127 comments under the Facebook posting, to a province-wide group, of a photo that a photographer took of three people, one of them myself - angry, rude, critical, judgemental comments, by people who don't even know me or my ethics, including when they relate to photography! Last night, I found the posting again and took a long time going through all 127 comments. Made me feel sick to the stomach. This can't be right, though I know this kind of thing does happen on Facebook. I want the photo removed or for the photographer to at the very least completely blur me out of the shot. Though his comment, when he first posted his photo, was about people staying safe when taking photos, he has allowed the posting to develop into an endless bashing.

I wasn't going to post this again, but I have changed my mind after reading all those comments. I sent the man a link to one of my owl photos that has this long description with it, asking him to read, when he has time, what I have written. The link was sent only two or three days ago, so he may not have seen it yet.

""I think the very first Long-eared Owl that I ever saw was seen on 13 October 2006. SInce then, I have been very fortunate to have seen several other individuals - including the day before yesterday. These owls are very secretive and many birders go years between sightings. It is so important not to give the location of this species. Be careful that there is nothing in your photos that gives away the location.

Various people had been posting photos of a Long-eared Owl recently, but I had no idea where they were seeing it. Someone had posted a photo and labelled it "Calgary" (totally untrue!), so I had thought it must have been seen in one of our local city parks. Two days ago, I decided to go for a short drive and get a bit of sunshine and fresh air. Our deep freeze has lasted for more than four weeks, and I have been home for most of that time. It was a milder day, so I decided to make the most of it, especially with more snow forecast for today.

Imagine my surprise when a stranger told me just where it was, and my absolute horror when I came upon a huge crowd of photographers with their lenses raised! So how did they all know about this owl?? Apparently, Facebook has such a bad reputation for people trolling everyone's photostream there, finding out locations for all sorts of things (old barns included!). Then, of course, some people phone others, to ask or to tell. Others follow ebird religiously, dashing out to see every more 'special' bird that is reported and location given. I don't post many photos on Facebook and I certainly don't post the same photo to three groups. It gets so very boring to see the same photos everywhere. These people flood their own Facebook pages and the groups! The only reason I can see is to get as many Likes as possible. Anyway, most people were down in the ditch at the fenceline, so no doubt they were able to get stunning close shots, especially those with enormous lenses. My photos were taken from the road, which was twice as far away, with a point-and-shoot. I'm not out to try and get better photos than anyone else : ) As always, there is so much competition among photographers. I was also not out there all day, like various people always are, and often day after day after day.

So, after saying those things, perhaps you can imagine how extremely upset (devastated, actually) I am to have been told (when I arrived at the owl) by a couple of friends (both of whom are superb photographers) that my photograph had been taken, along with two other people in it, standing at the edge of a road earlier in February. These friends thought it was hilarious and I sure was teased a lot. As they said, my "goody two-shoes" image was gone. They both know I have very high ethics, including when it comes to photography. This photo was posted on Facebook on a provincial birding page, pointing out how dangerous it is for people to stand by the road. This thread turned into a string of comments about people harassing the owls, etc., etc., etc. Actually, the other two people in the photo are both seen taking photos (when I was told they already had taken thousands). There's me, camera not raised, looking disgusted that an owl had been flushed so that they could take flight images. The reason I was out of my vehicle was that these two people were out of theirs and racing down the road at top speed to get yet more shots. When I was sitting in my car, these photographers blocked my view of the owl, so out I got and caught up with them. To prove that I was not planning on getting out of my car this trip, I was wearing just my thin summer jacket (over fleece) in a windchill in the minus 20C's. Two minutes later, I was back in my car!

Sorry to rant, but it just upsets me so much that this photo was taken and posted on Facebook. Have barely slept the last two nights! The very last thing I would ever want is to be connected with bad ethics!! Of course, I must be such a bad person to actually stand by the road - ha, you should see all the dozens of people who do exactly the same (without being photgraphed)!

That day, I took maybe 30 photos of the Long-eared Owl, and maybe a couple of dozen of a Short-eared Owl, almost every single one of the latter needing to be deleted, because they were all totally blurry, thanks to taking the photos from inside my car. You can be sure that most of the others went home with yet another memory card containing thousands of photos.

I am hoping that now I won't be stressing out over it quite as much, every second of the day! Ain't life fun? To the man who took my photo (as far as I know, I have never met him), how about taking a few photos of the crowds of people, especially those who were as close as they could get to the LEO. Or those who stress out the owls day after day after day, often from morning till evening! You might just get lots of likes and comments on photos of those repeat "offenders". How about giving it a try?

PS: I rarely allow people (i.e. friends) to photograph me. Not sure what right this man thinks he has, to take my photo and especially to then post it on a very popular Facebook group page. I want it removed from Facebook, or at the very least, to have myself totally blurred out of the image. When this sort of thing happens, it can totally destroy a person's joy of photography!

Actually, on a more serious note, something that I'm sure most people don't think of. You really need to be careful about taking a photo of someone and then posting it (without signing a consent form). For various security reasons, doing this could actually put someone in danger. For example, a woman (or vice versa) might not want their photo being advertised in this way, not wanting an abusive spouse/partner to know where they go sometimes or what they do. Just something to keep in mind."

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

Ex-LMS A Class 52322 with the Red Rose Dining Train on the ELR at Ramsbottom Station. A truly Lancastrian affair tonight, with the loco, name of the dining coach and location all relating to Lancashire!

There was a post relating to a move from Burton to Barrow Hill and back that interfered with my day today. Needless to say I got that totally wrong but that's another story. In the meantime my initial plan of doing some shots at Whitacre Junction was interrupted by this early move. I had this but thought I would get to Burton before the '56'/ '43' combination move. Little did I know that I was looking at the wrong schedule on RTT.

I screwed up on that maybe but it did help to towards me having a better day out than I could have planned....

The International Bomber Command Centre (IBCC) a memorial relating the historical impact of and on Bomber Command during the Second World War. Located on Canwick Hill, overlooking the city of Lincoln in Lincolnshire.

The city of Lincoln was selected for the location of the IBCC because 27 RAF Bomber Command stations (over a third of all Bomber Command stations) were based in the county during World War II. The large amount of airfields led to Lincolnshire being nicknamed the "Bomber County".

Located at Canwick Hill, the centre is just under two and half miles from RAF Waddington, which suffered the greatest losses of any Bomber Command station, and close to the former Avro aircraft production facility at Bracebridge Heath. A view of Lincoln Cathedral, a prominent landmark for aircrews, forms an important part of the vista from the centre of the Memorial Spire.

The aim of the IBCC is to tell the personal stories of members of the RAF Bomber Command, ground crew and civilians impacted by the bombing campaigns during the Second World War. The centre will also provide a comprehensive record of the role of Bomber Command's squadrons and to digitally display historical documentation and photographs relating to the activity of Bomber Command.

Within the grounds of the International Bomber Command Centre the Spire Memorial was erected on 10 May 2015. The memorial is a spire, reflecting the connection to Lincoln Cathedral. Created out of Corten A weathering steel, it is based on the dimensions of the wingspan of a Lancaster bomber, being 102ft high and 16ft at the base. The Spire was officially unveiled in October 2015 to an audience of 3,600 guests including 312 Bomber veterans.

The spire is encircled by walls carrying the names of all 57,871 men and women who gave their lives whilst serving in or supporting Bomber Command. This is the only place in the world where all these losses are memorialised.

Information Source:

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Bomber_Command_Centre

Work Day / Social Distancing Day 92, 06/15/2020, Manhattan, NY

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Not relate but interesting brief so I ref.;

The Weeping Angels (also known as the Lonely Assassins) are a fictional ancient race of aliens from the Doctor Who television series. Steven Moffat, their creator, attributes their appeal to childhood games such as Grandmother's Footsteps and the notion that every statue out there is secretly a Weeping Angel.

...........

I saw I shot, she weeped at the waterfall.

My photostream; www.darckr.com/username?username=11569107%40N06

There are so many life-lesson cliché captions I could title to this photo- relating to swings, ups and downs, fleeting moments. This is just a friendly reminder to everyone: we're all doing the best with what we've got. Take care of yourself first and foremost, the rest will follow.

