Picture shows : A man with a briefcase waits by a taxi stand with his arm outstretched to flag down a passing cab. Behind him a man walks, holding his daughters hand, towards the public entrance to the Emergency Department as a man with his leg in a cast and using crutches, walks away from A&E. A Mercedes Benz Sprinter box body Emergency Ambulance or “Ambaileans Eiginn” of the Scottish Ambulance Service (SAS) pulls up to bring another patient to Hospital.

To the left, a Patient Transport Service (PTS) ambulance is parked facing the windows of the Acute Assessment Unit (AAU) which is joined on to the Emergency Dept. Next to the PTS vehicle, SAS staff stand next to an Urgent Tier Ambulance.

Diorama - Mossend District General Hospital.

Scale - 1:76, OO Gauge.

 

Ambulance and Emergency Medical Services in Scotland are provided by the Scottish Ambulance Service (SAS), a special Health Board of the greater National Health Service (NHS) Scotland. SAS provides these services throughout all of mainland Scotland and the Islands. Emergency Medical Services are provided by the Accident & Emergency branch, providing Double Crewed Ambulances typically formed of a Paramedic and Technician, but which can be formed of double Tech or Para crews. Single Paramedics in cars, motorbikes or bicycles are Paramedic Response Units, used to provide immediate pre-hospital care to patients, or treating and discharging at scene. Also part of the A&E branch is the Urgent Tier service, using crews formed of an Ambulance Technician and Care Assistant, Urgent Tier convey patients who have been urgently referred to Hospital. The patients General Practitioner can request admission within a 1-4 hour timeframe. As such Urgent Tier vehicles use their emergency warning systems less than standard A&E crews. Due to the presence of a qualified Technician however UT resources can be used as a first responder to immediately life threatening calls.

 

SAS also has an Emergency Medical Retrieval Service (ScotSTAR), bringing Medical and Nursing care to patients as they transfer between Hospitals. Scotland is the only part of the UK to provide fully government funded Air Ambulance services, with two fixed wing and two rotary aircraft. They are assisted by the Scottish Charity Air Ambulance who provide additional cover with two helicopters of their own.

 

Special Operations Response Team (SORT) provide an emergency response to complex rescue, CBRN, terrorist attacks and other such incidents.

 

Scheduled Care is provided by the Patient Transport Service, the non-emergency branch of SAS. Using a variety of vehicles from cars, people carriers, minibuses and minibus conversion ambulances, PTS provides transport to and from outpatient clinics, for planned admissions and discharges. Staff crewing PTS vehicles are called Ambulance Care Assistants (ACA). They are experts in moving and handling, whereas A&E crews frequently remove patients from houses using equipment such as carry chairs, ACA’s must be adept at taking their patients back up stairs as well as extrications.

 

As with the majority of healthcare in Scotland, ambulance and emergency medical services are free at the point of use. Funded by National Insurance contributions made by those in work, Scots are extremely proud and defensive of our NHS. We generally believe that everyone should pay towards the common fund to ensure no-one has their life destroyed by medical costs, as illness and injury are not a choice. Having worked in the NHS and with SAS myself, I have resuscitated a man having a heart attack, conveyed him to Hospital, watched as Coronary Care staff removed the blockage from his artery and left the man sitting up in bed in CCU. Knowing that he will be repatriated to his nearest General Hospital for Coronary Rehab and will go home to ongoing care in the community. That man could take time to recover, safe in the knowledge that no crippling bill or endless fights with healthcare insurance would befall him. That is our NHS, that is why we love it and cannot understand the US system.

Heading 'oop North', the preferred route suffered blockages and lengthy delays. So an alternative way was taken, which saw us passing by Drax power station. It has the highest power production of any plant in the UK. It was intetesting to be so close to the massive cooling towers as we drove by. Mobile capture from moving car.

Self-portrait.

 

I've had a little artistic blockage lately, but I'm back with something new. It may or may not be a part of my silhouettes project that will be due soon.

   

Working Absolute Block to Ulverston and Barrow on the 'main' line and Park South on the avoiding line, the Furness Railway box was opened in 1902 with an Evans - O'Donnell lever frame.

Only one semaphore here, sited above Park South's distant signal on the branch.

 

A reminder applicance can be seen on the block instrument from Barrow, with a Line Blockage being in place for work on a mid-section foot crossing. Good to see another unrefurbished diagram too!

With the West Coast mainline blocked in Scotland by engineering works over the Easter holiday weekend a couple of priority freights were re routed over the G&SW to avoid the blockage. One such train is seen here in Falkland Yard on Easter Monday stood on No.1 up goods. 4M30 was retimed to leave Grangemouth at 14.33 instead of 19.27 to pick up its booked slot south on the mainline from Carlisle. It was routed south from Glasgow on the Ayrshire coast line via Troon to Falkland Yard to run round thence run via Kilmarnock and Dumfries to Carlisle. It seems a circuitous route involving a reversal but this is down to two factors; the line between Barrhead and Kilmarnock is at capacity with passenger traffic nowadays and secondly the Annbank freight only line is badly overgrown in places with a risk of damage to curtain sided swap bodies. Also the fact several container trains formed with curtain sided units have been robbed in the past while stood at Blackhouse token exchange all had a baring. The line backs onto the Lochside estate in the rougher end of Ayr.

I travelled from Cottingham to Hull by train each day for over 20 years and found it to be the most relaxing journey into work. On 17th August 1984 our journey home came to a gentle halt near Snuff Mill Lane on the outskirts of Cottingham. The view through the Secondman's window showed some locals had decided to go for a wander along the tracks. The Guard is seen herding them back to their home.

 

There were no grumbles or complaints from passengers. No-one tweeted anything or sent any texts. No-one complained about a "lack of information from the train Crew". We just watched with amusement as they were rounded up before continuing on our way, and we arrived at our destinations without feeling the need to talk to the media, post it on the internet or demand any compensation from anyone.

 

Olympus OM 10 Ektachrome 200

Whilst out on my once daily bit of exercise, i came across the issue of the blockage at Bromsgrove, 66057 lying beached in the banking engines headshunt, having became stranded there late last night, and also causing damage to an on coming passenger train, fortunately no one was hurt, and the damaged passenger train eventually made its way empty to Tyseley early this morning.

24/03/2020

He was the rage when I went to Truman High School in the Bronx and was friends with many of my friends too. He and I came grew up in the same Bronx neighborhood.

 

Check out Sunday's Daily News

 

Forgotten Hero

 

Former Met Stanley Jefferson struggles to cope with horror of life as 9/11 cop

 

BY WAYNE COFFEY, DAILY NEWS SPORTS WRITER

 

Four flights up in Co-Op City, at the end of a hallway in Building 26, the big man sits in a big brown recliner, boxed in by four walls and demons and an emptiness that doesn't end. If only it did. If only it were finite, measurable, like the outfields of Yankee Stadium and Shea Stadium, or the other big-league parks he once called home.

 

Then Stanley Jefferson might be able to know exactly what he's dealing with. Then he might be able to go outside, go to work, maybe share the things he still believes he has to give, and begin to pick up the shards of a life that sometimes seems broken beyond recognition.

 

It is early in a late-winter afternoon. In Florida the Mets and Yankees are playing their first spring-training games, the sense of renewal as palpable as the palm trees. In Building 26 in the Bronx, the feeling is different, and has been ever since Sept. 11, 2001. Stanley Jefferson, former big-league ballplayer and former New York City police officer, and one of the greatest schoolboy players the city has ever produced, has the remote in his hand, and his beloved Yorkshire terrier, Rocky, on his lap. His wife, Christie, is off at her job at a social-services agency in Westchester. The apartment is crammed with a sectional sofa and a desk and exercise machines that sit unused. Against one wall is a big fish tank. All the fish are dead. Against another is a big-screen television, where Jefferson plays his video games, and watches his comedies, laugh tracks sounding as days pass into weeks, and weeks into months.

 

"Raymond," "Family Guy," "Two and a Half Men," Stanley Jefferson likes them all.

 

"They keep my spirits up, rather than crying or brooding," he says. A faint smile crosses his broad, goateed face. The spirits do not stay up for long.

 

Fifteen years after his baseball career ended with a ruptured Achilles, two years after his police career ended when the department declared him unfit for duty, 44-year-old Stanley Jefferson, former shield No. 14299 and former uniform No. 13, wrangles with the NYPD over his disability benefit, and with a much more debilitating enemy: the ravages of post-traumatic stress disorder. It is a condition that the National Center for Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, a division of the U.S. Dept. of Veteran Affairs, defines as "an anxiety disorder that can occur following the experience or witnessing of a traumatic event." For Jefferson, it has spawned everything from agoraphobia to panic attacks to immobilizing depression to recurring nightmares - one in which he is tormented by a ball of fire reminiscent of the explosion he witnessed when the second plane flew into the second tower a few minutes after 9 a.m. on 9/11, another in which he desperately tries to save a people in peril, but never manages to reach them.

 

Once, in 1983, Jefferson was a first-round draft choice of the Mets (taken one slot after the Red Sox selected a pitcher named Clemens), a blindingly fast, 5-11, 175-pound center fielder out of Truman High School, and Bethune-Cookman College in Daytona Beach. He still might be the fastest player the organization has ever had. He was clocked running a 4.27 40 on a wet track during his Met tryout, and was timed at 3.0 from home to first in college. He had some 120 steals in his first three minor-league seasons, and hit an inside-the-park grand slam. Now he is 255 pounds and speeding nowhere.

 

He leaves the apartment about only twice a week, and even then it's only if he feels safe, if he's meeting someone close to him, such as Steve Bradstetter, 40, a Long Island businessman who is perhaps his closest friend.

 

"I have no life," Jefferson says, in a flat, baritone voice. "I've screwed up a lot of days." He pauses. He wrings his hands, something he does often. "I always thought this was something that would pass. I thought I could overcome anything, because that's just my athletic mentality. I'm ashamed because I never thought that something like this could happen to me."

 

Says Christie, his wife of three years, "This is not the man I married."

 

* * *

Even by the sculpted body standards of professional sports, Stanley Jefferson's physique - ropes of lean muscle on top of thick sprinter's legs - always stood out. When you saw him in motion, it stood out even more. Willie Daniels, 44, a childhood friend of Jefferson's from Co-Op City, played Little League with him, the two of them coached by Everod Jefferson, Stanley's father. They went to Truman High together and then to Bethune-Cookman. Daniels still marvels at the time Jefferson beat out a two-hopper to first against the University of Miami. In one college season, Jefferson stole 67 of 68 bases, getting caught only when his spikes got stuck on a wet track.

 

"I played with Devon White, Shawon Dunston, Walt Weiss, a lot of guys. Stanley is one of the best pure athletes I've ever seen," Daniels says.

 

The Mets did not disagree. Two years after he made his pro debut in the Single-A New York-Penn League and was the league's rookie of the year, Jefferson was one of the sensations of the club's training camp. The year was 1986, and seven months before Mookie Wilson and Bill Buckner would become odd baseball bedfellows, Davey Johnson was likening the 23-year-old Jefferson to Chili Davis. Steve Schryver, director of minor-league operations, saw him as a young Bake McBride. Jefferson hit .500 in the spring, and if not for GM Frank Cashen's reluctance to rush him, he probably would've made the team.

 

"How can you not love his future?" Rusty Staub said then. "You look at his skills and think 'leadoff man.' You think about 100 runs a season." Nor was he just a weapon at the top of the order. "If the ball is in the ballpark, Stanley Jefferson will catch it," said Joe McIlvaine, the future GM, envisioning Jefferson spending years alongside Darryl Strawberry.

 

Jefferson wound up fighting injuries most of the '86 season in Tidewater, struggling with a chronic wrist problem and a hamstring pull. Still, he got a September call-up, and picked up his first big-league hit off the Padres' Dave LaPoint. It was supposed to be just the beginning, before the performance of Lenny Dykstra and the lure of a star left fielder induced the Mets to make Jefferson a key part of a winter deal that brought Kevin McReynolds to Flushing. Fourteen games wound up being the entirety of Jefferson's Met career.

 

Jefferson showed patches of promise in San Diego, stealing 34 bases in hitting eight homers and seven triples in 116 games, before a late-season slump left him with a .230 average. A natural righty who was converted into a switch-hitter by the Mets after he was drafted, Jefferson struggled from the left side, and wound up having trouble on his natural side, too. He had a run-in with manager Larry Bowa, and soon found himself on a journeyman's carousel, doing bits of time with the Yankees, Orioles, Indians and Reds before he tore his Achilles tendon while playing winter ball in Puerto Rico after the 1991 season. He says he had tendinitis for years, but played through it. It wouldn't be the last time Jefferson would ignore pain, try to push through it.

 

"Physically, athletically, I had all the tools. I didn't live up to those lofty expectations," Jefferson says.

 

With baseball behind him, Jefferson went to work as a warehouse manager of a lighting company in Mt. Vernon, then spent a couple of years coaching in the minor leagues with the Mets and an independent team in Butte, Mont. His larger goal, though, was to become a New York City police officer. "I always wanted to be a cop, a detective," Jefferson says. He took the exam, went through a battery of psychological and physical tests and was sworn in on Dec. 8, 1997. "He was the perfect package for what you look for in a police officer," says Eric Josey, one of his instructors in the Police Academy. Jefferson graduated in the spring of 1998, posed for a graduation picture with Mayor Giuliani and Commissioner Safir, then was assigned to the 14th Pct., Midtown South.

 

"I would always tell him, 'You got to live your dream twice,'" Willie Daniels says. "Most people don't even get to live their dream once."

 

For almost four years, police work was all Jefferson hoped it would be. Another Labor Day came and went. Kids went back to school. It was a dazzlingly beautiful late-summer morning. It was a Tuesday.

 

* * *

Stanley Jefferson reported for work at 7:05 a.m. on Sept. 11, having flown all night on a red-eye after a family wedding in Seattle. Two hours later, in squad car 1726, he and his partner, Ed Kinloch, were at 6th Ave. and 38th St. They were eating breakfast. Jefferson, his muscled body built up to 210 pounds by regular trips to the gym, was having his usual bowl of oatmeal. A voice on the radio came on. It told of an explosion at the World Trade Center. They started heading downtown before being ordered to stop at Union Square. Jefferson and Kinloch got out of the car. Jefferson looked downtown and got his first glimpse of the remains of the first tower. He saw people jumping. He saw people waving towels, and more smoke than he'd ever seen in his life. He was still trying to fathom it when he watched the second plane rip right through the second tower. There was a ball of fire. It took a second or two for the sound of the horrific explosion to reach 14th St. Jefferson and Kinloch looked at each other.

 

"Oh, bleep," Kinloch said. "Did you see that?"

 

"We've got a problem here," Jefferson said.

 

They were told to stay around 14th St. Jefferson and Kinloch did what they could to help and direct people, and comfort them. "There was a lot of crying, a lot of hugging," Jefferson says. "You try to stay focused and do your job and not get caught up in people's emotions, but it's hard." A series of bomb threats followed. Jefferson worked until 9 p.m., and was back at Midtown South at 4 a.m., on the 12th. On Thursday and Friday, the 13th and 14th, Jefferson was at Ground Zero, according to his memo book. "World Trade Detail," he wrote. Each day, Jefferson worked a 12-hour shift - from 4 a.m. to 4 p.m., on the pile, on the bucket brigade, putting body parts in bags, the carnage seemingly endless, the beeping of the empty oxygen packs of departed firefighters a shrill symphony that never stopped. The packs and other equipment, most of it with burnt flesh attached, were thrown into a makeshift tent.

 

"It was the smell of death in there, a smell you never forget," Kinloch says.

 

Jefferson spent a number of other shifts around Ground Zero in the ensuing weeks, and by the end of the year, began to suffer from coughing spells and nightmares. He didn't think much of it at first, until his symptoms worsened in the spring of 2002, not long after he was transferred to the Internal Affairs Bureau (IAB), a move that he hoped would lead to a rapid promotion to detective. He started to experience periodic panic attacks, in which he would sweat profusely and feel his heart pounding as if it were a jackhammer. He also had trouble sleeping. While preparing reports for his IAB work, Jefferson says he began typing the same paragraph over and over.

 

"I didn't know what was happening," he says. He did his best not to think about it, hoping it would go away.

 

"I was in complete denial," Jefferson says. "I wanted to be a detective, period. I just wanted to fake it until I could make it."

 

Bradstetter began to wonder what was going on with his friend. He and Jefferson used to play golf all the time, but now Jefferson had no interest in it. He stopped working out, began gaining weight and found it harder and harder to leave the apartment. First, Jefferson would make excuses to Bradstetter. Later he opened up, just a little.

 

"I don't know what's wrong with me," Jefferson told him.

 

Jefferson's agoraphobia got progressively worse, and so did the panic attacks. His personal datebook shows 41 sick days in the first few months of 2003. Then, in March, days after he underwent an angiogram to correct a 30% blockage in his heart, Jefferson's mother died suddenly, and the combination of grief and the ongoing aftershocks of 9/11 sent him spiraling downward.

 

* * *

To say that Jefferson feels betrayed by the police department he dreamed of being a part of is to grossly understate it. He believes that in his time of greatest need, he was treated with all the sensitivity of a pine-tar rag.

 

Perhaps the first major issue he had came down on June 23, 2003, just when his problems were deepening. Jefferson had a doctor's appointment and told his immediate supervisor, Sgt. Michael Dowd, about it when his shift started. A short time before Jefferson had to leave, Dowd requested that he finish up a case he was working on. Jefferson reminded him of his appointment. Dowd insisted that Jefferson do the work, and Jefferson refused to comply. In an incident report to Capt. Michael O'Keefe, Dowd said Jefferson was profane and belligerent, screaming, 'Who the bleep do you think you are talking to?"

 

Jefferson, in a counter-complaint, says that Dowd was upset because he wanted to leave to play golf. Jefferson subsequently filed a discrimination lawsuit in federal court, a case that he settled out of court for $50,000 last year.

 

Five days after the dispute with Dowd, Jefferson suffered a panic attack as he drove from Co-Op City to the IAB office on Hudson Street. His vision was blurry, his heart pounding. Sweat was pouring out of him. He pulled over and went to the Lenox Hill Emergency Room. Jefferson's bouts with panic - and fears he was having a heart attack - had made him such a regular at the ER in Our Lady of Mercy Hospital in Pelham that one technician gently told him he needed to stop coming. Now here he was in an ER again. He was terrified. He privately wondered when his troubles were going to end, and if he were going insane. He says his department superiors continually ignored his pleas - and the counsel of his therapist - to reduce his caseload and shift him from investigative to administrative work, an opinion that is backed up by Sgt. John Paolucci, another IAB officer who supported Jefferson in a letter to the department Medical Board.

 

"No consideration for his predicament was afforded him," Paolucci wrote, adding that the whole culture of the department tends to make anyone who is incapacitated an outcast. "Most will doubt the veracity of your illness and compassion is out of the question."

 

Police officials declined to address any specifics relating to Jefferson's case.

 

Not even 48 hours after his visit to Lenox Hill, Jefferson, of his own volition, went to the NYPD's Psychological Evaluation Unit in Queens. He had a two-hour intake meeting with a department therapist, Christie at his side. His two handguns were taken from him that day, and have never been returned, Jefferson being deemed unfit for police work. He was transferred to the VIPER unit - the lowest level of police work, involving the monitoring of surveillance cameras. "It's the land of broken toys - where they send anyone with charges pending or a problem that makes them unable to work," Jefferson says.

 

On Nov. 8, 2004, the NYPD moved to place him on Ordinary Disability Retirement (ODR), based on a diagnosis of the department Medical Board of "major depressive disorder." Jefferson later applied for Accidental Disability Retirement (ADR), on the grounds that his condition was triggered by his Post-Traumatic Stress Syndrome in the wake of 9/11 - a diagnosis made separately by a social worker and a psychiatrist who have treated Jefferson.

 

The ODR amounts to $1,400 monthly. An ADR - granted to officers mentally or physically incapacitated in the line of duty - would provide Jefferson with just under $4,000 monthly, tax-free. The Medical Board and the Pension Board, citing reports by psychiatrists, social workers and an examination of Jefferson, said his mother's death and his heart problems were major triggers of his condition, and also mentioned the depressed feelings he had when his first wife and two daughters left him, in 1991. The Boards asserted that there was insufficient evidence to support a connection to 9/11 and Jefferson's problems - a finding upheld in State Supreme Court in Manhattan last October.

 

Said Carolyn Wolpert, deputy chief of the pensions division of the city law department, "The city is grateful to Stanley Jefferson for his almost eight years of service as a police officer. Due to medical issues, the Police Pension Fund retired Officer Jefferson with ordinary disability benefits . . . The New York County Supreme Court found that there was credible medical evidence to support the determination that the officer's disability was not caused by his World Trade Center assignment." Jeffrey L. Goldberg, a Lake Success, L.I.-based attorney representing Jefferson, is planning on filing a second application for ADR benefits for Jefferson. Only nine officers who responded to the World Trade Center attacks have been granted accidental disability benefits for psychological reasons, according to a police source. Goldberg believes it is all but a de facto administration policy. "Mayor Bloomberg considers accidental disability retirement a free lunch for a police officer like Stanley Jefferson," Goldberg says. "This is no free lunch. This is the real-life consequence of an officer responding to a tragedy and an emergency. Stanley Jefferson is a hero. He should be aided, not discarded. Hopefully, the city will recognize that and support him as he tries to recover from a terribly serious medical condition."

 

* * *

Last week was a good one for Stanley Jefferson. He made it to Goldberg's office, after canceling a series of previous appointments. His daughters, Nicole, 21, and Brittany, 19, came to visit from Virginia. He went for coffee at a bookstore near Co-Op City, and opened up about every aspect of his six-year ordeal: his shame, his vulnerability, his embarrassment over having such a hard time walking out of Building 26, being in the world.

 

"I know people can't understand it. I can't understand," he says. He talks about the medications he takes to ease his anxiety and his depression, and about the drinking binges - Grey Goose and cranberry - he used to go on to escape his pain. "It's what got me outside," Jefferson says. It also got him into full-blown rages, and a Westchester County treatment center last fall. He didn't want to talk when he got there, before he began to see that his therapist was right: the silent suffering was nothing but fuel for the demons.

 

"I can't let pride get in the way," Jefferson says.

 

Adds wife Christie, "I keep telling him he's got to forget all the machismo right now, and realize he's not the only one who has gone through this in his life, and work on taking care of himself." Steve Bradstetter, Jefferson's friend, will always be grateful to Jefferson for the way he responded when Bradstetter's mother died. It was February of 2000, and Jefferson accompanied Bradstetter on a drive to Massachusetts. "It was about the toughest circumstance I've ever had to deal with, and he was there for me," Bradstetter says. "He was like, 'We'll talk, we'll laugh, we'll try to make sense of it all.'"

