The Monastery of the Three Holy Hierarchs is located in the old centre of Iasi, on Stefan cel Mare si Sfant Boulevard, formerly known as the Princely Street.

 

The "Trisfetite" Church, built during Prince Vasile Lupu’s reign (1637 -1639), was intended to be a royal burial ground; it reflects the founder’s aspiration to the Byzantine world as it combines traditional structures and shapes with precious materials and a sumptuous decoration. Metropolitan Varlaam consecrated this holy place on the 6th of May 1639, and two years later Saint Paraskeve’s relics were moved here. The monastery accommodated a printing house and the "Schola Basiliana", the future Princely Academy. In 1970 the monastery was closed and the only religious services to be officiated were the celebration of the feast day of the Three Hierarchs (30th January) and the Union Day on 24th of January. Following the 1989 events, the monastery was reopened.

 

The monument is renowned for its embroidery in stone (most of it preserved in its original form) that decorate the outer walls. Thirty different carved stone decoration bands cover the entire outside walls of the church from the base to the top of the steeples; they are inspired from the national old wood carvings and embroideries blended with Asian and Western elements. An impressive threefold twisted cord – a symbol of the Holy Trinity – makes the architectural complex of the church absolutely perfect.

 

This centre of Romanian spirituality was to be the starting point of the Greek Independence War (1821). The first signal for the liberation of Greece was given in the monastery’s premises by Alexander Ypsilanti who read a proclamation (28th of February 1821) stating the objectives of the Filiki Eteria in the war to free the Balkan peoples.

 

Source: The Three Holy Hierarchs Monastery

The San Jose Signs Project is a partnership between the community, historic organizations, and local businesses. We believe that signs are important place markers in our collective story, and that San Jose history belongs in San Jose. The mission of The San Jose Signs Project is threefold: to educate, advocate, and to preserve.

 

Logo design by LW Graphics

When defenses against the most immediate forms of mental disturbance have been raised, the assimilation of the principles of "right conduct" arouses in the mind an "intimate, unalloyed joy" joined with the stability and sureness of one who feels himself in a state of "justice." For which we are given the simile of a lawfully crowned king who knows that his enemies are routed and that there is no threat of any kind to his sovereignty. We have also acquired the strengthened "neutrality" or "sidereality" of the mind that, thanks to the fourfold contemplation, has further freed itself and is now at the center of all its experience, both internal and external. At this point we undertake the really cathartic action whose aim is to neutralize, by degrees, any possibility of "combustion" and of self-abandonment to the multiple variety of "contacts."

 

Contacts wound; contacts consume by exciting the fire that burns the body and the mind, which nourishes the samsaric stem and prostrates the higher principle. "The fool, struck by force, perishes; the wise man, when struck, does not tremble," he remains intact, remains unshakable, remains elusive; we must become like the wise man. It is a question, then, of dealing a blow at the transcendental "desire" that lurks in the visual and other senses, in the khandha (the groups of the personality), in the elements, and which is corruption, disease, suppuration. All this must naturally take place, not on the psychological or moral plane, but on the existential and metaphysical one. The beginning of the process of alteration lies in the senses, which are likened to so many "wounds." (…) In order to "bandage the wounds" and neutralize the infection provoked by contacts, we must ensure that "the internal sight, the internal smelling, the internal hearing, the internal tasting, the internal touching, the internal thinking are not distracted," that is to say, that we are present in the sixfold seat of the senses in such a way that we can immediately prevent any self-relaxation, self-attachment, self-intoxication, any luring of ourselves by enjoyment. There will be, then, no further building of combinations, at first in the fundamental stem of the will, and then in the five stems of the personality." This is the essence of the new work of catharsis.

 

This work is based on what is known as the "watch over the doors of the senses," for which the canonical formula is: "Upon perceiving a form with the eye, the ascetic conceives no inclination, no interest. Since craving and aversion and damaging and harmful thoughts soon overcome the man who lives with the eye unguarded, he remains vigilant, he guards the eye, he remains vigilant over the eye." Upon hearing a sound with the ear, upon smelling an odor with the nose, upon tasting a flavor with the tongue, upon touching a contact with the body, upon representing to himself a mental state with the mind, he conceives no inclination, he conceives no interest. Since craving and aversion and damaging and harmful thoughts soon overcome the man who lives with his mind unguarded, he remains vigilant, he guards the mind, he remains vigilant over the mind." To fail in this vigilance at some point is to suffer the fate of the tortoise: when the tortoise unthinkingly put out one of its limbs a jackal seized it by that limb and carried it off to its ruin.

 

In this matter then, we have to come to grips with the samsaric entity with which we are associated and that constitutes our double, composed of thirst. A continually tightening circle closes round it. It is effectively likened to an enemy who, knowing that he cannot openly defeat his adversary, gets himself employed by him as a servant and gains his confidence so that he may then defeat him by treachery: this is the part that the illusory "I," created by identification, plays in us until the time of initiation into the doctrine of the Ariya.

 

That the discipline of the watch over the senses or binding the wounds leads to a higher liberation is shown by the simile of the man who has at a crossroads a thoroughbred team and can guide them wherever he pleases. The man who does not know or who forgets this practice is dominated by forms, sounds, smells, tastes, contacts, and thoughts, instead of being their master.

 

In another way this discipline can also he summed up by the word silentium: "to gird oneself with silence," silence in the technical and initiatory sense. Impressions are arrested at the periphery, at the limit of the senses. Between them and the "I" there is now a distance, a zone of "silence." We thus become endowed with that form of silence that consists of not pronouncing either the exterior word or the interior word, and this in turn implies not hearing, not seeing, not imagining. This theme has also been expressed in a popular form. It is, in fact, the deeper, hidden significance of the well-known statuette of the three sacred monkeys, one with the ears closed, one with the mouth closed, and one with the eyes closed: speak not, hear not, see not. And we may here also recall the curious hermetical formula: "Who has ears, let him open them [in the sense of a close watch on every impression], who has a mouth, let him keep it shut [in the sense of the aforesaid silence, of calm, intangible 'neutrality']."

 

It is thus that the conditions for further liberation and then for awakening the extrasamsāric principle are consolidated.

 

As the natural counterpart of the watch on the doors of the senses, a world of disintoxication is carried out within the zone that is now isolated, in order to eliminate or reduce those internal smoldering embers of agitation and self-identification that may be made to burst into life by external contacts. This is what is known as the removal of the five nīvarana, a term that means a "dross," a "hindrance," or an "impediment." The five nīvarana are: desire (kāmacchanda); hate or anger (vyāpāda); slothful idleness (thīna-middha); pride and impatience (uddhacca- kukkucca); doubtful uncertainty (vicikicchā).

 

The action of these five hindrances is clearly indicated by the following similes: it is like trying to look at one's reflection in water wherein all kinds of colors are mixed (desire), or in boiling water (hate and anger), or in water full of mud and moss (slothful idleness), or in water agitated by the wind (pride and impatience), or finally, in dark and murky water (doubt). Removal is effected by direct action of the mind on the mind, together with accurate and calm self-examination. The discipline is described in the texts in the following manner.

 

The ascetic finds a solitary place and begins to meditate. A well-known yoga position is counseled: sit with legs crossed and body straight upright. This traditional Indo-Aryan position is, however, only suitable if one is so accustomed to it that it is quite natural and requires no special effort and does not produce fatigue. In general, the position recommended for this, as for other contemplations, must be one of equilibrium, which does not have to be changed; it must have a kind of symbolical meaning of self-awareness and it must not demand efforts that would distract the mind.

 

It is fundamentally a more advanced development of the states already induced by sīla or "right conduct." The aim here is obviously to bring us to a deeper zone by means of the strengthened power of internal vision that we have gained through the preceding disciplines. It is a matter of attacking, to some degree, the sankhara, that is to say, the innate and congenital tendencies that come, in part, from the extra-individual heredity that we have assumed.

 

Here, too, the purity achieved at certain moments comes to be developed until it has almost attained a state of permanency. This is how we must understand what is known as the "threefold watch": "by day, walking and sitting, turn the mind away from disturbing things; in the first watch of the night, walking and sitting, turn the mind away from disturbing things; in the middle watch of the night, lie down on the right side, like the lion, one foot on the other, bringing to mind the hour of waking; in the last watch of the night, after arising, walking or sitting, turn the mind away from disturbing things."

 

This is a kind of continuous examination of consciousness. The yama, the watches of the night that are recognized in this discipline consist, according to the Buddhist tradition, of four hours each; the first runs from six until ten in the evening, the second from ten until two in the morning, the third from two to six in the morning. Thus, strictly speaking, the period of true sleep or of the state that in the common man would correspond to sleep is restricted to four hours only, from ten in the evening until two in the morning. In this we must not see an "ascetic" discipline in the Western sense of mortification: on the contrary, it is natural that in advancing along the road of illumination the need for sleep is considerably reduced, and this reduction produces no ill effect. Here, too, a unilateral "authoritarian" intervention would only serve to create states of fatigue and inattention unfavorable for spiritual life by day.

 

With attentive care of the "wounds" and with action taken against the hindrances or impediments, the zone of "silence" is strengthened, and a gradual interior increase of the extrasamsāric quality takes place therein; this increase should he aided by illuminated effort and it is related to the aforesaid "seven awakenings". These "awakenings" are the positive counterpart of the cathartic or prophylactic action, that is to say, they are a "defence against intoxication produced by action." The canonical formula is: "[The ascetic] rightly causes the awakening of mindfulness derived from detachment, derived from dispassion, derived from cessation [of the flux], ending in renunciation, he causes the awakening of investigation -of inflexible energy- of enthusiasm -of calm- of concentration -of equanimity, of these awakenings derived from detachment, derived from dispassion, derived from cessation, ending in renunciation."

 

Various interpretations of the place of these awakenings in the whole development are, nevertheless, possible. Their sense as a whole, indeed, reflects that of the four jhānas, of the contemplation that is to be performed in complete detachment from external experience. Here, however, we may understand them on a more relative plane, as a kind of transfiguration and liberation of faculties that are already pervaded by the element of bodhi, whence the expression bojjhanga. It must be realized that we are not dealing with a simple schematic enu¬meration, but rather with a series in which the meditation whereby they are appre¬hended should pursue an intimate causal linking of the single terms so that we are naturally led on from one to the next, and so that in the one we see the integration and resolution of its predecessors. Thus, we must first achieve nondistracted medita¬tion: then we must awaken the state of "mindfulness," fix it in the mind, develop it, master it, and see how this state leads to the second awakening and passes into "investigation," which may find support in some element of the doctrine; this inves¬tigation, when developed, fixed, extended, and mastered must lead on to the awak¬ening of "inflexible energy," whose perfect conquest should herald a state of spe¬cial, purified "enthusiasm," of purified joy. By further developing the meditation, we should realize that this enthusiasm, this joy, awakened and perfectly developed in a body that is becoming calm, in a mind that is becoming calm, will become resolved and liberated in the next awakening, which is that of "calm." When calm has been developed, extended, fixed, and mastered, "concentration" awakens; this, in its turn, when completely developed, becomes established and shines forth in the "equanimity" that is the seventh awakening.

 

These form a series of landmarks in meditation that is concerned with realization and they are connected by an inherent continuity. Through these, one is led in another way to the confirmation of what was already becoming established in the satipatthāna, the fourfold contemplation of detachment, that is to say, one is led to that impassibility that is qualified as "pure, clear, ductile, flexible, resplendent," but which has nothing to do-it should be noted-with the indifference of a blunt mind, with the indifference "of a fool, of an ignorant man, of an inexpert common man." For our part, we think it opportune to add that the state in question must on no account be confused with apathy, and that it develops together with a feeling of purified intellectualized and heroic joy, although this may at first seem difficult to understand. The Bhagavadgītā says: "When the mind, lamed by ascesis, becomes quiet; when [the ascetic], seeing the self in the self, rejoices in himself, knows that boundless joy which, transcending the senses, can only be ap¬prehended by the intellect and, when fixed in it, does not stir from the truth ... he knows that this detachment from union with pain is called yoga." At the same time, Buddhism speaks of a pleasure that is "like dung" when compared to that based on detachment, calm, and illumination (thus two kinds of joy are considered and contrasted. the one bound to life in the world, to mania, to enjoyment, the other to ascesis or to ultramundane states of detachment and of freedom from mania; and it is said that the second is the higher joy. "Extinction is the greatest joy.")

 

Furthermore, such sequences as these are frequent: "In the ascetic joy arises; this joy makes him blissful; being blissful, his body becomes calm: with the body calmed, serenity arises; in this serenity the mind comes to rest, becomes concentrated"; this is a preparation for the four jhāna. This is another sequence that has the character of a connected series, developing in an upward sense, not unlike that which, through the twelve nidana, led us downward to samsāric existence. The point of departure of this new series is, in fact, the state of suffering, of agitation, of contingency, which corresponds to the last nidāna of the descending path. Beyond it, there is the state of confidence; this leads to purified joy; then follows serenity, which gives place to bliss, passing on to equanimity - the term used here literally means also to vanish, to cease being in a place: it is a question of detached equilibrium. In this text the supreme realization has behind it a linked series in which special states of liberated joy play a particular part: a kind of joy that Plato contrasted with all mixed and conditioned forms of joy or of pleasure.

 

Let us quote another text that represents the state at which we may reckon to have arrived at this point of our exposition: „Concentration which knows neither increase nor decrease, which is not based on wearisome subjugation, which, because of its detached nature is constant, because of its constancy is full of bliss, because of its bliss cannot be destroyed — such concentration has suprene wisdom as its result.”

 

This should destroy the idea that the path of awakening is arid and desolate, that it kills all joy, that it offers only renunciation and destruction. That everyone whose furthest horizon is still within the effective, samsarically conditioned world should have this idea is quite natural but is of very little account.

 

A text reminds us that only an Awakened One can comprehend the Awakened One. An expressive simile demonstrates this: two companions leave a city together and reach a rock that one of them climbs. He says to the other: "I see from up here a wonderful view of gardens, woods, fields, and lakes," but the other retorts: "It is impossible, it is inadmissible, friend, that from up there you can see all that." Then the companion standing on the rock comes down, takes the other by the arm, makes him climb up on the rock and. after he has recovered his breath, asks him: "What do you then see, friend, standing on the rock?" The other replies: "I see a wonderful view of gardens, woods, fields, and lakes." "And your previous opinion?" "While I was obstructed by this great rock, I could not see what is now visible." It concludes: it is impossible that what is knowable, discernible, capable of achievement, capable of realization through detachment can be known, discerned, achieved, realized by one who lives among desires and who is consumed by desires." Quite apart from the higher "sidereal" principle. the Buddhist also knows the kind of joy that is contentedness, rejoicing, jubilation, enthusiasm, exultation, transport of the spirit and that, among others, is considered as "a factor of the great awakening”.

 

[Countering those who believe that the Buddhist road is one of desolation and aridity, Louis de La Vallée-Poussin most opportunely writes: “We must, rather, recognise that India is difficult when it comes to being and bliss; that as she puts being beyond existence, so she puts bliss beyond sensation.”]

 

--------

Julius Evola: The Doctrine of Awakening - Part II., Chapter 4. - Sidereal Awareness: The Wounds Close (excerpt)

 

The Monastery of the Three Holy Hierarchs is located in the old centre of Iasi, on Stefan cel Mare si Sfant Boulevard, formerly known as the Princely Street.

 

The "Trisfetite" Church, built during Prince Vasile Lupu’s reign (1637 -1639), was intended to be a royal burial ground; it reflects the founder’s aspiration to the Byzantine world as it combines traditional structures and shapes with precious materials and a sumptuous decoration. Metropolitan Varlaam consecrated this holy place on the 6th of May 1639, and two years later Saint Paraskeve’s relics were moved here. The monastery accommodated a printing house and the "Schola Basiliana", the future Princely Academy. In 1970 the monastery was closed and the only religious services to be officiated were the celebration of the feast day of the Three Hierarchs (30th January) and the Union Day on 24th of January. Following the 1989 events, the monastery was reopened.

 

The monument is renowned for its embroidery in stone (most of it preserved in its original form) that decorate the outer walls. Thirty different carved stone decoration bands cover the entire outside walls of the church from the base to the top of the steeples; they are inspired from the national old wood carvings and embroideries blended with Asian and Western elements. An impressive threefold twisted cord – a symbol of the Holy Trinity – makes the architectural complex of the church absolutely perfect.

 

This centre of Romanian spirituality was to be the starting point of the Greek Independence War (1821). The first signal for the liberation of Greece was given in the monastery’s premises by Alexander Ypsilanti who read a proclamation (28th of February 1821) stating the objectives of the Filiki Eteria in the war to free the Balkan peoples.

 

Source: The Three Holy Hierarchs Monastery

Our goal in counseling is threefold:

 

1. To get the counselee to see God’s character and compassion through the lens of Scripture;

 

2. To get the counselee to see himself and his problems as God does;

 

3. To get the counselee to feel God’s conviction and comfort as he peers intensely into the mirror of His Word. (Garrett Higbee)

Mugbil Al-Thukair was likely photographed in his bedchamber at his house in Manama, sitting on a prayer rug with a pious wistful countenance in a dapper embroidered silk Jubbah (open coat) and an ornate Cashmere Ghutra Shawl (headdress) fastened with the obsolete thick Najdi Agal (headband), the distinctive formal attire once worn by wealthy Arab merchants and tribal chieftains in Central Arabia and the northern Arabian Gulf in the early twentieth century as Al-Thukair supposedly was facing a Victorian colonial Anglo-Indian Raj four-poster teak wood bed (palang) surrounded by all the trappings of wealth typifying the lifestyle of a Gulf-rich pearl merchant and his household at the time, such as the open Indian teak wood wardrobe cabinet with an inside mirrored door on the left where a visible Cashmere Ghutra Shawl hangs from an open wardrobe drawer, a Victorian glass-shaded gas lamp in the right corner next to a pendulum clock in the back of a reclining wooden cane chair with its vertically striped cushion and several sitting chairs stacked high with books together with a variety of Persian rugs and carpets strewn across the floor during Jacques Cartier's second extended visit to Bahrain (from the 14th to the 26th of March 1912) the focal point of his Arabian Gulf pearl purchasing trip on Thursday, the 16th of March, 1912.

 

(Mugbil Bin Abdulrahman Al-Thukair was born in 1844 in the rural town of Unaizah in the Al-Qassim region in northern Najd, Central Arabia as Al-Qassim has always been considered the agricultural heartland of the Arabian Peninsula known since pre-Islamic times as the "Alimental Basket" or granary of Arabia for its abundant agricultural assets into a prestigious erudite family of merchants widespread across Arabia and the Fertile Crescent with a trading history that could be traced back to the early eighteenth century from a young age Al-Thukair was endowed with natural business acumen combined with deep intellectual and literary interests following in the footsteps of generations of his family's enterprising male offspring which drove him first in 1867 at the tender age of 23 to the prosperous port town of Jeddah on the Red Sea coast of Arabia with its bustling market and cosmopolitan outlook the obvious first choice for any ambitious young man from the hinterlands of Arabia mainly Najd in those days where he began to make his mark as a budding young merchant at the same time exploring any available business opportunities in the port cities and towns of the Near East (Middle East) and those in the neighbouring Indian subcontinent principally in the newly British-founded port city of Bombay (Mumbai), the quickly burgeoning commercial hub on the Arabian Sea, the main western gateway to India and the key gathering place for Arab merchants and their families from Arabia in the subcontinent forming a dynamic expatriate Arab community that would continue to exist from the mid-nineteenth century until India's independence from Britain in 1947 Bombay also provided a good head start for scores of young merchants from the Arabian Peninsula at the time some of whom became well-known household business names across the region most notably Alireza of Jeddah, Alghanim, Al-Kharafi and Alshaya of Kuwait among others, spurring young Al-Thukair to learn Hindi, the pre-oil seafaring age's business lingua franca in the Arabian Peninsula since the majority of Arabia's trade passed through Indian entrepôts and in due course he became proficient in the essential business language, the thriving port city of Basra in southern Iraq was yet another desirable alternative business opportunity for Al-Thukair, a familiar business destination for his family for many decades and a second adopted domicile for several family members as Iraq's only maritime gateway to the rest of the world, often visited by him in the early to mid-1870s while en route to Iraq's only port on the Arabian Gulf his ship would stop at Bahrain one of the three major ports of the Arabian Peninsula in the second half of the nineteenth and the first half of the twentieth centuries (the other two were Aden and Jeddah) allowing him during the few hours interval between passengers and cargo disembarkation and embarkation to wander around the town of Manama the cosmopolitan commercial hub on the main island of the Bahraini archipelago examining closely along the way Manama's ethnically diverse purveyors of bountiful goods from all over the world meanwhile assessing the business possibilities of the Bahraini market especially its booming pearl trade prompting him to dabble in the lucrative commodity with great success as part of his general trading business interests and after spending ten years in the coastal town of Jeddah now as a seasoned well-established general merchant Bahrain beckoned as the centre of the pearl trade in the Arabian Gulf and beyond a pioneering position consolidated by possessing in its northern waters the richest pearl oyster beds in the Gulf renowned worldwide for producing the finest quality pearls for their iridescent lustre, size and variety of colours making it the place of choice for anyone wishing to try his luck in the pearl business back then which was the mainstay of the Arabian Gulf economy prior to the discovery of oil similarly sundry of his Central Arabian Najdi merchant counterparts from the austere Arabian inland such as Algosaibi, Al-Ajaji, Al-Qadi and Al-Bassam were lured to Bahrain by the country's newfound political stability following the accession of the young, astute and literarily inclined Sheikh Isa Bin Ali Al Khalifa (1848-1932) to the throne in 1869 ushering in a new era of peace and prosperity after decades of turmoil and instability as reflected in the renewed confidence and heightened profitability prospects of the Bahraini pearl market driven by increasing international demand particularly in the West for high-quality natural pearls from the Arabian Gulf as rapidly soaring demand propelled pearl prices to unprecedented heights against such a heady backdrop Al-Thukair decided in 1877 at the age of 33 to relocate to Bahrain with his immediate family consisting of his wife and two young sons Abdullatif and Abdulmuhsin, a decision that would change his life forever Bahrain with its lush date palm groves and freshwater springs proved to be more suitable to his agrarian temperament than arid Jeddah though comparable to its vibrant multicultural and multi-ethnic society as it was the closest thing to a second home for the mature aspiring assiduous merchant after his beloved birthplace of Unaizah within a matter of years after arriving in the small island country he managed to become a leading pearl merchant and a highly esteemed public figure well-known for his philanthropic disposition, honest dealings, impeccable integrity and intellectual prowess so much so that he was dubbed "The Pride of Merchants" by the Bahraini business community he also took on the role of honorary chairman of the Manama business community and titular head of the Najdi diaspora community in Bahrain as a natural progression of his tremendous entrepreneurial successes and admirable character traits due to this exalted social status and the extensive network of highly influential personages he cultivated throughout the region Al-Thukair became increasingly sought-after as an arbiter of disputes including those of a political nature in Bahrain and elsewhere in the region but among the many scattered instances of his arbitration cases in the declassified annual Gulf reports from the British Archives, the following case from the latter stage of his life in Bahrain is one of the most striking examples of his high-level arbitrations where a family of illustrious clerics and judges resorted to his conscientious arbitration when asked by Ibrahim one of the two younger brothers of Bahrain's highest religious Muslim authority for nearly half a century the eminent cleric and unofficial supreme judge Sheikh Qasim Al Mehza (1847-1941) dubbed the "chief judge" unanimously by adherents of both Sunni and Shiite cross-sectarian Muslim denominations of Bahraini society for his scholarly knowledge of Islamic jurisprudence to intercede between the two younger siblings one of whom Ahmed was a highly respected cleric in his own right the first Bahraini graduate of the Al-Azhar of Cairo in 1887 and ironically their elder brother the highly learned cleric and judge Sheikh Qasim, here is the next slightly edited citation from the British Gulf residency report of 1912 concerning local Bahraini affairs from 1st to 30th September, exact date unspecified (A difference over the ownership of a plot of land and a shop recently arose between Sheikh Qasim Bin Mehza and his two brothers Ahmed and Ibrahim and the two parties were not on speaking terms. At the request of Ibrahim, Sheikh Mugbil and Yusuf Kanoo intervened and succeeded in arranging a comprise) correspondingly he was acting as an unpaid adviser, interlocutor and mediator to some of the Arabian Peninsula's rulers as attested by one of the earliest documented references to Al-Thukair in the British Archives in late 1888 and early 1889 where he was linked to a series of accounts dealing with the recurring violent hostilities between the neighbouring Sheikhdoms of Qatar and Abu Dhabi in which he acted as a go-between on behalf of Sheikh Qasim Bin Muhammad Al-Thani (r. 1868-1913) the first British-recognised Qatari ruler independent of Bahraini suzerainty and founder of the Al-Thani ruling dynasty to help broker a peaceful settlement between the two parties and other key players in the conflict including the Al Rasheed the then rulers of Arabia's northern region of Ha'il and their Ottoman backers both of whom intervened on behalf of the Qatari side, from early on as a middle-aged man Al-Thukair had gained recognition as an ethical impartial figure and a reliable confidant to the majority of the rulers in the Arabian Gulf as demonstrated in numerous instances in this mini-biography of the man, the following two edited extracts are part of a comprehensive report on the latter stage of the long-drawn fitful hostilities between Qatar and Abu Dhabi covering the period from March 1888 to June 1890 by the British Gulf residency in Bushehr Persia (Iran) on the bloody conflict which involved lengthy correspondence between the British political agent in Bahrain and his superior the political resident in Bushehr where Al-Thukair is frequently mentioned, a conflict that started as a random mid-sea raid by Qatari corsairs on an Abu Dhabi-owned pearl fishing vessel in Qatari waters killing all of its crew presumably around the year 1880 escalating into a prolonged fierce enmity between Sheikh Zayed Bin Khalifa Al Nahyan (r. 1855-1909) ruler of Abu Dhabi and Sheikh Qasim Bin Muhammad Al-Thani (r. 1868-1913) ruler of Qatar spiralling into uncontrollable atrocious carnage and depredation reprisals manifested in the thrice sacking of the Qatari capital Doha during the third of which Qatar ruler's son Ali was killed and the multiple sackings of the sedentary communities of Abu Dhabi's western region of Al Dhafra and other towns between 1880 and 1892 the first extract is a full-text letter while the second consists of the last two paragraphs of a longer letter the first of which is as follows (No. 10, dated the 20th January 1889. From-The Residency Agent, Bahrain. To-The Political Resident, Arabian Gulf. After compliments. I beg to send herewith a copy of a letter sent by Qasim Bin Thani (ruler of Qatar) to the Chief (ruler) of Bahrain with a special messenger who has also brought a number of other letters giving welcome tidings to Muhammad Bin Abdulwahab (Al-Faihani), Mugbil (Al-Thukair) and (Abdulrahman) Bin Aidan; and mentioning the number of people who were slain out of the inhabitants of Liwa (the Al Dhafra region is centred on the large Liwa Oasis in Abu Dhabi's westernmost domain); viz., 520 persons; and that they took from them large booty and numerous camels and that Sheikh Qasim returned safely with his army. I hear from reports that Sheikh Qasim lost 8 men killed. Others say 48, others again 110. But as yet there is no correct report as since the arrival of this messenger no one has come from Qatar owing to heavy "shemall" (northern gusty) winds. It is stated that Sheikh Qasim has not yet reached Al-Bidda (Doha). I hear that Isa Bin Ziyab a cousin of Sheikh Zayed Bin Khalifa (Al Nahyan) has arrived in Bahrain from Abu Dhabi and interviewed the Chief (ruler of Bahrain). According to what he says there are not so many people at Liwa and that Sheikh Zayed had not received any report of Sheikh Qasim's proceedings from Qatar to Liwa or any other place. I shall make further reports when I receive any fresh news) the second extract is as follows (No. 52, dated the 28th of March 1889. From-The Residency Agent, Bahrain. To-The Political Resident, Arabian Gulf. I have seen a letter from Qasim (ruler of Qatar) to Mugbil (Al-Thukair) in which the writer says that he is prepared to meet Zayed (ruler of Abu Dhabi) and that he is not afraid of his advance; on the contrary that he will himself march out to attack Zayed in case the latter should not advance against him. In that letter he also wishes Mugbil to believe that Ibn Rasheed (ruler of Ha'il in northern Arabia) will not fail to fulfil his promise. The date of this letter is 17th March. It is apparent that Qasim wrote that letter before the arrival of Nafi (Ibn Rasheed messenger) My own opinion is that if the news about Zayed's advance be true and also that if Qasim be supported by the Turkish soldiers, Zayed's forces will have hard work before them; for Qasim is regardless of expense and the Turkish soldiers are greedy as is known. Their number at Al-Bidda (Doha) is 250) the previous references were among several in this special report to Al-Thukair's top-level intermediation in this particular bloody conflict a small sample of his early political intermediation in regional affairs that would last until he unwillingly left his second adopted homeland Bahrain in mid-1917 but in connection with his frequent interactions with the rulers of the Arabian Peninsula the most significant of those were Sheikh Isa Bin Ali Al Khalifa (r. 1869-1932) of Bahrain, Sheikh Qasim Bin Muhammad Al-Thani (r. 1868-1913) of Qatar and Abdulaziz Ibn Saud (r. 1902-1953) ruler of Najd and its dependencies who was styled as such from the 13th of January 1902 onwards after the subtle young industrious scion of the House of Saud succeeded in recapturing the ancestral seat of power of his forefathers, the then small town of Riyadh from the bellicose Ottoman-backed Al Rasheed ruling clan of the northern Arabian region of Ha'il in an audacious dawn attack, the future king of what would become the sprawling Kingdom of Saudi Arabia perceptibly in the course of time Al-Thukair became such a revered sage that the ruler of Bahrain Sheikh Isa Bin Ali Al Khalifa asked him to be one of the signatories of a solemn pledge of allegiance deed to his eldest surviving son the 24-year-old newly appointed crown prince and future ruler Sheikh Hamad (r. 1932-1942) on 8th October 1896 following the untimely death of his eldest son and heir apparent Salman near Riyadh in Najd Central Arabia three years earlier on his exhausting perilous long land journey home from the Hajj pilgrimage to the holy city of Mecca during the formal investiture ceremony for the crown prince an honour reserved for only a select few high-ranking merchants from the highest echelons of the Bahraini business community who were recognised as pillars of society outside the ranks of senior members of the ruling family, tribal chieftains and clergy leaders amongst whom were Hussain Bin Salman Matar (1817-1911) and Ahmed Bin Muhammed Kanoo (1835-1905) as for Al-Thukair's aforementioned special relationship with Ibn Saud the marriage of his niece Lulwa the daughter of his brother Yahya to Ibn Saud solidified that relationship enabling him to negotiate on behalf of Ibn Saud a favourable agreement with the Ottomans on the withdrawal of their garrison from the Al-Hasa Oasis and its environs in eastern Arabia which would become part of the future eastern province of Saudi Arabia as Ibn Saud was poised to take control of the oasis in mid-1914 soon before the outbreak of World War One given that by the year 1890 after more than a decade of his arrival in Bahrain Al-Thukair began to pursue in earnest his profound and ardent passion for spreading knowledge and learning an indelible lifelong characteristic of his initially by starting a literary salon at his house in Manama similar to that of his friend and first cousin to the ruler of Bahrain classical poet and intellectual Sheikh Ibrahim Bin Muhammad Al Khalifa's literary salon in Muharraq and those of several educated and well-travelled merchants and ruling family members in both Manama and Muharraq Bahrain's former political capital from 1810 to 1923 however the literary salon of Al-Thukair was rather different from its local counterparts in that it was more educationally oriented than the others by allocating a well-furnished spacious room in his house as a permanent location for the salon equipped with a relatively sizable varied library whose contents were kept in its wall alcoves as it was the antecedent of his most ambitious cultural and educational project ever the "Bahrain Literary Society" twenty-three years later since those literary salons (clubs) collectively played a discernible educational role as they were haunts for the knowledge-hungry local literate young men prior to the establishment of formal education following the end of the First World War furthermore Sheikh Ibrahim requested Al-Thukair to be the principal supplier of Arabic periodicals in Bahrain by making use of his network of regional business agents to acquire popular newspapers and magazines from the Levant and Egypt, therefore he took it upon himself to supply all of the needs for published materials of other literary salons as a courtesy moving in the same vein he also vigorously sponsored the publication of seminal literary and theological works from the Arab Islamic mediaeval heritage as well as non-formal charity schooling and public libraries well-stocked with diverse books and respected periodicals largely from the Levant and Egypt (such as Al-Muqtataf, Al-Mu'ayyad, Al-Hilal, Al-Manar and so on) in both Bahrain and his birthplace Unaizah in addition to his educational and cultural dissemination efforts he was acutely sensitive to the daily hardships of ordinary impoverished and marginalised people as evidenced by the next edited excerpt from the 1910 British Gulf residency report (Almas, Negro the Confidential Adviser of Sheikh Isa (ruler of Bahrain) died on 11th January and was replaced by Ali Bin Abdullah (Al-Obaidli) on the advice of Ali Bin Abdullah, Sheikh Isa called upon house owners to produce the sanads (Arabic singular title deed: سند, Romanised English plural: sanads) in virtue of which they held their property on their failing to do so they were evicted and no consideration was paid to the period of possession, Sheikh Mugbil Bin Abdulrahman Al-Thukair protested to Sheikh Isa against this measure as it pressed hardly on the poor the protest had the desired effect and the Sheikh (ruler) promised to refrain from such actions in the future) the rescinding of the ruler's decree in the past incident is the definitive indication of the unflinching deference accorded to Al-Thukair by everyone who came into contact with him from those in power to the ordinary man in the street he was also involved in a wide range of philanthropic activities that were not confined to the conventional charity act of almsgiving since he was a practical man who took a number of practical steps to assuage human suffering in any way he could defying common human prejudices among his various practical philanthropic contributions in Bahrain and elsewhere in the Gulf was the commissioning of a water well next to his house in Manama around the year 1900 akin to the undertakings of prominent fellow local pearl merchants Salman Bin Hussain Matar (1837-1944) and Muhammad Bin Rashid Bin Hindi (1850-1934) of Muharraq who attempted to alleviate some of the freshwater supply predicament that plagued Bahrain's urban dwellers predominantly those of Manama and Muharraq the two main densely populated towns in the small island nation at the turn of the twentieth century where the majority of the population had difficulty securing their daily domestic supply of freshwater owing to the lack of potable drinking water infrastructure in Bahrain and much of the Near East as in many other parts of the globe including some of the underdeveloped regions of the Western world in the early part of the twentieth century despite the fact that Bahrain had abundant freshwater resources unlike some of its Arab Gulf neighbours a small example of the central socioeconomic roles that rich mercantile elites played throughout Arab polities in the Arabian Gulf before the discovery of oil and the subsequent establishment of the modern welfare state Al-Thukair also tended to the spiritual needs of the inhabitants of his neighbourhood in Manama at roughly the same time he commissioned the water well he financed the renovation of an old dilapidated bijou Mosque within the vicinity of his house dating back to the late seventeen hundreds placing a nearby shop he owned as a charitable endowment for the Mosque which the locals of the area after him affectionately called Mugbil Mosque even though he was not its original builder he was also instrumental in locally funding the construction of Bahrain's second hospital after the opening of the "American Mission Hospital" in Manama on 26th January 1903 at the request of the British to fulfil their envisaged "Victoria Memorial Hospital" between 1902 and its formal opening on 9th November 1906 to commemorate the late Queen Victoria (defunct since 1948) situated in the Ras Rumman area in Manama south of the British political agency (present-day British Embassy) by rallying other leading merchants to contribute to this vital medical project as Bahrain was in desperate need of a quarantine medical facility to combat the rampant spread of recurring deadly epidemics specifically plague, cholera and typhus as reported in the British Gulf residency report of 1902 this is a slightly edited excerpt from the detailed report dated 23rd August 1902 by J. C. Gaskin, Esq, Assistant Political Agent, Bahrain where Gaskin was delegated by his superiors in the British Indian government the task of securing funds for the proposed hospital locally by taking the pulse of the local mercantile elite through cosying up to rich local merchants chief among them Al-Thukair to enlist their financial assistance in building the hospital, stated as follows (I would venture to report that since the receipt of your communication I have spoken on the subject to some of the leading native merchants and from their replies to me I got the impression that they would give liberal donations towards the hospital: and subsequently Haji Mugbil Al-Thukair the leading Bahraini merchant called on me and offered to subscribe R1,000. (One thousand rupees) Haji Mugbil's handsome offer will influence the native merchants who usually follow his lead) in recognition of his role in securing local funding for the hospital British colonial authorities invited Al-Thukair along with other donors to the hospital opening ceremony, the following edited excerpt from the British Gulf residency report for the year 1906-1907 formulated by the British political agent in Bahrain Captain F. B. Prideaux sheds light on the event (on the 9th November 1906 advantage was taken of the presence of the Political Resident (Major P. Z. Cox) in the Arabian Gulf to hold a public meeting for the opening of the Victoria Memorial Charitable Hospital nearly all the contributors to the Rs. 21,000 which the construction had cost were present on the occasion as were also the Chief (ruler) of Bahrain and his sons after the Resident had delivered a short extempore speech, the leading Arab merchant Haji Mugbil Al-Thukair read a reply expressing gratitude to the British Government for their interest in and protection of Bahrain and wishing long life to the Ruler Sheikh Isa Bin Ali) for some the antagonistic stance of Al-Thukair towards the British as expounded in detail further in the text seemed contradictory as he gladly collaborated with them in their efforts to secure funding for the construction of the said hospital in tandem with their other measures to improve public sanitation and hygiene to help curb the spread of virulent diseases in Bahrain's two major towns Manama and Muharraq as he saw his sporadic cooperation with the advanced British in a different light as he would endorse any attempt to better the lives of ordinary Bahrainis even if it meant occasionally cooperating with a foreign colonial power he vehemently opposed in that sense he was a modern practical man, it could not be denied that the least tangible of his philanthropic efforts but perhaps the most life-changing for those affected by it was the hidden assistance he rendered in paying off the debts of struggling insolvent merchants in Bahrain and across the Arabian Gulf with a special priority given to his own debtors who either had their debts temporarily reprieved or cancelled altogether as in this revealing slightly edited citation from the 1913 British Gulf residency report asserting the regional scope of his business interests dated 5th of May 1913 stating as follows (Sheikh Qasim Bin Thani (ruler) of Qatar has asked Yusuf Kanoo to use his influence with Sheikh Mugbil Al-Thukair in bringing about an amiable settlement between the latter and his Qatar debtors who are unable to pay their debts on account of the dullness of the pearl market) surpassed only by Bahrain's preeminent pearl merchant of all time dubbed by the Bahraini people "Father of orphans and protector of widows" for his unequalled altruism and magnanimity Salman Bin Hussain Matar, yet his most important legacy was the founding in mid-1913 of the first officially recognised Literary Society in Bahrain as touched upon earlier located in close proximity to the American Mission Bible Bookshop in Manama on what is now Sheikh Isa Al Kabeer (Isa the Great) Avenue in its own special-purpose premises inaugurated under his patronage and with the full endorsement of the ruler of Bahrain Sheikh Isa Bin Ali Al Khalifa and the moral support of a number of local literary figures and dignitaries led by Bahrain's foremost literary figure in the early twentieth century the acclaimed classical poet Sheikh Ibrahim Bin Muhammad Al Khalifa (1850-1933) in conjunction with Al-Thukair's younger and trusted energetic friend, the influential comprador merchant and shrewd entrepreneur founder and sole owner of Bahrain's first Western-style Bank in 1890 a true man of the world the maverick Yusuf Bin Ahmed Kanoo (1861-1945) this society was not merely an ordinary Literary Society but a modern educational institution in the true sense of the word a wellspring of radiance for the Bahraini people at the time comprising a comprehensive library, a school for teaching Arabic, English, mathematics and Islamic theology and a lecture hall ably managed by the gifted 33-year-old Al-Azhar graduate educator Muhammad Bin Abdulaziz Al-Mana (1882-1965) who would become the first chairman of the Directorate of Knowledge (Ministry of Education) in the newly-established Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the future judge and Grand Mufti (jurisconsult) of Qatar handpicked by Al-Thukair to undertake the onerous task of transforming this institution into a beacon of enlightenment and forward-thinking in a short period of time one of the many cultural contributions of the educated and enlightened Bahraini business elite who were at the vanguard of modernity and progress in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries through their previously mentioned literary salons and also through their lesser-known but no less important financing of numerous free of charge non-formal local schooling initiatives as those were among the earliest semi-modern organised educational institutions to tackle the prevalent illiteracy in Bahrain other than the existing traditional Quranic schools strikingly among the several non-formal schools of the time one stood out as the first female-founded charity school in Bahrain and most likely the entire Gulf established on the island of Muharraq the former capital of Bahrain in 1887 by the noblewoman and philanthropist heiress Sheikha Saida Bint Bishr (1834-1892) who defied all expectations of traditional domestic roles for women in the highly patriarchal society of late-nineteenth-century Bahrain by allocating the revenue of a date palm orchard she owned in Manama as an endowment for the school eponymously named after her nevertheless some of the independent charity schools date back to the early part of the nineteenth century since the earliest recorded charity school in Bahrain was that of Sheikh Isa Bin Rashid in Muharraq in 1829 an eminent cleric of the Island of Muharraq predating the reign of Sheikh Isa by forty years however this proliferation of educational initiatives noticeably in the last third of the nineteenth century was the fruit of the long-lasting stability of Sheikh Isa's reign the role of the Bahraini business elite was not limited to just paving the way for the establishment of modern education but also was directly involved in the development of Western-influenced formal education leading to the opening of the first elementary school for boys in Muharraq in 1919 followed by another for girls in 1928 also in Muharraq with a nine-year gap where some of the senior members of the said elite (such as Matar, Algosaibi, Al-Zayani and Fakhro) served on the first governmental educational regulatory body in the modern history of the country the education supervisory committee (the forerunner of the Ministry of Education) which oversaw the development of the nascent government's educational system chaired by Sheikh Abdullah (1883-1966) the youngest son of the ruler of Bahrain in the honorary position of minister of education, the first and only local state official to hold such a position under British colonial rule in Bahrain this exception was made due to the high status of its occupant considering he was the son of the ruler since the office of a minister was a symbol of sovereignty in an independent sovereign state which was not the case with Bahrain an office he would continue to occupy until his death in 1966 the education committee continued as the main financial backer of education in Bahrain by financing the construction of schools across the country since its formation in 1919 until the mid-1930s when the Bahraini government became financially self-sufficient as a result of stable oil export revenues lastly allowing the government to replenish its empty coffers permanently resolving the protracted financial problems that had beset the Bahraini government for many decades rendering it a thing of the past simultaneously with the establishment of formal education in 1919 another milestone was the creation of the first partially elected municipal councils in both Manama and Muharraq which were dominated by elected and appointed senior members of the Bahraini business elite who played a crucial role in sponsoring a number of infrastructure projects in the country including the Manama port project in 1919 as happened in the pre-oil era throughout the Gulf as the 1920s and 1930s saw the gradual emergence of the modern Bahraini bureaucratic centralised state and good governance replacing the existing centuries-old obsolete mediaeval fiefdom system an inexorable obstacle to human development in its entirety anywhere in the world of the early twentieth-century industrial age, it would be misleading not to mention the facilitating quintessential role of Britain in bringing those reforms to fruition as represented by the four most influential British colonial administrators and officers in the British colonial history of Bahrain whose contributions to the establishment of modern Bahrain could not be ignored or underestimated under any circumstances serving consecutively one after the other starting with the delicate and focal preliminary task of the wily Arabist and orientalist military commander and intelligence officer Captain N. N. E. Bray (1885-1962) as a political agent in Bahrain from November 1918 to June 1919 with clear directives to "seek the amelioration of the internal government by indirect and pacific means and by gaining the confidence and trust of the Sheikh (ruler)" followed by Major H. R. P. Dickson (1881-1959) with a brief yet extremely productive tenure from 1919 to 1920 he would later serve as a political agent in Kuwait from 1929 to 1936 then succeeded by the demoted from Colonel to Major for recklessly violent behaviour in post-World War One Iraq, inadvertently responsible for single-handedly igniting the first spark of what would become "The Iraqi revolt against the British" also known as the 1920 Iraqi Revolt or the Great Iraqi Revolution, the disgraced Anglo-Irish Clive Kirkpatrick Daly (1888-1966) with his divisive and controversial tenure from 1921 to 1926 and finally Charles D. Belgrave (1894-1969) who served as an administrator and financial adviser to the ruler of Bahrain in the newly created office of the "Adviser" to purposefully overshadow the increasingly unpopular post of the political agent for its association with Daly's heavy-handed colonial rule, Belgrave's long tenure from 1926 to 1957 is seen by historians as a consolidation of the modernising reforms of his predecessors particularly Daly, whom Belgrave held in high esteem where the reforms gained more momentum following the steady flow of oil revenues after the discovery of the essential commodity in 1932 as all four carefully selected highly competent Arabist hardy tricenarian officers were assigned by the British Government with specific instructions to introduce all required administrative reforms based on their own discretion in line with the broader British regional strategy of placating the growing social discontent among the disenfranchised lower classes by redressing the pressing multigenerational injustices in Bahraini society specifically in the semi-feudal systems of pearl fishing indentured workers and agricultural farmers coordinating their reforms with the financial and moral support of the cooperative Bahraini business elite under such circumstances the first batch of reforms in education, municipal and fiscal sectors was implemented almost immediately after Bray's assisting initiative by Dickson, whereas customs, judiciary, police and land reform fell to the authoritarian Daly while Belgrave is credited with creating several new government departments including the "Directorate of Religious Endowments" in 1927 his first significant reform after assuming office as a financial adviser to stem the chronic unfettered corruption of some of the local clergy whom the government entrusted to administer religious endowments (waqf) without any supervision or legal accountability followed by the slow process of his decades-long vital initiative to develop modern public utility infrastructure for electricity, water and telephone services which commenced effectively in early 1928 he was also instrumental in securing the oil concession that led to the discovery of oil in 1932 but his everlasting achievement was the founding of the "Minors Funds Directorate" in 1932 to protect the inheritance rights of orphans and widows, a life-changing cross-sectarian institution in the service of the Bahraini people operating without interruption since its inception the first governmental institution of its kind in Bahrain and Belgrave's most enduring legacy however Belgrave faced fierce and persistent opposition from deeply conservative reactionary and corrupt elements within the Sunni and Shiite cross-sectarian main religious composition of Bahrain who sought to obfuscate and obstruct the introduction of such a governmental institution as those elements had a vested interest in maintaining the status quo, deeming such a move as tantamount to heresy but Belgrave's dedication and perseverance prevailed in the end, sadly for many Bahrainis this remarkable feat of his remains a little-known historical fact the upcoming excerpt is one of numerous recurring instances in Belgrave's diary on this motion from 20th February 1931 until it was ratified on 15th January 1932 by the deputy ruler Sheikh Hamad less than a year before his accession to the throne on 9th December after being put forward for public debate by the government involving the wonted religious and mercantile elites of Bahraini society as alluded to earlier illustrating the great lengths Belgrave went to for the creation of this totally new governmental regulatory body with no precedent at least in Bahrain (Sunday 17th Jan 1932 Called on Yusuf Kanoo in the morning and discussed with him the question of the Proclamation which we are issuing ordering all wills to be registered with the Government and no persons to administer estates without getting permission from Government. It will to a certain extent safeguard the rights of widows and orphans who at present are being robbed wholesale) but the timing of the urgency in implementing the reforms cannot be overlooked as it coincided with the execution on the ground of the 1916 secret Sykes-Picot agreement on dividing the legacy of the vanquished Ottoman Empire between the two main World War One victorious powers, Britain and France giving birth to the ubiquitous British coined term "Middle East" recognising the fact that the Hejaz western region of the Arabian Peninsula where the holy cities of Mecca and Medina are located was under direct Ottoman rule and the Peninsula as a whole was and still is an extension of Iraq and the Levant in addition to achieving sustainable political stability in the Gulf as the advanced western Arabian frontier of the British Raj in the Indian subcontinent the jewel in the crown of the British Empire in the final analysis, the seemingly avowed altruistic goals of the reforms in Bahrain were part of the colonial "grafting process" reform assimilation policy of Britain through tactfully transplanting British hegemonic ideas into the newly formed Middle East as in other parts of the British Empire in contrast to its fellow draconian and pompous French to ensure the long-term strategic interests of Britain in the aftermath of World War One, thus everything the British undertook was to this end, Al-Thukair was concerned not only with the spread of modern learning and science but also with the introduction of modern technology in the region as he was either the first or second local to own a motor car in Bahrain in 1908 ten years before the supposed official arrival of the first motor vehicle in the country as depicted in the travel diary of international jeweller Jacques Cartier of the iconic Parisian Cartier jewellery house during his second visit to Bahrain in March 1912 moreover it is worth mentioning that among his numerous noble deeds was the utilisation of his high social status as a business doyen, arbiter of disputes and man of letters both locally and regionally in mustering financial and moral support for the Libyan resistance in the wake of the Italian invasion of Ottoman Libya in October of 1911 and Mussolini's subsequent genocidal fascist regime settler colonialism of this vast sparsely populated semidesert North African Arab nation where Al-Thukair successfully raised twenty thousand rupees in relief aid donations in Bahrain and elsewhere in the Gulf with the effective collaboration of the motivated cleric and merchant Sheikh Abdulwahab Bin Heji Al-Zayani (1863-1925) who travelled to Lengeh (an Arab coastal town in modern-day Iran) and Dubai as part of a Gulf-wide fundraising campaign for the embattled Libyans of Tripoli to be forwarded after the end of the subscription on the steamship SS. "Patiala" on 8th July 1912 to the Ottoman Red Crescent Society in the Iraqi city of Basra to be sent from there via Egypt to Tripoli, Libya as stated in the following are slightly edited excerpts from the 1912 British Gulf residency report concerning the Turco-Italian war and local and regional reactions to it from February and July respectively the first describes Sheikh Abdulwahab Al-Zayani's tireless zeal for collecting donations for the Libyan cause while the second describes Al-Thukair's delivery of those donations, it was clearly a collaborative effort rather than a single individual endeavour however this is not meant to diminish the efforts of Al-Thukair as he was either the driving force behind all of those initiatives or an integral member of the majority of them the first excerpt is as follows (The Arabs of Muharraq incited by an influential Mullah Sheikh Abdulwahab (Al-Zayani) have opened a subscription list for The Red Crescent Society in order to help it in bringing succour to the wounded in Tripoli. So far about Rs. 5,000 have been collected. This sum will be largely increased if the Arabs of Manama, Budaiya and Hidd join in as they have promised to do. The same Mullah is stated to have paid visits to Lengeh and Dubai about a month ago. At Lengeh he succeeded in collecting some 5,000 rupees but met with no success at Dubai where the people were sceptical as to the probability of the money ever reaching its ostensible destination) while the second as with the first shows the British meticulous documentation of the conclusion of the initiative (Sheikh Mugbil Al-Thukair forwarded on the 8th of July per SS. "Patiala" the sum of Rs. 20,000 being the total amount of subscription raised in Bahrain for the Red Crescent Society to Basra for transmission to Tripoli via Egypt) leading to the incensing of the British colonial authorities in Bahrain against him he also played a significant role in the Bahraini relief campaign to provide financial aid to the displaced Muslim refugees of the Balkan war precipitated by the raging Turco-Italian War over Ottoman Libya the "Balkan League" was formed in 1912 under the auspices of the Russians with the aim of putting an end to the Ottoman presence in the Balkans once and for all resulting in the ethnic genocide of nearly one and a half million Balkan Muslims with more than four hundred thousand refugees fleeing to Anatolia as news of the harrowing atrocities reached Bahrain cleric and pearl merchant Sheikh Abdulwahab Bin Heji Al-Zayani referred to earlier one of Bahrain's most revered national figures in the early twentieth century the leader of the first Bahraini independence movement from Britain at the turn of the twentieth century set up a fundraising refugee relief committee with the full backing of the ruler of Bahrain Sheikh Isa Bin Ali Al Khalifa who launched the donation fundraiser with the generous sum of ten thousand rupees appointing Al-Thukair as secretary-treasurer of the committee who rose to the occasion by exerting immense efforts to garner financial aid for the displaced Muslim refugees by exhorting the Bahraini populace to donate to their stranded Muslim brethren through his eloquent oratorical motivational skills, thus by the end of the fundraising the accumulated amount had risen to well over a hundred and four thousand rupees a sizable sum for a tiny country the size of Bahrain in the early twentieth century Sheikh Abdulwahab Bin Heji Al-Zayani and Yusuf Bin Ahmed Kanoo were entrusted by the committee with the task of faithfully delivering the donations to the representative of the Ottoman Governor of Iraq in the Iraqi port city of Basra on 28th December 1912 according to the 1912 report of the British political agency in Bushehr compiled by a number of political agents in the region including Captain D. L. R. Lorimer and Major A. P. Trevor both of whom served in Bahrain the following edited excerpt is part of Major Trevor's section of this thorough report written after he succeeded Lorimer as Political Agent in Bahrain on 1st November 1912 (The subscription raised by the Arabs of Bahrain for the Turkish Red Crescent Society having reached the handsome figure of Rs. 1,04,100 the amount was taken to Basra by SS. "Bahrain" (of the Arab Steamers, Limited) on 28th December by Sheikh Abdulwahab Al-Zayani and Yusuf Kanoo for despatch to the Sultan. Yusuf Kanoo stated that it was their intention to land at Bushehr and send a telegram to the Sultan stating the amount of the sum raised for the Red Crescent Fund and mentioning that it had been subscribed by the Sheikhs and people of Bahrain for the sick and wounded. The object of this telegram of course was to prevent hanky-panky on the part of the Wali (Ottoman Governor) of Basra) it should be pointed out that Sheikh Abdulwahab Al-Zayani was exiled to the Indian port city of Bombay by the British colonial authorities in Bahrain in 1923 along with several of his comrades in the Bahraini independence movement where he died and was buried in less than two years in 1925 on a similar note an oblique account related to a letter dated 11th April of the same year sent by an anonymous Indian Muslim leader requesting Al-Thukair to organise an unspecified cause relief aid campaign for the Muslims of an unnamed Indian province was included in the 1913 report of the British political agency in Bahrain demonstrating the widely acclaimed reputation he achieved through the efficacy of his fundraising campaigns however by the middle of the Great War Al-Thukair had suffered considerable losses in his pearl business wrought in part by the dire effects of war particularly on the luxury goods market but mainly attributed to British interventions aimed at undermining his business interests primarily in Bahrain as some Bahraini historical researchers concluded as a consequence of his active role in supporting the Libyan resistance movement against Italian colonialism as previously stated, needless to say from the British point of view the uncompromising character of Al-Thukair and his unequivocal stance against Western colonialism in all of its forms constituted a threat to British colonial economic hegemony in the region that needed to be addressed decisively by thwarting any attempt to achieve any form of economic independence no matter how insignificant or trivial it might seem as in Al-Thukair's participation as a founding major shareholder with a five percent stake with a number of other wealthy pearl merchants from Bahrain and Kuwait together with the rulers of the said countries and those of Qatar and Oman led and chaired by the regionally famous Kuwaiti pearl merchant Jassim Bin Muhammad Al-Ibrahim (1869-1956) and his fellow leading Bahraini pearl merchant Muhammad Bin Abdulwahab Al-Mishari (1864-1922) in the position of general manager in establishing the first truly regional Arab shareholding firm and the first fully Arab-owned ocean liner shipping company in the Arabian Gulf on 30th April 1911 "The Arab Steamers, Limited" made up for the first time in the modern history of the Gulf of a medium-sized fleet of Western-built passenger steamships the moderately edited following extract from the 1912 report of the British Gulf residency in the Persian (Iranian) coastal city of Bushehr gives an inkling of the size of the company's fleet (The Arab Steamers, Limited-This company started a service to the Arabian Gulf in July 1911 and during the past year, 18 of their steamers have called at Lengeh outwards from Bombay while 10 steamers called on the return journey from Basra) one must note that the fleet included the passenger and cargo ship "Tynesider" renamed "Faris" in early 1912 on which the Parisian jeweller Jacques Cartier (1884-1941) travelled to India and the Arabian Gulf the same year as the company's board named the previously mentioned respected Bahraini banker and merchant Yusuf Bin Ahmed Kanoo as its agent in Bahrain since he was friends with most of the board members incidentally it was Yusuf Kanoo's first shipping agency in 1911, thus launching his shipping agency business which would become the posthumous cornerstone of the eponymous regional multinational Y.B.A. Kanoo conglomerate in the post-World War Two Arabian Gulf oil economy, the following excerpt from the 1912 report of the British Gulf residency describes the sense of jubilation and pride of the Bahraini people at the arrival of the first passenger steamship of "The Arab Steamers, Limited" to bear the name Bahrain on its maiden voyage (SS. Bahrain a new acquisition of the Arab company, arrived at Bahrain on 1st March, fully dressed with flags. It was explained that the decoration was in honour of the first visit of the ship to its name-place. The name is a source of great delight to the local Arabs) apart from the legitimate premise of economic independence the real reason for the establishment of this firm was a response to the monopolistic exploitative practises and racially discriminatory colonial policies of the "British India Steam Navigation Company" (B.I.) against non-European passengers in general and Arabs in particular as attested by the exorbitant ticket prices of Arab travellers not to mention the additional cargo charges exacted on Arab-owned goods exacerbating the whole situation by barring affluent Arab first-class passengers from eating in the dining rooms and halls of its ships rightfully regarded as a disparaging and demeaning hierarchical colonial policy that posed an egregious affront to human dignity irrespective of race, colour, ethnicity or creed commonly practised by Western colonial powers of divesting non-white peoples of their humanity in order to legitimise their subjugation on the other hand unfortunately the fate of this pioneering highly successful company was tragically sealed unceremoniously in 1915 when it was sold to the "Bombay & Persia Steam Navigation Company" (The Mogul Line) as a direct result of insurmountable British pressure after less than five years of operation a pressure that began by dissuading Gulf Arab rulers from investing in such a venture while the company was still in formation under the usual infantilising colonial mendacious pretenses of catastrophic financial losses and no practical feasibility for themselves and their peoples whether in the near or distant future but their spurious discouraging attempts were in vain with the British-owned (B.I.) resorting to an all-out price war immediately after the start of the company's operations all these flagrantly malicious actions by the British helped stoke the flames of Arab patriotic sentiments to the fullest against them in the Gulf by causing Gulf Arabs including Iraqis to travel almost exclusively on the ships of "The Arab Steamers, Limited" still the company managed to command the substantial sum of three-quarters of a million British Indian silver rupees as a sale price exactly threefold the paid-in capital just over four years earlier given the geopolitical situation of the Great War adverse international economic conditions, sending the pearl-based mono-cultural economies of the Gulf into a tailspin along with wartime restrictions on sea travel, to compound matters further, the British Admiralty requisitioned one of the company's vessels, the passenger and cargo ship SS. "Budrie" originally named SS. "Golconda" for the war effort where it ended up being scuttled as a blockship at Scapa Flow in northern Scotland on 3rd October 1915 a clear testament to the enormous success that this ill-fated company enjoyed in its short-lived existence, the following excerpt is from a thoroughly detailed report on the trade movement of Oman by Major S. G. Knox the British consul in Muscat, Oman and its de facto ruler dated 13th April 1912 on sea trade and shipping movement in and out of the country, refers to the effect of the launching of "The Arab Steamers, Limited" on freight shipping rates (The British India Company who have got the contract for the carriage of mails from and to India provide one weekly fast mail service up and down and 1 fortnightly coasting slow mail service both ways. The vessels of the Arab Steamers, Limited have also maintained a weekly service. In consequence of the weekly service maintained by the Arab Steamers, the freights to India, etc., were greatly reduced during the year and those for United States of America enhanced) the doomed fate of this company became a cautionary tale for anyone attempting to challenge British colonial economic hegemony in the region for many decades to come until the defining watershed historical moment of Britain's future role as a global power in the outcome of the new harsh bipolar world order realities of the 1956 Suez crisis (known as the "tripartite aggression" in the Arab world) marking the beginning of the end of the British imperial presence in the Middle East incrementally superseded by American influence in all aspects nevertheless on the positive side racial discrimination, unwarranted prices and mistreatment of Arabs and non-Europeans on British passenger ships came to an end as the British realised though belatedly that such discriminatory practises could impinge on their long-term economic interests in the region epitomising British pragmatism at its finest one of the most contributing factors to the British Imperial enterprise's resounding successes over the centuries in comparison to its other European counterparts and finally culminating in the straw that broke the camel's back Al-Thukair's staunch allegiance to the sworn enemy of Great Britain in the region the Ottoman Turks on the eve of World War One demonstrably embodied itself in his spearheading of a very large Gulf-wide fundraising campaign comparable to, if not larger than his previous ones to raise financial aid for the Ottomans with a special emphasis on enlisting the financial assistance of Arabian Gulf heads of state, leading merchants and clerics where it attained a resounding success under the watchful eye of the British colonial authorities in the region confirmed by a concise reference in the British Archives to the recently deceased ruler of Qatar Sheikh Qasim Bin Muhammad Al-Thani who died on 17th July 1913 in relation to the worrying antagonistic fundraising activities of Al-Thukair the British in anticipation of the looming global conflagration of World War One (as it would be known in the West as the Great War or perhaps more idealistically as "the war to end war" the paradoxical catchphrase created by prolific English author H. G. Wells) as an inevitable conclusion in light of the fraught international situation of the escalating crisis in Europe among the newly allied powers of Britain, France and Russia since the turn of the twentieth century in the face of rising militaristic and economic power of Germany as leader of the central powers mainly the Austro-Hungarians and the beleaguered Ottomans in the same previously referred to 1913 report of the British Gulf residency stated as follows (Sheikh Qasim Bin Muhammad Al-Thani has sent 25 thousand rupees to Sheikh Mugbil and Yusuf Kanoo here with instructions to send the amount to Basra. It is the subscription of the Qatar people for the Turkish relief) a war of the kind that the ailing Ottoman Empire dubbed "The Sick Man of Europe" in the West would be playing its definitive role in deciding the future of the Middle East after four centuries of imperial dominance just as war-weary Britain would be playing itself forty years later in the face of the growing new American influence in the region in the aftermath of the Second World War though in a peaceful conciliatory mode as should be the norm between close strategic partners ultimately Al-Thukair's relentless and far-reaching fervour on all fronts caught up with him forcing the venerable septuagenarian merchant to reluctantly relinquish his most rewarding and cherished achievement the "Bahrain Literary Society" resulting in its permanent closure in 1917 due to the unfortunate fact that he was the sole benefactor of this progressive institution where he spared no expense on his beloved creation during its fruitful albeit brief existence followed soon thereafter by the selling of almost all of his assets in Bahrain starting with the sale of virtually all his Manama properties including his commercial buildings and four houses in early 1917 to his friend and equal in character and exalted social stature prominent pearl merchant Salman Bin Hussain Matar (1837-1944) and ending with his most prized possession his huge date palm orchard named "Tinar" on the outskirts of Manama near the historic Al-Khamis Mosque which he sold to his fellow countryman and successor in heading the Najdi community of Bahrain and Ibn Saud's representative notable pearl merchant Abdulaziz Bin Hassan Algosaibi (1876-1953) shortly before his final departure to his birthplace Unaizah where he would die less than six years later in 1923 at the age of 79 this is undoubtedly the clearest manifestation of his unwavering loyalty to his Central Arabian Najdi roots in spite of making Bahrain his home in every sense for forty years however some of his descendants chose to remain in Bahrain namely his Bahraini-born youngest son Abdulrahman who spent the best part of his life moving back and forth between Bahrain and the birthplace of his ancestors Unaizah and whose descendants still live in Bahrain remarkably those last few years of his life were not spent idly on the contrary notwithstanding his financial woes Al-Thukair rose above it all by erecting a charity school complex with free lodging for teachers in his beloved hometown of Unaizah he also funded the publication of two classical Islamic theological works to be distributed gratuitously among its literate residents as a last token of gratitude to the place that played a pivotal role in shaping his formative years the ultimate proof of his noble unfaltering magnanimous nature in the face of overwhelming vicissitudes of fortune in other words for Al-Thukair moral agency and altruism took precedence over expediency, personal gain and selfish interest this idealised narrative might be viewed by some with incredulity however the veracity of the preceding portrait of Al-Thukair was corroborated by an independent foreign source free of any cultural affiliation to the region represented in the travel diary of the young French jeweller Jacques Cartier who painted a more poignant portrait of him than even some of his local and regional contemporaries devoid of duplicity and guile (such values and principles as some commentators suggested were detrimental to Al-Thukair's business activities of course from a pragmatic unscrupulous perspective) as expected at the death announcement of Al-Thukair at dawn on the 13th of May 1923 in his then small sleepy rural hometown of Unaizah thousands of mourners of all genders and walks of life thronged to join the sombre funeral procession of one of Unaizah's most illustrious natives while paying their respects to the family of this noble pious benevolent man the least honour they could afford for someone who gave so much to his people as word of his passing spread beyond Unaizah, cables and letters of condolence started to pour in from regional potentates, political leaders, notables and leading merchants from around the Arabian Peninsula he was also mourned and deservedly eulogised in Iraqi, Levantine and Egyptian journals and periodicals by clerics, writers and intellectuals from the Gulf to Iraq and all the way to Egypt some of whom were personal friends such as the loyal Muhammad Bin Abdulaziz Al-Mana (1882-1965) the published author, judge and future Grand Mufti of Qatar and at one time the semi-adopted son and business assistant of Al-Thukair who wrote a heart-wrenching eloquently effusive obituary for Al-Thukair titled "The death of a great man and a famous philanthropist" in the respected Egyptian Magazine Al-Manar on 9th June 1923 less than a month after his death the unique closeness of Al-Mana to Al-Thukair in all respects including their shared birthplace allowed him to serve as a key link between Al-Thukair and all of his regional friends another personal friend was Sheikh Muhammad Saleh Khonji (1880-1967) the esteemed Bahraini multi-talented cleric, poet, writer, intellectual, historian, administrator and educator the second Bahraini to graduate from the reputable Al-Azhar Islamic University of Cairo, Egypt in 1902 a worthy member of the 1919 prestigious education supervisory committee and a regular patron of the "Bahrain Literary Society" the brainchild of Al-Thukair before and after its official inauguration in 1913 a prolific correspondent with Sheikh Muhammad Rasheed Rida the owner of Al-Manar Magazine in Cairo who also happened to be an epistolary friend of Al-Thukair as noted further down in the text curiously enough Khonji's upcoming literal translated description of Al-Thukair was the least ornate of his contemporaries written in a plain stoic unrhetorical spare style displaying the typical ascetic attributes of his writings (Mugbil was a well-educated big merchant who had correspondence through his many agents in India, East Africa, Arab countries and Europe may God Almighty rest his soul) Al-Thukair also formed abiding epistolary friendships throughout his adult life which began as a means to quench his lifelong thirst for intellectual knowledge by forming long-standing literary correspondents that evolved into genuine epistolary friendships as in the case of Mahmud Shukri Al-Alusi (1856-1924) the revered multidiscipline Iraqi Islamic thinker, linguist, historian and reformer editor-in-chief of the first Iraqi periodical the renowned weekly newspaper Al-Zawra'a and once professor and mentor to Al-Mana during his student days in Baghdad however there is strong evidence that the friendship of Al-Alusi and Al-Thukair was not solely epistolary as it was perfectly possible for both gentlemen to meet several times during Al-Thukair's numerous business trips to Iraq particularly in the 1890s there was also occasional specific correspondence between the two concerning the latter's generous and varied assistance to Al-Alusi including the forwarding of several batches of books each containing hundreds of copies of a newly printed first edition of an Islamic theological work by Al-Alusi printed and shipped to Iraq from India one batch at a time at Al-Thukair's expense in addition to financial assistance this was the main topic of a series of letters between the two parties dating back to the year 1893 but for the sake of historical accuracy some of the batches in question were consigned by the ruler of Qatar Sheikh Qasim Bin Muhammad Al-Thani to be delivered to Al-Alusi by Al-Thukair a trusted friend of the ruler as was the case with other Arabian Gulf rulers mentioned earlier the other distinguished epistolary friend of his was Sheikh Muhammad Rasheed Rida (1865-1935) the eminent Levantine-Egyptian Islamic theologian reformer, Quranic exegete, author and journalist founder and owner of Al-Manar Magazine in Cairo, Egypt to whom he regularly wrote seeking his scholarly counsel on Islamic jurisprudence issues who was alerted to the demise of Al-Thukair by their mutual friend Al-Mana, eliciting a brief yet meaningful obituary by Rida in his own Al-Manar Magazine; the following text is a literal translation of the obituary (we beseech thee Almighty God to bless the life of our mourning brother the just judge of Qatar and to bestow his mercy and blessings upon our departed brother and to unite us with him {In an Assembly of Truth, in the Presence of a Sovereign Omnipotent} (The Moon Surah (chapter) "verse 55" Quran) and to mitigate the grief of his family and offspring and to guide them in following his righteous path) the first impression of this final example of his lasting correspondence is that it was arguably the only one of his consequential epistolary friendships that remained exclusively epistolary since there is no record of any meeting between Al-Thukair and Rida that had ever occurred since their first correspondence at the end of the nineteenth century until the death of Al-Thukair a premise reinforced by an excessive degree of formality and reserved mutual respect a constant feature mirrored in their writings for each other over the years these are the most noteworthy examples to name a few of the monumental veneration that Al-Thukair received upon his death, an explicit attestation of the high standing that he enjoyed at all levels)

