Author: armidanagyrose

Thoughts Beyond The Armida Trilogy–“Aryan” Nazis

by armidanagyrose

Did you know that the term “Nazi” (short for “Nationalsozialist”) was considered derisory even when the Nazi Party grew out of smaller political groups with a nationalist orientation that formed in the last years of World War I? Truly, and the three novels of the Armida Trilogy did not shy away from making reference to their existence. Their ideology represents, historically, racist ideology and devastation.

The undertaking sprung as early as 1918 as a league called the Freier Arbeiterausschuss für einen guten Frieden (“Free Workers’ Committee for a good Peace”). It was definitely a populist movement that formed when Germany was in great turmoil after four years of World War I. It was an opportunistic event during the period of the German Revolution (1918-1919). The aftermath of this short revolution was followed by a period of instability and violence. The aforementioned league coalesced by 1919 as the Nazi Party, known as the German Workers’ Party and soon thereafter was led by spellbinding Adolf Hitler from 1939 to 1945, using totalitarian methods with an ideology that led to the state-sponsored and systematic murder of up to 17 million Europeans (mostly the “undesirable” Jews, Roma, and Sinti (Slavic) people).

Of those murdered, the Jewish people were in the majority; and there were at least twelve known locations of extermination at which the notable ones were at the German-occupied Soviet Union (1,300,000), Auschwitz (100,000,000), Treblinka (925,000), and Jewish ghettos (800,000).   [Statista.com, 2025.] There were many other people who did not get counted, but it is estimated that, during the war, millions of people deemed to be of lesser import were captured and used as slave laborers. Exploited, a large number died of exhaustion, individual execution, and starvation.  A majority of these deaths were recognized as systemic “crimes against humanity.”  How does this become possible in any era of history? 

The film “Nurenburg” (2025) has recently been released and was based on journalist-historical writer Jack El-Hal’s book The Nazi and the Psychiatrist: Herman Gȫring, Dr. Douglas M. Kelley, and a Fatal Meeting of Minds at the End of WWII. Basically, the book follows Dr. Kelley’s evaluation of top Nazi leaders to determine if they were mentally fit to stand trial and to understand the alluring “Nazi mind” or possible pathological defects to explain their crimes. In summation, the doctor determined that the Nazi mind was distinctly developed to include blind ambition, weak ethical morals, and extreme nationalism. Kelley, nonetheless, during his interviews, was intellectually and psychologically drawn to the outlooks of these 22 charismatic Nazi leaders. What disturbed the doctor mostly was their sense of evil without obvious madness. Though he did not convert to Nazi beliefs, he concluded they were largely sane with a permissive, radicalized political system to uphold their belief system of a master race as Aryans.

(However, it is not hermetically certain that Dr. Kelley died by suicide by ingesting a capsule of potassium cyanide in front of his family or if he was mysteriously murdered by Nazi hunters.  Suggestive but not conclusive especially no one who loves life would admit to have been threatened to admit a different story. We know how conspiracy theories work. Take this with a grain of salt.

(Nein, nein, nein. Bitte, passen Sie auf. Dr. Kelley did have a tragic death. The aforementioned paragraph is just an imaginary episode for the Netflix series, The Hunters, in portraying the aftermath of the ghost of Dr. Kelley in mentally experiencing the trauma of his tribe during WW II. Imagining to avenge in the face of evil is never sweet.)

At any rate, of all the top Nazi leaders, it was Heinrich Himmler who founded the SS Ahnenrbe (“Ancestral Heritage”) to trace and to reconstruct an ancient Aryan past. In fact, during sponsored expeditions to Tibet, he brought back the practice of mindfulness training, which was required of every SS officer to master.  That is one reason SS officers in films are portrayed as removed from any emotional expression. When that failed, his Ahnenerbe teams focused on evidence of prehistoric Nordic-Aryan dominance. Nonetheless, it was Hitler’s beliefs that Germans were the modern descendants of “the superior ancient Aryans of the “Bronze Age” (“Eastern Europe”) and later of Nordic race as the “best” racial stock destined to rule. Afterall, there was Thor, a hammer-wielding god associated with thunder, storms, strength, protection, fertility, farmers, and free people. And then there is the Vedic Indra, the king of the devas and svarga, associated with thunder, lightning, weather, god of order who killed the great evil. Nazi archeology was used to justify and to frame invasions into Eastern Europe, for example, using political, strategic, and economic goals first.

There was never a human race as claimed by the Nazis. Modern Nazis don’t like to be referred to as Nazi; at best, they see themselves as a White Race. However, there is a reason why Caucasian was used as a race albeit an obsolete racial classification of humans with a biological taxonomic group that usually included ancient and modern populations from all or parts of Europe, Western Asia, Central Asia, South Asia, North Africa, and the Horn of Africa. The United States still uses the term to be synonymous for people considered “white” (thus perpetuating bigotry and racism) or of European, Middle Eastern, or North African ancestry.  Nevertheless, biological diversity has advanced during the second half of the 20th century, which is based on genomic and population-based perspective of humans based on phenotype, ancestry, and cultural factors.

The original meaning of the term “Aryan” is mostly cultural or religious and means “civilized” or “noble”.  Shakyamuni Gautama used the term “noble” to define his “noble truths.”  In ancient times, “truth” was a means to understand life and existence through experience and observation (similar to the Buddha’s (“Charter of Inquiry” in italics below). The search for truth was not intended to be a belief system, because a belief system tends to truncate the search for truth. The latter refrains from consider new, valid information.

