#Yellow Medicine Agency

[minnesotafollower]

State of Minnesota Transferring State Park to Dakota Tribe

The State of Minnesota is now engaged in transferring the Upper Sioux Agency State Park in the southwestern part of the State to a Dakota Indian Tribe that was involved in its tragic history.[1] Historical Background The Treaty of Traverse Des Sioux of 1851 moved the Dakota Indians from Iowa and Minnesota to a reservation 20 miles wide in southwestern Minnesota along the Minnesota River Valley.…

[whencyclopedia]

The Bear Man

The Bear Man is a Pawnee legend exemplifying the Native American understanding of the natural world and serving as an origin tale for the Bear Dance, which was performed to awaken the bears in spring from their winter hibernation and also to celebrate the season of choosing a mate. The Bear Dance is still performed by the Pawnee today.

The bear holds special significance for the Pawnee, as well as other Native American nations including the Ute, as a powerful animal and one of the Nahu'rac – the creatures who serve Ti-ra'wa ("Father Above"), as messengers and mediators – and who are considered brothers by various indigenous peoples. According to scholar Bobby Lake-Thom:

The Bear is always a good sign and a special power. He represents wisdom, insight, introspection, protection, and healing. If you see a Bear while hiking in the woods or along the river, then you know that a very sacred place is nearby. (78)

In The Bear Man, a father, concerned for his son, makes friends with a bear cub in hopes that the Nahu'rac will remember his kindness and look after his boy. Later in life, the Nahu'rac bears remember this kindness and repay it by bringing the boy back to life after he is killed in battle and teaching him their spiritual "medicine" (powers). The story shares similarities with other famous Pawnee tales including A Story of Faith and The Boy Who Was Sacrificed, which also feature the supernatural entities of the Nahu'rac.

The Bear Dance

In Native American belief, generally speaking, there is no spiritual difference between a human being, a plant, a tree, an animal, or a rock, as all things are imbued by the Creator with the same resonant energy. Humans are in no way superior to the natural world but are expected to act as stewards and care for their environment as they would for their own family and community. The Bear Dance grew out of this understanding as the dancers, as they perform wearing the bear hides which have been gifted to them by their bear relatives, become those bears and offer to others bear wisdom, healing, and power. Scholar Larry J. Zimmerman writes:

For Native North Americans, the boundaries between the world of the spirits and the world of living people were not clearly defined: a third "in-between" world of transition separated them. Every entity to some degree inhabited all three of these worlds. If a human carried out the appropriate rituals, he or she could be transformed into a being from one of the other two worlds.

Such transformations often duplicated events of the "beginning time" when the world came to be as it is through the agency of culture heroes and tricksters. On ceremonial occasions, an individual might assume the appearance of such a figure and be thought, literally, to become that being. When a holy man put on a yellow bear hide, for his audience he actually was the bear. (126)

The Bear Dance was (and is) always performed in the spring, waking the bears from their hibernation, and signaling the time for young men and women to choose mates. Among the Ute and Pawnee, the traditional roles of festivals are reversed at this time as men, instead of women, prepare the area for the dance, and women, instead of men, initiate the dance to find a suitable mate. The Bear Dance may last ten days to two weeks and honor the spirit of the bears as much as that of the community and the natural world at large.

Continue reading...

[zinniajones]

Florida, SB 254, total HRT ban for adults: 5/25/2023 update

FLORIDA HRT CRISIS DAY 8

Note that in the span of two days, we have had to revise this policy map from including one last way (green) for adults in Florida to get refills (no new prescriptions) from an MD/DO, to removing the one last green endpoint, and replacing it with red/yellow stripe. It actually is unknown whether even refills can be prescribed by MDs/DOs; and because of that unknown, MDs and DOs are choosing not to provide refills either.

There are now NO ways for trans adults in Florida to even obtain refills of their established HRT prescriptions.

This is based on the reports we're receiving of trans people's current experiences attempting to fill their established prescriptions since 5/17/2023 - in a complete vacuum of any information for patients who just lost access to their medication, whether from state agencies or even from the state LGBT organizations that were supposed to protect us from exactly this happening to us.

This shouldn't come down to us alone. WE NEED YOU TO STEP UP.

TRANS ADULTS IN FLORIDA ARE NOT ABLE TO GET THEIR HRT PRESCRIPTIONS FILLED OR REFILLED ANYWHERE.

WE HAVE NOT BEEN ABLE TO DO SO SINCE WEDNESDAY MAY 17

IT HAS BEEN 8 DAYS

THE CLOCK IS RUNNING

The next in-person meeting of the Boards of Medicine, to draft highly restrictive "emergency rules" further regulating adult HRT, is next week!

Florida Board of Medicine/Board of Osteopathic Medicine Joint Rules/Legislative Committee

THURSDAY, JUNE 1 - 2:45 PM The Westshore Grand 4860 West Kennedy Boulevard Tampa, FL 33609

And by the way? DESANTIS HIRED THE FLORIDA HATE GROUP THAT WAS RESPONSIBLE FOR A LAW FIRM'S $15,000 HIT JOB ON WPATH SOC

DESANTIS APPOINTEES ON THE BOARDS OF MEDICINE ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR PROMOTING CONVERSION THERAPY AND INVOLUNTARY PSYCHIATRIC HOSPITALIZATION OF TRANS PEOPLE

The Florida GOP and the DeSantis administration are directly responsible for a crime in progress against thousands of transgender Floridians!

GIVE US BACK OUR PRESCRIBED MEDICATIONS NOW

[cinerins]

Another Road – Expedition Overview

This is a general look at the direction and structure of the Atlantis expedition in my AU "Another Road" — I thought I might as well share my own ideas and concepts for a slightly different SGA setting here!

The team embarks on their journey about a year later, August 2005, after a 16 month period of training and preparation, following the discovery of Atlantis.

With an initial count of 200 volunteers, the expedition is comprised of several researchers previously stationed at the antarctic outpost, as well as additional candidates and military personnel approved by the IOA and HWC.

Expectations

Given what they have thus far learned about the Ancients and the experiences gained in the Stargate program, there are a number of potential points of interest and expected risks to consider, before stepping foot into another galaxy.

As an international scientific project, the primary focus of the expedition is the gathering of information pertaining to the Ancients and research of their technological advancements. However, due to the unknown nature of the Pegasus galaxy, the research of any extraterrestrial life and technology is a general goal.

Peaceful, undisruptive exploration may be the ideal direction of such an undertaking, but the International Committee and Homeworld Command have come to agree, that a military component would be necessary as a precaution. Should they find it unwarranted, the selected personnel could simply aid in emergencies and the overall operations of the group.