 

Stanley Jefferson is a very different person than he was then. He is sad and often distant. When he and Bradstetter arrange to meet at a Dunkin' Donuts or a diner, Jefferson waits in the car until he sees Bradstetter pull up. Only then does he feel safe enough to get out. Sometimes Bradstetter will see his friend start wringing his hands, see the beads of sweat running down his temple, his leg jiggling as it were stuck in full throttle. Bradstetter doesn't know what to say. "It's like his whole body is taken over by whatever issues he's dealing with." He offers what comfort he can. He knows the real Stanley is still in there.

 

Tomorrow afternoon, Stanley Jefferson is supposed to go to Dobbs Ferry to meet with Bill Sullivan, the Mercy College baseball coach. Jefferson finished his degree at Mercy while he was on the force. Sullivan has gotten to know him and like him, and would love to have him help out as a volunteer assistant.

 

"He would be such an asset for our program," Sullivan says.

 

From his big brown chair on the fourth floor, Jefferson looks out a window, toward his terrace and a barren Co-Op City courtyard. He talks about the things he has to share in the world, how maybe he can work with kids. He says helping out at Mercy would be a great start. Jefferson knows he can't cure his illness, but he can face it, and battle it. The towers may be down forever, and his days of getting to first in three seconds may be behind him. But who says the rebuilding of a life can't begin anew? Who says a 44-year-old man can't get back to first and second and third, and all the way back home, no matter how long it takes?

 

The big man leans back in his chair.

 

"I do have optimism," Stanley Jefferson says. "I do believe that I'm strong enough that I will eventually get better. I just have to keep working at it."

 

Originally published on March 4, 2007

Dear Hughes ,

 

Right now, you still have the opportunity to claim an extremely rare sword for your energy alignment and transformation...

 

The sword I'm referring to can give you the ability to transform negative energies, protect you from psychic attacks, and safely align your chakras to your deepest desires...

 

...Your Energy Transfiguration Sword, and all its mystical powers...

 

Now, the window to claim how this powerful sword is closing - quickly. It's high in demand, and we're running out very soon.

 

I know you might be on-the-fence right now, but let me share with you a sword healer's story...

 

"Been wearing this (energy transfiguration sword) for a week now. I can feel it clearing my negative vibrations in my sleep.

 

So much wonderful stuff keeps happening to me. Kind of like magic! Which is weird thing to say, but it's true!! I have a healing session 3 days from now, really excited to show it off to my class!! :) Thank you so much!"

 

Just like you, Michael was on-the-fence at first. He wasn't certain that this was going to work, or make any difference for that matter.

 

But now that you're aware of her story, I'm sure you're starting to see with greater clarity the opportunity that stands before you.

 

You can dissolve energy blockages, align your chakras, and become the abundant and enlightened ruler you were meant to be, Hughes !

 

This vibrational sword can be your greatest weapon in your spiritual arsenal.

 

If you'd like to experience the same kind of "vibrational magic" just as Michael did...

 

You can claim your energy transfiguration sword now

 

Best regard

 

Michael

 

Exegesis on Michael the cosmo-telluric elevator..Michael is Metatron like a double-flow mercury elevator or Tesla's flying saucer with his flying men coming from the afterlife... based on Hughes Songe's readings.

 

The tip of this sword is used to find the man who is him, obtaining universal medicine is to become universal medicine oneself. Closer to the most precious skies

Metals are dead because they are covered with a gangue, to see them is to pierce, to pierce and you will see, to perceive, what makes you dead is our evil eye, fixed and stable eye and does not move, it is the ego... fear of death, we project it into the world around us, all you see is what the ego wants you to see, perspective is like a spider's web. Link between microcosm and macrocosm.

We do not see what is swarming everywhere because everything is alive, if we want to be in contact with our lives, we have to die to accept a loss of ego.

 

This verb is the truth, no one wants to renounce illusions, the protocol of the work in the black is a descent to destroy illusions, fast track is brutal, attack the dragon brutal dry track, attack too quickly your guardian of the threshold can drive you crazy. It will be better for you to choose the long, wet way (snake legs), instead of killing him by the dry way (wings),

you polish his scales, file his nails; confront the guardian of the threshold to find a spirit that makes hearts beat

 

Way of dissolution, death of the soul. Great medicine does not kill the spirit of disease. The metaron-michel is here to reveal to you what the evil has said, the disease is this virus in the form of a polyhedron. Gnosticism associates Michael l with the Metatron and the fall of Lucifer, the second guardian of the Temple or the Stargate or the second Sphinx. Metatron (in Hebrew מטטרון or מיטטרון) is the name of a power of the divine world according to Jewish tradition. It appears in the Talmud, the midrash and especially in Jewish mystical literature where it is linked to the biblical patriarch Enoch. In Metatron Michael's legend we find Lucifer falling from the Celestial Temple or the Celestial Jerusalem, he is associated with the emerald he wears on his forehead and a stone that fell from heaven, it is the stone rejected by the ignorant builders and fallen from the cosmic building, it goes back to the messianics. This corner stone or foundation stone rested on a column, a thousand central which carries a box containing a polyhedron with a large number of facets such as the tower of the town hall and especially the metaron. The polyhedron is directly associated with the symbolic function of the demon of darkness, that is, the guardian of the threshold, such as the oiler at the entrance to the temple or tower.

The metaron is like a window open to time and space as a whole, it is the key to its opening and resembles the camera obscura, the dark room, the invisible lodge; the absence of light designates a mysterious paradox and refers you to the higher darkness of non-being, it is one of the explanations of the band that covers the candidate for initiation. The candidate is facing Michel with his curved sword and the dragon is indeed this darkness useful to find the light, the initial spark that lives in him. Lightning seems black and darkness seems to be light...light is black and black is light. The apprentice will look for a passage with the metaron, a hole to open the passage to the celestial ray that the golden Michael symbolizes well at the top of the Church ( destroyed today).

 

As the bonds are established with your Angel, you build, within you, an immaculate cathedral (The Temple) where you can meditate with Hahaiah, where you can talk to him and where he will teach you... It will help you to become aware of what needs to be changed, sometimes radically, in your being or your surroundings.

 

The abyssal darkness actually confronts us with the feminine principle symbolized by Lilith ( Goethe's Green Serpent speaks to us of Lili, the princess who kills as soon as she is kissed, it should also be noted that Lily in English and German is a water lily that the Egyptians used to create a coma to promote an astral journey, that is, an exit from the body as those who lived in the dark of a coma from an accident can tell it). Lilith or Malkuth are under the feets of Michael. The column of the meddle is like the philosophical tree, or the tree of knowledge of paradise. The two cherubs who protect him are Michael and Lucifer. Lucifer is the dragon inside the Earth, like Lilith they are the Dark Side of our personality, the part of shadow with Carl Jung named Nigredo.

 

It seems that historians have passed the salt of legend to make us stories of sulphur and mercury, but they may have forgotten the gnosis? Stargate? To be familiar with this gateway is to realize that we are not captive of the Earth. It is possible to leave it at any time, at least in conscience.

The dream has always been a journey at night into another world, but never before had he realized how he could do it. It is by asking friends from elsewhere that he was simply revealed to him, very amused, that it is by activating his Heart Chakkra that he goes through a "Wormhole" - or "Snakehole" - that his consciousness crosses the web of Space/Time (here called "Spandex Web").

Michael the spark hunter in the heavens, as we seek this spark in us wakes up on March 21, the sun crosses the sword of the statue.The statue could contain messages from heaven, we can understand that in its structure are inscribed the adventures of the future world, it is through astrology, royal science, that the architect of this apocalypse (revelation in Greek, which I suggest you read later in this summary of gnosis) of stone, drawn as a band of premonitory concept, it is also logical that the Ark of Covenant is placed here in Saint Roch.

 

Why Michael? What does Michael mean by that? Is there a relationship between the elevator or Michael's sword as a lifter down there and as an acrobat up there! Why does he have a sword in both cases? Is it to control Stargate smugglers? I promise you that I have not invented anything and everything I suggest to you is taken from very serious books but unreadable by most of our brothers and sisters. "Through the relationships that man can now forge with those who have left the earth, he not only has material proof of the existence and individuality of the soul, but he understands the solidarity that connects the living and the dead of this world, and those of this world with those of the other worlds. He knows their situation in the spirit world; he follows them in their migrations; he is a witness to their joys and sorrows; he knows why they are happy or unhappy, and the fate that awaits him himself according to the good or evil he does. These relationships initiate him to the future life, which he can observe in all its stages, in all its adventures; the future is no longer a fuzzy hope: it is a positive fact, a mathematical conviction. Then death is no longer frightening, for it is for him the deliverance, the door to true life. »

 

I understand well the terrible inconvenience of those who threw anathema on Allan Kardec and above all I wonder how to remain frozen in this esotericism that sticks so well with the images?

 

I would like to continue this game of comparison but I am afraid to do too much when perhaps you have already felt a saturation when reading this summary of Gnosticism to try to enter the Belfry, which of course I could not do as a good tourist that I am here below. the visible part of man manifests to us the invisible part as the receiver of the telephone reproduces the news sent from afar. we must not consider man, either individually or collectively, as isolated from the rest of visible and invisible Nature. This is the mistake of the materialists.

Remember that the invisible part of man consists of two main principles: the astral body and the psychic being on the one hand, and the conscious Spirit on the other. The invisible part of man consists of two great principles: the astral body and the psychic being, and the conscious Spirit.

Nature conceived as a special entity also includes, in its invisible part, an astral plane, a psychic plane on the one hand, and a divine plane on the other.

Knowledge of the astral plane is essential if we want to understand the alchemical theories, the alchemical symbolism and the symbols of Saint Michael; here below all the apparently strange phenomena, likely to be produced by man, are developed in such a particular way, so you can imagine that this small summary is indispensable to just explain the portal of the entrance to this initiation in Saint Roch church which ended in Ark of Convenient. Michael in the guardian of this journey inside supernatural space, Michael is like the Sphinx, he guaranteed the quality of our soul.

 

The following description is only indicative, I suggest another way in contrast to that of the alchemists who describe Saint Michael and the dragon as the Great Work of the experienced alchemist and who generally tell us about the three colors of the work: black, white, red and gold, colors of the coat of arms of Saint Roch but also of many regions and cities in the World. The alchemists began the journey at the northern gate of the church of Saint Roch, which they considered to be the Sphinx, the key to access the Temple. They walk in the nave, starting with Saint Michael and ending with the Holy Grail in the Ark of the Covenant.

 

Are you still reading, my friend? If yes!!!!! Well done, something is happening that relies as much as possible on the constitution of the human being to understand what remains to be exposed. What is meant by this term, which seems so strange, of the astral plane? To make an idea of what is meant in occultism by the second property of the astral plane: the creation of forms. Everything is first created in the divine world in principle, that is, in the power of being, analogous to the idea in man. This principle then passes into the astral plane and manifests itself "in negative" - that is, everything that was luminous in the principle becomes obscure, and conversely everything that was obscure becomes luminous; it is not the exact image of the principle that manifests itself, it is the transfer of this image. - Once the transfer is obtained, the "astral" creation is finished.

The transmutation of your body is carried out with the, creative fluids of the Archetype (both psychological and chemical character that Paracelsus and Jung use to classify humans into seven categories, you will find that seven is everywhere here in Saint Roch).

 

Inside the conservative fluids of the Astral, there are particular agents that activate the fluids. Here it is Saint Michael with his flaming and fluid sword, his metal undulating at the entrance of the temple.

 

Are you still visible here in front of his smoky lines? my friend? I try to simplify as much as possible what alchemists and mystics use in their daily work. Are you looking at Michel's face? Take a good look at his blindfolded eyes! It is also the initiation of the apprentice! To modify the form, it will be necessary to create a new mold, this is what God will be able to do immediately and man meditatingly, to better say in the middle. Since all that is visible is the manifestation and realization of an invisible idea as indicated by Michel's head.

The Alchemist symbolism teaches you that there exists, in Nature, a hierarchy of psychic beings, just as there exists in man, from the bone cell to the nerve cell, via red blood cells, a true hierarchy of figurative elements. The red blood cells are precisely in the Dragon's blood under Michel's feet.

 

The psychic beings who inhabit the area in which the physico-chemical forces act have been given the name elementals or elemental spirits. They are similar to blood cells and especially to human leukocytes. You see, we still have the idea of the dragon's blood.

Elementals act in the lower layers of the astral plane in immediate relationship to the physical plane.

The elementals, obey the good or bad will that directs them, who are irresponsible for their actions while being intelligent, could raise curious controversies in these times of doubt about the European construction... It is so much to kill the dragon of extremists who act under the impulse of the prehistoric ego, then dead to the dragon and live The Red Devils....

To master the basics, not to let them get away with it, especially never to keep quiet and to take stock of military discipline. The army chief was able to gather around him through the devotion or fear of the conscious and responsible beings, who were willing or forced to enslave their will to that of the chief. This second action is much more difficult than the action on the dog. The dog is represented in the head of the dragon killed by Saint Georges, it is this faithful force that acts on the orders of its master. Saint Michael in the middle way, on the other hand, he tames the elementary ones, he tramples on a kind of devil that I suggest you suggest as the homonculus, a famous being created by Paracelsus but also omnipresent among the alchemists.

The same is true in the astral plane, where the elementary obeys only out of devotion or fear, but always remains free to resist the will of the Necromancer.

To give this difficult subject as much clarity as possible, it is not useless to clearly specify the term strength often used in this study, as representing a being, without us having had the opportunity to define it. It is necessary to imagine that according to the principles set out here, everything in nature is personified, even if it is spiritual. As well as the atom, the soul is a monad, and we know that matter is only a game of resistance of the monads. Forces here are called monadic beings who are devoid of power (i. e. movement, therefore) but without initiative, left to the initiative of others: we can say that they are like slaves in the world of monads.

Friend, I believe that we must humbly seek the meaning of monads, this is what I quickly propose to you apart from our imaginary conversation or my soliloquy inspired by several books that I would not hesitate to show you at the end of our discussion on the human spirit. Since the discovery of the informational energy field, a level of matter where all particles and forces are unified, modern science has begun to move towards a different perception of the Universe. The material we believe to be stable is in a state of constant flow and comes entirely from a single source, and will eventually return to that source. From this new paradigm there is little left to hang on to in terms of a belief in materialism.

This primordial energy can include an infinite number of levels that can drop deeper and deeper to the last mysterious level because they are non-manifest. This level has the characteristics of a Cosmic Intelligence (Cosmic Apex) that acts continuously by expressing itself creatively through the energy field, in order to create our visible world and thus become aware of its existence. Our purely materialistic vision of a frozen world where consciousness is only a phenomenon of cerebral physico-chemical activity is collapsing.

The question about the true nature of consciousness is now becoming more relevant to science. Universal Consciousness: The occult philosophies of all times have always taught that all things are underpinned by a single invisible cause, a common thread runs through them all, Unity, Consciousness as the cornerstone of this Unity.

The teaching to the Shade of the Right Hand teaches us that this primary cause from which man springs is threefold by nature: the Unified Spiritual Triad, the Monad, the One in All, the All, the Creative Intelligence of the world. The starting point of all creation, the Unified Triad is: the creative intelligence, the creative medium and the result of creation.

We find this Unified Triad in the quantum description of the informational energy field or Unified Field: The Cosmic Apex: the creative intelligence; the informational energy field: the creative medium; the physical world of matter: the result of creation.

The Unified Triad is the gemstone of most of the great religious, philosophical and spiritual traditions

 

If we refer to the human constitution, we may better understand this definition by noting that each of the three trinities includes a spontaneity, a force and an instrument of information (each of these elements being composed of a set of atoms, therefore of monads). For example, in the case of a sensation for the physical body, spontaneity is external and appears through the material body, is transmitted by the vital force, and translated by the astral body. For the soul, spontaneity is in the mind; it is transmitted by the power of the inner mind and is translated into desire in the ancestral soul. For the spiritual body, spontaneity is sometimes in the ghost, sometimes in the ancestral soul (depending on the meaning). Kama is always the force. 229 According to the previous definition of force, one can imagine the potential force as the ethereal atom that has received some defined, special impulse, but currently prevented by a more powerful opposite force. To continue the same comparison, they are slave monads entrusted with a mission that they cannot immediately accomplish but to which they do not renounce: faithful representatives of the will that led them, they will accomplish it as soon as they find the ability to do so.

 

These ethereal beings can receive from their creator, under certain conditions, a precise goal: this is what explains, for example, the effect of blessings, curses, spells of all kinds. But, most of the time, this direction specifies their lack; they have only an indefinite impulse that leaves them wandering, so to speak, in the astral crowd, among the living whom they covet, capable only, by their origin, of being attracted by desires, forces and elementals of the same kind. Thus thoughts are beings endowed with an existence of their own as long as they are expressed, that is, externalized by their author. Gathered by analogical sympathies, according to the mechanical law of force of the same direction, they multiply by concentrating into a common resultant. It is then that everyone feels, with a more or less obscure consciousness, that an idea is in the air, or that at least the sensitives perceive it and sometimes state it as a reality already assured, but which, for the present, is still invisible, still in power to be. We then receive from them a hunch, a forecast of future things, an oracle. Human desires are not the only ones to form such elementals; most animals express desires adapted to the nature of their desires, perhaps also inspired by the sight of the more sophisticated organs they see functioning in other earthly beings. This can explain the abundance of these isolated organs and these monstrous organ couplings that appear floating in the astral to almost all clairvoyant beginners. These are the desires, not yet fulfilled by the Universal, of the inferior being in ideal aspiration towards new perfectionings; the efforts of Nature to rise towards the power and unity of the Being, efforts that will translate into the differential modifications that Darwin has so well revealed to us. It is almost useless to add that we can project out of ourselves a magnetic force charged with vital force only (i. e. borrowed from the body alone), or with astral body, excluding desire, we then make pure magnetism or the exteriorization of more or less diffuse astral body (the latter being especially the case of mediums). Finally, the astral sea that shelters this countless population is agitated, at the same time, itself, in all directions, by undulating movements from the same source. The acts, the emotions of the incarnated beings, the very desires and the subsequent movements of the ethereal beings, produce as many luminous, calorific, electric, magnetic vibrations especially, which propagate, as we know, in this environment, by crossing each other without destroying each other, which are kept there, partly reflected by the envelope of the upper tourbillon and persist there for a time measured on their intensity and finesse. Thus the ethereal form, or the act that carries it out, in matter, have only a finite duration like them: the force that created them is exhausted by exercising itself in the mass into which it is immersed; they perish gnawed, so to speak, by the waves of the immense sea in which they are born, absorbed in the astral fire; but the influence that they have generated their survival propagated in the astral in the form of vibrations of a personal character; they modify the regime of this common environment by creating lines of force, new habits, and, with them, new desires. In this way it is not to be, no gesture, no act, no particular thought that does not contribute to transform the astral body of the planet and, by it, the aspirations of its inhabitants. This is how the astral records all our vital manifestations, making, in the biology of our star, a function of memory, for the greatest benefit of the evolution that we come to achieve there.

 

The mass production of increasingly human children and frustration, from the first months of life, of basic needs that only a balanced, fully available mother could have filled. These unmet needs are still expressed in the form of various neuroses in most "adults" (biologically adults, but psychologically frustrated children) and precipitate the modern societies that these infantile adults find in increasingly unbalanced imbalances. - Mediocre, and in a violence without brake erected in theological value and fueling the revolt in perpetuity. This "desert" repression of the maternal function and of feminine values ​​in general, is the temporary triumph of the Dragon, which, driven out of the sky by Michael, can freely exercise its ravages on the land where it was precipitated (we will see the modalities from this exercise in the wings of Michael), with the emergence of the two Beasts.) That is to say that, cut off from its divine source (the sky) the human mind becomes entirely destructive, only escape, those who overcame him "by the blood of the Lamb and because of their testimony", that is to say, by the acceptance (the sacrifice of the Lamb) replacing the revolt, and by the capacity to see in a neutral way what happens (the testimony), without being carried away by the emotion and the refusal . The Dragon is designated as the "devil", and we saw at the beginning of this book the Greek etymology of this word: Dia-ballin, that is to say, cut, separate, Interpose, between our depth feminine 2 (which becomes unconscious: repressed in the desert) and the multiple identifications constituting our conscious but illusory, unstable and inconsistent self.

THE MENTAL DRAGON

The Dragon is thus the mind of modern man, made of reflexive thoughts cut off from any transcendent source, of increasingly coarse and childish emotions, thoughts and emotions that lead him into activities increasingly destructive for himself, for others and for the cosmos. The imposition of more and more intense emotions and sensations on the man by the dragon is symbolized by his fiery red color (this is the devouring side of the fire that is underlined) and their empire over the whole world. humanity by its ten horns its seven crowns. This absolute power of the Dragon-mind over humanity has been able to spread and expand, as we have seen, only thanks to this fascination with images imposed by the media, and particularly animated images of the cinema. and television, which imposed themselves in a dictatorial way on the psyche of human beings previously deprived of any defense by the disappearance of the stable reference points offered them by their doctrines and liturgies. (The Dragon "dropped 3. What Lanza Del Vasto expresses when he says:" The great artist is one who does not raise more emotions than he can purify. from heaven one third of the stars ".) This fascinating hold of pervelous images is evoked, as we will see in the next chapter, by the image of the beast to whom he was given a spirit, so that the image of the Beast parlar ". This is the most complete subversion of the normal role of the image as it was exercised in any traditional society, and especially in the Christian Middle Ages. The images then exerted their power over the psyche not by the fascination of artificial animation and the strong sensations it raises, but by the "numinous", sacred quality of their form and content. They played a considerable part in the education of men, most of whom were illiterate, and who received education only by the words of clerics and by these symbolic images: architectures, paintings, sculptures of churches and cathedrals, and especially stained-glass windows whose medallions recounted the edifying life of Christ, the Virgin, and the saints with low windows, and whose great archetypal figures of high windows transmitted in the light to the cut consciousness, still awakened at that time, spiritual influences. heavenly. It is by the "war made to the descent of the woman", conscience cut hunted in the desert, the Dragon has been able to destroy in a few centuries (and especially the last fifty years) these media of refined emotions giving a high the idea of ​​man, and to substitute for them a world of images carrying the most gross emotions and destructive sensations for the psyche. But this war, the Dragon could only carry it through two creatures devoted to his orders, of which he has aroused the existence, and which are the two beasts which will now be described to us in next stage.

