Cliff sits hunched over in the corner as he watches the puddle of flesh begin to stir under its unwearable clothes. He props himself up against the cave wall and watches as the mass begins to re-mould itself, growing limbs and filling out the clothing around it. After a few moments it transforms from the mass of flesh into a fully grown person – now with a head and hair. Rita groans as she sits up and steadies herself, looks at her body and adjusts her clothing. Cliff isn’t sure if she’s noticed him quietly sitting opposite, but his suspicions are confirmed when she glances across to him and gasps, wrapping her arms instinctively round her body.

 

Cliff: I… I…

 

Rita lets out a long breath and holds up a hand.

 

Rita: You don’t have to say anything. In fact, I’d prefer it if you didn’t.

 

Cliff: I… I’m sorry. I had no idea.

 

Rita: It’s fine. Now forget it.

 

They say nothing, Cliff feeling like a scolded child as he stares at the ground.

 

Rita: Are you okay?

 

He looks at her.

 

Cliff: I’m alright. Don’t think these freaks realised you can’t exactly knock a robot unconscious.

 

Rita: Who are they?

 

Cliff: No fuckin’ idea.

 

Rita: How long have I been out?

 

Cliff: Couple o’ hours or so.

 

Rita: And when did I…

 

Cliff: Not that long ago. None of them saw, I promise.

 

She nods curtly and looks around the cave. To the side of them is a crude selection of uneven bits of metal, assembled in the shape of a cell door.

 

Rita: Where are we?

 

Cliff: A cave.

 

Rita: Yes, thank you Cliff. I had worked that out. Do you have any idea where this cave is?

 

Cliff: Not sure. They dragged us through the trees for a while, kept tryna cover my eyes so I couldn’t see where we were goin’. It kinda got confusin’. They dumped us in here and told us to wait.

 

Rita: And Larry?

 

Cliff: Dunno. Think they left him in the van.

 

Rita says nothing.

 

Cliff: They kept callin’ me The Idol. Know what the fuck that means?

 

Rita: No idea.

 

Cliff pauses for a moment, the elephant in the room rearing its ugly head and getting ready to trample them.

 

Cliff: Do you think this has got somethin’ to do with that weedy little fuckjob?

 

Rita: Assuming you mean Eric, I doubt it. He was unconscious on the floor last I saw of him. Hardly a well-executed plan if he did.

 

Cliff: I guess. But if this wasn’t him then who was it?

 

Rita: I think we’re about to find out.

 

From outside the door comes the sound of voices as a skinny woman with long wild hair swings it open and steps inside.

 

Woman: Our Lord requests your presence. Both of you. You will come.

 

From behind her emerge two more gaunt figures, both wielding spears. Rita recognises one of them as the man in the Hawaiian shirt from before. They approach Cliff and Rita and motion for them to stand. Rita gets up and offers a hand to Cliff as he struggles to his heavy feet. The woman turns and leads them out of the cave and down a rocky tunnel. It doesn’t take long for them both to realise they are underground. Cliff leans in to Rita and whispers as best as he can.

 

Cliff: This is some real Manson family shit right here…

 

She glances over her shoulder at the two spearmen and says nothing. They’re led down another network of small tunnels, before they’re brought to a halt before an opening in the cave wall. Warm, orange light radiates upwards, but it’s blocked by the woman as she turns around to face them. In the light, Cliff and Rita notice her mangled nose and bloodshot eyes.

 

Woman: You will now be granted an audience with our Lord. Show any sign of trouble and we will not hesitate to send you to the Great White God.

 

She turns back and Cliff and Rita shoot each other a glance. The woman goes through the opening and they follow her into a large clearing. Flames roar around them in crude sconces wedged clumsily into the jagged wall, and Cliff realises this to be the source of that warm orange glow. Above them hang pointed stalactites tangled with vines and dark vegetation, which every so often send droplets of water falling to the rough ground below. The rock around them is carved haphazardly into different nooks and crannies for one to stand upon, and all around them, stood on different levels of the cave are skinny, dishevelled people – watching them like a vulture would a fresh carcass. Some are barely clothed; others are wrapped in shreds of material that once could’ve been bright clothing. Cliff glances around at them and notices some have painted white lines across their faces. Some of them gasp as they see him, others whispering quickly to each other in an incomprehensible language. They walk a few more steps into the clearing and stop before a mass of wooden stakes tied together to resemble a throne.

 

Cliff: What the fuck? Okay, forget the Mansons, this shit is one hundred percent Apocalypse Now.

 

But no one hears Cliff as the woman leading the procession throws her arms into the air and drops to her knees, prompting everyone else in the cave to do so. Cliff and Rita stare at each other, now the only ones standing, but their attention is drawn to a shape stirring in the makeshift throne before them. Unsure how they could have missed him, a man dressed in bright red robes sits up in his seat and shakes a shock of fantastically white hair out of his face. His pale white eyes illuminate his rough, pockmarked face as he looks at the pair of them and smiles a wide, yellow smile. The woman on the ground raises her head.

 

Woman: My Lord – The Idol of the Great White God, and his muse.

 

Rita: I am no one’s muse thank you very much!

 

Cliff looks around confusedly as the robed man stands. He reaches into a small pot on the side of the throne and pulls out a pinch of white powder, which he promptly lifts to his nose and snorts violently. He convulses, his long white hair cascading around his face, and snaps his neck upwards to look at Cliff.

 

Snowflame: This-is-a-divine-moment!

 

His words come out in a volley of excitement. He snorts, flinches and continues.

 

Snowflame: My Children! Stand! F-f-f-for this day a glorious sign has been sent to us! A sign f-f-f-rom the Great White God himself!

 

The cave dwellers get up off their knees and stand in silence.

 

Snowflame: I am Snowflame; cocaine is my God! His divine knowledge burns in white-hot ecstasy through my veins!

 

Cliff and Rita are dumbstruck. Neither says a word.

 

Snowflame: Snowflame’s people have seen you yes-they-have. They watch you f-f-for hours. They tell Snowflame a sign – an Idol of the Great White God – has entered his Kingdom. Let-me-look-at-you.

 

He jumps down off his throne and faces Cliff.

 

Cliff: Uh… hello?

 

Snowflame: So the Idol has addressed Snowflame…

 

Cliff looks around uncomfortably.

 

Cliff: Uh, yeah… about that. I think you mighta got the wrong guy, man…

 

Snowflame: Heresy beyond thoughts above!

 

He jumps up wildly and kicks the air.

 

Snowflame: EYAAAAAAAAAAH!

 

Cliff says nothing.

 

Snowflame: Look, Idol… look upon your shrine and tell Snowflame he is mistaken!

 

Snowflame calms himself and turns and points above his throne. Painted on the cave wall is a golden head surrounded by hundreds of white dots. They all look at it for a minute before Rita scoffs.

 

Rita: Wait a minute… you think that’s Cliff?

 

Snowflame looks at her as if she has just pulled her pants down and soiled herself all over the floor.

 

Snowflame: Silence, heathen! Snowflame takes heed only of the Idol, not his muse! The Great White God has sent Snowflame a sign – his Idol, in the f-f-f-flesh!

 

He steps forwards and places his hands on Cliff’s metal cheeks.

 

Snowflame: Gaze upon his might. GAZE, HEATHENS!

 

Voices: We gaze upon his might o’ Lord!

 

He removes his hands from Cliff’s face. Cliff looks around and faces him.

 

Cliff: Wait a minute wait a minute… you think I’m like, a sign? From God?

 

Snowflame: The Idol has conf-f-f-fessed his sanctity!

 

Cliff: Well that ain’t so bad, right?

 

He turns to Rita. She looks at him with a mixture of annoyance and bewilderment, half convinced she’s still asleep.

 

Cliff: So, mister Snowflame. What do you uh… want me to do? Say a few prayers? Form a crackhead, gospel choir? Joyful-joyful Lord we snort thee and shit? I could get into that…

 

Rita grabs his arm and hisses at him.

 

Rita: May I remind you why we’re here?

 

Cliff: I know I know!

 

Rita: I’d hate to think you’re enjoying this.

 

Cliff: I’m not. But you gotta admit – it does look a little like me.

 

Rita: Are you-

 

Snowflame winces and spins on the spot.

 

Snowflame: SILENCE PLEEEEEEASE!

 

He looks at Cliff.

 

Snowflame: The Gods have sent you here to test Snowflame. Snowflame sees it written in the Snow.

 

He pinches some more powder from the pot and blows it into the air. Rita grunts and bats it away like an irritating wasp.

 

Snowflame: Snowflame shall prove his worth to the Gods by sending them your head – or die trying!

 

From the crowd of onlookers, a voice pipes up.

 

Voice: Throw him to the Hemo Goblin!

 

Snowflame: No, Mary. We don't... fuck no. Jeez…

 

Voice: Sorry.

 

Cliff and Rita shoot each other a glance.

 

Snowflame: We shall duel at the setting of the sun! A fight to the death! With the powder of the Gods on Snowflame’s side, he shall prove himself worthy to them! The winner will be victorious! YES! What say you, Idol?

 

Cliff: Uh…

 

Snowflame: It is decided! Tonight! Prepare yourself!

 

He claps his hands and Cliff and Rita are seized by the two spearmen. He jumps onto his throne, snorts a line, and throws a fist into the air.

 

Snowflame: May the Snow fall everlasting!

 

Voices: May the Snow fall everlasting!

 

Cliff and Rita can only gape silently as they are dragged out of the cave and back down the tunnels.

  

====================

  

Eric stirs, feeling the bristles of the van’s old carpet brushing his face. He sits up and groans, pain radiating from the spot where his head landed on the floor. As he massages his head, he doesn’t notice Larry sat staring right at him.

 

Larry: You alright?

 

Morden: I think so.

 

Larry stands abruptly and uses all his strength to seize Eric by his sweater. Now he notices him. He yelps as Larry pulls him to his feet and pushes him against the wall.

 

Larry: What happened to them?

 

Morden: To who?

 

Larry: Cliff and Rita! Where did they take them?

 

Morden: I don’t know! I don’t even know who they were!

 

Larry: Don’t lie to me Eric!

 

Morden: I swear! I didn’t have anything to do with this!

 

Larry: You’ve never seen those people before?

 

Morden: Never!

 

Larry pauses. He tenses his fists for a moment but releases Eric.

 

Larry: Dammit.

 

He leaves Eric and goes outside, careful to avoid the bits of broken glass scattered across the carpet. He stands at the edge of the road and opens his arms.

 

Larry: I could really use your help now buddy.

 

He looks at his chest but nothing happens.

 

Larry: Come on, help me! For once in your life work with me!

 

Nothing. He lets his arms drop disappointedly to his side and sits against the van. Eric pokes his head out nervously, assessing the situation and determines it’s safe for him to come out. He makes his way down the steps and notices one of their attacker’s spears left abandoned on the floor. He picks it up, testing its weight in his hands, and edges carefully down next to Larry.

 

Morden: Are you okay?

 

Larry: Niles is still out there, the van’s a mess, I’ve lost Cliff and Rita and the parasitic entity that lives inside me doesn’t care about my feelings. So yeah Eric, I’m great.

 

Eric inspects the spear silently.

 

Larry: I’m sorry. It’s not your fault. I don’t think it is, anyway.

 

Eric sighs and looks at him.

 

Morden: I’m sorry too. I should never have got tangled up in all this.

 

Larry drops his head and watches an ant crawl up his boot. Eric continues to inspect the spear.

 

Morden: Don’t you get hot in those?

 

Larry: I don’t really feel heat anymore, so no. Not really.

 

Morden: Oh.

 

He looks around for a moment, working up the courage to ask Larry something.

 

Morden: That thing inside you… do you mind me asking you what it is?

 

Larry considers for a moment, then just as Eric thinks his inquiry pointless Larry replies.

 

Larry: We call it the Negative Spirit.

 

Eric gives him a wan smile and nods. He doesn’t really know why, but Larry continues.

 

Larry: I was a pilot – a pretty good one, too. Flew everything. You name it, I’d do it. People started to realise this and some higher-ups recommended me as a test pilot. Of course I said yes – I jumped at the chance. I test anything and everything, fast stuff, slow stuff, stuff that’s safe, stuff that isn’t, so much so that I start to think I’m invincible. Shit happens and I get reckless; find myself signed on to this experimental project, KF-2 they called it. I remember it like it was yesterday – probably because every time I close my eyes I relive it. Everyone said it was a bad idea; that I shouldn’t do it. So like the fool I was I still did, and sure enough they were right. Flew the damn thing through this radiation belt, fried myself and the jet and, long story short, landed myself this.

 

He points at his chest.

 

Larry: It turned me radioactive, hence the bandages. Don’t worry, you’re not in any danger. People ran tests on me, and later Niles helped me to try and better understand it, but honestly? I know hardly any more about it than the day I took that flight.

 

He trails off, watching as the ant crawls off his boot and scurries away across the dirt. Eric takes a moment to process Larry’s tale.

 

Morden: Don’t you ever just… talk to it?

 

Larry: I’ve tried. Anyway, what the hell would I ask it?

 

Morden: I don’t know. Anything. My mother always used to say there’s no danger in a simple question.

 

Larry doesn’t reply. They share the silence for a few minutes.

 

Morden: I don’t think my mother ever thought I’d amount to much. Can’t say I blame her. Father left us when I was young, and I tried to be the man he wasn’t. I never was much of a leader, always the follower. But I tried. I failed, but I did try. She loved me though. I think she did. We only really had each other…

 

Larry: If it helps, I wasn’t much of a father either.

 

He picks at the spot on his boot where the ant had been.

 

Larry: I don’t know why I’m telling you all this.

 

Morden: S’okay.

 

He looks at the ground sadly.

 

Morden: You must really trust Niles, to come all the way out here.

 

Larry: We all do.

 

Morden: Must be nice, having people you can rely on like that. A family.

 

Larry: We’re not that close.

 

Morden: I think you are. Sure, you argue – who doesn’t? But I’d give anything to be respected the way they respect you. You might not see it, but I do. They followed you all this way, didn’t they?

 

Larry says nothing. Eric leans back against the van and stares into the mid-afternoon sky.

 

Morden: I wish I was a part of something… something bigger than me. All my life I’ve been the follower, and look where it’s got me. No offence.

 

Larry raises a forgiving hand.

 

Morden: When you found me, you said I could be a part of something. No one has ever been like that to me. I don’t know… I wanted to say thank you I guess.

 

Larry sits up and looks out into the trees for a moment. He takes a breath and looks at his chest as it begins to slowly pulsate. He pats it carefully.

 

Larry: I guess I’d better start thinking of something to say to the Spirit, huh?

 

He gets up, brushes himself off and offers a hand to Eric. Eric grabs it and with his other hand picks up the spear.

 

Larry: Come on, let’s go find the others.

 

The van stands alone once more as they trudge over the ditch and into the trees.

   

Detroit Metro Airport- Who would have thought that you would get off a plane and walk through a psychedelic tunnel with a light show to pulsating music at the Detroit Airport. Sure made the trip a lot more enjoyable! Straight out of the camera.

A free Spirit

Mirit Ben-Nun was born in Beer- Sheva in 1966. Over the years she has presented in solo exhibitions and participated in group exhibitions in Israel and around the world.

When she was six, her father was killed in a car accident, leaving behind his wife and two daughters, Mirit and Dana.

Ben-Nun had difficulty concentrating on studies, which caused behavioral problems, and at the age of fourteen she dropped out of the education system and went to work. The colors and writing tools gave her a quiet private space and her own way of surviving. Creativity eased her tumultuous soul.

Until her early 30’s she worked as a telemarketer and for the next fourteen years she doodled and doodled. While talking to customers she filled thousands of pages with lines and dots that resembled hundreds of compressed eggs and seeds which she threw away.

In a large portion of each page she would pick a random word and would write it down over and over while concentrating on her hand movements.

Even then she noticed the rising of her need and obsession as she practiced the endless doodling and writing.

Ben-Nun testifies that the lack of artistic training to paint "correctly" freed her from adhering to the rules of painting and allowed her freedom and spirit of rebellion.

In 1998, she received a bunch of canvases and acrylic paints as a gift from her sister.

She brought the acrylic into her world of lines and dots; she went back to painting women and masks that appeared in her childhood paintings and flooded them with lines and dots without separating body and background.

This is also the moment when Ben-Nun began to refer to herself as a painter.

and when art became the center of her life.

The intense colors in Ben-Nun's paintings sweep the viewer into a sensual experience. The viewer traces the surge of dots and lines formed in packed layers of paint. The movement leads to a kind of female-male hormonal dance within the human body and to a communion with an artistic experience of instinct, passion, conceiving and birth.

Contributing to this experience is the wealth of characteristics reminiscent of tribal art. Ben-Nun merges these with a humorous and kicking contemporary Western Pop art. In the language of unique art, Ben-Nun creates an unconventional conversation between past and present cultures.

It is evident that the paintings emerge from a regenerated need and desire, a force that erupts from her soul, a subconscious survival instinct to which she cannot or does not want to resist.

Ben-Nun places women at the center stage where they are her work focus. The paintings obsessively deal with the existential experience of being a woman in the world. A few of the women's paintings carry feminist slogans stressing the women's struggle in society, a critique for being held to perfection and being required to perform as a model of "beauty, purity and motherhood". Feminism pulsates in Ben-Nun's psyche, through her diverse female images and the play between beauty and unsightliness; Ben-Nun assimilates the consciousness of feminine possibility, of not being "perfect", of being powerful, influential, and outside social norms. This mandates a departure from acceptable limitations where Ben-Nun creates a new world of free spirit for women.

Mirit Ben-Nun is a mother of three and the grandmother of three grandchildren.

