Immutability photos on Flickr

'All that Brahma, Vishnu, Siva, Indra and others always do is done by me, the embodiment of Consciousness. I am the whole universe. I am the undecaying Supreme Self. There is neither past nor future apart from me' - reflect in this manner. by Traditional Quotes and Symbols

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1. If you separate yourself from the body and abide at ease in Consciousness you will become one (the sole Reality), everything else appearing (insignificant) Like grass.

2. After knowing that by which you know this (world) turn the mind inward and then you will see clearly the effulgence of the Self.

3. O Raghava, that by which you recognize sound, taste, form and smell, know that as your Self, the Supreme Brahman, the Lord of lords.

4. , O Raghava, that in which beings vibrate, that which creates them, know that Self to be your real Self.

5. After rejecting, through reasoning, all that can be known as ' non-truth ' what remains as pure Consciousness-regard that as your real Self.

6. Knowledge is not separate from you and that which is known is not separate from knowledge. Hence there is nothing other than the Self, nothing separate from it.

7. 'All that Brahma, Vishnu, Siva, Indra and others always do is done by me, the embodiment of Consciousness' - think in this manner.

8. 'I am the whole universe. I am the undecaying Supreme Self. There is neither past norfuture apart from me '-reflect in this manner.

9. 'Everything is the One Brahman, pure Consciousness, the Self of all, indivisible and immutable `-reflect in this manner.

10. 'There is neither I nor any other thing. Only Brahman exists always full of bliss everywhere.'- meditate on this calmly.

11. The sense of perceiver and perceived is common to all embodied beings, but the Yogi worships the One Self.

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Yoga Vasishta Sara - SELECTED VERSES - Worship of the Self

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Painting by Petrus Christus (La Virgen del arbol seco, c. 1465)

Space symbolizes origin and immutability; time is decadence, which carries us away from the origin while at the same time leading us toward the Messiah, the great Liberator, and toward the meeting with God. by Traditional Quotes and Symbols

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To state that the measures of ancient man were celestial and

static amounts to saying that this man still lived “in space”: time was merely the contingency which corroded all things and in the face of which values that are so to speak “spatial”—that is, permanent because definitive—had always to assert themselves anew. Space symbolizes origin and immutability; time is decadence, which carries us away from the origin while at the same time leading us toward the Messiah, the great Liberator, and toward the meeting with God.

In rejecting or losing celestial measures, man has become

the victim of time: in inventing machines that devour duration, man has torn himself away from the peacefulness of space and thrown himself into a whirlpool, from which there is no escape.

Francisco de Zurbaran - Still-life with pottery (four objects) [1650] by Peter

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Francisco de Zurbaran

Still-life with pottery (four objects) [1650]

Madrid Prado & Barcelona MNDAC

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Various vessels of different materials, shapes and uses rest on a wooden surface that could be a table or a shelf. From left to right they are: a pewter plate holding a complex and refined goblet, probably of gilded silver; a water jug from Triana of the short known as eggshell (made of porous earthenware that cools water though evaporation), a vase from the Indies (probably from the Viceroyalty of New Spain, perhaps Tonalá), and finally, another white jug from Triana resting on another pewter plate.

One of the fundamental protagonists of this work is light, which brings the objects out of the shadows and heightens their colors and volumes. Still, the most important one may be the sense of silence, which is almost palpable. And finally, the artist’s mastery in producing a timeless work, as well as the objects themselves, which are configured in a painting that has inspired critics, scholars and poets.

This painting is one of the still lifes most frequently considered prototypical of Spain’s Siglo de Oro, and often used by art historians in their considerations of Zurbarán’s compositional wisdom, his taste for the essential and his tendency, on occasions, toward geometric rigor. And yet, it is also an authentic exception in the history of Spanish still lifes. It has numerous aspects that contradict the rules of perspective and geometry, although this often occurs in works by Zurbarán, who never stood out for his mastery at representing even slightly complex spaces in his paintings.

What makes this work so distinct from others of its genre in Spain is its absence of time, which is precisely one of the elements used to unify the contents of other works of this type. Time is frequently specified in these works by the presence of flowers or foodstuffs, and when objects related to nature do not appear, there is often a skull to announce the ineluctable destiny of humans, and by extension, of all things. At other times, a clock appears as reminder that all things change for everyone, and that nothing in this world is immutable.

In the present still life, the only reference to time is the light, with its shadows, which is, of course, essential. This work’s stature as an archetype of the Spanish still life is undoubtedly due to its high quality, its exhibition in an institution known throughout the world, and a historiographic tradition that identifies Spanish still lifes with stripped-down rhetoric and a search for essence (in contrast with the opulence and sensuality of Italian and Flemish still lifes, the sumptuous contents of Dutch ones, and the decorative character of French ones) while ignoring the relative variety of formulas and tendencies that characterize this genre on the Iberian Peninsula. In his unhurried approach to this work, Zurbarán must have painted each element in a calculated manner - one by one, and in order. That explains why certain objects project no shadow and others transmit such a powerful individual presence. In their placement, we can see that they are not really aligned, but instead, slightly off their natural axis. This is no coincidence; it has been done to favor the play of light and to create the volumes in a more believable and powerful way.

We should also note that the objects in this still life are not strictly popular vessels. They could well belong to the tableware of a household of certain wealth - especially the gilded silver goblet and the vase from the Indies. A very nearly identical version of this work, although in somewhat better condition, was donated to the Museu d’Art de Catalunya (Barcelona) by Cambó, the same collector who donated the present work to the Museo del Prado in 1940.

Luna, Juan J., El bodegón español en el Prado: de Van der Hamen a Goya, Madrid, Museo Nacional del Prado, 2008, p.82-83

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The Bible by ON BORROWED TIME

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"All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness--that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work." 2 Timothy 3:16-17

The Bible contains the mind of God, the state of man, the way of salvation, the doom of sinners, and the happiness of believers.

Its doctrines are holy, its precepts are binding, its stories are true, and its decisions are immutable.

Read it to be wise, believe it to be safe, and practice it to be holy.

It contains light to direct you, food to support you, and comfort to cheer you.

It is the traveler's map, the pilgrim's staff, the pilot's compass, the soldier's sword, and the Christian's charter.

Here Paradise is restored, Heaven opened, and the gates of Hell disclosed.

Christ is its grand subject, our good the design, and the glory of God its end.

It should fill the memory, rule the heart, and guide the feet.

Read it slowly, frequently, and prayerfully.

It is a mine of wealth, health to the soul, and a river of pleasure.

It involves the highest responsibility, will reward the greatest labor, and will condemn all who trifle with its sacred contents.

El espacio y el tiempo continúan desacoplados y el universo permanece infinito e inmutable, es decir, eterno - Space and time remain uncoupled and the universe remains infinite and immutable, that is, eternal. by Francisco Colina

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Tempio di Flora | Villa Ada, Roma. by Michele Rallo

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Tempio di Flora | Villa Ada, Roma.

Nata dall’acquisto di alcune terre da parte del principe

Pallavicini, il nucleo più antico dell’attuale Villa Ada sorge a nord di Roma tra gli anni 1785 e 1789, al suo interno trova spazio l’ormai abbandonato Tempio di Flora (Coffe House ) opera dell’archietto francesce Auguste Hubert e del successivo architeto italiano Francesco Bettini.

L’edificio nel tempo subì varie vicessitudini legate

principalmente ai suoi proprietari, alternando restauri ad abbandoni.

Attualmente il tempio è in disuso e data la sua indole di semi rudere affascina gli spettatori prestandosi quasi

spontaneamente ad ospitare eventi teatrali, allestimenti d’arte contemporanea, corsi di fotografia.

"Lost in Chaos" | photo-project.

Canon EOS

Canon EF-S 17-85mm Is Usm

"Lost in Chaos" is a personal project, which has as its intent to capture images in a number of places in the silence of the time and lost in an atmosphere that makes the eyes look even more magical. Old buildings, industrial buildings, but also cultural and historical buildings belonging to other eras, now part of the history of a big city like Rome. So quiet and yet so immersed in the daily chaos that reigns, and features a large metropolis that create an incredible contrast in the observer. A study in evolution, that with imagination, wants to pay tribute to these places trying to restore to them a way to return to live, through the art of photography that everything makes immortal and immutable.

