Arizona Minerals

A procession escorts bier of Christ to church on Good Friday.

Holy Saturday dramatizes the defeat of the Forces of Evil. At the time of the New Fire ceremony all the Forces of Good band together and serve the Capitán of the Fariseos an ultimatum: "The judgment of the world against the Chapayekas." The Evil ones, throwing firecrackers, storm the church, but are beaten back by a confetti and leaf barrage hurled by the Deer, Pascolas, and others; by the switches wielded by the Angelitos; and by the dancing of the Matchinis. Twice more a similar attack is made, and similarly repulsed. Defeated, the Chapayekas strip off their costumes, fling them at the image of Judas, whom they had previously tied to an upright stake, and are rushed into the church by their godparents to be rebaptized. The straw effigy of Judas is later set on fire and the firecrackers which have been placed in the straw explode, after which the characters who played the part of the Forces of Evil come out of the church, and fall exhausted to the ground. When they rise, they are rebaptized men and supporters of righteousness. The Matachinis, joined by the Pascolas, Coyotes, and Deer Dancer begin the dances of triumph which continue throughout the afternoon and late into the night. The resurrection is announced in an elaborate ceremony on Easter Sunday. An altar is moved from the Pascola ramanda (a three-sided room where the Pascolas often dance) to the cruz mayor (main cross) at the eastern end of the plaza. A procession led by the Angelitos and made up of practically everyone who acted in the drama accompanies the moving of the altar. The converted Chapayekas now wear colored neckerchiefs, felt hats decorated with leaves, and carry switches instead of swords. The Fariseo Bantaleos carry bamboo canes instead of flags, and the Pilatos have removed the heads from their spears. Soon two Alpesim, with red and green crowns, run from the church at the opposite end of the plaza, one carrying a flag, the other an image of Mary Magdalene. Twice they race towards the cruz mayor without completing the journey, but on the third trip they arrive before the altar, and move the Mary Magdalene in the sign of the cross before the infant Jesus. The Alpesim then turn and march back to the church to announce the joyous news of the resurrection. The Alleluia begins, the church bell rings, the Matachinis and Pascolas resume their victory dances, the procession files to the church, the holy images are replaced on the altar, and the Fariseos are again rebaptized. The drama ends around 2 o'clock when all who participated in the pageant gather in a large circle and are thanked by the Capitán of the Fariseos for helping with the pageant. This is the "thank you circle" which closes all Yaqui ceremonies. Despite the intrusion of primitive Indian customs, it is apparent that the Pascua Passion follows in many respects the outline of the conventional medieval Mystery and Miracle Plays such asdominated the drama of western Europe from around 1200 to well past 1500. Like the earlier plays, the Pascua Passion deals with Biblical scenes with not only deep piety, but also boisterous license, weaving into them pagan beliefs, the common folk morality, and the high-spirited, often crude humor of the unsophisticated. Here is a last survival of the spirit and the method that was one of the mainstays of European culture five hundred years ago. That the Yaqui clings with such passionate tenacity to his ritual is easily explained. It is his most important group expression, a dramatization of the vital force which moves his entire social organization. Without the belief which the Passion embodies, the Yaqui Indians would be naked in an alien world.

On Holy Saturday, with apparent triumph of Evil, Chapayekas tote effigy of betrayer Judas Iscariot about village. Later in day Judas will be tied to stake in foreground and burned.

The rowdy Chapayekas gleefully celebrate apparent victory over the Forces of Good. In end Good vanquishes Evil.

A hobby is as essential for your mental health as vitamins are for your physical well-being. Arizonans believe that nowhere in the world, in a similar compass, has Nature provided a wider variety, a greater abundance or more colorful material for the hobbyist. Every devotee stands solidly behind his choice. We rockhounds are proud of Arizona's nearly three hundred species of colorful minerals, many of them very rare; some found nowhere else in the world. If you are debating the choice of a hobby we recommend minerals most enthusiastically. If you are already a confirmed rockhound we invite you to visit Arizona to see for yourself.

Assuming that you have not made your choice and would like a peep at the possibilities offered by minerals as well as a glance at how this absorbing outdoor-indoor nature study is carried on a few pertinent facts are set forth for your consideration. There are books about minerals to be sure, one or more of which will become quite essential after you have started but there is no better way to become well acquainted with minerals than to handle them. You will discover how truly the great naturalist John Ruskin stated the case when he wrote, "There are no natural objects out of which more can be learned than out of stones. They seem to have been created especially to reward a patient observer." As you familiarize yourself with the appearance and nature of different minerals you will be pleasantly surprised to learn how many of them touch your everyday life in ways you never dreamed about.

It is always helpful to know just what you are reading about before you have read too far. That calls for a definition. To most folks whatever can be picked up off the ground that does not belong to the animal or vegetable kingdoms is a "rock". If you begin to bring them home your friends and even your family may give a peculiar intonation to "just old rocks" expressing with subtlety a bit of pity for your new pastime. It's easy to confound them all by enquiring, casually, if they know the difference between a mineral and a rock.

