Comet Neowise on 14 July 2020, Burke, Virginia; Canon 60D camera and 75-200mm lens; single frame.

 

From Wikipedia

A comet is an icy, small Solar System body that, when passing close to the Sun, warms and begins to release gases, a process that is called outgassing. This produces a visible atmosphere or coma, and sometimes also a tail. These phenomena are due to the effects of solar radiation and the solar wind acting upon the nucleus of the comet. Comet nuclei range from a few hundred meters to tens of kilometers across and are composed of loose collections of ice, dust, and small rocky particles. The coma may be up to 15 times Earth's diameter, while the tail may stretch beyond one astronomical unit. If sufficiently bright, a comet may be seen from Earth without the aid of a telescope and may subtend an arc of 30° (60 Moons) across the sky. Comets have been observed and recorded since ancient times by many cultures and religions.

 

Comets usually have highly eccentric elliptical orbits, and they have a wide range of orbital periods, ranging from several years to potentially several millions of years. Short-period comets originate in the Kuiper belt or its associated scattered disc, which lie beyond the orbit of Neptune. Long-period comets are thought to originate in the Oort cloud, a spherical cloud of icy bodies extending from outside the Kuiper belt to halfway to the nearest star. Long-period comets are set in motion towards the Sun from the Oort cloud by gravitational perturbations caused by passing stars and the galactic tide. Hyperbolic comets may pass once through the inner Solar System before being flung to interstellar space. The appearance of a comet is called an apparition.

 

Comets are distinguished from asteroids by the presence of an extended, gravitationally unbound atmosphere surrounding their central nucleus. This atmosphere has parts termed the coma (the central part immediately surrounding the nucleus) and the tail (a typically linear section consisting of dust or gas blown out from the coma by the Sun's light pressure or outstreaming solar wind plasma). However, extinct comets that have passed close to the Sun many times have lost nearly all of their volatile ices and dust and may come to resemble small asteroids. Asteroids are thought to have a different origin from comets, having formed inside the orbit of Jupiter rather than in the outer Solar System. The discovery of main-belt comets and active centaur minor planets has blurred the distinction between asteroids and comets. In the early 21st century, the discovery of some minor bodies with long-period comet orbits, but characteristics of inner solar system asteroids, were called Manx comets. They are still classified as comets, such as C/2014 S3 (PANSTARRS). 27 Manx comets were found from 2013 to 2017.

 

As of November 2021 there are 4584 known comets. However, this represents only a tiny fraction of the total potential comet population, as the reservoir of comet-like bodies in the outer Solar System (in the Oort cloud) is estimated to be one trillion. Roughly one comet per year is visible to the naked eye, though many of those are faint and unspectacular. Particularly bright examples are called "great comets". Comets have been visited by unmanned probes such as the European Space Agency's Rosetta, which became the first to land a robotic spacecraft on a comet, and NASA's Deep Impact, which blasted a crater on Comet Tempel 1 to study its interior.

 

A comet was mentioned in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle that allegedly made an appearance in 729 AD.

 

The word comet derives from the Old English cometa from the Latin comēta or comētēs. That, in turn, is a romanization of the Greek κομήτης 'wearing long hair', and the Oxford English Dictionary notes that the term (ἀστὴρ) κομήτης already meant 'long-haired star, comet' in Greek. Κομήτης was derived from κομᾶν (koman) 'to wear the hair long', which was itself derived from κόμη (komē) 'the hair of the head' and was used to mean 'the tail of a comet'.

 

The astronomical symbol for comets (represented in Unicode) is U+2604 ☄ COMET, consisting of a small disc with three hairlike extensions.

 

The core structure of a comet is known as the nucleus. Cometary nuclei are composed of an amalgam of rock, dust, water ice, and frozen carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, methane, and ammonia. As such, they are popularly described as "dirty snowballs" after Fred Whipple's model. Comets with a higher dust content have been called "icy dirtballs". The term "icy dirtballs" arose after observation of Comet 9P/Tempel 1 collision with an "impactor" probe sent by NASA Deep Impact mission in July 2005. Research conducted in 2014 suggests that comets are like "deep fried ice cream", in that their surfaces are formed of dense crystalline ice mixed with organic compounds, while the interior ice is colder and less dense.

 

The surface of the nucleus is generally dry, dusty or rocky, suggesting that the ices are hidden beneath a surface crust several metres thick. In addition to the gases already mentioned, the nuclei contain a variety of organic compounds, which may include methanol, hydrogen cyanide, formaldehyde, ethanol, ethane, and perhaps more complex molecules such as long-chain hydrocarbons and amino acids. In 2009, it was confirmed that the amino acid glycine had been found in the comet dust recovered by NASA's Stardust mission. In August 2011, a report, based on NASA studies of meteorites found on Earth, was published suggesting DNA and RNA components (adenine, guanine, and related organic molecules) may have been formed on asteroids and comets.

 

The outer surfaces of cometary nuclei have a very low albedo, making them among the least reflective objects found in the Solar System. The Giotto space probe found that the nucleus of Halley's Comet (1P/Halley) reflects about four percent of the light that falls on it, and Deep Space 1 discovered that Comet Borrelly's surface reflects less than 3%; by comparison, asphalt reflects seven percent. The dark surface material of the nucleus may consist of complex organic compounds. Solar heating drives off lighter volatile compounds, leaving behind larger organic compounds that tend to be very dark, like tar or crude oil. The low reflectivity of cometary surfaces causes them to absorb the heat that drives their outgassing processes.

 

Comet nuclei with radii of up to 30 kilometers (19 mi) have been observed, but ascertaining their exact size is difficult. The nucleus of 322P/SOHO is probably only 100–200 meters (330–660 ft) in diameter. A lack of smaller comets being detected despite the increased sensitivity of instruments has led some to suggest that there is a real lack of comets smaller than 100 meters (330 ft) across. Known comets have been estimated to have an average density of 0.6 g/cm3 (0.35 oz/cu in). Because of their low mass, comet nuclei do not become spherical under their own gravity and therefore have irregular shapes.

 

Roughly six percent of the near-Earth asteroids are thought to be the extinct nuclei of comets that no longer experience outgassing, including 14827 Hypnos and 3552 Don Quixote.

 

Results from the Rosetta and Philae spacecraft show that the nucleus of 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko has no magnetic field, which suggests that magnetism may not have played a role in the early formation of planetesimals.[33][34] Further, the ALICE spectrograph on Rosetta determined that electrons (within 1 km (0.62 mi) above the comet nucleus) produced from photoionization of water molecules by solar radiation, and not photons from the Sun as thought earlier, are responsible for the degradation of water and carbon dioxide molecules released from the comet nucleus into its coma.[35][36] Instruments on the Philae lander found at least sixteen organic compounds at the comet's surface, four of which (acetamide, acetone, methyl isocyanate and propionaldehyde) have been detected for the first time on a comet.[37][38][39]

 

The streams of dust and gas thus released form a huge and extremely thin atmosphere around the comet called the "coma". The force exerted on the coma by the Sun's radiation pressure and solar wind cause an enormous "tail" to form pointing away from the Sun.[48]

 

The coma is generally made of water and dust, with water making up to 90% of the volatiles that outflow from the nucleus when the comet is within 3 to 4 astronomical units (450,000,000 to 600,000,000 km; 280,000,000 to 370,000,000 mi) of the Sun.[49] The H2O parent molecule is destroyed primarily through photodissociation and to a much smaller extent photoionization, with the solar wind playing a minor role in the destruction of water compared to photochemistry.[49] Larger dust particles are left along the comet's orbital path whereas smaller particles are pushed away from the Sun into the comet's tail by light pressure.[50]

 

Although the solid nucleus of comets is generally less than 60 kilometers (37 mi) across, the coma may be thousands or millions of kilometers across, sometimes becoming larger than the Sun.[51] For example, about a month after an outburst in October 2007, comet 17P/Holmes briefly had a tenuous dust atmosphere larger than the Sun.[52] The Great Comet of 1811 also had a coma roughly the diameter of the Sun.[53] Even though the coma can become quite large, its size can decrease about the time it crosses the orbit of Mars around 1.5 astronomical units (220,000,000 km; 140,000,000 mi) from the Sun.[53] At this distance the solar wind becomes strong enough to blow the gas and dust away from the coma, and in doing so enlarging the tail.[53] Ion tails have been observed to extend one astronomical unit (150 million km) or more.[52]

  

Both the coma and tail are illuminated by the Sun and may become visible when a comet passes through the inner Solar System, the dust reflects sunlight directly while the gases glow from ionisation.[54] Most comets are too faint to be visible without the aid of a telescope, but a few each decade become bright enough to be visible to the naked eye.[55] Occasionally a comet may experience a huge and sudden outburst of gas and dust, during which the size of the coma greatly increases for a period of time. This happened in 2007 to Comet Holmes.[56]

 

In 1996, comets were found to emit X-rays.[57] This greatly surprised astronomers because X-ray emission is usually associated with very high-temperature bodies. The X-rays are generated by the interaction between comets and the solar wind: when highly charged solar wind ions fly through a cometary atmosphere, they collide with cometary atoms and molecules, "stealing" one or more electrons from the atom in a process called "charge exchange". This exchange or transfer of an electron to the solar wind ion is followed by its de-excitation into the ground state of the ion by the emission of X-rays and far ultraviolet photons.[58]

 

Bow shocks form as a result of the interaction between the solar wind and the cometary ionosphere, which is created by the ionization of gases in the coma. As the comet approaches the Sun, increasing outgassing rates cause the coma to expand, and the sunlight ionizes gases in the coma. When the solar wind passes through this ion coma, the bow shock appears.

 

The first observations were made in the 1980s and 1990s as several spacecraft flew by comets 21P/Giacobini–Zinner,[59] 1P/Halley,[60] and 26P/Grigg–Skjellerup.[61] It was then found that the bow shocks at comets are wider and more gradual than the sharp planetary bow shocks seen at, for example, Earth. These observations were all made near perihelion when the bow shocks already were fully developed.

 

The Rosetta spacecraft observed the bow shock at comet 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko at an early stage of bow shock development when the outgassing increased during the comet's journey toward the Sun. This young bow shock was called the "infant bow shock". The infant bow shock is asymmetric and, relative to the distance to the nucleus, wider than fully developed bow shocks.[62]

 

Typical direction of tails during a comet's orbit near the Sun

In the outer Solar System, comets remain frozen and inactive and are extremely difficult or impossible to detect from Earth due to their small size. Statistical detections of inactive comet nuclei in the Kuiper belt have been reported from observations by the Hubble Space Telescope[63][64] but these detections have been questioned.[65][66] As a comet approaches the inner Solar System, solar radiation causes the volatile materials within the comet to vaporize and stream out of the nucleus, carrying dust away with them.

 

The streams of dust and gas each form their own distinct tail, pointing in slightly different directions. The tail of dust is left behind in the comet's orbit in such a manner that it often forms a curved tail called the type II or dust tail.[54] At the same time, the ion or type I tail, made of gases, always points directly away from the Sun because this gas is more strongly affected by the solar wind than is dust, following magnetic field lines rather than an orbital trajectory.[67] On occasions—such as when Earth passes through a comet's orbital plane, the antitail, pointing in the opposite direction to the ion and dust tails, may be seen.[68]

 

The observation of antitails contributed significantly to the discovery of solar wind.[69] The ion tail is formed as a result of the ionization by solar ultra-violet radiation of particles in the coma. Once the particles have been ionized, they attain a net positive electrical charge, which in turn gives rise to an "induced magnetosphere" around the comet. The comet and its induced magnetic field form an obstacle to outward flowing solar wind particles. Because the relative orbital speed of the comet and the solar wind is supersonic, a bow shock is formed upstream of the comet in the flow direction of the solar wind. In this bow shock, large concentrations of cometary ions (called "pick-up ions") congregate and act to "load" the solar magnetic field with plasma, such that the field lines "drape" around the comet forming the ion tail.[70]

 

If the ion tail loading is sufficient, the magnetic field lines are squeezed together to the point where, at some distance along the ion tail, magnetic reconnection occurs. This leads to a "tail disconnection event".[70] This has been observed on a number of occasions, one notable event being recorded on 20 April 2007, when the ion tail of Encke's Comet was completely severed while the comet passed through a coronal mass ejection. This event was observed by the STEREO space probe.[71]

 

In 2013, ESA scientists reported that the ionosphere of the planet Venus streams outwards in a manner similar to the ion tail seen streaming from a comet under similar conditions."[72]

 

Uneven heating can cause newly generated gases to break out of a weak spot on the surface of comet's nucleus, like a geyser.[74] These streams of gas and dust can cause the nucleus to spin, and even split apart.[74] In 2010 it was revealed dry ice (frozen carbon dioxide) can power jets of material flowing out of a comet nucleus.[75] Infrared imaging of Hartley 2 shows such jets exiting and carrying with it dust grains into the coma.[76]

 

Most comets are small Solar System bodies with elongated elliptical orbits that take them close to the Sun for a part of their orbit and then out into the further reaches of the Solar System for the remainder.[77] Comets are often classified according to the length of their orbital periods: The longer the period the more elongated the ellipse.

 

Periodic comets or short-period comets are generally defined as those having orbital periods of less than 200 years.[78] They usually orbit more-or-less in the ecliptic plane in the same direction as the planets.[79] Their orbits typically take them out to the region of the outer planets (Jupiter and beyond) at aphelion; for example, the aphelion of Halley's Comet is a little beyond the orbit of Neptune. Comets whose aphelia are near a major planet's orbit are called its "family".[80] Such families are thought to arise from the planet capturing formerly long-period comets into shorter orbits.[81]

 

At the shorter orbital period extreme, Encke's Comet has an orbit that does not reach the orbit of Jupiter, and is known as an Encke-type comet. Short-period comets with orbital periods less than 20 years and low inclinations (up to 30 degrees) to the ecliptic are called traditional Jupiter-family comets (JFCs).[82][83] Those like Halley, with orbital periods of between 20 and 200 years and inclinations extending from zero to more than 90 degrees, are called Halley-type comets (HTCs).[84][85] As of 2022, 94 HTCs have been observed,[86] compared with 744 identified JFCs.[87]

 

Recently discovered main-belt comets form a distinct class, orbiting in more circular orbits within the asteroid belt.[88]

 

Because their elliptical orbits frequently take them close to the giant planets, comets are subject to further gravitational perturbations.[89] Short-period comets have a tendency for their aphelia to coincide with a giant planet's semi-major axis, with the JFCs being the largest group.[83] It is clear that comets coming in from the Oort cloud often have their orbits strongly influenced by the gravity of giant planets as a result of a close encounter. Jupiter is the source of the greatest perturbations, being more than twice as massive as all the other planets combined. These perturbations can deflect long-period comets into shorter orbital periods.[90][91]

 

Based on their orbital characteristics, short-period comets are thought to originate from the centaurs and the Kuiper belt/scattered disc[92] —a disk of objects in the trans-Neptunian region—whereas the source of long-period comets is thought to be the far more distant spherical Oort cloud (after the Dutch astronomer Jan Hendrik Oort who hypothesized its existence).[93] Vast swarms of comet-like bodies are thought to orbit the Sun in these distant regions in roughly circular orbits. Occasionally the gravitational influence of the outer planets (in the case of Kuiper belt objects) or nearby stars (in the case of Oort cloud objects) may throw one of these bodies into an elliptical orbit that takes it inwards toward the Sun to form a visible comet. Unlike the return of periodic comets, whose orbits have been established by previous observations, the appearance of new comets by this mechanism is unpredictable.[94] When flung into the orbit of the sun, and being continuously dragged towards it, tons of matter are stripped from the comets which greatly influence their lifetime; the more stripped, the shorter they live and vice versa.[95]

 

Long-period comets have highly eccentric orbits and periods ranging from 200 years to thousands or even millions of years.[96] An eccentricity greater than 1 when near perihelion does not necessarily mean that a comet will leave the Solar System.[97] For example, Comet McNaught had a heliocentric osculating eccentricity of 1.000019 near its perihelion passage epoch in January 2007 but is bound to the Sun with roughly a 92,600-year orbit because the eccentricity drops below 1 as it moves farther from the Sun. The future orbit of a long-period comet is properly obtained when the osculating orbit is computed at an epoch after leaving the planetary region and is calculated with respect to the center of mass of the Solar System. By definition long-period comets remain gravitationally bound to the Sun; those comets that are ejected from the Solar System due to close passes by major planets are no longer properly considered as having "periods". The orbits of long-period comets take them far beyond the outer planets at aphelia, and the plane of their orbits need not lie near the ecliptic. Long-period comets such as C/1999 F1 and C/2017 T2 (PANSTARRS) can have aphelion distances of nearly 70,000 AU (0.34 pc; 1.1 ly) with orbital periods estimated around 6 million years.

 

Single-apparition or non-periodic comets are similar to long-period comets because they also have parabolic or slightly hyperbolic trajectories[96] when near perihelion in the inner Solar System. However, gravitational perturbations from giant planets cause their orbits to change. Single-apparition comets have a hyperbolic or parabolic osculating orbit which allows them to permanently exit the Solar System after a single pass of the Sun.[98] The Sun's Hill sphere has an unstable maximum boundary of 230,000 AU (1.1 pc; 3.6 ly).[99] Only a few hundred comets have been seen to reach a hyperbolic orbit (e > 1) when near perihelion[100] that using a heliocentric unperturbed two-body best-fit suggests they may escape the Solar System.

 

As of 2019, only two objects have been discovered with an eccentricity significantly greater than one: 1I/ʻOumuamua and 2I/Borisov, indicating an origin outside the Solar System. While ʻOumuamua, with an eccentricity of about 1.2, showed no optical signs of cometary activity during its passage through the inner Solar System in October 2017, changes to its trajectory—which suggests outgassing—indicate that it is probably a comet.[101] On the other hand, 2I/Borisov, with an estimated eccentricity of about 3.36, has been observed to have the coma feature of comets, and is considered the first detected interstellar comet.[102][103] Comet C/1980 E1 had an orbital period of roughly 7.1 million years before the 1982 perihelion passage, but a 1980 encounter with Jupiter accelerated the comet giving it the largest eccentricity (1.057) of any known solar comet with a reasonable observation arc.[104] Comets not expected to return to the inner Solar System include C/1980 E1, C/2000 U5, C/2001 Q4 (NEAT), C/2009 R1, C/1956 R1, and C/2007 F1 (LONEOS).

 

Some authorities use the term "periodic comet" to refer to any comet with a periodic orbit (that is, all short-period comets plus all long-period comets),[105] whereas others use it to mean exclusively short-period comets.[96] Similarly, although the literal meaning of "non-periodic comet" is the same as "single-apparition comet", some use it to mean all comets that are not "periodic" in the second sense (that is, to also include all comets with a period greater than 200 years).

 

Early observations have revealed a few genuinely hyperbolic (i.e. non-periodic) trajectories, but no more than could be accounted for by perturbations from Jupiter. Comets from interstellar space are moving with velocities of the same order as the relative velocities of stars near the Sun (a few tens of km per second). When such objects enter the Solar System, they have a positive specific orbital energy resulting in a positive velocity at infinity ({\displaystyle v_{\infty }\!}{\displaystyle v_{\infty }\!}) and have notably hyperbolic trajectories. A rough calculation shows that there might be four hyperbolic comets per century within Jupiter's orbit, give or take one and perhaps two orders of magnitude.[106]

 

The Oort cloud is thought to occupy a vast space starting from between 2,000 and 5,000 AU (0.03 and 0.08 ly)[108] to as far as 50,000 AU (0.79 ly)[84] from the Sun. This cloud encases the celestial bodies that start at the middle of our solar system—the sun, all the way to outer limits of the Kuiper Belt. The Oort cloud consists of viable materials necessary for the creation of celestial bodies. The planets we have today, exist only because of the planetesimals (chunks of leftover space that assisted in the creation of planets) that were condensed and formed by the gravity of the sun. The eccentric made from these trapped planetesimals is why the Oort Cloud even exists.[109] Some estimates place the outer edge at between 100,000 and 200,000 AU (1.58 and 3.16 ly).[108] The region can be subdivided into a spherical outer Oort cloud of 20,000–50,000 AU (0.32–0.79 ly), and a doughnut-shaped inner cloud, the Hills cloud, of 2,000–20,000 AU (0.03–0.32 ly).[110] The outer cloud is only weakly bound to the Sun and supplies the long-period (and possibly Halley-type) comets that fall to inside the orbit of Neptune.[84] The inner Oort cloud is also known as the Hills cloud, named after J. G. Hills, who proposed its existence in 1981.[111] Models predict that the inner cloud should have tens or hundreds of times as many cometary nuclei as the outer halo;[111][112][113] it is seen as a possible source of new comets that resupply the relatively tenuous outer cloud as the latter's numbers are gradually depleted. The Hills cloud explains the continued existence of the Oort cloud after billions of years.[114]

 

Exocomets beyond the Solar System have also been detected and may be common in the Milky Way.[115] The first exocomet system detected was around Beta Pictoris, a very young A-type main-sequence star, in 1987.[116][117] A total of 11 such exocomet systems have been identified as of 2013, using the absorption spectrum caused by the large clouds of gas emitted by comets when passing close to their star.[115][116] For ten years the Kepler space telescope was responsible for searching for planets and other forms outside of the solar system. The first transiting exocomets were found in February 2018 by a group consisting of professional astronomers and citizen scientists in light curves recorded by the Kepler Space Telescope.[118][119] After Kepler Space Telescope retired in October 2018, a new telescope called TESS Telescope has taken over Kepler's mission. Since the launch of TESS, astronomers have discovered the transits of comets around the star Beta Pictoris using a light curve from TESS.[120][121] Since TESS has taken over, astronomers have since been able to better distinguish exocomets with the spectroscopic method. New planets are detected by the white light curve method which is viewed as a symmetrical dip in the charts readings when a planet overshadows its parent star. However, after further evaluation of these light curves, it has been discovered that the asymmetrical patterns of the dips presented are caused by the tail of a comet or of hundreds of comets.[122]

 

...he Sun, outgassing of its icy components also releases solid debris too large to be swept away by radiation pressure and the solar wind.[123] If Earth's orbit sends it through that trail of debris, which is composed mostly of fine grains of rocky material, there is likely to be a meteor shower as Earth passes through. Denser trails of debris produce quick but intense meteor showers and less dense trails create longer but less intense showers. Typically, the density of the debris trail is related to how long ago the parent comet released the material.[124][125] The Perseid meteor shower, for example, occurs every year between 9 and 13 August, when Earth passes through the orbit of Comet Swift–Tuttle. Halley's Comet is the source of the Orionid shower in October.[126][127]

 

Many comets and asteroids collided with Earth in its early stages. Many scientists think that comets bombarding the young Earth about 4 billion years ago brought the vast quantities of water that now fill Earth's oceans, or at least a significant portion of it. Others have cast doubt on this idea.[128] The detection of organic molecules, including polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons,[18] in significant quantities in comets has led to speculation that comets or meteorites may have brought the precursors of life—or even life itself—to Earth.[129] In 2013 it was suggested that impacts between rocky and icy surfaces, such as comets, had the potential to create the amino acids that make up proteins through shock synthesis.[130] The speed at which the comets entered the atmosphere, combined with the magnitude of energy created after initial contact, allowed smaller molecules to condense into the larger macro-molecules that served as the foundation for life.[131] In 2015, scientists found significant amounts of molecular oxygen in the outgassings of comet 67P, suggesting that the molecule may occur more often than had been thought, and thus less an indicator of life as has been supposed.[132]

 

It is suspected that comet impacts have, over long timescales, also delivered significant quantities of water to Earth's Moon, some of which may have survived as lunar ice.[133] Comet and meteoroid impacts are also thought to be responsible for the existence of tektites and australites.[134]

 

Fear of comets as acts of God and signs of impending doom was highest in Europe from AD 1200 to 1650.[135] The year after the Great Comet of 1618, for example, Gotthard Arthusius published a pamphlet stating that it was a sign that the Day of Judgment was near.[136] He listed ten pages of comet-related disasters, including "earthquakes, floods, changes in river courses, hail storms, hot and dry weather, poor harvests, epidemics, war and treason and high prices".[135]

 

By 1700 most scholars concluded that such events occurred whether a comet was seen or not. Using Edmond Halley's records of comet sightings, however, William Whiston in 1711 wrote that the Great Comet of 1680 had a periodicity of 574 years and was responsible for the worldwide flood in the Book of Genesis, by pouring water on Earth. His announcement revived for another century fear of comets, now as direct threats to the world instead of signs of disasters.[135] Spectroscopic analysis in 1910 found the toxic gas cyanogen in the tail of Halley's Comet,[137] causing panicked buying of gas masks and quack "anti-comet pills" and "anti-comet umbrellas" by the public.[138]

 

If a comet is traveling fast enough, it may leave the Solar System. Such comets follow the open path of a hyperbola, and as such, they are called hyperbolic comets. Solar comets are only known to be ejected by interacting with another object in the Solar System, such as Jupiter.[139] An example of this is Comet C/1980 E1, which was shifted from an orbit of 7.1 million years around the Sun, to a hyperbolic trajectory, after a 1980 close pass by the planet Jupiter.[140] Interstellar comets such as 1I/ʻOumuamua and 2I/Borisov never orbited the Sun and therefore do not require a 3rd-body interaction to be ejected from the Solar System.

 

Jupiter-family comets and long-period comets appear to follow very different fading laws. The JFCs are active over a lifetime of about 10,000 years or ~1,000 orbits whereas long-period comets fade much faster. Only 10% of the long-period comets survive more than 50 passages to small perihelion and only 1% of them survive more than 2,000 passages.[32] Eventually most of the volatile material contained in a comet nucleus evaporates, and the comet becomes a small, dark, inert lump of rock or rubble that can resemble an asteroid.[141] Some asteroids in elliptical orbits are now identified as extinct comets.[142][143][144][145] Roughly six percent of the near-Earth asteroids are thought to be extinct comet nuclei.[32]

 

The nucleus of some comets may be fragile, a conclusion supported by the observation of comets splitting apart.[146] A significant cometary disruption was that of Comet Shoemaker–Levy 9, which was discovered in 1993. A close encounter in July 1992 had broken it into pieces, and over a period of six days in July 1994, these pieces fell into Jupiter's atmosphere—the first time astronomers had observed a collision between two objects in the Solar System.[147][148] Other splitting comets include 3D/Biela in 1846 and 73P/Schwassmann–Wachmann from 1995 to 2006.[149] Greek historian Ephorus reported that a comet split apart as far back as the winter of 372–373 BC.[150] Comets are suspected of splitting due to thermal stress, internal gas pressure, or impact.[151]

 

Comets 42P/Neujmin and 53P/Van Biesbroeck appear to be fragments of a parent comet. Numerical integrations have shown that both comets had a rather close approach to Jupiter in January 1850, and that, before 1850, the two orbits were nearly identical.[152]

 

Some comets have been observed to break up during their perihelion passage, including great comets West and Ikeya–Seki. Biela's Comet was one significant example when it broke into two pieces during its passage through the perihelion in 1846. These two comets were seen separately in 1852, but never again afterward. Instead, spectacular meteor showers were seen in 1872 and 1885 when the comet should have been visible. A minor meteor shower, the Andromedids, occurs annually in November, and it is caused when Earth crosses the orbit of Biela's Comet.[153]

 

Some comets meet a more spectacular end – either falling into the Sun[154] or smashing into a planet or other body. Collisions between comets and planets or moons were common in the early Solar System: some of the many craters on the Moon, for example, may have been caused by comets. A recent collision of a comet with a planet occurred in July 1994 when Comet Shoemaker–Levy 9 broke up into pieces and collided with Jupiter.[155]

 

The names given to comets have followed several different conventions over the past two centuries. Prior to the early 20th century, most comets were simply referred to by the year when they appeared, sometimes with additional adjectives for particularly bright comets; thus, the "Great Comet of 1680", the "Great Comet of 1882", and the "Great January Comet of 1910".