Can you think of someone you know who is always positive? This doesn’t necessarily mean that they are always happy—sometimes life throws pretty hefty curve balls—but do you know someone who responds to those curve balls with grace and perspective, who reacts from a place of love and light? It’s these types of people, like Ghandi or Maya Angelou or Mother Teresa, who face hate and fear with love and forgiveness, who are true beacons of light that inspire the world.

 

The Light Inside of You

 

You have a light inside of you, too. Depending on where you are in your spiritual development, that light might be a flickering flame or a giant bonfire, but it’s there, and it’s ready for you to nourish it and let it get brighter and stronger.

 

Those people who seem to be lighter and happier have reached higher levels of awareness. In an expanded state, you realize that we are all connected to the universal field, and this understanding allows you to interact with the world from a thoughtful, loving, distanced standpoint. This is a far cry—and a much happier one—from the immediate knee-jerk reactions and fearful defensiveness that is the pattern of so many who are not coming from an enlightened awareness.

 

Spreading Love to All

 

I have traveled all over the world to meet with shamans, priests, monks, and many other spiritual teachers and energy healing practitioners, many of whom were living their daily life full of love and looking at the world and all its struggle from the vantage point of an expanded state.

 

What I learned from them, and have confirmed in my thirty years as an energy healer and spiritual teacher myself, is that when you have experienced the light of the divine, even momentarily through meditation, you can begin to cultivate that divine light inside of you. When you begin to express it through your thoughts and actions, it creates a ripple effect of love in the world.

 

Don’t Squelch Your Light!

 

Healing and enlightenment go hand in hand—it’s much harder to reach states of expanded awareness when your energy field is blocked or your chakras are spinning incorrectly. Think of it like this: when your chakras and energy field are not operating optimally, darkness fills your field and your body like a drop of ink in water, spreading quickly, and dimming your inner light. This is where energy healing comes to the rescue. With energy healing, you can clear those blockages and begin cleansing, charging and balancing your field, allowing space for the light to return.

 

Here are 3 tips for healing yourself and growing the light inside of you so you can live a more positive, happier life.

 

1. Have fun.

 

Joy is often overlooked in our fast-paced, work-driven culture, but it is one of the most important catalysts for bringing light into your life. If you’re like many, you are often rushing around, caught up in the busy-ness of projects, travel, appointments, etc. and you might forget to take time out to simply enjoy yourself. Take a fun break! Even if you have to schedule it in, make time to read a good book or watch an entertaining movie or take a bubble bath, play games with friends or run with your dog. Whatever makes you smile, laugh, and feel uplifted—do that as often as possible. Really let yourself have fun the way you did as a child, totally free and uninhibited. Think about how good it feels to let go. Joy is healing.

 

2. Live your soul’s true purpose.

 

When you are living your true purpose in life—doing what your soul came to this planet to do—you move further into the light. It’s like a key in a lock, and when you find your true life purpose, each day will feel like a gift. You know how they say, “You never work a day in your life when you do what you love.” I have found that to be true for myself: when I’m doing energy healing or teaching my healing courses, I feel great! I wish for you to manifest your own life purpose, whatever it may be, and if you haven’t found it yet, you can discover it through meditation, working with a spiritual teacher, or other personal work. You can always tell when someone is living in alignment with their true soul’s purpose, because they literally glow.

 

3. Be of service.

 

If you’ve been to one of my energy medicine workshops or listen to my weekly radio show, you have probably heard me say, “Chop wood, carry water.” Be of service. Serving others is a way to help heal yourself. I know it might sound backwards, but giving and using your gifts for the greater good takes your energy and light beyond yourself and helps others. But since we are all connected through the universal field, that light you shine on others comes back to illuminate you. Light brings more light.

 

If you encourage the light that is already inside of you to grow and expand, it will eventually burn so brightly that others can’t help but see it, and they will want to follow your radiant example. Not only will you be raising your own vibration by living in light and acting from a framework of positivity, but you will also be helping to raise the vibration of the whole planet!

 

deborahking.com/cultivate-inner-light/

 

SOMETIMES THE ONLY TRANSPORTATION NEEDED IS A LEAP OF FAITH!

 

00angelI myself have been in a deep state of Alchemical transition experiencing the Shamanic Death Rites of Passage as a Spring cleaning releasing my own deep emotional wounds and past- life contracts (included the soul life lesson reflected through touring, media appearances and private sessions) experiences related to some heart wrenching, agonizing pain suppressed deep within a vault that granted no access not only in my own consciousness but that of the collective as well. This has been a time of truly embracing the lesson of self-love, acceptance and worth.

 

I’m constantly amazed and in awe by the reflection of what my beloved clients feel safe to express and transmute and in the spirit of truly being Nakedly transparent and honoring each individual – you – having a greater capacity for love of self as it shines out to all you amazing divine souls.

 

Together we are changing the world, anchoring the new world one person at a time as we step into our Divine Unveiling and illumination. You are the ones you’ve been waiting for!

 

Before we can experience true Union with our Spirit we are asked to look within and initiate ourselves into a greater Understanding of Life, accepting and healing both the light and dark of our Nature. This process can bring about a a series of initiations that takes us through the purifying fire of our Spirit to turn us from lead into Spiritual Gold.

 

00ahealer“Antahkarana” is a Sanskrit word meaning ‘interior sense organ.’ It has been likened to the awakening of the Inner Guru. In the wisdom teachings of the Tibetan Master, Djwhal Khul, the antahka- rana is portrayed as a bridge to the inner worlds of light, a tube of light that flows through you connecting the frequency of the Cosmic Kundalini Consciousness of Source above with that of the Divine Mother of the Gaia – Earth Kundalini.

 

Along the cosmic diving rod otherwise known as the spine, seven star gates, vortices, seals, or energy centers reside that correspond to elements, body parts, and life situations.

 

According to some, these spinning centers-known as chakras -are seven layers of manifestation that form a rainbow bridge between Father Sky and Mother Earth. Revealing the Garden of Eden; Heaven on Earth.

 

Defy the laws of gravity as we step into a sacred space to bridge the Inner worlds of the Inner Gods and Goddess that oversee each Stargate or Chakra, blending the 10 bodies of Light with the Tree of Light including our dark and light sides.

 

Igniting your Soul in reclaiming your sacred roots, clear, grounding, and strengthen you in receiving the Sound Harmonics in deeper connection with the crystalline core heart center of the Mother Earth.

 

Blend and merging the 2 Divine Currents of the Cosmic and Earth Kundalini igniting the infinite well to flow through your aura, body and hologram.

 

Ascension, Conscious Awareness, Conscious Soul Evoultion, Dark night of the Soul, Death Rites, Energetic Soul Psychology, Gaia, Goddess Alchemy and Divine Magic, I AM Presence, Quantum Physics, Rites of Passage, Shamanic Healing, Shift Happens, Soul Shifting, Vibrancy, Wisdom

 

charlotteszivak.com/inner-soul-alchemy-bridging-the-inner...

WEEK 40 – Hdo WM, Post-Remodel, Set IV

 

From that same vantage point, here’s a view turned more to the right, allowing us a good overview of the open front area of the grocery department. Notice anything different between the previous pic and this one? If any of you noticed the lighting… good eye, you’re exactly right! When the remodel was underway, new lights were installed above produce, replacing the previous spotlight fixtures… and they were placed quite low. As in, blocking-all-the-department-signage low. That seemed odd, but I assume the idea was simply the lower the light placement, the better illumination of the produce. However, someone must have either given up on that idea or realized that the sign blockage was not a good look, because the lights were raised up sometime not long prior to the date that this photo was taken on in late January 2018 (if I remember correctly, that is).

 

(c) 2018 Retail Retell

These places are public so these photos are too, but just as I tell where they came from, I'd appreciate if you'd say who :)

Piper Alpha was a North Sea oil production platform operated by Occidental Petroleum (Caledonia) Ltd.

 

The platform began production in 1976, first as an oil-only platform and later converted to add gas production. An explosion, and the resulting oil and gas fires, destroyed it on 6 July 1988, killing 167, including two crewmen of a rescue vessel; 61 survived.

 

The total insured loss was about £1.7 billion (US$3.4 billion). At the time of the disaster, the platform accounted for approximately ten percent of North Sea oil and gas production, and the accident was the worst offshore oil disaster in terms of lives lost and industry impact.

 

The Kirk of St Nicholas in Union Street, Aberdeen has dedicated a chapel in memory of those who perished and there is a memorial sculpture in the Rose Garden of Hazlehead Park in Aberdeen. Thirty bodies were never recovered.

 

During the late 1970s, major works were carried out to enable the platform to meet UK Government gas export requirements and after this work had been completed, Piper Alpha was operating in what was known as phase 2 mode (operating with the Gas Conservation Module (GCM)) since the end of 1980 up until July 1988; phase 2 mode was its normal operating state. In the late 1980s, major construction, maintenance and upgrade works had been planned by Occidental and by July 1988, the rig was already well into major work activities, with six major projects identified including the change-out of the GCM unit which meant that the rig had been put back into its initial phase 1 mode (i.e. operating without a GCM unit).

 

Despite the complex and demanding work schedule, Occidental made the decision to continue operating the platform in phase 1 mode throughout this period and not to shut it down, as had been originally planned. The planning and controls that were put in place were thought to be adequate. Therefore, Piper continued to export oil at just under 120,000 barrels per day and to export Tartan gas at some 33 MMSCFD (million standard cubic feet per day) during this demanding period.

 

Because the platform was completely destroyed, and many of those involved died, analysis of events can only suggest a possible chain of events based on known facts. Some witnesses to the events question the official timeline.

 

12:00 noon Two condensate pumps, designated A and B, displaced the platform's condensate for transport to the coast. On the morning of 6 July, Pump A's pressure safety valve (PSV #504) was removed for routine maintenance. The pump's two-yearly overhaul was planned but had not started. The open condensate pipe was temporarily sealed with a disk cover (flat metal disc also called a blind flange or blank flange). Because the work could not be completed by 6:00 p.m., the disc cover remained in place. It was hand-tightened only. The on-duty engineer filled in a permit which stated that Pump A was not ready and must not be switched on under any circumstances.

6:00 p.m. The day shift ended, and the night shift started with 62 men running Piper Alpha. As he found the on-duty custodian busy, the engineer neglected to inform him of the condition of Pump A. Instead he placed the permit in the control centre and left. This permit disappeared and was not found. Coincidentally there was another permit issued for the general overhaul of Pump A that had not yet begun.

 

7:00 p.m. Like many other offshore platforms, Piper Alpha had an automatic fire-fighting system, driven by both diesel and electric pumps (the latter were disabled by the initial explosions). The diesel pumps were designed to suck in large amounts of sea water for fire fighting; the pumps had an automatic control to start them in case of fire (although they could not be remotely started from the control room in an emergency). However, the fire-fighting system was under manual control on the evening of 6 July: the Piper Alpha procedure adopted by the Offshore Installation Manager(OIM) required manual control of the pumps whenever divers were in the water (as they were for approximately 12 hours a day during summer) although in reality, the risk was not seen as significant for divers unless a diver was closer than 10–15 feet (3–5 m) from any of the four 120 feet (40 m) level caged intakes.

 

A recommendation from an earlier audit had suggested that a procedure be developed to keep the pumps in automatic mode if divers were not working in the vicinity of the intakes as was the practice on the Claymore platform, but this was never developed or implemented.

9:45 p.m. Because of problems with the methanol system earlier in the day, methane clathrate (a flammable ice) had started to accumulate in the gas compression system pipework, causing a blockage. Due to this blockage, condensate (natural gas liquids NGL) Pump B stopped and could not be restarted. As the entire power supply of the offshore construction work depended on this pump, the manager had only a few minutes to bring the pump back online, otherwise the power supply would fail completely. A search was made through the documents to determine whether Condensate Pump A could be started.

 

9:52 p.m. The permit for the overhaul was found, but not the other permit stating that the pump must not be started under any circumstances due to the missing safety valve. The valve was in a different location from the pump and therefore the permits were stored in different boxes, as they were sorted by location. None of those present were aware that a vital part of the machine had been removed. The manager assumed from the existing documents that it would be safe to start Pump A. The missing valve was not noticed by anyone, particularly as the metal disc replacing the safety valve was several metres above ground level and obscured by machinery.

 

9:55 p.m. First Explosion Condensate Pump A was switched on. Gas flowed into the pump, and because of the missing safety valve, produced an overpressure which the loosely fitted metal disc did not withstand.

Gas audibly leaked out at high pressure, drawing the attention of several men and triggering six gas alarms including the high level gas alarm. Before anyone could act, the gas ignited and exploded, blowing through the firewall made up of 2.5 by 1.5 m (8 by 5 ft) panels bolted together, which were not designed to withstand explosions. The custodian pressed the emergency stop button, closing huge valves in the sea lines and ceasing all oil and gas extraction.

Theoretically, the platform would then have been isolated from the flow of oil and gas and the fire contained. However, because the platform was originally built for oil, the firewalls were designed to resist fire rather than withstand explosions. The first explosion broke the firewall and dislodged panels around Module (B). One of the flying panels ruptured a small condensate pipe, creating another fire.

 

10:04 p.m. The control room of Piper Alpha was abandoned. "Mayday" was signalled via radio by radio operator David Kinrade. Piper Alpha'sdesign made no allowances for the destruction of the control room, and the platform's organisation disintegrated. No attempt was made to use loudspeakers or to order an evacuation.

Emergency procedures instructed personnel to make their way to lifeboat stations, but the fire prevented them from doing so. Instead many of the men moved to the fireproofed accommodation block beneath the helicopter deck to await further instructions. Wind, fire and smoke prevented helicopter landings and no further instructions were given, with smoke beginning to seep into the personnel block.

As the crisis mounted, two men donned protective gear and attempted to reach the diesel pumping machinery below decks and activate the firefighting system. They were never seen again.

The fire would have burnt out were it not being fed with oil from both Tartan and the Claymore platforms, the resulting back pressure forcing fresh fuel out of ruptured pipework on Piper, directly into the heart of the fire. The Claymore platform continued pumping oil until the second explosion because the manager had no permission from the Occidental control centre to shut down. Also, the connecting gas pipeline to Tartan continued to pump, as its manager had been directed by his superior. The reason for this procedure was the huge cost of such a shut down. It would have taken several days to restart production after a stop, with substantial financial consequences.

Gas pipelines of both 16 in (41 cm) and 18 in (46 cm) diameter ran to Piper Alpha. Two years earlier Occidental management ordered a study, the results of which warned of the dangers of these gas lines. Because of their length and diameter, it would have taken several hours to reduce their pressure, which meant fighting a fire fuelled by them would have been all but impossible. Although the management admitted how devastating a gas explosion would be, Claymore and Tartan were not switched off with the first emergency call.

 

10:05 p.m. The Search and Rescue station at RAF Lossiemouth receives the first call notifying them of the possibility of an emergency, and a No. 202 Sqn Sea King helicopter, "Rescue 138", takes off at the request of the Coastguardstation at Aberdeen. The station at RAF Boulmer is also notified, and a Hawker Siddeley Nimrod from RAF Kinloss is sent to the area to act as "On-Scene Commander" and "Rescue Zero-One".

 

10:20 p.m. Tartan Gas Line Rupture Tartan's gas line (pressurised to 120 Atmospheres) melted and ruptured, releasing 15-30 tonnes of high pressure gas every second, which immediately ignited. From that moment on, the platform's destruction was assured.

10:30 p.m. The Tharos, a large semi-submersible fire fighting, rescue and accommodation vessel, drew alongside Piper Alpha. The Tharos used its water cannon where it could, but it was restricted, because the cannon was so powerful it would injure or kill anyone hit by the water.

 

10:50 p.m. MCP-01 Gas Line Rupture The second gas line ruptured (the riser for the MCP-01 platform), ejecting millions of cubic feet of gas into the conflagration and increased its intensity. Huge flames shot over 300 ft (90 m) in the air. The Tharos was driven off by the fearsome heat, which began to melt the surrounding machinery and steelwork. It was only after this explosion that the Claymore platform stopped pumping oil. Personnel still left alive were either desperately sheltering in the scorched, smoke-filled accommodation block or leaping from the various deck levels, including the helideck, 175 ft (50 m) into the North Sea. The explosion also killed two crewmen on a fast rescue boat launched from the standby vessel Sandhaven and the six Piper Alpha crewmen they had rescued from the water.

 

11:18 p.m. Claymore Gas Line Rupture The gas pipeline connecting Piper Alpha to the Claymore Platform ruptured, adding even more fuel to the already massive firestorm that engulfed Piper Alpha.

 

11:35 p.m. Helicopter "Rescue 138" from Lossiemouth arrives at the scene.

11:37 p.m. Tharos contacts Nimrod "Rescue Zero-One" to appraise him of the situation. A standby vessel has picked up 25 casualties, including three with serious burns, and one with an injury. Tharos requests the evacuation of its non-essential personnel to make room for incoming casualties. "Rescue 138" is requested to evacuate 12 non-essential personnel from Tharos to transfer to Ocean Victory, before returning with paramedics.

 

11:50 p.m. With critical support structures burned away, and with nothing to support the heavier structures on top, the platform began to collapse. One of the cranes collapsed, followed by the drilling derrick. The generation and utilities Module (D), which included the fireproofed accommodation block, slipped into the sea, taking the crewmen huddled inside with it. The largest part of the platform followed it. "Rescue 138" lands on Tharos and picks up the 12 non-essential personnel, before leaving for Ocean Victory.

 

11:55 p.m. "Rescue 138" arrives at Ocean Victory and lands the 12 passengers before returning to Tharos with 4 of Ocean Victory's paramedics.

  

00:07 a.m., 7 July "Rescue 138" lands paramedics on Ocean Victory.

00:17 a.m. "Rescue 138" winches up serious burns casualties picked up by the Standby Safety Vessel, MV Silver Pit.

00:25 a.m. First seriously-injured survivor of Piper Alpha is winched aboard "Rescue 138".

00:45 a.m. The entire platform had gone. Module (A) was all that remained of Piper Alpha.

00:48 a.m. "Rescue 138" lands on Tharos with three casualties picked up from MV Silver Pit.

00:58 a.m. Civilian Sikorsky S-61 helicopter of Bristow Helicopters arrives at Tharos from Aberdeen with Medical Emergency Team.

01:47 a.m. Coastguard helicopter land on Tharos with more casualties.

02:25 a.m. First helicopter leaves Tharos with casualties for Aberdeen Royal Infirmary.

03:27 a.m. "Rescue 138" lands on Tharos with the bodies of two fatalities. "Rescue 138" then leaves to refuel on the drilling rig Santa Fe 140.

05:15 a.m. "Rescue 137" arrives at Tharos and after landing, then leaves taking casualties to Aberdeen.

06:21 a.m. Uninjured survivors of Piper Alphaleave Tharos by civilian S-61 helicopter for Aberdeen.

07:25 a.m. "Rescue 138" picks up remaining survivors from Tharos for transfer to Aberdeen.

At the time of the disaster 226 people were on the platform; 165 died and 61 survived. Two men from the Standby Vessel Sandhaven were also killed.

For those of you who would like an update on Suttree...

 

Suttree has had some kind of skin disorder or allergic reaction since April. After many vets visits and different kinds of drugs in Arizona, we came to the conclusion that it must be something in Arizona and he would get better once I moved. Well, he only got worse in Kansas. Constantly scratching, licking and biting. We tried one homemade special diet, then another, trying to rule out a food allergy. No improvement. He then started to get sick and his limbs started to swell due to the constant stress of scratching and his compromised immune system. I knew it was time to find a vet dermatologist. I found one and hour away and we saw him as soon as we could. Suttree was in really bad shape. He had to get put under to have a procedure done inside his ears to clean up some blockages and infections. He was a really sad dog that day. The dermatologist said it was a 95% chance that is was scabies. Which, I thought was a little weird, but, who am I to argue with a specialist? We gave him a treatment that would help him within a week, if it was indeed scabies. No improvement. So, turns out, that 5% chance that it wasn't scabies is whatever Suttree has. So, we are back at square one. We're now working on the food allergy angle, AGAIN. I have to make him a special "stew" and his "treats" are berries and nuts. He's one week in with this special diet and there is no improvement, when there should be. After this, we are going to have to start testing for airborne allergens. I'm really not looking forward to this, and neither is Suttree. I just want him to be better again.

 

That being said, I am still running a 50% off sale of *everything* in my Etsy to help pay for some of these ongoing vet/dermatologist bills. The link to my Etsy can be found on my profile. Also, if there happens to be anything on my stream you would like a print of, just let me know and I will charge half the cost of what I normally charge. Since he has lost weight (which he did not have any to lose in the first place) and *lots* of hair, I am getting him a variety of sweaters and we still need to get a good winter coat for him to combat the coldness of winter in Kansas.

 

For those of you who have helped already, THANK YOU SO MUCH. Words cannot express my (our) gratitude.

Whilst out on my once daily bit of exercise, i came across the issue of the blockage at Bromsgrove, 66057 lying beached in the banking engines headshunt, having became stranded there late last night, and also causing damage to an on coming passenger train, fortunately no one was hurt, and the damaged passenger train eventually made its way empty to Tyseley early this morning.

24/03/2020

British postcard. in the Picturegoer Series, London Films, no. 1049. Photo: London Films. Publicity still for Sanders of the River (Zoltan Korda, 1935).

 

Paul Robeson (1898-1976) was a handsome, eloquent, and highly charismatic actor and singer, who became one of the foremost interpreters of Eugene O'Neill's plays and one of the most treasured names in song during the first half of the twentieth century. With his powerful bass singing voice, Robeson made an evergreen of the song 'Old Man River'. He starred in The Emperor Jones (1933), the first film to feature an African American in a starring role. At the height of his popularity in the 1930s, Robeson became a major box office attraction in British films. In the USA, he courted disdain and public controversy for most of his career as a staunch Cold War-era advocate for human rights, as well as his very vocal support for Joseph Stalin and the Soviet invasion of Hungary in 1956. While the backlash of his civil rights activities and left-wing ideology left him embittered and practically ruined his career, he remains today a durable symbol of racial pride and consciousness.

