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This is what they consider accomplished and propagate as an oracle." Latter reports were produced by Juan Magnin in 1740, describing ayahuasca use as a medicinal plant by the Jivaroan peoples (called "ayahuessa") and by Franz Xaver Veigl in 1768, that reports about several "dangerous plants", including a bitter liana used for precognition and sorcery. All these reports were written in context of Jesuit missions in South America, specially the Mainas missions, in Latin and sent only to Rome, so their audience wasn't very large and they were promptly lost in the archives. For this reason, ayahuasca didn't receive interest for the entire subsequent century.
Early academic research.
In academic discourse, the initial mention of ayahuasca dates back to Manuel Villavicencio's 1858 book, "Geografía de la República del Ecuador." This work vividly delineates the employment and rituals involving ayahuasca by the Jivaro people. Concurrently, Richard Spruce embarked on an Amazonian expedition in 1852 to collect and classify previously unidentified botanical specimens.
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Concurrently, Richard Spruce embarked on an Amazonian expedition in 1852 to collect and classify previously unidentified botanical specimens. During this journey, Spruce encountered and documented "Banisteriopsis caapi" (at time named "Banisteria caapi") and observed an ayahuasca ceremony among the Tucano community situated along the Vaupés River. Subsequently, Spruce uncovered the usage and cultivation of "B. caapi" among various indigenous groups dispersed across the Amazon and Orinoco basins, like the Guahibo and Sápara. These multifarious encounters, together with Spruce's personal accounts of subjective ayahuasca experiences, were collated in his work, "Notes of a Botanist On The Amazon and Andes.". By the end of the century, other explorers and anthropologists contributed more extensive documentation concerning ayahuasca, notably the Theodor Koch-Grünberg's documents about Tucano and Arecuna's rituals and ceremonies, Stradelli's first-hand reports of ayahuasca rituals and mythology along the Jurupari and Vaupés and Alfred Simson's first description of admixture of several ingredients in the making of ayahuasca in Putumayo region, published in 1886.
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In 1905, Rafael Zerda Bayón named the active extract of ayahuasca as "telepathine," a name latter used by the Colombian chemist Guillermo Fischer Cárdenas when he isolated the substance in 1932. Contemporaneously, Lewin and Gunn were independently studying the properties of the "banisterine," extracted of the "B. caapi," and its effects on animal models. Further clinical trials were being conducted, exploring the effects of banisterine on Parkinson's disease. Later it was found that both "telepathine" and "banisterine" are the same substance, identical to a chemical already isolated from "Peganum harmala" and given the name Harmine.
Shamanism, "mestizos" and "vegetalistas".
Researchers like Peter Gow and Brabec de Mori argue that ayahuasca use indeed developed alongside the Jesuit missions after the 17th century. By examining the ícaros (ayahuasca-related healing chants), they found that the chants are always sung in Quechua (a lingua franca along the Jesuit and Franciscan missions in the region), no matter the linguistic background of the group, with similar language structures between different ícaros that are markedly different from other indigenous songs. Moreover, often the cosmology of ayahuasca often mirrors the Catholicism, with particular similarities in the belief that ayahuasca is thought to be the body of "ayahuascamama" that is imbibed as part of the ritual, like wine and bread are taken as being the body and blood of Jesus Christ during Christian Eucharist. Brabec de Mori called this “Christian camouflage” and suggested that rather than being a way for disguising the ayahuasca ritual, it suggests that practice evolved entirely within these contexts.
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Indeed, the colonial processes in Western Amazon are intrinsically related with the development of ayahuasca use in the last three centuries, as it promoted a deep reshape in traditional ways of life in the region. Many indigenous groups moved into the Missions, seeking protection from death and slavery promoted by the Bandeiras, inter-tribal violence, starvation and disease (smallpox). This movement resulted in an intense cultural exchange and resulted in the formation of "mestizos" (in Spanish) or "caboclos" (in Portuguese), a social category formed by people with mixture of European and native ancestry, who were an important part of the economy and culture of the region. According to Peter Gow, the ayahuasca shamanism (the use of ayahuasca by a trained shaman to diagnose and cure illnesses) was developed by these "mestizos" in the processes of colonial transformation. The Amazon rubber cycles (1879–1912 and 1945–1945) sped up these transformations, due to slavery, genocide and brutality against indigenous populations and large migratory movements, specially from the Brazilian Northeast Region as a workforce for the rubber plantations. The "mestizo" practices became deeply intertwined with the culture of rubber workers, called "caucheros" (in Spanish) or "seringueiros" (in Portuguese). Ayahuasca use with therapeutic goals is the main result of this Trans-cultural diffusion, with some practitioners pointing the "caucheros" as the main responsible for using ayahuasca to cure all sort of ailments of the body, mind and soul, with even some regions using the term "Yerba de Cauchero" ("rubber-worker herb"). As a result, the ayahuasca shamans in urban areas and "mestizo" settlements, specially in the regions of Iquitos and Pucallpa (in Peru), became the "vegetalistas," folk healers who are said to gain all their knowledge from the plants and the spirits bound to it.
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So the "vegetalist" movement was a heterogeneous mixture of Western Amazon ("mestizo" shamanic practices and "cauchero" culture) and Andean elements (shaped by other migratory movements, like those originated from Cuzco through Urubamba Valley and from western Ecuador), influenced by Christian aspects derived from the Jesuit missions, as reflected by the mythology, rituals and moral codes related to "vegetalista" ayahuasca use.
Ayahuasca religions.
Although "mestizo", "vegetalista" and indigenous ayahuasca use was part of a longer tradition, these several configurations of "mestizo vegetalismo" were not isolated phenomena. In the end of the nineteenth century, several messianic/millennialist cults sparkled across semi-urban areas across the entire Amazon region, merging different elements of indigenous and "mestizo" folk culture with Catholicism, Spiritism and Protestantism.
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In the end of the nineteenth century, several messianic/millennialist cults sparkled across semi-urban areas across the entire Amazon region, merging different elements of indigenous and "mestizo" folk culture with Catholicism, Spiritism and Protestantism. These new cults arise from charismatic leaderships, often messianic and prophetic, who came from rural areas after migration movements, sometimes called "ayahuasqueiros", in semi-urban communities across the borders of Brazil, Bolívia and Peru (a region that will later form the state of Acre). This new configuration of these belief systems is referred by Goulart as "tradição religiosa ayahuasqueira urbana amazônica" ("urban-amazonian "ayahuasqueiro" religious tradition") or "campo ayahuasqueiro brasileiro" ("brazilian "ayahuasqueiro" field") by Labate, emerging as three main structured religions, the Santo Daime and Barquinha, in Rio Branco and the União do Vegetal (UDV) in Porto Velho, three denominations that, notwithstanding shared characteristics besides ayahuasca utilization, in Rio Branco and the União do Vegetal (UDV) in Porto Velho, three denominations that, notwithstanding shared characteristics besides ayahuasca utilization, have several particularities regarding its practices, conceptions and processes building social legitimacy and relationships with Brazilian government, media, science and other society stances. conceptions and processes building social legitimacy and relationships with Brazilian government, media, science and other society stances. Since the latter half of twentieth century, the ayahuasca religious expanded to other parts of Brazil and several countries in the world, notably in the West.
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Modern use.
Beat writer William S. Burroughs read a paper by Richard Evans Schultes on the subject and while traveling through South America in the early 1950s sought out ayahuasca in the hopes that it could relieve or cure opiate addiction (see "The Yage Letters"). Ayahuasca became more widely known when the McKenna brothers published their experience in the Amazon in "True Hallucinations". Dennis McKenna later studied pharmacology, botany, and chemistry of ayahuasca and oo-koo-he, which became the subject of his master's thesis.
Richard Evans Schultes allowed Claudio Naranjo to make a special journey by canoe up the Amazon River to study ayahuasca with the South American Indians. He brought back samples of the beverage and published the first scientific description of the effects of its active alkaloids.
In recent years, the brew has been popularized by Wade Davis ("One River)," English novelist Martin Goodman in "I Was Carlos Castaneda", Chilean novelist Isabel Allende, writer Kira Salak, author Jeremy Narby ("The Cosmic Serpent"), author Jay Griffiths ("Wild: An Elemental Journey"), American novelist Steven Peck, radio personality Robin Quivers, writer Paul Theroux (""), and NFL quarterback Aaron Rodgers.
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Preparation.
Sections of "Banisteriopsis caapi" vine are macerated and boiled alone or with leaves from any of a number of other plants, including "Psychotria viridis" ("chacruna"), "Diplopterys cabrerana" (also known as "chaliponga" and "chacropanga"), and "Mimosa tenuiflora", among other ingredients which can vary greatly from one shaman to the next. The resulting brew may contain the powerful psychedelic drug dimethyltryptamine and monoamine oxidase inhibiting harmala alkaloids, which are necessary to make the DMT orally active by allowing it (DMT) to be processed by the liver. The traditional making of ayahuasca follows a ritual process that requires the user to pick the lower Chacruna leaf at sunrise, then say a prayer. The vine must be "cleaned meticulously with wooden spoons" and pounded "with wooden mallets until it's fibre."
Brews can also be made with plants that do not contain DMT, "Psychotria viridis" being replaced by plants such as "Justicia pectoralis", "Brugmansia", or sacred tobacco, also known as "mapacho" ("Nicotiana rustica"), or sometimes left out with no replacement. This brew varies radically from one batch to the next, both in potency and psychoactive effect, based mainly on the skill of the shaman or brewer, as well as other admixtures sometimes added and the intent of the ceremony. Natural variations in plant alkaloid content and profiles also affect the final concentration of alkaloids in the brew, and the physical act of cooking may also serve to modify the alkaloid profile of harmala alkaloids.
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The actual preparation of the brew takes several hours, often taking place over the course of more than one day. After adding the plant material, each separately at this stage, to a large pot of water, it is boiled until the water is reduced by half in volume. The individual brews are then added together and brewed until reduced significantly. This combined brew is what is taken by participants in ayahuasca ceremonies.
Traditional use.
The uses of ayahuasca in traditional societies in South America vary greatly. Some cultures do use it for shamanic purposes, but in other cases, it is consumed socially among friends, in order to learn more about the natural environment, and even in order to visit friends and family who are far away.
Nonetheless, people who work with ayahuasca in non-traditional contexts often align themselves with the philosophies and cosmologies associated with ayahuasca shamanism, as practiced among Indigenous peoples like the Urarina of the Peruvian Amazon. Dietary taboos are often associated with the use of ayahuasca, although these seem to be specific to the culture around Iquitos, Peru, a major center of ayahuasca tourism. Ayahuasca retreats or "healing centers" can also be found in the Sacred Valley of Peru, in areas such as Cusco and Urubamba, where similar dietary preparations can be observed. These retreats often employ members of the Shipibo-Konibo tribe, an indigenous community native to the Peruvian Amazon.
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In the rainforest, these taboos tend towards the purification of one's self—abstaining from spicy and heavily seasoned foods, excess fat, salt, caffeine, acidic foods (such as citrus) and sex before, after, or during a ceremony. A diet low in foods containing tyramine has been recommended, as the speculative interaction of tyramine and MAOIs could lead to a hypertensive crisis; however, evidence indicates that harmala alkaloids act only on MAO-A, in a reversible way similar to moclobemide (an antidepressant that does not require dietary restrictions). Dietary restrictions are not used by the highly urban Brazilian ayahuasca church União do Vegetal, suggesting the risk is much lower than perceived and probably non-existent.
The ritual use of ayahuasca by the Achuar people is featured in the Bruce Parry 2008 documentary series "Amazon", in which Parry forces himself to participate in the rite.
Ceremony and the role of shamans.
Shamans, curanderos and experienced users of ayahuasca advise against consuming ayahuasca when not in the presence of one or several well-trained shamans.
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In some areas, there are purported "brujos" (Spanish for "witches") who masquerade as real shamans and who entice tourists to drink ayahuasca in their presence. Shamans believe one of the purposes for this is to steal one's energy and/or power, of which they believe every person has a limited stockpile.
The shamans lead the ceremonial consumption of the ayahuasca beverage, in a rite that typically takes place over the entire night. During the ceremony, the effect of the drink lasts for hours. Prior to the ceremony, participants are instructed to abstain from spicy foods, red meat and sex. The ceremony is usually accompanied with purging which include vomiting and diarrhea, which is believed to release built-up emotions and negative energy.
Shipibo-Konibo and their relation to Ayahuasca.
It is believed that the Shipibo-Konibo are among the earliest practitioners of Ayahuasca ceremonies, with their connection to the brew and ceremonies surrounding it dating back centuries, perhaps a millennium.
Some members of the Shipibo community have taken to the media to express their views on Ayahuasca entering the mainstream, with some calling it "the commercialization of ayahuasca." Some of them have even expressed their worry regarding the increased popularity, saying "the contemporary 'ayahuasca ceremony' may be understood as a substitute for former cosmogonical rituals that are nowadays not performed anymore."
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Icaros.
The Shipibo have their own language, called Shipibo, a Panoan language spoken by approximately 26,000 people in Peru and Brazil. This language is commonly sung by the shaman in the form of a chant, called an Icaro, during the Ayahuasca ritual as a way to establish a "balance of energy" during the ritual to help protect and guide the user during their experience.
