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My first overseas collaboration and there wouldn't be a better artist than Laura Vanzo (aka. Pensa Art)
The project is about how two people who had never meet, can be connected through a common cause. This photo is the first in the series which I hope many of you can relate to.
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ift.tt/1L2Qu9W @trunkieygm collabs with @georgethepoet on the song entitled Pavements/Relate. Out 3pm on @linkuptv #UKMUSIC #CAM #LINKUPTV #PavementsRelate
The Symptoms of Kali-yuga
This chapter relates that, when the bad qualities of the Age of Kali will increase to an intolerable level, the Supreme Personality of Godhead will descend as Kalki to destroy those who are fixed in irreligion. After that, a new Satya-yuga will begin.
As the Age of Kali progresses, all good qualities of men diminish and all impure qualities increase. Atheistic systems of so-called religion become predominant, replacing the codes of Vedic law. The kings become just like highway bandits, the people in general become dedicated to low occupations, and all the social classes become just like śūdras. All cows become like goats, all spiritual hermitages become like materialistic homes, and family ties extend no further than the immediate relationship of marriage.
When the Age of Kali has almost ended, the Supreme Personality of Godhead will incarnate. He will appear in the village Śambhala, in the home of the exalted brāhmaṇa Viṣṇuyaśā, and will take the name Kalki. He will mount His horse Devadatta and, taking His sword in hand, will roam about the earth killing millions of bandits in the guise of kings. Then the signs of the next Satya-yuga will begin to appear. When the moon, sun and the planet Bṛhaspati enter simultaneously into one constellation and conjoin in the lunar mansion Puṣyā, Satya-yuga will begin. In the order of Satya, Tretā, Dvāpara and Kali, the cycle of four ages rotates in the society of living entities in this universe.
The chapter ends with a brief description of the future dynasties of the sun and moon coming from Vaivasvata Manu in the next Satya-yuga. Even now two saintly kṣatriyas are living who at the end of this Kali-yuga will reinitiate the pious dynasties of the sun-god, Vivasvān, and the moon-god, Candra. One of these kings is Devāpi, a brother of Mahārāja Śantanu, and the other is Maru, a descendant of Ikṣvāku. They are biding their time incognito in a village named Kalāpa.
SB 12.2.1 — Śukadeva Gosvāmī said: Then, O King, religion, truthfulness, cleanliness, tolerance, mercy, duration of life, physical strength and memory will all diminish day by day because of the powerful influence of the Age of Kali.
SB 12.2.2 — In Kali-yuga, wealth alone will be considered the sign of a man’s good birth, proper behavior and fine qualities. And law and justice will be applied only on the basis of one’s power.
SB 12.2.3 — Men and women will live together merely because of superficial attraction, and success in business will depend on deceit. Womanliness and manliness will be judged according to one’s expertise in sex, and a man will be known as a brāhmaṇa just by his wearing a thread.
SB 12.2.4 — A person’s spiritual position will be ascertained merely according to external symbols, and on that same basis people will change from one spiritual order to the next. A person’s propriety will be seriously questioned if he does not earn a good living. And one who is very clever at juggling words will be considered a learned scholar.
SB 12.2.5 — A person will be judged unholy if he does not have money, and hypocrisy will be accepted as virtue. Marriage will be arranged simply by verbal agreement, and a person will think he is fit to appear in public if he has merely taken a bath.
SB 12.2.6 — A sacred place will be taken to consist of no more than a reservoir of water located at a distance, and beauty will be thought to depend on one’s hairstyle. Filling the belly will become the goal of life, and one who is audacious will be accepted as truthful. He who can maintain a family will be regarded as an expert man, and the principles of religion will be observed only for the sake of reputation.
SB 12.2.7 — As the earth thus becomes crowded with a corrupt population, whoever among any of the social classes shows himself to be the strongest will gain political power.
SB 12.2.8 — Losing their wives and properties to such avaricious and merciless rulers, who will behave no better than ordinary thieves, the citizens will flee to the mountains and forests.
SB 12.2.9 — Harassed by famine and excessive taxes, people will resort to eating leaves, roots, flesh, wild honey, fruits, flowers and seeds. Struck by drought, they will become completely ruined.
SB 12.2.10 — The citizens will suffer greatly from cold, wind, heat, rain and snow. They will be further tormented by quarrels, hunger, thirst, disease and severe anxiety.
SB 12.2.11 — The maximum duration of life for human beings in Kali-yuga will become fifty years.
SB 12.2.12-16 — By the time the Age of Kali ends, the bodies of all creatures will be greatly reduced in size, and the religious principles of followers of varṇāśrama will be ruined. The path of the Vedas will be completely forgotten in human society, and so-called religion will be mostly atheistic. The kings will mostly be thieves, the occupations of men will be stealing, lying and needless violence, and all the social classes will be reduced to the lowest level of śūdras. Cows will be like goats, spiritual hermitages will be no different from mundane houses, and family ties will extend no further than the immediate bonds of marriage. Most plants and herbs will be tiny, and all trees will appear like dwarf śamī trees. Clouds will be full of lightning, homes will be devoid of piety, and all human beings will have become like asses. At that time, the Supreme Personality of Godhead will appear on the earth. Acting with the power of pure spiritual goodness, He will rescue eternal religion.
SB 12.2.17 — Lord Viṣṇu — the Supreme Personality of Godhead, the spiritual master of all moving and nonmoving living beings, and the Supreme Soul of all — takes birth to protect the principles of religion and to relieve His saintly devotees from the reactions of material work.
SB 12.2.18 — Lord Kalki will appear in the home of the most eminent brāhmaṇa of Śambhala village, the great soul Viṣṇuyaśā.
SB 12.2.19-20 — Lord Kalki, the Lord of the universe, will mount His swift horse Devadatta and, sword in hand, travel over the earth exhibiting His eight mystic opulences and eight special qualities of Godhead. Displaying His unequaled effulgence and riding with great speed, He will kill by the millions those thieves who have dared dress as kings.
SB 12.2.21 — After all the impostor kings have been killed, the residents of the cities and towns will feel the breezes carrying the most sacred fragrance of the sandalwood paste and other decorations of Lord Vāsudeva, and their minds will thereby become transcendentally pure.
SB 12.2.22 — When Lord Vāsudeva, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, appears in their hearts in His transcendental form of goodness, the remaining citizens will abundantly repopulate the earth.
SB 12.2.23 — When the Supreme Lord has appeared on earth as Kalki, the maintainer of religion, Satya-yuga will begin, and human society will bring forth progeny in the mode of goodness.
SB 12.2.24 — When the moon, the sun and Bṛhaspatī are together in the constellation Karkaṭa, and all three enter simultaneously into the lunar mansion Puṣyā — at that exact moment the age of Satya, or Kṛta, will begin.
SB 12.2.25 — Thus I have described all the kings — past, present and future — who belong to the dynasties of the sun and the moon.
SB 12.2.26 — From your birth up to the coronation of King Nanda, 1,150 years will pass.
SB 12.2.27-28 — Of the seven stars forming the constellation of the seven sages, Pulaha and Kratu are the first to rise in the night sky. If a line running north and south were drawn through their midpoint, whichever of the lunar mansions this line passes through is said to be the ruling asterism of the constellation for that time. The Seven Sages will remain connected with that particular lunar mansion for one hundred human years. Currently, during your lifetime, they are situated in the nakṣatra called Maghā.
SB 12.2.29 — The Supreme Lord, Viṣṇu, is brilliant like the sun and is known as Kṛṣṇa. When He returned to the spiritual sky, Kali entered this world, and people then began to take pleasure in sinful activities.
SB 12.2.30 — As long as Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa, the husband of the goddess of fortune, touched the earth with His lotus feet, Kali was powerless to subdue this planet.
SB 12.2.31 — When the constellation of the seven sages is passing through the lunar mansion Maghā, the Age of Kali begins. It comprises twelve hundred years of the demigods.
SB 12.2.32 — When the great sages of the Saptarṣi constellation pass from Maghā to Pūrvāsāḍhā, Kali will have his full strength, beginning from King Nanda and his dynasty.
SB 12.2.33 — Those who scientifically understand the past declare that on the very day that Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa departed for the spiritual world, the influence of the Age of Kali began.
SB 12.2.34 — After the one thousand celestial years of Kali-yuga, the Satya-yuga will manifest again. At that time the minds of all men will become self-effulgent.
SB 12.2.35 — Thus I have described the royal dynasty of Manu, as it is known on this earth. One can similarly study the history of the vaiśyas, śūdras and brāhmaṇas living in the various ages.
SB 12.2.36 — These personalities, who were great souls, are now known only by their names. They exist only in accounts from the past, and only their fame remains on the earth.
SB 12.2.37 — Devāpi, the brother of Mahārāja Śāntanu, and Maru, the descendant of Ikṣvāku, both possess great mystic strength and are living even now in the village of Kalāpa.
SB 12.2.38 — At the end of the Age of Kali, these two kings, having received instruction directly from the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Vāsudeva, will return to human society and reestablish the eternal religion of man, characterized by the divisions of varṇa and āśrama, just as it was before.
SB 12.2.39 — The cycle of four ages — Satya, Tretā, Dvāpara and Kali — continues perpetually among living beings on this earth, repeating the same general sequence of events.
SB 12.2.40 — My dear King Parīkṣit, all these kings I have described, as well as all other human beings, come to this earth and stake their claims, but ultimately they all must give up this world and meet their destruction.
SB 12.2.41 — Even though a person’s body may now have the designation “king,” in the end its name will be “worms,” “stool” or “ashes.” What can a person who injures other living beings for the sake of his body know about his own self-interest, since his activities are simply leading him to hell?
SB 12.2.42 — [The materialistic king thinks:] “This unbounded earth was held by my predecessors and is now under my sovereignty. How can I arrange for it to remain in the hands of my sons, grandsons and other descendants?”
SB 12.2.43 — Although the foolish accept the body made of earth, water and fire as “me” and this earth as “mine,” in every case they have ultimately abandoned both their body and the earth and passed away into oblivion.
SB 12.2.44 — My dear King Parīkṣit, all these kings who tried to enjoy the earth by their strength were reduced by the force of time to nothing more than historical accounts.
~ Srimad Bhagavatam, canto 12, chapter 2
#InternationalRebellionWeek #srimadbhagavatam
Thank you for viewing. If you like please fav and leave a nice comment. Hope to see you here again. Have a wonderful day 😊
Oxford Circus, London 🇬🇧
18th April, 2019
Watching over the Canyon in sort of a protective manner. I can relate to just how overwhelming looking out over this canyon can be! What an IMMENSELY awesome thing to see! :-)
The Trip to the Grand Canyon from Vegas seemed like it took FOREVER! I had left Vegas after midnight after a very long day! I had started off the day in the northern area of Death Valley after spending the night in a tent at a campsite that Darren and I had grabbed the day before. During the night I just knew that the Mountain Lions were ganging up and circling the tents and planning their strategy for some tasty meals! Okay... so it could have been just a few Kangaroo Mice instead! Or maybe just the wind! :-D Anyway, I had passed out on Darren the previous night at Racetrack Playa basically from being so totally exhausted that I just couldn't go anymore. So I could have just been dreaming! ;-)
After a restless night, Darren and I got up and made our way south and stopped along the way to see some of the other sites in Death Valley. It was getting very HOT in the middle of the day but we did make it to the Devil's Golf course and a few other places as well. I needed to start heading back towards Dallas and at about 2 or so in the afternoon, I bid farewell to Darren and started heading east.
That evening I stopped in Vegas to meet up with Marisa and one other photographer that lives there in Vegas as well. We spent a little time at the Red Rock Park just on the Northeast side of Las Vegas. After dropping off Marisa at her car and thanking her for the time she spent with us, I started making my way towards the Grand Canyon. At least my plan was to drive for as long as I could and then pull over to get some sleep somewhere. I was not in Arizona too long before I had to stop and found a parking area with a scenic overlook area and laid back the seat to get some rest.
I woke up the next morning as the sun was rising and got back on the road shortly thereafter. Still didn't get much sleep but I was ready to hit the Grand Canyon and see if I could find a secluded area to get some Light Painting Shots in that evening.
I arrived at the Grand Canyon at about noon after a few pit stops for food and fuel and there were people EVERYWHERE! As I walked around the Grand Canyon Village area taking pics here and there, I was also watching the people that were obviously here from all over the world to see this awesome spectacle of nature! So many different languages being spoken that I could not even start to guess what most of them were. It was pretty cool to be standing in the middle of this big melting pot of people from every corner of the planet.
With all of the people around this main area, I decided it was best to venture to the east a bit and see if I could find a nice overlook area not only to catch a nice sunset with the canyon in view, but a spot that would be a good place for some light painting a little later when the moon came up. It was now Monday, May 7th and the full moon occurred two days prior to this. So it would rise roughly two hours after sunset... Plenty of time to get settled! :-)
I drove down East Rim Drive towards Cameron, Arizona. (Cameron loved the fact that "the town was named after him!" when we made a trip to the Grand Canyon in 2001!) Ha! I was so busy looking at the forest and the occasional views over the canyon that I didn't pay much attention to the signs along road as I went. This would come back to bite me a little later! ;-) I stopped at several overlook areas along the way and finally made my way to Navajo Point which is about 20 miles away from the main visitor center. The view from this point was awesome! The canyon made a bend here and the sun would set over the canyon to my west, and you could see the Colorado River at the bottom of the canyon in spots towards the west and in a large area heading to the north east from here. I took a few photos and looked around a bit and found a spot where I could do some Light Painting without fear of falling off into the dark canyon below. At least not TOO much fear! ;-)
So after a little more exploring of the area, I settled down in a good spot to get some shots of the sun setting and just kicked back for a while enjoying the view. Off to the east, I noticed some clouds and it looked like they might have some rain mixed in with them as well. Rain is sort of an unusual thing and you really don't see clouds that often here either so I didn't think much about them other than the fact that I thought it would be cool if some clouds would make an appearance in some of my shots. Well, be careful what you wish for! As the sun was getting closer to the horizon, an overcast moved in and caught up with the sun as well and it was starting to look like there wasn't going to be any sunset shots at this point. It was also looking pretty bad for the Light Painting shoot that I had planned for later as well since this would block the moon from making the landscape visible during the session! 8-O Wow!
Well, just as the sun was getting close to the horizon, it broke back out of the cloud bank and did end up putting on a bit a a show for us. I say "US" because at this point, there were probably 50 other people gathered at the same area hoping to get a shot of the sunset also! ;-)
Anyway… After getting some shots of the sunset and letting it get a bit dark, I headed back towards Grand Canyon Village to see if I could find a place to get some food and do some waiting to see if the clouds would break up at all. On my way back though, I spotted some of the signs that I had missed on the way in! There was one that REALLY stood out and was on the road near the point I had chosen for my Light Painting session that night! It was like the familiar Deer Crossing warning signs that most everyone has seen before, but this was different! Instead of the silhouette of a deer on the sign, it was the silhouette of a Mountain Lion!!! 8-O A Cougar! A Puma! A BIG Cat!! One that HAS been known to attack and kill humans!! I distinctly remember reading that these cats are normally shy and solitary animals, BUT, they DO occasionally attack people, usually children or solitary adults, and that there are about four attacks per year with one fatality each year!!! Great!!! Here I am, in an area where they thought it NECESSARY to put up a sign warning drivers about them and I was going to be a SOLITARY ADULT out in the middle of the night in the middle of NOWHERE!!
I have said it before and I will say it again! One my biggest fears is being eaten alive! Particularly by one of these cats!! It is not the first time I have been in an area where they are known to be, and I am sure it wont be the last! But usually I am with someone else! This time, it was just me! So.. as I dwelled on that thought all the way back to civilization and on through dinner while waiting for the moon to pop out of the clouds, I wondered if I should try to find a different area in the dark or go through with my plans. Things were really not looking too good anyway with the cloud cover so I was starting to think that I would not get any Light Painting shots at the Grand Canyon this go around anyway. :-\
As it starting getting close to midnight, I was getting ready to give up on the moon when I noticed it lighten up a bit outside! Sure enough! The clouds were breaking! Cool! I was at least going to see if I could get a few shots in before hitting the road again to get back to Dallas! So... I made my way back out to Navajo Point and was reminded of the Mountain Lion threat several times along the way! I had convinced myself that I would just try to play it as safe as possible and keep aware of my surroundings as much as possible, but if it was my time to go at the claws of a big cat, then I guess it was time! :-)
When I reached Navajo Point, I got all my gear together and made the short hike over to the rim of the canyon and got things set up. I kept a very bright flashlight turned on and searched the area for glowing eyes at every chance as I got everything ready to shoot. The moon was still at an angle that was causing some unwanted shadows but I just had to deal with the situation I had at the moment and started shooting. Each shot was a little over a 10 minute exposure and it was difficult to NOT turn on the spotlight to look for eyes during the exposures but I refrained. The wind was blowing fairly strong as well, so it was hard to hear anything but the wind blowing through the trees. As soon as I would end an exposure, I would turn on the spotlight to scan for glowing eyes and keep it on the entire time that I was checking the shot. I would scan the trees again before taking the next shot and this went on like this for the next two hours.
After I had created several shots, and at about 2:30 in the morning, my nerves were shot and I was exhausted once again! So I packed things up and high tailed it away from any further threat of being eaten alive that night! I still felt good about the fact that I was FINALLY able to Light Paint the Grand Canyon! :-)
Light Painting - Single Exposure
In the style of Denis Smith (biskitboy)
OK, so I'm a day late ... but yesterday was another special day. For those of you who are wondering "what special day was it?", it's a bit of a personal celebration. More on that in just a moment. First, let's talk about the image. Trust me, it all relates. :-)
So, going along with the theme of this weeks blog, here's a shot taken during a pleasant hike around Horseshoe Lake in Denali NP. See, Denali NP has only a few designated hiking trails, since most of the park is considered DIY hiking. Horseshoe Lake resides near the front of the park, aka "more accessible". Now that doesn't mean that it's overrun with hikers. One can find much serenity and peaceful relective moments, sometimes even some wildlife, you just never know what you're going to find.
On this day, a good friend of ours joined us on our hike, and we couldn't help but notice that the fall-kissed leaves were beginning to arrive and we were obviously admiring the colors contrasted against the greens of the landscape and the blues in the sky. That, we really expected, for it was already the first week in September. As we listened to the sound of the river rushing by and were enjoying the cool fresh air in our faces, we looked up to see a rainbow. There wasn't any rain around us and it caught us by surprise ... a pleasant one of course.
