The most credible scenario for humankind might be one of the most important reasons we need swallow the red pill and get serious about virtual worlds now. canarybeck.com/2014/12/22/the-importance-of-virtual-world...

   

Angelique, Geleen, Netherlands, 2016

 

This Saturday I visited the exposition “Street People Project; A Diversity of Humankind” of Nis Willemse (see also www.nisgraphy.nl) at Quartier Geleen. After I had left the exposition and was walking towards my car, I saw Angelique.

 

She was wandering around in front of a finally closed shop. Isolated from the other people of the street, it looks she didn’t want to took part of the things that were happening on the street. Shy? Shut out? I couldn’t tell.

 

After passing her I stopped and walked towards her, and asked if she wants to pose for a street portrait. She immediately agreed.

 

I didn’t confront her what I thought of her wandering in front of the shop. It was not the right time and right place to do so I thought.

 

Angelique thanks for posing!

 

100 Strangers Group

This picture is #45 in my 100 strangers project. Find out more about the project and see pictures taken by other photographers at the 100 Strangers Flickr Group page

 

The Human Family Group

This is portrait #18 in my Human Family project. To view more street portraits and stories visit The Human Family

 

The eagle has been associated with the belief in renewal or rebirth. In a fragment of an ancient Babylon text, there is the story of King Erana being taken to the heavens on the wings of an eagle. It was a widely used custom in many ancient cultures to release eagles at the funeral of a ruler: the flight of an eagle, as the body was cremated, symbolized the departure of the soul to live among the gods. In Palmya, in ancient Syria, the eagle was associated with the sun-god; and thought capable of rejuvenation like the phoenix. As a killer of snakes and dragons, the eagle represents the victory of the light forces over the dark. The positive traits of this kingly bird are energy, renewal, contemplation, acuity of vision of vision, and royal heritage which substantiates it being an attribute of the god Jupiter.In Christian iconography the eagle is often seen to symbolize John the Evangelist, the ascension of the prophet Elijah, and the ascension of Jesus Christ. The eagle's ability to fly high is why it symbolizes Christ's ascension and is frequently depicted on baptismal founts.

The eagle's alchemical symbolism can readily be recognized in that the goals of alchemy are the transmutation of base (impure) metals or spirits into more purer or finer ones. This called for the destruction of the base metals to release the spirit and the renewal or reunion of the spirit in the new one. This is a renewal process, the death one the one and birth of the new, symbolized in the eagle. The eagle is thought as a royal bird as alchemy was called the royal art.In its psychological association the eagle shares and opposite symbolism which can be reversed through personal effort. Being symbolic of St. John the evangelist most firmly established in the intellectual realm, the eagle symbolizes the height of intellectual activity; however, this bird also can represent the degrading, consuming passion, of the intellect, which causes humans not to be ruled by the mind but the body. The eagle displays such behavior when he interrupts his elegant flight to swoop down on his prey to satisfy his carnal needs. At times humans behave the same way, their passions control them. This is the reason the eagle symbolized Adam, the first man, in medieval bestiaries: Adam, too, who originally dwelt close to heaven, lost his glory when sighting the forbidden fruit. Humankind like the eagle can improve its status by returning to the intellectual realm. This also has alchemical symbolism: when an experiment failed the alchemist had to start over again. A.G.H.

www.themystica.com/mystica/articles/~alchemy/eagle.html

Philalèthe nous affirme que chacune des réitérations prend le nom d'aigle; la cinquième Aigle résout la lune avec 7 à 9 spécimens pour atteindre la splendeur du soleil . Aigle en grec ancien viens de éclat lumière flambeau.l’Aigle de Jean, c’est ce qui donne les pouvoirs ou la clairvoyance ou la lucidité ou l’ésotérisme. L’aigle du monde, c’est le prédateur et les pouvoirs malsains.

Un alchimiste déclarera que le globe symbolise éventuellement le matras philosophique, mais surtout les quatre éléments par la croix du globe et le feu avec ses degrés successifs pour régénérer la matière et lui-même par la même occasion. L’image (la croix, la rose, le matras surmonté d’une croix, etc..) est extérieure, les degrés des feux secrets et les moyens, intérieurs. Il ajoutera que sa connaissance supplémentaire vient d’un don de Dieu, de la grâce, ou simplement de ses facultés de réflexion et d’interrogation. Et un jour, Cela se produit. Enfin, dans le symbolisme solaire, la répartition par quatre, ou le cercle coupé par une croix symbolise le cycle solaire et accessoirement d’anciennes techniques « des mangeurs ou Maîtres de feux » (le globe lorsqu’il est entouré de flammes, la voie de la salamandre, les marcheurs sur les braises, etc..). Et un jour, ces adeptes pratiquent des choses impensables, comme de prendre dans la voie du feu, un objet en métal rougi à blanc comme dernière et ultime épreuve. La croix est la Rédemption et le cercle le Monde tant pour le chrétien ésotérique que pour l’alchimiste, ou simplement le chercheur qui veut en savoir plus et à qui le monde pourra éventuellement appartenir, sans qu’il ne soit plus tout à fait de ce monde : l’appartenance, la non-appartenance, la performance ne sont qu’illusions. Les trois croix supprimées dans certaines représentations notaient un triple sens ou trois répétitions d’un même processus, une première opération étant l’obtention du soufre alchimique ou médecine du premier ordre, la seconde, le soufre du second ordre, la troisième la croix centrale, les médecines du troisième ordre ou pierre mystique. Ce symbole est rappelé par les trois colonnes mystérieuses du premier appartement avec les Mots Foi, Espérance, Charité, mots qui permettent d’entreprendre le voyage de trois jours, (alchimiquement le travail des trois ordres) de l’orient vers le septentrion, de l’occident au midi, c’est à dire dans les quatre directions ou selon les quatre éléments anciens, en faisant 33 tours. Faut-il signaler, puisque 33 tours c’est long, qu’en faisant qu’un tour, l’ancien sens est perdu (sans jeu de mot). Et qu’en ne gardant que les Mots (F.E.C.), dans le sens social, l’humain a toute juste une partie des clés de sa responsabilité dans ses rapports avec lui-même et les autres, mais uniquement au niveau externe. Faut-il alors signaler le tablier noir, l’ouvre au noir, passant par le sang - (l’oeuvre au rouge) du grade de chevalier de l’Aigle (du Pélican, de Rose-Croix, d’Heredom, de Saint André, de Parfait Maçon écossais 4ième, etc..) repris dans le R.E.A.A. au 18ième. et l’Aigle rappelaient la puissance de l’Homme divin, héritée de celle du Père ou du Fils dans le symbolisme chrétien, à l’image du Pélican qui soufre mais se sacrifie pour nourrir son ou ses enfants, donc sa progéniture, ou ses héritiers spirituels, bien au-delà du sens social, par l’interne et l’externe. Et l’Aigle de Jean, c’est ce qui donne les pouvoirs ou la clairvoyance ou la lucidité ou l’ésotérisme. L’aigle du monde, c’est le prédateur et les pouvoirs malsains. Jésus Nazaremus Rex Judeorum etc..

Cette formule vidée de son sens catholique n’est pas inintéressante non plus. Elle souligne la dérision (l’humour ?) de Ponce Pilate celui qui se lave les mains et qui provoque un homme pour qu’il affirme sa royauté et son destin sur le monde, alors qu’il s’agit du monde intérieur, sans rapport avec le monde profane de la puissance terrestre. Dans de nombreuses écoles, ce thème du divin en l’homme, pour qu’il exerce son pouvoir créateur et royal, des facultés cachées en l’homme pour qu’il se réalise, prend parfois des proportions de l’ordre du titanesque, mais aussi de l’illusion de puissance soulignée par Axel (volonté de puissance et volonté de l’ego basé sur la mort, les armes et l’or) face à Janus, son Maître instructeur (basé sur la maîtrise du Soi et sur la Vie), et par les multiples pérégrinations de la tribu de Juda. La royauté de Jésus, issu de Juda, donc le pouvoir de puissance de tout homme, c’est l’homme royal, à la puissance de ses facultés. Nazareth d’où il vient et non Bethléem (qui signifie la naissance de l’enfant) d’où Jésus de Nazareth ou Jésus le Nazarénien, ou Jésus le Nazoréen (celui qui a été consacré, mais dans ce cas, pour certains théologiens qui refusent cette théorie, il n’aurait pas été roi, encore moins Dieu, puisque seulement prince en jouant sur les qualités, et la seule consécration possible étant l’oint de David ou céleste) est en fait la ville où il passe, où il aura une vie secrète en revenant d’Égypte. Il ne s’arrête pas en chemin, car cette ville représente l’ancienne foi, l’ancienne loi, l’ancienne connaissance, la ville de l’ancienne Rome et c’est de là qu’il commencera son périple. Si la royauté de Jésus est en mouvement, si elle va vers son destin de mourir pour la régénération, tout homme est concerné par une dynamique de la présence et du mouvement régénérateur, sorte de mort à soi-même et en même temps de lucidité accrue, pour agrandir son champ d’action et reconquérir ses puissances et ses facultés dans sa vie (en trois jours, par la voie rapide, en quelques quarante jours selon Balsamo, en fait pendant un certain temps ou toute une vie). Il quitte alors le royaume des morts et de la mort, pour la Vie.Dans l’optique judaïque. Nazareth était la ville où devaient s’accomplir les prophéties," nazir" signifie séparé, mais aussi consacré. Celui qui passe par Nazareth est aussi celui qui a été consacré, l’élu selon l’éthique. Le mot assyrien veut dire aussi celui qui est maudit ou ensorcelé, celui qui fait un voeu, celui qui s’abstient. L’homme pour être rétabli, pour être sanctifié, pour retrouver ses facultés latentes, pour atteindre sa divinité doit passer par un certain état signifié par le Nazaréat, rite hébraïque. Dans la tradition juive, Samson, consacré au rite, au-delà de la mort et ayant obtenu la force, Samuel dont les cheveux ne furent jamais coupés, Jacob qui bénit Joseph selon la bénédiction du nazaréen le citant prince entre ses frères, Judas Machabée qui emmène les consacrés au temple, interdit aux profanes, Saint Jean Baptiste consacré au rite du Nazaréat, Saint Paul, Saint Jacques le Mineur sont les exemples ou traces de ce vieux rituel hébraïque. Le Christ est appelé le Nazaréen, ainsi que les tous premiers chrétiens. Nazareth, le Nazaréat, est le symbole de l’ascétisme, pour un temps déterminé ou pour la vie des élus consacrés, leurs voeux ne portaient que sur des pratiques extérieures (se couper les cheveux, s’abstenir de certains aliments, etc.).Il s’agit d’un rite remontant à l’époque patriarcale, issu selon Cyrille de rites égyptiens, vraisemblablement venu de Chaldée, pour consacrer une partie de la vie d’un homme au culte divin, sans être prêtre pour autant. Le rite consiste à se séparer des hommes pour se consacrer à la divinité ou à la recherche spirituelle, en pleine connaissance de cause. Il semble que Martines de Pasqually s’inspire pour ses émules de telles pratiques ascétiques (jeune, chasteté, abstinence de certaines parties du corps de l’animal, prières, onctions, purifications, etc.) avant les cérémonies d’initiation. Sur Juda. Dès lors les dogmes, les croyances ne peuvent être que provisoires, dans Nazareth pour sortir de l’enceinte, et revenir au royaume de la royauté de la tribu de Juda de la dernière lettre (Judéorum). Quelle est cette tribu ? C’est celle qui se nombrait à 77.600 hommes, depuis l’âge de vingt ans et au-delà, bons pour la milice, ou dans le camp de Juda, 186.400 et qui partent toujours en tête : Juda est le lionceau, le lion, la lionne. L’homme de Juda est celui qui possède le sceptre et le bâton de commandement, (Thème repris par Martinez de Pasqually pour les Reaux+). Il fait obéir les peuples, il conduit l’homme au combat. Ses attributs sont la Gloire, la Force et la Souveraineté. C’est de cette tribu que naîtra Jésus. En contrepartie de cette puissance chthonienne, dans sa partie obscure, le lion de Juda est terrible, c’est un prédateur, avide de butin et de puissance, symbolisé par le règne de David et de Salomon. De ce peuple sont élus les Juges. Maconniquement Zorobabel est issu de la tribu de Juda, comme Prince. Ce sont des Élus. Ou selon l’optique du Nazaréat, des hommes de haute vertu morale, qui réservent une partie de leur vie pour devenir plus parfaits, plus purs et plus exemplaires, par pureté et consécration. L’emblème de la rose mystique sur la croix renvoie également à la mystique juive et au Zohar, où la communauté est la Rose et où le mot Moroth signifie à la fois Lumières ou Malédiction et que dans le « pays de la vie » il convient « de tailler les fleurs qui existent dans ce pays » au moment où l’arc-en-ciel apparaît. Le calice (utilisé au 18ième pour les agapes) est la coupe des bénédictions, de même que la rose mystique, considérée aussi comme calice du salut, et qui repose sur les cinq doigts de la main ou cinq pétales. Inri est en fait synonyme du Mot mystique de quatre lettres et le symbole de l’alliance n’est pas autre chose que le chapelet des 42 noms ou quarante deux grains de matière fécondante pour opérer l’ouvre de la création. Les fleurs qu’il convient de tailler renvoient à l’expression « Telle que la rose entre les épines, telle est ma bien aimée entre les filles » où la rose est la communauté. Elle est rouge et blanche (comme la pierre cubique qui sue sang -rouge- et eau -blanc- du tracé de loge) et elle correspond aux piliers tantôt de la rigueur tantôt de la clémence. Emprunté à la cabale juive du Zohar et des mystiques espagnols, le thème évoque les trois croix et la lumière, peut-être issue des trois écoles visitées par le Messie lui-même relié au Saint Beni Soit-il, ou Messias (mot utilisé par les martinistes de Martinez), celle de Rabbi Simeon, celle d’Ezechias, roi de Juda cité en IV Rois et par Isaîe, et celle d’Ahias (III Rois), elles-mêmes liées par des colonnes aux écoles célestes et aux mystères cabalistiques, où la lumière est plus éclatante que la lumière du soleil. (Ainsi le rituel déclare que le maçon ne fait plus de planches, mais grave des colonnes au nom de la Trinité et le signe de reconnaissance montre le Ciel ; le bijou est or et argent, symboles solaires). Le Zohar (I, 4) précise, « vous qui êtes en bas dans le sommeil réveillez-vous. Vous avant de monter ici transformez l’obscurité en clarté (un thème du 18ième). Ceux qui n’ont pas espéré (un thème du grade : Espérance) n’ont aucune part ici ». S’étonnant qu’un homme puisse entrer dans le monde céleste avec ses habits terrestres, (thème de la transfiguration), Rabbi Siméon constate avec Rabbi Hiya la gloire du juste qui « marche dans les voies de la justice au milieu des sentiers de la prudence, pour enrichir ceux qui m’aiment et pour remplir leurs trésors » (thème du grade La charité). Le sage par la formule « alchimique » Inri (intérieur) sera celui qui découvre dans les ténèbres ce qui est dans les profondeurs. Il sera ainsi capable d’unir les ténèbres et la lumière pour faire naître le Verbe qui fait découvrir les Mystères, c’est à dire de séparer lumière et ténèbres, donc discerner la lumière parmi les ténèbres. « Et la lumière de la lune sera aussi éclatante que celle du soleil » du Talmud pour unir le jour et la nuit est le même symbole que le soleil et la lune figurant au-dessus ou des côtés de la rose mystique dans les rituels alchimiques de ce 18ième degré et qui permet la conjonction vers la Pierre chose une et unique. Sur Rafel, la Nature à régénérer, et la Rose alchimique. Dans l’action alchimique, l’alchimiste du Pseudo Lulle est montré devant Tobie et l’archange Raphael. La nature s’arrache les cheveux ou gémit. Un ange au-dessous tient le monde, la sphère. L’initié reçoit dans le monde les secrets de l’alchimie, puisque Tobie rend la vue à son père aveugle. L’alchimie dans la suite du texte est considérée comme une agriculture céleste, par corruption, décomposition mortification, puis renaissance. L’ange sert d’intermédiaire entre l’homme et la Nature. Dans « Les remontrances de Nature à l’alchimiste errant », les trois racines de l’alchimie sont indiquées, par les trois racines dans le sol (les trois colonnes) et l’arbre se sépare en quatre branches (la croix) où les rameaux voit s’épanouir une fleur jaune à cinq pétales (la rose aux cinq pétales) qu’arrose la couleur jaune des rayons célestes (la fleur solaire). Igne, le feu secret est dans l’athanor sous Dame Nature. Celle-ci est ailée comme l’Archange et couronnée des différentes planètes. Souvent les roses sont blanches et rouges. Dans Azoth, le hérault rouge (rose mystique) est représenté comme le fils puissant du soleil et de la lune, la rose est rouge, le lys blanc. Le nombre 7 du rituel renvoie au nombre de purifications nécessaires pour purifier encore la matière qui sue, ce qui signifie que Igne doit être constant par le feu : l’eau passe par le Lion au midi et l’ours au Nord.

A Bourges, la rose est entourée de trois couronnes ou cinq feuilles en étoile et plus loin, une sphère dans une coupe est enflammée. Le vitrail des Cordeliers à Paris garde le même symbolisme que la rose entourée d’une couronne d’épines. Ici, la rose se trouve en germination à partir du cour qui saigne, avec cinq larmes, au lieu de la pierre qui sue dans une couronne d’épines. La rose se nommait Rota lorsqu’elle était centrale, ou feu de roue (dans nos campagnes, on garde encore à la St Jean d’été, le feu mis et tournant sur la roue du chariot dont la plupart ont perdu le symbole). Cependant, s’il s’agit du thème chrétien (à ne pas confondre avec catholique) et l’ésotérisme de Jean que le rituel évoquait, c’est en complément autre chose, c’est d’abord l’errance dans les ténèbres dans l’attente de la régénération et l’illumination. Car le thème chrétien ésotérique n’est pas la récompense dans l’au-delà. L’enseignement ardu de Jean est pour ceux qui se réalisent ici et maintenant et pas dans le paradis futur (Je meurs à la présence future pour être attentif à la présence immédiate). Dans le rite de perfection, la deuxième chambre est appelée enfer, et l'Alchimiste sera conduit par un mot sur quatre, mot qui est bien l’archange Rafael, dans la formule n° 2 ou Raphaël. Dans cette version, non par le christianisme, mais par la cabale des noms et des nombres, Rafael fait quand même partie citons Deny l’aréopagite « des Anges et de ceux des anges qui se caractérisent par une masse de sagesse et de connaissances, » l’aptitude à recevoir les dons de la lumière (que reflète ce degré). Rafael (utilisé dans certains rituels de la G.D. et cabalistiques pour garder une région du monde) est en relation avec la voie cardiaque martiniste et de Saint Jean : le grade est la Rédemption par l’amour. Il est « le guérisseur de Dieu », l’archange du Soleil, maître du rayonnement physique et spirituel (dans le grade, la lumière disparaît puis revient). Dans l’optique du rituel, il est le Maître des Chevaliers, comme régulateur solaire avec le métal or et la Sephirah Tipheret, la Beauté (Sagesse, Force et Beauté du premier appartement du grade) avec l’argent. Il préside à la prière du matin. Mais quels que soient les noms, le nom ineffable du Tétragramme hébraïque a été latinisé à l’aide de trois lettres plus une d’alphabet moderne, et ce sans vraisemblablement dénaturer l’esprit de ceux qui savaient très bien que ce mot était perdu et qu’il s’agissait d’un rappel de la tradition hébraïque notamment, aussi par l’utilisation dans ce rituel du chandelier à sept branches éteint, puis rallumé. On ne peut pas faire mieux comme symbole de l’extinction des lumières du temple et la réanimation, ainsi que la perte et découverte de la parole perdue, rappel d’anciens rites solaires et d’évocation de la lumière des cultes de Mithra, puis égyptianisé, hellénisé et enfin christianisé. Dans le rite français, lors de l’extinction, le rituel déclarait « Celui qui était venu pour régénérer l’humanité a été méconnu et mis à mort » et lors de la réanimation, le maître devait prononcer « La doctrine de celui qui mourut honteusement est devenue l’un des flambeaux de la Vérité ». Si ce n’est l’allusion au Christ et à l’évangile, que serait-ce sinon indiquer le sens de la régénération et la manière d’être un flambeau, même sans être chrétien, en rapport avec d’anciens cultes et processus d’évolution ? Le18ième est à la fois un grade charnière, mais aussi un grade reposant sur un enseignement initiatique de haute valeur basé sur la Rose-Croix, le chandelier à sept branches ou la Menorah et la Cène du repas rituélique, basé sur une alchimie oubliée, une cabale qui ne dit pas son nom, le Johannisme plus ou moins perdu et d’antiques notions liée à la lumière et aux transformations internes. Issu du grade de chevalier Rose croix de Kilwining et d’heredom, ce rituel trop complexe et trop lourd à comprendre intégralement a donné lieu très rapidement à des versions simplifiées. Mais les versions simplifiées omettent des détails qui avaient leur importance pour les initiateurs des grades. Et trop de simplification devient indigeste, comme de substituer un repas par un biscuit vitaminé puis par une pilule. Pour Berteaux, il n’est donc pas étonnant que chaque époque ait conduit à des modifications et que l’on voit bien « l’incidence de l’esprit du temps ». Ainsi les hommes ont fait les rituels en fonction de leur choix. L’on trouve des rituels basés sur les Testaments, sur la Philosophie, la sociologie, la psychologie, etc. et seule la comparaison de plusieurs rituels permet de découvrir des sens nouveaux ou plus approfondis par les détails. Plus on raccourcit, moins il en reste. Les supprimer, c’est faire autre chose. A chacun son chemin !

 

hautsgrades.over-blog.com/article-330180.html

Photographed at --Akalbodhon Sarbojonin Durgotsab, Chetla, South Kolkata.

  

Worshiping Durga, As I feel :

 

To me worshiping goddess Durga encompasses so many deeply seated aspects of human lives and nature. The imagination of such a Goddess-form has its age old story depicted in the Hindu Puranas and that had been fabricated by the wisdom of ages as a symbolic one for Bio-Geo-Socio-Economic-Cultural and Aesthetical upliftment of humankind and its relationship with nature, through the practice of worshiping.

  

Once in a year She, The Mother Durga, is thought to come from her abode at mount Kailash in Himalaya to the land of Bengal at the time of Autumn, the finest of all six seasons when Bengal turns into a nature’s paradise. The snow white clouds against the deep azure of the sky, the gentle cool breeze carrying the sweet fragrance of flowers, the turning colors of the leaves, the golden sunlit lush green paddy fields and the waving clusters of dazzling white inflorescence of Kash dramatically prepare the minds of Bengal apt for celebration of life. Artists of versatile talents from Bengal and other states culminate their finest ever skill and efforts for making the idols of Durga using conventional natural resources like clay, wood, organic colors, that are all mostly biodegradable. The pandals( the temporary abodes of Devi Durga) all over Bengal, especially in urban cities turn into the finest galleries of art and culture covering an unimaginably wide range of form and traditions, represented by Bengal and neighboring states of India. Durga puja becomes a wide open opportunity to discover and re-discover the art and artistry of Bengal, and not only that, this is the biggest festival of Bengal that provides a great competitive platform for innumerable artists and workers to learn and earn.

The time of Puja is the time for togetherness, is the time for sharing and caring. The traditional concept of making the idols of Durga, her four children and her husband Lord Shiva against a single background structure( which is in Bengali: Ek chalchitra) seems to me a very symbolic one! It implicates to me a strong bondage between the family members, or in a greater sense the relationships between individuals. An example of unity in diversity.

  

To save the world, Brahmma(the god of creation), Vishnu( the god of sustenance), Moheshwara/ Shiva(the god of destruction) and all of the gods emitted beams of fierce light from their bodies. The blinding sea of light reached Parvati, and Durga emerged from this pool of light. This is very symbolic. I see durga as a domain where there have been convergence of all form of energies; she is the symbolic epitome of unified force, as it is the most cherished theory of modern-day physics- “the unified field theory”. And therefore, She is the Symbolic epitome of concentrated knowledge and wisdom. She can create(sristi), She can sustain( sthiti), and She can destroy(loy). She comes over here to create all good things and to sustain them on this earth, and to destroy all evil power, as depicted by triumph over Mahisasura.

