View allAll Photos Tagged GEOMANCY

Koi fish - Symbols of good fortune and abundant wealth

 

Shot in - Singapore

cho-me.com

Chinese Geomancy ( The Flow Of Wealth )

The Ming Tombs (Ming Shisan Ling) represent the imperial cemetery region where the 13 emperors of the Ming Dynasty were buried.

 

In a carefully selected site, according to the Chinese feng-shui (geomancy) traditions, the tombs are surrounded by mountains on three sides and a river flows near them. The tomb area has been listed by UNESCO as World Cultural Heritage. The site offers insight into imperial Ming Dynasty life, including stone thrones, huge human and animal sculptures, and other evidence of Chinese culture and traditions.

From a Feng Shui (Chinese Geomancy) perspective, the company which owns this building supposed to have an edge over its rivals.

Geomancy lucky charm(s) to promote positive energy.

I placed the 2 items under a white paper which have a small LED array light under it to brighten the items.

 

Jiujiang is a port city on the Yangtse river with Mt.Lushan in the background, which is the ideal setting for cities according to Fengshui (風水 - Chinese geomancy). Thanks to this, Jiujiang is an old city and used to be a cultural hub for Chinese intellectuals.

Later in the early 20th century, it served as the main gateway to Mt. Lushan as most of the western expatriates from Shanghai used to come by boat to escape the summer heat in lowland China.

Fu, Lu and Shou are Chinese deities, meaning fortune, prosperity and longevity. This complex has many shops selling fengshui (Chinese geomancy, 风水) products & services and dried goods for the mainly Chinese community [25/01]

In the middle of the Vienna Central Cemetery lies the

"Park of Peace and Strength".

It is laid out in the ancient tradition of geomancy (originally: divination from the earth) and garden design. Visitors can find peace and contemplation here. They can make contact with the forces of nature, plants and trees, stones and earth.

Sensoji Temple was the reason the insignificant village Asakusa became a town: Ieyasu, the Tokugawa shogun who created the great city of Edo and made it Japan’s de facto capital in the early 1600s saw in Sensoji a very convenient symbolism (also, being the toughest warlord of his time, he needed all the help he could get from the gods and Buddhas). According to ancient geomancy, potential invaders come either from the northeast or the southwest, the front and rear “demon gates”. Sensoji Temple was the guardian of the northeast gate and Zojoji Temple in Shiba, near Tokyo Tower took care of the southwest; Ieyasu made them both his family temples.

tokyocheapo.com/entertainment/sensoji-temple-guide/

Jokhang Temple, Jokhang Monastery or Tsuklakang (gTsug lag khang), is located on Barkhor Square in Lhasa. It was built during the reign of king Songsten Gampo (605?-650 CE) to celebrate his marriage with Chinese Tang Dynasty princess Wencheng, who was a Buddhist. During the Bon period of Tibet the temple was (and sometimes still is), called the 'Tsuklakang' (Tsulag Khang) — 'House of Religious Science' or 'House of Wisdom.' The term tsuklak refers to the 'sciences' such as geomancy, astrology, and divination which formed part of the pre-Buddhist shamanistic religion now referred to as Bon. It is more commonly known today as the Jokhang, which means the 'House of the Buddha'. For most Tibetans it is the most sacred and important temple in Tibet. It is in some regards pan-sectarian, but is presently controlled by the Gelug school. Along with the Potala Palace, it is probably the most popular tourist attraction in Lhasa. It is part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site "Historic Ensemble of the Potala Palace," and a spiritual centre of Lhasa.

www.thlib.org/reference/dictionaries/tibetan-dictionary/t...

L'étang de Shinobazu et le temple Bentendo

L'étang de Shinobazu (不忍池, Shinobazu no Ike), qui se trouve dans le parc Ueno (vaste parc public situé dans le quartier Ueno de l'arrondissement de Taitō à Tokyo au Japon), est une caractéristique essentielle du quartier Shitamachi, apparaissant souvent dans l'histoire et les œuvres d'art. Le parc occupe l'emplacement de l'ancien Kan'ei-ji, temple associé de près aux shoguns Tokugawa, qui l'ont construit pour garder le château d'Edo contre le nord-est, direction supposée porter malheur par la géomancie traditionnelle. Le temple est détruit au cours de la guerre de Boshin. L'étang, bien que modifié à plusieurs reprises et même une fois asséché, est naturel.

fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Étang_de_Shinobazu

_____________________________________

 

The Shinobazu Pond (不忍池? Shinobazu no Ike) is a pond within Ueno Park (a spacious public park located in the Ueno section of Taitō, Tokyo, Japan), and a historically prominent Shitamachi feature often appearing in history and works of art. The park occupies the site of the former Kan'ei-ji, a temple closely associated with the Tokugawa shoguns, who had built it to guard Edo Castle against the northeast, a direction believed to be unlucky by traditional geomancy. The temple was destroyed during the Boshin War. The pond, although modified many times and even once drained, is natural.

 

The lotuses of the Lotuses Pond, fully grown in summer, cover the entire surface of the water, hiding it almost completely.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shinobazu_Pond

The temple pictured here is Buddha Tooth Relic Temple and Museum - a Buddhist temple and museum complex located in the Chinatown district of Singapore. The temple is based on the Tang dynasty architectural style and built to house the tooth relic of the historical Buddha. Surrounding the temple are the traditional shophouses. Historical shophouses with their original façades preserved can be found along streets like Club Street.

 

The skyscrapers in the distance belong to the The Central Area or Central Business District (CBD) which contains the core financial and commercial districts of Singapore. The majority of Singapore’s tallest buildings are found in the CBD, but the skyscrapers cannot go higher than 280 metres due to air traffic regulations. Some commercial buildings, however, do reflect the cultural Chinese heritage of Singapore. This is added to the presence of other cultural heritage sites in the Central Area. An example is the UOB Plaza, which makes use of the traditional Chinese symbol of the octagon in its design, which in turn is supposed to bring in good Feng Shui according to traditional Chinese geomancy.

This whole place includes 5 buildings (see the FIVE on the background building, which is the 5th building) in a circular configuration represents the five fingers. The fountain of wealth is in the centre. The while setup is based on Chinese geomancy fengshui.

The Jokhang, (Tibetan: ཇོ་ཁང་; Wylie: Jo-khang; also called the Jokang, Jokhang Temple, Jokhang Monastery or Tsuklakang (gTsug lag khang), is located on Barkhor Square in Lhasa. It was built during the reign of king Songsten Gampo (605?-650 CE) to celebrate his marriage with Chinese Tang Dynasty princess Wencheng, who was a Buddhist.

 

During the Bon period of Tibet the temple was (and sometimes still is), called the 'Tsuklakang' (Tsulag Khang) — 'House of Religious Science' or 'House of Wisdom.' The term tsuklak refers to the 'sciences' such as geomancy, astrology, and divination which formed part of the pre-Buddhist shamanistic religion now referred to as Bon. It is more commonly known today as the Jokhang, which means the 'House of the Buddha'.

 

For most Tibetans it is the most sacred and important temple in Tibet. It is in some regards pan-sectarian, but is presently controlled by the Gelug school.

 

Along with the Potala Palace, it is probably the most popular tourist attraction in Lhasa. It is part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site "Historic Ensemble of the Potala Palace," and a spiritual centre of Lhasa.

 

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jokhang

lha ldan gtsug lag khang ལྷ་ལྡན་གཙུག་ལག་ཁང་ The Jokhang, (Tibetan: ཇོ་ཁང་; Wylie: Jo-khang; also called the Jokang, Jokhang Temple, Jokhang Monastery or Tsuklakang (gTsug lag khang), is located on Barkhor Square in Lhasa. It was built during the reign of king Songsten Gampo (605?-650 CE) to celebrate his marriage with Chinese Tang Dynasty princess Wencheng, who was a Buddhist. During the Bon period of Tibet the temple was (and sometimes still is), called the 'Tsuklakang' (Tsulag Khang) — 'House of Religious Science' or 'House of Wisdom.' The term tsuklak refers to the 'sciences' such as geomancy, astrology, and divination which formed part of the pre-Buddhist shamanistic religion now referred to as Bon. It is more commonly known today as the Jokhang, which means the 'House of the Buddha'. For most Tibetans it is the most sacred and important temple in Tibet. It is in some regards pan-sectarian, but is presently controlled by the Gelug school. Along with the Potala Palace, it is probably the most popular tourist attraction in Lhasa. It is part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site "Historic Ensemble of the Potala Palace," and a spiritual centre of Lhasa. History Jokhang – mid 1840sThe Jokhang temple was constructed by King Songtsän Gampo (see also internet variant Songsten Gampo) probably in 642. It was originally called the Rasa Tulnang Tsuklakang or The House of Mysteries, The Magical Emanation at Rasa [the early name for Lhasa], and also Gazhi Trulnang (`magical apparition endowed with four joys`. Both Bhrituti and Wencheng, the Nepalese and Chinese wives of Songsten Gampo are said to have brought important Buddhist statues and images to Tibet as part of their dowries, and they were housed here. It was boarded up during the reign of the Bönpo king, Langdharma (reigned 838–841 CE). The famous Buddhist Master Atisha taught here in the 11th century and it has been considered the most important temple in Lhasa ever since. This temple has remained a key center of Buddhist pilgrimage for centuries. It was sacked several times by the Mongols, but the building survived. In the past several centuries the temple complex was expanded and now covers an area of about 25,000 sq meters. Architecture The Jokhang temple is a four-story construction, with:..read more

www.thlib.org/reference/dictionaries/tibetan-dictionary/t...

This atmospheric collage I made in Photoshop based of my photos from the course of Chinese geomancy in Malaysia.

The Goldfish Market on Tung Choi Street North, in the Mong Kok District, Hong Kong.

 

Located in the Kowloon side in the overcrowded district of Mong Kok, although quite frequented by tourists it is what used to be known as the heartland of the Hong Kong triad gangs.

 

Feng shui, also known as Chinese geomancy, is a traditional practice originating from ancient China, which claims to use energy forces to harmonize individuals with their surrounding environment. Feng shui subscribers regard an aquarium of goldfish to be more than just a pretty face: it’s also an auspicious addition to one’s home that can bring good luck, so it’s no surprise that this popular pet trade is even more prominent in Hong Kong.

 

The Goldfish Market is lined on either side with several dozen shops and stalls devoted to the raising of many types of fish, from weirdly shaped goldfish to colourful tropical species with gaspingly high price tags.

 

Apart from the dozens of different types of brightly colored fish, you'll also find an Indiana Jones like collection of exotic pets; from snakes and spiders to lizards and turtles, as well as more mundane cats and dogs. Some of the rarer species – especially fish – can earn the sellers thousands of dollars.

 

Unlike across the border in China where markets like this are notorious for selling rare and unusual animals for food (and these are dying out), the Goldfish Market is only for pet purposes.

 

Information Sources:

www.tripsavvy.com/goldfish-market-hong-kong-1535796

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goldfish_Street

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Feng_shui

www.discoverhongkong.com/uk/shop/where-to-shop/street-mar...

 

Light falls on a lantern in a traditional Japanese garden

Homigot ( Korean: 호미곶, 虎尾串 )

   

Address

 

Gyeongsangbuk-do Pohang-si Nam-gu Daebo-myeon Daebo-ri

 

Type

 

Walking

  

Introduction

 

If the Korean peninsula is seen as a tiger shape, Homigot (호미곶), in Pohang, Gyeongsangbuk-do, forms the tail. As a venue for Homigot National Sunrise Festival, the Sunrise Square in Homigot features various facilities including monuments, a flame holder, and a performance stage. The brilliant yellow and golden garden at the entrance blooms in April and May. Hand-shaped bronze sculptures have been installed at the waterfront and the beachfront. The palms of the hands face each other, symbolizing harmony and coexistence. The flame originating from the sunlight at Byeonsan Peninsula was used in various international sporting events. Homigot Lighthouse and Lighthouse Museum are located near Homigot Sunrise Square.

 

Source from

 

english.visitkorea.or.kr/enu/SI/SI_EN_3_1_1_1.jsp?cid=806297

             

Homigot Village

  

At the entrance to the lighthouse museum, a famous site in Homigot, stands Homidung Yuraebi (a monument), facing Homidung in the west. The inscriptions tells that Daebo had such beautiful scenery that Yukdang Nam-seon Choi recorded the region as one of 10 best natural beauties in Korea in the book 'Chosunsangsikjiri' (a book about the geography of Korea) and 'Gyeokam Namsagosansubirok' (a book about the secrets of the mountains and rivers written by Geokam, who was a scholar of geomancy during the reign of King Myoungjong of the Chosun Dynasty) called the region Homidung (tiger's tail) because it looked like the tail of a tiger.

 

Source from

 

www.invil.org/english/village/daegu/contents.jsp?con_no=2...

  

Name: Karima Rashid-Yasin

Age: 25

Race: Human

Class: Elemental mage(Earth and water)

Nationality: Calamshan

 

After Gathering the forces and power needed to take on "the abbot" a self proclaimed "god" and his army of mutant experiment, Karima and her companions launch their assault on the villain's mountain top base using the aid of giant owls they bypass the bulk of the mutant army and land right in the heart of the abby!

 

After dispatching the few dozen guards in the courtyard losing a few of their hired mercenaries in the process, they are ready to enter the inner sanctum, the groups "infiltration expert" suffered injuries from a magical trap at the front door. so Karima used her earth magic to tunnel though the side wall by passing the door completely. now standing face to face with the Abby's master

 

The Abbot reveals his true form! a twisted and corrupted celestial, fallen from grace and lacking the features of the god he claims to be. after a short proclamation of his immortality the battle starts. the party's paladin adding divine power into her every attack upon the creature, the ranger firing magical arrows, the rouge vanishing into the shadows only to backstab the enemy over and over, the healer using her divine light to keep the party's wounds from becoming life threatening and the two wizards attacking and defending with their versatile magics from a higher vantage point. all the while Karima uses her earth magic to reinforce her own defenses, and her water magic to assault the fallen celestial filling his mouth with water to in an attempt to bring him down.

 

The battle raged for what seemed like eternity, the remaining mercenaries doing their best to protect the healer as they were ordered. the battle looked like it was no going well after the celestial filled the room with a cloud of toxic poison! but the female battle wizard used her magic to blow the cloud away. finally with the combined might of the party's attacks the Fallen celestial was on his last legs, in an attempt to escape to flew out the winder and threw i massive fireball in behind him! but with Karima's quick thinking her created a wall of water to negate the fire damage entirely!

 

The Ranger followed after the fallen celestial who had landed on the roof, scaling the wall with impressive speed and firing arrow after arrow at him. the assault was wasted though as the next thing the party saw was the ranger falling lifeless to the ground. the male wizard uses his magic to create a magical door that teleports himself and the paladin up to the roof believing that they could finish the battle! but after seeing what happened to the ranger Karima was worried, so she followed but jumping from the window and creating a stone pillar under her feet that shot up 50 feet, even to the height of the roof! seeing the paladin already unconscious and the wizard's magic being countered by the fallen celestial, Karaima unleashed her elemental magic upon him, using the last of her strength she fired a barrage of ice shards and water bolts toward him, the final blast managing to finish him off for good! the battle is over! now to clean up his remaining mutants, and to look the body of course...

Under the modern city Tomar lies the Roman city of Sellium. After the conquest of the region from the Moors in the Portuguese Reconquista, the land was granted in 1159 as a fief to the Order of the Knights Templar. Its Grand Master in Portugal, and Tomar's somewhat mythical founder, Gualdim Pais, laid in 1160 the first stone of the Castle and Monastery that would become the headquarters of the Order in Portugal.

Local traditional legends preach that the choice was for mystical reasons and by divine inspiration, from practices like geomancy by the Grand Master, based on exercises taken from luck and predestination. Reinforcing this magical view is the fact that the lot was part of a small chain of seven elevations (lugar dos sete montes), which became known as the city of seven hills, as the seven hills of Jerusalem, the seven hills of Rome or the seven columns of Constantinople. The foral or feudal contract was granted in 1162 by the Grand Master to the people. The Templars ruled from Tomar a vast region of central Portugal which they pledged to defend from Moorish attacks and raids. Like many lords of the unpopulated former frontier region of central Portugal, the villagers were given relatively liberal conditions in comparison with those of the northern regions of Portugal, in order to attract new immigrants. Those inhabitants who could sustain a horse were obliged to pay military service in return for privileges. They were not allowed the title of Knight which was reserved to the monks. Women were also admitted to the Order, although they didn't fight.

In 1190 Abu Yusuf al-Mansur, a Moroccan caliph, and his army attacked Tomar. However the crusader Knights and their 72-year-old leader kept them at bay. A plaque commemorates this bloody battle at the Porta do Sangue at the Castelo Templário (Castle of Tomar). In 1314, under pressure from the Pope Clement V, who wanted the Templars banned throughout Europe, King Dinis negotiated instead to transfer the possessions and personnel of the Order in Portugal to a newly created Order of Christ. This Order in 1319 moved south to Castro Marim, but in 1356 it returned to Tomar. In the 15th century the position of (cleric) Grand Master of the Order was henceforth nominated by the Pope, and the (lay) Master or Governor by the King, instead of being elected by the monks.

Henry the Navigator was made the Governor of the Order, and it is believed that he used the resources and knowledge of the Order to succeed in his enterprises in Africa and in the Atlantic. The cross of the Order of Christ that was painted in the sails of the caravels that crossed the seas, and the Catholic missions in the new lands were under the authority of the Tomar clerics until 1514. Henry, enriched by his overseas enterprises, was the first ruler to ameliorate the buildings of the Convento de Cristo since its construction by Gualdim Pais. He also ordered dams to be built to control the river Nabão and swamps to be drained. This allowed the burgeoning town to attract more settlers. Henry ordered the new streets to be designed in a rational, geometrical fashion, as they can still be seen today.