 

After Edmond Halley demonstrated that the comets of 1531, 1607, and 1682 were the same body and successfully predicted its return in 1759 by calculating its orbit, that comet became known as Halley's Comet.[157] Similarly, the second and third known periodic comets, Encke's Comet[158] and Biela's Comet,[159] were named after the astronomers who calculated their orbits rather than their original discoverers. Later, periodic comets were usually named after their discoverers, but comets that had appeared only once continued to be referred to by the year of their appearance.[160]

 

In the early 20th century, the convention of naming comets after their discoverers became common, and this remains so today. A comet can be named after its discoverers or an instrument or program that helped to find it.[160] For example, in 2019, astronomer Gennady Borisov observed a comet that appeared to have originated outside of the solar system; the comet was named C/2019 Q4 (Borisov) after him.

 

From ancient sources, such as Chinese oracle bones, it is known that comets have been noticed by humans for millennia.[161] Until the sixteenth century, comets were usually considered bad omens of deaths of kings or noble men, or coming catastrophes, or even interpreted as attacks by heavenly beings against terrestrial inhabitants.[162][163]

 

Aristotle (384–322 BC) was the first known scientist to utilize various theories and observational facts to employ a consistent, structured cosmological theory of comets. He believed that comets were atmospheric phenomena, due to the fact that they could appear outside of the zodiac and vary in brightness over the course of a few days. Aristotle's cometary theory arose from his observations and cosmological theory that everything in the cosmos is arranged in a distinct configuration.[164] Part of this configuration was a clear separation between the celestial and terrestrial, believing comets to be strictly associated with the latter. According to Aristotle, comets must be within the sphere of the moon and clearly separated from the heavens. Also in the 4th century BC, Apollonius of Myndus supported the idea that comets moved like the planets.[165] Aristotelian theory on comets continued to be widely accepted throughout the Middle Ages, despite several discoveries from various individuals challenging aspects of it.[166]

 

In the 1st century AD, Seneca the Younger questioned Aristotle's logic concerning comets. Because of their regular movement and imperviousness to wind, they cannot be atmospheric,[167] and are more permanent than suggested by their brief flashes across the sky.[a] He pointed out that only the tails are transparent and thus cloudlike, and argued that there is no reason to confine their orbits to the zodiac.[167] In criticizing Apollonius of Myndus, Seneca argues, "A comet cuts through the upper regions of the universe and then finally becomes visible when it reaches the lowest point of its orbit."[168] While Seneca did not author a substantial theory of his own,[169] his arguments would spark much debate among Aristotle's critics in the 16th and 17th centuries.[166][b]

 

Also in the 1st century, Pliny the Elder believed that comets were connected with political unrest and death.[171] Pliny observed comets as "human like", often describing their tails with "long hair" or "long beard".[172] His system for classifying comets according to their color and shape was used for centuries.[173]

 

In India, by the 6th century astronomers believed that comets were celestial bodies that re-appeared periodically. This was the view expressed in the 6th century by the astronomers Varāhamihira and Bhadrabahu, and the 10th-century astronomer Bhaṭṭotpala listed the names and estimated periods of certain comets, but it is not known how these figures were calculated or how accurate they were.[174]

 

According to Norse mythology, comets were actually a part of the Giant Ymir's skull. According to the tale, Odin and his brothers slew Ymir and set about constructing the world (Earth) from his corpse. They fashioned the oceans from his blood, the soil from his skin and muscles, vegetation from his hair, clouds from his brains, and the sky from his skull. Four dwarves, corresponding to the four cardinal points, held Ymir's skull aloft above the earth. Following this tale, comets in the sky, as believed by the Norse, were flakes of Ymir's skull falling from the sky and then disintegrating.[176]

 

In 1301, the Italian painter Giotto was the first person to accurately and anatomically portray a comet. In his work Adoration of the Magi, Giotto's depiction of Halley's Comet in the place of the Star of Bethlehem would go unmatched in accuracy until the 19th century and be bested only with the invention of photography.[175]

 

Astrological interpretations of comets proceeded to take precedence clear into the 15th century, despite the presence of modern scientific astronomy beginning to take root. Comets continued to forewarn of disaster, as seen in the Luzerner Schilling chronicles and in the warnings of Pope Callixtus III.[175] In 1578, German Lutheran bishop Andreas Celichius defined comets as "the thick smoke of human sins ... kindled by the hot and fiery anger of the Supreme Heavenly Judge". The next year, Andreas Dudith stated that "If comets were caused by the sins of mortals, they would never be absent from the sky."[177]

 

Scientific approach

Crude attempts at a parallax measurement of Halley's Comet were made in 1456, but were erroneous.[178] Regiomontanus was the first to attempt to calculate diurnal parallax by observing the great comet of 1472. His predictions were not very accurate, but they were conducted in the hopes of estimating the distance of a comet from the Earth.[173]

 

In the 16th century, Tycho Brahe and Michael Maestlin demonstrated that comets must exist outside of Earth's atmosphere by measuring the parallax of the Great Comet of 1577.[179] Within the precision of the measurements, this implied the comet must be at least four times more distant than from Earth to the Moon.[180][181] Based on observations in 1664, Giovanni Borelli recorded the longitudes and latitudes of comets that he observed, and suggested that cometary orbits may be parabolic.[182] Galileo Galilei, one of the most renowned astronomers to date, even attempted writings on comets in The Assayer. He rejected Brahe's theories on the parallax of comets and claimed that they may be a mere optical illusion. Intrigued as early scientists were about the nature of comets, Galileo could not help but throw about his own theories despite little personal observation.[173] Maestlin's student Johannes Kepler responded to these unjust criticisms in his work Hyperaspistes. Jakob Bernoulli published another attempt to explain comets (Conamen Novi Systematis Cometarum) in 1682.

 

Also occurring in the early modern period was the study of comets and their astrological significance in medical disciplines. Many healers of this time considered medicine and astronomy to be inter-disciplinary and employed their knowledge of comets and other astrological signs for diagnosing and treating patients.[183]

 

Isaac Newton, in his Principia Mathematica of 1687, proved that an object moving under the influence of gravity by an inverse square law must trace out an orbit shaped like one of the conic sections, and he demonstrated how to fit a comet's path through the sky to a parabolic orbit, using the comet of 1680 as an example.[184] He describes comets as compact and durable solid bodies moving in oblique orbit and their tails as thin streams of vapor emitted by their nuclei, ignited or heated by the Sun. He suspected that comets were the origin of the life-supporting component of air.[185] He also pointed out that comets usually appear near the Sun, and therefore most likely orbit it.[167] On their luminosity, he stated, "The comets shine by the Sun's light, which they reflect," with their tails illuminated by "the Sun's light reflected by a smoke arising from [the coma]".[167]

 

In 1705, Edmond Halley (1656–1742) applied Newton's method to 23 cometary apparitions that had occurred between 1337 and 1698. He noted that three of these, the comets of 1531, 1607, and 1682, had very similar orbital elements, and he was further able to account for the slight differences in their orbits in terms of gravitational perturbation caused by Jupiter and Saturn. Confident that these three apparitions had been three appearances of the same comet, he predicted that it would appear again in 1758–9.[186] Halley's predicted return date was later refined by a team of three French mathematicians: Alexis Clairaut, Joseph Lalande, and Nicole-Reine Lepaute, who predicted the date of the comet's 1759 perihelion to within one month's accuracy.[187][188] When the comet returned as predicted, it became known as Halley's Comet.[189]

 

As early as the 18th century, some scientists had made correct hypotheses as to comets' physical composition. In 1755, Immanuel Kant hypothesized in his Universal Natural History that comets were condensed from "primitive matter" beyond the known planets, which is "feebly moved" by gravity, then orbit at arbitrary inclinations, and are partially vaporized by the Sun's heat as they near perihelion.[191] In 1836, the German mathematician Friedrich Wilhelm Bessel, after observing streams of vapor during the appearance of Halley's Comet in 1835, proposed that the jet forces of evaporating material could be great enough to significantly alter a comet's orbit, and he argued that the non-gravitational movements of Encke's Comet resulted from this phenomenon.[192]

 

In the 19th century, the Astronomical Observatory of Padova was an epicenter in the observational study of comets. Led by Giovanni Santini (1787–1877) and followed by Giuseppe Lorenzoni (1843–1914), this observatory was devoted to classical astronomy, mainly to the new comets and planets orbit calculation, with the goal of compiling a catalog of almost ten thousand stars. Situated in the Northern portion of Italy, observations from this observatory were key in establishing important geodetic, geographic, and astronomical calculations, such as the difference of longitude between Milan and Padua as well as Padua to Fiume.[193] In addition to these geographic observations, correspondence within the observatory, particularly between Santini and another astronomer Giuseppe Toaldo, about the importance of comet and planetary orbital observations.[194]

 

In 1950, Fred Lawrence Whipple proposed that rather than being rocky objects containing some ice, comets were icy objects containing some dust and rock.[195] This "dirty snowball" model soon became accepted and appeared to be supported by the observations of an armada of spacecraft (including the European Space Agency's Giotto probe and the Soviet Union's Vega 1 and Vega 2) that flew through the coma of Halley's Comet in 1986, photographed the nucleus, and observed jets of evaporating material.[196]

 

On 22 January 2014, ESA scientists reported the detection, for the first definitive time, of water vapor on the dwarf planet Ceres, the largest object in the asteroid belt.[197] The detection was made by using the far-infrared abilities of the Herschel Space Observatory.[198] The finding is unexpected because comets, not asteroids, are typically considered to "sprout jets and plumes". According to one of the scientists, "The lines are becoming more and more blurred between comets and asteroids."[198] On 11 August 2014, astronomers released studies, using the Atacama Large Millimeter/Submillimeter Array (ALMA) for the first time, that detailed the distribution of HCN, HNC, H2CO, and dust inside the comae of comets C/2012 F6 (Lemmon) and C/2012 S1 (ISON).[199][200]

 

Debate continues about how much ice is in a comet. In 2001, the Deep Space 1 spacecraft obtained high-resolution images of the surface of Comet Borrelly. It was found that the surface of comet Borrelly is hot and dry, with a temperature of between 26 to 71 °C (79 to 160 °F), and extremely dark, suggesting that the ice has been removed by solar heating and maturation, or is hidden by the soot-like material that covers Borrelly. In July 2005, the Deep Impact probe blasted a crater on Comet Tempel 1 to study its interior. The mission yielded results suggesting that the majority of a comet's water ice is below the surface and that these reservoirs feed the jets of vaporized water that form the coma of Tempel 1. Renamed EPOXI, it made a flyby of Comet Hartley 2 on 4 November 2010.

 

In 2007, the Ulysses probe unexpectedly passed through the tail of the comet C/2006 P1 (McNaught) which was discovered in 2006. Ulysses was launched in 1990 and the intended mission was for Ulysses to orbit around the sun for further study at all latitudes.

 

Data from the Stardust mission show that materials retrieved from the tail of Wild 2 were crystalline and could only have been "born in fire", at extremely high temperatures of over 1,000 °C (1,830 °F). Although comets formed in the outer Solar System, radial mixing of material during the early formation of the Solar System is thought to have redistributed material throughout the proto-planetary disk. As a result, comets also contain crystalline grains that formed in the early, hot inner Solar System. This is seen in comet spectra as well as in sample return missions. More recent still, the materials retrieved demonstrate that the "comet dust resembles asteroid materials". These new results have forced scientists to rethink the nature of comets and their distinction from asteroids.

 

The Rosetta probe orbited Comet Churyumov–Gerasimenko. On 12 November 2014, its lander Philae successfully landed on the comet's surface, the first time a spacecraft has ever landed on such an object.

 

Approximately once a decade, a comet becomes bright enough to be noticed by a casual observer, leading such comets to be designated as great comets. Predicting whether a comet will become a great comet is notoriously difficult, as many factors may cause a comet's brightness to depart drastically from predictions. Broadly speaking, if a comet has a large and active nucleus, will pass close to the Sun, and is not obscured by the Sun as seen from Earth when at its brightest, it has a chance of becoming a great comet. However, Comet Kohoutek in 1973 fulfilled all the criteria and was expected to become spectacular but failed to do so.[210] Comet West, which appeared three years later, had much lower expectations but became an extremely impressive comet.

 

The Great Comet of 1577 is a well-known example of a great comet. It passed near Earth as a non-periodic comet and was seen by many, including well-known astronomers Tycho Brahe and Taqi ad-Din. Observations of this comet led to several significant findings regarding cometary science, especially for Brahe.

 

The late 20th century saw a lengthy gap without the appearance of any great comets, followed by the arrival of two in quick succession—Comet Hyakutake in 1996, followed by Hale–Bopp, which reached maximum brightness in 1997 having been discovered two years earlier. The first great comet of the 21st century was C/2006 P1 (McNaught), which became visible to naked eye observers in January 2007. It was the brightest in over 40 years.

 

A sun-grazing comet is a comet that passes extremely close to the Sun at perihelion, generally within a few million kilometers. Although small sungrazers can be completely evaporated during such a close approach to the Sun, larger sungrazers can survive many perihelion passages. However, the strong tidal forces they experience often lead to their fragmentation.

 

About 90% of the sungrazers observed with SOHO are members of the Kreutz group, which all originate from one giant comet that broke up into many smaller comets during its first passage through the inner Solar System. The remainder contains some sporadic sungrazers, but four other related groups of comets have been identified among them: the Kracht, Kracht 2a, Marsden, and Meyer groups. The Marsden and Kracht groups both appear to be related to Comet 96P/Machholz, which is also the parent of two meteor streams, the Quadrantids and the Arietids.

 

Of the thousands of known comets, some exhibit unusual properties. Comet Encke (2P/Encke) orbits from outside the asteroid belt to just inside the orbit of the planet Mercury whereas the Comet 29P/Schwassmann–Wachmann currently travels in a nearly circular orbit entirely between the orbits of Jupiter and Saturn. 2060 Chiron, whose unstable orbit is between Saturn and Uranus, was originally classified as an asteroid until a faint coma was noticed. Similarly, Comet Shoemaker–Levy 2 was originally designated asteroid 1990 UL3.

 

The largest known periodic comet is 95P/Chiron at 200 km in diameter that comes to perihelion every 50 years just inside of Saturn's orbit at 8 AU. The largest known Oort cloud comet is suspected of being Comet Bernardinelli-Bernstein at ≈150 km that will not come to perihelion until January 2031 just outside of Saturn's orbit at 11 AU. The Comet of 1729 is estimated to have been ≈100 km in diameter and came to perihelion inside of Jupiter's orbit at 4 AU.

 

Centaurs typically behave with characteristics of both asteroids and comets.[220] Centaurs can be classified as comets such as 60558 Echeclus, and 166P/NEAT. 166P/NEAT was discovered while it exhibited a coma, and so is classified as a comet despite its orbit, and 60558 Echeclus was discovered without a coma but later became active, and was then classified as both a comet and an asteroid (174P/Echeclus). One plan for Cassini involved sending it to a centaur, but NASA decided to destroy it instead.

 

A comet may be discovered photographically using a wide-field telescope or visually with binoculars. However, even without access to optical equipment, it is still possible for the amateur astronomer to discover a sun-grazing comet online by downloading images accumulated by some satellite observatories such as SOHO. SOHO's 2000th comet was discovered by Polish amateur astronomer Michał Kusiak on 26 December 2010 and both discoverers of Hale–Bopp used amateur equipment (although Hale was not an amateur).

 

A number of periodic comets discovered in earlier decades or previous centuries are now lost comets. Their orbits were never known well enough to predict future appearances or the comets have disintegrated. However, occasionally a "new" comet is discovered, and calculation of its orbit shows it to be an old "lost" comet. An example is Comet 11P/Tempel–Swift–LINEAR, discovered in 1869 but unobservable after 1908 because of perturbations by Jupiter. It was not found again until accidentally rediscovered by LINEAR in 2001. There are at least 18 comets that fit this category.

 

The depiction of comets in popular culture is firmly rooted in the long Western tradition of seeing comets as harbingers of doom and as omens of world-altering change. Halley's Comet alone has caused a slew of sensationalist publications of all sorts at each of its reappearances. It was especially noted that the birth and death of some notable persons coincided with separate appearances of the comet, such as with writers Mark Twain (who correctly speculated that he'd "go out with the comet" in 1910) and Eudora Welty, to whose life Mary Chapin Carpenter dedicated the song "Halley Came to Jackson".

 

In times past, bright comets often inspired panic and hysteria in the general population, being thought of as bad omens. More recently, during the passage of Halley's Comet in 1910, Earth passed through the comet's tail, and erroneous newspaper reports inspired a fear that cyanogen in the tail might poison millions, whereas the appearance of Comet Hale–Bopp in 1997 triggered the mass suicide of the Heaven's Gate cult.

   

A photograph showing what all four Magnetospheric Multiscale (MMS) spacecraft look like when stacked is seen taped to the window of a Naval Research Laboratory cleanroom where one of the four spacecraft is undergoing testing, Monday, August 4, 2014, in Washington. The Magnetospheric Multiscale, or MMS, mission will study the mystery of how magnetic fields around Earth connect and disconnect, explosively releasing energy via a process known as magnetic reconnection. The four identical spacecraft are scheduled to launch in 2015 from Cape Canaveral and will orbit around Earth in varying formations through the dynamic magnetic system surrounding our planet to provide the first three-dimensional views of the magnetic reconnection process. The goal of the STP Program is to understand the fundamental physical processes of the space environment from the sun to Earth, other planets, and the extremes of the solar system boundary. Photo Credit: (NASA/Bill Ingalls)

An Atlas V rocket lifts off from Space Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, carrying NASA's Magnetospheric Multiscale, or MMS, spacecraft. Liftoff was at 10:44 p.m. EDT. MMS's primary task is to collect data to help understand the mystery of how magnetic fields around Earth connect and disconnect, explosively converting magnetic energy into particle energy via a process known as magnetic reconnection.

Photo Credit: NASA/Tom Farrar & Tony Gray

Please don't use this image without my explicit permission. View On Black

_____________________________________________________________________________

 

Retreat - Spiritual

 

The United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket with NASA’s Magnetospheric Multiscale (MMS) spacecraft onboard launches from the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station Space Launch Complex 41, Thursday, March 12, 2015, Florida. NASA’s MMS mission studies the mystery of how magnetic fields around Earth connect and disconnect, explosively releasing energy via a process known as magnetic reconnection. MMS consists of four identical spacecraft that work together to provide the first three-dimensional view of this fundamental process, which occurs throughout the universe. Photo Credit: (NASA/Aubrey Gemignani)

Another image from my research. For people who know plasma physics, this is the out of plane current in a turbulent collisionless plasma simulated using a hybrid code.

 

Kinetic simulations of plasmas are the latest tools for enhancing our understanding of small scale processes in plasmas. This in turn is important to understand the sun and the solar wind.

The United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket with NASA’s Magnetospheric Multiscale (MMS) spacecraft onboard launches from the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station Space Launch Complex 41, Thursday, March 12, 2015, Florida. NASA’s MMS mission studies the mystery of how magnetic fields around Earth connect and disconnect, explosively releasing energy via a process known as magnetic reconnection. MMS consists of four identical spacecraft that work together to provide the first three-dimensional view of this fundamental process, which occurs throughout the universe. Photo Credit: (NASA/Aubrey Gemignani)

The United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket with NASA’s Magnetospheric Multiscale (MMS) spacecraft onboard launches from the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station Space Launch Complex 41, Thursday, March 12, 2015, Florida. NASA’s MMS mission studies the mystery of how magnetic fields around Earth connect and disconnect, explosively releasing energy via a process known as magnetic reconnection. MMS consists of four identical spacecraft that work together to provide the first three-dimensional view of this fundamental process, which occurs throughout the universe. Photo Credit: (NASA/Aubrey Gemignani)

The placid appearance of the Sun's surface belies a hot fireball of plasma in constant turmoil. A granular network invisible to the naked eye pervades the solar disc, with cells of hotter and colder plasma popping up, merging and disappearing within only a few hours.

 

The boundaries between these constantly moving cells are hectic places. Powerful jets of plasma are often launched along the separation lines whenever the cell pattern changes, which may happen as a result of variations in the configuration of the magnetic field – known as ‘magnetic reconnection’.

 

To learn more about these reconnection jets and the energetic events that cause them, scientists observe the Sun at different wavelengths using a variety of techniques.

 

This image, which could be mistaken for a piece of abstract art, shows a series of observations performed with the ESA/NASA Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO) to study the evolution of reconnection jets on a small patch of the Sun’s surface.

 

The image shows 60 frames taken with the ultraviolet spectrometer SUMER on SOHO over 10 minutes. The individual frames were taken every 10 seconds, so each row of snapshots corresponds to almost three and a half minutes of observations.

 

Each frame shows a spectrum of the light coming from a small patch on the solar disc: the height of each frame measures 84 000 km, which is about a sixteenth of the Sun’s diameter.

 

The bright red and yellow regions in each frame correspond to boundaries between different cells in the granular pattern of the Sun. In the first few frames of the series, the shape of the central bright region is roughly vertical, a sign that the underlying boundary was in a quiet state.

 

After only a couple of minutes, however, the situation changed dramatically: towards the end of the first row and at the beginning of the second row, the shape of the bright region appears stretched towards the right. This shift is characteristic of a jet of plasma that is receding from the observed boundary at a speed of about 100 km/s.

 

The following snapshots report how the same boundary went back to a quiescent state, then underwent the launch of a new jet and became quiet once again. These rapid changes, and the powerful events causing them, indicate the highly dynamic nature of the Sun’s atmosphere.

 

The data shown in this image were collected on 28 March 1996 and this image was featured in the series of images “The Sun as Art” published on the SOHO website: soho.nascom.nasa.gov/hotshots/2002_08_29/

 

Credit: ESA/NASA/SOHO/The SUMER team, Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research, Katlenburg-Lindau, Germany

  

The Service Reservoirs (1871 and 1882) are located adjacent to the Windmill Tower on Wickham Terrace in Spring Hill, Brisbane. Constructed as purpose-designed water storage and distribution facilities to service Brisbane's rapidly growing population in the late 19th Century, the Service Reservoirs represent both a creative and technical achievement of the Colonial era. The reservoirs constitute two mostly subterranean tanks, constructed of brick arched walls, roofed in the early 1900s and once connected by a series of pipes to the Enoggera Dam. They were the first of their kind in the state.

 

Aboriginal occupation of what is now the Brisbane City area was located within a close distance of freshwater streams, at the main camps at "Barrambin" (York's Hollow, now Victoria Park) and "Me-An-Jin" (Gardens Point). When European settlement was established in the area, the proximity of a sufficient water supply had a significant impact on where it was to be situated. The Moreton Bay Penal Settlement was established at Redcliffe in 1824, under the instructions of John Oxley that a suitable location would be "easy of access, difficult to escape from, and hard to attack; furthermore, it should be near fresh water and contain three hundred acres for cultivation". Only one year after settlement, the inadequacy of Redcliffe's water supply became apparent and the settlement relocated to the current Brisbane City site. Adjacent to the river, the new site allowed the collection of water from the first substantial water supply within 15miles (24.14km) of the mouth of the Brisbane River, a freshwater creek and a chain of water holes near the present Roma Street Station.

 

In 1826, Captain Logan arrived as Commandant and established a works program; key buildings were replaced with substantial structures made of stone and brick. Further development was encouraged by the construction of King's Wharf (1827) which allowed goods to be transferred from incoming ships. Due to this expansion of the penal settlement, by 1829 the quantity and quality of the water supply had dramatically decreased. In response, Captain Logan under the guidance of engineer and Clerk of Works, Andrew Petrie, ordered the excavation of an earthen dam across a creek near present-day Tank Street that was intended to hold up to a year's supply of water. From this dam, water was reticulated through a series of hollow ironbark logs with convict-powered pumps to a small number of buildings within Brisbane, including the prisoners' and military barracks, and the Commandant's quarters.

 

Brisbane experienced rapid growth after its opening for free settlement in 1842 and the population quickly rose to 812 by 1845. Water carriers charged exorbitant prices for their services and water was frequently required to be transported from Breakfast Creek at times of drought when the earthen reservoir dried up. By the 1850s the supply of freshwater became polluted from bathing, washing, and watering animals. The walls of the dam deteriorated and leaked, and in 1858 it collapsed.

 

The Municipalities Act 1858 tasked local councils with the obligation to control their town's water supply Brisbane's Municipal Council (formed in 1859, the same year as Queensland's separation from New South Wales) only made short-term repairs to the dam due to other priorities such as constructing roads, Municipal Headquarters, and improving drainage and sanitary conditions. The Council constructed a temporary tank on the edge of the reservoir in Tank Street and licensed water carriers to serve the people Brisbane, whose population had increased by 54% between 1856 and 1861 to 5900 people. It soon became clear that Brisbane required a much larger water supply. Tensions emerged between the Municipal Council and the Queensland Government over who was accountable for funding future systems.

 

Despite the strenuous debate amongst alderman regarding the best solution, and continual conflict between the Council and Queensland Government over control, the Brisbane Municipal Council made the decision in 1863 to adopt a long term solution from a report by Civil Hydraulic Engineer, Thomas Oldham. This proposal involved a gravity reticulation system to the city fed from a dam constructed at a higher elevation on Enoggera Creek. A service reservoir would be constructed near the top of Windmill Hill on Wickham Terrace, the highest suitable site near town to store water before distribution. Oldham's scheme was designed to provide a 12month water supply to 200 000 people; five times Brisbane's population at the time. The Brisbane Waterworks Act 1863 enabled the Municipal Council to construct reservoirs, supply water to the town and to charge for services but allowed the Queensland Government to influence decisions with the establishment of a Board of Waterworks.