 

Paul LeRoy Bustill Robeson was born in Princeton, New Jersey, in 1898. His siblings were William, Benjamin, Reeve, and Marian Robeson. Their father, William Drew Robeson, was a humble Presbyterian minister and former slave. In 1900, a disagreement between William and white financial supporters of the Witherspoon church arose with apparent racial undertones. William, who had the support of his entirely black congregation, resigned in 1901. The loss of his position forced him to work menial jobs. The young, impressionable Paul grew up singing spirituals in his father's church. He was only six when he and his four siblings, William, Benjamin, Reeve, Marian, lost their mother, Maria Louisa Bustill, a schoolteacher. She was nearly blind and died in a stove fire accident at home. His father then raised the family singlehandedly. Paul was a natural athlete and the tall, strapping high school fullback had no trouble earning a scholarship to prestigious Rutgers University in 1915. At the age of 17, he became only the third member of his race to be admitted at the time. He excelled in football, baseball, basketball, and track, and field, and was the class valedictorian. In his speech, he was already preaching idealism. Paul subsequently played professional football to earn money while attending Columbia University's law school, and also took part in amateur dramatics. During this time he met and married Eslanda Cardozo Goode in 1921. She eventually became his personal assistant. Following graduation, he obtained work at a New York law firm, but quit when a stenographer refused to copy a memo, telling him, "I never take diction from a n*****." His wife persuaded him to play Simon in Ridgely Torrence's 'Simon the Cyrenian' at the Harlem YMCA in 1921. This was followed by his Broadway debut the following year as Jim in Mary Hoyt Wiborg's play 'Taboo', a drama set in Africa, which also went to London. As a result, he was asked to join the Provincetown Players, a Greenwich Village theatre group that included in its membership playwright Eugene O'Neill. Gary Brumburgh at IMDb: "O'Neill personally asked Paul to star in his plays 'All God's Chillun Got Wings' and 'The Emperor Jones' in 1924. The reaction from both critics and audiences alike was electrifying...an actor was born." In 1925, he sang the first concert recital consisting solely of black spirituals, at the Greenwich Village Theatre in New York. That year, he also made his film debut starring in Body and Soul (Oscar Micheaux, 1925). Gary Brumburgh: "a rather murky melodrama that nevertheless was ahead of its time in its depictions of black characters. Although Robeson played a scurrilous, corrupt clergyman who takes advantage of his own people, his dynamic personality managed to shine through." Radio and recordings helped spread his name across foreign waters. His resonant bass was a major highlight in the London production of Jerome Kern's and Oscar Hammerstein II's 'Show Boat'. The role of Joe, the deckhand, was written for him, but because of schedule conflicts and Florenz Ziegfeld Jr.'s delay in putting on the show, he had been unable to star in the first stage production but played the role in London five months later. His rendition of "Ol' Man River" became the benchmark for all future performers of the song. In 1928, he made the second-ever recording of 'Ol' Man River'. (Bing Crosby did the first). Show Boat continued for 350 performances. At the time no U.S. company would hire Robeson and so, he remained in London to play the role of William Shakespeare's 'Othello' in 1930. Paul caused a slight stir by co-starring opposite a white actress, Peggy Ashcroft, who played Desdemona. After his wife Essie discovered Robeson had been having an affair with Ashcroft, she decided to seek a divorce and they split up. Around this time Robeson starred in the film Borderline (Kenneth MacPherson, 1930), a silent film that dealt strongly with racial themes. Stephen Bourne at BFI Screen-on-Line: "Black characters in American cinema of the period rarely moved beyond Al Jolson in blackface, or the dim-witted buffoons played by comedy actors like Stepin Fetchit. For the ambitious Robeson, there were hardly any opportunities to play challenging roles." In 1931, he returned to the stage in the O'Neill play 'The Hairy Ape'. The following year he appeared in a Broadway revival of 'Show Boat' again as Joe, to critical and popular acclaim. In the same production, Helen Morgan repeated her original 1927 performance as the half-caste role of Julie, but the white actress Tess Gardella played the role of Queenie in her customary blackface opposite Robeson. In 1932, Ashcroft and Robeson's relationship ended. Robeson and Essie reconciled, although their relationship was scarred permanently.

 

Throughout the 1930s, Paul Robeson spent most of his time singing and performing in England. He also was given the opportunity to recapture two of his greatest stage successes on film: The Emperor Jones (Dudley Murphy, 1933) and Show Boat (James Whale, 1936), with Irene Dunne, Helen Morgan, and Hattie McDaniel. His performance of 'Old Man River' in this film version of Show Boat became legendary, both for its quality and for Robeson’s purposeful changing of the lyrics "I'm tired of livin' and 'feared of dyin’" to the more activist "I must keep fightin' until I'm dying". In Britain, he played Bosambo in Sanders of the River (Zoltan Korda, 1935), which he felt would render a realistic view of colonial African culture. It made Robeson an international film star. Stephen Bourne: "When Robeson became a major star in British films in the mid-1930s, he negotiated for roles that projected a positive image of a black man, roles that broke away from one-dimensional and offensive racial stereotypes. But he often found himself in conflict with an industry that glorified the British Empire and colonialism. This was certainly the case with his first commercial film, Sanders of the River (d. Zoltan Korda, 1935), one of a cycle of imperial adventures produced by Alexander Korda for London Films."Robeson also appeared in such British films as Song of Freedom (J. Elder Wills, 1936), King Solomon's Mines (Robert Stevenson, Geoffrey Barkas, 1937), Jericho (Thornton Freeland, 1937), and The Proud Valley (Pen Tennyson, 1940), set in a Welsh coal-mining town. After returning to America, Robeson played a sharecropper in a segment of the Hollywood movie Tales of Manhattan (Julien Duvivier, 1942) but, after the film was released, he was criticised for perpetuating a racist stereotype. Robeson agreed with his critics and volunteered to join protestors outside cinemas where the film was being shown. He said he wouldn't make any more films until there were better roles for blacks. During the 1930s he gravitated strongly towards economics and politics with a burgeoning interest in social activism. In 1934 he made the first of several trips to the Soviet Union and outwardly extolled the Soviet way of life and his belief that it lacked racial bias, despite the Holodomor and the later Rootless Cosmopolitan Campaign. He was a popular figure in Wales where he became personally involved in their civil rights affairs, notably the Welsh miners. Developing a marked leftist ideology, he continued to criticize the blatant discrimination he found so prevalent in America. In 1939, he premiered Earl Robinson’s multi-ethnic cantata 'Ballad for Americans' on CBS radio, which he would eventually perform in twenty-five languages. In addition to his creative work, Robeson used his personal prominence to push for social and political reform. He supported the Spanish partisans against Franco’s fascist Nationalists in the Spanish Civil War, raised funds for refugees from Hitler’s Germany well before such activities were fashionable, and organized a coalition that challenged President Truman to support an anti-lynching law in 1945. The 1940s was a mixture of performance triumphs and poignant, political upheavals. While his title run in the musical drama 'John Henry' (1940), was short-lived, he earned widespread acclaim for his Broadway 'Othello' in 1943 opposite José Ferrer as Iago and Uta Hagen as Desdemona. This production is still the longest-running non-musical production of a Shakespeare play ever to be staged in the United States, due almost entirely to Robeson's enormous popularity. He appeared in a World War II-era U.S. Government War Department propaganda film, Easy to Get, aimed at combating the spread of venereal diseases among black soldiers. In the film, Robeson appears at the end in his capacity as a celebrity football star and singer to advise viewers to stay "clean". By this time, however, Robeson was being reviled by much of white America for his outspoken civil rights speeches against segregation and lynchings, particularly in the South. A founder of the Progressive Party, an independent political party, his outdoor concerts sometimes ignited violence and he was now a full-blown target for "Red Menace" agitators. In 1946, he denied under oath being a member of the Communist Party but steadfastly refused to refute the accusations under subsequent probes. His continued support for the Soviet Union became even more controversial after Stalin publicly turned against Israel in November 1948. As a result, his passport was withdrawn and he became engaged in legal battles for nearly a decade in order to retrieve it. Adding fuel to the fire was his only son's (Paul Jr.) marriage to a white woman in 1949 and his being awarded the Stalin Peace Prize in 1952. He was unable to receive it until 1958 when his passport was returned to him.

 

Paul Robeson was essentially blacklisted, and tainted press statements continued to hound him. He began performing less and less in America. Despite his growing scorn towards America, he never gave up his American citizenship although the anguish of it all led to a couple of suicide attempts, nervous breakdowns, and a dependency on drugs. Europe was a different story. The people continued to hold him in high regard as an artist above reproach. He had a command of about 20 languages and wound up giving his last acting performance in Tony Richardson's production of 'Othello' at Stratford-on-Avon in 1959. Although he did give a few interviews on television, he never played any dramatic or musical roles in that medium. In 1960, in what was his final concert performance in Great Britain, Robeson sang to raise money for the Movement for Colonial Freedom at the Royal Festival Hall. In October 1960, Robeson embarked on a two-month concert tour of Australia and New Zealand with Essie. While in Sydney, he became the first major artist to perform at the construction site of the future Sydney Opera House. Back in London, Robeson expressed a desire to return to the United States and participate in the civil rights movement, while his wife argued that he would be unsafe there and "unable to make any money" due to government harassment. His health suddenly took a turn for the worse and he finally returned to the United States in 1963. His poet/wife Eslanda Robeson died of cancer two years later. Double pneumonia and a kidney blockage in 1965 nearly killed Robeson too. Robeson moved in with his son's family in New York City. He remained in poor health for pretty much the rest of his life. His last years were spent in Harlem at his sister's house in near-total isolation, denying all interviews and public correspondence. At a Carnegie Hall tribute to mark his 75th birthday in 1973, he was unable to attend, but a taped message from him was played that said: "Though I have not been able to be active for several years, I want you to know that I am the same Paul, dedicated as ever to the worldwide cause of humanity for freedom, peace, and brotherhood." In 1976, Paul Robeson died at age 77 of complications from a stroke. He was interred in the Ferncliff Cemetery in Hartsdale, New York. Among his many honours: he was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1995; he received a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 1998; was honored with a postage stamp during the 'Black Heritage' series, and both a Cultural Center at Penn State University and a high school in Brooklyn bear his name. In 1995 his autobiography 'Here I Stand' was published in England in 1958. His son, Paul Robeson Jr., also chronicled a book about his father, 'Undiscovered Paul Robeson: An Artist's Journey' in 2001. When appearing before HUAC, the Committee asked him why he didn't relocate to Russia. He replied: "Because my father was a slave, and my people died to build this country, and I am going to stay right here and have a part of it just like you."

 

Sources: Gary Brumburgh (IMDb), Stephen Bourne (BFI Screen-on-Line), Ronnie D. Lankford, Jr. (AllMusic), Find A Grave, Wikipedia, and IMDb.

 

And, please check out our blog European Film Star Postcards.

Scania WA61KLF , Fleet 15784 , broke down on Paris Street, in the centre of Exeter today, causing a bit of blockage in the Bus Stop.

Seen here mid afternoon about to be towed back to Matford.

 

26th Oct 2018

How times have changed, with the walking route over the viaduct seeming to be via the troughing lids!

These days the track over the viaduct would be restricted for staff crossing only under a line blockage or possession.

 

The signal box can be glimpsed through the haze of the Paxman Valenta and is still in use today. I fact having recently visited Liskeard for the first time in many years I was surprised to find virtually nothing had changed.

A weird and dark day ... creative blockage ... slightly different media ... my 4th and final mixtape!

Visit the group at: sharingthemusic.wordpress.com/ or www.flickr.com/groups/themixtapeproject/

List of tracks shall follow soonish!

 

CHECK OUT MY WEBSITE & SHOP

www.sandradieckmann.com

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his images was actually taken on 22 December 2013, the first major "shutdown" by the anti-Thaksin group and a precursor to today's activities.

 

Visit my website: Southeast Asia Images

Link to Thailand’s premier image gallery: Thailand Showcase Gallery

I don't get too many morning shifts, generally relief signallers tend to work more nights and afters shifts and more so on this area as they actually have a couple of relief men who only work mornings.

I'm not a fan of mornings, I can get my self out of bed ok but I don't enjoy it and morning shifts invariably involve line blockages and generally being pestered by men in orange but the plus side at this time of the year is seeing the sun come up.

 

Three very samey shots taken at Barnetby East on the morning of Monday 19th October 2015.

 

Little to say here, 60010 drags these wagons rattling through Barnetby in glorious autumnal morning sunshine.

How many times have these wagons passed this point I wonder, they don't owe anybody anything !

 

60010 on 6K21 the Santon Foreign Ore Terminal - Immingha Bulk Terminal Iron Ore empties approaches Barnetby East signal box at 08.33 hrs on Monday 19th October 2015.

Location : Marina Waterfront Singapore ,.

Camera use : Canon EOS 5D Mark2

Lens use: Canon 24-105 F4L @24mm

Technical details: Non HDR, image process by Photoimpact X3 Software.

 

On 9 August, I welcome everyone with warmest heartbeat to re-visit my homeland, yours uniquely young Singapore . We have just celebrated our nation significant 46th independent day with high esteem of endless festive events line up beyond simply words of description. Each year, timeless of careful planned, exciting n extra-ordinary exhibition of our national day parade will attract million of millions die-hard spectators with anticipation events awaiting for the electrifying 4-5 minutes of excelling, spectacular grand finale, the state of art synchronizing technology fireworks display . It all happen here at the hottest talk of the town, the unique structure of Marina Bay ,.. I strongly recommend one of Singapore's best selective spots, especially the 360 degree panoramic viewing platform high up here at the Marina Bay Sands exclusive sky parks where it provide an sensational unobstructed overlooking the celebration events at a memorable distance u hardly will forget in another decades!

I''m suck at using black card for the first time, I wish those expert out there could share the little secret of "technic" shooting with a black card during firework events. With no experience, I had notice n aware my occasion placement of cards near lens had accidentally cause physical slight vibration that turn out unsatisfactory blurry result , further more, the amount timing require/apply blocking the light sensor really puzzle me with cold sweat??? What the hell is the correct technical tricks to apply during the process of holding n dismiss during blockage. Pls clear my mind n huge doubt. . I had to confess is a total failure attempt this round so pls advice .

Here, for ur ultimate viewing pleasure, just click EASY VIEW OF MY SLIDE SHOW . to enjoy my photostream . ..

Due to copyright issue, I cannot afford to offer free image. Pls kindly consult my sole permission to use any of my photo.u can email me at : men4r@yahoo.com.

 

Thanks for viewing!!!!

 

Don't use this image on Websites/Blog or any other media

without my explicit permission. © All rights reserved

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If u r interested to know a little bit more about me read this article from china leading on-line travel web call blog.chinatravel.net/photography/colrful-yunnan-photograp....

Because I have no choice

Today I finished a cardiac rehab program that began last November. For the past 3 months I have attended up to 3 classes a week as I gradually built back my endurance after having a blockage cleared in a major artery in mid September. As part of the mix of cardio and strength exercises I have begun running again. Something I have struggled with for the past few years that I now know was caused by the blockage.

 

This all began last Spring when I was having to stop and let my heart settle down if I began walking too fast. I immediately went to get it checked out by a cardiologist and had a nuclear stress test in early June. I passed that test, diagnosed with arrhythmia, and sent on my way. Arrhythmia is fairly common with no real treatment other than managing symptoms with medicine. I elected to try without medicine. But, after struggling for 2 1/2 more months I went back to ask for medicine. That day she came in planning to just write me a prescription and send me on my way. But as we talked and I explained what I was experiencing she sat back and listened and came to a new conclusion. Telling me that a nuclear stress test can return a false negative 5% of the time, she scheduled me for an angiogram with one of her colleagues the following week. Within 30 minutes of starting the angiogram the doctor found a 90% blockage in a major artery. Roughly 60 minutes later it was cleared and I had a stent in place.

 

Coming out of the procedure I felt great. The arrhythmia was gone, recovery was extremely short , and I was cleared to begin exercising a few weeks later. In addition to the cardiac rehab classes I also was able to rejoin my Saturday running group. In recent years running had been frustrating. I have been a long distance runner steadily since 2002, but over the past few years I struggled and could not figure out why. Now I am excited to run again. In the past 3 months I have steadily built my running back up to 3 miles and will continue to expand. My goal for the upcoming year is to run a local 10 mile race in October.

 

Pictured with me is Nicole on the left and Caitlin on the right. They are part of the team of RNs and Exercise Physiologists that worked with us each week. Photo credit goes to Emily one of the other team members.

 

This was one of two videos my wife took with her iPhone, and they provide a lateral view. Although she had a very good line of sight, it was very tough to shoot a video, and there is a lot of camera shake and blockages. I thought it was still worth uploading these.

 

Maasai Mara, Kenya

The second Sunday of total line blockage through to Sheffield at Meadowhall . A cardboard cutout informing passengers what's happening and why they can't get access to the platforms has been fettled.....

Behind the cut out is a Colas Crane being used to move track into position and the usual army dressed in orange.

 

20 1 19

I liked this view of the famous Kansas City goose neck except for the auto rack train that ran from the UP up to the BNSF that blocked the view of this westbound UP stack train leaving me to shoot the inward facing DPU. But you take what you get.

Hmm. The idiot is strong in this one.

Following yesterdays (28 January 2020) derailment of the Freightliner 70001 hauled 4O05 Birch Coppice to Southampton MCT intermodal just south of Eastleigh station, totally blocking the SWML and Fareham lines southbound - both primarily operated by South Western Trains.

 

As a result of the continued blockage to repair the permanent way, Wednesday 29 January 2020 saw intermodal diversions via the Laverstock curve (Salisbury) as this route is W10 gauge cleared .

 

In order to avoid running round to access Southampton Eastern docks from the west, automotive traffic to and from Halewood, the West Midlands and Oxford was unusually routed via Reading, Guildford and the Portsmouth direct line, picking up their booked route at St. Denys (Southampton) for the remainder of their trips.

 

The image depicts DBC 66197 hauling the 4O39 BMW Oxford to Southampton eastern docks comprising of covered WIA double deck car carriers (known as the blue sausage) conveying Mini models for export at Havant junction

The Highland sleeper sits at Waverley station having arrived some three hours late following a bridge blockage near Lockerbie. 73968 (with 73967 in multiple behind) prepare to take the front half of the train forward to Inverness as 1S25. 67012 then took the remainder of the train, including the Fort William portion, empty to Aberdeen.

Many thinks again, My Friends... I hope I don't have to make another trip to the hospital... They have not found what causes the blockage in the intestines but I am sincerely hoping that I don't have to have surgery... All your prayers and sweet thoughts are greatly appreciated and Please continue to Pray because we must find out what is causing this problem...

English Electric Type 4 No. 40133 hauls Type AL6 ac electric No. 86258 with the diverted 07:47 Penzance - Liverpool Lime Street on 14th August 1979.

 

The train is taking the then goods-only Ryecroft Junction - Rugeley Trent Valley line owing to the blockage of the normal route via Wolverhampton following a serious derailment at Bushbury Junction the previous day.

 

71'2746

Franki Doll of Franki's Broken Toys, 2/21/08 at the "Fuck the Whales, Save a Chckn" benefit raising funds for D.I. guitarist Craig "Chckn" Jewett's cancer treatment.

 

Also the last of many great punk shows at the Galaxy. Sold to schmucks turning it into some upscale yuppie bottleservice V.I.P.-room nightmare. Since it was being sold they hadn't bothered to fix the roof, the center of the photo pit and a bit of the center of the stage had their own private rainstorm.

 

I'd bet big on the rain not coming, and taken the bike. Baaaaad move. The downpour that greeted me at the end of the show would've scared Noah. But hey, it's only about 85 miles home and I've got a fairing that keeps my upper body dry. As long as I'm moving.

 

But they had some kind of freeway blockage in San Clemente, at the one tiny spot on the I-5 between San Diego and Orange county that's impossible to route around. So I sat for 45 minutes getting soaked to the skin. By the time I got home I was shaking so violently I had trouble unlocking the door. Took my temperature–down to 95F!

 

UPDATE: Yuppie nightclub goofs lost their financing; the Galaxy reopened after over a year closed. Apparently they'd gotten as far as ripping out the interior, haven't been back to see interior 2.0 yet. Hopefully they at least fixed the roof.

Today 6th July 2019 marks 31 years since the Piper Alpha disaster, this memorial to those lost on the oil rig is situated in Hazelhead Park Aberdeen Scotland, I often visit the park and have captured this scene many times before , today seems to be the right time to update my archive on this tragedy, we can never forget those that perished that day Wednesday 6th July 1988.

  

Piper Alpha was a North Sea oil production platform operated by Occidental Petroleum (Caledonia) Ltd.

 

The platform began production in 1976, first as an oil-only platform and later converted to add gas production.

 

An explosion, and the resulting oil and gas fires, destroyed it on 6 July 1988, killing 167, including two crewmen of a rescue vessel; 61 survived.

 

The total insured loss was about £1.7 billion (US$3.4 billion).

 

At the time of the disaster, the platform accounted for approximately ten percent of North Sea oil and gas production, and the accident was the worst offshore oil disaster in terms of lives lost and industry impact.

 

The Kirk of St Nicholas in Union Street, Aberdeen has dedicated a chapel in memory of those who perished and there is a memorial sculpture in the Rose Garden of Hazlehead Park in Aberdeen.

 

Thirty bodies were never recovered.

 

During the late 1970s, major works were carried out to enable the platform to meet UK Government gas export requirements and after this work had been completed, Piper Alpha was operating in what was known as phase 2 mode (operating with the Gas Conservation Module (GCM)) since the end of 1980 up until July 1988; phase 2 mode was its normal operating state. In the late 1980s, major construction, maintenance and upgrade works had been planned by Occidental and by July 1988, the rig was already well into major work activities, with six major projects identified including the change-out of the GCM unit which meant that the rig had been put back into its initial phase 1 mode (i.e. operating without a GCM unit).

 

Despite the complex and demanding work schedule, Occidental made the decision to continue operating the platform in phase 1 mode throughout this period and not to shut it down, as had been originally planned.

 

The planning and controls that were put in place were thought to be adequate. Therefore, Piper continued to export oil at just under 120,000 barrels per day and to export Tartan gas at some 33 MMSCFD (million standard cubic feet per day) during this demanding period.

 

Because the platform was completely destroyed, and many of those involved died, analysis of events can only suggest a possible chain of events based on known facts. Some witnesses to the events question the official timeline.

 

12:00 noon Two condensate pumps, designated A and B, displaced the platform's condensate for transport to the coast. On the morning of 6 July, Pump A's pressure safety valve (PSV #504) was removed for routine maintenance.

 

The pump's two-yearly overhaul was planned but had not started. The open condensate pipe was temporarily sealed with a disk cover (flat metal disc also called a blind flange or blank flange). Because the work could not be completed by 6:00 p.m., the disc cover remained in place.

 

It was hand-tightened only. The on-duty engineer filled in a permit which stated that Pump A was not ready and must not be switched on under any circumstances.