Dec. 25th, 2018, over Bangkok.

 

EF 70-200 mm L 2.8 IS + 2x Extender. In conjunction with the electronic extended IS (total crop of 3.6) viewing angle of 1,440 mm. WQHD crop in post results in a final viewing angle of 2,160 mm.

 

Threefold accelerated video clip.

 

Canon M50 4K Video.

 

Soundtrack 'Cavern' by Hovatoff.

youtube.com audiolibrary music

The love of field and coppice

Of green and shaded lanes,

Of ordered woods and gardens

Is running in your veins.

Strong love of grey-blue distance,

Brown streams and soft, dim skies

I know, but cannot share it,

My love is otherwise.

 

I love a sunburnt country,

A land of sweeping plains,

Of ragged mountain ranges,

Of droughts and flooding rains.

I love her far horizons,

I love her jewel-sea,

Her beauty and her terror

The wide brown land for me!

 

The stark white ring-barked forests,

All tragic to the moon,

The sapphire-misted mountains,

The hot gold hush of noon,

Green tangle of the brushes

Where lithe lianas coil,

And orchids deck the tree-tops,

And ferns the warm dark soil.

 

Core of my heart, my country!

Her pitiless blue sky,

When, sick at heart, around us

We see the cattle die

But then the grey clouds gather,

And we can bless again

The drumming of an army,

The steady soaking rain.

 

Core of my heart, my country!

Land of the rainbow gold,

For flood and fire and famine

She pays us back threefold.

Over the thirsty paddocks,

Watch, after many days,

The filmy veil of greenness

That thickens as we gaze ...

 

An opal-hearted country,

A wilful, lavish land

All you who have not loved her,

You will not understand

though Earth holds many splendours,

Wherever I may die,

I know to what brown country

My homing thoughts will fly.

 

**

Dorothea Mackeller

Dear Hughes ,

 

Right now, you still have the opportunity to claim an extremely rare sword for your energy alignment and transformation...

 

The sword I'm referring to can give you the ability to transform negative energies, protect you from psychic attacks, and safely align your chakras to your deepest desires...

 

...Your Energy Transfiguration Sword, and all its mystical powers...

 

Now, the window to claim how this powerful sword is closing - quickly. It's high in demand, and we're running out very soon.

 

I know you might be on-the-fence right now, but let me share with you a sword healer's story...

 

"Been wearing this (energy transfiguration sword) for a week now. I can feel it clearing my negative vibrations in my sleep.

 

So much wonderful stuff keeps happening to me. Kind of like magic! Which is weird thing to say, but it's true!! I have a healing session 3 days from now, really excited to show it off to my class!! :) Thank you so much!"

 

Just like you, Michael was on-the-fence at first. He wasn't certain that this was going to work, or make any difference for that matter.

 

But now that you're aware of her story, I'm sure you're starting to see with greater clarity the opportunity that stands before you.

 

You can dissolve energy blockages, align your chakras, and become the abundant and enlightened ruler you were meant to be, Hughes !

 

This vibrational sword can be your greatest weapon in your spiritual arsenal.

 

If you'd like to experience the same kind of "vibrational magic" just as Michael did...

 

You can claim your energy transfiguration sword now

 

Best regard

 

Michael

 

Exegesis on Michael the cosmo-telluric elevator..Michael is Metatron like a double-flow mercury elevator or Tesla's flying saucer with his flying men coming from the afterlife... based on Hughes Songe's readings.

 

The tip of this sword is used to find the man who is him, obtaining universal medicine is to become universal medicine oneself. Closer to the most precious skies

Metals are dead because they are covered with a gangue, to see them is to pierce, to pierce and you will see, to perceive, what makes you dead is our evil eye, fixed and stable eye and does not move, it is the ego... fear of death, we project it into the world around us, all you see is what the ego wants you to see, perspective is like a spider's web. Link between microcosm and macrocosm.

We do not see what is swarming everywhere because everything is alive, if we want to be in contact with our lives, we have to die to accept a loss of ego.

 

This verb is the truth, no one wants to renounce illusions, the protocol of the work in the black is a descent to destroy illusions, fast track is brutal, attack the dragon brutal dry track, attack too quickly your guardian of the threshold can drive you crazy. It will be better for you to choose the long, wet way (snake legs), instead of killing him by the dry way (wings),

you polish his scales, file his nails; confront the guardian of the threshold to find a spirit that makes hearts beat

 

Way of dissolution, death of the soul. Great medicine does not kill the spirit of disease. The metaron-michel is here to reveal to you what the evil has said, the disease is this virus in the form of a polyhedron. Gnosticism associates Michael l with the Metatron and the fall of Lucifer, the second guardian of the Temple or the Stargate or the second Sphinx. Metatron (in Hebrew מטטרון or מיטטרון) is the name of a power of the divine world according to Jewish tradition. It appears in the Talmud, the midrash and especially in Jewish mystical literature where it is linked to the biblical patriarch Enoch. In Metatron Michael's legend we find Lucifer falling from the Celestial Temple or the Celestial Jerusalem, he is associated with the emerald he wears on his forehead and a stone that fell from heaven, it is the stone rejected by the ignorant builders and fallen from the cosmic building, it goes back to the messianics. This corner stone or foundation stone rested on a column, a thousand central which carries a box containing a polyhedron with a large number of facets such as the tower of the town hall and especially the metaron. The polyhedron is directly associated with the symbolic function of the demon of darkness, that is, the guardian of the threshold, such as the oiler at the entrance to the temple or tower.

The metaron is like a window open to time and space as a whole, it is the key to its opening and resembles the camera obscura, the dark room, the invisible lodge; the absence of light designates a mysterious paradox and refers you to the higher darkness of non-being, it is one of the explanations of the band that covers the candidate for initiation. The candidate is facing Michel with his curved sword and the dragon is indeed this darkness useful to find the light, the initial spark that lives in him. Lightning seems black and darkness seems to be light...light is black and black is light. The apprentice will look for a passage with the metaron, a hole to open the passage to the celestial ray that the golden Michael symbolizes well at the top of the Church ( destroyed today).

 

As the bonds are established with your Angel, you build, within you, an immaculate cathedral (The Temple) where you can meditate with Hahaiah, where you can talk to him and where he will teach you... It will help you to become aware of what needs to be changed, sometimes radically, in your being or your surroundings.

 

The abyssal darkness actually confronts us with the feminine principle symbolized by Lilith ( Goethe's Green Serpent speaks to us of Lili, the princess who kills as soon as she is kissed, it should also be noted that Lily in English and German is a water lily that the Egyptians used to create a coma to promote an astral journey, that is, an exit from the body as those who lived in the dark of a coma from an accident can tell it). Lilith or Malkuth are under the feets of Michael. The column of the meddle is like the philosophical tree, or the tree of knowledge of paradise. The two cherubs who protect him are Michael and Lucifer. Lucifer is the dragon inside the Earth, like Lilith they are the Dark Side of our personality, the part of shadow with Carl Jung named Nigredo.

 

It seems that historians have passed the salt of legend to make us stories of sulphur and mercury, but they may have forgotten the gnosis? Stargate? To be familiar with this gateway is to realize that we are not captive of the Earth. It is possible to leave it at any time, at least in conscience.

The dream has always been a journey at night into another world, but never before had he realized how he could do it. It is by asking friends from elsewhere that he was simply revealed to him, very amused, that it is by activating his Heart Chakkra that he goes through a "Wormhole" - or "Snakehole" - that his consciousness crosses the web of Space/Time (here called "Spandex Web").

Michael the spark hunter in the heavens, as we seek this spark in us wakes up on March 21, the sun crosses the sword of the statue.The statue could contain messages from heaven, we can understand that in its structure are inscribed the adventures of the future world, it is through astrology, royal science, that the architect of this apocalypse (revelation in Greek, which I suggest you read later in this summary of gnosis) of stone, drawn as a band of premonitory concept, it is also logical that the Ark of Covenant is placed here in Saint Roch.

 

Why Michael? What does Michael mean by that? Is there a relationship between the elevator or Michael's sword as a lifter down there and as an acrobat up there! Why does he have a sword in both cases? Is it to control Stargate smugglers? I promise you that I have not invented anything and everything I suggest to you is taken from very serious books but unreadable by most of our brothers and sisters. "Through the relationships that man can now forge with those who have left the earth, he not only has material proof of the existence and individuality of the soul, but he understands the solidarity that connects the living and the dead of this world, and those of this world with those of the other worlds. He knows their situation in the spirit world; he follows them in their migrations; he is a witness to their joys and sorrows; he knows why they are happy or unhappy, and the fate that awaits him himself according to the good or evil he does. These relationships initiate him to the future life, which he can observe in all its stages, in all its adventures; the future is no longer a fuzzy hope: it is a positive fact, a mathematical conviction. Then death is no longer frightening, for it is for him the deliverance, the door to true life. »

 

I understand well the terrible inconvenience of those who threw anathema on Allan Kardec and above all I wonder how to remain frozen in this esotericism that sticks so well with the images?

 

I would like to continue this game of comparison but I am afraid to do too much when perhaps you have already felt a saturation when reading this summary of Gnosticism to try to enter the Belfry, which of course I could not do as a good tourist that I am here below. the visible part of man manifests to us the invisible part as the receiver of the telephone reproduces the news sent from afar. we must not consider man, either individually or collectively, as isolated from the rest of visible and invisible Nature. This is the mistake of the materialists.

Remember that the invisible part of man consists of two main principles: the astral body and the psychic being on the one hand, and the conscious Spirit on the other. The invisible part of man consists of two great principles: the astral body and the psychic being, and the conscious Spirit.

Nature conceived as a special entity also includes, in its invisible part, an astral plane, a psychic plane on the one hand, and a divine plane on the other.

Knowledge of the astral plane is essential if we want to understand the alchemical theories, the alchemical symbolism and the symbols of Saint Michael; here below all the apparently strange phenomena, likely to be produced by man, are developed in such a particular way, so you can imagine that this small summary is indispensable to just explain the portal of the entrance to this initiation in Saint Roch church which ended in Ark of Convenient. Michael in the guardian of this journey inside supernatural space, Michael is like the Sphinx, he guaranteed the quality of our soul.

 

The following description is only indicative, I suggest another way in contrast to that of the alchemists who describe Saint Michael and the dragon as the Great Work of the experienced alchemist and who generally tell us about the three colors of the work: black, white, red and gold, colors of the coat of arms of Saint Roch but also of many regions and cities in the World. The alchemists began the journey at the northern gate of the church of Saint Roch, which they considered to be the Sphinx, the key to access the Temple. They walk in the nave, starting with Saint Michael and ending with the Holy Grail in the Ark of the Covenant.

 

Are you still reading, my friend? If yes!!!!! Well done, something is happening that relies as much as possible on the constitution of the human being to understand what remains to be exposed. What is meant by this term, which seems so strange, of the astral plane? To make an idea of what is meant in occultism by the second property of the astral plane: the creation of forms. Everything is first created in the divine world in principle, that is, in the power of being, analogous to the idea in man. This principle then passes into the astral plane and manifests itself "in negative" - that is, everything that was luminous in the principle becomes obscure, and conversely everything that was obscure becomes luminous; it is not the exact image of the principle that manifests itself, it is the transfer of this image. - Once the transfer is obtained, the "astral" creation is finished.

The transmutation of your body is carried out with the, creative fluids of the Archetype (both psychological and chemical character that Paracelsus and Jung use to classify humans into seven categories, you will find that seven is everywhere here in Saint Roch).

 

Inside the conservative fluids of the Astral, there are particular agents that activate the fluids. Here it is Saint Michael with his flaming and fluid sword, his metal undulating at the entrance of the temple.

 

Are you still visible here in front of his smoky lines? my friend? I try to simplify as much as possible what alchemists and mystics use in their daily work. Are you looking at Michel's face? Take a good look at his blindfolded eyes! It is also the initiation of the apprentice! To modify the form, it will be necessary to create a new mold, this is what God will be able to do immediately and man meditatingly, to better say in the middle. Since all that is visible is the manifestation and realization of an invisible idea as indicated by Michel's head.

The Alchemist symbolism teaches you that there exists, in Nature, a hierarchy of psychic beings, just as there exists in man, from the bone cell to the nerve cell, via red blood cells, a true hierarchy of figurative elements. The red blood cells are precisely in the Dragon's blood under Michel's feet.

 

The psychic beings who inhabit the area in which the physico-chemical forces act have been given the name elementals or elemental spirits. They are similar to blood cells and especially to human leukocytes. You see, we still have the idea of the dragon's blood.

Elementals act in the lower layers of the astral plane in immediate relationship to the physical plane.

The elementals, obey the good or bad will that directs them, who are irresponsible for their actions while being intelligent, could raise curious controversies in these times of doubt about the European construction... It is so much to kill the dragon of extremists who act under the impulse of the prehistoric ego, then dead to the dragon and live The Red Devils....

To master the basics, not to let them get away with it, especially never to keep quiet and to take stock of military discipline. The army chief was able to gather around him through the devotion or fear of the conscious and responsible beings, who were willing or forced to enslave their will to that of the chief. This second action is much more difficult than the action on the dog. The dog is represented in the head of the dragon killed by Saint Georges, it is this faithful force that acts on the orders of its master. Saint Michael in the middle way, on the other hand, he tames the elementary ones, he tramples on a kind of devil that I suggest you suggest as the homonculus, a famous being created by Paracelsus but also omnipresent among the alchemists.

The same is true in the astral plane, where the elementary obeys only out of devotion or fear, but always remains free to resist the will of the Necromancer.

To give this difficult subject as much clarity as possible, it is not useless to clearly specify the term strength often used in this study, as representing a being, without us having had the opportunity to define it. It is necessary to imagine that according to the principles set out here, everything in nature is personified, even if it is spiritual. As well as the atom, the soul is a monad, and we know that matter is only a game of resistance of the monads. Forces here are called monadic beings who are devoid of power (i. e. movement, therefore) but without initiative, left to the initiative of others: we can say that they are like slaves in the world of monads.

Friend, I believe that we must humbly seek the meaning of monads, this is what I quickly propose to you apart from our imaginary conversation or my soliloquy inspired by several books that I would not hesitate to show you at the end of our discussion on the human spirit. Since the discovery of the informational energy field, a level of matter where all particles and forces are unified, modern science has begun to move towards a different perception of the Universe. The material we believe to be stable is in a state of constant flow and comes entirely from a single source, and will eventually return to that source. From this new paradigm there is little left to hang on to in terms of a belief in materialism.

This primordial energy can include an infinite number of levels that can drop deeper and deeper to the last mysterious level because they are non-manifest. This level has the characteristics of a Cosmic Intelligence (Cosmic Apex) that acts continuously by expressing itself creatively through the energy field, in order to create our visible world and thus become aware of its existence. Our purely materialistic vision of a frozen world where consciousness is only a phenomenon of cerebral physico-chemical activity is collapsing.

The question about the true nature of consciousness is now becoming more relevant to science. Universal Consciousness: The occult philosophies of all times have always taught that all things are underpinned by a single invisible cause, a common thread runs through them all, Unity, Consciousness as the cornerstone of this Unity.

The teaching to the Shade of the Right Hand teaches us that this primary cause from which man springs is threefold by nature: the Unified Spiritual Triad, the Monad, the One in All, the All, the Creative Intelligence of the world. The starting point of all creation, the Unified Triad is: the creative intelligence, the creative medium and the result of creation.

We find this Unified Triad in the quantum description of the informational energy field or Unified Field: The Cosmic Apex: the creative intelligence; the informational energy field: the creative medium; the physical world of matter: the result of creation.

The Unified Triad is the gemstone of most of the great religious, philosophical and spiritual traditions

 

If we refer to the human constitution, we may better understand this definition by noting that each of the three trinities includes a spontaneity, a force and an instrument of information (each of these elements being composed of a set of atoms, therefore of monads). For example, in the case of a sensation for the physical body, spontaneity is external and appears through the material body, is transmitted by the vital force, and translated by the astral body. For the soul, spontaneity is in the mind; it is transmitted by the power of the inner mind and is translated into desire in the ancestral soul. For the spiritual body, spontaneity is sometimes in the ghost, sometimes in the ancestral soul (depending on the meaning). Kama is always the force. 229 According to the previous definition of force, one can imagine the potential force as the ethereal atom that has received some defined, special impulse, but currently prevented by a more powerful opposite force. To continue the same comparison, they are slave monads entrusted with a mission that they cannot immediately accomplish but to which they do not renounce: faithful representatives of the will that led them, they will accomplish it as soon as they find the ability to do so.

 

These ethereal beings can receive from their creator, under certain conditions, a precise goal: this is what explains, for example, the effect of blessings, curses, spells of all kinds. But, most of the time, this direction specifies their lack; they have only an indefinite impulse that leaves them wandering, so to speak, in the astral crowd, among the living whom they covet, capable only, by their origin, of being attracted by desires, forces and elementals of the same kind. Thus thoughts are beings endowed with an existence of their own as long as they are expressed, that is, externalized by their author. Gathered by analogical sympathies, according to the mechanical law of force of the same direction, they multiply by concentrating into a common resultant. It is then that everyone feels, with a more or less obscure consciousness, that an idea is in the air, or that at least the sensitives perceive it and sometimes state it as a reality already assured, but which, for the present, is still invisible, still in power to be. We then receive from them a hunch, a forecast of future things, an oracle. Human desires are not the only ones to form such elementals; most animals express desires adapted to the nature of their desires, perhaps also inspired by the sight of the more sophisticated organs they see functioning in other earthly beings. This can explain the abundance of these isolated organs and these monstrous organ couplings that appear floating in the astral to almost all clairvoyant beginners. These are the desires, not yet fulfilled by the Universal, of the inferior being in ideal aspiration towards new perfectionings; the efforts of Nature to rise towards the power and unity of the Being, efforts that will translate into the differential modifications that Darwin has so well revealed to us. It is almost useless to add that we can project out of ourselves a magnetic force charged with vital force only (i. e. borrowed from the body alone), or with astral body, excluding desire, we then make pure magnetism or the exteriorization of more or less diffuse astral body (the latter being especially the case of mediums). Finally, the astral sea that shelters this countless population is agitated, at the same time, itself, in all directions, by undulating movements from the same source. The acts, the emotions of the incarnated beings, the very desires and the subsequent movements of the ethereal beings, produce as many luminous, calorific, electric, magnetic vibrations especially, which propagate, as we know, in this environment, by crossing each other without destroying each other, which are kept there, partly reflected by the envelope of the upper tourbillon and persist there for a time measured on their intensity and finesse. Thus the ethereal form, or the act that carries it out, in matter, have only a finite duration like them: the force that created them is exhausted by exercising itself in the mass into which it is immersed; they perish gnawed, so to speak, by the waves of the immense sea in which they are born, absorbed in the astral fire; but the influence that they have generated their survival propagated in the astral in the form of vibrations of a personal character; they modify the regime of this common environment by creating lines of force, new habits, and, with them, new desires. In this way it is not to be, no gesture, no act, no particular thought that does not contribute to transform the astral body of the planet and, by it, the aspirations of its inhabitants. This is how the astral records all our vital manifestations, making, in the biology of our star, a function of memory, for the greatest benefit of the evolution that we come to achieve there.

 

The mass production of increasingly human children and frustration, from the first months of life, of basic needs that only a balanced, fully available mother could have filled. These unmet needs are still expressed in the form of various neuroses in most "adults" (biologically adults, but psychologically frustrated children) and precipitate the modern societies that these infantile adults find in increasingly unbalanced imbalances. - Mediocre, and in a violence without brake erected in theological value and fueling the revolt in perpetuity. This "desert" repression of the maternal function and of feminine values ​​in general, is the temporary triumph of the Dragon, which, driven out of the sky by Michael, can freely exercise its ravages on the land where it was precipitated (we will see the modalities from this exercise in the wings of Michael), with the emergence of the two Beasts.) That is to say that, cut off from its divine source (the sky) the human mind becomes entirely destructive, only escape, those who overcame him "by the blood of the Lamb and because of their testimony", that is to say, by the acceptance (the sacrifice of the Lamb) replacing the revolt, and by the capacity to see in a neutral way what happens (the testimony), without being carried away by the emotion and the refusal . The Dragon is designated as the "devil", and we saw at the beginning of this book the Greek etymology of this word: Dia-ballin, that is to say, cut, separate, Interpose, between our depth feminine 2 (which becomes unconscious: repressed in the desert) and the multiple identifications constituting our conscious but illusory, unstable and inconsistent self.

THE MENTAL DRAGON

The Dragon is thus the mind of modern man, made of reflexive thoughts cut off from any transcendent source, of increasingly coarse and childish emotions, thoughts and emotions that lead him into activities increasingly destructive for himself, for others and for the cosmos. The imposition of more and more intense emotions and sensations on the man by the dragon is symbolized by his fiery red color (this is the devouring side of the fire that is underlined) and their empire over the whole world. humanity by its ten horns its seven crowns. This absolute power of the Dragon-mind over humanity has been able to spread and expand, as we have seen, only thanks to this fascination with images imposed by the media, and particularly animated images of the cinema. and television, which imposed themselves in a dictatorial way on the psyche of human beings previously deprived of any defense by the disappearance of the stable reference points offered them by their doctrines and liturgies. (The Dragon "dropped 3. What Lanza Del Vasto expresses when he says:" The great artist is one who does not raise more emotions than he can purify. from heaven one third of the stars ".) This fascinating hold of pervelous images is evoked, as we will see in the next chapter, by the image of the beast to whom he was given a spirit, so that the image of the Beast parlar ". This is the most complete subversion of the normal role of the image as it was exercised in any traditional society, and especially in the Christian Middle Ages. The images then exerted their power over the psyche not by the fascination of artificial animation and the strong sensations it raises, but by the "numinous", sacred quality of their form and content. They played a considerable part in the education of men, most of whom were illiterate, and who received education only by the words of clerics and by these symbolic images: architectures, paintings, sculptures of churches and cathedrals, and especially stained-glass windows whose medallions recounted the edifying life of Christ, the Virgin, and the saints with low windows, and whose great archetypal figures of high windows transmitted in the light to the cut consciousness, still awakened at that time, spiritual influences. heavenly. It is by the "war made to the descent of the woman", conscience cut hunted in the desert, the Dragon has been able to destroy in a few centuries (and especially the last fifty years) these media of refined emotions giving a high the idea of ​​man, and to substitute for them a world of images carrying the most gross emotions and destructive sensations for the psyche. But this war, the Dragon could only carry it through two creatures devoted to his orders, of which he has aroused the existence, and which are the two beasts which will now be described to us in next stage.

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

Universal All-Pervading Presence of Life[edit]

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

 

The Individualized "I AM" Presence[edit]

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

 

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

 

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

 

Twin Flames[edit]

Saint Germain explained through Guy Ballard:

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

Beliefs about Ascended Masters[edit]

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

 

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

 

Unveiled Mysteries records:

 

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

 

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

Unveiled Mysteries states:

 

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

 

Spiritual Hierarchy[edit]

Main article: Spiritual Hierarchy

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

 

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

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

 

The Magic Presence states:

 

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

 

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

 

Violet Flame[edit]

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

 

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

 

Ascension[edit]

Main article: Initiation (Theosophy)

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

 

Mastery of the matter planes[edit]

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

 

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

 

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

 

Fulfillment of the Divine Plan[edit]

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

 

Threefold Flame[edit]

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

 

The fall of man[edit]

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

 

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

 

Dictations[edit]

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

 

Dawning Golden Age[edit]

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

 

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

 

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

 

The Aquarian Church[edit]

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

 

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ascended_Master_Teachings

 

Archangel Zadkiel said:

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

"Remember To Enter The Violet Flame Cathedral.

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

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

 

Spiritual Books on the Saint Germain & the Violet Flame:

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

 

Saint Germain on Alchemy: Formulas for Self-Transformation

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

Saint Germain: Master Alchemist

Violet Flame to Heal Body, Mind and Soul

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

The Masters and their Retreats

Lords of the Seven Rays: Mirror of Consciousness

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

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

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

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

 

Interior of the Cave of Symbols

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

 

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

 

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

 

Cave of Symbols: Home to Many Inventions

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

 

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

 

Opportunity to Spiritually Travel to Saint Germain's Retreat

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

 

The Golden Atomic Accelerator Chair

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

 

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

 

Entering Further into the Retreat

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

 

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

 

The Cosmic Mirror

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

 

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

 

The Sphere of Light

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

Violet Flame Call by Saint Germain

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

 

I AM a being of violet fire,

I AM the purity God desires.

 

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

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

 

Ascended Master Retreats of the Chohans

 

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

El Morya and the Temple of Good Will near Darjeeling India

Lord Lanto and the Royal Teton Retreat in Wyoming

Paul the Venetian Le Château De Liberté In Southern France

Serapis Bey and the Ascension Temple and Retreat at Luxor

Hilarion and the Temple of Truth over Crete

Lady Master Nada and the Arabian Retreat

Saint Germain and the Cave of Symbols in the Rocky Mountains

Maha Chohan and the Temple of Comfort over Sri Lanka

Summit Lighthouse Books on the Chohans of the Rays

 

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

 

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

Length 12.8 mm. Menai Strait, Wales. June 2018. Leg. P. Brazier and L. Kay.

Full SPECIES DESCRIPTION BELOW

PDF available at: www.researchgate.net/publication/358021760_Ancula_gibbosa...

Sets of OTHER SPECIES at: www.flickr.com/photos/56388191@N08/collections/

 

Ancula gibbosa (Risso, 1818)

 

Current taxonomy: World Register of Marine Species www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=140029

Synonyms Tritonia gibbosa Risso, 1818; Polycera cristata Alder, 1841; Ancula cristata (Alder, 1841);

 

GLOSSARY BELOW

 

Description (of European Form A)

In Britain, adults of this small species are usually about 13 mm long (Alder and Hancock, 1845 -55) fig. 1 flic.kr/p/2mTNK9K and many finds are much smaller. Claims of up to 33 mm length probably relate to A. pacifica MacFarland, 1905, which was synonymised with A. gibbosa by Thompson and Brown (1984). The body is smooth, translucent white and sometimes reveals pinkish, brownish and opaque white viscera fig. 2 flic.kr/p/2mTS6PE and fig. 10 flic.kr/p/2mTQ6sq . On the slender, tapering tail, there is a yellow or orange, medial, dorsal ridge which extends part or all the way to the gills fig. 3 flic.kr/p/2mTTkPT . The mantle edge is indiscernible apart from a raised rim bearing up to seven elongate, distally slightly-swollen, yellow- or orange-tipped, pallial processes at either side of the gills fig. 4 flic.kr/p/2mTS6ML . Three tripinnate, white gills, with yellow or orange tips and opaque white spheroids in the translucent stems and branches, are arranged around the white anal papilla fig. 5 flic.kr/p/2mTS6Ld ; one at the anterior and one at either side fig. 6 flic.kr/p/2mTS6Jj . The yellow or orange pigment is sometimes absent from some or all of the features above fig. 7 flic.kr/p/2mTNQHL .

The rhinophores have up to twelve prominent, translucent white lamellae which are widely divided on the anterior and have yellow or orange pigment distally fig. 8 flic.kr/p/2mTQ6u4 . The blunt apex protruding above the lamellae is often tilted forwards. The translucent, swollen, smooth base has two forward-pointing, long, linear, finely tapered, white pallial processes which are usually yellow or orange distally. The yellow or orange pigment is sometimes absent from the rhinophores and pallial processes.

The head consists of the mouth, its surrounds and a pair of small, white oral tentacles fig. 9 flic.kr/p/2mTS6vP which may have yellow or orange tips. There are no linear processes on the anterior edge of the head, but the forward-pointing pallial processes at the base of the rhinophores are often mistaken for them in dorsal view fig. 3 flic.kr/p/2mTTkPT . The long, narrow, white foot tapers evenly in its posterior half to a fine posterior point. It has no propodial tentacles fig. 9 flic.kr/p/2mTS6vP . Its translucency and that of the upper body may reveal several internal organs fig. 10 flic.kr/p/2mTQ6sq . In dorsal view, only small parts of the foot protrude into sight fig. 3 flic.kr/p/2mTTkPT .

 

Key identification features*

A. gibbosa fig. 2 flic.kr/p/2mTS6PE

1) Two forward-pointing, not strongly-curved, linear processes at base of each rhinophore.

2) Several erect linear processes by each side of the gills.

3) Anterior of foot has no propodial tentacles fig. 9 flic.kr/p/2mTS6vP .

4) No linear processes on the anterior edge of the head.

5) Orange or yellow pigment, when present, confined to distal part of appendages and a medial line to the rear of the gills.

6) Adults usually reach about 13 mm length.

*These features relate to the form of A. gibbosa sensu lato found in Europe. For American and Asiatic forms see ‘Discussion of distribution and status’ below.

 

Similar species

Ancula pacifica MacFarland, 1905, fig. 11 flic.kr/p/2mTNQro .

A. pacifica occurs on the Pacific coast of the USA and possibly in Japan. Image labelled ‘A. gibbosa’ [sensu lato] at en.seaslug.world/species/ancula_gibbosa (Baba, 1990 and Nakano, 2018).

All forms are regarded as a synonym of A. gibbosa by Thompson and Brown (1984) and on WoRMS (accessed 23 December, 2021) but Atlantic A. gibbosa collected by J. Goddard from Maine, USA were found by Harris (2011) to be genetically distinct from Pacific A. pacifica in the collections at the California Academy of Sciences (J. Goddard, pers. comm. 22 December 2021, via T. Gosliner).

1 to 4) Features as A. gibbosa.

5) Orange pigment on distal part of appendages, a dorsal line from between the rhinophores to the tip of the tail interrupted by the gills, and a dorso-lateral line from each rhinophore to under the linear processes by the gills and a short distance beyond the posterior process (MacFarland, 1905). Sometimes the lines are broken or fragmentary.

6) “the largest specimen yet taken measured 29 mm in length” (MacFarland, 1966).

7) CO1 sequences of Californian A. pacifica differ by over 10% from those of Atlantic A. gibbosa in Europe and eastern America (BOLD).

