"Syncope is a temporary absence of self or suspension of movement, a hesitation or dissonance. Examples include fainting, the backward dip in the Tango, a weak musical beat between two strong beats, the spin of dervishes, sneezing, coughing, hiccuping, uncontrollable laughter, screaming, facial spasms and tics, squinting, tremors, heart palpitations, choking, uncontrolled excretion, cold sweats, tears, tingling, prickling, tickling, wheezing, auditory hallucinations, orgasm, visions of gods speaking, religious ecstasy, falling in love, and enjambment in poetic metrics."

 

Another collaboration with GALE47.

This isn't meant to be pretty.

The pose is contraindicated in the following situations: high blood pressure, heart palpitations, glaucoma, detached retina, conjunctivitis, brain disease, brain injury, menstruation, obesity, neck injury, and back injury. If you are pregnant, consult with your physician or qualified yoga instructor before doing this pose. This pose must be exited immediately if one is about to cough, sneeze or yawn. This pose is not recommended for young children.

 

Consult with a qualified yoga instructor before attempting Sirasana. This is an advanced pose and should not be attempted until one has practiced a good deal of the less demanding asanas such as forward and backward bends, twists, etc. and developed a good deal of muscle strength in the neck, back, and shoulder regions. Breath control and balance are also essential.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sirsasana

French postcard by Publistar / Riviera, no. 1426. Photo: Gérard Bousquet.

 

French-Italian singer, jazz musician and actor Nino Ferrer (1934-1998) was an immensely popular pop star during the second half of the 1960s. 'L'homme a tout faire' (The Jack of all Trades) also appeared in seven films.

 

Nino Ferrer was born Nino Agostino Arturo Maria Ferrari in Genoa, Italy, in 1934. He had an Italian father and a French mother. A considerable part of his preteen years was spent under the stress of World War II, but Nino himself later declared having had a pleasant childhood in a bourgeois, art-loving family. His father worked as an engineer in a nickel mine in New Caledonia. On holiday in France in 1939, Nino and his mother were unable to leave Europe because of the World War II. While his father carried on working in New Caledonia, they spent difficult years stuck and penniless in Italy, where Nino’s mother was considered the wife of an enemy. In 1947, the family, re-united and moved to France. Nino was sent to the best colleges in Paris and earned a degree in ethnology and prehistoric archaeology. As a student, much of his free time was spent on archaeological digs and his first job was at the Musée de l'Homme with André Leroi-Gourhan. Alongside his passion for history, he developed numerous other interests. He became a keen painter, and remained so until his death. Above all, he learned to play several instruments (piano, guitar, clarinet, trombone and trumpet) and composed, wrote lyrics and became a fervent jazz lover. When he finished his studies, his grandmother offered him a trip to New Caledonia, a gift he took advantage of by going around the world on a cargo ship. On his return to Paris, he tried several jobs. Starting out as a hired hand in the capital's jazz circles, he was employed by bandleader Richard Bennett and later worked for American singer Nancy Holloway. He also continued to write gospel-inspired songs which received only refusals from most of the record companies. Hearing Otis Redding and Sam Cooke for the first time was a musical revelation and transformed his writing style. Although already spotted by the Barclay record label, he had to wait until 1963 to record his first release, Pour oublier qu’on s’est aimé. He was 29, whereas most of the young stars of the time were hardly 20. It was a four-track EP, written in a fairly classical vein, and did not sell well in France. However, one of the tracks, C'est Irréparable, was a hit in some European countries, in Japan and even in the Middle East. The song was picked up by Italian Mina as Un anno d'amore, hitting #1 of the Italian singles chart. Having left Barclay for a small label, Bel Air, Nino Ferrer was still unknown in France. In 1964, he started a gospel group, Reverend Nino and the Jubilees, but it broke up before recording anything worth being released. He had small parts in two policiers starring hard-boiled Eddie Constantine, Laissez tirer les tireurs/Let the Marksman Fire (1964, Guy Lefranc) and Ces dames s'en mêlent/These ladies get involved in it (1965, Raoul André), and he also went on to bring out several solo singles, but all without any success.

 

After so many lean years, Nino Ferrer’s big break came unexpectedly in 1965 when he returned to Barclay, who gave him the chance to record his new material. After a few unsuccessful trials, a new artistic director, Richard Bennett, gave Nino free rein to record his compositions as he wanted. And so Nino Ferrer recorded Mirza, an effective cocktail of rhythm ‘n’ blues and caustic lyrics. The song was immediately a huge hit. His record company called for more songs in the same vein. His records sold very well and overnight the he became an idol. Now the zany singer in vogue, he followed Mirza up with Les Cornichons and Oh! Hé! Hein! Bon. Although he was now very popular, his success was founded on material with which he never felt really comfortable. Nevertheless, hit followed hit and he lived his new life as a star at breakneck rhythm. In 1966, he gave 195 live performances and made nearly thirty TV appearances. As an actor he appeared in the TV film Palpitations (1966, Marcel Moussy). He soon grew tired of his deliberately blasé and provocative seducer image of which people compared to Jacques Dutronc. In 1966 he released Le Téléfon, another hit to which people are still dancing years later. He left Paris for Italy where, at the same time, his song Je veux être noir, was a success of an entirely different kind. Smothered by his own success, Nino stayed about three years in Italy, from 1967 to 1970. In France, his releases continued to sell well. His lyrics became increasingly iconoclastic, even politicized, while remaining just as sarcastic or even cynical. In 1967, he brought out Mao et Moa and Mon copain Bismarck and in 1968, le Roi d’Angleterre, with biting lyrics echoing his irritation with show business and society in general. Around this time, Nino hired a young organist from Cameroon, Manu Dibango, later to become famous as a saxophonist. In Italy, Nino became notorious in 1969 as the presenter of the satirical TV variety show, Io, Agata e tu with Raffaella Carrà (famed for the disco smash A Far l'Amore Comincia Tu (1977)). He also played in three films: the Canadian TV film L'homme qui venait du Cher (1969, Maurice Dumay) with Eddy Mitchell, the French production Delphine (1969, Eric Le Hung) starring Dany Carrel, and the French-Italian drama Un été sauvage/A Savage Summer (1970, Marcel Camus) with Juliet Berto, and he also composed the soundtrack of the Belgian-French film Il pleut dans ma maison/It Rains in my House (1969, Pierre Laroche). Then, after a brief love affair with Brigitte Bardot, he decided to return to France in 1970.

 

Determined now to conduct his career as he alone saw fit, Nino Ferrer took up residence in the South West of France and began breeding horses. But music remained his first love and his meeting with Englishman Mickey Finn, a guitarist who had played with T.Rex, Eric Clapton and the Rolling Stones, changed his attitude towards his work. With Finn, Nino launched into rock music and began to write darker, more personal lyrics. 1972 saw the release of the Métronomie album, considered by Ferrer to be his first ‘real’ album. Very much in the style of the time, the album was conceived as an ‘experience’, with the music accompanied by sound effects, but included a new version of his very first release, Pour oublier qu’on s’est aimé. However, it was not the album which sold but one of its tracks, La Maison près de la fontaine. Very different from the rest of the album, the single sold more than 500,000 copies. Yet again, the red carpet was unrolled for Nino which only redoubled his contempt for show business. In 1973 he found an ally in guitarist Mickey Finn. Together they started the group Leggs, who would accompany Ferrer on several albums from this point onward. On these he would switch directions many times: from rock & roll to gospel and from prog rock to laid-back funk. The latter style made up most of Nino and Radiah (1974), which included another fruitful Estardy collaboration in the song Ferrer is best remembered for in France: Le Sud. It became one of Ferrer’s biggest hits, selling over a million copies. However, once again, the success of one track had overshadowed all the hard work on the rest of the album. The following year, he brought out Suite en œuf, a commercial flop. The same was true of Véritables vérités verdâtres, (1977) and which marked his departure from CBS. The success of Le Sud nevertheless enabled Ferrer to buy a 15th century fortress at Lataillade, where he installed a recording studio and continued raising horses and painting. In 1978, he married Jacqueline Monestier, known as Kinou. Now without a record company, Ferrer released each new album on a different label. In 1979, he brought out Blanat on a small independent label, Free Bird. This gospel inspired, even jazz orientated album had again both English and French lyrics. The same year, Ferrer met Jacques Higelin, and went on tour with him. The rock singer’s crazy imagination and powerful personality seduced Ferrer and encouraged him to perform live again, a practice he had abandoned a long time before.

 

1981 was a year both of return and departure for Nino Ferrer. He brought out another rock and roll album in the Leggs vein, Rock ‘n’ roll cowboy, and sang at l’Olympia, the most prestigious of the Paris music venues. Yet, that same year, Ferrer slammed the door on show business definitively. Nevertheless, he appeared the following year in a stage musical for children, L’Arche de Noé, at the Théâtre de l’Unité in Paris. Composer of the music, he also played God in this moderately successful show. He both composed the soundtrack and co-starred in the surreal, dreamlike horror film Litan (1982, Jean-Pierre Mocky) with Marie-José Nat, but it was to be his last film appearance. From the end of 1984 until 1986, Ferrer totally disappeared from the cultural scene. He retired to his castle where he painted, had several exhibitions and brought up his two sons, Pierre and Arthur. Nevertheless, he recorded an album in 1986, soberly entitled, 13ème album, and whose release went almost unnoticed. It was on the new FNAC label that Ferrer made his come-back in 1993. That year, he released an album of entirely original material, recorded for the most part at Lataillade. The sleeve and the lyrics were illustrated by the singer’s own paintings. Co-written with Mickey Finn, the album, as its title La Désabusion (a play on the words désabuser and illusion) suggests, marked only a half-hearted, morose return. For around two years after La Désabusion, Ferrer popped up in the news here and there. In 1994, he had an exhibition in Paris, published a collection of his writings and continued to promote the album. Then, from April to June 1995, he went on tour for the first time in years, with his faithful group, the Leggs. He was a guest at the Francofolies festival in la Rochelle in July. Also that year, he released a small ten-track album of original material recorded at home. A genuine family effort, recorded between 1987 and 1992, it includes versions of old hits such as Mirza and Le Sud, traditional folk songs, all of them sung by his wife Kinou, his son Arthur, Mickey Finn and other musicians. There followed another period of silence spent in the company of family and friends and helping Arthur, now a student like his brother, to prepare a début album. In 1998, his mother Mounette’s death left a vacuum in his life. A month later, Ferrer shot himself in the heart in the middle of a cornfield a few kilometers from his home, two days before his 64th birthday. The anonymous biographer at English Wikipedia concludes: “An unpredictable, moody character, Ferrer refused artistic compromise and therefore compromised his career. Nevertheless, with songs as different as Les Cornichons and Le Sud, he left behind several indelible traces in French musical heritage, not forgetting numerous songs now hardly known.” But his songs can be heard on the soundtracks of some popular films. His song C'est irreparable can be heard in Pedro Almodovar’s comedy-drama Tacones lejanos/High Heels (1991) and in Bernardo Bertolucci’s The Dreamers (2003) while Les Cornichons is featured on the soundtrack of the romantic comedy J'me sens pas belle/Tell Me I’m Pretty (2004, Bernard Jeanjean).

 

Sources: Nino Ferrer.com, Quint Kik (AllMusic), Wikipedia and IMDb.

管樂小集 - 海山館 / 宣傳照外拍 - 意態娉婷舉止幽靜令人心跳未停

Great Music - The Seamount hall / Propaganda pictures outdoors photography - The attitude is graceful the manner is lonesome and quiet beckoning my heart Palpitation Has not stopped

Creat Música - La sala de submarino / Propaganda imágenes de fotografía al aire libre - La actitud es agraciada la manera es solitaria y reservado hacer señas mi palpitación de corazón no ha parado

管楽小集 - 海山館 / 外によってたたくことを宣伝します - イタリアの態のあでやかな挙止が静寂で人の動悸を止まらせていません

Große Musik - Die Seamounthalle / Propaganda Bilder im Freien Fotografie - Die Haltung ist die Weise ist einsam würdevoll und ruhig hat das Zuwinken meines Herzklopfens nicht gestoppt

Grande musique - La salle de mont sous-marin / Propaganda photos à l'extérieur de photographie - L'attitude est gracieuse la façon est seule et tranquille montrer ma palpitation de coeur ne s'est pas arrêté

 

Anping Tainan Taiwan / Anping Tainan Taiwán / 台灣台南安平

 

娉婷 / 蔡楓華 Hong Kong

{Graceful / 優雅な}

 

{View large size on fluidr}

 

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其實我是黑管妹(愛睏仙=無敵鳳眼妹)的粉絲

I am a fans of The sister with a clarinet

Soy los ventiladores de la hermana con un clarinet

私はクラリネットを持つ姉妹のファンである

Ich bin Ventilatoren der Schwester mit einem Clarinet

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{大員戀愛物語-安平追想曲2009}

{The Love story of Tayouan - Anping melody of the memorise 2009}

{La historia de amor de Tayouan - Melodía de Anping de la memorización 2009}

{大員の恋愛する物語 -安平は曲の2009を追憶します}

{Die Liebesgeschichte von Tayouan - Anping-Melodie merken 2009}

  

柔光好似夢境，搖曳花影稍停

The soft light seems a dreamland, drags the flowered shades to stop slightly.

 

暗暗的贊一聲，默默遙望葉影

Secret approves one, looks out the leaves shades silently.

 

意態娉婷，舉止幽靜，令人心動莫名

The attitude is graceful, the manner is lonesome and quiet, beckoning inexplicable to touch my heart.

  

With a crooked smile and a heart-shaped face

Comes from the West country where the birds sing bass

She's got a house-big heart where we all live

And plead and council and forgive

Her widow's peak, her lips I've kissed

Her glove of bones at her wrist

That I have held in my hand

Her Spanish fly and her monkey gland

Her Godly body and its fourteen stations

That I have embraced, her palpitations

Her unborn baby crying, "Mummy"

Amongst the rubble of her body

Her lovely lidded eyes I've sipped

Her fingernails, all pink and chipped

Her accent which I'm told is "broad"

That I have heard and has been poured

Into my human heart and filled me

With love, up to the brim, and killed me

And rebuilt me back anew

With something to look forward to

Well, who could ask much more than that?

A West country girl with a big fat cat

That looks into her eyes of green

And meows, "He loves you", then meows again

  

Special Thanks to Julian Z., Natalie Bloom, Nathan Conrad, Felipe Montoya and to all the awesome production crew.

 

Model: Francesca.

Lotus

I'm so emo, my heart is literally breaking.

Created for a swapbot swap where we were challenged to use a hoarded image. I chose to use this antique dye label...I'm still having palpitations!

Leonorus cardica

Famiglia: Laminaceae

La Leonurus Cardiaca L. venne importata dall'Asia verso il VII secolo per poi diffondersi in quasi tutta Europa, escluse le regioni mediterranee. Nel XV secolo era coltivata nei giardini dei monasteri e cento anni più tardi il medico francese Ambroise Paré menzionò e parlò delle proprietà curative della Cardiaca, come pianta efficace per i disturbi cardiaci di carattere nervoso come il cardiopalmo, ovvero le palpitazioni.

 

Si utilizza la tintura madre ricavata dalla pianta intera, con il taglio tisana o l'estratto fluido , per trattare stati ansiosi, insonnia, ipertensione, vampate di calore nella menopausa, tachicardia, tonificante del cuore e regolatore del battito cardiaco, facilitare il ciclo mestruale e aiuta ad abbassare la febbre. Facilita anche la digestione dei cibi.

Leonorus Cardica

Family: Laminaceae

The Leonurus Cardiac L. was imported from Asia to the seventh century and then spread throughout most of Europe, except the Mediterranean regions. In the fifteenth century it was cultivated in monastery gardens and a hundred years later the French physician Ambroise Paré mentioned and spoke of the healing properties of the Heart as plant effective for heart disorders of nervous disposition as palpitations, or palpitations.

You use the tincture made from the whole plant, with the cut tea or fluid extract, to treat anxiety, insomnia, hypertension, hot flashes in menopause, tachycardia, heart tonic and regulator of the heart beat, ease menstrual cycle and it helps to lower the fever. It also facilitates the digestion of foods.

Leonorus Cardica

Familia: Laminaceae

El Leonurus cardiaca L. fue importado desde Asia hasta el siglo VII y luego se extendió a lo largo de la mayor parte de Europa, con excepción de las regiones mediterráneas. En el siglo XV se cultiva en jardines del monasterio y cien años más tarde, el médico francés Ambroise Paré mencionado y habló de las propiedades curativas del corazón tan eficaz para los trastornos del corazón de disposición nerviosa como palpitaciones o palpitaciones planta.

Utiliza la tintura hecha de toda la planta, con el té corte o extracto fluido, para tratar la ansiedad, el insomnio, la hipertensión, los sofocos en la menopausia, taquicardia, tónico cardíaco y regulador de los latidos del corazón, la facilidad ciclo menstrual y ayuda a bajar la fiebre. También facilita la digestión de los alimentos.

 

The areca nut (/ˈærɨkə/ or /əˈriːkə/) is the seed of the areca palm (Areca catechu), which grows in much of the tropical Pacific, Asia, and parts of east Africa. It is commonly referred to as betel nut, as it is often chewed wrapped in betel leaves (paan). The term areca originated from a South Asian word during the 16th century, when Dutch and Portuguese sailors took the nut to Europe.

 

The habit has many harmful effects on health. The International Agency for Research on Cancer concluded after reviewing the published medical research that chewing areca nut is carcinogenic to humans. Various compounds present in the nut, most importantly arecoline (the primary psychoactive ingredient), contribute to histologic changes in the oral mucosa. As with chewing tobacco, its use is discouraged by preventive efforts, such as awareness of the risks of chewing buai.

 

DESCRIPTION

The areca nut is not a true nut, but rather a fruit categorized as a drupe. It is commercially available in dried, cured and fresh forms. When the husk of the fresh fruit is green, the nut inside is soft enough to be cut with a typical knife. In the ripe fruit, the husk becomes yellow or orange and, as it dries, the fruit inside hardens to a wood-like consistency. At that stage, the areca nut can only be sliced using a special scissors-like cutter (known as aḍakattera in Telugu, adake kattari in Kannada,bajjeai in Tulu, adakitta [अडकित्ता] in Marathi, puwak [පුවක්] in Sinhala, jaanti in Bengali, adakka അടക്കാ in Malayalam, pakku (பாக்கு) in Tamil, sarautaa in Hindi, Khilikaati in Odia, and sudi in Gujarati).

 

Usually for chewing, a few slices of the nut are wrapped in a betel leaf along with calcium hydroxide (slaked lime) and may include clove, cardamom, catechu (kattha) and/or other spices for extra flavouring. Betel leaf has a fresh, peppery taste, but it can also be bitter to varying degrees depending on the variety. The combination of areca nut with betel leaf is called "buai" in Tok Pisin (with the spit being known as buai pekpek), "goi" in (Bodo), tamul (তামূল/ "তামোল")in Assamese, kavala in Kannada, tambulam in Sanskrit, bajjai in Tulu, and paan in Hindi, Marathi, Punjabi, and Urdu.

 

Areca nuts are chewed with betel leaf for their effects as a mild stimulant, causing a warming sensation in the body and slightly heightened alertness, although the effects vary from person to person. The effect of chewing betel leaf and areca nut together is relatively mild, and could be compared to that of drinking a cup of coffee.

 

The areca nut contains the tannins arecatannin and gallic acid; a fixed oil gum; a little terpineol; lignin; various saline substances; and three main alkaloids — arecoline, arecaidine and guvacine — all of which have vasoconstricting properties. The betel leaf chewed along with the nut contains eugenol, another vasoconstrictor. Tobacco leaf is often added to the mixture, thereby adding the effect of nicotine.

 

In parts of India, Sri Lanka and southern China, areca nuts are not only chewed along with betel leaf, but are also used in the preparation of Ayurvedic and traditional Chinese medicines. Powdered areca nut is used as a constituent in some dentifrices. Other traditional uses include the removal of tapeworms and other intestinal parasites by swallowing a few teaspoons of powdered areca nut, drunk as a decoction, or by taking tablets containing the extracted alkaloids. According to traditional Ayurvedic medicine, chewing areca nut and betel leaf is a good remedy against bad breath. Diplomat Edmund Roberts noted that Chinese people would mix areca nut with Uncaria gambir during his visit to China in the 1830s.[8] After chewing a betelnut, the red residue from chewing the betelnut, buai pekpek, is generally spit out and is considered an eyesore. This has led many places to ban chewing buai as many people spit the pekpek on the ground rather than in a spit cup or waste receptacle.

 

Now-a-days a special type Areca nut is available in Malenadu region i.e called as "Sweet Areca Nut".

 

TRADITION

Chewing the mixture of areca nut and betel leaf is a tradition, custom or ritual which dates back thousands of years in much of the geographical areas from South Asia eastward to the Pacific. It constitutes an important and popular cultural activity in many Asian and Oceanic countries, including Pakistan, the Maldives, India, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Bhutan, Bangladesh, Burma (Myanmar), China, Laos, Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, Cambodia, Vietnam, Taiwan, the Philippines, Palau, Yap, Guam, Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands, and Vanuatu. It is not known how or when the areca nut and the betel leaf were first combined into one psychoactive drug. Archaeological evidence from Thailand, Indonesia and the Philippines suggests they have been used in tandem for at least 4000 years.

 

In Vietnam, the areca nut and the betel leaf are such important symbols of love and marriage that in Vietnamese the phrase "matters of betel and areca" (chuyện trầu cau) is synonymous with marriage. The tradition of chewing areca nuts starts the talk between the groom's parents and the bride's parents about the young couple's marriage. Therefore, the leaves and juices are used ceremonially in Vietnamese weddings. The folk tale explaining the origin of this Vietnamese tradition is a good illustration of the belief that the combination of areca nut and the betel leaf is ideal to the point they are practically inseparable, like an idealized married couple.

 

Malay culture and tradition hold betel nut and leaves in high esteem. Traditionally, guests who visit a Malay house are presented with a tray of areca nuts and betel leaves, in much the same way as drinks are offered to guests in many cultures around the world. There is even a Malay proverb about the betel nut, "bagaikan pinang dibelah dua", loosely translated, like a betel nut divided in half. It usually refers to newlyweds, who are compatible to each other, just like a betel nut when divided in half. The proverb is analogous to the English "two peas in a pod".In the Indian subcontinent, the chewing of betel and areca nut dates back to the pre-Vedic period Harappan empire. Formerly, in both India and Sri Lanka, it was a custom of the royalty to chew areca nut with betel leaf. Kings had special attendants whose duty it was to carry a box with all the necessary ingredients for a good chewing session. There was also a custom for lovers to chew areca nut and betel leaf together, because of its breath-freshening and relaxant properties. A sexual symbolism thus became attached to the chewing of the nut and the leaf. The areca nut represented the male principle, and the betel leaf the female principle. Considered an auspicious ingredient in Hinduism and some schools of Buddhism, the areca nut is still used along with betel leaf in religious ceremonies, and also while honoring individuals in much of southern Asia.In Assam, it is a tradition to offer pan-tamul (betel leaves and raw areca nut) to guests, after tea or meals, served in a brass plate with stands called bota. Among the Assamese, the areca nut also has a variety of uses during religious and marriage ceremonies, where it has the role of a fertility symbol.[citation needed] A tradition from Upper Assam is to invite guests to wedding receptions by offering a few areca nuts with betel leaves. During Bihu, the husori players are offered areca nuts and betel leaves by each household while their blessings are solicited. Spanish mariner Álvaro de Mendaña reported observing Solomon Islanders chewing the nut and the leaf with caustic lime, and the manner in which the habit stained their mouths red. He noted the friendly and genial chief Malope, on Santa Isabel Island, would offer him the combination as a token of friendship every time they met.

 

In Bhutan the areca nut is called doma. The raw areca nut, which is soft and moist is very potent and when chewed can cause palpitation and vasoconstricting. This form is eaten in the lower regions of Bhutan and in North Bengal, where the nut is cut into half and put into a local paan leaf with a generous amount of lime. In the rest of Bhutan the raw nut, with the husk on, is fermented such that the husk rots and is easy to extract. The fermented doma has a putrid odour, which can be smelled from miles. Traditionally, this fragrant nut is cut in half and placed on top of a cone made of local betel leaf, which has a dash of lime put into it. "Myth has it that the inhabitants of Bhutan traditionally known as Monyul, the land of Monpas where Buddhism did not reach lived on raw flesh, drank blood and chewed bones. After the arrival of Guru Rinpoche in the 8th century, he stopped the people from eating flesh and drinking blood and created a substitute which is betel leaf, lime and areca nut. Today, chewing doma has become a custom. Doma is served after meals, during rituals and ceremonies. It is offered to friends and is chewed at work places by all sections of the society and has become an essential part of Bhutanese life and culture."

 

The addition of tobacco leaf to the chewing mixture is a relatively recent innovation, as tobacco was not introduced from the American continent until the colonial era.

 

EFFECTS ON HEALTH

Habitual chewers of betel leaf and areca nut have a greatly increased risk of developing a range of serious diseases, including cancers of the mouth and esophagus. It has many systemic effects.

 

Chewing areca nut alone has been linked to oral submucosal fibrosis. According to Medline Plus, "Long-term use [of betel-areca preparations] has been associated with oral submucosal fibrosis (OSF), pre-cancerous oral lesions and squamous cell carcinoma. Acute effects of betel chewing include asthma exacerbation, hypertension, and tachycardia. There may additionally be a higher risk of cancers of the liver, mouth, esophagus, stomach, prostate, cervix, and lung with regular betel use. Other effects can include a possible effect on blood sugar levels, which may in turn increase the risk of developing type 2 diabetes."

 

Use of areca nut has been associated with deterioration of psychosis in patients with preexisting psychiatric disorders.

 

In 2003 the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), a World Health Organization sponsored group, reached the conclusion that there is sufficient evidence that the habit of chewing betel quid, with or without tobacco, is carcinogenic to humans. Support for this conclusion is provided by a recent study which found that paan, even without concurrent tobacco use, is a risk factor for oral cancer. In October, 2009, 30 scientists from 10 countries met at IARC to reassess the carcinogenicity of various agents including areca nut, and mechanisms of carcinogenesis. They confirmed there is sufficient evidence that areca nut, with or without tobacco, can cause cancer.

 

USE DURING PREGNAN

Chewing paan (and/or other areca nut and betel leaf formulations) during pregnancy significantly increases adverse outcomes for the baby. The habit is associated with higher incidences of preterm birth and low birth weight and height. Biologically, these effects may be a consequence of the arecoline that is found in areca nuts. The habit also exposes the unborn baby to various other toxic components linked to cancer.

 

MODERN-DAY CONSUMPTION

In India (the largest consumer of areca nut) and Pakistan, the preparation of nut with or without betel leaf is commonly referred to as paan. It is available practically everywhere and is sold in ready-to-chew pouches called pan masala or supari, as a mixture of many flavours whose primary base is areca nut crushed into small pieces. Poor people, who may eat only every other day, use it to stave off hunger pangs. Pan masala with a small quantity of tobacco is called gutka. The easily discarded, small plastic supari or gutka pouches are a ubiquitous pollutant of the South Asian environment. Some of the liquid in the mouth is usually disposed of by spitting, producing bright red spots wherever the expectorate lands. The Shimoga District in Karnataka is presently the largest producer of betelnut in India

 

In the Maldives, areca nut chewing is very popular, but spitting is frowned upon and regarded as an unrefined, repulsive way of chewing. Usually, people prefer to chew thin slices of the dry nut, which is sometimes roasted. Kili, a mixture of areca nut, betel, cloves, cardamom and sugar is sold in small home-made paper pouches. Old people who have lost their teeth keep "chewing" by pounding the mixture of areca nut and betel with a small mortar and pestle.

 

In Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Islands, fresh areca nut, betel leaf or 'fruit leaf' (daka in PNG) and lime are sold on street corners. In these countries, dried or flavoured areca nut is not popular. Betelnuts there are referred to in Tok Pisin as buai, and the red spit from them, as well as their shells and rubbish thrown out along with the spit, is called buai pekpek. There has recently been a controversial ban on selling and chewing betelnuts and spitting buai pekpek in Port Moresby. Because of this, many people have tried to smuggle betelnuts into Pom Town. Notably, there was a raid in Hanuabada in May 2015 where several bags of betelnut were confiscated, the total value of the confiscated nut sacks exceeding $180,000 USD. Areca nut chewing has recently been introduced into Vanuatu, where it is growing in popularity, especially in the northern islands of the country. In Guam and the neighboring Northern Mariana Islands, betel and areca nut chewing is a social pastime as a means to extend friendship, and can be found in many, if not most, large gatherings as part of the food display.

 

In Palau, betel nut is chewed with lime, piper leaf and nowadays, with the addition of tobacco. Older and younger generations alike enjoy the use of betel nut, which is readily available at stores and markets. Unlike in Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Islands, where the inner areca nut is used, in Palau, the areca nut's skin is chewed along with lime, leaf and tobacco and the juice is not swallowed but spat out.

 

In Taiwan, bags of 20 to 40 areca nuts are purchased fresh daily by a large number of consumers. To meet the steady year-round demand, two kinds of betel-nut shops sell betel and nuts, as well as cigarettes and drinks, including beer: Small mom and pop shops, often poorly maintained and with unassuming façades, and shops which will often consist of nothing more than a single, free-standing room, or booth. The latter is usually elevated one meter above the street, and measures less than 3 by 2 m. Large picture windows comprise two or more of the walls, allowing those who pass by a complete view of the interior. The interior is often painted brightly. Within such a shop, a sexily dressed young woman, a "betel nut beauty", can be seen preparing betel and areca nuts. Shops are often identified by multicoloured (commonly green) fluorescent tubes or neon lights that frame the windows or that are arranged radially above a store. Customers stop on the side of the road and wait for the girls to bring their betel and areca nut to their vehicles. The habit of chewing betel nut is often associated with blue-collar labor industries such a long-haul transportation, construction, or fishing. Workers in these labor-intensive industries use betel nut for its stimulating effect, but it also becomes a tool for socializing with coworkers. For example, studies have shown chewing betel nut is prevalent among taxi, bus and truck drivers, who rely on the stimulating effect of betel nut to cope with long work hours. For these reasons, oral cancer has been identified as a leading cause of death in professions with high betel nut-chewing rates.

 

In Hainan and Hunan Province, China, where Xiangtan is a center of use and processing, a wide range of old and young people consume areca nut daily. Most, though, consume the dried variety of the nut by itself, without the betel leaves. Some people also consume the areca nut in its raw, fresh form with or without the betel leaves. Betel nuts are sold mostly by old women walking around trying to sell it, but the dried version can be found in most shops which sell tea, alcohol and cigarettes.

 

In Thailand, the consumption of areca nut has declined gradually in the last decades. The younger generation rarely chews the substance, especially in the cities. Most of the present-day consumption is confined to older generations, mostly people above 50. Even so, small trays of betel leaves and sliced tender areca nut are sold in markets and used as offerings in Buddhist shrines.

 

In the Philippines, chewing the areca nut and betel leaf was a very widespread tradition in the past. Now, though, this tradition is almost dead among the urban people in the cities and big towns, and has largely been replaced by chewing gum and cigarettes. Nowadays, older people are the only ones chewing betel nuts. But in rural areas, betel nut-chewing is very much alive.

 

In the United States, areca nut is not a controlled or specially taxed substance and may be found in some Asian grocery stores. However, importation of areca nut in a form other than whole or carved kernels of nuts can be stopped at the discretion of US Customs officers on the grounds of food, agricultural, or medicinal drug violations. Such actions by Customs are very rare. In the United Kingdom, areca nut is readily available in Asian grocery stores and even in shredded forms from the World Food aisles of larger Tesco supermarkets.

 

Possession of betel nut or leaf is banned in the UAE and is a punishable offense.

 

Recently it has been reported that areca nut powder extract is capable of reducing silver ions to create silver nanoparticles, which may be useful as antimicrobial agents.

 

WIKIPEDIA

Photo of me taken on September 1, 2018, during a 3 day photographic trip to the Prefecture of FTHIOTIDA - ΦΘΙΩΤΙΔΑ central Greece with my wife Theresa Jane Brown.

 

YPATI THERMAL SPRINGS - ΙΑΜΑΤΙΚΑ ΛΟΥΤΡΑ ΥΠΑΤΗΣ.

The Thermal Spring of Ypati is located 19 km away from Lamia, in a green area of the plain of Fthiotida. The curative waters of Ypati have been gushing, most probably, since 427 B.C., after a major earthquake. Rocks can be found deep in the tank of the spring; these rocks are positioned gradually, something that shows that there was a staircase there, so that bathers could descend. The name Aphrodite is written in one of the rocks, meaning that it was devoted to the goddess of beauty. Marble plates have also been found with engraved ancient letters.

The temperature of the curative water is 32C.

Therapeutic properties: vascular disorders and syndromes, arterial hypertension, coronary artery diseases, endartiritis of the lower extremities, phlebitis, cardiac diseases, diseases of the heart valves, minor cardiac disorders, disorders of the cardiac nervous system, palpitations, arrhythmia, skin disorders, eczema, dermatitis, disorders of the peripheral nerves and muscles, paralysis, muscle atrophy, various forms of arthritism.

 

Thanassis Fournarakos - Θανάσης Φουρναράκος

Professional Photographer, Athens, Greece

(retired in 2011, born in 1946).

 

© ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

None of my images may be downloaded, copied, reproduced, manipulated or used on websites, blogs or other media without my explicit written permission. THANK YOU!

Dress: Jovovich-Hawk for Target

Tights: ModCloth

Boots: Vintage, ebay

Bag: Vintage, thrifted

Necklace: ModCloth

 

This outfit was inspired by my seasonal impatience... I can't wait until the weather really starts to change! Oh, and there was some green in my tights, so I did manage to avoid being pinched.

A while back my husband, prankster. placed this human size doll head to the left of my front door. It was not visible from inside my storm door. The morning was foggy and I opened the door to post a letter; one step onto the porch and my peripheral vision caught a face that was not a yard away. I could feel the palpitations as my head quickly turned to the person, Sigh of relief.

Ginseng (/ˈdʒɪnsɛŋ/) is any one of the 11 species of slow-growing perennial plants with fleshy roots, belonging to the genus Panax of the family Araliaceae.

 

Ginseng is found in North America and in eastern Asia (mostly northeast China, Korea, Bhutan, eastern Siberia), typically in cooler climates. Panax vietnamensis, discovered in Vietnam, is the southernmost ginseng known. This article focuses on the species of the series Panax, which are the species claimed to be adaptogens, principally Panax ginseng and P. quinquefolius. Ginseng is characterized by the presence of ginsenosides and gintonin.

 

Siberian ginseng (Eleutherococcus senticosus) is in the same family, but not genus, as true ginseng. Like ginseng, it is considered to be an adaptogenic herb. The active compounds in Siberian ginseng are eleutherosides, not ginsenosides. Instead of a fleshy root, Siberian ginseng has a woody root.

 

Over centuries, ginseng has been considered in China as an important component of Chinese traditional medicine, but there is no scientific confirmation of it having any clinical benefit to human health.

 

ETYMOLOGY

The English word ginseng derives from the Chinese term rénshēn (simplified: 人参; traditional: 人蔘). Rén means "Person" and shēn means "plant root"; this refers to the root's characteristic forked shape, which resembles the legs of a person. The English pronunciation derives from a southern Chinese reading, similar to Cantonese yun sum (Jyutping: jan4sam1) and the Hokkien pronunciation "jîn-sim".

 

The botanical/genus name Panax means "all-heal" in Greek, sharing the same origin as "panacea" was applied to this genus because Linnaeus was aware of its wide use in Chinese medicine as a muscle relaxant.

 

Besides P. ginseng, many other plants are also known as or mistaken for the ginseng root. The most commonly known examples are xiyangshen, also known as American ginseng 西洋参 (P. quinquefolius), Japanese ginseng 東洋参 (P. japonicus), crown prince ginseng 太子參 (Pseudostellaria heterophylla), and Siberian ginseng 刺五加 (Eleutherococcus senticosus). Although all have the name ginseng, each plant has distinctively different functions. However, true ginseng plants belong only to the Panax genus.

 

HISTORY

Control over ginseng fields in China and Korea became an issue in the 16th century. By the 1900s, due to the demand for ginseng having outstripped the available wild supply, Korea began the commercial cultivation of ginseng which continues to this day. In 2010, nearly all of the world's 80,000 tons of ginseng in international commerce was produced in four countries: China, South Korea, Canada, and the United States. Commercial ginseng is sold in over 35 countries with sales exceeded $2.1 billion, of which half came from South Korea. China has historically been the largest consumer for ginseng.

 

FOLK MEDICINE

The root is most often available in dried form, either whole or sliced. Ginseng leaf, although not as highly prized, is sometimes also used. Folk medicine attributes various benefits to oral use of American ginseng and Asian ginseng (P. ginseng) roots, including roles as an aphrodisiac or stimulant treatment, but there are no studies to date proving the effectiveness of ginseng for treating any disease.

 

Ginseng may be found in small doses in energy drinks or herbal teas, such as ginseng coffee. hair tonics and cosmetics preparations, but none has been proven effective.

 

RESEARCH

Ginsenosides, unique compounds of the Panax species, are under basic and clinical research to investigate their potential for use in medicine or when taken as a dietary supplement.

 

SAFETY

CONSIDERATIONS

Ginseng is known to contain phytoestrogens.

 

SIDE EFFECTS

A common side effect of P. ginseng may be insomnia, but this effect is disputed. Other side effects can include nausea, diarrhea, headaches, nose bleeds, high blood pressure, low blood pressure, and breast pains.

 

INTERACTIONS

Ginseng has been shown to have adverse drug reactions with phenelzine and warfarin; it has been shown to decrease blood alcohol levels. A potential interaction has also been reported with imatinib resulting in hepatotoxicity, and with lamotrigine causing DRESS syndrome.

 

Ginseng may also lead to induction of mania in depressed patients who mix it with antidepressants.

 

OVERDOSE

The common adaptogen ginsengs (P. ginseng and P. quinquefolia) are generally considered to be relatively safe even in large amounts. One of the most common and characteristic symptoms of acute overdose of Panax ginseng is bleeding. Symptoms of mild overdose may include dry mouth and lips, excitation, fidgeting, irritability, tremor, palpitations, blurred vision, headache, insomnia, increased body temperature, increased blood pressure, edema, decreased appetite, dizziness, itching, eczema, early morning diarrhea, bleeding, and fatigue.