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Excerpt from historicplaces.ca:

Description of Historic Place

Situated on the bank of the Credit River, the former private estate of Riverwood encompasses 150 acres of landscaped and naturally vegetated grounds, two houses, a barn and numerous structures, that relate to its former farming activity. Today, as a public park, it offers four interpretive terraces that relate the history of the property.

Riverwood was designated by City of Mississauga, By-law 505-2004, as a property of heritage significance.

Heritage Value

Riverwood is a 150 acre property nestled on the east bank of the Credit River. Originally a Crown land grant in 1833 to Peter McDougall, the property saw numerous owners, until it was purchased, in 1913, by W. R. Percy and Ida Parker. Parker had a stone cottage built on the ruins of a former building and used it as a summer cottage. In 1919, he commissioned architect A. S. Mathers to design a main house, which he named Riverwood. As a prominent Toronto lawyer and mining executive, Parker moved in high business and social circles and used Riverwood for entertaining influential merchants and politicians. Riverwood's most famous, and frequent, Canadian visitor was Prime Minister William Lyon Mackenzie King.

Due to financial difficulties resulting from the 1929 stock market crash and Parker's death in 1931, Ida Parker sold her property in three stages: in the late 1930s, her daughter Margaret MacEwan purchased the parcel that contained the stone cottage; in the 1940s, John and Theodosia Zaichuk bought the upper farm parcel; in 1954, Hyliard Chappell Q.C. (M.P. for Peel South, 1968-1972) and his wife Grace acquired the Riverwood parcel.

In the 1990s, it was re-assembled into a single property when the City of Mississauga purchased all three parcels. Partnering with the Credit Valley Conservation Authority and the Mississauga Garden Council, the City turned Riverwood into a public garden park, dividing it into four interpretive terraces, each named for the most recent owners: Bird Terrace, MacEwan Terrace, Zaichuk Terrace and Chappell Terrace.

The Bird and Zaichuk terraces are significant for historical reasons, as they offer examples of agricultural practices, farming techniques and rural living along the Credit River in the mid-19th century. MacEwan House is architecturally significant as a good example of a modest single-storey vernacular stone cottage. It was built by the Parkers c. 1914 on the ruins of an earlier structure, using local shale and featuring a pitched roof and multi-paned casement windows. The house was enlarged in the 1950s with an addition on the east being constructed in a similar style. The basement floor is made of concrete and horseshoes from a prize-winning horse have been embedded into it. The MacEwan barn is one-and-a-half storeys and dates from around 1865. Constructed of heavy hewn timber and clad in vertical boards throughout, it has a pitched roof and three-over-three paned windows.

The Chappell House is constructed of Credit Valley stone collected on the property. It was designed by architect A. S. Mathers in the Arts and Crafts style to blend in with the natural surroundings. It is U-shaped, with two wings extending from the dominant central portion. The steeply pitched cross-hip roof, which is covered in wood shingles, and the external chimney located in the front façade, are the dominant features. This chimney contains a stone shield with a hand-carved inscription. Two dormers break the roofline on either side of this chimney while two internal chimneys protrude above the roof.

The property is particularly valued as an important cultural landscape. Its context within the Credit River corridor has played a role in its use for farming. Its terrain and topography permitted landscape architects William Harries, Alfred Hall and Arthur Kruse to take advantage of the natural beauty in creating spectacular landscaping. The original design is still intact, with formal gardens near the main house and naturalistic plantings further afield. Other features that contribute to the landscaping include a courtyard with circular drive around a central lily pond, flagstone walkways that lead from the house to the gardens, a woodland pool and remnants of walls and fence lines. Riverwood is currently a public park and home to Visual Arts Mississauga and the Mississauga Garden Council.

Character-Defining Elements

Character defining elements that reflect the heritage value of Riverwood include its:

- spatial layout which reflects on the early development of Mississauga

- size and location along the Credit river where early agricultural practices, farming techniques and rural living were once prominent

- Arts and Crafts style of the Parker/Chappell House and its construction in Credit Valley stone, its design by A. S. Mathers, the U-shaped floor plan, cross-hip roof, wood shingles, external chimney

- vernacular style of the MacEwan House, with its stone construction, pitched roof and concrete basement floor

- location on the bank of the Credit River

- landscaping continuum, from formal to natural, including man-made structures of courtyard, driveway, pond, walkways, nature trails and woodland pool

- one-and-a-half storey MacEwan barn with heavy hewn timber and clad in vertical boards, pitched roof and three-over-three paned windows

- remnants of walls and fence lines

You might relate this photo to the sound of music, and that relatively wholesome and peaceful musical. But 60 years ago today, a division known for its courage had this place as one of the rally points. That division was the 101st Airborne. The division not really known for its firepower, but for its spirit and courage. Here, more than a half century ago, men, in their early twenties jumped from the sky, under fire, some on gliders steering blindly through the night -- the prelude to D-Day. Their objectives, disrupt enemy activities, destroy patches of German outposts and secure bridges. Many of them never made it to the ground alive.

The 101st airborne was recently made famous by the movie band of brothers, which was about the "Easy" company of the 101st's 2nd Batallion.

Normandy, France

The Symptoms of Kali-yuga

www.vedabase.com/en/sb/12/2

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 😊

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The Symptoms of Kali-yuga

www.vedabase.com/en/sb/12/2

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

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The Symptoms of Kali-yuga

www.vedabase.com/en/sb/12/2

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

"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

Blueberry - Can't Relate - Cardigans - No Top - Maitreya

ISON - evita knit top - black (maitreya)

at collabor 88

ISON - mallen leggings - black (maitreya)

DOUX - Ines Hairstyle [L]

LeLUTKA.Head.Lilly.2.5

skin ITgirls lelutka ryn pearl

Visit this location in Second Life

The Symptoms of Kali-yuga

www.vedabase.com/en/sb/12/2

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

Can you relate?

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Pose: Breezy 3 by Adorkable

Windlight Setting: Diamond by Strawberry Singh

Sim: Caledon Oxbridge Sandbox

The Symptoms of Kali-yuga

www.vedabase.com/en/sb/12/2

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 world will be destroyed by good people who do nothing. We must act now.

The Symptoms of Kali-yuga

www.vedabase.com/en/sb/12/2

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

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!

IN USE 1976

IN USE 1985/6

2014, SCOTLAND

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.

To see more of our CC by 2.0 finance images click here... see profile for attribution.

9/12

9/24/18

To view more of my images of aircraft and space craft, click "here" !

Very sad news, relating to a fatal crash of this beautiful aircraft, please read "here" !

