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4'O clock flower
Tamil :Anthi Mandhaarai ( அந்தி மந்தாரை) Telugu : Chandrakantha(చ౦దరకా౦త).
malayalam : Naalu mani poovu.
Marathi : Gulabakshi (गुलबक्षी).
Bengali : sandhyamaloti (সন্ধ্যামালতি).
SOOC except for resizing and Frame
清暉園, or Qing Hui Yuan in Mandarin/ Putonghua Chinese, means Garden of Pure Splendour. It was built or expanded in the early 1600s by an intellect who had passed the admission examination to gain a position in the high office of the government. Back then, only very few people were educated and smart enough to pass the examination.
After becoming the high official, the gentleman had this manor built to become his residence.
It has long been known as the Four Most Beautiful Manor Houses in all of Southern China, and one of the Ten Most Important in all of China.
Metaphysical certainty is not God, though it contains something of Him. This is why Sufis accompany even their certainties with this formula: ''And God is more wise".
A cult of the intelligence and mental passion take man further from truth. Intelligence withdraws as soon as man puts his trust in it alone. Mental passion pursuing intellectual intuition is like the wind which blows out the light of a candle.
Monomania of the spirit, with the unconsious pretension, the prejudice, the insatiability and the haste which are its concomitants, is incompatible with sanctity.
Sanctity introduces in the flux of thoughts an element of humility and of charity, and so of calm and of generosity. This element, far from being hurtful to the spiritual impetus or the sometimes violent force of truth, delivers the spirit from the vexations of passions and thus guarantees both the integrity of thought and the purity of inspiration.
According to the Sufis mental passion must be ranked as one of the "associations" with Satan, like other forms of"idolatry" of the passions. It could not directly have God for its object, for, were God its direct object, it would lose its specifically negative characteristics.
Man must beware of two things: first of replacing God, in practice if not in theory, by the functions and products of the intellect, or of considering Him only in connection with this faculty; and, secondly, of putting the "mechanical" factors of spirituality in the place of the human values - the virtues - or only considering virtues in relation to their "technical" utility and not in relation to their beauty.
Intelligence has only one nature, that of being luminous. But it has diverse functions and different modes of working and these appear as so many particular intelligences. Intelligence with a "logical", "mathematical" or- one might say - "abstract" quality is not enough for attaining all aspects of the real.
It would be impossible to insist too often on the importance of the "visual" or "aesthetic" function of the intellective faculty.
Everything is in reality like a play of alternations between what is determined in advance - starting from principles - and what is incalculable and in some way unforeseeable, of which we have to get to know by concrete identification and not by abstract "discernment".
In speculations about formal elements it would be a handicap
to lack this aesthetic function of intellect. A religion is revealed, not only by its doctrine, but also by its general form, and this has its own characteristic beauty, which is reflected in its every aspect from its "mythology" to its art.
Sacred art expresses Reality in relation to a particular spiritual vision. And aesthetic intelligence sees the manifestations of the Spirit even as the eye sees flowers or playthings.
Thus, for example, in order to understand Buddhism profoundly, if one is not a Buddhist born, it is not enough to study its doctrine; it is also necessary to penetrate into the language of Buddhist beauty as it appears in the sacramental image of the Buddha or in such features as the "sermon on the flower".
The aesthetic function of the intelligence - if you may call it
that for lack of a better term - enters not only into the form of every spiritual manifestation but also into the process of its manifestation.
Truth must be enunciated, not only in conformity with certain proportions, but also according to a certain rhythm. One cannot speak of sacred things 'just anyhow", nor can one speak of them without limitations.
Every manifestation has laws and these intelligence must observe in manifesting itself, or otherwise truth will suffer.
Intellect is not something cerebral, nor is it specifically human
or angelic. All beings "possess" it. If gold is not lead, that is because it "knows" the Divine better. Its "knowledge" is in its very form, and this amounts to saying that it does not belong to it itself, for matter could not know. None the less one can say that the rose differs from the water-lily by its intellectual particularity, by its "way of knowing" and so by its mode of intelligence.
Beings possess intelligence in their form to the extent that they are "peripheric" or "passive" and in their essence to the extent that they are "central", "active" and "conscious".
A noble animal or a lovely flower is "intellectually" superior to a base man.
God reveals himself to the plant in the form of the light of the
sun. The plant irresistibly turns itself towards the light; it could not be atheistical or impious.
The infallible "instinct" of animals is a lesser "intellect", and man's intellect may be called a higher "instinct". Between instinct and intellect there stands in some sense the reason, which owes its troubles to the fact that it constitutes a sort of "luciferian" duplication of the Divine Intelligence - the only intelligence there is.
Knowledge of facts depends on contingencies which could not enter into principial knowledge. The level of facts is, in certain respects, inverse in relation to that of principles in the sense that it includes modes and imponderables that are the extreme opposite of the wholly mathematical rigour of universal laws. At least this is so in appearance, for it goes without saying that universal principles are not contradicted.
Even beneath the veil of the inexhaustible diversity of what is possible their immutability can always be discerned, provided that the intelligence is in the requisite condition for being able to discern it.
If the intellect is, so to speak, sovereign and infallible on its own ground, it cannot exercise its discernment on the level of facts otherwise than conditionally. Moreover God may intervene on the level of facts with particular things willed by Himself that are at times unpredictable, and of such things principial knowledge could only take account a posteriori.
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Frithjof Schuon
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Quoted in: The Essential Frithjof Schuon (edited by Seyyed Hossein Nasr)
Year of the Monkey
Lunar Lanterns, giant lanterns representing animal signs of the Chinese zodiac in city centre locations from 6–14 February.
Dragon
"People born in the Year of the Monkey are fun-loving, energetic and inquisitive. Their intellect allows them to adapt to any situation, they are confident, charismatic, loyal and inventive.
Sometimes, the Monkey can be a little too curious for his or her own good, as well as careless, restless, immature and arrogant."
History
The John Rogers who bought Riverhill in 1840 was an only child, with a modest fortune, and a fine intellect. He became a classics scholar, a scientist and a friend of Charles Darwin. He was one of the first members of the Royal Horticultural Society and a patron of the plant collectors of the day.
He chose Riverhill because its sheltered situation offered an ideal lime free hillside where he could hope to establish newly introduced trees and shrubs. From his garden notebook, it can be seen that planting started in 1842. Subsequent generations, continued the planting and in 1910 Colonel John Middleton Rogers created what is now known as ‘The Wood Garden’ a fine collection of Japanese Maples, Rhododendrons and Azaleas. His wife, the infamous Muriel, created many additions including the now hidden Rock Gardens.
Until the beginning of the 2nd World War, eight full time gardeners kept Riverhill looking immaculate. Since the war years, however, a shortage of manpower and a lack of money has meant that the garden was allowed to deteriorate, with many parts of the original planting lost to everyday use and visitors.
Today, four generations of the Rogers family live at Riverhill,
The estate is managed by Edward Rogers (Great-great-great-grandson of the John Rogers who bought Riverhill in 1840) and his wife, Sarah.
This photo offers a feminist perspective on Rodin's "The Thinker," challenging traditional gender roles by portraying a female figure in a contemplative pose similar to the sculpture. While "The Thinker" emphasizes physical strength, the photo presents softness and subtlety, suggesting that intellectualism can be seen through a feminine lens. The photo also contrasts the raw texture of "The Thinker" with the soft, ethereal quality of the female subject, valuing traditionally feminine qualities in intellectual expression. Additionally, the partial nudity in the photo can be interpreted as a feminist statement on reclaiming and owning the female form, celebrating it as a site of both intellectual and physical strength.
Harold Edward Elliott, was born at West Charlton in north-west Victoria on 19 June 1878. He was the fifth of eight children of Thomas Elliott and his wife Helen, née Janverin, who had arrived in Victoria during the gold rushes of the 1850s. Thomas and Helen, both English-born, married at St Michael’s Church of England, Talbot, in 1867 and settled in nearby Cockatoo. After years of adventurous gold-seeking had produced meagre returns, Thomas selected a block of land five miles from Charlton and switched to farming, which he found just as arduous and unremunerative. Young Harold grew up in an impoverished environment dominated by the perpetual struggle to extract a living from the soil. Life was a constant battle against the elements; bushfires, snakes, rabbits and too much or too little water were just some of them. He acquired a rudimentary primary education at the one-teacher outpost at West Charlton known as the Rock Tank School.
In 1894 his life was transformed. His father, who had never lost his fascination with the pursuit of gold, had ventured to Western Australia, where he ‘struck it rich in a big way’. Thomas purchased a stately residence, ‘Elsinore’, in Ballarat and the whole family moved there the following year, when Harold and his younger brothers began attending Ballarat College. Having been unexpectedly plucked from rural poverty and presented with a marvellous opportunity, Harold was determined to make the most of it.
Supplementing considerable aptitude with great dedication, he excelled scholastically at Ballarat College and in 1897 was dux of the school. At the University of Melbourne, where he resided at Ormond College, he again demonstrated that he could harness his above-average intellect with exceptional self-discipline and powers of concentration. In 1906 he crowned the successful completion of his law degree with the award of the Supreme Court prize for the top final-year student. He was called to the Victorian Bar in 1907. (In 1920 he completed his BA and LL M.)
Elliott was interested in sport—football and athletics principally—but his main recreational activity during these years was his involvement in military pursuits. He had a passionate interest in all aspects of soldiering. He read widely about military history, participated purposefully in peacetime defence units, and dreamed about emulating the feats of the great commanders of the past. During the Boer War he interrupted his scholarly endeavours at the university to serve in South Africa. Enlisting as a private, he returned as a lieutenant with the Distinguished Conduct Medal, which he had been awarded for a particularly daring exploit.
On 27 December 1909 Elliott married Catherine Frazer Campbell, under the auspices of the Presbyterian Church, at the Melbourne suburb of Northcote. They had two children, Violet Isabel in 1911 and Neil Campbell the following year. Now a partner in the firm of solicitors, Roberts and Elliott, he attained the rank of lieutenant colonel in Australia’s militia forces. A conventional middle-class conservative, he read the Argus and agreed with its advocacy of free trade rather than the protectionist views of the more progressive Age. He supported the White Australia policy. Like many other Protestants of Anglo-Scottish descent, he was inclined to be suspiciously hostile to Roman Catholics.[1]
At the outbreak of World War I in August 1914, Elliott enlisted immediately and was away for almost five years. He returned as Brigadier General ‘Pompey’ Elliott, a household name, after commanding the 7th Battalion at Gallipoli and the 15th Brigade at the Western Front. The nickname, which he acquired early in the war, endured for the rest of his life; it was derived from a well-known pre-war footballer in Melbourne, Fred ‘Pompey’ Elliott (no relation).
His reputation as one of the AIF’s most famous commanders was founded on his capacity and temperament. He was intelligent, well informed, energetic and decisive. His own bravery was exceptional, but he was vigilant and frank when assessing the advisability of proposed enterprises involving the men under him. It became an article of faith that he would never send a man anywhere he was not prepared to go himself. Emotional and tempestuous, he was also a real character. Anecdotes about him flourished, amusing the men he led and sometimes disconcerting his superiors.
In April 1915 he was wounded at the Gallipoli landing, and rejoined the 7th Battalion in June. In the desperate fighting at Lone Pine in August his battalion performed outstandingly; four of his men were awarded the Victoria Cross. Promoted to brigadier in 1916, he protested with characteristic forcefulness about the inadequacies, in his opinion, of three of the four battalion commanders allotted to his brigade. Having arrived at the Western Front, he saw his carefully prepared brigade butchered in an appallingly botched attack at Fromelles, which he had opposed and tried to prevent. This disaster affected him profoundly, but he soldiered on and rebuilt the brigade once more. His fine leadership was particularly evident at the battle of Polygon Wood, where his brigade overcame severe difficulties arising from the retreat of a British unit and, according to the historian C. E. W. Bean, ‘snatched complete success from an almost desperate situation’. It was, Bean continued, ‘the driving force of this stout-hearted leader’ that ‘was in a large measure responsible for this victory’. His crowning achievement as a commander was his prominent role in the famous counter-attack at Villers-Bretonneux in April 1918.
Elliott was devastated to learn in May 1918 that three other brigadiers had been preferred to him for promotion to divisional command. He was overlooked, despite his outstanding record, because of what his superiors regarded as his intermittently erratic judgment. Pompey nursed this deeply felt and enduring grievance, which he referred to as his supersession, while leading his brigade with customary fire until the end of the war. He arrived back in Melbourne in mid-1919. Later that year Nationalist representatives invited a number of prominent soldiers to stand as candidates at the next federal election.[2]
To the Nationalist powerbrokers Pompey was a highly desirable recruit. He had appropriately conservative political attitudes. His extraordinary popularity among returned soldiers and their families was underlined by the rapturous receptions he was given at the various welcome home functions he attended. And his political usefulness was also demonstrated after a disturbing incident in July when Harry Lawson, the Victorian Premier, was invaded in his office by an angry group of returned soldiers, one of whom hurled an inkstand at him. Pompey played a leading role in pacifying the aggrieved soldiers. Senior Nationalist strategists were concerned about the volatility and disruptive tendencies of the returned soldiers. They were keen to make use of leaders such as Elliott, who had sound, ‘right-thinking’ views as well as popularity and influence in AIF circles.
Pompey was flattered, but wary. The year 1919 was a worrying one for many Australians, who were understandably concerned about the Spanish influenza pandemic, widespread industrial unrest, bitter political conflict and the thousands of soldiers struggling to adjust to their peacetime circumstances. In this unsettling environment Elliott felt he could make a worthwhile contribution. However, the way the party system required politicians to commit themselves in advance to numerous detailed policies was abhorrent to him. ‘If any one wants me to stand for Parliament’, he told a friend in August, ‘they must have sufficient confidence in me as an honest man to trust me to run straight without binding me or attempting to bind me body and soul’. The Nationalist strategists were not deterred. The risk that Elliott might take an independent stance on some issues was outweighed by the electoral advantages accruing from his reputation as a charismatic, courageous commander.
The strategists were sufficiently flexible for him to acquiesce, although another factor may have affected his decision. As recorded by his friend, Frank Green, Elliott confided years afterwards that part of the stimulus for him to stand for the Senate in 1919 was to join a group secretly committed to supporting S. M. Bruce as party leader rather than W. M. Hughes, then Prime Minister. While this is an intriguing notion, there is no doubt that Elliott felt acutely motivated to do what he could to assist returned soldiers, and was influenced by the encouragement he received from many of them to go into Parliament to help ‘fix things up’. Nevertheless one 7th Battalion veteran urged him to avoid Parliament because it was ‘no place for an honest man’.