Traditional brew.
Traditional ayahuasca brews are usually made with "Banisteriopsis caapi" as an MAOI, while dimethyltryptamine sources and other admixtures vary from region to region. There are several varieties of caapi, often known as different "colors", with varying effects, potencies, and uses.
DMT admixtures:
Other common admixtures:
Common admixtures with their associated ceremonial values and spirits:
Non-traditional use.
In the late 20th century, the practice of ayahuasca drinking began spreading to Europe, North America and elsewhere. The first ayahuasca churches, affiliated with the Brazilian Santo Daime, were established in the Netherlands. A legal case was filed against two of the Church's leaders, Hans Bogers (one of the original founders of the Dutch Santo Daime community) and Geraldine Fijneman (the head of the Amsterdam Santo Daime community). Bogers and Fijneman were charged with distributing a controlled substance (DMT); however, the prosecution was unable to prove that the use of ayahuasca by members of the Santo Daime constituted a sufficient threat to public health and order such that it warranted denying their rights to religious freedom under ECHR Article 9. The 2001 verdict of the Amsterdam district court is an important precedent. Since then groups that are not affiliated to the Santo Daime have used ayahuasca, and a number of different "styles" have been developed, including non-religious approaches.
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Ayahuasca analogs.
In modern Europe and North America, ayahuasca analogs are often prepared using non-traditional plants which contain the same alkaloids. For example, seeds of the Syrian rue plant can be used as a substitute for the ayahuasca vine, and the DMT-rich "Mimosa hostilis" is used in place of "chacruna". Australia has several indigenous plants which are popular among modern "ayahuasqueros" there, such as various DMT-rich species of "Acacia".
The name "ayahuasca" specifically refers to a botanical decoction that contains "Banisteriopsis caapi". A synthetic version, known as pharmahuasca, is a combination of an appropriate MAOI and typically DMT. In this usage, the DMT is generally considered the main psychoactive active ingredient, while the MAOI merely preserves the psychoactivity of orally ingested DMT, which would otherwise be destroyed in the gut before it could be absorbed in the body. In contrast, traditionally among Amazonian tribes, the "B. Caapi" vine is considered to be the "spirit" of ayahuasca, the gatekeeper, and guide to the otherworldly realms.
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Brews similar to ayahuasca may be prepared using several plants not traditionally used in South America:
DMT admixtures:
MAOI admixtures:
Effects.
Adverse effects.
In the short term, ingesting Ayahuasca can cause nausea, vomiting and diarrhea. These three effects, known as purging, are traditionally recognized to be a part of the spiritual experience of ayahuasca. Physiologically, vomiting is a result of increased serotonin circulating in the gut, which directly stimulates the vagus nerve. Other short-term side effects include increased blood pressure and tachycardia. Additionally, increased secretion of hormones like prolactin, cortisone, and growth hormone has been correlated with ayahuasca consumption. Rarer side effects include dyspnea, seizures and serotonin syndrome. Ayahuasca is suspected of triggering psychosis in people with a predisposition to the condition, and there is a lack of safety information for Ayahuasca's possible effects on pregnancy and breastfeeding.
Psychological effects.
People who have consumed ayahuasca report having mystical experiences and spiritual revelations regarding their purpose on earth, the true nature of the universe, and deep insight into how to be the best person they possibly can. Many people also report therapeutic effects, especially around depression and personal traumas.
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This is viewed by many as a spiritual awakening and what is often described as a near-death experience or rebirth. It is often reported that individuals feel they gain access to higher spiritual dimensions and make contact with various spiritual or extra-dimensional beings who can act as guides or healers.
The experiences that people have while under the influence of ayahuasca are also culturally influenced. Westerners typically describe experiences with psychological terms like "ego death" and understand the hallucinations as repressed memories or metaphors of mental states. However, at least in Iquitos, Peru (a center of ayahuasca ceremonies), those from the area describe the experiences more in terms of the actions in the body and understand the visions as reflections of their environment, sometimes including the person who they believe caused their illness, as well as interactions with spirits.
Most psychological effects can be accredited to the influx of serotonin caused by the psychoactive combination of DMT with "beta-"carbolines. Serotonin stimulates a group of G-protein coupled receptors known as 5-HT receptors. Specifically, stimulation of the 5-HT2A receptor type is correlated with hallucinogenic effects.
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Potential therapeutic effects.
There are potential antidepressant and anxiolytic effects of ayahuasca.
Ayahuasca has also been studied for the treatment of addictions and shown to be effective, with lower Addiction Severity Index scores seen in users of ayahuasca compared to controls. Ayahuasca users have also been seen to consume less alcohol.
Pharmacology.
Harmala alkaloids.
Harmala alkaloids are MAO-inhibiting "beta"-carbolines. The three most studied harmala alkaloids in the "B. caapi" vine are harmine, harmaline and tetrahydroharmine. Harmine and harmaline are selective and reversible inhibitors of monoamine oxidase A (MAO-A), while tetrahydroharmine is a weak serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SRI).
Individual polymorphisms of the cytochrome P450-2D6 enzyme, and more over the isolated indocine metabolite from the inhabitation of CPY134a, with a varied rate of gustation due to physiological factors affect the ability of individuals to metabolize harmine.
Legal status.
Internationally, DMT is a Schedule I drug under the Convention on Psychotropic Substances. The Commentary on the Convention on Psychotropic Substances notes, however, that the plants containing it are not subject to international control:
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A fax from the Secretary of the International Narcotics Control Board (INCB) to the Netherlands Ministry of Public Health sent in 2001 goes on to state that "Consequently, preparations (e.g. decoctions) made of these plants, including ayahuasca, are not under international control and, therefore, not subject to any of the articles of the 1971 Convention."
Despite the INCB's 2001 affirmation that ayahuasca is not subject to drug control by international convention, in its 2010 Annual Report the Board recommended that governments consider controlling (i.e. criminalizing) ayahuasca at the national level. This recommendation by the INCB has been criticized as an attempt by the Board to overstep its legitimate mandate and as establishing a reason for governments to violate the human rights (i.e., religious freedom) of ceremonial ayahuasca drinkers.
Under American federal law, DMT is a Schedule I drug that is illegal to possess or consume; however, certain religious groups have been legally permitted to consume ayahuasca. A court case allowing the União do Vegetal to import and use the tea for religious purposes in the United States, "Gonzales v. O Centro Espírita Beneficente União do Vegetal", was heard by the U.S. Supreme Court on November 1, 2005; the decision, released February 21, 2006, allows the UDV to use the tea in its ceremonies pursuant to the Religious Freedom Restoration Act. In a similar case in Ashland, Oregon-based Santo Daime church sued for their right to import and consume ayahuasca tea. In March 2009, U.S. District Court Judge Panner ruled in favor of the Santo Daime, acknowledging its protection from prosecution under the Religious Freedom Restoration Act.
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In 2017 the Santo Daime Church Céu do Montréal in Canada received religious exemption to use ayahuasca as a sacrament in their rituals.
Religious use in Brazil was legalized after two official inquiries into the tea in the mid-1980s, which concluded that ayahuasca is not a recreational drug and has valid spiritual uses.
In France, Santo Daime won a court case allowing them to use the tea in early 2005; however, they were not allowed an exception for religious purposes, but rather for the simple reason that they did not perform chemical extractions to end up with pure DMT and harmala and the plants used were not scheduled. Four months after the court victory, the common ingredients of ayahuasca as well as harmala were declared "stupéfiants", or narcotic schedule I substances, making the tea and its ingredients illegal to use or possess.
In June 2019, Oakland, California, decriminalized natural entheogens. The City Council passed the resolution in a unanimous vote, ending the investigation and imposition of criminal penalties for use and possession of entheogens derived from plants or fungi. The resolution states: "Practices with Entheogenic Plants have long existed and have been considered to be sacred to human cultures and human interrelationships with nature for thousands of years, and continue to be enhanced and improved to this day by religious and spiritual leaders, practicing professionals, mentors, and healers throughout the world, many of whom have been forced underground."
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In January 2020, Santa Cruz, California, and in September 2020, Ann Arbor, Michigan, decriminalized natural entheogens.
Intellectual property issues.
Ayahuasca has stirred debate regarding intellectual property protection of traditional knowledge. In 1986 the US Patent and Trademarks Office (PTO) allowed the granting of a patent on the ayahuasca vine "B. caapi". It allowed this patent based on the assumption that ayahuasca's properties had not been previously described in writing. Several public interest groups, including the Coordinating Body of Indigenous Organizations of the Amazon Basin (COICA) and the Coalition for Amazonian Peoples and Their Environment (Amazon Coalition) objected. In 1999 they brought a legal challenge to this patent which had granted a private US citizen "ownership" of the knowledge of a plant that is well-known and sacred to many Indigenous peoples of the Amazon, and used by them in religious and healing ceremonies.
Later that year the PTO issued a decision rejecting the patent, on the basis that the petitioners' arguments that the plant was not "distinctive or novel" were valid; however, the decision did not acknowledge the argument that the plant's religious or cultural values prohibited a patent. In 2001, after an appeal by the patent holder, the US Patent Office reinstated the patent, albeit to only a specific plant and its asexually reproduced offspring. The law at the time did not allow a third party such as COICA to participate in that part of the reexamination process. The patent, held by US entrepreneur Loren Miller, expired in 2003.
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Alfonso Leng
Alfonso Leng Haygus (11 February 1884 – 11 November 1974) was a post-romantic composer of classical music. He was born in Santiago, Chile. He wrote the first important symphonic work in Chilean tradition, "La Muerte de Alcino", a symphonic poem inspired by the novel of Pedro Prado. He composed many art songs in different languages and important piano pieces, like the five "Doloras" (1914), which he later orchestrated and are normally played in concerts in Chile and Latin America. He won the National Art Prize in 1957.
Leng was also an accomplished dentist in Santiago. As a dentist, he was the main founder of the dentistry faculty of the University of Chile, and he was eventually elected as the first dean.
Leng was the nephew of composer Carmela Mackenna.
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Abbe number
In optics and lens design, the Abbe number, also known as the Vd-number or constringence of a transparent material, is an approximate measure of the material's dispersion (change of refractive index versus wavelength), with high values of "Vd" indicating low dispersion. It is named after Ernst Abbe (1840–1905), the German physicist who defined it. The term Vd-number should not be confused with the normalized frequency in fibers.
The Abbe number, formula_1 of a material is defined as
where formula_3 formula_4 and formula_5 are the refractive indices of the material at the wavelengths of the Fraunhofer's C, d, and F spectral lines (656.3 nm, 587.56 nm, and 486.1 nm respectively). This formulation only applies to the human vision. Outside this range requires the use of different spectral lines. For non-visible spectral lines the term "V-number" is more commonly used. The more general formulation defined as,
where formula_7 formula_8 and formula_9 are the refractive indices of the material at three different wavelengths. The shortest wavelength's index is formula_10, and the longest's is formula_11.
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Abbe numbers are used to classify glass and other optical materials in terms of their chromaticity. For example, the higher dispersion flint glasses have relatively small Abbe numbers formula_12 whereas the lower dispersion crown glasses have larger Abbe numbers. Values of formula_13 range from below 25 for very dense flint glasses, around 34 for polycarbonate plastics, up to 65 for common crown glasses, and 75 to 85 for some fluorite and phosphate crown glasses.
Abbe numbers are used in the design of achromatic lenses, as their "reciprocal" is proportional to dispersion (slope of refractive index versus wavelength) in the wavelength region where the human eye is most sensitive (see graph). For different wavelength regions, or for higher precision in characterizing a system's chromaticity (such as in the design of apochromats), the full dispersion relation (refractive index as a function of wavelength) is used.
Abbe diagram.
An Abbe diagram, also called 'the glass veil', is produced by plotting the Abbe number formula_13 of a material versus its refractive index formula_15 Glasses can then be categorised and selected according to their positions on the diagram. This can be a letter-number code, as used in the Schott Glass catalogue, or a 6 digit glass code.
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Glasses' Abbe numbers, along with their mean refractive indices, are used in the calculation of the required refractive powers of the elements of achromatic lenses in order to cancel chromatic aberration to first order. These two parameters which enter into the equations for design of achromatic doublets are exactly what is plotted on an Abbe diagram.
Due to the difficulty and inconvenience in producing sodium and hydrogen lines, alternate definitions of the Abbe number are often substituted (ISO 7944). For example, rather than the standard definition given above, that uses the refractive index variation between the F and C hydrogen lines, one alternative measure using the subscript "e" for mercury's e line compared to cadmium's and lines is
This alternate takes the difference between cadmium's blue () and red () refractive indices at wavelengths 480.0 nm and 643.8 nm, relative to formula_17 for mercury's e line at 546.073 nm, all of which are close by, and somewhat easier to produce than the C, F, and e lines. Other definitions can similarly be employed; the following table lists standard wavelengths at which formula_18 is commonly determined, including the standard subscripts used.
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Derivation.
