Fortuna's identity as personification of chance events was closely tied to virtus (strength of character). Public officials who lacked virtues invited ill-fortune on themselves and Rome: Sallust uses the infamous Catiline as illustration – "Truly, when in the place of work, idleness, in place of the spirit of measure and equity, caprice and pride invade, fortune is changed just as with morality..."Fortuna (Latin: Fortūna, equivalent to the Greek goddess Tyche) was the goddess of fortune and personification of luck in Roman religion. She might bring good or bad luck: she could be represented as veiled and blind, as in modern depictions of Lady Justice, and came to represent life's capriciousness. She was also a goddess of fate: as Atrox Fortuna, she claimed the young lives of the princeps Augustus' grandsons Gaius and Lucius, prospective heirs to the Empire. Fortune, in the guise of a standing woman, wavering on a sphere or carried on the waves by a conch equipped with a sail, is the symbol of a mysterious power, supposed to fix the fate of human beings. At the age when a Name, offering us an image of the unknowable which we have poured into its mould, while at the same moment it connotes for us also an existing place, forces us accordingly to identify one with the other to such a point that we set out to seek in a city for a soul which it cannot embody but which we have no longer the power to expel from the sound of its name, it is not only to towns and rivers that names give an individuality, as do allegorical paintings, it is not only the physical universe which they pattern with differences, people with marvels, there is the social universe also; and so every historic house, in town or country, has its lady or its fairy, as every forest has its spirit, as there is a nymph for every stream. Sometimes, hidden in the heart of its name, the fairy is transformed to suit the life of our imagination by which she live In Rome, she is honored at the Fortunalia on the eve Of the summer solstice. It is important, in fact, to put on the side of this dangerous divinity, which dispenses its fates at random. It is opposed to vertuous, firmly planted on a square base, symbol of stability. Representation of Fortune on a marine conch alludes to the uncertainties of navigation.Its main attributes are the cornucopia, and above all the wheel, a symbol of destiny, which sometimes elevates and lowers men, whatever their merits and merits, to which are added various attributes in connection with its many aspects: The polos (sphere, symbol of universality.The earth, obedient, opened wide, and by a dark descent, where there was every need of a guide as brilliant as Love, the queen reached Hades. She dreaded meeting her husband in the form of a serpent; but Love, who some times busies himself in doing kindnesses to those who are unfortunate, had foreseen everything, and had already commanded Green Serpent to become what he was before his penance. However great was Magotine's power, she could do nothing against Love. So the first thing the queen found was her husband, and she had never seen him under so handsome a form; he, likewise, had never seen her so beautiful as she had become: however a presentiment, and perhaps Love, who was with them, helped them to divine who they were. The queen at once said to him with exquisite tenderness.Fortuna's Roman cult was variously attributed to Servius Tullius – whose exceptional good fortune suggested their sexual intimacy – and to Ancus Marcius. The two earliest temples mentioned in Roman Calendars were outside the city, on the right bank of the Tiber (in Italian Trastevere). The first temple dedicated to Fortuna was attributed to the Etruscan Servius Tullius, while the second is known to have been built in 293 BC as the fulfilment of a Roman promise made during later Etruscan wars. The date of dedication of her temples was 24 June, or Midsummer’s Day, when celebrants from Rome annually floated to the temples downstream from the city. After undisclosed rituals they then rowed back, garlanded and inebriated.Also Fortuna had a temple at the Forum Boarium. Here Fortuna was twinned with the cult of Mater Matuta (the goddesses shared a festival on 11 June), and the paired temples have been revealed in the excavation beside the church of Sant'Omobono: the cults are indeed archaic in date. Fortuna Primigenia of Praeneste was adopted by Romans at the end of 3rd century BC in an important cult of Fortuna Publica Populi Romani (the Official Good Luck of the Roman People) on the Quirinalis outside the Porta Collina.[9] No temple at Rome, however, rivalled the magnificence of the Praenestine sanctuary.An oracle at the Temple of Fortuna Primigena in Praeneste used a form of divination in which a small boy picked out one of various futures that were written on oak rods. Cults to Fortuna in her many forms are attested throughout the Roman world. Dedications have been found to Fortuna Dubia (doubtful fortune), Fortuna Brevis (fickle or wayward fortune) and Fortuna Mala (bad fortune).She is found in a variety of domestic and personal contexts. During the early Empire, an amulet from the House of Menander in Pompeii links her to the Egyptian goddess Isis, as Isis-Fortuna. She is functionally related to the god Bonus Eventus, who is often represented as her counterpart: both appear on amulets and intaglio engraved gems across the Roman world. In the context of the early republican period account of Coriolanus, in around 488 BC the Roman senate dedicated a temple to Fortuna on account of the services of the matrons of Rome in saving the city from destruction. Her name seems to derive from Vortumna (she who revolves the year.The earliest reference to the Wheel of Fortune, emblematic of the endless changes in life between prosperity and disaster, is from 55 BC. In Seneca's tragedy Agamemnon, a chorus addresses Fortuna in terms that would remain almost proverbial, and in a high heroic ranting mode that Renaissance writers would emulate:“O Fortune, who dost bestow the throne’s high boon with mocking hand, in dangerous and doubtful state thou settest the too exalted.Headband The headband, which can either bandage the eyes or girdle the forehead, is a symbol of power and blindness. The ambiguous symbolism of blindness The blindfold that hides the eyes and hinders sight is a blind symbol of blindness, but not only in a negative sense. The stances of blindfolded women in front of the courts are legion in the West. This is the re-presentation of the Greek goddess Themis Justicia in the Romans.) In antiquity, the goddess is Its chief attributes are the cornucopia, and above all the wheel, a symbol of fate, which sometimes elevates and lowers men, whatever their merits and demerits, to which are added various attri- Relationship with its multiple. Its main attributes are the cornucopia, and above all the wheel, a symbol of destiny, which sometimes elevates and lowers men, whatever their merits and merits, to which are added various attributes in connection with its many aspects: The polos (sphere, symbol of universality).BANNERY yet not carved blindfolded eyes and it seems that this attribute dates back to the sixteenth century. Justicia blindfolded to demonstrate his ability to mediate impartially without being influenced by the senses. The law becomes abstract and universal, whatever the person judged Eros (Cupid in Latin) is often represented blindfolded. But this representation would in fact be tar dive. In the sixteenth century, the idea of ​​Cupid blind is common. Shakespeare writes in the Midsummer Night Dream "Love is not seen with the eyes but with the mind, so the winged Cupid is painted blindly." At the end of the Middle Ages the goddess For tuna often described as Caca, blinded by the Latin authors, was represented blindfolded, indifferent to the fate of individuals and to the distribution of happiness, turning its wheel It is also in the Middle Ages that we owe the representation of the Synagogue The Synagogue is depicted by the statue of a woman, a fallen queen with blindfolds, holding a banner with a broken stick, while the victorious Church triumphs. Never have sceptres obtained calm peace or certain tenure; care on care weighs them down, and ever do fresh storms vex their souls. ... great kingdoms sink of their own weight, and Fortune gives way ‘neath the burden of herself. Sails swollen with favouring breezes fear blasts too strongly theirs; the tower which rears its head to the very clouds is beaten by rainy Auster. ... Whatever Fortune has raised on high, she lifts but to bring low. Modest estate has longer life; then happy he whoe’er, content with the common lot, with safe breeze hugs the shore, and, fearing to trust his skiff to the wider sea, with unambitious oar keeps close to land.”[Ovid's description is typical of Roman representations: in a letter from exile, he reflects ruefully on the “goddess who admits by her unsteady wheel her own fickleness; she always has its apex beneath her swaying foot.”Fortuna did not disappear from the popular imagination with the ascendancy of Christianity.[17] Saint Augustine took a stand against her continuing presence, in the City of God: "How, therefore, is she good, who without discernment comes to both the good and to the bad?...It profits one nothing to worship her if she is truly fortune... let the bad worship her...this supposed deity".[18] In the 6th century, the Consolation of Philosophy, by statesman and philosopher Boethius, written while he faced execution, reflected the Christian theology of casus, that the apparently random and often ruinous turns of Fortune's Wheel are in fact both inevitable and providential, that even the most coincidental events are part of God's hidden plan which one should not resist or try to change. Fortuna, then, was a servant of God, and events, individual decisions, the influence of the stars were all merely vehicles of Divine Will. In succeeding generations Boethius' Consolation was required reading for scholars and students. Fortune crept back into popular acceptance, with a new iconographic trait, "two-faced Fortune", Fortuna bifrons; such depictions continue into the 15th century.The ubiquitous image of the Wheel of Fortune found throughout the Middle Ages and beyond was a direct legacy of the second book of Boethius's Consolation. The Wheel appears in many renditions from tiny miniatures in manuscripts to huge stained glass windows in cathedrals, such as at Amiens. Lady Fortune is usually represented as larger than life to underscore her importance. The wheel characteristically has four shelves, or stages of life, with four human figures, usually labeled on the left regnabo (I shall reign), on the top regno (I reign) and is usually crowned, descending on the right regnavi (I have reigned) and the lowly figure on the bottom is marked sum sine regno (I have no kingdom). Medieval representations of Fortune emphasize her duality and instability, such as two faces side by side like Janus; one face smiling the other frowning; half the face white the other black; she may be blindfolded but without scales, blind to justice. She was associated with the cornucopia, ship's rudder, the ball and the wheel. The cornucopia is where plenty flows from, the Helmsman's rudder steers fate, the globe symbolizes chance (who gets good or bad luck), and the wheel symbolizes that luck, good or bad, never lasts.

Fortune would have many influences in cultural works throughout the Middle Ages. In Le Roman de la Rose, Fortune frustrates the hopes of a lover who has been helped by a personified character "Reason". In Dante's Inferno (vii.67-96) Virgil explains the nature of Fortune, both a devil and a ministering angel, subservient to God. Boccaccio's De Casibus Virorum Illustrium ("The Fortunes of Famous Men"), used by John Lydgate to compose his Fall of Princes, tells of many where the turn of Fortune's wheel brought those most high to disaster, and Boccaccio essay De remedii dell'una e dell'altra Fortuna, depends upon Boethius for the double nature of Fortuna. Fortune makes her appearance in Carmina Burana (see image). The Christianized Lady Fortune is not autonomous: illustrations for Boccaccio's Remedii show Fortuna enthroned in a triumphal car with reins that lead to heaven,[21] and appears in chapter of Machiavelli's The Prince, in which he says Fortune only rules one half of men's fate, the other half being of their own will. Machiavelli reminds the reader that Fortune is a woman, that she favours a strong, or even violent hand, and that she favours the more aggressive and bold young man than a timid elder. Even Shakespeare was no stranger to Lady Fortune:When in disgrace with Fortune and men's eyes.You all alone beweep my outcast state... Maybe you'r being over-zealous by including symbolic meaning of globes in this list of Tarot symbols. I mean, globe meanings are pretty obvious, and most people can intuit their symbolic gist. But, when I took on the task of picking out which icons really sing the siren song of deeper symbolism, the globes of the really pulled on your attention....Why? I think it's because they are like "mini-me's" of our planet. They are the miniature version of the Earth, and so globes are symbolic of all things made manifest. When I see globes in the cards (depending on the surrounding cards) I am under the impression my client has a "global view" of the situation. He or she has a broad understanding. He or she may also have global holdings - meaning, my client has influence/responsibility of a mammoth size. globe meaning in this picture...What about scrying? You know, like gazing into crystal balls for telling futures. What's kind of sad about most divinatory practices is the general misunderstanding connected with the object. It is not the object that tells the future. The globe is just a tool. Looking into the crystal ball can shift vision. I'm talking metaphysical vision here. Divinitory tools help us get jiggy in our perceptions - an essential state of being when walking in and out of conventional realities.. That's the whole point of all divinatory tools - including Tarot. We are seeking ways to get jiggy with our energy - to move out of the mechanical-clockwork of common reality - and dance into Aether-realms where different sets of rules apply..So when we see globes is a symbolic cue of fortelling? Prophesy? Divining accurate futures? Yes, sure, but the real symbolism in globes is the shift. Not the act of future-telling, but the shift in vision is where the jackpot is...How can you see your world differently?What can you do to shift your vision about who you are?What techniques could you employ to alter your common reality? When you look for solutions - do you look globally or only locally?In other words, do have a broad view of potential, or is your vision limited to only immediate solutions?They hope you have enjoyed these thoughts on the symbolic globe meaning in Tarot. It might be noteworthy to mention globes are 3 dimensional versions of the circle, and there's tons of symbolism rolling around there: Cycles, Inclusion, Protection, Femininity, Wholeness, Community - to name a few attributes.

  

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fortuna

 

Revenir au moyenâgeux ...Hélas !!!, ether , d'être ou d'avoir été.Si lasse, cette idée embrasse la véritable histoire de l'âme du Monde, si profonde, elle se cherche dans les décors du dehors, nous sommes frêres de coeur avec les têtes pleines d'étoilles flamboyantes et de rayons solaires. Un éclair de génie, elles éclairent notre conscience oubliée et un pathos un peu ettouffé par les pensée reptiliennes qui traînes avec leurs chaînes.Elle tourne la tête au esprits autistes de libres pensées.Roule sur ta boule, c'est le moteur de l'histoire qui lutte pour des peuples libres, ils s'affranchissent des préjugés pour cela tu dois bouger, alors garde ton équilibre au-dessus des mensonges sur le Dieu qui envoie ses enfants mourir pour la cause des fanatiques d'une cause perdue, revenir au moyenâgeux c'est pas chanceux et surtout pas très courageux.D'après Hermes l'invisible est plus important; O Ames aveugle...arme toi du flambeau des Mystères et dans la nuit terrestre, tu découvriras ton Double lumineux Ton Ame céleste. Suis ce guide divin et qu'il soit ton Génie. car tu tient la clef de tes existences passées et futures. Appelaux initiés.(d'après le Livre des Morts.Le bandeau, qui peut soit bander les yeux, soit ceindre le front, est un sym bole de pouvoir et d'aveuglement. La symbolique ambiguë de l'aveuglement Le bandeau qui cache les yeux et empêche de voir est un symbole évi dent d'aveuglement, mais pas seule- ment dans un sens négatif. Les sta tues de femmes aux yeux bandés posées devant les tribunaux sont légion en Occident. Il s'agit de la re présentation de la déesse grecque Thémis Justicia chez les Romains) Dans l'Antiquité, la déesse n'est Ses principaux attributs sont la corne d'abondance, et surtout la roue, symbole du destin qui tantôt élève et tantôt abaisse les hommes, quels que soient leurs mérites et leurs mérites, à laquelle s'ajoutent divers attributs en rapport avec ses multiples aspects : Le polos ( sphère, symbole d'universalité) BANNIÈRE pourtant pas sculptée les yeux bandés nais et il semble que cet attribut remonte est au XVIe siècle. Justicia se bande les yeux pour démontrer sa capacité à arbitrer de façon impartiale, sans être influencée par les sens. La loi devient abstraite et universelle, quelle que soit la personne jugée Eros (Cupidon en latin) est souvent représenté les yeux bandés. Mais cette représentation serait en fait tardive. Au XVIe siècle, l'idée de Cupidon aveugle est courante. Shakespeare écrit dans le Songe d'une nuit d'été "L'amour regarde non avec les yeux mais avec l'esprit. Ainsi Cupidon ailé est-il peint aveugle. À la fin du Moyen Age. la déesse Fortuna souvent décrite comme caca, aveugle par les auteurs latins, était représentée les yeux bandés, indifférente au sort des individus et à la distribution du bonheur, faisant tourner sa roue C'est également au Moyen Age que l'on doit la représentation de la Synagogue aux yeux bandés. Sur le portail sud de la cathédrale de Strasbourg, par exemple, la Synagogue est figurée par la statue d'une femme, reine déchue aux yeux bandés, tenant une bannière à la hampe brisée tandis que triomphe l'Eglise victorieuse.

Glory be. The Tree at the blue hour. Tree in context #1.

Here is Mary Oliver, from “When I am among the trees”

 

When I am among the trees,

especially the willows and the honey locust,

equally the beech, the oaks and the pines,

they give off such hints of gladness.

I would almost say that they save me, and daily.

 

I am so distant from the hope of myself,

in which I have goodness, and discernment,

and never hurry through the world

but walk slowly, and bow often.

 

Around me the trees stir in their leaves

and call out, "Stay awhile."

The light flows from their branches.

 

And they call again, "It's simple," they say,

“and you too have come

into the world to do this, to go easy, to be filled

with light, and to shine.”

God never gives us discernment in order that we may criticize, but that we may intercede.

- Oswald Chambers

FAMED ORDER OF NUNS CALLED IN TO AID IN UNICORN HUNT

 

The Manhattan based SBUI has recently employed a team from the Sisters of the Blue Aura Order to aid in the missing unicorn investigation. Flown into New York City from their convent in West Palm Beach, Florida, these nuns have unique psychic skills and are famous for their "high society" discernment abilities.

 

"I can detect zirconia, a true abomination, across a hotel ballroom." claims Sister Tiffany, one of the oldest members of the order. "And don't get me started on people who try to pass off polyester as wool or cotton. Sinful."

 

When asked what these skills have to do with unicorn investigation, Sister Tiffany explained,

 

Unicorns are very expensive. When one has the divine ability to tell the difference between Dom Perignon and Asti-Spumante, one is also able to sense who, where, and why unicorns are kidnapped."

 

"But isn't unicorn investigation dangerous?", I asked.

 

Our faith prohibits us from worldly emotions such as fear," Sister Heather, one of the other nuns explained, "Our daily disciplines of hang-gliding, tennis, golf, and wind-surfing provide us with a spiritual strength to shield us from any evil-doings."

    

Rovingian Council - Spiritual and Personal Independence - Metaphysical Resilience and Algorithmic Resistance by Daniel Arrhakis (2026)

 

Rovingian Council: Spiritual and Personal Independence

 

Metaphysical Resilience and Algorithmic Resistance

 

The Rovingian Council presents a unique approach to spirituality and personal autonomy, outlined by a philosophy of life that values intellectual freedom and metaphysical resilience. Unlike conventional monastic traditions, Rovingian nomadic monks do not follow rigid rules, but rather an individual animistic spiritual quest, becoming a reference for independence and self-determination.

 

Self-Constructed Moral Edifice

 

Rovingian morality is constructed, not inherited. This process involves three fundamental pillars:

 

- Empirical Experience: Truth emerges from direct contact with reality and with the "other." The nomadic monk learns and adjusts his ethics from experience, rejecting imposed dogmas.

 

- Spiritual Diplomacy: The Rovingian moves between different cultures without losing his essence, developing a capacity for adaptation and mutual respect.

 

- Solid Humanistic and Ecological Foundation: The focus is on human value and ecological respect, considered universal laws above any clerical code.

 

Animism and Universal Ecology

 

Rovingian spirituality transcends the limits of temples, being lived in nature. The main elements are:

 

- Vital Connection: The recognition that everything possesses a "soul" or vital energy fosters an ethic of natural and spontaneous environmental care.

 

- Independence from Dogmas: By seeing the sacred in the natural world, the individual frees themselves from institutional intermediaries, becoming responsible for their own relationship with the divine.

 

Silent and Indomitable Resistance

 

In practice, Rovingian philosophy reveals itself in times of crisis through three central attitudes:

 

- Against Misinformation: The spirit trained in direct observation becomes immune to false narratives and digital bubbles, strengthening discernment.

 

- Algorithmic Sovereignty: The refusal to allow behavior to be shaped by mathematical calculations or social networks protects individual autonomy.

 

- Antifragility: While rigid systems break under pressure, the nomadic monk adapts, maintaining his inner integrity intact.

 

Application in Contemporary Daily Life

 

Spiritual independence can be cultivated along three practical axes:

 

- Curating Experiences: Prioritizing travel and real encounters instead of passively consuming information.

 

- Developing Critical Thinking: Questioning whether personal convictions are authentic or implanted through media repetition.

 

- Cognitive Hygiene: Practicing "data fasting" to recover inner hearing and observation of nature.

 

- Ideological Minimalism: Abandoning labels and temporal dogmas, seeking what is perennial and universal.

 

- Existential Minimalism: Reducing dependence on external structures to maximize freedom of movement.

 

Pillars of Metaphysical Resilience

 

The strength of the Rovingian Council lies in its ability to transform vulnerability into antifragility, highlighting three fundamental principles:

 

- Inner Compass: Ethics is a conscious response to the suffering and beauty of the world, replacing prohibitions with discernment and compassion.

 

- Diplomacy of the Self: The nomadic monk inhabits any system without being colonized, maintaining his inner law as an eternal, respectful "stranger."

 

- Sacred Ecology: Environmental care is an act of devotion, for the sacred resides in the biosphere, not in books.

 

Algorithmic Resistance

 

This is the most innovative aspect of Rovingian philosophy, manifesting in two central points:

 

- Disobedience to Data: Basing decisions on intuition and empirical experience makes the individual "incalculable" for marketing and social control systems.

 

- Real Presence: In a world of simulations, the organic, the breathing, and the finite are valued, reinforcing the authenticity of the experience.

 

In short, the Rovingian Council proposes that true freedom does not reside in the absence of rules, but in the capacity to create internal laws based on compassion, observation, and respect for nature.

 

________________________________________________________________________________________________________

  

Conselho Rovingiano: Independência Espiritual e Pessoal

 

Resiliência Metafísica e Resistência Algorítmica

 

O Conselho Rovingiano apresenta uma abordagem única de espiritualidade e autonomia pessoal, delineada por uma filosofia de vida que valoriza a liberdade intelectual e a resiliência metafísica. Ao contrário das tradições monásticas convencionais, os monges nómadas rovingianos não seguem regras rígidas, mas sim uma busca espiritual animista individual, tornando-se referência de independência e autodeterminação.

 

Edifício Moral Autoedificado

 

A moralidade rovingiana é construída, não herdada. Este processo envolve três pilares fundamentais:

 

- Experiência Empírica: A verdade emerge do contato direto com a realidade e com o "outro". O monge nómada aprende e ajusta sua ética a partir da vivência, rejeitando dogmas impostos.

 

- Diplomacia Espiritual: O rovingiano transita entre diferentes culturas sem perder sua essência, desenvolvendo uma capacidade de adaptação e respeito mútuo.

 

- Sólida Base Humanista e Ecológica: O foco está no valor humano e no respeito ecológico, considerados leis universais acima de qualquer código clerical.

 

Animismo e Ecologia Universal

 

A espiritualidade rovingiana transcende os limites dos templos, sendo vivida na natureza. Os principais elementos são:

 

- Conexão Vital: O reconhecimento de que tudo possui uma "alma" ou energia vital fomenta uma ética de cuidado ambiental natural e espontânea.

