View allAll Photos Tagged Invokes
patron Saint of
the dead, contemplative nuns, travelers, cats, widows, and the West Indies, cities of Naples, Italy, Urbino, Italy, and Tarrangona, Spain, and the diocese of Magdeburg, Germany; and she is often invoked for souls in Purgatory.
mde
O people, an example is presented, so listen to it. Indeed, those you invoke besides Allah will never create [as much as] a fly, even if they gathered together for that purpose. And if the fly should steal away from them a [tiny] thing, they could not recover it from him. Weak are the pursuer and pursued.
Quran (22:73)
Created for DU Challenge ~ November 2024
Thanks to Temari 09 for starter image.
Drawing down the Moon (also known as drawing down the Goddess) is a central ritual in many contemporary Wiccan traditions. During the ritual, a coven's High Priestess enters a trance and requests that the Goddess or Triple Goddess, symbolized by the Moon, enter her body and speak through her. The High Priestess may be aided by the High Priest, who invokes the spirit of the Goddess. During her trance, the Goddess is supposed to speak through the High Priestess.
Inspired by Henri Matisse
All work done in Photoshop 2025
Best viewed Large
Thank you very much for your comments and faves, regretfully, I am finding it increasingly difficult to reply to your comments, because of my very limited time on the internet, due to constant power interruptions in South Africa. I do read and appreciate every one of them, however! Thanks again!!
Festival complètement Cirque 3 Géants- 3 Giants
LES 7 DOIGTS on the PVM Esplanade, Place Ville Marie
Montreal, Qc July 2022
The giant changes the proportions of our universe. He can become a figure of the artist, an allegory of knowledge, or a metaphor for superhumanity.
A group of workers who thrive on hard work and who flourish when together have stormed this construction site for several moons. These men and women are put to work in a highly acrobatic way to finalize this titanic undertaking and give life to this scrap metal giant. Together, they work with perseverance, authenticity, passion, conviction, stubbornness and resilience. The heart, the apparent focus of emotional turmoil, becomes the allegorical representation of the creative drive. Inspired by the intuitive movement of Les Automatistes, we offer a show that celebrates creativity in its most instinctive and visceral form. A metaphor invoking the power that collectivity can wield. A praise of the greater than self, these giants exist because we create them, because we make them live.
LES 7 DOIGTS sur l’Esplanade PVM, à Place Ville Marie
Montréal, Qc Juillet 2022
Le géant est celui qui change les proportions de notre univers. Il peut devenir figure de l’artiste, allégorie du savoir, ou métaphore de la surhumanité.
Un groupe d’ouvriers qui carbure au labeur et se nourrit d’être ensemble, a pris d’assaut ce chantier depuis plusieurs lunes. Ces hommes et ces femmes, sont mis à contribution de manière hautement acrobatique pour finaliser cette titanesque entreprise et donner la vie à ce géant de ferraille. Ensemble, ils travaillent avec persévérance, authenticité, passion, conviction, entêtement et résilience. Le cœur, foyer apparent des ébranlements émotionnels, devient la représentation allégorique de la pulsion créative. S’inspirant du mouvement intuitif des Automatiste, nous proposons une œuvre qui célèbre la créativité dans sa forme la plus instinctive et viscérale. Métaphore invoquant la puissance que peut exercer la collectivité. Louange du plus grand que soi, ces géants existent par ce que nous les créons, parce que nous les faisons vivre.
A large jenga-style structure which monkeys sit on or walk greets viewers as the walk into the gallery housing Stephanie Quayle’s installation. Some of her clay monkeys watch us from atop planks of wood, as if waiting our reaction – and subsequent reaction – to their plight. The jenga emits a palpable threat of instability, compounded by Quayle’s use of decaying joists from timber barns and old
wooden beams. As with the game of jenga, it appears the installation could collapse at any moment. Quayle invokes the instability inherent in jenga to highlight the precarious situation human hands have wrought upon wildlife as a result of deforestation and consequence loss of habitat.
Sagrada Família, Barcelona, España.
El Templo Expiatorio de la Sagrada Familia, conocido simplemente como la Sagrada Familia, es una basílica católica de Barcelona (España), diseñada por el arquitecto Antoni Gaudí. Iniciada en 1882, todavía está en construcción (noviembre de 2016). Es la obra maestra de Gaudí, y el máximo exponente de la arquitectura modernista catalana.
La Sagrada Familia es un reflejo de la plenitud artística de Gaudí: trabajó en ella durante la mayor parte de su carrera profesional, pero especialmente en los últimos años de su carrera, donde llegó a la culminación de su estilo naturalista, haciendo una síntesis de todas las soluciones y estilos probados hasta aquel entonces. Gaudí logró una perfecta armonía en la interrelación entre los elementos estructurales y los ornamentales, entre plástica y estética, entre función y forma, entre contenido y continente, logrando la integración de todas las artes en un todo estructurado y lógico.
La Sagrada Familia tiene planta de cruz latina, de cinco naves centrales y transepto de tres naves, y ábside con siete capillas. Ostenta tres fachadas dedicadas al Nacimiento, Pasión y Gloria de Jesús y, cuando esté concluida, tendrá 18 torres: cuatro en cada portal haciendo un total de doce por los apóstoles, cuatro sobre el crucero invocando a los evangelistas, una sobre el ábside dedicada a la Virgen y la torre-cimborio central en honor a Jesús, que alcanzará los 172,5 metros de altura. El templo dispondrá de dos sacristías junto al ábside, y de tres grandes capillas: la de la Asunción en el ábside y las del Bautismo y la Penitencia junto a la fachada principal; asimismo, estará rodeado de un claustro pensado para las procesiones y para aislar el templo del exterior. Gaudí aplicó a la Sagrada Familia un alto contenido simbólico, tanto en arquitectura como en escultura, dedicando a cada parte del templo un significado religioso.
The Expiatory Church of the Sagrada Familia, known simply as the Sagrada Familia, is a Roman Catholic basilica in Barcelona, Spain, designed by architect Antoni Gaudí. Begun in 1882, it is still under construction (November 2016). It is Gaudí's masterpiece and the greatest exponent of Catalan modernist architecture.
The Sagrada Familia is a reflection of Gaudí's artistic plenitude: he worked on it for most of his professional career, but especially in his later years, where he reached the culmination of his naturalistic style, synthesizing all the solutions and styles he had tried up to that point. Gaudí achieved perfect harmony in the interrelationship between structural and ornamental elements, between plasticity and aesthetics, between function and form, between content and container, achieving the integration of all the arts into a structured and logical whole. The Sagrada Familia has a Latin cross plan, five central naves, a three-aisled transept, and an apse with seven chapels. It boasts three façades dedicated to the Birth, Passion, and Glory of Jesus. When completed, it will have 18 towers: four at each portal, making a total of twelve for the apostles, four over the transept invoking the evangelists, one over the apse dedicated to the Virgin, and the central dome tower in honor of Jesus, which will reach 172.5 meters in height. The temple will have two sacristies next to the apse and three large chapels: the Assumption Chapel in the apse and the Baptism and Penance Chapels next to the main façade. It will also be surrounded by a cloister designed for processions and to isolate the temple from the exterior. Gaudí applied a highly symbolic content to the Sagrada Familia, both in architecture and sculpture, dedicating each part of the temple to a religious significance.
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The rain clouds are gathering in the sunset-lit sky over the Bolsa Chica invoking all kinds of crazy coloring only the nature can produce... @ Bolsa Chica Ecological Reserve
Edgar Allan Poe is one of my favorite poets, His "The Raven" inspired this photo I took it invokes such powerful feeling deep within
This image is included in 3 galleries :- 1) "Stoned and Rocked" curated by Sandra Mahle, 2) "Earth" by stephenhjcole and 3) "Images Invoking Receptive Energy" by Janine (JApplequist).