His campaign tour around Victoria was an odd mixture. There were tumultuous reunions with soldiers who had served under him interspersed with less exhilarating meetings of the political variety, where he laboured in workmanlike fashion through essentially the same lacklustre speech in every district. But the election result confirmed the wisdom of the Nationalists’ strategy. Not only did he top the poll himself; his candidature was instrumental in the election of his colleagues, Frank Guthrie and Ted Russell, giving the Nationalists success in all three Senate vacancies in Victoria.[3]
Entering the Senate in July 1920, Elliott lost no time in living up to his pre-election assertions about his political independence. He called on the Government to ‘revise drastically’ some of its proposals to overhaul public service administration, on one occasion coming up against another lawyer, Senator Keating, over definitions of terms used in the legislation. In August Elliott moved an amendment to the War Service Homes Bill, managing to convince the Minister for Repatriation, Senator E. D. Millen, that the amendment was necessary. The amended clause meant that returned soldiers who had commenced building their houses before the bill’s enactment would not be disadvantaged.
In October he and Guthrie vigorously denounced the expenditure on Canberra proposed by the Government. Amid testy exchanges with Nationalist colleagues Elliott declared: ‘I feel so strongly upon this matter that I have no desire to sit behind the Ministry if they are going to incur this expenditure. I would rather form a party of my own’. Elliott did not carry out this threat, but did rapidly establish a reputation for outspokenness in Parliament. This was dramatically reinforced the following year. Embittered by being again passed over for a divisional vacancy (this time in the postwar militia force), Elliott vented his spleen in a series of extraordinary Senate speeches during debate on the Government’s amending Defence Bill. Pompey repeatedly had his Senate colleagues, who included several fellow generals, on the edge of their seats as he lifted the lid on numerous controversial anecdotes about his wartime experiences and made some remarkable allegations about certain AIF individuals. He was repeatedly scathing about the leaders he blamed for his supersession, the AIF commander General Birdwood and his influential chief staff officer, Brudenell White.
Elliott made headlines when he alleged in the Senate on 21 April 1921 that he had been overlooked for promotion in 1918, after being the chief architect of the stunningly successful Australian counter-attack at Villers‑Bretonneux. He claimed this was because of an earlier incident during those desperate days of defence against the ominous German onslaught. He described how he and his brigade, having been rushed to the rescue, had been flung into a series of alarming situations, and on more than one occasion had to march all night. He went on to tell how his men had been hampered by the unauthorised occupation of a village by a detachment of British ‘fugitives’, his own forceful intervention causing the staff officer in charge of these ‘renegades’ to protest to his superiors. Three weeks later, Elliott told the Senate, his divisional commander paid him a visit:
He said, ‘I want to speak to you privately’, and took me out into the garden. He then said to me, ‘General, I have instructions to tell you that while you are in the Australian Imperial Force you will receive no further promotion by reason of your conduct to the [British] officers’. When he said that, I turned away rather dumbfounded, and he struck me on the back and said, ‘I have got to tell you that; but by God! you were right’. It turned out that this staff officer was the son of a Duke, and ‘put the acid’ on General Birdwood for my conduct, and you see the result.
With numerous other senior commanders in the Senate, the response to Elliott’s barrage of startling revelations was almost as interesting as the revelations themselves. ‘Fighting Charlie’ Cox, a Light Horse brigadier, consistently unleashed vacuous disapproval, but there were more discerning responses from other generals, such as E. A. Drake‑Brockman. Longstanding defence minister George Pearce was unsettled by Elliott’s account of the campaign and did not conceal his distaste. As for ‘Jupp’ Gardiner, Labor’s solitary senator in 1921, he concluded that ‘whoever is engaged in writing up the history of the war should be supplied with a special desk in this chamber and should be given a special invitation to be in regular attendance in the Senate, because matters of the greatest interest to them may crop up here at any time’. That observation by Gardiner had been triggered by one of Elliott’s more astonishing outbursts:
In France, one of the biggest ‘duds’ I know of commanded a regiment of Light Horse, and he was stationed in a village behind the lines for the whole period of the war. During practically the whole of the time he was there he was intoxicated, and the villagers, in pity and contempt, named him ‘Le Toujours Zig-Zag’, by which they meant that he was always drunk . . . He returned to Australia and is now in command of the troops in Tasmania.
Elliott did not name the commander concerned, but it was Brudenell White’s brother, whose lameness and slight speech impediment stemmed from a pre-war accident—he had not been repeatedly drunk at all. After this, Pompey had to eat humble pie, though not for the first or last time. His tendency to lash out rashly, at times relying on inadequately checked information, left him vulnerable to sharp criticism and sometimes undermined his credibility, but his extraordinary exposés were rarely without foundation.[4]
Such contentious contributions confirmed his reputation as a redoubtable gladiator. Throughout his postwar years he was inundated with requests for assistance from returned soldiers. In the main he sought to do good by stealth, but sometimes he raised grievances in Parliament. One such episode led to the formation of the Senate select committee that investigated the case of Warrant Officer J. R. Allen. Elliott chaired it. A majority of the committee concluded that the treatment of Allen by his commander had been justified. Elliott, still convinced that Allen had been unfairly treated, submitted a minority report jointly with Senator Allan McDougall. Elliott was also a member of the Royal Commission on the Navigation Act (1923–25), participating in most of its extensive investigations and contributing to its main report before resigning in August 1924.[5]
At one stage Elliott was single-handedly—though inadvertently—responsible for a change in government policy. One memorable day he was hurrying across King’s Hall when he happened to slip on the highly polished jarrah floor. His burly frame executed a dramatic tumble, reputedly rocking the Parliament House foundations; he accomplished such a spectacular slide on his back that he ended up entering the Senate chamber in arrestingly horizontal style, feet first. This amusing incident led to a less zealous polishing regime. When it was suggested that cleaning costs at Parliament House had been reduced, the press announced that ‘“Pompey” Elliott’s Slip May Save Australia Money’.
In view of Elliott’s forthrightness and maverick tendencies, it is unlikely that he was ever considered ministerial material even though he was in Parliament for over a decade and his party in government for almost all that time. That some of his strident utterances were detrimental to the Nationalist cause does not seem to have resulted in any significant pressure for him to be disowned by his party. His immense popularity—confirmed at the 1925 election when he again topped the Senate poll in Victoria—was simply too valuable to the Nationalists. Besides, apart from some characteristically idiosyncratic outbursts and his occasional willingness to cross the floor in the Senate, he was generally a wholehearted supporter of the Hughes and Bruce–Page governments. During the interminable 1921 tariff debates which resulted in considerable increases to Australian levels of protection, Elliott admitted publicly that he had abandoned his previous faith in free trade. With the zeal of the convert he consistently aligned himself with manufacturers and Victoria’s traditional adherence to the protectionist cause. Whether it was beer or malted milk, corsets or chamois leather, explosives or porcelain insulators, Elliott wanted the local product protected.
Moreover, when Bruce suddenly informed his government backbenchers of his intention to announce an about-turn on arbitration policy in 1929, Elliott responded with an immediate assurance to the Prime Minister that he would support the new policy absolutely. And when the Scullin Labor Government took office without a majority in the Senate later that year, Elliott was one of the opposition senators whose remorseless obstructionist tactics did much to demoralise the government. Nevertheless, as Senator Dooley remarked, Labor senators ‘always knew that with him the political fight was over as soon as he left the chamber’, although Elliott and D. C. McGrath, the ALP Member for Ballarat, had a sustained mutual enmity.[6]
Elliott’s parliamentary career ended with his death on 23 March 1931. The huge toll inflicted by the war on his nervous system, aggravated by the distress and misery of the Depression together with his deeply felt sense of injustice about his supersession grievance (and also, it seems, by a head injury incurred in a horse-riding accident) had undermined his mental and emotional stability. At the age of fifty-two Elliott committed suicide in hospital. His wife Kate and their children, Violet and Neil, survived him. The funeral was an extraordinary event; few, if any, in Melbourne had been bigger. Thousands lined the four-mile route the cortège travelled between his Camberwell home and Burwood Cemetery where he was buried with Presbyterian rites. Many returned soldiers marched sombrely behind the gun carriage bearing the coffin. One of them, Bruce, wrote that he had ‘never seen a greater tribute paid to a man’. Several of the parliamentary obituaries referred to Elliott’s geniality and friendliness as well as his outstanding military leadership. Opposition Leader, J. G. Latham, who had known Elliott well throughout his adult life, captured the essence of Pompey in this brief description: ‘He was a fearless man, of remarkable resolution and tenacity of purpose’. The manner of Elliott’s death was muzzled until it was controversially revealed a few weeks later by Smith’s Weekly.
Pompey Elliott was one of the best-known parliamentarians of his decade in federal politics. The characteristics and temperament which had won him extraordinary fame as a soldier ensured that his political career would prove lively and interesting, but he was clearly more suited to soldiering than Parliament.[7]
The Eastern American Toad (Bufo or Anaxyrus americanus americanus) is as American as apple pie and fireworks. With their pensive gaze and thoughtful intellect, it wouldn't surprise me to learn that a toad had served as one of our nation's founding fathers. Bursts of color that one might not expect adorn their warty skin, and these amphibians are surprisingly long-lived, attaining ages of up to 40 years! Remember that the old wive's tale of getting warts from touching toads is just that--a wive's tale. However, you can hurt toads by touching them, as your own oily hands can clog the pores on their bellies, through which they absorb oxygen and water.
History
The John Rogers who bought Riverhill in 1840 was an only child, with a modest fortune, and a fine intellect. He became a classics scholar, a scientist and a friend of Charles Darwin. He was one of the first members of the Royal Horticultural Society and a patron of the plant collectors of the day.
He chose Riverhill because its sheltered situation offered an ideal lime free hillside where he could hope to establish newly introduced trees and shrubs. From his garden notebook, it can be seen that planting started in 1842. Subsequent generations, continued the planting and in 1910 Colonel John Middleton Rogers created what is now known as ‘The Wood Garden’ a fine collection of Japanese Maples, Rhododendrons and Azaleas. His wife, the infamous Muriel, created many additions including the now hidden Rock Gardens.
Until the beginning of the 2nd World War, eight full time gardeners kept Riverhill looking immaculate. Since the war years, however, a shortage of manpower and a lack of money has meant that the garden was allowed to deteriorate, with many parts of the original planting lost to everyday use and visitors.
Today, four generations of the Rogers family live at Riverhill,
The estate is managed by Edward Rogers (Great-great-great-grandson of the John Rogers who bought Riverhill in 1840) and his wife, Sarah.
“Curiosity is one of the permanent and certain characteristics of a vigorous intellect.”
― Samuel Johnson, The Rambler
The Rolls Royce Spirit of Ecstasy "Flying Lady" concealed a hidden passion. This marvellous mascot was modelled after a woman who had bewitching beauty, intellect and esprit - but not the social status which might have permitted her to marry the man with whom she had fallen in love.
This is the story of Eleanor Velasco Thornton, whose liaison with JohnWalter Edward-Scott-Montagu (second Lord Montagu of Beaulieu) was to remain a secret for a decade or more, principally because both partners acted with the utmost discretion. From 1902 he was editor of an illustrated magazine. Eleanor V Thornton was employed as his secretary. Friends of the pair knew of their close relationship but they were sufficiently understanding as to overlook it.
A member of this circle of friends was the sculptor Charles S Sykes. To Lord Montagu's order he created a special mascot for his Rolls-Royce Silver Ghost.
The small statue illustrated a young woman in fluttering robes having placed one forefinger to her lips. The sculptor had chosen Eleanor Thornton as model for this figurine. Since 1911, this sensuous lady has adorned the radiators of Rolls-Royce motor cars.
Beauty - a combination of qualities, such as shape, colour, or form, that pleases the aesthetic senses, esp. the sight: I was struck by her beauty | an area of outstanding natural beauty.
• a combination of qualities that pleases the intellect or moral sense.
We went to a funeral on Tuesday, it was north two hours in a small town. On our way home we took a different route, it was a winding road and there were numerous lakes and huge rocks…it was beautiful…true Canadian lake country. We had taken someone with us who needed a ride to the funeral and all I heard from the backseat for quite awhile was her remarking at all the beautiful landscape we were passing and how peaceful it was. That made me smile and realize the beauty that was in her. And even though the day was dreary the beauty was still evident. When we see something beautiful we want to stay, linger and take it in. As human beings we are drawn to beauty.
As women the whole beauty thing can be hard. We are bombarded with what culture says is beautiful when it comes to women and often times it is outward beauty and something the majority of us can never attain. And when we try to attain it it becomes our idol, our driving force for acceptance. We try so hard to conform to what culture says is beautiful that we end up destroying the true beauty that is within us. I know this is an area where I struggle. I don't want to conform to what the world says is beautiful, I want to be true to who God has created me to be.
Often times when I am struggling and feel I don't measure up my husband will pull me aside, stand in front of me and say "Tina, you know what true beauty is, it's in here" as he points to my heart "and I see it in your eyes, that's true beauty, that's what I'm looking for." And I know he's right and it's what the world needs. Physical beauty is fleeting…we all grow old…but true beauty remains and grows, it's life giving. Straight physical beauty is not life giving, if that's all we're looking and striving for it actually robs us and those around us of life.
The funeral we attended was from the mother of a woman who goes to our Church. I never knew her mother, I only saw her once and she was old and frail. Yet to hear her daughter and pastor speak of her, she was a woman of true beauty, she lived her life selflessly giving to others. Her daughter said her front door was always swinging open. She gave freely to those whose paths she crossed, she saw the need in others and gave what she could. Her beauty was life giving.
The beauty that trips some of us women up…what we see on magazine covers, billboards, commercials, movies, television shows, etc. may be outward physical beauty but it's not what we're to strive for, it's not what the world needs, it's not what our families need, it's a false reality.
Accept who you are…I say this to myself too :-) Each of us is special and has a place in this world and at this time…embrace it and be you…it's the most freeing place to be, the most rewarding and the most life-giving.
I've posted a number of images of some of the beautiful women in my life, check it out if you'd like.
tina-ramblingsofacountrywoman.blogspot.ca/2012/04/some-of...
