***Warning. this post contains a video that may disturb, showing human sacrifice scene from movie***
Okay let's get into it. To open the session I invite you to recite the following on your own or read along below.
Invocation.
Calling in Mother Earth and Grandmothers Wisdom, as well as the true elementals in their purest forms to help support, guide, assist and help in allowing the pure essence of this plant to come through now in its truest & greatest form. To allow us to learn and clear, walking and sitting with her and in turn allowing her to be free from potential constraints she herself may be under. Together we ask for forgiveness and love, while we too forgive and love. We are thankful and appreciate all her gifts & teachings with any messages that may come forth for us today.
Primary general intents are:
to clear out unnecessary energies within appropriate clearance levels
work with the truest and purest forms of energy essence available
The name derives from the Greek words philo- or "love, affection" and dendron or "tree". The generic name, Philodendron, is often used as the English name, "philodendron"
The sacred flower to the Aztecs is a species of philodedron, specifically Huacalxochitl (Philodedron affine). In Nuhuatl is means 'basket flower' and it was one of the flowers most venerated by the Aztecs.
" a day for creating things that speak truth to the heart"
Cortez
In May 1521, Cortés returned to Tenochtitlán, and after a three-month siege the city fell. This victory marked the fall of the Aztec empire. Cuauhtémoc, Cuitláhuac's successor as emperor, was taken prisoner and later executed, and Cortés became the ruler of a vast Mexican empire.
The Spanish conquest of the Aztec Empire, also known as the Conquest of Mexico or the Spanish-Aztec War (1519–21), was one of the primary events in the Spanish colonization of the Americas.
Cortes children (one of them) doñaLeonor Cortés Moctezuma, born in 1527 or 1528 in Ciudad de Mexico, daughter of Aztec princess Tecuichpotzin (baptized Isabel), born in Tenochtitlan on July 11, 1510, and died on July 9, 1550, the eldest legitimate daughter of Moctezuma II Xocoyotzin (the last Aztec emperor) and wife doña María Miahuaxuchitl; married to Juan de Tolosa, a Basque merchant and miner.
His Early Life (Q. Why did he leave Spain? Note the extensive spread of relations migrating to Central and South Americas).
Cortés was born in 1485 in the town of Medellín, then a village in the Kingdom of Castile, now a municipality of the modern-day province of Badajoz in Extremadura, Spain. His father, Martín Cortés de Monroy, born in 1449 to Rodrigo or Ruy Fernández de Monroy and his wife María Cortés, was an infantry captain of distinguished ancestry but slender means. Hernán's mother was Catalína Pizarro Altamirano.[5]
Through his mother, Hernán was second cousin once removed of Francisco Pizarro, who later conquered the Inca Empire of modern-day Peru, and not to be confused with another Francisco Pizarro, who joined Cortés to conquer the Aztecs. (His maternal grandmother, Leonor Sánchez Pizarro Altamirano, was first cousin of Pizarro's father Gonzalo Pizarro y Rodriguez.)[5] Through his father, Hernán was related to Nicolás de Ovando, the third Governor of Hispaniola. His paternal great-grandfather was Rodrigo de Monroy y Almaraz, 5th Lord of Monroy.
According to his biographer and chaplain, Francisco López de Gómara, Cortés was pale and sickly as a child. At the age of 14, he was sent to study Latin under an uncle in Salamanca. Later historians have misconstrued this personal tutoring as time enrolled at the University of Salamanca.[6]
After two years, Cortés returned home to Medellín, much to the irritation of his parents, who had hoped to see him equipped for a profitable legal career. However, those two years in Salamanca, plus his long period of training and experience as a notary, first in Valladolid and later in Hispaniola, gave him knowledge of the legal codes of Castile that he applied to help justify his unauthorized conquest of Mexico.
At this point in his life, Cortés was described by Gómara as ruthless, haughty, and mischievous.[8] The 16-year-old youth had returned home to feel constrained life in his small provincial town. By this time, news of the exciting discoveries of Christopher Columbus in the New World was streaming back to Spain. {Note. Hmmm CC keeps popping his head up...)
Cortés is commemorated in the scientific name of a subspecies of Mexican lizard, Phrynosoma orbiculare cortezii.
Cortés is a major villain in the 2000 animated movie The Road to El Dorado, voiced by Jim Cummings. NOTE. Gold
Had Cortez cursed the neighbouring Tlaxcala peoples into joining his plight? Or were they already warring with the Aztec? How would that and does that affect future generations?