 

Joseph Brady was appointed as Engineer to the Board of Waterworks and oversaw the construction of Enoggera Dam which began on the 18th of August 1864. The dam was completed by March 1866, with alterations made to reduce expenditure; pipework sizes were minimised and plans for the Wickham Terrace Service Reservoir were scrapped. By legislation, responsibility transferred to the Brisbane Board of Waterworks in August 1866, and later that month 94 chains (1.89km) of water mains reticulating to Queen, George, and Edward Streets were turned on. By 1869 reticulation to the southern side of the river was achieved. The system was the first reticulated gravity supply and the first municipal engineering undertaking in Queensland. Being the first of their kind in the colony, the Service Reservoirs at Spring Hill set a precedent for subsequent water supply schemes throughout Queensland, including places such as Ipswich, Toowoomba, Maryborough, and Rockhampton.

 

After complaints from Brisbane residents about mains not servicing higher areas of town and of a poor supply during peak hours, the Board of Waterworks decided to proceed with the construction of a Service Reservoir near the observatory on Wickham Terrace. Tenders were called in 1870 for the construction of a reservoir in either concrete or brick. Henry Holmes' tender was accepted specifying the use of concrete, but after preliminary excavations and the identification of cracks in concrete samples, Holmes requested to change the walls to brick and subsequently offered to withdraw his contract. The Board of Waterworks made the decision to complete the contract under its own Clerk of Works; immediately letting a contract for bricklaying and purchasing 69 000 locally produced bricks.

 

The first Reservoir at Wickham Terrace was completed in 1871 and was filled for the first time on the 24th of February 1871. The Reservoir was a 60ft x 30ft (18m x 9m) open-air structure, with 480mm (3 bricks) thick outer walls and arched brick internal cross-walls that divided the reservoirs into 15ft (4.5m) squares. It held 126 000 gallons (570 000 L) of water which came to a depth of 13ft 6in (4.15m). For 10hours every night, the mains were turned off and the reservoir was filled to keep up with demand for the following day. The Service Reservoir had a major effect on both the cost and the standard of living in Brisbane with the average cost of delivered water dropping from the 1866 price of 20shillings/1000gallons to just 1shilling/1000 gallons. In 1872 a tender for £36 from H Wakefield to raise the walls by 2ft (60.96cm) and increase the Reservoir's capacity was accepted and in 1876 an additional main from Enoggera Dam was laid to allow water to be reticulated to higher parts of town. Further complaints, together with a surge in Brisbane's population in the late 1870s, due to immigration, port activities, and the construction of the railway, prompted suggestions that the Reservoir had become inadequate and that a second, much larger reservoir was required to support increasing demand.

 

In 1882, plans were drawn for a second reservoir to be completed by the end of the year by W Innes and Son for £2797-10-0. An additional main was laid across Victoria Bridge to service the higher parts of Kangaroo Point and South Brisbane. The second Reservoir was constructed with 510mm (4 bricks) thick brick walls. The interior was divided into 15 spaces by arched brick walls; the spaces being a square shape in the central section and rectangular on the eastern and western sides. In 1889, the Board of Waterworks considered roofing both reservoirs; these additions did not take place at this time due to the leaking condition of the reservoirs, the declining reliance on them and the introduction of other water supply systems.

 

Only a few years after the second reservoir was constructed, other improvements were made in Brisbane's water supply system to cope with the population boom of the 1880s. This included the building of the Gold Creek Dam in 1885 - 1886, and the Highgate Hill Service Reservoir, which was of mass concrete rather than arched brick walls, in 1889. The commissioning of Mount Crosby Pumping Station in 1893 marked the decline of gravity water supply. The service reservoirs continued to only supply water to the lower parts of the city. Although the larger reservoir retained water in case of emergency, both reservoirs were removed from use between 1898 and 1906.

 

In 1904 - 1905 the reservoirs were recommended for reconditioning to bring them back to a usable standard. These works comprised: the reconnection with the original Enoggera main; the provision of roofs to prevent the growth of algae and to stop animals falling or being thrown in; and the installation of a spray inlet, a floating outlet, and a relief valve for the Mount Crosby supply. In July 1905 tenders were called for further works on the small reservoir, including the cement rendering of internal walls. Contractors, Maskrey and Kitchen, were approved to re-roof the reservoir for £226-6-8 including extras. After 1906, little work was completed on the Service Reservoirs apart from routine maintenance.

 

Along with the reservoirs, several other structures were constructed; over time these were demolished or removed. A cottage was constructed by JP Hardy in 1871 for £125 and was built to house the Inspector who was responsible for overseeing the reservoirs running day and night. The Inspector's cottage was removed from site before 1959. A second cottage was constructed in 1894 as a caretakers' house. This became the turncock's residence between 1958 and 1959, was occupied until 1976 and was vacant until destroyed by fire in 1977. A third residence was erected for the Senior Inspector in 1909 for £315-12-0. At different periods until 1958, the third residence also housed the Superintendent of Mains and Services and the turncock. The residence was considered uneconomical to repair in 1958 and was moved off the site by early 1959.

 

The Wickham Terrace Service Reservoirs remained an integral part of the Brisbane water supply system until the 3rd of September 1962 when the water main from Enoggera Dam collapsed and was shut down, unable to serve an increasingly high-rise inner city due to their comparatively small capacity and low elevation. Redevelopment proposals for the reservoirs during the 1980s included converting the area into an art gallery, bus exchange, restaurant, and theatre in the round.

 

In 2014, after two years of negotiations with the Brisbane City Council, the Brisbane based Underground Opera Company completed a $150 000 temporary fit-out to allow the staging of a series of opera performances within the space. The service reservoirs continue to serve as a visual reminder of the vital importance of a reliable, accessible, and clean water supply, as well as the technical advancements in the early development of Brisbane and Queensland.

 

Source: Queensland Heritage Register.

Builders plate on the gate of Belan Top Lock, Montgomery Canal. Although this section of the canal is fully restored it sees very little use as it is still isolated from the rest of the canal network with reconnection not anticipated until the end of the current decade.

 

For more photographs of the Montgomery Canal please click here: www.jhluxton.com/Canals/The-Montgomery-Canal

NASA release date January 31, 1011

 

Caption: This science visualization shows a magnetospheric substorm, during which, magnetic reconnection causes energy to be rapidly released along the magnetic field lines, causing the auroras at the North and South Poles.

 

Credit: NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center- Conceptual Image Lab

 

NASA's Time History of Events and Macroscale Interaction during Substorms (THEMIS) spacecraft combined with computer models have helped track the origin of the energetic particles in Earth's magnetic atmosphere that appear during a kind of space weather called a substorm. Understanding the source of such particles and how they are shuttled through Earth's atmosphere is crucial to better understanding the Sun's complex space weather system and thus protect satellites or even humans in space.

 

To read more go to: www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/themis/news/speedy-particles.html

 

NASA Goddard Space Flight Center enables NASA’s mission through four scientific endeavors: Earth Science, Heliophysics, Solar System Exploration, and Astrophysics. Goddard plays a leading role in NASA’s accomplishments by contributing compelling scientific knowledge to advance the Agency’s mission.

 

Follow us on Twitter

 

Join us on Facebook

Artist: Sir Frank William Brangwyn (1867–1956)

Date: Circa 1915

Medium: Watercolor and gouache on paper, later mounted on canvas

Dimensions: Approximately 36″ × 16.38″

Signature: Unsigned

 

Visual Analysis and Iconography

 

This vertical composition presents a visionary scene of ritual or revelation in a stylized forest. Tall trees stretch skyward, while a diverse group of figures gathers around a shaft of smoke rising from a hidden fire.

 

Some figures kneel, others stand in contemplation or reverence, suggesting a spiritual awakening or discovery.

 

The color palette features soft golds, pinks, and blues, merging the natural world with the symbolic. The composition's vertical thrust and luminous central beam create a dynamic sense of ascension or transcendence.

 

Context and Stylistic Significance

 

This work is likely a study for one of the murals Brangwyn painted for the Panama–Pacific International Exposition of 1915, later installed in the Herbst Theatre in San Francisco.

 

The full series comprises eight monumental murals, each allegorically representing the elements—fire, water, air, and earth—and the civilizational advances they make possible. Brangwyn’s signature style—lush, vigorous, and teeming with life—is evident here in both the composition and execution.

 

Provenance and Exhibition

 

Following their debut at the 1915 exposition, Brangwyn’s murals were reinstalled in the Veterans Building auditorium (now Herbst Theatre) in the early 1930s. The theatre was restored in the 1970s and again in the 2010s, with conservation efforts undertaken to preserve Brangwyn’s work. Today, the murals remain a defining visual feature of the theatre, which is also known as the site where the United Nations Charter was signed in 1945.

 

The Herbst Theatre and the Brangwyn Murals

 

The Herbst Theatre is part of San Francisco’s War Memorial and Performing Arts Center. Originally known as the Veterans Auditorium, it opened in 1915 and was later renamed in honor of the Herbst Foundation after major renovations. It is a historically significant venue, not only for its architectural features but also for its role in international diplomacy.

 

The theatre’s eight Brangwyn murals were originally created for the Palace of Fine Arts at the Panama–Pacific International Exposition. After the fair, the murals were preserved and relocated to the theatre. Each mural measures approximately 11 feet by 24 feet and features allegorical representations of humanity’s relationship to elemental forces. The paintings are installed in an opulent auditorium designed in the Beaux-Arts style, with gold-leaf ceilings, grand chandeliers, and a proscenium arch framing the stage.

 

In both artistic and civic terms, the Brangwyn murals are considered among the most important public artworks in San Francisco. Conservation efforts have ensured their continued vibrancy and public accessibility.

 

Artist Biography: Sir Frank William Brangwyn

 

Frank Brangwyn was born in 1867 in Bruges, Belgium, to a Welsh family. Raised in London, he received limited formal education but demonstrated artistic promise from an early age. As a teenager, he was apprenticed to William Morris and began producing illustrations, decorative designs, and paintings.

 

Brangwyn was a prolific and versatile artist who worked across numerous media: oil, watercolor, mural, etching, lithography, stained glass, textiles, and furniture design. His output was vast—estimated at over 12,000 works—and often grand in scale. He developed a powerful, muscular style, characterized by dynamic figures, rich color, and an energetic treatment of form. His themes ranged from industrial labor to religious symbolism and cross-cultural allegory.

 

Among his major mural commissions were works for the Cuyahoga County Courthouse in Cleveland, the Manitoba Legislative Building, and the British Empire Panels originally intended for the House of Lords. These panels, ultimately deemed too vibrant and unconventional for Westminster, found a permanent home in Swansea’s Brangwyn Hall.

 

Brangwyn was knighted in 1941 and spent his later years in Ditchling, East Sussex. He donated much of his work to museums and institutions, eager that it be publicly accessible rather than held in private collections. He died in 1956.

 

Frank Brangwyn, Channel Pickering Townsley, and the London School of Art

 

In the first decade of the 20th century, the London School of Art—situated at Stratford Road, Kensington—emerged as a notable and internationalist institution for art education. It distinguished itself not only through its rigorous emphasis on drawing and composition but through the stature of its faculty. Among its leading instructors were Sir Frank Brangwyn, R.A., and the school's director, Channel Pickering Townsley. Their partnership gave the school a distinctive profile at a time when art education in Britain was evolving from craft-focused instruction to something more cosmopolitan and cross-disciplinary.

 

Brangwyn’s Role: Composition, Muralism, and Influence

 

Frank Brangwyn (1867–1956), though self-taught, was internationally known by the early 1900s for his work as a muralist, draughtsman, and designer. His vigorous, sweeping compositional style—celebrated in exhibitions and civic commissions from San Francisco to Cape Town—made him a dynamic addition to the London School of Art faculty. As noted in Studio International (1908), Brangwyn was then serving as one of several elite instructors, alongside John M. Swan and Niels M. Lund, under Townsley’s directorship. He offered instruction in composition, a domain in which his mastery was beyond question.

 

In addition to studio-based work, Brangwyn participated in summer sessions abroad—particularly in Furnes, Flanders, and later in Assisi—guiding students through plein-air work and mural design studies. The 1909 summer term, for instance, placed students in the “little mountain town of Assisi” under Brangwyn’s supervision, with a model provided and lectures on landscape, composition, and mural principles.

 

Townsley’s Vision: Cosmopolitan and Collaborative

 

Channel Pickering Townsley (1855–1921), an American by birth, had studied in Europe and served as director of several important institutions, including the Art Students League in New York. His tenure at the London School of Art, beginning around 1905, saw him not only direct the school’s Kensington operations but also organize summer classes in Europe. He is consistently listed in promotional materials and editorial notices as both director and logistical organizer for international art education programs associated with the school.

 

Townsley’s vision appears to have been both pedagogically ambitious and globally networked. He facilitated the presence of major figures like Brangwyn while also expanding the school’s reach through summer sessions in Flanders and Italy. His belief in anatomical study, outdoor painting, and technical proficiency was noted in International Studio, which credited him with initiating formal classes in anatomy and inviting lecturers like Uellina W. A. Parkes to address students weekly.

 

An International Student Body and American Connections

 

Under Brangwyn and Townsley’s leadership, the London School of Art attracted students from across Europe and the United States. American students, in particular, were encouraged to enroll in summer sessions that bridged British and Continental instruction. Advertisements from International Studio (1908–09) emphasized the presence of Brangwyn and Swan on the teaching staff and the school’s capacity to prepare students for serious careers in composition, illustration, and design. The “Summer Class in Flanders” and “Summer School in Assisi” programs were marketed especially to transatlantic students seeking immersion experiences under major figures in the arts.

 

One such advertisement from 1908 lists the teaching staff as:

 

“John M. Swan, R.A., Frank Brangwyn, A.R.A., Alfred Hayward, Niels M. Lund, C. P. Townsley”

 

The school’s reputation, as reported in Studio International, rested on the “good methods of teaching and the high reputation of its professors,” and had already attracted approximately two hundred pupils by that date.

 

Cultural Context and Legacy

 

Though not as well-remembered today as the Slade or the Royal Academy Schools, the London School of Art under Brangwyn and Townsley occupied a vital space in Edwardian-era artistic education. Its emphasis on technical mastery, anatomical study, and transnational exchange anticipated later 20th-century trends in cross-cultural and plein-air instruction.

 

Brangwyn’s tenure at the school aligned with a peak period in his own career—shortly before his massive mural commissions in San Francisco and before his British Empire panels were controversially rejected by the House of Lords. His presence lent the school great visibility, but it was Townsley’s energy and managerial skill that anchored its programming and international appeal.

 

Coda: The Sketching Trip with Channel Pickering Townsley that Never Happened

 

In the summer of 1921, C. P. Townsley formally stepped away from his position as managing director of the Otis Art Institute. Though contemporaneous press coverage described the move as a “leave of absence”—with The Los Angeles Times noting on July 10 that he had “just left for Sicily, where he will remain for an indefinite period, sketching with his old friend, Frank Brangwyn”—others in the art and museum world interpreted it as a resignation in all but name. The distinction, while superficially administrative, masked a deeper rupture.

 

Townsley had grown disillusioned with Otis’s structure, where the art school functioned not as an autonomous institution but as a department within the Museum of History, Science and Art. This arrangement deprived him of long-term control over curriculum, faculty appointments, and institutional direction. After years of championing the integration of industrial art and civic life, he found himself burned out, his own creative practice neglected, and his reformist momentum obstructed by bureaucracy.

 

In this light, his final major public act—an op-ed in the Times titled "Urges School of Technology"—reads as a parting salvo. The piece laid out a visionary plan for transforming Otis into a full-scale institute of technology that would bridge vocational training, applied arts, and industrial advancement. He argued for an institution that would move beyond "prettiness" and aestheticism and instead serve the real needs of a modern metropolis. He never named names, but the article can be read as a critique of the museum establishment’s inertia and its failure to seize Los Angeles's moment of cultural potential.

 

This diagnosis of institutional drift was echoed in an unsigned editorial, “A Friendly Suggestion,” published shortly afterward, which gently questioned whether the museum’s administrative grip was holding Otis back. Taken together, these texts strongly suggest that Townsley’s departure was strategic and final, not a temporary reprieve.

 

Before leaving the United States, he had already arranged to meet Brangwyn in Sicily for an open-ended period of sketching, reflection, and reconnection. The trip was intended as both a personal retreat and a professional reset—an opportunity to revive the artistic side of himself that had been subordinated to institutional duties. Yet even that next chapter was cut short. Upon arriving in London, Brangwyn received a request from Tokyo to prepare an illustrated article on European art for public exhibition. The two men stayed in London to fulfill the commission, planning to visit the continent in the spring and Sicily the following year.

 

But Townsley died suddenly of heart failure not long afterward, ending a life that had been both restless and deeply constructive. His ashes were interred in London; his widow returned to New York.

 

For Brangwyn, the loss of Townsley was more than personal. Their decades-long friendship had been rooted in a shared belief that art could—and should—serve public life, urban development, and industrial dignity. The unrealized Sicilian sketching trip, intended as a reawakening, now stands as a symbol of unfinished work, suspended ideals, and the quiet tragedy of ambition outpacing circumstance.

 

That no prior scholar has drawn together Townsley’s editorial campaign, administrative exit, and final artistic plans underscores the depth of this forgotten moment. It was more than a transition; it was a reckoning. And in it, we see an artist who refused to settle for marginality, even as the institutions he shaped struggled to catch up with the future he imagined.

 

This text is a collaboration with Chat GPT.

Acrilico su assorbente 20x16 cm

“Traditionally, the Moontime is the sacred time of woman when she is honored as a Mother of the Creative Force. During this time she is allowed to release the old energy her body has carried and prepare for reconnection to the Earth Mother’s fertility that she will carry in the next Moon or month. Our Ancestors understood the importance of allowing each woman to have her Sacred Space during this time of reconnection, because women were the carriers of abundance and fertility...” - Jamie Sams from Sacred Path Cards: The Discovery of Self Through Native Teachings

Se riuscissimo a vedere questo momento come un momento da onorare, senza provare schifo o disgusto verso il sangue...

Se riuscissimo a fare scelte migliori, verso un ciclo più ecologico, economico, scegliendo al posto dei soliti assorbenti la Menstrual Cup (ne indico una, ma solo per comodità, ne esistono di tantissime marche)...

Se riuscissimo a prenderci il nostro tempo, solamente per cercare di capire cosa sta realmente accadendo dentro di noi...

NASA’s TRACERS (Tandem Reconnection and Cusp Electrodynamics Reconnaissance Satellites) mission launches at 11:13 a.m. PDT (2:13 p.m. EDT) on Wednesday, July 23, 2025, atop a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket at Space Launch Complex 4 East at Vandenberg Space Force Base in California. The TRACERS mission will study magnetic reconnection around Earth — a process in which electrically charged plasmas exchange energy in the atmosphere — to understand how the Sun’s solar wind interacts with the magnetosphere, Earth’s protective magnetic shield. Photo credit: SpaceX

NASA image use policy.

The United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket with NASA’s Magnetospheric Multiscale (MMS) spacecraft onboard is seen shortly after arriving at the launch pad on Wednesday, March 11, 2015, at the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station Space Launch Complex 41 in Florida. Launch of the Atlas V rocket is scheduled for March 12 and will carry the four identical MMS spacecraft into orbit to provide the first three-dimensional view of magnetic reconnection. Photo Credit: (NASA/Aubrey Gemignani)

The view from the front of a class 116 DMU approaching Birmingham Moor Street in 1987, shortly before the old terminus was closed.

 

On the right are the newly laid tracks to Birmingham Snow Hill, through the new Moor Street platforms. They just await the slewing and reconnection of the up and down main that would follow a few weeks later.

 

The Volkswagen Beetle—officially the Volkswagen Type 1—is an economy car that was built by the German company Volkswagen (VW) from 1938 until 2003. It has a rear-engine design with a two-door body style and is intended for five occupants (later, Beetles were restricted to four people in some countries).

 

The need for a people's car (Volkswagen in German), its concept and its functional objectives were formulated by the leader of Nazi Germany, Adolf Hitler, who wanted a cheap, simple car to be mass-produced for his country's new road network (Reichsautobahn). Members of the National Socialist party, with an additional dues surcharge, were promised the first production, but the Spanish Civil War shifted most production resources to military vehicles to support the Nationalists under Francisco Franco.

 

Lead engineer Ferdinand Porsche and his team took until 1938 to finalise the design. Béla Barényi is credited with conceiving the original basic design for this car in 1925, notably by Mercedes-Benz, on their website, including his original technical drawing, five years before Porsche claimed to have done his initial version. The influence on Porsche's design of other contemporary cars, such as the Tatra V570, and the work of Josef Ganz remains a subject of dispute. The result was the first Volkswagen, and one of the first rear-engined cars since the Brass Era. With 21,529,464 produced, the Beetle is the longest-running and most-manufactured car of a single platform ever made.

 

Although designed in the 1930s, due to World War II, civilian Beetles only began to be produced in significant numbers by the end of the 1940s. The car was then internally designated the Volkswagen Type 1, and marketed simply as the Volkswagen. Later models were designated Volkswagen 1200, 1300, 1500, 1302, or 1303, the first three indicating engine displacement, the last two derived from the model number.

 

The car became widely known in its home country as the Käfer (German for "beetle", cognate with English chafer) and was later marketed under that name in Germany, and as the Volkswagen in other countries. For example, in France it was known as the Coccinelle (French for ladybug).

 

The original 18.6 kW (24.9 hp) Beetle was designed for a top speed around 100 km/h (62 mph), which would be a viable cruising speed on the Reichsautobahn system. As Autobahn speeds increased in the postwar years, its output was boosted to 27 kW (36 hp), then 30 kW (40 hp), the configuration that lasted through 1966 and became the "classic" Volkswagen motor. The Beetle gave rise to multiple variants: mainly the 1950 Type 2 'Bus', the 1955 Karmann Ghia, as well as the 1961 Type 3 'Ponton' and the 1968 Type 4 (411/412) family cars, ultimately forming the basis of an entirely rear-engined VW product range.

 

The Beetle marked a significant trend, led by Volkswagen, and then by Fiat and Renault, whereby the rear-engine, rear-wheel-drive layout increased from 2.6 percent of continental Western Europe's car production in 1946 to 26.6 percent in 1956. In 1959 even General Motors launched an air-cooled, rear-engined car, the Chevrolet Corvair—which also shared the Beetle's flat engine and swing axle architecture.

 

Over time, front-wheel drive, and frequently hatchback-bodied cars would come to dominate the European small-car market. In 1974, Volkswagen's own front-wheel drive Golf hatchback succeeded the Beetle. In 1994, Volkswagen unveiled the Concept One, a "retro"-themed concept car with a resemblance to the original Beetle, and in 1998 introduced the "New Beetle", built on the contemporary Golf platform with styling recalling the original Type 1. It remained in production through 2010, and was succeeded in 2011 by the Beetle (A5), the last variant of the Beetle, which was also more reminiscent of the original Beetle. Production ceased altogether by 2019.

 

In the 1999 Car of the Century competition, to determine the world's most influential car in the 20th century, the Type 1 came fourth, after the Ford Model T, the Mini, and the Citroën DS.[

 

Nicosia ( Greek : Λευκωσία (Lefkosia), English : Nicosia), located in the middle of the island of Cyprus , is the capital of the Republic of Cyprus and the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus . It is the most populous city of Cyprus and the most important cultural, industrial, trade and transportation center. Nicosia is located at 35°10' north, 33°21' east.

 

The city is divided into two by the border called the Green Line . Although de jure the Republic of Cyprus has the administration of the entire city, de facto it only has control over South Nicosia . Northern Nicosia is under the rule of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus and is considered to be under Turkish occupation by the international community. The two sectors are separated by a Buffer Zone administered by United Nations Peacekeeping Forces . With the 1960 Constitution of the Republic of Cyprus, the Turkish Municipality of Nicosia was granted legal status.

 

Nicosia is known as "Lefkosia" (Λευκωσία) in Greek and "Nicosia" in English .

 

The first name of the area where the city is located was "Ledra". This name is also written as "Ledrae", "Lidir", "Ledras", "Ledron" and "Letra". Later, this city was destroyed and when it was rebuilt by Leucus, the city was named "Lefkotheon" (Λευκόθεον - city of the white gods). This name was also occasionally referred to as "Ledron". Later, the words "Kermia" and "Leucus" (Λευκούς) were used for the city. In the 7th century, Hierocles, a Byzantine geographer, mentioned the city as Lefkousia (Λευκουσία) in his book Synekdemos (Vademecum) . In the 13th century , the Patriarch of Constantinople referred to Nicosia as Kalli Nikesis (Καλλι Νίκησις - Beautiful Victory). A writer and monk, St. Neophytos referred to Nicosia as "Leucopolis" (Lefkopolis - White City) in a sermon he gave around 1176. Since the 10th century, the name "Nicosia" has become generally accepted. In the 18th century, Greek Cypriot historian Archimandrite Kyprianos stated that another name for Nicosia was "Photolampos" (Shining with Light).

 

There are various claims that the city is referred to as "Nicosia" and similar forms in European languages. According to one claim, the Latins replaced the first syllable of the word, "Lef", with "Ni" because they could not pronounce it. Another claim is that the name derives from the name "Kallinikesis". A writer from Sicily named Sindaco connects the name "Nicosia" to the town named "Nicosia" in Sicily and claimed that King Tancred from this town was with Richard I during the siege of Cyprus and named the city after his own town. . Another claim is that the name "Nicosia" emerged during the rebellion of the city's people against the Knights Templar in 1192. A German priest named Ludolf named the city "Nycosia" between 1341 and 1363. HAS Dearborn, in his book published in 1819, says that another name for Nicosia is "Nicotia". In 1856, William Curry stated that the Greeks called the city "Escosie" and the Western Europeans called it "Licosia".

 

The name of the city is mentioned in Ottoman documents as "Nicosia" or "medine-i Nicosia" . In addition, in a letter regarding the conquest of Nicosia in 1570, the name of the city is mentioned as "Nicosia". Kâtip Çelebi refers to the city as "Nicosia" (which is sometimes used today).

 

The first settlement in the area where Nicosia is located took place in the Neolithic Age . The date of the first settlement is approximately 3000-4000 BC. In 1050 BC or in the 7th century BC, a city called " Ledra " was founded in the region. This city had an important place among the other city kingdoms on the island. During archaeological excavations, a Greek inscription written in the 4th century BC was found indicating the existence of a temple dedicated to Aphrodite in Ledra. By around 330 BC it had shrunk to a small village. When this city was destroyed due to earthquakes , in 200 BC, Leucus, the son of Ptolemy I Soter , founded the city that is today Nicosia.

 

The city's importance began to increase in the late Byzantine period. In the 7th century, it became the capital of the island during the Arab raids.

 

It fell into the hands of Richard I in 1191 . It was the capital of the island during the period when the Knights Templar purchased and dominated the island. A rebellion broke out in the city on 11 April 1192. The knights suppressed this uprising with a massacre and then left the island.