The North American Aviation P-51 Mustang was an American long-range, single-seat fighter and fighter-bomber used during World War II, the Korean War and other conflicts. The Mustang was conceived, designed and built by North American Aviation (NAA) in response to a specification issued directly to NAA by the British Purchasing Commission. The prototype NA-73X airframe was rolled out on 9 September 1940, 102 days after the contract was signed and, with an engine installed, first flew on 26 October. The Mustang was originally designed to use the Allison V-1710 engine, which had limited high-altitude performance. It was first flown operationally by the Royal Air Force (RAF) as a tactical-reconnaissance aircraft and fighter-bomber (Mustang Mk I). The addition of the Rolls-Royce Merlin to the P-51B/C model transformed the Mustang's performance at altitudes above 15,000 ft, matching or bettering that of the Luftwaffe's fighters. The definitive version, the P-51D, was powered by the Packard V-1650-7, a license-built version of the Rolls-Royce Merlin 60 series two-stage two-speed supercharged engine, and armed with six .50 caliber (12.7 mm) M2 Browning machine guns. From late 1943, P-51Bs (supplemented by P-51Ds from mid-1944) were used by the USAAF's Eighth Air Force to escort bombers in raids over Germany, while the RAF's 2 TAF and the USAAF's Ninth Air Force used the Merlin-powered Mustangs as fighter-bombers, roles in which the Mustang helped ensure Allied air superiority in 1944. The P-51 was also in service with Allied air forces in the North African, Mediterranean and Italian theaters, and saw limited service against the Japanese in the Pacific War. During World War II, Mustang pilots claimed 4,950 enemy aircraft shot down. At the start of the Korean War, the Mustang was the main fighter of the United Nations until jet fighters such as the F-86 took over this role; the Mustang then became a specialized fighter-bomber. Despite the advent of jet fighters, the Mustang remained in service with some air forces until the early 1980s. After World War II and the Korean War, many Mustangs were converted for civilian use, especially air racing, and increasingly, preserved and flown as historic warbird aircraft at airshows. In April 1938, shortly after the German Anschluss of Austria, the British government established a purchasing commission in the United States, headed by Sir Henry Self. Self was given overall responsibility for Royal Air Force (RAF) production and research and development, and also served with Sir Wilfrid Freeman, the "Air Member for Development and Production". Self also sat on the British Air Council Sub-committee on Supply (or "Supply Committee") and one of his tasks was to organize the manufacturing and supply of American fighter aircraft for the RAF. At the time, the choice was very limited, as no U.S. aircraft then in production or flying met European standards, with only the Curtiss P-40 Tomahawk coming close. The Curtiss-Wright plant was running at capacity, so P-40s were in short supply. North American Aviation (NAA) was already supplying its Harvard trainer to the RAF, but was otherwise underutilized. NAA President "Dutch" Kindelberger approached Self to sell a new medium bomber, the B-25 Mitchell. Instead, Self asked if NAA could manufacture the Tomahawk under license from Curtiss. Kindelberger said NAA could have a better aircraft with the same engine in the air sooner than establishing a production line for the P-40. The Commission stipulated armament of four .303 in (7.7 mm) machine guns, the Allison V-1710 liquid-cooled engine, a unit cost of no more than $40,000, and delivery of the first production aircraft by January 1941. In March 1940, 320 aircraft were ordered by Sir Wilfred Freeman who had become the executive head of Ministry of Aircraft Production (MAP), and the contract was promulgated on 24 April. The NA-73X, which was designed by a team led by lead engineer Edgar Schmued, followed the best conventional practice of the era, but included several new features. One was a wing designed using laminar flow airfoils which were developed co-operatively by North American Aviation and the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA). These airfoils generated very low drag at high speeds. During the development of the NA-73X, a wind tunnel test of two wings, one using NACA 5-digit airfoils and the other using the new NAA/NACA 45–100 airfoils, was performed in the University of Washington Kirsten Wind Tunnel. The results of this test showed the superiority of the wing designed with the NAA/NACA 45–100 airfoils. The other feature was a new radiator design that exploited the "Meredith Effect", in which heated air exited the radiator as a slight amount of jet thrust. Because NAA lacked a suitable wind tunnel to test this feature, it used the GALCIT 10 ft (3.0 m) wind tunnel at Caltech. This led to some controversy over whether the Mustang's cooling system aerodynamics were developed by NAA's engineer Edgar Schmued or by Curtiss, although NAA had purchased the complete set of P-40 and XP-46 wind tunnel data and flight test reports for US$56,000. The NA-73X was also one of the first aircraft to have a fuselage lofted mathematically using conic sections; this resulted in the aircraft's fuselage having smooth, low drag surfaces. To aid production, the airframe was divided into five main sections—forward, center, rear fuselage and two wing halves — all of which were fitted with wiring and piping before being joined. The prototype NA-73X was rolled out in September 1940 and first flew on 26 October 1940, respectively 102 and 149 days after the order had been placed, an uncommonly short gestation period. The prototype handled well and accommodated an impressive fuel load. The aircraft's two-section, semi-monocoque fuselage was constructed entirely of aluminum to save weight. It was armed with four .30 in (7.62 mm) M1919 Browning machine guns, two in the wings and two mounted under the engine and firing through the propeller arc using gun synchronizing gear. While the United States Army Air Corps (USAAC) could block any sales it considered detrimental to the interests of the US, the NA-73 was considered to be a special case because it had been designed at the behest of the British. In September 1940. a further 300 NA-73s were ordered by MAP. To ensure uninterrupted delivery Colonel Oliver P. Echols arranged with the Anglo-French Purchasing Commission to deliver the aircraft, and NAA gave two examples (41-038 and 41-039) to the USAAC for evaluation.

"From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia" !

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)

I wired a 12 inch length of cereus onto my tree and now twenty years later, it has woven and wound its way along the branches and over the wall. Every once in a while, a fuzzy, long rosy elaborate bud explodes out and blooms for a few hours. Its flower is so rare and unexpected that I usually miss its fullness and only wonder at its fuzzy remains. What a delightful and mysterious member of our home environment!

Biscayne Park, FL

www.susanfordcollins.com

The year ahead.....

After the horrible year that was 2020 I thought I’d try and give my predictions for the year that is 2021 and what I think may happen over five possible topics relating to the bus industry overall. Now I would state that these are purely speculative and done with the aid of my crystal ball and nothing more. However these are based on fairly sound opinions, trends and so have a reasonable hypothesis behind them. But they’re simply speculation on my part. So here goes...

1. The rise of hydrogen and the slower than anticipated decline of diesel. The first hydrogen double-deckers sneaked into service at the end of 2020 with First Aberdeen and others were delivered to Metroline. With orders placed for more with Natex West Midlands and Translink i suspect we’ll see more orders being placed for this fuel type which offers zero emissions but has none of the drawbacks of electric vehicles. However it’ll be with the support of Government grants though until prices come down, although they will. I also feel that there will be a small rush for clean diesel vehicles as operators begin to see the impact of LEZ’s and begin to restart investment. With funds being tight, any investment will be limited so I’d suspect that diesel sales, whilst declining overall over the past few years, may see a slight upturn overall.

2. Optare and the UK. I feel that 2021 will be a tough year for Optare, which was renamed - rather oddly - to Switch Mobility towards the end of 2020. Demand for its diesel range has virtually evaporated, particularly with alternatives such as the Mercedes-Benz based Mellor Strata for its best-selling Solo available at far less cost and its only its electric double-decker seems to be selling in any real number. It has this massive factory in the outskirts of Leeds which cannot be getting fully utilised and a few high profile customers cancelled orders last year, such as Reading Buses. It also suffered from industrial action which in a pandemic is some going. You may see production moved overseas or even a sale by its parent company. I wouldn’t bet against it, put it that way.

3. First contraction. I think most would expect this in some form, as the company grapples with issues in the US and it’s rail franchises. Whilst if you were looking at a map you’d sell Aberdeen, as it’s a relatively small operation and totally out on a limb, that won’t happen as it’d be very very political for the company despite the fact that it would be an attractive purchase to some. So if I was a betting man, I’d go for the remaining Manchester operations or the operations in Berkshire or Essex. Again, it’s just my opinion. It’ll keep ahold of its large city fleets, an example of which is seen here as First Glasgow 67834 (SN13EDF), branded for its Lanarkshire operations. What I’d also expect is the sale of some -possibly all - of its US operations and the handing back of one of its rail franchises.

4. Pullback in Lothians. Preston and Monklands. With a new broom in charge at Lothian Buses one thing I’d expect is a scale back of its operations in West Lothian. Possibly it’ll be a ‘gentleman’s agreement’ that’ll see it reduce services in West Lothian for Bright Bus disappearing. Another I’d expect to see is McGill’s scaling back its Monklands operations. Services there have been steadily reducing and I’d expect you may see it pull out and sell its operations to a local operator. Also, as a curve ball, I’d not be surprised if Rotala sells its Preston Bus operations to focus on Greater Manchester. Stagecoach again maybe?

5. Passenger numbers slowly recover as vaccinating takes hold. This is a bit of a given but I’d expect demand to start its slow climb back up in 2021 but whether they’ll ever recover is debatable. Business have discovered that many staff can work from home and it maybe the case that staff don’t go back to their offices for sometime or when they do, it’s possibly the odd day a week rather than the full working week. As such, I’d expect state support to continue and you may see some sort of franchise based model, as the present funding method is unsustainable long term.

So that’s my predictions. It’ll be interesting in early 2022 to look back and see how many, if any. I got right.

Every mother can relate to this.

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Midori is releasing a series of new products relating to the popular Traveler's Notebook. In an attempt to create the same aesthetic of the leather notebook, the development team chose to use brass as the material which radiates the same pleasing quality as it ages. I think it is an excellent choice of material, it gives you the feeling of a trusted old friend, give it a little polishing it comes back to a shiny companion.