 

Trapania pallida Kress, 1968 fig. 12 flic.kr/p/2mTTkqG , T. tartantella (Ihering, 1886) fig. 13 flic.kr/p/2mTS6mW and T. maculata Haefelfinger, 1960.

1) Single, elongate process curves backwards from the base of each rhinophore.

2) Single, elongate process curves backwards at each side of the gills.

3) Anterior of foot has distinct protruding propodial tentacles.

4) No linear processes on the anterior edge of the head.

5) Orange or yellow pigment conspicuous on body of T. tarantella and T. maculata; absent from T. pallida.

 

Polycera quadrilineata (O. F. Müller, 1776) fig. 14 flic.kr/p/2mTNQhF and P. faeroensis Lemche, 1929.

1) No elongate processes at base of rhinophore.

2) Single, not strongly-curved, backward-pointing, linear process at each side of the gills.

3) Anterior of foot expanded into unobtrusive, small, propodial tentacles.

4) Four or more linear processes on the anterior edge of the mantle over the head.

5) Orange or yellow lines and marks frequent on body of P. quadrilineata, but usually confined to appendages, a dorsal line posterior of the gills and, occasionally, thin lateral lines on P. faeroensis.

 

Habits and ecology

A. gibbosa lives on the lower shore and sublittorally to about 100 m. Formerly, it was thought to feed on compound ascidians (Thompson & Brown, 1984), but this was because it was found feeding on small, overlooked Entoprocta growing epizoically on the ascidians. It is also found on Entoprocta living on other sessile organisms fig. 15 flic.kr/p/2mTQ6ez and inanimate objects, even in unpromising habitats such as a sand bag embedded in sand in the Mersey Estuary fig. 16 flic.kr/p/2mTS6fd .

Like other nudibranchs, A. gibbosa is a simultaneous hermaphrodite. It deposits an irregularly curved ribbon of spawn which sometime forms loops. It may be wrapped around sessile organisms or attached by its edge to hard surfaces. Spawn masses have been recorded in most months in Britain fig. 17 flic.kr/p/2mTS6cY . Shelled veliger larvae hatch from the spawn and live in the plankton before transforming into adult form.

 

Discussion of distribution and status

There is uncertainty about the limits of distribution because a complex of imperfectly understood species is reported from the Atlantic and Pacific in literature and recording schemes as Ancula gibbosa (Risso, 1818) sensu lato. GBIF map www.gbif.org/species/2291976 . The following forms are based on morphological features visible in images, some molecular sequencing and geographical locations fig. 22 flic.kr/p/2mXXh6R . Further sequencing will probably necessitate re-evaluation of the situation. If you are able and willing to supply specimens in 95% ethanol alcohol of Ancula specimens from anywhere in the world to assist molecular research please contact Dr Marta Pola at marta.pola@uam.es

Form A

Form A has a translucent white body with orange or yellow pigment restricted to the tips of appendages and a dorsal line to the rear of the gills fig. 3 flic.kr/p/2mTTkPT . Some or all of the orange/yellow may be missing fig. 7 flic.kr/p/2mTNQHL ; the original description of the species by Risso (1818) seems to have been of an all-white specimen. Form A lacks any orange or yellow marks or lines on the main body in front of the gills.

This form is found on the coasts of Europe and, as the original description was made at Nice, should be accepted as Ancula gibbosa (Risso, 1818) sensu stricto. There are many records with photographs of it from Brittany northwards to the Arctic, except for the inner Baltic and parts of the southern North Sea. In Britain it is widespread but usually found in small numbers, perhaps owing to its small size and small, cryptic prey. U.K. distribution map, NBN species.nbnatlas.org/species/NBNSYS0000173816 .

In contrast, there are remarkably few records with images from further south than Brittany. Of over 200 images on Flickr www.flickr.com/search/?q=Ancula%20gibbosa (accessed 19 January 2022) not one was further south in Europe than Brittany. The image in a Galicia mollusc guide (Trigo et al., 2018) is of an Irish specimen, but there are online photographs from Galicia at www.asturnatura.com/fotografia/submarina-fotosub/ancula-g... . The only photographs I have found of a Mediterranean specimen are from the wreck of the Paguro drilling platform at about 20 m depth, 22 km offshore from Ravenna in the northern Adriatic fig. 18 flic.kr/p/2mY6FGi A large group of divers and shore workers who search for nudibranchs in Catalonia have found no A. gibbosa. The only record, without supporting image, in their area was a find on ascidians fouling a ship at Barcelona (Arias & Morales, 1963). It is possible that it was an alien stowaway or misidentification (M. Pontes, pers. comm. 5 January 2022). The only other published record of A. gibbosa in the Mediterranean traced by M. Pontes was of an apparently all-white specimen by Risso (1818) at the port of Nice where it appears that no further records of the species with images have been made in the two centuries since. An English translation of Risso’s imperfect description is provided in an appendix to this account. Another possible explanation for the scarcity of southern records is that A. gibbosa lives in the cooler water at greater depths beyond most diver activity in the Mediterranean and Portuguese Atlantic. Though the available southern specimens look like the northern ones, there remains the possibility that molecular sequencing might show genetic differences between them. If this proves the case, the northern specimens would probably revert to Ancula cristata (Alder, 1841) which was further described and illustrated in complete, precise detail in Alder and Hancock (1845-1855). That name was in general use until Thompson and Brown (1984) combined it with Ancula gibbosa (Risso, 1818).

Form B

Form B occurs on the Atlantic coast of North America from the St Lawrence Estuary to Maine or possibly Connecticut fig. 22 flic.kr/p/2mXXh6R . Seven of the eight images of it on iNaturalist (accessed January 2022) are all-white specimens fig. 19 flic.kr/p/2mTNQ8s resembling all-white specimens of form A; only one had yellow on the tips of some appendages and none had the orange or yellow dorsal line to the rear of the gills found on most of form A. The single publicly available sequence of an A. gibbosa from eastern North America in GenBank (KP340388) has a CO1 gene difference of 3.25% from European specimens in both GenBank and the Barcode of Life Database (BOLD), raising the possibility of it being considered as a species distinct from A. gibbosa sensu stricto (K. Fletcher, pers. comm. 28 December 2021).

Form C

Form C is known on the Pacific coast of North America, mainly British Columbia, Canada but extending from the southern tip of Alaska (Millen, 1989) southwards to the north of California (Bairstow, 2019) fig. 22 flic.kr/p/2mXXh6R . Sixteen of twenty images of it on iNaturalist (accessed January 2022) had small amounts of orange or yellow pigment on some appendages fig. 20 flic.kr/p/2mUcpLg , four were completely white and none had the orange or yellow dorsal line to the rear of the gills found on most of form A. Apart from the greater prevalence in the sample of orange or yellow tips on appendages it is very similar to form B in the Atlantic coast of North America. Clarification with molecular sequencing of the relationship between it and forms A and B is needed.

Form D

Form D is translucent white with plentiful opaque white spots, and white or yellowish white pigment on appendages. There is a clear photograph of it from Vancouver where it was found locally abundant on a muddy substrate fig. 21 flic.kr/p/2mUcpHq but it seems much rarer elsewhere than form C. Its extent beyond Vancouver is unknown, but two spotted-specimens regarded as A. gibbosa are described and illustrated from the Russian Far East in Chichvarkhin (2016, fig 3G) fig. 22 flic.kr/p/2mXXh6R . Currently, there are no public molecular sequences of spotted A. gibbosa from the eastern or western Pacific (J. Goddard, pers. comm. 27 December 2021, via K. Fletcher).

Form E

Form E is the Ancula pacifica of MacFarland (1905). It occurs on the Pacific coast of California and, sometimes in years of warm El Niño events such as 2015, Oregon and Washington, overlapping the southern limit of form C fig. 22 (Goddard, 1984; K. Fletcher and J. Goddard, pers. comm. 28 December 2021). It is easily distinguished from all the other forms by three orange lines, a dorsal and dorso-laterals, on the body in front of the gills fig. 11 flic.kr/p/2mTNQro . The lines are sometimes fragmented. There is over 10% difference between CO1 sequences of Californian A. pacifica and forms A and B in the Atlantic. See ‘Similar species’ above for more detail.

Line drawings of Japanese specimens in Baba (1990) resemble Californian Ancula pacifica with fragmentary three lines in front of the gills, and the text states, “my specimens are almost exactly the same as Ancula pacifica MacFarland, 1905 (s.s.) in the external body form, the dorsal color pattern and the internal structures such as the radular teeth and penial hooks.” Twelve photographs of Japanese specimens at en.seaslug.world/species/ancula_gibbosa/9002 (accessed January 2020) resemble the drawings in Baba (1990).

Californian Ancula pacifica MacFarland, 1905 is clearly a valid species, but molecular sequencing is required to ascertain its relationship with northern Pacific forms C and D and Japanese form E.

 

Appendix

Original description of Ancula gibbosa (Risso, 1818) as Tritonia gibbosa Risso, 1818 from Nice, France .

Latin

“T. bossue. T. gibbosa, N.

T. corpore albo, lutescente, dorso gibbosa; branchiis lateralibus, in seriebus sex dispositis, N.”

French

“Corps renflé, oblong, pointu postérieurement, d’un blanc jaunàtre, bombé en dessus, avec un espѐce de bosse denticulée au milieu du dos. Còtés latéraux garnis de six rangées de touffes de tubercules durs, irréguliers. Expansion membraneuse du dessous de la bouche arrondie. Tentacules blancs, leur tube divisé au sommet en trois languettes simples. Pied étroit , canaliculé blanchàtre pointillé de brun.

Long., 0012-0014; larg. 003-004. Appar. mars, avril. Séjour parmi les coralines.”

English translation

“T. hunchback. T. gibbosa“, N.

“T. body yellowish white, humped on the back; lateral gills, arranged in rows of six“ , N.

“Body swollen, oblong, pointed posteriorly, of a yellowish white, domed above, with a kind of denticulate bump in the middle of the back. Lateral sides furnished with six rows of tufts of hard, irregular tubercles. Membranous expansion of the underside of the mouth rounded. White tentacles, their tube divided at the top into three simple strips. Foot narrow, canaliculate whitish dotted with brown. Length 27-31.6 mm; width 6.8-9 mm. Appears in March April. Lives among Corallina.”

 

Parts of this description are difficult to understand and/or relate to body features of A. gibbosa. The translation was checked by French malacologists, who wrote “We have to admit that we also have difficulties with the description by Risso when looking at our photos. Even being native French speakers, we have problems understanding what he describes.” The description omits the diagnostic pair of processes at the base of each rhinophore, says the foot is dotted with brown, and seems to describe rhinophoral sheaths, making questionable the identity of what he described and the assumption that it is conspecific with Ancula cristata (Alder, 1841).

 

Acknowledgements

For use of images, I gratefully thank Jørn Ari, David Fenwick www.aphotomarine.com , Jeff Goddard, Filippo Ioni www.facebook.com/filippo.subegoist/ , Paula Lightfoot, Neil McDaniel, Poul E. Rasmussen and Sara Thiebaud. I thank Paul Brazier and Lucy Kay for specimens to photograph, and Marta Pola and Florence & Marc Cochu nature22.com/ for information. I am greatly indebted to Karin Fletcher and Jeff Goddard for detailed information and advice about anatomy and Atlantic and Pacific species in North America. I am grateful to Miquel Pontes opistobranquis.info/en/ for most useful information and literature about the status of A. gibbosa in Iberia and the Mediterranean.

 

References & links

Alder J. 1841. Observations on the genus Polycera with descriptions of two new British species. Annals and Magazine of Natural History 6: 337-342, pl. 9

www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/19590#page/376/mode/1up (As Polycera cristata on p. 340 and on plate X [error in text says IX] figs. 10, 11 and 12 at www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/19590#page/372/mode/1up )

 

Alder, J. & Hancock, A. 1845-1855. A monograph of the British nudibranchiate mollusca. London, Ray Society. Family 1 pl. 25 www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/131598#page/218/mode/1up

 

Ancula gibbosa iNaturalist (Map tab) (Accessed 16 January 2022) www.inaturalist.org/taxa/47138-Ancula-gibbosa

 

Ancula gibbosa Seaslug World (accessed 17 January 2022)

en.seaslug.world/species/ancula_gibbosa

 

Arias, E. and Morales E. (1963). Ecología del Puerto de Barcelona y desarrollo de adherencias orgánicas sobre embarcaciones. Investigación Pesquera 24: 139-163.

digital.csic.es/bitstream/10261/189189/1/Arias_Morales_19...

 

Baba, K. 1990. Notes on the rare genera Trapania and Ancula from Japan with the description of a new species (Nudibranchia: Goniodorididae). Venus, Japanese Journal of Malacology 49(1): 8-18. fig. 4

www.jstage.jst.go.jp/article/venusjjm/49/1/49_KJ000043436...

 

Bairstow, A. 2019. Humped Ancula sea slug (Ancula gibbosa). [Image of unlined Ancula cf. gibbosa in Humboldt County, California] www.inaturalist.org/observations/28086517

 

Ballesteros, M., Madrenas, E. and Pontes, M. Ancula gibbosa (Risso, 1818). OPK Opistobranquis . Accessed 4 January 2022. opistobranquis.info/en/guia/nudibranchia/doridina/doridoi...

 

Behrens D.W. 2004. Pacific coast nudibranchs, supplement II new species to the Pacific coast and new information on the oldies. Proc. Calif. Acad. Sci. 55 (2) : 11– 54.

researcharchive.calacademy.org/research/scipubs/pdfs/v55/...

 

Chichvarkhin, A. 2016. Shallow water sea slugs (Gastropoda: Heterobranchia) from the northwestern coast of the Sea of Japan, north of Peter the Great Bay, Russia. PeerJ 4:e2774 doi.org/10.7717/peerj.2774 (fig. 3G )

 

Goddard, J.H.R. (1984) The opisthobranchs of Cape Arago, Oregon, with notes on their biology and a summary of benthic opisthobranchs known from Oregon. The Veliger 27(2):143–163 www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/134487#page/159/mode/1up

 

Hallas, J.M., Chichvarkhin, A. and Gosliner, T.M. 2017. Aligning evidence: concerns regarding multiple sequence alignments in estimating the phylogeny of the Nudibranchia suborder Doridina. R. Soc. Open Sci. 4: 171095. doi.org/10.1098/rsos.171095

 

Harris J.K. 2011. A molecular phylogeny of Polyceridae (Nudibranchia) with comments on 'Phanerobranchia'. Unpublished M.S. Thesis, San Francisco State University, San Francisco, California xi + 46 leaves; Major advisor: T. M. Gosliner, California Academy of Sciences. scholarworks.calstate.edu/concern/theses/1g05fh02k?locale=it

(Accessed 25 Dec 2021, but full thesis not seen. Sequence MF958422 of A. pacifica published in Hallas et al. 2017).

 

MacFarland, F. M. 1905. A preliminary account of the Dorididae of Monterey Bay, California. Proc. Biol. Soc. Wash. 18: 35-54.

www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/3336883#page/69/mode/1up

 

MacFarland, F. M. 1966. Studies of opisthobranchiate mollusks of the Pacific coast of North America. Proc. Calif. Acad. Sci. 6: 1-546, pls. 1-72.

 

Millen, S.V. 1989. Opisthobranch range extensions in Alaska with the first records of Cuthona viridis (Forbes, 1840) from the Pacific. The Veliger 32(1): 64–68. www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/137792#page/76/mode/1up

 

Nakano, R. 2018. Field Guide to Sea Slugs and Nudibranchs of Japan. Tokyo, Japan, Bun-ichi Co. Ltd. 544pp. [in Japanese].

 

Paz-Sedano, S., Díaz Agras, G., Gosliner, T.M. and Pola, M. 2021.

Revealing morphological characteristics of Goniodorididae genera (Mollusca: Nudibranchia) Organisms Diversity & Evolution. Springer.

link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1007/s13127-021-00508-w.pdf

 

Risso, A. 1818. Mémoire sur quelques Gastropodes nouveaux, Nudibranches et Tectibranches observés dans la mer de Nice. J. Phys. Chim. Hist. Nat. 87: 368-377. See p. 371 www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/29610#page/387/mode/1up

 

Rudman, W.B. Ancula gibbosa (Risso, 1818). Sea Slug Forum. www.seaslugforum.net/find/ancugibb (Accessed December 2021.)

 

Thompson, T.E. & Brown, G.H. 1984. Biology of opisthobranch molluscs 2. London, Ray Society.

 

Trigo, J.E.; Diaz Agras, G.J.; Garcia Alvarez, O.L.; Guerra, A.; Moreira, J.; Pérez, J.; Rolán, E.; Troncoso, J.S,; Urgorri, V.. 2018. Guia de los Moluscos Marinos de Galicia. Servicio de Publicacións da Universidade de Vigo.

 

Current taxonomy: World Register of Marine Species www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=140029

 

Glossary

BOLD = Barcode of Life Database www.barcodinglife.org

buccal mass = organ system just inside the mouth that includes the odontophore, radula, and a complex of muscles to operate them. In some nudibranchs, including species of Ancula, this mass also includes a round, muscular buccal pump enabling suctorial ingestion of food.

 

circum-oesophageal nerve ring = ganglia-bearing nerve cord which encircles the oesophagus.

digestive gland = large organ in gastropods which acts like the liver and pancreas in mammals to absorb food.

 

distal = away from centre of body or from point of attachment.

Entoprocta = (a.k.a. Kamptozoa) a phylum of small, <7 mm, goblet-shaped, sessile animals. See www.seaslugforum.net/find/kamptozoa

 

epizoic = growing or living on the exterior of a living animal.

ganglia = (sing. ganglion) swellings of the nervous system composed of clusters of nerve cells linked by synapses; they help process sensory stimuli and control organs.

 

hermaphrodite, simultaneous = individual acts as both male and female at the same time with similar partner(s).

 

lamellae = (sing. lamella) gill leaflets or small plates on rhinophores on nudibranchs.

mantle = (of nudibranchs) sheet of tissue forming part or all of notum (dorsal body surface).

oesophagus = tube from mouth to stomach.

ovotestis = (pl. ovotestes) hermaphrodite organ serving as both ovary and testis.

pallial = (adj.) of, relating to, or produced by the mantle (pallium).

papilla = (pl. papillae) small, nipplelike, sensory protruberance.

plankton = animals and plants that drift in pelagic zone (main body of water).

propodial = at the front of the foot.

radula = chitinous ribbon of teeth; extended on odontophore to acquire food.

sensu lato = (abbreviation s.l.) in the wide sense, possibly an aggregate of more than one species.

sessile = (adj.) of immobile animals living attached to substrate or other organisms.

tripinnate = (of gill plume) threefold branching; “trunk, boughs, branches”.

veliger = shelled larva of marine gastropod or bivalve mollusc which moves by action of cilia on a velum (bilobed flap). Stage may be passed in plankton or within liquid-filled egg-capsule.

 

WoRMS = World Register of Marine Species

   

These iconic words in Dorothea Mackellar's own hand, look out over the arboretum - a magnificent new treasure growing in our nations capital.

 

The love of field and coppice,

Of green and shaded lanes.

Of ordered woods and gardens

Is running in your veins,

Strong love of grey-blue distance

Brown streams and soft dim skies

I know but cannot share it,

My love is otherwise.

 

I love a sunburnt country,

A land of sweeping plains,

Of ragged mountain ranges,

Of droughts and flooding rains.

I love her far horizons,

I love her jewel-sea,

Her beauty and her terror –

The wide brown land for me!

 

A stark white ring-barked forest

All tragic to the moon,

The sapphire-misted mountains,

The hot gold hush of noon.

Green tangle of the brushes,

Where lithe lianas coil,

And orchids deck the tree-tops

And ferns the warm dark soil.

  

Core of my heart, my country!

Her pitiless blue sky,

When sick at heart, around us,

We see the cattle die -

But then the grey clouds gather,

And we can bless again

The drumming of an army,

The steady, soaking rain.

 

Core of my heart, my country!

Land of the Rainbow Gold,

For flood and fire and famine,

She pays us back threefold -

Over the thirsty paddocks,

Watch, after many days,

The filmy veil of greenness

That thickens as we gaze.

 

An opal-hearted country,

A wilful, lavish land -

All you who have not loved her,

You will not understand -

Though earth holds many splendours,

Wherever I may die,

I know to what brown country

My homing thoughts will fly.

  

.... and that is my darling Jim is standing in the land

   

This reminded me of Baldrick's ... um ... poem The German Guns (click here to hear it - you won't be sorry, I promise ) in TV series Blackadder Goes Forth - which, in fact, is what this indeed represents (though not exactly what it actually was).

___

 

In case anyone wondered why a sudden flashback to WWI appeared in my photostream - the reason is actually threefold:

 

1. In October 1917 (that is, exactly a century ago), the twelfth and final major battle happened on Isonzo front (Soška fronta), ending the almost two-year-long stalemate between Austrian and Italian army and meant the end of the war in Slovenia. Though it was an overwhelming victory for Austrian empire and thus a complete disaster for Italians - after which a new word for a total fiasco emerged in Italian dictionary: caporetto - the word still in use today, (though very few know where it actually comes from, and even fewer that Caporetto isn't in Italy at all - it's the Italian name for the Slovenian town Kobarid). It was ironically also the beginning of Austrian empire's final defeat, which caused it not only to give up the war, but to fall apart completely. Ernest Hemingway wrote a book about these events: A Farewell to Arms.

 

2. Completely unplanned and unrelated to the above, my wife and I happened to spend the summer vacation in Posočje (the wider area around river Soča [Ital.: Isonzo] - after which, the Isonzo front was named) and I like to learn as much of the history of the places that I visit as I can.

 

3. Researching those historical events, I stumbled (once more completely by chance) upon an event, planned at the centennial of the end of WWI on Slovenian grounds and then somehow ended up as one of the event's official photographers...

 

This is the first photo from the event - stay tuned for more. Some turned out quite spectacular - even though the weather, as you can see, was abysmal. (Almost exactly matching the weather a century ago.)

Second time in 14 hours that old livery led new livery.

Friday morning's 6C22 Kingmoor - Sellafield conveyed the Dounreay flask from the previous day's marathon trip from Georgemas Junction.

Nos.37218 & 37607 were in the frame and the forecast was for goodly sunshine around the coast early doors.

The plan went wrong threefold;

 

1) Wrong loco led.

2) Location choice of field at Nethertown full of cows & 1 x bull. No way was I going in there.

3) Cloud.

 

So, relocation to bridge, extremely weak sun j-u-u-u-st far enough around & 607 leading 218.

Dounreay flask is bookended by PFAs, not sure where the leading flask originated.

 

While embodied on Atlantis, the Goddess of Liberty erected the Temple of the Sun on what is now Manhattan Island. With the sinking of the continent, the physical temple was destroyed, but its etheric counterpart remains a major world center focusing the flames of the twelve hierarchies of the Sun. The temple, which was the West gate of Atlantis, has become the East gate of the New World. It is one of the most important retreats on the planet.

 

Goddess of Liberty, Mother flame of freedomThe central altar of the Temple of the Sun is over the Statue of Liberty on Liberty (Bedloe’s) Island in New York Harbor, the spread of the focus extending over Manhattan Island and parts of New Jersey. The temple is a replica of the temple of Helios and Vesta in the sun of our solar system. In the central flame room of the temple, we find the pattern that is reproduced over and over again throughout the universe from the heart of the Great Hub to the Flaming Yod, to the sun of each solar system and each God Star.

 

Every planetary home has a Sun Temple where the central altar is dedicated to the Father-Mother God, the pure white essence of the creative fire of Alpha and Omega, and the twelve surrounding altars are tended by the representatives of the twelve hierarchies of the Sun who focus their flames on behalf of the evolutions of that planet.

 

Tiers of flame rooms proceed out from this center room. In these flame rooms, the brothers in white attend other flames of the one hundred and forty-four. The flame of liberty, the fleur-de-lis of pink, blue and gold, blazes from one of these outer courts.

 

The aura of the retreat is saturated with the golden flame of illumination, and as the Château De Liberté in France (also a focus of the threefold flame of liberty) emits a pink aura, so we find that the twin flames of Helios and Vesta are represented in perfect balance in these two retreats dedicated to the liberation of all mankind. The gold and the pink reflect the wisdom and the love of our Sun God and Goddess.

 

An Open Door for Souls Yearning for Freedom

The Goddess of Liberty says, "Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, the wretched refuse of your teeming shore. Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed to me. I lift my lamp beside the golden door."1

 

Her Temple of the Sun is the open door of America from Europe, opening the door to all facets of the consciousness of humanity through the twelve aspects of the twelve solar hierarchies. The many millions who have come from Europe and Asia are the people who are destined to become a part of the mandala, or pattern, of the golden age.

 

The great diversity of virtues proceeding from the Temple of the Sun accounts for the great immigration that has been drawn to the Eastern shores of the United States. The melting pot that has created the nation of America has occurred through the grid and the forcefield of this retreat. Every evolution associated with this planet can be found on Manhattan Island. Every form of endeavor of science, art, music and everything under the sun that mankind have imagined - either to amplify the attributes and virtues of the twelve hierarchies or as perversions of the same - all can be found within a few miles of this retreat.

 

The flame of this retreat inspired the creation of the Statue of Liberty. The book she holds is the Book of the Law that is destined to come forth in America, the teachings of the great masters of wisdom, the teachings of the ascended masters.

 

Prayer to Go to the Goddess of Liberty's Temple of the Sun

Call in the name of your own Christ Self to the Goddess of Liberty to go to the Temple of the Sun over Manhattan to be saturated in the flame of freedom.

 

In the name of the Christ, my own Real Self, I call to the heart of the I AM Presence and to the angel of the Presence, to Archangel Michael and legions of blue flame angels to take me in my soul and in my soul consciousness to the Temple of the Sun retreat of the Goddess of Liberty over Manhattan, New York. I ask for those lessons my soul needs to be a freedom fighter for the liberation of my soul and all souls of light on Earth. And I ask that all information necessary to the fulfillment of my divine plan be released to my outer waking consciousness as it is required. I thank thee and I accept this done in the full power of the risen Christ.

 

The Greater Way of Freedom by Elizabeth Clare ProphetThe Greater Way of Freedom: Teachings of the Ascended Masters on the Destiny of America includes the dictation "The Karma of America" by the Goddess of Liberty. After the dictation, Elizabeth Clare Prophet said,

 

We express our gratitude to the Goddess of Liberty for her contact with our hearts and her release of this most important instruction. It is always a priviege to be in the presence of the Goddess of Liberty, awakening a devotion we have to her that spans the ages—her great courage and strength, her keeping the flame of the Mother that has welcomed all of us, our ancestors, to this soil. She has held the immaculate concept for our life, for our nation, for a destiny throughout the world.

 

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

Vishnu (/ˈvɪʃnuː/; Sanskrit: Viṣṇu) is a popular Hindu deity, the Supreme God of Vaishnavism (one of the three principal denominations of Hinduism) and one of the three supreme deities (Trimurti) of Hinduism. He is also known as Lord Narayana and Lord Hari. As one of the five primary forms of God in the Smarta tradition, He is conceived as "the Preserver or the Protector" within the Trimurti, the Hindu Trinity of the divinity.

 

In Hindu sacred texts, Vishnu is usually described as having dark complexion of water-filled clouds and as having four arms. He is depicted as a blue being, holding a padma (lotus flower) in the lower left hand, the Kaumodaki gada (mace) in the lower right hand, the Panchajanya shankha (conch) in the upper left hand and the discus weapon Sudarshana Chakra in the upper right hand.

 

Adherents of Hinduism believe Vishnu's eternal and supreme abode beyond the material universe is called Vaikuntha, which is also known as Paramdhama, the realm of eternal bliss and happiness and the final or highest place for liberated souls who have attained Moksha. Vaikuntha is situated beyond the material universe and hence, cannot be perceived or measured by material science or logic. Vishnu's other abode within the material universe is Ksheera Sagara (the ocean of milk), where he reclines and rests on Ananta Shesha, (the king of the serpent deities, commonly shown with a thousand heads). In almost all Hindu denominations, Vishnu is either worshipped directly or in the form of his ten avatars, the most famous of whom are Rama and Krishna.

 

The Puranabharati, an ancient text, describes these as the dashavatara, or the ten avatars of Vishnu. Among the ten described, nine have occurred in the past and one will take place in the future as Lord Kalki, at the end of Kali Yuga, (the fourth and final stage in the cycle of yugas that the world goes through). These incarnations take place in all Yugas in cosmic scales; the avatars and their stories show that gods are indeed unimaginable, unthinkable and inconceivable. The Bhagavad Gita mentions their purpose as being to rejuvenate Dharma, to vanquish those negative forces of evil that threaten dharma, and also to display His divine nature in front of all souls.

 

The Trimurti (three forms) is a concept in Hinduism "in which the cosmic functions of creation, maintenance, and destruction are personified by the forms of Brahma the creator, Vishnu the maintainer, preserver or protector and Shiva the destroyer or transformer." These three deities have also been called "the Hindu triad" or the "Great Trinity", all having the same meaning of three in One. They are the different forms or manifestation of One person the Supreme Being or Narayana/Svayam Bhagavan.

 

Vishnu is also venerated as Mukunda, which means God who is the giver of mukti or moksha (liberation from the cycle of rebirths) to his devotees or the worthy ones who deserve salvation from the material world.

 

ETYMOLOGY

The traditional explanation of the name Vishnu involves the root viś, meaning "to settle" (cognate with Latin vicus, English -wich "village," Slavic: vas -ves), or also (in the Rigveda) "to enter into, to pervade," glossing the name as "the All-Pervading One". Yaska, an early commentator on the Vedas, in his Nirukta, (etymological interpretation), defines Vishnu as viṣṇur viṣvater vā vyaśnoter vā, "one who enters everywhere". He also writes, atha yad viṣito bhavati tad viṣnurbhavati, "that which is free from fetters and bondages is Vishnu".

 

Adi Shankara in his commentary on the Sahasranama states derivation from viś, with a meaning "presence everywhere" ("As he pervades everything, vevesti, he is called Vishnu"). Adi Shankara states (regarding Vishnu Purana, 3.1.45): "The Power of the Supreme Being has entered within the universe. The root viś means 'enter into'." Swami Chinmayananda, in his translation of Vishnu Sahasranama further elaborates on that verse: "The root vis means to enter. The entire world of things and beings is pervaded by Him and the Upanishad emphatically insists in its mantra 'whatever that is there is the world of change.' Hence, it means that He is not limited by space, time or substance. Chinmayananda states that, that which pervades everything is Vishnu."

 

SACRET TEXTS - SHRUTI & SMRITI

Shruti is considered to be solely of divine origin. It is preserved as a whole, instead of verse by verse. It includes the four Vedas (Rigveda, Yajurveda, Samaveda and Atharvaveda) the Brahmanas, the Aranyakas and the Upanishads with commentaries on them.

 

Smṛti refers to all the knowledge derived and inculcated after Shruti had been received. Smrti is not 'divine' in origin, but was 'remembered' by later Rishis (sages by insight, who were the scribes) by transcendental means and passed down through their followers. It includes the Bhagavata Purana and the Vishnu Purana which are Sattva Puranas. These both declare Vishnu as Para Brahman Supreme Lord who creates unlimited universes and enters each one of them as Lord of Universe.

 

SHRUTI

 

VAISHNAVA CANON

The Vaishnava canon presents Vishnu as the supreme being, rather than another name for the Sun God, who also bore the name Suryanarayana and is considered only as a form of Vishnu.

 

VEDAS

In the Yajur Veda, Taittiriya Aranyaka (10-13-1), Narayana suktam, Lord Narayana is mentioned as the supreme being. The first verse of Narayana Suktam mentions the words "paramam padam", which literally mean "highest post" and may be understood as the "supreme abode for all souls". This is also known as Param Dhama, Paramapadam, or Vaikuntha. Rig Veda 1:22:20a also mentions the same "paramam padam". This special status is not given to any deity in the Vedas apart from Lord Vishnu/Narayana.[citation needed] Narayana is one of the thousand names of Vishnu as mentioned in the Vishnu Sahasranama. It describes Vishnu as the All-Pervading essence of all beings, the master of - and beyond - the past, present and future, one who supports, sustains and governs the Universe and originates and develops all elements within. This illustrates the omnipresent characteristic of Vishnu. Vishnu governs the aspect of preservation and sustenance of the universe, so he is called "Preserver of the universe".

 

Vishnu is the Supreme God who takes manifest forms or avatars across various ages or periods to save humanity from evil beings, demons or Asuras. According to the extant Hindu texts and traditions, Lord Vishnu is considered to be resident in the direction of the "Makara Rashi" (the "Shravana Nakshatra"), which is about coincident with the Capricorn constellation. In some of the extant Puranas, and Vaishnava traditions, Vishnu's eye is considered to be situated at the infinitely distant Southern Celestial Pole.

 

Following the defeat of Indra and his displacement as the Lord of Heaven or Swarga, Indra asks Lord Vishnu for help and thus Lord Vishnu takes his incarnations or avatars to Earth to save mankind, thus showing his position as Supreme God to all of creation.

 

In the Puranas, Indra frequently appears proud and haughty. These bad qualities are temporarily removed when Brahma and/or Shiva give boons to Asuras or Rakshasas such as Hiranyaksha, Hiranyakashipu and Ravana, who are then able to defeat Indra in wars between Devas and Asuras. The received boons often made Asuras virtually indestructible.

 

Indra has no option but to seek help from Vishnu. Indra prays before Vishnu for protection and the Supreme Lord obliges him by taking avatars and generating himself on Earth in various forms, first as a water-dweller (Matsya, fish), then as an amphibious creature (Kurma avatar or Tortoise), then as a half-man-half-animal (Varaha the pig-faced, human-bodied Lord, and Narasimha the Lord with lion's face and claws and a human body). Later, Vishnu appears as human beings (Vamana the short-heighted person), Parashurama, Rama, Krishna, Buddha and finally as Kalki for performing his task of protecting his devotees from demons and anti-religious entities.

 

Vishnu's supremacy is attested by his victories over those very powerful entities. It is further attested by the accepted iconography and sculptures of Vishnu in reclining position as producing Brahma emerging from his navel. Brahma the creator is thus created in turn by Vishnu out of his own person. Instead Vishnu takes various avatars to slay or defeat those demons. But it is to be noted that Vishnu also provided boons to Akupresura, a bear faced demon who was destroyed by Lord Shiva.

 

Vishnu's actions lowered Indra's ranking among Hindu deities and led to the ascendancy of Vishnu.

 

Few temples are dedicated to the Sun or Suryanarayana, nor indeed Indra, nor does Indra figure largely in the Hindu religion.

 

Indra is almost completely absent from the deities considered as the chief or most important deity.

 

RIGVEDA

In the Rigveda, Vishnu is mentioned 93 times. He is frequently invoked alongside other deities, especially Indra, whom he helps in killing Vritra and with whom he drinks Soma. His distinguishing characteristic in the Vedas is his association with light. Two Rigvedic hymns in Mandala 7 are dedicated to Vishnu. In 7.99, Vishnu is addressed as the god who separates heaven and earth, a characteristic he shares with Indra.

 

The Rig Veda describes Vishnu as younger brother to Indra as Vamana. In Vaishnava canon the 'Vishnu' who is younger brother to Indra is identified as Vamana, Avatar of Vishnu, hence referred to as Vishnu by Vaishnavites. Vishnu is the Supreme God who lives in the highest celestial region, contrasted against those who live in the atmospheric or terrestrial regions. Vishnu is content with mere prayer, unlike almost all of the other gods who receive sacrificial offerings such as Havis, which is given using clarified butter, or Soma. Later foreign translators have view that Vedas place Indra in a superior position to Vishnu's Avatar of Vamana but in fact Vamana helps Indra by restoring his Kingdom.

 

An alternate translation is provided by Wilson according to Sayana:

 

When Thy (younger brother) Viṣṇu (Vamana) by (his) strength stepped his three paces, then verily thy beloved horses bore thee. (Rigveda 8:12:27)

 

Wilson mentions Griffith's possible translation as a footnote. However the following verse from Rigveda renders the above translation by Wilson more probable.

 

Him whose three places that are filled with sweetness, imperishable, joy as it may list them, Who verily alone upholds the threefold, the earth, the heaven, and all living creatures. (Rig veda 1:154:4)

 

Wilson offers an alternate translation for Rigveda 10:113:2:

 

Viṣṇu offering the portion of Soma, glorifies by his own vigor that greatness of his. Indra, the lord of heaven, with the associated gods having slain Vritra, became deserving of honour. (Rigveda 10:113:2)

 

This verse sees Vishnu as one who is glorified by his own strength, while Indra became deserving of honor after having slain Vritra only in association with other gods.

 

However Vishnu's praise for other gods does not imply worship. Wilson translates:

 

Viṣṇu, the mighty giver of dwellings praises thee, and Mitra and Varuna; the company of Maruts imitates thee in exhilaration. (Rigveda 8:15:9) (page 280)

 

The following verses show categorically Vishnu as distinguished from other gods in Rigveda.

 

He who presents (offering) to Viṣṇu, the ancient, the creator, the recent, the self-born; he who celebrates the great birth of that mighty one; he verily possessed of abundance, attains (the station) that is to be sought (by all). (Rigveda 1:156:2) (page 98)

 

No being that is or that has been born, divine Viṣṇu, has attained the utmost limit of thy magnitude, by which thou hast upheld the vast and beautiful heaven, and sustained the eastern horizon of Earth.(Rigveda 7:99:2) (page 196)

 

The divine Viṣṇu, the best of the doers of good deeds, who came to the pious instituter of rite (Indra), to assist (at its celebration), knowing (the desires of the worshiper), and present at the three connected period (of worship), shows favor to the Arya, and admits the author of the ceremony to a share of the sacrifice. (Rigveda 1:156:5) (page 99)

 

Jan Gonda, the late Indologist, states that Vishnu, although remaining in the background of Indra's exploits, contributes by his presence, or is key to Indra's success. Vishnu is more than a mere companion, equal in rank or power to Indra, or sometime the one who made Indra's success possible.

 

Descriptions of Vishnu as younger to Indra are found in only the hymns to Indra, but in a kathenotheism religion like that of the Rigveda, each god, for a time, is supreme in the mind of the devotee.

 

In the Rig Vedic texts, the deity or god referred to as Vishnu is the Sun God, who also bears the name 'Suryanarayana'. By contrast, the 'Vishnu' referred to in 'Vishnu Purana', 'Vishnu Sahasranamam' and 'Purusha Sooktham' is Lord Narayana, the Consort of Lakshmi. Vaishnavites make a further distinction by extolling the qualities of Vishnu by highlighting his differences from other deities such as Shiva,[citation needed] Brahma or Surya.

 

THREE STEPS

Hymn 7.100 refers to the celebrated 'three steps' of Vishnu (as Trivikrama) by which he strode over the universe and in three places planted his step. The 'Vishnu Suktam' (RV 1.154) says that the first and second of Vishnu's strides (those encompassing the earth and air) are visible to men and the third is in the heights of heaven (sky). This last place is described as Vishnu's supreme abode in RV 1.22.20:

 

The princes evermore behold / that loftiest place where Vishnu is / Laid as it were an eye in heaven.(trans. Griffith)

 

Griffith's "princes" are the sūri, either "inciters" or lords of a sacrifice, or priests charged with pressing the Soma. The verse is quoted as expressing Vishnu's supremacy by Vaishnavites.

 

Though such solar aspects have been associated with Vishnu by tradition as well as modern-scholarship, he was not just the representation of the sun, as he moves both vertically and horizontally.

 

In hymns 1.22.17, 1.154.3, 1.154.4 he strides across the earth with three steps, in 6.49.13, 7.100.3 strides across the earth three times and in 1.154.1, 1.155.5,7.29.7 he strides vertically, with the final step in the heavens. The same Veda also says he strode wide and created space in the cosmos for Indra to fight Vritra. By his stride he made dwelling for men possible, the three forming a symbolic representation of the dwelling's all-encompassing nature. This nature and benevolence to men were Vishnu's enduring attributes. As the triple-strider he is known as Trivikrama and as Urukrama, for the strides were wide.

 

BRAHMANAS

The Brahmanas are commentaries on the Vedas and form part of the Shruti literature. They are concerned with the detail of the proper performance of rituals. In the Rigveda, Shakala Shakha: Aitareya Brahmana Verse 1 declares: agnir vai devānām ava mo viṣṇuḥ paramus, tadantareṇa sarvā anyā devatā - Agni is the lowest or youngest god and Vishnu is the greatest and the highest God.

 

The Brahmanas assert the supremacy of Lord Vishnu, addressing him as "Gajapati", the one whom all sacrifices are meant to please. Lord Vishnu accepts all sacrifices to the demigods and allots the respective fruits to the performer In one incident, a demonic person performs a sacrifice by abducting the Rishis (sages), who meditate by constantly chanting God's name. The sacrifice is meant to destroy Indra. But the rishis, who worship Indra as a demigod, alter one pronunciation of the Veda Mantra, reversing the purpose of the sacrifice. When the fruit of the sacrifice is given and the demon is on the verge of dying, he calls to Vishnu, whom he addresses as Supreme Godhead and "the father of all living entities including himself".

 

Aitareya Brahmana 1:1:1 mentions Vishnu as the Supreme God. But in the Vaishnava canon, in different ages, with Vishnu in different avatars, his relationship with the asuras or demons, was always adversarial. The asuras always caused harm, while the sages and devas or celestial beings, did penance and called to Vishnu for protection. Vishnu always obliged by taking an avatar to vanquish the asuras. In the Vaishnava canon, Vishnu never gave or granted any boons to the asuras, distinguishing him from the gods Shiva and Brahma, who did. He is the only God called upon to save good beings by defeating or killing the asuras.

 

Sayana writes that in Aitareya Brahmana 1:1:1 the declaration agnir vai devānām ava mo viṣṇuḥ paramus,tadantareṇa sarvā anyā devatā does not indicate any hierarchy among gods. Even in Rigveda Samhita, avama and parama are not applied to denote rank and dignity, but only to mark place and locality.

 

In Rigveda 1:108:9,: yadindrāghnī avamasyāṃ pṛthivyāṃ madhyamasyāṃ paramasyāmuta sthaḥ | i.e., in the lowest place, the middle (place), and the highest (place). Agni, the fire, has, among the gods, the lowest place; for he resides with man on the earth; while the other gods are either in the air, or in the sky. Vishnu occupies the highest place. The words avama and parama are understood as 'First' and 'Last' respectively. To support this claim, Sayana adduces the mantra (1,4. As'val. Sr. S. 4, 2), agnir mukham prathamo devathanam samathanam uttamo vishnur asit, i.e., Agni was the first of the deities assembled, (and) Vishnu the last.

 

In the Kausitaki Brahmana (7.1) Agni is called Aaradhya (instead of avama), and Visnu parardha(instead of parama),i.e., belonging to the lower and higher halves (or forming the lower and higher halves). The Vishnu Purana gives tremendous importance to the worship of Vishnu and mentions that sacrifices are to begin only with both the lighting of fire or 'Agni', pouring of sacrificial offerings to Vishnu in 'Agni' so that those offerings reach and are accepted by Vishnu. Worship of Vishnu through Yajnas (or Homams) and other rituals, will not achieve the desired result if Agni's role is neglected.

 

Muller says "Although the gods are sometimes distinctly invoked as the great and the small, the young and the old (Rig veda 1:27:13), this is only an attempt to find the most comprehensive expression for the divine powers, and nowhere is any of the gods represented as the subordinate to others. It would be easy to find, in the numerous hymns of the Veda, passages in which almost every single god is represented as supreme and absolute."

 

However this notion is not completely correct as per the following verses, which shows Rigveda describe one or more gods as subject to other god(s).

 

Him whose high law not Varuna nor Indra, not Mitra, Aryaman, nor Rudra breaketh, Nor evil-hearted fiends, here for my welfare him I invoke, God Savitar, with worship. (Rigveda 2.038.09)

 

I invite to this place, with reverential salutations, for my good, that divine Savita, whose functions neither Indra, nor Varun.a, nor Mitra nor Aryaman nor Rudra nor the enemies (of the gods), impede. (Rigveda 2.038.09)

 

SMRITI

 

VISHNU SMRITI

The Vishnu Smṛti, is one of the later books of the Dharmashastra tradition of Hinduism and the only one that focuses on the bhakti tradition and the required daily puja to Vishnu, rather than the means of knowing dharma. It is also known for its handling of the controversial subject of the practice of sati (self-immolation of a widow on her husband's funeral pyre). The text was composed by an individual or group. The author(s) created a collection of the commonly known legal maxims that were attributed to Vishnu into one book, as Indian oral culture began to be recorded more formally.

 

BHAGAVATA PURANA

Vishnu is the only Bhagavan as declared in the Bhagavata 1:2:11 in the verse: vadanti tat tattva-vidas tattvam yaj jnanam advayam brahmeti paramatmeti bhagavan iti sabdyate, translated as "Learned transcendentalists who know the Absolute Truth call this non-dual substance as Brahman, Paramātma and Bhagavan."

 

VISHNU PURANA

In the Vishnu Purana (6:5:79) the personality named Parashara Rishi defines six bhagas:

 

aiśvaryasya samagrasya vīryasya yaśasaḥ śriyaḥ

jñāna-vairāgyayoś caiva ṣannāḥ bhaga itīṇganā

 

Jiva Gosvami explains the verse in Gopala Champu (Pūrva 15:73) and Bhagavata Sandarbha 46:10:

 

jñāna-śakti-balaiśvarya-vīrya-tejām.sy aśeṣataḥ

bhagavac-chabda-vācyāni vinā heyair guṇādibhiḥ

 

"The substantives of the word bhagavat (bhagavat-śabda-vācyāni) are unlimited (aśeṣataḥ) knowledge (jñāna), energies (śakti), strength (bala), opulence (aiśvarya), heroism (vīrya), splendor (tejas), without (vinā) objectionable (heyair) qualities (guṇādibhiḥ)."

 

SANGAM LITERATURE

Tamil Sangam literature (300BCE to 500CE) mentions mAyOn, or the dark one, as the supreme deity who creates, sustains and destroys the universe. Paripadal 3 describes the glory of Thirumal in the most superlative terms.

 

Paripadal by kaduvan iLaveyinanAr:

 

"thIyinuL theRal nI poovinuL naaRRa nI kallinuL maNiyu nI sollinuL vaaymai aRaththinuL anbu nI maRaththinuL mainthu nI vEthaththu maRai nI boothaththu madhalu nI vencudar oLiyu nI thingaLuL aLiyu nI anaiththu nI anaiththinut poruLu nI"

 

The last line states that Lord Vishnu is the supreme deity who is the inner controller (Antaryamin) of the entire universe. This is one of the Lord's glories, which is first mentioned in Vedas and later propounded by Alwars in Prabhandams and Sri Vaishnavaite Acharyas in various commentaries

 

The Sri Ranganathaswamy Temple and Vishnu, Lakshmi is mentioned in Tamil works of literature of the Sangam era, including the epic Silapadikaram (book 11, lines 35–40):

 

āyiram viritteḻu talaiyuṭai aruntiṟaṟ

 

pāyaṟ paḷḷip palartoḻu tētta viritiraik kāviri viyaṉperu turuttit tiruvamar mārpaṉ kiṭanta vaṇṇamum

 

On a magnificent cot having a thousand heads spread out, worshipped and praised by many, in an islet surrounded by Kaveri with bellowing waves, is the lying posture of the one who has Lakshmi sitting in his chest.

 

THEOLOGICAL ATTRIBUTES

The actual number of Vishnu's auspicious qualities is countless, although his six most-important "divine glories" are:

 

Jnana (Omniscience); defined as the power to know about all beings simultaneously;

Aishvarya (Sovereignty), derived from the word Ishvara which means unchallenged rule over all;

Shakti (Power or Energy), the capacity to make the impossible possible;

Bala (Strength), the capacity to support everything by will and without any fatigue;

Virya (Vigour), the power to retain immateriality as the Supreme Spirit or Being in spite of being the material cause of mutable creations;

Tejas (Splendor), which expresses self-sufficiency and the capacity to overpower everything by spiritual effulgence.

 

Other important qualities attributed to Vishnu are Gambhirya (inestimatable grandeur), Audarya (generosity), and Karunya (compassion). Natya Shastra lists Vishnu as the presiding deity of the Sṛngara rasa.

 

The Rigveda says: Vishnu can travel in three strides. The first stride is the Earth. The second stride is the visible sky. The third stride cannot be seen by men and is the heaven where the gods and the righteous dead live. (This feature of three strides also appears in the story of his avatar Vamana/Trivikrama.) The Sanskrit for "to stride" is the root kram; its reduplicated perfect is chakram (guņa grade) or chakra (zero-grade), and in the Rigveda he is called by epithets such as vi-chakra-māņas = "he who has made 3 strides". The Sanskrit word chakra also means "wheel". That may have suggested the idea of Vishnu carrying a chakra.

 

FIVE FORMS

In Shree Vaishnavism, another school dating from around the 10th century AD, Vishnu assumes five forms:

 

In the Para Form, Para is the highest form of Vishnu found only in Sri Vaikunta also called Moksha, along with his consort Lakshmi, (and Bhumi Devi and Nila devi, avatars of Lakshmi) and surrounded by liberated souls like Ananta, Garuda, and a host of Muktas (liberated souls).

In the Vyuha form, Vishnu assumes four forms, which exercise different cosmic functions and controls activities of living beings.

In the Vibhava form, Vishnu assumes various manifestations, called Vibhavas, more popularly known as Avataras from time to time, to protect the virtuous, punish evil-doers and re-establish righteousness.

In the Antaryami; "Dwelling within" or "Suksma Vasudeva" form, Vishnu exists within the souls of all living beings and in every substance.

