View allAll Photos Tagged Prostrate
Common names: Berry saltbush, creeping saltbush
A prostrate plant growing in land often classed as wasteland. It is not a weed. We found it growing along the banks of the Avon River in York. Other plants growing there included Frankenia, Heliotrope and other saltbush plants.
I like the little red berries that look like a pixie cap.
ID: Dr Kelly A. Shepherd, Senior Research Scientist Western Australian Herbarium
Photo: Fred
Krameria lanceolata, Dick Nichols Park, Austin. Flower petals are irregular in shape, each petal about 1 cm long. The plant is prostrate and wooly, often hidden in other vegetation.
FR Euphorbe prostrée - EN Prostrate spurge - ES Lechetrezna rastrera menor - CA Lletera prostrada
Euphorbia prostrata Aiton ? (port)
Parc urbain (alt. 660 m)
Santa Coloma de Queralt (province de Tarragone, Catalogne, Espagne)
Néophyte (Amérique tropicale, Sud et Centre des États-Unis
You might have guessed from my referencing the Australian Stratigraphic Units Database that I have come here to see some rocks.
Here are some Nature and some quarrymen prepared earlier. Though not so immediately obvious as, say, the Giant's Causeway, Bluff Mountain or Staffa this is columnar jointing. That's quite interesting.
Much more fascinating, or that's what I think, is the plant tumbling down the rock face. It is the normally prostrate Carpobrotus glaucescens or pigface. Often seen as a groundcover on dunes here it is hanging vertically. I'm fascinated!
rhdr
And to Allah prostrates whatever is in the heavens and whatever is on the earth of creatures, and the angels [as well], and they are not arrogant. (An Nahl:49)
24/7 live in maid sissy barbie locked into a rustling teal taffeta uniform with black satin and lace trim topped off with a matching taffeta maid's cap. She also wears satin gloves, sweet roses seamed stockings and painfully narrow shoes. Hidden underneath is a black bra and suspender belt and green knickers with three rows of black lace across the front and rear. Mistress Lady Penelope keeps her securely locked in a stainless steel slave collar and a Holy Trainer chastity device.
The Dakshinkali Temple is located 22 kilometers from Kathmandu next to the village of Pharping. It's one of the main temples in Nepal. Twice every week thousands of people come here to worship the goddess Kali by sacrificing life animals, particularly cockerels and uncastrated male goats.
GODDESS KALI
Kālī (/ˈkɑːli/; Sanskrit: काली & Bengali: কালী; IPA: [kɑːliː]), also known as Kālikā (Sanskrit: कालिका), is the Hindu goddess associated with empowerment, or shakti. She is the fierce aspect of the goddess Durga. The name of Kali means black one and force of time; she is therefore called the Goddess of Time, Change, Power, Creation, Preservation, and Destruction. Her earliest appearance is that of a destroyer principally of evil forces. Various Shakta Hindu cosmologies, as well as Shākta Tantric beliefs, worship her as the ultimate reality or Brahman; and recent devotional movements re-imagine Kāli as a benevolent mother goddess. She is often portrayed standing or dancing on her husband, the god Shiva, who lies calm and prostrate beneath her. Worshipped throughout India but particularly South India, Bengal, and Assam, Kali is both geographically and culturally marginal.
ETYMOLOGY
Kālī is the feminine form of kālam ("black, dark coloured"). Kāla primarily means "time", but also means "black"; hence, Kālī means "the black one" or "beyond time". Kāli is strongly associated with Shiva, and Shaivas derive the masculine Kāla (an epithet of Shiva) from her feminine name. A nineteenth-century Sanskrit dictionary, the Shabdakalpadrum, states: कालः शिवः। तस्य पत्नीति - काली। kālaḥ śivaḥ। tasya patnīti kālī - "Shiva is Kāla, thus, his consort is Kāli".
Other names include Kālarātri ("black night"), as described above, and Kālikā ("relating to time"), and Kallie ("black alchemist"). Coburn notes that the name Kālī can be used as a proper name, or as a description of color.
Kāli's association with darkness stands in contrast to her consort, Shiva, whose body is covered by the white ashes of the cremation ground (Sanskrit: śmaśāna) where he meditates, and with which Kāli is also associated, as śmaśāna-kālī.
ORIGINS
Hugh Urban notes that although the word Kālī appears as early as the Atharva Veda, the first use of it as a proper name is in the Kathaka Grhya Sutra (19.7). Kali is the name of one of the seven tongues of Agni, the [Rigvedic] God of Fire, in the Mundaka Upanishad (2:4), but it is unlikely that this refers to the goddess. The first appearance of Kāli in her present form is in the Sauptika Parvan of the Mahabharata (10.8.64). She is called Kālarātri (literally, "black night") and appears to the Pandava soldiers in dreams, until finally she appears amidst the fighting during an attack by Drona's son Ashwatthama. She most famously appears in the sixth century Devi Mahatmyam as one of the shaktis of Mahadevi, and defeats the demon Raktabija ("Bloodseed"). The tenth-century Kalika Purana venerates Kāli as the ultimate reality.
According to David Kinsley, Kāli is first mentioned in Hinduism as a distinct goddess around 600 CE, and these texts "usually place her on the periphery of Hindu society or on the battlefield." She is often regarded as the Shakti of Shiva, and is closely associated with him in various Puranas. The Kalika Purana depicts her as the "Adi Shakti" (Fundamental Power) and "Para Prakriti" or beyond nature.
WORSHIP AND MANTRA
Kali could be considered a general concept, like Durga, and is mostly worshiped in the Kali Kula sect of worship. The closest way of direct worship is Maha Kali or Bhadra Kali (Bhadra in Sanskrit means 'gentle'). Kali is worshiped as one of the 10 Mahavidya forms of Adi Parashakti (Goddess Durga) or Bhagavathy according to the region. The mantra for worship is
Sanskrit: सर्वमङ्गलमाङ्गल्ये शिवे सर्वार्थसाधिके । शरण्ये त्र्यम्बके गौरि नारायणि नमोऽस्तु ते ॥
ॐ जयंती मंगल काली भद्रकाली कपालिनी । दुर्गा शिवा क्षमा धात्री स्वाहा स्वधा नमोऽस्तुते ॥
(Sarvamaṅgalamāṅgalyē śivē sarvārthasādhikē . śaraṇyē tryambakē gauri nārāyaṇi namō'stu tē.
Oṃ jayantī mangala kālī bhadrakālī kapālinī . durgā śivā ksamā dhātrī svāhā svadhā namō'stutē.)
YANTRA
Goddesses play an important role in the study and practice of Tantra Yoga, and are affirmed to be as central to discerning the nature of reality as are the male deities. Although Parvati is often said to be the recipient and student of Shiva's wisdom in the form of Tantras, it is Kali who seems to dominate much of the Tantric iconography, texts, and rituals. In many sources Kāli is praised as the highest reality or greatest of all deities. The Nirvana-tantra says the gods Brahma, Vishnu, and Shiva all arise from her like bubbles in the sea, ceaselessly arising and passing away, leaving their original source unchanged. The Niruttara-tantra and the Picchila-tantra declare all of Kāli's mantras to be the greatest and the Yogini-tantra, Kamakhya-tantra and the Niruttara-tantra all proclaim Kāli vidyas (manifestations of Mahadevi, or "divinity itself"). They declare her to be an essence of her own form (svarupa) of the Mahadevi.In the Mahanirvana-tantra, Kāli is one of the epithets for the primordial sakti, and in one passage Shiva praises her:At the dissolution of things, it is Kāla [Time]. Who will devour all, and by reason of this He is called Mahākāla [an epithet of Lord Shiva], and since Thou devourest Mahākāla Himself, it is Thou who art the Supreme Primordial Kālika. Because Thou devourest Kāla, Thou art Kāli, the original form of all things, and because Thou art the Origin of and devourest all things Thou art called the Adya [the Primordial One]. Re-assuming after Dissolution Thine own form, dark and formless, Thou alone remainest as One ineffable and inconceivable. Though having a form, yet art Thou formless; though Thyself without beginning, multiform by the power of Maya, Thou art the Beginning of all, Creatrix, Protectress, and Destructress that Thou art. The figure of Kāli conveys death, destruction, and the consuming aspects of reality. As such, she is also a "forbidden thing", or even death itself. In the Pancatattva ritual, the sadhaka boldly seeks to confront Kali, and thereby assimilates and transforms her into a vehicle of salvation. This is clear in the work of the Karpuradi-stotra, a short praise of Kāli describing the Pancatattva ritual unto her, performed on cremation grounds. (Samahana-sadhana)He, O Mahākāli who in the cremation-ground, naked, and with dishevelled hair, intently meditates upon Thee and recites Thy mantra, and with each recitation makes offering to Thee of a thousand Akanda flowers with seed, becomes without any effort a Lord of the earth. Oh Kāli, whoever on Tuesday at midnight, having uttered Thy mantra, makes offering even but once with devotion to Thee of a hair of his Shakti [his energy/female companion] in the cremation-ground, becomes a great poet, a Lord of the earth, and ever goes mounted upon an elephant.The Karpuradi-stotra clearly indicates that Kāli is more than a terrible, vicious, slayer of demons who serves Durga or Shiva. Here, she is identified as the supreme mistress of the universe, associated with the five elements. In union with Lord Shiva, she creates and destroys worlds. Her appearance also takes a different turn, befitting her role as ruler of the world and object of meditation. In contrast to her terrible aspects, she takes on hints of a more benign dimension. She is described as young and beautiful, has a gentle smile, and makes gestures with her two right hands to dispel any fear and offer boons. The more positive features exposed offer the distillation of divine wrath into a goddess of salvation, who rids the sadhaka of fear. Here, Kali appears as a symbol of triumph over death.
