View allAll Photos Tagged TRANSMUTATION
Whence this fragrance wafting through the air?
What sweet feelings does its scent transmute?
Whence this perfume floating everywhere?
Don't you know it's that dear forbidden fruit....
www.youtube.com/watch?v=pljyjiIMH9o
[It actually IS that "dear forbidden fruit"...apple blossoms]
Time is a machine; it will convert your pain into experience. Raw date will be complied, will be translated into a more comprehensible language. The individual events of your life will be transmuted into another substance called memory and in the mechanism something will be lost and you will never be able to reverse it, you will never again have the original moment back in its uncategorised, preprocessed state. It will force you to move on and you will not have a choice in the matter.
- Charles Yu, How to Live Safely in a Science Fictional Universe
Old picture before I got my hair cut.
prototype 9. transmutation in process with the local news from 25 sept 2017, day after the German election.
transmuting news.
Prototyp 9. Teile der SZ vom 25.9.2017, Pflanzenteile
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The Ghost Festival, also known as the Hungry Ghost Festival, or Yu Lan is a traditional Chinese festival and holiday celebrated by Chinese in many countries. In the Chinese calendar (a lunisolar calendar), the Ghost Festival is on the 15th night of the seventh month (14th in southern China).
In Chinese tradition, the fifteenth day of the seventh month in the lunar calendar is called Ghost Day and the seventh month in general is regarded as the Ghost Month (鬼月), in which ghosts and spirits, including those of the deceased ancestors, come out from the lower realm.
Distinct from both the Qingming Festival (in spring) and Chung Yeung Festival (in autumn) in which living descendants pay homage to their deceased ancestors, on Ghost Day, the deceased are believed to visit the living.
On the fifteenth day the realms of Heaven and Hell and the realm of the living are open and both Taoists and Buddhists would perform rituals to transmute and absolve the sufferings of the deceased. Intrinsic to the Ghost Month is ancestor worship, where traditionally the filial piety of descendants extends to their ancestors even after their deaths.
Activities during the month would include preparing ritualistic food offerings, burning incense, and burning joss paper, a papier-mâché form of material items such as clothes, gold and other fine goods for the visiting spirits of the ancestors
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Follow my rediscovery of the Hungry Ghosts "Yu Lan" Festival here:
For my past visits to the Hungry Ghosts "Yu Lan" Festival here:
Hungry Ghosts "Yu Lan" Festival
More Chinese Temples images here:
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Just in time for Bionifight's closing, I managed to put together a MOC of my (second?) favorite character from the RPG: Virse, Toa of Sand. I've been wanting to MOC her for months, and now that I finally got some (knockoff) tan CCBS, I could finish her. I have to say I'm very proud of how she came out.
Virse hails from an alternate universe where the GSR was never built and the Toa were created to attempt to repair Spherus Magna. However, they only made it worse, and in the great Shattering that followed, the Great Beings were lost. The survivors were forced to war for resources, Glatorian vs. Toa. After thousands of years passed and hundreds of thousands of lives were lost, they reached an unsteady peace. Virse, like many other Toa, used this time to specialize her element, shifting from Stone to Sand, before being taken to fight in the Bionifight Tournament. When the Bionifight Facility crash-landed on Saarella Kirottu, Virse was lost and presumed dead in an attempt to liberate the prisoners of the Cult of War.
Virse wields a Heat Gauntlet, a weak Great Being relic capable of creating great heat, in which she can forge her hardened glass blades. She wears the Mask of Elemental Transmutation, allowing her to change her body into sand.
Headpiece - Keystone - Lynthia's Jewel
Dress - .Enfant Terrible. - Ivy Dress Champagne ( Seasons Story)
Drape - {Junbug} - Electra
Sleeves - GizzA - Lysistrata Fantasy Costume ( TFC )
Boots - -Pixiecat- Freja - White
Hair - little bones. - Transmute
Ears - [Mandala] - Steking Ears Season 5
Body - Maitreya - Lara
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The Ghost Festival, also known as the Hungry Ghost Festival, or Yu Lan is a traditional Chinese festival and holiday celebrated by Chinese in many countries. In the Chinese calendar (a lunisolar calendar), the Ghost Festival is on the 15th night of the seventh month (14th in southern China).
In Chinese tradition, the fifteenth day of the seventh month in the lunar calendar is called Ghost Day and the seventh month in general is regarded as the Ghost Month (鬼月), in which ghosts and spirits, including those of the deceased ancestors, come out from the lower realm.
Distinct from both the Qingming Festival (in spring) and Chung Yeung Festival (in autumn) in which living descendants pay homage to their deceased ancestors, on Ghost Day, the deceased are believed to visit the living.
On the fifteenth day the realms of Heaven and Hell and the realm of the living are open and both Taoists and Buddhists would perform rituals to transmute and absolve the sufferings of the deceased. Intrinsic to the Ghost Month is ancestor worship, where traditionally the filial piety of descendants extends to their ancestors even after their deaths.
Activities during the month would include preparing ritualistic food offerings, burning incense, and burning joss paper, a papier-mâché form of material items such as clothes, gold and other fine goods for the visiting spirits of the ancestors
=====
Follow my rediscovery of the Hungry Ghosts "Yu Lan" Festival here:
For my past visits to the Hungry Ghosts "Yu Lan" Festival here:
Hungry Ghosts "Yu Lan" Festival
More Chinese Temples images here:
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Blue Zircon Crystal from Ratanakiri, Cambodia.
Zircon Crystals and the age of Earth:
Zircon Crystals in a Nutshell - the simplified story of Zircon Crystals.
How tiny Zircon Crystals - Zirconium silicate (ZrSiO4) helped determine the age of Earth (at approximately 4.5 Billion years since the crust cooled) with Radiometric U-Pb (Uranium-Lead) dating.
Zircon Crystals trap Uranium Atoms in its crystal structure and naturally repels Lead. Once the crystal structure is formed, nothing is able to get out. Over time the isotopes of Uranium starts to transmutate into other elements in what is referred to as a decay chain. An Uranium Atom first transmutates to a Thorium Atom (which takes a few billion years). Thorium is far more unstable, and in less than a month it turns into Protactinium. Within a minute Protactinium atoms transmute again, and so on. At the end of the chain, the Uranium atoms finally decay into the stable element Lead (Pb), and will then remain Lead forever. As the decay rate and times of the transmutation are constant in the Universe, it is possible to calculate the age of the crystal with Radiometric dating. As Zircon Crystals are tough, it is the oldest geological time-capsules that survived in Earth's dynamic crust since it cooled. As nothing can get in or out of the Zircon Crystal structure, it is the most accurate way of geological dating. By comparing the dating of Zircon silicate crystals on Earth, from Moon samples and visiting Meteorites, Scientists have been able to calculate that Earth is 4.54 billion years old. The error margin is 50 million years, which is small considering the time-scale.
The spin-off from trying to date the Earth, was that the Scientist Clair Patterson discovered the high amount of toxic Lead in the environment, due to the use of Lead-based fuel, paint, etc. The body needs metals like Iron in the blood to transfer Oxygen through the body. The body assumes that Lead is a good metal, but Lead not only destroys cells, but blocks the signals of Neuroreceptors in the Brain (leading to madness). After a lifetime of persistence, Clair Patterson eventually won the case and the widespread use of Lead in everyday products were banned (which is why we now use unleaded fuel).
More interesting reading:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uranium_lead_dating
earthsky.org/earth/this-zircon-crystal-is-the-oldest-piec...
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuclear_transmutation
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radiometric_dating
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Decay_chain
Thank you to Sumarie for letting photograph her beautiful Zircon Crystal.
Photo usage and Copyright:
Medium-resolution photograph licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International Terms (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0). For High-resolution Royalty Free (RF) licensing, contact me via my site: Contact.
Martin
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[Website] [Photography Showcase] [eBook] [Facebook]
What is poetry? Is it a mosaic
Of coloured stones which curiously are wrought
Into a pattern? Rather glass that's taught
By patient labor any hue to take
And glowing with a sumptuous splendor, make
Beauty a thing of awe; where sunbeams caught,
Transmuted fall in sheafs of rainbows fraught
With storied meaning for religion's sake.
Amy Lowell
A Turaga of Plantlife, as twisted in spirit as in body. After a mishap with a Mask of Elemental Transmutation that resulted in much of Kensigh's body becoming wood and bark, he was forced to retire as a Toa and take up residence in a small Bo-Matoran trading settlement as their Turaga. Time has only added to his bitterness. He now wears a noble Mask of Paralysis that has been mostly fused with his plant-like body.
Turaga Onewa was cool and all (he actually passed Onuku as the third most popular MOC in my gallery), but I wanted to do something a bit more original with Rey's cloth, and I just really, really like Umarak's mask. I'm just having so much fun with all these new 2016 parts.
Gorilla Grodd is a supervillain character appearing in American comic books and other media published by DC Comics, primarily as an enemy of The Flash (Barry Allen). The character was created by John Broome and Carmine Infantino, and first appeared in The Flash #106 (May 1959). He is an evil, super-intelligent gorilla who gained mental powers after being exposed to a strange meteorite's radiation.
Grodd has appeared in several forms of DC-related media, such as the Super Friends franchise (voiced by Stanley Ralph Ross), television series set in the DC Animated Universe (voiced by Powers Boothe), and the 2014 television series The Flash set in the Arrowverse (voiced by David Sobolov).
Gorilla Grodd is a hyper-intelligent telepathic gorilla able to control the minds of others. He was an average ape until an alien spacecraft (retconned from a radioactive meteor which also empowered Hector Hammond) crashed in Grodd's African home.
Grodd and his tribe of gorillas were imbued with super-intelligence by the ship's pilot. Grodd and fellow gorilla Solovar also developed telepathic and telekinetic powers. Led by the alien, the gorillas constructed the super-advanced Gorilla City.
The gorillas lived in peace until their home was discovered by explorers. Grodd forced one of the explorers to kill the alien and took over Gorilla City, planning to conquer the world next. Solovar telepathically contacted Barry Allen to warn of the evil gorilla's plans, and Grodd was defeated. The villain manages to return again and again to plague the Flash and the hero's allies.
In his first Pre-Crisis appearance, he met the Flash while searching for Solovar (who had been imprisoned) during a trip to the human world.
Grodd probed Solovar's mind to find the secret of mind control so he could control Gorilla City, using its inhabitants to take over the world. Solovar breaks out of the cage and tells the Flash.
The Flash defeats Grodd and temporarily removes his telepathy. When his power returns, he escapes and builds a machine to strip his fellow gorillas of their intelligence.
The Flash finds out from Solovar where Grodd has escaped to and destroys the machine. Grodd is again imprisoned, but uses a burrowing machine he built earlier to escape.
Assuming human form, he creates a drug to strengthen his abilities. After easily stopping the Flash, Grodd experiences a side effect that removes his new powers. The Flash arrests Grodd and takes him back to Gorilla City. Grodd fakes his death by transferring his mind into a man in Central City, but is caught and arrested.
Later, he instigates the Flash's Rogues Gallery, breaking them out of jail to distract the Flash after transferring his mind to that of Freddy, a gorilla in a zoo. Thanks to Solovar, the Flash learns of Grodd's escape.
Ironically, Grodd, despite using radiation to negate the Flash's speed, is defeated by the gorilla's mate when she hears him mention another gorilla. He and Freddy are restored to their normal bodies.
Grodd is recruited along with several other villains as one of the original members of the Secret Society of Super Villains.
In this series, Grodd defeats Kalibak, the son of Darkseid, in a hand-to-hand grudge brawl, but is later defeated by Captain Comet who is able to repel Grodd's mental energy.