Now back to the "special day" and how it relates to this image. See, yesterday was my 1 year anniversary of my departure (aka retirement) from my "day job". It was a day (well the two weeks prior to that day) that also was unexpected and came out of the blue. However, even then I knew that it was a beautiful thing and a very welcomed sight. During the last year away, I've gotten to savor such wonderful experiences from travel to Yellowstone and Grand Teton NPs, to a cross country cycling "road trip" (no, I didn't ride my bike across the country ... that would be crazy for me LOL)and watch my husband earn a Gold Medal in mountain biking at an International Police & Firefighter Games event. I flew back to watch my daughter get honored with her "white coat" celebrating her beginning of her Physician Assistant rotation year. We were able to take a fall colors trip to the Carolinas and spend time with dear friends who had recently relocated up that way.I was lucky enough to be able to take not just one, but two trips to Alaska, including my dream come true to see the polar bears. I got to spend more time with Tom and the rest of my family. I learned to love Mondays ... while having let go of "Happy Friday", a tradition that I drastically clung onto just a year earlier. Sure I miss some of my co-workers, but friends always stay in touch regardless. :-) I learned (for certainty) that my "day job" was just that... it didn't define who I was. Lastly I learned that I didn't just yearn to escape the hustle and bustle of work by wanting to get out into wildlife out of necessity ... but rather it's where my spirit and heart tells me to be. Life is good. :-)
Rainbows are thought by many to be a special sighting. A lucky omen if you will. Or possibly even represent a transitional time. For me, especiallly on this day that I share it with you, it represents all 3. Yes, I truly found my jackpot at the end of my rainbow. Thanks for being a part of that. :-)
© 2015 Debbie Tubridy / TNWA Photography
www.tnwaphotography.wordpress.com
#TYN
Sure, it's not clever, and sure, I'm not actually gonna buy it.
But it’s relatable. :P
Honestly I just wanted to use this drawing I did a little while ago. Enjoy.
The Moon has reached the first quarter of it's phase, but it's been
so cloudy, misty, foggy and rainy that I haven't been able to see it!
I took this photo on leap day 29th February 2012 when the Moon was at a similar phase as it is now. I love the way that the craters show up so well on the terminator when the sun is shining at an angle.
Highest position in Explore: 112 on Thursday, November 22, 2012
#29 - Leap Day (Any shot to be taken on, or relating to 29th February 2012) in 112 pictures in 2012
Kata Tjuṯa National Park is a protected area located in Northern Territory of Australia. The park is home to both Uluru and Kata Tjuta. It is located 1,943 kilometres (1,207 mi) south of Darwin by road and 440 kilometres (270 mi) south-west of Alice Springs along the Stuart and Lasseter Highways. The location is listed with UNESCO World Heritage sites.
Kata Tjuta, meaning 'many heads', is a sacred place relating to knowledge that is considered very powerful and dangerous, only suitable for initiated men. It is made up of a group of 36 conglomerate rock domes that date back 500 million years.
Here is another scan and retouch that relates a lot of history. It was a snap of Alice and Katherine at Alice's Wild Basin cabin at the Copeland Lake area of the south end of Rocky Mtn. National Park. Was the old ice chest on the north of the cabin still in use? It stands in front of the cabin that was originally the recycled ice house at Copeland Lake. At some time, Jim Coulihan of St. Catherine's Chapel, built a new addition to the origins. Grandmother, Alice, spent every summer at her cabin right near the Wid Basin Lodge and walked to The Meeker Park Store of groceries. Down the hill from the porch on the other side was the North St.Vrain River scrambled down the canyon, filled with all those trout. The cabin was ever a mellow place to stay in 1943.
Talk about a mellow place to stay, the entire world would like to pack in here this summer. At Longmont, the nights are seldom dropping to 60 and below so far. So much for T-Rump's Tirade against the Environment (his TTE - Trade the Environment for money policy); it's starting to really pay off with rain in the Arctic and state sized bergs calving in the Antarctic.
The water supply for the uninsulated cabin was directly pumped from the river when there was no thought about the quality of the water supply. Do I remember something about tumbling streams purifying in a 1/4 mile? Nobody ever gave a thought about drinking from the stream that fed Longmont's water supply.
As usual, the negative and contact printing left a lot of flecks, white and black, and garbage across the image. In close, it looks like a shotgun blast. As always, it provides plenty of practice whether needed or not. I used the same two techniques, the Stamp and Brush to work on the image. Unfortunately, the scanner usually features all the defects on old snaps like this. I suppose that it will always be possible that this family will exchange the digital shots and spread them far enough that my labor won't be entirely wasted.
Generally, I gang output these to high resolution PDFs that can be printed at home of taken to Fed-X Kinkos for their color printing. I have enough to output another sheet. Their output never seems to waver from the quality of the PDF.
Work Day / Social Distancing Day 92, 06/15/2020, Manhattan, NY
Apple iPhone XR
iPhone XR back camera 4.25mm f/1.8
ƒ/1.8 4.2 mm 1/120 64
Ardmore is an unincorporated community and census-designated place spanning the border between Delaware and Montgomery counties in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania.
- sent from - / ARDMORE / DEC 16 / 6 PM / PA. / 1921 / - duplex cancel
- arrived at - / UPPER NEW CORNWALL / DE 24 / 21 / N.S. / - split ring arrival stamp - this split ring (hammer No. 2) was not listed in the proof book - it was most likely proofed c. 1907 - RF C.
The post office at UPPER NEW CORNWALL operated from - 1 September 1891 to 28 February 1953, with John E. Hallamore serving as the first postmaster. L.B. MacPherson writes in his book - Upper New Cornwall is another instance of two record cards and this type of unusual notation "closed 1 November 1914 and a new office opened under the same name."
Postmaster Details:
Appointment Date: John E. Haltimore / John Edwin Hallamore was appointed postmaster on September 1, 1891.
Vacancy Date: The post office at Upper New Cornwall was listed as "closed" on October 31, 1914, ending his official tenure.
LINK to information on the first opening of the Upper New Cornwall Post office - central.bac-lac.gc.ca/.redirect?app=posoffposmas&id=2...
Succession: After the post office was re-established (the next day), the role was filled by Lawrence Naas, who served until his son Henry Naas took over in 1920.
Henry Moore Naas (1873–1948) was the postmaster for the rural community of Upper New Cornwall, Nova Scotia, for a brief period between 1920 and 1922.
Postmaster Service:
Historical records of the Canadian Postmaster General indicate his tenure was relatively short, starting after World War I and concluding by 1922. During this time, postmasters in small Nova Scotia communities often operated the post office out of their own homes or local general stores.
Personal and Family Life:
Birth and Death: Born on September 21, 1873, in Lunenburg, Nova Scotia, to George William Naas and Sophia Richardson. He died on November 21, 1948, at the age of 75. Marriage: He married Emma Elizabeth Demone on September 3, 1902, in Mahone Bay. Residency: He spent his life in the Lunenburg area, appearing in local census records in 1901 and 1911.
Burial: While some family members are buried in Walden, Lunenburg County, Henry Moore Naas's records are centrally tied to the Lunenburg township.
Henry Moore Naas and Lawrence Naas were indeed related; Lawrence Naas (1842–1921) was the father of Henry Moore Naas. Transition: The transfer of the postmaster role from father to son was a common practice in rural Nova Scotia at the time. The post office was typically located in the family home, making the transition seamless for the community.
LINK to information on the second opening of the Upper New Cornwall Post office - central.bac-lac.gc.ca/.redirect?app=posoffposmas&id=1...
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- sent by the Hallamore family (Clarence's father was John Edwin Hallamore / the first postmaster at Upper New Cornwall) - Aunt Myrtle, Uncle Clarence & their son Glenwood.
Myrtle (nee Hallamore) Rose
(b. 2 August 1885 in New Cornwall, Lunenburg County) ,Nova Scotia – d. 31 December 1960 at age 75 in Akron, Pennsylvania) - LINK to her newspaper obituary - www.newspapers.com/article/lancaster-new-era-obituary-for...
Her husband - Clarence Atwood Rose
(b. 10 August 1880 in Urbania, East Hants, Hants County, Nova Scotia, Canada – d. 13 November 1941 at age 61 in Ardmore, Lower Merion Township, Montgomery, Pennsylvania, United States) LINK to his newspaper obituary - www.newspapers.com/article/the-philadelphia-inquirer-obit...
They were married - 10 June 1914 in Baltimore, Maryland - LINK to - Wedding Secret Kept a Year - www.newspapers.com/article/evening-public-ledger-wedding-...
Their son - Clarence Glenwood Rose
(b. 10 August 1916 in Ardmore, Pennsylvania, United States – d. May 1972 at age 55)
Addressed to: Mr. Claude L. Joudrey / Upper Cornwall / Lunenburg County / Nova Scotia
Claude Leland Joudrey
(b. 22 February 1896 in Upper Cornwall, Lunenburg County, Nova Scotia, Canada - d. 27 February 1978 at age 82 in Berlin, Coos, New Hampshire, USA) - occupation - employed with the Brown Company as electrical foreman - Link to his World War I records - www.bac-lac.gc.ca/eng/discover/military-heritage/first-wo... - LINK to his Find a Grave site - www.findagrave.com/memorial/59335853/claude_l-joudrey
His mother - Maude Samantha (nee Deal) JOUDREY (1874 - 1968)
His father - James Joudrey (1871 - 1938)
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Originally affiliated with the Red Cross, America's Christmas Seal Association has changed it’s name over the years, and is now The American Lung Association. Their first Christmas Seal was issued in 1907 at a time when tuberculosis was a major cause of death in America. As an effort to save a small tuberculosis hospital in the state of Delaware, Emily Bissell designed and financed this first Christmas Seal. Inspired by an article about similar project in Denmark three years earlier, her Christmas Seal was failing to receive the attention necessary to raise the needed funds. Bissell, a writer, poet, and socially conscious woman sought the help of a big city columnist, Leigh Mitchell Hodges. With the Philadelphia North American's help her financial goal was exceeded by 1000%. Sales were so brisk that even toward the end of the holiday season a second printing, a type two with “Happy New Year” added, was produced.
The 1921 US Christmas seals (Scott number WX-28 for Type I and WX-29 for Type II/III) feature a design by George V. Curtis depicting Santa Claus and two children in the snow. The primary distinction between the types relates to production variations, specifically the printing process and minor design differences:
Type I (Scott WX-28): These seals were produced by the Eureka Specialty Printing Co. They have a perforation of 12½.
Type II and Type III (Scott WX-29/WX-29a): These seals were produced by a different printer, the Strobridge Lithographing Co. Both Type II and Type III have a perforation of 12. The distinction between Type II and Type III is a minor difference in the "curl" of the ribbon at the bottom left, specifically where the words "American Red Cross" are located:
Type II has a "closed curl" (filled in green).
Type III has an "open curl" (filled in red).
1921 type 1 US Christmas Seal, perforation 12 1/2 - WX-28
Type 1 - The dots of the red shading on chimney and faces are arranged in diagonal rows. There is a heavy red line between the two top rows of bricks.
1921 type 2 US Christmas Seal, perforation 12 - WX-29
Type 2 - The dots in the red shading are arranged in horizontal rows.
1921 type 3 US Christmas Seal, perforation 12 - WX-29a
Type 3 - Same as Type 1, but without the heavy red line between the top two rows of bricks. The red line is not always obvious; if measured accurately, the different perforation gauge may be a more reliable test.
Relating to my RT on the 165 shot at Rainham is a view of the more normal RML on this route - RML2367, passing RT4087 in Mungo Park Drive, South Hornchurch on 17/4/71.
Uses: Anything relating to finance and money.
Free Creative Commons Finance Images... I created these images in my studio and have made them all available for personal or commercial use. Hope you like them and find them useful.
To see more of our CC by 2.0 finance images click here... see profile for attribution.
Heuristic Material : Collage
1. encouraging a person to learn, discover, understand, or solve problems on his or her own, as by experimenting, evaluating possible answers or solutions, or by trial and error: a heuristic teaching method.
2. serving to indicate or point out; stimulating interest as a means of furthering investigation.
Google Lens
The image displays a collection of texts and images, likely part of an academic or artistic display, with prominent references to the Russian painter-monk Andrei Rublev and the filmmaker Andrei Tarkovsky's film about him.
Essential information:
The text mentions "Andrey Rublyov" (Andrei Rublev), a famous Russian icon painter.
One quote, attributed to Marc Augé, discusses the slow disappearance of ruins from cities and a "lack of time" to process the past.
Another quote, attributed to "Morrison", relates to "the ruins of Cinema".
The image of the man is likely a still from the 1966 film Andrei Rublev, directed by Andrei Tarkovsky.
Andrei Tarkovsky's Andrei Rublev (1966): Criterion Blu-ray ...
3 Oct 2018 — In Andrei Rublev (1966), he creates a sweeping evocation of the chaos of Medieval Russia, a world of brutal violence and...
Cagey Films
adj. *Dramatic
1. Of or relating to drama or the theater.
2. Characterized by or expressive of the action or emotion associated with drama or the theatre: a dramatic rescue at sea.
3. Arresting or forceful in appearance or effect
Dramatic Sunrise, Grands Jardins National Park, Charlevoix region, Quebec, Canada.
PixQuote:
"Using a camera appeases the anxiety which the work-driven feel about not working when they are on vacation and supposed to be having fun. They have something to do that is like a friendly imitation of work: they can take pictures."
-Susan Sontag
PixNote:
In 1988, UNESCO embedded the Parc national des Grands-Jardins within the World Biosphere Reserve in Charlevoix, confirming its international position as a vital element in the conservation of the biodiversity of this exceptional site. Two major forest fires have since devastated the Grands-Jardins forest, one in 1991 and another in 1999. Although these events initially appear to be dramatic, they are nevertheless beneficial for a number of animal species. Contrary to what most people would think, the post-fire ecosystem is dynamic, and this gives the Parc national des Grands-Jardins territory its special nature. (Ref: SEPAQ)
The Symptoms of Kali-yuga
This chapter relates that, when the bad qualities of the Age of Kali will increase to an intolerable level, the Supreme Personality of Godhead will descend as Kalki to destroy those who are fixed in irreligion. After that, a new Satya-yuga will begin.
As the Age of Kali progresses, all good qualities of men diminish and all impure qualities increase. Atheistic systems of so-called religion become predominant, replacing the codes of Vedic law. The kings become just like highway bandits, the people in general become dedicated to low occupations, and all the social classes become just like śūdras. All cows become like goats, all spiritual hermitages become like materialistic homes, and family ties extend no further than the immediate relationship of marriage.
When the Age of Kali has almost ended, the Supreme Personality of Godhead will incarnate. He will appear in the village Śambhala, in the home of the exalted brāhmaṇa Viṣṇuyaśā, and will take the name Kalki. He will mount His horse Devadatta and, taking His sword in hand, will roam about the earth killing millions of bandits in the guise of kings. Then the signs of the next Satya-yuga will begin to appear. When the moon, sun and the planet Bṛhaspati enter simultaneously into one constellation and conjoin in the lunar mansion Puṣyā, Satya-yuga will begin. In the order of Satya, Tretā, Dvāpara and Kali, the cycle of four ages rotates in the society of living entities in this universe.
The chapter ends with a brief description of the future dynasties of the sun and moon coming from Vaivasvata Manu in the next Satya-yuga. Even now two saintly kṣatriyas are living who at the end of this Kali-yuga will reinitiate the pious dynasties of the sun-god, Vivasvān, and the moon-god, Candra. One of these kings is Devāpi, a brother of Mahārāja Śantanu, and the other is Maru, a descendant of Ikṣvāku. They are biding their time incognito in a village named Kalāpa.
SB 12.2.1 — Śukadeva Gosvāmī said: Then, O King, religion, truthfulness, cleanliness, tolerance, mercy, duration of life, physical strength and memory will all diminish day by day because of the powerful influence of the Age of Kali.
SB 12.2.2 — In Kali-yuga, wealth alone will be considered the sign of a man’s good birth, proper behavior and fine qualities. And law and justice will be applied only on the basis of one’s power.
SB 12.2.3 — Men and women will live together merely because of superficial attraction, and success in business will depend on deceit. Womanliness and manliness will be judged according to one’s expertise in sex, and a man will be known as a brāhmaṇa just by his wearing a thread.
SB 12.2.4 — A person’s spiritual position will be ascertained merely according to external symbols, and on that same basis people will change from one spiritual order to the next. A person’s propriety will be seriously questioned if he does not earn a good living. And one who is very clever at juggling words will be considered a learned scholar.
SB 12.2.5 — A person will be judged unholy if he does not have money, and hypocrisy will be accepted as virtue. Marriage will be arranged simply by verbal agreement, and a person will think he is fit to appear in public if he has merely taken a bath.
SB 12.2.6 — A sacred place will be taken to consist of no more than a reservoir of water located at a distance, and beauty will be thought to depend on one’s hairstyle. Filling the belly will become the goal of life, and one who is audacious will be accepted as truthful. He who can maintain a family will be regarded as an expert man, and the principles of religion will be observed only for the sake of reputation.
SB 12.2.7 — As the earth thus becomes crowded with a corrupt population, whoever among any of the social classes shows himself to be the strongest will gain political power.
SB 12.2.8 — Losing their wives and properties to such avaricious and merciless rulers, who will behave no better than ordinary thieves, the citizens will flee to the mountains and forests.
SB 12.2.9 — Harassed by famine and excessive taxes, people will resort to eating leaves, roots, flesh, wild honey, fruits, flowers and seeds. Struck by drought, they will become completely ruined.
SB 12.2.10 — The citizens will suffer greatly from cold, wind, heat, rain and snow. They will be further tormented by quarrels, hunger, thirst, disease and severe anxiety.
SB 12.2.11 — The maximum duration of life for human beings in Kali-yuga will become fifty years.
SB 12.2.12-16 — By the time the Age of Kali ends, the bodies of all creatures will be greatly reduced in size, and the religious principles of followers of varṇāśrama will be ruined. The path of the Vedas will be completely forgotten in human society, and so-called religion will be mostly atheistic. The kings will mostly be thieves, the occupations of men will be stealing, lying and needless violence, and all the social classes will be reduced to the lowest level of śūdras. Cows will be like goats, spiritual hermitages will be no different from mundane houses, and family ties will extend no further than the immediate bonds of marriage. Most plants and herbs will be tiny, and all trees will appear like dwarf śamī trees. Clouds will be full of lightning, homes will be devoid of piety, and all human beings will have become like asses. At that time, the Supreme Personality of Godhead will appear on the earth. Acting with the power of pure spiritual goodness, He will rescue eternal religion.
SB 12.2.17 — Lord Viṣṇu — the Supreme Personality of Godhead, the spiritual master of all moving and nonmoving living beings, and the Supreme Soul of all — takes birth to protect the principles of religion and to relieve His saintly devotees from the reactions of material work.
SB 12.2.18 — Lord Kalki will appear in the home of the most eminent brāhmaṇa of Śambhala village, the great soul Viṣṇuyaśā.
SB 12.2.19-20 — Lord Kalki, the Lord of the universe, will mount His swift horse Devadatta and, sword in hand, travel over the earth exhibiting His eight mystic opulences and eight special qualities of Godhead. Displaying His unequaled effulgence and riding with great speed, He will kill by the millions those thieves who have dared dress as kings.