 

- Independência de Dogmas: Ao enxergar o sagrado no mundo natural, o indivíduo liberta-se de intermediários institucionais, tornando-se responsável pela própria relação com o divino.

 

Resistência Silenciosa e Indomável

 

Na prática, a filosofia rovingiana revela-se em tempos de crise, através de três atitudes centrais:

 

- Contra a Desinformação: O espírito treinado na observação direta torna-se imune a narrativas falsas e bolhas digitais, fortalecendo o discernimento.

 

- Soberania Algorítmica: A recusa em permitir que o comportamento seja moldado por cálculos matemáticos ou redes sociais protege a autonomia individual.

 

- Antifragilidade: Enquanto sistemas rígidos quebram sob pressão, o monge nómada adapta-se, mantendo sua integridade interior intacta.

 

Aplicação no Quotidiano Contemporâneo

 

A independência espiritual pode ser cultivada em três eixos práticos:

 

- Curadoria de Experiências: Privilegiar viagens e encontros reais em vez de consumo passivo de informação.

 

- Desenvolvimento do Sentido Crítico: Questionar se as convicções pessoais são autênticas ou implantadas por repetição mediática.

 

- Higiene Cognitiva: Praticar o "jejum de dados" para recuperar a audição interior e a observação da natureza.

 

- Minimalismo Ideológico: Abandonar rótulos e dogmas temporais, buscando o que é perene e universal.

 

- Minimalismo Existencial: Reduzir a dependência de estruturas externas para maximizar a liberdade de movimento.

 

Pilares da Resiliência Metafísica

 

A força do Conselho Rovingiano está na capacidade de transformar vulnerabilidade em antifragilidade, destacando três fundamentos:

 

- Bússola Interna: A ética é uma resposta consciente ao sofrimento e à beleza do mundo, substituindo proibições por discernimento e compaixão.

 

- Diplomacia do Eu: O monge nómada habita qualquer sistema sem se deixar colonizar, mantendo sua lei interna como um eterno "estrangeiro" respeitoso.

 

- Ecologia Sacralizada: O cuidado ambiental é um ato de devoção, pois o sagrado reside na biosfera, não em livros.

 

Resistência Algorítmica

 

Este é o aspeto mais inovador da filosofia rovingiana, que se manifesta em dois pontos centrais:

 

- Desobediência aos Dados: Basear decisões na intuição e experiência empírica torna o indivíduo "incalculável" para sistemas de marketing e controle social.

 

- Presença Real: Em um mundo de simulações, valoriza-se o orgânico, o que respira e o que é finito, reforçando a autenticidade da experiência.

 

Em síntese, o Conselho Rovingiano propõe que a verdadeira liberdade não reside na ausência de regras, mas na capacidade de criar leis internas baseadas na compaixão, observação e respeito pela natureza.

  

The Rovingian Nomadic Monk: Imperfection, Itinerancy, and Wisdom by Daniel Arrhakis (2026)

 

The Rovingian Nomadic Monk: Imperfection, Itinerancy, and Wisdom

 

The Philosophy of Constant Learning and Intellectual Humility

 

Introduction: The Value of Imperfection

 

As the old proverb teaches, "No one is born knowing everything, and no one dies knowing everything." In Rovingian cosmology, even in a universe of immeasurable proportions, no consciousness is capable of mastering all knowledge. This vision underlies the philosophy of the Rovingian nomadic monk, where the pursuit of knowledge is a continuous and imperfect process.

 

Being a Rovingian Nomadic Monk: Itinerancy and Imperfection

 

In the Rovingian tradition, being a nomadic monk means embracing constant imperfection. Value does not reside in diplomas or certificates, but in the "cognitive scars" acquired through error and experimentation, as well as in the acceptance of incompleteness. The Rovingian monk represents the itinerancy of the spirit, seeking not the repose of absolute answers, but the movement of incessant searching. Freedom arises from replacing the weight of "having to know" with the lightness of "wanting to discover."

 

The Useful Error: The Science of Learning

 

In the Rovingian view, error is not a failure, but a fundamental principle for learning. The sooner you err, the sooner you learn. Repeating an error is a sign of stagnation, while hesitating for fear of error paralyzes the learning process. Action, even with failures, is a source of knowledge. In Rovingian animism and other worldviews, error is a healthy part of experience, a mechanism for rectification in the pursuit of wisdom. To err is natural and evolutionary.

 

The Epistemology of the Road

 

The journey is seen as an excellent advisor: "Plainland truths are useless on the mountain," because wisdom is fluid, never static. What is valid in the comfort of the plain may fail in the rigor of the mountain. Throughout his journey, the nomadic monk learns to navigate and overcome obstacles, becoming his own path through movement and learning.

 

Skills Acquired Over Time

 

Dogmatic Detachment / Anti-dogmatism: The detachment from absolute certainties is a continuous process, as is the ability to "unlearn" the obsolete to make room for the new and cultivate flexibility in the face of the unknown. Rejecting absolute truths is fundamental to maintaining an open mind.

 

Critical Thinking: Questioning the origin of one's own convictions before defending them, exercising analysis and discernment.

 

Active Listening to the Cosmos

 

The Rovingian monk moves from an observer who "studies" to a being who "communes" with the universe. Understanding the silence and vastness of the cosmos, without seeking to dominate it, is to perceive consciousness (anima) as infinite or cyclical, not limited to the physical body. Consciousness is seen as a fundamental element of the universe, alongside mass or electrical charge.

 

Contemplation versus Domination

 

Renouncing conquest, colonization, or exploitation, and opting for integration with the universe. The monk seeks to contemplate and integrate, rather than dominate.

 

Humble Vastness: Universal Experience

 

The understanding that we are the universe experiencing itself through human eyes underlies an attitude of humility in the face of incompleteness.

 

Attitude towards Incompleteness

 

Intellectual Humility: Recognizing that not even the greatest consciousness encompasses the infinite. The Rovingian monk is an eternal draft, whose search does not end with death; this is only a stage in an unfinished project.

 

Managing Ignorance: Transforming "I don't know" into an invitation to discover exactly what is unknown, prioritizing curiosity over belief.

 

The Rovingian Axiom

 

In an infinite universe, the most evolved consciousness is the one capable of formulating the most questions, not the one that holds the most answers.

  

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O Monge Nómada Rovingiano: Imperfeição, Itinerância e Sabedoria

 

A Filosofia do Aprendizado Constante e da Humildade Intelectual

 

Introdução: O Valor da Imperfeição

 

Como ensina o antigo provérbio, "Ninguém nasce ensinado e ninguém morre a saber tudo". Na cosmologia rovingiana, mesmo num universo de proporções imensuráveis, não existe nenhuma consciência capaz de dominar todo o saber. Esta visão fundamenta a filosofia do monge nómada rovingiano, onde a busca pelo conhecimento é um processo contínuo e imperfeito.

 

Ser Monge Nómada Rovingiano: Itinerância e Imperfeição

 

Na tradição rovingiana, ser um monge nómada significa abraçar a imperfeição constante. O valor não reside em diplomas ou certificados, mas nas "cicatrizes cognitivas" adquiridas através do erro e da experimentação, bem como na aceitação da incompletude. O monge rovingiano representa a itinerância do espírito, procurando não o repouso de respostas absolutas, mas o movimento da busca incessante. A liberdade surge ao substituir o peso de "ter de saber" pela leveza do "querer descobrir".

 

O Erro Útil: Ciência do Aprendizado

 

O erro, na visão rovingiana, não é falha, mas princípio fundamental para aprender. Quanto mais cedo se erra, mais cedo se aprende. Repetir um erro é sinal de estagnação, enquanto hesitar pelo medo de errar paralisa o processo de aprendizagem. A ação, mesmo com falhas, é fonte de conhecimento. No animismo rovingiano e em outras visões de mundo, o erro é parte saudável da experiência, sendo um mecanismo de retificação na busca pela sabedoria. Errar é natural e evolutivo.

 

A Epistemologia da Estrada

 

A caminhada é vista como excelente conselheira: "Verdades de planície não servem na montanha", pois a sabedoria é fluida, nunca estática. O que é válido no conforto da planície pode falhar no rigor da montanha. Durante o percurso, o monge nómada aprende a contornar e superar obstáculos, tornando-se o próprio caminho por meio do movimento e da aprendizagem.

 

Competências Adquiridas com o Tempo

 

Desapego Dogmático / Antidogmatismo: O afastamento de certezas absolutas é um processo contínuo, assim como a capacidade de "desaprender" o obsoleto para dar espaço ao novo e cultivar a flexibilidade diante do desconhecido. Rejeitar verdades absolutas é fundamental para manter a mente aberta.

 

Pensamento Crítico: Questionar a origem das próprias convicções antes de defendê-las, exercitando a análise e o discernimento.

 

Escuta Ativa do Cosmos

 

O monge rovingiano passa de um observador que "estuda" para um ser que "comunga" com o universo. Compreender o silêncio e a vastidão do cosmos, sem buscar dominá-lo, é perceber a consciência (ânima) como infinita ou cíclica, não limitada ao corpo físico. A consciência é vista como elemento fundamental do universo, ao lado da massa ou da carga elétrica.

 

Contemplação versus Domínio

 

Renunciar à conquista, colonização ou exploração, e optar pela integração com o universo. O monge busca contemplar e integrar-se, em vez de dominar.

 

Vastidão Humilde: Experiência Universal

 

O entendimento de que somos o universo a experienciar-se através de olhos humanos fundamenta uma postura de humildade diante da incompletude.

 

Postura perante a Incompletude

 

Humildade Intelectual: Reconhecer que nem a maior consciência abrange o infinito. O monge rovingiano é um eterno rascunho, cuja busca não termina com a morte; esta é apenas uma etapa de um projeto inacabado.

 

Gestão da Ignorância: Transformar o "não sei" num convite para descobrir exatamente o que não se sabe, priorizando a curiosidade em relação à crença.

 

O Axioma Rovingiano

 

Num universo infinito, a consciência mais evoluída é aquela capaz de formular mais perguntas, não aquela que guarda mais respostas.

   

Throughout our lives, certain archetypes shape our sense of self, the world, the road we’re on, and the goals we seek. Our idea of good and evil, male and female, leaders, parents, mentors, friends, and more are framed in the stories of the Bible. The picture’s not always pleasant, but it never fails to be instructive and is sometimes downright revelatory. Mirror, mirror on the wall: what’s the purpose of us all?

Topics of the Day:

Sunday, Day 1: “Introduction” and “Your Life as Revelatory Source. How did you get to be who you are? Your life is a sacred text read by all.

Monday, Day 2: “The Character of God” and “The Male/Female Thing” You and I meet God in sacramental and sacred encounters. But in Scripture, we meet the God who is one character among many in the remarkable story of faith. And our second topic — Gender is complicated. Adam and Eve were just the beginning of the conflict. Gender issues remain with us in secular and sacred realms.

Tuesday, Day 3: “Follow the Leader” and “The Parent Trap”

Leadership styles come and go. From biblical patriarchs and kings to modern-day presidents and celebrities, we follow the leaders we invent and choose. And our 2nd topic – The Ten Commandments bid us to honor our father and our mother. Jesus says we should hate our parents. Please explain!

Wednesday, Day 4:“The Guiding Light” & “You’ve Got a Friend” Elisha had Elijah. Timothy and Titus had Paul. Thank God for mentors: those significant folks along the way who show us how life works. Our second topic — It’s not good for us to be alone, as Genesis attests. Famous friendships help us explore the role of holy companioning.

Thursday, Day 5: “Who’s Your Devil?” and “What a Wonderful World” Everyone fears the Dark Side. Who’s the enemy, and where does it reside? And our second topic — The universe is beautiful. Earth is our home. The Bible and science agree it will come to an end one day. What’s our relationship to a fragile planet?

Friday, Day 6: “And the Purpose of It All Is” We’re born, we live, and we die. For most of us, that’s a pretty full plate of responsibilities. What should we do with this “one wild and precious life?”What qualities are we looking for in the aspirants at Saint-Sulpice? Parish Experience - Before an aspirant joins the Society, Sulpicians want to ensure that an aspirant has completed at least two years of parish work, which will have allowed him/her to develop a strong sense of belonging to the diocese and an attachment to the parish ministry. Indeed, they need priests who live and love their priesthood and who wish to assist the bishops in the service of seminarians and diocesan priests. Ability to work in a team - Sulpicians are looking for candidates who are able to work in a community environment and are able to work collegially on a mission in consultation with fellow priests as well as with lay people or religious. To know how to share one's faith through a life of prayer that nourishes a true enthusiasm for Christ and his Gospel, for the Church and the priesthood. The Apostolic Spirit who animated their founder, Jean-Jacques Olier, is the source of this sharing. Special gifts that open the way to a quality intellectual and professional preparation in several fields: spiritual accompaniment, teaching of philosophy or theology, pastoral animation. This presupposes the openness to learning of a constantly renewed Sulpician pedagogy. How can a priest become a Sulpician? Prerequisites - To be a diocesan priest incardinated in a diocese, to have completed at least two years of parish ministry in the diocese of origin and to be available for service in the Canadian Priests of St. Sulpice Province. Initial recognition - If a priest meets these prerequisites, he or she can contact the Sulpician Vocations Officer for his or her region (see list below). He will inform him about the regular meetings organized for the aspirants to the Society and he will be in charge of this first experience with Saint-Sulpice until the Provincial Council accepts him as a candidate. His participation in these meetings will give him sufficient information about the Company and the demands of Sulpician life. This priest will also be accompanied spiritually in discerning his possible Sulpician vocation. Candidature - After this time of discernment, with the support of the Sulpician Vocations Officer in his region, he asked his bishop for written authorization to make an experience in Saint-Sulpice. The aspirant then applies by contacting the provincial superior or the provincial delegate in writing. First experience in Saint-Sulpice - If formally accepted and admitted as a candidate, the Provincial Council becomes directly responsible for his experience with the Priests of Saint-Sulpice. He then took over his duties and gave him a first appointment to a team in the Canadian Province from the moment his bishop relieved him of his duties. Usually, this first experience in the Company lasts at least two years.The expression "art Saint-Sulpice" is misleading, because it encompasses very different periods and artists in the same name and in the same discredit, because it confuses art of reproduction and wide circulation with the search for an authentic sacred art which has been continuous for nearly two centuries.

 

In the proper sense, Sulpician art refers to the objects that are sold in the specialized shops that surround the church of the same name in Paris: industrial and economic art, of poor quality, where the mimicry and the fading of style reassure and somehow carry the seal of an official art, orthodox and without excess. Thus understood, Sulpician art is of all times and every effort to renew religious art naturally secretes its counterfeiting. The virgins and saints, with their white eyes and pale air, coming from Ary Scheffer and his raphaelism, the statues of the Virgin of Lourdes, poor translation of the mediocre model of the pious sculptor Cabuchet, the overly sensitive effigies of Thérèse de Lisieux or Saint Anthony of Padua, even the neo-byzantine works, pale reflection. In fact, the interest of Sulpician art is not only sociological; it is also, as in countertype, the revealing of the interest that religious art has never ceased to arouse, against all appearances. Holy Mirror! The creatures on the reverse will be merged in the reflected image but probably not in a laplacian way - just as concentric circles. If anyone has a magic mirrorWe first address the problem of simultaneous image segmentation and smoothing by approaching the paradigm from a curve evolution perspective. In particular, we let a set of deformable contours define the boundaries between regions in an image where we model the data via piecewise smooth functions

 

www.vallombrosa.org/the-holy-mirror-discovering-ourselves...

 

Origin of the Holy Mirrors!

Mirrors have been regarded as sacred at least since the Han Dynasty in China. Many of these mirrors and from the subsequent Wei dynasty have been found in Japan. They bore images of gods and sacred animals particularly the Chinese dragon (1,2) . They were very popular, and possibly later manufactured, in Japan. The bronze mirrors are found in great number in ancient (kofun period) burial mounds in Japan. In the biggest archeological find of 33 mirrors, the mirrors were placed surrounding the coffin such that their reflective surface faced the deceased. The Han mirrors were "magic" in that while they reflected they were also able to project an image usually of the deities and animals on the back and refered to as "light passing mirrors" (透明鑑） (Needham, 1965, p.xlic; Needham & Wang, 1977, pp. 96-97).This magic property is due to the their method of construction. When polishing the reflective face of the mirror, the patter on the back influences the pressure brought to bear on the reflective surface and change the extent to which it is concave. Muraoka also claims that Differences in the (slight) "inequality of curvature" (Ayrton & Perry, 1878, p 139; see also Thompson, 1897, and Needham & Wang, 1977, p96 for a diagram) of the mirror result in the mirror reflecting light bearing the pattern shown on the reverse. More recent research has elucidated the precise mathematical model describing the optics of these mirrors as a laplacian image (Berry, 2006), a type of spatial filter today used for edge detection and to blend two images together. It is not known whether the mirrors popular in ancient Japan were also able to project, but later during the Nara period mirrors were found to concel magic Buddhist images, and during the Edo period, concealed Christians (Kurishitan) concealed images of the cross or of the Holy Mary within their bronze "magic" mirrors. Mirrors in Japan contined to be made of brass, until the arrival of Western glass mirrors, and were "magic" in that they displayed the patter on their reverse when reflecting sunlight or other powerful light source (Thompson, 1897). Ayrton (Ayrton & Perry, 1878; Ayrton & Pollock, 1879) claims that in Japan mirror vendors were unaware of the "light passing" quality, and that there is no mention of this 'magical' quality known to Han Chinese in Japanese texts. Even a Japanese mirror maker was unaware of how to make magic mirrors though had inadvertently made one himself by extensive polishing a mirror with a design on its back (Ayrton & Perry, 1878, p135). Unlike the ancient Korean mirror top right (3), the ancient Han and Japanese mirrors were made to be rotated, displaying images in the four directions of the compas. The reason for the holes in the central "breast" (or nipple) is unclear but it is found to be pierced with a hole (of varying shape depending upon the manufacturer) from which the mirror was suspended by a rope. Bearing in mind that the images on the mirrors required that the mirrors be rotated, the central nodule might also have enabled the mirrors to be spun like a top. I am not sure why someone would want to spin a mirror but my son does (see the toy explained later). I would very much like to see what the reflected "magic" image becomes when spun. The creatures on the reverse will be merged in the reflected image but probably not in a laplacian way - just as concentric circles. If anyone has a magic mirror I would like them to try spinning it to see. Skipping the holy mirrors in shrines, mirror rice cakes, and the mirror held by the Japanese version of Saint Peter at the Pearly Gates, King Enma, which holds a record of ones life, and, jumping to the present day... Mirrors are popular in the transformational items used by Japanese superheros. The early 1970's Mirror Man transformed using a Shinto amulet infront of any mirror or reflecting surface. Shinkenja, a group of Super Sentai or Power Rangers, that transforms thanks to their ability to write and then spin Chinese characters in the air, also transforms with the aid of an Inro Maru (4) upon which is affixed a inscribed disk. When the disk is attactched to the mirror the super hero inside the mirror is displayed. Transformation (henshin) by means of a mirror is popular too among Japanese femail super heros notably Himitsu no Akko Chan (Secret Akko), who could change into many things that were displayed in her mirror, sailor moon, and OshareMajo (6). The female super heroes mirrors usually make noises rather than contain inscriptions. The latest greatest Kamen Rider OOO sometimes transforms by means of his Taja-Spina which spins three of his totem-badge "coins" inside a mirror (video). In this ancient tradition we see recurrence of the following themes 1) Mirrors being of great benefit to the bearer enabling him to transform. 2) Mirrors containing hidden deities 3) Mirrors being associated with symbols: iconic marks, and incantations. 4) Mirrors being made to be rotated or spun. Thanks to James Ewing for the Mirror Man (Mira-man) reference and to Tomomi Noguchi for the Ojamajo Doremi reference, and to Taku Shimonuri and my son Ray for getting me interested in Japanese superheros. Addendum One of My students (A Ms. Tanaka, and a book about the cute in Japan) pointed out that the Japanese are into round things, and it seems to me that this Japanese preference for the round may originate in the mirror. Anpanman and Doraemon and many "characters" have round faces The Japanese Flag features a circle representing the sun and the mirror Japanese coats of arms (kamon) Japanese holy mirrors are round "Mirror rice cakes", and many other kinds of rice cake, are round The Sumo ring is round Pictures of the floating world (Ukiyoe) often portray the sitter in a round background Japanese groups always have to end up by standing in a round The Japanese are fond of domes and have many of the biggest The Japanese are fond of seals (inkan), which are round Japanese groups just can't help standing in a round The taiko drum is round The mitsudomoe is round Mount Fuji is round But then there are probably round things in every culture?

