Malak-Tāwūs: The Peacock Angel of the Yezidis,
by Garnik Asatrian and Victoria Arakelova,
in 37 pdf pages,
from Iran and the Caucasus,
Vol. 7, No. 1/2 (2003), pp. 1-36.
Uploaded by Robert Bedrosian.
Saturday, May 02, 2020
The Religion Of The Peacock Angel The Yezidis And Their Spirit World
by Garnik S. Asatrian and Victoria Arakelova
Preface vii
Part I: The one god 1
1 Malak-Tāwūs: the leader of the triad 9
2 Sheikh ‘Adi 37
3 Sultan Ezid 45
Part II: The Yezidis’ pantheon and the syncretic features of
their religion 51
4 The Yezidi minor deities, saints and holy men 53
5 Aspects of nature and celestial bodies in the Yezidi tradition 109
6 Yezidi religious syncretism 121
Conclusion 133
Bibliography 135
Index 145
FROM THE PREFACE
The main religious centre of the Yezidis is situated in the valley of Lalish, the Sheikhan region (north Iraq), where the sanctuaries of most of the Yezidi saints and holy men are located. It is also the centre of Yezidi traditional learning. The seat of the Yezidis’ spiritual leader, the Prince or mīr, is in the nearby village of Ba‘dre. The religion exclusive to the Yezidis constitutes one of the most enigmatic and least investigated phenomena of the Near Eastern non-dogmatic milieu. But it has beckoned increasing attention from scholars of religion studies, certainly more than ever before over the last three decades. Despite multiple references by travellers, missioners, military officers and intellectuals to the existence of this mysterious people, as well as to a number of their peculiar features, customs and rites, more or less fundamental researches on the Yezidi history and religion only started appearing from the 1970s. The close character of this esoteric community and difficulties in interpreting its religious lore – the primary source for the study of the tradition – still remain serious obstacles for scholars of the field. Yet the ongoing publication and translation of the Yezidi lore, its proper interpretation and commentaries – both by traditional connoisseurs and scholars of Yezidism – have facilitated a gradual understanding of the essence of its complicated religious doctrine. Yezidism is a unique phenomenon, one of the most remarkable illustrations of ethno-religious identity, centred on a religion the Yezidis call Sharfadin (see pp. 29–30). The peculiarities of this religious system are not only limited to its syncretism, some elements of which can be traced in Sufism, a number of extreme Shi‘ite sects, substrate pre-Islamic beliefs, Gnosticism and other related traditions surviving from the ancient world, but they also include specific features solely characteristic of the Yezidi faith which define the belonging of its followers to the Ezdikhana (Ēzdīxāna) − the esoteric community of the Yezidis itself. In this case, when providing characteristics of Yezidism in its current state, it is quite legitimate to speak of the unity of both the Yezidi religious identity and Yezidi ethnicity. Historical analyses of various ethno-religious communities in the Middle East and Central Asia have shown that their development has a clearly expressed vector − the drive for ethnicity.3 The dynamics of the development of ethno-religious communities − from religious identity to ethno-religiousness and, finally, to claims of special ethnicity in the modern context − look to be ix preface emerging as a coping stone, or at the very least a crucial paradigm, for explaining the ethnic vector in the development of any ethno-religious community in the long run. On this reading, the ethno-religious group in its process of establishment and development passes through several stages. First of all, it dissociates itself from its own prior religious surroundings, marking a new “dominant” around which a new syncretic doctrine is being formed. This dominant provides the basic religious specificity of the new community. Then a “closing” of the community takes place: a strict endogamy, indeed, becomes a guarantee of preserving the esoteric religious knowledge inside the community. (To a certain extent, endogamy is also determined by hostile surroundings, when outsiders impute the group with distorted doctrines and heresy.) It is specifically endogamy that distinguishes an ethno-religious community, that is, as distinct from any other esoteric group (mystical order and others) which one could join as a member by passing some ritual of initiation. And it is namely endogamy that defines the ethno-religious and thus, in the final analysis, the ethnic vector of the development of a new community whereby religion still remains the main differentiative indicator. The process of the formation of the Yezidis as a separate ethno-religious group took place in the period from the eleventh to the fourteenth century in the region of Sinjar in northern Iraq. The religious dissociation of the Yezidis from the local milieu took place in the very colourful religious scenery of Mesopotamia where different ideas of Islam and Christianity were interlaced with Gnostic ideas and local folk beliefs. In the tightly loyal surrounding of the Sufi ‛Adawīyya order, which became the core of a new community, there arose and developed a fundamentally new syncretic religious doctrine, and one curiously lacking a common dogma in the strict understanding of the term. By preserving a number of elements of mystical Islam, the Yezidis inhaled different and sometimes contradictory elements of many other religious streams in the region they inhabited. They were nourished by various marginal ideas found in their “fertile heretical” surroundings, distant from centres of orthodoxy. Some elements of Yezidism, however, are extremely specific, even unique in the whole new Iranian expanse, so that it becomes impossible to find echoes of them in other doctrines (even if typological parallels are commonly available). These peculiarities turn out, in fact, to be fundamental for Yezidi religious ideology, and have emerged as main indicators of their selfconsciousness, defining the Yezidis and the conceptions of Yezidism as they are in an assortment of shibboleths
E. S. Drower - The Book Of The Zodiac
https://archive.org/details/e.-s.-drower-the-book-of-the-zodiac/page/n1/mode/2up
FROM THE PREFACE
Like most of the longer Mandaic manuscripts, the Book of the
zodiac is a miscellany, a group of manuscripts of varying source and
date, the main subjects being astrology and omens. At every new
year Mandaean priests meet together and peruse its pages carefully
in an endeavour to pierce the veils of the near future for themselves
md the community. In thus doing they carry on traditions of the
cowtry, for in ancient Babylon on the eighth and eleventh days of
the New Year Festival, ceremonies to “ fix the fates ” of the coming
year took place in a part of the Nebo-temple.1 In times of personal
or national crisis, too, recourse was had to priest-astrologers and omen
readers, and 80 when during recent years Mandaean priests turned
anxiously the pages of the Book of the Zodiac they were following the
example of those who lived on the same soil thousands of years ago
and, in days of stress and war, hoped to and in the stars a promise
of peace and better times.