Charter of Inquiry –  Buddha Shakyamuni’s Other Legacy, This Charter of Inquiry, provided by the Buddha Shakyamuni, is a guideline for thoughtful people on what they need to be aware of when exploring religious and spiritual values and beliefs.  When Buddha Shakyamuni was asked by the Kalama people, “How do we know who is telling us the truth?”, he replied the following:  

Do not accept anything because of–

1/  repeating oral transmission
2/  lineage or tradition
3/  it being written in books such as scriptures
4/  it being widely stated
5/  it being logical and reasonable
6/  it inferring and drawing conclusions
7/  it having been thought out
8/  acceptance and conviction through thinking about a theory                    
9/  the speaker appears consistent
10/ respect for the teacher.

He further added, “Know what things would be censured by the wise and which, if pursued, would lead to harm and suffering.”

MIDDLE BRONZE AGE

Map of the Aryan Persians Acahemenid Empire

Reaching back to the Bronze Age, a group of people emerged speaking an Indo-Iranian language in ancient Iran and in the northern Indian subcontinent. Indo-Aryan people (aka Indic or Vedic peoples) were a diverse collection of people who migrated from Central Asia into the northern Indian subcontinent, mainly residing west of the Indus River and later spreading eastwardly (modern-day Bangladesh, Bhutan, Nida, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka. Another band of Indo-Aryan people migrated further westward and founded the Mitanni kingdom in northern Syria around 1500-1300 BCE. Evidence shows they were connected culturally, linguistically, and historically. Historically, the Aryans were the pastoralists who migrated from Central Asia and eventually horsemen, charioteers, and known as Scythians. Much of their migration was due to the emergence of climatic change that became colder and drier.

They shared cultural norms and language as they began to refer to themselves as arya (“noble”). The Indo-Aryans were united by shared cultural norms and language, referred to as aryā ‘noble’. Over four millennia, the culture evolved particularly inside India itself and eventually conflated with other values and heritages. We have the remnants of hymnal Gathas, Avesta and Rig Veda literature to attest to these Zoroastrian and Vedic heritages, despite genetic variances. The similar languages of the Zoroastrian Avesta and the Vedic Rig Veda, but not identical, indicate that these people were related and neighbors. The Avesta and Rig Veda scriptures are the only known ancient texts that contain references to Aryans, with the Avesta containing a preponderance of references to being Aryan, a concept central to the Avesta and Zoroastrian heritage.

As mentioned earlier, when the Shakyamuni Siddhartha Gautama spoke of the Noble Eightfold Path that is called arya maga in Sanskrit or ariya magga. When he taught the eight Noble Truths, he was indicating that they chose to advance spiritually—the noble ones, the spiritual elite, who obtain this status not from birth, social station, or ecclesiastical authority but from their inward nobility of character—by right view, right intention, right speech, right action, right livelihood. Right effort, right mindfulness, and right concentration.  He recognized that the Brahmin Vedic system was self-righteous and instilled suffering to control the masses. His Noble truth is summed up like this:  The truth (arya) about suffering; the truth on what causes suffering; the truth that suffering can cease in this lifetime; and the truth on how to cause suffering to cease.

Modern scholarship dates the founder of Zoroastrianism, Zarathushtra (aka Zoroaster), between 1500 and 1000 BCE and believed to been born in various parts of “Greater Iran.”  However, it is likely that he came from Bactria or Chorasmia, regions that incorporate the Amu Darya (aka Oxus) river delta in western Central Asia, bordered on the north by the Aral Sea. (This was Saka territories under Darius I.) The land was fertile and known for its cavalry and role as a cultural crossroads, often linked with the “Aryan” people who migrated there, forming powerful kingdoms (similar to the legendary one in the Avesta), which formed a warrior aristocracy known for loyalty and fierce spirit.

In summary, current anthropological-archeological migration is as follows:  “The Proto-Indo-Aryan split off around 1800–1600 BCE from the Iranians, moved south through the Bactria-Margiana Culture, south of the Andronovo culture, borrowing some of their distinctive religious beliefs and practices from the BMAC, and then migrated further south into the Levant and north-western India. The migration of the Indo-Aryans was part of the larger diffusion of Indo-European languages from the Proto-Indo-European homeland at the Pontic–Caspian steppe which started in the 4th millennium BCE. The GGC, Cemetery H, Copper Hoard, OCP, and PGW cultures are candidates for cultures associated with Indo-Aryans.”

It bears repeating:  The Aryan Race was never a race.  Stay tuned, for there is still missing knowledge of how migrations influenced history by various commonalities. In fact, if racism were to be eradicated, there would only be one Homo sapiens sapiens of modern humans.

Ind0-Iranian Migration

The Indo-Iranian Migration

Scheme of Indo-European language dispersals from c. 4000 to 1000 BCE according to the widely held Kurgan hypothesis.

Anonymous recently said, "Beware. The White monsters walk the streets in the United States of America."

Tasso’s GERUSALEMME LIBERATA and “Armida”

by armidanagyrose

Imagine a protagonist named Armida inspired 18 operas entitled “Armida” and their composers, ranging from the 17th to the 21st centuries. Most operas focus on the character of said name while others focus on her relationship with the Crusader knight named Rinaldo. There was even a film and a ballet, not to mention many paintings.

Painting, Rinaldo and Armida by Tiepolo (1755)

There are a few narrative origins in Tasso’s epic poem, and they are the following:

Armida is a Saracen enchantress modeled after mythic figures–Circe from Homer’s The Odyssey and Alcina in Ludovico Aristo’s Orlando Furiosa (The Frenzy of Orlando). The latter was based on an unfinished chivalric romance (Orlando innamorato) by Matteo Maria Bolardo and was published posthumously in 1495, which exerted wide influence in northern Italian culture.