"Lost in Chaos" è un progetto personale, che si pone come intento quello di catturare in immagini una serie di luoghi immersi nel silenzio del tempo e perduti in un'atmosfera che ne rende ancor più magico l'aspetto agli occhi. Vecchi edifici, costruzioni industriali, ma anche edifici storici e culturali appartenuti ad altre epoche, ormai parte della storia di una grande città come Roma. Così silenziosi eppure così immersi nel caos quotidiano che regna e caratterizza una grande metropoli tale da crearne un incredibile contrasto in chi osserva. Una ricerca in evoluzione, che con immaginazione, vuol rendere omaggio a questi luoghi cercando di ridonare loro un modo per tornare a vivere, attraverso l'arte della fotografia che tutto rende immortale ed immutabile.

He chose you to be trophies of His grace! (Charles Spurgeon) by ON BORROWED TIME

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He chose you to be trophies of His grace!

(Charles Spurgeon)

"You yourselves, as living stones, are being built into a spiritual house for a holy priesthood to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ." 1 Peter 2:5

God builds a palace for Himself in heaven, made of 'living stones'. Where did He get them? Has He brought forth the richest and the purest marble from the fine quarries of Paris? No! Christians, look to "the hole of the pit where you were dug out of, and to the rock where you were cut from!" You were full of sin. Far from being stones that were white with purity—you were black with defilement, seemingly utterly unfit to be stones in the spiritual temple, which would be the dwelling-place of the Most High God. And yet, He chose you to be trophies of His grace!

Goldsmiths make exquisite jewelry from precious materials; they fashion the bracelet and the ring from gold. But God makes His jewels out of base materials. From the black pebbles of the defiling brooks—He has taken up stones, which He has set in the golden ring of His immutable love, to make them gems to sparkle on His finger forever. He has not selected the best—but apparently the worst of men—to be the monuments of His grace!

Mao, Andy Warhol, The American Dream Factory, Musée de la Boverie, Liège, Belgique by Claude

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La place centrale du dessin dans l’œuvre d’Andy Warhol contrarie l’image souvent donnée d’un artiste qui voulait « travailler comme une machine » et limiter le rôle de la main. À l’exception d’une longue interruption entre 1963 et 1972, Warhol a dessiné régulièrement toute sa vie. Secrète, cette activité n’a été que rarement exposée et présentée sur le marché de l’art de son vivant. Le dessin commercial des années 1950 avait permis à l’artiste de gagner sa vie, mais aussi d’expérimenter une technique de reproduction qui est apparue rétrospectivement comme l’ancêtre des sérigraphies : un trait d’encre sur un papier huilé, sur lequel est apposé un papier absorbant, permet de reproduire en le simplifiant un premier motif ; la copie, synthétique, où le hasard souligne à chaque fois différemment bavures ou abstractions du trait, devient l’original. Ce procédé de simplification par copie, où le nombre et les variations reposent en partie sur le hasard, prend son origine au cœur du travail graphique de Warhol. Prolongé à partir de 1962 par la sérigraphie, qui fera de Warhol une star du pop art, le dessin à l’encre trouve une nouvelle application, en 1972, avec la série des Mao.

Cette série correspond à une période charnière : après avoir annoncé en 1966 la « fin de sa carrière artistique » et alors qu’il se consacre à ses films, à ses pièces de théâtre et à la revue Interview, Andy Warhol se fait tirer dessus à bout portant le 3 juin 1968 par Valerie Solanas, fondatrice et unique membre de la SCUM (Society for Cutting Up Men). Son détachement du monde, et en particulier du monde de l’art, prend dès lors un nouveau tournant et, lorsqu’il reprend simultanément la peinture et le dessin en 1972 avec les Mao – une de ses plus longues et importantes séries, après les Marylin, et avant les Fleurs et les Crânes –, c’est sur de nouveaux modes. L’imagerie est nouvelle : au-delà du monde des stars, il s’attaque au cœur du mythe politique, car la photo de Mao à partir de laquelle il travaille est celle du « Petit Livre rouge ». Bruno Bischofberger lui avait suggéré de peindre le personnage le plus important du siècle, lui proposant Einstein. « Bonne idée, répliqua Warhol, mais je viens de lire dans Life que le personnage le plus célèbre du siècle est le président Mao » (Nixon, en février 1972, avait rendu visite au président chinois).

La pensée communiste, le style réaliste chinois, le système médiatique autoritaire sont autant de filtres déjà appliqués à l’image. Andy Warhol en ajoute deux, en sus du procédé sérigraphique qui signe l’œuvre : côté sérigraphie, il utilise pour la première fois une brosse expressionniste, gestuelle, qui barre le motif ou en souligne de manière grotesque certains détails ; côté dessin, il applique différemment le filtre de la reproduction, jusque-là utilisé pour les portraits – la ponction de plusieurs images d’une même star dans un océan de photographies, puis leur multiplication à l’identique –, en n’utilisant qu’une seule image, labellisée, officielle, immuable. Les quarante grands formats à la mine graphite qui la déclinent, et qui forment une des rares séries graphiques autonomes, se contentent d’opérer de subtiles variations des mêmes traits, qu’à l’envi Warhol souligne, efface, épaissit ou hachure. L’œuvre du Musée est une des versions les plus modelées et contrastées (par multiplication des hachures, accentuation des clairs-obscurs), tandis que le papier peint réalisé à la même période en est, à l’opposé, l’épure graphique.

Camille Morineau

The central place of drawing in Andy Warhol's work thwarts the often-given image of an artist who wanted to "work like a machine" and limit the role of the hand. With the exception of a long hiatus between 1963 and 1972, Warhol drew regularly throughout his life. Secret, this activity was rarely exhibited and presented on the art market during his lifetime. Commercial design from the 1950s had allowed the artist to earn a living, but also to experiment with a reproduction technique that appeared in retrospect as the ancestor of serigraphs: a line of ink on an oiled paper, on which is affixed absorbent paper, makes it possible to reproduce a first pattern by simplifying it; the synthetic copy, where chance underlines each time differently the burrs or abstractions of the line, becomes the original. This process of simplification by copying, where the number and the variations are based in part on chance, has its origin at the heart of Warhol's graphic work. Extended from 1962 by screen printing, which made Warhol a star of pop art, ink drawing found a new application in 1972 with the Mao series.

This series corresponds to a pivotal period: after announcing in 1966 the "end of his artistic career" and while he devotes himself to his films, his plays and the magazine Interview, Andy Warhol is shot in point blank on June 3, 1968 by Valerie Solanas, founder and only member of the SCUM (Society for Cutting Up Men). His detachment from the world, and in particular from the world of art, therefore took a new turn and, when he resumed painting and drawing simultaneously in 1972 with the Mao - one of his longest and most important series, after the Marylin, and before Flowers and Skulls - it's in new ways. The imagery is new: beyond the world of stars, it attacks the heart of the political myth, because the photo of Mao from which he is working is that of the "Little Red Book". Bruno Bischofberger had suggested to him to paint the most important character of the century, proposing to him Einstein. "Good idea," replied Warhol, "but I just read in Life that the most famous figure of the century is Chairman Mao" (Nixon, in February 1972, had visited the Chinese president).

Communist thought, the Chinese realist style, the authoritarian media system are all filters already applied to the image. Andy Warhol adds two, in addition to the screen-printing process that signs the work: on the screen-printing side, he uses for the first time an expressionist, gestural brush, which bars the motif or grotesquely emphasizes certain details; on the drawing side, he applies the reproduction filter in a different way, hitherto used for portraits - the puncture of several images of the same star in a sea of photographs, then their identical multiplication -, using only 'a single image, labeled, official, immutable. The forty large graphite-like formats which decline it, and which form one of the rare autonomous graphic series, are content to operate subtle variations of the same lines, which Warhol envy underlines, erases, thickens or hatches. The work of the Museum is one of the most modeled and contrasted versions (by multiplication of hatching, accentuation of chiaroscuro), while the wallpaper produced during the same period is, on the contrary, the graphic purity.

Camille Morineau

Timeless embrace. by next_in_line

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One month ago, the world vanished.

And apart from a single synchronous heartbeat, nothing else existed.

Ineluctable rupture in the fundamental principals of universal alteration occured, from which the consistent, ceaseless oscillation now emits its immutable streams of voracious cravings for her angelic ubiquity.