 

The Lusignans purchased the island and Nicosia remained their capital. During the Lusignan period, he built many new buildings in the city. During the Venetian period, most of these were demolished and used in the construction of walls. During this period, the Lusignans also built walls around the city. These walls were in the shape of an irregular pentagon . There were no walls in the city before. King Henry I built the first walls with two towers in 1211, Peter I built a third tower, and Henry II built the first walls. Henry had the city completely surrounded by walls. The city became quite wealthy during this period. Nicosia was one of four dioceses on the island. It also became the center of an archdiocese in 1212. During this period, events were taking place between Greeks and Latins, and bloody conflicts broke out in the city in 1313 and 1360.

 

Nicosia has been damaged by many earthquakes throughout its history. The 1222 Cyprus earthquake was felt strongly in the city and caused great damage. In November 1330, a flood occurred in the city and three thousand people lost their lives. In addition, the city was heavily damaged by the Genoese in 1373 and the Mamluks in 1426.

 

On February 26, 1489, Nicosia, along with the entire island, came under the rule of the Republic of Venice . Just before the Ottoman conquest of the island, the Venetians inspected the walls and found them too weak. According to the new plans, the walls of Nicosia were reduced from eight miles to three miles. Meanwhile, all buildings outside the new walls were destroyed. According to a claim, the route of Kanlıdere was changed by the Venetians. Another claim is that the Ottomans changed the route of the stream to save the city from floods.

 

During the conquest of Cyprus by the Ottomans , Nicosia was the third largest settlement taken. Piyale Pasha and his army took action to take Nicosia on 22 July 1570. On July 25, Nicosia was besieged. Clashes began on July 27, as the Venetians did not accept the Ottomans' demands to surrender the castle. The fact that the walls were very strong ensured that Nicosia would not fall. At dawn on 9 September 1570, a new attack was launched and troops of more than 20 thousand people conquered Nicosia.

 

As part of the settlement of Turks in Cyprus during the Ottoman period, the settlement of the Turkish population in Nicosia, as well as in the entire island, started in 1572. Non-professional Greeks in the city were settled in the neighborhoods outside the city and replaced by Turks. According to a census made during this period, the city had 31 neighborhoods. In two of them ("Ermiyan" and "Karaman"), the Armenian population was in the majority.

 

During the Ottoman period, Nicosia first served as the capital of the State of Cyprus as the center of a district called "Mountain Kaza", and later became a sanjak . During the Ottoman period, St. Large churches such as the Sophia Cathedral were converted into mosques. ​​Nicosia - Larnaca road was built. The gates of the city were opened at sunrise and closed at sunset. The Governor, Judge, Interpreter and Greek Archbishop resided in Nicosia. ​​William Kimbrough Pendleton states that in 1864 most of the houses in the city were made of clay brick. As a result of a major earthquake in 1741, one minaret of the Selimiye Mosque collapsed and had to be rebuilt. There were riots in the city in 1764 and 1821.

 

On July 12, 1878, Nicosia, along with the rest of the island, came under British rule . British troops entered the city through the Kyrenia Gate and hoisted the first British flag on the Değirmen Bastion next to the Paphos Gate . Nicosia Municipality was established in 1882. Under British rule, Nicosia grew outside the city walls. Between 1930 and 1945, villages such as Ortaköy , Strovolos , Büyük Kaymaklı , Küçük Kaymaklı began to merge with the city, and the first settlements were made in regions such as Yenişehir . On January 1, 1944, Ayii Omoloyitadhes was included in the municipal boundaries. In order to provide access outside the city, the walls on the sides of the Paphos Gate in 1879, the Kyrenia Gate in 1931, and the Famagusta Gate in 1945 were cut. In 1905, a train station was built in Büyük Kaymaklı and train services to Nicosia started, this practice ended in 1955. In 1912, the first electricity came to the city. Also in the same year, kerosene-powered street lamps were replaced with electric ones. Under British rule, the sewer network was cleaned and the roads were repaired. On October 17, 1947, as a result of an explosion in the power plant that supplied energy to the city, the city was left without electricity for 116 days.

 

In 1895, Greeks attacked the Turks in the Tahtakale region of Nicosia. In 1931, Greeks rebelled against British rule and burned the government building. Founded in 1955, EOKA attacked public buildings and the radio station in the city against British rule.

 

The Republic of Cyprus was established on 16 August 1960 . The flag of the Republic of Cyprus was hoisted in the House of Representatives at midnight that night, ending British rule on the island. In accordance with Article 173 of the 1960 constitution, a Greek (Nicosia -Greek Municipality) and a Turkish ( Nicosia Turkish Municipality ) municipality were established on the island. On the night of 20–21 December 1963, the events known as " Bloody Christmas " began. Zeki Halil and Cemaliye Emirali were killed as a result of fire opened on cars in Tahtakale district of Nicosia. Between 23-30, Küçük Kaymaklı was besieged. On the night of 23-24 January, 11 people were killed in the Kumsal region, and the family of Turkish major Nihat İlhan was killed in the incident known as the Kumsal Raid. An attack was carried out against the Turks in the Kanlıdere region. As a result of the events, the governments of Turkey , Greece and the United Kingdom met on 30 December 1963 . As a result of this meeting, the border , also known as the Green Line, was drawn, dividing the city into Turkish and Greek parts. The reason why this border is called the "Green Line" is that the pen of the United Nations official who drew the line on the map was green. The borders of the city were finalized with the Cyprus Operation carried out in 1974 by the order of Turkish Prime Minister Bülent Ecevit .

 

On 29 March 1968, the suburbs of Eylence , Büyük Kaymaklı, Küçük Kaymaklı, Pallouriotissa , Strovolos (partially) and Kızılay were also included in the municipal borders. Following the de facto division of the city, the area under the administration of the Republic of Cyprus continued to grow in a southerly direction. North Nicosia also continued to grow and merged with outlying villages such as Gönyeli (which has a separate municipality) and Hamitköy (which is part of the Nicosia Turkish Municipality).

 

Kermiya Border Gate was opened in 2003, and Lokmacı Gate was opened in 2008 .

 

Nicosia is located in a central point of the island of Cyprus, in the central parts of the Mesarya Plain .

 

Nicosia has a hot semi-arid climate according to the Köppen climate classification . The hottest months are July and August, and the coldest months are January and February. The month with the most rainfall is January. Nicosia is one of the warmest places on the island.

 

Nicosia is located in the center of the geological formation called Nicosia Formation. This region dates back to the Lower Pliocene period. Gray, yellow and white marl layers, sandy and yellow limestones and sparse conglomerate bands are frequently encountered. The reconnection of the Mediterranean with the Atlantic Ocean resulted in the rise of sea water and the formation of new sediments, which formed the Nicosia Formation. Underneath Nicosia is the Nicosia- Serdarlı aquifer , which has an area of ​​60 km² .

 

The riverside parts of Nicosia city, especially Kanlıdere , have a great biodiversity. [88] In a research conducted in the streams in a 12.5 km diameter area of ​​the city, which is rich in vegetation (especially in stream beds), 185 different plant species belonging to 62 different families were identified. Among these, there are four endemic and 16 rare species. The most common tree species found on the banks of streams in the city is the eucalyptus tree (various types can be found). There is a total of 0.262 square kilometers of forest area in the Nicosia Central agricultural region of Northern Cyprus . Two kilometers outside Nicosia (in its southern part), within the boundaries of the Municipality of Eylence, is the Pedagogical Academy National Forest Park, and to the south of the city is the Athalassa National Forest Park. In Northern Nicosia, there is the Nicosia Forest Nursery, which is 0.5 hectares in size.

 

The habitats of animals in the stream beds in some parts of the city are in danger. The reeds along the streams host many animals, especially bird species. Many creatures such as kingfishers , water chickens , striped turtles and chameleons live on the banks of the streams . There are especially many turtles in the streams.

 

Nicosia is the commercial center of Cyprus. The city hosts the central banks of the Republic of Cyprus and the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus .

 

The city of Nicosia is divided into two parts in terms of urbanization, these are old Nicosia (the area inside the walls) and new Nicosia (outside the walls). In Old Nicosia, the roads are narrow and there are dead ends. In New Nicosia, there is more vertical and horizontal development over a wider area. Junctions and roads are wider, parks occupy larger areas.

 

In Nicosia during the Ottoman period, Greeks and Turks lived mixed in some neighborhoods, and in some neighborhoods, one of them was the majority. Mosques can be found in Turkish neighborhoods and churches in Greek neighborhoods. Armenians also lived in the city. The houses of the Armenians who used to live in Köşklüçiftlik were all made of cut stone and had their own unique architecture. Bay windows are a common feature in houses in Old Nicosia . The Büyük Han is one of the most advanced architectural works on the island, and today it is a cultural center where various activities such as exhibitions, sales of antiques and traditional items, and shadow plays take place.

 

There are fourteen museums in the part of Nicosia south of the Green Line. The Cyprus Museum was founded in 1888 and exhibits hundreds of archaeological artifacts brought from all over the island. The house of Hadjigeorgakis Kornesios, who worked as a translator for the Divan during the Ottoman period, built in 1793, is used as an ethnography museum. In the northern part of the city, the number of museums is six. Derviş Pasha Mansion is used as an ethnography museum.

 

Although there are many theaters in the south of the city, the headquarters of the Cyprus Theater Association is in Nicosia. The State Theater Building, built in the 2000s, formerly hosted this institution, which suffered from inadequate facilities, and is not allowed to be used by any other theater organization. Nicosia Municipality Theatre, built in 1967, has a capacity of 1220 people. In the north, the Turkish Cypriot State Theater performs plays and organizes tours; but it does not have a hall. Also in the north is the Nicosia Municipal Theater, which was established in 1980. The Cyprus Theater Festival, jointly organized by the Nicosia Turkish Municipality and Nicosia Municipal Theatres, is a large organization attended by institutions such as Istanbul City Theatres , and all of these can be held in only two halls.

 

There are nineteen cinemas in the southern part of the city, six of which are owned by a company called K Cineplex, and thirteen are owned by other companies. In the north of the city, the number of cinemas is four.

 

Two waterways built during the Ottoman period were used in Nicosia until the mid-20th century. These waterways were Arab Ahmed and Silihtar waterways. Apart from this, water extracted from wells was also used.

 

Telegraph was first used in the city in 1873. In 1936, a public telephone network was established covering the entire island and Nicosia.

 

The migration to the city of Nicosia as a result of the Cyprus Operation in 1974 caused problems such as development, transportation, sewerage, housing shortage and lack of infrastructure in the city.

 

Since Nicosia is a divided city, the Republic of Cyprus and Northern Cyprus education systems are implemented in the city. A university called Near East University in North Nicosia , Cyprus International University, Mediterranean Karpaz University, Anadolu University 's open education faculty, apart from these, colleges such as Atatürk Teachers Academy and Police School There are. In the area under the control of the Republic of Cyprus , there are universities named University of Cyprus , Open University of Cyprus , Frederick University , University of Nicosia , [132] and European University of Cyprus.

 

In the Nicosia District of the Republic of Cyprus, there are 42 secondary schools, 133 primary schools and three kindergartens. There are a total of 30 primary schools, kindergartens and special education centers at the primary level in the Nicosia district of Northern Cyprus .

 

The roads on the island were built to be centered in Nicosia and unite in Nicosia. All important roads meet in Nicosia. During the Ottoman period, only the Larnaca road was built, and the previously built roads were in ruins. Under British rule, these roads were rebuilt and a regular postal service was established between Nicosia and other cities. The first car arrived in the city in 1907. The first bus services from the city started in 1929, these services departed from the Kyrenia Gate and went to Strovolos, Aydemet and Büyük Kaymaklı. [139] Train services started between Nicosia and Famagusta on 21 October 1905 . Train services were organized from Nicosia to approximately 30 stops. Train services ended on December 31, 1951. Nicosia International Airport was opened in 1949 . This airport is in the Buffer Zone today and is not used.

 

Today, there is a bus service in the Republic of Cyprus controlled part of the city run by a company called Nicosia Bus Company . All buses leave from the terminal in Solomos Square and make stops every 20 to 30 minutes. There are plans to expand the bus line, increase the frequency of services and renew the bus fleet. The Department of Public Works signed an agreement to establish tram and light rail lines between Nicosia - Larnaca and Limassol . There are motorways such as A1 and A2 from the city . In addition to developing this road network, there are also projects to improve the roads within the city. Apart from this, there are also taxis . Air transportation to the city is provided by Larnaca International Airport (44 km away) and Paphos International Airport . Larnaca Airport is used more than Paphos Airport.

 

LETTAŞ company also has buses in North Nicosia. The first municipal bus was put into operation on the Göçmenköy-Yenişehir route on January 15, 1980, during Mustafa Akıncı 's term as mayor. Starting from 1984, this service was transformed into a public transportation network within the municipality and started to provide service, and later the same vehicles were privatized to be operated by the LETTAŞ company. There is a bus terminal in the Yenişehir area. The airport used by the northern part of the city is Ercan Airport . Transportation to the airport is provided by buses. It is also possible to reach the city by taxi and minibus .

 

Nicosia Municipality is a sister city with the following cities:

Germany Schwerin , Germany (1974)

Greece Athens , Greece (1988)

Ukraine Odessa , Ukraine (1996)

Iranian Shiraz , Iran (1999)

Romania Bucharest , Romania (2004)

Chinese Shanghai , China (2004)

 

The city has also collaborated with the following cities:

Russia Moscow , Russia (1997, 2002, 2003-2004, 2006-2008)

Italy Nicosia , Italy (2000-2002)

Chinese Qingdao , China (2001)

Greece Athens , Greece (2001, 2003)

Finland Helsinki , Finland (2003)

Syria Damascus , Syria (2003)

Croatia Zagreb , Croatia (2004)

Malta Valletta , Malta (2007)

 

Sister cities of Nicosia Turkish Municipality

Türkiye Izmir , Turkey (2019)

Türkiye Ankara , Turkey (1988)

Türkiye Bursa , Turkey

North Macedonia Kumanovo , North Macedonia (2007)

Gagauzia Comrat , Gagauzia

Türkiye Gaziantep Turkey​

Türkiye Istanbul Turkey

 

Northern Cyprus, officially the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC), is a de facto state that comprises the northeastern portion of the island of Cyprus. It is recognised only by Turkey, and its territory is considered by all other states to be part of the Republic of Cyprus.

 

Northern Cyprus extends from the tip of the Karpass Peninsula in the northeast to Morphou Bay, Cape Kormakitis and its westernmost point, the Kokkina exclave in the west. Its southernmost point is the village of Louroujina. A buffer zone under the control of the United Nations stretches between Northern Cyprus and the rest of the island and divides Nicosia, the island's largest city and capital of both sides.

 

A coup d'état in 1974, performed as part of an attempt to annex the island to Greece, prompted the Turkish invasion of Cyprus. This resulted in the eviction of much of the north's Greek Cypriot population, the flight of Turkish Cypriots from the south, and the partitioning of the island, leading to a unilateral declaration of independence by the north in 1983. Due to its lack of recognition, Northern Cyprus is heavily dependent on Turkey for economic, political and military support.

 

Attempts to reach a solution to the Cyprus dispute have been unsuccessful. The Turkish Army maintains a large force in Northern Cyprus with the support and approval of the TRNC government, while the Republic of Cyprus, the European Union as a whole, and the international community regard it as an occupation force. This military presence has been denounced in several United Nations Security Council resolutions.

 

Northern Cyprus is a semi-presidential, democratic republic with a cultural heritage incorporating various influences and an economy that is dominated by the services sector. The economy has seen growth through the 2000s and 2010s, with the GNP per capita more than tripling in the 2000s, but is held back by an international embargo due to the official closure of the ports in Northern Cyprus by the Republic of Cyprus. The official language is Turkish, with a distinct local dialect being spoken. The vast majority of the population consists of Sunni Muslims, while religious attitudes are mostly moderate and secular. Northern Cyprus is an observer state of ECO and OIC under the name "Turkish Cypriot State", PACE under the name "Turkish Cypriot Community", and Organization of Turkic States with its own name.

 

Several distinct periods of Cypriot intercommunal violence involving the two main ethnic communities, Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots, marked mid-20th century Cyprus. These included the Cyprus Emergency of 1955–59 during British rule, the post-independence Cyprus crisis of 1963–64, and the Cyprus crisis of 1967. Hostilities culminated in the 1974 de facto division of the island along the Green Line following the Turkish invasion of Cyprus. The region has been relatively peaceful since then, but the Cyprus dispute has continued, with various attempts to solve it diplomatically having been generally unsuccessful.

 

Cyprus, an island lying in the eastern Mediterranean, hosted a population of Greeks and Turks (four-fifths and one-fifth, respectively), who lived under British rule in the late nineteenth-century and the first half of the twentieth-century. Christian Orthodox Church of Cyprus played a prominent political role among the Greek Cypriot community, a privilege that it acquired during the Ottoman Empire with the employment of the millet system, which gave the archbishop an unofficial ethnarch status.

 

The repeated rejections by the British of Greek Cypriot demands for enosis, union with Greece, led to armed resistance, organised by the National Organization of Cypriot Struggle, or EOKA. EOKA, led by the Greek-Cypriot commander George Grivas, systematically targeted British colonial authorities. One of the effects of EOKA's campaign was to alter the Turkish position from demanding full reincorporation into Turkey to a demand for taksim (partition). EOKA's mission and activities caused a "Cretan syndrome" (see Turkish Resistance Organisation) within the Turkish Cypriot community, as its members feared that they would be forced to leave the island in such a case as had been the case with Cretan Turks. As such, they preferred the continuation of British colonial rule and then taksim, the division of the island. Due to the Turkish Cypriots' support for the British, EOKA's leader, Georgios Grivas, declared them to be enemies. The fact that the Turks were a minority was, according to Nihat Erim, to be addressed by the transfer of thousands of Turks from mainland Turkey so that Greek Cypriots would cease to be the majority. When Erim visited Cyprus as the Turkish representative, he was advised by Field Marshal Sir John Harding, the then Governor of Cyprus, that Turkey should send educated Turks to settle in Cyprus.

 

Turkey actively promoted the idea that on the island of Cyprus two distinctive communities existed, and sidestepped its former claim that "the people of Cyprus were all Turkish subjects". In doing so, Turkey's aim to have self-determination of two to-be equal communities in effect led to de jure partition of the island.[citation needed] This could be justified to the international community against the will of the majority Greek population of the island. Dr. Fazil Küçük in 1954 had already proposed Cyprus be divided in two at the 35° parallel.

 

Lindley Dan, from Notre Dame University, spotted the roots of intercommunal violence to different visions among the two communities of Cyprus (enosis for Greek Cypriots, taksim for Turkish Cypriots). Also, Lindlay wrote that "the merging of church, schools/education, and politics in divisive and nationalistic ways" had played a crucial role in creation of havoc in Cyprus' history. Attalides Michael also pointed to the opposing nationalisms as the cause of the Cyprus problem.

 

By the mid-1950's, the "Cyprus is Turkish" party, movement, and slogan gained force in both Cyprus and Turkey. In a 1954 editorial, Turkish Cypriot leader Dr. Fazil Kuchuk expressed the sentiment that the Turkish youth had grown up with the idea that "as soon as Great Britain leaves the island, it will be taken over by the Turks", and that "Turkey cannot tolerate otherwise". This perspective contributed to the willingness of Turkish Cypriots to align themselves with the British, who started recruiting Turkish Cypriots into the police force that patrolled Cyprus to fight EOKA, a Greek Cypriot nationalist organisation that sought to rid the island of British rule.

 

EOKA targeted colonial authorities, including police, but Georgios Grivas, the leader of EOKA, did not initially wish to open up a new front by fighting Turkish Cypriots and reassured them that EOKA would not harm their people. In 1956, some Turkish Cypriot policemen were killed by EOKA members and this provoked some intercommunal violence in the spring and summer, but these attacks on policemen were not motivated by the fact that they were Turkish Cypriots.

 

However, in January 1957, Grivas changed his policy as his forces in the mountains became increasingly pressured by the British Crown forces. In order to divert the attention of the Crown forces, EOKA members started to target Turkish Cypriot policemen intentionally in the towns, so that Turkish Cypriots would riot against the Greek Cypriots and the security forces would have to be diverted to the towns to restore order. The killing of a Turkish Cypriot policeman on 19 January, when a power station was bombed, and the injury of three others, provoked three days of intercommunal violence in Nicosia. The two communities targeted each other in reprisals, at least one Greek Cypriot was killed and the British Army was deployed in the streets. Greek Cypriot stores were burned and their neighbourhoods attacked. Following the events, the Greek Cypriot leadership spread the propaganda that the riots had merely been an act of Turkish Cypriot aggression. Such events created chaos and drove the communities apart both in Cyprus and in Turkey.

 

On 22 October 1957 Sir Hugh Mackintosh Foot replaced Sir John Harding as the British Governor of Cyprus. Foot suggested five to seven years of self-government before any final decision. His plan rejected both enosis and taksim. The Turkish Cypriot response to this plan was a series of anti-British demonstrations in Nicosia on 27 and 28 January 1958 rejecting the proposed plan because the plan did not include partition. The British then withdrew the plan.

 

In 1957, Black Gang, a Turkish Cypriot pro-taksim paramilitary organisation, was formed to patrol a Turkish Cypriot enclave, the Tahtakale district of Nicosia, against activities of EOKA. The organisation later attempted to grow into a national scale, but failed to gain public support.

 

By 1958, signs of dissatisfaction with the British increased on both sides, with a group of Turkish Cypriots forming Volkan (later renamed to the Turkish Resistance Organisation) paramilitary group to promote partition and the annexation of Cyprus to Turkey as dictated by the Menderes plan. Volkan initially consisted of roughly 100 members, with the stated aim of raising awareness in Turkey of the Cyprus issue and courting military training and support for Turkish Cypriot fighters from the Turkish government.

 

In June 1958, the British Prime Minister, Harold Macmillan, was expected to propose a plan to resolve the Cyprus issue. In light of the new development, the Turks rioted in Nicosia to promote the idea that Greek and Turkish Cypriots could not live together and therefore any plan that did not include partition would not be viable. This violence was soon followed by bombing, Greek Cypriot deaths and looting of Greek Cypriot-owned shops and houses. Greek and Turkish Cypriots started to flee mixed population villages where they were a minority in search of safety. This was effectively the beginning of the segregation of the two communities. On 7 June 1958, a bomb exploded at the entrance of the Turkish Embassy in Cyprus. Following the bombing, Turkish Cypriots looted Greek Cypriot properties. On 26 June 1984, the Turkish Cypriot leader, Rauf Denktaş, admitted on British channel ITV that the bomb was placed by the Turks themselves in order to create tension. On 9 January 1995, Rauf Denktaş repeated his claim to the famous Turkish newspaper Milliyet in Turkey.

 

The crisis reached a climax on 12 June 1958, when eight Greeks, out of an armed group of thirty five arrested by soldiers of the Royal Horse Guards on suspicion of preparing an attack on the Turkish quarter of Skylloura, were killed in a suspected attack by Turkish Cypriot locals, near the village of Geunyeli, having been ordered to walk back to their village of Kondemenos.

 

After the EOKA campaign had begun, the British government successfully began to turn the Cyprus issue from a British colonial problem into a Greek-Turkish issue. British diplomacy exerted backstage influence on the Adnan Menderes government, with the aim of making Turkey active in Cyprus. For the British, the attempt had a twofold objective. The EOKA campaign would be silenced as quickly as possible, and Turkish Cypriots would not side with Greek Cypriots against the British colonial claims over the island, which would thus remain under the British. The Turkish Cypriot leadership visited Menderes to discuss the Cyprus issue. When asked how the Turkish Cypriots should respond to the Greek Cypriot claim of enosis, Menderes replied: "You should go to the British foreign minister and request the status quo be prolonged, Cyprus to remain as a British colony". When the Turkish Cypriots visited the British Foreign Secretary and requested for Cyprus to remain a colony, he replied: "You should not be asking for colonialism at this day and age, you should be asking for Cyprus be returned to Turkey, its former owner".

 

As Turkish Cypriots began to look to Turkey for protection, Greek Cypriots soon understood that enosis was extremely unlikely. The Greek Cypriot leader, Archbishop Makarios III, now set independence for the island as his objective.

 

Britain resolved to solve the dispute by creating an independent Cyprus. In 1959, all involved parties signed the Zurich Agreements: Britain, Turkey, Greece, and the Greek and Turkish Cypriot leaders, Makarios and Dr. Fazil Kucuk, respectively. The new constitution drew heavily on the ethnic composition of the island. The President would be a Greek Cypriot, and the Vice-President a Turkish Cypriot with an equal veto. The contribution to the public service would be set at a ratio of 70:30, and the Supreme Court would consist of an equal number of judges from both communities as well as an independent judge who was not Greek, Turkish or British. The Zurich Agreements were supplemented by a number of treaties. The Treaty of Guarantee stated that secession or union with any state was forbidden, and that Greece, Turkey and Britain would be given guarantor status to intervene if that was violated. The Treaty of Alliance allowed for two small Greek and Turkish military contingents to be stationed on the island, and the Treaty of Establishment gave Britain sovereignty over two bases in Akrotiri and Dhekelia.

 

On 15 August 1960, the Colony of Cyprus became fully independent as the Republic of Cyprus. The new republic remained within the Commonwealth of Nations.

 

The new constitution brought dissatisfaction to Greek Cypriots, who felt it to be highly unjust for them for historical, demographic and contributional reasons. Although 80% of the island's population were Greek Cypriots and these indigenous people had lived on the island for thousands of years and paid 94% of taxes, the new constitution was giving the 17% of the population that was Turkish Cypriots, who paid 6% of taxes, around 30% of government jobs and 40% of national security jobs.

 

Within three years tensions between the two communities in administrative affairs began to show. In particular disputes over separate municipalities and taxation created a deadlock in government. A constitutional court ruled in 1963 Makarios had failed to uphold article 173 of the constitution which called for the establishment of separate municipalities for Turkish Cypriots. Makarios subsequently declared his intention to ignore the judgement, resulting in the West German judge resigning from his position. Makarios proposed thirteen amendments to the constitution, which would have had the effect of resolving most of the issues in the Greek Cypriot favour. Under the proposals, the President and Vice-President would lose their veto, the separate municipalities as sought after by the Turkish Cypriots would be abandoned, the need for separate majorities by both communities in passing legislation would be discarded and the civil service contribution would be set at actual population ratios (82:18) instead of the slightly higher figure for Turkish Cypriots.

 

The intention behind the amendments has long been called into question. The Akritas plan, written in the height of the constitutional dispute by the Greek Cypriot interior minister Polycarpos Georkadjis, called for the removal of undesirable elements of the constitution so as to allow power-sharing to work. The plan envisaged a swift retaliatory attack on Turkish Cypriot strongholds should Turkish Cypriots resort to violence to resist the measures, stating "In the event of a planned or staged Turkish attack, it is imperative to overcome it by force in the shortest possible time, because if we succeed in gaining command of the situation (in one or two days), no outside, intervention would be either justified or possible." Whether Makarios's proposals were part of the Akritas plan is unclear, however it remains that sentiment towards enosis had not completely disappeared with independence. Makarios described independence as "a step on the road to enosis".[31] Preparations for conflict were not entirely absent from Turkish Cypriots either, with right wing elements still believing taksim (partition) the best safeguard against enosis.