Cast and polished bronze mirrors, made in China and Japan for several thousand years, exhibit a curious property [1–4], long regarded as magical. A pattern embossed on the back

is visible in the patch of light projected onto a screen from the reflecting face when this is illuminated by a small source, even though no trace of the pattern can be discerned

by direct visual inspection of the reflecting face. The pattern on the screen is not the result of the focusing responsible for conventional image formation, because its sharpness is independent of distance, and also because the magic mirrors are slightly convex. It was established long ago that the effect results from the deviation of rays by weak undulations on the reflecting surface, introduced during the manufacturing process and too weak to see directly, that reproduce the much stronger relief embossed on the back. Such ‘Makyoh imaging’ (from the Japanese for ‘wonder mirror’) has been applied to detect small asperities on nominally flat semiconductor surfaces [5–8]. My aim here is to draw attention (section 2) to a simple and beautiful fact, central to

the optics of magic mirrors, that has not been emphasized—either in the qualitative accounts or in an extensive geometrical-optics analysis : in the optical regime relevant to

magic mirrors, the image intensity is given, in terms of the height function h(r) of the relief.on the reflecting surface, by the Laplacian ∇2 h(r) (here r denotes position in the mirror plane: r = {x, y}). The Laplacian image predicts striking effects for patterns, such as those on magic mirrors, that consist of steps ; these predictions are supported by experiment

The detailed study of reflection from steps throws up an unresolved problem concerning the relation between the pattern embossed on the back and the relief on the reflecting surface. The Laplacian image is an approximation to geometrical optics, which is itself an approximation to physical optics. The appendix contains a discussion of the Laplacian image starting from the wave integral representing Fresnel diffraction from the mirror surface. Geometrical optics and the Laplacian image If we measure the height h(r) from the convex surface of the mirror (figure 3), assumed to

have radius of curvature R0, then the deviation of the surface undulations from a reference plane (figure 3) is η(r) = − r22R0+ h(r. The specularly reflected rays of geometrical optics are determined by the stationary value(s) of

the optical path length L from the source (distance H from the reference plane) to the position

R on the screen (distance D from the reference plane) via the point r on the mirror. This is L = (H − η(r))2 + r2 +(D − η(r

))2 + (R − r)2≈ H + D + (r, R), (2)where in the second line we have employed the paraxial approximation (all ray angles small), with (r, R) = r2 2H+(R − r)2 2D+ r2 R0− 2h(r). In applying the stationarity condition ∇r(r, R) = 0, it is convenient to define the magnification M, the reduced distance Z, and the ;demagnified observation position r referred to the mirror surface: M ≡ 1 +D H+2D R0, Z ≡ 2D M , r ≡ R M . We note an effect of the convexity that will be important later: as the source and screen distance increase, Z approaches the finite asymptotic value R0. With these variables, the position r

(r,Z), on the mirror, of rays reaching the screen position r, is the solution of r = r − Z∇h(r). The focusing and defocusing responsible for the varying light intensity at r involves the

Jacobian determinant of the transformation from r to r, giving,after a short calculation,Igeom(r,Z) = constant × ∂x ∂x

∂y ∂y − ∂x ∂y ∂y ∂x−1 r→r (r,Z)= 1 − Z∇2 h(r) + Z2

∂h(r) ∂x2 ∂h(r) ∂y2 − ∂h(r) ∂x ∂y2−1r→r(r,Z), ().where the result has been normalized to Igeom = 1 for the convex mirror without surface relief (i.e. h(r) = 0). So far, this is standard geometrical optics. In general, more than one ray can reach r—that is, can have several solutions r—and the boundaries of regions reached by different numbers of rays are caustics. In magic mirrors, however, we are concerned with a

limiting regime satisfying Z Rmin 1, where Rmin is the smallest radius of curvature of the surface irregularities. Then there is only one ray, simplifies to r ≈ r, (9) and the intensity simplifies to ILaplacian(r,Z) = 1 + Z∇2 h(r). This is the Laplacian image. Changing Z affects only the contrast of the image and not its form, so explains why the sharpness of the image is independent of screen position, provided holds. The intensity is a linear function of the surface irregularities h, which

is not the case in general geometrical optics (i.e. when is violated), where, as has been emphasized the relation is nonlinear. And, as already noted, for a distant source and

screen Z approaches the value R0, implying that (8) holds for any distance of the screen if R0 Rmin, that is, provided the irregularities are sufficiently gentle or the mirror is sufficiently

convex. Alternatively stated, the convexity of the mirror can compensate any concavity of the irregularity h, in which case there are no caustics for any screen position.The theory based on the Laplacian image accords well with observation, at least for the mirror studied here. The key insight is that the image of a step is neither a dark line nor a bright line,

as sometimes reported , but is bright on one side and dark on the other. It is possible that there are different types of magic mirror, where for example the relief is etched directly onto

the reflecting surface and protected by a transparent film , but these do not seem to be common. Sometimes, the pattern reflected onto a screen is different from that on the back, but

this is probably a trick, achieved by attaching a second layer of bronze, differently embossed, to the back of the mirror.

Pre-focal ray concentrations leading to Laplacian images are familiar in other contexts, though they are not always recognized as such. An example based on refraction occurs in old windows, where a combination of age and poor manufacture has distorted the glass. The distortion is not evident in views seen through the window when standing close to it. However,when woken by the low morning sun shining through a gap in the curtains onto an opposite

wall, one often sees the distortions magnified as a pattern of irregular bright and dark lines. If the equivalent of is satisfied, that is if the distortions and propagation distance are not too

large, the intensity is the Laplacian image of the window surface. (When the condition is not satisfied, the distortions can generate caustics.) Only the optics of the mirror has been studied here. The manner in which the pattern embossed on the back gets reproduced on the front has not been considered. Referring to ,this involves the sign of the coefficient a in the relation between hback and h. There have been several speculations about the formation of the relief. One is that the relief is generated while the mirror is cooling, by unequal contraction of the thick and thin parts of the pattern ; it is not clear what sign of a this leads to. Another is that cooling generates stresses, and that during vigorous grinding and polishing the thin parts yield more than the thick parts, leading to the thick parts being worn down more; this leads to a 0: bright (dark) lines on the image, indicating low (high) sides of the steps on the reflecting face, are associated with the low (high) sides of the

steps on the back , not the reverse (figure 7(b)). This suggests two avenues for further research. First, the sign of a should be determined by direct measurement of the profile of the reflecting surface; I predict a > 0. Second, whatever the result, the mechanism should be investigated by which the process of manufacture reproduces onto the reflecting surface the

pattern on the back. The fact that h0 = 378 nm is smaller than the wavelengths in visible light does not imply that the Laplacian image is the small-κ limit of (A.3), namely the perturbation limit corresponding to infinitely weak relief. Indeed it is not: the perturbation limit, obtained by

expanding the exponential in (A.3) and evaluating the integral over τ , with a renormalized denominator to incorporate the known limit I = 1 for ξ = ±∞, isψpert(ξ , ζ, κ) = 1 − iκ erf(ξ/√1+iζ /κ)

√ 1 + κ2 . For the gentlest steps, this predicts low-contrast oscillatory images, very different from the Laplacian images of geometrical optics; this is illustrated in figure 8(b), calculated for k =0.05, corresponding to h0 = 5.2 nm.

  

European journal of physics, 27, 109. Retrieved from www.phy.bris.ac.uk/people/Berry_mv/the_papers/berry383.pdf Spatial Filters - Laplacian/Laplacian of Gaussian. (n.d.). Retrieved April 19, 2012, from homepages.inf.ed.ac.uk/rbf/HIPR2/log.htm Thompson, S. P. (1897). Light Visible and Invisible: A Series of Lectures at Royal Institution of Great Britain. Macmillan. Retrieved from www.archive.org/stream/lightvisibleinvi00thomuoft#page/50...

 

In the industrial and materialist period that began in the 19th century, Catholicism, even though it had to give in to its official positions, underwent glorious revival. In the years 1830-1880, an attempt was made to revive an authentic religious art, in the image of restored faith, through examples of medieval art. The Gothic cathedral, in its 13th century purity, Fra Angelico, the painter who paints on his knees, will be the models unceasingly questioned and translated through the teaching of Ingres.

 

Resurrection Bay, Alaska

Nikon D90, Nikkor 300mm f/4 AF-S, Nikkor TC-14e2, Nik Silver Efex Pro 2

 

"We should not fret for what is past, nor should we be anxious about the future; men of discernment deal only with the present moment." ~ Chanakya

 

www.charlesathomas.com

 

"For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect." ~~ Matthew 24 : 24

 

I encourage you sisters and brothers in Christ about believing NOT in every wonders and so called miracles /healings outside the word of God. I have seen many many many many performing wonders .People do believe them . You know them by their fruits .If their fruits don't reflect the word of God ,they are blatantly demonic. There's no middle way or in between.

 

I have seen one performing some form of tooth extraction without the conventional tools of a dentist .Almost impressive .He did it with his bare hands and came out clean and smooth with no blood in every extraction .It looked like magic !

There were long cue of people seeking his service . A reciptacle full of extracted teetth layed on the corner. I saw people with no blood after extraction ,how can that be .There wasn't any aneasthetic ,it was beyond reason .Not one screaming .

What looked so mingy about it ,he washed his hands so lighty ,considering hundreds of mouths his hands get into goooosh lol. Such practice wasn't by the word of God . He said about god but never of Jesus .Satan is a god of this world ,don't mistake it ,who else .

The reason why I measure up things with reference to God's manual guide book ,the Bible !

 

...even the word of Pastors and preachers ,I take them with some discernment if they teach exactly from the word of God .