The 16 month buffer serves to prepare for anything the team might find on the other side of the event horizon — be that a thriving society, or another abandoned outpost left to sleep in a wasteland. All members would've been required to learn the Ancient language (Alteran) and the basics of Gate travel, if they weren't familiar already.

Since the Ancients are genetic cousins, originating from Earth in this setting and have left a grand network of habitable locations throughout the Milky Way, it gives our team the hope of establishing a reliable base, even if they don't find anything alive.

The possibility of no return is a risk they are well aware of.

Composition

Each and every volunteer has been selected and vetted by the agencies involved, either with Weir's recommendation or approval.

Key factors are an extensive understanding of relevant fields (particularly regarding the Stargate and Ancients) and/or the possession of the ATA gene. There is much overlap of expertise among expedition members, the idea being to employ a wide array of knowledge and skills in as few people as possible.

Senior staff manages the overall decisions and is comprised of the representative leader of their given division, with Dr. Weir as head of the expedition as a whole.

The team features seven divisions, color-coded for convenience and each with departments as subsections, covering specific fields.

Cultural Division (red)

Head: Elizabeth Weir

Departments / Fields

Anthropology

Archaeology

Philosophy

Politics

Linguistics

-> Initial numbers: 15

Technical Division (purple)

Head: Peter Grodin

Departments / Fields

Technology & Engineering

Stargate Operations

Computer Science

Robotics

Electronics

-> Initial numbers: 31

Physical Science Division (blue)

Head: Rodney McKay

Departments / Fields

Astrophysics

Quantum Physics

Wormhole Physics

Astronomy

Chemistry

Thermodynamics

-> Initial numbers: 20

Life Science Division (green)

Head: Veronica Weaver*

Departments / Fields

Astrobiology

Microbiology

Biochemistry

Botany & Agriculture

Zoology

Ecology

Genetics

-> Initial numbers: 24

Environmental Division (yellow)

Head: Mercedes Torres*

Departments / Fields

Geology

Hydrology

Geography

Oceanography

Atmospheric Science

-> Initial numbers: 12

Medical Division (white)

CMO: Carson Beckett

Handle primary medical treatment and care, ensuring the overall well-being of all expedition members in the following points:

Medicine

Surgery

Physical Therapy

Anesthesiology

Dentistry

Pathology

Psychiatry

-> Initial numbers: 14

Military Division (black)

CO: Marshall Sumner / John Sheppard (later)

Offer assistance to the other divisions and the expedition as a whole, cover following responsibilities:

Security

Logistics

Emergency Management

Emergency Medical Treatment

Decontamination

Military Operations

-> Initial numbers: 84

*unoffical characters added to fill these positions.

Management

The team is provided with enough supplies to cover each division's general needs, both work-related and personal, for about a year. If necessary, their use of equipment and gear can easily be extended, but water and food production would depend on the environment and resources they're met with.

Complete, long-term self-sufficiency should be possible, with access to the needed materials, but is not the intended goal of this expedition.

An emergency transmitter would've been used to send a signal to Earth, in case they cannot dial back and have found themselves trapped, with no means to support themselves beyond what they brought along. It would've taken a while to be received, but by then the Daedalus should've been fully operational and able to retrieve them, before their supplies run out.

If they are not heard from in any way within their first year (taking communications delay into account, given their distance) Earth would've presumed them dead and the mission a failure. However, if the mission was at least partially a success and they have access to safe food and water, but still no way to return, a number of satellites would've been launched to act as relay stations between the galaxies.

Sending a ship to and fro would be off the table, unless it was really worth the cost of such a long trip — say, if it was to rescue the group, or to transport artifacts and materials of significant value. The IOA would be reluctant to send off one of Earth's limited number of interstellar vessels, while they have more pressing uses among our own stars.

Either way, unless they found more convenient alternatives, the expedition would've expected to rely mostly on themselves.

[hedgewitchgarden]

By Julia Kane. April 27, 2023. On an overcast Saturday in March, Serina Fast Horse stands in a ring of freshly planted, 12-foot-tall willow cuttings. Soft white buds are just beginning to emerge from their gray stems.

Easing the tips of the willows toward the center of the circle, Fast Horse holds them in place while another volunteer ties them together with twine.

Fast Horse and about three dozen others have gathered at Shwakuk Wetland, five acres of land situated between a residential neighborhood and a freight warehouse in north Portland, just south of Columbia Edgewater Country Club.

In time, the trees they plant and gently shape will grow into a willow dome—a living structure people can gather around for ceremonies, educational programs or just to enjoy the space.

Shwakuk, which is pronounced “show-kayk” and means little frog in Chinook Wawa, is a unique site co-managed by the local Indigenous community and Portland’s Bureau of Environmental Services.

When the city acquired the land in 2016, it was a pumpkin patch.

Since then, the team responsible for stewarding it has worked to restore the wetland. Now it’s used to to cultivate first foods, medicines and basketry plants.

It’s also reconnecting area residents with the land.

Fast Horse, who is Lakota and Blackfeet, serves as a community liaison on the Shwakuk project, bridging the gap between the local Indigenous community and city employees.

Since getting involved with the project, the 28-year-old Portlander has also gone on to found Kimímela Consulting. Her goal is to bring the Indigenous community into environmental decision-making processes at the city and state level.

“When we’re able to come together and uplift Indigenous knowledge—and learn from each other, too, because there are things from western science and ecology that are important for restoration—we can change these systems to be more regenerative,” says Fast Horse.

“Indigenizing” not “de-colonizing”

For Fast Horse, the choice to use the word Indigenize rather than decolonize is intentional.

“When we say Indigenize, it’s centering the Indigenous perspective and being forward-thinking instead of centering colonization and that experience,” she says. 

In restoration work, the Indigenous perspective hasn’t often been taken into consideration.

“Our program has always used native plants, but the selection wasn’t necessarily based on the Indigenous communities’ needs or desires,” says Toby Query, a natural resource ecologist with Portland’s Bureau of Environmental Services. “It was more about what would survive and what would fulfill our agency’s goals as far as shading the water, wildlife habitat and structure, and so forth.”

At Shawkuk, the Indigenous community put together a list of desired plants, which included first foods, medicines and plants used for traditional crafts.

That list has guided Query and the rest of the team involved in day-to-day restoration work at the site.

So far, they’ve had success at growing tule, a sedge used in basketry and canoe-making, along with yarrow, a medicinal plant, and camas, a plant with an edible, bulb-like root. They’ve also planted yampah, a wild carrot.