 

Symptoms of gross overdose with Panax ginseng may include nausea, vomiting, irritability, restlessness, urinary and bowel incontinence, fever, increased blood pressure, increased respiration, decreased sensitivity and reaction to light, decreased heart rate, cyanotic (blue) facial complexion, red facial complexion, seizures, convulsions, and delirium.

 

Patients experiencing any of the above symptoms are advised to discontinue the herbs and seek any necessary symptomatic treatment, as well as medical advice in severe cases.

 

COMMON CLASSIFICATION

ASIAN GINSENG (ROOT)

Panax ginseng is available commercially as fresh, red, and white ginsengs; wild ginseng is used where available.

 

RED GINSENG

Red ginseng (traditional Chinese: 紅蔘; simplified Chinese: 红参; pinyin: hóng shēn; Hangul: 홍삼; hanja: 紅蔘; RR: hong-sam), P. ginseng, has been peeled, heated through steaming at standard boiling temperatures of 100 °C, and then dried or sun-dried. It is frequently marinated in an herbal brew which results in the root becoming extremely brittle.

 

FRESH GINSENG

Fresh ginseng is the raw product. Its use is limited by availability.

 

WHITE GINSENG

White ginseng, native to America, is fresh ginseng which has been dried without being heated. It is peeled and dried to reduce the water content to 12% or less. White ginseng air-dried in the sun may contain less of the therapeutic constituents. It is thought by some that enzymes contained in the root break down these constituents in the process of drying. Drying in the sun bleaches the root to a yellowish-white color.

 

WILD GINSENG

Wild ginseng grows naturally and is harvested from wherever it is found. It is relatively rare, and even increasingly endangered, due in large part to high demand for the product in recent years, which has led to the wild plants being sought out and harvested faster than new ones can grow (it requires years for a root to reach maturity). Wild ginseng can be either Asian or American, and can be processed to be red ginseng.

 

Woods-grown American ginseng programs in Vermont, Maine, Tennessee, Virginia, North Carolina, Colorado, West Virginia and Kentucky, and United Plant Savers have been encouraging the planting of ginseng both to restore natural habitats and to remove pressure from any remaining wild ginseng, and they offer both advice and sources of rootlets. Woods-grown plants have a value comparable to wild-grown ginseng of similar age.

 

Partially germinated ginseng seeds harvested the previous Fall can be planted from early Spring until late Fall, and will sprout the following Spring. If planted in a wild setting and left to their own devices, they will develop into mature plants which cannot be distinguished from native wild plants. Both Asian and American partially germinated ginseng seeds can be bought from May through December on various eBay sales. Some seed sales come with planting and growing instructions.

 

P- QUIQUEFOLIUS AMERICAN GINSENG (ROOT)

According to traditional Chinese medicine, American ginseng promotes yin energy, cleans excess yang and calms the body. The reason it has been claimed that American ginseng promotes yin (shadow, cold, negative, female) while Asian ginseng promotes yang (sunshine, hot, positive, male) is that, according to traditional Chinese medicine, things living in cold places or northern side of mountains or southern side of rivers are strong in yang and the converse, so the two are balanced. Chinese/Korean ginseng grows in Manchuria and Korea, the coldest area known to many Koreans in ancient times. Thus, ginseng from there is supposed to be very yang.

 

Originally, American ginseng was imported into China via subtropical Guangzhou, the seaport next to Hong Kong, so Chinese doctors believed American ginseng must be good for yang, because it came from a hot area. They did not know, however, that American ginseng can only grow in temperate regions. Nonetheless, the root is legitimately classified as more yin because it generates fluids.

 

Most North American ginseng is produced in the Canadian provinces of Ontario and British Columbia and the American state of Wisconsin. P. quinquefolius is now also grown in northern China.

 

The aromatic root resembles a small parsnip that forks as it matures. The plant grows 6″ to 18″ tall, usually bearing three leaves, each with three to five leaflets two to five inches long.

 

OTHER PLANTS SOMETIMES CALLED GINSENG

Several other plants are sometimes referred to as ginsengs, but they are either from a different family or genus.

 

Angelica sinensis (female ginseng, dong quai)

Codonopsis pilosula (poor man's ginseng)

Eleutherococcus senticosus (Siberian ginseng)

Gynostemma pentaphyllum (southern ginseng, jiaogulan)

Lepidium meyenii (Peruvian ginseng, maca)

Oplopanax horridus (Alaskan ginseng)

Panax notoginseng (known as san qi, tian qi or tien chi; ingredient in yunnan bai yao)

Pfaffia paniculata (Brazilian ginseng, suma)

Pseudostellaria heterophylla (prince ginseng)

Schisandra chinensis (five-flavoured berry)

Withania somnifera (Indian ginseng, ashwagandha)

 

WIKIPEDIA

Édouard Schuré was born in the old cathedral city of Strasbourg on January 21, 1841. As a young boy he experienced certain events which, as he described them many years later, "left traces upon my thoughts, to which my memory returns ever and again." The result of these events he called "inner vision, evoked by impressions of the external world." The first of these experiences occurred shortly after the death of his mother, when he and his father visited a resort in Alsace. On the walls of one of the buildings the ten-year-old boy saw a remarkable series of frescoes, depicting the world of undines, sylphs, gnomes and fire-spirits. Before these representations of what men of the Middle Ages called the Elemental Beings, here shown in vivid, wonderful artistic form, the boy was transported, as it were, into another world, the world of creative fantasy. Like a talisman, the pictures awakened the magic forces of wonder in the child’s soul. The artist’s creative fantasy called to the fantasy slumbering within the boy, and the result was a new perception. For, as Carlyle wrote, "Fantasy, being the organ of the Godlike, man thereby -- though based, to all seeming, on the small Visible, -- does nevertheless extend down into the infinite deeps of the Invisible, of which Invisible, indeed, his Life is properly the bodying." From this time, "the infinite deeps of the Invisible" seemed to draw the boy ever and again into the cathedral at Strasbourg. There, in the hush of the crypt, the majesty of the great nave, the glory of the music, the awe-inspiring mystery of the service, the holy calm of the candle-flames, the wreathing fragrance of incense smoke ascending into the dimness, he felt a kind of inner satisfaction, a longing fulfilled. Something of the spirit of the great mystics, Meister Eckhart and Johannes Tauler, whose lives were connected with this place, touched the soul of the boy, and he felt the transforming peace of the Friends of God of Strasbourg. Finally the moment came when the world of the spirit opened itself before his enraptured eyes. It is perhaps prophetic of his future activity that again it was a work of art that was the external cause of this second milestone on Édouard Schuré’s path to the spirit. One afternoon he was sitting in a corner of the lofty gallery of the cathedral, gazing in deep absorption at the light streaming through a great rose window. Like Dante when face to face with the Celestial Rose of the Paradise, the boy beheld the Figure of the Risen Christ, surrounded by an aureole of sublime glory. In that instant, cathedral, men, women -- all his earthly surroundings -- vanished, swallowed up in a heavenly influx. From that moment, for the rest of his long life, Édouard Schuré was convinced that his destiny was linked with the service of the divine world. Parallel with these experiences of soul and spirit, Schuré’s early years were devoted to formal education. Eventually he received his degree in law at the University of Strasbourg, but he never entered into practice. He visited Germany, remaining there for a few years, during which time he wrote Histoire du lied, published in 1868. In this book he expressed his love for music and poetry, which had been enhanced by his personal acquaintance with Richard Wagner, then living in Munich. Schuré counted his relationship with Wagner as one of the three most important friendships of his life. In his Richard Wagner, son oeuvre et son idee (1875), Schuré recorded his deep appreciation of Wagner’s efforts to reconstruct in modern times and in contemporary musical form pictures from the spiritual history of humanity. Because of this book and many articles he wrote on the same theme, Schuré is remembered as a pioneer in developing an appreciation of Wagner’s work on the part of the French public. Shortly after his return from his travels in Germany, Schuré married the sister of his friend, the composer Nessler. He and his wife moved to Paris, where Schuré continued his writing and studies, making friends with some of the most important men and women in the cultural life of France of his time. With the outbreak of the Franco-Prussian War of 1870, Schuré and his wife went to Italy. "What fascinated me in the history of Empedocles was the torturing riddle of the Beyond, as it presents itself to the individual man through his emotional life. But what terrifying vistas are produced by this enigma when stated for the whole of humanity! What is mankind’s origin? What is humanity’s destination? From what abyss has humanity escaped, only to plunge into what annihilation, or into what Eternity? What relation does mankind bear to the cosmic powers working behind the apparent chaos of the universe, in order to produce so marvelous a harmony? In the dense darkness where the alarming materialism of our age wallows, it is no longer a matter of merely restoring the link between the visible and the invisible for individuals, but of demonstrating how fruitful is the working of the omnipotent Beyond in the history of all humanity. "With these thoughts a new and ardent desire came to birth within me. I was filled with the impulse to trace the connection between the revelation of Eleusis and that of the Christ.

"In order to build a bridge between the lost Paradise and earth plunged in darkness, was it not necessary to reconstruct the living chain of the various religions, to restore to Hellenism and Christianity their original unity, to reconcile once again the whole tradition of East and West? At that instant, as in a flash I saw the Light that flows from one mighty founder of religion to another, from the Himalayas to the plateau of Iran, from Sinai to Tabor, from the crypts of Egypt to the sanctuary of Eleusis. Those great prophets, those powerful figures whom we call Rama, Krishna, Hermes, Moses, Orpheus, Pythagoras, Plato and Jesus, appeared before me in a homogeneous group. How diverse in form, appearance and color! Nevertheless, through them all moved the impulse of the eternal Word. To be in harmony with them is to hear the Word which was in the Beginning. It is to know and experience the continuity of inspiration in history as an historical fact. "Could not this lightning vision, this moment of consciousness become a new bridge to traverse the abyss separating earth from heaven? It was as if I had found my Novum Organum. This work, coming to me from the very center of things, was sufficient to last me for the rest of my life, and far more. A new life opened, filled with work on The Great Initiates and the inspiring help of Margherita Albana Mignaty." Today, when one reads page after page of fascinating details and vivid impressions drawn from the spiritual life of mankind, one may believe that the whole of The Great Initiates flowed easily and rapidly from the pen of the author. Nothing could be further from the truth. Though Schuré’s achievement ultimately brought him great joy, the writing of The Great Initiates was an arduous effort. His penetration into the spiritual world involved a constant inner struggle, and the entire task of writing the book required ten years of strenuous work." (...) Previous to the advent of Christianity man would exclaim: -- ‘My soul is indeed rooted in the Divine. It is the Divine quality alone which can extend the vision and bring unto me true enlightenment [through the powers of those who have a deeper knowledge of spiritual matters].’ But now he is learning to say: -- ‘If thou would’st truly know where thou canst unveil the profoundest depths of all that is Divine and active throughout the world; then look of thyself within thine Ego, for therein lieth the channel through which cometh unto thee the Word of God. His voice will break in upon thy conscious state if thou but rightly understandest that because of the Mystery of Golgatha, the powers which are of God have entered into mankind; and if thou wilt but realize that then indeed was a glorious initiation truly consummated -- to stand forth as a grand historical event. But especially does God speak unto thee, if thou but exaltest thyself and makest thy soul to be as an instrument, able and fitted, to apprehend that which is of the spiritual realms.’

Before that supreme act came to pass at Golgatha, the way of those who would enter upon the life of the spirit, lay through the deep mysteries of the Temple Sanctuaries. The actual awakening of the Divine consciousness which speaks through the Ego is the very essence of the Christ-Impulse; and the growth and development of the ancient Initiation-Principle paved the way and made it possible that this great impulse should come to humanity. During the whole future course of evolution, because of the Mystery of Golgatha, there will enter into men’s souls an ever-increasing clarity of understanding and discernment of the Divine Spirit to which man is so truly united. That same Holy Spirit which even now speaks through the Ego, when man has indeed freed himself from all earthly conditions and circumstances. He who can understand the Gospels from this point of view will realize the wonderful evidence of racial development and preparation for those coming events which were brought about in the past by the powers of the Spirit-World. It will be apparent that throughout the ancient Hebrew evolution, mankind was ever being made ready to hear the voice which would later speak through the deep centre of man’s being, the Ego-centre; even as the spirit of the old Hebrew race spoke to Judaism. The Christ had brought into the world that Principle of Divine Spirit which each individual man, because he is man, may find if he but seek steadfastly in the very centre of his being. It was because of this transcendent deed that, henceforth, mankind would enter into ever closer contact with the very heart of Christianity. Then would this most sacred principle rise up supreme, and while overcoming all diversity and error, bring about the realization of that universal quality which all may discern who but look deep within.

The Gods of old were national gods -- gods of the peoples -- and had relation to certain racial peculiarities. We still find something of this nature in the East among the Buddhists. But the God who stands revealed through Christianity is One who will raise mankind above all human discord and divergence, and lead him on to that which he truly is, because he is indeed MAN. He who would gain knowledge of the fundamental character of the Christian Doctrine must necessarily regard those spiritual powers and impulses which have guided supreme events in world history as realities [he cannot aver that all was begotten of mere chance actions and purely human mental activity]. He must break away from previous concepts of what is basic and of primary historic import; for happenings which have long been so regarded are in reality but upon the surface of the world’s actual growth. Underlying and controlling all human progress and development are beings far above man’s normal powers of sense-perception who are just as real as is the animal and the man in our material world. Supreme and preeminent among those spirit mentors who govern and direct the growth and development of mankind is THE CHRIST -- that Christ, who, according to the ancient gnosis, was active in the body of Jesus of Nazareth during a period of three years. (...)"

" (...) The prophet Elijah shines forth as one of the most resplendent stars in the firmament of man’s spiritual evolution, and that great illumination which he brought to humanity in olden times has endured even to the present day. The deeds, the characteristics, the greatness of this outstanding personality as portrayed in the ancient Biblical records, make the profoundest impression upon the hearts and feelings of mankind; but, nevertheless, this significant figure appears difficult of comprehension to external history. We are about to consider Elijah from the stand-point of Spiritual Science. Viewed in its light, we find in the very nature of his being an indication that the most important causes and motives underlying the circumstances connected with earthly existence during man’s evolution are not merely dependent upon those ideas that may be consciously apprehended, and the results of which can be recognized externally as forming a part of life’s history; for we learn that those very impulses which move us to actions of greatest import are born within the confines of the soul. In order that this truth which sheds so great a light upon the world’s history may become clearly apparent to our spiritual vision, we need only recall the fact that Christianity owes its foundation, for the most part, to that profound psychic incident experienced by St. Paul [Saul], which found outward expression in ‘The Vision near Damascus’ (‘Ereignis von Damaskus’), Acts. ix, 3. No matter how much we may argue concerning the reality and nature of this external happening, it cannot be denied that the true origin of Christianity is intimately connected with what then took place in the soul and spirit of that great Apostle and righteous founder of the Christian Faith; and the knowledge and enlightenment which came to him was passed on to mankind through the medium of his flaming words and self-sacrificing deeds. In many other cases it can be proved that primary causes and impulses underlying events which happen during the historical enfoldment of human existence, cannot be identified with normal external occurrences, for their inception may oft-times be traced to the hearts and souls of mankind. We are now about to consider an example of this very nature in connection with the personality of Elijah and the period in which he lived. Since, however, my lecture must of necessity be both brief and sketchy in character, although treating of a subject covering so wide a field, the question as to how far the matter presented will elucidate and provide new evidence concerning the progress of man’s historical evolution in this special instance must be left for your further consideration, but your thoughts should at all times be guided by the deep promptings of the soul. The object of my discourse is not merely to supply information concerning the personality and significance of the prophet Elijah, its true purport is at the same time to present an example of the manner in which Spiritual Science weighs and regards such matters and, in virtue of the means at its disposal, is enabled to shed fresh light upon facts connected with the growth and development of mankind, which have come to our knowledge through other sources. With this end in view, we shall employ a special method in dealing with our subject. In the first place, statements that are the result of the investigations of Spiritual Science, and have reference to the personality and significance of Elijah, will be as independent as possible of all connection with the Bible as a source, and such references will only occur when they seem essential in connection with names and descriptions. We shall therefore endeavour to portray all pertinent events first as they actually happened and later draw attention to the manner in which they are depicted in the ancient Biblical records. The occurrences will be set forth just as they are revealed by the researches of Spiritual Science, which researches have formed the basis of the various portrayals presented both in the lectures of this series and in others of previous years. A large number of my audience who, through long years of experience with the methods of Spiritual Science have gained confidence in its power and proved substantiality, will accept from the very first all that I propose to bring forward, and regard it as entirely trustworthy and as the result of conscientious investigation; and this will be the case, even though my subject must of necessity be treated in a somewhat sketchy manner, because an exposition involving detailed proofs would require many hours for its complete presentation. To those of my audience who have had no such experience as I have mentioned, I would suggest that they look upon all that is said concerning the authentic historical narrative that I am about to unfold, as if it were in the nature of an hypothesis, underlying which is a substratum of positive evidence; and I am certain that if they will but do this, and make a reasonable and understanding attempt, in moderation and without prejudice to obtain the required evidence, that all my statements will ultimately receive entire confirmation. What now has Spiritual Science to say concerning the personality and significance of the prophet Elijah and his period? To understand this we must go back in thought to those ancient Hebrew times when the brilliant epoch that marked the reign of Solomon was passed, and the kingdom of Palestine was enduring many and varied forms of privation.In olden times such manifestations were much more in evidence and more widely spread than is the case in these days. There were occasions when Ahab himself experienced visions and presentiments, but never to any marked extent, and they occurred only when he was confronted with some special matter connected with human destiny. At the time to which I refer, a rumour had spread throughout the land that a remarkable spirit was abroad. In reality, this was none other than he who, in the Bible records, bears the name of Elijah. Few there were among those living, as one might say, in the outer world, who knew precisely in what place the personality that bore this name might be found -- nor did they know in what way, or by what means, he exerted so powerful an influence upon contemporaneous people and events. We can perhaps best describe the situation by saying that throughout the widest circles any reference to this mysterious being, or even the mention of his name was accompanied by a thrill of awe, and because of this it was generally felt that this spirit must possess some singular and hidden attribute of greatest import. But no man knew rightly, or had indeed any idea, in what way this unusual quality might manifest, or where it might be sought. Only certain isolated persons, whom we might term initiates, had true knowledge of what was really taking place, and they alone knew where, in the physical world, they might find the outer reality of the actual individual who was the bearer of this mysterious spirit. There was still a belief in One God -- in One Great Spiritual Being in the cosmos, Who rules over the superperceptual realm, and Who by means of its forces makes His influence felt, and affects both the evolution and the history of mankind. It was further realized that the time was approaching when there would be an ever greater and more significant understanding of the Jahveh-Being, among those who were the most advanced and perfect of the descendants of the old Hebrew race. It was well known that in truth the religion of Moses contained the germ of all that one might term the Jehovah-Religion, but this fact had been grasped by the nation in a manner more or less after the fashion of a people yet in a stage of childhood or early youth. The old faith with its upturned vision toward a supersensible God may only be described by saying: -- ‘It can be likened to nought else than to an awareness of contact with that which is invisible and superperceptual, which comes to man when he indeed apprehends and realizes his own true Ego’ -- and it was this consciousness of the supersensible which had descended upon the people. But the concept which they had formed, as far as they could form any concept at all, was as we might put it, based upon an attempt to picture to themselves the workings of the God Jehovah, as conceived from their experiences of the external phenomena of life. In those days it was the custom to say that Jehovah acted with regard to humanity, in such a manner that when all nature was luxuriant and fruitful, it was a sign that He was rewarding mankind and showering benefits upon the nation. On the other hand, when the people suffered from want and distress brought about by war, scarcity of food, and other causes, they cried out that Jehovah had turned his face away and was consumed with anger. At that time about which we are speaking the nation was enduring the miseries caused by a period of dearth and starvation, and many turned aside from the God Jehovah, because they could no longer believe in His works when they saw how He treated mankind, for there was a terrible famine in the land. If, indeed, we can speak of progress in connection with the Jahveh-conception, then the progress destined to be made by these ancient Hebrew people can be characterized in the following manner: -- The nation must henceforth form a new Jehovah-concept embodying the old thoughts and ideas, through which must flow a fuller and a higher order of human understanding, so that all might say: -- ‘No matter what shall take place in the outer world, whether we live in happiness or are beset with sorrows and privations, we must ever realize that such external events are in no way an evidence of either the wrath or the benevolence of Jehovah. True devotion to God and a proper comprehension of the Jahveh-concept implies that mankind shall at all times gaze upward unswervingly toward the invisible Deity, uninfluenced by the contemplation of outer happenings and things, or the apparent reality of material impressions. And even though we meet with the direst want and affliction, nevertheless, through those inner forces alone which dominate the soul, man shall come to the sure conviction that -- HE IS.’ This great revolution in religious outlook was destined to be consummated and wrought through the power of the prophet Elijah [and, as will be seen later, his spiritual force operated at times through the medium of a chosen human personality]. When it is ordained that some great momentous change shall be brought about in the concepts of mankind, as was the case in Elijah’s day, it is necessary in the beginning that there be certain fitting personalities at hand in whose souls can be implanted the germ, so to speak, of those things which it is ordained shall later enter into the history of mankind. The manner in which the seed thus laid finds befitting expression, is ever that of a new impulse and a new force. If you will not misunderstand my meaning, I would say that it was decreed in accordance with the preordained fate of the nation, that the individuality known as the prophet Elijah should be the chosen one whose soul should first grasp the Jehovah-concept in the form which I have described. To this end it was essential that certain singular and very special forces be called up from the hidden depths of his soul – deep-seated powers as yet unknown to mankind, and unguessed at even by the teachers of that time. Something in the nature of an holy mystical initiation of the highest order, through which might come the revelation of such a God, must first take place in the innermost being of Elijah. It is therefore of the utmost importance, in order to describe in characteristic manner the way in which the Jahveh-concept was instilled into the minds of the people, that we should presently gaze into the soul of that particular human personality in whom the Spirit that was to impart the primary impulse was incarnated, or embodied -- that man, who through the nature of his Divine initiation became imbued with all the latent forces of his soul. Forces so vital to one who would strike that first deep fundamental note, which would call forth and make possible the coming Jehovah-conception. Such [great spiritual] personalities [as Elijah] who are chosen to experience within the soul the first stimulating impress of some momentous forward impulse, stand for the most part, isolated and alone. In olden days, however, there gathered around them certain followers who came from the great Religious Schools, or Schools of the Prophets as they were called in Palestine, and which by other nations have been termed Initiation or Mystery Sanctuaries. Thus we find the prophet Elijah, if we would use this name, also surrounded by a few earnest disciples, who looked up to him in reverence as one exalted far above them. These disciples realized to some extent the true nature and significance of Elijah’s mission, even though, because of their limited spiritual vision, they were unable to penetrate deeply into the soul of their great master. [Now at that time strange events had begun to take place in the land] the people, however, had no idea where the mysterious personality might be found who had brought them about. They could only say: -- ‘He must be here, or there, -- for something unusual is happening.’ Hence it was that there spread abroad what we might term a sort of rumour (if the word is not misused) to the effect that HE, a prophet, was actually at work, but no man knew rightly where. This uncertainty was due to the exercise of a definite and peculiar influence, which could be exerted by all such advanced spiritual beings as are found among outstanding seers. Viewed in the light of our modern times it is probable that such a statement may appear somewhat grotesque, but those who are acquainted with the singular characteristics of that by-gone age will find it in no way fanciful or extravagant.

All truly exalted spiritual personalities, such as Elijah, were endowed with this specific and highly penetrative quality which made itself felt now here, now there. Not only was the activity of this potent influence manifested in feelings of awe and dread, but there was also a direct positive action, through which it entered little by little into the souls of the people. It there operated in such manner as to cause them to be unable to tell, at times, just where the external form of some great spiritual personality might be found. But the true followers and disciples of Elijah knew well where to seek him, and were further quite aware that his outer individuality might perchance assume a wholly unpretentious character, and come to light in connection with some quite lowly station in earthly life. It is remarkable that at the time about which I am speaking, the actual bearer of the spirit of Elijah was a close neighbour of Ahab’s, King of Samaria, and the possessor of a small property in his immediate vicinity; but Ahab had no suspicion that such was the case. He sought everywhere for this singular being whose presence was felt so mysteriously throughout the community, and whom he regarded with feelings of awe and wonder, even as did his people. He entirely failed, however, to take into consideration the simple and unassuming land-owner who lived so near him, and gave no thought as to why he should, at times, absent himself, nor where he went on these occasions. But Jezebel [being clairvoyant] had discovered that this unobtrusive personality had actually become the external physical embodiment of the spirit of Elijah; now the knowledge she had thus acquired she did not impart to Ahab, she kept it to herself regarding it as a secret, for reasons which will become apparent later. In the Bible this particular character [upon whose innermost being Elijah’s spirit worked] is known by the name of Naboth. We thus see that according to the investigations of Spiritual Science we must recognize in the Naboth of the Bible, the physical bearer of the spiritual individuality of Elijah. It was in those days that a great famine came upon the land, and there were many who hungered. Naboth, in certain ways, also experienced want and distress. At times such as these, when not only does hunger prevail, as was assuredly the case in Palestine, but when on every side there is a feeling of infinite pity for those who suffer, the conditions are especially favourable for the entry of the latent soul-forces into one already prepared through destiny or karma. It is alone through these hidden powers of the soul that man may raise himself to the level of such a mission as we have outlined. Let us clearly picture what takes place deep within the being under such circumstances, and thus gain an understanding of the manner in which Naboth’s soul was affected. In the initial stage there is an inner progressive change or enfoldment, marked by an important period of self-education and self-development. It is most extremely difficult to describe those inner experiences of the soul which tend to raise it to greater spiritual heights, while the personality is becoming imbued with the forces by means of which it shall be enabled to look upon the world of spirit. The power of Divine spiritual vision must next be called into being, in order that there may come therefrom the wisdom necessary to the inception of all vital impulses destined to be implanted in the stream of human evolution. A verbal description is here the more difficult because never once have those who have undergone an experience of this nature, especially in olden times, come to such a state of apperception that they could outline their impressions in a precise and lucid manner. What actually happens may be stated to be somewhat as follows: -- The clairvoyant development of the soul is accomplished through different stages. In the case of a being such as Naboth, it would naturally occur that his first inner experience would be the clear apprehension of the following definite concept: -- ‘That spiritual power which it is ordained shall descend upon humanity, will now shine forth in me, and I am its appointed receptacle.’ Next would come this further thought: -- ‘I must henceforth do all that in me lies, in order that the force within my being may find true and proper expression; and that I may acquire those qualities that shall fit me to cope with every form of trial and experience that may come upon me. Thus shall I know how to impart the power of Divine-Impulse to my fellow men, in proper fashion.’ It is in this way that the spiritual and clairvoyant development of a personality such as I have described must go forward -- step by step. When a suitable predetermined stage has been reached, then follow certain definite signs which are noticeable and manifest within the soul. These are also of the nature of inner experiences; they are neither dreams nor visions, for they owe their origin to, and are dependent upon, the soul’s actual growth and unfoldment. Pictorial images appear; these indicate that inner progress has now so far advanced, that the particular personality in question may reasonably believe that his soul has indeed acquired new powers. These images, taken alone, have not necessarily much connection with the reality of those experiences through which the soul is passing. They are merely symbols, such as may come during the sleep state, but in a certain way they are typical symbols, similar to those which occur, under certain conditions, when we have very distinct and positive dreams. For instance, a person suffering from palpitation of the heart, may, during sleep, be under an illusion that heat is emanating from some glowing source, as, for instance, a hot stove. In like manner when the soul has gained this or that special clairvoyant power, then will come corresponding definite experiences in the form of visionary manifestations. Now, in the case of Naboth, the first event of the above nature brought with it a full realization of all that is implied in the following words: -- ‘Thou art the chosen one, through whom it shall be proclaimed that man may still believe in the ancient Jahveh-God; and that he must hold fast to this faith, even though it outwardly seemeth that because of the sore tribulation which has come upon the land, the current of life’s happenings be set against such trust. This state of profound meditation fraught with inner-life experiences, assumed the following form -- Naboth pondered thus: -- ’If thou wouldest indeed become worthy of that mission which shall shine in upon mankind because of this wholly new concept of God’s image, then must thou change utterly the nature of thine inner being, even to the most profound of its forces, so that thou art no more as thou hast been. Thou shalt subdue that soul which dwells in thee, and through those deeper powers which abide therein bring to thine inner Ego a new life, for it may no longer remain as it now is. [Thou must uplift its quality.]’ Under the influence of thoughts such as these [Naboth] worked intensively upon his soul -- ever striving within -- that he might bring about this essential transformation of his Ego, and thus become worthy to stand in the presence of that God who had revealed Himself before him. Then came to [Elijah-Naboth] yet another experience which was, however, only in part a vision. But because it was not entirely of the nature of an inner soul-happening, there being other content, it must be regarded as of less spiritual significance. It is ever the pure inner workings of the soul that are of truest and greatest import. In the vision, it appeared to him that his God, who had again manifested, set him upon a journey to Zarepath (I Kings, xvii, 9), and in that place he met a widow who had a son and he there saw represented, or personified, as it were, in the fate of this widow and her son, the manner and way in which he was now to live. It seemed to his spiritual sight that their food was well-nigh spent, and even that which they had was about to be consumed, after which they would die. Then it was that he spoke to the widow as in a dream, as in a vision, using in effect those same words which, day by day, and week by week, throughout his solitary meditations, he had repeated over and over again to his own soul: -- ‘Fear not, -- from that meal which remaineth, prepare the repast which must be made ready for you and your son, and for me also. In all that may yet come to pass trust alone in that God Who doth create both joy and sorrow, and in Whom we must ever abide in faith.’ In this dreamlike vision it was clearly impressed upon [Elijah-Naboth] that the barrel of meal would not become empty nor would the cruse of oil fail; for the oil and the meal would ever be renewed. It is worthy of note that at this point his whole soul-state which had become, so to speak, fully developed and perfected with regard to his individual character, expressed itself in the vision in such manner, that it seemed to him as if his personality went to live in the upper part of the house which belonged to the widow. But in reality the inner truth was that his own soul had, as one might say, risen to a higher level and achieved a more advanced stage of development. It next appeared to [Elijah-Naboth], again as in a vision, that the son of the widow lay dead. This we must regard as merely a symbolical representation of the fact that [Naboth] had overcome, and slain, as it were, the Ego which had been his up to that time. Then it was the subconscious forces in his soul cried out: -- ‘What wilt thou do now?’ For a while [Elijah-Naboth] stood helpless and perplexed; but he was able to regain his self-control through the medium of that power which had always lived and flowed within his innermost being, and to plunge even yet more profoundly into the consideration of those conditions which now called for such deep and earnest contemplation. It then happened that after the widow’s son was dead, she reproached him. This signifies that his subconscious spirit reproached him, in other words, aroused in him a misgiving of this nature: -- ‘My old Ego-consciousness has now left me -- what am I to do?’ In the description given of these events it is stated that he took the child unto himself and plunged unhesitatingly still further into the depths of his soul, and we are told that power was vouchsafed to him through which he brought the dead son once more to life. Then did he gain more courage to stimulate and quicken the new Ego, which was now his, by virtue of those qualities which were in the Ego that he had lost.

From that time on [Elijah-Naboth] continued to develop and mature the hidden forces of his soul, so that it might acquire that inner strength necessary to come before the outer world and utter those words which all must hear. But in the first place and above everything, to stand before King Ahab and bring to a crisis the matter which must now be decided, namely, the victory of the new Jehovah-concept as opposed to those beliefs that the King himself accepted, and which, owing to the weakness of the times had become generally acknowledged among the people. Now, it came about, that while Ahab was making a round of his empire, anxiously observing the signs of want and distress that the personality [whom we have called Elijah-Naboth] approached him; and no man knew from whence he came, certainly the King had no idea. And there was a strangeness in the manner of his speech which affected the soul of Ahab, who was not, however, aware that this man was his neighbour. More strongly than ever did the King experience that feeling of awe and dread which had always come upon him when reference was made to that great spirit known in the Bible as Elijah the prophet. Then it was that the King spoke and said: -- ‘Art thou he that troubleth Israel?’ And Elijah-Naboth replied: -- ‘No, not I, but thou thyself it is who bringeth misfortune and evil upon the people, and it must now be determined to which God they shall turn.’ So it came to pass that a great multitude of the tribe of Israel assembled upon Mount Carmel in order that final judgment should be made between the god of Ahab and the God of Elijah. The decision was to be brought about by means of an external sign; but such a sign as all might plainly discern and clearly understand. To enter into details concerning these matters at the present time would, however, take us too far. It was arranged that the priests and prophets of Baal, the name by which the god of King Ahab was known, should be the first to offer a sacrifice. The people would then wait and see if the performance of certain sacrificial rites (religious exercises in which the ecstatic priests, through the medium of music and dancing, worked themselves up into a state of singular ecstasy) would lead to any communication or influence being imparted to the multitude. In other words, the people were to judge whether or not, in virtue of inherent divine powers possessed by the priests any sign was vouchsafed of the might and potency of their god. The sacrificial beast is brought to the altar. It is to be decided if in truth the priests of Baal are endowed with an inner force, such as would stir the multitude. Then Elijah-Naboth raised up his voice and said: -- ‘This thing must now be determined -- I stand alone while opposed to me are the four hundred and fifty prophets of Baal. We shall see how strong is their hold upon the people, and how great is that power which is in me.’ The sacrifice is performed, and everything possible done in order to transmit to the multitude a potent influence from the priests -- that all should believe in the god Baal. The ecstatic exercises are carried to such lengths that the hands and other parts of the body are cut with knives until the blood flows, so as to increase still further the awesome character of the spectacle evoked by these followers of Baal, under the frenzied stimulus of the dancing and the music.

 

implizit.blogspot.fr/2011_02_01_archive.html?view=classic

Impressive division between shadow and light painted for sun, in rock.

 

When I saw the sun rising in the sky

I felt the palpitations of my heart grow faster,

loads of enthusiasm embodied in my blood... (Nikhil Parekh ).

 

Impressionante divisão entre sombra e luz desenhada pelo sol, na rocha.

 

Quando eu vi o sol se levantar no céu

eu senti as palpitações crescerem rapidamente no meu coração,

cheias do entusiasmo incorporado no meu sangue...

 

This is an 8" vanilla sponge cake... the controversial chocolate false teeth made it on to the final cake... I couldn't leave them off! Behind 'Sarah' there is a tube of toothpaste and a toothbrush... quite stupidly, I attached to brush in the wrong place, I think it was tiredness (!) as it was supposed to be standing up next to her, doh!

 

I loved making this figure... I based it on Sarah, following the fabulous Lorraine's 'Female Character' tutorial... adapting it quite a bit as I wanted her sitting on the edge of the cake... I'm so impressed with her jacket and hair... I was having palpitations just before I did those bits, lol!!

 

Anyway, hope you likey...

 

www.scrumptiousbuns.co.uk

www.facebook.com/scrumptiousbunsfans

The Evening News (James Watkins) P!

 

Catalytic confrontations

Calculated crawl,

Embryonic isolations,

Future free-for-all.

 

Energetic exhortation,

Apoplexied brawl,

Catatonic saturation,

Isometric ball.

 

Egocentric salutation,

Fatalistic fall,

Megalithic mumbo jumbo,

Paganistic pall.

 

Pugilistic palpitation,

Excavated sprawl,

Perspiration aggravation,

Aspirated wall.

 

Ammunition malnutrition,

Superstition stall,

California concentrated,

Captivated thrall.

 

Bound and ground,

Then taken down,

By the very best-

With one more show

Worth watching,

And then we’re headed west.

 

Recreation generation,

By the book denomination,

Families filled with hesitation,

RVs racked for roaming.

 

Picking up the pieces,

Layed down on the land,

With wasted wealth and watersheds,

And regions raped by man.

 

Calibration castigations,

Asymmetric aberrations,

Guided tours with revelations,

Ratted out and ruined.

 

Catastrophic congregations,

Commutated castings,

Calvinistic computations,

Debonair and prancing.

 

Altruistic aspirations,

Stoned, bemoaned abbreviations,

Terrified with trepidations,

Gnomes long gone and gassed!

 

Honed and cloned then overthrown,

Granted one last wish-

Celebrated, then negated-

Dangling near the dish!

 

Partisan unprinciples,

In petrifying packs-

With news and views

And loop-de-loos,

And stab-‘em-in-the-backs.

 

Ready for the ruckus,

Sitting at the shrine,

Thought they really

Had the goods,

Now listen to the whine.

 

Thought they had it marketed,

Cornered and refined,

Around the town

The terror wound,

Until they lost their mind.

 

Settling to the bottom,

They slid to lower ground,

Between the lines and valentines,

Some lost their Royal Crowns.

 

Terroristic tinkering,

Tumbling and tinkling,

Fundamental farkles,

Helpful and home grown.

 

Patriotic particles,

Hidden in the articles,

Compact and post partial,

Buried to the bone.

 

Vacuumed packed

And gunny-sacked,

Pre-segmented squalls,

Appalachian apparitions,

Headed to the malls.

 

Fevered and fantastic men,

Marching to the moon,

With masticating matriarchs,

In subcutaneous swoon.

 

Breasts blown up beautiful,

Complicated castings,

Fallen faces on the floor,

Mesmerized for masking.

 

Sacrificial sublimations,

Surrogates sublime,

Tetrahedral, analgesic,

Sentimental crimes.

 

Pawing, pungent prisoners,

Soothing, sexy swine-

Sows and cows and sinning sons,

Tasting tempting wines.

 

Navigation nuances,

Nuptials by Nair,

Feudalistic fragrances,

Held up with heavy hair.

 

Practical imbalances,

Factory unrepairs,

New wave cold and chemical friends,

Facts blown up with air.

 

Salivating swindlers,

Solo Simon says,

High-falutin prostitution,

Fixed up with the Feds.

 

Sports and courts and teasing torts,

Women going wild-

Dow Jones Average hemorrhage,

Help the homeless child.

 

Down the daunting highway,

Less than overnight,

Covering ground without a sound,

Filtered by first light.