In the Arcavatara or Image manifestation, Vishnu is visible and therefore easily approachable by devotees since Para, Vyuha, Vibhava and Antaryami forms can only be imagined or meditated upon because they are beyond our reach. Such images can be

Revealed by Vishnu, for example, a self-manifested (Swayambhu) icon (murti), e.g. The Mahavishnu Temple at Tirunelli, The Sri Ranganathaswamy Temple at Srirangam, The Tirumala Venkateshwara Temple, etc.; or

Installed by Devas or celestial beings such as such as Guruvayur Temple installed by Vayu; or

Installed by humans, and consecrated according to Vaishnava Agama shastras or scriptures such as Lord Jagannatha of Jagannath Temple (Puri) at Puri.

 

RELATIONS WITH OTHER DEITIES

 

SHIVA

The three gods of the Trimurti clan are inseparable and in harmony in view of their common vision and universal good. They are perfectly ideal in all respects.

 

Both Asuras and Devas played supportive roles in this story by keeping company with Vishnu in his incarnated forms. Hanuman is a vanara who is completely dedicated to Rama. He gives Vishnu company and obeys his command, while playing an important part in Rama's life. He is regarded in Vaishnava canon because it is through blessings that Hanuman is born. Thus, Hanuman, Vishnu's constant companion, with his idol appearing temples of Rama, Krishna and Narasimha, i.e. all of Vishnu's avatars, is considered by Vaishnavas.

 

Syncretic forces produced stories in which the two deities were shown in cooperative relationships and combined forms. Harihara is the name of a combined deity form of both Vishnu (Hari) and Shiva (Hara). This dual form, which is also called Harirudra, is mentioned in the Mahabharata.

 

LAKSHMI

Vishnu's consort is Lakshmi, the goddess of wealth (also known as Maya). The Samvit (the primary intelligence/dark matter) of the universe is Vishnu, while the other five attributes emerge from this samvit and hence Maya or dark energy of the universe is Lakshmee is his ahamata, activity, or Vishnu's Power. This power of God, Maya or Shakti, is personified and has multiple names: Shree, Lakshmi, Maya, Vishnumaya or Mahamaya. She is said to manifest as Kriyashakti, (Creative Activity) and Bhutishakti (Creation). This world requires Vishnu's creativity. He therefore needs Lakshmi to always be with Him. Her various avatars as Lord Vishnu's consorts are Varahavatar (Bhoodevi) or Bhoomi, Ramavatar Seeta, Krishnavatar Rukmini)

 

SARASWATI & GANGA

According to Brahma Vaivarta Purana, Lord Vishnu had three wives Lakshmi, Saraswati and Ganga. Due to their constant quarrelsome nature among them. Once Ganga tried to be close with Vishnu, this rebuked Saraswati but Lakshmi tried to pacify them but faced a curse rather. As per the curse, Lakshmi to appear as Tulasi. Sarawati cursed Ganga to run as a river in the world and Saraswati was cursed to run as a river in the netherworld. After this, Lord Vishnu transformed and became Brahma and Shiva to pacify Saraswati and Ganga.

 

GARUDA

Vishnu's mount (Vahana) is Garuda, the eagle. Vishnu is commonly depicted as riding on his shoulders.

 

ICONOGRAPHY

According to various Puranas, Vishnu is the ultimate omnipresent reality and is shapeless and omnipresent. However, a strict iconography governs his representation, whether in pictures, icons, or idols:

 

He has four arms and is male: The four arms indicate his all-powerful and all-pervasive nature. His physical existence is represented by the two arms in the front, while the two arms at the back represent his presence in the spiritual world. The Upanishad Gopal Uttartapani describes the four arms.

The Shreevatsa mark is on his chest, symbolizing his consort Lakshmi.

He wears the auspicious "Kaustubha" jewel around his neck and a garland of vaijayanti flowers (Vanamala). Lakshmi dwells in this jewel, on Vishnu's chest.

A crown adorns his head: The crown symbolizes his supreme authority. This crown sometimes includes a peacock feather, borrowing from his Krishna-avatar.

He wears two earrings: The earrings represent inherent opposites in creation — knowledge and ignorance; happiness and unhappiness; pleasure and pain.

He rests on Ananta, the immortal and infinite snake.

 

Vishnu is always to be depicted holding four attributes:

 

A conch shell or Shankha, named Panchajanya, is held by the upper left hand. It represents Vishnu's power to create and maintain the universe. Panchajanya represents the five elements or Panchabhoota – water, fire, air, earth and sky or space. It also represents the five airs or Pranas that are within the body and mind. The conch symbolizes that Vishnu is the primeval Divine sound of creation and continuity. It also represented as Om. In the Bhagavad Gita, Krishna avatara states that of sound vibrations, 'He is Om'.

The Chakra, a sharp, spinning, discus-like weapon, named "Sudarshana", is held by the upper right hand. It symbolizes the purified spiritualized mind. The name Sudarshana is derived from two words – Su, which means good, superior, and Darshana, which means vision or sight; together. The Chakra represents destruction of ego in the awakening and realization of the soul's original nature and god, burning away spiritual ignorance and illusion, and developing higher spiritual vision and insight to realize god.

A mace or Gada, named "Kaumodaki", is held by the lower right hand. It symbolizes that Vishnu's divine power is the source of all spiritual, mental and physical strength. It also signifies Vishnu's power to destroy materialistic or demonic tendencies (Anarthas) that prevent people from reaching god. Vishnu's mace is the power of the Divine within us to spiritually purify and uplift us from our materialistic bonds.

A lotus flower or Padma is held by the lower left hand. It represents spiritual liberation, Divine perfection, purity and the unfolding of Spiritual consciousness within the individual. The lotus opening its petals in the light of the Sun is indicative of the expansion and awakening of our long dormant, original spiritual consciousness in the light of god. The lotus symbolizes that god is the power and source from which the universe and the individual soul emerges. It also represents Divine Truth or Satya, the originator of the rules of conduct or Dharma, and Divine Vedic knowledge or Jnana. The lotus also symbolizes that Vishnu is the embodiment of spiritual perfection and purity and that He is the wellspring of these qualities and that the individual soul must seek to awaken these intrinsic Divine qualities from Vishnu by surrendering to and linking with Him.

 

To this may be added, conventionally, the vanamaala flower garland, Vishnu's bow (Shaarnga/Kodand) and his sword Nandaka. A verse of the Vishnu Sahasranama stotram states;vanamālī gadhī shārngī shanki chakri cha nandaki / shrīmān nārāyaņo vişņo vāsudevo abhirakşatu//; translation: Protect us Oh Lord Narayana who wears the forest garland,who has the mace, conch, sword and the wheel. And who is called Vishnu and the Vasudeva.

 

In general, Vishnu's body is depicted in one of the following three ways:

 

Standing on a lotus flower, often with Lakshmi, his consort, beside him on a similar pedestal.

Reclining on the coiled-up thousand-hooded Shesha Naga, with Lakshmi seated at his feet; the assemblage rests on the "Kshira Sagar" (ocean of milk). In this representation, Brahma is depicted as sitting on a lotus that grows out of Vishnu's navel.

Riding on the back of his eagle mount, known as Garuda. Another name for Garuda is "Veda atma"; Soul of the Vedas. The flapping of his wings symbolizes the power of the Divine Truth of Vedic wisdom. Also the eagle represents the soul. Garuda carrying Vishnu symbolizes the soul or jiva atma carrying the Super soul or Param atma within it.

 

AVATARS

Ten avatars (dashavatara) of Vishnu are the most prominent: Apart from the most prominent incarnations there are believed to more.

 

The most commonly believed incarnations of Vishnu are:

 

Matsya, the fish that kills Damanaka to save the vedas and also saves Manu from a great flood that submerges the entire Earth.

Kurma, the turtle that helps the Devas and Asuras churn the ocean for the nectar of immortality.

Varaha, the boar that rescues the Earth and kills Hiranyaksha.

Narasimha, the half-lion half human, who defeats the demon Hiranyakashipu.

Vamana, the dwarf that grows into a giant to save the world from King Bali.

Parashurama, "Rama of the battle axe", a sage who appeared in the Treta Yuga. He killed Kartavirya Arjuna's army and clan and then killed all the kshatriyas 21 times.

Rama, the prince and king of Ayodhya who killed the Demon King Raavan.

Krishna, the eighth avatar of Vishnu, who takes part in the Mahabharata epic. Krishna is worshipped as the Supreme Avatar of Vishnu (Supreme Personality of Godhead) in Gaudiya-Vaishnava philosophy.

Buddha, the ninth avatar of Vishnu.

Kalki, the tenth Avatar of Vishnu and said to be the harbinger of the end Kali Yuga. This avatar of Vishnu is yet to come.

 

Some versions of the above list include Hayagreeva among the Dashavataras while some include Buddha as ninth avatar of Vishnu. Another 22 avatars are given in Chapter 3, Canto 1 of the Bhagavata Purana, although it states that "the incarnations of the Lord are innumerable, like rivulets flowing from inexhaustible sources of water".

 

BEYOND HINDUISM

 

SIKHISM

Guru Granth Sahib of Sikhism mentions Vishnu, one verse goes:

 

The true Vaishnaav, the devotee of Vishnu, is the one with whom God is thoroughly pleased. He dwells apart from Maya. Performing good deeds, he does not seek rewards. Spotlessly pure is the religion of such a Vaishnaav; he has no desire for the fruits of his labors. He is absorbed in devotional worship and the singing of Kirtan, the songs of the Lords Glory. Within his mind and body, he meditates in remembrance on the Lord of the Universe. He is kind to all creatures. He holds fast to the Naam, and inspires others to chant it. O Nanak, such a Vaishnaav obtains the supreme status.

 

BUDDHISM

While some Hindus consider Buddha as an incarnation of Vishnu, Buddhists in Sri Lanka venerate Vishnu as the custodian deity of Sri Lanka and protector of Buddhism. Lord Vishnu is also known as upulvan, or uthpala varna, meaning "Blue Lotus coloured". Some postulates that Uthpala varna was a local deity who later merged with Vishnu while another belief is that Uthpala Varna was an early form of Vishnu before he became a supreme deity in Puranic Hinduism. According to Chronicles "Mahawamsa", "Chulawamsa" and folklore in Sri Lanka, Buddha himself handed over the custodianship to Vishnu. Others believe that Buddha entrusted this task to Sakra(Indra) and Sakra delegated this task of custodianship to god Vishnu. In contrary to vedic Hinduism, in assimilation of Hindu god Vishnu into Sinhalese Buddhism, Vishnu becomes a mortal being and a Bodhisattva aspiring Buddhahood. Additionally, Vishnu is considered as the god of home and hearth representing mercy, goodness, order and stability. Many Buddhist and Hindu shrines are dedicated to Vishnu in Sri Lanka. In addition to specific Vishnu "Kovils" or "devalayas", all Buddhist temples necessarily house shrine rooms (Devalayas) closer to the main Buddhist shrine dedicated to Vishnu. John Holt in his groundbreaking study examines the assimilation, transformation, and subordination of the Hindu deity Vishnu within the contexts of Sri Lankan history and Sinhala Buddhist religious culture. He then explores the role and rationale of medieval Sinhala kings in assimilating Visnu into Sinhala Buddhism. According to Holt the veneration of Vishnu in Sri Lanka is evidence of a remarkable ability, over many centuries, to reiterate and reinvent culture as other ethnicities have been absorbed into their own. Though the Vishnu cult in Ceylon was formally endorsed by Kandyan kings in early 1700s, Holt states that vishnu images and shrines are among conspicuous ruins in the medieval capital Polonnaruwa. In Buddhist mythology, when Vishnu failed to traverse the universe in three steps, he was given the title "Ardha Vishnu (Half-Vishnu)" and when Vishnu banished demons from the Vaishali (Vishala)in India, he became "Mulu Vishnu or Whole Vishnu". The extreme significance of god Vishnu in Sinhala society is reflected in recitals of the traditional "Offerings to dwarfs and crossing the door frame (bahirwayanta dola pideem saha uluwahu peneema)" that starts with Sri Vishnu invocation.In the recitals,mentioning of the aspiring Buddhahood of Vishnu which is of prime importance to Buddhists and wishes for him to live five thousand and more years highlight the central role of Vishnu in the psyche of Sri Lankan Buddhists.

 

OTHERS

James Freeman Clarke, Richard Leviton, James Cowles Prichard, and others have noted the similarities between Vishnu and Ancient Egyptian God Horus.

 

During an excavation in an abandoned village of Russia in the Volga region, archaeologist Alexander Kozhevin excavated an ancient idol of Vishnu. The idol dates from between the 7th and 10th centuries. In the interview Kozhevin, stated that, "We may consider it incredible, but we have ground to assert that Middle-Volga region was the original land of Ancient Rus. This is a hypothesis, but a hypothesis, which requires thorough research"

 

THOUSAND NAMES OF VISHNU

Vishnu's many names and followers are collected in the Vishnu Sahasranama, (Vishnu's thousand names) from within the larger work Mahabharata. The character Bheeshma recites the names before Krishna on the battlefield of Kurukshetra, praising him (Vishnu) as the supreme god. These Sahasranama are regarded as the essence of all Vedas by followers of Vaishnavism, who believe sincere chanting of Vishnu Sahasranama results in spiritual well-being and a greater awareness of God.

 

The names are generally derived from the Anantakalyanagunas (meaning: infinite auspicious attributes).

 

According to the Siddhartha-samhita there are twenty-four forms of Lord Vishnu. The twenty-four forms are

 

Vasudeva

Sankarshana

Pradyumna

Anirudha

Keshava

Narayana

Madhava

Govinda

Vishnu

Madhusudana

Trivikrama

Vamana

Sridhara

Hrishikesha

Padmanabha

Damodara

Purushottama

Achyuta

Narasimha

Janardana

Hari

Krishna

Adhokshaja

 

Upulvan, Uthpala Varna - In Sri Lanka, Vishnu is also referred to as Upulvan ( Blue Lotus Coloured)

 

WIKIPEDIA

Actually, on the walk to the Chihuly in the Forest exhibit, Crystal Bridges Museum. I didn't see a name, but it was kind of striking, and I liked the threefold symmetry.

The durian (/ˈdjʊriən/) is the fruit of several tree species belonging to the genus Durio. The name 'durian' is derived from the Malay-Indonesian languages word for duri or "spike", a reference to the numerous spike protuberances of the fruit, together with the noun-building suffix -an. There are 30 recognised Durio species, at least nine of which produce edible fruit. Durio zibethinus is the only species available in the international market: other species are sold in their local regions.

 

Regarded by many people in southeast Asia as the "king of fruits", the durian is distinctive for its large size, strong odour, and formidable thorn-covered husk. The fruit can grow as large as 30 centimetres long and 15 centimetres in diameter, and it typically weighs one to three kilograms. Its shape ranges from oblong to round, the colour of its husk green to brown, and its flesh pale yellow to red, depending on the species.

 

The edible flesh emits a distinctive odour that is strong and penetrating even when the husk is intact. Some people regard the durian as having a pleasantly sweet fragrance; others find the aroma overpowering and revolting. The smell evokes reactions from deep appreciation to intense disgust, and has been described variously as rotten onions, turpentine, and raw sewage. The persistence of its odour has led to the fruit's banishment from certain hotels and public transportation in Southeast Asia.

 

The durian, native to Southeast Asia, has been known to the Western world for about 600 years. The nineteenth-century British naturalist Alfred Russel Wallace described its flesh as "a rich custard highly flavoured with almonds". The flesh can be consumed at various stages of ripeness, and it is used to flavour a wide variety of savoury and sweet edibles in Southeast Asian cuisines. The seeds can also be eaten when cooked.

 

There are hundreds of durian cultivars; many consumers express preferences for specific cultivars, which fetch higher prices in the market.

 

TAXONOMY

The genus Durio is placed by some taxonomists in the family Bombacaceae, or by others in a broadly defined Malvaceae that includes Bombacaceae, and by others in a smaller family of just seven genera Durionaceae.

 

DESCRIPTION

Durian trees are large, growing to 25–50 metres in height depending on the species. The leaves are evergreen, elliptic to oblong and 10–18 centimetres long. The flowers are produced in three to thirty clusters together on large branches and directly on the trunk with each flower having a calyx (sepals) and five (rarely four or six) petals. Durian trees have one or two flowering and fruiting periods per year, although the timing varies depending on the species, cultivars, and localities. A typical durian tree can bear fruit after four or five years. The durian fruit can hang from any branch and matures roughly three months after pollination. The fruit can grow up to 30 centimetres long and 15 centimetres (6 in) in diameter, and typically weighs one to three kilograms. Its shape ranges from oblong to round, the colour of its husk green to brown, and its flesh pale-yellow to red, depending on the species. Among the thirty known species of Durio, nine of them have been identified as producing edible fruits: D. zibethinus, D. dulcis, D. grandiflorus, D. graveolens, D. kutejensis, D. macrantha, D. oxleyanus, and D. testudinarum. There are many species for which the fruit has never been collected or properly examined, however, so other species with edible fruit may exist. The durian is somewhat similar in appearance to the jackfruit, an unrelated species.

 

The name durian comes from the Malay word duri (thorn) together with the suffix -an (for building a noun in Malay). D. zibethinus is the only species commercially cultivated on a large scale and available outside of its native region. Since this species is open-pollinated, it shows considerable diversity in fruit colour and odour, size of flesh and seed, and tree phenology. In the species name, zibethinus refers to the Indian civet, Viverra zibetha. There is disagreement regarding whether this name, bestowed by Linnaeus, refers to civets being so fond of the durian that the fruit was used as bait to entrap them, or to the durian smelling like the civet.

 

Durian flowers are large and feathery with copious nectar, and give off a heavy, sour, and buttery odour. These features are typical of flowers pollinated by certain species of bats that eat nectar and pollen. According to research conducted in Malaysia in the 1970s, durians were pollinated almost exclusively by cave fruit bats (Eonycteris spelaea); however, a 1996 study indicated two species, D. grandiflorus and D. oblongus, were pollinated by spiderhunters (Nectariniidae) and another species, D. kutejensis, was pollinated by giant honey bees and birds as well as bats.

 

CULTIVARS

Over the centuries, numerous durian cultivars, propagated by vegetative clones, have arisen in southeast Asia. They used to be grown with mixed results from seeds of trees bearing superior quality fruit, but now are propagated by layering, marcotting, or more commonly, by grafting, including bud, veneer, wedge, whip or U-grafting onto seedlings of randomly selected rootstocks. Different cultivars may be distinguished to some extent by variations in the fruit shape, such as the shape of the spines. Durian consumers express preferences for specific cultivars, which fetch higher prices in the market.

 

Most cultivars have a common name and a code number starting with "D". For example, some popular clones are Kop (D99 Thai: กบ – "frog" [kòp]), Chanee (D123, Thai: ชะนี – gibbon [tɕʰániː]), Berserah or Green Durian or Tuan Mek Hijau (D145 Thai: ทุเรียนเขียว – Green Durian [tʰúriːən kʰǐow]), Kan Yao (D158, Thai: ก้านยาว – Long Stem [kâːn jaːw]), Mon Thong (D159, Thai: หมอนทอง – Golden Pillow [mɔ̌ːn tʰɔːŋ]), Kradum Thong (Thai: กระดุมทอง – Golden Button [kràdum tʰɔːŋ]), and with no common name, D24 and D169. Each cultivar has a distinct taste and odour. More than 200 cultivars of D. zibethinus exist in Thailand.

 

Mon thong is the most commercially sought after for its thick, full-bodied creamy and mild sweet tasting flesh with relatively moderate smell emitted and smaller seeds, while Chanee is the best in terms of its resistance to infection by Phytophthora palmivora. Kan Yao is somewhat less common, but prized for its longer window of time when it is both sweet and odorless at the same time. Among all the cultivars in Thailand, five are currently in large-scale commercial cultivation: Chanee, Mon Thong, Kan Yao, Ruang, and Kradum. There are more than 100 registered cultivars since 1920's in Malaysia and up to 193 cultivar by 1992, and many superior cultivars have been identified through competitions held at the annual Malaysian Agriculture, Horticulture, and Agrotourism Show. In Vietnam, the same process has been achieved through competitions held by the Southern Fruit Research Institute. A recently popular variety is, Cat Mountain King or Musang King.

 

By 2007, Songpol Somsri, a Thai government scientist, had crossbred more than ninety varieties of durian to create Chantaburi No. 1, a cultivar without the characteristic odour. Another hybrid, Chantaburi No. 3, develops the odour about three days after the fruit is picked, which enables an odourless transport yet satisfies consumers who prefer the pungent odour. On 22 May 2012, two other cultivars from Thailand that also lack the usual odour, Long Laplae and Lin Laplae, were presented to the public by Yothin Samutkhiri, governor of Uttaradit province from where these cultivars were developed locally, while he announced the dates for the yearly durian fair of Laplae District, and the name giver to both cultivars.

 

Popular cultivars in Malaysia and Singapore (Singapore imports most of its durians from Malaysia hence the varieties are similar although there may be slight variation in the names) include "D24" which is a popular variety known for its bitter sweet taste; "XO" which has a pale color, thick flesh with a tinge of alcoholic fermentation; "Chook Kiok" (Cantonese meaning: bamboo leg) which has a distinctive yellowish core in the inner stem and "Musang King" ( Musang is the Malay word for civet cat) which is usually the priciest of all cultivars. Musang King has bright yellow flesh and is almost like a more potent or enhanced version of the D24. This particular variety should be consumed last since it tends to make other durians taste bland in comparison.

 

CULTIVATION AND AVAIBILITY

The durian is native to Brunei, Indonesia and Malaysia.[8] There is some debate as to whether the durian is native to the Philippines, particularly the Davao region in the island of Mindanao, or was introduced. The durian is grown in other areas with a similar climate; it is strictly tropical and stops growing when mean daily temperatures drop below 22 °C.

 

The centre of ecological diversity for durians is the island of Borneo, where the fruit of the edible species of Durio including D. zibethinus, D. dulcis, D. graveolens, D. kutejensis, D. oxleyanus and D. testudinarum is sold in local markets. In Brunei, D. zibethinus is not grown because consumers prefer other species such as D. graveolens, D. kutejensis and D. oxleyanus. These species are commonly distributed in Brunei, and together with other species like D. testudinarum and D. dulcis, represent rich genetic diversity.

 

Although the durian is not native to Thailand, the country is currently one of the major exporters of durians, growing 781,000 tonnes of the world's total harvest of 1,400,000 tonnes in 1999, 111,000 tonnes of which it exported to Taiwan, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Singapore and Canada. Malaysia and Indonesia follow, both producing about 265,000 tonnes each. Of this, Malaysia exported 35,000 tonnes in 1999. Chantaburi in Thailand each year holds the World Durian Festival in early May. This single province is responsible for half of the durian production of Thailand. In the Philippines, the centre of durian production is the Davao Region. The Kadayawan Festival is an annual celebration featuring the durian in Davao City. Other places where durian farms are located include Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam, Myanmar, Sri Lanka, India, the West Indies, Florida, Hawaii, Papua New Guinea, the Polynesian Islands, Madagascar, southern China (Hainan Island), northern Australia, and Singapore.

 

Durian was introduced into Australia in the early 1960s and clonal material was first introduced in 1975. Over thirty clones of D. zibethinus and six Durio species have been subsequently introduced into Australia. China is the major importer, purchasing 65,000 tonnes in 1999, followed by Singapore with 40,000 tonnes and Taiwan with 5,000 tonnes. In the same year, the United States imported 2,000 tonnes, mostly frozen, and the European Community imported 500 tonnes.

 

The durian is a seasonal fruit, unlike some other non-seasonal tropical fruits such as the papaya, which are available throughout the year. In Peninsular Malaysia and Singapore, the season for durians is typically from June to August, which coincides with that of the mangosteen. Prices of durians are relatively high as compared with other fruits. For example, in Singapore, the strong demand for high quality cultivars such as the D24, Sultan, and Mao Shan Wang has resulted in typical retail prices of between S$8 to S$15 (US$5 to US$10) per kilogram of whole fruit. With an average weight of about 1.5 kilograms, a durian fruit would therefore cost about S$12 to S$22 (US$8 to US$15). The edible portion of the fruit, known as the aril and usually referred to as the "flesh" or "pulp", only accounts for about 15–30% of the mass of the entire fruit. Many consumers in Singapore are nevertheless quite willing to spend up to around S$75 (US$50) on a single purchase of about half a dozen of the favoured fruit to be shared by family members.

 

In-season durians can be found in mainstream Japanese supermarkets, while in the West they are sold mainly by Asian markets.

 

FLAVOUR AND ODOUR

The unusual flavour and odour of the fruit have prompted many people to express diverse and passionate views ranging from deep appreciation to intense disgust. Writing in 1856, the British naturalist Alfred Russel Wallace provided a much-quoted description of the flavour of the durian:

 

The five cells are silky-white within, and are filled with a mass of firm, cream-coloured pulp, containing about three seeds each. This pulp is the edible part, and its consistence and flavour are indescribable. A rich custard highly flavoured with almonds gives the best general idea of it, but there are occasional wafts of flavour that call to mind cream-cheese, onion-sauce, sherry-wine, and other incongruous dishes. Then there is a rich glutinous smoothness in the pulp which nothing else possesses, but which adds to its delicacy. It is neither acidic nor sweet nor juicy; yet it wants neither of these qualities, for it is in itself perfect. It produces no nausea or other bad effect, and the more you eat of it the less you feel inclined to stop. In fact, to eat Durians is a new sensation worth a voyage to the East to experience. ... as producing a food of the most exquisite flavour it is unsurpassed.

 

Wallace described himself as being at first reluctant to try it because of the aroma, "but in Borneo I found a ripe fruit on the ground, and, eating it out of doors, I at once became a confirmed Durian eater." He cited one traveller from 1599: "it is of such an excellent taste that it surpasses in flavour all other fruits of the world, according to those who have tasted it." He cites another writer: "To those not used to it, it seems at first to smell like rotten onions, but immediately after they have tasted it they prefer it to all other food. The natives give it honourable titles, exalt it, and make verses on it." Despite having tried many foods that are arguably more eccentric, Andrew Zimmern, host of Bizarre Foods, was unable to finish a durian upon sampling it, due to his intolerance of its strong taste.

 

While Wallace cautions that "the smell of the ripe fruit is certainly at first disagreeable", later descriptions by westerners are more graphic. Novelist Anthony Burgess writes that eating durian is "like eating sweet raspberry blancmange in the lavatory". Chef Andrew Zimmern compares the taste to "completely rotten, mushy onions". Anthony Bourdain, a lover of durian, relates his encounter with the fruit thus: "Its taste can only be described as...indescribable, something you will either love or despise. ...Your breath will smell as if you'd been French-kissing your dead grandmother." Likewise, fellow chef Jamie Oliver has also expressed admiration for the fruit on his first sampling. Travel and food writer Richard Sterling says:

 

... its odor is best described as pig-shit, turpentine and onions, garnished with a gym sock. It can be smelled from yards away. Despite its great local popularity, the raw fruit is forbidden from some establishments such as hotels, subways and airports, including public transportation in Southeast Asia.

 

Other comparisons have been made with the civet, sewage, stale vomit, skunk spray and used surgical swabs. The wide range of descriptions for the odour of durian may have a great deal to do with the variability of durian odour itself. Durians from different species or clones can have significantly different aromas; for example, red durian (D. dulcis) has a deep caramel flavour with a turpentine odour while red-fleshed durian (D. graveolens) emits a fragrance of roasted almonds. Among the varieties of D. zibethinus, Thai varieties are sweeter in flavour and less odorous than Malay ones. The degree of ripeness has an effect on the flavour as well. Three scientific analyses of the composition of durian aroma – from 1972, 1980, and 1995 – each found a mix of volatile compounds including esters, ketones, and different sulphur compounds, with no agreement on which may be primarily responsible for the distinctive odour. People in South East Asia with frequent exposures to durian are able to easily distinguish its sweet-like ketones and esters scent from rotten or putrescine odours which are from volatile amines and fatty acids. Developmental or genetic differences in olfactory perception and mapping within the brain ( for e.g. anterior piriform cortex to the orbitofrontal cortex) could possibly explain why some individuals are unable to differentiate these smells and find this fruit noxious.

 

This strong odour can be detected half a mile away by animals, thus luring them. In addition, the fruit is extremely appetising to a variety of animals, including squirrels, mouse deer, pigs, orangutan, elephants, and even carnivorous tigers. While some of these animals eat the fruit and dispose of the seed under the parent plant, others swallow the seed with the fruit and then transport it some distance before excreting, with the seed being dispersed as a result. The thorny, armoured covering of the fruit discourages smaller animals; larger animals are more likely to transport the seeds far from the parent tree.

 

RIPENESS AND SELECTION

According to Larousse Gastronomique, the durian fruit is ready to eat when its husk begins to crack. However, the ideal stage of ripeness to be enjoyed varies from region to region in Southeast Asia and by species. Some species grow so tall that they can only be collected once they have fallen to the ground, whereas most cultivars of D. zibethinus are nearly always cut from the tree and allowed to ripen while waiting to be sold. Some people in southern Thailand prefer their durians relatively young when the clusters of fruit within the shell are still crisp in texture and mild in flavour. For some people in northern Thailand, the preference is for the fruit to be soft and aromatic. In Malaysia and Singapore, most consumers prefer the fruit to be as ripe and pungent in aroma as possible and may even risk allowing the fruit to continue ripening after its husk has already cracked open. In this state, the flesh becomes richly creamy, slightly alcoholic, the aroma pronounced and the flavour highly complex.

 

The various preferences regarding ripeness among consumers make it hard to issue general statements about choosing a "good" durian. A durian that falls off the tree continues to ripen for two to four days, but after five or six days most would consider it overripe and unpalatable. The usual advice for a durian consumer choosing a whole fruit in the market is to examine the quality of the stem or stalk which loses moisture as it ages: a big, solid stem is a sign of freshness. Reportedly, unscrupulous merchants wrap, paint, or remove the stalks altogether. Due to the popularity of Kan Yao, street vendors may sometimes sell a lesser variety with a long stem to unsuspecting customers. Another frequent piece of advice is to shake the fruit and listen for the sound of the seeds moving within, indicating the durian is very ripe and the pulp has dried out a bit.

 

HISTORY

The durian has been known and consumed in Southeast Asia since prehistoric times, but has only been known to the western world for about 600 years. The earliest native reference to durian is the several bas relief panels of 9th-century Borobudur depicting durian as one of fruit offering for Javanese king, and also as one of the fruits sold in marketplace.

 

The earliest known European reference to the durian is the record of Niccolò Da Conti, who travelled to southeastern Asia in the 15th century. Translated from the Latin in which Poggio Bracciolini recorded Da Conti's travels: "They (people of Sumatra) have a green fruit which they call durian, as big as a watermelon. Inside there are five things like elongated oranges, and resembling thick butter, with a combination of flavours." The Portuguese physician Garcia de Orta described durians in Colóquios dos simples e drogas da India published in 1563. In 1741, Herbarium Amboinense by the German botanist Georg Eberhard Rumphius was published, providing the most detailed and accurate account of durians for over a century. The genus Durio has a complex taxonomy that has seen the subtraction and addition of many species since it was created by Rumphius. During the early stages of its taxonomical study, there was some confusion between durian and the soursop (Annona muricata), for both of these species had thorny green fruit. It is also interesting to note the Malay name for the soursop is durian Belanda, meaning Dutch durian. In the 18th century, Johann Anton Weinmann considered the durian to belong to Castaneae as its fruit was similar to the horse chestnut.

 

D. zibethinus was introduced into Ceylon by the Portuguese in the 16th century and was reintroduced many times later. It has been planted in the Americas but confined to botanical gardens. The first seedlings were sent from the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, to Auguste Saint-Arroman of Dominica in 1884.

 

In southeastern Asia, the durian has been cultivated for centuries at the village level, probably since the late 18th century, and commercially since the mid-20th century. In My Tropic Isle, Australian author and naturalist Edmund James Banfield tells how, in the early 20th century, a friend in Singapore sent him a durian seed, which he planted and cared for on his tropical island off the north coast of Queensland.

 

In 1949, the British botanist E. J. H. Corner published The Durian Theory, or the Origin of the Modern Tree. His theory was that endozoochory (the enticement of animals to transport seeds in their stomach) arose before any other method of seed dispersal, and that primitive ancestors of Durio species were the earliest practitioners of that dispersal method, in particular red durian (D. dulcis) exemplifying the primitive fruit of flowering plants.

 

Since the early 1990s, the domestic and international demand for durian in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) region has increased significantly, partly due to the increasing affluence of Asia.

 

USES

CULINARY

Durian fruit is used to flavour a wide variety of sweet edibles such as traditional Malay candy, ice kacang, dodol, lempuk, rose biscuits, and, with a touch of modern innovation, ice cream, milkshakes, mooncakes, Yule logs, and cappuccino. Es durian (durian ice cream) is a popular dessert in Indonesia, sold at street side stall in Indonesian cities, especially in Java. Pulut Durian or ketan durian is glutinous rice steamed with coconut milk and served with ripened durian. In Sabah, red durian is fried with onions and chilli and served as a side dish. Red-fleshed durian is traditionally added to sayur, an Indonesian soup made from freshwater fish. Ikan brengkes is fish cooked in a durian-based sauce, traditional in Sumatra. Traditionally Bollen pastry, specialty of Bandung is filled with banana and cheese. Today Bollen durian is also available, it is pastry filled with durian. Dried durian flesh can be made into kripik durian (durian chips).

 

Tempoyak refers to fermented durian, usually made from lower quality durian that is unsuitable for direct consumption. Tempoyak can be eaten either cooked or uncooked, is normally eaten with rice, and can also be used for making curry. Sambal Tempoyak is a Sumatran dish made from the fermented durian fruit, coconut milk, and a collection of spicy ingredients known as sambal.

 

In Thailand, durian is often eaten fresh with sweet sticky rice, and blocks of durian paste are sold in the markets, though much of the paste is adulterated with pumpkin. Unripe durians may be cooked as a vegetable, except in the Philippines, where all uses are sweet rather than savoury. Malaysians make both sugared and salted preserves from durian. When durian is minced with salt, onions and vinegar, it is called boder. The durian seeds, which are the size of chestnuts, can be eaten whether they are boiled, roasted or fried in coconut oil, with a texture that is similar to taro or yam, but stickier. In Java, the seeds are sliced thin and cooked with sugar as a confection. Uncooked durian seeds are toxic due to cyclopropene fatty acids and should not be ingested.

 

Young leaves and shoots of the durian are occasionally cooked as greens. Sometimes the ash of the burned rind is added to special cakes. The petals of durian flowers are eaten in the North Sumatra province of Indonesia, while in the Moluccas islands the husk of the durian fruit is used as fuel to smoke fish. The nectar and pollen of the durian flower that honeybees collect is an important honey source, but the characteristics of the honey are unknown.

 

NUTRITIONS AND FOLK MEDICINE

Durian fruit contains a high amount of sugar, vitamin C, potassium, and the serotonergic amino acid tryptophan, and is a good source of carbohydrates, proteins, and fats. It is recommended as a good source of raw fats by several raw food advocates, while others classify it as a high-glycemic food, recommending to minimise its consumption.

 

In Malaysia, a decoction of the leaves and roots used to be prescribed as an antipyretic. The leaf juice is applied on the head of a fever patient. The most complete description of the medicinal use of the durian as remedies for fevers is a Malay prescription, collected by Burkill and Haniff in 1930. It instructs the reader to boil the roots of Hibiscus rosa-sinensis with the roots of Durio zibethinus, Nephelium longan, Nephelium mutabile and Artocarpus integrifolia, and drink the decoction or use it as a poultice.

 

In the 1920s, Durian Fruit Products, Inc., of New York City launched a product called "Dur-India" as a health food supplement, selling at US$9 for a dozen bottles, each containing 63 tablets. The tablets allegedly contained durian and a species of the genus Allium from India and vitamin E. The company promoted the supplement saying that it provides "more concentrated healthful energy in food form than any other product the world affords".

 

CUSTOMS AND BELIEFS

Southeast Asian traditional beliefs, as well as traditional Chinese medicine, consider the durian fruit to have warming properties liable to cause excessive sweating. The traditional method to counteract this is to pour water into the empty shell of the fruit after the pulp has been consumed and drink it. An alternative method is to eat the durian in accompaniment with mangosteen, which is considered to have cooling properties. Pregnant women or people with high blood pressure are traditionally advised not to consume durian.

 

Another common local belief is that the durian is harmful when eaten with coffee or alcoholic beverages. The latter belief can be traced back at least to the 18th century when Rumphius stated that one should not drink alcohol after eating durians as it will cause indigestion and bad breath. In 1929, J. D. Gimlette wrote in his Malay Poisons and Charm Cures that the durian fruit must not be eaten with brandy. In 1981, J. R. Croft wrote in his Bombacaceae: In Handbooks of the Flora of Papua New Guinea that "a feeling of morbidity" often follows the consumption of alcohol too soon after eating durian. Several medical investigations on the validity of this belief have been conducted with varying conclusions, though a study by the University of Tsukuba finds the fruit's high sulphur content inhibits the activity of aldehyde dehydrogenase, causing a 70% reduction of the ability to clear toxins from the body.

 

The Javanese believe durian to have aphrodisiac qualities, and impose a set of rules on what may or may not be consumed with it or shortly thereafter. A saying in Indonesian, durian jatuh sarung naik, meaning "the durian falls and the sarong comes up", refers to this belief. The warnings against the supposed lecherous quality of this fruit soon spread to the West – the Swedenborgian philosopher Herman Vetterling commented on so-called "erotic properties" of the durian in the early 20th century.

 

A durian falling on a person's head can cause serious injuries because it is heavy, armed with sharp thorns, and can fall from a significant height. Wearing a hardhat is recommended when collecting the fruit. Alfred Russel Wallace writes that death rarely ensues from it, because the copious effusion of blood prevents the inflammation which might otherwise take place. A common saying is that a durian has eyes and can see where it is falling because the fruit allegedly never falls during daylight hours when people may be hurt. A saying in Indonesian, ketiban durian runtuh, which translates to "getting a durian avalanche", is the equivalent of the English phrase "windfall gain". Nevertheless, signs warning people not to linger under durian trees are found in Indonesia. Strong nylon or woven rope nettings are often strung between durian trees in orchards, serving a threefold purpose: the nets aid in the collection of the mature fruits, deter ground-level scavengers, and most importantly, prevent the durians from falling onto people.

 

A naturally spineless variety of durian growing wild in Davao, Philippines, was discovered in the 1960s; fruits borne from these seeds also lacked spines. Since the bases of the scales develop into spines as the fruit matures, sometimes spineless durians are produced artificially by scraping scales off immature fruits. In Malaysia, a spinesless durian clone D172 is registered by Agriculture Department on 17 June 1989. It was called "Durian Botak" (Bald Durian). In Indonesia, Ir Sumeru Ashari, head of Durian Research Centre, Universitas Brawijaya reported spineless durian from Kasembon, Malang. Another cultivar is from Lombok, Nusa Tenggara Barat, Indonesia.

 

Animals such as Sumatran elephants are known to consume durians. Curiously, the carnivorous Sumatran tiger is also known to consume durian occasionally. The strong odour of the fallen fruits in the jungle probably attracts the tiger to inspect the fruit and lick it.

 

CULTURAL INFLUENCE

The durian is commonly known as the "King of the Fruits", a label that can be attributed to its formidable look and overpowering odour. In its native southeastern Asia, the durian is an everyday food and portrayed in the local media in accordance with the cultural perception it has in the region. The durian symbolised the subjective nature of ugliness and beauty in Hong Kong director Fruit Chan's 2000 film Durian Durian (榴槤飄飄, lau lin piu piu), and was a nickname for the reckless but lovable protagonist of the eponymous Singaporean TV comedy Durian King played by Adrian Pang. Likewise, the oddly shaped Esplanade building in Singapore is often called "The Durian" by locals, and "The Big Durian" is the nickname of Jakarta, Indonesia.

 

One of the names Thailand contributed to the list of storm names for Western North Pacific tropical cyclones was 'Durian', which was retired after the second storm of this name in 2006. Being a fruit much loved by a variety of wild beasts, the durian sometimes signifies the long-forgotten animalistic aspect of humans, as in the legend of Orang Mawas, the Malaysian version of Bigfoot, and Orang Pendek, its Sumatran version, both of which have been claimed to feast on durians.

 

Frozen whole durians are shipped from Thailand to Asian markets and Chinatowns in Western countries.

 

WIKIPEDIA

Los acontecimientos alrededor del sismo del pasado 19 de septiembre ponen a la vista la estrategia que adoptó el Estado mexicano para administrar la tragedia en su beneficio, ocultar su negligencia, lucrar con ella y aprovechar la oportunidad que se viene para engrosar los bolsillos de quienes más tienen. Es esto lo que convierte un desastre natural en una tragedia.

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La omisión del Estado y la administración de la tragedia | Por Tejiendo Organización Revolucionaria | 25 de septiembre de 2017 - tejiendorevolucion.org/190917.html

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Quien protagoniza la tragedia es la negligencia, no el temblor; evidencia de ello es que éste fue presentado como inesperado, aunque es por demás sabido que se dio en zona sísmica; evidencia son los más de treinta años en que no se avanzó en la prevención: las revisiones fallidas después del temblor del 7 de septiembre no arrojaron datos de que hubiera escuelas mal construidas o con daños estructurales; evidencia es que los reglamentos de construcción son letra muerta, asesinada por la corrupción de los diversos niveles de gobierno y los negocios inmobiliarios.

 

La urgencia de la tragedia convocó a la solidaridad inmediata y la presión del tiempo urgente ocultó un hecho fundamental: el Estado sí cuenta con los recursos materiales y humanos para enfrentar la catástrofe; cuenta con maquinaria pesada, equipo y personal especializado, infraestructura de comunicación, dinero, etc., si no los ocupó fue porque deicidio no hacerlo, no porque se viera rebasado.

 

El Estado mexicano tiene recursos de alta tecnología para espiarnos, por ejemplo, pero no los puso al servicio de los rescatistas para localizar vida dentro de los escombros. Tampoco se usó la estructura estatal para proporcionar información fidedigna y pronta que pudiera salvar vidas y canalizar la ayuda. Es más, ni los rescatistas internacionales fueron bien aprovechados, aunque los había.

 

La participación del Estado en las zonas más afectadas fue bajo la lógica de contener y controlar. Así actuaron sus efectivos castrenses, la milicia y la marina, al presentarse con armas de alto calibre a establecer perímetros de seguridad, que no sólo obstaculizaban el pronto rescate de vidas humanas, sino que pretendían cohibir la organización de la gente. Es importante mencionar que hubo elementos del ejército y policía custodiando las tiendas trasnacionales de supuestos intentos de rapiña. No es difícil concluir que su plan era lavarle la cara al ejército, cuya presencia fue más evidente en aquellos puntos que mediáticamente eran más explotables. Todo esto bajo una lógica de guerra y de barrer de manera pronta con los escombros.

 

El Estado permitió y fomentó que se le pidiera a la población gastar su salario en acopios individuales, que luego buscó administrar de forma clientelar y asistencialista, mientras, los impuestos que de por si paga el pueblo fueron a parar al fideicomiso “Fuerza México”, fideicomiso que canalizará los recursos públicos y privados generando una acumulación de capital nada desdeñable para quienes lo administran: las grandes empresas; esas, que brillaron por su ausencia cuando se hizo el llamado general a la solidaridad y que ahora piden donaciones como si fuesen la víctimas de la tragedia.

 

Para el Estado y los grandes capitalistas, a quienes realmente representa, el territorio de la tragedia –Oaxaca, Guerrero, Tlaxcala, Morelos, Puebla, Ciudad de México– es visto como un espacio para generar ganancias, invirtiendo y especulando con las vidas de la gente.

 

Lo único que podrá detenerlos es la organización de los afectados por el sismo, la organización de la gente solidaria que desbordó las calles y acudió segura de que su ayuda era indispensable, porque sabíamos que el gobierno no haría nada.

 

El triple propósito de la estrategia estatal fue primero, ponernos a resolver la situación como pudiéramos y así canalizar la energía social, segundo, aparecer codo a codo con la gente para lavar su imagen y, tercero, aumentar las ventas de las grandes empresas.

 

Si algo aprenden los que insisten en dominarnos es que abajo siempre nos organizamos en su contra, así sucedió con el terremoto de 1985, así sucede ahora. Eso es lo que temen los de arriba y lo que intentaran contener a cualquier costo. El caos que han fomentado en forma de vacío institucional, desinformación, tragedia y muerte tiene por primer objetivo ese: imposibilitar la organización. Después de largos años atacando las múltiples formas de organización popular y social han dejado a una sociedad aislada, dividida, individualizada; no obstante, esta sociedad ahora intenta restablecer los lazos, buscamos reconocernos como compañeros de los mismos problemas.

 

Junto a la desorganización hay un segundo objetivo del Estado, encauzar nuestra indignación y nuestra solidaridad. Dejar que la “sociedad civil” tenga que resolver lo urgente y vital de la tragedia para así impedir que lo denunciemos; con estas formas el Estado nos desgasta, nos va quitando esperanzas y evita que nos organicemos para cambiarlo en el futuro. Nos quieren dejar la carga de la tragedia, quieren que seamos los responsables del fracaso.

 

La apuesta desde arriba es que no vamos a ser capaces de organizarnos pero están equivocados, nosotros, desde abajo, vamos a demostrarlo porque nos va la vida en ello.

 

Por eso llamamos a la organización solidaria y no sólo a la solidaridad. Hay que organizarnos que esto va pa' largo, hay que reconocernos con un enemigo en común: el sistema capitalista al que defiende y representa el Estado. Pero además, y más importante, hay que reconocernos con una causa común: tener una vida digna, digna porque podemos organizarnos para salvar vidas sin que ninguna instancia autoritaria nos lo impida; digna porque podemos participar y garantizar que la reconstrucción de las viviendas afectadas se haga con los requerimientos necesarios. Denunciemos la omisión, la negligencia y la administración que el Estado hace de la tragedia. Impulsemos la autoorganización de los de abajo para la reconstrucción del país desde los escombros.

 

Tejiendo Organización Revolucionaria

25 de septiembre de 2017

 

___

 

The events surrounding the September 19 earthquake expose the Mexican state's strategy to manage the tragedy on its behalf, to hide its negligence, to profit from it and to seize the opportunity that has come to swell the pockets of those who have. This is what turns a natural disaster into a tragedy.

----

The omission of the State and the administration of the tragedy | By Tejiendo Revolutionary Organization | September 25, 2017

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The protagonist of the tragedy is negligence, not trembling; Evidence of this is that it was presented as unexpected, although it is well known that it occurred in seismic zone; evidence is more than thirty years in which there was no progress in prevention: failed reviews after the earthquake of September 7 did not report that there were poorly constructed or structurally damaged schools; evidence is that building regulations are dead letter, murdered by the corruption of various levels of government and real estate business.

 

The urgency of the tragedy called for immediate solidarity and the urgent pressure of time concealed a fundamental fact: the State does have the material and human resources to face the catastrophe; has heavy machinery, equipment and specialized personnel, communication infrastructure, money, etc., if not occupied was because deicide not to do it, not because it was exceeded.

 

The Mexican state has high-tech resources to spy on us, for example, but did not put them at the service of rescuers to locate life inside the rubble. Nor was the state structure used to provide reliable and timely information that could save lives and channel aid. Moreover, not even the international rescuers were well exploited, although there were.

 

The participation of the State in the most affected areas was under the logic of containing and controlling. This was how their military officers, the militia and the navy acted, by introducing themselves with high-caliber weapons to establish security perimeters, which not only hindered the prompt rescue of human lives, but also sought to restrain the organization of the people. It is important to mention that there were elements of the army and police guarding the transnational tents of alleged predatory attempts. It is not difficult to conclude that his plan was to wash the face to the army, whose presence was more evident in those points that mediatically were more exploitable. All this under a logic of war and sweep quickly with the rubble.

 

The state allowed and encouraged that the population be asked to spend their salary in individual stores, which later sought to manage clientele and welfare, while the taxes paid by the people went to the trust "Fuerza México" trust that will channel the public and private resources generating a capital accumulation not negligible for those who administer it: large companies; those that shone by their absence when the general call for solidarity was made and now ask for donations as if they were the victims of the tragedy.

 

For the state and the great capitalists it represents, the territory of the tragedy - Oaxaca, Guerrero, Tlaxcala, Morelos, Puebla, Mexico City - is seen as a space to generate profits, investing and speculating with the lives of people.

 

The only thing that can stop them is the organization of those affected by the earthquake, the organization of the people of solidarity who overflowed the streets and came safe that their help was indispensable, because we knew that the government would do nothing.

 

The threefold purpose of the state strategy was first, to resolve the situation as we could and thus channel social energy, second, to appear side by side with people to wash their image and, thirdly, to increase the sales of large companies.

 

If there is something learned by those who insist on dominating us, it is that below we always organize against him, so it happened with the earthquake of 1985, this is what happens now. That's what they fear from above and what they try to contain at any cost. The chaos that they have fomented in the form of institutional vacuum, disinformation, tragedy and death has the first objective that: to prevent the organization. After many years attacking the multiple forms of popular and social organization have left an isolated, divided, individualized society; nevertheless, this society now tries to reestablish the bonds, we seek to recognize ourselves as companions of the same problems.

 

Along with the disorganization there is a second objective of the State, to channel our indignation and our solidarity. Let the "civil society" have to solve the urgent and vital of the tragedy in order to prevent denouncing it; with these forms the State wears us, takes away our hopes and prevents us to organize to change it in the future. They want to leave us the burden of tragedy, they want us to be responsible for the failure. The bet from above is that we will not be able to organize but they are wrong, we, from below, we are going to prove it because we are going to live in it.