SB 12.2.21 — After all the impostor kings have been killed, the residents of the cities and towns will feel the breezes carrying the most sacred fragrance of the sandalwood paste and other decorations of Lord Vāsudeva, and their minds will thereby become transcendentally pure.
SB 12.2.22 — When Lord Vāsudeva, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, appears in their hearts in His transcendental form of goodness, the remaining citizens will abundantly repopulate the earth.
SB 12.2.23 — When the Supreme Lord has appeared on earth as Kalki, the maintainer of religion, Satya-yuga will begin, and human society will bring forth progeny in the mode of goodness.
SB 12.2.24 — When the moon, the sun and Bṛhaspatī are together in the constellation Karkaṭa, and all three enter simultaneously into the lunar mansion Puṣyā — at that exact moment the age of Satya, or Kṛta, will begin.
SB 12.2.25 — Thus I have described all the kings — past, present and future — who belong to the dynasties of the sun and the moon.
SB 12.2.26 — From your birth up to the coronation of King Nanda, 1,150 years will pass.
SB 12.2.27-28 — Of the seven stars forming the constellation of the seven sages, Pulaha and Kratu are the first to rise in the night sky. If a line running north and south were drawn through their midpoint, whichever of the lunar mansions this line passes through is said to be the ruling asterism of the constellation for that time. The Seven Sages will remain connected with that particular lunar mansion for one hundred human years. Currently, during your lifetime, they are situated in the nakṣatra called Maghā.
SB 12.2.29 — The Supreme Lord, Viṣṇu, is brilliant like the sun and is known as Kṛṣṇa. When He returned to the spiritual sky, Kali entered this world, and people then began to take pleasure in sinful activities.
SB 12.2.30 — As long as Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa, the husband of the goddess of fortune, touched the earth with His lotus feet, Kali was powerless to subdue this planet.
SB 12.2.31 — When the constellation of the seven sages is passing through the lunar mansion Maghā, the Age of Kali begins. It comprises twelve hundred years of the demigods.
SB 12.2.32 — When the great sages of the Saptarṣi constellation pass from Maghā to Pūrvāsāḍhā, Kali will have his full strength, beginning from King Nanda and his dynasty.
SB 12.2.33 — Those who scientifically understand the past declare that on the very day that Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa departed for the spiritual world, the influence of the Age of Kali began.
SB 12.2.34 — After the one thousand celestial years of Kali-yuga, the Satya-yuga will manifest again. At that time the minds of all men will become self-effulgent.
SB 12.2.35 — Thus I have described the royal dynasty of Manu, as it is known on this earth. One can similarly study the history of the vaiśyas, śūdras and brāhmaṇas living in the various ages.
SB 12.2.36 — These personalities, who were great souls, are now known only by their names. They exist only in accounts from the past, and only their fame remains on the earth.
SB 12.2.37 — Devāpi, the brother of Mahārāja Śāntanu, and Maru, the descendant of Ikṣvāku, both possess great mystic strength and are living even now in the village of Kalāpa.
SB 12.2.38 — At the end of the Age of Kali, these two kings, having received instruction directly from the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Vāsudeva, will return to human society and reestablish the eternal religion of man, characterized by the divisions of varṇa and āśrama, just as it was before.
SB 12.2.39 — The cycle of four ages — Satya, Tretā, Dvāpara and Kali — continues perpetually among living beings on this earth, repeating the same general sequence of events.
SB 12.2.40 — My dear King Parīkṣit, all these kings I have described, as well as all other human beings, come to this earth and stake their claims, but ultimately they all must give up this world and meet their destruction.
SB 12.2.41 — Even though a person’s body may now have the designation “king,” in the end its name will be “worms,” “stool” or “ashes.” What can a person who injures other living beings for the sake of his body know about his own self-interest, since his activities are simply leading him to hell?
SB 12.2.42 — [The materialistic king thinks:] “This unbounded earth was held by my predecessors and is now under my sovereignty. How can I arrange for it to remain in the hands of my sons, grandsons and other descendants?”
SB 12.2.43 — Although the foolish accept the body made of earth, water and fire as “me” and this earth as “mine,” in every case they have ultimately abandoned both their body and the earth and passed away into oblivion.
SB 12.2.44 — My dear King Parīkṣit, all these kings who tried to enjoy the earth by their strength were reduced by the force of time to nothing more than historical accounts.
~ Srimad Bhagavatam, canto 12, chapter 2
#InternationalRebellionWeek #srimadbhagavatam
Thank you for viewing. If you like please fav and leave a nice comment. Hope to see you here again. Have a wonderful day 😊
Oxford Circus, London 🇬🇧
18th April, 2019
The days slowly seem to be getting longer so I took advantage of the extra day light around this beautiful lake. I love admiring the beauty of birds flying. There is just something about being able to fly and soar above it all. I felt like I could relate in many different aspects. If I could be any animal I would definitely choose to be an eagle. What would you guys be? 😄
#picoftheday #photooftheday #instagood #outdoorwomen #outdoorlife #radgirlslife #lifeofadventure #adventurethatislife #neverstopexploring #welivetoexplore #wanderlust #outdooradventurephotos #rei1440project #liveauthentic #thiswanderer #myfavtourlina #wildernessbabes #dametraveler #darlingescapes #earthgirladventures #simplyadventure #adventureculture #travelbug #exploreva #loveva #galaxys6 #skyporn #skylovers #water #everytrailconnects
359 Likes on Instagram
17 Comments on Instagram:
michelleoblair: 😍😍 WOW!
adventurewith_ashley: @michelleoblair thank you! ! 8)
rahuldhyani5: Treat for eyes 👌👌
adventurewith_ashley: @rahuldhyani5 indeed!! :)
I can relate to why the Blackfeet tribe found Mt. Sinopah inspiring and powerful. They named this area of Glacier Park Two Medicine as they felt it was a sacred area, often used for Vision Quests.
Nothing moves, recharges and awes me quite like mountain peaks. The Blackfeet had it right in respecting and honoring this beautiful area.
Have a terriric Tuesday
"Dreams relating to a house often refers to various aspects of yourself. When trying to analyze the house in your dream, consider also how the house is kept and the condition of it. The rooms in the house relate to facets of your personality. To see an old, run-down house in your dream, represents your old beliefs, attitudes and how you used to think or feel. A situation in your current life may be bringing about those same old attitudes and feelings."
-Dream Dictionary
Leabrook Resthaven.
The history of the Queen Anne style house at Leabrook relates to the rising fortunes of Mr F.C Catt. The Catt family resided from early days in the 1870s in Gladstone in the Mid North of South Australia. Mr Catt senior was a state politician, a member of the Wesleyan Methodist Synod and a strong community worker. His son F. C catt moved to Adelaide and worked in the drapery trade for some years before opening his own Adelaide Speciality Stores in 1905 at 70 Rundle Street almost next door to Balfours bakery and café. He expanded quickly and opened an Adelaide Specialty Store in Gladstone in 1906 and a further one in Balaklava some years later. He eventually had his city stores based from 64 to 72 Rundle Street. As a successful drapers and store operator he built a fine Queen Anne villa on Glynburn Road Leabrook in 1910. Around the time he closed his Balaklava and other stores he sold the villa to the Cooper brewing family of Leabrook. They owned the house until it was sold to the Methodist Church in 1944. The Methodist Church had founded a home for elderly ladies in 1935 at Brighton. In the same year the Methodist Church opened another rest home at Payneham. The homes were known as Methodist Homes for Ladies and later for the Elderly as they began to accept male residents. The villa at Leabrook was purchased in 1944 and it became the first Resthaven in 1947 when the Methodist Church adopted the name of Resthaven Homes. With many additions the Queen Anne villa still operates as a Resthaven Aged Care Facility.
The Symptoms of Kali-yuga
This chapter relates that, when the bad qualities of the Age of Kali will increase to an intolerable level, the Supreme Personality of Godhead will descend as Kalki to destroy those who are fixed in irreligion. After that, a new Satya-yuga will begin.
As the Age of Kali progresses, all good qualities of men diminish and all impure qualities increase. Atheistic systems of so-called religion become predominant, replacing the codes of Vedic law. The kings become just like highway bandits, the people in general become dedicated to low occupations, and all the social classes become just like śūdras. All cows become like goats, all spiritual hermitages become like materialistic homes, and family ties extend no further than the immediate relationship of marriage.
When the Age of Kali has almost ended, the Supreme Personality of Godhead will incarnate. He will appear in the village Śambhala, in the home of the exalted brāhmaṇa Viṣṇuyaśā, and will take the name Kalki. He will mount His horse Devadatta and, taking His sword in hand, will roam about the earth killing millions of bandits in the guise of kings. Then the signs of the next Satya-yuga will begin to appear. When the moon, sun and the planet Bṛhaspati enter simultaneously into one constellation and conjoin in the lunar mansion Puṣyā, Satya-yuga will begin. In the order of Satya, Tretā, Dvāpara and Kali, the cycle of four ages rotates in the society of living entities in this universe.
The chapter ends with a brief description of the future dynasties of the sun and moon coming from Vaivasvata Manu in the next Satya-yuga. Even now two saintly kṣatriyas are living who at the end of this Kali-yuga will reinitiate the pious dynasties of the sun-god, Vivasvān, and the moon-god, Candra. One of these kings is Devāpi, a brother of Mahārāja Śantanu, and the other is Maru, a descendant of Ikṣvāku. They are biding their time incognito in a village named Kalāpa.
SB 12.2.1 — Śukadeva Gosvāmī said: Then, O King, religion, truthfulness, cleanliness, tolerance, mercy, duration of life, physical strength and memory will all diminish day by day because of the powerful influence of the Age of Kali.
SB 12.2.2 — In Kali-yuga, wealth alone will be considered the sign of a man’s good birth, proper behavior and fine qualities. And law and justice will be applied only on the basis of one’s power.
SB 12.2.3 — Men and women will live together merely because of superficial attraction, and success in business will depend on deceit. Womanliness and manliness will be judged according to one’s expertise in sex, and a man will be known as a brāhmaṇa just by his wearing a thread.
SB 12.2.4 — A person’s spiritual position will be ascertained merely according to external symbols, and on that same basis people will change from one spiritual order to the next. A person’s propriety will be seriously questioned if he does not earn a good living. And one who is very clever at juggling words will be considered a learned scholar.
SB 12.2.5 — A person will be judged unholy if he does not have money, and hypocrisy will be accepted as virtue. Marriage will be arranged simply by verbal agreement, and a person will think he is fit to appear in public if he has merely taken a bath.
SB 12.2.6 — A sacred place will be taken to consist of no more than a reservoir of water located at a distance, and beauty will be thought to depend on one’s hairstyle. Filling the belly will become the goal of life, and one who is audacious will be accepted as truthful. He who can maintain a family will be regarded as an expert man, and the principles of religion will be observed only for the sake of reputation.
SB 12.2.7 — As the earth thus becomes crowded with a corrupt population, whoever among any of the social classes shows himself to be the strongest will gain political power.
SB 12.2.8 — Losing their wives and properties to such avaricious and merciless rulers, who will behave no better than ordinary thieves, the citizens will flee to the mountains and forests.
SB 12.2.9 — Harassed by famine and excessive taxes, people will resort to eating leaves, roots, flesh, wild honey, fruits, flowers and seeds. Struck by drought, they will become completely ruined.
SB 12.2.10 — The citizens will suffer greatly from cold, wind, heat, rain and snow. They will be further tormented by quarrels, hunger, thirst, disease and severe anxiety.
SB 12.2.11 — The maximum duration of life for human beings in Kali-yuga will become fifty years.
SB 12.2.12-16 — By the time the Age of Kali ends, the bodies of all creatures will be greatly reduced in size, and the religious principles of followers of varṇāśrama will be ruined. The path of the Vedas will be completely forgotten in human society, and so-called religion will be mostly atheistic. The kings will mostly be thieves, the occupations of men will be stealing, lying and needless violence, and all the social classes will be reduced to the lowest level of śūdras. Cows will be like goats, spiritual hermitages will be no different from mundane houses, and family ties will extend no further than the immediate bonds of marriage. Most plants and herbs will be tiny, and all trees will appear like dwarf śamī trees. Clouds will be full of lightning, homes will be devoid of piety, and all human beings will have become like asses. At that time, the Supreme Personality of Godhead will appear on the earth. Acting with the power of pure spiritual goodness, He will rescue eternal religion.
SB 12.2.17 — Lord Viṣṇu — the Supreme Personality of Godhead, the spiritual master of all moving and nonmoving living beings, and the Supreme Soul of all — takes birth to protect the principles of religion and to relieve His saintly devotees from the reactions of material work.
SB 12.2.18 — Lord Kalki will appear in the home of the most eminent brāhmaṇa of Śambhala village, the great soul Viṣṇuyaśā.
SB 12.2.19-20 — Lord Kalki, the Lord of the universe, will mount His swift horse Devadatta and, sword in hand, travel over the earth exhibiting His eight mystic opulences and eight special qualities of Godhead. Displaying His unequaled effulgence and riding with great speed, He will kill by the millions those thieves who have dared dress as kings.
SB 12.2.21 — After all the impostor kings have been killed, the residents of the cities and towns will feel the breezes carrying the most sacred fragrance of the sandalwood paste and other decorations of Lord Vāsudeva, and their minds will thereby become transcendentally pure.
SB 12.2.22 — When Lord Vāsudeva, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, appears in their hearts in His transcendental form of goodness, the remaining citizens will abundantly repopulate the earth.
SB 12.2.23 — When the Supreme Lord has appeared on earth as Kalki, the maintainer of religion, Satya-yuga will begin, and human society will bring forth progeny in the mode of goodness.
SB 12.2.24 — When the moon, the sun and Bṛhaspatī are together in the constellation Karkaṭa, and all three enter simultaneously into the lunar mansion Puṣyā — at that exact moment the age of Satya, or Kṛta, will begin.
SB 12.2.25 — Thus I have described all the kings — past, present and future — who belong to the dynasties of the sun and the moon.
SB 12.2.26 — From your birth up to the coronation of King Nanda, 1,150 years will pass.
SB 12.2.27-28 — Of the seven stars forming the constellation of the seven sages, Pulaha and Kratu are the first to rise in the night sky. If a line running north and south were drawn through their midpoint, whichever of the lunar mansions this line passes through is said to be the ruling asterism of the constellation for that time. The Seven Sages will remain connected with that particular lunar mansion for one hundred human years. Currently, during your lifetime, they are situated in the nakṣatra called Maghā.
SB 12.2.29 — The Supreme Lord, Viṣṇu, is brilliant like the sun and is known as Kṛṣṇa. When He returned to the spiritual sky, Kali entered this world, and people then began to take pleasure in sinful activities.
SB 12.2.30 — As long as Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa, the husband of the goddess of fortune, touched the earth with His lotus feet, Kali was powerless to subdue this planet.
SB 12.2.31 — When the constellation of the seven sages is passing through the lunar mansion Maghā, the Age of Kali begins. It comprises twelve hundred years of the demigods.
SB 12.2.32 — When the great sages of the Saptarṣi constellation pass from Maghā to Pūrvāsāḍhā, Kali will have his full strength, beginning from King Nanda and his dynasty.
SB 12.2.33 — Those who scientifically understand the past declare that on the very day that Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa departed for the spiritual world, the influence of the Age of Kali began.
SB 12.2.34 — After the one thousand celestial years of Kali-yuga, the Satya-yuga will manifest again. At that time the minds of all men will become self-effulgent.
SB 12.2.35 — Thus I have described the royal dynasty of Manu, as it is known on this earth. One can similarly study the history of the vaiśyas, śūdras and brāhmaṇas living in the various ages.
SB 12.2.36 — These personalities, who were great souls, are now known only by their names. They exist only in accounts from the past, and only their fame remains on the earth.
SB 12.2.37 — Devāpi, the brother of Mahārāja Śāntanu, and Maru, the descendant of Ikṣvāku, both possess great mystic strength and are living even now in the village of Kalāpa.
SB 12.2.38 — At the end of the Age of Kali, these two kings, having received instruction directly from the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Vāsudeva, will return to human society and reestablish the eternal religion of man, characterized by the divisions of varṇa and āśrama, just as it was before.
SB 12.2.39 — The cycle of four ages — Satya, Tretā, Dvāpara and Kali — continues perpetually among living beings on this earth, repeating the same general sequence of events.
SB 12.2.40 — My dear King Parīkṣit, all these kings I have described, as well as all other human beings, come to this earth and stake their claims, but ultimately they all must give up this world and meet their destruction.
SB 12.2.41 — Even though a person’s body may now have the designation “king,” in the end its name will be “worms,” “stool” or “ashes.” What can a person who injures other living beings for the sake of his body know about his own self-interest, since his activities are simply leading him to hell?
SB 12.2.42 — [The materialistic king thinks:] “This unbounded earth was held by my predecessors and is now under my sovereignty. How can I arrange for it to remain in the hands of my sons, grandsons and other descendants?”
SB 12.2.43 — Although the foolish accept the body made of earth, water and fire as “me” and this earth as “mine,” in every case they have ultimately abandoned both their body and the earth and passed away into oblivion.
SB 12.2.44 — My dear King Parīkṣit, all these kings who tried to enjoy the earth by their strength were reduced by the force of time to nothing more than historical accounts.
~ Srimad Bhagavatam, canto 12, chapter 2
#InternationalRebellionWeek #srimadbhagavatam
Thank you for viewing. If you like please fav and leave a nice comment. Hope to see you here again. Have a wonderful day 😊
Oxford Circus, London 🇬🇧
18th April, 2019
I don’t even know where to start to describe this photo! This was supposed to be a quick project but ended up being the most meaningful to me!
Have you ever came to pray but all you could do is cry? Have you ever opened the Word of God but the only book appealed to you was the Psalms because the cry of the psalmist heart is all that you could relate to? Have you ever cried out to God so deeply that you could not say a word? That all you could do is open your hands in surrender? Have you ever tried to hold your tears back until you reach home, go to your room, turned the music up so you could cry all you needed? Have you ever opened your eyes to read your Bible but couldn’t see it clearly because tears were filling your eyes?
Well this is what this photo is about. (I hope I conveyed the tears effect accurately.)
This photo is for those moments where faith in your Heavenly Father’s wisdom, love, and goodness is the only thing that is sustaining your emotional and spiritual being. Not blessings, not joy, not hope, not peace, not guidance, not comfort, not love, nor even His presence—just pure faith. Do I sound too extreme here? I think Job would have agreed with me. When all else is stripped away our faith appears, and shows its real worth. Even in testing our God is wise and just, because His purpose is to build up our faith not destroy it--He desires our best because we are His children.
I don’t know what else to say at this moment except that God is a good God, and He is just. Sometimes even when obeying Him it seems that we failed—and feel He failed us--but we can only see so much in comparison to His wisdom.
The only thing I can add are Jesus’ words when He was in anguish, Luke 22:42:
"Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will, but yours be done."