Instead of spraying herbicide, the restoration team uses vinyl from old billboards to block the sun and kill invasive grasses. Sometimes, they’ll braid invasive grasses around native plants, like yellow dock, horsetail and cattail, so that they stay low to the ground and do not choke out other plants.

“It takes a lot of effort to do it,” says Query, who has spent many hours braiding reed canarygrass alongside workers from Wisdom of the Elders, an Indigenous-led group. “While we were doing it we were enjoying conversation, and it was kind of a healing process.”

Query has implemented many techniques he’s learned from the Indigenous community at the 20 or so sites he stewards across the city.

“It’s really informed what I plant, and how I take care of plants,” he says.

Tending parties, wild tea

Healing is a critical element of Indigenizing restoration work.

In fact, says Fast Horse, “my deepest wish for this work is to bring folks together and to heal our relationships to each other and to the earth.”

At Shwakuk, she’s brought people together by helping organize “tending parties” that attract members of the local Indigenous community, students from Portland State University, city employees and others.

The groups learn about a site, spend a few hours helping with a restoration project and gather for lunch.

Oftentimes, Judy BlueHorse Skelton, an assistant professor at Portland State University who has helped lead the Shwakuk restoration, will make tea for everyone.

She makes the tea using a sprig of Doug fir gathered onsite, and sometimes rosehips, Oregon grape and western redcedar.

“We’re taught that to sip tea together is to become a relative, or to form a relationship,” says BlueHorse Skelton, who is Nez Perce and Cherokee. “It’s also deepening our intimate relationship with the plant world. It’s a big part of Indigenous traditional ecological and cultural knowledge, and it’s embedded in the work that we’re all doing.”

Intern to owner

Restoring Shwakuk was pivotal for Fast Horse, who first got involved with the project as an intern with Environmental Services.

“I was able to be an internal advocate to make sure what the community was saying was being upheld in a really meaningful way,” says Fast Horse. “I would be in these internal meetings, and so that perspective got woven throughout the process.”

In those meetings, the impact that she could have as a community liaison became clear.

From Query’s point of view: “To have somebody that has an Indigenous perspective, but is also willing to be part of the agency side of things, and to be able to walk between those two cultures has been really important.”

Fast Horse began giving presentations about lessons learned from Shwakuk and found that other city agencies and organizations wanted Indigenous input on their projects, too.

Portland has recently become more proactive about reaching out to the Indigenous community. The city hired its first full-time tribal relations director, Laura John, in 2017—a move BlueHorse Skelton says has been “immensely transformative.”

Two years ago, Fast Horse founded her own company, Kimímela Consulting, based in Milwaukie, Ore. She’s continued to act as a liaison between the Indigenous community and various agencies and organizations.

Most of her work has to do with land restoration, but she’s also working with Portland State University to rename a street. The campus’ Native American Student and Community Center is currently located on a street named after President Andrew Jackson, known for enforcing the genocidal Indian Removal Act of 1830.

“She’s been providing a voice and venue for the Indigenous community, including students and folks across all agencies, to get involved—including just the average community member who may not have a voice,” says BlueHorse Skelton.

A reconnected future

According to BlueHorse Skelton, the work that Fast Horse is doing to ensure the Indigenous community is part of decision-making processes is critical.

“When cities look, today, at how to heal, how to begin to restore, how to protect what’s left,” says BlueHorse Skelton, “we have to be part of it.” 

She sees Fast Horse as the first of a new, emerging generation of Indigenous leaders in the region.

“As some of us become elders, who carries that work forward?” BlueHorse Skelton asks. “That’s Serina.”

“A lot of times people put us in the past, and that’s a huge misconception,” says Fast Horse. “We’ve always been adaptable people. We’re not trying to revert back to anything, we’re going into the future.

“We’re all interconnected in this physical and spiritual plane. With Indigenous knowledge, we can reconnect to that and live in a way that is more in line with natural systems that are regenerative and life-giving.”

[ruknowhere]

Gahé Dzíł / Mountain Spirits

-Crisosto Apache

always for my family

Circling around flames and dancing with the blazes

Encumbering sparks take flight into the night sky,

A swirling twinkle resembling a star crown

Moving into empty canopies resembling ghosts

A threshold colossal structure with rusty bells shakes

the sound of fire sings lingering beyond the flames

sent across the mountain and valleys

These spirits come from the mountains and move towards

the south, between the sacred narrow canyons,

The Sierra Madre Canyon walls sing in their echoes

A medicine reveals a stick and brings the wall down

For the Ndé—the people who wandered into night

Ascending towards the ending sky and onto the lost land

Losing their tongues and eyes they consume the mountain

Air and waters trying to heal all their lungs that bellowed

Outward against the slow breezes and heavy breaths

A hundred years the spirits protected them from

the sixteenth calvary who then believed, in all their hearts,

a good Injun was a dead Injun. Even then the spirits protected

the people for another twenty-seven years until they reached

—their forced destination

A place where cutting their hair died as the spirits watched

The people searched the underground catacombs of St. Augustine

While hearing the waves crash against the stone walls

Outside the thick walls, the people were exposed

To yellow fever and malaria, they died and died

—some survived

After thirty more years the people returned to their homeland

closer to the Skeleton Canyons where an epic scribed

on the mountain walls called back their ancestors

At night the drumming echoed like the murmur inside

Their bodies hearing the loud thumps come and go

In 1986 the people returned to their original place

—entering the ancient canyons

—honoring those killed

—remembering the mountains

At night the sparks fly high as the people hear those rusty bells

and hollow songs —they feel the drums and footsteps reverberate

Inside their veins every time, they look to the mountains

Images:

Mountain spirit dancers, Mescalero Apache. They dance to drive away evil spirits. (Photography: San Carlos Agency, New Mexico 1899).

Apache Mountain Spirit (Gaan) Dancers

[samuhelll]

3-5 things associated with your muse.

emotions / feelings:

01. bitterness

02. fear

03. anger

greetings:

01. "hey."

02. "what's up?"

03. "how's my favorite ___?" the noun can be anything.

colors:

01. a rusty, orange red

02. blue. it brings out his eyes.

03. yellow. also, not a color, but patterns. he likes patterns.

scents:

01. hotel lotion. kind of cheap. has that off-brand, almost medicinal quality to it, or like it's sat in the medicine cabinet a couple years too long.

02. terre d'hermès (orange and grapefruit, woody, flint. typically associated with older men and can be thought of as old-fashioned or dated).