Starting from the Lensmaker's equation we obtain the thin lens equation by dropping a small term that accounts for lens thickness, formula_19:
when formula_21
The change of refractive power formula_22 between the two wavelengths formula_23 and formula_24 is given by
where formula_26 and formula_27 are the short and long wavelengths' refractive indexes, respectively, and formula_28 below, is for the center.
The power difference can be expressed relative to the power at the center wavelength (formula_29)
by multiplying and dividing by formula_31 and regrouping, get
The relative change is inversely proportional to formula_33
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AD (disambiguation)
AD ("Anno Domini") is a designation used to label years following 1 BC in the Julian and Gregorian calendars.
Ad (advertisement) is a form of marketing communication.
AD, A.D. or Ad may also refer to:
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Ablative case
In grammar, the ablative case (pronounced ; abbreviated ) is a grammatical case for nouns, pronouns, and adjectives in the grammars of various languages. It is used to indicate motion away from something, make comparisons, and serve various other purposes. The word "ablative" derives from the Latin , the (suppletive) perfect, passive participle of "auferre" "to carry away".
The ablative case is found in several language families, such as Indo-European (e.g. Sanskrit, Latin, Albanian, Armenian, Punjabi), Turkic (e.g. Turkish, Turkmen, Azerbaijani, Uzbek, Kazakh, Kyrgyz, Tatar), Tungusic (e.g. Manchu, Evenki), Uralic (e.g. Hungarian), and the Dravidian languages. There is no ablative case in modern Germanic languages such as German and English. There was an ablative case in the early stages of Ancient Greek, but it quickly fell into disuse by the classical period.
Indo-European languages.
Latin.
The ablative case in Latin () appears in various grammatical constructions, including following various prepositions, in an ablative absolute clause, and adverbially. The Latin ablative case was derived from three Proto-Indo-European cases: ablative (from), instrumental (with), and locative (in/at).
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Greek.
In Ancient Greek, there was an ablative case ( ) which was used in the Homeric, pre-Mycenaean, and Mycenean periods. It fell into disuse during the classical period and thereafter with some of its functions taken by the genitive and others by the dative. The genitive case with the prepositions and is an example.
German.
German does not have an ablative case but, exceptionally, Latin ablative case-forms were used from the seventeenth to the nineteenth century after some prepositions, for example after in : ablative of the Latin loanword . Grammarians at that time, Justus Georg Schottel, Kaspar von Stieler, Johann Balthasar von Antesperg and Johann Christoph Gottsched, listed an ablative case (as the sixth case after nominative, genitive, dative, accusative and vocative) for German words. They arbitrarily considered the dative case after some prepositions to be an ablative, as in and , while they considered the dative case after other prepositions or without a preposition, as in , to be a dative.
Albanian.
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The ablative case is found in Albanian; it is the fifth case, .
Sanskrit.
In Sanskrit, the ablative case is the fifth case () and has a similar function to that in Latin. Sanskrit nouns in the ablative often refer to a subject "out of" which or "from" whom something (an action, an object) has arisen or occurred: . It is also used for nouns in several other senses, as for actions occurring "because of" or "without" a certain noun, indicating distance or direction. When it appears with a comparative adjective, ( ), the ablative is used to refer to what the adjective is comparing: .
Armenian.
The modern Armenian ablative has different markers for each main dialect, both originating from Classical Armenian. The Western Armenian affix (definite ) derives from the classical singular; the Eastern Armenian affix (both indefinite and definite) derives from the classical plural. For both dialects, those affixes are singular, with the corresponding plurals being and .
The ablative case has several uses. Its principal function is to show "motion away" from a location, point in space or time:
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It also shows the agent when it is used with the passive voice of the verb:
It is also used for comparative statements in colloquial Armenian (including infinitives and participles):
Finally, it governs certain postpositions:
Uralic languages.
Finnish.
In Finnish, the ablative case is the sixth of the locative cases with the meaning "from, off, of": "pöytä – pöydältä" "table – off from the table". It is an outer locative case, used like the adessive and allative cases, to denote both being on top of something and "being around the place" (as opposed to the inner locative case, the elative, which means "from out of" or "from the inside of"). With the locative, the receding object was near the other place or object, not inside it.
The Finnish ablative is also used in time expressions to indicate times of something happening ("kymmeneltä" "at ten") as well as with verbs expressing feelings or emotions.
The Finnish ablative has the ending "-lta" or "-ltä", depending on vowel harmony.
Estonian.
The ablative case in Estonian is the ninth case and has a similar function to that in Hungarian.
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Hungarian.
The ablative case in Hungarian is used to describe movement away from, as well as a concept, object, act or event originating from an object, person, location or entity. For example, one walking away from a friend who gave him a gift could say the following:
When used to describe movement away from a location, the case may only refer to movement from "the general vicinity" of the location and not from inside of it. Thus, "a postától jövök" would mean one had been standing "next to" the post office before, not inside the building.
When the case is used to refer to the origin of a possible act or event, the act/event may be implied while not explicitly stated, such as : I will defend you from the robber.
The application of vowel harmony gives two different suffixes: "-tól" and "-től". These are applied to back-vowel and front-vowel words, respectively.
Hungarian has a narrower delative case, similar to ablative, but more specific: movement off/from a surface of something, with suffixes "-ról" and "-ről".
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Turkic languages.
Azerbaijani.
The ablative in Azerbaijani () is expressed through the suffixes or :
Tatar.
The ablative in Tatar () is expressed through the suffixes , , , , or :
Turkish.
The ablative in Turkish ( or ) is expressed through the suffix (which changes to , , or to accommodate the vowel and voicing harmony):
In some situations simple ablative can have a "because of" meaning; in these situations, ablative can be optionally followed by the postposition .
Tungusic.
Manchu.
The ablative in Manchu is expressed through the suffix and can also be used to express comparisons. It is usually not directly attached to its parent word.
Evenki.
The ablative in Evenki is expressed with the suffix .
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Adamic language
The Adamic language, according to Jewish tradition (as recorded in the "midrashim") and some Christians, is the language spoken by Adam (and possibly Eve) in the Garden of Eden. It is variously interpreted as either the language used by God to address Adam (the divine language), or the language invented by Adam with which he named all things (including Eve), as in the second Genesis creation narrative ().
In the Middle Ages, various Jewish commentators held that Adam spoke Hebrew, a view also addressed in various ways by the late medieval Italian poet Dante Alighieri. In the early modern period, some authors continued to discuss the possibility of an Adamic language, some continuing to hold to the idea that it was Hebrew, while others such as John Locke were more skeptical. According to Ethiopian and Eritrean traditions, the ancient Semitic language of Geʽez is the language of Adam, the first and original language. More recently, a variety of Mormon authors have expressed various opinions about the nature of the Adamic language.
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Patristic period.
Augustine addresses the issue in "The City of God". While not explicit, the implication of there being but one human language prior to the Tower of Babel's collapse is that the language, which was preserved by Heber and his son Peleg, and which is recognized as the language passed down to Abraham and his descendants, is the language that would have been used by Adam.
Middle Ages.
Traditional Jewish exegesis such as Midrash says that Adam spoke the Hebrew language because the names he gives Eve – "Isha" and "Chava" – only make sense in Hebrew. By contrast, Kabbalah assumed an "eternal Torah" which was not identical to the Torah written in Hebrew. Thus, Abraham Abulafia in the 13th century assumed that the language spoken in Paradise had been different from Hebrew, and rejected the claim then-current also among Christian authors, that a child left unexposed to linguistic stimulus would automatically begin to speak in Hebrew. Both Muslim and Christian Arabs, such as Sulayman al-Ghazzi, considered Syriac the language spoken by Adam and Eve.
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Umberto Eco (1993) notes that Genesis is ambiguous on whether the language of Adam was preserved by Adam's descendants until the confusion of tongues, or if it began to evolve naturally even before Babel.
Dante Alighieri addresses the topic in his "De vulgari eloquentia" (1302–1305). He argues that the Adamic language is of divine origin and therefore unchangeable. He also notes that according to Genesis, the first speech act is due to Eve, addressing the serpent, and not to Adam.
In his "Divine Comedy" (c. 1308–1320), however, Dante changes his view to another that treats the Adamic language as the product of Adam. This had the consequence that it could no longer be regarded as immutable, and hence Hebrew could not be regarded as identical with the language of Paradise. Dante concludes ("Paradiso" XXVI) that Hebrew is a derivative of the language of Adam. In particular, the chief Hebrew name for God in scholastic tradition, "El", must be derived of a different Adamic name for God, which Dante gives as "I".
Early modern period.
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Proponents.
Elizabethan scholar John Dee makes references to a language he called "Angelical", which he recorded in his private journals and those of scryer Edward Kelley. Dee's journals did not describe the language as "Enochian", instead preferring "Angelical", the "Celestial Speech", the "Language of Angels", the "First Language of God-Christ", the "Holy Language", or "Adamical" because, according to Dee's Angels, it was used by Adam in Paradise to name all things. The language was later dubbed Enochian, due to Dee's assertion that the Biblical Patriarch Enoch had been the last human (before Dee and Kelley) to know the language.
Dutch physician, linguist, and humanist Johannes Goropius Becanus (1519–1572) theorized in "Origines Antwerpianae" (1569) that Antwerpian Babrantic, spoken in the region between the Scheldt and Meuse Rivers, was the original language spoken in Paradise. Goropius believed that the most ancient language on Earth would be the simplest language, and that the simplest language would contain mostly short words. Since Brabantic has a higher number of short words than do Latin, Greek, and Hebrew, Goropius reasoned that it was the older language. His work influenced that of Simon Stevin (1548–1620), who espoused similar ideas in "Uytspraeck van de weerdicheyt der Duytse tael", a chapter in "De Beghinselen Der Weeghconst" (1586).
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Opponents.
By the 17th century, the existence and nature of the alleged Adamic language was commonly discussed amongst European Jewish and Christian mystics and primitive linguists. Robert Boyle (1627–1691) was skeptical that Hebrew was the language best capable of describing the nature of things, stating:
I could never find, that the Hebrew names of animals, mentioned in the beginning of Genesis, argued a (much) clearer insight into their natures, than did the names of the same or some other animals in Greek, or other languages (1665:45).
John Locke (1632–1704) expressed similar skepticism in his "An Essay Concerning Human Understanding" (1690).
Modern period.
Latter Day Saint movement.
Joseph Smith, founder of the Latter Day Saint movement, in his revision of the Bible, declared the Adamic language to have been "pure and undefiled". Some Mormons believe it to be the language of God. Glossolalia, or speaking in tongues, was commonplace in the early years of the movement, and it was commonly believed that the incomprehensible language spoken during these incidents was the language of Adam. However, this belief seems to have never been formally or officially adopted.
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Some other early Latter Day Saint leaders, including Brigham Young, Orson Pratt, and Elizabeth Ann Whitney, claimed to have received several words in the Adamic language by revelation. Some Latter Day Saints believe that the Adamic language is the "pure language" spoken of by Zephaniah and that it will be restored as the universal language of humankind at the end of the world.
Apostle Orson Pratt declared that "Ahman", part of the name of the settlement "Adam-ondi-Ahman" in Daviess County, Missouri, was the name of God in the Adamic language. An 1832 handwritten page from the Joseph Smith Papers, titled "A Sample of the Pure Language", and reportedly dictated by Smith to "Br. Johnson", asserts that the name of God is "Awman".
The Latter Day Saint endowment prayer circle once included use of the words "Pay Lay Ale". These untranslated words are no longer used in temple ordinances and have been replaced by an English version, "O God, hear the words of my mouth". Some believe that the "Pay Lay Ale" sentence is derived from the Hebrew phrase "pe le-El" (), "mouth to God". "Pay Lay Ale" was identified in the temple ceremony as words from the "pure Adamic language".
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Other words thought by some Latter Day Saints to derive from the Adamic language include "deseret" ("honey bee") and "Ahman" ("God").
The Book of Moses refers to "a book of remembrance" written in the language of Adam.
Goidelic languages.
Nicholas Wolf writes that 19th-century Irish language speakers and publications claim that Irish (or some Goidelic language) is a language of Biblical primacy comparable to Hebrew, with some claiming it was the language of Adam.
In popular culture.
In the videogame "Indiana Jones and the Great Circle", the language Adamic is discovered by the protagonist as an early human language spoken by giants, which was adapted into Egyptian and Sumerian in ancient times. It is also represented on stone tablets, resembling logographic writing systems of the early Bronze age.
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Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny
Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny () is a political-satirical opera composed by Kurt Weill to a German libretto by Bertolt Brecht. It was first performed on 9 March 1930 at the in Leipzig.
Some interpreters have viewed the play as a critique of American society. Others have perceived it as a critique of the chaotic and immoral Weimar Republic, particularly Berlin of the 1920s with its rampant prostitution, unstable government, political corruption, and economic crises.
Composition history.
Weill was asked by the 1927 Baden-Baden music festival committee to write a one-act chamber opera for the festival. He ended up writing "Mahagonny-Songspiel", sometimes known as "Das kleine Mahagonny", a concert work commissioned for voices and a small orchestra. The work was written in May 1927, and performed in June. It consisted of eleven numbers, including "Alabama Song" and "Benares Song".