BENGALI TRADITION
Kali is also a central figure in late medieval Bengali devotional literature, with such devotees as Ramprasad Sen (1718–75). With the exception of being associated with Parvati as Shiva's consort, Kāli is rarely pictured in Hindu legends and iconography as a motherly figure until Bengali devotions beginning in the early eighteenth century. Even in Bengāli tradition her appearance and habits change little, if at all.
The Tantric approach to Kāli is to display courage by confronting her on cremation grounds in the dead of night, despite her terrible appearance. In contrast, the Bengali devotee appropriates Kāli's teachings adopting the attitude of a child, coming to love her unreservedly. In both cases, the goal of the devotee is to become reconciled with death and to learn acceptance of the way that things are. These themes are well addressed in Rāmprasād's work. Rāmprasād comments in many of his other songs that Kāli is indifferent to his wellbeing, causes him to suffer, brings his worldly desires to nothing and his worldly goods to ruin. He also states that she does not behave like a mother should and that she ignores his pleas:
Can mercy be found in the heart of her who was born of the stone? [a reference to Kali as the daughter of Himalaya]
Were she not merciless, would she kick the breast of her lord?
Men call you merciful, but there is no trace of mercy in you, Mother.
You have cut off the heads of the children of others, and these you wear as a garland around your neck.
It matters not how much I call you "Mother, Mother." You hear me, but you will not listen.
To be a child of Kāli, Rāmprasād asserts, is to be denied of earthly delights and pleasures. Kāli is said to refrain from giving that which is expected. To the devotee, it is perhaps her very refusal to do so that enables her devotees to reflect on dimensions of themselves and of reality that go beyond the material world.
A significant portion of Bengali devotional music features Kāli as its central theme and is known as Shyama Sangeet ("Music of the Night"). Mostly sung by male vocalists, today even women have taken to this form of music. One of the finest singers of Shyāma Sāngeet is Pannalal Bhattacharya.
In Bengal, Kāli is venerated in the festival Kali Puja, the new moon day of Ashwin month which coincides with Diwali festival.
In a unique form of Kāli worship, Shantipur worships Kāli in the form of a hand painted image of the deity known as Poteshwari (meaning the deity drawn on a piece of cloth).
LEGENDS
SLAYER AND RAKTABIJA
In Kāli's most famous legend, Devi Durga (Adi Parashakti) and her assistants, the Matrikas, wound the demon Raktabija, in various ways and with a variety of weapons in an attempt to destroy him. They soon find that they have worsened the situation for with every drop of blood that is dripped from Raktabija he reproduces a clone of himself. The battlefield becomes increasingly filled with his duplicates. Durga, in need of help, summons Kāli to combat the demons. It is said, in some versions, that Goddess Durga actually assumes the form of Goddess Kāli at this time. The Devi Mahatmyam describes:
Out of the surface of her (Durga's) forehead, fierce with frown, issued suddenly Kali of terrible countenance, armed with a sword and noose. Bearing the strange khatvanga (skull-topped staff ), decorated with a garland of skulls, clad in a tiger's skin, very appalling owing to her emaciated flesh, with gaping mouth, fearful with her tongue lolling out, having deep reddish eyes, filling the regions of the sky with her roars, falling upon impetuously and slaughtering the great asuras in that army, she devoured those hordes of the foes of the devas.
Kali consumes Raktabija and his duplicates, and dances on the corpses of the slain. In the Devi Mahatmya version of this story, Kali is also described as a Matrika and as a Shakti or power of Devi. She is given the epithet Cāṃuṇḍā (Chamunda), i.e. the slayer of the demons Chanda and Munda. Chamunda is very often identified with Kali and is very much like her in appearance and habit.
DAKSHINA KALI
In her most famous pose as Daksinakali, popular legends say that Kali, drunk on the blood of her victims, is about to destroy the whole universe when, urged by all the gods, Shiva lies in her way to stop her, and she steps upon his chest. Recognizing Shiva beneath her feet, she calms herself. Though not included in any of the puranas, popular legends state that Kali was ashamed at the prospect of keeping her husband beneath her feet and thus stuck her tongue out in shame. The Devi-Bhagavata Purana, which goes into great depths about the goddess Kali, reveals the tongue's actual symbolism.
The characteristic icons that depict Kali are the following; unbridled matted hair, open blood shot eyes, open mouth and a drooping tongue; in her hands, she holds a Khadga (bent sword or scimitar) and a human head; she has a girdle of human hands across her waist, and Shiva lies beneath her feet. The drooping out-stuck tongue represents her blood-thirst. Lord Shiva beneath her feet represents matter, as Kali energy. The depiction of Kali on Shiva shows that without energy, matter lies "dead". This concept has been simplified to a folk-tale depicting a wife placing her foot
on her husband and sticking her tongue out in shame. In tantric contexts, the tongue is seen to denote the element (guna) of rajas (energy and action) controlled by sattva.
If Kali steps on Shiva with her right foot and holds the sword in her left hand, she is considered to be Dakshina Kali. The Dakshina Kali Temple has important religious associations with the Jagannath Temple and it is believed that Daksinakali is the guardian of the kitchen of the Lord Jagannath Temple. Puranic tradition says that in Puri, Lord Jagannath is regarded as Daksinakalika. Goddess Dakshinakali plays an important role in the 'Niti' of Saptapuri Amavasya.
One South Indian tradition tells of a dance contest between Shiva and Kali. After defeating the two demons Sumbha and Nisumbha, Kali takes up residence in the forest of Thiruvalankadu or Thiruvalangadu. She terrorizes the surrounding area with her fierce, disruptive nature. One of Shiva's devotees becomes distracted while performing austerities, and asks Shiva to rid the forest of the destructive goddess. When Shiva arrives, Kali threatens him, and Shiva challenges Kali to a dance contest, wherein Kali matches Shiva until Shiva takes the "Urdhvatandava" step, vertically raising his right leg. Kali refuses to perform this step, which would not befit her as a woman, and becomes pacified.
SMASHAN KALI
If the Kali steps out with the left foot and holds the sword in her right hand, she is the terrible form of Mother, the Smashan Kali of the cremation ground. She is worshiped by tantrics, the followers of Tantra, who believe that one's spiritual discipline practiced in a smashan (cremation ground) brings success quickly. Sarda Devi, the consort of Ramakrishna Paramhansa, worshipped Smashan Kali at Dakshineshwar.
MATERNAL KALI
At the time of samundra manthan when amrit came out, along with that came out poison which was going to destroy the world hence on the request of all the gods, Lord Shiva drank it to save the world but as he is beyond death he didn't die but was very much in pain due to the poison effect hence he became a child so that Kali can feed him with her milk which will sooth out the poison effect.
MAHAKALI
Mahakali (Sanskrit: Mahākālī, Devanagari: महाकाली), literally translated as Great Kali, is sometimes considered as a greater form of Kali, identified with the Ultimate reality of Brahman. It can also be used as an honorific of the Goddess Kali, signifying her greatness by the prefix "Mahā-". Mahakali, in Sanskrit, is etymologically the feminized variant of Mahakala or Great Time (which is interpreted also as Death), an epithet of the God Shiva in Hinduism. Mahakali is the presiding Goddess of the first episode of the Devi Mahatmya. Here she is depicted as Devi in her universal form as Shakti. Here Devi serves as the agent who allows the cosmic order to be restored.