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"Anything that drives you closer to God is good, even pain." Dr. Charles Stanley
"The closest distance between a problem and its solution is the distance between your knees and the floor [praying]." Dr. Charles Stanley
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(Toronto, ON; winter 2008.)
The world will be destroyed by good people who do nothing. We must act now.
The Symptoms of Kali-yuga
This chapter relates that, when the bad qualities of the Age of Kali will increase to an intolerable level, the Supreme Personality of Godhead will descend as Kalki to destroy those who are fixed in irreligion. After that, a new Satya-yuga will begin.
As the Age of Kali progresses, all good qualities of men diminish and all impure qualities increase. Atheistic systems of so-called religion become predominant, replacing the codes of Vedic law. The kings become just like highway bandits, the people in general become dedicated to low occupations, and all the social classes become just like śūdras. All cows become like goats, all spiritual hermitages become like materialistic homes, and family ties extend no further than the immediate relationship of marriage.
When the Age of Kali has almost ended, the Supreme Personality of Godhead will incarnate. He will appear in the village Śambhala, in the home of the exalted brāhmaṇa Viṣṇuyaśā, and will take the name Kalki. He will mount His horse Devadatta and, taking His sword in hand, will roam about the earth killing millions of bandits in the guise of kings. Then the signs of the next Satya-yuga will begin to appear. When the moon, sun and the planet Bṛhaspati enter simultaneously into one constellation and conjoin in the lunar mansion Puṣyā, Satya-yuga will begin. In the order of Satya, Tretā, Dvāpara and Kali, the cycle of four ages rotates in the society of living entities in this universe.
The chapter ends with a brief description of the future dynasties of the sun and moon coming from Vaivasvata Manu in the next Satya-yuga. Even now two saintly kṣatriyas are living who at the end of this Kali-yuga will reinitiate the pious dynasties of the sun-god, Vivasvān, and the moon-god, Candra. One of these kings is Devāpi, a brother of Mahārāja Śantanu, and the other is Maru, a descendant of Ikṣvāku. They are biding their time incognito in a village named Kalāpa.
SB 12.2.1 — Śukadeva Gosvāmī said: Then, O King, religion, truthfulness, cleanliness, tolerance, mercy, duration of life, physical strength and memory will all diminish day by day because of the powerful influence of the Age of Kali.
SB 12.2.2 — In Kali-yuga, wealth alone will be considered the sign of a man’s good birth, proper behavior and fine qualities. And law and justice will be applied only on the basis of one’s power.
SB 12.2.3 — Men and women will live together merely because of superficial attraction, and success in business will depend on deceit. Womanliness and manliness will be judged according to one’s expertise in sex, and a man will be known as a brāhmaṇa just by his wearing a thread.
SB 12.2.4 — A person’s spiritual position will be ascertained merely according to external symbols, and on that same basis people will change from one spiritual order to the next. A person’s propriety will be seriously questioned if he does not earn a good living. And one who is very clever at juggling words will be considered a learned scholar.
SB 12.2.5 — A person will be judged unholy if he does not have money, and hypocrisy will be accepted as virtue. Marriage will be arranged simply by verbal agreement, and a person will think he is fit to appear in public if he has merely taken a bath.
SB 12.2.6 — A sacred place will be taken to consist of no more than a reservoir of water located at a distance, and beauty will be thought to depend on one’s hairstyle. Filling the belly will become the goal of life, and one who is audacious will be accepted as truthful. He who can maintain a family will be regarded as an expert man, and the principles of religion will be observed only for the sake of reputation.
SB 12.2.7 — As the earth thus becomes crowded with a corrupt population, whoever among any of the social classes shows himself to be the strongest will gain political power.
SB 12.2.8 — Losing their wives and properties to such avaricious and merciless rulers, who will behave no better than ordinary thieves, the citizens will flee to the mountains and forests.
SB 12.2.9 — Harassed by famine and excessive taxes, people will resort to eating leaves, roots, flesh, wild honey, fruits, flowers and seeds. Struck by drought, they will become completely ruined.
SB 12.2.10 — The citizens will suffer greatly from cold, wind, heat, rain and snow. They will be further tormented by quarrels, hunger, thirst, disease and severe anxiety.
SB 12.2.11 — The maximum duration of life for human beings in Kali-yuga will become fifty years.
SB 12.2.12-16 — By the time the Age of Kali ends, the bodies of all creatures will be greatly reduced in size, and the religious principles of followers of varṇāśrama will be ruined. The path of the Vedas will be completely forgotten in human society, and so-called religion will be mostly atheistic. The kings will mostly be thieves, the occupations of men will be stealing, lying and needless violence, and all the social classes will be reduced to the lowest level of śūdras. Cows will be like goats, spiritual hermitages will be no different from mundane houses, and family ties will extend no further than the immediate bonds of marriage. Most plants and herbs will be tiny, and all trees will appear like dwarf śamī trees. Clouds will be full of lightning, homes will be devoid of piety, and all human beings will have become like asses. At that time, the Supreme Personality of Godhead will appear on the earth. Acting with the power of pure spiritual goodness, He will rescue eternal religion.
SB 12.2.17 — Lord Viṣṇu — the Supreme Personality of Godhead, the spiritual master of all moving and nonmoving living beings, and the Supreme Soul of all — takes birth to protect the principles of religion and to relieve His saintly devotees from the reactions of material work.
SB 12.2.18 — Lord Kalki will appear in the home of the most eminent brāhmaṇa of Śambhala village, the great soul Viṣṇuyaśā.
SB 12.2.19-20 — Lord Kalki, the Lord of the universe, will mount His swift horse Devadatta and, sword in hand, travel over the earth exhibiting His eight mystic opulences and eight special qualities of Godhead. Displaying His unequaled effulgence and riding with great speed, He will kill by the millions those thieves who have dared dress as kings.
SB 12.2.21 — After all the impostor kings have been killed, the residents of the cities and towns will feel the breezes carrying the most sacred fragrance of the sandalwood paste and other decorations of Lord Vāsudeva, and their minds will thereby become transcendentally pure.
SB 12.2.22 — When Lord Vāsudeva, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, appears in their hearts in His transcendental form of goodness, the remaining citizens will abundantly repopulate the earth.
SB 12.2.23 — When the Supreme Lord has appeared on earth as Kalki, the maintainer of religion, Satya-yuga will begin, and human society will bring forth progeny in the mode of goodness.
SB 12.2.24 — When the moon, the sun and Bṛhaspatī are together in the constellation Karkaṭa, and all three enter simultaneously into the lunar mansion Puṣyā — at that exact moment the age of Satya, or Kṛta, will begin.
SB 12.2.25 — Thus I have described all the kings — past, present and future — who belong to the dynasties of the sun and the moon.
SB 12.2.26 — From your birth up to the coronation of King Nanda, 1,150 years will pass.
SB 12.2.27-28 — Of the seven stars forming the constellation of the seven sages, Pulaha and Kratu are the first to rise in the night sky. If a line running north and south were drawn through their midpoint, whichever of the lunar mansions this line passes through is said to be the ruling asterism of the constellation for that time. The Seven Sages will remain connected with that particular lunar mansion for one hundred human years. Currently, during your lifetime, they are situated in the nakṣatra called Maghā.
SB 12.2.29 — The Supreme Lord, Viṣṇu, is brilliant like the sun and is known as Kṛṣṇa. When He returned to the spiritual sky, Kali entered this world, and people then began to take pleasure in sinful activities.
SB 12.2.30 — As long as Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa, the husband of the goddess of fortune, touched the earth with His lotus feet, Kali was powerless to subdue this planet.
SB 12.2.31 — When the constellation of the seven sages is passing through the lunar mansion Maghā, the Age of Kali begins. It comprises twelve hundred years of the demigods.
SB 12.2.32 — When the great sages of the Saptarṣi constellation pass from Maghā to Pūrvāsāḍhā, Kali will have his full strength, beginning from King Nanda and his dynasty.
SB 12.2.33 — Those who scientifically understand the past declare that on the very day that Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa departed for the spiritual world, the influence of the Age of Kali began.
SB 12.2.34 — After the one thousand celestial years of Kali-yuga, the Satya-yuga will manifest again. At that time the minds of all men will become self-effulgent.
SB 12.2.35 — Thus I have described the royal dynasty of Manu, as it is known on this earth. One can similarly study the history of the vaiśyas, śūdras and brāhmaṇas living in the various ages.
SB 12.2.36 — These personalities, who were great souls, are now known only by their names. They exist only in accounts from the past, and only their fame remains on the earth.
SB 12.2.37 — Devāpi, the brother of Mahārāja Śāntanu, and Maru, the descendant of Ikṣvāku, both possess great mystic strength and are living even now in the village of Kalāpa.
SB 12.2.38 — At the end of the Age of Kali, these two kings, having received instruction directly from the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Vāsudeva, will return to human society and reestablish the eternal religion of man, characterized by the divisions of varṇa and āśrama, just as it was before.
SB 12.2.39 — The cycle of four ages — Satya, Tretā, Dvāpara and Kali — continues perpetually among living beings on this earth, repeating the same general sequence of events.
SB 12.2.40 — My dear King Parīkṣit, all these kings I have described, as well as all other human beings, come to this earth and stake their claims, but ultimately they all must give up this world and meet their destruction.
SB 12.2.41 — Even though a person’s body may now have the designation “king,” in the end its name will be “worms,” “stool” or “ashes.” What can a person who injures other living beings for the sake of his body know about his own self-interest, since his activities are simply leading him to hell?
SB 12.2.42 — [The materialistic king thinks:] “This unbounded earth was held by my predecessors and is now under my sovereignty. How can I arrange for it to remain in the hands of my sons, grandsons and other descendants?”
SB 12.2.43 — Although the foolish accept the body made of earth, water and fire as “me” and this earth as “mine,” in every case they have ultimately abandoned both their body and the earth and passed away into oblivion.
SB 12.2.44 — My dear King Parīkṣit, all these kings who tried to enjoy the earth by their strength were reduced by the force of time to nothing more than historical accounts.
~ Srimad Bhagavatam, canto 12, chapter 2
#InternationalRebellionWeek #srimadbhagavatam
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Oxford Circus, London 🇬🇧
18th April, 2019
London Metropolitan Police Constable 631 'RP' (Royalty Protection, Scotland Yard) John Holley some 600 miles north of his base in Central London. It is the legal responsibility of London's Metropolitan Police to provide protection for the Monarch at all times.
For more pictures and information relating to Cannon Row Police Station visit:
www.alphadeltaplus.20m.com or visit: www.flickr.com/groups/884772@N20/
MORE INFORMATION ABOUT THE RALEIGH BICYCLE SHOWN HERE:
Bicycle built by Raleigh in Nottingham (UK) in 1960 for export to Nigeria where it was considered a status symbol due to having the unusual feature of two crossbars providing extra strength.
The bicycle has a 26" frame with 28" wheels, (rider, when aboard, can easily get a nose bleed due to being so high up!) 3 speed Sturmey Archer gear and rod brakes. Still has original stainless steel wheels, mudguards, chain, chain guard, bell, rear light, pump and reflector etc.
Cycle was used for general police patrols and home beat duties by officers of the Metropolitan Police (London UK) at Chelsea Police Station, Sutton Police Station (Cheam Village home beat patrols), Banstead Police Station and for 2 to 3 months each summer by officers attached to Scotland Yard's Royalty Protection Department (SO14) for security patrols at Balmoral Castle, Aberdeenshire, Scotland, when Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II and other members of the British Royal Family were in residence.
During the early 1980's the London Metropolitan Police actively encouraged the stamping of a post code (zip code) on bicycles and this particular bicycle was used heavily in the promotion of this crime prevention initiative by the force.
Contrary to general perception the Metropolitan Police did not own the bikes, they were in fact owned by the individual officer who received a cycle allowance when used for official police duties (miniscule amount).
Before receiving the cycle allowance the bicycle had to be inspected and tested by a senior officer as to its road worthiness and general condition. However, some UK forces did supply their officers with an 'official' bicycle.
Originally the official police description of this type of bicycle for reporting purposes, would be, a 'black gents ped', but as political correctness descended upon us the description was changed to 'gents black ped'.
A very heavy, solidly built bicycle to say the least! Is now used on a very regular basis and housed permanently in the Highland village of Ballater, Royal Deeside, Aberdeenshire, Scotland, UK, although not as a method of police transport, now used for simply collecting the daily newspaper from Yules the local Ballater newsagents.
The bicycle now receives many admiring glances and interested enquiries from locals and tourists alike when 'parked' in the village of Ballater. The main comments are "We haven't seen a bike like that for many a year" or " They don't make 'em like that anymore " or " I bet that's an old police bike" or "That's a proper bicycle that is!" or "Look it's got two crossbars".
The rider does not look forward to fairly steep hills on their proposed route.....hard work! Always looking and hoping for a flat route.
Also, thanks to 3-In-One oil and WD40 for keeping things running smoothly and shining bright. Can't believe the bike is now 56 years old! Probably will go on for another 56 years or more!
The owner is showing signs of age quicker than the bicycle itself!
Zylophagy relates to animals that eat wood. A great many insects are 'Xylophagous', especially in their larval stages. Termites come to mind when we think of insects that eat wood and cause a great deal of damage to wooden structures.
In this photo, a slice of a grand hickory tree shows the larva of a Hickory borer (Megacyllene caryae). The feces, left behind as it burrows, is packed almost as hard as the hickory wood! The adult looks like www.flickr.com/photos/centavo/8143693572
And this is a no-glam biology major idea of a "Holiday Ornament", made of a piece of hickory with the bored tunnels carved free and washed. You can see that a heavy infestation leaves almost no wood left! www.flickr.com/photos/goat_mountain/22939061584
God has the ability to relate interpersonally, and he does so. God is neither aloof nor disinterest in his creation. God is aware of, and concerned about, the detail of our lives - Brad Hambrick
Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? And not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father. 30 But even the hairs of your head are all numbered. 31 Fear not, therefore; nyou are of more value than many sparrows. (Matthew 10:29-31)
Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words. 27 And he who searches hearts knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because7 the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God. (Romans 8:26-27)
Since then we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. 15 For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. 16 Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need. (Hebrews 4:14-16)
Talk Show
Oil on canvas Signed W x H (“) 36 x 47 Early Period
Talk Show is a painting that proves the idea that we live in a post-modern world with the apparent loss of any reasonable hope for alternative to the present.
In Talk Show, immediacy unites with immortality, trivial with profound.
In our days the long myth of immortality is replaced by the myth of immediacy.
The substitution of the trivial for the profound for many was a loss, rather than a gain, although, the will to be immediate speaks more directly to our lives. Jaisini unites the two principles, searching for unique ways that can create this double effect of physical lowland, united with the philosophical purity of mind. Talk Show has the significance of biblical wisdom based on a street scene. In Talk Show, Jaisini pictures not the dark side' of people, but the substantial one, when sex became 'the lyricism of the masses'.
The picture shows that we live in a more cynical, realistic time by means of parody. The new cynicism is the old one. The work is timeless and can relate to anyone. Talk Show has the analogous environment as in the work called Show Time the crowd representatives and the image that centers the crowd's attention. In Talk Show, it is the two dogs in an intercourse that attracts the attention of different people of the crowd. In the painting we can clearly see the interlocked line of composition. This line flows freely as an unconscious line. The absence of an 'end' in Jaisini's composition may be the artist's revolt against the end of ideology and the general failures of social theory, obsessed with 'ends', with visions of finished worlds and finalities.
Modern society was once based on a principle of expansion, but having reached a certain 'critical mass' it has begun to recoil.
Is this why Jaisini creates his secluded line composition? What we are witnessing in the domain of the social is a kind of inverse explosion. The artist avoids breaking the line because any attempt to save the principle of expansion is not 'archaic' and regressive. The principle of enclosure is the radical inquiry for continuance. Jaisini has found his way to avoid the end-state. His closed circle of composition creates a new visual code that guarantees the 'addressee,' a recognizable meaning.
The Talk Show mockery reflects the contemporary condition of Byzantizm. It could be mentioned here that even in Cicero's time, the ancient world was becoming stupid. Talk Show may symbolize the mass communication as an enclosing circle connecting mass culture and its audiences of 'mass conformist,' the picture's title can be attributed to the fact that consequently television, along with the rest of mass culture, has become an undreamed-of medium of psychological control. We become part of mass communication circuits, part of a realm and era of connection, contact, feedback, an era that is 'obscene,' yet lunar cold. The reason why the artist prescribes the emerald color to his painting may be to symbolize the coldness of the contemporary world of communications which contacts penetrate without resistance. In the picture, we see the dogs' intercourse as the critique of the talk show.
Uses: Anything relating to insurance.
Free Creative Commons Finance Images... I created these images in my studio and have made them all available for personal or commercial use. Hope you like them and find them useful.
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20th biennial Finnish-American Festival, Naselle, Washington.
July 2022
Below are entries chock-full of information having to do with each of the plates shown above.
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Left: "Compliments of FORSMAN & COMPANY, Naselle"
This would be a useful plate to have around now, 102 years after it was made, because I've never had a good grip on the year the Great War (WWI) ended. The plate would reinforce the year the war began and ended. Or would it?
The prominence of the date 1920 might confuse matters further. However, with the war having ended in November, 1919, it makes sense that 1920 was when commemorative objects such as plates were produced.
While the passage of years appears to have erased all traces of Deep River's Forsman & Company, history has not forgotten the community of Deep River, not even a little bit!
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Many Finnish immigrants settled in Deep River and the surrounding areas of Washington. There were striking similarities between life in Finland and life in this area, including an economic life that depended largely on timber and salmon, both of which were plentiful in the Deep River area. The Pacific Northwest was an ideal destination for Finnish immigrants. There was free land that was covered with timber for them to claim.
Seasonal work opportunities were available all year. There was salmon fishing in the spring and summer. Work was available at logging camps the rest of the year.
The daughter of a Finnish immigrant described the early settlement of Deep River:
When asked how the area was settled, an elderly, buxom woman replied, "First the Finns came to fish. Then when Olsons opened the logging camp, they went to Sweden and brought back men to work in the woods. The Swedes married the Finn girls. Later a few Irishmen and Poles drifted in." (Appelo, 1986, p. 110)
This woman also related that her protective Finnish father had built the family’s house in the center of their property to prevent his daughters from seeing and associating with the railroad workers. In spite of his precautions, she waved at one of the railroad brakemen, a handsome Swede. She noted that this Swedish railroad worker later became her husband.