Ensangonat by Pere Quero Martí

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A Girona et pots trobar de tot o quasi.

Sé que la lluita quotidiana hi ha molts éssers que se l'agafen molt a pit, tant que si fan sang.

Aquesta gavina estava a la barana de l'escala de Sant Fèlix amb un cert posat tristoi i amb signes del que crec una lluita. Amb va agradar documentar-ho i, com sempre, em va fer pensar.

Cal viure en plenitud i força, però cal lluitar per arribar a tenir ferides físiques, mental, i/o emocionals?.

Penso que els humans que ens diguem animals "racionals", som molt més animals que els que lluiten per un bocí de menjar o una parella, convertim la lluita quotidiana en guerres on solen morir més innocents que en lloc més i total perquè uns pocs tinguin més poder i diners... Ens oblidem de compartir i ens creiem en possessió de la veritat immutable, la que ningú té però que tothom es creu en el dret de ser l'únic posseïdor.

En fi, mai entendré que no es pugui dialogar i creure que tothom té les seves veritats i que es poden compartir.

Cairngorms National Park, Highlands, Scotland. by HISTOGRAPHY by DM & DBM.

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Cairngorms National Park is a national park in northeast Scotland, established in 2003. It was the second of two national parks established by the Scottish Parliament, after Loch Lomond and The Trossachs National Park, which was set up in 2002. The park covers the Cairngorms range of mountains, and surrounding hills. Already the largest national park in the United Kingdom, in 2010 it was expanded into Perth and Kinross.

Roughly 18,000 people reside within the 4,528 square kilometre national park. The largest communities are Aviemore, Ballater, Braemar, Grantown-on-Spey, Kingussie, Newtonmore, and Tomintoul. Tourism makes up about 80% of the economy. In 2018, 1.9 million tourism visits were recorded. The majority of visitors are domestic, with 25 per cent coming from elsewhere in the UK, and 21 per cent being from other countries.

The Cairngorms National Park covers an area of 4,528 km2 (1,748 sq mi) in the council areas of Aberdeenshire, Moray, Highland, Angus and Perth and Kinross. The mountain range of the Cairngorms lies at the heart of the national park, but forms only one part of it, alongside other hill ranges such as the Angus Glens and the Monadhliath, and lower areas like Strathspey and upper Deeside. Three major rivers rise in the park: the Spey, the Dee, and the Don. The Spey, which is the second longest river in Scotland, rises in the Monadhliath, whilst the Dee and the Don both rise in the Cairngorms themselves.

The Cairngorms themselves are a spectacular landscape, similar in appearance to the Hardangervidda National Park of Norway in having a large area of upland plateau.[citation needed] The range consists of three main plateaux at about 1000–1200 m above sea level, above which domed summits (the eroded stumps of once much higher mountains)[8] rise to around 1300 m. Many of the summits have tors, free-standing rock outcrops that stand on top of the boulder-strewn landscape.[9] The edges of the plateaux are in places steep cliffs of granite and they are excellent for skiing, rock climbing and ice climbing. The Cairngorms form an arctic-alpine mountain environment, with tundra-like characteristics and long-lasting snow patches.

The Monadhliath mountains lie to the north of Strathspey, and comprise a bleak, wide plateau rising to between 700 and 950 m.

Two major transport routes run through the park, with both the A9 road and the Highland Main Line crossing over the Pass of Drumochter and running along Strathspey, providing links between the western and northern parts of the park and the cities of Perth and Inverness. The Highland Main Line is the only mainline rail route through the park, however there are several other major roads, including the A86, which links Strathspey to Fort William, and the A93, which links the Deeside area of the park to both Perth and Aberdeen.

The idea that parts of Scotland of wild or remote character should be designated to protect the environment and encourage public access grew in popularity throughout the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. In 1931 a commission headed by Christopher Addison proposed the creation of a national park in the Cairngorms, alongside proposals for parks in England and Wales. Following the Second World War ten national parks were established in England and Wales, and a committee was established to consider the issue of national parks in Scotland. The report, published in 1945, proposed national parks in five areas, one of which was the Cairngorms. The government designated these five areas as "National Park Direction Areas", giving powers for planning decisions taken by local authorities to be reviewed by central government, however the areas were not given full national park status. In 1981 the direction areas were replaced by national scenic areas, of which there are now 40. In 1990 the Countryside Commission for Scotland (CCS) produced a report into protection of the landscape of Scotland, which recommended that four areas were under such pressure that they ought to be designated as national parks, each with an independent planning board, in order to retain their heritage value. The four areas identified were similar to those proposed in 1945, and thus again included the Cairngorms.

Despite this long history of recommendations that national parks be established in Scotland, no action was taken until the establishment of the Scottish Parliament in 1999. The two current parks were designated as such under the National Parks (Scotland) Act 2000, which was one of the first pieces of legislation to be passed by the Parliament. Before the national park was established in 2003, Scottish Natural Heritage conducted a consultation exercise, considering the boundary and the powers and structure of the new park authority.

Following the establishment of the park many groups and local communities felt that a large area of highland Perth and Kinross should form part of the park and carried out a sustained campaign. On 13 March 2008 Michael Russell announced that the national park would be extended to take in Blair Atholl and Spittal of Glenshee, and the park was duly extended on 4 October 2010.

In 2015, 53 km (33 mi) of the 132 kV power line in the middle of the park was taken down, while another section along the edge of the park was upgraded to 400 kV.

Tourism accounts for much of the economy and 43% of employment within the park area. In 2018, 1.9 million tourism visits were recorded. The park's mandate is sustainable tourism "that builds on, conserves and enhances [its] special qualities". The Cairngorms Business Partnership includes 350 private sector member businesses. In early 2017, the park was voted by Hundredrooms as one of the top seven eco-tourism destinations in Europe and discussed as a "mecca for outdoor enthusiasts". The Visit Scotland web site discusses the amenities and indicates that this park "has more mountains, forest paths, rivers, lochs, wildlife hotspots, friendly villages and distilleries than you can possibly imagine".

The park is popular for activities such as walking, cycling, mountain biking, climbing and canoeing: for hillwalkers there are 55 Munros (mountains above 3,000 feet (910 m) in height) in the park.[6] Two of Scotland's Great Trails pass through the park: the Speyside Way and the Cateran Trail.

A skiing and winter sports industry is concentrated in the Cairngoms, with three of Scotland's five resorts situated here. They are the Cairn Gorm Ski Centre, Glenshee Ski Centre and The Lecht Ski Centre. There was controversy surrounding the construction of the Cairngorm Mountain Railway at the Cairn Gorm Ski Centre, a scheme supported by the national park authority. Supporters of the scheme claimed that it would bring in valuable tourist income, whilst opponents argued that such a development was unsuitable for a protected area. To reduce erosion, the railway operates a "closed scheme" and only allows skiers (in season) out of the upper Ptarmigan station: other visitors may not access the mountain from the railway unless on a guided walk.

The Cairngorm Mountain Railway funicular was closed in October 2018 "due to health and safety concerns", or "structural problems" according to reports in summer 2019. At the time, an investigation was still underway to determine whether modifications would be "achievable and affordable". (The same situation was reported in December 2019.) This railway first opened in 2001 and connects the base station with a restaurant on Cairn Gorm mountain.

Aviemore is a busy and popular holiday destination, located close to Glenmore Forest Park and the Cairn Gorm Ski Centre. The Strathspey Railway is preserved railway running steam and heritage diesel services between Aviemore railway station and Broomhill via Boat of Garten, along part of the former Highland Railway.

The Highland Wildlife Park also lies within the national park, and the Frank Bruce Sculpture Trail is located near Feshiebridge. This short trail through the woods features a sculptures created by Frank Bruce between 1965 and 2009.

In addition to the Cairngorm Brewery, six distilleries are located within the Park area: Dalwhinnie distillery, The Glenlivet distillery, Tomintoul distillery, Royal Lochnagar distillery, Balmenach distillery and The Speyside distillery. Royal Lochnagar, Dalwhinnie, Cairngorm Brewery and Glenlivet are set up to receive visitors on a regular basis. Tomintoul, Balmenach and Speyside can be visited but require an appointment made in advance.

