Poem.

Gouged.

Chiselled.

Fallen slabs of earth.

Folds of rock, soil and green mantle,

lie prostrate,

like a pile of giant dominoes.

Cliffs.

Edges.

Precipices.

Rock-faces and

spires of stone,

proliferate this dream landscape,

gravity-driven, and ancient.

As Geomorphologists do,

I have seen many, many landscapes.

This one is unique.

It is mystical

and almost……

beyond belief!

Found prostrate in Victoria Park this morning. I have mourned their passing with appropriate use of austere monochrome and heavy vignetting, while they wing their way to cloth heaven.

Sr Santo Ninyo de Cebu

SANTO NIÑO PRAYER

O miraculous Santo Niño. We prostrate

before Your sacred image we beseech You

to cast a merciful look on our troubled hearts.

Let your tender love, so inclined to pity,

be softened at our prayers,

and grant us that grace for

which we ardently implore You.

Take from us all unbearable affliction and despair.

For your sacred infancy’s sake

hear our prayers and send us Your consolation

and aid that we may praise You,

with the Father and the Holy Spirit,

forever and ever. Amen

The tiny 3mm flies visit our prostrate Seaside daisies in the garden. The centre of the flowers is 5mm.

They are very pretty with their Black bodies, orange eyes and large white wings.

We also see different species of these on plants in the bushland.

Photo: Jean

Great Crested Grebes at Stover. When the male swam up to the nest the female prostrated herself and he accepted the invitation

In their natural habitat, these aloes have long, prostrate, branching stems of up to 2 meters. Instead of growing upright, they tend to sprawl along the ground and over rocks. While most of the plant lies along the ground, the terminal leaf-bearing head is often erect, facing upwards to the sun. The leaf margins are armed with harmless, little white teeth.

a prostrate variety

GBRf's Prostrate Cancer UK liveried 66769 'League Managers Association' backs the 6F01 07:51 Doncaster Down Decoy GBRf to Wellingborough UP TC GBRf into its destination.

most likely Hibbertia vestita

Prostrate shrub to 30 cm

Common Name: Hairy Guinea Flower, Little Rocker,

North Coast Regional Botanic Garden, Coffs Harbour

NSW Australia

And to God prostrates whoever is within the heavens and the earth, willingly or by compulsion, and their shadows [as well] in the mornings and the afternoons.

DSC_2350 - 368 - N1 OXF - Volvo B5LH/Wright Eclipse Gemini 2 - Oxford Bus Company (OPCSG - 'Problem With You Waterworks? Get Checked!') - Oxford, St Aldates 11/01/19

Large Hibbertia

This is a large yellow flowering prostrate Hibbertia. It flowers in Jul to Nov. Gravel soils.

Photo: 21 Sep 2013

Location: Masjid as-salam, Taman Puchong Perdana,Selangor, Malaysia.

بِسمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحمٰنِ الرَّحيمِ

يٰأَيُّهَا الَّذينَ ءامَنُوا اركَعوا وَاسجُدوا وَاعبُدوا رَبَّكُم وَافعَلُوا الخَيرَ لَعَلَّكُم تُفلِحونَ ۩

In the Name of Allâh, the Most Beneficent, the Most Merciful.

"O you who have believed! Bow down, and prostrate yourselves, and worship your Lord and do good that you may be successful." Surah [22] al-hajj, ayat [77]

بِسمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحمٰنِ الرَّحيمِ

خُذِ العَفوَ وَأمُر بِالعُرفِ وَأَعرِض عَنِ الجٰهِلينَ

In the Name of Allâh, the Most Beneficent, the Most Merciful.

"Show forgiveness, enjoin what is good, and turn away from the foolish (i.e. don't punish them)." Surah [7] al-araaf, ayat [199]

بِسمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحمٰنِ الرَّحيمِ

وَمِنَ النّاسِ مَن يَعبُدُ اللَّهَ عَلىٰ حَرفٍ ۖ فَإِن أَصابَهُ خَيرٌ اطمَأَنَّ بِهِ ۖ وَإِن أَصابَتهُ فِتنَةٌ انقَلَبَ عَلىٰ وَجهِهِ خَسِرَ الدُّنيا وَالءاخِرَةَ ۚ ذٰلِكَ هُوَ الخُسرانُ المُبينُ

In the Name of Allâh, the Most Beneficent, the Most Merciful.

"And among mankind is he who worships Allâh as it were, upon the edge (i.e. in doubt); if good befalls him, he is content therewith; but if a trial befalls him, he turns back on his face (i.e. reverts back to disbelief after embracing Islâm). He loses both this world and the Hereafter. That is the evident loss." Surah [22], al-hajj, ayat [11]

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সাবধানবাণী: বাণিজ্যিক উদ্দেশ্যে এই সাইটের কোন ছবি ব্যবহার করা

সম্পূর্ণভাবে নিষিদ্ধ এবং কপিরাইট আইনে দণ্ডনীয় অপরাধ।

© All Rights Reserved

Please seek my consent to publish it anywhere.

:::::::::::::: [RAZU] ::::::::::::::

jakirrazu@hotmail.com

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I have only seen the shield sundew (Drosera peltata) in one spot in Manly Dam. This is an upright version of the more common prostrate sundew, and is seen here backlit by the winter sun.

Lhasa, Tibet. Fuji TX-1, Fujinon 45mm f4, Fuji Provia 100F

Prostrate Cancer UK,66769"Paul Taylor-Our Inspiration" passes Worting Junction on 14/April/25 working 6Y42 14.13 Hoo Junction to Eastleigh engineers,with Gbs 69014 "EMD Longport" and Colas 66849"Wylam Dilly" DIT

Prostrate perennial with hairy stems rooting at nodes. Flowers white or pink with a yellowish throat appear December to March.

Growing in large matted clumps on the steep slope of a hanging swamp regenerating after fire, and spreading into the more gently sloping reedy swamp area below. Upper Blue Mountains.

Described by Fairley & Moore as 'rare' in the Sydney region.

Habit: flic.kr/p/2kT1HNZ

Photographed in Southwestern Australia in September and October 2019

Prostrate decumbent shrub to 18 cm high, c. 10 stamens on one side of two villous carpels, staminodes on both sides of carpels. Flowers yellow.

prostrate form

New "Prostrate Cancer UK" livery on 66769.

11.50 Southampton Western Docks to East Midlands Gateway.

With my body, speech, and mind, humbly I prostrate.

I make offerings both set out and imagined.

I declare every unwholesome action I have ever committed.

I rejoice in the virtues of all beings.

Please stay until samsara ends,

And please turn the Wheel of Dharma for us.

I dedicate all these virtues to the great Enlightenment

Prostrate Kowhai flowers from the arboretum at Nga Manu Nature Reserve.

My best guess on this cute red-flowered pea is Prostrate Flame Pea (Chorizema rhombeum), also called Scarlet Flame Pea. Mount Burnett Walk Trail in Mount Frankland South National Park, Western Australia.

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***** Selected for sale in the GETTY IMAGES COLLECTION on April 2nd 2015

CREATIVE RF gty.im/546283235 MOMENT OPEN COLLECTION**

This photograph became my 420th to be selected by Getty Images for inclusion in their Moment collection, and I am verfy grateful to them for this amazing opportunity.

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THE OUTSIDER (PART FIVE)

WHEN THE BULLET HITS THE BONE

.

I guess you're feelin' mighty confused right now. In your search for answers, you hope to rationalise my actions and try to understand my motivation for the life I have led. But you simply cannot. You want me to spout lies and spurious tales of childhood neglect and abuse which cast a dark shadow on a young boy's mind and led him into temptation and evil thoughts and deeds. You are horrified by the very thought of my callous disregard for the lives of those I have slaughtered, snuffed out like candles in the dead of night, caring little for the legacy of sorrow taht I leave behind in my wake. And in return, I expect of you some form of sympathy, understanding for the pain I now feel and the actions I take. And yet, you are strangely intrigued by my story. You hate me for what I am, what have done, for the stories that I now relay to you, but you are drawn deeper into the realms of my vendetta. Don't beat yourself up about it none. You're as human as the townsfolk, men, women and chillen who feel the desire to run out into the dusty streets and eye over the bodies of those I've just killed, still shakin' and tremblin' as the sound of the bullets bounce off the wooden planks of the towns buildings, lying prostrate and still warm as nerves twitch and eyes fade to a misty white, and I make my exit.

And if you're searching for remorse, you won't find it here. Absolution is sought by those who place some semblance of belief and trust in the words of the good book and the false idols they prey to. My Elizabeth had a belief of sorts, a soul so honest and true that it could make me weep, and she saw good in people and situations that I could never see. For all the good it did her. Putting faith into the wooden cross beside our bed, paying homage through the metal pendent around her pretty neck was enough to raise my dislike, though the tears which cascaded down her soft pink cheeks whenever the matter arose was enough to keep me from venturing there too frequently. And me? I prey at no man's feet, destiny and fate my only companions, survival my only prayer. I tie Wa Ka Liva's reigns loosely to the post outside of the barber shot, windows shuttered with wood and fearful eyes peeking through the gaps in the slats as I walk slowly by. It ain't no day for have a go hero's nor those who talk a better fight than have in'em, today the town will swell with the barbarity of professional killers waiting in the shadows to stake a claim in history and reap the fat rewards for their part in my downfall. By now, legend precedes me and the lure of fame and fortune has anyone with a kill to their name lining up to take a shot at me.

Peripheral vision honed and sharp, I see movement from two shadowy figures up ahead as my eyes try to adjust to the blinding light from the merciless sun which dances across my face like sidewinder snakes in the desert sand. No beer induced stumbling from fools, no jovial banter, these hoodlums mean to mess me up for Steed and Hurst to finish off. What plans are afoot, what cunning strategies have the sons of bitches thought up for my demise? I'm walking with a purpose, striding with arrogance as the young bucks approach me, the first one twenty two maybe, thick set, single holster and shiny steel that glints in the light, a head full'a notions but lacking the balls to see them through. The second man is thicker set, head and neck formed as one, flexing muscles and fingers poised for action, two hundred and twenty pounds of solid untamed aggression and a world full'a ambition all rolled into a walking nightmare. A fighter's nose, previously broken, and oversized ears hanging like Canyon bat wings from the rim of his hat. He's hungry for my blood and will fall this day through the impetuous nature of his unskilled hands.