 

That's why we call solidarity organization and not just solidarity. We have to organize that this goes for long, we have to recognize ourselves with a common enemy: the capitalist system that defends and represents the State. But more importantly, we must recognize ourselves with a common cause: having a dignified, dignified life because we can organize ourselves to save lives without any authoritarian instance preventing us; dignified because we can participate and ensure that the reconstruction of affected housing is made with the necessary requirements. Let us denounce the omission, neglect and administration that the State makes of the tragedy. Let us encourage the self-organization of those below for the reconstruction of the country from the rubble.

 

Tejiendo Organización Revolucionaria

25 September 2017

 

PERIYAR E.V.RAMASAMY and WOMEN RIGHTS

 

With regards to marriage, Periyar has stated that it is one of the worst customs in India. He claimed that the marriage principle, briefly, involves the enslavement of a woman by her husband and nothing else. This enslavement is concealed under the cover of marriage rites to deceive the women concerned by giving the wedding the false name of a divine function.[7]

 

There have been numerous papers in South India reporting how husbands have killed their wives, suspecting immoral behavior. The husband's suspicion of his wife's character has often led to murders. Those who believe in the divine dispensation, according to Periyar, do not have the knowledge to ask themselves why marriages conducted according to religious rites and the approval of God end in this fashion.[7]

 

Periyar further states that the very idea that the only proper thing for women to do is to be slaves of domesticity, bear children and bring them up, is a faulty one. As long as these restrictions are imposed on women, we can be sure that women have to be subservient to men and depend on men for help. If women have to live on terms of equality with men, they must have the liberty, like men, to have the kind of education they like and also to do unhampered, any work suitable to their knowledge, ability and taste.[8]

 

Furthermore, Periyar objected to terms like "giving of a maid" and "given in marriage". They are, "Sanskrit terms" and treat woman as a thing. He advocated the substitution of the word for marriage taken from the Tirukkual "Valkai thunai" or "life partner".[9]

 

Expenses[edit]

With marriage comes the expenses. Periyar stated that in our country, and particularly in Hindu society, a marriage is a function causing a lot of difficulties and waste to all people concerned. But those who conduct the marriage function and those who are getting married do not appear to notice the attendant difficulties because they think that social life necessitates wasteful expense and many difficulties and therefore they must necessarily face those inconveniences and hardships.[10]

 

Wedding feast, jewels, expensive clothes, procession, pandal, dance, music—money is spent on all these to satisfy the vanity of the organizers. Whatever may be the amount of money spent on the wedding and however pompous each of the items may be, the mirth and jollity associated with these are over in two or three days. In a week's time the prestige and honor connected with these are forgotten.[10] But the wedding expenses leave many families crushed; for many poor families these expenses leave an enormous burden and the debts remain uncleared for a number of years.[11]

 

However, if the money intended for the wedding expense is not borrowed and belongs to either of the marriage parties, then that amount could be used by her to bring up her children and to educate them. Such a procedure would be highly beneficial to her.[12]

 

Arranged marriages[edit]

In South Asia we mostly hear of arranged marriages as part of custom, heritage, and religions. Periyar thought that the Aryan wedding methods were barbarous because of the Aryan religion and art: Vedas, Sastras, Puranas, and Epics belong to the barbaric age. He further stated that is the reason why their wedding methods involve the parents giving the girl, prostituting the girl children and some stranger carrying the girl away by force or stealth.[13]

 

Arranged marriages in general were meant to enable the couple to live together throughout life and derive happiness, satisfaction and a good reputation, even years after the sexual urge and sexual pleasure are forgotten.[14]

 

But, with the selfish manipulation of this pact, Periyar claimed that women find 'pleasure' in slavish marriage because they have been brought up by their parents without education, independence and self-respect and because they have been made to believe that marriage means subordination to males. The inclusion of such slavish women in the group of 'chaste' women is another lure to them, leading them to find pleasure in such marriages.

 

Because a man is also married before he has understood the nature of life, its problems and its pleasures, he is satisfied with the slavish nature of the wife and the sexual pleasure she gives. If he finds any incompatibility, he adapts himself to his partner and the circumstances and puts up with his lot.[14]

 

Love marriages[edit]

Love marriages, claims Periyar, on the other hand will suit only those who have no ideals in life. Such a wedding gives primacy to sexual union along and it is doubtful if it indicates an agreement between the couple for good life. Sexual compatibility alone does not ensure happy married life; the couple should be able to live together cheerfully. Suitability for life or living together can be determined only if the man and woman get used to the company of each other, and are satisfied with each other. Only then, they can enter into an agreement to live together.[13]

 

Periyar further states that love marriages can give pleasure only as long as there is lust and the ability to satisfy that lust. If there is no compatibility between the partners in other respects, such marriages end only in the enslavement of women. The lies of such women resemble the lives of bullocks which are tied to a cart, beaten up and made to labor endlessly until they die.[14]

 

Therefore, there is a proverb stating, "A deeply loving girl is unfit for family life; a suitable life partner is unfit for love." Periyar believed that the agreement between partners to live together will constitute a better marriage than a love marriage.[14]

 

Self-respect marriages[edit]

In a leading article of Viduthalai, Periyar states that a self-respect wedding is based on rationalism. Rationalism is based on the individual's courage. Some may have the courage to conduct it during the time which almanacs indicate as the time of the planet Rahu and that, particularly in the evening. Some others may have just enough daring to avoid the Brahmin priest and his mother tongue - the Sanskrit language.[15] Some may feel nervous about not keeping the traditional lamp burning in broad daylight. Some others may have the rotten thought that conducting a wedding without 'mangala sutra' is disgraceful.

 

Still, the self-respect weddings conducted during the past thirty years have some basic limits. They are: Brahmins and their mantras should be utterly avoided; meaningless rituals, piling mud pots, one on another, having the traditional lamp during day time, ritual smoke - all these should be avoided. Rationalism does not approve of these. Periyar then asks why can't the government pass an Act that legalizes weddings which avoid the above-mentioned superstitious practices. If all these details cannot be accommodated in the Act, the latter can legalize weddings which don't have Brahmin priests, the Sanskrit language and the so called holy fire.[16]

 

Thus, marriages styled as Self-Respect marriages carried a threefold significance: a) replacing the Purohit, b) inter-caste equality, c) man-woman equality. Periyar claimed to have performed Self-Respect marriages unofficially since 1925 and officially since 1928.[17] Self-Respect marriages were legalized in 1967 by the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) Government.[18]

 

Widow-remarriage[edit]

On the remarriage of widows, Periyar states that among the atrocities perpetrated by the Hindu male population against women, here we have to consider the treatment meted out to widows alone. If a girl loses her husband, even before knowing anything of worldly pleasures, she is compelled to close her eyes to everything in the world and die broken-hearted. Even in Periyar's community at the time, there were widowed girls below the age of 13 years. Periyar stated how it is a touching sight to see the parents of those widowed children treating them like untouchables.[19]

 

He goes on to say that whatever may be the reason for the present state of the Hindu society, my firm belief that the low position given permanently to widows may prove to be the reason for the utter ruin of the Hindu religion and the Hindu society.[20]

 

If we try to find the reason for such conduct, we will have to conclude that they instinctively feel that women are slaves, subservient to men and that they must be kept under control. That is why these people treat women like animals. They seem to feel that giving freedom to women is equivalent to committing a very serious crime. The result of this attitude is that there is no independence or freedom to one half of the human race. This wicked enslavement of half of the human race is due to the fact that men are physically a little stronger than women. This principle applies to all spheres of life and the weaker are enslaved by the stronger.

 

If slavery has to be abolished in society, the male arrogance and wickedness which lead to the enslavement of women must be abolished first. Only when this is achieved, the tender sprouts of freedom and equality will register growth.[21]

 

One of the reasons why Periayr hated Hinduism and the orthodoxy practiced in the name of Hinduism was the practice of child marriage. Many of the girl children who were married before they were ten or twelve years old became widows before they knew the meaning of the word. According to the 1921 All India Census the details of the child widows reported living in the country that time were as follows:[22]

 

1 year baby widows - 497

1 to 2 year child widows - 494

2 to 3 year child widows - 1,257

3 to 4 year child widows - 2,837

4 to 5 year child widows - 6,707

Total number of widows - 11,342

5 to 10 year young widows - 85,037

10 to 15 year young widows - 232,147

15 to 20 year young widows - 396,172

20 to 25 year young widows - 742,820

25 to 30 year young widows - 1,163,720

Total number of widows - 2,631,238[22][23]

Periyar was deeply disturbed when he realized that among the widows in India, 11,892 were little children below 5 years and that young widows below 15 years numbering 232,147 were denied the pleasures of life.[24]

 

With regards to the re-marriage of widows, Periyar stated that it is the practice of our people to refer to such a wedding as "a widow's marriage". Such an expression is used only with reference to women and in connection with men. Just as this lady is marrying another husband after the death of the first husband, many men marry again after the death of the first wife. But the second marriage of a man is not referred to as "a widower's marriage", though that is the proper thing to do.

 

Periyar himself was a widower. After becoming one, he took a second wife. He claimed that in the ancient days, both men and women in the country had this practice. There were numerous instances in sastras and puranas of women getting married again after the death of their first husband. Periyar further stated that this is not an unusual practice in the rest of the world though it might appear strange for us at the present time. Christian and Muslim women marry again after the death of the first husband. 90 percent of women in Muslim countries get married again soon after the death of the first husband. This may be unusual in certain sections of Indian societies. But it is a common practice in certain other sections of our society which are called very backward communities.[25]

 

Further, inter-caste marriages and remarriage of widows are on the increase in India. Brahmins oppose these because they are afraid that they cannot exploit the people any more in the name of sastras. For the same reason they oppose the Sharada Act which is necessary for social well-being.[26]

 

Child marriage[edit]

In all the meetings of the non-Brahmins and the Self-Respectors, Periyar condemned child marriages and emphasized the need for educating all girl children and giving right to young widows to get married again.

 

Periyar has been very much against child marriage and stated that it reflects the cruelty to which innocent girls were subjected by their well-meaning parents. Periyar asked that if these parents can be considered civilized in any sense of the term. There was no other leader other than Periyar who reacted against this practice of child marriage.[24]

 

Those who supported child marriage were strongly against Periyar's condemnation of this act. Take for example, the Sharada Act. Those who opposed this Act say that it was against the Sastras to conduct the marriage of a girl after she has attained puberty. They further say that those who conduct such marriages are committing a sin and therefore will go to hell.[27]

 

Chastity[edit]

Periyar claimed that "household duties" have risen out of the foolishness of people and were not natural duties.[28] He went on to say that it was our selfish greed which has multiplied our household work. Nobody need worry that without household work, the women will lose their "chastity". On chastity, Periyar went on to say that it is something that belongs to women and is not a pledge to men. Whatever, chastity is, it was something that belonged to individuals.

 

In society, it was believed that if people lose their chastity, they will get divine punishment. Others are not going to get that punishment. Referring to the doctrines of institutionalized orthodox religions, he went on to say that men need not to worry themselves that women are committing a sin by not doing household work. Thus, let men realize that women are not slaves and that men are not their masters or guardians. Women should be allowed to develop the competence to protect themselves and their chastity and men need not be their watchdogs. He also believed that it was derogatory for men to play such a role.[citation needed]

 

It was said by the orthodox[who?] that women will develop diseases if they lose their chastity. The disease that a woman gets affects the husbands also. If we[who?] educate the women, they will develop the capability to keep themselves and their husbands pure. Thus, Periyar stated in the Kudi Arasu for the society to think deeply about taking a decision and do the right thing for their sisters and girl children.[29]

 

Periyar kindled the thoughts of everybody by also ridiculing the use of the word chastity only with reference to women. (Periyar-Father of Tamil 32) He stated that character is essential for both men and women and that speaking of chastity only with reference to women degraded not merely women but men also. He extended this thought and said that in any sphere of activity, civilized society cannot think of one law for men and another for women. He also said that the way most men treated their women was far worse than the way the upper class people treated the lower class, the way in which rich men treated the poor and the way in which a master treated his slave.[30]

 

Education[edit]

On education, Periyar stated that some foolish parents believe that if girls get educated, they will correspond with their secret lovers. That it is a very foolish and mischievous notion. No parent need be anxious about it. If a girl writes a letter, it will only be to a male. We can even now caution men not to read any love letter addressed to them by a woman and, even if they read it, not to reply to it. If men do not listen to this advice, they, as well as the girls who write them must be punished. It will be a hopelessly bad thing, if parents keep their girl children uneducated for this reason.[29]

 

At a speeched delivered by Periyar at the Prize Distribution function in the Municipal School for Girls at Karungal Palayam, Erode, he stated that girl children should be taught active and energetic exercises like running, high jump, long jump,and wrestling so that they may acquire the strength and courage of men. Their time and energy should not be wasted in light pastimes like Kummi (groups going in a circle, clapping their hands rhythmically) and in Kolatam (striking with sticks rhythmically).

 

In ancient Tamil literature, poets have stressed the value of education for women. In a famous verse, a poet by the name of Naladiar stated that, "What gives beauty to a woman is not the hair style or the patter of her dress or the saffron on her face but only education".[31] In a verse of Eladhi it states, "Beauty does not lie in the style of wailing or in the charm of a blush but only in the combination of numbers and letters (education).[32]

 

In a 1960 issue of Viduthalai Periyar stated that "There should be a drastic revolution in the desires and ideals of Indian women. They should equip themselves to do all types of work that men are doing. They should have good domestic life without allowing nature's obstacles in their own lives. Therefore, there should be a welcome change in the minds of our women. The administrators also most pay special attention to the advancement of women".[33]

 

Armed forces[edit]

Periyar advocated for women to be given weapons to protect themselves in reply to a question put in the Central Legislature. He stated that we have no hope that the state governments will do anything in this sphere because most of the state ministers hold the orthodox belief that women are slavish creatures.[34] Though here and there we[who?] find women also as ministers, they are old-fashioned traditionalists who will say, "We don't want any kind of freedom. We are perfectly happy with slavery".[33]

 

In Periyar's time he explained that ""Indian" women had no self-determination in any sphere of life like education property and marriage. They thought that modern civilization meant dressing themselves like British and American women and adorning themselves. Even our educated women do not entertain any thought that they must enter the police and army departments and learn to pilot airplanes like the women of Russia and Turkey. Just as modern education has made men cowards an book-worms, it has made our women decoratie [sic] dolls and weaklings".[33]

 

In a leading article written by Periyar in Viduthalai in 1946, he claimed that unless there is a drastic, fundamental and revolutionary change in our[who?] administrative machinery, it is impossible to make our women independent beings.[33]

 

Periyar goes on to explain that in our country also, there are thousands of women with the courage, competence and desire to work in the police department. Just as girls going to school was considered wonderful and cycle-riding by girls was considered funny, a few years ago, women on police duty may appear to be wonderful or strange for a few years. Then, in course of time, this will be considered natural.[33]

 

We[who?] need methods that will effect an astounding revolution in the world of women. Until we acquire those methods, we will be moving forward like a tortoise and writing and talking about Drowpath and Sita.[35]

 

Periyar, in a 1932 article of Kudi Arasu, explained that "women should develop physical strength like men. They must take exercise and get training in the use of weapons. They must acquire the ability to protect themselves when any sex-mad person tries to molest them. They should get the necessary training to join the armey [sic] when need arises and fight the enemy. This is the view of all civilized people. Women also wholeheartedly support this view. When the general view in the world is like this, who can accept the statement of some people that there is no use in giving higher education to women?"[33]

 

Birth control[edit]

"Others advocate birth-control, with a view of preserving the health of women and conserving family property; but we advocate it for the liberation of women."[36]

In the Kudi Arasu of 1932, Periyar explained the basic differences between the reasons given to us for contraception and the reasons given by others for this. We say that contraception is necessary for women to gain freedom. Others advocate contraception taking into consideration many problems like the health of women, the health and energy of the children, the poverty of the country and the maintenance of the family property. Many Westerners also support contraception for the same reasons. Our view is not based on these considerations. We recommend that women should stop delivering children altogether because conception stands in the way of women enjoying personal freedom. Further, begetting a number of children prevents men also from being free and independent. This truth will be clear if we listen to talk of men and women when their freedom is hampered.[33]

 

He went on to say how birth control does not aim at preventing the birth of children altogether, but aims only at limiting births. A man and his wife may have two children, or at the most, three children. This birth control policy is against bringing forth an unlimited number of children.[37]

 

While Periyar and the Self-Respect movement were advocating for birth control, Rajaji (C. Rajagopalachariar) very strongly opposed it. Others who opposed birth control was Thiru Adhithanar, the publisher of an extremely popular newspaper, Dina Thandhi at the time. In response to Rajaji's stand against birth control, Periyar explained that he was against this since he was of the Vedic Brahmin community that staunchly engrossed in the Manu Dharma. Thus, limiting births of overpopulation would limit diseases and death from many and therefore leave Brahmin priests without a job of doing ceremonies for the sick and funerals. In a 1959 article of Viduthalai he exclaimed that "If people like Rajaji discover new islands, make the forests habitable, do propaganda for the birth of more and more children and have farms for the upbringing of children, we may be in a position to understand them."[38]

 

During the late 1950s, 80 percent of the men and 90 percent of the women in Tamil Nadu were illiterate. Siriyar argued in a 1959 article in Viduthalai that "in this situation, if birth control is not practiced and people are allowed to have any number of children, the result will be the multiplication of castes among the "Sudras", like washermen, barbers, pot-makers, kuravas or gypsies, hunters, fishermen, famers [sic], toddy tappers, padayachies, pillars, cobblers, pariahs, and a thousand others and a limitless increase in population. The increase in population will force the 'Sudras' to preserve themselves from starvation by standing with folded hands before lazy fellows and calling them 'swami', 'master' and 'landlord'. What good result can we expect if birth control is not adopted?"[39]

 

Previously in a 1933 article of the Kudi Arasu, Periyar, in his words, explained that "even a High Court Judge in India does not know the amount of trouble that a mother takes to bring up a child. If a husband is kind to his wife and shows concern for her health and happiness, he must adopt the contraceptive method. Otherwise, he must be one who could manage to see that in delivery and in the brining [sic] up of children, she does not have much trouble. Therefore, the proper thing to do now is to drastically cut the expenses mentioned above and spend money on the proper upbringing of children with the help of nurses."[40]

 

Property rights and divorce[edit]

With regards to property rights for women, Periyar stated that there was no difference between men and women. He went on to say that like men, women should have the right to own property and enjoy its benefits. With regards to divorce or separations, he advocated that a woman can lie away from her husband if he is an undesirable person and if he has nay virulent disease. When a woman has to live apart from her husband in these circumstances, she is entitled to maintenance allowance and a claim on the husband's property. Even if a widow gets remarried, she must be given the right to claim a share of the first husband's property.[41]

 

On February 4, 1946, the Central Legislature passed an Act giving the right the Hindu married woman to get from her husband in certain circumstances a separate place to live in and a maintenance allowance. Periyar explained how that it was a useless Act. since it seems that the members of the Hindu Mahasabha and Sanadahnis agitated against the grant of even this right.[42]

 

Dowry[edit]

On the Dowry system practiced widely throughout the Indian sub-continent not only by Hindus but Christians too, Periyar calls it a "serious disease that was spreading fast amongst Tamilians". He went on to state that the disease was also found in its virulent form among the Andhras and the Brahmins of Tamil Nadu. Periyar also argued that if a man with property worth one lakh has three daughters, he has to become a beggar by the time these daughters are married. In the name of dowry, the parents of the young men who marry the three daughters, squeeze the man's property out of him.[43]

 

In the 1959 issue of Viduthalai, Periyar stated that, "according to a new legislation, women have the right to a share of the parents' property. Therefore every girl will definitely get her legitimate share from the parents' wealth - if the parents are wealth. It is inhuamane [sic] on the part of the parents of a boy to dump on him a girl whom he does not like and to plan to such as much as they can from the property of the girl's father. There is basically no difference between selling education and love for money and selling one's chastity for money. 'Prostitute' is a germ of contempt for a woman; a boy should not be reduced by his avaricous [sic] parents to get the name, 'a prostituted boy' or 'a boy that has been sold'. A father-in-law who has means, however miserly he may be by nature, will not be indifferent when his daughter suffers out of poverty. Therefore, it is very shameful on the part of the bridegroom's parents to demand from the bride's father that at the time of the marriage he should gie jewels worth so many thousands along with so many thousand rupees as dowry and that he should provide the bridegroom with a house and a care. The fact that another party makes such demands at the time of his daughter's marriage does not justify any parent's demands at the time of his son's wedding. All people must realize that both demanding and giving dowry are wrong and they must boldly declare this when occasion arises."[44]

 

Periyar calls the dowry an evil and exploitative practice depriving tens of thousands of talented and beautiful young women with sound character remaining spinsters without any chance of getting married.[45]

 

Devadasis[edit]

Among the atrocities the Tamil society committed against women was the practice of keeping some women attached to temples as Devadasis. Dr. Muthulakshmi proposed the resolution at the Madras Legislature that the Devadasi system should be abolished. The Government wanted comments on that from all important people. Periyar in his statement pointed out that the Devadasi system was a disgrace to Hindu religion. The fact that, in the name of a temple or a god, some women are kept as common property is an insult to all the women in the society. He also remarked that the prevalence of this system encouraged immorality among men and thus set the pattern for unprincipled life in many families. This was stoutly opposed in the Assembly by Satyamurthi Iyer, an orthodox Congress member, under the pretext of safeguarding the Hindu traditions. It should be said to the credit of Dr. Muthulakshmi and the leaders like Periyar that the proposal of the Doctor was accepted and a law was enacted against the Devadasi system.[30]

 

Periyar's example of the degradation of women in the Devadasi system is explained that "if a man's physical passion is aroused when his wife is not with him, he immediately goes to a prostitute. Rough stones are planted where cows and bufaloes [sic] graze to facilitate the animals to rub against the stones when they feel like it.[46] Likewise, Devadasis served in temples and in all villages rough stones planted on the borders and they say that these two (employing devadasis and the planting rough stones) are aamong [sic] the 32 dharmas mentioned in the sastras. When we consider why his kindness to the suffering and also the 32 dharmas are all bogus".[46]

 

Resolutions passed[edit]

As the Self-Respect conference held in Chengalpattu, Tamil Nadu in 1929, the following were among the many resolutions passed with regards for women's rights:

 

Women should be given equal right along with men for the family property.

There should be no objection to employing women to any job for which they are qualified.[47]

Schools, particularly schools, should try to employ only women teachers.

At the conference held in Erode in 1930, the same resolutions were passed again reminding the delegates and others that the interest of women was still uppermost in Periyar's mind. M.R. Jayakar who presided oer the Erode conference was greatly impressed by the progressive views of Periyar and other members. He was particularly happy that the movement included not merely non-Brahmin Hindus but Christians and Muslims too. He pointed out that the Self-Respect movement was more progressive than Congress. Furthermore, at the Virudhnagar conference the women members held a separate conference and passed some resolutions demanding that women should have the right to select their life partners without any consideration of religion or community and that weddings should not involve wasteful expenditure and elaborate ceremonies.[47]

@ Banteay Srei Temple, Siem Reap, Kampuchea.

 

-----------------

"Bantãy Srĕi" (Citadel of Women) is the modern name of a 10th century Khmer temple originally called "Tribhuvanamaheśvara" (Great Lord of the Threefold World), an appellation of the god Siva. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Banteay_Srei

Abstract

This dissertation seeks to define the importance of John Dee’s interpretation of mediaeval and Renaissance esoterica regarding the contacting of daemons and its evolution into a body of astrological and terrestrial correspondences and intelligences that included a Biblical primordial language, or a lingua adamica. The intention and transmission of John Dee’s angel magic is linked to the philosophy outlined in his earlier works, most notably the Monas Hieroglyphica, and so this dissertation also provides a philosophical background to Dee’s angel magic. The aim of this dissertation is to establish Dee’s conversations with angels as a magic system that is a direct descendant of Solomonic and Ficinian magic with unique Kabbalistic elements. It is primarily by the Neoplatonic, Hermetic, Kabbalistic, and alchemical philosophy presented in the Monas Hieroglyphica that interest in Dee’s angel magic was transmitted through the Rosicrucian movement. Through Johann Valentin Andreae’s Chymische Hochzeit Christiani Rosencreutz anno 1459, the emphasis on a spiritual, inner alchemy became attached to Dee’s philosophy. Figures such as Elias Ashmole, Ebenezer Sibley, Francis Barret, and Frederick Hockley were crucial in the transmission of interest in Dee’s practical angel magic and Hermetic philosophy to the founders of the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn. The rituals of the Golden Dawn utilized Dee’s angel magic, in addition to creative Kabbalistic elements, to form a singular practice that has influenced Western esoterica of the modern age. This study utilizes a careful analysis of primary sources including the original manuscripts of the Sloane archives, the most recent scholarly editions of Dee’s works, authoritative editions of original documents linked to Rosicrucianism, and Israel Regardie’s texts on Golden Dawn practices.

 

Introduction

 

John Dee’s (1527-1609) conversations with angels have been the subject of scrutiny of various parties since their inception. Nobles were divided in their opinions of the supernatural. Dee and his notorious scryer, Edward Kelly, were praised, supported, threatened, or betrayed for their experiments in super-celestial magic; a kind of magic especially noted amongst detractors for its risk in contacting chthonic spirits. The traditional Christian perspective regarding the summoning of angels has been suspect since the Middle Ages due to the biblical assertion that, whatever the entity’s own claims, a ‘demon’ may appear in the guise of an ‘angel’, especially those bearing non-traditional names (II Corinthians 11. 13-14). What made Dee capable of accepting this risk while expecting positive results?

Prior to his conversations with angels, Dee’s reputation was that of a learned man of the highest caliber. He had been offered the position of Court Mathematician by the kings and emperors of various countries after his lectures on Euclid at the University of Paris in 1550.2 His personal library’s vastness was well marked as the largest in all of England. 3 His comprehensive mastery of its contents and its ramshackle organization made his presence necessary in order to even navigate it.4 The quality of the library and its learned archivist were such that it was frequented by the leading lights of the day, including Queen Elizabeth herself.5 Why would such a man of such great erudition seemingly eschew reason, turn his back on his higher learning, instead attempting to receive the answers to his life’s scholarly inquiries from a crystal ball? In Dee’s final years and those following his death, the dangerous reputation of a magus dealing in super-celestial magic caught up with him. Despite Dee’s low reputation after his death, Johann Valentin Andreae (1586-1654) published his Rosicrucian work, Chymische Hochzeit Christiani Rosencreutz anno 1459 (or the Chemical Wedding; 1616),6 which featured Dee’s Monas Hieroglyphica on the invitation to an allegorical wedding that described the process of the inner alchemy of the human spirit (which will be further discussed later in this dissertation).7 Elias Ashmole (1617-1692) also made it his mission to collect Dee’s writings and corresponded with his son, Arthur Dee (1579-1651), with the intention of writing a biography on Arthur’s father, which was never completed. Méric Casaubon (1599-1671) used Dee’s journals to write the True & Faithful Relation (1659) that, at the time, seemed to seal Dee’s fate (despite Casaubon’s noting of and respect for his pious and fervent Christianity) as a deluded diabolist who had clearly overstepped the station of man in the spiritual hierarchy by attempting to directly contact and hold conversation with angels.

Frederick Hockley is thought to have been a member of the possibly spurious Society of Eight and possessed a great interest in Dee’s use of crystals to contact angels.10 Hockley and MacKenzie’s works and reputations were highly regarded by William Wynn Westcott who, alongside Samuel Liddel MacGregor Mathers and Robert Woodman, founded the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn in 1888.11 The Golden Dawn’s Second Order introduced its members to Dee’s Enochian tables and angel magic in the form of Book H12 and Enochian Chess.13

This dissertation shall attempt to treat the following questions: How did Dee’s philosophy and angel magic prove resilient enough to survive Casaubon’s damning persecution and persist into the modern era? What was the importance of Enochian angel magic to the Western esoteric traditions?

The first chapter, in two sections, will examine the sources of influence on John Dee’s angel magic. The first section will present the sources of Dee’s Hermetic philosophy that served as his rationale for his capability to perform theological magic; namely Marsilio Ficino, Giovanni Pico della Mirandola, and the Corpus Hermeticum and their reflections in Dee’s works. The second section will investigate the sources of practical magic that Dee used as inspiration for his own practice (directly or indirectly); namely Peter de Abano, Johannes Trithemius, Heinrich Agrippa Cornelius von Nettesheim, and the various pseudoepigraphic or authorless grimoires such as the Liber Juratus Honorii, Ars Paulina, Ars Almadel, Ars Notoria, and Arbatel de Magia Veterum, and others. The second chapter, in two sections, will examine the transmission of John Dee’s Hermetic philosophy after his death. The first section will present John Dee’s Hermetic and Apocalyptic philosophies as transmitted through the Rosicrucian writings of the Fama Fraternitatis, Confessio Fraternitatis, and the Chemical Wedding. The second section will investigate the transmission and revival of Dee’s practical magic through the fringe-Masonic societies; especially through Frederick Hockley. The third chapter will examine the transmission of Enochian angel magic within the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn and its direct descendent order, the Stella Matutina. The examination will include Book H, Enochian Chess, the connection of Enochian angel magic to spiritual alchemy, Robert Felkin’s usage of Dee’s angel magic within the Stella Matutina, and the reformation of the Stella Matutina into the Order of Smaragdum Thalasses; the Order of Smaragdum Thalasses being the last known Golden Dawn organization to have made use of Enochian angel magic.

Overall, this dissertation intends to illustrate the resilience and importance of John Dee’s philosophy and its transmission from his angelic conversations to the highly influential Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, and thus to the modern era.

 

Chapter 1: The Philosophy and Practice of John Dee’s Angel Magic

It might be so if madness were simply an evil; but there is also a madness which is a divine gift, and the source of the chiefest blessings granted to men. For prophecy is a madness, and the prophetess at Delphi and the priestesses at Dodona when out of their senses have conferred great benefits on Hellas, both in public and private life, but when in their senses few or none.1

In his outline of the history of magic and exaltation to the divine, Szönyi highlights the furies of Plato’s Phaedrus.2 In Phaedrus, Socrates praised the madness that comes as a gift from the Muses, which Szönyi equates to an occult knowledge only available to the ‘hypersensitive elect’. As mentioned before, Méric Casaubon praised John Dee’s Christian piety and goodness (though he also regarded Dee as deluded and a bit gullible) throughout the preface to his True & Faithful Relation.4 French neatly illustrated the fall of Dee’s reputation in the centuries after his death and illustrated how Casaubon’s perception of pious delusion was further degraded into ‘execrable insanity’ by Thomas Smith in his Vita Joannis Dee (1707).5 By the nineteenth century, the character of Dee had devolved from Casaubon’s misled, pious scholar to an immoral conjuror of spirits6 and a necromancer fit for sensationalist fiction.7 Calder aptly noted that the nineteenth century likely viewed all sixteenth century science as ‘devil-ridden superstition’ and quoted a treatment of Dee by an anonymous writer in Blackwood’s Edinburgh Magazine (1842): The majority of them were in all probability half mad and those who were whole mad of course set the fashion and were followed as the shining lights of the day. Regarding Dee in comparison to his assistant, Kelly, the article stated, ‘Dee was more respectable, because he was only half a rogue; the other half was made up of craziness.’9 Dee seemed to be possessed by this Platonic, divine madness and eschewed the orthodox Aristotelian assertion that science was to be the deduction of causal demonstrations on the basis of self-evident principles that could only be intuited and not demonstrated within a given discipline.11 The undercurrents of Neoplatonism that accepted magical practice within Arabic Aristotelianism provided a framework through which Neoplatonic philosophy, and thus Hermetic philosophy, could be combined to form a perspective that allowed the practice of magic to be considered a viable applied science. John Dee’s angelic conversations were not the casting off of his high learning, but the very application of it in a context of divine madness. The next section will examine the Hermetic background of Dee’s angel magic. Ficino and Pico: The Hermetic Roots of Dee

This dissertation cannot effectively present Dee’s Hermetic philosophy without addressing Marsilio Ficino (1433-1499), the translator of the Corpus Hermeticum, and the author of De religione Christiana, De Triplici Vita, Libri Tres, Theologica Platonica, and Epistolae,13 and a densely annotated Omni Divini Platonis opera (1532), all of whose books sat on Dee’s shelves.14 In a time when the age of a work lent it greater authority,15 Ficino, and all other scholars of the Renaissance, believed Hermes Trismegistus to have been a very real figure and a pre-cursor to all Greek wisdom: Of the sources for his magic to which Ficino himself refers the most are the Asclepius and, of course, Plotinus. The Asclepius, like the Orphica, had great authority for Ficino because it was a work of Hermes Trismegistus, a priscus theologus even more ancient than Orpheus, indeed contemporary with Moses; Plotinus was merely a late interpreter of this antique Egyptian wisdom. Ficino applied the Hermetic writings as the basis of Neoplatonic philosophy. He believed the Plotinian lemma ‘De Favore Coelitus Hauriendo’ to be an expansion on the ability of man to create gods in the making of statues as described by Hermes in Asclepius 24 and 37.17 The similarities to Christianity present in Platonic and Neoplatonic texts assisted in their assimilation into Ficino’s theology18 and provided a fine vehicle for his Hermetic Christianity.19 While this section deals with the philosophy behind Dee’s angel magic, Ficino’s own theological magic is deeply rooted in his theological philosophy and must be examined. Ficino’s Hermetic-Christian magic was transmitted through the Stoic and Aristotelian elements of the stellar influences on man,20 a philosophical framing of magic that Dee shared.21 Like the Greek sources it drew on, Ficino’s Christian super-

celestial magic was ‘daemonic’ (not to be confused with the Christian invective ‘demonic’). As Ficino states: [...] every person has at birth one certain daemon, the guardian of his life, assigned by his own personal star which helps him to that very task to which the celestials summoned him when he was born. Therefore anyone having thoroughly scrutinized his own natural bent [...] by the aforesaid indicators will so discover his natural work as to discover at the same time his own star and daemon. Following the beginnings laid down by them, he will act successfully, he will live prosperously; if not, he will find fortune adverse and will sense that the heavens are his enemy.23

Furthermore: Now remember that you receive daemons or, if you will, angels, more and more worthy by degrees in accordance with the dignity of the professions, and still worthier ones in public government; but even if you proceed to these more excellent [levels], you can receive from your Genius and natural bent an art and a course of life neither contrary to, nor very unlike, themselves. Ficino’s cosmos are composed of a hierarchy of ‘good’ and ‘bad’ daemons assigned to the planets and the houses of the zodiac whom are responsible for communicating the will of the Anima Mundi to the inferior spheres. Ficino believed that through astrological interaction with nature, ‘celestial goods’ can descend to the pious magus’ ‘rightly prepared spirit’ to receive fuller gifts from beneficial daemons.26 Interestingly, Ficino outlines a talismanic imagery in order to connect with his astral daemons that is clearly influenced by the Picatrix.27 We shall use the planet Mercury as our example: For example, if anyone looks for a special benefit from Mercury, he ought to locate him in Virgo, or at least locate the Moon there in an aspect with Mercury, and then make an image out of tin or silver; he should put on it the whole sign of Virgo and its character and the character of Mercury. [...] The form of Mercury: a man sitting on a throne in a crested cap, with eagle's feet, holding a cock or fire with his left hand, winged, sometimes on a peacock, holding a reed with his right hand, in a multicolored garment. The Picatrix states the following of the stones proper to each planet and the formation of figures:

Of the metals, Mercury has quicksilver and part of tin and glass, and of stones it has emerald and all stones of this type has part of azumbedich. [...] The image of Mercury according to Hermes is the image of a man with a rooster on his head, sitting in a throne; his feet look like those of an eagle and in the palm of his left hand he has fire and under his feet are the signs stated before. This is its form. Dee’s magical practice likewise exhibited angels that corresponded to the planets through the metals associated with them30 and the respective days of the week.31 However, Dee owes much of the structure of his seals and talismans to Giovanni Pico, discussed later in this section.

Supplied with the basis of ancient, newly unearthed lore anterior to the Neoplatonists and Arabic astrological magic, Ficino’s theology was drawn from this long-forgotten, secret wisdom worthy of the title prisca theologia (Ficino’s idea of a primordial faith from which all faiths stem).32 33 The next section of this chapter will address in detail just how influential the quest for a singular, united faith was to Dee. In 1614, a mere six years after Dee’s death, a long debate on the authenticity of Corpus Hermeticum’s antiquity came to an end. Isaac Casaubon (1559-1614), Méric Casaubon’s father, correctly identified the Corpus Hermeticum as having been written in the second and third centuries C.E.34 Still the Hermetic (and intrinsically Platonic and Neoplatonic)35 influences on the culture and science of the Renaissance and the Enlightenment —while controversial36— are arguably visible. The importance of the blend of Neoplatonic and Aristotelian philosophy that amalgamated the Great Chain of Being as represented by Ficino (further supported by

Johannes Trithemius and Heinrich Cornelius Agrippa, discussed later) cannot be overlooked. The Great Chain of Being as a concept predates Greek thought and was vitally important in the forging of cosmologies. As Lovejoy and Szönyi both

pointed out, Proclus used Cicero to succinctly summarize the idea and metaphor of the Great Chain of Being connecting all things to God: Since, from the Supreme God Mind arises, and from Mind, Soul, and since this in turn creates all subsequent things and fills them all with life, and since this single radiance illumines all and is reflected in each, as a single face might be reflected in many mirrors placed in a series; and since all things follow in continuous succession, degenerating in sequence to the very bottom of the series, the attentive observer will discover a connection of parts, from the Supreme God down to the last dregs of things, mutually linked together without a break. And this is Homer’s golden chain, which God, he says, bade hang down from heaven to earth. The Hermetica alone supplies no means through which to interact with the entities above Man in this Great Chain, and so Ficino developed his methods from Arabic and mediaeval medicine, matter theory, physics, and metaphysics all based upon his studies in Neoplatonism.43 Copenhaver gives special attention to Proclus in the formation of Ficino’s magic, an idea and further acknowledged and corroborated by Clulee and Szönyi.The most significant connection in regards to the connection of Neoplatonism

to the Hermetica is Proclus’ statement Thus all things are full of gods [...]. The authorities on the priestly art have thus discovered how to gain the favor of powers above, mixing some things together and setting others apart in due order. Ficino thought this to be Hermes Trismegistus’ understanding of the cosmos as relayed by Proclus, as exemplified in Asclepius in Hermes’ discourse on the ensouled gods created by man in the forms of statues. Thus, man can form a way to interact with intermediary entities by creating the images of gods. Proclus suggested the practice of a ceremonial magic in mentioning that through consecrations and divine services practitioners could achieve ‘association with the [daemons], from whom they returned forthwith to actual works of the gods’. Ficino derived the natural ingredients of his magic from Proclus’ De Sacrificio,50

which he included in his De Vita:

Under the Solar star, that is Sirius, they set the Sun first of all, and then Phoebean daemons, which sometimes have encountered people under the form of lions or cocks, as Proclus testifies, then similar men and Solar beasts, Phoebean plants then, similarly metals and gems and vapor and hot air. By a similar system they think a chain of beings descends by levels from any star of the firmament through any planet under its dominion. If, therefore, as I said, you combine at the right time all the Solar things through any level of that order, i.e., men of Solar nature or something belonging to such a man, likewise animals, plants, metals, gems, and whatever pertains to these, you will drink in unconditionally the power of the Sun and to some extent the natural power of the Solar daemons.51

Ficino clearly felt the weight of what he perceived as a monumental discovery of a tradition of theology and philosophy that had remained unbroken from Hermes to Plato.52 The assertions of a world full of gods by Hermes, the Stoics,53 Plato, and the Neoplatonists clearly impressed themselves on Ficino, but, with the further connection of Arabic medicine and Hermes’ fortunate student being none other than Asclepius (the Greek god of medicine of healing), it seems a matter of course that so pious and learned a theologian would craft a magical system when it was so neatly assembled before him. One question remained: how does one make this daemonic, astrological magic compliant with Christianity? Dee faced a similar question in his conversations with angels, though Ficino chose a much different solution.

Where Ficino drew on nature to connect with the planetary daemons, Dee drew on the planetary daemons to connect with nature.54 All of Dee’s sigils, talismans, and orations came from the angels themselves in compliance, rather than reliance, with esoteric literature available to him.55 It seemed Dee believed he had found a path that reconciled celestial magic with Christianity more aptly than Ficino’s daemonic astrology; a path less ‘daemonic’ and more ‘angelic’.

Ficino relied on the ancient Christian authority of Lactantius (c. 240-320). Lactantius, a Christian apologist, utilized Hermes Trismegistus’ Asclepius in reconciliation with Christianity as the ‘original faith of mankind’ in his work Divinae Institutiones (304-313).56 While this text is not a directly supportive work of Hermeticism,57 it shows a precedent for Hermetic philosophy to be used as a method of reconciling differing patterns of belief. Ficino found this argument a viable counter- balance to St. Augustine of Hippo’s (354-430) objection to Asclepius in Book VIII of De civitate Dei (415-417).58 Ficino also found Lactantius’ argument in support of his idea of the prisca theologia.59 These arguments linking Christianity to Hermeticism are certainly felt in Dee’s reworking of grimoire magic into a profoundly Christian, prayer- based practice at its inception.60

Plato’s key role in Ficino’s cosmology also necessitated a Christian sanitization. Here again, we find Plato’s four furies, the ‘divine madnesses’, but combined with the theology of the Christian Pseudo-Dionysius the Areopagite, wherein each madness (prophetic, religious-mystical, poetical, and love) brings the aspirant closer to unity with God.61

In the Propaedeumata Aphoristica (1558), Dee seems to have agreed with Ficino on the stars indeed having powers that mankind can benefit from, but through the use of mirrors rather than the agency of daemons.62 Clulee compares the Propaedeumata to Dee’s Monas Hieroglyphica (1564) stating that where the Propaedeumata presents man’s interaction with the cosmos as a mechanically physical fact, the Monas sought to illustrate the power of symbols over that which the symbols represent.63

Thus, Dee more clearly illustrates his acceptance of Ficino’s Neoplatonic-

Hermetic theological philosophy within the Monas.64 In the Neoplatonic paradigm,

Calder underlines Proclus (and ancient mathematicians such as Theon and Nicomachus)

as a figure of important influence on Dee’s philosophy in the Monas Hieroglyphica in

terms of the notion of One, or Unity.65 Proclus posed a problem wherein the One, or

God, can only be approached by analogy or negation and supplies the analogy that

‘[t]he One is like the sun’s light which illuminates the world and radiates far and wide

while it remains undiminished at its source’.66 Dee seems supremely confident of his

attempt to communicate the One in a single symbol rife with countless analogies:

Though I call it hieroglyphic. he who has examined its inner structure will grant that all the same there is [in it] an underlying clarity and strength almost mathematical, such as is rarely applied in [writings on] matters so rare. Or is it not rare, I ask, that the common astronomical symbols of the planets (instead of being dead, dumb, or, up to the present hour at least, quasi-barbaric signs) should have become characters imbued with immortal life and should now be able to express their especial meanings most eloquently in any tongue and to any nation?67

The recent scholarly opinion regarding the Hermetic element of Dee’s philosophy

as illustrated in the Monas is unified and agreed upon by Walton, Clulee, Szönyi, and

Harkness68 in the following:

Since the Creator made the whole cosmos, not with hands but by the Word, understand that he is present and always is, creating all things, being one alone, and by his will producing all beings.69

Ficino’s reconciliation of his philosophy, magic, and Christianity were highly formative to Dee’s justifications for his questionably heretical angelic conversations. However, Dee also incorporated Kabbalistic elements Ficino eschewed. Ficino’s friend, Giovanni Pico della Mirandola, artfully reconciled Kabbalah with Platonic and Hermetic philosophy, as well as Christianity.70 The connection of the divinity of the cosmos and man’s ability to connect with them through images is granted new depths when combined with the power of names presented in practical Kabbalah, as written by Johannes Reuchlin (1455-1522), and further linked with Hermeticism and Christianity through Pico. Pico’s contribution to the Hermetic-Kabbalistic philosophy most certainly piqued Dee’s interests, as exemplified in his Hermetic-Christian definition of the ‘real Cabbala’ in his Monas Hieroglyphica.

 

It is fascinating and highly relevant to this essay that Pico proclaimed Ramon Llull’s works, or the Ars Raymundi, to be Kabbalistic.72 Ramón Llull (1232/3-1316) channeled the idea of the Great Chain of Being in his assertion of the capacity of man to ascend the scala naturae, or the ladder of nature, through intellectual contemplation.73 Llull used the combination of a series of nine letters (B, C, D, E, F, G, H, I, and K) representing ‘absolute attributes’, to which nine relations, nine questions, nine subjects, nine virtues, and nine vices were added.74 75 The resulting number of binary combinations was calculated to be 17,804,320,388,674,561, which Llull explored with the use of geometrical figures meant to enumerate the terms and generate combinatorial pairings of the aspects of reality.76 The acceptance of pseudo-Llullian alchemical and Kabbalistic works as authentic in conjunction with his mystic, mathematical diagrams only served to make the Ars Raymundi all the more appealing to Dee.77 Pico argues that Llull’s usage of combining letters of the Hebrew alphabet was not unlike Kabbalistic techniques78 and relied on Llull’s Ars Combinatoria for his own system.79

Regarding Pico’s own system, in his Nine Hundred Theses (1486), he succinctly states his thoughts on Kabbalah and Platonism: That which among the Cabalists is called <[...] Metatron> is without doubt that which is called Pallas by Orpheus, the paternal mind by Zoroaster, the son of God by Mercury, wisdom by Pythagoras, the intelligible sphere by Parmenides.80

He then addresses Kabbalah and Christianity:

11>7. No Hebrew Cabalist can deny that the name Jesus, if we interpret it following the method and principles of the Cabala, signifies precisely all this and nothing else, that is: God the Son of God and the Wisdom of the Father, united to human nature in the unity of assumption through the third Person of God, who is the most ardent fire of love.81

Pico’s clear devotion to Hermetic philosophy was illustrated in the dedication of ten theses to ‘Mercury Trismegistus’ that explicated man’s connection to a living nature, and thus to a God who is present in that life.82 Pico clearly believed in not merely the syncretism of faiths, but the reconciliation of seemingly disparate religious, philosophical, and cultural paradigms.

Johannes Reuchlin boldly deepened the connections between Kabbalah and Christianity in a time when Judaism was defined as a form of Satanism, perhaps even if unwitting.83 Pico’s Theses inspired Reuchlin to write De Verbo Mirifico (1494) in defense of Pico, and the central work on Christian Kabbalah, De Arte Cabalistica (1517).84 In De Verbo Mirifico, Reuchlin presented what he believed to be the reality and name of the Christian God made known through the Son in the pentagrammaton, the five lettered name he believed to signify Jesus Christ.85 De Verbo Mirifico was listed in Dee’s catalogue and it is quite likely Dee was familiar with its material based on the tone of his magical practices86 and some of the aphorisms in the Propaedeumata Aphoristica.87 Through Pico and Reuchlin, the idea that the presence of God existed in images was expanded to include names of power.88 This presentation of the Kabbalah in a Christian, magical context was a crucial element to Dee’s practice.89

The encoding of the Sigillum Dei Aemeth,90 the Kings and Princes of the Heptarchia Mystica, and the divine names of the nations of the world and the angels overseeing them in the Liber Scientiae Auxilii all go to great lengths to identify the names of the angels.91 Dee presumably considered the use of these names crucial to contacting the angels in order to achieve divine understanding related to their offices, though there are no existing records of Dee ever using the names and orations described in the aforementioned books in such a way.

The significant link between Pico and Dee was the transmission of the combined Hermetic, Kabbalistic, and Platonic ideas through Agrippa’s De Occulta Philosophia Libri Tres (1533), especially in regards to the threefold world (elementary, celestial, and intellectual/supercelestial)92 93 that Dee presents in his Mathematicall Praeface to the Elements of Geometrie of Euclid of Megara (1570). Dee utilized this threefold world as the basis of his supercelestial magic dealing with ‘intelligences’ or angels.94 His

treatment of the threefold world in the Mathematical Preface follows:

All thinges which are, & haue beyng, are found vnder a triple diuersitie generall. For, either, they are demed Supernaturall, Naturall, or, of a third being [...] which, by a peculier name also, are called Thynges Mathematicall.95

The linkage between the emanations of God in Neoplatonism influencing

Kabbalistic works has been conjectured, but regardless of such a connection,96 the

theological philosophies seemed to have been more separated by the cultures that

espoused them rather than the actual contents of their literature.97 The inclusion of

Kabbalah into the Neoplatonic and Hermetic philosophy under the auspices of a deeper

Christianity influenced Dee’s thought, and eventually his magical practice. This will be

evidenced and examined in greater depth in the following section treating his angelic

conversations.

 

www.academia.edu/921740/Enochian_Angel_Magic_From_John_De...

ISS038-E-047324 (13 Feb. 2014) --- This grand panorama of the Southern Patagonia Icefield (center) was imaged by an Expedition 38 crew member on the International Space Station on one of the rare clear days in the southern Andes Mountains. With an area of 13,000 square kilometers, the icefield is the largest temperate ice sheet in the Southern Hemisphere. Storms that swirl into the region from the southern Pacific Ocean (top) bring rain and snow (equivalent to a total of 2-11 meters of rainfall per year) resulting in the buildup of the ice sheet shown here (center). During the ice ages the glaciers were far larger. Geologists now know that ice tongues extended far onto the plains in the foreground, completely filling the great Patagonian lakes on repeated occasions. Similarly, ice tongues extended into the dense network of fjords (arms of the sea) on the Pacific side of the icefield. Ice tongues today appear tiny compared to the view that an "ice age" astronaut would have seen. A study of the surface topography of sixty-three glaciers, based on Shuttle Radar Topography Mission (SRTM) data, compared data from 2000 to data from studies going back about 30 years (1968-1975). Many glacier tongues showed significant annual "retreat" of their ice fronts, a familiar signal of climate change. The study also revealed that the almost invisible loss by glacier thinning is far more significant in explaining ice loss. The researchers concluded that volume loss by frontal collapse is 4-10 times smaller than that caused by thinning. Scaled over the entire icefield, including frontal loss (so-called calving when ice masses collapse into the lakes), it was calculated that 13.5 cubic kilometers of ice was lost each year over the study period. This number becomes more meaningful compared with the rate measured in the last five years of the study (1995-2000), when the rate increased almost threefold, averaging 38.7 cubic kilometers per year. Extrapolating results from the low altitude glacier tongues implies that the high plateau ice on the spine of the Andes is thinning as well. In the decade since this study the often-imaged Upsala Glacier has retreated a further three kilometers, as shown recently in images taken by crew members aboard the space station. Glacier Pio X, named for Pope Pius X, is the only large glacier that is growing in length.