 

6:00 p.m. The day shift ended, and the night shift started with 62 men running Piper Alpha. As he found the on-duty custodian busy, the engineer neglected to inform him of the condition of Pump A. Instead he placed the permit in the control centre and left.

 

This permit disappeared and was not found. Coincidentally there was another permit issued for the general overhaul of Pump A that had not yet begun.

 

7:00 p.m. Like many other offshore platforms, Piper Alpha had an automatic fire-fighting system, driven by both diesel and electric pumps (the latter were disabled by the initial explosions).

 

The diesel pumps were designed to suck in large amounts of sea water for fire fighting; the pumps had an automatic control to start them in case of fire (although they could not be remotely started from the control room in an emergency). However, the fire-fighting system was under manual control on the evening of 6 July: the Piper Alpha procedure adopted by the Offshore Installation Manager(OIM) required manual control of the pumps whenever divers were in the water (as they were for approximately 12 hours a day during summer) although in reality, the risk was not seen as significant for divers unless a diver was closer than 10–15 feet (3–5 m) from any of the four 120 feet (40 m) level caged intakes.

 

A recommendation from an earlier audit had suggested that a procedure be developed to keep the pumps in automatic mode if divers were not working in the vicinity of the intakes as was the practice on the Claymore platform, but this was never developed or implemented.

 

9:45 p.m. Because of problems with the methanol system earlier in the day, methane clathrate (a flammable ice) had started to accumulate in the gas compression system pipework, causing a blockage. Due to this blockage, condensate (natural gas liquids NGL) Pump B stopped and could not be restarted. As the entire power supply of the offshore construction work depended on this pump, the manager had only a few minutes to bring the pump back online, otherwise the power supply would fail completely. A search was made through the documents to determine whether Condensate Pump A could be started.

 

9:52 p.m. The permit for the overhaul was found, but not the other permit stating that the pump must not be started under any circumstances due to the missing safety valve. The valve was in a different location from the pump and therefore the permits were stored in different boxes, as they were sorted by location. None of those present were aware that a vital part of the machine had been removed. The manager assumed from the existing documents that it would be safe to start Pump A. The missing valve was not noticed by anyone, particularly as the metal disc replacing the safety valve was several metres above ground level and obscured by machinery.

 

9:55 p.m. First Explosion Condensate Pump A was switched on. Gas flowed into the pump, and because of the missing safety valve, produced an overpressure which the loosely fitted metal disc did not withstand.

Gas audibly leaked out at high pressure, drawing the attention of several men and triggering six gas alarms including the high level gas alarm. Before anyone could act, the gas ignited and exploded, blowing through the firewall made up of 2.5 by 1.5 m (8 by 5 ft) panels bolted together, which were not designed to withstand explosions. The custodian pressed the emergency stop button, closing huge valves in the sea lines and ceasing all oil and gas extraction.

Theoretically, the platform would then have been isolated from the flow of oil and gas and the fire contained. However, because the platform was originally built for oil, the firewalls were designed to resist fire rather than withstand explosions. The first explosion broke the firewall and dislodged panels around Module (B). One of the flying panels ruptured a small condensate pipe, creating another fire.

 

10:04 p.m. The control room of Piper Alpha was abandoned. "Mayday" was signalled via radio by radio operator David Kinrade. Piper Alpha'sdesign made no allowances for the destruction of the control room, and the platform's organisation disintegrated. No attempt was made to use loudspeakers or to order an evacuation.

Emergency procedures instructed personnel to make their way to lifeboat stations, but the fire prevented them from doing so. Instead many of the men moved to the fireproofed accommodation block beneath the helicopter deck to await further instructions. Wind, fire and smoke prevented helicopter landings and no further instructions were given, with smoke beginning to seep into the personnel block.

As the crisis mounted, two men donned protective gear and attempted to reach the diesel pumping machinery below decks and activate the firefighting system. They were never seen again.

The fire would have burnt out were it not being fed with oil from both Tartan and the Claymore platforms, the resulting back pressure forcing fresh fuel out of ruptured pipework on Piper, directly into the heart of the fire. The Claymore platform continued pumping oil until the second explosion because the manager had no permission from the Occidental control centre to shut down. Also, the connecting gas pipeline to Tartan continued to pump, as its manager had been directed by his superior. The reason for this procedure was the huge cost of such a shut down. It would have taken several days to restart production after a stop, with substantial financial consequences.

Gas pipelines of both 16 in (41 cm) and 18 in (46 cm) diameter ran to Piper Alpha. Two years earlier Occidental management ordered a study, the results of which warned of the dangers of these gas lines. Because of their length and diameter, it would have taken several hours to reduce their pressure, which meant fighting a fire fuelled by them would have been all but impossible. Although the management admitted how devastating a gas explosion would be, Claymore and Tartan were not switched off with the first emergency call.

 

10:05 p.m. The Search and Rescue station at RAF Lossiemouth receives the first call notifying them of the possibility of an emergency, and a No. 202 Sqn Sea King helicopter, "Rescue 138", takes off at the request of the Coastguardstation at Aberdeen. The station at RAF Boulmer is also notified, and a Hawker Siddeley Nimrod from RAF Kinloss is sent to the area to act as "On-Scene Commander" and "Rescue Zero-One".

 

10:20 p.m. Tartan Gas Line Rupture Tartan's gas line (pressurised to 120 Atmospheres) melted and ruptured, releasing 15-30 tonnes of high pressure gas every second, which immediately ignited. From that moment on, the platform's destruction was assured.

10:30 p.m. The Tharos, a large semi-submersible fire fighting, rescue and accommodation vessel, drew alongside Piper Alpha. The Tharos used its water cannon where it could, but it was restricted, because the cannon was so powerful it would injure or kill anyone hit by the water.

 

10:50 p.m. MCP-01 Gas Line Rupture The second gas line ruptured (the riser for the MCP-01 platform), ejecting millions of cubic feet of gas into the conflagration and increased its intensity. Huge flames shot over 300 ft (90 m) in the air. The Tharos was driven off by the fearsome heat, which began to melt the surrounding machinery and steelwork. It was only after this explosion that the Claymore platform stopped pumping oil. Personnel still left alive were either desperately sheltering in the scorched, smoke-filled accommodation block or leaping from the various deck levels, including the helideck, 175 ft (50 m) into the North Sea. The explosion also killed two crewmen on a fast rescue boat launched from the standby vessel Sandhaven and the six Piper Alpha crewmen they had rescued from the water.

 

11:18 p.m. Claymore Gas Line Rupture The gas pipeline connecting Piper Alpha to the Claymore Platform ruptured, adding even more fuel to the already massive firestorm that engulfed Piper Alpha.

 

11:35 p.m. Helicopter "Rescue 138" from Lossiemouth arrives at the scene.

11:37 p.m. Tharos contacts Nimrod "Rescue Zero-One" to appraise him of the situation. A standby vessel has picked up 25 casualties, including three with serious burns, and one with an injury. Tharos requests the evacuation of its non-essential personnel to make room for incoming casualties. "Rescue 138" is requested to evacuate 12 non-essential personnel from Tharos to transfer to Ocean Victory, before returning with paramedics.

 

11:50 p.m. With critical support structures burned away, and with nothing to support the heavier structures on top, the platform began to collapse. One of the cranes collapsed, followed by the drilling derrick. The generation and utilities Module (D), which included the fireproofed accommodation block, slipped into the sea, taking the crewmen huddled inside with it. The largest part of the platform followed it. "Rescue 138" lands on Tharos and picks up the 12 non-essential personnel, before leaving for Ocean Victory.

 

11:55 p.m. "Rescue 138" arrives at Ocean Victory and lands the 12 passengers before returning to Tharos with 4 of Ocean Victory's paramedics.

  

00:07 a.m., 7 July "Rescue 138" lands paramedics on Ocean Victory.

00:17 a.m. "Rescue 138" winches up serious burns casualties picked up by the Standby Safety Vessel, MV Silver Pit.

00:25 a.m. First seriously-injured survivor of Piper Alpha is winched aboard "Rescue 138".

00:45 a.m. The entire platform had gone. Module (A) was all that remained of Piper Alpha.

00:48 a.m. "Rescue 138" lands on Tharos with three casualties picked up from MV Silver Pit.

00:58 a.m. Civilian Sikorsky S-61 helicopter of Bristow Helicopters arrives at Tharos from Aberdeen with Medical Emergency Team.

01:47 a.m. Coastguard helicopter land on Tharos with more casualties.

02:25 a.m. First helicopter leaves Tharos with casualties for Aberdeen Royal Infirmary.

03:27 a.m. "Rescue 138" lands on Tharos with the bodies of two fatalities. "Rescue 138" then leaves to refuel on the drilling rig Santa Fe 140.

05:15 a.m. "Rescue 137" arrives at Tharos and after landing, then leaves taking casualties to Aberdeen.

06:21 a.m. Uninjured survivors of Piper Alphaleave Tharos by civilian S-61 helicopter for Aberdeen.

07:25 a.m. "Rescue 138" picks up remaining survivors from Tharos for transfer to Aberdeen.

At the time of the disaster 226 people were on the platform; 165 died and 61 survived. Two men from the Standby Vessel Sandhaven were also killed.

A dragonfly is an insect belonging to the order Odonata, infraorder Anisoptera (from Greek ἄνισος anisos, "unequal" and πτερόν pteron, "wing", because the hindwing is broader than the forewing). Adult dragonflies are characterized by large, multifaceted eyes, two pairs of strong, transparent wings, sometimes with coloured patches, and an elongated body. Dragonflies can be mistaken for the related group, damselflies (Zygoptera), which are similar in structure, though usually lighter in build; however, the wings of most dragonflies are held flat and away from the body, while damselflies hold their wings folded at rest, along or above the abdomen. Dragonflies are agile fliers, while damselflies have a weaker, fluttery flight. Many dragonflies have brilliant iridescent or metallic colours produced by structural colouration, making them conspicuous in flight. An adult dragonfly's compound eyes have nearly 24,000 ommatidia each.

 

Fossils of very large dragonfly-like insects, sometimes called griffinflies, are found from 325 million years ago (Mya) in Upper Carboniferous rocks; these had wingspans up to about 750 mm (30 in), but were only distant ancestors, not true dragonflies. About 3,000 extant species of true dragonfly are known. Most are tropical, with fewer species in temperate regions. Loss of wetland habitat threatens dragonfly populations around the world.

 

Dragonflies are predators, both in their aquatic nymphs stage (also known as naiads) and as adults. In some species, the nymphal stage lasts for up to five years, and the adult stage may be as long as ten weeks, but most species have an adult lifespan in the order of five weeks or less, and some survive for only a few days. They are fast, agile fliers, sometimes migrating across oceans, and often live near water. They have a uniquely complex mode of reproduction involving indirect insemination, delayed fertilization, and sperm competition. During mating, the male grasps the female at the back of the head, and the female curls her abdomen under her body to pick up sperm from the male's secondary genitalia at the front of his abdomen, forming the "heart" or "wheel" posture.

 

Dragonflies are represented in human culture on artefacts such as pottery, rock paintings, statues and Art Nouveau jewellery. They are used in traditional medicine in Japan and China, and caught for food in Indonesia. They are symbols of courage, strength, and happiness in Japan, but seen as sinister in European folklore. Their bright colours and agile flight are admired in the poetry of Lord Tennyson and the prose of H. E. Bates.

   

Evolution

 

Dragonflies and their relatives are similar in structure to an ancient group, meganisoptera, from the 325 Mya Upper Carboniferous of Europe, a group that included the largest insect that ever lived, Meganeuropsis permiana from the Early Permian, with a wingspan around 750 mm (30 in);. Known informally as "griffinflies", their fossil record ends with the Permian–Triassic extinction event (about 247 Mya). The Protanisoptera, another ancestral group that lacks certain wing vein characters found in modern Odonata, lived from the Early to Late Permian age until the end Permian event, and are known from fossil wings from current-day United States, Russia, and Australia, suggesting they might have been cosmopolitan in distribution. While both of those groups are sometimes referred to as "giant dragonflies", in fact true dragonflies/odonata are more modern insects that had not evolved yet.

 

Modern dragonflies do retain some traits of their distant predecessors, and are in a group known as palaeoptera, ancient-winged. They, like the gigantic pre-dinosaur griffinflies, lack the ability to fold their wings up against their bodies in the way modern insects do, although some evolved their own different way to do so. The forerunners of modern Odonata are included in a clade called the Panodonata, which include the basal Zygoptera (damselflies) and the Anisoptera (true dragonflies). Today, some 3,000 species are extant around the world.

 

The relationships of anisopteran families are not fully resolved as of 2013, but all the families are monophyletic except the Corduliidae; the Gomphidae are a sister taxon to all other Anisoptera, the Austropetaliidae are sister to the Aeshnoidea, and the Chlorogomphidae are sister to a clade that includes the Synthemistidae and Libellulidae. On the cladogram, dashed lines indicate unresolved relationships; English names are given (in parentheses)

   

Distribution and diversity

 

About 3,012 species of dragonflies were known in 2010; these are classified into 348 genera in 11 families. The distribution of diversity within the biogeographical regions are summarized below (the world numbers are not ordinary totals, as overlaps in species occur).

 

Dragonflies live on every continent except Antarctica. In contrast to the damselflies (Zygoptera), which tend to have restricted distributions, some genera and species are spread across continents. For example, the blue-eyed darner Rhionaeschna multicolor lives all across North America, and in Central America; emperors Anax live throughout the Americas from as far north as Newfoundland to as far south as Bahia Blanca in Argentina, across Europe to central Asia, North Africa, and the Middle East. The globe skimmer Pantala flavescens is probably the most widespread dragonfly species in the world; it is cosmopolitan, occurring on all continents in the warmer regions. Most Anisoptera species are tropical, with far fewer species in temperate regions.

 

Some dragonflies, including libellulids and aeshnids, live in desert pools, for example in the Mojave Desert, where they are active in shade temperatures between 18 and 45 °C (64.4 to 113 °F); these insects were able to survive body temperatures above the thermal death point of insects of the same species in cooler places.

 

Dragonflies live from sea level up to the mountains, decreasing in species diversity with altitude. Their altitudinal limit is about 3700 m, represented by a species of Aeshna in the Pamirs.

 

Dragonflies become scarce at higher latitudes. They are not native to Iceland, but individuals are occasionally swept in by strong winds, including a Hemianax ephippiger native to North Africa, and an unidentified darter species. In Kamchatka, only a few species of dragonfly including the treeline emerald Somatochlora arctica and some aeshnids such as Aeshna subarctica are found, possibly because of the low temperature of the lakes there. The treeline emerald also lives in northern Alaska, within the Arctic Circle, making it the most northerly of all dragonflies.

   

General description

 

Dragonflies (suborder Anisoptera) are heavy-bodied, strong-flying insects that hold their wings horizontally both in flight and at rest. By contrast, damselflies (suborder Zygoptera) have slender bodies and fly more weakly; most species fold their wings over the abdomen when stationary, and the eyes are well separated on the sides of the head.

 

An adult dragonfly has three distinct segments, the head, thorax, and abdomen, as in all insects. It has a chitinous exoskeleton of hard plates held together with flexible membranes. The head is large with very short antennae. It is dominated by the two compound eyes, which cover most of its surface. The compound eyes are made up of ommatidia, the numbers being greater in the larger species. Aeshna interrupta has 22650 ommatidia of two varying sizes, 4500 being large. The facets facing downward tend to be smaller. Petalura gigantea has 23890 ommatidia of just one size. These facets provide complete vision in the frontal hemisphere of the dragonfly. The compound eyes meet at the top of the head (except in the Petaluridae and Gomphidae, as also in the genus Epiophlebia). Also, they have three simple eyes or ocelli. The mouthparts are adapted for biting with a toothed jaw; the flap-like labrum, at the front of the mouth, can be shot rapidly forward to catch prey. The head has a system for locking it in place that consists of muscles and small hairs on the back of the head that grip structures on the front of the first thoracic segment. This arrester system is unique to the Odonata, and is activated when feeding and during tandem flight.

 

The thorax consists of three segments as in all insects. The prothorax is small and is flattened dorsally into a shield-like disc, which has two transverse ridges. The mesothorax and metathorax are fused into a rigid, box-like structure with internal bracing, and provide a robust attachment for the powerful wing muscles inside. The thorax bears two pairs of wings and three pairs of legs. The wings are long, veined, and membranous, narrower at the tip and wider at the base. The hindwings are broader than the forewings and the venation is different at the base. The veins carry haemolymph, which is analogous to blood in vertebrates, and carries out many similar functions, but which also serves a hydraulic function to expand the body between nymphal stages (instars) and to expand and stiffen the wings after the adult emerges from the final nymphal stage. The leading edge of each wing has a node where other veins join the marginal vein, and the wing is able to flex at this point. In most large species of dragonflies, the wings of females are shorter and broader than those of males. The legs are rarely used for walking, but are used to catch and hold prey, for perching, and for climbing on plants. Each has two short basal joints, two long joints, and a three-jointed foot, armed with a pair of claws. The long leg joints bear rows of spines, and in males, one row of spines on each front leg is modified to form an "eyebrush", for cleaning the surface of the compound eye.

 

The abdomen is long and slender and consists of 10 segments. Three terminal appendages are on segment 10; a pair of superiors (claspers) and an inferior. The second and third segments are enlarged, and in males, on the underside of the second segment has a cleft, forming the secondary genitalia consisting of the lamina, hamule, genital lobe, and penis. There are remarkable variations in the presence and the form of the penis and the related structures, the flagellum, cornua, and genital lobes. Sperm is produced at the 9th segment, and is transferred to the secondary genitalia prior to mating. The male holds the female behind the head using a pair of claspers on the terminal segment. In females, the genital opening is on the underside of the eighth segment, and is covered by a simple flap (vulvar lamina) or an ovipositor, depending on species and the method of egg-laying. Dragonflies having simple flaps shed the eggs in water, mostly in flight. Dragonflies having ovipositors use them to puncture soft tissues of plants and place the eggs singly in each puncture they make.

 

Dragonfly nymphs vary in form with species, and are loosely classed into claspers, sprawlers, hiders, and burrowers. The first instar is known as a prolarva, a relatively inactive stage from which it quickly moults into the more active nymphal form. The general body plan is similar to that of an adult, but the nymph lacks wings and reproductive organs. The lower jaw has a huge, extensible labium, armed with hooks and spines, which is used for catching prey. This labium is folded under the body at rest and struck out at great speed by hydraulic pressure created by the abdominal muscles. Whereas damselfly nymphs have three feathery external gills, dragonfly nymphs have internal gills, located around the fourth and fifth abdominal segments. Water is pumped in and out of the abdomen through an opening at the tip. The naiads of some clubtails (Gomphidae) that burrow into the sediment, have a snorkel-like tube at the end of the abdomen enabling them to draw in clean water while they are buried in mud. Naiads can forcefully expel a jet of water to propel themselves with great rapidity.

   

Colouration

 

Many adult dragonflies have brilliant iridescent or metallic colours produced by structural colouration, making them conspicuous in flight. Their overall colouration is often a combination of yellow, red, brown, and black pigments, with structural colours. Blues are typically created by microstructures in the cuticle that reflect blue light. Greens often combine a structural blue with a yellow pigment. Freshly emerged adults, known as tenerals, are often pale-coloured and obtain their typical colours after a few days, some have their bodies covered with a pale blue, waxy powderiness called pruinosity; it wears off when scraped during mating, leaving darker areas.

 

Some dragonflies, such as the green darner, Anax junius, have a noniridescent blue that is produced structurally by scatter from arrays of tiny spheres in the endoplasmic reticulum of epidermal cells underneath the cuticle.

 

The wings of dragonflies are generally clear, apart from the dark veins and pterostigmata. In the chasers (Libellulidae), however, many genera have areas of colour on the wings: for example, groundlings (Brachythemis) have brown bands on all four wings, while some scarlets (Crocothemis) and dropwings (Trithemis) have bright orange patches at the wing bases. Some aeshnids such as the brown hawker (Aeshna grandis) have translucent, pale yellow wings.

 

Dragonfly nymphs are usually a well-camouflaged blend of dull brown, green, and grey.

   

Biology

 

Ecology

 

Dragonflies and damselflies are predatory both in the aquatic nymphal and adult stages. Nymphs feed on a range of freshwater invertebrates and larger ones can prey on tadpoles and small fish. Adults capture insect prey in the air, making use of their acute vision and highly controlled flight. The mating system of dragonflies is complex, and they are among the few insect groups that have a system of indirect sperm transfer along with sperm storage, delayed fertilization, and sperm competition.

 

Adult males vigorously defend territories near water; these areas provide suitable habitat for the nymphs to develop, and for females to lay their eggs. Swarms of feeding adults aggregate to prey on swarming prey such as emerging flying ants or termites.

 

Dragonflies as a group occupy a considerable variety of habitats, but many species, and some families, have their own specific environmental requirements. Some species prefer flowing waters, while others prefer standing water. For example, the Gomphidae (clubtails) live in running water, and the Libellulidae (skimmers) live in still water. Some species live in temporary water pools and are capable of tolerating changes in water level, desiccation, and the resulting variations in temperature, but some genera such as Sympetrum (darters) have eggs and nymphs that can resist drought and are stimulated to grow rapidly in warm, shallow pools, also often benefiting from the absence of predators there. Vegetation and its characteristics including submerged, floating, emergent, or waterside are also important. Adults may require emergent or waterside plants to use as perches; others may need specific submerged or floating plants on which to lay eggs. Requirements may be highly specific, as in Aeshna viridis (green hawker), which lives in swamps with the water-soldier, Stratiotes aloides. The chemistry of the water, including its trophic status (degree of enrichment with nutrients) and pH can also affect its use by dragonflies. Most species need moderate conditions, not too eutrophic, not too acidic; a few species such as Sympetrum danae (black darter) and Libellula quadrimaculata (four-spotted chaser) prefer acidic waters such as peat bogs, while others such as Libellula fulva (scarce chaser) need slow-moving, eutrophic waters with reeds or similar waterside plants.