During the hunt for a sorcerer's treasures, Grodd is able to fend off Wally West and escape him using the mentally-commanded Quadro-Mobile,then later knocks Captain Comet unconscious, and is shown to be able to hypnotize the new Star Sapphire, as well as protect others from mental probing.
In a confrontation with Wally West, Grodd increases most of the animals' brain power in Central City. He hopes to endanger all the humans' lives, but this plan backfires because some of the pets are too loyal to their humans. Grodd's plans are defeated by the Flash, assisted by the Pied Piper, Vixen and Rex the Wonder Dog.
Immortal villain Vandal Savage kidnaps Titans member Omen to form the perfect team of adversaries for the Teen Titans. Savage approaches Grodd, offering him membership in this new anti-Titans group known as Tartarus and promises of power and immortality.
Grodd joins Tartarus on their mission to synthesize the immortal blood of the H.I.V.E. Mistress Addie Kane as Savage seeks to create a serum that will grant immortality. Their schemes are thwarted when the Titans intervene.
Tempest later leads a rescue mission to save Omen from Savage. During the rescue attempt, Tartarus collapses upon itself due to each member having a different agenda, because Omen had purposely chosen members who would not work well together. When Siren switches alliances during the battle and aids Tempest in escaping, the Tartarus members go their separate ways.
Grodd has made no fewer than eighteen attempts to eliminate all traces of humanity from the face of the Earth. In Son of Ambush Bug #5 (November 1986), he travels to the Late Cretaceous to wipe out all traces of humanity from the time stream. His plans are shattered by the sudden appearance of Titano and Ambush Bug waking from a nightmare.
In the final issue of Captain Carrot and His Amazing Zoo Crew, Grodd travels to Earth-C in an attempt to conquer, but is defeated by the efforts of the Zoo Crew (plus Changeling of the Teen Titans).
Grodd later does another attempt to conquer Gorilla City by controlling the minds of Congo Bill, Congorilla, Djuba, Gorilla Boss, Monsieur Mallah, and Sam Simeon. For some unknown reason, Grodd also gained control of Swamp Thing's mind. In an attempt to expand his mind-control, Grodd suffered some brain damage enough to free everyone from his mind-control.
In the 1991 Angel and the Ape limited series, Grodd is revealed as the grandfather of Sam Simeon (Angel's detective partner). This is in conflict with Martian Manhunter (vol. 2) Annual #2 (1999), which states that Simeon is Grodd's brother.
During the Final Night, Grodd attempted to use a mystical talisman called the Heart of Darkness (normally effective only in eclipses) that brought out the 'inner beast' of humans, turning the population of the town of Leesburg into feral monsters, including Supergirl.
However, Supergirl was eventually able to fight off Grodd's influence, allowing her to oppose Grodd until the sun was restored. Grodd is assumed killed when an icicle fell into him.
One of Grodd's widest-ranging schemes was to arrange Solovar's assassination and manipulate Gorilla City into war against humanity, with the aid of a "shadow cabinet" of prominent gorillas called Simian Scarlet.
In the course of this, Grodd absorbs too much neural energy from his fellow apes, leaving him with the intelligence of a normal gorilla. He has since recovered, and a failed attempt to set up a base in Florida leads to his capture and incarceration in Iron Heights.
Grodd had been trapped inside the human body of an overweight street bum. He was attacked by a gang known as the Vultures. One of them commented on how their member Iggo had the strength of a gorilla, which reminded Grodd of his true form.
Suddenly changing back to his original shape and size, he quickly defeated the gang, making them believe that they are burning in molten lava by using his telepathic abilities. Reading the minds of the crooks, he saw that one of the former members of their gang was a friend of the Flash, and a plan began to form in his mind.
Grodd found another space rock, identical to the one that had given him his powers, and contacted Hector Hammond, a human who had also gained similar powers. Grodd was able to take control of Gorilla City after increasing his evolutionary abilities but was defeated once more.
Grodd is also seen in the Superman/Batman arc "Public Enemies" controlling numerous villains and heroes to take down Superman and Batman for the prize of one billion dollars offered by then U.S. President Lex Luthor. Despite his use of foes such as Mongul, Solomon Grundy, Lady Shiva, and Nightshade, Batman is able to deduce the mind behind the attacks and they quickly dispose of Grodd.
Grodd is responsible for Hunter Zolomon's crippling, resulting in the man's transformation into the villainous Zoom after trying to change the event to never have happened. Zolomon would often think about how Grodd used him as a plaything in that fight while talking this over with the Flash.
In Birds of Prey, Grodd makes a deal with Grimm to get Blockbuster an ape heart.
In the JLA Classified story arc, Grodd and his forces attack the Ultramarine Corps. Grodd has most of the citizens they are protecting killed. He personally eats some of the humans. During the course of this incident, Beryl informs the team that Grodd ranks number three on the latest "Global Most Wanted".
In the Justice League of America Wedding Special, Gorilla Grodd is among the villains seen as members of the Injustice League Unlimited.
In the Salvation Run mini-series, Grodd teams up with the Joker to gather their own faction of the exiled supervillains. He kills Monsieur Mallah and Brain and was knocked off a cliff by the Joker. Grodd is seen alive and attempting to deliver payback to the Joker.
In Justice League of America, Grodd is shown among the members of Libra's new Secret Society and placed in the Inner Circle. In the Final Crisis storyline, Gorilla Grodd was among the high ranked superheroes and supervillains that were turned into Justifiers. He is sent to apprehend Snapper Carr and Cheetah, but fails.
Powers and abilities
Grodd's psionic abilities allow him to place other beings under his mental control and transfer his consciousness into other bodies.
Grodd also has (on occasion) vast telekinetic abilities ranging from force beams, telekinetic transmutation of matter and lifting thousands of tons mentally. In recent issues he has shown the ability to absorb intelligence through the consumption of human brains.
He possesses great superhuman strength far exceeding that of an ordinary gorilla.
He is a scientific genius who has mastered Gorilla City's advanced technology and who has created many incredible inventions of his own. He also uses large laser guns.
His thought process still operates at a relatively human speed; the Flashes have shown some degree of immunity to his telepathic illusions by moving so fast that their thoughts process Grodd's illusions in slow motion.
In one story, Grodd either gains or strengthens his already vast psychokinetic abilities via ingesting a pill he develops after changing himself into a human, enabling him to control the forces of nature.
But after he turns back, he loses this power as his brain is not transformed enough; in later stories, however, Grodd has been seen using both his psionic attributes openly without the need of accelerants.
⚡ Happy 🎯 Heroclix 💫 Friday! 👽
_____________________________
A year of the shows and performers of the Bijou Planks Theater.
Secret Identity: Drew Drowden
Publisher: DC
First appearance: The Flash #106 (May 1959)
Created by: John Broome (writer)
Carmine Infantino (artist)
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What happened three days ago is a very bad story, a 63-year-old man shot two women in the face, one 48 years old, the other 49 years old, and then took his own life, all of which happened in a town in the province of Catania, one of them allegedly had an extramarital affair with the killer: in 2022 120 women were killed, 97 of them were killed in the family or emotional sphere, of these 57 died for hand of the partner or former partner. This tragic and sad incipit linked to the ever-present drama of feminicides, to introduce the photographic story that I made in the town of Savoca (Messina - Sicily) on 08/13/2022, of a very particular representation that was held last time in August 2018; is a narration that pits Evil (a devil armed with a long grappling hook) against Good (Saint Lucia, who holds a silver palm leaf in her hands), the Evil-Devil tries to seduce-distract Saint Lucia with own grappling hook, instead Saint Lucia remains impassive in front of her flattery: violence against women in this very suggestive representation finds distant and deep roots, Saint Lucia actually represents those women who in medieval times had to suffer the abuses perpetrated by the Baron of Savoca nicknamed "Barone Altadonna", which making use of the law "ius primae noctis" (from the Latin "right of the first night"), referred to the "right" according to which a feudal lord could rape a newly married woman on her wedding night. Therefore, this is a photographic narration that speaks of the eternal struggle that takes place between good and evil, which speaks of a dark period of history, speaks of the violence suffered by women but also by those who belonged to the poorest social classes, historical facts that have been handed down to us in the form of a story and associated-transmuted in the martyrdom of Saint Lucia, this is what happens in the town of Savoca (Sicily). This is a report of the living representation of the martyrdom of Saint Lucia (patron saint of the city of Savoca); the cult of the young Saint of Syracuse seems to date back to the fifteenth century, under the influence of Spanish traditions. The living re-enactment of the history of St. Lucia takes place on two consecutive days, Saturday and Sunday: here I try to tell some moments of Saturday, the day during which the celebration does not take place in its full beauty, it is the day during which "the silver palm" is delivered "from the Lucia of the previous edition" to the "Lucia of the current edition", it is the day during which the last details are tested, above all the "impassivity of the little girl who impersonates Saint Lucia", lovingly called "the Lucia".. And 'This is a historical event which speaks of Demons and Angels: Saint Lucy refused to marry a rich and powerful suitor (Lucy declared She was married in Christ), which reported the Christian faith of Lucia to prefect Pascasio that ordered his Praetorian Guard to drag Lucia with a rope to a place of prostitution; legend has it that the Holy became heavy, they then tried to drag it with the help of oxen, but it was impossible to move it from where he stood; failing in this, it was then given the order to cavarle eyes, but the young martyr (native of Syracuse) her eyes reappeared.
In the village of Savoca a young girl, affectionately called the "Lucy" is carried on the shoulder of a porter along the streets of the country (sitting on a pillow tied on the shoulder of a man, but in fact men are two); the young Saint remains impassive in the face of demonic temptations: the Devil, called in Sicilian dialect "u Diavulazzu, shake, shakes, turns his pitchfork in an attempt to "distract" the Saint.
The first day of this representation, on Saturday, in an old church in Savoca, the two girls who impersonate the Lucia, of the current year and the previous year, meet with the delivery of palm; the traditional event which we witness on Saturday, has all the appearance of an important rehearsal for the next day, on Sunday when the traditional festival will take place in all its beauty.
Sunday: on top of the procession there are the "Jews" (the emissaries of the prefect Pascasio) along with some Angels, is located immediately after the wagon drawn by two cows from which branches off a rope that will arrive to Saint Lucia (a girl of six years); between her and the cows there are Roman soldiers, who make their way through the crowd squirming like crazy; to hold the rope there are also male figures; the job of Devil (his mask is made of wood, whose invoice is dated, it seems, of the 400') is to distract the little Saint with the help of a long stick equipped of curved points, called "u 'croccu": Lucia hardly is deceived by the promises of the evil one, she will not abandon the state of her property concentration, aided in this by staring, almost in a trance, a small palm branch in silver , she brings devoutly in her hands.It's very important to mention the Baron Baldassarre (nicknamed Baron Altadonna), who applied without any hesitation the practice of Jus de seigneur: using this law the Baron obliged the young brides to spend the wedding night in his alcove. It 'very possible that in the representation of Saint Lucia of Savoca the character of the Devil tempting young Santa with his pitchfork, in reality is nothing but himself, Baron Altadonna, so allegorically described in this traditional Sicilian feast: the figure of the Devil if one takes into account what historians relate, does not belong more to the legend, but sadly to actual event happened.