03. drugstore shampoo

clothing:

01. suit ensamble (jacket, matching pants, tie, cufflinks)

02. button-ups with (maybe) rolled-up sleeves. slacks and loose tie or tie-less.

03. pullover and shorts/jeans but pretty much only when alone

objects:

01. business card. it has 'CROKER INSURANCE AGENCY' printed on it and the name samuel croker. unless you are his "client" or someone he wants to see, the number provided on the card more often than not leads to "this number does not exist."

02. phone

03. matchbook. this also has 'CROKER INSURANCE AGENCY' on it, kind of like how old bars and gentlemen's clubs used to have their own matchbooks. the words 'match made in heaven' are written in red ballpoint ink on the inside of the flap.

vices / bad habits:

01. i don't want to say hedonistic, but it doesn't take a lot of convincing to make him do something he shouldn't if it's something he wants, regardless if it's morally gray or outright wrong. sam more or less acts on his own wants and desires - even at the cost of someone else's happiness or safety.

02. as i touched on earlier: no introspection. he does not want it; he does not do it. i think there's a degree of discomfort that comes with self-reflection, and the notion of "facing the music" or taking a good, hard look at yourself in the mirror and admitting why you are where you are, or why things happened the way they happened, would force him to see his own inadequacies and flaws. this also means he has a habit of doing the same unwanted things over and over and over again, and that he doesn't show or acknowledge the actual emotions he's keeping buried. what you see is a cultivated image and what sam wants you to see.

03. never being entirely transparent. this means lying by omission. if you ask sam, however, he does not consider this lying, and he's more likely to blame you for making assumptions.

body language:

01. lots and lots of gesticulating. he talks with his face, hands, and body to an almost absurd degree.

02. he skews and twists his mouth frequently when he's upset or is otherwise stewing in his own thoughts, though not necessarily negative.

03. this doesn't counts as body language, but he can be volatile and destructive when overwhelmed. the i-wreck-the-closest-thing-in-my-vicinity type.

aesthetics:

01. car salesman? i'm not sure if this is considered an aesthetic, but i think it conjures an image pretty much instantly. the done-up hair, the loud, bright suit, the larger-than-life, can't-shut-up, maybe obnoxious personality. there's probably the reflective pennant banners flapping in the background with big, bold advertisements.

02. bloodbo-rne. the entire world and the atmosphere is very ilhayl'ir and the spires. if you're unfamiliar with it, it's very gothic/victorian-esque, but as in shambles and ravaged by a beast "plague".

03. cityscapes. towering skyscrapers. the gray slab of a concrete jungle. very new york, always awake and bustling. sam is a man who belongs in the city.

songs (in no order):

01. "graceless" by the national (i'm trying, but i'm graceless / don't have the sunny side to face this / i am invisible and weightless / you can't imagine how i hate this / graceless)

02. "i know it's over" by the smiths (i can feel the soil falling over my head / see, the sea wants to take me / the knife wants to slit me / do you think you can help me?)

03. "sweet and tender hooligan" by the smiths (he was a sweet and tender hooligan, hooligan / he said that he'd never, never do it again / and of course he won't, oh / not until the next time)

tagged by: @miidnighters ty! tagging: @lcvnderhazed (manny), @abysswarden, @prvtocol, @bellecosebabe, @ghoulishundertakings, @escapedartgeek, @starlyht (any!)

[marshmallowprotection]

Oh I meant GE Saeran! I could see him, to some degree, befriending the RFA- maybe not Jumin or Yoosung for the reasons you mention, but maybe Jaehee and possibly Zen. Mainly Jaehee.

I also meant more like what flower he'd attribute to them based on flower language. I know that, surprisingly, dandelions can symbolize healing and perseverance, which I'd certainly attribute to both GE Saran, VAE, and SE. Sure, it's a weed, but is also used for herbal medicine!

Hilariously, I think of Dandelions when I think of SE Saeran as opposed to GE Saeran. SE Saeran and GE Saeran have vastly different relationships with the RFA.

I did do a tiny post about [The RFA as flowers] a long time ago. If you don't want the extra steps to look, I'll list them: Yoosung as Orange Blossom, Jaehee as White Heather, Zen as Red Roses, Jumin as Blue Violets, Saeyoung as Red Tulips, and V as Forget-Me-Nots. Those are reflective of their routes, not how I imagine Saeran might see them.

Though, I do think GE Saeran could have some overlap with the way I see it. Context is key in flower language so depending on who you're giving the flowers to and why matters in terms of what you're trying to express. Like, I imagine Saeran would keep Heather for Jaehee in this case. She is a protector and passionate about it, and he admires her for it. She deserves a delicate flower that never wavers in the face of fear.

For Yoosung and Zen who always believed in Saeran even if Saeran didn't know how to feel about him from the start? I imagine Yellow Tulips might be a good pick for both of them. It's like saying there's sunshine in your smile... and those two have always been like warm light on his back and yours as the player. Chrysanthemums might be a lovely addition since it's about being grateful to a friend in your life.

For Jumin? Hydrangeas. I think Saeran is grateful that Jumin has always been a listening ear who tries to understand others from the start. Jumin trusted him even though he had no reason to do so in the long run, and he risked his very livelihood on it. How could he not be grateful?

I might add Vanderwood in here and give him a cactus since they're all about endurance and enduring in the face of evil. Saeran might be sure to add a daisy, too. Vanderwood might be bloodied and ruined by the agency but they have a pure heart when it comes to Saeyoung and it's worth being thankful for. Nobody's thanked Vanderwood for keeping the brat alive and maybe they need to hear it.

Saeran would give his brother gladiolus. It's a flower that is born from the blood of soldiers fighting on the fields of combat. It's about your survival of the fight, honoring those who fall and remembering what you went through. I think giving that to his brother is a way of saying, "We survived our battle. We're free now."

[aroundtheworldiej]

The Dangerous relationship between illegal vapes and children

By Shaima Assadi

In the last couple years, in Europe but as everywhere else. Electronic vaporizers have surfaced, with several flavors, low nicotine levels (0.9%), and had young people become addicted.

Designed primarily to stop independence to tobacco, electronic cigarettes have become a new fashion among young people. In each country, the report is the same: these cigarettes are easy to access, their promotions on social networks do not really help these governments fight against this scourge.

Credits: Getty Images

Salesmen in shops or resellers on social networks make a lot of sales thanks to young minors. By not asking for identification, they are breaking the law in the UK. Sold at very affordable prices, young people are snapping them up. This is a matter of great concern to the local authorities.