  

Her four children are very symbolic to me for four aspects of socio-economic- cultural upliftment. These are the four aspects to create a balanced nation or a person as an individual.

“Lakhsmi”, her elder daughter, is a symbol of wealth. She carries with her a bunch of ripe paddy and a container of vermilion. Ripened paddy is the symbol of agricultural success. And vermilion is the symbol of peaceful marriage in Hindu custom.

“Swaraswati”, her younger daughter, is a symbol of art and culture. She carries with her a sitar, a classical Indian instrument depicting music, that is the highest form of the faculty of art.

“Kartika”, her elder son, is the commander-in-chief of the gods for war. He is the warrior and protector from enemies. He carries a bow and arrows. He knows how to target an enemy. And he is the symbol of leadership qualities.

“Ganesha”, her youngest son. He is the symbol of knowledge and wisdom.

And Mother Durga is the creator of all her four children, the four faculties associated with biological, social, cultural and intellectual evolution of man.

Therefore, She is the idealistic epitome of Gunas (qualities), that we all her children should acquire for. And there lies the true meaningfulness of worshiping our mother, Durga.

On the tenth day after the triumph, the day of Vijaya Dashami ( suvobijoya), mother along with her family sets her journey back to her final adobe in himalaya, leaving the earthly world behind. The clay idol is thus immersed in the holy water of Ganges to symbolize her journey. And thus the whole celebration comes to an end.

 

As it enters a new millennium humankind is undergoing a process of radical change. We are all witnesses to this transformation as humankind sets out the markers for a new civilization. In the northern hemisphere the industrial age is almost over. Knowledge, and thus humankind, is embarking on a new era in history. It seems that the new millennium will be more ‘ethical’.

 

The effective use of high technology and human skills is now a prerequisite for successful management. Kültür A.Ş.’s management philosophy is based on these two fundamentals. Our company aims to make maximum use of knowledge, high technology and human skills. The company’s communications infrastructure is based on an ISDN switchboard, the most advanced communications system in the world. Our working processes are integrated through extensive use of the Internet and other data transfer systems. Information technologies are adopted on the basis of a functionalist and production oriented approach rather than just applying what is ‘technologically fashionable’.‘Lax management’ is our country’s main problem. Yet modern management means ‘total quality awareness’. Last year our corporate agenda was dominated by restructuring and total quality awareness. Within this conceptual framework, positions and tasks were redefined and the corresponding regulations and directives rewritten in accordance with a Corporate Organizational Chart.

Kültür A. Ş. successfully organized cultural and artistic activities throughout 1999, mostly on behalf of the Metropolitan Municipality of Istanbul’s Department of Cultural Affairs. The ‘21st Century Conferences’ made a considerable contribution to intellectual life. A conference entitled ‘Istanbul and the Earthquake’ was also organized. Select artistic exhibitions were held at our cultural venues. The Bosphorus Festival, the Mystic Music Festival, the Youth Festival are among our important activities. Even more cultural and artistic activities will be organized on national and international platforms in the coming years.‘Culture, Arts and Istanbul’ has been prepared as a promotional book in which you can learn about our company and the events we organize. I would like to add that the book also aims to be informative. Our concept of ‘open management’ means that we attribute great importance to sharing information. Given that all the shares in our company are owned by the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality and its subsidiaries, for us sharing information is not just a principle, it is an obligation.

 

Kültür A.Ş. organizes activities in the fields of culture and the arts, operates cultural facilities, invests in culture and publishes books, CDs, CD-ROMs and DVDs. Yet, despite being a public sector company, in doing all of the above it strives for total quality awareness, profitability and productivity.I believe that setting such principles as our target which we achieved last year and will achieve this year as well, is as good, splendid and proper an example as the activities we organize and the products we produce.

 

Öyküsü su seslerine karışan 1500 yıllık bir mekan

 

Sultanahmet’te bulunan Yerebatan Sarnıcı, 542 yılında Bizans İmparatoru Justinyen tarafından At Meydanı’nın diğer tarafında bulunan Büyük Saray’ın su ihtiyacını karşılamak üzere yaptırılmıştır.

 

Fetihten sonra yaklaşık yüzyıl süreyle sarnıcın varlığı fark edilmemiş; ancak bodrumlarında su biriktiren ve deliklerden sepet sarkıtarak balık tutan insanların varlığının anlaşılmasıyla keşfedilmiştir. Osmanlı döneminde onarılarak kullanılan sarnıcın giriş kısmındaki evler 1940’larda belediye tarafından istimlak edilerek, giriş için düzenli bir bina yapılmıştır.

 

1985-1988’de Büyükşehir Belediyesi geniş ölçüde bir temizlik ve onarımdan geçirilen sarnıçtaki su ve dipteki çamur birikintisi boşaltılmış, temizlenmiş, batıdaki ucuna kadar uzanan bir iskele yapılmış, ayrıca kuzeydoğu köşeye de bir platform inşa edilmiştir.

 

Yerebatan Sarayı olarak adlandırılan sarnıç içten 145 metre uzunluğunda 65 metre genişliğindedir. Yaklaşık 9800 metrekarelik bir alanı kapsamaktadır.Her bir dizide 28 tane olmak üzere 12 sıra sütun tuğla kemerleri ve bunların desteklediği tonozları taşır. Toplam sayıları 336 olan sütunlardan 8’i kuzey bölümde Örme kılıf içine alınmış, güneybatıda 37 sütun, etraflarını çeviren bir dolgu duvarın içinde kalmıştır.

 

Son restorasyonda içi kuru olmasına rağmen sarnıca tekrar su geldiğinden bugün hala 1-2 m arasında su bulunmaktadır. Halen İstanbul Kültür ve Sanat Ürünleri Ticaret A.Ş. tarafından işletilen Yerebatan Sarnıcı’nda İstanbul Büyükşehir Belediyesi’nin çeşitli kültür etkinlikleri gerçekleştirilmektedir.

 

http://www.yerebatan.com

this pied wagtail seemed not to be worried about humankind on new brighton beach

"The Family of Man" paints a portrait of humanity and emphasises that people are part of one big family, without concealing the differences. The images deal with 37 different themes such as love, belief in humankind, birth, work, family, education, children, war, and peace.

 

www.visit-clervaux.lu/en/art/the-family-of-man

 

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Family_of_Man

 

The Family of Man was an ambitious exhibition of 503 photographs from 68 countries curated by Edward Steichen, the director of the New York City Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) department of photography.

The Family of Man was exhibited in 1955 from January 24 to May 8 at the New York MoMA, then toured the world for eight years to record-breaking audience numbers. Commenting on its appeal, Steichen said, "The people in the audience looked at the pictures, and the people in the pictures looked back at them. They recognized each other." The physical collection is archived and displayed at Clervaux Castle in Edward Steichen's home country of Luxembourg. It was first exhibited there in 1994 after restoration of the prints.

In 2003, the Family of Man photographic collection was added to UNESCO's Memory of the World Register in recognition of its historical value.

On Thursday 12 July 2018, US president Donald Trump, the most dangerous man in the world, was welcomed to the United Kingdom by the British prime minister Theresa May. The following day the streets of London witnessed the biggest protest for over a decade as thousands marched on Trafalgar Square to express their anger at the British government extending a red carpet welcome for Trump.

 

Protesters pointed out the extreme threat to democracy, to those dependent on welfare, to womens' rights, to civil rights generally and even to the survival of humankind which Trump presents. Such assertions might seem extreme, but they are unfortunately fully justifiable.

 

As the president of what is by far the richest and most powerful country on earth, Trump has dedicated his term to accelerating the US addiction to fossil fuels and agribusiness, dismantling the Environmental Protection Agency and withdrawing America from the Paris Climate Accords, thereby accelerating global warming and climate change and presenting a huge threat to the continued existence of humankind.

 

Trump's presidency also marks another dangerous step in the erosion of democracy in the United States. Far from "draining the swamp" as he promised, Trump has surrounded himself with powerful figures from big business, especially major financial institutions such as Goldman Sachs, as well as his friends and allies in the fossil fuel and defence industires.

 

Government policy, more and more, reflects the direct interests of concentrated private power with the public having less and less influence. At the same time the Trump presidency has allied itself with some of the most ruthless regimes in the world and is profiting from Saudi Arabia's illegal war of aggression in Yemen which has created the world's worst humanitarian crisis. A serious war crime in which Donald Trump and Theresa May are both complicit.

 

Trump has also been keen to patronise the extreme nationalist constituency in the United States and through preaching a propaganda of fear his presidency has managed to oversee some of the most racist immigration policies ever to be implemented in the United States, targeted almost exclusively at Muslim countries - Iran, Libya, Somalia, Syria and Yemen. Ironically, all of them have been massively destabilized and impoverished by US foreign policy.

 

He was also responsible for the ruthless decision to separate children from their parents as they cross into the United States from Mexico, in his determination to block immigration from central America, where decades of US illegal intervention, including the CIA funded Contra terror operations in Nicaragua and enforced free trade (under NAFTA or IMF rules) have devastated the region and merely enhanced the power of corrupt corporate elites and drug cartels.

 

As if this was not enough to worry about, Trump has also authorized a huge increase in both US defence spending and in the US nuclear arsenal, and changed the strategic posture of the US so that nuclear weapons can be used even for offensive operations and even when their use is not required to preempt a nuclear strike by an enemy power.

 

As any historian of conflict since the Second World War knows, it is only by a miracle that humankind has survived since 1945 without a nuclear war. Now the situation is more dangerous than ever before. Not only are we are now dependent on Trump's extremely unpredictable temperament but also increasingly on automated systems which can easily malfunction.

 

Trump and Republicans maintain they need to spend heavily on military equipment in order to counter the supposed Russian threat. However they seldom remind the public that the United States already spends almost as much as the rest of the world combined on defence and that Russia's expenditure is far behind both that of the United States and only on about the same level of Saudi Arabia, and spends only 10% of what NATO spends.

 

It has also to be remembered that it is NATO and US forces which are operating right on the Russian border, not Russian forces on the American border. Russia's defence spending is clearly recognised by academics to be primarily defensive and responsive to US spending. What is desperately needed is a serious international dialogue at the highest level to decrease the danger of conflict, especially the risk of a terminal nuclear war and begin a process of multilateral disarmament.

   

On Thursday 12 July 2018, US president Donald Trump, the most dangerous man in the world, was welcomed to the United Kingdom by the British prime minister Theresa May. The following day the streets of London witnessed the biggest protest for over a decade as thousands marched on Trafalgar Square to express their anger at the British government extending a red carpet welcome for Trump.

 

Protesters pointed out the extreme threat to democracy, to those dependent on welfare, to womens' rights, to civil rights generally and even to the survival of humankind which Trump presents. Such assertions might seem extreme, but they are unfortunately fully justifiable.

 

As the president of what is by far the richest and most powerful country on earth, Trump has dedicated his term to accelerating the US addiction to fossil fuels and agribusiness, dismantling the Environmental Protection Agency and withdrawing America from the Paris Climate Accords, thereby accelerating global warming and climate change and presenting a huge threat to the continued existence of humankind.

 

Trump's presidency also marks another dangerous step in the erosion of democracy in the United States. Far from "draining the swamp" as he promised, Trump has surrounded himself with powerful figures from big business, especially major financial institutions such as Goldman Sachs, as well as his friends and allies in the fossil fuel and defence industires.

 

Government policy, more and more, reflects the direct interests of concentrated private power with the public having less and less influence. At the same time the Trump presidency has allied itself with some of the most ruthless regimes in the world and is profiting from Saudi Arabia's illegal war of aggression in Yemen which has created the world's worst humanitarian crisis. A serious war crime in which Donald Trump and Theresa May are both complicit.

 

Trump has also been keen to patronise the extreme nationalist constituency in the United States and through preaching a propaganda of fear his presidency has managed to oversee some of the most racist immigration policies ever to be implemented in the United States, targeted almost exclusively at Muslim countries - Iran, Libya, Somalia, Syria and Yemen. Ironically, all of them have been massively destabilized and impoverished by US foreign policy.

 

He was also responsible for the ruthless decision to separate children from their parents as they cross into the United States from Mexico, in his determination to block immigration from central America, where decades of US illegal intervention, including the CIA funded Contra terror operations in Nicaragua and enforced free trade (under NAFTA or IMF rules) have devastated the region and merely enhanced the power of corrupt corporate elites and drug cartels.

 

As if this was not enough to worry about, Trump has also authorized a huge increase in both US defence spending and in the US nuclear arsenal, and changed the strategic posture of the US so that nuclear weapons can be used even for offensive operations and even when their use is not required to preempt a nuclear strike by an enemy power.

 

As any historian of conflict since the Second World War knows, it is only by a miracle that humankind has survived since 1945 without a nuclear war. Now the situation is more dangerous than ever before. Not only are we are now dependent on Trump's extremely unpredictable temperament but also increasingly on automated systems which can easily malfunction.

 

Trump and Republicans maintain they need to spend heavily on military equipment in order to counter the supposed Russian threat. However they seldom remind the public that the United States already spends almost as much as the rest of the world combined on defence and that Russia's expenditure is far behind both that of the United States and only on about the same level of Saudi Arabia, and spends only 10% of what NATO spends.

 

It has also to be remembered that it is NATO and US forces which are operating right on the Russian border, not Russian forces on the American border. Russia's defence spending is clearly recognised by academics to be primarily defensive and responsive to US spending. What is desperately needed is a serious international dialogue at the highest level to decrease the danger of conflict, especially the risk of a terminal nuclear war and begin a process of multilateral disarmament.

   

Typical accomodation for humankind within the developed Core Worlds. Designed in the circular style of Alanis Ferr, this type of home was popular on new colonies like New Kansas.

 

The main level has the panoramic view whilst storage and bedrooms tend to be above and below the windowed section.

  

“Curious” – A Morning Encounter in the Olive Grove - Some mornings begin not with words, but with eyes meeting in silence. This was one of them. “Curious – Eyes of the Wild”

 

Wildlife and nature have always captivated humankind. Perhaps it’s my background in journalism, but nature has gradually drawn me in with a similar pull — that of curiosity, patience, and quiet pursuit.

 

This morning, I decided to revisit a remarkable encounter I had in the olive groves near my home. It was around 07:00 when I set out — just a ten-minute drive, followed by a walk across freshly tilled earth, soft and uneven beneath my feet. The goal: to find “Curious,” the wild Anatolian squirrel I had met for the first time just days before.

 

Not far into the grove, I spotted a pale, slender wild rabbit who darted off the moment it sensed me — despite my silent steps. I wondered if I would be lucky enough to cross paths with Curious again. With that thought, I pressed on, determined yet calm.

 

As I neared the gnarled trunk of an ancient olive tree, nature fell silent. Only the faint calls of birds filled the air. Then suddenly, there he was — Curious. Tucked under a lower branch, his tail wrapped tightly, he stared at me intently, our eyes locking. I hadn't brought nuts this time. I wanted to see how he'd react to just my presence — without any incentives.

 

I stood still, watching from about two meters away. Curious vanished into his hollow, but I gently stepped closer. Moments later, he peeked out like someone watching from a window, eyes fixed on mine. Then, to my amazement, he climbed out and onto the olive bark, stretching in the morning light as if to put on a show.

 

I remained silent, steady. In a single leap, he landed on a trimmed branch stump and posed. With no monopod, I began to photograph him with my Nikon Z8, using the Teleconverter TC-14E II for the first time. Curious allowed me within just under 1 meters — a sign of growing trust. It felt like we had momentarily erased the boundary between wild and human.

 

Later, I followed him to a mulberry tree where, like a silkworm, he nibbled delicately on the fresh young leaves. I also witnessed him gnawing on the bark and twigs of the olive tree — behavior I had never documented before.

 

This morning was a gift — not only for the images captured, but for the silent conversation we shared. I’ve published six portraits of Curious on my Flickr page, each telling its own quiet story. I hope they resonate with others as deeply as the experience touched me.

 

Wishing you a beautiful day,

  

Anatolian Squirrel (Sciurus anomalus) – Distribution and Details in Turkey

The Anatolian squirrel (Sciurus anomalus), also known as the Caucasian squirrel or Persian squirrel, is a tree squirrel species native to parts of the Middle East. It is the only native squirrel species in Turkey and plays an important ecological role in forested habitats.

 

Distribution in Turkey

The Anatolian squirrel is widely distributed throughout much of western, central, and southern Turkey, particularly in the following regions:

 

Aegean Region: Olive groves, oak woodlands, and fig orchards (like those in Pelitköy) provide suitable habitat.

 

Marmara Region: Thrace and surrounding mixed forests.

 

Central Anatolia: Especially in forested and steppe transition zones.

 

Mediterranean Region: Taurus Mountains and surrounding coastal forests.

 

Eastern Black Sea foothills: Patchy populations, typically in deciduous and mixed forests.

 

They prefer forests with oak, pine, walnut, almond, fig, and mulberry trees — and are commonly spotted in traditional olive groves, especially where some natural tree cover is retained.

 

Habitat & Behavior

Arboreal (tree-dwelling), diurnal (active by day).

 

Solitary and territorial, though tolerant of other squirrels in rich feeding areas.

 

Nests in tree hollows or builds leaf nests high in the canopy.

 

Feeds on a variety of nuts, seeds, fruits, and tree buds, including figs, almonds, acorns, and mulberries.

 

In cultivated landscapes like olive groves, they adapt well if large trees are present. The presence of fig and mulberry trees near human settlements helps maintain stable populations.

 

Conservation Status & Threats

Currently classified as Least Concern (LC) on the IUCN Red List.

 

However, local population declines have been observed due to:

 

Habitat fragmentation (especially loss of old trees and tree hollows),

 

Agricultural expansion, and

 

Climate change impacts, particularly in southern and drier regions.

 

Monitoring efforts in Turkey are still limited, and there's a growing call among researchers and nature photographers for increased ecological surveys and community awareness programs.

 

Curiosity

The Anatolian squirrel has adapted well to traditional Turkish agroforestry landscapes. In mythology and folklore, squirrels are sometimes seen as guardians of trees, and this species continues to serve that symbolic role in Anatolia.

  

I've captured some unforgettable moments with my camera, and I hope you feel the same joy viewing these images as I did while shooting them.

 

Thank you so much for visiting my gallery, whether you leave a comment, add it to your favorites, or simply take a moment to look around. Your support means a lot to me, and I wish you good luck and beautiful light in all your endeavors.

 

© All rights belong to R.Ertuğ. Please refrain from using these images without my express written permission. If you are interested in purchasing or using them, feel free to contact me via Flickr mail.

 

Lens - hand held or Monopod and definitely SPORT VR on. Aperture is f5.6 full length.. All my images have been converted from RAW to JPEG.

 

I started using Nikon Cross-Body Strap or Monopod on long walks. Here is my Carbon Monopod details : Gitzo GM2542 Series 2 4S Carbon Monopod - Really Right Stuff MH-01 Monopod Head with Standard Lever - Really Right Stuff LCF-11 Replacement Foot for Nikon AF-S 500mm /5.6E PF Lense -

 

Your comments and criticism are very valuable.

 

Thanks for taking the time to stop by and explore :)

  

On Thursday 12 July 2018, US president Donald Trump, the most dangerous man in the world, was welcomed to the United Kingdom by the British prime minister Theresa May. The following day the streets of London witnessed the biggest protest for over a decade as thousands marched on Trafalgar Square to express their anger at the British government extending a red carpet welcome for Trump.

 

Protesters pointed out the extreme threat to democracy, to those dependent on welfare, to womens' rights, to civil rights generally and even to the survival of humankind which Trump presents. Such assertions might seem extreme, but they are unfortunately fully justifiable.

 

As the president of what is by far the richest and most powerful country on earth, Trump has dedicated his term to accelerating the US addiction to fossil fuels and agribusiness, dismantling the Environmental Protection Agency and withdrawing America from the Paris Climate Accords, thereby accelerating global warming and climate change and presenting a huge threat to the continued existence of humankind.

 

Trump's presidency also marks another dangerous step in the erosion of democracy in the United States. Far from "draining the swamp" as he promised, Trump has surrounded himself with powerful figures from big business, especially major financial institutions such as Goldman Sachs, as well as his friends and allies in the fossil fuel and defence industires.

 

Government policy, more and more, reflects the direct interests of concentrated private power with the public having less and less influence. At the same time the Trump presidency has allied itself with some of the most ruthless regimes in the world and is profiting from Saudi Arabia's illegal war of aggression in Yemen which has created the world's worst humanitarian crisis. A serious war crime in which Donald Trump and Theresa May are both complicit.

 

Trump has also been keen to patronise the extreme nationalist constituency in the United States and through preaching a propaganda of fear his presidency has managed to oversee some of the most racist immigration policies ever to be implemented in the United States, targeted almost exclusively at Muslim countries - Iran, Libya, Somalia, Syria and Yemen. Ironically, all of them have been massively destabilized and impoverished by US foreign policy.

 

He was also responsible for the ruthless decision to separate children from their parents as they cross into the United States from Mexico, in his determination to block immigration from central America, where decades of US illegal intervention, including the CIA funded Contra terror operations in Nicaragua and enforced free trade (under NAFTA or IMF rules) have devastated the region and merely enhanced the power of corrupt corporate elites and drug cartels.

 

As if this was not enough to worry about, Trump has also authorized a huge increase in both US defence spending and in the US nuclear arsenal, and changed the strategic posture of the US so that nuclear weapons can be used even for offensive operations and even when their use is not required to preempt a nuclear strike by an enemy power.

 

As any historian of conflict since the Second World War knows, it is only by a miracle that humankind has survived since 1945 without a nuclear war. Now the situation is more dangerous than ever before. Not only are we are now dependent on Trump's extremely unpredictable temperament but also increasingly on automated systems which can easily malfunction.

 

Trump and Republicans maintain they need to spend heavily on military equipment in order to counter the supposed Russian threat. However they seldom remind the public that the United States already spends almost as much as the rest of the world combined on defence and that Russia's expenditure is far behind both that of the United States and only on about the same level of Saudi Arabia, and spends only 10% of what NATO spends.

 

It has also to be remembered that it is NATO and US forces which are operating right on the Russian border, not Russian forces on the American border. Russia's defence spending is clearly recognised by academics to be primarily defensive and responsive to US spending. What is desperately needed is a serious international dialogue at the highest level to decrease the danger of conflict, especially the risk of a terminal nuclear war and begin a process of multilateral disarmament.

   

"Humankind cannot gain anything without first giving something in return. To obtain, something of equal value must be lost. That is alchemy's First Law of Equivalent Exchange. In those days, we really believed that to be the world's one, and only, truth."

The associates of Lord Jack Archibald and Co. have deemed one flaw critical to the condition of humankind as a specie. A terror of society's collective conscious, this veritable Achilles' heel has loomed in the dark mists of man's subconsciousness, threatening the qualia of the mind from within. What is this elder horror eating at the integrity of our intellect? The flaw is this: That the common man and gentleman alike does not possess the means to carry the firepower of an artillery battery upon his person, should the need for it be pressed upon him in the course of his diurnal habits. Furthermore, this lack is further felt in that such a thing, should it be possessed, is unlikely to be so obtained in a size convenient for a modest travel chest.

Hark, such phobia is banished. Lord Jack Archibald and Co. presents the spice grinder for your viewing and purchasing pleasure!

 

(A dignified individual of sharp intellect and a smart ready wit would be inclined to leave his astute and insightful opinion within the appropriately designated comment box. He may also deem it desirable and profitable to place his personal thoughts in notification upon the posted product.)

(In addition to this, said smart dressed suave mannered individual of fine and unique taste previously mentioned would be well suited to apply within at the Lord J. Archibald and Co. Offices about filling any vacancies within our prosperous and appealing workplace, should such a man fancy putting his hands and the sweat of his brow to the plow that is our weapons manufacturing. We would be happy to consort with minds of both old and new versions of the esteemed PMG program.)

A new day breaks at the "Cradle of Humankind" (a World Heritage Site in Kromdraai, Gauteng, South Africa).

 

"Mrs. Ples" (Australopithecus africanus) was found in this area in 1947, and is currently the oldest human fossil found to date. This gave rise to the idea that Africa is the "Cradle of Humankind".

 

In 2008 two fossilised skeletons of a new species of early human "Australopithecus sediba" were discovered.

 

Winter, June 2007.

 

Best viewed LARGE.