 

Mirela Tal

The intensity and duration of the Great Aurora Storm of 10-11 May 2024 (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/May_2024_solar_storms) provided an opportunity to record this wonder of nature with several digital cameras.

 

I used a GoPro 11 in time lapse raw format. It defaults to a wide field view of 135 degs. My settings were: exp 15 sec and iso 800. This clip runs from 9:11PM (65 minutes after sunset) to 3:46AM (11th). Extreme dew formed at the end of the clip just minutes before the start of astronomical twilight. The bright flareup with lots of reds occurred just at midnight and was the peak of activity.

 

I was viewing from Glendo State Park in Wyoming which is about 100 miles north of Cheyenne (200 miles north of Denver).

 

This G5, Kp=9 northern lights storm was about as strong as storms go. I recorded aurora 30 degrees over the southern horizon, pulsating and strobing, and corona formations that lasted almost 90 minutes uninterrupted! The red aurora was clearly visible naked eye during the most intense periods. In my 50 years observing and photographing the aurora, this event contained nearly every aspect of the evolution of a space storm possible.

 

While I consider a total solar eclipse a close top pick for natural phenomena, the northern lights wins hands down. Do you agree?

 

More info: www.youtube.com/watch?v=lGNa-PGYdhg

 

For full high resolution version with music: www.youtube.com/watch?v=3pcji9Tz20Y&t=67s

 

Picture of the day x 2

The blue-ringed octopuses (genus Hapalochlaena) are three (or perhaps four) octopus species that live in tide pools and coral reefs in the Pacific and Indian Oceans, from Japan to Australia. They are recognized as some of the world's most venomous marine animals. Despite their small size and relatively docile nature, they can prove dangerous to humans. They can be recognized by their characteristic blue and black rings and yellowish skin. When the octopus is agitated, the brown patches darken dramatically, and iridescent blue rings or clumps of rings appear and pulsate within the maculae. Typically 50-60 blue rings cover the dorsal and lateral surfaces of the mantle. They hunt small crabs, hermit crabs, and shrimp, and may bite attackers, including humans, if provoked. the octopus in the photo is approximately 100-120mm long

  

source: wikipedia

 

The black visor raised, allowing a thin cloud of super-chilled air to woosh out and curl into a feint mist in front of it. As the mist dissipated in the warm air, the face of the figure became seen, or some of it did, being mostly covered in metallic augments and devices. Sections of exposed facial skin contorted and pulsated as it breathed. It’s still alive under there.

A free Spirit

Mirit Ben-Nun was born in Beer- Sheva in 1966. Over the years she has presented in solo exhibitions and participated in group exhibitions in Israel and around the world.

When she was six, her father was killed in a car accident, leaving behind his wife and two daughters, Mirit and Dana.

Ben-Nun had difficulty concentrating on studies, which caused behavioral problems, and at the age of fourteen she dropped out of the education system and went to work. The colors and writing tools gave her a quiet private space and her own way of surviving. Creativity eased her tumultuous soul.

Until her early 30’s she worked as a telemarketer and for the next fourteen years she doodled and doodled. While talking to customers she filled thousands of pages with lines and dots that resembled hundreds of compressed eggs and seeds which she threw away.

In a large portion of each page she would pick a random word and would write it down over and over while concentrating on her hand movements.

Even then she noticed the rising of her need and obsession as she practiced the endless doodling and writing.

Ben-Nun testifies that the lack of artistic training to paint "correctly" freed her from adhering to the rules of painting and allowed her freedom and spirit of rebellion.

In 1998, she received a bunch of canvases and acrylic paints as a gift from her sister.

She brought the acrylic into her world of lines and dots; she went back to painting women and masks that appeared in her childhood paintings and flooded them with lines and dots without separating body and background.

This is also the moment when Ben-Nun began to refer to herself as a painter.

and when art became the center of her life.

The intense colors in Ben-Nun's paintings sweep the viewer into a sensual experience. The viewer traces the surge of dots and lines formed in packed layers of paint. The movement leads to a kind of female-male hormonal dance within the human body and to a communion with an artistic experience of instinct, passion, conceiving and birth.

Contributing to this experience is the wealth of characteristics reminiscent of tribal art. Ben-Nun merges these with a humorous and kicking contemporary Western Pop art. In the language of unique art, Ben-Nun creates an unconventional conversation between past and present cultures.

It is evident that the paintings emerge from a regenerated need and desire, a force that erupts from her soul, a subconscious survival instinct to which she cannot or does not want to resist.

Ben-Nun places women at the center stage where they are her work focus. The paintings obsessively deal with the existential experience of being a woman in the world. A few of the women's paintings carry feminist slogans stressing the women's struggle in society, a critique for being held to perfection and being required to perform as a model of "beauty, purity and motherhood". Feminism pulsates in Ben-Nun's psyche, through her diverse female images and the play between beauty and unsightliness; Ben-Nun assimilates the consciousness of feminine possibility, of not being "perfect", of being powerful, influential, and outside social norms. This mandates a departure from acceptable limitations where Ben-Nun creates a new world of free spirit for women.

Mirit Ben-Nun is a mother of three and the grandmother of three grandchildren.

 

Mirela Tal

Go to YouTube to see the full length version in High Definition.....

www.youtube.com/watch?v=2svYV33JJis

 

243 photos, compiled into a video, with the pulsating sound of ' Frankie goes to Hollywood' playing the Power of Love to back it.

 

It charts Julie's activities during the period September 2011 to March 2012, and covers 20 separate outings, including nine visits to CandyGirls in Sunbury, seven to Pink Punters in Milton Keynes, one to Tetbury in Gloucs and taking in a trip to Raglan Castle in Wales, one in London, one in Uxbridge and one in Bristol. A busy and fun, six months

 

ESA Space Science Image of the Week: Dying star offers glimpse of our Sun’s future

 

This is a final act of celestial beauty before the long fade into cosmic history. Invisibly buried in the centre of this colourful swirl of gas is a dying star, roughly the same mass as the Sun.

 

This example is known as Kohoutek 4-55. Named after its discoverer, the Czech astronomer Luboš Kohoutec, it is located 4600 light years from Earth, in the direction of the constellation Cygnus.

 

As a star ages, the nuclear reactions that keep it shining begin to falter. This uncertain energy generation causes the stars to pulsate in an irregular way, casting off its outer layers into space.

 

As the star sheds these outer gases, the super-hot core is revealed. It gives off huge quantities of ultraviolet light, and this radiation causes the gas shells to glow, creating the fragile beauty of the nebula.

 

Credits: NASA, ESA and the Hubble Heritage Team (STScI/AURA). Acknowledgment: R. Sahai and J. Trauger (Jet Propulsion Laboratory)

 

Read more here.

"Cat Whisker" early diode close up. According to Brian Glanger in the article cited below, "....the crystal detector, which was popular in the World War I era, is a device that, by mean of rectification (changing the alternating current of the incoming signal to a pulsating direct current), converts the radio signal into an audio frequency signal that can be heard in the ear- phones. The most common crystal detector utilized a chunk of galena (lead-sulfide) clamped in a holder, with a fine wire called a cat’s whisker poked onto its surface. This constituted a rectifying junction, functionally not unlike the semiconductor diodes of today."

This model BC-14A crystal radio came out towards the end of the war, where it was used to receive information from spotter planes to efficiently direct artillery. The history of this particular radio is unknown; the loaner purchased it at an antiques show.

Donated by Nancy Farnan

ACC# 2015.13.01

See other WW I artifacts at flic.kr/s/aHskknqFgj. (Photo credit Bob Gundersen - www.flickr.com/photos/bobphoto51/albums)

The artwork of Mark Ryden graces the cover of Don Tiki's "Forbidden Sounds Of" cd. Recorded in 'Pulsating Polynesian Polyphonics!'

9) Causality, explanation, and the deduction of predictions.

Tottenham Court Road Station. London can seem crowded and claustrophobic yet filled with openness.

 

#LiveLondon - Traditional yet uninhibited, frenzied but quiescent, diverse yet welcoming - be immersed in this series of compelling photographs that capture the juxtapositions of city life in London.

 

Explore these virtues and join in on a unique and authentic journey through the streets of one of the great cities of the world in LiveLondon – Benedict Sin’s first public exhibition.

 

Feel the pulsating energy, vibe and life, captured far from the ubiquitous sights, which every Londoner and visitor to the city would be able to relate to.

 

Catch #LiveLondon (June 18-29 2014) at The Arts House Singapore, 1 Old Parliament Lane Singapore 179429.

To Infinity and Beyond: This Is the Afterlife ~

 

Turning inside out, the young shaman falls though a long swirling tunnel formed of his inverted self, his unbodied mouth and eyes agape in a primal rush toward extinction.

 

He accelerates t

hrough a tightly wound vortex that shifts and bends to accommodate his course, always centred in the swirling tube which never touches his falling, disembodied perspective. The tunnel is made of light, and of his own bloodstream, and of all the memories and unremembered details of materiality and personality that made up his life – yet not merely ‘his’ life.

 

Every human, fish, bird, animal, insect, cell and blood corpuscle that has ever lived is there with him, all at once – the dying shaman can feel their bright fear and ecstasy pouring through him as they all rush toward an unseen destination around the curving, translucent bends of the primal vortex. Even though every being dies alone – no matter if a multitude of witnesses is present – the moment of death itself is one great screaming orgasm experienced simultaneously by every one, every single thing that has ever lived – all our eyes and mouths and ganglia agape at the same simultaneous culmination of our material existence.

 

The tunnel is an eternally vivid living record of past events and future dreams, all memories and visions embroidered into the seamless fabric of its swirl – and Ram’yana’s private past and the panoply of his personal memories are displayed most prominently to him, brightly livid episodes which emerge from the tubular walls as he passes. His strongest experiences – the most impressive ones, that imprinted themselves most brightly into the palimpsest of his being – leap out at him in high relief as he turns and twists and falls and flies, a singular eye of consciousness accelerating toward the endless end of the convoluted time tunnel that’s leading him home.

 

As the world we experience slips past us at the periphery of our sensoria, an ongoing tunnel vision moves with us at the extremity of our perceptions, whether dying, dead or alive. Journeying out of the physical plane, outside the material matrix of the world, Ram’yana is beyond time and the ken of time-bound beings; as he leaves four dimensional Timespace and approaches the speed of light everything twists into a tunnel which lengthens fore and aft.

 

He sees his grandfather and grandmother, Mickey Mouse and Pluto, all the dogs and cats and mice and goldfish that shared his boyhood years, the smells of his houses and the flavours of his lovers. He hears the laughter of his kindergarten friends, their bright faces visible all around him singing ‘Twinkle Twinkle Little Star’, while pretty little Abigail jumps over a spinning rope twirled by Gina and Hannah, her long blonde pink-ribboned pigtails rotating around the sides of her head.

 

He holds his mother’s huge hand, grasping her finger through the wooden bars of his bassinet while she sings to him in the sultry evening air. He witnesses the expression of semi-resigned shock on his father’s face during the Cuban missile crisis and again when Kennedy was shot, sees the squashed remains of mosquitoes on the wall above his crib, watches the strange lights moving in the sky while all the neighbours point and speculate, sinks again with a collapsing sandbank on Bondi Beach, swept away with hundreds of panicking faces being pulled out to the deep sea along with him, while hundreds of man-eating sharks are driven off by the beating, splashing oars of desperate lifesavers.

 

He sees his mother’s eyes for the first time all over again and screams at the hard slap on his bottom as he hangs before Doctor Traub’s thick-lensed glasses in the bright, antiseptic birth theatre. His paternal grandmother smiles at him as she leans over and obscures his view of the magnificent giant yellow flowers of the magnolia tree while she wheels him in his pram; he can still smell the cloying fragrance of the flowers. His mother’s mother screams as he holds a dingo puppy up for her inspection and she tumbles over backward in her bedroom, breaking her hip while his eight year old eyes wash the scene away with tears that burn through the illusory years.

 

The Cat in the Hat and the Mighty Thor; the smell and Hungarian accent of alcoholic Uncle Tony, putting him off beer for years with his first taste of bitter ale at the age of six, and the bright laughing face of his babysitter Wendy by the blazing wood fire; the spray of blood when he cut his wrist falling onto a broken bottle at the age of three and the dizzying view from the emergency surgeon’s high private balcony; the first time he kissed a girl and the first time he dreamed of kissing a girl, all bound up together; flying through the sky in a propeller-driven passenger plane, watching circular rainbows following him in the clouds below.

 

White sulphur-crested cockatoos and sparrows circle his yard while kookaburras laugh in the gum trees; the first terrifying time his father holds him up high in the air to place him in the fork of a tree; his first night after he ran away from home, reclining on a beanbag in a Kings Cross commune reading Philip Jose Farmer’s pertinent To Your Scattered Bodies Go – everything is there, each scene and sensation embedded within and revealing a multitude of others. Everything. His dying mind seeks out everything he’s ever experienced, seeking a way back into the womb of living as he falls through something else entirely, riding a rollercoaster beyond the imagination of the most topologically tormented tycoon.

 

As Ram’yana falls he flashes before the eyes of his whole life – as others fall with him, many others, all others, sharing the time tunnel with his self-judging awareness. In the eternity of the Fall everything hidden or repressed is exposed in the Divine Light of clear sight and each being is their own Judge, emerging from the blindfold of their material existence to weigh their own soul on the ineradicable scales of justice and mercy. Conscience is the soul and the soul is immortally, inescapably honest with itself when released from the fetters of self-deceit and delusion.

 

Beyond time, at the singular moment of the great primal rush that is the birth and death canal leading from one world to the next, everyone experiences the same thingat the same time. We all come and go together in a mind-blowing orgasm; dreaming or screaming, laughing or crying, all emotion quails and pales before the rush of unstoppable motion that dwarfs any and every trivial concern.

 

No thought of gods or devils, life or death in the primal scream toward the Light at the end of the tunnel – the only thing that matters is holding onto your headless hat and the wordless regrets felt toward all the people, animals and conscious entities you ever knew deeply, or ever loved – and still love, deeply, tenderly, with a perspective of forgiveness, understanding and compassion never vouchsafed to your flesh-bound, in-coiled, emotion-embroiled mortal personality.

 

Ram is every human who ever lived and died, every fish ever caught in a current to swirl down into lightless depths beyond its control, every bird caught in a whirlwind that flings it to flinders, every animal diving for cover into cloaking vegetation from an inescapable predator, every individual blood corpuscle flinging itself on the way to the crushing pressure at the heart of its warm, pulsating cosmos. As he pours through the end of the world the tunnel twists and whirls, always hiding the point of it all, the point of no return, the heart of the matter, the source of every thing and being – and his mind expands to simultaneously see his spiraling course as a single thread in a vast interwoven image.

 

The tunnel is one thread among myriad drab and colourful strands in a great uncharitable tapestry, an inextricable part of its intricate pattern. The dying shaman follows the course of his life along its undulating strand and sees that his thread rises and falls above and beneath uncountable other interlocking threads, a spectrum of hues and textures in the enormously unfathomable tapestry. As his thread rises above another he is ‘conscious’, while the thread it occludes is ‘dreaming’; where his strand is covered by another thread, his mortal body sleeps and dreams while the other strand lives their waking life. Everyone and everything is there, all at once, simultaneously, lain out and displayed before him with no need for the flow of time to elucidate the infinite multiplicity of being.

 

Turn the tapestry around. The thought comes unbidden and the cloth reverses itself around him in a loopy topological twist; the implicately shared complementary nature of consciousness becomes apparent to his blown mind as he sees himself dreaming the lives of others, and others dreaming through his waking eyes and flesh. The intermingling pathways wind around the curving delineaments of their divine co-creation, which turns into itself like a Moebius strip until the beginning of one thread seamlessly winds into the end of another. The falcon is the hunter is the arrow is the feather is the truth. All is alive and whole; nothing is partial or frayed.

 

The tapestry is vast, but he’s able to follow his individuated thread through the colourful patterns and sees that the enormous conglomeration of dreams and lives is incomplete – not completed by the path of the single thread that is his experience of existence, rising from the tapestry to enter him as him. At the same timeless moment, Ram’yana approaches the plexus of light that is the destiny of all nations, women and men – the future and past of all that are born to fall along with him, minds blown in the blinding light of the immortal portal.

 

An immaculate blazing white-hot sun glows at the end of the tunnel. He can see it ever more clearly through the transparing walls of the vortex, thinning and fading in the face of the overwhelmingly brilliant source and core of existence. Ram sees the arcs of a trans-finite net spreading outward from the source, sees an infinitude of other vortices approaching its plexus from more angles than he can wrap his bodiless head around. They pass through each other in ways that defy and tease his mortal three-dimensionally entrained mind – but the arrangement makes subtle sense to a higher form of his being, trembling on the edge of an unchartable metamorphosis into something so much greater as to be intrinsically unimaginable. Simultaneously, on another level, the individual personality of the shaman approaches its ultimate rebirth and transformation in his flight toward the blinding light of the central sun.

 

The source of all is the hot, bright core and central axis of the centreless multiverse, the eternal end of every tunnel; the maw of a transdimensional creature about to swallow him up, the Infinite Light of God and his own silent heart gently glowing in timeless repose. He flies around a final bend in the dissolving tunnel, surging toward the arcane net that veils the core – which flares into him as the tunnel widens, opening into the final straight.

 

Ram’yana flashes toward the weave that’s flung to the ends of the cosmos, spreading himself to embrace the Light – and as he reaches it, he encounters the safety net. A web-like sieve is strung across the open maw of All, and as Ram’yana passes though it a great, resounding BOUMMB fills the boundless universe – the sound of one heartbeat, as loud as the boom that eternally creates the unborn, ever-living universe; the sound of Shiva’s eye opening and of one hand clapping.