  

~~~~~~~~~~~~~<<~~~~~~~@

 

Just some interesting youtube entries I have come across lately :

  

This one relates to something I heard of from Ruzz Dizdar

about Remote viewing .

Are you a remote viewer ?

    

I don't think this vid has a christian orientation ,but simply to show you even the secular realm do know about this :

Military remote viewers predictions as to Japan Earthquake ,solar storms...since I'm adhering to Biblical teachings , this will be the Great Tribulation ,the wrath of God if this all happens in our time line ! Be save ,it's coming friends )

The End - Remote Viewing Predictions

   

A short video but very interesting one ! Try to watch this vid :)

Remote Viewing Experiment

   

Religious Sect "666" Tattoo's Paul Begley Video .It's kind of funny ,but speaking the truth

        

I have to be clear here I am against interfaithtism / ecumenism .We need to be discerning of the times we are in and the apostacy happening in the church .Wolves are roaming around cloaked in sheep's wool .Don't believe everything they say , check it out if what they say abides by the word of God in Bible .If it doesn fit in then t belongs to the other side.

An example of it is this one :

Building up of the Lucifer's NWO CHURCH

   

In 1849, the Tallahassee population had grown to almost 1,800 men, women, and children. From this diverse population, four men and five women organized the Baptist Church of Tallahassee. Of these nine original members, one was to become governor and another state comptroller.

 

Throughout our 172 year history, many members have occupied positions of leadership in private business and industry as well as in the public sector, including governors, university presidents, college deans, professors, coaches, judges, legislators, commissioners, and mayors. The first church building was situated on the south side of College Avenue on a lot purchased for $500. With missionary pastors sent from the Home Mission Board, the membership grew until the Civil War began. There was no post-war record of ministry until 1880 when Rev. A.C. McCants was sent to lead the church.

 

In September 1894 the name of the church was changed to The First Baptist Church of Tallahassee, and from meager purses, the building was remodeled, refinished, and reoccupied on January 21, 1900. With a membership of 407, a new church structure was dedicated in November 1915 with the coming of Pastor-builder J. Dean Adcock. First Baptist Church continued to serve the needs of the Tallahassee community in the 1920s and 1930s. But the 1940s brought an influx of World War II personnel. When the Florida State College for Women became the co-educational Florida State University, students were filling every service and it was time to build again. Dr. Harold G. Sanders led us through an eight-year building program that ended with the completion of our second-century church in 1957.

 

In the subsequent years, First Baptist Church recognized the need for additional churches in Tallahassee and responded by establishing six mission churches. Additional structures were also added to our existing location under the guidance of Dr. Robert W. McMillian, including construction of a multi-purpose Christian Life Center in 1974 and administrative offices in 1987. Additional buildings were also purchased in 1998 for future expansion.

 

During the end of the twentieth century, we gave prayerful consideration to relocating our church. During that time of discernment, we waited on God for direction regarding our place of future ministry. We concluded a study in 2009 and came to the decision that our present location is where God wants us to be for as long as Jesus tarries. Today, we proudly state that we are here…for life, and we embrace that calling joyfully and hopefully.

 

No other community organization can substitute for us in testifying to the abundant life Jesus gives. We believe that God called us to pursue a phased renovation of our entire campus so that we might be able to offer first-century ministry in a twenty-first-century context that meets the spiritual needs of every generation and life stage. In August 2009, we adopted a set of recommendations for Phase I of our plan, to include roof repairs, renovations to the Fellowship Hall and Christian Life Center as well as the Children’s and Youth Ministry areas. In addition, our plan included a brand-new Welcome Center and Atrium that serve as a connecting point for all of our buildings. In August 2011, we completed all of the Phase I plans, and we began utilizing all of our new and renovated facilities.

 

As we look toward the future, we are excited about what God is doing in and through First Baptist. Jesus has promised to “build his church,” and as we continue to follow him, we look with anticipation toward his continued blessing upon us.

 

Credit for the data above is given to the following websites:

search.leonpa.gov/Property/Details/2136251831705

fbctlh.org/about/history/

 

© All Rights Reserved - you may not use this image in any form without my prior permission.

  

Sunday morning at the First Congregational Church in Tomper. It is a glorious Resurrection Day so the congregation gathers on the back courtyard. Pastor Calvin is preaching from the Lord's post resurrection appearance to the men traveling to Emmaus.

 

And behold, two of them were going that very day to a village named Emmaus, which was about seven miles from Jerusalem. And they were talking with each other about all these things which had taken place.

 

Ah, friends, what things were these that they were discussing? It reads, those things which had taken place. What had taken place? The three year ministry of the Lord, Christ Jesus, permeated daily with non-stop authoritative preaching and powerful miracles.

 

All of Judea and the surrounding region had been brought into a frenzy. This Rabbi, Jesus of Nazareth, had destroyed the arguments of the religious establishment, exposing them for the power-hungry hypocrites the people had long suspected them to be.

 

It had to come to a tipping point! It had to culminate quickly as this level of national tension could not be sustained.

 

That culmination came in the cross, my friends. And it was an... unexpected culmination for those who had believed Jesus' message.

 

Jesus had proclaimed Himself to be the promised Messiah! The Annointed One! God Himself! And many had believed!

 

Ah, but then the arrest and, as Jesus' followers watched in a state of confused shock, the religious leaders, like howling jackals, whipped a mob into a frenzy, overwhelming the Roman judicial system, and Jesus... Jesus, my friends, was crucified.

 

That most humiliating, most barbaric form of execution. Ah, the Romans loved it for the message it sent. But, how could this have happened? Jesus' believers were dumbfounded. If Jesus was who He claimed to be, how could they have killed Him?

 

Then, perhaps, Jesus was not the promised one after all. But, then, how had He performed so many miracles? The deep despair was intertwined with profound confusion and that is where we find our travelers.

 

Leaving Jerusalem... for what is left for them there now? Headed down the road to Emmaus. I do not doubt, in their shattered state, that Emmaus is less a destination than Jerusalem is a place to exit.

 

While they were talking and discussing, Jesus Himself approached and began traveling with them. But their eyes were prevented from recognizing Him.

 

Ah, friends, how many in this world... and perhaps you are hearing this now... how many in this world have veiled eyes. Purposely veiled! So that Jesus comes alongside you in His call of the Gospel, but you reject. You prefer to cling to the sad frustrations of this short life rather than embracing the truth of His eternity.

 

And He said to them, “What are these words that you are exchanging with one another as you are walking?” And they stood still, looking sad.

 

Jesus prompts them as to what they are discussing. It brings them to a stop. Again, I do not see that there was anything particular in Emmaus calling to them anyway. Theirs is a restless movement of resigned defeat. So, now, they simply stop.

 

The text tells us that their countenance is sad. Undoubtedly so! I imagine there is an extended silence before they answer. Here is an opportunity offered for them to voice what is tormenting their thoughts, but how to answer?

 

Unable to coalesce their contemplations concisely gives rise to further frustration and so they turn the question back on the stranger!

 

One of them, named Cleopas, answered and said to Him, “Are You the only one visiting Jerusalem and unaware of the things which have happened here in these days?”

 

Why do you ask us such? Are you blind? Have you been under a rock? Are you so lacking in discernment that you are unaware?

 

Their answer is, "What else could we possibly be talking about??"

 

Ah, but Jesus is omniscient. He not only knows all of Jerusalem, He knows all of the hearts of these two men, and He loves them. The Lord is not asking for information, my friends, He need not. No, He is bringing them into confession.

 

And He said to them, “What things?” And they said to Him, “The things about Jesus the Nazarene, who was a prophet mighty in deed and word in the sight of God and all the people, and how the chief priests and our rulers delivered Him to the sentence of death, and crucified Him. But we were hoping that it was He who was going to redeem Israel. Indeed, besides all this, it is the third day since these things happened.

 

They had hoped Jesus was the Messiah, but He had been killed. Just like so many false messiahs who had come before Him. So... three days later... we are heartbroken.

 

But, as the Master had devised, this conversation leads the pair into further thoughts.

 

But also some women among us amazed us. When they were at the tomb early in the morning, and did not find His body, they came, saying that they had also seen a vision of angels who said that He was alive. Some of those who were with us went to the tomb and found it just exactly as the women also had said; but Him they did not see.”

 

They explain to Him, "You see, stranger, we even had a moment of renewed hope! Perhaps He is alive! But no, no sighting of Jesus. Only an empty tomb."

 

And He said to them, “O foolish men and slow of heart to believe in all that the prophets have spoken! Was it not necessary for the Christ to suffer these things and to enter into His glory?” Then beginning with Moses and with all the prophets, He explained to them the things concerning Himself in all the Scriptures.

 

Note this, friends. This is Jesus speaking. God Himself in human flesh. If His goal were to immediately show them, their eyes would not be veiled. He could demonstrate another miracle before them to show them. What does He do instead?

 

That's right! He takes them through the Word! The Scripture! Ah, friends, if there are some of you thinking, "I should like to see a sign before I believe the Gospel." then you will die with your need unmet.

 

Jesus Himself says it is wicked to seek such a sign because you, in all your sin, are then demanding of the God of perfect righteousness that He prove Himself. (Matthew 16:4)

 

No, Jesus' purpose here is clearly shown. Trust the Scripture! It is the Word of God given from Him to you!

 

Peter writes of all the miracles they witnessed, including Jesus' transfiguration on the mount, but said the Scripture was a superior evidence. (2 Peter 1:16-19)

 

And they approached the village where they were going, and He acted as though He were going farther. But they urged Him, saying, “Stay with us, for it is getting toward evening, and the day is now nearly over.” So He went in to stay with them.

 

Still unaware of who this is with them, though at first dismayed by His question, now that He has walked them through the Bible with amazing knowledge and authority, they want nothing more than for Him to stay longer!

 

Do you see, Christians? I speak to you Christians now. Though we at times face despair, or confusion, or both, the bedrock of God's truth has been implanted in us (James 1:21) and will always bring us back to firm footing.

 

At this point they still do not know the answer to the question of the crucified Messiah but they are now comforted. Because God knows!

 

When He had reclined at the table with them, He took the bread and blessed it, and breaking it, He began giving it to them. Then their eyes were opened and they recognized Him; and He vanished from their sight. They said to one another, “Were not our hearts burning within us while He was speaking to us on the road, while He was explaining the Scriptures to us?”

 

Oh, wasn't the Lord correct, dear friends? Just as He said to this pair, are we not also so often foolish and slow of heart to believe? Is not our faith all too easily upheaved when some temporal thing of this life goes against our liking, or our understanding?

 

Now, they see! Of course! Now the Scripture that Jesus had explained to them clicked into place! It had to be this way! He had to die for our sin if we are to be saved! And, be that as it may, death is not His master, He is the Master of all life and death! (John 11:25-26)

 

As He said, He has authority lay down His life, and He has authority to take it up again! (John 10:18)

 

Note that the fact that the Master has suddenly simply disappeared from before them is not what has captivated their attention. It is the blessed truth of God made clear to them that enthralls them! All is as they hoped! Jesus is the Messiah!! All He said is true! With belief in Him, their salvation is now assured!

 

And they got up that very hour and returned to Jerusalem, and found gathered together the eleven and those who were with them, saying, “The Lord has really risen and has appeared to Simon.” They began to relate their experiences on the road and how He was recognized by them in the breaking of the bread. Luke 24:13-35

 

And then, what is left to do but go and tell? Go and share this Good News! Tell everyone!

 

They had left Jerusalem in confused despair. But they belong to the Master and He did not leave them in that state. No, He brought His blessed truth to them and they were transformed once again.

 

Now they return to Jerusalem... this time in affirmed victory. He is risen. And the congregation would say...?

 

"HE IS RISEN INDEED!"

 

Amen.

 

•───────────︵‿︵‿୨♡୧‿︵‿︵────────────•

 

Previous Resurrection Day celebrations at Paprihaven:

 

Resurrection Day 2016:

www.flickr.com/photos/paprihaven/25962038802/

Resurrection Day 2017:

www.flickr.com/photos/paprihaven/33897668742/

Resurrection Day 2018:

www.flickr.com/photos/paprihaven/41096879842/

Resurrection Day 2019:

www.flickr.com/photos/paprihaven/32704545437/

Resurrection Day 2020:

www.flickr.com/photos/paprihaven/49797426658/

Resurrection Day 2021:

www.flickr.com/photos/paprihaven/51094888779/

Resurrection Day 2022:

www.flickr.com/photos/paprihaven/52011084873/

Resurrection Day 2023:

www.flickr.com/photos/paprihaven/52805211509/

Resurrection Day 2024:

www.flickr.com/photos/paprihaven/53622427222/

The Major Stars and Constellations - Animistic Symbolism by Daniel Arrhakis (2026)

  

The Major Stars and Constellations: Animistic Symbolism

 

For animistic cultures—such as the indigenous peoples of the Americas, Australian Aborigines, and African tribes—the sky functions as a mirror of the Earth, where animals and nature spirits continue their existence.

 

The Eyes of the Ancestors: Many indigenous tribes believe that the stars are the hearths or eyes of deceased relatives watching over the living.

 

Guides to Spiritual Navigation: Fixed stars (like the North Star) are seen as the "axis of the world" or the throne of the Creator, maintaining the cosmos in balance.

 

Living Constellations: Groups of stars (like the Pleiades or Orion) are often interpreted as sacred animals or mythical heroes whose stories teach moral rules to the tribe.

 

Main Constellations and Their Symbolism

 

1. Orion (The Hunter / The Old Man)

 

Brazilian Indigenous Perspective (Tupi-Guarani): Known as the constellation of the Old Man (Tuíra). The Three Marys form its belt. It represents an elderly ancestor whose appearance in the sky in December announces the arrival of summer in the southern hemisphere and the beginning of the rainy season, regulating the cycle of agriculture and fishing.

 

Aboriginal Perspective: For some tribes in Australia, the stars of Orion represent three hunters who were banished to the sky by the Sun for breaking sacred laws.

 

2. The Pleiades (The Star Cluster)

 

General Symbolism: It is the most important star group for global animism.

 

Guarani Perspective: Known as Eichu (the swarm of bees) or Seixu. They are seen as a group of female spirits or celestial children. Its appearance in spring marks the beginning of the organic new year, bringing fertility to the land.

 

Inca and Mayan Perspective: Considered the Mothers of the Stars or guardians of the seeds, closely monitored to predict the success of corn harvests.

 

3. The Southern Cross (The Footprint of the Rhea)

 

Tupi-Guarani Perspective: It is part of the great animistic constellation of the Rhea (Guyraju). The Southern Cross represents the head of the celestial bird, which tries to swallow two bright stars (alpha and beta Centauri). If the Rhea manages to break free from the sky and descend to Earth, ancient peoples believed that it would drink all the water in the world, causing the end of times.

 

4. Ursa Major (The Great Bear) and the Big Dipper

 

Perspective of Native American Peoples (Iroquois/Micmac): The square of the constellation is seen as a living Bear (a protective animal spirit), and the three stars of the tail are three hunters who continually pursue it across the sky. In autumn, when the constellation is low on the horizon, the blood of the wounded bear drips onto the Earth, coloring the leaves of the trees red and yellow.

 

In animistic symbolism, the constellation of the Big Dipper (the seven brightest stars of Ursa Major) represents the cosmic center of the universe, the immortality of the spirit, and the eternal cycle of life, acting as a living bridge between the earthly world and the spiritual plane.

 

Main Stars and their Animistic Significance

 

1. Sirius (The Dog Star)

 

Perspective of the Dogon People (West Africa): Sirius is the center of their animistic cosmology. They believe the star harbors the Nommo, the ancestral spirits of water and creators of humanity. It is the representation of the umbilical cord that unites the spiritual world to the physical.

 

Ancient Egyptian Perspective: Although a complex civilization, its mysticism maintained animistic roots: Sirius was the personification of the goddess Sopdet (or Sotes). Its rising heralded the flooding of the Nile River, bringing life and fertility.

 

2. Antares (The Heart of the Scorpion)

 

Global Animistic Perspective: Due to its strong reddish glow, it is almost universally associated with fire and vital blood. For the peoples of the rainforest, it represents the burning eye of a predatory spirit (like the great serpent or the celestial jaguar) that observes the actions of humans at night.

 

3. North Star (Polaris)

 

Perspective of Circumpolar Peoples (Inuit and Peoples of Siberia): Seen as the Nail of Heaven or the Pillar of the World. It is the sacred, immobile axis around which all other celestial spirits revolve. It functions as the main portal through which shamans travel in trance to access the world of the gods and the dead.

 

4. Arcturus

 

The Vigilant Guardian: Because it belongs to the constellation of Boötes (the shepherd) and closely follows Ursa Major, it is seen as a protective spirit that watches over the flocks and the community.

 

Announcer of Life: Being a very bright orange giant in spring, its brilliance is interpreted as the rekindling of the Earth's vital fire after winter.

 

Guide of the Winds: In various indigenous and maritime traditions, its position indicates the changing of the seasons and the mood of the weather spirits.

 

5. Vega

 

The Celestial Weaver: In Asian animism (as in the Tanabata festival) (*) , Vega is the spirit of the Weaver, representing creativity, woven destiny, and spiritual fidelity. Purity and

 

Clairvoyance: Its intense blue-white light is linked to a spirit of crystalline purity, capable of dispelling stagnant energies and bringing mental clarity to shamans.

 

The Firebird: For some ancient tribes, its position in the constellation Lyra (once seen as a bird) represented the spirit of an eagle or vulture that carried human prayers to the upper world.

 

6. Rigel and Betelgeuse (Orion)

 

The Cosmic Duality: With Rigel being blue-white (young/cold) and Betelgeuse a red supergiant (old/hot), animism sees this pair as the personification of the balance of opposites: ice and fire, youth and old age, birth and death.

 

The Hunter / Giant Ancestor: Orion is often personified as a great warrior, cultural hero, or the first ancestor of humanity. Rigel (the foot) represents its foundation and journey on Earth, while Betelgeuse (the shoulder) represents the strength of action and the warrior's beating heart.

 

Guiding Beacons: Because they are visible globally, they are considered the "eyes" of the great spirits that observe and guide human and animal migrations during the winter.

  

7. Altair

 

The animistic symbolism of the star Altair is based on attributing a soul, agency, and spiritual life force to this celestial body, traditionally personified as the "Spirit of the Eagle" or the "Winged Messenger" due to its central position in the constellation Aquila.

 

The Flying Celestial Spirit

 

Living Etymology: The name Altair derives from the Arabic al-ṭā'ir, which translates directly as "the one who flies" or "the bird".

 

Spiritual Agency: From an animistic perspective, this name is not merely a descriptive label, but the expression of the very essence and behavior of the star's soul. It is seen as a dynamic spirit in constant cosmic motion.

 

The Heart of the Eagle and the Life Force

 

The Core of the Bird: Because it is located in the center of the constellation, Altair is frequently treated in ancient mythologies as the "Heart of the Eagle".

 

Attributes of Power: In animistic tradition and ancient magical astrology (such as talismanic fixed star magic), connecting with the spirit of Altair means evoking the virtues of the eagle itself: long-range vision, indomitable courage, determination, and spiritual freedom.

 

The Cosmic Guardian and the Shamanic Bridge

 

The Summer Triangle: Altair forms the famous Summer Triangle along with Vega and Deneb.

 

The Fabric of Heaven: In many tribal cosmologies and Asian folklore (such as the Tanabata festival), Altair (the shepherd) and Vega (the weaver) are divine beings separated by the Celestial River, the Milky Way.

 

Bridge Between Worlds: The group of stars surrounding Altair resembles a bird with open wings, serving in animism as a psychopomp—a spiritual guide or power animal that carries human prayers to the higher world and brings discernment or divine messages to Earth.

  

(*) The Tanabata Festival (七夕), also known as the Star Festival, is one of Japan's most poetic and colorful traditional celebrations. The event celebrates the legend of the annual meeting between two enamored deities separated by the Milky Way: Orihime (the star Vega) and Hikoboshi (the star Altair). The celebration traditionally takes place on July 7th (or in August, depending on the region). It is celebrated with colorful decorations and wishes made on bamboo poles.

 

The Festival Trinity: The Legend

 

The legend tells that the weaver princess Orihime and the ox herder Hikoboshi fell so deeply in love that they neglected their duties, which angered the Celestial Emperor. As punishment, they were separated and banished to opposite sides of the celestial river (the Milky Way), but due to their subsequent hard work, the emperor then allowed them to meet only once a year: on the seventh day of the seventh month of the year.

  

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________

  

As Principais Estrelas e Constelações Simbolismo animista

 

Para as culturas animistas — como os povos indígenas das Américas, aborígenes australianos e tribos africanas —, o céu funciona como um espelho da Terra, onde os animais e os espíritos da natureza continuam a sua existência.

 

Os Olhos dos Antepassados: Muitas tribos indígenas acreditam que as estrelas são as fogueiras ou os olhos dos parentes mortos que vigiam os vivos.

 

Guias de Navegação Espiritual: Estrelas fixas (como a Estrela Polar) são vistas como o "eixo do mundo" ou o trono do Criador, mantendo o cosmos equilibrado.

 

Constelações Vivas: Grupos de estrelas (como as Plêiades ou a Oríon) são frequentemente interpretados como animais sagrados ou heróis míticos cujas histórias ensinam regras morais à tribo.

 

Principais Constelações e o seu Simbolismo

 

1. Órion (O Caçador / O Homem Velho)

 

Perspetiva Indígena Brasileira (Tupi-Guarani): Conhecida como a constelação do Homem Velho (Tuíra). As Três Marias formam o seu cinturão. Representa um ancestral idoso cujo surgimento no céu, no mês de dezembro, anuncia a chegada do verão no hemisfério sul e o início da época das chuvas, regulando o ciclo da agricultura e da pesca.

 

Perspetiva Aborígene: Para algumas tribos da Austrália, as estrelas de Órion representam três caçadores que foram banidos para o céu pelo Sol por quebrarem leis sagradas.

  

2. As Plêiades (O Aglomerado Estelar)

 

Simbolismo Geral: É o grupo estelar mais importante para o animismo global.

 

Perspetiva Guarani: Conhecida como Eichu (o enxame de abelhas) ou Seixu. São vistas como um grupo de espíritos femininos ou crianças celestes. O seu aparecimento na primavera marca o início do ano novo biológico, trazendo fertilidade à terra.

 

Perspetiva Inca e Maia: Consideradas as Mães das Estrelas ou guardiãs das sementes, monitorizadas de perto para prever o sucesso das colheitas de milho.

  

3. O Cruzeiro do Sul (A Pegada da Ema)

 

Perspetiva Tupi-Guarani: Integra a grande constelação animista da Ema (Guyraju). O Cruzeiro do Sul representa a cabeça da ave celestial, que tenta engolir duas estrelas brilhantes (alfa e beta de Centauro). Se a Ema conseguir soltar-se do céu e descer à Terra, os povos antigos acreditavam que ela beberia toda a água do mundo, causando o fim dos tempos.

  

4. Ursa Maior (O Grande Urso) e o Grande Carro

 

Perspetiva dos Povos Nativos Americanos (Iroqueses/Micmac): O quadrado da constelação é visto como um Urso vivo (um espírito animal protetor), e as três estrelas da cauda são três caçadores que o perseguem continuamente pelo céu. No outono, quando a constelação fica baixa no horizonte, o sangue do urso ferido pinga na Terra, colorindo as folhas das árvores de vermelho e amarelo.

 

No simbolismo animista, a constelação do Grande Carro (as sete estrelas mais brilhantes da Ursa Maior) representa o centro cósmico do universo, a imortalidade do espírito e o ciclo eterno da vida, agindo como uma ponte viva entre o mundo terreno e o plano espiritual.

  

Principais Estrelas e o seu Significado Animista

 

1. Sírius (A Estrela do Cão)

 

Perspetiva do Povo Dogon (África Ocidental): Sírius é o centro da sua cosmologia animista. Acreditam que a estrela abriga os Nommo, os espíritos ancestrais da água e criadores da humanidade. É a representação do cordão umbilical que une o mundo espiritual ao físico.

 

Perspetiva Egípcia Antiga: Embora uma civilização complexa, o seu misticismo mantinha raízes animistas: Sírius era a personificação da deusa Sopdet (ou Sotes). A sua ascensão anunciava a inundação do Rio Nilo, trazendo vida e fertilidade.

 

2. Antares (O Coração do Escorpião)

 

Perspetiva Animista Global: Devido ao seu forte brilho avermelhado, é quase universalmente associada ao fogo e ao sangue vital. Para os povos da floresta tropical, representa o olho aceso de um espírito predador (como a cobra grande ou o jaguar celestial) que observa as ações dos humanos durante a noite.

 

3. Estrela Polar (Polaris)

 

Perspetiva dos Povos Circumpolares (Inuítes e Povos da Sibéria): Vista como o Prego do Céu ou o Pilar do Mundo. É o eixo sagrado imóvel em torno do qual todos os outros espíritos celestes giram. Funciona como o portal principal através do qual os xamãs viajam em transe para aceder ao mundo dos deuses e dos mortos.

 

4. Arturo (Arcturus)

 

O Guardião Vigilante: Por pertencer à constelação do Boieiro (o pastor) e seguir de perto a Ursa Maior, é vista como um espírito protetor que vigia os rebanhos e a comunidade.

Anunciadora da Vida: Sendo uma gigante laranja muito brilhante na primavera, o seu fulgor é interpretado como o reacender do fogo vital da Terra após o inverno.

Guia dos Ventos: Em várias tradições indígenas e marítimas, a sua posição indica a mudança das estações e o humor dos espíritos do clima.

 

5. Vega

 

A Tecelã Celestial: No animismo asiático (como no festival do Tanabata) (*) , Vega é o espírito da Tecelã, representando a criatividade, o destino tecido e a fidelidade espiritual.

 

Pureza e Clarividência: A sua luz azul-branca intensa é associada a um espírito de pureza cristalina, capaz de afastar energias estagnadas e trazer clareza mental aos xamãs.

 

O Pássaro de Fogo: Para algumas tribos antigas, a sua posição na constelação da Lira (outrora vista como uma ave) representava o espírito de uma águia ou abutre que transportava as preces humanas ao mundo superior.

 

6. Rigel e Betelgeuse (Orion)

 

A Dualidade Cósmica: Sendo Rigel azul-branca (jovem/fria) e Betelgeuse uma supergigante vermelha (velha/quente), o animismo vê este par como a personificação do equilíbrio dos opostos: o gelo e o fogo, a juventude e a velhice, o nascimento e a morte.

 

O Caçador / Antepassado Gigante: Orion é frequentemente personificado como um grande guerreiro, herói cultural ou o primeiro antepassado da humanidade. Rigel (o pé) representa a sua fundação e a caminhada na Terra, enquanto Betelgeuse (o ombro) representa a força de ação e o coração pulsante do guerreiro.

 