I walk on by, straight past them. I'm guessing that they are considerin' me taller than expected and meaner than hoped as the reality of fear and doubt meets head on with the bravado of bar room brag and expectation. I have a notion to kill'em right there and then, but a mind to tease and taunt their plans. Ya know what, Let's play out this scene to it's natural conclusion. I'm in the mood for some fun as testosterone covets the air, and I have the scent of the kill, a wanton blood-lust that must be sated. I stop and turn back towards the pair. The stocky guy is arched up against a shuttered shop front, as I move back and eye the first man up. My ears prick up at the sound of the blade as it exits the first man's hand, aimed true and dead straight, right at my chest. Ya know, I've gotta hand it to these guy's, they are playin' for keeps, a little amateurish perhaps, but entertaining. With a casual movement, I sidestep the whirling blade which finds a home embedded deep into the door of the saloon . The stocky man snarls, revealing a missing couple of teeth and rot that has spread like a cancer through those that steadfastly refuse to flee. At this point I'm guessing that heart rates are increasing, blood pressure rising if the beads of perspiration cascading down the shorter guy's face are anything to go by. My pulse, by contrast, slows and evens, as then world through my eyes slips into black and white, focus concentrated, every nerve and fibre of my body rising to the job in hand.

The contemplation of the kill is let down by the brevity of the act itself. Ears detecting the footsteps of two more men fast approaching from behind, my brain calculates the options, the scenario playing out as, spinning on my heels, the steel grey form glistens as a lightening quick reflex pulls a barrel up and round. Left hand up under right arm, right thumb cocking the first hammer as the bullet chambers and fires in a single action. Pupils dilate and shock registers on Hurst's dark and soulless eyes, too slow to comprehend my actions whilst facing the canon fodder sent to distract me. It was a mighty fine plan my friend, for one with so few brain cells as you, but you failed to take into account the anger that's driving me, the adrenalin that's coursing through these veins, and the will I harbour to survive this onslaught. Hurst falls heavily, life snuffed out before muscles have become acquainted with the dusty floor. Disbelief registered suitably in a pained expression as hot metal crushes splintered and fragmenting bone, and a pitiful yelp exits his normally vocal mouth. The poor fella never even saw it coming. Single slug, between the eyes, dead centre. Way to go fella. Not bad for an ex-gun slinger who's a little outta practice and rusty around the edges.

Steed is baring down on me, angrier than a raging bull, and twice as ugly. If this lump of blind rage gets a hold of me, I'm dead meat for sure, as my left hand swings a degree or two and a second bullet loosens itself from the barrel, a twisting, spinning mass of fatal beauty destined for Steeds skull. I could almost feel sorry for him, though unsurprisingly, on this occasion I do not. The second round powers through Steeds left eye socket, like a hammer through a peach, exiting into the wall behind and reverberating in the afternoon sun, as a mosaic of blood spatters the ground better than any painting I've ever seen before. His body is still at full pelt when the force of the impact thrusts him into the air, like running into a wall of steel, limbs flailing, as he hits the ground with a resounding thud. Two down, two to go, as I spin around, holsterin my right side gun, hand rapidly acquainted with the coolness of my blade, which is despatched quicker than the stocky guy can react, embedding itself deep into his throat as he cups the hilt with both hands, choking as the blood gushes from the fatal wound and he drops onto his knees scratchin' at the air as his last breaths pass him by. Left hand still full'a steel, my index finger kisses the trigger which has been machined and polished to my exacting standards, as light as a feather, as eager as a rampant buck. A shot rings out as I fell the remaining fool, who shakes like a tree in the winds and pisses his pants as he pleads momentarily, bleeding and crawling like a stuck pig. Sorry fella, I ain't the forgiving type. Raised barrel, cocked hammer, conscience clear, I finish him with a round to the brain. Two would have been fun, but I can't afford the luxury of wasted ammo today.

Blood and tissue matter from Steeds worthless carcass have spattered across the leather of my boots, sizzling under the hot sun. Now that seriously crosses a line! Wait a moment, was that a twitch, a groan from Steed? Still alive, or merely the death rattle as his final breath exits that offensive flesh? Never one to miss an opportunity for payback, figuring its better safe than sorry, I empty two more shells into him, his body rising and falling under the impact with a finality that signals my job here is done. Gasps from behind shuttered windows resound as the dust settles and silence falls like a veil of mist across a naked valley. I empty his pistol and gratefully take charge of his shells which will serve me well. A man's gotta take provisions wherever he can in these lands. I walk back to my horse and saddle up. The warmth of my guns pulsate through to my flesh and the delicious and intoxicating smell of cordite fills my nostrils as I mount up and slowly leave the town. I was born to this life and I pity those about to feel my wrath.

From the corner of my eye I see a figure emerging from one of the doorways, and instinctively swivel, hand and pistol joined in perfect union in the blink of an eye with the barrel aimed straight for the kill, hammer cocked, finger itching to pull down another sorry son of a bitch who fancies takin' a pot shot at me and my quest. I stop in my tracks as my eyes fall upon the town sheriff. Fatter than a cow at slaughter, fear etched across his flushed pink skin and grey moustache that was so carefully waxed this very morning, he removes his hat, placing it across his chest, nodding in my direction in a form of submissive gesture that tells me he's seen it all and will be raising no objections to my departure from his town soon as. I guess he'd hoped for a different outcome to the one that has played out, but beggars can't be choosers and I ain't met a man yet who wouldn't sell his soul to the devil himself for the chance to continue living and breathing.

A bullet in the back is the one that every gun slinger fears, after all, where's the honour in that tale when told around a camp fire full of eager minds and hungry hearts. There are a few legends of the Wild West that didn'y quite end as the story tellers write in their fancy papers and books. Today won't be my last on this beautiful land, though it's coming soon enough. And will my legend be told to future generations who view me with a mixture of respect and ridicule? Will I be hailed a great hero or reviled as a worthless piece of shit? Do you really expect me to give a damn?

.

Written January 3rd 2010/Rewritten April 5th 2011

Photograph taken in an open field near Sparwood, on the borders of Alberta and BC, Canada on April 16th 2010.

Nikon D90 10mm 1/320s f/10.0 iso200

Tamron 10-24mm f/3.5-4.5 Di II. UV filter. MetaGPS geotag.

Latitude: 49 43\'36.276"N

Longitude: 113 24\'30.24"W

When defenses against the most immediate forms of mental disturbance have been raised, the assimilation of the principles of "right conduct" arouses in the mind an "intimate, unalloyed joy" joined with the stability and sureness of one who feels himself in a state of "justice." For which we are given the simile of a lawfully crowned king who knows that his enemies are routed and that there is no threat of any kind to his sovereignty. We have also acquired the strengthened "neutrality" or "sidereality" of the mind that, thanks to the fourfold contemplation, has further freed itself and is now at the center of all its experience, both internal and external. At this point we undertake the really cathartic action whose aim is to neutralize, by degrees, any possibility of "combustion" and of self-abandonment to the multiple variety of "contacts."

Contacts wound; contacts consume by exciting the fire that burns the body and the mind, which nourishes the samsaric stem and prostrates the higher principle. "The fool, struck by force, perishes; the wise man, when struck, does not tremble," he remains intact, remains unshakable, remains elusive; we must become like the wise man. It is a question, then, of dealing a blow at the transcendental "desire" that lurks in the visual and other senses, in the khandha (the groups of the personality), in the elements, and which is corruption, disease, suppuration. All this must naturally take place, not on the psychological or moral plane, but on the existential and metaphysical one. The beginning of the process of alteration lies in the senses, which are likened to so many "wounds." (…) In order to "bandage the wounds" and neutralize the infection provoked by contacts, we must ensure that "the internal sight, the internal smelling, the internal hearing, the internal tasting, the internal touching, the internal thinking are not distracted," that is to say, that we are present in the sixfold seat of the senses in such a way that we can immediately prevent any self-relaxation, self-attachment, self-intoxication, any luring of ourselves by enjoyment. There will be, then, no further building of combinations, at first in the fundamental stem of the will, and then in the five stems of the personality." This is the essence of the new work of catharsis.

This work is based on what is known as the "watch over the doors of the senses," for which the canonical formula is: "Upon perceiving a form with the eye, the ascetic conceives no inclination, no interest. Since craving and aversion and damaging and harmful thoughts soon overcome the man who lives with the eye unguarded, he remains vigilant, he guards the eye, he remains vigilant over the eye." Upon hearing a sound with the ear, upon smelling an odor with the nose, upon tasting a flavor with the tongue, upon touching a contact with the body, upon representing to himself a mental state with the mind, he conceives no inclination, he conceives no interest. Since craving and aversion and damaging and harmful thoughts soon overcome the man who lives with his mind unguarded, he remains vigilant, he guards the mind, he remains vigilant over the mind." To fail in this vigilance at some point is to suffer the fate of the tortoise: when the tortoise unthinkingly put out one of its limbs a jackal seized it by that limb and carried it off to its ruin.

In this matter then, we have to come to grips with the samsaric entity with which we are associated and that constitutes our double, composed of thirst. A continually tightening circle closes round it. It is effectively likened to an enemy who, knowing that he cannot openly defeat his adversary, gets himself employed by him as a servant and gains his confidence so that he may then defeat him by treachery: this is the part that the illusory "I," created by identification, plays in us until the time of initiation into the doctrine of the Ariya.

That the discipline of the watch over the senses or binding the wounds leads to a higher liberation is shown by the simile of the man who has at a crossroads a thoroughbred team and can guide them wherever he pleases. The man who does not know or who forgets this practice is dominated by forms, sounds, smells, tastes, contacts, and thoughts, instead of being their master.

In another way this discipline can also he summed up by the word silentium: "to gird oneself with silence," silence in the technical and initiatory sense. Impressions are arrested at the periphery, at the limit of the senses. Between them and the "I" there is now a distance, a zone of "silence." We thus become endowed with that form of silence that consists of not pronouncing either the exterior word or the interior word, and this in turn implies not hearing, not seeing, not imagining. This theme has also been expressed in a popular form. It is, in fact, the deeper, hidden significance of the well-known statuette of the three sacred monkeys, one with the ears closed, one with the mouth closed, and one with the eyes closed: speak not, hear not, see not. And we may here also recall the curious hermetical formula: "Who has ears, let him open them [in the sense of a close watch on every impression], who has a mouth, let him keep it shut [in the sense of the aforesaid silence, of calm, intangible 'neutrality']."

