates peyote to the words "glisten" or "divine".

Peyote has been used among Natives of Mexico for thousands of years. The practice of Peyote or Peyotism has spread north among Native American tribes within the United States for the past few hundred years. The practice of this religion involves ingesting the fruit of peyote, which is cut from the crown (also called Peyote button or bean) and then chewed, ground, or made into a tea. The ingesting of peyote is similar to a sacrament, in which the native practitioners used in rituals to worship God or create a mind frame in which they could communicate with God directly. The peyote fruit was also used among these natives as medicine - to cure disease or (fever, toothache, pain in childbirth) or usher in a dying person to the afterlife.

Chemical understanding of the plant allows us to understand that peyote consists of psychoactive alkaloids. Alkaloids are naturally occurring compounds of nitrogen and carbon, making them a basic compound able to absorb acid or hydrogen ions. Alkaloids are most commonly found in plant life, which have been long time used in modern medicine (morphine) but are even as common as caffeine. The most noteworthy psychoactive compound in peyote is mescaline which is known for its hallucinogenic effects (LSD). Psychoactive compounds operate by affecting neurochemistry (mood, cognition, perception or behavior). There are an array of ways in which psychoactive compounds affect a person due to the affect it may have on different neurotransmitters in the brain.

Mescaline compound

Given the scientific understanding, it is likely that the natives and practitioners of Peyote were experiencing the psychoactive effects of the mescaline alkaloid which commonly produces hallucinations. These hallucinations were then attributed to something divine as they didn't have the chemical understanding needed to understand the plant's effects.

Works Cited:


Peyote: The Divine Messenger (n.d.). Retrieved March 01, 2018, from https://www.viceland.com/en_us/video/hamiltons-pharmacopeia-peyote-the-divine-messenger-full/59cd5c5d59d9ab5c3d5074a2

MAROUKIS, T. C. (2013). The Peyote Controversy and the Demise of the Society of American Indians. American Indian Quarterly, 37(3), 158-180.

Mescaline. (n.d.). Retrieved March 01, 2018, from https://pubchem.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/compound/mescaline#section=Top


Wiedman, D. (2012). Upholding Indigenous Freedoms of Religion and Medicine: Peyotists at the 1906-1908 Oklahoma Constitutional Convention and First Legislature. American Indian Quarterly, 36(2), 215-246.

The Solar Eclipse

       
                                                           The Solar Eclipse

     

 What is it?

     A Solar Eclipse, is a type of eclipse that occurs when the Moon passes between the Sun and Earth, and when the moon fully or partially blocks the Sun. There are four types of solar eclipses: Total Eclipse, Annular Eclipse, Hybrid Eclipse, and Partial Eclipse. A total eclipse is when the moon completely covers the sun, only allowing a little corona of the sun to be visible. An annular eclipse is when the sun and moon are in line with the earth, but the size of the moon is smaller than the sun. Hybrid eclipses are not common and either look like a total or annular eclipse, and partial eclipses occur when the sun and moon are not in line with the earth and the moon only partially covers the sun. It’s rare that we ever get to actually see these but, on August 21, 2017, there was a solar eclipse and that was the first total solar eclipse visible across the United States since the total solar eclipse in March 1979. The next total solar eclipse in the U.S. is to be on April 8, 2024, but it will not be visible from as many U.S. locations as in 2017. 

  The Magic behind it:

     The word eclipse comes from the Greek word ecleípō meaning disappearance or abandonment. The ancient Greeks viewed the solar eclipse as an act of abandonment or some horrible crisis or treat. When a solar eclipse occurred they would think awful things like that their world would get flooded with misfortunes or that it was a sign their king would die. They would get peasants or prisoners to stand in as their king, so when the eclipse came their real king wouldn’t get hurt or die. Other cultures believed the sun was getting eaten by a demon or some animal. In ancient China, the word eclipse, shih, meant to eat and they believed the sun was being eaten by a dragon, while in Vietnam it was a frog eating the sun, or in Yugoslavia it was a werewolf, everyone had their own idea. Many other cultures like the Incas, saw the darkening of the sun as a sign that the gods were very angry and were going to punish them in some way. Another myth was that the sun and moon were a married couple and that when an eclipse occurred it was them working out their issues. However, not everyone saw the eclipse as something horrible, for some cultures the eclipse was an act of creation, the sun and moon were together creating more stars.                                          

The Science behind it:

     

     Around 130 BC Astronomers like Hipparchus used an eclipse to calculate the distance from the Earth to the Moon. Through much research and calculations other scientists like Newton were able to predict when eclipses would occur and how the planets orbit by applying the law of gravity. Many other scientists like Einstein also played a big role in discovering more about the solar eclipse and how it worked through the General Theory of Relativity. Science proved all those theories of demons and different animals eating the sun wrong showing that a solar eclipse is really just the moon passing between the Sun and Earth, resulting in the Earth falling into the shadow of the moon. Each year between 2-5 solar eclipses occur, but they are usually not able to be seen by us. Science has also shown that, due to the rate of movement of the sun, the moon, and the earth, a solar eclipse never lasts more than 7min and 31sec.

 Sources:

http://www.animescience101.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/Total-solar-eclipse-diagram-1.png

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_eclipse

http://kidseclipse.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/DragonEatingTheMoon_225.jpg

https://www.space.com/15584-solar-eclipses.html

https://study.com/academy/lesson/what-is-a-solar-eclipse-definition-lesson-quiz.html

https://www.timeanddate.com/eclipse/how-often-solar-eclipse.html

https://usercontent1.hubstatic.com/13648324_f520.jpg

https://www.vox.com/culture/2017/8/18/16078886/total-solar-eclipse-folklore

http://www.wbur.org/onpoint/2017/08/18/magic-mythology-solar-eclipse

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tTxz_d2q7Js