Weill then continued to rework the material into a full opera while Brecht worked on the libretto. The opera had its premiere in Leipzig on 9 March 1930 and played in Berlin in December of the following year. The opera was banned by the Nazis in 1933 and did not have a significant production until the 1960s.
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Weill's score uses a number of styles, including ragtime, jazz and formal counterpoint. The "Alabama Song" has been interpreted by a range of artists, notably Ute Lemper, The Doors and David Bowie.
Language.
The lyrics for the "Alabama Song" and another song, the "Benares Song", are in English (albeit specifically idiosyncratic English) and are performed in that language even when the opera is performed in its original (German) language.
A few lines of the briefly interpolated song, "Asleep in the Deep" (1897), lyrics by Arthur J. Lamb, music by H. W. Petrie, referred to in the opera by its opening words, "Stürmisch die Nacht " or "Stormy the Deep", are sung in the German version of the song, composed on verses of Martell, under the title "Des Seemanns Los" (The Sailor's Fate), when the opera is sung in the original German.
Although the name of the city itself sounds like the English word "mahogany" and its German-language equivalent, "Mahagoni", the character Leokadja Begbick states that it means "City of Nets" while Brecht stated that it was a made-up word.
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Performance history.
The opera has played in opera houses around the world. Never achieving the popularity of Weill and Brecht's "The Threepenny Opera," "Mahagonny" is still considered a work of stature with a haunting score. Herbert Lindenberger in his book "Opera in History", for example, views "Mahagonny" alongside Schoenberg's "Moses und Aron" as indicative of the two poles of modernist opera.
Following the Leipzig premiere, the opera was presented in Berlin in December 1931 at the Theater am Schiffbauerdamm conducted by Alexander von Zemlinsky with Lotte Lenya as Jenny, Trude Hesterberg as Begbick, and Harald Paulsen as Jimmy. Another production was presented in January 1934 in Copenhagen at the Det Ny Teater. Other productions within Europe waited until the end of the Second World War, some notable ones being in January 1963 in London at Sadler's Wells Opera conducted by Colin Davis and in Berlin in September 1977 by the Komische Oper.
It was not presented in the United States until 1970, when a short-lived April production at the Phyllis Anderson Theatre off Broadway starred Barbara Harris as Jenny, Frank Porretta as Jimmy, and Estelle Parsons as Begbick. It was then presented in Boston in 1973 under the direction of Sarah Caldwell.
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The first university production in the US was in 1973 at UC Berkeley, directed by Jean-Bernard Bucky and Michael Senturia.
A full version was presented at the Yale Repertory Theatre in New Haven, Connecticut, in 1974, with Gilbert Price as Jimmy and Stephanie Cotsirilos as Jenny. Kurt Kasznar played Moses. The libretto was performed in an original translation by Michael Feingold; the production was directed by Alvin Epstein. In October 1978, Yale presented a "chamber version" adapted and directed by Keith Hack, with John Glover as Jimmy and June Gable as Begbick. Mark Linn-Baker played Fatty; Michael Gross was Trinity Moses. In November 1979, "Mahagonny" debuted at the Metropolitan Opera in a John Dexter production conducted by James Levine. The cast included Teresa Stratas as Jenny, Astrid Varnay as Begbick, Richard Cassilly as Jimmy, Cornell MacNeil as Moses, Ragnar Ulfung as Fatty and Paul Plishka as Joe. The production was televised in 1979 and was released on DVD in 2010. This production was streamed through the Met Opera on Demand platform on 12 December 2020 and 3-4 July 2021.
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The Los Angeles Opera presented the opera in September 1989 under conductor Kent Nagano and with a Jonathan Miller production. Other notable productions in Europe from the 1980s included the March 1986 presentation by the Scottish Opera in Glasgow; a June 1990 production in Florence by the Maggio Musicale Fiorentino. In October 1995 and 1997, the Paris Opera staged by Graham Vick, under the baton of Jeffrey Tate starring Marie McLaughlin as Jenny, Felicity Palmer (1995) and Kathryn Harries (1997) as Begbick, and Kim Begley (1995)/Peter Straka (1997) as Jimmy.
The July 1998 Salzburg Festival production featured Catherine Malfitano as Jenny, Gwyneth Jones as Begbick, and Jerry Hadley as Jimmy. The Vienna State Opera added it to its repertoire in January 2012 in a production by Jérôme Deschamps conducted by Ingo Metzmacher starring Christopher Ventris as Jimmy and Angelika Kirchschlager as Jenny, notably casting young mezzo-soprano Elisabeth Kulman as Begbick, breaking the tradition of having a veteran soprano (like Varnay or Jones) or musical theater singer (like Patti LuPone) perform the role.
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Productions within the US have included those in November 1998 by the Lyric Opera of Chicago directed by David Alden. Catherine Malfitano repeated her role as Jenny, while Felicity Palmer sang Begbick, and Kim Begley sang the role of Jimmy. The Los Angeles Opera's February 2007 production directed by John Doyle and conducted by James Conlon included Audra McDonald as Jenny, Patti LuPone as Begbick, and Anthony Dean Griffey as Jimmy. This production was recorded on DVD, and subsequently won the 2009 Grammy Awards for "Best Classical Album" and "Best Opera Recording."
In 2014 it was performed using an alternate libretto as a "wrestling opera" at the Oakland Metro by the performers of Hoodslam.
A major new production had its world premiere in July 2019 at the Aix-en-Provence Festival in France conducted by Esa-Pekka Salonen with stage direction by Ivo van Hove. It is a co-production of Dutch National Opera, Metropolitan Opera, Opera Ballet Vlaanderen, and Les Theatres De La Ville De Luxembourg.
Synopsis.
Act 1.
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"Scene 1: A desolate no-man's land"
A truck breaks down. Three fugitives from justice get out and find themselves in the city of Mahagonny: Fatty the Bookkeeper, Trinity Moses, and Leocadia Begbick. Because the federal agents pursuing them will not search this far north, and they are in a good location to attract ships coming south from the Alaskan gold fields, Begbick decides that they can profit by staying where they are and founding a pleasure city, where men can have fun, because there is nothing else in the world to rely on.
"Scene 2"
The news of Mahagonny spreads quickly, and sharks from all over flock to the bait, including the whore Jenny Smith, who is seen, with six other girls, singing the "Alabama Song", in which she waves goodbye to her home and sets out in pursuit of whiskey, dollars and pretty boys.
"Scene 3"
In the big cities, where men lead boring, purposeless lives, Fatty and Moses spread the gospel of Mahagonny, city of gold, among the disillusioned.
"Scene 4"
Four Alaskan Lumberjacks who have shared hard times together in the timberlands and made their fortunes set off together for Mahagonny. Jimmy Mahoney and his three friends – Jacob Schmidt, Bank Account Billy, and Alaska Wolf Joe – sing of the pleasures awaiting them in "Off to Mahagonny", and look forward to the peace and pleasure they will find there.
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"Scene 5"
The four friends arrive in Mahagonny, only to find other disappointed travelers already leaving. Begbick, well-informed about their personal tastes, marks down her prices, but for the penurious Billy, they still seem too high. Jimmy impatiently calls for the girls of Mahagonny to show themselves, so he can make a choice. Begbick suggests Jenny as the right girl for Jack, who finds her rates too high. She pleads with Jack to reconsider ("Havana Song"), which arouses Jim's interest, and he chooses her. Jenny and the girls sing a tribute to "the Jimmys from Alaska."
"Scene 6"
Jimmy and Jenny get to know one another as she asks him to define the terms of their contact: Does he wish her to wear her hair up or down, to wear fancy underwear or none at all? "What is your wish?" asks Jim, but Jenny evades answering.
"Scene 7"
Begbick, Fatty, and Moses meet to discuss the pleasure city's financial crisis: People are leaving in droves, and the price of whiskey is sinking rapidly. Begbick suggests going back to civilization, but Fatty reminds her that the federal agents have been inquiring for her in nearby Pensacola. Money would solve everything, declares Begbick, and she decides to soak the four new arrivals for all they've got.
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"Scene 8"
Jimmy, restless, attempts to leave Mahagonny because he misses the wife he left in Alaska.
"Scene 9"
In front of the Rich Man's Hotel, Jimmy and the others sit lazily as a pianist plays Tekla Bądarzewska's "A Maiden's Prayer". With growing anger, Jimmy sings of how his hard work and suffering in Alaska have led only to this. Drawing a knife, he shouts for Begbick, while his friends try to disarm him and the other men call to have him thrown out. Calm again, he tells Begbick that Mahagonny can never make people happy: it has too much peace and quiet.
"Scene 10"
As if in answer to Jimmy's complaint, the city is threatened by a hurricane. Everyone sings in horror of the destruction awaiting them.
"Scene 11"
Tensely, people watch for the hurricane's arrival. The men sing a hymn-like admonition not to be afraid. Jim meditatively compares Nature's savagery to the far greater destructiveness of Man. Why do we build, he asks, if not for the pleasure of destroying? Since Man can outdo any hurricane, fear makes no sense. For the sake of human satisfaction, nothing should be forbidden: If you want another man's money, his house or his wife, knock him down and take it; do what you please. As Begbick and the men ponder Jimmy's philosophy, Fatty and Moses rush in with news: The hurricane has unexpectedly struck Pensacola, destroying Begbick's enemies, the federal agents. Begbick and her cohorts take it as a sign that Jimmy is right; they join him, Jenny, and his three friends in singing a new, defiant song: If someone walks over someone else, then it's me, and if someone gets walked on, then it's you. In the background, the men continue to chant their hymn as the hurricane draws nearer.
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Act 2.
"Scene 12"
Magically, the hurricane bypasses Mahagonny, and the people sing in awe of their miraculous rescue. This confirms Begbick's belief in the philosophy of "Do what you want," and she proceeds to put it into effect.
"Scene 13 at the renovated "Do It" tavern."
The men sing of the four pleasures of life: Eating, Lovemaking, Fighting, and Drinking. First comes eating: To kitschy cafe music, Jimmy's friend Jacob gorges until he keels over and dies. The men sing a chorale over his body, saluting "a man without fear".
"Scene 14: Loving."
While Begbick collects money and issues tips on behavior, Moses placates the impatient men queuing to make love to Jenny and the other whores. The men sing the "Mandalay Song", warning that love does not last forever, and urging those ahead of them to make it snappy.
"Scene 15: Fighting."
The men flock to see a boxing match between Trinity Moses and Jim's friend Alaska Wolf Joe. While most of the men, including the ever-cautious Billy, bet on the burly Moses, Jim, out of friendship, bets heavily on Joe. The match is manifestly unfair; Moses not only wins but kills Joe in knocking him out.
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"Scene 16: Drinking."
In an effort to shake off the gloom of Joe's death, Jimmy invites everyone to have a drink on him. The men sing "Life in Mahagonny", describing how one could live in the city for only five dollars a day, but those who wanted to have fun always needed more. Jim, increasingly drunk, dreams of sailing back to Alaska. He takes down a curtain rod for a mast and climbs on the pool table, pretending it is a ship; Jenny and Billy play along. Jimmy is abruptly sobered up when Begbick demands payment for the whiskey as well as for the damage to her property. Totally broke, he turns in a panic to Jenny, who explains her refusal to help him out in the song "Make your own bed" – an adaptation of the ideas he proclaimed at the end of act 1. Jim is led off in chains as the chorus, singing another stanza of "Life in Mahagonny", returns to its pastimes. Trinity Moses assures the crowd that Jimmy will pay for his crimes with his life.
"Scene 17"
At night, Jim alone and chained to a lamppost sings a plea for the sun not to rise on the day of his impending trial.
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Act 3.
"Scene 18: In the courtroom"
Moses, like a carnival barker, sells tickets to the trials. He serves as prosecutor, Fatty as defense attorney, Begbick as judge. First comes the case of Toby Higgins, accused of premeditated murder for the purpose of testing an old revolver. Fatty invites the injured party to rise, but no one does so, since the dead do not speak. Toby bribes all three, and as a result, Begbick dismisses the case. Next Jimmy's case is called. Chained, he is led in by Billy, from whom he tries to borrow money; Billy of course refuses, despite Jim's plea to remember their time together in Alaska. In virtually the same speech he used to attack Higgins, Moses excoriates him for not paying his bills, for seducing Jenny (who presents herself as a plaintiff) to commit a "carnal act" with him for money, and for inciting the crowd with "an illegal joyous song" on the night of the typhoon. Billy, with the chorus's support, counters that, in committing the latter act, Jimmy discovered the laws by which Mahagonny lives. Moses argues that Jim hastened his friend Joe's death in a prizefight by betting on him, and Billy counters by asking who actually killed Joe. Moses does not reply. But there is no answer for the main count against him. Jim gets short sentences for his lesser crimes, but for having no money, he is sentenced to death. Begbick, Fatty, and Moses, rising to identify themselves as the injured parties, proclaim "in the whole human race / there is no greater criminal / than a man without money". As Jim is led off to await execution, everyone sings the "Benares Song", in which they long for that exotic city "where the sun is shining." But Benares has been destroyed by an earthquake. "Where shall we go?" they ask.