In 1438, King Duarte, away from Lisbon because of the Black Death, died there instead.

View of the round Templar church (12th century) of the Convent of the Order of Christ

Church of Santa Maria do Olival, burial place for the Knights Templar of Tomar

Just after 1492 with the expulsion of the Jews from Spain, the town increased further with Jewish refugee artisans and traders. The very large Jewish minority dynamized the city with new trades and skills. Their experience was vital in the success of the new trade routes with Africa. The original synagogue still stands. In the reign of Manuel I of Portugal the convent took its final form within the Manueline renaissance style. With the growing importance of the town as master of Portugal's overseas empire, the leadership of the Order was granted to the King by the Pope. However, under pressure from the monarchs of Spain, the King soon proclaimed by Edict that all the Jews remaining within the territory of Portugal would be after a short period considered Christians, although simultaneously he forbade them to leave, fearing that the exodus of Jewish men of knowledge and capital would harm Portugal's burgeoning commercial empire. Jews were largely undisturbed as nominal Christians for several decades, until the establishment of a Tribunal of the Portuguese Inquisition by the initiative of the Catholic Clergy in the town. Under persecution, wealthier Jews fled, while most others were forced to convert. Hundreds of both Jews and New Christians were arrested, tortured and burned at the stake in autos da fé, in a frenzy of persecution that peaked around 1550. Many others were expropriated of their property. Jewish ascendancy, more than Jewish religion, together with personal wealth determined whom would be persecuted, since the expropriations reverted to the institution of the Inquisition itself. The town lost then with the persecution of its merchants and professionals most of its relevance as a trading centre. New Christian names among the inhabitants are very common today.

In 1581 the city was the seat of the Portuguese Cortes (Feudal Parliament) which acclaimed the King of Spain Felipe II as Portugal's Filipe I.

During the 18th century Tomar was one of the first regions of Portugal in industry. In the reign of Maria I, with royal support, a textile factory of Jácome Ratton was established against the opposition of the Order. The hydraulic resources of the river Nabão were used to supply energy to this and many other factories, namely paper factories, foundries, glassworks, silks and soaps.

Tomar was occupied by the French during the Napoleonic invasions, against which it rebelled. Duke of Wellington with his Portuguese and English troops liberated the city afterwards. In 1834 all the religious orders, including the Order of Christ, were disbanded.

Twitter and Facebook Contests!

Tomorrow, I'll be posting some of the best and most successful Twitter and Facebook contests I have seen. We are going to be having the good people at @Peachpit run a few contest to give away copies of the book after release! I'd like you guys and gals to pick your favorites. So please, if you have more suggestions, let me know. I've got a great list already, so let's keep 'em comin! Note that I don't want to do just boring, obvious contests. I'd like them to be fun, different, and engaging. Know what I mean? So, if you've seen some that are successful, please pass them along!

 

Today's Photo

I think I could stay in Kyoto for a few years and go out taking photos every day and night! What a picturesque place... I feel like someone designed it a thousand years ago just for HDR! Now, I think this is a pretty darned good example of HDR. When you are there, you do see all these colors and light levels. Absolutely! Thank goodness for the sweet lady HDR and all her little tricks.

 

from the blog www.stuckincustoms.com

The Jokhang, (Tibetan: ཇོ་ཁང་; Wylie: Jo-khang; also called the Jokang, Jokhang Temple, Jokhang Monastery or Tsuklakang (gTsug lag khang), is located on Barkhor Square in Lhasa. It was built during the reign of king Songsten Gampo (605?-650 CE) to celebrate his marriage with Chinese Tang Dynasty princess Wencheng, who was a Buddhist.

 

During the Bon period of Tibet the temple was (and sometimes still is), called the 'Tsuklakang' (Tsulag Khang) — 'House of Religious Science' or 'House of Wisdom.' The term tsuklak refers to the 'sciences' such as geomancy, astrology, and divination which formed part of the pre-Buddhist shamanistic religion now referred to as Bon. It is more commonly known today as the Jokhang, which means the 'House of the Buddha'.

 

For most Tibetans it is the most sacred and important temple in Tibet. It is in some regards pan-sectarian, but is presently controlled by the Gelug school.

 

Along with the Potala Palace, it is probably the most popular tourist attraction in Lhasa. It is part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site "Historic Ensemble of the Potala Palace," and a spiritual centre of Lhasa.

 

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jokhang

Apparently, the only dry area in this humid city of Singapore that evening was the Suntec Fountain. I made a special trip down there after our event wrapped up to try to capture the waterfall and colors. Even though the local schedule posted several shows that were scheduled for the evening, this puppy was bone dry. Not sure what was going, so I captured this anyway.

 

View On Black

 

divination in the field

The Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn and the Golden Dawn.The Breaking of the Golden Dawn

They had to fight from the start against Arthur Edward Waite, who, at the head of a group of followers, wanted to modify the system of leadership, for reasons he explained in 1903: to be caliph instead of the caliph, then make The Order give up all magic, overhaul all rituals, and all for good reason: Waite claims the Third Order doesn't exist. Waite and Blackden then founded their own Order, with a temple they named Isis-Urania after the first temple of the Golden Dawn. Brodie-Inner makes his Edinburgh temple independent.Following the Golden Dawn on the Tarot track is much easier indeed: Waite in 1910 gives his drawn version of the mysteries described in "book T" of the Golden Dawn, the "Rider tarot", and accompanies it with a book where he says too much or not enough. The particularity of this game is that, unlike Book T, the Minors are small scenes illustrating the principle attached to them. But no keywords, no visible alchemy or Qabala everywhere: Waite's mysticism emanates from all magic. From the book and the game, then from Book T when it began to be distributed under the coat, many creations flourished, up to recent authors such as the game of Hanson-Roberts, Salvador Dali or the Sacred rose…while that of Crowley inspired Barbara Walker, specialist in feminine magic, the German Haindl, Gill, Clark, or the Italian Mario…in his “Tarot of the Ages”… Attempts from Book T itself gave birth to the game of Robert Wang, supervised by Israel Regardie, the game of Gareth Knight, the game of Geoffroy Dowson, the very faithful game of Sandra Tabatha Cicero...

Paul Foster Case, member of the Order, founds the BOTA (Builders of Adytum), where everyone must paint their game themselves, according to Case's book; the drawing differs slightly from Waite, and has the Minors abstracted.

 

History, technology and survival

 

What is fascinating when one approaches the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn is to see how this structure so brief - from 1887 to 1903: barely sixteen years! - Has dared to touch all areas of occultism, both Western and Eastern, has carried out a gigantic synthesis of contradictory or unusual teachings, and has influenced all the schools of the 20th century throughout the English- and French-speaking world. Audacities forged by Golden Dawn seekers are considered gospel by many esoteric groups, either directly from Golden Dawn because they were founded by a former member, or indirectly through the discovery of their work and the adaptation of the said works to their own research. We are going to see first of all which are the researchers whose discoveries or affirmations have been used by the GD; then we will see the history of the Order itself, and finally the continuators of the GD and its current influence.

 

Masters of the Golden Dawn

 

We can first see a theoretician of ceremonial magic, Cornelius Agrippa, whose work was centered on the analogies between objects, elements, man, and the cosmos. Acting on one according to certain rules, one could act on the other by way of sympathy and by the union of all in all. Henri-Corneille Agrippa de Nettesheim, (1486-1535) is a man who alternately occupies multiple official functions, as theologian, philosopher, linguist, jurist and astrologer, zigzagging with the hunters of the Inquisition who want the head of this man free from any school. His books are a classic reference on talismans and other magic rituals. If the name of Paracelsus (1493-1541) is not unknown to the GD, it is Agrippa who is the "essential" base. Another important base, although much more obscure, will be the angelic system developed by John Dee, (1527-1608), Welsh scholar, following revelations seen in rock crystal by the medium Kelly, visions that Dee took notes. He explains three magics: natural (by sympathy), acting on the elemental; mathematics (numbers and figures) for the celestial world; and religious, acting on the supra-celestial world through a kabbalistic system based on angels. This system includes a true new language, with grammar, syntax, symbolism, only adapted to the angels who can come called by their true names. This carries with it enormous and illegible implications, which Dee called “the Enochian”, in reference to Enoch who was taken up to heaven without dying.

 

Enochian magick is one of the pillars of the secret teaching of the GD. Good books (in English) have been devoted to him, and a divinatory game was even developed a short time ago in order to facilitate the evocative work of the follower. Of course, the great classics of alchemy (Corpus Hermeticus, the Fama Fraternitatis, the Confessio Fraternitatis) and grimoires (especially the Clavicles of Solomon and the Book of Abramelin the Wise) are also used, dissected, reworked and reorganized.

The vogue aroused by Francis Barrett's "The Magus" (1801) grew steadily, despite the blunders with which it was riddled, to the point that Barrett founded a magic association, of which Montagne Summers (1880-1948) and Frédérick Hockley were members. But France will have a great part in the elaboration of the rituals of the future Order: indeed, one of the avowed references of the GD is Papus, jointly with Eliphas Lévi and Court de Gébelin.The old methods and the slow technological revolution since the liturgical catechism. appeared as a trophy . The stigmata are an alchemical ordeal and the symbolism of the way of the cross of an initiation. The Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn

 

The references

 

Papus (1865-1916) began to write in 1884, at the age of 19, and his written work - like his occult work as founder and unifier of various traditions - was followed with passion across the Channel.

 

Eliphas Lévi (1810-1875) is considered the Great Kabbalist of the century, and his books are scrutinized, dissected, commented on with feverishness. He made known Antoine Court de Gébelin who had revealed the secrets of the primitive world in 1775 and who had given back to the game of tarot peddled in the countryside its letters of nobility.

 

The efforts of the Parisian Rosicrucians (Stanislas de Guaita, Joséphin Péladan) resuscitate the old dream of reviving all these specifically Western forgotten heritages, in the face of the growing Orientophilia due to Madame Blavatski's Theosophy: the Templars and their rites, the Rose+ Cross and their alchemy, the druids and their Celtic secrets, the Egyptian gods and the strength of their symbols, the Enochian mysteries revealed to John Dee and still untapped, divination and communication with the Invisible as sources of esoteric knowledge... Further energized in London by the lightning advances of the Theosophical Society, revealing an invisible world to converse with, and the demonstrations of the spiritualist Douglas-Home, the project is becoming more and more 'in tune with the times'.

 

The founders

 

It was to originate in the minds of three Freemason friends who were also members of the "Societas Rosicruciana In Anglia" (SRIA): Doctor William Wynn Westcott, (friend of Mme Blavatski, reader of John Dee, and Grand- Master of the Societas from 1878); Samuel Liddel Mathers, who later styled himself MacGregor Mathers, claiming descent from the Scottish Clan MacGregor; and William Robert Woodman their friend. One will note in the same Societas Kenneth Mackenzie, admirer of Eliphas Lévi whom he had gone to meet in Paris, and Doctor Felkin. All these names will become familiar to you, because it is around them, and barely a dozen other names, that everything will be built.The foundation : One of the legends has it that the seer Frédérick Hockley, pupil of Francis Barrett and teacher of Mackenzie, died in 1885, leaving behind him a vast library, including manuscripts encrypted with probably a code of the "Polygraphy" of the Abbé Tritheme, initiator of Cornelius Agrippa.

Woodford, a friend of Mackenzie, receives these documents from him. He is not a Mason, but knows Westcott's taste for grimoires. He hands her the texts, which Westcott passes on to Mathers for decoding. In these manuscripts, which turn out to be abbreviated kabbalistic notes, Westcott finds the address of a Rosicrucian connected with the oldest and surest branch of the original true Rose+Cross, Die Goldenne Dammerung (The Dawn Doree): Anna Sprengel, in Nuremberg. He contacted her immediately and obtained the right to establish an English branch of the Order of the Rose+Croix under the name of The Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, which was done in 1887. Mathers was named Imperator. The first Temple (equivalent to a Masonic Lodge) was opened in 1888 under the name of Isis-Urania. Recruitment is rapid among the Brothers of the Societas, but the Order is also open to non-Masons, and to women. In 1891, Mathers announced the death of Anna Sprengel and the decision to continue working outside the "third Order", the German Rose+Croix. The GD then included an external order, and since 1892 two internal orders, where all the decisions concerning the rituals and the axes of work were taken. Woodman died in 1891. Westcott and Mathers remain sole leaders of the Order.

 

Secret names and ranks

 

The custom of “nomen” in Latin, the sacred language of the Rosicrucians, is established: at the rank of Neophyte, a nomen was chosen. The texts of the Order sent to the followers bore as signature the initials of the nomen of the author. For example, note that of Mathers: Frater Deo Duce and Comite Ferro (DDCF), that of Westcott: Frater Sapere Aude (SA), that of Anna Sprengel: Soror Sapiens Dominabitur Astris (SDA). One will be struck by the resemblance to the customs of the Strict Templar Observance of Germany, transformed into a Masonic rite known as the “Rectified Scottish Regime” by the Lyonnais occultist Jean-Baptiste Willermoz in 1785. The decoration of the temples and numbers of accessories or costumes were heavily inspired by ancient Egypt, apart from the symbolic creations specific to the GD. Here are the names of the ranks of the Outer Order (Golden Dawn): Neophyte, Zealator, Theoricus, Practicus, Philosophus. In the Inner Order (Ordo Rosae Rubae et Aurae Crucis) (The Red Rose and the Golden Cross), nine months after the ceremony of the Portal or the Veil of the Temple, one received the degree of Adeptus Minor which was subdivided into Zelator Adeptus and Theoricus Adeptus; then came the ranks of Adeptus Major, and finally Adeptus Exemptus. The chiefs carried, in the Third Order, the titles of Magister Templi, Magus and finally of Ipsissimus.

 

Teaching content

 

Let us now see the panorama of what the follower of the Golden Dawn must know, or experience, or deepen, aided in this by strict rituals and finicky astrological calendars: 1) To the rank of Neophyte was given a partial view of all the activities of the Order, and of the already important rituals such as the Qabalistic Sign of the Cross and the Minor Ritual of the Pentagram.

2) The other degrees correspond to the Tree of the Sephiroth, the ubiquitous key in the Golden Dawn at all levels; the Zelator corresponds to Malkuth, the Theoricus to Yesod, etc.

In the First Order magical works are not very developed; rather, we insist on self-knowledge through exercises such as "the Middle Pillar" based on kundalini and the Sephirotic tree, introspection, visions in drawings called Tattvas following a Hindu technique, the practice of Geomancy, Tarot, and learning the theoretical bases of Qabalah, astrology, etc. The first principles of the almighty imagination are explained and put into action, principles which will be at the origin of all the theories and methods of creative visualization of which the New Age is fond. 3) In the Second Order, ceremonial magic takes a prominent place, the Tarot is used in another way, and the Adept is supposed to master many rituals, know how to make and consecrate various objects, Lotus staff, Rose+croix personal and pantacles, knowing how to study the why and how of the rituals he once underwent in the first Order, and entering the Enochian world. 4) The Third Order was only in contact with the two founders; it was nicknamed "the Grand White Lodge of Adepts" and received its directives from "mahatmas" whom Mathers contacted, in the purest Theosophical style, by clairvoyance, astral projection, mysterious appointment, or unknowingly....Most theoretical texts have been published in English. The collection by Israel Regardie, a member of the Order, gives only the texts, with little commentary; the French version is well explained by active members of the Order; the publications of Waite or Crowley bear the mark of the remodeling due to their authors; and many followers, members or not, such as Gareth Knight, Robert Wang, Gerald Schueler, Dion Fortune, Moryason...use the techniques, sometimes adapting them. The researcher who would like to operate concretely should make a rigorous synthesis of these different sources... Unless he receives directly from a true Adept the oral teachings which accompany the texts.

And, of course, each follower calls himself “the sole holder of THE TRUE Golden Dawn”! But let's not anticipate. Let us only reflect on techniques as diverse as they are divergent, often based on subjective parapsychological phenomena and clearly affirmed traditions, brought together for the first time, the link being established by constants such as the Tarot, the Qabalah, the Enochian mysteries... Such a conflagration of diverse and passionate thoughts could only explode, both for human reasons due to the development of the pride inherent in all magic, and for purely eggregoric reasons, due to the reworking of rituals and structures as time went by. as the experiences of the Inner Order (RR and AC) impacted the Outer Order (GD).

 

The flaw

 

The flaw came to light with the departure of Doctor Westcott in 1897. The Golden Dawn had been open for ten years. The official reason for leaving is as follows: having forgotten in a "cab" official documents of the Order implicating him, Westcott was summoned by the English authorities to choose between his post of coroner (medical examiner) and his membership of the Order. Rumors about magic around the corpses did not allow a serene exercise of this profession to a follower... We can legitimately suppose that the autocratic character of Mathers was for a lot in the final choice of Westcott, founder of the first hour. Freed from any moderator, MacGregor Mathers had a field day, ruling and deciding everything. Who will be able to judge whether, on the esoteric plane, Mathers' decisions were good or not? Either way, the full powers of the Imperator began to unnerve the spirits - the embodied spirits of his co-followers.

With Westcott's departure begins the decline of the Order as such. One of the points which aroused the anger of the "rebels" was the initiation into the Order in 1898 of a young magician, Aleister Crowley, who, against the opposition of the Brothers and Sisters, was raised to the degree of Adeptus Minor ( the highest grade concretely practiced in the Interior Order) by Mathers himself at the "Ahathoor" Temple in Paris on January 16, 1900.