 

Martin

-

Administrator of:

Stapeliad & Asclepiad Group

All things beautiful in Nature Group

Succulent Treasures of the Desert Group

The World Up-Close (Nature Macro) Group

Nobody has the right to take life and that includes the State.Capital punishment is a sin against humankind and against God.Anyone who defends capital punishment has blood on his/her own hands.I am appalled that America who claims to champion human rights allows or sanctions capital punishment,which is just murder done in its citizen's name.

 

Here is some background information from Amnesty International

  

Troy Davis was convicted of murdering a Georgia police officer in 1991. Nearly two decades later, Davis remains on death row — even though the case against him has fallen apart.

 

The case against him consisted entirely of witness testimony which contained inconsistencies even at the time of the trial. Since then, all but two of the state's non-police witnesses from the trial have recanted or contradicted their testimony.

 

Many of these witnesses have stated in sworn affidavits that they were pressured or coerced by police into testifying or signing statements against Troy Davis.

 

One of the two witnesses who has not recanted his testimony is Sylvester "Red" Coles — the principle alternative suspect, according to the defense, against whom there is new evidence implicating him as the gunman. Nine individuals have signed affidavits implicating Sylvester Coles.

    

Georgia’s State Board of Pardons and Paroles has rejected Troy Davis’ clemency petition. He faces execution on Wed., Sept. 21 at 7 pm EDT. We do not accept this decision and we will not quietly sit by. Join us by taking more action: demand that the Board reconsider its decision and demand that Chatham County (Savannah) District Attorney Larry Chisolm seek a withdrawal of the death warrant and support clemency himself.

 

This appalling decision renders meaningless the Board’s 2007 vow to not permit an execution unless there is “no doubt” about guilt. The Troy Davis case is riddled with doubt. Most of the witnesses who testified against him have recanted, while others have pointed to an alternate suspect as the real killer.

 

Nearly a million supporters of human rights and justice have called for clemency in this case, so far. They believed in the common-sense notion that you should not execute someone when you can’t be sure they are guilty.

 

Death penalty supporters like Bob Barr, former Texas Governor Mark White, and former FBI Director William Sessions also support clemency in this case, for the same reason. And at least three jurors from Davis’ trial have asked for his execution to be called off. Putting Troy Davis to death would be a grave injustice to those jurors who believe they sentenced Davis to death based on questionable information.

 

The Board chose to ignore this huge number and wide range of voices, so we must raise our voices even more. Demand that Georgia authorities Stop This Execution.

   

remember the words of William Shakespeare in the plea to Shylock -

 

The quality of mercy is not strained.

It droppeth as the gentle rain from heaven

Upon the place beneath. It is twice blest:

It blesseth him that gives and him that takes.

Tis mightiest in the mightiest; it becomes

The throned monarch better than his crown.

His scepter shows the force of temporal power,

The attribute to awe and majesty,

Wherein doth sit the dread and fear of kings.

But mercy is above this sceptered sway;

It is enthroned in the hearts of kings;

It is an attribute of God himself;

And earthly power doth then show like God's

When mercy seasons justice.

 

Nostradamus was born in Saint Rémy de Provence, southern France, on December 14th of 1503, and he was a famous French physician, cabalist, and pharmacist, best known for his book Les Prophéties, its first edition published in 1555. Feel free to publish a summary of this article (in English or translated into another language) along with a link to the full piece www.yearly-horoscope.org/nostradamus-2021-predictions. Nostradamus’ prophecies are expressed in verses, called quatrains. Many of his predictions, such as the rise to power of Adolf Hitler, and the Second World War, turned out to be accurate. Feel free to publish a summary of this article (in English or translated into another language) along with a link to the full piece www.yearly-horoscope.org/nostradamus-2021-predictions

 

Nostradamus had written 6338 prophecies, many of them fulfilled. His prophecies cover a period reaching the year 3797. The secret of his predictions is not known. Nostradamus’ quatrains continue to fascinate the world, although they were written almost five centuries ago. Feel free to publish a summary of this article (in English or translated into another language) along with a link to the full piece www.yearly-horoscope.org/nostradamus-2021-predictions..

 

Here are some of Nostradamus’ predictions for 2021: 1. Zombie Apocalypse A Russian scientist will create a biological weapon and produce a virus that can turn humankind into zombies, and we will all be extinct in the near future. “Few young people: half−dead to give a start. Dead through spite, he will cause the others to shine, And in an exalted place some great evils to occur: Sad concepts will come to harm each one, Temporal dignified, the Mass to succeed. Fathers and mothers dead of infinite sorrows, Women in mourning, the pestilent she−monster: The Great One to be no more, all the world to end.” 2. A Famine of Biblical Proportions Nostradamus predicted that the first signs of the end of the world would be famine, earthquakes, different illnesses, and epidemics, which are already happening more frequently. The Coronavirus pandemic from 2020 represents the beginning of a series of unfavorable events, which will affect the world’s population. The famine that lurks is one the world had never faced before. A catastrophe of huge proportions will throw us back in history, and a great part of the world population will not be able to overcome this curse. “After great trouble for humanity, a greater one is prepared, The Great Mover renews the ages: Rain, blood, milk, famine, steel, and plague, Is the heavens fire seen, a long spark running.” Starting from 2020, after 248 years, Saturn in Capricorn united its forces with Pluto, which is also in Capricorn, in the remarkable conjunction that will change the fate of the world. Saturn in Capricorn is responsible for social hierarchies, state power, authority, functions, and status, and this is what the conjunction with Pluto, the planet of death, destruction, and reconstruction triggered. 3. Solar Storms 2021 will be quite a significant year in terms of major global events. Great solar storms will take place, which could cause some major damages to the earth. Nostradamus supposedly warned: „We shall see the water rising and the earth falling under it”. The harmful effects of the climatic changes will then lead to many wars and conflicts, as the world will fight over resources, and mass migration will follow. 4. A Comet will hit the Earth or it will come very close to Terra This event will cause earthquakes and other natural disasters, which can be concluded from the quatrain: “In the sky, one sees fire and a long trail of sparks”. Other interpretations of this quatrain assert that it refers to a great asteroid that will hit the Earth. Once it enters the Earth’s atmosphere, the asteroid will heat up, appearing in the sky like a great fire. NASA announced that a huge asteroid is likely to hit the Earth in the next years after the American agency emits alerts daily, only this time, it is something more serious. An asteroid called 2009 KF1 has chances to hit the Earth on May 6th of 2021, the NASA coming to this conclusion, following analyzes regarding its trajectory. NASA claims that this asteroid has the power to hit the Earth with the equivalent of 230 kilotons of TNT explosive force, which means 15 times more than the nuclear bomb detonated by Americans over Hiroshima in 1945. 5. A Devastating Earthquake Will Destroy California According to the interpretation of a quatrain written by Nostradamus, an extremely powerful seism will destroy California in 2021. Nostradamus predicts that a great earthquake will hit the New World (“the western lands”), and California is the logical place where it might happen. According to the astrologers, “Mercury in Sagittarius, Saturn fading”, the following date when the planets Mars and Saturn will be in this position on the sky will be on November 25th of 2021. Nostradamus’ quatrain: “The sloping park, great calamity, Through the Lands of the West and Lombardy The fire in the ship, plague, and captivity; Mercury in Sagittarius, Saturn fading.” 6. The American Soldiers Will Have Brain Chip Implants The American soldiers will be turned into a kind of cyborgs, at least at the brain level, to save the human race. This chip should offer us the necessary digital intelligence to progress beyond the limits of biological intelligence. This could mean that we will incorporate artificial intelligence into our bodies and brains. The newly made one will lead the army, Almost cut off up to near the bank: Help from the Milanais elite straining, The Duke deprived of his eyes in Milan in an iron cage.

 

Conclusions: “A prophet is properly speaking one, who sees distant things through a natural knowledge of all creatures. And it can happen that the prophet bringing about the perfect light of prophecy may make manifest things both human and divine.” (Nostradamus in a letter to his son, Cesar) Nostradamus’ quatrains include many disturbing predictions. Based both on the knowledge of Nostradamus as a human being, and the dangerous era he lived, the eight prophecies of 2021 reveal fragments of what the alchemist predicted for our world.

 

Feel free to publish a summary of this article (in English or translated into another language) along with a link to the full piece www.yearly-horoscope.org/nostradamus-2021-predictions/

 

By watching aspects such as climate changes, technological evolution, or inadequate governmental decisions, we might think that everything is against us, and humankind is on the verge of extinction. Here are just a few of Nostradamus’ predictions, outlining the idea of a terrifying future, far from what we would have imagined.

 

Feel free to publish a summary of this article (in English or translated into another language) along with a link to the full piece wisehoroscope.org/nostradamus-2021/.ficial Intelligence – The Robots will rule the world From 2021, artificial intelligence will be equal or will even surpass human intelligence, which could lead to an apocalyptic scenario like those we see in movies. “The Moon in the full of night over the high mountain, The new sage with a lone brain sees it: By his disciples invited to be immortal, Eyes to the south. Hands in bosoms, bodies in the fire.” Mechanization Most previsions indicate that until 2023, the labor market will crash. The automated machines will replace the people in the work process, since they don’t demand higher salaries, and they don’t need breaks or other benefits. When employers choose robots instead of humans, the whole social model will crush. Unemployment, social disorders, and misery are just a few of the consequences of mechanization. A War between Two Allied Countries Two allied countries will get into a classic and open military conflict, with naval fleet fully engaged against each other. Unfortunately, this will only be the beginning because this conflict between these two seemingly “friendly” countries will degenerate into a global war, which will involve the most powerful countries in the world. “In the city of God there will be a great thunder Two brothers torn apart by Chaos while the fortress endures The great leader will succumb The third big war will begin when the big city is burning”. The Economic Collapse of 2021 Hundreds of closed hedge funds will go bankrupt, and the international exchange market will need to close in a short time – maybe even for a week, to stop the panic of selling shares, that will slowly envelop the stock markets. Nostradamus also predicted the 2008 crisis, and in 2021, things are not great: the exchange markets are in free fall and have reached panic levels the end of the crisis is still out of sight the United States is facing an economic stagnation for several years the economic fundamentals are no longer applying today. Space Flight will be Accessible to Common People In 2021, it will start a new era of space tourism. Common people will fly into space, being able to admire spectacular views of the Earth. Sea Level Rise There is no doubt: the climate is constantly changing. Out of all the apocalyptic scenarios which might come true, the sea level rise is the most dramatic. Presently, 50% of the world population lives in coastal areas. A prediction of a possible disaster can be seen by following the example of Newton City from Alaska, which, in less than five years, will be swallowed up by rising waters. The small community of 400 people will not be the only one affected. The current estimations suggest that Venice will be uninhabitable by 2100, and Los Angeles and Amsterdam will be abandoned five years later. “Peace and plenty for a long time the place will praise: Throughout his realm the fleur-de-lis deserted: Bodies dead by water, land one will bring there, Vainly awaiting the good fortune to be buried there.” Solar Eruptions The solar activity has been and still is a subject of interest for experts and not only. Because the sun will reach, in 2021, the peak of an 11-years cycle, known as the maximum solar, different theoreticians rushed to speculate in this regard. It is a fact that when a maximum solar occurs, much more intense solar explosions take place than the previous ones, but this does not translate into total chaos or natural catastrophe. Solar eruptions don’t just happen from yesterday but occur at regular intervals, and the event taking place in 2021 could mostly announce satellite communication interruptions. “Condom and Auch and around Mirande, I see fire from the sky which encompasses them. Sun and Mars conjoined in Leo, then at Marmande, lightning, great hail, a wall falls into the Garonne.” How many predictions did Nostradamus get right? A part of Nostradamus’s prophecies, the famous French doctor and alchemist from the 16th century, have come true. Nostradamus predicted the beginning of the Second World War, Hitler’s ascension, the fall of communism, President J. F. Kennedy’s assassination, India’s independence and the occurrence of Israel State on the world map, events confirmed by the passing of time, but also occurrences that go further in time. Read also: Horoscope 2021 for every zodiac sign. Things You Might Not Know About Nostradamus Nostradamus is certainly one of the most illustrious personalities in history. This notoriety is due to his famous prophecies and predictions. Beyond astrology, Nostradamus was a talented doctor, but also a controversial character, specialized in occultism. Everyone has heard of Nostradamus. He was a medieval character, renowned for his capacity to predict, through scientific methods, the events that will happen in the distant future. Nostradamus predictions, written around 500 years ago, are still going around the world today, and the French man is one of the most important figures of occult art. Besides astrology and his predictions regarding the future, Nostradamus had an adventurous love life, marked by long journeys, extrasensory experiences, the run from Inquisition, but also by an exceptional, yet unjustly less-mentioned medical career. Nostradamus aroused admiration, but also envy. Moreover, he was a controversial character. Nostradamus confessed that his predictions have a scientific fundament. He claimed that he managed to predict the future by calculating the position of the stars and planets towards the earth and other astral bodies. How Nostradamus died Nostradamus even predicted his death: ‘Next to the bench and bed, I will be found dead’. After he announced, one evening, that he will not survive the night, he died of a gout episode and was found dead the following morning, next to his worktable

 

Feel free to publish a summary of this article (in English or translated into another language) along with a link to the full piece wisehoroscope.org/nostradamus-2021/

A busy weaver bird begins a nest in a thorn tree in the Cradle of Humankind, South Africa

 

Any use of this images requires prior authorization. I request that you ask for permission first and properly link/credit (do not save and copy) back to the original flickr photo page.

A wonderful and iconic…familiar at least, maybe, to those of my generation with similar interests…depiction of humankind’s first steps on the moon, as rendered by NASA’s talented artist, Albert Lane. The image featured prominently in “NASA FACTS” NF-40/11-67, as the ‘centerspread’ of the fold-out format publication.

So, obviously, the work was first published in 1967, a year after Norman Rockwell’s rendering (also iconic) of the similar perspective. Both (Rockwell’s at least) I believe were/was based to some degree, on the series of photographs of Jack Mays’ training activities in/on/around the LM mockup on the Lunar Topographical Simulation Area, Manned Spacecraft Center.

As if that wasn’t enough, Tony Tallarico’s iconic, yes iconic cover artwork of the venerable & beloved “APOLLO Man on the Moon COLORING BOOK” appears to be a straight-up copy of Mr. Lane’s work, with minor lunar landscape alterations & repositioning of the earth, CSM & Astronaut coming down the ladder. Finally, as a tragic aside, the image of the Astronaut in the foreground of the coloring book was taken from an i**n*c photograph of Ronald Redick of Bendix Corporation’s Aerospace Systems Division, demonstrating the deployment of the EASEP LRRR.

Tragic due to the following…as I’m pretty sure they’re one-in-the-same:

 

www.mlive.com/news/grand-rapids/2018/11/ronald_redick_fin...

Credit: “mLIVE Michigan” website

 

At least NOT tragic, and although inevitable, still sad:

 

Tony Tallarico…continue to RIP Good Sir:

 

www.dailycartoonist.com/index.php/2022/01/07/tony-tallari...

Credit: “The Daily Cartoonist” website

Humankind has not woven the web of life.

We are but one thread within it.

Whatever we do to the web, we do to ourselves.

All things are bound together. All things connect.

- Chief Seattle

Why visit and photograph abandoned or forgotten places? Why have I concentrated my attention on places abandoned by humankind and travelled thousands of kilometres each year to bring back photographs of them? Must a passion necessarily be explained to be shared? Because sharing is indeed what this is all about: sharing the emotions I had when I discovered places of worship that exist in harmony with the ruins of time.

 

Francis Meslet’s book is an unparalleled testimony to these places. He brings us rare and touching images of our history, our beliefs, our hopes, and our fears. This is an invitation to dream. Each photograph is not only an image in time, every single picture is a guide book, to which we hold the keys deep within us. It is up to us to turn the pages and let ourselves be led by our imagination on a journey through the centuries, while soaking up the poetry and simple beauty of these places roused from their great slumber.

 

Christian Montesinos

The plain tiger or African monarch (Danaus chrysippus) is a medium-sized butterfly of the Danainae subfamily ("Milkweed butterflies") . This butterfly has captivated humankind’s attention since it was first depicted in an Egyptian tomb 3,500 years ago, making it the first ever butterfly to be recorded in history.

Its beautiful striking tawny-orange colouration serves as a warning to predators that this species is distasteful, which ultimately deters predators from attacking. Framing the startlingly orange hues is a bold black border interlaced with white specks. The wingspan is about 7–8 cm. The male plain tiger is smaller than the female, but more brightly colored. The body is black with many white spots.

This widespread butterfly can be found across the entire African continent, southern Europe, the Middle East, eastwards throughout most of Asia south of the Himalayas, southern China and Japan to southeast Asia, Indonesia and even tropical Australia.

This picture was taken in the tropical butterfly house of the botanical garden of the Utrecht University in the Netherlands.

 

De kleine monarchvlinder (Danaus chrysippus) is een vlinder uit de onderfamilie Danainae (monarchvlinders) binnen de familie Nymphalidae (schoenlappers, parelmoervlinders en zandoogjes).

Op een 3500 jaar oude graftombe in Luxor (Egypte) wordt een fresco van deze kleine monarchvlinder weergegeven. De tekening is daarmee vermoedelijk de oudste afbeelding van een vlinder.

De hoofdkleur is oranje-geel-bruin, de bovenkant van de vleugels is wat donkerder en helderder om roofvogels af te schrikken. De onderkant is bleker om in rust met gesloten vleugels niet op te vallen. De vleugelpunten zijn zwart met grote witte vlekken. De randen van de vleugels zijn zwart met kleine witte vlekjes. Het lichaam is zwart met witte puntjes. De vleugelspanwijdte varieert tussen 70 en 80 mm. Het mannetje is iets kleiner dan het vrouwtje.

De wijdverspreide kleine monarchvlinder komt voor op het hele Afrikaanse continent, zuidoost Europa, het Midden-Oosten, oostwaarts door het grootste deel van Azië ten zuiden van de Himalaya, Zuid-China, Japan, zuidoost Azië, Indonesië en zelfs tropische Australië.

Deze foto is gemaakt in de tropische vlinderkas van de Botanische Tuinen van de Utrechtse Universiteit.

______________________________

 

All rights reserved. Copyright © Martien Uiterweerd (Foto Martien).

All my images are protected under international authors copyright laws and may not be downloaded, reproduced, copied, transmitted or manipulated without my written explicit permission.

______________________________

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Humankind has long thought, and still does, that it can control nature – how naive and arrogant a presumption…and try convincing the cold virus that's taken up residence in my body since Easter that we're in control, I can hear millions of them laughing hysterically right now! :-)

 

I hope everyone's well. I said recently that I'm catching up with you all but that's proving to be difficult for various reasons...my bad feelings about the new flickr is not one of them, I've put that issue to bed now, until they come up with something else to spoil it, I suppose! :-) I am popping in when and as often as I can, though. Have a good week and good light, folks.

"The Book of Genesis" redirects here. For the comics, see The Book of Genesis (comics).

 

The Creation of Man by Ephraim Moses Lilien, 1903.

 

Jacob flees Laban by Charles Foster, 1897.

Joshua 1:1 as recorded in the Aleppo Codex

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The Book of Genesis,[a] the first book of the Hebrew Bible and the Old Testament,[1] is Judaism's account of the creation of the world and the origins of the Jewish people.[2]

 

It is divisible into two parts, the primeval history (chapters 1–11) and the ancestral history (chapters 12–50).[3] The primeval history sets out the author's (or authors') concepts of the nature of the deity and of humankind's relationship with its maker: God creates a world which is good and fit for mankind, but when man corrupts it with sin God decides to destroy his creation, saving only the righteous Noah to reestablish the relationship between man and God.[4] The ancestral history (chapters 12–50) tells of the prehistory of Israel, God's chosen people.[5] At God's command Noah's descendant Abraham journeys from his home into the God-given land of Canaan, where he dwells as a sojourner, as does his son Isaac and his grandson Jacob. Jacob's name is changed to Israel, and through the agency of his son Joseph, the children of Israel descend into Egypt, 70 people in all with their households, and God promises them a future of greatness. Genesis ends with Israel in Egypt, ready for the coming of Moses and the Exodus. The narrative is punctuated by a series of covenants with God, successively narrowing in scope from all mankind (the covenant with Noah) to a special relationship with one people alone (Abraham and his descendants through Isaac and Jacob).[6]

 

In Judaism, the theological importance of Genesis centers on the covenants linking God to his chosen people and the people to the Promised Land. Christianity has interpreted Genesis as the prefiguration of certain cardinal Christian beliefs, primarily the need for salvation (the hope or assurance of all Christians) and the redemptive act of Christ on the Cross as the fulfillment of covenant promises as the Son of God.

 

Tradition credits Moses as the author of Genesis, as well as the books of Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and most of Deuteronomy, but modern scholars increasingly see them as a product of the 6th and 5th centuries BC.[7][8]

  

Contents

1Structure

2Summary

3Composition

3.1Title and textual witnesses

3.2Origins

3.3Genre

4Themes

4.1Promises to the ancestors

4.2God's chosen people

5Judaism's weekly Torah portions

6See also

7Notes

8References

9Bibliography

9.1Commentaries on Genesis

9.2General

10External links

Structure[edit]

Genesis appears to be structured around the recurring phrase elleh toledot, meaning "these are the generations," with the first use of the phrase referring to the "generations of heaven and earth" and the remainder marking individuals—Noah, the "sons of Noah", Shem, etc., down to Jacob.[9] It is not clear, however, what this meant to the original authors, and most modern commentators divide it into two parts based on subject matter, a "primeval history" (chapters 1–11) and a "patriarchal history" (chapters 12–50).[10][b] While the first is far shorter than the second, it sets out the basic themes and provides an interpretive key for understanding the entire book.[11] The "primeval history" has a symmetrical structure hinging on chapters 6–9, the flood story, with the events before the flood mirrored by the events after;[12] the "ancestral history" is structured around the three patriarchs Abraham, Jacob and Joseph.[13] (The stories of Isaac do not make up a coherent cycle of stories and function as a bridge between the cycles of Abraham and Jacob.)[14]

 

Summary[edit]

See also: Primeval history and Patriarchal age

 

The Creation of Adam by Michelangelo, 1512.

God creates the world in six days and consecrates the seventh as a day of rest. God creates the first humans Adam and Eve and all the animals in the Garden of Eden but instructs them not to eat the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil. A talking serpent portrayed as a deceptive creature or trickster, entices Eve into eating it against God's wishes, and she entices Adam, whereupon God throws them out and curses them—Adam to getting what he needs only by sweat and work, and Eve to giving birth in pain. This is interpreted by Christians as the fall of humanity. Eve bears two sons, Cain and Abel. Cain kills Abel after God accepts Abel's offering but not Cain's. God then curses Cain. Eve bears another son, Seth, to take Abel's place.

 

After many generations of Adam have passed from the lines of Cain and Seth, the world becomes corrupted by human sin and Nephilim, and God determines to wipe out humanity. First, he instructs the righteous Noah and his family to build an ark and put examples of all the animals on it, seven pairs of every clean animal and one pair of every unclean. Then God sends a great flood to wipe out the rest of the world. When the waters recede, God promises he will never destroy the world with water again, using the rainbow as a symbol of his promise. God sees mankind cooperating to build a great tower city, the Tower of Babel, and divides humanity with many languages and sets them apart with confusion.

 

God instructs Abram to travel from his home in Mesopotamia to the land of Canaan. There, God makes a covenant with Abram, promising that his descendants shall be as numerous as the stars, but that people will suffer oppression in a foreign land for four hundred years, after which they will inherit the land "from the river of Egypt to the great river, the river Euphrates". Abram's name is changed to Abraham and that of his wife Sarai to Sarah, and circumcision of all males is instituted as the sign of the covenant. Due to her old age, Sarah tells Abraham to take her Egyptian handmaiden, Hagar, as a second wife. Through Hagar, Abraham fathers Ishmael.

 

God resolves to destroy the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah for the sins of their people. Abraham protests and gets God to agree not to destroy the cities for the sake of ten righteous men. Angels save Abraham's nephew Lot and his family, but his wife looks back on the destruction against their command and turns into a pillar of salt. Lot's daughters, concerned that they are fugitives who will never find husbands, get him drunk to become pregnant by him, and give birth to the ancestors of the Moabites and Ammonites.

 

Abraham and Sarah go to the Philistine town of Gerar, pretending to be brother and sister (they are half-siblings). The King of Gerar takes Sarah for his wife, but God warns him to return her, and he obeys. God sends Sarah a son whom she will name Isaac; through him will be the establishment of the covenant. Sarah drives Ishmael and his mother Hagar out into the wilderness, but God saves them and promises to make Ishmael a great nation.