It is thus that the conditions for further liberation and then for awakening the extrasamsāric principle are consolidated.

As the natural counterpart of the watch on the doors of the senses, a world of disintoxication is carried out within the zone that is now isolated, in order to eliminate or reduce those internal smoldering embers of agitation and self-identification that may be made to burst into life by external contacts. This is what is known as the removal of the five nīvarana, a term that means a "dross," a "hindrance," or an "impediment." The five nīvarana are: desire (kāmacchanda); hate or anger (vyāpāda); slothful idleness (thīna-middha); pride and impatience (uddhacca- kukkucca); doubtful uncertainty (vicikicchā).

The action of these five hindrances is clearly indicated by the following similes: it is like trying to look at one's reflection in water wherein all kinds of colors are mixed (desire), or in boiling water (hate and anger), or in water full of mud and moss (slothful idleness), or in water agitated by the wind (pride and impatience), or finally, in dark and murky water (doubt). Removal is effected by direct action of the mind on the mind, together with accurate and calm self-examination. The discipline is described in the texts in the following manner.

The ascetic finds a solitary place and begins to meditate. A well-known yoga position is counseled: sit with legs crossed and body straight upright. This traditional Indo-Aryan position is, however, only suitable if one is so accustomed to it that it is quite natural and requires no special effort and does not produce fatigue. In general, the position recommended for this, as for other contemplations, must be one of equilibrium, which does not have to be changed; it must have a kind of symbolical meaning of self-awareness and it must not demand efforts that would distract the mind.

It is fundamentally a more advanced development of the states already induced by sīla or "right conduct." The aim here is obviously to bring us to a deeper zone by means of the strengthened power of internal vision that we have gained through the preceding disciplines. It is a matter of attacking, to some degree, the sankhara, that is to say, the innate and congenital tendencies that come, in part, from the extra-individual heredity that we have assumed.

Here, too, the purity achieved at certain moments comes to be developed until it has almost attained a state of permanency. This is how we must understand what is known as the "threefold watch": "by day, walking and sitting, turn the mind away from disturbing things; in the first watch of the night, walking and sitting, turn the mind away from disturbing things; in the middle watch of the night, lie down on the right side, like the lion, one foot on the other, bringing to mind the hour of waking; in the last watch of the night, after arising, walking or sitting, turn the mind away from disturbing things."

This is a kind of continuous examination of consciousness. The yama, the watches of the night that are recognized in this discipline consist, according to the Buddhist tradition, of four hours each; the first runs from six until ten in the evening, the second from ten until two in the morning, the third from two to six in the morning. Thus, strictly speaking, the period of true sleep or of the state that in the common man would correspond to sleep is restricted to four hours only, from ten in the evening until two in the morning. In this we must not see an "ascetic" discipline in the Western sense of mortification: on the contrary, it is natural that in advancing along the road of illumination the need for sleep is considerably reduced, and this reduction produces no ill effect. Here, too, a unilateral "authoritarian" intervention would only serve to create states of fatigue and inattention unfavorable for spiritual life by day.

With attentive care of the "wounds" and with action taken against the hindrances or impediments, the zone of "silence" is strengthened, and a gradual interior increase of the extrasamsāric quality takes place therein; this increase should he aided by illuminated effort and it is related to the aforesaid "seven awakenings". These "awakenings" are the positive counterpart of the cathartic or prophylactic action, that is to say, they are a "defence against intoxication produced by action." The canonical formula is: "[The ascetic] rightly causes the awakening of mindfulness derived from detachment, derived from dispassion, derived from cessation [of the flux], ending in renunciation, he causes the awakening of investigation -of inflexible energy- of enthusiasm -of calm- of concentration -of equanimity, of these awakenings derived from detachment, derived from dispassion, derived from cessation, ending in renunciation."

Various interpretations of the place of these awakenings in the whole development are, nevertheless, possible. Their sense as a whole, indeed, reflects that of the four jhānas, of the contemplation that is to be performed in complete detachment from external experience. Here, however, we may understand them on a more relative plane, as a kind of transfiguration and liberation of faculties that are already pervaded by the element of bodhi, whence the expression bojjhanga. It must be realized that we are not dealing with a simple schematic enu¬meration, but rather with a series in which the meditation whereby they are appre¬hended should pursue an intimate causal linking of the single terms so that we are naturally led on from one to the next, and so that in the one we see the integration and resolution of its predecessors. Thus, we must first achieve nondistracted medita¬tion: then we must awaken the state of "mindfulness," fix it in the mind, develop it, master it, and see how this state leads to the second awakening and passes into "investigation," which may find support in some element of the doctrine; this inves¬tigation, when developed, fixed, extended, and mastered must lead on to the awak¬ening of "inflexible energy," whose perfect conquest should herald a state of spe¬cial, purified "enthusiasm," of purified joy. By further developing the meditation, we should realize that this enthusiasm, this joy, awakened and perfectly developed in a body that is becoming calm, in a mind that is becoming calm, will become resolved and liberated in the next awakening, which is that of "calm." When calm has been developed, extended, fixed, and mastered, "concentration" awakens; this, in its turn, when completely developed, becomes established and shines forth in the "equanimity" that is the seventh awakening.

These form a series of landmarks in meditation that is concerned with realization and they are connected by an inherent continuity. Through these, one is led in another way to the confirmation of what was already becoming established in the satipatthāna, the fourfold contemplation of detachment, that is to say, one is led to that impassibility that is qualified as "pure, clear, ductile, flexible, resplendent," but which has nothing to do-it should be noted-with the indifference of a blunt mind, with the indifference "of a fool, of an ignorant man, of an inexpert common man." For our part, we think it opportune to add that the state in question must on no account be confused with apathy, and that it develops together with a feeling of purified intellectualized and heroic joy, although this may at first seem difficult to understand. The Bhagavadgītā says: "When the mind, lamed by ascesis, becomes quiet; when [the ascetic], seeing the self in the self, rejoices in himself, knows that boundless joy which, transcending the senses, can only be ap¬prehended by the intellect and, when fixed in it, does not stir from the truth ... he knows that this detachment from union with pain is called yoga." At the same time, Buddhism speaks of a pleasure that is "like dung" when compared to that based on detachment, calm, and illumination (thus two kinds of joy are considered and contrasted. the one bound to life in the world, to mania, to enjoyment, the other to ascesis or to ultramundane states of detachment and of freedom from mania; and it is said that the second is the higher joy. "Extinction is the greatest joy.")

Furthermore, such sequences as these are frequent: "In the ascetic joy arises; this joy makes him blissful; being blissful, his body becomes calm: with the body calmed, serenity arises; in this serenity the mind comes to rest, becomes concentrated"; this is a preparation for the four jhāna. This is another sequence that has the character of a connected series, developing in an upward sense, not unlike that which, through the twelve nidana, led us downward to samsāric existence. The point of departure of this new series is, in fact, the state of suffering, of agitation, of contingency, which corresponds to the last nidāna of the descending path. Beyond it, there is the state of confidence; this leads to purified joy; then follows serenity, which gives place to bliss, passing on to equanimity - the term used here literally means also to vanish, to cease being in a place: it is a question of detached equilibrium. In this text the supreme realization has behind it a linked series in which special states of liberated joy play a particular part: a kind of joy that Plato contrasted with all mixed and conditioned forms of joy or of pleasure.

Let us quote another text that represents the state at which we may reckon to have arrived at this point of our exposition: „Concentration which knows neither increase nor decrease, which is not based on wearisome subjugation, which, because of its detached nature is constant, because of its constancy is full of bliss, because of its bliss cannot be destroyed — such concentration has suprene wisdom as its result.”

This should destroy the idea that the path of awakening is arid and desolate, that it kills all joy, that it offers only renunciation and destruction. That everyone whose furthest horizon is still within the effective, samsarically conditioned world should have this idea is quite natural but is of very little account.

A text reminds us that only an Awakened One can comprehend the Awakened One. An expressive simile demonstrates this: two companions leave a city together and reach a rock that one of them climbs. He says to the other: "I see from up here a wonderful view of gardens, woods, fields, and lakes," but the other retorts: "It is impossible, it is inadmissible, friend, that from up there you can see all that." Then the companion standing on the rock comes down, takes the other by the arm, makes him climb up on the rock and. after he has recovered his breath, asks him: "What do you then see, friend, standing on the rock?" The other replies: "I see a wonderful view of gardens, woods, fields, and lakes." "And your previous opinion?" "While I was obstructed by this great rock, I could not see what is now visible." It concludes: it is impossible that what is knowable, discernible, capable of achievement, capable of realization through detachment can be known, discerned, achieved, realized by one who lives among desires and who is consumed by desires." Quite apart from the higher "sidereal" principle. the Buddhist also knows the kind of joy that is contentedness, rejoicing, jubilation, enthusiasm, exultation, transport of the spirit and that, among others, is considered as "a factor of the great awakening”.

[Countering those who believe that the Buddhist road is one of desolation and aridity, Louis de La Vallée-Poussin most opportunely writes: “We must, rather, recognise that India is difficult when it comes to being and bliss; that as she puts being beyond existence, so she puts bliss beyond sensation.”]

--------

Julius Evola: The Doctrine of Awakening - Part II., Chapter 4. - Sidereal Awareness: The Wounds Close (excerpt)

The tiny 3mm flies visit our prostrate Seaside daisies in the garden.

They are very pretty with their Black bodies, orange eyes and large white wings.

We also see different species of these on plants in the bushland.

Photo: Fred

Grevillea nudiflora is shrub which is endemic to an area on the south coast of Western Australia. It is variable in habit, ranging from prostrate to up to 2 metres in height, with beautiful trailing branches and bright red flowers with bright yellow on the curve of the flower.

After a few days of feeling completely unable to take a photograph, something changed, today. For those of you who want a little bit or context, the man on the floor is an Eastern European gypsy, begging on the streets. Almost in surrender, he lies for hours, still, and prostrated on the floor, holding an empty cup, in the hope that passers by will donate money. The setting is in the heart of London's financial centre, and it's lunchtime. You can clearly see the street flood with wealthy businessmen and office workers, dressed immaculately, leaving the workplace for lunch break. The stark contrast between the two fascinated me, and so I found my frame, and just patiently waited for the right subjects to fill it, prior to firing the shutter release.