Homer’s enigmatic Circe represents the duality of feminine power and the boundary between civilization and wilderness, blending danger and hospitality as well as seduction and wisdom. As for Aristo’s Alcina, she is the pagan princess who is loved by Orlando, a Christian knight. His unrequited love drives him mad and forgets his original purpose to fight the Saracen army that was invading Europe to overthrow Charlemagne’s Holy Roman empire.

In Tasso’s epic poem, Armida is a Saracen enchantress. Sent to disrupt the Christian crusaders, she infiltrates their camp with seductive magic, turning the knights against each other and even transforming some into animals. Rinaldo, the greatest knight, is abducted by Armida when she finds him sleeping and is smitten instead of slaughtering him. She whisks him away to a magical isle where Rinaldo is bewitched by Armida, forgetting his duties as a crusader against the infidels.

When Rinaldo recognizes his enchanted state with the help of his companions, Carlo and Ubaldo, he is drawn back to the fight.

Painting: The Rose from Armida’s Garden by Marie Spartali Stillman (1894).

She is often depicted in a lush garden.

Devastated by his departure, Armida raises an army to battle the Christian crusaders and to seek vengeance. Once defeated, she attempts suicide but is rescued by Rinaldo who asks her to convert to Christianity. Once she recanted, however, she is burned at the stake as a witch.

In other renditions, Armida is abandoned.

Painting, Renaud abandonnant Armide, Charles Errard (17th century)

These are some of the known composers of various operas Armida and/or Rinaldo:

Claudio Monteverdi (1627), Jean-Baptiste Lully (1686), John Dennis (1698), George Frideric Handel (1711), Antonio Vivaldi (1718), Tommaso Traetta (1761), Niccolo Jommelli (1770), Antonio Salieri (1771), Antonio Sacchini (1772, 1773), Christoph Willibald von Gluck, (1777), Josef Mysllivecek (1780), Joseph Haydn (1783), Giuseppe Sarti (1786), Francesco Bianchi (1802), Gioachino Rossini (1817), Antonin Dvorak (1908), and Judith Weir (2005).

There are three ballets–Armida, Le Paillion d’ Armide, and Rinaldo and Armida; and there is a 10-minute segment in the anthology film Aria that is loosely based on a version of Armide.

The operas named Armida or related to her character were black listed by the Roman Catholic Church in what was vernacularly referred to as the Black List. Officially known as the Index Librorem Prohibitorium, it listed banned books deemed heretical or contrary to Catholic morality since 1559. It was updated annually until Pope Paul VI abolished the end of its enforcement in 1966. Until then, many Armida works were banned!

Last but not least, the name Armida has several claims as to origin. “Little Armed One” is a more current meaning in Italian and in Spanish. However, according to the Wisdom Library, the name has an Old High German origin–Irmhild (Irm means something like “universal” and hild means “battle”). Moreover, the name is associated with the Arabic word “Armid to mean “strong-willed.” As “Ermin,” Armida symbolizes wholeness, completeness, and universality.

Notwithstanding the above paragraph, there is a shared etymology to the terms “army” (English), “armada” (Spanish/Portuguese), “armata” (Medieval Latin), and “armée” (French).  They are derived from ar(e) or h2er, a Proto-Indo-European root that means “to fit together” as in arming or equipping for service or battle. Strangely enough, the Italian word for army is “esercito”. The Latin arma, to mean weapon, appears throughout the Romance family of languages. In Celtic languages, it cognates as arf or arm. In Ancient Greek, it is harmos (fitting together); in Sanskrit, it is irma; in Old Armenian, it is armukn.

Attestation of arma appears in Early Latin inscriptions of the 6th century BCE. In Ancient Greek, harmos appears in Homeric and classic texts. And, in Sanskrit, irma appears in Vedic and classical Sanskrit, relating to the meaning of “limb” and “fitted part” and somewhat like Sanskrit ayudha, which in Spanish translates as “help” or “aid”.  All this leads to the conclusion, linguistically and culturally, that these terms evolved somewhat independently in accord with regional religious, military, and cultural priorities but retained a core concept of fitting, arming, aiding, and weaponry.

But, we still have no idea why Tasso used the name Armida; and yet, it is a befitting name for a she warrior.

Overall, the name embodies themes of strength, femininity, independence, empowerment, and allure, even power is softness, making it a captivating name in various cultures.

Armida is pronounced “ar-MEE-dah.

Book Two – Choir of Cloistered Canaries

by armidanagyrose

A retiring CDC epidemiologist reunites with her estranged mother and is swept from a secretive lab in North Carolina to Rome, where science, mythology, and a surprising papal alliance ignite a transnational fight for environmental justice and moral stewardship.

Choir of Cloistered Canaries – Book Two (2020) is a thought-provoking, multi-layered novel that fuses epidemiology and psychology with ancient symbolism, environmental activism, and mystical exploration – wrapped in an emotionally-grounded take of reconnection, love, and resistance against ethical erosion. It uses the canary as metaphor to champion environmental guardianship and justice for all.

Anyone who is interested environmental justice when science meets spirituality would be attracted to the environmental appeal and intellectual adventure.

Leitis Dennett, a senior CDC epidemiologist about to retire, is called to a secretive laboratory at the North Carolina Research Campus to reconnect with her estranged mother of several decades. As a member of the CDC Rapid Response Team, her visit to her mother is cut short to join the team headed for The Vatican and Rome, Italy.  It is there that a fortuitous relationship with Pope Hormisdas II develops.

It is also at this journey that she meets a medical engineer who joins her to further improvements on public health and to combat environmental degradation, echoing President Eisenhower’s warning in 1961 against unchecked industrialization and over consumption.