 

Before your time, he hears and feels, not ready, not yet – unfinished – and he feels himself shrinking toward an infinitesimally small spot in the multitude of multiverses – back into the weave, where plan net X marks the spot where all things meet in his current-bound primate life.

 

Boumb… Boom…. Boom!

  

That’s why I’m here, writing this to you ‘now’ – the same ‘now’ that you are reading it in, really. I and eye remember it all vividly, not as something to slowly forget or avoid in the unfocused mind’s eye, but as an ongoing experience that is with me now, always, dynamically imprinted. It is with me as it is with you, when you close your eyes and open your memory to see truly through the waters of forgetfulness, to the infinite waters of eternal life.

 

Life and death, sensory wakefulness and supersensory dreaming are the same thing, appearing as the warp and weft of the reversible tapestry of existence. And everyone, each of us, is the whole tapestry, inextricably interwoven – everyone is everyone, and that’s about as close as this constraining corsetry of early third millennium Inglesh needs to get at this point in infinite time – xcept, perhaps, for the most important thing of all -

 

Every one you truly touch and are touched by, in every way, leaves the deepest and most prominent engravings in your heart, mind and soul. What we do unto others is what we do to ourselves – and other living beings are more than mere memory mirrors or handy usable tools. That’s what draws us back for more, and more again – the need to do better by our selves – over and over, until we do it right. Then we get another choice – or another chance to ride the carousel Wheel of Fortune again, if we so choose.

 

The multiple layers of ascendant consciousness are a self-filtering system of co-evolution – a system of slowly developing focus and perspective that leads our awareness to other dimensions, already inextricably interwoven with the relatively ‘familiar’ bounds of our largely unknown but ever-present reality. There’s no dim-witted hierarchy of order-givers or sword-wielding guardians barring the doors of higher perception – the gateway to Heaven on Earth. There’s just you – and me, and all of us, together. We all have our time to shine, and that time is always now.

 

Yet Death is not Dying. In the Bardo spaces between thy flowering carnations of existence, all the bright religious hopes and turgid superstitious terrors await the untrained monkey mind in its ongoing fall toward dissolution or reintegration. The Bardo Realms are entire worlds or pocket universes as apparently solid as the full-blown reality ye imagine around thee, right where thou art sitting, right now. How do ye know thou art alive, not dreaming this experience, right here and now? Do ye think that’s air you’re breathing?

   

A true story

 

By Ram Ayana @ hermetic.blog.com/2012/03/13/to-infinity-and-beyond-this-...

Recently heard an interview where the reporter didn't know what a Moon Jelly was - reminded me of an archived shot taken a while back ...

 

They're almost "not there" as their translucent forms flutter through the water with fluid grace.

 

It's so rare that jellyfish are stationary! This Moon Jelly was plastered against the glass of the tank - must have been because it was early morning. I thought it looked so much like a flower. Shortly after I took this shot, it began to pulsate and move through the water.

 

Its diet mainly consists of small crustaceans and other small marine life forms. It feeds on zooplankton and mollusks. In captivity it also feeds on brine shrimp (Artemia NYOS - commercially known as “sea monkeys”)

 

Moon Jellyfish have no brain, heart, blood, head, eyes or ears. They are 95% water and are basically a floating mouth and digestive system. They have a complex set of nerves that respond to stimuli, but they cannot think. They don't possess lungs, gills or trachea.

On October 11, 1975, in San Francisco, Archangel Zadkiel announced the transfer from the priests and priestesses of the Violet Planet of the Cathedral of the Violet Flame. We will continue working with the Six Rays of God to transmute any elements from the previous day’s journey. Saint Germain will guide us to Table Mountain, Wyoming to the “Cave of Symbols” which is a cave in the mountain lined with pink and white crystals that gives way to a gigantic chamber covered with rainbow colored stalactites that form symbols representing sacred geometry.

 

Each participant will work through the revelations they received from the Royal Teton Retreat. This retreat houses the “Cosmic Mirror” in which an individual will see the cause and effect of their karma along with the “Atomic Accelerator” which brings forth electrons in the Light Body to make the necessary changes, and lastly, the “Sphere of Light” which is a room that will help an initiate in their ascension process.We now start the work within the 7th Ray of the Violet/Purple Flame with the Archangels Zadkiel and Amethyst along with the Elohim Masters Arcturus and Virginia.Students of Ascended Master Teachings organizations (also known as Ascended Master Activities) believe that their doctrine has been given to humanity by the Ascended Masters, individuals believed to have lived in physical bodies, acquired the wisdom and mastery needed to become immortal and free of the cycles of "re-embodiment" and karma, and have attained their "ascension", a state of "one-ness" with God. This knowledge is believed to have previously been taught for millions of years only within "Ascended master retreats" and "Mystery schools".

 

Adherents of the Ascended Master Teachings believe that this wisdom was partially released by the Theosophical Society beginning in 1875, by C.W. Leadbeater and Alice A. Bailey, and began to have more detailed public release in the 1930s by the Ascended Masters through Guy Ballard in the I AM Activity.[1][2] However, Theosophists maintain the concept of Ascended Masters are a corruption of the original Theosophical concept of the Masters of the Ancient Wisdom.

 

The term Ascended Master was first introduced in 1934 by Guy Ballard with the publication of Unveiled Mysteries, a book which he said was dictated to him by the Ascended Master: St. Germain. Other Ascended Master Teachings are contained in The Bridge to Freedom The Summit Lighthouse (1958), (Known also as The Church Universal and Triumphant[6] The Aetherius Society (1955),[7] The Temple of The Presence (1995),[8] the I AM University (2004), the White Eagle Lodge (1936) and the Aquarian Christine Church Universal, Inc. (2006)

 

Our first visitation on this day will be “The Cathedral of the Violet Flame” in the Rocky Mountains which includes all Violet Flame Angels and Priests and Priestesses of the Violet Planet representing elemental life. This retreat represents to ability to be cleared of human burdens and densities.

 

Our second visitation will be the “Temple of Purification”with Archangels Zadkiel and Amethyst which is located over the islands of Cuba (previously known to be the location of Atlantis). Part of the initiation for this journey will represent the work with the Order of Melchizedek as training as a Priest/Priestess along with learning the true meaning of “spiritual freedom.

 

The third visitation will be the “Temple of Freedom” with Elohim Masters Arcturus and Virginia which is located over Luanda, Angola; they release the violet, purple and pink flames of mercy, forgiveness, transmutation and freedom for the entire planet, as a giant fiery pillar. We will be utilizing the Violet Flame to overcome difficult situations on a personal and planetary scale, to transmute darkness into light.

Universal All-Pervading Presence of Life[edit]

Students of the Ascended Master Teachings believe that there is One God, the "Universal All-Pervading Presence of Life", "The One", Who is the Source of all Life, Light, and Love in existence, and that all forms of existence and consciousness emanate from this "Allness of God" - "The One". The Voice of the I AM states "All Life is One" [11] and that there is "One Substance, One Energy, One Power, One Intelligence" as the Source of all consciousness and creation.[12] This Divine Being and Mind is considered to be above and distinct from all creation (in the sense of classical theism), transcending all creation yet interpenetrating all existence. Belief in this "One God" stresses the essential unity of the spiritual and material components of the universe. God creates through Individualized Identities that have distinct Self-Consciousness and that make up the Spiritual Hierarchy of Creation, yet remain connected through the flow of the "River of Life" and "Lifestream" to the "One Undivided God" - the "All in All" - the "Good" - the "Source from which all Life, Light, and Love come." There is always an uninterrupted "Oneness" that is maintained with the "Allness" of God. From the "One God" all other realities, including hierarchy, humanity and the material universe, are the result of a process of emanation.[2]

 

The Individualized "I AM" Presence[edit]

Adherents of the Ascended Master Teachings believe that each person is an incarnation of an "Individualized Presence" of the "Most High Living God" - the "Mighty I AM Presence" - as part of our very Nature and Being. God (as Life and Love) manifests in the 7 octaves of the created universe through individual Divine Identities. As embodied individuals, we are the outer expression of that God Self in form. It is our unique and immortal True Identity, yet always sharing in the Allness of the ONE GOD.[2]

 

Ascended Master Saint Germain, believed by those adherent to the Ascended Master Teachings to have previously been embodied as Plato, Proclus, Roger Bacon, Francis Bacon, and numerous others, was quoted as saying:

 

"When one individualizes within the Absolute, All-Pervading Life, he chooses of his own free will to become an intensified individual focus of Self-Conscious Intelligence. He is the conscious director of his future activities. Thus, having once made his choice, he is the only one who can fulfill that Destiny — which is not inflexible circumstance but a definitely designed Plan of Perfection." [13] When You, the 'Mighty I AM Presence,' will to come forth into an Individualized Focus of Conscious Dominion and use the Creative Word, 'I AM,' Your First Individual Activity is the Formation of a Flame. Then you, the 'Individualized Focus' of the 'Mighty I AM Presence,' begin your Dynamic Expression of Life. This Activity, We term Self-consciousness, meaning the Individual who is conscious of his Source and Perfection of Life, expressing through himself." [1]

 

Twin Flames[edit]

Saint Germain explained through Guy Ballard:

 

"The 'Almighty God Flame,' breathing within Itself, projects Two Rays into the 'Great Sea of Pure Electronic Light.' This Intelligent Light-substance becomes the clothing, as it were, for these Rays of the 'Mighty I AM Presence.' Each Ray has all the Attributes of the Godhead within It, and no imperfection can ever enter into or register upon It. The Individualized Flame sends down into each Ray a Focal Point, or Spark, forming a Heart Center upon which gathers the 'Electronic Light Substance,' creating the Electronic Body." [1]

 

In 1937, The Voice of the I AM article on this subject elaborated:

 

"When the Ascension of both has taken place, each is the complete balance of all masculine and all feminine qualities within himself. Then the Threefold Flame of Life is completely unfolded, the individual becomes Master at Cosmic Levels of creation and does work with systems of worlds, as well as in this physical world. Thus, that which came out of the Great Central Sun as One Flame becomes Three complete Flames, each of the same full Limitless Power and Activity as the Great Central Sun. This becomes the Cosmic Activity of the Power of the 'Three times Three'. "When both Rays have made the Ascension, then the individual works with systems of worlds instead of just in one world. This is the way the Godhead is ever expanding the Perfection of Itself throughout Infinity and keeping order throughout interstellar space." [14]

 

Beliefs about Ascended Masters[edit]

It is believed that Ascended Masters are individuals who were once embodied on Earth and learned the lessons of life in their incarnations. They gained mastery over the limitations of the matter planes, balanced at least 51% of negative karma, and fulfilled their Dharma (Divine Plan). An Ascended Master has become God-like and a source of unconditional Love to all life, and through the Ascension has united with his or her own God Self, the "I AM" Presence. It is claimed that they serve as the teachers of mankind from the realms of Spirit, and that all people will eventually attain their Ascension and move forward in spiritual evolution beyond this planet. According to these teachings, they remain attentive to the spiritual needs of humanity, and act to inspire and motivate its spiritual growth. In many traditions and organizations, they are considered part of the Spiritual Hierarchy for Earth, and members of the Great Brotherhood of Light, also known as the Great White Lodge or Great White Brotherhood.[2]

 

Belief in the Brotherhood and the Masters is an essential part of the beliefs of various organizations that have continued and expanded the concepts released in the original Saint Germain instruction in the 1930s through The "I AM" Activity.[15][16][17][18][19] Examples of those believed by the ones proposing these teachings to be Ascended Masters would be the Master Jesus, Confucius, Gautama Buddha, Mary the Mother of Jesus, St. Paul of Tarsus (aka Hilarion), Melchizedek, Archangel Michael, Metatron, Kwan Yin, Saint Germain and Kuthumi, as well as dozens of others.[20]

 

Unveiled Mysteries records:

 

"Truly the Great Ascended Masters are Gods. It is no wonder in the mythology of the ancients that their activities have been brought down to us in the guise of myth and fable. They wield Tremendous God Power at all times because they hold with unwavering determination to the Great God Presence and hence all Power is given unto them for they are All-Perfection. "'When Jesus said, All these things I have done, ye shall do and even greater things shall ye do, he knew whereof he spoke,' continued Saint Germain. 'He came forth to reveal the Conscious Dominion and Mastery that it is possible for every human being to attain and express while still here on Earth." [13]

 

Great Sea of Universal Light, Life, and Love[edit]

Unveiled Mysteries states:

 

"Try to think upon this Power, which is within you. Call into use the Great Sea of Universal Substance from which you may draw without limit. It obeys, without exception, the direction of thought, and records any quality imposed upon it, through the activity of the feeling nature in mankind. Universal Substance is obedient to your conscious will at all times. It is constantly responding to humanity's thought and feeling whether they realize it or not. There is no instant at which human beings are not giving this Substance one quality or another, and it is only through the knowledge that the individual has conscious control and manipulation of a Limitless Sea of It that he begins to understand the possibilities of his own Creative Powers, and the responsibilities resting upon him in the use of his thought and feeling." [13]

 

Spiritual Hierarchy[edit]

Main article: Spiritual Hierarchy

Adherents of these Ascended Master Teachings believe that the All-Pervading Presence of God does not act nor create except through Its Individualizations. All creation comes forth through These Individual Identities and is sustained by Them. According to Elizabeth Clare Prophet, this Spiritual Hierarchy is a "Universal Chain" of Individualized God Free Beings fulfilling Attributes and Aspects of God's Infinite Selfhood. Included in this Cosmic Hierarchical scheme are Solar Logoi, Elohim, Sons and Daughters of God, Ascended Masters, Cosmic Beings, the Twelve Solar Hierarchies, Archangels, Angels, Beings of the Elements, and Twin Flames of the Alpha-Omega Polarity sponsoring Systems of Worlds and entire Galactic Systems. This Universal Order of Divine Self-Expression is the means whereby God in the Great Central Sun steps down [ spiritual energy from ] the Presence and Essence of His Universal Being / Consciousness in order that all Life in time and space might give and receive Unconditional Divine Love. One's placement on this "Ladder of Life" in the Spirit / Matter Universes is determined by one's level of Spiritual Attainment - measured by Awareness and Manifestation of balanced Love, Wisdom, and Power - as well as the embodying of other Divine Qualities."

 

Use of "I AM" in decrees, affirmations, and invocations[edit]

A characteristic of students of the Ascended Master Teachings is the use of God's Creative Name - "I AM" - in the use of Decrees, Fiats, Adorations, and Affirmations to invoke and send forth the Light of God to Bless Life, to bring forth the Perfect Divine solution for every situation, and to fulfill the Divine Plan. It is believed to be a way of externalizing more Divine Light, Divine Love, and Divine Life into the lower planes of creation through the dynamic force of sound vibration as creative energy.[2]

 

The Magic Presence states:

 

"Only the Self-conscious Individual has ALL the Attributes and Creative Power of the 'Mighty I AM Presence.' Only He can know who and what He is, and express the Fullness of the Creative Power of God whenever He decrees, by the use of the Words, 'I AM.' The outer human part of this activity is what We call the personality. It is but the vehicle through which Perfection should be expressed into the outer substance of the Universe.

 

"Within the 'Pure God-Flame' is a Breath that pulsates constantly. This `Great Fire-Breath' is a Rhythmic Outpouring of Divine Love, Its Three Attributes being 'Love, Wisdom, and Power in action.' These pour out constantly, into the 'Infinite Sea of Pure Electronic Light.' This Light is the Universal Substance or Spirit, out of which all forms are composed. It is intelligent, mark you, because It obeys law through the command of the Individual who says, or is conscious of, 'I AM.' These Two Words are the Acknowledgment and Release of the Power to Create and bring forth into outer existence, whatever quality follows That Acknowledgment. For Intelligence to act there must be Intelligence to be acted upon, and the Universal Substance, being like a photographic film, takes the record of what-ever quality the Individual imposes upon It through his thought, feeling, and spoken word. The Words 'I AM' whether thought, felt, or spoken, release the Power of Creation instantly. Make no mistake about this. Intelligence is Omnipresent, and It is within the Electronic Light." [1]

 

Violet Flame[edit]

Use of the "Violet Flame of Divine Love" is considered to be the 7th Ray aspect of the Holy Spirit and the "Sacred Fire" that transmutes and consumes the "cause, effect, record, and memory" of sin or negative karma. Also called the "Flame of Transmutation", the "Flame of Mercy", the "Flame of Freedom", and the "Flame of Forgiveness". "Our God is a Consuming Fire" in Deuteronomy 4:24 (KJV) and Hebrews 12:29 (KJV) is believed to be refer to this "Sacred Fire of God".

 

The "Violet Fire" is held to be a raising, transforming, purifying action of "Divine Love" from the "Heart of God" in the "Great Central Sun". It acts to transmute and consume human creation that is not worthy of becoming Immortal, and all negative karmic causes, effects, records, and memories, without the need to individually balance that karma face-to-face with each person back to the earliest beginning of one's individualized manifestation on this or any other world.[2]

 

Ascension[edit]

Main article: Initiation (Theosophy)

The Ascension is believed to be the returning to complete "Oneness with God" - "raising the outer atomic structure of the physical, emotional, and mental bodies into the Electronic Structure of the I AM Consciousness", becoming an Ascended Master, eventually a Cosmic Being, and beyond. The Ascension into Immortality through reunion with the God Self requires the consuming of at least 51% of the records and memories of "negatively qualified karma" as well as:

 

Mastery of the matter planes[edit]

It is believed that the "Individualized Flames of Perfection", emanating as lifestreams taking physical embodiment, can develop further attributes that express a unique Identity, and attain the fullness of the use of Light. This is done by mastery over matter planes that have a slower vibratory action, thus requiring more energy and concentration to externalize form. This allows for the development of greater skills of creation and "Causal Body Momentums" of various "Divine Qualities". Physical embodiment gives each individual the opportunity to expand these attributes and faculties through matter substance, and to become a "master of energy" through thought and feeling. This allows for accomplishments and added power which one who does not ever embody on a planet does not possess. Thus an individual may expand the "Flame in the Heart", and expand the "Perfection of the Allness of God's Love" in the created universe, eventually becoming an Ascended Master and later a Cosmic Being.