 

Greek Cypriots however believe the amendments were a necessity stemming from a perceived attempt by Turkish Cypriots to frustrate the working of government. Turkish Cypriots saw it as a means to reduce their status within the state from one of co-founder to that of minority, seeing it as a first step towards enosis. The security situation deteriorated rapidly.

 

Main articles: Bloody Christmas (1963) and Battle of Tillyria

An armed conflict was triggered after December 21, 1963, a period remembered by Turkish Cypriots as Bloody Christmas, when a Greek Cypriot policemen that had been called to help deal with a taxi driver refusing officers already on the scene access to check the identification documents of his customers, took out his gun upon arrival and shot and killed the taxi driver and his partner. Eric Solsten summarised the events as follows: "a Greek Cypriot police patrol, ostensibly checking identification documents, stopped a Turkish Cypriot couple on the edge of the Turkish quarter. A hostile crowd gathered, shots were fired, and two Turkish Cypriots were killed."

 

In the morning after the shooting, crowds gathered in protest in Northern Nicosia, likely encouraged by the TMT, without incident. On the evening of the 22nd, gunfire broke out, communication lines to the Turkish neighbourhoods were cut, and the Greek Cypriot police occupied the nearby airport. On the 23rd, a ceasefire was negotiated, but did not hold. Fighting, including automatic weapons fire, between Greek and Turkish Cypriots and militias increased in Nicosia and Larnaca. A force of Greek Cypriot irregulars led by Nikos Sampson entered the Nicosia suburb of Omorphita and engaged in heavy firing on armed, as well as by some accounts unarmed, Turkish Cypriots. The Omorphita clash has been described by Turkish Cypriots as a massacre, while this view has generally not been acknowledged by Greek Cypriots.

 

Further ceasefires were arranged between the two sides, but also failed. By Christmas Eve, the 24th, Britain, Greece, and Turkey had joined talks, with all sides calling for a truce. On Christmas day, Turkish fighter jets overflew Nicosia in a show of support. Finally it was agreed to allow a force of 2,700 British soldiers to help enforce a ceasefire. In the next days, a "buffer zone" was created in Nicosia, and a British officer marked a line on a map with green ink, separating the two sides of the city, which was the beginning of the "Green Line". Fighting continued across the island for the next several weeks.

 

In total 364 Turkish Cypriots and 174 Greek Cypriots were killed during the violence. 25,000 Turkish Cypriots from 103-109 villages fled and were displaced into enclaves and thousands of Turkish Cypriot houses were ransacked or completely destroyed.

 

Contemporary newspapers also reported on the forceful exodus of the Turkish Cypriots from their homes. According to The Times in 1964, threats, shootings and attempts of arson were committed against the Turkish Cypriots to force them out of their homes. The Daily Express wrote that "25,000 Turks have already been forced to leave their homes". The Guardian reported a massacre of Turks at Limassol on 16 February 1964.

 

Turkey had by now readied its fleet and its fighter jets appeared over Nicosia. Turkey was dissuaded from direct involvement by the creation of a United Nations Peacekeeping Force in Cyprus (UNFICYP) in 1964. Despite the negotiated ceasefire in Nicosia, attacks on the Turkish Cypriot persisted, particularly in Limassol. Concerned about the possibility of a Turkish invasion, Makarios undertook the creation of a Greek Cypriot conscript-based army called the "National Guard". A general from Greece took charge of the army, whilst a further 20,000 well-equipped officers and men were smuggled from Greece into Cyprus. Turkey threatened to intervene once more, but was prevented by a strongly worded letter from the American President Lyndon B. Johnson, anxious to avoid a conflict between NATO allies Greece and Turkey at the height of the Cold War.

 

Turkish Cypriots had by now established an important bridgehead at Kokkina, provided with arms, volunteers and materials from Turkey and abroad. Seeing this incursion of foreign weapons and troops as a major threat, the Cypriot government invited George Grivas to return from Greece as commander of the Greek troops on the island and launch a major attack on the bridgehead. Turkey retaliated by dispatching its fighter jets to bomb Greek positions, causing Makarios to threaten an attack on every Turkish Cypriot village on the island if the bombings did not cease. The conflict had now drawn in Greece and Turkey, with both countries amassing troops on their Thracian borders. Efforts at mediation by Dean Acheson, a former U.S. Secretary of State, and UN-appointed mediator Galo Plaza had failed, all the while the division of the two communities becoming more apparent. Greek Cypriot forces were estimated at some 30,000, including the National Guard and the large contingent from Greece. Defending the Turkish Cypriot enclaves was a force of approximately 5,000 irregulars, led by a Turkish colonel, but lacking the equipment and organisation of the Greek forces.

 

The Secretary-General of the United Nations in 1964, U Thant, reported the damage during the conflicts:

 

UNFICYP carried out a detailed survey of all damage to properties throughout the island during the disturbances; it shows that in 109 villages, most of them Turkish-Cypriot or mixed villages, 527 houses have been destroyed while 2,000 others have suffered damage from looting.

 

The situation worsened in 1967, when a military junta overthrew the democratically elected government of Greece, and began applying pressure on Makarios to achieve enosis. Makarios, not wishing to become part of a military dictatorship or trigger a Turkish invasion, began to distance himself from the goal of enosis. This caused tensions with the junta in Greece as well as George Grivas in Cyprus. Grivas's control over the National Guard and Greek contingent was seen as a threat to Makarios's position, who now feared a possible coup.[citation needed] The National Guard and Cyprus Police began patrolling the Turkish Cypriot enclaves of Ayios Theodoros and Kophinou, and on November 15 engaged in heavy fighting with the Turkish Cypriots.

 

By the time of his withdrawal 26 Turkish Cypriots had been killed. Turkey replied with an ultimatum demanding that Grivas be removed from the island, that the troops smuggled from Greece in excess of the limits of the Treaty of Alliance be removed, and that the economic blockades on the Turkish Cypriot enclaves be lifted. Grivas was recalled by the Athens Junta and the 12,000 Greek troops were withdrawn. Makarios now attempted to consolidate his position by reducing the number of National Guard troops, and by creating a paramilitary force loyal to Cypriot independence. In 1968, acknowledging that enosis was now all but impossible, Makarios stated, "A solution by necessity must be sought within the limits of what is feasible which does not always coincide with the limits of what is desirable."

 

After 1967 tensions between the Greek and Turkish Cypriots subsided. Instead, the main source of tension on the island came from factions within the Greek Cypriot community. Although Makarios had effectively abandoned enosis in favour of an 'attainable solution', many others continued to believe that the only legitimate political aspiration for Greek Cypriots was union with Greece.

 

On his arrival, Grivas began by establishing a nationalist paramilitary group known as the National Organization of Cypriot Fighters (Ethniki Organosis Kyprion Agoniston B or EOKA-B), drawing comparisons with the EOKA struggle for enosis under the British colonial administration of the 1950s.

 

The military junta in Athens saw Makarios as an obstacle. Makarios's failure to disband the National Guard, whose officer class was dominated by mainland Greeks, had meant the junta had practical control over the Cypriot military establishment, leaving Makarios isolated and a vulnerable target.

 

During the first Turkish invasion, Turkish troops invaded Cyprus territory on 20 July 1974, invoking its rights under the Treaty of Guarantee. This expansion of Turkish-occupied zone violated International Law as well as the Charter of the United Nations. Turkish troops managed to capture 3% of the island which was accompanied by the burning of the Turkish Cypriot quarter, as well as the raping and killing of women and children. A temporary cease-fire followed which was mitigated by the UN Security Council. Subsequently, the Greek military Junta collapsed on July 23, 1974, and peace talks commenced in which a democratic government was installed. The Resolution 353 was broken after Turkey attacked a second time and managed to get a hold of 37% of Cyprus territory. The Island of Cyprus was appointed a Buffer Zone by the United Nations, which divided the island into two zones through the 'Green Line' and put an end to the Turkish invasion. Although Turkey announced that the occupied areas of Cyprus to be called the Federated Turkish State in 1975, it is not legitimised on a worldwide political scale. The United Nations called for the international recognition of independence for the Republic of Cyprus in the Security Council Resolution 367.

 

In the years after the Turkish invasion of northern Cyprus one can observe a history of failed talks between the two parties. The 1983 declaration of the independent Turkish Republic of Cyprus resulted in a rise of inter-communal tensions and made it increasingly hard to find mutual understanding. With Cyprus' interest of a possible EU membership and a new UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan in 1997 new hopes arose for a fresh start. International involvement from sides of the US and UK, wanting a solution to the Cyprus dispute prior to the EU accession led to political pressures for new talks. The believe that an accession without a solution would threaten Greek-Turkish relations and acknowledge the partition of the island would direct the coming negotiations.

 

Over the course of two years a concrete plan, the Annan plan was formulated. In 2004 the fifth version agreed upon from both sides and with the endorsement of Turkey, US, UK and EU then was presented to the public and was given a referendum in both Cypriot communities to assure the legitimisation of the resolution. The Turkish Cypriots voted with 65% for the plan, however the Greek Cypriots voted with a 76% majority against. The Annan plan contained multiple important topics. Firstly it established a confederation of two separate states called the United Cyprus Republic. Both communities would have autonomous states combined under one unified government. The members of parliament would be chosen according to the percentage in population numbers to ensure a just involvement from both communities. The paper proposed a demilitarisation of the island over the next years. Furthermore it agreed upon a number of 45000 Turkish settlers that could remain on the island. These settlers became a very important issue concerning peace talks. Originally the Turkish government encouraged Turks to settle in Cyprus providing transfer and property, to establish a counterpart to the Greek Cypriot population due to their 1 to 5 minority. With the economic situation many Turkish-Cypriot decided to leave the island, however their departure is made up by incoming Turkish settlers leaving the population ratio between Turkish Cypriots and Greek Cypriots stable. However all these points where criticised and as seen in the vote rejected mainly by the Greek Cypriots. These name the dissolution of the „Republic of Cyprus", economic consequences of a reunion and the remaining Turkish settlers as reason. Many claim that the plan was indeed drawing more from Turkish-Cypriot demands then Greek-Cypriot interests. Taking in consideration that the US wanted to keep Turkey as a strategic partner in future Middle Eastern conflicts.

 

A week after the failed referendum the Republic of Cyprus joined the EU. In multiple instances the EU tried to promote trade with Northern Cyprus but without internationally recognised ports this spiked a grand debate. Both side endure their intention of negotiations, however without the prospect of any new compromises or agreements the UN is unwilling to start the process again. Since 2004 negotiations took place in numbers but without any results, both sides are strongly holding on to their position without an agreeable solution in sight that would suit both parties.

An Atlas V rocket lifts off from Space Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, carrying NASA's Magnetospheric Multiscale, or MMS, spacecraft. Liftoff was at 10:44 p.m. EDT. MMS's primary task is to collect data to help understand the mystery of how magnetic fields around Earth connect and disconnect, explosively converting magnetic energy into particle energy via a process known as magnetic reconnection.

Photo Credit: NASA/Tim Powers

Dwayne Brown, public affairs officer, NASA Headquarters, left, Jeff Newmark, interim director, Heliophysics Division, NASA Headquarters, second from left, Jim Burch, principal investigator, MMS Instrument Suite, Southwest Research Institute, center, Craig Tooley, MMS project manager, NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, second from right, and Paul Cassak, associate professor, West Virginia University, right, are seen during a briefing about the upcoming launch of the Magnetospheric Multiscale (MMS) mission, Wednesday, February 25, 2015, at NASA Headquarters in Washington DC. The mission is scheduled for a March 12 launch from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida, and will help scientists understand the process of magnetic reconnection in the atmosphere of the sun and other stars, in the vicinity of black holes and neutron stars, and at the boundary between our solar system’s heliosphere and interstellar space. The mission consists of four identical spacecraft that will provide the first three-dimensional view of magnetic reconnection. Photo Credit: (NASA/Aubrey Gemignani)

One day before the scheduled launch, the United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket with NASA’s Magnetospheric Multiscale (MMS) spacecraft onboard rolls out of the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station Space Launch Complex 41 Vertical Integration Facility to the launch pad, Wednesday, March 11, 2015 in Florida. Launch of the Atlas V rocket is scheduled for March 12 and will carry the four identical MMS spacecraft into orbit to provide the first three-dimensional view of magnetic reconnection. Photo Credit: (NASA/Aubrey Gemignani)

How do you reconnect with nature? How can we coexist with nature without wanting to dominate and enslave it? Can we try to fill the void left by our consumerist lifestyle with a little more reconnection with nature?

 

Comment se reconnecter avec la nature ? Comment cohabiter avec elle sans vouloir la dominer et l'asservir ? Pouvons-nous essayer de remplir le vide laissé par notre mode de vie consumériste par un peu plus de reconnexion avec la nature ?

Initiatory Travel, a disconnection for a better reconnection with oneself. What is meant by disconnection is above all detachment from time, to which the mind is attached. A disconnection for a better reconnection with yourself, where it is necessary to live times of silence. It is also the opportunity to nourish oneself with intense energy by encountering the sacred. Mary Magdalene would have brought with her the holy cup which had collected the blood flowing from the side of Jesus crucified. She would have settled down with her numerous suite, in a "balme", a Baume (term which means cave)

Take a step towards wisdom by meeting the legend of Mary Magdalene (Mary Magdalene is known throughout the world as the disciple who was the first person to witness the resurrection of Jesus. Her energies include frequencies of unity, of peace, and tenderness), by soaking up the positive vibes that emanate from these places recognized as sacred, will make your trip a special one. A kind of magic then happens, something that cannot be explained but can only be felt. The change will come about as much by introspection as by the radiance of what (ux) you will encounter. In the journey to the deep self, you will be invited to participate in self-knowledge improvement sessions. And accompanied by the legend of Marie-Madeleine throughout this trip, you will learn step by step, to deploy your energy and to feel that of the places.

 

This journey is an invitation to awaken the divine version that exists in everyone's heart. It is an initiation which unifies the sacred Feminine and Masculine, which removes the veils and shadows, and which makes it possible to shine. Living this trip also means taking a route that can be confusing at times but so powerful because the meeting of Christelle GAMBEE and our Shaman, combined with the practice of various teachings and ancestral rites, will enrich this exceptional trip

  

The Jesus bloodline refers to the proposition that a lineal sequence of descendants of the historical Jesus has persisted to the present time. The claims frequently depict Jesus as married, often to Mary Magdalene, and as having descendants living in Europe, especially France but also the UK. Differing and contradictory Jesus bloodline scenarios, as well as more limited claims that Jesus married and had children, have been proposed in numerous modern books. Some such claims have suggested that Jesus survived the crucifixion and went to another location such as France, India or Japan.

 

While the concept has gained a presence in the public imagination, as seen with Dan Brown's best-selling novel and movie The Da Vinci Code that used the premise for its plot, it is generally dismissed by the scholarly community. These claimed Jesus' bloodlines are distinct from the biblical genealogy of Jesus and from the documented 'brothers' and other kin of Jesus, known as the Desposyni.

 

Jesus as husband and father

Historical precursors

Ideas that Jesus Christ might have been married have a long history in Christian theology, though the historical record says nothing on the subject.[1] Bart D. Ehrman, who chairs the Department of Religious Studies at the University of North Carolina, commented that, although there are some historical scholars who claim that it is likely that Jesus was married, the vast majority of New Testament and early Christianity scholars find such a claim to be historically unreliable.[2]

 

Much of the bloodline literature has a more specific focus, on a claimed marriage between Jesus and Mary Magdalene. There are indications in Gnosticism of the belief that Jesus and Mary Magdalene shared an amorous, and not just a religious relationship. The Gnostic Gospel of Philip tells that Jesus "kissed her often" and refers to Mary as his "companion".[3] Several sources from the 13th-century claim that an aspect of Catharist theology was the belief that the earthly Jesus had a familial relationship with Mary Magdalene. An Exposure of the Albigensian and Waldensian Heresies, dated to before 1213 and usually attributed to Ermengaud of Béziers, a former Waldensian seeking reconciliation with the mainstream Catholic Church, would describe Cathar heretical beliefs including the claim that they taught "in the secret meetings that Mary Magdalen was the wife of Christ".[4] A second work, untitled and anonymous, repeats Ermengaud's claim.[4] The anti-heretic polemic Historia Albigensis written between 1212 and 1218 by Cistercian monk and chronicler Peter of Vaux de Cernay, gives the most lurid description, attributing to Cathars the belief that Mary Magdalene was the concubine of Jesus.[4][5] These sources must be viewed with caution: the two known authors were not themselves Cathars and were writing of a heresy being actively and violently suppressed. There is no evidence that these beliefs derived from the much earlier Gnostic traditions of Jesus and Mary Magdalene, but the Cathar traditions did find their way into many of the 20th-century popular writings claiming the existence of a Jesus bloodline.[4][6]

 

Modern works

The late 19th-century saw the first of several expansions on this theme of marriage between Jesus and Mary Magdalene, providing the couple with a named child. The French socialist politician, Louis Martin (pseudonym of Léon Aubry, died 1900), in his 1886 book Les Evangiles sans Dieu (The Gospels without God), republished the next year in his Essai sur la vie de Jésus (Essay on the life of Jesus), described the historical Jesus as a socialist and atheist. He related that after his crucifixion, Mary Magdalene, along with the family of Lazarus of Bethany, brought the body of Jesus to Provence, and there Mary had a child, Maximin, the fruit of her love for Jesus. The scenario was dismissed as 'certainly strange' by a contemporary reviewer.[7]

 

The late 20th century saw the genre of popular books claiming that Jesus married Mary Magdalene and had a family. Donovan Joyce's 1973 best-seller, The Jesus Scroll, a time bomb for Christianity, presented an alternative timeline for Jesus that arose from a mysterious document. He claimed that, after being denied access to the Masada archaeological site, he was met at the Tel Aviv airport by an American University professor using the pseudonym "Max Grosset", who held a large scroll he claimed to have smuggled from the site. Relating its contents to Joyce, Grosset offered to pay him to smuggle it out of the country, but then became spooked when his flight was delayed and snuck away; he was never identified and the scroll was not seen again. According to Joyce, the 'Jesus Scroll' was a personal letter by 80-year-old Yeshua ben Ya’akob ben Gennesareth, heir of the Hasmonean dynasty and hence rightful King of Israel, written on the eve of the fall of the city to the Romans after a suicide pact ended Masada's resistance. It was said to have described the man as married, and that he had a son whose crucifixion the letter's author had witnessed. Joyce identified the writer with Jesus of Nazareth, who, he claimed, had survived his own crucifixion to marry and settle at Masada, and suggested a conspiracy to hide the contents of the Dead Sea Scrolls in order to suppress this counter-narrative to Christian orthodoxy.[8][9]

 

Barbara Thiering, in her 1992 book Jesus and the Riddle of the Dead Sea Scrolls: Unlocking the Secrets of His Life Story, republished as Jesus the Man, and made into a documentary, The Riddle of the Dead Sea Scrolls, by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, also developed a Jesus and Mary Magdalene familial scenario. Thiering based her historical conclusions on her application of the so-called Pesher technique to the New Testament.[10][11] In this work of pseudo-scholarship, Thiering would go so far as to precisely place the betrothal of Jesus and Mary Magdalene on 30 June, AD 30, at 10:00 p.m. She relocated the events in the life of Jesus from Bethlehem, Nazareth and Jerusalem to Qumran, and related that Jesus was revived after an incomplete crucifixion and married Mary Magdalene, who was already pregnant by him, that they had a daughter Tamar and a son Jesus Justus born in AD 41, and Jesus then divorced Mary to wed a Jewess named Lydia, going to Rome where he died.[12][13] The account was dismissed as fanciful by scholar Michael J. McClymond.[12]

 

In the television documentary, The Lost Tomb of Jesus, and book The Jesus Family Tomb,[14] both from 2007, fringe investigative journalist Simcha Jacobovici and Charles R. Pellegrino proposed that ossuaries in the Talpiot Tomb, discovered in Jerusalem in 1980, belonged to Jesus and his family. Jacobovici and Pellegrino argue that Aramaic inscriptions reading "Judah, son of Jesus", "Jesus, son of Joseph", and "Mariamne", a name they associate with Mary Magdalene, together preserve the record of a family group consisting of Jesus, his wife Mary Magdalene and son Judah.[15] Such theory has been rejected by the overwhelming majority of biblical scholars, archaeologists and theologians, including the archaeologist Amos Kloner, who led the archeological exavation of the tomb itself.[16]

 

The same year saw a book following the similar theme that Jesus and Mary Magdalene produced a family written by psychic medium and best-selling author Sylvia Browne, The Two Marys: The Hidden History of the Mother and Wife of Jesus.[17][non-primary source needed]

 

The Jesus Seminar, a group of scholars involved in the quest for the historical Jesus from a liberal Christian perspective, were unable to determine whether Jesus and Mary Magdalene had a matrimonial relationship due to the dearth of historical evidence. They concluded that the historical Mary Magdalene was not a repentant prostitute but a prominent disciple of Jesus and a leader in the early Christian movement.[18] The claims that Jesus and Mary Magdalene fled to France parallel other legends about the flight of disciples to distant lands, such as the one depicting Joseph of Arimathea traveling to England after the death of Jesus, taking with him a piece of thorn from the Crown of Thorns, which he later planted in Glastonbury. Historians generally regard these legends as "pious fraud" produced during the Middle Ages.[19][20][21]

 

Joseph and Aseneth

Main article: Joseph and Aseneth

In 2014, Simcha Jacobovici and fringe religious studies historian Barrie Wilson suggested in The Lost Gospel that the eponymous characters in a 6th-century tale called "Joseph and Aseneth" were in actuality representations of Jesus and Mary Magdalene.[22] The story was reported in an anthology compiled by Pseudo-Zacharias Rhetor, along with covering letters describing the discovery of the original Greek manuscript and its translation into Syriac. In one of these, translator Moses of Ingila explained the story "as an allegory of Christ's marriage to the soul".[23] Jacobovici and Wilson instead interpret it as an allegorical reference to actual marriage of Jesus, produced by a community holding that he was married and had children.

 

Israeli Biblical scholar, Rivka Nir called their work "serious-minded, thought-provoking and interesting", but described the thesis as objectionable, [24] and the book has been dismissed by mainstream Biblical scholarship, for example by Anglican theologian, Richard Bauckham.[25] The Church of England compared The Lost Gospel to a Monty Python sketch, the director of communications for the Archbishop's Council citing the book as an example of religious illiteracy and that ever since the publication of The Da Vinci Code in 2003, "an industry had been constructed in which 'conspiracy theorists, satellite channel documentaries and opportunistic publishers had identified a lucrative income stream'."[26] The Lost Gospel was described as historical nonsense by Markus Bockmuehl.[27]

 

Early Mormon Theology

Early Mormon theology posited not only that Jesus married, but that he did so multiple times. Early leaders Jedediah M. Grant, Orson Hyde, Joseph F. Smith and Orson Pratt stated it was part of their religious belief that Jesus Christ was polygamous, quoting this in their respective sermons.[28][29] The Mormons also used an apocryphal passage attributed to the 2nd-century Greek philosopher Celsus: "The grand reason why the gentiles and philosophers of his school persecuted Jesus Christ was because he had so many wives. There were Elizabeth and Mary and a host of others that followed him".[30] This appears to have been a summary of a garbled or second-hand reference to a quote from Celsus the Platonist preserved in the apologetics work Contra Celsum ("Against Celsus") by the Church Father Origen: "such was the charm of Jesus' words, that not only were men willing to follow Him to the wilderness, but women also, forgetting the weakness of their sex and a regard for outward propriety in thus following their Teacher into desert places."[31]

 

Jesus as ancestor of a bloodline

Michael Baigent, Richard Leigh, and Henry Lincoln developed and popularized the idea of a bloodline descended from Jesus and Mary Magdalene in their 1982 book The Holy Blood and the Holy Grail (published as Holy Blood, Holy Grail in the United States),[32] in which they asserted: ". . . we do not think the Incarnation truly symbolises what it is intended to symbolise unless Jesus were married and sired children."[32] Specifically, they claimed that the sangraal of medieval lore did not represent the San Graal (Holy Grail), the cup drunk from at the Last Supper, but both the vessel of Mary Magdalene's womb and the Sang Real, the royal blood of Jesus represented in a lineage descended from them. In their reconstruction, Mary Magdalene goes to France after the crucifixion, carrying a child by Jesus who would give rise to a lineage that centuries later would unite with the Merovingian rulers of the early Frankish kingdom, from whom they trace the descent into medieval dynasties that were almost exterminated by the Albigensian Crusade against the Cathars, leaving a small remnant protected by a secret society, the Priory of Sion.[33][34] The role of the Priory was inspired by earlier writings primarily by Pierre Plantard, who in the 1960s and 1970s had publicized documents from the secretive Priory that demonstrated its long history and his own descent from the lineage they had protected that traced to the Merovingian kings, and earlier, the biblical Tribe of Benjamin.[35] Plantard would dismiss Holy Blood as fiction in a 1982 radio interview,[36] as did his collaborator Philippe de Cherisey in a magazine article,[37] but a decade later Plantard admitted that, before he incorporated a group of that name in the 1950s, the very existence of the Priory had been an elaborate hoax, and that the documents on which Baigent, Leigh and Lincoln had relied for inspiration had been forgeries planted in French institutions to be later "rediscovered".[38][39][40] The actual lineage claimed for the portion of the Plantard and Holy Blood bloodline that passes through the medieval era received highly-negative reviews in the genealogical literature, being viewed as consisting of numerous inaccurate linkages that were unsupported, or even directly contradicted, by the authentic historical record.[41]

 

The Woman with the Alabaster Jar: Mary Magdalen and the Holy Grail, a 1993 book by Margaret Starbird, built on Cathar beliefs and Provencal traditions of Saint Sarah, the black servant of Mary Magdalene, to develop the hypothesis that Sarah was the daughter of Jesus and Mary Magdalene.[4] In her reconstruction, a pregnant Mary Magdalene fled first to Egypt and then France after the crucifixion.[3] She sees this as the source of the legend associated with the cult at Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer. She also noted that the name "Sarah" means "Princess" in Hebrew, thus making her the forgotten child of the "sang réal", the blood royal of the King of the Jews.[42] Starbird also viewed Mary Magdalene as identical with Mary of Bethany, sister of Lazarus.[3] Though working with the same claimed relationship between Jesus, Mary Magdalene and Saint Sarah that would occupy a central role in many of the published bloodline scenarios, Starbird considered any question of descent from Sarah to be irrelevant to her thesis,[4] though she accepted that it existed.[43] Her view of Mary Magdalene/Mary of Bethany as wife of Jesus is also linked with the concept of the sacred feminine in feminist theology. Mary Ann Beavis would point out that unlike others in the genre, Starbird actively courted scholarly engagement over her ideas, and that "[a]lthough her methods, arguments and conclusions do not always stand up to scholarly scrutiny, some of her exegetical insights merit attention . . .," while suggesting she is more mythographer than historian.[3]

 

In his 1996 book Bloodline of the Holy Grail: The Hidden Lineage of Jesus Revealed, Laurence Gardner presented pedigree charts of Jesus and Mary Magdalene as the ancestors of all the European royal families of the Common Era.[44] His 2000 sequel Genesis of the Grail Kings: The Explosive Story of Genetic Cloning and the Ancient Bloodline of Jesus is unique in claiming that not only can the Jesus bloodline truly be traced back to Adam and Eve but that the first man and woman were primate-alien hybrids created by the Anunnaki of his ancient astronaut theory.[45] Gardner followed this book with several additional works in the bloodline genre.