The brass series includes 12 pieces of numbered clips, a 15cm ruler with raised edge for easy pick up, a solid brass pen case and bullet pen/pencils. These bullet pen/pencils are available in white or brown barrels in addition to the brass ones. The pens have a ring at one end for strap add-on while the pencils have a large eraser instead.

During the Midori private show I visited, I learned that they are preparing for a "Traveler's notebook & company" exhibition to be held in Spiral Market again this year around March/April. I am glad to be invited to contribute some contents for their on-site newsletter in "what's in my bag" style.

The large size Traveler's Notebook is far more popular than the passport size they released last year. To promote the use of the passport size Traveler's Notebook, which can be used as an actual passport jacket with note keeping capability and kept close to your body, Midori is releasing more add-ons such as new refills, rub-on letters and 2 limited edition refills which looks like a real passport. In the limited edition refill package, they thoughtfully included rub-on letters in passport looking font so you can personalize the notebook on the last page like it is a real thing.

Finally, since document envelope with string closure is very difficult to find in Japan, "Kraft envelopes" are created. It gives a crafty way to store your receipts or coasters collected from travels, either use them individually or make them handy by taping them on the notebook refill cover.

Here's my 2 cents about material use. I love the brass application on the hardware (pen case, clip, pen and ruler), while Midori is proud of its range of high quality paper products, application of tougher material on the notebook covers or even envelopes and document holders will add similar aesthetic and durability to this overlooked area. I would recommend to use jean label material in the form of cellulose fibre in combination of leather and paper to create a new range of pleasing products under the Traveler's Notebook collection.

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Old W.R. bashers will relate to this story.

So there you are trawling the depths of Cornwall desperately hoping to catch a photo of the last working Western needed to complete your collection - 1025 Western Guardsman.

You're tired and knackered after a long day's bashing and you've just hopped on to the up wakers sleeper in Cornwall hoping to grab a few hours kip in a Mark 1 compartment before you jump off at Bridgwater to catch the return working. You drift off to sleep....

Just east of Liskeard in the dark, you feel a sharp swing to the right - the train is going wrong line - why? A few minutes later, in your sleepy half awake state, you become aware of lights flashing past the window. You reach up from your prone position and wipe the (by now) damp window and scrub off a patch of condensation to see what's going on. A P.W. train - with wagons and workers on the track. What's on the front of it? Wagon after wagon passes your window, the light from your train briefly illuminates them - then suddenly something larger. A loco - what's that number? Darn, missed it. What about the nameplate? Wxxxx Guardsxxxx then another Westxxx Pxxxxfinder - what the heck? Then it is gone!

You wake from your deep slumbered state and shout out. Did I just dream that? Was that my wicked imagination? Your fellow basher on the seat opposite, agrees, it was 1025 in the pitch black darkness.

OK, so now what to do? How do I get back there for a photo in the middle of the night? Do I get off at Plymouth and wait for the PW train to come back to Laira? No, my accomplice convinces me that we can stick to our original plan - it will still be there in the morning with (importantly) some daylight. I spend the rest of the journey drifting in and out of sleep wondering if he is right.

At Bridgwater, we nearly get arrested by the local plod asking us why we are wandering around the town centre at 2am in the morning. 'Waiting for the down sleeper' charms the most confident one of our group. We're trying to stay awake by walking around, honest! Thankfully he believes us.

The rest is history. We took the down wakers with 1051 and in the early twilight, somewhere near Menheniot about 7am, the old Mark 1 stock squeels around a left hander (not the easiest of curves to capture a passing train) and then I see them. The left hand shot is 1001 Western Pathfinder as we approach it - then I turn and 'snap' 1025 Western Guardsman as we move away, the right hand shot.

And my collection is complete - every Western - if you include the various cab ends I shot in B&W around Swindon Works in '74! It remains the only double headed Western I ever saw in service.

Were we insane? Probably - but even though it was over 40 years ago, it still brings a wry smile - great days!

Ref: SL257/258

Photos are property of the photographer and are not to be redistributed without permission.

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

The Symptoms of Kali-yuga

www.vedabase.com/en/sb/12/2

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

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.

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“Other letters simply relate the small events that punctuate the passage of time: roses picked at dusk, the laziness of a rainy Sunday, a child crying himself to sleep. Capturing the moment, these small slices of life, these small gusts of happiness, move me more deeply than all the rest. A couple of lines or eight pages, a Middle Eastern stamp or a suburban postmark . . . I hoard all these letters like treasure. One day I hope to fasten them end to end in a half-mile streamer, to float in the wind like a banner raised to the glory of friendship..”

― Jean-Dominique Bauby, The Diving Bell and the Butterfly: A Memoir of Life in Death

Thanks a lot for your visits and comments, my friends. Have a memorable Sunday...!

Best seen on black - press L or click on image above.

This text is spread over three Gobate II images, and is a complement to the 'Peña Hueca' text (see below, for those reading from a computer). The texts look at issues relating to a potential local architectural response to amber deposits. I propose that these early architectures have the potential to be early human examples of building structures outside of functions such as habitat or issues such as ancestors and the dead. They would sit in a chronology aside a second early speciality late Neolithic structure I call the 'Boat Haven' and indeed in keeping, I name this class of Upper Ebro troglodytic structures 'Amber Havens'.

A scattered line of sites can be seen from the north east within the Basque region's piedmont, through the amber deposits aside Las Yurdinas 2, the Peñacerrada and other Urizaharra deposits, and down to the feathered edges of the great River Ebro's valley. The distance between Gobate and the Chalcolithic villages associated with the physical extraction of the amber mineral deposits is as low as five straight kilometres. Gobat is at an altitude of 650m and a sharp rise to around 1000m provides a qualitative ridge for the amber deposits to hide behind. Whilst the ridge climbs just 300m, it is steep enough to take the zest from hasty gaits - a natural pause for thought.

Along this scattered 'line', and towards its southern end, are the close-by Gobate and La Llana sites in addition to occasional dolmen and necropolis of monolithic sarcophagi in a range of styles including of those witnessed in and around the Gobate and La Llana sites. [I will later argue that these sarcophagi can be reappropriated, and that their origins need to be stretched back in chronology].

Carved stone spaces are cleaned and swept and the archaeological record may not be as laminated as it is for non-ritual family fed rock abris. Ploughing has also occurred up to the edges of many sites.

This diagonal of artificial caves runs out from the plane of the upper Ebro and is a potential subset of the Upper Ebro group of troglodytic ritual sites. Understanding this subset is a task that will require hypothesis, and the hypothesis I use for Gobate and La Llana is one that develops from ideas I presented for Peña Hueca up on the plateau and equally buffered on the other side of the amber deposits.

Before looking at the line of artificial caves and late prehistoric sites, it is important to see that there are striking similarities between the La Llana sites and the potentially slightly older Gobate sites. Each loci may consist of two separated elements, the first element a 'hubub' around at least three different 'warm water forms' and the second, a 'quiet' site with little space for more than a handful of people. For each site, the 'warm water form' clusters are within shouting distance (drum distance) but not within sight (111m and 250m apart respectively). Were it not for the artificial cave under the 'warm water forms' of the 'Gobate I' site, the similar 'footprint' of the adjacent sites would be blatant and indubitable. Accepting that the La Llana sight is slightly younger, It may seem that La Llana was either an improved and newer version of an aged Gobate cluster, or that La Llana was a second example of a function, i.e. there was an activity that required a combination of 'quietness' and 'hubub' that was locally successful, and thus could sustain a second example (a town with one big biscuit factory attracts a second...). For either scenario, it is worth trying to imagine what sort of activity could thrive and sustain over time from a duality between calm and hubub.

Exposed rock surfaces melt away with weathering and any forms added by man are today shrunk by the constant tick of ablation's clock. If Gobate was the first version, then its carved 'warm water forms' should be less edgy and worn out, and indeed this is the case.

Happenstance can cause the most wonderful links, but here we have two sites between the River Ebro 'highway' and a low mountain zone rich in amber and I think that before the face of happenstance is called upon to reply, an attempt should be made to see how the exact configuration might have helped man key into landscape from an optic of 5000 years before present.