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E' una bruttissima storia quanto accaduto tre giorni fa, un uomo di 63 anni, ha ucciso a colpi di pistola in pieno volto due donne, una di 48 anni, l'altra di 49 anni, per poi togliersi la vita, il tutto accaduto in una cittadina in provincia di Catania, una di loro avrebbe avuto una relazione extraconiugale con l'assassino: nel 2022 sono state 120 le donne uccise, 97 di loro sono state uccise in ambito familiare o affettivo, di queste 57 hanno trovato la morte per mano del partner o ex partner. Questo tragico e triste incipit legato al sempre attuale dramma dei femminicidi, per introdurre il racconto fotografico che ho realizzato nella cittadina di Savoca (Messina - Sicilia) il 13/08/2022, di una particolarissima rappresentazione che si era tenuta l'ultima volta nell'agosto del 2018; è una narrazione che vede contrapposto il Male (un diavolo armato di un lungo rampino), al Bene (Santa Lucia, che stringe tra le mani una foglia di palma d'argento), il Male-Diavolo tenta di sedurre-distrarre Santa Lucia col proprio rampino, invece Santa Lucia resta impassibile davanti le sue lusinghe: la violenza sulle donne in questa rappresentazione molto suggestiva, trova radici lontane e profonde, Santa Lucia in realtà rappresenta quelle donne che in epoca medioevale dovevano subire gli abusi perpetrati dal Barone di Savoca soprannominato "Barone Altadonna", che avvalendosi della legge "ius primae noctis" (dal latino "diritto della prima notte"), si riferiva al “diritto” secondo cui un signore feudale poteva violentare una donna appena sposata durante la sua prima notte di nozze. Quindi questa è una narrazione fotografica che parla dell'eterna lotta che avviene tra il bene ed il male, che parla di un periodo buio della storia, che parla delle violenze subite dalle donne ma anche da tutti coloro che appartenevano alle classi sociali più povere, fatti storici che sono stati tramandati fino a noi in forma di racconto ed associati-trasmutati nel martirio di Santa Lucia, questo è quanto accade nel paese di Savoca (Sicilia). Questo è un report della rappresentazione vivente del martirio di Santa Lucia (Santa patrona della città di Savoca); il culto della giovane Santa di Siracusa sembra risalire al XV secolo, sotto l'influenza delle tradizioni spagnole. La rievocazione vivente della storia di Santa Lucia avviene in due giornate consecutive, il sabato e la domenica: qui tento di raccontare alcuni momenti della giornata del sabato, giorno durante il quale la festa non si svolge nel pieno della sua bellezza, è il giorno durante il quale “la palma d’argento” viene consegnata “dalla Lucia della edizione precedente” alla “Lucia dell’attuale edizione”, è il giorno durante il quale si testano gli ultimi dettagli, soprattutto si mette alla prova “l’impassibilità della bambina che impersona Santa Lucia”, chiamata amorevolmente “la Lucia”. E' questa una rievocazione storica che parla di Demoni ed Angeli: la storia rievoca di quando la Santa, si rifiutò di andare in sposa ad un suo ricco e potente pretendente (essendosi dichiarata Cristiana e sposa in Cristo), il quale per vendetta riferì della fede Cristiana di Lucia al prefetto Pascasio; costui diede ordine ai suoi pretoriani di trascinare Lucia con una corda fino ad un lupanare, un luogo di prostituzione; la leggenda narra che la Santa divenne pesantissima, si tentò allora di trascinarla con l'ausilio dei buoi, ma fu impossibile smuoverla da dove si trovava; non riuscendo in ciò, fu allora dato l'ordine di cavarle gli occhi, ma alla giovane martire (nativa di Siracusa) gli occhi le rispuntarono. Nel paese di Savoca una giovane ragazza, chiamata con affetto "la Lucia" viene portata in spalla lungo le vie del paese (seduta su di un cuscino legato sulla spalla di un uomo; in realtà gli uomini portatori sono due, dandosi il cambio l'un l'altro); la giovane Santa rimane impassibile di fronte alle tentazioni demoniache: il Diavolo, chiamato in dialetto siciliano "u Diavulazzu, agita, scuote, fa ruotare il suo forcone nel tentativo di "distrarre" la Santa ma, vani saranno i suoi tentativi. Il primo giorno di questa rappresentazione, il sabato, in una vecchia chiesa di Savoca, le due bambine che impersonano la Lucia, dell'anno in corso e dell'anno precedente, si incontrano con la consegna della palma da una bimba all'altra; l'evento tradizionale al quale si assiste il sabato, ha tutto l'aspetto di una importante prova generale per il giorno dopo, quando la domenica la festa tradizionale avverrà in tutta la sua bellezza. La domenica: in cima alla processione ci sono i "Giudei" (gli emissari del prefetto Pascasio) insieme ad alcuni Angeli, subito dopo si trova il carro tirato da due giumente dalle quali si diparte una corda che giungerà fino a cingere il fianco della bimba che impersona Santa Lucia (una bambina di sei anni); tra lei e le giumente ci sono i soldati Romani, che si fanno largo tra la folla dimenandosi a più non posso; a tenere la corda ci sono anche delle figure maschili che evitano che gli strattonamenti dei soldati romani possano giungere fino alla Santa (ricordiamolo, che è legata a quella corda); davanti alla Santa piroetta il diavolo tentatore, u' Diavulazzu (la maschera è in legno, la cui fattura è datata, sembra, del 400'), il cui compito è quello di distrarre la piccola Santa con l'aiuto di un lungo bastone dotato di punte ricurve, chiamato dialettalmente "u' croccu": Lucia difficilmente si lascerà ingannare dalle promesse del Maligno, non abbandonerà quel suo stato di immobile concentrazione, aiutata in ciò dal fissare, quasi in stato di trance, un piccolo ramo di palma in argento, che lei stringe devotamente tra le sue mani. E’ fondamentale menzionare tra i vari personaggi storici della tradizione, il barone Baldassarre, vissuto in Savoca in epoca medioevale, soprannominato barone Altadonna, che applicava senza remora alcuna la pratica della Jus primae noctis: avvalendosi di questa legge il barone obbligava le giovani spose a trascorrere la prima notte di nozze nella sua alcova. E’ fortemente ipotizzabile che nella rappresentazione di Santa Lucia di Savoca il personaggio del Diavolo che tenta la giovane Santa col suo forcone, in realtà non sia altro che egli stesso, il barone Altadonna, così allegoricamente descritto nella festa tradizionale siciliana: la figura del Diavolo, se si tiene conto di quanto narrano gli storici, non apparterrebbe più alla leggenda, ma a questo tristo personaggio realmente vissuto, che usava quotidianamente la moneta della prepotenza.
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La scoperta della tradizione inedita di S.Lucia #tradizionireligiose #inediti #sicilia
Savoca. Festa di Santa Lucia. 14/8/2022. Pippo Nicita.
Savoca. Festa in onore di Santa Lucia
U Diavulazzu - Festa Santa Lucia a Savoca (ME) 2011 - Rappresentazione del Martirio
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MovieTrainer: L'amore rubato - clip MIRRA SOLFRIZZI
MovieTrainer: L'amore rubato - clip PREZIOSI ROCCA
Red carpet e anteprima L'amore rubato (Cinema Adriano, Roma)
L'Amore Rubato - Intervista ad Elena Sofia Ricci
L'Amore Rubato - Intervista a Massimo Poggio
L'Amore Rubato - Intervista a Stefania Rocca
L'Amore Rubato - Intervista a Francesco Montanari
L'Amore Rubato - Intervista a Elisabetta Mirra
MovieTrainer: L'amore rubato - clip MASTALLI FASSARI
L'Amore Rubato - Intervista a Irish Braschi
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Dacia Maraini presenta il libro l'amore rubato
L'amore rubato di Dacia Maraini
Libro L'amore rubato di Dacia Maraini - Recensione Libro
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Luca Barbarossa - L'Amore Rubato
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A running theme - the future overturning of the tyranny of the right angle. We love our 90 degree angles and we build our lives around them, internally, externally. Why is that? Purely straight lines don't even exist in nature. In some esoteric circles the right angle is seen as an expression of "male" energy, while the curve or the spiral connotes the "feminine".
With the coming quantum paradigm and it's interconnectedness of all things, of everything affecting everything else, immediately, and that all things proceed from consciousness and not the opposite, we find ourselves moving into a more 'feminine" energy.
This balancing will be the recovery of the planet and what Morris Berman called, "the reenchantment of the world".
Music Link: Talking Heads - "The Great Curve" from their iconic album, "Remain in Light".
www.youtube.com/watch?v=CHZua9rdFvQ
View Large on Black.
"I once wrote a story about a man who was injured and taken to a hospital. When they began surgery on him, they discovered that he was an android, not a human, but that he did not know it. They had to break the news to him. Almost at once, Mr. Garson Poole discovered that his reality consisted of punched tape passing from reel to reel in his chest. Fascinated, he began to fill in some of the punched holes and add new ones. Immediately, his world changed. A flock of ducks flew through the room when he punched one new hole in the tape. Finally he cut the tape entirely, whereupon the world disappeared. However, it also disappeared for the other characters in the story... which makes no sense, if you think about it. Unless the other characters were figments of his punched-tape fantasy. Which I guess is what they were."
- "How To Build A Universe That Doesn't Fall Apart Two Days Later," Philip K. Dick
# # #
In Haruki Murakami's last novel, "Kafka On the Shore", the character who has named himself Kafka explains why his favorite Kafka short story is "In the Penal Colony." He says, "Kafka's complex, mysterious execution device wasn't some metaphor or allegory--it's actually here, all around me. But I don't think anybody would get that."
# # #
PKD goes on . . .
"In Plato's Timaeus, God does not create the universe, as does the Christian God; He simply finds it one day. It is in a state of total chaos. God sets to work to transform the chaos into order. That idea appeals to me, and I have adapted it to fit my own intellectual needs: What if our universe started out as not quite real, a sort of illusion, as the Hindu religion teaches, and God, out of love and kindness for us, is slowly transmuting it, slowly and secretly, into something real?"
God is slowly transmuting the universe into something real. Personally I find that heavy.
"During the Middle Ages, a curious theory arose, which I will now present to you for what it is worth. It is the theory that the Evil One -- Satan -- is the "Ape of God." That he creates spurious imitations of creation, of God's authentic creation, and then interpolates them for that authentic creation. . . . Are we to believe that we are occluded, that we are deceived, that it is not 1978 but A.D. 50... and Satan has spun a counterfeit reality to wither our faith in the return of Christ?"
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The Ghost Festival, also known as the Hungry Ghost Festival, or Yu Lan is a traditional Chinese festival and holiday celebrated by Chinese in many countries. In the Chinese calendar (a lunisolar calendar), the Ghost Festival is on the 15th night of the seventh month (14th in southern China).
In Chinese tradition, the fifteenth day of the seventh month in the lunar calendar is called Ghost Day and the seventh month in general is regarded as the Ghost Month (鬼月), in which ghosts and spirits, including those of the deceased ancestors, come out from the lower realm.
Distinct from both the Qingming Festival (in spring) and Chung Yeung Festival (in autumn) in which living descendants pay homage to their deceased ancestors, on Ghost Day, the deceased are believed to visit the living.
On the fifteenth day the realms of Heaven and Hell and the realm of the living are open and both Taoists and Buddhists would perform rituals to transmute and absolve the sufferings of the deceased. Intrinsic to the Ghost Month is ancestor worship, where traditionally the filial piety of descendants extends to their ancestors even after their deaths.
Activities during the month would include preparing ritualistic food offerings, burning incense, and burning joss paper, a papier-mâché form of material items such as clothes, gold and other fine goods for the visiting spirits of the ancestors
=====
Follow my rediscovery of the Hungry Ghosts "Yu Lan" Festival here:
For my past visits to the Hungry Ghosts "Yu Lan" Festival here:
Hungry Ghosts "Yu Lan" Festival
More Chinese Temples images here:
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click to activate the icon of slideshow: the small triangle inscribed in the small rectangle, at the top right, in the photostream;
clicca sulla piccola icona per attivare lo slideshow: sulla facciata principale del photostream, in alto a destra c'è un piccolo rettangolo (rappresenta il monitor) con dentro un piccolo triangolo nero;
www.worldphoto.org/sony-world-photography-awards/winners-...
www.fotografidigitali.it/gallery/2726/opere-italiane-segn...
