The Myth Of The Elephant Festival

Not surprisingly, elephants are known for being more emotional and empathetic animals than the rest. According the three articles, “Elephants Can Lend a Helping Trunk”, “Elephants Know When They Need a Helping Trunk in a Cooperative Task”, and “Elephants Console Each Other” elephants understand when they need each other’s assistance. All two authors describe the studies of elephant behavior differently, but with a similar purpose.

In “Shooting an Elephant,” Orwell retold an occasion where he was struggling to come to a final decision of whether to shoot the elephant or not. With his final decision, the elephant finally lay dying in front of thousands of people. He said that he was forced to shoot it because the Burmese people were expecting him to do that. In addition, he also explained that he had to do it “to avoid looking like a fool” in front of the crowd (14). At first glance, one would think that it makes sense for him to kill the elephant to save his face, but that was not the case. He effectively uses this incident to demonstrate the “real nature of imperialism” (3), whereas the elephant represents the British Empire.

A celebration of Beltane ritual of life symbolically a chalice and athame (the Goddess and the God). The athame is inserted in the chalice (God into the Goddess). The Great Rite ritual that was created by and for farmers asking for a blessing for the livestock, crops and a good year of harvesting. A positive act and it can just an easily be misunderstood or abused. It has accountability also and needs to be answered for. Drawing of the energy from male and female during a spring festival. When we look at the people of the ancient Pagan religions we see that all the celebrations and rituals surrounded a specific purpose: survival.

When you are a senior in high school, your first few months of school are spent taking standardized test and choosing what colleges you will apply to. The decision of selecting a college that you will spend four consecutive years at furthering your education, and getting ready for the real world, is a decision that takes a lot of thought. When we look into Universities we not only look at them at an academic standpoint, but we also look at what a school has to offer that will make us feel as if we belong there, and that it is somewhere we can call home. A lot of students choose to attend Southern Universities because of all the wonderful things they have to offer, and because of the family orientated vibe that they give off.

     Since Buddhism and Hinduism have different believes they also have different holy days. Moreover, because Hindus worship variety of gods they have a variety of festivals. The three main festivals of Hinduism are: Holi, Divali, and Dasehra. Holi is the most popular festival. This holy day is celebrated each year during February-March to welcome spring. “Holi is dedicated to god Krishna and it was once a fertility ceremony (104).” Throughout the days of Holi, many of the casts and taboo restrictions are set aside and pleasure is emphasized. The second ceremony Divali, celebrated in November, is a festival to welcome a new year. Finally the third festival, the Dasehra, celebrated up to nine days in October, in honor of Durga, a consort of Shiva. On the other hand Buddhism is divided in many ways according to philosophy and geography. The major festivals that are celebrated by most Buddhists are New Year, Buddha’s birthday, the festival of souls, and robe offering. In

The followers for Theravada Buddhism take refuge in the three jewels (which consist of the Buddha, Dharma and the Sangha), they also hold high regard for the teachings of Karma, Samsara and Nirvana. Celebrations are a major aspect for Theravada Buddhists but they only have 3 celebrations annually; Buddha’s birthday, the day Buddha was enlightened and the Luna Quarters (crescent moon, first-quarter moon, gibbous moon, and full moon) it is shunned upon to celebrate occasions other than these because they believe it decreases the value of festivities.

A pilgrimage is a journey for the search of moral or spiritual meaning. After reading the pilgrimage article about the three different people’s pilgrimages, these journeys’ seem to have had a major effect on the travelers’ aspect of religion. Embarking on these journeys’ can teach the followers a whole new side of their religion that they have never seen. The concept behind a pilgrimage to have an experience that recognizes the origin of their religion and comprehend and verify their beliefs. The goal at the end of the pilgrimage is to let go of their individuality and tap into a larger level of their religious community. This journey consists of different sites that have a very meaningful background in their religion. These sites have years of stories that connect to an emotional side of the religion. Different religions like Christianity, Hinduism, and Muslim are strong participators in this life changing experience they call a pilgrimage.

Although many cultures have different say in this sacred ceremony, most have similar ideas.  To many

After carefully reading over Charlotte’s rough draft, I was able to have a clear understanding of the meaning behind the first mass-produced soft drink Moxie, as well as the Moxie Festival which takes place every year in Lisbon, Maine during the month of July. I felt the second paragraph introduces the topic very well because the author goes into great detail behind the creator of Moxie (Dr. Augustin Thompson), and the fact that people travel great distances in order to attend the Moxie Parade. According to the author, “The Moxie Festival is aimed to be an all age festival, but younger kids usually have the most fun.” Another positive element that I wish to point out in this essay is the conversation that occurs between the author and an individual

The Retreat of the Elephants is a book in which the author Mark Elvin presents two large issues: How has the Chinese culture changed in the past four thousand years? And, in what ways did the distinctive characteristics of this ancient civilization effect the process of change?

Book Review: The Myth of Wild Africa: Conservation Without Illusions by Jonathan Adams and Thomas McShane.

If you’re not paying attention, the mind can be a tricky labyrinth. The less you know about it, the more inexplicable and frightening it becomes. For example, why do seemingly benign elephants wreak havoc upon villages? In “An Elephant Crackup,” Charles Siebert explores the aberrant nature of these elephants and correlates them to their traumatizing upbringing, deprived of community and kinship. The biochemistry of the human mind, analyzed in “Love2.0” by Barbara Frederickson, serves as a worthy addendum to Siebert’s conjecture. “Love2.0” explains that the brain, hormones, and nerves work in unison to build emotional fortitude, stimulate oneself, and express positivity resonance. Siebert’s ideas of elephant culture and trans-species psyche can put Frederickson’s theory of emotions into practice. The absence of certain hormones within elephants, provided their fragmented community, can explain their volatile outbreaks. Alternatively, the reinstitution of human parental roles into elephant culture can help reconstruct their broken emotional states of elephants and rebuild their resilience; this healing process can also extend to humans.

* Describe when the ritual takes place. Does it respond to some particular event? It is held at specific time of year? Is it held on a regular basis? Is it performed only when needed?

Elephant has long been known as one of man’s best friends, who have peacefully coexisted along with humanity for thousands of years. However, the relationship between the two is no longer in the equilibrium state. In “An Elephant Crackup?”, Charles Siebert discusses the downfall of the elephants. He gives a depiction of the recent raging and violent acts of the elephants among themselves and toward other species, including humans, and presents an educated and almost unexpected explanation to their behaviors. He says elephants are just like us; they have feelings and now are “suffering from a form of chronic stress, a kind of species-wide trauma”(Siebert 354). The similarity that should be something fascinating is now slowly turning them into the immensely savage beasts before wiping them out of existence. Even when the appearance of the words “stress” and “trauma” looks like a serious case of “anthropocentric conjecture”, it provides a totally new vision, a fresh way of looking at the boiling issue of the disappearance and sadistic acts of elephants specifically and wild animals at large. With the help of two powerful essays: “Great to Watch” by Maggie Nelson and “The Power of Context” of Malcolm Gladwell, the issue of the unusual behaviors of the elephants is thoroughly illuminated and its solution no longer seems to be out of human’s reach.

The book entitled When the Elephants Dance by Tess Uriza Holthe is a fiction novel based in the capital of the Philippines called Manila. The book took place during World War II when the Japanese occupied the Philippines. The book was very interesting as the author, Holthe, made the reader feel as if he/she was experiencing the action. I liked the book because of its great explanation and because it was told in three different perspectives. I did not like the quick transitions into storytelling because I got a little confused while reading.