by Lindsay Shapka in Culture, People, History
If you read the news or watch any sort of crime drama, you are sure to have heard the term 'triad' at some point.
It refers to one of the many branches of the Chinese organized crime organization that stretches all over the world. It's a term akin to 'mob', 'gang' or 'mafia'.
Read Moreby Lindsay Shapka in Culture, People
What are worry dolls and where does the tradition come from?
A common souvenir to bring home from your travels, Worry Dolls are tiny (anywhere from half an inch to three inches tall) hand-crafted dolls created by the highland indigenous people of Guatemala.
Read Moreby Lindsay Shapka in Culture, People, Book List
The Guardian (a British newspaper), released a list of the 100 Best Novels Written in English by Robert McCrum — an editor, author, and regular contributor to the newspaper since 1990.
Here is the list he has put together in order of the year the book was published.
Read Moreby Lindsay Shapka in Culture, People, In The News
During my time as Editor of WHERE Edmonton Magazine, I was lucky enough to have a 30-minute interview with the incomparable David Suzuki. If you are not familiar with him, Suzuki is a Canadian environmentalist, activist, public speaker, writer (he has written more than 50 books!), and teacher.
Read Moreby Lindsay Shapka in Travel, People, Culture
Even though it was located in the middle of a huge city, behind the stone walls that surrounded the ancient Buddhist complex, all was quiet.
After walking under a red pillared passageway, grey, weathered stone steps led me up to the main temple.
A 3-tiered grey stone pagoda sat in the middle of the dusty square in front of the temple, white pillar candles, and incense burning on a raised platform in front of it. Whoever had lit the flames was nowhere to be seen.
The temple itself, the center of all religious activity, was brown with elaborately painted vines and flowers covering the doors and window frames.
Not wanting to interrupt any ceremonies being performed inside, I sat on its steps carved with stone dragons, listening to the slow, strong chanting coming through the cracks in the huge wooden lattice doors.
It was a beautiful building — the sides were painted with intricate murals showing parts of the Buddha’s life and carved stone lotus flowers embellished the eaves and pillars. Abandoning my spot on the stairs for a closer look at the murals, I was shocked to see a huge swastika, painted in yellow, on the side of the temple.
My shock continued to grow as I walked throughout the rest of the complex and noticed swastikas on other buildings, and on statues of the Buddha as well.
It wasn’t until I got home and had the Internet at my fingertips that I learned that the swastika had been a symbol of Buddhism for thousands of years before the Nazi party of Germany adopted it as their own.
Representing good luck and well-being, the symbol is most commonly used in India but is also found in both the ancient and modern art of Egyptians, Greeks, Romans, Celts, Native Americans, Persians, Hindus, Jains, and Buddhists.
In Buddhism, it also represents auspiciousness, the Buddha’s footprints, and the Buddha’s heart. Often used to mark the beginning of Buddhist texts, it is usually only found on buildings in South Korea.
In the twentieth century, the swastika was corrupted by the Nazi party (much like the Ku Klux Klan did to the Christian Cross, but with a lesser impact).
Despite the fact that the Nazi version of the symbol is drawn at an angle, with the crisscrossing lines running diagonally while the Buddhist version lies flat, most people in the Western World now look at any version of it as a symbol of evil and see nothing more.
Ironic, considering its original representation of peace, life, and joy.