The Highlands is a historical region of Scotland. Culturally, the Highlands and the Lowlands diverged from the Late Middle Ages into the modern period, when Lowland Scots language replaced Scottish Gaelic throughout most of the Lowlands. The term is also used for the area north and west of the Highland Boundary Fault, although the exact boundaries are not clearly defined, particularly to the east. The Great Glen divides the Grampian Mountains to the southeast from the Northwest Highlands. The Scottish Gaelic name of A' Ghàidhealtachd literally means "the place of the Gaels" and traditionally, from a Gaelic-speaking point of view, includes both the Western Isles and the Highlands.

The area is very sparsely populated, with many mountain ranges dominating the region, and includes the highest mountain in the British Isles, Ben Nevis. During the 18th and early 19th centuries the population of the Highlands rose to around 300,000, but from c. 1841 and for the next 160 years, the natural increase in population was exceeded by emigration (mostly to Canada, the United States, Australia and New Zealand, and migration to the industrial cities of Scotland and England.) and passim The area is now one of the most sparsely populated in Europe. At 9.1/km2 (24/sq mi) in 2012, the population density in the Highlands and Islands is less than one seventh of Scotland's as a whole.

The Highland Council is the administrative body for much of the Highlands, with its administrative centre at Inverness. However, the Highlands also includes parts of the council areas of Aberdeenshire, Angus, Argyll and Bute, Moray, North Ayrshire, Perth and Kinross, Stirling and West Dunbartonshire.

The Scottish Highlands is the only area in the British Isles to have the taiga biome as it features concentrated populations of Scots pine forest: see Caledonian Forest. It is the most mountainous part of the United Kingdom.

Between the 15th century and the mid-20th century, the area differed from most of the Lowlands in terms of language. In Scottish Gaelic, the region is known as the Gàidhealtachd, because it was traditionally the Gaelic-speaking part of Scotland, although the language is now largely confined to The Hebrides. The terms are sometimes used interchangeably but have different meanings in their respective languages. Scottish English (in its Highland form) is the predominant language of the area today, though Highland English has been influenced by Gaelic speech to a significant extent. Historically, the "Highland line" distinguished the two Scottish cultures. While the Highland line broadly followed the geography of the Grampians in the south, it continued in the north, cutting off the north-eastern areas, that is Eastern Caithness, Orkney and Shetland, from the more Gaelic Highlands and Hebrides.

Historically, the major social unit of the Highlands was the clan. Scottish kings, particularly James VI, saw clans as a challenge to their authority; the Highlands was seen by many as a lawless region. The Scots of the Lowlands viewed the Highlanders as backward and more "Irish". The Highlands were seen as the overspill of Gaelic Ireland. They made this distinction by separating Germanic "Scots" English and the Gaelic by renaming it "Erse" a play on Eire. Following the Union of the Crowns, James VI had the military strength to back up any attempts to impose some control. The result was, in 1609, the Statutes of Iona which started the process of integrating clan leaders into Scottish society. The gradual changes continued into the 19th century, as clan chiefs thought of themselves less as patriarchal leaders of their people and more as commercial landlords. The first effect on the clansmen who were their tenants was the change to rents being payable in money rather than in kind. Later, rents were increased as Highland landowners sought to increase their income. This was followed, mostly in the period 1760–1850, by agricultural improvement that often (particularly in the Western Highlands) involved clearance of the population to make way for large scale sheep farms. Displaced tenants were set up in crofting communities in the process. The crofts were intended not to provide all the needs of their occupiers; they were expected to work in other industries such as kelping and fishing. Crofters came to rely substantially on seasonal migrant work, particularly in the Lowlands. This gave impetus to the learning of English, which was seen by many rural Gaelic speakers to be the essential "language of work".

Older historiography attributes the collapse of the clan system to the aftermath of the Jacobite risings. This is now thought less influential by historians. Following the Jacobite rising of 1745 the British government enacted a series of laws to try to suppress the clan system, including bans on the bearing of arms and the wearing of tartan, and limitations on the activities of the Scottish Episcopal Church. Most of this legislation was repealed by the end of the 18th century as the Jacobite threat subsided. There was soon a rehabilitation of Highland culture. Tartan was adopted for Highland regiments in the British Army, which poor Highlanders joined in large numbers in the era of the Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars (1790–1815). Tartan had largely been abandoned by the ordinary people of the region, but in the 1820s, tartan and the kilt were adopted by members of the social elite, not just in Scotland, but across Europe. The international craze for tartan, and for idealising a romanticised Highlands, was set off by the Ossian cycle, and further popularised by the works of Walter Scott. His "staging" of the visit of King George IV to Scotland in 1822 and the king's wearing of tartan resulted in a massive upsurge in demand for kilts and tartans that could not be met by the Scottish woollen industry. Individual clan tartans were largely designated in this period and they became a major symbol of Scottish identity. This "Highlandism", by which all of Scotland was identified with the culture of the Highlands, was cemented by Queen Victoria's interest in the country, her adoption of Balmoral as a major royal retreat, and her interest in "tartenry".

Recurrent famine affected the Highlands for much of its history, with significant instances as late as 1817 in the Eastern Highlands and the early 1850s in the West. Over the 18th century, the region had developed a trade of black cattle into Lowland markets, and this was balanced by imports of meal into the area. There was a critical reliance on this trade to provide sufficient food, and it is seen as an essential prerequisite for the population growth that started in the 18th century. Most of the Highlands, particularly in the North and West was short of the arable land that was essential for the mixed, run rig based, communal farming that existed before agricultural improvement was introduced into the region.[a] Between the 1760s and the 1830s there was a substantial trade in unlicensed whisky that had been distilled in the Highlands. Lowland distillers (who were not able to avoid the heavy taxation of this product) complained that Highland whisky made up more than half the market. The development of the cattle trade is taken as evidence that the pre-improvement Highlands was not an immutable system, but did exploit the economic opportunities that came its way. The illicit whisky trade demonstrates the entrepreneurial ability of the peasant classes.

Agricultural improvement reached the Highlands mostly over the period 1760 to 1850. Agricultural advisors, factors, land surveyors and others educated in the thinking of Adam Smith were keen to put into practice the new ideas taught in Scottish universities. Highland landowners, many of whom were burdened with chronic debts, were generally receptive to the advice they offered and keen to increase the income from their land. In the East and South the resulting change was similar to that in the Lowlands, with the creation of larger farms with single tenants, enclosure of the old run rig fields, introduction of new crops (such as turnips), land drainage and, as a consequence of all this, eviction, as part of the Highland clearances, of many tenants and cottars. Some of those cleared found employment on the new, larger farms, others moved to the accessible towns of the Lowlands.

In the West and North, evicted tenants were usually given tenancies in newly created crofting communities, while their former holdings were converted into large sheep farms. Sheep farmers could pay substantially higher rents than the run rig farmers and were much less prone to falling into arrears. Each croft was limited in size so that the tenants would have to find work elsewhere. The major alternatives were fishing and the kelp industry. Landlords took control of the kelp shores, deducting the wages earned by their tenants from the rent due and retaining the large profits that could be earned at the high prices paid for the processed product during the Napoleonic wars.

When the Napoleonic wars finished in 1815, the Highland industries were affected by the return to a peacetime economy. The price of black cattle fell, nearly halving between 1810 and the 1830s. Kelp prices had peaked in 1810, but reduced from £9 a ton in 1823 to £3 13s 4d a ton in 1828. Wool prices were also badly affected. This worsened the financial problems of debt-encumbered landlords. Then, in 1846, potato blight arrived in the Highlands, wiping out the essential subsistence crop for the overcrowded crofting communities. As the famine struck, the government made clear to landlords that it was their responsibility to provide famine relief for their tenants. The result of the economic downturn had been that a large proportion of Highland estates were sold in the first half of the 19th century. T M Devine points out that in the region most affected by the potato famine, by 1846, 70 per cent of the landowners were new purchasers who had not owned Highland property before 1800. More landlords were obliged to sell due to the cost of famine relief. Those who were protected from the worst of the crisis were those with extensive rental income from sheep farms. Government loans were made available for drainage works, road building and other improvements and many crofters became temporary migrants – taking work in the Lowlands. When the potato famine ceased in 1856, this established a pattern of more extensive working away from the Highlands.

