Tangled: The Golden Flower

The other day, I was in the Taj Mahal, and I noticed something that caught my attention: the lily-like flower carved in the marble walls of the great mausoleum. I remembered that, in the Tangled movie, the Golden Flower was a Lilium, a very similar (not to say the same)
flower. Why would they use a Lilium? The plant that Rapunzel’s mother ingested in the original fairy tale was a Rampion, that has a totally different flower... So I started researching.
The first time a Lilium appeared in history was in a painting in Crete, in the year 1580 BC. For the Greeks, this flower was very precious: a myth says that it was created with Hera’s breast milk. For many cultures, this Lily symbolizes purity, chastity and virtue, and in a few cases death. In some others, it even represents Heaven on earth, or reaching a paradise in the afterlife.
As for it’s pharmaceutical value, it was commonly believed to have magical qualities, using it to treat fever, wounds and arthritis in the Victorian Era. In Eastern Countries they boiled the flower and ate it with other ingredients.
And it all makes sense: the drop of sun that created the flower is nothing more than Hera’s breast milk; it’s ‘magical powers’ where the magical qualities that were believed that the flower had and the representation of Heaven; the golden color not only associated to the Sun, but of the symbolism of the color itself: Illumination... Is this a coincidence?

Photograph by @Nennieinszweidrei

Pocahontas: Can Trees Talk?

Almost everybody has seen Pocahontas at least once. The most curious part of the movie for me? Well, it was quite shocking to see Grandmother Willow, a talking willow tree, that somewhat guided Pocahontas. Some years later, I’m asking myself this... Can trees talk? Can they communicate with us? Could we learn from them like the protagonist? Recent evidence says that trees can communicate with each other. Suzanne Simard ’s research shows that below the earth there are vast networks of roots working with fungi to move water, carbon, and nutrients among trees of all species. These complex, symbiotic networks, also known as Wood-Wide Web or mycorrhizal networks, mimic human neural and social networks. This network even has mother trees or hub trees, managing information flow, helping younger seedlings and passing wisdom from generation to generation. Peter Wohlleben , a German forester and author, also researched in this area, proving that not only through the soil can trees communi...

The Twilight Saga: How the Idea of a Soulmate Affects Our Mind

Everybody knows at least one of the synonyms for the word “soulmate”: androgynous, soulmate, destined, mate, ‘true love’, ‘one's promised’... But there’s only one definition: a special affinity, understanding, or powerful bond that exists between one person and another. For example, we see Jacob Black (one of the principal characters of the movie “ Twilight ”) in the penultimate movie of the saga finding out that Bella and Edward’s daughter, Reneesmé, is his soulmate. As I thought about this, I became very curious about one thing... How many people believed in having a soulmate? Well, according to a Marist poll , 73% of Americans believe in soulmates; more men than women believe in the ‘soulmate’ theory (males: 74%, females: 71%); and 79% of people younger than 45 believe in soulmates, while only 69% of those over 45 do. Now, that’s a lot of people! And again, thinking about this, how would this theory, believing in a ‘soulmate’ affect their minds? Luckily for me, I found some sci...

The Book of Life: The Impostor’s Syndrome

Some of you may have seen the movie The Book of Life . I liked, one way or the other, all the characters presented in the plot: some of them are odious, some are lovable... And one of the characters that’s the most pitiest, for me, is Joaquin. In the movie, we see a fearless General, ready for whatever comes in the way... Is it? Actually, no. He is consumed by guilt, really thinking that he doesn’t deserve all the medals and achievements he has. Even when he no longer has his ‘special medal’ to protect him (we have to see how ‘special’ was... Maybe it was something to lift his self-confidence, like the ‘ beauty patch ’, or the trick that Harry Potter plays on his friend Ronald ) and fights along with Manolo, almost sacrificing himself on the way, he doesn’t feel himself worthy of a medal anymore. This kind of thinking, self-doubting your competence and capacities, the overwhelming feeling that you don't deserve your success, is what we call ‘Impostor Syndrome’. As Joaquin, pe...

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