Leica M6, Carl Zeiss Biogon 35mm f/2.8 ZM, Ilford HP5+, Rodinal, Plustek OpticFilm 8100.

DSC_3159 - 368 - N1 OXF - Volvo B5LH/Wright Eclipse Gemini 2 - Oxford Bus Company (OPCSG - 'Problem With You Waterworks? Get Checked!') - Oxford, High Street 11/01/19

"O Mary Immaculate, gracious Queen of Heaven and of Earth, behold us prostrate before thy exalted throne. Full of confidence in thy goodness and in thy boundless power, we beseech thee to turn a pitying glance upon Palestine, which, more than any other country, belongs to thee, since thou hast graced it with thy birth, thy virtues and thy sorrows, and from there hast given the Redeemer to the world.

Remember that there especially thou wast constituted our tender Mother, the dispenser of graces. Watch, therefore, with special protection over thy native country, dispel from it the shades of error, for it was there that the Son of Eternal Justice shone. Bring about the speedy fulfillment of the promise, which issued from the lips of thy Divine Son, that there should be one fold and one Shepherd.

Obtain for us all that we may serve the Lord in sanctity and justice during all the days of our life, so that, by the merits of Jesus and with thy motherly aid, we may pass at last from this earthly Jerusalem to the splendors of the heavenly one. Amen."

This beautiful image of Our Lady of Palestine is in the Franciscan Monastery of the Holy Land, which is situated in north east Washington DC.

It was narrated from Al 'Abbas bin 'Abdul-Muttalib that: He heard the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) say: "When a person prostrates, seven parts of his body prostrate: his face, his two palms, his two knees and his two feet." (Sa'hih, Sunan an-Nasa'i, 1094)

Photographed is Habib bhai, the security guard commander, Masjid curator and Muezzin at the Central Masjid of Social Islami Bank Limited Head Office. This is him a year + 3 days ago.

City Center, Dhaka

Well what a surprise for me yesterday lunchtime after the mornings heavy rain had just about eased i never expected to see this brown hare in the field opposite my house.

Initially i thought the Red-legged Partridge were on the move again, then i thought it was just a rabbit which are becoming relatively uncommon thanks to the Red Kites (some say?).

I had my 105mm macro on my camera and took a distant shot and realized that it was a hare sat some 50 to 60 mts away from me. I quickly put on my zoom lens and took some more images.

Then i decided to take a chance that it may stay there and ducked down as took an image from my drive (the last in this series) and went on to the bridleway that runs below this field. Keeping low down i peered up and thought it may have gone , but no it was prostrate and looking straight at me. Then it took off and i took a couple of it sprinting away but fortunately it stopped, stood up and then sat down and these images made my day.

I do see the hares (rarely!) but this is the first time i have had the chance to see one and photograph it too.

By shear luck no dogs walkers around to spook it before i reached my vantage point.

A low low growing cactus, often prostrate and creeping , rooting on under-edges of growth. It forms masses usually 1 meter in diameter or less.

Spines: 2-12, usually 5-8, needle-like, stout, rather variable in color,usually yellowish to brownish, erect, unequal, spreading, on most areoles, the longest ones to 7 cm long.

Flowers: Mostly yellow, occasionally orange or red, 3-5.5 cm long; pericarpels with areoles nearly to bases, bristly above. Sepals brown; filaments yellow; style white; stigma-lobes green.

Anemone is a genus of flowering plants in the buttercup family Ranunculaceae. Plants of the genus are commonly called windflowers. They are native to the temperate and subtropical regions of all continents except Australia, New Zealand and Antarctica. The genus is closely related to several other genera including Anemonoides, Anemonastrum, Hepatica, and Pulsatilla. Some botanists include these genera within Anemone.

Description

An illustration of an anemone

Anemone are perennials that have basal leaves with long leaf-stems that can be upright or prostrate. Leaves are simple or compound with lobed, parted, or undivided leaf blades. The leaf margins are toothed or entire.

Flowers with 4–27 sepals are produced singly, in cymes of 2–9 flowers, or in umbels, above a cluster of leaf- or sepal-like bracts. Sepals may be any color. The pistils have one ovule. The flowers have nectaries, but petals are missing in the majority of species.

The fruits are ovoid to obovoid shaped achenes that are collected together in a tight cluster, ending variously lengthened stalks; though many species have sessile clusters terminating the stems. The achenes are beaked and some species have feathery hairs attached to them.

Taxonomy

Anemone was named by Carl Linnaeus in 1753 and is situated in the tribe Anemoneae, subfamily Ranunculoideae, and the family Ranunculaceae. As considered in the broader sense (sensu lato) the genus is sometimes considered to include a number of other genera, such as Anemonoides, Anemonastrum, Hepatica, Pulsatilla, Knowltonia, Barneoudia, and Oreithales. Several of these were included as separate genera within Anemoneae by Wang et al., a tribe with six genera in total.

Early molecular analyses divided the genus into two subgenera (Anemonidium and Anemone), with seven sections, and 12 informal subsections. Ziman and colleagues (2008) treated the genus Anemone as 5 subgenera, 23 sections, 4 subsections, 23 series and about 118 species. A further reclassification by Hoot and colleagues (2012) estimated 200 species.

Hoot et al. found many of the previously defined subdivisions, based on morphological characteristics were polyphyletic or paraphyletic. In contrast two clearly defined monophyletic clades emerged corresponding to the above two subgenera. Anemonidium demonstrated four subclades, corresponding to sections. The larger subgenus Anemone showed a similar pattern.

Hoot et al. proposed the following two subgenera and several sections be retained, with a number of subsections and series:

Anemone subg. Anemonidium (Spach) Juz.

A. subg. Anemonidium sect. Hepatica Spreng.

A. subg. Anemonidium sect. Keiskea Tamura

A. subg. Anemonidium sect. Anemonidium Spach

A. subg. Anemonidium sect. Omalocarpus DC.

Anemone subg. Anemone L.

A. subg. Anemone sect. Pulsatilloides DC.

A. subg. Anemone sect. Pulsatilla (Mill.) DC.

A. subg. Anemone sect. Rivularidium Jancz.

A. subg. Anemone sect. Anemone L.

Species

As of April 2020 Kew's Plants of the World Online lists 63 species in the genus Anemone:

Anemone afghanica Podlech

Anemone alaschanica (Schipcz.) Borodina

Anemone angustiloba H.Eichler

Anemone baissunensis Juz. ex M.M.Sharipova

Anemone begoniifolia H.Lév. & Vaniot

Anemone berlandieri Pritz.

Anemone biflora DC.

Anemone brachystema W.T.Wang

Anemone brevistyla C.C.Chang ex W.T.Wang

Anemone bucharica (Regel) Finet & Gagnep.

Anemone canadensis L.

Anemone caroliniana Walter

Anemone cathayensis Kitag. ex Tamura

Anemone coronaria L.

Anemone cylindrica A.Gray

Anemone debilis Fisch. ex Turcz.

Anemone decapetala Ard.

Anemone drummondii S.Watson

Anemone edwardsiana Tharp

Anemone flexuosissima Rech.f.

Anemone fulingensis W.T.Wang & Z.Y.Liu

Anemone fuscopurpurea H.Hara

Anemone glazioviana Urb.

Anemone hemsleyi Britton

Anemone hokouensis C.Y.Wu ex W.T.Wang

Anemone hortensis L.

Anemone howellii Jeffrey & W.W.Sm.

Anemone imperialis Kadota

Anemone koraiensis Nakai

Anemone lacerata (Y.L.Xu) Luferov

Anemone laceratoincisa W.T.Wang

Anemone liangshanica W.T.Wang

Anemone lithophila Rydb.

Anemone lutienensis W.T.Wang

Anemone milinensis W.T.Wang

Anemone motuoensis W.T.Wang

Anemone multifida Poir.

Anemone nutantiflora W.T.Wang & L.Q.Li

Anemone ochotensis (Fisch. ex Pritz.) Fisch.

Anemone okennonii Keener & B.E.Dutton

Anemone orthocarpa Hand.-Mazz.

Anemone palmata L.

Anemone parviflora Michx.

Anemone pavoniana Boiss.

Anemone pendulisepala Y.N.Lee

Anemone petiolulosa Juz.

Anemone poilanei Gagnep.

Anemone raui Goel & U.C.Bhattach.

Anemone robusta W.T.Wang

Anemone robustostylosa R.H.Miao

Anemone scabriuscula W.T.Wang

Anemone seravschanica Kom.

Anemone somaliensis Hepper

Anemone sumatrana de Vriese

Anemone taipaiensis W.T.Wang

Anemone tamarae Kharkev.

Anemone thomsonii Oliv.

Anemone tibetica W.T.Wang

Anemone triternata Vahl

Anemone truncata (H.F.Comber) Luferov

Anemone tschernaewii Regel

Anemone tuberosa Rydb.

Anemone virginiana L.

Anemone xingyiensis Q.Yuan & Q.E.Yang

Etymology

According to the Oxford English Dictionary, Greek ἀνεμώνη (anemōnē) means 'daughter of the wind', from ἄνεμος (ánemos, 'wind') + feminine patronymic suffix -ώνη (-ṓnē, so 'daughter of'). The Metamorphoses of Ovid tells that the plant was created by the goddess Aphrodite when she sprinkled nectar on the blood of her dead lover Adonis, and Ovid describes the etymology as referring to the frailty of the petals that can be easily blown away by the wind. "Anemone" may also refer to Nea'man, the Phoenician name for Adonis, referring to an earlier Syrian myth of the god of vegetation, also tusked by a boar. The common name windflower is used for the entire genus.

Ecology

Diseases and pests

Main article: List of anemone diseases

Anemone species are sometimes targeted by cutworms, the larvae of noctuid moths such as angle shades and heart and dart.

Cultivation

Pink anemone

Some of the species are grown in gardens. Their popularity varies by species and region. In addition to certain straight species being available, hybrids and cultivars are available for certain species. Certain species, such as Anemone coronaria, are typically only available in hybrid form while others, such as Anemonoides blanda are nearly always sold in straight species form.