The unequal concentration of land ownership remained an emotional and controversial subject, of enormous importance to the Highland economy, and eventually became a cornerstone of liberal radicalism. The poor crofters were politically powerless, and many of them turned to religion. They embraced the popularly oriented, fervently evangelical Presbyterian revival after 1800. Most joined the breakaway "Free Church" after 1843. This evangelical movement was led by lay preachers who themselves came from the lower strata, and whose preaching was implicitly critical of the established order. The religious change energised the crofters and separated them from the landlords; it helped prepare them for their successful and violent challenge to the landlords in the 1880s through the Highland Land League. Violence erupted, starting on the Isle of Skye, when Highland landlords cleared their lands for sheep and deer parks. It was quietened when the government stepped in, passing the Crofters' Holdings (Scotland) Act, 1886 to reduce rents, guarantee fixity of tenure, and break up large estates to provide crofts for the homeless. This contrasted with the Irish Land War underway at the same time, where the Irish were intensely politicised through roots in Irish nationalism, while political dimensions were limited. In 1885 three Independent Crofter candidates were elected to Parliament, which listened to their pleas. The results included explicit security for the Scottish smallholders in the "crofting counties"; the legal right to bequeath tenancies to descendants; and the creation of a Crofting Commission. The Crofters as a political movement faded away by 1892, and the Liberal Party gained their votes.

Today, the Highlands are the largest of Scotland's whisky producing regions; the relevant area runs from Orkney to the Isle of Arran in the south and includes the northern isles and much of Inner and Outer Hebrides, Argyll, Stirlingshire, Arran, as well as sections of Perthshire and Aberdeenshire. (Other sources treat The Islands, except Islay, as a separate whisky producing region.) This massive area has over 30 distilleries, or 47 when the Islands sub-region is included in the count. According to one source, the top five are The Macallan, Glenfiddich, Aberlour, Glenfarclas and Balvenie. While Speyside is geographically within the Highlands, that region is specified as distinct in terms of whisky productions. Speyside single malt whiskies are produced by about 50 distilleries.

According to Visit Scotland, Highlands whisky is "fruity, sweet, spicy, malty". Another review states that Northern Highlands single malt is "sweet and full-bodied", the Eastern Highlands and Southern Highlands whiskies tend to be "lighter in texture" while the distilleries in the Western Highlands produce single malts with a "much peatier influence".

The Scottish Reformation achieved partial success in the Highlands. Roman Catholicism remained strong in some areas, owing to remote locations and the efforts of Franciscan missionaries from Ireland, who regularly came to celebrate Mass. There remain significant Catholic strongholds within the Highlands and Islands such as Moidart and Morar on the mainland and South Uist and Barra in the southern Outer Hebrides. The remoteness of the region and the lack of a Gaelic-speaking clergy undermined the missionary efforts of the established church. The later 18th century saw somewhat greater success, owing to the efforts of the SSPCK missionaries and to the disruption of traditional society after the Battle of Culloden in 1746. In the 19th century, the evangelical Free Churches, which were more accepting of Gaelic language and culture, grew rapidly, appealing much more strongly than did the established church.

For the most part, however, the Highlands are considered predominantly Protestant, belonging to the Church of Scotland. In contrast to the Catholic southern islands, the northern Outer Hebrides islands (Lewis, Harris and North Uist) have an exceptionally high proportion of their population belonging to the Protestant Free Church of Scotland or the Free Presbyterian Church of Scotland. The Outer Hebrides have been described as the last bastion of Calvinism in Britain and the Sabbath remains widely observed. Inverness and the surrounding area has a majority Protestant population, with most locals belonging to either The Kirk or the Free Church of Scotland. The church maintains a noticeable presence within the area, with church attendance notably higher than in other parts of Scotland. Religion continues to play an important role in Highland culture, with Sabbath observance still widely practised, particularly in the Hebrides.

In traditional Scottish geography, the Highlands refers to that part of Scotland north-west of the Highland Boundary Fault, which crosses mainland Scotland in a near-straight line from Helensburgh to Stonehaven. However the flat coastal lands that occupy parts of the counties of Nairnshire, Morayshire, Banffshire and Aberdeenshire are often excluded as they do not share the distinctive geographical and cultural features of the rest of the Highlands. The north-east of Caithness, as well as Orkney and Shetland, are also often excluded from the Highlands, although the Hebrides are usually included. The Highland area, as so defined, differed from the Lowlands in language and tradition, having preserved Gaelic speech and customs centuries after the anglicisation of the latter; this led to a growing perception of a divide, with the cultural distinction between Highlander and Lowlander first noted towards the end of the 14th century. In Aberdeenshire, the boundary between the Highlands and the Lowlands is not well defined. There is a stone beside the A93 road near the village of Dinnet on Royal Deeside which states 'You are now in the Highlands', although there are areas of Highland character to the east of this point.

A much wider definition of the Highlands is that used by the Scotch whisky industry. Highland single malts are produced at distilleries north of an imaginary line between Dundee and Greenock, thus including all of Aberdeenshire and Angus.

Inverness is regarded as the Capital of the Highlands, although less so in the Highland parts of Aberdeenshire, Angus, Perthshire and Stirlingshire which look more to Aberdeen, Dundee, Perth, and Stirling as their commercial centres.

The Highland Council area, created as one of the local government regions of Scotland, has been a unitary council area since 1996. The council area excludes a large area of the southern and eastern Highlands, and the Western Isles, but includes Caithness. Highlands is sometimes used, however, as a name for the council area, as in the former Highlands and Islands Fire and Rescue Service. Northern is also used to refer to the area, as in the former Northern Constabulary. These former bodies both covered the Highland council area and the island council areas of Orkney, Shetland and the Western Isles.

Much of the Highlands area overlaps the Highlands and Islands area. An electoral region called Highlands and Islands is used in elections to the Scottish Parliament: this area includes Orkney and Shetland, as well as the Highland Council local government area, the Western Isles and most of the Argyll and Bute and Moray local government areas. Highlands and Islands has, however, different meanings in different contexts. It means Highland (the local government area), Orkney, Shetland, and the Western Isles in Highlands and Islands Fire and Rescue Service. Northern, as in Northern Constabulary, refers to the same area as that covered by the fire and rescue service.

There have been trackways from the Lowlands to the Highlands since prehistoric times. Many traverse the Mounth, a spur of mountainous land that extends from the higher inland range to the North Sea slightly north of Stonehaven. The most well-known and historically important trackways are the Causey Mounth, Elsick Mounth, Cryne Corse Mounth and Cairnamounth.

Although most of the Highlands is geographically on the British mainland, it is somewhat less accessible than the rest of Britain; thus most UK couriers categorise it separately, alongside Northern Ireland, the Isle of Man, and other offshore islands. They thus charge additional fees for delivery to the Highlands, or exclude the area entirely. While the physical remoteness from the largest population centres inevitably leads to higher transit cost, there is confusion and consternation over the scale of the fees charged and the effectiveness of their communication, and the use of the word Mainland in their justification. Since the charges are often based on postcode areas, many far less remote areas, including some which are traditionally considered part of the lowlands, are also subject to these charges. Royal Mail is the only delivery network bound by a Universal Service Obligation to charge a uniform tariff across the UK. This, however, applies only to mail items and not larger packages which are dealt with by its Parcelforce division.

The Highlands lie to the north and west of the Highland Boundary Fault, which runs from Arran to Stonehaven. This part of Scotland is largely composed of ancient rocks from the Cambrian and Precambrian periods which were uplifted during the later Caledonian Orogeny. Smaller formations of Lewisian gneiss in the northwest are up to 3 billion years old. The overlying rocks of the Torridon Sandstone form mountains in the Torridon Hills such as Liathach and Beinn Eighe in Wester Ross.

These foundations are interspersed with many igneous intrusions of a more recent age, the remnants of which have formed mountain massifs such as the Cairngorms and the Cuillin of Skye. A significant exception to the above are the fossil-bearing beds of Old Red Sandstone found principally along the Moray Firth coast and partially down the Highland Boundary Fault. The Jurassic beds found in isolated locations on Skye and Applecross reflect the complex underlying geology. They are the original source of much North Sea oil. The Great Glen is formed along a transform fault which divides the Grampian Mountains to the southeast from the Northwest Highlands.