  

The Angel Hinders the Offering of Isaac (Rembrandt, 1635)

God tests Abraham by demanding that he sacrifice Isaac. As Abraham is about to lay the knife upon his son, God restrains him, promising him numberless descendants. On the death of Sarah, Abraham purchases Machpelah (believed to be modern Hebron) for a family tomb and sends his servant to Mesopotamia to find among his relations a wife for Isaac; after proving herself, Rebekah becomes Isaac's betrothed. Keturah, Abraham's other wife, births more children, among whose descendants are the Midianites. Abraham dies at a prosperous old age and his family lays him to rest in Hebron.

 

Isaac's wife Rebecca gives birth to the twins Esau, father of the Edomites, and Jacob. Through deception, Jacob becomes the heir instead of Esau and gains his father's blessing. He flees to his uncle where he prospers and earns his two wives, Rachel and Leah. Jacob's name is changed to Israel, and by his wives and their handmaidens he has twelve sons, the ancestors of the twelve tribes of the Children of Israel, and a daughter, Dinah.

 

Joseph, Jacob's favorite son, makes his brothers jealous and they sell him into slavery in Egypt. Joseph prospers, after hardship, with God's guidance of interpreting Pharaoh's dream of upcoming famine. He is then reunited with his father and brothers, who fail to recognize him, and plead for food. After much manipulation, he reveals himself and lets them and their households into Egypt, where Pharaoh assigns to them the land of Goshen. Jacob calls his sons to his bedside and reveals their future before he dies. Joseph lives to an old age and exhorts his brethren, if God should lead them out of the country, to take his bones with them.

 

Composition[edit]

 

Abram's Journey from Ur to Canaan (József Molnár, 1850)

Title and textual witnesses[edit]

Genesis takes its Hebrew title from the first word of the first sentence, Bereshit, meaning "In [the] beginning [of]"; in the Greek Septuagint it was called Genesis, from the phrase "the generations of heaven and earth".[15] There are four major textual witnesses to the book: the Masoretic Text, the Samaritan Pentateuch, the Septuagint, and fragments of Genesis found at Qumran. The Qumran group provides the oldest manuscripts but covers only a small proportion of the book; in general, the Masoretic Text is well preserved and reliable, but there are many individual instances where the other versions preserve a superior reading.[16]

 

Origins[edit]

Main article: Composition of the Torah

For much of the 20th century most scholars agreed that the five books of the Pentateuch—Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy—came from four sources, the Yahwist, the Elohist, the Deuteronomist and the Priestly source, each telling the same basic story, and joined together by various editors.[17] Since the 1970s there has been a revolution leading scholars to view the Elohist source as no more than a variation on the Yahwist, and the Priestly source as a body of revisions and expansions to the Yahwist (or "non-Priestly") material. (The Deuteronomistic source does not appear in Genesis.)[18]

 

Scholars use examples of repeated and duplicate stories to identify the separate sources. In Genesis these include three different accounts of a Patriarch claiming that his wife was his sister, the two creation stories, and the two versions of Abraham sending Hagar and Ishmael into the desert.[19]

 

This leaves the question of when these works were created. Scholars in the first half of the 20th century came to the conclusion that the Yahwist is a product of the monarchic period, specifically at the court of Solomon, 10th century BC, and the Priestly work in the middle of the 5th century BC (with claims that the author is Ezra), but more recent thinking is that the Yahwist is from either just before or during the Babylonian exile of the 6th century BC, and the Priestly final edition was made late in the Exilic period or soon after.[8]

 

As for why the book was created, a theory which has gained considerable interest, although still controversial is "Persian imperial authorisation". This proposes that the Persians of the Achaemenid Empire, after their conquest of Babylon in 539 BC, agreed to grant Jerusalem a large measure of local autonomy within the empire, but required the local authorities to produce a single law code accepted by the entire community. The two powerful groups making up the community—the priestly families who controlled the Temple and who traced their origin to Moses and the wilderness wanderings, and the major landowning families who made up the "elders" and who traced their own origins to Abraham, who had "given" them the land—were in conflict over many issues, and each had its own "history of origins", but the Persian promise of greatly increased local autonomy for all provided a powerful incentive to cooperate in producing a single text.[20]

 

Genre[edit]

Genesis is perhaps best seen as an example of a creation myth, a type of literature telling of the first appearance of humans, the stories of ancestors and heroes, and the origins of culture, cities and so forth.[21] The most notable examples are found in the work of Greek historians of the 6th century BC: their intention was to connect notable families of their own day to a distant and heroic past, and in doing so they did not distinguish between myth, legend, and facts.[22] Professor Jean-Louis Ska of the Pontifical Biblical Institute calls the basic rule of the antiquarian historian the "law of conservation": everything old is valuable, nothing is eliminated.[23] Ska also points out the purpose behind such antiquarian histories: antiquity is needed to prove the worth of Israel's traditions to the nations (the neighbours of the Jews in early Persian Palestine), and to reconcile and unite the various factions within Israel itself.[23]

 

Themes[edit]

 

Joseph Recognized by His Brothers (Léon Pierre Urban Bourgeois, 1863)

Promises to the ancestors[edit]

In 1978 David Clines published his influential The Theme of the Pentateuch – influential because he was one of the first to take up the question of the theme of the entire five books. Clines' conclusion was that the overall theme is "the partial fulfillment – which implies also the partial nonfulfillment – of the promise to or blessing of the Patriarchs". (By calling the fulfillment "partial" Clines was drawing attention to the fact that at the end of Deuteronomy the people are still outside Canaan).[24]

 

The patriarchs, or ancestors, are Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, with their wives (Joseph is normally excluded).[25] Since the name YHWH had not been revealed to them, they worshipped El in his various manifestations.[26] (It is, however, worth noting that in the Jahwist source the patriarchs refer to deity by the name YHWH, for example in Genesis 15.) Through the patriarchs God announces the election of Israel, meaning that he has chosen Israel to be his special people and committed himself to their future.[27] God tells the patriarchs that he will be faithful to their descendants (i.e. to Israel), and Israel is expected to have faith in God and his promise. ("Faith" in the context of Genesis and the Hebrew Bible means agreement to the promissory relationship, not a body of belief).[28]

 

The promise itself has three parts: offspring, blessings, and land.[29] The fulfilment of the promise to each patriarch depends on having a male heir, and the story is constantly complicated by the fact that each prospective mother – Sarah, Rebekah and Rachel – is barren. The ancestors, however, retain their faith in God and God in each case gives a son – in Jacob's case, twelve sons, the foundation of the chosen Israelites. Each succeeding generation of the three promises attains a more rich fulfillment, until through Joseph "all the world" attains salvation from famine,[30] and by bringing the children of Israel down to Egypt he becomes the means through which the promise can be fulfilled.[25]

 

God's chosen people[edit]

Scholars generally agree that the theme of divine promise unites the patriarchal cycles, but many would dispute the efficacy of trying to examine Genesis' theology by pursuing a single overarching theme, instead citing as more productive the analysis of the Abraham cycle, the Jacob cycle, and the Joseph cycle, and the Yahwist and Priestly sources.[31] The problem lies in finding a way to unite the patriarchal theme of divine promise to the stories of Genesis 1–11 (the primeval history) with their theme of God's forgiveness in the face of man's evil nature.[32][33] One solution is to see the patriarchal stories as resulting from God's decision not to remain alienated from mankind:[33] God creates the world and mankind, mankind rebels, and God "elects" (chooses) Abraham.[6]

 

To this basic plot (which comes from the Yahwist) the Priestly source has added a series of covenants dividing history into stages, each with its own distinctive "sign". The first covenant is between God and all living creatures, and is marked by the sign of the rainbow; the second is with the descendants of Abraham (Ishmaelites and others as well as Israelites), and its sign is circumcision; and the last, which does not appear until the book of Exodus, is with Israel alone, and its sign is Sabbath. A great leader mediates each covenant (Noah, Abraham, Moses), and at each stage God progressively reveals himself by his name (Elohim with Noah, El Shaddai with Abraham, Yahweh with Moses).[6]

 

Judaism's weekly Torah portions[edit]

Main article: Weekly Torah portion

 

First Day of Creation (from the 1493 Nuremberg Chronicle)

Bereshit, on Genesis 1–6: Creation, Eden, Adam and Eve, Cain and Abel, Lamech, wickedness

Noach, on Genesis 6–11: Noah's Ark, the Flood, Noah's drunkenness, the Tower of Babel

Lech-Lecha, on Genesis 12–17: Abraham, Sarah, Lot, covenant, Hagar and Ishmael, circumcision

Vayeira, on Genesis 18–22: Abraham's visitors, Sodomites, Lot's visitors and flight, Hagar expelled, binding of Isaac

Chayei Sarah, on Genesis 23–25: Sarah buried, Rebekah for Isaac

Toledot, on Genesis 25–28: Esau and Jacob, Esau's birthright, Isaac's blessing

Vayetze, on Genesis 28–32: Jacob flees, Rachel, Leah, Laban, Jacob's children and departure

Vayishlach, on Genesis 32–36: Jacob's reunion with Esau, the rape of Dinah

Vayeshev, on Genesis 37–40: Joseph's dreams, coat, and slavery, Judah with Tamar, Joseph and Potiphar

Miketz, on Genesis 41–44: Pharaoh's dream, Joseph in government, Joseph's brothers visit Egypt

Vayigash, on Genesis 44–47: Joseph reveals himself, Jacob moves to Egypt

Vaychi, on Genesis 47–50: Jacob's blessings, death of Jacob and of Joseph

See also[edit]

Bible portal

Dating the Bible

Enûma Eliš

Genesis creation narrative

Genesis 1:1

Historicity of the Bible

Mosaic authorship

Paradise Lost

Protevangelium

Wife–sister narratives in the Book of Genesis

Notes[edit]

^ The name "Genesis" is from the Latin Vulgate, in turn borrowed or transliterated from Greek "γένεσις", meaning "Origin"; Hebrew: בְּרֵאשִׁית, "Bərēšīṯ", "In [the] beginning"

^ The Weekly Torah portions, Parashot, divide the book into 12 readings.

References[edit]

^ Hamilton 1990, p. 1.

^ Sweeney 2012, p. 657.

^ Bergant 2013, p. xii.

^ Bandstra 2008, p. 35.

^ Bandstra 2008, p. 78.

^ Jump up to: a b c Bandstra (2004), pp. 28–29

^ Van Seters (1998), p. 5

^ Jump up to: a b Davies (1998), p. 37

^ Hamilton (1990), p. 2

^ Whybray (1997), p. 41

^ McKeown (2008), p. 2

^ Walsh (2001), p. 112

^ Bergant 2013, p. 45.

^ Bergant 2013, p. 103.

^ Carr 2000, p. 491.

^ Hendel, R. S. (1992). "Genesis, Book of". In D. N. Freedman (Ed.), The Anchor Yale Bible Dictionary (Vol. 2, p. 933). New York: Doubleday

^ Gooder (2000), pp. 12–14

^ Van Seters (2004), pp. 30–86

^ Lawrence Boadt; Richard J. Clifford; Daniel J. Harrington (2012). Reading the Old Testament: An Introduction. Paulist Press.

^ Ska (2006), pp. 169, 217–18

^ Van Seters (2004) pp. 113–14

^ Whybray (2001), p. 39

^ Jump up to: a b Ska (2006), p. 169

^ Clines (1997), p. 30

^ Jump up to: a b Hamilton (1990), p. 50

^ John J Collins (2007), A Short Introduction to the Hebrew Bible, Fortress Press, p. 47

^ Brueggemann (2002), p. 61

^ Brueggemann (2002), p. 78

^ McKeown (2008), p. 4

^ Wenham (2003), p. 34

^ Hamilton (1990), pp. 38–39

^ Hendel, R. S. (1992). "Genesis, Book of". In D. N. Freedman (Ed.), The Anchor Yale Bible Dictionary (Vol. 2, p. 935). New York: Doubleday

^ Jump up to: a b Kugler, Hartin (2009), p.9

Bibliography[edit]

Commentaries on Genesis[edit]

Sweeney, Marvin (2012). "Genesis in the Context of Jewish Thought". In Evans, Craig A.; Lohr, Joel N. (eds.). The Book of Genesis: Composition, Reception, and Interpretation. BRILL. ISBN 978-9004226531.

Bandstra, Barry L. (2008). Reading the Old Testament. Cengage Learning. ISBN 978-0495391050.

Bergant, Dianne (2013). Genesis: In the Beginning. Liturgical Press. ISBN 9780814682753.

Blenkinsopp, Joseph (2011). Creation, Un-creation, Re-creation: A Discursive Commentary on Genesis 1–11. Continuum International Publishing Group. ISBN 9780567372871.

Brueggemann, Walter (1986). Genesis. Interpretation: A Bible Commentary for Teaching and Preaching. Atlanta: John Knox Press. ISBN 0-8042-3101-X.

Carr, David M. (2000). "Genesis, Book of". In Freedman, David Noel; Myers, Allen C. (eds.). Eerdmans Dictionary of the Bible. Amsterdam University Press. ISBN 9780567372871.

Cotter, David W (2003). Genesis. Liturgical Press. ISBN 9780814650400.

De La Torre, Miguel (2011). Genesis. Belief: A Theological Commentary on the Bible. Westminster John Knox Press.

Fretheim, Terence E. "The Book of Genesis." In The New Interpreter's Bible. Edited by Leander E. Keck, vol. 1, pp. 319–674. Nashville: Abingdon Press, 1994. ISBN 0-687-27814-7.

Hamilton, Victor P (1990). The Book of Genesis: chapters 1–17. Eerdmans. ISBN 9780802825216.

Hamilton, Victor P (1995). The Book of Genesis: chapters 18–50. Eerdmans. ISBN 9780802823090.

Hirsch, Samson Raphael. The Pentateuch: Genesis. Translated by Isaac Levy. Judaica Press, 2nd edition 1999. ISBN 0-910818-12-6. Originally published as Der Pentateuch uebersetzt und erklaert Frankfurt, 1867–1878.

Kass, Leon R. The Beginning of Wisdom: Reading Genesis. New York: Free Press, 2003. ISBN 0-7432-4299-8.

Kessler, Martin; Deurloo, Karel Adriaan (2004). A Commentary on Genesis: The Book of Beginnings. Paulist Press. ISBN 9780809142057.

McKeown, James (2008). Genesis. Eerdmans. ISBN 9780802827050.

Plaut, Gunther. The Torah: A Modern Commentary (1981), ISBN 0-8074-0055-6

Rogerson, John William (1991). Genesis 1–11. T&T Clark. ISBN 9780567083388.

Sacks, Robert D (1990). A Commentary on the Book of Genesis. Edwin Mellen.

Sarna, Nahum M. The JPS Torah Commentary: Genesis: The Traditional Hebrew Text with the New JPS Translation. Philadelphia: Jewish Publication Society, 1989. ISBN 0-8276-0326-6.

Speiser, E.A. Genesis: Introduction, Translation, and Notes. New York: Anchor Bible, 1964. ISBN 0-385-00854-6.

Towner, Wayne Sibley (2001). Genesis. Westminster John Knox Press. ISBN 9780664252564.

Turner, Laurence (2009). Genesis, Second Edition. Sheffield Phoenix Press. ISBN 9781906055653.

Von Rad, Gerhard (1972). Genesis: A Commentary. Westminster John Knox Press. ISBN 9780664227456.

Wenham, Gordon (2003). "Genesis". In James D. G. Dunn, John William Rogerson (ed.). Eerdmans Bible Commentary. Eerdmans. ISBN 9780802837110.

Whybray, R.N (2001). "Genesis". In John Barton (ed.). Oxford Bible Commentary. Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780198755005.

General[edit]

Bandstra, Barry L (2004). Reading the Old Testament: An Introduction to the Hebrew Bible. Wadsworth. ISBN 9780495391050.

Blenkinsopp, Joseph (2004). Treasures old and new: Essays in the Theology of the Pentateuch. Eerdmans. ISBN 9780802826794.

Brueggemann, Walter (2002). Reverberations of faith: A Theological Handbook of Old Testament themes. Westminster John Knox. ISBN 9780664222314.

Campbell, Antony F; O'Brien, Mark A (1993). Sources of the Pentateuch: Texts, Introductions, Annotations. Fortress Press. ISBN 9781451413670.

Carr, David M (1996). Reading the Fractures of Genesis. Westminster John Knox Press. ISBN 9780664220716.

Clines, David A (1997). The Theme of the Pentateuch. Sheffield Academic Press. ISBN 9780567431967.

Davies, G.I (1998). "Introduction to the Pentateuch". In John Barton (ed.). Oxford Bible Commentary. Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780198755005.

Gooder, Paula (2000). The Pentateuch: A Story of Beginnings. T&T Clark. ISBN 9780567084187.

Hendel, Ronald (2012). The Book of "Genesis": A Biography (Lives of Great Religious Books). Princeton University Press. ISBN 9780691140124.

Kugler, Robert; Hartin, Patrick (2009). The Old Testament between Theology and History: A Critical Survey. Eerdmans. ISBN 9780802846365.

Levin, Christoph L (2005). The Old Testament: A Brief Introduction. Princeton University Press. ISBN 9780691113944.

Longman, Tremper (2005). How to read Genesis. InterVarsity Press. ISBN 9780830875603.

McEntire, Mark (2008). Struggling with God: An Introduction to the Pentateuch. Mercer University Press. ISBN 9780881461015.

Newman, Murray L. (1999). Genesis (PDF). Forward Movement Publications, Cincinnati, OH.

Ska, Jean-Louis (2006). Introduction to Reading the Pentateuch. Eisenbrauns. ISBN 9781575061221.

Van Seters, John (1992). Prologue to History: The Yahwist as Historian in Genesis. Westminster John Knox Press. ISBN 9780664221799.

Van Seters, John (1998). "The Pentateuch". In Steven L. McKenzie, Matt Patrick Graham (ed.). The Hebrew Bible Today: An Introduction to Critical Issues. Westminster John Knox Press. ISBN 9780664256524.

Van Seters, John (2004). The Pentateuch: A Social-science Commentary. Continuum International Publishing Group. ISBN 9780567080882.

Walsh, Jerome T (2001). Style and Structure in Biblical Hebrew Narrative. Liturgical Press. ISBN 9780814658970.

External links[edit]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Book of Genesis.

Wikiquote has quotations related to: Genesis

Wikisource has original text related to this article:

Genesis

Book of Genesis Hebrew Transliteration

Book of Genesis illustrated

Genesis Reading Room (Tyndale Seminary): online commentaries and monographs on Genesis.

Bereshit with commentary in Hebrew

בראשית Bereishit – Genesis (Hebrew – English at Mechon-Mamre.org)

Genesis at Mechon-Mamre (Jewish Publication Society translation)

01 Genesis public domain audiobook at LibriVox Various versions

Genesis (The Living Torah) Rabbi Aryeh Kaplan's translation and commentary at Ort.org

Genesis (Judaica Press) at Chabad.org

Young's Literal Translation (YLT)

New International Version (NIV)

Revised Standard Version (RSV)

Westminster-Leningrad codex

Aleppo Codex

Book of Genesis in Bible Book

Genesis in Hebrew, Aramaic, Syriac, Greek, Latin, and English – The critical text of the Book of Genesis in Hebrew with ancient versions (Masoretic, Samaritan Pentateuch, Samaritan Targum, Targum Onkelos, Peshitta, Septuagint, Vetus Latina, Vulgate, Aquila, Symmachus, and Theodotion) and English translation for each version in parallel.

 

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Book_of_Genesis

  

"The Fall of Man" by Lucas Cranach the Elder. The Tree of Knowledge is on the right.

The tree of the knowledge of good and evil (Biblical Hebrew: עֵ֕ץ הַדַּ֖עַת ט֥וֹב וָרָֽע‎ [ʕesˤ hadaʕaθ tˤov waraʕ]) is one of two specific trees in the story of the Garden of Eden in Genesis 2–3, along with the tree of life.

  

Contents

1In Genesis

1.1Narrative

1.2Meaning of good and evil

2Religious views

2.1Judaism

2.2Christianity

2.3Islam

2.4Other cultures

3See also

4References

4.1Bibliography

In Genesis[edit]

Narrative[edit]

Genesis 2 narrates that Yahweh places the first man and woman in a garden with trees of whose fruits they may eat, but forbids them to eat from "the tree of the knowledge of good and evil." When, in Genesis 3, a serpent persuades the woman to eat from its forbidden fruit and she also lets the man taste it, God expels them from the garden and thereby from eternal life.

 

Meaning of good and evil[edit]

The phrase in Hebrew: טוֹב וָרָע, tov wa-raʿ, literally translates as good and evil. This may be an example of the type of figure of speech known as merism, a literary device that pairs opposite terms together in order to create a general meaning, so that the phrase "good and evil" would simply imply "everything." This is seen in the Egyptian expression evil-good, which is normally employed to mean "everything."[1] In Greek literature, Homer also uses the device when he lets Telemachus say, "I [wish to] know everything, the good and the evil." (Odyssey 20:309–310)

 

However, if tree of the knowledge of good and evil is to be understood to mean a tree whose fruit imparts knowledge of everything, this phrase does not necessarily denote a moral concept. This view is held by several scholars.[1][2][3]

 

Given the context of disobedience to God, other interpretations of the implications of this phrase also demand consideration. Robert Alter emphasizes the point that when God forbids the man to eat from that particular tree, he says that if he does so, he is "doomed to die." The Hebrew behind this is in a form regularly used in the Hebrew Bible for issuing death sentences.[4]

 

Religious views[edit]

Judaism[edit]

In Jewish tradition, the Tree of Knowledge and the eating of its fruit represents the beginning of the mixture of good and evil together. Before that time, the two were separate, and evil had only a nebulous existence in potential. While free choice did exist before eating the fruit, evil existed as an entity separate from the human psyche, and it was not in human nature to desire it. Eating and internalizing the forbidden fruit changed this and thus was born the yetzer hara, the evil inclination.[5][6] In Rashi's notes on Genesis 3:3, the first sin came about because Eve added an additional clause to the Divine command: Neither shall you touch it. By saying this, Eve added to YHWH's command and thereby came to detract from it, as it is written: Do not add to His Words (Proverbs 30:6). However, In Legends of the Jews, it was Adam who had devoutly forbidden Eve to touch the tree even though God had only mentioned the eating of the fruit.[7]

 

When Adam ate from the Tree of Knowledge, all the animals ate from it, too [8]

 

In Kabbalah, the sin of the Tree of Knowledge (called Cheit Eitz HaDa'at) brought about the great task of beirurim, sifting through the mixture of good and evil in the world to extract and liberate the sparks of holiness trapped therein.[9] Since evil has no independent existence, it depends on holiness to draw down the Divine life-force, on whose "leftovers" it then feeds and derives existence.[10] Once evil is separated from holiness through beirurim, its source of life is cut off, causing the evil to disappear. This is accomplished through observance of the 613 commandments in the Torah, which deal primarily with physical objects wherein good and evil are mixed together.[11][12][13] Thus, the task of beirurim rectifies the sin of the Tree and draws the Shechinah back down to earth, where the sin of the Tree had caused Her to depart.[14][15]

 

Christianity[edit]

 

A marble bas relief by Lorenzo Maitani on the Orvieto Cathedral, Italy depicts Eve and the tree

In Christian tradition, consuming the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil was the sin committed by Adam and Eve that led to the fall of man in Genesis 3.