Mary's foot among Christians, can at any time by the false light (the temptations of this world) bite it "mortally" to keep it in the entropic cyclicity of the times. He is mortal, literally and figuratively, by an Achilles' heel that expresses his fatal weakness despite a great general strength, which can lead him to his loss. This is what the creeping serpent - the Luciferic energy - reminds us, which in the absence of being firmly contained by the sacred feminine. Transmutation is about making the form disappear or changing its nature. Alchemy is not a science, it is a Great Art, its phenomena are inexplicable for our intellect.
"If we turn to the light, there is no more shadow." All initiatory quests consist in letting the light in, not seeking it. While the chemist works on shadows (matter), the alchemist works on the obstacles that prevent light from passing through and create shadows. The alchemist's goal is therefore to transmute matter into light by removing its shadows (and if a body is able to no longer resist true light, then it no longer has any weight...!)
The alchemist who only polishes his mirror to become transparent to himself. It will thus avoid the weight of light that
would prevent out of body experience, very useful to its transcendence. It is this alignment (the inner straightness) that is symbolized by this image of the half-disappeared virgin. A process of individuation will free the individuality of the collective psyche through a deliberate act of no longer stopping the light, thus the absence of shadow allows this transmutation into the fifth dimension.. Brandemarked as the irrefutable sacred text by its more or less faithful followers, Biblical Genesis (1:3) says: "Let there be Light! And the Light was...". We can logically deduce from this that if the Light was, it is not eternal, and if it is not eternal, it was created... Also, if it was created, it was not created by the Light! By who, then? This Luciferic lesson tells us that we cannot understand Genesis, because human beings think with thoughts that come from elsewhere, instead of creating thoughts that come from the energy of Intelligence, the One who gives Light, and the devotees assimilate to God, the Creator Father, who detached a small part of His Holy Light from His divine Sphere! Only the clarity of our mind adjusted to the universal Spirit indicates the path of our evolution.
The word Light is a danger, because it forces us to have a certain notion of luminosity. And as soon as we have any notion of luminosity, we tend to be attracted by our ego-mental source of emotions, the manifestation of the soul aspiring to be liberated, to be attracted by this luminosity! That is why when we die, we are drawn to luminosity, that is, the Astral vitiated by our unclarified civilizational memories... A human being who dies must never go to the Light, source of illusions revealing his inflammatory neuroses and psychoses!
The word Light "simply" makes the human being understand that there is an Absolute Energy in the Cosmos. By radiation, It creates the atomic burst, which is the Light. In other words, Light is always an illusion projected into the Cosmos by the radiation of the Original Absolute Energy. Light is a creation, not an absolute, never to be conceived or considered as the Absolute, Which Is. In What Is, there is no Light, only clarity, Clarity. And as we know it in our transitional state, it is not very luminous... If the clarity is too luminous to our limited mystical mind, we must be careful, because we can very easily be attracted by it. And that's what happens in the Death World *!
The immortals, when they change the Plan for having successfully transmuted the material body, when they leave their material body, they do not go into the Light. They are themselves Light! Being themselves Light, they approach the more perfected Lights with which they have a vibratory relationship, and it is They who lead them to be on the planes that suit them. It is necessary to be unconscious, human and spiritual to be limited to it, to be attracted by the Light! It is one of the greatest dangers of esotericism, that of religious groups or sects, New Age, and secret societies, Freemasonry in the first place. Because in esotericism, we talk about the Light all the time, to be attracted by the Light for its wonderful promises. The day when human beings understand that Light is a creation of Universal Energy, they no longer have to go to the Light. He is the bearer of Light! Lumen Dei, the light proceeding from the unmanifest Godhead, the other is Lumen Naturae, the light hidden in matter and the forces of nature. While the Divine Light may be discerned and appreciated in revelation and in the mystery of the Incarnation, the Light of Nature needs to be released through alchemy before it can become fully operative. God redeems humanity, but nature needs to be redeemed by human alchemists, who are able to induce the process of transformation which alone is capable of liberating the light imprisoned in physical creation.The cosmos, according to Paracelsus, contains the divine light or life, but this holy essence is enmeshed in a mechanical trap, presided over by a kind of demiurge, named by Paracelsus Hylaster (from hyle, "matter," and astrum, "star"). The cosmic spider-god has spun a web within which the light, like an insect, is caught, until the alchemical process bursts the web. The web is none other than the consensus reality composed of the four elements of earth, water, fire and air, within which all creatures exist. The first operation of alchemy therefore addresses itself to the breaking up (torturing, bleeding, dismembering) of this confining structure and reducing it to a condition of creative chaos (massa confusa, prima materia). From this, in the process of transformation, the true, creative binaries emerge and begin their interaction designed to bring about the coniunctio or alchemical union. In this ultimate union, says Jung, the previously confined light is redeemed and brought to the point of its ultimate and redemptive fulfillment.
Through this work of manipulating energies by aiming to repair his inner structure, the alchemist is placed before the symbols and dreamlike processes of his inner world, this archetypal reality of the dream mixing the unconscious with the conscious. By proceeding in this way, it operates in 4th reality density, where the physical laws specific to 3-D no longer apply. It is the key to opening the doors of space-time for the purpose of exiting the Entropic Matrix, the opening of the third eye - that of the heart
Soul have both descended independently of one another into the depths of man's collective psyche and have there come upon realities which look so alike because thy are equally anchored in truth. Time and again he pointed out the affinities and contrasts between alchemical figures and those of Christianity, demonstrating a sort of mirror-like analogy not only between the stone of the philosophers and the image of Christ, but between alchemy and Christianity themselves.Alchemy, stands in a compensatory relationship to mainstream Christianity, rather like a dream does to the conscious attitudes of the dreamer. The Stone of alchemy is in many respects the stone rejected by the builders of Christian culture, demanding recognition and reincorporation into the building itself. . While these statements ostensibly refer to the material universe and to nature, those glassed Virgin perceives in them a model or paradigm for the material and natural aspect of human nature as well. Under the guise of liberating the light confined in matter, the alchemists were endeavoring to redeem the spirit or psychic energy locked up in the body and psyche (the "natural man" of St. Paul) and thus make this energy available for the greater tasks of the spirit or spiritual man. To better understand the Mysteries, it is necessary to consider the High as the nests of this fact represent the Forces and the old Races that are and have been more powerful in Us. Our Body is also a micro-universe. The planets are gaseous and chtonians, and are to be connected with the Earth and with the various forms of terrestrial humanities that we have known and our different cerebral, anatomical and physiological abilities past and present. As with the ones represent the Matter spirit, their composition and the speed of the electrons around it. is far from the nucleus and emits photon light, accelerates its speed and changes its orbit as the sapphire of a reading head jumps from one furrow to another. every other cell of the Spirit. The quantum leap occurs when an electron, which is an electron, would cross USA in one second twice and could therefore do so much faster; which would change our reality and our physical appearance. Virgin Saturne? Look at his right Index, his way of standing and his belly.
OM
Auṃ or Oṃ, Sanskrit: ॐ) is a sacred sound and a spiritual icon in Indian religions.[1][2] It is also a mantra in Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, and Sikhism.[3][4]
Om is part of the iconography found in ancient and medieval era manuscripts, temples, monasteries and spiritual retreats in Hinduism, Buddhism, and Jainism.[5][6] The symbol has a spiritual meaning in all Indian dharmas, but the meaning and connotations of Om vary between the diverse schools within and across the various traditions.
In Hinduism, Om is one of the most important spiritual symbols (pratima).[7][8] It refers to Atman (soul, self within) andBrahman (ultimate reality, entirety of the universe, truth, divine, supreme spirit, cosmic principles, knowledge).[9][10][11] The syllable is often found at the beginning and the end of chapters in the Vedas, the Upanishads, and other Hindu texts. It is a sacred spiritual incantation made before and during the recitation of spiritual texts, during puja and private prayers, in ceremonies of rites of passages (sanskara) such as weddings, and sometimes during meditative and spiritual activities such as Yoga.
Vedic literature
The syllable "Om" is described with various meanings in the Vedas and different early Upanishads.[19] The meanings include "the sacred sound, the Yes!, the Vedas, the Udgitha (song of the universe), the infinite, the all encompassing, the whole world, the truth, the ultimate reality, the finest essence, the cause of the Universe, the essence of life, theBrahman, the Atman, the vehicle of deepest knowledge, and Self-knowledge".
Vedas
The chapters in Vedas, and numerous hymns, chants and benedictions therein use the syllable Om. The Gayatri mantra from the Rig Veda, for example, begins with Om. The mantra is extracted from the 10th verse of Hymn 62 in Book III of the Rig Veda.These recitations continue to be in use, and major incantations and ceremonial functions begin and end with Om.
ॐ भूर्भुवस्व: |
तत्सवितुर्वरेण्यम् |
भर्गो देवस्य धीमहि |
धियो यो न: प्रचोदयात् ||
Om. Earth, atmosphere, heaven.
Let us think on that desirable splendour
of Savitr, the Inspirer. May he stimulate
us to insightful thoughts.
Om is a common symbol found in the ancient texts of Hinduism, such as in the first line of Rig veda (top), as well as a icon in temples and spiritual retreats.
The Chandogya Upanishad is one of the oldest Upanishads of Hinduism. It opens with the recommendation that "let a man meditate on Om".[26] It calls the syllable Om as udgitha (उद्गीथ, song, chant), and asserts that the significance of the syllable is thus: the essence of all beings is earth, the essence of earth is water, the essence of water are the plants, the essence of plants is man, the essence of man is speech, the essence of speech is the Rig Veda, the essence of the Rig Veda is the Sama Veda, and the essence of Sama Veda is the udgitha (song, Om).[27]
Rik (ऋच्, Ṛc) is speech, states the text, and Sāman (सामन्) is breath; they are pairs, and because they have love and desire for each other, speech and breath find themselves together and mate to produce song.[26][27] The highest song is Om, asserts section 1.1 of Chandogya Upanishad. It is the symbol of awe, of reverence, of threefold knowledge because Adhvaryu invokes it, the Hotr recites it, and Udgatr sings it.[27][28]
The second volume of the first chapter continues its discussion of syllable Om, explaining its use as a struggle between Devas (gods) and Asuras (demons).[29] Max Muller states that this struggle between gods and demons is considered allegorical by ancient Indian scholars, as good and evil inclinations within man, respectively.[30] The legend in section 1.2 of Chandogya Upanishad states that gods took the Udgitha (song of Om) unto themselves, thinking, "with this [song] we shall overcome the demons".[31] The syllable Om is thus implied as that which inspires the good inclinations within each person.[30][31]
Chandogya Upanishad's exposition of syllable Om in its opening chapter combines etymological speculations, symbolism, metric structure and philosophical themes.[28][32] In the second chapter of the Chandogya Upanishad, the meaning and significance of Om evolves into a philosophical discourse, such as in section 2.10 where Om is linked to the Highest Self,[33] and section 2.23 where the text asserts Om is the essence of three forms of knowledge, Om is Brahman and "Om is all this [observed world]".[34]
Katha Upanishad
The Katha Upanishad is the legendary story of a little boy, Nachiketa – the son of sage Vajasravasa, who meetsYama – the Indian deity of death. Their conversation evolves to a discussion of the nature of man, knowledge,Atman (Soul, Self) and moksha (liberation).[35] In section 1.2, Katha Upanishad characterizes Knowledge/Wisdom as the pursuit of good, and Ignorance/Delusion as the pursuit of pleasant,[36] that the essence of Veda is make man liberated and free, look past what has happened and what has not happened, free from the past and the future, beyond good and evil, and one word for this essence is the word Om.[37]
The word which all the Vedas proclaim,
That which is expressed in every Tapas (penance, austerity, meditation),
That for which they live the life of a Brahmacharin,
Understand that word in its essence: Om! that is the word.
Yes, this syllable is Brahman,
This syllable is the highest.
He who knows that syllable,
Whatever he desires, is his.
— Katha Upanishad,
Maitri Upanishad
The Maitrayaniya Upanishad in sixth Prapathakas (lesson) discusses the meaning and significance of Om. The text asserts that Om represents Brahman-Atman. The three roots of the syllable, states the Maitri Upanishad, are A + U + M.[39] The sound is the body of Soul, and it repeatedly manifests in three: as gender-endowed body - feminine, masculine, neuter; as light-endowed body - Agni, Vayu and Aditya; as deity-endowed body - Brahma, Rudra[40] and Vishnu; as mouth-endowed body - Garhapatya, Dakshinagni and Ahavaniya;[41] as knowledge-endowed body - Rig, Saman and Yajur;[42] as world-endowed body - Bhūr, Bhuvaḥ and Svaḥ; as time-endowed body - Past, Present and Future; as heat-endowed body - Breath, Fire and Sun; as growth-endowed body - Food, Water and Moon; as thought-endowed body - intellect, mind and pysche.[39][43] Brahman exists in two forms - the material form, and the immaterial formless.[44] The material form is changing, unreal. The immaterial formless isn't changing, real. The immortal formless is truth, the truth is the Brahman, the Brahman is the light, the light is the Sun which is the syllable Om as the Self.[45][46]
The world is Om, its light is Sun, and the Sun is also the light of the syllable Om, asserts the Upanishad. Meditating on Om, is acknowledging and meditating on the Brahman-Atman (Soul, Self).[39]
Mundaka Upanishad[edit source]
The Mundaka Upanishad in the second Mundakam (part), suggests the means to knowing the Self and the Brahman to be meditation, self-reflection and introspection, that can be aided by the symbol Om.[47][48]
That which is flaming, which is subtler than the subtle,
on which the worlds are set, and their inhabitants –
That is the indestructible Brahman.[49]
It is life, it is speech, it is mind. That is the real. It is immortal.
It is a mark to be penetrated. Penetrate It, my friend.
Taking as a bow the great weapon of the Upanishad,
one should put upon it an arrow sharpened by meditation,
Stretching it with a thought directed to the essence of That,
Penetrate[50] that Imperishable as the mark, my friend.
Om is the bow, the arrow is the Soul, Brahman the mark,
By the undistracted man is It to be penetrated,
One should come to be in It,
as the arrow becomes one with the mark.