 

Lazy lit up lethargy,

Loosed by lying lips,

Bought the farm in triplicate,

Then sailed a sinking ship.

 

Galvanizing garrisons,

Gathering at the line,

Pushed ahead though nearly dead,

They won it one more time.

 

Tested in the tumult,

On solid ground they stand,

Groping with the changer,

Positioned close at hand.

 

Nightly, brightly flickering,

Turn the clicker off-

Before you go,

Don’t miss the show,

An evening totally lost!

 

James Watkins (03-06)

another ballplayer, a few staring males, and one rather inscrutable beauty (she knows it, too)

Hey flickr fam.

So for the last little while I've been having symptoms. A lot of symptoms actually.

 

***(Over the last 6 months)

 

Increased anxiety

Increased depression

Mild paranoia

Agoraphobia

Mood swings

Migraines with right side of body going numb

 

(Over the past couple weeks)

 

Brain fog

Dizziness

Constant disorientation (feeling drunk)

Seeing things

Numbness in fingers and toes

Heart palpitations

Butterflies in stomach

Tightness in chest

The back of my head feels hot and burning

Neck and back-stabbing pains***

 

Since I have a history of Migraines where I lose my vision, I was worried about having a brain tumor.

I made an appointment with my Primary care physician.

 

But yesterday while I was driving on the freeway, I had what suspiciously felt like a heart attack. I know I'm young, but my uncle had his first heart attack when he was 22. My Grandma had heart problems forever and had like 4 open heart surgeries. So I Ended up going to the ER.

 

They ran some tests and concluded my heart is okay, it was just an anxiety attack. Wtf. I dont HAVE those... So now I feel like a big pussy. Haha. I guess over the last 6 months, losing my job, having BOTH of my dogs die, and basically being homeless has had a bit of an affect on me.

 

As for the rest of the symptoms ive been having, they decided it was a concussion. I fell down the stairs a week and a half ago, after drinking excessively, and must have hurt my head.

 

So doctors orders are No exercise and No horse back riding. Also no TV, Video games or Reading or anything to do with screens or thinking.

 

Because 2016 wants to take away everything i love.

 

#AbFav_MAY_💐

 

This columbine cultivar is perennial that features large, upward facing, fragrant, bright bi-toned flowers with outward curving spurs.

Flowers grow on a long stem above the leaves and have five pointed sepals and five petals with long spurs projecting backwards between the sepals.

Aquilegia comes from the Latin word for eagle in reference to the flower's five spurs which purportedly resemble an eagle's talon.

The plant's seeds and roots are highly poisonous however, and contain cardiogenic toxins which cause both severe gastroenteritis and heart palpitations if consumed as food.

Native Americans used very small amounts of Aquilegia root as a treatment for ulcers.

However, the medical use of this plant is better avoided due to its high toxicity; columbine poisonings may be fatal.

It is ALWAYS better to wash your hands thoroughly, after handling flowers!

 

Thank you for your time and comments, greatly appreciated, M, (*_*)

 

For more: www.indigo2photography.com

Please do not use any of my images on websites, blogs or any other media without my explicit permission. © All rights reserved

 

Aquilegia, Granny's-bonnet, Golden-columbine, curvy, "conceptual art", design, flower, bud, purple, mauve, blueish, white, studio, black-background, colour, square, NikonD7000, "Magda indigo"

Metamfetamin kan brukas

Bipacksedel

Information till förskrivare

Diskutera här påFlickr om metamfetamin alltid behöver vara bra eller dåligt, eller om det finns mera nyanserade sätt att se på det hela.

  

Metamfetamin kan missbrukas och

-Metamfetamin kan missbrukas: se konsekvenserna

och missbruket ökar snabbt. Speciellt farligt för personer med ADHD då missbruk av metamfetamin reglerar ned densiteten på dopaminreceptorerna.

 

Metamfetamin - the faces of meth

Klassiker om vad som händer med metamfetaminmissbrukaren, åldrandet och tänderna. Blicken, huden och ödesränderna.

 

Meth större hjärna med mindre innehåll

Vad som händer i hjärnan hos Meth missbrukare, hjärnan växer på grund av att den svullnar och densiteten på dopaminreceptorerna regleras ned. Men också att metamfetamin rätt använt kan vara bra samt varför. Skillnaden mellan enantiomererna hur hur otroligt olika de verkar.

 

Metamfetamin & ADHD + Hel dokumentär

Hel dokumentärfilm från National Geographic om världens farligaste drog: Metamfetamin,

 

Den här dokumentären kanske om inte annat kan förklara lite av varför Metamfetamin fått det rykte som det har, vilka konsekvenserna av ett missbruk blir osv. Ãven om dokumentären inte alls förklarar att personer med ADHD löper en ökad risk att fastna i ett metamfetaminmissbruk och att det på sikt kommer att göra problemen mycket värre tack vare att höga doser reglerar ned antalet och densiteten på dopamin receptorerna. Så att det som frälser dig också kommer att döda dig har kanske aldrig varit sannare än här.

 

Metamfetamin de direkta & indirekta skadeverkningarna

-Se Oprahshow nedan om metamfetaminmissbruk

-ohämmad sex med främlingar och sambanden

 

Fler och fler rapporter kommer om metamfetamin eller crystal meth som en del föredrar att kalla det men skadeverkningarna av ett missbruk direkt säger kanske inte så mycket om de indirekta skadeverkningarna av missbruket, vilket varit väldigt vanligt och utbrett i vissa kretsar i bland annat New York.

    

Marknadsföringen av Meth amfetamin till gravida

Den Pengakåta pillerindustrin har genom åren haft en rad smaklösheter för sig förutom att dölja resultat som talar till sitt preparats nackdel så manipuleras och har det manipulerats en hel del igenom åren. En speciellt intressant grupp att kränga "de nya supervetenskapliga" produkterna till har varit kvinnor, ofta med någon skavank som medicinjättarna inte alls varit sena med att marknadsföra med vetenskap som täckmantel. Det kan vara den feta kvinnan, den okåta kvinnan, den otacksamma kvinnan eller bara kvinnan som inte hinner med att städa rent i hemmet. Eller varför inte suggan som blivit på smällen och fettnat till? Behöver inte hon lite metamfetamin?

 

så här farligt lever användarna

 

Metamfetamin utbrett i hela skåne

 

ny dödsdrog sprider ut sig

 

DN Metamfetamin 1 2 3

 

SvD 1 2 3 4 5

 

Sydsvenskan 1 2 3

  

Produktbeskrivning på Engelska

 

METH

Teratogenic effects: Pregnancy Category C. Methamphetamine has been shown to have teratogenic and embryocidal effects in mammals given high multiples of the human dose. There are no adequate and well-controlled studies in pregnant women. METH tablets should

not be used during pregnancy unless the potential benefit justifies the potential risk to the fetus. Nonteratogenic effects: Infants born to mothers dependent on amphetamines have an increased risk of premature delivery and low birth weight. Also, these infants may experience symptoms of withdrawal as demonstrated by dysphoria, including agitation and significant lassitude.

  

Usage in Nursing Mothers: Amphetamines are excreted in human milk. Mothers taking amphetamines should be advised to refrain from nursing.

Pediatric Use: Safety and effectiveness for use as an anorectic agent in children below the age of 12 years have not been established. Long-term effects of methamphetamine in children have not been established (see WARNINGS). Drug treatment is not indicated in all cases of the behavioral syndrome characterized by moderate to severe distractibility, short attention span, hyperactivity, emotional lability and impulsivity. It should be considered only in light of the complete history and evaluation of the child. The decision to prescribe METH tablets should depend on the physicianâs assessment of the chronicity and severity of the childâs symptoms and their appropriateness for his/her age. Prescription should not depend solely on the presence of one or more of the behavioral characteristics. When these symptoms are associated with acute stress reactions, treatment with METH tablets is usually not indicated. Clinical experience suggests that in psychotic children, administration of METH tablets may exacerbate symptoms of behavior disturbance and thought disorder. Amphetamines have been reported to exacerbate motor and phonic tics and Touretteâs syndrome. Therefore, clinical evaluation for tics and Touretteâs syndrome in children and their families should precede use of stimulant medications.

  

ADVERSE REACTIONS

The following are adverse reactions in decreasing order of severity within each category that have been reported: Cardiovascular: Elevation of blood pressure, tachycardia and palpitation. Fatal cardiorespiratory arrest has been reported, mostly in the context of abuse/misuse. Central Nervous System: Psychotic episodes have been rarely

eported at recommended doses. Dizziness, dysphoria, overstimulation, euphoria, insomnia, tremor, restlessness and headache. Exacerbation of motor and phonic tics and Touretteâs syndrome. Gastrointestinal: Diarrhea, constipation, dryness of mouth, unpleasant taste and other gastrointestinal disturbances.

Hypersensitivity: Urticaria.

Endocrine: Impotence and changes in libido.

Miscellaneous: Suppression of growth has been reported with the

long-term use of stimulants in children (see WARNINGS).

DRUG ABUSE AND DEPENDENCE

Controlled Substance: METH tablets are subject to control under

DEA schedule II.

  

Abuse: Methamphetamine has been extensively abused. Tolerance, extreme psychological dependence, and severe social disability have occurred. There are reports of patients who have increased the dosage to many times that recommended. Abrupt cessation following prolonged high dosage administration results in extreme fatigue and mental depression; changes are also noted on the sleep EEG. Manifestations of chronic intoxication with methamphetamine include

severe dermatoses, marked insomnia, irritability, hyperactivity, and personality changes. The most severe manifestation of chronic intoxication is psychosis often clinically indistinguishable from schizophrenia. Abuse and/or misuse of methamphetamine have resulted in death. Fatal cardiorespiratory arrest has been reported in the context of abuse and/or misuse of methamphetamine.

 

OVERDOSAGE depressive symptoms should be adequately screened to determine if they are at risk for bipolar disorder; such screening should include a detailed psychiatric history, including a family history of suicide, bipolar disorder, and depression. Emergence of New Psychotic or Manic Symptoms: Treatment emergent psychotic or manic symptoms, e.g., hallucinations, delusional thinking, or mania in children and adolescents without a prior history of psychotic illness or mania can be caused by stimulants at usual doses. If such symptoms occur, consideration should be given to a possible causal role of the stimulant, and discontinuation of

treatment may be appropriate. In a pooled analysis of multiple short-term, placebo-controlledstudies, such symptoms occurred in about 0.1% (4 patients with events out of 3482 exposed to methylphenidate or amphetamine for several weeks at usual doses) of stimulant-treated patients compared to 0 in placebo-treated patients.

Aggression: Aggressive behavior or hostility is often observed in children and adolescents with ADHD, and has been reported in clinical trials and the postmarketing experience of some medications indicated for the treatment of ADHD. Although there is no systematic evidence that stimulants cause aggressive behavior or hostility, patients beginning treatment for ADHD should be monitored for the appearance of or worsening of aggressive behavior or hostility. There is some clinical evidence that stimulants may lower the convulsive threshold in patients with prior history of seizures, in patients with prior EEG abnormalities in absence of seizures, and, very rarely, in patients without a history of seizures and no prior EEG evidence of seizures. In the presence of seizures, the drug should be discontinued. Visual Disturbance Difficulties with accommodation and blurring of vision have been reported with stimulant treatment.

 

PRECAUTIONS

General: METH tablets should be used with caution in patients with even mild hypertension. Methamphetamine should not be used to combat fatigue or to replace rest in normal persons. Prescribing and dispensing of methamphetamine should be limited to the smallest amount that is feasible at one time in order to minimize the possibility of overdosage. Information for Patients: The patient should be informed that methamphetamine may impair the ability to engage in potentially hazardous activities, such as, operating machinery or driving a motor vehicle.

 

The patient should be cautioned not to increase dosage, except on advice of the physician. Prescribers or other health professionals should inform patients, their families and their caregivers about the benefits and risks associated with treatment with methamphetamine and should counsel them it its appropriate use. A patient Medication Guide is available for METH. The prescriber or health professional should instruct patients, their families, and their caregivers to read the Medication Guide and should assist them in understanding its contents. Patients should be given the opportunity to discuss the contents of the Medication Guide and to obtain answers to any questions they may have.

 

Drug Interactions: Insulin requirements in diabetes mellitus may be altered in association with the use of methamphetamine and the concomitant dietary regimen. Methamphetamine may decrease the hypotensive effect of guanethidine. METH should not be used concurrently with monoamine oxidase inhibitors (see CONTRAINDICATIONS). Concurrent administration of tricyclic antidepressants and indirect- acting sympathomimetic amines such as the amphetamines, should be closely supervised and dosage carefully adjusted. Phenothiazines are reported in the literature to antagonize the CNS stimulant action of the amphetamines.

  

INDICATIONS AND USAGE

Attention Deficit Disorder with Hyperactivity: METH tablets are indicated as an integral part of a total treatment program which typically includes other remedial measures (psychological, educational, social) for a stabilizing effect in children over 6 years of age with a behavioral syndrome characterized by the following group of developmentally inappropriate symptoms: moderate to severe distractibility, short attention span, hyperactivity, emotional lability, and impulsivity. The diagnosis of this syndrome should not be made with finality when these symptoms are only of comparatively recent origin. Nonlocalizing (soft) neurological signs, learning disability, and abnormal EEG may or may not be present, and a diagnosis of central nervous system dysfunction may or may not be warranted. Exogenous Obesity: as a short-term (i.e., a few weeks) adjunct in a regimen of weight reduction based on caloric restriction, for patients in whom obesity is refractory to alternative therapy, e.g., repeated diets, group programs, and other drugs. The limited usefulness of METH tablets (see CLINICAL PHARMACOLOGY) should be weighed against possible risks inherent in use of the drug, such as those described below.

  

CONTRAINDICATIONS

METH tablets are contraindicated during or within 14 days following the administration of monoamine oxidase inhibitors; hypertensive crisis may result. It is also contraindicated in patients with glaucoma, advanced arteriosclerosis, symptomatic cardiovascular disease, moderate to severe hypertension, hyperthyroidism or known hypersensitivity or idiosyncrasy to sympathomimetic amines. Methamphetamine should not be given to patients who are in an agitated state or who have a history of drug abuse.

  

WARNINGS

Tolerance to the anorectic effect usually develops within a few weeks. When this occurs, the recommended dose should not be exceeded in an attempt to increase the effect; rather, the drug should be discontinued (see DRUG ABUSE AND DEPENDENCE).

Serious Cardiovascular Events

Sudden Death and Pre existing Structural Cardiac Abnormalities

or Other Serious Heart Problems:

Children and Adolescents: Sudden death has been reported in association with CNS stimulant treatment at usual doses in children and adolescents with structural cardiac abnormalities or other serious heart problems. Although some serious heart problems alone carry an increased risk of sudden death, stimulant products generally should not be used in children or adolescents with known serious structural cardiac abnormalities, cardiomyopathy, serious heart rhythm abnormalities, or other serious cardiac problems that may place them at increased vulnerability to the sympathomimetic effects of a

stimulant drug.

Adults: Sudden deaths, stroke, and myocardial infarction have been reported in adults taking stimulant drugs at usual doses for ADHD. Although the role of stimulants in these adult cases is also unknown, adults have a greater likelihood than children of having serious structural cardiac abnormalities, cardiomyopathy, serious heart rhythm abnormalities, coronary artery disease, or other serious cardiac problems. Adults with such abnormalities should also generally not be treated with stimulant drugs. Hypertension and other Cardiovascular Conditions: Stimulant medications cause a modest increase in average blood pressure (about 2-4 mmHg) and average heart rate (about 3-6 bpm), and individuals may have larger increases. While the mean changes alone would not be expected to have short-term consequences, all patients should be monitored for larger changes in heart rate and blood pressure. Caution is indicated in treating patients whose underlying medical conditions might be compromised by increases in blood pressure or heart rate, e.g., those with pre-existing hypertension, heart failure, recent myocardial infarction, or ventricular arrhythmia. Assessing Cardiovascular Status in Patients being Treated with Stimulant Medications: Children, adolescents, or adults who are being considered for treatment with stimulant medications should have a careful history (including assessment for a family history of sudden death or ventricular arrhythmia) and physical exam to assess for the presence of cardiac disease, and should receive further cardiac evaluation if findings suggest such disease (e.g., electrocardiogram and echocardiogram). Patients who develop symptoms such as exertional chest pain, unexplained syncope, or other symptoms suggestive of cardiac disease during stimulant treatment should undergo a prompt cardiac evaluation.

Psychiatric Adverse Events

Pre-existing Psychosis:

Administration of stimulants may exacerbate symptoms of behavior disturbance and thought disorder in patients with a pre-existing psychotic disorder. Bipolar Illness: Particular care should be taken in using stimulants to treat ADHD in patients with comorbid bipolar disorder because of concern for possible induction of a mixed/manic episode in suchpatients. Prior to initiating treatment with a stimulant,

 

METH®

Methamphetamine

Hydrochloride

Tablets, USP only

 

DESCRIPTION

METH® (methamphetamine hydrochloride tablets, USP), chemically known as (S)-N,α-dimethylbenzeneethanamine hydrochloride, is a member of the amphetamine group of sympathomimetic amines. It has the following structural formula:

 

CLINICAL PHARMACOLOGY

Methamphetamine is a sympathomimetic amine with CNS stimulant activity. Peripheral actions include elevation of systolic and diastolic blood pressures and weak bronchodilator and respiratory stimulant action. Drugs of this class used in obesity are commonly known as âanorecticsâ or âanorexigenicsâ. It has not been established, however, that the action of such drugs in treating obesity is primarily one of appetite suppression. Other central nervous system actions, or metabolic effects, may be involved, for example. Adult obese subjects instructed in dietary management and treated with âanorecticâ drugs, lose more weight on the average than those treated with placebo and diet, as determined in relatively short-term clinical trials.

The magnitude of increased weight loss of drug-treated patients over placebo-treated patients is only a fraction of a pound a week. The rate of weight loss is greatest in the first weeks of therapy for both drug and placebo subjects and tends to decrease in succeeding weeks. The origins of the increased weight loss due to the various possible drug effects are not established. The amount of weight loss associated with the use of an âanorecticâ drug varies from trial to trial, and the increased weight loss appears to be related in part to variables other than the drug prescribed, such as the physician-investigator, the population treated, and the diet prescribed. Studies do not permit conclusions as to the relative importance of the drug and non-drug factors on weight loss.

  

The natural history of obesity is measured in years, whereas the studies cited are restricted to a few weeks duration; thus, the total impact of drug-induced weight loss over that of diet alone must be considered clinically limited. The mechanism of action involved in producing the beneficial behavioral changes seen in hyperkinetic children receiving methamphetamine is unknown. In humans, methamphetamine is rapidly absorbed from the gastrointestinal tract. The primary site of metabolism is in the liver by aromatic hydroxylation, N-dealkylation and deamination. At least seven metabolites have been identified in the urine. The biological half-life has been reported in the range of 4 to 5 hours. Excretion occurs primarily in the urine and is dependent on urine pH. Alkaline urine will significantly increase the drug half-life. Approximately 62% of an oral dose is eliminated in the urine within the first 24 hours with about one-third as intact drug and the remainder as metabolites.

  

METHAMPHETAMINE HAS A HIGH POTENTIAL FOR

ABUSE. IT SHOULD THUS BE TRIED ONLY IN

CLINICAL PHARMACOLOGY. HAVE A NICE DAY.

 

Bara metylfenidat rekommenderas av de europeiska kontrollmyndigheterna för behandling av ADHD

  

Doctor,

What is happening to me?

Palpitations

My mind's diseased

Even my vision is impaired

I'm losing my hair

Cos when I hold her in my arms

I feel like Fred Astaire

 

Lovesick

My temperature's high

Just met a girl

Who believes we can fly

I'm a bull not a bear

I'm a millionaire

And when I hold her in my arms

I feel like Fred Astaire

 

I believe in happiness

I believe in Love

I believe she fell to earth

from somewhere high above

I believe in Hollywood

Don't believe that Love must bring despair

Cos when I hold her in my arms

I'm just like Fred Astaire

 

He said love is just a disease

A plague for the naïve

These days no one believes

These days no one believes

 

Meteors may strike the earth

Nations live and die

I'm the boy who got the girl

Who showed me how to fly

We can cross the race divide

Bridge a gap that wasn't really there

I'm gonna hold her in my charm

Just like Fred Astaire

 

James "Just Like Fred Astaire" Lyrics

The flowers of various species of Colombine were consumed in moderation by Native Americans as a condiment with other fresh greens, and are reported to be very sweet, and safe if consumed in small quantities. The plant's seeds and roots are highly poisonous however, and contain cardiogenic toxins which cause both severe gastroenteritis and heart palpitations if consumed as food. Native Americans used very small amounts of Aquilegia root as an effective treatment for ulcers. However, the medical use of this plant is better avoided due to its high toxicity; columbine poisonings may be fatal!

Eccola... E' stata una vera avventura questa piccola. Tre anni fa, quando vendetti la gran parte della mia collezione per cause di forza maggiore, chiusi tutte i canali di comunicazione con il collezionismo. Troppo dolore rivedere le mie ex adorate in altri album. Avevo una midpart bruna, occhi verdi trucco scuro, splendida, con dei capelli fenomenali. Una delle più rimpiante. Quando ad Ottobre 2012 (per una pura casualità...grazie Simo, per sempre) sono ritornata, mai avrei pensato di riuscire ad adottare la gemellina della mia piccola Amber May. Una mattina di Aprile (un mese che mi ha veramente messa alla prova), vedo un'asta su ebay e rimango folgorata: la bambola era la perfetta copia della mia ex adorata. Non aveva puntato nessuno, decido di contattare il venditore. In tanti anni di collezionismo, mai ho avuto la fortuna che qualcuno accettasse di vendermi una bambola al di fuori di un'asta. Lassù qualcuno mi ama ho pensato. Ho pianto di gioia. E' stata un'impresa prenderla. Ho dovuto fare 400 km. Qualcuno ha cercato di mettersi in mezzo in malo modo. E' stata dura e ho pregato fino all'ultimo che i venditori mantenessero fede alla parola data. Così è stato. Che dire: ho ancora le palpitazioni. Passo ore a rimirarla....è un'esplosione di gioia. Tutta completa e originale, le mancavano il pannolino, le scarpette rosse e le barrette originali (comprate appositamente per lei). Tutti e 4 gli elastichini originali, il pantaloncino ancora cucito alle calzette bianche...la prova di quanto è nuova. Un incanto di cui ancora non mi capacito. Chiamata come la signora che me l'ha venduta. Grazie al supporto e sostegno morale che alcune amiche vere mi hanno dimostrato. E' questo il bello del collezionismo: le sorprese inaspettate e le persone speciali con cui condividerle. Vi presento Nicoletta :)

 

Here she is ... It was a real adventure this little baby. Three years ago, when I sold the most of my collection due to force majeure, I closed all channels of communication with the collecting world. Too much pain to see my ex babies in other albums. I had a midpart brunette, green eyes and dark makeup, stunning with phenomenal hair . One of the most missed. When in October 2012 (by pure chance ... thanks Simo, forever) I came back, I never thought of being able to adopt the twin of my little Amber May. One morning in April (a month that I was really put to the test), I see an auction on ebay and I cannot believe to my eyes: the doll was a perfect copy of my ex beloved Amber May. No one bidded on her soI decided to contact the seller. In many years of collecting, I 've never had the good fortune that someone would agree to sell me a doll outside of an auction. Somebody up there loves me, I thought. I cried for joy. It 'been an adventure to take her home. I had to do 400 km. Someone tried to get in the middle of the transaction in a bad way. It 'was hard and I prayed for the honesty of the seller. So it was. What can I say: I still have palpitations. I spend hours looking at her .... she is an explosion of joy. All complete and original, she missed the diaper, red shoes and original barrettes (all bought specially for her), how new she is. A charm which still beyond me. Named after the lady who sold her to me. Thanks to the moral support that some true friends have shown me. And 'this is the beauty of collecting: the unexpected surprises and special people with whom to share them. Introducing Nicoletta :)

Stendhal syndrome, Stendhal's syndrome or Florence syndrome is a psychosomatic condition involving rapid heartbeat, fainting, confusion and even hallucinations, allegedly occurring when individuals become exposed to objects, artworks, or phenomena of great beauty and antiquity.

 

Stendhal syndrome was named after Marie-Henri Beyle (1783–1842), better known by his pen name, Stendhal,

who described his experience with the phenomenon during his 1817 visit to Florence in his book Naples and Florence: A Journey from Milan to Reggio. When he visited the Basilica of Santa Croce, where Niccolò Machiavelli, Michelangelo and Galileo Galilei are buried, he was overcome with profound emotion. Stendhal wrote:

I was in a sort of ecstasy, from the idea of being in Florence, close to the great men whose tombs I had seen. Absorbed in the contemplation of sublime beauty . . . I reached the point where one encounters celestial sensations . . . Everything spoke so vividly to my soul. Ah, if I could only forget. I had palpitations of the heart, what in Berlin they call 'nerves'. Life was drained from me. I walked with the fear of falling.

Although psychologists have long debated whether Stendhal syndrome exists, the apparent effects on some individuals are severe enough to warrant medical attention.

There exists no scientific evidence to define Stendhal syndrome as a specific psychiatric disorder; however, there is evidence that the same cerebral areas involved in emotional responses are activated during exposure to art. The syndrome is not listed as a recognised condition in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders.

A more recent account of the Stendhal syndrome was in 2018, where a visitor to the Uffizi Gallery in Florence suffered a heart attack while admiring Sandro Botticelli's The Birth of Venus;

 

Wikipedia

Just a quick family picture before we headed out to our friends' wedding.

^//W//^ Ayyyyy, hello everyone!

I'm alive! Woo!

...xD No really, I had a very scary bout of health problems over the last few months where I literally felt like I was dying so I'm extremely happy to be feeling better again~

Don't really want to ramble on about it too much here since I like to keep things as positive and happy as possible, but my heart palpitations got much worse over the last few months to the point that I was in almost constant panic and was hardly able to do even simple tasks. However over the last month I've been taking supplements/medication as well as drastically changed my diet and though i'm still working things out and have problems here and there, i'm feeling much much better these days but have a lot of work/IRL things to catch up on so i'll still probably be a bit quiet for a while.

 

TwT Anyways, yeah, want to keep positive so to put it in simple terms as much as I love and adore my art/dolls I had a lot of other, more pressing matters to focus on and thus haven't had much time/energy to devote them lately. I'm also knee deep in faceup commissions and IRL things currently as well so unfortunately I don't think that will really change for a while. But for anyone who watches my BJD Youtube channel I do have like, 7 videos recorded over the last few months that i'm in the process of editing so look forward to that in the future at least! I've also been trying to squeeze in time for more dolly photos as I really want to work on DoA profiles for my dolls so while it'll be slow that will be something fun to look forward to as well. c:

 

^w^ Anyways, yeah, I'm super behind in taking couple/group/etc. shot of my dolls and i've been desperately wanting to practice that more (since I find it to be much more of a nightmare than regular photography and I already kiiiinda hate doing that xD //shot) as through making changes i've become much more happy with how my dolls/characters look and look with each other. xD I've always wanted to take more pictures of River and Raum together (since they are [future] father & son) but they are seriously the hardest ones to photograph since my camera/lighting hates tan skin dolls OTL. Also River has these craaaazy huge black wings now and I made Raum some cool accessories ages ago and have also been wanting to take pictures of but OF COURSE you can hardly see either of these things in this photo. SO... FAIL. I guess i'll show/talk about them later. OTL

At least I managed to...sort of...get both of them in the same shot...and they are kinda in focus....and don't look completely derpy....

T__T Look, I tried man, I tried.

(Also SHHHH Raum totally isn't naked from the shoulders down because I haven't made him proper clothes yet of course not that would give a disturbing context to this completely innocent photo asdfghjkl *COUGH*..... )

 

TuT Anyways, yeah. I have a ton of things to do so I can't ramble on too much longer buuuuut I do have two major updates! the first is that my Immortality of Soul Co, Hyacinth, arrived after four months of waiting! *W* AND HE'S AMAAAZING! OMG, He's ENOURMOUS and its amazing since he looks so giant and awkward like he's supposed too omg and HIS FAAAAACE has exactly the expression I was wanting for him so asdfghjkl so happy! ;w; I'll talk more about him later when I get some better pictures of him, though he probably won't get a faceup for a while because i'm so busy OTL

AAAaaaaand I also did manage to snag SIO2 Ragdoll before their sales period ended so Roo will be coming home in a few months, woo! ^w^ Another reason why I wanted to take pictures of these two, since Roo is a very important character to both River and Raum. I'll talk more about him later though, but EEEEEeeeep! I'm sooo ridiculously excited for this doll you have no idea! I've been dying for a doll from this artist/company for ages now and I really want to get more of her work in the future since I adore the aesthetic, and Roo is such an interesting character I think Ragdoll in particular l will be just perfect to represent him~

 

x3 Anyways enough rambling for today, i'll have more than enough ramblings for you guys when I get all those videos up so don't be sad haha //shot

 

---

River (boy) is a Soom R. Trond in Bronze skin. Faceup, wig, necklace and painting by me.

Raum (intersex, male pronoun) is a Soom OE Appini on an Argil body in Bronze skin. Faceup wig, jewelry, and painting by me.

   

Photograph taken at an altitude of One hundred and one metres, at 17:10pm on Wednesday 11th September 2013 following torrential rain showers, off the A821 Duke's Pass on the Three Loch's Achray Forrest Drive, beside Loch Achray, where the River Turk feeds into it's Southern forest edge.

    

Loch Achray is a small but extremely beautiful loch right at the heart of the Trossachs and only a mile from its larger neighbour, Loch Katrine. A popular fishing loch for brown trout, sea trout, perch, pike and salmon, it is situated near Callander where we were staying at the Abbotsford Lodge, in the Stirling Council area of Scotland.

  

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Nikon D800 140mm 1/100s f/10.0 iso200 RAW (14-bit) Handheld with VRII.

  

Nikkor AF-S 70-200mm f/2.8G ED IF VRII. 77mm Jessops UV filter. Nikon MB-D12 battery grip. Two Nikon EN-EL15 batteries. Sandisc 32GB Ultra Class 10 30MB/s SDHC. Nikon DK-17a magnifying eyepiece. Hoodman HGEC soft eye[iece cup. Nikon GP-1 GPS unit.

  

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LATITUDE: N 56d 13m 30.70s

LONGITUDE: W 4d 22m 59.08s

ALTITUDE: 101.0m

  

RAW (TIFF) FILE: 103.00MB

PROCESSED FILE: 26.02MB

 

A Charlie update ~ Charlie is our stray cat friend that we have been feeding and trying to coax into staying with us. He follows us about 1 kilometer to my house and will eat and play with us for a little while but then he leaves us and always goes back to the same corner where we first found him. Two times so far I have opened the door to find a dead bird there and know that is Charlie's way of saying thank you. We found out recently from a neighbor, who has also fed him, that Charlie's owners moved away a few months ago and left him behind, which is why he is reluctant to leave that area. I'm sure he thinks that one day his wonderful family will return. Just posting this to let people know what happened and maybe make a few people think before they leave their pet behind like a pile of old newspapers. He still remembers you and is still waiting for you to come back.

 

ODC - replaced

   

Nikon D7000 ~ Nikkor 50mm 1.8G ~ Exposure 1/500 sec. ~ Aperture f/2.5 ~ ISO Speed 100

 

© Image by Laurarama - All rights reserved. Do not use, copy or alter in any way without my written permission. Unauthorized use of my image may result in abdominal discomfort, dizziness, heart palpitations and other more severe side effects.

 

i love coffee.

 

actually, my whole family loves coffee. my dad went through all the lengths and troubles of lugging a 5 kilo espresso machine from one of his travels, just so we can pull a good espresso at home.

 

we search far and wide for good beans (we dont know how to roast them though) and practically collect them, well and of course consume as well.

 

now, i love all forms and preparations of coffee, but ive always been partial to espressos. there is something to the sweetness of the crema and the thick and syrupy consistency of the body which i always loved. so, italy is my mecca when it came to coffee. ive been to rome before and i loved the coffee there. it blew me away and it was unforgettable. but my dad always told me "wait till you go to napoli." for the longest time, i prayed that i could find myself in the curious town one day, and i was lucky enough that last year my father told me that i had to go to work.

 

so, yeah. i made it to napoli to fulfill my coffee-centered gastronimic fantasies. and the coffee, was nothing like anything that i could imagine. it was simply perfect, so perfect that i wanted to cry. but i didnt cry, instead for the 3 days i was there, i consumed 30 espressos, an average of 1 espresso every 2 1/2 hours (except when i was sleeping, during that time i was just dreaming of espressos).

 

and no, im not dead and i didnt have any palpitations. instead i had the heavy heart of leaving, because i would no longer be able to taste such sweet nectar for an unknown period of time. i love you naples, i and i love you, espresso. ill never forget you.

The Evening News (James Watkins) not hdr

 

Catalytic confrontations

Calculated crawl,

Embryonic isolations,

Future free-for-all.

 

Energetic exhortation,

Apoplexied brawl,

Catatonic saturation,

Isometric ball.

 

Egocentric salutation,

Fatalistic fall,

Megalithic mumbo jumbo,

Paganistic pall.

 

Pugilistic palpitation,

Excavated sprawl,

Perspiration aggravation,

Aspirated wall.

 

Ammunition malnutrition,

Superstition stall,

California concentrated,

Captivated thrall.

 

Bound and ground,

Then taken down,

By the very best-

With one more show

Worth watching,

And then we’re headed west.

 

Recreation generation,

By the book denomination,

Families filled with hesitation,

RVs racked for roaming.

 

Picking up the pieces,

Layed down on the land,

With wasted wealth and watersheds,

And regions raped by man.

 

Calibration castigations,

Asymmetric aberrations,

Guided tours with revelations,

Ratted out and ruined.

 

Catastrophic congregations,

Commutated castings,

Calvinistic computations,

Debonair and prancing.

 

Altruistic aspirations,

Stoned, bemoaned abbreviations,

Terrified with trepidations,

Gnomes long gone and gassed!

 

Honed and cloned then overthrown,

Granted one last wish-

Celebrated, then negated-

Dangling near the dish!

 

Partisan unprinciples,

In petrifying packs-

With news and views

And loop-de-loos,

And stab-‘em-in-the-backs.

 

Ready for the ruckus,

Sitting at the shrine,

Thought they really

Had the goods,

Now listen to the whine.

 

Thought they had it marketed,

Cornered and refined,

Around the town

The teaching wound,

Until they lost their mind.

 

Settling to the bottom,

They slid to lower ground,

Between the lines and valentines,

Some lost their Royal Crowns.

 

Terroristic tinkering,

Tumbling and tinkling,

Fundamental farkles,

Helpful and home grown.

 

Patriotic particles,

Hidden in the articles,

Compact and post partial,

Buried to the bone.

 

Vacuumed packed

And gunny-sacked,

Pre-segmented squalls,

Appalachian apparitions,

Headed to the malls.

 

Fevered and fantastic men,

Marching to the moon,

With masticating matriarchs,

In subcutaneous swoon.

 

Breasts blown up beautiful,

Complicated castings,

Fallen faces on the floor,

Mesmerized for masking.

 

Sacrificial sublimations,

Surrogates sublime,

Tetrahedral, analgesic,

Sentimental crimes.

 

Pawing, pungent prisoners,

Soothing, sexy swine-

Sows and cows and sinning sons,

Tasting tempting wines.

 

Navigation nuances,

Nuptials by Nair,

Feudalistic fragrances,

Held up with heavy hair.

 

Practical imbalances,

Factory unrepairs,

New wave cold and chemical friends,

Facts blown up with air.

 

Salivating swindlers,

Solo Simon says,

High-falutin prostitution,

Fixed up with the Feds.

 

Sports and courts and teasing torts,

Women going wild-

Dow Jones Average hemorrhage,

Help the homeless child.

 

Down the daunting highway,

Less than overnight,

Covering ground without a sound,

Filtered by first light.

 

Lazy lit up lethargy,

Loosed by lying lips,

Bought the farm in triplicate,

Then sailed a sinking ship.

 

Galvanizing garrisons,

Gathering at the line,

Pushed ahead though nearly dead,

They won it one more time.

 

Tested in the tumult,

On solid ground they stand,

Groping with the changer,

Positioned close at hand.

 

Nightly, brightly flickering,

Turn the clicker off-

Before you go,

Don’t miss the show,

An evening totally lost!

 

James Watkins (03-06)

banabila.bandcamp.com/album/uprooted

 

SQUID'S EAR:

At first listen, Uprooted sounds like a soundscape. And, indeed, Dutch composer and musician Michel Banabila's electronics and samples evoke the sonic topography of nondescript, churning environs. The sounds evoke rolling hills and valleys, gusts of wind, craggy footpaths and mountains, glittery starscapes, and clanging industrial wreckage. An incessant pulse — sometimes a clear electronic palpitation, other times an iterant throb of brief melodies — ritualistically drives the music onwards.

Uprooted, however, is more than a soundscape. Parts of it sound ancient, even timeless. Other elements, however, sound modern as they reflect the multidimensional depth and spaciousness of modern music. Banabila does not sculpt these five tracks alone, but invites a collection of strings, reeds, and additional electronics to flesh out the contours and contrasts of this musical excursion not just through a sound-world, but also through a mélange of contemporary styles. Influences range from the brooding spaciousness and palpitating loops of the New York School to the post-industrial atmospherics of Utech Records to contemporary sampling and sound collage techniques. Each track is constructed of snipped, sampled, and layered chamber improvisations rather than extended studio performances of pre-written pieces. The composition, in other words, lies in the actual construction of the album, rather than in sheet music or even simultaneous collective improvisation.