Faróis de Orientação: Por serem visíveis globalmente, são consideradas os "olhos" dos grandes espíritos que observam e guiam as migrações humanas e animais durante o inverno.

  

7. Altair

 

O simbolismo animista da estrela Altair fundamenta-se na atribuição de uma alma, agência e força vital espiritual a este corpo celeste, sendo tradicionalmente personificada como o "Espírito da Águia" ou o "Mensageiro Alado" devido à sua posição central na constelação de Aquila.

 

O Espírito Celestial que Voa

 

Etimologia Viva: O nome Altair deriva do árabe al-ṭā'ir, que se traduz diretamente como "aquele que voa" ou "a ave".

 

Agência Espiritual: Sob o olhar animista, este nome não é apenas uma etiqueta descritiva, mas a expressão da própria essência e comportamento da alma da estrela. Ela é vista como um espírito dinâmico em constante movimento cósmico

 

O Coração da Águia e a Força Vital

 

O Núcleo da Ave: Por se situar no centro da constelação, Altair é frequentemente tratada em mitologias antigas como o "Coração da Águia".

 

Atributos de Poder: Na tradição animista e na astrologia mágica antiga (como na magia talismânica das estrelas fixas), conectar-se com o espírito de Altair significa evocar as virtudes da própria águia: visão de longo alcance, coragem indomável, determinação e liberdade espiritual.

 

O Guardião Cósmico e a Ponte Xamânica

 

O Triângulo de Verão: Altair forma o famoso Triângulo de Verão junto com Vega e Deneb.

 

O Tecido do Céu: Em muitas cosmologias tribais e no folclore asiático (como no festival do Tanabata), Altair (o pastor) e Vega (a tecelã) são seres divinos separados pelo Rio Celestial, a Via Láctea.

 

Ponte entre Mundos: O grupo de estrelas que rodeia Altair assemelha-se a uma ave de asas abertas, servindo no animismo como um psicopompo — um guia espiritual ou animal de poder que transporta as preces humanas ao mundo superior e traz discernimento ou mensagens divinas para a Terra.

  

(*) Festival do Tanabata (七夕), também conhecido como Festival das Estrelas, é uma das celebrações tradicionais mais poéticas e coloridas do Japão. O evento celebra a lenda do encontro anual entre duas divindades apaixonadas separadas pela Via Láctea: Orihime (a estrela Vega) e Hikoboshi (a estrela Altair). A celebração ocorre tradicionalmente no dia 7 de julho (ou em agosto, dependendo da região). É celebrado com decorações coloridas e pedidos em bambus.

 

A Trindade do Festival: A Lenda

 

A lenda conta que a princesa tecelã Orihime e o pastor de bois Hikoboshi se apaixonaram tanto que negligenciaram os seus deveres, o que enfureceu o Imperador Celestial. Como punição, foram separados e banidos para lados opostos do rio celestial (a Via Láctea), mas em virtude do seu posterior árduo trabalho, o imperador permitiu então que se encontrassem apenas uma vez por ano: no sétimo dia do sétimo mês do ano.

   

A sticker on an empty shop's window. Makes one think.

In 1849, the Tallahassee population had grown to almost 1,800 men, women, and children. From this diverse population, four men and five women organized the Baptist Church of Tallahassee. Of these nine original members, one was to become governor and another state comptroller.

 

Throughout our 172 year history, many members have occupied positions of leadership in private business and industry as well as in the public sector, including governors, university presidents, college deans, professors, coaches, judges, legislators, commissioners, and mayors. The first church building was situated on the south side of College Avenue on a lot purchased for $500. With missionary pastors sent from the Home Mission Board, the membership grew until the Civil War began. There was no post-war record of ministry until 1880 when Rev. A.C. McCants was sent to lead the church.

 

In September 1894 the name of the church was changed to The First Baptist Church of Tallahassee, and from meager purses, the building was remodeled, refinished, and reoccupied on January 21, 1900. With a membership of 407, a new church structure was dedicated in November 1915 with the coming of Pastor-builder J. Dean Adcock. First Baptist Church continued to serve the needs of the Tallahassee community in the 1920s and 1930s. But the 1940s brought an influx of World War II personnel. When the Florida State College for Women became the co-educational Florida State University, students were filling every service and it was time to build again. Dr. Harold G. Sanders led us through an eight-year building program that ended with the completion of our second-century church in 1957.

 

In the subsequent years, First Baptist Church recognized the need for additional churches in Tallahassee and responded by establishing six mission churches. Additional structures were also added to our existing location under the guidance of Dr. Robert W. McMillian, including construction of a multi-purpose Christian Life Center in 1974 and administrative offices in 1987. Additional buildings were also purchased in 1998 for future expansion.

 

During the end of the twentieth century, we gave prayerful consideration to relocating our church. During that time of discernment, we waited on God for direction regarding our place of future ministry. We concluded a study in 2009 and came to the decision that our present location is where God wants us to be for as long as Jesus tarries. Today, we proudly state that we are here…for life, and we embrace that calling joyfully and hopefully.

 

No other community organization can substitute for us in testifying to the abundant life Jesus gives. We believe that God called us to pursue a phased renovation of our entire campus so that we might be able to offer first-century ministry in a twenty-first-century context that meets the spiritual needs of every generation and life stage. In August 2009, we adopted a set of recommendations for Phase I of our plan, to include roof repairs, renovations to the Fellowship Hall and Christian Life Center as well as the Children’s and Youth Ministry areas. In addition, our plan included a brand-new Welcome Center and Atrium that serve as a connecting point for all of our buildings. In August 2011, we completed all of the Phase I plans, and we began utilizing all of our new and renovated facilities.

 

As we look toward the future, we are excited about what God is doing in and through First Baptist. Jesus has promised to “build his church,” and as we continue to follow him, we look with anticipation toward his continued blessing upon us.

 

Credit for the data above is given to the following websites:

search.leonpa.gov/Property/Details/2136251831705

fbctlh.org/about/history/

 

© All Rights Reserved - you may not use this image in any form without my prior permission.

  

Consider a humble artisan assuredly creating great masterpieces. Thinking them mere happenstance, when, in actuality such a supple intelligence portrays an artful sensitivity skilfully executed to spark moments of discernment.

 

Her nature, being modest, wanting nothing but to share her passion for the wondrous yet often hidden and unsung treasures. Permitting only humilities garments to frame her magnanimity, she is content with somewhat anonymity.

 

Humilities virtuosity in keeping with its innocence will never succumb the ego of this practitioner the impertinence of self praise, even the well deserved adulation from another will most often be set aside for modesty’s sake..

 

Henceforth such wonders are born to us in magnificent grandeur, thusly we are enriched by unintended circumstances. Artistic virtuosity humbly rendered to awaken us from seemingly perpetual slumber. Such depth of spirit duly submerged in the love of humanity deserves the crown of praise.

Metaphysical certainty is not God, though it contains something of Him. This is why Sufis accompany even their certainties with this formula: ''And God is more wise".

 

A cult of the intelligence and mental passion take man further from truth. Intelligence withdraws as soon as man puts his trust in it alone. Mental passion pursuing intellectual intuition is like the wind which blows out the light of a candle.

 

Monomania of the spirit, with the unconsious pretension, the prejudice, the insatiability and the haste which are its concomitants, is incompatible with sanctity.

 

Sanctity introduces in the flux of thoughts an element of humility and of charity, and so of calm and of generosity. This element, far from being hurtful to the spiritual impetus or the sometimes violent force of truth, delivers the spirit from the vexations of passions and thus guarantees both the integrity of thought and the purity of inspiration.

 

According to the Sufis mental passion must be ranked as one of the "associations" with Satan, like other forms of"idolatry" of the passions. It could not directly have God for its object, for, were God its direct object, it would lose its specifically negative characteristics.

 

Man must beware of two things: first of replacing God, in practice if not in theory, by the functions and products of the intellect, or of considering Him only in connection with this faculty; and, secondly, of putting the "mechanical" factors of spirituality in the place of the human values - the virtues - or only considering virtues in relation to their "technical" utility and not in relation to their beauty.

 

Intelligence has only one nature, that of being luminous. But it has diverse functions and different modes of working and these appear as so many particular intelligences. Intelligence with a "logical", "mathematical" or- one might say - "abstract" quality is not enough for attaining all aspects of the real.

 

It would be impossible to insist too often on the importance of the "visual" or "aesthetic" function of the intellective faculty.

 

Everything is in reality like a play of alternations between what is determined in advance - starting from principles - and what is incalculable and in some way unforeseeable, of which we have to get to know by concrete identification and not by abstract "discernment".

 

In speculations about formal elements it would be a handicap

to lack this aesthetic function of intellect. A religion is revealed, not only by its doctrine, but also by its general form, and this has its own characteristic beauty, which is reflected in its every aspect from its "mythology" to its art.

 

Sacred art expresses Reality in relation to a particular spiritual vision. And aesthetic intelligence sees the manifestations of the Spirit even as the eye sees flowers or playthings.

 

Thus, for example, in order to understand Buddhism profoundly, if one is not a Buddhist born, it is not enough to study its doctrine; it is also necessary to penetrate into the language of Buddhist beauty as it appears in the sacramental image of the Buddha or in such features as the "sermon on the flower".

 

The aesthetic function of the intelligence - if you may call it

that for lack of a better term - enters not only into the form of every spiritual manifestation but also into the process of its manifestation.

 

Truth must be enunciated, not only in conformity with certain proportions, but also according to a certain rhythm. One cannot speak of sacred things 'just anyhow", nor can one speak of them without limitations.

 

Every manifestation has laws and these intelligence must observe in manifesting itself, or otherwise truth will suffer.

Intellect is not something cerebral, nor is it specifically human

or angelic. All beings "possess" it. If gold is not lead, that is because it "knows" the Divine better. Its "knowledge" is in its very form, and this amounts to saying that it does not belong to it itself, for matter could not know. None the less one can say that the rose differs from the water-lily by its intellectual particularity, by its "way of knowing" and so by its mode of intelligence.

 

Beings possess intelligence in their form to the extent that they are "peripheric" or "passive" and in their essence to the extent that they are "central", "active" and "conscious".

 

A noble animal or a lovely flower is "intellectually" superior to a base man.

 

God reveals himself to the plant in the form of the light of the

sun. The plant irresistibly turns itself towards the light; it could not be atheistical or impious.

 

The infallible "instinct" of animals is a lesser "intellect", and man's intellect may be called a higher "instinct". Between instinct and intellect there stands in some sense the reason, which owes its troubles to the fact that it constitutes a sort of "luciferian" duplication of the Divine Intelligence - the only intelligence there is.

 

Knowledge of facts depends on contingencies which could not enter into principial knowledge. The level of facts is, in certain respects, inverse in relation to that of principles in the sense that it includes modes and imponderables that are the extreme opposite of the wholly mathematical rigour of universal laws. At least this is so in appearance, for it goes without saying that universal principles are not contradicted.

 

Even beneath the veil of the inexhaustible diversity of what is possible their immutability can always be discerned, provided that the intelligence is in the requisite condition for being able to discern it.

 

If the intellect is, so to speak, sovereign and infallible on its own ground, it cannot exercise its discernment on the level of facts otherwise than conditionally. Moreover God may intervene on the level of facts with particular things willed by Himself that are at times unpredictable, and of such things principial knowledge could only take account a posteriori.

 

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Frithjof Schuon

 

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Quoted in: The Essential Frithjof Schuon (edited by Seyyed Hossein Nasr)

  

Walker Percy's masterful novel Love In The Ruins: The Adventures Of A Bad Catholic At A Time Near The End Of The World was one of my rabbit holes. It also allowed me to catch some of my first glances of a perfect Church existing among and through weak vessels. It also helped form my growing understanding of grace, of actual graces and of sanctifying grace.

"Saint Peter Julian,

the Lord gave you,

as he once did to Jacob, his servant,

an ever-searching faith.

All your life long, you sought the way

to deepen your union with God

and to satisfy the hungers of humanity.

In the Eucharist, you discovered the answer to your searching:

God’s love was there for you and for all humanity.

 

Answering this gift of love,

you made the gift of yourself to God

and gave yourself to the service of his people.

Your life, modeled on that of the Cenacle,

where Mary and the apostles were united in prayer,

inspired your disciples to live

in an atmosphere of discernment and prayer.

Their apostolic zeal caused them to build Christian communities

where the Eucharist is the center and source of life.

 

Saint Peter Julian,

accompany us on our journey of faith.

May our ardent prayer and our generous service

help us to contribute to the building of a world

where there is justice and peace.

May our celebrations of the Eucharist

proclaim the liberating love of God

for the renewal of his Church

and the coming of his kingdom.

Amen."

 

The Shrine of the Saint, shown here, is in the Corpus Christi chapel in Paris.

 

Today (2 August) is his feast day.

  

Second Coming of Christ Movie | "Knocking at the Door" | How to Be Raptured to the Kingdom of Heaven by Lord Jesus

 

www.holyspiritspeaks.org/videos/knocking-at-the-door-movie/

 

Second Coming of Christ Movie | "Knocking at the Door" | How to Be Raptured to the Kingdom of Heaven by Lord Jesus

 

Two thousand years ago, the Lord Jesusprophesied, "And at midnight there was a cry made, Behold, the bridegroom comes; go you out to meet him" (Matthew 25:6). "Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me" (Revelation 3:20). For the last two thousand years, believers in the Lord have been watchful and awaiting the Lord's knock on the door, so how will He knock on mankind's door when He returns? In the last days, some people have testified that the Lord Jesus has returned—Almighty God incarnate—and that He is doing the work of judgment in the last days. This news has rocked the entire religious world.

 

Yang Aiguang, the protagonist of the film, has believed in the Lord for decades and has always been enthusiastically engaged in work and preaching, waiting to welcome the Lord's return. One day, two people come and knock on the door, tell Yang Aiguang and her husband that the Lord Jesus has returned, and share the words of Almighty God with them. They are deeply moved by Almighty God's words, but because Yang Aiguang has been subjected to the fallacies, deception, and strictures of the pastors and elders, she throws the witnesses of The Church of Almighty God out of the house. After that, the witnesses knock on their door on many occasions and read the words of Almighty God to Yang Aiguang, bearing witness to God's work in the last days. During this time, the pastor disrupts and hinders Yang Aiguang time after time, and she continues to waver. However, through hearing the words of Almighty God, Yang Aiguang comes to understand the truth and gains discernment regarding the rumors and fallacies propagated by the pastors and elders. She finally understands how the Lord knocks on people's doors during His return in the last days, and how we should welcome Him. When the fog clears, Yang Aiguang finally hears the voice of God and acknowledges that Almighty God really is the return of the Lord Jesus!

 

Eastern Lightning, The Church of Almighty God was created because of the appearance and work of Almighty God, the second coming of the Lord Jesus, Christ of the last days. It is made up of all those who accept Almighty God's work in the last days and are conquered and saved by His words. It was entirely founded by Almighty God personally and is led by Him as the Shepherd. It was definitely not created by a person. Christ is the truth, the way, and the life. God's sheep hear God's voice. As long as you read the words of Almighty God, you will see God has appeared.

 

Terms of Use en.godfootsteps.org/disclaimer.html

  

 

__________________________________________________

Outlining a Theory of General Creativity . .

. . on a 'Pataphysical projectory

 

Entropy ≥ Memory ● Creativity ²

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Study of the day:

 

"THE ALLEGORY OF CAMERA & OBSCURA".

(to debate with the Plato's allegory of the cavern.)

 

Once upon a time there was two small dark boxes, illuminated with certainties, two small empty heads, full of hope, and whose sensitive soul was waiting until the external light penetrates them to dazzle them with an image of the "True Reality”. At the proper time, they finally opened.

 

Camera in pursuit of the Absolute, wanted all to see without any reflection. All, absolutely All ! Then, at the proper time, it decided to be totally overcome by the "True Entropic Reality", all its sensitivity offered to intensely feel everything, without any prejudice, without thinking one second with all these words which darkens the mind more than they enlighten it. It installed a hypersensitive film which it will push in spite of its coarse grain. It tuned her diaphragm to the maximum aperture, a long time, and gave up itself to ecstatically feel the whole true light of the whole True Entropic Reality.

 

Obscura in quest of the Universal Knowledge, wanted all to know precisely, it wanted all to understand and memorize with a maximum of details and discernment. Then at the proper time, it decided to focuse a depth of field as deep as possible, to choose a pause time as short as possible, to be sure to get the highest neatness of the True Real Universal Memory. It installed a hyperfine grain film which it will develop energetically to compensate its low sensitivity. It tuned the aperture at less than anything, and adjusted the pause time at an infinitesimal fraction of nothing.

 

The moral of the story ? All the photographers will say it to you !

 

Camera obtained the most luminous image which is at ounce the fuzziest one, an immaculate uniform Absolute Entropic white 100%blank.

 

Obscura obtained the finest image which is at ounce the darkest one, an immaculate uniform Universal black 100%blank.

 

From now on, when it chooses an aperture and a time of pause suitable to create less blind images, Camera finally formed in it several suspicions of True Reality. They are images as poor of Absolute Sensitivity as weak of Universal Knowledge, but they are marvellous and magic images, illuminated by unexpected shapes and colors.

 

In the neighbourhood of the Absolute Entropy, each cell of Camera opens like a white sapphire prism dispersing and breaking up the Entropic light in colored iridescences. From her cells juxtaposition are emerging lines and shapes, metamorphosing the dazzling Entropic light in simple but unknowable .. shapes, only lacking some .. words to name them.

 

From now on, when it chooses an aperture and a time of pause suitable to create less blind images, Obscura finally formed in it several suspicions of True Reality. They are images as poor of Universal Knowledge as weak of Absolute Sensitivity, but they are marvellous and magic images, rich of ambiguous signs and senses.

 

In the neighbourhood of the Universal Memory, each cell of Obscura opens like a black sapphire crystal dispersing and breaking up the universal darkness in colored enlightening sparks. From her cells juxtapositions are emerging now vowels, consonants and other signs, metamorphosing the gloomy universal darkness in simple but unknowable .. words, only lacking some .. shapes to imagine them.

 

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rectO-persO | E ≥ m.C² | co~errAnce | TiLt

 

Hemis Monastery is a Tibetan Buddhist monastery (gompa) of the Drukpa Lineage, located in Hemis, Ladakh, India. Situated 45 km from Leh, in the state of Jammu and Kashmir. Hemis Monastery existed before the 11th century and was re-established in 1672 by the Ladakhi king Sengge Namgyal. The annual Hemis festival honoring Padmasambhava is held here in early June.

 

Terma and tertöns : The essence of Tebetan Buddhism.

Padmasambhava (lit. "Lotus-Born"), also known as Guru Rinpoche, is a literary character of terma (Terma or "hidden treasure"- are key Tibetan Buddhist teaching, which the tradition holds were originally esoterically hidden by various adepts such as Padmasambhava and his consorts, in the 8th century for future discovery at auspicious times by other adepts, known as tertöns. As such, they represent a tradition of continuous revelation in Tibetan Buddhism. Termas are a part of Tantric Literature. Tradition holds that terma may be a physical object such as a text or ritual implement that is buried in the ground (or earth), hidden in a rock or crystal, secreted in a herb, or a tree, hidden in a lake (or water), or hidden in the sky (space). Though a literal understanding of terma is "hidden treasure", and sometimes objects are hidden away, the teachings associated should be understood as being “concealed within the mind of the guru”, that is, the true place of concealment is in the tertön's mindstream. If the concealed or encoded teaching or object is a text, it is often written in dakini script: a non-human type of code or writing).

  

Terma is an emanation of Amitabha (Amitābha or Amideva, is a celestial buddha described in the scriptures of the Mahāyāna school of Buddhism. Amitābha is the principal buddha in the Pure Land sect, a branch of Buddhism practiced mainly in East Asia, while in Vajrayana Amitābha is known for his longevity attribute, magnetising red fire element, the aggregate of discernment, pure perception and the deep awareness of emptiness of phenomena. According to these scriptures, Amitābha possesses infinite merits resulting from good deeds over countless past lives as a bodhisattva named Dharmakāra. "Amitābha" is translatable as "Infinite Light," hence Amitābha is also called "The Buddha of Immeasurable Life and Light" ).

Terma that is said to appear to tertons (A tertön is a discoverer of ancient texts or terma in Tibetan Buddhism) in visionary encounters and a focus of Tibetan Buddhist practice (Tibetan Buddhism is the body of Buddhist religious doctrine and institutions characteristic of Tibet, Mongolia, Tuva, Bhutan, Kalmykia and certain regions of the Himalayas, including northern Nepal, and India (particularly in Arunachal Pradesh, Ladakh, Dharamsala, Lahaul and Spiti district in Himachal Pradesh and Sikkim. It is also practiced in Northeast China. Religious texts and commentaries are contained in the Tibetan Buddhist canon such that Tibetan is a spiritual language of these areas. The Tibetan diaspora has spread Tibetan Buddhism to many Western countries, where the tradition has gained popularity. Among its prominent exponents is the 14th Dalai Lama of Tibet. The number of its adherents is estimated to be between ten and twenty million).

Interested Viewers can see the following documentary on Padmasambhava:

Padmasambhava

www.youtube.com/watch?v=gQBbfLtxj8A&spfreload=10

 

History

Hemis Monastery existed before the 11th century. Naropa, the pupil of the yogi Tilopa, and teacher of the translator Marpa is connected with this monastery. A translation was made by A. Grünwedel (Nӑro und Tilo,: Festschrift Ernst Kuhn, München 1916) of Naropa's biography that was found in Hemis monastery.

In this manuscript Naropa (or Naro) meets the "dark blue" (Skr.: nila: dark blue or black) Tilopa (or Tillo), a tantric master, who gives Naropa 12 "great" and 12 "small" tasks to do in order to enlighten him to the inherent emptiness/illusoriness of all things. Naropa is depicted as the "abbott of Nalanda" (F. Wilhelm, Prüfung und Initiation im Buche Pausya und in der Biographie des Naropa, Wiesbaden 1965, p. 70), the university-monastery in today's Bihar, India, that flourished until the sacking by Turkish and Afghan Muslim forces. This sacking must have been the driving force behind Naropa's peregrination in the direction of Hemis. After Naropa and Tilopa met in Hemis they travelled back in the direction of a certain monastery in the now no longer existing kingdom of Maghada, called Otantra which has been identified as today's Otantapuri. Naropa is consered the founding father of the Kagyu-lineage of the Himalayan esoteric Buddhism. Hence Hemis is the main seat of the Kagyu lineage of Buddhism.

In 1894 Russian journalist Nicolas Notovitch claimed Hemis as the origin of an otherwise unknown gospel, the Life of Saint Issa, Best of the Sons of Men, in which Jesus is said to have traveled to India during his "lost years." According to Notovitch, the work had been preserved in the Hemis library, and was shown to him by the monks there while he was recuperating from a broken leg. But once his story had been re-examined by historians, Notovitch confessed to having fabricated the evidence. Bart D. Ehrman states that "Today there is not a single recognized scholar on the planet who has any doubts about the matter. The entire story was invented by Notovitch, who earned a good deal of money and a substantial amount of notoriety for his hoax". However, the Indian Pandit Swami Abhedananda also claims to have read the same manuscript, and published his account of viewing it after his visit to Hemis in 1921. Abhedananda claims on the book jacket that it was translated for him with the help of a "local Lama interpreter." In the same vein, Notovich did not initially translate the manuscript, but reported his Sherpa guide did so as Notovitch could not read the original text. Notovich's version of the manuscript was translated from Tibetan to Russian to French to English. According to Swami Abhedananda's account, his Lama's translation was equivalent to the one published by Notovich. The Gutenberg Project has published the entire manuscript as a free ebook.

 

Hemis Festival

The Hemis Festival is dedicated to Lord Padmasambhava (Guru Rimpoche) venerated as the Dance Performance at Hemis Monastery representative reincarnate of Buddha. He is believed to have been born on the 10th day of the fifth month of the Monkey year as predicted by the Buddha Shakyamuni. It is also believed that his life mission was, and remains, to improve the spiritual condition of all living beings. And so on this day, which comes once in a cycle of 12 years, Hemis observes a major extravaganza in his memory. The observance of these sacred rituals is believed to give spiritual strength and good health. The Hemis festival takes place in the rectangular courtyard in front of the main door of the monastery. The space is wide and open save two raised square platforms, three feet high with a sacred pole in the center. A raised dias with a richly cushioned seat with a finely painted small Tibetan table is placed with the ceremonial items - cups full of holy water, uncooked rice, tormas made of dough and butter and incense sticks. A number of musicians play the traditional music with four pairs of cymbals, large-pan drums, small trumpets and large size wind instruments. Next to them, a small space is assigned for the lamas to sit.

The ceremonies begin with an early morning ritual atop the Gompa where, to the beat of drums and the resounding clash of cymbals and the spiritual wail of pipes, the portrait of "Dadmokarpo" or "Rygyalsras Rimpoche" is then ceremoniously put on display for all to admire and worship.

The most esoteric of festivities are the mystic mask dances. The Mask Dances of Ladakh are referred collectively as chams Performance. Chams performance is essentially a part of Tantric tradition, performed only in those gompas which follow the Tantric Vajrayana teachings and the monks perform tantric worship.

Source: Wikipedia and others.

 

Philippians 1:9-10

And this I pray, that your love may abound still more and more in real knowledge and all discernment, so that you may approve the things that are excellent, in order to be sincere and blameless until the day of Christ;

 

Hosea 14:9

Whoever is wise, let him understand these things; Whoever is discerning, let him know them For the ways of the LORD are right, And the righteous will walk in them, But transgressors will stumble in them.

 

Isaiah 11:3