The novel resonates with modern concerns—clean air, water, and earth—representing “our song as canaries,” a metaphor for how human signal ecological distress. Leitis blends her epidemiology expertise with her passion for comparative mythology and alchemy, searching for hidden meanings in ancient symbols.

Beyond global stakes and politics, the novel is deeply personal—a mother and daughter healing almost a half-century of separation.

If you are drawn to environmental activism, ethical science, and storytelling where ancient wisdom meets modern dilemmas, this novel delivers.  Even as a human story, it is framed within larger questions of mortality and stewardship.

In summary, Choir of Cloistered Canaries blends a personal mother-daughter reunion with a global quest to expose and counteract corporate greed, sacred symbolism, and environmental collapse.  It asks readers to listen to the Earth’s “canary” warnings.

There are four principal characters worth mentioning:

  • Leitis Dennett, senior CDC epidemiologist; scientifically rigorous, spiritually curious, seeking personal reconciliation.
  • Pope Hormisdas II, a reformist pontiff; bridges ritual authority with ecological ethics.
  • Medical Engineer, an inventive, pragmatic, driven to translate technology into public-good solutions.
  • Leitis’s Mother, estranged from her daughter, complex, catalyst for Leitis’s emotional reckoning.

Book One – Daughters of the Dance Returns to Print

by armidanagyrose

As a historical novel, the story is a sensuous, spiritually charged, multi‑generational epic of danse du ventre, wartime exile, and Sephardic‑Ladino life.

oOo

Set across the first half of the 20th century, Daughters of the Dance follows three generations of women—beginning with Dara, an Algerian expatriate whose belly dance both scandalizes and frees her—against the upheavals of war, migration, and religious conservatism. Woven through the Sephardic‑Ladino community of Willemstad and across Europe and the Americas, the novel reframes dance as spiritual discipline, sexual agency, and cultural memory.

In summary, the following are principle themes and motifs:

(1) Female agency and embodiment is explored through dance as resistance and healing. (2) Spiritual symbolism draws on Sufi and Buddhist imagery. (3) Diaspora, identity, and belonging within Sephardic-Ladino networks across the Netherlands, Panama, Spain, Mexico, Venezuela, and Curaçao. (4) War, exile, and cultural survival are forces that shape intimate and public lives. And (5) sexuality and moral conflict are framed with literary seriousness and mature boundaries.

Three interlinked protagonists—Dara, Ayana, and Nona—navigate colonial pressures, nascent nationalist movements, and clandestine intellectual salons. Dara embodies the Creatrix, Ayana the Mystic/Lover, and Nona the Maiden/Warrior. The novel balances political intrigue, secret correspondence, and philosophical debate as each woman makes sacrifices to secure spiritual and social autonomy for future generations.

La danse de l’almée (The Dance of the Almeh) by Jean-Léon Gérôme, 1863

This first novel is a mature exploration of sexuality, power, religious suppression, and female liberation. When danse du ventre was exhibited at the 1893 Chicago World’s Fair, it gained national attention with dancers from various Middle Eastern countries, and subsequently, the sexualization of the dancers and the dance.

Book Three – Even a Crow Knows How To…

by armidanagyrose

Even a Crow Knows How to Crack a Walnut in Clear Light; Space Includes All Beings and Things is a provocative novel that follows Ana, a gifted M.I.T. graduate, who becomes the nexus of a profound collision between cutting-edge technology and timeless spirituality.  From her early childhood, Ana’s innate brilliance and cosmic curiosity begin to unfold, setting her on a path that leads to the enigmatic depths of Area 51 and beyond.

Recruited by a visionary corporate consortium with orthodox ambitions to reshape the world. Ana’s expertise in military research became a gateway to deeper philosophical questions. As she navigates the intrigue of classified science and symbolic history, Ana began to question the very nature of existence.

The novel blends elements of literary nonfiction, romance, and metaphysical exploration.  Themes of interconnectedness, illusion, and liberation emerge as she discovers an inward path of truth: that death is not the end but a veil and that all beings and constructs are part of a vast conscious universe. The subtitle to the novel, Space Includes All Things and Beings, encapsulates this unveiling, inviting readers to consider a reality where science and spirit [one’s creative force] are not opposites but reflections of the same cosmic truth.

In Poetic Form

In the hush between equations and stars,
A girl name Ana listens—
To the hum of atoms,
To the silence of death,
To the mutter of crows.

Born brilliant, she maps the cosmos
With chalk and curiosity,
Her mind a telescope,
Her heart a cipher.

Recruited by shadows,
She crafts weapons for the world
That fears its own reflection.
But in the desert of secrets,
Direction blooms like the prickly wild rose.

She begins to see—
Not with eyes
But with her spirit’s aperture
That death is a doorway, not a wall,
That space is neither empty or emptiness
But infinite with presence.

And even a crow,
Black-winged and laughing,
Knows that—
All things are one,
All things belong,
And all things spiral toward light.

Thoughts Beyond Even a Crow Knows…, Ana’s Life Unfolding

by armidanagyrose

Ana’s Obsession

The main protagonist, Ana Tabbot, was obsessed with the properties of light since her early childhood and throughout her existence, especially by gaining more knowledge about light from her physics studies at MIT and later in pursuit of the light body discussed in ancient texts. 

While the novel Even a Crow Knows How to Crack a Walnut in Clear Light renders a simplistic explanation of Ana’s experiences, this blog discusses something fascinating about light, which renders another interpretation of when Jesus appeared before the temple courts at Jerusalem’s during the Feast of Tabernacles, a significant Jewish festival associated with light. In Jewish mysticism (Kabbalah), the Feast of Tabernacles (Sukkot) symbolizes the spiritual journey of the soul or Self and the anticipation of “ultimate presence,” acknowledging the temporary nature of the material world that also includes the anatomical body of all beings and things.