Cultivated anemones are nearly always one of the following colors: bluish violet, white, pink, red, and hues in a range between violet and pink. There are no truly blue anemones, despite the frequent use of the label "blue" in marketing to describe blue-violet flowers (flowers that are more violet than blue). Color labelling inaccuracy in marketing is found in treatments of numerous other genera, especially as it concerns the color blue — although some popular garden flowers from the same family are actually blue, such as some selections from Delphinium. One species of anemone, Anemone ranunculoides, is unusual for its yellow flowers. In horticultural terms there are three main groups:

spring-flowering species found in woodland and alpine meadows, often tuberous or rhizomatous; e.g. Anemonoides nemorosa, Anemonoides blanda

spring- and summer-flowering species from hot dry areas, with tuberous roots, e.g. Anemone coronaria

summer- and autumn-flowering species with fibrous roots, which thrive in moist dappled shade; e.g. Eriocapitella hupehensis

The spring-flowering autumn-planted ephemeral species Anemonoides blanda is grown in large-scale commercial cultivation and can be purchased in bulk quantities. It is most commonly-available with a bluish violet flower (usually erroneously called "Blue Shades" despite its flower being more purple than blue) that varies from intense to pale, depending upon the individual plant and possibly soil conditions. A white-flowered form is the second-most common type. The least common of the commonly-cultivated forms is a pale pink. The violet, and especially pink, forms sometimes possess petals that fade to white near the flower center. The genus contains quite a number of other spring-flowering species. A. hortensis and the hybrid A. fulgens have less-divided leaves than some others and have rose-purple or scarlet flowers.

Among the most well-known anemones is A. coronaria, often called the poppy anemone. It is a tuberous-rooted plant with parsley-like divided leaves and large poppy-like blossoms on stalks of from 15–20 cm high. It can be planted in the fall in zones 7 or 8 without extra protection or in spring in cooler zones. If planted in fall it will flower in the spring and if planted in the spring it will flower in late summer. The flowers are typically scarlet, crimson, bluish purple, reddish purple, or white. There are also double-flowered varieties, in which the stamens in the centre are replaced by a tuft of narrow petals. It has been used as a garden plant, in hybrid form in particular, for a long time in some parts of the world. Double forms are named varieties. Hybrids of the de Caen and St. Brigid groups are the most prevalent on the market. In Israel, large numbers of red-flowering non-hybrid A. coronaria can be seen growing in certain natural areas.

Eriocapitella hupehensis, and its white cultivar 'Honorine Joubert', the latter especially, are well-known autumn-flowering selections. They grow well in well-drained but moisture-retentive soil and reach 60–100 cm in height, blooming continually for several weeks. E. hupehensis, E. vitifolia, and their hybrids and are particularly attractive to honeybees. A number of low-growing species, such as the native British Anemonoides nemorosa and Anemonoides apennina, have woodlands and other shady places as their habitat. Hepatica species typically also grow in shade.

Garden-cultivated anemones generally grow best in a loamy well-drained evenly-moist fertile soil, although the ephemeral A. blanda does not require as much moisture during the summer when it is dormant (unlike the related Eranthis species that can suffer if they become too dry even while dormant). Some prairie species that are rarely cultivated, such as Anemone cylindrica, grow well in drier warmer conditions and poor soil. A. coronaria has been described by some professional sources as preferring acidic soil and by others as preferring alkaline soil. Hardy species may be planted in October in many zones. Unlike a hardier species such as A. blanda, A. coronaria is described as hardy only as low as climate zone 7 by some sources and by others hardy only as low as zone 8. Various strategies, such as the use of protection, can be tried to plant them outdoors in fall in zone 6 but results may vary. As with other plants, some species can be readily raised from seed while some hybrids may be sterile. A. blanda typically blooms in mid spring. The larger anemone species typically grow well in partial shade, or in full sun provided they are shielded from the hottest sun in southern areas. A well-drained soil, enriched with compost, is typically utilized.

If cut flowers are desired, it is best to harvest the flowers early in the morning while it is still cold outside while the bloom is still closed. To open your flowers place in room temperature water out of direct sun. A. coronaria blooms can be purchased from some florists, between November and June depending upon availability.

Anemones in culture

"Anemone" has several different meanings depending on the culture and context in which the flower is being used.

Several of the Western meanings of anemone flowers pertain to the Greek mythology of the origin of the anemone flower featuring Adonis and Aphrodite. The goddess Aphrodite kept the mortal man Adonis as a lover; when Adonis was gored by a wild boar, Aphrodite's tears at his death mixed with his blood and gave rise to the anemone. In other versions, the boar was sent by other jealous Greek gods to murder Adonis. These origin stories reflect the classical dual meanings of the arrival of spring breezes and the death of a loved one.

In the Victorian language of flowers, the anemone represented a forsaken love of any kind, while European peasants carried them to ward off pests and disease as well as bad luck.

In other cultures, the meanings differ. In Chinese and Egyptian cultures, the flower of anemone was considered a symbol of illness due to its coloring. The anemone can be a symbol of bad luck in Eastern cultures. The Japanese anemone may be associated with ill tidings.

The flowers are featured in Robe violette et Anémones, a 1937 painting by Henri Matisse

My best guess on this cute red-flowered pea is Prostrate Flame Pea (Chorizema rhombeum), also called Scarlet Flame Pea. Mount Burnett Walk Trail in Mount Frankland South National Park, Western Australia.

See also a crimson version, both within a couple of metres of each: flic.kr/p/LaYDt4

A prostrate to semi-erect shrub found in eastern Australia. It occurs from as far south as Pigeon House Mountain north to Kendall, New South Wales on the mid north coast. A common plant in the Blue Mountains near Sydney. Found as far west as Blackheath. It is often noticed by bushwalkers for the attractive flowers and arching foliage. The specific epithet secundum means "arranged on one side only".

The habitat is moist rocky areas and wet cliff faces, usually on sandstone. Sites are nutrient poor with permanent moisture. The range of altitude is from sea level to 1100 metres above sea level, with an average annual rainfall between 900 mm and 1600 mm.

The shrub is around 60 cm tall with narrow crowded leaves with pointed tips. Leaves are 12 cm long by 1 cm wide, smooth edged or slightly toothed.

Flowering occurs mainly from July to October. Flowers are pink and white. Bell shaped flowers are 6 to 8 mm long, appearing on a long raceme. The fruit is a capsule, around 5 mm in diameter. Seeds are dispersed by wind, water and gravity.

This plant first appeared in scientific literature in the Prodromus Florae Novae Hollandiae in the year 1810, authored by Robert Brown.

Source: Wikipedia

My daughter's Father in Law lost his battle with Prostrate Cancer yesterday and my grandchildren lost their beloved Papa. We had planned to take them to Featherdale Animal Park so they could run around and spend time with the animals today as it is the last day of the school holidays and whilst we considered not going, we decided at the last moment to go along with our original plans.

Summer Honeypot

The prostrate Banksia was flowering well after having been burnt in 2018. The plants have lignotuber roots that remain in the ground after a fire, allowing the the plant to regrow quickly.

This is a threatened plant.

Photo: Fred

Sea Purslane is a fleshy prostrate evergreen perennial forming a mat of smooth, trailing, reddish-green stems that branch regularly. They are clothed with fleshy, elliptic-ovate, succulent leaves which turn red or yellow with age or when exposed to full sun.

L'Eliantemo alpino appartiene alla famiglia delle Cistaceae ed è una pianta a fusto prostrato e pluriramificato. Ha foglie lanceolate e fiori di 2 cm di diametro che formano dei cuscini floreali di colore giallo vivo. Predilige terreni sassosi o rocciosi calcarei fino ad una quota di circa 2500 metri.

The alpine Eliantemo belongs to the family of Cistaceae and is a plant stem prostrate and much branched. It has lance-shaped leaves and flowers 2 cm in diameter, which form the cushions of bright yellow flowers. It prefers stony or rocky limestone up to a maximum altitude of 2500 meters.

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'T was a warm and beautiful day when I noticed these "prostrate" Greenland sailors. Much too warm for ice!! Near St.John's, NL.

Mount Buzhou (不周山), a pillar holding up the sky. The pillar collapsed and caused the sky to tilt towards the northwest and the earth to shift to the southeast. This caused great floods and suffering to the people....

The characters 伏羲 Fu Xi lit. mean “lie prostrate” & “sacrifice”. In 女媧 Nü Wa, Nü 女literally means ‘female’, whereas ‘Wa’ 媧 has no meaning. Contrary to Shen Nong and Huang Di, Fu Xi and Nü Wa are a rather obscure and distant couple in the misty fog of Chinese antiquity, and only very little is known about them.Fu Xi and Nü Wa pictured with dragon tails intertwined. (Picture by Hughes Songe)..Every school-child in China, Taiwan, and other Chinese places, learns already early on about their original Chinese patriarchs and their histories. But the most ancient Chinese history has become quite embellished over 4 1/2 thousand years and changed into mythology. As a result, the 21st Century Chinese are quite confused about their earliest primo-genitors, and if it weren’t for a very interesting discovery that this article reveals, their earliest patriarchs would have stayed obscure until the end of time.The earliest records speak of “Sān Huáng Wǔ Dì”, meaning the “Three August Ones, Sovereigns or Kings” and the “Five Emperors.” These 3+5= 8 god-kings or demi-gods purportedly used their magical powers to improve the lives of their people. Because of their lofty virtue, they lived to a great age and ruled over a period of great peace.The three Sovereigns are generally denoted as Fu Xi, Nü Wa, and Shen Nong Shi, but in other literary sources Nü Wa is often replaced by Huang Di, one of the five Emperors. Actually, depending on the source, there are six to seven known variations of who classifies as the “Three Sovereigns & the Five Emperors”. Many of these sources were written long after the actual events, during much later dynasties. Hence the distortion.These Three + Five = Eight Chinese primo-patriarchs, concur with a global occurrence of eight Flood survivors in ancient legends.

India: Manu and his 7 ‘Rishis’ = 8. (picture above)

S-India: Satyavratha (Noah) + 3 sons Sharma, Charma, Yapheti +their 4 wives = 8.

Egypt: The ‘Ogdoad‘ [octo=8], Nun {Noah} Heh, Kuk, & (h)Amun + 3 wives = 8.

Sumeria: Uan or Oannes and 7 ‘Apkallu’ (wise men) = 8. OR the 4 post-diluvian Apkalluh with 4 wives would also make 8.

Hebrews: Noah, Shem, Ham, Yapheth + their 4 wives= 8.