   

Behaviour

 

Many dragonflies, particularly males, are territorial. Some defend a territory against others of their own species, some against other species of dragonfly and a few against insects in unrelated groups. A particular perch may give a dragonfly a good view over an insect-rich feeding ground; males of many species such as the Pachydiplax longipennis (blue dasher) jostle other dragonflies to maintain the right to alight there. Defending a breeding territory is common among male dragonflies, especially in species that congregate around ponds. The territory contains desirable features such as a sunlit stretch of shallow water, a special plant species, or the preferred substrate for egg-laying. The territory may be small or large, depending on its quality, the time of day, and the number of competitors, and may be held for a few minutes or several hours. Dragonflies including Tramea lacerata (black saddlebags) may notice landmarks that assist in defining the boundaries of the territory. Landmarks may reduce the costs of territory establishment, or might serve as a spatial reference. Some dragonflies signal ownership with striking colours on the face, abdomen, legs, or wings. The Plathemis lydia (common whitetail) dashes towards an intruder holding its white abdomen aloft like a flag. Other dragonflies engage in aerial dogfights or high-speed chases. A female must mate with the territory holder before laying her eggs. There is also conflict between the males and females. Females may sometimes be harassed by males to the extent that it affects their normal activities including foraging and in some dimorphic species females have evolved multiple forms with some forms appearing deceptively like males. In some species females have evolved behavioural responses such as feigning death to escape the attention of males. Similarly, selection of habitat by adult dragonflies is not random, and terrestrial habitat patches may be held for up to 3 months. A species tightly linked to its birth site utilises a foraging area that is several orders of magnitude larger than the birth site.

   

Reproduction

 

Mating in dragonflies is a complex, precisely choreographed process. First, the male has to attract a female to his territory, continually driving off rival males. When he is ready to mate, he transfers a packet of sperm from his primary genital opening on segment 9, near the end of his abdomen, to his secondary genitalia on segments 2–3, near the base of his abdomen. The male then grasps the female by the head with the claspers at the end of his abdomen; the structure of the claspers varies between species, and may help to prevent interspecific mating. The pair flies in tandem with the male in front, typically perching on a twig or plant stem. The female then curls her abdomen downwards and forwards under her body to pick up the sperm from the male's secondary genitalia, while the male uses his "tail" claspers to grip the female behind the head: this distinctive posture is called the "heart" or "wheel"; the pair may also be described as being "in cop".

 

Egg-laying (ovipositing) involves not only the female darting over floating or waterside vegetation to deposit eggs on a suitable substrate, but also the male hovering above her or continuing to clasp her and flying in tandem. The male attempts to prevent rivals from removing his sperm and inserting their own, something made possible by delayed fertilisation and driven by sexual selection. If successful, a rival male uses his penis to compress or scrape out the sperm inserted previously; this activity takes up much of the time that a copulating pair remains in the heart posture. Flying in tandem has the advantage that less effort is needed by the female for flight and more can be expended on egg-laying, and when the female submerges to deposit eggs, the male may help to pull her out of the water.

 

Egg-laying takes two different forms depending on the species. The female in some families has a sharp-edged ovipositor with which she slits open a stem or leaf of a plant on or near the water, so she can push her eggs inside. In other families such as clubtails (Gomphidae), cruisers (Macromiidae), emeralds (Corduliidae), and skimmers (Libellulidae), the female lays eggs by tapping the surface of the water repeatedly with her abdomen, by shaking the eggs out of her abdomen as she flies along, or by placing the eggs on vegetation. In a few species, the eggs are laid on emergent plants above the water, and development is delayed until these have withered and become immersed.

   

Life cycle

 

Dragonflies are hemimetabolous insects; they do not have a pupal stage and undergo an incomplete metamorphosis with a series of nymphal stages from which the adult emerges. Eggs laid inside plant tissues are usually shaped like grains of rice, while other eggs are the size of a pinhead, ellipsoidal, or nearly spherical. A clutch may have as many as 1500 eggs, and they take about a week to hatch into aquatic nymphs or naiads which moult between six and 15 times (depending on species) as they grow. Most of a dragonfly's life is spent as a nymph, beneath the water's surface. The nymph extends its hinged labium (a toothed mouthpart similar to a lower mandible, which is sometimes termed as a "mask" as it is normally folded and held before the face) that can extend forward and retract rapidly to capture prey such as mosquito larvae, tadpoles, and small fish. They breathe through gills in their rectum, and can rapidly propel themselves by suddenly expelling water through the anus. Some naiads, such as the later stages of Antipodophlebia asthenes, hunt on land.

 

The nymph stage of dragonflies lasts up to five years in large species, and between two months and three years in smaller species. When the naiad is ready to metamorphose into an adult, it stops feeding and makes its way to the surface, generally at night. It remains stationary with its head out of the water, while its respiration system adapts to breathing air, then climbs up a reed or other emergent plant, and moults (ecdysis). Anchoring itself firmly in a vertical position with its claws, its skin begins to split at a weak spot behind the head. The adult dragonfly crawls out of its nymph skin, the exuvia, arching backwards when all but the tip of its abdomen is free, to allow its exoskeleton to harden. Curling back upwards, it completes its emergence, swallowing air, which plumps out its body, and pumping haemolymph into its wings, which causes them to expand to their full extent.

 

Dragonflies in temperate areas can be categorized into two groups, an early group and a later one. In any one area, individuals of a particular "spring species" emerge within a few days of each other. The springtime darner (Basiaeschna janata), for example, is suddenly very common in the spring, but disappears a few weeks later and is not seen again until the following year. By contrast, a "summer species" emerges over a period of weeks or months, later in the year. They may be seen on the wing for several months, but this may represent a whole series of individuals, with new adults hatching out as earlier ones complete their lifespans.

   

Sex ratios

 

The sex ratio of male to female dragonflies varies both temporally and spatially. Adult dragonflies have a high male-biased ratio at breeding habitats. The male-bias ratio has contributed partially to the females using different habitats to avoid male harassment. As seen in Hine's emerald dragonfly (Somatochlora hineana), male populations use wetland habitats, while females use dry meadows and marginal breeding habitats, only migrating to the wetlands to lay their eggs or to find mating partners. Unwanted mating is energetically costly for females because it affects the amount of time that they are able to spend foraging.

   

Flight

 

Dragonflies are powerful and agile fliers, capable of migrating across the sea, moving in any direction, and changing direction suddenly. In flight, the adult dragonfly can propel itself in six directions: upward, downward, forward, backward, to left and to right. They have four different styles of flight: A number of flying modes are used that include counter-stroking, with forewings beating 180° out of phase with the hindwings, is used for hovering and slow flight. This style is efficient and generates a large amount of lift; phased-stroking, with the hindwings beating 90° ahead of the forewings, is used for fast flight. This style creates more thrust, but less lift than counter-stroking; synchronised-stroking, with forewings and hindwings beating together, is used when changing direction rapidly, as it maximises thrust; and gliding, with the wings held out, is used in three situations: free gliding, for a few seconds in between bursts of powered flight; gliding in the updraft at the crest of a hill, effectively hovering by falling at the same speed as the updraft; and in certain dragonflies such as darters, when "in cop" with a male, the female sometimes simply glides while the male pulls the pair along by beating his wings.

 

The wings are powered directly, unlike most families of insects, with the flight muscles attached to the wing bases. Dragonflies have a high power/weight ratio, and have been documented accelerating at 4 G linearly and 9 G in sharp turns while pursuing prey.

 

Dragonflies generate lift in at least four ways at different times, including classical lift like an aircraft wing; supercritical lift with the wing above the critical angle, generating high lift and using very short strokes to avoid stalling; and creating and shedding vortices. Some families appear to use special mechanisms, as for example the Libellulidae which take off rapidly, their wings beginning pointed far forward and twisted almost vertically. Dragonfly wings behave highly dynamically during flight, flexing and twisting during each beat. Among the variables are wing curvature, length and speed of stroke, angle of attack, forward/back position of wing, and phase relative to the other wings.

   

Flight speed

 

Old and unreliable claims are made that dragonflies such as the southern giant darner can fly up to 97 km/h (60 mph). However, the greatest reliable flight speed records are for other types of insects. In general, large dragonflies like the hawkers have a maximum speed of 36–54 km/h (22–34 mph) with average cruising speed of about 16 km/h (9.9 mph). Dragonflies can travel at 100 body-lengths per second in forward flight, and three lengths per second backwards.

   

Motion camouflage

 

n high-speed territorial battles between male Australian emperors (Hemianax papuensis), the fighting dragonflies adjust their flight paths to appear stationary to their rivals, minimizing the chance of being detected as they approach.[a] To achieve the effect, the attacking dragonfly flies towards his rival, choosing his path to remain on a line between the rival and the start of his attack path. The attacker thus looms larger as he closes on the rival, but does not otherwise appear to move. Researchers found that six of 15 encounters involved motion camouflage.

   

Temperature control

 

The flight muscles need to be kept at a suitable temperature for the dragonfly to be able to fly. Being cold-blooded, they can raise their temperature by basking in the sun. Early in the morning, they may choose to perch in a vertical position with the wings outstretched, while in the middle of the day, a horizontal stance may be chosen. Another method of warming up used by some larger dragonflies is wing-whirring, a rapid vibration of the wings that causes heat to be generated in the flight muscles. The green darner (Anax junius) is known for its long-distance migrations, and often resorts to wing-whirring before dawn to enable it to make an early start.

 

Becoming too hot is another hazard, and a sunny or shady position for perching can be selected according to the ambient temperature. Some species have dark patches on the wings which can provide shade for the body, and a few use the obelisk posture to avoid overheating. This behaviour involves doing a "handstand", perching with the body raised and the abdomen pointing towards the sun, thus minimising the amount of solar radiation received. On a hot day, dragonflies sometimes adjust their body temperature by skimming over a water surface and briefly touching it, often three times in quick succession. This may also help to avoid desiccation.

   

Feeding

 

Adult dragonflies hunt on the wing using their exceptionally acute eyesight and strong, agile flight. They are almost exclusively carnivorous, eating a wide variety of insects ranging from small midges and mosquitoes to butterflies, moths, damselflies, and smaller dragonflies. A large prey item is subdued by being bitten on the head and is carried by the legs to a perch. Here, the wings are discarded and the prey usually ingested head first. A dragonfly may consume as much as a fifth of its body weight in prey per day. Dragonflies are also some of the insect world's most efficient hunters, catching up to 95% of the prey they pursue.

 

The nymphs are voracious predators, eating most living things that are smaller than they are. Their staple diet is mostly bloodworms and other insect larvae, but they also feed on tadpoles and small fish. A few species, especially those that live in temporary waters, are likely to leave the water to feed. Nymphs of Cordulegaster bidentata sometimes hunt small arthropods on the ground at night, while some species in the Anax genus have even been observed leaping out of the water to attack and kill full-grown tree frogs.

   

Eyesight

 

Dragonfly vision is thought to be like slow motion for humans. Dragonflies see faster than we do; they see around 200 images per second. A dragonfly can see in 360 degrees, and nearly 80 percent of the insect's brain is dedicated to its sight.

   

Predators

 

Although dragonflies are swift and agile fliers, some predators are fast enough to catch them. These include falcons such as the American kestrel, the merlin, and the hobby; nighthawks, swifts, flycatchers and swallows also take some adults; some species of wasps, too, prey on dragonflies, using them to provision their nests, laying an egg on each captured insect. In the water, various species of ducks and herons eat dragonfly nymphs and they are also preyed on by newts, frogs, fish, and water spiders. Amur falcons, which migrate over the Indian Ocean at a period that coincides with the migration of the globe skimmer dragonfly, Pantala flavescens, may actually be feeding on them while on the wing.

   

Parasites

 

Dragonflies are affected by three major groups of parasites: water mites, gregarine protozoa, and trematode flatworms (flukes). Water mites, Hydracarina, can kill smaller dragonfly nymphs, and may also be seen on adults. Gregarines infect the gut and may cause blockage and secondary infection. Trematodes are parasites of vertebrates such as frogs, with complex life cycles often involving a period as a stage called a cercaria in a secondary host, a snail. Dragonfly nymphs may swallow cercariae, or these may tunnel through a nymph's body wall; they then enter the gut and form a cyst or metacercaria, which remains in the nymph for the whole of its development. If the nymph is eaten by a frog, the amphibian becomes infected by the adult or fluke stage of the trematode.

   

Dragonflies and humans

 

Conservation

 

Most odonatologists live in temperate areas and the dragonflies of North America and Europe have been the subject of much research. However, the majority of species live in tropical areas and have been little studied. With the destruction of rainforest habitats, many of these species are in danger of becoming extinct before they have even been named. The greatest cause of decline is forest clearance with the consequent drying up of streams and pools which become clogged with silt. The damming of rivers for hydroelectric schemes and the drainage of low-lying land has reduced suitable habitat, as has pollution and the introduction of alien species.

 

In 1997, the International Union for Conservation of Nature set up a status survey and conservation action plan for dragonflies. This proposes the establishment of protected areas around the world and the management of these areas to provide suitable habitat for dragonflies. Outside these areas, encouragement should be given to modify forestry, agricultural, and industrial practices to enhance conservation. At the same time, more research into dragonflies needs to be done, consideration should be given to pollution control and the public should be educated about the importance of biodiversity.

 

Habitat degradation has reduced dragonfly populations across the world, for example in Japan. Over 60% of Japan's wetlands were lost in the 20th century, so its dragonflies now depend largely on rice fields, ponds, and creeks. Dragonflies feed on pest insects in rice, acting as a natural pest control. Dragonflies are steadily declining in Africa, and represent a conservation priority.

 

The dragonfly's long lifespan and low population density makes it vulnerable to disturbance, such as from collisions with vehicles on roads built near wetlands. Species that fly low and slow may be most at risk.

 

Dragonflies are attracted to shiny surfaces that produce polarization which they can mistake for water, and they have been known to aggregate close to polished gravestones, solar panels, automobiles, and other such structures on which they attempt to lay eggs. These can have a local impact on dragonfly populations; methods of reducing the attractiveness of structures such as solar panels are under experimentation.

   

In culture

 

A blue-glazed faience dragonfly amulet was found by Flinders Petrie at Lahun, from the Late Middle Kingdom of ancient Egypt.

 

Many Native American tribes consider dragonflies to be medicine animals that had special powers. For example, the southwestern tribes, including the Pueblo, Hopi, and Zuni, associated dragonflies with transformation. They referred to dragonflies as "snake doctors" because they believed dragonflies followed snakes into the ground and healed them if they were injured. For the Navajo, dragonflies symbolize pure water. Often stylized in a double-barred cross design, dragonflies are a common motif in Zuni pottery, as well as Hopi rock art and Pueblo necklaces.: 20–26 

 

As a seasonal symbol in Japan, the dragonflies are associated with season of autumn. In Japan, they are symbols of rebirth, courage, strength, and happiness. They are also depicted frequently in Japanese art and literature, especially haiku poetry. Japanese children catch large dragonflies as a game, using a hair with a small pebble tied to each end, which they throw into the air. The dragonfly mistakes the pebbles for prey, gets tangled in the hair, and is dragged to the ground by the weight.: 38 

 

In Chinese culture, dragonflies symbolize both change and instability. They are also symbols in the Chinese practices of Feng Shui, where placements of dragonfly statues and artwork in parts of a home or office are believed to bring new insights and positive changes.

 

In both China and Japan, dragonflies have been used in traditional medicine. In Indonesia, adult dragonflies are caught on poles made sticky with birdlime, then fried in oil as a delicacy.

 

Images of dragonflies are common in Art Nouveau, especially in jewellery designs. They have also been used as a decorative motif on fabrics and home furnishings. Douglas, a British motorcycle manufacturer based in Bristol, named its innovatively designed postwar 350-cc flat-twin model the Dragonfly.

 

Among the classical names of Japan are Akitsukuni (秋津国), Akitsushima (秋津島), Toyo-akitsushima (豊秋津島). Akitsu is an old word for dragonfly, so one interpretation of Akitsushima is "Dragonfly Island". This is attributed to a legend in which Japan's mythical founder, Emperor Jimmu, was bitten by a mosquito, which was then eaten by a dragonfly.

 

In Europe, dragonflies have often been seen as sinister. Some English vernacular names, such as "horse-stinger", "devil's darning needle", and "ear cutter", link them with evil or injury. Swedish folklore holds that the devil uses dragonflies to weigh people's souls.: 25–27  The Norwegian name for dragonflies is Øyenstikker ("eye-poker"), and in Portugal, they are sometimes called tira-olhos ("eyes-snatcher"). They are often associated with snakes, as in the Welsh name gwas-y-neidr, "adder's servant". The Southern United States terms "snake doctor" and "snake feeder" refer to a folk belief that dragonflies catch insects for snakes or follow snakes around and stitch them back together if they are injured. Interestingly, the Hungarian name for dragonfly is szitakötő ("sieve-knitter").

 

The watercolourist Moses Harris (1731–1785), known for his The Aurelian or natural history of English insects (1766), published in 1780, the first scientific descriptions of several Odonata including the banded demoiselle, Calopteryx splendens. He was the first English artist to make illustrations of dragonflies accurate enough to be identified to species (Aeshna grandis at top left of plate illustrated), though his rough drawing of a nymph (at lower left) with the mask extended appears to be plagiarised.[b]

 

More recently, dragonfly watching has become popular in America as some birdwatchers seek new groups to observe.

 

In heraldry, like other winged insects, the dragonfly is typically depicted tergiant (with its back facing the viewer), with its head to chief.

   

In poetry and literature

 

Lafcadio Hearn wrote in his 1901 book A Japanese Miscellany that Japanese poets had created dragonfly haiku "almost as numerous as are the dragonflies themselves in the early autumn." The poet Matsuo Bashō (1644–1694) wrote haiku such as "Crimson pepper pod / add two pairs of wings, and look / darting dragonfly", relating the autumn season to the dragonfly. Hori Bakusui (1718–1783) similarly wrote "Dyed he is with the / Colour of autumnal days, / O red dragonfly."

 

The poet Lord Tennyson, described a dragonfly splitting its old skin and emerging shining metallic blue like "sapphire mail" in his 1842 poem "The Two Voices", with the lines "An inner impulse rent the veil / Of his old husk: from head to tail / Came out clear plates of sapphire mail."

 

The novelist H. E. Bates described the rapid, agile flight of dragonflies in his 1937 nonfiction book Down the River:

 

I saw, once, an endless procession, just over an area of water-lilies, of small sapphire dragonflies, a continuous play of blue gauze over the snowy flowers above the sun-glassy water. It was all confined, in true dragonfly fashion, to one small space. It was a continuous turning and returning, an endless darting, poising, striking and hovering, so swift that it was often lost in sunlight.

 

In technology

 

A dragonfly has been genetically modified with light-sensitive "steering neurons" in its nerve cord to create a cyborg-like "DragonflEye". The neurons contain genes like those in the eye to make them sensitive to light. Miniature sensors, a computer chip and a solar panel were fitted in a "backpack" over the insect's thorax in front of its wings. Light is sent down flexible light-pipes named optrodes[c] from the backpack into the nerve cord to give steering commands to the insect. The result is a "micro-aerial vehicle that's smaller, lighter and stealthier than anything else that's manmade".

 

[Credit: en.wikipedia.org/]

Tatshenshini-Alsek Park or Tatshenshini-Alsek Provincial Wilderness Park is a provincial park in British Columbia, Canada 9,580 km2 (3,700 sq mi). It was established in 1993 after an intensive campaign by Canadian and American conservation organizations to halt mining exploration and development in the area, and protect the area for its strong natural heritage and biodiversity values.

 

The park is situated in the very northwestern corner of British Columbia, bordering the American state of Alaska and the Canadian Yukon Territory. Nestled between the Yukon's Kluane National Park and Reserve in the Yukon and Glacier Bay & Alaska's Wrangell–St. Elias National Parks and Preserves, the park includes all land in British Columbia west of the Haines Highway. It is part of the Kluane-Wrangell-St. Elias-Glacier Bay-Tatshenshini-Alsek park system, and in 1994 was designated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

 

Over the centuries, numerous indigenous peoples lived in this area, including the historic Tlingit and Southern Tutchone, who built fishing villages along the rivers. The eastern edge of the park follows an ancient trade route used by the Chilkat (a Tlingit people) to barter with the Tutchone.

 

In the mid-19th century, the sudden breakup of a natural dam on the Alsek River caused a severe flood. The dam had been formed by the advance of a glacier across the entire Alsek River channel; the obstructed river formed a large temporary lake upstream of the blockage. A wall of water 7 m (23 ft) high and 15 m (49 ft) wide swept an entire Tutchone village into the sea at Dry Bay, killing all the inhabitants.

 

Tatshenshini-Alsek was one of the last areas of British Columbia to be mapped and explored. In the 1960s the first geological exploration for minerals took place in the area. Significant copper deposits were found in the vicinity of Windy Craggy Mountain, in the middle of the Tatshenshini region. In the mid-1970s two companies began rafting the Tatshenshini (aka "the Tat", a term also used to refer to the region) and Alsek rivers for the first time. In the mid-1980s a proposal surfaced to develop Windy Craggy peak into a huge open-pit mine.

 

In 1991 Tatshenshini International was established, linking together the top 50 conservation organisations in North America. An extremely intensive campaign followed in Canada and in the United States, particularly the U.S. Congress and eventually the White House, when the active involvement of then Vice-President Al Gore was enlisted. Eventually, BC Premier Mike Harcourt responded by undertaking a review of the issues surrounding Tatshenshini-Alsek by the Commission on Resources and the Environment (CORE). BC government under Premier Harcourt decided in June 1993 to protect Tatshenshini-Alsek as a Class A park. The owners of the Windy-Craggy mineral claims were given a $103.8 million settlement.

 

In combination with the adjoining national parks, this completed protection of the world's largest international park complex. The International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) proposed the area for protection as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The Kluane-Wrangell-St. Elias-Glacier Bay-Tatshenshini-Alsek transfrontalier park system comprising Kluane, Wrangell-St Elias, Glacier Bay and Tatshenshini-Alsek parks, was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1994 for the spectacular glacier and icefield landscapes, in addition to the importance of its habitat for grizzly bears, caribou and Dall sheep.

 

In 1999, a party of sheep hunters found artifacts and remains of a young male at the foot of a glacier in the park; he was later called Kwäday Dän Ts’ìnchi, or "Long Ago Man Found". The well-preserved frozen body turned out to be between 300 and 550 years old. Representatives of Champagne and Aishihik First Nations were consulted for this find on their historic territory, and they named the young man. In addition, they agreed to scientific and DNA testing of the remains. Researchers recruited volunteers to see if people could be found who were genetically related to the "iceman". Some 241 volunteers were tested from the area Champagne and Aishihik First Nations, and related peoples in Yukon, British Columbia and Alaska. Seventeen living relatives, including two sisters, were found in the Champagne and Aishihik First Nations who are related through a mitochondrial DNA match of the direct female line. Fifteen of these 17 identify as Wolf clan, suggesting the young man also belonged to that clan. In the matrilineal kinship system, children are considered born into their mother's clan, and descent is figured through the mother's line.