Mutitjulu is an Aboriginal Australian community in the Northern Territory of Australia located at the eastern end of Uluru. It is named after a knee-shaped water-filled rock hole at the base of Uluru, and is located in the Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park. Its people are traditional owners and joint managers of the park with Parks Australia. At the 2011 census, Mutitjulu had a population of 296, of which 218 were Aboriginal. (326 in 2016).
If it's you, then it's me
and when it's you
I can clearly see
all that we can truly be
if only life could let it be
so to Spring we now turn
as if Winter never happened
upon our lowest ebb
the question answers instead
for the puzzles that lie ahead
of all we roam in sickness and in health
this is no ordinary world, or life at that
for every unblinking stoke
of the fire of silhouetted Oak
within the given hope it may invoke
it's the unflinching stipulation of life over departure
fluvial or landbased, aviating dreams earthbound
every reason is contraindicative
meandering flight of aquatic contrail still active
we're here to stay so long as we can forgive...
..any reason under the Sun
why we shouldn't celebrate a world
of yours, of mine, of one of a kind
that offers the path when combined
to the place so desired and divined.
by anglia24
12h10: 02/04/2008
©2008anglia24
World-renowned street artist Rone’s latest exhibition / installation is in his hometown of Geelong.
Rone said of the installation at the Geelong Gallery; “My show is an ode to abandoned spaces and a reminder to value the original treasure they once were. Influenced by the architecture of the building and the toll of time, the central installation preserves an imagined moment of the space adorned at its finest and left to slowly deteriorate.”
“Featuring a push and pull between light and dark, viewers may be compelled to either end of the experience but are united in the same recognition of overall decay. The damage has been done and my installation invokes a longing for what is lost and cannot ever return.”
My photos will not do justice to the detail included in the work, nor to the beauty of Rone’s artwork. It is truly exceptional.
Where does nostalgia for something you have no memory of spring from? My roadtrips through the US have invoked nostalgia in me, but I have grown up in Europe, so I have to guess it's the product of so many movies.
St Catherine’s Chapel was built by the monks of nearby Abbotsbury Abbey as a pilgrimage chapel. Virtually unaltered since, it is one of a handful of chapels of this kind which are located outside the precincts of the monasteries that built them. Its isolated setting allowed the monks to withdraw from the monastery during Lent for private prayer and meditation.
The fireworks known as Catherine wheels commemorate her torture in the 3rd century AD, when the Roman Emperor Maximus I ordered her to be broken on a wheel set with sword points for protesting about the persecution of Christians.
An angel is said to have broken the wheel, and after her subsequent execution Catherine’s body was said to have been conveyed to the heights of Mount Sinai by angels. She became the patron saint of virgins, particularly those in search of husbands, and it was the custom until the late 19th century for the young women of Abbotsbury to go to the chapel and invoke her aid. They would put a knee in one of the wishing holes in the south doorway, their hands in the other two holes, and make a wish.
patron saint of orphans, physical therapists, shepherdesses, abuse victims, unattractive people, peasant girls, handicapped people, abandoned and marginalized people, sick people, victims of child abuse, people disfigured by disease, people with disabilities, particularly those with physical and mental disabilities, and against bullying, impoverishment, and unkind people and her intercession is still sought by many people who are facing difficult life situations and invoked for help with overcoming tremendous physical challenges and invoked against sufferings associated with poverty, illness and the loss of parents.
LARGE view www.flickr.com/photos/jaciii/53419249274/sizes/h/
In the moonlit glow of Halloween night,
Jack Skellington takes to flight,
With swirling skirts and skeleton grace,
Dancing through shadows, a smile on her face.
Her bony hands hold a pumpkin bright,
A beacon of joy in the eerie light,
For Halloween is the happiest time,
Where mischief and magic perfectly rhyme.
With candy in hand and laughter in air,
She twirls through the darkness without a care,
Ghosts and goblins join her cheer,
For Halloween is the best time of year!
In her top hat, with stripes so bold,
She welcomes the young and the old,
For Jack Skellington knows what’s true,
Halloween’s delight is always new!
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This picture is taken with Minolta AF 16mm F2.8 FishEye A-mount. It is not a Sony version of the Miolta lens.
There are people still streaming to baths and enjoying a visit now without warming rooms and cold plunges. There is great sunshine an intense rain in the current climate that bathes the tourists in the remains of the Auxiliary Garrison. Outside of the strictly prescribed fort there would be settlements beyond the fort and the baths are out of the fort structure in part to limit and contain the fire hazard.
The bath house has older signs built into the ruins of the extant compartmental foundations and then there are newer attributions on the sign immediately above the sauna type bathing remains.
Thermae from the Greek Θέρμαι Thermai for hot springs and hot baths from the Greek adjective thermos for hot used to describe warm springs and also baths of warm water.
Thermae from Greek θερμός thermos “hot” and balneae from Greek βαλανεῖον balaneion, “bath” also “bathing-vessel” the Romans used their term thermae based on Greek origins.
Hardknott named after Harthr Knutr hard craggy hill that is Hard Knott fell.
East to West Hardknott Pass runs from Eskdale to the Duddon Valley in the Lake District National Park, Cumbria, England. A view into an early morning of a slow Winter dawning.
© PHH Sykes 2024
phhsykes@gmail.com
Hardknott Roman Fort English Heritage
www.english-heritage.org.uk/visit/places/hardknott-roman-...
Hardknott Roman Fort
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hardknott_Roman_Fort
The Fort at River's Bend
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Fort_at_River%27s_Bend
Roman Lake District Audio Guides
English Heritage Audio Guides
soundcloud.com/ehaudio/sets/roman-lake-district-audio-guides
Hardknott mentioned in this Sonnet.
William Wordsworth
From, The River Duddon, A Series Of Sonnets, 1820. Numbered XVII 17
A dark plume fetch me from yon blasted yew,
Perched on whose top the Danish Raven croaks;
Aloft, the imperial Bird of Rome invokes
Departed ages, shedding where he flew
Loose fragments of wild wailing, that bestrew
The clouds and thrill the chambers of the rocks;
And into silence hush the timorous flocks,
That, calmly couching while the nightly dew
Moistened each fleece, beneath the twinkling stars
Slept amid that lone Camp on Hardknot’s height,
Whose Guardians bent the knee to Jove and Mars:
Or, near that mystic Round of Druid frame
Tardily sinking by its proper weight
Deep into patient Earth, from whose smooth breast it came!
Indulge in the epitome of sophistication with our "Golden Lore Series" by Vizarte, set to debut at the Pandora Event in SecondLife. This series features a majestically crafted sideboard with polished stone finishes, accentuated by golden botanical motifs that exude a touch of nature's elegance. Accompanying the sideboard is an arching mirror, its golden frame artfully invoking the grand archways of classical architecture. Each vase and decorative element is a testament to modern luxury, with clean lines and a harmonious blend of form and function. This collection doesn't just furnish your virtual space — it infuses it with a narrative of luxury and timeless charm, turning every gathering into a cultivated experience.
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This is a very quick edit of Peninsula Point lighthouse. Taken with a Rokinon 14mm f2.8 lens on a Canon 6D at ISO 5000 for 30 seconds. I have yet to correct for lens distortion, the general blue hue, and lighten the Milky Way, but I liked how the beacon shines out through the Milky Way.
The above paragraph was written shortly after I edited this image. I have never gone back and really spent time editing it in the way I thought I would. For all it's flaws, this image has really grown on me over time. And I like it just the way it is because of the memories it invokes. I may eventually fix it as I intended, but for now, there's no need.
"Exploration"
This image is being submitted as part of the #Flickr21 Photo Challenge, celebrating Flickr's 21st anniversary on February 10, 2025. The theme for the 9th day of the 21 day photo challenge is "Exploration." The purpose of exploration is to go places you've never been before, and to do things you've never done before. To see around every corner, and to experience all that you can. Photography IS Exploration. I've been saying it for many years now, Photography is my excuse to do things I've never done and go places I never thought I'd see, much less even knew existed.