And He will delight in the fear of the LORD, And He will not judge by what His eyes see, Nor make a decision by what His ears hear;

 

Hebrews 5:14

But solid food is for the mature, who because of practice have their senses trained to discern good and evil.

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Picture taken at the Saint Anne's Church Bukit Mertajam depicting the Holy Spirit

Isaiah 11 Living Bible (TLB)

 

11 The royal line of David[a] will be cut off, chopped down like a tree; but from the stump will grow a Shoot—yes, a new Branch* from the old root. 2 And the Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him, the Spirit of wisdom, understanding, counsel, and might; the Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord. 3 His delight will be obedience to the Lord. He will not judge by appearance, false evidence, or hearsay, 4 but will defend the poor and the exploited. He will rule against the wicked who oppress them. 5 For he will be clothed with fairness and with truth.

The exhibition "Picasso 1932. Erotic Year" at the Musée Picasso Paris examines the link between the artist's personal life and his creation. Pablo Picasso's creative process and daily life are followed day after day through more than one hundred and ten paintings, drawings, engravings and sculptures and a hundred archival documents..? The title of the exhibition, "Picasso 1932. Erotic Year" underlines the significance of sensual works in this year's production process. The exhibition "Picasso 1932. Erotic Year" at the Musée Picasso Paris focuses on a particularly dense year of the artist's creation through paintings, drawings, engravings and sculptures, including some major pieces from his career, and documents that place them in their biographical context. He misses the essential in the comments on his genesis but disregards the true sources of inspiration in an interpretation very much focused on the libido and often very superficial, too bad that the analyses are so simplistic ? Her quest soon took Arieans to France, the centre of the art world at the time. Via Cocteau she automatically arrived at Picasso, a central figure in the Parisian artistic environment. In order to gain more insight into the occult movements that turned out to be literally 'in fashion' in the Parisian artistic world at the beginning of the last century, she consulted a variety of connoisseurs for advice: the French centrepiece of research into the esoteric Antoine Faivre, the religious scientist Jean Pierre Laurant, who mapped out the circles of the Eglise Gnostique, and the occultism connoisseur Robert Amadou. In The Hague she went into the Alchemist’s library and joined a research group of philosophers, philosophers and art historians at the University of Amsterdam.

A 'wildly interesting' research, as she calls it, that because of its interdisciplinary approach does not confine itself to a fragment - the interpretation of one painting - but colours an entire image of a time artistically and philosophically. Arian provides detailed information about the occult currents and orders that were active in Paris around 1900 and about the magazines, such as L'Initiation, that brought esoteric ideas to the attention of a wide audience.

Of great importance was the the philosophically inspired by Order Martinist, founded in 1884 by Gérard Encausse, nicknamed Papus, one of the most influential occultists of the fin-de siècle. Because of the "chaine de silence", the chain of silence that the members of the order never break through, it is not possible to establish with certainty, but it was probably this order that Picasso was a member of during his Cubist period.

The martinists, just like the Alchemists, knew three degrees of initiation: the 'pupil', 'companion' and 'master' of the alchemists were called 'member', 'initiated' and 'initiator' among the martinists, or Superior, Inconnu, who was abbreviated to SI. These letters can be found in some of Picasso's paintings and especially in Picasso's collages,'' Ariens discovered. And there is more: some of the canvases depict black eye masks as they are worn in the martinist lodges; here and there martinist signs roam around, on the canvas La cuisine even a whole kitchen floor full. The square, the symbol of the freemasons, is also a recurring theme. One collage even shows cow letters OR MA -OR(dre) MA(rtiniste) - which prompted one of Picasso's friends to comment that the painter 'advertised order'. In addition to the martyrs, the 'Ordre kabbalistique de la Rose-Croix', which entered into organic cooperation with the martyrdom order, and the Gnostic Church, which is related to martinism, were also influential. The later recruited many of her bishops from the Order Martinist. Inspired by the circle around Picasso, Arian's roles mention the names of famous artists over each other; one appears to be even better introduced into the secrets and symbolism of occultism than the other. According to her, Picasso's main inspirators are the writer Alfred Jarry and the painters Paul Gauguin and Paul Cézanne, and his contemporaries and friends, the writers Max Jacob, Guillaume Apollinaire and André Salmon. In more than the ones picture it’s Skull and Bones that was founded in 1832 at Yale University. The order is also known as "Bones", and members are called "Bonesmen" who are some of the world's most powerful elites.

How many bones did Picasso paint in this work? Probably Picasso could be readed with two modes, one is written in the official catalog, and one other live in gnostic, probably forgotten in the blockchain of silencing? In French the word Songe give Song in English ( Songe is like visionary's dream and Song is a note of dream) The "Songe" of Ezekiel could be the roots of this painting?

In chapter 37 of Ezekiel, we have a classic metaphysical outline upon which very exciting sermons can be built. Very much the same as the David and Goliath thing. When you read that chapter of the valley of the dry bones and you're aware of metaphysical Bible interpretation, you can almost see how the author is winding it all up for you. Here's the valley, here's the dry bones, they're all dry, very disconnected, then comes the Lord and instructions and then this Ezekiel's blewing this to obey them, he obeys them and these things begin happening to the bones. It gets so far and no farther. All the connections are made, all of the shapes and forms are made, but there's one thing lacking, there's no what? There's no life, they are there in form potential, but they haven't become living actualities yet. So Ezekiel says, now what do I do? He says, "Prophesy now, not to the bones, but prophesy now to the four winds, to the all four winds and prophesy now to the winds to tell the bones to live and the bones became a living army." The prophet Ezekiel saw a vision of vast numbers of people resurrected to live again as physical human beings. What is the meaning of this mystifying vision, and what does it teach us about God's plan? The remains of human bones in a dirt grave. 123RF

Much of God’s revelation to Ezekiel revolved around the distant decendants of Israel and crucial, end-time events centuries in the future. From early youth Ezekiel had been educated and trained to be a priest in the kingdom of Judah. But his hopes and dreams had been dashed by King Nebuchadnezzar’s invasion, taking him and other young Jews captive to Babylon. Now far separated from the temple in Jerusalem, how could his education and training be of any real value? There was no need to worry. God was looking after His own. The Creator had called Ezekiel to be a great prophet, ranked alongside Isaiah and Jeremiah. Christian writer Christopher Wright put it this way: “So while we can value all the positive contributions that Ezekiel’s education and training as a priest brought to his prophetic ministry, we must also appreciate the immense personal, professional and theological shock it must have been to him … [Yet] God would use all that He had built into Ezekiel’s life during his years of preparation” ( The Message of Ezekiel, 2001, p. 27). Most in mainstream Christendom erroneously believe that today is the only day of salvation. But this belief simply is not found in the Bible. When he was 30 years old, Ezekiel began to experience astonishing visions from Almighty God. Perhaps in a personal diary, he recorded the exact date on which the first vision occurred: “Now it came to pass in the thirtieth year, in the fourth month, on the fifth day of the month, as I was among the captives by the River Chebar, that the heavens were opened and I saw visions of God” (Ezekiel 1:1, emphasis added throughout). The invisible barriers between heaven and earth were supernaturally parted for Ezekiel. But what did this prophet actually see in vision? Moving beyond the introductory revelation of the awesome angelic realm, we fast-forward to verses 26 and 28. “On the likeness of the throne was a likeness with the appearance of a man high above it… This was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the Lord.”There's a beautiful ready-made outline for a metaphysical interpretation. The valley always stands for a low point in your current pathway of life. A downsy, and everybody hits them, in his pathway of life. And when you're in a downsy, and you look around you, what do you usually see all about you? Discouraging, hopeless-looking details - dry bones. Everything is wrong down there. This is a dry bone, meaning a discouraging appearance or a hopeless looking state of affairs. That's what you see in these depressions, these valley periods of your journey of life. But then, you hear the voice of the Lord, "Prophesy unto these bones, say unto them, Oh, ye dry bones, hear the word of the Lord". Now, what does Unity call the word of the Lord - affirmations of Truth, declarations of Truth right in the face of the discouraging, negative, hopeless looking conditions or situations. And, as he does this, as we affirm right into the teeth - bones, get it? - of discouraging looking appearances, things begin to happen.

It says, first the bones begin to shake, and then move, and then they began to connect bone to bone. In other words, new connections are formed right in the midst of discouraging or contradictory outer appearances. In the realm of the invisible, every affirmation of Truth results in new connections for future good. This is an occult law of metaphysics. It is absolutely true, in the invisible realm, every affirmation of truth results in new connections of factors for future good. From one point of view, these factors are dry bones, but from another point of view, these factors will become living good, a living army of good, and so, he prophesies and these bones all become connected. Then everything stops ... So then, there has to be a change of the type of prophecies or affirming ... To prophesy, to declare the Truth in every possible direction, that is, let God activity enter into this as He wills, from any direction His spirit choose. Ezekiel initially reacted just like the prophet Daniel and the apostles Paul and John did later. “So when I saw it, I fell on my face, and I heard a voice of One [God] speaking. And He said to me, ‘Son of man, stand on your feet, and I will speak to you’…And He said to me; ‘Son of man, I am sending you to the children of Israel’ ” (Ezekiel 1:28; Ezekiel 2:1-3). God gave Ezekiel a great mission to accomplish. He had important announcements to make. These were intended to reach people far beyond his own time to people down through the ages. And one important vision would serve to encourage all who have ever lived in facing the same remorseless enemy—the seemingly hopeless ending of life in death. The prophet did have a comparatively small personal audience in Babylon of fellow captives from Judah (Ezekiel 3:11). But the real import of his message was not primarily for these deported, displaced prisoners who could do little about their circumstance.It’s important to understand that the kingdoms of Israel and Judah had separated after King Solomon’s death and that the people of the kingdom of Israel had already gone into captivity at the hands of the Assyrians during the latter part of the eighth century B.C.—well over a century before Ezekiel prophesied. And by the time his prophecies began, some of the inhabitants of the kingdom of Judah were likewise already in captivity, first by the Assyrians and then the Babylonians, with most of the rest soon to follow as a result of later Babylonian invasions. Careful reading of Ezekiel’s prophetic message will reveal that it was aimed mainly at the distant future, primarily directed to the end-time descendants of Israel. Much of God’s revelation to him revolved around crucial, end-time events—both positive and negative—that would take place centuries in the future. In the prophecy Jesus Christ gave on the Mount of Olives the week He died, He plainly stated regarding the end-time, “For these are the days of vengeance, that all things which are written [in the Old Testament prophets, including Ezekiel] may be fulfilled” (Luke 21:22). But cataclysmic occurrences at the close of man’s age are just one aspect of this overall prophetic scenario. Notice the apostle Peter’s words to the crowd gathered in Jerusalem on the Day of Pentecost seven weeks after Jesus’ death and resurrection: “Repent therefore and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, so that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord, and that He may send Jesus Christ, who was preached to you before, whom heaven must receive until the times of restoration of all things, which God has spoken by the mouth of all His holy prophets [again including Ezekiel] since the world began” (Acts 3:19-21). This insightful passage depicts a future golden age brought to a suffering humanity by the returning Jesus Christ, lasting 1,000 years (see Revelation 20:1-6). Israel’s prophets aptly describe this long period of peace, prosperity and well-being. One of God’s annual festivals, the Feast of Tabernacles, corresponds directly to Christ’s coming millennial reign.

 

A rebellious analysts lost forever?

God continued to instruct Ezekiel: “Then He said to me, ‘Son of man, go to the house of Israel and speak with My words to them’ ” (Ezekiel 3:4). Our Creator speaks to a rebellious people who have rarely been inclined to take His warning messages seriously. Their descendants down through time have most often chosen to remain in the depths of idolatry and Sabbath-breaking, two sins against God that Ezekiel emphasized (Ezekiel 14:1-6; Ezekiel 20:12-13; Ezekiel 20:16-17; Ezekiel 20:24; Ezekiel 22:3; Ezekiel 22:8). Tragically, these two trends continue unabated today. But who truly represents the “Israel” today to whom these prophecies are intended? The present tiny state of Israel consists mostly of Jews descended from those of the kingdom of Judah, so the name Israel is a misnomer. History and Bible prophecy show that the modern descendants of the other tribes of Israel stand clearly identified as the Americans, British Commonwealth and peoples of northwestern Europe. For the biblical and historical evidence, request or download our free booklet The United States and Britain in Bible Prophecy . You cannot truly grasp God’s prophetic message to humankind apart from the essential knowledge disclosed in this eye-opening publication. The modern descendants of Israel have been likewise rebellious against God. And all share in the same fate—national punishment and, for each individual, the ultimate penalty of sin, which is death (Romans 6:23). The prophecies of future national blessings are encouraging, but what good are they to those who have died? After the Exodus from Egypt, a whole generation of disobedient Israelites perished in the wilderness. Later, many died at the hands of ruthless Assyrian invaders. Much later, about 40 years after Christ’s death and resurrection, many died tragically as a result of the Roman invasion of Judea and the capture of Jerusalem in A.D. 70. Of course, the same fate is shared by those who never had the opportunity to choose a way of life to follow. Consider all those little babies Herod cruelly killed in a failed effort to murder the Christ child. Their parents were devastated with unrelieved grief. “A voice was heard in Ramah, lamentation, weeping, and great mourning, Rachel weeping for her children, refusing to be comforted, because they are no more” (Matthew 2:18). Are these children, then, now lost? Now, instead of affirming about things or prophesying to the bones, now he's told prophesy to and about what? The winds, all four winds. What is wind often a symbol for in the Bible? The Holy Spirit, the activity of God, the movement of God as the Holy Spirit. Now, why would he designate all four winds? Well, you're talking about the movement of God to bring changes and good into your life. To prophesy, to declare the Truth in every possible direction, that is, let God activity enter into this as He wills, from any direction His spirit chooses. North, east, south or west. Not from where I insist it's got to come from - south by southeast only! Don't we often do this? We don't realize it, but we say, all directions of the wind, wherever God chooses, in God's way, let this fulfillment come. So many people among the Israelites have died as victims of evil and injustice. Today we remember the Holocaust in which 6 million Jews were callously murdered in Central and Eastern Europe. How should we try to understand all of these tragic occurrences? Is there no hope for even innocent children who died in infancy without ever knowing why? Of course, these questions beset people of every nation—not just Israel. But God has given a special message through Ezekiel to Israel in this regard—one that holds significance for all people. The French martyrs, Rosicrucians and Gnostics of the beginning of the last century treated alchemy, kabbalah and tarot as analogous systems, which they brought together under one heading. According to art historians, this mixture of symbolism from the Kabbalah, Tarot and Alchemy, which inspired Picasso in his cubist work, is the key to the painter's true intentions in his famous painting 'Les Demoiselles d'Avignon'. André Breton, pope and surrealist ideologist, persuaded art dealer Doucet to buy the canvas. He wrote, "If this canvas escapes us, most of our mysteries will go along. But the art historians left that sentence out''.

The final part of Ariean's research, a case study in which she removes the veil of mystery, differs slightly, to put it mildly, from the reception of the canvas so far. Seen through the occult spectacles which she - with an abundance of material - shows that Picasso also had them on at the time, the canvas points Aryan in a very different way from the 'philosophical brothel' for which it was long regarded. Supported by her study of the hundreds of sketches and preliminary studies, she discovers neither 'African art' nor 'syphilis sufferers' in the painting. No 'naked bodies', but 'naked facts': signs and numbers. The order was incorporated in 1856 by General William Huntington Russell, and Alphonso Taft who became Secretary of War under President Grant in 1876. The numerical value of this year is 1+8+7+6 = 22, and the numerical motto for Skull and Bones is 322, or 3 x's 22 which you will see below is not a coincidence. 22 bones are represented in Picasso’s engraving.... In numerology, the number 22 is often called the Master Builder. The Phoenician-Hebrews possess 22 books and their alphabet is made up of 22 letters, which was created to compose the Word of God. The Kabbalah teaches us that the letters of the Hebrew alphabet are the building blocks of universe. The underlying occult scientific significance of the number 22 in science would represent the bones of the skull, of which there are twenty-two. 8 form the cranium, or braincase, and 14 are associated with the face.

Our brains are what we use to think, reason and come to know the divine or God. The 22 letters of the Hebrew alphabet created to compose the Word of God is our 22 boned skull, and the place where we receive the light to become illuminated, or enlightened beings. Hence, to be like Saint John and have our own Revelation.

Portrait by Picasso of the great resurrection

Ezekiel continued to have visions throughout his prophetic ministry. The one in the 37th chapter speaks directly to the desperate plight of Israel down through the ages. Its intriguing description of the valley of dry bones was the subject of a popular song, “Dry Bones,” during the mid-1950s. No matter how many times one rereads it, this account remains both arresting and suspenseful to the converted mind. But even more important is the profound meaning for us—and for our departed loved ones, who may never have been called of God or spiritually converted during this age. This remarkable, comforting vision assures us that we will see them again! The hand of the Lord came upon me and brought me out in the Spirit of the Lord, and set me down in the midst of the valley; and it was full of bones . . . and He said to me, ‘Son of man, can these bones live?’ So I answered, ‘O Lord God, you know’ ” (Ezekiel 37:1-3). Then, what happens to those potential bones, those skeletons become a living army. In other words, the potential good which you have declared and affirmed come to your life from any direction God chooses. The static good becomes living good, which means a part of their life, a part of the goodness of their life. A living army, an army of blessings come into manifestation through prophesying according to the direction or the guidance of the Lord. God must not be underestimated. He asked the patriarch Abraham, “Is anything too hard for the Lord?” (Genesis 18:14). Centuries later He posed the same question to the prophet Jeremiah: “Behold, I am the Lord, the God of all flesh. Is there anything too hard for Me?” (Jeremiah 32:27). Remember that one of the meanings of prophesying simply means affirming. Affirming the Truth regardless of circumstances. Weren't the prophets constantly talking about future events? So often the prophets have been interpreted as sort of fortune-tellers, or clairvoyants in all this. Well, metaphysically, this is not so. What it really means on the metaphysical level is declaring the Truth which will insure a future good outcome. Of course, the prophets also prophesy in what other manner - negative, too. Therein lies part of the problem.

Ezekiel’s vision continues: “Thus says the Lord God to these bones: ‘Surely I will cause breath to enter into you, and you shall live’ . . . Also He said to me, ‘Prophesy to the breath, prophesy, son of man, and say to the breath, “Thus says the Lord God: ‘Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe on these slain, that they may live’ ”’” (Ezekiel 37:5; Ezekiel 37:9). Physical human beings cannot live without drawing breath—the essence of our fleshly life. Even excellent swimmers, experts at holding their breath, cannot survive long without breathing air. So I prophesied as He commanded me, and breath came into them, and they lived , and stood upon their feet, an exceedingly great army” (Ezekiel 37:10).. Then He said to me, ‘Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel’ ” (Ezekiel 37:11). God then summarizes what He had just described in detail. “Thus says the Lord God: ‘Behold, O My people, I will open your graves and cause you to come up from your graves, and bring you into the land of Israel. Then you shall know that I am the Lord” (Ezekiel 37:12-13). Most pictured here never really knew God during their previous human lives. The closing verse of this vision reveals why God, who never does anything without purpose, has just resurrected all these people: “I will put My [Holy] Spirit in you, and you shall live” (Ezekiel 37:14). At that time all of these people will have an opportunity to be converted—that is, to repent of their sins, be forgiven and baptized, and receive God’s Holy Spirit by which they can truly be converted and receive God’s gift of eternal life. The indication of this preceding verse is that the majority of this great multitude of people will obtain everlasting life in God’s Kingdom.The New Testament also speaks to this incredible, miraculous phenomenon. The apostle Paul wrote: “And so all Israel will be saved , as it is written: ‘The Deliverer [Jesus Christ] will come out of Zion, and He will turn away ungodliness from Jacob [whose name was changed to Israel ]; For this is My covenant with them [i.e., the New Covenant], when I take away their sins’ ” (Romans 11:26-27). By no stretch of the imagination is all of Israel being saved now during this present age of man. But God promises that the whole of Israel will have their opportunity for salvation in the future. Relatively few are being called now to join with the firstfruits of God’s salvation. These called-out ones, true Christians, will be resurrected to receive everlasting life when Christ returns (1 Corinthians 15:50-54; 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18; Philippians 3:20-21). Is this great resurrection exclusively for Israel? Or will other peoples and nations also be included? Remember that our loving Creator remains “the God of all flesh” (Jeremiah 32:27). Several passages in the Gospel accounts show that non-Israelite rulers and peoples are to be resurrected as well. The queen of the South (Sheba), the peoples of Tyre, Sidon and Nineveh (ancient nations and city-states that long predated Jesus’ human lifetime), and even the inhabitants of Sodom and Gomorrah will be resurrected to physical life alongside Christ’s generation of Israelites (see Matthew 11:20-24; Matthew 12:41-42; Luke 10:12-14). Jesus plainly stated: “Most assuredly, I say to you, the hour is coming, and now is, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God; and those who hear will live . . . Do not marvel at this; for the hour is coming in which all who are in the graves will hear His voice” (John 5:25; John 5:28). Later Christ revealed to this same apostle John that “the rest of the dead”—referring to those not raised to life in this resurrection —”did not live again until the thousand years were finished” (Revelation 1:1; 20:5). This tells us that the timing of this resurrection is after the thousand-year period known as the Millennium. This verse also clearly shows that there is more than one resurrection.

 

Is today the only day of salvation for Picasso’s explanations?

Most in mainstream Christendom erroneously believe that today is the only day of salvation. But this belief simply is not found in the Bible. In fact the vast majority of mankind will receive their opportunity for salvation during the great resurrection to judgment that we have been reading about in Ezekiel 37:1-14. The apostle John also refers to this resurrection to temporary physical life in Revelation 20:11-13: “Then I saw a great white throne and Him who sat upon it…And I saw the dead, small and great [now resurrected], standing before God, and books were opened. And another book was opened, which is the Book of Life. And the dead were judged according to their works, by the things which were written in the books [plural, the books of the Bible].” The “great white throne” judgment occurs not in an instant as people are raised from the dead, but instead over a considerable period of time. God will judge them over time, just as those called to salvation today are judged over time during this present age by this very same standard, the books of the Bible (1 Peter 4:17; 2 Timothy 3:15-17). Many Bible readers misunderstand the nature and meaning of judgment, nearly always associating the term with sentencing to condemnation—not realizing that God is a merciful judge who patiently evaluates human existence with righteous discernment. He earnestly desires to see the blood of His Son Jesus blot out the sins of as many as possible. Christ Himself firmly stated, “ And I, if I am lifted up from the earth [by crucifixion], will draw all peoples to Myself” (John 12:32). Paul writes of “God our Saviour, whose will it is that all should find salvation and come to know the truth” (1 Timothy 2:3-4, Revised English Bible). And in Ezekiel 18:32 we read, “ ‘For I have no pleasure in the death of one who dies,’ says the Lord God. ‘Therefore turn [to righteousness] and live!’” This coming time of judgment will give those who never really knew God during their previous lifetime a just and fair opportunity for salvation— not a second chance. The special meaning of the biblical eighth-day festival As mentioned earlier, the Feast of Tabernacles, also known as the Feast of Ingathering, pictures Christ’s millennial reign. But immediately following this seven-day Feast is a separate one-day celebration referred to simply as “the eighth day” (Leviticus 23:34-36; Numbers 29:35; 2 Chronicles 7:9; Nehemiah 8:18). The real meaning of this celebration is rarely understood in modern theological circles. Yet it represents an essential missing piece to the puzzle of salvation. This special Holy Day directly corresponds to the Great White Throne Judgment period, during which God will give all those who have ever lived but never really understood the truth their first real opportunity for salvation. Because few people are aware of the God-ordained festivals spelled out in the Bible, few understand God’s step-by-step plan of salvation revealed through these celebrations. The meaning of the eighth day corresponds to Ezekiel’s vision of the Valley of Dry Bones, referring to a time when lost family members will be joyously joined together again to learn God’s ways while living under utopian conditions of mutual love, peace and prosperity. This Holy Day reminds us that God’s plan promises to offer every human being the opportunity to truly repent of sin and receive a permanent place in His everlasting family, the Kingdom of God. Q. Going back to the four winds idea, if we were praying for healing, instead of concentrating on the liver, for instance, we would pray for perfect and whole health. A. Right, the healing idea, the health principle, the perfect life idea and then add the extra mile to it - and however it shall come - I am completely open and willing in all four directions of the Holy Spirit. Let it come anyway that it is proper according to God's will, in this situation. You will find that when you are faithful on the metaphysical realm of thinking and believing it will become chemicalized on the physiological level, and verifiable on that level. However, there will often be a big time lapse, nevertheless, it will occur, and science is catching up. I'm very smart on this subject, aren't I, because I have John Salunek as a progress counselee.

 