Carlton Appelo (1978, p. 12) listed the names of some of the early Finnish settlers in the Deep River area who arrived before Washington became a state in 1889: Erik Hanson; Henrik Denson (Deep River Cemetery land donor); Isak Herajarvi; Johan Pakanen; Antti Jakob Kantola (Kandoll); Henrik Harrison (Pirila); Mikael Homstrom; Lars Loukkanen (father of August and Chas. Larson); Johan Lueeni; Johan S. Nelson (Ahola); Antti Pirila (father of Albert and Gust Pirila); Johan Erik Rull; Johan Vilmi; Erik Johnson; Karl Forsman; Erik Melin; Antti Rippa (Andrew Rinell); Simon Keko (father of Ed Simmons); Johan Parpala; Johan Salmi (Santalahti); Johan Lamppa (Johnson); Matt, Fredricka, Matti, Joseph, Rosa, and Kalle (Charles) Riippa; Matt Hakala; Matti Harpet (Haapakangas); John Haapakangas; Antti Penttila; Gust Gustafson; Peter Maata; John Ehrlund Rantala; Erik Maunula; Andrew and August Eskola; Antti Johnson (Salmi); John Laakso; Matt Puskala; Abraham Wirkkala; Matt Mathison; and John Warra (Autiovarra).
The prevalence of Finnish immigrants in the Deep River area is evidenced by the many Finnish names that are listed in a cemetery transcription that was recorded for the Deep River Cemetery, and listed on a website that is maintained by the Genealogical Society of Finland. Many Scandinavian names are also found at a Wahkiakum County cemetery transcription site maintained by the "RootsWeb" genealogy organization that lists the names of persons buried in several cemeteries in the county.
The Early Deep River Community
The two major early industries of the Washington territory, particularly in Deep River, were the timber and salmon-fishing industries.
The Timber Industry.
An article in a special section of the Ilwaco, Washington Tribune in 1970 celebrated 100 years of logging at Deep River. The author, Larry Maxim, described the life of the men who worked in the timber industry and felled the gigantic trees as men who were "giants with muscles of laced steel cable and the stamina of an Olympic athlete." The men worked hard for extended periods of time and lived at the logging camps, which usually consisted of a bull barn, a cook shack, and a bunkhouse.
The bunkhouse was crude, just enough to keep out the rain. The bunks were just as crude, a few rough boards spread with straw. The logger had to do his own laundry. His laundry machine–each logger had one–was a five-gallon kerosene can in which he boiled his socks and underwear and sometimes took a sponge bath. (Maxim, 1970)
II. THE LASTING LEGACY OF THE DEEP RIVER FINNS
by Sandra Johnson Witt *
References
I. C. Arthur Appelö and Carlton Appelo: The contributions of two Swedish-Finns to Deep River, Washington and America
An important center of activity at the logging camps was the recreation hall, which the logging companies provided for their workers. The loggers and their families often gathered for dances that lasted until the early morning hours. Children came along too, and slept on mattresses that their parents brought.
Jessie Hindman, an Astorian Budget columnist, wrote an article about the history of the Deep River Timber Company in 1956.
This company owned 4,000 acres of land located above Deep River, one of the shortest and deepest rivers in the world. The logging area contained some of the best timber in the country, including top-grade fir, spruce, hemlock, and cedar.
She described how the local people and logging workers, mostly Finns and Swedes who had begun their lives here as fishermen, became the pioneers of the logging industry in this area. These early families lived together in close association with each other.
The early families along Deep River lived together in such a closely knit life that it was almost as if they had been hurled back into some clannish age. Travel was done entirely by boat as there were no roads except private ones. Towns just 50 miles away were spoken of as "The Outside." Yet, when talking to the older inhabitants of the valley, one is immediately impressed with the full realization that theirs was a happy, satisfying life. (Appelo, 1986, p. 103)
Early home life among the settlers in Deep River was simple. Kerosene lamps provided light and wood stoves provided heat. Most of the houses were made from rough unpainted boards. The women made the clothes and quilts for their families, which they washed by hand. They also planted the gardens and flower beds in addition to planning the recreational activities for their families, which included dances, picnics, boat rides, water carnivals, and playing cards. Playing cards was especially popular during the winter months when steady rainfall forced the families to stay inside. At times, the men would animate their poker games with the hard liquor or beer that they had purchased in Astoria.
Salmon Fishing.
The other major early industry in Deep River was fishing. Astoria had become a major salmon-fishing area by 1870. Because of its location on the Columbia River near the Pacific Ocean, riverboats provided access to the transcontinental railroad. Astoria’s facilities had access to the Pacific Ocean on the west.
Their experiences in Finland made many of the Finnish immigrants ideally suited for successful careers in the salmon-fishing industry.
The Columbia River Fishermen’s Protective Union was incorporated in 1884 and is one of the oldest conservation unions on the West Coast.
In 2003, an article in the Columbia River Gillnetter, the union’s official publication, outlined its early history. "The Story of Two Hundred Fishermen" describes how a group of fishermen successfully established the Union Fishermen’s Cooperative Packing Company in 1896 during troubled economic times, when the salmon industry’s future was uncertain because of some unethical practices that had taken place for 30 years.
The founders, many of whom were from Finland, risked their savings and worked hard to establish this company. They were convinced that their efforts to offer the consumers superior canned salmon would succeed. The cooperative was incorporated by Sofus Jensen, Anton Christ, Ole B. Olsen, J. W. Angberg, and Matt Raistakka:
With their savings for capital, our founders entered into the highly competitive and well-financed salmon packing industry of the Columbia…
Building of the net racks, except for pile driving, was done without charge by stockholders. They received $1.50 a day working on the cannery. They were eager and capable craftsmen. Many had been brought up in Scandinavia and Finland where they had learned trades under masters.
All were imbued with the cooperative movement then taking root in Western Europe. They had acquired a practical understanding of what it means to run a cooperative business successfully. (p. 19)
Community Life, Schools, and Churches.
Many of the immigrants’ children did not learn English until they attended school. The early rural schools in the area were small. The elementary schools were usually one-room buildings that served as many as 80 pupils. It was common for one female teacher to be responsible for teaching the children in all eight grades. Teachers were generally brought into the area from the "Outside," but often married the local farmers, loggers, or fisherman and stayed in Deep River to raise their families.
Church activities were an integral part of community life. The Finnish settlers of Deep River, Naselle, and Salmon Creek organized into a congregation in 1894 as the Finnish Holy Trinity Evangelical Lutheran Church. They shared a pastor with the Astoria Finnish Church. The Deep River Holy Trinity Evangelical Lutheran Church was built in 1898 near the Deep River Cemetery. The church was the first organized Evangelical Lutheran Church in the area and has been officially proclaimed a National Historical Site.
Women were deeply involved in community life. In 1906, the female members of Naselle Church formed the Nasellin Ompelu Seura (Naselle Sewing Circle), which functioned for 71 years to support missions and hospitals, with an emphasis on salvation and benevolence.
Athletic Activities and Music.
Finnish immigrants knew how to work hard, but they also knew how to play hard. They actively participated in all aspects of Deep River community life, including athletic activities. Baseball was especially popular. Most of the members of the official Deep River team, the "Coyotes," were Finnish loggers and fishermen. The team had a very successful pitcher, Arvo Davis, and catcher, Arthur Anderson.
Athletic activities, including footraces and baseball, were often held on the boardwalk road from the Deep River landing to Pentti’s Pool Hall. When the weather was good, Fred Pentti was often observed sitting on a bench in front of the pool hall to view the athletic events.
The Swedes used to sit on the railing on one side and the Finns on the other–hurling insults at one another. When things got too rough, Pentti would wind up his phonograph and play some nice accordion music. Even the kids were allowed to come down and listen to the music. (Appelo, 1997, p.1)
The Finns have always enjoyed music. Many of the Finnish settlers were accomplished musicians. Axel Larson, a well-known fiddler from the Olson’s Logging Camp, played for hundreds of dances with his wife Matilda, who played the piano, and his brother Ernest on the accordion. Charles Hertzen, a talented violinist, and Fred George, who played the guitar, later joined their band. Axel liked to relate their experience of leaving the logging camp by pump cars (also known as hand speeders, operated on railroad tracks) with their musical instruments, and pumping their way four miles to Deep River:
They transferred to row boats and rowed two miles to Svenson’s Landing, then walked nearly six miles by road (carrying their dress shoes in the pocket of their coats) wearing boots. Arriving at Meserve’s store they climbed the stairs to the large hall on the second floor to play for a local crowd plus the ten dancers they brought with them. This lasted until 3 a.m. and they retraced their route only to find that the railroad rails had become frosted. The hand speeders had to be pushed rather than pumped over the slippery areas. They arrived back at Olson’s camp in time to hear the breakfast bell at the cook house. Some of the men had to go to work for a full day in falling timber. (Appelo, 1978, p. 41)
Axel Larson, long-time employee of Deep River Logging Company, playing his fiddle as he did for countless local dances in southwest Washington.
World War I.
Twenty five years after the Washington territory became a state, the young Finnish immigrant men were asked to defend their new country in World War I. Carlton Appelo (1978) cites an article from the June 1917 edition of the Deep River newspaper:
A party of well known young men residing in Deep River were en route to Cathlamet to take physical exams for the selective service under which they were recently called to colors.
363 Arthur C. Appelo
368 Henry J. Johnson
373 Henry W. Lassila
379 Jacob W. Matta
383 Charles L. Eskola
388 Charles Koski
390 Arvo Davis
All seven are fine specimens of physical manhood and will no doubt pass the required examinations enabling them to enter the military service with the national army which is to be mobilized in the near future. (p. 78)
Accomplishments of Early Finnish Immigrants.
Many of the children of the Finnish immigrants were able to move into professional careers through hard work and steadfast personal dedication to education. At times they pursued adult education programs at night while they worked during the day to make a living for themselves and their families.
In a brief history of Finnish settlements along the Columbia River that Carlton Appelo prepared for the 1999 FinnFest USA, he listed the accomplishments of several Finnish immigrants to the Deep River area, B. S. Sjoborg, Erikki Maunula, and Oscar Wirkkala. B. S. Sjoborg (1841-1923) immigrated from Kristinestad. He was the cannery foreman at Astoria in 1875. After changing his name to Seaborg, he founded the Aberdeen Packing Company at Ilwaco and Aberdeen. He was Washington’s first senator when it became a state in 1889.
Erikki Maunula–who invented numerous devices that were used in the salmon-canning industry–donated land for the Deep River Holy Trinity Evangelical Lutheran Church. The church has been designated a National Historical Site.
Oscar Wirkkala (1881-1959) was an extremely successful inventor of items used in the logging industry. He held more than 20 patents, including the Wirkkala choker hook, the Wirkkala propeller, and the widely-used skyline logging system.
In addition to the considerable professional accomplishments of many of the Finnish immigrants, certain aspects of the Finnish culture that the immigrants brought with them contributed to the culture of Deep River and the surrounding area. In addition to the immigrants’ willingness to work hard to improve the future lives of their families, there was a pervasive sense of community and mutual respect among the Finnish immigrants. This sense of community could be observed in all types of activities, including those related to the area schools, churches, athletics, and social events.
Many immigrant Finns became prominent entrepreneurs in business in industry as well as professional fields, but it was the rural Finnish immigrant who created a sense of community. Neighbors came to the rescue when misfortune hit, and food was shared at school gatherings or social events.
Attendance at Cottage Church Services was done without worrying about denominational sponsors. It is that same familial spirit uniting entire communities that survives today. We care about each other. (Appelo, 1999, p. 1)
The Finnish immigrants supported each other through difficult times. In 1918, when Fred Pentti–an immigrant from Kannus, Finland–was severely injured while working as a brakeman on the logging train, Deep River residents and businesses readily assisted him. The logging camp workers donated $5 each to him, the Deep River Land and Wharf Company donated a piece of land to him, the Olson brothers gave him lumber from their mill, and the community joined together to build a pool hall for Fred.
His business became the focal point for all types of sport including his favorite, baseball. It was the social club for many young men of the area…It was commonly called "Pentti’s College" (pronounced collitch). No one would say that moonshine didn’t change hands out front during those days of prohibition. When 3.2 beer became legal, it was Pentti’s tavern. (Appelo, 1978, p. 41)
In order to successfully farm the land, much of which was wetland, the settlers had to install dikes and extensive drainage systems. Because of the primitive roads that were generally limited to use in the summer, almost all travel was by water.
The riverboat "General Washington" made daily round trips to nearby Astoria–the source of supplies, mail, and medical services to Deep River–and provided the residents with transportation to and contact with the outside world.
This riverboat was built in 1909 by the North Shore Transportation Company. It served Deep River, Knappton, and Frankfort until the early 1930s, when the newly built area highway became more competitive for passenger and freight travel.
The General Washington steamship approaching Deep River Landing, circa 1915
II. THE LASTING LEGACY OF THE DEEP RIVER FINNS
by Sandra Johnson Witt *
The labor of immigrants was essential in order to build the infrastructure of North America. The immigrants cut timber and cleared land to build their homes and farms. Because there were no roads (only rivers) in the early Deep River area, travel was usually by foot or boat. The immigrants (and their horses) worked hard to build the roads in their new country.
Immigrant road builders
Ironically, the advent of the better roads that the Deep River citizens had worked so hard to construct resulted in a decline in the town. Construction of the bridge one mile downstream from the Deep River landing diverted traffic away from the main part of town. The railroad that had provided economic resources and brought people to the town was doomed by the use of trucks to transport lumber.
Although the improved roads relieved the isolation of the area, they brought an end to the riverboat era. Trucks replaced the boats as the main means of transporting various types of cargo to and from the community. The Deep River Timber Company ceased operating in 1956.
The elementary school was consolidated with other schools.
The movie house and Pentti’s Tavern closed. The Shamrock Hotel had depended on the loggers as boarders, and was forced to close.
Only local residences, the post office, and Appelo’s General Merchandise and Insurance Agency remained in Deep River.
sydaby.eget.net/emig/deep_river.htm
RIGHT: CHARLES A. NIEMI (ca. 1884-1961)
1930 Federal Census
Birth Year: abt 1894
Gender: Male
Race: White
Age in 1930: 36
Birthplace: Washington
Marital Status: Married
Relation to Head of House: Head
Home in 1930: Naselle, Pacific, Washington, USA
Home Owned or Rented: Owned
Home Value: 3000
Radio Set: Yes
Lives on Farm: No
Age at First Marriage: 26
Attended School: No
Able to Read and Write: Yes
Father's Birthplace: Finland
Mother's Birthplace: Finland
Able to Speak English: Yes
Occupation: Retail Merchant
Industry: General Merchandise
Class of Worker: Employer
Veteran: Yes
War: WW
Household Members Age Relationship
Charles A Niemi 36 Head
Esther E Niemi 35 Wife
C Albert Niemi 9 Son
Henry W Niemi 7 Son
Hilda M Nasi 27 Servant
31 August 1917: Charles A. Neimi was accepted by the local draft board, presumably in connection with military service in WWI.
The Spokesman-Review, Spokane, p. 6.
26 April 1928: Niemi sues the state road contractor for $5,031.44 for materials and merchandise furnished in connection with the contractor's work in Wahkiakum and Pacific Counties in Washington.
The Olympian, Olympia, Washington, p. 14.
Every mother can relate to this.
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A giant tortoise at the Charles Darwin Research Station on Santa Cruz
Galapagos Giant Tortoise
The Galápagos tortoise or Galápagos giant tortoise (Geochelone nigra) is the largest living tortoise, native to seven islands of the Galápagos archipelago. The Galápagos tortoise is unique to the Galápagos Islands. Fully grown adults can weigh over 300 kilograms (661 lb) and measure 1.2 meters (4 ft) long. They are long-lived with a life expectancy in the wild estimated to be 100-150 years. Populations fell dramatically because of hunting and the introduction of predators and grazers by humans since the seventeenth century. Now only ten subspecies of the original twelve exist in the wild. However, conservation efforts since the establishment of the Galápagos National Park and the Charles Darwin Foundation have met with success, and hundreds of captive-bred juveniles have been released back onto their home islands. They have become one of the most symbolic animals of the fauna of the Galápagos Islands. The tortoises have very large shells (carapace) made of bone. The bony plates of the shell are integral to the skeleton, fused with the ribs in a rigid protective structure. Naturalist Charles Darwin remarked "These animals grow to an immense size ... several so large that it required six or eight men to lift them from the ground.". This is due to the phenomenon of island gigantism whereby in the absence of natural predation, the largest tortoises had a survival advantage and no disadvantage in fleeing or fending off predators. When threatened, it can withdraw its head, neck and all forelimbs into its shell for protection, presenting a protected shield to a would-be predator. The legs have hard scales that also provide armour when withdrawn. Tortoises keep a characteristic scute pattern on their shell throughout life. These have annual growth bands but are not useful for aging as the outer layers are worn off. There is little variation in the dull-brown colour of the shell or scales. Physical features (including shape of the shell) relate to the habitat of each of the subspecies. These differences were noted by Captain Porter even before Charles Darwin. Larger islands with more wet highlands such as Santa Cruz and the Alcedo Volcano on Isabela have lush vegetation near the ground. Tortoises here tend to have 'dome-back' shells. These animals have restricted upward head movement due to shorter necks, and also have shorter limbs. These are the heaviest and largest of the subspecies.Smaller, drier islands such as Española and Pinta are inhabited by tortoises with 'saddleback' shells comprising a flatter carapace which is elevated above the neck and flared above the hind feet. Along with longer neck and limbs, this allows them to browse taller vegetation. On these drier islands the Galápagos Opuntia cactus (a major source of their fluids) has evolved a taller, tree-like form. This is evidence of an evolutionary arms race between progressively taller tortoises and correspondingly taller cacti. Saddlebacks are smaller in size than domebacks. They tend to have a yellowish color on lower mandible and throat. At one extreme, the Sierra Negra volcano population that inhabits southern Isabela Island has a very flattened "tabletop" shell. However, there is no saddleback/domeback dualism; tortoises can also be of 'intermediate' type with characteristics of both. The tortoises are slow-moving reptiles with an average long-distance walking speed of 0.3 km/h (0.18 mph). Although feeding giant tortoises browse with no apparent direction, when moving to water-holes or nesting grounds, they can move at surprising speeds for their size. Marked individuals have been reported to have traveled 13 km in two days. Being cold-blooded, the tortoises bask for two hours after dawn, absorbing the energy through their shells, then becoming active for 8–9 hours a day. They may sleep for about sixteen hours in a mud wallow partially or submerged in rain-formed pools (sometimes dew ponds formed by garua-moisture dripping off trees). This may be both a thermoregulatory response and a protection from parasites such as mosquitoes and ticks. Some rest in a 'pallet'- a snug depression in soft ground or dense brush- which probably helps to conserve heat and may aid digestion. On the Alcedo Volcano, repeated use of the same sites by the large resident population has resulted in the formation of small sandy pits. Darwin observed that: "The inhabitants believe that these animals are absolutely deaf; certainly they do not overhear a person walking near behind them. I was always amused, when overtaking one of these great monsters as it was quietly pacing along, to see how suddenly, the instant I passed, it would draw in its head and legs, and uttering a deep hiss fall to the ground with a heavy sound, as if struck dead." The tortoises can vocalise in aggressive encounters, whilst righting themselves if turned upside down and, in males, during mating. The latter is described as "rhythmic groans". The tortoises are herbivorous animals with a diet comprising cactus, grasses, leaves, vines, and fruit. Fresh young grass is a favorite food of the tortoises, and others are the 'poison apple' (Hippomane mancinella) (toxic to humans), the endemic guava (Psidium galapageium), the water fern (Azolla microphylla), and the bromeliad (Tillandsia insularis). Tortoises eat a large quantity of food when it is available at the expense of incomplete digestion. Its favorite food is grasses. The tortoise normally eat an average of 70 to 80 pounds a day. Tortoises have a classic example of a mutualistic symbiotic relationship with some species of Galápagos finch. The finch hops in front of the tortoise to show that it is ready and the tortoise then raises itself up high on its legs and stretches out its neck so that the bird can pick off ticks that are hidden in the folds of the skin (especially on the rear legs, cloacal opening, neck, and skin between plastron and carapace), thus freeing the tortoise from harmful parasites and providing the finch with an easy meal. Other birds, including Galápagos Hawk and flycatchers, use tortoises as observation posts from which to sight their prey. Mating occurs at any time of the year, although it does have seasonal peaks between January and August. When two mature males meet in the mating season they will face each other, rise up on their legs and stretch up their necks with their mouths open to assess dominance. Occasionally, head-biting occurs, but usually the shorter loser tortoise will back off, leaving the other to mate with the female. In groups of tortoises from mixed island populations, saddleback males have an advantage over domebacks. Frustrated non-dominant males have been observed attempting to mate with other males and boulders. The male sniffs the air when seeking a female, bellows loudly, and bobs his head. The male then rams the female with the front of his shell and bites her exposed legs until she withdraws them, immobilizing her. Copulation can last several hours with roaring vocalisations from the males. Their concave shell base allows males to mount the females from behind. It brings its tail which houses the penis into the female's cloaca. After mating (June-December), the females journey up to several kilometres to reach nesting areas of dry, sandy ground (often near the coast). Nest digging can last from hours to days and is elaborate and exhausting. It is carried out blindly using only the hind legs to dig a 30 cm deep hole, into which she lays up to sixteen hard-shelled eggs the size of tennis balls. The female makes a muddy plug for the nest hole out of soil mixed with urine and leaves the eggs to incubate. In rocky areas, the eggs are deposited randomly into cracks. The young emerge from the nest after 120 to 140 days gestation later (December-April) and may weigh only 80 grams (2.8 oz) and measure 6 centimetres (2.4 in). Temperature plays a role in the sex of the hatchling: if the nest temperature is lower, more males will hatch; if it is high, more females will hatch. When the young tortoises emerge from their shells, they must dig their way to the surface, which can take up to a month. All have domed carapaces, and subspecies are indistinguishable. Galápagos Hawk used to be the only native predator of the tortoise hatchlings, as Darwin remarked: "The young tortoises, as soon as they are hatched, fall prey in great numbers to buzzards". Sex can be determined only when the tortoise is 15 years old, and sexual maturity is reached at 20 to 25 years old. The tortoises grow slowly for about 40 years until they reach their full size. Reproductive prime is considered to be from the ages of 60–90. The shape of the carapace of some subspecies of the tortoises is said to have reminded the early Spanish explorers of a kind of saddle they called a "galápago," and for these saddle-shaped tortoises they named the archipelago. Up to 250,000 tortoises inhabited the islands when they were discovered. Today only about 15,000 are left.