So much has been said of Crowley that he can't be as black as that. If his personal life was a succession of sexual debauchery and excess, his initiatory written work is fascinating, lucid and balanced. But in Victorian England, even in a secret society where angels, demons and entities roam, Crowley was seen as the reincarnation of Satan himself, a legend he maintained with that mocking smile that we see in certain photos, drawing on his pipe and loving to make the ladies in feathered hats shiver with fright...Mathers' revelation. But finally a satanic legend pays off, and a famous actress, Florence Farr, the leader of the Isis-Urania Temple in London since April 1897, resigns from her post to Mathers. And there, an incredible thing will happen, a clap of thunder in a serene sky: Mathers believes to see in this resignation an underground action of Westcott, and he answers to Florence Farr a letter, dated February 16, 1900 from Paris, which I translated here: "...I cannot let you mount a combination to create a schism with the idea of working secretly or openly under the orders of Sapere Aude (=Westcott) under the false impression that he has been given a power on the work of the Second Order by Soror Dominabitur Astris (=Anne Sprengel). So all of this forces me to tell you completely (and don't get me wrong, I can prove to the hilt every word I say here, and more...) and if I'm confronted with SA I'd say the same , if only for the love of the Order, and in these circumstances which would really kill the reputation of SA, I beg you to keep the secret from the Order for the moment, although in fact you are perfectly free to show him this, if you consider it appropriate after careful consideration".

 

"(Wescott) was NEVER in communication, at any time, either personally or in writing, with the Secret Heads of the (Third) Order, he had himself forged - or caused to be forged - the alleged correspondence between him and them , and my tongue having been bound all these years by an Oath of Secrecy intended for this purpose, lent to him, asked by him, to me, before showing me what he had done, or caused to be done, or both. You must understand that I say little on this subject, given the extreme gravity of the matter, and once again I ask you, both for his love and that of the Order, not to force me to go further forward on this subject. Mathers does not go so far as to deny the existence of Anna Sprengel - whom he confused for a time with an adventurer, Loleta Jackson, alias Madame Horos, alias Swami Viva Ananda - but the word was out: all the German Rosicrucian guarantee was a bluff, a huge bluff, as was the fanciful "History of the Order" by the same Westcott.

 

The fall of the Imperator

 

Florence waits a few days, asks Westcott for an explanation, who calmly denies it, regretting that the witnesses from the first hour are dead. Florence then divulges Mathers' letter to all the Adepts in London, who on March 3 elect a Committee of Seven to hold Mathers to account. Mathers proudly refuses to show any evidence, does not recognize any authority above him except the leaders of the Third Order. On March 23, he dismissed Florence Farr from her duties; on March 29, the Second Order meeting in plenary assembly dismissed Mathers and expelled him from the Golden Dawn, all orders combined. Mathers threatens them with all possible karmic punishments, affirms that one cannot impeach him without his agreement because of magic bonds. Crowley joins him in Paris, comes up against the secession of the Ahatoor temple, and organizes with Mathers a veritable "duel of sorcery" between them and the "rebels". It's tragic to see a mind as vast as Mathers sink in this war of leaders for a power that is crumbling anyway. Each Temple thinks of itself as the sole holder of the "true" rituals, since their personal experiences have been positive (and they were logically positive, given the magnificent work of the founders on the rituals). In addition, each Frater or Soror with a different experience - through the visualization of the Tattvas among other things - feels invested with the duty to "save the true Golden Dawn".

This phenomenon of fragmentation was precipitated by the existence of secret working groups within the Order itself, an existence desired by Mathers as early as 1897 for the purpose of deepening the knowledge acquired. Florence Farr had thus founded a group called “La Sphère”. Enter William Butler Yeats, (1865-1939) Irish, future Nobel Prize for Literature in 1923. After having been leader of Isis-Urania, he left the Order in 1901, the same year as the trial of Théo Horos. and his wife for fraud and sexual offenses, trials where the name and practices of the Golden Dawn were called into question with the distorting amplification that you can guess, and above all the publication of pieces of Ritual of the Neophyte where the oath pronounced by the recipient was considered blasphemy. The demoralizing effect on the followers of the Outer Order accentuated the ravages of the war of leaders... In 1902, the Second Order gave itself a triumvirate to lead it: PW Bullock, quickly replaced by Doctor RW Felkin; MW Blackden, Egyptologist, and JW Brodie-Inner. The tarot forms another set of beliefs, values and processes to replace them, Magdalene translated the Ark of the Covenant into a tree where the branches became cards for a deck....As far as the Golden Dawn initiation on the TOWER is concerned; the couple is falling apart, and an inevitable fight is going to happen.Translation "You must remain in control of the situation and keep your cool. Avoid saying anything that might hurt others. As far as your life is concerned, your romantic relationship may be coming to an end.

Take this as a warning - if you really care about your relationship, it's time for you to do some damage control or open up a line of communication to clear up any misunderstandings. " iation into the system of telepathic speech and quantum science was transmitted by medieval chivalry, which brought to the West the sacred science that had survived in the East. The knight is this transmitting agent, and he inspired the language of the alchemists, which symbolises the force that enables a chemical reaction and therefore a transformation of matter. In chemistry, transmutation has not yet been mastered, but it is a common phenomenon among alchemists. Alchemists are Initiates or, better still, Adepts.

 

www.ledifice.net/7215-3.html

 

The initiatory process for accessing the coded language of the ancient knights probably came to the USA via Rosicrucians inspired by wonderful tales such as The Alchemical Wedding attributed to the name of Christian Rozenkreuz or Goethe's The Wonderful Tale and the Beautiful Lily. Both drew their inspiration from Eastern philosophers, as did Dante, Shakespeare and Hugo. The initiation process was adapted to the tarot deck by Marie Magdalena . Mary Magdalene and Jesus, two great Essene initiates, when they came to Earth, their souls split into five parts to incarnate in as many different bodies. This journey took place between the Resurrection in 33 AD and the Ascension in 73 AD. During these years, Mary Magdalene, Jesus and their children travelled through France, the Netherlands and England. Later, Mary Magdalene and Jesus travelled to Spain, where they met Mary of Bethany and her daughter Sarah. Magda left us the tarot as a tutorial for accessing pure consciousness free of the ego that came mainly from the Romans and was unfortunately taken over by. Rome and therefore by the various occupants of a high command located on the banks of the Tiber. The genesis of the Golden Dawn. is to take our spiritual history early and rediscover this primordial alignment between earthly and cosmic forces. The initiatory process, represented by the imagiers of the Middle Ages, was left dormant in Marseille by Magda. Magda, with her tarot perhaps drawn in the Baumes cave not far from Marseille, has survived to this day. The founders of Golden Dawn asked the Rider Waite Smith trio to recreate a more modern system of representation than the tarot left by Magda and already illustrated by imagiers keen on coded language. Example our knight has worked well, he's a good knight, good night...

 

The image shows the path to follow to become a magician like Magda or, from a more recent, slightly phallocratic and Western point of view, a magician like Jesus.

 

We start with the knight of the sword, and the sword is the intellect. The tower here by. Strasbourg (birth of the free masons). it's this card which sees two guys fall. in jest, it's the loss of ego and weightlessness useful for splitting the soul into thirds. The ace. de baton is the one that Hermes Trimegoiste receives but. it is also that of Moses, it became. the caduceus of. doctors. The page of pentacle brings the philosophical gold to make this transmutation made possible by the operating mode.

 

The Knight of Swords is often taken to represent a confident and articulate young man, who may act impulsively. The problem is that this Knight, though visionary, is unrealistic. He fights bravely, but foolishly. In some illustrations, he is shown to have forgotten his armor or his helmet.A young man stands alone in a field. Pretty flowers, a ploughed field and fruit trees surround him, symbols of the harvest and Abundance to come. He is holding a Denarius in his hand. He looks at it intently. He studies it. The sky is clear. This Jack is quietly building his road to material success.

 

Like all the Jacks in the Tarot, the Jack of Pence represents a beginning, the first stages of a project. The Suit of Pence is the Suit associated with the Earth Element, material possessions and everything we hold dear - our health, our values, our skills. The Jack of Pence symbolises an awareness of the importance of all the material aspects of life. Wands are associated with fire energy, and the Ace of Wands is the core representation of fire within the deck. The card shows a hand that is sticking out of a cloud while holding the wand.

 

When we look at this card, we can see that the hand is reaching out to offer the wand, which is still growing. Some of the leaves from the wand have sprouted, which is meant to represent spiritual and material balance and progress. In the distance is a castle that symbolizes opportunities available in the future.The Ace of Wands calls out to you to follow your instincts. If you think that the project that you've been dreaming of is a good idea, and then just go ahead and do it. The Tower card depicts a high spire nestled on top of the mountain. A lightning bolt strikes the tower which sets it ablaze. Flames are bursting in the windows and people are jumping out of the windows as an act of desperation. They perhaps signal the same figures we see chained in the Devil card earlier. They want to escape the turmoil and destruction within. The Tower is a symbol for the ambition that is constructed on faulty premises. The destruction of the tower must happen in order to clear out the old ways and welcome something new. Its revelations can come in a flash of truth or inspiration.

 

Symbolism of the House of God or the House of God? or Tower for Rider-Waite-Smith in Golden Dawn system: the decisive question of the determinant in the name of the card. I've just been talking about language. And when it comes to language, it's important to be aware of the name of the card. It's a curious name for a tower, alas a dungeon, a fortress used both to protect itself from enemies and to symbolise its power and mark out its territory. It's hard to make the connection between a house and a fortified tower (there are crenellations). The name on the card doesn't match the drawing: symbolism behind it. Joy! Some anti-Cathos tarot cards, generally from the 19th century, call the card the House of God. Wrong! It is not the House of God. It is the House of God. Or Maison Dieu. This also requires a few notes.

The House of God leaves no room for ambiguity: it's a church, a place of worship. The tarot card is not to be taken as such.

The medieval house of God is something else again. "Another meaning of house, "building for specialised use" (12th c.), gave rise to a large number of expressions that appeared in Old French, then again in the 19th-20th c.: the oldest are based on the assimilation between the house and the temple of God (c. 1120, maison Dieu): the hospital where the poor were housed and cared for also received the name Maison Dieu (1165), analogous to hôtel-Dieu, and convents and monasteries that of maison (1165).".

The Maison-Dieu gave rise to legions of small villages and hamlets, particularly on the route to Santiago de Compostela.

Any esoteric researcher knows that when they come across villages with this name, they can stop. The likelihood of finding something symbolic, esoteric or occult in the area is relatively high. God's house (today in US Golden Dawn) is therefore a building where the poor, the sick and pilgrims can find refuge, comfort and care. We're a long way from Babel!.....? And if I remember the meaning of the card[2] at level 2, I'd be happy to add the following: "There is nothing in this world, apart from the spirit, that should not perish from slow or sudden dissociation. Heaven is outside. It is also within. And when its fire consumes or sets ablaze, strips the skin or strikes with lightning, it is always because a fault has been committed against harmony and disorder has arisen... This is how accidents, illnesses, cancers, revolutions and wars arise. Thus perish empires, peoples and races: from false notes." As always, there are many ideological undertones with the Rosicrucians. Food for thought.

 

www.vincentbeckers-cours-de-tarot.net/maison-dieu-symboli...

 

The Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn was founded by persons claiming to be in communication with the Secret Chiefs. One of these Secret Chiefs (or a person in contact with them) was supposedly the (probably fictional) Anna Sprengel, whose name and address were allegedly decoded from the Cipher Manuscripts by William Wynn Westcott. In 1892, S. MacGregor Mathers (another founder) claimed that he had contacted these Secret Chiefs independently of Sprengel, and that this confirmed his position as head of the Golden Dawn.[1] He declared this in a manifesto four years later saying that they were human and living on Earth, yet possessed terrible superhuman powers.[1] He used this status to found the Second Order within the Golden Dawn,[2] and to introduce the Adeptus Minor ritual. The Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn (Latin: Ordo Hermeticus Aurorae Aureae), more commonly the Golden Dawn (Aurora Aurea), was a secret society devoted to the study and practice of occult Hermeticism and metaphysics during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Known as a magical order, the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn was active in Great Britain and focused its practices on theurgy and spiritual development. Many present-day concepts of ritual and magic that are at the centre of contemporary traditions, such as Wicca[1] and Thelema, were inspired by the Golden Dawn, which became one of the largest single influences on 20th-century Western occultism.[ The three founders, William Robert Woodman, William Wynn Westcott and Samuel Liddell Mathers, were Freemasons. Westcott appears to have been the initial driving force behind the establishment of the Golden Dawn. The Golden Dawn system was based on hierarchy and initiation, similar to Masonic lodges; however, women were admitted on an equal basis with men. The "Golden Dawn" was the first of three Orders, although all three are often collectively referred to as the "Golden Dawn". The First Order taught esoteric philosophy based on the Hermetic Qabalah and personal development through study and awareness of the four classical elements, as well as the basics of astrology, tarot divination, and geomancy. The Second or Inner Order, the Rosae Rubeae et Aureae Crucis, taught magic, including scrying, astral travel, and alchemy. The Third Order was that of the Secret Chiefs, who were said to be highly skilled; they supposedly directed the activities of the lower two orders by spirit communication with the Chiefs of the Second Order.

The Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn has been considered one of the most important Western magical systems for over a century. Although much of their knowledge has been published, to really enter the system required initiation within a Golden Dawn temple--until now. Regardless of your magical knowledge or background, you can learn and live the Golden Dawn tradition with the first practical guide to Golden Dawn initiation. Self-Initiation into the Golden Dawn Tradition by Chic and Sandra Tabatha Cicero offers self-paced instruction by two senior adepts of this magical order. For the first time, the esoteric rituals of the Golden Dawn are clearly laid out in step-by-step guidance that's clear and easy-to-follow. Studying the Knowledge Lectures, practicing daily rituals, doing meditations, and taking self-graded exams will enhance your learning. Initiation rituals have been correctly reinterpreted so you can perform them yourself. Upon completion of this workbook, you can truly say that you are practicing the Golden Dawn tradition with an in-depth knowledge of qabalah, astrology, Tarot, geomancy, spiritual alchemy, and more, all of which you will learn from Self-Initiation into the Golden Dawn Tradition. No need for group membership

Instructions are free of jargon and complex language

Lessons don't require familiarity with magical traditions

Grade rituals from Neophyte to Porta. Link with your Higher Self

If you have ever wondered what it would be like to learn the Golden Dawn system, Self-Initiation into the Golden Dawn Tradition explains it all. The lessons follow a structured plan, adding more and more information with each section of the book. Did you really learn the material? Find out by using the written tests and checking them with the included answers. Here is a chance to find out if the Golden Dawn system is the right path for you or to add any part of their wisdom and techniques to the system you follow. Start with this book now. At the beginning of the twentieth century the esoteric order of the Golden Dawn deposited part of its magical wisdom in Tarot decks. The Golden Dawn Magical Tarot uses symbology and colours as adhered to by the Order of the Golden Dawn. The major arcana show abstract and very vibrant scenes, but the minors are overly repetitive. Little changes between the cards of a suit but the number of cups or pentacles.More than thirty years ago, U.S. Games Systems published the The Golden Dawn Tarot, revealing for the first time many truths and secrets of the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, and its interpretation of the tarot. The card designs follow the symbolic framework of the Inner Tradition. The foundational documents of the original Order of the Golden Dawn, known as the Cipher Manuscripts, are written in English using the Trithemius cipher. The manuscripts give the specific outlines of the Grade Rituals of the Order and prescribe a curriculum of graduated teachings that encompass the Hermetic Qabalah, astrology, occult tarot, geomancy, and alchemy. According to the records of the Order, the manuscripts passed from Kenneth R. H. Mackenzie, a Masonic scholar, to the Rev. A. F. A. Woodford, whom British occult writer Francis King describes as the fourth founder[2] (although Woodford died shortly after the Order was founded).[3] The documents did not excite Woodford, and in February 1886 he passed them on to Freemason William Wynn Westcott, who managed to decode them in 1887.[2] Westcott, pleased with his discovery, called on fellow Freemason Samuel Liddell MacGregor Mathers for a second opinion. Westcott asked for Mathers' help to turn the manuscripts into a coherent system for lodge work. Mathers, in turn, asked fellow Freemason William Robert Woodman to assist the two, and he accepted.[2] Mathers and Westcott have been credited with developing the ritual outlines in the Cipher Manuscripts into a workable format.[c] Mathers, however, is generally credited with the design of the curriculum and rituals of the Second Order, which he called the Rosae Rubae et Aureae Crucis ("Ruby Rose and Golden Cross" or the RR et AC).

 

www.loscarabeo.com/en/products/tarocchi-iniziatici-della-...

 

A. E. Waite and A. Crowley were inspired by that philosophy, as well as famous poets, intellectuals and artists. Today the Golden Dawn Tarot comes back to light in a new form that translate the secret instructions transmitted only to the initiates of the Brotherhood into extraordinary images.

In a professional draw, The Magician, also known as The Bateleur, indicates that you are highly competent in your field, and that you know how to use your skills and knowledge to achieve your professional goals. So use your natural talents to shine! This is not the time to lose self-confidence, to hide or worse to minimise the extent of your abilities. On the contrary! Show what you can do, and accept the challenges that come your way.

 

From a slightly more divinatory point of view, you can also expect to receive positive feedback from your manager or a potential employer.In esoteric decks, occultists, starting with Oswald Wirth, turned Le Bateleur from a mountebank into a magus. The curves of the magician's hat brim in the Marseilles image are similar to the esoteric deck's mathematical sign of infinity. Similarly, other symbols were added. The essentials are that the magician has set up a temporary table outdoors, to display items that represent the suits of the Minor Arcana: Cups, Coins, Swords (as knives). The fourth, the baton (Clubs) he holds in his hand. The baton was later changed to represent a literal magician's wand.