There is no great secret about the difference. Almost anyone with a rock in one hand and a mineral in the other can give an explanation of the difference, which, polished up a bit becomes a fair layman's definition. By semi-scientific definition a mineral is a product of inorganic nature, which has a constant chemical composition, a definite molecular structure, distinct optical and other physical properties. On the other hand a rock is a natural combination of two or more minerals. An exception to this is allowed, by usage, when a single mineral occurs in a mass sufficiently large to constitute "an essential part of the earth." For example a huge mass of gypsum measurable in thousands of tons would be termed a rock for most certainly it would constitute "an essential part of the earth."

Having defined our subject let us take up the details of what to do next, where and how. To be a rockhound requires no special training. You just begin and then the fascination of it grips you and soon you are in all over. The field equipment required is simple; a prospecting pick which is a type of hammer known all over the West with a head having a point and at the opposite end a square face, newspapers to wrap your find in and some sort of container in which to carry them away. A notebook relieves your memory of lots of detail and a good pocket lense reveals details and numerous delicate designs not seen by the best of eyes unaided.

As a beginner you may ask your collector friend, "How shall I know what to pick up?" The cardinal rule for the beginner, and for the more experienced also, is to look with suspicion on any bit of stone in your way which attracts you because it is different. If a momentary flash tells you that your eye has caught something which stands out from the surrounding objects you are a potential rockhound. I'll grant you that during the early stages you will pick up and carry away many things to be cast aside later as you gain in knowledge and experience. Your initial energy may not have been wholly wasted for someday you will mull over that pile of rejects out behind the garage and perhaps turn up something really packed with interest. The fun lies in discovering the cleverly hidden secrets as you read the stories in stones. But first, last and always the rule should be to devote a few minutes at least to critical observation of that something which seemed so different that it caught your eye.

Until you have become acquainted with the more common minerals it will be difficult to answer to your own satisfaction the question of what to collect. The easiest course is to aim at a general collection, that is, as many species of minerals as possible, not forgetting to set as your principal objective one good specimen of each mineral reported from Arizona. That in itself will make a considerable collection. If you learn all that an amateur might be expected to know about such a collection you will be well informed in mineralogy. Later you may wish to specialize. You may become fascinated by a single family of minerals and make that one group the dominant feature. The quartz family is one of the largest, affording a wide variety of types, including semi-precious stones to be polished and there is an excellent book to help you, devoted to that one group, The Quartz Family Minerals. You might decide on crystals. Then again you might choose a single mineral and its usual associates, for minerals like people are known by the company they keep. The opportunities for specializing are many.

So far we have considered minerals only in their natural state. As one phase of your hobby, an indoor phase, the cutting and polishing of semi-precious stones is an absorbing pastime. It is the more interesting if you are of an artistic turn of mind and can mount your fashioned gems in hand made jewelry of your own design and making. Incidentally this is an easy solution of that oft-recurring problem of presents, birthday, anniversaries, Christmas and many more. Some stop short of finishing the stones for mounting and make a collection of polished slabs or sections. It is surprising what a great variety of material is available for this kind of work, not only semi-precious stones but many colorful ores and even what seem to be quite common rocks.

It is hardly an exaggeration to declare that almost anywhere in Arizona outside of the city limits is a good collecting area. Naturally there are places where the opportunities are greater for finding some particular mineral or perhaps some unusual combination of minerals. Arizona abounds in such special localities. The mountainous parts of the state in particular have been prospected almost continuously for more than four hundred years. Even before our history began to be recorded the pre-historic peoples sought the mystic turquoise and native copper for ornaments, the cinnabar, hematite, gypsum and clay for paint pigments. Since the beginning of the nineteenth century prospecting has been more extensive and different methods have been used for the purpose of finding many things the pre-historic people did not know. The result is many thousands of prospect holes in the mountainous areas. Some are very old, so old they may be filled completely but the dumps remain.Dumps from prospecting operations of all ages, be they large or small and regardless of what was being prospected for are fruitful fields for the collector as a rule. Sometimes very fine specimens can be had from such sources with very little effort.

One reason why the old dumps are so interesting and prolific is that the material they contain usually came from relatively close to the surface. The geologist recognizes a zone of variable depth below the surface in which changes, due mainly to the percolating surface waters, have been taking place for ages. This is known as the zone of oxidation. The most colorful specimens are found in this zone of oxidation. By these processes of alteration drab, uninteresting primary (original) materials are transFor beauty and color, you have to go a long way to find anything to equal some of the minerals that come from the rich, sunburnt hills of Arizona, truly a collector's paradise. Specimens shown here were displayed at the Arizona State Fair in Phoenix last November. These represent some of the choice minerals from outstanding local collections.

GALLERY OF NATURES ART Petrified Wood "Picture, Stones

There is an active fraternity of mineral collectors in Arizona. The state, because of its diversified geological formations, lends itself to the hobby of mineral collecting. Some of the Arizona collections are truly outstanding. Those who know say mineral collecting requires a lot of hard work and knowledge but nothing can equal it.