The inhabitants...state that they can distinguish the tortoise from different islands; and that they differ not only in size, but in other characters. Captain Porter has described those from Charles and from the nearest island to it, namely Hood Island, as having their shells in front thick and turned up like a Spanish saddle, whilst the tortoises from James Island are rounder, blacker, and have a better taste when cooked.---Charles Darwin 1845
There were probably twelve subspecies of Geochelone nigra in the Galápagos Islands, although some recognise up to 15 subspecies. Now only 11 subspecies remain, five on Isabela Island, and the other six on Santiago, Santa Cruz, San Cristóbal, Pinzón, Española and Pinta. Of these, the Pinta Island subspecies is extinct in the wild and is represented by a single individual (Lonesome George). In the past, zoos took animals without knowing their island of origin. Production of fertile offspring from various pairings of tortoises largely confirmed that they are subspecies and not different species. All the subspecies of giant tortoise evolved in Galápagos from a common ancestor that arrived from the mainland, floating on the ocean currents (the tortoises can drift for long periods of time as they are buoyant and can stretch head upwards to breathe). Only a single pregnant female or breeding pair needed to arrive in this way, and then survive, for Galápagos to be colonised. In the seventeenth century, pirates started to use the Galápagos islands as a base for resupply, restocking on food, water and repairing vessels before attacking Spanish colonies on the South American mainland. The tortoises were collected and stored live on board ships where they could survive for at least a year without food or water, providing valuable fresh meat, whilst their diluted urine and water stored in their neck bags could also be used as drinking water. Of the meat, Darwin wrote: "the breast-plate roasted (as the Gauchos do 'carne con cuero'), with the flesh on it, is very good; and the young tortoises make excellent soup; but otherwise the meat to my taste is indifferent." In the nineteenth century, whaling ships and fur-sealers collected tortoises for food and many more were killed for high grade 'turtle oil' from the late 1800s onward. Darwin described this process thus: "beautifully clear oil is prepared from the fat. When a tortoise is caught, the man makes a slit in the skin near its tail, so as to see inside its body, whether the fat under the dorsal plate is thick. If it is not, the animal is liberated and it is said to recover soon from this strange operation." A total of over 15,000 tortoises is recorded in the logs of 105 whaling ships between 1811 and 1844. As hunters found it easiest to collect the tortoises living round the coastal zones, the least decimated populations tended to be those in the highlands. Population decline accelerated with the early settlement of the islands, when they were hunted for meat, their habitat was cleared for agriculture and alien mammal species were introduced. Feral pigs, dogs, cats and black rats are effective predators of eggs and young tortoises, whilst goats, donkeys and cattle compete for grazing. In the twentieth century, increasing human settlement and urbanisation and collection of tortoises for zoo and museum specimens depleted numbers even more. The Galápagos giant tortoise is now strictly protected. Young tortoises are raised in a programme by the Charles Darwin Research Station in order to bolster the numbers of the extant subspecies. Eggs are collected from places on the islands where they are threatened and when the tortoises hatch they are kept in captivity until they have reached a size that ensures a good chance of survival and are returned to their original ranges. The Galápagos National Park Service systematically culls feral predators and competitors where necessary such as the complete eradication of goats from Pinta. The conservation project begun in the 1970s successfully brought 10 of the 11 endangered subspecies up to guarded population levels. The most significant recovery was that of the Española Tortoise, whose breeding stock comprised 2 males and 11 females brought to the Darwin Station. Fortuitously, a third male was discovered at the San Diego Zoo and joined the others in a captive breeding program. These 13 tortoises gave rise to over 1000 tortoises now released into their home island. In all, 2500 individuals of all breeds have been reintroduced to the islands. However, persecution still continues on a much smaller scale; more than 120 tortoises have been killed by poachers since 1990 and they have been taken hostage as political leverage by local fishermen.
Santa Cruz
With the largest human population in the Galapagos archipelago, Isla Santa Cruz is the most important of the Galapagos Islands. Meaning Holy Cross in Spanish, this island is also known as Indefatigable, after the HMS Indefatigable landed here long ago. The second largest island terms of land area at 986 sq km, Isla Santa Cruz is home to the key town of Puerto Ayora, the Charles Darwin Research Station and the headquarters of the Galapagos National Park Service. With its own airport on Isla Baltra a few miles away, Isla Santa Cruz is where most visitors who come to the Galapagos Islands usually stay. With a number of bars, hotels, restaurants and shops in Puerto Ayora, most tours of the Archipelago also usually begin from here.
Galapagos Islands
The Galápagos Islands (official name: Archipiélago de Colón; other Spanish names: Islas de Colón or Islas Galápagos) are an archipelago of volcanic islands distributed around the equator in the Pacific Ocean, some 900 km west of Ecuador. It is a UNESCO World Heritage site: wildlife is its most notable feature. Because of the only very recent arrival of man the majority of the wildlife has no fear of humans and will allow visitors to walk right up them, often having to step over Iguanas or Sea Lions.The Galápagos islands and its surrounding waters are part of a province, a national park, and a biological marine reserve. The principal language on the islands is Spanish. The islands have a population of around 40,000, which is a 40-fold expansion in 50 years. The islands are geologically young and famed for their vast number of endemic species, which were studied by Charles Darwin during the voyage of the Beagle. His observations and collections contributed to the inception of Darwin's theory of evolution by natural selection.
Cabinet of Curiosities of Bonnier de la Mosson
Housed at the Bibliotèque centrale du Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle, Paris.
Of, or relating to, the Morbid Anatomy Blog.
23rdian is a person who constantly witnesses the number 23 in high concentration
The sacred number (along with 5) of Eris, goddess of discord, according to the Principia Discordia; it is the number of the Illuminati
"Franklin Delano Roosevelt" contains 23 letters.
"George Herbert Walker Bush" also contains 23 letters, and...
"William Jefferson Clinton" also contains 23 letters.
September 11, 2001 = 9+11+2+0+0+1 = 23
Charles Darwin's The Origin of Species was published in 1859: 1 + 8 + 5 + 9 = 23
The human genome contains 23 pairs of chromosomes
It is believed that Adam and Eve had 23 daughters
W, the 23rd letter of the Latin alphabet has 2 points down, 3 points up
On a normal modern Latin alphabet keyboard, the 23rd letter W is right below and between 2 and 3
The first Moon landing, Apollo 11 was in the Sea of Tranquility at 23.63 degrees East. The second landing, Apollo 12, was in the Ocean of Storms, 23.42 degrees West. Also, 11 + 12, the numbers of the missions, add up to 23.
The first Morse Code transmission - "What hath God wrought?" - was from the Bible passage Numbers 23:23.
The Knights Templar had 23 Grand Masters, the last being Jacques de Molay.
Film references
In Serendipity, Sarah & Jonathan 'randomly' select floor 23 in the Waldorf Astoria elevators
In Kate & Leopold, Kate has 23 minutes to jump into a time vortex before it closes
In The Matrix Reloaded, in the opening code sequence, the final, most prominent number is 23, reversed as if looking from inside a mirror
In The Fifth Element, there is a reference to five in the title (5 = 2 + 3), and the story is set in the year 2263, the 23rd century
In The Number 23 (this movie is set to be released in 2007) starring Jim Carrey. It's about a strange occurence of the number 23. The movie is set to start filming in November of 2006 (i saw the trailer, and even i'm a big fan of the number 23, i still don't think the movie will be good....)
In The Big Lebowski, The Dude and his friends always play at Lane 23
23 is one of "the numbers" on ABC's television show Lost. The series is 4 8 15 16 23 42. The number 23 specifically is referenced in various intentional "coincidences" throughout the series, such as the number of the terminal Flight 815 leaves from. In perhaps the most obviously referential scene, Hurley is repeating the entire sequence aloud, and Kate picks out the number 23, asking what it means to him. When Hurley hesitates to tell her about the synchronicities he has experienced in connection with the numbers, Kate tells him that coincidentally the number 23,000 relates to a significant event in her backstory.
(source: wikipedia)
Poznan, Poland
Zamek
Autumn
I can relate...occasionally I come here myself and spend a few minutes alone. Beautiful setting to do so I might add. Had she not been there, I was going to park on that very bench for a bit...moving on.
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I've never been able to relate to folks who claim the human world to be an evil place. Those people have embarked on an obsessive search for what they believe to be wrong, leaving little energy for a rightness they pretend to uphold. Most of us want what's good for others, but for those who don't, stories are my favourite corrupting force. Nothing will teach you how to humanize a stranger better than reading a good book, watching a movie, or following a show that depicts their way of living. What I learned from Gentlemen Jack, Boys Don't Cry, or Maurice – wasn't how I was raised to see things. We were taught to mark outsiders as distant threats alone, stop ourselves from getting too familiar or understanding. Certainly not accepting. My experience of life as transitory helped to open my heart, made me see how happiness is hard and love is precious. When rust and bones are all that's left of us, I want to know that I left more loving behind.
June 9, 2023
Annapolis County, Nova Scotia
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I have two psychological hang-ups relating to food and diet, and I can easily trace their origins to my father's participation in my upbringing.
The first is not only a love of - even a reverence for - food, but a belief that food is love. The importance of food in Chinese culture may be a cliche, but it's no less true for being one. In Cantonese, people ask one another "have you eaten yet?" in the same way as we ask "what's up?" or "how's it going?”, and then there’s this popular aphorism of Prince Philip’s:
“If it has got four legs and it is not a chair, if it has got two wings and it flies but is not an aeroplane, and if it swims and it is not a submarine, the Cantonese will eat it.”
When I left home at the age of seventeen, Dad gave me a rice cooker, a wok and some recipes, but my passion for food took hold much earlier, in childhood. Typically for a Chinese man of his generation, Dad worked long hours: fourteen hours a day, six days a week. I missed him, and his weekly days off on which he prepared what seemed to me then to be vast banquets, were occasions for childish excitement comparable to Christmas. Also typically for a Chinese man of his generation, Dad was not effusive or demonstrative. Of course, Dad's devotion to his family was expressed in the fact that he worked so hard to provide for us, but I had no appreciation of that as a child. And so I found his love and affection in the food he cooked for us: in the effort and care that was put into the meals; in the way he would put the best pieces of meat or fish into our bowls rather than his own; in how damned good they tasted.
Food as love is a belief I have inherited, or perhaps just inferred, from my Dad. Unless I'm working away from Glasgow, I cook every single day, but rarely for other people. If I cook for someone, it's because I care about them very much (or maybe, in some shallower instances, because I want to impress them). And by "cook for someone" I don't mean "I was going to heat up some of this stew, do you want some too?" or "feel free to have some of the soup I made earlier" but rather "I'm going to prepare and cook a meal for you and I to sit down and eat together." I can't expect everyone to understand what it means for me to do that, of course: romantic partners in the past have been baffled by my anger when they arrived late for dinner, or been irritated by how much I interest I took in their diets.
This brings me to my second neurosis, an unusually enthusiastic and occasionally angsty concern with the nutritional or health-giving value of my diet. As a child, I wasn't allowed to go and play after dinner until I had eaten an apple and drunk what seemed to me as a child to be a huge glass of water (I have since I was a teenager had a particular compulsion about staying hydrated, and remember thinking it irrational and unjust that we weren't allowed to drink water in class in secondary school). This compulsiveness may seem incompatible with the fact that I regularly abuse my body variously with alcohol, cigarettes and, until recently, by indulging my sweet tooth, but perhaps it (along with exercise) was borne of these abuses: knowing that I do these things, I feel I must exercise, eat well and try my best to sleep well.
A few months ago, I read an article in The Guardian (it's a running joke among my friends how many of our conversations begin with this line) about Dr Robert Lustig, the man at the forefront of the anti-sugar movement in America. In it, he makes the alarming claim that sugar is as harmful to our bodies as tobacco and cocaine. In further reading about the subject, I kept coming across the paleo diet. When I sought the advice of friends and colleagues who I knew subscribed to it, they were unanimous in proclaiming its benefits. The diet is based around the food our ancestors ate tens of thousands of years ago, before the advent of agriculture, and permits meat, fruit and veg, fish, nuts and seeds. This means that coffee, booze, grains, legumes, starches, dairy and any kind of processed food are all out. There are variations of the diet that permit some of these food groups, but bread, pasta, rice, couscous and potatoes (except the sweet variety) are out.
I've been following the paleo diet for three months now. I'm not particularly strict about it: legumes and some dairy still form a (now smaller) part of my diet, my meat isn't necessarily grass-fed, I treat myself to the occasional dessert or pizza, and nobody is ever taking beer away from me. When I go to a restaurant or a friend's house for food, I'm no more picky than I used to be. Some friends and family members have expressed alarm that someone like me, who has spent his whole life underweight, should go on a diet. I wouldn't be surprised if, since adopting this "lifestyle" (as many of its adherents prefer to think of it), my daily intake of calories and fat has increased substantially, but that's part of the point: fat doesn't make you fat; sugar makes you fat. In any case, I stress to them that this is not about losing weight or about body image - although if you are keen to lose weight, a paleo diet will show dramatic results very quickly - but about general good health. And after only a couple of weeks, I felt the benefits. My energy levels are much more constant than they used to be: I get out of bed earlier, more easily, and don't feel tired after meals; indigestion and acid reflux are things of the past; bowel movements are, to use a respectfully vague adjective, better. I’ve enjoyed an excitement I haven’t felt for a long time at going into the kitchen to cook and knowing that I’m forced to be creative. The downside is that I'm almost always a little hungry, but nuts and fruit are never far away to snack on. The other principal drawback is that this diet is expensive, cutting out all the cheap staples such as rice and pasta in favour of more meat, fish and vegetables.
While I know that there are many challenges to the anthropological and evolutionary bases of the paleo diet, and that nutritionists continue to disagree on what constitutes the healthiest diet, the benefits of the paleo diet have for me been tangible, and I recommend it to anyone.
Glasgow, 2014.
The Symptoms of Kali-yuga
This chapter relates that, when the bad qualities of the Age of Kali will increase to an intolerable level, the Supreme Personality of Godhead will descend as Kalki to destroy those who are fixed in irreligion. After that, a new Satya-yuga will begin.
As the Age of Kali progresses, all good qualities of men diminish and all impure qualities increase. Atheistic systems of so-called religion become predominant, replacing the codes of Vedic law. The kings become just like highway bandits, the people in general become dedicated to low occupations, and all the social classes become just like śūdras. All cows become like goats, all spiritual hermitages become like materialistic homes, and family ties extend no further than the immediate relationship of marriage.
When the Age of Kali has almost ended, the Supreme Personality of Godhead will incarnate. He will appear in the village Śambhala, in the home of the exalted brāhmaṇa Viṣṇuyaśā, and will take the name Kalki. He will mount His horse Devadatta and, taking His sword in hand, will roam about the earth killing millions of bandits in the guise of kings. Then the signs of the next Satya-yuga will begin to appear. When the moon, sun and the planet Bṛhaspati enter simultaneously into one constellation and conjoin in the lunar mansion Puṣyā, Satya-yuga will begin. In the order of Satya, Tretā, Dvāpara and Kali, the cycle of four ages rotates in the society of living entities in this universe.
The chapter ends with a brief description of the future dynasties of the sun and moon coming from Vaivasvata Manu in the next Satya-yuga. Even now two saintly kṣatriyas are living who at the end of this Kali-yuga will reinitiate the pious dynasties of the sun-god, Vivasvān, and the moon-god, Candra. One of these kings is Devāpi, a brother of Mahārāja Śantanu, and the other is Maru, a descendant of Ikṣvāku. They are biding their time incognito in a village named Kalāpa.