 

The Alsek and Tatshenshini rivers flow through the park in glacier-carved U-shaped valleys. These valleys through the coastal mountains allow cool, moist ocean air into the cold interior. The quick change from ocean to interior environment, frequent floods, landslides and avalanches, a varied geology and great elevation changes have together created an exceptionally diverse range of habitat conditions.

 

Tatshenshini-Alsek Park supports a large grizzly bear population. A green area that cuts through a barrier of mountain and ice connects coastal and interior grizzly bear populations and provides a perfect habitat. The park is the only Canadian home of the glacier bear. This extremely rare blue-grey colour phase of the black bear is found only within the park and just over the border into the United States.

 

As well as bears, Tatshenshini-Alsek Park also supports Dall's sheep, and exceptional numbers of mountain goats, Kenai moose, grey wolves, eagles (bald and golden), falcons (peregrine and gyr), and trumpeter swans.

 

Along the coastline, sea lions and humpback whales can be seen.

 

Alsek Ranges are situated there and Mount Fairweather, at 4,671 metres (15,325 ft) is the province's highest peak. The Tatshenshini-Alsek area lies in a region of high earthquake activity. Slippages along the Fairweather and Hubbard/Border Faults to the west and the Denali Fault to the north cause regular quakes (Wikipedia).

Introduction

 

The doctrine of the ‘Body of Light’ is replete throughout Western esoteric literature. Unfortunately, while many references are made to the concept, little information is supplied regarding its origin (or formation), stages of growth, and applications. The purpose of this document is to supply qabalistic and alchemical students with a workable esoteric theory, and practical technique, regarding this often obscure subject.

 

Theoretical and Historical Background

 

The origin of the “body of light” is seen in gnostic literature as early as the first century. However, extensive documentation and theory exist in Chinese, Mongolian, Tibetan, and Indian literature and practices of an earlier date. Under the general heading of chi kung, or Chinese internal alchemy, these practices are designed to create and mature a body of subtle astral and etheric energy that is capable of existence independent of material consciousness. This body is also thought to be capable of infusing the material body with sufficient energy to allow it to become more subtle and ‘etherial’. This ‘etherialization’ is said to make the physical body, under the direction of the adept, capable of de-materialization at the time of death. Enoch, Ezekiel, the ascension of Jesus, his mother Mary, and even Mohammed with his horse, are often given as examples of this form of dematerialization in Western spiritual literature.

 

Unfortunately, while Eastern systems have maintained a working technical tradition of the theory and its application needed to achieve this goal, little information remains in the West of a similar nature. The idea of the ‘simulacrum’ is the closest we have, and may very well be the starting point of such experimentation. It can be seen from the Eastern literature available, that the idea of the “Body of Light” often called the “Rainbow” or “Diamond Body” is the perfection of a vehicle for the exteriorization (projection), and continuation of consciousness beyond material reality. This paper will attempt to show how the development of this body can be achieved through existing qabalistic practices, and that the stages of its growth corresponds to total realization on the Lunar (Yetzirah), Solar (Briah), and Saturnian (Daath) planes of consciousness.

It is important to realize what is meant by these ‘planes’ however, as they can be confusing when first encountered as an esoteric teaching. When the Cosmic created the universe, humanity, or the ‘human seed’, that aspect of consciousness which was to grow into realization of godhood, descended from primal unity. This unity is symbolized by the Divine World of Atzilooth, and the Holy Upper Trinity in the Tree of Life.

 

When consciousness experiences increasing levels of density as matter is created, duality forms and continues to the material world. This first descent from unity to duality is the so-called “Fall” and to prevent a premature return to Unity, that is before all of creation could be encountered, a barrier was placed called in qabalistic literature, the Abyss. This is the “First Day of Creation” or appearance of time/space. As the descent continued, the human seed experienced progressive levels of sexual polarization as well as being further removed from its memory of Divine consciousness. After the level of Divine Harmony in creation, or Tiphareth, the center of humanity's sense of self, an additional barrier was created, the Veil, or Paroketh. This is the appearance of individuality free of the Divine spark. Finally, a third barrier of Veil is encountered, and that is what separates material creation from the psychic and spiritual worlds. Here, humanity has no memory of its Divine origin, and has complete free will to seek what it desires.

Dolores Ashcroft-Nowicki, states, “When working in this way [Pathworking] you are using the astral body, and you know already about your Magical Personality1) which has been quietly growing in strength with each month’s work. But there is another form used by some magicians, the Body of Light. Some think that it is the same as the astral body, but it is in fact quite different. The astral is an etheric form common to everyone, a Magical Personality is acquired through practice and concentration. The Body of Light is deliberately built for a purpose, another term for it is ‘cowan’. It is not easily formed, some people never manage it, or at least not fully, and once it is formed it can be troublesome, and requires firm handling.” P. 153, The Ritual Magic Workbook Ms. Ashcroft-Nowicki further states that the Body of Light can acquire a kind of ‘self consciousness’ after a period of development. This idea is also stated in Tibetan and Chinese literature. The small ‘child of light’ is often compared to a fetus in the astral womb of the practitioner’s aura and temple. It must be matured, fed, educated, and grown to proper strength so that is can be a help to the magician and not a hindrance, or even potential danger. However, like in all occult activity, dangers come more often from rushing through preliminary work instead of allowing it to proceed in a healthy and natural pace, than from the exercises themselves actually being psychically dangerous. She also goes on to say that few Western magicians have ever been able to master the technique fully, although no reasons are given. When we attempt esoteric exercises and a return to Primal Unity, we must pierce the first Veil, or that of the Gate of Life and Death. So called, because few people pierce it except during near-death-experiences (NDE’s), Out-of-Body experiences (OOBE’s), or physical death itself. The astral body has access to three levels of consciousness, and then must be shed, encountering the ‘Second Death” in order to penetrate the Veil, or Paroketh, to the next three levels. However, precautions must be undertaken to avoid the destruction of the astral body if the Second Death is to be avoided. If this is not done, then it must be reconstructed with a new birth. Above the Solar World, the Resurrection Body is established, and it is the ‘body’ or expression of consciousness used for Reintergration to Unity.2)

It is possible, as this paper will attempt to show, that just as there is confusion among some students regarding the Body of Light as being the astral body, there may also be confusion regarding its actual purpose — that of extended consciousness, or ‘surviving the Second Death’. When its function is clearly understood, then greater attempts can be made to realize its full potential. Mead and the Subtle Body: GRS Mead wrote a booklet around the turn of the century titled, The Doctrine of the Subtle Body in the Western Tradition. It very well may be one of the few books dedicated to this subject available, and while it is full of scholarly research regarding the theories and beliefs regarding the subtle body, it lacks any description of the techniques used to experience it. The material quoted is almost exclusively Gnostic-Christian in origin: Mead states that the doctrine of the subtle body achieved its highest expression in India, although he may have been unaware of other oriental teachings, and that notions of the subtle body develop along with those of alchemy and astrology. This is both true in East and West, and is seen in the techniques often suggested for use by the student. This astrology has nothing to do with “..vulgar horoscopy, philosophic astral theory set up a ladder of ascent from the earth to the light world.” (p.9) Mead also states: “But even as there was a deeper, more vital, side of astrology, a subtler phase intimately bound up with the highest themes of sidereal religion, so there was a supra-physical, vital and psychic side to alchemy — a scale of ascent leading finally to man’s perfection in spiritual reality.” (p.13)

Mead also states that Zosimus states catagorecally that the Rites of Mithras were identical in purpose to the practices of alchemy, and is the only complete ritual of the Mithrian cult that has survived to present time, and its theurgical practices are similar to Indian yoga. (p.30) The ritual also states clearly that it is the method whereby spiritual perfection and birth of the subtle body are attained. As in the Sepher Yetzirah and the Golem, the body of Light is often suggested.

 

Three Levels of Light: The three basic ideas around the subtle body are that it progresses though the levels of the spheres, increases in power and purity, and is made of light and/or fire. It is described as : the spirit-body, the radiant body, and the resurrection body, depending on its degree of purity. Mead points out that there is the possibility of extreme confusion when reading the ancient literature and the vocabulary used to describe the spiritual body. Despite appearances to the contrary, Mead asserts that the spiritual body is essentially one, and that the sidereal body, has nothing to do with today’s (1919) astral body. The Spirit-Body, orsoma pheumatikon, is the force closely aligned to the physical body. Similar to the nephesch, or vegetative-animal soul, in Jewish Qabalah. The Radiant Body, allows us to experience the Vision of Beauty Triumphant as referred to in modern qabalistic schools: “Tiphareth translates to Beauty. It is located on the Pillar of Balance which is the Pillar of consciousness and corresponds, we are told, to the highest state in which a man incarnate on this earth can live, that is, a man “of flesh and blood.” This does not mean that he cannot receive the influences of the higher sepheroth (higher according to the Tree), perceive or live something of their nature and mode of action. This means that a man capable of remaining in Tiphareth has “spiritualized” his matter, has formed his glorious body and has obtained the power to go beyond incarnation.” “There was a time when we they could behold Beauty in all its brilliance, when, together with the rest of the Blessed Company — we [philosophers] in the train of Zeus, and other [ranks of souls] in the train of the Gods — they both beheld the beatific spectacle and [divine] vision, and where initiated into that mystery, which may be called the holiest of all, in which we joyed in mystic ecstasy.” (p. 58) Proclus states,

“Moreover, the radiant vehicle (augoeides ochema) [corresponds] with heaven, and this mortal [frame] with the sublunary [region]”. While the Christian doctrine of the resurrection of the flesh was hotly contested during its developmental stages, with the ‘flesh lovers as they were called, winning out over those believing in a purely spiritual resurrection. Mead points out that the belief in physical resurrection was not universally accepted by the Jews of Jesus’ day, yet, there was a strong Biblical and midrashic tradition of increasing in grades of purity of the individual allowing for ascension and resurrection to take place. The descriptions of these accounts, Elijah and Jesus, suggest that the bodies they inhabited were the same, and yet not the same. They were tangible, yet could overcome material limitations, such as Jesus’ passing through the locked door. Elijah, unlike Jesus however, did not die, but was taken into heaven bodily in a chariot of fire. These ‘bodies’ in fact, are not really separate bodies, but increasingly purified expressions of the personality, the individual and unique expression of God we all carry within us. As one ‘body’ or expression is purified and ‘dies’ another takes its place. What makes the resurrection body different is that while it can and does exist within the material world, it is free from material constraints. This perfect body was, or is, essentially a quintessence. It is differentiated into subtle and simple elements, where as the physical body is contaminated by the grosser elements. The Mithraic initiation states:“O Primal Origin of my origination; Thou Primal Substance of my substance; First Breath of breath, the breath that is in me; First Fire, God-given for the Blending of the blendings in me; First Fire of fire in me; First Water of my water, the water in me; Primal Earth-essence of the earthly essence in me; Thou Perfect Body of me!..” (p. 102, and A Mithraic Ritual, London 1907)

 

The technique suggested by Ashcroft-Nowicki is the simplest and most direct. However, while no specific rituals are employed, as in A.S. method, it is suggested that the ritual be performed in a consecrated temple to prevent the simulacrum from wondering. She also states that when the B.O.L. is sufficiently developed to begin to desire acting on its own, that it should be given firm disciplining.“With the constant implanting of consciousness, even the tiny amount used here, the cowan [Body of Light] will eventually gain a half conscious mind of its own. You will in fact have partially ensouled it. At this point, it will almost certainly make a bid for freedom. Something you cannot allow for it has no protection against the darker forces who will take it over and use it against you and even against those with whom you are involved. They will think it is you and trust the appearance. Therefore the moment you feel as if the cowan is getting above itself, give it a good psychic shake, and in no uncertain terms remind it who is boss.” She then suggests withdrawing all contact with the cowan for a lunar month, and to feel no sympathy for this self-created and projected aspect of ourselves. To do otherwise, she warns, is to court disaster. This would in fact, be tantamount to “the Fall” in our own personal microcosm. Yet despite these warnings, and problems, the creation of the BOL, even partially, can be a very rewarding psychic and spiritual experience. It offers many avenues for psychological cleansing, as we shall see, and psychic enhancement. These four directives: going slow, performing in a sacred space or enclosure, preventing it from wondering, and reminding the BOL who is boss, are common to Eastern and Western methods of creating the BOL. What is missing in the modern accounts, but clearly stated in the Oriental ones, is that the BOL is a superior being to physical world, and can be directed to have effects on the physical body, if they are desired. It is these effects which allow for the etherialization of the physical body, increased health, longevity, and possibly even a kind of ‘psychic mutation’ that allows for increased psychic activity along family lines. The Western schools are silent about what the implications of the Hermetic axiom, “The subtle rules the dense” and how it might apply here. Despite the projective imagery, the genuine sense of the simulacrum being ‘other’, and unconscious, often violent imagery that can be dredged up from a nephesch (subconscious) that doesn’t want to be integrated into the workings of the ruach (Mental-Spiritual functions), the BOL is still a part of us. By disciplining it, giving it function and purpose, and guiding it with a firm hand, we are in reality giving those things to our self. The simulacrum however, shows us in no uncertain terms, that these forces and ideas within us, left unregenerated and when given the opportunity, will seek to manifest, and to take on self-consciousness. In magical work we see this clearly in the creation of the BOL; in psychology in neurotic and schizophrenic behavior; and even in severe forms of psychosis. Esoteric work allows us to address these diverse aspects of our being, to integrate them, and in doing so, to prevent psychic ruptures that might otherwise manifest in modern terms as mental illness. The following method can be performed by anyone regardless of their level of experience. Ideally however, it would be best if it is done during the third or fourth year of qabalistic study. The reasons for this are simple: the more experience you have in psychic and occult matters, the easier it will be to achieve noticeable success. In addition, the required skills of concentration, visualization, and creating a strong working environment for psychic activity will have become second nature. In relation to what has been said previously, by the third or fourth year of study, the aspiring qabalistic magician will hopefully have worked through some of their more obvious psychological issues, as seen and experienced through the multi-colored glasses of the Lesser Pentagram and Hexagram Rituals. Previous experience with planetary invocations will make some of the following instructions easier. Within the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, the first 3-3 ½ years is spent learning very basic magical procedures, coupled with the memorization and intellectual comprehension of a vast amount of qabalistic, alchemical, and astrological knowledge. The techniques given by Regardie in The Golden Dawn, such as the Supreme Rituals of the Pentagram and Hexagram, and the Rose+Cross Ritual, are not generally taught until the 5=5 Grade, or Adeptus Minor. On occasion, they may be given in the preliminary section, known as the Portal Grade. All magical tools are also constructed after being received into the Second Order, or Adeptus Minor grade. Only after this period are planetary rituals, talismans, and related techniques as seen in Regardie’s work undertaken.4) For those who do not belong to any formal course of study, it is generally suggested that the first year of activity be spent learning Elemental and Pentagram work. The second year doing planetary work; with the third year being spent integrating the two. The fourth year often focuses on zodiacal magic and the completion of any Pathworking. Pathworking can be started anywhere from the first year on and requires about 1 1/2 years to fully do all of the 32 Paths of the Tree of Life. Since each Path is often done more than once, it is best to allow two to three years for this additional aspect of magical training. Pathworking, particularly Paths 32 through 24 are critical for psychological health and should be done two or three times before doing the second set of Paths, or 23 through 19.5) Of course, the speed at which one works is not important. It is better to go slowly and diligently and make real progress, than to rush through and simply do the work haphazardly. The most complete method available for creating the Body of Light is in the ritual called “The Magician” in Mysteria Magica, vol 3 of The Magical Philosophy by Melita Denning and Osborne Phillips.6) The material belongs to the curriculum of the Aurlem Solis Sacra Verbum. The ritual is divided into five main sections, composed of fourteen distinct parts in total. A note belonging to the title suggests that the ritual is considered most effective when performed at the beginning of the day. Presumably, during the first planetary hour of the day.

Among the most important points in gnostic and Platonic literature is the need to separate the subtle body from the physical body for its purification. This imagined, and eventually real separation, forms the core of the technique. Only by freeing the psychic self from the constraints of material life can we experience the full degree of good and evil in our psyche. The methodical and militant purification of our psyche and integration of its diverse aspects constitutes the most difficult, and rewarding, psycho-spiritual practices known.

 

Preliminaries: The temple area should be set as usual, with alter in the middle, or slightly East of center. If possible, wear a consecrated Rose+Cross present, and place the Pentacle of Earth on the altar.7). Establishing the Temple: Perform the Banishing Ritual of the Lesser or Greater Pentagram.8)

Higher Self: Place your left hand, the hand of Mercy, upon the Earth Pantacle. Invoke the presence of your Higher Self. Imagine in brilliant phosphorescence a flaming sphere, or flaming yod, touching your crown and uniting you with the cosmos. Stand in the posture of the Adeptus Minor. (Tau Cross, arms outstretched).

Lower arms and meditate on the significance of your Higher Self, this flame of Creation within you. This cosmic seed. Perform the Middle Pillar exercise.: Affirm your intentions for performing this exercise, and appreciation for consciousness and the opportunity to develop in awareness and Service. Ask that Light, Life, and Love be expressed in every cell, thought, and action of your being. The Lower Self: Turning clockwise, face the West of the Temple. Pause and imagine the great streams of energy circulating through your physical and psychic bodies. Energize your heart center, feeling a stream of energy running from your crown to your heart, and feet, and back up again. Affirm your position of authority over your lower self and physical body in a loving, but firm manner. Be thankful that they are present to serve you, but that they are at the service of the development of Self, and not as independent beings. Assume the position of the Adeptus Minor, and imagine yourself growing to a vast and immense size. Maintain or reformulate your Flaming Crown center. Feeling most of your consciousness operating from inside of it. Send thoughts of blessing, love, good health, and well being to your lower self and guph. Pause for a few moments as the feeling of vastness disappears and you return to normal awareness of the temple. Turn to the East and ask that the Powers of the Higher Self be present and fully utilized for this operation and at all times forward. Move to the eastern Quarter and Face the West again. Perform the Middle Pillar a second time if needed. Project the simulacrum from the solar plexus, upper abdomen region. Have it facing East, or toward the operator, with the silvery-bluish cord visible between the simulacrum and the operator’s abdomen or solar plexus.

Exhortation and Instruction: In the Name of your Higher Self, address the image before you firmly and lovingly that it is to give your full assistance in the Great Work. If any particular instruction, assistance, or additional work is needed, it is to be interjected here. Give blessing to your Nephesh, in the Name of the Most High, and thank it for its participation in this ritual.

Energize and imagine the simulacrum attaining a high degree of integration. Completion: Re-absorb the simulacrum and the silver cord by imaging it return to a cloud or mist of bright bluish-gray or silver psychic protoplasm and collapsing backward along the cord (bring the cord with it) into your body at the level it was projected from. Close down firmly. Feel the energy move throughout your body and sink deep into your muscles, bones, marrow, and envelope you in a body of light, just below the surface of the skin. Rejoice in the successful operation.

Instructing the Simulacrum: After a two or three weeks of successful projection and reabsorbing of the simulacrum, you can begin projecting specific ideas into it. This can be done in several ways depending on your personal preference. First, use a general plan of associating the simulacrum with the planets, by imagining them along the spinal column from Saturn at the base, to Luna and Sol at the head. Imagine them in bright white light, or the Queens Color Scale. Using the colors, symbols, and sounds of the planets, the simulacrum can be tincted with particular qualities and virtues. Or imagine counterparts of physical organs inside the simulacrum and them having the colors and sounds of their planetary counterparts, filling the whole image with the light and sense and virtues of that planet.

This is the Lunar, or Astral purification of the simulacrum so that it can be rightly called a Silver Body, as it will be influenced and influential upon the Lunar and Astral worlds as a whole. At some point you can then begin to educate it further, that it might become a Solar, or Golden, Radiant Body, influenced by the Briactic Worlds. Beyond this, it would find perfection in the Diamond, or Resurrection Body, under the influence of the Sphere of Saturn. Also, practice performing the Middle Pillar inside the simulacrum, after it has been projected. Always reabsorb the energy, either as a mist, or a shadow image fusing itself into your earthly body. When venturing into the Quarters, use the simulacrum and tune it to the Element you seek to explore, making it a body of Fire, Air, Water, or Earth. When generally projected, it should be thought of as a body of Quintessence, or Spirit, of dynamic electric and magnetic qualities containing within it the balanced potential for all bodies of the four Elements. The simulacrum can also be projected and modified to a deific image or godform. The effects of this are different than the usual methods for Assumption of the Godform. In this instance it is helpful to grow the image in size and stature to a larger than normal appearance after it has been created. It is important that your consciousness be projected firmly into the simulacrum during any working, and that the energy be completely reabsorbed after it is over. The simulacrum can be charged with Hebrew letters. Engraving them according to there location and association with the physical organs as outlined in the Sepher Yetzirah. This can be done to the physical body as well, prior to projection of the simulacrum, and will assist in its creation and projection.9) The letters can be done in blazing white, or according to the Queen’s Scale. It can also be charged with the Tetragrammaton, in the normal Y (Head) Heh (Shoulders) Vau (Spine) Heh (Hips Feet) fashion. As with the alphabet, they should be seen as existing inside the figure, glowing and strong, and not carved on the surface, or projected onto it from elsewhere. The purpose of the simulacrum is to create a vehicle for the purification and expression of astral (Yetziric) and mental (Briah) energies. As such, it also acts as a bridge between not just our objective and subjective worlds, but also between our emotional and physical realities. As stated, we can in effect, alter our physical appearance and health through proper and loving purification of our astral matrix. The Nephesch, which constitutes the bulk of the ‘self’ that we are refining in this work, overlaps and connects the worlds of matter (forming our Salt) and mind (forming our Mercury). When we address it from the perspective of our Kether, we are adding the third Essential, or the overlap of Mind and Spirit (forming our Sulfur). These Four Qabalstic Worlds and their overlapping, forming the Three Essentials, form the basis for inner and outer alchemy. The 27th Path is also a sort of Kundalini Yoga exercise, whereas the 24th Path is the arousal of Kundalini. Where the 27th connects Natural Energy to the Intellectual World, the 24th Path converts Solar (soul) energy into Natural (psychic) energy. Both are under the influence of Mars, or Will, as they reverse the flow of Mezla, and clear out psychic blockages on the Path of Return. This exercise will have secondary effects on the 24th Path, and some effects on the 28th Path (Net-Yes) as this Path governs the flow of Psychic energy through our Psychic centers. All of the Paths of Yetzirah will be effected to some degree by this exercise. We cannot ascend and take our mistaken ideas with us, or our passions and lusts. Both are eradicated, disciplined, or redirected by the Sword of Geburah, or an Enlightened Will. The Lightning Bolt on the tarot card the Tower, sometimes called the House of God (Deu) or Fire (Feu) shows us that the ever flowing lightning bolt of Mezla will destroy any imperfections that it comes in contact with. 1) The Magical Personality is defined as a self-created image of one’s self that allows for greater power and presence when doing esoteric work. 2) See: Fundamentals of Esoteric Knowledge, Lesson 1-3. The Philosopher’s of Nature (PON), Wheaton, Ill. ©1988. 3) See: Qabala Course, Lesson 17. The Philosophers of Nature (PON), Wheaton, Ill. © 1995.