In one sense, the varied musical influences are the roots from which the music on Uprooted springs. "Uprooted," however, has another meaning related to the disruption and redeployment of the orchestral tradition. "What if," Marc Weidenbaum asks in his liner notes, "'orchestral' were uprooted? What if 'orchestral' referred to what we heard, not how it was recorded? What if 'orchestral' welcomed electronic instruments not just into the pit, but into the compositional process?" What if, moreover, the orchestra allowed those instruments and methods too modern to fit into such early modern categories to deepen that pit and pull that cybernetic revolution that has transformed our life-worlds into the realm of classical chamber music? Banabila and the musicians on this album are not alone in pursuing this task of modernizing the very concept of the orchestra and blurring the already questionable boundaries between old and new musical vernaculars. They do, however, chart their own path, a path which retains classical structures and motifs while integrating the electronics and the dynamics of contemporary practice almost seamlessly. This is not a chamber ensemble featuring Michel Banabila. This is not abstract electronic music produced with strings. Rather, this is a balanced syncretism of musical strategies and forms that becomes more rewarding and provocative with each listen. (Nick Ostrum) www.squidco.com/cgi-bin/news/newsView.cgi?newsID=2191

 

HEADPHONE COMMUTE:

Michel Banabila is a prolific Dutch composer who was originally introduced to me by my dear friend Peter Van Cooten (of ambientblog.net) and since appeared on my rotations and these pages on countless occasions. I said “prolific” and I meant it because it’s a bit tough to keep up with all his output, ranging from numerous collaborations, like the one with Machinefabriek titled Entropia (Eilean, 2019) to studio albums and singles, appearing on his very own Tapu Records, such as this latest, Uprooted release. The music of Banabila is a microcosm of itself, a complex interplay between acoustic and electronic, found objects, field recordings, and unnamed unheard of textures produced in a combination of all of the above. For his latest solo release, Banabila employs an unlikely array of instruments, which unfold a patiently evolving landscape full of wonder, wit, and awe. Here I pick up on the bass clarinet (played by Gareth Davis) exchanging breath with the harmonium (or is that an accordion of sorts?), as the gleaming piano keys lay down their solemn chords. The woodwinds and the strings both pluck and bellow, and it is often hard to tell which instrument takes on the lead. The electronics and guitar (courtesy of Stijn Hüwels of Slaapwel) only enhance the already elaborate and sophisticated palette of the sound. The pieces are then stitched from the original material, sampled from the ensemble, and weaved into an ambient tapestry, which rests so warm and cosy on my mind. For fans of captivating music, deep and wise. (Mike Lazarev)

The areca nut (/ˈærɨkə/ or /əˈriːkə/) is the seed of the areca palm (Areca catechu), which grows in much of the tropical Pacific, Asia, and parts of east Africa. It is commonly referred to as betel nut, as it is often chewed wrapped in betel leaves (paan). The term areca originated from a South Asian word during the 16th century, when Dutch and Portuguese sailors took the nut to Europe.

 

The habit has many harmful effects on health. The International Agency for Research on Cancer concluded after reviewing the published medical research that chewing areca nut is carcinogenic to humans. Various compounds present in the nut, most importantly arecoline (the primary psychoactive ingredient), contribute to histologic changes in the oral mucosa. As with chewing tobacco, its use is discouraged by preventive efforts, such as awareness of the risks of chewing buai.

 

DESCRIPTION

The areca nut is not a true nut, but rather a fruit categorized as a drupe. It is commercially available in dried, cured and fresh forms. When the husk of the fresh fruit is green, the nut inside is soft enough to be cut with a typical knife. In the ripe fruit, the husk becomes yellow or orange and, as it dries, the fruit inside hardens to a wood-like consistency. At that stage, the areca nut can only be sliced using a special scissors-like cutter (known as aḍakattera in Telugu, adake kattari in Kannada,bajjeai in Tulu, adakitta [अडकित्ता] in Marathi, puwak [පුවක්] in Sinhala, jaanti in Bengali, adakka അടക്കാ in Malayalam, pakku (பாக்கு) in Tamil, sarautaa in Hindi, Khilikaati in Odia, and sudi in Gujarati).

 

Usually for chewing, a few slices of the nut are wrapped in a betel leaf along with calcium hydroxide (slaked lime) and may include clove, cardamom, catechu (kattha) and/or other spices for extra flavouring. Betel leaf has a fresh, peppery taste, but it can also be bitter to varying degrees depending on the variety. The combination of areca nut with betel leaf is called "buai" in Tok Pisin (with the spit being known as buai pekpek), "goi" in (Bodo), tamul (তামূল/ "তামোল")in Assamese, kavala in Kannada, tambulam in Sanskrit, bajjai in Tulu, and paan in Hindi, Marathi, Punjabi, and Urdu.

 

Areca nuts are chewed with betel leaf for their effects as a mild stimulant, causing a warming sensation in the body and slightly heightened alertness, although the effects vary from person to person. The effect of chewing betel leaf and areca nut together is relatively mild, and could be compared to that of drinking a cup of coffee.

 

The areca nut contains the tannins arecatannin and gallic acid; a fixed oil gum; a little terpineol; lignin; various saline substances; and three main alkaloids — arecoline, arecaidine and guvacine — all of which have vasoconstricting properties. The betel leaf chewed along with the nut contains eugenol, another vasoconstrictor. Tobacco leaf is often added to the mixture, thereby adding the effect of nicotine.

 

In parts of India, Sri Lanka and southern China, areca nuts are not only chewed along with betel leaf, but are also used in the preparation of Ayurvedic and traditional Chinese medicines. Powdered areca nut is used as a constituent in some dentifrices. Other traditional uses include the removal of tapeworms and other intestinal parasites by swallowing a few teaspoons of powdered areca nut, drunk as a decoction, or by taking tablets containing the extracted alkaloids. According to traditional Ayurvedic medicine, chewing areca nut and betel leaf is a good remedy against bad breath. Diplomat Edmund Roberts noted that Chinese people would mix areca nut with Uncaria gambir during his visit to China in the 1830s.[8] After chewing a betelnut, the red residue from chewing the betelnut, buai pekpek, is generally spit out and is considered an eyesore. This has led many places to ban chewing buai as many people spit the pekpek on the ground rather than in a spit cup or waste receptacle.

 

Now-a-days a special type Areca nut is available in Malenadu region i.e called as "Sweet Areca Nut".

 

TRADITION

Chewing the mixture of areca nut and betel leaf is a tradition, custom or ritual which dates back thousands of years in much of the geographical areas from South Asia eastward to the Pacific. It constitutes an important and popular cultural activity in many Asian and Oceanic countries, including Pakistan, the Maldives, India, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Bhutan, Bangladesh, Burma (Myanmar), China, Laos, Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, Cambodia, Vietnam, Taiwan, the Philippines, Palau, Yap, Guam, Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands, and Vanuatu. It is not known how or when the areca nut and the betel leaf were first combined into one psychoactive drug. Archaeological evidence from Thailand, Indonesia and the Philippines suggests they have been used in tandem for at least 4000 years.

 

In Vietnam, the areca nut and the betel leaf are such important symbols of love and marriage that in Vietnamese the phrase "matters of betel and areca" (chuyện trầu cau) is synonymous with marriage. The tradition of chewing areca nuts starts the talk between the groom's parents and the bride's parents about the young couple's marriage. Therefore, the leaves and juices are used ceremonially in Vietnamese weddings. The folk tale explaining the origin of this Vietnamese tradition is a good illustration of the belief that the combination of areca nut and the betel leaf is ideal to the point they are practically inseparable, like an idealized married couple.

 

Malay culture and tradition hold betel nut and leaves in high esteem. Traditionally, guests who visit a Malay house are presented with a tray of areca nuts and betel leaves, in much the same way as drinks are offered to guests in many cultures around the world. There is even a Malay proverb about the betel nut, "bagaikan pinang dibelah dua", loosely translated, like a betel nut divided in half. It usually refers to newlyweds, who are compatible to each other, just like a betel nut when divided in half. The proverb is analogous to the English "two peas in a pod".In the Indian subcontinent, the chewing of betel and areca nut dates back to the pre-Vedic period Harappan empire. Formerly, in both India and Sri Lanka, it was a custom of the royalty to chew areca nut with betel leaf. Kings had special attendants whose duty it was to carry a box with all the necessary ingredients for a good chewing session. There was also a custom for lovers to chew areca nut and betel leaf together, because of its breath-freshening and relaxant properties. A sexual symbolism thus became attached to the chewing of the nut and the leaf. The areca nut represented the male principle, and the betel leaf the female principle. Considered an auspicious ingredient in Hinduism and some schools of Buddhism, the areca nut is still used along with betel leaf in religious ceremonies, and also while honoring individuals in much of southern Asia.In Assam, it is a tradition to offer pan-tamul (betel leaves and raw areca nut) to guests, after tea or meals, served in a brass plate with stands called bota. Among the Assamese, the areca nut also has a variety of uses during religious and marriage ceremonies, where it has the role of a fertility symbol.[citation needed] A tradition from Upper Assam is to invite guests to wedding receptions by offering a few areca nuts with betel leaves. During Bihu, the husori players are offered areca nuts and betel leaves by each household while their blessings are solicited. Spanish mariner Álvaro de Mendaña reported observing Solomon Islanders chewing the nut and the leaf with caustic lime, and the manner in which the habit stained their mouths red. He noted the friendly and genial chief Malope, on Santa Isabel Island, would offer him the combination as a token of friendship every time they met.

 

In Bhutan the areca nut is called doma. The raw areca nut, which is soft and moist is very potent and when chewed can cause palpitation and vasoconstricting. This form is eaten in the lower regions of Bhutan and in North Bengal, where the nut is cut into half and put into a local paan leaf with a generous amount of lime. In the rest of Bhutan the raw nut, with the husk on, is fermented such that the husk rots and is easy to extract. The fermented doma has a putrid odour, which can be smelled from miles. Traditionally, this fragrant nut is cut in half and placed on top of a cone made of local betel leaf, which has a dash of lime put into it. "Myth has it that the inhabitants of Bhutan traditionally known as Monyul, the land of Monpas where Buddhism did not reach lived on raw flesh, drank blood and chewed bones. After the arrival of Guru Rinpoche in the 8th century, he stopped the people from eating flesh and drinking blood and created a substitute which is betel leaf, lime and areca nut. Today, chewing doma has become a custom. Doma is served after meals, during rituals and ceremonies. It is offered to friends and is chewed at work places by all sections of the society and has become an essential part of Bhutanese life and culture."

 

The addition of tobacco leaf to the chewing mixture is a relatively recent innovation, as tobacco was not introduced from the American continent until the colonial era.

 

EFFECTS ON HEALTH

Habitual chewers of betel leaf and areca nut have a greatly increased risk of developing a range of serious diseases, including cancers of the mouth and esophagus. It has many systemic effects.

 

Chewing areca nut alone has been linked to oral submucosal fibrosis. According to Medline Plus, "Long-term use [of betel-areca preparations] has been associated with oral submucosal fibrosis (OSF), pre-cancerous oral lesions and squamous cell carcinoma. Acute effects of betel chewing include asthma exacerbation, hypertension, and tachycardia. There may additionally be a higher risk of cancers of the liver, mouth, esophagus, stomach, prostate, cervix, and lung with regular betel use. Other effects can include a possible effect on blood sugar levels, which may in turn increase the risk of developing type 2 diabetes."

 

Use of areca nut has been associated with deterioration of psychosis in patients with preexisting psychiatric disorders.

 

In 2003 the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), a World Health Organization sponsored group, reached the conclusion that there is sufficient evidence that the habit of chewing betel quid, with or without tobacco, is carcinogenic to humans. Support for this conclusion is provided by a recent study which found that paan, even without concurrent tobacco use, is a risk factor for oral cancer. In October, 2009, 30 scientists from 10 countries met at IARC to reassess the carcinogenicity of various agents including areca nut, and mechanisms of carcinogenesis. They confirmed there is sufficient evidence that areca nut, with or without tobacco, can cause cancer.

 

USE DURING PREGNAN

Chewing paan (and/or other areca nut and betel leaf formulations) during pregnancy significantly increases adverse outcomes for the baby. The habit is associated with higher incidences of preterm birth and low birth weight and height. Biologically, these effects may be a consequence of the arecoline that is found in areca nuts. The habit also exposes the unborn baby to various other toxic components linked to cancer.

 

MODERN-DAY CONSUMPTION

In India (the largest consumer of areca nut) and Pakistan, the preparation of nut with or without betel leaf is commonly referred to as paan. It is available practically everywhere and is sold in ready-to-chew pouches called pan masala or supari, as a mixture of many flavours whose primary base is areca nut crushed into small pieces. Poor people, who may eat only every other day, use it to stave off hunger pangs. Pan masala with a small quantity of tobacco is called gutka. The easily discarded, small plastic supari or gutka pouches are a ubiquitous pollutant of the South Asian environment. Some of the liquid in the mouth is usually disposed of by spitting, producing bright red spots wherever the expectorate lands. The Shimoga District in Karnataka is presently the largest producer of betelnut in India

 

In the Maldives, areca nut chewing is very popular, but spitting is frowned upon and regarded as an unrefined, repulsive way of chewing. Usually, people prefer to chew thin slices of the dry nut, which is sometimes roasted. Kili, a mixture of areca nut, betel, cloves, cardamom and sugar is sold in small home-made paper pouches. Old people who have lost their teeth keep "chewing" by pounding the mixture of areca nut and betel with a small mortar and pestle.

 

In Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Islands, fresh areca nut, betel leaf or 'fruit leaf' (daka in PNG) and lime are sold on street corners. In these countries, dried or flavoured areca nut is not popular. Betelnuts there are referred to in Tok Pisin as buai, and the red spit from them, as well as their shells and rubbish thrown out along with the spit, is called buai pekpek. There has recently been a controversial ban on selling and chewing betelnuts and spitting buai pekpek in Port Moresby. Because of this, many people have tried to smuggle betelnuts into Pom Town. Notably, there was a raid in Hanuabada in May 2015 where several bags of betelnut were confiscated, the total value of the confiscated nut sacks exceeding $180,000 USD. Areca nut chewing has recently been introduced into Vanuatu, where it is growing in popularity, especially in the northern islands of the country. In Guam and the neighboring Northern Mariana Islands, betel and areca nut chewing is a social pastime as a means to extend friendship, and can be found in many, if not most, large gatherings as part of the food display.

 

In Palau, betel nut is chewed with lime, piper leaf and nowadays, with the addition of tobacco. Older and younger generations alike enjoy the use of betel nut, which is readily available at stores and markets. Unlike in Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Islands, where the inner areca nut is used, in Palau, the areca nut's skin is chewed along with lime, leaf and tobacco and the juice is not swallowed but spat out.

 

In Taiwan, bags of 20 to 40 areca nuts are purchased fresh daily by a large number of consumers. To meet the steady year-round demand, two kinds of betel-nut shops sell betel and nuts, as well as cigarettes and drinks, including beer: Small mom and pop shops, often poorly maintained and with unassuming façades, and shops which will often consist of nothing more than a single, free-standing room, or booth. The latter is usually elevated one meter above the street, and measures less than 3 by 2 m. Large picture windows comprise two or more of the walls, allowing those who pass by a complete view of the interior. The interior is often painted brightly. Within such a shop, a sexily dressed young woman, a "betel nut beauty", can be seen preparing betel and areca nuts. Shops are often identified by multicoloured (commonly green) fluorescent tubes or neon lights that frame the windows or that are arranged radially above a store. Customers stop on the side of the road and wait for the girls to bring their betel and areca nut to their vehicles. The habit of chewing betel nut is often associated with blue-collar labor industries such a long-haul transportation, construction, or fishing. Workers in these labor-intensive industries use betel nut for its stimulating effect, but it also becomes a tool for socializing with coworkers. For example, studies have shown chewing betel nut is prevalent among taxi, bus and truck drivers, who rely on the stimulating effect of betel nut to cope with long work hours. For these reasons, oral cancer has been identified as a leading cause of death in professions with high betel nut-chewing rates.

 

In Hainan and Hunan Province, China, where Xiangtan is a center of use and processing, a wide range of old and young people consume areca nut daily. Most, though, consume the dried variety of the nut by itself, without the betel leaves. Some people also consume the areca nut in its raw, fresh form with or without the betel leaves. Betel nuts are sold mostly by old women walking around trying to sell it, but the dried version can be found in most shops which sell tea, alcohol and cigarettes.

 

In Thailand, the consumption of areca nut has declined gradually in the last decades. The younger generation rarely chews the substance, especially in the cities. Most of the present-day consumption is confined to older generations, mostly people above 50. Even so, small trays of betel leaves and sliced tender areca nut are sold in markets and used as offerings in Buddhist shrines.

 

In the Philippines, chewing the areca nut and betel leaf was a very widespread tradition in the past. Now, though, this tradition is almost dead among the urban people in the cities and big towns, and has largely been replaced by chewing gum and cigarettes. Nowadays, older people are the only ones chewing betel nuts. But in rural areas, betel nut-chewing is very much alive.

 

In the United States, areca nut is not a controlled or specially taxed substance and may be found in some Asian grocery stores. However, importation of areca nut in a form other than whole or carved kernels of nuts can be stopped at the discretion of US Customs officers on the grounds of food, agricultural, or medicinal drug violations. Such actions by Customs are very rare. In the United Kingdom, areca nut is readily available in Asian grocery stores and even in shredded forms from the World Food aisles of larger Tesco supermarkets.

 

Possession of betel nut or leaf is banned in the UAE and is a punishable offense.

 

Recently it has been reported that areca nut powder extract is capable of reducing silver ions to create silver nanoparticles, which may be useful as antimicrobial agents.

 

WIKIPEDIA

The areca nut (/ˈærɨkə/ or /əˈriːkə/) is the seed of the areca palm (Areca catechu), which grows in much of the tropical Pacific, Asia, and parts of east Africa. It is commonly referred to as betel nut, as it is often chewed wrapped in betel leaves (paan). The term areca originated from a South Asian word during the 16th century, when Dutch and Portuguese sailors took the nut to Europe.

 

The habit has many harmful effects on health. The International Agency for Research on Cancer concluded after reviewing the published medical research that chewing areca nut is carcinogenic to humans. Various compounds present in the nut, most importantly arecoline (the primary psychoactive ingredient), contribute to histologic changes in the oral mucosa. As with chewing tobacco, its use is discouraged by preventive efforts, such as awareness of the risks of chewing buai.

 

DESCRIPTION

The areca nut is not a true nut, but rather a fruit categorized as a drupe. It is commercially available in dried, cured and fresh forms. When the husk of the fresh fruit is green, the nut inside is soft enough to be cut with a typical knife. In the ripe fruit, the husk becomes yellow or orange and, as it dries, the fruit inside hardens to a wood-like consistency. At that stage, the areca nut can only be sliced using a special scissors-like cutter (known as aḍakattera in Telugu, adake kattari in Kannada,bajjeai in Tulu, adakitta [अडकित्ता] in Marathi, puwak [පුවක්] in Sinhala, jaanti in Bengali, adakka അടക്കാ in Malayalam, pakku (பாக்கு) in Tamil, sarautaa in Hindi, Khilikaati in Odia, and sudi in Gujarati).

 

Usually for chewing, a few slices of the nut are wrapped in a betel leaf along with calcium hydroxide (slaked lime) and may include clove, cardamom, catechu (kattha) and/or other spices for extra flavouring. Betel leaf has a fresh, peppery taste, but it can also be bitter to varying degrees depending on the variety. The combination of areca nut with betel leaf is called "buai" in Tok Pisin (with the spit being known as buai pekpek), "goi" in (Bodo), tamul (তামূল/ "তামোল")in Assamese, kavala in Kannada, tambulam in Sanskrit, bajjai in Tulu, and paan in Hindi, Marathi, Punjabi, and Urdu.

 

Areca nuts are chewed with betel leaf for their effects as a mild stimulant, causing a warming sensation in the body and slightly heightened alertness, although the effects vary from person to person. The effect of chewing betel leaf and areca nut together is relatively mild, and could be compared to that of drinking a cup of coffee.

 

The areca nut contains the tannins arecatannin and gallic acid; a fixed oil gum; a little terpineol; lignin; various saline substances; and three main alkaloids — arecoline, arecaidine and guvacine — all of which have vasoconstricting properties. The betel leaf chewed along with the nut contains eugenol, another vasoconstrictor. Tobacco leaf is often added to the mixture, thereby adding the effect of nicotine.

 

In parts of India, Sri Lanka and southern China, areca nuts are not only chewed along with betel leaf, but are also used in the preparation of Ayurvedic and traditional Chinese medicines. Powdered areca nut is used as a constituent in some dentifrices. Other traditional uses include the removal of tapeworms and other intestinal parasites by swallowing a few teaspoons of powdered areca nut, drunk as a decoction, or by taking tablets containing the extracted alkaloids. According to traditional Ayurvedic medicine, chewing areca nut and betel leaf is a good remedy against bad breath. Diplomat Edmund Roberts noted that Chinese people would mix areca nut with Uncaria gambir during his visit to China in the 1830s.[8] After chewing a betelnut, the red residue from chewing the betelnut, buai pekpek, is generally spit out and is considered an eyesore. This has led many places to ban chewing buai as many people spit the pekpek on the ground rather than in a spit cup or waste receptacle.

 

Now-a-days a special type Areca nut is available in Malenadu region i.e called as "Sweet Areca Nut".

 

TRADITION

Chewing the mixture of areca nut and betel leaf is a tradition, custom or ritual which dates back thousands of years in much of the geographical areas from South Asia eastward to the Pacific. It constitutes an important and popular cultural activity in many Asian and Oceanic countries, including Pakistan, the Maldives, India, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Bhutan, Bangladesh, Burma (Myanmar), China, Laos, Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, Cambodia, Vietnam, Taiwan, the Philippines, Palau, Yap, Guam, Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands, and Vanuatu. It is not known how or when the areca nut and the betel leaf were first combined into one psychoactive drug. Archaeological evidence from Thailand, Indonesia and the Philippines suggests they have been used in tandem for at least 4000 years.

 

In Vietnam, the areca nut and the betel leaf are such important symbols of love and marriage that in Vietnamese the phrase "matters of betel and areca" (chuyện trầu cau) is synonymous with marriage. The tradition of chewing areca nuts starts the talk between the groom's parents and the bride's parents about the young couple's marriage. Therefore, the leaves and juices are used ceremonially in Vietnamese weddings. The folk tale explaining the origin of this Vietnamese tradition is a good illustration of the belief that the combination of areca nut and the betel leaf is ideal to the point they are practically inseparable, like an idealized married couple.

 

Malay culture and tradition hold betel nut and leaves in high esteem. Traditionally, guests who visit a Malay house are presented with a tray of areca nuts and betel leaves, in much the same way as drinks are offered to guests in many cultures around the world. There is even a Malay proverb about the betel nut, "bagaikan pinang dibelah dua", loosely translated, like a betel nut divided in half. It usually refers to newlyweds, who are compatible to each other, just like a betel nut when divided in half. The proverb is analogous to the English "two peas in a pod".In the Indian subcontinent, the chewing of betel and areca nut dates back to the pre-Vedic period Harappan empire. Formerly, in both India and Sri Lanka, it was a custom of the royalty to chew areca nut with betel leaf. Kings had special attendants whose duty it was to carry a box with all the necessary ingredients for a good chewing session. There was also a custom for lovers to chew areca nut and betel leaf together, because of its breath-freshening and relaxant properties. A sexual symbolism thus became attached to the chewing of the nut and the leaf. The areca nut represented the male principle, and the betel leaf the female principle. Considered an auspicious ingredient in Hinduism and some schools of Buddhism, the areca nut is still used along with betel leaf in religious ceremonies, and also while honoring individuals in much of southern Asia.In Assam, it is a tradition to offer pan-tamul (betel leaves and raw areca nut) to guests, after tea or meals, served in a brass plate with stands called bota. Among the Assamese, the areca nut also has a variety of uses during religious and marriage ceremonies, where it has the role of a fertility symbol.[citation needed] A tradition from Upper Assam is to invite guests to wedding receptions by offering a few areca nuts with betel leaves. During Bihu, the husori players are offered areca nuts and betel leaves by each household while their blessings are solicited. Spanish mariner Álvaro de Mendaña reported observing Solomon Islanders chewing the nut and the leaf with caustic lime, and the manner in which the habit stained their mouths red. He noted the friendly and genial chief Malope, on Santa Isabel Island, would offer him the combination as a token of friendship every time they met.

 

In Bhutan the areca nut is called doma. The raw areca nut, which is soft and moist is very potent and when chewed can cause palpitation and vasoconstricting. This form is eaten in the lower regions of Bhutan and in North Bengal, where the nut is cut into half and put into a local paan leaf with a generous amount of lime. In the rest of Bhutan the raw nut, with the husk on, is fermented such that the husk rots and is easy to extract. The fermented doma has a putrid odour, which can be smelled from miles. Traditionally, this fragrant nut is cut in half and placed on top of a cone made of local betel leaf, which has a dash of lime put into it. "Myth has it that the inhabitants of Bhutan traditionally known as Monyul, the land of Monpas where Buddhism did not reach lived on raw flesh, drank blood and chewed bones. After the arrival of Guru Rinpoche in the 8th century, he stopped the people from eating flesh and drinking blood and created a substitute which is betel leaf, lime and areca nut. Today, chewing doma has become a custom. Doma is served after meals, during rituals and ceremonies. It is offered to friends and is chewed at work places by all sections of the society and has become an essential part of Bhutanese life and culture."

 

The addition of tobacco leaf to the chewing mixture is a relatively recent innovation, as tobacco was not introduced from the American continent until the colonial era.

 

EFFECTS ON HEALTH

Habitual chewers of betel leaf and areca nut have a greatly increased risk of developing a range of serious diseases, including cancers of the mouth and esophagus. It has many systemic effects.

 

Chewing areca nut alone has been linked to oral submucosal fibrosis. According to Medline Plus, "Long-term use [of betel-areca preparations] has been associated with oral submucosal fibrosis (OSF), pre-cancerous oral lesions and squamous cell carcinoma. Acute effects of betel chewing include asthma exacerbation, hypertension, and tachycardia. There may additionally be a higher risk of cancers of the liver, mouth, esophagus, stomach, prostate, cervix, and lung with regular betel use. Other effects can include a possible effect on blood sugar levels, which may in turn increase the risk of developing type 2 diabetes."

 

Use of areca nut has been associated with deterioration of psychosis in patients with preexisting psychiatric disorders.

 

In 2003 the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), a World Health Organization sponsored group, reached the conclusion that there is sufficient evidence that the habit of chewing betel quid, with or without tobacco, is carcinogenic to humans. Support for this conclusion is provided by a recent study which found that paan, even without concurrent tobacco use, is a risk factor for oral cancer. In October, 2009, 30 scientists from 10 countries met at IARC to reassess the carcinogenicity of various agents including areca nut, and mechanisms of carcinogenesis. They confirmed there is sufficient evidence that areca nut, with or without tobacco, can cause cancer.

 

USE DURING PREGNAN

Chewing paan (and/or other areca nut and betel leaf formulations) during pregnancy significantly increases adverse outcomes for the baby. The habit is associated with higher incidences of preterm birth and low birth weight and height. Biologically, these effects may be a consequence of the arecoline that is found in areca nuts. The habit also exposes the unborn baby to various other toxic components linked to cancer.

 

MODERN-DAY CONSUMPTION

In India (the largest consumer of areca nut) and Pakistan, the preparation of nut with or without betel leaf is commonly referred to as paan. It is available practically everywhere and is sold in ready-to-chew pouches called pan masala or supari, as a mixture of many flavours whose primary base is areca nut crushed into small pieces. Poor people, who may eat only every other day, use it to stave off hunger pangs. Pan masala with a small quantity of tobacco is called gutka. The easily discarded, small plastic supari or gutka pouches are a ubiquitous pollutant of the South Asian environment. Some of the liquid in the mouth is usually disposed of by spitting, producing bright red spots wherever the expectorate lands. The Shimoga District in Karnataka is presently the largest producer of betelnut in India

 

In the Maldives, areca nut chewing is very popular, but spitting is frowned upon and regarded as an unrefined, repulsive way of chewing. Usually, people prefer to chew thin slices of the dry nut, which is sometimes roasted. Kili, a mixture of areca nut, betel, cloves, cardamom and sugar is sold in small home-made paper pouches. Old people who have lost their teeth keep "chewing" by pounding the mixture of areca nut and betel with a small mortar and pestle.

 

In Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Islands, fresh areca nut, betel leaf or 'fruit leaf' (daka in PNG) and lime are sold on street corners. In these countries, dried or flavoured areca nut is not popular. Betelnuts there are referred to in Tok Pisin as buai, and the red spit from them, as well as their shells and rubbish thrown out along with the spit, is called buai pekpek. There has recently been a controversial ban on selling and chewing betelnuts and spitting buai pekpek in Port Moresby. Because of this, many people have tried to smuggle betelnuts into Pom Town. Notably, there was a raid in Hanuabada in May 2015 where several bags of betelnut were confiscated, the total value of the confiscated nut sacks exceeding $180,000 USD. Areca nut chewing has recently been introduced into Vanuatu, where it is growing in popularity, especially in the northern islands of the country. In Guam and the neighboring Northern Mariana Islands, betel and areca nut chewing is a social pastime as a means to extend friendship, and can be found in many, if not most, large gatherings as part of the food display.

 

In Palau, betel nut is chewed with lime, piper leaf and nowadays, with the addition of tobacco. Older and younger generations alike enjoy the use of betel nut, which is readily available at stores and markets. Unlike in Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Islands, where the inner areca nut is used, in Palau, the areca nut's skin is chewed along with lime, leaf and tobacco and the juice is not swallowed but spat out.

 

In Taiwan, bags of 20 to 40 areca nuts are purchased fresh daily by a large number of consumers. To meet the steady year-round demand, two kinds of betel-nut shops sell betel and nuts, as well as cigarettes and drinks, including beer: Small mom and pop shops, often poorly maintained and with unassuming façades, and shops which will often consist of nothing more than a single, free-standing room, or booth. The latter is usually elevated one meter above the street, and measures less than 3 by 2 m. Large picture windows comprise two or more of the walls, allowing those who pass by a complete view of the interior. The interior is often painted brightly. Within such a shop, a sexily dressed young woman, a "betel nut beauty", can be seen preparing betel and areca nuts. Shops are often identified by multicoloured (commonly green) fluorescent tubes or neon lights that frame the windows or that are arranged radially above a store. Customers stop on the side of the road and wait for the girls to bring their betel and areca nut to their vehicles. The habit of chewing betel nut is often associated with blue-collar labor industries such a long-haul transportation, construction, or fishing. Workers in these labor-intensive industries use betel nut for its stimulating effect, but it also becomes a tool for socializing with coworkers. For example, studies have shown chewing betel nut is prevalent among taxi, bus and truck drivers, who rely on the stimulating effect of betel nut to cope with long work hours. For these reasons, oral cancer has been identified as a leading cause of death in professions with high betel nut-chewing rates.

 

In Hainan and Hunan Province, China, where Xiangtan is a center of use and processing, a wide range of old and young people consume areca nut daily. Most, though, consume the dried variety of the nut by itself, without the betel leaves. Some people also consume the areca nut in its raw, fresh form with or without the betel leaves. Betel nuts are sold mostly by old women walking around trying to sell it, but the dried version can be found in most shops which sell tea, alcohol and cigarettes.

 

In Thailand, the consumption of areca nut has declined gradually in the last decades. The younger generation rarely chews the substance, especially in the cities. Most of the present-day consumption is confined to older generations, mostly people above 50. Even so, small trays of betel leaves and sliced tender areca nut are sold in markets and used as offerings in Buddhist shrines.

 

In the Philippines, chewing the areca nut and betel leaf was a very widespread tradition in the past. Now, though, this tradition is almost dead among the urban people in the cities and big towns, and has largely been replaced by chewing gum and cigarettes. Nowadays, older people are the only ones chewing betel nuts. But in rural areas, betel nut-chewing is very much alive.

 

In the United States, areca nut is not a controlled or specially taxed substance and may be found in some Asian grocery stores. However, importation of areca nut in a form other than whole or carved kernels of nuts can be stopped at the discretion of US Customs officers on the grounds of food, agricultural, or medicinal drug violations. Such actions by Customs are very rare. In the United Kingdom, areca nut is readily available in Asian grocery stores and even in shredded forms from the World Food aisles of larger Tesco supermarkets.

 

Possession of betel nut or leaf is banned in the UAE and is a punishable offense.

 

Recently it has been reported that areca nut powder extract is capable of reducing silver ions to create silver nanoparticles, which may be useful as antimicrobial agents.

 

WIKIPEDIA

The areca nut (/ˈærɨkə/ or /əˈriːkə/) is the seed of the areca palm (Areca catechu), which grows in much of the tropical Pacific, Asia, and parts of east Africa. It is commonly referred to as betel nut, as it is often chewed wrapped in betel leaves (paan). The term areca originated from a South Asian word during the 16th century, when Dutch and Portuguese sailors took the nut to Europe.

 

The habit has many harmful effects on health. The International Agency for Research on Cancer concluded after reviewing the published medical research that chewing areca nut is carcinogenic to humans. Various compounds present in the nut, most importantly arecoline (the primary psychoactive ingredient), contribute to histologic changes in the oral mucosa. As with chewing tobacco, its use is discouraged by preventive efforts, such as awareness of the risks of chewing buai.

 

DESCRIPTION

The areca nut is not a true nut, but rather a fruit categorized as a drupe. It is commercially available in dried, cured and fresh forms. When the husk of the fresh fruit is green, the nut inside is soft enough to be cut with a typical knife. In the ripe fruit, the husk becomes yellow or orange and, as it dries, the fruit inside hardens to a wood-like consistency. At that stage, the areca nut can only be sliced using a special scissors-like cutter (known as aḍakattera in Telugu, adake kattari in Kannada,bajjeai in Tulu, adakitta [अडकित्ता] in Marathi, puwak [පුවක්] in Sinhala, jaanti in Bengali, adakka അടക്കാ in Malayalam, pakku (பாக்கு) in Tamil, sarautaa in Hindi, Khilikaati in Odia, and sudi in Gujarati).

 

Usually for chewing, a few slices of the nut are wrapped in a betel leaf along with calcium hydroxide (slaked lime) and may include clove, cardamom, catechu (kattha) and/or other spices for extra flavouring. Betel leaf has a fresh, peppery taste, but it can also be bitter to varying degrees depending on the variety. The combination of areca nut with betel leaf is called "buai" in Tok Pisin (with the spit being known as buai pekpek), "goi" in (Bodo), tamul (তামূল/ "তামোল")in Assamese, kavala in Kannada, tambulam in Sanskrit, bajjai in Tulu, and paan in Hindi, Marathi, Punjabi, and Urdu.

 

Areca nuts are chewed with betel leaf for their effects as a mild stimulant, causing a warming sensation in the body and slightly heightened alertness, although the effects vary from person to person. The effect of chewing betel leaf and areca nut together is relatively mild, and could be compared to that of drinking a cup of coffee.

 

The areca nut contains the tannins arecatannin and gallic acid; a fixed oil gum; a little terpineol; lignin; various saline substances; and three main alkaloids — arecoline, arecaidine and guvacine — all of which have vasoconstricting properties. The betel leaf chewed along with the nut contains eugenol, another vasoconstrictor. Tobacco leaf is often added to the mixture, thereby adding the effect of nicotine.

 

In parts of India, Sri Lanka and southern China, areca nuts are not only chewed along with betel leaf, but are also used in the preparation of Ayurvedic and traditional Chinese medicines. Powdered areca nut is used as a constituent in some dentifrices. Other traditional uses include the removal of tapeworms and other intestinal parasites by swallowing a few teaspoons of powdered areca nut, drunk as a decoction, or by taking tablets containing the extracted alkaloids. According to traditional Ayurvedic medicine, chewing areca nut and betel leaf is a good remedy against bad breath. Diplomat Edmund Roberts noted that Chinese people would mix areca nut with Uncaria gambir during his visit to China in the 1830s.[8] After chewing a betelnut, the red residue from chewing the betelnut, buai pekpek, is generally spit out and is considered an eyesore. This has led many places to ban chewing buai as many people spit the pekpek on the ground rather than in a spit cup or waste receptacle.

 

Now-a-days a special type Areca nut is available in Malenadu region i.e called as "Sweet Areca Nut".

 

TRADITION

Chewing the mixture of areca nut and betel leaf is a tradition, custom or ritual which dates back thousands of years in much of the geographical areas from South Asia eastward to the Pacific. It constitutes an important and popular cultural activity in many Asian and Oceanic countries, including Pakistan, the Maldives, India, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Bhutan, Bangladesh, Burma (Myanmar), China, Laos, Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, Cambodia, Vietnam, Taiwan, the Philippines, Palau, Yap, Guam, Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands, and Vanuatu. It is not known how or when the areca nut and the betel leaf were first combined into one psychoactive drug. Archaeological evidence from Thailand, Indonesia and the Philippines suggests they have been used in tandem for at least 4000 years.

 

In Vietnam, the areca nut and the betel leaf are such important symbols of love and marriage that in Vietnamese the phrase "matters of betel and areca" (chuyện trầu cau) is synonymous with marriage. The tradition of chewing areca nuts starts the talk between the groom's parents and the bride's parents about the young couple's marriage. Therefore, the leaves and juices are used ceremonially in Vietnamese weddings. The folk tale explaining the origin of this Vietnamese tradition is a good illustration of the belief that the combination of areca nut and the betel leaf is ideal to the point they are practically inseparable, like an idealized married couple.

 

Malay culture and tradition hold betel nut and leaves in high esteem. Traditionally, guests who visit a Malay house are presented with a tray of areca nuts and betel leaves, in much the same way as drinks are offered to guests in many cultures around the world. There is even a Malay proverb about the betel nut, "bagaikan pinang dibelah dua", loosely translated, like a betel nut divided in half. It usually refers to newlyweds, who are compatible to each other, just like a betel nut when divided in half. The proverb is analogous to the English "two peas in a pod".In the Indian subcontinent, the chewing of betel and areca nut dates back to the pre-Vedic period Harappan empire. Formerly, in both India and Sri Lanka, it was a custom of the royalty to chew areca nut with betel leaf. Kings had special attendants whose duty it was to carry a box with all the necessary ingredients for a good chewing session. There was also a custom for lovers to chew areca nut and betel leaf together, because of its breath-freshening and relaxant properties. A sexual symbolism thus became attached to the chewing of the nut and the leaf. The areca nut represented the male principle, and the betel leaf the female principle. Considered an auspicious ingredient in Hinduism and some schools of Buddhism, the areca nut is still used along with betel leaf in religious ceremonies, and also while honoring individuals in much of southern Asia.In Assam, it is a tradition to offer pan-tamul (betel leaves and raw areca nut) to guests, after tea or meals, served in a brass plate with stands called bota. Among the Assamese, the areca nut also has a variety of uses during religious and marriage ceremonies, where it has the role of a fertility symbol.[citation needed] A tradition from Upper Assam is to invite guests to wedding receptions by offering a few areca nuts with betel leaves. During Bihu, the husori players are offered areca nuts and betel leaves by each household while their blessings are solicited. Spanish mariner Álvaro de Mendaña reported observing Solomon Islanders chewing the nut and the leaf with caustic lime, and the manner in which the habit stained their mouths red. He noted the friendly and genial chief Malope, on Santa Isabel Island, would offer him the combination as a token of friendship every time they met.