In form, the Sfar Malwdia is a kurasa, that is, a set of unbound
pages kept within a pair of stiff covers. The last word of a page is
repeated at the beginning of the first line of the next. My own
manuscript was completed by the copyist in the year 1247 A.H. A copy of
earlier date, 1212 A.H., in the Bibliotheque Nationale in Paris (library
reference number C.S. 26) was micro photographed for me ; and later
on, in Baghdad, J was able to make a word-for-word comparison with
a third copy dated 1350 A.H., lent me for the purpose by a Mandean
priest. Reference to these three MSS. is made respectively under
“ D.C. 31 ” (my own), “ C.S. 26 ” (the Paris MSS.), and “ A ” (the
priest’s copy). Access to German libraries was, unfortunately, impossible.
My translation, therefore, is based on three copies. All three have
mistakes, miscopyings, and omissions, but they are not of importance
and in most cases it is possible to correct by comparison. Trifling
differences are only noted when they may affect sense or construction.
The nucleus around which the fragments were originally assembled
k, most probably, the last segment. It is racy in style and rich in
idiom.
Ethel Stefana Drower née Stevens (1 December 1879 – 27 January 1972) was a British cultural anthropologist who studied the Middle East and its cultures. She was considered the primary specialist on the Mandaeans, and the chief collector of Mandaean manuscripts.
She was a daughter of a clergyman. In 1906 she was working for Curtis Brown, a London literary agency when she signed Arthur Ransome to write Bohemia in London.
In 1911, she married Edwin Drower and after his knighthood became Lady Drower. As E. S. Stevens, she wrote a series of romantic novels for Mills & Boon and other publishers. In 1921, she accompanied her husband to Iraq where Sir Edwin Drower was adviser to the Justice Minister from 1921 to 1946. Her works include The Canonical Prayerbook of the Mandaeans (a translation of the Qolusta); The Secret Adam (Mandaeans); and The Peacock Angel (about the Yezidis). Among her grandchildren was the campaigning journalist Roly Drower.
The Mandaeans of Iraq and Iran: Their Cults, Customs, Magic Legends, and Folklore
by E. S. Drower (Author)
Publication date 1937
Topics Mandaeans, Gnosticism
Collection opensource
Language English
No anthropologist has conducted fieldwork among the Mandaeans, not even in recent decades and therefore Drower remains a singular figure. Scholars, students, and aficionados regard her book as the work that brings the people alive.
https://archive.org/details/themandaeansofiraqandirantheircultscustomsmagiclegendsandfolklore/page/n143/mode/2up
Ethel Stefana Drower née Stevens December 1879 – 27 January 1972) was a British cultural anthropologist who studied the Middle East and its cultures. She was considered the primary specialist on the Mandaeans, and the chief collector of Mandaean manuscripts.
by E. S. Drower (Author)
Publication date 1937
Topics Mandaeans, Gnosticism
Collection opensource
Language English
No anthropologist has conducted fieldwork among the Mandaeans, not even in recent decades and therefore Drower remains a singular figure. Scholars, students, and aficionados regard her book as the work that brings the people alive.
https://archive.org/details/themandaeansofiraqandirantheircultscustomsmagiclegendsandfolklore/page/n143/mode/2up
Ethel Stefana Drower née Stevens December 1879 – 27 January 1972) was a British cultural anthropologist who studied the Middle East and its cultures. She was considered the primary specialist on the Mandaeans, and the chief collector of Mandaean manuscripts.
She was a daughter of a clergyman. In 1906 she was working for Curtis Brown, a London literary agency when she signed Arthur Ransome to write Bohemia in London.
In 1911, she married Edwin Drower and after his knighthood became Lady Drower. As E. S. Stevens, she wrote a series of romantic novels for Mills & Boon and other publishers. In 1921, she accompanied her husband to Iraq where Sir Edwin Drower was adviser to the Justice Minister from 1921 to 1946. Her works include The Canonical Prayerbook of the Mandaeans (a translation of the Qolusta); The Secret Adam (Mandaeans); and The Peacock Angel (about the Yezidis). Among her grandchildren was the campaigning journalist Roly Drower.
E. S. Drower - Diwan Abatur. Progress Through The Purgatories
Ethel Stefana Drower née Stevens December 1879 – 27 January 1972) was a British cultural anthropologist who studied the Middle East and its cultures. She was considered the primary specialist on the Mandaeans, and the chief collector of Mandaean manuscripts.
Ethel Stefana Drower née Stevens December 1879 – 27 January 1972) was a British cultural anthropologist who studied the Middle East and its cultures. She was considered the primary specialist on the Mandaeans, and the chief collector of Mandaean manuscripts.