— Mundaka Upanishad, 2.2.2 - 2.2.4[51][52]
Adi Shankara, in his review of the Mundaka Upanishad, states Om as a symbolism for Atman (soul, self).[53]
Mandukya Upanishad
The Mandukya Upanishad opens by declaring, "Om!, this syllable is this whole world".[54] Thereafter it presents various explanations and theories on what it means and signifies.[55] This discussion is built on a structure of "four fourths" or "fourfold", derived from A + U + M + "silence" (or without an element).[54][55]
Aum as all states of time
In verse 1, the Upanishad states that time is threefold: the past, the present and the future, that these three are "Aum". The four fourth of time is that which transcends time, that too is "Aum" expressed.[55]
Aum as all states of Atman
In verse 2, states the Upanishad, everything is Brahman, but Brahman is Atman (the Soul, Self), and that the Atman is fourfold.[54] Johnston summarizes these four states of Self, respectively, as seeking the physical, seeking inner thought, seeking the causes and spiritual consciousness, and the fourth state is realizing oneness with the Self, the Eternal.[56]
Aum as all states of consciousness
In verses 3 to 6, the Mandukya Upanishad enumerates four states of consciousness: wakeful, dream, deep sleep and the state of ekatma (being one with Self, the oneness of Self).[55] These four are A + U + M + "without an element" respectively.[55]
Aum as all of knowledge
In verses 9 to 12, the Mandukya Upanishad enumerates fourfold etymological roots of the syllable "Aum". It states that the first element of "Aum" is A, which is from Apti (obtaining, reaching) or from Adimatva (being first).[54] The second element is U, which is from Utkarsa (exaltation) or from Ubhayatva(intermediateness).[55] The third element is M, from Miti (erecting, constructing) or from Mi Minati, or apīti (annihilation).[54] The fourth is without an element, without development, beyond the expanse of universe. In this way, states the Upanishad, the syllable Om is indeed the Atman (the self).[54][55]
Shvetashvatara Upanishad
The Shvetashvatara Upanishad, in verses 1.14 to 1.16, suggests meditating with the help of syllable Om, where one's perishable body is like one fuel-stick and the syllable Om is the second fuel-stick, which with discipline and diligent rubbing of the sticks unleashes the concealed fire of thought and awareness within. Such knowledge, asserts the Upanishad, is the goal of Upanishads.[57][58] The text asserts that Om is a tool of meditation empowering one to know the God within oneself, to realize one's Atman (Soul, Self).[59]
Epics[edit source]
The Bhagavad Gita, in the Epic Mahabharata, mentions the meaning and significance of Om in several verses. For example, Fowler notes that verse 9.17 of the Bhagavad Gita synthesizes the competing dualistic and monist streams of thought in Hinduism, by using "Om which is the symbol for the indescribable, impersonal Brahman".[60]
I am the Father of this world, Mother, Ordainer, Grandfather, the Thing to be known, the Purifier, the syllable Om, Rik, Saman and also Yajus.
— Krishna to Arjuna, Bhagavad Gita 9.17, [60]
The significance of the sacred syllable in the Hindu traditions, is similarly highlighted in various of its verses, such as verse 17.24 where the importance of Omduring prayers, charity and meditative practices is explained as follows,[61]
Therefore, uttering Om, the acts of yajna (fire ritual), dāna (charity) and tapas (austerity) as enjoined in the scriptures, are always begun by those who study the Brahman.
— Bhagavad Gita
Yoga Sutra
The aphoristic verse 1.27 of Pantanjali's Yogasutra links Om to Yoga practice, as follows,
तस्य वाचकः प्रणवः ॥२७॥
His word is Om.
— Yogasutra 1.27,
Johnston states this verse highlights the importance of Om in the meditative practice of Yoga, where it symbolizes three worlds in the Soul; the three times – past, present and future eternity, the three divine powers – creation, preservation and transformation in one Being; and three essences in one Spirit – immortality, omniscience and joy. It is, asserts Johnston, a symbol for the perfected Spiritual Man (his emphasis).
Meaning of The Color Yellow. ... On one hand yellow stands for freshness, happiness, positivity, clarity, energy, optimism, enlightenment, remembrance, intellect, honor, loyalty, and joy, but on the other, it represents cowardice and deceit.
...minds that are to our minds as ours are to those of the beasts that perish, intellects vast and cool and unsympathetic, regarded this earth with envious eyes, and slowly and surely drew their plans against us.
2 portrait shot vertorama.
Sérdeilis spennandi dagskrá þar sem fléttast saman hljóðverk eftir hljóð - og myndlistarmanninn Joe Banks og margvísleg kvikmyndaljóð sem varpað verður á vegg Mengis. VIð sögu koma meðal annars Schubert og T.S. Eliot, Dolce og Gabbana, mexíkósk ljóðskáld og seigfljótandi hljóð utan úr geimnum. Að baki hlustunarpartýinu stendur enski hljóð og myndlistarmaðurinn Joe Banks sem hefur starfað undir nafninu Disinformation frá árinu 1995 og skapað hljóðverk, hljóðinnsetningar og vídeóverk. Hann hefur gefið út rómaðar plötur á vegum útgáfufyrirtækisins Ash International (systurútgáfu Touch Records), Iris Light og Adaadat Records og haldið fjölda einkasýninga. Í Mengi býður hann upp á verk sem byggja á upptökum stuttbylgjuútvarpa af segulstormum sem myndast vegna kórónugoss eða kórónuskvettu en svo nefnist það þegar gríðarstórar gasbólur springa út frá kórónu sólar.
PoetryFilm var stofnað af sýningastjóranum og listamanninum Zata Banks árið 2002. PoetryFilm Paradox er klukkustunda löng dagskrá með stuttmyndum sem eiga það sammerkt að rannsaka og velta fyrir sér margvíslegum birtingarmyndum ástarinnar, erótík, rómantík og væntumþykju. Myndirnar eru þrettán talsins - þar á meðal er stuttmynd eftir Kate Jessop þar sem við sögu koma hjartnæm bréfaskipti hönnuðanna Domenico Dolce og Stefano Gabbana, kvikmyndafantasía Bruno Teixidor sem byggir á ljóði eftir mexíkóska rithöfundinn og þýðandann Tomas Segovia, táknmálsmynd eftir Brooke Griffin sem byggir á ljóðum Raymond Luczak, kvikmynd Stuart Pound sem byggir á ljóðasöngnum “Die Nebensonnen” úr Vetrarferð Franz Schuberts og Wilhelm Müller, myndræn túlkun Martin Pickles og Mikey Georgeson á ljóði T.S. Eliot “Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock”, stuttmyndin “Fucking Him” eftir listamennina C. O. Moed & Adrian Garcia Gomez, og “447: Intellect - N” eftir Jane Glennie.
Mengi, Reykjavik, 10 March 2016
2,000 ISK - starts at 9pm sharp
Viðburðurinn hefst klukkan 21
Miðaverð 2000 krónur
Mengi, Óðinsgata 2
Reykjavik 101
Iceland
The Disinformation Listening Party focusses on shortwave radio recordings of so-called “Type II” (slow-drift) noise storms - interstellar shock-waves produced by coronal mass ejections from the surface of the sun.
rorschachaudio.com/2016/02/12/kvikmyndaljod-upplysingafol...
An organic entity found wounded and close to death, the BR4-1N was grafted into a spaceship to ensure her survival. She now serves as part of the fleet using her superior intellect to strategise attack patterns before relaying them to the other fighters.
This is the 3rd ship in my fleet of Neo Classic Space inspired attack craft.
Yellow is the perceived colour of sunshine .
It is associated with joy , happiness , intellect and energy .
Novice Monk .
“As we plunge into that darkness which is beyond intellect, we shall find ourselves not simply running short of words but actually speechless and unknowing.”
-Pseudo-Dionysius, “Mystical Theology,” 139.
“Emotional position is part of it, but as an individual you are not your emotions, neither are you your intellect. These are things that you have . They're not things that you are ."
― Alan Moore
Sculpture of the different brain functions, for sale in a supermarket in Ashland, Oregon.
Taken with the Zuiko 17mm pancake lens, on the E-P1 digital Pen.
San Francisco salutes the Beat Generation poets Jack Kerouac, Philip Lamania, Michael MClure, Kenneth Rexroth, Gary Snyder, and Philip Whalen. By Supervisor Michela Alioto-Pier and Lawrence Ferlinghetti of City Lights Books.
Howl
BY ALLEN GINSBERG
For Carl Solomon:
I saw the best minds of my generation destroyed by madness, starving hysterical naked,
dragging themselves through the negro streets at dawn looking for an angry fix,
angelheaded hipsters burning for the ancient heavenly connection to the starry dynamo in the machinery of night,
who poverty and tatters and hollow-eyed and high sat up smoking in the supernatural darkness of cold-water flats floating across the tops of cities contemplating jazz,
who bared their brains to Heaven under the El and saw Mohammedan angels staggering on tenement roofs illuminated,
who passed through universities with radiant cool eyes hallucinating Arkansas and Blake-light tragedy among the scholars of war,
who were expelled from the academies for crazy & publishing obscene odes on the windows of the skull,
who cowered in unshaven rooms in underwear, burning their money in wastebaskets and listening to the Terror through the wall,
who got busted in their pubic beards returning through Laredo with a belt of marijuana for New York,
who ate fire in paint hotels or drank turpentine in Paradise Alley, death, or purgatoried their torsos night after night
with dreams, with drugs, with waking nightmares, alcohol and cock and endless balls,
incomparable blind streets of shuddering cloud and lightning in the mind leaping toward poles of Canada & Paterson, illuminating all the motionless world of Time between,
Peyote solidities of halls, backyard green tree cemetery dawns, wine drunkenness over the rooftops, storefront boroughs of teahead joyride neon blinking traffic light, sun and moon and tree vibrations in the roaring winter dusks of Brooklyn, ashcan rantings and kind king light of mind,
who chained themselves to subways for the endless ride from Battery to holy Bronx on benzedrine until the noise of wheels and children brought them down shuddering mouth-wracked and battered bleak of brain all drained of brilliance in the drear light of Zoo,
who sank all night in submarine light of Bickford’s floated out and sat through the stale beer afternoon in desolate Fugazzi’s, listening to the crack of doom on the hydrogen jukebox,
who talked continuously seventy hours from park to pad to bar to Bellevue to museum to the Brooklyn Bridge,
a lost battalion of platonic conversationalists jumping down the stoops off fire escapes off windowsills off Empire State out of the moon,
yacketayakking screaming vomiting whispering facts and memories and anecdotes and eyeball kicks and shocks of hospitals and jails and wars,
whole intellects disgorged in total recall for seven days and nights with brilliant eyes, meat for the Synagogue cast on the pavement,
who vanished into nowhere Zen New Jersey leaving a trail of ambiguous picture postcards of Atlantic City Hall,
suffering Eastern sweats and Tangerian bone-grindings and migraines of China under junk-withdrawal in Newark’s bleak furnished room,
who wandered around and around at midnight in the railroad yard wondering where to go, and went, leaving no broken hearts,
who lit cigarettes in boxcars boxcars boxcars racketing through snow toward lonesome farms in grandfather night,
who studied Plotinus Poe St. John of the Cross telepathy and bop kabbalah because the cosmos instinctively vibrated at their feet in Kansas,
who loned it through the streets of Idaho seeking visionary indian angels who were visionary indian angels,
who thought they were only mad when Baltimore gleamed in supernatural ecstasy,
who jumped in limousines with the Chinaman of Oklahoma on the impulse of winter midnight streetlight smalltown rain,
who lounged hungry and lonesome through Houston seeking jazz or sex or soup, and followed the brilliant Spaniard to converse about America and Eternity, a hopeless task, and so took ship to Africa,
who disappeared into the volcanoes of Mexico leaving behind nothing but the shadow of dungarees and the lava and ash of poetry scattered in fireplace Chicago,
who reappeared on the West Coast investigating the FBI in beards and shorts with big pacifist eyes sexy in their dark skin passing out incomprehensible leaflets,
who burned cigarette holes in their arms protesting the narcotic tobacco haze of Capitalism,
who distributed Supercommunist pamphlets in Union Square weeping and undressing while the sirens of Los Alamos wailed them down, and wailed down Wall, and the Staten Island ferry also wailed,
who broke down crying in white gymnasiums naked and trembling before the machinery of other skeletons,
who bit detectives in the neck and shrieked with delight in policecars for committing no crime but their own wild cooking pederasty and intoxication,
who howled on their knees in the subway and were dragged off the roof waving genitals and manuscripts,
who let themselves be fucked in the ass by saintly motorcyclists, and screamed with joy,
who blew and were blown by those human seraphim, the sailors, caresses of Atlantic and Caribbean love,
who balled in the morning in the evenings in rosegardens and the grass of public parks and cemeteries scattering their semen freely to whomever come who may,
who hiccuped endlessly trying to giggle but wound up with a sob behind a partition in a Turkish Bath when the blond & naked angel came to pierce them with a sword,
who lost their loveboys to the three old shrews of fate the one eyed shrew of the heterosexual dollar the one eyed shrew that winks out of the womb and the one eyed shrew that does nothing but sit on her ass and snip the intellectual golden threads of the craftsman’s loom,
who copulated ecstatic and insatiate with a bottle of beer a sweetheart a package of cigarettes a candle and fell off the bed, and continued along the floor and down the hall and ended fainting on the wall with a vision of ultimate cunt and come eluding the last gyzym of consciousness,
who sweetened the snatches of a million girls trembling in the sunset, and were red eyed in the morning but prepared to sweeten the snatch of the sunrise, flashing buttocks under barns and naked in the lake,
who went out whoring through Colorado in myriad stolen night-cars, N.C., secret hero of these poems, cocksman and Adonis of Denver—joy to the memory of his innumerable lays of girls in empty lots & diner backyards, moviehouses’ rickety rows, on mountaintops in caves or with gaunt waitresses in familiar roadside lonely petticoat upliftings & especially secret gas-station solipsisms of johns, & hometown alleys too,
who faded out in vast sordid movies, were shifted in dreams, woke on a sudden Manhattan, and picked themselves up out of basements hung-over with heartless Tokay and horrors of Third Avenue iron dreams & stumbled to unemployment offices,
who walked all night with their shoes full of blood on the snowbank docks waiting for a door in the East River to open to a room full of steam-heat and opium,
who created great suicidal dramas on the apartment cliff-banks of the Hudson under the wartime blur floodlight of the moon & their heads shall be crowned with laurel in oblivion,
who ate the lamb stew of the imagination or digested the crab at the muddy bottom of the rivers of Bowery,
who wept at the romance of the streets with their pushcarts full of onions and bad music,
who sat in boxes breathing in the darkness under the bridge, and rose up to build harpsichords in their lofts,
who coughed on the sixth floor of Harlem crowned with flame under the tubercular sky surrounded by orange crates of theology,
who scribbled all night rocking and rolling over lofty incantations which in the yellow morning were stanzas of gibberish,
who cooked rotten animals lung heart feet tail borsht & tortillas dreaming of the pure vegetable kingdom,
who plunged themselves under meat trucks looking for an egg,
who threw their watches off the roof to cast their ballot for Eternity outside of Time, & alarm clocks fell on their heads every day for the next decade,
who cut their wrists three times successively unsuccessfully, gave up and were forced to open antique stores where they thought they were growing old and cried,