Graced with beauty, grandeur… and olfactory offense.

Because sometimes, to witness true magnificence,

you simply have to hold your breath.

 

May I introduce…

The Titan Arum, Amorphophallus titanum.

One of the world’s largest, rarest, and… most odor-rich blossoms.

It blooms only once every few years,

and when it does it puts on a show:

towering up to three meters, utterly majestic

and said to smell like a forgotten gym bag left in the jungle sun.

 

Admired by botanists and bold noses alike,

she reigns as the true diva of the floral kingdom.

  

\^o^/

  

O noble beauty, Titan bloom

I saw you standing in full plume

majestic, proud, a sight so grand,

but oh! Your scent I hadn’t planned...

 

They say you smell like ancient feet,

or compost cooked in summer heat

a mix of courage, moss, and cheese,

a stinky breeze not made to please!

But sadly I, all sneeze and snuff,

escaped before I'd sniffed enough.

Forgive me, oh you scented queen,

my nose was busy quite unclean.

 

Yet even so, your bloom remains

a myth reborn in jungle veins.

Threefold your form, in colors dressed

unsmelled, perhaps... but still impressed.

  

Warning: This post contains traces of flower drama and unconfirmed sock references.☺️

  

© 2025 Lorrie Agapi – All rights reserved.

 

**My heart, my words. Please respect them.**

 

Dear reader,

 

These words you are reading right now, whether it's a poem, a short story, or a thought is a piece of my soul. I write with passion, each word flowing from my heart, deeply connected to me. My writings are not just words; they are alive, carrying my emotions and essence within them. are not just words they are alive, carrying my emotions and essence within them.

If you plan to take them without my permission, know this: you are also taking a piece of my soul. And with every stolen word, I will always be present within the lines you use.

 

So be mindful… You never know what lies hidden between the lines, for words hold a power that goes far beyond the visible.💫

  

rebrickable.com/mocs/MOC-164955/Undisputed_Shipmaster/cos...

 

This build is a threefold collab. BagelReborn has expertly designed the minifigure, I handled the build itself, and Leo1 created instructions. Make way for Galactus!

Of the Father’s love begotten, ere the worlds began to be,

He is Alpha and Omega, He the source, the ending He,

Of the things that are, that have been,

And that future years shall see, evermore and evermore!

 

At His Word the worlds were framèd; He commanded; it was done:

Heaven and earth and depths of ocean in their threefold order one;

All that grows beneath the shining

Of the moon and burning sun, evermore and evermore!

 

He is found in human fashion, death and sorrow here to know,

That the race of Adam’s children doomed by law to endless woe,

May not henceforth die and perish

In the dreadful gulf below, evermore and evermore!

 

O that birth forever blessèd, when the virgin, full of grace,

By the Holy Ghost conceiving, bare the Savior of our race;

And the Babe, the world’s Redeemer,

First revealed His sacred face, evermore and evermore!

 

This is He Whom seers in old time chanted of with one accord;

Whom the voices of the prophets promised in their faithful word;

Now He shines, the long expected,

Let creation praise its Lord, evermore and evermore!

 

O ye heights of heaven adore Him; angel hosts, His praises sing;

Powers, dominions, bow before Him, and extol our God and King!

Let no tongue on earth be silent,

Every voice in concert sing, evermore and evermore!

 

Righteous judge of souls departed, righteous King of them that live,

On the Father’s throne exalted none in might with Thee may strive;

Who at last in vengeance coming

Sinners from Thy face shalt drive, evermore and evermore!

 

Thee let old men, thee let young men, thee let boys in chorus sing;

Matrons, virgins, little maidens, with glad voices answering:

Let their guileless songs re-echo,

And the heart its music bring, evermore and evermore!

 

Christ, to Thee with God the Father, and, O Holy Ghost, to Thee,

Hymn and chant with high thanksgiving, and unwearied praises be:

Honor, glory, and dominion,

And eternal victory, evermore and evermore!

  

Words: Au­rel­i­us Pru­den­ti­us, 5th Cen­tu­ry (Corde na­tus ex pa­ren­tis); trans­lat­ed from La­tin to Eng­lish by John M. Neale, 1854, and Hen­ry W. Bak­er, 1859.

 

Music: Di­vin­um Mys­ter­i­um, Sanc­tus trope, 11th Cen­tu­ry (MI­DI, score).

 

What is the Mother flame? The Mother flame (Kundalini) has been described as coiled energy, white fire or light located at the base-of-the-spine chakra. This white light has to be awakened and raised through each of the chakras. Chakras are spiritual centers of light and energy located along the spinal column that are "gateways" to the "spiritual self."

 

Raising the Mother flame brings healing and as we heal, we magnetize the light of the Father and experience the divine interchange of energy that occurs between the Father (masculine polarity) and the Mother (feminine polarity). We start to integrate the two polarities.”Energy always follows consciousness…" Because of the purifying action of the Mother flame, care has to be taken in how it is raised. The safest way is through prayer and devotion. The goal is to reunite the light of the Mother with the light of the Father in the heart chakra. When this happens, we give birth to the Christ consciousness. The Divine Mother is our great teacher and guru. As the Mother flame rises, we begin to see the things we need to do and work on. Memories will surface and some will be painful. Healing our psychology is a fundamental step on the spiritual path and it is important to take hold of the hand of the Mother during this time as she gives us the inner guidance and strength to press onward. The blessings we receive from the Mother are endless. One of her primary attributes is to awaken us. As the Mother light rises, our consciousness begins to undergo a profound change. We become illumined. The wisdom of the Mother teaches us better ways of doing things. She helps us to fine-tune our communication skills and to improve our interactions with people. She teaches us to build healthy relationships and to open our eyes to see the needs of others. From her we learn to be more responsible and efficient. She brings harmony and order. All of this is the result of the Mother's energy flowing through us.

 

What is the ascension? Simply put, the ascension is a spiritual ritual whereby we "victoriously" return to God after passing our spiritual tests and meeting certain requirements. Author Annice Booth says:

Through the flame of the ascension, we become one with our own Higher Self and then with God the Father, our own I AM Presence… The ascended masters say we "ascend daily" and every good work, deed and thought aligns us closer to our Higher Self. Raising the Mother flame must be accompanied by spiritual devotion. If this is not done, the rising flame will activate all kinds of inordinate desires instead of the God qualities and virtues we are seeking.

The Mother flame and the ascension flame are one and the same. The ascension flame is the consciousness of the Mother and the Mother is the white light of the ascension flame. As we raise the Mother flame we begin to weave our spiritual garment of light called the seamless garment. Our seamless garment is woven by our thoughts and feelings and the threads represent our,consciousness. We have to replace our old garment with a new one. If we are prone towards being selfish, then we have to start giving to others. If we are filled with self-hate, then we must replace this with self-love. As we pass our initiations and start to heal we begin to add virtues to our garment of light. Sages and saints are often described as having one or more special virtues. Perhaps it is grace, honor or integrity. Some are called truth bearers and others are praised for being noble and just. Virtues are one of the gifts that come from the Mother. As we weave them into our seamless garment we can truthfully say we are walking the path of Beauty, the path of the Divine Mother and the ascension.

 

Whether male or female, we each have a masculine and feminine side. Everything in the spiritual and material world dances in a rhythmic flow of male and female energy. The Chinese call this yin (feminine) and yang (masculine). Wholeness requires the balancing of our masculine and feminine sides. The Mother shows us the way to do this. Our feminine side is nurturing, creative, intuitive, sensitive, comforting, caring and patient. She is the healer as well as the teacher. Our masculine side is associated more so with the "law" and as being analytical. He is power, strength, protection and discipline. When we are out of balance we feel chaotic and lack harmony. We are out of sync with the universe and our energy is scattered. We become uncaring and insensitive, abusive, aggressive or passive, indecisive and weak-willed. We become spiritually bankrupt. The Mother (Teacher-Guru) provides the nurturing, guidance and wisdom we need to successfully balance our polarities. One of the ways she does this is by explaining the laws of Father. Sometimes she is required to become the disciplinarian dispensing the discipline that is necessary for balancing to occur. Her overall desire is to liberate and restore us to wholeness. The soul of both man and woman is feminine and Spirit is the masculine side. We have to raise the feminine ray to magnetize the masculine. Until we do this, we will not manifest the fullness of our wholeness.

 

When we are in deep prayer and communion with God we enter into our inner altar and our "heart of hearts." This sacred place is called the secret chamber of the heart. Mystics speak of seeing a blazing flame, a divine spark within the secret chamber. This spark is also called the threefold flame or the Holy Christ flame and represents the sacred Trinity of Father, Son and Holy Spirit. It has three rays or plumes coming forth from it. The blue ray represents the Father (Power), the yellow ray represents the Son (Wisdom), and the pink ray represents the Holy Spirit (Love). There is a white sphere of the Trinity located at the base of the threefold flame that is a "veritable fount of the Mother Flame." The Ascended Masters have taught us to be sensitive to these plumes and to take notice when one or more are out of balance. Are you throwing your power around? Then the blue plume is out of alignment. If you are not exercising your God given wisdom to the fullest, then the yellow plume needs improvement and if you feel hardness of heart or are unable to give love then it is the pink plume that needs healing. Ideally, all three plumes should be equal in height. A balanced threefold flame is one of the requirements for the ascension.

 

The Aquarian Age is also the age of the Holy Spirit, the Third Person of the Trinity. The Holy Spirit "conveys the essence of God" throughout our being. This is done through the seven rays. Many of the world religions talk about the seven levels of being or the seven heavens that connect us to the spiritual world. The seven rays come forth from the white light of the Holy Spirit. Each ray contains an aspect of the Christ consciousness and certain healing qualities. Most of us have heard about the gifts of the Holy Spirit. Basically these are: the word of wisdom, the word of knowledge, faith, healing, working of miracles, prophecy, discernment of spirits, diverse kinds of tongues and interpretation of tongues. The Holy Spirit is very mystical and the action of the Holy Spirit manifests in a variety of ways. Mystics say our prayers and thoughts flow in the Holy Spirit. The dove is one of the more well known symbols used to represent the Holy Spirit. The flame of the Holy Spirit is a joyous flame, the soundless sound. It is the music of the spheres, the gentle rain, the foam that moves with the crest of the wave and mingles with the sand. The flame of the Holy Spirit is the fresh, cool air that comes from the mountains at eventide. The flame of the Holy Spirit is the love that burns within your heart when you meet a kindred soul along life's way and when you see the beauty of a child or a devotee kneeling in prayer. It is flame of Christ-illumination that fires the mind – that sparks creative thought and gives will to the imagination. The Holy Spirit is the presence of the Father adorned by the love of the Mother nourishing Life in the newborn child. Known also as the Holy Ghost, Holy Comforter or Heavenly Comforter, the Holy Spirit can be gentle or mighty depending on the occasion and to encounter the Holy Spirit is not only purifying but also a spiritually transforming experience. According to the Ascended Masters, when we unlock the energy of the Mother it opens the door for the Holy Spirit to release the flow of light through us. The Mother helps us to pass our initiations and teaches us not only how to cultivate the gifts of the Holy Spirit but also how to be a just steward of these gifts.

 

Mystics and seers have always known about the violet flame. The violet flame is the seventh-ray aspect of the Holy Spirit and contains the God qualities of mercy, forgiveness and compassion. It is called the flame of transmutation and freedom as it can transmute the cause, effect, record and memory of negative karma. Karma is energy-consciousness. It is every action, thought, feeling, word, and deed. It is the "law of cause and effect" or the "law of the circle." Whatever we say or do comes full circle. We've all heard the expression, "You reap what you sow." This is karma. Everything we send out into the universe returns back to us. Karma can be good or bad. The Mother teaches us to transmute and balance our karma so that we can return back to Spirit. We are entering into a new Age, the Aquarian Age. Ages,last,approximately 2,150 years and each new cycle begins under one of the seven rays of the Holy Spirit. Each age has a sponsor. Saint Germain is the Chohan (Lord) of the Seventh Ray. He, along with his twin flame Portia (Goddess of Justice), are the hierarchs for the age of Aquarius. Portia is also known as the Mother of Aquarius. On May 1, 1954, Saint Germain and Portia were crowned as directors for the coming cycle of the seventh ray. Freedom and justice are the yin and the yang of the seventh ray of Aquarius, and together with mercy, they provide the foundation for all other attributes of God to be outpictured in this seventh dispensation. Saint Germain, whose name means "holy brother" is the seventh angel prophesied in the Book of Revelation. His gift to the earth and to all mankind is the spiritual fire of the violet flame. The violet flame is called the flame of freedom because of its alchemical ability to transmute karma. As the Chohan of the Seventh Ray, Saint Germain focuses the flame of freedom to the earth. The violet flame is the flame of the Aquarian Age.

 

www.sacredwind.com/divinemother.php

 

We can invoke the violet flame through prayer and mantra. One very simple mantra taught by the Summit Lighthouse † is:

 

I AM a being a violet fire!

I AM the purity God desires!

 

The healing benefits that come from giving the violet flame are as vast as the stars in the cosmos. The violet flame can melt hardness of heart, balance old karma and free us from the baggage we've carried around not only in this lifetime but also from past lifetimes. It can transmute negative thoughts and painful memories as well as heal old hurts and wounds.

 

The transforming power of the Mother will be more effective if we use it in conjunction with the violet flame. It is recommended that we give at least fifteen minutes of the violet flame each day.

The Monastery of the Three Holy Hierarchs is located in the old centre of Iasi, on Stefan cel Mare si Sfant Boulevard, formerly known as the Princely Street.

 

The "Trisfetite" Church, built during Prince Vasile Lupu’s reign (1637 -1639), was intended to be a royal burial ground; it reflects the founder’s aspiration to the Byzantine world as it combines traditional structures and shapes with precious materials and a sumptuous decoration. Metropolitan Varlaam consecrated this holy place on the 6th of May 1639, and two years later Saint Paraskeve’s relics were moved here. The monastery accommodated a printing house and the "Schola Basiliana", the future Princely Academy. In 1970 the monastery was closed and the only religious services to be officiated were the celebration of the feast day of the Three Hierarchs (30th January) and the Union Day on 24th of January. Following the 1989 events, the monastery was reopened.

 

The monument is renowned for its embroidery in stone (most of it preserved in its original form) that decorate the outer walls. Thirty different carved stone decoration bands cover the entire outside walls of the church from the base to the top of the steeples; they are inspired from the national old wood carvings and embroideries blended with Asian and Western elements. An impressive threefold twisted cord – a symbol of the Holy Trinity – makes the architectural complex of the church absolutely perfect.

 

This centre of Romanian spirituality was to be the starting point of the Greek Independence War (1821). The first signal for the liberation of Greece was given in the monastery’s premises by Alexander Ypsilanti who read a proclamation (28th of February 1821) stating the objectives of the Filiki Eteria in the war to free the Balkan peoples.

 

Source: The Three Holy Hierarchs Monastery

I Hermes stand here at the crossroads by the wind beaten orchard, near the hoary grey coast; and I keep a resting place for weary men. And the cool stainless spring gushes out.

Hermes Trismegistus may be a representation of the syncretic combination of the Greek god Hermes and the Egyptian god Thoth.Greeks in Hellenistic Egypt recognized the equivalence of Hermes and Thoth.Consequently, the two gods were worshiped as one, in what had been the Temple of Thoth in Khemnu, which the Greeks called Hermopolis.Both Hermes and Thoth were gods of writing and of magic in their respective cultures.[citation needed] Hermes, the Greek god of interpretive communication, was combined with Thoth, the Egyptian god of wisdom, to become the patron of astrology and alchemy. In addition, both gods were psychopomps, guiding souls to the afterlife. The Egyptian priest and polymath Imhotep had been deified long after his death and therefore assimilated to Thoth in the classical and Hellenistic period.The renowned scribe Amenhotep and a wise man named Teôs were co-equal deities of wisdom, science, and medicine; and, thus, they were placed alongside Imhotep in shrines dedicated to Thoth-Hermes during the Ptolemaic period.A Mycenaean Greek reference to a deity or semi-deity called ti-ri-se-ro-e (Linear B: ; Tris Hḗrōs, "thrice or triple hero")[6] was found on two Linear B clay tablets at Pylos and could be connected to the later epithet "thrice great", Trismegistos, applied to Hermes/Thoth. On the aforementioned PY Tn 316 tablet—as well as other Linear B tablets found in Pylos, Knossos, and Thebes—there appears the name of the deity "Hermes" as e-ma-ha (Linear B: ), but not in any apparent connection with the "Trisheros". This interpretation of poorly-understood Mycenaean material is disputed, since Hermes Trismegistus is not referenced in any of the copious sources before he emerges in Hellenistic Egypt.The majority of Greeks, and later Romans, did not accept Hermes Trismegistus in the place of Hermes.[citation needed] The two gods were regarded as distinct. Cicero enumerates several deities referred to as "Hermes": a "fourth Mercury (Hermes) was the son of the Nile, whose name may not be spoken by the Egyptians"; and "the fifth, who is worshiped by the people of Pheneus [in Arcadia], is said to have killed Argus, and for this reason to have fled to Egypt, and to have given the Egyptians their laws and alphabet: he it is whom the Egyptians call Theyt". The most likely interpretation of this passage is as two variants on the same syncretism of Greek Hermes and Egyptian Thoth (or sometimes other gods): the fourth (where Hermes turns out "actually" to have been a "son of the Nile," i.e. a native god) being viewed from the Egyptian perspective, the fifth (who went from Greece to Egypt) being viewed from the Greek-Arcadian perspective. Both of these early references in Cicero (most ancient Trismegistus material is from the early centuries AD) corroborate the view that Thrice-Great Hermes originated in Hellenistic Egypt through syncretism between Greek and Egyptian gods (the Hermetica refer most often to Thoth and Amun).The Hermetic literature among the Egyptians, which was concerned with conjuring spirits and animating statues, inform the oldest Hellenistic writings on Greco-Babylonian astrology and on the newly developed practice of alchemy. In a parallel tradition, Hermetic philosophy rationalized and systematized religious cult practices and offered the adept a means of personal ascension from the constraints of physical being. This latter tradition has led to the confusion of Hermeticism with Gnosticism, which was developing contemporaneously.As a divine source of wisdom, Hermes Trismegistus was credited with tens of thousands of highly esteemed writings, which were reputed to be of immense antiquity. Plato's Timaeus and Critias state that in the temple of Neith at Sais there were secret halls containing historical records which had been kept for 9,000 years. Clement of Alexandria was under the impression that the Egyptians had forty-two sacred writings by Hermes, writings that detailed the training of Egyptian priests. Siegfried Morenz has suggested, in Egyptian Religion: "The reference to Thoth's authorship... is based on ancient tradition; the figure forty-two probably stems from the number of Egyptian nomes, and thus conveys the notion of completeness." The Neo-Platonic writers took up Clement's "forty-two essential texts".The Hermetica is a category of papyri containing spells and initiatory induction procedures. The dialogue called the Asclepius (after the Greek god of healing) describes the art of imprisoning the souls of demons or of angels in statues with the help of herbs, gems, and odors, so that the statue could speak and engage in prophecy. In other papyri, there are recipes for constructing such images and animating them, such as when images are to be fashioned hollow so as to enclose a magic name inscribed on gold leaf.Sayyid Ahmed Amiruddin has pointed out that Hermes Trismegistus has a major place in Islamic tradition. He writes, "Hermes Trismegistus is mentioned in the Quran in verse 19:56-57:'Mention, in the Book, Idris, that he was truthful, a prophet. We took him up to a high place'". The Jabirian corpus contains the oldest documented source for the Emerald Tablet of Hermes Trismegistus, translated by Jābir ibn Hayyān (Geber) for the Hashemite Caliph of Baghdad Harun al-Rashid the Abbasid. Jābir ibn Hayyān, a Shiite, identified as Jābir al-Sufi, was a student of Ja'far al-Sadiq, Husayn ibn 'Ali's great grandson. Thus, for the Abbasid's and the Alid's, the writings of Hermes Trismegistus were considered sacred, as an inheritance from the Ahl al-Bayt. These writings were recorded by the Ikhwan al-Safa, and subsequently translated from Arabic into Persian, Turkish, Hebrew, Russian, and English. In these writings, Hermes Trismegistus is identified as Idris, the infallible Prophet who traveled to outer space from Egypt, and to heaven, whence he brought back Adam and the Black Stone when he landed on earth in India.According to ancient Arab genealogists, Muhammad the Prophet, who is also believed to have traveled to the heavens on the night of Isra and Mi'raj, is a direct descendant of Hermes Trismegistus. Ibn Kathir said, "As for Idris...He is in the genealogical chain of the Prophet Muhammad, except according to one genealogist...Ibn Ishaq says he was the first who wrote with the Pen. There was a span of 380 years between him and the life of Adam. Many of the scholars allege that he was the first to speak about this, and they call him Thrice-Great Hermes [Hermes Trismegistus]".Ahmad al-Buni considered himself a follower of the hermetic teachings; and his contemporary Ibn Arabi mentioned Hermes Trismegistus in his writings. The Futūḥāt al-Makkiyya of Ibn Arabi speaks of Hermes's travels to "vast cities (outside earth), possessing technologies far superior then ours"[28] and meeting with the Twelfth Imam, the Ninth (generation) from the Third (al-Husayn the third Imam) (referring here to the Masters of Wisdom from the Emerald Tablet), who also ascended to the heavens, and is still alive like his ancestor Hermes Trismegistus".A late Arabic writer wrote of the Sabaeans that their religion had a sect of star worshipers who held their doctrine to come from Hermes Trismegistus through the prophet Adimun.Antoine Faivre, in The Eternal Hermes (1995), has pointed out that Hermes Trismegistus has a place in the Islamic tradition, although the name Hermes does not appear in the Qur'an. Hagiographers and chroniclers of the first centuries of the Islamic Hegira quickly identified Hermes Trismegistus with Idris,[31] the nabi of surahs 19.57 and 21.85, whom the Arabs also identified with Enoch (cf. Genesis 5.18–24). Idris/Hermes was termed "Thrice-Wise" Hermes Trismegistus because he had a threefold origin. The first Hermes, comparable to Thoth, was a "civilizing hero", an initiator into the mysteries of the divine science and wisdom that animate the world; he carved the principles of this sacred science in hieroglyphs. The second Hermes, in Babylon, was the initiator of Pythagoras. The third Hermes was the first teacher of alchemy. "A faceless prophet," writes the Islamicist Pierre Lory, "Hermes possesses no concrete or salient characteristics, differing in this regard from most of the major figures of the Bible and the Quran." A common interpretation of the representation of "Trismegistus" as "thrice great" recalls the three characterizations of Idris: as a messenger of god, or a prophet; as a source of wisdom, or hikmet (wisdom from hokmah); and as a king of the world order, or a "sultanate". These are referred to as müselles bin ni'me.Imad Jafar, in his essay "Enoch in the Islamic Tradition", writes:The lore that developed around Idrīs’ legendary gnosis led to him being further identified with Hermes Trismegistus (Hirmīs) ... whereby Muslims began to acknowledge Idrīs as the founder of alchemy as well..In the Illuminationistic philosophy of the renowned Persian Islamic sage and saint Suhrawardī (c. 1154-1191), Idrīs was revered fundamentally as the teacher of the ancient sages amongst the Hindus, Persians, Babylonians, Egyptians, and Greeks up to the time of Aristotle.... When these Greco-Alexandrian wisdom sciences and the gnostic lore of the Sabaeans of Harrān – who regarded Hermes as their prophet and his writings as their scriptures – spread amongst the Islamic community, Idrīs was immediately identified ... with the founder of Hermeticism ... Mulla Sadra (1571-1636), one of the greatest Muslim sages of the later period, who said: "Know that Wisdom (hikmah) began originally with Adam and his progeny Seth, Hermes, who is Idrīs, and Noah, because the world is never deprived of a person upon whom the science of Unity and eschatology rests. And it is the greatest Hermes who propagated it (hikmah) throughout the regions of the world and different countries manifested it and made it emanate upon the ‘true worshipers’. He is indeed the ‘Father of philosophers’ and the master of those who are the masters of the sciences".

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hermes_Trismegistus

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

History

United States

Name:Astoria

Namesake:City of Astoria, Oregon

Ordered:13 February 1929

Awarded:

12 July 1929 (date assigned to ship yard)

2 June 1930 (beginning of construction period)

Builder:Puget Sound Navy Yard, Bremerton, Washington

Cost:$11,951,000 (limit of price)

Laid down:1 September 1930

Launched:16 December 1933

Sponsored by:Miss Leila C. McKay

Commissioned:28 April 1934

Reclassified:CA-34, 1 July 1931

Identification:

Hull symbol: CL-34

Hull symbol: CA-34

Nickname(s):"Nasty Asty"[1]

Honors and

awards:Bronze-service-star-3d.png 3 × battle stars

Fate:Sunk during the Battle of Savo Island 9 August 1942

General characteristics (as built)[2]

Class and type:New Orleans-class cruiser

Displacement:9,950 long tons (10,110 t) (standard)

Length:

588 ft (179 m) oa

574 ft (175 m) pp

Beam:61 ft 9 in (18.82 m)

Draft:

19 ft 5 in (5.92 m) (mean)

23 ft 6 in (7.16 m) (max)

Installed power:

8 × Babcock & Wilcox boilers

107,000 shp (80,000 kW)

Propulsion:

4 × Westinghouse geared turbines

4 × screws

Speed:32.7 kn (37.6 mph; 60.6 km/h)

Capacity:Fuel oil: 1,650 tons

Complement:104 officers 795 enlisted

Armament:

9 × 8 in (200 mm)/55 caliber guns (3x3)

8 × 5 in (130 mm)/25 caliber anti-aircraft guns

2 × 3-pounder 47 mm (1.9 in) saluting guns

8 × caliber 0.50 in (13 mm) machine guns

Armor:

Belt: 3–5 in (76–127 mm)

Deck: 1 1⁄4–2 1⁄4 in (32–57 mm)

Barbettes: 5 in (130 mm)

Turrets: 1 1⁄2–8 in (38–203 mm)

Conning Tower: 5 in (130 mm)

Aircraft carried:4 × floatplanes

Aviation facilities:2 × Amidship catapults

General characteristics (1942)[3]

Armament:

9 × 8 in (200 mm)/55 caliber guns (3x3)

8 × 5 in (130 mm)/25 caliber anti-aircraft guns

2 × 3-pounder 47 mm (1.9 in) saluting guns

12 × single 20 mm (0.79 in) Oerlikon anti-aircraft cannons

4 × quad 1.1 in (28 mm)/75 caliber anti-aircraft guns

The second USS Astoria (CL/CA-34) was the lead ship of the Astoria-class of heavy cruisers (later renamed the New Orleans-class) of the United States Navy that participated in both the Battle of the Coral Sea and the Battle of Midway, but was then sunk in August 1942, at the Battle of Savo Island. Astoria was the first ship of the Astoria-class of cruisers to be laid down, but received a hull number higher than New Orleans because she was launched second.

 

Immediately after the months-long Guadalcanal Campaign ended in February 1943, the remaining ships of the class would go through major overhauls to lessen top-heaviness due to new electrical and radar systems and advanced anti-aircraft weaponry. In doing so the ships took on a new appearance, most notably in the bridge, becoming known as the New Orleans-class.[4]

  

Construction and commissioning

Astoria was laid down on 1 September 1930, at the Puget Sound Navy Yard. Such ships, with a limit of 10,000 tons standard displacement and 8-inch calibre main guns may be referred to as "treaty cruisers." Originally classified a light cruiser, because of her thin armor, she was reclassified, after being laid down, a heavy cruiser, because of her 8-inch guns. The term "heavy cruiser" was not defined until the London Naval Treaty in 1930. Launched on 16 December 1933, sponsored by Miss Leila C. McKay (a descendant of Alexander McKay, a member of the John Jacob Astor expedition that founded Astoria, Oregon), and commissioned on 28 April 1934, Captain Edmund S. Root in command.

 

During the summer of 1934, Astoria conducted a lengthy shake-down cruise in the course of which she voyaged extensively in the Pacific. In addition to the Hawaiian Islands, the heavy cruiser also visited Samoa, Fiji, Sydney Australia, and Nouméa on the island of New Caledonia. She returned to San Francisco on 26 September 1934.

 

Inter-war period

Between the fall of 1934 and February 1937, she operated as a unit of Cruiser Division 7 (CruDiv 7), Scouting Force, based at San Pedro, California. In February 1937, the warship was reassigned to CruDiv 6, though she continued to serve as an element of Scouting Force based at San Pedro. In both assignments, she carried out normal peacetime maneuvers, the culmination of which came in the annual fleet problem that brought the entire United States Fleet together in a single, vast exercise.

 

Special duty: Hiroshi Saito's ashes

At the beginning of 1939, Fleet Problem XX concentrated the fleet in the West Indies, and at its conclusion Astoria, Richmond Kelly Turner commanding, made a hasty departure from Culebra Island on 3 March 1939 and headed for Chesapeake Bay. After taking on a capacity load of stores and fuel at Norfolk, Virginia, the heavy cruiser proceeded north to Annapolis, Maryland, where she embarked the remains of the former Japanese Ambassador to the United States, the late Hiroshi Saito, for the voyage to Japan, a gesture that expressed America's gratitude to the Japanese for returning the body of the late United States Ambassador to Japan, Edgar Bancroft, in the cruiser Tama in 1926. Astoria sailed from Annapolis on 18 March 1939, accompanied by Naokichi Kitazawa, Second Secretary of the Japanese Embassy in Washington.

 

Arriving in the Panama Canal Zone soon thereafter, where "various high officials and a delegation from the Japanese colony in Panama paid their respects to Saito's ashes," Astoria got underway for Hawaii on 24 March. She moored at Honolulu on 4 April, the same day that Madame Saito and her two daughters arrived on board the passenger liner Tatsuta Maru. Two days later, the heavy cruiser proceeded westward across the Pacific.

 

Accompanied by the destroyers Hibiki, Sagiri, Akatsuki, Astoria steamed slowly into Yokohama harbor on 17 April, United States ensign at half-staff and the Japanese flag at the fore. The warship fired a 21-gun salute which was returned by the light cruiser Kiso. American sailors carried the ceremonial urn ashore that afternoon, and funeral ceremonies took place the following morning.

 

After the solemn state funeral, the Japanese showered lavish hospitality on the visiting cruiser and her men. Captain Turner, for his part, pleased Ambassador to Japan Joseph C. Grew by his diplomatic role in the proceedings; the naval attaché in Tokyo, Captain Harold Medberry Bemis, later recorded that the choice of Turner for that delicate mission was "particularly fortunate...." In grateful appreciation of American sympathy and courtesy a pagoda was later presented by Hirosi Saito's wife and child. That pagoda is located in front of Luce Hall at the United States Naval Academy.

 

Astoria sailed for Shanghai, China on 26 April, and reached her destination on the morning of the 29th. She remained at Shanghai until 1 May. After receiving Admiral Harry E. Yarnell, Commander in Chief, Asiatic Fleet, on board for a courtesy call that morning, Astoria put to sea for Hong Kong in the afternoon. Following the visit to Hong Kong, Astoria stopped briefly in the Philippines before continuing on to Guam. When she arrived at Guam early on the morning of 21 May, the heavy cruiser was called upon to assist Penguin and Robert L. Barnes in their successful effort to refloat the grounded Army transport U. S. Grant. Soon thereafter, Astoria joined the search for the noted author and adventurer Richard Halliburton, and the companions with whom he had attempted the voyage from Hong Kong to San Francisco in his Chinese junk, Sea Dragon. The cruiser combed more than 162,000 sq mi (420,000 km2) of the Pacific, without success, before she discontinued the search on 29 May.

 

Reassigned to Pearl Harbor

Main article: Pearl Harbor

Assigned to the Hawaiian Detachment in October 1939, Astoria changed home ports from San Pedro to Pearl Harbor. The following spring, she participated in Fleet Problem XXI, the last of those major annual exercises that brought the entire United States Fleet together to be conducted before World War II engulfed the United States. The maneuvers took place in Hawaiian waters, and, instead of returning to the west coast at their conclusion, the bulk of the fleet joined Astoria and the Hawaiian Detachment in making Pearl Harbor its base of operations.

 

On 2 April 1941, Astoria departed Pearl Harbor for the west coast of the United States. She reached Long Beach, California on 8 April and entered the Mare Island Navy Yard on the 13th. During her refit, she received quadruple-mount 1.1 in (28 mm)/75 cal anti-aircraft guns and a pedestal fitted at her foremast in anticipation of the imminent installation of the new air-search radar. Emerging from the yard on 11 July 1941, the heavy cruiser sailed for Long Beach on the 16th. Later shifting to San Pedro, Astoria sailed for Pearl Harbor on 24 July 1941.

 

Following her return to Hawaii on 31 July, Astoria operated between Oahu and Midway through early September. That autumn, the specter of German raiders on the prowl in the Pacific prompted the Navy to convoy its ships bound for Guam and the Philippines. Astoria escorted Henderson to Manila and thence to Guam, before returning to Pearl Harbor on 29 October. Local patrols and training, alternated with upkeep in port, occupied Astoria during the final five weeks of peace.

 

World War II

After rising tensions in the Pacific intensified his concern over the defenses of his outlying bases at the beginning of December 1941, Admiral Husband E. Kimmel, Commander in Chief, Pacific Fleet/United States Fleet, ordered reinforcements, in the form of Marine Corps planes, to be ferried to Wake Island and Midway. Astoria put to sea on 5 December in the screen of Rear Admiral John H. Newton's Task Force 12 (TF 12) built around Lexington. Once the task force reached open sea, Lexington's air group and the 18 Vought SB2U-3 Vindicators from Marine Scout Bombing Squadron 231 (VMSB-231) bound for Midway landed on the carrier's flight deck.

 

When the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor on the morning of 7 December, Astoria was some 700 mi (1,100 km) west of Hawaii steaming toward Midway with TF 12. At 0900 the following day, the heavy cruiser Indianapolis, flagship of Vice Admiral Wilson Brown, Commander, Scouting Force, joined up with TF 12, and Brown assumed command. Its ferry mission canceled, TF 12 spent the next few days searching an area to the southwest of Oahu, "with instructions to intercept and destroy any enemy ship in the vicinity of Pearl Harbor...."

 

The cruiser reentered Pearl Harbor with the Lexington force on 13 December, but she returned to sea on the 16th to rendezvous with and screen a convoy, the oiler Neches and the seaplane tender Tangier — the abortive Wake Island relief expedition. When that island fell to the Japanese on 23 December, however, the force was recalled. Astoria remained at sea until the afternoon of 29 December, when she arrived back at Oahu. When Astoria was moored in Pearl Harbor, she had about 40 sailors from the battleship California transferred to her ranks. They were survivors of 7 December, when California was sunk at Berth F4 on Battleship Row.

 

Astoria departed Pearl Harbor again on the morning of 31 December with TF 11, formed around Saratoga, and remained at sea into the second week of January 1942. On 11 January, the Japanese submarine I-6 torpedoed the carrier, forcing her retirement to Pearl Harbor. Astoria and her colleagues in the task force saw the crippled carrier safely into port on the morning of 13 January 1942.

 

After a brief respite at Pearl Harbor, Astoria returned to sea on 19 January with TF 11 – the carrier Lexington, escorted by heavy cruisers Chicago and Minneapolis, and nine destroyers – to "conduct an offensive patrol northeast of the Kingman Reef-Christmas Island line." On the afternoon of the 21st, however, TF 11 received orders to rendezvous with Neches, and then to conduct an air raid on Wake Island, followed by a surface bombardment "if practicable." Dispatches intercepted on the 23rd, however, revealed that Neches had fallen victim to a Japanese submarine, identified later as I-17. Without the oiler's precious cargo of fuel, TF 11 could not execute the planned strike. Ordered back to Oahu, the task force reentered Pearl Harbor on the morning of 24 January.

 

Southwestern Pacific cruise: TF 17 (USS Yorktown)

On 16 February, Astoria put back to sea for what proved to be an extended cruise in the southwestern Pacific with TF 17, built around the carrier Yorktown and comprising the heavy cruiser Louisville, destroyers Sims, Anderson, Hammann and Walke, and the oiler Guadalupe, all under the command of Rear Admiral Frank Jack Fletcher. Initially, TF 17's orders called for operations in the vicinity of Canton Island. However, after the Japanese discovered TF 11 on its way to attack their important new base at Rabaul and sent a determined raid which hit the Lexington task force off Bougainville on 20 February, Vice Admiral Brown asked for a second carrier to strengthen his force for another crack at Rabaul. Accordingly, TF 17 received orders to aid Brown in that attempt, and Astoria steamed with Yorktown to a rendezvous with TF 11 that took place southwest of the New Hebrides on 6 March.

 

The combined force, under Brown, stood toward Rabaul until the Japanese landings at Lae and Salamaua, New Guinea prompted a change of plans. Late on 8 March, Brown and his staff decided to shift objectives and attack the two new enemy beachheads by launching planes from the Gulf of Papua in the south and sending them across the width of New Guinea to the targets on the northern coast. Astoria, meanwhile, joined a surface force made up of heavy cruisers Chicago, Louisville, and HMAS Australia, and destroyers Anderson, Hammann, Hughes, and Sims under the command of Rear Admiral John G. Crace, that Brown detached to operate in the waters off Rossel Island in the Louisiade Archipelago. The heavy cruiser and the other warships of that force carried out a threefold mission. They secured the carriers' right flank during their operations in the Gulf of Papua; they shielded Port Moresby from any new enemy thrust; and they covered the arrival of Army troops at Nouméa.

 

The raids on Lae and Salamaua, conducted by 104 planes from Yorktown and Lexington on 10 March 1942 proved devastating to the Japanese, causing heavy damage to their already depleted amphibious forces by sinking three transports and a minesweeper, as well as damaging a light cruiser, a large minelayer, three destroyers and a seaplane carrier. More importantly, the attack delayed the Japanese timetable for conquest in the Solomons and prompted them to send aircraft carriers to cover the operation. The delay, which also allowed the United States Navy time to marshal its forces, coupled with the dispatch of Japanese carriers led to the confrontation in the Coral Sea.

 

Battle of the Coral Sea

Astoria rejoined TF 17 on 14 March and patrolled the Coral Sea for the rest of March. At sea continuously since 16 February, Astoria began to run low on provisions, so Rear Admiral Fletcher detached her to replenish from Bridge at Nouméa along with Portland, Hughes and Walke. Arriving on 1 April, the cruiser remained there only briefly, returning to sea the following day. The warship marched and counter-marched across the Coral Sea for two weeks before TF 17 headed for Tongatapu, where she and the Yorktown force spent the week of 20–27 April.

 

About this time, intelligence reports convinced Admiral Chester Nimitz that the enemy sought to take Port Moresby, on the southeastern coast of New Guinea, and he resolved to thwart those designs. He sent TF 11, built around a refurbished Lexington and led by a new commander, Rear Admiral Aubrey W. Fitch, to join Fletcher's TF 17 in the Coral Sea. Astoria returned to sea with TF 17 on 27 April to rendezvous with TF 11. The two carrier task forces met in the eastern Coral Sea early on the morning of 1 May.

 

Late in the afternoon of 3 May, Rear Admiral Fletcher received word of the Japanese occupation of Tulagi in the Solomons. Astoria screened Yorktown the following day as the carrier launched three raids on the enemy ships off Tulagi. Admiral Fletcher first considered sending Astoria and Chester to finish off the crippled ships at Tulagi with surface gunnery, but demurred and kept his force concentrated in anticipation of further action.

 

Next came a two-day lull on 5–6 May, during which TF 17 fueled in preparation for the impending battle. Astoria screened Yorktown on the 7th as her planes joined those from Lexington in searches and strikes that located and sank the Japanese carrier Shōhō. Japanese planes, however, located and sank the oiler Neosho and her escort, Sims.

 

Fletcher's carriers launched aircraft again early on the morning of 8 May, while Astoria and the other units of the screen prepared their antiaircraft batteries to meet the retaliation expected from Japanese carriers Zuikaku and Shōkaku. Enemy planes found TF 17 just before 1100 that morning and quickly charged to the attack. Almost simultaneously, planes from Yorktown and Lexington deployed to attack the enemy task force.

 

The Japanese aviators concentrated almost exclusively on the American carriers as the two drew apart with their respective screening ships, ultimately putting some 6 to 8 mi (9.7 to 12.9 km) of ocean between them by the end of the battle. Torpedo bombers opened the first phase of the attack, while torpedo and dive bombers coordinated attacks in the second phase.

 

The battle action on 8 May, as Astoria's executive officer, Commander Chauncey R. Crutcher, recounted, "was short and was accompanied by intense anti-aircraft fire against a determined enemy...." Astoria assisted in putting up a protective barrage over Lexington at the outset, and after the task forces separated, she shifted to the anti-aircraft umbrella over Yorktown. Her gunners claimed to have splashed at least four enemy planes in the attack that "seemed to end as suddenly as it had started."

 

At about 1245, Lexington — heavily damaged though apparently in satisfactory condition afloat and underway – suffered severe internal explosions that rang her death knell. Fires raged out of control and, by 1630, her engines stopped. Ninety minutes later, Captain Frederick C. Sherman ordered the ship abandoned. Once rescue operations were completed, and Lexington's end was hastened by torpedoes from Phelps, TF 17 began a slow retirement from the Coral Sea, having suffered heavy losses but also having inflicted a decisive strategic defeat on the Japanese by barring the Port Moresby invasion.

 

Astoria set course for Nouméa along with Minneapolis, New Orleans, Anderson, Hammann, Morris, and Russell. That force reached its destination on 12 May but remained only overnight. On the 13th, she and the other warships got underway for Pearl Harbor, via Tongatapu, and arrived at Oahu on 27 May.

 

Battle of Midway

The heavy cruiser remained in Pearl Harbor only until the 30th. On that day, she returned to sea with the hastily repaired Yorktown to prepare to meet yet another major thrust by the Japanese fleet – this one aimed at Midway. Air searches from that island spotted the enemy's Midway Occupation Force — made up of transports, minesweepers, and two seaplane carriers – early on 3 June, but the enemy carrier force eluded detection until early in the morning of the 4th. The heavy cruiser screened Yorktown as the carrier began launching strike aircraft at about 0840. While the planes droned off to make their contribution to the destruction of the Japanese carrier force, Astoria and her colleagues prepared for the inevitable Japanese reply.

 

The counterstroke, however, did not come until a few minutes before noon as Yorktown's victorious aviators began to return to their ship. 18 Aichi D3A1 "Val" dive bombers came in to attack the carrier. Grumman F4F-4 Wildcat fighters from Fighting Squadron 3 (VF-3) accounted for 10 of the intruders, but the remaining eight managed to penetrate the combat air patrol (CAP). Astoria teamed up with Portland and the screening destroyers to splash another two of the attackers. The remaining six, however, succeeded in attacking Yorktown, and three of those scored hits. One of the three hit the carrier's stack, causing fires in her uptakes that literally smoked Rear Admiral Fletcher and his staff out of flag plot. At about 1310, he shifted his flag to Astoria.

 

Yorktown's damage control parties worked feverishly, and by 1340 she was again underway under her own power, albeit at only 18 to 20 kn (21 to 23 mph; 33 to 37 km/h). At about 1430, the second attack – composed of 10 Nakajima B5N2 "Kate" torpedo bombers escorted by six Mitsubishi A6M Zero fighters – came in and eluded the weak CAP. Astoria and the other ships of the screen attempted to discourage attacks from four different directions by bringing every gun to bear and firing them into the sea to throw curtains of water into the path of the attackers. Nevertheless, four of the "Kates" made good their attack and released their torpedoes within 500 yd (460 m). Yorktown dodged two, but the other two scored hits which stopped the ship again. By 1500, the order to abandon ship went out. Astoria called away lifeboats to assist in the rescue of Yorktown's survivors. That night, the heavy cruiser retired east ward with the rest of the task force to await dawn, while a single destroyer, Hughes, stood by the stricken carrier.

 

The following day broke with Yorktown still afloat, and efforts began to salvage the battered warship. Though the Japanese had abandoned the Midway attack and had begun retiring toward Japan, submarine I-168 had been given orders to sink Yorktown. After a 24-hour search, the enemy submarine found her quarry on the 6th and attacked with a spread of four torpedoes. One torpedo missed completely, two passed under destroyer Hammann alongside the carrier and detonated in Yorktown's hull, while the fourth broke Hammann's back. The destroyer sank in less than four minutes. The carrier remained afloat until early on the morning of the 7th. At about dawn, she finally rolled over and sank.

 

Astoria remained as flagship for TF 17, as it operated north of Midway, until shortly after midday on 8 June when TF 11 arrived on the scene, and Rear Admiral Fletcher transferred his flag to Saratoga, On 11 June, Admiral Nimitz – satisfied that the major Japanese thrust had been thwarted – ordered his carrier task forces back to Hawaii, and Astoria reentered Pearl Harbor with them on 13 June. During the early summer of 1942, she completed repairs and alterations at the Pearl Harbor Navy Yard and carried out training in the Hawaiian operating area.

 

The Solomons (Battle of Savo Island)

 

USS Astoria on 8 August 1942.

By the beginning of August, Astoria had been reassigned to Task Group 62.3 (TG 62.3), Fire Support Group L, to cover the Guadalcanal-Tulagi landings. Early on the morning of 7 August, the heavy cruiser entered the waters between Guadalcanal and Florida Islands in the southern Solomons. Throughout the day, she supported the Marines as they landed on Guadalcanal and several smaller islands nearby. The Japanese launched air counterattacks on the 7th–8th, and Astoria helped to defend the transports from those attacks.

 

On the night of 8/9 August, a Japanese force of seven cruisers and a destroyer under Vice Admiral Gunichi Mikawa sneaked by Savo Island and attacked the American ships. At the time, Astoria had been patrolling to the east of Savo Island in column behind Vincennes and Quincy. The Japanese came through the channel to the west of Savo Island and opened fire on Chicago – HMAS Canberra force first at about 0140 on the morning of the 9th, hitting both cruisers with torpedoes and shells. They then divided – inadvertently – into two separate groups and turned generally northeast, passing on either side of Astoria and her two consorts. The enemy cruisers began firing on that force at about 0150, and the heavy cruiser began return fire immediately. She ceased fire briefly because her commanding officer temporarily mistook the Japanese force for friendly ships but soon resumed shooting. Astoria took no hits in the first four Japanese salvoes, but the fifth ripped into her superstructure, turning her into an inferno amidships. In quick succession, enemy shells put her No. 1 turret out of action and started a serious fire in the plane hangar that burned brightly and provided the enemy with a self-illuminated target.

 

From that moment on, deadly accurate Japanese gunfire pounded her unmercifully, and she began to lose speed. Turning to the right to avoid Quincy's fire at about 0201, Astoria reeled as a succession of enemy shells struck her aft of the foremast. Soon thereafter, Quincy veered across Astoria's bow, blazing fiercely from bow to stern. Astoria put her rudder over hard left and avoided a collision while her battered sister ship passed aft, to starboard. As the warship turned, Kinugasa's searchlight illuminated her, and men on deck passed the order to No. 2 turret to shoot out the offending light. When the turret responded with Astoria's 12th and final salvo, the shells missed Kinugasa but struck the No. 1 turret of Chōkai.

 

Astoria lost steering control on the bridge at about 0225, shifted control to central station, and began steering a zig-zag course south. Before she made much progress, though, the heavy cruiser lost all power. Fortunately, the Japanese chose that exact instant to withdraw. By 0300, nearly 400 men, including about 70 wounded and many dead, were assembled on the forecastle deck.

 

Suffering from the effects of at least 65 hits, Astoria fought for her life. A bucket brigade battled the blaze on the gun deck and the starboard passage forward from that deck, and the wounded were moved to the captain's cabin, where doctors and corpsmen proceeded with their care. Eventually, however, the deck beneath grew hot and forced the wounded back to the forecastle. The bucket brigade made steady headway, driving the fire aft on the starboard side of the gun deck, while a gasoline handy-billy rigged over the side pumped a small stream into the wardroom passage below.

 

Bagley came alongside Astoria's starboard bow and, by 0445, took all of the wounded off the heavy cruiser's forecastle. At that point, a small light flashed from Astoria's stern, indicating survivors on that part of the ship. Signaling the men on the heavy cruiser's stern that they had been seen, Bagley got underway and rescued men on rafts – some Vincennes survivors – and men who had been driven overboard by the fires blazing aboard Astoria.

 

With daylight, Bagley returned to the heavy cruiser and came alongside her starboard quarter. Since it appeared that the ship could be saved, a salvage crew of about 325 able-bodied men went back aboard Astoria. Another bucket brigade attacked the fires while the ship's first lieutenant investigated all accessible lower decks. A party of men collected the dead and prepared them for burial. Hopkins came up to assist in the salvage effort at about 0700. After securing a towline, Hopkins proceeded ahead, swinging Astoria around in an effort to tow her to the shallow water off Guadalcanal. A second gasoline-powered handy-billy, transferred from Hopkins, promptly joined the struggle against the fires. Wilson soon arrived on the scene, coming alongside the cruiser at about 0900 to pump water into the fire forward. Called away at 1000, Hopkins and Wilson departed, but the heavy cruiser received word that Buchanan was on the way to assist in battling the fires and that Alchiba was coming to tow the ship.