SB 12.2.1 — Śukadeva Gosvāmī said: Then, O King, religion, truthfulness, cleanliness, tolerance, mercy, duration of life, physical strength and memory will all diminish day by day because of the powerful influence of the Age of Kali.
SB 12.2.2 — In Kali-yuga, wealth alone will be considered the sign of a man’s good birth, proper behavior and fine qualities. And law and justice will be applied only on the basis of one’s power.
SB 12.2.3 — Men and women will live together merely because of superficial attraction, and success in business will depend on deceit. Womanliness and manliness will be judged according to one’s expertise in sex, and a man will be known as a brāhmaṇa just by his wearing a thread.
SB 12.2.4 — A person’s spiritual position will be ascertained merely according to external symbols, and on that same basis people will change from one spiritual order to the next. A person’s propriety will be seriously questioned if he does not earn a good living. And one who is very clever at juggling words will be considered a learned scholar.
SB 12.2.5 — A person will be judged unholy if he does not have money, and hypocrisy will be accepted as virtue. Marriage will be arranged simply by verbal agreement, and a person will think he is fit to appear in public if he has merely taken a bath.
SB 12.2.6 — A sacred place will be taken to consist of no more than a reservoir of water located at a distance, and beauty will be thought to depend on one’s hairstyle. Filling the belly will become the goal of life, and one who is audacious will be accepted as truthful. He who can maintain a family will be regarded as an expert man, and the principles of religion will be observed only for the sake of reputation.
SB 12.2.7 — As the earth thus becomes crowded with a corrupt population, whoever among any of the social classes shows himself to be the strongest will gain political power.
SB 12.2.8 — Losing their wives and properties to such avaricious and merciless rulers, who will behave no better than ordinary thieves, the citizens will flee to the mountains and forests.
SB 12.2.9 — Harassed by famine and excessive taxes, people will resort to eating leaves, roots, flesh, wild honey, fruits, flowers and seeds. Struck by drought, they will become completely ruined.
SB 12.2.10 — The citizens will suffer greatly from cold, wind, heat, rain and snow. They will be further tormented by quarrels, hunger, thirst, disease and severe anxiety.
SB 12.2.11 — The maximum duration of life for human beings in Kali-yuga will become fifty years.
SB 12.2.12-16 — By the time the Age of Kali ends, the bodies of all creatures will be greatly reduced in size, and the religious principles of followers of varṇāśrama will be ruined. The path of the Vedas will be completely forgotten in human society, and so-called religion will be mostly atheistic. The kings will mostly be thieves, the occupations of men will be stealing, lying and needless violence, and all the social classes will be reduced to the lowest level of śūdras. Cows will be like goats, spiritual hermitages will be no different from mundane houses, and family ties will extend no further than the immediate bonds of marriage. Most plants and herbs will be tiny, and all trees will appear like dwarf śamī trees. Clouds will be full of lightning, homes will be devoid of piety, and all human beings will have become like asses. At that time, the Supreme Personality of Godhead will appear on the earth. Acting with the power of pure spiritual goodness, He will rescue eternal religion.
SB 12.2.17 — Lord Viṣṇu — the Supreme Personality of Godhead, the spiritual master of all moving and nonmoving living beings, and the Supreme Soul of all — takes birth to protect the principles of religion and to relieve His saintly devotees from the reactions of material work.
SB 12.2.18 — Lord Kalki will appear in the home of the most eminent brāhmaṇa of Śambhala village, the great soul Viṣṇuyaśā.
SB 12.2.19-20 — Lord Kalki, the Lord of the universe, will mount His swift horse Devadatta and, sword in hand, travel over the earth exhibiting His eight mystic opulences and eight special qualities of Godhead. Displaying His unequaled effulgence and riding with great speed, He will kill by the millions those thieves who have dared dress as kings.
SB 12.2.21 — After all the impostor kings have been killed, the residents of the cities and towns will feel the breezes carrying the most sacred fragrance of the sandalwood paste and other decorations of Lord Vāsudeva, and their minds will thereby become transcendentally pure.
SB 12.2.22 — When Lord Vāsudeva, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, appears in their hearts in His transcendental form of goodness, the remaining citizens will abundantly repopulate the earth.
SB 12.2.23 — When the Supreme Lord has appeared on earth as Kalki, the maintainer of religion, Satya-yuga will begin, and human society will bring forth progeny in the mode of goodness.
SB 12.2.24 — When the moon, the sun and Bṛhaspatī are together in the constellation Karkaṭa, and all three enter simultaneously into the lunar mansion Puṣyā — at that exact moment the age of Satya, or Kṛta, will begin.
SB 12.2.25 — Thus I have described all the kings — past, present and future — who belong to the dynasties of the sun and the moon.
SB 12.2.26 — From your birth up to the coronation of King Nanda, 1,150 years will pass.
SB 12.2.27-28 — Of the seven stars forming the constellation of the seven sages, Pulaha and Kratu are the first to rise in the night sky. If a line running north and south were drawn through their midpoint, whichever of the lunar mansions this line passes through is said to be the ruling asterism of the constellation for that time. The Seven Sages will remain connected with that particular lunar mansion for one hundred human years. Currently, during your lifetime, they are situated in the nakṣatra called Maghā.
SB 12.2.29 — The Supreme Lord, Viṣṇu, is brilliant like the sun and is known as Kṛṣṇa. When He returned to the spiritual sky, Kali entered this world, and people then began to take pleasure in sinful activities.
SB 12.2.30 — As long as Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa, the husband of the goddess of fortune, touched the earth with His lotus feet, Kali was powerless to subdue this planet.
SB 12.2.31 — When the constellation of the seven sages is passing through the lunar mansion Maghā, the Age of Kali begins. It comprises twelve hundred years of the demigods.
SB 12.2.32 — When the great sages of the Saptarṣi constellation pass from Maghā to Pūrvāsāḍhā, Kali will have his full strength, beginning from King Nanda and his dynasty.
SB 12.2.33 — Those who scientifically understand the past declare that on the very day that Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa departed for the spiritual world, the influence of the Age of Kali began.
SB 12.2.34 — After the one thousand celestial years of Kali-yuga, the Satya-yuga will manifest again. At that time the minds of all men will become self-effulgent.
SB 12.2.35 — Thus I have described the royal dynasty of Manu, as it is known on this earth. One can similarly study the history of the vaiśyas, śūdras and brāhmaṇas living in the various ages.
SB 12.2.36 — These personalities, who were great souls, are now known only by their names. They exist only in accounts from the past, and only their fame remains on the earth.
SB 12.2.37 — Devāpi, the brother of Mahārāja Śāntanu, and Maru, the descendant of Ikṣvāku, both possess great mystic strength and are living even now in the village of Kalāpa.
SB 12.2.38 — At the end of the Age of Kali, these two kings, having received instruction directly from the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Vāsudeva, will return to human society and reestablish the eternal religion of man, characterized by the divisions of varṇa and āśrama, just as it was before.
SB 12.2.39 — The cycle of four ages — Satya, Tretā, Dvāpara and Kali — continues perpetually among living beings on this earth, repeating the same general sequence of events.
SB 12.2.40 — My dear King Parīkṣit, all these kings I have described, as well as all other human beings, come to this earth and stake their claims, but ultimately they all must give up this world and meet their destruction.
SB 12.2.41 — Even though a person’s body may now have the designation “king,” in the end its name will be “worms,” “stool” or “ashes.” What can a person who injures other living beings for the sake of his body know about his own self-interest, since his activities are simply leading him to hell?
SB 12.2.42 — [The materialistic king thinks:] “This unbounded earth was held by my predecessors and is now under my sovereignty. How can I arrange for it to remain in the hands of my sons, grandsons and other descendants?”
SB 12.2.43 — Although the foolish accept the body made of earth, water and fire as “me” and this earth as “mine,” in every case they have ultimately abandoned both their body and the earth and passed away into oblivion.
SB 12.2.44 — My dear King Parīkṣit, all these kings who tried to enjoy the earth by their strength were reduced by the force of time to nothing more than historical accounts.
~ Srimad Bhagavatam, canto 12, chapter 2
#InternationalRebellionWeek #srimadbhagavatam
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18th April, 2019
In every spiritual tradition, we talk about basic elements that are material and energetic, but since we know that every manifested thing is a trinity of matter, energy, and Consciousness, then we have to understand that the basic elements are also elements of Consciousness, not just matter and energy. The four primary elements—air, fire, water, earth—make up everything that we are, on every level. The important question we need to answer practically in our lives is how the four elements relate to the fifth element. How are we working with the fifth element? That is what we talked about in the previous lecture. The fifth element, literally “the quintessence,” relates to the Akash, the ether. In Sanskrit terms, we can also say that it is Kundalini. It is the Prakriti, the root energy that in some religions is symbolized as the Divine Mother.. The Divine Mother is that creative force or intelligence in nature that gives life to everything. If we want spiritual life, we need to know our Divine Mother. Her active agent is the quintessence, which is an energy in us. We need that energy to be active, and right now it is not. In us, it is passive, latent, what in science we could call "static, non-kinetic energy." Aphrodite Urania, the pure light of the Divine Mother. The method to awaken that energy, to activate it, has been hidden in every religion and mystical tradition. In the West, it is most famously known in the tradition we call Alchemy. The entire tradition of Alchemy is a symbolic presentation of a practical science. Alchemy hides the knowledge of how to elaborate the full potential of the human being, which is hidden in all of our atoms and cells. To do that, we need to know about transmutation. The Divine Mother is the fire of the Tree of Life
This word transmutation gets utilized a lot in esoteric traditions, but it appears as if it utilized without much knowledge of what the word really means. So it is important that we analyze this word and understand what it means, where it comes from, and what it implies. The word transmutation came into use because of the tradition of Alchemy, and is derived from Latin roots. The implications of the word transmutation are far beyond what most esoteric traditions attribute to it. Trans means “thoroughly,” and mutare means “change.” To transmute means to completely change something. In the modern Gnostic movement, for example, most students use this word transmutation exclusively in relation to sexual energy, which is a valid use of the word, but it is not its full meaning and not its original use. The word transmutation originally applied to our entire being, to everything about us. Really, to transmute comes from that famous phrase from Alchemy, "to transmute lead into gold." It means to purge the lead, which is a dense, heavy, and impure metal, and reduce it into its quintessence—in other words, to reduce it to the most basic components that originally made it, and from that, to perfect it. Everything that exists is constructed out of the basic elements that we explained in the previous lecture. First is the Akash or ether, and that becomes particularized into air, fire, water, and earth. Those four basic elements, which are physical, energetic, and conscious, become everything that exists. Everything that we are is made of four elements arranged and particularized into particular sequences. Physically, we call this encoding DNA, which is not merely physical chemicals, but also encodes energetic and spiritual data, as combinations of elements. Those elements are physically sequenced in series combinations of molecules that are arranged in infinite combinations to create everything that we are. Those sequences of four are reflections of the four elements. Similarly, the four subtle elements are reflected in the four basic components of physical matter:“For the most comprehensive and lucid exposition of occult pneumatology (the branch of philosophy dealing with spiritual substances) extant, mankind is indebted to Philippus Aureolus Paracelsus (Theophrastus Bombastus von Hohenheim), prince of alchemists and Hermetic philosophers and true possessor of the Royal Secret (the Philosopher's Stone and the Elixir of Life). Paracelsus believed that each of the four primary elements known to the ancients (earth, fire, air, and water) consisted of a subtle, vaporous principle and a gross corporeal substance.“Air is, therefore, twofold in nature-tangible atmosphere and an intangible, volatile substratum which may be termed spiritual air. Fire is visible and invisible, discernible and indiscernible--a spiritual, ethereal flame manifesting through a material, substantial flame. Carrying the analogy further, water consists of a dense fluid and a potential essence of a fluidic nature. Earth has likewise two essential parts--the lower being fixed, terreous, immobile; the higher, rarefied, mobile, and virtual. The general term elements has been applied to the lower, or physical, phases of these four primary principles, and the name elemental essences to their corresponding invisible, spiritual constitutions. Minerals, plants, animals, and men live in a world composed of the gross side of these four elements, and from various combinations of them construct their living organisms.“Henry Drummond, in Natural Law in the Spiritual World, describes this process as follows: "If we analyse this material point at which all life starts, we shall find it to consist of a clear structureless, jelly-like substance resembling albumen or white of egg. It is made of Carbon, Hydrogen, Oxygen and Nitrogen. Its name is protoplasm. And it is not only the structural unit with which all living bodies start in life, but with which they are subsequently built up. 'Protoplasm,' says Huxley, 'simple or nucleated, is the formal basis of all life. It is the clay of the Potter.'"“The water element of the ancient philosophers has been metamorphosed into the hydrogen of modern science; the air has become oxygen; the fire, nitrogen; the earth, carbon.” - Manly P. Hall, The Secret Teachings of All Ages For us to become something new, we need to unzip the sequence that makes who we are, and reconnect it in a superior way. But how are you going to disarrange everything about yourself, and rearrange it? Especially when you are the one trying to do it. Not easy! But this is what to "transmute" really means. It means “to thoroughly change.” Gnosis is a science of transmutation. Yes, it begins with sexual energy, that is the root energy that makes the full and complete transmutation possible, but we do not seek to only transmute sexual energy. We want to transmute all of our matter, all of our Consciousness, our psyche, our soul: everything. We want to thoroughly change: to transmute. Interestingly, the result of that transmutation is a mutant. A mutant is someone who is different, who is changed. This word “mutant” has a negative connotation nowadays, but in reality every existing creature is a mutation, a mutant. What we want is a conscious mutation, a change for the better. We want a change towards something beneficial and positive, something useful, something that will bring harmony and peace, not discord and violence. We want a change that will bring about goodness, equality, harmony, love. For that type of change, we need to thoroughly change the causes of discord, the causes of suffering, and those causes are within us, in our matter, our energy, and our Consciousness. A genuine transmutation requires that the causes or the origins of problems and pain, suffering, are changed thoroughly, so that new effects can emerge. That change is not easy. If you consider how anything in nature changes, fundamentally changes, its a process of birth, growth, decline, death, rebirth, growth, decline and death. This is how evolution advances, through small mutations over time. If you have ever studied biology or evolution, you can see that this is how species grow. They grow because of the pressures put on them by their environment. They change, and adapt, and hopefully improve. We need the same thing. Unfortunately, we are not responding properly to the pressures that are upon us. In response to the psychological, material, social, and physical pressures that are on us now, we are not mutating ourselves properly. If we were, we would be transcending the problems. We would be adapting and overcoming them so that they would not be problems anymore. Instead, we see that the problems are deepening, that we are not changing fast enough, and in the right way. We need to know how to do it, how to transmute. Samael Aun Weor said:“No one can Self-realize without transmutation.” - Samael Aun Weor, Tarot and Kabbalah .In this context, he was not talking about sexual transmutation, he was talking about transmutation of the psyche, the mind, the heart, and the body: to change thoroughly. Stated in another way, you can transmute your sexual energy, but if you do not transmute your mind, you will not self-realize. three-pillarsWhen we study the Tree of Life, our primary interest is how it applies to us here and now. The Tree of Life maps all of the levels of existence. But those levels of existence are meaningless if we cannot access them. Studying and memorizing scriptures and teachings mean nothing if we cannot experience what they point towards. We need to examine this Tree of Life in relation with ourselves, and understand that these ten sephiroth relate to levels of being within us. Here on this graphic we see not only our physical state but our psychological state, so on this image while we see a physical body to remind us that this relates to us here and now, really all these spheres or levels show our levels of psychology. Symbolized here are two divisions, two sides. The superior part is related to the heavens or superior aspects of being. The inferior part that hangs below is called Klipoth or hell, and this aspect relates to the inferior or inverted aspect of our psyche. Everything on this map is composed of elements: air, fire, water and earth. All of this is suspended in or supported by the Akash.
So in this context, if we use our imagination and we look at how this applies to us here and now, everything about us is encoded, in elements. Here physically, we can sense those physical aspects: our physical body is an encoded series of elements, which is reflected in our DNA. But as well, our entire psychological make up is encoded in us. Sadly, we only hazily perceive it. We hazily perceive it as thoughts and feelings, and certain types of sensations physically. But we do not perceive or comprehend that all of the thoughts, feelings, and impulses are driven by matter and energy that is not physical. This is a real problem that we have. Really, open up your imagination, and analyze yourself: look at how you have a physical body here and now. This body is composed of a trinity of elements: matter, energy, and Consciousness. The Consciousness here is not awake, it is very asleep, but there is some degree of Consciousness or perception. Thoughts, feelings, and other impulses are more subtle that physical matter, but still we can perceive that they have some level of manifestation. We can verify that they are there, somehow. They also have matter, energy, and Consciousness, but not in the physical dimension. Those thoughts that you sense, and the feelings that you sense, are modifications of Consciousness that have matter and energy associated with them, but not physically. What we experience physically is their reflection, like light being bounced through a mirror. We have the mirror of our mind, which reflects the contents of our thoughts and feelings, but where are the thoughts? Where are the feelings? They are not in the brain, because you can experience thoughts and feelings when you are out of your body. So where are they? This is the problem we have: we do not know. The problem is compounded because we need to change. Rapidly. Otherwise, we are threatened with grave problems, even worse problems then we have now. We need to transmute all of these psychological elements, very quickly. How, if we cannot see them? If we cannot sense them, how can we change them? How can you work in the dark? How can a blind person create a piece of art if he cannot even see what he is doing? This is our fundamental challenge. Psychologically, spiritually, we are blind. How then can we create a perfect soul, if we cannot see what we are doing? How can we transmute ourselves into something better, if we cannot even see who we really are? For this, we need help. We need to understand how these elements work, in all of the levels of nature. So to remind you, these are the five elements. Space
Air Fire Water Earth All things are composed by these elements; understanding that, we need to look at how those elements manifest in us. We need to analyze our psychology, to see it for what it is. Let me remind you of the previous lecture: these elements do not refer to the literal physical aspects, they are psychological. Expansiveness Mobility
Temperature Fluidity Solidity In order to transmute yourself, you need to know what you are working with, you need to see yourself, you need to see how your mind and heart functions, how all of the sensations you experience flow. You need to see what parts of your psyche are expansive, what is the relative mobility of your thinking and feeling, what about its temperature? Its fluidity and solidity? In this way, you can analyze the elements that are involved. You can understand how to manage the elements in your experiences, psychologically. As we explained in the previous lecture, we get help with that process through what we call ordeals, psychological challenges that are given by our own Innermost, through our psychological trainer, who presents us with scenarios designed to bring out those parts of ourselves that we need to work on. If we are not prepared to see it, we will respond poorly, the way that we have been doing previously, and we will make our situation worse. If we are not psychologically trained to watch ourselves and look for the patterns in our psychology, we will not see what is really happening to us, and we will make mistakes. When you enter into this type of work and the process of starting to transmute yourself, you are given challenges, opportunities to see yourself as you are, and those opportunities will come every day. If you are really attentive, you will find that those opportunities are continually arising, all the time. We do not call them opportunities physically, we call them adversities, problems, suffering. We have all of our complaints. We have an old psychological habit that is a very serious obstacle in this type of study, this type of work. That is the habit of self-esteem. Its an old habit that thinks we deserve things that we do not deserve, and that wants things to be ideal, the way that we want it, and we get very frustrated and upset when things do not go the way that we want or expect. I am curious: what percentage of people listening to the lecture today are very disappointed they did not win the lottery last night? I would like to find that out, but I do not think anyone would tell me.
