Born March 2008 in New York City, Murmur Films is home to independent filmmaker Murray Wasylnuk, producer and director of the upcoming original series STUCK IN THE MIDDLE and the Sammy Hagar inspired documentary UNITED STATES OF CABO. Murmur Films also produces music videos and the fan driven music web series BEHIND THE ROCK.
For more information, please click here: Murmur Films
Interviews and photos to give you an intimate look behind the bands and the music.
Stay tuned. Coming soon!
Author’s note: This is a post I’ve been working on for a long time. I hesitated to post it due to its controversial nature. However, I think it is important to expand our horizons by considering different perspectives, because when we are exposed to new theories, it opens our minds a little bit and helps us grow as human beings. In no way do I intend to offend anyone’s belief system. Please also know that I am not stating here whether I believe or disbelief any of the contents of this post. It is a fact that Mitochondrial Eve exists, but its implications are subjective. And that’s what I find so fascinating, so I wanted to introduce new concepts and possibilities to those who may never have considered this subject before.
In 1987, scientists discovered a common ancestor to all humans alive today. She lived in Africa 200,000 years ago and was given the name “Eve,” not to be confused with the Eve from the biblical story of the Garden of Eden. Mitochondrial Eve was not the first woman from whom all humans were descended, just a common ancestor.
According to Nova’s website, Mitochondrial Eve was actually the most recent common ancestor through matrilineal descent of all humans living today. That is, all people alive today can trace some of their genetic heritage through their mothers back to this one woman.
Trace our heritage through our mother’s side? How is this possible?
Whenever an egg cell is fertilized, nuclear chromosomes from a sperm cell enter the egg and combine with the egg’s nuclear DNA, producing a mixture of both parents’ genetic code. The mtDNA from the sperm cell, however, is left behind, outside of the egg cell.
So the fertilized egg contains a mixture of the father and mother’s nuclear DNA and an exact copy of the mother’s mtDNA, but none of the father’s mtDNA. The result is that mtDNA is passed on only along the maternal line. This means that all of the mtDNA in the cells of a person’s body are copies of his or her mother’s mtDNA, and all of the mother’s mtDNA is a copy of her mother’s, and so on. No matter how far back you go, mtDNA is always inherited only from the mother.
Like the debate between Creationism and Evolution, the theory of Mitochondrial Eve is also highly controversial.
But let’s just assume for a moment that it’s true, and if so, could it have an effect on the manner in which women are treated even today? In my Women’s Studies classes in college, we discussed the goddess theory and how in the beginning, woman was worshipped because woman was the bearer of life. Among her sacred symbols were the serpent, the apple and others which through time became associated with evil and sin in Christianity (the story of the Garden of Eden is but one example). Perhaps this sowed the seeds for the oppression of women.
If it’s true that our heritage can be traced back to one woman, isn’t it interesting that even today when she marries, a woman often takes the surname of her husband? I wonder how different the world might be if it were the other way around.
On a more positive note, I am fascinated by the way “the Great Mother” has affected my life. I have heard differing opinions of this term. Some believe “The Great Mother” was Mary, the mother of Jesus and she very well may have been. But I tend to think of her as half of Father God, as in Mother God/Father God; the two of them being two halves of the one entity I call God. For me, the yin/yang symbol represents this concept perfectly.
Yin/yang represents all opposites of the universe–long and short, postive and negative, male and female, up and down, etc. It’s also interesting to note that each half contains the seed of the other. To me, that symbolizes our personal duality: we all have male and female hormones and we all have both positive and negative qualities, but in order to be whole, we must embrace both sides.
The term “Mother Earth” is also a common expression, along with “Mother Nature.” perhaps as a complement to “Sky Father” or “Heavenly Father” (the yin/yang principle again). See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sky_father.
In any case, I wonder whether the discovery of Mitochondrial Eve was a possible sign that it is time for us to embrace the sacred feminine in ourselves and each other. If you don’t believe in signs, it can only be a beneficial thing to embrace all aspects of ourselves and others, can it not?
If your neighbors claimed to have a ghost “living” in their house, even wrote a book about it and were featured on a national TV show dealing with such phenomena, if given the opportunity, would you want to learn more about said ghost, perhaps even witness it for yourself? Or maybe you don’t believe in ghosts and you’d simply consider the entire thing a joke without giving it a second thought.
I think most people are somewhere in the middle–curious about the possibility of otherworldly phenomena, yet skeptical. I’d like to offer you a unique opportunity. Although you may not be able to pay a personal visit to the family who claims to live with this ghost, if you had the chance to ask them any question at all about their situation, what would you ask?
Very shortly, I will be interviewing Ken and Monika Harmon, who claim to have the spirit of a young woman living in their house. In fact, they invited me over to meet their ghost last year. Like most people, I was apprehensive–a bit scared and a whole lot curious. What I witnessed that day convinced me beyond a doubt, that their ghost was real. To read about my spine-chilling experience, please click here: http://www.bajarockpat.net/category/blog/spirits-blog/
The things that happened to me that day raised a lot of questions, such as: how many other things are out there in the world that we can’t see with our eyes but have an effect on our lives, whether real or imagined? And wouldn’t it be a boring existence for a ghost simply to hang around observing the living? And–can they see us when we’re in the shower or making love or???
(Actual photo taken inside the Harmon home–ghost is the misty image in bottom center of the photograph.)
I must confess that I am hesitant to visit their home again in order to film the interview, because my first visit there scared the wits out of me, but for the sake of education, I’m willing to do it anyway.
Here’s where YOU come in. What would you like to know about Ken and Monika, or perhaps … Mary Bell Wilson–their resident ghost?
Please submit your questions for Ken, Monika or Mary Bell (please be kind and respectful) in the comments section following this post prior to February 25, 2013. We will choose the most interesting ones and ask them for you. Then sit back in the safety and comfort of your (hopefully ghost-free) home and watch the video we put together of the intervew. Stay tuned to this website for video release date.
For information on the Harmons and their story, please click here: http://ghostunderfoot.com/
Valentine’s Day is just around the corner. If you’re like me, you love chocolate but not the calories. And you hate to see expensive flowers wilt in less than a week.
How about giving the gift of a book?
Books make the perfect gift for that special someone in your life, or for yourself!
As my way of saying “thank you” for being such a sweetheart, I have a Valentine’s Day gift for you. For a limited time, from Feb. 8 – Feb. 14, I’m offering 30% OFF the price of an autographed copy of “Dance of the Electric Hummingbird.”
Hurry! Get your copy today! Please click the icon below to order.
Thank you and Happy Valentine’s Day to you!