 

Sinking

Nevertheless, the fire below decks increased steadily in intensity, and those topside could hear explosions. Her list increased, first to 10° and then 15°. Her stern lowered in the dark waters, and her bow was distinctively rising. All attempts to shore the shell holes – by then below the waterline due to the increasing list – proved ineffective, and the list increased still more. Buchanan arrived at 11:30, but could not approach due to the heavy port list. Directed to stand off the starboard quarter, she stood by while all hands assembled on the stern, which was now wet with seawater. With the port waterway awash at noon, Commodore William G. Greenman gave the order to abandon ship.

 

Astoria turned over on her port beam, rolled slowly, and settled by the stern, disappearing completely by 12:16. Buchanan lowered two motor whaleboats and, although interrupted by a fruitless hunt for a submarine, came back and assisted the men in the water. Alchiba, which arrived on the scene just before Astoria sank, rescued 32 men. Not one man from the salvage crew lost his life. Officially, 219 men were reported missing or killed.[5]

 

Rediscovery

The wreck of USS Astoria was discovered in early 2015 during a sonar mapping project of Iron Bottom Sound led by Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen. The wreck lies upright in[6] roughly 860 meters (2,820 ft) of water with its bow missing and "A" turret pointing aft.[7]

The Pfalz Theater Kaiserslautern belongs to the authority of the regional association of the Palatinate and is the only three-genre theater of the Palatinate based in the city of Kaiserslautern.

History

The first theater in Kaiserslautern in 1862 was financed by Andreas Müller, called Spittelmüller, the owner of the mill Spittelmühle in Kaiserslautern. This one also supported the first seasons of this theater. The building stood in today's Karl-Marx street (then Theater street) at the corner to Gas street. It was some years later destroyed by fire and rebuilt by Andreas Müller again. In 1874, the theater was converted into a public limited company. The shares were taken over in 1897 by the City of Kaiserslautern, so it was a city theater ever since. The theater grew up in the first decades of the 20th century through cooperation with other Palatine stages, particularly with Pirmasens and Zweibrücken, into a Association of Cities Opera in the Palatinate. Even in the early war years of the Second World War, the theater operation was maintained until the bombing of 14 August 1944 the building destroyed completely. Yet in October 1945, the theater operation was continued in the premises of the "Capitol", a cinema at Fackelrondell (torch roundabout). This was temporary. By formation of a new supporting organisation and the expansion into a city theater with solemn inauguration in September 1950 it became a permanent establishment. 1968, the district association Palatinate became the supporter of the Palatinate Theatre. The city of Kaiserslautern grants since then annually institutional support and takes care of the maintenance of the building (without building maintenance for stage technical equipment). As a supporter the district association Palatinate assumes all expenses relating to the operation of the Palatinate Theatre as well as the building maintenance for the technical stage facilities. The proceeds from admissions etc. flow in favor of the supporter in the budget of the district association Palatinate. The state of Rhineland-Palatinate grants annually an institutional funding.

Rotunda of Pfalztheater

Yet in 1976, the demand for a new building was discussed in the City Council because the old cinema building was unsuitable for larger projects and still was set up only provisionally. But it was not until 1995, when the new building was completed at Willy-Brandt square near the Fruit hall. Financed was the construction with funds from the Palatinate Theatre Legal Entity District Association Palatinate, the Land (state) Rheinland-Pfalz and the City of Kaiserslautern.

On September 30, 1995, with the first performances eventually the threefold stage (musical theater, drama and ballet) was inaugurated by the then director Pavel Fieber. The Chairman of the German Cultural Council, August Everding, praised in his laudatory speech the even then unusually large and high-quality construction as exemplary investment in arts and culture.

The first play that was performed in the new house was Nathan the Wise.

Data

The building houses two venues: the Big House with a capacity of nearly 680 seats (at concerts and children's performances up to 730 seats) as well as the Workshop Theatre, offering about 100 spectators space.

The Palatinate Theater at the moment employs approximately 335 employees of various subjects.

Offering

The program of the Pfalztheater includes many different events for a wide audience, such as operas, musicals, operettas, theater and ballet. Each season, approximately 400 performances are offered. Furthermore, individual plays as guest performances are also performed on other stages in Germany, sometimes even abroad.

In addition to the individual ensembles of the three subjects, the house also has its own orchestra, an own choir, as well as an extra chorus and supernumeraries (extras).

Panorama picture of Pfalztheater

Personnel

Since the season 2012/2013 Urs Häberli is artistic director of the Palatinate Theatre. His predecessors were:

Wolfgang Blum 1971-1988

Michael Leinert 1988-1991

Pavel Fieber 1991-1997

Wolfgang Quetes 1997-2002

Johannes Reitmeier 2002-2012

The musical leadership is since the season 2006/07 in the hands of general music director Uwe Sandner. Predecessor in this post were Wilfried Emmert, Jiří Stárek (1989/1990 to 1992/1993), Lior Shambadal (1993 to the end of the 1999/2000 season) and Francesco Corti.

Theater director: Harald Demmer

Ballet director: Stefano Giannetti

Head of dramaturgy: Andreas Bronkalla

Head of stage design: Thomas Dörfler

de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pfalztheater

Another major installation Berlin Buddha (2007), conceived specifically for Haunch of Venison's exhibition space in Berlin, consists of a Buddha made from compacted dry ash which is seated opposite the aluminium mould from which it has been cast. At the mercy of its environment and with no glue to bind it, the ash Buddha slowly disintegrates in a manner whose significance is threefold: formally, it returns to the artist's process-driven ash cubes of the year before; symbolically, it invokes the desecration of centuries-old artefacts under Mao Zedong; and, metaphysically, it enacts a conceptual reduction of being to nothingness which accords with the artist's religious beliefs. His most ambitious ash work to date, Berlin Buddha represents the concise and poetic crystallisation of Zhang Huan's current preoccupations.

 

Zhang Huan's ash works perform exhumations of private lives and social histories in which ideas of collective memory and experience resurface. In the charred topography of these recent paintings and sculptures lie the silent prayers of the current generation from which, like a phoenix rising, the past may be reborn.

Source: Zhang Huan's website

 

Please note that while the text above refers to the Berlin Buddha, the image is of the Sydney Buddha

Canon EOS 6D - f/8 - 1/125sec - 28mm - ISO 100 x 3

Ghost sign for Hay Photos Studio, 229 F Street, Salida, Colorado. In 1884, C. Henry Clark opened a photography studio in Salida. He kept busy taking images of the Denver & Rio Grande railroad and buildings around town. A threefold tragedy struck Clark during the 1880s, the first being that his son died. Then, in January 1888, Peter Mulvany’s new hotel caught fire, which spread and burned out about sixty businesses in town, including Clark’s. He was in the process of moving to this location at 229 F Street so most of his equipment was saved but all of his early day images of Salida were lost in the fire. About a year later, his daughter died of typhoid fever. Clark was a Christian Scientist and decided against calling a doctor to help her. Townsfolk found out and the rebuke was swift. After Ada’s death, Clark and his wife left town.

 

Charles Erdlen, who had been a partner of Clark’s, took over their gallery on the second floor of Hall & Howard’s grocery store at 229 F Street and sold landscape photography and took portraits of townsfolk. In 1894, Charles Erdlen was voted in as Chaffee County treasurer and sold his business to Frank Ray in 1898 who stayed in business for about a decade. In 1908 he sold the business to newcomer Henry R. Hay. Henry bought the entire building in 1923, and with that became Salida’s leading photographer specializing in general photography, portraits, Kodak finishing, and picture framing. Helen Hanks worked for Henry after her graduation from Salida High School. When Henry died in 1937, Helen took over the business. Helen sold The Hay Studio to Roy Morris in 1954 who subsequently renamed it the Morris Photo Shop. In 1971, it was sold again and renamed the Photo Image Studio.

"Sometimes, when one person is missing, the whole world seems depopulated."

 

Alphonse de Lamartine

OM

Auṃ or Oṃ, Sanskrit: ॐ) is a sacred sound and a spiritual icon in Indian religions.[1][2] It is also a mantra in Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, and Sikhism.[3][4]

Om is part of the iconography found in ancient and medieval era manuscripts, temples, monasteries and spiritual retreats in Hinduism, Buddhism, and Jainism.[5][6] The symbol has a spiritual meaning in all Indian dharmas, but the meaning and connotations of Om vary between the diverse schools within and across the various traditions.

In Hinduism, Om is one of the most important spiritual symbols (pratima).[7][8] It refers to Atman (soul, self within) andBrahman (ultimate reality, entirety of the universe, truth, divine, supreme spirit, cosmic principles, knowledge).[9][10][11] The syllable is often found at the beginning and the end of chapters in the Vedas, the Upanishads, and other Hindu texts. It is a sacred spiritual incantation made before and during the recitation of spiritual texts, during puja and private prayers, in ceremonies of rites of passages (sanskara) such as weddings, and sometimes during meditative and spiritual activities such as Yoga.

Vedic literature

The syllable "Om" is described with various meanings in the Vedas and different early Upanishads.[19] The meanings include "the sacred sound, the Yes!, the Vedas, the Udgitha (song of the universe), the infinite, the all encompassing, the whole world, the truth, the ultimate reality, the finest essence, the cause of the Universe, the essence of life, theBrahman, the Atman, the vehicle of deepest knowledge, and Self-knowledge".

Vedas

The chapters in Vedas, and numerous hymns, chants and benedictions therein use the syllable Om. The Gayatri mantra from the Rig Veda, for example, begins with Om. The mantra is extracted from the 10th verse of Hymn 62 in Book III of the Rig Veda.These recitations continue to be in use, and major incantations and ceremonial functions begin and end with Om.

ॐ भूर्भुवस्व: |

तत्सवितुर्वरेण्यम् |

भर्गो देवस्य धीमहि |

धियो यो न: प्रचोदयात् ||

 

Om. Earth, atmosphere, heaven.

Let us think on that desirable splendour

of Savitr, the Inspirer. May he stimulate

us to insightful thoughts.

Om is a common symbol found in the ancient texts of Hinduism, such as in the first line of Rig veda (top), as well as a icon in temples and spiritual retreats.

The Chandogya Upanishad is one of the oldest Upanishads of Hinduism. It opens with the recommendation that "let a man meditate on Om".[26] It calls the syllable Om as udgitha (उद्गीथ, song, chant), and asserts that the significance of the syllable is thus: the essence of all beings is earth, the essence of earth is water, the essence of water are the plants, the essence of plants is man, the essence of man is speech, the essence of speech is the Rig Veda, the essence of the Rig Veda is the Sama Veda, and the essence of Sama Veda is the udgitha (song, Om).[27]

Rik (ऋच्, Ṛc) is speech, states the text, and Sāman (सामन्) is breath; they are pairs, and because they have love and desire for each other, speech and breath find themselves together and mate to produce song.[26][27] The highest song is Om, asserts section 1.1 of Chandogya Upanishad. It is the symbol of awe, of reverence, of threefold knowledge because Adhvaryu invokes it, the Hotr recites it, and Udgatr sings it.[27][28]

The second volume of the first chapter continues its discussion of syllable Om, explaining its use as a struggle between Devas (gods) and Asuras (demons).[29] Max Muller states that this struggle between gods and demons is considered allegorical by ancient Indian scholars, as good and evil inclinations within man, respectively.[30] The legend in section 1.2 of Chandogya Upanishad states that gods took the Udgitha (song of Om) unto themselves, thinking, "with this [song] we shall overcome the demons".[31] The syllable Om is thus implied as that which inspires the good inclinations within each person.[30][31]

Chandogya Upanishad's exposition of syllable Om in its opening chapter combines etymological speculations, symbolism, metric structure and philosophical themes.[28][32] In the second chapter of the Chandogya Upanishad, the meaning and significance of Om evolves into a philosophical discourse, such as in section 2.10 where Om is linked to the Highest Self,[33] and section 2.23 where the text asserts Om is the essence of three forms of knowledge, Om is Brahman and "Om is all this [observed world]".[34]

Katha Upanishad

The Katha Upanishad is the legendary story of a little boy, Nachiketa – the son of sage Vajasravasa, who meetsYama – the Indian deity of death. Their conversation evolves to a discussion of the nature of man, knowledge,Atman (Soul, Self) and moksha (liberation).[35] In section 1.2, Katha Upanishad characterizes Knowledge/Wisdom as the pursuit of good, and Ignorance/Delusion as the pursuit of pleasant,[36] that the essence of Veda is make man liberated and free, look past what has happened and what has not happened, free from the past and the future, beyond good and evil, and one word for this essence is the word Om.[37]

The word which all the Vedas proclaim,

That which is expressed in every Tapas (penance, austerity, meditation),

That for which they live the life of a Brahmacharin,

Understand that word in its essence: Om! that is the word.

Yes, this syllable is Brahman,

This syllable is the highest.

He who knows that syllable,

Whatever he desires, is his.

— Katha Upanishad,

Maitri Upanishad

The Maitrayaniya Upanishad in sixth Prapathakas (lesson) discusses the meaning and significance of Om. The text asserts that Om represents Brahman-Atman. The three roots of the syllable, states the Maitri Upanishad, are A + U + M.[39] The sound is the body of Soul, and it repeatedly manifests in three: as gender-endowed body - feminine, masculine, neuter; as light-endowed body - Agni, Vayu and Aditya; as deity-endowed body - Brahma, Rudra[40] and Vishnu; as mouth-endowed body - Garhapatya, Dakshinagni and Ahavaniya;[41] as knowledge-endowed body - Rig, Saman and Yajur;[42] as world-endowed body - Bhūr, Bhuvaḥ and Svaḥ; as time-endowed body - Past, Present and Future; as heat-endowed body - Breath, Fire and Sun; as growth-endowed body - Food, Water and Moon; as thought-endowed body - intellect, mind and pysche.[39][43] Brahman exists in two forms - the material form, and the immaterial formless.[44] The material form is changing, unreal. The immaterial formless isn't changing, real. The immortal formless is truth, the truth is the Brahman, the Brahman is the light, the light is the Sun which is the syllable Om as the Self.[45][46]

The world is Om, its light is Sun, and the Sun is also the light of the syllable Om, asserts the Upanishad. Meditating on Om, is acknowledging and meditating on the Brahman-Atman (Soul, Self).[39]

Mundaka Upanishad[edit source]

The Mundaka Upanishad in the second Mundakam (part), suggests the means to knowing the Self and the Brahman to be meditation, self-reflection and introspection, that can be aided by the symbol Om.[47][48]

That which is flaming, which is subtler than the subtle,

on which the worlds are set, and their inhabitants –

That is the indestructible Brahman.[49]

It is life, it is speech, it is mind. That is the real. It is immortal.

It is a mark to be penetrated. Penetrate It, my friend.

 

Taking as a bow the great weapon of the Upanishad,

one should put upon it an arrow sharpened by meditation,

Stretching it with a thought directed to the essence of That,

Penetrate[50] that Imperishable as the mark, my friend.

 

Om is the bow, the arrow is the Soul, Brahman the mark,

By the undistracted man is It to be penetrated,

One should come to be in It,

as the arrow becomes one with the mark.

— Mundaka Upanishad, 2.2.2 - 2.2.4[51][52]

Adi Shankara, in his review of the Mundaka Upanishad, states Om as a symbolism for Atman (soul, self).[53]

Mandukya Upanishad

The Mandukya Upanishad opens by declaring, "Om!, this syllable is this whole world".[54] Thereafter it presents various explanations and theories on what it means and signifies.[55] This discussion is built on a structure of "four fourths" or "fourfold", derived from A + U + M + "silence" (or without an element).[54][55]

Aum as all states of time

In verse 1, the Upanishad states that time is threefold: the past, the present and the future, that these three are "Aum". The four fourth of time is that which transcends time, that too is "Aum" expressed.[55]

Aum as all states of Atman

In verse 2, states the Upanishad, everything is Brahman, but Brahman is Atman (the Soul, Self), and that the Atman is fourfold.[54] Johnston summarizes these four states of Self, respectively, as seeking the physical, seeking inner thought, seeking the causes and spiritual consciousness, and the fourth state is realizing oneness with the Self, the Eternal.[56]

Aum as all states of consciousness

In verses 3 to 6, the Mandukya Upanishad enumerates four states of consciousness: wakeful, dream, deep sleep and the state of ekatma (being one with Self, the oneness of Self).[55] These four are A + U + M + "without an element" respectively.[55]

Aum as all of knowledge

In verses 9 to 12, the Mandukya Upanishad enumerates fourfold etymological roots of the syllable "Aum". It states that the first element of "Aum" is A, which is from Apti (obtaining, reaching) or from Adimatva (being first).[54] The second element is U, which is from Utkarsa (exaltation) or from Ubhayatva(intermediateness).[55] The third element is M, from Miti (erecting, constructing) or from Mi Minati, or apīti (annihilation).[54] The fourth is without an element, without development, beyond the expanse of universe. In this way, states the Upanishad, the syllable Om is indeed the Atman (the self).[54][55]

Shvetashvatara Upanishad

The Shvetashvatara Upanishad, in verses 1.14 to 1.16, suggests meditating with the help of syllable Om, where one's perishable body is like one fuel-stick and the syllable Om is the second fuel-stick, which with discipline and diligent rubbing of the sticks unleashes the concealed fire of thought and awareness within. Such knowledge, asserts the Upanishad, is the goal of Upanishads.[57][58] The text asserts that Om is a tool of meditation empowering one to know the God within oneself, to realize one's Atman (Soul, Self).[59]

Epics[edit source]

The Bhagavad Gita, in the Epic Mahabharata, mentions the meaning and significance of Om in several verses. For example, Fowler notes that verse 9.17 of the Bhagavad Gita synthesizes the competing dualistic and monist streams of thought in Hinduism, by using "Om which is the symbol for the indescribable, impersonal Brahman".[60]

I am the Father of this world, Mother, Ordainer, Grandfather, the Thing to be known, the Purifier, the syllable Om, Rik, Saman and also Yajus.

— Krishna to Arjuna, Bhagavad Gita 9.17, [60]

The significance of the sacred syllable in the Hindu traditions, is similarly highlighted in various of its verses, such as verse 17.24 where the importance of Omduring prayers, charity and meditative practices is explained as follows,[61]

Therefore, uttering Om, the acts of yajna (fire ritual), dāna (charity) and tapas (austerity) as enjoined in the scriptures, are always begun by those who study the Brahman.

— Bhagavad Gita

Yoga Sutra

The aphoristic verse 1.27 of Pantanjali's Yogasutra links Om to Yoga practice, as follows,

तस्य वाचकः प्रणवः ॥२७॥

His word is Om.

— Yogasutra 1.27,

Johnston states this verse highlights the importance of Om in the meditative practice of Yoga, where it symbolizes three worlds in the Soul; the three times – past, present and future eternity, the three divine powers – creation, preservation and transformation in one Being; and three essences in one Spirit – immortality, omniscience and joy. It is, asserts Johnston, a symbol for the perfected Spiritual Man (his emphasis).

The passing of the 10,000,000 views in the joy of accomplishment to capture the thrill of creative effort. 3333 images are shown in the gallery and 20 are over 50,000 views. Most viewed image exceeds 300,000 views Numerology is naturally an interest that occurs during awakening because many individuals will find themselves starting to see repeated numerological sequences over and over, sometimes even to the point where these numbers begin to haunt them. The most common being 11:11 however the more you notice the more you see, numbers such as 12:34, 111, 1:33, 333, 444, 555, etc. begin to follow you everywhere you go. Many people believe they are simply “Angelic Numbers” or “Messages from the Angels” but in truth Numerology is a very complex system. Each number corresponds to the system of the Kabbalah and the Tarot. The way to understand each of the numerological sequences you have to study the tree of life, archetypes, geometry and various symbolism throughout ancient history. Each number is a point on the dimensional plane of the system of the mind. Numerology works in a way that triggers a subconscious archetypal response within your long term memory all going right back to processing numbers like a futuristic computer. Carl Jung has studied this concept of subconscious triggers extensively within his work such as Man and His Symbols. They are essentially mind relapse triggers that influence our long term memory and change our DNA. You could say they’re “upgrades” but what they are doing is triggering your subconscious mind into the act of remembrance of who you are.What does seeing Numerology such as 11:11, 12:34, 1:11, 3:33… mean to me?

In reality while there is much symbolism behind each number, the true meaning all comes down to what resonates with you most. They could be said these are “Codes” that unlock our dna strands and awaken old memories of who we used to be but they are honestly a trigger like a talisman. 11:11 is by far the most common as well as 111,222,333,444,555, etc. Any of the master numbers can/will start showing up repeatedly denoting a particular sequential message. It’s always good to pay attention to your thoughts at the particular time you see the number or look at what you are doing. Being conscious of our surroundings, what we’re doing or what is around us at the time such as a symbol can sometimes help to figure out the meaning behind the message of the number.

 

There are various theories out there for why numbers are displaying a particular message. Some of these include:

 

Binary DNA Activation – Reality is composed from numbers, our mind is similar to a computer which relies on binary codes (1’s and 0’s). These Numbers such as 11:11 are working as a form of binary that activates your dormant (junk) DNA.

11:11 Gateway/Portal – Also known as Stargates, 10.10. 10. 11.11.11 12.12.12 These are astrological alignments that are created during a specific date in time. They are most known for being an Energetic Gateway for others to Awaken and also known to create energetic shifts. It could also signify that “11:11 is the doorway between two worlds – between the 3rd dimensional and the 5th dimensional worlds” [ref]In5d All About 11:11[/ref]

Making a Wish – Many Teenagers used to play the game “make a wish it’s 11:11”, perhaps their subconscious knew more than they did about this mysterious phenomena.

Life Path Numbers – Life Path numbers are a different form of numerology but are connected to Symbolic interpretation. They are found by adding your birth date and birth year together into a single digit.

Angel or Spirit Guide Messages – The more popular theory by Doreen Virtue that Numerology is basically messages from your angels or spirit guides trying to communicate with you. These messages include similar sayings such as “you are on the right direction of your spiritual path” or “stay positive, you have nothing to fear in regards to your soul purpose”

Fibonacci Sequence/Golden Ratio – Our reality is made around the Golden Ratio even our bodies are composed from the beautiful sequence of Phi, perhaps the numbers are simply reminding us of who we are?

Global Consciousness – Cosmic consciousness, sometimes people just simply think that these numbers are here to tell us we are connected to one another.

Wake Up Call – The most popular interpretation, Wake up call to GLOBAL AWAKENING. Numerology is mainly noticed by people who are going through the process of a Spiritual/ Kundalini Awakening. These numbers could simply mean you are on the right track and they signify your own Awakening Journey.

Since Numerology is linked to archetypal symbolism, the most direct interpretation will always be the symbolic representation of the Number itself. The numbers are there to guide us but the most powerful meaning is the one you put in front of the symbol. What resonates with you?

The Master Numbers:

1010 – reality is a biogenetic experiment created from numbers

911 – 9=Endings. 11=DNA. 911=ending code of our DNA program in this reality.

111 – The vision, illumination, channel to the subconscious, insight without rational thought, the gateway

222 – Duality – Polarity – Reality is created by an electromagnetic energy grid. 2+2=2=6=Flower of Life

333 – Represents a higher octave of 9 = closure in 3D

444 – Represents a higher octave of 3 = 4d mastery of thought and illusion

555 – All elements(air, earth, water, fire, ether) combined is a sphenic number. In base 10, it is a repdigit, and because it is divisible by the sum of its digits, it is a Harshad number. It is also a Harshad number in binary, base 11, base 13 and hexadecimal. Represents 5D

 

666 – Creating the merkabah, star of david, aligning the elements and the senses together in understanding. the number of man elements of earth combined with spirit

777 – Spiritual divine connection (connected to crown chakra)

888 – Rebirth, infinity, paradise regained

999 – Karma codes ending, life cycles complete. It is the Triple Triad – Completion; fulfillment; attainment; beginning and the end; the whole number; a celestial and angelic number – the Earthly Paradise.

10 – Completion and back to the source energy field or universal cosmic consciousness. Ten is the number of the cosmos—-the paradigm of creation. The decad contains all numbers and therefore all things and possibilities. It is the radix or turning point of all counting.

 

The representation of all master numbers connects to the universal sequence of 369.

0 – Tree of life, zero point

3 – Density line, creation for all. 3d. creation, the triangle, the student, the third solution, the creation of a double charge, the progression through life.

6 – Perfect balance, which ideally transmit the will of God on earth. Heaven uniting with earth. double-builder 33, the power of the material world, balance

9 – Completion, whole creation, all thought, divine, full circle, bio-energy, complete creation, power, brilliance, triple connection and balance.

[mks_separator style=”dotted” height=”2″]The 11 is the most intuitive of all numbers. It represents illumination; a channel to the subconscious; insight without rational thought; and sensitivity, nervous energy, shyness,andimpracticality. It is a dreamer. The 11 has all the aspects of the 2, enhanced and charged with charisma, leadership, and inspiration. It is a number with inborn duality, which creates dynamism, inner conflict, andothercatalyses with its mere presence. It is a number that, when not focused on some goal beyond itself, can beturnedinward to create fears and phobias. The 11 walks the edge between greatness and self-destruction. Its potential for growth, stability, and personal power lies in its acceptance of intuitive understanding, and of spiritual truths. For the 11, such peace is not found so much in logic, but in faith. It is the psychic’s number.The 22 is the most powerful of all numbers. It is often called the Master Builder. The 22 can turn the most ambitious of dreams into reality. It is potentially the most successful of all numbers. It has many of the inspirational insights of the 11, combined with the practicality and methodical nature of the 4. It is unlimited, yet disciplined. It sees the archetype, and brings itdown to earth in some material form. It has big ideas, great plans, idealism, leadership, and enormous self-confidence. If not practical, the 22s waste their potential. Like the 11, the 22 can easily shrink from its own ambition, causing difficult interior pressures. Both the 11 and the 22 experience the pressure-cooker effect very strongly, particularly at an early age. It must work toward the realization of goals that are larger than personal ambition. The 22 serves the world in a practical way.The 33 is the most influential of all numbers. It is the Master Teacher. The 33 combines the 11 and the 22 and brings their potential to another level. When expressed to the fullest, the 33 lacks all personal ambition, and instead focuses its considerable abilities toward the spiritual uplifting of mankind. What makes the 33 especially impressive, is the high level of sincere devotion. This is shown in its determination to seek understanding and wisdom before preaching to others. The 33 in full force is extremely rare. [ref]Numerology: Key to Your Inner Self By Hanz Decoz[/ref]

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Numbers Their Culture and Their Meanings:

The Numbers explained Further Curiosity of Crystalinks [ref]Crystalinks.com A major thank you to Ellie who let us use her pages for reference[/ref]:

Zero

Zero is a powerful number which brings great transformational change, sometimes occurring in a profound manner. It has much intensity, so caution is needed wherever it appears to ensure that extremes are not encountered.

Zero represents the Cosmic Egg, the primordial Androgyne – the Plenum. Zero as an empty circle depicts both the nothingness of death and yet the totality of life contained within the circle. As an ellipse the two sides represent ascent and descent, evolution and involution.

Before the One (meaning the Source—not the number) there is only Void, or non-being; thought; the ultimate mystery, the incomprehensible Absolute. Begins with meanings such as, Non-existence; nothingness; the unmanifest; the unlimited; the eternal. The absence of all quality or quantity.

Cultural References

Taoism: It symbolizes the Void; non-being.

Buddhism: It is the Void and no-thingness.

Kabbalism: Boundless; Limitless Light; the Ain.

Pathagoras saw zero as the perfect. Zero is the Monad, the originator and container of All.

Islamic: Zero is the Divine Essence.

Zero Number connected to Fibonacci Numbers

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One (1)

1 (one) is a number, numeral, and the name of the glyph representing that number. It is the natural number following 0 and preceding 2. It represents a single entity. One is sometimes referred to as unity or unit as an adjective. For example, a line segment of “unit length” is a line segment of length 1. Is considered to be a primordial unity. The beginning. The Creator. It the First Cause or as some cultures refer, the First Mover. One is the sum of all possibilities. It is essence, the Center. One is referred to isolation. One springs forth, upsurges. It is seen as the number that gives cause to duality as multiplicity and back to final unity. Chinese: refer to one as Yang, masculine; celestial. It is seen as an auspicios number. One is The Monad. Christian : God the Father; the Godhead.

Hebrew: Adonai, the Lord, the Most High, the I am, hidden intelligence. Islamic: One refers to one as God as unity; the Absolute; self sufficient. Pathagorean: One as meaning Spirit; God, from which all things come. It is the very essence, the Monad. Taoism “Tao begets One, One begets Two, Two begets Three and Three begets all things.” [mks_separator style=”dotted” height=”2″]

Two (2)

Duality. Alteration; diversity; conflict; dependence. Two is a static condition. It is rooted, seen as balance (two sides); stability; reflection. Two are the opposite poles. Represents the dual nature of the human being. It is desire, since all that is manifest in duality is in pairs of opposites. As One represents a point, two represents a length. The Binary is the first number to recede from Unity, it also symbolizes sin which deviates from the first good and denotes the transitory and the corruptible.Two represents two-fold strength—that is symbolized by two of anything, usually in history, by animals in pairs. Cultural References In Alchemy, two are the opposites, sun and moon. King and Queen. Sulpher and quicksilver, at first antagonistic but finally resolved and united in the androgyne. Buddhist: see two as the duality of samsara; male and female. Two is theory and practice; wisdom and method. It is blind and the lame united to see the way and to walk it.

Chinese, two is Yin , feminine; terrestrial; inauspicious. Christian: Christ with two natures as God and human.

Revelation: Two is the number of witness. The disciples were sent out by two’s (Mark 6:7). Two witnesses are required to establish truth (Deu 17:6, John 8:17, 2 Cor 13:1). Examples in Revelation are the beast out of the earth who has two horns like a lamb but spoke like a dragon (13:11). He is the false prophet. However the two witnesses are the true prophets of God (11:3). Hebrew: Two is The life-force. In Qabalism wisdom and self-consciousness. Hindu: Two is duality, the shakta-shakti. Islamic: Two Spirit. Platonic: Plato says two is a digit without meaning as it implies relationship, which introduces the third factor. Pythagorean: Two is The Duad, the divided terrestrial being. Taoist says two is representative of The K’ua, the Two. Determinants, the yin-yang. Two is a weak yin number as it as no center. Duality. Alteration; diversity; conflict; dependence. Two is a static condition. It is rooted, seen as balance (two sides); stability; reflection. Two are the opposite poles. Represents the dual nature of the human being. It is desire, since all that is manifest in duality is in pairs of opposites. As One represents a point, two represents a length. The Binary is the first number to recede from Unity, it also symbolizes sin which deviates from the first good and denotes the transitory and the corruptible.Two represents two-fold strength—that is symbolized by two of anything, usually in history, by animals in pairs. Cultural References

In Alchemy, two are the opposites, sun and moon. King and Queen. Sulpher and quicksilver, at first antagonistic but finally resolved and united in the androgyne. Buddhist: see two as the duality of samsara; male and female. Two is theory and practice; wisdom and method. It is blind and the lame united to see the way and to walk it. Chinese, two is Yin , feminine; terrestrial; inauspicious. Christian: Christ with two natures as God and human. Revelation: Two is the number of witness. The disciples were sent out by two’s (Mark 6:7). Two witnesses are required to establish truth (Deu 17:6, John 8:17, 2 Cor 13:1). Examples in Revelation are the beast out of the earth who has two horns like a lamb but spoke like a dragon (13:11). He is the false prophet. However the two witnesses are the true prophets of God (11:3). Hebrew: Two is The life-force. In Qabalism wisdom and self-consciousness. Hindu: Two is duality, the shakta-shakti. Islamic: Two Spirit. Platonic: Plato says two is a digit without meaning as it implies relationship, which introduces the third factor. Pythagorean: Two is The Duad, the divided terrestrial being. Taoist says two is representative of The K’ua, the Two. Determinants, the yin-yang. Two is a weak yin number as it as no center [mks_separator style=”dotted” height=”2″]

Three (3). The third dimension – we do things in threes so they will manifest in our physical realm. It’s roots stem from the meaning of multiplicity. Creative power; growth. Three is a moving forward of energy, overcoming duality, expression, manifestation and synthesis. Three is the first number to which the meaning “all” was given. It is The Triad, being the number of the whole as it contains the beginning, a middle and an end. The power of three is universal and is the tripartide nature of the world as heaven, earth, and waters. It is human as body, soul and spirit. Notice the distinction that soul and spirit are not the same. They are not. Three is birth, life, death. It is the beginning, middle and end. Three is a complete cycle unto itself. It is past, present, future. The symbol of three is the triangle. Three interwoven circles or triangles can represent the indissoluble unity of the three persons of the trinity. Others symbols using three are: trident, fleur-de-lis, trefoil, trisula, thunderbolt, and trigrams. The astral or emotional body stays connected to the physically body for three days after death. There is scientific evidence that the brain, even when all other systems are failing takes three days to register complete shutdown. There are 3 phases to the moon. Lunar animals are often depcited as 3 legged.

Three is the heavenly number, representing soul, as four represents body. Together the two equal seven (3+4=7 ) and form the sacred hebdomad. The 3×4=12 representing the signs of the Zodiac and months of the year. Pythagorean three means completion. There are three wishes, genies have three wishes, three leprecons, three prince or princesses, three witches, three weird sisters among others. Cultural References Africa Ashanti: the moon goddess is three people, two black, and one white. Arabian, Pre-Islamic: the Manant is a threefold goddess representing the 3 Holy Virgins, Al-Itab, Al-Uzza, and Al-Manat. They are depicted as aniconic stelae, stones or pillars, or as pillars surmounted by doves. Buddhist: tradition the theme of 3 is represented by, The Tri-ratna, The Three Precious Jewels, and the Buddha, Dharma, Sangha.

Chinese: Sanctity; the auspicious number; the first odd, yang number….The moon toad, or bird, is three-legged. Celtic: Bridgit is threefold; there are the Three Blessed Ladies and innumerable Triads, often a threefold aspect of the same divinity. Christianity: Three represents the Trinity, the soul, the union of body and soul in human in the church. There were three gifts of the Magi to Christ as God-King-Sacrifice; three figures of transformation, temptations, denials by Peter (one of the 12 Apostles—- 12=3 (1+2=3). There were 3 crosses at Calvary, He died on The Hills, there were 3 days to the death process for Christ, and there were 3 appearances after his death. There were 3 Marys, and there are 3 qualities or theological virtutes being Faith, Hope, Love or more commonly known as Charity. The number 3 gives to the meaning the embracing Godhead – Father, Mother, Son/Daughter. Egyptian: Hermetic tradition, Thoth is the Thrice Great, ‘Trismegistus’. The Supreme Power. The opening line of the Emerald Tablets of Thoth the Atlantean. Tablet 11

Three is the mystery, come from the great one, Hear, and light on thee will dawn. In the primeval dwell three unities,Other than these none can exist. These are the equilibrium, source of creation,One God, One Truth, One Point of Freedom.Three come forth from the three of the balance, All Life, all Good, all Power.Three are the qualities of God in his light-home Infinite Power, Infinite Wisdom, Infinite Love. Three are the circles (or states) of Existence: The Circle of Light where dwells nothing but God, and only God can traverse it, The Circle of Chaos where all things by nature arise from Death, The Circle of Awareness where all things spring from Life. All things animate are of three states of existence, Chaos or death, liberty in humanity, and felicity of Heaven. There is an ancient wisdom that’s says; ‘Messages or events that come in three’s are worth noticing. ‘Whenever anything is mentioned three times it is a witness to us that these things are of utmost importance. Three symbolizes manifestation into the physical. It is the triangle – pyramid shape in the vesica pisces – see image below. The TV Show ‘Charmed’ deals the ‘Power of Three Sister Witches’, known as the Charmed Ones. Their job is to vanquish evil forces in their many forms and sometimes non-forms. knot The symbol to the side, called a Triquetra (tri-KET a Latin word meaning ‘three cornered’) appears on The Book Of Shadows.an ancient book of spells that assists these ‘Charmed Ones’ in dealing with the evil forces they are continually encountering. In some episodes so called evil and good must work together to bring balance to a situation. They cancel each other out in the end – poof – gone – disappeared! ‘Power of Three’ has to do with Alchemy. The Egyptian god Thoth or the Greek Hermes Trismegistus (Thrice Blessed or Thrice Great) are the progenitors of the Emerald Tablets describing the mysteries of Alchemy. The alchemy of three is demonstrated by its power of multiplicity. For example, in understanding the numbers – One gave rise to Two (1+1=2) and Two gave Rise to Three (2+1=3) and Three gave rise to all numbers (3+1=4, 3+2=5, 3+3=6, 3+4=7, 3+5=8 3+6=9). Thus in addition to being a number of good fortune, Three is also the number of multiplicity and alchemy among other things. Many believe the Triquetrais an ancient symbol of the female trinity, because it is composed of three interlaced yonic Vesica Pisces (a.k.a. PiscisSLatin for “Vessel of the Fish”) and is the most basic and important construction in Sacred Geometry, which is the architecture of the universe.

A Vesica is formed when the circumference of two identical circles each pass through the center of the other in effect creating a portal. ‘The Triquetra’ represents the ‘Power of Three’ or the threefold nature of existence i.e. body, mind and spirit; life, death and rebirth; past, present and future; beginning, middle and end; Sun, Moon and Earth; and the threefold co-creative process described as thought, word, and deed. Sphere=ovum Vesica Pisces – Oval opening of the penis The creation process as described in the Vedas is unfolding, maintaining, and concluding as in birth, life and death. There are innumerable trinities and triads throughout myth and religious traditions, such as the triple goddess; maiden, mother, crone. One example in Greek mythology is Kore, Demeter, Hecate. The Christian trinity is Father, Son and Holy Ghost. Vedic trinities include Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva with their consorts Saraswati, Lakshmi and Kali to name just a few. [mks_separator style=”dotted” height=”2″]

Four (4)

Four is the 4th dimension = time which is illusion. Four is seen as the first solid number. Spatial in scheme or order in manifestation.Static as opposed to the circular and the dynamic Wholeness; totality; completion; solid Earth; order

Rational – relativity and justice Symbol of measurement

Foundation The are four cardinal points; four seasons; four winds; four directions (as in North, South, East, West); four elements (Fire, Water, Air, Earth) in the western culture. There are four sides to a square; four arms to a cross. There are four rivers to Paradise, that formed a cross (the Garden of Eden was said to be within the four rivers). Within Paradise were four infernal regions, seas, and sacred mountains. There are four watches of the night and day, quarters of the moon. There are four quarters to the earth. There are four tetramorphs. The Divine Quaternity is in direct contrast to the Trinity. Four is a symbolic number used throughout in the Old Testament. The quaternary can be depicted as the quatrefoil as well as the square and the cross.Cultural References

Native American: As in other cultures, ceremonies and ritual acts are repeated in fours. The Native Amercican cultures have used the number 4 most frequently as in the four cardinal directions. The four winds are depicted by the symbol of the cross and by the symbol of the swastika. The swastika as some misbelieve was not created by Hitler. It was instead borrowed from the Native American and occult beliefs of which Hitler had great interests. Hitler derived his “insanity” of power from his misdirected interpretation and use of metaphysical principles. He used knowledge that his human consciousness couldn’t possibly understand and the use of this knowledge for personal gain is part of the imbalance that creates the chaos and karma. Buddhism: The Damba Tree of Life has four limbs and from its roots four sacred streams of Paradise that represent the the four boundless wishes of compassion, affection, love impartiality. It also represents the four directions of the heart as well. Chinese Buddism: there are four celestial guardians of cardinal points are Mo-li Ch’ing, the East, with the jade ring and spear; Virupaksha, the West, the Far-gazer, with the four-stringed quitar; Virudhaka, the South, with the umbrella of choas and darkness and earthquakes; Vaisravenna, the North, with the whips, leopard-skin bag, snake and pearl. Chinese: Four is the number of the Earth, symbolized by square. There are four streams of immortality. Four is even an number. It is Yin in polarity.

Christian: Four is the number representing the body, with three representing the soul. Again we see the theme of the four rivers in Paradise. There are four Gospels, Evangelists, chef arch-angels, chef-devils, four Fathers of the Church, Great Prophets. There are four cardinal virtues—prudence, fortitude, justice, temperance. The are four winds from which the One Spirit is said to come. There are four horsemen of the Apocalypse. Revelation: There four angels standing at the four corners of the Earth, holding back the four winds of the earth (Rev 7:1). The great multitude from every nation, tribe, people and language (four-fold description) – Rev 5:9 11:9 13:7 14:6 the four-fold description indicates that these people come from all over the earth. Egyptian: Four is the sacred number of Time, measurement of the sun. Four pillars support the vault of heaven. There are four canopic jars placed around the dead at the four corners guarded by the four sons of Horus who are associated with the cardinal points. In the Hermetic it is the divine quaternity. It represents God. Gnostic: belief in Barbelo, the Four-ness of God. Greek: Four is the sacred number of Hermes Hebrew: Four represents measuring; beneficence; intelligence. In the Kabbalah four is memory; four represents the four worlds of the Kabbalah.It also represents the four directions of space and the four levels of the hierarchical organism of the Torah. Hindu: Four is Totality; plenitude; perfection. Brahma, the Creator is four faced. The temple is based on the four sides of the square, symbolizing order and finality. There are four tattvas the four bodies bodies of human and kingdoms of nature which are animal, vegetable, mineral, mind. There are four yugas. Four is the winning throw of the dice. There are four castes and pairs of opposites. Islamic: tradition the four terms of the quaternary are the Principle which is Creator; Universal Spirit; Universal Soul; and the primordial matter. These correspond to the four worlds of Kabbalism. There are four angelic beings and four houses of death. There are four levels to the Bardo. Mayan culture four giants support the celestial roof. Four is seen as the number of support .Pythagorean: Four is Perfection; harmonious proportion; justice; the earth. Four is the number of the Pythagorean oath. Four and ten are divinities. The Tetraktys 1+2+3+4=10. Scandinavian: there are four rivers of milk flowing in Asgard.Sumero-Semitic: Four astral gods are indentified with the four cardinal points. Teutonic: four dwarfs support the world. Taoist: There are four celestial guardians, Li, with the pagoda; Ma, with the sword; Cho with two swords; Wen with a spiked club. [mks_separator style=”dotted” height=”2″] Five (5)

Five is the symbol of human microcosm. The number of the human being. Human forms—-the pentagon when arms and legs are out stretched. The pentagon is endless —-sharing the symbolism of perfection and power of the circle. Five is a circular number as it produces itself in its last digit when raised to its own power. The pentacle, like the circle symbolizes whole, the quincunx being the number of its center and the meeting point of heaven, earth, and the four cardinal points plus the center point. Five is also representative of the Godhead – Central Creator of the four fours plus itself equalling five. Five is the marriage of the hieros gamos as combination of feminine and the masculine. Feminine being even, as 2, in frequency and masculine being odd as 3 in frequency = 5. The number five symbolizes meditation; religion; versatility. It represents the five senses (taste, touch, smell, sight, hearing) everywhere except in the East. In the East there are six—-the extra being Mind. We find meanings to five in the five petaled flower, five pointed leaves—especially the ROSE. The Rose has much symbolism, but also the lily, vine, all of which represent the microcosm.

The five pointed star depicts individuality and spiritual aspiration, and education when it points upward. The five pointed star pointing downward represents witchcraft, and it is used in black magic. Noted: There is a very broad difference between witchcraft and black magic. The number five formed the first counting process from which all else came. Cultural References Alchemy: The five petaled flower and five pointed star symbolizing the quintessence.

Buddhist: belief the heart has four directions— the heart center makes five, symbolizing, universality. This idea is also symbolized by the Sacred Mountains surrounded by the four islands. There are five Dhyani Buddhas: Vairocana, the Brillant, who is represented by the wheel, the witness; Akshobhya, the Imperturbable, with vajra, the East and blue; Ratnasambhava, the Jewel-born, jewel, south, yellow; Amitabha, Boundless Light, lotus, West, red; Amoghasiddhi, Infallible Success, sword, North, green. Chinese: There are five elements. Five atmospheres; conditions; planets; sacred mountains; grains, colors, tastes, poisons; powerful charms; cardinal virtues; blessings; eternal ideas; relations to human kind. Christian: Five depicts human beings after the Fall in the Garden of Eden. There are five senses; five points to the cross; wounds of Christ; fishes feeding five thousand; and books of Moses. Egyptian: There are five crocodiles of the Nile. Graeco-Roman: Five is the nuptial number of love and union.. It is the number of Venus. Venus years are completed in groups of five. Apollo as god of light has five qualities: omniscience, omnipresence; omnipotence, eternity, and unity.

Hebrew: Five represents strength and severity; radical intelligence. In kabbala five represence fear. Hindu: Five is the quinary groups of the world; the five elements of the subtle and coarse states; their primary colors; of senses; five faces of Siva and the twice-five incarnations of Vishnu. Islamic: There are five pillars of religion; five Devine Presences; five fundamental dogmas; five actions; and five daily times of prayer. Parsee: Five is a significant number in Parsee and Mandaean rites – possibly connected with the five sacred intercalary days of light. Pythagorean: Hieros, gamos, the marriage of heaven, earth. It represents Apollo as God of light and his five qualities. Crystalinks: The Pentagram Pentagrams often show up on palms – hands [mks_separator style=”dotted” height=”2″]

Six (6) Six represents equilibrium; harmony – balance. It is the perfect number within the decad: 1+2+3=6. It is the most productive of all numbers. It symbolizes union of polarity, the hermaphrodite being represented by the two interlaced triangles, the upward- pointing as male, fire and the heavens, and the downward-pointing as female, the waters and the earth. Six is the symbol of luck; love; health; beauty; chance. It is a winning number at the throw of the dice in the West. There are six rays of the solar wheel and there are six interlaced triangles. There are six pointed stars or Seal of Solomon – and Star of David – Merkabah Cultural References;Chinese: Six represents Universe, with its four cardinal points and the Above and Below – making it a total of six directions. Chinese culture there are six senses: tastse, touch, smell, sight, hearing, the sixth being mind. The day and night each have six periods. Christian: Six is perfection; completion because man was created on the sixth day. Six is man’s number The most obvious use of this number is in the notorious passage containing 666. (Rev 13:18 NIV) This calls for wisdom. If anyone has insight, let him calculate the number of the beast, for it is man’s number. His number is 666. Hebrew: There are six days of creation. It symbolizes meditation and intelligence. Kabbalism: Six is creation, and beauty. Pythagorean: Luck Sumerian: Six days of creation

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Seven (7)

If 6 represents humanity then 7 – the center of the spiral is humanity’s connection to its source, god, Christ consciousness – or whatever name you prefer.

Seven is the number of the Universe. It is the three of the heavens (soul) combined with the four (body) of the earth; being the first number containing both the spiritual and the temporal. In looking over the list of meanings it doesn’t take long to figure out why the seven has become significant in metaphysical, religious and other spiritual doctrines – as seven represents the virginity of the Great Mother – feminine archetype – She who creates.

There are 7 ages of man ancient wonders of the world circles of Universe cosmic stages days of the week heavens hells

pillars of wisdom rays of the sun musical notes – sound as frequency plays a key roll in matters of Universe. There are over 80 octaves of frequency – each governing a specific manifestation in Universe. Cultural References In all cultures, myths and legends seven represents…completeness and totality macrocosm perfection plenty reintegration rest

security safety synthesis The writings about the seven-headed dragon appear throughout India, Persia, the Far East, especially Cambodia, but also Celtic and other Mediterranean myths. The seventh ray of the sun is the path by which the human beings pass from this world to the next. Seven days is the period for fasting and penitence. The seventh power of any number, both square and a cube and thus was given great importance. Alchemy – There are seven metals involved with the Work. Astrology: There are seven stars of the Great Bear which are indestructible. There are seven Pleiades— sometimes referred to as the, Seven Sisters. Buddhist: Seven is the number of ascent and of ascending to the higest; attaining the center. The seven steps of Buddha symbolize the ascent of the seven cosmic stages transcending time and space. The seven-storied prasada at Borobadur is a sacred mountain and axis mundi, culminating in the transcendent North, reaching the realm of Buddha. Chinese culture the meaning and symboligies are intertwined throughout in their myths and legends of fairies and animal spirits. Christian: Seven is idealogogy. God is represented by the seventh ray in the center of the six rays of creation. There are seven sacraments; gifts of spirit; the seven of 3+4 theological and cardinal virtues; deadly sins, tiers of Purgatory (in metaphysical belief this would be one of the lower astral planes – or in Buddhism, one of the Bardo planes). There are 7 councils of the early church – crystal spheres containing the planets – devils cast out by Christ – joys and sorrows of Mary the Blessed Virgin, mother of Jesus – liberal arts – major prophets – periods of fasting and penitence – seventh day after the six of creation In the Old Testament there are the seven altars of Baalam; oxen and rams for sacrifice; trumpets; circuits of Jericho; seven times Naaman bathed in the Jordan. Seven is the number of Samon’s bonds; the child raised by Elisha sneezed seven times. The Ark rested on the seventh month and the dove was sent out after seven days. The number seven is used 55 times in Revelation. It usually means fullness or completeness as in seven days of the week. God rested on the seventh day. Examples abound: seven churches, seven trumpets, seven seals, seven bowls, seven eyes etc etc. Egyptian mythology: There are seven Hathors as Fates and the priestesses of Hathor have seven jars in their seven tunics. Ra has seven hawks representing the seven Wise Ones. Six cows and a bull represent fertility. There are seven houses of the underworld, as depicted in Egyptian myths, with three times seven gates. Seven is the sacred number of Osiris. Graeco-Roman: Sacred to Apollo, whose lyre has seven strings, and to Athene/Minerva and Ares/Mars; Pan had seven pipes (again a reference to seven musical notes and frequency); there seven Wise Men of Greece. Hebrew tradition: Seven is the number of occult intelligence. There are seven Great Holy Days in the Jewish year; the Menorah has seven branches; the Temple took seven years to build; and there are seven pillars of wisdom. Hinduism there are Seven Jewels of the Brahmanas and seven gods before the floods and seven Wise Men saved from it. Islamic: The perfect number is seven. In Islamic tradition there are references to seven: heavens climates earths and seas

colors prophets (active powers) states or stations of the heart The Ka’aba is circumambulated seven times representing the seven attributes of God. Magic: There are seven knots in a cord for “spellbinding” and incantations are sevenfold. Certain orders of Brotherhood use theme of tying seven knots in their rope sash worn around their waist. Mithraic: The cave of Mithras has seven doors, seven altars, and a ladder with seven rungs depicting the seven grades of initiation into the mystery schools. Pythagorean: Seven is a cosmic number with three of heaven and four of the world. Sumero-Semitic: There are seven lunar divisions and days of the week. “Thou shalt shine with horns to determine six days and on the seventh with half a crown.”, the seventh thus becomes opposition to the sun and symbolizes darkness and balefulness and therefore is dangerous to undertake anything on the seventh day because that is the day of rest. We can see here the influence of this belief in other religious contexts. There are seven zones of earth; heavens, symbolized by the planes of ziggurat. There are seven branches to the Tree of Life each having seven leaves. Leaves are symbols of fertility, renewal and growth. There are seven gates of hell, seven demons of Tiamat and seven winds to destroy her—-interesting to note that in many belief systems it is said that the astral plane has seven levels to it—one sound on one of those levels is “wind”.