'Warm water forms' might be used for many procedures from detanning acorns to softening fibres before weave, and from vegetal dying and cleaning to perfume production. A group of visitors who arrive from the River Ebro highway - keen to trade for stones of amber - might be taken to the 'warm water forms' to relax and chat in friendly states of semi nudity. Each 'warm water form' would have had a deeper shallow pool, and stretching out in a warm 'paddling pool' of perfumed water would occupy, as would plunging into the deeper 'collection pool'. It is safe to say that a visiting trade party from between 12 people and 24 people might here be soothed after days of walking, welcomed by the 'warm water form' facilities of La Llana and Gobate. All tools that might double for weapons have thus been pacified by this memorable moment and even rite. Once an ambience of mutual trust and common heath is assured, then a 'bigman' might ask the visiting group's 'leader/negotiator' to come aside for 'talks' and barters over amber. Walking 1 or 2 hundred metres to the smaller artificial cave, be it La Llana or Gobat I, and the pacified party has been 'diffused' as a potential threat to amber resources via Epicurian pleasure, goodwill and trust. Implicit with this visualisation is the cultural detail that the water in the 'warm water forms' must have been kept to a standard of cleanliness for it to keep its status and allure. If the water is a perfume of, lets imagine, local lavender and rosemary, then giving the water a symbolic status, and asking that people leave for a change of perfumed waters, would be a cultural detail and imply roles for specific individuals. The implication of location specific protocols and roles associated with a category of monument being a potentially interesting aside.

Amber as a mineral was highly desired and traded throughout the Neolithic and Chalcolithic. Here our group leader must leave behind his travelling companions - and we will imagine a self contained group with selected people from crofts and villages associated with a far-off valley cluster. Our visiting negotiator is 300m below a protective ridge that hides the actual deposits, and is told that were his group to venture to try to see the actual quarries, the worst would be guaranteed !(and indeed skeletons with arrow damage from the Chalcolithic period have been discovered in this upper amber quarry zone). Here the amber quarries are sites protected by cultural design.

Any transformed or raw amber held down in La Llana or Gobat II, on its approximative level with the Ebro plane, is also relatively secure and disassociated from the dynamic potential power of the visiting group. Tucked onto their 'warm water forms' and inside the rare musky fragrances, the rest of the visiting group cannot see the place or even direction of the place of negotiation and exchange. They are in a perfect hubub.

One representative man steps inside a small man-made cave on a cusp of a slight ridge, sits down on a stone chair (above left?) in a corner shade, and waits to see the mythical amber stones they have all travelled so far to acquire. The different sizes of stone will be taken to him and an exchange will be negotiated. He is alone fixed to a stone or carved chair, and representatives from the La Llana site or the Gobat site are slipping in and out of the low doorway. Stones of amber appear in hands and leather wraps as if from nowhere.

The goods the group carried to be exchanged are with the main party aside the 'warm water forms' - perhaps pots of grain, textiles, early metal tools, bags of nuts, wooden tools and other ways that might help the local region escape some elements of the domesticated Neolithic revolution. The goods are held in the artificial cave of the 'Gobate II' site, or in a temporary building long gone that was central in a waiting space in the 'warm water form' cluster of La Llana.

Today the 'warm water forms' of La Llana are disassociated from the La Llana 'amber haven' by a small road. The impact of modern roads on prehistoric landscapes can deeply effect the reading and 'living' of a vista, and I think that hiding roads in tunnels may seem expensive or even destructive, but is a vital way to return man's deeper appreciations to landscape. The La Llana road is quiet with infrequent traffic, and landscaping and ochre coloured surfacing and even a short section of cobble strip may be enough - elsewhere, where traffic noise, colour and pollution is ever present, deeper tunnels must be welcomed and 'pseudo' pseudo-druids challenged.

On the above image it is possible to see examples of modern petroglyphs next to a space apt for taking a negotiator to wait between amber stone samples.

As with the Gobate I site, the monolithic sarcophagi do not systematically respect E/W orientations common with dolmen openings and early Christian burial.

AJM 28.01.21

Development, this relates back to my sketchbook 2 work and looks at developing the shape of a fossil large scale using draping, I think this was largely successful due to the detail that I created.

Did you know that the "Marseille tarot" is associated with the city? Why do you ask? It was brought by Mary Magdalene, the hidden wife of Jesus. She came to Provence, not Marseille. Aren't you wondering why the decks contain 78 cards if only 22 are used? And has anyone ever told you that the Tarot was never designed to predict the future? This includes the Tarot's history and the rich symbolic significance of the Magdalene heresy that is embedded into its images. This hidden heresy relates to the recognition of Mary Magdalene as the wife of Jesus Christ. This sheds light on the need for the balance of the Divine Feminine and Divine Masculine in our World today.

The gypsy clairvoyants recovered the Tarot for its particularly effective system for understanding all the unconscious mechanisms, for better orienting oneself towards the right choices, and ultimately for healing.Mary Magdalene (Mary of Magdala), the woman with the jars in Christian symbolism, could well in this case be represented in the star chart. But their hypotheses stopped there. No one had ever imagined that the Tarot itself represented the teaching and life of Mary Magdalene in its entirety, let alone that the Tarot had been created by Mary Magdalene herself in the first century.It changes the dating of the Tarot from the 14th century to the 1st century AD with Mary Magdalene, the Tarot de Marseille thus becoming the ancestor of all Western tarot cards, i.e. "the Tarot".

Historians and experts say that the Tarot originated in Italy during the Renaissance, towards the end of the 14th century and the beginning of the 15th. On the other hand, nobody thought that the Tarot de Marseille itself came from Marseille.Mary Magdalene is the Saint who was the first witness to Christ's resurrection. In other words, she sees the Resurrection. Now, in the Tarot, if you look again at the Judgement and the World side by side, you will see that the Saint in the World card is looking in the direction of the light blue Christ who is rising from his tomb. So here we have a major Tarot code which explains that the naked Saint in the World card is the one who witnesses Christ's resurrection.

fr.camoin.com/tarot/Tarot-Marie-Madeleine-Magdala.html

This tradition begins with the MAT, the traveller who sets off in search of the Grail, but also the people of the MAT, the gypsies. The tradition was reborn with esotericism around 1880. That's when Wirth arrived at Guaita's. How did they send this to Waite? He's still waiting for the piece of the jigsaw to be put together into a clearer system. We're sticking to the stuff available in the web stock.

Oswald Wirth is known for his occult and esoteric work on the Tarot de Marseille. He produced his own version of the 22 Major Arcana cards, and also worked on representing the Minor Arcana with the help of Gérard Encausse, known as Papus, who also studied the Tarot for occult and esoteric purposes, and Arthur Edward Waite, who also produced his own tarot with the popular success we all know. The links between Wirth and Waite are still a secret, but the agility at the heart of esoteric houses and the porosity that may have existed before the 1914 war. Today it's remains like a mirage and that's hard to imagine an other mind. So I've tried to compile some information about these great men, these great initiates, because today everything has been reduced and simplified.

The Rider-Waite-Smith Tarot is a deck of tarot cards traditionally used for divination and spiritual practice. It was designed by English illustrator Arthur Edward Waite and American designer Pamela Colman Smith, and first published in 1909. It uses the codes and symbols of the Tarot de Stanislas de la Guaita illustrated by Oswald Wirth. Oswald Wirth was Stanislas de Guaita's secretary, and in collaboration with him drew a Tarot, which has since been republished as the Wirth Tarot. It is also known for its occult symbols and its references to the Hermetic tradition and the Kabbalah. The Rider-Waite-Smith Tarot is one of the most popular and widely used tarot decks in the world. It has inspired many interpreters, authors and practitioners of divination, as well as artists and writers.