As written in the Gospel of Matthew, to the gathering of celebrants at the temple courts, Jesus said that, “I am the light of the world” while he also admonished them that they, too, “are the light of the world” and to “let [their] light shine before others.”  His declarations are interpreted literally to this very day.

This blog will be the first of several on how to interpret “light is us” or “we are light.”  First of all, here is a review of how “light” was referenced in ancient texts: (1) In the Upanishads, “Light in the heart,” “light of lights.”  (2) In the Bhagavad Gita, “Light in all beings.” (3) In the Mahayana Sutras and treatise of Buddhism, “luminous mind.”  (4) In the alchemy treatises of Taoism, “Spirit’s brightness.” (5) In Zoroastrianism, “wisdom, goodness, and eternal presence of the Lord of Creation, (6) In the Gospel of Thomas and the Pistis Sophia of Gnosticism, “light within,” “spark of consciousness.” (7) In Sufism (Islamic mysticism), “Light of Lights,” the actual inner illumination that transforms the heart, mind, and soul (Self) of the seeker, acknowledging that “all existence is a manifestation of Divine Light and everything reflects it in varying degrees.”

And in the Higher Tantras of Tibetan Buddhism, light has several defined aspects—”innate purity and luminosity of mind” (for example, physical electromagnetic energy); “non-conceptual, “beyond senses” (for example, sensory phenomenon);

a metaphor for  “awareness and knowing” (for example, means to see objects); “spontaneous, unconditional timeless presence” (for example, beyond conditioned, time-bound reality; nonduality); and “direct experience” (accessed through wisdom seeing). In essence, “light” or “clear light” is a poetic term for the direct, pure, luminous essence of mind and awareness, recognizing the ultimate reality by being liberated from all conceptual and sensory overlays.

In all of these texts, “light” is used as a metaphor for consciousness and for understanding the mystery and illumination of awareness.

o0o

The Science

For the first time, scientists have observed quantum communications of light within us that drive DNA replication. Life is driven by light and frequency.  Homo sapiens sapiens are not excluded from this reality. 

In his research, German biophysicist Fritz Albert Popp demonstrated that every living cell emits a ultra-weak, coherent stream of particles called a biophoton field, the central source of light. The biophotons form a system of colored electromagnetic energies that regulate metabolic processes.  It is a light that is beyond basic photosynthesis. The master conductor of the cellular orchestra is the DNA molecule, which constantly absorbs and emits light.

It is a high-speed communication network that governs all the metabolic processes of the body and that makes for a healthy body or a diseased body. The healthy body results for a harmonious laser-like biophoton field whereas the light of the diseased body is scattered and chaotic.

It may go without saying that this translates into the physical reality behind the spiritual concept of healing and of the light body.  One’s quality and condition through conscious living increases the coherent and intensity of the light that emanates from one’s genes. He said, “We know today that [we], essentially, [we are beings] of light,” thus shedding light on philosophical and scientific implications of light as defining the nature of all living organisms and future understanding of how the cellular functions relate to consciousness.

Basically, DNA molecules emit biophotons that form an information field inside and around cells, thus acting like routers that distribute signals in transferring essential information for regulating biochemical reactions, cell cycle control, cellular metabolism, and tissue organization. Moreover, biophotons are involved in the communication pathways in the plant and animal kingdoms., including neural signaling.  Thus, a light body is possible under the right circumstances, conditions,  and abilities.

o0o

Philosophical Implications

Philosophical implications were discussed earlier; however, this blog is merely introductory to the modern science of the many properties of light. For example, the properties of light include the following:

  • Its wave-like nature (wavelength, frequence, and polarization
  • Its particle-like nature (photons)
  • Its constant speed in a vacuum (approximately 300,00km/s)
  • Its ability to interact with matter (through reflection, absorption, transmission, refraction, dispersion, diffraction, and scattering)
  • Its electromagnetic nature (radiation, composed of oscillating electric and magnetic fields that propagate through space)

“Form is emptiness, emptiness is form”

Physicist David Bohn, described matter as “condensed or frozen light” (i.e., matter as “frozen light) trapped into patterns that move slower than the speed of light.  He concluded, “We are frozen light.” The spiritual implications of acquiring a Body Light is reserved for a later blog.  As Siddhartha Shakyamuni inferred earlier than Albert Einstein’s E = mc2, energy [light] and mass are interchangeable.   Siddhartha Gautama said, “Form is emptiness, emptiness is form.” “Emptiness” is just another way of saying that “form” is absent of inherent, independent existence in all phenomena. Emptiness, in this case, is neither nothingness nor void.

Energy cannot be created or destroyed. It can only be changed from one form to another.—
Albert Einstein

Thoughts Beyond the Armida Trilogy–The Y Chromosome

by armidanagyrose

Why the Y Chromosome?

This blog is best appreciated with a previous blog, “Homosexualism?”. It relates to a recent biological science (as of June 2025) from the Stanford University School of Medicine by Dr. Nirao Shah, MD, PhD, neurobiologist, and his team who have studied how the female and male brains differ and how those differences arise from different genes and hormonal diversity during fetal development. The gist of their finding, as it pertains to the earlier above-mentioned blog, is that hormones act on genetics in utero, which have both organizing and activating effects during two stages of life—in utero and in puberty.