Never would I have thought when I picked up a camera for the first time that it would lead me through a nightmare forest nearly 3 hours from the nearest town to the remains of an abandoned and spider-infested lighthouse on the shores of Lake Michigan in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. This was a stop on my photography club's 2018 lighthouse tour. We discovered it in 2016 and knew we had to go back. This time we spent several hours there, capturing a fantastic sunset and staying long enough lightpaint and capture the Milky Way. This place was fun, and we all took a ton of good pictures.
But this place is NOT easy to get to. It's hard enough during the day, and nearly impossible at night. And try to leave in the middle of the night when you're tired and cold. One must first navigate a narrow one-lane dirt road through a thick forest that is straight out of every Friday the 13th movie. Then one must navigate the dark, winding tree-lined roads while the thousands of deer who live there seemingly all appear in front of you all at once and at multiple points along the way. To attempt such a feat will leave one seriously mentally exhausted. While I would love to go back again, I think I can safely say I still have PTSD just thinking about this drive.
Posting something green for St. Patrick’s Day, despite having nothing especially Irish in the backlog. Feel free to invoke your own parable.
Although there are no seasons in space, this cosmic vista invokes thoughts of a frosty winter landscape. It is, in fact, a region called NGC 6357 where radiation from hot, young stars is energizing the cooler gas in the cloud that surrounds them.
This composite image contains X-ray data from NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory and the ROSAT telescope (purple), infrared data from NASA’s Spitzer Space Telescope (orange), and optical data from the SuperCosmos Sky Survey (blue) made by the United Kingdom Infrared Telescope.
Located in our galaxy about 5,500 light years from Earth, NGC 6357 is actually a "cluster of clusters," containing at least three clusters of young stars, including many hot, massive, luminous stars. The X-rays from Chandra and ROSAT reveal hundreds of point sources, which are the young stars in NGC 6357, as well as diffuse X-ray emission from hot gas. There are bubbles, or cavities, that have been created by radiation and material blowing away from the surfaces of massive stars, plus supernova explosions.
Astronomers call NGC 6357 and other objects like it "HII" (pronounced “H-two”) regions. An HII region is created when the radiation from hot, young stars strips away the electrons from neutral hydrogen atoms in the surrounding gas to form clouds of ionized hydrogen, which is denoted scientifically as "HII."
Researchers use Chandra to study NGC 6357 and similar objects because young stars are bright in X-rays. Also, X-rays can penetrate the shrouds of gas and dust surrounding these infant stars, allowing astronomers to see details of star birth that would be otherwise missed.
A recent paper on Chandra observations of NGC 6357 by Leisa Townsley of Pennsylvania State University in State College appeared in The Astrophysical Journal Supplement Series and is available online. NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center manages the Chandra program for NASA’s Science Mission Directorate. The Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory in Cambridge, Massachusetts, controls Chandra’s science and flight operations.
Excerpt from the plaque:
The Green Fairy Storybook 2009
Books and literature have always been central to Dhaliwal’s practice. On her childhood in Southall, she recalls:
My mother disapproved of the multihued fairy story books that I consumed voraciously. For her, reading was a lazy activity. It kept one away from housework and homework.
I picture the child I was when learning to read, sitting on the floor between the stacks in the public library, surrounded by piles of books. The Green Fairy Book, the Yellow Fairy Book, the Red, the Blue, the Lavender Fairy Book. For me this work represents a resolution of sorts; a coming home to the place where all the stories I’ve written began: the child reading in between the stacks of the library learning to love words and the images they invoke.
The latest bridge to open over the River Liffey (2009) in Dublin, IE. The structure is meant to invoke the image of a harp, the national symbol of Ireland.
Please check out the rest of the album HERE Thanks for all of your comments and fav's.
There are people still streaming to baths and enjoying a visit now without warming rooms and cold plunges. There is great sunshine an intense rain in the current climate that bathes the tourists in the remains of the Auxiliary Garrison. Outside of the strictly prescribed fort there would be settlements beyond the fort and the baths are out of the fort structure in part to limit and contain the fire hazard.
The bath house has older signs built into the ruins of the extant compartmental foundations and then there are newer attributions on the sign immediately above the sauna type bathing remains.
Thermae from the Greek Θέρμαι Thermai for hot springs and hot baths from the Greek adjective thermos for hot used to describe warm springs and also baths of warm water.
Thermae from Greek θερμός thermos “hot” and balneae from Greek βαλανεῖον balaneion, “bath” also “bathing-vessel” the Romans used their term thermae based on Greek origins.
Hardknott named after Harthr Knutr hard craggy hill that is Hard Knott fell.
East to West Hardknott Pass runs from Eskdale to the Duddon Valley in the Lake District National Park, Cumbria, England. A view into an early morning of a slow Winter dawning.
© PHH Sykes 2024
phhsykes@gmail.com
Hardknott Roman Fort English Heritage
www.english-heritage.org.uk/visit/places/hardknott-roman-...
Hardknott Roman Fort
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hardknott_Roman_Fort
The Fort at River's Bend
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Fort_at_River%27s_Bend
Roman Lake District Audio Guides
English Heritage Audio Guides
soundcloud.com/ehaudio/sets/roman-lake-district-audio-guides
Hardknott mentioned in this Sonnet.
William Wordsworth
From, The River Duddon, A Series Of Sonnets, 1820. Numbered XVII 17
A dark plume fetch me from yon blasted yew,
Perched on whose top the Danish Raven croaks;
Aloft, the imperial Bird of Rome invokes
Departed ages, shedding where he flew
Loose fragments of wild wailing, that bestrew
The clouds and thrill the chambers of the rocks;
And into silence hush the timorous flocks,
That, calmly couching while the nightly dew
Moistened each fleece, beneath the twinkling stars
Slept amid that lone Camp on Hardknot’s height,
Whose Guardians bent the knee to Jove and Mars:
Or, near that mystic Round of Druid frame
Tardily sinking by its proper weight
Deep into patient Earth, from whose smooth breast it came!
Why should I care to find my song?
Why should you care to find yours?
Don’t we vibrate in an Ocean of Sound?
Does the dream of reaching ourselves
To finally know who we are
To finally know where we are going
Delight an Answer in limitless queries?
Don’t our bodies soak in possibility
Within the larger symphony of stars and galaxies
Beyond all mathematical perplexity?
Will our shallow throated emissions
Penetrate the shells still dividing us?
From nowhere and everywhere
This paradoxical quest holds the Tune
We are each an aspect of its vital Harmony
We find our journey waiting and singing to us
To invoke a much deeper throated response
Until we feel ourselves to be Home
© Ganga Fondan, 2010
The quest to find Truth showers its songs upon my life and it is the only way I know to find meaning. We each have a connection to the Poetry of Life. Immersed in this we are invincible. My Blog
Skimming just above the terrain to avoid detection, Ramva20, 2, and 3 veered toward site 39N, touching down in a sheltered spot several miles from the perimeter.
“There are more lizards there now than when we blew the place up,” K’hall growled, eyes narrowing.
The reptilians had rapidly moved earth moving equipment into place and were swarming where the mound’s entrance had been, laboring to excavate the entrance to the mound with speed and coordination.
“Avhal,” K’hall said, “try fleet again. I need to speak with whoever is now in charge. If we’re going to breach this nest, we’ll need Triserium C19 canisters.”
Avhal nodded, but his expression was grim.
“Looks like we have hours to kill before they open the entrance. Bext,” K’hall added, “Please help the humans clean up. Adrienne’s arm needs dressing.”
Bext nodded and ushered the girls from the bridge.
“K’hall,” Avhal asked, “once they reopen the entrance, how do you plan to get past so many lizards?”
K’hall’s jaw tightened. “I am not certain yet. Much depends on if they can defeat our high-frequency cloaking. However, if fleet doesn’t respond—and does not deliver the C19—we are out of options.”
Avhal re-checked the comm. “There is still no response. Fleet has been silent for hours.”