 

In Bhutan the areca nut is called doma. The raw areca nut, which is soft and moist is very potent and when chewed can cause palpitation and vasoconstricting. This form is eaten in the lower regions of Bhutan and in North Bengal, where the nut is cut into half and put into a local paan leaf with a generous amount of lime. In the rest of Bhutan the raw nut, with the husk on, is fermented such that the husk rots and is easy to extract. The fermented doma has a putrid odour, which can be smelled from miles. Traditionally, this fragrant nut is cut in half and placed on top of a cone made of local betel leaf, which has a dash of lime put into it. "Myth has it that the inhabitants of Bhutan traditionally known as Monyul, the land of Monpas where Buddhism did not reach lived on raw flesh, drank blood and chewed bones. After the arrival of Guru Rinpoche in the 8th century, he stopped the people from eating flesh and drinking blood and created a substitute which is betel leaf, lime and areca nut. Today, chewing doma has become a custom. Doma is served after meals, during rituals and ceremonies. It is offered to friends and is chewed at work places by all sections of the society and has become an essential part of Bhutanese life and culture."

 

The addition of tobacco leaf to the chewing mixture is a relatively recent innovation, as tobacco was not introduced from the American continent until the colonial era.

 

EFFECTS ON HEALTH

Habitual chewers of betel leaf and areca nut have a greatly increased risk of developing a range of serious diseases, including cancers of the mouth and esophagus. It has many systemic effects.

 

Chewing areca nut alone has been linked to oral submucosal fibrosis. According to Medline Plus, "Long-term use [of betel-areca preparations] has been associated with oral submucosal fibrosis (OSF), pre-cancerous oral lesions and squamous cell carcinoma. Acute effects of betel chewing include asthma exacerbation, hypertension, and tachycardia. There may additionally be a higher risk of cancers of the liver, mouth, esophagus, stomach, prostate, cervix, and lung with regular betel use. Other effects can include a possible effect on blood sugar levels, which may in turn increase the risk of developing type 2 diabetes."

 

Use of areca nut has been associated with deterioration of psychosis in patients with preexisting psychiatric disorders.

 

In 2003 the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), a World Health Organization sponsored group, reached the conclusion that there is sufficient evidence that the habit of chewing betel quid, with or without tobacco, is carcinogenic to humans. Support for this conclusion is provided by a recent study which found that paan, even without concurrent tobacco use, is a risk factor for oral cancer. In October, 2009, 30 scientists from 10 countries met at IARC to reassess the carcinogenicity of various agents including areca nut, and mechanisms of carcinogenesis. They confirmed there is sufficient evidence that areca nut, with or without tobacco, can cause cancer.

 

USE DURING PREGNANCY

Chewing paan (and/or other areca nut and betel leaf formulations) during pregnancy significantly increases adverse outcomes for the baby. The habit is associated with higher incidences of preterm birth and low birth weight and height. Biologically, these effects may be a consequence of the arecoline that is found in areca nuts. The habit also exposes the unborn baby to various other toxic components linked to cancer.

 

MODERN-DAY CONSUMPTION

In India (the largest consumer of areca nut) and Pakistan, the preparation of nut with or without betel leaf is commonly referred to as paan. It is available practically everywhere and is sold in ready-to-chew pouches called pan masala or supari, as a mixture of many flavours whose primary base is areca nut crushed into small pieces. Poor people, who may eat only every other day, use it to stave off hunger pangs. Pan masala with a small quantity of tobacco is called gutka. The easily discarded, small plastic supari or gutka pouches are a ubiquitous pollutant of the South Asian environment. Some of the liquid in the mouth is usually disposed of by spitting, producing bright red spots wherever the expectorate lands. The Shimoga District in Karnataka is presently the largest producer of betelnut in India

 

In the Maldives, areca nut chewing is very popular, but spitting is frowned upon and regarded as an unrefined, repulsive way of chewing. Usually, people prefer to chew thin slices of the dry nut, which is sometimes roasted. Kili, a mixture of areca nut, betel, cloves, cardamom and sugar is sold in small home-made paper pouches. Old people who have lost their teeth keep "chewing" by pounding the mixture of areca nut and betel with a small mortar and pestle.

 

In Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Islands, fresh areca nut, betel leaf or 'fruit leaf' (daka in PNG) and lime are sold on street corners. In these countries, dried or flavoured areca nut is not popular. Betelnuts there are referred to in Tok Pisin as buai, and the red spit from them, as well as their shells and rubbish thrown out along with the spit, is called buai pekpek. There has recently been a controversial ban on selling and chewing betelnuts and spitting buai pekpek in Port Moresby. Because of this, many people have tried to smuggle betelnuts into Pom Town. Notably, there was a raid in Hanuabada in May 2015 where several bags of betelnut were confiscated, the total value of the confiscated nut sacks exceeding $180,000 USD. Areca nut chewing has recently been introduced into Vanuatu, where it is growing in popularity, especially in the northern islands of the country. In Guam and the neighboring Northern Mariana Islands, betel and areca nut chewing is a social pastime as a means to extend friendship, and can be found in many, if not most, large gatherings as part of the food display.

 

In Palau, betel nut is chewed with lime, piper leaf and nowadays, with the addition of tobacco. Older and younger generations alike enjoy the use of betel nut, which is readily available at stores and markets. Unlike in Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Islands, where the inner areca nut is used, in Palau, the areca nut's skin is chewed along with lime, leaf and tobacco and the juice is not swallowed but spat out.

 

In Taiwan, bags of 20 to 40 areca nuts are purchased fresh daily by a large number of consumers. To meet the steady year-round demand, two kinds of betel-nut shops sell betel and nuts, as well as cigarettes and drinks, including beer: Small mom and pop shops, often poorly maintained and with unassuming façades, and shops which will often consist of nothing more than a single, free-standing room, or booth. The latter is usually elevated one meter above the street, and measures less than 3 by 2 m. Large picture windows comprise two or more of the walls, allowing those who pass by a complete view of the interior. The interior is often painted brightly. Within such a shop, a sexily dressed young woman, a "betel nut beauty", can be seen preparing betel and areca nuts. Shops are often identified by multicoloured (commonly green) fluorescent tubes or neon lights that frame the windows or that are arranged radially above a store. Customers stop on the side of the road and wait for the girls to bring their betel and areca nut to their vehicles. The habit of chewing betel nut is often associated with blue-collar labor industries such a long-haul transportation, construction, or fishing. Workers in these labor-intensive industries use betel nut for its stimulating effect, but it also becomes a tool for socializing with coworkers. For example, studies have shown chewing betel nut is prevalent among taxi, bus and truck drivers, who rely on the stimulating effect of betel nut to cope with long work hours. For these reasons, oral cancer has been identified as a leading cause of death in professions with high betel nut-chewing rates.

 

In Hainan and Hunan Province, China, where Xiangtan is a center of use and processing, a wide range of old and young people consume areca nut daily. Most, though, consume the dried variety of the nut by itself, without the betel leaves. Some people also consume the areca nut in its raw, fresh form with or without the betel leaves. Betel nuts are sold mostly by old women walking around trying to sell it, but the dried version can be found in most shops which sell tea, alcohol and cigarettes.

 

In Thailand, the consumption of areca nut has declined gradually in the last decades. The younger generation rarely chews the substance, especially in the cities. Most of the present-day consumption is confined to older generations, mostly people above 50. Even so, small trays of betel leaves and sliced tender areca nut are sold in markets and used as offerings in Buddhist shrines.

 

In the Philippines, chewing the areca nut and betel leaf was a very widespread tradition in the past. Now, though, this tradition is almost dead among the urban people in the cities and big towns, and has largely been replaced by chewing gum and cigarettes. Nowadays, older people are the only ones chewing betel nuts. But in rural areas, betel nut-chewing is very much alive.

 

In the United States, areca nut is not a controlled or specially taxed substance and may be found in some Asian grocery stores. However, importation of areca nut in a form other than whole or carved kernels of nuts can be stopped at the discretion of US Customs officers on the grounds of food, agricultural, or medicinal drug violations. Such actions by Customs are very rare. In the United Kingdom, areca nut is readily available in Asian grocery stores and even in shredded forms from the World Food aisles of larger Tesco supermarkets.

 

Possession of betel nut or leaf is banned in the UAE and is a punishable offense.

 

Recently it has been reported that areca nut powder extract is capable of reducing silver ions to create silver nanoparticles, which may be useful as antimicrobial agents.

 

WIKIPEDIA

The heart palpitations are mine. This is what my computer screen looked like in the middle of the night. Had to get a new one the next day.

today i had this weird tickling in my heart area, i think they're heart palpitations. i'm only 33 but my brother died at 36 of heart failure, we don't know what his official diagnosis was. but one time i went to the hospital cause i was hit by a car and the dr. there told me i have an enlarged heart, then i went to my primary doc and he did some test and told me my heart is normal sized,.. what's up wit dat?

THE ALTAR OF INTERFERENCE

 

Rack: Ruin, Sorry to have been unresponsive. I fell off the digital planet upstate and found it delightful. Back in the city. All is well except for that gnawing post-holiday anxiety. Hope you're good and the writing goes along.

  

Ruin: I have been enjoying some crisis time here. Stuff to do with the sexual abuse, the neglect, and the, to be expected, self-loathing generated there. It happens every now and then, and it can be overpowering. The stuff we have been looking at, or at least that stuff I have been writing about, would more or less cause that to happen, I guess. Anyway, I have been taking a step back to look at it, the PTSD generated through abuse of all stripes. It’s sort of overarching. I want to look at it, and the idea of patterns, that ‘Wild Goose’ thing, of flight rather than fight, that permanent adrenaline rush of looking for a constant ‘elsewhere’, of heading out, or creating situations where one has to head out (like the silly 'London situation' that catapulted me to Amsterdam), that forcing oneself into constant panic-mode, left over from childhood survival tactics.

 

Then there is the generation of a cuckoo gene relative to all that too, that looking for parents, stealing them, even, nesting strategies that could be considered ‘shameful’, or at least might generate shame to add to the self-loathing, bolstering it up. Then there’s the slow suicide of looking for HIV, that cowardly way of doing oneself in. Anyway, these are a few of the things I am going to look at unflinchingly, going forward. I am in a sort of bracing mode, girding one’s overused, and sagging, loins for a full-frontal assault.

 

Once more unto that breach, and all that palaver, a cuckooed 'Wild Goose' negotiating a swansong, even.

 

It's difficult to write these things about oneself, and see them reflected back by you, your acknowledgment of them, suggesting that you have more than an 'understanding'. We are both aware of what we reflect back to each other, something we have done for 35 years now, that there is mutuality there. I know why you struggle with it, I do too. I suspect this might be what makes it worthwhile.

  

Rack: Ruin, I had a similar moment recently. It has taken this long for me to be able to recognize what is happening when I want to flee, when I feel that the sky falling on my head is imminent, when I just can't function. It is hard to acknowledge how many areas of life its tendrils have drilled their way into. I have read that Ketamine infusions can help, and I've been toying with the idea for a long time, though it is horribly expensive. Not drinking has been a huge help lately and I realize that booze just makes me more anxious, ultimately. It's alarming to think how one's life has been sculpted by such childhood events. I can't even identify what it is that happened. I can remember very little of childhood. I wonder was there additional abuse to the stuff I can remember. I suppose it's not that important to remember the details. That whole notion of healing and moving on seems like a daft impossibility to me. If anything, the symptoms of PTSD have become worse for me as I age, as if they will out, regardless. Sometimes I just feel like I'm not functioning. Anyway, I know where you are and it is a difficult and painful place to sit through. Maybe that's how you get past it. By looking it in the eye and not freezing. Maybe the writing of it will be a huge relief for you, not in the way of some perfect redemption, but a squaring of things. I am sending you much love.

  

Ruin: I don’t know if I scared myself to a stop or not, I don’t think I did, I think I am still writing. I am writing around it, around the theme. There were, of course, triggers. It’s difficult to get to that point of full exposure, but that’s where I think I have to go, and I have enough evidence of questionable behaviour generated in response, perhaps, both in my art and in what I have been writing all these years. Strangely, I realised that there were others in my family generating patterns, according to how they reacted to our negligent parents. The sister, Phil, who gloated over the tearing up, and burning, of that book (‘A Stone for Danny Fisher’) is the same sister who consigned my Doctoral work to the Dublin City dump. It was the same action, a refined echo, but 50 years later. I have been looking at, and thinking about, how we continue to unknowingly repeat these patterns. I assumed my victim role, and ran away, yet again. I would rather fly than fight, that classic ‘wild goose’ pattern. There is nothing there I want to fight for anyway, the place is even more sordid than I am, but I want to be aware of these patterns, and all of my siblings adapted a different variation, one that would make their lives livable. But my parents in their turn generated their patterns in reaction to their abandonment, so there’s no blame there at all. I guess the idea isn’t to blame, even not to blame my abusive uncle, I love the word ‘avuncular’, his was learnt behaviour. Of this I am sure, given that I know that at least two of his older brothers are child abusers (and priests).

 

So, the drive is not to ‘forgive’ and lovingly embrace family. It’s simply, through writing, to understand these patterns, and hopefully in doing so, to short-circuit the whole shebang. But I don’t want to write an abuse ‘memoir’. Anyway, there’s the challenge, and it’s still called ‘Rack and Ruin’.

  

Rack: Yes. I heartily agree. It’s “just” trying to understand and thereby to release oneself of ever re-enacting the same circular route. Maybe not possible. Maybe is.

  

Ruin: Well, I wouldn’t want to prefigure, or disallow for, any deathbed exegesis, that flash of realisation, that might, or might not, be on the cards. If it was all figured out before then it might make that climax anti-climactic. As for the rest, the writing, the art, the life, you get as far as you get, and then it all unravels anyway, and before you know it, you’re dust. There’s a cheerful morning thought. I suspect we both have them. Then there is that intervening time, and the filling of the same. Mine is very much about restoring self-worth, and I am actually glad that I am still at that. It would have been much easier just to give up and dissipate towards that void (Oh, the drama!). I wrote sissipate, accidentally. I like that, that rolling the ball endlessly up that hill, and finding it at the bottom of the hill in the morning. Just like this morning, and away we go again. Bless that dung beetle. I like that we, instinctively, continue to do this, each rolling (along the self-same route) being completely different from the one before. That release happens in its own time, or rather it’s happening constantly, until it’s spent. I like this, and have no interest in it other than the doing itself. I like putting words and images up on Flickr. I love that this represents a type of slightly cracked-open window, that one's experience, and understanding, is not completely shut off, even if there is no evidence of any response. It is enough in itself. It reminds me of that medieval Anchorite sitting by her window, carbuncled onto a remote church, entombed even. The goal is no longer to show, or publish, the goal is to make, with a small window left open, just in case. I love that 'Just in case'.

 

“Maybe not possible. Maybe is.” I love the ‘maybe’, like I love ‘perhaps’, ‘even’, ‘possibly’, and other words conveying lack of surety. That’s where I would love to be found sitting for whatever posterity there might be, or not. Either way, it doesn’t matter. I also love that idea of it not mattering. I saw it in a ketamine exegesis (that word again), and I know it to be true. I know, ‘dumb ass’, but I don’t care.

  

Rack: Yes to "restoring self-worth". Oh, that there were a short cut, but it seems there is not, probably not even Ketamine. Up and down that bloody hill, sissipating like the dung beetles that we are. We are, once again, at the juncture of ‘Labor Day’, that convenient long weekend that bookends the summer with its predecessor, ‘Memorial Day’. My panic continues as my partner sits reading with a small flashlight hanging out of his mouth, because he can no longer see without the additional light. Who does the panicking in your house? I feel like it is somebody's job in a household. A small engine of worry. Anyway, I am going to try and park it somewhere and enjoy the relatively empty city and the weather with the worst of the heat gone out of it. Could really do with a good long screaming walk with you.

 

Ruin: I am the worrier. I find myself wonderfully entombed with the buggering Buddha, as far as that is concerned. It’s a glorious place to be. Our Pyramid is wondrous. Time is at its undoing, and I love it all shoddying the edges. That doesn’t seem to staunch that flow of worrying, regardless. The insecurities, or the source, perhaps, of that deluge, is somewhat easily traced back.

 

The Mater had a type of mantra, it was in a way the pride of her arsenal, and I remember it being put to use on many an occasion. It went something like this: “You do know that you can never pay us back, don’t you? If you worked all your life and gave us every penny you ever earned, it wouldn’t even come near to what you owe us”. I have it in parentheses, but it is not really a quote. It wouldn’t have been proffered so lucidly, it would have been spat and mangled, screeched out, perhaps between thuds and flailing fists. It was harridan-like. The thuds and flailings would, more or less, always miss their marks and land on a battered table, or on the back of a broken chair. They weren’t the problem. All the chairs in the house were broken. I remember going back to help celebrate one Christmas, travelling from London, 40 years later, and sitting on a chair which immediately collapsed from under me. I roared at the power of the Mater’s mantra asserting itself, as I sat on the floor hysterically laughing whilst remembering.

 

So, it was set in stone. I would have to go working at the age of thirteen, in the aforementioned ‘The Laurels’ to “earn my keep” and pay into the coffers for the upkeep of the brood, all of whom had “no idea how much they owed”. At some point, during one of these incidents, I made the connection between sex and pleasure, probably around the concurrent abuse cycle with my uncle, and perhaps managed to scream out that they chose to have sex, that they shouldn’t have had children at all. My mother informed me that “sex is for men”, which only further confused me relative to her putting her brother in my bed.

 

Other than what my bull-uncle was teaching me, this was the only sex education that I had.

 

When we came to ‘Human reproduction’ in biology class, the ‘chaste’ Christian Brother announced, “We will skip this section for now, it won’t come up in exams anyway”. I was already, perhaps, a year into my anthropological avuncular education.

 

Avuncular

 

/əˈvʌŋkjʊlə/

Learn to pronounce

adjective

adjective: avuncular

1.

kind and friendly towards a younger or less experienced person.

"he was avuncular, reassuring, and trustworthy"

2.

ANTHROPOLOGY

relating to the relationship between men and the children of their siblings.

 

It was strangely confusing, this attention from my uncle. Nobody had paid any attention to me before.

 

[9:58 am, 02/09/2022] Ruin: A screaming walk would be wonderful. It would have to be a slow one though, and not too far, with rest stops along the way. The screaming wouldn't have to be slow, we could let that go from the get go. A relapse into hysteria with you would be wondrous indeed.

 

[9:58 am, 02/09/2022] Ruin: But we can also always do that here.

 

Let's sissipate side by side.

 

Rack: I don't think I've ever heard these stories, at least so graphically. You are approaching the very kernel here. Her fury is so furious and so energetic. I can almost relate. I can't help but think about her putting her brother in your bed, or you in his. It strikes me as some weird sacrifice she was making. Offering her brightest up to the altar of interference. Knowing and not knowing. And I suppose sex was for men. My paternal grandmother said the same thing. A thing to be endured. Your mother was going to make you endure it too. Somehow share in that forced ritual. Why did she choose you? Was it an age thing? It's horrifying and fascinating. Sending you love, as always.

  

Ruin: Yes, Rack, this is the crux, the kernel, that molten core. It might be other than what we expect, but this is it. It is also why I don’t want to write an abuse ‘memoir’. It’s not that. It’s not about struggle, triumph over adversity, forgiveness, and a sort of accompanying redemption. It is about ‘drivers’. It’s about innocence too, universal innocence, even. The mater’s innocence, the sibling’s innocence, the abuser’s innocence, and ultimately the self’s innocence. It encompasses the murderer’s, and mass-murderer’s, innocence. It would even include the innocence of those God botherers, those mass-manipulators who pushed their divisive theories of the divine on our susceptible forebears, those so-called priests and nuns. At a push, it might even include bank-managers and CEOs of Fortune-500 companies. Okay, I’ll go the whole hog, artists need to be forgiven too.

 

I would normally sit down, of a morning, and vomit out a spiel, and press the send button. I can’t do that this morning. I have to write this and be as clear as I can be, so there is no misunderstanding as to what I am trying to say.

 

I will just say, firstly, that my mother chose nothing. She was 100% reactive, desperately and fearfully reactive, even. She was, sadly, trapped in a pattern, rather like we all are, to a lesser or greater extent.

 

So, that’s where I am starting from. The rest is about getting as far as time permits.

 

I will answer those questions you brought up, as we go along.

 

Ruin: [10:44 am, 03/09/2022] It was never going to be easy, Crusty Lusty.

 

Rack (from sometime back in the mid-nineties, last century):

 

Funny you should mention staving off the SSRI pillies.†

Lately I have felt them to be an evil† necessity myself and frankly I am tired of them.†

I do need them ‘til I'm de-interfered with, but I think they† make one's character and brain sort of mushy until one reaches a state where you are oddly detached from your "self" and quite happy to be mired knee deep in your own raw sewage.†

 

It's not good.†

I feel impure in a way I can't quite explain, and I'm not prone to

feeling impure.†

 

Ultimately there is something terribly wrong about being incapable of living

without them.†

Why not just look for an honest distraction like alcoholism,

severe junkiedom, or whoredom?†

 

All this modern messing with chemistry.

Anyway, feeling like a reactionary regarding them and god bless you for going

cold turkey and long may it last.†

I'm sure one makes better work without them.

 

I'm† off to the scratcher with my oozing beaver:† ah the last gasps of estrogen as the old uterus pops an egg and screams for something to fill it up.†

Odd this biological baggage we women folk have; all this oozing and cycling and yet

no thought of acting on it.†

 

Modern, eh???

 

Much love,

 

Pox Bunny Beaver Rackety Crust

 

[10:49 am, 03/09/2022] Ruin: You were, and are, a wondrous poet.

 

I love your use of the crucifix. Strangely, the matrix put them there. Somewhere in the transferal from a Word document, or from an email, or whatever. They, the crucifixes just appeared. I like that their placing seems so random, though they do impose a sort of rhythm. This musky Matrix knows best, all praise our new Meta Gods on this soul-saving superhighway. I would not want to remove those religious signifiers put there by whoever is the powers that be.

 

The original ‘Castration Piece’ had a fourth panel. It read "I am Not an Open Beaver". I am putting the titles of art pieces in single parentheses, they refer to pieces made, and either shown at some point or other in Galleries and Museums, or on the WWW, on my only social media platform ‘Flickr’.

 

Rack: I always loved that piece.

 

Ruin: I liked placing it back at ‘The Mammy's Hearth’, that sacrosanct place of no safety.

 

Rack: And blurry you. How the hell do we ever individuate? I feel as if I’m still sissipating up that particular hill.

 

Ruin: We do it whilst sissipating, we are even doing it now. I love our new word.

 

Rack: Me too. Rhymes with dissipating, includes it, of course, but also suggests some progress, even if Sisyphean.

 

Ruin: I am still sitting with those last few questions you asked me, it's going to take time to answer them, but I will. I am worn out, off to the doctor to find out what is happening with my prostate, kidney pains, urinating every 15 minutes, exhaustion, sore groin lymph node (one sided).

 

Rack: Eugh, sounds nasty. No rush on answering those questions. I hope they weren’t “previous” of me to ask. But I am genuinely curious. It goes back to the innocence factor. Anyway, sorry your nether regions are bothering you. I hope it can be resolved in a simple way. All we can hope for our ailments now.

 

Ruin: No questions are "previous", ever. More like "about time", this doo-doo needs sorting out.

Rack: ♥️

Ruin: ♥️💩

  

As for the mater’s fury, he had some ideas relative to the source of that pain and anger. She was never overtly forthcoming with her sharing, regarding her ‘story’ that is, though she would on occasions over-share inappropriately. He recognized this tendency in himself, and in others he had known from the abused fraternity and sorority. This had a sort of uncontrollable Tourette’s-like quality, a certain convulsive vomiting, almost exorcism-like in its urgency to be expelled. He understood it now, but as a child this was confusing. She had been abused, she spoke a little of this later, another errant uncle working his avuncular magic, that undoing of innocence, that unwanted incursion. But she had been abandoned when she was six or seven years old, more or less left as the carer for her three younger siblings, after her mother had died, of TB, at a tender age, somewhere in her early thirties. Her father had left the four children, almost immediately, in the care of some older relatives, disappearing from their lives and remarrying a 17-year-old girl, with whom he had 13 more children. The mater did not see her father again until her own wedding day, when she was 23 years old. So, he surmised, we are talking about abandonment here, that form of neglect and abuse, before that other assault, referenced but never really spoken of. He remembered her cursing that uncle later on, but no details of what happened were ever shared. There was a gap there, another unfillable void.

 

Why the ‘his’? Why the ‘he’? It’s simple really, it gives a once remove, making it all a little easier. It might go back and forth, but who knows? There was also that once remove of the inadequacy of memory. Of course, he wasn’t even sure how much of this was true, even, what parts he remembered and what parts he had dreamed, or what part he had generated to find the wherewithal to forgive himself, and her. He was at a point where he couldn’t easily remember what day yesterday was, never mind familial gathering, sixty years ago, around that infinite family hole. His father’s crater was also there, inadequately filled with alcohol and anger, regrets, sadness, and neglect.

 

They sucked each other in, my parents, warring black holes in love, proffering impossible promises of security to each other, indifferent to everything else including their own children. Or so it seemed. But children can’t surmise all this, they can only pick up on the anger and disappointment, and the complete lack of any vestiges of stability. They each, both parents, made their oaths to be the other’s salvation, as they began quietly, at first, to fail. They stayed together for 60 years, so at least in some way they fulfilled their commitment to each other.

 

Meanwhile their children fell apart.

 

But this is not a story about aborted family dynasties, of triumph over adversity, or the opposite. It’s about another family of sorts, with nothing really to do with DNA extensions, and that striving to fit into some idea of continuity. It is about setting out, breaking away, the ‘Diaspora’, that homelessness, the ‘Wild Geese’, a certain ruthlessness, even. It is partially about recognizing the other as the same, or at least connecting with another where that sameness is sensed. It’s about the ‘Rack and Ruin’ of this fable, a chance encounter in the ‘New World’, and attempts at the rebuilding of ‘Trust’.

 

But the fury is somewhat easy to explain.

 

Downstairs was, a rented, one living room and a small kitchen behind a failing shop, the ‘Bon-Bon’ by name, another unfillable hole, as it would happen. Upstairs were two bedrooms and a box-room, shared by five children and two adults, with the addition of the new bull-interloper, a 20 or 21-year-old, testosterone-overflowing, encroacher.

 

Rack: Amazing stuff. Thank you for sending. I need to read again and assimilate before I respond more fully. So much here! Congratulations on facing it head on.

 

Ruin: I am feeling my way into it. This piece is the continuation of a conversation between you and I. Nothing is edited yet, I am not worrying about that for a while, or perhaps never, who knows? It's stuff I had written before, not in answer to your questions, but I do think it starts to address them. I will get there, though it does start to answer them, your questions I mean. I guess I am limbering up to answer, because yes, it is the kernel. But as I said, I don't want to write an abuse memoir. I want to write about 'drivers'.

 

Off to the doctor to have my prostate prodded. It's been about four years since there were any incursions in that region. I am not feeling great, but ho-hum, perhaps well enough to write some more. I wanted to sit still anyway.

 

Anyway, I am putting that text under the image of the cloud-filled sky from the window of an airplane, more or less adding to it daily. Nobody sees it, it's like a private space. It is further back in my photostream, on Flickr. Pundits tend to look at the newer images, so I can work there almost privately. I like to leave that window open a crack, as you know, just in case I am in the mood to hang my arse out of it. He said, nodding at mister Chaucer, was there no end to this man’s pretensions?

 

Rack: The only way to do it. Not that I would know. Hope the prostate thing is OK. It’s funny how the bits that allow us to reproduce cause the most illness: breasts, prostates, and maybe we can list the heart there too. Feeling quite peculiar, but not in an entirely bad way.

 

Ruin: Maybe indeed, the heart I mean, perhaps it should be even listed first. I suspect that when we get our hearts broken as children, there’s, more or less, no fixing them. I don’t like being around children at all, they feel so ferociously delicate. I never have, my whole life, I mean. This was fortuitous, in that I recognise my own capacity to brutalise, even unintentionally. I am pleased to have never found these small creatures attractive, I know that abuse can sometimes generate that reaction. Thankfully, I was one of the lucky ones, it drove me forward, instead, desperately searching for a father.

 

But back to the mater, back to that bed companion, back to a small room with two beds, shared by four people, 3 brothers and one uncle.

 

He didn’t remember much about the room other than it was small and usually cold. There was no central heating in the house, and no insulation to speak of.

 

Ruin: I am chasing that cuckoo theme or, at least, working my way towards it.

 

Rack: Worth chasing. I have lost my enthusiasm for a lot of things. But have also lost my taste for destroying myself. As if the shortening years are drumming sense into me at last.

 

Ruin: Queen Elizabeth is dead.

 

Rack: I actually have a tear in my eye.

 

Ruin: I understand that. It's a little unreal. She's always been there, I mean from the beginning of our lives.

 

Rack: My mother was enamored of her. They shared an age, both members of the forces during WWII.

 

Ruin: I think my mother was the same age too, at least she claimed to be. She liked her too, but it sort of went against her republicanism

 

Rack: I knew she was a goner when I saw her greeting Liz Truss. Looked feeble for the first time.

 

Ruin: Yes, her hands were all bruised. She had obviously been having transfusions.

 

Rack: Poor love. She really was remarkable.

 

Ruin: Yes, to your "As if the shortening years are drumming sense into me at last ". I am there too

 

Rack: It feels good (the at last). I feel as if I’m negotiating the supermarket aisles with little concern for my fellow shoppers.

 

Ruin: I have been writing to you, still working it out, will write it soon (as an email). I will send it soon rather, when I get a little further

 

Rack: I look forward. And backward.

 

Ruin: I appear to be writing about everything, and making images too

 

Rack: Happy that you are.

 

Ruin: anyway, I will write it out, you will see. Hey, guess what, you are writing it out here too, and I will use it all.

 

Rack: Hah! Work away. Might be the only way I can do it. Obliquely.

 

Ruin: I'll hand it over to you eventually, if you outlive me, as I said before.

 

Rack: One of us has to go first. YIKES.

 

Ruin: Yep, that's how it goes. Yikes, indeed! Unless, of course, we all go together, courtesy of Mr. Putin, or whatever. I am on a new drug for my prostate, apparently it was squeezing my urethra, making my piss flow very difficult, no pressure, slowed down, and it meant I had to pee every 15 mins. One of the side effects is possible priapism, a permanent erection, even. I can feel a series of photos coming on, that 'how to negotiate being a spent old tosser' series.

 

But back to that crowded bedroom, with ice on the inside of the windows and the horsehair overspilling from the mattress, that altar.

 

To the bloody Dickins with the whole shebang.

 

Rack: What a fate your mother had! No wonder she was angry. What a fate you suffered! It’s as if she had to make you endure something similar, that by effecting its repetition she was freeing herself, sacrificing you. Kill the thing you love. It is compelling to read Billy; onward! It never occurred to me that the abuse you endured happened in a crowded room. That your brothers were there. It must have added to everything.

I hope the prostate submits to the new drug and things get more comfortable.

  

There seems to be so much to this falling apart, and the attempts to stave it off with an array of pharmaceuticals. The latest one seems particularly unpleasant, and a balance might have to be found, some sort of compromise with the condition, where it is determined which is more livable with, the affliction or the ‘cure’. The pill-box is now full, or the complement of slots is full, those 4 notches for each day, spacing out the pills, that morning, midday, evening, and night array. This reminded Ruin of Rack’s “ramming 28 horse-pills down my throat every day”, of one of her first emails, some 25 years previously. This also reminded him that four pills a day was not that much of an infringement on his time and effort if he was going to get this ‘epic’ written. He guffawed inwardly at this notion of an epic, whilst recognizing the unwieldiness of it all, that sprawl. It could easily get out of hand, he knew this. Actually, it was already ‘out of hand’ more or less, but he felt that he just had to let this be what it was, for now.

  

Eventually decisions would have to be made. Again, this sounds suspiciously like ‘choices’ would be presenting themselves, but, in reality, there is no choice at all. It is simply about being able to continue, a survival strategy, an instinct. Ruin had been reduced before to a soporific state by ‘life-savers’. For five years he had been on a drug which more or less curtailed all creativity, writing, making art, or even reading. He was determined not to let this happen again. Unfortunately, the medical powers that be, the doctors he encountered, did not appear to be very good at listening, which led to five years of what felt like an anaethesised life, a time felt as though it was spent wading through a particularly dense fog, a treacle even. Eventually, after that unnecessarily extended sluggish exile, Ruin managed to convince the doctor to change the medications, and hey presto, as if by magic, the curtains rose. There’s a lesson to be learnt there, relative to doctors, drugs, and private interests in the Pharma industry, but allowing for the possible duration of a lifespan, one has to choose one’s battles. For this very reason, Ruin was thrilled to see the sterling work by Laura Poitras and Nan Goldin being acknowledged by the Venice Film Festival this week.

  

This is all normal stuff, we all face it at some point, it is part and parcel of growing older, and of particularly having the privilege to do that whilst enjoying last centuries, eclipsed, ‘maladie du jour’. It appears that this new century can, and will, generate its own, and it is somewhat wondrous to see, already, the machinations of science in its attempts to protect us.

  

Ruin believed in science; he did not believe in God. He had watched science work its preserving ‘magic’ both on Rack for 35 years, and on himself for 20 of those shared years. What was not to believe? If some billionaire or other had wanted to tag him with an electronic bugging device, he would have been well tagged already; he had given science total access years ago. He had read, digested, and discarded Duesberg's HIV conspiracy theories way back in the mid-eighties, propagated somewhat by ‘The Village Voice’, as he attempted to support Rack, and as they tried to help each other, through the early tsunamis generated by the same virus. Ruin had all he could stomach of anti-science conspiracy theories three decades before Covid eclipsed everything else in the collective imagination of the general public. Then in the eighties and nineties, Dr. Fauci was the enemy too, and we demonstrated against him and the tardiness of the CDC. We formed ‘Act Up’ and marched, demonstrated, and had ‘die-ins’ in Grand Central Station. Dr. Fauci listened, and eventually acted, proving to be a stalwart comrade in arms.

  

Recently Rack wrote to me (Enter those 1st person pronouns, both singular and plural):

  

Rack: I think we all have a lot of fear about how our behaviour is being policed. Are we racist? Are we transphobic? Are we elitist? Are we mansplaining? As you say, it’s not helpful and it doesn’t actually assist any of the issues it purports to protect. I fear we are in a very dark corner. Some days I find this very liberating. Not all days. Reading about the US government’s attitude to climate change is frightening. Also, Republican’s attitudes towards Anthony Fauci. Horrifying. He has just resigned. Bless.

  

Ruin: Yes, bless indeed, both Science and Doctor Fauci.

 

I am most pleased that we can still write to each other after 35 years of dealing with this disease. No, I don’t believe in God, but I do believe in miracles, and as far as I can see, most of those are, now, generated by Science.

 

A progenitorial alternative might be:

 

"Three drinks of water (holy) taken on three consecutive occasions from The Bishops Skull. This skull is believed to belong to one of three bishops who were murdered for their faith in Penal times. This particular skull is in a very extraordinary state of preservation and is kept at a house named Rielly (sic), near to the village of Mahera in Co. Cavan.

The skull is requisitioned from all parts of Ireland and the cure is well recognised."

 

The Schools Collection volume 0721 page 212.

www.duchas.ie/en/cbes/5009031/4979138

 

Rack: Not too much. I am always fascinated to read, but will admit that there is a part of me that wonders why I am so stuck while your gates are wide open and functioning with such wild and wonderful abandon. It is a form of jealousy, but not just that because I am truly happy you are doing it. So, keep sending and forgive me if my replies are a little constipated. Thinking about your latest missive, the medicated falling apart. Much love.

 

Ruin: I rewrote and added there a bit. I am just shit-scared of not having time left to finish what I have started, so pushing. You are very much there too.

  

As luck would have it, I don’t seem to be able to tolerate these prostate pills. They cause intense palpitations at the slightest exertion. So, I will just have to get on with it, the swollen prostate and all that. It’s not cancer, just swollen, but that causes enough problems anyway, which will just have to be embraced. Yes, to what you were saying about those parts of the body to do with pleasure causing the worst, or most common, problems. It does slightly put me in mind of that red ‘Castration Piece’ I made in the eighties, that fantasy I had, for years, about being neutered. That ‘I fantasized about castrating myself feeling this could free me from the guilt and shame (and pleasure)’. I could now, with those added 35 years on top, add ‘and doctor’s appointments’ to that title. But the response has to be, and is, Yes, a resounding ‘Yes’. Yes to growing older I mean. It remains the best, and the thing I am most grateful for. (Waving at Molly Bloom here, of course).

 

I have never had what are called ‘Panic attacks’ before, the first one I had was in my early sixties when I was on those terrible stultifying TAF including drugs for our shared lurgy. I then started to have them occasionally, plus a host of other exhausting complaints, and that aforementioned pea soup brain-fog. These, more or less, cleared up when I changed drugs. Now, with this new prostate pill they are back with a vengeance, two in three days. These are not panic attacks; they are drug induced palpitations. They are listed as possible side effects. We are, of course, guinea pigs for these wonderful HIV drugs, and I know we are both eternally grateful for that opportunity.

 

Let’s live somewhat longer, let’s describe it, let’s write.