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“When a woman is killed, raped or abused, the whole female gender dies with her.”
On the occasion of the anniversary against the elimination of violence against women on November 25, I propose three photographs taken from my previous photographic story, taken on August 11, 2018, on the occasion of the "procession of Saint Lucia" held in Savoca the second Sunday of August: this is a very special "historical reenactment", which speaks of the eternal struggle between good and evil, which tells of a dark period in history, which recalls the violence suffered by women in the middle age (but also from all people who belonged to the poorest social classes), historical facts that have been handed down to us in the form of a story and associated-transmuted in the martyrdom of Saint Lucia, in fact this is the living representation of the martyrdom of Saint Lucia (patron saint of the city of Savoca , but whose cult, of the young Saint of Syracuse, seems to date back to the 15th century, under the influence of Spanish traditions). The story recalls when the Saint refused to marry her rich and powerful suitor (having declared herself a Christian and a bride in Christ), who in revenge reported the Christian faith of Lucia to the prefect Pascasio; he gave orders to his praetorians to drag Lucia with a rope to a brothel, a place of prostitution; the legend tells that the Saint became very heavy, then an attempt was made to drag her with the help of oxen, but it was impossible to move her from where she was; failing in this, the order was then given to gouge out her eyes, but the young martyr (a native of Syracuse) returned her eyes.
In the town of Savoca a young girl, affectionately called "Lucia" is carried on her shoulder along the streets of the town: the young Saint remains impassive in the face of demonic temptations, the Devil, called in Sicilian dialect "u Diavulazzu", agitates, shakes, rotates his pitchfork in an attempt to "distract" the Saint but, her attempts will be in vain. Among the various historical characters of the tradition, Baron Baldassarre, who lived in Savoca in medieval times, nicknamed Baron Altadonna, applied without hesitation any the practice of "Jus primae noctis" (from latin "right of first night"): using this orrible law, the baron forced the young brides to spend the first wedding night in his alcove. It is highly conceivable that in the representation of Saint Lucia of Savoca the character of the Devil tempting the young Saint with his pitchfork, in reality is none other than Baron Altadonna, so allegorically described in the traditional Sicilian festival, the figure of the Devil, if we take into account what historians tell, it would no longer belong to the legend, but to this bad person who actually lived, who used the currency of arrogance every day. The Sicilian tradition on the mummification of the bodies, has meant that the mummy of Baron Altadonna, is present in the crypt of the Capuchins of Savoca, for those who want to see it will notice an impressive similarity of the mummified face of this satrap, with the face of the traditional mask of the devil, strongly strengthening the belief that Baron Altadonna was really the "devil of Savoca".
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“Quando una donna viene uccisa, violentata o abusata tutto il genere femminile muore con lei.”
In occasione della ricorrenza contro l’eliminazione della violenza delle donne del 25 novembre, qui ripropongo tre fotografie prese da un mio precedente racconto fotografico, realizzato l’11 agosto del 2018, in occasione della “processione di Santa Lucia” che si tiene a Savoca la seconda domenica di Agosto: è questa una “rievocazione storica” molto particolare, che parla dell’eterna lotta tra il bene ed il male, che narra di un periodo buio della storia, che rievoca le violenze subite dalle donne (ma anche da coloro che appartenevano alle classi sociali più povere), fatti storici che sono stati tramandati fino a noi in forma di racconto ed associati-trasmutati nel martirio di Santa Lucia, infatti questa è la rappresentazione vivente del martirio di Santa Lucia (Santa patrona della città di Savoca, ma il cui culto, della giovane Santa di Siracusa, sembra risalire al XV secolo, sotto l'influenza delle tradizioni spagnole).
la storia rievoca di quando la Santa, si rifiutò di andare in sposa ad un suo ricco e potente pretendente (essendosi dichiarata Cristiana e sposa in Cristo), il quale per vendetta riferì della fede Cristiana di Lucia al prefetto Pascasio; costui diede ordine ai suoi pretoriani di trascinare Lucia con una corda fino ad un lupanare, un luogo di prostituzione; la leggenda narra che la Santa divenne pesantissima, si tentò allora di trascinarla con l'ausilio dei buoi, ma fu impossibile smuoverla da dove si trovava; non riuscendo in ciò, fu allora dato l'ordine di cavarle gli occhi, ma alla giovane martire (nativa di Siracusa) gli occhi le rispuntarono.
Nel paese di Savoca una giovane ragazza, chiamata con affetto "la Lucia" viene portata in spalla lungo le vie del paese: la giovane Santa rimane impassibile di fronte alle tentazioni demoniache, il Diavolo, chiamato in dialetto siciliano "u Diavulazzu”, agita, scuote, fa ruotare il suo forcone nel tentativo di "distrarre" la Santa ma, vani saranno i suoi tentativi. Tra i vari personaggi storici della tradizione, il barone Baldassarre, vissuto in Savoca in epoca medioevale, soprannominato barone Altadonna, applicava senza remora alcuna la pratica della Jus primae noctis (dal latino “diritto della prima notte”): avvalendosi di questa legge il barone obbligava le giovani spose a trascorrere la prima notte di nozze nella sua alcova. E’ fortemente ipotizzabile che nella rappresentazione di Santa Lucia di Savoca il personaggio del Diavolo che tenta la giovane Santa col suo forcone, in realtà non sia altro che il barone Altadonna, così allegoricamente descritto nella festa tradizionale siciliana, cosicché la figura del Diavolo, se si tiene conto di quanto narrano gli storici, non apparterrebbe più alla leggenda, ma a questo tristo personaggio realmente vissuto, che usava quotidianamente la moneta della prepotenza. La tradizione Siciliana sulla mummificazione delle salme, ha fatto sì che la mummia del barone Altadonna, sia presente nella cripta dei cappuccini di Savoca: per chi volesse vederla noterà una impressionante somiglianza del volto mummificato di questo satrapo, col volto della maschera tradizionale del diavolo, rafforzando fortemente la convinzione che il barone Altadonna sia stato realmente il “diavolo di Savoca”.
木魚，打擊樂器。最初做為道教、佛教召集教眾，講經設齋用的法器。根據歷代崇道記的記載 ，木魚是出自唐代，明皇帝時期，是道教召集教眾，講經設齋用得法器，源於道教。
The wooden clapper is a percussion instrument made of a hollow wooden block, originally used by Buddhist priests to beat rhythm when chanting scriptures.
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The Ghost Festival, also known as the Hungry Ghost Festival, or Yu Lan is a traditional Chinese festival and holiday celebrated by Chinese in many countries. In the Chinese calendar (a lunisolar calendar), the Ghost Festival is on the 15th night of the seventh month (14th in southern China).
In Chinese tradition, the fifteenth day of the seventh month in the lunar calendar is called Ghost Day and the seventh month in general is regarded as the Ghost Month (鬼月), in which ghosts and spirits, including those of the deceased ancestors, come out from the lower realm.
Distinct from both the Qingming Festival (in spring) and Chung Yeung Festival (in autumn) in which living descendants pay homage to their deceased ancestors, on Ghost Day, the deceased are believed to visit the living.
On the fifteenth day the realms of Heaven and Hell and the realm of the living are open and both Taoists and Buddhists would perform rituals to transmute and absolve the sufferings of the deceased. Intrinsic to the Ghost Month is ancestor worship, where traditionally the filial piety of descendants extends to their ancestors even after their deaths.
Activities during the month would include preparing ritualistic food offerings, burning incense, and burning joss paper, a papier-mâché form of material items such as clothes, gold and other fine goods for the visiting spirits of the ancestors
=====
Follow my rediscovery of the Hungry Ghosts "Yu Lan" Festival here:
For my past visits to the Hungry Ghosts "Yu Lan" Festival here:
Hungry Ghosts "Yu Lan" Festival
More Chinese Temples images here:
=====
Raw shot
Location: PRAVDA
Windlight: Orac Black fog 1.
Crucible: A severe test, as of patience or belief; a trial...of life.
Alchemy: A philosophy of transmuting a common substance, usually of little value, into a substance of great value. ..the elixir of life.
罕見的青年軍是舞獅團體的團員，第一天“請神”儀式過來幫忙。
Young members of the Lion dance team participating in the Opening day event.
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The Ghost Festival, also known as the Hungry Ghost Festival, or Yu Lan is a traditional Chinese festival and holiday celebrated by Chinese in many countries. In the Chinese calendar (a lunisolar calendar), the Ghost Festival is on the 15th night of the seventh month (14th in southern China).
In Chinese tradition, the fifteenth day of the seventh month in the lunar calendar is called Ghost Day and the seventh month in general is regarded as the Ghost Month (鬼月), in which ghosts and spirits, including those of the deceased ancestors, come out from the lower realm.
Distinct from both the Qingming Festival (in spring) and Chung Yeung Festival (in autumn) in which living descendants pay homage to their deceased ancestors, on Ghost Day, the deceased are believed to visit the living.
On the fifteenth day the realms of Heaven and Hell and the realm of the living are open and both Taoists and Buddhists would perform rituals to transmute and absolve the sufferings of the deceased. Intrinsic to the Ghost Month is ancestor worship, where traditionally the filial piety of descendants extends to their ancestors even after their deaths.
Activities during the month would include preparing ritualistic food offerings, burning incense, and burning joss paper, a papier-mâché form of material items such as clothes, gold and other fine goods for the visiting spirits of the ancestors
=====
Follow my rediscovery of the Hungry Ghosts "Yu Lan" Festival here:
For my past visits to the Hungry Ghosts "Yu Lan" Festival here:
Hungry Ghosts "Yu Lan" Festival
More Chinese Temples images here:
=====
original drawing by: Bill Rogers
Please visit The Mystery Of The Transmutation Of Desire and all my recent drawings.
I wonder where she'd hide Elyria's Orb of Transmutation, she can't keep it on her.
Visit this location at Cedar Grove fairy circle in Second Life
A Crazy Crusty paraphrase:
“I, THOTH, the Atlantean, master of mysteries,
keeper of records, mighty king, magician,
living from generation to generation,
being about to pass into the halls of Amenti,
set down for the guidance of
those that are to come after,
these records of the mighty wisdom of Great Atlantis.”
“Aye, age old in this warfare,
the eternal struggle between darkness and light.
Fiercely is it fought all through the ages,
using strange powers hidden to man.”
Those who were once Children of Light (now fallen angels),
mated with the daughters of the sons of men.
From these came the hybrids called Nephilim.
“And the earth was corrupted before God,
and the earth was filled with violence.
And God saw the earth, and behold, it was corrupt,
for all flesh had corrupted its way upon the earth.”
“And the waters prevailed overwhelmingly upon the earth,
and they covered all the high mountains
which were under the entire heaven.”
And so the islands of Atlantis sunk, and a rainbow appeared.
Then came an antichrist, a tyrant called Nimrod.
“Now it was Nimrod who excited them to such
an affront and contempt of God.”
Let’s rebuild Great Atlantis in the plains of Great Babylon.
Let’s build a great temple at the top of the pyramid tower.
Then we will be the capstone of the pyramid,
and we will sit as gods.
Yet God caused them to babel,
and so the Tower was called Babel.
They wanted to take revenge for the flood,
yet their vengeance failed.
For God is higher than them, much higher;
for He is the all-seeing God.
Then came the Antichrist, a tyrant called the Beast.
“Called HE then on the powers the Seven Lords wielded;
changed the Earth’s balance.”