 

In Catholicism, Augustine of Hippo taught that the tree should be understood both symbolically and as a real tree - similarly to Jerusalem being both a real city and a figure of Heavenly Jerusalem.[16] Augustine underlined that the fruits of that tree were not evil by themselves, because everything that God created was good (Gen 1:12). It was disobedience of Adam and Eve, who had been told by God not to eat of the tree (Gen 2:17), that caused disorder in the creation,[17] thus humanity inherited sin and guilt from Adam and Eve's sin.[18]

 

In Western Christian art, the fruit of the tree is commonly depicted as the apple, which originated in central Asia. This depiction may have originated as a Latin pun: by eating the mālum (apple), Eve contracted malum (evil).[19]

 

Islam[edit]

See also: Tree of life (Quran)

 

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The Quran never refers to the tree as the "Tree of the knowledge of good and evil" but rather typically refers to it as "the tree" or (in the words of Iblis) as the "tree of immortality."[20] The tree in Quran is used as an example for a concept, idea, way of life or code of life. A good concept/idea is represented as a good tree and a bad idea/concept is represented as a bad tree[21] Muslims believe that when God created Adam and Eve, he told them that they could enjoy everything in the Garden except this tree (idea, concept, way of life), and so, Satan appeared to them and told them that the only reason God forbade them to eat from that tree is that they would become Angels or they start using the idea/concept of Ownership in conjunction with inheritance generations after generations which Iblis convinced Adam to accept[22]

 

When they ate from this tree their nakedness appeared to them and they began to sew together, for their covering, leaves from the Garden. The Arabic word used is ورق which also means currency / notes.[23] Which means they started to use currency due to ownership. As Allah already mentioned that everything in Heaven is free(so eat from where you desire) [24] so using currency to uphold the idea of ownership became the reason for the slip. The Quran mentions the sin as being a 'slip', and after this 'slip' they were sent to the destination they were intended to be on: Earth. Consequently, they repented to God and asked for his forgiveness[25] and were forgiven.[26] It was decided that those who obey God and follow his path shall be rewarded with everlasting life in Jannah, and those who disobey God and stray away from his path shall be punished in Jahannam.

 

God in Quran (Al-A'raf 27) states:

 

"[O] Children of Adam! Let not Satan tempt you as he brought your parents out of the Garden, stripping them of their garments to show them their shameful parts. Surely he [Satan] sees you, he and his tribe, from where you see them not. We have made the Satans the friends of those who do not believe."

Other cultures[edit]

A cylinder seal, known as the Adam and Eve cylinder seal, from post-Akkadian periods in Mesopotamia (c. 23rd-22nd century BCE), has been linked to the Adam and Eve story. Assyriologist George Smith (1840-1876) describes the seal as having two facing figures (male and female) seated on each side of a tree, holding out their hands to the fruit, while between their backs is a serpent, giving evidence that the fall of man account was known in early times of Babylonia.[27] The British Museum disputes this interpretation and holds that it is a common image from the period depicting a male deity being worshipped by a woman, with no reason to connect the scene with the Book of Genesis.[28]

 

See also[edit]

Adam and Eve (Latter Day Saint movement)

Dream of the Rood

Enlightenment (spiritual)

Original sin

References[edit]

^ Jump up to: a b Gordon, Cyrus H.; Rendsburg, Gary A. (1997). The Bible and the ancient Near East (4th ed.). New York: W.W. Norton & Co. p. 36. ISBN 978-0-393-31689-6.

^ Harry Orlinsky's notes to the NJPS Torah.

^ Wyatt, Nicolas (2001). Space and Time in the Religious Life of the Near East. A&C Black. p. 244. ISBN 978-0-567-04942-1.

^ Alter 2004, p. 21.

^ Rashi to Genesis 2:25

^ Ramban to Genesis 3:6

^ Ginzberg, Louis, The Legends of the Jews, Vol. I: The Fall of Man, (Translated by Henrietta Szold), Johns Hopkins University Press: 1998, ISBN 0-8018-5890-9

^ Bereishit Rabbah 19: 5

^ Epistle 26, Lessons in Tanya, Igeret HaKodesh

^ ch. 22, Tanya, Likutei Amarim

^ ch. 37, Lessons in Tanya, Likutei Amarim

^ Torah Ohr 3c

^ Torat Chaim Bereishit 30a

^ Bereishit Rabbah 19:7

^ Ramban to Genesis 3:8

^ Augustine, On the Literal Meaning of Genesis (De Genesi ad litteram), VIII, 4.8; Bibliothèque Augustinniene 49, 20

^ Augustine of Hippo, On the Literal Meaning of Genesis (De Genesi ad litteram), VIII, 6.12 and 13.28, Bibliothèque Augustinniene 49,28 and 50-52; PL 34, 377; cf. idem, De Trinitate, XII, 12.17; CCL 50, 371-372 [v. 26-31;1-36]; De natura boni 34-35; CSEL 25, 872; PL 42, 551-572

^ "The City of God (Book XIII), Chapter 14". Newadvent.org. Retrieved 2014-02-07.

^ Adams, Cecil (2006-11-24). "The Straight Dope: Was the forbidden fruit in the Garden of Eden an apple?". The Straight Dope. Creative Loafing Media, Inc. Retrieved 2008-10-06.

^ Qur'an 20:120

^ Qur'an 14:24

^ Qur'an 20:120

^ "ورق".

^ Qur'an 7:19

^ Qur'an 7:23

^ Qur'an 2:37

^ Mitchell, T.C. (2004). The Bible in the British Museum : interpreting the evidence (New ed.). New York: Paulist Press. p. 24. ISBN 9780809142927.

^ The British Museum. "'Adam and Eve' cylinder seal". Google Cultural Institute. Retrieved 2017-04-06.

Bibliography[edit]

Alter, Robert. A translation with commentary (2004). The five books of Moses. New York: W.W. Norton. ISBN 0-393-33393-0.

Knight, Douglas (1990). Watson E. Mills (ed.). Mercer dictionary of the Bible (2d corr. print. ed.). Macon, GA: Mercer University Press. ISBN 0-86554-402-6.

Media related to Tree of the knowledge of good and evil at Wikimedia Commons

 

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tree_of_the_knowledge_of_good_and_evil

One whole glorious orange sun. Care to guess the average state of happiness & peace among the humans who happen to live under that sun?

 

It is quite impossible to blame humankind for human nature, though. Humankind is a helpless animal, incapable of living at peace and lacking any means of curing itself from the mental illness which is human nature.

 

How sad it is to know that the Earth was destroyed for humankind's sake. This tragedy is greater than the extinction of humankind.

"Humankind has not woven the web of life. We are but one thread within it. Whatever we do to the web, we do to ourselves. All things are bound together. All things connect."

Chief Seattle

 

website | facebook | twitter

 

Black and White challenge day 1/5.

Got the challege of my love to put a b&w picture for 5 days and challege every day also one of my contacts to put up one.

 

So today I would like to challenge Mia to do the same thing. I ask you because I love the last b&w series of your work. Hope you like it.

Original 1964 depiction of humankind’s presence on the lunar surface, by visionary artist Chesley Bonestell.

 

The appearance of the Lunar Excursion Module (LEM) - without digging through other corroborative images - seems to be support the stamped/supposed original year.

 

7.5” x 10”. The photograph has a wonderful barely perceptible satin sheen to it.

 

Check out all of the spectacular works. Oddly enough though, neither the image, nor any reference to it was to be found at what I assume to be his official site:

 

www.bonestell.org/

 

Finally, although the color version looks great, to me it looks like the sole version that’s been propagated by all.

Crows are friends with deaths. Part of crow symbolism deals with memory-keeping. This is a big symbolic point here. Many cultures believe crows hold memories of ancient worlds, ancient ways of living, and beautiful secrets.

 

CROW SYMBOLISM IN CULTURAL MYTHS AND LEGENDS-

 

Greeks pegged the crow as a white bird initially. But the white crow gave Apollo (Greek god of prophecy, healing and much more) some bad news and Apollo turned it black as a mark of displeasure. From that day on, the crow kept her secrets to herself in an effort to protect her brood, and her knowledge.

 

The Latin term "Corvid" identifies the crow family. This word is derived, in part, from the word "cunning". This is so true with the crow. These birds have been known to outsmart other birds & many animals.

 

The Egyptians noticed their tendency to keep one mate and deemed this bird as a symbol of devotion and faithfulness.

 

Chinese lore places the crow on a throne of masculine rule. In ancient Asian legend, the crow was said to be the father of the Asian race. As a result, the crow is respected and given great devotion (at least it was back in the day) as the parent of humankind.

 

Native American legend positions the crow in an honorable place of carrying souls into the other side of life. In other words, for these cultures, the crow is an intermediary between life and death.

 

And here is the quick reference list of crow symbolism:

Cocky

Tricky

Playful

Magical

Curious

Secretive

Confident

Protective

Mysterious

Unpredictable

 

Every time i see these crows made me realize CROWS ZERO.

This photo was taken in one of a series of caves that are contained within The Cradle of Humankind. The “Cradle” is an area which encompasses 183 square miles, has been designated a World Heritage Site, and so far has relinquished over 850 hominid fossil remains, so that to date they represent one of the world's richest concentrations of fossil hominid bearing sites. Some of the remains are estimated to be between 2.6, and 2.8 million years old.

  

The area also contains the Maropeng Visitors Center, which British Guild of Travel Writers’ Award: “Best New Tourism Projects World-wide” The building is shaped like an ancient burial mound, and hosts a museum, and interactive learning center that is second to none. The center is full of hominid fossils, and thought provoking displays, that question the visitors about where the world is, and what direction the world is heading. Many of the displays challenge the visitors to right the wrongs that mankind is doing to the environment and the world we live in.

 

I will always remember the world class displays and remains of earliest man, but more than that, I will recall the questions that were filling my thoughts after I left there.

 

"The Fall of Man" Lilith may be linked in part to a historically earlier class of female demons (lilītu) in ancient Mesopotamian religion, found in cuneiform texts of Sumer, the Akkadian Empire, Assyria, and Babylonia. The confessional in its modern form dates no farther back than the 16th century, and Du Cange cites the year 1563 for an early use of the word confessionale for the sacrum poenitentiae tribunal. Originally the term was applied to the place where a martyr or "confessor" (in the sense of one who confesses Christ) had been buried. There are, however, instances (e.g. the confessional of Church of St. Trophime at Arles) where the name was attached to the spot, whether cell or seat, where noted saints had a habit of hearing confessions. In the popular Protestant view confessional boxes are associated with the scandals, real or supposed, of the practice of auricular confession. They were, however, devised to guard against such scandals by securing at once essential publicity and a reasonable privacy, and by separating priest and penitent. In the Middle Ages stringent rules were laid down, in this latter respect, by the canon law in the case of confessions by women and especially nuns. In England, before the Protestant Reformation, publicity was reckoned the best safeguard. Thus Archbishop Walter Reynolds, in 1322, says in his Constitutions: "Let the priest choose for himself a common place for hearing confessions, where he may be seen generally by all in the church; and do not let him hear any one, and especially any woman, in a private place, except in great necessity." It would seem that the priest usually heard confessions at the chancel opening or at a bench end in the nave near the chancel. There is, however, in some churchwardens' accounts mention of a special seat: "the shryving stool", "shriving pew" or "shriving place". At Lenham in Kent there is an ancient armchair in stone, with a stone bench and steps on one side, which appears to be a confessional. With the revival of the practice of auricular confession in the Church of England, confessionals were introduced into some parishes with an Anglo-Catholic bent. Since, however, they formed no part of "the furniture of the church" in the "second year of King Edward VI", some have argued that they are not covered by the "Ornaments Rubric" in the Prayer-Book. The question of their legality was raised in 1900 in the case of Davey v. Hinde (vicar of the Church of the Annunciation at Brighton) tried before Dr Tristram in the consistory court of Chichester. They were condemned "on the ground that they are not articles of church furniture requisite for or conducive to conformity with the doctrine or practice of the Church of England in relation to the reception of confession.."Confessional", in the sense of a due payable for the right to hear confession, is now obsolete.

 

Adam and Eve, according to the creation myth of the Abrahamic religions, were the first man and woman. They are central to the belief that humanity is in essence a single family, with everyone descended from a single pair of original ancestors. It also provides the basis for the doctrines of the fall of man and original sin that are important beliefs in Christianity, although not held in Judaism or Islam.

 

In the Book of Genesis of the Hebrew Bible, chapters one through five, there are two creation narratives with two distinct perspectives. In the first, Adam and Eve are not mentioned (at least not mentioned by name). Instead, God created humankind in God's image and instructed them to multiply and to be stewards over everything else that God had made. In the second narrative, God fashions Adam from dust and places him in the Garden of Eden. Adam is told that he can eat freely of all the trees in the garden, except for a tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Subsequently, Eve is created from one of Adam's ribs to be Adam's companion. They are innocent and unembarrassed about their nakedness. However, a serpent deceives Eve into eating fruit from the forbidden tree, and she gives some of the fruit to Adam. These acts give them additional knowledge, but it gives them the ability to conjure negative and destructive concepts such as shame and evil. God later curses the serpent and the ground. God prophetically tells the woman and the man what will be the consequences of their sin of disobeying God. Then he banishes them from the Garden of Eden.

 

The story underwent extensive elaboration in later Abrahamic traditions, and it has been extensively analyzed by modern biblical scholars. Interpretations and beliefs regarding Adam and Eve and the story revolving around them vary across religions and sects; for example, the Islamic version of the story holds that Adam and Eve were equally responsible for their sins of hubris, instead of Eve being the first one to be unfaithful. The story of Adam and Eve is often depicted in art, and it has had an important influence in literature and poetry. The story of the fall of Adam is often understood to be an allegory.

 

There is no physical evidence that Adam and Eve ever existed, and their literal existence is incompatible with human evolutionary genetics. However, there is in some countries a large discrepancy between the scientific consensus and popular opinion; a 2014 poll reports that 56% of Americans believe that "Adam and Eve were real people", and 44% believe so with strong or absolute certainty.

 

Adam and Eve are figures from the Primeval History (Genesis 1 to 11), the Bible's mythic history of the first years of the world's existence. The History tells how God creates the world and all its beings and places the first man and woman (Adam and Eve) in his Garden of Eden, how the first couple are expelled from God's presence, of the first murder which follows, and God's decision to destroy the world and save only the righteous Noah and his sons; a new humanity then descends from these sons and spreads throughout the world. Although the new world is as sinful as the old, God has resolved never again to destroy the world by flood, and the History ends with Terah, the father of Abraham, from whom will descend God's chosen people, the Israelites.*

 

Adam and Eve are the Bible's first man and first woman. Adam's name appears first in Genesis 1 with a collective sense, as "mankind"; subsequently in Genesis 2-3 it carries the definite article ha, equivalent to English "the", indicating that this is "the man". In these chapters God fashions "the man" (ha adam) from earth (adamah), breathes life into his nostrils, and makes him a caretaker over creation. God next creates for the man an ezer kenegdo, a "helper corresponding to him", from his side or rib. She is called ishsha, "woman", because, the text says, she is formed from ish, "man". The man receives her with joy, and the reader is told that from this moment a man will leave his parents to "cling" to a woman, the two becoming one flesh.

 

The first man and woman are in God's Garden of Eden, where all creation is vegetarian and there is no violence. They are permitted to eat of all the trees except one, the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, the woman is tempted by a talking serpent to eat the forbidden fruit, and gives some to the man, who eats also. (Contrary to popular myth she does not beguile the man, who appears to have been present at the encounter with the serpent). God curses all three, the man to a lifetime of hard labour followed by death, the woman to the pain of childbirth and to subordination to her husband, and the serpent to go on his belly and suffer the enmity of both man and woman. God then clothes the nakedness of the man and woman, who have become god-like in knowing good and evil, then banishes them from the garden lest they eat the fruit of a second tree, the tree of life, unmentioned up to this point, and live forever.

 

Genesis 4 introduces the humans in their life outside God's garden. The chapter deals with the birth of Adam's sons Cain and Abel and the story of the first murder, followed by the birth of a third son, Seth. Genesis 5, the Book of the Generations of Adam, lists the descendants of Adam from Seth to Noah with their ages at the birth of their first sons (except Adam himself, for whom his age at the birth of Seth, his third son, is given) and their ages at death (Adam lives 930 years). The chapter notes that Adam had other sons and daughters after Seth, but does not name them. Adam has already named the woman Eve at the end of the Eden narrative, and in Genesis 4:25 and for the first time, he is called Adam as a personal name.

 

The Adam and Eve story continues in Genesis 3 with the "expulsion from Eden" narrative. A form analysis of Genesis 3 reveals that this portion of the story can be characterized as a parable or "wisdom tale" in the wisdom tradition. The poetic addresses of the chapter belong to a speculative type of wisdom that questions the paradoxes and harsh realities of life. This characterization is determined by the narrative's format, settings, and the plot. The form of Genesis 3 is also shaped by its vocabulary, making use of various puns and double entendres.

 

The expulsion from Eden narrative begins with a dialogue between the woman and a serpent, identified in Genesis 3:1 as an animal that was more crafty than any other animal made by God, although Genesis does not identify the serpent with Satan.:16 The woman is willing to talk to the serpent and respond to the creature's cynicism by repeating God's prohibition against eating fruit from the tree of knowledge (Genesis 2:17). The woman is lured into dialogue on the serpent's terms which directly disputes God's command.[15] The serpent assures the woman that God will not let her die if she ate the fruit, and, furthermore, that if she ate the fruit, her "eyes would be opened" and she would "be like God, knowing good and evil" (Genesis 3:5). The woman sees that the fruit of the tree of knowledge is a delight to the eye and that it would be desirable to acquire wisdom by eating the fruit. The woman eats the fruit and gives some to the man (Genesis 3:6). With this the man and woman recognize their own nakedness, and they make loincloths of fig leaves (Genesis 3:7).

 

In the next narrative dialogue, God questions the man and the woman (Genesis 3:8–13), and God initiates a dialogue by calling out to the man with a rhetorical question designed to consider his wrongdoing. The man explains that he hid in the garden out of fear because he realized his own nakedness (Genesis 3:10). This is followed by two more rhetorical questions designed to show awareness of a defiance of God's command. The man then points to the woman as the real offender, and he implies that God is responsible for the tragedy because the woman was given to him by God (Genesis 3:12). God challenges the woman to explain herself, whereby she shifts the blame to the serpent (Genesis 3:13).

Divine pronouncement of three judgments are then laid against all the culprits, Genesis 3:14–19.[12] A judgement oracle and the nature of the crime is first laid upon the serpent, then the woman, and, finally, the man. On the serpent, God places a divine curse.[20] The woman receives penalties that impact her in two primary roles: she shall experience pangs during childbearing, pain during childbirth, and while she shall desire her husband, he will rule over her. The man's penalty results in God cursing the ground from which he came, and the man then receives a death oracle, although the man has not been described, in the text, as immortal.:18;Abruptly, in the flow of text, in Genesis 3:20, the man names the woman "Eve" (Heb. hawwah), "because she was the mother of all living". God makes skin garments for Adam and Eve (Genesis 3:20).

 

The chiasmus structure of the death oracle given to Adam in Genesis 3:19, is a link between man's creation from "dust" (Genesis 2:7) to the "return" of his beginnings:" you return, to the ground, since from it you were taken, for dust you are, and to dust, you will return."

 

The garden account ends with an intradivine monologue, determining the couple's expulsion, and the execution of that deliberation (Genesis 3:22–24}.The reason given for the expulsion was to prevent the man from eating from the tree of life and becoming immortal: "Behold, the man is become as one of us, to know good and evil; and now, lest he put forth his hand, and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live for ever" (Genesis 3:22).God exiles Adam and Eve from the Garden and installs cherubs (supernatural beings that provide protection) and the "ever-turning sword" to guard the entrance (Genesis 3:24).

 

Genesis 4 tells of the birth of Cain and Abel, Adam and Eve's first children, while Genesis 5 gives Adam's genealogy past that. Adam and Eve are listed as having three children, Cain, Abel and Seth, then "other sons and daughters", Genesis 5:4. According to the Book of Jubilees (which is usually not considered canonical), Cain married his sister Awan, a daughter of Adam and Eve.

 

The Primeval History forms the opening chapters of the Torah, the five books making up the history of the origins of Israel. This achieved something like its current form in the 5th century BCE, but Genesis 1-11 shows little relationship to the rest of the Bible:for example, the names of its characters and its geography - Adam (man) and Eve (life), the Land of Nod ("Wandering"), and so on - are symbolic rather than real, and almost none of the persons, places and stories mentioned in it are ever met anywhere else. This has led scholars to suppose that the History forms a late composition attached to Genesis and the Pentateuch to serve as an introduction.Just how late is a subject for debate: at one extreme are those who see it as a product of the Hellenistic period, in which case it cannot be earlier than the first decades of the 4th century BCE; on the other hand the Yahwist source has been dated by some scholars, notably John Van Seters, to the exilic pre-Persian period (the 6th century BCE) precisely because the Primeval History contains so much Babylonian influence in the form of myth. The Primeval History draws on two distinct "sources", the Priestly source and what is sometimes called the Yahwist source and sometimes simply the "non-Priestly"; for the purpose of discussing Adam and Eve in the Book of Genesis the terms "non-Priestly" and "Yahwist" can be regarded as interchangeable.

 

Certain concepts, such as the serpent being identified as Satan, Eve being a sexual temptation, or Adam's first wife being Lilith, come from literary works found in various Jewish apocrypha, but they are not found anywhere in the Book of Genesis or the Torah itself.[citation needed] Writings dealing with these subjects are extant literature in Greek, Latin, Slavonic, Syriac, Armenian, and Arabic, extending back to ancient Jewish thought. The concepts are not part of Rabbinic Judaism,[citation needed] but they did influence Christian theology, and this marks a radical split between the two religions. Some of the oldest Jewish portions of apocrypha are called Primary Adam Literature where some works became Christianized. Examples of Christianized works are Life of Adam and Eve, Conflict of Adam and Eve with Satan and an original Syriac work entitled Cave of Treasures which has close affinities to the Conflict as noted by August Dillmann.

 

Some modern scholars, such as James Barr, Moshe Greenberg, and Michael Fishbane, see the story of Adam and Eve as a representation of a rise to moral agency, at least as much as, if not more than the story of a fall from grace. Carol Meyers and Bruce Naidoff view the tale as an explanation of agricultural conditions in the highlands of Canaan.

 

For the Jewish Weekly Torah portion, see Bereshit (parsha) § Third reading, and Bereshit (parsha) § Fourth reading.

It was also recognized in ancient Judaism, that there are two distinct accounts for the creation of man. The first account says "male and female [God] created them", implying simultaneous creation, whereas the second account states that God created Eve subsequent to the creation of Adam. The Midrash Rabbah – Genesis VIII:1 reconciled the two by stating that Genesis one, "male and female He created them", indicates that God originally created Adam as a hermaphrodite,[37] bodily and spiritually both male and female, before creating the separate beings of Adam and Eve. Other rabbis suggested that Eve and the woman of the first account were two separate individuals, the first being identified as Lilith, a figure elsewhere described as a night demon.

 

According to traditional Jewish belief, Adam and Eve are buried in the Cave of Machpelah, in Hebron.

 

In Reform Judaism, Harry Orlinsky analyzes the Hebrew word nefesh in Genesis 2:7 where "God breathes into the man's nostrils and he becomes nefesh hayya." Orlinsky argues that the earlier translation of the phrase "living soul" is incorrect. He points out that "nefesh" signifies something like the English word "being", in the sense of a corporeal body capable of life; the concept of a "soul" in the modern sense, did not exist in Hebrew thought until around the 2nd century B.C., when the idea of a bodily resurrection gained popularity.

 

Adam, Eve, and the (female) serpent (often identified as Lilith) at the entrance to Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris

Main articles: Fall of man and Original sin

Some early fathers of the Christian church held Eve responsible for the Fall of man and all subsequent women to be the first sinners because Eve tempted Adam to commit the taboo. "You are the devil's gateway" Tertullian told his female listeners, and went on to explain that they were responsible for the death of Christ: "On account of your desert [i.e., punishment for sin, that is, death], even the Son of God had to die."In 1486, the Dominicans Kramer and Sprengler used similar tracts in Malleus Maleficarum ("Hammer of Witches") to justify the persecution of "witches".

 

Medieval Christian art often depicted the Edenic Serpent as a woman (often identified as Lilith), thus both emphasizing the serpent's seductiveness as well as its relationship to Eve. Several early Church Fathers, including Clement of Alexandria and Eusebius of Caesarea, interpreted the Hebrew "Heva" as not only the name of Eve, but in its aspirated form as "female serpent."

 

Based on the Christian doctrine of the Fall of man, came the doctrine of original sin. St Augustine of Hippo (354–430), working with a Latin translation of the Epistle to the Romans, interpreted the Apostle Paul as having said that Adam's sin was hereditary: "Death passed upon [i.e., spread to] all men because of Adam, [in whom] all sinned", Romans 5:12[40] Original sin became a concept that man is born into a condition of sinfulness and must await redemption. This doctrine became a cornerstone of Western Christian theological tradition, however, not shared by Judaism or the Orthodox churches.