 

In Rex Deus: The True Mystery of Rennes-Le-Chateau and the Dynasty of Jesus, published in 2000, Marylin Hopkins, Graham Simmans and Tim Wallace-Murphy developed a similar scenario based on 1994 testimony by the pseudonymous "Michael Monkton",[46] that a Jesus and Mary Magdalene bloodline was part of a shadow dynasty descended from twenty-four high priests of the Temple in Jerusalem known as Rex Deus – the "Kings of God".[47] The evidence on which the informant based his claim to be a Rex Deus scion, descended from Hugues de Payens, was said to be lost and therefore cannot be independently verified, because 'Michael' claimed that it was kept in his late father's bureau, which was sold by his brother unaware of its contents.[47] Some critics point out the informant's account of his family history seems to be based on the controversial work of Barbara Thiering.[48]

 

The Da Vinci Code

Main article: The Da Vinci Code

The best-known work depicting a bloodline of Jesus is the 2003 best-selling novel and global phenomenon, The Da Vinci Code, joined by its major cinematic release of the same name. In these, Dan Brown incorporated many of the earlier bloodline themes as the background underlying his work of conspiracy fiction. The author attested both in the text and public interviews to the veracity of the bloodline details that served as the novel's historical context. The work so captured the public imagination that the Catholic Church felt compelled to warn its congregates against accepting its pseudo-historical background as fact, which did not stop it from becoming the highest-selling novel in American history, with tens of millions of copies sold worldwide. Brown mixes facts easily verified by the reader and additional seemingly-authentic details that are not actually factual, with a further layer of outright conjecture that together blurs the relationship between fiction and history. An indication of the degree to which the work captured the public imagination is seen in the cottage industry of works that it inspired, replicating his style and theses or attempting to refute it.[49]

 

In Brown's novel, the protagonist discovers that the grail actually referred to Mary Magdalene, and that knowledge of this, as well as of the bloodline descended from Jesus and Mary, has been kept hidden to the present time by a secret conspiracy.[49] This is very similar to the thesis put forward by Baigent, Leigh and Lincoln in Holy Blood and the Holy Grail though not associating the hidden knowledge with the Cathars,[4] and Brown also incorporated material from Joyce, Thiering and Starbird, as well as the 1965 The Passover Plot, in which Hugh J. Schonfield claimed that Lazarus and Joseph of Arimathea had faked the resurrection after Jesus was killed by mistake when stabbed by a Roman soldier.[50] Still, Brown relied so heavily on Holy Blood that two of its authors, Baigent and Leigh, sued the book's publisher, Random House, over what they considered to be plagiarism. Brown had made no secret that the bloodline material in his work drew largely on Holy Blood, directly citing the work in his book and naming the novel's historical expert after Baigent (in anagram form) and Leigh, but Random House argued that since Baigent and Leigh had presented their ideas as non-fiction, consisting of historical facts, however speculative, then Brown was free to reproduce these concepts just as other works of historical fiction treat underlying historical events. Baigent and Leigh argued that Brown had done more, "appropriat[ing] the architecture" of their work, and thus had "hijacked" and "exploited" it.[51] Though one judge questioned whether the supposedly-factual Holy Blood truly represented fact, or instead bordered on fiction due to its highly conjectural nature,[52] courts ruled in favor of Random House and Brown.[51]

 

Bloodline documentary

Main article: Bloodline (documentary)

The 2008 documentary Bloodline[53] by Bruce Burgess, a filmmaker with an interest in paranormal claims, expands on the Jesus bloodline hypothesis and other elements of The Holy Blood and the Holy Grail.[54] Accepting as valid the testimony of an amateur archaeologist codenamed "Ben Hammott" relating to his discoveries made in the vicinity of Rennes-le-Château since 1999; Burgess claimed Ben had found the treasure of Bérenger Saunière: a mummified corpse, which they believe is Mary Magdalene, in an underground tomb they claim is connected to both the Knights Templar and the Priory of Sion. In the film, Burgess interviews several people with alleged connections to the Priory of Sion, including a Gino Sandri and Nicolas Haywood. A book by one of the documentary's researchers, Rob Howells, entitled Inside the Priory of Sion: Revelations from the World's Most Secret Society - Guardians of the Bloodline of Jesus presented the version of the Priory of Sion as given in the 2008 documentary,[55] which contained several erroneous assertions, such as the claim that Plantard believed in the Jesus bloodline hypothesis.[56] In 2012, however, Ben Hammott, using his real name of Bill Wilkinson, gave a podcast interview in which he apologised and confessed that everything to do with the tomb and related artifacts was a hoax, revealing that the 'tomb' had been part of a now-destroyed full-sized movie set located in a warehouse in England.[57][58]

 

Jesus in Japan

Claims to a Jesus bloodline are not restricted to Europe. An analogous legend claims that the place of Jesus at the crucifixion was taken by a brother, while Jesus fled through what would become Russia and Siberia to Japan, where he became a rice farmer at Aomori, at the north of the island of Honshu. It is claimed he married there and had a large family before his death at the age of 114, with descendants to the present. A Grave of Jesus (Kristo no Hakka) there attracts tourists. This legend dates from the 1930s, when a document claimed to be written in the Hebrew language and describing the marriage and later life of Jesus was discovered. The document has since disappeared.[59]

  

www.wikiwand.com/en/Jesus_bloodline

  

The sanctuary of Sainte-Baume, also known as the grotte de Sainte-Marie-Madeleine, is a sanctuary erected within a cave in the Sainte-Baume massif, in the commune of Plan-d'Aups-Sainte- Baume, in the Var, which would have served as a hermitage for Saint Mary Magdalene after she evangelized Provence.

 

According to Tradition, Mary Magdalene was expelled from Palestine with several disciples during the first persecutions against Christians after Pentecost. Embarked on a boat without a sail or a rudder, they miraculously landed on the Provençal shores, at a place which was later named Les Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer and became the first evangelizers of Provence. "Marie Madeleine preached in Marseilles in the company of Lazarus then she established herself in this steep mountain, in the cave which has since been named after her. Like the beloved of the Song of Songs, "dove hidden in the hollow of the rock, in steep retreats", she was able to devote herself to prayer and contemplation in solitude "1.

 

Timeline for

In pre-Christian times, Sainte-Baume was the sacred mountain of the Marseillais: a high place of worship of fertility, and in particular of the Artemis of Ephesus. Around 60, Lucain, a Latin poet, mentions a certain “sacred wood” near Marseille, although nothing allows him to be associated with it.

 

Around 415, Saint John Cassien, founded a first priory on his return from Egypt and from the fifth century, the presence of monks from the Saint-Victor abbey in Marseille is attested.

 

The cave of Sainte-Marie-Madeleine becomes a famous place of Christian pilgrimage. In 816, Pope Stephen IV, then, in 878, Pope John VIII went there. As on July 22, 1254, Saint Louis visited Sainte-Baume 2 on his return from the Crusade.

  

Reliquary of the tibia of Mary Magdalene.

 

Statue of Mary Magdalene.

In 1279, Charles II of Anjou, King of Sicily and Count of Provence, carried out the excavations which led to the discovery at Saint-Maximin of the relics of Mary Magdalene, in a crypt buried under the small Benedictine priory dedicated to the saint. A marble tomb is identified there as that of Mary Magdalene. In addition, a scroll of parchment explains that the relics were buried at the beginning of the 7th century in order to protect them from the Saracen invasions which raged in the Country3. After six years of detention in Barcelona, ​​Charles II can implement in 1288 his project to build a basilica to house the relics. Finally, on June 21, 1295, he obtained from Pope Boniface VIII a papal bull, which entrusted the young order of the Dominicans with the charge of the holy places: the basilica of Saint-Maximin and the cave of Sainte-Baume.

 

In 1332, the same day Philippe VI of Valois, King of France, Alfonso IV of Aragon, Hugh of Cyprus, and John of Luxembourg, King of Bohemia, gathered in the cave.

 

Throughout the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, popes, kings and princes made pilgrimages to the cave, one of the most famous in Christendom.

 

In 1440, we deplore the fire in the cave and the destruction of buildings. In 1456 Louis XI, King of France richly endowed the cave and designed the plan of the dome he offered for the altar. And, on January 21, 1516, François Ier accompanied by his mother Louise of Savoy and his wife Claude of France comes to give thanks for his return from Marignan. He provided funds for the restoration of the cave, had the "Francis I portal" built (visible at the hostel), and built three royal chambers in the cave. Jean Ferrier, Archbishop of Arles, had the oratories of the Chemin des Rois erected.

 

Charles IX went there during his royal tour of France in 1564 in order to satisfy the Catholics4. But, in 1586 and 1592, we deplore looting of the cave (the second time despite the drawbridge erected following the looting that took place when the relics of Saint-Maximin had been transferred to the cave during the disturbances caused by the League).

 

Esprit Blanc had the so-called “Parisians” (or “of the dead”) chapel built in 1630 and, in 1649, Monsignor de Marinis offered the statue of the Blessed Virgin, the work of the Genoese sculptor Orsolino (still visible in the cave).

 

On February 5, 1660, Louis XIV, with Anne of Austria and Mazarin, went to the sanctuary.

 

The Revolution and the Empire endanger the site. In 1791, the Marquis of Albertas redeemed the property of the Dominicans which had been sold as national property. But, in 1793, Sainte-Baume was renamed "les Thermopyles", the interior of the cave and the large adjoining guesthouse (traces of which can still be seen in the cliff) were destroyed. Fortunately, Lucien Bonaparte, husband of Christine Boyer, daughter of the innkeeper of Saint-Maximin, saves the basilica and the forest of Sainte-Baume from revolutionaries. In 1814, Marshal Brune destroyed the cave and what had just been rebuilt there.

 

It was not until 1822 that Chevalier, prefect of the Var, restored the Catholic worship. In 1824, a community of Trappists was established on the plateau, opposite the current hotel, and in 1833 gave way to Capuchins who only stayed for two years.

 

The statue of Marie Madeleine on her rock comes from the tomb of Count Joseph-Alphonse-Omer de Valbelle who was in the Charterhouse of Montrieux [ref. desired].

 

In 1848, Father Henri-Dominique Lacordaire, famous preacher and restorer of the Dominican order in France since 1840, came to the cave and, in 1859, he bought the convent of Saint-Maximin to reinstall the preaching brothers there; with the help of the work for the restoration of the holy places of Provence that he had founded, he reinstalls on July 22, the brothers in the cave; he built the hotel in the plain of Sainte-Baume.

 

In 1865, the Dominican brother Jean-Joseph Lataste founded the congregation of Dominicans known as “of Bethany” which accommodates women released from prison (converted Madeleines); he set up a community near the church of Plan d'Aups in 1884. In 1889, some relics of Mary Magdalene were placed in the reliquary made by Lyon goldsmith Armand Caillat and placed in the cave.

 

Following the laws separating the Church and the State, the cave became the property of the commune of Plan d'Aups in 1910.

 

In 1914, with the centenary celebrations of the reopening of worship at Sainte-Baume, Father Vayssière restored the stairs leading to the cave (150 steps in memory of 150 Ave du Rosaire) and inaugurated the Calvary. Then in 1928, the Nazareth retirement home was inaugurated in front of the hostel (now occupied by the ecomuseum). In 1932, Marthe Spitzer5, a Jewish convert close to the Benedictines of the rue Monsieur and the entourage of Jacques Maritain, produced the Pietà which is on the forecourt of the cave (donated by the Basilica of La Madeleine in Paris).

 

In 1948, the architect Le Corbusier planned the construction of an underground basilica at Sainte-Baume (a utopian project never realized) then, in 1966 - Oscar Niemeyer carried out a project for a modern convent at the Hôtellerie instead of the west wing. In 1970, Thomas Gleb created the Saint-Dominique oratory at the hotel, between 1976 and 1981, the companion Pierre Petit ("Tourangeau, the disciple of the Light") made the stained glass windows in the cave.

 

In 1995 was celebrated the seventh centenary of the foundation of the basilica of Saint-Maximin and the installation of the Dominican friars in Saint-Maximin and in the cave of Sainte-Baume.

 

A community of four Dominican friars was re-established in the summer of 2002 (the date of the reopening of the cave after the work of purging the cliff), which welcomes pilgrims to the cave of Sainte-Marie-Madeleine. Since the summer of 2008, the number of Dominican friars has been increased to eight, and they ensure, in addition to the reception at the cave, the management of the Sainte-Baume hotel.

 

fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sanctuaire_de_la_Sainte-Baume

The imposing terminus of Manchester Central was severed from Britain’s rail network in May 1969, only to regain a tangential reconnection when the Manchester Metrolink light rail system began operations some 23 years later. This section of line from St. Peter’s Square connects with the national rail network near Cornbrook. AnsaldoBreda T-68 unit 1009 has originated from Altrincham in this scene.

 

June 1992

Rollei 35 camera

Kodak Ektachrome 100 film.

By Douglas Ringer 2009

Amex Vignettes

 

Amex vignettes? Well yes, these are for the enormous cauldron that still is bubbling away in the campfire of my mind, filled with an alphabet soup of unforgettable fragments culled from those so many Amex personalities and those so many jobs. Multi-coloured fragments, or mosaic like shards that I know that my memory collected and put carefully wrapped in my treasure chest of experiences, because it seemed my memory found so much to treasure in that moment… but the totality of that particular job has gone on a long walk about. These bits and pieces though still remain and cover what I found to be profoundly funny, full of the rollicking silly, the hopefully not to serious, the mind-bogglingly stupidity and, naturally, the totally incomprehensible.

 

Amex was a universe unto itself and, like our infinite homes, possessed all the wonderful complexity that nature and humans could conjure up and… speaking for myself… these delightful vignettes must have had that very special something because at 62 they are still firmly embedded and I am still chortling. Over this time they may be chronologically misplaced, burnished up a little but the essence remains.

  

That sinking feeling

 

This first one still brings a big smile to my face. This is somewhere in the Highland Valley, Logan Lake area in that busy time of summer, 1969. It’s a grid and I’m working with Gary Lyall and we are doing some exemplary lines in which we both were taking great pride in. They were not just “lines” they were masterpieces of well placed flagging, pickets that you would want to take home to and show your girlfriend, blazes that were like stars on a dark night, compassed lines so straight that plumb bobs became redundant and so well cut out that even the most disparaging geologist would have given them the nod.

 

It’s a really hot day and on one of our lines we come to a small lake and have to naturally stop although, in theory, the mapped end of the line would have ended up on the far side of the lake. We sit down and do the cig thing and Gary starts giggling. He has a vision that has tickled his funny bone. “Hey Doug, lets run out and put as many pickets as we can out into the lake. That will really blow the geologist mind.” I thought that great fun too. After all it was a hot, hot day and we would dry off quick enough and I had become totally inured and indifferent to walking in wet-soaked-damp, work boots.

 

So off we go and cut 3 very long pickets, spruce them up and write the line numbers down on them. Slowly Gary starts wading into the lake. It was, so Gary reported, not too gooey on the bottom and it didn’t seem to have a surprising drop off, as yet. He gets out about 25 feet. The water is about thigh level and I call chain. Gary sticks in our extra long picket and I wade out to the picket while Gary continues out.

 

The water is now slowly climbing up over his waist when he begins to gradually sink. The bottom seems to have developed a quick-sand effect and he quickly realizes he’s losing it. He knows he has a few decisions to make quickly. As the water creeps up, he thinks first of the cigarettes in his front shirt pocket…pulls them out…and holds them high in the air. Cigs in one hand, axe and picket in the other, he looks like a torpedoed ship, continuing to leisurely sink. He does manage to extract himself , but in doing so, had to reluctantly admit that he would have to use both hands and that something precious would have to be sacrificed.

 

Moon landing

 

On this particular day I know exactly the date and where I was. Millions of others know it too.

It was the 20th of July, 1969. For some reason in that busy summer working for Amex I found myself back in Kamloops on some days off which were needed to replenish your bush wardrobe, doing the socials and trying to be as unproductive as possible. You were tanking up for your next 12 rounder with the bush.

 

These few days off must have been planned in heaven because on one of those days the Americans were going to land on the moon. I had been sitting in Mum’s living room watching the TV since the morning to witness this stunning, historical event and could not believe how long it was taking and was getting a little antsy. It was a beautiful Kamloops summer day out side and I was hoping, not only to witness this historic sight but to meet up with a few friends…have the chats and quaff a few. As it was now the late afternoon it seemed that the Eagle was getting close to landing.

 

Just as the Eagle seems to be getting close to landing on the moon the phone rings. It’s Ab! “I guess you are watching the moon landing, eh? Sorry to bother you but I got a bit of a panic thing here. Can you grab a taxi and head over here? Pick up a truck, drive to Ashcroft-Wallichin and pick Frosty up and he’ll take it from there.” I was naturally shocked and more than surprised to find out that Ab, himself, was not ensconced in his living room sofa, surrounded by Ella and the kids, engrossed in this incredible event. Did the exigencies of that busy summer not leave him with time to witness this historical happening? Now telling the Eagle to hold up a bit…I got a taxi and headed over to Ab’s place.

 

Ab was quite apologetic and all…but I’m trying to hurry things up a bit and get back home and plus, I must confess, as well, that a little shot of anticipation was dancing through me…as this would be the first time that I had ever driven a 4 by 4! I felt I had graduated from being a mere passenger, who had to experience the oft scary-whimsical driving skills of others and now , potentially in some future, perhaps, had the power to get in a little pay-back and scare the day-lights out of those kind lads who had played havoc with my fear factors.

 

Scenarios like, “Going a little too fast for you…am I? Gee, please don’t put any deep, finger indentations in the dash, Ab won’t be pleased. Or, perhaps: Oh, sorry about that. I didn’t really see that heavily loaded logging truck coming around that ever so dangerously, narrow, 90 degree, wash-board, boulder-strewn bend. I was just gazing out the rear view mirror and admiring our dust plume. I think there is a creek up ahead where I can stop and you can tidy up a bit. Did you bring a change of underwear?”

 

I saddled up that 4 by 4, mounted, and headed off home. I ran into the house but they didn’t wait for me! The Eagle had already landed! Neil Armstrong had walked on the moon and voiced those big steps for humankind. Edwin Aldrin had also bounced around. I was probably crossing The Overlander’s Bridge when Armstrong’s foot first touched the moon’s surface. Of course, there were ceaseless replays…but was it the same?

 

Have to add this short offering. I could not really remember some crucial facts about Colin Macdonald’s 1969 summer job with Laura Mines and other later details so, I sent off my queries. He was kind enough to send me the asked for details and I was more than surprised to find out that Colin was not stuck deep into the green charms of the Highland Valley when the Eagle landed… but watched it in the cosy comfort of a Cache Creek motel.

 

Gil

 

This event still sticks in my mind and, can to this day, raise within me a little discomfort. A little discomfort, because it brought to the surface those rather ugly emotions that we all have deep within us…laying in wait for just that right moment to come bubbling up like an artesian well. These emotions are tied very closely to the ever strong survival instinct and we have in reality read about them and truly know they can happen. Most have seen the old movie “The Goldrush,” with a starving Charlie Chaplin up in Alaska boiling a shoe for dinner and his much bigger partner wanting badly to eat him.

 

It has happened where a group of people have been stranded way out in the middle of no where, with out food, and after a week or two your companions begin to look like a large platter of Big Macs with copious loads of greasy fries.

 

We know of some of these stories and probably have played the game of…”What would I do?” and, I think way, way back in that emotional cauldron you have probably realized that in a dire situation, that, your companion’s well turned thigh, might, just perhaps, look delicious on your mind’s menu. Terrible thoughts and they do, indeed, make me to this day feel uncomfortable.

 

On this day in question when these frightening emotions arose in me they had nothing at all to do with food but “water.” Normally, in the Highland Valley, water wasn’t a big problem. There were creeks of all sizes, lakes or swamps where one could quench one’s thirst. Normally, I say, because surprisingly there were one or two days… and I was not prepared for them…when it was hot and no water was to be found. It was a treed desert! I noticed, that emotionally, this was very, very upsetting to me because to drink the blood of my compass man seemed uncivilized.

 

Realizing, that I tended to sweat, and lose water in litres while carving out those lines, water, was my prime thought most of the time.”Beverage,” is such a beautiful word! Before the Amex experience, a friend, had noticed my almost obsessive need for water when the day waxed hot. He suggested, that when I was reincarnated, that I really should ask to come back as a water buffalo.

 

I remedied that whole problem, and eased my mind a lot, by investing in a canteen. Until that fateful day, I thought all was hunky-dory. It was another hot, hot day and I was now compassing and was given a long, long line which, with the time needed to walk in, would no doubt, take the whole day. I’m guessing here but I think it was around 6000 or 7000 feet and I had no idea what kind gifts the line was to give me.

 

My partner was a French Canadian lad called, Gil, who I had never worked with before. He was new blood and I think, he had only worked a couple of days for Ab and his English skills were similar, to my French skills.

 

We started off and did the big walk in and got located at our base line origin. I took my first shot and plunged downward into a deep creek crevasse and at about 400 feet down I came to a lovely, bubbling brook. We had a smoke break. Drank deep from its soothing waters and I naturally replenished my canteen. Then we headed off and it was another 400 feet, panting upwards until I crested and found myself standing on a rock outcrop with a commanding view that was absolutely stunning!

 

Jesus! I was on a promontory where I could look way down on the highway between Merritt and Spence’s Bridge. I could see tiny cars wending their way up and down the highway and an occasional blue tinkle of the Nicola River running merrily away to Spence’s Bridge. Another one of those… it doesn’t come any better views.

 

I took another compass shot to get some idea of what we were up against and it looked liked for some distance that we would be walking pretty much along these exposed bluffs. Not much vegetation and finding material for pickets was going to be fun. Up above us, you could see where the woods started to thicken up a bit and, I thought, that maybe it could be nicer up there, shadier and maybe a tad cooler.

 

From what I could see of the first bit of this line there would not be much blazing but we would need lots of flagging and hoped that we had brought enough. It was starting to get real hot and I was beginning to get that egg, frying on a Kamloops’ sidewalk feeling. Thought about having a drink but decided not to…brave it out a few feet. I thought, as well, that there must be some cascade , cooling creek up ahead lying in wait for us. Who knew?

 

So starting off the first 500 feet of terrain was quite reasonable… a little of this, and a little of that. I noticed, as well, that Gil was having a hard time keeping up and I had to make a pause or two to compensate for that. Plus, in this rather bare area, he was not so imaginative about what would do for a picket. He did lots of Gallic shrugs and many,” Tabernacs!.” They are so special!

 

It did not take so long before within the next 3000 feet or so and that we began to be really mentally and physically challenged .The line of bluffs that kept on running were getting quite dramatic and my rock climbing skills, dreadfully basic due to a fear of heights were really slowing me down.

 

The sun was now eliminating any resemblance to B.C. and I was now somewhere trapped out in the Khalahari. Mirages with palms swaying and deep pools of cold water began to cloud my senses. Amazingly, I could hear water running everywhere except where I was. The Nicola River, far below, was so tantalizing. It was so, so tempting to launch off those bluffs into a half gainer of joy and plunge into its beckoning sweetness.

 

The terrain became steeper in places and was harder to find ways to get up and off the bluffs…then plunging into a gully and crawling back up on your hands and knees. This was now pretty thirsty, slow going and I knew that the straightness of this line was not going to win any compassing awards. Today, I still hope that no one ever looked for that line.

 

Fast forwarding here…We are now at the end of the line. The canteen has been empty for many a foot now and Gil and I are not the same two lads who optimistically left that bubbling, clear brook way, way back there. Gil would rather be anywhere else but here... and I have been thinking about and wanting for quite some time now, to do insanely, dreadful things to him.

 

As we humped up and down those bluffs, Gil must have known he was missing something. As the sun beat down hard on us and the meaning of the English word, “parched,” was being etched on his and my mind. Gil couldn’t reach back and pull out a canteen. Gil didn’t have a canteen!!! I did, and like a good Christian shared it with him because your intrepid compass man was still dreaming of this illusive, bloody, cascading, ever so cool creek up ahead. My canteen was empty before we had done half the line. Gil, had gone from human being, to albatross, in 3000 feet.

 

I was more than really out of sorts. Internally, I was a mess of ugly emotions all of them focused sharply on Gil. I had never felt so much animosity flowing out of myself! Every time Gil took a drink from my canteen...I watched to see how many times his Adams apple, bobbed up and down. I counted every water molecule that entered his system! Every molecule that I was deprived of!

 

I was now in a Hollywood movie…force marching across the Sahara… where the sadistic, French Foreign Legion Sergeant...me... with all the water…in the middle of the hottest part of the Sahara…turns to his totally, dehydrated companion, Private Gil…and... just to piss him off…lifts up a canteen…takes a long, long draught… burps a very satisfying, water burp…then pours half a canteen of water into the sand…and with cruel merriment... watches as Private Gil collapses... and the Sergeant... gleefully, glancing upward…into a burning, blue sky… is marvelled by the wing span as vultures circle, high above.

 

The return journey back across the Kalahari-Sahara was oven-like. This time, I knew there was no water, except at that long ago, bubbling brook…way, way, way, back there! Looking down at the Nicola River had gone from pleasant scene to knowing how unreachable its blessed succour was. Tongue, wrenching, torture itself! In fact, my tongue, is now glued to the roof of my mouth and my inability to spit, intriguing.

 

Atacama dry! Moisture free winds played havoc with my drought-racked senses! My hearing was all over the place. Water sounds flowing everywhere! I even thought I could hear... from those wee cars down on the highway…way down there... imaginary sounds that might quench. I could clearly hear the liquid, swishing, swaying sounds that the designated bottle opener made while reaching into the cooler. The cooler, strategically set, with much thought, in the back seat... while eyes feasted on scenary.

 

The holy, perfect, cubes of melting ice, crashing together like ice bergs. His fingers seeking out the coolest! The “holy” designated, pulling out a fresh, cold-cold- beer! His, well sung, ritual prayer upon opening the bottle: “Here is to you and here is to me,” type of thing! How gracefully he opened the bottle! Well tended finger nails! How he so enjoyed, the so, so very cool, so cool, pop-sizzle sounds on bottle opening and the following... vocal,” Cheers” to life!”