 

But Ruin did have to get back to his mother, and that misunderstanding, that space where some ‘intent’ might be suggested. He needed to somehow exonerate her, to say that it wasn’t her fault, or rather to prove to himself that it wasn’t. He recognized this as being virtually impossible, given his history, their ‘story’, and the reverberations through six decades, but he was going to try anyway. Her history, back story even, can’t really be delved into. There is not enough evidence there, just those initial tales of abandonment, her father, early grieving, her mother, and abuse, her uncle. Ruin could hardly remember his own story, never mind attempting to reconstruct that of the mater, but the pattern was obvious, and the repeat motifs presented themselves unashamedly. Ruin was used to looking for patterns, probably generated by a lifetime making visual art. There were also patterns in the mater’s behaviors, mirrored in his own. These he could see and understand. These were the drivers he wanted to expose. He wanted to explain these to Rack. Rack had been, for over three decades, a type of ‘sounding board’ for him, utterly non-judgmental, hyper vigilant even, with an uncanny ability to proffer solace. He had the idea that this was also mirrored back. They were, somehow, equally scabrous, wanton, lewd, call it what you will, and could laugh uproariously at each other’s coping mechanisms. This was probably central to their ‘screaming walks’ through the canyons of Manhattan in those early days of their beloved plague. Rack was very much the ‘screamer’ then, and Ruin was in awe of her ability to let one rip on a crowded avenue or cross-street, whilst quietly hoping he might be mistaken for her companion-carer. He so loved that embarrassment. He also suspected that she loved watching him attempt to deal with it.

 

Those walks should become legend.

 

Yes, it all happened in a crowded room, a dark one to boot. There were two not quite double beds. Ruin didn’t know what size they were, they weren’t standard anything. He guessed they were more single size; two double beds would not have fit in that room. But this was years before he was aware of those designated sizes, queen, king, whatever. They were old metal frames, with exposed springs, on which the horsehair mattresses scrappily floated. His two younger brothers shared one, he had the other. It was their room, the boy’s room. His parents slept in the small box-room, so his sisters could share the other bedroom, furnished with two single beds. The youngest of the brothers, Johnny, was about 4 years old at the time. He was a troubled child, if his self-rocking was anything to go by. This self-soothing swaying back and forth relentlessly would infuriate his ten-year-old brother, Tony, until Johnny managed to soothe himself to sleep each night. Tony would then become comatose, at last, having endured that rocking until exhaustion intervened. Johnny also slept with his invisible friend ‘Ibi’, so their bed was somewhat overcrowded.

 

Ruin, the oldest, had a bed to himself, a sign of seniority, an acknowledgement of his waxing ‘teenhood’, until that interloper arrived.

 

Here, let me (that personal pronoun again) interject, by way of adding a warning. It’s simple really, and I am directing it towards all parents, of all persuasions and ilks, gender preferences, and identities. It’s blindingly elementary, an iteration I know. Please, never put a mature male in bed with an immature child, no matter how much you trust this male, no matter how close the family relationship might be. But I guess if I was being both fair and honest, I would have to extend this to include all maturated individuals regardless of gender or self-identification. My, perhaps unfair, focus on the male abuser here is because this was the case, both as far as my mother and myself were concerned, those wayward uncles. But then this isn’t about me, so I apologise for any presumptions made.

 

Ruin did not want to share his bed.

 

Yes, Ruin was doing okay. He knew it wasn’t Rack’s job to take the sadness away. How could it be? Anyway, he was doing exactly that himself, and it was about time, in every possible meaning of that phrase. It was about time itself, indeed, nothing more, nothing less. So not counting on any, a godly and honest state if ever there was one, he would get on with it until he no longer could. There’s a definition of fulfilment there, that recognition of oneself as that veritable elephant surfing on the fabled edge of that infinite black hole, and writing this out made him happy, elated even. For what it’s worth, it records itself anyway, endlessly, and anything the universal you or I might choose to add is simply non-essential extra, that ‘Froth on a Daydream’ which Boris Vian liked to write about. It is written for the self, a gift. He was looking at Vian again for a reason, or at least was planning to, it having once been important to him. A new copy sat on his emptying shelves, quietly reverberating. Hum diddley hum. This hum was once beautifully described as ‘the music of the spheres’.

 

There is there, there.

 

Anyway, back to those words of advice, my abridged handbook for would-be parents.

 

Do not circumvent the grooming, do not make it unnecessary by placing a potential predator and a victim in a dark, and silent, bed together. Whilst I am not going to dissect what happened on that mattress, I am going to look at why a child might have erroneously projected that grooming onto his mother for almost 60 years. There’s the crux, Rack, that mistake, that almost lifelong, retarding, projection that might have turned a 68-year-old child into a storyteller.

 

It was almost impossible for that son to describe that mother, to find the words, I mean. But he was going to try. There was no malice there, and she wasn’t stupid. Being stupid and ignorant are not the same thing. But then the whole story is also tinged with her innocence, something which can often be confused with ignorance, but here they were intertwined, and she had no way to pick them apart. These traits were very much part of her Gordian Knot, that imponderable she had inadvertently played forward.

 

To go further he knew he was going to have to do it alone. He was going to have to, temporarily hopefully, let Rack go as well. He knew that it was going too far, and could even be triggering, to use a woke expression, for her. It was almost going too far for himself, even. It felt like an essential step, so he would take it. This would constitute a huge, and frightening, departure, a rupturing, after 25 years of corresponding. He was going to go back alone. She knew where he was, he knew where she was, that would have to be enough for now.

 

There is always that cracked open window here, letting some air in, and stench out.

 

That will be enough in this interim, he guffawed quietly to himself, recklessly Rackless, perhaps, but enough for now.

  

Rack: Have been thinking. And just tell me to fuck off if you disagree or don’t care, but I feel you should be writing in the first person.

 

Ruin: I will work that out, now, or soon. I write in the third person when it becomes too difficult to write about, to get some distance. I now sort of know I can write it, so I better get on with it. The first person might be more immediate, I guess, but I was trying, to a degree, to avoid writing a straight-forward memoir. Anyway, this does need sorting out before I really sit down to it. I think I have the bare bones together now, and need to work on the form it's going to take. I am feeling like withdrawing more to do it, but that frightens me too.

 

Rack: I absolutely get that. And the fear of withdrawing to do it too. Onward. I get so stuck on the small stuff that I cannot proceed at all, so it would be safe to ignore me. Sending love.

 

Ruin: I am not at all sure yet which direction it is going in, in so much as I don't really want to write a 'novel' or a 'memoir'. I am thinking of it as more of connected 'essays', than anything else. Essays on a theme, personal essays, even, perhaps lyrical essays, I am not sure. For now it's just writing. It will include these, Immediate messages, emails, stories, confused memories, and ramblings about ideas, 'drivers', and whatever. There will even be images. The person they are written in can change. I realised that in the writing to you, it should always be in the first person, directly written to you, that personal. But in my enthusiasm found myself sending you some of the 'Ruin (he) had a good wank and fell asleep' stuff. I put all that on Flickr anyway, so you know where it is. I still revolve around images, so I will continue to work there. It is my way, as unorthodox as that might be, and it's more or less private there anyway. I like that promiscuousness, that slightly ajar window, so something can creep out or in, and catch me unawares. It is my only 'Meta' space.

 

I say you know where it is there, but it is now quite hidden. I am working under certain images, add text most days, but these are older images. Only newly added images get attention so these more or less go unseen, as the text develops. I leave little clues but one would have to be quite intrepid to find them.

 

The title, 'A Less Comforting Narrative', refers to the image, and not to the exchange under it.

 

Rack: It’s always an act of faith and you are writing, that’s what counts. The idea of writing essays might be very freeing.

  

But Rack, there is another crux there too, another layer I need to look at, and that is the idea of the self as a ‘groomer’. I am not at all sure why I attack these ideas head on, but it seems I do, or have to (am driven to), at least. OK, perhaps I make cack-handed efforts at this, perhaps there is delusion there, but this is something I have to do, if I am going to be as honest as I can be. This is grooming, this writing I mean, it is enticing, and almost demanding, responses. It appears I might feed off responses, and this is somewhat alarming. As usual, confrontation seems the only way forward, not just to recognize something but to actively attempt to disempower it. This might demand another step, a sort of extension of that quarantine which I have already noted as possibly a way forward. It feels like I should write to you, and not send what I write. In short, I don’t know my own motivations, let alone trust them. I don’t even know if they are mine. I recognize a group of possibly powerful drivers, besides the common or garden ones of background, abuse and general upbringing. All these are more or less universal, perhaps the abuse aspect was more extreme. Then there are the added influences of a sexually generated plague, this we share, and the drugs needed to control that scourge/gift. There is also residual anger, perhaps, at being a ‘failed’ artist, at the aborted attempts I made to try to communicate. This is also more often the case as not, considering the overabundance of ‘Artists’ floatingly enjoying poverty and rejection globally. To attempt to turn that into a ‘La Vie Bohème’, at the age of 68, would border on the farcical, though that in itself might be funny enough to create a page-turner.

 

In July, Thalia wrote to me:

“Yes, It's always interesting when communication happens, but it is also alright with me when it doesn't, for any reason. Nobody can be a perfect Victorian-style correspondent now, even I can't.”

 

Thalia, by another name, is one of those 4 women you commented on, relative to this idea of re-building myself, those ‘good mothers’, those substitutes I have been busily generating all my life. I see that now as a type of grooming, not conscious in the doing of it, but decipherable in retrospect, that looking back I seem to be up to.

 

Of course, you sit there, the ‘Mother Superior’. Next question, are you getting anything out of this? If not, tell me. I will stop writing to you, in fact I won’t. I will write to you in private, but not send it, I mean. I would continue to post the writing where I habitually post it, my afore-mentioned public/private Meta space, that chink of an open-window. This would mean that if you were ever curious you could find it there.

 

I know how relentless I can be, and I also know how exhausting this can be. I am acknowledging this, at last. Let me know what you think so we can begin this next phase in a way that would ensure that there was no grooming in the doing of it.

  

Rack: I need to concentrate on my own work. As is my habit, I get too involved in other people’s stuff in order to avoid my own. It would be awful to never hear from you, maybe there is somewhere in between.

 

Ruin: Yes, I couldn't stand not being in contact. I just need to rein in, to control my need to share, to get approval, awful 'boy stuff'.

 

Rack: god we might be growing up!!!!

 

Ruin: you know I hang on your every word, and can generate 1,000 words from ten from you. But yes, I can do it alone. But it's better with you. But I want you to do your work, not hinder you.

It's time to grow fucking up, for me anyway, you decide when it's your time. 68, little boy lost hasn't got the same appeal. I can't help but think I can do this quicker; I have all the raw material.

 

‘Don't Confront Me With My Failures’.

 

I am so pleased to have gotten here, this plateau of seemingly controllable desire. This burgeoning hormonal hiatus, brought on by years, disease, and the medications for the same ‘affliction’. Even surviving thus far seems somewhat miraculous, from that point of childhood abuse to this unexpected seniority, an adulthood of sorts. It was almost arrived at through no obvious intervention of my own, but there may be some evidence there that could suggest differently. It would seem that all energies were set in self-destruct mode. There was so much luck involved in generating that continuance, but there were also interventions, practical ones, like the leaps and bounds made by science in this age we live in, but also the intervention of loved ones, not family, but those rather who recognized an aspect of 'self' in the 'other' along the way, and stopped long enough to develop mutual caring.

  

These writings are dedicated to two of these paragons. Rack, the titular, and ‘Hem Binnen’, the Dutch ‘Him Indoors’ who saved my life.

  

As to my failings, I know them intimately and will expose them in all their tawdriness as I continue.

  

"There was an old man named Michael Finnegan

He had whiskers on his chinnegan

The wind came along and blew them in again

Poor old Michael Finnegan"

  

Begin Again.

  

Fail again, Fail Better, as our fellow countryman, that other writer in Paris, would have it.

  

But then beginning again is just moving forward.

  

Ruin, Ruin, Ruin, what in god’s name were you up to? Neither of us believe in that geezer with the grey hair, on a cloud, but my exasperation needs letting out, so there he sits omnipotent. Just so you know, I was watching all those 68 years, and I can clearly see the stories you have been telling yourself. It’s almost as if I had nothing better to do than watch over you. But, I guess, someone had to, and that judgmental geezer with his tablet of ten regulations wasn’t really up to that job, now or then, was he? So, I hung around watching, and more or less saw it all, except for those times I might have been comatose in a Ketamine or alcohol haze, beside you. You may have gotten up to some shenanigans at those junctures when I wasn’t exactly compos mentis. My apologies if I missed out on any of your multitudinous ‘calls for help’. None of us are perfect, as you well know. Before we start, get going that is, I should also say that I intend hanging around, watching over you, until your sticky, or otherwise, end. I wouldn’t miss that unravelling for all the gilt bronzes in Tibet. I am in it for the long run, as they say, whoever 'they' might be. I know you are having those memory holes, those vast and growing ever-expanding black holes, but don’t worry there, Ruin. I think I can help out with this, even. You see, I kept a written record, I know, sneaky, but it’s the nature of the graphomaniacal beast, one of my own little foibles that might actually aid and abet your storytelling. I believe we might have shared that letter writing mania, that drive to communicate through correspondence, but we have never really written to each other, have we? I suspect that is about to change. I hope so anyway.

 

Rack, Sorcha and Thalia inspired you to write, I can see that, mostly by being able to tolerate you, it would appear. Perhaps you brought out a mothering aspect in their natures when they saw you in some considerable distress relative to that early abuse. Perhaps it was something else too, some mutual need. There were others too, mostly female others, those correspondents, with the exception of Jonathan, who would be deserving of a separate story, perhaps. Rack spoke of them as the ‘Good Mothers’, those interventional women, those lifesavers.

 

Which more or less takes us to the ‘invisible man’, that centre of those black, expanding, holes, those memory lapses, the ‘Good Father’, or any father at all for that matter. He was purportedly there, constantly in the background, and often used as a threat, but he was there. I seem to remember you even put some photographs of him up on your antiquated Meta site, Flickr. I do see that there might be an absence there, a vacuum, and I have seen all the extremes you have gone to fill that infinite hole. So here I am, a Nelson Eddy to your Jeanette MacDonald (I know, camp and hopelessly dated, I am sorry about that), a top to your bottom, as Jonathan would have it.

 

Write to me, I will write back. Just don’t call me ‘Daddy’, that’s just one step too far, and I know, and understand, your tendency to always overstep those boundaries. I am willing to play at being the ‘Good Father’, until you learn to do that for yourself. I really wouldn't do this for anyone else in this whole wide world, so hopefully this will help you begin to feel better about yourself.

 

Onwards and upwards as the aforementioned 'they' like to say, tomorrow being the first day of the rest of your life and all that cliched palaver. I will do my very best to rein all that corn in as we proceed, a struggle I know. I do believe we might have a job to do, and It's way beyond time to get on with it.

 

I've got your back, for what it's worth.

 

Best Regards,

Top

 

25 September 2022

 

Dearest Top,

 

Embracing the fear of possibly going full Ham, Shem and Japheth, I am going to have to name you. I can’t call you 'Top' for the duration of our correspondence, disregarding the reality that the Top/Bottom synergy thing doesn’t even hold anymore, now that one is post-gay, post-sex, and approaching post-everything, what with oblivion waving tantalisingly, as it is, from the border of that widening gyre (tips hat towards W.B.) of our beloved ‘event horizon’. I think I have even found a name for you. Its partially catholic, even, from that miasma of childhood memories, that “Thou art Peter, and upon this rock I shall build my church, and I will give to thee the keys of the kingdom”.

 

Okay Rock, I am giving you the keys. You, for a while anyway, can be the designated driver, Petrus, that's you, that dependable rock, rock of the walk, even, rock of ages, my Tio Pepe port in a storm, my fellow geriatric mariner. Lash me to your, larger than average, mast, we're off.

 

Welcome to Rack & Ruin, and Rock! It does have a certain alliterative ring, n'est-ce pas? (TYFTC). Fasten your seatbelts, we might be in for somewhat of a bumpy ride.

 

Deliriously yours,

Queerqueg von Lederhosen

 

PS: Are you sure this device works for blocked sinuses?

 

PPS: Relative to the acronym used in this photoplay, please see photo below, entitled: L.G.B.T.Q.I.A.H.I.V+O.A.P

It ain’t heavy, it’s my acronym.

  

Dearest Wuufus Wainscotting,

 

Sorry to her about your troat. Don’t they be at the doing of the blessing of that same gorge anymore, at all, at all? Probably not, I would guess. Perhaps the only church what did it is now boarded up, or turned into a leisure centre where they give Irish dancing lessons to all those young, eager, coiled-springy girls, with the revolving legs and primary-colour gúnas (Gaelic for frocks), in plastic ringlets. You know the ones; they make those Dallas Cowboy’s cheerleaders girls look like vestal virgins, pushed on by their mammies, hello Bernadette Peters, to excel in all that leaping and jiggery-pokery, moving downstage like one of those roman phalanxses, putting the fear of God in every daecent catolick. Anyway, I diverge.

 

Talking of Catholics, no, you ain’t Rock. Rock’s his name, not Peter, or Petrus, or any of those Roman shenanigans, just clear old plain, and sturdy, ‘Rock’, as in that island lodged between the East River, and the Hudson (where I met my beloved Rack), if you get my drift, and the rock of me birth, that emerald-green one you are presently lodged up the backside of. I will admit he is partial to the odd glass of Theo Pepys, and has been known to take an occasional dash along the boreens of the Adirondacks brandishing that emblematic, blue-striped axe. That Daniel Dye Sluice could play him in a moving picture extravaganza, ‘The Last of the Tops’, or somesuch, Oscar fodder no doubt, probably to be found, eventually, in the ‘Science Fiction’ section of our favourite ‘Blokebuster’, down that windy old boreen of a bog road.

 

And what does every poor Irish boy need, dare I say, what does every boy need? I answer here and now, without much hesitation, other than the time it takes to take a gulp of coffee, with a slice of me iced-duck, so that I can take me slew of morning pilules; every boy needs a Rock. You can see that I am substituting, intermittently, the ‘me’ for ‘my’. I do believe I might be enjoying heading for a little regression, and sure why not, on this fine rainy Amsterdam morning? There’s neery a rock here, on this damp sponge of a low-lying place, so a lad would have to be going about inventing his own boulder to support him. And that is simply what I do be doing, as Frank S. used to like to sing.

 

Do be, do be, do, what were the chances?

 

But I regress. Where was I?

 

I remember. I was in Amsterdam about to take me ‘Daddy’s little helpers’, those much-loved lifesavers (said pilules). All praise science and all that palaver. I sit here pin-cushioned, enjoying the wonderful side-effects of the Monkeypox vaccine, and looking forward to when I can enjoy the same from the latest Covid update. Unfortunately, I have to wait a month for that second one, a recommended period of time between that first and second vaccine to ensure they don’t conjoin in some diabolical conspiracy to turn me into a 4G antenna, or something similar.

 

Pillar of salt, Lot’s wife’s lot, and how’s your mother?

 

I don’t think for a minute that that naughty Mr. Gates is out to chip me. As I said, pincushion here, and if he felt a yearning to chip yours truly, he could have had me eons ago. Have at it, Bill. Take me, I was, formerly, anybody’s anyway, writing bad cheques willy-nilly.

 

And breathe.

 

‘Comhbhrú na cruinne ina carraig, agus rolladh i dtreo ceist ró-mhór í’, (trans: Compress the universe into a rock and roll it towards a bloody huge question) as the plagarised ancient Irish bard might have warbled, and more than likely did.

 

No, it isn’t that Rack is non-responsive, it’s more that I am giving her a break from all my 'raiméis' (Gaelic for general doo-doo, shite for want of a better word). It's all been 'ri ra agus ruaile buaile', (gaelic for a gas craic) as far as I am concerned. We have chewed the cud now for 35 long, wonderful, and somewhat excruciating years. That’s not altogether true. We lived on that same rock of Manhattan for 11 years, then wrote to each other for 24 years after that. There are probably a million words lurking there. I think that you recognize that I love letter writing, or it’s modern equivalent anyway, the email. The problem is that the unwieldy words are there, and they are just a part of what lurks on my hard-drive, and I suspect it’s going to take my ‘Rock’ to sort them out. Rock has a pithy character, he takes no prisoners, that tough-love stuff, that ability to tell you when you are being an eejit. Ruin needs Rock more than I do, possibly (oops, reality check there). Anyway, Rack and Ruin could chew the cud relentlessly forever, they could easily become that universal methane generator, much feared of by the powers that do be sitting there Canute-like, holding the tide back, in Brussels.

 

Carraig is the Irish word for Rock, just so you know. Would that not be a great ‘secret’ name, one to make any mammy proud? “Come on over here, darling Carraig, and let me wipe your nose wit me sleeve, you’re snottin all over de kip”. It doesn’t get much better than that in my book. Did you know that kip is the Dutch for chicken?- just saying.

 

I used to love, back on that old Manhattan Rock, when Rack used to croon "It's not your frock my dear", then look at me as if wisdom had been imparted. Rack knew how to make Ruin laugh, it was sort of a mutual thing. It was some 'Hibernafold', sweep me into your fold my dear, understanding stranded between laughing and screaming, that wondrous type of hysteria, infectious, scary, and lovely (Oxford comma usage there, blimey). Pronouns be damned, we know who we are. A pox on all your pronouns, here's to universal interchangeability!

  

Mise Lemas,

 

Ruin O’ Carraig (Gaelic for Ruin, son of Rock)

  

It’s time to get back to that ‘crux’ as Rack called it. It will be slightly different this time, as I won’t be telling it to her, I will be telling it to myself, and to Rock, perhaps. Perhaps this part needs looking at, not only from Ruin’s viewpoint, but from that slightly cynical over-arching perspective that he might be able to bring to this dissection, this evisceration, this vomiting up. I guess it isn’t really about what happened anyway, I mean the details of what happened, these I won’t be telling, but rather the reactions to these stimuli on that rather delicate entity that the child, Ruin, was. He was a stammering wreck of a neglected child, and this was the first time anyone had ever paid any attention to him There was nothing in his arsenal to deal with the repercussions, and no one available who might proffer some help or even a suggestion of an explanation. It happened in cold darkness, and in silence. It happened in his gut.

 

It was most definitely where it happened, there, in the pit of his stomach. He still remembers that feeling, vividly. Yes, that’s present tense, remembers, not remembered. That stays forever, at least for the forever that describes the length of a life, but it can also be projected into a future, through these words, beyond that ‘life’s sentence’. Technically apparently, the hippocampus shrinks, and entombs the memory, creates an imprint that asserts itself for a life’s duration. That’s the sentence, that’s the imprisonment. And why would you want to project that into the future, that delicately butterflied stomach, the answer would be simply to give it a description, to, perhaps, proffer that absent help, or a suggestion of an explanation.

 

He/I/we/they needed Rock there to help explain it to him. He loved that grab-bag of pronouns, a new freedom generated by contemporary politics, which would allow him to seamlessly segue from one to another. Rock could provide the ‘You’, that objective overview, perhaps. He always loved that wonderfully funny narcissistic joke: I am getting sick and tired of relentlessly talking about myself, can you take over and talk about me for a while?

 

Okay Rock, do you want to take over, to give a kid a break?

 

Come on “Rock of Ages, cleft for me,

Let me hide myself in Thee”

 

1 Oct 2022, 3.08PM CEST

 

Thalia,

 

Strange this idea of letter-writing. I do see it has been excessive, something I have always done too much of, finding some validation there, I would guess. In a way, I want to turn that around. Perhaps I have been inflicting my ‘graphomania’ on others for two long now and it’s time to take responsibility for that myself. I know it’s too easy a diagnosis, one of those that was bandied about some years ago, another over-arching description that, perhaps, doesn’t mean much. That’s something I learnt from you, the need to circumvent easy characterisations.

 

Your: “Yes, It's always interesting when communication happens, but it is also alright with me when it doesn't, for any reason. Nobody can be a perfect Victorian-style correspondent now, even I can't.”

 

That was somewhat of a turning point for me in this, that note, it worked for me. It set me of on some realisation of what I might have been getting up to, over the last few years, and how this might have been somewhat unfair. You probably saw that acknowledged already under ‘A Less Comforting Narrative, (Turku, Finland)’, as I know what a sleuth you can be, acknowledging your “I saw!”. I must admit that I like that you saw.

 

Yes, I guess at some point there might be editing, heavy editing, I imagine, but I am not feeling at all, at the moment, that this is my job. I feel like I am still working through it and into it, getting the substance of it all together. I am currently at that ‘abuse phase’, I have been trying to explain to Rack that my mother is not to blame, and neither was my father, they were just carrying on what they knew, their abuse and abandonment. The more I move on the more I realise I have to talk about universal ‘innocence’, and when I say universal, I mean exactly that, a forgiveness that pardons Jeffrey Dahmer and Adolf Hitler, even, those unspeakable outrages against decency and humanity. This ‘innocence’ doesn’t negate the need for absolute quarantine in cases such as these. For what it’s worth I hold no truck with death sentences, no matter how extreme the actions of the perpetrator of the outrage. It’s a strange journey, that getting around to forgiving everyone so you can forgive yourself, but that does seem to be what I am up to, so I will take it as far as I can. It feels like a good, a necessary, journey.

 

I have been spending the last week releasing Rack, letting go, trusting. Then lo and behold, along came Roc

The areca nut (/ˈærɪkə/ or /əˈriːkə/) is the fruit of the areca palm (Areca catechu), which grows in much of the tropical Pacific (Melanesia and Micronesia), Southeast and South Asia, and parts of east Africa. It is commonly referred to as betel nut so it is easily confused with betel (Piper betle) leaves that are often used to wrap it (paan). The term areca originated from the Kannada word adike (ಅಡಿಕೆ)[1] and dates from the 16th century, when Dutch and Portuguese sailors took the nut from Kerala to Europe. Consumption has many harmful effects on health and is carcinogenic to humans. Various compounds present in the nut, including arecoline (the primary psychoactive ingredient which is similar to nicotine), contribute to histologic changes in the oral mucosa. It is known to be a major risk factor for cancers (squamous cell carcinoma) of the mouth and esophagus. As with chewing tobacco, its use is discouraged by preventive efforts. Consumption by hundreds of millions of people worldwide – mainly with southern and eastern Asian origins – has been described as a "neglected global public health emergency".

 

CONTENTS

DESCRIPTION

The areca nut is not a true nut, but rather a fruit categorized as a berry. It is commercially available in dried, cured, and fresh forms. When the husk of the fresh fruit is green, the nut inside is soft enough to be cut with a typical knife. In the ripe fruit, the husk becomes yellow or orange, and as it dries, the fruit inside hardens to a wood-like consistency. At that stage, the areca nut can only be sliced using a special scissors-like cutter.

 

Usually for chewing, a few slices of the nut are wrapped in a betel leaf along with calcium hydroxide (slaked lime) and may include clove, cardamom, catechu (kattha), or other spices for extra flavouring. Betel leaf has a fresh, peppery taste, but it can also be bitter to varying degrees depending on the variety.

 

Areca nuts are chewed with betel leaf for their effects as a mild stimulant, causing a warming sensation in the body and slightly heightened alertness, although the effects vary from person to person.

 

The areca nut contains the tannins arecatannin and gallic acid; a fixed oil gum; a little terpineol; lignin; various saline substances; and three main alkaloids - arecoline, arecaidine, and guvacine - all of which have vasoconstricting properties. The betel leaf chewed along with the nut contains eugenol, another vasoconstrictor. Tobacco leaf is often added to the mixture, thereby adding the effect of nicotine.

 

In parts of India, Sri Lanka, and southern China, areca nuts are not only chewed along with betel leaf, but are also used in the preparation of Ayurvedic and traditional Chinese medicines. Powdered areca nut is used as a constituent in some dentifrices. Other traditional uses include the removal of tapeworms and other intestinal parasites by swallowing a few teaspoons of powdered areca nut, drunk as a decoction, or by taking tablets containing the extracted alkaloids. According to traditional Ayurvedic medicine, chewing areca nut and betel leaf is a good remedy against bad breath. Diplomat Edmund Roberts noted that Chinese people would mix areca nut with Uncaria gambir during his visit to China in the 1830s. After chewing a betelnut, the red residue is generally spat out and is considered an eyesore. This has led many places to ban chewing this nut.

 

TRADITION

Chewing the mixture of areca nut and betel leaf is a tradition, custom, or ritual which dates back thousands of years in much of the geographical areas from South Asia eastward to the Pacific. It constitutes an important and popular cultural activity in many Asian and Oceanic countries, including Pakistan, the Maldives, India, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Bhutan, Bangladesh, Burma (Myanmar), China, Laos, Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, Cambodia, Vietnam, Taiwan, the Philippines, Palau, Yap, Guam, Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands, and Vanuatu. How or when the areca nut and the betel leaf were first combined into one psychoactive drug is not known. Archaeological evidence from Thailand, Indonesia, and the Philippines suggests they have been used in tandem for at least 4000 years.

 

In Vietnam, the areca nut and the betel leaf are such important symbols of love and marriage that in Vietnamese the phrase "matters of betel and areca" (chuyện trầu cau) is synonymous with marriage. The tradition of chewing areca nuts starts the talk between the groom's parents and the bride's parents about the young couple's marriage. Therefore, the leaves and juices are used ceremonially in Vietnamese weddings. The folk tale explaining the origin of this Vietnamese tradition is a good illustration of the belief that the combination of areca nut and the betel leaf is ideal to the point they are practically inseparable, like an idealized married couple.

 

Malay culture and tradition hold betel nut and leaves in high esteem. Traditionally, guests who visit a Malay house are presented with a tray of areca nuts and betel leaves, in much the same way as drinks are offered to guests in many cultures around the world. There is even a Malay proverb about the betel nut, "bagaikan pinang dibelah dua", loosely translated like a betel nut cut in two, usually used in the context of wedding to illustrate how perfectly matched the bride and the groom are.

 

In the Indian subcontinent, the chewing of betel and areca nut dates back to the pre-Vedic period Harappan empire. Formerly, in both India and Sri Lanka, it was a custom of the royalty to chew areca nut with betel leaf. Kings had special attendants whose duty it was to carry a box with all the necessary ingredients for a good chewing session. There was also a custom for lovers to chew areca nut and betel leaf together, because of its breath-freshening and relaxant properties. A sexual symbolism thus became attached to the chewing of the nut and the leaf. The areca nut represented the male principle, and the betel leaf the female principle. Considered an auspicious ingredient in Hinduism and some schools of Buddhism, the areca nut is still used along with betel leaf in religious ceremonies, and also while honoring individuals in much of southern Asia.

 

In Assam, it is a tradition to offer pan-tamul (betel leaves and raw areca nut) to guests, after tea or meals, served in a brass plate with stands called bota. Among the Assamese, the areca nut also has a variety of uses during religious and marriage ceremonies, where it has the role of a fertility symbol. A tradition from Upper Assam is to invite guests to wedding receptions by offering a few areca nuts with betel leaves. During Bihu, the husori players are offered areca nuts and betel leaves by each household while their blessings are solicited.

 

Spanish mariner Álvaro de Mendaña reported observing Solomon Islanders chewing the nut and the leaf with caustic lime, and the manner in which the habit stained their mouths red. He noted the friendly and genial chief Malope, on Santa Isabel Island, would offer him the combination as a token of friendship every time they met.

 

In Bhutan, the areca nut is called doma. The raw areca nut, which is soft and moist, is very potent and when chewed can cause palpitation and vasoconstriction. This form is eaten in the lower regions of Bhutan and in North Bengal, where the nut is cut into half and put into a local paan leaf with a generous amount of lime. In the rest of Bhutan the raw nut, with the husk on, is fermented such that the husk rots and is easy to extract. The fermented doma has a putrid odour, which can be smelled from miles.Traditionally, this fragrant nut is cut in half and placed on top of a cone made of local betel leaf, which has a dash of lime put into it. "Myth has it that the inhabitants of Bhutan traditionally known as Monyul, the land of Monpas where Buddhism did not reach lived on raw flesh, drank blood, and chewed bones. After the arrival of Guru Rinpoche in the 8th century, he stopped the people from eating flesh and drinking blood and created a substitute which is betel leaf, lime and areca nut. Today, chewing doma has become a custom. Doma is served after meals, during rituals and ceremonies. It is offered to friends and is chewed at work places by all sections of the society and has become an essential part of Bhutanese life and culture."

 

The addition of tobacco leaf to the chewing mixture is a relatively recent innovation, as tobacco was not introduced from the American continent until the colonial era.

 

EFFECTS ON HEALTH

Habitual chewers of betel leaf and areca nut have a greatly increased risk of developing a range of serious diseases, including cancers of the mouth and esophagus. It has many systemic effects (see box).

 

Chewing areca nut alone has been linked to oral submucosal fibrosis. According to Medline Plus, "Long-term use has been associated with oral submucosal fibrosis (OSF), pre-cancerous oral lesions and squamous cell carcinoma. Acute effects of betel chewing include asthma exacerbation, hypertension, and tachycardia. There may additionally be a higher risk of cancers of the liver, mouth, esophagus, stomach, prostate, cervix, and lung with regular betel use. Other effects can include altered blood sugar levels, which may in turn increase the risk of developing type 2 diabetes."

 

Use of areca nut has been associated with deterioration of psychosis in people with preexisting psychiatric disorders. Areca nut consumption is also tied to chronic kidney disease in men.

 

In 2003 the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), a World Health Organization sponsored group, found sufficient evidence that the habit of chewing betel quid, with or without tobacco, causes cancer in humans. Support for this conclusion is provided by a recent study which found that paan, even without concurrent tobacco use, is a risk factor for oral cancer. In October, 2009, 30 scientists from 10 countries met at IARC to reassess the carcinogenicity of various agents including areca nut, and mechanisms of carcinogenesis. They confirmed there is sufficient evidence that areca nut, with or without tobacco, can cause cancer.

 

The harm caused by consumption of betel quid or areca nut by hundreds of millions of people worldwide (mainly with southern and eastern Asian origins and connections) has been characterized as a "neglected global public health emergency".

 

DURING PREGNANCY

Chewing paan (and/or other areca nut and betel leaf formulations) during pregnancy significantly increases adverse outcomes for the baby. The habit is associated with higher incidences of preterm birth and low birth weight and height. Biologically, these effects may be a consequence of the arecoline that is found in areca nuts. The habit also exposes the fetus to various other toxic components linked to cancer.

 

MODERN-DAY CONSUMPTION

In India (the largest consumer of areca nut) and Pakistan, the preparation of nut with or without betel leaf is commonly referred to as paan. It is available practically everywhere and is sold in ready-to-chew pouches called pan masala or supari, as a mixture of many flavours whose primary base is areca nut crushed into small pieces. Poor people, who may eat only every other day, use it to stave off hunger pangs. Pan masala with a small quantity of tobacco is called gutka. The easily discarded, small plastic supari or gutka pouches are an ubiquitous pollutant of the South Asian environment. Some of the liquid in the mouth is usually disposed of by spitting, producing bright red spots wherever the expectorate lands.

Shopkeeper making paan in an Indian store

 

In the Maldives, areca nut chewing is very popular, but spitting is frowned upon and regarded as an unrefined, repulsive way of chewing. Usually, people prefer to chew thin slices of the dry nut, which is sometimes roasted. Kili, a mixture of areca nut, betel, cloves, cardamom and sugar is sold in small home-made paper pouches. Old people who have lost their teeth keep "chewing" by pounding the mixture of areca nut and betel with a small mortar and pestle.

 

In Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Islands, fresh areca nut, betel leaf or 'fruit leaf' (daka in PNG) and lime are sold on street corners. In these countries, dried or flavoured areca nut is not popular. Betelnuts there are referred to in Tok Pisin as buai. There has recently been a controversial ban on selling and chewing betelnut in public places Port Moresby. Because of this, many people have tried to smuggle betelnut into Port Moresby. Notably, there was a raid in Hanuabada in May 2015 where several bags of betelnut were confiscated, the total value of the confiscated nuts exceeding $180,000 USD. Areca nut chewing has recently been introduced into Vanuatu, where it is growing in popularity, especially in the northern islands of the country. In Guam and the neighboring Northern Mariana Islands, betel and areca nut chewing is a social pastime as a means to extend friendship, and can be found in many, if not most, large gatherings as part of the food display.

 

In Palau, betel nut is chewed with lime, piper leaf and nowadays, with the addition of tobacco. Older and younger generations alike enjoy the use of betel nut, which is readily available at stores and markets. Unlike in Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Islands, where the inner areca nut is used, in Palau, the areca nut's skin is chewed along with lime, leaf and tobacco and the juice is not swallowed but spat out.

 

In Taiwan, bags of 20 to 40 areca nuts are purchased fresh daily by a large number of consumers. To meet the steady year-round demand, two kinds of betel-nut shops sell betel and nuts, as well as cigarettes and drinks, including beer: Small mom and pop shops, often poorly maintained and with unassuming façades, and shops which will often consist of nothing more than a single, free-standing room, or booth. The latter is usually elevated one meter above the street, and measures less than 3 by 2 m. Large picture windows comprise two or more of the walls, allowing those who pass by a complete view of the interior. The interior is often painted brightly. Within such a shop, a sexily dressed young woman, a "betel nut beauty", can be seen preparing betel and areca nuts. Shops are often identified by multicoloured (commonly green) fluorescent tubes or neon lights that frame the windows or that are arranged radially above a store. Customers stop on the side of the road and wait for the girls to bring their betel and areca nut to their vehicles. The habit of chewing betel nut is often associated with blue-collar labor industries such a long-haul transportation, construction, or fishing. Workers in these labor-intensive industries use betel nut for its stimulating effect, but it also becomes a tool for socializing with coworkers. For example, studies have shown chewing betel nut is prevalent among taxi, bus and truck drivers, who rely on the stimulating effect of betel nut to cope with long work hours. For these reasons, oral cancer has been identified as a leading cause of death in professions with high betel nut-chewing rates.

 

In Hainan and Hunan Province, China, where Xiangtan is a center of use and processing, a wide range of old and young people consume areca nut daily. Most, though, consume the dried variety of the nut by itself, without the betel leaves. Some people also consume the areca nut in its raw, fresh form with or without the betel leaves. Betel nuts are sold mostly by old women walking around trying to sell it, but the dried version can be found in most shops which sell tea, alcohol and cigarettes.

 

In Thailand, the consumption of areca nut has declined gradually in the last decades. The younger generation rarely chews the substance, especially in the cities. Most of the present-day consumption is confined to older generations, mostly people above 50. Even so, small trays of betel leaves and sliced tender areca nut are sold in markets and used as offerings in Buddhist shrines.

 

In Australia, the sale of areca nut is prohibited.