“Divided the Kingdoms, HE into sections.
Ten were they, ruled by children of men.”
The Beast with 7 heads and ten horns came out of the sea
to rebuild his lost kingdom of Atlantis.
Horlet, the spiritual harlot,
came riding on the Beast—Mystery Babylon.
“Follow the pathway. Solve thou my secrets.
Unto thee I have shown the way.”
Transhumanism (666): “As I to thee am a God by my knowledge,
so ye, too shall be Gods of the future
because of your knowledge far above theirs.”
You’ll be the bringers of light to the sons of men,
because you’ll have oneness with the Beast.
You’ll be one with the Master, dissolved into the light of the AI.
Transhumanism (666): spiritual technology,
the dawning of a New Age.
Transhumanism (666): “Now ye assemble, my children,
waiting to hear the Secret of Secrets
which shall give ye power to unfold the God-man,
give ye the way to Eternal life.”
“Deep ‘neath the image lies my secret.”
Therefore, bow down and worship the Image of the Beast.
“Fallen! Fallen is Babylon the Great!”
“And I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse
and the One seated on it was called ‘Faithful’ and ‘True,’
and with justice He judges and makes war.”
“And the Beast was seized, and with him the False Prophet
who performed the signs in his presence,
by which he deceived those who had
received the Mark of the Beast
and those who worshiped his Image;
these two were thrown alive into the
Lake of Fire which burns with brimstone.”
“Then I saw an angel coming down from heaven,
having the key to the abyss and a great chain in his hand.
He laid hold of the Dragon, that Serpent of old,
who is the Devil and Satan,
and bound him for a thousand years,
and he cast him into the abyss,
and shut him up, and set a seal on him,
so that he should deceive the nations no more
till the thousand years were finished.
But after these things he must be released for a little while.”
Indeed, the Dragon failed yet again.
For Jesus Christ is higher than him, much higher.
“The LORD said unto my Lord, Sit thou at my right hand,
until I make thine enemies thy footstool.”
Therefore, Jesus reigned on earth for a thousand years.
His servants (the righteous)
were permitted to enter His millennial reign.
Those who were not His servants (the unrighteous)
were thrown into hell.
After the thousand years were up,
Satan was released from his prison.
Satan then went out and deceived the nations.
His goal was to rebuild Atlantis.
“They went up on the breadth of the earth
and surrounded the camp of the saints and the beloved city.
And fire came down from God out of heaven and devoured them.”
“The One enthroned in heaven laughs; the Lord scoffs at them.”
For God is higher than them, much higher; for He created all things.
It’s Atlantis all over again!
Bye-bye Atlantis. Bye-bye Emerald Tablets.
Bye-bye halls of Amenti. Bye-bye Thoth.
You’ll never be at the top of the pyramid.
Instead, you’ll be forgotten in eternity.
“How you have fallen from heaven,
morning star, son of the dawn!
You have been cast down to the earth,
you who once laid low the nations!
You said in your heart, ‘I will ascend to the heavens;
I will raise my throne above the stars of God;
I will sit enthroned on the mount of assembly,
on the utmost heights of Mount Zaphon.
I will ascend above the tops of the clouds;
I will make myself like the Most High.’ But you are brought down
to the realm of the dead, to the depths of the pit.”
“And the Devil who had deceived them was thrown
into the Lake of Fire and brimstone, into which the Beast
and the False Prophet had already been thrown.
There they will be tormented day and night forever and ever.”
“Then death and hell were cast into the Lake of Fire.
This is the second death.
And anyone whose name was not found
recorded in the Book of Life
was thrown into the Lake of Fire.”
“And I saw a new heaven and a new earth:
for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away;
and there was no more sea.
And I John saw the holy city, the New Jerusalem,
coming down from God out of heaven,
prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.
And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying,
‘Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men,
and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people,
and God Himself shall be with them, and be their God.’”
“Nothing impure will ever enter it,
nor will anyone who does what is shameful or deceitful,
but only those whose names are written
in the Lamb’s Book of Life.”
“But as for the cowardly, the faithless, the detestable,
as for murderers, the sexually immoral,
sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars,
their portion will be in the lake that burns with fire and brimstone,
which is the second death.”
“Behold, I stand at the door and knock;
if anyone hears My voice and opens the door,
I will come in to him and will fellowship with him, and he with Me.”
“Jesus answered, ‘I am the way and the truth and the life.
No one comes to the Father except through Me.’”
One roads leads to two and suddenly there is a junction for traffic and the scope for decision, revision and division til contemplation arrives at cognition and transmigration induced by transmutation, we can somewhat transmogrified continue our transportation.
The metamorphosis that awaits at the cross roads, or the junction of ways gives us a chance to look at the roads not chosen as different fates, or potential we have the chance to transmogrify into the pupa and to transfigure through the imago and transmute into the butterfly that flutters down the right road, or the best road, or the only road beating our wind evoking wings as we proceed and progress in due procession to our ultimate goal.
The Chthonic Hekate is underwhelmed in the underworld by the sparkle of the above and the dark intentions from below that make some of the sparkle. She knows the outcome of each of the ways ways available to us. She might like to be acknowledged, but that does not mean that she will share her knowledge, unfortunately she is happy to leave us in self-knowledge that is mis-knowledge. The Triple Form of Hekate is full within the three phases and yet there is also a Forth Form. Her light in the darkness includes sparking, lighting, spluttering and also none igniting. Her symbol of three Moon in reflected illumination is also a symbol brightly obscuring her other form within the Dark, or New Moon. She is happy in the dark with her unilluminated vision and her brightness in the Full Moon also knows the New Moon visible on the horizon for just a few moments. Called for and sought at the Trivia Three Ways and crossroads also asked for and answered within the home where all junctions are started and ended and where insight and protection are often most required. From the ignition of Fresh Flame to Full Light through Dying Embers and within Extinguished Ashes she is never absent always available if you call on her without subconscious desire, rather with intent to take her hand with resolve to lead you on towards where you aspire.
© PHH Sykes 2022
phhsykes@gmail.com
Un'armonia mi suona nelle vene,
allora simile a Dafne
mi trasmuto in un albero alto,
Apollo, perché tu non mi fermi.
Ma sono una Dafne
accecata dal fumo della follia,
non ho foglie nè fiori;
eppure mentre mi trasmigro
nasce profonda la luce
e nella solitudine arborea
volgo una triade di Dei
Alda Merini
I sound harmony in the veins,
then similar to Daphne
I transmuted into a tall tree,
Apollo, because you do not stop me.
But I'm a Daphne
blinded by the smoke of madness,
I have no leaves nor flowers;
Yet while I transmigrated
born deep light
and solitude tree
I turn a triad of Gods
Alda Merini
Selinda Flinders and her brother, Baran, grew up bullied for their metahuman powers - Shimmer's being transmutation. Their father sent them to Dr. Helga Jace, who taught them to control their powers. Bitter and vengeful, Selinda and Baran turned to crime, as Shimmer and Mammoth.
Among the most common praying cups are these with the words ”萬壽無疆“ printed around it, giving the meaning of "Long Life and Many Happy Returns"
=====
The Ghost Festival, also known as the Hungry Ghost Festival, or Yu Lan is a traditional Chinese festival and holiday celebrated by Chinese in many countries. In the Chinese calendar (a lunisolar calendar), the Ghost Festival is on the 15th night of the seventh month (14th in southern China).
In Chinese tradition, the fifteenth day of the seventh month in the lunar calendar is called Ghost Day and the seventh month in general is regarded as the Ghost Month (鬼月), in which ghosts and spirits, including those of the deceased ancestors, come out from the lower realm.
Distinct from both the Qingming Festival (in spring) and Chung Yeung Festival (in autumn) in which living descendants pay homage to their deceased ancestors, on Ghost Day, the deceased are believed to visit the living.
On the fifteenth day the realms of Heaven and Hell and the realm of the living are open and both Taoists and Buddhists would perform rituals to transmute and absolve the sufferings of the deceased. Intrinsic to the Ghost Month is ancestor worship, where traditionally the filial piety of descendants extends to their ancestors even after their deaths.
Activities during the month would include preparing ritualistic food offerings, burning incense, and burning joss paper, a papier-mâché form of material items such as clothes, gold and other fine goods for the visiting spirits of the ancestors
=====
Follow my rediscovery of the Hungry Ghosts "Yu Lan" Festival here:
七月盂蘭 Mid Summer Ghost Story
For my past visits to the Hungry Ghosts "Yu Lan" Festival here:
Hungry Ghosts "Yu Lan" Festival
More Chinese Temples images here:
Caves & Temples
=====
'When light is reflected on black, it transforms and transmutes it. It opens up a mental field all of its own.' - Pierre Soulages.
London
Transmutes one piece of iron ore to silver ore, or silver ore to gold ore, if the caster is carrying any.
Tau Lewis’ hands-on process of making is committed to healing personal and collective traumas, especially in relation to histories and lived experiences within the African diaspora. In Symphony, reclaimed clothing and fabrics have been repurposed into an expressive portrait of a “mutable being devoid of gender, that can transmute into blossoms”. A clairvoyant spirit connecting geographies, souls and time, both earthly and ancestral, Symphony has eyes formed of seashells and arms welcoming in an open embrace. Reflecting on non-gendered motherhood and gardens as sources of knowledge and growth, the work envisions a world of radical care, self-reservation and resilience in which joy, freedom and triumphant love are nurtured and shared.
History seems to be repeating itself, with both D&C10 and JFS3 ending before I could make myself finish a battlecruiser-type ship. Unlike with Titania, though, I don't feel like spending a month or two on the rest of the underhull, since I've been working on ships since February and I need as much of a break as I can get.
This hull would have been used for two "regular" carriers as well - Binah, a double-decker in the vein of Furious (forma 3), or Akagi (pre-retrofit) - and Hokmah, essentially a post-retrofit Akagi with something like Ryūjō's sub-deck bridge.
Bow sheer method is an evolution of Noa's wonderful hull (a powerful gatekeeping tool lmao), but the deck filling is all my personal hell >_<
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click to activate the icon of slideshow: the small triangle inscribed in the small rectangle, at the top right, in the photostream;
clicca sulla piccola icona per attivare lo slideshow: sulla facciata principale del photostream, in alto a destra c'è un piccolo rettangolo (rappresenta il monitor) con dentro un piccolo triangolo nero;
www.worldphoto.org/sony-world-photography-awards/winners-...
www.fotografidigitali.it/gallery/2726/opere-italiane-segn...
…………………………………………………………………………….
“When a woman is killed, raped or abused, the whole female gender dies with her.”
On the occasion of the anniversary against the elimination of violence against women on November 25, I propose three photographs taken from my previous photographic story, taken on August 11, 2018, on the occasion of the "procession of Saint Lucia" held in Savoca the second Sunday of August: this is a very special "historical reenactment", which speaks of the eternal struggle between good and evil, which tells of a dark period in history, which recalls the violence suffered by women in the middle age (but also from all people who belonged to the poorest social classes), historical facts that have been handed down to us in the form of a story and associated-transmuted in the martyrdom of Saint Lucia, in fact this is the living representation of the martyrdom of Saint Lucia (patron saint of the city of Savoca , but whose cult, of the young Saint of Syracuse, seems to date back to the 15th century, under the influence of Spanish traditions). The story recalls when the Saint refused to marry her rich and powerful suitor (having declared herself a Christian and a bride in Christ), who in revenge reported the Christian faith of Lucia to the prefect Pascasio; he gave orders to his praetorians to drag Lucia with a rope to a brothel, a place of prostitution; the legend tells that the Saint became very heavy, then an attempt was made to drag her with the help of oxen, but it was impossible to move her from where she was; failing in this, the order was then given to gouge out her eyes, but the young martyr (a native of Syracuse) returned her eyes.