She was a daughter of a clergyman. In 1906 she was working for Curtis Brown, a London literary agency when she signed Arthur Ransome to write Bohemia in London.
In 1911, she married Edwin Drower and after his knighthood became Lady Drower. As E. S. Stevens, she wrote a series of romantic novels for Mills & Boon and other publishers. In 1921, she accompanied her husband to Iraq where Sir Edwin Drower was adviser to the Justice Minister from 1921 to 1946. Her works include The Canonical Prayerbook of the Mandaeans (a translation of the Qolusta); The Secret Adam (Mandaeans); and The Peacock Angel (about the Yezidis). Among her grandchildren was the campaigning journalist Roly Drower.
PUBLISHED BY THE VATICAN PRESS 1960
PUBLISHED BY THE VATICAN PRESS 1960
PREFACE
In the year 1622
a Carmelite father, B. P. Ignatius, was dispatched by the Propaganda in Borne to the Nestorians of Mesopotamia,
whilst in Basrah, he met with members of
a sect who, as is their
custom when’dealing with Christians, told him that their prophet
was St. John the Baptist. Prom them he obtained
a roll illustrated
by curious drawings of beings which they described as angels or
demons. On his return to Borne Ignatius published
a treatise in
Latin about this interesting group of heretics
1 whose ceremonies were
at once like and unlike those of Oriental Christians, and whose creed
was so strangely perverted and pagan.
-
The roll found its way into the Museo Borgiano in Borne where
Julius Euting saw it in 1879
2
. Euting was deeply, interested and
persuaded
a friend, Dr. B. Pfdrtner, to photograph the manuscript.
This photograph was published in Strasbourg in 1904, under the title
“Mandaischer Diwan nach photographischer Aufnahme, von Dr.
B. Pfoertner mitgeteilt yon Julius Euting It.was not translated.
Early in my dealings with Mandaean priests in the marshes of
Lower ‘Iraq
I was shown
a copy of the Diwan Abatur and after long
negotiations, it was arranged that
I should have the toll that
I had
seen after its owner had copied it for himself. The copy was.made with
plrill and care and the original sent to me. Judging by the paper
and other indications, my roll, D.C. 8,of my collection, is a]bout the
same date as the manuscript taken to Borne by Ignatius. If either
the Borgian manuscript nor mine is dated, although each has
a long
list of copyists, showing that the text was an ancient one. , A considerable part of the beginning is missing from the Boman roll, but
I
have been able to compare the remainder of the Borgian manuscript
with my own.
I discovered no other copy of the text in ‘Iraq, although, of course, other priests may have concealed possession of a copy since, in spite of the inferior and -childish quality of the com¬
position and mistakes due to constant recopying, it is looked upon
as
a precious and holy book.
v
The illustrations, archaic and suggestive of
a Sub^st form of art, are identical in both manuscripts. The Subba are clever artists and
craftsmen, but tradition dictates that, representation of celestial
and infernal beings must follow a certain pattern. Drawings like
these in the Diwan Abatur are found in the ritual rolls, so that we
have here no childish inability to portray a subject, but deliberate
convention of a very individual'order. A Subbi smith who drew naturalistic pictures for engraving on his silverwork, when asked by
me to draw pictures of some celestial beings, produced similar 0(j^
geometrical-looking designs. ‘
In the following pages I have translated the word mafarta as purgatory ” instead of the literal “ place of detention ” or, as Lidzbarski
translates “ Wachthaus ”. Since the mafarata are places where the
sinful and impure are purged by punishment of sin and uncleanness,
they are undoubtedly “ purgatories ”. The idea that the soul must
pass through seven planetary spheres after death, shedding in its
progress impure and earthly qualities connected astrologically with
each of the seven planets, is familiar to the reader of Gnostic literature. In this Mandaean text, however, the rulers of the mafarata
are not all planetary spirits. The planets Saturn, Jupiter, Mars,
Mercury, Yenus, Moon and Sun have their mafarata, but so have
V purely Mandaean beings such as Ptahil and his sons Bihram, Anufi,
Hibil, Ginziel or Kanziel, Nbat, and Sitil; and the saviour-spirit,
the personified Sunday. - - i
The Puntanmcal nature of Mandaean religion, to which music,
dancing, ornaments and coloured clothing are abhorrent, is evident
throughout, and ancient tabus about women are reflected in heavy
penalties for sexual impurity, witting or unwitting. Such rigid rules
have helped, no doubt, to preserve the health and vigour of the race.
Part of the text is one of many creation myths found in Mandaean literature. Through it, as in similar creation stories in the Ginza
Rabba and DraSa d Yahia, runs a theme of discord amongst primeval spirits of creation; of jealousy, rebellion and pride eventually
quenched and reconciled by divine wisdom.
I gave a summary of D. 0. 8 in the first number of the Journal
of the British School of Archaeology in ‘Iraq, but this is the first time
that the complete text is published and translated. Finally, T have
'made little attempt to interpret what is seemingly unintelligible and
probably corrupt, and I doubt whether this is possible. This applies
particularly to the- descriptions of the’ drawings. A guess at any¬
thing but the literal translation would be an unwarrantable liberty.