K’hall stared at the excavation, his brow furrowed and mumbled. “We do not have a time for this.”
Bext returned with the girls, Adrienne now clad in an Arcturian jumpsuit. K’hall and Avhal exchanged a glance.
K’hall mouth opened to invoke protocol but Bext quickly interjected, “It was the best I could manage. Her garments were damaged, so she will be wearing some of mine.”
“I heard your comment about needing C19,” Bext continued. “What about the plasma compressor salvaged from Ramva19?”
K’hall turned to her. “Explain.”
“If we fully charge the plasma compressor and pull the safety grids without having it connected to the weapons system,” Bext explained, “it will set off a reaction causing the unit to detonate---far more powerful than 50 canisters of C19. Did you not learn that in training?” She smiled.
K’hall’s lips curled into a smile. “That could work. But if the nest is as vast as Kayla has described we will need a second compressor to make sure the entire nest is destroyed. IF we can get inside.”
“I can get us inside,”
Everyone turned. Kayla stood at the entrance to the bridge, eyes blazing.
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You can view Quantum Fold episodes in order from the beginning in her album titled, Quantum Fold:
www.flickr.com/photos/199076397@N02/albums/72177720326169...
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Firstly, a brief note about the song from the internet -
" In a VH1 True Spin special, the The Vapors were asked about this song, and they explained that it is a love song about someone who lost their girlfriend and was going slowly crazy. Lead singer Dave Fenton said: "Turning Japanese is all the clichés about angst and youth and turning into something you didn't expect to." It was inspired by Fenton's relationship problems.
That recognizable opening riff repeated a few places in the song is actually called "the oriental riff". It is often used when a Western song wants to invoke the Far East; other popular examples are Carl Douglas' "Kung Fu Fighting" and Siouxsie and the Banshees' "Hong Kong Garden."
One of the wonderful murals at Stem and Vine Plant Nursery in Brisbane, by Hannagan.
A large jenga-style structure which monkeys sit on or walk greets viewers as the walk into the gallery housing Stephanie Quayle’s installation. Some of her clay monkeys watch us from atop planks of wood, as if waiting our reaction – and subsequent reaction – to their plight. The jenga emits a palpable threat of instability, compounded by Quayle’s use of decaying joists from timber barns and old
wooden beams. As with the game of jenga, it appears the installation could collapse at any moment. Quayle invokes the instability inherent in jenga to highlight the precarious situation human hands have wrought upon wildlife as a result of deforestation and consequence loss of habitat.
"One evening , shortly before I'd have closed it, a hurt bird,
a scald crow, flew through my door. Without thinking, I held
out my hand, palm downwards. She perched on it. She
looked at me. She squawked three times. Then she flew back out, leaving her hurt behind.
I knew I would carry that hurt for the rest of my life."
ENFLAITH
From- "Invoking Ireland" by John Moriarty
Chester Cathedral and Chester Visual Arts present ‘Our Colour Reflection’ by international artist, Liz West. The installation creates a conversation between the viewer and the setting using hundreds of mirrors made of coloured acrylic.
West creates vivid environments that mix luminous colour and radiant light. Working across a variety of mediums, West aims to provoke a heightened sensory awareness in the viewer through her works. She is interested in exploring how sensory phenomena can invoke psychological and physical responses that tap into our own deeply entrenched relationships to colour.
Open Monday to Saturday: 9am – 5pm, Sunday: 11am – 4pm
FREE ENTRY – generous donations welcome
For more information about Chester Cathedral see:
For more information about Liz West see:
#ChesterCulture #ourcolourreflection
East to West Hardknott Pass runs from Eskdale to the Duddon Valley in the Lake District National Park, Cumbria, England. A view into an early morning of a slow Winter dawning.
© PHH Sykes 2024
phhsykes@gmail.com
Hardknott Roman Fort English Heritage
www.english-heritage.org.uk/visit/places/hardknott-roman-...
Hardknott Roman Fort
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hardknott_Roman_Fort
The Fort at River's Bend
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Fort_at_River%27s_Bend
Roman Lake District Audio Guides
English Heritage Audio Guides
soundcloud.com/ehaudio/sets/roman-lake-district-audio-guides
Hardknott mentioned in this Sonnet.
William Wordsworth
From, The River Duddon, A Series Of Sonnets, 1820. Numbered XVII 17
A dark plume fetch me from yon blasted yew,
Perched on whose top the Danish Raven croaks;
Aloft, the imperial Bird of Rome invokes
Departed ages, shedding where he flew
Loose fragments of wild wailing, that bestrew
The clouds and thrill the chambers of the rocks;
And into silence hush the timorous flocks,
That, calmly couching while the nightly dew
Moistened each fleece, beneath the twinkling stars
Slept amid that lone Camp on Hardknot’s height,
Whose Guardians bent the knee to Jove and Mars:
Or, near that mystic Round of Druid frame
Tardily sinking by its proper weight
Deep into patient Earth, from whose smooth breast it came!
Another shot of Venice in the warm late afternoon light. Can't get enough of this beautiful place. So much to shoot, so little time.
The post above is a re-do of the original shot. There was a crane to the left of the domed structure, and a few Flickr friends suggested that it is a little distracting, so I invoked the powers of Houdini to make the crane go away :)
Appreciate all your kind visits and comments, thank you my friends!
There are three pairs of horned grebes that are living out their romance on the lake, building nests and preparing for the pleasures of summer. Then there is one single male who is not at all satisfied with his situation and one cannot avoid hearing his loud complaints. Of course he tries his luck with the females every now and then, invoking wrath and fury resulting in fights and sometimes unprovoked attacks by the other birds. It must be a hard life, I truly feel sorry for him.
Córdoba (Spain).
ENGLISH
Here the Mezquita's Mihrab in all its splendor, indicating the qibla, or direction of prayer for the faithful. This is the crowning jewel of the expansion carried out by the great Caliph Al-Hakam II, during the height of Al-Andalus, the land of the Moors in the Iberian Peninsula.
The Eastern Roman Emperor, or Basileus, Nicephoros Phocas (Nicephorus II) sent Al-Hakam II fine mosaic glass of many colors, some covered with gold leaf, to decorate the new Mihrab of the expanded Great Mosque. A Greek master came to Cordoba to work for several years on the project, training the Caliph's artisans in his craft. In Arabic, this mosaic work was called fusaifisa.
The mihrab had been moved twice previously, as the Mezquita expanded to the south. Columns from the previous mihrab were re-used. Almanzor's later expansion to the east would put this jewel of the Ummayyad Caliphate out of center with the rest of the building, but to demolish it and build a new one was out of the question.
The inscirption in large letters reads: "(Allah) He is the knower of things hidden and manifest. He is the powerful one, he that is full of pity, the living one. There is no other god than him. Invoke him offering him a pure heart. Praised be Allah Lord of the Universe. Blessed be Iman Al-Mostainsir Bil-lah, favored by Allah, and the servant of Allah, Al-Hakam, Prince of Believers. Make him prosper, Allah, for the work of this sacred temple, which exceeds all other memorable constructions in its size, comfort and adornment. And the construction was concluded by his virtue and command. The blessing of Allah be upon Mohammed. And the peace. - The Iman Al-Mostansir Bil-lah, servant of Allah, Prince of Believers (May Allah favor him) commanded his freedman and Hachib Chafar-Ben-Baderraman (mercy on him Allah) carry out the construction of this temple and it was finished with the help of Allah under the supervision of Mohamed-Ben-Tamlih, Ahmed Ben Nasar, Jayd-ben-Haxim of the prefect's guard and of Motharrif."