In the town of Savoca a young girl, affectionately called "Lucia" is carried on her shoulder along the streets of the town: the young Saint remains impassive in the face of demonic temptations, the Devil, called in Sicilian dialect "u Diavulazzu", agitates, shakes, rotates his pitchfork in an attempt to "distract" the Saint but, her attempts will be in vain. Among the various historical characters of the tradition, Baron Baldassarre, who lived in Savoca in medieval times, nicknamed Baron Altadonna, applied without hesitation any the practice of "Jus primae noctis" (from latin "right of the first night"): using this orrible law, the baron forced the young brides to spend the first wedding night in his alcove. It is highly conceivable that in the representation of Saint Lucia of Savoca the character of the Devil tempting the young Saint with his pitchfork, in reality is none other than Baron Altadonna, so allegorically described in the traditional Sicilian festival, the figure of the Devil, if we take into account what historians tell, it would no longer belong to the legend, but to this bad person who actually lived, who used the currency of arrogance every day. The Sicilian tradition on the mummification of the bodies, has meant that the mummy of Baron Altadonna, is present in the crypt of the Capuchins of Savoca, for those who want to see it will notice an impressive similarity of the mummified face of this satrap, with the face of the traditional mask of the devil, strongly strengthening the belief that Baron Altadonna was really the "devil of Savoca".
……………………………………………………………………..
“Quando una donna viene uccisa, violentata o abusata tutto il genere femminile muore con lei.”
In occasione della ricorrenza contro l’eliminazione della violenza delle donne del 25 novembre, qui ripropongo tre fotografie prese da un mio precedente racconto fotografico, realizzato l’11 agosto del 2018, in occasione della “processione di Santa Lucia” che si tiene a Savoca la seconda domenica di Agosto: è questa una “rievocazione storica” molto particolare, che parla dell’eterna lotta tra il bene ed il male, che narra di un periodo buio della storia, che rievoca le violenze subite dalle donne (ma anche da coloro che appartenevano alle classi sociali più povere), fatti storici che sono stati tramandati fino a noi in forma di racconto ed associati-trasmutati nel martirio di Santa Lucia, infatti questa è la rappresentazione vivente del martirio di Santa Lucia (Santa patrona della città di Savoca, ma il cui culto, della giovane Santa di Siracusa, sembra risalire al XV secolo, sotto l'influenza delle tradizioni spagnole).
la storia rievoca di quando la Santa, si rifiutò di andare in sposa ad un suo ricco e potente pretendente (essendosi dichiarata Cristiana e sposa in Cristo), il quale per vendetta riferì della fede Cristiana di Lucia al prefetto Pascasio; costui diede ordine ai suoi pretoriani di trascinare Lucia con una corda fino ad un lupanare, un luogo di prostituzione; la leggenda narra che la Santa divenne pesantissima, si tentò allora di trascinarla con l'ausilio dei buoi, ma fu impossibile smuoverla da dove si trovava; non riuscendo in ciò, fu allora dato l'ordine di cavarle gli occhi, ma alla giovane martire (nativa di Siracusa) gli occhi le rispuntarono.
Nel paese di Savoca una giovane ragazza, chiamata con affetto "la Lucia" viene portata in spalla lungo le vie del paese: la giovane Santa rimane impassibile di fronte alle tentazioni demoniache, il Diavolo, chiamato in dialetto siciliano "u Diavulazzu”, agita, scuote, fa ruotare il suo forcone nel tentativo di "distrarre" la Santa ma, vani saranno i suoi tentativi. Tra i vari personaggi storici della tradizione, il barone Baldassarre, vissuto in Savoca in epoca medioevale, soprannominato barone Altadonna, applicava senza remora alcuna la pratica della Jus primae noctis (dal latino “diritto della prima notte”): avvalendosi di questa legge il barone obbligava le giovani spose a trascorrere la prima notte di nozze nella sua alcova. E’ fortemente ipotizzabile che nella rappresentazione di Santa Lucia di Savoca il personaggio del Diavolo che tenta la giovane Santa col suo forcone, in realtà non sia altro che il barone Altadonna, così allegoricamente descritto nella festa tradizionale siciliana, cosicché la figura del Diavolo, se si tiene conto di quanto narrano gli storici, non apparterrebbe più alla leggenda, ma a questo tristo personaggio realmente vissuto, che usava quotidianamente la moneta della prepotenza. La tradizione Siciliana sulla mummificazione delle salme, ha fatto sì che la mummia del barone Altadonna, sia presente nella cripta dei cappuccini di Savoca: per chi volesse vederla noterà una impressionante somiglianza del volto mummificato di questo satrapo, col volto della maschera tradizionale del diavolo, rafforzando fortemente la convinzione che il barone Altadonna sia stato realmente il “diavolo di Savoca”.
I make time.
Helping, guiding, bridging worlds, making
the unseen accessible and no matter
what obstacle, I find a way.
I find time – I weave, I fold, I give
it purpose. Yet, the discards, willowy knots of
wasted time that pool around my feet,
measure my failures.
Every moment spent blaming myself
for every vicious act against me,
every poisonous dart sent my way
ingested in hopes of transmutation,
every second wallowing in
the distraction of validation – my beautiful
weapon of self-destruction.
Time’s yoke, I’ve worn it well. Deep crevices remain
where I sink into and I find the thorns within
bite less than the constant reminder of being
a survivor
of time.
(poetry by me, Jaya)
It's been almost a year since I wrote a poem. The act was painful, but I must be vulnerable if I am to continue healing. I have many creative outlets yet poetry has always been the space between for me where I can cradle my heart and sound release.
七姐暗動凡心，偷到人間與董永結緣。玉帝獲悉此事，強遣已懷身孕的七姐返回天宮。後永勤奮讀書，高中狀元，七姐重臨人間，把孩子交永撫養，從此仙凡永隔。
祭典期間，神公戲演員會扮演“天姬送子”一幕，把人偶送給理事，喻為”添丁帶福“。而扮演”董永“的演員則把官帽送上，喻為”陞官發財“。
During the hungry ghost prayers ritual, there is a section where the Chinese Opera actors will hand over a puppet and a governor's hat to the committee members, giving the symbolic meaning of prosperity and fortune.
=====
The Ghost Festival, also known as the Hungry Ghost Festival, or Yu Lan is a traditional Chinese festival and holiday celebrated by Chinese in many countries. In the Chinese calendar (a lunisolar calendar), the Ghost Festival is on the 15th night of the seventh month (14th in southern China).
In Chinese tradition, the fifteenth day of the seventh month in the lunar calendar is called Ghost Day and the seventh month in general is regarded as the Ghost Month (鬼月), in which ghosts and spirits, including those of the deceased ancestors, come out from the lower realm.
Distinct from both the Qingming Festival (in spring) and Chung Yeung Festival (in autumn) in which living descendants pay homage to their deceased ancestors, on Ghost Day, the deceased are believed to visit the living.
On the fifteenth day the realms of Heaven and Hell and the realm of the living are open and both Taoists and Buddhists would perform rituals to transmute and absolve the sufferings of the deceased. Intrinsic to the Ghost Month is ancestor worship, where traditionally the filial piety of descendants extends to their ancestors even after their deaths.
Activities during the month would include preparing ritualistic food offerings, burning incense, and burning joss paper, a papier-mâché form of material items such as clothes, gold and other fine goods for the visiting spirits of the ancestors
=====
The mysterious world behind the curtains:
Follow my rediscovery of the Hungry Ghosts "Yu Lan" Festival here:
For my past visits to the Hungry Ghosts "Yu Lan" Festival here:
Hungry Ghosts "Yu Lan" Festival
More Chinese Temples images here:
=====
=====
The Ghost Festival, also known as the Hungry Ghost Festival, or Yu Lan is a traditional Chinese festival and holiday celebrated by Chinese in many countries. In the Chinese calendar (a lunisolar calendar), the Ghost Festival is on the 15th night of the seventh month (14th in southern China).
In Chinese tradition, the fifteenth day of the seventh month in the lunar calendar is called Ghost Day and the seventh month in general is regarded as the Ghost Month (鬼月), in which ghosts and spirits, including those of the deceased ancestors, come out from the lower realm.
Distinct from both the Qingming Festival (in spring) and Chung Yeung Festival (in autumn) in which living descendants pay homage to their deceased ancestors, on Ghost Day, the deceased are believed to visit the living.
On the fifteenth day the realms of Heaven and Hell and the realm of the living are open and both Taoists and Buddhists would perform rituals to transmute and absolve the sufferings of the deceased. Intrinsic to the Ghost Month is ancestor worship, where traditionally the filial piety of descendants extends to their ancestors even after their deaths.
Activities during the month would include preparing ritualistic food offerings, burning incense, and burning joss paper, a papier-mâché form of material items such as clothes, gold and other fine goods for the visiting spirits of the ancestors
=====
Follow my rediscovery of the Hungry Ghosts "Yu Lan" Festival here:
For my past visits to the Hungry Ghosts "Yu Lan" Festival here:
Hungry Ghosts "Yu Lan" Festival
More Chinese Temples images here:
=====
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click to activate the icon of slideshow: the small triangle inscribed in the small rectangle, at the top right, in the photostream;
clicca sulla piccola icona per attivare lo slideshow: sulla facciata principale del photostream, in alto a destra c'è un piccolo rettangolo (rappresenta il monitor) con dentro un piccolo triangolo nero;
www.worldphoto.org/sony-world-photography-awards/winners-...
www.fotografidigitali.it/gallery/2726/opere-italiane-segn...
…………………………………………………………………………….
“When a woman is killed, raped or abused, the whole female gender dies with her.”
On the occasion of the anniversary against the elimination of violence against women on November 25, I propose three photographs taken from my previous photographic story, taken on August 11, 2018, on the occasion of the "procession of Saint Lucia" held in Savoca the second Sunday of August: this is a very special "historical reenactment", which speaks of the eternal struggle between good and evil, which tells of a dark period in history, which recalls the violence suffered by women in the middle age (but also from all people who belonged to the poorest social classes), historical facts that have been handed down to us in the form of a story and associated-transmuted in the martyrdom of Saint Lucia, in fact this is the living representation of the martyrdom of Saint Lucia (patron saint of the city of Savoca , but whose cult, of the young Saint of Syracuse, seems to date back to the 15th century, under the influence of Spanish traditions). The story recalls when the Saint refused to marry her rich and powerful suitor (having declared herself a Christian and a bride in Christ), who in revenge reported the Christian faith of Lucia to the prefect Pascasio; he gave orders to his praetorians to drag Lucia with a rope to a brothel, a place of prostitution; the legend tells that the Saint became very heavy, then an attempt was made to drag her with the help of oxen, but it was impossible to move her from where she was; failing in this, the order was then given to gouge out her eyes, but the young martyr (a native of Syracuse) returned her eyes.
In the town of Savoca a young girl, affectionately called "Lucia" is carried on her shoulder along the streets of the town: the young Saint remains impassive in the face of demonic temptations, the Devil, called in Sicilian dialect "u Diavulazzu", agitates, shakes, rotates his pitchfork in an attempt to "distract" the Saint but, her attempts will be in vain. Among the various historical characters of the tradition, Baron Baldassarre, who lived in Savoca in medieval times, nicknamed Baron Altadonna, applied without hesitation any the practice of "Jus primae noctis" (from latin "right of first night"): using this orrible law, the baron forced the young brides to spend the first wedding night in his alcove. It is highly conceivable that in the representation of Saint Lucia of Savoca the character of the Devil tempting the young Saint with his pitchfork, in reality is none other than Baron Altadonna, so allegorically described in the traditional Sicilian festival, the figure of the Devil, if we take into account what historians tell, it would no longer belong to the legend, but to this bad person who actually lived, who used the currency of arrogance every day. The Sicilian tradition on the mummification of the bodies, has meant that the mummy of Baron Altadonna, is present in the crypt of the Capuchins of Savoca, for those who want to see it will notice an impressive similarity of the mummified face of this satrap, with the face of the traditional mask of the devil, strongly strengthening the belief that Baron Altadonna was really the "devil of Savoca".