Drower, E. S. - The Secret Adam. A Study Of Nasoraean Gnosis
INTRODUCTION
BY the rivers of ‘Iraq and especially in the alluvial land of AlKhaur
where the Tigris and Euphrates squander their waters in
the marshes, meeting and mating at Qurnah before they flow
into the Persian Gulf, and in the lowland of Persia along the
Karun, which like its two sister rivers empties into the Gulf,
there still dwells the remnant of a handsome people who call
themselves Munduiiu, Mandaeans (‘gnostics’), and speak a
dialect of Aramaic. When the armies of Islam vanquished the
Sassanids they were already there and in such numbers that the
Qur’Hngrantedthem protection as ‘people of a book’, calling them
‘Sabaeans’. To that name they still cling, both in its literary form
and as the vernacular q-Subbu, for it ensures their existence
as a tolerated community. The word (from SB’, Syriac ua )
means ‘submergers’ and refers to their baptism (mqhtu) and
frequent self-immersion. In the ninth book of his Fihrist ul-
‘ulzim, Al-Nadim, who wrote in the tenth century, calls them
ul-Mu&tasiluh, ‘the self-ablutionists’.
I chose none of these names when writing of them in this book
for, though this may appear paradoxical, those amongst the
community who possess secret knowledge are called Nqruiiu
Nqoraeans (or, if the heavy ‘s’ is written as ‘z’, Nazorenes).
At the same time the ignorant or semi-ignorant laity are called
‘Mandaeans’, Mmduiia-‘gnostics’. When a man becomes a
priest he leaves ‘Mandaeanism’ and enters tumidutu, ‘priesthood‘.
Even then he has not attained to true enlightenment, for
this, called ‘Neirutha’, is reserved for a very few. Those possessed
of its secrets may call themselves Nasoraeans, and ‘Nqomean’
today indicates not only one who observes strictly all
rules of ritual purity, but one who understands the secret doctrine.
When the head priests of the community learned some years
ago that two of their number had permitted certain scrolls to
pass into my possession they showed resentment and anger.
These scrolls, they said, contained ‘secrets’, knowledge
imparted only to priests at ordination and never to laymen
or to outsiders. Their attitude is understandable. When I
was advanced enough in their language to read these documents,
I found at intervals stern insistence on secrecy. Only ‘one in a thousand
and in two thousand two’ would be found worthy of initiation
into certain mysteries and any initiate who permitted them to
become public was doomed to punishment in this world and
the next.
INTRODUCTION
BY the rivers of ‘Iraq and especially in the alluvial land of AlKhaur
where the Tigris and Euphrates squander their waters in
the marshes, meeting and mating at Qurnah before they flow
into the Persian Gulf, and in the lowland of Persia along the
Karun, which like its two sister rivers empties into the Gulf,
there still dwells the remnant of a handsome people who call
themselves Munduiiu, Mandaeans (‘gnostics’), and speak a
dialect of Aramaic. When the armies of Islam vanquished the
Sassanids they were already there and in such numbers that the
Qur’Hngrantedthem protection as ‘people of a book’, calling them
‘Sabaeans’. To that name they still cling, both in its literary form
and as the vernacular q-Subbu, for it ensures their existence
as a tolerated community. The word (from SB’, Syriac ua )
means ‘submergers’ and refers to their baptism (mqhtu) and
frequent self-immersion. In the ninth book of his Fihrist ul-
‘ulzim, Al-Nadim, who wrote in the tenth century, calls them
ul-Mu&tasiluh, ‘the self-ablutionists’.
I chose none of these names when writing of them in this book
for, though this may appear paradoxical, those amongst the
community who possess secret knowledge are called Nqruiiu
Nqoraeans (or, if the heavy ‘s’ is written as ‘z’, Nazorenes).
At the same time the ignorant or semi-ignorant laity are called
‘Mandaeans’, Mmduiia-‘gnostics’. When a man becomes a
priest he leaves ‘Mandaeanism’ and enters tumidutu, ‘priesthood‘.
Even then he has not attained to true enlightenment, for
this, called ‘Neirutha’, is reserved for a very few. Those possessed
of its secrets may call themselves Nasoraeans, and ‘Nqomean’
today indicates not only one who observes strictly all
rules of ritual purity, but one who understands the secret doctrine.
When the head priests of the community learned some years
ago that two of their number had permitted certain scrolls to
pass into my possession they showed resentment and anger.
These scrolls, they said, contained ‘secrets’, knowledge
imparted only to priests at ordination and never to laymen
or to outsiders. Their attitude is understandable. When I
was advanced enough in their language to read these documents,
I found at intervals stern insistence on secrecy. Only ‘one in a thousand
and in two thousand two’ would be found worthy of initiation
into certain mysteries and any initiate who permitted them to
become public was doomed to punishment in this world and
the next.
Tiny Curly-Haired Baby Gorilla Shares Incredible Moment With Photographer
The adorable baby gorilla seemed fascinated by humans.
FOR MORE PHOTOS GO TO THE ORIGINAL ARTICLE HERE
(TMU) — It must be surreal when a lifelong dream becomes reality and the moment is captured on film forever. Wildlife photographer Kirsty Taylor had her dream fulfilled when she shared an unbelievable moment with a gorilla mom and her tiny, adorable curly-haired baby in Rwanda.
As a little girl, Kirsty learned about mountain gorillas in an animal encyclopedia and watched them roam in an animated Tarzan film. She was enthralled by the beautiful animals and dreamed of one day seeing them in the wild.
Her choice of career as a photographer put her on the right path to realize her dream and she was fortunate to visit the Volcanoes National Park in Rwanda, which includes the Virunga Mountains, a range of extinct volcanoes that border the Democratic Republic of Congo, Rwanda and Uganda and home to a small population of Mountain Gorilla. Sure enough, Kirsty spotted some gorillas just over the Rwandan border.