The entire region was covered by ice sheets during the Pleistocene ice ages, save perhaps for a few nunataks. The complex geomorphology includes incised valleys and lochs carved by the action of mountain streams and ice, and a topography of irregularly distributed mountains whose summits have similar heights above sea-level, but whose bases depend upon the amount of denudation to which the plateau has been subjected in various places.

Climate

The region is much warmer than other areas at similar latitudes (such as Kamchatka in Russia, or Labrador in Canada) because of the Gulf Stream making it cool, damp and temperate. The Köppen climate classification is "Cfb" at low altitudes, then becoming "Cfc", "Dfc" and "ET" at higher altitudes.

Places of interest

An Teallach

Aonach Mòr (Nevis Range ski centre)

Arrochar Alps

Balmoral Castle

Balquhidder

Battlefield of Culloden

Beinn Alligin

Beinn Eighe

Ben Cruachan hydro-electric power station

Ben Lomond

Ben Macdui (second highest mountain in Scotland and UK)

Ben Nevis (highest mountain in Scotland and UK)

Cairngorms National Park

Cairngorm Ski centre near Aviemore

Cairngorm Mountains

Caledonian Canal

Cape Wrath

Carrick Castle

Castle Stalker

Castle Tioram

Chanonry Point

Conic Hill

Culloden Moor

Dunadd

Duart Castle

Durness

Eilean Donan

Fingal's Cave (Staffa)

Fort George

Glen Coe

Glen Etive

Glen Kinglas

Glen Lyon

Glen Orchy

Glenshee Ski Centre

Glen Shiel

Glen Spean

Glenfinnan (and its railway station and viaduct)

Grampian Mountains

Hebrides

Highland Folk Museum – The first open-air museum in the UK.

Highland Wildlife Park

Inveraray Castle

Inveraray Jail

Inverness Castle

Inverewe Garden

Iona Abbey

Isle of Staffa

Kilchurn Castle

Kilmartin Glen

Liathach

Lecht Ski Centre

Loch Alsh

Loch Ard

Loch Awe

Loch Assynt

Loch Earn

Loch Etive

Loch Fyne

Loch Goil

Loch Katrine

Loch Leven

Loch Linnhe

Loch Lochy

Loch Lomond

Loch Lomond and the Trossachs National Park

Loch Lubnaig

Loch Maree

Loch Morar

Loch Morlich

Loch Ness

Loch Nevis

Loch Rannoch

Loch Tay

Lochranza

Luss

Meall a' Bhuiridh (Glencoe Ski Centre)

Scottish Sea Life Sanctuary at Loch Creran

Rannoch Moor

Red Cuillin

Rest and Be Thankful stretch of A83

River Carron, Wester Ross

River Spey

River Tay

Ross and Cromarty

Smoo Cave

Stob Coire a' Chàirn

Stac Polly

Strathspey Railway

Sutherland

Tor Castle

Torridon Hills

Urquhart Castle

West Highland Line (scenic railway)

West Highland Way (Long-distance footpath)

Wester Ross

Paprihaven 1564 by Mayor Paprika

17 12

Captain Marvel: (thinking) Time to freeze time.

Everything in creation is part of creation, so everything has context. Speed is relative. Billy Batson knows that time has not frozen. Even though each muzzle flash has become a fiery flower with slowly opening petals, even though the bullets are easing out of the barrels at the most leisurely pace, even though the people do stand as utterly motionless as statues of hardest granite, Billy Batson knows that time itself is continuing inexorably onward at its steady, immutable march. He's just become much, much faster.

Captain Marvel: (thinking) I wasn't sure if they'd actually open fire but, now that they have, I couldn't have asked for a better demonstration. Full automatic weapons, the bullets going about 1,500 feet per second, at opposite ends of the diner.

Billy's thought processes, heightened along with the rest of his amazing powers, match his amazing speed. Were he to speak aloud the people around him would hear nothing.

Captain Marvel: (thinking) Sure, Mary and I goaded them into this, but we're not just showing off. Most of these thugs seem new to Paprihaven and unused to super-powered people. If we just took them to jail they'd only be thinking they should have been a little faster, or done something a little differently. But after this, it should impress upon them that they are truly hopeless before us. And never try anything this evil again.

As Billy ruminates, he gathers the bullets and weapons.

Captain Marvel: (thinking) It's easy enough to snatch the bullets out of the air but I have to be careful taking the guns. At this speed and power there's no difference between their bodies and air to me. I'll disintegrate their hands if I don't exercise control.

A control honed over many decades of Billy doing this very thing. Mary watches her brother as he works. They've fought crime together for so very long. If she had gone for the guns and bullets, Billy would have watched, ready to jump in. But she had opted for the first show of power, backhanding the vile woman who had so wanted to kill children.

Captain Marvel: (thinking) But broken hands will be fine. Some may never be able to write, or hold a gun again, and they're getting off easy at the price.

Abstract by Zack

1

I have another interest in me as well, in seeing something abstract. When the image does not depict objects in the natural world, but instead uses color and form in a non-representational way, an exclusive part of my brain pulsates signaling for my penchant.

Though it happened by accident for this shot, I just love it. To me, it captures something of the depicted objects' immutable intrinsic qualities rather than its external appearance.

Yeah, enough for the crap!

That which is immutable, auspicious and tranquil, that in which this world exists, that which manifests itself as the mutable and immutable objects-that is the sole consciousness. by Traditional Quotes and Symbols

19 1

NIRVANA

1. Supreme Bliss cannot be experienced through contact of the senses with their objects. The supreme state is that in which the mind is annihilated through one-pointed enquiry.

2. The bliss arising from the contact of the senses with their objects is inferior. Contact with the sense-objects is bondage ; freedom from it is liberation.

3. Attain the pure state between existence and non-existence and hold on to it ; do not accept or reject the inner or the outer world.

4. Depend always on that true reality between the sentient and the inert which is the infinite space-like heart.

5. The belief in a knower and the known is called bondage. The knower is bound by the known ; he is liberated when there is nothing to knew.

6. Abandoning the ideas of seer, seen and sight along with latent desires (vasanas) of the past we meditate on that Self which is the primal light that is the basis of sight.

7. We meditate on the eternal Self, the light of lights which lies between the two ideas of existence and non-existence.

8. We meditate on that Self of consciousness, the bestower of the fruits of all our thoughts, the illuminator of all radiant objects and the farthest limit of all accepted objects.

9. We meditate on that immutable Self, our reality, the bliss of which arises in the mind on account of the close contact between the seer and the seen.

10. If one meditates on that state which comes at the end of the waking state and the beginning of sleep he will directly experience undecaying bliss.

11. The rock-like state in which all thoughts are still and which is different from the waking and dream states, is one's supreme state.

12. Like mud in a mud pot the Supreme Lord who is existence and space- like consciousness and bliss exists everywhere non-separate (from things).

13. The Self shines by itself as the one boundless ocean of consciousness agitated by waves of thought.

14. Just as the ocean is nothing but water the entire world of things is nothing but consciousness filling all the quarters like the infinite space.

15. Brahman and space are alike as to their invisibility, all pervasiveness and indestructibility, but Brahman is also consciousness.

16. There is only the one waveless and profound ocean of pure nectar, sweet through and through (i.e. blissful) everywhere.

17. All this is truly Brahman ; all this is Atman. Do not cut up Brahman into ' I am one thing 'and' this is another. '

18. As soon as it is realised that Brahman is all-pervasive and indivisible this vast samsara is found to be the Supreme Lord.

19. One who realises that everything is Brahman truly becomes Brahman ; who would not become immortal if he were to drink nectar ?

20. If you are wise you would become this (Brahman) by such conviction ; if not even if you are repeatedly told it would be (useless like offerings) thrown on ashes.

21. Even if you have known the real truth you have to practice always. Water will not become clear by merely uttering the word kataka fruit.

22. If one has the firm conviction ' I am the Supreme Self called the undecaying Vasudeva ' he is liberated ; otherwise he remains bound.

23. After eliminating everything as ` not this ', ' not this', the Supreme Being ( lit. state) which cannot be eliminated remains. Think' I am That ' and be happy.

24. Know always that the Self is Brahman, one and whole. How can that which is indivisible be divided into ' I am the meditator ' and ' the other is the object of meditation ' ?