 

According to the Ascended Master Teachings, gaining "mastery over matter planes" means learning to consciously use 100% of one's Creative Power of thought, feeling, and spoken word to create greater perfection, joy, and love in the world, as opposed to using thoughts, feelings, and words to create greater limitations, bondage, and chaos in one's own experience and in the world at large through carelessness and lack of awareness of the extent of one's influence in the world. "Matter planes" refers to the differentiations of atomic and molecular structure in which evolution takes place, the lower planes (dimensions / wavelength frequency resonance) sometimes correlated with physical solids, liquids, and gases; the higher subplanes of the Physical Octave are sometimes referred to as "etheric" and are not normally perceivable by the physical senses. The emotional and mental octaves are also made up of electrons and atoms of feeling and thought substance and differentiated into levels of density and vibratory rate.[2]

 

"To understand the above explanation concerning the electron and the conscious control the individual has through his thought and feeling to govern the atomic structure of his own body is to understand the One Principle Governing form throughout Infinity. When man will make the effort to prove this to himself or within his own atomic flesh body, he will then proceed to Master Himself. When he has done that, all else in the Universe is his willing co-worker to accomplish whatsoever he wills through Love." [13]

 

Fulfillment of the Divine Plan[edit]

"Within the Life of every human being is the Power by which he can express all that the Ascended Masters express every moment — if he but chooses to do so. All Life contains Will but only Self-Conscious Life is free to determine upon its own course of expression. Hence, the individual has free choice to express either in the human, limited body or the Super-Human, Divine Body. He is the chooser of his own field of expression. He is the Self-determining Creator. He has willed and chosen to live as Self-Conscious Life. . . . When one individualizes within the Absolute, All-Pervading Life he chooses of his own free will to become an intensified individual focus of Self-Conscious Intelligence. He is the conscious director of his future activities. Thus, having once made his choice, he is the only one who can fulfill that Destiny - which is not inflexible circumstance but a definitely designed Plan of Perfection.[13]

 

Threefold Flame[edit]

The Threefold Flame of Life is the Immortal Flame within the Heart of the children of Light and Sons and Daughters of God, and is an actual extension of the Heart of the I AM Presence of each Lifestream in embodiment on Earth.[2]

 

The fall of man[edit]

It is believed that since the "fall of man" during the time of the incarnation of the Fourth Root Race, imperfection, limitations and discord increasingly entered into our world. The memory body is considered to have become known as a "soul", and this temporary personality has taken on the sense of a self that is separated and not connected to God. It is believed that a "Dictation" from Maitreya further clarified this matter through the "Messenger", Geraldine Innocente, on September 27, 1954 when what occurred during the time of the "Fourth Root Race" was described:

 

"Curiosity, rebellion against holding true to the Divine Pattern and the use of thought and feeling in creation of imperfection, began the building of what you call the 'soul'. It is a consciousness apart from the full Purity of God. The first thought a man had that was imperfect and impure, energized by a secret feeling, was a cause and that, sent out into the atmosphere, created an effect. Like a boomerang, the effect came back into the consciousness and made a record. That record was the beginning of an impression. Energy sent out in a certain manner returned to affect the lifestream who had sent it forth and there began to be created a shadow between the I AM Presence and the human consciousness. Endeavoring to contact the Presence, the individual would find these 'tramp' thoughts and feelings flowing through that line of contact until more and more imperfect was the conscious use of them. Finally, those centers got completely away from the control of the ego and acted independently.[21]

 

Dictations[edit]

Within The "I AM" Activity, contact and cooperation with the Ascended Masters became a central part of each member's life. Through the Ballards as "Messengers", the Ascended Masters were believed to have regularly communicated with the students of The "I AM" Activity. Those Addresses (known as "Dictations") were delivered before gatherings of members in Conclaves held throughout the United States of America, published in the monthly periodical, The Voice of The "I AM", and some were collected and reprinted in the books of The Saint Germain Series. In all, 3,834 Dictations from the Masters were received through Guy and Edna Ballard. Other "Ascended Master Activities" believed that the Ascended Masters, Cosmic Beings, Elohim, and Archangels continued to present a program for both individual development and spiritual transformation in the world.[22] They believe that further instruction from the Ascended Masters and the rest of the Spiritual Hierarchy continued through new Dispensations with new Messengers, such as The Bridge to Freedom,[23] The Summit Lighthouse,[6] and The Temple of The Presence.

 

Dawning Golden Age[edit]

Students of the Ascended Master Teachings believe that this world is destined to again have a Golden Age, a "Heaven on Earth", that will be permanent, unlike previous Golden Ages millions of years ago.[2]

 

"In your beloved America, in the not so far distant future, will come forth a similar recognition of the Real Inner Self, and this her people will express in high attainment. She is a Land of Light, and Her Light shall blaze forth, brilliant as the sun at noonday, among the nations of the Earth. She was a Land of Great Light, ages ago, and will again come into her spiritual heritage, for nothing can prevent it." [13]

 

"The Divine Plan for the future of North America is a condition of intense activity in the greatest peace, beauty, success, prosperity, spiritual illumination, and dominion. She is to carry the Christ Light and be the Guide for the rest of the Earth, because America is to be the Heart Center of the 'Golden Age' that is now dimly touching our horizon. The greater portion of the land of North America will stand for a very long time." [13]

 

The Aquarian Church[edit]

The Aquarian Christine Church Universal, Inc. (ACCU) is a denomination founded in 2006 based on The Aquarian Gospel of Jesus the Christ transcribed from the Akashic Records by Levi H. Dowling. The Aquarian Christine Church actively promotes Ascended Master Teachings and shares many beliefs in common with the I AM Movement, White Eagle Lodge and New Thought and Theosophical groups. The book "Initiations of the Aquarian Masters: The Theosophy of the Aquarian Gospel" by ACCU founder Rev. Dr. Jacob L. Watson, expounds on the church's teachings which draw heavily from the writings of A.D.K. Luk, the Saint Germain Series published Saint Germain Press (The Saint Germain Foundation), and especially from "The Lost Years of Jesus" compiled by Elizabeth Clare Prophet and published by The Summit Lighthouse.

 

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ascended_Master_Teachings

 

Archangel Zadkiel said:

 

"In this moment it is being transported by angelic hosts as they carry this giant cathedral to be placed in the etheric plane of earth's atmosphere for the consecration of the violet flame and as another focal point for souls desiring to be free to frequent while their bodies sleep at night. And therefore, the Cathedral of the Violet Flame is placed in the heart of the Rocky Mountains in commemoration of the light of freedom of the Ruler of the Violet Planet, Omri-Tas, who does respond to the calls of men and women who pursue the light of freedom, yet do not know of the violet flame.

 

"Hail unto the children of light! Hail to the elementals! For they are invited also to enter into the Cathedral of the Violet Flame to be saturated with that light, to be cleared of all of the burdens of the planes of mankind's consciousness...

 

"The focuses of light in this Cathedral are the jewels of the amethyst and violet crystals of many varieties that also hold the action of the violet flame. And these crystals are not native to Terra but come from the Violet Planet as specimens of that which coalesces there as the crystallization of the Christ mind...

 

"Remember To Enter The Violet Flame Cathedral.

"You will find violet flame angels tending there, tending the flame of sacred fire, and you will also find on the altar, the central altar, a focus of jade, the gift of the Angel Deva of the Jade Temple, placed there as the offering of healing for those who come to have their substance transmuted—a focus of jade, healing jade, for the removal of the cause and core of that sin and that struggle that produce disease in mind, in souls, in bodies.

 

"And you will see also certain angels, twelve in number, who come from the Temple of the Angel Deva. You will also see an arc of light from that temple in China to the temple in North America. And if you are fortunate in the flame of living Truth, you may also find the Angel Deva standing there also officiating at the altar with the violet-flame angels.

 

"So I have come in the midst of the judgment to tell you of this gift of the priests and priestesses of the sacred fire. So make your way to the Cathedral of the Violet Flame and be blessed as you carry that flame north and south and east and west."1

 

Call to Give Violet Flame at the Cathedral of the Violet Flame Retreat

In the name of the Christ, my own Real Self, I call to the heart of the I AM Presence and to the angel of the Presence, to Archangel Michael and Archangel Zadkiel and your legions of light to take me in my soul and in my soul consciousness to the Cathedral of the Violet Flame, that I may join the heavenly hosts and elementals in invoking the violet flame for the freeing of elementals and mankind from the burdens of mankind's karma. And I ask that all information necessary to the fulfillment of my divine plan be released to my outer waking consciousness as it is required. I thank thee and I accept this done in the full power of the risen Christ.

 

Spiritual Books on the Saint Germain & the Violet Flame:

Books by Mark and Elizabeth Clare Prophet on the Great Divine Director, Saint Germain, and the Violet Flame. Spiritual books showing how to work with the violet flame to clear the obstacles to your divine plan for effect personal change and world spiritual transformation:

 

Saint Germain on Alchemy: Formulas for Self-Transformation

The Soulless One: Cloning a Counterfeit Creation by the Great Divine Director

Saint Germain: Master Alchemist

Violet Flame to Heal Body, Mind and Soul

Alchemy of the Heart: How to Give and Receive More Love

The Masters and their Retreats

Lords of the Seven Rays: Mirror of Consciousness

The Chela and the Path: Keys to Soul Mastery in the Aquarian Age by El Morya

www.ascendedmastersspiritualretreats.org/ascended-master-...

Saint Germain's Spiritual Retreat, Chohan of the 7th Ray

Saint Germain's Cave of Symbols retreat is in Table Mountain near North America's Rocky Mountains. This is an important focus, and many inventions are to be released from this retreat. Saint Germain uses this retreat along with the Rakoczy Mansion in Transylvania, the Cave of Light in the Himalayas and the nearby Royal Teton Retreat in the Grand Teton range.

 

Interior of the Cave of Symbols

One enters through a cavern in the mountain lined with pink and white crystal and then moves on into a vaulted chamber two hundred feet wide covered with stalactites of rainbow hue in the formation of occult symbols. As focuses of the rainbow rays of God and geometric keys to the release of fohat, the energy that blazes through these symbols extends throughout the United States. This energy has a most significant influence upon her people, keying into their consciousness the matrix of the golden age and the remembrance of their lost inheritance. The cave derives its name from these symbols.

 

Ascended master Saint Germain, violet flame alchemist. On the opposite wall, at the far side of the chamber, there are three arches, spaced twenty feet apart: the first a deep rose, the second a penetrating white and the third a cobalt blue. These are the focuses of great cosmic beings for the victory of the Christ consciousness in America.

 

Accompanied by the ascended master Saint Germain, who raises his hand toward the center archway, we gain entrance to a tunnel that opens at his command. After several hundred feet, he shows us through a door on which there are more ancient symbols into a twelve-sided, domed room sixty feet in diameter. Immediately we notice that four of the twelve sides are a brilliant white (focusing the purity of the Christ consciousness in the four elements and the four lower bodies of the planet). The remainder are the pastel hues of the rays.

 

Cave of Symbols: Home to Many Inventions

In this room we are shown the fantastic radio invented by the ascended lady master Leonora, by which one can communicate with other planets in this solar system, with the center of the earth, or with any point on the surface of the earth. There are chemical and electrical laboratories where scientists are perfecting formulas and inventions they have been permitted to take from the hermetically-sealed cities at the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean. These cities have been protected since the sinking of Atlantis. These discoveries will be brought forth for mankind's use in the golden age, just as soon as man has learned to harness greed, selfishness and the desire to control others through war and dishonest financial policies.

 

When the Sons of God are once again in control of the great nations of the world, the ascended masters will step forth with a tremendous wealth of information that has been guarded in their retreats for ages. Unascended scientists come here in their finer bodies while asleep or between embodiments.

 

Opportunity to Spiritually Travel to Saint Germain's Retreat

Students of the light can also ask to be taken to Saint Germain's Cave of Symbols. Saint Germain is training a large cadre of souls devoted to the Christ and to the science of the Christ, who at the proper time will have lowered into the outer consciousness all that they have learned in this and other retreats of the Great White Brotherhood.

 

The Golden Atomic Accelerator Chair

There is an "atomic accelerator"—a golden chair through which are passed electronic currents that quicken the vibratory pattern of the atoms and electrons within the four lower bodies. Initiates of the Brotherhood who have proven their merit by service and devotion to the light and who have already balanced a considerable amount of their karma are allowed to sit in this chair for a length of time prescribed by the master Saint Germain and the Lords of Karma. By accelerating the light frequency in the four lower bodies, a portion of one's karma is balanced and a portion of one's misqualified substance is thrown off by the centrifugal action produced by the revolving electrons and transmuted by the sacred fire.

 

Thus, the individual's four lower bodies can be accelerated in ascension currents and the soul raised into the ascension. Under the sponsorship of Saint Germain, many lifestreams have ascended from this room.

 

Entering Further into the Retreat

Entering an elevator, we descend a hundred feet into the heart of the mountain, emerging in a circular room having a diameter of twenty feet. We are led through a door into a huge hall equipped with furnaces and machines for the production of materials used in the experimental work carried on in the chemical and electrical laboratories in the upper level of the retreat.

 

Returning to the upper level, we are shown a reception hall with a domed ceiling, adjoining sleeping quarters, and an audience hall also with a domed ceiling of sky blue with painted clouds, giving the impression of being in the open air. Here there is a magnificent organ and piano that is used by the masters to focus the harmonizing currents of the music of the spheres on behalf of the freedom of sons and daughters of God on earth.

 

The Cosmic Mirror

The Cosmic Mirror in the Cave of Symbols. The Cosmic Mirror is on the east wall of the Crystal Chamber. When the disciple has reached a certain degree of attainment, he is taken by the master before the Cosmic Mirror, which keys into his etheric body and reflects his past lives, including the cause and effect upon his world of every thought, feeling, word and deed he has ever manifested. The Cosmic Mirror also reflects the original blueprint of his divine plan that is placed upon the etheric body when the soul is born in the heart of God.

 

In viewing his past lives, the disciple then may learn what portion of the divine plan he has outpictured. He may see what conditions in his world must be corrected and what good momentums he has developed that he can now use to overcome the difficulties of the past and the present and thus fulfill his divine plan in the very near future.

 

The Sphere of Light

At the far end of the audience hall, through a concealed door, one enters the Sphere of Light, a spherical-shaped room where the focus of the sacred fire is used to intensify the expansion of the light within those who are permitted to enter there. The function of this room correlates with the action of the light in the Cave of Light in the charge of the Great Divine Director in India.

 

Together with the Atomic Accelerator, these focuses serve to bring the disciples of the masters closer to their ascension and to provide them with the assistance to accelerate the process that could not be achieved in the outer world.

 

It is a very real and enlivening experience to stand before the Cosmic Mirror in this retreat. The disciple needs to be ready to look through the illusions, the fantasies and the synthetic self. He must be able to own up to the deceits that the ego continually practices against itself. It is not possible to hide anything from God.

 

The sincere student who would like to get rid of these illusions may call to Saint Germain to be taken to stand before the Cosmic Mirror.

 

Violet Flame Call by Saint Germain

Violet flame alchemy for spiritual transformationThis violet flame mantra for the Aquarian age is for accelerating personal and planetary spiritual transmutation of past errors in thought, feeling and action.

 

I AM a being of violet fire,

I AM the purity God desires.

 

Call to be Taken to Saint Germain's Violet Flame Retreat.

In the name of the Christ, my own Real Self, I call to the heart of the I AM Presence and to the angel of the Presence to take me in my soul and in my soul consciousness to the Cave of Symbols retreat of Saint Germain. I ask that I be saturated with the violet flame focused there and be taught the mastery of the ritual of the atom for the Aquarian age. And I ask that all information necessary to the fulfillment of my divine plan be released to my outer waking consciousness as it is required. I thank thee and I accept this done in the full power of the risen Christ.

 

Ascended Master Retreats of the Chohans

 

Fourteen-Day Cycles at the Universities of the Spirit Chart (PDF)

El Morya and the Temple of Good Will near Darjeeling India

Lord Lanto and the Royal Teton Retreat in Wyoming

Paul the Venetian Le Château De Liberté In Southern France

Serapis Bey and the Ascension Temple and Retreat at Luxor

Hilarion and the Temple of Truth over Crete

Lady Master Nada and the Arabian Retreat

Saint Germain and the Cave of Symbols in the Rocky Mountains

Maha Chohan and the Temple of Comfort over Sri Lanka

Summit Lighthouse Books on the Chohans of the Rays

 

The Book of Apocalypse explained. Like the captain of the Host of the Lord, I invite you to stand up in honor of your Powerful Presence I AM, because I release upon you the power of the sword of the Spirit and I will increasing its power, according to the measure which you are able to receive it! Holding this sword, that my mentor give me long time ago, I direct its power to consume the cause and nucleus of all the negative conditions that can be upon you or in your interior! wields the flaming sword and direct its omniconsuming fire to the insane areas of your subconscious and unconscious minds. My Friends, adverse conditions like those that you have allowed to poison the organs of your physical body, affects also the astral body, the mental and also the etheric body, dimming the mind and preventing that you assume the divine control on your conscious mind! Therefore, I hold my sword of the Spirit and I let that it traverse you! I traverse you! I traverse you with the power of First Ray of the Sacred Will of God! With my sword I extirpate any precancerous conditions in your four lower bodies, from the etheric body to the mental, from the body of desires where its tentacles reaches the physical body and strangle the body as well your soul. Therefore, if you want to save yourself and save others, Call me, and with my sword of blue flame I will extirpate those conditions inside you and your beloveds, close or far to you.