What are UK rules on vaping?

only those aged 18 and over can buy vapes or e-cigarettes

certain ingredients, such a caffeine and taurine, are banned

nicotine ingredient warnings must appear on packaging

packaging should be childproof

All e-cigarette and e-liquids containing nicotine must be certified by the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) before they can be sold in the UK. Search for brands on the MHRA website

any product that is not listed should be returned to the shop where it was bought, or to your local Trading Standards office

anyone's experience of suspected side effects from using vapes can be sent to the MHRA via the Yellow Card scheme

nicotine-free e-cigarettes do not have to be certified by the MHRA - they are subject to product safety regulations by Trading Standards

Credits: Getty Images

[marie1-kersaint]

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South Korea Offers Aid to Flood-Stricken North Korea

If accepted, the help could lead to the first official dialogue in years between the two Koreas, which have recently been sending each other trash balloons and propaganda.

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An aerial view of a flooded stretch of land, with only some rooftops, trees and power lines visible in the brown water.

A photograph provided by North Korean state media shows flooding in the city of Sinuiju, North Korea, on Sunday.Credit...Korean Central News Agency, via Agence France-Presse — Getty Images

Choe Sang-Hun

By Choe Sang-Hun

Reporting from Seoul

Aug. 1, 2024

Sign up for Your Places: Extreme Weather. Get notified about extreme weather before it happens with custom alerts for places in the U.S. you choose. Get it sent to your inbox.

South Korea on Thursday offered to send humanitarian aid to North Korea after the isolated North reported extensive damage from floods in towns along its western border with China.

North Korea did not immediately respond. If the North accepts the offer, it could lead to the first official contact between​ the two Koreas in several years. After the collapse of direct diplomacy between its leader, Kim Jong-un, and the U.S. president at the time, Donald J. Trump, North Korea ​in 2020 cut off all official channels of dialogue with ​the South.

In recent days, North Korea​ has reported ​severe flood​s near the estuary where the Yalu River empties into the Yellow Sea after flowing along the North Korea-China border.​ State media reported that roads, railways and more than 4,100 homes were submerged, along with large swaths of farmland. Mr. Kim​ visited the area, ordering his military to use helicopters to evacuate ​thousands of villagers isolated by ​the flooding​.

“We offer sincere condolences for North Koreans who have suffered severe damage from torrential rains,” the South Korean government said in a statement on Thursday. “We express our willingness to quickly provide urgently needed items for the victims out of humanitarianism and compatriotic love for the North Korean people.”

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The statement added that South Korea was ready for dialogue through the two Korean Red Cross societies to determine the size and other details of humanitarian aid​. South Korean officials said that they were willing to provide food and medicine.

The offer was an unusual overture of reconciliation on the divided Korean Peninsula. As recently as a week ago, the two countries were accusing each other of “crude and dirty” ​provocations​, as North Korea sent balloons loaded with trash across the inter-Korean border, and the South retaliated by blaring K-pop and anti-Pyongyang propaganda ​into the North through loudspeakers.

Subscribe to The Times to read as many articles as you like.

Choe Sang-Hun is the lead reporter for The Times in Seoul, covering South and North Korea. More about Choe Sang-Hun

A version of this article appears in print on Aug. 2, 2024, Section A, Page 5 of the New York edition with the headline: Amid Floods, Seoul Offers North Korea Aid. Order Reprints | Today’s Paper | Subscribe

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[xtruss]

Photo: Here & Now/Co-Owner Tobly McSmith

The City’s Quiet Crackdown on Kava Bars. The Businesses Selling Kava and Kratom Have Found Themselves in a Legal No-Man’s-Land.

— By Chris Crowley, Senior Writer at Grub Street | CURBED

Tobly McSmith has had his kava bar Here & Now shuttered by Inspectors from the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene twice in the year and a half since it first opened on Allen and Bowery. “We’ve been scared of everybody who walks in,” McSmith says. In addition to pour-over Coffee and Espresso and Pots of Tea, McSmith sells Kava and Kratom Teas that his employees brew themselves, both plant-derived substances that his Clientele Consider Natural Options for Anxiety and Pain Relief and The health Agency Deems “Poisonous,” “Injurious to Health,” and “Unsafe.” This difference has led to the Bureaucratic Tug of War plaguing his business — from DOH violations for selling kava to a cease-and-desist letter to closure orders, two hearings, a trial, and a denial of his application to renew his food service establishment permit. He’s not alone — the city’s other kava bar owners are by now very familiar with the bright yellow signage announcing a shutdown: “Closed By the Order of the Commissions of Health and Mental Hygiene.”

The city’s quiet kava crackdown started in November 2022, when the Health Department issued a summons to KavaSutra, a kava bar on First Street. A couple of months later, KavaSutra got hit again at its 10th Street location, when the department “Embargoed” its kava products, according to a lawsuit KavaSutra’s owners later filed against New York City, Mayor Eric Adams, and the Health Department and Its Commissioner Ashwin Vasa. Then last spring, the agency shut down two kava bars in Williamsburg: Ka-Vá Kava Bar (the space is now a cannabis club) and Kava Social, which never reopened publicly but has operated as a private club since. It’s a fairly existential moment in the New York kava and kratom scene, but the saga has gone largely unnoticed by the wider public. This may be because it’s a small-ish market to begin with, a blip compared to the unlicensed cannabis market that has taken over the city’s retail landscape and baffled the city, state, and law enforcement officials tasked with regulating it. The client base for kava and kratom bars also includes a lot of recovering addicts, who are both used to being overlooked and perhaps would prefer to avoid any extra attention. (“I would say a good 60 to 65 of our customers are sober,” McSmith says.)

Craig, one of the regulars I met at Here & Now, said he started taking kava pills in 2010 after returning from Iraq, where he worked as a reporter for human rights organizations. “I was all kinds of messed up. I couldn’t sleep,” he says. He started using kratom early last year, when he walked by a kava bar. “I was like, this is the answer,” he says. Kava bars have since become a central part of his recovery, he says. “A lot of people here have helped me out. Staying on a couch, taking a shower,” he says of Here & Now. “I come here everyday, and I know all of these people.”

Kava, which is derived from the roots of the kava shrub, has for centuries had ceremonial and medicinal uses in the Pacific Islands, and those who use it find it calming and mood-enhancing without the judgment-impairing effects of alcohol. Many kava bars also sell kratom, which is made from the dried leaves of the kratom tree, an evergreen found in Southeast Asia. It’s also sold as a potent extract or pill at stores like Hot Sauce Exotics CBD & Kratom Store in little bottles that fit right alongside 5-Hour Energy drinks and poppers. Depending on the strength of the dose, it can act as a stimulant or a sedative, and it’s marketed here as a treatment for anxiety and addiction. Both are legal in the United States, but Only Kava Has Been Approved by the FDA as a dietary supplement for personal use (the agency says it has “Inadequate Information” on whether kratom poses a risk to consumers).

