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The Codex Vaticanus explains that these ancient Mexican symbols are the twenty figures that rule over men [deer or stag, wind, rose, earthquake, eagle, vulture, water, house, skull or death, rain, dog, rabbit, flint, air, monkey, cane, grass or herb, lizard, tiger, and serpent] and that cure in a corresponding manner those who become ill or suffer pains in any part of the body. "The sign of the wind is assigned to the liver; the rose to the breast; the earthquake to the tongue; the eagle to the right arm; the vulture to the right ear; the rabbit to the left ear; the flint to the teeth; the air to the breath; the monkey to the left arm; the cane to the heart; the herb to the bowels; the lizard to the womb of women; the tiger to the left foot; the serpent to the male organ of generation, as that from which their diseases proceed in their commencement; for in this manner they consider the serpent, wherever it occurs, as the most ominous of all their signs." From the Annual Report of the Bureau of Ethnology, 1889.
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[Inexplicable images from generations ago invite us to restore the lost
sense of immediacy. We follow the founder of the Theater of
Spontaneity, Jacob Moreno, who proposed stringing together "now and then
flashes" to unfetter illusion and let imagination run free. The images
we have collected for this series came at a tremendous price, which we explained previously.] |
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