25. When one thinks' I am pure consciousness ' it is called meditation and when even the idea of meditation is forgotten it is samadhi.

26. The constant flow of mental concepts relating to Brahman without the sense of ' I ' achieved through intense practice of Self Enquiry (jnana) is what is called samprajnata samadhi

(meditation with concepts).

27. Let violent winds which characterise the end of aeons (kalpas) blow ; let all the oceans unite, let the twelve suns burn (simultaneously), still no harm befalls one whose mind is extinct.

28. That consciousness which is the witness of the rise and fall of all beings, know that to be the immortal state of supreme bliss.

29. Every moving or unmoving thing whatsoever is only an object visualised by the mind. When the mind is annihilated duality (i.e. multiplicity) is not perceived.

30. That which is immutable, auspicious and tranquil, that in which this world exists, that which manifests itself as the mutable and immutable objects-that is the sole consciousness.

31. Before discarding the slough the snake regards it as itself, but when once it has discarded it in its hole it does not look upon it as itself any longer.

32. He who has transcended both good and evil does not, like a child, refrain from prohibited acts from a sense of sin, nor does he do what is prescribed from a sense of merit.

33. Just as a statue is contained in a pillar (i.e. block) even if it is not actually carved out, so also the world exists in Brahman. Therefore the Supreme State is not a void.

34. Just as a pillar is said to be devoid of the statue when it has not actually been carved out, so also Brahman is said to be void when it is devoid of the impression of the world.

35. Just as still water may be said to contain or not contain ripples, so also Brahman may be said to contain or not contain the world. It is neither void nor existence.

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Yoga Vasishta Sara - SELECTED VERSES - Nirvana

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Painting by Puvis de Chavannes

Knowledge only saves us on condition that it enlists all that we are, only when it is a way and when it works and transforms and wounds our nature even as the plough wounds the soil. by Traditional Quotes and Symbols

9

Strictly speaking doctrinal knowledge is independent of the individual. But its actualization is not independent of the human capacity to act as a vehicle for it. He who possesses truth must none the less merit it although it is a free gift. Truth is immutable in itself, but in us it lives, because we live.

If we want truth to live in us we must live in it.

Knowledge only saves us on condition that it enlists all that we are, only when it is a way and when it works and transforms and wounds our nature even as the plough wounds the soil.

To say this is to say that intelligence and metaphysical certainty alone do not save; of themselves they do not prevent titans from falling. This is what explains the psychological and other precautions with which every tradition surrounds the gift of the doctrine.

When metaphysical knowledge is effective it produces love and destroys presumption. It produces love, that is to say the spontaneous directing of the will towards God and the perception of "myself" - and of God - in one's neighbour. It destroys presumption, for knowledge does not allow a man to overestimate himself or to underestimate others. By reducing to ashes all that is not God it orders all things.

All St. Paul says of charity concerns effective knowledge, for the latter is love, and he opposes it to theory inasmuch as theory is human concept. The Apostle desires that truth should be contemplated with our whole being and he calls this totality of contemplation "love".

Metaphysical knowledge is sacred. It is the right of sacred things to require of man all that he is.

Intelligence, since it distinguishes, perceives, as one might put

it, proportions. The spiritual man integrates these proportions into his will, into his soul and into his life.

All defects are defects of proportion; they are errors that are lived. To be spiritual means not denying at any point with one's "being" what one affirms with one's knowledge, that is, what one accepts with the intelligence.

Truth lived: incorruptibility and generosity. Since ignorance is all that we are and not merely our thinking, knowledge will also be all that we are to the extent to which our existential modalities are by their nature able to participate in truth.

Human nature contains dark elements which no intellectual

certainty could, ipso facto, eliminate...

Pure intellectuality is as serene as a summer sky - serene with a serenity that is at once infinitely incorruptible and infinitely generous.

Intellectualism which "dries up the heart" has no connection

with intellectuality.

The incorruptibility - or inviolability - of truth is bound up neither with contempt nor with avarice.

What is man's certainty? On the level of ideas it may be perfect, but on the level of life it but rarely pierces through illusion.

Everything is ephemeral and every man must die. No man is

ignorant of this and no one knows it.

Man may have an interest that is quite illusory in accepting the

most transcendent ideas and will readily believe himself to be superior to some other who, not having this interest - perhaps because he is too intelligent or too noble to have it - is sincere enough not to accept them, though he may all the same be more able to understand them than the other who accepts them.

Man does not always accept truth because he understands it; often he believes he understands it because he is anxious to accept it.

People often discuss truths whereas they should limit themselves to discussing tastes and tendencies ...

Acuteness of intelligence is only a blessing when it is compensated by greatness and sweetness of the soul. It should not appear as a rupture of the equilibrium or as an excess which splits man in two. A gift of nature requires complementary qualities which allow of its harmonious manifestation; otherwise there is a risk of the lights becoming mingled with darkness.

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www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/38011

Loverval : marche Saint-Hubert 1er dimanche de septembre by Michel Babusiaux

12

Les Marches Folkloriques de l'Entre-Sambre-et-Meuse trouvent leurs origines dans les processions de croix banales du moyen-âge. Celles-ci avaient lieu dans l'octave de la Pentecôte et étaient destinées à rendre hommage et à permettre de verser l'obole à l'abbaye suzeraine voisine dont dépendait le clergé.

L'escorte militaire qui les accompagnait avait pour but d'en rehausser l'éclat mais aussi de préserver les pèlerins contre les bandes de malfrats qui rôdaient à cette époque dans nos contrées. Ces compagnies spéciales d'archers et arbalétriers que l'on appelait "serments" furent les ancêtres des marcheurs.

C'est dans le courant du XVIII siècle qu'une crise importante frappa nos Marches car de plus en plus ces cérémonies devenaient un prétexte pour s'amuser et tourner le religieux en dérision, ce qui ne plut pas au clergé qui interdit ces manifestations.

Les coutumes reprendront en 1802 après le concordat signé entre Napoléon Ier et le Pape Pie VII. C'est à ce moment que les Marches prirent un nouvel essor et devinrent des escortes militaires.

En ce qui concerne les costumes adoptés dans nos manifestations aujourd'hui, ils sont du premier et du second empire. A ce sujet, il est certain que l'on a d'abord marché en premier empire car de nombreuses défroques de l'armée de Napoléon étaient disponibles dans nos régions. Ces uniformes se dégradant, nos Marcheurs ont adoptés les costumes militaires de l'époque qui a immédiatement suivi, c'est-à-dire les uniformes que l'on appelle du second empire.

Bien que l’aspect religieux ne semble pas prépondérant, il s’agit quand même d’une procession religieuse avec sortie de la châsse et des saints patrons, bénédictions, messe, …

L’un des moments les plus forts de la Saint Hubert, c’est le fameux bataillon carré. Un moment solennel, plein de tradition et avec un déroulement codifié et immuable. Il commence par une revue des troupes, suivie de décharges et de feux roulants.

The Folk Marches of Entre-Sambre-et-Meuse find their origins in the banal cross processions of the Middle Ages. These took place in the octave of Pentecost and were intended to pay homage and allow the payment of the mite to the neighboring suzerain abbey on which the clergy depended.

The military escort which accompanied them was intended to enhance its splendor but also to protect the pilgrims against the gangs of thugs who were roaming our region at that time. These special companies of archers and crossbowmen called "oaths" were the ancestors of the walkers.

It was during the 18th century that a major crisis struck our Marches because more and more these ceremonies became a pretext for having fun and making fun of religion, which did not please the clergy who banned these demonstrations.

Customs resumed in 1802 after the concordat signed between Napoleon I and Pope Pius VII. It was at this time that the Marches took on new development and became military escorts.

Regarding the costumes adopted in our demonstrations today, they are from the first and second empire. On this subject, it is certain that we first marched in the first empire because many cast-offs from Napoleon's army were available in our regions. As these uniforms deteriorated, our Walkers adopted the military costumes of the era which immediately followed, that is to say the uniforms we call the Second Empire.

Although the religious aspect does not seem predominant, it is still a religious procession with the release of the reliquary and patron saints, blessings, mass, etc.

One of the strongest moments of Saint Hubert’s Day is the famous square battalion. A solemn moment, full of tradition and with a codified and immutable sequence. It begins with a review of the troops, followed by discharges and rolling fire.