Together, Kava and Kratom are in a long line of regulatory puzzles the city has tried to solve over the years: CBD, Cannabis, Chefs curing their own charcuterie in-house, bodegas selling synthetic drugs like K2, and Chinatown business owners hanging Roast Duck in their windows. “It’s kind of a unique challenge for regulators to figure out how to tackle this because it is such a gray market industry,” says one lawyer whose clients include companies in the cannabis industry and others regulated by the FDA. She pointed to Tara Flour, which is made from the legumes of the plant of the same name, as an example of a substance that federal and state agencies struggled to regulate. In 2022, Daily Harvest recalled a product made with Tara Flour — a new ingredient in the US market — as the FDA and Center for Disease Control investigated reports of serious stomach pain from those who had consumed it. 500 people became ill, and 39 of them had their gallbladders removed. This May, two years after the initial recall, the FDA finally banned its use in food. Those in the kava and kratom industry have similarly seen uneven enforcement: federal regulators tend to go after the producers, while local agencies try to shut down sellers like Here & Now. And enforcement is uneven across the country; in Hawaii, where kava is Known as ‘Awa’ and is part of the native culture, the state’s Department of Health distinguishes between the way Hawaiians have consumed it for centuries, in beverage form, and the concentrated extracts that the health studies were based on. According to a 2023 World Health Organization report, there “are very few published adverse health effects arising from the traditional consumption” in the South Pacific. This is the method Here & Now says it is using.

Tobly McSmith behind the bar at Here & Now. Photo: Here & Now/Co-Owner Tobly McSmith

When McSmith’s bar was first hit with violations for selling kava last July, a health inspector made him dump all of the bar’s product — around $1,500 worth, McSmith says. It’s a sum that KavaSutra, a chain with several stores, could eat, but Here & Now, a smaller operation, couldn’t. In addition to dumping the product, McSmith had to promise not to sell kava and kratom and take down the menus.

The cease-and-desist order came the following month, and McSmith had a hearing in November. The judge ruled in the bar’s favor, dismissing the violations because of failure “to establish that kava or kratom is an adulterant, that when added to water, is poisonous, injurious to health, or unsafe.” The charges were also dismissed in a second hearing and in a December trial before an administrative law judge. None of this seemed to matter: the city wouldn’t renew Here & Now’s food service establishment permit and had issued a petition to revoke it. When reached about the kava bar shutdowns, a representative for the Health Department responded that New York health codes “prohibit” adding kava to food because of “significant” health risks: “We are requiring restaurants serving food containing kava or kratom to stop. And, if they refuse, we are requiring them to close.”

These substances can be dangerous, is the thing. In 2002, the FDA issued an advisory warning consumers that dietary supplements containing kava might be “associated with severe liver injury,” based on studies that measured the effects of highly-concentrated extracts, and in 2020, it published a memorandum concluding that kava is not generally recognized as safe. There have been dozens of lawsuits filed over kratom products, and one Washington family was awarded $2.5 million dollars in the wrongful death lawsuit of Patrick Coyne, who had been taking Kratom Divine’s Maeng Da strain to treat chronic back pain. Unlike Kava, Kratom is also found to mimic the effect of “scheduled opioid drugs,” according to the FDA. In a Tampa Bay Times analysis of 20 kratom products, researcher Abhisheak Sharma compared one of the tablets, 7ΩHMZ, to “legal morphine,” and a one-ounce bottle of another extract contained nine times the amount of mitragynine (an alkaloid in kratom that functions like opioids) that Sharma considers safe to consume in a day. And while kratom has been adopted by some as a tool for opioid recovery, some treatment groups think it’s detrimental to that process, and even potentially addictive.

But kava and kratom’s boosters make the same arguments as other harm reductionists: They’re just as invested in safety as the city. Shuttering legitimate businesses will only reward shady manufacturers. “Let’s regulate this. Let’s not sell extracts. Let’s have good sourcing. Let’s let customers know what the effects are,” McSmith says. “We’re all pro-regulation because it should be regulated. We don’t want people to get sick.” He says that Here & Now doesn’t sell extracts for this reason, and no other kava and kratom than what they brew in-house. Bartenders go through up to 20 hours of training, depending on their experience with kavatending, and McSmith says he’s careful about sourcing from reputable businesses. One night at Here & Now, he pulled out his phone to show me a photo of what he’d seen at a CBD shop. “Look at these kratom extracts,” he said. “No label, no real education about what you’re drinking, very high dosing, very dangerous.”

For now, McSmith is waiting for a sign that his legal limbo will end. The cafe’s permit expired in December, and he was told he had to wait to renew it until after the closure order was lifted. Then in February, after a judge recommended lifting that closure order, the permit renewal was still denied. His appeal was denied, too, in early May. This week, one of the bar’s regulars launched a GoFundMe to cover costs for the business’s “next legal step.” “We are closed by the city, no longer have a permit, and have until August to try and raise funds through donations and decide to challenge the arbitrary and capricious determination made by the city in state court under an Article 78 proceeding,” McSmith says. Health Department inspectors have been back twice, and cops paid the bar a visit as well.

Here & Now is still in business, kind of. The door is papered over, and curtains are drawn over the front doors. “It’s our community coming through to support us, for sure,” McSmith says. There are enough regulars to stay afloat, but it’s unclear how long this can last. For now, it seems unlikely that the city will come around to kava. Going back to court for the fourth time seems inevitable, he says: “They really try to drown you in paperwork and fines and lawyer time until you just give up.”

[whencyclopedia]

The Bear Man

The Bear Man is a Pawnee legend exemplifying the Native American understanding of the natural world and serving as an origin tale for the Bear Dance, which was performed to awaken the bears in spring from their winter hibernation and also to celebrate the season of choosing a mate. The Bear Dance is still performed by the Pawnee today.