Kali is depicted in the Mahakali form as having ten heads, ten arms, and ten legs. Each of her ten hands is carrying a various implement which vary in different accounts, but each of these represent the power of one of the Devas or Hindu Gods and are often the identifying weapon or ritual item of a given Deva. The implication is that Mahakali subsumes and is responsible for the powers that these deities possess and this is in line with the interpretation that Mahakali is identical with Brahman. While not displaying ten heads, an "ekamukhi" or one headed image may be displayed with ten arms, signifying the same concept: the powers of the various Gods come only through Her grace.
ICONOGRAPHY
Kali is portrayed mostly in two forms: the popular four-armed form and the ten-armed Mahakali form. In both of her forms, she is described as being black in color but is most often depicted as blue in popular Indian art. Her eyes are described as red with intoxication, and in absolute rage, her hair is shown disheveled, small fangs sometimes protrude out of her mouth, and her tongue is lolling. She is often shown naked or just wearing a skirt made of human arms and a garland of human heads. She is also accompanied by serpents and a jackal while standing on a seemingly dead Shiva, usually right foot forward to symbolize the more popular Dakshinamarga or right-handed path, as opposed to the more infamous and transgressive Vamamarga or left-handed path.
In the ten-armed form of Mahakali she is depicted as shining like a blue stone. She has ten faces, ten feet, and three eyes for each head. She has ornaments decked on all her limbs. There is no association with Shiva.
The Kalika Purana describes Kali as possessing a soothing dark complexion, as perfectly beautiful, riding a lion, four-armed, holding a sword and blue lotuses, her hair unrestrained, body firm and youthful.
In spite of her seemingly terrible form, Kali Ma is often considered the kindest and most loving of all the Hindu goddesses, as she is regarded by her devotees as the Mother of the whole Universe. And because of her terrible form, she is also often seen as a great protector. When the Bengali saint Ramakrishna once asked a devotee why one would prefer to worship Mother over him, this devotee rhetorically replied, "Maharaj", when they are in trouble your devotees come running to you. But, where do you run when you are in trouble?"
According to Ramakrishna, darkness is the Ultimate Mother, or Kali:
My Mother is the principle of consciousness. She is Akhanda Satchidananda;
indivisible Reality, Awareness, and Bliss. The night sky between the stars is perfectly black.
The waters of the ocean depths are the same; The infinite is always mysteriously dark.
This inebriating darkness is my beloved Kali.
—Sri Ramakrishna
This is clear in the works of such contemporary artists as Charles Wish, and Tyeb Mehta, who sometimes take great liberties with the traditional, accepted symbolism, but still demonstrate a true reverence for the Shakta sect.
POPULAR FORM
Classic depictions of Kali share several features, as follows:
Kali's most common four armed iconographic image shows each hand carrying variously a sword, a trishul (trident), a severed head, and a bowl or skull-cup (kapala) catching the blood of the severed head.
Two of these hands (usually the left) are holding a sword and a severed head. The Sword signifies Divine Knowledge and the Human Head signifies human Ego which must be slain by Divine Knowledge in order to attain Moksha. The other two hands (usually the right) are in the abhaya (fearlessness) and varada (blessing) mudras, which means her initiated devotees (or anyone worshipping her with a true heart) will be saved as she will guide them here and in the hereafter.
She has a garland consisting of human heads, variously enumerated at 108 (an auspicious number in Hinduism and the number of countable beads on a Japa Mala or rosary for repetition of Mantras) or 51, which represents Varnamala or the Garland of letters of the Sanskrit alphabet, Devanagari. Hindus believe Sanskrit is a language of dynamism, and each of these letters represents a form of energy, or a form of Kali. Therefore, she is generally seen as the mother of language, and all mantras.
She is often depicted naked which symbolizes her being beyond the covering of Maya since she is pure (nirguna) being-consciousness-bliss and far above prakriti. She is shown as very dark as she is brahman in its supreme unmanifest state. She has no permanent qualities - she will continue to exist even when the universe ends. It is therefore believed that the concepts of color, light, good, bad do not apply to her - she is the pure, un-manifested energy, the Adi-shakti.
Kali as the Symbol of Creation , Freedom , Preservation and Destruction
The head that hangs in Kali's hand is a symbol of Ego and the scimitar which she is holding represents power and energy.It is believed that Kali is protecting the human race by that scimitar and also destroying the negativity and ego within human being. The body lying under Kali symbolizes ruination, is actually a form of Shiva. Kali steps her leg on the chest of the body and suppress ruination . Since she is standing on the pure white chest of Lord Shiva who, as pure primal awareness, lays in a passive reclining position, peacefully lies with his eyes half open in a state of bliss. Her hair is long, black and flowing freely depicting Her freedom from convention and the confines of conceptualization. The white teeth which Kali has stands for conscience and her red tongue represents greed. By pressing her white teeth on her tongue Kali refers to control greed.The goddess may appear terrible from outside but every symbol in Kali signifies truth of life. Since the earth was created out of darkness, the dark black color of Kali symbolizes the color from which everything was born. Her right hand side arms she shows the Abhaya mudra(gesture of fearlessness) and Vara mudra (gesture of welcome and charity) respectively . But on the other arm in left side she holds a bloody scimitar and a severed head depicting destruction and end of ego.
Kali as the Symbol of Mother Nature
The name Kali means Kala or force of time. When there were neither the creation, nor the sun, the moon, the planets, and the earth, there was only darkness and everything was created from the darkness. The Dark appearance of kali represents the darkness from which everything was born. Her complexion is deep blue, like the sky and ocean water as blue. As she is also the goddess of Preservation Kali is worshiped as mother to preserve the nature.Kali is standing calm on Shiva, her appearance represents the preservation of mother nature. Her free, long and black hair represents nature's freedom from civilization. Under the third eye of kali, the signs of both sun, moon and fire are visible which represent the driving forces of nature.
SHIVA IN KALI ICONOGRAPHY
In both these images she is shown standing on the prone, inert or dead body of Shiva. There is a legend for the reason behind her standing on what appears to be Shiva's corpse, which translates as follows:
Once Kali had destroyed all the demons in battle, she began a terrific dance out of the sheer joy of victory. All the worlds or lokas began to tremble and sway under the impact of her dance. So, at the request of all the Gods, Shiva himself asked her to desist from this behavior. However, she was too intoxicated to listen. Hence, Shiva lay like a corpse among the slain demons in order to absorb the shock of the dance into himself. When Kali eventually stepped upon Shiva, she realized she was trampling and hurting her husband and bit her tongue in shame.
The story described here is a popular folk tale and not described or hinted in any of the puranas. The puranic interpretation is as follows:
Once, Parvati asks Shiva to chose the one form among her 10 forms which he likes most. To her surprise, Shiva reveals that he is most comfortable with her Kali form, in which she is bereft of her jewellery, her human-form, her clothes, her emotions and where she is only raw, chaotic energy, where she is as terrible as time itself and even greater than time. As Parvati takes the form of Kali, Shiva lies at her feet and requests her to place her foot on his chest, upon his heart. Once in this form, Shiva requests her to have this place, below her feet in her iconic image which would be worshiped throughout.
This idea has been explored in the Devi-Bhagavata Purana [28] and is most popular in the Shyama Sangeet, devotional songs to Kali from the 12th to 15th centuries.
The Tantric interpretation of Kali standing on top of her husband is as follows:
The Shiv tattava (Divine Consciousness as Shiva) is inactive, while the Shakti tattava (Divine Energy as Kali) is active. Shiva and Kali represent Brahman, the Absolute pure consciousness which is beyond all names, forms and activities. Kali, on the other hand, represents the potential (and manifested) energy responsible for all names, forms and activities. She is his Shakti, or creative power, and is seen as the substance behind the entire content of all consciousness. She can never exist apart from Shiva or act independently of him, just as Shiva remains a mere corpse without Kali i.e., Shakti, all the matter/energy of the universe, is not distinct from Shiva, or Brahman, but is rather the dynamic power of Brahman. Hence, Kali is Para Brahman in the feminine and dynamic aspect while Shiva is the male aspect and static. She stands as the absolute basis for all life, energy and beneath her feet lies, Shiva, a metaphor for mass, which cannot retain its form without energy.