 

In the Philippines, chewing the areca nut and betel leaf was a very widespread tradition in the past. Now, though, this tradition is almost dead among the urban people in the cities and big towns, and has largely been replaced by gum and tobacco. Nowadays, older people are the only ones chewing betel nuts. But in rural areas, betel nut-chewing is very much alive.

 

In the United States, areca nut is not a controlled or specially taxed substance and may be found in some Asian grocery stores. However, importation of areca nut in a form other than whole or carved kernels of nuts can be stopped at the discretion of US Customs officers on the grounds of food, agricultural, or medicinal drug violations. Such actions by Customs are very rare. In the United Kingdom, areca nut is readily available in Asian grocery stores and even in shredded forms from the World Food aisles of larger Tesco supermarkets.

 

Places such as Guwahati (গুৱাহাটী) in Assam (অসম), Penang in Malaysia, Ko Mak (เกาะหมาก) in Thailand and Fua Mulaku in Maldives have been named after the areca nut.

 

WIKIPEDIA

POET'S CORNER

For the Free Press.

 

The following lines were written by a friend of mine, a few days previous to his death at Bermuda, whither he had gone for his health. He hoped that a sea voyage and a change of air might restore his system, wasting by that heedless destroyer, Consumption. But, no! his destiny was fixed, and bright genius and noble nature bowed submissively. They are breathed in a tone of sorrow, natural to a mind highly sensitive, when it muses on the early joys of youth, and sees before it the termination of all its hopes. Friend .J., please give them a corner in your Journal.

E.

  

TO MISS ******

 

Though the life-blood of health has abandoned my cheek,

And hope with her syren song fled from my view,

Yet disease only conquers this poor, faded form!

The heart's green affection it cannot subdue.

 

O'er the couch, as I slumbered, thy dear image stood,

Recalling the scenes when our loves were yet new,

And it smiled as I murmur'd thy name in my dream,

To hear how a dying heart still could be true.

 

Oh, why did my infant heart kindle to thine,

And fondly confide in a vision of bliss;

Oh, why was thou fated to cling to a frame,

So hopeless, so fragile, so transient as this?

 

But farewell thou loved one, who gave life its charm,

And cherished a flower now fading so fast;

This bosom, though sinking, glows warmer to thee,

As the lamp blazes brightest when gleaming its last.

  

Miscellaneous.

From the People's Platform.

THE PRESENT CONDITION OF THE

WORLD. – NO. 2.

 

By a reference to Great Britain it will be seen, and, it is hoped, felt that a nation may become strong in war, abound in men of science and scientific works, filled with all manner of labor-saving machinery, skilled in the science and practice of agriculture, and surfeited with money, and yet the great majority of those who do the labor be deprived of the elementary necessities of life, pure air, proper food and clothing, and their intellectual condition equally oppressed arid degraded.

In Great Britain, and in all other countries similarly circumstanced, capital has become the enemy of labor. Lightning and steam and machinery have been brought to operate against the very vitality of the laboring man's interests. Every new invention hitherto has had a tendency to sink him lower in the scale of being. True, this is unnatural. Every achievement of Genius, every new discovery in the science of mechanism and agriculture, every element that is subjugated and brought to labor for man should be hailed by the laborer as a sure friend, should be esteemed by him as a co-laborer, should have had a direct tendency to elevate his condition and equalize and harmonize the great family of man. But such has not been the case. Why? Because capital has been esteemed and honored more than labor. Money has been permitted to seize on every valuable invention. Let it not be forgotten, that every real good which man can appropriate is the price of the laborer's effort. Sunshine and rain, climate and soil, will neither feed nor clothe, nor in any way supply the necessities of man, without man's labor. Capital is mere dust, gold without value, machinery of all kinds is worth nothing without the workings of man's hands and man's fingers. Still the mere laborer – the individual, whether male or female, who has nothing but the ability and willingness to labor, is pointed, at the family board of the wealthy, in the sanctuaries of our religion and in all our halls of science and pleasure, to the lowest seat, where humility should sit and be content. These are truths which should be inscribed among the clustering flowers and on the clustering stars.

To this state of things society is fast tending in our own country. Over a beautiful and extensive section of our republic, the dark cloud of Slavery hangs like a death-pall under which the trickling blood of the laborer answers to the sounding lash of the robber of God and the usurper of man's most holy rights, and where the bursting heart of the robbed mother avails not to save the child from a most unnatural and life-long captivity. There innocence pleads in vain. Tears fall on hearts of adamant. Groans and the smothered wails of crushed hearts excite only the derisive laugh. There the silent eloquence, that most powerful pleader of suffering infancy, excites no sympathy, obtains no relief. They are the tears, the groans, the wailings, the eloquence, the pleadings, only of the LABORER! Why should they be heard? Why?

Under that dark and portentous cloud, which distils only tears and blood, and mutters incessant groans and unavailing prayers, Degradation – a chattel without Human Rights – is stamped in unmistakable characters on the brow of every laborer, whether white or black.

But what think ye? Are those who sit under this cloud, in high places, who, with piratical hand, have garnered around themselves the surplus of the laborer's toil, and who hold the scorpion lash, and extract the tears and the blood of the laborer, sinners above all others? – Nay, verily. When capital and machinery are arrayed against labor, there sin abounds.

It is not only in the South, where the iron links of the slave-chain are visible to the material eye and the clanking of the manacles fall harshly on the ear, but at the North also, where the profits of labor are filched from the laborer, without noise and without visible manifestations, that “they bind heavy burdens and grievous to be borne, and lay them on men's shoulders, but they themselves will not move them with one of their fingers.” – The present condition of the South is so evidently unnatural, that it needs but to be seen to be seen to be condemned. – Hence, eventually, it will work out its own cure. It needs no physician to feel the pulse and prescribe the cure. But at the North, the condition of the body politic may be truthfully likened to the “whitened sepulchers.” The outside is fair, the death-worm preys on the vitality. The disease, to be hated, must be bro't to light. The effects are being manifested, the cause lies deeply hidden.

Throughout the civilized world, and especially in our own country, the condition of the laboring class is truly this: The laborer is placed between two grades of paupers. On his right is situated the gilded pauper, who calls himself, and is called, rich-wealthy, and who demands of the laborer, as his especial right, the first fruits of the earth and the fatlings of all the flocks. On his left is situated the ragged, destitute, improvident, pauper, for the most part ignorant, filthy and degraded. For this class the laborer must build the poor house, the hospital and the asylum, provide the coarse nourishment and covering, do all the labor, and pay the keepers and officers. For the first class of paupers the laborer builds splendid mansions, with spacious airy rooms, furnishes them with the most costly furniture, velvet-covered sofas and ottomans, loads their tables with the world's choicest luxuries, fills their cellars with the grape's most mellow juice, affords them luxurious carriages, and rears for their particular benefit the high-blooded and glossy steed. Attired by the laborer with the finest clothing that ingenuity can fabricate, and waited upon, even to dressing their persons and holding their horses, by the daughters and sons of toil, – this class of paupers are placed at their ease, and have every opportunity for polishing their manners and informing their minds, or by speculation, party politics, and usury, to increase his facilities of controlling the muscles and hands of the laborer. The other class of paupers demand nothing, or if they do, they get but little. A poor-house and rags and coarse fare, are their portion. They have neither power nor influence. They are charity's poor. And yet they are the legitimate children of the rich pauper, who, like a parasite, robs the heart of society of life. Great wealth cannot exist at one end of society without producing heart-smitten and starved poverty at the other. A daguerreotype of the world, without coloring or falsities, presents this picture – two distinct classes of paupers, and the working class between them, to provide for and feed them both. On the laborer's broad shoulders rest the world's hope and the world's destiny.

But right manfully has he sustained the burden. Throughout the length and breadth of our country, the forest melts away from his presence, cultivated fields spring up around him. He improves the country and builds the city. He creates all the wealth. Without him there would be no canals, railroads, no internal nor external improvements. He builds up the State-House, and, hard by it, the prison-house. He has chequered our country all over with poor-houses and asylums, those living witnesses of a nation's misgovernment and disgrace. He has created all our costly cushioned churches, and clothes & feeds all our preachers. He equips, and warms, & nourishes all our soldiers, and sends them out to do the murderer's dark deeds, in the name of war. He builds up the palace, and makes the soft couch for the titled warrior, and circles his hard brow with war's bloody wreath. He sends forth the missionary of the cross to tell a lost and perishing world of a Christ crucified to redeem and save. Labor not only ‘conquers all things,’ but labor accomplishes all things. In our country, onward and westward has been the march of the laborer, transforming the wilderness into cultivated fields, and, like the keen scented blood-hound, the speculator has followed his tracks like a vampire, to darken his sky and blight his hopes, and everywhere around the speculator cluster abject want and robbed industry.

Such is the true condition of our country. Throughout its length and breadth labor is dishonored, wealth flattered and caressed. The consequence is that every body seeks to be wealthy. Mammon is our God, and our country is becoming a great arena of speculating gladiators, and misery and wretchedness and want are every day increasing.

Where rests the fault? Not solely with the wealthy – the speculator – the successful robber, or the more unholy usurer. But the whole body politic if fearfully diseased, the great heart of humanity beats with misdirected pulsations, and its vital members are fevered, bruised and bleeding. Where is the remedy? Let us enquire.

THEODOSIUS.

  

DIABOLICAL OUTRAGE.

 

The following account from the Lebanon (Warren Co.) Star, should cause the face of every white man in Ohio to tingle with shame. It shows that the diabolical spirit of slavery and the murderous malignity of caste are yet rife in at least one of the Counties of the State.

A riot occurred at Morrow on Saturday evening, which will probably give some trouble to the parties engaged in it. A theft was committed by a colored man named Henry Wadkins – a convict formerly in the Penitentiary, who was immediately arrested and committed to jail. This aroused the indignation of sundry persons in the village, who met on Friday and resolved that every negro should leave the place in one week thereafter. Notice was accordingly given, and on Saturday, as we understand, all had left with the exception of two, Charles Casey, and his wife, who had been assured that they would be suffered to remain. The ardor of the mob – for such we must characterize every body of men who set the laws of the country at defiance and meditate and commit violence on the persons and property of others – was quickened by their wrath, and on Saturday night they changed the time of the exodus of the Casey family and demanded that they should gird up their loins, put on their sandals and march forthwith. Casey refused to obey. At ten o'clock they approached the dwelling of the latter, and commenced an assault with stones and clubs. Casey took a position at the door, armed with an axe, and his wife guarded the window, club in hand. Soon the window was smashed in and a breach made through the door by the missiles of the assailants. An entry was then attempted by one of the mob, but the moment his head protruded through the door, Casey tapped him with the back of the axe, and he fell senseless to the ground. Instantly another mob-head was poked in and met a similar blizzard. These repeated and effectual rebuffs brought the mob to a parley. Terms of accommodation were proposed, which resulted in giving Casey & his wife five minutes start, to make their escape. They ‘closed in the overtures of mercy,’ thus graciously offered! The watch was held up. At a single bound, Casey and his wife leaped out of the house, followed by a shower of stones. – Fear gave suppleness to their limbs, and away they went up the road like deer pursued by a pack of wolves. As soon as the time was out, the mob started in pursuit, vengeful and eager for the prey. But, fortunately, they were led on a false trail. Instead of continuing on the Hopkinsville road, as it was supposed they would, the blacks left the road, waded the Miami, and found a sure refuge in the cornfields. The fight lasted some three hours, during which, Casey and wife defended themselves with a bravery and nerve worthy the highest commendation. Their only sin, so far as we can learn, was that God had given them a black skin! They were Africans! What an offence to justify a riot and expulsion from the town! We are told that every article of furniture in the house was destroyed, and sixteen dollars in money stolen! The matter will, of course, undergo a legal investigation, and we therefore forbear any further comments.

  

SMITH, THE RAZOR-STROP MAN.

A SPECIMEN OF HIS LOGIC.

 

Everybody, from Nova Scocia to Texas, from Cape Cod to the great city of St. Louis, and perhaps along the “far west” to California, knows the “Razor strop man.” Well, here he is, to that life. – Some editor, without telling his whereabouts, (for we find it in an exchange paper without credit,) reports the following “speech,” as obtained at a private interview. “We,” editor of the Watchman, have, oft and again, seen the “Razor strop man,” shook hands with him, conversed, heard his own story in private, and his cutting, witty speeches in public, and attest the following to be genuine – “no counterfeit.”

We have heard from him these same pithy remarks, and can assure our temperance friends, “there are a few more of the same sort left.” Here it is. – Western Watchman.

“Some folks say that it is right to drink alcohol, because it is a good creature of God. Well, grant that it is; so is castor oil and so is vinegar a good creature of God, but is that a sufficient reason for a person to drink it three, four, or a dozen times a day? A dog is a good creature of God; but suppose a dog gets mad, and bites a man or a woman, would you let him alone, because, as you say, he was a good creature! Would you be satisfied with cutting off his ear or his tail ; or would you knock him on the head, and pitch him headlong into the street. Now, alcohol is worse than a mad dog, for a bite from a mad dog only destroys life, while a bite from alchy destroys reason, reputation, life, and everything else, besides dragging down the family of the bitten man to poverty and want.

But alchy doesn’t bite a mouthful at first. When he first snapped at me, he only tickled me a little. I liked it first-rate, and was anxious to get another, and still another bite. The old rascal of a tyrant kept nibbling away at my heels, as though he didn’t mean to harm me; while I, like a poor fool, kept coaxing him on, until at last he gave me a “snap”, in earnest, and took the elbows right out of my coat! Next, he took the crown out of my hat, the shoes off my feet, the money out of my pocket, and the sense out of my head, until at last I went raving mad through the streets, perfectly a victim to alciphobia. But I signed the pledge and got cured ; and if there is any man who has been bitten as I was, let him take this teetotal medicine, and I'll warrant him a speedy cure.

But allowing that alcohol is a good creature of God, are there not other good creatures too, such as beef, pork, puddings, pies, clothes, dollars of ‘the same sort?’ Now, shall a man cling to the one good creature, and leave the ninety and nine untouched? Shall a man drink whiskey because it is a good creature of God, and go without good food, a good home, a good hat, a good fat wallet, a good handsome wife, and good, well-dressed children? No sir-ree! As for me, give me good beef and pudding, good pork and sausage, good friends, a good bed, good clothes, a good wife, and good children, (or bad, rather than miss, and I'll try to make ‘em good,) and old king alchy may go to Texas, for all I care.

Some say that wine is a ‘good creature,’ because our Savior once turned water into wine. Very good! but then he didn’t turn rum, gin whisky, logwood, coculus-indicus and cockroaches into wine, like some people do. He turned water into wine. Now, if any wine-bibbing apologist will take a gallon or a barrel of pure water, and by praying over it, or in any other way, will turn it into good wine, without mixing any other stuff with it, I'm the boy as will go in for a swig of it! Such wine must be good, and I go in for that kind, and nothing else. But as for your nasty, filthy, drunken stuff, which is sold in your grog-shops, it's a base counterfeit, and it's a blasphemous libel on our blessed Savior to liken it to the pure beverage he made.

Now, you, such as prefer one good creature of God's to all the rest, go and drink rum or whisky until you get picked as bare as a sheep's back, after it has crawled through a briar patch; but you as prefer the ninety and nine good creatures. go right straight and sign the pledge. Thousands have been saved by putting their names to that precious document, and still is there room for a ‘few more of the same sort.’”

  

HUNGARIAN WOMAN.

 

The world is paying tribute to the heroic character of the Hungarian women. One who knows them says that they have no fading moonlight countenances, blanched by privations and sorrow – on weary cheeks, lit up with the paroxysm of despair – no polished marble, with its cold, repulsive indifference – no figure of the drawing room, tortured into shape by some heathen milliner. There is a wild, daring, piercing beauty about these women, sprung from Caucasian mountains, by the side of which, your soft, blue-eyed, flaxen-haired, Saxon maid looks like a faint lithograph by the side of Correggio's incarnation.

 

There are three sights most detestable – a proud priest, giving his blessing, a knavish hypocrite saying his prayers, and a false patriot making a harangue.

 

If you are for pleasure – marry! If you prize rosy health – Marry! And even if money be your object – marry!

 

Why are all the ladies in favor of “Old Bullion?” Simon (the rascal) says it's because they're all “Bent-on-men.”

 

Retiring postmaster are all said to have the Collamer morbus.

  

THE LAW OF NEWSPAPERS,

 

For the benefit of ourselves, and some of our subscribers, who appear to have very imperfect notions of their responsibilities to newspaper publishers, we give below some of the common law principles of newspaper obligations, which our courts have established:

1. Subscribers who do not give express notice to the contrary, are considered as wishing to continue their subscriptions, and are legally responsible for the same.

2. If subscribers order the discontinuance of their papers, the publisher may continue to send them until all arrearages are paid.

3. If subscribers neglect or refuse to take their papers from the office to which they are directed, they are held responsible until they have settled the bill and ordered them discontinued.

4. If subscribers remove to other places without informing the publishers, and the papers are sent to the former direction, they are held responsible.

5. When newspapers are not taken from the post office, it is the duty of the postmaster to inform the subscribers of the same, and in default of doing so he is subject to reprimand or removal, from the head of the department.

6. Subscribers can have their papers stopped by paying up the arrearages, and directing the post master to order its discontinuance, or doing it themselves.

  

LOCAL AGENTS.

 

Those whose names are given below are authorized to act as agents for the Free Press, at their respective localities.

 

Cambridge, 0. - Samuel Craig.

Loudinville - A. R. Anderson.

Londonderry - Wm. Wilkins.

Leesville - J. N. Meek.

Scio - M. Jolly.

Steubenville - J. Orr and J. Steele.

Bloomingdale - Dr. J. Carter.

Moore's Salt Works - T. George.

Kimbolton - J. C. Walker.

Washington, 0. - John Craig.

Loydsville - Miss Jane Loyd.

Barnesville - Jesse Bailey.

Fairview - Rev. Merrill.

Flushing - Wm. Palmer.

Sewelsville - D. Pickering.

Shortcreek - Wm. Martin.

Elizabeth, Pa.- Z. Willson.

Venice, Pa. - Rev. Slater.

New-Alexandria, Pa. - Rev. A. M. Milligan.

Zanesville - S. Allen, Dr. Stokes.

Leesville Roads - Rev. Boyd.

Martinsburg - John McMillen.

Connersville, Ind. - D. Patterson.

Jamestown - James Morrow.

Greene - Matthew Wilkin.

Utica - Wm. Stevenson.

Cincinnati - James Brown.

New Richland - S. Mitchell.

Rushylvania - J. French, Jr.

Tranquility - Rev. Hucheson.

Morning Sun - James Milligan.

Bloomington, Ind. - Thomas Smith.

Dresden - Wm. Cunningham.

Otsego - Elijah Coulter.

Newcomerstown - George Walters.

Sicily - Joshua Bratton.

Columbus - David Jenkins.

Pickerington - John McDonald.

Iberia - Levi McGinnis.

Cumberland - William Rabe.

  

PROSPECTUS OF THE

NEW-CONCORD FREE PRESS.

 

THE FREE PRESS is an Anti-Slavery Journal, neutral in party politics, and independent of denomination, published weekly, in New-Concord, Muskingum county, Ohio, by N. R. Johnston.

Whilst the Free Press is neutral in politics, it is not intended that it shall be neutral in morals, or silent respecting the great questions which are now agitating the popular mind. Its objects are; to effect the Abolition of Slavery – prevent its extension over Territory now free – correct an erroneous public opinion respecting the rights of God and man – secure the establishment of Righteous Civil Government – the destruction of all systems of Oppression, whether in the form of Chattel Slavery, Land Monopoly, or Unequal Legislation the suppression of every kind of immorality now flooring and threatening to overwhelm our land, and the removal of every source of crime, destitution, ignorance, and degradation.

With these as the main objects of the Free Press, it will give a weekly summary of important foreign and domestic intelligence, necessary to acquaint its readers with the signs of the times, and bearing upon the interests of Education, Science, Temperance, Morals and Religion; and it is hoped that its weekly visit will be made welcome to all the lovers of truth and equity who may give it their patronage. To the friends of Truth and lovers of Liberty desiring National and Social Reform, we look for support – to the power of Truth, under the influence of the Divine Spirit, we look for success.

See Terms on first page.

  

BULLETIN, No. 1.

 

THE reflective traveler, as he reaches the highest ridge of the Alleghenies, on his journey Westward, is filled with the most profound and interesting sensations. His fancy rapidly surveys that vast and magnificent region which stretches itself far away towards the setting sun, bounded only by the waves of the Pacific ocean, and the rivers flow on through interminable woods. Rich prairies, like seas of verdure, are spread out, decked with bright and nameless bowers. Upon those countless millions of richest acres, the entire population of two worlds like this might find homes of plenty! These wonderful features of the mighty West fills his mind with the profoundest sensations. He reflects still further and the painful fact occurs to him that one great difficulty affects that regions namely, that which relates to Health. He knows that beside those streams, and upon those Prairies the enterprising inhabitants are often and sorely afflicted with Billious Complaints, in all their multiplied forms. A feeling of impatience comes over him that so little has thus far been accomplished to prevent and cure these; especially when he considers that no class of diseases yield so readily to proper means. It is not too much to say that if the difficulty alluded to were removed, and the West made as Healthy as the East, tens upon tens of thousands of human lives would be annually saved and every acre of land in the entire West be doubled in value.

THE GRAFENBERG COMPANY come before the public fully impressed with the importance of this subject; and with the positive certainty that they can prevent and cure sea die tsees of the West. The public has welcomed the Company with unparalleled enthusiasm. Everywhere its medicines are taking the lead of all others; and curing diseases which have baffled all other means.

The Company will hereafter issue Monthly Bulletins, by means of which the public can learn more of its operations. In the present one it can only be stated that

1. The Grafenberg Medicines are purely Vegetable.

2. They have been tested in tens of thousands of cases, with perfect success.

3. Of the Vegetable Pills alone thirty thousand boxes are sold each and every week!

4. The demand is constantly increasing.

5. Every article purchased of the Company or any of its Agents is warranted; and if it does not give satisfaction the money will be refunded.

The three Medicines to which the Company would call attention in the present Bulletin are the Grafenberg Vegetable Pills, for the prevention and cure of the diseases which afflict humanity (especially Billious) these pills are infinitely superior to any the world has before seen. No language can describe their virtues. They are as different from all others before the public as light is from darkness. Every family in the whole West should try them. If they do not give perfect satisfaction the money will be promptly refunded, Price 25 cents a box.

The Grafenberg Fever and Ague Pills. This Pill is the great conqueror of Fever and Ague, and Fever of all other types and forms.

The Grafenberg Health Bitters; A preventives of bilious and other diseases; and a restorer of the strength, the appetite and a healthy complexion. Price 25 cents a package; which will make two quarts of Bitters superior to any in the world.

The other Medicines are the Grafenberg Eye Lotion, the Children's Panacea, The Green Mountain Ointment the Consumptive's Balm, the Dysentery Syrup.

It is intended that there shall be a Grafenberg Depot in every neighborhood in the United States, at which the company's Medicines may be found.

The general Agent for this section of Ohio, is RICHARD GRIFFEE, Frazeysburg, to whom applications for agencies may be addressed.

  

[Dec. 15.] EDWARD BARTON. Sec'y.

Agents. – R. Harper, New-Concord; Philip Bastian, Bridgeville; Jos. F. Brown, Zanesville; J. & J.Crosby, do.; L. H. Worrell, West Zanesville; M. C. Eean, Putnam; Mrs. Wills, S. Zanesville; Benj. Adams, Dresden; Jacob Ackerson, Adam's Mills; D. S. Springer, do.; & Claypole, Nashport; Wymer, Bridgeville.

Jan. 14 ‘47-ly

  

GEMINI!!!

External Strength – Internal Comfort!!

 

GEORGE'S CONCENTRATED

QUAKING ASP BITTERS;

AND

Oleine Compound.

 

THE LATTER is confidently offered to the public as a certain cure for many diseases; and the most effectual prescription in some obstinate diseases, said to be incurable. It is a SPECIFIC in old, running sores, suppurated wounds, cuts and bruises, burns, boils, tumors and sloughing ulcers of almost every variety.

 

SCROFULA,

 

In all its forms and aggravations, has invariably yielded to its sanative influence. Its medicinal powers have been fully tested in the great master disease.

 

WHITE SWELLING,

 

And have never been known to fail, in a single instance, when applied according to directions. It is also an unequalled nepenthic and strengthening plaster for the back, breast, side, or any other part of the system which may demand such an assistant. In deep seated inflammations, if applied in time, it will often prevent suppuration; and when it does not do this, it will hasten the development of the disease with much less pain, and prepare for an easy and speedy cure.

The Concentrated Quaking Asp should invariably accompany the application of the Salve. These Bitters have not been mixed up and presented to the public as an experiment, but they have been prepared with the greatest care and their medicinal properties fully tested. They are an excellent remedy for Indigestion, Dyspepsia, Loss of Appetite, Flatulence, Pain in the Stomach, Cholic, Costiveness, Heart-Burn, Dysentery, Diarrhea, Influenza, Cold, Cough, Pain in the Breast, Asthma, Pleurisy, Palpitation of the Heart, Liver Complaint, Impurity of Blood, and general Nervous Debility. Nearly all the above diseases, or in fact, any derangement of the digestive organs or corrupt humors in the system, exposes the subject to great danger during the prevalence of any epidemic. CHOLERA can be prevented much more easily than cured.

The Quaking Asp Bitters are an invaluable Alterative. They are slightly cathartic, and as a tonic, eminently calculated to restore energy to the system, purify the blood, promote the secretions, remove torpidity of the organs, kindly assist nature in her operations, and thus prevent the necessity of resorting to poisonous and destructive drugs.

They are pleasant to take, purely vegetable, and perfectly safe for either male or female in all conditions. If permitted, we could exhibit certificates of their agreeable and salutary effects in diseases peculiar to women, proving them peculiarly applicable to even the most sensitive and delicate constitution.

Costiveness in children, Colic and Cholera Infantum, or Summer Complaint, have invariably and speedily been relieved.

Don’t put off too long. Delays are dangerous. Disease is more easily checked by some mild and gentle medicine in an incipient state, than cured by the best physicians and strongest drugs when it has fully possessed the whole system. We present a very few certificates, selected from many, of the beneficial effects of our Salve and Bitters.

 

NEW CONCORD, January, 1849.

I do hereby certify that I was for more than two years afflicted with the White Swelling. The very best medical aid was tried for a considerable time, but the disease still became worse. I then obtained some of the OLEINE COMPOUND, and after using it according to directions, the disease was speedily and perfectly cured. I have since used it with the best success in running sores. I therefore recommend it to the world, as in my opinion being an effectual cure for White Swelling, which is one of the most obstinate diseases.

JOHN BELL.

 

CHANDLERSVILLE, Jan., 1849.

In reference to the Oleine Compound I can say, that it was the “good Samaritan” to us. My eldest daughter was long and almost hopelessly afflicted with the real White Swelling. At last I procured this excellent Salve, the disease was mastered, and our daughter restored to health. Many of my neighbors can witness to the uncommon medicinal qualities of the Compound. Its application is attended neither by danger nor pain.

ROBERT WILSON.

 

From the Rev. J. Love.

 

To the PUBLJC: – Having been attacked with bilious Cholic and having suffered severe pain during thirty-six hours, a friend kindly and opportunely presented me a small portion of the Quaking Asp Bitters. Having taken it, the effect was instantaneous relief: and fifteen minutes after, my bowels were as free from pain as before I had the attack. I feel confidently persuader that the Bitters have all the medicinal properties, which are attributed to them in the card with which the public are presented, and that the afflicted will in consequence of a trial, test in their own happy experience their benign salutary effects.

J. LOVE.

Londonderry, O., Feb. 12th, 1849.

 

By the use of one bottle of the Concentrated Quaking Asp Bitters I was permanently cured of Diarrhea which has troubled me very much during the past three months.

ESTHER MILHOLLAND.

New-Concord, July, 1849.

 

I hereby certify that the Quaking Asp Bitters have been used by myself and family with unusual success. – invariably relieving pain in the breast, troublesome coughs, indigestion, colic and dysentery.

ROBERT GEORGE.

New-Concord, August, 1819.

 

I take pleasure in recommending George's Quaking Asp Bitters as a certain remedy for pain in the stomach or bowels, Indigestion and Dysentery.

JOHN M'CARTNEY.

New-Concord, August 6th, '49.

 

We have used the Oleine Compound in very aggravated running sores and sloughing ulcers, and also in scalds and burns, with the most satisfactory success. We consider it a most useful family medicine.

GEORGE MADDEN.

ISABELLA MADDEN.

New-Concord, August 6th, 1849.

 

We are well assured of the powerful medicinal properties of the Oleine Compound, having tried it with success in a very severe attack of Scrofula, in which the skill of different physicians had been tried and failed. It is an excellent salve for sores, cuts and burns. We use it as a family medicine.

JAMES HANSON.

REBECCA HANSON.

 

For sale at New-Concord and the neighboring villages.

 

The areca nut (/ˈærɨkə/ or /əˈriːkə/) is the seed of the areca palm (Areca catechu), which grows in much of the tropical Pacific, Asia, and parts of east Africa. It is commonly referred to as betel nut, as it is often chewed wrapped in betel leaves (paan). The term areca originated from a South Asian word during the 16th century, when Dutch and Portuguese sailors took the nut to Europe.

 

The habit has many harmful effects on health. The International Agency for Research on Cancer concluded after reviewing the published medical research that chewing areca nut is carcinogenic to humans. Various compounds present in the nut, most importantly arecoline (the primary psychoactive ingredient), contribute to histologic changes in the oral mucosa. As with chewing tobacco, its use is discouraged by preventive efforts, such as awareness of the risks of chewing buai.

 

DESCRIPTION

The areca nut is not a true nut, but rather a fruit categorized as a drupe. It is commercially available in dried, cured and fresh forms. When the husk of the fresh fruit is green, the nut inside is soft enough to be cut with a typical knife. In the ripe fruit, the husk becomes yellow or orange and, as it dries, the fruit inside hardens to a wood-like consistency. At that stage, the areca nut can only be sliced using a special scissors-like cutter (known as aḍakattera in Telugu, adake kattari in Kannada,bajjeai in Tulu, adakitta [अडकित्ता] in Marathi, puwak [පුවක්] in Sinhala, jaanti in Bengali, adakka അടക്കാ in Malayalam, pakku (பாக்கு) in Tamil, sarautaa in Hindi, Khilikaati in Odia, and sudi in Gujarati).

 

Usually for chewing, a few slices of the nut are wrapped in a betel leaf along with calcium hydroxide (slaked lime) and may include clove, cardamom, catechu (kattha) and/or other spices for extra flavouring. Betel leaf has a fresh, peppery taste, but it can also be bitter to varying degrees depending on the variety. The combination of areca nut with betel leaf is called "buai" in Tok Pisin (with the spit being known as buai pekpek), "goi" in (Bodo), tamul (তামূল/ "তামোল")in Assamese, kavala in Kannada, tambulam in Sanskrit, bajjai in Tulu, and paan in Hindi, Marathi, Punjabi, and Urdu.

 

Areca nuts are chewed with betel leaf for their effects as a mild stimulant, causing a warming sensation in the body and slightly heightened alertness, although the effects vary from person to person. The effect of chewing betel leaf and areca nut together is relatively mild, and could be compared to that of drinking a cup of coffee.

 

The areca nut contains the tannins arecatannin and gallic acid; a fixed oil gum; a little terpineol; lignin; various saline substances; and three main alkaloids — arecoline, arecaidine and guvacine — all of which have vasoconstricting properties. The betel leaf chewed along with the nut contains eugenol, another vasoconstrictor. Tobacco leaf is often added to the mixture, thereby adding the effect of nicotine.

 

In parts of India, Sri Lanka and southern China, areca nuts are not only chewed along with betel leaf, but are also used in the preparation of Ayurvedic and traditional Chinese medicines. Powdered areca nut is used as a constituent in some dentifrices. Other traditional uses include the removal of tapeworms and other intestinal parasites by swallowing a few teaspoons of powdered areca nut, drunk as a decoction, or by taking tablets containing the extracted alkaloids. According to traditional Ayurvedic medicine, chewing areca nut and betel leaf is a good remedy against bad breath. Diplomat Edmund Roberts noted that Chinese people would mix areca nut with Uncaria gambir during his visit to China in the 1830s.[8] After chewing a betelnut, the red residue from chewing the betelnut, buai pekpek, is generally spit out and is considered an eyesore. This has led many places to ban chewing buai as many people spit the pekpek on the ground rather than in a spit cup or waste receptacle.

 

Now-a-days a special type Areca nut is available in Malenadu region i.e called as "Sweet Areca Nut".

 

TRADITION

Chewing the mixture of areca nut and betel leaf is a tradition, custom or ritual which dates back thousands of years in much of the geographical areas from South Asia eastward to the Pacific. It constitutes an important and popular cultural activity in many Asian and Oceanic countries, including Pakistan, the Maldives, India, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Bhutan, Bangladesh, Burma (Myanmar), China, Laos, Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, Cambodia, Vietnam, Taiwan, the Philippines, Palau, Yap, Guam, Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands, and Vanuatu. It is not known how or when the areca nut and the betel leaf were first combined into one psychoactive drug. Archaeological evidence from Thailand, Indonesia and the Philippines suggests they have been used in tandem for at least 4000 years.

 

In Vietnam, the areca nut and the betel leaf are such important symbols of love and marriage that in Vietnamese the phrase "matters of betel and areca" (chuyện trầu cau) is synonymous with marriage. The tradition of chewing areca nuts starts the talk between the groom's parents and the bride's parents about the young couple's marriage. Therefore, the leaves and juices are used ceremonially in Vietnamese weddings. The folk tale explaining the origin of this Vietnamese tradition is a good illustration of the belief that the combination of areca nut and the betel leaf is ideal to the point they are practically inseparable, like an idealized married couple.

 

Malay culture and tradition hold betel nut and leaves in high esteem. Traditionally, guests who visit a Malay house are presented with a tray of areca nuts and betel leaves, in much the same way as drinks are offered to guests in many cultures around the world. There is even a Malay proverb about the betel nut, "bagaikan pinang dibelah dua", loosely translated, like a betel nut divided in half. It usually refers to newlyweds, who are compatible to each other, just like a betel nut when divided in half. The proverb is analogous to the English "two peas in a pod".In the Indian subcontinent, the chewing of betel and areca nut dates back to the pre-Vedic period Harappan empire. Formerly, in both India and Sri Lanka, it was a custom of the royalty to chew areca nut with betel leaf. Kings had special attendants whose duty it was to carry a box with all the necessary ingredients for a good chewing session. There was also a custom for lovers to chew areca nut and betel leaf together, because of its breath-freshening and relaxant properties. A sexual symbolism thus became attached to the chewing of the nut and the leaf. The areca nut represented the male principle, and the betel leaf the female principle. Considered an auspicious ingredient in Hinduism and some schools of Buddhism, the areca nut is still used along with betel leaf in religious ceremonies, and also while honoring individuals in much of southern Asia.In Assam, it is a tradition to offer pan-tamul (betel leaves and raw areca nut) to guests, after tea or meals, served in a brass plate with stands called bota. Among the Assamese, the areca nut also has a variety of uses during religious and marriage ceremonies, where it has the role of a fertility symbol.[citation needed] A tradition from Upper Assam is to invite guests to wedding receptions by offering a few areca nuts with betel leaves. During Bihu, the husori players are offered areca nuts and betel leaves by each household while their blessings are solicited. Spanish mariner Álvaro de Mendaña reported observing Solomon Islanders chewing the nut and the leaf with caustic lime, and the manner in which the habit stained their mouths red. He noted the friendly and genial chief Malope, on Santa Isabel Island, would offer him the combination as a token of friendship every time they met.

 

In Bhutan the areca nut is called doma. The raw areca nut, which is soft and moist is very potent and when chewed can cause palpitation and vasoconstricting. This form is eaten in the lower regions of Bhutan and in North Bengal, where the nut is cut into half and put into a local paan leaf with a generous amount of lime. In the rest of Bhutan the raw nut, with the husk on, is fermented such that the husk rots and is easy to extract. The fermented doma has a putrid odour, which can be smelled from miles. Traditionally, this fragrant nut is cut in half and placed on top of a cone made of local betel leaf, which has a dash of lime put into it. "Myth has it that the inhabitants of Bhutan traditionally known as Monyul, the land of Monpas where Buddhism did not reach lived on raw flesh, drank blood and chewed bones. After the arrival of Guru Rinpoche in the 8th century, he stopped the people from eating flesh and drinking blood and created a substitute which is betel leaf, lime and areca nut. Today, chewing doma has become a custom. Doma is served after meals, during rituals and ceremonies. It is offered to friends and is chewed at work places by all sections of the society and has become an essential part of Bhutanese life and culture."

 

The addition of tobacco leaf to the chewing mixture is a relatively recent innovation, as tobacco was not introduced from the American continent until the colonial era.

 

EFFECTS ON HEALTH

Habitual chewers of betel leaf and areca nut have a greatly increased risk of developing a range of serious diseases, including cancers of the mouth and esophagus. It has many systemic effects.

 

Chewing areca nut alone has been linked to oral submucosal fibrosis. According to Medline Plus, "Long-term use [of betel-areca preparations] has been associated with oral submucosal fibrosis (OSF), pre-cancerous oral lesions and squamous cell carcinoma. Acute effects of betel chewing include asthma exacerbation, hypertension, and tachycardia. There may additionally be a higher risk of cancers of the liver, mouth, esophagus, stomach, prostate, cervix, and lung with regular betel use. Other effects can include a possible effect on blood sugar levels, which may in turn increase the risk of developing type 2 diabetes."

 

Use of areca nut has been associated with deterioration of psychosis in patients with preexisting psychiatric disorders.

 

In 2003 the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), a World Health Organization sponsored group, reached the conclusion that there is sufficient evidence that the habit of chewing betel quid, with or without tobacco, is carcinogenic to humans. Support for this conclusion is provided by a recent study which found that paan, even without concurrent tobacco use, is a risk factor for oral cancer. In October, 2009, 30 scientists from 10 countries met at IARC to reassess the carcinogenicity of various agents including areca nut, and mechanisms of carcinogenesis. They confirmed there is sufficient evidence that areca nut, with or without tobacco, can cause cancer.