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"Scene 19: At the gallows"
Jim says a tender goodbye to Jenny, who, dressed in white, declares herself his widow. He surrenders her to Billy, his last remaining companion from Alaska. When he tries to delay the execution by reminding the people of Mahagonny that God exists, they play out for him, under Moses' direction, the story of "God in Mahagonny", in which the Almighty condemns the town and is overthrown by its citizens, who declare that they can not be sent to Hell because they are already in Hell. Jim, chastened, asks only for a glass of water, but is refused even this as Moses gives the signal for the trap to be sprung.
"Scene 20"
A caption advises that, after Jim's death, increasing hostility among the city's various factions has caused the destruction of Mahagonny. To a potpourri of themes from earlier in the opera, groups of protesters are seen on the march, in conflict with one another, while the city burns in the background. Jenny and the whores carry Jim's clothing and accessories like sacred relics; Billy and several men carry his coffin. In a new theme, they and the others declare, "Nothing you can do will help a dead man". Begbick, Fatty, and Moses appear with placards of their own, joining the entire company in its march and declaring "Nothing will help him or us or you now," as the opera ends in chaos.
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In other media.
The opera influenced Harry Everett Smith in his 1970-1980 film "Mahagonny," which features Allen Ginsberg and Patti Smith.
The 2005 movie "Manderlay", directed by Lars von Trier, contains several references to the plot of "Mahagonny". The most notable of these is the threat of a hurricane approaching the city during the first act. Von Trier's earlier movie "Dogville", to which Manderlay is a sequel, was in large part based on a song from Brecht's "Threepenny Opera" ("Pirate Jenny"). In the brothel scene in act 2 of "Mahagonny", the choir sings a "Song von Mandelay". The play "Happy End" (1929) by Elisabeth Hauptmann, Brecht and Weill, also contains a song called "Der Song von Mandelay", which uses the same refrain as in the brothel scene of "Mahagonny". Brecht's use of the name Mandelay/Mandalay was inspired by Rudyard Kipling's poem "Mandalay".
Cover versions of songs.
"Alabama Song" has been covered by many artists, notably Ute Lemper, The Doors and David Bowie.
References.
Informational notes
Citations
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Avery Hopwood
James Avery Hopwood (May 28, 1882 – July 1, 1928) was an American playwright of the Jazz Age. He had four plays running simultaneously on Broadway in 1920, namely "The Gold Diggers," "The Bat" and "Spanish Love" and "Ladies' Night (In a Turkish Bath)".
Early life.
Hopwood was born to James and Jule Pendergast Hopwood on May 28, 1882, in Cleveland, Ohio. He graduated from Cleveland's West High School in 1900. In 1901, he began attending the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. However, his family experienced financial difficulties, so for his second year he transferred to Adelbert College. He returned to the University of Michigan in the fall of 1903, and graduated Phi Beta Kappa in 1905.
Career.
Hopwood started out as a journalist for the "Cleveland Leader" as its New York correspondent, but within a year had his first play, "Clothes" (1906), produced on Broadway, with the aid of playwright Channing Pollock. Hopwood eventually became known as "The Playboy Playwright" and specialized in comedies and farces, some of them with material considered risqué at the time. One play, "The Demi-Virgin" in 1921, prompted a court case because of its suggestive subject matter, including a risque game of cards, "Stripping Cupid". The case was dismissed.
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His many plays included "Nobody's Widow" (1910), starring Blanche Bates; "Fair and Warmer" (1915), starring Madge Kennedy (filmed in 1919); "The Gold Diggers" (1919), starring Ina Claire in New York and Tallulah Bankhead in London; (filmed in 1923 as "The Gold Diggers", in 1928 as "Gold Diggers of Broadway" and also as "Gold Diggers of 1933"); "Ladies' Night", 1920, starring Charlie Ruggles (filmed in 1928); the famous mystery play "The Bat" (with Mary Roberts Rinehart), 1920 (filmed in 1926 as "The Bat", in 1930 as "The Bat Whispers," and in 1959 as "The Bat"); "Getting Gertie's Garter" (with Wilson Collison), 1921, starring Hazel Dawn (filmed in 1927 and 1945); "The Demi-Virgin", 1921, also starring Dawn; "The Alarm Clock", 1923, translated from the French; "The Best People" (with David Gray), 1924 (filmed in 1925 and as "Fast and Loose" in 1930 with Clara Bow); the song-farce "Naughty Cinderella", 1925, starring Irène Bordoni and "The Garden of Eden" in 1927, with Tallulah Bankhead in London and Miriam Hopkins in New York; (filmed in 1928 as "The Garden of Eden").
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Personal life.
In 1906, Hopwood was introduced to writer and photographer Carl Van Vechten. The two became close friends and were sometimes sexual partners. In the 1920s Hopwood had a tumultuous and abusive romantic relationship with fellow Cleveland-born playwright John Floyd. Although Hopwood announced to the press in 1924 that he was engaged to vaudeville dancer and choreographer Rosa Rolanda, Van Vechten confirmed in later years that it was a publicity stunt. Rolanda would later marry caricaturist Miguel Covarrubias.
On the evening of July 1, 1928, at Juan-les-Pins on the French Riviera, Hopwood suffered a fatal heart attack while swimming. He was buried in Riverside Cemetery, Cleveland. His mother, Jule Hopwood, inherited a large trust from him, but he had not made arrangements for the disposition of other items, including literary rights. While she was working through the legal issues with his estate, Jule Hopwood fell ill and died on March 1, 1929. She was buried next to her son.
Legacy.
Hopwood's plays were very successful commercially, but they did not have the lasting literary significance he hoped to achieve.
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Hopwood Award.
The terms of Hopwood's will left a substantial portion of his estate to his alma mater, the University of Michigan, for the establishment of the Avery Hopwood and Jule Hopwood Creative Writing Awards. The bequest stipulated: "It is especially desired that students competing for prizes shall be allowed the widest possible latitude, and that the new, the unusual, and the radical shall be especially encouraged." Famous Hopwood award winners include Robert Hayden, Marge Piercy, Arthur Miller, Betty Smith, Lawrence Kasdan, John Ciardi, Mary Gaitskill, Edmund White, Nancy Willard, Frank O'Hara, and Steve Hamilton.
"The Great Bordello".
Throughout his life, Hopwood worked on a novel that he hoped would "expose" the strictures the commercial theater machine imposed on playwrights, but the manuscript was never published. Jack Sharrar recovered the manuscript for this novel in 1982 during his research for "Avery Hopwood, His Life and Plays". The novel was published in July 2011 by Mondial Books (New York) as "The Great Bordello, a Story of the Theatre", edited and with an Afterword by Sharrar.
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Antipope Felix II
Antipope Felix II, an archdeacon of Rome, was installed as Pope in 355 AD after the Emperor Constantius II banished the reigning Pope, Liberius, for refusing to subscribe to a sentence of condemnation against Saint Athanasius.
Biography.
In May 357 AD the Roman laity, which had remained faithful to Liberius, demanded that Constantius, who was on a visit to Rome, should recall Liberius. The Emperor planned to have Felix and Liberius rule jointly, but when Liberius returned Felix was forced to retire to Porto, near Rome, where, after making an unsuccessful attempt to establish himself again in Rome, he died on 22 November 365 AD.
This Felix was later confused with a Roman martyr named Felix, with the result that he was included in lists of the Popes as Felix II and that the succeeding Popes of the same name (Pope Felix III and Pope Felix IV) were given wrong numerals, as was Antipope Felix V.
The Catholic Encyclopedia (1909) called this confusion a "distortion of the true facts" and suggested that it arose because the "Liber Pontificalis", which at this point may be registering a reliable tradition, says that this Felix built a church on the Via Aurelia, which is where the Roman martyr of an earlier date was buried. However, a more recent source says that of the martyr Felix nothing is known except his name, that he was a martyr, and that he was buried in the cemetery on the Via Portuensis that bears his name.
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The Catholic Encyclopedia remarked that "the real story of the antipope was lost and he obtained in local Roman history the status of a saint and a confessor. As such he appears in the Roman Martyrology on 29 July." At that time (1909) the Roman Martyrology had the following text: This entry was based on what the Catholic Encyclopedia called later legends that confound the relative positions of Felix and Liberius. More recent editions of the Roman Martyrology have instead:
The feast day of the Roman martyr Felix is 29 July. The antipope Felix died, as stated above, on a 22 November, and his death was not a martyr's, occurring when the Peace of Constantine had been in force for half a century.
As well as the Roman Martyrology, the Roman Missal identified the Saint Felix of 29 July with the antipope. This identification, still found in the 1920 typical edition, does not appear in the 1962 typical edition. To judge by the Marietti printing of 1952, which omits the numeral "II" and the word "Papae", the correction had already been made by then. One Catholic writer excuses this by saying that the antipope "himself did refuse to accept Arianism, and so his feast has been kept in the past on [29 July]".
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Alkaloid
Alkaloids are a broad class of naturally occurring organic compounds that contain at least one nitrogen atom. Some synthetic compounds of similar structure may also be termed alkaloids.
Alkaloids are produced by a large variety of organisms including bacteria, fungi, plants, and animals. They can be purified from crude extracts of these organisms by acid-base extraction, or solvent extractions followed by silica-gel column chromatography. Alkaloids have a wide range of pharmacological activities including antimalarial (e.g. quinine), antiasthma (e.g. ephedrine), anticancer (e.g. homoharringtonine), cholinomimetic (e.g. galantamine), vasodilatory (e.g. vincamine), antiarrhythmic (e.g. quinidine), analgesic (e.g. morphine), antibacterial (e.g. chelerythrine), and antihyperglycemic activities (e.g. berberine). Many have found use in traditional or modern medicine, or as starting points for drug discovery. Other alkaloids possess psychotropic (e.g. psilocin) and stimulant activities (e.g. cocaine, caffeine, nicotine, theobromine), and have been used in entheogenic rituals or as recreational drugs. Alkaloids can be toxic (e.g. atropine, tubocurarine). Although alkaloids act on a diversity of metabolic systems in humans and other animals, they almost uniformly evoke a bitter taste.
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The boundary between alkaloids and other nitrogen-containing natural compounds is not clear-cut. Most alkaloids are basic, although some have neutral and even weakly acidic properties. In addition to carbon, hydrogen and nitrogen, alkaloids may also contain oxygen or sulfur. Rarer still, they may contain elements such as phosphorus, chlorine, and bromine. Compounds like amino acid peptides, proteins, nucleotides, nucleic acid, amines, and antibiotics are usually not called alkaloids. Natural compounds containing nitrogen in the exocyclic position (mescaline, serotonin, dopamine, etc.) are usually classified as amines rather than as alkaloids. Some authors, however, consider alkaloids a special case of amines.
Naming.
The name "alkaloids" () was introduced in 1819 by German chemist , and is derived from late Latin root and the Greek-language suffix -('like'). However, the term came into wide use only after the publication of a review article, by Oscar Jacobsen in the chemical dictionary of Albert Ladenburg in the 1880s.
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There is no unique method for naming alkaloids. Many individual names are formed by adding the suffix "ine" to the species or genus name. For example, atropine is isolated from the plant "Atropa belladonna"; strychnine is obtained from the seed of the Strychnine tree ("Strychnos nux-vomica" L.). Where several alkaloids are extracted from one plant their names are often distinguished by variations in the suffix: "idine", "anine", "aline", "inine" etc. There are also at least 86 alkaloids whose names contain the root "vin" because they are extracted from "vinca" plants such as "Vinca rosea" ("Catharanthus roseus"); these are called "vinca" alkaloids.
History.
Alkaloid-containing plants have been used by humans since ancient times for therapeutic and recreational purposes. For example, medicinal plants have been known in Mesopotamia from about 2000 BC. The "Odyssey" of Homer referred to a gift given to Helen by the Egyptian queen, a drug bringing oblivion. It is believed that the gift was an opium-containing drug. A Chinese book on houseplants written in 1st–3rd centuries BC mentioned a medical use of ephedra and opium poppies. Also, coca leaves have been used by Indigenous South Americans since ancient times.
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Extracts from plants containing toxic alkaloids, such as aconitine and tubocurarine, were used since antiquity for poisoning arrows.
Studies of alkaloids began in the 19th century. In 1804, the German chemist Friedrich Sertürner isolated from opium a "soporific principle" (), which he called "morphium", referring to Morpheus, the Greek god of dreams; in German and some other Central-European languages, this is still the name of the drug. The term "morphine", used in English and French, was given by the French physicist Joseph Louis Gay-Lussac.
A significant contribution to the chemistry of alkaloids in the early years of its development was made by the French researchers Pierre Joseph Pelletier and Joseph Bienaimé Caventou, who discovered quinine (1820) and strychnine (1818). Several other alkaloids were discovered around that time, including xanthine (1817), atropine (1819), caffeine (1820), coniine (1827), nicotine (1828), colchicine (1833), sparteine (1851), and cocaine (1860). The development of the chemistry of alkaloids was accelerated by the emergence of spectroscopic and chromatographic methods in the 20th century, so that by 2008 more than 12,000 alkaloids had been identified.
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The first complete synthesis of an alkaloid was achieved in 1886 by the German chemist Albert Ladenburg. He produced coniine by reacting 2-methylpyridine with acetaldehyde and reducing the resulting 2-propenyl pyridine with sodium.