Nearby, another inscirption reads: "In the name of Allah, the Merciful. Praise to Allah, who guided us to this place; we could not have been guided if it had not been by Allah! For this reason was sent the legate of our Lord with the truth. He commanded the Iman Al-Mostarsin Bil-lah, the servant of Allah, Al-Hakam, Prince of Believers (Allah protect him), his freedman and Hadrib Chafar Ben Abd-al-Rahman (may Allah be pleased with him) to add to these, and this was built with the fear of Allah and with his aid. This was concluded in the moon of Dhu al-Hijjah of the year four and fifty and three hundred." (Hijri calendar: year 354, Justinian: 965 AD).
Source: www.infocordoba.com
More info: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mezquita
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CASTELLANO
Aquí el mihrab de la Mezquita Omeya de Córdoba, indicando el qibla, o dirección hacia donde los fieles dirigen sus oraciones. Esta es la joya de la corona de la expansión llevada a cabo por el Califa Al-Hakam II, durante el esplendor de Al-Andalus, el país de los moros en la Península Ibérica.
El emperador romano de Oriente, o Basileus, Nicéforo Focas (Niceforo II) envió a Al-Hakam II un delicado mosaico de cristal de muchos colores, algunos cubiertos con pan de oro, para decorar el nuevo Mihrab en la expansión de la gran Mezquita. Un experto griego vino a Córdoba para trabajar en el proyecto que se prolongaría durante años, enseñando mientras tanto a los artesanos del califato su oficio. Este trabajo en mosaico es denominado en árabe fusaifisa.
El mihrab se trasladó dos veces en sucesivas expansiones. Se reutilizaron columnas del mihrab anterior. La expansión posterior de Almanzor hacia el este dejó este maravilloso mihrab fuera del eje central del edificio, pero se respetó.
La inscripción en letras doradas dice: "(Allah) Es el conocedor de las cosas ocultas y manifiestas. Él es el poderoso, el lleno de piedad, el vivo. No hay otro Dios sino Él. Invocadle ofreciéndoles un culto puro. Alabado sea Aláh Señor del Universo. Bendido sea el Imán Al-Mostansir Bil-lah, favorecido por Dios, siervo de Aláh, Alhaquem, Príncipe de los Creyentes. Prospérele Aláh, por la obra de este templo santo, que excede a toda otra construcción memorable en la amplitud para la comodidad. Lo que hay sobre ellos y sobre él de adornos. Y se concluó la construcción por su virtud y mandato. La bendición de Aláh sea sobre Mohoma. Y la paz. Mandó el Imán Al-Mostansir Bil-lah, siervo de Aláh, Príncipe de los Creyentes (ensálcele Aláh) a su liberto y Hachib Cháfar-Ben-Abderraman (compadézcale Aláh) disponer la construcción de este templo y se terminó con el auxilio de Aláh bajo la inspección de Mohamed-Ben-Tamlih, Ahmed Ben Nasar, Jayd-ben-Haxim de la guardia del prefecto y de Motharrif."
Otra inscripción cercana dice: "...Terminándose la construcción bajo la dirección de su liberto y Hachib Cháfar-Ben-Abd-al-Rahman... en la luna de Dzu-l-Hicháb del año cuatro y cincuenta y tres cientos." (354 de la Hégira, y 964 de J.C.).
Fuente: www.infocordoba.com
Taken during the visit of the image at our Parish, Archdiocesan Shrine of Our Lady of Lourdes. The image is making parish visits throughout the parishes in the Archdiocese of Cebu in order to encourage people to donate financially for the reconstruction of the Old Oslob Parish Church which was razed to the ground by fire last March 26, 2008 as well as to spread devotion to Our Lady under this advocacy. Plans are already set to recomstruct the Church but they lackfinancial aid and taht they wish that at least during their Fiesta this coming December 8, the church would already have its roof.
The image is said to be miraculous having survived many fires that attacked it, it still remained unscathed. Also at one time when it was stolen, it was miraculously returned by an unknown person and news spread through the town that the thiefs residence was razed to the ground by fire. It also is invoked by the people of Oslob in times of despair and has remained their constant refuge and joy time then and now.
The image is older than the church itself.
click here for the NEWS about the fire.
An oratory to St Roch. Wikipedia tells me he is is especially invoked against the plague and is patron saint of dogs, falsely accused people, bachelors, and "several other things".
beneath the vast blue expanse of the madrid sky, one of the cuatro torres stands tall and imposing. the kpmg building pierces the sky, its reflective glass façade capturing the fleeting shapes of clouds. today, these clouds form ethereal shapes, reminiscent of ghostly figures swirling and dancing around the skyscraper, invoking memories of the spectral apparitions from ghostbusters. the interplay between the sleek, modern structure and the wispy, transient clouds creates a scene where the earthly meets the otherworldly, blending the solidity of human achievement with the ephemeral beauty of nature.
Prayer or worship is considered to be an integral part of the Hindu way of living. The chanting of mantras is the most popular form of worship in Hinduism.
The Hindu devotional Bhakti movements emphasizes repetitive prayer. Stemming from the universal Soul or Brahman, prayer is focused on the personal forms of God, such as Shiva, Vishnu, or Vishnu's avatars, Rama and Krishna.
Before the process of ritual, before the invoking of different deities for the fulfillment of various needs, came the human aspiration to the highest truth, the foundational monism of Hinduism, pertaining ultimately to the one Brahman. Brahman, which summarily can be called the unknowable, true, infinite and blissful Divine Ground, is the source and being of all existence from which the cosmos springs. This is the essence of the Vedic system. The following prayer was part and parcel of all the Vedic ceremonies and continues to be invoked even today in Hindu temples all over India and other countries around the world.
España - Málaga - Teba
ENGLISH
High on a rocky saddle in the mountains east of Ronda, some 15km north of Ardales, the small (pop: 4,000) town of Teba has one of the most extraordinary historical connections of any of Andalucía's pueblos.
Like many of its neighbours - although Teba doesn't have that many neighbours in this wild, semi-agricultural mountain region - Teba has a history stretching back to Roman and Neolithic times. Its true to claim to fame, however, is in the events of 25 August 1330. In the thick of the Reconquest, that year Teba was under siege by the armies of King Alfonso XI of Castilla, determined to take this important strategic site from the occupying Moors.
That day in 1330, Alfonso's forces received unexpected police backup from the army being led to the Crusades by Sir James Douglas, or Black Douglas, a fearsome warrior whose name was invoked against misbehaving children for centuries afterwards. Douglas had helped Robert the Bruce defeat Edward II and the English at Bannockburn in 1314. When Robert the Bruce died in 1329, his heart was cut out and placed in a small silver casket, said to be one of the king's favourites, and was taken by Douglas on his Crusade, ostensibly to give cheer to the soldiers.
En route through Spain, Douglas encountered Alfonso's army, and presented himself and a letter of introduction from then King Edward III. The bloodthirsty Crusader eagerly threw his forces behind those of Alfonso's, and in an attempt to inspire his men into even greater bravery hurled the locket containing Robert the Bruce's heart into the fray, plunging in after it.
The locket was retrieved but, alas, Black Douglas wasn't. The locket was returned to Melrose Abbey, where the new king, David II, son of Robert, wanted it buried. During archaeological investigations in 1996, a small container was found in the alleged site of the burial. It was found to contain a small conical casket about ten inches high by four in diameter at its base, tapering to a flat lid at the top about one and a half inches across. Although worn with age the casket was still in good condition and bore a legible inscription: 'The enclosed leaden casket containing a heart was found beneath Chapter House floor, March 1921, by His Majesty's Office of Works.' The casket containing the heart was not re-opened on this occasion, but buried again during a private ceremony at Melrose Abbey on 22 June 1998.
This was by no means Teba's only unlikely collision with Scottish history. The Moors repelled Alfonso and the unfortunate Black Douglas that year. A later passing Scottish Crusader army, led by the Earl of Selkirk, also engaged Teba's Moorish rulers, leaving behind a one-ton slab of Dumfriesshire marble, which is nowadays a commemorative plaque in the town's central Plaza de España, renamed Plaza de Douglas in the Crusader's honour. Alfonso's force s finally took the town in 1389.