 

The illustration of the tarot card "The Magician" from the Rider–Waite tarot deck was developed by A. E. Waite for the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn in 1910. Waite's magician features the infinity symbol over his head, and an ouroboros belt, both symbolizing eternity. The figure stands among a garden of flowers, to imply the manifestation and cultivation of desires.

 

In French Le Bateleur, "the mountebank" or the "sleight of hand artist", is a practitioner of stage magic. The Italian tradition calls him Il Bagatto or Il Bagatello. The Mantegna Tarocchi image that would seem to correspond with the Magician is labeled Artixano, the Artisan; he is the second lowest in the series, outranking only the Beggar. Visually the 18th-century woodcuts reflect earlier iconic representations, and can be compared to the free artistic renditions in the 15th-century hand-painted tarots made for the Visconti and Sforza families. In the painted cards attributed to Bonifacio Bembo, the Magician appears to be playing with cups and balls. How can we put our spiritual knowledge and beliefs into practice on a daily basis? That's the question posed by Le Magicien. How do you go from thinking of spirituality as a series of intellectual concepts to actually living them? How can you apply them to embody your Authentic Being and bring to life what you really want?

 

The Magician indicates that these answers are already within you and that you have the tools - symbolised by the Tarot Suits on the table - to move towards self-fulfilment. The Magician is very 'hands-on' and advises you to test to find what gives you the greatest sense of well-being and grounding; to practise your Magic to develop yourself and reach your full potential. Intuitive practices create the link between Body, Soul and Spirit... Open your Heart to Intuition and practise!

vivre-intuitif.com/apprendre-le-tarot/signification/majeu...

The Magician - or Bateleur in the Tarot de Marseille - points his wand towards Heaven, while his other hand points towards Earth. This gesture signifies that he captures the Energy of the Universe, that it flows through him, to manifest itself in the world, in everyday life. In front of him, the attributes of the four Tarot Suits are placed on the table: a Rod, a Cup, a Sword and a Denarius. Each represents an Element: Fire, Water, Air and Earth. The magician thus has everything at his disposal to manifest his dreams and desires, to materialize them, to make them possible, tangible. In this Energy, the possibilities are infinite, as underlined by the symbol above his head and belt, a snake biting its own tail. The Magician is associated with the planet Mercury, the planet of competence, logic and intelligence. His number is 1, the number of beginnings. The Magician , also known as The Magus or The Juggler, is the first trump or Major Arcana card in most traditional tarot decks. It is used in game playing and divination; in the English-speaking world, the divination meaning is much better known. Within the card game context, the equivalent is the Pagat which is the lowest trump card, also known as the atouts or honours. In the occult context, the trump cards are recontextualized as the Major Arcana and granted complex esoteric meaning. The Magician in such context is interpreted as the first numbered and second total card of the Major Arcana, succeeding the Fool, which is unnumbered or marked 0. The Magician as an object of occult study is interpreted as symbolic of power, potential, and the unification of the physical and spiritual worlds. The Magician is one tarot card that is filled with symbolism. The central figure depicts someone with one hand pointed to the sky, while the other hand points to the ground, as if to say "as above, so below". This is a rather complicated phrase, but its summarization is that earth reflects heaven, the outer world reflects within, the microcosm reflects the macrocosm, earth reflects God. It can also be interpreted here that the magician symbolizes the ability to act as a go-between between the world above and the contemporary, human world. On his table, the magician also wields all the suits of the tarot. This symbolizes the four elements being connected by this magician - the four elements being earth, water, air, and fire. The infinity sign on his head indicates the infinite possibilities of creation with the will. Upright Magician Meaning. The Magician is the representation of pure willpower. With the power of the elements and the suits, he takes the potential innate in the fool and molds it into being with the power of desire. He is the connecting force between heaven and earth, for he understands the meaning behind the words "as above so below" - that mind and world are only reflections of one another. Remember that you are powerful, create your inner world, and the outer will follow. Remember that you are powerful, create your inner world, and the outer will follow. When you get the Magician in your reading, it might mean that it's time to tap into your full potential without hesitation. It might be in your new job, new business venture, a new love or something else. It shows that the time to take action is now and any signs of holding back would mean missing the opportunity of becoming the best version of yourself. Certain choices will have to be made and these can bring great changes to come. Harness some of the Magician's power to make the world that you desire most.

labyrinthos.co/blogs/tarot-card-meanings-list/the-magicia...

 

Symbolism

Rider–Waite

If The Fool - The Mate symbolises the desire to discover, The Magician is "The Alchemist" of the Major Arcana, the one who can create everything from nothing, transforming lead into gold. The Magician card is therefore the card of "manifestation" par excellence, i.e. to make possible, to concretise and to have an impact on one's environment and the world. The Magician is a card that highlights your unique talents... unique talents that serve your unique and authentic desires.

 

With the Magician, success is within reach. You're ready to use your abilities and skills to achieve your goals. The desire to do something new, to start a cycle, is very strong. In Magician's Energy, you feel optimistic and in a conquering frame of mind. You're able to use all the resources at your disposal to achieve this: your skills, those close to you and all the tools - intuitive or otherwise - that are at your disposal.

 

The Magician is a card that also evokes concentration and focus. So this is not the time to spread yourself too thin or try to do everything at once. It's all about staying focused on a single objective and putting all your energy and resources into it. The Magician warns against distractions, or even temptations, that could lead you astray and compromise the achievement of your objective.

  

The Magician is depicted with one hand pointing upwards towards the sky and the other pointing down to the earth, interpreted widely as an "as above, so below" reference to the spiritual and physical realms. On the table before him are a wand, a pentacle, a sword, and a cup, representing the four suits of the Minor Arcana. Such symbols signify the classical elements of fire, earth, air, and water, "which lie like counters before the adept, and he adapts them as he wills". The Magician's right hand, pointed upwards, holds a double-ended white wand; the ends are interpreted much like the hand gestures, in that they represent the Magician's status as conduit between the spiritual and the physical. His robe is similarly also white, a symbol of purity yet also of inexperience, while his red mantle is understood through the lens of red's wildly polarised colour symbolism—both a representative of willpower and passion, and one of egotism, rage, and revenge. In front of the Magician is a garden of Rose of Sharon roses and lily of the valley lillies....

 

Fairy Tale of the Green Snake and the Beautiful Lily from Goethe, Johann Wolfgang was demonstrating the "culture of aspiration", or the Magician's ability to cultivate and fulfill potential of the ouroboros wo symbolized the Green Snake in this tale, the Magician is an. alchemist. The Magician is associated with the planet Mercury the Ouroboros alchemist , and hence the signs of Gemini the two will-o-wisp and Virgo Lily in astrology.

 

Marseilles

Although the Rider–Waite Tarot deck is the most often used in occult contexts, other decks such as the Tarot of Marseilles usually used for game-playing have also been read through a symbolic lens. Alejandro Jodorowsky's reading of the Magician as Le Bateleur draws attention to individual details of the Marseilles card, such as the fingers, table, and depiction of the plants, in addition to the elements shared between the Rider–Waite and Marseilles decks.[10] The Magician in the Marseilles deck is depicted with six fingers on his left hand rather than five, which Jodorowsky interprets as a symbol of manipulating and reorganizing reality. Similarly, the table he stands behind has three legs rather than four; the fourth leg is interpreted as being outside the card, a metafictional statement that "[i]t is by going beyond the stage of possibilities and moving into the reality of action and choice that The Magician gives concrete expression to his situation". Rather than flowers, the Magician of the Marseilles deck is depicted with a small plant between his feet. The plant has a yonic appearance and has been interpreted as the sex organs of either a personal mother or the abstract concept of Mother Nature.

 

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Magician_(tarot_card)

  

Divination

Like the other cards of the Major Arcana, the Magician is the subject of complex and extensive analysis as to its occult interpretations. On the broad level, the Magician is interpreted with energy, potential, and the manifestation of one's desires; the card symbolizes the meetings of the physical and spiritual worlds ("as above, so below") and the conduit converting spiritual energy into real-world action.

 

Tarot experts have defined the Magician in association with the Fool, which directly precedes it in the sequence; Rachel Pollack refers to the card as "in the image of the trickster-wizard". A particularly important aspect of the card's visual symbolism in the Rider–Waite deck is the magician's hands, with one hand pointing towards the sky and the other towards the earth. Pollack and other writers understand this as a reflection of the Hermetic concept of "as above, so below", where the workings of the macrocosm (the universe as a whole, understood as a living being) and the microcosm (the human being, understood as a universe) are interpreted as inherently intertwined with one another. To Pollack, the Magician is a metaphysical lightning rod, channeling macrocosmic energy into the microcosm.

 

According to A. E. Waite's 1910 book Pictorial Key To The Tarot, the Magician card is associated with the divine motive in man. In particular, Waite interprets the Magician through a Gnostic lens, linking the card's connection with the number eight (which the infinity symbol is visually related to) and the Gnostic concept of the Ogdoad, spiritual rebirth into a hidden eighth celestial realm. Said infinity symbol above the Magician's head is also interpreted as a symbol of the Holy Spirit, the prophetic and theophanic aspect of the Trinity. Like other tarot cards, the symbolism of the Magician is interpreted differently depending on whether the card is drawn in an upright or reversed position. While the upright Magician represents potential and tapping into one's talents, the reversed Magician's potential and talents are unfocused and unmanifested. The reversed Magician can also be interpreted as related to black magick and to madness or mental distress.[14] A particularly important interpretation of the reversed Magician relates to the speculated connection between the experiences recognized in archaic societies as shamanism and those recognized in technological societies as schizophrenia; the reversed Magician is perceived as symbolizing the degree to which those experiences and abilities are unrecognized and suppressed, and the goal is to turn the card 'upright', or re-focus those experiences into their positive form.

 

In art

The Surrealist (Le surréaliste), 1947, is a painting by Victor Brauner. The Juggler provided Brauner with a key prototype for his self-portrait: the Surrealist's large hat, medieval costume, and the position of his arms all derive from this figure who, like Brauner's subject, stands behind a table displaying a knife, a goblet, and coins.

 

www.amazon.fr/Self-Initiation-into-Golden-Dawn-Tradition/...

 

Founding of the First Temple

In October 1887, Westcott claimed to have written to a German countess and prominent Rosicrucian named Anna Sprengel, whose address was said to have been found in the decoded Cipher Manuscripts. According to Westcott, Sprengel claimed the ability to contact certain supernatural entities, known as the Secret Chiefs, that were considered the authorities over any magical order or esoteric organization. Westcott purportedly received a reply from Sprengel granting permission to establish a Golden Dawn temple and conferring honorary grades of Adeptus Exemptus on Westcott, Mathers, and Woodman. The temple was to consist of the five grades outlined in the manuscripts.

 

In 1888, the Isis-Urania Temple was founded in London. In contrast to the S.R.I.A. and Masonry,[6] women were allowed and welcome to participate in the Order in "perfect equality" with men. The Order was more of a philosophical and metaphysical teaching order in its early years. Other than certain rituals and meditations found in the Cipher manuscripts and developed further, "magical practices" were generally not taught at the first temple. For the first four years, the Golden Dawn was one cohesive group later known as the "First Order" or "Outer Order". A "Second Order" or "Inner Order" was established and became active in 1892. The Second Order consisted of members known as "adepts", who had completed the entire course of study for the First Order. The Second Order was formally established under the name Ordo Rosae Rubeae et Aureae Crucis (the Order of the Red Rose and the Golden Cross) Eventually, the Osiris temple in Weston-super-Mare, the Horus temple in Bradford (both in 1888), and the Amen-Ra temple in Edinburgh (1893) were founded. In 1893 Mathers founded the Ahathoor temple in Paris.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hermetic_Order_of_the_Golden_Dawn

Secret Chiefs: in various occultist movements, Secret Chiefs are said to be transcendent cosmic authorities, a spiritual hierarchy responsible for the operation and moral calibre of the cosmos, or for overseeing the operations of an esoteric organization that manifests outwardly in the form of a magical order or lodge system. Their names and descriptions have varied through time, differing among those who have claimed experience of contact with them. They are variously held to exist on higher planes of being or to be incarnate; if incarnate, they may be described as being gathered at some special location, such as Shambhala, or scattered through the world working anonymously. One early and influential source on these entities is Karl von Eckartshausen, whose The Cloud upon the Sanctuary, published in 1795, explained in some detail their character and motivations. Several 19th and 20th century occultists claimed to belong to or to have contacted these Secret Chiefs and made these communications known to others: Aleister Crowley (who used the term to refer to members of the upper three grades of his order, A∴A∴), Dion Fortune (who called them the "esoteric order"), and Max Heindel (who called them the "Elder Brothers").

While in Algeria in 1909, Aleister Crowley, along with Victor Neuburg, recited numerous Enochian Calls or Aires. After the fifteenth Aire, he declared that he had attained the grade of Magister Templi (Master of the Temple), which meant that he was now on the level of these Secret Chiefs, although this declaration caused many occultists to stop taking him seriously if they had not done so already. He also described this attainment as a possible and in fact a necessary step for all who truly followed his path.[a] In 1947, when Aleister Crowley died, he left behind a sketch of one of the Secret Chiefs, Crowley's invisible mentor that he called LAM. The sketch looks like a grey alien. The church invisible, invisible church, mystical church or church mystical, is a Christian theological concept of an "invisible" Christian Church of the elect who are known only to God, in contrast to the "visible church"—that is, the institutional body on earth which preaches the gospel and administers the sacraments. Every member of the invisible church is "saved", while the visible church contains all individuals who are saved though also having some who are "unsaved".[1] According to this view, Bible passages such as Matthew 7:21–27, Matthew 13:24–30, and Matthew 24:29–51 speak about this distinction.

 

Views on the relation with Visible church

Distinction between two churches

The first person in church history to introduce a view of an invisible and a visible church is Clement of Alexandria. Some have also argued that Jovinian and Vigilantius held an invisible church view.

 

The concept was advocated by St Augustine of Hippo as part of his refutation of the Donatist sect, though he, as other Church Fathers before him, saw the invisible Church and visible Church as one and the same thing, unlike the later Protestant reformers who did not identify the Catholic Church as the true church.[8] He was strongly influenced by the Platonist belief that true reality is invisible and that, if the visible reflects the invisible, it does so only partially and imperfectly (see theory of forms). Others question whether Augustine really held to some form of an "invisible true Church" concept.

 

The concept was insisted upon during the Protestant reformation as a way of distinguishing between the "visible" Roman Catholic Church, which according to the Reformers was corrupt, and those within it who truly believe, as well as true believers within their own denominations. John Calvin described the church invisible as "that which is actually in God's presence, into which no persons are received but those who are children of God by grace of adoption and true members of Christ by sanctification of the Holy Spirit... [The invisible church] includes not only the saints presently living on earth, but all the elect from the beginning of the world." He continues in contrasting this church with the church scattered throughout the world. "In this church there is a very large mixture of hypocrites, who have nothing of Christ but the name and outward appearance..." (Institutes 4.1.7) Richard Hooker distinguished "between the mystical Church and the visible Church", the former of which is "known only to God."[11]

 

John Wycliffe, who was a precursor to the reformation, also believed in an invisible church made of the predestinated elect. Another precursor of the reformation, Johann Ruchrat von Wesel believed in a distinction between the visible and invisible church.

 

Pietism later took this a step further, with its formulation of ecclesiolae in ecclesia ("little churches within the church").

 

Non-distinction

Roman Catholic theology, reacting against the protestant concept of an invisible Church, emphasized the visible aspect of the Church founded by Christ, but in the twentieth century placed more stress on the interior life of the Church as a supernatural organism, identifying the Church, as in the encyclical Mystici corporis Christi of Pope Pius XII, with the Mystical Body of Christ. In Catholic doctrine, the one true Church is the visible society founded by Christ, namely, the Catholic Church under the global jurisdiction of the bishop of Rome.

  

This article is written like a personal reflection, personal essay, or argumentative essay that states a Wikipedia editor's personal feelings or presents an original argument about a topic. Please help improve it by rewriting it in an encyclopedic style. (September 2022) (Learn how and when to remove this template message)

This encyclical rejected two extreme views of the Church:

 

A rationalistic or purely sociological understanding of the Church, according to which it is merely a human organization with structures and activities, is mistaken. The visible Church and its structures do exist but the Church is more, as it is guided by the Holy Spirit:

Although the juridical principles, on which the Church rests and is established, derive from the divine constitution given to it by Christ and contribute to the attaining of its supernatural end, nevertheless that which lifts the Society of Christians far above the whole natural order is the Spirit of our Redeemer who penetrates and fills every part of the Church.

An exclusively mystical understanding of the Church is mistaken as well, because a mystical "Christ in us" union would deify its members and mean that the acts of Christians are simultaneously the acts of Christ. The theological concept una mystica persona (one mystical person) refers not to an individual relation but to the unity of Christ with the Church and the unity of its members with him in her. This is where we can find direct contrast to Christian philosophy like the preachings of Rev.Jesse Lee Peterson, yet the personification is similar. There is another view, that contrasts these two school-of-thought, and that is from Albert Eduard Meier, as he includes Electric Theory in his teachings, similar to Creationism.

Eastern Orthodox theologian Vladimir Lossky too characterizes as a "Nestorian ecclesiology" that which would "divide the Church into distinct beings: on the one hand a heavenly and invisible Church, alone true and absolute; on the other, the earthly Church (or rather 'the churches'), imperfect and relative".