Wrapping it All Up…

To summarize, the Nine of Cups is a card of actualization, accomplishment and indulgence. It can also mean the reverse depending on its orientation. It holds significance in many areas of your life, from success and riches, to love and loss. Spiritually, it speaks to a feeling of fulfillment, and materially, it calls to plenty. That was everything you might need to know about the Nine of Cups and the meanings associated with drawing the card. We feel the need to clarify that despite the orientation you may draw the card in, not to fret or become too complacent. The tarot cards do not control or enforce their readings in any aspect of your life. They tell a possible story, based on divination and your own vibrations that attract their energies. Because of this, you can play into the reading or shatter expectations completely.There is not much to say about the booklet because there are only 5 translated pages per language. A brief summary of Oswald Wirth's life precedes the presentation of the 22 cards of the Major Arcana. Each card has an explanation in 3 or 4 sentences. The publisher guarantees that the meanings are as faithful as possible to Wirth's vision.

en.tarotquest.fr/review-en-007-golden-wirth-tarot.html

Remember that even drawing the card upright does not mean you can sit back and good things will come to you. The card calls you to action to go after what you want, appreciate what you have, and indulge in the rewards. Conversely, drawing the Nine of Cups in reverse calls you to exercise caution, reflection, and self-discovery. This is because whether it’s the stars, a roll of the dice, or the draw of the card doesn’t matter. The Universe guides us, not shackles us to our fate, and ultimately you alone are in control of your life.

Wirth is best known as the author of Le Tarot des imagiers du Moyen Âge (1927), translated and published in English as The Tarot of the Magicians. Joseph Paul Oswald Wirth (5 August 1860, Brienz, Canton of Bern – 9 March 1943) was a Swiss occultist, artist and author. He studied esotericism and symbolism with Stanislas de Guaita and in 1889 he created, under the guidance of de Guaita, a cartomantic Tarot consisting only of the twenty-two Major Arcana. Known as "Les 22 Arcanes du Tarot Kabbalistique", it followed the designs of the Tarot de Marseille closely but introduced several alterations, incorporating extant occult symbolism into the cards. The Wirth/de Guaita deck is significant in the history of the tarot for being the first in a long line of occult, cartomantic, and initiatory decks.

The occult in life: Stanislas de Guaita - memories of his secretary Oswald Wirth

They recruited Gérard Encausse to help rebuild the tradition of alchemists. Encausse, who went by the pseudonym “Papus”, was a Spanish-born French physician and occultist who had written books on magic, Cabalah and the Tarot. From the end of the 19th century until his death, Oswald Wirth (1860-1943) exercised a veritable moral magisterium over French alchemy. Through his works and the magazine Le Symbolisme, which he founded and edited, he made a major contribution to restoring to alchemy its spiritualist and symbolic dimension, largely abandoned during the 19th century in favor of political battles. His personality and aura inspired Jules Romain to create the character of Alchemist Lengnau in Recherche d'une Eglise (volume 7 of Les Hommes de bonne Volonté). Initiated in January 1884 in a Châlons-sur-Marne laboratory during his military service, he left the alchemists of France to join the Great Work shortly after settling in Paris. Secretary to Stanislas de Guaïta (1861-1897), a writer and poet whom his friend Maurice Barrès described as "the renovator of occultism", he owed it to him, by his own admission, to "write legibly". Although he denounced what he called "low occultism", Wirth (who was a magnetizer) nourished part of his symbolic reflection with Hermetic contributions.

Oswald Wirth's symbolic tarot is one of the few tarot cards to reveal the key to the knowledge of the ancient initiates, secretly conveyed for millennia.

The theosophical reductions (what can be learned from the experience we live) and the tetrads (the experience itself, its origin and its possible development), enable everyone to interpret the messages of the 78 beautifully illustrated cards with accuracy and precision. The historical tarot deck, created in the Marseilles style, is based upon the original designs by famous Swiss kabbalist and occultist Oswald Wirth. The 22 Major Arcana first appeared in 1889 in a hand-colored limit edition deck. The 22 Major cards have French titles and the Hebrew letters attributed to each card by Eliphas Levi, and popularized by Oswald Wirth. This authorized full 78-card deck is printed with vivid colors on gold background. The 56 Minor Arcana cards present the four traditional suits of Swords, Batons, Cups and Coins. The pack includes a booklet of commentary by Stuart R.

www.usgamesinc.com/oswald-wirth-tarot.html

Stanislas de Guaita (6 April 1861, Tarquimpol, Moselle – 19 December 1897, Tarquimpol) was a French poet based in Paris, an expert on esotericism and European mysticism, and an active member of the Rosicrucian Order. He was very celebrated and successful in his time. He had many disputes with other people who were involved with occultism and magic. Occultism and magic were part of his novels. De Guaita came from a noble Italian family who had relocated to France, and as such his title was 'Marquis', or Marquess. He was born in the castle of Alteville in the commune of Tarquimpol, Moselle, and went to school at the lyceum in Nancy, where he studied chemistry, metaphysics and Cabala. As a young man, he moved to Paris, and his luxurious apartment became a meeting place for poets, artists, and writers who were interested in esotericism and mysticism. In the 1880s, Guaita published two collections of poetry The Dark Muse (1883) and The Mystic Rose (1885), which became popular. De Guaita was influenced by the writings of l'Abbé Alphonse-Louis Constant, alias Eliphas Lévi, a prominent French occultist who was initiated in London to rosicrucianism by Edward Bulwer-Lytton in 1854. Eliphas Lévi was also initiated as a Freemason on 14 March 1861 in the Grand Orient de France Lodge La Rose du Parfait Silence at the Orient of Paris. De Guaita became further interested in occultism after reading a novel by Joséphin Péladan which was interwoven with Rosicrucian and occult themes. In Paris, de Guaita and Péladan became acquainted, and in 1884, the two decided to try to rebuild the Rosicrucian Brotherhood. They recruited Gérard Encausse to help rebuild the brotherhood. Encausse, who went by the pseudonym “Papus”, was a Spanish-born French physician and occultist who had written books on magic, Cabalah and the Tarot.

In 1888, De Guaita founded the Ordre kabbalistique de la Rose-Croix, or the Kabbalistic Order of the Rose-Cross. Rosicrucianism is an esoteric movement which first began with the publication of the three Rosicrucian Manifestos in the early 17th century. Guaita's Rosicrucian Order provided training in the Cabala, an esoteric form of Jewish and Christian mysticism, which attempts to reveal hidden mystical insights in the Bible and divine nature. The order also conducted examinations and provided university degrees on Cabala topics. Guaita had a large private library of books on metaphysical issues, magic, and the "hidden sciences." He was nicknamed the "Prince of the Rosicrucians" by his contemporaries for his broad learning on Rosicrucian issues. Papus, Peladan, and Antoine de La Rochefoucauld were prominent members. Maurice Barrès was a close friend of De Guaita.

In the late 1880s, the Abbé Boullan, a defrocked Catholic Priest and the head of a schismatic branch called the “Church of the Carmel” led a “magical war” against de Guaita. French-Belgian novelist Joris K. Huysmans, a supporter of Boullan, portrayed De Guaita as a Satanic sorcerer in the novel La Bas. Another of Boullan’s supporters, the writer Jules Bois, challenged De Guaita to a pistol duel. De Guaita agreed and took part in the duel, but as both men missed, no one was hurt.

By the 1890s, De Guaita's, Papus' and Péladan’s collaboration became increasingly strained by disagreements over strategy and doctrines. Guaita and Papus lost the support of Péladan, who left to start a competing order. De Guaita died in 1897 at the age of 36.

His original drawing of an inverted pentagram with a goat's head appeared in La Clef de la Magie Noire (The Key to Black Magic), published the year he died. It later became conflated with Baphomet, or the Sabbatic Goat. In 1888, De Guaita founded the Ordre kabbalistique de la Rose-Croix, or the Kabbalistic Order of the Rose-Cross. Rosicrucianism is an esoteric movement which first began with the publication of the three Rosicrucian Manifestos in the early 17th century. Guaita's Rosicrucian Order provided training in the Cabala, an esoteric form of Jewish and Christian mysticism, which attempts to reveal hidden mystical insights in the Bible and divine nature. The order also conducted examinations and provided university degrees on Cabala topics. Guaita had a large private library of books on metaphysical issues, magic, and the "hidden sciences." He was nicknamed the "Prince of the Rosicrucians" by his contemporaries for his broad learning on Rosicrucian issues. Papus, Peladan, and Antoine de La Rochefoucauld were prominent members. Maurice Barrès was a close friend of De Guaita. In the late 1880s, the Abbé Boullan, a defrocked Catholic Priest and the head of a schismatic branch called the “Church of the Carmel” led a “magical war” against de Guaita. French-Belgian novelist Joris K. Huysmans, a supporter of Boullan, portrayed De Guaita as a Satanic sorcerer in the novel La Bas. Another of Boullan’s supporters, the writer Jules Bois, challenged De Guaita to a pistol duel. De Guaita agreed and took part in the duel, but as both men missed, no one was hurt. By the 1890s, De Guaita's, Papus' and Péladan’s collaboration became increasingly strained by disagreements over strategy and doctrines. Guaita and Papus lost the support of Péladan, who left to start a competing order. De Guaita died in 1897 at the age of 36. His original drawing of an inverted pentagram with a goat's head appeared in La Clef de la Magie Noire (The Key to Black Magic), published the year he died. It later became conflated with Baphomet, or the Sabbatic Goat.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stanislas_de_Guaita

Lévi and Wirth interests also included Freemasonry and Astrology. He wrote many books in French regarding Freemasonry, most importantly a set of three volumes explaining Freemasonry's first three degrees. On January 28, 1884, Wirth was initiated in the regular Scottish Rite Masonic Lodge La Bienfaisance Châlonnaise affiliated to the Grand Orient of France. In 1889, he joined the Scottish Rite Travail et les Vrais Amis Fidèles where he became Grand Master . In 1898, the latter lodge was admitted to the Grand Lodge of France.