Teba's earlier history is less dramatic. There is evidence of Neolithic settlements here and nearby in the Pilarejoarea and in the Palomas caves. The Romans considered it an important settlement, building the first defensive settlement at the hilltop site they called Attegua but now known as Teba la Vieja (Old Teba). It is said to have been the site of a famous battle between Julius Caesar and Pompey. In the 8th century invading Moors reinforced the Roman site with a walled interior precinct, or bailey, but shortly after the Moorish invasion the settlement was moved below the abandoned castle, and the settlement renamed Ostipo.
In its remote situation, Teba 'sat out' much of post-Reconquest history, perched above vast, dramatic sweeps of largely uninhabited farmland owned by the so-called latifundistas, basically, absentee landlords. Its wealth can be seen in the many mansions and handsome town houses lining its streets.
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ESPAÑOL
Teba es villa y municipio de la provincia de Málaga, en la comunidad autónoma de Andalucía, España. Está situado en el noroeste de la provincia, en la comarca de Guadalteba y dentro del partido judicial de Antequera.4
Su término municipal está atravesado por el río que da nombre a la comarca y ocupa una extensión de 142,95 km² que se extienden sobre un paisaje alomado de campos de cereales y olivar, a una altitud media de 555 msnm. Tiene una población de 4.001 habitantes, según la revisión del padrón municipal de 1 de enero de 2014.
El núcleo urbano de Teba se compone de casas blancas de arquitectura vernácula andaluza y viviendas señoriales y palacetes, presididos por un castillo andalusí y una iglesia barroca del siglo XVIII.5 La economía del municipio se sustenta en la agricultura y la ganadería, especialmente en la cría de porcinos y el cultivo del trigo y el olivo.
Los distintos yacimientos del municipio indican que el territorio de Teba estuvo poblado desde el Paleolítico y que fue un asentamiento íbero, romano y andalusí. Fue incorporado a la Corona de Castilla en 1330 por Alfonso XI, siendo instaurado el Condado de Teba en 1522 cuando la localidad y sus tierras ya estaban dominadas por el clan de los Guzmanes. Durante los siglos XIX y XX Teba destacó entre su entorno por la fuerza con que arraigó el movimiento obrero.
El término municipal de Teba tiene una extensión de 142,95 km². El casco urbano se encuentra situado a una altura de 555 metros sobre el nivel del mar. El terreno es predominantemente montañoso y abarca los cerros de Román y Gordo, que lo separan del municipio de Campillos; el de la Higuera, que limita con Ardales; el de Altamira, junto al límite con Almargen; los de San Cristóbal, la Camorra y el Camorrillo en la denominada Sierra de Teba o de La Camorra, la loma de La Lentejuela en la Sierra del mismo nombre y el de Enmedio en la Sierra de Ortegícar. Las mayores alturas las alcanzan el Cancho de Enmedio con 895 msnm y la Sierra de la Camorra con 750 msnm.
Todo el municipio se encuentra en la cuenca del río Guadalhorce, siendo los ríos principales el río Almargen o de La Venta y el río Guadalteba, el primero afluente del segundo, que a su vez es afluente del Guadalhorce. Los restantes cursos de agua son arroyos de escasa importancia que vierten sus aguas al mencionado río o directamente al Embalse del Guadalteba.
Planet Earth is 4.5 billion years old. Mankind is about 140 thousand years old. If we compress the Earth's existence into a normal full day of 24 hours, then we’ve been on this planet for... 2.5 seconds.
In 2.5 seconds we’ve become the dominant species with a rapidly growing population, causing a catastrophic impact on the environment. We have created the industrial revolution and burned fossil fuels creating more carbon in the atmosphere than ever before. We have caused global warming at a record pace, endangering our own existence. We have cut trees and destroyed forests more than ever before, polluted air, water, and soil. We have created an island of waste, the size of the state of Texas, in the middle of the ocean. We have caused the 4th mass animal extinction. Three-quarters of Earth’s land surface is under pressure from human activity. In just 2.5 seconds we’ve turned the planet into our own personal factory.
It took almost 4.5 billion years of evolution for us to exist and we have changed so much in so little time.
The problem is us. And it is up to us if we want to make it to the 4th second.
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With my project “2.5 seconds” I hope to bring awareness about climate change, to start a conversation about the issue and to educate more people about the facts, the urgency of the crisis and the seriousness of its consequences. The project is a series of photographs that highlight the environmental crisis through metaphors and symbolism. Each one of them illustrates and represents a specific environmental issue using allegorical figures and subjects, props, costumes and natural landscapes.
I used “2.5 seconds” as a title because I wanted to invoke the power of numbers and perspective to create a strong, straightforward and shocking effect.
It all started with an idea I had almost 3 years ago. I have always loved nature, and have been both amazed and captivated by our planet’s beauty. I've traveled to many places before, but none of them could compare to what I felt and saw in Iceland. Visiting Iceland for the first time had a great impact on me and made me realize that our planet is fragile and its beauty may disappear. The thought that nature is being affected and destroyed by the changing climate became personal, shocking and upsetting. I wanted to capture and preserve Iceland's incredible beauty through my art while I still can.
The pressure from human activity is having a catastrophic impact on the environment that endangers our own existence. But I feel like ecology problems that are threatening our environment and affecting everyone on the planet do not get enough media attention.
I am using photography as my unique voice to express how I feel and share my fear for the future. I want to bring more meaning to my work and create a strong message for all the people out there. I hope my art will be louder and clearer than words.
The time to act is now.
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Poster:
Locandina:
m.media-amazon.com/images/I/81jc866255L._AC_SX679_.jpg
pad.mymovies.it/filmclub/2006/06/239/coverlg.jpg
m.media-amazon.com/images/I/61X-PuyzEqL._AC_UF894,1000_QL...
minimaleffort.home.blog/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/city-o...
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click to activate the small icon of slideshow: the small triangle inscribed in the small rectangle, at the top right, in the photostream (it means the monitor);
or…. Press the “L” button to zoom in the image;
clicca sulla piccola icona per attivare lo slideshow: sulla facciata principale del photostream, in alto a destra c'è un piccolo rettangolo (rappresenta il monitor) con dentro un piccolo triangolo nero;
oppure…. premi il tasto “L” per ingrandire l'immagine;
www.fotografidigitali.it/gallery/2726/opere-italiane-segn...