The bear holds special significance for the Pawnee, as well as other Native American nations including the Ute, as a powerful animal and one of the Nahu'rac – the creatures who serve Ti-ra'wa ("Father Above"), as messengers and mediators – and who are considered brothers by various indigenous peoples. According to scholar Bobby Lake-Thom:

The Bear is always a good sign and a special power. He represents wisdom, insight, introspection, protection, and healing. If you see a Bear while hiking in the woods or along the river, then you know that a very sacred place is nearby. (78)

In The Bear Man, a father, concerned for his son, makes friends with a bear cub in hopes that the Nahu'rac will remember his kindness and look after his boy. Later in life, the Nahu'rac bears remember this kindness and repay it by bringing the boy back to life after he is killed in battle and teaching him their spiritual "medicine" (powers). The story shares similarities with other famous Pawnee tales including A Story of Faith and The Boy Who Was Sacrificed, which also feature the supernatural entities of the Nahu'rac.

The Bear Dance

In Native American belief, generally speaking, there is no spiritual difference between a human being, a plant, a tree, an animal, or a rock, as all things are imbued by the Creator with the same resonant energy. Humans are in no way superior to the natural world but are expected to act as stewards and care for their environment as they would for their own family and community. The Bear Dance grew out of this understanding as the dancers, as they perform wearing the bear hides which have been gifted to them by their bear relatives, become those bears and offer to others bear wisdom, healing, and power. Scholar Larry J. Zimmerman writes:

For Native North Americans, the boundaries between the world of the spirits and the world of living people were not clearly defined: a third "in-between" world of transition separated them. Every entity to some degree inhabited all three of these worlds. If a human carried out the appropriate rituals, he or she could be transformed into a being from one of the other two worlds.

Such transformations often duplicated events of the "beginning time" when the world came to be as it is through the agency of culture heroes and tricksters. On ceremonial occasions, an individual might assume the appearance of such a figure and be thought, literally, to become that being. When a holy man put on a yellow bear hide, for his audience he actually was the bear. (126)

The Bear Dance was (and is) always performed in the spring, waking the bears from their hibernation, and signaling the time for young men and women to choose mates. Among the Ute and Pawnee, the traditional roles of festivals are reversed at this time as men, instead of women, prepare the area for the dance, and women, instead of men, initiate the dance to find a suitable mate. The Bear Dance may last ten days to two weeks and honor the spirit of the bears as much as that of the community and the natural world at large.

Continue reading...

[ivfbabyscience]

How Much Water Should a Pregnant Woman Drink?

You already know that drinking lots of water is great for your health - really good for you. And when you're carrying a baby, it's no surprise that you need even more water. But how much water should you drink when you're pregnant? Keep reading the Baby Science IVF article to learn what fertility treatment experts say about staying hydrated during pregnancy.

Wondering how much water you should drink while pregnant?

During pregnancy, it's advised by fertility specialists like Dr. Manjunath CS, a medical director & sr. A consultant in the Department of Reproductive Medicine at Baby Science IVF Center, suggests adding 8 to 16 ounces more water per day. That typically means aiming for 8 to 12 cups daily, according to Dr. Nancy m Anitha, a women's sr. Fertility consultant expert.

Staying well-hydrated is crucial throughout pregnancy, emphasizes Nancy M. Anitha. But hitting the recommended 8 to 12 cups of water a day can be challenging, especially during the first trimester if you're battling morning sickness. Nancy M. Anitha stresses the importance of staying adequately hydrated in the third trimester to prevent issues like uterine irritability and preterm labor, and to prepare for potential blood loss during delivery.

Benefits of Staying Hydrated During Pregnancy

Drinking lots of water during pregnancy comes with numerous benefits. According to Dr. Aarthi Mani, staying hydrated supports fetal circulation and helps maintain healthy levels of amniotic fluid and blood volume. Adequate hydration also plays a role in influencing the levels of amniotic fluid surrounding the baby in the womb. Lewis says that low levels of amniotic fluid can impair fetal development and oxygenation.

Staying hydrated during pregnancy not only has health benefits but can also make you feel better overall. Dr. Aarthi Mani, dehydration raises the risk of low blood pressure, which can lead to feelings of lightheadedness and dizziness. Additionally, it increases the chances of experiencing cramping and preterm contractions. Aarthi Mani emphasizes that dehydration affects the uterus, which is a muscle, making it more susceptible to these issues.

Dr. Manjunath mentions that drinking water is also beneficial for preventing issues like constipation and urinary tract infections during pregnancy.

Is tap water safe to drink during pregnancy?

According to Dr. Manjunath CS, while tap water quality can vary by municipality, it's generally considered safe as long as it's sourced from a reliable source.

Tap water contains fluoride, which can support the development of the teeth and bones of the growing fetus." However, she notes that certain areas may have safety issues related to lead or other substances. While the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) regulates contaminants in drinking water, municipalities are obligated to publicly disclose the results of water testing. You can check the results for your area.

Dr. Anuprabha Karthik suggests, If you're concerned, you might consider purchasing a water filter to attach to your sink.

What other drinks can support hydration during pregnancy?

Are you tired of plain water? No need to worry! Here are some options to keep you hydrated during pregnancy:

 Flavored or sparkling water

 Non-caffeinated herbal teas

 Coconut water

 Diluted juices

 Water with flavoring, such as lemon, lime, or orange

Anuprabha Karthik highlight, The most important thing is to avoid consuming lots of high-sugar beverages. Additionally, it's crucial to limit caffeine intake during pregnancy. The Baby Science IVF fertility clinics in India suggests consuming no more than 200 milligrams per day. Lewis adds, Caffeinated beverages can contribute to dehydration, so they don't offer the same benefits as drinking water.

Not sure if you're drinking enough water? Dr. Manjunath suggests checking the color of your urine. "If you're well-hydrated, urine will appear very light yellow to clear and be odorless," she explains. "However, if you haven't been drinking enough water, urine will appear dark yellow or amber and have a more noticeable odor."

if you're struggling to meet your hydration needs, it's important to discuss this with best fertility centers in India Baby Science IVF. We provide personalized recommendations to assist you. In the meantime, keep hydrating!

Please note: The Bump and its content, including materials and information, are not meant to provide medical or health advice or diagnosis, and should not be relied upon as such. It's important to always consult with a qualified physician or health professional regarding your individual circumstances.

[whitepolaris]

The Casino at Radium Springs

Radium Springs was sacred to Native Americans, who believed the unique body of blue water led to the spirit underworld. They also believed the cold, pure springs had medicinal purposes and aggressively protected their location, according to Lamar Clifton, who wrote a history of the area. "Pondce de Leon was looking for the spring as the Fountain of Youth," Clifton says, "but the Indians didn't want him to find it. So they steered him to a spring farther south."

For decades, the depth of the limestone springs, Georgia's largest, was unknown, giving rise to speculation that they were bottomless. About 70,000 gallons a minute bubble to the surface at a constant sixty-eight degrees. The overflow created a lake, the runoff draining into the nearby Flint River. The grounds, then and now, are shaded by great live oak trees draped in Spanish moss. At any time of day, whether bathed in sunlight or shining in moonlight, the springs have a mystical beauty.