While this is an advanced concept in monistic Shaktism, it also agrees with the Nondual Trika philosophy of Kashmir, popularly known as Kashmir Shaivism and associated most famously with Abhinavagupta. There is a colloquial saying that "Shiva without Shakti is Shava" which means that without the power of action (Shakti) that is Mahakali (represented as the short "i" in Devanagari) Shiva (or consciousness itself) is inactive; Shava means corpse in Sanskrit and the play on words is that all Sanskrit consonants are assumed to be followed by a short letter "a" unless otherwise noted. The short letter "i" represents the female power or Shakti that activates Creation. This is often the explanation for why She is standing on Shiva, who is either Her husband and complement in Shaktism or the Supreme Godhead in Shaivism.
To properly understand this complex Tantric symbolism it is important to remember that the meaning behind Shiva and Kali does not stray from the non-dualistic parlance of Shankara or the Upanisads. According to both the Mahanirvana and Kularnava Tantras, there are two distinct ways of perceiving the same absolute reality. The first is a transcendental plane which is often described as static, yet infinite. It is here that there is no matter, there is no universe and only consciousness exists. This form of reality is known as Shiva, the absolute Sat-Chit-Ananda - existence, knowledge and bliss. The second is an active plane, an immanent plane, the plane of matter, of Maya, i.e., where the illusion of space-time and the appearance of an actual universe does exist. This form of reality is known as Kali or Shakti, and (in its entirety) is still specified as the same Absolute Sat-Chit-Ananda. It is here in this second plane that the universe (as we commonly know it) is experienced and is described by the Tantric seer as the play of Shakti, or God as Mother Kali.
From a Tantric perspective, when one meditates on reality at rest, as absolute pure consciousness (without the activities of creation, preservation or dissolution) one refers to this as Shiva or Brahman. When one meditates on reality as dynamic and creative, as the Absolute content of pure consciousness (with all the activities of creation, preservation or dissolution) one refers to it as Kali or Shakti. However, in either case the yogini or yogi is interested in one and the same reality - the only difference being in name and fluctuating aspects of appearance. It is this which is generally accepted as the meaning of Kali standing on the chest of Shiva.
Although there is often controversy surrounding the images of divine copulation, the general consensus is benign and free from any carnal impurities in its substance. In Tantra the human body is a symbol for the microcosm of the universe; therefore sexual process is responsible for the creation of the world. Although theoretically Shiva and Kali (or Shakti) are inseparable, like fire and its power to burn, in the case of creation they are often seen as having separate roles. With Shiva as male and Kali as female it is only by their union that creation may transpire. This reminds us of the prakrti and purusa doctrine of Samkhya wherein prakāśa- vimarśa has no practical value, just as without prakrti, purusa is quite inactive. This (once again) stresses the interdependencies of Shiva and Shakti and the vitality of their union.
Gopi Krishna proposed that Kali standing on the dead Shiva or Shava (Sanskrit for dead body) symbolised the helplessness of a person undergoing the changing process (psychologically and physiologically) in the body conducted by the Kundalini Shakti.
DEVELOPMENT
In the later traditions, Kali has become inextricably linked with Shiva. The unleashed form of Kali often becomes wild and uncontrollable, and only Shiva is able to tame her just as only Kali can tame Shiva. This is both because she is often a transformed version of one of his consorts and because he is able to match her wildness.
The ancient text of Kali Kautuvam describes her competition with Shiva in dance, from which the sacred 108 Karanas appeared. Shiva won the competition by acting the urdva tandava, one of the Karanas, by raising his feet to his head. Other texts describe Shiva appearing as a crying infant and appealing to her maternal instincts. While Shiva is said to be able to tame her, the iconography often presents her dancing on his fallen body, and there are accounts of the two of them dancing together, and driving each other to such wildness that the world comes close to unravelling.
Shiva's involvement with Tantra and Kali's dark nature have led to her becoming an important Tantric figure. To the Tantric worshippers, it was essential to face her Curse, the terror of death, as willingly as they accepted Blessings from her beautiful, nurturing, maternal aspect. For them, wisdom meant learning that no coin has only one side: as death cannot exist without life, so life cannot exist without death. Kali's role sometimes grew beyond that of a chaos - which could be confronted - to that of one who could bring wisdom, and she is given great metaphysical significance by some Tantric texts. The Nirvāna-tantra clearly presents her uncontrolled nature as the Ultimate Reality, claiming that the trimurti of Brahma, Vishnu and Rudra arise and disappear from her like bubbles from the sea. Although this is an extreme case, the Yogini-tantra, Kamakhya-tantra and the Niruttara-tantra declare her the svarupa (own-being) of the Mahadevi (the great Goddess, who is in this case seen as the combination of all devis).The final stage of development is the worshipping of Kali as the Great Mother, devoid of her usual violence. This practice is a break from the more traditional depictions. The pioneers of this tradition are the 18th century Shakta poets such as Ramprasad Sen, who show an awareness of Kali's ambivalent nature. Ramakrishna, the 19th century Bengali saint, was also a great devotee of Kali; the western popularity of whom may have contributed to the more modern, equivocal interpretations of this Goddess. Rachel McDermott's work, however, suggests that for the common, modern worshipper, Kali is not seen as fearful, and only those educated in old traditions see her as having a wrathful component. Some credit to the development of Devi must also be given to Samkhya. Commonly referred to as the Devi of delusion, Mahamaya or Durga, acting in the confines of (but not being bound by) the nature of the three gunas, takes three forms: Maha-Kali, Maha-Lakshmi and Maha-Saraswati, being her tamas-ika, rajas-ika and sattva-ika forms. In this sense, Kali is simply part of a larger whole.
Like Sir John Woodroffe and Georg Feuerstein, many Tantric scholars (as well as sincere practitioners) agree that, no matter how propitious or appalling you describe them, Shiva and Devi are simply recognizable symbols for everyday, abstract (yet tangible) concepts such as perception, knowledge, space-time, causation and the process of liberating oneself from the confines of such things. Shiva, symbolizing pure, absolute consciousness, and Devi, symbolizing the entire content of that consciousness, are ultimately one and the same - totality incarnate, a micro-macro-cosmic amalgamation of all subjects, all objects and all phenomenal relations between the "two." Like man and woman who both share many common, human traits yet at the same time they are still different and, therefore, may also be seen as complementary.
Worshippers prescribe various benign and horrific qualities to Devi simply out of practicality. They do this so they may have a variety of symbols to choose from, symbols which they can identify and relate with from the perspective of their own, ever-changing time, place and personal level of unfolding. Just like modern chemists or physicists use a variety of molecular and atomic models to describe what is unperceivable through rudimentary, sensory input, the scientists of ontology and epistemology must do the same. One of the underlying distinctions of Tantra, in comparison to other religions, is that it allows the devotee the liberty to choose from a vast array of complementary symbols and rhetoric which suit one's evolving needs and tastes. From an aesthetic standpoint, nothing is interdict and nothing is orthodox. In this sense, the projection of some of Devi's more gentle qualities onto Kali is not sacrilege and the development of Kali really lies in the practitioner, not the murthi.
A TIME magazine article of October 27, 1947, used Kali as a symbol and metaphor for the human suffering in British India during its partition that year. In 1971, Ms. Magazine used an image of Kali, her multiple arms juggling modern tasks, as a symbol of modern womanhood on its inaugural issue.
Swami Vivekananda wrote his favorite poem Kali the Mother in 1898.
KALI IN NEOPAGAN AND NEW AGE PRACTICE
An academic study of Western Kali enthusiasts noted that, "as shown in the histories of all cross-cultural religious transplants, Kali devotionalism in the West must take on its own indigenous forms if it is to adapt to its new environment."[60] The adoption of Kali by the West has raised accusations of cultural appropriation:
A variety of writers and thinkers have found Kali an exciting figure for reflection and exploration, notably feminists and participants in New Age spirituality who are attracted to goddess worship. [For them], Kali is a symbol of wholeness and healing, associated especially with repressed female power and sexuality. [However, such interpretations often exhibit] confusion and misrepresentation, stemming from a lack of knowledge of Hindu history among these authors, [who only rarely] draw upon materials written by scholars of the Hindu religious tradition. The majority instead rely chiefly on other popular feminist sources, almost none of which base their interpretations on a close reading of Kali's Indian background. The most important issue arising from this discussion - even more important than the question of 'correct' interpretation - concerns the adoption of other people's religious symbols. It is hard to import the worship of a goddess from another culture: religious associations and connotations have to be learned, imagined or intuited when the deep symbolic meanings embedded in the native culture are not available.