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What I present here on Flickr is a photographic account of the festival held every year in Palazzolo Acreide (Syracuse) in honor of Saint Michael the Archangel. This year the festival was celebrated on October 5th. The cult of Saint Michael the Archangel in Palazzolo Acreide seems to date back to the Arab-Norman period of Sicily (in Sicily, that period from the Arab conquest, 827 AD, which took it from the Byzantines, until the complete domination of the Normans, around 1194 AD). This is an era in which Sicily became a "container" of the most diverse cultures, Byzantine, Arab, Latin, Norman, thus creating a cultural, artistic and scientific synthesis: in this period, Christians invoked the "fighting" Archangel so that He could help them drive the Saracens from ancient Palazzolo (Palatiolum). On the eve of the liturgical feast (28 September), the “sciuta ra cammina” takes place, or what in other Sicilian feasts is called “la svelata” (the unveiled). The curtain covering the statue of the Archangel, placed in a “small room” above the main altar, is opened. Remaining behind the curtain, it is blocked from view for almost the entire year. The statue, now exposed for the adoration of the faithful, is moved forward a little (“sciuta ra cammina”, or “la svelata – the exit that walks” referring to the statue, which is carried forward). On the day of the big celebration, at 11:00 a.m., there will be a "hot air balloon launch." The organizers explained to me that the hot air balloons are made entirely of paper. The writing is also made with paper letters that are then glued together. The hot air produced beneath the balloons will make them fly. This year, the writing was in tune with the echo of the "People of Peace" movement, which hopes for an end to the war in Ukraine, waged by Russia, and for an end to Israeli oppression of the Palestinian people. At 1:00 pm the “sciuta” takes place, or the “exit” of the float with the statue of the Saint on it, carried on the shoulders of the devout bearers, to begin the procession. At that eagerly awaited moment, the fireworks are set off simultaneously, as are the “nzareddi” (long ribbons of colored paper, along with large confetti (the same ones seen during the exit of San Paolo, for his feast day, always in Palazzolo A.), the faithful explode in displays of jubilation, with their arms stretched high and invoking San Michele in a loud voice (this seems contagious to me, I too felt the need to raise my arms to the sky invoking San Michele, despite the photographic equipment….:o))…), the festive music of the marching band. Thus begins the procession toward the neighboring neighborhoods. The float is carried bare-shouldered by devout bearers. Long banners proceed at the front of the procession. Many devout women walk barefoot. Many children, both boys and girls, are lifted up and shown to the Archangel to ask for his spiritual intercession to protect them from evil. In thanksgiving, donations of banknotes or gold jewelry are made. Some typical curiosities of this celebration include: the statue of Saint Michael wears a breastplate made from gold from votive offerings donated over the centuries. It was later decided to melt them down and create his "gold-colored" breastplate. The statue of the Archangel, unlike what is seen in other Sicilian celebrations (usually from the "camera" located on the main altar, the saint, or saints, is made to descend by sliding on two tracks to reach the float, placed in front of the altar), here in Palazzolo A., instead, the simulacrum of the Archangel descends with a special ancient "elevator", placed under the small room, then behind the main altar, then lovingly carried in arms up to the float; on the shield of the Archangel, in the church that bears his name, on the T-shirts of the devotees, and on those of the boys and girls exposed to the Archangel, one reads "Quis ut Deus", it is the Latin translation of the name Michael (in Hebrew Mîkhā’ēl), which means “Who is like God?”, this expression is traditionally attributed to Saint Michael the Archangel, leader of the celestial armies, because, according to Christian tradition, it was the cry he uttered when he rebelled against Satan and his angels during the battle in heaven, affirming both the supremacy and uniqueness of God, and his devotion and loyalty towards the divine.
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Questo che presento qui su Flickr, è un racconto fotografico della festa che si tiene ogni anno a Palazzolo Acreide (Siracusa) in onore di San Michele Arcangelo, quest’anno la festa è stata celebrata il 5 ottobre. Il culto per San Michele Arcangelo a Palazzolo Acreide, sembra risalga al periodo arabo-normanno della Sicilia (in Sicilia quel periodo che va dalla conquista araba, 827 d.C, che la sottrae ai Bizantini, fino al completo dominio dei Normanni, circa 1194 d.C.), questa è un’epoca nella quale la Sicilia diviene un “contenitore” di culture le più diverse, bizantina, araba, latina, normanna, realizzandosi in tal modo una sintesi culturale, artistica e scientifica: in questo periodo i Cristiani invocano l’Arcangelo “che combatte” affinchè Egli li possa aiutare a scacciare i Saraceni dall’antica Palazzolo (Palatiolum). Il giorno della vigilia della festa liturgica (28 settembre), si ha la “sciuta ra cammina”, ovvero quella che in altre feste siciliana si chiama “la svelata”, si apre la tenda che copre la statua dell’Arcangelo, posta in una “cameretta” posta sopra l’altare maggiore, restando dietro la tenda viene preclusa alla vista per quasi tutto l’anno, la statua esposta ora all’adorazione dei fedeli, viene fatta avanzare di poco (“sciuta ra cammina”, ovvero “la svelata-l’uscita che cammina” riferita alla statua, che viene portata in avanti). Il giorno della grande festa alle ore 11:00 c’è la manifestazione del “lancio delle mongolfiere”, gli organizzatori mi hanno spiegato che le mongolfiere sono realizzate completamente con la carta, le scritte sono fatte anch’esse con lettere di carta poi incollate, l’aria calda prodotta sotto tali mongolfiere le farà volare: quest’anno le scritte erano in sintonia con quella eco del “Popolo della Pace” che spera nella fine della guerra in Ucraina ad opera della Russia, e nella fine della oppressione Israeliana verso il popolo Palestinese. Alle ore 13:00 avviene la “sciuta”, ovvero “l’uscita” della vara con sopra il simulacro del Santo, portato in spalla dai devoti portatori, per iniziare la processione, in quel momento, attesissimo, avviene in contemporanea lo sparo dei fuochi d’artificio, lo sparo degli “nzareddi” (sono lunghi nastri di carta colorata, insieme a grossi coriandoli (gli stessi si assistono durante l’uscita di San Paolo, per la sua festa, sempre a Palazzolo A.), i fedeli esplodono in manifestazioni di esultanza, con le braccia protese in alto ed invocando San Michele a gran voce (cosa questa che a me sembra contagiosa, anch’io ho sentito il bisogno di alzare le braccia al cielo invocando San Michele, nonostante l’attrezzatura fotografica….:o))…), la musica festosa della banda musicale. Inizia così la processione verso i quartieri vicini, la vara viene portata con la “spalla nuda” dai devoti portatori, lunghi stendardi procedono davanti nella processione, molte donne devote camminano a piedi scalzi, molti bimbi o bimbe, vengono alzati e mostrati all’Arcangelo, per chiedere la sua intercessione spirituale per essere protetti dal male, in ringraziamento ci sono donazioni di bancanote o monili d’oro. Alcune curiosità tipiche di questa festa sono: la statua di San Michele ha una corazza realizzata con l’oro proveniente dagli Ex Voto donati nei trascorsi secoli, poi si decise di fonderli e realizzare la sua corazza “color oro”; la statua dell’Arcangelo a differenza di ciò che si vede in altre feste siciliane (in genere dalla “cameretta” che si trova sull’altare maggiore, il santo, o più santi, viene fatto scendere scorrendo su due binari per giungere sulla vara, posta davanti l’altare), qui a Palazzolo A., invece il simulacro dell’Arcangelo scende con un particolare antico “ascensore”, posto sotto la cameretta, quindi dietro l’altare maggiore, poi portato amorevolmente in braccio fin sopra la vara; sullo scudo dell’Arcangelo, nella chiesa che porta il suo nome, sulle magliette dei devoti, su quelle dei bimbi e bimbe esposte all’Arcangelo, si legge “Quis ut Deus”, è la traduzione in latino del nome Michele (in ebraico Mîkhā’ēl), che appunto significa “Chi è come Dio?”, questa espressione è tradizionalmente attribuita a San Michele Arcangelo, capo delle milizie celesti, perché, secondo la tradizione cristiana, fu il grido che egli pronunciò quando si ribellò a Satana e ai suoi angeli durante la battaglia in cielo, affermando e la supremazia e unicità di Dio, e la sua devozione e lealtà verso il divino. .