4) See: Self-Initiation into the Golden Dawn Tradition by Chic and Sandra Tabatha Cicero. Llewellyn Publications. Saint Paul, MN. Copyright 1995 5) For more information on Pathworking see: PON Qabala Course, Lessons through . Highways of the Mind by Dolores Ashcroft-Nowicki, and Magical States of Consciousness by Melita Denning and Osborne Phillips. 6) P. 359-362.

7) As mentioned, in the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, the Hermetic Rose+Cross and the Pantacle of Earth are ‘adept level’ tools. In The Philosopher’s of Nature (PON) Qabala Course, they are not constructed until the very end of the six year course. However, the Supreme Pentagram and Hexagram rituals are presented in the second year. 8) Use of the ‘Elemental Grade Signs’ or the ‘Rending of the Veil’ is at the performers discretion.

9) One student who did this noted that the simulacrum was more vital, but also slightly more difficult to control. They also noted, they when they imagined the letters within their physical body when falling asleep, that astral projection occurred rapidly, often before the fifth or sixth letter was reached.

 

hermetic.com/stavish/essays/bodylight

 

The Advanced Middle Pillar Ritual: The Middle Pillar ritual seems to be a ritual that one can progressively build upon. Visualization of the 5 central spheres and reciting the corresponding God-names is obviously the foundation. From there on, I have begun incorporating the remainder of the spheres - and also reciting the Angelic correspondences too (Metatron - Raphael - Gabriel - Sandalphon). Upon adding these to the ritual - it has become considerably more powerful (in terms of how strongly it alters my consciousness) and immersive. I am looking to further energize and advance the ritual. From those of you who have developed their own Middle Pillar Ritual - what have you specifically done, and what has been in the effect? Also, do you supplement the process by topping it off with another ritual (Bornless Ritual, LIRP, etc...) This practice is based on the symbolism of the Middle Pillar of the qabalistic Tree of Life. Alternately, this pillar is known by the titles Equilibrium, Balance, or Mildness. The Middle Pillar Exercise imagines bright spiritual light descending and flowing through the central axis of the body, marked by a series of energy centers (circles 1, 6, 9, 10, and the unmarked throat center in the diagram). Visualizing certain colors and using intense vocalization, called vibration, of the associated name of G-d activates these centers. Then the light is circulated, or directed into a certain pattern of flow, throughout the whole energy field. This practice connects us to the Divine, clears and recharges our personal energy field, and increases our capacity to channel spiritual energy. Additionally, it brings us a sense of peace and harmonious balance. Many teachers recommend performing a clearing ritual prior to practicing the Middle Pillar Exercise. The Lesser Banishing Ritual of the Pentagram (LBRP) is frequently used. I have used the Middle Pillar Exercise with students for many years without a prefatory clearing ritual and with no ill effects. However, if you feel your energy is disproportionately out-of-balance, please consider using the LBRP or otherwise setting sacred space before beginning this meditation.The name of the exercise is taken from the position of the central Sephiroth on the diagrammatic Tree of Life.

As has been said... "The Secret of Wisdom can be discerned only from the place of balanced power" - that is, from between the pillars of Severity and Mercy. The Middle Pillar positions us at a balanced point, neutralizing to some extent the swing of the psychic pendulum from one extreme to the other.

In this exercise we will visualize the sephiroth of the middle pillar as part of our bodies, illuminating them in descending order while vibrating the sephiroth's divine name. This establishes balance and fills us with energy.Once the middle pillar is 'lit' we will circle the energy around and through our bodies, to cleanse and fortify. Think of the names as vibratory rates.

The exercise can be performed standing, sitting, or lying down. Names can be vibrated aloud or internally.Kether

After a few minutes of relaxation, imagine a sphere of white light just above your head. Vibrate the name Eheieh (pronounced Eh-hey-yay, meaning I am). Keep vibrating this word until it is the only thought in your conscious mind. Then imagine a shaft of light descending from your Kether center to your Daath center at the nape of the neck.

Daath: Form a sphere of light at the Daath center. Vibrate the name YHVH Elohim (pronounced Yode-heh-vav-heh El-oh-heem, meaning Lord of Hosts).

Tiphareth: Bring a shaft of light down from the Daath center to the Tiphareth center around your heart. Form a sphere of light there. Vibrate the name YHVH Eloah ve-Daath (pronounced Yode-heh-vav-heh El-oh-ah v’-Dah-ath, meaning Lord of Knowledge).

Yesod: See the shaft of light descending from Tiphareth into the Yesod center in the genital region. Imagine a sphere of light formed there. Intone the name Shaddai El Chai (pronounced Shah-dye El-Chai meaning Almighty Living God.

Malkuth: Visualize the shaft of light descending from Yesod into your Malkuth center at the feet and ankles. Vibrate the name Adonai ha-Aretz (pronounced Ah-doe-nye ha-Ah-retz, meaning Lord of Earth). Visualize the Middle Pillar complete.

 

Circulating the light: Then circulate the light you have brought down through the Middle Pillar around the outside of your body to strengthen your aura (Perform each circulation a number of times.): Circulation One: Side to Side. Using the cycles of rhythmic breathing, bring the light down one side of the body and up the other, from Kether to Malkuth and back to Kether. Exhale and visualize the light descending the left side of the body. Inhale and imagine the light ascending the right side of the body back to Kether.. Circulation Two: Front to Back:

After performing this for a short space of time, imagine the ribbon of light descending from Kether down the front of your body to Malkuth and rising up your back, returning again to Kether. Circulation Three: The Shower of Light Still employing rhythmic breathing, visualize the sphere of Malkuth, then see the shaft of light rising up the Middle Pillar in the center of your body. When it reaches Kether, imagine a shower of light cascading down the outside of your body as it descends to Malkuth again. Circulate the light in this manner for some time. Circulation Four: The Ascending Spiral Then see the light rise again in a ribbon that spirals around the outside of your body from Malkuth to Kether. Closing Finally focus some of the energy back into your Tiphareth center, the seat of equilibrium and balance.

Often, the Middle Pillar is combined with the Lesser Banishing Ritual of the Pentagram (see also Site "Rituals") To do this:

Perform the opening Kabalistic Cross .Formulate the Pentagrams

Call the Archangels: Perform the Middle Pillar exercise

Perform the closing Kabalistic Cross. The Lesser Banishing Ritual of the Pentagram. The Kabalistic Cross: Face east. Perform the Kabalistic Cross as follows:. Imagine a sphere of light just above the crown of your head. Touch the forehead and vibrate Ateh (Thou Art, or, Unto Thee) Bring hand down the body. At about the level of the genitals, indicate the feet and vibrate Malkuth (The Kingdom) Imagine a shaft of light descending from the Crown Sphere to the feet where another sphere expands just under your feet. Touch the right shoulder and vibrate Ve-Geburah (and The Power) Imagine a 6 inch sphere of brilliant white light appear just next to the right shoulder.

Touch the left shoulder and vibrate Ve-Gedulah (and The Glory)

Imagine a shaft of light emerge from the right Sphere and cross your breast to expand and form another Sphere at your left shoulder. Clasp the hands before you and vibrate Le-Olam (For Ever) Imagine clearly the cross of light as it extends through your body.

Amen.

 

The Pentagrams

Draw, in the air facing east, a banishing Earth Pentagram (Begin at the lower left corner and trace clockwise). Bringing your hand to the center of the Pentagram, vibrate the Name Y H V H (pronounced Yahd Hey Vau Hey)

Trace a semicircle before you as you turn toward the south. Again trace the Pentagram, bring your hand to the center of it, and vibrate the Name Adonai, (pronounced Ah-Do-Neye)

Again, trace the semicircle with the dagger to the west, trace the Pentagram, bring your hand to the center, and vibrate the Name Eheieh, (pronounced Eh-Hey-Yay)

Then, turn towards the north, trace the circle, trace the Pentagram, bring your hand to the center and vibrate the Name AGLA, (pronounced either Ah-Gah-Lah or Atah Gibor Le-Olahm Adonai) Return to the EAST, completing tracing the circle of Light, bringing your hand to the center of the east Pentagram.

 

The Archangels

Extend the arms in the form of a cross, say:

Before me (then vibrate) Raphael

Behind me (then vibrate) Gabriel

At my right hand (then vibrate) Michael

At my left hand (then vibrate) Ariel

About me flames the pentagrams, and in the column shines the six-rayed star.

 

At this point, perform the Middle Pillar exercise

 

Repeat the Kabalistic Cross

 

Adding Color

Once the ritual becomes familiar, try adding color to the spheres. While white light contains all colors within it, visualizing the spheres in color can strengthen the individual energy of each.

 

Colors in the Middle Pillar

Kether – White

Daath – Lavender or grey

Tiphareth - Yellow

Yesod – Violet

Malkuth – Traditionally a swirl of russet, olive, citrine and black. Or simply brown.

 

Colors in the LBR

Ateh – White

Malkuth – Brown, or russet – olive - citrine – black

Ve-Geburah – Red

Ve – Gedula – Blue

Le-Olam – Yellow

Visualize the complete cross in white.

 

East - a yellow pentagram

South – a red pentagram

West – a blue pentagram

North – a green pentagram

 

aethyrea.blogspot.com/p/middle-pillar.html

 

The Wheat Creek culvert was constructed in 1861 as part of Brisbane city's drainage system, and was one of the first civil engineering projects of the newly formed Brisbane Municipal Council. In 1825 the penal settlement at Moreton Bay was moved from Redcliffe to Brisbane, where a reliable supply of water could be found. This was the Wheat Creek (also known as the 'Big Creek') that rose near the site of the modern Brisbane Grammar School, in College Road. The creek flowed through what was later the Roma Street railway yards, forming a lagoon between modern George and Roma Streets and to the so-called horse pond formerly in front of the present Brisbane City Hall site. From here the creek flowed diagonally across the present Adelaide and Albert Streets intersection between Queen and Adelaide Streets and entered the river at the end of the present Creek Street.[1] The bed of the creek is still visible down the service laneways in Adelaide Street.

 

In 1827 the first bridge was built across the Wheat Creek for a track to windmill on Spring Hill. This bridge was built from the intersection of Albert and Adelaide Streets and was replaced in 1861. Under the direction of Captain Patrick Logan an earth dam was built across the creek between Roma and Little Roma streets in the late 1820s (approximately near the western wall of the present Magistrates' Court building). Water was carried from the dam through a pipeline made of hollow hardwood logs to the soldier's barracks near George and Queens Streets, and then to the Commandant's house in modern Queens Gardens. A convict-operated treadmill pumped water along the pipeline. In 1859 a large tank was built near the dam at Tank Street. This original water supply remained until 1866, when the new Enoggera Reservoir on Breakfast Creek (now Enoggera Creek), west of the modern suburb of The Gap was commissioned. Water was supplied to the town from the dam through a wrought iron pipe system, commencing with a 20-inch (510 mm) main pipe travelling via modern suburbs The Gap, Ashgrove, Bardon and Milton, and ultimately via 6-inch (150 mm) distribution pipes in the town centre.[1]

 

The Municipality of Brisbane, which was proclaimed on 7 September 1859, covered an area of ridges and swamps that could not be drained. The rainfall runoff found its way naturally to the swamps and then via a series of lagoons and swamps to the river. High spring tides however caused much of the surrounding land to be impassable in wet weather. This meant that ensuring good water supply and drainage were the most urgent jobs for the new council.[1]

 

Before the 1840s simple surface drains or covered drains were used in towns. Surface drains carried off surface water by making the road section higher in the centre than at the sides. The simplest form of covered drain was the box drain that had a broad flat bottom. These drains caused problems because it was common for the entire volume of the drain to be completely filled and blocked. Another type of covered drain was the circular or barrel drain. They were rarely used, as they were more expensive and less effective than box drains. With the development of the ovoid or "egg-shaped" drains there was a dramatic improvement in the effectiveness of drainage systems. John Phillips designed the first ovoid drain in the 1840s and advocated that in order to have proper drainage of towns, separate drainage systems should be used for stormwater and sewage. The ovoid drains concentrated the flow of the water to the bottom of the drain and therefore decreased the likelihood of silting and blockage. In the beginning, these drains were made of stone but by the 1870s they were mainly built of cheaper brick[1]

 

The first drain in Brisbane was constructed in 1860 and was a stone ovoid drain that ran down Albert Street, from Elizabeth Street to the creek at Margaret Street. Although this drain was above ground level it had a very shallow grade.[1]

 

On Thursday 24 January 1861 a tender was called for a culvert to enclose Wheat Creek under the road and box drains for water entry and exit to the design of new City Surveyor, Christopher Porter. H C Love's tender for the sum of £830 was accepted on the 4 February 1861.[1]

 

In 1863 a brick drain, 18 inches (460 mm) in diameter, was laid from Edward Street to Eagle Street, but, prior to 1875, very little was done to provide Brisbane with a reliable water supply or an efficient drainage system. The Brisbane Drainage act of 1875 gave the Governor in Council the powers of the Municipal Council with respect to drainage and sewerage. The drainage and sewerage work was entrusted to the Department of Harbours and Rivers. William David Nisbet, Engineer for Harbours and Rivers, took charge of the design and construction of the city drainage. The primary concern was the creek downstream of the Albert Street and Adelaide Street intersection, which was then the only area developed.[1]

 

An ovoid brick drain running down Adelaide Street between Albert to Creek Street was completed in March 1877. It joined the Brisbane tuff culvert and is still in use. The downstream 25-metre (82 ft) section of the drain was supported on timber piling. A branch culvert for drainage of private allotments between Queen and Adelaide streets, which consisted of an egg-shaped drain at a flat grade of 4 feet (1.2 m) in a mile, was also built during this time (uncovered during construction of Queen's Plaza). Nisbet also designed a brick storm water drainage system that ran under Makerston Street and drained the Roma Street area to the Brisbane River. In other parts of the city various other culverts and drains were completed in 1877. Nisbet suggested that all the drains completed in 1877, in addition to those already in existence, should be kept exclusively for surface water.[1]

  

Segment of the Wheat Creek Culvert on display in the King George Square busway station, 2015

The culvert and drainage system around the intersection remained in use until 2008. The Brisbane City Council carried out a video investigation of the culvert in May 2000 as part of the light rail project being undertaken by Queensland Transport.[1]

 

In 2008, the culvert was dismantled as part of the construction of the Inner Northern Busway, and a section of it was reassembled as a feature in the new King George Square busway station.[3] It was considered sufficiently degraded in heritage value that it was delisted from the Queensland Heritage Register as "destroyed" in June 2015.[2]

 

Source: Queensland Heritage Register.

This is a scanned photo of my father, my brother and I circa 1972 in our old apartment. My dad used to work in the Men's department of this large department store in Newark, NJ called Bamberger's, where he always brought home the latest "hip" fashions of the day.

 

As you can see, both my father and brother are resplendent in their Herman and the Hermits finery, and I am doing what can only be described as my best contemporary Austin Powers impersonation. I even took a school portrait in that get-up.

 

You have GOT to respect a kid in a silk, paisley-print ascot.

 

What inspired me to upload this is that my thoughts are on my brother right now. He was one cool guy back in the day, and a really exceptional role model. To this day he helps the family in every way he can, be it financially or with home repairs, etc. Back when this shot was taken, he was really into the whole "Save The Ecology" movement, and went on to get a degree at Penn State and a job at the Environmental Protection Agency in New Jersey. I admire that dedication greatly.

 

He called my parents last night and said he was in the hospital, having admitted himself for pains in his shoulder and chest. My father has a history of heart problems, so none of us take any suspicious symptoms lightly. I even had heart catheterization surgery a few years ago when they thought they detected a blockage during a stress test. Luckily, it was a false positive. He said they were observing him overnight and that he'd call again today to give us an update.

 

So, if I could, I'd like to ask you all to send out some positive, healing energy to a really groovy dude - my brother, Marc. Thank you.

 

Feel better soon, bro.

 

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Open your eyes to something new today ::: deVos :::

 

photo date/id: 20161015_6153ksp

 

 

seems Lake Michigan was determined to visit the 'top 10 on every list' Traverse City today ... but the breakwalls were a deterrent!

also, I waited for a 'walk by, jogger or biker' for size perspective, but no takers today . . .

 

ahh, spring break 'in the city'

 

photo date/id: 20160407_3102kspb

  

13360 is attached to the rake for 12134 at Surathkal - the train started from there due to a line blockage related to doubling work between here and Mangalore.

The upheaval caused to routes 65 and 71 by the hole in the road at Petersham must have been one of the greatest re-scheduling challenges ever attempted. Logistically, everything was against an easy diversion around a problem that was likely from the outset to go on for weeks. It was actually months as it turned out.

 

Unusually, there were no adjacent and/or parallel road that could be used. Instead the River Thames and associated flood plain to one side and the largest urban park in England to the other side. Worse still, both routes were effectively north/south progressions and the operating garages were both on the southern section making out of service positioning trips lengthy and time consuming to cover the northern section.

 

Here on 4 December 1979, RM 1649 has just arrived close to the former Dysart Arms pub with its journey now interrupted with a walk required past the works taking place to join a bus on the other side. Not great in rain.

 

I have several more pictures to upload in due course showing the other side of the blockage and the rather improbable reversing required.

I spotted Lucy the day before I took this image but was without my camera. She was sorting out some sort of blockage or technical problem with the cultivator.

I returned the following day and took a number of images. The Websters - dad, two sons and Lucy who they employ were planting a field with potatoes. They were using four large Massey Ferguson tractors like this to do the whole process from breaking the ground to preparing the beds and planting.

Lucy is just 20 and has worked for Webster's since August 2022. Prior to this she worked milking cows on a small family farm. During the winter months she has done work with Websters two sons for other farmers cutting and packaging sprouts.

I took he with her massive tractor behind to emphasis it size.

I took this image for 100 stangers and my own ablum of challenging sterio types.

 

www.flickr.com/groups/100strangers/

  

This signal controled the entrance into the remaining three platforms at Lowestoft.

 

Photo taken whist within a line blockage.

Due to a line blockage in the Nottinghamshire area train 6E54 from Kingsbury to Humber OR was diverted through Mexborough in South Yorkshire and here the locomotive powers of Mexborough curve the locomotive DB Schenker Class 60 Tug number 60015.

1F02 10.45 Edinburgh to Aberdeen is seen at Carnoustie with a freshly painted 43251 leading.

Due to engineering works south of Edinburgh and a blockage on the WCML this was running in place of 1S03 Leeds to Aberdeen.

Uluwatu Temple, Uluwatu, Bali, Indonesia

 

In fact I do have ton of photos taken in Bali, just didn't really go and flip over the cover-flow in my Macintosh. Today, have a strong feeling that would wanna do post processing one of it.

 

Though I did the monkey once back in June 14 last year, feel like wanted to do it again with different venue taken in Uluwatu than Ubud.

 

Thanks to Dewa (The chauffeur and tour guide), that have fruitfully trip plan for us. Personally I love the places that he brought us, especially this one Uluwatu Temple. The scenery is far beyond my imagination, he did on purpose brought us here during the time of sunset. Luckily we managed to rush in and bought tickets just to catch up the marvellous breath taking scene and of course the monkey in the act.

 

Dewa is kind enough that warned me before on site, the monkey could be very violent, so when taking shots do keep a distance. There were cases those tourists wanted to take a great shot of them and end up the monkeys attack the tourists. It will grab whatever you have on your face, neck and hands. And believe it, they act extremely fast.

 

Because I have many stuffs on my back, neck and shoulder, Dewa spotted that my distance and the monkeys way to near and pulled me back, else I'd have attack by the monkeys. Honestly, it is quite hard to compose as there were so many tourists there. The outputs I have are ways too many blocking object, hands for instance. you might not able to believe, this shot had photoshop quite a lot at the area of blockage and crop in. Thanks to CS5 that able to eliminate those objects that I tried to get rid of, and zoom in for the prefect perspective.

 

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Lunar New Year is 18 days away, it is the time that we can reunion as a family and celebrate together with relatives and friends. To people like me (working in overseas), is a big festival for Chinese that going home for reunion, the bonding will be started the moment we get our home town, looking forward to that.

  

You must see this on large View On White and View On Black

  

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P/s : This is Lightroom 4 editing and CS5 parts can be seen in the commentary too.

Union Pacific's LPA81 crew was handling an empty Sheboygan hopper train south on the Shoreline Subdivision when they reported seeing "a green blur" ahead of them in Fox Point. They were able to stop the train a few feet away from a large willow that had fallen in a storm the prior night. The crew ran out of time here, and in this photo is seen being relieved by a Butler yard crew. Maintenance of Way arrived shortly thereafter and promptly made firewood.

The return of 59003 was well touted and similarly it's movement to Eastleigh was well announced but there can't have been many worse days this year for it to make it's move from Immingham to Eastleigh.

 

I was booked on earlies at Barnetby East so the prospect of the RHTT's out and back and 47815 off to retrieve 59003 meant there was something out of the ordinary to look forward to.

 

Monday is the first of two regular line blockage days at Barnetby / Wrawby when the track walkers tip up. This morning they were walking the Down Main from Barnetby towards No 56 signal which is well beyond New Barnetby. In order to help them along and also to get them out of the way as quickly as possible I will, where possible, route anything I can down the goods to avoid hindering their progress.

When the circuit phone piped up and Ulceby announced

"6F17 and 0Z59"

Brock immediately said

"the first is 8 early John and the second is 20 early"

which meant there was only one answer....

"we'll have'em down the goods then"

Talk about shooting yourself in the foot !

I also felt for all those wretched soles on the station huddling under the bridge and on the platform, all hoping I suspect to see the train on the main.

 

These two shocking pictures weren't going to go up but I thought I better had post them up as it is certainly a newsworthy event and thus I suppose I ought to record it on here.

 

It seemed a busy old day at Barnetby, the roster clerk asled me to stop on for a further four hours during the course of the shift and when I left at 17.50 after 12 hours I had a quick count up and I'd signalled over a hundred trains, it keeps you fit does the B.East. :)

 

47815 hauling DIT 59003

Barnetby East signal box

11.17 on Monday 13th October 2014

0Z59 11.00 Immingham Mineral Quay GBRf - Eastleigh Works.