INCARNATIONS OF KALI
Draupadi, Wife of Pandavas, was an avatar of Kali, who born to assist Lord Krishna to destroy arrogant kings of India. There is a temple dedicated to this incarnation at Banni Mata Temple at Himachal Pradesh. The vedic deity Nirriti or the Puranic deity Alakshmi is often considered as incarnations of Kali.
WIKIPEDIA
Dryas octopetala (common names include mountain avens, white dryas, and white dryad) is an arctic-alpine flowering plant in the family Rosaceae. It is a small prostrate evergreen subshrub forming large colonies, and is a popular flower in rock gardens. The specific epithet octopetala derives from the Greek octo (eight) and petalon (petal), referring to the eight petals of the flower, an unusual number in the Rosaceae, where five is the normal number. However flowers with up to 16 petals also occur naturally.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dryas_octopetala
Holtasóley (fræðiheiti: Dryas octopetala) er jurt af rósarætt sem vex á fjöllum og heimskautasvæðum.
Blöðin kallast rjúpnalauf. Þau eru skinnkennd, sígræn og gláandi, dökkgræn að ofan en silfurhvít og gláandi að neðan. Stönglar eru trékenndir. Holtasóley myndar breiður eða flatar þúfur. Blómin eru hvít með átta stórum krónublöðum.
Hárbrúða
Þegar aldin þroskast verður stíll frævunnar að fjaðurhærðum hala. Frævurnar setja svip á jurtina við aldinþroskun og er hún þá nefnd hárbrúða. Holtasóley er mjög harðgerð jurt sem er algeng í mólendi og á heiðum og vex upp í 1000 m.y.s.
Holtasóley er ein of einkennisjurtum á norðurslóðum. Íslendingar völdu holtasóley sem þjóðarblóm í atkvæðagreiðslu 2004. Holtasóley er einnig þjóðarblóm Sama.
Possessing the supreme marks, face immaculate like the full moon,
Golden-coloured one, we prostrate to you.
Free from stains, in the three worlds there is no one like you.
To you who have incomparable wisdom, we prostrate.
Commit not a single unwholesome action,
Cultivate a wealth of virtue,
To tame this mind of ours,
This is the teaching of the Buddha.
From the 'Praise to Shakyamuni Buddha'.
Today is Sakadawa, the day in the Tibetan tradition of Buddhism when the Buddha was born, when he gained enlightenment, and when he died. So as you can imagine, it's a pretty special day: like Christmas, Easter, Eid and Hanukka all rolled into one!
The month of Sakadawa is usually celebrated with various activities, and one tries to do as many good deeds as possible. Unlike most religions (where animals are eaten to celebrate), people are urged not to consume meat during this month, in order to honour the Buddha. Now I'll leave you with the final words of the Buddha:
'All component things pass away. Strive with diligence for your own liberation'.
Matt
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Airship Italia was a semi-rigid airship used by Italian engineer Umberto Nobile in his second series of flights around the North Pole. It crashed in 1928, with one confirmed fatality from the crash, one fatality from exposure while awaiting rescue, and the disappearance (and presumed death) of six crew members who were trapped in the still-airborne envelope.
Italia was an N-class semi-rigid airship, designation N-4. In design it was almost identical to the N-1 Norge but slightly larger in gas capacity. Little is known of airship N-2. Airship N-3 was sold to Japan and became "Naval Airship No. 6". Nobile and some of his staff traveled to Japan in 1926 or 1927 to deliver this airship.[1] According to Italian sources, airship N-5 (which was larger and had three times the lifting capacity of N-1) was Nobile's preferred design for the Arctic expedition, but when funding was refused by the Italian government he built N-4 with the assistance of private backers and the City of Milan. In May 1928 the Italia set off for the Arctic Circle, stopping at a German airship hangar at Stolp, Pomerania, and the airship mast at Vadsø in Norway.
First flight: 1924
Length: 105.4 metres/347.8 feet
Diameter: 19.4 metres/63.9 feet
Gas capacity: 18,500 cubic metres/654,000 cubic feet
Performance: 112.3 km/h /70.2 mph
Payload: 9405 kg/20,900 LB
Power plant: 3 Maybach 560 kW/750 hp total
The Italia landed at Stolp in April 1928 before starting the polar flights. In this photograph Nobile is seen with his dog Titina.
At 01:15 on 15 April 1928, the Italia took off from its base at Milan for the Arctic. With 20 personnel on board, and a payload of 17,000 pounds of fuel and supplies, the journey to Stolp in Germany took 30 hours through a variety of bad weather conditions. Near Trieste a wind gust damaged one of the tail fins. Later in the Sudetes the ship faced severe hailstorms and narrowly escaped lightning strikes. On arrival at Stolp at 07:15 on 16 April 1928, inspection revealed hail damage to the propellers and envelope, and severe tail fin damage. All the ballast and most of the fuel had been used fighting the wind. Repairs took 10 days, and required parts and technicians to be sent from Italy.
Takeoff from Stolp was further delayed by bad weather, but at 03:28 on 3 May 1928, Italia set off for Norway. Eight hours later, escorted by Swedish naval planes, Italia passed over Stockholm. Crewmember Finn Malmgren spotted his house from the air and the ship descended to drop a letter to his mother. Bad weather forced the ship east over Finland, and they passed over Rovaniemi at 01:49 on 4 May. Italia reached the mooring mast at Vadsø later that day.
While the ship was moored without difficulty, blizzard conditions followed by heavy rain kept the crew in a state of constant anxiety and caused minor structural damage. As soon as weather permitted, Italia took off for Kings Bay at 20:34 on 5 May, and by 05:30 had passed the meteorological station on Bear Island, but ran into high winds shortly after, also suffering an engine failure. By 12:00 on 6 May the airship reached Ny-Ålesund (Kings Bay) and spotted their support ship. However, in a foretaste of events to come, Captain Romagna of the Città di Milano refused to release 50 men requested by Nobile to form a landing crew. The Norwegian authorities summoned 150 miners at short notice to help haul the ship down and walk her to the shed.
Nobile planned 5 flights for the expedition, each starting from and returning to Ny-Ålesund (Kings Bay) and exploring different areas of the Arctic.
After the necessary engine and structural repairs were completed, the first flight departed from Kings Bay on 11 May 1928. Italia was forced to turn back after only eight hours flight because of thick ice forming on the envelope, as well as fraying of the control cables due to the extreme conditions.
The second flight left at 13:20 on 15 May and lasted 60 hours. In contrast, this time the weather conditions were excellent and visibility perfect. Valuable meteorological, magnetic and geographic data were gathered in a 2,500 mile (4,000 km) flight to the hitherto uncharted Nicholas II Land and back. Malmgren gathered weather and ice observations, while Pontremoli and Běhounek made measurements of magnetic phenomena and radioactivity. The ship returned safely to base on the morning of 18 May.
The third flight started on 23 May 1928, and following a route along the Greenland coast, with the assistance of strong tailwinds, reached the North Pole 19 hours later at 00:24 on 24 May 1928. Nobile had prepared a winch, an inflatable raft, and survival packs (providentially as it turned out) with the intention of lowering some of the scientists onto the ice, but the wind made this impossible. Instead they circled the pole making observations and at 01:20 dropped the Italian and Milanese colours, as well as a wooden cross presented by the Pope and a religious medal from the citizens of Forlì onto the ice during a short ceremony. At 02:20 on 24 May, the Italia started back to base.
The same tail wind that had helped Italia to the Pole now impeded their progress. Nobile calculated the return journey would take 40 hours, and had discussed their options with Dr Malmgren in the hours before their arrival at the Pole. Nobile considered a trans-polar route to Mackenzie Bay in Canada. According to Nobile, Malmgren advised a return to Kings Bay, predicting lessening winds on their return trip. On the other hand, Malmgren predicted a head wind all the way if the Canadian route was attempted. No doubt the prospect of a forced landing in the Canadian wilderness was unpalatable to both men, as it would mean the end of the expedition.
Heading directly south on a heading for Kings Bay, after 24 hours of increasing head winds and thick mist the Italia was only halfway back to base. The airship struggled to gain ground and break through to the zone of calmer winds which expedition meteorologist Finn Malmgren predicted was just ahead. Ice formed on the propellers and shot off into the envelope, necessitating running repairs. Engine speed was increased but with little effect, except for a doubling of fuel consumption. Dr Běhounek, in charge of the compass, started reporting variations in course of up to 30 degrees, and the elevator man Cecioni had similar problems maintaining control. By 07:30 on 25 May, Nobile, who had been awake for over 48 hours, knew that the situation was critical and Giuseppe Biagi, the wireless operator, sent out the message: "If I don't answer, I have good reason". By dead reckoning, Nobile estimated his position as 250 miles (400 km) northeast from Moffen Island. This estimate was 350 miles (560 km) off.