There are 22 pairs of autosomes shared by the sexes, and then there are the X and Y that are gender specific.  Females have two X chromosomes (XX); males have one X and one Y chromosome. Basically, since chromosomes contain genes that contain information, there is one particular chromosome that makes up the male—Y in XY.

Generally speaking, the 22 pairs of autosomes determine traits and other non-sex-related characteristics. However, the Y chromosome carries the SRY gene that determines if the Y chromosome will have testicles or not.  Repeat, it is the SRY gene of the sex-determining region Y chromosome that determines if the embryo will hae testicles or not. It is the master switch for male sex determination in mammals, which encodes a protein that initiates the development of testes in a fetus. It, moreover, acts as a transcription factor, binding the DNA and triggering a cascade of gene activity.  Without a functional SRY gene, the development of the female embryo happens. It also may prevent the development of female reproductive structures like the uterus and the fallopian tubes.

Moreover, the SRY gene can lead to sex reversal. An embryo with a Y chromosome (XY) can develop female characteristics.  In rare cases, the XX embryo can develop male features. Nevertheless, without conclusive scientific evidence, it is presumptive to conclude that the SRY gene is a mutation; but the study of the SRY gene can provide insights into the development of sex-linked expressions and not necessarily disorders or good versus bad mutations. At any rate, a gene mutation that changes the nucleotide sequence of a single gene—such as a substitution, insertion, or deletion of one or a few DNA bases—can affect a single protein. 

Why question our differences; embrace them as we do the variety of birds and flowers and trees….

Postscript: Check out “Homosexualism?” Other links of interest: Gender Fluidity was Never a Phrase and The History of Two-Spirit Folks.

It is really important, in a world that is often very ‘either/or’, to remember there can be both, neither and everything–that is, other than the ‘binary’ of male or female.
-–Sally Goldner

Thoughts Beyond the Novels–Homosexualism?

by armidanagyrose
Two-Spirit Symbol

Characteristic of the author’s novels (The Armida Trilogy), vignettes tend to populate her narratives.  Though it is a brief encounter of a gay man helping a sexually abused maiden escape from her master, a gay woman revealing her affection toward a non-lesbian, and a few Two-Spirit beings, the novels include their existence.  Regardless of what one’s opinions or beliefs are on homosexual behavior or otherwise, the fact remains several worldwide cultures have recognized that there are more than two sexes or genders. 

One of the cultures that explicitly recognizes five sexes are the Indonesian Bugis in South Sulawesi, Indonesia. Generally, these five sexes are customarily defined as follows:

1-2  Cisgender men and women—s person whose gender identity corresponds to their sex assigned at birth.

    3  Biological females who take on male roles or “woman-in-man gender”.

    4  Biological makes who takes on female roles or “man-in-woman gender.”

    5  Androgynous or intersex “eunuchs”.  In the Bugis culture, these “eunuchs” are often of the priestly/shamanic classes and are considered to embody all genders or existing beyond gender. This category also includes hermaphrodites and gender fluidity. (Interestingly, the term in Buginese is “bissu.” In Sanskrit, it is “bhiksu.”)

In some Native American cultures, there has more than the two genders (cisgender or not transgender). In some tribal cultures, just three and in others five.  One such tribe is the Diné (Navajo). The outlier sexes in Diné have often been described as having Two-Spirit identities. This adaptation understands the importance of bringing harmony to the communities, which usually is of a spiritual nature.

The concept of Two-Spirits refers to individuals who embody both feminine and masculine traits within one individual. These individuals are considered to have a “mixed-gender consciousness.”  Such people were recognized and respected in over 150 tribes and held special social and spiritual roles as among the chronicled Bugis of Indonesia.

Basically, the five-gender framework recognizes that those with Two-Spirit inclinations offered sacred gifts and respect to the society at large. They were associated with heightened empathy and unique perspectives. They were often healers, name-givers, matchmakers, artists, insights, and visionaries (not just prophetic). They also could be warriors.

Even Talmudic Judaism (circa 3rd century (based on oral tradition) through 600 CE)) recognizes a six-sex system based on physical and biological characteristics. The sixth sex is split into two, making it seven.  The Talmudic sex system is as follows:  (1) Male, (2) female, (3) both male and female sexual characteristics, (4) indeterminate or hidden characteristics of male or female that make their gender unclear, (5) a baby assigned as female at birth but who does not develop typical female secondary sexual characteristics and is infertile (aka barren), (6a) a male who is naturally unable to develop typical male secondary sexual characteristics (a natural eunuch from birth), and (6b) a male eunuch due to human intervention (castration). The identification system, however, is more nuanced and segues into the main reason for this article.

Imperial China Eunuchs

The point of this article is to understand the term “eunuch,” a role that has been around as a group for a long time—as early as 4,000 BCE in imperial China; 2,000 BCE in Sumerian, Egyptian, and Assyrian civilizations, including ancient Greece and Rome, Byzantine Empire, and the Islamic and Ottoman Empires as well as Siam (Thailand) and Southeast Asia.  Contrary to common belief, being a eunuch did not always involve castration. Nevertheless, the recognition of being a eunuch from birth, as reflected in ancient texts, has been debated in theology and history to the present. Fascination, ambiguity, and social ambivalence remain in prevailing cultural perceptions. Sadly, “homosexuals” have been viewed as sexually ambiguous or as “other” and often marginalized and persecuted.