www.trouw.nl/home/picasso-putte-uit-occulte-bron~a4692077/

for the philosopher artist.

 

Temporary whirlpool destined to dissipate.

I’ve seen a white man with ocean blue eyes, and golden blond hair. I’ve felt caressing breeze from the blue skies, from way out there. I’ve seen the sun shine like there’d be no tomorrow. And i’ve closed my eyes, and dreamed dreams that could erase all sorrow. I’ve seen such variety of beauty, of honor, of astounding grace. I’ve experienced an all-

 

encompassing unseen embrace. And there… stood a white woman… who stared into the nights sky from afar. She appeared enamored… by all the stars. Gazing at an extraordinary sight above us… the night sky. But a glimpse of the universe. A veil to the hidden, the sacred, the unseen. A secret world of knowledge… True Riches; Pristine! And

 

beneath the skies there was a darkness hidden in the shadows, moving about discreetly, watching; as if to be seeking prey. This darkness appeared to be trying to siphon off light from the woman’s soul. And him? Well, he was almost blinded. For the darkness seeks to blacken an ocean so blue! And once the darkness takes over, the purity of truth drowns…

 

and out comes the voice of darkness, speaking from the blackest ocean to spirits who will hear. With a voice that could throw you into the deepest fear; and make you tremble… at the sound waves. After seeping inside; and distorting the subconscious, this voice speaks many lies… and seeks out any living to enslave! But the woman… she was one of True

 

Discernment. One that Feels… The Language of the Heart. She Knows of the Truths that are just Beyond the Veil. And she knows of the Lies that spew forth from the darkness. She knows that her Skin does not fully Define her Existence, or Anyone Else’s. And that the Flesh… is Just As Fleeting as the Dust in the Wind. She is Aware of Great Spirit, and of

 

her connection to All that Exists. All such spirits as hers are as Anchors, Helping to Save the Living from Drowning. For She… is Not Blinded, and will Never allow herself to be. And she could Never Be Compared to those who are blind, and Can Not See! Oh yes, she

 

Truly sees. She looks with eyes upon All the Living, and does not unfairly Judge. And All Around Her she can Feel a Presence that makes her Soul sing, because her white skin

was spun… from Angels Wings.

  

– Creative Writing By China Alicia Rivera

photoshopflair.com

  

Read More Here:

chinaaliciarivera.wordpress.com/2020/06/22/white-skin-som...

or here:

chinaaliciarivera.wordpress.com/

 

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*Art Blog: photoshopflair.wordpress.com

 

Peace and Love. ❤️💕

Of all the chapels I've seen this must be one of my favourite. Yesterday, a Mass was celebrated in the National Shrine at the start of the Dominican Vocations Discernment Weekend. It seemed fitting as she is Mother of the Americas, and of the New Evangelization.

Some quality of discernment occurs in everything in the cosmos although we are often only aware of such qualities in humans and certain animals. These other consciousnesses or intelligences consolidate archetypes which create those “forms” which are the collective memories of genetic awareness which guide evolutionary development.

 

denniscordell.zenfolio.com

 

also:

 

www.elephantjournal.com/2020/12/some-notes-on-nature-spir...

I'm still reeling from what sent me to the dam on Thursday evening. Too many places to be - simultaneously. I now realize that I must become omnipresent to continue the pattern into which I've been thrust.

Every decision I make is wrong - regardless. My discernment is based on who will best understand and most quickly get over their disappointment.

This doing mode of life cannot be sustained - not in anyone's life. We are called to be, not to do. I fear that I am enabling an attitude in my children that will breed a lifestyle of making your plans and expecting everyone to get on board and bless your desires and wishes.

I fear that it may be erroneous to assume that by serving someone you teach them to serve. Rather, it appears as if we are merely teaching them to be served, to expect to be served, and to get really angry when for a brief moment, service has to shift to someone else.

I hope I'm exaggerating. I'm just really tired and emotionally spent.

“In my MINDS EYE, I visualize how a particular... sight and feeling will appear on a print. If it excites me, there is a good chance it will make a good photograph. It is an intuitive sense, an ability that comes from a lot of practice.”

Ansel Adams (American Photographer, 1902-1984)

~I'm practicing Ansel, I'm practicing :) ~

 

Saturday and Sunday in downtown St.Petersburg the Annual "Florida Craftsmen Galleries" Art Show had a brilliant display of over 90 vendors from all over the country. They close off all the streets that surround the gallary and there is fun to be had for all! It is an art lovers ~paradise~ and talent just oozes from each vendor. I never want to leave...but just linger, linger, linger over all the creativity and talent. The photo I have posted is no exception to that creativity and talent! With permission I photographed this marvelous leather journal by "Mind's Eye Journals"~ www.MindsEyeJournals.com by Teresa Haun & Mike Merriman out of Westcliffe, Colorado. This was only one of at least 50 extraordinary leather journals Teresa was showcasing. They all had handmade paper and each one was unique and exquisite! Awesome talent!

Thank you Teresa~Your work is outstanding!

 

And THANK YOU to all of you....YOUR work is OUTSTANDING as well! You are a breath of fresh air! Hey we have our own little "Art Show" going HERE daily! Now how fun is that!

Have a great week and better start savin' room for all that Turkey...if you are Feasting Thursday!

Hemis Monastery is a Tibetan Buddhist monastery (gompa) of the Drukpa Lineage, located in Hemis, Ladakh, India. Situated 45 km from Leh, in the state of Jammu and Kashmir. Hemis Monastery existed before the 11th century and was re-established in 1672 by the Ladakhi king Sengge Namgyal. The annual Hemis festival honoring Padmasambhava is held here in early June.

 

Terma and tertöns : The essence of Tebetan Buddhism.

Padmasambhava (lit. "Lotus-Born"), also known as Guru Rinpoche, is a literary character of terma (Terma or "hidden treasure"- are key Tibetan Buddhist teaching, which the tradition holds were originally esoterically hidden by various adepts such as Padmasambhava and his consorts, in the 8th century for future discovery at auspicious times by other adepts, known as tertöns. As such, they represent a tradition of continuous revelation in Tibetan Buddhism. Termas are a part of Tantric Literature. Tradition holds that terma may be a physical object such as a text or ritual implement that is buried in the ground (or earth), hidden in a rock or crystal, secreted in a herb, or a tree, hidden in a lake (or water), or hidden in the sky (space). Though a literal understanding of terma is "hidden treasure", and sometimes objects are hidden away, the teachings associated should be understood as being “concealed within the mind of the guru”, that is, the true place of concealment is in the tertön's mindstream. If the concealed or encoded teaching or object is a text, it is often written in dakini script: a non-human type of code or writing).

  

Terma is an emanation of Amitabha (Amitābha or Amideva, is a celestial buddha described in the scriptures of the Mahāyāna school of Buddhism. Amitābha is the principal buddha in the Pure Land sect, a branch of Buddhism practiced mainly in East Asia, while in Vajrayana Amitābha is known for his longevity attribute, magnetising red fire element, the aggregate of discernment, pure perception and the deep awareness of emptiness of phenomena. According to these scriptures, Amitābha possesses infinite merits resulting from good deeds over countless past lives as a bodhisattva named Dharmakāra. "Amitābha" is translatable as "Infinite Light," hence Amitābha is also called "The Buddha of Immeasurable Life and Light" ).

Terma that is said to appear to tertons (A tertön is a discoverer of ancient texts or terma in Tibetan Buddhism) in visionary encounters and a focus of Tibetan Buddhist practice (Tibetan Buddhism is the body of Buddhist religious doctrine and institutions characteristic of Tibet, Mongolia, Tuva, Bhutan, Kalmykia and certain regions of the Himalayas, including northern Nepal, and India (particularly in Arunachal Pradesh, Ladakh, Dharamsala, Lahaul and Spiti district in Himachal Pradesh and Sikkim. It is also practiced in Northeast China. Religious texts and commentaries are contained in the Tibetan Buddhist canon such that Tibetan is a spiritual language of these areas. The Tibetan diaspora has spread Tibetan Buddhism to many Western countries, where the tradition has gained popularity. Among its prominent exponents is the 14th Dalai Lama of Tibet. The number of its adherents is estimated to be between ten and twenty million).

 

History

Hemis Monastery existed before the 11th century. Naropa, the pupil of the yogi Tilopa, and teacher of the translator Marpa is connected with this monastery. A translation was made by A. Grünwedel (Nӑro und Tilo,: Festschrift Ernst Kuhn, München 1916) of Naropa's biography that was found in Hemis monastery.

In this manuscript Naropa (or Naro) meets the "dark blue" (Skr.: nila: dark blue or black) Tilopa (or Tillo), a tantric master, who gives Naropa 12 "great" and 12 "small" tasks to do in order to enlighten him to the inherent emptiness/illusoriness of all things. Naropa is depicted as the "abbott of Nalanda" (F. Wilhelm, Prüfung und Initiation im Buche Pausya und in der Biographie des Naropa, Wiesbaden 1965, p. 70), the university-monastery in today's Bihar, India, that flourished until the sacking by Turkish and Afghan Muslim forces. This sacking must have been the driving force behind Naropa's peregrination in the direction of Hemis. After Naropa and Tilopa met in Hemis they travelled back in the direction of a certain monastery in the now no longer existing kingdom of Maghada, called Otantra which has been identified as today's Otantapuri. Naropa is consered the founding father of the Kagyu-lineage of the Himalayan esoteric Buddhism. Hence Hemis is the main seat of the Kagyu lineage of Buddhism.

In 1894 Russian journalist Nicolas Notovitch claimed Hemis as the origin of an otherwise unknown gospel, the Life of Saint Issa, Best of the Sons of Men, in which Jesus is said to have traveled to India during his "lost years." According to Notovitch, the work had been preserved in the Hemis library, and was shown to him by the monks there while he was recuperating from a broken leg. But once his story had been re-examined by historians, Notovitch confessed to having fabricated the evidence. Bart D. Ehrman states that "Today there is not a single recognized scholar on the planet who has any doubts about the matter. The entire story was invented by Notovitch, who earned a good deal of money and a substantial amount of notoriety for his hoax". However, the Indian Pandit Swami Abhedananda also claims to have read the same manuscript, and published his account of viewing it after his visit to Hemis in 1921. Abhedananda claims on the book jacket that it was translated for him with the help of a "local Lama interpreter." In the same vein, Notovich did not initially translate the manuscript, but reported his Sherpa guide did so as Notovitch could not read the original text. Notovich's version of the manuscript was translated from Tibetan to Russian to French to English. According to Swami Abhedananda's account, his Lama's translation was equivalent to the one published by Notovich. The Gutenberg Project has published the entire manuscript as a free ebook.

 

Hemis Festival

The Hemis Festival is dedicated to Lord Padmasambhava (Guru Rimpoche) venerated as the Dance Performance at Hemis Monastery representative reincarnate of Buddha. He is believed to have been born on the 10th day of the fifth month of the Monkey year as predicted by the Buddha Shakyamuni. It is also believed that his life mission was, and remains, to improve the spiritual condition of all living beings. And so on this day, which comes once in a cycle of 12 years, Hemis observes a major extravaganza in his memory. The observance of these sacred rituals is believed to give spiritual strength and good health. The Hemis festival takes place in the rectangular courtyard in front of the main door of the monastery. The space is wide and open save two raised square platforms, three feet high with a sacred pole in the center. A raised dias with a richly cushioned seat with a finely painted small Tibetan table is placed with the ceremonial items - cups full of holy water, uncooked rice, tormas made of dough and butter and incense sticks. A number of musicians play the traditional music with four pairs of cymbals, large-pan drums, small trumpets and large size wind instruments. Next to them, a small space is assigned for the lamas to sit.

The ceremonies begin with an early morning ritual atop the Gompa where, to the beat of drums and the resounding clash of cymbals and the spiritual wail of pipes, the portrait of "Dadmokarpo" or "Rygyalsras Rimpoche" is then ceremoniously put on display for all to admire and worship.

The most esoteric of festivities are the mystic mask dances. The Mask Dances of Ladakh are referred collectively as chams Performance. Chams performance is essentially a part of Tantric tradition, performed only in those gompas which follow the Tantric Vajrayana teachings and the monks perform tantric worship.

Source: Wikipedia and others.

 

"Miracle of the Sun" is a personal revelation and vision that I'm releasing publicly with testimony of a spiritual phenomenon that I, (Loci B. Lenar) witnessed at approximately 6:00 PM eastern standard time on September 8, 1991 in northern New Jersey while traveling through the town of Dover into Wharton - next to my hometown of Mine Hill. (However, God does work in mysterious ways. This experience may have been for my eyes only. I am uncertain if anyone else had witnessed this solar phenomena.) Prior to the divine encounter, my faith as a Christian and practicing Catholic could be best described as lukewarm. Furthermore, this spiritual experience became life changing and transformed me into a faithful believer of Jesus Christ and the Bible. The following is conveyed in John 4:48, Jesus said, “Unless you people see miraculous signs and wonders, you will never believe.”

 

With those words in mind, the sun appeared in a vivid hue of Orange-Red, while visually increasing in size to the extent that it's difficult to explain with logical terms. While the sun was expanding in magnitude, it slowly descended and encompassed the earth with its sheer vastness and colors. The visual phenomenon lasted only for about three minutes. Interestingly, my eyes were not affected by the solar event. Furthermore, through discernment, the Spirit of the Lord was present and overwhelmed me with an almost indescribable blissful peace of heaven; however, the spiritual after effect lasted for nearly three hours. During the spiritual visitation, the Lord also imparted me with a vision of our world gifted and Blessed in Peace. In addition, the Lord conveyed a message for me to present to the World Apostolate of Fatima. I put the communication into writing and shortly after delivered its contents via certified mail to Father Andrew and other members of the clergy, including Sister Mary Celeste of the Holy House Convent, located at the National Blue Army Shrine of the Immaculate Heart of Mary in Washington, New Jersey. Prior to the miracle, I visited the shrine on several occasions and conversed with Sister Mary Celeste, an editor of the Catholic youth magazine, Hearts Aflame. My article Reaching for Eternity with God's Love is published in the Summer 1992 issue of the magazine. Her thoughtful support during my spiritual conversion with an open-minded approach to faith must be commended.

 

Providence is a catalyst for the miraculous events that followed: The contents of the message are unfolding. My message to the Blue Army Shrine included a prophetic vision and request by the Lord for the Catholic Church to return the Icon of Kazan to the Russian Orthodox Church as a result of the break up of the Soviet Union. The Lord's request was made in September of 1991, just before the Soviet Union was officially dissolved at the end of December of the same year. On August 28, 2004 the Icon was finally returned to Russia by the Vatican and handed over to Orthodox Patriarch Alexei II. The Icon is also known as Our Lady of Kazan and considered the “Protectress of Russia.” For additional information about the Icon of Kazan, please visit the following link: www.cwnews.com/news/viewstory.cfm?recnum=31648

 

In 1991, the Lord also imparted a message of a great sign to unfold for humanity in order to validate the existence of God. Jesus communicated an official day of October 13 for the Miracle of the Sun to be witnessed by humanity.

 

In a spiriual locution of 2007 and 2008, the Lord conveyed the following: 'Now is the time to move forward, release the truth and prophesy your story with scripture.' For information regarding my story, please visit the following link: www.lenarpoetry.com .

 

Update: God's miraculous sign came to fulfillment as promised by Jesus on October 13, 2008, at the World Apostolate of Fatima, USA. Visitors were blessed to witness the Miracle of the Sun at the National Blue Army Shrine, located on the grounds of the World Apostolate of Fatima in Washington, New Jersey, during the celebration of the 91st anniversary of the 1917 apparitions of Our Lady of Fatima. Moreover, one may refer to the spiritual events as a Miracle of the Son (Jesus). To read story, please visit the following link: www.christian-miracles.com/njvisitorswitnessmiracle.htm

 

The Bible also conveys the following in Acts, Chapter 2:17-18, "God says, 'It will come to pass in the last days that I will pour out a portion of my spirit upon all flesh. Your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, young men shall see visions, your old men shall dream dreams. Indeed, upon my servants and my handmaids, I will pour out a portion of my spirit in those days, and they shall prophesy.' " The Lord is not conveying the end of our world, but rather the end of old ways, and the beginning of change with a new era. Through discernment, the Lord is preparing our Mellennium for a great era of peace and prosperity with an outpouring of the Holy Spirit for salvation and healing. The following is noted in Jeremiah 8, Verse 23: "This rather is what I commanded them: Listen to my voice; then I will be your God and you shall be my people. Walk in all the ways that I command you, so that you may prosper."

 

God the Father indeed works in mysterious ways through His divine son, Jesus for the conversion and salvation of humanity. Whatever the rationale, the event was awe-inspiring and changed me spiritually as I've noted in the poem.

 

Through the blessings and grace of God, the heavenly event also lead me to physical and spiritual healing. I was healed of a heart arrhythmia known as Atrial Fibrillation. The medical condition is treated with Lanoxin, a cardiac medicine. However, I've not used the medication for over ten years. Additionally, I was healed from years of suffering painful headaches after countless visits to physicians with treatments that went to no avail. With the intercession of the Blessed Mother and prayer, I was healed by the power of God through the Anointing of the Sick. The healing sacrament is administered through the church. In James 5, Verse 14-15 the following is noted: "Is anyone among you sick? He should summon the presbyters of the church, and they should pray over him and anoint him with oil in the name of the Lord, and the prayer of faith will save the sick person, and the Lord will raise him up. If he has committed any sins, he will be forgiven."

 

I believe it's the appropriate time to release my story, and God's Will is to provide hope to humankind, especially during difficult times. I give praise and glory to God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, as well as thanks for all the gifts and spiritual wonders. I give thanks to the Blessed Mother (Our Lady of Fatima) for her help and intercession before the throne of God.

 

My witnessing the Miracle of the Sun was conveyed during the 1990s to my spiritual advisor - Father Richard Tartaglia of Saint Mary's Church, Denville, NJ (USA) - for his prudent and faith related assessment. (Please read the poem for further insight by clicking above the image and choosing All Sizes to view in a larger format).

 

I was also inspired by Our Lord to write a Millennium Prayer for world peace as a result of witnessing several spiritual wonders. In Psalm 37, Verse 4-6, the following is noted: "Find your delight in the Lord who will give you your heart's desire. Commit your way to the Lord; trust that God will act and make your integrity shine like the dawn, your vindication like noonday." We must pray for everything to fall into place and remain patient, in order for Jesus to set the stage and timing for signs and miracles to unfold in our world!

 

For updates on signs, wonders and miracles, please visit my blog at the following link: lenarpoetry.blogspot.com/

 

Please visit the following link and pray daily for an era of peace: www.christian-miracles.com/prayerforworldpeace.htm

 

For other spiritual wonders, including a miraculous photo of a Cross of Light, please visit my websites on the following links:

www.christian-miracles.com/

  

I'm available to speak publicly on matters related to my spiritual journey of faith. Please feel free to send requests by Flickr Mail.

 

Copyright Loci B. Lenar

"Courage lies in the heart, which must possess compassion and discernment, as well as strength and determination."

Gail Nyoka, Mella and the N'anga

digital art

Another shot from our Eastern State Penitentiary meet-up in Philiadelphia, PA.

 

Everyone had heard about and wanted to see "the red chair." I didn't know what it was until I came home and did some research. I thought it was a barber station.

 

Apparently this chair (and chairs like it) were used as places where they would secure unruly inmates with chains, sometimes for days, so they had time to think about what they had done to end up in the chair . . .

 

Have to admit that I've been thinking a lot about ESP since our visit. More than while we were there. The vastness, and interestingness of the architecture and decay were so compelling that it was difficult to process the impact of what we were seeing in the moment. But, wanting to learn more, and doing research into the area really struck me and keeps me thinking. About the past penal system, and its philosophy, and the present. And humanity, and human nature.

 

And, I'm reminded of the quote, "Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it." Not sure if this is the actual quote or a paraphrase, but it is attributed to George Santayana.

 

Peace.

This Photograph is used on-line by the

International Atomic Energy Agency located in Vienna, Austria.

The photograph illustrates their Dress Code for their 2020 Viennese Ball.

www.iaeastaffassociation.org/ball/programme/dress-code

..

  

Bottom Tier Left (Black)

Two-Piece Evening Dress 1989

 

Pierre Cardin French ( born Italy), 1922 -

Silk Faille over synthetic horsehair, rayon stretch net lace, rhinestones; cellulose acetate velvet

 

By magnifying the size of one feature—here a series of bows—design virtuoso Pierre Cardin achieves maximum visual impact. The Strapless bodice of this dress is almost completely hidden by four enormous taffeta bows and loose loops. The rhinestone studded bows are placed to one side of the bodice, and the asymmetrical stiffened loops hand in planes as they encircle the body.

 

Gift of Mrs. Jack M. Friedland (Annette Y. Friedland). 2009-181-23a,b

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Bottom Tier Center (Red)

 

Evening Dress around 1990

 

Jacqueline de Ribes French, 1929 –

Silk satin

 

International Best Dressed Hall of Fame member Vicomtesse Jacqueline De Ribes used the discernment and expertise she developed as a fashion client in her own designs, creating beautiful clothes with a sense of drama. Evening dresses—like this powerful asymmetrical example in bright red satin—were her forte. At once streamlined, sculptural, timeless, and alluring, they above all embody elegance, which she once defined as “the art of being astonishing without creating astonishment.”

 

Gift of Martin Field, 2014-206-22

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Bottom Tier Right (Black and Grey)

 

“Fumo (Smoke)” Evening Dress , 1985

 

Roberto Capucci Italian, 1930 –

Slubbed silk plain weave

 

Determined to pursue his artistic vision, in 1980 Italian designer Roberto Capucci liberated himself from the fashion business after three successful decades by breaking away from the official seasonal couture calendar. His one-of-a-kind sculptural dresses became studies in form, created by expertly manipulating vlume, color, and fabric. In this dress, he covered the skirt with skillfully pleated silk in subtle shades of gray arranged to bring to mind a rising plume of smoke. He made a companion to this dress in red, and it Fuocco (Fire).

 

Purchased with the Costume and Textiles Revolving Fund, 2011-31-1

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Middle Tier Left (Brownish-Purple)

 

Evening Dress, Fall 2006

 

Oscar de la Renta American and Dominican 1932 – 2014

Nylon tulle; silk taffeta and silk/rayon velvet flower

 

Rows of ruffles that graduate in size cover a sheer tulle skirt, supported by fifteen underlayers of tulle over an organza slip. Oscar de la Renta completed this frothy ballerina dress with a swirled strapless bodice and flower, and chose an idiosyncratic prune color to downplay the sweetness. Romantic and relaxed, the gown epitomizes his elegant designs, favored by celebrities on the red carpet.

 

Gift of Martin Field, 2014-206-18a,b

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Middle Tier Center (Black & Cream)

 

Evening Dress , Around 1994

 

Pierre Cardin French (born Italy), 1922 –

Silk/rayon velvet; silk bsket weave, silk/polyester satin, cotton cord; silk plain weave and polyester chiffon flower

 

Although a pioneer of designer ready-to wear and brand licensing, Pierre Cardin relishes the creativity of couture. He also designs furniture and buildings, saying he imagines clothes like architecture and architecture like clothing. This gown incorporates many striking contrasts: black and cream coloring; dense, open, and shiny fabrics; asymmetry; and structured and draped elements. Dramatic but harmonious, it demonstrates Cardin’s inventiveness and technical flair.

 

Gift of Mrs. Jack M. Friedland (Annette Y. Friedland), 2009-181-22a,b

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Middle Tier Right (Yellow)

 

Evening Dress, Belt and Capelet, 1983

 

Pierre Cardin French ( born Italy), 1922

Printed silk organza over nylon horse hair, synthetic faille

 

A true sculptor of fashion, Pierre Cardin has a unique ability to manipulate fabric in three-dimensional planes around the body, as seen in this dress made from a number of circular shapes. The small asymmetrical cape is a simple circle with a slit to the center and snap at one shoulder. The skirt is composed of five shaped circular tiers, stiffened with resilient nylon “horsehair” fabric, that undulate down one side of the front before forming horizontal spirals.

 

Gift of Mrs. Jack M. Fiedland (Annette Y. Friedland) 2009-181-29a-c

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Top Tier Left (Teal)

 

Evening Dress , Fall/Winter 1988 – 89

 

Marc Bohan French 1926 –

Designed for Christian Dior, Paris , Founded 1946

Silk taffeta

 

With an extravagant back bow and long trailing panels, Dior’s longtime designer Marc Bohan created an updated version of a bustle silhouette. The Bodice of the slim dress is cut away at the back, while the front has a draped bust and low sweetheart neckline. Praising this haute couture collection was one of Bohan’s best Woman’s Wear Daily called his taffeta evening dresses “entrancemakers,” though this dress would also ensure a spectacular exit.

 

Gift of Martin Field, 2014 – 206-25

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Top Tier Second from Left (off-white)

Short Evening Dress , Around 1987

Pierre Cardin French (Born Italy) 1922 –

Nylon lace over synthetic horsehair

 

Pierre Cardin is endlessly creative: since presenting his first collection in 1951, he has continued to explore the geometry of fashion, showing up to 300 designs per season. Although he refused to look to the past, he often revisits favorite concepts, such as geometric shapes. He has a special affinity for circles, and several of his collections featured white or off-white lace dresses like this one, with an oversize round collar and unfurling skirt.

 

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Top Tier Second from Right (Burgundy)

 

Evening Dress, 1947

 

Adrian American, 1903 – 1959

Silk velvet

 

Hollywood costume designer Adrian brought cinematic drama to his ready-to-wear and custom clothing. In contrast to the rounded shoulders Christian Dior had introduced, Adrian maintained that women looked best in clothing with wide shoulders, with slim hips for day and interesting skirts for night. In this striking gown, elegant velvet flows into a graceful trailing skirt, frmes a wide neckline, and forms what the New York Times called “winged victory sleeves.”

Gift of Mrs. Walter H. Mock, Jr., 1961-109-1