In 1925, publisher Barron Collier purchased the site and built a resort, which he named Radium Springs, for the trace element detected in chemical analysis. At its height, Radium Springs attracted locals, citizens, and vacationers from around the globe. Visitors could enjoy dancing, tennis, fishing, bridle paths, and a golf course. From the pool, stairs led to Skywater Lodge, later called The Casino, although the hotel never offered gambling. The lodge had beautiful cypress paneling in the ballroom, ornate crown molding, and massive windows. This unique architectural gem overlooked the grand spring and grounds, with yellow cottages scattered across the rolling lawns.

Unfortunately, a major flood in 1994 and another inundation four years later devastated the building and grounds. Following the floods, the property was obtained by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), which purchases flood-zone land across the country. FEMA gave the property to the county with the requirement that the building by demolished and the land left undeveloped. Preservationists hope to save the structure by moving it above the flood zone for use as a conference center, a museum, shops, and offices.

The eighty-five acres between the casino and the Flint River are considered one of Georgia's seven natural wonders. (The others are Stone Mountain, Okefenokee Swamp, Tallulah Gorge, Amicalola Falls, Warm Springs, and Providence Canyon.) The land has been purchased by the Georgia Department of Natural Resources in order to preserve the springs and lake, one of several "blue holes" located along the Flint. Radium Springs is located at 2501 Radium Springs Road.

[reasoningdaily]

Nganga - Wikipedia

A nganga (pl. banganga or kimbanda) is a spiritual healer, diviner, and ritual specialist in traditional Kongo religion.[1] These experts also exist across the African diaspora in countries where Kongo and Mbundu people were transported during the Atlantic slave trade, such as Brazil, the southern United States, Haiti and Cuba.

Etymology

Nganga means "expert" in the Kikongo language. The Portuguese corruption of the meaning was "fetisher."[2] It could also be derived from -ganga, which means "medicine" in Proto-Bantu. As this term is a multiple reflex of a Proto-Bantu root, there are slight variations on the term throughout the entire Bantu-speaking world.[citation needed]

Central Africa

Inyanga from Johannesburg, South Africa

In the Kingdom of Kongo and the Kingdom of Ndongo, expert healers, known as banganga, underwent extensive training to commune with the ancestors in the spiritual realms and seek guidance from them.[2] They possessed the skill to communicate with the ancestors in the spiritual realm, or Ku Mpémba, as well as divining the cause of illness, misfortune and social stress and preparing measures to address them, often by supernatural means and sacred medicine, or minkisi.[2]

They were also responsible for charging a nkisi, or physical objects intended to be the receptacle for spiritual forces that heal and protect its owner. When Kongo converted to Christianity in the late fifteenth century, the term nganga was used to translate Christian priest as well as traditional spiritual mediators.[3] In modern Kongo Christianity, priests are often called "Nganga a Nzambi" or "priests of God."[citation needed] The owner and operator of an nkisi, who ministered its powers to others, was the nganga.[4]

An English missionary describes how an nganga looks during his healing performance:

Thick circles of white around the eyes, a patch of red across the forehead, broad stripes of yellow are drawn down the cheeks, bands of red, white, or yellow run down the arms and across the chest.... His dress consists of the softened skins of wild animals, either whole or in strips, feathers of birds, dried fibres and leaves, ornaments of leopard, crocodile or rat's teeth, small tinkling bells, rattling seedpods...[4][5]

This wild appearance was intended to create a frightening effect, or kimbulua in the Kongo language. The nganga's costume was often modeled on his nkisi. The act of putting on the costume was itself part of the performance; all participants were marked with red and white stripes, called makila, for protection.[4]

The "circles of white around the eyes" refer to mamoni lines (from the verb mona, to see). These lines purport to indicate the ability to see hidden sources of illness and evil.[4]

Yombe nganga often wore white masks, whose color represented the spirit of a deceased person. White was also associated with justice, order, truth, invulnerability, and insight: all virtues associated with the nganga.[citation needed]

The nganga is instructed in the composition of the nkondi, perhaps in a dream, by a particular spirit. In one description of the banganga's process, the nganga then cuts down a tree for the wood that s/he will use to construct the nkondi. S/he then kills a chicken, which causes the death of a hunter who has been successful in killing game and whose captive soul subsequently animates the nkondi figure.[6] Based on this process, Gell writes that the nkondi is a figure an index of cumulative agency, a "visible knot tying together an invisible skein of spatio-temporal relations" of which participants in the ritual are aware.[7]

Southern Africa

A n'anga, close to Great Zimbabwe

In South Africa, the inyanga has a medicinal role, in contrast to the sangoma, who deals with divination and the ancestral spirits, however, the distinction has become blurred in some areas and many traditional healers tend to practice both arts.[8][9] In Swahili, mganga refers to a qualified physician or traditional healer.[citation needed]

Among the Shona people of Zimbabwe, a n'anga is a traditional healer who uses a combination of herbs, medical/religious advice and spiritual guidance to heal people. In Zimbabwe, N'angas are recognized and registered under the ZINATHA (Zimbabwe National Traditional Healer's Association).[10][11]

They are believed to have religious powers to tell fortunes, and to change, heal, bless or even kill people. Traditionally N’angas were people’s main source of help in all matters of life. They have existed for decades well before the British colonial era. Guerrilla leaders are said to have consulted with N’angas during the Rhodesian Bush War.[12]

Even today, N'angas are consulted by the people for advice and healing of many illnesses. Sometimes N'angas refer their patients to western medical practitioners and hospitals in case of emergency or illness they cannot cure with the help of their healing spirit.[13]

The Americas

In the United States, nganga, who acted as spiritual leaders, played a key role in Hoodoo practices, which combined Kongo religion, Christianity and indigenous American herbal knowledge.[2]

In Cuba, the term nganga refers to a clay pot or iron cauldron that is kept in the homes of Palo diviners, called paleros. Similar to mojo bags in the United States, these banganga contained items from important places in nature and spiritual items, such as forest dirt, volcanic ash, and the hair, ashes or bones of an ancestor. They were seen as means to honor Nzambi, the mpungo and mfumbi (ancestral spirits), and the forces of nature.[14]

Many inverted positions of capoeira, including bananeira, aú, rabo de arraia, and others, are believed to have originated from the use of handstand by nganga imitating their ancestors, who walked on their hands in the spirit world.

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