 

Over the centuries, a system of unique Christian beliefs had developed from these doctrines. Baptism became understood as a washing away of the stain of hereditary sin in many churches, although its original symbolism was apparently rebirth. Additionally, the serpent that tempted Eve was interpreted to have been Satan, or that Satan was using a serpent as a mouthpiece, although there is no mention of this identification in the Torah and it is not held in Judaism.

 

Conservative Protestants typically interpret Genesis 3 as defining humanity's original parents as Adam and Eve who disobeyed God's prime directive that they were not to eat "the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil" (NIV). When they disobeyed, they committed a major transgression against God and were immediately punished, which led to "the fall" of humanity. Thus, sin and death entered the universe for the first time. Adam and Eve were ejected from the Garden of Eden, never to return.

 

Gnostic Christianity discussed Adam and Eve in two known surviving texts, namely the "Apocalypse of Adam" found in the Nag Hammadi documents and the "Testament of Adam". The creation of Adam as Protoanthropos, the original man, is the focal concept of these writings.

 

Another Gnostic tradition held that Adam and Eve were created to help defeat Satan. The serpent, instead of being identified with Satan, is seen as a hero by the Ophites. Still other Gnostics believed that Satan's fall, however, came after the creation of humanity. As in Islamic tradition, this story says that Satan refused to bow to Adam due to pride. Satan said that Adam was inferior to him as he was made of fire, whereas Adam was made of clay. This refusal led to the fall of Satan recorded in works such as the Book of Enoch.

 

In Islam, Adam (Ādam; Arabic: آدم‎), whose role is being the father of humanity, is looked upon by Muslims with reverence. Eve (Ḥawwāʼ; Arabic: حواء ) is the "mother of humanity". The creation of Adam and Eve is referred to in the Qurʼān, although different Qurʼanic interpreters give different views on the actual creation story (Qurʼan, Surat al-Nisaʼ, verse 1).

 

In al-Qummi's tafsir on the Garden of Eden, such place was not entirely earthly. According to the Qurʼān, both Adam and Eve ate the forbidden fruit in a Heavenly Eden (see also Jannah). As a result, they were both sent down to Earth as God's representatives. Each person was sent to a mountain peak: Adam on al-Safa, and Eve on al-Marwah. In this Islamic tradition, Adam wept 40 days until he repented, after which God sent down the Black Stone, teaching him the Hajj. According to a prophetic hadith, Adam and Eve reunited in the plain of ʻArafat, near Mecca. They had two sons together, Qabil and Habil. There is also a legend of a younger son, named Rocail, who created a palace and sepulcher containing autonomous statues that lived out the lives of men so realistically they were mistaken for having souls.

 

The concept of "original sin" does not exist in Islam, because according to Islam Adam and Eve were forgiven by God. When God orders the angels to bow to Adam, Iblīs questioned, "Why should I bow to man? I am made of pure fire and he is made of soil." The liberal movements within Islam have viewed God's commanding the angels to bow before Adam as an exaltation of humanity, and as a means of supporting human rights; others view it as an act of showing Adam that the biggest enemy of humans on earth will be their ego.

 

In the Bahá'í Faith, the Adam and Eve narrative is seen as symbolic. In Some Answered Questions, 'Abdu'l-Bahá rejects a literal reading and states that the story contains "divine mysteries and universal meanings". Adam symbolizes the "heavenly spirit", Eve symbolizes the "human soul", the Tree of Knowledge symbolizes "the human world", and the serpent symbolizes "attachment to the human world". The fall of Adam thus represents the way humanity became conscious of good and evil. In another sense, Adam and Eve represent God's Will and Determination, the first two of the seven stages of Divine Creative Action.

 

While a traditional view was that the Book of Genesis was authored by Moses and has been considered historical and metaphorical, modern scholars consider the Genesis creation narrative as one of various ancient origin myths.

 

Analysis like the documentary hypothesis also suggests that the text is a result of the compilation of multiple previous traditions, explaining apparent contradictions.[56][57] Other stories of the same canonical book, like the Genesis flood narrative, are also understood as having been influenced by older literature, with parallels in the older Epic of Gilgamesh.

 

With scientific developments in paleontology, geology, biology and other disciplines, it was discovered that humans, and all other living things, share a common ancestor and evolved through natural processes, with earlier life forms going back to billions of years.

 

In biology the most recent common ancestors, when traced back using the Y-chromosome for the male lineage and mitochondrial DNA for the female lineage, are commonly called the Y-chromosomal Adam and Mitochondrial Eve, respectively. These do not fork from a single couple at the same epoch even if the names were borrowed from the Tanakh.

 

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adam_and_Eve

Yes it's true, a good picture should speak for itself, however, a title can give it quite another spin.

 

View Larger On Black

... and gave it to humankind, he's the one to "blame" for what we call civilization - according to Greek mythology :)

His name is Prometheus and this statue is a larger-than-life golden depiction of that Titan (weighing nothing less than 8 tonnes!) and is said to be the most photographed piece of art in New York City - somehow, I find that a bit hard to believe. Let's just say that I believe that as much as I believe that Prometheus turned us into what we are today by going agaisnt the gods and giving us fire...

The heavy 18-foot-tall gilded cast bronze sculpture was created in 1934 and sits next to the ice-skating rink of Rockefeller Center.

 

New York City - USA

 

Aquele que roubou o fogo aos deuses... e o deu à humanidade, é o "culpado" por aquilo a que chamamos civilização - segundo a mitologia grega :)

O seu nome é Prometeu e esta estátua é uma gigantesca representação dourada daquele Titã (pesando nada mais nada menos do que 8 toneladas!), sendo considerada a obra de arte mais fotografada da cidade de Nova Iorque - o que me parece algo difícil de acreditar. Digamos que acredito tanto nisso como em que foi Prometeu que nos transformou naquilo que somos hoje ao ir contra a vontade dos deuses e dar-nos o fogo...

A pesada escultura de bronze dourado fundido com 5,5 m de altura foi criada em 1934 e fica junto à pista de patinagem no gelo do Rockefeller Center.

 

Nova Iorque - EUA

It was a pretty exciting day in Tubbut yesterday - firstly we woke to our first glimpse of blue sky for two whole weeks, bringing with it clean air and new bunch of positivity, AND then... out of that beautiful blue, flew in a Singaporean Airforce Chinook, with Aussie Army and Red Cross personnel, 7News and an entire trailer full of groceries, water and extra eye protection and masks. It was truly humbling to receive the care and practical help. #SingaporeanAirforce #SingaporeanArmy #AustralianArmy #RedCross

True strength is birthed by nature but desired by humankind. Strength, in its most fundamental core state can never be won, and can never be lost. Strength does not equate to gender. It does not care whether you were born a male or a female. It does not care whether you wear a suit or a dress. True strength is in the way you think. True strength is being able to use your voice. To be strong does not mean to have physical strength. It is having ambitions and knowing you are capable of accomplishing them. Strength is knowing your rights as a human being. Strength is knowing that you can listen to your emotions and act by them. True strength can only be seen when you start seeing yourself as strong. It is an attribute to who you are. To be powerful is to be strong. To be determined is to be strong. To have courage is to be strong. We can be strong too.

 

"Strength does not come from physical capacity. It comes from an indomitable will." - Mahatma Gandhi

 

Copyright © 2015 Amy Morris. All Rights Reserved.

 

Portrait image of young adults hanging out in a vintage Volkswagen

We appreciate the courtesy of Chatwick University Archives for letting us use the journals in our research, and for permission to use parts for the genesis of “Dare’s Game”.

Dare’s Game

Beth, eagerly looking for Dare, walked straight into Seth’s cunning snare…..

 

Suffix, circa 1910?. It was during this time a fanciful young lady, whom we will call Beth, started a journal which she would faithfully keep over the course of almost 50 years. She led quite an adventuresome life for a lady of that time, and her journals were filled with many tales and observations of her exploits. The following story is derived from events that she penned down in the early years in her journal.

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Beth had known Dare since their childhood. Dare was a handsome free spirited youth only two years her senior, who lived for the games his life had to offer. As his cherished nickname inferred, Dare was always trying to find the thrill out of anything he could think up, relishing to go beyond the pale in anything he attempted. Dare always a little different, harboring feelings and ideas way beyond his years, almost as if he had lived a previous life and retained something from it in his being.

Beth would remember times playing dress up with Dare’s sister Diana in some old gowns of their mothers. It was always then that Dare and his friends seemed to appear and talk them into playing hide n seek, tag or cops n robbers. Dare seemed to take pleasure in cajoling the girls into playing with them in this manner. Eyeing them as they played with a far off look that suggested the game they were playing had more meaning to him than he could ever venture to say. It was hard for Beth to explain it, but she did find it pleasurable (almost erotic using a word whose term she would learn much later) to be observed by him in this way.

One warm fall day Diana and Beth headed down to an old shack located near some railroad tracks at the back of a cornfield. Diana was dressed in a long satin play gown with her mother’s jewelry, which Dare had called rhinestones. Beth, herself dressed in a long flowing dress, loved the way Diana’s jewels twinkled and sparkled as she walked. They were going to pretend the shack was a ballroom and they were one their way to a fancy dance, like Beth’s and Diana’s parents had recently attended. Diana wasn’t supposed to be wearing her mother’s jewelry outside the house, but as a result of Dare’s teasing, had done so anyway.

They had reached the shack, an old white brick building with a wooden roof half fallen in, when a man’s voice suddenly said behind them, what are you two ladies up to? Turning they were confronted by a happily sneering drifter. The grubby man looked around, alone is we, and advanced towards them. The two girls stood petrified, he reached out and probed Diana along her side, pretty dress missy, he said, sparsely toothed mouth grinning like a pumpkin. He suddenly reached up and tore the necklace away from Diana’s throat, sending her falling backwards. Beth screamed bloody murder, as the vagrant turned heel, running off towards the tracks. Suddenly Dare appeared, and Beth, meaning to yell for help, exclaimed instead “help honey” to Dare. Dares eyes took on a very different look, almost of a burning yearning. Beth told him what had happened and he took off down towards the tracks in hot pursuit. For Beth, the look he had given her and the way he had dashed off excited her beyond measure. Even for someone that young, Beth now knew what Dare meant to her. From then on, playing games with Dare took on a heightened meaning for Beth.

But, nothing really changed in their relationship until Beth’s sophomore year of high school. Beth was sixteen at the time, a whimsical being, passionate, innocent, not particularly attractive, but radiating with a love of life. A living free spirit, developing into a very sexual being by the time her and Diana decided to attend their schools prom in their sophomore year. Beth dressed in a fuchsia coloured satin dress with dangling rhinestone earrings that had been” borrowed” from Diana’s Mother, the same ones Diana had been wearing when they had run into the drifter at the shack. Diana slipped into the slinky blue spaghetti strap gown and matching cover-all that she had worn as her cousin’s bridesmaid. She was wearing sapphire costume jewels patterned after the hope diamond. Their parents had given them a hard time when they saw their made up girls in their gowns and finery , admonishing them for looking way too mature. They smiled, consoling their parents fears, and went off on their adventure.

Their eyes were dazzled by the display of lights, the cheerfully student filled room, the band. They had stopped and were letting it all sink in, when Beth felt a hand on her shoulder. She turned and came face to face with Dare, who once again had the same yearning fire in his eyes as on that fateful day at the old shack. A veil was lifted from between the two, and Beth spent the whole evening encompassed in Dare’s arms. Soon after that the two had begun seeing much more of one another. Their relationship was still going strong eight years later.

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8 Years Later

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Come on Dare, let’s go to the Riverside, it will be fun she urged. She had been trying to get her fiancé’ to take her to the exclusive five star resorts for some time. And now she had a free overnight room card she had won at work! Dare looked into Beth’s wide, hope filled eyes, knowing her passion for attending these types of affairs. Ever hopeful she would see someone rich. Dare knew how to use this to his advantage. Finally he buckled, all right, only if we play the game afterwards he bargained. She squirmed inwardly with passion, nodding her agreement. Beth found the game exciting, though she would never let on to Dare. And, you must wear the gold bridesmaid gown and jewels you wore to your friend’s wedding last week , he added, a wistful smile lighting up his thin face.. Okay she agreed, trying to sound reluctant, but truthfully feeling multiple tingles of delight.

Dare was handsome, in a scrawny, thin bearded, sort of way ( From an old photo that survives he resembled a young Johnny Depp… the eds), with a witty writers imagination and a playful disposition. He could always make Beth laugh, feeling his excitement as he drew her into his stories and games. She would never admit to it, but found the game delightfully erogenous. She smiled to herself, so Dare had liked the satin gown after all, he had not shown any interest in her wearing it since the wedding. And the jewelry, the small rhinestone pendent and earrings had been pretty, but Beth soon came up with another idea. She would knock his socks off by wearing the glittering diamonds and emeralds that had been inherited from her grandmother. The set had laid collecting dust in a safety deposit box all these years, unworn. She had never told Dare about them, waiting for the perfect occasion. She could just imagine the look in his eyes when he saw her wearing them. Okay then, game on, Beth thought, wickedly sending shivers up and down her spine.

Dare’s Game was based on role playing:

Dare would give Beth money to purchase a new outfit, something rich and shiny, like silk or satin. With the new outfit, Beth would wear the good gold jewelry she had received from Dare on her birthdays. The idea was to acting like a bored rich girl out for a good time, alone and vulnerable.

Dare would be at the hotel bar, waiting for Beth to make her entrance, then make her acquaintance , playing a debonair, suited gentleman with a mysterious past and a hidden agenda. They would make a date later, usually to dance and have drinks.

Then that evening, she would go down to the bar. Dressed in one of the long gowns Dare favored, fitting in with the usual spillover from a wedding reception that had been held in one of the Ballrooms. Sometimes she would wear the rhinestone jewelry they had purchased together at various antique stores. Then Beth would wait for Dare to make his entrance, signaling the time for Dare’s game. He would assume one of several roles, or possibly a new one that Beth had never seen. In the past Dare had played:

A spy who would dance with Beth, then disappear. Sending a note to Beth via a third person that would have her meet him clandestinely in a remote location…

A highwayman who would come across Beth on the castle grounds , usually the resorts empty gardens at night….

A rich millionaire looking for romance…

A kidnapper hired by an evil uncle, who after tying up Beth and removing her valuables would have a change of heart….

A Jewel thief who would be cunningly after her valuables…

A handsome prince rescuing Beth’s damsel in distress ….

Or Dare’s favorite, centered on their old childhood game of cops and robbers. Dare would play the thief, and steal something from Beth, usually while dancing. He would then leave preset clues around the grounds that she would have to follow to catch him.

All of the games usually led to some playful groping and then escalating into the upper echelons of erotic pleasure. Sometimes they never made out of the woods, or barely out of the ballroom. Beth shivered at these thoughts, wishing she didn’t have to wait….

 

**********************************************************************

Three weeks later at the Riverside Resort.

**********************************************************************

In the Bar:

At the bar, Dare smiled to himself, pleased. He had dropped Beth off to check in by herself. She would change into her new outfit and wear it down to the bar for lunch. She would come in acting like a complete stranger to the area. Dare would make her acquaintance, invite her to lunch, and make plans to see her that evening at the resorts dance room. There were two wedding receptions going on, and that dance room should be filled with well-dressed patrons. Beth would fit right in; clad that pretty gown she had promised to wear.

Dare had been sitting at the bar, thinking about ways to play out the game that evening, when the answer came to him, in the form of a stranger who had come with his drink and sat next to him. The stranger introduced himself as Seth, and shaking Dare’s hand sat on the stool next to him. After they had had couple of drinks, they had become quite chummy. Seth explaining he had come up for one of the weddings, and assumed Dare was doing the same. Seth did not fail to observe Dare’s secretive smile, but did not question it. Their conversation was distracted only when a newcomer appeared at the entrance. Beth walked in, a long flowing silky skirt swishing down to her leather sandals. A shiny, long sleeved satin top fitting tightly along her perky figure, with bright gold jewelry complementing the ensemble. Real gold, Seth observed silently to himself.

Beth went to a table, both men going silent as they watched her move through the room. Good-looking one, that, Seth commented, looking at Dare who was deep in thought as his eyes were fixed on the sexy newcomer. Seth teasingly offered Dare a penny for his thoughts. Dare smiled mischievously, letting lose his plans. Seth listened to the young man, smiling as a light went on in his steal grey eyes. When Dare finished he offered up a suggestion as to how Dare could make it really interesting for Beth. The two co-conspirators worked it out: Seth told Dare about a stone hut and wall that was located on the back nine of the resorts golf course. He suggested that he, Seth, would meet Beth that evening and pass a note onto her from Dare saying that he was in trouble and needed her help, with directions to the spot. Dare liked the idea, and wrote the note on a cocktail napkin, cementing the plan by handing it to Seth.

Off you go old chap, let Uncle Seth take care of his end, he said grinning, giving Dare a sporting clap on the back. With a wink, Dare left his fellow collaborator, and went over to Beth, who had since been seated by a male waiter, now standing drooling over her shoulder as she looked at the menu.

 

Later that same evening, inside the crowded club:

 

Seth had stopped by the bar for a last drink. His business venture had been concluded earlier than he had expected. With the change in his plans, he had checked out early, his kit packed, boot loaded and the car ready. He now sat at the bar Causley watching young lass of about seventeen who had literally ran into him at one of the receptions. He watched her flirting about the club, weaving in and out of the guests. With a long swishing gown flowing provocatively along her lithe figure, abundant, solid white gold chains swinging out in an alluringly eye catching manner as she scurried about. A diminutive gold ring its half caret diamond flickered playfully from the petite pinky it loosely surrounded once again welcomed his contemplation. The lass presented quite an intriguing gold feathered fledgling, just begging to be plucked. He looked around, spying her parents on the dance floor. The father/husband, despite being an excellent dancer, gave him no interest. It was his partner, the wife/ mother, decked out in a iridescent suit and long swishing satin skirt upon which he now was reexamining. He again studied under the bright dance floor lights her fine pearls dangling from her ears, throat, and wrists. But it was the Ladies’ two rings that stole the show for him; an engagement ring with a rock of at least 2 carets surrounded by numerous shimmering half caret stones and a pinky ring similar to her daughters, that proudly displayed a single white solitaire diamond of at least one caret that had garnered his consideration. He also reconsidered the facts that he had been able to garnish about the lady who wore them, and her husband. The wife/mother was a heavy drinker who would not be expected to make any kind of appearance before noon. Hubby was a golfer, who would be out for breakfast at five am before being on the links at 6 am the next morning . At 5 :15 Seth was planning to pay a visit to his suite, and relieve his two ladies of their expensive trinkets. It should be an easy straight forward caper, that had Seth bristling with anticipation at the prospect.

As he was tossing down the last of his drink he remembered about Dare and the note he still had in his pocket. Setting down the empty glass, he pulled the note out and looked at it, kids he smirked, and was preparing to crinkle toss it on the bar and leave, when his eyes caught sight of Beth. He had felt his breath taken away when he saw her. Not at all what he had expected, he would say to Beth much later in the evening. He looked over the note, stirrings of a plan began formulating. All thoughts of the dancing couple and his plans fled his mind, as He rose, throwing a fiver on the bar and went off to intercept Beth.

Seth held Beth in his arms, she was a vivacious little thing he thought, while smiling charmingly into her eyes. She seemed a little apprehensive at first, but had settled right in when he had told her this had been set up by Dare, remember me at the bar with him this afternoon he had consoled her, she had smile brightly into his eyes in answer. He relished in the feel of her warm satin gown, and allowed himself to be mesmerized by the shimmer of her diamonds.

 

It reminded him of the diamonds that had been worn by one of his dance partners earlier that evening at a reception. He had forgotten her name, but not her diamonds, one of which now resided in a hidden compartment of his roadsters boot, along with the diamond pin he had slipped off the satin cape he had cordially help a well-dressed lady put on. He had also shelved his plans for his 5:15 am “meeting” at the golf playing husbands hotel room, Beth’s jewels were a much more lucrative prospect.

 

When the dance had ended he took her to the bar and sat her down, ordering her a drink. She seemed a little perplexed, Seth kissed her gloved hand; wait for it he told her mysteriously, winking into her eyes. Beth had winked back, the fire in her heart reflecting deep in her eyes. Seth left, smiling cleverly to himself as he took in his surroundings. He looked around as he walked away, now where had the little imp gotten off too?

He had decided that the seventeen year old in the long flirting gown would play a very different role in his plans. He approached her, with Dares note and a twenty. Thought for a moment about the pair of thick platinum gold chains dangling from her throat down the open neckline of the girl’s glossy gown, then banished the though, he had bigger fish to filet. The twenty caught her attention and she eagerly listened as he explained to her what to do, pointing out Beth sitting, waiting in earnest at the bar. Wait until she finishes her drink, Seth told her as she listened eagerly. She took the twenty into her hand, the half caret diamond on her pinky ring flashing, and her gold chain bracelets jangled as she grasped it. Seth left, figuring he had about twenty minutes to stop at his car, get a few items from the boot, and put his plan in motion.

Beth had curiously received the note from the attractively shy young lady, clad a slinky gown that made her appear years older. Reading it she folded it and was just getting up when a man wearing a suit came up to her and offered to let her dance with him. It took her some time, before she was finally able to ward him off and leave the brilliantly lit clubroom for the dark, forbidding grounds outside.

Now, a thoroughly excited Beth walked up the hill. Her senses becoming more prickling alert with each step. Innocently unaware that she was no longer playing a role in Dare’s game!

 

************************************************************************************

Epilogue:

 

As Seth walked away admiring the shimmery necklace, his thoughts travelled back to the gold burdened impish youngster in the swirling gown, and her pearl and diamond laden mother. Revisiting his original plans he decided that he liked the odds, especially since they would be against him. With the father leaving early to meet his cronies for breakfast the Mother should be still sleeping off her drink induced stupor, the hyperactive girl should still be out cold, but presented no risk if she awoke, he had more rope. The ladies jewels should be lying about in the apartment, or handedly on their persons( the pairs of diamond pinky rings, as well as the multi-diamond engagement ring flashed once again across his memory with all their brilliant glory),as he caught fire with the vision. There could be a safe he reasoned, but with a tied up daughter and a knife in his hand, the mother should have no issue opening it for him, or disclosing anywhere else her jewels may have been hidden . But if there was no safe, and the rings, pearls and solid white gold chains were somewhere in the room, he knew he would be able to noiselessly break in, find and slip the jewels from wherever they were perched, and be safely on his way without even causing the slightest stir from the sleeping woman and her daughter. It was a road Seth had travelled down many times. He prickled at the thought, as he foresightedly tallied up the potential haul while making his way to the car. The Mother/wife’s diamond rings, would easily fetch him at least three grand, probably close five with her pearls and the whelp’s jewelry added in. About a quarter of what he probably would get for the jewels now in his procession, so he mused inquisitively to himself, so ,was it worth the risk of his 20,000 bird in hand? Yes he answered himself, as all too familiar and welcome tingling sensation overwhelmed Seths muscular body. Like Dare, Seth like to play risky games, especially those which promised to be somewhat profitable. It would be a tantalizingly chancy gamble of his own; to wait a safe distance away while things cooled down and then return to break into the un protected sleeping ladies chamber.. He knew just the place to hide , and it would be a perfect spot to watch events unfold around Beth and Dare, while making his plans! It also afforded a nicely secret hiding nook for the ill-gotten gains collected so far that evening in case something went wrong, which it wouldn’t..

 

Courtesy of Chatwick University Archives

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This image represents a character who plays in most of our casts: The Hedonist.

 

This character is one of humankind's eldest cast members, who has been a vital motivational factor for our advances in innovation from day 1 [discovering ways to make life easier]. The Hedonist has one function: the pursuit of pleasure and sensual self-indulgence.

 

This character does offer comfort in times of disparity, which is sometimes necessary to sustain our sanity but the Hedonist must not be trusted. It's all too easy, due to their wiley intelligence and their familiarity with our psychological dynamics, for them to sell out our productive and rewarding ideas for those merely dripping in pleasure. Their argument usually draws a parallel between pleasure and happiness so we must be careful because pleasure is not synonymous with happiness, nor does it light the path to satisfaction.

 

In light doses, pleasure keeps us human.

In moderate doses, pleasure hampers our art.

In heavy doses, pleasure blinds us and cuts off our hands; replacing our art altogether.

_____

In reflection of humankind, I no longer see any soul or overall governing self in individuals. There is no Jay Cloud, there is only a network of characters and desires competing for attention and control.

 

That's one big step for fusion energy — one giant leap for humankind.