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Top Tier, Right (Black)

 

Evening Dress , 1981

 

Pierre Cardin French (Born Italy) 1922 –

Silk/rayon velvet, silk/acrylic satin

 

Exaggeration plays a large part in Pierre Cardin’s design thinking, as this gown’s prominent sleeves illustrate. Flanking a slim sheath of lusterless velvet, the shiny satin sleeves flare up and out to extend the V neckline. The bias-cut satin extends from the tight wrist and goes over the top of the stiffened shoulder extensions, with the side seam along outside edge giving the sleeves a flattened look. The inner sides of the extensions were left open

 

Gift of Martin Field, 2014-2006-10

  

www.philamuseum.org/exhibitions/873.html

  

From the Placard: The Philadelphia Museum of Art, PA

www.philamuseum.org/

  

There was something eerie in the air as the tumbrils passed through the streets of Paris that led to Place du Trône Renversé. It was, in fact, too eerie that the normally noisy and violent crowd was "in a respectful silence such as has never been accorded throughout the Revolution." No rotten fruit was pelted and no clamorous insult was raised on the condemned women and men. That evening one only heard the ethereal chanting of sixteen Discalced Carmelite nuns on their way to death.

 

These women could hardly be recognized as nuns. Wrapped in their white mantles, they did not, however, wear their veils. Their wimples had been cut away, exposing their necks to facilitate the truculent job of the guillotine's blade.

 

At around eight in the evening, after a ride of two hours, the tumbrils finally arrived at the place of execution. A horrid stench of rotting flesh from the common graves in nearby Picpus and of putrifying blood beneath the scaffold greeted them. The crowd remained reverently silent. The Carmelites have finally come face to face with the dreaded guillotine. Led by their courageous prioress, Mo. Thérèse of St. Augustine, they sang the Christian hymn of praise: “You are God: we praise you; You are the Lord: we acclaim you; You are the eternal Father: all creation worships you…. The glorious company of apostles praises you. The noble fellowship of prophets praises you. The white-robed army of martyrs praises you...”

   

WINDS OF AN INEVITABLE REVOLUTION

 

Many historians agree that the twentieth century traces its foundations to the events that shook France from 1789 to, strictly speaking, 1795. The French Revolution took place amid an ancien régime in social disarray. Historian Edward Tannenbaum capsulized: “Many people knew that something was wrong. There was an economic crisis aggravated by population pressure; the aristocratic resurgence exasperated sections of the bourgeoisie and the peasantry; enlightened political ideas were raising constitutional issues, and enlightened despotism was not working very well.” [1]

 

With the rising of the masses, an era of radical ideas unconceived beforehand was ushered - equality of all before the law; freedoms of speech, religion and opinion; resistance to oppression; rights to property, security and liberty. A new epoch practically began with this “mother of revolutions.”

 

Two institutions gravely affected by it were the monarchy and the Church. With the Church and State so intimately linked together in the old order, with a privileged clergy being used and misused to defend the status quo, and with a wealthy hierarchy scandalizing the impoverished populace with its wantonness and loose morals, the Church truly was bound to be shattered by the revolution's impact.

 

The clash, however, of the old and new orders produced a violent friction. Reforms were plenty, indeed, but violence also abounded, caused by years of bottled hatred or plain paranoia. Soon, freedoms highly idealized by the revolution like choice, conscience and religion were trampled upon. There were too many victims in the process, many of whom were commoners exercising their democratic rights. Among them were the sixteen Carmelites of Compiègne.

   

AN UNEXCEPTIONAL COMMUNITY

 

The twenty-one nuns of the Carmel of the Annunciation exter nally appeared unperturbed by the melee outside the walls of their monastery. They continued with the routine life that had been followed by their predecessors since the monastery was established in 1641. They were composed of fifteen choir nuns, three converses (lay sisters or sisters of the white veil), and one choir novice.[2] There were also two tourières (extern sisters) who, in the strictest sense, were laywomen and not Carmelite religious although they looked after the material and business needs of the community. Most of the sisters were between forty and fifty, three were less than thirty, and three were more than seventy.

 

The nuns came from every social stratum of French society and each had her unique personality. “Taken as a whole, the community does not present an exceptional milieu. Their fathers were a master purse-maker, shoemaker, turner, laborer, clerk, and an employee of the observatory. Only one is a counselor of the king, one a noble squire. Few were blue-blooded; most were commoners. The grille sheltered, both from the psychological and social points of view, a world in a nutshell.” The lone novice was of peasant stock, but she had for her formator the grandniece of the great aristocrat Jean-Baptiste Colbert. The pretty and young assistant infirmarian laughed at the whims of the beloved old sister “philosopher”. The well-balanced prioress had for her assistant a nun passionately in love with the divine office.

 

Inevitably, the Carmelites were also affected by the revolution. Because of the escalating violence and growing uncertainty, Mo. Thérèse of St. Augustine talked with Sr. Saint Francis Xavier, a converse, who was due to make her profession in 1789, and presented to her the dilemma menacing all religious orders. The young sister responded naively: “Ah, my dear good Mother, you can be quite in peace. So long as I have the happiness of being consecrated to my God, that is all I want. So, Mother, do not worry about me. Whatever happens, the good God will take care of all.”

 

The Constituent Assembly provisionally suspended the profession of vows in all monasteries on 29 October 1789. Mo. Thérèse was distressed that the decree prevented Sr. Constance, the lone novice, from making her profession. She wrote to a former postulant: “Sr. Constance remains always a novice here. Troubles have not been lacking on the side of her family: now they do not want her letters anymore or to hear her spoken of. The Lord permits this to be assured of her fidelity, and she accounts herself happy if they leave her in peace as at present. She hopes that the good God will at last touch their hearts and that they will look on her perseverance without sorrow.”

   

THE CIVIL CONSTITUTION OF THE CLERGY

 

On 12 July 1790, the National Assembly implemented the Civil Constitution of the Clergy. Among its articles was a provision for the suppression of the monastic orders and the “liberation” of monks and nuns who would choose to renounce their vows. On 15 August, the members of the Directory of the Compiègne district came to the monastery to interrogate each nun and offer her “liberty”.

 

The unanimous reply of the religious was to remain and keep their vows. Some of the nuns made their declarations more vivid:

 

“For fifty-six years I have been a Carmelite. I desire to have the same number of years more to be consecrated to the Lord.” (Sr. of Jesus Crucified)

 

“I became a religious by my own will. I have made up my mind to go on wearing this habit, even if I have to purchase this joy with my own blood.” (Sr. Euphrasie)

 

“A good spouse desires to remain with her husband. I do not wish to abandon my spouse.” (Sr. Saint Francis Xavier)

 

“If I will be able to double the bonds of my attachment to God, then, with all my strength and zeal, I will do so.” (Sr. Thérèse of the Heart of Mary)

 

In February of the following year, the nuns were ordered to elect, in the presence of the municipal officers, a prioress and a bursar. Mo. Thérèse was unanimously re-elected; Mo. Henriette was voted bursar. The state then provided the eighteen intern nuns with decent pensions.

   

ENEMIES OF THE REPUBLIC

 

Another provision of the Civil Constitution of the Clergy required priests and religious to take a loyalty oath that required them “to be faithful to the nation, the law and the king; and to maintain the constitution with all their power.” What the ambiguous statement meant was that they were to give the revolutionary government the right to control and democratize the Church in complete disregard of Papal jurisdiction. Pope Pius VI issued on 10 March 1791 a condemnation of the Civil Constitution of the Clergy and forbade the clergy to take it. A schism was inevitable. The clergy was split between the “juring” (those who took the oath) and “non-juring” bishops and priests.

 

Two weeks after Easter of 1792, the guillotine was installed in Paris. Everyone was talking about it, even in the Carmel of Compiègne, and everyone feared it. In September, around 1,400 “enemies of the Republic” were killed during the infamous September Massacre; among them were hundreds of non-juring priests.

 

A belief that they would all be called to martyrdom someday prevailed in the community. Between June and September of that year, Mo. Thérèse proposed that the community offer their lives to God with an act of oblation “in order that the divine peace which Christ has brought to the world may be restored to the Church and to the State.” All promised to unite themselves to it, except for Sr. of Jesus Crucified and Sr. Charlotte of the Resurrection, the two most senior nuns. Trembling and fearful that they would end more than fifty years of peaceful life in Carmel with a bloody death, both withdrew from the community. Before the day ended, however, they prostrated themselves before the prioress and tearfully asked forgiveness for their momentary weakness. All the nuns renewed the act until the very day of their death.

   

UNITED IN SPITE OF DISPERSION

 

On 14 August 1792, the Convention ordered all French citizens receiving state pension to take the Oath of Liberté-Egalité which required them “to be faithful to the nation and to maintain liberty and equality or to die defending them.” Three days later, all religious houses were ordered vacated.

 

At this point in time, the Carmelites of Compiègne had been reduced to nineteen with the death of two sisters. The remaining nuns left the monastery and garbed secular clothes on 14 September 1792. They divided themselves into four groups with the prioress, sub-prioress, bursar and another nun heading each.

 

On 19 September, with the permission of Fr. Rigaud, their ecclesiastical superior, they all took the Oath of Liberté-Egalité. Thus, all, including the tourières, were eligible to receive pension from the state. Only Sr. Constance, the novice, was excluded from this right because the members of the Directory of Compiègne did not consider her a full religious.

 

For two years, each community strove to continue being faithful to their regular observances. “The beautiful accord which reigned among all the sisters ensured that each one never deviated from her duties. One could say that obedience was practiced with all the exactitude of the cloister.” It was difficult to find a priest to celebrate the Eucharist; nonetheless, the sisters faithfully recited the divine office at the appointed hours. Since their houses were not far apart, they managed to be in frequent contact with one another. Secretly, they sustained the members of the Confraternity of the Scapular and continued its enrollment. The extern sisters continued to buy provisions and to share these out among the different houses. The dynamism of the entire community was sustained by the daily renewal of the act of oblation and the solicitude of Mo. Thérèse.

   

REIGN OF TERROR

 

Situations worsened when Maximilien Robespierre and his henchmen, the radical and fanatical Jacobins, came into power during the summer of 1793. The Committee of Public Safety was established to protect the republic from foreign invasions and to control prices and wages all over the country. Along with this was institutionalized the infamous Reign of Terror. It not only apprehended and punished with death those who refused to be conscripted into the army but also anyone suspected of any unpatriotic behavior – or thoughts!

 

Within its brief one-year and one-month existence, over 300,000 were imprisoned of whom 50,000 were executed by musketry or in the dreaded guillotine or died in prison. France was literally transformed into an abattoir for her own people. Obsession replaced reality as the radical leaders sought to establish a utopistic society.

 

Anticlericalism reached its apex and, later, the revolution began to take the guise of a religion. First there was the abolition of the Gregorian calendar. Then churches were turned into “Temples of Reason”. Next, the juring clergy were ordered to marry (about 20,000 heeded). Finally, Robespierre established the Cult of the Supreme Being in an attempt to totally de-christianize France.

 

In March 1794, Sr. Marie of the Incarnation went to Paris to settle a serious family problem. Her stay was prolonged until June. Mo. Thérèse was also obliged to go to the capital on 13 June to bid farewell to her old and widowed mother who was to return to Franche-Comté, the cradle of her family. During that sojourn, the two nuns were by chance in the streets when tumbrils carrying those to be guillotined passed before them. Sr. Marie tried to get Mo. Thérèse to avoid the sight. The prioress, however, refused to move: “My good sister, allow me the sad consolation of seeing how martyrs go to their death.” Sr. Marie later wrote that two of the condemned fixed a deep gaze on them as if to say, “Soon, you will follow us.”

 

On the evening of 21 June, Mo. Thérèse promptly returned by stagecoach to Compiègne. She was met by some of the nuns who informed her that members of the Committee for Revolutionary Surveillance had searched all their four abodes that very morning and seized all their papers. The search continued the following day. A portrait of the guillotined king, a copy of his will, letters from their deported non-juring confessor and scapulars of the Sacred Heart were found and branded “seditious”. They also took the food prepared for the nuns, depriving them of nourishment that day.

   

SIXTEEN VICTIMS

 

As previously mentioned, nineteen of the Carmelites of Compiègne were still alive by the middle of 1792. During the time of the arrest, Sr. Marie of the Incarnation was still in Paris. Since March 1794, Sr. Thérèse of Jesus and Sr. Stanislas of Providence were in Rosières. Thus only sixteen were arrested. Through the biography written by Sr. Marie, we were not only able to know much about the arrest and execution of her community (in this entire chapter, unless noted otherwise, her accounts are enclosed in quotations) but also about their lives.

 

MO. THÉRÈSE OF ST. AUGUSTINE (Marie-Madeleine-Claudine Lidoine; b. 22 September 1752 in Paris), a woman “so loved by God,” was serving her second term as prioress when the Revolution struck. Her correspondences reveal a woman of great human and supernatural qualities.

 

MO. ST. LOUIS (Marie-Anne-Françoise Brideau; b. 07 December 1751 in Belfort), the sub-prioress, was given to silence and gentleness. She celebrated the divine office with admirable remembrance and exactitude.

 

MO. HENRIETTE OF JESUS (Marie-Françoise de Croissy; b. 18 June 1745 in Paris), the novice mistress, was the predecessor of Mo. Thérèse. She “made herself esteemed for the qualitites of her heart, her tender piety, zeal, the happy combination of every religious virtue.”

 

SR. CHARLOTTE OF THE RESURRECTION (Anne-Marie-Madeleine Thouret; b. 16 September 1715 in Mouy, Oise), the most senior member of the community, possessed a lively temperament. Fond of frequenting balls in her youth, she entered Carmel “after a tragic event.” She served as infirmarian to the point of developing a spinal column deformation that she endured until death.

 

SR. OF JESUS CRUCIFIED (Marie-Anne Piedcourt; b. 09 December 1715 in Paris) was younger than Sr. Charlotte by a few months but was senior to her by profession. She occupied the office of sacristan for many years. Speaking about their persecutors, she said: “How can we be angry with them when they open the gates of heaven for us?”

 

SR. THÉRÈSE OF THE HEART OF MARY (Marie Hanisset; b. 18 January 1742 in Reims), first sister of the turn and third bursar, was endowed with wisdom, prudence and discernment.

 

SR. THÉRÈSE OF ST. IGNATIUS (Marie-Gabrielle Trezel; b. 04 April 1743 in Compiègne), the “hidden treasure” of the community, was undoubtedly a mystic. Asked why she never brought a book for meditation, she replied: “The good God has found me so ignorant that none but He would be able to instruct me.”

 

SR. JULIE-LOUISE OF JESUS (Rose Cretien de Neuville; b. 30 December 1741 in Evreux) entered Carmel as a widow. She dreaded the guillotine but she chose to stay with her sisters.

 

SR. MARIE-HENRIETTE OF PROVIDENCE (Marie-Annette Pelras; b. 16 June 1760 in Cajarc, Lot), the assitant infirmarian, first entered the Sisters of Charity and Christian Instruction of Nevers but left it for the more secluded Carmelite life. Youngest among the choir nuns, she possessed a most exquisite beauty.

 

SR. EUPHRASIE OF THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION (Marie-Claude-Cyprienne Brard; b. 12 May 1736 in Bourth, Eure), the “philosopher” and “joie de vivre of the recreation,” admitted that she was filled for some time with resentment against her prioress. She worked very hard on herself that in the end she was able to overcome her negative disposition.

 

Along with these ten choir nuns were three lay sisters. SR. MARIE OF THE HOLY SPIRIT (Angélique Roussel; b. 03 August 1742 at Fresne-Mazancourt, Somme) was afflicted by atrocious pains throughout her body, which she heroically bore up until her death. SR. ST. MARTHA (Marie Dufour; b. 02 October 1741 at Bannes, Sarthe) edified her companions with her virtues. SR. ST. FRANCIS XAVIER (Elisabeth-Juliette Vérolot; b. 13 January 1764 at Lignières, Aube) was frank, lively, and full of goodness.

 

The youngest member of the community was SR. CONSTANCE (Marie-Geneviève Meunier; b. 28 May 1765 at Saint Denis, Seine). Circumstances forced her to remain as a novice for seven years. Her parents wanted her to return home and even sent the police for this purpose. Sr. Constance told them: “Gentlemen, I thank my parents if, out of love, they fear the danger that may befall me. Yet nothing except death can separate me from my mothers and sisters.”

 

The two tourières were blood sisters. ANNE-CATHERINE SOIRON (b. 02 February 1742 in Compiègne) tearfully begged the prioress not to let her and her sister be separated from the community during those crucial hours. THÉRÈSE SOIRON (b. 23 January 1748 in Compiègne) possessed such a rare beauty and charming personality that the ill-fated Princess de Lamballe wanted her to be attached to her court. She responded: “Madame, even if your Highness would offer me the crown of France, I would prefer to remain in this house, where the good God placed me and where I found the means of salvation which I would not find in the house of your Highness.”

   

IMPRISONMENT

 

On 23 June, the sixteen nuns were forcibly reunited in the Maison de Reclusion, a former monastery of the Visitation Nuns. In the room next to theirs were imprisoned a group of English Benedictine Nuns from Cambrai. The following day, the Carmelites retracted before the town mayor the Oath of Liberté-Égalité they had made – thus signing their own death warrant. Meanwhile, their captors waited for instructions from the Committee for Public Safety in Paris.

 

The three-week imprisonment was very harsh. The food was hardly palatable and the sick were not given any special diet. A few straws on the bare floor served as their beds. The two communities of nuns were forbidden to communicate with each other, yet the abbess of the Benedictines, Mo. Mary Blyde, somehow was able to converse with the Carmelites on two occasions. Fresh clothing was denied the nuns, yet they were forbidden to wash their soiled clothes. After many solicitations, they were finally granted a particular day to do their washing - but they never even had the chance to finish their laundry.

 

At 10:00 a.m. of 12 July, members of the Revolutionary Committee of Compiègne came with orders from Paris to transfer the Carmelites to the dreaded Conciergerie at the capital. Mo. Thérèse protested the untimely order. Their civilian clothes had just been put to soak. She requested permission to seek fresh clothing for her sisters to bring along. This was straightforwardly refused. Therefore, the nuns had to go to Paris wearing part of what was once their religious habits, the only dry clothing that was available.

 

After finishing their meager repast, the sixteen bade adieu to their Benedictine companions. With hands bound behind their back, they were herded into two carts for the long journey to Paris. Along with them was arrested a citizen named Mulot de la Ménardière, accused as an accomplice of the nuns. A great number of women, many of whom the nuns helped in many ways, sneered at them: “They do well to destroy them. They are useless mouths. Bravo! Bravo!” Mo. Thérèse meanwhile calmed Catherine Soiron who was outraged by the way they were being maltreated.

 

The caravan arrived at the Conciergerie between three to four in the afternoon of the following day. With their hands still tied behind them, the sisters went down one by one and stood waiting in the prison courtyard. However, the octogenarian Sr. Charlotte, deprived of her crutch and with no one to assist her, could not descend from the cart. An impatient soldier jumped aboard and callously threw her upon the paving stones where she laid motionless. Fearing he had killed her, the soldier lifted up the old nun whose face was covered with blood. “Believe me,” she told him, “I am not angry with you. On the contrary, I thank you for not having killed me for if I have died in your hands, I would have been deprived of the joy and glory of martyrdom.”

 

While waiting for their trial, the nuns occupied themselves with prayers and works of charity. They sought the sick among the imprisoned and attended to them even until late in the night. During daylight, they continued to celebrate the divine office faithfully. The other prisoners woke in the middle of the night hearing the nuns chanting Matins. Sr. Julie-Louise celebrated the feast of Our Lady of Mount Carmel (16 July) by composing a canticle to the tune of the Marsellaise. Mo. Thérèse continually supported the sisters with her exemplary courage, calmness, and maternal attention to the needs of their distressed bodies.

   

FANATICAL PUERILITY

 

At around 9:00 a.m. of 17 July, the sixteen were brought to the Courtroom of Liberty where the Revolutionary Tribunal performed its functions. They were led before the three judges and the notorious Antoine Fouquier-Tinville, the Terror's implacable public prosecutor. He read the Act of Accusation:

   

With regard the ex-Carmelite religious Lidoine, Thouret, Brard, Dufour and the others, they kept up, although separated by their abodes, anti-revolutionary meetings and cabal among themselves and wish others whom they brought together and, by taking up again their spirit of sisterhood, conspired against the Republic. A voluminous correspondence found in their possession proves that they did not cease to plot against the Revolution. A portrait of Capet [Louis XVI], his will, the hearts, which are the rallying signs of the Vendean rebels,[3] fanatical puerility, accompanied by the letter of an émigré priest dated 1793, proved that they were in correspondence with the external enemies of France. Such are the marks of the Confederacy formed among themselves. They lived under obedience to a superior and, as for their principles and vows, their letters and writings bear witness to them…. They are more than a band, an assembly of rebels, with criminal hope of seeing the French people returned to the chains of tyrants and to the slavery of bloodthirsty priests who are impostors as well.

   

Sr. Marie-Henriette did not fail to ignore the phrase “fanatical puerility”. She asked Fouquier-Tinville to explain:

 

“What I mean is your attachment to your childish beliefs, your stupid religious practices.”

 

She then turned to the other nuns and said to them: “My dear Mother and sisters, let us rejoice in the Lord for this. We are going to die for the cause of our holy religion, our faith, our reliance in the holy Roman Catholic Church.”

 

Mo. Thérèse addressed the judges: “The letters that we have received are from the chaplain of our house condemned by your law to be deported. These letters contain nothing more than spiritual advises. At most, if these correspondences be a crime, this should be considered as mine, not of the community as our Rule forbids the sisters from making any correspondence, even with their nearest relations, without the permission of their superior. If therefore you must have a victim, here she is: it is I alone whom you must strike. My sisters are innocent.”

 

“They are your accomplices!” was the blunt reply of the presiding judge. In the end, the sixteen were convicted as enemies of the people. A sentence was given: death by guillotine.

 

The nuns received their penalty with serenity and joy. However, Thérèse Soiron fainted. Tension, fatigue, and lack of sleep and nourishment finally broke her down. The prioress quickly asked a constable for a glass of water for the tourière. When she regained consciousness, Thérèse asked pardon for her weakness and assured them she was ready to be faithful to the end.

 

After that incident, it became quite clear that the nuns needed something to eat. After all, they had not eaten anything since the break of dawn. With the permission of the prioress, Mo. St. Louis bartered a pelisse in exchange for sixteen cups of chocolate. Thus, while the executioner carried out on the other condemned prisoners the last “toilet” – the trimming away of hair and ripping of any clothing that may impede the decapitation of their heads – the nuns had the opportunity to dine in common before their execution.

 

The sentence was to be completed that same evening. The community was praying the Office for the Dead when they were summoned. The nuns bade farewell to the other prisoners, among them was a devout Catholic named Blot: “How come our dear Blot is crying? Rather, you should rejoice to see us at the end of our trials. Recommend us well to the good God and the most holy Virgin that they may assist us in these final hours. We will pray for you when we are in heaven.”

   

FINAL CHOIR

 

Cloaked in their white mantles and with hands bound at their backs, the sixteen recollectedly boarded the tumbrils that would bring them to Place du Trône Renversé where the guillotine awaited them.[4] Along the way, priests disguised as sans-culottes gave them absolution. The journey was long… but the air was permeated by their solemn chants of the sixteen, singing as they did in choir: “Have mercy on me, God, in your kindness. In your compassion, blot out my offense…. Hail, holy Queen, mother of mercy….”

 

The guillotine had been standing for more than a month already at the Barrière du Trône. Upon arriving there, Sr. Constance suddenly accused herself before Mo. Thérèse of not having finished her divine office. Tenderly the prioress, told her: “Be strong, daughter. You will finish it in Paradise!” Twenty-four others were executed that day but we do not know any detail concerning them.

 

At the foot of the scaffold, the prioress asked the executioner if she might die last so that she could encourage and support her sister. She also asked for a few minutes to prepare them. This time her requests were granted. They sang once more, invoking the Holy Spirit: “Creator Spirit, come….” Afterward, they all renewed their religious vows. The ceremony completed, one unknown sister was overheard saying: “O my God! I am just too happy if this little sacrifice calms your wrath and lessens the number of victims.”

 

One by one, from the youngest to the oldest, the nuns were called.

 

“Citizeness Marie Geneviève Meunier!”

 

Summoned by her real name, Sr. Constance knelt before Mo. Thérèse and asked for her blessing and the permission to die. This being given, the novice kissed a small red-clay statuette of the Virgin and Child that Mo. Thérèse had been concealing in her hand.

 

Sr. Constance mounted the scaffold singing the psalm the nuns chanted daily to announce their coming into the house of God: “O praise the Lord, all you nations…”

 

Her sisters followed: “…acclaim him, all you peoples! Strong is his love for us; he is faithful for ever.”

 

All the sisters followed the example of the novice. They each went to their death joining the song of those waiting for their turn. While the blade of the guillotine snuffed their lives one by one, the chorus progressed into a decrescendo. As she ascended the scaffold, Sr. of Jesus Crucified was assisted by the assistants of the executioner. “My friends,” she told them, “I forgive you with all my heart, as I desire forgiveness from God.”

 

Finally, only one voice was left.

 

“Citizeness Marie Madeleine Claudine Lidoine!”

 

Having seen fifteen of her daughters precede her to the scaffold, Mo. Thérèse followed them to the guillotine. At the sixteenth thud, there was nothing left… but silence. On that day, it was said, more than one religious vocation was born and just as many conversions took place.

 

Ten days later, amidst cacophonous shouts and screams, an infuriated and disillusioned crowd led a man to his death on the guillotine. “Down with the tyrant!” they cried. This time, it was the turn of Maximilien Robespierre. More than a week later, an enervated Antoine Fouquier-Tinville followed his fate on the very instrument where he had sent hundreds to their death. And with the inglorious end of these two died, also, the Reign of Terror.