A tiny, three-week old baby was being held in the arms of a female gorilla. As the group Kirsty was traveling with stopped to watch, the baby popped its head up to see what was happening.
According to Kirsty, the baby—with a shock of curly fur around its head—seemed fascinated by the humans. Kristy managed to capture her once in a lifetime, perfect shot of a loving mom and her curious baby, who happened to be looking straight at her camera.
Kirsty commented on the moment, saying: ‘’We only had a few minutes with the little family as we were on our way back down the mountain after our hour’s viewing was up, and were lucky to see them!
‘’I love the eye contact and the expression on the little baby’s face, looking at us like he’s not seen many humans before – and of course the cute curly hair!
‘’The pictures show the baby’s curly hair-do and how small and vulnerable he is compared to the adults.’’
Judging from Kirsty’s excitement of having finally seen mountain gorillas in the wild, I reckon she’ll be back for more.
According to the WWF’s website, the area Kirsten visited is the natural habitat of the smallest population of mountain gorillas in the world. Just over half of them live in the Virunga Mountains and the remainder in the Bwindi Impenetrable National Park in Uganda.
This mountain gorilla subspecies was first discovered in 1902 and had since suffered through years of war, hunting, habitat destruction and disease. The threat to their survival was so severe that it was thought they may be extinct by the end of the twentieth century. Due to conservation efforts both populations of mountain gorillas have increased despite ongoing civil conflict, poaching and loss of their natural habitat from an encroaching human population.
The bleak outlook for the subspecies just a couple of decades ago has improved in recent years. Despite ongoing civil conflict, poaching and an ever encroaching human population, both populations of the mountain gorillas have increased in numbers. The Virunga Massif population has grown from 480 in 2010 to 604 individuals, making a total population of 1,000 gorillas left in the wild, globally, with their status listed as endangered.
By Jade Small | Creative Commons | TheMindUnleashed.com
The adorable baby gorilla seemed fascinated by humans.
FOR MORE PHOTOS GO TO THE ORIGINAL ARTICLE HERE
(TMU) — It must be surreal when a lifelong dream becomes reality and the moment is captured on film forever. Wildlife photographer Kirsty Taylor had her dream fulfilled when she shared an unbelievable moment with a gorilla mom and her tiny, adorable curly-haired baby in Rwanda.
As a little girl, Kirsty learned about mountain gorillas in an animal encyclopedia and watched them roam in an animated Tarzan film. She was enthralled by the beautiful animals and dreamed of one day seeing them in the wild.
Her choice of career as a photographer put her on the right path to realize her dream and she was fortunate to visit the Volcanoes National Park in Rwanda, which includes the Virunga Mountains, a range of extinct volcanoes that border the Democratic Republic of Congo, Rwanda and Uganda and home to a small population of Mountain Gorilla. Sure enough, Kirsty spotted some gorillas just over the Rwandan border.
A tiny, three-week old baby was being held in the arms of a female gorilla. As the group Kirsty was traveling with stopped to watch, the baby popped its head up to see what was happening.
According to Kirsty, the baby—with a shock of curly fur around its head—seemed fascinated by the humans. Kristy managed to capture her once in a lifetime, perfect shot of a loving mom and her curious baby, who happened to be looking straight at her camera.
Kirsty commented on the moment, saying: ‘’We only had a few minutes with the little family as we were on our way back down the mountain after our hour’s viewing was up, and were lucky to see them!
‘’I love the eye contact and the expression on the little baby’s face, looking at us like he’s not seen many humans before – and of course the cute curly hair!
‘’The pictures show the baby’s curly hair-do and how small and vulnerable he is compared to the adults.’’
Judging from Kirsty’s excitement of having finally seen mountain gorillas in the wild, I reckon she’ll be back for more.
According to the WWF’s website, the area Kirsten visited is the natural habitat of the smallest population of mountain gorillas in the world. Just over half of them live in the Virunga Mountains and the remainder in the Bwindi Impenetrable National Park in Uganda.
This mountain gorilla subspecies was first discovered in 1902 and had since suffered through years of war, hunting, habitat destruction and disease. The threat to their survival was so severe that it was thought they may be extinct by the end of the twentieth century. Due to conservation efforts both populations of mountain gorillas have increased despite ongoing civil conflict, poaching and loss of their natural habitat from an encroaching human population.
The bleak outlook for the subspecies just a couple of decades ago has improved in recent years. Despite ongoing civil conflict, poaching and an ever encroaching human population, both populations of the mountain gorillas have increased in numbers. The Virunga Massif population has grown from 480 in 2010 to 604 individuals, making a total population of 1,000 gorillas left in the wild, globally, with their status listed as endangered.
By Jade Small | Creative Commons | TheMindUnleashed.com
Thousands of ‘Final Fantasy’ Gamers Hold Virtual Funeral for Player Who Died of COVID-19
Some players recorded the event and the scene looks both surreal and poignant.
(TMU) — There is no shortage of opinions and articles regarding the value and potential of MMORPG gaming communities, ranging from toxic misogyny to empowerment and even as a tool for revolutionary anti-censorship journalism.
Some players recorded the event and the scene looks both surreal and poignant.
(TMU) — There is no shortage of opinions and articles regarding the value and potential of MMORPG gaming communities, ranging from toxic misogyny to empowerment and even as a tool for revolutionary anti-censorship journalism.
One thing that is fairly well agreed upon is that players in online gaming communities develop profound relationships with their fellow gamers that are, in many ways, just as strong as “in-real-life” relationships. The latest example of this ties into the devastating COVID-19 pandemic, revealing the depth of solidarity among RPG gamers.
A Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn gamer, known on the game’s Zalera server as Ferne Le’roy, contracted the novel coronavirus in early April and died soon after from complications related to COVID-19. Though few, if any, of the gamers had met in person, they were a close-knit community, known in game parlance as a Free Company (FC).
The FFXIV: Zalera Facebook group of 3,000 members organized an in-game virtual avatar funeral march to honor Ferne Le’roy. As news of the gesture spread to other communities of Final Fantasy XIV’s 18 million registered users.
Though they’d never met in-person, organizer Leafelda Moonchild had a strong loving friendship with Ferne Le’roy.
“We had never met in person as we lived in different states,” Moonchild reflects. “But we had talked in-game and over Discord. She was one of my [FC] officers and a great friend. She didn’t really like to do endgame things almost at all but loved to help people … Ferne was a great player, and if she even thought you were not doing okay in real life, she would find a way in-game to at the very least bring a smile to your face.”
Moonchild admits she didn’t expect many players if anyone to show up for the virtual march. So she was shocked when on April 11th thousands of character avatars materialized at the approximately same time, donning black funereal garments and umbrellas, and participated in the tribute.
Roke Leonas, a FFXIV: Zalera Facebook group moderator and event co-organizer, was also shocked:
“I didn’t know them. I wasn’t even in their Free Company,” Leonas said. “When the leader posted about it asking people to come, we made the event page for it to help them. The least we could do to get the word out… Gamers take a lot of grief, but for a lot of people, that’s what community looks like. We didn’t have to know them to show our support for a player that was tragically taken and to help FC mourn in their own way.”
Some players recorded the event and the scene looks both surreal and poignant.
While there have been large in-game vigils for lost gamers before, the scale of this virtual funeral march puts it in a different category. As COVID-19 continues to claim lives, communities around the world—both in-game and in-real-life—are likely to continue finding unique ways of honoring the dearly departed.
By Jake Anderson | Creative Commons | TheMindUnleashed.com
A Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn gamer, known on the game’s Zalera server as Ferne Le’roy, contracted the novel coronavirus in early April and died soon after from complications related to COVID-19. Though few, if any, of the gamers had met in person, they were a close-knit community, known in game parlance as a Free Company (FC).
The FFXIV: Zalera Facebook group of 3,000 members organized an in-game virtual avatar funeral march to honor Ferne Le’roy. As news of the gesture spread to other communities of Final Fantasy XIV’s 18 million registered users.
Though they’d never met in-person, organizer Leafelda Moonchild had a strong loving friendship with Ferne Le’roy.
“We had never met in person as we lived in different states,” Moonchild reflects. “But we had talked in-game and over Discord. She was one of my [FC] officers and a great friend. She didn’t really like to do endgame things almost at all but loved to help people … Ferne was a great player, and if she even thought you were not doing okay in real life, she would find a way in-game to at the very least bring a smile to your face.”
Moonchild admits she didn’t expect many players if anyone to show up for the virtual march. So she was shocked when on April 11th thousands of character avatars materialized at the approximately same time, donning black funereal garments and umbrellas, and participated in the tribute.
Roke Leonas, a FFXIV: Zalera Facebook group moderator and event co-organizer, was also shocked:
“I didn’t know them. I wasn’t even in their Free Company,” Leonas said. “When the leader posted about it asking people to come, we made the event page for it to help them. The least we could do to get the word out… Gamers take a lot of grief, but for a lot of people, that’s what community looks like. We didn’t have to know them to show our support for a player that was tragically taken and to help FC mourn in their own way.”
Some players recorded the event and the scene looks both surreal and poignant.
While there have been large in-game vigils for lost gamers before, the scale of this virtual funeral march puts it in a different category. As COVID-19 continues to claim lives, communities around the world—both in-game and in-real-life—are likely to continue finding unique ways of honoring the dearly departed.
By Jake Anderson | Creative Commons | TheMindUnleashed.com
NYC Poison Control Center Sees Spike In Calls Following Trump’s “Disinfectant” Remarks
Despite warnings from Lysol and health officials, poison control centers saw a spike in activity in the days following the president's remarks.
(TMU) — This week, everyone has been talking about comments made by US President Donald Trump at one of his regular coronavirus press briefings.
During the press conference, Trump tried his best to describe a variety of experimental treatments that he wants his administration to explore, but his descriptions of the potential treatments were extremely clumsy and gave the impression to many people that common “disinfectants” could be ingested or injected to cure the coronavirus.
He also made a quick remark about how UV light could kill the virus, and while there is a legitimate scientific basis for this claim, it was once again represented by the president in a very clumsy way, in his typical style of unscripted “hot takes.”
Of course, Trump’s supporters have rushed to his defense, insisting that his comments were misconstrued by the media, reaching to point out a variety of different alternative treatments that might align with his comments. However, he did not mention any of these treatments by name, and did not give any specifics about the actual research, and instead used vague terms like “disinfectant,” which has a very specific colloquial meaning for most Americans.
Hi, ER Doc here.
Do NOT inject or consume ANY disinfectants in an attempt to kill COVID19.
— Sam Ghali, M.D. (@EM_RESUS) April 23, 2020
Do NOT inject or consume ANY disinfectants in an attempt to kill COVID19.