Others: Also 8, as we’ll show about the Miao Zu people.The ‘Ogdoad’ also puts to rest the mistaken idea that the Egyptians did not have a Flood story! See how Nun upholds the boat with 7 survivors.In yet another version of the more than 700 global flood stories, the Chinese legend tells how the world was swept by a Great Flood, and only Fu Xi and his sister NüWa survived. They then retired to Kunlun Mountain where they prayed for a sign from the Emperor of Heaven — God — or as he is called in Chinese Shang Di.The Divine Being approved their union and the siblings set about to procreate the human race all over again. It was mythically told of them that in order to speed up the natural procreation of humans, Fu Xi and Nüwa found an additional way by using clay to create human figures, and with divine power entrusted to them, they made these figures come alive. The Han period book Fengsu tongyi 風俗通義 says that in the beginning, just when Heaven and Earth had separated, Nü Wa formed humans out of mud, giving birth to the human race.The new father of humanity Fu Xi then came to rule over his descendants, although reports of his long reign vary between sources. He is supposed to have lived mid 29th century BC, or 2.900 BC, which is very close to the timing of the Biblical flood of about 2.500 BC. Nü Wa after surviving the great flood, “fixed the broken sky/heaven (Tian) with either five or seven colored stones.” “女媧補天 = Nü Wa Bu Tian!”Now the three earliest Chinese historians mentioned Nü Wa. The fourth, the noted Chinese historian Si Ma Qian (in the Shiji, Chapter Benji or prologue) clearly identifies Nüwa as a man with the last name of Feng.“Herbert James Allen erroneously translated Tang dynasty historian Sima Zhen’s interpolated prologue to the Han dynasty Sima Qian’s Shiji. In one of his more serious flaws, Nüwa was described as male even though the Nü (女) in the name means female and the wa (媧) also contains the female radical. ]”Why does obfuscating W.P. dislike Allen’ s translation? Read on and get the full picture why!Some scholars consider Nüwa a tribal leader (or emperor); others consider the name Nüwa a title. Only after the fourth (Si Ma Qian) Nü Wah was suddenly cast into a woman’s role, and became known as Fu Xi’s wife! Over time these histories grew into even more bizarre myths, as the two of them are still proudly reported by Chinese people today, as being half dragons! Their early depictions as a couple shows both of them with intertwined reptilian tails. (see picture at the top) The legend goes as follows:The earliest literary role seems to be the upkeep and maintenance of the Wall of Heaven*, whose collapse would obliterate everything. [Note the association with Flood traditions.] There was a quarrel between two of the more powerful gods, and they decided to settle it with a fight. When the water god Gong Gong saw that he was losing, he smashed his head against Mount Buzhou (不周山), a pillar holding up the sky. The pillar collapsed and caused the sky to tilt towards the northwest and the earth to shift to the southeast. This caused great floods and suffering to the people. Nüwa cut off the legs of a giant tortoise and used them to supplant the fallen pillar, alleviating the situation and sealing the broken sky using stones of seven different colours, but she was unable to fully correct the tilted sky. This explains the phenomenon that sun, moon, and stars move towards the northwest, and that rivers in China flow southeast into the Pacific Ocean. (this account is similar to the Huainanzi account; it was added as The Upkeep and Maintenance of Heaven).Other versions of the story describe Nüwa going up to heaven and filling the gap with her body (half human half serpent) and thus stopping the flood. According to this legend some of the minorities in South-Western China hail Nüwa as their goddess and some festivals such as the ‘Water-Splashing Festival’ are in part a tribute to her sacrifices.Other versions of the story describe Nüwa going up to heaven and filling the gap with her body (half human half serpent) and thus stopping the flood. According to this legend some of the minorities in South-Western China hail Nüwa as their goddess and some festivals such as the ‘Water-Splashing Festival’ are in part a tribute to her sacrifices.As the ancient Chinese also originated from Sumeria, they were most likely familiar with the early Sumerian Epic of Gilgamesh adopting its symbolisms.Seeing the similarity between dragontail Nüwa and fishtail Vishnu (next picture) also holding instruments in their hands, there is evidence that perhaps also the early Xia in proximity to the sea, as the Jomon had naval contacts not just with America where the Chinese left 3000 yr. Old stone sea anchors, and the Jomon with Ecuador, seeing the Jomon similarity with Valdivan pottery (Betty Meggers Smithsonian!), but also with seafaring ancient Indians or Dravidians and their versions of the ubiquitous 700 ethnic Flood legends, where Noah was called MaNu (plus his 7 Rishis make 8), or in South India Satyavratha and his three sons Charma, Sharma and Phra Yapeti! (As Biblical Noah, Ham, Shem, Japheth) plus 4 wives also make 8!).Seeing that Ham named the “Land of Cham” in Vietnam and Chambodia and other places in between like India Cambay, after himself, perhaps Ham was one of the very “Oannes sailors of the sea wizards” who personally came as far as the Yellow Sea in his astronomical surveys to map the stars and measure the new post-Flood Earth! Because whether it is politically correct with historical (qu)academia or not, it is a fact that the ancients DID travel the entire earth and its oceans, seeing the ubiquitous spread of pyramids (25 in China!) and Bronze Age megaliths in almost every part of the world!Like Nüwa the Indian god Vishnu who guided Manu also sports a fishtail. Manu was instructed by the god Vishnu who came from the ocean as a fish with a fish tail, (Fish Nu!) to save himself from an impending global deluge! We find a similar symbolism in the early Sumerian demi-god Oannes, who emerged from the sea half fish/half man and taught humans civilisation and culture! Man obviously likes to embellish history!

NOW WHO COULD ‘FU XI’ BE?If we look at the meaning of the characters Fu and Xi, as its sound does not coincide at all with any of the other historical records, unless it is a bastardisation of Vishnu?, we get the following meanings: “Fu” means “lying prostrate” and “Xi” has the meaning of “sacrifice.” The picture arises of a man lying prostrate in front of an animal sacrifice.

According to both the Miao and Hebrew records, after Noah’s Ark had landed, he ordered that his family should present a great thanksgiving sacrifice to God, and so they offered and barbecued some animals. Is it possible that Noah’s original name in Chinese, was the honorable “Fu Xi Nü-Wa“, meaning the “Prostrating Sacrificer Noah”?

Is it perhaps also possible that originally Fu meant Father Noah? Was the character Fu changed perhaps from Fu meaning “father” to Fu meaning “prostrate”, around the same time when Nü-Wa was turned female, and that Fu Xi Nü-Wa was suddenly spliced into two people? Only God knows what really happened. Is that perhaps also the reason why their tails were entwined?

But the most interesting and IMHO most likely explanation for the names Fu Xi Nü-Wa, is when you consider the Chinese accent and its bastardisation of non-Chinese accents. A “bus” in Chinese (& Japanese) becomes “Ba Se” or “Ba Su” for example. Now the Chinese may have been aware of the name NüWa through the Han legends coming overland like Noah, Noe, Nuh, Nu-Uh, Nur, or Noach from the Middle East and Babylon originally. But the Xia (dynasty) who settled closer to the ocean than Huang Di, most likely introduced the concept of fish tailed Vish-NU into China from their contact with the seafaring sons of Ham like Dravidian Cushites from India, where Noah is called Manu under god Vishnu.

And when those early Chinese tried to pronounce Vish-Nu, it probably came out very similar to Fishi-Nüwa or FuXi-NüWa. And that makes a whole lot of sense in the light of Chinese pronunciation. Perhaps the Dravidian/Indian name VishNu was itself a bastardisation of NuAh or Noah, the common patriarch of us all mixed with some of that fish-man Oannes influence! We’ll find out in the Heavenly Museum of REAL History! Ha!

Ararat-Ximu-Nuwa-Huangdi-Xia

And why did Fu Xi & Nü-Wa live such long lives, as Shen Nong did too? Because, according to the most detailed and accurate Biblical account in Genesis, Noah, his wife, and three sons, lived to amazing old ages. According to the Greek ‘Sibylline Oracles’, even the wives of Shem, Ham & Japheth also enjoyed fantastically long life-spans, living for centuries! Noah lived almost a thousand years, totally 950 years in fact! 600 years until the Flood began, and 350 after!

Shem (Miao: Lo-Shen, or Shen Nong Shi?) lived a total of 600 years, according to Genesis. If you divide 600 years by a generation of 35-40 years, you easily arrive at a total of 15 or 17 generations. Huang Di was purportedly a distant descendant of Shen Nong, while also his friend and fellow scholar! Well, if he was 7-18 generations removed from Shem or Shen Nong, that would have been very possible being Shem’s great (17 times) -grandchild.

Shem is considered the forefather of most Arabs and of some Asian tribes. The following are the haplo DNA groups found in nations all over the world. You see that the (orange D) South Asians/South Chinese/Tibetans, and (blue O) Han Chinese belong to different groups. (And most originating in the Middle East where Noah landed his ark in Eastern Turkey on the mountains of Ararat!). (NB: The C3 and Q3 “going across the Bering Street” is pure Darwinist propaganda, because the Bering street was frozen until quite recently. It could not have happened!)

DNAmap

There are many legends about Fuxi and Nü-Wa recorded in several ancient Chinese books such as ‘Book of Changes’, ‘Elegies of Chu’, ‘Writings of Prince Huai Nan’ and the ‘Book of Mountains and Seas’. These legends were all passed on orally until written down, but sadly not via rhyming stanzas, yet their impact is very wide and profound. Now the leading aspects and basic facts of these myths become very meaningful in this new Miao and other inter-ethnic context.

BaGua8Story has it, that Fu Xi is not only the clan leader in the East and the chief of the three sage kings and five virtuous emperors of China at the dawn of human civilization, but also an omnipotent wise man capable of various kinds of skills. He is told to have created the Eight Diagrams and simulated the spider to weave fishing net. He was not only able to make musical instruments, but also good at cooking tasty food. Moreover, he contributed a lot to the traditional Chinese medicine and was the forefather of Chinese civilization. He also formulated etiquette’s and regulations for people, reducing the barbaric marriage by plundering. All that could easily be said of the Patriarch Noah as well!