The Flower Wars
The purpose of the Flower Wars was for warriors to practice and display their combat skills while also allowing them the ability to take prisoners for the purpose of sacrifice. A common participant of the Flower Wars was the Tlaxcala, who were a rival city-state to the Aztec.
To keep Huitzilopochtli appeased, the Aztec warriors had to keep fighting, and so war actually became ritualized. The ritual wars of the Aztec Empire were known as xochiyaoyotl, or flowery wars (often called flower wars). They weren’t fought to conquer an enemy; they were fought simply to fight.
Flower war/Periods 1454 – 1519 Note. Cortez conquest 1519.
A flower war or flowery war (Nahuatl languages: xōchiyāōyōtl, Spanish: guerra florida - florida war?!) was a ritual war fought intermittently between the Aztec Triple Alliance and its enemies from the “mid-1450s to the arrival of the Spaniards in 1519.” Enemies included the city-states of Tlaxcala, Huejotzingo, and Cholula in the …
The English war comes from the French guerre, which in turn comes from the old German verwirren — meaning “to confuse people.”
OR of Germanic origin – from the old word werra – meaning disorder or fight (bellum is the word in Latin for war).
Xochitl, meaning ‘flower’, is the day in the Aztec calendar associated with the goddess Xochiquetzal. Xochiquetzal is the goddess of youth, love, pleasure and beauty. Xochitl is a day for creating things that speak truth to the heart. It is a day to remember that life is short, and to reflect.
A flowery death. Death while taking prisoners for sacrifice. Promised eternity. Also given to women who died in childbirth.
Flower wars were generally less lethal than typical wars, but a long-running flower war could become increasingly deadly over time. For example, in a long-running flower war between the Aztecs and the Chalcas, there were few battle deaths at the start.
NOTE dark flower.
Most of the people sacrificed were not residents of the Aztec’s major cities, rather they were captured in wars, both wars of conquest and wars of the flowers. The Aztec term for wars for captives was Xochiyayoyotl. The Xochiyayoyotl came about after a long famine, from 1450 to 1454. Most of the Spanish conquest of Mexico was actually fought by Amerindian warriors, most notably the Tlaxcalans who joined the Spanish to defeat their longtime rival. The flowery wars not only let Tlaxcala survive being conquered, but kept their warriors in tip-top fighting shape as well. NOTE the infighting between neighbouring factions, let alone distant families.
Mind you, those aztecs were cray cray! Don't watch below if you have a weak stomach!
Back to the philodedrons!
Uses
The resins produced during the flowering of Monstera and Philodendron are known to be used by Trigona bees in the construction of their nests. Indigenous people from South America use the resin from the bees' nests to make their blowguns air- and watertight.
Though they contain calcium oxalate crystals, the berries of some species are eaten by the locals. For example, the sweet white berries of Philodendron bipinnatifidum are known to be used. Additionally, the aerial roots are also used for rope in this particular species.
The leaves of philodendrons are also known to be eaten by Venezuelan red howler monkeys, making up 3.1% of all the leaves they eat.
Also, in the making of a particular recipe for curare by the Amazonian Taiwanos, the leaves and stems of an unknown philodendron species are used. The leaves and stems are mixed with the bark of Vochysia ferruginea and with some parts of a species in the genus Strychnos.
Yet another use of philodendrons is for catching fish. {NOTE. lol that's funny, aren't we just coming out of a pisces FM in one of the astrology lenses).
A tribe in the Colombian Amazon is known to use Philodendron craspedodromum to add poison to the water, temporarily stunning the fish, which rise up to the surface, where they can be easily scooped up. To add the poison to the water, the leaves are cut into pieces and tied together to form bundles, which are allowed to ferment for a few days. The bundles are crushed and added to the water into which the poison will dissipate. Although the toxicity of Philodendron craspedodromum is not fully known, active ingredients in the poisoning of the fish possibly are coumarins formed during the fermentation process.
Some philodendrons are also used for ceremonial purposes. Among the Kubeo tribe, native to Colombia, Philodendron insigne is used by witch doctors to treat ill patients. They use the juice of the spathe to stain their hands red, since many such tribes view the color red as a sign of power.
I absolutely LOVE the leaves on these gorgeous plants! A very cool genus for sure
in Closing the session
Stabilise energies and release all cords. Cleanse your tools.
As we close off we request the graceful stillness of the might gum:
That she teach us how to ground our roots deeply and firmly-
That she show us how to stand tall with strong & clear foundations through our core being-
That our branches continue to stretch & grow in blissful focused expansion reaching for the stars-
That her leaves provide through nourishing green nature energy and, resting shade from the storms.