who were burned alive in their innocent flannel suits on Madison Avenue amid blasts of leaden verse & the tanked-up clatter of the iron regiments of fashion & the nitroglycerine shrieks of the fairies of advertising & the mustard gas of sinister intelligent editors, or were run down by the drunken taxicabs of Absolute Reality,
who jumped off the Brooklyn Bridge this actually happened and walked away unknown and forgotten into the ghostly daze of Chinatown soup alleyways & firetrucks, not even one free beer,
who sang out of their windows in despair, fell out of the subway window, jumped in the filthy Passaic, leaped on negroes, cried all over the street, danced on broken wineglasses barefoot smashed phonograph records of nostalgic European 1930s German jazz finished the whiskey and threw up groaning into the bloody toilet, moans in their ears and the blast of colossal steamwhistles,
who barreled down the highways of the past journeying to each other’s hotrod-Golgotha jail-solitude watch or Birmingham jazz incarnation,
who drove crosscountry seventytwo hours to find out if I had a vision or you had a vision or he had a vision to find out Eternity,
who journeyed to Denver, who died in Denver, who came back to Denver & waited in vain, who watched over Denver & brooded & loned in Denver and finally went away to find out the Time, & now Denver is lonesome for her heroes,
who fell on their knees in hopeless cathedrals praying for each other’s salvation and light and breasts, until the soul illuminated its hair for a second,
who crashed through their minds in jail waiting for impossible criminals with golden heads and the charm of reality in their hearts who sang sweet blues to Alcatraz,
who retired to Mexico to cultivate a habit, or Rocky Mount to tender Buddha or Tangiers to boys or Southern Pacific to the black locomotive or Harvard to Narcissus to Woodlawn to the daisychain or grave,
who demanded sanity trials accusing the radio of hypnotism & were left with their insanity & their hands & a hung jury,
who threw potato salad at CCNY lecturers on Dadaism and subsequently presented themselves on the granite steps of the madhouse with shaven heads and harlequin speech of suicide, demanding instantaneous lobotomy,
and who were given instead the concrete void of insulin Metrazol electricity hydrotherapy psychotherapy occupational therapy pingpong & amnesia,
who in humorless protest overturned only one symbolic pingpong table, resting briefly in catatonia,
returning years later truly bald except for a wig of blood, and tears and fingers, to the visible madman doom of the wards of the madtowns of the East,
Pilgrim State’s Rockland’s and Greystone’s foetid halls, bickering with the echoes of the soul, rocking and rolling in the midnight solitude-bench dolmen-realms of love, dream of life a nightmare, bodies turned to stone as heavy as the moon,
with mother finally ******, and the last fantastic book flung out of the tenement window, and the last door closed at 4 A.M. and the last telephone slammed at the wall in reply and the last furnished room emptied down to the last piece of mental furniture, a yellow paper rose twisted on a wire hanger in the closet, and even that imaginary, nothing but a hopeful little bit of hallucination—
ah, Carl, while you are not safe I am not safe, and now you’re really in the total animal soup of time—
and who therefore ran through the icy streets obsessed with a sudden flash of the alchemy of the use of the ellipsis catalogue a variable measure and the vibrating plane,
who dreamt and made incarnate gaps in Time & Space through images juxtaposed, and trapped the archangel of the soul between 2 visual images and joined the elemental verbs and set the noun and dash of consciousness together jumping with sensation of Pater Omnipotens Aeterna Deus
to recreate the syntax and measure of poor human prose and stand before you speechless and intelligent and shaking with shame, rejected yet confessing out the soul to conform to the rhythm of thought in his naked and endless head,
the madman bum and angel beat in Time, unknown, yet putting down here what might be left to say in time come after death,
and rose reincarnate in the ghostly clothes of jazz in the goldhorn shadow of the band and blew the suffering of America’s naked mind for love into an eli eli lamma lamma sabacthani saxophone cry that shivered the cities down to the last radio
with the absolute heart of the poem of life butchered out of their own bodies good to eat a thousand years.
II
What sphinx of cement and aluminum bashed open their skulls and ate up their brains and imagination?
Moloch! Solitude! Filth! Ugliness! Ashcans and unobtainable dollars! Children screaming under the stairways! Boys sobbing in armies! Old men weeping in the parks!
Moloch! Moloch! Nightmare of Moloch! Moloch the loveless! Mental Moloch! Moloch the heavy judger of men!
Moloch the incomprehensible prison! Moloch the crossbone soulless jailhouse and Congress of sorrows! Moloch whose buildings are judgment! Moloch the vast stone of war! Moloch the stunned governments!
Moloch whose mind is pure machinery! Moloch whose blood is running money! Moloch whose fingers are ten armies! Moloch whose breast is a cannibal dynamo! Moloch whose ear is a smoking tomb!
Moloch whose eyes are a thousand blind windows! Moloch whose skyscrapers stand in the long streets like endless Jehovahs! Moloch whose factories dream and croak in the fog! Moloch whose smoke-stacks and antennae crown the cities!
Moloch whose love is endless oil and stone! Moloch whose soul is electricity and banks! Moloch whose poverty is the specter of genius! Moloch whose fate is a cloud of sexless hydrogen! Moloch whose name is the Mind!
Moloch in whom I sit lonely! Moloch in whom I dream Angels! Crazy in Moloch! Cocksucker in Moloch! Lacklove and manless in Moloch!
Moloch who entered my soul early! Moloch in whom I am a consciousness without a body! Moloch who frightened me out of my natural ecstasy! Moloch whom I abandon! Wake up in Moloch! Light streaming out of the sky!
Moloch! Moloch! Robot apartments! invisible suburbs! skeleton treasuries! blind capitals! demonic industries! spectral nations! invincible madhouses! granite cocks! monstrous bombs!
They broke their backs lifting Moloch to Heaven! Pavements, trees, radios, tons! lifting the city to Heaven which exists and is everywhere about us!
Visions! omens! hallucinations! miracles! ecstasies! gone down the American river!
Dreams! adorations! illuminations! religions! the whole boatload of sensitive bullshit!
Breakthroughs! over the river! flips and crucifixions! gone down the flood! Highs! Epiphanies! Despairs! Ten years’ animal screams and suicides! Minds! New loves! Mad generation! down on the rocks of Time!
Real holy laughter in the river! They saw it all! the wild eyes! the holy yells! They bade farewell! They jumped off the roof! to solitude! waving! carrying flowers! Down to the river! into the street!
III
Carl Solomon! I’m with you in Rockland
where you’re madder than I am
I’m with you in Rockland
where you must feel very strange
I’m with you in Rockland
where you imitate the shade of my mother
I’m with you in Rockland
where you’ve murdered your twelve secretaries
I’m with you in Rockland
where you laugh at this invisible humor
I’m with you in Rockland
where we are great writers on the same dreadful typewriter
I’m with you in Rockland
where your condition has become serious and is reported on the radio
I’m with you in Rockland
where the faculties of the skull no longer admit the worms of the senses
I'm with you in Rockland
where you drink the tea of the breasts of the spinsters of Utica
I’m with you in Rockland
where you pun on the bodies of your nurses the harpies of the Bronx
I’m with you in Rockland
where you scream in a straightjacket that you’re losing the game of the actual pingpong of the abyss
I’m with you in Rockland
where you bang on the catatonic piano the soul is innocent and immortal it should never die ungodly in an armed madhouse
I’m with you in Rockland
where fifty more shocks will never return your soul to its body again from its pilgrimage to a cross in the void
I’m with you in Rockland
where you accuse your doctors of insanity and plot the Hebrew socialist revolution against the fascist national Golgotha
I’m with you in Rockland
where you will split the heavens of Long Island and resurrect your living human Jesus from the superhuman tomb
I’m with you in Rockland
where there are twentyfive thousand mad comrades all together singing the final stanzas of the Internationale
I’m with you in Rockland
where we hug and kiss the United States under our bedsheets the United States that coughs all night and won’t let us sleep
I’m with you in Rockland
where we wake up electrified out of the coma by our own souls’ airplanes roaring over the roof they’ve come to drop angelic bombs the hospital illuminates itself imaginary walls collapse O skinny legions run outside O starry-spangled shock of mercy the eternal war is here O victory forget your underwear we’re free
I’m with you in Rockland
in my dreams you walk dripping from a sea-journey on the highway across America in tears to the door of my cottage in the Western night
This is the Renommée des Sciences statue on the Pont Alexandre III, it is a celebration of human intellect and artistic excellence. Emmanuel Fremiet's masterful creation continues to inspire and awe those who encounter it, serving as a timeless reminder of the importance of science and knowledge in our world. As part of one of Paris's most iconic bridges, the statue holds a special place in the city's cultural landscape, embodying the spirit of discovery and achievement.
The economic downturn may mean that you are thinking of retraining as an alternative healer. You might be tempted to invest your redundancy money or savings in training courses and equipment. Think again. It may be far cheaper and much more lucrative to invent your own brand new form of quackery. Most forms of alternative medicine are at most only a few decades old or have only become popular recently. If others can become famous and wealthy by doing this, why can’t you?
Here is the Quackometer’s Guide to inventing a new branch of alternative medicine in ten easy to digest and holistic tips:
1. Minimise specific effects
Right. Let’s get one thing out of the way. Your newly designed alternative medicine is very unlikely to actually work. Progress in medicine does not happen with people just making stuff up, but instead relies on remarkable insight, careful analysis, detailed research and long and expensive clinical trials, with lots of false starts and wrong turns before progress is made. You will not have the time, inclination, money or intellect for this.
So, with little chance of being able to offer real benefit to your clients, the best you can do is to ensure you do as little as harm as possible. To this end, make sure your new quackery is inert, neutral and inconsequential in action. Take your inspiration from existing and successful alternative medicine. Homeopathy is just plain sugar pills. Acupuncture is just little pin pricks. Reiki is just hand waving. Bach Flower Remedies is just a few drops of brandy. Reflexology is just a foot massage. Even chiropractic is just a vigorous body rub.
If you make the mistake of delivering real effects, then you may well be found out and your new business will come to sticky end. That is why we do not see old sorts of quackery anymore such as blood letting and trepanning.
2. Maximise placebo effects
Make your treatment theatrical. Make your customer feel as if they have been listened to, been taken seriously, and then had lots of effort made on them to create a cure. This will ensure any available placebo effect is maximised. People will feel better about themselves if you make the effort. We know that the more dramatic the intervention, the greater any placebo effect will be.
So, spend at least an hour with your customer, asking lots of detailed questions, just like a homeopath. Use arcane terms and be thoroughly paternalistic, just like an old-fashioned doctor. Wear a white coat and have a brass plaque outside your spick and span clinic – just like a chiropractor. Get an impressive Harley Street address. Use equipment with dials and flashing lights. Take x-rays. Put certificates on your wall and, if you are doing well, have attractive receptionists. Give the impression you are creating your cure just for this patient. They are special. Make them feel so.
3. Choose what you want to cure carefully
The bread and butter illnesses for alternative medicine are the self-limiting (hayfever, flu, morning sickness) and the chronic but variable and cyclical (bad backs, arthritis, mild depression). The number one reason for people believing in alternative medicine is that it ‘works for them’. What this means is that their particular complaint just happened to improve sometime after rubbing whatever magic beans they had chosen.
Chronic illnesses are ideal – they represent repeat business. Bad backs are a classic. People will come to you when their backs are really playing up. Cast your spells, crack their bones and stick a pin in them and their pain will become less noticable. It will have gone away anyway. But now you have a loyal and evangelical customer. Correlation is causation to your customer. “Regression to the mean” is your friend. Understand it and use it.
Have excuses ready if things are not quite getting better yet – or even if things are getting worse. Homeopaths expect to see ‘aggravations’, that is, things getting worse before they get better. To them, it is more proof that the sugar pills are ‘working’. Have a story ready for every outcome, good or bad. Never admit you have failed.
Avoid illnesses with obvious end points, like death. Getting payment may be the least of your problems. If you want to be heroic and tackle illnesses like AIDS and cancer, best do it offshore. Find a country with fewer regulations, much lower standards of healthcare and more vulnerable people. Homeopaths tend to go to Africa to treat AIDS or prevent malaria. They might be imprisoned here. Find a nice spot in Spain for treating cancer. Or Mexico, if you are from the US.
Invent a ‘wellness’ programme. Tell people you can help them even if they are feeling fine. It’s preventative, you see. Chiropractors are masters at roping people into prolonged, expensive and unnecessary treatment programmes, all in the name of ‘wellness’. Nutritionists ensure people are popping highly ‘personalised’ lists of vitamin and mineral pills and creating a continuous and easy revenue stream for you.
Perhaps the most lucrative path is to invent illnesses. Create your own problems, diagnostic techniques and cures and you can provide an end-to-end service of imaginary illnesses and cures. The Detox industry has thrived on this. Food intolerances and allergies have made shed loads for vitamin pill sellers. Electrosensitives have been sold millions of pounds worth of useless EMF trinkets and neutralising boxes. People love their daily aches and pains, tiredness and mood swings to have a name and to have something to blame. You can provide a wonderful service by filling in the gaps for them.
4. Embrace the language of quackery
It is compulsory that you start using a few alternative medicine terms. ‘Holistic’ is probably the most important one. It will mark you out as a caring alternative type who wants to get to the ‘real’ causes of your illness, rather than superficial, but ‘money spinning’ ones, like viruses, genes and your smoking habit.
It does not really matter how monomaniacal your treatment is. All homeopaths ever do is dish out sugar pills and blame problems with your vital force. Acupuncturists stick pins in you and blame blocked Chi. A chiropractor will crack bones, even if you have an ear infection, and blame subluxations. Toxins cause all illness. So do parasites, acidic blood, vitamin and mineral depletion, miasms, vibrations, whatever. Pick one and stick to it. Describe yourself as holistic. No one will notice that you are the exact opposite.