 

www.ascendedmastersspiritualretreats.org/chohan-retreats/...

When it comes to strange stars, it is hard to beat T Lyrae. First, it is big, it would easily engulf Earth and Mars if placed at our sun’s location. Its energy output (luminosity) is staggering -- radiating 15,000 times as much as our sun (most in infrared). Not bad for a star that has only three-times the mass of our sun. In addition, T Lyrae pulsates on an irregular period averaging a cycle every 0.5 days. Its brightness varies by almost 2 magnitudes.

 

When you first point a telescope to it, none of these facts can be noticed, what makes it standout is its dark blood-red color. T Lyrae is a rare Carbon Star. Carbon Stars are unique in that their atmospheres contain more carbon than oxygen – not so in other stars. The carbon combines with the oxygen, forming carbon monoxide, which consumes all the available oxygen in the star’s upper atmosphere. The leftover carbon atoms bond with other elements causing the star to shine ruby-red in color. No stars are darker-red than Carbon Stars.

 

T Lyrae is an easy star hop from the fifth brightest star in the heavens, Vega. Its blood red-color stands out, so you are not going to just accidentally slew over it without seeing it. Once you find it, I guarantee that you will return to it over and over again.

 

To see additional astronomy drawings visit: www.orrastrodrawing.com

 

Queen Of Blood, 1966

(aka Planet of Blood)

The 60s saw quite a few foreign sci-fi dubbed into english, with new english-speaking actor footage inserted. Queen of Blood (QoB) is a bolder and more expansive example of that sub-genre. While others stayed fairly true to their original stories, Curtis Harrington (writer and director) turned the original, Mechte Navstrechu, on its head. Much of the first half of QoB is made out of footage from the 1962 original. The second half of QoB is almost all new footage starring John Saxon, Basil Rathbone, Judi Meredith and Dennis Hopper. Harrington turned a sentimental soviet sci-fi romantic piece into a moody sci-fi horror story.

 

Synopsis

See the original plot synopsis here. Briefly, signals are received on earth from an alien spaceship on its way to earth. It crashes on Mars for unknown reasons. Earth sends one team of astronauts to mount a rescue. After that team encounters trouble en route and is low on fuel, a second ship is sent to help out. Turns out there were no survivors on the main alien ship. An escape pod is found on Phobos, with an alien woman still barely alive. They all regroup and take her aboard their ship for the trip to earth. On the way, she regains consciousness, but cannot speak. She does not eat, but has strangely hypnotic eyes. She feeds on Paul, drinking his blood. He is found dead the next day. Anders argues that she should not be killed, but studied on earth. She gets him the next night. Allan ties her up, but that next night, she uses her heat vision to burn the ropes. She is feeding on Allan, but Laura interrupts her. In a mild scuffle, Laura scratches the alien, who runs screaming. Allan revives and finds the alien dead. She bled to death (green blood). As they land on earth, Laura discovers dozens of pulsating eggs hidden around in the ship. Dr. Farraday wants them saved for study. Fade to black, The End

 

Laungton's Nightmare -- In the original soviet movie, the token westerner, Dr. Laungton, is derided for his worry that first contact with aliens might be dangerous. QoB plays out perfectly as the alternate ending as imagined by Laungton. Ironically, QoB reinforces the soviet writers' assertion that westerners are fearful pessimists. Harrington takes their romantically optimistic vision (MN) and turns it into a grim horror piece.

An ethical question raised during QoB, (a couple times) is whether the guilty party (the alien "queen") should be put to death for her "crimes" or preserved for science to study. Allan (John Saxon) espouses the cowboy justice point of view in wanting her killed for her first crime. Anders and later Dr. Farraday argue she is too valuable to science to kill. Anders even suggests that her survival is so important that he, Laura and Allan should give blood donations to the queen to keep her (a) from getting so hungry she kills them and (b) to keep her alive for study on earth. Science demanded it's "pound of flesh".

 

Foundations of Alien -- QoB is one of the movies cited as a precursor to the 80s blockbuster Alien. Great things seldom come totally out of the blue, but draw upon foundations set by others. It! Terror from Beyond Space ('58) featured the crew trapped in a ship with a killer alien theme. QoB repeats this, but with the feeding-upon-them twist. Of course, the other famous It was The Thing ('51) in which the alien used human blood to nourish its eggs. QoB draws on this too. Night of the Blood Beast ('58) featured an alien which implants embryonic "young" into the body of a living human host. QoB adds the eggs while it repeats the monster-onboard device.

While most of the first half of QoB reuses footage from Mechte Navstrechu, several model scenes (rockets, mostly) are used from Nebo Zovyot. Corman acquired the rights to both, so used them like a clip library. Viewers will note that the moon base "Lunar 7" is also reused from Corman/Harrington's prior re-edit movie Voyage to the Prehistoric Planet ('65).

Unlike most movies in the re-edit sub-genre, There is almost no dubbing. Only one TV announcer is kept and dubbed, as well as one small scene where a scientist talks via a videophone to an assistant. Other than that, all the original Russian actors are cut out Their roles are roughly filled with english-speaking stars. Distant shots of the Russians in their space suits are kept. The Americans are given roughly similar (though cheaper looking) spacesuits. The result was pretty well done, such that someone not familiar with the original would not notice any discontinuity.

QoB is actually a pretty well done mash-up of prior soviet sci-fi footage and new footage. While its story line is entirely new, it is well presented and develops a fair bit of atmosphere.

 

The film stars John Saxon, Basil Rathbone, Judi Meredith (The Night Walker), Dennis Hopper (Night Tide), Florence Marly, Robert Boon, Don Eitner and features a cameo appearance by horror personality Forrest J Ackerman.

 

Poem.

 

Deep-blue dawn sky breaks five days before Christmas.

Steep, snow-laden Castle-Ramparts.

Variegated Holly bush, and trees, are white-tinted.

Roofs shrouded in white by the winter snow-fall.

River runs dark and fast beneath three bridges.

River-bank, bridge and street-lights beam off the gushing water and glow in spears of warm, orange iridescent light.

Ben Wyvis stands imperious 25 miles north-west

under a blanket of snow and cloud.

Majestic conditions for this latitude, at this time of year.

Anticipation pulsates.

Not just Christmas.

A “White Christmas.”

 

The sunset that occurred last night while waiting for the forecasted storms to arrive was nothing short of spectacular. As the sun dipped below the horizon the light hit the back of the rain and created an incredible glowing pink, that almost seemed to pulsate as the suns light hit different parts of the clouds.

It only last for about 2 minutes, but to witness it was amazing! I only wish that I time-lapsed it!

 

Not the strongest composition ever, but I could not go past capturing what I thought to be a special moment.

 

www.jordancantelo.com

Etna's New Southeast Crater returned to eruptive life on 12 May 2015, after almost three months and a half of total quiescence. Its new activity is not very strong, but rather nice and harmless. On the afternoon of 13 May 2015, it almost looked like the activity was dying after little more than a day, but at sunset it resumed with new vigor. I took this photograph at sunset from near the town of Fiumefreddo on Etna's lower northeast flank. It shows pulsating ash emissions from a vent at the summit of the New Southeast Crater, and lava emission from a small eruptive fissure lying low on the northeast (near) side of the cone. Three vents along this fissure produced sporadic bursts of incandescent lava. Later in the evening, the activity increased further, though remaining still on a modest level compared to the huge, violent paroxysms of the years 2011-2013 from the same crater.

This country, India, pulsates with a spectacular mix of people & landscapes. No matter how many lifetimes I give to travelling the length & breadth of this country, there will still be places left unexplored. I have travelled quite a bit and, at times, I start thinking I am perhaps on the verge of unravelling some deeply rooted mysteries that this beautiful country has to offer, but the moment I think that way, India has an uncanny way of showing me how wrong I am! And this is probably one of the reasons why I am so addicted to her.

 

During my travel to the beautiful South India, I kept on driving and soaking in the views, sights & sounds as much as I could. Over 3 days, I explored the beautiful South-India countryside where I saw barely enough vehicles to count on my fingers. The route passed through some lush green fields & deep jungles on both sides and it rained on and off, but when it rained it poured, and it looked like those who were on the road during that time had the time of their lives. It was absolutely amazing. As I was driving by, no matter how rural a landscape, I could see people; villagers picking crops, washing and some even waving back at me as I waved at them. The views were extraordinarily rich, full of colour and filled with life.

Jellyfish, also known sea jellies, are the medusa-phase of certain gelatinous members of the subphylum Medusozoa, which is a major part of the phylum Cnidaria.

 

Jellyfish are mainly free-swimming marine animals with umbrella-shaped bells and trailing tentacles, although a few are anchored to the seabed by stalks rather than being mobile. The bell can pulsate to provide propulsion for highly efficient locomotion. The tentacles are armed with stinging cells and may be used to capture prey and defend against predators. Jellyfish have a complex life cycle. The medusa is normally the sexual phase, which produces planula larvae; these then disperse widely and enter a sedentary polyp phase, before reaching sexual maturity.

 

Jellyfish are found all over the world, from surface waters to the deep sea. Scyphozoans (the "true jellyfish") are exclusively marine, but some hydrozoans with a similar appearance live in freshwater. Large, often colorful, jellyfish are common in coastal zones worldwide. The medusae of most species are fast-growing, and mature within a few months then die soon after breeding, but the polyp stage, attached to the seabed, may be much more long-lived. Jellyfish have been in existence for at least 500 million years, and possibly 700 million years or more, making them the oldest multi-organ animal group.

 

Jellyfish are eaten by humans in certain cultures. They are considered a delicacy in some Asian countries, where species in the Rhizostomeae order are pressed and salted to remove excess water. Australian researchers have described them as a "perfect food": sustainable and protein-rich but relatively low in food energy.

 

They are also used in research, where the green fluorescent protein used by some species to cause bioluminescence has been adapted as a fluorescent marker for genes inserted into other cells or organisms.

 

The stinging cells used by jellyfish to subdue their prey can injure humans. Thousands of swimmers worldwide are stung every year, with effects ranging from mild discomfort to serious injury or even death. When conditions are favourable, jellyfish can form vast swarms, which can be responsible for damage to fishing gear by filling fishing nets, and sometimes clog the cooling systems of power and desalination plants which draw their water from the sea.

  

Names

The name jellyfish, in use since 1796, has traditionally been applied to medusae and all similar animals including the comb jellies (ctenophores, another phylum). The term jellies or sea jellies is more recent, having been introduced by public aquaria in an effort to avoid use of the word "fish" with its modern connotation of an animal with a backbone, though shellfish, cuttlefish and starfish are not vertebrates either. In scientific literature, "jelly" and "jellyfish" have been used interchangeably. Many sources refer to only scyphozoans as "true jellyfish".

 

A group of jellyfish is called a "smack" or a "smuck".

 

Definition

The term jellyfish broadly corresponds to medusae, that is, a life-cycle stage in the Medusozoa. The American evolutionary biologist Paulyn Cartwright gives the following general definition:

 

Typically, medusozoan cnidarians have a pelagic, predatory jellyfish stage in their life cycle; staurozoans are the exceptions [as they are stalked].

 

The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines jellyfish as follows:

 

A free-swimming marine coelenterate that is the sexually reproducing form of a hydrozoan or scyphozoan and has a nearly transparent saucer-shaped body and extensible marginal tentacles studded with stinging cells.

 

Given that jellyfish is a common name, its mapping to biological groups is inexact. Some authorities have called the comb jellies and certain salps jellyfish, though other authorities state that neither of these are jellyfish, which they consider should be limited to certain groups within the medusozoa.

 

The non-medusozoan clades called jellyfish by some but not all authorities (both agreeing and disagreeing citations are given in each case) are indicated with on the following cladogram of the animal kingdom:

 

Jellyfish are not a clade, as they include most of the Medusozoa, barring some of the Hydrozoa. The medusozoan groups included by authorities are indicated on the following phylogenetic tree by the presence of citations. Names of included jellyfish, in English where possible, are shown in boldface; the presence of a named and cited example indicates that at least that species within its group has been called a jellyfish.

 

Taxonomy

The subphylum Medusozoa includes all cnidarians with a medusa stage in their life cycle. The basic cycle is egg, planula larva, polyp, medusa, with the medusa being the sexual stage. The polyp stage is sometimes secondarily lost. The subphylum include the major taxa, Scyphozoa (large jellyfish), Cubozoa (box jellyfish) and Hydrozoa (small jellyfish), and excludes Anthozoa (corals and sea anemones). This suggests that the medusa form evolved after the polyps. Medusozoans have tetramerous symmetry, with parts in fours or multiples of four.

 

The four major classes of medusozoan Cnidaria are:

Scyphozoa are sometimes called true jellyfish, though they are no more truly jellyfish than the others listed here. They have tetra-radial symmetry. Most have tentacles around the outer margin of the bowl-shaped bell, and long, oral arms around the mouth in the center of the subumbrella.

Cubozoa (box jellyfish) have a (rounded) box-shaped bell, and their velarium assists them to swim more quickly. Box jellyfish may be related more closely to scyphozoan jellyfish than either are to the Hydrozoa.

Hydrozoa medusae also have tetra-radial symmetry, nearly always have a velum (diaphragm used in swimming) attached just inside the bell margin, do not have oral arms, but a much smaller central stalk-like structure, the manubrium, with terminal mouth opening, and are distinguished by the absence of cells in the mesoglea. Hydrozoa show great diversity of lifestyle; some species maintain the polyp form for their entire life and do not form medusae at all (such as Hydra, which is hence not considered a jellyfish), and a few are entirely medusal and have no polyp form.

Staurozoa (stalked jellyfish) are characterized by a medusa form that is generally sessile, oriented upside down and with a stalk emerging from the apex of the "calyx" (bell), which attaches to the substrate. At least some Staurozoa also have a polyp form that alternates with the medusoid portion of the life cycle. Until recently, Staurozoa were classified within the Scyphozoa.

There are over 200 species of Scyphozoa, about 50 species of Staurozoa, about 50 species of Cubozoa, and the Hydrozoa includes about 1000–1500 species that produce medusae, but many more species that do not.

 

Fossil history

Since jellyfish have no hard parts, fossils are rare. The oldest unambiguous fossil of a free-swimming medusa is Burgessomedusa from the mid Cambrian Burgess Shale of Canada, which is likely either a stem group of box jellyfish (Cubozoa) or Acraspeda (the clade including Staurozoa, Cubozoa, and Scyphozoa). Other claimed records from the Cambrian of China and Utah in the United States are uncertain, and possibly represent ctenophores instead.

 

Anatomy

The main feature of a true jellyfish is the umbrella-shaped bell. This is a hollow structure consisting of a mass of transparent jelly-like matter known as mesoglea, which forms the hydrostatic skeleton of the animal. 95% or more of the mesogloea consists of water, but it also contains collagen and other fibrous proteins, as well as wandering amoebocytes which can engulf debris and bacteria. The mesogloea is bordered by the epidermis on the outside and the gastrodermis on the inside. The edge of the bell is often divided into rounded lobes known as lappets, which allow the bell to flex. In the gaps or niches between the lappets are dangling rudimentary sense organs known as rhopalia, and the margin of the bell often bears tentacles.

  

Anatomy of a scyphozoan jellyfish

On the underside of the bell is the manubrium, a stalk-like structure hanging down from the centre, with the mouth, which also functions as the anus, at its tip. There are often four oral arms connected to the manubrium, streaming away into the water below. The mouth opens into the gastrovascular cavity, where digestion takes place and nutrients are absorbed. This is subdivided by four thick septa into a central stomach and four gastric pockets. The four pairs of gonads are attached to the septa, and close to them four septal funnels open to the exterior, perhaps supplying good oxygenation to the gonads. Near the free edges of the septa, gastric filaments extend into the gastric cavity; these are armed with nematocysts and enzyme-producing cells and play a role in subduing and digesting the prey. In some scyphozoans, the gastric cavity is joined to radial canals which branch extensively and may join a marginal ring canal. Cilia in these canals circulate the fluid in a regular direction.

  

Discharge mechanism of a nematocyst

The box jellyfish is largely similar in structure. It has a squarish, box-like bell. A short pedalium or stalk hangs from each of the four lower corners. One or more long, slender tentacles are attached to each pedalium. The rim of the bell is folded inwards to form a shelf known as a velarium which restricts the bell's aperture and creates a powerful jet when the bell pulsates, allowing box jellyfish to swim faster than true jellyfish. Hydrozoans are also similar, usually with just four tentacles at the edge of the bell, although many hydrozoans are colonial and may not have a free-living medusal stage. In some species, a non-detachable bud known as a gonophore is formed that contains a gonad but is missing many other medusal features such as tentacles and rhopalia. Stalked jellyfish are attached to a solid surface by a basal disk, and resemble a polyp, the oral end of which has partially developed into a medusa with tentacle-bearing lobes and a central manubrium with four-sided mouth.

 

Most jellyfish do not have specialized systems for osmoregulation, respiration and circulation, and do not have a central nervous system. Nematocysts, which deliver the sting, are located mostly on the tentacles; true jellyfish also have them around the mouth and stomach. Jellyfish do not need a respiratory system because sufficient oxygen diffuses through the epidermis. They have limited control over their movement, but can navigate with the pulsations of the bell-like body; some species are active swimmers most of the time, while others largely drift. The rhopalia contain rudimentary sense organs which are able to detect light, water-borne vibrations, odour and orientation. A loose network of nerves called a "nerve net" is located in the epidermis. Although traditionally thought not to have a central nervous system, nerve net concentration and ganglion-like structures could be considered to constitute one in most species. A jellyfish detects stimuli, and transmits impulses both throughout the nerve net and around a circular nerve ring, to other nerve cells. The rhopalial ganglia contain pacemaker neurones which control swimming rate and direction.