With a focus on the New Testament of the Bible, which was written in Greek, and described as the Greek Testament or as the “Word of God,” there is an elaborate description of the “eunuch.” When the Gospel of St. Matthew was written between 50 and 95 CE (due to traditional dating and scholarly disagreement), it was written in Greek for a Hellenic Jewish-Christian audience composed of both Jewish and gentile converts around Antioch in Coele Syria. (The significance of this area was that, be they gentiles or Jews, the messianic followers were finally called “Christians *(Acts 11:26).” Antioch was well established with a strong Jewish identity and synagogues. The gospel, written in narrative style, records how the eunuch of the time was perceived. Whomever the author was, it reflected Jewish legal traditions and teachings. Matthew was one of the twelve apostles of Yehoshua (Greek  Iesous), the Messiah, and was known as a tax collector for the Roman Empire.

According to historian Judith Herrin, the earliest Gospel of Matthew, chapter 19, verse 12, regarding eunuchs, reads—

There are some eunuchs, which were born from their mother’s womb; and there are some eunuchs, which were made eunuchs of men; and there be eunuchs, which have made themselves eunuchs for the kingdom of heaven’s sake.

It recognizes the eunuch as a sixth and seventh sex gender, whereas some modern translations contain different or misguiding connotations, such as the following:

For there are different reasons why men cannot marry: some, because they were born that way; others, because men made them that way; and others do not marry for the sake of the Kingdom of heaven. Let him who can accept this teaching do so.” – Good News Translation

There are different reasons why some men cannot marry.  Some men were born without the ability to become fathers. Others were made that way later in life by other people. And some men have given up marriage because of the kingdom of heaven. But the person who can marry should accept this teaching about marriage. – New Century Version

Some men are not able to have children because they were born that way.  Some have been made that way by other people.  Others have made themselves that way in order to serve the kingdom of heaven.  The one who can accept living that way should do it.  – New International Reader’s Version

There are men who from their birth have been disabled from marriage, others who have been so disabled by men, and others who have disabled themselves for the sake of the Kingdom of Heavens. He who is able to receive this let him receive it.  – Weymouth New Testament (Wycliffe uses the term “geldings”.)

This history of eunuchs spans from the fourth millennium BCE to the present.  Often eunuchs were considered young men who were castrated to perform certain roles. Historically, however, the category in antiquity was broader and strictly not limited to castration. They were identified as men who lacked sexual desire for women. Thus, those born without a desire for sex with a woman are understood as homosexual. Many eunuchs, however, were able to procreate and some sexually served both men and women. Some blurred the lines of heteronormative expectations.  Some held imperial roles as guards or officials while others were ridiculed or excluded.  In summary, they were not synonymously homosexual men in a strict sense. However, many are born as such from their mother’s wombs.

It goes without saying that there are nuanced implications to understanding gender diversity beyond the binary model, especially in western societies influenced by colonial times and by the non-holistic worldview of certain Islamic and Christian indoctrinations, which have been based on patriarchal systems and rigid binary gender roles. Such patriarchal norms have even normalized the dehumanization of women, femicide, hyper-sexualization, and subjugation. It also goes without saying that, despite the legacy of gender binaries, there are still persistent legal codes and social attitudes that criminalize and stigmatize non-binary and trans-identities. Such laws and religious perceptions bring about disharmony to a global society when tolerance and harmony among the differences is much needed and desired by a majority.

It is a travesty to enable a society that cannot accept what is natural. This is somewhat similar to preventing women to breast feed in public because it is not a normal process but animalistic.

Recognizing the five genders, not only women’s diverse roles, the roles are tied to the ideals of acceptance and societal harmony. The “stay woke” movement of the 1970s by the Black community through to early 2020s in the United States of America became politically charged in 2025 to criticize anything perceived as progressive became a derogatory term to dismiss or to attack those ideas that encourage an awareness of the social injustice of women, of nonwhite races, of sexism, and of LGBTQ+ rights. Awareness of social injustices is to be WOKE in support of DEI initiatives—diversity, equality, and inclusivity—to accept the natural order of existence.

In summary, if, in fact, there are individuals who fit the definition of a eunuch “born from their mother” or of natural birth, then it would be desirable to accept and to welcome them as genetically normal. But it’s not that simple. Why not continue to strive for a new “New Renaissance” (an American Rebirth) when significant cultural, artistic, intellectual, and technological innovation and renewal be the new paradigm for humanity, blending both old and new wisdom as humanistic values. Humanity cannot survive if the allure is to those who wish to rule by dark psychology with vehemence.

At least, what the human experience of the United States of America needs now is not just to say, “It is time for all good men to come to the aid of the party,” especially when women and LGBTQIA are currently beleaguered. But whose party? Definitely not an anarcho-fascistic party! The People of the United States need an egregore—a combining of enlightened energy, which we all possess, to achieve the true American dream (a government for and by the People to survive) to unite by common goals and beliefs engendered by the living U.S. Constitution. This is true leadership for all.

Let us champion a humane view.  After all, even US corporations in the 1990s recognized talents are found across all social groups, not just among a favored few.

For a biological explanation of why “homo sapiens sapiens” are not just cisgender female and male, read as follows: The Y Chromosome.

Thoughts Beyond the Novel CoCC.14–Pope Francis was 88

by armidanagyrose

Rest in Peace, beloved Pope Francis. Many faithful cherished your compassion, courage, faith, and vision for relevancy in a chaotic world.

As reported by CNN, “Pope Francis, who challenged deeply rooted norms and made it his mission to change the perception of the [Roman] Catholic Church around the world, has died at the age of 88. The Vatican said Francis died just after 7:30 a.m. . . . on Monday [Italian time], a day after he surprised many by appearing at St. Peter’s Square . . . on Easter Sunday [April 20-21, 2025] . . . .”

“Love is the greatest power for the transformation of reality because it pulls down the walls of selfishness and fills the ditches that keep us apart.”