Was Fu Xi Father Sin of the Chinese?

hittiteshoeHITTITE SHOE with upturned toes

OR was Fu Xi the most ancient patriarch of the Chinese “Father Sin” — son of Canaan & grandson of Ham — the patriarch of the Sinites? Sin was the brother of Heth, the patriarch of the Hittites who lived in Anatolia (now Turkey) but after the Bronze Age Collapse they were defeated and dispersed mixing with conquering tribes. Hittites had long pony tails and turned up shoes!

However Sin and his Sinites were totally lost from history. There are no ancient Middle Eastern records or memorials left of them. Many think that they left the Sumerian homeland already very early, traveling across the Silk Route Eastward and fathered the ancient Chinese and other tribes. Study of ancient China and its language is still called ‘Sinology‘ today, while the ancient Arabs called the Chinese the people of “Sin” & the Greeks called them ‘Sinae’.

Nü-Wa Chinese Name for Noah

Nü-Wa, during the remote legendary period of China, had powerful abilities. It is said that when a great flood took place that the heaven collapsed, and the earth sank under water, while wild beasts cruelly killed common people. Then Nü-Wa repaired the heaven/sky (same character Tian!) with five or seven colored rocks and killed the brutal beasts.

All this coincides nicely with the Hebrew scriptures, where the windows of heaven were broken open! After the flood reached its peak they were closed up, and after the water had retreated God showed Noah a beautiful seven-colored rainbow in that broken sky! It seemed to have appeared for the first time in history, the earth being newly covered with clouds!

Most likely some special ante-diluvial condition prevented clouds or water vapour projecting a rainbow, as well as a clear view of the sun which for some odd reason suddenly became much more visible! So much so that Noah’s global descendants, mostly those fathered by the family rebel Ham even began to worship it, and him as “Hamon Ra the Sun God!”

Instead of worshipping the saving God of their Grandfather Noah, they became ardent Sun worshippers! Egyptians, Canaanites, those early megalith builders in Peru, Mexico, Atlantis, Dwarka, China, and in many other places all over the globe, they all began to worship “that magnificent red sun” shining between the horns of their beloved “mother of all life!” The Holy Cow! Now you know where India got that idea via their early Indus Valley civilisation, and Dravidians? From Ham and his Pharaohs!

whitecow

They even had special sun boxes in many megalithic structures and the solar Temple of Amon-Ra at Karnak (Thebes – at present, Luxor city) in Egypt built some time after 2000 B.C. near the present day Luxor was located in such a way as to align with the summer solstice sunrise and is considered the day of the “manifestation of Ra”.

Yet for all she tried Nü-Wa could not fix the “tilt of the sky” and winter, spring, summer, and fall became permanent! Obviously there was no tilt in the Earth’s axis before the Deluge, as witnessed in the wood-sample found in the mysterious ship-shape in Armenia many believe to be the 5000 year old remains of Noahs’ Ark. That wood has no rings in it!

Nü-Wa and Fu Xi also used clay to create humans and human society by simulating their own appearance. That makes sense when you consider that all of us are the offspring of Noah and his wife, their children created in their likeness!

Nü-Wa also invented a kind of musical instrument called reed pipe wind instrument so that she is esteemed as a musical goddess. Moreover, she created the marriage system to enable humans to multiply offspring, so she is called the marriage goddess, which is very likely, because of her being the mother of all resultant humans. I’m sure they all wanted to be married by Noah and his wife!

And so, all this taken into consideration, everything certainly starts to make a lot more sense than some of the myths and embellishments that sprung up in the minds of the early Chinese storytellers long ago. You can hardly blame them, not having any other comparative historical records to consult with, as we have today.

Again, evidence has come to light that Noah, Shem, Ham & Japheth were real historical people, who built a real historical boat, and survived a real genuine global flood, no matter what skeptic intellectuals are saying against it in the name of “science” falsely so-called. Certainly not my kind of science!

But there is one even more important thing we can conclude from all this, and that is that we need to remember that we are all one family! And that we, as Chinese or Westerners, should all reverence and respect our great great great great great grandfather “Fu Xi Nü Wa” and his Father God! And each and every one of us as well, for we all turn out to be brothers and sisters! True or not?

God bless you brother! God bless you sister!

Love and Peace! Lu.

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中國神話的苗族說明證實了諾亞洪水的歷史

每一位在中國、台灣以及大中華地區的學子們很早就已經學過中國的始祖和歷史。 但大部分的中國古老歷史都被修飾美化超過近4500年而且演變成了神話。因此現今21世紀的中國人對於他們最早的祖先相當模糊，若不是這篇文章裡揭露這有 趣的發現，直到末日前，他們可能對自己最早的祖先仍然是模糊不清的。

三皇五帝

最早記載的 ”三皇五帝” 就是指 ”三位尊者” 或是三位君主或王，以及 ”五位皇帝” 。 這些3+5神般的王或半仙人據稱他們運用法力來提昇人類的生活，也因為他們崇高的品德讓他們得以長壽並統治世界帶來長久的和平。 這三位王者分別為伏羲、女媧和神農氏。但在別的文獻記載中女媧通常是被五皇之一的黃帝取而代之。實際上依據資料的來源，有6~7種已知的說法列出到底誰才 是三皇五帝。很多這些資料來源都是在實際事件之後的好幾個朝代所寫的，因此多少會被扭曲

黃帝

那誰會是伏羲呢?

假如讓我們來看伏和羲這兩字，他們的發音雖然和其他歷史記載中的名字不太接近，但我們知道”伏”意謂著”屈身”以及”羲”代表著”犧牲”的意思，我們便可以聯想到一個人屈身於動物貢品前面。

根據苗族和希伯來兩者的記載，在諾亞的方舟停下後，他便告訴他的家人應該要對神感恩，所以他們烤了一些動物來祭拜神，那諾亞原來的中文名字會有可能是”伏羲女媧”嗎? 意謂著”諾亞向神朝貢”?

或者也有可能是”伏”指的是”父親”諾亞? 從”父”的”父親”意思轉變到”伏地”，且在差不多同一個時間，女媧變成了女性而伏羲女媧從一個人分成兩個人? 真相只有神知道! 這或許也解釋了為什麼他們的尾巴會交纏在一起?

再者為什麼伏羲和女媧還有神農都可以那麼長壽呢? 因為根據聖經創世紀裡所記載的，諾亞的妻子和3個兒子也都非常非常的長壽，而根據希臘” Sibylline Oracles”記錄，就連Shem、Ham 和 Japheth的妻子都活的非常久超過一世紀! 諾亞就活了近1000年(事實上是960年)!

Shem(神)(lo-shen神農 or Shen Nong shi神農氏)活了整整600年，根據聖經所記載，假如你將35-40年訂為一代，那600年就將近是15到17代，據稱黃帝是神農的後代,也是他的朋友及之後學者，那黃帝有可能就是神農的(第17代)曾孫子。

神(shem)被視為大部分亞洲人及部分的歐洲部落的先父，以下是一些在世界各地發現的單一DNA族群，藍色D為南方的中國人和橘色O為漢人，兩者分別為不同的族群。

HuangDi-YellowEmperor1-201x300皇 帝或黃帝(姓黃)，認為如此比較像傳奇人物而非神話，也因為他被視為真實歷史人物以及在夏朝前的第一位皇帝，因此伏羲、女媧和神農氏被視為神話中的人物因 為較不為人所知。 黃帝又名軒轅氏，是五位傳奇皇帝中的領袖。黃帝和他的兄弟炎帝一同被認為是中國人的祖先，所以後代的中國人也被稱之為炎黃子孫。(炎帝和黃帝的子孫) 目前中國學術界普遍主張，黃帝是出生於有熊(現今湖南省新鄭)並安葬於陜西的橋山(現今黃陵縣)。黃帝及炎帝兩者都是中國兩大族的祖先，也在之後再度融而 為一。 早期的歷史學家”司馬遷”則記載黃帝事實上是神農氏(簡稱神農)的後裔，雖然只約8到17代的血統，儘管在這中間相隔久遠，黃帝仍被視為是神農的朋友和學 者，很明顯地據說非常的長壽。

在很多中國古老的書籍裡都有記載著伏羲及女媧的傳說，如易經、楚辭集注、淮南子以及山海經，這些傳說有著深遠的影響力且一直被流傳著，這些神話的有部分觀點對這個新苗族及不同族群間是非常有意義的。

故事裡有說到，伏羲不只是東方部落或三皇五帝的領袖，同時也是樣樣精通非常聰明的人。他創造了八卦和模擬蜘蛛網而演變出的魚網，他不只會做樂器也很 會做好吃的飯菜，更對中藥上做出了許多貢獻，身為中國人民文明的始祖，他更替人民規劃出了禮儀規範，變革婚姻習俗，倡導男聘女嫁的婚俗禮節，使血緣婚改為 族外婚，這些和諾亞都很相似。

女媧在古老的中國傳奇裡有著強大的法力，傳說中大洪水時天崩塌，地球被下沉到水裡面，各式猛獸都跑出來虐殺人類，女媧用七彩石補天及捕殺這些猛獸。

這和希伯來文聖經裡的創世紀都有些雷同的地方，上面說到”天堂之窗裂開”! 當大洪水淹到最高點時窗就關起來了，當水乾的時候，神讓諾亞看到了天上的七色彩虹，因這是歷史上的第一次。地球被雲給蓋住，很可能因為天空上面外殼的水的 遮蓋這些紫外線防老化，所以人類可以活得更久一點且還沒有雲彩!

女媧和伏羲也同樣用泥土以他們的外表來造人類社會，那這樣就會很合理如果我們都是諾亞和他妻子的子孫，他們的孩子都很像他們的爸媽，女媧也發明一種樂器叫簧管吹奏樂器，所以她也被稱為音樂女神，因為她作為所有人類的母親，我敢肯定他們都希望能嫁給諾亞和他的妻子!