Classifications.
Compared with most other classes of natural compounds, alkaloids are characterized by a great structural diversity. There is no uniform classification. Initially, when knowledge of chemical structures was lacking, botanical classification of the source plants was relied on. This classification is now considered obsolete.
More recent classifications are based on similarity of the carbon skeleton ("e.g.", indole-, isoquinoline-, and pyridine-like) or biochemical precursor (ornithine, lysine, tyrosine, tryptophan, etc.). However, they require compromises in borderline cases; for example, nicotine contains a pyridine fragment from nicotinamide and a pyrrolidine part from ornithine and therefore can be assigned to both classes.
Alkaloids are often divided into the following major groups:
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Some alkaloids do not have the carbon skeleton characteristic of their group. So, galanthamine and homoaporphines do not contain isoquinoline fragment, but are, in general, attributed to isoquinoline alkaloids.
Main classes of monomeric alkaloids are listed in the table below:
Properties.
Most alkaloids contain oxygen in their molecular structure; those compounds are usually colorless crystals at ambient conditions. Oxygen-free alkaloids, such as nicotine or coniine, are typically volatile, colorless, oily liquids. Some alkaloids are colored, like berberine (yellow) and sanguinarine (orange).
Most alkaloids are weak bases, but some, such as theobromine and theophylline, are amphoteric. Many alkaloids dissolve poorly in water but readily dissolve in organic solvents, such as diethyl ether, chloroform or 1,2-dichloroethane. Caffeine, cocaine, codeine and nicotine are slightly soluble in water (with a solubility of ≥1g/L), whereas others, including morphine and yohimbine are very slightly water-soluble (0.1–1 g/L). Alkaloids and acids form salts of various strengths. These salts are usually freely soluble in water and ethanol and poorly soluble in most organic solvents. Exceptions include scopolamine hydrobromide, which is soluble in organic solvents, and the water-soluble quinine sulfate.
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Most alkaloids have a bitter taste or are poisonous when ingested. Alkaloid production in plants appeared to have evolved in response to feeding by herbivorous animals; however, some animals have evolved the ability to detoxify alkaloids. Some alkaloids can produce developmental defects in the offspring of animals that consume but cannot detoxify the alkaloids. One example is the alkaloid cyclopamine, produced in the leaves of corn lily. During the 1950s, up to 25% of lambs born by sheep that had grazed on corn lily had serious facial deformations. These ranged from deformed jaws to cyclopia. After decades of research, in the 1980s, the compound responsible for these deformities was identified as the alkaloid 11-deoxyjervine, later renamed to cyclopamine.
Distribution in nature.
Alkaloids are generated by various living organisms, especially by higher plants – about 10 to 25% of those contain alkaloids. Therefore, in the past the term "alkaloid" was associated with plants.
The alkaloids content in plants is usually within a few percent and is inhomogeneous over the plant tissues. Depending on the type of plants, the maximum concentration is observed in the leaves (for example, black henbane), fruits or seeds (Strychnine tree), root ("Rauvolfia serpentina") or bark (cinchona). Furthermore, different tissues of the same plants may contain different alkaloids.
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Beside plants, alkaloids are found in certain types of fungus, such as psilocybin in the fruiting bodies of the genus "Psilocybe", and in animals, such as bufotenin in the skin of some toads and a number of insects, markedly ants. Many marine organisms also contain alkaloids. Some amines, such as adrenaline and serotonin, which play an important role in higher animals, are similar to alkaloids in their structure and biosynthesis and are sometimes called alkaloids.
Extraction.
Because of the structural diversity of alkaloids, there is no single method of their extraction from natural raw materials. Most methods exploit the property of most alkaloids to be soluble in organic solvents but not in water, and the opposite tendency of their salts.
Most plants contain several alkaloids. Their mixture is extracted first and then individual alkaloids are separated. Plants are thoroughly ground before extraction. Most alkaloids are present in the raw plants in the form of salts of organic acids. The extracted alkaloids may remain salts or change into bases. Base extraction is achieved by processing the raw material with alkaline solutions and extracting the alkaloid bases with organic solvents, such as 1,2-dichloroethane, chloroform, diethyl ether or benzene. Then, the impurities are dissolved by weak acids; this converts alkaloid bases into salts that are washed away with water. If necessary, an aqueous solution of alkaloid salts is again made alkaline and treated with an organic solvent. The process is repeated until the desired purity is achieved.
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In the acidic extraction, the raw plant material is processed by a weak acidic solution ("e.g.", acetic acid in water, ethanol, or methanol). A base is then added to convert alkaloids to basic forms that are extracted with organic solvent (if the extraction was performed with alcohol, it is removed first, and the remainder is dissolved in water). The solution is purified as described above.
Alkaloids are separated from their mixture using their different solubility in certain solvents and different reactivity with certain reagents or by distillation.
A number of alkaloids are identified from insects, among which the fire ant venom alkaloids known as solenopsins have received greater attention from researchers. These insect alkaloids can be efficiently extracted by solvent immersion of live fire ants or by centrifugation of live ants followed by silica-gel chromatography purification. Tracking and dosing the extracted solenopsin ant alkaloids has been described as possible based on their absorbance peak around 232 nanometers.
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Biosynthesis.
Biological precursors of most alkaloids are amino acids, such as ornithine, lysine, phenylalanine, tyrosine, tryptophan, histidine, aspartic acid, and anthranilic acid. Nicotinic acid can be synthesized from tryptophan or aspartic acid. Ways of alkaloid biosynthesis are too numerous and cannot be easily classified. However, there are a few typical reactions involved in the biosynthesis of various classes of alkaloids, including synthesis of Schiff bases and Mannich reaction.
Synthesis of Schiff bases.
Schiff bases can be obtained by reacting amines with ketones or aldehydes. These reactions are a common method of producing C=N bonds.
In the biosynthesis of alkaloids, such reactions may take place within a molecule, such as in the synthesis of piperidine:
Mannich reaction.
An integral component of the Mannich reaction, in addition to an amine and a carbonyl compound, is a carbanion, which plays the role of the nucleophile in the nucleophilic addition to the ion formed by the reaction of the amine and the carbonyl.
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The Mannich reaction can proceed both intermolecularly and intramolecularly:
Dimer alkaloids.
In addition to the described above monomeric alkaloids, there are also dimeric, and even trimeric and tetrameric alkaloids formed upon condensation of two, three, and four monomeric alkaloids. Dimeric alkaloids are usually formed from monomers of the same type through the following mechanisms:
There are also dimeric alkaloids formed from two distinct monomers, such as the "vinca" alkaloids vinblastine and vincristine, which are formed from the coupling of catharanthine and vindoline. The newer semi-synthetic chemotherapeutic agent vinorelbine is used in the treatment of non-small-cell lung cancer. It is another derivative dimer of vindoline and catharanthine and is synthesised from anhydrovinblastine, starting either from leurosine or the monomers themselves.
Biological role.
Alkaloids are among the most important and best-known secondary metabolites, i.e. biogenic substances not directly involved in the normal growth, development, or reproduction of the organism. Instead, they generally mediate ecological interactions, which may produce a selective advantage for the organism by increasing its survivability or fecundity. In some cases their function, if any, remains unclear. An early hypothesis, that alkaloids are the final products of nitrogen metabolism in plants, as urea and uric acid are in mammals, was refuted by the finding that their concentration fluctuates rather than steadily increasing.
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Most of the known functions of alkaloids are related to protection. For example, aporphine alkaloid liriodenine produced by the tulip tree protects it from parasitic mushrooms. In addition, the presence of alkaloids in the plant prevents insects and chordate animals from eating it. However, some animals are adapted to alkaloids and even use them in their own metabolism. Such alkaloid-related substances as serotonin, dopamine and histamine are important neurotransmitters in animals. Alkaloids are also known to regulate plant growth. One example of an organism that uses alkaloids for protection is the "Utetheisa ornatrix", more commonly known as the ornate moth. Pyrrolizidine alkaloids render these larvae and adult moths unpalatable to many of their natural enemies like coccinelid beetles, green lacewings, insectivorous hemiptera and insectivorous bats. Another example of alkaloids being utilized occurs in the poison hemlock moth ("Agonopterix alstroemeriana)." This moth feeds on its highly toxic and alkaloid-rich host plant poison hemlock ("Conium maculatum") during its larval stage. "A. alstroemeriana" may benefit twofold from the toxicity of the naturally-occurring alkaloids, both through the unpalatability of the species to predators and through the ability of "A. alstroemeriana" to recognize "Conium maculatum" as the correct location for oviposition. A fire ant venom alkaloid known as solenopsin has been demonstrated to protect queens of invasive fire ants during the foundation of new nests, thus playing a central role in the spread of this pest ant species around the world.
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Applications.
In medicine.
Medical use of alkaloid-containing plants has a long history, and, thus, when the first alkaloids were isolated in the 19th century, they immediately found application in clinical practice. Many alkaloids are still used in medicine, usually in the form of salts widely used including the following:
Many synthetic and semisynthetic drugs are structural modifications of the alkaloids, which were designed to enhance or change the primary effect of the drug and reduce unwanted side-effects. For example, naloxone, an opioid receptor antagonist, is a derivative of thebaine that is present in opium.
In agriculture.
Prior to the development of a wide range of relatively low-toxic synthetic pesticides, some alkaloids, such as salts of nicotine and anabasine, were used as insecticides. Their use was limited by their high toxicity to humans.
Use as psychoactive drugs.
Preparations of plants and fungi containing alkaloids and their extracts, and later pure alkaloids, have long been used as psychoactive substances. Cocaine, caffeine, and cathinone are stimulants of the central nervous system. Mescaline and many indole alkaloids (such as psilocybin, dimethyltryptamine and ibogaine) have hallucinogenic effect. Morphine and codeine are strong narcotic pain killers.
There are alkaloids that do not have strong psychoactive effect themselves, but are precursors for semi-synthetic psychoactive drugs. For example, ephedrine and pseudoephedrine are used to produce methcathinone and methamphetamine. Thebaine is used in the synthesis of many painkillers such as oxycodone.
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Adventism
Adventism is a branch of Protestant Christianity that believes in the imminent Second Coming (or the "Second Advent") of Jesus Christ. It originated in the 1830s in the United States during the Second Great Awakening when Baptist preacher William Miller first publicly shared his belief that the Second Coming would occur at some point between 1843 and 1844. His followers became known as Millerites. After Miller's prophecies failed, the Millerite movement split up and was continued by a number of groups that held different doctrines from one another. These groups, stemming from a common Millerite ancestor, collectively became known as the Adventist movement.
Although the Adventist churches hold much in common with mainline Christianity, their theologies differ on whether the intermediate state of the dead is unconscious sleep or consciousness, whether the ultimate punishment of the wicked is annihilation or eternal torment, the nature of immortality, whether the wicked are resurrected after the millennium, and whether the sanctuary of Daniel 8 refers to the one in heaven or one on earth. Seventh-day Adventists and some smaller Adventist groups observe the seventh day Sabbath. The General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists has compiled that church's core beliefs in the 28 Fundamental Beliefs (1980 and 2005).
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In 2010, Adventism claimed to have some 22 million believers who were scattered in various independent churches. The largest church within the movement—the Seventh-day Adventist Church—had more than 21 million members in 2020.
History.
Adventism began as an inter-denominational movement. Its most vocal leader was William Miller. Between 50,000 and 100,000 people in the United States supported Miller's predictions of Christ's return. After the "Great Disappointment" of October 22, 1844, many people in the movement gave up on Adventism. Of those remaining Adventist, the majority gave up believing in any prophetic (biblical) significance for the October 22 date, yet they remained expectant of the near Advent (second coming of Jesus).
Of those who retained the October 22 date, many maintained that Jesus had come not literally but "spiritually", and consequently were known as "spiritualizers". A small minority held that something concrete had indeed happened on October 22, but that this event had been misinterpreted. This belief later emerged and crystallized with the Seventh-day Adventist Church, the largest remaining body today.
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Albany Conference (1845).
The Albany Conference in 1845, attended by 61 delegates, was called to attempt to determine the future course and meaning of the Millerite movement. Following this meeting, the "Millerites" then became known as "Adventists" or "Second Adventists". However, the delegates disagreed on several theological points. Four groups emerged from the conference: The Evangelical Adventists, The Life and Advent Union, the Advent Christian Church, and the Seventh-day Adventist Church.
The largest group was organized as the American Millennial Association, a portion of which was later known as the Evangelical Adventist Church. Unique among the Adventists, they believed in an eternal hell and consciousness in death. They declined in numbers, and by 1916 their name did not appear in the United States Census of Religious Bodies. It has diminished to almost non-existence today. Their main publication was the "Advent Herald", of which Sylvester Bliss was the editor until his death in 1863. It was later called the "Messiah's Herald".
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The Life and Advent Union was founded by George Storrs in 1863. He had established "The Bible Examiner" in 1842. It merged with the Adventist Christian Church in 1964.