‘Natural’ is another compulsory word. Do not trouble yourself that your treatment is completely unnatural. Vitamin pill sellers claim naturalness, despite their ‘food’ being the most highly processed and ‘space age’ form of nutrition imaginable. Be careful about what sort of ‘naturalness’ you highlight. Bach Flower Remedies work because they embrace the ‘goodness’ of the countryside hedgerow flowers. As John Diamond remarked, the public imagination might not have been quite so transfixed by ‘Bach Spider Remedies’.
Avoid using the term ‘alternative’ to describe your ‘medicine’. It is very 20th Century, and also frightens a potential lucrative source of income – government and insurance companies. Even ‘complementary’ medicine is falling out of favour. The hot button is ‘Integrative’. You want your business integrated with the health care provision of the state and private sectors. There is lucre there beyond your wildest fantasies – and the respectability of state endorsement. You do not want to be an alternative to a real doctor. Nor do you want to be complementary to them (some may see this as secondary and inferior). No, you want to be a ‘choice’ – a ‘lifestyle choice’ for the modern health consumer, and they can select you from within a single integrated market. Choice is the biggest biggest buzz word in healthcare politics in the UK. Make sure you offer it. People critising you will look like they are restricting consumer choice – always a bad thing.
5. Adopt the victim posture
Sooner or later, you may be asked why your new medicine has not been more wildly accepted and recognised by the medical establishment. The answer is simple: you are being suppressed by that very establishment. A powerful cabal of vested interests is trying to prevent the public from knowing about your discoveries and successes. ‘Big Pharma’ is the bogey man here. Use them to frighten the child in your customer. Highlight medicine’s failings and side effects and never mention their successes. If a critic highlights the successes of medicine, deny them and blame sanitation or fresh vegetables, or something. Under no circumstances, should you ever admit that a vaccination might be a good thing.
Say your invention cannot be patented and commercialised. No one can make money out of it (apart from you, but don’t mention that).
If a critic asks you for evidence about your treatment, then do anything but answer the direct question. Scream that the questioner is closed minded and probably a shill from Big Pharma. Say that your patients’ successes are all the proof you need. Claim that your technique does not lend itself well to ‘conventional’ scientific testing. But if some dodgy paper does exist, then wave it around furiously, despite just having claimed that science cannot measure what you do.
6. Wear the mantle of science
People love science. They do not understand it, but they love the authority of science. Most people form opinions based on various authorities in their life. So, embrace the authority of scientific language, but ignore the methods of science – the methods may show you are speaking hogwash. Your customers will not be interested in the details. They will never check references or take the time to understand what you mean. But they will be impressed by science experts and scientific language.
Quantum physics is your friend. Few people have any appreciation of it. And you can use the language of quantum physics to form cod explanations for whatever you like. Prefix the word ‘quantum’ to your treatment name. It sounds really impressive. Tell critics that they are stuck in a ‘Newtonian paradigm’ and that it is the quantum physicists that are really understanding what you do. Get a postmodernist sociologist to write some quantum gobbledegook to back up your claims. They will have no qualms – after all, science is just another ‘text’ and all viewpoints are valid. Another good trick is to claim foreign scientists back up your work. This makes it much harder to check. Russian science is a good bet – especially Russian scientists working on the space programme. Failing that, Chinese science is an excellent alternative, or even obscure Eastern European Universities. Cheeky people claim NASA pioneered their work. Few check.
Adopt the forms, behaviours and appearances of scientists. Once you get going, hold seminars and conferences. Book rooms in real universities to add kudos to the meeting. Remember to always book university rooms in the Medicine or Pharmacology departments, and never in Engineering, English literature or Law. Create a learned journal and publish ‘peer reviewed’ articles. However, never talk about data – that would be getting to be too close to real science. And you want to avoid that like the plague.
7. Envelop yourself in ancient origins
Having embraced the authority of science, you should also delve back into the historical origins of your treatments. Do not say that you have discovered your techniques – rather you have rediscovered them. Most alternative medicine has only really been around for the last fifty to a hundred years or so. Even Traditional Chinese Medicine was packaging and refinement made in communist China and then exported to the world.
Take a leaf out of the Ear Candling trade. They picked on an obscure American Indian tribe on which to base their claims of antiquity. Despite the Hopi writing to the manufacturers to deny the claims and to request they stop using their name, nothing has changed. People like to think they are tapping into ‘ancient wisdom’ and more ‘natural’ health approaches. Preferably use an Oriental connection. This is much more beguiling (and also harder to check). Ear acupuncture was invented in France and reflexology in America. Both are now found as part of the ‘traditional’ Chinese repertoire.
You may base your technique on some genuinely old practices like herbalism or acupuncture. But always overplay your ancientness. Acupuncture is claimed to be thousands of years old, despite thin steel needles not being invented until the seventeenth century and the first acupuncture point charts appearing at the same time. (Ancient China used bloodletting techniques with sharp flint blades – and this has been ‘re-interpreted’ as acupuncture).
8. Adorn yourself with titles and awards
Chiropractors love to put a brass plate outside of their office with the title ‘Dr’ on it, despite them not being medically qualified or having a higher research degree. It works though, so use it. People believe chiropractic to be some sort of medical discipline. If you do adopt the title ‘Dr’, it is also compulsory in alternative medicine circles to suffix your name with Ph.D too. It is a giveaway that you are a quack to sceptics, but your customers will be thoroughly impressed.
If you do not have a PhD then do not worry too much. There are correspondence courses where you can get one for a few thousand quid. A wise investment. Gillian McKeith was unlucky in being caught out. Chances are, you will not be. If you really have balls, just style yourself Dr anyway. It is not a protected title – it is yours to use.
But don’t stop there. How about Professor? You might get lucky, like Patrick Holford did for a while, and get invited by a minor university to teach. The title ‘Visiting Professor’ is so grand. Even easier, claim you are a professor from a very obscure overseas university. If it has burnt down and no longer has a web site, your claim is impossible to check. It will still get you onto the comfy sofas of day-time TV.
Awards are also impressive. Get someone to nominate you for a Nobel Prize. Anyone can do this. They may not accept your nomination, but hey? It is compulsory in alternative medicine circles to be nominated more than once, so you can describe yourself as ‘three times nominated for the Nobel Prize’. The Nobel Committee does not publish lists of nominees for understandable reasons. Otherwise, they would have to list my cat who I have annually nominated for the Economics prize.
9. Create two web sites and embrace weasel words
Legal matters need some attention. But not much. If you are selling through a web site, best not make too many bold claims about the effectiveness of your treatments. Trading Standards Authorities may come down on you like a ton of bricks. There is an easy way out: create two web sites. On the first, make as many bold claims as you like. Create a newsletter and ‘Health Club’. Fill your site with all your speculative and unproven nonsense. But, whatever you do, do not sell your product – maybe, just a few books. What you are doing is creating a ‘brand’. Then, set up a second, apparently unconnected site, that sells whatever you like and trades on your brand, but makes only very bland claims and no real claims to effectiveness. Easy. Sometimes, the web is so full of nonsense that might support the sale of your daft product, you do not need the first site: just tell punters to Google it, like Julian Graves does.
Be careful what you say in advertising. Do not claim to be able to cure things. Instead, claim to ‘treat’ illnesses. You may be totally unsuccessful, but you are not lying. Your punter will not notice the subtle difference between treating and curing. Learn lessons from Chinese High Street Herbalists who simply list ailments on the windows of their shops whilst making no claims whatsoever. Look at the Society of Homeopaths for their excellent exposition of weasel words.
10. Create a training programme and set up a regulator
Finally, to rake in true wonga, do not just sit around waiting for your next mark to visit you and hand over fifty quid. Real money is made by training others in your new practice. Set up a correspondence course and training programme. Set up an ‘Institute’ and award diplomas and certificates. A very minor university may even accredit you. It does not matter that your course is just made up idiocy, all that matters to Universities is that paying students will attend. They will tick the boxes to show that you are properly setting ‘learning objectives’ and ‘assessment strategies’ and you are away. Chiropractors have this one sown up with Universities underwriting their degrees. Take a lesson from them and ensure you tell your students that they are getting an equivalent ‘post graduate’ education to a medical doctor, even if this is patently false. Also, learn from chiropractors and spend half the time teaching them good business practices. You do not want your students to fail commercially.
Writing training materials may be hard work. You could follow the Reiki method, which is essentially a pyramid scam. Reiki practitioners are ‘trained’ by having a previously trained Reiki healer ‘attune’ them – essentially, wave their hands over them in a special way. Fees get passed back up the chain. They can then go on to ‘attune’ other people – usually ex-customers. Marvellous.
Then you can really kick off with the accreditation thing. ‘Skills for Health’, the government training quango, can then develop National Occupational Standards for you, just like they are doing for Homeopathy and Reiki. It matters not one jot that these subjects are pseudoscientific balderdash, you can gain nationally accredited skills training programmes in your new money spinning exercise.
Finally, all good alternative medicine should have a ‘regulator’. To the public, it will look like their chosen healer is being monitored for the efficacy and safety of their work. To you, it is a good advertising device and channel for new customers. There are hundreds of regulators for alternative medicine in the UK. All have one thing in common – they will never condemn or criticise any of your practices, or strike you off for anything other than sexual misconduct – and then, at a push. You will be safe to do what you like without fear of being judged by the ‘regulator’.
Even the UK government will provide this sort of service to you. The Complementary and Natural Healthcare Council, or Ofquack, was set up this year by Prince Charles and his Foundation for Integrated Health and a government grant of £900,000 to be a ‘one stop shop’ regulator for all manner of quacks. However, they have made it quite clear that they are not interested if the treatments actually work, but only if the member has been trained in their alternative medicine and have insurance cover. It matters not at all that the training might be utterly delusional and result in dangerous advice to customers. All the boxes have been ticked.
And so there you are. Not too hard. Finally, the best top tip I can give you is for you to find a way to start believing in your own bullshit. You will appear far more convincing to people if you believe yourself. As Richard Feynman said “The first principle [in science] is that you must not fool yourself — and you are the easiest person to fool”. If you are not interested in truth then hurry along and get fooling yourself. It should be easy. Once you have done that, fooling everyone else is a doddle.
Good luck, and check back on these pages for when I write about you.
www.quackometer.net/blog/2009/03/top-ten-tips-for-creatin...
“There is a road from the eye to heart that does not go through the intellect” – G.K. Chesteron
Banlung is the provincial capitol for the Ratanakiri Province in Cambodia. Located in the northeastern part of the country, bordering both Vietnam to the east and Laos to the north, it is one of the least visited provinces.
I stayed at the exceptional Treetop Ecolodge run by Mr. T (not that Mr. T from the “A” Team). I rented a bicycle to visit nearby Yak Loum Crater Lake. Mr. T recommended I get there first thing in the morning to capture the best light. He also mentioned that I would probably be the only foreigner there since locals mainly visit the lake.
He was right about being the only foreigner there, but the morning light was terrible. The only people around were the local vendors selling food and drinks. I decided to just put my camera down and appreciate the crater lake with my own eyes. Afterwards, I bought a drink from one of the vendors and her two children started to play with me.
I took a couple of photographs of them and they would laugh hysterically every time I showed their picture on my LCD screen. Because of the proximity that I was photographing them there was a clear connection between both of us. Their eyes were the landscape of Cambodia...one of struggle and hope for the future.
Merry Christmas my friends!
Check back for more of my adventures in Cambodia! One more photo in the comment section.
Happy Travels!
Text and photo copyright by ©Sam Antonio Photography
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"Often the hands will solve a mystery that the intellect has struggles with in vain"
3rd photo of my final piece!
By the way if you guys haven't noticed yet, my final piece is based around photo manipulation of the hands, involving quotes to give each photo a story or a meaning :)
Yellow, the colour of sunshine, hope, and happiness, stands for freshness, happiness, positivity, clarity, energy, optimism, enlightenment, remembrance, intellect, honour, loyalty, and joy.
I wanna talk about atoms, death, aliens, sex, magic, intellect,
the meaning of life, faraway galaxies, the lies you've told,
your flaws, your favorite scents, your childhood,
what keeps you up at night, your insecurity and fears...
I like people with depth,
who speak with emotion from a twisted mind.
I dont want to know "what's up".
[...]
.
7 niveau pour l’échelle ésotérique. À partir du 4 c’est cool pour la création dans le 7 on traverse les murs... le 1 a gauche c’est juste une place livraison possible pour ascenseur.... Message alchimiste?
Oui absolument, il y a 10 niveau de conscience. 10/ 3 accessible et 3/1 Divin. L’échelle représente les 10 niveaux . À 3 on est bloqué car après on disparaît dans le Tout. A 10 c’est la faim et l’envie 9 on commence avoir du goût entre bon et mauvais 8 on peut contrôler 7 on peut créer ( artistes) 6 génie 5 disparition de l’égo et de la faim 4 voyage hors du corps lévitation totem 3 le corps va disparaître 2 séparation de l’âme et de l’esprit 1 esprit pur universel. La rue de l’échelle mesure la civilité ? On peut pédaler dans l’ombre pour franchir la pierre aguicheuse. Le message est comme un rébus, échelle, pierre d’angle, franchissement du mur, vélo équilibre, ombre confusion réel. Je travaille énormément sur moi en ce moment. C'est pas facile de quitter pas mal de chose... Tu es très jeune et jolie alors c’est normal, le désir est omniprésent. À mon âge c’est beaucoup plus facile d’être dans la vacuité de l’âme. Ne t’inquiète pas. C’est déjà bien que tu décides de pas rester immobile avec un Monde uniquement centré sur la comparaison entre les choses. Tu es une belle personne riche avec du talent..... Tu sais, je louerais toujours le ciel de placer des personnes comme toi sur mon chemin (le hasard n'existe pas)... Tu fais parti des personnes qui m'ont poussé à commencer ce travail. Tu crois en moi plus que je ne crois en moi, tu as vu des choses en moi que je ne voyais pas... Et tout cela m'a poussé à me demandé pourquoi je ne me voit pas comme les personnes qui disent de mon âme qu'elle est belle me voient... C'était le début de mon nouveau voyage dans mon moi.... Et je me suis rendu compte qu'il y a tellement de choses qui m'alourdissent. Je me suis laissé transformer par le monde dans lequel je vis.. La peur, le doute sont des ennemis redoutables... Et lorsque la vanité, la cupidité et l'ego viennent se joindre à eux... J'ai compris que le véritable problème c'est moi. Je ne peux pas changer les autres mais je peux changer et tout améliorer dans ma présente existence sur cette terre.. Raison pour laquelle je t'ai écrit une fois " je sais que je peux tout faire". Oui continue à bien penser, mais peut-être qu’il faut aussi m’être ou..mettre tes pensées en équilibre comme un vélo ? Jamais arrêter de pédaler pour ne pas perdre ton équilibre.