— Sam Ghali, M.D. (@EM_RESUS) April 23, 2020
During the press conference, Trump’s exact words were:
“And then I see the disinfectant, where it knocks it out in a minute. One minute. And is there a way we can do something like that, by injection inside or almost a cleaning? Because you see it gets in the lungs and it does a tremendous number on the lungs. So it would be interesting to check that. So, that, you’re going to have to use medical doctors with. But it sounds, it sounds interesting to me.”
When he was later questioned about his comments following the backlash, Trump said that he was just being sarcastic, and playing games with the media.
“I was asking a question sarcastically to reporters like you just to see what would happen,” Trump said.
While his supporters insist that his message were clear, it appears that some people took his comments literally, and trusted his advice enough to ingest dangerous amounts of household cleaners.
Please don't eat tide pods or inject yourself with any kind of disinfectant.
If you do need help with #COVID19 issues, we have lots of resources at https://t.co/C4x8jjWL0x
Just don't make a bad situation worse.
— WA Emergency Management (@waEMD) April 23, 2020
“And then I see the disinfectant, where it knocks it out in a minute. One minute. And is there a way we can do something like that, by injection inside or almost a cleaning? Because you see it gets in the lungs and it does a tremendous number on the lungs. So it would be interesting to check that. So, that, you’re going to have to use medical doctors with. But it sounds, it sounds interesting to me.”
When he was later questioned about his comments following the backlash, Trump said that he was just being sarcastic, and playing games with the media.
“I was asking a question sarcastically to reporters like you just to see what would happen,” Trump said.
While his supporters insist that his message were clear, it appears that some people took his comments literally, and trusted his advice enough to ingest dangerous amounts of household cleaners.
Please don't eat tide pods or inject yourself with any kind of disinfectant.
If you do need help with #COVID19 issues, we have lots of resources at https://t.co/C4x8jjWL0x
Just don't make a bad situation worse.
— WA Emergency Management (@waEMD) April 23, 2020
Despite warnings from local health departments, and an announcement from Lysol telling its customers not to drink or inject bleach, poison control centers around the country saw a spike in activity in the days following the president’s remarks.
Reminder: Lysol disinfectant and hygiene products should only be used as directed and in line with usage guidelines pic.twitter.com/yPVhvINxbU
— Lysol (@Lysol) April 24, 2020
According to an NBC affiliate in New York City, the city had 30 exposure calls in the hours after the president’s press conference, nine of those calls were specifically about Lysol, ten were about bleach and 11 were about other household cleaners. This is reportedly more than double the number that the center recorded this time last year, where only 13 calls happened in that same period, only 2 involving bleach, and none including Lysol. Luckily, none of the calls this week resulted in death or hospitalization.
Some of this increase from last year can be attributed to the fact that more people are at home and dealing with cleaners. Even before Trump’s comments, poison control centers in Kentucky and other areas were reporting higher rates of poison control calls, mostly relating to children. However, poison control centers have had an especially busy week following the president’s remarks.
ACLU Files Historic Lawsuit to Stop Surveillance Planes Above Baltimore
"If this wide-area aerial surveillance program is allowed to move forward, we can expect mass surveillance to spread in cities across the country."
(TMU) — The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) has filed a lawsuit in an attempt to stop the city of Baltimore from rolling out a disturbing aerial surveillance program.
The ACLU filed the suit on behalf of a group of Baltimore community activists who have raised concerns about the introduction of a controversial technology known as wide-area aerial surveillance which involves stationing an aircraft equipped with ultra-high-resolution cameras over a city to track all visible pedestrians and vehicles within that city.
The ACLU writes:
“Imagine a day in the future when everyone, from the moment they step outside their home, has to live with the knowledge that their every movement is being recorded by powerful cameras circling in the skies above. Not just where they work, shop, eat and drink, and whose homes they visit, but details about their political, religious, sexual, and medical lives—all captured and stored in databases without a warrant and available to law enforcement upon request.
That day is here.”
The ACLU states in the lawsuit that the program would violate the plaintiffs’ constitutional rights to freedom of association and privacy. The rights group argues that government tracking of everyone in a city would violate the Constitution’s ban on “general warrants,” which authorize searches under broad and vague criteria. The ACLU states that the systems violates the Fourth Amendment prohibition against “unreasonable searches and seizures” and the First Amendment’s guarantees of the right to assemble. The ACLU also notes that the Supreme Court has repeatedly made clear that the courts’ role when interpreting new technology is to protect the “degree of privacy against government that existed when the Fourth Amendment was adopted.”
The wide-area aerial surveillance technology—originally used for monitoring citizens in Iraq and Afghanistan in a program called “Gorgon Stare”—is yet another example of tools from the U.S.-led Global War on Terror making their way to American cities. Coincidentally, the company behind the technology, Persistent Surveillance Systems (PSS), was founded by Ross McNutt, a former colonel in the U.S. Air Force who worked on similar programs in the military. McNutt and PSS are now preparing to roll out the same technology in the skies above Baltimore.
The company has been promoting the technology to local police for years. However, the Baltimore police department is the first to embrace the idea.
The ACLU warns that if McNutt and PSS succeed, the flood gates will be opened and additional companies would likely join the market. This would likely lead to a roll out of even more powerful technologies, including automated AI analysis, multi-spectral imaging, and night vision capabilities, not to mention much higher camera resolutions. The lawsuit also warns that the monitoring program would likely put activists, protesters, and dissidents of all kinds under surveillance.