 

In many species of jellyfish, the rhopalia include ocelli, light-sensitive organs able to tell light from dark. These are generally pigment spot ocelli, which have some of their cells pigmented. The rhopalia are suspended on stalks with heavy crystals at one end, acting like gyroscopes to orient the eyes skyward. Certain jellyfish look upward at the mangrove canopy while making a daily migration from mangrove swamps into the open lagoon, where they feed, and back again.

 

Box jellyfish have more advanced vision than the other groups. Each individual has 24 eyes, two of which are capable of seeing colour, and four parallel information processing areas that act in competition, supposedly making them one of the few kinds of animal to have a 360-degree view of its environment.

 

Box jellyfish eye

The study of jellyfish eye evolution is an intermediary to a better understanding of how visual systems evolved on Earth. Jellyfish exhibit immense variation in visual systems ranging from photoreceptive cell patches seen in simple photoreceptive systems to more derived complex eyes seen in box jellyfish. Major topics of jellyfish visual system research (with an emphasis on box jellyfish) include: the evolution of jellyfish vision from simple to complex visual systems), the eye morphology and molecular structures of box jellyfish (including comparisons to vertebrate eyes), and various uses of vision including task-guided behaviors and niche specialization.

 

Evolution

Experimental evidence for photosensitivity and photoreception in cnidarians antecedes the mid 1900s, and a rich body of research has since covered evolution of visual systems in jellyfish. Jellyfish visual systems range from simple photoreceptive cells to complex image-forming eyes. More ancestral visual systems incorporate extraocular vision (vision without eyes) that encompass numerous receptors dedicated to single-function behaviors. More derived visual systems comprise perception that is capable of multiple task-guided behaviors.

 

Although they lack a true brain, cnidarian jellyfish have a "ring" nervous system that plays a significant role in motor and sensory activity. This net of nerves is responsible for muscle contraction and movement and culminates the emergence of photosensitive structures. Across Cnidaria, there is large variation in the systems that underlie photosensitivity. Photosensitive structures range from non-specialized groups of cells, to more "conventional" eyes similar to those of vertebrates. The general evolutionary steps to develop complex vision include (from more ancestral to more derived states): non-directional photoreception, directional photoreception, low-resolution vision, and high-resolution vision. Increased habitat and task complexity has favored the high-resolution visual systems common in derived cnidarians such as box jellyfish.

 

Basal visual systems observed in various cnidarians exhibit photosensitivity representative of a single task or behavior. Extraocular photoreception (a form of non-directional photoreception), is the most basic form of light sensitivity and guides a variety of behaviors among cnidarians. It can function to regulate circadian rhythm (as seen in eyeless hydrozoans) and other light-guided behaviors responsive to the intensity and spectrum of light. Extraocular photoreception can function additionally in positive phototaxis (in planula larvae of hydrozoans), as well as in avoiding harmful amounts of UV radiation via negative phototaxis. Directional photoreception (the ability to perceive direction of incoming light) allows for more complex phototactic responses to light, and likely evolved by means of membrane stacking. The resulting behavioral responses can range from guided spawning events timed by moonlight to shadow responses for potential predator avoidance. Light-guided behaviors are observed in numerous scyphozoans including the common moon jelly, Aurelia aurita, which migrates in response to changes in ambient light and solar position even though they lack proper eyes.

 

The low-resolution visual system of box jellyfish is more derived than directional photoreception, and thus box jellyfish vision represents the most basic form of true vision in which multiple directional photoreceptors combine to create the first imaging and spatial resolution. This is different from the high-resolution vision that is observed in camera or compound eyes of vertebrates and cephalopods that rely on focusing optics. Critically, the visual systems of box jellyfish are responsible for guiding multiple tasks or behaviors in contrast to less derived visual systems in other jellyfish that guide single behavioral functions. These behaviors include phototaxis based on sunlight (positive) or shadows (negative), obstacle avoidance, and control of swim-pulse rate.

 

Box jellyfish possess "proper eyes" (similar to vertebrates) that allow them to inhabit environments that lesser derived medusae cannot. In fact, they are considered the only class in the clade Medusozoa that have behaviors necessitating spatial resolution and genuine vision. However, the lens in their eyes are more functionally similar to cup-eyes exhibited in low-resolution organisms, and have very little to no focusing capability. The lack of the ability to focus is due to the focal length exceeding the distance to the retina, thus generating unfocused images and limiting spatial resolution. The visual system is still sufficient for box jellyfish to produce an image to help with tasks such as object avoidance.

 

Utility as a model organism

Box jellyfish eyes are a visual system that is sophisticated in numerous ways. These intricacies include the considerable variation within the morphology of box jellyfishes' eyes (including their task/behavior specification), and the molecular makeup of their eyes including: photoreceptors, opsins, lenses, and synapses. The comparison of these attributes to more derived visual systems can allow for a further understanding of how the evolution of more derived visual systems may have occurred, and puts into perspective how box jellyfish can play the role as an evolutionary/developmental model for all visual systems.

 

Characteristics

Box jellyfish visual systems are both diverse and complex, comprising multiple photosystems. There is likely considerable variation in visual properties between species of box jellyfish given the significant inter-species morphological and physiological variation. Eyes tend to differ in size and shape, along with number of receptors (including opsins), and physiology across species of box jellyfish.

 

Box jellyfish have a series of intricate lensed eyes that are similar to those of more derived multicellular organisms such as vertebrates. Their 24 eyes fit into four different morphological categories. These categories consist of two large, morphologically different medial eyes (a lower and upper lensed eye) containing spherical lenses, a lateral pair of pigment slit eyes, and a lateral pair of pigment pit eyes. The eyes are situated on rhopalia (small sensory structures) which serve sensory functions of the box jellyfish and arise from the cavities of the exumbrella (the surface of the body) on the side of the bells of the jellyfish. The two large eyes are located on the mid-line of the club and are considered complex because they contain lenses. The four remaining eyes lie laterally on either side of each rhopalia and are considered simple. The simple eyes are observed as small invaginated cups of epithelium that have developed pigmentation. The larger of the complex eyes contains a cellular cornea created by a mono ciliated epithelium, cellular lens, homogenous capsule to the lens, vitreous body with prismatic elements, and a retina of pigmented cells. The smaller of the complex eyes is said to be slightly less complex given that it lacks a capsule but otherwise contains the same structure as the larger eye.

 

Box jellyfish have multiple photosystems that comprise different sets of eyes. Evidence includes immunocytochemical and molecular data that show photopigment differences among the different morphological eye types, and physiological experiments done on box jellyfish to suggest behavioral differences among photosystems. Each individual eye type constitutes photosystems that work collectively to control visually guided behaviors.

 

Box jellyfish eyes primarily use c-PRCs (ciliary photoreceptor cells) similar to that of vertebrate eyes. These cells undergo phototransduction cascades (process of light absorption by photoreceptors) that are triggered by c-opsins. Available opsin sequences suggest that there are two types of opsins possessed by all cnidarians including an ancient phylogenetic opsin, and a sister ciliary opsin to the c-opsins group. Box jellyfish could have both ciliary and cnidops (cnidarian opsins), which is something not previously believed to appear in the same retina. Nevertheless, it is not entirely evident whether cnidarians possess multiple opsins that are capable of having distinctive spectral sensitivities.

 

Comparison with other organisms

Comparative research on genetic and molecular makeup of box jellyfishes' eyes versus more derived eyes seen in vertebrates and cephalopods focuses on: lenses and crystallin composition, synapses, and Pax genes and their implied evidence for shared primordial (ancestral) genes in eye evolution.

 

Box jellyfish eyes are said to be an evolutionary/developmental model of all eyes based on their evolutionary recruitment of crystallins and Pax genes. Research done on box jellyfish including Tripedalia cystophora has suggested that they possess a single Pax gene, PaxB. PaxB functions by binding to crystallin promoters and activating them. PaxB in situ hybridization resulted in PaxB expression in the lens, retina, and statocysts. These results and the rejection of the prior hypothesis that Pax6 was an ancestral Pax gene in eyes has led to the conclusion that PaxB was a primordial gene in eye evolution, and that the eyes of all organisms likely share a common ancestor.

 

The lens structure of box jellyfish appears very similar to those of other organisms, but the crystallins are distinct in both function and appearance. Weak reactions were seen within the sera and there were very weak sequence similarities within the crystallins among vertebrate and invertebrate lenses. This is likely due to differences in lower molecular weight proteins and the subsequent lack of immunological reactions with antisera that other organisms' lenses exhibit.

 

All four of the visual systems of box jellyfish species investigated with detail (Carybdea marsupialis, Chiropsalmus quadrumanus, Tamoya haplonema and Tripedalia cystophora) have invaginated synapses, but only in the upper and lower lensed eyes. Different densities were found between the upper and lower lenses, and between species. Four types of chemical synapses have been discovered within the rhopalia which could help in understanding neural organization including: clear unidirectional, dense-core unidirectional, clear bidirectional, and clear and dense-core bidirectional. The synapses of the lensed eyes could be useful as markers to learn more about the neural circuit in box jellyfish retinal areas.

 

Evolution as a response to natural stimuli

The primary adaptive responses to environmental variation observed in box jellyfish eyes include pupillary constriction speeds in response to light environments, as well as photoreceptor tuning and lens adaptations to better respond to shifts between light environments and darkness. Interestingly, some box jellyfish species' eyes appear to have evolved more focused vision in response to their habitat.

 

Pupillary contraction appears to have evolved in response to variation in the light environment across ecological niches across three species of box jellyfish (Chironex fleckeri, Chiropsella bronzie, and Carukia barnesi). Behavioral studies suggest that faster pupil contraction rates allow for greater object avoidance, and in fact, species with more complex habitats exhibit faster rates. Ch. bronzie inhabit shallow beach fronts that have low visibility and very few obstacles, thus, faster pupil contraction in response to objects in their environment is not important. Ca. barnesi and Ch. fleckeri are found in more three-dimensionally complex environments like mangroves with an abundance of natural obstacles, where faster pupil contraction is more adaptive. Behavioral studies support the idea that faster pupillary contraction rates assist with obstacle avoidance as well as depth adjustments in response to differing light intensities.

 

Light/dark adaptation via pupillary light reflexes is an additional form of an evolutionary response to the light environment. This relates to the pupil's response to shifts between light intensity (generally from sunlight to darkness). In the process of light/dark adaptation, the upper and lower lens eyes of different box jellyfish species vary in specific function. The lower lens-eyes contain pigmented photoreceptors and long pigment cells with dark pigments that migrate on light/dark adaptation, while the upper-lens eyes play a concentrated role in light direction and phototaxis given that they face upward towards the water surface (towards the sun or moon). The upper lens of Ch. bronzie does not exhibit any considerable optical power while Tr. cystophora (a box jellyfish species that tends to live in mangroves) does. The ability to use light to visually guide behavior is not of as much importance to Ch. bronzie as it is to species in more obstacle-filled environments. Differences in visually guided behavior serve as evidence that species that share the same number and structure of eyes can exhibit differences in how they control behavior.

 

Largest and smallest

Jellyfish range from about one millimeter in bell height and diameter, to nearly 2 metres (6+1⁄2 ft) in bell height and diameter; the tentacles and mouth parts usually extend beyond this bell dimension.

 

The smallest jellyfish are the peculiar creeping jellyfish in the genera Staurocladia and Eleutheria, which have bell disks from 0.5 millimetres (1⁄32 in) to a few millimeters in diameter, with short tentacles that extend out beyond this, which these jellyfish use to move across the surface of seaweed or the bottoms of rocky pools; many of these tiny creeping jellyfish cannot be seen in the field without a hand lens or microscope. They can reproduce asexually by fission (splitting in half). Other very small jellyfish, which have bells about one millimeter, are the hydromedusae of many species that have just been released from their parent polyps; some of these live only a few minutes before shedding their gametes in the plankton and then dying, while others will grow in the plankton for weeks or months. The hydromedusae Cladonema radiatum and Cladonema californicum are also very small, living for months, yet never growing beyond a few mm in bell height and diameter.

 

The lion's mane jellyfish, Cyanea capillata, was long-cited as the largest jellyfish, and arguably the longest animal in the world, with fine, thread-like tentacles that may extend up to 36.5 m (119 ft 9 in) long (though most are nowhere near that large). They have a moderately painful, but rarely fatal, sting. The increasingly common giant Nomura's jellyfish, Nemopilema nomurai, found in some, but not all years in the waters of Japan, Korea and China in summer and autumn is another candidate for "largest jellyfish", in terms of diameter and weight, since the largest Nomura's jellyfish in late autumn can reach 2 m (6 ft 7 in) in bell (body) diameter and about 200 kg (440 lb) in weight, with average specimens frequently reaching 0.9 m (2 ft 11 in) in bell diameter and about 150 kg (330 lb) in weight. The large bell mass of the giant Nomura's jellyfish can dwarf a diver and is nearly always much greater than the Lion's Mane, whose bell diameter can reach 1 m (3 ft 3 in).

 

The rarely encountered deep-sea jellyfish Stygiomedusa gigantea is another candidate for "largest jellyfish", with its thick, massive bell up to 100 cm (3 ft 3 in) wide, and four thick, "strap-like" oral arms extending up to 6 m (19+1⁄2 ft) in length, very different from the typical fine, threadlike tentacles that rim the umbrella of more-typical-looking jellyfish, including the Lion's Mane.

 

Desmonema glaciale, which lives in the Antarctic region, can reach a very large size (several meters). Purple-striped jelly (Chrysaora colorata) can also be extremely long (up to 15 feet).

 

Life history and behavior

Life cycle

Jellyfish have a complex life cycle which includes both sexual and asexual phases, with the medusa being the sexual stage in most instances. Sperm fertilize eggs, which develop into larval planulae, become polyps, bud into ephyrae and then transform into adult medusae. In some species certain stages may be skipped.

 

Upon reaching adult size, jellyfish spawn regularly if there is a sufficient supply of food. In most species, spawning is controlled by light, with all individuals spawning at about the same time of day; in many instances this is at dawn or dusk. Jellyfish are usually either male or female (with occasional hermaphrodites). In most cases, adults release sperm and eggs into the surrounding water, where the unprotected eggs are fertilized and develop into larvae. In a few species, the sperm swim into the female's mouth, fertilizing the eggs within her body, where they remain during early development stages. In moon jellies, the eggs lodge in pits on the oral arms, which form a temporary brood chamber for the developing planula larvae.

 

The planula is a small larva covered with cilia. When sufficiently developed, it settles onto a firm surface and develops into a polyp. The polyp generally consists of a small stalk topped by a mouth that is ringed by upward-facing tentacles. The polyps resemble those of closely related anthozoans, such as sea anemones and corals. The jellyfish polyp may be sessile, living on the bottom, boat hulls or other substrates, or it may be free-floating or attached to tiny bits of free-living plankton or rarely, fish or other invertebrates. Polyps may be solitary or colonial. Most polyps are only millimetres in diameter and feed continuously. The polyp stage may last for years.

 

After an interval and stimulated by seasonal or hormonal changes, the polyp may begin reproducing asexually by budding and, in the Scyphozoa, is called a segmenting polyp, or a scyphistoma. Budding produces more scyphistomae and also ephyrae. Budding sites vary by species; from the tentacle bulbs, the manubrium (above the mouth), or the gonads of hydromedusae. In a process known as strobilation, the polyp's tentacles are reabsorbed and the body starts to narrow, forming transverse constrictions, in several places near the upper extremity of the polyp. These deepen as the constriction sites migrate down the body, and separate segments known as ephyra detach. These are free-swimming precursors of the adult medusa stage, which is the life stage that is typically identified as a jellyfish. The ephyrae, usually only a millimeter or two across initially, swim away from the polyp and grow. Limnomedusae polyps can asexually produce a creeping frustule larval form, which crawls away before developing into another polyp. A few species can produce new medusae by budding directly from the medusan stage. Some hydromedusae reproduce by fission.

 

Lifespan

Little is known of the life histories of many jellyfish as the places on the seabed where the benthic forms of those species live have not been found. However, an asexually reproducing strobila form can sometimes live for several years, producing new medusae (ephyra larvae) each year.

 

An unusual species, Turritopsis dohrnii, formerly classified as Turritopsis nutricula, might be effectively immortal because of its ability under certain circumstances to transform from medusa back to the polyp stage, thereby escaping the death that typically awaits medusae post-reproduction if they have not otherwise been eaten by some other organism. So far this reversal has been observed only in the laboratory.

 

Locomotion

Jellyfish locomotion is highly efficient. Muscles in the jellylike bell contract, setting up a start vortex and propelling the animal. When the contraction ends, the bell recoils elastically, creating a stop vortex with no extra energy input.

Using the moon jelly Aurelia aurita as an example, jellyfish have been shown to be the most energy-efficient swimmers of all animals. They move through the water by radially expanding and contracting their bell-shaped bodies to push water behind them. They pause between the contraction and expansion phases to create two vortex rings. Muscles are used for the contraction of the body, which creates the first vortex and pushes the animal forward, but the mesoglea is so elastic that the expansion is powered exclusively by relaxing the bell, which releases the energy stored from the contraction. Meanwhile, the second vortex ring starts to spin faster, sucking water into the bell and pushing against the centre of the body, giving a secondary and "free" boost forward. The mechanism, called passive energy recapture, only works in relatively small jellyfish moving at low speeds, allowing the animal to travel 30 percent farther on each swimming cycle. Jellyfish achieved a 48 percent lower cost of transport (food and oxygen intake versus energy spent in movement) than other animals in similar studies. One reason for this is that most of the gelatinous tissue of the bell is inactive, using no energy during swimming.