Le sens littéral de l’échelle : à la fin de l'antiquité, pour Origène, l'échelle représente la métempsychose ou réincarnation: à la mort de l'individu, l'âme tente de s'élever vers le haut de l'échelle (l'union avec la divinité ou, si vous préférez, le "paradis"). Mais si elle a péché, elle ne peut franchir une certaine hauteur et retombe vers la terre pour se réincarner en un autre corps. Pour Théodoret, elle représence la providence divine (les anges qui descendent du ciel pour accomplir les ordres divins).
-allégoriquement, pour Eustache, elle figure la croix du Christ, qui donne accès au ciel par les tribulations et les épreuves, voire la souffrance (ce qui n'est pas du mascochisme mais la conscience de la difficulté de l'entreprise).
-symboliquement, pour Philon, l'échelle représente l'âme. la base représente la sensation, le dernier échelon, l'intellect pur, et les autres échelons les degrés de la contemplation.
-tropologiquement: Pour Tertullien, l'ascension de l'échelle représente la vie du juste, dont les échelons sont les vertus, les bonnes actions qui permettent de parvenir à l'excellence morale.
-anagogiquement, les échelons de la sphère symbolisent la hiérarchie céleste des anges et des saints.
1. Le premier plan est le moins élevé. C’est celui de la conscience instinctive qui est proche de l’animal. L’être sur ce premier plan est primitif et cherche avant tout a satisfaire ses besoins sexuels et ne connait pas l’amour. Il est totalement inconscient.
2. Le deuxième plan est celui de la conscience collective. A ce niveau la personne développe son sens des relations humaines. Elle est plus sélective dans le choix de ses partenaires mais plusieurs peuvent lui convenir. Elle ne connait pas encore l’amour véritable mais le copie. Elle est possessive et considère son partenaire comme lui appartenant. L’égo est très fort à ce niveau. Ce plan est émotionnel et c’est la que se situe la majorité de l’humanité de notre belle planète.
3. Le troisième plan est celui du mental. Là, l’individu situe son JE. Il commence a s’individualiser. C’est le plan du pouvoir personnel, de l’énergie, des idéologies (religieux, politiques, économiques). C’est le plan des leader. Il fonctionne selon la dualité du mental (amour-haine, dominant-dominé etcc). C’est l’amour échange qui n’est pas le véritable amour mais s’en approche. C’est le plan de la prise de conscience, de la réflexion. L’individu a ce niveau élargit ses connaissance soit en ésotérisme, en spiritualité. Il prend conscience qu’il existe une autre dimension.
4.Le quatrième plan est causal. C’est le plan ou vous pouvez vous connecter à votre âme. A ce niveau, vous pénétrez dans la partie de l’âme, celle de l’amour (l’amour spirituel). A ce niveau, vous pouvez vivre l’amour avec une âme-soeur. Votre partenaire est tellement proche de vous qu’il n’y a aucun effort a faire, aucune concession. L’AMOUR EST. C,est la fusion. C’est le plan des créateurs, des artistes, qui expriment la beauté sous toutes ses formes. A ce niveau on a envie de donner et d’ETRE.
5.Le cinquième plan est celui de la super-conscience. L’amour est manifesté et exprimé pleinement. C’est celui de la pensée symbolique. A ce niveau on peut se passer de sexualité. C,est le niveau des grands comme Beethoven, De Vinci, Pythagore et… La seule partenaire possible est son âme-jumelle, son complément, son miroir. C’est le plan des guides spirituels, des Maîtres. Ses dons psychiques se développent naturellement, et elle accroit sa capacité de guérison. On atteint ce niveau par une illumination. Elle enseigne l’amour et guide l’humanité.
6.Le sixième plan est celui de la buddhi, ou conscience intuitive de l’âme. A ce niveau l’être n’a plus d’égo, il n’est plus qu’une âme rayonnant d’amour et de lumière. Il est un message vivant de l’harmonie universelle. Il a réalisé le mariage mystique (union divine). Il représente Dieu sur terre.C’est l’ermite solitaire constamment dans la béatitude. Il n’a plus de personnalité car il fait partie du TOUT. Il est proche de la fusion définitive avec l’ESPRIT ETERNEL.
7.Le septième plan est celui du divin, de la conscience cosmique. Le corps s’embrase, le feu monte dans les canaux éthériques et l’énergie divine vous transforme en ETRE DE LUMIERE. Vous tombez dans la conscience cosmique et l’illumination, et vous y restez pour l’éternité.
Pour Saint Augustin, l'échelle de Jacob est le signe de l'ascension possible des hommes, pour Saint Jérôme, l'échelle de Jacob redonne confiance au pécheur et rend humble le juste, alors que pour Chromace d'Aquilée, comme dans le texte antérieur d'Hippolyte, cette échelle dressée de la terre au ciel est la croix du Christ, qui peut mener au ciel...
Un autre thème qui continuera à occuper une place importante dans l'exégèse médiévale, et qui aura des prolongements dans l'iconographie, est celui des quinze psaumes graduels...sans doute chantés par les pèlerins juifs sur la route de Jérusalem...ces cantiques des montées évoquent la joie, l'appel à l'aide ou l'espérance dans le cheminement vers Sion ...ces cantiques qui manifestent les portes du ciel, par la comparaison avec l'échelle de Jacob ; et les cinq livres de Moïse (le Pentateuque), avec les dix préceptes de la Loi, en forment les quinze échelons...
Ce symbolisme de quinze étapes spirituelles, trouve un second fondement dans l'exégèse de la description du Temple d'Ezéchiel...les sept degrés qui mènent aux portes du parvis extérieur, ajoutés aux huit degrés des portes du parvis intérieur, dans la vision du Temple futur de la nouvelle Jérusalem...les quinze marches du Temple, et l'échelle de Jacob...
Le symbolisme de l'échelle ne se limite pas à l'utilisation des textes de l'Ancien Testament... Certes l'échelle de Jacob elle-même en est le signe direct...Nous verrons que les deux montants de l'échelle de Jacob signifieront, pour la Règle de Saint Benoît, le corps et l'âme, ou l'amour de Dieu et l'amour du prochain...mais au IV siècle, Zénon de Vérone voit dans ces montants l'image des deux Testaments...
Genèse 28 , 10-17 : l'échelle de Jacob
(trad. Louis Segond)
28:10 - Jacob partit de Beer Schéba, et s'en alla à Charan.
28:11 - Il arriva dans un lieu où il passa la nuit; car le soleil était couché. Il y prit une pierre, dont il fit son chevet, et il se coucha dans ce lieu-là.
28:12 - Il eut un songe. Et voici, une échelle était appuyée sur la terre, et son sommet touchait au ciel. Et voici, les anges de Dieu montaient et descendaient par cette échelle.
28:13 - Et voici, l'Éternel se tenait au-dessus d'elle; et il dit: Je suis l'Éternel, le Dieu d'Abraham, ton père, et le Dieu d'Isaac. La terre sur laquelle tu es couché, je la donnerai à toi et à ta postérité.
28:14 - Ta postérité sera comme la poussière de la terre; tu t'étendras à l'occident et à l'orient, au septentrion et au midi; et toutes les familles de la terre seront bénies en toi et en ta postérité.
28:15 - Voici, je suis avec toi, je te garderai partout où tu iras, et je te ramènerai dans ce pays; car je ne t'abandonnerai point, que je n'aie exécuté ce que je te dis.
28:16 - Jacob s'éveilla de son sommeil et il dit: Certainement, l'Éternel est en ce lieu, et moi, je ne le savais pas!
28:17 - Il eut peur, et dit: Que ce lieu est redoutable! C'est ici la maison de Dieu, c'est ici la porte des cieux !
Aesthetic
Thinking instead of feeling
I lost contact with Venus for many years.
Her energy (B5) left me and instead Apollo (A5) took over.
Did they fight against each other? Yes, I think so.
As A5 became more and more important for me I rejected some erotic adventures.
A5 means I deny and reject emotions. Those who know Stark Trek Voyager maybe remember Tuvok. He is totally influenced by A5 and pure logic. "Neelix" is the opposite and pure emotional intelligence - strongly influenced by B5.
this picture shows: The lust is frozen. Aesthetic has taken its place.
HKD
Falls Psychologie interessiert:
Die verlorene Venus
Die Fähigkeit befriedigende Sinnlichkeit zu empfinden war mir verloren gegangen. In bildlicher Umschreibung zeigt mein obiges Bild diesen Zustand. B5 wurde schwächer und A5 stärker. Das Pendant zu diesem Bild heißt Gewinn: Win In ihm geht es um den Gewinn der geistigen Klarheit und Logik. Es gehört zum Weg in die Freiheit, den unbewussten emotionalen Bereich der Kindheit zu verlassen (B2, B5) und in den intellektuellen Bereich (A2, A5) hinüber zu wechseln. A2 steht hier für Ordnung und Disziplin. A5 für die Logik.
HKD
Hyacinthe Rigaud, né Jacint Francesc Honorat Matias Rigau-Ros i Serra à Perpignan le 18 juillet 1659 et mort à Paris le 29 décembre 1743, est un peintre catalan puis français, spécialisé dans le portrait.
Michel Robert Le Peletier des Forts (1675-1740)
Huile sur Toile
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Contexte historique et identité du personnage
Michel Robert Le Peletier des Forts (1675-1740), comte de Saint-Fargeau, est un haut fonctionnaire et homme d’État français qui fut Contrôleur général des finances de 1726 à 1730, sous le règne de Louis XV. Il occupa aussi des postes élevés comme conseiller au Parlement, maître des requêtes, conseiller d’État et intendant du Languedoc.
Ce portrait fut commandé en 1727, l’année même de sa nomination à la tête de la finances royales, et payé à Rigaud 3000 livres, ce qui témoigne de l’importance du personnage et de l’importance symbolique attachée à ce portrait d’apparat.
Description visuelle générale
Le tableau, une peinture à l’huile sur toile de grand format (environ 147×113 cm), représente Le Peletier assis dans un fauteuil d’apparat, vêtu d’une robe noire élégante rehaussée de dentelle blanche, portant la perruque longue et poudrée typique du XVIIIᵉ siècle. Il tient un quill (plume) dans une main et une lettre dans l’autre, posant ainsi comme un homme de lettres, d’action et de décision.
Principaux éléments formels
Composition : Portrait en buste jusqu’aux genoux, légèrement tourné vers la droite, dans une pose active mais solennelle.
Vêtements et accessoires : La robe noire à dentelle, la perruque blanche, les documents et l’encrier signalent son statut social et professionnel.
Décor : Rideau riche et colonne en arrière-plan, typiques de la mise en scène « palatiale » de Rigaud, renforçant la dignité du sujet.
e style Rigaud, maître du portrait d’apparat
Hyacinthe Rigaud (1659-1743) est considéré comme l’un des plus grands portraitistes officiels de France, célèbre notamment pour son portrait de Louis XIV en grand costume royal. Son style combine réalisme des traits individuels et mise en scène cérémonielle.
Marques stylistiques de l’œuvre
Rigueur formelle et réalisme
Le visage de Le Peletier est peint avec une grande précision, capturant des détails subtils du physionomiste.
Effet d’ostentation contrôlée
Les vêtements luxueux, la pose, mais sans excès baroque, ancrent l’homme dans l’élite du pouvoir plutôt que dans la flamboyance royale.
Composition classique
La figure s’inscrit dans une ligne verticale stable, appuyée par des archaïsmes décoratifs (rideau, colonne) qui sont des codes du portrait d’apparat au Grand Siècle.
Lecture symbolique et rôle politique du portrait
Ce portrait doit se lire comme un acte de représentation politique :
Portrait comme affirmation de fonction
Les documents, la plume, la lettre « Au Roi » suggèrent l’importance de l’écrit dans l’exercice du pouvoir administratif.
Le Peletier est présenté non seulement comme un visage mais comme un acteur de l’État, mettant ainsi en scène l’autorité légitime du contrôleur général.
Intellect et autorité
La posture, l’expression et les attributs signalent un homme réfléchi, intelligent, mais aussi résolu un administrateur au service du roi.
C’est une façon de montrer que le service public se fonde à la fois sur la pensée et sur l’action administrative.
Place dans l’œuvre de Rigaud et dans l’art du portrait français
Ce portrait illustre parfaitement la synthèse opérée par Rigaud entre :
le réalisme psychologique dans le traitement du visage,
la mise en scène cérémonielle héritée du portrait officiel du XVIIᵉ siècle,
et la symbolique du pouvoir incarné dans les commis de l’État.
Les éléments que l’on retrouve ici fauteuil richement sculpté, rideau somptueux, accessoires signifiants (encrier, lettres) sont des codes repris dans d’autres portraits de grands serviteurs de l’État par Rigaud à la même époque.
Conclusion : un portrait politique et social
En somme, le Portrait de Michel Robert Le Peletier des Forts est bien plus qu’un simple portrait de commande :
C’est un manifeste visuel du pouvoir administratif au début du XVIIIᵉ siècle.
Il articule prestige social, fonction publique et identité personnelle dans une mise en scène solennelle et élégante.
Par son style, il illustre l’apogée du portrait officiel sous Louis XV, où chaque élément compositif réaffirme la dignité d’une charge et la stature de son titulaire.
CES PHOTOS NE SONT PAS À VENDRE ET NE PEUVENT PAS ÊTRE REPRODUITES, MODIFIÉES, REDIFFUSÉES, EXPLOITÉES COMMERCIALEMENT OU RÉUTILISÉES DE QUELQUE MANIÈRE QUE CE SOIT.
UNIQUEMENT POUR LE PLAISIR DES YEUX.
Happiness
Hmm, what is that? Please answer the question, my great sense
Who is that? Who is there? My great mind? Perfect intelligence
You amaze me, oh my dear new soul, my life already has changed
Who did it? Not me, this is absolutelly sure. Heavenly your intellect.
I am far from the heaven, my life exists only between world and hell
Where are you now? My old and new friendship, I need your help!
You are my new mind, you threw away my old one, I have no way.