 

USE DURING PREGNAN

Chewing paan (and/or other areca nut and betel leaf formulations) during pregnancy significantly increases adverse outcomes for the baby. The habit is associated with higher incidences of preterm birth and low birth weight and height. Biologically, these effects may be a consequence of the arecoline that is found in areca nuts. The habit also exposes the unborn baby to various other toxic components linked to cancer.

 

MODERN-DAY CONSUMPTION

In India (the largest consumer of areca nut) and Pakistan, the preparation of nut with or without betel leaf is commonly referred to as paan. It is available practically everywhere and is sold in ready-to-chew pouches called pan masala or supari, as a mixture of many flavours whose primary base is areca nut crushed into small pieces. Poor people, who may eat only every other day, use it to stave off hunger pangs. Pan masala with a small quantity of tobacco is called gutka. The easily discarded, small plastic supari or gutka pouches are a ubiquitous pollutant of the South Asian environment. Some of the liquid in the mouth is usually disposed of by spitting, producing bright red spots wherever the expectorate lands. The Shimoga District in Karnataka is presently the largest producer of betelnut in India

 

In the Maldives, areca nut chewing is very popular, but spitting is frowned upon and regarded as an unrefined, repulsive way of chewing. Usually, people prefer to chew thin slices of the dry nut, which is sometimes roasted. Kili, a mixture of areca nut, betel, cloves, cardamom and sugar is sold in small home-made paper pouches. Old people who have lost their teeth keep "chewing" by pounding the mixture of areca nut and betel with a small mortar and pestle.

 

In Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Islands, fresh areca nut, betel leaf or 'fruit leaf' (daka in PNG) and lime are sold on street corners. In these countries, dried or flavoured areca nut is not popular. Betelnuts there are referred to in Tok Pisin as buai, and the red spit from them, as well as their shells and rubbish thrown out along with the spit, is called buai pekpek. There has recently been a controversial ban on selling and chewing betelnuts and spitting buai pekpek in Port Moresby. Because of this, many people have tried to smuggle betelnuts into Pom Town. Notably, there was a raid in Hanuabada in May 2015 where several bags of betelnut were confiscated, the total value of the confiscated nut sacks exceeding $180,000 USD. Areca nut chewing has recently been introduced into Vanuatu, where it is growing in popularity, especially in the northern islands of the country. In Guam and the neighboring Northern Mariana Islands, betel and areca nut chewing is a social pastime as a means to extend friendship, and can be found in many, if not most, large gatherings as part of the food display.

 

In Palau, betel nut is chewed with lime, piper leaf and nowadays, with the addition of tobacco. Older and younger generations alike enjoy the use of betel nut, which is readily available at stores and markets. Unlike in Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Islands, where the inner areca nut is used, in Palau, the areca nut's skin is chewed along with lime, leaf and tobacco and the juice is not swallowed but spat out.

 

In Taiwan, bags of 20 to 40 areca nuts are purchased fresh daily by a large number of consumers. To meet the steady year-round demand, two kinds of betel-nut shops sell betel and nuts, as well as cigarettes and drinks, including beer: Small mom and pop shops, often poorly maintained and with unassuming façades, and shops which will often consist of nothing more than a single, free-standing room, or booth. The latter is usually elevated one meter above the street, and measures less than 3 by 2 m. Large picture windows comprise two or more of the walls, allowing those who pass by a complete view of the interior. The interior is often painted brightly. Within such a shop, a sexily dressed young woman, a "betel nut beauty", can be seen preparing betel and areca nuts. Shops are often identified by multicoloured (commonly green) fluorescent tubes or neon lights that frame the windows or that are arranged radially above a store. Customers stop on the side of the road and wait for the girls to bring their betel and areca nut to their vehicles. The habit of chewing betel nut is often associated with blue-collar labor industries such a long-haul transportation, construction, or fishing. Workers in these labor-intensive industries use betel nut for its stimulating effect, but it also becomes a tool for socializing with coworkers. For example, studies have shown chewing betel nut is prevalent among taxi, bus and truck drivers, who rely on the stimulating effect of betel nut to cope with long work hours. For these reasons, oral cancer has been identified as a leading cause of death in professions with high betel nut-chewing rates.

 

In Hainan and Hunan Province, China, where Xiangtan is a center of use and processing, a wide range of old and young people consume areca nut daily. Most, though, consume the dried variety of the nut by itself, without the betel leaves. Some people also consume the areca nut in its raw, fresh form with or without the betel leaves. Betel nuts are sold mostly by old women walking around trying to sell it, but the dried version can be found in most shops which sell tea, alcohol and cigarettes.

 

In Thailand, the consumption of areca nut has declined gradually in the last decades. The younger generation rarely chews the substance, especially in the cities. Most of the present-day consumption is confined to older generations, mostly people above 50. Even so, small trays of betel leaves and sliced tender areca nut are sold in markets and used as offerings in Buddhist shrines.

 

In the Philippines, chewing the areca nut and betel leaf was a very widespread tradition in the past. Now, though, this tradition is almost dead among the urban people in the cities and big towns, and has largely been replaced by chewing gum and cigarettes. Nowadays, older people are the only ones chewing betel nuts. But in rural areas, betel nut-chewing is very much alive.

 

In the United States, areca nut is not a controlled or specially taxed substance and may be found in some Asian grocery stores. However, importation of areca nut in a form other than whole or carved kernels of nuts can be stopped at the discretion of US Customs officers on the grounds of food, agricultural, or medicinal drug violations. Such actions by Customs are very rare. In the United Kingdom, areca nut is readily available in Asian grocery stores and even in shredded forms from the World Food aisles of larger Tesco supermarkets.

 

Possession of betel nut or leaf is banned in the UAE and is a punishable offense.

 

Recently it has been reported that areca nut powder extract is capable of reducing silver ions to create silver nanoparticles, which may be useful as antimicrobial agents.

 

WIKIPEDIA

The areca nut (/ˈærɨkə/ or /əˈriːkə/) is the seed of the areca palm (Areca catechu), which grows in much of the tropical Pacific, Asia, and parts of east Africa. It is commonly referred to as betel nut, as it is often chewed wrapped in betel leaves (paan). The term areca originated from a South Asian word during the 16th century, when Dutch and Portuguese sailors took the nut to Europe.

 

The habit has many harmful effects on health. The International Agency for Research on Cancer concluded after reviewing the published medical research that chewing areca nut is carcinogenic to humans. Various compounds present in the nut, most importantly arecoline (the primary psychoactive ingredient), contribute to histologic changes in the oral mucosa. As with chewing tobacco, its use is discouraged by preventive efforts, such as awareness of the risks of chewing buai.

 

DESCRIPTION

The areca nut is not a true nut, but rather a fruit categorized as a drupe. It is commercially available in dried, cured and fresh forms. When the husk of the fresh fruit is green, the nut inside is soft enough to be cut with a typical knife. In the ripe fruit, the husk becomes yellow or orange and, as it dries, the fruit inside hardens to a wood-like consistency. At that stage, the areca nut can only be sliced using a special scissors-like cutter (known as aḍakattera in Telugu, adake kattari in Kannada,bajjeai in Tulu, adakitta [अडकित्ता] in Marathi, puwak [පුවක්] in Sinhala, jaanti in Bengali, adakka അടക്കാ in Malayalam, pakku (பாக்கு) in Tamil, sarautaa in Hindi, Khilikaati in Odia, and sudi in Gujarati).

 

Usually for chewing, a few slices of the nut are wrapped in a betel leaf along with calcium hydroxide (slaked lime) and may include clove, cardamom, catechu (kattha) and/or other spices for extra flavouring. Betel leaf has a fresh, peppery taste, but it can also be bitter to varying degrees depending on the variety. The combination of areca nut with betel leaf is called "buai" in Tok Pisin (with the spit being known as buai pekpek), "goi" in (Bodo), tamul (তামূল/ "তামোল")in Assamese, kavala in Kannada, tambulam in Sanskrit, bajjai in Tulu, and paan in Hindi, Marathi, Punjabi, and Urdu.

 

Areca nuts are chewed with betel leaf for their effects as a mild stimulant, causing a warming sensation in the body and slightly heightened alertness, although the effects vary from person to person. The effect of chewing betel leaf and areca nut together is relatively mild, and could be compared to that of drinking a cup of coffee.

 

The areca nut contains the tannins arecatannin and gallic acid; a fixed oil gum; a little terpineol; lignin; various saline substances; and three main alkaloids — arecoline, arecaidine and guvacine — all of which have vasoconstricting properties. The betel leaf chewed along with the nut contains eugenol, another vasoconstrictor. Tobacco leaf is often added to the mixture, thereby adding the effect of nicotine.

 

In parts of India, Sri Lanka and southern China, areca nuts are not only chewed along with betel leaf, but are also used in the preparation of Ayurvedic and traditional Chinese medicines. Powdered areca nut is used as a constituent in some dentifrices. Other traditional uses include the removal of tapeworms and other intestinal parasites by swallowing a few teaspoons of powdered areca nut, drunk as a decoction, or by taking tablets containing the extracted alkaloids. According to traditional Ayurvedic medicine, chewing areca nut and betel leaf is a good remedy against bad breath. Diplomat Edmund Roberts noted that Chinese people would mix areca nut with Uncaria gambir during his visit to China in the 1830s.[8] After chewing a betelnut, the red residue from chewing the betelnut, buai pekpek, is generally spit out and is considered an eyesore. This has led many places to ban chewing buai as many people spit the pekpek on the ground rather than in a spit cup or waste receptacle.

 

Now-a-days a special type Areca nut is available in Malenadu region i.e called as "Sweet Areca Nut".

 

TRADITION

Chewing the mixture of areca nut and betel leaf is a tradition, custom or ritual which dates back thousands of years in much of the geographical areas from South Asia eastward to the Pacific. It constitutes an important and popular cultural activity in many Asian and Oceanic countries, including Pakistan, the Maldives, India, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Bhutan, Bangladesh, Burma (Myanmar), China, Laos, Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, Cambodia, Vietnam, Taiwan, the Philippines, Palau, Yap, Guam, Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands, and Vanuatu. It is not known how or when the areca nut and the betel leaf were first combined into one psychoactive drug. Archaeological evidence from Thailand, Indonesia and the Philippines suggests they have been used in tandem for at least 4000 years.

 

In Vietnam, the areca nut and the betel leaf are such important symbols of love and marriage that in Vietnamese the phrase "matters of betel and areca" (chuyện trầu cau) is synonymous with marriage. The tradition of chewing areca nuts starts the talk between the groom's parents and the bride's parents about the young couple's marriage. Therefore, the leaves and juices are used ceremonially in Vietnamese weddings. The folk tale explaining the origin of this Vietnamese tradition is a good illustration of the belief that the combination of areca nut and the betel leaf is ideal to the point they are practically inseparable, like an idealized married couple.

 

Malay culture and tradition hold betel nut and leaves in high esteem. Traditionally, guests who visit a Malay house are presented with a tray of areca nuts and betel leaves, in much the same way as drinks are offered to guests in many cultures around the world. There is even a Malay proverb about the betel nut, "bagaikan pinang dibelah dua", loosely translated, like a betel nut divided in half. It usually refers to newlyweds, who are compatible to each other, just like a betel nut when divided in half. The proverb is analogous to the English "two peas in a pod".In the Indian subcontinent, the chewing of betel and areca nut dates back to the pre-Vedic period Harappan empire. Formerly, in both India and Sri Lanka, it was a custom of the royalty to chew areca nut with betel leaf. Kings had special attendants whose duty it was to carry a box with all the necessary ingredients for a good chewing session. There was also a custom for lovers to chew areca nut and betel leaf together, because of its breath-freshening and relaxant properties. A sexual symbolism thus became attached to the chewing of the nut and the leaf. The areca nut represented the male principle, and the betel leaf the female principle. Considered an auspicious ingredient in Hinduism and some schools of Buddhism, the areca nut is still used along with betel leaf in religious ceremonies, and also while honoring individuals in much of southern Asia.In Assam, it is a tradition to offer pan-tamul (betel leaves and raw areca nut) to guests, after tea or meals, served in a brass plate with stands called bota. Among the Assamese, the areca nut also has a variety of uses during religious and marriage ceremonies, where it has the role of a fertility symbol.[citation needed] A tradition from Upper Assam is to invite guests to wedding receptions by offering a few areca nuts with betel leaves. During Bihu, the husori players are offered areca nuts and betel leaves by each household while their blessings are solicited. Spanish mariner Álvaro de Mendaña reported observing Solomon Islanders chewing the nut and the leaf with caustic lime, and the manner in which the habit stained their mouths red. He noted the friendly and genial chief Malope, on Santa Isabel Island, would offer him the combination as a token of friendship every time they met.

 

In Bhutan the areca nut is called doma. The raw areca nut, which is soft and moist is very potent and when chewed can cause palpitation and vasoconstricting. This form is eaten in the lower regions of Bhutan and in North Bengal, where the nut is cut into half and put into a local paan leaf with a generous amount of lime. In the rest of Bhutan the raw nut, with the husk on, is fermented such that the husk rots and is easy to extract. The fermented doma has a putrid odour, which can be smelled from miles. Traditionally, this fragrant nut is cut in half and placed on top of a cone made of local betel leaf, which has a dash of lime put into it. "Myth has it that the inhabitants of Bhutan traditionally known as Monyul, the land of Monpas where Buddhism did not reach lived on raw flesh, drank blood and chewed bones. After the arrival of Guru Rinpoche in the 8th century, he stopped the people from eating flesh and drinking blood and created a substitute which is betel leaf, lime and areca nut. Today, chewing doma has become a custom. Doma is served after meals, during rituals and ceremonies. It is offered to friends and is chewed at work places by all sections of the society and has become an essential part of Bhutanese life and culture."

 

The addition of tobacco leaf to the chewing mixture is a relatively recent innovation, as tobacco was not introduced from the American continent until the colonial era.

 

EFFECTS ON HEALTH

Habitual chewers of betel leaf and areca nut have a greatly increased risk of developing a range of serious diseases, including cancers of the mouth and esophagus. It has many systemic effects.

 

Chewing areca nut alone has been linked to oral submucosal fibrosis. According to Medline Plus, "Long-term use [of betel-areca preparations] has been associated with oral submucosal fibrosis (OSF), pre-cancerous oral lesions and squamous cell carcinoma. Acute effects of betel chewing include asthma exacerbation, hypertension, and tachycardia. There may additionally be a higher risk of cancers of the liver, mouth, esophagus, stomach, prostate, cervix, and lung with regular betel use. Other effects can include a possible effect on blood sugar levels, which may in turn increase the risk of developing type 2 diabetes."

 

Use of areca nut has been associated with deterioration of psychosis in patients with preexisting psychiatric disorders.

 

In 2003 the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), a World Health Organization sponsored group, reached the conclusion that there is sufficient evidence that the habit of chewing betel quid, with or without tobacco, is carcinogenic to humans. Support for this conclusion is provided by a recent study which found that paan, even without concurrent tobacco use, is a risk factor for oral cancer. In October, 2009, 30 scientists from 10 countries met at IARC to reassess the carcinogenicity of various agents including areca nut, and mechanisms of carcinogenesis. They confirmed there is sufficient evidence that areca nut, with or without tobacco, can cause cancer.

 

USE DURING PREGNANCY

Chewing paan (and/or other areca nut and betel leaf formulations) during pregnancy significantly increases adverse outcomes for the baby. The habit is associated with higher incidences of preterm birth and low birth weight and height. Biologically, these effects may be a consequence of the arecoline that is found in areca nuts. The habit also exposes the unborn baby to various other toxic components linked to cancer.

 

MODERN-DAY CONSUMPTION

In India (the largest consumer of areca nut) and Pakistan, the preparation of nut with or without betel leaf is commonly referred to as paan. It is available practically everywhere and is sold in ready-to-chew pouches called pan masala or supari, as a mixture of many flavours whose primary base is areca nut crushed into small pieces. Poor people, who may eat only every other day, use it to stave off hunger pangs. Pan masala with a small quantity of tobacco is called gutka. The easily discarded, small plastic supari or gutka pouches are a ubiquitous pollutant of the South Asian environment. Some of the liquid in the mouth is usually disposed of by spitting, producing bright red spots wherever the expectorate lands. The Shimoga District in Karnataka is presently the largest producer of betelnut in India

 

In the Maldives, areca nut chewing is very popular, but spitting is frowned upon and regarded as an unrefined, repulsive way of chewing. Usually, people prefer to chew thin slices of the dry nut, which is sometimes roasted. Kili, a mixture of areca nut, betel, cloves, cardamom and sugar is sold in small home-made paper pouches. Old people who have lost their teeth keep "chewing" by pounding the mixture of areca nut and betel with a small mortar and pestle.

 

In Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Islands, fresh areca nut, betel leaf or 'fruit leaf' (daka in PNG) and lime are sold on street corners. In these countries, dried or flavoured areca nut is not popular. Betelnuts there are referred to in Tok Pisin as buai, and the red spit from them, as well as their shells and rubbish thrown out along with the spit, is called buai pekpek. There has recently been a controversial ban on selling and chewing betelnuts and spitting buai pekpek in Port Moresby. Because of this, many people have tried to smuggle betelnuts into Pom Town. Notably, there was a raid in Hanuabada in May 2015 where several bags of betelnut were confiscated, the total value of the confiscated nut sacks exceeding $180,000 USD. Areca nut chewing has recently been introduced into Vanuatu, where it is growing in popularity, especially in the northern islands of the country. In Guam and the neighboring Northern Mariana Islands, betel and areca nut chewing is a social pastime as a means to extend friendship, and can be found in many, if not most, large gatherings as part of the food display.

 

In Palau, betel nut is chewed with lime, piper leaf and nowadays, with the addition of tobacco. Older and younger generations alike enjoy the use of betel nut, which is readily available at stores and markets. Unlike in Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Islands, where the inner areca nut is used, in Palau, the areca nut's skin is chewed along with lime, leaf and tobacco and the juice is not swallowed but spat out.

 

In Taiwan, bags of 20 to 40 areca nuts are purchased fresh daily by a large number of consumers. To meet the steady year-round demand, two kinds of betel-nut shops sell betel and nuts, as well as cigarettes and drinks, including beer: Small mom and pop shops, often poorly maintained and with unassuming façades, and shops which will often consist of nothing more than a single, free-standing room, or booth. The latter is usually elevated one meter above the street, and measures less than 3 by 2 m. Large picture windows comprise two or more of the walls, allowing those who pass by a complete view of the interior. The interior is often painted brightly. Within such a shop, a sexily dressed young woman, a "betel nut beauty", can be seen preparing betel and areca nuts. Shops are often identified by multicoloured (commonly green) fluorescent tubes or neon lights that frame the windows or that are arranged radially above a store. Customers stop on the side of the road and wait for the girls to bring their betel and areca nut to their vehicles. The habit of chewing betel nut is often associated with blue-collar labor industries such a long-haul transportation, construction, or fishing. Workers in these labor-intensive industries use betel nut for its stimulating effect, but it also becomes a tool for socializing with coworkers. For example, studies have shown chewing betel nut is prevalent among taxi, bus and truck drivers, who rely on the stimulating effect of betel nut to cope with long work hours. For these reasons, oral cancer has been identified as a leading cause of death in professions with high betel nut-chewing rates.

 

In Hainan and Hunan Province, China, where Xiangtan is a center of use and processing, a wide range of old and young people consume areca nut daily. Most, though, consume the dried variety of the nut by itself, without the betel leaves. Some people also consume the areca nut in its raw, fresh form with or without the betel leaves. Betel nuts are sold mostly by old women walking around trying to sell it, but the dried version can be found in most shops which sell tea, alcohol and cigarettes.

 

In Thailand, the consumption of areca nut has declined gradually in the last decades. The younger generation rarely chews the substance, especially in the cities. Most of the present-day consumption is confined to older generations, mostly people above 50. Even so, small trays of betel leaves and sliced tender areca nut are sold in markets and used as offerings in Buddhist shrines.

 

In the Philippines, chewing the areca nut and betel leaf was a very widespread tradition in the past. Now, though, this tradition is almost dead among the urban people in the cities and big towns, and has largely been replaced by chewing gum and cigarettes. Nowadays, older people are the only ones chewing betel nuts. But in rural areas, betel nut-chewing is very much alive.

 

In the United States, areca nut is not a controlled or specially taxed substance and may be found in some Asian grocery stores. However, importation of areca nut in a form other than whole or carved kernels of nuts can be stopped at the discretion of US Customs officers on the grounds of food, agricultural, or medicinal drug violations. Such actions by Customs are very rare. In the United Kingdom, areca nut is readily available in Asian grocery stores and even in shredded forms from the World Food aisles of larger Tesco supermarkets.

 

Possession of betel nut or leaf is banned in the UAE and is a punishable offense.

 

Recently it has been reported that areca nut powder extract is capable of reducing silver ions to create silver nanoparticles, which may be useful as antimicrobial agents.

 

WIKIPEDIA

Sellers of New Psychoactive Substances (NPS), also known as ‘legal highs’ were targeted yesterday (23 July 2015) as part of a Forcewide operation.

 

Operation Ramsey was the first of its kind for GMP and tackles the growing concerns over NPSs.

 

More than 150 officers across the Force visited more than 100 premises to ensure that they were abiding by the law, as well as visiting areas associated with the use of NPSs to check young people were safe and well.

 

Trading Standards and other partners including the Department for Work and Pensions accompanied police.

 

NPSs have the same or similar effects as drugs such as cocaine and ecstasy, but are not controlled under the Misuse of Drugs Act.

 

Side effects from these substances are common and can include heart palpitations, vomiting, dizziness, fainting, panic attacks and psychosis. They are often designed to mimic class A drugs, but are structurally different enough to avoid them being classified as illegal substances. However, some ‘legal highs’ contain substances, which are banned, and it is also against the law to sell them to anyone under the age of 18.

 

Only last week, five people collapsed and were hospitalised in Bury following an adverse reaction after taking the drug known as ‘Spice’.

 

Superintendent Craig Thompson said: “There are growing concerns around these so-called ‘legal highs’ and we’ve seen a number of young people hospitalised following their use.

 

“What we want to instil in people is that just because these substances are legal, doesn’t mean that they are safe and I would urge people not to buy or take and consider the danger they pose. Don’t play Russian Roulette with your life.”

 

Greater Manchester Police and Crime Commissioner Tony Lloyd said: “We are seeing an increasing number of calls to Greater Manchester Police in relation to the misuse of dangerous drugs branded as so-called ‘legal highs’. People are unwittingly putting their lives in danger because of the misconception that a legal drug must be a safe one.

 

“All too often these drugs end up in the hands of young people who have no idea what it is they are taking or what it will do to them.

 

“All agencies must come together – police, health and trading standards – to stem this tide, educate people about the risks they are taking, and – ultimately – save lives.”

 

Members of the public wishing to report a shop selling these products are advised to contact the Citizens Advice Consumer Service on 03454 04 05 06 or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555111.

For help or advice on all drugs including Legal Highs contact ‘Talk to Frank’ on 0800 776600 www.talktofrank.com

 

To find out more about Greater Manchester Police please visit our website www.gmp.police.uk

 

You should call 101, the national non-emergency number, to report crime and other concerns that do not require an emergency response.

 

Always call 999 in an emergency, such as when a crime is in progress, violence is being used or threatened or where there is danger to life.

 

The areca nut (/ˈærɨkə/ or /əˈriːkə/) is the seed of the areca palm (Areca catechu), which grows in much of the tropical Pacific, Asia, and parts of east Africa. It is commonly referred to as betel nut, as it is often chewed wrapped in betel leaves (paan). The term areca originated from a South Asian word during the 16th century, when Dutch and Portuguese sailors took the nut to Europe.

 

The habit has many harmful effects on health. The International Agency for Research on Cancer concluded after reviewing the published medical research that chewing areca nut is carcinogenic to humans. Various compounds present in the nut, most importantly arecoline (the primary psychoactive ingredient), contribute to histologic changes in the oral mucosa. As with chewing tobacco, its use is discouraged by preventive efforts, such as awareness of the risks of chewing buai.

 

DESCRIPTION

The areca nut is not a true nut, but rather a fruit categorized as a drupe. It is commercially available in dried, cured and fresh forms. When the husk of the fresh fruit is green, the nut inside is soft enough to be cut with a typical knife. In the ripe fruit, the husk becomes yellow or orange and, as it dries, the fruit inside hardens to a wood-like consistency. At that stage, the areca nut can only be sliced using a special scissors-like cutter (known as aḍakattera in Telugu, adake kattari in Kannada,bajjeai in Tulu, adakitta [अडकित्ता] in Marathi, puwak [පුවක්] in Sinhala, jaanti in Bengali, adakka അടക്കാ in Malayalam, pakku (பாக்கு) in Tamil, sarautaa in Hindi, Khilikaati in Odia, and sudi in Gujarati).

 

Usually for chewing, a few slices of the nut are wrapped in a betel leaf along with calcium hydroxide (slaked lime) and may include clove, cardamom, catechu (kattha) and/or other spices for extra flavouring. Betel leaf has a fresh, peppery taste, but it can also be bitter to varying degrees depending on the variety. The combination of areca nut with betel leaf is called "buai" in Tok Pisin (with the spit being known as buai pekpek), "goi" in (Bodo), tamul (তামূল/ "তামোল")in Assamese, kavala in Kannada, tambulam in Sanskrit, bajjai in Tulu, and paan in Hindi, Marathi, Punjabi, and Urdu.

 

Areca nuts are chewed with betel leaf for their effects as a mild stimulant, causing a warming sensation in the body and slightly heightened alertness, although the effects vary from person to person. The effect of chewing betel leaf and areca nut together is relatively mild, and could be compared to that of drinking a cup of coffee.

 

The areca nut contains the tannins arecatannin and gallic acid; a fixed oil gum; a little terpineol; lignin; various saline substances; and three main alkaloids — arecoline, arecaidine and guvacine — all of which have vasoconstricting properties. The betel leaf chewed along with the nut contains eugenol, another vasoconstrictor. Tobacco leaf is often added to the mixture, thereby adding the effect of nicotine.

 

In parts of India, Sri Lanka and southern China, areca nuts are not only chewed along with betel leaf, but are also used in the preparation of Ayurvedic and traditional Chinese medicines. Powdered areca nut is used as a constituent in some dentifrices. Other traditional uses include the removal of tapeworms and other intestinal parasites by swallowing a few teaspoons of powdered areca nut, drunk as a decoction, or by taking tablets containing the extracted alkaloids. According to traditional Ayurvedic medicine, chewing areca nut and betel leaf is a good remedy against bad breath. Diplomat Edmund Roberts noted that Chinese people would mix areca nut with Uncaria gambir during his visit to China in the 1830s.[8] After chewing a betelnut, the red residue from chewing the betelnut, buai pekpek, is generally spit out and is considered an eyesore. This has led many places to ban chewing buai as many people spit the pekpek on the ground rather than in a spit cup or waste receptacle.

 

Now-a-days a special type Areca nut is available in Malenadu region i.e called as "Sweet Areca Nut".

 

TRADITION

Chewing the mixture of areca nut and betel leaf is a tradition, custom or ritual which dates back thousands of years in much of the geographical areas from South Asia eastward to the Pacific. It constitutes an important and popular cultural activity in many Asian and Oceanic countries, including Pakistan, the Maldives, India, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Bhutan, Bangladesh, Burma (Myanmar), China, Laos, Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, Cambodia, Vietnam, Taiwan, the Philippines, Palau, Yap, Guam, Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands, and Vanuatu. It is not known how or when the areca nut and the betel leaf were first combined into one psychoactive drug. Archaeological evidence from Thailand, Indonesia and the Philippines suggests they have been used in tandem for at least 4000 years.

 

In Vietnam, the areca nut and the betel leaf are such important symbols of love and marriage that in Vietnamese the phrase "matters of betel and areca" (chuyện trầu cau) is synonymous with marriage. The tradition of chewing areca nuts starts the talk between the groom's parents and the bride's parents about the young couple's marriage. Therefore, the leaves and juices are used ceremonially in Vietnamese weddings. The folk tale explaining the origin of this Vietnamese tradition is a good illustration of the belief that the combination of areca nut and the betel leaf is ideal to the point they are practically inseparable, like an idealized married couple.

 

Malay culture and tradition hold betel nut and leaves in high esteem. Traditionally, guests who visit a Malay house are presented with a tray of areca nuts and betel leaves, in much the same way as drinks are offered to guests in many cultures around the world. There is even a Malay proverb about the betel nut, "bagaikan pinang dibelah dua", loosely translated, like a betel nut divided in half. It usually refers to newlyweds, who are compatible to each other, just like a betel nut when divided in half. The proverb is analogous to the English "two peas in a pod".In the Indian subcontinent, the chewing of betel and areca nut dates back to the pre-Vedic period Harappan empire. Formerly, in both India and Sri Lanka, it was a custom of the royalty to chew areca nut with betel leaf. Kings had special attendants whose duty it was to carry a box with all the necessary ingredients for a good chewing session. There was also a custom for lovers to chew areca nut and betel leaf together, because of its breath-freshening and relaxant properties. A sexual symbolism thus became attached to the chewing of the nut and the leaf. The areca nut represented the male principle, and the betel leaf the female principle. Considered an auspicious ingredient in Hinduism and some schools of Buddhism, the areca nut is still used along with betel leaf in religious ceremonies, and also while honoring individuals in much of southern Asia.In Assam, it is a tradition to offer pan-tamul (betel leaves and raw areca nut) to guests, after tea or meals, served in a brass plate with stands called bota. Among the Assamese, the areca nut also has a variety of uses during religious and marriage ceremonies, where it has the role of a fertility symbol.[citation needed] A tradition from Upper Assam is to invite guests to wedding receptions by offering a few areca nuts with betel leaves. During Bihu, the husori players are offered areca nuts and betel leaves by each household while their blessings are solicited. Spanish mariner Álvaro de Mendaña reported observing Solomon Islanders chewing the nut and the leaf with caustic lime, and the manner in which the habit stained their mouths red. He noted the friendly and genial chief Malope, on Santa Isabel Island, would offer him the combination as a token of friendship every time they met.

 

In Bhutan the areca nut is called doma. The raw areca nut, which is soft and moist is very potent and when chewed can cause palpitation and vasoconstricting. This form is eaten in the lower regions of Bhutan and in North Bengal, where the nut is cut into half and put into a local paan leaf with a generous amount of lime. In the rest of Bhutan the raw nut, with the husk on, is fermented such that the husk rots and is easy to extract. The fermented doma has a putrid odour, which can be smelled from miles. Traditionally, this fragrant nut is cut in half and placed on top of a cone made of local betel leaf, which has a dash of lime put into it. "Myth has it that the inhabitants of Bhutan traditionally known as Monyul, the land of Monpas where Buddhism did not reach lived on raw flesh, drank blood and chewed bones. After the arrival of Guru Rinpoche in the 8th century, he stopped the people from eating flesh and drinking blood and created a substitute which is betel leaf, lime and areca nut. Today, chewing doma has become a custom. Doma is served after meals, during rituals and ceremonies. It is offered to friends and is chewed at work places by all sections of the society and has become an essential part of Bhutanese life and culture."

 

The addition of tobacco leaf to the chewing mixture is a relatively recent innovation, as tobacco was not introduced from the American continent until the colonial era.

 

EFFECTS ON HEALTH

Habitual chewers of betel leaf and areca nut have a greatly increased risk of developing a range of serious diseases, including cancers of the mouth and esophagus. It has many systemic effects.

 

Chewing areca nut alone has been linked to oral submucosal fibrosis. According to Medline Plus, "Long-term use [of betel-areca preparations] has been associated with oral submucosal fibrosis (OSF), pre-cancerous oral lesions and squamous cell carcinoma. Acute effects of betel chewing include asthma exacerbation, hypertension, and tachycardia. There may additionally be a higher risk of cancers of the liver, mouth, esophagus, stomach, prostate, cervix, and lung with regular betel use. Other effects can include a possible effect on blood sugar levels, which may in turn increase the risk of developing type 2 diabetes."

 

Use of areca nut has been associated with deterioration of psychosis in patients with preexisting psychiatric disorders.

 

In 2003 the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), a World Health Organization sponsored group, reached the conclusion that there is sufficient evidence that the habit of chewing betel quid, with or without tobacco, is carcinogenic to humans. Support for this conclusion is provided by a recent study which found that paan, even without concurrent tobacco use, is a risk factor for oral cancer. In October, 2009, 30 scientists from 10 countries met at IARC to reassess the carcinogenicity of various agents including areca nut, and mechanisms of carcinogenesis. They confirmed there is sufficient evidence that areca nut, with or without tobacco, can cause cancer.

 

USE DURING PREGNAN

Chewing paan (and/or other areca nut and betel leaf formulations) during pregnancy significantly increases adverse outcomes for the baby. The habit is associated with higher incidences of preterm birth and low birth weight and height. Biologically, these effects may be a consequence of the arecoline that is found in areca nuts. The habit also exposes the unborn baby to various other toxic components linked to cancer.

 

MODERN-DAY CONSUMPTION

In India (the largest consumer of areca nut) and Pakistan, the preparation of nut with or without betel leaf is commonly referred to as paan. It is available practically everywhere and is sold in ready-to-chew pouches called pan masala or supari, as a mixture of many flavours whose primary base is areca nut crushed into small pieces. Poor people, who may eat only every other day, use it to stave off hunger pangs. Pan masala with a small quantity of tobacco is called gutka. The easily discarded, small plastic supari or gutka pouches are a ubiquitous pollutant of the South Asian environment. Some of the liquid in the mouth is usually disposed of by spitting, producing bright red spots wherever the expectorate lands. The Shimoga District in Karnataka is presently the largest producer of betelnut in India

 

In the Maldives, areca nut chewing is very popular, but spitting is frowned upon and regarded as an unrefined, repulsive way of chewing. Usually, people prefer to chew thin slices of the dry nut, which is sometimes roasted. Kili, a mixture of areca nut, betel, cloves, cardamom and sugar is sold in small home-made paper pouches. Old people who have lost their teeth keep "chewing" by pounding the mixture of areca nut and betel with a small mortar and pestle.

 

In Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Islands, fresh areca nut, betel leaf or 'fruit leaf' (daka in PNG) and lime are sold on street corners. In these countries, dried or flavoured areca nut is not popular. Betelnuts there are referred to in Tok Pisin as buai, and the red spit from them, as well as their shells and rubbish thrown out along with the spit, is called buai pekpek. There has recently been a controversial ban on selling and chewing betelnuts and spitting buai pekpek in Port Moresby. Because of this, many people have tried to smuggle betelnuts into Pom Town. Notably, there was a raid in Hanuabada in May 2015 where several bags of betelnut were confiscated, the total value of the confiscated nut sacks exceeding $180,000 USD. Areca nut chewing has recently been introduced into Vanuatu, where it is growing in popularity, especially in the northern islands of the country. In Guam and the neighboring Northern Mariana Islands, betel and areca nut chewing is a social pastime as a means to extend friendship, and can be found in many, if not most, large gatherings as part of the food display.

 

In Palau, betel nut is chewed with lime, piper leaf and nowadays, with the addition of tobacco. Older and younger generations alike enjoy the use of betel nut, which is readily available at stores and markets. Unlike in Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Islands, where the inner areca nut is used, in Palau, the areca nut's skin is chewed along with lime, leaf and tobacco and the juice is not swallowed but spat out.

 

In Taiwan, bags of 20 to 40 areca nuts are purchased fresh daily by a large number of consumers. To meet the steady year-round demand, two kinds of betel-nut shops sell betel and nuts, as well as cigarettes and drinks, including beer: Small mom and pop shops, often poorly maintained and with unassuming façades, and shops which will often consist of nothing more than a single, free-standing room, or booth. The latter is usually elevated one meter above the street, and measures less than 3 by 2 m. Large picture windows comprise two or more of the walls, allowing those who pass by a complete view of the interior. The interior is often painted brightly. Within such a shop, a sexily dressed young woman, a "betel nut beauty", can be seen preparing betel and areca nuts. Shops are often identified by multicoloured (commonly green) fluorescent tubes or neon lights that frame the windows or that are arranged radially above a store. Customers stop on the side of the road and wait for the girls to bring their betel and areca nut to their vehicles. The habit of chewing betel nut is often associated with blue-collar labor industries such a long-haul transportation, construction, or fishing. Workers in these labor-intensive industries use betel nut for its stimulating effect, but it also becomes a tool for socializing with coworkers. For example, studies have shown chewing betel nut is prevalent among taxi, bus and truck drivers, who rely on the stimulating effect of betel nut to cope with long work hours. For these reasons, oral cancer has been identified as a leading cause of death in professions with high betel nut-chewing rates.

 

In Hainan and Hunan Province, China, where Xiangtan is a center of use and processing, a wide range of old and young people consume areca nut daily. Most, though, consume the dried variety of the nut by itself, without the betel leaves. Some people also consume the areca nut in its raw, fresh form with or without the betel leaves. Betel nuts are sold mostly by old women walking around trying to sell it, but the dried version can be found in most shops which sell tea, alcohol and cigarettes.

 

In Thailand, the consumption of areca nut has declined gradually in the last decades. The younger generation rarely chews the substance, especially in the cities. Most of the present-day consumption is confined to older generations, mostly people above 50. Even so, small trays of betel leaves and sliced tender areca nut are sold in markets and used as offerings in Buddhist shrines.

 

In the Philippines, chewing the areca nut and betel leaf was a very widespread tradition in the past. Now, though, this tradition is almost dead among the urban people in the cities and big towns, and has largely been replaced by chewing gum and cigarettes. Nowadays, older people are the only ones chewing betel nuts. But in rural areas, betel nut-chewing is very much alive.

 

In the United States, areca nut is not a controlled or specially taxed substance and may be found in some Asian grocery stores. However, importation of areca nut in a form other than whole or carved kernels of nuts can be stopped at the discretion of US Customs officers on the grounds of food, agricultural, or medicinal drug violations. Such actions by Customs are very rare. In the United Kingdom, areca nut is readily available in Asian grocery stores and even in shredded forms from the World Food aisles of larger Tesco supermarkets.

 

Possession of betel nut or leaf is banned in the UAE and is a punishable offense.

 

Recently it has been reported that areca nut powder extract is capable of reducing silver ions to create silver nanoparticles, which may be useful as antimicrobial agents.

 

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