The Advent Christian Church officially formed in 1861 and grew rapidly at first. It declined a little during the 20th century. The Advent Christians publish the four magazines "The Advent Christian Witness", "Advent Christian News", "Advent Christian Missions" and "Maranatha". They also operate a liberal arts college at Aurora, Illinois; and a one-year Bible College in Lenox, Massachusetts, called Berkshire Institute for Christian Studies. The Primitive Advent Christian Church later separated from a few congregations in West Virginia.
The Seventh-day Adventist Church officially formed in 1863. It believes in the sanctity of the seventh-day Sabbath as a holy day for worship. It publishes the "Adventist Review", which evolved from several early church publications. Youth publications include "KidsView", "Guide" and "Insight". It has grown to a large worldwide denomination and has a significant network of medical and educational institutions.
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Miller did not join any of the movements, and he spent the last few years of his life working for unity, before dying in 1849.
Denominations.
The "Handbook of Denominations in the United States", 12th ed., describes the following churches as "Adventist and Sabbatarian (Hebraic) Churches":
Christadelphians.
The Christadelphians were founded in 1844 by John Thomas and had an estimated 25,000 members in 170 ecclesias, or churches, in 2000 in America.
Advent Christian Church.
The Advent Christian Church was founded in 1860 and had 25,277 members in 302 churches in 2002 in America. It is a "first-day" body of Adventist Christians founded on the teachings of William Miller. It adopted the "conditional immortality" doctrine of Charles F. Hudson and George Storrs, who formed the "Advent Christian Association" in Salem, Massachusetts, in 1860.
Primitive Advent Christian Church.
The Primitive Advent Christian Church is a small group which separated from the Advent Christian Church. It differs from the parent body mainly on two points. Its members observe foot washing as a rite of the church, and they teach that reclaimed backsliders should be baptized (even though they had formerly been baptized). This is sometimes referred to as rebaptism.
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Seventh-day Adventist Church.
The Seventh-day Adventist Church, founded in 1863, had over 19,500,000 baptized members (not counting children of members) worldwide as of June 2016. It is best known for its teaching that Saturday, the seventh day of the week, is the Sabbath and is the appropriate day for worship. However, the second coming of Jesus Christ, along with Judgment Day based on the three angels' message in Revelation 14:6–13, remain core beliefs of Seventh-day Adventists.
Seventh Day Adventist Reform Movement.
The Seventh Day Adventist Reform Movement is a small offshoot with an unknown number of members from the Seventh-day Adventist Church caused by disagreement over military service on the Sabbath day during World War I.
Davidian Seventh-day Adventist Association.
The Davidians (originally named Shepherd's Rod) is a small offshoot with an unknown number of members made up primarily of voluntarily disfellowshipped members of the Seventh-day Adventist Church. They were originally known as the Shepherd's Rod and are still sometimes referred to as such. The group derives its name from two books on Bible doctrine written by its founder, Victor Houteff, in 1929.
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The Branch Davidians were a split ("branch") from the Davidians.
A group that gathered around David Koresh (the so-called "Koreshians") abandoned Davidian teachings and turned into a religious cult. Many of them were killed during the infamous Waco Siege of April 1993.
Church of God (Seventh Day).
The Church of God (Seventh-Day) was founded in 1863 and it had an estimated 11,000 members in 185 churches in 1999 in America. Its founding members separated in 1858 from those Adventists associated with Ellen G. White who later organized themselves as Seventh-day Adventists in 1863. The Church of God (Seventh Day) split in 1933, creating two bodies: one headquartered in Salem, West Virginia, and known as the Church of God (7th day) – Salem Conference and the other one headquartered in Denver, Colorado and known as the General Conference of the Church of God (Seventh-Day). The Worldwide Church of God splintered from this.
Church of God General Conference.
Many denominations known as "Church of God" have Adventist origins.
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The Church of God General Conference was founded in 1921 and had 7,634 members in 162 churches in 2004 in America. It is a nontrinitarian first-day Adventist Christian body which is also known as the "Church of God of the Abrahamic Faith" and the "Church of God General Conference (Morrow, GA)".
Creation Seventh-Day Adventist Church.
The Creation Seventh-Day Adventist Church is a small group that broke off from the Seventh-Day Adventists in 1988, and organized itself as a church in 1991.
United Seventh-Day Brethren.
The United Seventh-Day Brethren is a small Sabbatarian Adventist body.
In 1947, several individuals and two independent congregations within the Church of God Adventist movement formed the "United Seventh-Day Brethren", seeking to increase fellowship and to combine their efforts in evangelism, publications, and other .
Other relationships.
Early in its development, the Bible Student movement founded by Charles Taze Russell had close connections with the Millerite movement and stalwarts of the Adventist faith, including George Storrs and Joseph Seiss. Although both Jehovah's Witnesses and the Bible Students do not identify as part of the Millerite Adventist movement (or other denominations, in general), some theologians categorize these groups and related sects as Millerite Adventist because of their teachings regarding an imminent Second Coming and their use of specific dates. The various independent Bible Student groups currently have a cumulative membership of about 20,000 worldwide. According to the Watch Tower Society, there were about Jehovah's Witnesses worldwide as of .
See also.
General:
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Archbishop of Canterbury
The archbishop of Canterbury is the senior bishop and a principal leader of the Church of England, the ceremonial head of the worldwide Anglican Communion and the bishop of the diocese of Canterbury. The first archbishop was Augustine of Canterbury, the "Apostle to the English", who was sent to England by Pope Gregory the Great and arrived in 597. The position is currently vacant following the resignation of Justin Welby, the 105th archbishop, effective 7 January 2025. During the vacancy the official functions of the office have been delegated primarily to the archbishop of York, Stephen Cottrell, with some also undertaken by the bishop of London, Sarah Mullally, and the bishop of Dover, Rose Hudson-Wilkin.
From Augustine until William Warham, the archbishops of Canterbury were in full communion with the Catholic Church and usually received the pallium from the pope. During the English Reformation, King Henry VIII broke communion with Rome and proclaimed himself the head of the Church of England. Thomas Cranmer, appointed in 1533, was the first Protestant archbishop of Canterbury and would become one of the most important figures in the development of Anglicanism.
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The archbishop is appointed by the British monarch on the advice of the prime minister of the United Kingdom and formally elected by the college of canons of Canterbury Cathedral. In practice, however, candidates are chosen by the Crown Nominations Commission, a Church of England body which advises the prime minister. The Archbishops' Secretary for Appointments wrote to General Synod members regarding appointment of a successor to Justin Welby in January 2025; meetings up to September 2025 were expected, to shortlist candidates.
Present roles and status.
Currently the archbishop fills four main roles:
In the last two of these functions, they have an important ecumenical and interfaith role, speaking on behalf of Anglicans in England and worldwide.
The archbishop's main residence is Lambeth Palace in the London Borough of Lambeth. They also have lodgings in the Old Palace, Canterbury, located beside Canterbury Cathedral, where the Chair of St Augustine sits.
As holder of one of the "five great sees" (the others being York, London, Durham and Winchester), the archbishop of Canterbury is "ex officio" one of the Lords Spiritual of the House of Lords. They are one of the highest-ranking people in England and the highest ranking non-royal in the United Kingdom's order of precedence.
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Since Henry VIII broke with Rome, the archbishops of Canterbury have been selected by the English (British since the Act of Union in 1707) monarch. Since the 20th century, the appointment of archbishops of Canterbury conventionally alternates between Anglo-Catholics and Evangelicals.
The most recent archbishop, Justin Welby was the 105th holder of the office; he was enthroned at Canterbury Cathedral on 4 February 2013. As archbishop he signed himself as "+ Justin Cantuar". On 12 November 2024, he announced his decision to resign; he did so effective 7 January 2025.
Two other former archbishops were living : George Carey (born 1935), the 103rd archbishop; and Rowan Williams (born 1950), the 104th archbishop.
Additional roles.
In addition to their office, the archbishop holds a number of other positions; for example, they are joint president of the Council of Christians and Jews in the United Kingdom. Some positions they formally hold "ex officio" and others virtually so (the incumbent of the day, although appointed personally, is appointed because of their office). Amongst these are:
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Ecumenical and interfaith.
The archbishop is also a president of Churches Together in England (an ecumenical organisation). Geoffrey Fisher, 99th archbishop of Canterbury, was the first since 1397 to visit Rome, where he held private talks with Pope John XXIII in 1960. In 2005, Rowan Williams became the first archbishop of Canterbury to attend a papal funeral since the Reformation. He also attended the inauguration of Pope Benedict XVI. The 101st archbishop, Donald Coggan, was the first to attend a papal inauguration, that of Pope John Paul II in 1978.
Since 2002, the archbishop has co-sponsored the Alexandria Middle East Peace process with the Grand Mufti of Egypt. In July 2008, the archbishop attended a conference of Christians, Jews and Muslims convened by the king of Saudi Arabia at which the notion of the "clash of civilizations" was rejected. Delegates agreed "on international guidelines for dialogue among the followers of religions and cultures." Delegates said that "the deepening of moral values and ethical principles, which are common denominators among such followers, would help strengthen stability and achieve prosperity for all humans."
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Origins.
It has been suggested that the Roman province of Britannia had four archbishops, seated at Londinium (London), Eboracum (York), Lindum Colonia (Lincoln) and Corinium Dobunnorum (Cirencester). However, in the 5th and 6th centuries Britannia began to be overrun by pagan, Germanic peoples who came to be known collectively as the Anglo-Saxons. Of the kingdoms they created, Kent arguably had the closest links with European politics, trade and culture, because it was conveniently situated for communication with continental Europe. In the late 6th century, King Æthelberht of Kent married a Christian Frankish princess named Bertha, possibly before becoming king, and certainly a number of years before the arrival of the first Christian mission to England. He permitted the preaching of Christianity.
The first archbishop of Canterbury was Saint Augustine of Canterbury (not to be confused with Saint Augustine of Hippo), who arrived in Kent in 597 AD, having been sent by Pope Gregory I on a mission to the English. He was accepted by King Æthelbert, on his conversion to Christianity, about the year 598. It seems that Pope Gregory, ignorant of recent developments in the former Roman province, including the spread of the Pelagian heresy, had intended the new archiepiscopal sees for England to be established in London and York. In the event, Canterbury was chosen instead of London, owing to political circumstances. Since then the archbishops of Canterbury have been referred to as occupying the Chair of St. Augustine.
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A gospel book believed to be directly associated with St Augustine's mission survives in the Parker Library, Corpus Christi College, University of Cambridge, England. Catalogued as Cambridge "Manuscript 286", it has been positively dated to 6th-century Italy and this bound book, the St Augustine Gospels, is still used during the swearing-in ceremony of new archbishops of Canterbury.
Before the break with papal authority in the 16th century, the Church of England was an integral part of the Western European church. Since the break the Church of England, an established national church, still considers itself part of the broader Western Catholic tradition (although this is not accepted by the Roman Catholic Church which regards Anglicanism as schismatic and does not accept Anglican holy orders as valid) as well as being the "mother church" of the worldwide Anglican Communion.
The "Report of the Commissioners appointed by his Majesty to inquire into the Ecclesiastical Revenues of England and Wales" (1835) noted the net annual revenue for the Canterbury see was £19,182.
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Province and Diocese of Canterbury.
The archbishop of Canterbury exercises metropolitical (or supervisory) jurisdiction over the Province of Canterbury, which encompasses thirty of the forty-two dioceses of the Church of England, with the rest falling within the Province of York. The four Welsh dioceses were also under the province of Canterbury until 1920 when they were transferred from the established church of England to the disestablished Church in Wales.
The archbishop of Canterbury has a ceremonial provincial "curia", or court, consisting of some of the senior bishops of their province. The bishop of London — the most senior cleric of the church with the exception of the two archbishops — serves as Canterbury's provincial dean, the bishop of Winchester as chancellor, the bishop of Lincoln as vice-chancellor, the bishop of Salisbury as precentor, the bishop of Worcester as chaplain and the bishop of Rochester as cross-bearer.
Along with primacy over the archbishop of York, the archbishop of Canterbury also has a precedence of honour over the other bishops of the Anglican Communion. They are recognised as "primus inter pares", or first amongst equals. They do not, however, exercise any direct authority in the provinces outside England, except in certain minor roles dictated by Canon in those provinces (for example, they are the judge in the event of an ecclesiastical prosecution against the archbishop of Wales). They do hold metropolitical authority over several extra-provincial Anglican churches, and they serve as "ex officio" bishop of the Falkland Islands.
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the archbishop has four suffragan bishops:
Styles and privileges.
The archbishops of Canterbury and York are both styled as "The Most Reverend"; retired archbishops are styled as "The Right Reverend". The archbishop is, by convention, appointed to the Privy Council and may, therefore, also use the style of "The Right Honourable" for life, unless later removed from the council. In formal documents, the archbishop of Canterbury is referred to as "The Most Reverend Forenames, by Divine Providence Lord Archbishop of Canterbury, Primate of All England and Metropolitan". In debates in the House of Lords, the archbishop is referred to as "The Most Reverend Primate, the Archbishop of Canterbury". "The Right Honourable" is not used in either instance. They may also be formally addressed as "Your Grace" or, more informally, as "Archbishop".
