Archaeology and Human Remains

Quebec artist Marc Seguin paints pictures of destroyed European churches from World War Two. This in itself is not so unusual. What is different about Seguin's paintings is the material he uses in his work - human remains. It all began when a friend offered him the ashes of his mother and Seguin had to decide what he would create from them.
“I had to find the proper thing to say,” he recounts. “It’s the symbolism of using human ashes that’s important here — of life, leaving a trace.”

Over the past two years others have donated the ashes of loved ones to Seguin and he has so far used the remains of seven individuals in his work.

Link to artist's site - Via Toronto Star

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They called it "Lucifer" in a bid to shed light on the Biblical meaning as the Lightbringer. But the negative associations made the publication unpopular and they were forced to realize that it was futile. The first issue of "Lucifer" deals with this subject and explains the rational behind giving the name to the magazine. And sorry, I just double-checked it was Blavatsky and the Theosophical Society who published Lucifer. The article from Vol 1 of Lucifer can be read here: http://www.theosopher.net/dzyan/lucifer/lucifer_v1_n1_september_1887.pdf

"Piously inclined readers may argue that" Lucifer" is accepted by all
the churches as one of the many names of the Devil. According to
Milton's superb fiction, Lucifer is Satan, the "rebellious" angel, the
enemy of God and man. If one analyzes his rebellion, however, it will
be found of no worse nat,ure than an assertion of free-will and independent
thought, as if Lucifer had been born in the XIXth century."
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I ask because hypnosis uses a technique called "Anchoring" which, properly understood, is a utilization of the neuroscientific law known as Hebb's Law/Rule which was developed by the Canadian Psychologist Donald Olding Hebb in his work "The Organization of Behavior" in which he correctly stated "When an axon of cell A is near enough to excite cell B and repeatedly or persistently takes part in firing it, some growth process or metabolic change takes place in one or both cells such that A's efficiency, as one of the cells firing B, is increased" which is often paraphrased "Neurons that fire together wire together." and is, to-date, the only well-known form of neuroplasticity, called Hebbian Plasticity (See wiki; Hebbian Theory).

So what the hypnotist does is create a new association which acts as the "anchor". The most common form is a simple pat on the shoulder. The hypnotist asks you to think of something which brings up the associations they want, then they put their hand on your shoulder briefly. This causes the Axon for Cell A (representing the tactile sensation of being touched ont he shoulder) to undergo a metabolic change, that makes it more likely to cause firing of the Cell B (representing the thing which they got you to think of and it's associated emotions). They do this repeatedly to ensure a good neurological association, then they pat you on the shoulder whenever they want to control your state of mind and bring you back to the way you felt when the association was established.

Neurolinguistic Programming, developed by Richard Bandler, also uses the Anchoring technique and builds on association theory to provide a traversable mental map for the manipulator. They know that "Water" and "Boat" are associated, so if they want you to think about water, they will mention the word "boat" to you, they have techniques like this for evoking thoughts in you as if you thought of them yourself. But that illusion only persists as long as you believe you are in control of yourself and you do not see the associative causes underlying all of your thoughts and behavior. Which most people don't, so they are all very effective tools. Regardless of my superior understanding of these things, I refuse to use those techniques, but I see others doing it and achieving resutls. I'd be more like the early Christian scientists who published the magazine "Lucifer" because of all the negative associations attached to it which rape it of its actual meaning.
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Symbolism yes, but more profoundly; asscoiation. Symbols are mere references to their associations. As in language, the words do not mean anything in and of themselves, but are empty pointers to real meaning which is not contained in language. In that way it is necessary for nations to have flags and "National Emblems" so they can trap all patriotism in their symbolism. Then they can turn around and say "Hey, look at this symbol, now doesn't that make you want to fight for us, erhgm, your nation I mean." See this flag, the Canadian one, it represents Liberty, Justice and Truth. See that flag, the American one, it represents the same thing. Great, now forget about them and get to work. If you want Liberty, Justice or Truth again, just have a look at this flag, you will be instantly filled with those feelings.

Hey, which came first national symbolism or hypnosis and neurolinguistic programming? It kinds of seems like the latter might have been the inspiration for the former.
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I kind of like shopping at the farmers market more. Where each booth is a specialty, they tend to be of the best quality. Supermarkets can survive having a sub-par meat department, or produce section, or bakery. But if you specialize in meat, or baked goods or produce, you can't afford to have poor quality.

I still do most shopping at grocery stores however. Call me a hypocrite.
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I would never call you a hypocrite.

I used to bemoan the fact that there were once 30 or so neighborhood markets in my little town and they are all gone, thanks to four huge supermarkets. Once you could walk to the store, deal with people you knew, and even have groceries delivered.

But then I recall that they all smelled bad, the food expired, they were closed on nights, weekends, and often Wednesday as well, they wouldn't hire anyone they weren't related to, and they didn't care that their customers promised to buy a lot of x product if they would only stock it please. The quality of their food depended on kickbacks and soap-opera relationships with wholesalers and truck drivers. Some would let people charge groceries, then they would charge huge interest rates.

Things change, sometimes for the better, sometimes not.
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I live in a rural town high up in the mountains and we only have a small grocery store. You really have to pay attention to expiration dates.

A favorite trick of a small grocery store is to put a sale tag over an expiration date. Boxed items like crackers and cookies are often way out of date (6 mos. or more sometimes) and people rarely check those like meat and bread.

I prefer to buy local to support my town even if it costs more. But I do not appreciate being sold expired and potentially dangerous food and I often drive 25 miles down the canyon to a supermarket where I know the food is fresh.
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Some grocery stores will buy their produce from local farms. I've gone into Superfresh and seen signs advertising Jersey Fresh, and showing which farms the produce is from. I'll still buy some fruits and veggies from the farmer's market, but it's nice to know I'm supporting the locals regardless.
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My grandfather worked at Safeway back when they sold pickles out of wooden barrels and hard boiled eggs from ceramic containers. Like you get meat, now, at the butcher's counter. Amazing stuff.

I love crunching through places like this in post apocalyptic games. It's cooler, somehow, than more modern places.
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To quote Miss C: "But then I recall that they all smelled bad, the food expired, they were closed on nights, weekends, and often Wednesday as well, they wouldn't hire anyone they weren't related to, and they didn't care that their customers promised to buy a lot of x product if they would only stock it please."

Yep, there was a small neighborhood grocer who turned down the AC in his refrigerated meat case to save money. All the meats were green or gray. Eww.

The successful small grocers around my area tend to specialize, ala Middle Eastern, Indian, Mexican, etc.
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From what I have read the abundance of synthetic fertilizers that came online in the late 40s allowed farmers to produce on a huge scale and supply supermakets across the country.
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