At 9:25am on 25 May the first critical incident occurred, when the elevator control jammed in the downward position while the ship was travelling at less than 1000 feet (300 metres) altitude. All engines were stopped and the airship began to rise again after it had dropped to within 300 feet (90 metres) of the jagged ice pack. The airship was allowed to continue rising to 3000 feet (900 metres) and above the cloud layer into bright sunlight for 30 minutes. After two engines were restarted the ship descended to 1000 feet (300 metres) with no apparent ill effect, with the headwind appearing to decrease slightly allowing an airspeed of 30 mph. Malmgren took the helm with Zappi supervising him. Cecioni continued to operate the elevators.
At 10:25 the ship was noticed to be tail-heavy and falling at a rate of 2 feet per second (0.6 m/s). Nobile ordered full elevators and emergency power, but although the nose rose to an upward angle of 21 degrees, the descent continued. Nobile ordered foreman rigger Renato Alessandrini to the tail of the envelope to check the automatic gas valves. A short time later, seeing a crash was unavoidable, Nobile ordered full stop and the cutting of electrical power to prevent a fire on impact. The port engine engineer failed to notice the order and the ship began to bank. At the same time Nobile ordered Cecioni to dump the ballast chain, but was unable to carry out the order in time owing to the steep angle of the floor and the secure way the chain was lashed.
Seconds afterwards the airship's control cabin hit the jagged ice and smashed open. Suddenly relieved of the weight of the gondola, the envelope of the ship, with a gaping tear in the keel and part of one cabin wall still attached, began to rise again.
Nine survivors and one fatality were left on the ice, and six more crew were trapped in the still drifting airship envelope. The envelope and the crew members aboard it have never been found. The position of the crash was close to 81°14′N 28°14′E, about 120 km (75 mi) northeast of Nordaustlandet, Svalbard. The drifting sea ice later took the survivors towards Foyn and Broch islands
Causes of the crash
The causes of the crash remain controversial even today. The severe Arctic climate and decision to head back to base in the teeth of a worsening gale, rather than continue across the Pole to attempt a landing in Canada, was the main cause. This fact drove meteorologist Finn Malmgren to attempt suicide twice soon after the crash.
Another factor is the decision to let the airship rise above the cloud layer, causing heating and then expansion of the hydrogen, which triggered automatic valving of the gas. Once the engines were restarted, the ship dived through the cloud into freezing air again and, either because the automatic valves were jammed open, or because the ship had already lost too much gas above the clouds, it could no longer stay aloft.[1] Although Umberto Nobile was the victim of a smear campaign after the crash, one criticism of him, from the master airship pilot Hugo Eckener is perhaps justified — that Nobile should never have climbed above the cloud layer in the first place.
Another possibility is a rupture of one of the gas cells, although it is difficult to understand why this would not have been immediately noticed by any of the crew on duty. The most recent theory suggests that the outer shell of the airship was damaged during the pre-flight ice removal, when a group of men wearing ice cleats hacked at the airship with pickaxes.
In his book Dr. Eng. Felice Trojani, one of the airship engineers reported that in the years after crash, he examined 11 different possible causes in detail without coming to any real solution.
Cecioni was hurled out the ruptured cabin and into a mound of ice injuring both his legs. As he looked up he saw the envelope drifting above him, and Ciocca halfway out of the starboard engine car staring down in horror. Lago, Dr Pontremoli, and Alessandrini were also visible, in the torn opening where the companion way had been. Chief Engineer Ettore Arduino, with remarkable presence of mind, started throwing anything he could lay his hands on down to the men on the ice as he drifted slowly away with the envelope. These supplies, and the packs intended for the descent to the ice helped keep the survivors alive for their long ordeal on the ice. Arduino perished with the drifting airship envelope.
Troiani, at the engine control signals fared better, being hurled into soft snow and rolling before immediately jumping to his feet and cleaning the snow off his glasses, which had survived the crash unscathed. Viglieri and Mariano, standing next to the chart table, briefly saw the rear engine car about to strike the ice hard and then found themselves prostrate but unharmed in a mass of debris. Biagi, with no time to send out an SOS grabbed the portable emergency radio and wrapped his arms around it trying to save it from damage. The impact on the ice winded him but left him inside the wreck of the cabin. Nobile lay unconscious with a head wound, with Malmgren and Zappi nearby. Mariano, Běhounek, Trojani, and Viglieri were on their feet first and began to examine the others for injuries. Nobile gradually regained consciousness - he had a broken leg, right arm, and cracked rib in addition to the wound on his head. Cecioni had two badly broken legs. Malmgren had an injured shoulder (possibly broken or dislocated), and much later was suspected to have internal injuries to his kidney. Zappi had severe chest pains from suspected broken ribs. Almost immediately the survivors were buoyed by the discovery of a waterproof bag containing chocolate, pemmican, a Colt revolver, ammunition and a flaregun. Biagi's radio was intact and he began searching for material to construct a radio mast. Biagi soon discovered the rear engine car smashed on the ice, and the body of Pomella, who had apparently survived the impact and sat down on a block of ice, but died minutes afterwards from a head injury. Despite this shock Biagi erected an antenna and within a few hours began to send the first SOS from the stricken survivors. Nobile and Cecioni were placed together in a sleeping bag for warmth and spent the next few hours in semi-consciousness while the others gathered what they could from the wreck. According to Nobile, Malmgren, in pain, and suffering from guilt about his role in the crash announced he would drown himself and began walking away from the crash site, only stopping when sharply ordered to return by the General. Later the same day, Mariano had to disarm Malmgren after he started to walk away from the crash site with the loaded Colt revolver. Meanwhile, the uninjured men surveyed the ice pack, collecting supplies and chose a stable patch of ice to erect a 2.4 x 2.4 metre (8 ft x 8 ft) silk tent they recovered which was to be their only shelter during the coming ordeal.
The day after the crash was spent looking for more supplies amongst the wreckage. Navigational instruments and charts were recovered allowing the position of the crash site to be calculated. The quantity of rations per man was also calculated. This was a scant 300 grams (11 oz) of food per day, mainly pemmican and chocolate, calculated for a 25-day stay on the ice. Eventually 129 kg (284 pounds) of food were recovered extending this supply to 45 days. Finally the crowded tent was dyed red for improved visibility from the air, with dye marker bombs that had been aboard the airship. Biagi continued to signal for help with his radio; the survivors quickly became exasperated at the stream of mundane personal messages pouring out of the Citta di Milano interspersed with occasional messages for the Italia. After several days cold began to take its toll. The fliers had been equipped with many layers of woollen clothes and lambskin flight suits, but not all of them were fully dressed at the time of the crash and none had proper Arctic survival clothing. On 28 May land was sighted in the distance, breaking the despondency of the survivors. Discussions began as to whether the survivors should attempt a trek towards land and eventually it was decided that Malmgren, Zappi and Mariano should be sent to try to summon help. On 29 May Malmgren shot a polar bear which approached the crash site, augmenting the food supply with about 189 kg (400 pounds) of fresh meat.
Rescue effort
An international rescue effort followed, but was bedevilled by official apathy and political interference on the part of the Italians. Romagna, the commander of the base ship, seemed to be paralysed with indecision when the Italia went missing. Lengthy telegrams asking for instructions were sent to Rome, but there was no effort to move the ship closer to the presumed crash site or otherwise begin a search. The Citta di Milano was admittedly old and unsuited to the Arctic, but considering the season could easily have taken up station further north and west of Kings Bay without any danger to itself. No attempt was made to keep a radio watch, and Guglielmo Marconi, who monitored the messages from the base ship later said: "No wonder that on the Citta di Milano the SOS of the survivors could not be picked up by radio operators. They simply were not paying attention to her signals.”
Pedretti, the alternate radio operator left behind by the Italia; and Amedeo Nobile, Umberto's brother were the most concerned about the radio silence from the airship. Amedeo Nobile was the first to visit the Norwegian ship Hobby to try to get Norwegian help for a search. Word also reached Amundsen in Oslo, who immediately volunteered to start on a search mission. When the Norwegian government officially approached the Italian government proposing Amundsen as expedition leader, they were rebuffed and Lieutenant Hjalmar Riiser-Larsen was appointed instead. Almost every Arctic explorer of note offered assistance or money for the search, including the American Lincoln Ellsworth.