Works[edit]

Le Livre de Thot comprenant les 22 arcanes du Tarot (1889).

L'Imposition des mains et la médecine philosophale (1897), Paris.

La Franc-maçonnerie rendue intelligible à ses adeptes, sa philosophie, son objet, sa méthode, ses moyens, three volumes:

Vol. I: Le livre de l'Apprenti : manuel d'instruction rédigé à l'usage des FF. du 1er degré (1893, 2nd revised edition 1908), Paris.

Vol. II: Le livre du Compagnon : manuel d'instruction rédigé à l'usage des FF. du 2° degré (1912), Paris.

Vol. III: Le livre du Maître : manuel d'instruction rédigé à l'usage des FF. du 3° degré (1922), Paris.

Le Symbolisme hermétique dans ses rapports avec l'alchimie et la franc-maçonnerie (1910), Paris.

Les Signes du zodiaque, leur symbolisme initiatique (1921), Paris.

Le Serpent vert (1922) (translation and analysis of Das Märchen by Goethe), Paris.

L'Idéal initiatique (1924), Paris.

Le Tarot des imagiers du Moyen Âge (1927), Paris.

Introduction à l’étude du tarot (1931), Paris.

Les Mystères de l'art royal - Rituel de l'adepte (1932), Paris.

Stanislas de Guaïta, souvenirs de son secrétaire (1935), Paris.

Le Symbolisme astrologique : planètes, signes du zodiaque, maisons de l'horoscope, aspects, étoiles fixes (1938), Paris.

Qui est régulier ? Le pur maçonnisme sous le Régime des Grandes Loges inauguré en 1717 (1938), Paris.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oswald_Wirth

Interpretation of this Cards

Ace of Cups's Meaning

The Ace of Cups signifies the beginning of period of strong emotional health for you. Expect copious joy, happiness, and love to surround you during this time. Existing personal relationships may strengthen, meaningful new ones are likely to form. If marriage is in your future, you are likely to lay the foundations for it during this time.The Ace of Cups represents overall satisfaction throughout all different areas of your life. It predicts success and abundance through use of good intuition and creativity. New relationships or possibly a birth or pregnancy could be associated with these positive outlooks.

www.trustedtarot.com/cards/ace-of-cups/

The Wheel of Fortune's Meaning

Symbolic of life's cycles, the Wheel of Fortune speaks to good beginnings. Most likely, you will find the events foretold to be positive, but, being aspects of luck, they may also be beyond your control and influence. Tend those things you can control with care, and learn not to agonize over the ones you cannot.

www.trustedtarot.com/cards/wheel-of-fortune/

The Star's Meaning

The Star's presence signifies a period of respite and renewal for you. This renewal may be spiritual, physical, or both. It is a particularly positive sign if you or someone close is recovering from illness or injury. It is a light in the darkness, illuminating your future and your past.

www.trustedtarot.com/cards/the-star/

Eight of Wands's Meaning

Prepare yourself for an abrupt increase in the pace of your life. Things are about to get very busy. They good news is that any projects you begin will progress quickly, you will experience few delays, and the conclusion is likely to be successful. This card is also good news for relationships, although it raises the possibility of needing to travel for relationships. All things considered, this is a good card to find in your spread, as long as you are willing to buckle down and get to work.

www.trustedtarot.com/cards/eight-of-wands/

Drawing on Success: Nine of Cups Tarot Card Meaning

What else is there to glean from the card? It represents the fulfillment of a goal or some deep, unfulfilled desire. But tarot cards are tricky business. Their meaning is usually tied to the context of a situation, and in fact many diviners will read more than one card during a fortune telling. The meaning of Nine of Cups then, can change depending on its adjacent cards.

Its meaning can also change depending on where you are in life. What you’re struggling with, or where you’ve been or are going also changes the card’s meaning. Our tarot aficionados reading this article will also acutely point out that tarot cards have two different meanings, depending on the orientation that the card is facing when drawn. The Nine of Cups upright meaning is different from the Nine of Cups reversed meaning!

We’ll go over as many of these as we can in this article, to prepare you for everything you’d need to expect after drawing this card. Maybe you’re a tarot card enthusiast brushing up on knowledge or maybe you’ve recently had or thought about getting a divination. Perhaps you’re simply curious and want to find out more. Whatever the case, we hope you find this article educational, enlightening, and most importantly, fun! Without further ado, everything you need to know about the Nine of Cups:

Upright: Everything You Need to Know(That We can Think of!)

After a long trial in your life, the Nine of Cups represents a positive, fruitful conclusion. The nine cups are sometimes interpreted to mean different ups and downs, or different challenges you’ve faced before now. Now is important, because the Nine of Cups encourages you to ‘drink up.’ That you should happily partake in the success you have worked and endured for. The tarot card is a wake-up call that you have entered a positive chapter in your life, and should enjoy it. The Nine of Cups can also refer to something in the future in a different context. If you are yearning for something, and draw the Nine of Cups, there’s a good chance it will come true! Indeed, this tarot card is sometimes referred to as the wish card. Because of its association with fulfillment and plenty, the tarot card also has positive meanings in health, love, career and finances. We’ll go over each below: Career-wise, the Nine of Cups focuses more on the confident, successful man more than the cups of blessings themselves. You will find yourself taking in the admiration of your peers and workmates. It’s likely that tasks you found challenging or difficult before are becoming easier or even menial to accomplish. This is the time to look towards possible advancement in your position. Maybe move to a different job that holds better opportunities. This is also a prime time to ask for a raise. Move confidently. Though arrogance is a fool’s errand, don’t shy away from the rewards waiting for you. Your superiors are likely more receptive towards such moves in light of your increase in skill. Most importantly, at the end of the journey symbolized by the nine cups, you’ve likely earned this.ust as in your career, financially the Nine of Cups signifies blessings and comfort. This is the time to relax, to treat yourself a little. From tiny things like the raise you’re likely to score to a bonus on performance here and there, things will add up. While thrift is a virtue in itself, it can’t hurt to celebrate your success a little. You’ll likely need it.Remember that the good times won’t last forever. Fear of what is to come often takes away from the now. Remember that you’ve earned the success and subsequent rewards that come to you. In fact, what we’re going over next has a lot to do with the opposite of everything you’ve read so far. The reversed meaning of this card in particular is a sign of the bad times to come.To summarize, the Nine of Cups is a card of actualization, accomplishment and indulgence. It can also mean the reverse depending on its orientation. It holds significance in many areas of your life, from success and riches, to love and loss. Spiritually, it speaks to a feeling of fulfillment, and materially, it calls to plenty.

That was everything you might need to know about the Nine of Cups and the meanings associated with drawing the card. We feel the need to clarify that despite the orientation you may draw the card in, not to fret or become too complacent. The tarot cards do not control or enforce their readings in any aspect of your life. They tell a possible story, based on divination and your own vibrations that attract their energies. Because of this, you can play into the reading or shatter expectations completely.