 

Worse for me, was the fascinating picture of the, “chug, chug,” as a tidal wave of cooled, liquid went down his throat! A mind wrenching vision while the sun pelted down!

 

We scrabbled over those bluffs and made it back to that bubbling brook, half demented from thirst. I wanted to tell Gil not to drink too fast because being so dehydrated... his body might find it difficult dealing with multi litres of water in such a rapid succession. You see it in the movies. But then, I thought the better of it. We must have spent about a half a hour pouring that bubbling brook into ourselves. I never worked with Gil again.

 

I learned that if it was hot out and I was working with a new guy…I never, at first, asked him to entertain me with the interesting details about his drugs, sex life or latest book read... but asked, politely, if he had a canteen?

 

MY FIRST BONUS...1969.

 

My first summer with Amex is over. It is late August, and I’m looking forward to a two week trip with Joe and Don, more than friends, to Mexico. We would travel in Joe’s 1955 Chev station wagon. We would sleep and drive a mammoth distance through the complex nature of our large part of the world in that beautiful car. What did we know of the enormity of North America?

 

So job over... and Ab said, I could pick up my last check at his place. I made my way over to Ab’s place. I think Ross Rd, before Ella and Ab had moved to Brocklehurst. They’ll have to check it out.

  

So, I walked over there to North Kamloops from normal, Kamloops. Having no car at the time I liked to walk and hitch-hike. Hitch –hiking... what a learning experience and how noble the good people who picked you up were.

 

I saw that Ab was in the small front yard they had. Ab was leaning over the fence, as I remember it. Perhaps chatting to a neighbour. We, greeted each other...and he went inside... and then brought out my check. I said how much I liked this bushy, scary experience. He said: “Come back next year.”

 

With check in hand, I walked about 20 feet down the road, when I heard Ab say: ” Whoa Doug, whoa!. Shit! I forgot your bonus.”

 

At this point in my life, I must confess, I had never heard of the word “bonus” before. I stopped and turned around and walked back to Ab. He had opened his wallet and fished out fifty dollars and gave it to me. Well shit!

 

It gets a little difficult here to describe my emotions at that perfect time. I was so elated and so full of good wishes to all. So, blown away, that my body grew wings and I flew home! 50 bucks! 50 bucks! Fifty dollars! A very, awesome, spending power in 1969. You could bet your bottom dollar that I was coming back!

   

LEAVE THIS OFF YOUR RESUME

 

It is now 1970 and I have rejoined Amex for the summer and my first Job is up at East Barrier Lake. We are not camped on the lake but high above it on one of the many logging roads found in the area. It is a big job for Noranda and the geologist on site is Laurie Rhynerson.

Laurie, fantastic man and a guy you really want in a camp with you, in fact, later on other jobs… it was hard to know if he was working for Noranda or for Amex. As well, I met Colin MacDonald and John Watters for the first time.

 

In fact, John drove me up to the camp from Kamloops so we had some initial contact there. The lads from my 1969 summer who were also there…as I remember…Bruce Bried, Gary Lyall, Gordy Seimens, Dennis Siemens and I think, Frosty. And maybe there were others who I can’t remember.

 

!970 was to be for me, a most incredible time with Amex. We covered areas in B.C. that I had never imagined seeing. Plus the lads were probably the best you could ever find to spend the rest of your life with.

 

At East Barrier Lake, I had an inkling that it was going to be a super summer when John Watters on his way to our out house, passed me just leaving and kindly asked…..”Clean break, Doug?” That stopped me in my tracks. “Clean break? Clean break?” Suddenly the lights came on and I brightened up immensely. Now knowing that our days and evenings in camp would not only be conversationally filled with, infinitely interesting topics such as films ,literature, oral sagas, myths, music, science astrology, psychology, entomology, biology, genecology, axe and power saw sharpening seminars but rollicking takes on faecal matter.

 

One unforgettable story that is still firmly intact from the East Barrier Lake job concerns a lad from Edmonton. One day in the morning there appeared in our camp a few men, who were accompanied by Ab. One of the men also had his son with him. The man, as I remember, was a higher up manager with the construction company ,Mannix. Why they were there…I don’t know. As it transpired, Gordy and I had drawn an all day line. I believe it was 10 or12 thousand feet long. It would run from the baseline all the way down to the edge of East Barrier Lake and due to its length we were given a third person… who happened to be the inexperienced son of the man from, Mannix.

 

The son was about seventeen years old and wore a high school football jacket from his Edmonton school. He was husky built and looked pretty fit. He followed us down the baseline to our starting point. He was to cut out behind us as we made the run to the lake edge. Gordy showed him the basics of cutting, blazing and flagging. We had the smoke and chats and off we headed....I think around 10 o’clock.. Unlike my first day, I could keep up to Gordy, make those pickets, throw those blazes , tie that flagging. and even do some limbing on the way. The vegetation was pretty bushy so it would mean a quite a bit of limbing on the way out.

  

We took a couple of breaks along the way and reached the lake at around 2 in the afternoon. We had lunch, admired the view, and naturally wondered how much line the lad would manage to cut. Much speculation here, but, .I thought if he could do half the line that would be pretty good. The line didn’t have to be perfection because we could tidy it up on the way out. Gordy hoped he could do more because he looked pretty tough. Around 5:30 or so, it would be time for supper and that was becoming a bigger factor in our lives.

 

We headed back about 2:30 banging and hacking away and I think at about 3000 feet up the line we stopped for a smoke and listened to hear if we could hear the lad’s axe. We could only hear ourselves breathing.

 

At 6000 feet…the half way point, we still couldn’t hear his axe .I personally was a bit surprised because I thought he could do 6000 feet and began to think that he had hurt himself somehow. So off we went and at about 3000 feet from the baseline we were becoming more than surprised that we had not met up with the lad. Not a sound to be heard from his swinging axe.

 

Gordy was now starting to get a little testy…yelling loudly up the line, but getting no response. Now I really thought something must have happened to him and I imagined gruesome axe cuts to bear problems. Or maybe he had wandered off the line and was hopelessly lost.

 

.We, chopped on…stopping occasionally to listen for his axe sound, and hooting and hollering hoping that we would get some response from him. Gordy was beginning to really spice up our hooting and hollering with some rather coarse references to his work abilities. We were starting to get really hungry and knew we had missed the serving of supper. On we hacked away and at 1000 feet from the baseline I knew something had happened to him but not knowing is what made it a little scary.

 

At 500 feet from the baseline an amazing thing happened. We could hear an axe chipping away…slowly coming towards us. In astonishment, Gordy and I looked at each other and Gordy immediately started up an incredibly, large barrage of profanity aimed in the direction of that chipping axe. Gordy was pissed. I was totally stunned. When we met the lad he had only cut 300 feet! Gordy was not verbally gently all over the lad. That remarkable English was marching up one side and down the other. The lad didn’t say a word and meekly followed us back to camp where he disappeared. Where, I don’t know.

 

We got back to camp at close to 8 o clock. Ate our late supper and, of course, the lad was the main topic of conversation. We still didn’t know why he only managed to cut 300 feet. During the story, Laurie popped into the tent and heard a little of what we were saying. Laurie realized immediately who we were talking about... and told us that about six o clock he was making his way back to camp when he almost step on the lad who was curled up in a ball sleeping. Laurie actually woke him up and inquired as to his health. He was okay.

 

Even today, I often wonder what became of him and if he achieved what he most desired. Sure hope so.

 

KENNY KILLS A BEAR.

 

Kenny was a great guy from Barrirer. I think 18 years old at this time, His father, a bulldozer artist, who had been hired by Laurie to punch in some roads and potential drill sites on the East Barrier Lake project. Amex, in need of more lads, had hired his son, Kenny. Coming from Barrier, Kenny was used to the bush and all that lies therein and suffered no adaptation problems.

 

This was all pretty much the norm for him. I believe he was in love at this time, and preferred to be at home and do a hug or two. More preferable than the camp. He enjoyed our company, but, in the past, had seen camp life up close and knew the smell. But, under duress, but would dine and sleep a few days in our camp…Barrier was not, after all, that far away.

 

The camp was set up beside one of the many logging roads that crisscrossed the area. There was a cook tent…I think two sleeping tents and the necessary outdoor biffy smelling, hopefully, lemon fresh.

 

Gordy’s Dad was cooking for us at that time and slept in the cook tent. One night he was awoken by a bear enjoying the delights of the of cook- tent food. I think he was pretty calm about this visitation but those in the know…knew the bear would come back.

 

Kenny said I’ll just run on down to Barrier and get my gun. Of course, we knew that he was going to get more than his gun and wished we could be there too. I think one or two days passed.

 

During these couple of days…Kenny slept beside his gun…when we were awoken by a clanging,falling of tin sounds from the kitchen. Kenny, reluctantly groans, half-asleep rolls out of a comfortable bed in his “Stanfields”…grabs his rifle, yawning, leaves the tent…then you hear “BANG!” Kenny comes back…flops back onto his foamy-cot,falls quickly asleep. After the shot, with Kenny definitely sound a sleep…I…, but it seemed nobody else...,, was still wide-eyed awake wondering about it all.

 

In the morning we had to drag the dead bear out of the kitchen before Gordy’s Dad would cook breakfast.

  

FEAR OF FLYING

 

Gordy …like so many…enjoyed having the gas pedal pressed very close to the floor and, as well, enjoyed seeing your finger nails dig deeply into the dash-board and seeing the margarine, smear of fear spreading across your face. This would be the first time that I would drive with Gordy and, unknown at the time, I would enjoy more times while Gordy drove. I did survive all the fear and somehow, overcame it all.

 

In this case, I think, Gordy and Dennis had an important appointment to make and were quite wired to their own world and scaring the be-Jesus out of you was secondary. His brother, Dennis, was accustomed to his brother’s love of motion on high octane and proved to be more than an able navigator. Cautioning and urging on in appropriate breaks when the dust gave a slight inkling to what might be manifesting itself around the next corner.

 

The East Barrier Lake job is over and we are decamping and heading back to our various haunts for reconnection time and hopefully, an interesting beer or two. In that way, as it goes, the dice were rolled…and one other guy and myself ended up been driven to Kamloops with Gordy and Dennis. The drive to Barrier…I think…is about 30- 40 miles. At this time it’s mostly a dirt road with lots of … look out...I’m coming around curves and other surprising potholes and gravelled tid-bits that faithfully followed the terrain downward into the North Thompson valley.

 

Being a dirt road, for most of the way, it is blessed in the summer time, with heaving humps of spitting gravel and surprising dips where you raise your hands high trying to wrestle your stomach back in place. A rodeo for those in the back seat…sort of. Lots of rattling, quick like snare drum cattle crossings and fearsome, loaded and unload logging trucks coming up and down the road claiming right of way… and, in hot weather…lots of dust plumes that could hide surprising closure.

 

So we left the East Barrier camp in the blast of a deeply depressed gas peddle that must have left a vast spray of every mineral-molecule found on that park place hanging from the greenery.

 

My first thought was… this is what astronauts must feel like…the forceful thrust of your body thrown deep into the back seat upholstery unable to lean yourself forward…. your body trapped in the force. Your face strangely distorted.. In the first, very frightening few miles, I knew this was going to be a very taxing emotionally... hang on for your dear life ride. I had no idea what hell or tidal waves of the scary that I was to experience on this run. The Robert Mitchum movie...“Thunder Road”…ran continuously through my colourful imagination. He died in the end. Robert, playing a southern moonshiner who left the road at only 90 mph, chased relentless by the tax people. Revenoures!

 

So the guy, seated with me in the back-seat, who , as well, had drew a short straw, we both were to be treated to a virtuoso performance of nervy driving that had you either wishing you were totally somewhere else or thinking about safety features that were still on the drawing boards…thanks to Nader.

 

No fire extinguishers, no seatbelts, no cell phones to call emergency services, no parachutes: No! If you hit something solid or found yourself kissing the inside of the roof… none of that how the auto would kindly fold in on itself… cuddling occupants in a warm hug of security until responsible people arrived to cut you out. No! It was just a basic early sixties model that did not give a shit about you.

 

So, there we were roaring down that East Barrier road with a dust plume miles long. The car doing a lot of roller-coaster ups and downs...doing dips and leaps like some circus acrobat…zipping into the air and crunching down on a frame that you bloody well hoped wasn’t built on Monday. You try…though helpless… to sketch imaginary survival strategies. I quickly realized, that looking between the shoulders of Gordy and Dennis, straight at the road, was simply too horrendous. Every real and imaginary, micro and macro horror, could happen at any second.

 

I chose to pretend that I was a tourist in these parts and that by, looking out the side, car window, I could admire the beauties that nature had so gallantly laid on the areas plate. As they very quickly passed by...it provided only seconds of relief…not really relief, as I was scared–shitless... but I was not going to let on! But, as I looked at my partner, sharing the back seat… I realized his eyes were just as fixated on the road ahead, and, he, no doubt, was thinking quite seriously about his future.

 

The future he may not experience. He would never experience the alarmingly, fullness of the sexual thing. Thinking a lot about the potential, miserable way in which his young life could end. All a-tangled- up in the metal and plastic bits of a failed rocket, ship-car...without bandages or sutures...and all of this could happen in the most immediate of seconds of the right now. Who could even conjure up the obit?

 

We did get to Barrier unscathed… and we pulled in to tank up. Gordy and Dennis were still pretty keyed up about this appointment and were hurrying it up a bit. I was enjoying the feel of cement under the soles of my boots. That very alive feeling and the smell that gas has as it wafts through the air. I was still alive!

 

In this small repose...amazingly...I saw my back seat partner lifting his kit out of the car and with all of that in hand... he walked over to me and said. “Fuck this! I’m taking the Greyhound into Kamloops.” I was astounded! Wordless! Who was I going to hold hands with when we had to face the uncertain road histories embedded in the curves of the infamous, Louis Creek Canyon? All alone in the back seat!

 

I think Dennis said..”Chickenshit.” Deep down I admired my former back seat partners love of life...as we rocketed out of the Barrier gas station.

 

I like to think, I remember a few details of that last phase of the trip to Kamloops. I remember passing cars where you would glimpse looks out the windows from the people in the cars we passed. Nobody was passing us! Did I see a mouthed...”Holy Fuck!,” here and there? See lips, silently moving, uttering a prayer or two for our safety, in passing?

 

Was that a small boy, in the back seat of one passed auto, with enormous round, blue eyes...waving a friendly greeting or a, I hope you make it? It all went by so fast. With my eyes faking allergies...tightly closed... Gordy mastered the Louis Creek highway maze with frightening élan.

 

I knew I would survive when I saw the Red Bridge up ahead. You simply had to slow down for it. Gargantuan waves of relief bathed my nervous system. All we had to do now was navigate Lorne Street. Whip up eighth Ave, turn on Battle Street and I was to see another day.

 

This did indeed happen. I can’t remember how I lied about the pleasures of the ride. Riding high on survival, I think I said we should do this more often. But I can tell you a ride like that makes you know how great it is just to breath Kamloops air with a shot of Pulp Mill air in it.

 

Later on, I was to learn that the young man, who shared that back seat with me to Barrier, was not the only one to decline a ride with Gordy.

  

Percy: The ongoing search for love. The Art of Compliments. 1972 or 1973:

 

So there we were. The crew was composed of Colin MacDonald, John Watters, Percy and myself. We found ourselves way North of Fort St. James on a long staking job. On finishing the job we crossed over to McKenzie...a real, new town of no history. We were hungry and went into the local supermarket.

 

A few days out in the bush can cause a strange, overwhelming taste for the opposite sex. Every female looks so delicious, tempting and so desirous regardless of form or shape. So, when we had collected our goods in the McKenzie supermarket, and standing in line to pay, Percy strikes up a conversation with the nice looking cashier. And in the hormone fever that erupted... Percy can only say to her...” Gee, that’s a beautiful apron you have on.”

I think we made Prince George that night.

  

Randy and “The Chain.”1971 Merritt-Princeton area.

 

This is a “short-chain like story that still makes me laugh. An Amex, really true,inspired, priceless pearl. Truth be told, there are no “pearls,” out in the bush. You may find that some interesting antlers lay upon the surface, scattered bones of prey, great, growth mushrooms singing and hanging from rotting trees. Perhaps an interesting-shaped rock or two may lay upon the surface, awaiting your eager hands...I took all I could find...but no nuggets will wink at you. It was a dream time to, expect so.

 

The pearl in Randy’s story, which I write, has nothing to do with the geological creations of long ago but a 100 foot, nylon chain.”The Chain,” was our master! It determined speed and footage and complexities of life when tangled in vegetation. Knots and a long-time slow-voiced...”Chain”...” meant bad bush. A fast- quick-voiced...“Chain”....meant good going. Repeated over time.

 

If you worked side by side on different lines but not that far apart...”Chain!” indicated how well your partners were progressing. 100 foot space between Amexers’ could mean hell or heaven. In B.C. nature spreads its difficulties pell-mell in the bush. 10 feet can mean heaven or hell! In B.C. vegetation is complex in its emotional distribution of forgiveness and punishments.

  

Now, in The Princeton- Merritt, area we find ourselves doing a property 20 kilometres north of Princeton. It is a mountain. We park cars on the side of the highway...facing Princeton way. Where, later,survivors Cheese burgers and milk will nurishbekon.

 

We climbed up this mountain following the before cut out base line. The mountain has many dips and doodles...it has wrinkles where water has pooled to create alder swamps and being a mountain... many trees have fallen in the direction that gravity dictates. It was the alder swamps that were difficult. My partner and I were doing a few lines to the south of Randy but we confirmed that we would meet up for lunch.

 

Shared tinfoil wrapped sandwiches... where the tinfoil drove your cavities crazy.

 

So we had done our bit and located Randy’s start point. Some Dante expert had written on a nicely blazed –start point branch...”Abandon all hope ye who enter here.”

I remember starting off...and...as my boots filled with water realized the intricate horrors of this complex alder swamp. A Darwinian night-mare!

  

We followed the cut, flagged and blazed line both feeling like a python on the slither. Soon in the distance I could hear...”Chain!” We were going up, down, under, over, above and, on stomachs under the warp and weave of the Alder’s life's watery-carpet. But I knew that we were closing. I heard “Chain!” again!

 

In fact... I heard ...”Chain!” Getting faster than I thought possible in this Alder swamp. When, On my belly...I looked up and found a 10 foot strand of nylon-chain hanging forlornly off an alder branch. I knew now the twist. The tail chainer was setting new standards of the cut.

 

This can easily happen when bush is too entwined...tail chainers can cut-chain and not notice their transgressions In that run before meeting up with Randy at the base line...the tail chainer had cut that nylon chain four times. Randy was probably pulling, at this time, sixty feet.

 

As we closed in on Randy all I could hear was a singular, vibrant-well-vocalize word through the dense, bushy, air...”Chain! Chain! Chain! Chain!" Which meant that they had stumbled upon Ab’s famed...”Park-Land.”

 

When we finally met at the base-line and I presented Randy with four pieces of the cut chain. He did not laugh.

 

Even now in his prime...Randy can be quite prickly when I sound out with..."Chain! Chain! Chain! Chain!"

To whom it may concern. Well, not necessarily "concern", more like sort of "to whom it may be of slight interest", or maybe not. Maybe "If anyone has not deleted Finntasia from their contacts yet...."

 

Finntasia will be back to play soon - reconnection with the non-real world is imminent any time soon. Well, so they say.

 

Hope everyone's enjoying themselves and been behaving.

*# indicates a photo

Day 18

That was one hell of a night to go without socks. Once the clouds cleared the temperature dropped below freezing. All the puddles from yesterdays rain are frozen and so is all the mud. There is a thin layer of ice inside my tent from condensation and outside my tent too from dew. My water bottles are also frozen.

When I woke up, before venturing out side I layered up to stay warm. I grabbed my camera gear and headed outside. Carl was still sleeping in his tent. I walked over to the spot I had seen yesterday and waited for the sun to illuminate the ridge. The melt-water pond was not completely frozen, it was only frozen around the edges. As I waited I kept moving to stay warm. The ice ringing the pond was growing as I watched and by the time the first rays of morning light touched the ridgeline the ice had doubled in size.

*1 By the time I had finished photographing it had doubled again. I went back to the tents, by now the entire west side of the pass was illuminated. Carl was now up and taking his own photos. I boiled water for tea and offered him some. He accepted.

The sunlight finally reached our tents and two large rocks next to them. Both of us lied out our wet, frozen clothes on one of the rocks to dry them out and on the other large rock we draped the rain flies from our tents to defrost and dry.

It was at this point that I reached into my pack to get my toilet paper and just like my socks last night, it too was wet. I had planned on staying in six more days, but if my waterproof pack cover isn't working and my stuff is getting wet and if we get more storms, I can't stay in longer. I need to exit and get a new pack cover before continuing. Don't get me wrong, I'm loving all this weather, the rain, clouds, lighting and hail, I want more but I cant have my stuff getting wet, especially my socks and toilet paper, both of which are essential. (I do keep my TP in a ziplock bag, but it must have developed a hole)

Carl is exiting toady at Pine Creek. I told him my situation, and asked if I could hike out with him and get a ride to whatever town he was headed to.

He said that would be fine and that he was headed to Mammoth Lakes, exactly where I needed to go, so that was perfect. He then handed me some of his toilet paper.

Once our tents were dry, and our clothes were as good as there were going to get, we packed up and headed back to the scree slope between our camping area and the tarn we sheltered at yesterday. *2 We climbed steeply up to the top, following a barely visible path, that I had not noticed before, that was covered in patches of hail from the previous day's storms.

At the top the terrain leveled out and we hiked through the bed of a dried up tarn.

He pointed to a peak off in the distance, "There's Mt. Julius Caesar (13199), and that saddle just this side is Italy Pass, that's where we're headed."

We hiked a ways further and the terrain sloped down on our left and rose up to a ridge on the right. Here we stopped to examine the terrain and plan the best route over larges talus blocks and multiple snow fields. Carl pointed out a "bench" that contoured the ridgeline and lead directly to Italy Pass. "That looks like the best route, what do you think?" He said, looking at me.

"Yeah, looks good." I replied.

We started to make our way towards it. *3 Ahead of us lay a snow field that covered the slope and we would need to cross it. It's glistening, sculpted surface was a hard crust from the freezing temperatures last night, not yet softened up by the warmth of the sun today. One slip and nothing would stop you until you hit the talus below. He went first, carving each footstep into the snow before taking the next, while using his trekking poles to steady himself. I followed, stepping where he stepped. Slowly we worked our way across. Once we reached the other side we aimed for the bench.

We rock hopped over talus, crossed a few more snow fields. Then we came to an area of slabs, multiple trickles of water flowed out of the cracks that crisscrossed them, making them just as slippery as the snow fields. Then after that was behind us more talus awaited us.

Finally we reached Italy Pass (12400), where we stopped for a break. To the east lay Granite Park, two blue lakes dominated the the landscape, a ridge rising beyond them. We could see where yesterdays storms had dumped their hail, some mountainsides had a dusting of white while others did not.

Carl took a chocolate bar out of his pack, broke a piece of it off and handed it to me, “I was saving this for this moment, a sort of... victory snack.”

“Thank you,” I said sticking it in my mouth, “Ooo super dark and bitter, my favorite.”

“Not many People like their chocolate this dark,” he said, “nice to see someone else appreciates it as much as me.”

We began hiking down the east side of the pass into Granite Park. Before we got too far we came across another backpacker headed up. He asked, “Hows the terrain on the west side going down to the lake, I hear its treacherous?”

“Lake Italy?” I asked

“Yeah.”

Carl explained, “We came form Bear Lakes, so I cant say. But there is lots of talus.”

We talked with him a bit longer, then continued on.

Granite park was not what either of us expected from the name. We both were expecting lots and lots of slabs, but it was talus and boulder fields, just like everywhere else. As we continued the terrain changed into grass covered meadows with meandering creeks snaking through them. The trail followed their edge. The creek would then drop by waterfall and cascade into another meadow. While the trail switch-backed down. There must have been at least five levels to the meadows and waterfalls. We both added these meadows to our list of places to come back to.

The meadowlands turned into forest and we eventually reached Honeymoon lake (10435) and the trail junction just below it. If I had to estimate the time, I would say we reached here around 1:30 or 2:00 and so far not a single cloud was to be seen. I might have been able to have stayed in and continued instead of exiting, but I’d rather be safe than sorry, plus my toilet paper is still soggy. We turned left and continued downhill to Upper Pine Lake then on to Lower Pine Lake (9942). After that the forest ended and there was a long downhill stretch of unshaded trail that hugged the contour of the mountain as it descended and switch backed the last 2062 ft to the trailhead. That particular stretch of trail seemed annoyingly long. Carl's pack was significantly lighter than mine, as he had eaten all his food, I still had about 6 days worth of food left. After about 10 miles of hiking there was about 2 miles left, even though it was all down hill from here, the weight of my pack was starting to slow me down. We stopped for a long break at the now closed Brownstone Mine. Then continued and reached a creek gushing from a spring where we filled up on desperately needed water. After that we reached the end of the unshaded section, as a thick forest closed in around the trail. Just beyond the forest was the parking lot (7880) at Pine Creek trailhead. Carl was already there waiting for me.

There was no cell service at the parking lot so he drove down to the tiny community of Rovana where he pulled over and we both made numerous phone calls to friends and family informing them we were still alive. I have a GPS beacon that updates my positions on a map every few minutes so friends and family can track my progress, it also has an S.O.S. button if I need search and rescue. It does not show me anything except a flashing green light when it is transmitting. Every one I called had gotten worried when I deviated from my planed route, so I had to reassure everyone that I was fine, but a failing pack cover and wet toilet paper made me have to change plans. (All of my navigating on this journey has been done with only a topographical map and matching that with the terrain around me. I have no compass and the GPS beacon I have does nothing to help me navigate, it is purely for the piece of mind of those back home, and mine if I screw up bad enough to need an extraction.) After the reconnection with the world, we headed to Mammoth Lakes.

Once we reached town Carl asked me, “Before I drop you off I'm assuming you'd want to get some food?”

“Yes please” I answered.

We stopped at his favorite place, Mammoth Tavern. I ordered a bacon cheeseburger with a side of sweet potato fries, and I asked for a bottle of hot sauce. The burger was cooked rare, so rare that the middle was almost raw and was oozing. It was the best damn burger I've ever had. After dinner he drove me over to the mammoth RV park. I payed for a campground. Then both of us went to the pool and soaked in the jacuzzi until the pool closed. Then I thanked him and we went our separate ways.

I was on trail for six day, it was suppose to be 12-13 days, it stormed for four of the six days, today not a single cloud anywhere in the sky.

 

...

When my grandparents meet me six days ago in Bishop and gave me a ride to the trailhead at North Lake, they offered to give me a ride to Mammoth instead so I wouldn’t have to hike there. My response was “Why?” That would defeat the purpose of why I came out here; to hike among the sculpted temples of granite, the low forested cathedrals of the river valleys and to swim in the alpine lakes (or at least attempt to, most have been to cold), to breathe the cleanest air and sleep under the watchful gaze of innumerable stars, to bask in the silence and solitude of this vast wilderness and of course to bare witness to unmatched landscapes and vistas and to capture those great views in photographs. There is no other place I'd rather be and nothing else I’d rather be doing.