The plaintiffs in the lawsuit include Leaders of a Beautiful Struggle, a grassroots think-tank that advances the public policy interests of Black people in Baltimore, Erricka Bridgeford, co-founder of the Baltimore Ceasefire 365 project to end gun violence in the city, and Kevin James, a community organizer and hip-hop musician.
This is not the first time surveillance planes have caused controversy in Baltimore. In November 2015, internal documents from the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) revealed the agency flew surveillance planes over Baltimore and Ferguson, MO during highly-publicized protests. The planes also operated thermal imaging equipment. The documents, obtained by the ACLU via Freedom of Information Act requests, outline how the bureau is using planes equipped with infrared and night vision cameras.
The release of the documents came after FBI Director James Comey confirmed to Congress that the agency flew surveillance aircraft over Ferguson and Baltimore during the protests following the police killings of both Michael Brown and Freddie Gray.
According to the FBI’s own flight logs, the agency flew 10 surveillance flights over Baltimore from April 29 to May 3, 2015, comprising a total of 36.2 flight hours. The flights took place mostly at night and typically involved a Baltimore Police Department representative and an FBI agent. Evidence logs show that at least half the flights conducted video surveillance, and the FBI is apparently holding on to copies of these videos. Still other flights conducted “electronic surveillance,” but specific details were redacted.
Additionally, in September 2015, Anti Media reported on the existence of a fleet of surveillance aircraft operated by the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) that has been flying over various locations within the United States, as well as foreign destinations.
The ACLU’s lawsuit is an attempt to stop the expansion of these types of programs over American cities. If they fail and there is no public push back, Americans will soon have to contend with the reality that surveillance drones are watching their every move.
By Derrick Broze | Creative Commons | TheMindUnleashed.com
The ACLU filed the suit on behalf of a group of Baltimore community activists who have raised concerns about the introduction of a controversial technology known as wide-area aerial surveillance which involves stationing an aircraft equipped with ultra-high-resolution cameras over a city to track all visible pedestrians and vehicles within that city.
The ACLU writes:
“Imagine a day in the future when everyone, from the moment they step outside their home, has to live with the knowledge that their every movement is being recorded by powerful cameras circling in the skies above. Not just where they work, shop, eat and drink, and whose homes they visit, but details about their political, religious, sexual, and medical lives—all captured and stored in databases without a warrant and available to law enforcement upon request.
That day is here.”
The ACLU states in the lawsuit that the program would violate the plaintiffs’ constitutional rights to freedom of association and privacy. The rights group argues that government tracking of everyone in a city would violate the Constitution’s ban on “general warrants,” which authorize searches under broad and vague criteria. The ACLU states that the systems violates the Fourth Amendment prohibition against “unreasonable searches and seizures” and the First Amendment’s guarantees of the right to assemble. The ACLU also notes that the Supreme Court has repeatedly made clear that the courts’ role when interpreting new technology is to protect the “degree of privacy against government that existed when the Fourth Amendment was adopted.”
The wide-area aerial surveillance technology—originally used for monitoring citizens in Iraq and Afghanistan in a program called “Gorgon Stare”—is yet another example of tools from the U.S.-led Global War on Terror making their way to American cities. Coincidentally, the company behind the technology, Persistent Surveillance Systems (PSS), was founded by Ross McNutt, a former colonel in the U.S. Air Force who worked on similar programs in the military. McNutt and PSS are now preparing to roll out the same technology in the skies above Baltimore.
The company has been promoting the technology to local police for years. However, the Baltimore police department is the first to embrace the idea.
The ACLU warns that if McNutt and PSS succeed, the flood gates will be opened and additional companies would likely join the market. This would likely lead to a roll out of even more powerful technologies, including automated AI analysis, multi-spectral imaging, and night vision capabilities, not to mention much higher camera resolutions. The lawsuit also warns that the monitoring program would likely put activists, protesters, and dissidents of all kinds under surveillance.
The plaintiffs in the lawsuit include Leaders of a Beautiful Struggle, a grassroots think-tank that advances the public policy interests of Black people in Baltimore, Erricka Bridgeford, co-founder of the Baltimore Ceasefire 365 project to end gun violence in the city, and Kevin James, a community organizer and hip-hop musician.
This is not the first time surveillance planes have caused controversy in Baltimore. In November 2015, internal documents from the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) revealed the agency flew surveillance planes over Baltimore and Ferguson, MO during highly-publicized protests. The planes also operated thermal imaging equipment. The documents, obtained by the ACLU via Freedom of Information Act requests, outline how the bureau is using planes equipped with infrared and night vision cameras.
The release of the documents came after FBI Director James Comey confirmed to Congress that the agency flew surveillance aircraft over Ferguson and Baltimore during the protests following the police killings of both Michael Brown and Freddie Gray.
According to the FBI’s own flight logs, the agency flew 10 surveillance flights over Baltimore from April 29 to May 3, 2015, comprising a total of 36.2 flight hours. The flights took place mostly at night and typically involved a Baltimore Police Department representative and an FBI agent. Evidence logs show that at least half the flights conducted video surveillance, and the FBI is apparently holding on to copies of these videos. Still other flights conducted “electronic surveillance,” but specific details were redacted.
Additionally, in September 2015, Anti Media reported on the existence of a fleet of surveillance aircraft operated by the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) that has been flying over various locations within the United States, as well as foreign destinations.
The ACLU’s lawsuit is an attempt to stop the expansion of these types of programs over American cities. If they fail and there is no public push back, Americans will soon have to contend with the reality that surveillance drones are watching their every move.
By Derrick Broze | Creative Commons | TheMindUnleashed.com
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