綜合以上我們所提到的，所有事情似乎比那經過修飾過後的古老神話更加合理。我們也無法怪罪當時這些傳說為何沒辦法像我們現在可以找到其他歷史記載來做比對。

再者，所有證據都指向諾亞、神(Shem) 、漢(Ham)和賈費斯(Japheth)都是那些曾蓋過方舟和真的從大洪水中生還的真實歷史人物，無論說什麼所謂的知識分子在科學的角度上仍還是持懷疑的態度。

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This splendid sage lived for 197 years, a number of presumably tremendous significance. Now he is in Heaven where he looks after Cosmic Harmony and Contemplation, which makes him very popular in DAOist circles.FU-XI is very strong on home improvements, and also spiritual improvements. He’s often seen with a carpenter’s square — which symbolizes both as he created the Eight Trigrams for Divination.Fu Xi 伏羲, also written 伏犧 or 伏戲, also called Mi Xi 宓羲 (also written 宓犧), or Pao Xi 包犧, (also written 包羲, 炮犧 or 庖犧), is one of the mythical Three Augusts 三皇 or Five Emperors 五帝. He is therefore known as Xi Huang 犧皇 or Huang Xi 皇羲 "August Shepherd". His cognomen is Tai Hao 太皞 (also written 太昊) "Great Brightness", his tribal name Huang Xiong 黄熊氏. He was the brother and husband of Nü Wa 女媧. The couple was, according to legend, the creators of the world. Han period 漢 (206 BCE-220 CE) stone bricks therefore depict Fu Xi and Nü wa with a human body ending in intertwining dragon tails, each of them holding an instrument of architects, namely scissors (ju 榘) and rulers (gui 規). The story of the couple was very widespread in southern China, where the Miao people 苗 saw themselves as descendants of Fu Xi and Nü Wa. The two of them were, in other words, the parents of mankind. Fu Xi is also the deity representing the east and reigning the element wood (mu 木). According to the books Huainanzi 淮南子 and Lüshi chunqiu 呂氏春秋, he is assisted by the spirit Gou Mang 句芒 who pull out the sprouts of all plants in spring. A story in the Shanhaijing 山海經 says that the mother of Fu Xi was Lady Huaxu 華胥氏 who conceived when she tread on the footpint of the God of Thunder (Leishen 雷神). Fu Xi is credited by several inventions, like the Eight Trigrams (bagua 八卦) used for prognostication. Each one of the trigrams represented a formation of the cosm, like Heaven and Earth, mountains and rivers, wind and thunder, and so on. According to the book Baopuzi 抱朴子 Fu Xi is also credited with the invention of the fishing net. In the song collection Chuci 楚辭 he is called the inventor of music. The book Yishi 繹史 says he invented matrimonial rites that are otherwise attributed to his sister Nü Wa. The Hetu ting fuzuo 河圖挺輔佐 praises him as the one who told men how to use the fire.

Emperor Tai Hao is not always identified with Fu Xi. According to other legends, Tai Hao had the surname Feng 風. His officials had the designations of dragons. His residence was Chen 陳 (modern Huaiyang 淮陽, Henan), and he reigned over the lower course of the Yellow River. The families of this region with the surnames Ren 任, Su 宿, Xugou 須句 and Zhuansou 頊臾 (rather the ruling houses of these minor fiefs of the Spring and Autumn period 春秋, 770-5th cent. BCE) are said to be his descendants. Tai Hao or Fu Xi are also called Green Emperor (Qing Di 青帝 or Cang Di 蒼帝) and ruled over the East.

www.chinaknowledge.de/History/Myth/personsfuxi.html

"In the sign on the right hand, the etymologists know how to read a precept, and the right hand is used for eating. The right hand is therefore appropriate to the things of the earth, and the element D is found in the sign adopted for the Left This square is the symbol of all the arts, especially the religious and magical arts, and is the insignia of Fuxi, the first sovereign , The first soothsayer, Fou-hi is the husband or brother of Niu-koua, whose compass is the insignia. This primordial couple invented marriage also to say good morals. The pictures represent Fou-hi and Niu-koua holding each other by the lower part of the body, and Niu-koua, who occupies the right, holds the compass with his right hand. Left, holds the square with the left hand The square, which produces the Square, emblem Earth, can not be insigned to until after an exchange hierogamic of attributes; , the square rightly deserves to be the emblem of the sorcerer is , and especially of Fuxi, a scholar in the bones of heaven as in those of the earth . Fou-hi can therefore carry the square of the left hand, and the left hand (with the square) evoke the Royal Work, the first hierogamy, the magico-religious activity. The Chinese do not strongly oppose religion to magic, any more than pure to impure. The sacred and the profane do not themselves form two distinct genres. The Right can be devoted to secular works and earthly activities without becoming the antagonist of the Left. Chinese thought is concerned not with contraries, but with contrasts, alternations, correlatives, and hierogamic exchanges of attributes."

Marcel Granet

The war with Zhurong tRAh, banged his head against Mount Buzhou RR Ill the pillar of the sky and the terrestrial a until it broke d 25 There are numerous examples showing how excessive anger, or even joy, can be delete- rious. In another example, the viscount of Zhu furious that one of his employees could inadvertently fell into a brazicr and was burnt alivc xie Hogwei on the other hand, died in a fit of rage while playing weigi, when his oppo nent, on the point of losing, was given a hint by a guest watching the game broad meaning of also encompasses the concepts of fury and rage, as is made clear in the phrase "unable to control one's rage" HIB), to contain one's fury" (8 RBJiA), and "in a towering rage (s HUR). It is also used to refer to the fury of elements, as in "the howl of the vio- ent wind's blowin (1EH89t). In various chéngyii it is described as rage (ili&Z& US), fierce and frightening ourning rage (L & E). Indiscriminate arbitrarily complain about what is here and there U8 illi B), and "venting one's anger on others" TN. It can be hidden (i Tri nursing one's anger and rancour"; to be furious but not dare to speak out), manifested ("showing one's rage th), or modulated ("restraining one's anger at home and venting it outside.

books.google.fr/books?id=lQ55CgAAQBAJ&pg=PA466&lp...(%E4%B8%8D%E5%91%A8%E5%B1%B1&source=bl&ots=28Vw4K4HLv&sig=BSxz_Zn8jm88IhvIhaKdOEeI4GM&hl=fr&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjigJ7h357TAhUBvBQKHQfyAZoQ6AEILDAC#v=onepage&q=Mont%20Buzhou%20(%E4%B8%8D%E5%91%A8%E5%B1%B1&f=false

Grevillea is a diverse genus of about 360 species of evergreen flowering plants in the family Proteaceae, native to rainforest and more open habitats in Australia, New Guinea, New Caledonia, Indonesia and Sulawesi. It was named in honour of Charles Francis Greville. The species range from prostrate shrubs less than 50 cm (20 in) tall to trees 35 m (115 ft) tall. Common names include grevillea, spider flower, silky oak and toothbrush plant.

Anemone are perennials that have basal leaves with long leaf-stems that can be upright or prostrate. Leaves are simple or compound with lobed, parted, or undivided leaf blades. The leaf margins are toothed or entire.

Flowers with 4–27 sepals are produced singly, in cymes of 2–9 flowers, or in umbels, above a cluster of leaf- or sepal-like bracts. Sepals may be any color. The pistils have one ovule. The flowers have nectaries, but petals are missing in the majority of species.

The fruits are ovoid to obovoid shaped achenes that are collected together in a tight cluster, ending variously lengthened stalks; though many species have sessile clusters terminating the stems. The achenes are beaked and some species have feathery hairs attached to them.[

There is an expression in Australia - "Flat Out Like A Lizard Drinking" - this Echidna demonstrates being flat out.

I have never seen this before! I have seen echidnas before, but never lying totally prostrate and in the hot sun!

Today was a hot 33C in Melbourne, before afternoon thunderstorms came to Healesville about 2pm.

Most of the animals were sensibly laying in the shade, avoiding the hot sun. Most - but not this Echidna!

Echidnas are Australia's answer to hedgehogs or porcupines . They are a primitive Marsupial - one of two monotremes.

Echidnas are one of two egg-laying marsupial mammals - monotremes (the other being the platypus).

Echidnas, sometimes also referred to as "spiny anteaters", are the only surviving monotremes apart from the Platypus. The four surviving species, native to New Guinea and Australia, all belong to the Tachyglossidae family. The echidna is named after a monster in ancient Greek mythology.

Echidnas are small mammals that are covered with coarse hair and spines. Their snouts are elongated and slender. They have very short, strong limbs with large claws and are powerful diggers. Echidnas have a tiny mouth and a toothless jaw. They feed by tearing open soft logs, anthills and the like, and use their long, sticky tongue which protrudes from their snout to collect their prey. The Short-beaked Echidna's diet consists largely of ants and termites, while the Zaglossus species typically eat worms and insect larvae.

The female lays a single soft-shelled, leathery egg twenty-two days after mating and deposits it directly into her pouch. Hatching takes ten days; the young echidna, called a puggle, then sucks milk from the pores of the two milk patches (monotremes have no nipples) and remains in the pouch for forty-five to fifty-five days, at which time it starts to develop spines. The mother digs a nursery burrow and deposits the puggle, returning every five days to suckle it until it is weaned at seven months.

There are two species of echidnas, one confined to the highlands of New Guinea, and one which lives in Australia and New Guinea.

The echidna's snout is between 7 and 8 cm long, and is stiffened to enable the animal to break up logs and termite mounds when searching for food. An echidna's mouth is on the underside of its snout, at the end. This allows the animal to feed easily – especially when suckling. Adult echidnas vary in size, from 35 to 53 cm. Males weigh about 6 kilograms, while females weigh about 4.5 kilograms.

For most of the year echidnas are solitary animals, although each animal's territory is large and often overlaps with that of other echidnas. During the breeding season they probably use their fine sense of smell to locate one another. Echidnas are usually found among rocks, in hollow logs and in holes among tree roots. During rainy or windy weather they often burrow into the soil or shelter under bushes and tussocks of grass.

The echidna looks fearsome enough, but it is a shy animal and would rather retreat than fight if disturbed. When frightened it will curl into a ball, with its snout and legs tucked beneath it and its sharp spines sticking out. It will wedge itself beneath rocks, or burrow straight down into soft soil, to escape predators such as dogs, eagles and dingoes.

With a keen sense of smell, an echidna uses its long, hairless snout to search for food, detect danger and locate other echidnas. Termites are the preferred food, which is why the animal is often called the 'spiny anteater'. After finding food, an echidna catches the prey with its long, sticky tongue. Because it has no teeth, it grinds its food between its tongue and the bottom of its mouth.

In warm areas, echidnas feed during the cooler morning and evening hours, and sleep during the heat of the day. In southern Australia, they often stop eating during the colder months and then eat large amounts during spring.

Echidnas have been known to live for as long as 16 years in the wild, but generally their life span is thought to be under 10 years.

Healesville Sanctuary, Healesville, Victoria, Australia