 

Step 1: Manufacture and test record-setting 20 Tesla high-temperature superconducting magnet... ✅

 

Step 2: Assemble 18 magnets in a Tokamak ring to build the SPARC reactor with record-setting 10x energy generation.

 

Step 3 Build 10,000 ARC reactors to replace coal plants in place with the carbon-free future.

 

Step 4 Accelerate humanity's relinquishment of fossil fuels, the inevitable endpoint we'd like to engineer.

 

As investors, Maryanna and I have been cheering Commonwealth Fusion on as they achieved this major milestone over the weekend, removing the last major engineering risk factor — an insanely powerful magnet. Prior published work by the scientific community of fusion experts agrees, if they can build it, fusion will come.

 

Today's news and overview from MIT and Commonwealth Fusion.

 

“Fusion in a lot of ways is the ultimate clean energy source,” says Maria Zuber, MIT’s vice president for research and E. A. Griswold Professor of Geophysics. “The amount of power that is available is really game-changing.” The fuel used to create fusion energy comes from water, and “the Earth is full of water — it’s an inexhaustible, carbon-free source of energy that you can deploy anywhere and at any time.”

 

And compared to their prior copper magnet: "The difference in terms of energy consumption is rather stunning. This magnet was 30 watts, so a factor of 10 million decrease in the amount of energy that was needed to provide the confining magnetic field." — Ars Technica.

 

“Its a big deal,” Andrew Holland, Chief Executive Officer of the Fusion Industry Association, told CNBC. “This is not hype, this is reality.”

 

“This magnet will change the trajectory of both fusion science and energy, and we think eventually the world’s energy landscape.”

It has finally happened. The elevation of humankind to a higher level of consciousness has swept away the ancient social, financial, religious and military organizations. My minifigs are now free to build a better world, where the resources are not longer controlled by the ruling elite of international banking cartels, their government lackeys and their military watchdogs. Where everybody is encouraged to reach their full potential and become a contributing member of society, free to explore the world and interact with it, guided by the principle that has now become fully realized: WE ARE ALL ONE.

 

So there. After years of double standards and half measures, I am finally done with military MOCs. It was Zeitgeist and Zeitgeist: Addendum that tipped the scale. This world is not the best of all possible worlds, but we can make it that, if we really want to.

The installation by Yui Inoue.

 

Natadera Temple is dedicated to the worship of Mt. Haku.

 

At 'Go For Kogei' exhibition, Natadera Temple, Komatsu, Japan.

Sheep (pl.: sheep) or domestic sheep (Ovis aries) are a domesticated, ruminant mammal typically kept as livestock. Although the term sheep can apply to other species in the genus Ovis, in everyday usage it almost always refers to domesticated sheep. Like all ruminants, sheep are members of the order Artiodactyla, the even-toed ungulates. Numbering a little over one billion, domestic sheep are also the most numerous species of sheep. An adult female is referred to as a ewe (/juː/ yoo), an intact male as a ram, occasionally a tup, a castrated male as a wether, and a young sheep as a lamb.

 

Sheep are most likely descended from the wild mouflon of Europe and Asia, with Iran being a geographic envelope of the domestication center. One of the earliest animals to be domesticated for agricultural purposes, sheep are raised for fleeces, meat (lamb, hogget or mutton) and milk. A sheep's wool is the most widely used animal fiber, and is usually harvested by shearing. In Commonwealth countries, ovine meat is called lamb when from younger animals and mutton when from older ones; in the United States, meat from both older and younger animals is usually called lamb. Sheep continue to be important for wool and meat today, and are also occasionally raised for pelts, as dairy animals, or as model organisms for science.

 

Sheep husbandry is practised throughout the majority of the inhabited world, and has been fundamental to many civilizations. In the modern era, Australia, New Zealand, the southern and central South American nations, and the British Isles are most closely associated with sheep production.

 

There is a large lexicon of unique terms for sheep husbandry which vary considerably by region and dialect. Use of the word sheep began in Middle English as a derivation of the Old English word scēap. A group of sheep is called a flock. Many other specific terms for the various life stages of sheep exist, generally related to lambing, shearing, and age.

 

Being a key animal in the history of farming, sheep have a deeply entrenched place in human culture, and are represented in much modern language and symbolism. As livestock, sheep are most often associated with pastoral, Arcadian imagery. Sheep figure in many mythologies—such as the Golden Fleece—and major religions, especially the Abrahamic traditions. In both ancient and modern religious ritual, sheep are used as sacrificial animals.

 

History

Main article: History of the domestic sheep

The exact line of descent from wild ancestors to domestic sheep is unclear. The most common hypothesis states that Ovis aries is descended from the Asiatic (O. gmelini) species of mouflon; the European mouflon (Ovis aries musimon) is a direct descendant of this population. Sheep were among the first animals to be domesticated by humankind (although the domestication of dogs probably took place 10 to 20 thousand years earlier); the domestication date is estimated to fall between 11,000 and 9000 B.C in Mesopotamia and possibly around 7000 BC in Mehrgarh in the Indus Valley. The rearing of sheep for secondary products, and the resulting breed development, began in either southwest Asia or western Europe. Initially, sheep were kept solely for meat, milk and skins. Archaeological evidence from statuary found at sites in Iran suggests that selection for woolly sheep may have begun around 6000 BC, and the earliest woven wool garments have been dated to two to three thousand years later.

 

Sheep husbandry spread quickly in Europe. Excavations show that in about 6000 BC, during the Neolithic period of prehistory, the Castelnovien people, living around Châteauneuf-les-Martigues near present-day Marseille in the south of France, were among the first in Europe to keep domestic sheep. Practically from its inception, ancient Greek civilization relied on sheep as primary livestock, and were even said to name individual animals. Ancient Romans kept sheep on a wide scale, and were an important agent in the spread of sheep raising. Pliny the Elder, in his Natural History (Naturalis Historia), speaks at length about sheep and wool. European colonists spread the practice to the New World from 1493 onwards.

 

Characteristics

Domestic sheep are relatively small ruminants, usually with a crimped hair called wool and often with horns forming a lateral spiral. They differ from their wild relatives and ancestors in several respects, having become uniquely neotenic as a result of selective breeding by humans. A few primitive breeds of sheep retain some of the characteristics of their wild cousins, such as short tails. Depending on breed, domestic sheep may have no horns at all (i.e. polled), or horns in both sexes, or in males only. Most horned breeds have a single pair, but a few breeds may have several.

 

Sheep in Turkmenistan

Another trait unique to domestic sheep as compared to wild ovines is their wide variation in color. Wild sheep are largely variations of brown hues, and variation within species is extremely limited. Colors of domestic sheep range from pure white to dark chocolate brown, and even spotted or piebald. Sheep keepers also sometimes artificially paint "smit marks" onto their sheep in any pattern or color for identification. Selection for easily dyeable white fleeces began early in sheep domestication, and as white wool is a dominant trait it spread quickly. However, colored sheep do appear in many modern breeds, and may even appear as a recessive trait in white flocks. While white wool is desirable for large commercial markets, there is a niche market for colored fleeces, mostly for handspinning. The nature of the fleece varies widely among the breeds, from dense and highly crimped, to long and hairlike. There is variation of wool type and quality even among members of the same flock, so wool classing is a step in the commercial processing of the fibre.

  

Suffolks are a medium wool, black-faced breed of meat sheep that make up 60% of the sheep population in the U.S.

Depending on breed, sheep show a range of heights and weights. Their rate of growth and mature weight is a heritable trait that is often selected for in breeding. Ewes typically weigh between 45 and 100 kilograms (100 and 220 lb), and rams between 45 and 160 kilograms (100 and 350 lb). When all deciduous teeth have erupted, the sheep has 20 teeth. Mature sheep have 32 teeth. As with other ruminants, the front teeth in the lower jaw bite against a hard, toothless pad in the upper jaw. These are used to pick off vegetation, then the rear teeth grind it before it is swallowed. There are eight lower front teeth in ruminants, but there is some disagreement as to whether these are eight incisors, or six incisors and two incisor-shaped canines. This means that the dental formula for sheep is either

0.0.3.3

4.0.3.3

or

0.0.3.3

3.1.3.3

There is a large diastema between the incisors and the molars.

 

In the first few years of life one can calculate the age of sheep from their front teeth, as a pair of milk teeth is replaced by larger adult teeth each year, the full set of eight adult front teeth being complete at about four years of age. The front teeth are then gradually lost as sheep age, making it harder for them to feed and hindering the health and productivity of the animal. For this reason, domestic sheep on normal pasture begin to slowly decline from four years on, and the life expectancy of a sheep is 10 to 12 years, though some sheep may live as long as 20 years.

 

Skull

Sheep have good hearing, and are sensitive to noise when being handled. Sheep have horizontal slit-shaped pupils, with excellent peripheral vision; with visual fields of about 270° to 320°, sheep can see behind themselves without turning their heads. Many breeds have only short hair on the face, and some have facial wool (if any) confined to the poll and or the area of the mandibular angle; the wide angles of peripheral vision apply to these breeds. A few breeds tend to have considerable wool on the face; for some individuals of these breeds, peripheral vision may be greatly reduced by "wool blindness", unless recently shorn about the face. Sheep have poor depth perception; shadows and dips in the ground may cause sheep to baulk. In general, sheep have a tendency to move out of the dark and into well-lit areas, and prefer to move uphill when disturbed. Sheep also have an excellent sense of smell, and, like all species of their genus, have scent glands just in front of the eyes, and interdigitally on the feet. The purpose of these glands is uncertain, but those on the face may be used in breeding behaviors. The foot glands might also be related to reproduction, but alternative functions, such as secretion of a waste product or a scent marker to help lost sheep find their flock, have also been proposed.

 

Comparison with goats

Sheep and goats are closely related: both are in the subfamily Caprinae. However, they are separate species, so hybrids rarely occur and are always infertile. A hybrid of a ewe and a buck (a male goat) is called a sheep-goat hybrid, known as geep. Visual differences between sheep and goats include the beard of goats and divided upper lip of sheep. Sheep tails also hang down, even when short or docked, while the short tails of goats are held upwards. Also, sheep breeds are often naturally polled (either in both sexes or just in the female), while naturally polled goats are rare (though many are polled artificially). Males of the two species differ in that buck goats acquire a unique and strong odor during the rut, whereas rams do not.

 

Breeds

The domestic sheep is a multi-purpose animal, and the more than 200 breeds now in existence were created to serve these diverse purposes. Some sources give a count of a thousand or more breeds, but these numbers cannot be verified, according to some sources. However, several hundred breeds of sheep have been identified by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN (FAO), with the estimated number varying somewhat from time to time: e.g. 863 breeds as of 1993, 1314 breeds as of 1995 and 1229 breeds as of 2006. (These numbers exclude extinct breeds, which are also tallied by the FAO.) For the purpose of such tallies, the FAO definition of a breed is "either a subspecific group of domestic livestock with definable and identifiable external characteristics that enable it to be separated by visual appraisal from other similarly defined groups within the same species or a group for which geographical and/or cultural separation from phenotypically similar groups has led to acceptance of its separate identity." Almost all sheep are classified as being best suited to furnishing a certain product: wool, meat, milk, hides, or a combination in a dual-purpose breed. Other features used when classifying sheep include face color (generally white or black), tail length, presence or lack of horns, and the topography for which the breed has been developed. This last point is especially stressed in the UK, where breeds are described as either upland (hill or mountain) or lowland breeds. A sheep may also be of a fat-tailed type, which is a dual-purpose sheep common in Africa and Asia with larger deposits of fat within and around its tail.

 

Breeds are often categorized by the type of their wool. Fine wool breeds are those that have wool of great crimp and density, which are preferred for textiles. Most of these were derived from Merino sheep, and the breed continues to dominate the world sheep industry. Downs breeds have wool between the extremes, and are typically fast-growing meat and ram breeds with dark faces. Some major medium wool breeds, such as the Corriedale, are dual-purpose crosses of long and fine-wooled breeds and were created for high-production commercial flocks. Long wool breeds are the largest of sheep, with long wool and a slow rate of growth. Long wool sheep are most valued for crossbreeding to improve the attributes of other sheep types. For example: the American Columbia breed was developed by crossing Lincoln rams (a long wool breed) with fine-wooled Rambouillet ewes.

 

Coarse or carpet wool sheep are those with a medium to long length wool of characteristic coarseness. Breeds traditionally used for carpet wool show great variability, but the chief requirement is a wool that will not break down under heavy use (as would that of the finer breeds). As the demand for carpet-quality wool declines, some breeders of this type of sheep are attempting to use a few of these traditional breeds for alternative purposes. Others have always been primarily meat-class sheep.

 

A minor class of sheep are the dairy breeds. Dual-purpose breeds that may primarily be meat or wool sheep are often used secondarily as milking animals, but there are a few breeds that are predominantly used for milking. These sheep produce a higher quantity of milk and have slightly longer lactation curves. In the quality of their milk, the fat and protein content percentages of dairy sheep vary from non-dairy breeds, but lactose content does not.

 

A last group of sheep breeds is that of fur or hair sheep, which do not grow wool at all. Hair sheep are similar to the early domesticated sheep kept before woolly breeds were developed, and are raised for meat and pelts. Some modern breeds of hair sheep, such as the Dorper, result from crosses between wool and hair breeds. For meat and hide producers, hair sheep are cheaper to keep, as they do not need shearing. Hair sheep are also more resistant to parasites and hot weather.

 

With the modern rise of corporate agribusiness and the decline of localized family farms, many breeds of sheep are in danger of extinction. The Rare Breeds Survival Trust of the UK lists 22 native breeds as having only 3,000 registered animals (each), and The Livestock Conservancy lists 14 as either "critical" or "threatened". Preferences for breeds with uniform characteristics and fast growth have pushed heritage (or heirloom) breeds to the margins of the sheep industry. Those that remain are maintained through the efforts of conservation organizations, breed registries, and individual farmers dedicated to their preservation.

 

Diet

Sheep are herbivorous mammals. Most breeds prefer to graze on grass and other short roughage, avoiding the taller woody parts of plants that goats readily consume. Both sheep and goats use their lips and tongues to select parts of the plant that are easier to digest or higher in nutrition. Sheep, however, graze well in monoculture pastures where most goats fare poorly.

 

Ruminant system of a sheep

Like all ruminants, sheep have a complex digestive system composed of four chambers, allowing them to break down cellulose from stems, leaves, and seed hulls into simpler carbohydrates. When sheep graze, vegetation is chewed into a mass called a bolus, which is then passed into the rumen, via the reticulum. The rumen is a 19- to 38-liter (5 to 10 gallon) organ in which feed is fermented. The fermenting organisms include bacteria, fungi, and protozoa. (Other important rumen organisms include some archaea, which produce methane from carbon dioxide.) The bolus is periodically regurgitated back to the mouth as cud for additional chewing and salivation. After fermentation in the rumen, feed passes into the reticulum and the omasum; special feeds such as grains may bypass the rumen altogether. After the first three chambers, food moves into the abomasum for final digestion before processing by the intestines. The abomasum is the only one of the four chambers analogous to the human stomach, and is sometimes called the "true stomach".

 

Other than forage, the other staple feed for sheep is hay, often during the winter months. The ability to thrive solely on pasture (even without hay) varies with breed, but all sheep can survive on this diet. Also included in some sheep's diets are minerals, either in a trace mix or in licks. Feed provided to sheep must be specially formulated, as most cattle, poultry, pig, and even some goat feeds contain levels of copper that are lethal to sheep. The same danger applies to mineral supplements such as salt licks.

 

Grazing behavior

Sheep follow a diurnal pattern of activity, feeding from dawn to dusk, stopping sporadically to rest and chew their cud. Ideal pasture for sheep is not lawnlike grass, but an array of grasses, legumes and forbs. Types of land where sheep are raised vary widely, from pastures that are seeded and improved intentionally to rough, native lands. Common plants toxic to sheep are present in most of the world, and include (but are not limited to) cherry, some oaks and acorns, tomato, yew, rhubarb, potato, and rhododendron.

 

Effects on pasture

Sheep are largely grazing herbivores, unlike browsing animals such as goats and deer that prefer taller foliage. With a much narrower face, sheep crop plants very close to the ground and can overgraze a pasture much faster than cattle. For this reason, many shepherds use managed intensive rotational grazing, where a flock is rotated through multiple pastures, giving plants time to recover. Paradoxically, sheep can both cause and solve the spread of invasive plant species. By disturbing the natural state of pasture, sheep and other livestock can pave the way for invasive plants. However, sheep also prefer to eat invasives such as cheatgrass, leafy spurge, kudzu and spotted knapweed over native species such as sagebrush, making grazing sheep effective for conservation grazing. Research conducted in Imperial County, California compared lamb grazing with herbicides for weed control in seedling alfalfa fields. Three trials demonstrated that grazing lambs were just as effective as herbicides in controlling winter weeds. Entomologists also compared grazing lambs to insecticides for insect control in winter alfalfa. In this trial, lambs provided insect control as effectively as insecticides.

 

Behavior

Sheep are flock animals and strongly gregarious; much sheep behavior can be understood on the basis of these tendencies. The dominance hierarchy of sheep and their natural inclination to follow a leader to new pastures were the pivotal factors in sheep being one of the first domesticated livestock species. Furthermore, in contrast to the red deer and gazelle (two other ungulates of primary importance to meat production in prehistoric times), sheep do not defend territories although they do form home ranges. All sheep have a tendency to congregate close to other members of a flock, although this behavior varies with breed, and sheep can become stressed when separated from their flock members. During flocking, sheep have a strong tendency to follow, and a leader may simply be the first individual to move. Relationships in flocks tend to be closest among related sheep: in mixed-breed flocks, subgroups of the same breed tend to form, and a ewe and her direct descendants often move as a unit within large flocks. Sheep can become hefted to one particular local pasture (heft) so they do not roam freely in unfenced landscapes. Lambs learn the heft from ewes and if whole flocks are culled it must be retaught to the replacement animals.

 

Flock behaviour in sheep is generally only exhibited in groups of four or more sheep; fewer sheep may not react as expected when alone or with few other sheep. Being a prey species, the primary defense mechanism of sheep is to flee from danger when their flight zone is entered. Cornered sheep may charge and butt, or threaten by hoof stamping and adopting an aggressive posture. This is particularly true for ewes with newborn lambs.

 

In regions where sheep have no natural predators, none of the native breeds of sheep exhibit a strong flocking behavior.

 

Herding

Farmers exploit flocking behavior to keep sheep together on unfenced pastures such as hill farming, and to move them more easily. For this purpose shepherds may use herding dogs in this effort, with a highly bred herding ability. Sheep are food-oriented, and association of humans with regular feeding often results in sheep soliciting people for food. Those who are moving sheep may exploit this behavior by leading sheep with buckets of feed.

 

Dominance hierarchy

Sheep establish a dominance hierarchy through fighting, threats and competitiveness. Dominant animals are inclined to be more aggressive with other sheep, and usually feed first at troughs. Primarily among rams, horn size is a factor in the flock hierarchy. Rams with different size horns may be less inclined to fight to establish the dominance order, while rams with similarly sized horns are more so. Merinos have an almost linear hierarchy whereas there is a less rigid structure in Border Leicesters when a competitive feeding situation arises.

 

In sheep, position in a moving flock is highly correlated with social dominance, but there is no definitive study to show consistent voluntary leadership by an individual sheep.

 

Intelligence and learning ability

Sheep are frequently thought of as unintelligent animals. Their flocking behavior and quickness to flee and panic can make shepherding a difficult endeavor for the uninitiated. Despite these perceptions, a University of Illinois monograph on sheep reported their intelligence to be just below that of pigs and on par with that of cattle. Sheep can recognize individual human and ovine faces and remember them for years; they can remember 50 other different sheep faces for over two years; they can recognize and are attracted to individual sheep and humans by their faces, as they possess similar specialized neural systems in the temporal and frontal lobes of their brains to humans and have a greater involvement of the right brain hemisphere. In addition to long-term facial recognition of individuals, sheep can also differentiate emotional states through facial characteristics.[68][69] If worked with patiently, sheep may learn their names, and many sheep are trained to be led by halter for showing and other purposes. Sheep have also responded well to clicker training. Sheep have been used as pack animals; Tibetan nomads distribute baggage equally throughout a flock as it is herded between living sites.

 

It has been reported that some sheep have apparently shown problem-solving abilities; a flock in West Yorkshire, England allegedly found a way to get over cattle grids by rolling on their backs, although documentation of this has relied on anecdotal accounts.

 

Vocalisations

Sounds made by domestic sheep include bleats, grunts, rumbles and snorts. Bleating ("baaing") is used mostly for contact communication, especially between dam and lambs, but also at times between other flock members. The bleats of individual sheep are distinctive, enabling the ewe and her lambs to recognize each other's vocalizations. Vocal communication between lambs and their dam declines to a very low level within several weeks after parturition. A variety of bleats may be heard, depending on sheep age and circumstances. Apart from contact communication, bleating may signal distress, frustration or impatience; however, sheep are usually silent when in pain. Isolation commonly prompts bleating by sheep. Pregnant ewes may grunt when in labor. Rumbling sounds are made by the ram during courting; somewhat similar rumbling sounds may be made by the ewe, especially when with her neonate lambs. A snort (explosive exhalation through the nostrils) may signal aggression or a warning, and is often elicited from startled sheep.

 

Lamb

In sheep breeds lacking facial wool, the visual field is wide. In 10 sheep (Cambridge, Lleyn and Welsh Mountain breeds, which lack facial wool), the visual field ranged from 298° to 325°, averaging 313.1°, with binocular overlap ranging from 44.5° to 74°, averaging 61.7°. In some breeds, unshorn facial wool can limit the visual field; in some individuals, this may be enough to cause "wool blindness". In 60 Merinos, visual fields ranged from 219.1° to 303.0°, averaging 269.9°, and the binocular field ranged from 8.9° to 77.7°, averaging 47.5°; 36% of the measurements were limited by wool, although photographs of the experiments indicate that only limited facial wool regrowth had occurred since shearing. In addition to facial wool (in some breeds), visual field limitations can include ears and (in some breeds) horns, so the visual field can be extended by tilting the head. Sheep eyes exhibit very low hyperopia and little astigmatism. Such visual characteristics are likely to produce a well-focused retinal image of objects in both the middle and long distance. Because sheep eyes have no accommodation, one might expect the image of very near objects to be blurred, but a rather clear near image could be provided by the tapetum and large retinal image of the sheep's eye, and adequate close vision may occur at muzzle length. Good depth perception, inferred from the sheep's sure-footedness, was confirmed in "visual cliff" experiments; behavioral responses indicating depth perception are seen in lambs at one day old. Sheep are thought to have colour vision, and can distinguish between a variety of colours: black, red, brown, green, yellow and white. Sight is a vital part of sheep communication, and when grazing, they maintain visual contact with each other. Each sheep lifts its head upwards to check the position of other sheep in the flock. This constant monitoring is probably what keeps the sheep in a flock as they move along grazing. Sheep become stressed when isolated; this stress is reduced if they are provided with a mirror, indicating that the sight of other sheep reduces stress.

 

Taste is the most important sense in sheep, establishing forage preferences, with sweet and sour plants being preferred and bitter plants being more commonly rejected. Touch and sight are also important in relation to specific plant characteristics, such as succulence and growth form.

 

The ram uses his vomeronasal organ (sometimes called the Jacobson's organ) to sense the pheromones of ewes and detect when they are in estrus. The ewe uses her vomeronasal organ for early recognition of her neonate lamb.

 

Reproduction

Sheep follow a similar reproductive strategy to other herd animals. A group of ewes is generally mated by a single ram, who has either been chosen by a breeder or (in feral populations) has established dominance through physical contest with other rams. Most sheep are seasonal breeders, although some are able to breed year-round. Ewes generally reach sexual maturity at six to eight months old, and rams generally at four to six months. However, there are exceptions. For example, Finnsheep ewe lambs may reach puberty as early as 3 to 4 months, and Merino ewes sometimes reach puberty at 18 to 20 months. Ewes have estrus cycles about every 17 days, during which they emit a scent and indicate readiness through physical displays towards rams.

 

In feral sheep, rams may fight during the rut to determine which individuals may mate with ewes. Rams, especially unfamiliar ones, will also fight outside the breeding period to establish dominance; rams can kill one another if allowed to mix freely. During the rut, even usually friendly rams may become aggressive towards humans due to increases in their hormone levels.