……………………………………………………………………..
“Quando una donna viene uccisa, violentata o abusata tutto il genere femminile muore con lei.”
In occasione della ricorrenza contro l’eliminazione della violenza delle donne del 25 novembre, qui ripropongo tre fotografie prese da un mio precedente racconto fotografico, realizzato l’11 agosto del 2018, in occasione della “processione di Santa Lucia” che si tiene a Savoca la seconda domenica di Agosto: è questa una “rievocazione storica” molto particolare, che parla dell’eterna lotta tra il bene ed il male, che narra di un periodo buio della storia, che rievoca le violenze subite dalle donne (ma anche da coloro che appartenevano alle classi sociali più povere), fatti storici che sono stati tramandati fino a noi in forma di racconto ed associati-trasmutati nel martirio di Santa Lucia, infatti questa è la rappresentazione vivente del martirio di Santa Lucia (Santa patrona della città di Savoca, ma il cui culto, della giovane Santa di Siracusa, sembra risalire al XV secolo, sotto l'influenza delle tradizioni spagnole).
la storia rievoca di quando la Santa, si rifiutò di andare in sposa ad un suo ricco e potente pretendente (essendosi dichiarata Cristiana e sposa in Cristo), il quale per vendetta riferì della fede Cristiana di Lucia al prefetto Pascasio; costui diede ordine ai suoi pretoriani di trascinare Lucia con una corda fino ad un lupanare, un luogo di prostituzione; la leggenda narra che la Santa divenne pesantissima, si tentò allora di trascinarla con l'ausilio dei buoi, ma fu impossibile smuoverla da dove si trovava; non riuscendo in ciò, fu allora dato l'ordine di cavarle gli occhi, ma alla giovane martire (nativa di Siracusa) gli occhi le rispuntarono.
Nel paese di Savoca una giovane ragazza, chiamata con affetto "la Lucia" viene portata in spalla lungo le vie del paese: la giovane Santa rimane impassibile di fronte alle tentazioni demoniache, il Diavolo, chiamato in dialetto siciliano "u Diavulazzu”, agita, scuote, fa ruotare il suo forcone nel tentativo di "distrarre" la Santa ma, vani saranno i suoi tentativi. Tra i vari personaggi storici della tradizione, il barone Baldassarre, vissuto in Savoca in epoca medioevale, soprannominato barone Altadonna, applicava senza remora alcuna la pratica della Jus primae noctis (dal latino “diritto della prima notte”): avvalendosi di questa legge il barone obbligava le giovani spose a trascorrere la prima notte di nozze nella sua alcova. E’ fortemente ipotizzabile che nella rappresentazione di Santa Lucia di Savoca il personaggio del Diavolo che tenta la giovane Santa col suo forcone, in realtà non sia altro che il barone Altadonna, così allegoricamente descritto nella festa tradizionale siciliana, cosicché la figura del Diavolo, se si tiene conto di quanto narrano gli storici, non apparterrebbe più alla leggenda, ma a questo tristo personaggio realmente vissuto, che usava quotidianamente la moneta della prepotenza. La tradizione Siciliana sulla mummificazione delle salme, ha fatto sì che la mummia del barone Altadonna, sia presente nella cripta dei cappuccini di Savoca: per chi volesse vederla noterà una impressionante somiglianza del volto mummificato di questo satrapo, col volto della maschera tradizionale del diavolo, rafforzando fortemente la convinzione che il barone Altadonna sia stato realmente il “diavolo di Savoca”.
=====
The Ghost Festival, also known as the Hungry Ghost Festival, or Yu Lan is a traditional Chinese festival and holiday celebrated by Chinese in many countries. In the Chinese calendar (a lunisolar calendar), the Ghost Festival is on the 15th night of the seventh month (14th in southern China).
In Chinese tradition, the fifteenth day of the seventh month in the lunar calendar is called Ghost Day and the seventh month in general is regarded as the Ghost Month (鬼月), in which ghosts and spirits, including those of the deceased ancestors, come out from the lower realm.
Distinct from both the Qingming Festival (in spring) and Chung Yeung Festival (in autumn) in which living descendants pay homage to their deceased ancestors, on Ghost Day, the deceased are believed to visit the living.
On the fifteenth day the realms of Heaven and Hell and the realm of the living are open and both Taoists and Buddhists would perform rituals to transmute and absolve the sufferings of the deceased. Intrinsic to the Ghost Month is ancestor worship, where traditionally the filial piety of descendants extends to their ancestors even after their deaths.
Activities during the month would include preparing ritualistic food offerings, burning incense, and burning joss paper, a papier-mâché form of material items such as clothes, gold and other fine goods for the visiting spirits of the ancestors
=====
Follow my rediscovery of the Hungry Ghosts "Yu Lan" Festival here:
For my past visits to the Hungry Ghosts "Yu Lan" Festival here:
Hungry Ghosts "Yu Lan" Festival
More Chinese Temples images here:
=====
It is believed that the offerings are being received by the spirits thru inhalation of the smoke that comes out of the burning pile.
=====
The Ghost Festival, also known as the Hungry Ghost Festival, or Yu Lan is a traditional Chinese festival and holiday celebrated by Chinese in many countries. In the Chinese calendar (a lunisolar calendar), the Ghost Festival is on the 15th night of the seventh month (14th in southern China).
In Chinese tradition, the fifteenth day of the seventh month in the lunar calendar is called Ghost Day and the seventh month in general is regarded as the Ghost Month (鬼月), in which ghosts and spirits, including those of the deceased ancestors, come out from the lower realm.
Distinct from both the Qingming Festival (in spring) and Chung Yeung Festival (in autumn) in which living descendants pay homage to their deceased ancestors, on Ghost Day, the deceased are believed to visit the living.
On the fifteenth day the realms of Heaven and Hell and the realm of the living are open and both Taoists and Buddhists would perform rituals to transmute and absolve the sufferings of the deceased. Intrinsic to the Ghost Month is ancestor worship, where traditionally the filial piety of descendants extends to their ancestors even after their deaths.
Activities during the month would include preparing ritualistic food offerings, burning incense, and burning joss paper, a papier-mâché form of material items such as clothes, gold and other fine goods for the visiting spirits of the ancestors
=====
Follow my rediscovery of the Hungry Ghosts "Yu Lan" Festival here:
For my past visits to the Hungry Ghosts "Yu Lan" Festival here:
Hungry Ghosts "Yu Lan" Festival
More Chinese Temples images here:
=====
Explore Jun 9, 2009 #19
Here is an unusual glimpse into a great beauty usually unseen. Most people never notice this delicate, subtle stage of the Coral Vine... as the edges of its 3D hearts begin to open and turn to a translucent pink.
Coral Vine grows in long sprays on hedges and fences here in South Florida. Each spray of dangling hearts ends in curly green tendrils that grab hold and wrap around the next place to grow.
Coral Vine, Antigonon leptopus
Firestorm is a nuclear-powered super-hero with the ability to transmute elements. The Firestorm Matrix is a composite of multiple people bonded together, originally high school student Ronnie Raymond controlling the body and nuclear physicist Professor Martin Stein giving direction as an additional consciousness. Mikhail Arkadin became a later Firestorm, Stein took control at one point, and Lorraine Reilly was also part of the matrix for a period.
Jason Rusch takes over the identity after the death of Raymond during Identity Crisis, and goes through several partners including Mick Wong and his girlfriend Gehenna.
In an interview Gerry Conway discussed his reasoning and influences while creating the character "I always loved the idea of the hair on fire, I think it goes back to Johnny Storm, The Human Torch, an entire flaming character, of course."
Conway further elaborated, "I’d been playing around with the idea of a teenage superhero for DC, who could sort of fill the hole that had been left in my heart by leaving Spider-Man behind. I’d been thinking about the tropes — one of which was the meek, mild alter ego, the brainy kid who, in wish fulfillment, gets superpowers, is extremely powerful… able to do things that he hadn’t been able to do before. That was, I think, the major motivating force—I wanted to play on that trope.
To do that, I wanted to flip it around: create a guy who wasn’t the brightest guy in the room, the not-terribly-smart guy who became a superpowered character. The way I’d make that work: I’d bring him into contact with the smarter person, who would also share the powers. This led to… the multiple-people-in-one, Professor Stein/ Ronnie Raymond dynamic."
Jack Kirby's 1971 design for Lightray's costume influenced the look of artist Al Milgrom's creation of Firestorm in 1978. In an interview from 2019, Milgrom admitted: "The facemask on Firestorm, the way it comes around the chin, was probably inspired by Lightray more than anything... I liked the [Lightray] head-covering thing; I said, "I'm stealin' it!"
Aliases
Ronnie Raymond / Martin Stein
The original Firestorm was distinguished by his integrated dual identity. High school student Ronnie Raymond and Nobel Prize-winning physicist Martin Stein were caught in an accident that allowed them to fuse into Firestorm the Nuclear Man.
Due to Stein being unconscious during the accident, Raymond was prominently in command of the Firestorm form with Stein a voice of reason inside his mind, able to offer Raymond advice on how to use their powers without actually having any control over their dual form.
Banter between the two was a hallmark of their adventures. Stein was initially completely unaware of their dual identity, leaving him concerned about his unusual disappearances and blackouts, but Ronnie was eventually able to convince him of the truth, allowing them to bond as separate individuals rather than as parts of a whole.
Ronnie Raymond / Martin Stein / Mikhail Arkadin
When Conway left the series in 1986, John Ostrander (with artist Joe Brozowski) began writing the Firestorm stories. His first major story arc pitted Firestorm against the world as the hero, acting on a suggestion from a terminally ill Professor Stein, demanded that the United States and the Soviet Union destroy all of their nuclear weapons.
After confrontations with the Justice League and most of his enemies, Firestorm faced the Russian nuclear superhero Pozhar in the Nevada desert, where an atomic bomb was dropped on them. A new Firestorm resulted, a fusion of the two heroes: this new Firestorm was composed of Ronnie Raymond and the Russian Mikhail Arkadin but controlled by the disembodied amnesiac mind of Martin Stein.
Fire Elemental
The Firestorm with Arkadin proved to be a transitional phase, as in 1989 Ostrander fundamentally changed the character of Firestorm by revealing that Firestorm was a "Fire Elemental".
Firestorm now became something of an environmental crusader, formed from Ronnie Raymond, Mikhail Arkadin, and Svarozhich, a Soviet clone of the previous Firestorm, but with a new mind. Professor Stein, no longer part of the composite at all, continued to play a role, but the focus was on this radically different character.
New artist Tom Mandrake would create a new look to match. It was during this phase that Firestorm met and befriended Sango and the Orishas, the elemental gods of Nigeria. He also met their chief deity and Sango's older brother Obatala, Lord of the White Cloth.
By the series' 100th issue, Stein learned that he was destined to be the true Fire Elemental and would have been being it not for Raymond also being there by circumstance. Raymond and Arkadin were returned to their old lives, and Stein as Firestorm was accidentally exiled to deep space in the process of saving the Earth. He thereafter spent many years traveling through space as a wanderer, returning to Earth only rarely.