Mind, brain, soul, spirit, intellect, hmm, where do they come from?
… give these heavenly imagination, the beginning and the end.
The lonely Reader
Rinpoche said: “I was reading for many years. Many books. I was writing for many years.
Many books. Only to find and to leave one message for my next incarnation: Freedom and inner peace are possible. When I read this truth for the first time, I did not believe it. I could not imagine I would be able to accept me being aggressive – like my father.” He laughed and continued: “Now I can accept my unjustice.”
HKD
Weisheit braucht ein Medium.
Die Übertragung von Weisheit findet durch Lesen von Büchern statt. Der PC ist in der heutigen Zeit ein adäquates Medium.
HKD
Der Typ A5 denkt gerne, liest viel und ist auch gern allein.
Er ist nicht von Natur aus gesellig.
HKD
Prometheus
Thank you, Prometheus
Your light makes me see clear
My slavery
My depression
My liberation
Your lightness
Your darkness
My lightness
My darkness
HKD
Mythos Now
Struck by light
I start liberating
my soul
HKD
Aspects:
Liberation of the Soul from Illusions
Liberator: Apollo – Logos – Light – Intellect – Conscious
Manjushri: Liberator – buddhist version
HKD
This for me is a meaning of life
A sculpture of Ganesh seen on a Hindu shrine near Jaffna in Sri Lanka's far north. The deity Ganesh (or Ganesha) is widely revered by Hindus and many Buddhists also as the remover of obstacles, the patron of arts and sciences and the deva (deity) of intellect and wisdom.
The patriarch Jacob's famous pillow and dream. In preparation for sleeping at the Temple of Jerusalem (some versions say he slept at Luz, just outside Jerusalem), Jacob took twelve stones from the same altar upon which his father, Isaac, had lain bound as a sacrifice. The twelve stones (representing the twelve tribes of Israel, not yet born) came together and formed a single stone, which Jacob then used as a pillow. In a magnificent dream, Jacob beheld the course of the world's history, including the future destruction of this temple, and he saw a ladder stretching from where he lay to the highest point in Heaven; angels were ascending and descending this heavenly ladder in a continuous process. Jacob, upon awaking, took the stone and set it up like a pillar and anointed it with oil he had received from Heaven. God sank this anointed stone so deep into the abyss that it could serve as the center of the Earth and the world's navel, to be known as the Even HaShetiyah. In other words, Jacob's "pillow" and the base of what is often called Jacob's Ladder, was the Foundation Stone. This site is also known as Bethel, "Gate or House of Heaven" or "House of the God El." A similar night journey took place here sometime before 622. That traveler was the Muslim prophet, Muhammad. He was conveyed from near the Ka'aba in Mecca in Saudi Arabia to the Temple Mount in Jerusalem on a celestial winged creature called al-Buraq (Lightning), which was a horse with the face of a woman and a peacock's tail. From the Foundation Stone, Muhammad ascended the Ladder of Lights through the Seven Heavens, accompanied by innumerable angels and witnessed by many ascended prophets, most notably the Archangel Gabriel. Muhammad was brought before the Divine Presence as the experiential pinnacle of his journey and informed that men should recite prayers fifty times daily.Palingenesia liberates the soul and is a reversal of physical birth (which imprisoned the soul in the body). This spiritual birth leads (thanks to the presence of a spiritual master and an initiatory father/son-relationship) to the soul's perfection through the knowledge of God, a "baptism in intellect" (IV.3-4). In the process of purification and Self-knowledge, traditional rituals may have been used, but the higher mysteries (the Hermetic initiation proper) involved a "mental" or "spiritual" sacrifice (I.31), the offering of hymns of praise and thanksgiving. The ritual and the noetic were thus fully integrated.Spirit forms thefinal member, whichin the same way constitutes an enneadic system, only that in thiscase we come upon enneads innines. Thisiseasily understood,since here allthathas been so far developed,isunited together. In accordance withthis,all the first members, the members, a,according to the ground plan, nothing ...
Indeed, the "Nous", the Divine intellect or "soul of God", binds together the hierarchy of God, the world (of the Deities, minerals, plants & animals) and man. In particular, "Nous" is the way of the human soul to free itself from the snares of the flesh and be illuminated by the "light" of the "gnosis", for indeed, God is experienced as light. A "good Nous" will be able to repel the assaults of the world. The spiritual master becomes a personification of this Divine intellect. The master becomes one with the Divine Nous ("I am Mind") in the initiation of his disciple. In Hermetism, this "Nous" is personified by Hermes Trismegistus, the Universal Mind of the "highest Power" (situated on the Enneadic plane).
A dream pillow is a small pouch or pillow placed on or under the pillow to bring pleasant dreams, and keep bad dreams away. It can be made out of any old cloth, or cloth pouch, of any color that represents dreams to the sleeper. The dream pouch is stuffed with sweet-smelling herbs and should be blessed by the deities of your choice (I chose Morpheus and Aradia). In my dream pouch, I used hops, jasmine flowers, lavender, mugwort, Valerian, and chamomile. Sweetgrass, star anise, marigold, or skullcap can also be used, or a few of these herbs in different combinations. Also, different books on herbalism and witchcraft will have different recipes. As long as it smells good and dreamy to you. Fatigue is the best pillow : warmed up by the early sun and dreams in the flow of water. These sticks bound his resting territory on a pink grey stone matress. The sleeper laid his head onto his hands, which are warmed up by the stones,the colour harmony of his dress and of the stones are a sweet camouflage, has this sleeper his morning spot ?How to Make a Dream Pillow to Program Your Dream ContentA dream pillow is a comforting device that helps relax you at night. Certain scents may even induce vivid, more imaginative and possibly even lucid dreams (especially if you link these scents to reality checks). The idea is that you fill your pillow with specific herbs and essential oils which you naturally inhale during your sleep. According to historic experiments by Marquis d'Hervey de Saint-Denys (1822-1892) aromas can have powerful effects on your dreams. One summer, he took a bottle of an unfamiliar scent on his travels to France. He whiffed his scent-laden handkerchief by day and, on returning home, put the bottle away. When a servant sprinkled a few drops of this scent on his pillow at night, he dreamed again of visiting the mountains of Ardeche...What causes this to happen? Smells are processed in the brain's limbic system, an area closely associated with memory and emotion. So even though smell is not a primary sense for humans, a little whiff can invoke powerful emotions. We also know that our dreams are emotional realms: a place where we can express unresolved emotions from the waking day before. So anything that shapes our emotions, shapes our dreams. Put these two together, and a dream pillow can make for a surprisingly effective way to program your dreams...Who Are Dream Pillows For? Anyone with a sense of smell can use a dream pillow. Though the concept may sound a little fluffy, dream pillows are based on a scientific understanding of how smells and emotions are processed and expressed in the brain. Think right now: what smell from your childhood throws you back in time? Is there any way you could obtain that smell for your dream pillow? For me, a powerful scent is that of the acrylic paint we used in my first primary school. It reminds me of being in class again at five years old, wearing those giant plastic aprons and using special pots of water with a hole in the lid. If I close my eyes I can "see" the classroom, my classmates, and the giant teacher (remember how grown-ups were identifiable by their legs at that age?) It's a powerful memory for me, all generated by a smell. Dream pillows have numerous applications. Shamans believed that scent pillows carried messages from the gods, so there is a spiritual history in dream pillows. In medicine, nurses give "comfort pillows" to patients in hospitals to help cover up the smell of medicines (which can cause stress and lead to psychosomatic symptoms). You are probably aware of negative emotions that hit you on walking into a hospital or doctor's surgery - this is likely a scent-based reaction. Dream pillows are also handy for healthy folk, too, and here I've researched some of the best scents to improve your dream awareness, which can lead to highly vivid dreams and perhaps even lucid dreams. Some of these relaxing aromatherapy scents may also help deter nightmares, night terrors, and other stress-related sleep disorders.Fatigue is the best pillow : warmed up by the early sun and dreams in the flow of water. These sticks bound his resting territory on a pink grey stone matress. The sleeper laid his head onto his hands, which are warmed up by the stones,the colour harmony of his dress and of the stones are a sweet camouflage, has this sleeper his morning spot ?How to Make a Dream Pillow? You can buy a scented dream pillow online or make your own. It's pretty easy to do. Here's what you'll need:Step #1 - Choose a small pillow case or find some silk material and cut it into two rectangles about 6 by 11 inches (to form the top and bottom of your scented pillow).Step #2 - With the two pieces of fabric back to back, stitch three sides together. Then turn the pocket inside out so the silky side is now outside. All the stitching is now neat and tidy on the inside of the cushion.Step #3 - Now grab your mesh bag and fill it with dried aromatherapy herbs and flowers. I've written some suggested combinations below. For lucid dreams, add a few drops of aromatherapy essential oils (see below).Step #4 - Add two teaspoons of orris root to your mesh bag as a fixative to make the scents last longer. Then tie the bag off with string.Step #5 - Slide the herb mesh bag into your pillow and pack the stuffing around it. Be careful not to over-pack the pillow case so the scents can still "breathe". Stitch up the open edge or attach Velcro so that you can replace the herbs and scents over time (this also makes your dream pillow easily washable).How to Make a Dream Pillow? You can buy a scented dream pillow online or make your own. It's pretty easy to do. Here's what you'll need:Step #1 - Choose a small pillow case or find some silk material and cut it into two rectangles about 6 by 11 inches (to form the top and bottom of your scented pillow).Step #2 - With the two pieces of fabric back to back, stitch three sides together. Then turn the pocket inside out so the silky side is now outside. All the stitching is now neat and tidy on the inside of the cushion.Step #3 - Now grab your mesh bag and fill it with dried aromatherapy herbs and flowers. I've written some suggested combinations below. For lucid dreams, add a few drops of aromatherapy essential oils (see below).Step #4 - Add two teaspoons of orris root to your mesh bag as a fixative to make the scents last longer. Then tie the bag off with string.Step #5 - Slide the herb mesh bag into your pillow and pack the stuffing around it. Be careful not to over-pack the pillow case so the scents can still "breathe". Stitch up the open edge or attach Velcro so that you can replace the herbs and scents over time (this also makes your dream pillow easily washable).A Dream Pillow is a small pouch or pillow placed on or under the pillow to bring pleasant dreams, and keep bad dreams away. It can be made out of any old cloth, or cloth pouch, of any color that represents dreams to the sleeper. This dream pillow is designed to induce sleep, help reduce stress and induce relaxation. It uses the herbal scents of lavender, chamomile, mugwort, calendula and peppermint.Of course, you can create any scent combination of your own making, to evoke memories that are personal to you. Perhaps it's a particular perfume or aftershave that gets you going. Even food smells can be contained in a dream pillow: the very pages of a book I'm reading smell distinctly like McDonald's packaging... and I wonder why I get hungry whenever I read it...
The Green Snake and the Beautiful Lily started with "wearied by the toil of the day." this tale is one of the most important stories of the Anthroposophic and Rosicrucian streams. It is a timeless, allegorical tale of initiation and had a profound impact on Rudolf Steiner and on the formulation of his teachings. He called the fairy tale a kind of "secret revelation," an "apocalypse." A true fairy story is a work of art. At Michaelmas in 1795, a series of stories appeared, of which the concluding one was a fairy tale: The Green Snake and the Beautiful Lily.The tale tells of magical transformation—one that, when the time is at hand, can be experienced by anyone. The author of these stories was Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, and the creation of his fairy tale would have far-reaching consequences.This edition of Goethe’s fairy tale arose from illustrator David Newbatt’s inspiration to join Thomas Carlyle’s English translation with a new series of pictures. The purpose is to reveal the sevenfold process that unfolds within Goethe's fairy tale—a process that forms a path of inner development and personal transformation.In addition to the translation by Thomas Carlyle and the series of seven pictures by David Newbatt, The Green Snake and the Beautiful Lily includes an introduction by Tom Raines.About The Book: The Green Snake and the Beautiful Lily is a fairy tale by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe published in 1795. The story revolves around the crossing and bridging of a river, which represents the divide between the outer life of the senses and the ideal aspirations of the human being. It has been claimed that it was born out of Goethe's reading of The Chymical Wedding of Christian Rosenkreutz and that it is full of esoteric symbolism. Because of this, I was pondering over whether to put it into the Esoteric section, but decided to put it in Classics instead, because despite the esotericism of the book, it is primarily set down as a fairy tale.The tale begins with two will-o'-the-wisps who wake a ferryman and ask to be taken across a river. The ferryman does so, and for payment, they shake gold from themselves into the boat. This alarms the ferryman, for if the gold had gone into the river, it would overflow. He demands as payment: three artichokes, three cabbages, and three onions, and the will-o'-the-wisps may depart only after promising to bring him such. The ferryman takes the gold up to a high place, and deposits it into a rocky cleft, where it is discovered by a green snake who eats the gold, and finds itself luminous. This gives the snake opportunity to study an underground temple where we meet an old man with a lamp which can only give light when another light is present. The snake now investigates the temple, and finds four kings: one gold, one silver, one bronze, and one a mixture of all three.The story then switches over to the wife of the old man, who meets a melancholy prince. He has met a beautiful Lily, but is distressed by the fact that anyone who touches her will die. The snake is able to form a temporary bridge across the river at midday, and in this way, the wife and prince come to the beautiful Lily's garden, where she is mourning her fate. As twilight falls, the prince succumbs to his desire for the Beautiful Lily, rushes towards her, and dies. The green snake encircles the prince, and the old man, his wife, and the will-o'-the-wisps form a procession and cross the river on the back of the snake.Back in the land of the senses, and guided by the old man, the Lily is able to bring the prince back to life — albeit in a dream state — by touching both the snake and the prince. The snake then sacrifices itself, and changes into a pile of precious stones which are thrown into the river. The old man then directs them towards the doors of the temple which are locked. The will-o'-the-wisps help them enter by eating the gold out of the doors. At this point, the temple is magically transported beneath the river, surfacing beneath the ferryman's hut — which turns into a silver altar. The three kings bestow gifts upon the sleeping prince and restore him. The fourth, mixed king collapses as the will-o'-the-wisps lick the veins of gold out of him. We also find that Lily's touch no longer brings death. Thus, the prince is united with the beautiful Lily, and they are married. When they look out from the temple, they see a permanent bridge which spans the river — the result of the snake's sacrifice — "and to the present hour the Bridge is swarming with travellers, and the Temple is the most frequented on the whole Earth".