Clunie Footbridge, River Tummel, Perth & Kinross, Scotland. by HISTOGRAPHY by DM & DBM.

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Aluminium footbridge, built from 1948 to 1950, on the River Tummel at Loch Faskally by the North of Scotland Hydro Electric Board. The consulting engineers were Sir Alexander Gibb & Partners. The contractors were P. & W. McLennan Ltd, Glasgow. The aluminium alloys were supplied by James Booth & Co. Ltd. The concrete piers were constructed by William Tawse, Aberdeen.

The bridge is of a cantilevered design with a shallow-arched deck. It is 95 metres long with a centre span of around 53 metres and two side spans of 21 metres. The width of the walkway is 2 metres. The trusses, handrail, arched soffits, walkway and rivets are aluminium alloy. The trusses are braced in a mirrored 'N' formation between the soffits and the handrail. The bridge is supported by two concrete piers that taper slightly above the water level. Tapering concrete block abutments flank the entrance at either end of the bridge.

The Clunie Footbridge is the first major example of an aluminium bridge in Scotland, and is one of the earliest surviving aluminium bridges of notable design quality in the world. Its lightweight, cantilevered design is elegant and forward-thinking and effectively exploits the properties of the modern material. The footbridge is also of interest as an integral part of the Tummel Garry Hydro Electric scheme, a hugely significant feat of post-war engineering in Scotland, and takes into account the picturesque context of the nearby Pitlochry power station. The bridge also illustrates Scotland's historical associations with the early mass production of aluminium on a global scale.

This footbridge was built in 1948-50 by the North of Scotland Hydro Board as an integral part of the Tummel Garry Hydro Electric scheme (1947-51), one of the most ambitious civil engineering projects of its time in Scotland. The creation of the Pitlochry Dam and Power Station, around 1km downstream from the bridge, saw the water level at this part of the River Tummel rise by 40 feet to form Loch Faskally.

The bridge was the first aluminium bridge of notable scale in Scotland. A 1948 sketch of the proposed footbridge shows that an aluminium suspension bridge was being considered for the site at that time (Dundee Courier 1948). The slender, cantilevered design that was settled on used significantly less raw material than a suspension bridge, lowering the cost of production. The new bridge was more forward-thinking in its design and appearance, reflecting the relative modernity of its building material. The design may also have changed in line with new understanding of the structural properties of aluminium. Photographs taken in 1950 show the completed footbridge before the water level was raised. They also show the old stone bridge of 1832 being taken down as part of the Loch Faskally works (Canmore; Dundee Courier).

Until the end of the 19th century, aluminium was regarded as a precious metal due to the difficulty in extracting alumina from bauxite ore. The separation process was aided significantly by electrolysis, which required large amounts of electricity. In the UK, this was provided by hydroelectric power generated in the Scottish Highlands. The first hydroelectric powered aluminium smelter in Scotland opened at Foyers in 1896, followed by smelters at Kinlochleven in 1909 and Lochaber in 1929, all for the British Aluminium Company. Among the attributes of aluminium alloys are its lightness and strength-to-weight ratio, and its high resistance to corrosion and staining. Advances in fabrication led to its extensive use in the emerging aviation industry, and for military purposes during the world wars.

The first known use of aluminium alloy in bridge construction was in 1933 in Pittsburgh, home of the American Aluminum Company. In 1946 the first bridge with an all-aluminium span (as well as six steel spans) was constructed in Massena, New York. As production costs are around 25% to 30% higher than reinforced steel, aluminium has rarely been used for large-scale bridges. The Arvida Bridge (1948-50) in Quebec, Canada was the first all-aluminium road bridge in the world and remains the largest by some margin (2018). In more recent years, aluminium has been used for small scale bridges where a longer life-cycle is considered to justify the initial cost (Kaufman 2007).

The three earliest aluminium bridges of notable scale in Europe were built in Britain between 1948 and 1953 (Alison, 1984). The raw material for all three was produced in Scotland. Of these, the 1948 Port Hendon bascule bridge in Sunderland and the 1953 Victoria Dock bascule bridge in Aberdeen were dismantled during the 1970s, making this bridge, the Clunie Footbridge (1948-50) the only survivor. It should be noted that in 1948 a 7 metre flat-deck aluminium footbridge was constructed over the Luibeg Burn in the Cairngorms by the Cairngorm Club. Its aluminium frame was salvaged after it was thrown some distance downstream by a heavy spate in 1956 and rebuilt on higher ground. Between 1950 and 1960, at least six more aluminium bridges were erected in Europe, four of which were footbridges (Alison 1984).

Footbridges are not a rare building type in Scotland and there are many 19th and 20th century examples across rivers and streams in remote and scenic areas throughout the country. Examples near the Clunie Footbridge include the 1913 Port-Na-Craig suspension bridge (LB39858) around 2km downstream in Pitlochry, and the 1911 Coronation suspension bridge (LB47622) located at the Linn of Tummel around 2km upstream. Designed to bespoke specifications, the Clunie Footbridge is the only example of its kind. It is understood to be the earliest surviving aluminium bridge of notable scale in Europe, and is among the first in the world. The innovative and experimental use of this material makes a significant contribution to Scotland's bridge engineering legacy, and this interest is increased by the bridge's elegant architectural design and close contextual association with a nationally significant hydroelectric scheme.

The Clunie Footbridge uses a standard linear plan form and there is no particular interest under this heading in listing terms.

In global terms, Scotland has a long and notable history of innovation in bridge building, pioneering the early use of cast iron, wrought iron and then steel as construction materials. The Clunie footbridge is significant for its early use of aluminium as its principal building material. 'Little information on aluminium alloy riveting practice was available at the time of erection and this aspect required careful investigation' (Paxton and Shipway 2007).

While modest in scale, the cantilevered and lattice design of the footbridge is elegant. Applied to a modern material to great aesthetic effect, the design responds the picturesque context of nearby Pitlochry power station. It therefore reflects the wider design ethos of the North of Scotland Hydro Electric Board and their team of consultant architects, who favoured Modernist architectural treatments.

It is also significant, in terms of the selection of building material, that aluminium extraction in the United Kingdom largely took place in Scotland, using Highland hydropower. This factor may have contributed to the decision to construct the Clunie footbridge using aluminium. Within this context, the aluminium footbridge illustrates leading-edge technological innovation in Scotland as part of a nationally significant civil engineering project.

While aluminium has a low flexibility compared to steel and has been associated with difficulties in joining parts, the Clunie Footbridge has 'proven not to be vulnerable to deflection effects or vibration' (Paxton and Shipway 2007). The stable condition and little-altered appearance (2018) of the bridge is evidence of its technological and design quality in terms of a largely untested material within the context of bridge construction.

Sir Alexander Gibb & Partners were the engineering consultants for the Clunie Footbridge. Founded in 1922 by noted Scottish Civil Engineer Sir Alexander Gibb (1872-1958), the firm brought together architecture and mechanical services to offer clients a complete service. Earlier works in Scotland include the 1932-6 Kincardine Bridge (LB50078, listed category A) across the Firth of Forth, which was Europe's largest swing-span road bridge at the time. Their contribution here further reinforces Scotland's innovative approach to bridge building.

As noted, the Clunie Footbridge was built as an integral part of the Tummel Garry Hydro Electric power scheme. Pitlochry Dam and Power Station, at the other end of Loch Faskally, is listed at category A (LB47534). While the dam is not inter-visible with the footbridge due to a natural bend in the river, it contributes to the wider context and setting of this important post-war infrastructural project.

The footbridge is located on a tree-lined section of the river at the head of Loch Faskally, and is adjacent to a later A9 road bridge, known as the Coronation Bridge, which passes over the river at a higher level to the east. Remains of the north abutment of the older Clunie Bridge are situated on the bank to the northwest of the current footbridge, with salvaged stone used to create a small viewing platform nearby.

The setting has changed little since the road bridge was built in 1981. It is understood that an addition to the east side of the road bridge will be constructed as part of the ongoing A9 dual-carriageway project (2018) in order to 'minimise impact on the aluminium Clunie Footbridge to the west'. (A9 Dualling Programme, Pitlochry to Killiecrankie, Cultural Heritage, Chapter 15, p11).