 

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Church_invisible

  

The fall of the Imperator

 

Florence waits a few days, asks Westcott for an explanation, who calmly denies it, regretting that the witnesses from the first hour are dead. Florence then divulges Mathers' letter to all the Adepts in London, who on March 3 elect a Committee of Seven to hold Mathers to account. Mathers proudly refuses to show any evidence, does not recognize any authority above him except the leaders of the Third Order.

 

On March 23, he dismissed Florence Farr from her duties; on March 29, the Second Order meeting in plenary assembly dismissed Mathers and expelled him from the Golden Dawn, all orders combined. Mathers threatens them with all possible karmic punishments, affirms that one cannot impeach him without his agreement because of magic bonds.

 

Crowley joins him in Paris, comes up against the secession of the Ahatoor temple, and organizes with Mathers a veritable "duel of sorcery" between them and the "rebels". It's tragic to see a mind as vast as Mathers sink in this war of leaders for a power that is crumbling anyway.

 

Each Temple thinks of itself as the sole holder of the "true" rituals, since their personal experiences have been positive (and they were logically positive, given the magnificent work of the founders on the rituals). In addition, each Frater or Soror with a different experience - through the visualization of the Tattvas among other things - feels invested with the duty to "save the true Golden Dawn".

 

This phenomenon of fragmentation was precipitated by the existence of secret working groups within the Order itself, an existence desired by Mathers as early as 1897 for the purpose of deepening the knowledge acquired.

 

Florence Farr had thus founded a group called “La Sphère”. Enter William Butler Yeats, (1865-1939) Irish, future Nobel Prize for Literature in 1923. After having been leader of Isis-Urania, he left the Order in 1901, the same year as the trial of Théo Horos. and his wife for fraud and sexual offenses, trials where the name and practices of the Golden Dawn were called into question with the distorting amplification that you can guess, and above all the publication of pieces of Ritual of the Neophyte where the oath pronounced by the recipient was considered blasphemy.he demoralizing effect on the followers of the Outer Order accentuated the ravages of the war of leaders... In 1902, the Second Order gave itself a triumvirate to lead it: PW Bullock, quickly replaced by Doctor RW Felkin; MW Blackden, Egyptologist, and JW Brodie-Inner.

 

The Breaking of the Golden Dawn

 

They had to fight from the start against Arthur Edward Waite, who, at the head of a group of followers, wanted to modify the system of leadership, for reasons he explained in 1903: to be caliph instead of the caliph, then make The Order give up all magic, overhaul all rituals, and all for good reason: Waite claims the Third Order doesn't exist.

 

Waite and Blackden then founded their own Order, with a temple they named Isis-Urania after the first temple of the Golden Dawn. Brodie-Inner makes his Edinburgh temple independent.

 

Felkin reacts with a magical act: he abolishes the name "Golden Dawn" and gives it the name "Stella Matutina". It is this branch that is the legal (and spiritual?) successor to the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn. It is under this name that Dion Fortune or Israel Regardie will know the Order. We are in 1903. The history of the Order is over: begins that of its heirs.The Continuators

 

The Golden Dawn had almost as many successors as the Martinist order of Papus, while having the original branch that survives alongside its imitators.

 

Crowley

 

One of the most famous followers of the spirit of GD is of course Crowley. After founding his Order, Astrum Argentinum, he received the patents of the Ordo Templis Orientiis during one of his many trips to the Orient - from where he also brought back yogas.

 

One of the fundamental designs of the OTO represents an oval containing an Egyptian-style eye at the top, in the middle a beaked dove at the bottom, and at the bottom a Flaming Cup stamped with the Templar cross. He had frequent contact with Rudolf Steiner, who found himself imbued with Golden Dawn for many of his afterlife theories.

  

Under the modern city Tomar lies the Roman city of Sellium. After the conquest of the region from the Moors in the Portuguese Reconquista, the land was granted in 1159 as a fief to the Order of the Knights Templar. Its Grand Master in Portugal, and Tomar's somewhat mythical founder, Gualdim Pais, laid in 1160 the first stone of the Castle and Monastery that would become the headquarters of the Order in Portugal.

Local traditional legends preach that the choice was for mystical reasons and by divine inspiration, from practices like geomancy by the Grand Master, based on exercises taken from luck and predestination. Reinforcing this magical view is the fact that the lot was part of a small chain of seven elevations (lugar dos sete montes), which became known as the city of seven hills, as the seven hills of Jerusalem, the seven hills of Rome or the seven columns of Constantinople. The foral or feudal contract was granted in 1162 by the Grand Master to the people. The Templars ruled from Tomar a vast region of central Portugal which they pledged to defend from Moorish attacks and raids. Like many lords of the unpopulated former frontier region of central Portugal, the villagers were given relatively liberal conditions in comparison with those of the northern regions of Portugal, in order to attract new immigrants. Those inhabitants who could sustain a horse were obliged to pay military service in return for privileges. They were not allowed the title of Knight which was reserved to the monks. Women were also admitted to the Order, although they didn't fight.

In 1190 Abu Yusuf al-Mansur, a Moroccan caliph, and his army attacked Tomar. However the crusader Knights and their 72-year-old leader kept them at bay. A plaque commemorates this bloody battle at the Porta do Sangue at the Castelo Templário (Castle of Tomar). In 1314, under pressure from the Pope Clement V, who wanted the Templars banned throughout Europe, King Dinis negotiated instead to transfer the possessions and personnel of the Order in Portugal to a newly created Order of Christ. This Order in 1319 moved south to Castro Marim, but in 1356 it returned to Tomar. In the 15th century the position of (cleric) Grand Master of the Order was henceforth nominated by the Pope, and the (lay) Master or Governor by the King, instead of being elected by the monks.

Henry the Navigator was made the Governor of the Order, and it is believed that he used the resources and knowledge of the Order to succeed in his enterprises in Africa and in the Atlantic. The cross of the Order of Christ that was painted in the sails of the caravels that crossed the seas, and the Catholic missions in the new lands were under the authority of the Tomar clerics until 1514. Henry, enriched by his overseas enterprises, was the first ruler to ameliorate the buildings of the Convento de Cristo since its construction by Gualdim Pais. He also ordered dams to be built to control the river Nabão and swamps to be drained. This allowed the burgeoning town to attract more settlers. Henry ordered the new streets to be designed in a rational, geometrical fashion, as they can still be seen today.

In 1438, King Duarte, away from Lisbon because of the Black Death, died there instead.

View of the round Templar church (12th century) of the Convent of the Order of Christ

Church of Santa Maria do Olival, burial place for the Knights Templar of Tomar

Just after 1492 with the expulsion of the Jews from Spain, the town increased further with Jewish refugee artisans and traders. The very large Jewish minority dynamized the city with new trades and skills. Their experience was vital in the success of the new trade routes with Africa. The original synagogue still stands. In the reign of Manuel I of Portugal the convent took its final form within the Manueline renaissance style. With the growing importance of the town as master of Portugal's overseas empire, the leadership of the Order was granted to the King by the Pope. However, under pressure from the monarchs of Spain, the King soon proclaimed by Edict that all the Jews remaining within the territory of Portugal would be after a short period considered Christians, although simultaneously he forbade them to leave, fearing that the exodus of Jewish men of knowledge and capital would harm Portugal's burgeoning commercial empire. Jews were largely undisturbed as nominal Christians for several decades, until the establishment of a Tribunal of the Portuguese Inquisition by the initiative of the Catholic Clergy in the town. Under persecution, wealthier Jews fled, while most others were forced to convert. Hundreds of both Jews and New Christians were arrested, tortured and burned at the stake in autos da fé, in a frenzy of persecution that peaked around 1550. Many others were expropriated of their property. Jewish ascendancy, more than Jewish religion, together with personal wealth determined whom would be persecuted, since the expropriations reverted to the institution of the Inquisition itself. The town lost then with the persecution of its merchants and professionals most of its relevance as a trading centre. New Christian names among the inhabitants are very common today.

In 1581 the city was the seat of the Portuguese Cortes (Feudal Parliament) which acclaimed the King of Spain Felipe II as Portugal's Filipe I.

During the 18th century Tomar was one of the first regions of Portugal in industry. In the reign of Maria I, with royal support, a textile factory of Jácome Ratton was established against the opposition of the Order. The hydraulic resources of the river Nabão were used to supply energy to this and many other factories, namely paper factories, foundries, glassworks, silks and soaps.

Tomar was occupied by the French during the Napoleonic invasions, against which it rebelled. Duke of Wellington with his Portuguese and English troops liberated the city afterwards. In 1834 all the religious orders, including the Order of Christ, were disbanded.

Sensoji Temple was the reason the insignificant village Asakusa became a town: Ieyasu, the Tokugawa shogun who created the great city of Edo and made it Japan’s de facto capital in the early 1600s saw in Sensoji a very convenient symbolism (also, being the toughest warlord of his time, he needed all the help he could get from the gods and Buddhas). According to ancient geomancy, potential invaders come either from the northeast or the southwest, the front and rear “demon gates”. Sensoji Temple was the guardian of the northeast gate and Zojoji Temple in Shiba, near Tokyo Tower took care of the southwest; Ieyasu made them both his family temples.

tokyocheapo.com/entertainment/sensoji-temple-guide/

Under the modern city Tomar lies the Roman city of Sellium. After the conquest of the region from the Moors in the Portuguese Reconquista, the land was granted in 1159 as a fief to the Order of the Knights Templar. Its Grand Master in Portugal, and Tomar's somewhat mythical founder, Gualdim Pais, laid in 1160 the first stone of the Castle and Monastery that would become the headquarters of the Order in Portugal.

Local traditional legends preach that the choice was for mystical reasons and by divine inspiration, from practices like geomancy by the Grand Master, based on exercises taken from luck and predestination. Reinforcing this magical view is the fact that the lot was part of a small chain of seven elevations (lugar dos sete montes), which became known as the city of seven hills, as the seven hills of Jerusalem, the seven hills of Rome or the seven columns of Constantinople.

The foral or feudal contract was granted in 1162 by the Grand Master to the people. The Templars ruled from Tomar a vast region of central Portugal which they pledged to defend from Moorish attacks and raids. Like many lords of the unpopulated former frontier region of central Portugal, the villagers were given relatively liberal conditions in comparison with those of the northern regions of Portugal, in order to attract new immigrants. Those inhabitants who could sustain a horse were obliged to pay military service in return for privileges. They were not allowed the title of Knight which was reserved to the monks. Women were also admitted to the Order, although they didn't fight.

In 1190 Abu Yusuf al-Mansur, a Moroccan caliph, and his army attacked Tomar. However the crusader Knights and their 72-year-old leader kept them at bay. A plaque commemorates this bloody battle at the Porta do Sangue at the Castelo Templário (Castle of Tomar). In 1314, under pressure from the Pope Clement V, who wanted the Templars banned throughout Europe, King Dinis negotiated instead to transfer the possessions and personnel of the Order in Portugal to a newly created Order of Christ. This Order in 1319 moved south to Castro Marim, but in 1356 it returned to Tomar. In the 15th century the position of (cleric) Grand Master of the Order was henceforth nominated by the Pope, and the (lay) Master or Governor by the King, instead of being elected by the monks.

Henry the Navigator was made the Governor of the Order, and it is believed that he used the resources and knowledge of the Order to succeed in his enterprises in Africa and in the Atlantic. The cross of the Order of Christ that was painted in the sails of the caravels that crossed the seas, and the Catholic missions in the new lands were under the authority of the Tomar clerics until 1514.

Henry, enriched by his overseas enterprises, was the first ruler to ameliorate the buildings of the Convento de Cristo since its construction by Gualdim Pais. He also ordered dams to be built to control the river Nabão and swamps to be drained. This allowed the burgeoning town to attract more settlers. Henry ordered the new streets to be designed in a rational, geometrical fashion, as they can still be seen today.

In 1438, King Duarte, away from Lisbon because of the Black Death, died there instead.

View of the round Templar church (12th century) of the Convent of the Order of Christ

Church of Santa Maria do Olival, burial place for the Knights Templar of Tomar

Just after 1492 with the expulsion of the Jews from Spain, the town increased further with Jewish refugee artisans and traders. The very large Jewish minority dynamized the city with new trades and skills. Their experience was vital in the success of the new trade routes with Africa. The original synagogue still stands.

In the reign of Manuel I of Portugal the convent took its final form within the Manueline renaissance style. With the growing importance of the town as master of Portugal's overseas empire, the leadership of the Order was granted to the King by the Pope.

However, under pressure from the monarchs of Spain, the King soon proclaimed by Edict that all the Jews remaining within the territory of Portugal would be after a short period considered Christians, although simultaneously he forbade them to leave, fearing that the exodus of Jewish men of knowledge and capital would harm Portugal's burgeoning commercial empire. Jews were largely undisturbed as nominal Christians for several decades, until the establishment of a Tribunal of the Portuguese Inquisition by the initiative of the Catholic Clergy in the town. Under persecution, wealthier Jews fled, while most others were forced to convert. Hundreds of both Jews and New Christians were arrested, tortured and burned at the stake in autos da fé, in a frenzy of persecution that peaked around 1550. Many others were expropriated of their property. Jewish ascendancy, more than Jewish religion, together with personal wealth determined whom would be persecuted, since the expropriations reverted to the institution of the Inquisition itself. The town lost then with the persecution of its merchants and professionals most of its relevance as a trading centre. New Christian names among the inhabitants are very common today.

In 1581 the city was the seat of the Portuguese Cortes (Feudal Parliament) which acclaimed the King of Spain Felipe II as Portugal's Filipe I.

During the 18th century Tomar was one of the first regions of Portugal in industry. In the reign of Maria I, with royal support, a textile factory of Jácome Ratton was established against the opposition of the Order. The hydraulic resources of the river Nabão were used to supply energy to this and many other factories, namely paper factories, foundries, glassworks, silks and soaps.

Tomar was occupied by the French during the Napoleonic invasions, against which it rebelled. Duke of Wellington with his Portuguese and English troops liberated the city afterwards. In 1834 all the religious orders, including the Order of Christ, were disbanded

 

Inside the entrance of the Daoist temple: a registration desk, two chairs, piles of red ribbons, an electric fan, an umbrella, a geomancy table, a bundle of tiles and a partly drunk bottle of pop.

Under the modern city Tomar lies the Roman city of Sellium. After the conquest of the region from the Moors in the Portuguese Reconquista, the land was granted in 1159 as a fief to the Order of the Knights Templar. Its Grand Master in Portugal, and Tomar's somewhat mythical founder, Gualdim Pais, laid in 1160 the first stone of the Castle and Monastery that would become the headquarters of the Order in Portugal.

Local traditional legends preach that the choice was for mystical reasons and by divine inspiration, from practices like geomancy by the Grand Master, based on exercises taken from luck and predestination. Reinforcing this magical view is the fact that the lot was part of a small chain of seven elevations (lugar dos sete montes), which became known as the city of seven hills, as the seven hills of Jerusalem, the seven hills of Rome or the seven columns of Constantinople. The foral or feudal contract was granted in 1162 by the Grand Master to the people. The Templars ruled from Tomar a vast region of central Portugal which they pledged to defend from Moorish attacks and raids. Like many lords of the unpopulated former frontier region of central Portugal, the villagers were given relatively liberal conditions in comparison with those of the northern regions of Portugal, in order to attract new immigrants. Those inhabitants who could sustain a horse were obliged to pay military service in return for privileges. They were not allowed the title of Knight which was reserved to the monks. Women were also admitted to the Order, although they didn't fight.

In 1190 Abu Yusuf al-Mansur, a Moroccan caliph, and his army attacked Tomar. However the crusader Knights and their 72-year-old leader kept them at bay. A plaque commemorates this bloody battle at the Porta do Sangue at the Castelo Templário (Castle of Tomar). In 1314, under pressure from the Pope Clement V, who wanted the Templars banned throughout Europe, King Dinis negotiated instead to transfer the possessions and personnel of the Order in Portugal to a newly created Order of Christ. This Order in 1319 moved south to Castro Marim, but in 1356 it returned to Tomar. In the 15th century the position of (cleric) Grand Master of the Order was henceforth nominated by the Pope, and the (lay) Master or Governor by the King, instead of being elected by the monks.

Henry the Navigator was made the Governor of the Order, and it is believed that he used the resources and knowledge of the Order to succeed in his enterprises in Africa and in the Atlantic. The cross of the Order of Christ that was painted in the sails of the caravels that crossed the seas, and the Catholic missions in the new lands were under the authority of the Tomar clerics until 1514. Henry, enriched by his overseas enterprises, was the first ruler to ameliorate the buildings of the Convento de Cristo since its construction by Gualdim Pais. He also ordered dams to be built to control the river Nabão and swamps to be drained. This allowed the burgeoning town to attract more settlers. Henry ordered the new streets to be designed in a rational, geometrical fashion, as they can still be seen today.

In 1438, King Duarte, away from Lisbon because of the Black Death, died there instead.

View of the round Templar church (12th century) of the Convent of the Order of Christ

Church of Santa Maria do Olival, burial place for the Knights Templar of Tomar

Just after 1492 with the expulsion of the Jews from Spain, the town increased further with Jewish refugee artisans and traders. The very large Jewish minority dynamized the city with new trades and skills. Their experience was vital in the success of the new trade routes with Africa. The original synagogue still stands. In the reign of Manuel I of Portugal the convent took its final form within the Manueline renaissance style. With the growing importance of the town as master of Portugal's overseas empire, the leadership of the Order was granted to the King by the Pope. However, under pressure from the monarchs of Spain, the King soon proclaimed by Edict that all the Jews remaining within the territory of Portugal would be after a short period considered Christians, although simultaneously he forbade them to leave, fearing that the exodus of Jewish men of knowledge and capital would harm Portugal's burgeoning commercial empire. Jews were largely undisturbed as nominal Christians for several decades, until the establishment of a Tribunal of the Portuguese Inquisition by the initiative of the Catholic Clergy in the town. Under persecution, wealthier Jews fled, while most others were forced to convert. Hundreds of both Jews and New Christians were arrested, tortured and burned at the stake in autos da fé, in a frenzy of persecution that peaked around 1550. Many others were expropriated of their property. Jewish ascendancy, more than Jewish religion, together with personal wealth determined whom would be persecuted, since the expropriations reverted to the institution of the Inquisition itself. The town lost then with the persecution of its merchants and professionals most of its relevance as a trading centre. New Christian names among the inhabitants are very common today.