 

After mating, sheep have a gestation period of about five months, and normal labor takes one to three hours. Although some breeds regularly throw larger litters of lambs, most produce single or twin lambs. During or soon after labor, ewes and lambs may be confined to small lambing jugs, small pens designed to aid both careful observation of ewes and to cement the bond between them and their lambs.

  

A lamb's first steps

Ovine obstetrics can be problematic. By selectively breeding ewes that produce multiple offspring with higher birth weights for generations, sheep producers have inadvertently caused some domestic sheep to have difficulty lambing; balancing ease of lambing with high productivity is one of the dilemmas of sheep breeding. In the case of any such problems, those present at lambing may assist the ewe by extracting or repositioning lambs. After the birth, ewes ideally break the amniotic sac (if it is not broken during labor), and begin licking clean the lamb. Most lambs will begin standing within an hour of birth. In normal situations, lambs nurse after standing, receiving vital colostrum milk. Lambs that either fail to nurse or are rejected by the ewe require help to survive, such as bottle-feeding or fostering by another ewe.

 

Most lambs begin life being born outdoors. After lambs are several weeks old, lamb marking (ear tagging, docking, mulesing, and castrating) is carried out. Vaccinations are usually carried out at this point as well. Ear tags with numbers are attached, or ear marks are applied, for ease of later identification of sheep. Docking and castration are commonly done after 24 hours (to avoid interference with maternal bonding and consumption of colostrum) and are often done not later than one week after birth, to minimize pain, stress, recovery time and complications. The first course of vaccinations (commonly anti-clostridial) is commonly given at an age of about 10 to 12 weeks; i.e. when the concentration of maternal antibodies passively acquired via colostrum is expected to have fallen low enough to permit development of active immunity. Ewes are often revaccinated annually about 3 weeks before lambing, to provide high antibody concentrations in colostrum during the first several hours after lambing. Ram lambs that will either be slaughtered or separated from ewes before sexual maturity are not usually castrated. Objections to all these procedures have been raised by animal rights groups, but farmers defend them by saying they save money, and inflict only temporary pain.

 

Homosexuality

Sheep are the only species of mammal except for humans which exhibits exclusive homosexual behavior. About 10% of rams refuse to mate with ewes but readily mate with other rams, and thirty percent of all rams demonstrate at least some homosexual behavior. Additionally, a small number of females that were accompanied by a male fetus in utero (i.e. as fraternal twins) are freemartins (female animals that are behaviorally masculine and lack functioning ovaries).

 

Health

Sheep may fall victim to poisons, infectious diseases, and physical injuries. As a prey species, a sheep's system is adapted to hide the obvious signs of illness, to prevent being targeted by predators. However, some signs of ill health are obvious, with sick sheep eating little, vocalizing excessively, and being generally listless. Throughout history, much of the money and labor of sheep husbandry has aimed to prevent sheep ailments. Historically, shepherds often created remedies by experimentation on the farm. In some developed countries, including the United States, sheep lack the economic importance for drug companies to perform expensive clinical trials required to approve more than a relatively limited number of drugs for ovine use. However, extra-label drug use in sheep production is permitted in many jurisdictions, subject to certain restrictions. In the US, for example, regulations governing extra-label drug use in animals are found in 21 CFR (Code of Federal Regulations) Part 530. In the 20th and 21st centuries, a minority of sheep owners have turned to alternative treatments such as homeopathy, herbalism and even traditional Chinese medicine to treat sheep veterinary problems. Despite some favorable anecdotal evidence, the effectiveness of alternative veterinary medicine has been met with skepticism in scientific journals. The need for traditional anti-parasite drugs and antibiotics is widespread, and is the main impediment to certified organic farming with sheep.

 

Many breeders take a variety of preventive measures to ward off problems. The first is to ensure all sheep are healthy when purchased. Many buyers avoid outlets known to be clearing houses for animals culled from healthy flocks as either sick or simply inferior. This can also mean maintaining a closed flock, and quarantining new sheep for a month. Two fundamental preventive programs are maintaining good nutrition and reducing stress in the sheep. Restraint, isolation, loud noises, novel situations, pain, heat, extreme cold, fatigue and other stressors can lead to secretion of cortisol, a stress hormone, in amounts that may indicate welfare problems. Excessive stress can compromise the immune system. "Shipping fever" (pneumonic mannheimiosis, formerly called pasteurellosis) is a disease of particular concern, that can occur as a result of stress, notably during transport and (or) handling. Pain, fear and several other stressors can cause secretion of epinephrine (adrenaline). Considerable epinephrine secretion in the final days before slaughter can adversely affect meat quality (by causing glycogenolysis, removing the substrate for normal post-slaughter acidification of meat) and result in meat becoming more susceptible to colonization by spoilage bacteria. Because of such issues, low-stress handling is essential in sheep management. Avoiding poisoning is also important; common poisons are pesticide sprays, inorganic fertilizer, motor oil, as well as radiator coolant containing ethylene glycol.

 

Common forms of preventive medication for sheep are vaccinations and treatments for parasites. Both external and internal parasites are the most prevalent malady in sheep, and are either fatal, or reduce the productivity of flocks. Worms are the most common internal parasites. They are ingested during grazing, incubate within the sheep, and are expelled through the digestive system (beginning the cycle again). Oral anti-parasitic medicines, known as drenches, are given to a flock to treat worms, sometimes after worm eggs in the feces has been counted to assess infestation levels. Afterwards, sheep may be moved to a new pasture to avoid ingesting the same parasites. External sheep parasites include: lice (for different parts of the body), sheep keds, nose bots, sheep itch mites, and maggots. Keds are blood-sucking parasites that cause general malnutrition and decreased productivity, but are not fatal. Maggots are those of the bot fly and the blow-fly, commonly Lucilia sericata or its relative L. cuprina. Fly maggots cause the extremely destructive condition of flystrike. Flies lay their eggs in wounds or wet, manure-soiled wool; when the maggots hatch they burrow into a sheep's flesh, eventually causing death if untreated. In addition to other treatments, crutching (shearing wool from a sheep's rump) is a common preventive method. Some countries allow mulesing, a practice that involves stripping away the skin on the rump to prevent fly-strike, normally performed when the sheep is a lamb. Nose bots are fly larvae that inhabit a sheep's sinuses, causing breathing difficulties and discomfort. Common signs are a discharge from the nasal passage, sneezing, and frantic movement such as head shaking. External parasites may be controlled through the use of backliners, sprays or immersive sheep dips.

 

A wide array of bacterial and viral diseases affect sheep. Diseases of the hoof, such as foot rot and foot scald may occur, and are treated with footbaths and other remedies. Foot rot is present in over 97% of flocks in the UK. These painful conditions cause lameness and hinder feeding. Ovine Johne's disease is a wasting disease that affects young sheep. Bluetongue disease is an insect-borne illness causing fever and inflammation of the mucous membranes. Ovine rinderpest (or peste des petits ruminants) is a highly contagious and often fatal viral disease affecting sheep and goats. Sheep may also be affected by primary or secondary photosensitization. Tetanus can also afflict sheep through wounds from shearing, docking, castration, or vaccination. The organism also can be introduced into the reproductive tract by unsanitary humans who assist ewes during lambing.

 

A few sheep conditions are transmissible to humans. Orf (also known as scabby mouth, contagious ecthyma or soremouth) is a skin disease leaving lesions that is transmitted through skin-to-skin contact. Cutaneous anthrax is also called woolsorter's disease, as the spores can be transmitted in unwashed wool. More seriously, the organisms that can cause spontaneous enzootic abortion in sheep are easily transmitted to pregnant women. Also of concern are the prion disease scrapie and the virus that causes foot-and-mouth disease (FMD), as both can devastate flocks. The latter poses a slight risk to humans. During the 2001 FMD pandemic in the UK, hundreds of sheep were culled and some rare British breeds were at risk of extinction due to this.

 

Of the 600,300 sheep lost to the US economy in 2004, 37.3% were lost to predators, while 26.5% were lost to some form of disease. Poisoning accounted for 1.7% of non-productive deaths.

 

Predators

A lamb being attacked by coyotes with a bite to the throat

Other than parasites and disease, predation is a threat to sheep and the profitability of sheep raising. Sheep have little ability to defend themselves, compared with other species kept as livestock. Even if sheep survive an attack, they may die from their injuries or simply from panic. However, the impact of predation varies dramatically with region. In Africa, Australia, the Americas, and parts of Europe and Asia predators are a serious problem. In the United States, for instance, over one third of sheep deaths in 2004 were caused by predation. In contrast, other nations are virtually devoid of sheep predators, particularly islands known for extensive sheep husbandry. Worldwide, canids—including the domestic dog—are responsible for most sheep deaths. Other animals that occasionally prey on sheep include: felines, bears, birds of prey, ravens and feral hogs.

 

Sheep producers have used a wide variety of measures to combat predation. Pre-modern shepherds used their own presence, livestock guardian dogs, and protective structures such as barns and fencing. Fencing (both regular and electric), penning sheep at night and lambing indoors all continue to be widely used. More modern shepherds used guns, traps, and poisons to kill predators, causing significant decreases in predator populations. In the wake of the environmental and conservation movements, the use of these methods now usually falls under the purview of specially designated government agencies in most developed countries.

 

The 1970s saw a resurgence in the use of livestock guardian dogs and the development of new methods of predator control by sheep producers, many of them non-lethal. Donkeys and guard llamas have been used since the 1980s in sheep operations, using the same basic principle as livestock guardian dogs. Interspecific pasturing, usually with larger livestock such as cattle or horses, may help to deter predators, even if such species do not actively guard sheep. In addition to animal guardians, contemporary sheep operations may use non-lethal predator deterrents such as motion-activated lights and noisy alarms.

 

Economic importance

Main article: Agricultural economics

Global sheep stock

in 2019

Number in millions

1. China163.5 (13.19%)

2. India74.3 (5.99%)

3. Australia65.8 (5.31%)

4. Nigeria46.9 (3.78%)

5. Iran41.3 (3.33%)

6. Sudan40.9 (3.3%)

7. Chad35.9 (2.9%)

8. Turkey35.2 (2.84%)

9. United Kingdom33.6 (2.71%)

10. Mongolia32.3 (2.61%)

World total1,239.8

 

Source: UN Food and Agriculture Organization

Sheep are an important part of the global agricultural economy. However, their once vital status has been largely replaced by other livestock species, especially the pig, chicken, and cow. China, Australia, India, and Iran have the largest modern flocks, and serve both local and exportation needs for wool and mutton. Other countries such as New Zealand have smaller flocks but retain a large international economic impact due to their export of sheep products. Sheep also play a major role in many local economies, which may be niche markets focused on organic or sustainable agriculture and local food customers. Especially in developing countries, such flocks may be a part of subsistence agriculture rather than a system of trade. Sheep themselves may be a medium of trade in barter economies.

 

Domestic sheep provide a wide array of raw materials. Wool was one of the first textiles, although in the late 20th century wool prices began to fall dramatically as the result of the popularity and cheap prices for synthetic fabrics. For many sheep owners, the cost of shearing is greater than the possible profit from the fleece, making subsisting on wool production alone practically impossible without farm subsidies. Fleeces are used as material in making alternative products such as wool insulation. In the 21st century, the sale of meat is the most profitable enterprise in the sheep industry, even though far less sheep meat is consumed than chicken, pork or beef.

 

Sheepskin is likewise used for making clothes, footwear, rugs, and other products. Byproducts from the slaughter of sheep are also of value: sheep tallow can be used in candle and soap making, sheep bone and cartilage has been used to furnish carved items such as dice and buttons as well as rendered glue and gelatin. Sheep intestine can be formed into sausage casings, and lamb intestine has been formed into surgical sutures, as well as strings for musical instruments and tennis rackets. Sheep droppings, which are high in cellulose, have even been sterilized and mixed with traditional pulp materials to make paper. Of all sheep byproducts, perhaps the most valuable is lanolin: the waterproof, fatty substance found naturally in sheep's wool and used as a base for innumerable cosmetics and other products.

 

Some farmers who keep sheep also make a profit from live sheep. Providing lambs for youth programs such as 4-H and competition at agricultural shows is often a dependable avenue for the sale of sheep. Farmers may also choose to focus on a particular breed of sheep in order to sell registered purebred animals, as well as provide a ram rental service for breeding. A new option for deriving profit from live sheep is the rental of flocks for grazing; these "mowing services" are hired in order to keep unwanted vegetation down in public spaces and to lessen fire hazard.

 

Despite the falling demand and price for sheep products in many markets, sheep have distinct economic advantages when compared with other livestock. They do not require expensive housing, such as that used in the intensive farming of chickens or pigs. They are an efficient use of land; roughly six sheep can be kept on the amount that would suffice for a single cow or horse. Sheep can also consume plants, such as noxious weeds, that most other animals will not touch, and produce more young at a faster rate. Also, in contrast to most livestock species, the cost of raising sheep is not necessarily tied to the price of feed crops such as grain, soybeans and corn. Combined with the lower cost of quality sheep, all these factors combine to equal a lower overhead for sheep producers, thus entailing a higher profitability potential for the small farmer. Sheep are especially beneficial for independent producers, including family farms with limited resources, as the sheep industry is one of the few types of animal agriculture that has not been vertically integrated by agribusiness. However, small flocks, from 10 to 50 ewes, often are not profitable because they tend to be poorly managed. The primary reason is that mechanization is not feasible, so return per hour of labor is not maximized. Small farm flocks generally are used simply to control weeds on irrigation ditches or maintained as a hobby.

 

Shoulder of lamb

Sheep meat and milk were one of the earliest staple proteins consumed by human civilization after the transition from hunting and gathering to agriculture. Sheep meat prepared for food is known as either mutton or lamb, and approximately 540 million sheep are slaughtered each year for meat worldwide. "Mutton" is derived from the Old French moton, which was the word for sheep used by the Anglo-Norman rulers of much of the British Isles in the Middle Ages. This became the name for sheep meat in English, while the Old English word sceap was kept for the live animal. Throughout modern history, "mutton" has been limited to the meat of mature sheep usually at least two years of age; "lamb" is used for that of immature sheep less than a year.

 

In the 21st century, the nations with the highest consumption of sheep meat are the Arab states of the Persian Gulf, New Zealand, Australia, Greece, Uruguay, the United Kingdom and Ireland. These countries eat 14–40 lbs (3–18 kg) of sheep meat per capita, per annum. Sheep meat is also popular in France, Africa (especially the Arab world), the Caribbean, the rest of the Middle East, India, and parts of China. This often reflects a history of sheep production. In these countries in particular, dishes comprising alternative cuts and offal may be popular or traditional. Sheep testicles—called animelles or lamb fries—are considered a delicacy in many parts of the world. Perhaps the most unusual dish of sheep meat is the Scottish haggis, composed of various sheep innards cooked along with oatmeal and chopped onions inside its stomach. In comparison, countries such as the U.S. consume only a pound or less (under 0.5 kg), with Americans eating 50 pounds (22 kg) of pork and 65 pounds (29 kg) of beef. In addition, such countries rarely eat mutton, and may favor the more expensive cuts of lamb: mostly lamb chops and leg of lamb.

 

Though sheep's milk may be drunk rarely in fresh form, today it is used predominantly in cheese and yogurt making. Sheep have only two teats, and produce a far smaller volume of milk than cows. However, as sheep's milk contains far more fat, solids, and minerals than cow's milk, it is ideal for the cheese-making process. It also resists contamination during cooling better because of its much higher calcium content. Well-known cheeses made from sheep milk include the feta of Bulgaria and Greece, Roquefort of France, Manchego from Spain, the pecorino romano (the Italian word for "sheep" is pecore) and ricotta of Italy. Yogurts, especially some forms of strained yogurt, may also be made from sheep milk. Many of these products are now often made with cow's milk, especially when produced outside their country of origin. Sheep milk contains 4.8% lactose, which may affect those who are intolerant.

 

As with other domestic animals, the meat of uncastrated males is inferior in quality, especially as they grow. A "bucky" lamb is a lamb which was not castrated early enough, or which was castrated improperly (resulting in one testicle being retained). These lambs are worth less at market.

 

In science

Sheep are generally too large and reproduce too slowly to make ideal research subjects, and thus are not a common model organism. They have, however, played an influential role in some fields of science. In particular, the Roslin Institute of Edinburgh, Scotland used sheep for genetics research that produced groundbreaking results. In 1995, two ewes named Megan and Morag were the first mammals cloned from differentiated cells, also referred to as gynomerogony. A year later, a Finnish Dorset sheep named Dolly, dubbed "the world's most famous sheep" in Scientific American, was the first mammal to be cloned from an adult somatic cell. Following this, Polly and Molly were the first mammals to be simultaneously cloned and transgenic.

 

As of 2008, the sheep genome has not been fully sequenced, although a detailed genetic map has been published, and a draft version of the complete genome produced by assembling sheep DNA sequences using information given by the genomes of other mammals. In 2012, a transgenic sheep named "Peng Peng" was cloned by Chinese scientists, who spliced his genes with that of a roundworm (C. elegans) in order to increase production of fats healthier for human consumption.

 

In the study of natural selection, the population of Soay sheep that remain on the island of Hirta have been used to explore the relation of body size and coloration to reproductive success. Soay sheep come in several colors, and researchers investigated why the larger, darker sheep were in decline; this occurrence contradicted the rule of thumb that larger members of a population tend to be more successful reproductively. The feral Soays on Hirta are especially useful subjects because they are isolated.

 

Domestic sheep are sometimes used in medical research, particularly for researching cardiovascular physiology, in areas such as hypertension and heart failure. Pregnant sheep are also a useful model for human pregnancy, and have been used to investigate the effects on fetal development of malnutrition and hypoxia. In behavioral sciences, sheep have been used in isolated cases for the study of facial recognition, as their mental process of recognition is qualitatively similar to humans.

 

Cultural impact

Sheep have had a strong presence in many cultures, especially in areas where they form the most common type of livestock. In the English language, to call someone a sheep or ovine may allude that they are timid and easily led. In contradiction to this image, male sheep are often used as symbols of virility and power; the logos of the Los Angeles Rams football team and the Dodge Ram pickup truck allude to males of the bighorn sheep, Ovis canadensis.

 

Counting sheep is popularly said to be an aid to sleep, and some ancient systems of counting sheep persist today. Sheep also enter in colloquial sayings and idiom frequently with such phrases as "black sheep". To call an individual a black sheep implies that they are an odd or disreputable member of a group. This usage derives from the recessive trait that causes an occasional black lamb to be born into an entirely white flock. These black sheep were considered undesirable by shepherds, as black wool is not as commercially viable as white wool. Citizens who accept overbearing governments have been referred to by the Portmanteau neologism of sheeple. Somewhat differently, the adjective "sheepish" is also used to describe embarrassment.

 

In heraldry

In British heraldry, sheep appear in the form of rams, sheep proper and lambs. These are distinguished by the ram being depicted with horns and a tail, the sheep with neither and the lamb with its tail only. A further variant of the lamb, termed the Paschal lamb, is depicted as carrying a Christian cross and with a halo over its head. Rams' heads, portrayed without a neck and facing the viewer, are also found in British armories. The fleece, depicted as an entire sheepskin carried by a ring around its midsection, originally became known through its use in the arms of the Order of the Golden Fleece and was later adopted by towns and individuals with connections to the wool industry. A sheep on a blue field is depicted on the greater/royal arms of the king of Denmark to represent the Faroe Islands. In 2004 a modernized arms has been adopted by the Faroe Islands, which based on a 15th century coat of arms.

 

Religion and folklore

In antiquity, symbolism involving sheep cropped up in religions in the ancient Near East, the Mideast, and the Mediterranean area: Çatalhöyük, ancient Egyptian religion, the Cana'anite and Phoenician tradition, Judaism, Greek religion, and others. Religious symbolism and ritual involving sheep began with some of the first known faiths: Skulls of rams (along with bulls) occupied central placement in shrines at the Çatalhöyük settlement in 8,000 BCE. In Ancient Egyptian religion, the ram was the symbol of several gods: Khnum, Heryshaf and Amun (in his incarnation as a god of fertility). Other deities occasionally shown with ram features include the goddess Ishtar, the Phoenician god Baal-Hamon, and the Babylonian god Ea-Oannes. In Madagascar, sheep were not eaten as they were believed to be incarnations of the souls of ancestors.

 

There are many ancient Greek references to sheep: that of Chrysomallos, the golden-fleeced ram, continuing to be told through into the modern era. Astrologically, Aries, the ram, is the first sign of the classical Greek zodiac, and the sheep is the eighth of the twelve animals associated with the 12-year cycle of in the Chinese zodiac, related to the Chinese calendar. It is said in Chinese traditions that Hou ji sacrificed sheep. Mongolia, shagai are an ancient form of dice made from the cuboid bones of sheep that are often used for fortunetelling purposes.

 

Sheep play an important role in all the Abrahamic faiths; Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, and King David were all shepherds. According to the Biblical story of the Binding of Isaac, a ram is sacrificed as a substitute for Isaac after an angel stays Abraham's hand (in the Islamic tradition, Abraham was about to sacrifice Ishmael). Eid al-Adha is a major annual festival in Islam in which sheep (or other animals) are sacrificed in remembrance of this act. Sheep are occasionally sacrificed to commemorate important secular events in Islamic cultures. Greeks and Romans sacrificed sheep regularly in religious practice, and Judaism once sacrificed sheep as a Korban (sacrifice), such as the Passover lamb. Ovine symbols—such as the ceremonial blowing of a shofar—still find a presence in modern Judaic traditions.

 

Collectively, followers of Christianity are often referred to as a flock, with Christ as the Good Shepherd, and sheep are an element in the Christian iconography of the birth of Jesus. Some Christian saints are considered patrons of shepherds, and even of sheep themselves. Christ is also portrayed as the Sacrificial lamb of God (Agnus Dei) and Easter celebrations in Greece and Romania traditionally feature a meal of Paschal lamb. A church leader is often called the pastor, which is derived from the Latin word for shepherd. In many western Christian traditions bishops carry a staff, which also serves as a symbol of the episcopal office, known as a crosier, which is modeled on the shepherd's crook.

 

Sheep are key symbols in fables and nursery rhymes like The Wolf in Sheep's Clothing, Little Bo Peep, Baa, Baa, Black Sheep, and Mary Had a Little Lamb; novels such as George Orwell's Animal Farm and Haruki Murakami's A Wild Sheep Chase; songs such as Bach's Sheep may safely graze (Schafe können sicher weiden) and Pink Floyd's "Sheep", and poems like William Blake's "The Lamb".

"This is the porcelain clay of humankind."

John Dryden

The most powerful and complex space telescope ever created by humankind has achieved its final form as a fully assembled observatory. Reaching a major milestone, technicians and engineers have successfully connected the two halves of NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope for the first time at Northrop Grumman’s facilities in Redondo Beach, California.

 

To combine both halves of Webb, engineers carefully lifted the Webb telescope (which includes the mirrors and science instruments) above the already-combined sunshield and spacecraft using a crane. Team members slowly guided the telescope into place, ensuring that all primary points of contact were perfectly aligned and seated properly. The observatory has been mechanically connected; next steps will be to electrically connect the halves, and then test the electrical connections.

 

Read more about this major milestone: www.nasa.gov/feature/goddard/2019/nasa-s-james-webb-space...

 

Image credit: NASA/Chris Gunn

 

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SAN FRANCISCO, CA - May 18 - CommonSpirit's Humankindness Gala 2023 on May 18th 2023 at San Francisco in San Francisco, CA (Photo - Drew Altizer Photography)

Mc Clawson - Advisor & second pilot upon Orbital Reproach and Shooter Programmer, Formley captive middleman but with age comes reason, and his pure motivation is to see his days out in the sky. As the oldest crewmen his calculating and wisdom in space is a vital weapon in unknown regions. A great joker and always makes light of his actions, he once crashed a Scouter H2 into a FrieghterGate carrying Uiilinuim and laughed it off, even thou it cost him his leg and cant breath without an air piece!

Hobbies: History especially humankind Scottish earth files, Used to run daily but now plays crutchball with his team called 'The Legged Whiners', also loves to eat Spagneti, a special longworm sandwich high in fibrean and vitaform C2. Red Tags: Killdead on 35 counts and is the only current member to have escaped the Prison of Fallen Angels, the toughest outbreak in Galaxy history, he changed his ID by going HF (hand & face less) he cannot be found as nobody knows the were's the whats. Any prisoner with HF have no trace and that suits current employer CX perfectly.