...

One day before the scheduled launch, the United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket with NASA’s Magnetospheric Multiscale (MMS) spacecraft onboard rolls out of the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station Space Launch Complex 41 Vertical Integration Facility to the launch pad, Wednesday, March 11, 2015 in Florida. Launch of the Atlas V rocket is scheduled for March 12 and will carry the four identical MMS spacecraft into orbit to provide the first three-dimensional view of magnetic reconnection. Photo Credit: (NASA/Aubrey Gemignani)

1. "China and the United States are different in their stages of development, national conditions and historic footprints...", 2. "We cannot predict with certainty what the future will bring, but we can be certain about the issues that will define our times.", 3. 07/52: Tousle Me, Please... (photo featured in eXaminer), 4. Did You Miss Me, Flickr?, 5. 04/52: The Photographic Writer, 6. Above Descanso, 7. 03/52: Goodnight, Flickr!, 8. A Flower For MJ,

 

9. For You, Dad..., 10. 02/52: I Don't Ask Why, 11. Two And Two, 12. To Walk Away . . . Blue..., 13. Home Is Where My Summer Is, 14. La Jolla Cove, 15. 1/52: Painted With Flowers, 16. Dip It, Baby.,

 

17. She Speaks Flowers, 18. Textured Bicycle, 19. So, forget the bad economy. Let's all be happy we're alive! And believe - "There's a light that hangs from heaven.", 20. Let's Stop The World, 21. A Couple Of Bokeh, 22. "In the garden, my soul is sunshine.", 23. "A child's smile is one of life's greatest blessings.", 24. Grauman's Against Blue,

 

25. Just Title Me, Please... =), 26. Glowing In Gray, 27. Domesticated, 28. Towards The Sun, 29. That Bicycle, 30. "I claim to be a simple individual liable to err like any other fellow mortal. I own, however, that I have humility enough to confess my errors and to retrace my steps.", 31. When people think you're smart, you're not supposed to make any mistake. If you do, it's carelessness and unacceptable. I think this is unfair. You're just smart, not perfect!, 32. Artist In Frustration,

 

33. "A daughter is a little girl who grows up to be a friend.", 34. They say, "Time flies when you're having fun." But I stay young when I play with my little one., 35. Bokehlicious Sophiakeh, 36. Bokehful Abstraction, 37. Mother To Her Child, 38. Kids - Hows many times will they have to get sick before they turn into healthy grown-ups?, 39. Taxi Stop, 40. Nothing comes purer than a kiss from a child's lips to her mother's. It is the sweetest bonding, a reconnection after birth.,

 

41. Word Play On Staples Center, 42. "The purpose of life, after all, is to live it, to taste experience to the utmost, to reach out eagerly and without fear for newer and richer experiences.", 43. "Vision without action is a dream. Action without vision is simply passing the time. Action with vision is making a positive difference.", 44. Cinc-flu de Mayo, 45. Magic Above The Blue, 46. My Bokeh Moon Has Risen, 47. Rose Among The Flowers, 48. "Do not judge or you, too, will be judged...",

 

49. Mary Rose on Matrix Star, 50. We Let The Light Through, 51. Bokeh Illumination, 52. She's (NOT) Egg-Ok! :), 53. "Above all, do not lose your desire to walk. Every day I walk myself into a state of well-being and walk away from every illness...", 54. My Little Pink Polka Dot Riding Hood, 55. "Where flowers bloom so does hope.", 56. "You have to have a dream so you can get up in the morning.",

 

57. "This solitary Tree!", 58. Chill'a At The Villa, 59. Purple Reigns, 60. Celestial Toy, 61. It's Sophia's Turn To Play, 62. Too Close, 63. "A person without a sense of humor is like a wagon without springs. It's jolted by every pebble on the road.", 64. “May your pockets be heavy and your heart be light. May good luck pursue you each morning and night.”,

 

65. Title?, 66. You take a picture without feelings. Then during post-process, two things are being developed - your photograph and your emotion., 67. Float On A Sea Of Bokeh, 68. Almost Spring (superhero-tagged), 69. Serious Kamoteus Garageus, 70. Vertigo!, 71. 'D Grand Pillow, 72. Our Ourania2005 Pillow

 

Created with fd's Flickr Toys

The United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket with NASA’s Magnetospheric Multiscale (MMS) spacecraft onboard launches from the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station Space Launch Complex 41, Thursday, March 12, 2015, Florida. NASA’s MMS mission studies the mystery of how magnetic fields around Earth connect and disconnect, explosively releasing energy via a process known as magnetic reconnection. MMS consists of four identical spacecraft that work together to provide the first three-dimensional view of this fundamental process, which occurs throughout the universe. Photo Credit: (NASA/Aubrey Gemignani)

Forgiving Sunday. Getting ready for the Lenten Journey? ;)

The Reconnection® is an accelerated exchange of the energy, light and information found in the Reconnective Healing Frequencies™. It is a tool to connect three systems: the lines of our planet, the meridian lines of the human body, including chakras and the universal energy grid. The Reconnection® is a once in a lifetime experience that ties us back into a timeless system of intelligence. Originally the meridian lines (sometimes called acupuncture lines) on our bodies were connected to the grid lines that encircle the planet and cross at acknowledged power places such as Machu Picchu and Sedona. These grid lines were designed to continue out and connect us to a vastly larger grid, into the entire universe.

 

As we reconnect and awaken to the depths of the Light that we are, we become aware of our ‘multi-dimensional’ existence and our dormant DNA is awakened. The Reconnection is about restoring yourself to spiritual wholeness and releasing or removing the blocks or interferences that have kept you separate from your intrinsic perfection.

 

The Reconnection takes place in two sessions, each session lasting about 45-60 minutes. You’ll lie on a massage table, shoes off, eyes closed. Sessions take place on consecutive days or with one day in-between. The Reconnection is a touch-free procedure.

 

Extra rest may be needed in the days following the Reconnection to allow the body to assimilate the energy change. The process of reconnecting can continue for months after the actual Reconnection takes place. As you include these frequencies into your life, your consciousness and awareness begin to shift and expand, and so do you within yourself. The Reconnection is highly recommended for people who practice any form of energy healing. Many practitioners have reported an increase in their ability to access healing energy after their Reconnection.Recognized and supported by science, Reconnective Healing® is a form of healing that facilitates us to return to an optimum state of balance by interacting with the full spectrum of frequencies that consists of energy, light and information.

 

These frequencies work on the whole person, therefore the work is not symptom based. Dr. Eric Pearl defines healing as, “the restoration of the person to spiritual wholeness”. This is what allows for a possible release of symptom and disease. He also points out that healing is about our evolution. It includes the evolutionary restructuring of our DNA and our reconnection to the Universe (or to God/Light/Love/ So/ Creator) on a new level.

 

It is recommended for persons feeling that something on the physical, mental, emotional or spiritual level is out of sync. Animals as well as humans respond very well to the Reconnective Healing experience. It is a wonderful way to honour our friends and companions of many dispositions by offering this experience to them.

Personal reconnection is the process of re-connecting the physical energy meridians person (allowing for the exchange lines) with grid lines of the planet Earth and the Cosmos. Specifically, each body has its own set of energetic lines and points that have the role of our relationship with the universe as a channel for the transmission of energy, light and information between large and small, macrocosm and microcosm, the universe and humankind.Reconnective Healing (RH) is a return to an optimal state of balance. It is the result of interacting with the fully comprehensive RH spectrum of frequencies that consists of energy, light and information. Its first basic element is energy. Energy is everything we are made up of organically, our very essence and our actual physical body. Light is the resonance and communication within these frequencies between the universe and us. The information comes through the very interaction and entrainment with the energy and the light. It’s tangible, measurable… you can actually feel it.

 

Reconnective Healing completely transcends traditional energy healing techniques as it allows us to let go of the concept and approach of technique itself. It is neither a therapy nor a treatment, as it does not focus on symptoms. It is something much, much more. In Reconnective Healing we do not diagnose or treat. We simply interact with the RH frequencies, bringing about healings that are often instantaneous and tend to be life long.

 

While science continues to explore how it works, Reconnective Healing has been confirmed and documented in more than a dozen international studies. When RH frequencies entrain with our energy body we emit and vibrate at a higher level of light. This has been shown to restructure our DNA, resulting in the emission of measurably higher levels of bio-photonic light. Stanford Professor Emeritus Dr. William Tiller says that when information carried through the Reconnective Healing frequencies is introduced, it creates coherence and order. In other words, greater harmony and balance within us.

 

"If you're lucky, your healing will come in the form you anticipate. If you're really lucky, your healing will come in a form

you've not even dreamed of--one which the Universe specifically has in mind for you." ~Dr. Eric Pearl

HERE

"The Reconnection is the umbrella process of reconnecting to the universe that allows for Reconnective Healing to take place. These healings and evolutionary frequencies are of a new bandwidth and are brought in via a spectrum of light and information that has never before been present on Earth. It is through

The Reconnection that we are able to interact with these new levels of light and information, and it is through these

new levels of light and information that we are able to reconnect." ~Dr. Eric Pearl

 

The Reconnection is about connecting our personal energy grid system, acupuncture lines and subtle anatomy, including chakras, with the energy grid system of the greater universe and the energy system of Planet Earth. When we connect with the greater universal energy grid, we receive an influx of light and information. When we connect to our planets energy grid, the circuit is complete with grounding. The full connection completely transforms our body-mind-spirit, by bringing our system to optimal balance.

 

Imagine your personal energy grid as a computers’ operating system. The Reconnection basically upgrades your system exponentially. Circuits fly open, new connections are made and dormant DNA is awakened as huge amounts of "new" information/light pours in. Your energy lines connect with axiatonal lines; circuits of the higher frequency grids that open the flow to higher dimensions. You are now able to receive light and information that your system was not able to receive or process before. Imagine, what that would mean for you to be fully functioning energetically?

 

To describe the awakenings, knowing’s, insights, aha moments, connections, or quantum leaps in knowledge that occur when you receive, or are awakened to, more Light, or to the greater being that you are, is a unique description for each individual. The Reconnection is about restoring yourself to spiritual wholeness. It's about releasing or removing the blocks or interferences that have kept you separate from your intrinsic perfection. It's about the restructuring/awakening of your DNA and your reconnection to the universe on a new level.

  

The Reconnection is different from Reconnective Healing. For The Reconnection, Shanell uses a “hands-off” technique and you are fully clothed. The session spans 2 days, one hour each day, in which you lay on a massage table and experience the frequencies of energy, light and information, in a way that is unique for you - sometimes you may experience pleasant physical sensations, sometimes you may see colours or symbols, you may hear sounds or you may simply enter a deep sleep for the hour. There is a higher intelligence at work during the session which supplies you with exactly the experience you need to have. The Reconnection has been known to catapult individuals on their life path, bringing clarity to life purpose and creating positive and lasting shifts.

 

www.healingyogini.com/reconnective-healing--the-reconnect...

*# indicates a photo

Day 18

That was one hell of a night to go without socks. Once the clouds cleared the temperature dropped below freezing. All the puddles from yesterdays rain are frozen and so is all the mud. There is a thin layer of ice inside my tent from condensation and outside my tent too from dew. My water bottles are also frozen.

When I woke up, before venturing out side I layered up to stay warm. I grabbed my camera gear and headed outside. Carl was still sleeping in his tent. I walked over to the spot I had seen yesterday and waited for the sun to illuminate the ridge. The melt-water pond was not completely frozen, it was only frozen around the edges. As I waited I kept moving to stay warm. The ice ringing the pond was growing as I watched and by the time the first rays of morning light touched the ridgeline the ice had doubled in size.

*1 By the time I had finished photographing it had doubled again. I went back to the tents, by now the entire west side of the pass was illuminated. Carl was now up and taking his own photos. I boiled water for tea and offered him some. He accepted.

The sunlight finally reached our tents and two large rocks next to them. Both of us lied out our wet, frozen clothes on one of the rocks to dry them out and on the other large rock we draped the rain flies from our tents to defrost and dry.

It was at this point that I reached into my pack to get my toilet paper and just like my socks last night, it too was wet. I had planned on staying in six more days, but if my waterproof pack cover isn't working and my stuff is getting wet and if we get more storms, I can't stay in longer. I need to exit and get a new pack cover before continuing. Don't get me wrong, I'm loving all this weather, the rain, clouds, lighting and hail, I want more but I cant have my stuff getting wet, especially my socks and toilet paper, both of which are essential. (I do keep my TP in a ziplock bag, but it must have developed a hole)

Carl is exiting toady at Pine Creek. I told him my situation, and asked if I could hike out with him and get a ride to whatever town he was headed to.

He said that would be fine and that he was headed to Mammoth Lakes, exactly where I needed to go, so that was perfect. He then handed me some of his toilet paper.

Once our tents were dry, and our clothes were as good as there were going to get, we packed up and headed back to the scree slope between our camping area and the tarn we sheltered at yesterday. *2 We climbed steeply up to the top, following a barely visible path, that I had not noticed before, that was covered in patches of hail from the previous day's storms.

At the top the terrain leveled out and we hiked through the bed of a dried up tarn.

He pointed to a peak off in the distance, "There's Mt. Julius Caesar (13199), and that saddle just this side is Italy Pass, that's where we're headed."

We hiked a ways further and the terrain sloped down on our left and rose up to a ridge on the right. Here we stopped to examine the terrain and plan the best route over larges talus blocks and multiple snow fields. Carl pointed out a "bench" that contoured the ridgeline and lead directly to Italy Pass. "That looks like the best route, what do you think?" He said, looking at me.

"Yeah, looks good." I replied.

We started to make our way towards it. *3 Ahead of us lay a snow field that covered the slope and we would need to cross it. It's glistening, sculpted surface was a hard crust from the freezing temperatures last night, not yet softened up by the warmth of the sun today. One slip and nothing would stop you until you hit the talus below. He went first, carving each footstep into the snow before taking the next, while using his trekking poles to steady himself. I followed, stepping where he stepped. Slowly we worked our way across. Once we reached the other side we aimed for the bench.

We rock hopped over talus, crossed a few more snow fields. Then we came to an area of slabs, multiple trickles of water flowed out of the cracks that crisscrossed them, making them just as slippery as the snow fields. Then after that was behind us more talus awaited us.

Finally we reached Italy Pass (12400), where we stopped for a break. To the east lay Granite Park, two blue lakes dominated the the landscape, a ridge rising beyond them. We could see where yesterdays storms had dumped their hail, some mountainsides had a dusting of white while others did not.

Carl took a chocolate bar out of his pack, broke a piece of it off and handed it to me, “I was saving this for this moment, a sort of... victory snack.”

“Thank you,” I said sticking it in my mouth, “Ooo super dark and bitter, my favorite.”

“Not many People like their chocolate this dark,” he said, “nice to see someone else appreciates it as much as me.”

We began hiking down the east side of the pass into Granite Park. Before we got too far we came across another backpacker headed up. He asked, “Hows the terrain on the west side going down to the lake, I hear its treacherous?”

“Lake Italy?” I asked

“Yeah.”

Carl explained, “We came form Bear Lakes, so I cant say. But there is lots of talus.”

We talked with him a bit longer, then continued on.

Granite park was not what either of us expected from the name. We both were expecting lots and lots of slabs, but it was talus and boulder fields, just like everywhere else. As we continued the terrain changed into grass covered meadows with meandering creeks snaking through them. The trail followed their edge. The creek would then drop by waterfall and cascade into another meadow. While the trail switch-backed down. There must have been at least five levels to the meadows and waterfalls. We both added these meadows to our list of places to come back to.

The meadowlands turned into forest and we eventually reached Honeymoon lake (10435) and the trail junction just below it. If I had to estimate the time, I would say we reached here around 1:30 or 2:00 and so far not a single cloud was to be seen. I might have been able to have stayed in and continued instead of exiting, but I’d rather be safe than sorry, plus my toilet paper is still soggy. We turned left and continued downhill to Upper Pine Lake then on to Lower Pine Lake (9942). After that the forest ended and there was a long downhill stretch of unshaded trail that hugged the contour of the mountain as it descended and switch backed the last 2062 ft to the trailhead. That particular stretch of trail seemed annoyingly long. Carl's pack was significantly lighter than mine, as he had eaten all his food, I still had about 6 days worth of food left. After about 10 miles of hiking there was about 2 miles left, even though it was all down hill from here, the weight of my pack was starting to slow me down. We stopped for a long break at the now closed Brownstone Mine. Then continued and reached a creek gushing from a spring where we filled up on desperately needed water. After that we reached the end of the unshaded section, as a thick forest closed in around the trail. Just beyond the forest was the parking lot (7880) at Pine Creek trailhead. Carl was already there waiting for me.

There was no cell service at the parking lot so he drove down to the tiny community of Rovana where he pulled over and we both made numerous phone calls to friends and family informing them we were still alive. I have a GPS beacon that updates my positions on a map every few minutes so friends and family can track my progress, it also has an S.O.S. button if I need search and rescue. It does not show me anything except a flashing green light when it is transmitting. Every one I called had gotten worried when I deviated from my planed route, so I had to reassure everyone that I was fine, but a failing pack cover and wet toilet paper made me have to change plans. (All of my navigating on this journey has been done with only a topographical map and matching that with the terrain around me. I have no compass and the GPS beacon I have does nothing to help me navigate, it is purely for the piece of mind of those back home, and mine if I screw up bad enough to need an extraction.) After the reconnection with the world, we headed to Mammoth Lakes.

Once we reached town Carl asked me, “Before I drop you off I'm assuming you'd want to get some food?”

“Yes please” I answered.

We stopped at his favorite place, Mammoth Tavern. I ordered a bacon cheeseburger with a side of sweet potato fries, and I asked for a bottle of hot sauce. The burger was cooked rare, so rare that the middle was almost raw and was oozing. It was the best damn burger I've ever had. After dinner he drove me over to the mammoth RV park. I payed for a campground. Then both of us went to the pool and soaked in the jacuzzi until the pool closed. Then I thanked him and we went our separate ways.

I was on trail for six day, it was suppose to be 12-13 days, it stormed for four of the six days, today not a single cloud anywhere in the sky.

 

...

When my grandparents meet me six days ago in Bishop and gave me a ride to the trailhead at North Lake, they offered to give me a ride to Mammoth instead so I wouldn’t have to hike there. My response was “Why?” That would defeat the purpose of why I came out here; to hike among the sculpted temples of granite, the low forested cathedrals of the river valleys and to swim in the alpine lakes (or at least attempt to, most have been to cold), to breathe the cleanest air and sleep under the watchful gaze of innumerable stars, to bask in the silence and solitude of this vast wilderness and of course to bare witness to unmatched landscapes and vistas and to capture those great views in photographs. There is no other place I'd rather be and nothing else I’d rather be doing.

...

Eruptive prominence in Hydrogen alpha - sequence caught over 24 minutes.

 

Thought I saw some rapid changes occurring to a tree-like prominence on the limb so kept on imaging it over about 24 minutes.

 

It’s thought that some disturbance such as a flare or magnetic reconnection event “activates” a prominence which then erupts. Gravity and or magnetic field lines can pull the plasma back towards the Sun. If it escapes, it becomes a Coronal Mass Ejection which can cause aurorae and geomagnetic storms if Earth directed.

 

No flares were recorded yesterday that could be observed from Earth or Sun watching satellites.

 

I was using a lot of new equipment so I had my hands quite full – glad I caught this.

 

Equinox 120ED scope, Quark Chromosphere, 0.5x FR, Grasshopper 3 camera/Firecapture software

Hinode guider

Ioptron ZEQ25GT mount.

Paul Cassak, associate professor, West Virginia University, explains magnetospheric reconnection at the NASA Social held one day before the United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket with NASA’s Magnetospheric Multiscale (MMS) spacecraft onboard launches from the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station Space Launch Complex 41 Vertical Integration Facility, Wednesday, March 11, 2015 in Cape Canaveral, Florida. Launch of the Atlas V rocket is scheduled for March 12 and will carry the four identical MMS spacecraft into orbit to provide the first three-dimensional view of magnetic reconnection. Photo Credit: (NASA/Aubrey Gemignani)

LT coded this batch of eighty buses as 5Q5,they had 7.7ltr diesel engines and pre-select gear boxes.The Park Royal bodies were B37F,this one was Q159 based at Dalston garage.It was withdrawn on 23rd November 1953.

 

Reconnections.

Roy Torbert, MMS FIELDS investigation lead, University of New Hampshire, speaks at the NASA Social held one day before the United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket with NASA’s Magnetospheric Multiscale (MMS) spacecraft onboard launches from the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station Space Launch Complex 41 Vertical Integration Facility, Wednesday, March 11, 2015 in Cape Canaveral, Florida. Launch of the Atlas V rocket is scheduled for March 12 and will carry the four identical MMS spacecraft into orbit to provide the first three-dimensional view of magnetic reconnection. Photo Credit: (NASA/Aubrey Gemignani)

The United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket is rolled from Vertical Integration Facility to the pad at Launch Complex 41. With four identical Magnetospheric Multiscale, or MMS, spacecraft, this is an unprecedented NASA mission to study magnetic reconnection. Scientists believe MMS will provide insights into the fundamental process that occurs throughout the universe.

Photo credit: NASA/Kim Shiflett

A solid rocket motor for the United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket slated to boost NASA's Magnetospheric Multiscale mission, or MMS, is lowered into position inside the mobile service tower at Space Launch Complex 41 on Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. Four identical MMS spacecraft will study the mystery of how magnetic fields around Earth connect and disconnect, explosively releasing energy via a process known a magnetic reconnection. Launch is set for March 12. To learn more: www.nasa.gov/mms. Photo credit: NASA/ Kim Shiflett

The United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket with NASA’s Magnetospheric Multiscale (MMS) spacecraft onboard is seen shortly after arriving at the launch pad on Wednesday, March 11, 2015, at the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station Space Launch Complex 41 in Florida. Launch of the Atlas V rocket is scheduled for March 12 and will carry the four identical MMS spacecraft into orbit to provide the first three-dimensional view of magnetic reconnection. Photo Credit: (NASA/Aubrey Gemignani)

As an Atlas V rocket lifts off from Space Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in the background, the launch can also be seen on the countdown clock at the Kennedy Space Center's Press Site. The rocket was carrying NASA's Magnetospheric Multiscale, or MMS, spacecraft. The launch began at 10:44 pm Eastern Time. MMS is the first space mission dedicated to the study of a phenomenon called magnetic reconnection.

 

NASA Media Usage Guidelines

 

Credit: NASA/Frankie Martin

Image Number: 2015-1581

Date: March 12, 2015

An Atlas V rocket lifts off from Space Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, carrying NASA's Magnetospheric Multiscale, or MMS, spacecraft. Liftoff was at 10:44 p.m. EDT. MMS's primary task is to collect data to help understand the mystery of how magnetic fields around Earth connect and disconnect, explosively converting magnetic energy into particle energy via a process known as magnetic reconnection.

Photo Credit: NASA/Tom Farrar & Tony Gray

One of four Magnetospheric Multiscale (MMS) spacecraft, in the background, is seen in a cleanroom at the Naval Research Lab’s, Naval Center for Space Technology, Monday, August 4, 2014, in Washington. The Magnetospheric Multiscale, or MMS, mission will study the mystery of how magnetic fields around Earth connect and disconnect, explosively releasing energy via a process known as magnetic reconnection. The four identical spacecraft are scheduled to launch in 2015 from Cape Canaveral and will orbit around Earth in varying formations through the dynamic magnetic system surrounding our planet to provide the first three-dimensional views of the magnetic reconnection process. The goal of the STP Program is to understand the fundamental physical processes of the space environment from the sun to Earth, other planets, and the extremes of the solar system boundary. Photo Credit: (NASA/Bill Ingalls)

The period of the past 6 months has been one of the most stresssful I've come through: a landlord dispute (resolved), ill health caused by prescription drugs, a dispute with my doctor, a difficult reconnection with my 29-year-old daughter, the death of a 47-year-old friend and neighbour, and the suicide of my daughter's 31-year-old partner (June 2).

 

All this has happened against the backdrop of debilitating sleeplessness. In April I decided to tranistion completely off antidepressants without my doctor's support. It has to go slowly. I experience side effects every day, particularly light-headedness and fatigue, but my sleep has finally increased to about 6 hours/night. I expect to be free of antidepressants in another 4 weeks, for the first time since 2005. Previously I was taking a drug that caused weight gain and diabetes, so I'm pretty cynical about drugs and health care ATM. But I have a supportive therapist, and a partner who looks out for me.

 

Some days are harder than others.

 

Project 365, 2023 Edition: Day 166/365

 

Thank you to everyone who visits, faves, and comments.

A burst of fast material from the sun generates magnetic reconnection events in Earth's magnetic field. This eventually sends high-speed electrons and protons into Earth's upper atmosphere to form aurorae.

 

Credit: NASA Goddard's Conceptual Image Lab

 

To read more about this animation go to: www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/sdo/news/briefing-materials-20...

 

NASA Goddard Space Flight Center is home to the nation's largest organization of combined scientists, engineers and technologists that build spacecraft, instruments and new technology to study the Earth, the sun, our solar system, and the universe.

Oct. 22, 2013 – (Left to right) NASA Administrator Charles Bolden, NASA Goddard Center Director Chris Scolese and Maryland Senator Barbara Mikulski talking to the press during their tour of the NASA Goddard facilitites. They are standing outside a cleanroom for the Magnetospheric Multiscale Mission (MMS) mission. MMS is a series of four satellites that will investigate how the Sun's and Earth's magnetic fields connect and disconnect, explosively transferring energy from one to the other in a process that is important at the Sun, other planets, and everywhere in the universe, known as magnetic reconnection. Bolden’s visit to Goddard was the first by the administrator to a NASA field center following the government shutdown that halted most of the space agency’s activities from Oct. 1 -16, 2013.

 

Read more: www.nasa.gov/content/goddard/bolden-mikulski-visit-goddar...

 

Credit: NASA/Goddard/Rebecca Roth

 

NASA image use policy.

 

NASA Goddard Space Flight Center enables NASA’s mission through four scientific endeavors: Earth Science, Heliophysics, Solar System Exploration, and Astrophysics. Goddard plays a leading role in NASA’s accomplishments by contributing compelling scientific knowledge to advance the Agency’s mission.

 

Follow us on Twitter

 

Like us on Facebook

 

Find us on Instagram

An Atlas V rocket lifts off from Space Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, carrying NASA's Magnetospheric Multiscale, or MMS, spacecraft. Liftoff was at 10:44 p.m. EDT. MMS's primary task is to collect data to help understand the mystery of how magnetic fields around Earth connect and disconnect, explosively converting magnetic energy into particle energy via a process known as magnetic reconnection.

Photo Credit: NASA/ Ben Smegelsky