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This photographic story was made on the occasion of the "Laurel and Sacred Oils feast" which took place this year 2022 on Easter Monday in the Sicilian town of Forza D'Agrò (in the province of Messina), after a long stop due to the Covid-19 pandemic; this is a traditional event that has taken place for centuries with changes that have come about over the years, in fact once the population of Forza D'Agrò went in procession to the Norman monastery of Saints Peter and Paul where the Holy Oils were kept: this church is located in the village of Casalvecchio Siculo (Forza D'Agrò and Casalvecchio Siculo are located on two mountains, the two villages are visible to each other, since in ancient times this represented a very fast means to be able to communicate visually between them, in case of raids by Saracen pirates), this church was built by the Normans, it was originally located on the opposite side of where it is now located, this is because a flood of the Agrò river had endangered this structure, which had also been sacked by the Arabs, it was decided to secure it, it was completely dismantled, and then rebuilt, on the opposite side and further up from the river bed); the feast then took place when Roger II, called the Norman, granted the abbot Cerasino the possibility of rebuilding this abbey (diploma of donation of 1117), but not only ... the monks of this abbey were, again by Roger II, equipped with some fixed income, and even the complete ownership of an entire village, the current Forza D'Agrò, was given to them, with absolute power of the monks over the things and people of the village. Then, the Sacred Oils were brought from this Abbey to the church of San Michele Arcangelo (today a ruin) which is located in a district of Forza D'Agrò, with the population who used to adorn themselves for this procession with colored silk ribbons, to which over time, laurel branches were added, also carried by devotees in procession. The festival is essentially based on three strongly symbolic elements, the laurel, the Holy Oil, and the "cuddure". "The laurel" represents the "victory of Christ over Death", in fact the festival takes place on the "Day of the Angel, during the Easter period", a day that recalls that the Resurrection of Christ took place; laurel is a strongly symbolic and fragrant plant, it is used in this context, for elaborate compositions that adorn "the banners", they can be small because they are made by children, up to very large and high (difficult to hold up when there is wind due to the strong "sail effect" they cause), are made with load-bearing structures made of cane or wood, which serve to hold the fabrics on which they are sewn one by one, laurel leaves, creating drawings of a religious nature, banners that participate in a competition for the best realization (each banner in fact carries a number, as a reference for the voting jury); "Holy Oil", an element used for anointing the sick and invoking their healing, represents "redemption from sin" and "spiritual healing", is carried in procession, also a symbol of the Holy Spirit who embraces the body and soul of man and that refers to Christ, "the Anointed"; finally "the cuddure" (they are small circular loaves, with naturally leavened intertwined and dough, on which a symbol is imprinted), and they symbolize "prosperity", but also "charity", and that is why the brothers of the SS. Trinity distribute them to the people present at the feast as a sign of gift. This year, however, due to the restrictions of Covid-19, the "cuddure" did not take place, the "blessing of the Holy Oils" was performed in the Mother Church, and not in the characteristic square in the center of the town , while the procession was made along a short route, and not along the traditional route which, after having crossed the center of the town, then circumscribes it along its entire periphery. As explained above, this festival is also called "'a festa d'u d'auru" (the laurel feast), or "' the feast of cudduredde" (the feast of small donut-shaped loaves); the "banners awarding" will close this characteristic feast, to the great joy of all those who participated.
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Questo racconto fotografico, è stato realizzato in occasione della “festa dell’Alloro e degli Oli Sacri” che si è svolta quest’anno 2022 il giorno del Lunedì dell’Angelo nel paese siciliano di Forza D’Agrò (in provincia di Messina), dopo un lungo stop a causa della pandemia da Covid-19; è questo un evento tradizionale che si svolge da secoli con delle modifiche che sono venute a crearsi negli anni, infatti un tempo la popolazione di Forza D’Agrò andava in processione fino al monastero normanno dei Santi Pietro e Paolo ove erano custoditi gli Oli Santi: tale chiesa si trova nel paese di Casalvecchio Siculo (Forza D’Agrò e Casalvecchio Siculo si trovano su due monti, i due paesi sono visibili l’un l’altro, poiché anticamente questo rappresentava un mezzo rapidissimo per poter comunicare visivamente tra loro, in caso di scorribande di pirati saraceni), tale chiesa fu costruita dai Normanni, essa originariamente si trovava sul versante opposto rispetto a dove è situata ora, questo perchè una piena del fiume d’Agrò aveva messo in pericolo tale struttura, ma essa era anche stata saccheggiata dagli Arabi, si decise così di metterla in sicurezza, fu smontata completamente, per poi essere riedificata, sul versante opposto e più distante in alto rispetto al letto del fiume); la festa quindi ebbe luogo quando Ruggero II, detto il Normanno, concesse all’abate Cerasino la possibilità di riedificare tale abazia (diploma di donazione del 1117), ma non solo…i monaci di tale abazia furono, sempre da Ruggero II, dotati di alcuni redditi fissi, ed addirittura venne data a loro la completa proprietà di un intero villaggio, l’attuale Forza D’Agrò, con assoluto potere dei monaci su cose e persone del villaggio. Quindi, gli Oli Sacri venivano portati da tale Abazia alla chiesa di San Michele Arcangelo (oggi un rudere) che si trova in una contrada di Forza D’Agrò, con la popolazione che anticamente usava adornarsi per tale processione con nastri di seta colorati, ai quali col tempo, sono andati ad aggiungersi i rami di alloro, portati anche questi dai devoti in processione. La festa si basa essenzialmente su tre elementi fortemente simbolici, l’alloro, l’Olio Santo, e le “cuddure”. “L’alloro” rappresenta la “vittoria del Cristo sulla Morte”, infatti la festa si svolge il “Giorno dell’Angelo” durante il periodo Pasquale, giorno che rievoca che è avvenuta la Resurrezione del Cristo; l’alloro è una pianta fortemente simbolica e profumata, essa viene utilizzata in questo contesto, per elaborate composizioni che adornano “gli stendardi”, i quali sono dei drappi-vessilli, possono essere di piccole dimensioni perché realizzati dai bambini, fino a molto grandi ed alti (difficili da reggere quando c’è vento per il forte “effetto vela” che essi causano), sono realizzati con delle strutture portanti fatte di canna o di legno, che servono a reggere le stoffe sulle quali vengono cucite una ad una, le foglie di alloro, realizzando dei disegni di carattere religioso, stendardi che partecipano ad una gara per la migliore realizzazione (ogni stendardo infatti porta un numero, come riferimento per la giuria votante); “l’Olio Santo” è un elemento usato per l’unzione dei malati ed invocarne la guarigione, rappresenta la “redenzione dal peccato” e la “guarigione spirituale”, viene portato in processione (insieme a delle foglie di alloro), anch’esso simbolo dello Spirito Santo che abbraccia corpo ed anima dell’uomo e che rimanda a Cristo, “l’Unto”; infine “le cuddure” (sono dei piccoli pani di forma circolare, con la pasta lievitata naturalmente ed intrecciata, su cui è impresso un simbolo), esse simboleggiano la “prosperità”, ma anche la “carità”, è per questo che i confrati della SS. Trinità li distribuiscono alle persone presenti alla festa in segno di dono. Quest’anno però, a causa delle restrizioni causate dal Covid-19, le “cuddure” non si sono fatte, la “benedizione degli Oli Santi” è stata eseguita nella Chiesa Madre, e non nella caratteristica piazza che si trova nel centro del paese, mentre la processione è stata fatta lungo un breve percorso, e non lungo il percorso tradizionale, molto più lungo, che dopo aver attraversato il centro del paese, poi lo circoscrive lungo tutta la sua periferia. Per quanto esposto prima, tale festa viene chiamata anche "a’ festa d'u d'auru" (la festa dell'alloro), oppure "a’ festa di cudduredde" (la festa dei piccoli pani a forma di ciambella); la "premiazione degli stendardi" chiude questa caratteristica festa, tra la grandissima gioia di tutti coloro che vi hanno partecipato.
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Festa dell'Alloro 2015 Forza d'Agrò
Forza D'Agrò (Me) - La tradizionale "Festa dell'Alloro"
La festa dell'alloro di Ferza d'Agrò
FORZA D'AGRO' - Festa dell'Alloro - 28 Marzo 2016
Festa dell'alloro e della cuddura a Forza D'Agrò
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OH MIO DIO Trailer della commedia di Giorgio Amato
OH MIO DIO | Intervista al regista Giorgio Amato
LE TESTIMONIANZE DI CHI HA SENTITO PARLARE GESU'
Oh mio dio marzullo Giorgio amato
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This photograph was taken in Kanazawa Castle Park Gyokusen’inmaru garden during our recent visit to Japan.
The camera on tripod was placed adjacent to the Gyokusen’an Rest House, looking towards the garden and stone walls during the light-up sequence. The lighting sequence, with music, invoked the garden at sunset, evening or moon gazing. The colours of the lights and projections on stone walls changed during the sequence, resulting in captivating scenes.
The still water in the small ponds provided mirror-like reflections to the trees and other structures.