In 1581 the city was the seat of the Portuguese Cortes (Feudal Parliament) which acclaimed the King of Spain Felipe II as Portugal's Filipe I.

During the 18th century Tomar was one of the first regions of Portugal in industry. In the reign of Maria I, with royal support, a textile factory of Jácome Ratton was established against the opposition of the Order. The hydraulic resources of the river Nabão were used to supply energy to this and many other factories, namely paper factories, foundries, glassworks, silks and soaps.

Tomar was occupied by the French during the Napoleonic invasions, against which it rebelled. Duke of Wellington with his Portuguese and English troops liberated the city afterwards. In 1834 all the religious orders, including the Order of Christ, were disbanded.

Under the modern city Tomar lies the Roman city of Sellium. After the conquest of the region from the Moors in the Portuguese Reconquista, the land was granted in 1159 as a fief to the Order of the Knights Templar. Its Grand Master in Portugal, and Tomar's somewhat mythical founder, Gualdim Pais, laid in 1160 the first stone of the Castle and Monastery that would become the headquarters of the Order in Portugal.

Local traditional legends preach that the choice was for mystical reasons and by divine inspiration, from practices like geomancy by the Grand Master, based on exercises taken from luck and predestination. Reinforcing this magical view is the fact that the lot was part of a small chain of seven elevations (lugar dos sete montes), which became known as the city of seven hills, as the seven hills of Jerusalem, the seven hills of Rome or the seven columns of Constantinople. The foral or feudal contract was granted in 1162 by the Grand Master to the people. The Templars ruled from Tomar a vast region of central Portugal which they pledged to defend from Moorish attacks and raids. Like many lords of the unpopulated former frontier region of central Portugal, the villagers were given relatively liberal conditions in comparison with those of the northern regions of Portugal, in order to attract new immigrants. Those inhabitants who could sustain a horse were obliged to pay military service in return for privileges. They were not allowed the title of Knight which was reserved to the monks. Women were also admitted to the Order, although they didn't fight.

In 1190 Abu Yusuf al-Mansur, a Moroccan caliph, and his army attacked Tomar. However the crusader Knights and their 72-year-old leader kept them at bay. A plaque commemorates this bloody battle at the Porta do Sangue at the Castelo Templário (Castle of Tomar). In 1314, under pressure from the Pope Clement V, who wanted the Templars banned throughout Europe, King Dinis negotiated instead to transfer the possessions and personnel of the Order in Portugal to a newly created Order of Christ. This Order in 1319 moved south to Castro Marim, but in 1356 it returned to Tomar. In the 15th century the position of (cleric) Grand Master of the Order was henceforth nominated by the Pope, and the (lay) Master or Governor by the King, instead of being elected by the monks.

Henry the Navigator was made the Governor of the Order, and it is believed that he used the resources and knowledge of the Order to succeed in his enterprises in Africa and in the Atlantic. The cross of the Order of Christ that was painted in the sails of the caravels that crossed the seas, and the Catholic missions in the new lands were under the authority of the Tomar clerics until 1514. Henry, enriched by his overseas enterprises, was the first ruler to ameliorate the buildings of the Convento de Cristo since its construction by Gualdim Pais. He also ordered dams to be built to control the river Nabão and swamps to be drained. This allowed the burgeoning town to attract more settlers. Henry ordered the new streets to be designed in a rational, geometrical fashion, as they can still be seen today.

In 1438, King Duarte, away from Lisbon because of the Black Death, died there instead.

View of the round Templar church (12th century) of the Convent of the Order of Christ

Church of Santa Maria do Olival, burial place for the Knights Templar of Tomar

Just after 1492 with the expulsion of the Jews from Spain, the town increased further with Jewish refugee artisans and traders. The very large Jewish minority dynamized the city with new trades and skills. Their experience was vital in the success of the new trade routes with Africa. The original synagogue still stands. In the reign of Manuel I of Portugal the convent took its final form within the Manueline renaissance style. With the growing importance of the town as master of Portugal's overseas empire, the leadership of the Order was granted to the King by the Pope. However, under pressure from the monarchs of Spain, the King soon proclaimed by Edict that all the Jews remaining within the territory of Portugal would be after a short period considered Christians, although simultaneously he forbade them to leave, fearing that the exodus of Jewish men of knowledge and capital would harm Portugal's burgeoning commercial empire. Jews were largely undisturbed as nominal Christians for several decades, until the establishment of a Tribunal of the Portuguese Inquisition by the initiative of the Catholic Clergy in the town. Under persecution, wealthier Jews fled, while most others were forced to convert. Hundreds of both Jews and New Christians were arrested, tortured and burned at the stake in autos da fé, in a frenzy of persecution that peaked around 1550. Many others were expropriated of their property. Jewish ascendancy, more than Jewish religion, together with personal wealth determined whom would be persecuted, since the expropriations reverted to the institution of the Inquisition itself. The town lost then with the persecution of its merchants and professionals most of its relevance as a trading centre. New Christian names among the inhabitants are very common today.

In 1581 the city was the seat of the Portuguese Cortes (Feudal Parliament) which acclaimed the King of Spain Felipe II as Portugal's Filipe I.

During the 18th century Tomar was one of the first regions of Portugal in industry. In the reign of Maria I, with royal support, a textile factory of Jácome Ratton was established against the opposition of the Order. The hydraulic resources of the river Nabão were used to supply energy to this and many other factories, namely paper factories, foundries, glassworks, silks and soaps.

Tomar was occupied by the French during the Napoleonic invasions, against which it rebelled. Duke of Wellington with his Portuguese and English troops liberated the city afterwards. In 1834 all the religious orders, including the Order of Christ, were disbanded.

Photo Essay: Hands & The Five Elements

The system of five phases was used for describing interactions and relationships between phenomena. It was employed as a device in many fields of early Chinese thought, including seemingly disparate fields such as geomancy or Feng shui, astrology, traditional Chinese medicine, music, military strategy and martial arts.

 

Full Story At: www.flickr.com/groups/visualstory/discuss/72157630051517748/

In: KAPPELMAYR, Barbara (Red.) (1995). Geïllustreerd handboek van de kunst. VG Bild-Kunst/De Hoeve, Alphen aan de Rijn. ISBN 90 6113 763 2

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Pp. 874ff in: QUADRALECTIC ARCHITECTURE – A Panoramic Review by Marten Kuilman. Falcon Press (2011). ISBN 978-90-814420-0-8

 

quadralectics.wordpress.com/4-representation/4-2-function...

 

‘Real’ palaces were designed and constructed in Spain at about the same time as Palladio provided the Valmarana family with shelter in Italy. The Royal Palace of the Escorial is located some forty-five kilometers northwest of Madrid (Spain) at the rim of the Guadarrama Mountains. It appears as a great stone platform carved from the mountain and its harmonizing with the landscape makes it a stone scape. It has reminiscence, according to George KUBLER (1982, p. 98), to certain Quattrocento paintings of ideal cities drawn with a single-point perspective in Renaissance Italy. He gives the panel painting ‘A City Square’, attributed to Luciano de Laurana, in the Walters Art Gallery in Baltimore, as an example.

 

The history of the Escorial has four distinct elements, which were planned by King Philip II (1527 – 1598) after he became King of Spain in 1556: 1. The initial purpose as a place to house the tombs of the dynasty, in particular his father Charles V, who was buried in Yuste; 2. The foundation of a monastery (with hospital buildings); 3. A basilica (with a dome); 4. A palace (with a library). These four intentions, which were brought forward more or less simultaneously, have aspects of higher division thinking, but the psychological setting of the King is hard to prove.

 

Spain was in the second half of the sixteenth century on the heights of its political power, covering the larger part of Europe when Philip II was King of Spain and Portugal, King of Naples, Duke of Milan, Ruler of the Spanish Netherlands, and King consort of England (as the husband of Mary I). It was furthermore, a global player in the colonial expansions across the Atlantic.

 

King Philip II began his search for a foundation of a new monastery in 1558 – 1559. He called it San Lorenzo de la Victoria – referring to the victory in the battle of San Quintin (in northern France) on 10 August 1557, on the day of San Lorenzo. The King employed the help of the Jeronymite Order, but their suggestions and plan, where about half the size than the cuadro (block), which was laid out in April 1562 in a location near El Escorial. The plan of the monastery, which was first to be started, had a classical tetradic design.

 

George KUBLER (1982) mentioned three Jeronymite friars, who played a major role in the history of the construction of the Scoria. Juan de San Jeronimo was present from 1562 to 1591 as the chief accountant and most authoritative as a chronicler. Antonio de Villacastin was the Obrero mayor (chief workman) and Jose de Sigüenza wrote a history of the building by recording the progress of design and construction.

 

The official work started in 1563 with the intention of Philip II to bring the body of his father Charles V, the Emperor, who died in 1558, from Yuste to the new location. Philip had an interest in building matters, which only increased after his European tour at his father’s command (1548 – 1551). The King visited England for the marriage to Queen Mary (1516 – 1558, also known as Bloody Mary, because she had three hundred religious dissenters burned at the stake) in July 1554. He was accompanied at that (political-inspired) trip by the architect and engineer Gaspar de Vega, who had to study foreign buildings and constructions, which could be useful in Spain. Vega returned overland and visited places like the Louvre, St.Germain-en-Laye and Fontainebleau.

 

The three main architects of the Escorial were Francisco de Villalpando, Juan Bautista de Toledo, and Juan de Herrera. The first named architect was originally a bronze worker, who translated Serlio. He was titled as a ‘geometer and architect’, which was the first official use of this term by a Spanish royal patron. His qualities as a humanist and theorist gained him (royal) recognition in the liberal art of architecture (KUBLER, 1982).

 

The second, Juan Bautista de Toledo, was appointed as an architect in 1559. He had been Michelangelo’s assistant at St. Peter from 1546 to 1548. His promotion turned into a personal tragedy when his wife and two daughters and all his books and papers were lost when the ship sank, which had to bring them from Naples to Spain. His appointment – after this event and as an outsider – was marred with conflicts and crises, but the King backed him until he died on 21 May 1567.

 

The third, Juan de Herrera, was an assistant of Toledo, appointed by the King in 1563 to check on the unpredictable authority of Toledo. He was appointed in 1576 as a royal architect – after years working in the background, with close ties to the King as Master of the Horse (1569 – 1577) and later (1579) as a court chamberlain.

 

The inactive year of Toledo’s death (1567) was followed two years later by an increase in activities. Flemish slaters expanded their trade after the work on the King's temporary dwelling La Fresneda was finished. The main staircase, which was the showpiece of the monastery, the roofing of the kitchen wing, and the paving made good progress. The cloister was finished in 1579 when the parapets were placed. The basilica started in 1574 and was finished in 1586.

 

The building of the fountain began in 1586, following the symbolism of the Garden of Eden, with four rivers watering Asia, Africa, Europe and America. The design had similarities with the Fons Vitae, also with four basins, at the Manga cloister of Santa Cruz in Coimbra (Portugal), built in 1533 – 1534.

 

The work on the actual royal dwelling (King’s House) in the northeast quadrant had begun in 1570 – 1572. It took nearly fifteen years until the court moved from their provisional quarters to the new accommodation in August 1585, but most of the palace and the college had still to be finished.

 

The library portico, which was part of Toledo’s ‘’universal plan’, only started when the construction of the palace, basilica, and college had ceased and was finished in 1583. The hospital buildings (infirmary) were situated outside the main cuadro (of 1562) at the southwestern corner. Farm buildings, later known as La Compana, were also outside the monastery. The northern service buildings (casas de oficios) were mentioned in 1581. Fig. 727 shows the Escorial in a reconstruction of the situation in 1568.

 

The history of the Escorial came into a new phase after Philip died in September 1598. The complex was complete except for its initial purpose: the underground burial chamber intended for the tombs of the dynasty. The circular plan of Panteón, initiated under Herrera’s direction, had four stairs and a light shaft. However, little work was done until 1617 – 1635 when G.B. Crescenzi altered the plan from circular to octagonal. After he died in 1635 the work was completed in 1654 by Fray Nicolas de Madrid (following Crescenzi’s plan). The crypt was described by Fray Francisco de los Santos as the Panteon. His book included all the rituals of transferring the royal bodies since 1586.

 

Several fires caused damage to the complex in later years. The first one happened in 1577 at the southwest tower. A most destructive fire took place on the 7th of June 1671, in which also the monastery roofs burst into flames. Many manuscripts were destroyed. Some sixty years later, in 1731, the fire started again at a chimney in the college. The Compana was destroyed in 1744, and the last great fires took place in 1763 and 1825.

 

A plague of termites threatened the building in 1953. This event sparked a restoration program instigated by the government. The crossing towers in the monastery and college were rebuilt in 1963. Their spires were re-designed by Bartolomé Zúmbigo in 1673 in a Baroque fashion but changed again to the original layout of Herrera as given in the last quarter of the sixteenth century. The result was an example of the use of two of the major elements of a quadralectic architecture: the octagonal roof fitted onto the square of the tower.

 

Characterization of the Escorial complex by art historians (like Nikolaus Pevsner) pointed to a classification as a ‘mannerist’ building. Mannerism is the term (from maniera) used for imitation and exaggeration of the work of the High Renaissance. Its severity and simplicity were associated in the first half of the twentieth century (mainly by German art historians) with puritanism and asceticism, like the character of Philip II himself. This perception was later challenged and even denied: ‘If psychic states and architectural forms were this closely related in the process of design, then architecture as a whole would long ago have been recognized as a dictionary of psychic attitudes’ (KUBLER, 1982; p. 126).

 

The plan of the Escorial near Madrid follows tetradic lines with a four-division in function (palace, college, monastery, and place of contemplation) organized around a church with a square ground plan.

 

Some observers pointed to Post-Reformation geomancy as initiating the design. Nigel PENNICK (1979) stated that ‘the Escorial at Madrid was built according to a Jesuit interpretation of the Vision of Ezekiel’. Others go further back and tried to find Renaissance ideas of magic underlying the design of the Escorial (TAYLOR, 1967). René Taylor wondered whether the courtier and ‘architect’ Herrera could not be ‘a Magus, a man deeply versed in Hermetism and occult lore, who by virtue of this was attached in a special way to the King?’

 

George Kubler (pp. 128 – 130) denied the view that the King and Herrera had occult views. He could prove that the King did not sympathize with astrology and horoscopes. The court’s association with the mystic Ramon Lull (1232 – 1316) – the ‘Doctor illuminatus’ with his combinatorial method for categorizing all possible knowledge (see p. 780), but also with his intention to convert Muslims to Christianity – was purely academically, according to Kubler. It is regrettable that none of these authors make any reference to a particular type of division thinking, which might elucidate such labels like Mannerism, Puritanism, astrology, magic, etc.

---

Bibliography

 

KUBLER, George (1982). Building the Escorial. Princeton University Press, Princeton, New Jersey. ISBN 0-691-03975-5

 

PENNICK, Nigel (1979). The Ancient Science of Geomancy. Man in harmony with the earth. Thames and Hudson Ltd., London.

 

TAYLOR, René (1967). Architecture and Magic. Considerations on the Idea of the Escorial. Pp. 81 – 109 in: Essays in the History of Archtecture Presented to Rudolf Wittkower. New York.

"There is no such thing as a true tale. Truth has many faces and the truth is like to the old road to Avalon; it depends on your own will, and your own thoughts, whither the road will take you."

Marion Zimmer Bradley (The Mists of Avalon)

 

The Tor at Glastonbury dominates the landscape for miles around and is the centrepiece of an amazing geomancy. This shot taken from the town of Street just down the road ツ ツ ツ

 

*Nikon 1 V1 and 30-110mm 1 Nikkor Lens

ISO280 1/250sec at f5.3 and 93.5mm

 

My work is for sale via Getty Images and at Redbubble and 500px

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Commercial Heart

Suntec City, Singapore

 

One of the hardest multi-row panorama I've ever done. Definitely coming back to shoot again as some water jets on the left side were not working.

 

© Lin Yihan

All Rights Reserved. Please contact me if you are interested in using any of my works.

Full resolution image(without Signature) and EXIF information are available.

Contact: linyyihan@gmail.com

Singapore

Under the modern city Tomar lies the Roman city of Sellium. After the conquest of the region from the Moors in the Portuguese Reconquista, the land was granted in 1159 as a fief to the Order of the Knights Templar. Its Grand Master in Portugal, and Tomar's somewhat mythical founder, Gualdim Pais, laid in 1160 the first stone of the Castle and Monastery that would become the headquarters of the Order in Portugal.

Local traditional legends preach that the choice was for mystical reasons and by divine inspiration, from practices like geomancy by the Grand Master, based on exercises taken from luck and predestination. Reinforcing this magical view is the fact that the lot was part of a small chain of seven elevations (lugar dos sete montes), which became known as the city of seven hills, as the seven hills of Jerusalem, the seven hills of Rome or the seven columns of Constantinople.

