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Spirit of Nochebuena (Xmas '16 Series)

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Cuetlaxochitl.  The red flower that bloomed, but only in winter.  The aztecs saw blood in the flower, blood of rebirth.  She is called toxic, but those legends are exaggerated.  

She doesn't kill, but she can cause blindness.  In spanish the red flower is called Nochebuena.  But in the United States, a new name was given for it, Poinsettia.  Joel Poinsett, the first US minister to Mexico introduced the plant, and instead of using its first name, Poinsett's name has taken it over.

Cuetlaxochitl.  She cannot bloom, but in the cold of winter.  Blood red.  Ready to be reborn at anytime.

She comes each year in the bloom of the flowers that grow in soil.  All of winter is her season.  A reminder that winter isn't a end for all things that grow.

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For Xmas this year, I'm trying something new.  Christmas Spirits, more or less.  

Cuetlaxochitl is the original nahuatl name of the Poinsettia.  It's bright red coloring, isn't in its flowers.  The leaves around the flowers are bright red, a result of a particular biological effect.  Photoperiodism, which means it takes a certain amount of darkness to make them red.  And they need light to become bright red.

Catholics drew an association with the plant and the Star of Bethlehem.  But the plant is able to grow even in colder climes, able to survive if kept frost free.

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