In Italy, Arturo Mercanti, former air force chief and friend of Nobile requested that air force planes be sent to the Arctic to begin a search. Repeatedly frustrated by official inaction he attempted to hire private aircraft himself and threatened to publicise the government's inaction in the international press. As a result, two sea planes were sent from Italy, a Dornier Wal piloted by Luigi Penzo and a state-of-the-art Savoia-Marchetti S.55 piloted by Ten. Col. Umberto Maddalena who was the first rescuer to spot the "Red Tent" survivors on 20 June. Mercanti himself went to Kings Bay where his frustration continued.
Cpt. Gennaro Sora (of the Italian Army Alpini ski detachment) did run a heroic over-ice sled attempt from the Città di Milano support ship, while Matteoda and Albertini of the SUCAI (the University Section of the Italian Alpine Club) did the same from the Italian-hired ship Braganza. Both attempts were made in the face of opposition (some sources state direct orders) from the base-ship commander, Romagna.
The lack of co-ordination meant that it took more than 49 days before all the crash survivors (and stranded would-be rescuers) were retrieved. Roald Amundsen was lost, presumed dead, flying to Spitsbergen in a French Latham sea plane piloted by René Guilbaud to take part in the operation. Two hundred thousand cheering Italians met Nobile and his crew on arrival in Rome on 31 July. This show of popularity was unexpected by Nobile's detractors, who had allegedly been seeding the foreign and domestic press with sensational accusations against him.
Chronology of the rescue operations:
25 May 1928 - The Italia crashes on the ice. Radio operator Biagi salvages radio, constructs a radio mast and begins transmitting SOS.
31 May - Survivors unable to establish radio contact because of weather conditions and negligence by base ship Città di Milano who fail to maintain radio watch and instead continue to send routine traffic. Malmgren, with Commanders Mariano and Zappi, begin a trek toward land.
3 June - A Soviet amateur radio operator Nikolai Schmidt in Vokhma village hears the Italia SOS signals.
5 June - A Norwegian pilot makes the first flight in search of the Italia. In the ensuing weeks, pilots from Norway, Sweden, Finland, Russia and Italy make search and rescue flights.
8 June - Radio contact established between the ice floe and the Città di Milano. Search operations continue.
June 15/16 - Malmgren collapses from exposure on the ice and asks to be left behind. His body is never found.
18 June - Roald Amundsen and five others disappear on a flight to Spitsbergen to aid in rescue operations. Captain Sora of the Italian Alpine troops defies orders and sets off by sled with Arctic explorers Ludvig Varming and Sjef van Dongen to try to reach the crash zone.
20 June - Italian pilot Maddalena spots the survivors and drops supplies, many of which are smashed or useless.
22 June - Italian and Swedish pilots drop more supplies, this time successfully.
23 June - Swedish pilot Lundborg forcibly removes Nobile from the ice floe but crashes his plane on the return for more survivors and is trapped with the others. Rescue operations suspended pending arrival of suitable light aircraft capable of landing on the ice.
6 July Lundborg is picked up from the ice floe by his Swedish co-pilot Birger Schyberg in a light Cirrus Moth ski-biplane. Schyberg intends to rescue the other five persons as well, but changing ice conditions lead him to change his mind after having brought Lundborg to safety.
12 July - The Soviet icebreaker Krasin rescues Mariano and Zappi, who were located from Krasin's large aircraft the previous day. The five remaining Italia survivors are rescued by the ice-breaker later the same day.. Soviet pilot Boris Chukhnovsky and his four crew also rescued by the Krasin on its way back to Kings Bay. It had made an unsuccessful safety landing after seeing Zappi and Mariano.
14 July - Rescuers Sora and Van Dongen rescued from Foyn Island by Finnish and Swedish aircraft.
Part of the regular Saturday lunchtime display of Scooters in St Johns Square, Cardiff, Wales (monies raised from their display goes to Prostrate Cancer Wales Charity)
Bowing, kneeling and ocassionally fully prostrate - introductions can be discomfiting. The long silence becomes awkward. My knees wet and mud-stained; my hair collecting burrs and twigs. With the recent spate of warmer weather it's not unreasonable to start fretting ticks - though perhaps a bit premature for poison ivy. The whinny of a nervous horse on a neighboring farm makes me feel unwelcome.
"Banksia stenoprion is a species of prostrate shrub that is endemic to the south-west of Western Australia. It has short, underground stems, pinnatisect leaves with triangular lobes, golden, mauve or purple flowers in heads of up to ninety, and egg-shaped follicles."
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Banksia_stenoprion#:~:text=not%20pr...
Photo: Jean
"Semi-prostrate or erect, lignotuberous shrub, 0.2-1 m high. Fl. yellow, Jun to Sep. Mainly on lateritic gravelly soils, occasionally granitic soils."
"All nations shall fall prostrate before you, O Lord" - Ps 71:11.
A scene painted in the Franciscan cloisters (Église des Cordeliers) in Fribourg. The mural dates to 1440 and was painted by Peter Maggenberg.
Common and widespread. Prostrate habit growing in the middle of a farm track.
Near Little Heath Staffordshire UK 2nd October 2014
Common names: Berry saltbush, creeping saltbush
A prostrate plant growing in land often classed as wasteland. It is not a weed. We found it growing along the banks of the Avon River in York. Other plants growing there included Frankenia, Heliotrope and other saltbush plants.
The plants were growing on the banks of the Avon River in York and attracted insects that were feeding on the tiny flowers of the plant.
I like the little red berries that look like a pixie cap.
ID: Dr Kelly A. Shepherd, Senior Research Scientist Western Australian Herbarium
Photo: Jean
"Before him all kings shall fall prostrate, all nations shall serve him" (Ps 72:11).
This window in Cologne Cathedral was donated by the archbishop of Cologne, Hermann of Hesse (1480–1508), and it shows the Adoration of the Magi.
اللهم يا من أسريت برسولك الحبيب عليه الصلاة والسلام
من بيتك الحرام إلى المسجد الأقصى
ارزقني و إخواني وأخواتي في الله سجدة على أرضه الطهور
وأدم نعمتك علينا بالصلاة فيه ولا تحرمنا إياها
اللهم صل وسلم وبارك على سيدنا محمد وعلى آله وصحبه أجمعين
اللهم آمين
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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, Antarctica and the Middle East. The genus is closely related to several other genera including Anemonoides, Anemonastrum, Hepatica, and Pulsatilla. Some botanists include these genera within 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.
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:
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.
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
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.
Anemone species are sometimes targeted by cutworms, the larvae of noctuid moths such as angle shades and heart and dart.
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:
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.
"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[which?] was considered a symbol of illness due to its coloring. The anemone[which?] 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
This is prostrate spurge (Euphorbia maculata) - a common weed native to North America. It likes pebble pathways, as that's where I've primarily noticed them. Thanks to botanist John (Just Back) for helping with the ID. View large for detail.
Wouldn't you just love to try to put together a 1,000 piece puzzle of this image? ;-)
Unfortunately, all in Nature must grow old - see 1st comment below.
Prostrate Banksia (Banksia gardneri). I am intrigued that the inflorescence appears to emerge directly from the ground. Stirling Range National Park, in Western Australia north of Albany.
Our best holiday wildlife encounter this year was in fact at the cottage we were staying in. We came back one evening to find this male sparrowhawk plucking a pigeon in the back yard of our cottage. Scrambled to get the camera, managed to open the door and I laid prostrate on the floor clicking away. Light was awful so only snaps really but I just had to post these.
Many thanks to all who comment, fave or just enjoy looking, it really is very much appreciated!
Like to see the pictures as Large as your screen? Than why not click on the Slideshow : www.flickr.com/photos/reurinkjan/sets/72157622436074363/s...
Since ages, there is a tradition in Tibet that religious people prostrate to holy places (like Lhasa) by measuring their body length that could take years and this tradition is still carried on today.
Full prostration: place your hands together and touch your crown, then your throat, and then your heart, then stretch your entire body on the ground and stretch both of your hands as far as possible away from you head and with the forehead touching the ground. Then rise up quickly and and take two steps foreward (were your fingertips ware before, when you stretched on the ground this is the marker to step to) repeat whole cycle for some hundreds of kilometers. Some Tibetans do this for days, some for weeks, some for month and some even take years to compleet and reach there goal "enlightment".
"Semi-prostrate or erect, lignotuberous shrub, 0.2-1 m high. Fl. yellow, Jun to Sep. Mainly on lateritic gravelly soils, occasionally granitic soils."