The foral or feudal contract was granted in 1162 by the Grand Master to the people. The Templars ruled from Tomar a vast region of central Portugal which they pledged to defend from Moorish attacks and raids. Like many lords of the unpopulated former frontier region of central Portugal, the villagers were given relatively liberal conditions in comparison with those of the northern regions of Portugal, in order to attract new immigrants. Those inhabitants who could sustain a horse were obliged to pay military service in return for privileges. They were not allowed the title of Knight which was reserved to the monks. Women were also admitted to the Order, although they didn't fight.

In 1190 Abu Yusuf al-Mansur, a Moroccan caliph, and his army attacked Tomar. However the crusader Knights and their 72-year-old leader kept them at bay. A plaque commemorates this bloody battle at the Porta do Sangue at the Castelo Templário (Castle of Tomar). In 1314, under pressure from the Pope Clement V, who wanted the Templars banned throughout Europe, King Dinis negotiated instead to transfer the possessions and personnel of the Order in Portugal to a newly created Order of Christ. This Order in 1319 moved south to Castro Marim, but in 1356 it returned to Tomar. In the 15th century the position of (cleric) Grand Master of the Order was henceforth nominated by the Pope, and the (lay) Master or Governor by the King, instead of being elected by the monks.

Henry the Navigator was made the Governor of the Order, and it is believed that he used the resources and knowledge of the Order to succeed in his enterprises in Africa and in the Atlantic. The cross of the Order of Christ that was painted in the sails of the caravels that crossed the seas, and the Catholic missions in the new lands were under the authority of the Tomar clerics until 1514.

Henry, enriched by his overseas enterprises, was the first ruler to ameliorate the buildings of the Convento de Cristo since its construction by Gualdim Pais. He also ordered dams to be built to control the river Nabão and swamps to be drained. This allowed the burgeoning town to attract more settlers. Henry ordered the new streets to be designed in a rational, geometrical fashion, as they can still be seen today.

In 1438, King Duarte, away from Lisbon because of the Black Death, died there instead.

View of the round Templar church (12th century) of the Convent of the Order of Christ

Church of Santa Maria do Olival, burial place for the Knights Templar of Tomar

Just after 1492 with the expulsion of the Jews from Spain, the town increased further with Jewish refugee artisans and traders. The very large Jewish minority dynamized the city with new trades and skills. Their experience was vital in the success of the new trade routes with Africa. The original synagogue still stands.

In the reign of Manuel I of Portugal the convent took its final form within the Manueline renaissance style. With the growing importance of the town as master of Portugal's overseas empire, the leadership of the Order was granted to the King by the Pope.

However, under pressure from the monarchs of Spain, the King soon proclaimed by Edict that all the Jews remaining within the territory of Portugal would be after a short period considered Christians, although simultaneously he forbade them to leave, fearing that the exodus of Jewish men of knowledge and capital would harm Portugal's burgeoning commercial empire. Jews were largely undisturbed as nominal Christians for several decades, until the establishment of a Tribunal of the Portuguese Inquisition by the initiative of the Catholic Clergy in the town. Under persecution, wealthier Jews fled, while most others were forced to convert. Hundreds of both Jews and New Christians were arrested, tortured and burned at the stake in autos da fé, in a frenzy of persecution that peaked around 1550. Many others were expropriated of their property. Jewish ascendancy, more than Jewish religion, together with personal wealth determined whom would be persecuted, since the expropriations reverted to the institution of the Inquisition itself. The town lost then with the persecution of its merchants and professionals most of its relevance as a trading centre. New Christian names among the inhabitants are very common today.

In 1581 the city was the seat of the Portuguese Cortes (Feudal Parliament) which acclaimed the King of Spain Felipe II as Portugal's Filipe I.

During the 18th century Tomar was one of the first regions of Portugal in industry. In the reign of Maria I, with royal support, a textile factory of Jácome Ratton was established against the opposition of the Order. The hydraulic resources of the river Nabão were used to supply energy to this and many other factories, namely paper factories, foundries, glassworks, silks and soaps.

Tomar was occupied by the French during the Napoleonic invasions, against which it rebelled. Duke of Wellington with his Portuguese and English troops liberated the city afterwards. In 1834 all the religious orders, including the Order of Christ, were disbanded

 

The Citadel of Hue (Kinh thanh hue), is a large fortress built in the 17TH century (year 1805) mandated by Emperor Gia Long in the city of Hue in Central Vietnam. This huge and magnificent monument has been designed combining the concepts of Chinese geomancy (the best example is The forbidden city in Beijing) and the military principles of the French architect Sébastien de Vauban. The resulting final set are precious palaces, beautiful temples melted between walls, ramparts and moats, which coexist in total harmony.

Under the modern city lies the Roman city of Sellium. After the conquest of the region from the Moors in the Portuguese Reconquista, the land was granted in 1159 as a fief to the Order of the Knights Templar. Its Grand Master in Portugal, and Tomar's somewhat mythical founder, Gualdim Pais, laid in 1160 the first stone of the Castle and Monastery that would become the headquarters of the Order in Portugal.

 

Local traditional legends preach that the choice was for mystical reasons and by divine inspiration, from practices like geomancy by the Grand Master, based on exercises taken from luck and predestination. Reinforcing this magical view is the fact that the lot was part of a small chain of seven elevations (lugar dos sete montes), which became known as the city of seven hills, as the seven hills of Jerusalem, the seven hills of Rome or the seven columns of Constantinople.

 

The foral or feudal contract was granted in 1162 by the Grand Master to the people. The Templars ruled from Tomar a vast region of central Portugal which they pledged to defend from Moorish attacks and raids. Like many lords of the unpopulated former frontier region of central Portugal, the villagers were given relatively liberal conditions in comparison with those of the northern regions of Portugal, in order to attract new immigrants. Those inhabitants who could sustain a horse were obliged to pay military service in return for privileges. They were not allowed the title of Knight which was reserved to the monks. Women were also admitted to the Order, although they didn't fight.

 

In 1190 Abu Yusuf al-Mansur, a Moroccan caliph, and his army attacked Tomar. However the crusader Knights and their 72-year-old leader kept them at bay. A plaque commemorates this bloody battle at the Porta do Sangue at the Castelo Templário (Castle of Tomar). In 1314, under pressure from the Pope Clement V, who wanted the Templars banned throughout Europe, King Dinis negotiated instead to transfer the possessions and personnel of the Order in Portugal to a newly created Order of Christ. This Order in 1319 moved south to Castro Marim, but in 1356 it returned to Tomar. In the 15th century the position of (cleric) Grand Master of the Order was henceforth nominated by the Pope, and the (lay) Master or Governor by the King, instead of being elected by the monks.

 

Henry the Navigator was made the Governor of the Order, and it is believed that he used the resources and knowledge of the Order to succeed in his enterprises in Africa and in the Atlantic. The cross of the Order of Christ that was painted in the sails of the caravels that crossed the seas, and the Catholic missions in the new lands were under the authority of the Tomar clerics until 1514.

 

Henry, enriched by his overseas enterprises, was the first ruler to ameliorate the buildings of the Convento de Cristo since its construction by Gualdim Pais. He also ordered dams to be built to control the river Nabão and swamps to be drained. This allowed the burgeoning town to attract more settlers. Henry ordered the new streets to be designed in a rational, geometrical fashion, as they can still be seen today.

 

In 1438, King Duarte, away from Lisbon because of the Black Death, died there instead.

View of the round Templar church (12th century) of the Convent of the Order of Christ

Church of Santa Maria do Olival, burial place for the Knights Templar of Tomar

 

Just after 1492 with the expulsion of the Jews from Spain, the town increased further with Jewish refugee artisans and traders. The very large Jewish minority dynamized the city with new trades and skills. Their experience was vital in the success of the new trade routes with Africa. The original synagogue still stands.

 

In the reign of Manuel I of Portugal the convent took its final form within the Manueline renaissance style. With the growing importance of the town as master of Portugal's overseas empire, the leadership of the Order was granted to the King by the Pope.

 

However, under pressure from the monarchs of Spain, the King soon proclaimed by Edict that all the Jews remaining within the territory of Portugal would be after a short period considered Christians, although simultaneously he forbade them to leave, fearing that the exodus of Jewish men of knowledge and capital would harm Portugal's burgeoning commercial empire. Jews were largely undisturbed as nominal Christians for several decades, until the establishment of a Tribunal of the Portuguese Inquisition by the initiative of the Catholic Clergy in the town. Under persecution, wealthier Jews fled, while most others were forced to convert. Hundreds of both Jews and New Christians were arrested, tortured and burned at the stake in autos da fé, in a frenzy of persecution that peaked around 1550. Many others were expropriated of their property. Jewish ascendancy, more than Jewish religion, together with personal wealth determined whom would be persecuted, since the expropriations reverted to the institution of the Inquisition itself. The town lost then with the persecution of its merchants and professionals most of its relevance as a trading centre. New Christian names among the inhabitants are very common today.

 

In 1581 the city was the seat of the Portuguese Cortes (Feudal Parliament) which acclaimed the King of Spain Felipe II as Portugal's Filipe I.

 

During the 18th century Tomar was one of the first regions of Portugal in industry. In the reign of Maria I, with royal support, a textile factory of Jácome Ratton was established against the opposition of the Order. The hydraulic resources of the river Nabão were used to supply energy to this and many other factories, namely paper factories, foundries, glassworks, silks and soaps.

 

Tomar was occupied by the French during the Napoleonic invasions, against which it rebelled. Duke of Wellington with his Portuguese and English troops liberated the city afterwards.

 

In 1834 all the religious orders, including the Order of Christ, were disbanded.

Under the modern city Tomar lies the Roman city of Sellium. After the conquest of the region from the Moors in the Portuguese Reconquista, the land was granted in 1159 as a fief to the Order of the Knights Templar. Its Grand Master in Portugal, and Tomar's somewhat mythical founder, Gualdim Pais, laid in 1160 the first stone of the Castle and Monastery that would become the headquarters of the Order in Portugal.

Local traditional legends preach that the choice was for mystical reasons and by divine inspiration, from practices like geomancy by the Grand Master, based on exercises taken from luck and predestination. Reinforcing this magical view is the fact that the lot was part of a small chain of seven elevations (lugar dos sete montes), which became known as the city of seven hills, as the seven hills of Jerusalem, the seven hills of Rome or the seven columns of Constantinople.

The foral or feudal contract was granted in 1162 by the Grand Master to the people. The Templars ruled from Tomar a vast region of central Portugal which they pledged to defend from Moorish attacks and raids. Like many lords of the unpopulated former frontier region of central Portugal, the villagers were given relatively liberal conditions in comparison with those of the northern regions of Portugal, in order to attract new immigrants. Those inhabitants who could sustain a horse were obliged to pay military service in return for privileges. They were not allowed the title of Knight which was reserved to the monks. Women were also admitted to the Order, although they didn't fight.

In 1190 Abu Yusuf al-Mansur, a Moroccan caliph, and his army attacked Tomar. However the crusader Knights and their 72-year-old leader kept them at bay. A plaque commemorates this bloody battle at the Porta do Sangue at the Castelo Templário (Castle of Tomar). In 1314, under pressure from the Pope Clement V, who wanted the Templars banned throughout Europe, King Dinis negotiated instead to transfer the possessions and personnel of the Order in Portugal to a newly created Order of Christ. This Order in 1319 moved south to Castro Marim, but in 1356 it returned to Tomar. In the 15th century the position of (cleric) Grand Master of the Order was henceforth nominated by the Pope, and the (lay) Master or Governor by the King, instead of being elected by the monks.

Henry the Navigator was made the Governor of the Order, and it is believed that he used the resources and knowledge of the Order to succeed in his enterprises in Africa and in the Atlantic. The cross of the Order of Christ that was painted in the sails of the caravels that crossed the seas, and the Catholic missions in the new lands were under the authority of the Tomar clerics until 1514.

Henry, enriched by his overseas enterprises, was the first ruler to ameliorate the buildings of the Convento de Cristo since its construction by Gualdim Pais. He also ordered dams to be built to control the river Nabão and swamps to be drained. This allowed the burgeoning town to attract more settlers. Henry ordered the new streets to be designed in a rational, geometrical fashion, as they can still be seen today.

In 1438, King Duarte, away from Lisbon because of the Black Death, died there instead.

View of the round Templar church (12th century) of the Convent of the Order of Christ

Church of Santa Maria do Olival, burial place for the Knights Templar of Tomar

Just after 1492 with the expulsion of the Jews from Spain, the town increased further with Jewish refugee artisans and traders. The very large Jewish minority dynamized the city with new trades and skills. Their experience was vital in the success of the new trade routes with Africa. The original synagogue still stands.

In the reign of Manuel I of Portugal the convent took its final form within the Manueline renaissance style. With the growing importance of the town as master of Portugal's overseas empire, the leadership of the Order was granted to the King by the Pope.

However, under pressure from the monarchs of Spain, the King soon proclaimed by Edict that all the Jews remaining within the territory of Portugal would be after a short period considered Christians, although simultaneously he forbade them to leave, fearing that the exodus of Jewish men of knowledge and capital would harm Portugal's burgeoning commercial empire. Jews were largely undisturbed as nominal Christians for several decades, until the establishment of a Tribunal of the Portuguese Inquisition by the initiative of the Catholic Clergy in the town. Under persecution, wealthier Jews fled, while most others were forced to convert. Hundreds of both Jews and New Christians were arrested, tortured and burned at the stake in autos da fé, in a frenzy of persecution that peaked around 1550. Many others were expropriated of their property. Jewish ascendancy, more than Jewish religion, together with personal wealth determined whom would be persecuted, since the expropriations reverted to the institution of the Inquisition itself. The town lost then with the persecution of its merchants and professionals most of its relevance as a trading centre. New Christian names among the inhabitants are very common today.

In 1581 the city was the seat of the Portuguese Cortes (Feudal Parliament) which acclaimed the King of Spain Felipe II as Portugal's Filipe I.

During the 18th century Tomar was one of the first regions of Portugal in industry. In the reign of Maria I, with royal support, a textile factory of Jácome Ratton was established against the opposition of the Order. The hydraulic resources of the river Nabão were used to supply energy to this and many other factories, namely paper factories, foundries, glassworks, silks and soaps.

Tomar was occupied by the French during the Napoleonic invasions, against which it rebelled. Duke of Wellington with his Portuguese and English troops liberated the city afterwards. In 1834 all the religious orders, including the Order of Christ, were disbanded

 

Guo Xi developed a strategy of depicting multiple perspectives called "the angle of totality." Because a painting is not a window, there is no need to imitate the mechanics of vision and view a scene from only one spot.The lesser, bending trees Guo Xi described anthropomorphically as holding one's creeds within oneself; the crouching, gnarled trees were seen analogous to an individual clinging to his own virtues; and the vertical trees were compared to those individuals who remain abreast of their environmental conditions (politics) and flourish.Early Spring, done in 1072, is considered one of the great masterpieces of the Northern Song monumental landscape tradition. It is a rare example of an early painting executed by a court professional who signed and dated his work.

depts.washington.edu/chinaciv/painting/4lndguox.htm

“Transporting through the Three Vehicles” ( 三車搬運 Sanche Banyun ) is a term of Inner Alchemy ( 內丹 Neidan ). Drawn by an ox, a sheep or a deer respectively, the “three vehicles” signify the different Fire Phases ( 火候 Huohou ) in the practice of Inner Alchemy. According to the Transmission of Dao by Zhongli Quan and Lü Dongbin ( 鍾呂傳道集 Zhonglu Chuandaoji ), they actually refer to the three forms of “River Chariot” ( 河車 Heche ), vehicles used for carrying things across river. “Crossing river” is indeed another metaphor in Inner Alchemy. The ancients derived inspiration from the phenomenon that the leaves falling onto river can carry things, and so invented “boats”, the “river chariots”. A “River Chariot” is needed for “crossing river”. Daoist Inner Alchemy associated it with the process of refining the vital breath. In the opinion of Daoist believers, there is more Yin than Yang in human body, which indicates that water is the major channel in human body. In other words, there exists a particular river course in human body, and the main points of refining the vital breath consist in walking in the river course, leading the vital breath with the mind and recycling it through the whole body, so as to produce the great elixir. Then what does the “River Chariot” exactly refer to in the Cultivation and Refinement ( 修煉 Xiulian ) of Inner Alchemy? There have always been different arguments. The chapter “On the River Chariot” in the Transmission of Dao by Zhongli Quan and Lü Dongbin points out that the River Chariot is formed “in the water in the due north”. Among the Five Agents ( 五行 Wuxing ), “water” is situated in the due north. It represents the kidney in human body, where the “true breath” is stored. The “orthodox breath” generated by the “true breath” is just the River Chariot. How can one run this true breath to produce the inner elixirs? Many passes have to be traversed, especially weilü, jiaji and yuzhen, namely the “Three Passes”. During the practice of Inner Alchemy, only when being abundant can the Original Vital Breath ( 元氣 Yuanqi ) pass the “Three Passes”. If it runs too slowly or even halts, one may conduct it appropriately. However, this can be done only after the vital breath moves. Otherwise, it is as good as trying to help the shoots grow by pulling them upward, and all the previous efforts will be wasted. When guiding the vital breath, one should increase Yang for nine times and decrease Yin for six times. This is the carrying skill of the “ox chariot”. It is so-called because the “carrying” speed is so low that it seems the chariot is pulled by an “ox”. After practicing for some time, one has abundant Original Vital Breath and becomes skillful. Then he can speed up conveniently, increasing Yang for thirty-six times and decreasing Yin for twenty-four times. This is the carrying skill of the “sheep chariot”. It is self-evident that the speed of a sheep is higher than that of an ox, so the carrying skill of a “sheep chariot” is a natural improvement upon that of an “ox chariot”. When the Reversion Elixir ( 還丹 Huandan ) functions satisfactorily and easily of itself, and the inhaled vital breath can ascend to the point of niwan, one should increase Yang for 216 times and decrease Yin for 144 times, which corresponds to the great numerology of the theory of changes. This is the carrying skill of the “deer chariot”. At this moment, the vital breath in human body circulates in the twelve main and collateral channels and the eight particular passages, which means the “big Cosmic Orbit ” ( 周天 Zhoutian ) is unblocked. It deserves attention that the three vehicles of “ox, sheep and deer” are just description of the Fire Phases of Inner Alchemy. The practitioners are not requested to strive for “acceleration” sedulously. As far as the mind is concerned, the primary principle in controlling the “Fire Phases” is spontaneity. One should not act with undue haste, or else all that has been achieved will be spoiled. We must keep it firmly in mind.

en.daoinfo.org/wiki/Transporting_through_the_Three_Vehicles

Basically the understanding of the meaningChinese traditional culture, the seemingly lifeless painting give expressions to the five elements (metal, wood, water, fire,earth) (black turtle, green dragon, silver crane ,white tiger) that can be materials from paramagnetic rock and waidan (外丹). of Fen Shui implied in traditional paintings, and will set up a practical alchemical lab with its array of beakers, vials and fires and take you through the process of making plant medicines in the traditional way, full of its extracted life forces.early Chinese thought, including seemingly disparate fields such as geomancy or Feng shui, astrology, traditional Chinese medicine, music, military strategy, and martial arts. The system is still used as a reference in some forms of complementary and alternative medicine and martial arts.The Wu Xing (Chinese: 五行; pinyin: Wǔ Xíng), also known as the Five Elements, Five Phases, the Five Agents, the Five Movements, Five Processes, the Five Steps/Stages and the Five Planets is the short form of "Wǔ zhǒng liúxíng zhī qì" (五種流行之氣) or "the five types of chi dominating at different times".It is a fivefold conceptual scheme that many traditional Chinese fields used to explain a wide array of phenomena, from cosmic cycles to the interaction between internal organs, and from the succession of political regimes to the properties of medicinal drugs. The "Five Phases" are Wood (木 mù), Fire (火 huǒ), Earth (土 tǔ), Metal (金 jīn), and Water (水 shuǐ). This order of presentation is known as the "mutual generation" (相生 xiāngshēng) sequence. In the order of "mutual overcoming" (相剋/相克 xiāngkè), they are Wood, Earth, Water, Fire, and Metal.