The surname of the archbishop of Canterbury is not always used in formal documents; often only the first name and see are mentioned. The archbishop is legally entitled to sign their name as "Cantuar" (the Latin for Canterbury). The right to use a title as a legal signature is only permitted to bishops, peers of the Realm and peers by courtesy. Justin Welby as archbishop of Canterbury usually signed as "+Justin Cantuar:".
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In the English and Welsh order of precedence, the archbishop of Canterbury is ranked above all individuals in the realm, with the exception of the sovereign and members of the royal family. Immediately below them is the lord chancellor and then the archbishop of York.
The archbishop of Canterbury awards academic degrees, commonly called "Lambeth degrees".
Residences.
The archbishop of Canterbury's official residence and office in London is Lambeth Palace. They also have an apartment within the Old Palace, next to Canterbury Cathedral which incorporates some 13th-century fabric of the medieval Archbishop's Palace.
Former seats of the archbishops include:
List of recent archbishops.
Since 1900, the following have served as archbishop of Canterbury:
Archbishops who became peers.
From 1660 to 1902, all the archbishops of Canterbury died in office. In 1928, two years before his death, Randall Davidson became the first to voluntarily resign his office. All his successors except William Temple (who died in office in 1944) have also resigned their office before death.
All those who retired have been given peerages: initially hereditary baronies (although both recipients of such titles died without male heirs and so their titles became extinct on their deaths), and life peerages after the enactment of the Life Peerages Act 1958. Such titles have allowed retired archbishops to retain the seats in the House of Lords which they held "ex officio" before their retirement.
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Albion, Michigan
Albion is a city in Calhoun County in the south central region of the Lower Peninsula of the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 7,700 at the 2020 census. Albion is part of the Battle Creek Metropolitan Statistical Area.
The earliest English-speaking settlers also called this area "The Forks", because it is at the confluence of the north and south branches of the Kalamazoo River. In the early 20th century, immigrants came to Albion from various eastern European nations, including the current Lithuania and Russia. More recently, Latino immigrants have come from Mexico and Central America. The "Festival of the Forks" has been held annually since 1967 to celebrate Albion's diverse ethnic heritage.
Since the 19th century, several major manufacturers were established in Albion, which became known as a factory town. This changed after several manufacturers closed. In the 21st century, Albion's culture is changing to that of a college town whose residents have a strong interest in technology and sustainability. Albion College is a private liberal arts college with a student population of about 1,250. Albion is a sister city with Noisy-le-Roi, France.
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History.
The first European-American settler, Tenney Peabody, arrived in 1833 along with his brother-in-law, Charles Blanchard, and another young man, Clark Dowling. Peabody's family followed soon after. In 1835, the Albion Company, a land development company formed by Jesse Crowell, platted a village. Peabody's wife was asked to name the settlement. She considered the name "Peabodyville", but selected "Albion" instead, after the former residence of Jesse Crowell. Crowell was appointed in 1838 as the first US postmaster there.
Many early settlers migrated to Albion from western New York and New England, part of a movement after the construction of the Erie Canal and the opening of new lands in Michigan and other Great Lakes territories. They first developed agriculture and it became a rural trading village. Settlers were strong supporters of education and in 1835, Methodists established Albion College affiliated with their church. Its first classes were held in 1843. The college was known by a few other names before 1861. At that time it was fully authorized to confer four-year degrees on both men and women.
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Albion incorporated as a village in 1855, following construction of the railroad here in 1852, which stimulated development. It became a city in 1885.
Mills were constructed to operate on the water power of the forks of the Kalamazoo River. They were the first industry in the town, used to process lumber, grain, and other products to build the village. Albion quickly became a mill town as well as an agricultural market. The river that powered industry also flooded the town.
In the Great Flood of 1908, there was severe property damage. In February, several feet of snow fell across the region. Heavy rains and warmer conditions in early March created water saturation in the ground and risk of flooding because of the rivers' high flow. After the Homer Dam broke around 3 p.m. on March 7, the Kalamazoo River flooded Albion. By midnight, the bridges surrounding town were underwater. Six buildings in Albion collapsed, resulting in more than $125,000 in damage (1908 dollars). The town struggled to recover.
In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, numerous Lithuanian and other Eastern European immigrants settled there, most working for the Albion Malleable Iron Company, and some in the coal mine north of town. The iron company initially made agricultural implements, but around World War I shifted to making automotive parts. The Malleable merged in 1969 with the Hayes Corporation, becoming the Hayes-Albion Corporation. Now known as a division of Harvard Industries, the company continues to produce automotive castings in Albion. Molder Statue Park downtown is dedicated to the many molders who dealt with molten iron.
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There were soon enough Lithuanians in town to establish Holy Ascension Orthodox Church, which they built in 1916. It is part of the Orthodox Church in America. Today its services are in English.
Albion's population peaked in 1960. In 1973 Albion was named an All-America City by the National Civic League. It celebrated the award on May 15, 1974, when Michigan Governor William Milliken and many other dignitaries came to town. In 1975 the closure of a major factory began a difficult period of industrial restructuring and decline in jobs and population.
Since that time citizens have mobilized, founding the Albion Community Foundation in 1968. They formed the Albion Volunteer Service Organization in the 1980s, with support from Albion College, to address the challenge of diminishing economic opportunity.
Key to the City Honor Bestowed:
Law and government.
Albion has a council-manager government. City residents elect a mayor at-large and City Council members from each of six single-member districts. The council in turn selects a city manager to handle the city's day-to-day affairs. The mayor presides over and is a voting member of the council. Council members are elected to four-year terms, staggered every two years. A mayor is elected every two years. The city levies an income tax of 1% on residents and 0.5% on nonresidents.
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Geography.
According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has an area of , of which is land and is water. Albion is 42.24 degrees north of the equator and 84.75 degrees west of the prime meridian.
Transportation.
Rail.
Amtrak provides daily service to Albion, operating its Wolverine both directions between Chicago, Illinois and Pontiac, Michigan, via Detroit.
Bus.
Greyhound Lines provides daily intercity city bus service to Albion between Chicago and Detroit.
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Anointing of the sick
Anointing of the sick, known also by other names such as unction, is a form of religious anointing or "unction" (an older term with the same meaning) for the benefit of a sick person. It is practiced by many Christian churches and denominations.
Anointing of the sick was a customary practice in many civilizations, including among the ancient Greeks and early Jewish communities. The use of oil for healing purposes is referred to in the writings of Hippocrates.
Anointing of the sick should be distinguished from other religious anointings that occur in relation to other sacraments, in particular baptism, confirmation and ordination, and also in the coronation of a monarch.
Names.
Since 1972, the Roman Catholic Church has used the name "Anointing of the Sick" both in the English translations issued by the Holy See of its official documents in Latin and in the English official documents of Episcopal conferences. It does not, of course, forbid the use of other names, for example the more archaic term "Unction of the Sick" or the term "Extreme Unction". Cardinal Walter Kasper used the latter term in his intervention at the 2005 Assembly of the Synod of Bishops. However, the Church declared that "'Extreme unction' ... may also and more fittingly be called 'anointing of the sick'", and has itself adopted the latter term, while not outlawing the former. This is to emphasize that the sacrament is available, and recommended, to all those suffering from any serious illness, and to dispel the common misconception that it is exclusively for those at or very near the point of death.
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Extreme Unction was the usual name for the sacrament in the West from the late twelfth century until 1972, and was thus used at the Council of Trent and in the 1913 Catholic Encyclopedia. Peter Lombard (died 1160) is the first writer known to have used the term, which did not become the usual name in the West till towards the end of the twelfth century, and never became current in the East. The word "extreme" (final) indicated either that it was the last of the sacramental unctions (after the anointings at Baptism, Confirmation and, if received, Holy Orders) or because at that time it was normally administered only when a patient was "in extremis".
Other names used in the West include the unction or blessing of consecrated oil, the unction of God, and the office of the unction. Among some Protestant bodies, who do not consider it a sacrament, but instead as a practice suggested rather than commanded by Scripture, it is called anointing with oil.
In the Greek Church, the sacrament is called Euchelaion (Greek Εὐχέλαιον, from εὐχή, "prayer", and ἔλαιον, "oil"). Other names are also used, such as ἅγιον ἔλαιον (holy oil), ἡγιασμένον ἔλαιον (consecrated oil), and χρῖσις or χρῖσμα (anointing).
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The Community of Christ uses the term administration to the sick.
The term "last rites" refers to administration to a dying person not only of this sacrament but also of Penance and Holy Communion, the last of which, when administered in such circumstances, is known as "Viaticum", a word whose original meaning in Latin was "provision for the journey". The normal order of administration is: first Penance (if the dying person is physically unable to confess, absolution, conditional on the existence of contrition, is given); next, Anointing; finally, Viaticum (if the person can receive it).
Biblical texts.
The chief biblical text concerning the rite is the Epistle of James (): "Is any among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord; and the prayer of faith will save the sick man, and the Lord will raise him up; and if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven" (RSV).
, and are also quoted in this context.
Sacramental beliefs.
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The Catholic, Eastern Orthodox and Coptic and Old Catholic Churches consider this anointing to be a sacrament. Other Christians too, in particular, Lutherans, Anglicans and some Protestant and other Christian communities use a rite of anointing the sick, without necessarily classifying it as a sacrament.
In the Churches mentioned here by name, the oil used (called "oil of the sick" in both West and East) is blessed specifically for this purpose.
Roman Catholic Church.
An extensive account of the teaching of the Catholic Church on Anointing of the Sick is given in "Catechism of the Catholic Church".
Anointing of the Sick is one of the seven Sacraments recognized by the Catholic Church, and is associated with not only bodily healing but also forgiveness of sins. Only ordained priests can administer it, and "any priest may carry the holy oil with him, so that in a case of necessity he can administer the sacrament of anointing of the sick."
Sacramental graces.
The Catholic Church sees the effects of the sacrament as follows. As the sacrament of Marriage gives grace for the married state, the sacrament of Anointing of the Sick gives grace for the state into which people enter through sickness. Through the sacrament a gift of the Holy Spirit is given, that renews confidence and faith in God and strengthens against temptations to discouragement, despair and anguish at the thought of death and the struggle of death; it prevents from losing Christian hope in God's justice, truth and salvation.
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The special grace of the sacrament of the Anointing of the Sick has as its effects:
Sacramental oil.
The duly blessed oil used in the sacrament is, as laid down in the Apostolic Constitution, Sacram unctionem infirmorum, pressed from olives or from other plants. It is blessed by the bishop of the diocese at the Chrism Mass he celebrates on Holy Thursday or on a day close to it. If oil blessed by the bishop is not available, the priest administering the sacrament may bless the oil, but only within the framework of the celebration.
Ordinary Form of the Roman Rite (1972).
The Roman Rite Anointing of the Sick, as revised in 1972, puts greater stress than in the immediately preceding centuries on the sacrament's aspect of healing, primarily spiritual but also physical, and points to the place sickness holds in the normal life of Christians and its part in the redemptive work of the Church. Canon law permits its administration to a Catholic who has reached the age of reason and is beginning to be put in danger by illness or old age, unless the person in question obstinately persists in a manifestly grave sin. "If there is any doubt as to whether the sick person has reached the use of reason, or is dangerously ill, or is dead, this sacrament is to be administered". There is an obligation to administer it to the sick who, when they were in possession of their faculties, at least implicitly asked for it. A new illness or a renewal or worsening of the first illness enables a person to receive the sacrament a further time.
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The ritual book on pastoral care of the sick provides three rites: anointing outside Mass, anointing within Mass, and anointing in a hospital or institution. The rite of anointing outside Mass begins with a greeting by the priest, followed by sprinkling of all present with holy water, if deemed desirable, and a short instruction. There follows a penitential act, as at the beginning of Mass. If the sick person wishes to receive the sacrament of penance, it is preferable that the priest make himself available for this during a previous visit; but if the sick person must confess during the celebration of the sacrament of anointing, this confession replaces the penitential rite A passage of Scripture is read, and the priest may give a brief explanation of the reading, a short litany is said, and the priest lays his hands on the head of the sick person and then says a prayer of thanksgiving over the already blessed oil or, if necessary, blesses the oil himself.
The actual anointing of the sick person is done on the forehead, with the prayer: "Through this holy anointing may the Lord in his love and mercy help you with the grace of the Holy Spirit", and on the hands, with the prayer "May the Lord who frees you from sin save you and raise you up". To each prayer the sick person, if able, responds: "Amen."
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It is permitted, in accordance with local culture and traditions and the condition of the sick person, to anoint other parts of the body in addition, such as the area of pain or injury, but without repeating the sacramental form. In case of emergency, a single anointing, if possible but not absolutely necessary if not possible on the forehead, is sufficient.
Extraordinary Form of the Roman Rite.
From the early Middle Ages until after the Second Vatican Council the sacrament was administered, within the Latin Church, only when death was approaching and, in practice, bodily recovery was not ordinarily looked for, giving rise, as mentioned above to the name "Extreme Unction" (i.e. final anointing). The extraordinary form of the Roman Rite includes anointing of seven parts of the body while saying in Latin:
The last phrase was chosen to correspond to the part of the body that was touched. The 1913 Catholic Encyclopedia explains that "the unction of the loins is generally, if not universally, omitted in English-speaking countries, and it is of course everywhere forbidden in case of women".
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