In Choir of Cloistered Canaries, the essence of Pope Francis was captured in the fictional Pope Hormisdas II. Just as Pope Francis, Pope-Saint Hormisdas I was no ordinary pontiff. Pope Francis and fictional Pope Hormisdas II were visionaries of a fragile Roman Catholic Church in need of revival to survive. (One will find Pope Hormisdas an interesting an enlightened pontiff.)

Pope Francis was a reformer. Much will be written about him in coming days with beautiful eulogies, but he had his enemies, like Opus Dei, to give the Pontiff a black eye.

Often referred to as the “People’s Pope,” the Pontiff sought to make the Roman Catholic Church more relevant. He rocked the boat continuously—by addressing past scandals, embracing the plights of migrants, and supporting the many poor and other marginalized faithful (the LGBTQ population, for example) out of the 1.4 billion Roman Catholic faithful worldwide.  Moreover, he weeded out the financial corruption at the Vatican, railed against rogue capitalism, and warned against the effects of climate change. Some would call him a liberal as if it were a mark on his character.  No pope has ever had the illustrious character and courage to face the conflicting issues glossed over by the traditionalists within the Vatican.

Will the next pontiff be another traditionalist, affirming that Pope Francis committed heresy—for example, for softening the ban on giving Communion to divorced and civically re-married Catholics? For others, he was not progressive enough:  He was against abortion, in favor of clerical celibacy, and opposed to ordaining women even though he was open to giving women more of a role in running the church. However, he did something more than the previous Pope to weed out sexual abusers from the clerical ranks.

He also railed against world leaders who sought no humane solution to the mass migrations of people cause by climate change and political squabbles such as civil wars and the like.  He said, “We cannot remain indifferent in the face of such human dramas. The globalization of indifference is a very ugly disease. Very ugly.”

“Who am I to judge them.”

To know more about Pope Hormisdas II, who embraced the Eastern Catholic Church, click here:  Hormisdas.

A backstory:  When the author wrote about Pope Hormisdas II writing Leitis to let her know he was visiting Panama (page 264) and wanted to meet with her in another private session, Ms. Nagy did not know there was an actual schedule by Pope Frances (Francesco) to Panama toward the end of January 2019. Also, the author is not of the Catholic faith; but she saw him as a contemporary hero.

Thoughts Beyond the Novel CoCC.14—Chemical Injury

by armidanagyrose

Find at Books Google

One of the leading suppliers of of products for Emergency Chemical First Aid & Decontamination, Diphex Solutions, defines CHEMICAL INJURY as “the local result of the reaction that corrosive or irritant chemical products have with biological tissue, causing partial or total destruction. It can affect different parts of the body, such as the eyes, skin, respiratory tract, upper GI tract, and plants. Moreover, it “is a serious condition that requires immediate intervention and can lead to visual impairment, disfigurement, or .. death.”

The novel, CHOIR OF CLOISTERED CANARIES, is an effort to bring the topic of chemical injury, in part, to the fore. For example, on page 45 through 48, Axex (a fictitious name for Avon Products, Inc.) it records how many toxic chemicals have been found in Axex products. It is astounding!

By way of some historical context, in June 2016, Democratic President Obama signed a bill into law that placed stronger regulations on chemicals present in nearly every product Americans use, including detergents, clothing, paint thinners, cleansers, and automobiles (WP, June 22, 2016,”The president just signed a law that affects nearly every product you use,” by Darryl Fears}.

Fears reported that “[t[his law gave the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) more oversight and stronger tools to monitor chemicals that, in some cases could cause cancer and other health problems in adults and children.” However, when the Republican Trump Administration took over, the Administration with the help of Republican legislatures unraveled the protective oversight of the EPA

For every step forward there seems always to be two steps backwards when it comes to regulating toxic chemicals. If only we could make politics less toxic, too.

Our choir of cloistered canaries are forever vigilant of toxic chemicals. Their lives depend  upon it, being so biologically fragile. Well, the human species is equally fragile when it comes to toxicity.

In recent times, there have been some recent clarion callers briefly discussed below:

–The “Medical News Today,” on June 12, 2023, reported that the artificial sweetener, Splenda, may cause DNA damage and cancer. The culprit chemical is sucralose-acetate and is considered a genotoxic (i.e., it harms genetic information within cells). Remember that we are referring to the artificiality of synthetics, which is hard for human biology to negotiate without the fear of chronic inflammation of the cellular tissues.

–A new law in New York bans certain laundry detergents that contain high levels of 1,4-dioxane, which is known to cause cancer. It is a synthetic used to stabilize chlorinated solvents. On January 1, 2024, the new allowably 1,4 dioxane will be reduced to 1ppm (part per million) The current allowable dosage is 2ppm.

–“The Keck School of Medicine of the University of South Carolina discovered that being exposed to a mixture of synthetic chemicals commonly present in the environment affects multiple crucial biological processes in both children and young adults. These processes include the metabolism of fats and amino acids. The disruption of these biological processes increases the likelihood of various diseases, including developmental disorders, cardiovascular disease, metabolic disease, and several forms of cancer,” according to “SciTechDaily” on April 24, 2023. In addition, this article pointed out that “[f]orever chemicals, also known as PFAS (Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances), are a group of synthetic chemicals that have been widely used in various industries due to their unique properties, such as resistance to heat, oil, and water. However, PFAS have been found to have a persistent and toxic effect on the environment and human health.”

Caveat emptor—let the buyer beware. Do the homework before buying. It will save you $$$$ and your health.

For additional information on chemical sensitivities (a form of chemical injury on a spectrum), query Google or visit MaskedCanaries. Check out the blog “An Unexplained Illness“.