 

Ecology

Diet

Jellyfish are, like other cnidarians, generally carnivorous (or parasitic), feeding on planktonic organisms, crustaceans, small fish, fish eggs and larvae, and other jellyfish, ingesting food and voiding undigested waste through the mouth. They hunt passively using their tentacles as drift lines, or sink through the water with their tentacles spread widely; the tentacles, which contain nematocysts to stun or kill the prey, may then flex to help bring it to the mouth. Their swimming technique also helps them to capture prey; when their bell expands it sucks in water which brings more potential prey within reach of the tentacles.

 

A few species such as Aglaura hemistoma are omnivorous, feeding on microplankton which is a mixture of zooplankton and phytoplankton (microscopic plants) such as dinoflagellates. Others harbour mutualistic algae (Zooxanthellae) in their tissues; the spotted jellyfish (Mastigias papua) is typical of these, deriving part of its nutrition from the products of photosynthesis, and part from captured zooplankton. The upside-down jellyfish (Cassiopea andromeda) also has a symbiotic relationship with microalgae, but captures tiny animals to supplement their diet. This is done by releasing tiny balls of living cells composed of mesoglea. These use cilia to drive them through water and stinging cells which stun the prey. The blobs also seems to have digestive capabilities.

 

Predation

Other species of jellyfish are among the most common and important jellyfish predators. Sea anemones may eat jellyfish that drift into their range. Other predators include tunas, sharks, swordfish, sea turtles and penguins. Jellyfish washed up on the beach are consumed by foxes, other terrestrial mammals and birds. In general however, few animals prey on jellyfish; they can broadly be considered to be top predators in the food chain. Once jellyfish have become dominant in an ecosystem, for example through overfishing which removes predators of jellyfish larvae, there may be no obvious way for the previous balance to be restored: they eat fish eggs and juvenile fish, and compete with fish for food, preventing fish stocks from recovering.

 

Symbiosis

Some small fish are immune to the stings of the jellyfish and live among the tentacles, serving as bait in a fish trap; they are safe from potential predators and are able to share the fish caught by the jellyfish. The cannonball jellyfish has a symbiotic relationship with ten different species of fish, and with the longnose spider crab, which lives inside the bell, sharing the jellyfish's food and nibbling its tissues.

 

Main article: Jellyfish bloom

Jellyfish form large masses or blooms in certain environmental conditions of ocean currents, nutrients, sunshine, temperature, season, prey availability, reduced predation and oxygen concentration. Currents collect jellyfish together, especially in years with unusually high populations. Jellyfish can detect marine currents and swim against the current to congregate in blooms. Jellyfish are better able to survive in nutrient-rich, oxygen-poor water than competitors, and thus can feast on plankton without competition. Jellyfish may also benefit from saltier waters, as saltier waters contain more iodine, which is necessary for polyps to turn into jellyfish. Rising sea temperatures caused by climate change may also contribute to jellyfish blooms, because many species of jellyfish are able to survive in warmer waters. Increased nutrients from agricultural or urban runoff with nutrients including nitrogen and phosphorus compounds increase the growth of phytoplankton, causing eutrophication and algal blooms. When the phytoplankton die, they may create dead zones, so-called because they are hypoxic (low in oxygen). This in turn kills fish and other animals, but not jellyfish, allowing them to bloom. Jellyfish populations may be expanding globally as a result of land runoff and overfishing of their natural predators. Jellyfish are well placed to benefit from disturbance of marine ecosystems. They reproduce rapidly; they prey upon many species, while few species prey on them; and they feed via touch rather than visually, so they can feed effectively at night and in turbid waters. It may be difficult for fish stocks to re-establish themselves in marine ecosystems once they have become dominated by jellyfish, because jellyfish feed on plankton, which includes fish eggs and larvae.

 

As suspected at the turn of this century, jellyfish blooms are increasing in frequency. Between 2013 and 2020 the Mediterranean Science Commission monitored on a weekly basis the frequency of such outbreaks in coastal waters from Morocco to the Black Sea, revealing a relatively high frequency of these blooms nearly all year round, with peaks observed from March to July and often again in the autumn. The blooms are caused by different jellyfish species, depending on their localisation within the Basin: one observes a clear dominance of Pelagia noctiluca and Velella velella outbreaks in the western Mediterranean, of Rhizostoma pulmo and Rhopilema nomadica outbreaks in the eastern Mediterranean, and of Aurelia aurita and Mnemiopsis leidyi outbreaks in the Black Sea.

 

Some jellyfish populations that have shown clear increases in the past few decades are invasive species, newly arrived from other habitats: examples include the Black Sea, Caspian Sea, Baltic Sea, central and eastern Mediterranean, Hawaii, and tropical and subtropical parts of the West Atlantic (including the Caribbean, Gulf of Mexico and Brazil).

 

Jellyfish blooms can have significant impact on community structure. Some carnivorous jellyfish species prey on zooplankton while others graze on primary producers. Reductions in zooplankton and ichthyoplankton due to a jellyfish bloom can ripple through the trophic levels. High-density jellyfish populations can outcompete other predators and reduce fish recruitment. Increased grazing on primary producers by jellyfish can also interrupt energy transfer to higher trophic levels.

 

During blooms, jellyfish significantly alter the nutrient availability in their environment. Blooms require large amounts of available organic nutrients in the water column to grow, limiting availability for other organisms. Some jellyfish have a symbiotic relationship with single-celled dinoflagellates, allowing them to assimilate inorganic carbon, phosphorus, and nitrogen creating competition for phytoplankton. Their large biomass makes them an important source of dissolved and particulate organic matter for microbial communities through excretion, mucus production, and decomposition. The microbes break down the organic matter into inorganic ammonium and phosphate. However, the low carbon availability shifts the process from production to respiration creating low oxygen areas making the dissolved inorganic nitrogen and phosphorus largely unavailable for primary production.

 

These blooms have very real impacts on industries. Jellyfish can outcompete fish by utilizing open niches in over-fished fisheries. Catch of jellyfish can strain fishing gear and lead to expenses relating to damaged gear. Power plants have been shut down due to jellyfish blocking the flow of cooling water. Blooms have also been harmful for tourism, causing a rise in stings and sometimes the closure of beaches.

 

Jellyfish form a component of jelly-falls, events where gelatinous zooplankton fall to the seafloor, providing food for the benthic organisms there. In temperate and subpolar regions, jelly-falls usually follow immediately after a bloom.

 

Habitats

Most jellyfish are marine animals, although a few hydromedusae inhabit freshwater. The best known freshwater example is the cosmopolitan hydrozoan jellyfish, Craspedacusta sowerbii. It is less than an inch (2.5 cm) in diameter, colorless and does not sting. Some jellyfish populations have become restricted to coastal saltwater lakes, such as Jellyfish Lake in Palau. Jellyfish Lake is a marine lake where millions of golden jellyfish (Mastigias spp.) migrate horizontally across the lake daily.

 

Although most jellyfish live well off the ocean floor and form part of the plankton, a few species are closely associated with the bottom for much of their lives and can be considered benthic. The upside-down jellyfish in the genus Cassiopea typically lie on the bottom of shallow lagoons where they sometimes pulsate gently with their umbrella top facing down. Even some deep-sea species of hydromedusae and scyphomedusae are usually collected on or near the bottom. All of the stauromedusae are found attached to either seaweed or rocky or other firm material on the bottom.

 

Some species explicitly adapt to tidal flux. In Roscoe Bay, jellyfish ride the current at ebb tide until they hit a gravel bar, and then descend below the current. They remain in still waters until the tide rises, ascending and allowing it to sweep them back into the bay. They also actively avoid fresh water from mountain snowmelt, diving until they find enough salt.

  

Parasites

Jellyfish are hosts to a wide variety of parasitic organisms. They act as intermediate hosts of endoparasitic helminths, with the infection being transferred to the definitive host fish after predation. Some digenean trematodes, especially species in the family Lepocreadiidae, use jellyfish as their second intermediate hosts. Fish become infected by the trematodes when they feed on infected jellyfish.

 

Relation to humans

Jellyfish have long been eaten in some parts of the world. Fisheries have begun harvesting the American cannonball jellyfish, Stomolophus meleagris, along the southern Atlantic coast of the United States and in the Gulf of Mexico for export to Asia.

 

Jellyfish are also harvested for their collagen, which is being investigated for use in a variety of applications including the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis.

 

Aquaculture and fisheries of other species often suffer severe losses – and so losses of productivity – due to jellyfish.

 

Products

Main article: Jellyfish as food

In some countries, including China, Japan, and Korea, jellyfish are a delicacy. The jellyfish is dried to prevent spoiling. Only some 12 species of scyphozoan jellyfish belonging to the order Rhizostomeae are harvested for food, mostly in southeast Asia. Rhizostomes, especially Rhopilema esculentum in China (海蜇 hǎizhé, 'sea stingers') and Stomolophus meleagris (cannonball jellyfish) in the United States, are favored because of their larger and more rigid bodies and because their toxins are harmless to humans.

 

Traditional processing methods, carried out by a jellyfish master, involve a 20- to 40-day multi-phase procedure in which, after removing the gonads and mucous membranes, the umbrella and oral arms are treated with a mixture of table salt and alum, and compressed. Processing makes the jellyfish drier and more acidic, producing a crisp texture. Jellyfish prepared this way retain 7–10% of their original weight, and the processed product consists of approximately 94% water and 6% protein. Freshly processed jellyfish has a white, creamy color and turns yellow or brown during prolonged storage.

 

In China, processed jellyfish are desalted by soaking in water overnight and eaten cooked or raw. The dish is often served shredded with a dressing of oil, soy sauce, vinegar and sugar, or as a salad with vegetables. In Japan, cured jellyfish are rinsed, cut into strips and served with vinegar as an appetizer. Desalted, ready-to-eat products are also available.

 

Biotechnology

The hydromedusa Aequorea victoria was the source of green fluorescent protein, studied for its role in bioluminescence and later for use as a marker in genetic engineering.

Pliny the Elder reported in his Natural History that the slime of the jellyfish "Pulmo marinus" produced light when rubbed on a walking stick.

 

In 1961, Osamu Shimomura extracted green fluorescent protein (GFP) and another bioluminescent protein, called aequorin, from the large and abundant hydromedusa Aequorea victoria, while studying photoproteins that cause bioluminescence in this species. Three decades later, Douglas Prasher sequenced and cloned the gene for GFP. Martin Chalfie figured out how to use GFP as a fluorescent marker of genes inserted into other cells or organisms. Roger Tsien later chemically manipulated GFP to produce other fluorescent colors to use as markers. In 2008, Shimomura, Chalfie and Tsien won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry for their work with GFP. Man-made GFP became widely used as a fluorescent tag to show which cells or tissues express specific genes. The genetic engineering technique fuses the gene of interest to the GFP gene. The fused DNA is then put into a cell, to generate either a cell line or (via IVF techniques) an entire animal bearing the gene. In the cell or animal, the artificial gene turns on in the same tissues and the same time as the normal gene, making a fusion of the normal protein with GFP attached to the end, illuminating the animal or cell reveals what tissues express that protein—or at what stage of development. The fluorescence shows where the gene is expressed.

 

Aquarium display

Jellyfish are displayed in many public aquariums. Often the tank's background is blue and the animals are illuminated by side light, increasing the contrast between the animal and the background. In natural conditions, many jellies are so transparent that they are nearly invisible. Jellyfish are not adapted to closed spaces. They depend on currents to transport them from place to place. Professional exhibits as in the Monterey Bay Aquarium feature precise water flows, typically in circular tanks to avoid trapping specimens in corners. The outflow is spread out over a large surface area and the inflow enters as a sheet of water in front of the outflow, so the jellyfish do not get sucked into it. As of 2009, jellyfish were becoming popular in home aquariums, where they require similar equipment.

 

Stings

Jellyfish are armed with nematocysts, a type of specialized stinging cell. Contact with a jellyfish tentacle can trigger millions of nematocysts to pierce the skin and inject venom, but only some species' venom causes an adverse reaction in humans. In a study published in Communications Biology, researchers found a jellyfish species called Cassiopea xamachana which when triggered will release tiny balls of cells that swim around the jellyfish stinging everything in their path. Researchers described these as "self-propelling microscopic grenades" and named them cassiosomes.

 

The effects of stings range from mild discomfort to extreme pain and death. Most jellyfish stings are not deadly, but stings of some box jellyfish (Irukandji jellyfish), such as the sea wasp, can be deadly. Stings may cause anaphylaxis (a form of shock), which can be fatal. Jellyfish kill 20 to 40 people a year in the Philippines alone. In 2006 the Spanish Red Cross treated 19,000 stung swimmers along the Costa Brava.

 

Vinegar (3–10% aqueous acetic acid) may help with box jellyfish stings but not the stings of the Portuguese man o' war. Clearing the area of jelly and tentacles reduces nematocyst firing. Scraping the affected skin, such as with the edge of a credit card, may remove remaining nematocysts. Once the skin has been cleaned of nematocysts, hydrocortisone cream applied locally reduces pain and inflammation. Antihistamines may help to control itching. Immunobased antivenins are used for serious box jellyfish stings.

 

In Elba Island and Corsica dittrichia viscosa is now used by residents and tourists to heal stings from jellyfish, bees and wasps pressing fresh leaves on the skin with quick results.

 

Mechanical issues

Jellyfish in large quantities can fill and split fishing nets and crush captured fish. They can clog cooling equipment, having disabled power stations in several countries; jellyfish caused a cascading blackout in the Philippines in 1999, as well as damaging the Diablo Canyon Power Plant in California in 2008. They can also stop desalination plants and ships' engines.

Me in a Rabbit Head

 

Photo By: Cate Infinity

 

Step into the Lynchian wonderland of the "Rabbits" event at Lynchland, where Myrdin Sommer, the wizard of interior recreation, meticulously resurrected the living room from David Lynch's eerie masterpiece. Picture this: you find yourself sinking into a magenta retro leather sofa, a portal to an alternate reality where the bizarre is the norm. Myrdin Sommer's attention to detail didn't stop at furniture; she orchestrated a symphony of Lights FX that transformed the venue into a dreamscape. It was as if the very essence of Lynch's uncanny vision had materialized, with every flicker and glow sending shivers down your spine. The auditory voyage was equally enchanting, courtesy of the musical conjurers – DJ Frank Atisso, DJ Khaos, DJ Seventh, and DJ Snowkat. Their sets weren't just music; they were spells, weaving an ethereal tapestry that transported the audience to dimensions unknown. The energy pulsating through the room was nothing short of electrifying, making it impossible to resist the gravitational pull of the dance floor. Now, let's address the Rabbitea head, the controversial mandatory accessory that added a peculiar twist to the night. Brilliant and refreshing, it became a symbol of the event's commitment to embracing the strange. Sporting the Rabbitea head wasn't just a choice; it was a statement, a plunge into the surrealistic depths of Lynch's imagination. In the end, the Rabbits event was an unmitigated success. It wasn't merely a gathering; it was an immersive journey into the quirky universe of David Lynch. Lynchland, under Myrdin Sommer's enchantment, became a haven for those seeking an escape from the mundane. If you missed it, you missed stepping through the looking glass into a night where reality and surrealism waltzed hand in hand. An eccentric triumph, indeed! - Cate Infinity

 

***More***

 

Visit the nostalgia and get your free "Rabbits" head by Jay Pockets here: maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Pearl%20Coast/188/33/3053

 

Presented to you by Infinite Productions and The Freakout Group

 

***NOTE***

 

"Welcome to LynchLand, where the magic never sleeps! Our enchanting locations are open 24/7, inviting everyone to indulge in their splendor. Feel free to meander through picturesque landscapes, capturing moments with your camera, or discovering the perfect nook to relax, embrace, dance, or simply bask in the soothing and eccentric melodies of our land radio. For an even more unforgettable experience, I extend a warm invitation to stay in our exquisitely adorned cabins and motel. Unleash laughter and camaraderie with friends in our vibrant Fun&Games Hall. Let's unite to infuse life and boundless joy into the heart of LynchLand!"

 

“I don’t think that people accept the fact that life doesn’t make sense. I think it makes people terribly uncomfortable.”

― David Lynch

Not kidding; the damn thing moves! It pulsates with your throbbing temples. Not for the feint....(fade to black)

 

Larry Beat recommends the following soundtrack. I affirm the recommendation because the music hastens the nausea caused by the confrontation of your conscious being with the inanimate thing, the image. If you try to ignore your nausea, you are in a state of bad faith of the type mentioned by Jean Paul Sarte: www.youtube.com/watch?v=UrOK98q_ILA

A free Spirit

Mirit Ben-Nun was born in Beer- Sheva in 1966. Over the years she has presented in solo exhibitions and participated in group exhibitions in Israel and around the world.

When she was six, her father was killed in a car accident, leaving behind his wife and two daughters, Mirit and Dana.

Ben-Nun had difficulty concentrating on studies, which caused behavioral problems, and at the age of fourteen she dropped out of the education system and went to work. The colors and writing tools gave her a quiet private space and her own way of surviving. Creativity eased her tumultuous soul.

Until her early 30’s she worked as a telemarketer and for the next fourteen years she doodled and doodled. While talking to customers she filled thousands of pages with lines and dots that resembled hundreds of compressed eggs and seeds which she threw away.

In a large portion of each page she would pick a random word and would write it down over and over while concentrating on her hand movements.

Even then she noticed the rising of her need and obsession as she practiced the endless doodling and writing.

Ben-Nun testifies that the lack of artistic training to paint "correctly" freed her from adhering to the rules of painting and allowed her freedom and spirit of rebellion.

In 1998, she received a bunch of canvases and acrylic paints as a gift from her sister.