 

en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wu_Xing

In ancient China, “Dragon” and “Tiger” used to act as two of the four mysterious animals, which were the emblems for the 28 Stellar Spirits ( 二十八星宿 ershiba xingxiu ) Among them, the “Blue Dragon” stood for the Seven Stellar Spirits of the east, and the “White Tiger” symbolized the Seven Stellar Spirits of the west. In ancient China, “east” also stood for Yang, and “west” for Yin. Accordingly, the image of the two animals was linked to Yin or Yang separately. Among ordinary Chinese, “Dragon” and “Tiger” were developed into symbolic images for “male” and “female” separately. As a result, the marriage between a man and a woman used to be known as a relation between a dragon and a tiger. In Daoist theories about the Golden Elixir, the symbolism of the “Dragon” and “Tiger” was popularly used and further developed. In books on Outer Alchemy, the “Dragon” became the symbol of Lead, and “Tiger” the symbol of Mercury. In the later period, when the theory of Outer Alchemy was borrowed by scholars of Inner Alchemy, accordingly, the “Dragon” and “Tiger” became symbols for elements in the refinement of Inner Alchemy: “Dragon” used to act as a metaphor of Spirit or Spiritual Nature, and “Tiger” as a metaphor of Vital Breath or Desire. According to the Direct Pointers to the Great Elixir ( 《大丹直指》 dadan zhizhi ) by Qiu Chuji, “Dragon” was also known as the “Vital Breath of True Yang” ( 正陽之氣 zhengyang zhiqi ), and “Tiger” as the “Water of Perfect Oneness” ( 真一之水 zhenyi zhishui ). Patriarch Qiu said that the “Vital Breath of True Yang” referred to the Vital Breath “Bing”, which existed in “Mind Water” ( 心液 xinye ). Since “Bing” was a representative of Yang in the 12 Celestial Trunks , the “Vital Breath of True Yang” was also known as the “Yang Dragon”; the “Water of Perfect Oneness”, on the other hand, referred to Water “Gui”, which existed in the “Vital Breath of Kidney”. In the 12 Celestial Trunks ( 天干 tiangan ), “Gui” was the emblem of Yin. Accordingly, the “Water of Perfect Oneness” was known as “Yin Tiger”. In ancient China, the “Intercourse of Dragon and Tiger” was used to symbolize a harmonious relation between “Kidney Water” ( 腎水 shenshui ) and “Vital Breath of Mind” because “Mind” belonged to “Fire”, and “Kidney” belonged to “Water”, according to the theory of the “Five Agents” ( 五行 wuxing ). In later periods, it was borrowed to describe a sexual intercourse between a man and a woman, which, the ancient scholars argued, demonstrated a common principle: a stress over a harmonious and complementary relationship between Yin and Yang, the fundamental elements in the Universe..

 

en.daoinfo.org/wiki/Intercourse_of_Dragon_and_Tiger

Direct Pointers to the Great Elixir

Intercourse of Dragon and Tiger

The primary symbols of yin and yang in ancient China were the white tiger and green dragon, also symbols of autumn and spring, respectively. By the Song dynasty, the Taiji diagram, commonly known in the West as “the yin-yang symbol,” came to represent yin and yang as well…”

Inner Alchemy

Terms of Inner Alchemy

Mind , Spiritual Nature and Bodily Life

Essential Matter , Vital Breath and Spirit

Great Reversion Elixir

Small Reversion Elixir

Integrated Cultivation of Spiritual Nature and Bodily Life

Three Flowers Condensing onto the Head

Transporting through the Three Vehicles

Meeting of the Three Parts

Refining the Mind through the Nine Cauldrons

Intercourse of Dragon and Tiger

Refinement of Essential Matter into Vital Breath

Refinement of Vital Breath into Spirit

Refinement of Spirit Back to Emptiness

Refinement of Emptiness into Dao

Reversing Kan with Li

Centering Merits When Yin And Yang Join

The Five Vital Breaths Oriented to the Origin

Rebirth from the Original Fetus and Bones

Basic Cultivation

Self-Refinement

Harmonizing the Breath

Obtaining the Elixir Drug

Collecting Elixir Drugs

Fire Phases

To Increase Fire

To Reduce Fire

To Nourish in Warmth

Bathing

Unfixed Zi Phase

River Chariot

Mysterious Pearls

Passages and Cavities

Cosmic Orbit

Feminine Alchemy

Cutting the Red Dragon

Refining the Form through the Supreme Yin

Body of Original Chastity

 

In ancient China, “Dragon” and “Tiger” used to act as two of the four mysterious animals, which were the emblems for the 28 Stellar Spirits ( 二十八星宿 ershiba xingxiu ) Among them, the “Blue Dragon” stood for the Seven Stellar Spirits of the east, and the “White Tiger” symbolized the Seven Stellar Spirits of the west. In ancient China, “east” also stood for Yang, and “west” for Yin. Accordingly, the image of the two animals was linked to Yin or Yang separately. Among ordinary Chinese, “Dragon” and “Tiger” were developed into symbolic images for “male” and “female” separately. As a result, the marriage between a man and a woman used to be known as a relation between a dragon and a tiger. In Daoist theories about the Golden Elixir, the symbolism of the “Dragon” and “Tiger” was popularly used and further developed. In books on Outer Alchemy, the “Dragon” became the symbol of Lead, and “Tiger” the symbol of Mercury. In the later period, when the theory of Outer Alchemy was borrowed by scholars of Inner Alchemy, accordingly, the “Dragon” and “Tiger” became symbols for elements in the refinement of Inner Alchemy: “Dragon” used to act as a metaphor of Spirit or Spiritual Nature, and “Tiger” as a metaphor of Vital Breath or Desire. According to the Direct Pointers to the Great Elixir ( 《大丹直指》 dadan zhizhi ) by Qiu Chuji, “Dragon” was also known as the “Vital Breath of True Yang” ( 正陽之氣 zhengyang zhiqi ), and “Tiger” as the “Water of Perfect Oneness” ( 真一之水 zhenyi zhishui ). Patriarch Qiu said that the “Vital Breath of True Yang” referred to the Vital Breath “Bing”, which existed in “Mind Water” ( 心液 xinye ). Since “Bing” was a representative of Yang in the 12 Celestial Trunks , the “Vital Breath of True Yang” was also known as the “Yang Dragon”; the “Water of Perfect Oneness”, on the other hand, referred to Water “Gui”, which existed in the “Vital Breath of Kidney”. In the 12 Celestial Trunks ( 天干 tiangan ), “Gui” was the emblem of Yin. Accordingly, the “Water of Perfect Oneness” was known as “Yin Tiger”. In ancient China, the “Intercourse of Dragon and Tiger” was used to symbolize a harmonious relation between “Kidney Water” ( 腎水 shenshui ) and “Vital Breath of Mind” because “Mind” belonged to “Fire”, and “Kidney” belonged to “Water”, according to the theory of the “Five Agents” ( 五行 wuxing ). In later periods, it was borrowed to describe a sexual intercourse between a man and a woman, which, the ancient scholars argued, demonstrated a common principle: a stress over a harmonious and complementary relationship between Yin and Yang, the fundamental elements in the Universe..

 

There is a white tiger with two front legs and a long upright neck. You must read between the lines.

There is a leaning tower and it is not in Pisa. In the center of the town of Teluk Intan a Pagoda structure rise 25.5m from ground level and tilted slightly to one side. My skeptical friend whom I took to the tower downloaded an app into his smart phone and measured a tilt of 2.8 to 3.0 degrees so it is not an optical illusion. The reason for the tilt is the soft ground on which it is built and the water tank at the top though it is no longer in use.

 

Read more in -

a1000reasons.blogspot.com/2012/12/the-leaning-tower-of-te...

Under the modern city Tomar lies the Roman city of Sellium. After the conquest of the region from the Moors in the Portuguese Reconquista, the land was granted in 1159 as a fief to the Order of the Knights Templar. Its Grand Master in Portugal, and Tomar's somewhat mythical founder, Gualdim Pais, laid in 1160 the first stone of the Castle and Monastery that would become the headquarters of the Order in Portugal.

Local traditional legends preach that the choice was for mystical reasons and by divine inspiration, from practices like geomancy by the Grand Master, based on exercises taken from luck and predestination. Reinforcing this magical view is the fact that the lot was part of a small chain of seven elevations (lugar dos sete montes), which became known as the city of seven hills, as the seven hills of Jerusalem, the seven hills of Rome or the seven columns of Constantinople.

The foral or feudal contract was granted in 1162 by the Grand Master to the people. The Templars ruled from Tomar a vast region of central Portugal which they pledged to defend from Moorish attacks and raids. Like many lords of the unpopulated former frontier region of central Portugal, the villagers were given relatively liberal conditions in comparison with those of the northern regions of Portugal, in order to attract new immigrants. Those inhabitants who could sustain a horse were obliged to pay military service in return for privileges. They were not allowed the title of Knight which was reserved to the monks. Women were also admitted to the Order, although they didn't fight.

In 1190 Abu Yusuf al-Mansur, a Moroccan caliph, and his army attacked Tomar. However the crusader Knights and their 72-year-old leader kept them at bay. A plaque commemorates this bloody battle at the Porta do Sangue at the Castelo Templário (Castle of Tomar). In 1314, under pressure from the Pope Clement V, who wanted the Templars banned throughout Europe, King Dinis negotiated instead to transfer the possessions and personnel of the Order in Portugal to a newly created Order of Christ. This Order in 1319 moved south to Castro Marim, but in 1356 it returned to Tomar. In the 15th century the position of (cleric) Grand Master of the Order was henceforth nominated by the Pope, and the (lay) Master or Governor by the King, instead of being elected by the monks.

Henry the Navigator was made the Governor of the Order, and it is believed that he used the resources and knowledge of the Order to succeed in his enterprises in Africa and in the Atlantic. The cross of the Order of Christ that was painted in the sails of the caravels that crossed the seas, and the Catholic missions in the new lands were under the authority of the Tomar clerics until 1514.

Henry, enriched by his overseas enterprises, was the first ruler to ameliorate the buildings of the Convento de Cristo since its construction by Gualdim Pais. He also ordered dams to be built to control the river Nabão and swamps to be drained. This allowed the burgeoning town to attract more settlers. Henry ordered the new streets to be designed in a rational, geometrical fashion, as they can still be seen today.

In 1438, King Duarte, away from Lisbon because of the Black Death, died there instead.

View of the round Templar church (12th century) of the Convent of the Order of Christ

Church of Santa Maria do Olival, burial place for the Knights Templar of Tomar

Just after 1492 with the expulsion of the Jews from Spain, the town increased further with Jewish refugee artisans and traders. The very large Jewish minority dynamized the city with new trades and skills. Their experience was vital in the success of the new trade routes with Africa. The original synagogue still stands.

In the reign of Manuel I of Portugal the convent took its final form within the Manueline renaissance style. With the growing importance of the town as master of Portugal's overseas empire, the leadership of the Order was granted to the King by the Pope.

However, under pressure from the monarchs of Spain, the King soon proclaimed by Edict that all the Jews remaining within the territory of Portugal would be after a short period considered Christians, although simultaneously he forbade them to leave, fearing that the exodus of Jewish men of knowledge and capital would harm Portugal's burgeoning commercial empire. Jews were largely undisturbed as nominal Christians for several decades, until the establishment of a Tribunal of the Portuguese Inquisition by the initiative of the Catholic Clergy in the town. Under persecution, wealthier Jews fled, while most others were forced to convert. Hundreds of both Jews and New Christians were arrested, tortured and burned at the stake in autos da fé, in a frenzy of persecution that peaked around 1550. Many others were expropriated of their property. Jewish ascendancy, more than Jewish religion, together with personal wealth determined whom would be persecuted, since the expropriations reverted to the institution of the Inquisition itself. The town lost then with the persecution of its merchants and professionals most of its relevance as a trading centre. New Christian names among the inhabitants are very common today.

In 1581 the city was the seat of the Portuguese Cortes (Feudal Parliament) which acclaimed the King of Spain Felipe II as Portugal's Filipe I.

During the 18th century Tomar was one of the first regions of Portugal in industry. In the reign of Maria I, with royal support, a textile factory of Jácome Ratton was established against the opposition of the Order. The hydraulic resources of the river Nabão were used to supply energy to this and many other factories, namely paper factories, foundries, glassworks, silks and soaps.

Tomar was occupied by the French during the Napoleonic invasions, against which it rebelled. Duke of Wellington with his Portuguese and English troops liberated the city afterwards. In 1834 all the religious orders, including the Order of Christ, were disbanded

 

Part of my art show at Klekolo World Coffee in Middletown, CT in November 2015.

  

Sixteen different emblems or signs made up Geomancy, a west African divination system imported to Europe in the 12th century — a system from which Leibniz, Von Neumann and Turing developed modern binary mathematics.

Signed, dated reverso, $100. 00

Nation of China systematically organizes itself to operate just like a brain, with each individual acting as a neuron (forming what has come to be called a "Blockhead")Chinese thought, including seemingly disparate fields such as geomancy or Feng shui, astrology, traditional Chinese medicin, as seen on "Floating Perspective," a technique which displaces the static eye of the viewer and highlights the differences between Chinese and Western modes of spatial representation. It summarizes these into three ways of minor, middle and great achievement, and illustrates each with charts, explanations and formulae..The 5-volumed Record of the Realization of Perfection by the Concourse of Immortals of West Mountain ( 《西山群仙會真記》 Xishan Qunxian Huizhen Ji ) was authored by Shi Jianwu and compiled by Li Song. Shi, whose title was "The Perfect Man of Huayang" ( 華陽真人 Huayang Zhenren ) lived during the Tang Dynasty. After his success in the national civil service examinations, Shi remained secluded as a Daoist on the West Mountain (present Jiangxi province) to cultivate the Dao. But some say that there were two men named "Shi Jianwu". the Comprehensive Annotated Bibliography of the Four Repositories ( 《四庫提要》 Siku Tiyao ) say some Daoists, under the name of Shi, wrote this book during the Jin and Yuan Dynasties. Still some hold that the book should have been completed no later than the Northern Song. The preface by the author states, the book, in secret accordance with earlier and later sages, imitating the number of five agents ( 五行 Wuxing ) and corresponding to the pure Yang one-breath ( 純陽一氣 Chunyang Yiqi ), expounds the mystery and supreme truth of the Zhong-Lu lineage in one five-volume book. The contents, similar to the Transmission of Dao by Zhongli Chuan and Lü Dongbin ( 《鍾呂傳道集》 Zhinglu Chuandao Ji ), explains the ways of inner alchemy, citing the Supreme Hidden Book ( 《太上隱書》 Taishang Yinshu ), Record of the Western Mountain ( 《西山記》 Xishan Ji ), Numinous Treasure Book of Inner Contemplation ( 《靈寶內觀經》 Lingbao Neiguan Jing ), the Book of Communion with the Mystery ( 《通玄經》 Tongxuan Jing ) and quotations of the immortals Ge, Yin and Lu. The theme, based on Three Ways Unified and Normalized ( 《參同契》 Cantong Qi ), expounds the theory about increasing and reducing fire ( 抽添 Choutian ) and the practice that leads to liberation.

  

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