Dondi @ Kalighat, Kolkata 2015
Dondi is a Hindu religious rite or ritual, an act of penance and worship to the Goddess Shitala to keep diseases at bay and keep her family healthy
It is performed mainly in Kolkata and Bengal, that I’m aware of & at quite a few locations. This particular event is held annually at Kalighat Kali temple area in the peak of summer. Devotees prostrate themselves on the bare ground in prayer, then get up to walk a few steps before prostrating all over again. The journey starts with a dip at the Ganga river banks in Kalighat and terminates about a kilometer away with a fire ritual
Most participants are women and children, with the odd men thrown in
Water is liberally strewn out onto the streets, by water tankers, volunteers and well wishers - by buckets on to the streets and participating devotees just to make this event possible
In a nutshell, www.joydeepmukherjee.com/gallery.php?id=NzE=
The golden rule if you wish to get into the thick of things is to get your foot wear off
needless to say my footwear came off very early on
first time i was witnessing this event, so i did not know the rules or the tricks
next up, is to save your gear from all the splashing water
For babies too young to participate in the dondi, they are often placed on the backs of the performing devotees, or placed on their paths on the ground. Sometimes the performing devotees are even asked to walk over these babies - a good omen or so they believe
Jeniang, Kedah, Malaysia.
Zornia diphylla (L.) Pers. Fabaceae. CN: "Nellu jollu soppu", Trencilla, Zornia, Barba de burro. GRIN claimed native to India (peninsular) and Sri Lanka; naturalized pantropically. Diffuse prostrate herb. Habitat - open sandy places. A diffuse annual with two ovate-lanceolate pointed leaflets. Minor weed; widely used in folk medicines.
Synonym(s):
Hedysarum conjugatum Willd.
Hedysarum diphyllum L.
Zornia conjugata (Willd.) Sm.
Zornia diphylla var. conjugata (Willd.) Trimen
Zornia diphylla var. zeylonensisv (Pers.) Benth.
Zornia zeylonensis Pers.
Ref. and suggested reading:
FRIM Flora Database
www.theplantlist.org/tpl/record/ild-50583
www.ars-grin.gov/cgi-bin/npgs/html/taxon.pl?42301
www.fao.org/ag/agp/AGPC/doc/gbase/data/pf000092.htm
119.82.96.198:8080/jspui/bitstream/123456789/5105/1/Rajes...
William Buelow Gould (1803-1853)
Watercolour painting on paper (22 x 18cm)
Tasmanian Archive and Heritage Office: Allport Library and Museum of Fine Arts
Images from the TAHO collection that are part of The Commons have ‘no known copyright restrictions’, which means TAHO is unaware of any current copyright restrictions on these works. This can be because the term of copyright for these works may have expired or that the copyright was held and waived by TAHO. The material may be freely used provided TAHO is acknowledged; however TAHO does not endorse any inappropriate or derogatory use.
Lance-leaved Cassia
A variable growing shrub ie can be sprawling, prostrate or erect. Yellow flowers July to October. Sharp point on leaves.
Zaynab bint Ali quoted as she passed the prostrate body of her brother, Husayn. "O Muhammad! O Muhammad! May the angels of heaven bless you. Here is Husayn in the open, stained with blood and with limbs torn off. O Muhammad! Your daughters are prisoners, your progeny are killed, and the east wind blows dust over them." She made every enemy and friends weep.(Taken from Tabari, History of the Prophets and Kings, Volume XIX The Caliphate of Yazid).
In this picture, Symbolic coffin of Husayn ibn Ali (the grandson of Prophet Muhammad) is being carried to the designated sacred place for burial. A man was supporting me by pushing my back towards the crowd as the pressure was coming out from the crowd towards me.His one feet was in the drain and another one was on the curve of the drain, his arms was supporting my weights and pressure from the crowd. If he didn’t held me like that, I would have slipped to the near by drain. I didn’t know him, but I thanked him. I held my camera towards heaven and clicked.
The spirit of Ashura moved everyone including me. Everyone was clam and same time in a trance. Nothing went wrong, nothing can be when a community has same goal to unit and pray. it was an experience to remember. I look forward to be in it next year.
I am ending this series here. I can make a whole gallery from this collection. But not everyone has stomach for such nerve moving images.
End Series
Lens: EF 24-70mm f/2.8L USM
Camera: Canon EOS 5D
Location: Near Hussainy Dalan, Old Town Dhaka, Bangladesh
All contents herein are copyrighted © by Shabbir Ferdous Photography
Except where otherwise noted. Unauthorized reproduction is prohibited.
"Semi-prostrate or erect, lignotuberous shrub, 0.2-1 m high. Fl. yellow, Jun to Sep. Mainly on lateritic gravelly soils, occasionally granitic soils."
She was going along the pavement infront of the Potala palace ,prostrating on the ground in the ritual manner,then standing up moving a few steps & repeating. Was she being exploited by the man with her ? It was very heartbraking to see this tiny girl going through this tough prostrating ritual & keep repeating it.However it was not only me that felt so touched as she is clutching a wad of notes in her right hand given by the various tourists.So I suppose at least she did not go hungry.Such is the reallity for so many poor oppressed Tibetians.
INFANT JESUS OF PRAGUE NOVENA PRAYER
O Miraculous Infant Jesus, we prostrate before Your Image and beseech You to cast your merciful look on our troubled hearts. Let Your tender Heart, so inclined to pity, be softened by our prayers and grant us that grace for which we ardently implore You.
[Mention your request]
Take from us all despair, all trials and misfortunes with which we are laden. For Your Sacred Infancy's sake, hear our prayers and send us consolation and aid that we may praise You, with the Father and the Holy Spirit, for ever and ever. Amen.
The prayer is found on Catholic websites. For history regarding devotion to the Infant Jesus of Prague, please visit the following link: www.marypages.com/InfantJesusPrague.htm
More Prayers: www.christian-miracles.com/infantjesusofprague.htm
The stained glass window detail was photographed inside St. Rose of Lima Church, East Hanover, NJ, USA.
Copyright 2009 Loci B. Lenar
Common names: Berry saltbush, creeping saltbush
A prostrate plant growing in land often classed as wasteland. It is not a weed. We found it growing along the banks of the Avon River in York. Other plants growing there included Frankenia, Heliotrope and other saltbush plants.
The plants were growing on the banks of the Avon River in York and attracted insects that were feeding on the tiny flowers of the plant.
I like the little red berries that look like a pixie cap.
ID: Dr Kelly A. Shepherd, Senior Research Scientist Western Australian Herbarium
Photo: Jean
An ardent devotee prostrates himself before the Goddess and yet she seems to look away. Your valuable comments welcome.
"Banksia stenoprion is a species of prostrate shrub that is endemic to the south-west of Western Australia. It has short, underground stems, pinnatisect leaves with triangular lobes, golden, mauve or purple flowers in heads of up to ninety, and egg-shaped follicles."
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Banksia_stenoprion#:~:text=not%20pr...
The term 'pinnatisect' is new to me and means "cleft pinnately to or almost to the midrib" referring to the ribs on the leaves. A follicle is another term for a seed capsule (fruit) that opens on one side to release the seeds.
Photo: Jean
Darwinia plants have been an interest of ours so it was nice to see another new one for us.
The red flowering plant is sprawling and prostrate. The flowers sit flat on the ground in rocky laterite areas. You can see white sand grains in between the flowers.
Photo: Jean
Out for a stroll.
My friends Heng Sure and Heng Ch’au walked from Los Angeles to Ukiah, which, since they prostrated after every third step, took them three years. They showed that the epic feats of ancient Buddhist pilgrims in Asia could be done in the America of today. Recently I asked Heng Sure what he learned from those three years. “Not much,” he answered. “Perhaps just this: When I feel some urge, it does not push me immediately into action. I experience an extra split second of inner distance, and in that spilt second I can decide whether to act or not.” Heng Sure’s answer was modest, but isn’t that the definition of freedom? We are free when we are not the slave of our impulses, but rather their master. Taking inward distance, we thus become the authors of our own dramas rather than characters in them.
-Tales of Wonder Adventures Chasing the Divine an Autobiography, Huston Smith
Plato said that most of us live in a dimly lit cave amid shadowy derivative reflections, but that it is possible to exit the cave and see what-is in clear light.
-Tales of Wonder Adventures Chasing the Divine an Autobiography, Huston Smith
/*****************
And so I do....in silence...
-rc