Smells and Bells

  Tarot Cards & the 6th Sense  By Ava Barry Just a mere few minutes ago I had the lovely experience of getting a tarot card reading by one of my classmates. In this reading I had an overall question about my future and what path I should go down. The cards show that I must look internally for this answer, and I may have been relaying too much on paths other people want me to take. Many people dismiss tarot card readings due to the subjectivity and mystery behind it, yet I look at it as a much different way. This reading shined a fresh light on a question I had been thinking much about, and coincidentally had a conversation with someone about earlier that day. In that conversation that happened far before the card reading, the person told me I have to take an introspective look at what I want. The classmate reading my tarot cards did not know I had this conversation earlier that day, yet this is exactly what she said my card spread meant. Coincidence? I think not. Some may ...

 Narcissus & His Lack of Touch By Ava Barry Last year I was offered the opportunity to study abroad in Athens Greece for a semester. And you know us study abroad kids will take any chance to tell talk about it, so here is me doing just that! During this experience, I was able to learn about stories I never would have known being a sociology major. Greek mythology rings true in our everyday lives, and we can heed many lessons from them if we listen close enough.  When learning the unit on touch, my mind was drawn back to those days sitting in the warm Athen's air listening to my professor tell us of the story of Narcissus. I will spare you the details if the story and give just the important points. Narcissus was a beautiful young man, yet throughout his life he was never allowed to look at himself, and therefore did not know his true reflection. One day he stumbled upon a puddle and was completely enthralled with the reflection in it. He fell madly in love. He was driven c...

Darśan To See & Be Seen By Ava Barry Darśan, a term that is seemingly unknown for may Americans who don't practice Hinduism. This term means to see or view a deity, sacred place, or sacred person and be seen back. Darśan is at the center-view of Hindu worship, for in Hinduism one believes that that the eyes are the windows to the divine. Images in Hinduism hold great meaning because the deities reside in the images of themselves. Moreover, images of deity's in your home must be taken care of by performing pūjā. The deities entrust themselves to the human to take care of them, and by doing this the people are given blessings.  Image of the deity Shiva- creative commons license Shivacropped.jpg " God is present in image, whether for a moment, for a week, or forever. It is this fact which is at the basis of darśan. People come to see because there is something powerful there to see. " - Diana L. Eck While I do not practice Hinduism, I can say that this act of seeing...

 The Power of a Pause Dr. Maria Ulfah & Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. By Ava Barry When I first heard Dr. Maria Ulfah I was spell bound. Sitting in my dorm room, listening to a video that was posted as homework for one of my classes. I was planning on only watching a mere one to two minutes of this 28 minute video, yet I found myself sitting there in awe as the minutes quickly flowed by. This video was of a Quran recitation. The audience in the video was full, yet we [the viewers] didn't hear a sound other than her voice echoing through us.  "Indonesian audiences are not known for silence, even in the context of formal events. In this case, however, although the women enjoyed the snacks provided and some of them whispered to one another, there was relative silence for the duration of the presentation and recitation. At this event and the many others I attended where she was a featured (and paid) reciter, Maria Ulfah commanded an attentive audience." (Rasmussen, 205) For ...

The Aesthetics of Food Is There a Greater Purpose? by Ava Barry Look at the two images below- which looks yummier to you? Is it the image to the left... or the image to the right? Do you have your answer yet? If you choose based on the meal being prepared, then good for you; however, I'd dare to say that most of us choose the image on the right because it was presented more aesthetically. Maybe it is the array of beautiful colors, the lighting, or maybe its that it isn't merely just one dish, rather it is a spread. Maybe it is because the image on the left is really nailing the yellow-brown tint... However, the fact of the matter is that no one here has eaten either of these meals. Maybe you have had a meal similar, but you have not eaten these in particular. You may have just chosen your imaginary meal based on pure aesthetics rather than taste.  Images found through un splash creative commons license  But, don't be embarrassed, many of us do the same thing! When I prepare...

Perfuming As Obedience By Ava Barry ... The word obedience often has a negative connotation to it, but what if something was telling you to act obediently every day? Every second? What if I told you that almost all people are obedient to standards set by society and/or religious doctrines. In Deborah Green's book, The Aroma of Righteousness, she speaks about the importance that scent has in both rabbinic life and scripture. Green shows the reader different interpretations of scent from different midrashim. Therefore, women putting perfume on shows that it inherently is a form of obedience. “‘And why does a woman need to perfume herself, but a man does not need to perfume himself?’ He said to them, ‘Adam was created from the earth, and the earth never decomposes. But Eve was created from bone. For example, if you leave meat three days and it is not salted, it becomes putrid.’” (Gen. Rab. 17:8) Green, 137 This quote emphasizes how this midrash speaks of women perfuming themselves n...

Touch: The Capabilities of our Mind  By Ava Barry As a society, we joke about touch all the time. We say to our cranky friend, “You must be touch-deprived”, but what does that mean? Being touch-deprived sounds like a horrible life! Touch is essential to our happiness. If you are reading this, as a touch-deprived folk, thinking oh you are being overdramatic, it isn’t that bad - I am going to stop you there. It is that bad. In Daniel Ackerman’s book, The Natural History of the Senses, she explains a study of touch conducted on monkeys. In this study, they found that “a relatively small amount of touch deprivation alone caused brain damage, which was often displayed in the monkeys [test subject] as aberrant behavior”. Lack of touch can be detrimental to us, even if we are unaware of it . Touch us something that changes your whole mood, for it makes people feel happier.  If you are still not buying it, just think of how great you feel after a long hug from a l...