We all have this self-esteem, and it is in direct conflict with the Innermost, with the Being, because this “self” of self-esteem is the ego. The Being wants the ego dead. Dead. Dissolved. Transmuted...But we do not want to transmute it. We want things the way we want them, and when we do not get things the way we want them, what do we do? We complain. We complain in our mind, and we complain with our mouth. Many of us complain all the time. That is a sign, a very significant sign, that we are not transmuting. Another word for transmutation is transformation. We use that in a very important phrase in this teaching: the transformation of impressions. Someone who is transforming impressions has serenity, acceptance. In other words, they have no complaints.
So if we have a lot of complaints, we need to analyze the desires that are complaining: the complaining pride, the lust, the envy, the greed, the gluttony, the fear, the avarice, the laziness, all of those egos. And we need to analyze them in relation with the elements: space, air, fire, water and earth, to understand how they are made, how they work, how they function. In this work, we need to learn to not just go with the flow of our psychological river, but to fight it. The psychological river of our mind is flowing into hell. It is not taking us to God. To reach God, divinity, purity, you have to fight against everything that comes up in yourself that is impure, that is selfish. That fight is not easy. four-ordeals
The four elements are the basic tools that our psychological trainer uses in order to show us ourselves, to show us what we're made of—literally, what we (as a psyche) are made of. Not physically, psychologically. The physical part is impermanent and irrelevant. Spiritually speaking, we have had so many physical bodies in the past and may have more in the future, thus in the long term perspective the physical part is not as important as the psychological part, because the psychological part lasts, and is the determining factor as to whether we get more physical bodies, and what kind, and in what circumstances. Focusing on physicality is foolish. Focusing on psychology is wise. In the psychological point of view, what are we made of? We are made of these elements in different combinations, but unfortunately corrupted with desire. In order to transmute these elements, we have to break them down. Imagine if you were a weaver and you got really drunk and wove something, using up all your good cloth, your good fibers and materials; then you sobered up and realized that what you wove was a complete disaster and wouldn't do anybody any good, in fact it was a waste of all that material, but it was the only material that you had, and you need clothes... What do you do? You have to take it apart. You have to go back to zero. You have to be naked, and start again. We need to do that psychologically; we need to strip our identity completely: this self-esteem has to die. We have to renounce everything except God. To only hold fast to divinity. Nothing else. This is the only way that you can fully and completely transmute. Remember: transmute means to throughly change—thoroughly, not partially. Thoroughly, from the ground up, from zero. It is the only way to build something properly. This is why that Jesus told us that we need a new wineskin. “No man putteth a piece of a new garment upon an old; if otherwise, then both the new maketh a rent, and the piece that was [taken] out of the new agreeth not with the old. And no man putteth new wine into old bottles; else the new wine will burst the bottles, and be spilled, and the bottles shall perish. But new wine must be put into new bottles; and both are preserved.” - Jesus, in Luke 5 We need a new garment. A new mind. A new heart. A new body. That transmutation comes through these elements, so we are tested, every day, constantly, by our trainer, through these elements, to pull things out psychologically so we will see them for what they are. This is not for fun or games or just to punish us and humiliate us, it is not to make us suffer, just because we deserve it. It is to help us. It is the medicine we need; we are sick. To be healed, we need a very profound surgery, very deep, very painful. It is not easy. It is not easy to die psychologically. It is not pleasant. It is not something that you will enjoy. You will be in pain. You will cry. You will have regret. You will have remorse. You will be ashamed of yourself. And you should be. Don't avoid it. Embrace it, yet do not attach to it. Look squarely at the facts, accept them, and change. This is how you become spiritually mature. You do not avoid the facts. You look them in the face, you see them for what they are, and you change them. Thoroughly. When you are getting your psychological challenges every day, look them square in the face, accept them, accept responsibility for yourself, do not blame others, do not blame God, accept it, look at it and say, "I deserve this, I created this, now I'm going to change it". This is what a Master comes from. Everybody wonders, "How do the Masters become so beautiful? How do they become so humble, so pure?"... because they are honest. That is how. Because they are honest. They do not avoid the facts. They work hard to change, to become worthy of reflecting God.
The way that this is done is through this fifth element. Everything that we are is constructed of these basic elements. So our pride for example is constructed of the four elements. The humility of an angel is constructed from the same elements that your pride is made from. Isn't that odd? Its constructed of the same light, but arranged differently. The “pride” of an angel—that element, that light, that has to do with virtue of esteem or self nature—is not corrupted by desire, whereas ours is corrupted. What we call “pride” is a modified light that comes from the sun. It is the same light that shines in an angel, but in an angel it shines as humility. Its the same light, but in us, it is modified, corrupted. What shines in that psychological component is the quintessence. But in us, it is impure. In an angel, in a master, it is pure. The word quintessence comes from a root word which means: "To be":
esse "to be." Sanskrit asmi, Hittite eimi, O.C.S. jesmi, Lith. esmi, Goth. imi, O.E. eom "I am"The quintessence hidden in each element within us is the Being, the light of the Being, that shines through any psychological element. Everything that we are as a psyche is the light of the Being, but in us that light is trapped in corruption. If you want that light to shine pure, you need to break apart the lens and reform it to make it perfect, clean. This is the basic science of Alchemy: to purge the metals and make them pure. We could remove the word metals and instead use crystals or lenses, and it would mean the same thing. The quintessence is that light, what in Hebrew is called Shekinah, the light of the Divine Mother. That light shines through everything that we are, psychologically and physically. It shines as all of those elements arranged in all of those different patterns that make up all of the different people and things and plants and animals and minerals and everything that exist; everything is that light, but modified. What we are as a person is a huge complication of all those lights. “And אלהים Elohim said, Let there be מארת ma'owroth [lights] in the firmament of שמים shamayim to divide the day from ליל layil [night]. And let them be מאורת ma'owroth in the firmament of שמים shamayim to give איר owr [light] upon ארץ erets [the earth]...” - Genesis 1:15 We do not see the lights for what they are. We need to analyze ourselves physically, energetically, emotionally, intellectually, and consciously.
This graphic shows the basic psyche that we can perceive here and now, if we look. All of the psychological elements that we can perceive here and now are related to other forms of matter. Physically, we perceive our physical body. If you pay attention, you will recognize that this physical body has energy that allows it to be active and move, the energy of digestion and the circulation of blood, and the energy that flows through the muscles, in the senses and nerves. five-bodies. We also have energy that flows through the psyche, that let us us have imagination and memory and thought, feeling. All of those energies are related with the vital body, what in the Tree of Life is called Yesod (“foundation”). The vital body reflects the contents of thought, emotion, and will into the physical body. Everything we perceive physically is reflected, either through the five physical senses, or through the internal senses that we perceive inside. The vital body reflects those contents into our brain, into our heart. This is important to understand so that we have a clear perspective on how to analyze ourselves. When we are feeling emotions, those emotions do not originate in the physical body. They are not just imaginary. They are reflected forms of light. They are light that we feel and sense emotionally in the physical body, but is being reflected to the physical body from our Astral body, through the vital body. The light of emotion originates in the Astral body. That means that if we are feeling a negative emotion, full comprehension and elimination of that defect is only possible by working on it at that level, with the Astral body in the fifth dimension, where its originating. But how many of us have clairvoyance? How many of us are awake in the astral plane, in the fifth dimension, to work on that discursive negative emotion? None of us, we are asleep! Moreover, when we sleep at night and we are dreaming with those emotions, we do not remember them when we come back to our body. So our trainer has no choice but to give us ordeals in the physical world so that we can see and experience what is happening in that Astral body, so that it is reflected here physically, so that it can come up and we will work on it. Internally, consciously, we are asleep and enslaved, so to help us, our trainer gives us ordeals. Our trainer puts us in circumstances where we feel those emotions, so that our Consciousness, our willpower, can see it, and can respond consciously, not mechanically, but can comprehend and free itself. This is why we have ordeals. We need them. Do not complain about your problems. Learn from them. They are your path to liberation. In several places of the Bible it states very clearly: “For whom יהוה loveth he correcteth; even as a father the son [in whom] he delighteth.” - Proverbs 3:12 The chastisement or ordeals are given as help to help us and aid us, otherwise we will not see who we are, and what is stopping us from reaching God. So this applies to all of our emotions, all of our thoughts, all of our problems, all of our situations, all of our circumstances, everything thats bothering us or that we think is limiting us, or is a problem for us, is actually something that we need to take advantage of. That is why Samael Aun Weor said: “We must learn how to take advantage of the worst adversities. The worst adversities bring us the best opportunities. We must learn to smile before all adversities.” “People protest because of the difficulties that interaction offers them. They do not want to realize that those difficulties are precisely providing them with the necessary opportunities for the dissolution of their “I.” So why are all the spiritual students, including the so-called Gnostics , looking for easy lives? Students are trying to win the lottery, longing to retire in the countryside and grow sunflowers, longing to retreat from their problems. Listen: if you have an easy, laid back life, you will stagnate spiritually. You will rot. If you want to grow spiritually, you need to die psychologically. The only way you will do that is by seeing the garbage in your mind and in your heart. That is why we are given ordeals. “During times of rigorous temptations [ordeals], discouragement and desolation, one must appeal to the intimate Remembering of the Self.“Deep within each one of us is the Aztec Tonantzin, Stella Maris, the Egyptian Isis, God the Mother, waiting for us in order to heal our painful heart.“When one gives to oneself the shock of “Self-remembering,” then indeed, a miraculous change [transmutation] in the entire work of the body is produced, so that the cells receive a different nourishment.” - Samael Aun Weor. That is why Samael said:“We can disintegrate our defects and dissolve the psychological “I” only by means of this science of transmutations. We can modify our errors, transmute the vile metals into pure gold and command only by means of the science of transmutations.” - Samael Aun Weor, Tarot and Kabbalah. In The Gnostic Bible, The Pistis Sophia Unveiled, he said: “It is possible to crystallize the Soul within ourselves by dissolving the animal ego.“We need to dissolve the undesirable psychological elements in order to crystallize the Soul within ourselves.
“We must convert ourselves into pure Soul. With patience you will possess your Soul.“This is possible based on conscious work and voluntary sufferings. “The Souls of the people reside in a superior level of the Being.“The Soul is the conjunction of all the forces, powers, virtues, essences, etc., that crystallize within us when the entire animal ego has been dissolved.
“Each time that a psychological defect is dissolved, a virtue, a power, etc., crystallizes within our interior. “The complete dissolution of all the defects implies the integral crystallization of the Soul within ourselves. “If the water does not boil at one hundred degrees, that which must be crystallized does not crystallize, and that which must be dissolved is not dissolved.
“In similar form, we say that it is necessary to pass through great emotional crisis in order to dissolve psychological defects and crystallize the Soul.” Firstly, this is accomplished based on conscious work and voluntary suffering. Voluntary suffering means that we accept our suffering, we do not fight it, in the sense of resisting it or denying it or trying to change our physical circumstances all of the time. Instead we accept it, we do what we need to do in order to survive, and care for our responsibilities, and that's enough. The rest of our effort should be focused on changing ourselves. The soul is the conjunction of all the powers, virtues, etc., and they crystalize within us when the animal ego has been dissolved: that is transmutation. Each construction in the psyche is made of the elements. We dissolve each ego in order to liberate the light in each of the elements that are there, then automatically, spontaneously, the light emerges as the soul. In other words, the quintessence is freed. From there is a great range of potential. What happens with that energy next depends on the nature of our path. But whatever the nature of that path, it will be positive, since the light has been liberated. The other important point here is “if the water does not boil at one hundred degrees, that which must be crystalized does not crystalize, and that which must dissolve does not dissolve.” What is that water? Water is one of the elements. Where is the water in us? What water is it that must boil? Anybody know? Well, this is a sort of trick question, because everything about us is based on water. There is no exception. In the Hebrew letters are the three mother letters that we mentioned previously. mother-letters-three-brains..The element of water is represented by the letter Mem. The element water and the letter Mem are related with the vital body. That is the lower Eden or Mayim in the book of Genesis. “And אלהים Elohiym said, Let the מים mayim (waters) under שמים shamayim be gathered together unto one place…” - Genesis 1:9 yesod-body-croppedThe sephirah Yesod, the ninth sphere, is our creative waters, from which we create everything, physically, spiritually, psychologically. Those are our creative waters, the waters of Genesis within us. From Yesod, the sexual organs, was made our earth, our physical body. “And אלהים Elohiym said, Let the מים mayim (waters) under שמים shamayim be gathered together unto one place, and let the dry [land] appear: and it was so. And אלהים Elohiym called the dry [land] ארץ 'erets [earth, our body]; and the gathering together of the waters called he ים yam [seas]…” - Genesis 1:9-10 The physical body is mostly water. Without it we cannot live. The emotional body (Astral body) is very strongly influenced by water. Our emotions are a sea. The Mental body also is constructed with the element of water. The Causal body is made from the waters. Water is in everything. Everything that exists depends on water. Physically, energetically and consciously. So when the water must boil, that means that our entire psyche must boil. What is the boiling? The problems, difficulties. When you study how physics works, when you study how nature works, you find that crystallization and dissolution are very closely related. The entire science of Alchemy is based upon this understanding. This is why if you study any of the old alchemical texts, they always talk about the need to dissolve and coagulate or crystalize. The entire science of Alchemy is based upon that. One short example is from the Bosom Book of George Ripley (circa 1476): “Then mingle with this white calx [dusty residue remaining after a mineral or metal has been calcined or roasted] the fiery water [שמים shamayim], and distil it with a strong fire all off as before, and calcine the earth [ארץ 'erets] again that remaineth in the bottom of the still, and then distil it again with a strong fire as before, and again calcine it, and thus distil and calcine it seven times, until all the substance of the calx be lifted up by the limbec: and then thou hast the water [מים mayim] of life rectified and made indeed spiritual; and so hast thou the four elements exalted in the virtue of their quintessence. This water will dissolve all bodies, and putrefy them, and purge them: and this is our Mercury and our Lunary; and whosoever thinketh there is any other water than this is an ignorant and a fool, and shall never be able to come to the effect.”This is only one example of hundreds of writings like it. This excerpt explains that the process of purification and the elaboration of the quintessence is a process of dissolution and crystallization.
For centuries, foolish people lacking initiation into the actual science read these things literally and thought they were talking about literal water, literal physical mercury, literal physical elements. That is wrong. These scriptures are about the psyche, the mind. The dissolution is psychological, and it is accomplished through ordeals, through analyzing and dissolving impurities in the mind. Symbolically, we analyze the elements of the mind as having seven fundamental qualities, related to the seven lights that organize all things.
gnosticteachings.org/courses/alchemy/3076-transmutation.html
Built in 1858 at no. 17 Byron Street.
"Niagara-On-The-Lake National Historic Site of Canada is an early-19th century Loyalist town located on the southern shore of Lake Ontario, near the United States border. The historic district covers 25 city blocks and includes more than 90 residential, commercial, ecclesiastical and institutional buildings constructed between 1815 and 1859. The majority of the buildings are constructed in the British Classical Tradition, producing similarities in design, materials and scale. The wide, tree-lined streets within the district follow a late-18th century grid plan. The district also includes a city park and two early-19th-century cemeteries. The landscape is gently rolling in places, with a creek running through part of the district. The official recognition refers to the approximately 41 hectares of related buildings and landscapes within the district boundaries.
Niagara-on-the-Lake was established in 1779 as a supply depot for British Loyalist forces. By the end of the 18th century it had developed into a major military and cultural centre and served briefly as the capital of Upper Canada. The town’s grid plan, laid out in 1794, was based on the Imperial model plan for new colonial towns. Niagara-on-the-Lake was destroyed by fire in 1813, and then rebuilt by Loyalist settlers. The streets retain their original arrangement, proportions and edge treatments. Between 1831 and 1859, the town prospered as a major shipping and shipbuilding port, and residents built or enlarged their houses and commercial buildings.
The district is dominated by the classically-designed buildings erected during the period from1815 to 1859. Most buildings retain their original siting close to the road and are of similar design, materials and scale, and the majority of buildings have been restored to resemble their original appearance. The commercial section of Queen Street, largely built between 1813 and 1840, illustrates the informal features of commercial streets characteristic of that period. The historic district is distinguished from later 19th-century streetscapes by the individualized façades and the clear differentiation between buildings.
The residents of Niagara-on-the-Lake were among the earliest citizen’s groups in Canada to make a strong commitment to the restoration of their built heritage. The Niagara Historical Society, established by residents in 1896, collected artifacts and documents relating to local history and published local histories. Beginning in the mid-1950s, individuals began to restore private properties to their 19th-century appearance and to promote conservation. In 1962 they formed the Niagara Foundation, a local advocacy and fundraising group dedicated to preserving the town’s landmarks. The Niagara Foundation was instrumental in restoring several major buildings in the town. Niagara-on-the-Lake was one of the first Ontario municipalities to appoint a Local Architectural Conservation Advisory Committee to advise on local heritage. The town was designated as a provincial Heritage Conservation District in 1986." - info from Historic Places.
"Niagara-on-the-Lake is a town in Ontario, Canada. It is located on the Niagara Peninsula at the point where the Niagara River meets Lake Ontario, across the river from New York, United States. Niagara-on-the-Lake is in the Niagara Region of Ontario and is the only town in Canada that has a lord mayor. It had a population of 19,088 as of the 2021 Canadian census.
Niagara-on-the-Lake is important in the history of Canada: it served as the first capital of the province of Upper Canada, the predecessor of Ontario. It was called Newark from 1792 to 1797. During the War of 1812, the town, the two former villages of St. David's and Queenston, and Fort George were the sites of numerous battles following the American invasion of Upper Canada, and the town was razed. Niagara-on-the-Lake is home to the oldest Catholic church, the second-oldest Anglican church in Ontario, and the oldest surviving golf course in North America.
Today, Niagara-on-the-Lake draws tourists with its colonial-style buildings, the Shaw Festival, Fort George, wineries, an outlet mall on the highway, and its proximity to Niagara Falls. The Niagara Region has the second-highest percentage of seniors in Ontario." - info from Wikipedia.
Late June to early July, 2024 I did my 4th major cycling tour. I cycled from Ottawa to London, Ontario on a convoluted route that passed by Niagara Falls. During this journey I cycled 1,876.26 km and took 21,413 photos. As with my other tours a major focus was old architecture.
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