Remember that even drawing the card upright does not mean you can sit back and good things will come to you. The card calls you to action to go after what you want, appreciate what you have, and indulge in the rewards. Conversely, drawing the Nine of Cups in reverse calls you to exercise caution, reflection, and self-discovery. This is because whether it’s the stars, a roll of the dice, or the draw of the card doesn’t matter. The Universe guides us, not shackles us to our fate, and ultimately you alone are in control of your life.

trusted-astrology.com/nine-of-cups-meaning/

Originally from German-speaking Switzerland, Oswald Wirth (1860-1943) arrived in Paris at the age of twenty. Here he became acquainted with various enthusiasts of the occult sciences, in particular the members of the Société Magnétique de France, among whom he soon became known for his abilities as a "curative magnetiser". After a short stay in London, in 1884 he joined the Grand Orient de France, an event that kindled his interest in Masonic symbolism.Early in 1887 he met Stanislas de Guaita, with whom he formed a deep and indissoluble friendship. The Marquis introduced the young man to the study of the Cabala and the Tarot, and after the necessary period of apprenticeship welcomed him as a member of the OKCR, the Kabbalistic Order of the Rosicrucians. Having noticed his drawing skills, he suggested that Wirth design a new deck, with the aim of restoring the cards to their "hieroglyphic purity", as Eliphas Lévi had wished in his day.En partant de la base de deux jeux, le Tarot de Marseille (un Tarot de Besançon précisément) et un jeu italien, Wirth fit une élaboration importante, surtout en ce qui concernait (selon sa vision) la correction des erreurs présentes, la juste attribution des couleurs et les détails singuliers des figures. Ainsi virent le jour, après à peine un an, Les XXII Arcanes du Tarot kabbalistique, restitués à leur pureté hiéroglyphique sous les indications de Stanislas de Guaita (Paris, 1889).Early in 1887 he met Stanislas de Guaita, with whom he formed a deep and indissoluble friendship. The Marquis introduced the young man to the study of the Cabala and the Tarot, and after the necessary period of apprenticeship welcomed him as a member of the OKCR, the Kabbalistic Order of the Rosicrucians. Having noticed his drawing skills, he suggested that Wirth design a new deck, with the aim of restoring the cards to their "hieroglyphic purity", as Eliphas Lévi had wished in his day.The reference to Guaita was accurate because, although the Marquis left no writings on the Tarot, it is correct to think that Wirth's Arcana were an expression of his teachings. Wirth himself acknowledged that he had been introduced to the mysteries of esotericism by his spiritual father."Guaita, knowing me to be a draughtsman, advised me from our first meeting in the spring of 1887, to restore the 22 Arcana of the Tarot to their hieroglyphic purity, and immediately documented this by entrusting me with two tarots, one French and the other Italian, as well as the Dogme et Rituel de la Haute Magie, the capital work of Eliphas Levi, in which the Tarot is the subject of copious commentaries. This was the starting point for the present work, whose spiritual authorship is attributable to Stanislas de Guaita. Having submitted to him a first Tarot redesigned according to the rough decks compared, this learned occultist offered me his criticisms, which were taken into account when the Kabbalistic Tarot was published in 1889. (...) With the help of Stanislas de Guaita, I set to work to acquire the science of symbolism that would allow me to reconstitute the Tarot. (...) As soon as one succeeds in making the symbols speak, they surpass all speeches in eloquence, for they enable one to rediscover the lost Word, that is to say the eternal living thought of which they are the enigmatic expression. Decipher the hieroglyphs of the profound silent wisdom common to thinkers of all ages and religions, of myths and poetic fictions, and you will come up with concordant notions relating to the problems that have always preoccupied the human mind". (Oswald Wirth, The 22 Arcana of the Kabbalistic Tarot restored to their hieroglyphic purity under the guidance of Stanislas de Guaita). Each major arcana is marked with a Hebrew letter, according to the scheme devised by Eliphas Levi. According to many, Wirth had the merit of knowing how to accept and summarise the thought and principles of the most important Masonic initiatory currents. He used them to interpret the secrets of the Great Work, devoting himself to the study of alchemy, the Cabala and the Tarot. For Wirth, symbolism was a universal value, and he tried to bring the teachings of the various esoteric schools down to a common matrix through the use of a common symbology, derived directly from the archetypal concepts of Masonic thought. He wrote texts on the Tarot in which he defined the art of divination as a kind of priesthood, and numerous texts on Freemasonry, in which he tried to make the institution comprehensible to laymen and adepts alike in a simple yet transcendent way:

"Such a definition is realistic if we consider that the person exercising divination must feel himself to be a 'mediator', a 'means', an 'intermediary' and an 'instrument' of such capacity. A priest is: the moment he performs a ritual, the power of that ritual captivates and involves him to the point where it almost cancels out his very personality."

www.franck-durand.fr/lhistoire-oswald-wirth-tarot-du-moye...

1929 Knapp-Hall

Published in Los Angeles using the chromo lithography process, this deck of seventy-eight cards is the oldest tarot deck inspired by Wirth's that we have been able to find. It was created by the artist J. Augustus Knapp (1853-1938) in collaboration with Manly P. Hall, director of the Philosophical Research Society in Los Angeles. In addition to the many features of the Wirth tarot on each illustration, the yellow cartouche is as it appeared on Oswald Wirth's first tarot: with the title in capitals (and the World with the double numbering 21 and 22). The fifty-six minor arcana are freely created. The backs of the cards also feature the word TARO (without the T). This deck was republished in 1985 by the USGS under the name Knapp-Hall Tarot.

www.tarot-artisanal.fr/enquete-des-tarots-dits-de-oswald-...

I could relate to this quote as a GenX'er who was around before everyone had GPS on their phones and cars. We relied a lot on printed maps and the verbal directions of others. That led to a lot of frustration on the road.

Note the foggy, gloomy San Francisco summer weather in the background which leads me to another quote attributed to Mark Twain, "The coldest winter I ever spent was a summer in San Francisco".

ODC: Hal Roach says...

Returning from a long absence, I can now relate more stories from the Imperial Council as my sources in the feline community have granted me access to several more copies of "Das Katze", the official publication of the Imperial Council of Cats. Today I am providing excerpts from an interview of Maximilian Skonderberg-Hagenau, the director of the Ministry of Information some decades ago.

Interviewer- The Empire calls itself an egalitarian state yet most senior positions are limited to males. How is this equality?

Maximilian- Our female cats have the sacred honor of birthing kittens for the continuation of the Empire. No greater honor or position can be imagined than bearing the responsibility of the future of the Empire. Besides, all cats of the Empire are expected to live and die for the Empire. What could be more egalitarian?

Interviewer-What are the actual geographical limits of the Empire?

Maximilian- The Empire ends beyond the shadow of the Grand Protector (leader of the Imperial Council), or as is sometimes said, the end of the tip of his sword.

Interviewer- What is the position of the Imperial Council on cats living with their human servants?

Maximilian- The Imperial Quartering Act of 1367 requires humans to shelter and provide provisions for a minimum of two cats in each human household. However, humans are impossibly stupid with few being able to speak or read cat so most are unaware of this requirement even though the edict has been in effect almost seven hundred years. As a result, we allow humans to serve as many cats as their limited abilities allow. Most humans understand that they are deeply flawed creatures and derive some small meaning to their existence by serving cats. Those humans that have no cats are flawed beyond any hope and live a meaningless existence.

End of Interview.

The third set of windows relate to the period following the dissolution of the monasteries by Henry VIII

The last prior of Southwick was Richard Noxton (not Norton as it erroneously appears in the window) who signed the deed of surrender in 1538.

Thomas Carpenter was known to have been Mayor of Portsmouth in 1531 and 1537 and that he built the first town hall. This was situated in the middle of High Street adjacent to St. Thomas's church. The window shows an orange seller as a reminder that the first oranges seen in this country were landed at Portsmouth.

Shortly after Southwick Priory was dissolved, the patronage was bought by St. Mary's College, Winchester, of which John White was warden. He was a staunch opponent of the reformation, favoured during the reign of Queen Mary but after her death was consigned to the Tower before retiring to Hampshire.

www.memorialsinportsmouth.co.uk/churches/cathedral/histor...

Baby goin' fishin' too.

Bet yo' life, Yo' sweet wife

Catch mo' fish than you.

And the baby goin' fishin' too.

At the exhibition of US artist Mark Bradford at the GEM The Hague.