She brought the acrylic into her world of lines and dots; she went back to painting women and masks that appeared in her childhood paintings and flooded them with lines and dots without separating body and background.

This is also the moment when Ben-Nun began to refer to herself as a painter.

and when art became the center of her life.

The intense colors in Ben-Nun's paintings sweep the viewer into a sensual experience. The viewer traces the surge of dots and lines formed in packed layers of paint. The movement leads to a kind of female-male hormonal dance within the human body and to a communion with an artistic experience of instinct, passion, conceiving and birth.

Contributing to this experience is the wealth of characteristics reminiscent of tribal art. Ben-Nun merges these with a humorous and kicking contemporary Western Pop art. In the language of unique art, Ben-Nun creates an unconventional conversation between past and present cultures.

It is evident that the paintings emerge from a regenerated need and desire, a force that erupts from her soul, a subconscious survival instinct to which she cannot or does not want to resist.

Ben-Nun places women at the center stage where they are her work focus. The paintings obsessively deal with the existential experience of being a woman in the world. A few of the women's paintings carry feminist slogans stressing the women's struggle in society, a critique for being held to perfection and being required to perform as a model of "beauty, purity and motherhood". Feminism pulsates in Ben-Nun's psyche, through her diverse female images and the play between beauty and unsightliness; Ben-Nun assimilates the consciousness of feminine possibility, of not being "perfect", of being powerful, influential, and outside social norms. This mandates a departure from acceptable limitations where Ben-Nun creates a new world of free spirit for women.

Mirit Ben-Nun is a mother of three and the grandmother of three grandchildren.

 

Mirela Tal

 

It's been a while since I really went out and did a star trail. This one's a relatively short (10 minute-ish) trail for me, but think it's just right for the scene, too much longer and I've totally blown out the sky thanks to the light pollution around.

 

The horizontal streak you can faintly see above the mountains is a pesky airplane :(

 

Listen

 

Please view large, on black

  

Abraham "Bram" Stoker (8 November 1847 – 20 April 1912) was an Irish author, best known today for his 1897 Gothic novel, Dracula. During his lifetime, he was better known as the personal assistant of actor Henry Irving and business manager of the Lyceum Theatre in London, which Irving owned.

 

Arise! Awake! A mist descends upon the city streets. Sounds pulsate beneath our feet. The sky shudders as Macnas spirits are unleashed by Twilight.

 

Come out and celebrate with Danu, Goddess of the Divine and Dark: brutal and beautiful, warrior and mother, hallowed and holy, she protects and provokes, takes flight and goes underground.

 

Mummers and drummers follow and seek. Demons and angels love and loathe, the dead dance and the living transform. Men become gods, fools become Kings, souls are sanctified, reptiles are rarefied and the city streets transform as the journey unfolds.

 

Bram Stoker Festival are delighted to once again welcome Macnas to Dublin for a city-wide procession to launch the city into Samhain [Halloween].

I make no apologies for what most would consider a negative review of eclosion. It was my opinion that the effort fell short of its potential, even though it sold deliriously worldwide. It is only mentioned here because this new album by The Dolls, in comparison, is a slaughterhouse five on a scale of four! From the moment the stylus hits the first grooves on the vinyl, the barn does not stop burning, with the blazing inferno raging higher and nastier, hell raising and lambasting everything and all in its path. By the time the soothing tones of their dreamy remake of Hendrix’s classic reach your ears, you lie breathless and dazed.

 

After a media campaign that saw walls of art erected in various platforms, i.e., social media, outdoor advertising and even a thirty-second Super Bowl LIII commercial, the first single, wAll st. was released worldwide (only twelve hours before the entire album). Katrina’s anguished cry, ”You buy and sell human souls, then lunch at eleven Madison!” is only matched with intensity by Tatuanna’s defiant stance ”I ain’t got time to cut it down!”. As has been until now, they do not shy away from hard subjects; mental disease, religion, gun violence. Classes that Kill being a prime example: ”No talking! No talking!”. From one song to the next, the lyrics enthrall and the music pulsates. The production is topnotch and the cast of musicians enlisted are reflective of the quality of this recording. Of note: Hallmark Heathens (a Valentine’s Day massacre, btw) features the Japanese performer t.yu she. ‘She’ met The Dolls during the recording of Atlas. Enamoured with them, she has stylized herself in their footsteps and in turn, has blossomed into a huge success in her home country.

 

As a famous man once said, you won’t feel ”…like the good Lord gypped” you if you go to your local music emporium and purchase this fourth release of t.A. dOlls. t.yu… it will be worth every shekel you fork out. And whilst your there, get yourself a good sarsaparilla… you’ll need something to cool the fire! – J.T. Scotsman

 

The Odic force is maintained by small spirits of the fire element which place this force prismatically within crystals to assist in the telepathic communication between all the organizational stacks of nature spirits. The radiance of the crystals create a short wave psychometric receiver which emits pulsating beams.

I once found a blue tentacled thing

tumbled onto the sand by the turning tide,

half evicted from its spiked translucent shell.

I picked it up, but its body’s weight,

too much in air, broke it in two.

Its front end now lay pulsating

like a tiny heart. I took away its shell

leaving the broken creature

to be shredded by gulls. After all

it was only a mollusc.

 

Its close together yellow disc eyes

had looked up at me as I robbed it.

I missing my chance to scoop it up

and watch it swim as countless

millions had swum unknown

to a conscious eye.

 

It had lived the weightless

water-fingering life of a nautilus,

an ammonite, a creature

delicate and terrible outclassed

in this evolving world.

The immensity of its history

is cast in mountains.

 

April, 2016

 

©Brightasafig

Tour of Europe 04 2016

Day 12

The Fishmarket (Vismarkt) of Bruges is also a special place. Yes, it is a market square, built in the beginning of the 19th century, they still do sell fish there on one corner in the mornings from Tuesday till Saturday. But for several years artists, craftsmen and different market people sell their or others’ creations here as well. It is a kind of a market community, organism living its own life, you can feel it pulsate, if you go there.

In 1821 came the covered place of sale, to the design of city architect Jan-Robert Calloigne . The result is a portico with Tuscan columns 126 enclosing a rectangular open courtyard. In 1852, the original wooden tables sales were replaced by banks selling bricks.

These are still present. Around the square you find fish shops and inns.

I wish you a day full of beauty and thank you for your visit, Magda, (*_*)

For more of my other work visit here: www.indigo2photography.com

Please do not use this image on websites, blogs or any other media without my explicit permission. © All rights reserved

 

One of the things I love about Paris is how you can take random turns on any of the radial streets and avenues and find yourself facing one of the many beautiful historic landmarks which the city of lights is famous for. Late at night the streets can seem almost abandoned but the city is very much alive. There is no sense of trepidation or concern even walking down streets and alleys with no one seemingly around. The lights and shadows merge into an intoxicating blend of taboo desires to be openly wantonly embraced by lovers without fear or shame, in a society that celebrates every twist and turn of passionate lovers and forbidden pleasures, of pure love and unbridled lust, of bright ideas and dark desires, of experiencing life to the fullest meting out little deaths to bold beloveds and strong submissives. The strong tower throbbing in its golden glow penetrating the dark night releasing short intense pulsating flashes of light. Yes, my beloved, this too is a spot where we shall consummate the night and leave our mark. Right here. Right now. Are you ready? Then, come, my love, in the open shadows of the city of lights. ❤️💙

 

© 2018 IMRAN™

 

#travelphotography #travelblogger #travelogue #lifestyle #lifestyleblogger #blessings #blessed # #Paris #France #erotica #prose #literature #lust #love #romance

This “tree” sculpture stands on a roundabout just west of Canary Wharf, and pulsates slowly, confusing unwary drivers.

 

[Update - this is my "Most Views" submission for Cream of the Crop.]

 

Where is this photograph taken from?

Timelapse of a Phalaenopsis (Moth) Orchid.

 

One frame at 25fps is equivalent to One shot a minute for just under 24 hours.

(i.e. one second = 25 minutes).

 

One battery of the 40D was able to last just over 12 hours on a full charge, which was quite good! Mounting the camera backwards on my tripod allowed me to (very carefully) change the battery during the timelapse period. All images were shot as large JPEG, rather than RAW, to ensure I could get them (1435 images) on a single 8Gb card. Using a desk lamp I was able to continue shoot throughout the night for the whole period.

 

In the same time the Earth rotated once, travelling 1,608,000 miles through the solar system. 357,055 people were born. The Athabasca glacier in Canada moved about 2-3cm. A humming bird beat its wings about 2,160,000 times and there were 50 Million Tweets on Twitter. The Universe barely even registered a change.

 

The music was created using 'Pulsate' by Andre Michelle, which is an mathematical, abstract, visual music creation tool - highly recommended for a play...!!

A friend commented on the eroticness of pics like this - from 40 (or more) years ago - and how the nature of the pics back then were sexual because they were not calculated , but seem innocent and unplanned. Today everyting is shoved right in your face, "XXX" & pulsating and erect; those secretly desired private views calculated exposure to produce immediate arousal. I guess they all have their place and are desired by different individuals for different purposes. What do you think? What makes a picture erotic & sexy? Care to comment?

Em's eyes have been really low-res for a loooong time and I've wanted to make new one's ofr a while but never got around to it because I had better things to do.

 

The new eyes still do the glowing/pulsating thing (example: i.imgur.com/hbv3XpC.jpg) but there's also a cubemap on them now so there's nice and shiny. And the obvious new higher-resolution textures.

What a sad picture...like someone is waiting forever for something. A loved one has passed and the sorrow of the survivor(s) is depicted in this abstract. Grief is also displayed...maybe a grief that can never be released until one has joined the loved one on the other side of hope.

 

Is there ever closure in grief?

-rc

/******************************************************************************

Absent Sophia

 

Poetry ceases without you

Ache embraces a pounding heart

Caged behind a glass door

 

A grieving liturgy waits

Silence roars on empty ears

Confined a passion thrashes

 

Lyrics fail to chant in your absence

Throbbing veins pulsate against flesh

Imprisoned by white bones

-rc

/****************************************************/

Inspired by the Swedish Wasteland. Come enjoy some time off from the pulsating life, enjoy the lake activities like fishing, boat , pedalo or canoe; go for a walk by the river, or relax and listen to the frogs singing :) Turn the sounds on!

 

Visit this location at Luanes Spring World -Romantic sim & :LW: Poses main store in Second Life

 

Date & Time: November 25, 2024

Time: 12:00 PM SLT

Location: ARTSVILLE SL

maps.secondlife.com/.../Caribbean%20Ocean/87/63/1801

 

🌟 Join us for the Orange the World kick-off event as we stand together to raise awareness for gender-based violence and show our support for the global campaign to end violence against women and girls. 🌟

 

🎶 Music Lineup 🎶

DJ Frank Atisso will start the party with his electrifying beats and pulsating rhythms to get everyone in the mood for a great time.

 

Then, get ready for Max Kleene, who will take the stage for an awesome live music performance! Max's amazing tunes will fill the air and have you dancing and singing along.

 

🔥 It's going to be 3 hours full of music, unity, and awareness, so don’t miss out on this incredible event! 🔥

 

Come for the music, stay for the cause – let's Orange the World together!

 

🔶 Dress Code: Wear your best orange outfit to show your support!

 

🔶 Raffle Prizes from our wonderful sponsors!

 

We can’t wait to see you there at 12:00 PM SLT! ✨

Inspired by the words of a friend.

 

In the shadow of a shattered moon, a team of interstellar explorers uncovers an ancient, slumbering giant — a colossal humanoid being fused into the alien mountainside, its molten eyes flickering back to life after millennia. Etched with forgotten glyphs and pulsating with celestial circuitry, this sentient monolith looms like a god reborn. The landscape is scorched and sublime, glowing with volcanic veins and echoing with the whispers of a civilization long lost to time. As lightning dances across the sky and the colossus stirs, the explorers realize they've awakened something not meant to be disturbed.

Large: View On Black

 

For Maggie, in China... Maggies_World www.flickr.com/photos/maggiesworld/

 

Please go see her work!

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Nature Prays....

... a prayer that is a breath, expanding and contracting,

a part of the living and dying... a stillness within the busy-ness of life...

... a prayer that becomes flesh and blood, becomes the creation and the creator... becomes the blueprint of life in all things...

... a prayer that weaves the tapestry of life into a beautiful design of oneness and infinity.... never ending or beginning but always there, like the air that we breathe, the air that pulsates with the prayer of life and the dreams of the creator....

... a prayer that is a gift of healing and light... and for you I pray for healing as you bring light to others!

 

...ahhh, and you have reminded me to start breathing my prayer!!!!!!! Thank you so much my dear friend... somehow with your view of the world and the words you so wisely choose to share with the images, you touch a place in the center of being, causing all to come to a halt in the rollercoaster busy merry go round of life,

a scene that could be passed by as just another pretty picture becomes something far more...

and then,

for a moment...

as I breathe...

I am the stillness and fire in the heart. I remember who I am, a child of God, a breath of nature, an eternal moment.

Thank you with all my heart!!!! I am overcome!

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~**~*~*~*~*

 

You have inspired so many, lifted hearts and chased away the darkness, and now I wish that for you!

IMG_1609_4

fuhgehtaboutit.

 

You can take the girl out of brooklyn, but you can NEVER take the brooklyn out of the girl.

 

Spent the day walking the boardwalk in brighton beach. Where I spent the summers of my childhood. Where my mother met my father when she was 15 and he was 20 and she asked him to sit on her beach blanket. Where my grandparents lived, and where I still hoped I'd see my grandpa waiting for me on his stoop. How tears came to my eyes knowing he'd never be there again.

 

I grew up on some mean streets, and when a couple of years ago I brought my kids to see my old neighborhood, my oldest wouldn't even get out of the car, and the other two just kept saying, "you LIVED here?", "you lived HERE?". Yes, indeed I did.

 

And I love it.

The streets pulsate. The trains rattle. There is a rhythm to that city like no other place I've ever been.

 

I've lived many places, and that's all they are, just places where I live.

 

But brooklyn is home. And man, was it great to be home.

 

HCS!!!!

I have decided to develop the project “Through the light” to show how is living in Palermo. The city despite the diverse mixture of cultures has retained most of its original identity. Art and history are some important elements of daily palermitan life. Walking in the evening in our historical centre, which is the heart of the city, you can see many areas that are colored by typical corner markets such as Ballarò, il Capo and Vucciria that represent the ancient city’s pulsating core, tied to the scents and traditions of this city. Past and present exist together and give a unique scenery in many interesting places. I tried to “open a window” on some degraded areas to redeem the image of a city, which needs to look for a way back into the sun.

 

The great aurora of May 31/June 1, 2025, here looking north following a substorm outburst that lit up the sky. This is a wide view covering much of the northern half of the sky, with the aurora in a post-storm recovery phase and showing pulsating and flickering curtains, blurred here in a single long exposure. Cassiopeia is below centre low in the north; the Big Dipper is at upper left. Polaris is left of centre.

 

Technical:

A single 10-second exposure with the TTArtisan 11mm full-frame fish-eye lens at f/2.8 on the Canon Ra at ISO 800.

Cours Saleya market in Nice is at the heart of the Old Town and it’s always pulsating with life. Striped awnings cover its centre and shelter the products on offer in the daily market. Crowds of locals and tourists come here to do their shopping or sometimes just to look and snap photos of the colourful displays. The scents of fresh produce and flowers seem to put everyone in a good mood and the atmosphere is friendly.*

 

*https://www.thegoodlifefrance.com/cours-saleya-market-in-nice-france/

These Hubble Space Telescope images showcase 2 of the 19 galaxies analyzed in a project to improve the precision of the universe's expansion rate, a value known as the Hubble constant.

 

The color-composite images show NGC 3972 (left) and NGC 1015 (right), located 65 million light-years and 118 million light-years, respectively, from Earth. The yellow circles in each galaxy represent the locations of pulsating stars called Cepheid variables. These stars blink at a rate matched closely by their intrinsic brightness, making them ideal cosmic lighthouses for measuring accurate distances to relatively nearby galaxies.

 

Another reliable milepost marker is a special class of exploding star called a Type Ia supernova. All of these supernovae peak at the same brightness and are brilliant enough to be seen over relatively longer distances. The small cross-shaped feature in each galaxy denotes the location of a Type Ia supernova.

 

Astronomers search for Cepheid variables in nearby galaxies containing a Type Ia supernova so they can compare the true brightness of both types of stars. That brightness information is used to calibrate the luminosity of Type Ia supernovae in far-flung galaxies so that astronomers can calculate the galaxies' distances from Earth. Once astronomers know accurate distances to galaxies near and far, they can determine and refine the universe's expansion rate.

 

The observations for NGC 3972 were taken in 2015; for NGC 1015 in 2013. Both galaxies were observed by Hubble's Wide Field Camera 3.

 

For more information, please visit:

www.nasa.gov/feature/goddard/2018/improved-hubble-yardsti...

 

Credits: NASA, ESA, A. Riess (STScI/JHU)

Another shot from the 8th/9th October 2013, taken during the break up phase of the display, with pulsating rays and patches. Taken with my Samyang 14mm lens, f2.8, ISO 1600, 15 second exposure.

Chorus is a monumental installation of kinetic sound sculptures by artist Ray Lee – British Composer of the Year for Sonic Art.

  

Towering above the audience, a series of giant metal tripods support rotating arms. At the end of each arm loudspeakers emit precisely tuned musical pitches creating a pulsating, harmonic drone – singing out a hypnotic siren to all those present.

  

Red lights at the end of the arms create mesmerising orbits of colour, giving the effect of a whirling swarm of fireflies, or of planets in motion. These intersecting lights trace rings above the heads of the audience, while the combined chorus of the spinning speakers creates a cohesive harmonious whole, which is both uplifting and transfixing.