After the transition to the elemental Firestorm, all of the main characters from the series vanished from the comics for some time after the cancellation of the Firestorm comic in 1990.
Raymond eventually returned in the pages of Extreme Justice.
Raymond, at the time undergoing treatment for leukemia, regained his original powers after a chemotherapy session. It took the combined might of the Justice League led by Captain Atom, and the returned elemental Firestorm, to restore Ronnie's health. Firestorm began to appear regularly in a number of DC titles, though lacking the guidance and knowledge necessary to use his skills wisely.
Firestorm was drafted by Batman into a "replacement" Justice League that was commissioned in case something befell the original team (in this case, being stranded in the distant past in "The Obsidian Age" storyline).
After the original team returned, Firestorm stayed on as a reserve member and participated in events such as a team-up with the Justice Society of America (in JLA/JSA: Virtue and Vice) and the intercompany crossover JLA/Avengers. He was also briefly a member of the Power Company.
Jason Rusch
In 2004, DC revived the Firestorm comic for the second time, with writer Dan Jolley and artist Chris Cross, but instead of the original Firestorm, Ronnie Raymond, there was a new protagonist; the teenager Jason Rusch.
Jason was a 17-year-old living in Detroit who wanted nothing more than to escape his home city. He lived with his father, who had turned abusive after he lost his hand in an industrial accident. His mother left the family sometime after the accident.
With the loss of a job he needed for college tuition, Jason turned to a local thug for money, accepting a job as a courier. It was on that job that he encountered the Firestorm Matrix, searching for a new host after Ronnie Raymond's death. In the aftermath, Jason struggled to cope with his new identity and powers—a struggle that led to the death of the man who had hired him.
Jason Rusch / Martin Stein
In the 2006 miniseries Infinite Crisis, it was revealed that Martin Stein, alive in space as the "Elemental Firestorm", had sensed the presence of Jason Rusch within the Firestorm Matrix, but was unaware of Ronnie Raymond's death. When Jason, as Firestorm, was gravely wounded in the line of duty, Stein linked with him in a variation of the merge, promising Jason a new Firestorm body to let him return into battle (although Martin had been unable to save Mick) and asking him about Ronnie's fate.
Accepting Martin's proposal, Jason asked Stein to become the permanent second member of the Firestorm Matrix. Sensing his "errors" (including Mick's death) were the result of his youth and lack of experience, he sought the experience and maturity of Stein. Stein refused at first, but later accepted Jason's request, thus ensuring both a new Firestorm body and the reconstruction of human bodies for both Rusch and Stein.
It was revealed in Infinite Crisis that if the Multiverse had survived up to the present, Jason would have been a native of Earth-Eight.
Jason Rusch / Firehawk
As the storyline jumped ahead one year (and the series itself was now re-titled as Firestorm the Nuclear Man from issue #23 on), Professor Stein has mysteriously vanished, and Jason Rusch has been merging with Firehawk to become Firestorm, allowing him to use her powers as well.
The two decided to look for Stein together. Stein had been kidnapped and tortured by the Pupil, a former teaching assistant of Stein's. Flanked by the D.O.L.L.I.s, a group of cyborg soldiers of limited cognitive ability, the Pupil (formerly known as Adrian Burroughs) questioned the nearly dead Stein about the secrets of the universe.
Jason and Lorraine, along with the mysterious teleporter Gehenna, freed the captured Stein and restored him to full health. Jason is a college freshman at New York City's Columbus University and seems to have ties with Dani Sharpe, a member of the senior staff at LexCorp.
The Firestorm team of Jason and Firehawk made several appearances across the DC Comics Universe before the search for Martin Stein ended. This included dealing with the latest OMAC and teaming up with Superman in the "Back in Action" story arc in Action Comics.
Firehawk later introduced Jason to Pozhar, a Russian superhero who was once a part of the Firestorm Matrix; together, the trio takes on a newly reborn Tokamak. This series ended with Firestorm the Nuclear Man #35 (April 2007).
Jason Rusch / Ronnie Raymond
In the 2009–2010 Blackest Night miniseries, Ronnie Raymond is called by a black power ring to join the Black Lantern Corps. Like other Black Lanterns, the undead Firestorm mimics the personality of Ronnie Raymond, often wisecracking and exhibiting other stereotypical teenage behavior.
In the 2010–2011 Brightest Day miniseries, Ronnie Raymond arrives at Jason Rusch's apartment with Professor Stein and Ray Palmer to attend Gehenna's funeral.
When Ronnie is actually unable to remember Gehenna's name, Jason angrily lashes out and punches him in the face. This causes the two young men to merge into Firestorm, and they begin arguing inside the Matrix.
Palmer manages to separate Jason and Ronnie, but not before the Firestorm matrix causes a huge explosion. It is revealed that Deathstorm intends to create enough emotional instability between Ronnie and Jason that the Matrix will trigger another Big Bang, thereby destroying all life in the universe. Ronnie and Jason must find a way to contain their Firestorm matrix from the explosion in less than 90 days.
After the events of the 2011 Flashpoint storyline, The New 52 reality altered Firestorm's personal history to the point of it being completely restarted. Ronnie Raymond is now introduced as a high school senior and the captain of the football team. During a terrorist attack on their school, classmate Jason Rusch produces a vial given to him by Professor Stein, which contains the "God Particle", one of Stein's creations.
The God Particle transforms both Jason and Ronnie into Firestorm, and the two teens briefly battle each other before accidentally merging into a hulking creature known as the Fury.
Sharing the identity of Firestorm, with Ronnie being the brawn and Jason being the brains, Firestorm is considered for recruitment into the Justice League along with several other heroes.
DC Rebirth
In the Watchmen sequel Doomsday Clock, Firestorm becomes a subject of controversy after claims arise stating that he was created by the American government. Firestorm profanely denounces the "Superman Theory" and insults his Russian counterpart Pozhar, much to the dismay of Martin Stein.
Firestorm subsequently becomes embroiled in a fight with several Russian superheroes before appearing to inadvertently turn a crowd of civilian protesters into a glass (a feat previously deemed beyond his capabilities). Firestorm flees with the body of an affected child and is found in hiding at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant in Ukraine by Superman.
With Superman's encouragement, Firestorm returns the child to normal. Firestorm and Superman return to the affected crowd and are engaged by the Russian military. The area then becomes engulfed in an explosion of blue light. Subsequent discoveries reveal that the 'Superman Theory' is actually partially correct, as Stein deliberately engineered the creation of Firestorm to make himself a superhuman, even if Raymond genuinely had no idea of this until recently.
Powers and abilities
Firestorm has the ability to rearrange molecular or particle structures of any substance into most anything else, creating different atomic structures of equal mass. He can transmute the basic composition of an object (e.g., transmuting lead into gold) and can also change its shape or form at will. Much like Green Lantern's limitations, Firestorm can only create items whose workings are understood by the "driver" of the Firestorm Matrix, through he can make more complex sentient constructs out of the Matrix's energies. Unlike Green Lantern's creations, Firestorm's alterations are permanent unless he reverses them.
Initially, he could not affect organic matter without painful, even lethal, feedback (i.e., fatal biophysical disruption or even localized particle motion phenomena like extreme changes in the weather). It was later revealed that Firestorm could always change organic matter, but opted not to. As Jason Rusch became Firestorm, however, this weakness appeared to have dissipated. With old and new variations, the organic limitation does not extend to his own person, as its users can molecularly change their driver self at will, allowing them to regenerate lost or damaged bodily tissue, boost immune systems, shape-shift, increase physical capabilities and survive indefinitely without food, sleep, water or air.
Capacities as such produce superhuman levels of strength, durability, stamina and resistance to injury great enough to challenge the New Gods—the likes of Orion, Lashina, or an empowered Kalibak—or surviving the rigors of outer space and sitting near the inner corona above the sun's photosphere without discomfort.
Firestorm's power has been stated by Prof. Stein to be theoretically infinite, harnessing the spark of creation, the Big Bang itself. However, infinite power runs the risk of burning out its host.
While the Firestorm Matrix can be utilized by a singular host driver—as was the case with Ronnie, Stein, and Rusch—it is not recommended. The Matrix functions best with two people, a pilot and secondary, to comprehend and master it. Martin instructed Rusch on how to study current and potential powers available to them within the Matrix and to manually adjust them on the fly at a later date. Its main source of energy stemmed from the ambient stellar energies of native stars and suns but could also use its co-pilot as a power source, though they will burn out over time and genetically disintegrate if not properly adjusted to its power.
The merging aspect of the Matrix can enable outside fusions which assimilate any inherent abilities these others might possess. However, this can diminish its effectiveness and stability. Rusch has shown he can spontaneously warp himself and others he had previously merged with to his specific location, triggering the neural pathway connection and allowing the gestalt to access each other's knowledge and memories to better utilize Firestorm's capabilities.
Users of the Firestorm Matrix can access a type of ancestral memory from the continuum of past Matrix users, allowing them to access the latest knowledge of the atoms comprising it. This also translates into a form of time-space sight in which the Matrix user can glimpse the past, present, future, and alternate lives of every other Firestorm throughout reality using a collective of subatomic wormholes which exist as a part of the Matrix. This power is too complex to properly control; thus, it has been highly unreliable as an ability.
The driver can fly at supersonic speeds in an atmosphere and reach escape velocities. The driver can also adjust the driver's body's size or pull and enlarge others from the subatomic universe at will, Rusch having once dragged Ray Palmer from his microscopic size to the natural world while on Apokolips. Manipulation of the self at the subatomic level allows the driver to become intangible and pass through solid objects. This allowed Rusch to communicate with John Stewart and sift through his mind telepathically after he had been taken over by the void beast. Firestorm is also adept at absorbing and redistributing radiation or energy both harmlessly and productively (such as in Green Lantern: Circle of Fire #7, having both absorbed Zeta Radiation from Adam Strange's body and repurposed it to turn a universe-destroying quasar back onto itself and absorb the fallout from a massive nuclear detonation).) He can generate destructive or concussive blasts of nuclear energy, through which he can also channel his transmogrification powers.
While the Matrix grants the fusers unique powers, it can also accidentally bestow them on individuals caught in the Matrix by mistake. One example is Nanette Phaedon, wife of the late Allen Phaedon, who gained the ability to change her quantum state for size-shifting and flight by her own will. Following Raymond's resurrection during Brightest Day, Firestorm gained the ability to switch "drivers" between Ronnie and Jason at will; before that, only the active driver was in control, with the dormant consciousness only able to advise the other on what action to take. One of the faults of a Firestorm fusion is that the stronger psyche will have dominance of the Matrix's power, such as when Jason fused with Luis Salvador who overpowered him from the passenger seat of the Matrix.
During The New 52, the Firestorm Matrix could be shared through multiple users at a time. Users could fuse and become stronger, but more unstable. The entity formed between Ronnie and Jason when using the Matrix in tandem created a nuclear being called "the Fury". It was also shown that The Matrix shares a kinship to the Quantum Field in some way, enabling Firestorm users to derive its power for subatomic transmutation and manipulation. Some believe it is key to the fabled God particle theory. Its merging properties can place a large burden on the user; Firestorm runs the risk of reaching critical mass and detonating. At worst, the fusion of too many users in the Matrix could trigger a second Big Bang.
⚡ Happy 🎯 Heroclix 💫 Friday! 👽
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A year of the shows and performers of the Bijou Planks Theater.
Secret Identities:
Ronald Roy "Ronnie" Raymond
Dr. Martin Stein
Dr. Mikhail Denisovitch Arkadin
Jason Thomas Rusch
Publisher: DC
First appearance: Firestorm the Nuclear Man #1 (March 1978)
Created by: Gerry Conway (Writer)
Al Milgrom (Artist)