Seven is a mystic number traditionally associated with Venus and more recently with Neptune. It is the number of feelings and of instincts – of the Group Mind, of Love, whether that strange, indescribable but pervasive feeling of love is towards another person, a pet, oneself or one’s God. ‘Love’ embodies tremendous sexual energy, the emotions of which may be directed in various ways.

 

theawakenedstate.net/numerology/

Navistar Defence Husky PSV (2009-on) Engine International VT 365

 

The MXT-MV (Military Extreme Truck - Military Version) truck was introduced in 2006, part of International Truck's Military Vehicles line, it is an International MXT extensively modified for military duty, and is transportable by C-130 aeroplanes.

 

First demonstrated to the US military in August 2006, the vehicle is powered by a International VT 365 coupled to an Allison 2500 SP tranmission and has a twelve inch ground clearance. it comes in three versions the MXT-MV which is the standard unarmoured version, the MXT-MVA (Armored) The Plasan Sasa designed armored version, the MXT-MVA, has the choice of two removable armor kits, dubbed A-Kit and B-Kit, with increasing levels of protection against bullets, mines, and IEDs and this version the Husky TSV which is a variant of the MXT-MVA modified to satisfy the UK MoD's Tactical Support Vehicles (TSV) requirements for the British Army,

 

This vehicle was badly damaged three times while operated by the British Army in Afghanistan between 2010-2012. no each occasions the damage was caused by IADs (Improvised Explosive Devices) at the roadside Thankfully there were no British casualties despite the threefold extensive damage to the vehicle.Although it was repaired and returned to service after the first two attacks the third resulted in its withdrawal from service. It had been hit by a command wire IAD while returning to its base Patrol Base Wahid after handing over a checkpoint to the Afghan Local Police.

 

The Husky was introduced in 2009 specifically for the British Army to meet an Urgent Operational Requiement for a mine protected vehicle in the Afghan theatre. It has a powerful International engine, four wheel drive and is designed for high mobility, flexible load carrying and strength it carries armour for crew and load protection while retaining its manoeuvrability, hauling and braking capabilities. - AND THANK THE F*** nIT DID ITS JOB

 

Many thanks for a fantabulous

45,615,837 views

 

Shot 23:09:2015 at the Imperial War Museum, Duxford, Cambridgeshire - Ref 110-626

   

“My belief is confirmed threefold daily when I hear those blessed words:

‘Breakfast is served.’

‘Lunch is served.’

‘Dinner is served.’

Then I know my God loves me and cares for me.”

- - - - -

Created for the Toy Sunday theme, MIRACLE.

A macro capture of a snowflake captured with a macro lens and a shallow depth of field. I love the elegance of the capture and the added texture and bokeh really enhance the image.

Snow crystals form when tiny supercooled cloud droplets (about 10 μm in diameter) freeze. These droplets are able to remain liquid at temperatures lower than −18 °C (0 °F), because to freeze, a few molecules in the droplet need to get together by chance to form an arrangement similar to that in an ice lattice, then the droplet freezes around this "nucleus." Experiments show that this "homogeneous" nucleation of cloud droplets only occurs at temperatures lower than −35 °C (−31 °F).[3] In warmer clouds an aerosol particle or "ice nucleus" must be present in (or in contact with) the droplet to act as a nucleus. The particles that make ice nuclei are very rare compared to nuclei upon which liquid cloud droplets form; however, it is not understood what makes them efficient. Clays, desert dust and biological particles may be effective,[4] although to what extent is unclear. Artificial nuclei include particles of silver iodide and dry ice, and these are used to stimulate precipitation in cloud seeding.[5]

 

Once a droplet has frozen, it grows in the supersaturated environment, which is one where air is saturated with respect to ice when the temperature is below the freezing point. The droplet then grows by deposition of water molecules in the air (vapor) onto the ice crystal surface where they are collected. Because water droplets are so much more numerous than the ice crystals due to their sheer abundance, the crystals are able to grow to hundreds of micrometers or millimeters in size at the expense of the water droplets. This process is known as the Wegener–Bergeron–Findeisen process. The corresponding depletion of water vapor causes the droplets to evaporate, meaning that the ice crystals grow at the droplets' expense. These large crystals are an efficient source of precipitation, since they fall through the atmosphere due to their mass, and may collide and stick together in clusters, or aggregates. These aggregates are usually the type of ice particle that falls to the ground.[6] Guinness World Records list the world's largest (aggregate) snowflakes as those of January 1887 at Fort Keogh, Montana; allegedly one measured 15 inches (38 cm) wide. Although this report by a farmer is doubtful, aggregates of three or four inches width have been observed. Single crystals the size of a dime have been observed.[1]

 

The exact details of the sticking mechanism remain controversial. Possibilities include mechanical interlocking, sintering, electrostatic attraction as well as the existence of a "sticky" liquid-like layer on the crystal surface. The individual ice crystals often have hexagonal symmetry. Although the ice is clear, scattering of light by the crystal facets and hollows/imperfections mean that the crystals often appear white in color due to diffuse reflection of the whole spectrum of light by the small ice particles.[7] The shape of the snowflake is determined broadly by the temperature and humidity at which it is formed.[6] Rarely, at a temperature of around −2 °C (28 °F), snowflakes can form in threefold symmetry — triangular snowflakes.[8] The most common snow particles are visibly irregular, although near-perfect snowflakes may be more common in pictures because they are more visually appealing. It is unlikely that any two snowflakes are alike due to the estimated 1019 (10 quintillion) water molecules which make up a typical snowflake,[9] which grow at different rates and in different patterns depending on the changing temperature and humidity within the atmosphere that the snowflake falls through on its way to the ground.[10]

Banteay Srei was primarily dedicated to the Hindu god Śiva. Originally, it was carried the name Tribhuvanamaheśvara—great lord of the threefold world—in reference to the Shaivite linga that served as its central religious image. However, the temple buildings appear to be divided along the central east-west axis between those buildings located south of the axis, which are devoted to Śiva, and those north of the axis, which are devoted to Viṣṇu. It has been speculated that the temple's modern name, Bantãy Srĕi, is due to the many devatas carved into the red sandstone walls. The temple's modern name, Bantãy Srĕi—citadel of the women, or citadel of beauty—is probably related to the intricacy of the bas relief carvings found on the walls and the tiny dimensions of the buildings themselves. Some have speculated that it relates to the many devatas carved into the walls of the buildings.

The Life and Doctrines of Jacob Boehme,

Man in his cosmic aspect is a being very superior to that which is commonly looked upon as a "man," and which is described in books on anthropology, anatomy, &c. Such external sciences deal only with the grossly material body of external terrestrial man, while the essential body of macrocosmic and microcosmic man is beyond the reach of external observation. In the study of man as a cosmic being there are three subjects to be considered, although the three are only three aspects of one. These three subjects are God, Nature, and Man, and neither one of them can be understood in its inner essence without an understanding of the other two. External science, "natural philosophy," and theology seek to separate them. They regard man as a being separated, distinct, and independent of nature, and nature as something independent of man; while of God they know nothing, and regard the divine power, which is the cause of all life, as if it were something external to nature and man, and beyond their reach. For this reason the "man" of modern science has become an unnatural being, without any conceivable object for his existence, and nature is to him an organism evolved by accidence and subject to no other than mechanically acting law. The divine, spiritual, creative, and hidden powers in man and in nature are entirely removed from the field of perception of the "rationalist." spirit, a self-conscious, luminous sphere of unimaginable extent; as, in fact, at present the mental sphere of man has no defined limits; it reaches as far as his thoughts can go. He was created for the purpose of being the image of God. The glory of God was residing in him, and he was penetrated by the light of divine love. In man is contained everything, God, and the Christ, and the angels, the celestial and terrestrial kingdoms, and the powers of hell. Outside of him is nothing of which he can conceive; he can know nothing except that which exists in his mind. No god or devil, no spirit or any power whatever, can act within man unless it enters into his constitution. Only that which exists in him has existence for him. Without a realisation of this fact the mysteries of religion will remain incomprehensible. It may be interesting and amusing to speculate about all the different gods and celestial hosts that go to make up the Pantheons of the various nations, but such a study does not constitute real knowledge. Only when man's spiritual perceptions are unfolded and he attains divine knowledge of self, then will he know the Christ and all the celestial powers whose aggregate goes to make up the kingdom of God existing within himself.

"The Spirit of God resides from eternity to eternity only in heaven—that is to say, in His own essence, in the power of the majesty. When it became inbreathed into the image of man, then was heaven in man; for God willed to reveal Himself in man, as in an image created after His own likeness, and to manifest the great wonders of His eternal wisdom." (Stiefel, i. 36.) "Simultaneously with the introduction of His divine image, Adam received also the living word of God (spiritual intelligence) to furnish food for his soul." (Menschwerdung, i. 3, 24.) "God created Adam to (enjoy) eternal life in Paradise in a state of paradisiacal perfection. Divine love illumined his interior, as the sun is illuminating the world." (Stiefel, i. 36.) "In Paradise there is perfect life without disturbance, and a perpetual day, and the paradisiacal man is clear like transparent glass, and he is fully penetrated by the light of the divine sun." 1 (Signature, xi. 5 1.)

 

His body likewise appeared luminous, because its terrestrial substance was absorbed in the celestial essence. It radiated a pure, divine light. 2

 

"The inner holy corporeity of the pure element penetrated through the four elements and kept the Limus of earth—that is to say, the external sulphuric (terrestrial) body within itself as in a state of absorption. Nevertheless, that body was actually present, but in such a way as darkness dwells in light, so that the darkness cannot manifest itself on account of the light." (Mysterium, xvi. 6.) "All the qualities of the inner and holy body, together with the external ones, were in primordial man attuned in one harmony. Neither of them lived in its own state of desire; but they had their desire in the soul wherein the divine light was manifest. This, the divine light radiated through all the qualities, and produced in them an equal, harmonious temperature." (Mysterium, xvi. 5.) "The inner man kept the external one imprisoned within itself and penetrated it in a manner comparable to iron, which glows if it is penetrated by fire, so that it seems as if it were itself fire. But when the fire becomes extinct, then does the black, dark iron become manifest." (Mysterium, xvi. 7.) "The pure element penetrated through the external roan and overpowered the four elements; moreover, the power of the heat and the cold was in the flesh. But as the light of God was shining therein, they were in equal harmony, so that neither one of them became manifest before the other. Thus God the Father is called a wrathful, jealous God and a consuming fire, and He is all that in regard to His qualities; but of these qualities nothing becomes manifest in His light." (Stiefel, xi. 75.) "Primordial man in Paradise, being fixed therein, was in a state such as time is before God and God in time. As time is a spectacle before God, likewise the external life of man was a spectacle before the inner and holy man, who was the true image of God." (Mysterium, xvi. 8.) In the same sense the Bhagavad Gita says that the true self, the God, Atma, or " Christ," is not a participator, but merely a spectator in that which concerns the external illusion. "The inner body was a dwelling-place of the Godhead, an image of divine substantiality. In that body the soul had her meekness, and her fire was rendered mild thereby, for she received there the love and meekness of God." (Tilk., i. 233.) Owing to this resemblance to God, Adam's will and thoughts were as one. His mind was pure and uncomplicated, childlike, unsophisticated, and devoted to God; he did not need to speculate about the unknown, because he had the power to perceive that which he wanted to know. He enjoyed the perception of divine and terrestrial things. 1 "The mind of Adam was innocent like that of a child, playing with the wonders of its Father. There was in him no self-knowledge of evil will, no avarice, pride, envy, anger, but a pure enjoyment of love." (Threefold Life, xi. 23.) "When Adam was created in Paradise, there his life was burning like a flame of pure oil. Therefore his perception was celestial, and his intelligence was surpassing and comprehending things beyond nature." (Signature, vii. 2.) "The inner man stood in heaven; his essences were the Paradise; his body was indestructible. He knew the language of God and the angels, and the language of nature, as may be seen by Adam giving names to all creatures, to each according to its own essence and quality." (Forty Questions, iv. 7.) "Adam, after having been created by God, was in Paradise in a state of joy and glorification, beautiful and filled with knowledge. God then brought before him, as the lord of the world, all the animals, so that he might behold them, and give a name to each according to its special essence and power. And Adam knew that he was within every creature, and he gave to each its appropriate name. God can see into the hearts of all things, and the same could be done by Adam." 1 (Three Principles, x. 17.) In this state of godlike being he had power over all things; for all things existed in him and he in all, and there was nothing that could have done him any external injury. To express it in other words, all things existed subjectively in his mind, as they now do in ours, but his mind was his " body," and where the centre of his consciousness was, there was his "form." 2 "As God is a Lord over all, so man in the power of God was to be a lord over this world." (Menschwerdung, i. 4, 7.) "The soul in the power of God penetrates through all things, and is powerful over all, as God Himself; for she lives in the power of His heart." (Three Principles, xxii. 17.) "As gold is incorruptible in the fire, so man was subject to nothing, only to the One God dwelling in him, and manifested in him by the power of His holy being." (Mysterium, xvi. 12.) "Everything was subject to Adam; his rule extended into heaven and over the earth, and in all elements and stars. This was because divine power was manifested in him." 1 (Mysterium, xvi. 2.) "The will-spirit of man penetrated through all creatures, and was injured by none, because none could grasp it. No creature can apprehend the power and light of the sun in its own will, but must remain passive to become penetrated by it; thus it was then the case with the will-spirit of man." (Grace, vii. 2.)

"Before his fall, man could rule over the sun and the stars. Everything was in his power. 2 Fire, air, water, and earth could not tame him; no fire burned him, no water drowned, no air suffocated him; all that lived stood in awe of him." (Threefold Life, xi. 23.) "No heat, no cold, no sickness, nor accident, nor any fear could touch or terrify him. His body could pass through earth and rocks without breaking anything in them; for a man who could be overpowered by the terrestrial nature, or who could be broken to pieces, would not be eternal." 3 (Menschwerdung, i. 2, 13.) Likewise that nature which surrounded him, and which is called Eden, was illuminated by the celestial light, and it was thereby exalted to paradisiacal magnificence. "Adam was in Paradise, that is to say, in the temperature. Thereby he was placed in a certain locality, namely, in that where the holy world was blooming out through the earth and bearing the fruits of Paradise." (Grace, v. 34.) "'Eden' means the locality, but 'Paradise' is the out-flowing or the life of God in divine harmony." (Letters, xxxi. 28.) "In Paradise the substance of the divine world penetrated the substance belonging to time, comparable to the power of the sun penetrating a fruit growing on a tree, and endowing it with such qualities as render it lovely to the sight and good to the taste." (Mysterium, xvii. 5.) "Thus the holy divine world was predominant through all the three principles of the human quality, and there was an equal accord, and no enmity or opposite will was manifest betwixt the principles." 1 (Mysterium, xvii. 20.) There were in Paradise all the products which we meet in the terrestrial world, but they were there in a state of ethereality and of supernatural beauty. This paradisiacal beauty was, however, not manifested in all parts of the world. "In Paradise there are growths, the same as in this world, but not in (terrestrial) tangibility. There Heaven is in the place of the earth, the Light of God instead of the sun, and the Eternal Father in the place of the power of the stars." (Three Principles, ix. 20.) "The Paradise is not anything corporeal or tangible in a terrestrial sense, but its corporeity and tangibility is like that of the angels. It is there a clear,

visible, substance, as if it were material, and it is actually "material;" but it is formed only out of the power, without any addition of terrestrial matter, and it is, therefore, perfectly transparent." (Three Principles, ix. 18.)

 

"The tangible world, or nature, before the time of the wrath of God, was thin, ethereal, lovely, and clear, so that the sourcive spirits could look through everything and penetrate it. There were therein neither terrestrial rocks nor earth, and there was no created light needed, such as it is now; but the light was generated in all things in the midst of each thing, and everything was in the light." (Aurora, xviii. 29.) The whole world would have been all Paradise if it had not been corrupted by Lucifer. But as God knew that Adam was going to fall, it bloomed out in only one place, wherein man might find a suitable dwelling-place, and be fortified therein." (Mysterium, xvii. 7.) "God saw and knew that man was going to fall, and therefore the Paradise did not bloom and bear fruits in the whole of the world by means of the earth, although it was manifest everywhere, but only in the Garden of Eden, wherein Adam was tempted, did it become revealed in its full magnificence." 1 (Letters, xxxix. 28.) For all that, man, although having been endowed with great splendour by the Creator, did not yet enjoy true similarity with God. 2 "In Adam was manifest the kingdom of grace, the divine life, because he lived in the temperature (harmony) of the qualities, but he did not know that God was revealed in him. Likewise his self-will did not know that which is good, because it had as yet experienced no evil. How could there be any joy where no sorrow is known?" (Grace, ix. 15.) "The soul was in her own essence from eternity, but as a created thing she was formed to represent the image of God at the time of the creation of the body. Nevertheless she is per se not yet the true image, but only an essential fire for its production." (Tilk., i. 81.)

 

"The soul of man, which has been breathed into him by God, is from the Eternal Father; but with that she has not yet attained the birth of the Son, wherein is the end of nature, and from which no created being issues." (Three Principles, ix. 13.)

Man can attain real similarity to God and perfect beatitude only by decisively willing to put his will into the Son, as the Heart or Light of the Father. "God has the eternal and unchangeable will to generate His Heart and his Son, and thus the soul should put her immutable will into the heart of God. Then would she be in heaven and Paradise, and enjoy the inexpressible happiness of God the Father, which He enjoys in the Son, and she would hear the inexpressible words in the heart of God." 1 (Three Principles, x. 14.) "Adam was conceived in the love of God and born into this world. He was in possession of a divine substantiality, and his soul was of the will, the first principle, the quality of the Father. This will should be directed, together with the imagination, into the heart of the Father, that is to say, into the Word and the Spirit of love and purity. Then would man's soul retain the substance of God in the Word of Life." (Menschwerdung, i. 10,

 

"The living soul, from the eternal will of the Father, was breathed into man, and this will has no other purpose than to give birth to His only Son. 1 Of this will God the Father infused into man, and this is the eternal soul of man. The soul ought to put her regenerated will into the eternal will of the Father, in the heart of God. Then will she receive the power of the heart of God and also His holy eternal light, wherein arises the Paradise and the celestial kingdom and eternal joy." (Three Principles, xxvi. 16.) "If the soul sinks her will into the meekness, i.e., the obedience of God, she becomes a fountain of the heart of God, and receives divine power, and all her essences become angelic and joyful. Then her harsh essences will also be useful to her, and appear to her more mild and useful, than if they had already originally been entirely sweet and mild." (Three Principles, xiii. 31.) It was within his power to decide, and he was free to do so, because there was in him not only the principle of light, but also the fire-principle,—not only perception, but will. "The light and the power of the light is a desire, and wants to come in possession of the noble image made after God's likeness, because it has been created for the world of light. Likewise the dark world or the craving wrath desires the same, for man has all the worlds within himself, and there is a great battle taking place in man. That principle with which he identifies himself with in his desire and his will, will rule in him." (Tilk., i. 381.) "As the soul is essential and her very substance is a

desire, it is clear that she is in two kinds of Fiat. The first is her own soul-property; the other belongs to the second principle, issuing from the will of God in the soul. The soul desiring for God for the purpose of forming herself in His image and likeness, this desire of God acts as a Fiat in her own centre; for the desire of God wants to possess the soul. On the other hand, she herself desires to possess the centre in the power of the fire, wherein the life of the soul originates." (Eye, vii.)

"The will of the soul is free, and she can either sink into nothing within herself and conceive of herself as the nothing, when she will sprout like a branch out of the tree of divine life, and eat of the love of God; or she may in her own self-will rise up in the fire and desire to become a separate tree." 1 (Forty Questions, ii. 2.) There existed in man also the third principle, wherein resides sensual desire. He was not endowed with this principle for the purpose of surrendering himself to it, but that he might introduce it into the light of God, and glorify Him by means of that light."Man was a mixed individuality, and destined to be an image according to the inner, and also according to the outer world; but as the symbol of God, he was to rule with the inner consciousness over the external one." (Menschwerdung, i. 3, 13.) "When man remains in harmonious order, so as not to let one world into the other, he is then the likeness of God; but the image or the mirror of the world. of light he should surely introduce into the external world." (Six Theosophical Points, vi. 12.) "The constellation (the astral influences) of the macrocosm should not be permitted to rule over man; but he has his own constellation (the spirit, the idea) within himself, which is capable of becoming attuned to the harmony of the rise and evolution of the divine world within." (Letters, i. 8.) "All of man's desire should have been placed into the light; then would the light have shone within his essence and desire, and filled everything as with one will." (Tilk., i. 542.) "The soul of Adam could have ruled powerfully over the external principle if she had entered again with her will into the heart of God, into the word of the Lord." 1 (Forty Questions, iv. 2.) Thus it was intended that, by means of the instrumentality of man, the paradisiacal splendour should be continually spread out and increased over terrestrial nature, and that all the hidden treasures of nature should be uncovered. "The external world is also of God and belonging to God, and man has been created therein, so that he may bring again the external into the internal one; the end into the beginning." (Letters, xi. 18.) "Adam was also created in the external quality, so that he may manifest in forms and execute in works that which had been perceived in eternal wisdom." (Menschwerdung, i. 4.) "Man has been created in Paradise, for it was out-blooming through the earth, and from the earth of Paradise was Adam's body created, because he was a lord of the earth, and it was his destiny to unfold the wonders of the earth. If it had not been for that purpose, God might have endowed him with an angelic body; but in that case the substantiated being with its wonderful qualities would not have been unfolded." 1 (Menschwerdung, ii. 12.)

 

www.sacred-texts.com/eso/ldjb/ldjb10.htm

 

Vishnu (/ˈvɪʃnuː/; Sanskrit: Viṣṇu) is a popular Hindu deity, the Supreme God of Vaishnavism (one of the three principal denominations of Hinduism) and one of the three supreme deities (Trimurti) of Hinduism. He is also known as Lord Narayana and Lord Hari. As one of the five primary forms of God in the Smarta tradition, He is conceived as "the Preserver or the Protector" within the Trimurti, the Hindu Trinity of the divinity.

 

In Hindu sacred texts, Vishnu is usually described as having dark complexion of water-filled clouds and as having four arms. He is depicted as a blue being, holding a padma (lotus flower) in the lower left hand, the Kaumodaki gada (mace) in the lower right hand, the Panchajanya shankha (conch) in the upper left hand and the discus weapon Sudarshana Chakra in the upper right hand.

 

Adherents of Hinduism believe Vishnu's eternal and supreme abode beyond the material universe is called Vaikuntha, which is also known as Paramdhama, the realm of eternal bliss and happiness and the final or highest place for liberated souls who have attained Moksha. Vaikuntha is situated beyond the material universe and hence, cannot be perceived or measured by material science or logic. Vishnu's other abode within the material universe is Ksheera Sagara (the ocean of milk), where he reclines and rests on Ananta Shesha, (the king of the serpent deities, commonly shown with a thousand heads). In almost all Hindu denominations, Vishnu is either worshipped directly or in the form of his ten avatars, the most famous of whom are Rama and Krishna.

 

The Puranabharati, an ancient text, describes these as the dashavatara, or the ten avatars of Vishnu. Among the ten described, nine have occurred in the past and one will take place in the future as Lord Kalki, at the end of Kali Yuga, (the fourth and final stage in the cycle of yugas that the world goes through). These incarnations take place in all Yugas in cosmic scales; the avatars and their stories show that gods are indeed unimaginable, unthinkable and inconceivable. The Bhagavad Gita mentions their purpose as being to rejuvenate Dharma, to vanquish those negative forces of evil that threaten dharma, and also to display His divine nature in front of all souls.

 

The Trimurti (three forms) is a concept in Hinduism "in which the cosmic functions of creation, maintenance, and destruction are personified by the forms of Brahma the creator, Vishnu the maintainer, preserver or protector and Shiva the destroyer or transformer." These three deities have also been called "the Hindu triad" or the "Great Trinity", all having the same meaning of three in One. They are the different forms or manifestation of One person the Supreme Being or Narayana/Svayam Bhagavan.

 

Vishnu is also venerated as Mukunda, which means God who is the giver of mukti or moksha (liberation from the cycle of rebirths) to his devotees or the worthy ones who deserve salvation from the material world.

 

ETYMOLOGY

The traditional explanation of the name Vishnu involves the root viś, meaning "to settle" (cognate with Latin vicus, English -wich "village," Slavic: vas -ves), or also (in the Rigveda) "to enter into, to pervade," glossing the name as "the All-Pervading One". Yaska, an early commentator on the Vedas, in his Nirukta, (etymological interpretation), defines Vishnu as viṣṇur viṣvater vā vyaśnoter vā, "one who enters everywhere". He also writes, atha yad viṣito bhavati tad viṣnurbhavati, "that which is free from fetters and bondages is Vishnu".

 

Adi Shankara in his commentary on the Sahasranama states derivation from viś, with a meaning "presence everywhere" ("As he pervades everything, vevesti, he is called Vishnu"). Adi Shankara states (regarding Vishnu Purana, 3.1.45): "The Power of the Supreme Being has entered within the universe. The root viś means 'enter into'." Swami Chinmayananda, in his translation of Vishnu Sahasranama further elaborates on that verse: "The root vis means to enter. The entire world of things and beings is pervaded by Him and the Upanishad emphatically insists in its mantra 'whatever that is there is the world of change.' Hence, it means that He is not limited by space, time or substance. Chinmayananda states that, that which pervades everything is Vishnu."

 

SACRET TEXTS - SHRUTI & SMRITI

Shruti is considered to be solely of divine origin. It is preserved as a whole, instead of verse by verse. It includes the four Vedas (Rigveda, Yajurveda, Samaveda and Atharvaveda) the Brahmanas, the Aranyakas and the Upanishads with commentaries on them.

 

Smṛti refers to all the knowledge derived and inculcated after Shruti had been received. Smrti is not 'divine' in origin, but was 'remembered' by later Rishis (sages by insight, who were the scribes) by transcendental means and passed down through their followers. It includes the Bhagavata Purana and the Vishnu Purana which are Sattva Puranas. These both declare Vishnu as Para Brahman Supreme Lord who creates unlimited universes and enters each one of them as Lord of Universe.

 

SHRUTI

 

VAISHNAVA CANON

The Vaishnava canon presents Vishnu as the supreme being, rather than another name for the Sun God, who also bore the name Suryanarayana and is considered only as a form of Vishnu.

 

VEDAS

In the Yajur Veda, Taittiriya Aranyaka (10-13-1), Narayana suktam, Lord Narayana is mentioned as the supreme being. The first verse of Narayana Suktam mentions the words "paramam padam", which literally mean "highest post" and may be understood as the "supreme abode for all souls". This is also known as Param Dhama, Paramapadam, or Vaikuntha. Rig Veda 1:22:20a also mentions the same "paramam padam". This special status is not given to any deity in the Vedas apart from Lord Vishnu/Narayana.[citation needed] Narayana is one of the thousand names of Vishnu as mentioned in the Vishnu Sahasranama. It describes Vishnu as the All-Pervading essence of all beings, the master of - and beyond - the past, present and future, one who supports, sustains and governs the Universe and originates and develops all elements within. This illustrates the omnipresent characteristic of Vishnu. Vishnu governs the aspect of preservation and sustenance of the universe, so he is called "Preserver of the universe".

 

Vishnu is the Supreme God who takes manifest forms or avatars across various ages or periods to save humanity from evil beings, demons or Asuras. According to the extant Hindu texts and traditions, Lord Vishnu is considered to be resident in the direction of the "Makara Rashi" (the "Shravana Nakshatra"), which is about coincident with the Capricorn constellation. In some of the extant Puranas, and Vaishnava traditions, Vishnu's eye is considered to be situated at the infinitely distant Southern Celestial Pole.

 

Following the defeat of Indra and his displacement as the Lord of Heaven or Swarga, Indra asks Lord Vishnu for help and thus Lord Vishnu takes his incarnations or avatars to Earth to save mankind, thus showing his position as Supreme God to all of creation.

 

In the Puranas, Indra frequently appears proud and haughty. These bad qualities are temporarily removed when Brahma and/or Shiva give boons to Asuras or Rakshasas such as Hiranyaksha, Hiranyakashipu and Ravana, who are then able to defeat Indra in wars between Devas and Asuras. The received boons often made Asuras virtually indestructible.

 

Indra has no option but to seek help from Vishnu. Indra prays before Vishnu for protection and the Supreme Lord obliges him by taking avatars and generating himself on Earth in various forms, first as a water-dweller (Matsya, fish), then as an amphibious creature (Kurma avatar or Tortoise), then as a half-man-half-animal (Varaha the pig-faced, human-bodied Lord, and Narasimha the Lord with lion's face and claws and a human body). Later, Vishnu appears as human beings (Vamana the short-heighted person), Parashurama, Rama, Krishna, Buddha and finally as Kalki for performing his task of protecting his devotees from demons and anti-religious entities.

 

Vishnu's supremacy is attested by his victories over those very powerful entities. It is further attested by the accepted iconography and sculptures of Vishnu in reclining position as producing Brahma emerging from his navel. Brahma the creator is thus created in turn by Vishnu out of his own person. Instead Vishnu takes various avatars to slay or defeat those demons. But it is to be noted that Vishnu also provided boons to Akupresura, a bear faced demon who was destroyed by Lord Shiva.

 

Vishnu's actions lowered Indra's ranking among Hindu deities and led to the ascendancy of Vishnu.

 

Few temples are dedicated to the Sun or Suryanarayana, nor indeed Indra, nor does Indra figure largely in the Hindu religion.

 

Indra is almost completely absent from the deities considered as the chief or most important deity.

 

RIGVEDA

In the Rigveda, Vishnu is mentioned 93 times. He is frequently invoked alongside other deities, especially Indra, whom he helps in killing Vritra and with whom he drinks Soma. His distinguishing characteristic in the Vedas is his association with light. Two Rigvedic hymns in Mandala 7 are dedicated to Vishnu. In 7.99, Vishnu is addressed as the god who separates heaven and earth, a characteristic he shares with Indra.

 

The Rig Veda describes Vishnu as younger brother to Indra as Vamana. In Vaishnava canon the 'Vishnu' who is younger brother to Indra is identified as Vamana, Avatar of Vishnu, hence referred to as Vishnu by Vaishnavites. Vishnu is the Supreme God who lives in the highest celestial region, contrasted against those who live in the atmospheric or terrestrial regions. Vishnu is content with mere prayer, unlike almost all of the other gods who receive sacrificial offerings such as Havis, which is given using clarified butter, or Soma. Later foreign translators have view that Vedas place Indra in a superior position to Vishnu's Avatar of Vamana but in fact Vamana helps Indra by restoring his Kingdom.

 

An alternate translation is provided by Wilson according to Sayana:

 

When Thy (younger brother) Viṣṇu (Vamana) by (his) strength stepped his three paces, then verily thy beloved horses bore thee. (Rigveda 8:12:27)

 

Wilson mentions Griffith's possible translation as a footnote. However the following verse from Rigveda renders the above translation by Wilson more probable.

 

Him whose three places that are filled with sweetness, imperishable, joy as it may list them, Who verily alone upholds the threefold, the earth, the heaven, and all living creatures. (Rig veda 1:154:4)

 

Wilson offers an alternate translation for Rigveda 10:113:2:

 

Viṣṇu offering the portion of Soma, glorifies by his own vigor that greatness of his. Indra, the lord of heaven, with the associated gods having slain Vritra, became deserving of honour. (Rigveda 10:113:2)

 

This verse sees Vishnu as one who is glorified by his own strength, while Indra became deserving of honor after having slain Vritra only in association with other gods.

 

However Vishnu's praise for other gods does not imply worship. Wilson translates:

 

Viṣṇu, the mighty giver of dwellings praises thee, and Mitra and Varuna; the company of Maruts imitates thee in exhilaration. (Rigveda 8:15:9) (page 280)

 

The following verses show categorically Vishnu as distinguished from other gods in Rigveda.

 

He who presents (offering) to Viṣṇu, the ancient, the creator, the recent, the self-born; he who celebrates the great birth of that mighty one; he verily possessed of abundance, attains (the station) that is to be sought (by all). (Rigveda 1:156:2) (page 98)

 

No being that is or that has been born, divine Viṣṇu, has attained the utmost limit of thy magnitude, by which thou hast upheld the vast and beautiful heaven, and sustained the eastern horizon of Earth.(Rigveda 7:99:2) (page 196)

 

The divine Viṣṇu, the best of the doers of good deeds, who came to the pious instituter of rite (Indra), to assist (at its celebration), knowing (the desires of the worshiper), and present at the three connected period (of worship), shows favor to the Arya, and admits the author of the ceremony to a share of the sacrifice. (Rigveda 1:156:5) (page 99)

 

Jan Gonda, the late Indologist, states that Vishnu, although remaining in the background of Indra's exploits, contributes by his presence, or is key to Indra's success. Vishnu is more than a mere companion, equal in rank or power to Indra, or sometime the one who made Indra's success possible.

 

Descriptions of Vishnu as younger to Indra are found in only the hymns to Indra, but in a kathenotheism religion like that of the Rigveda, each god, for a time, is supreme in the mind of the devotee.

 

In the Rig Vedic texts, the deity or god referred to as Vishnu is the Sun God, who also bears the name 'Suryanarayana'. By contrast, the 'Vishnu' referred to in 'Vishnu Purana', 'Vishnu Sahasranamam' and 'Purusha Sooktham' is Lord Narayana, the Consort of Lakshmi. Vaishnavites make a further distinction by extolling the qualities of Vishnu by highlighting his differences from other deities such as Shiva,[citation needed] Brahma or Surya.

 

THREE STEPS

Hymn 7.100 refers to the celebrated 'three steps' of Vishnu (as Trivikrama) by which he strode over the universe and in three places planted his step. The 'Vishnu Suktam' (RV 1.154) says that the first and second of Vishnu's strides (those encompassing the earth and air) are visible to men and the third is in the heights of heaven (sky). This last place is described as Vishnu's supreme abode in RV 1.22.20:

 

The princes evermore behold / that loftiest place where Vishnu is / Laid as it were an eye in heaven.(trans. Griffith)

 

Griffith's "princes" are the sūri, either "inciters" or lords of a sacrifice, or priests charged with pressing the Soma. The verse is quoted as expressing Vishnu's supremacy by Vaishnavites.

 

Though such solar aspects have been associated with Vishnu by tradition as well as modern-scholarship, he was not just the representation of the sun, as he moves both vertically and horizontally.

 

In hymns 1.22.17, 1.154.3, 1.154.4 he strides across the earth with three steps, in 6.49.13, 7.100.3 strides across the earth three times and in 1.154.1, 1.155.5,7.29.7 he strides vertically, with the final step in the heavens. The same Veda also says he strode wide and created space in the cosmos for Indra to fight Vritra. By his stride he made dwelling for men possible, the three forming a symbolic representation of the dwelling's all-encompassing nature. This nature and benevolence to men were Vishnu's enduring attributes. As the triple-strider he is known as Trivikrama and as Urukrama, for the strides were wide.

 

BRAHMANAS

The Brahmanas are commentaries on the Vedas and form part of the Shruti literature. They are concerned with the detail of the proper performance of rituals. In the Rigveda, Shakala Shakha: Aitareya Brahmana Verse 1 declares: agnir vai devānām ava mo viṣṇuḥ paramus, tadantareṇa sarvā anyā devatā - Agni is the lowest or youngest god and Vishnu is the greatest and the highest God.

 

The Brahmanas assert the supremacy of Lord Vishnu, addressing him as "Gajapati", the one whom all sacrifices are meant to please. Lord Vishnu accepts all sacrifices to the demigods and allots the respective fruits to the performer In one incident, a demonic person performs a sacrifice by abducting the Rishis (sages), who meditate by constantly chanting God's name. The sacrifice is meant to destroy Indra. But the rishis, who worship Indra as a demigod, alter one pronunciation of the Veda Mantra, reversing the purpose of the sacrifice. When the fruit of the sacrifice is given and the demon is on the verge of dying, he calls to Vishnu, whom he addresses as Supreme Godhead and "the father of all living entities including himself".

 

Aitareya Brahmana 1:1:1 mentions Vishnu as the Supreme God. But in the Vaishnava canon, in different ages, with Vishnu in different avatars, his relationship with the asuras or demons, was always adversarial. The asuras always caused harm, while the sages and devas or celestial beings, did penance and called to Vishnu for protection. Vishnu always obliged by taking an avatar to vanquish the asuras. In the Vaishnava canon, Vishnu never gave or granted any boons to the asuras, distinguishing him from the gods Shiva and Brahma, who did. He is the only God called upon to save good beings by defeating or killing the asuras.

 

Sayana writes that in Aitareya Brahmana 1:1:1 the declaration agnir vai devānām ava mo viṣṇuḥ paramus,tadantareṇa sarvā anyā devatā does not indicate any hierarchy among gods. Even in Rigveda Samhita, avama and parama are not applied to denote rank and dignity, but only to mark place and locality.

 

In Rigveda 1:108:9,: yadindrāghnī avamasyāṃ pṛthivyāṃ madhyamasyāṃ paramasyāmuta sthaḥ | i.e., in the lowest place, the middle (place), and the highest (place). Agni, the fire, has, among the gods, the lowest place; for he resides with man on the earth; while the other gods are either in the air, or in the sky. Vishnu occupies the highest place. The words avama and parama are understood as 'First' and 'Last' respectively. To support this claim, Sayana adduces the mantra (1,4. As'val. Sr. S. 4, 2), agnir mukham prathamo devathanam samathanam uttamo vishnur asit, i.e., Agni was the first of the deities assembled, (and) Vishnu the last.

 

In the Kausitaki Brahmana (7.1) Agni is called Aaradhya (instead of avama), and Visnu parardha(instead of parama),i.e., belonging to the lower and higher halves (or forming the lower and higher halves). The Vishnu Purana gives tremendous importance to the worship of Vishnu and mentions that sacrifices are to begin only with both the lighting of fire or 'Agni', pouring of sacrificial offerings to Vishnu in 'Agni' so that those offerings reach and are accepted by Vishnu. Worship of Vishnu through Yajnas (or Homams) and other rituals, will not achieve the desired result if Agni's role is neglected.

 

Muller says "Although the gods are sometimes distinctly invoked as the great and the small, the young and the old (Rig veda 1:27:13), this is only an attempt to find the most comprehensive expression for the divine powers, and nowhere is any of the gods represented as the subordinate to others. It would be easy to find, in the numerous hymns of the Veda, passages in which almost every single god is represented as supreme and absolute."

 

However this notion is not completely correct as per the following verses, which shows Rigveda describe one or more gods as subject to other god(s).

 

Him whose high law not Varuna nor Indra, not Mitra, Aryaman, nor Rudra breaketh, Nor evil-hearted fiends, here for my welfare him I invoke, God Savitar, with worship. (Rigveda 2.038.09)

 

I invite to this place, with reverential salutations, for my good, that divine Savita, whose functions neither Indra, nor Varun.a, nor Mitra nor Aryaman nor Rudra nor the enemies (of the gods), impede. (Rigveda 2.038.09)

 

SMRITI

 

VISHNU SMRITI

The Vishnu Smṛti, is one of the later books of the Dharmashastra tradition of Hinduism and the only one that focuses on the bhakti tradition and the required daily puja to Vishnu, rather than the means of knowing dharma. It is also known for its handling of the controversial subject of the practice of sati (self-immolation of a widow on her husband's funeral pyre). The text was composed by an individual or group. The author(s) created a collection of the commonly known legal maxims that were attributed to Vishnu into one book, as Indian oral culture began to be recorded more formally.

 

BHAGAVATA PURANA

Vishnu is the only Bhagavan as declared in the Bhagavata 1:2:11 in the verse: vadanti tat tattva-vidas tattvam yaj jnanam advayam brahmeti paramatmeti bhagavan iti sabdyate, translated as "Learned transcendentalists who know the Absolute Truth call this non-dual substance as Brahman, Paramātma and Bhagavan."

 

VISHNU PURANA

In the Vishnu Purana (6:5:79) the personality named Parashara Rishi defines six bhagas:

 

aiśvaryasya samagrasya vīryasya yaśasaḥ śriyaḥ

jñāna-vairāgyayoś caiva ṣannāḥ bhaga itīṇganā

 

Jiva Gosvami explains the verse in Gopala Champu (Pūrva 15:73) and Bhagavata Sandarbha 46:10:

 

jñāna-śakti-balaiśvarya-vīrya-tejām.sy aśeṣataḥ

bhagavac-chabda-vācyāni vinā heyair guṇādibhiḥ

 

"The substantives of the word bhagavat (bhagavat-śabda-vācyāni) are unlimited (aśeṣataḥ) knowledge (jñāna), energies (śakti), strength (bala), opulence (aiśvarya), heroism (vīrya), splendor (tejas), without (vinā) objectionable (heyair) qualities (guṇādibhiḥ)."

 

SANGAM LITERATURE

Tamil Sangam literature (300BCE to 500CE) mentions mAyOn, or the dark one, as the supreme deity who creates, sustains and destroys the universe. Paripadal 3 describes the glory of Thirumal in the most superlative terms.

 

Paripadal by kaduvan iLaveyinanAr:

 

"thIyinuL theRal nI poovinuL naaRRa nI kallinuL maNiyu nI sollinuL vaaymai aRaththinuL anbu nI maRaththinuL mainthu nI vEthaththu maRai nI boothaththu madhalu nI vencudar oLiyu nI thingaLuL aLiyu nI anaiththu nI anaiththinut poruLu nI"

 

The last line states that Lord Vishnu is the supreme deity who is the inner controller (Antaryamin) of the entire universe. This is one of the Lord's glories, which is first mentioned in Vedas and later propounded by Alwars in Prabhandams and Sri Vaishnavaite Acharyas in various commentaries

 

The Sri Ranganathaswamy Temple and Vishnu, Lakshmi is mentioned in Tamil works of literature of the Sangam era, including the epic Silapadikaram (book 11, lines 35–40):

 

āyiram viritteḻu talaiyuṭai aruntiṟaṟ

 

pāyaṟ paḷḷip palartoḻu tētta viritiraik kāviri viyaṉperu turuttit tiruvamar mārpaṉ kiṭanta vaṇṇamum

 

On a magnificent cot having a thousand heads spread out, worshipped and praised by many, in an islet surrounded by Kaveri with bellowing waves, is the lying posture of the one who has Lakshmi sitting in his chest.

 

THEOLOGICAL ATTRIBUTES

The actual number of Vishnu's auspicious qualities is countless, although his six most-important "divine glories" are:

 

Jnana (Omniscience); defined as the power to know about all beings simultaneously;

Aishvarya (Sovereignty), derived from the word Ishvara which means unchallenged rule over all;

Shakti (Power or Energy), the capacity to make the impossible possible;

Bala (Strength), the capacity to support everything by will and without any fatigue;

Virya (Vigour), the power to retain immateriality as the Supreme Spirit or Being in spite of being the material cause of mutable creations;

Tejas (Splendor), which expresses self-sufficiency and the capacity to overpower everything by spiritual effulgence.

 

Other important qualities attributed to Vishnu are Gambhirya (inestimatable grandeur), Audarya (generosity), and Karunya (compassion). Natya Shastra lists Vishnu as the presiding deity of the Sṛngara rasa.

 

The Rigveda says: Vishnu can travel in three strides. The first stride is the Earth. The second stride is the visible sky. The third stride cannot be seen by men and is the heaven where the gods and the righteous dead live. (This feature of three strides also appears in the story of his avatar Vamana/Trivikrama.) The Sanskrit for "to stride" is the root kram; its reduplicated perfect is chakram (guņa grade) or chakra (zero-grade), and in the Rigveda he is called by epithets such as vi-chakra-māņas = "he who has made 3 strides". The Sanskrit word chakra also means "wheel". That may have suggested the idea of Vishnu carrying a chakra.

 

FIVE FORMS

In Shree Vaishnavism, another school dating from around the 10th century AD, Vishnu assumes five forms:

 

In the Para Form, Para is the highest form of Vishnu found only in Sri Vaikunta also called Moksha, along with his consort Lakshmi, (and Bhumi Devi and Nila devi, avatars of Lakshmi) and surrounded by liberated souls like Ananta, Garuda, and a host of Muktas (liberated souls).

In the Vyuha form, Vishnu assumes four forms, which exercise different cosmic functions and controls activities of living beings.

In the Vibhava form, Vishnu assumes various manifestations, called Vibhavas, more popularly known as Avataras from time to time, to protect the virtuous, punish evil-doers and re-establish righteousness.

In the Antaryami; "Dwelling within" or "Suksma Vasudeva" form, Vishnu exists within the souls of all living beings and in every substance.

In the Arcavatara or Image manifestation, Vishnu is visible and therefore easily approachable by devotees since Para, Vyuha, Vibhava and Antaryami forms can only be imagined or meditated upon because they are beyond our reach. Such images can be

Revealed by Vishnu, for example, a self-manifested (Swayambhu) icon (murti), e.g. The Mahavishnu Temple at Tirunelli, The Sri Ranganathaswamy Temple at Srirangam, The Tirumala Venkateshwara Temple, etc.; or

Installed by Devas or celestial beings such as such as Guruvayur Temple installed by Vayu; or

Installed by humans, and consecrated according to Vaishnava Agama shastras or scriptures such as Lord Jagannatha of Jagannath Temple (Puri) at Puri.

 

RELATIONS WITH OTHER DEITIES

 

SHIVA

The three gods of the Trimurti clan are inseparable and in harmony in view of their common vision and universal good. They are perfectly ideal in all respects.

 

Both Asuras and Devas played supportive roles in this story by keeping company with Vishnu in his incarnated forms. Hanuman is a vanara who is completely dedicated to Rama. He gives Vishnu company and obeys his command, while playing an important part in Rama's life. He is regarded in Vaishnava canon because it is through blessings that Hanuman is born. Thus, Hanuman, Vishnu's constant companion, with his idol appearing temples of Rama, Krishna and Narasimha, i.e. all of Vishnu's avatars, is considered by Vaishnavas.

 

Syncretic forces produced stories in which the two deities were shown in cooperative relationships and combined forms. Harihara is the name of a combined deity form of both Vishnu (Hari) and Shiva (Hara). This dual form, which is also called Harirudra, is mentioned in the Mahabharata.

 

LAKSHMI

Vishnu's consort is Lakshmi, the goddess of wealth (also known as Maya). The Samvit (the primary intelligence/dark matter) of the universe is Vishnu, while the other five attributes emerge from this samvit and hence Maya or dark energy of the universe is Lakshmee is his ahamata, activity, or Vishnu's Power. This power of God, Maya or Shakti, is personified and has multiple names: Shree, Lakshmi, Maya, Vishnumaya or Mahamaya. She is said to manifest as Kriyashakti, (Creative Activity) and Bhutishakti (Creation). This world requires Vishnu's creativity. He therefore needs Lakshmi to always be with Him. Her various avatars as Lord Vishnu's consorts are Varahavatar (Bhoodevi) or Bhoomi, Ramavatar Seeta, Krishnavatar Rukmini)

 

SARASWATI & GANGA

According to Brahma Vaivarta Purana, Lord Vishnu had three wives Lakshmi, Saraswati and Ganga. Due to their constant quarrelsome nature among them. Once Ganga tried to be close with Vishnu, this rebuked Saraswati but Lakshmi tried to pacify them but faced a curse rather. As per the curse, Lakshmi to appear as Tulasi. Sarawati cursed Ganga to run as a river in the world and Saraswati was cursed to run as a river in the netherworld. After this, Lord Vishnu transformed and became Brahma and Shiva to pacify Saraswati and Ganga.

 

GARUDA

Vishnu's mount (Vahana) is Garuda, the eagle. Vishnu is commonly depicted as riding on his shoulders.

 

ICONOGRAPHY

According to various Puranas, Vishnu is the ultimate omnipresent reality and is shapeless and omnipresent. However, a strict iconography governs his representation, whether in pictures, icons, or idols:

 

He has four arms and is male: The four arms indicate his all-powerful and all-pervasive nature. His physical existence is represented by the two arms in the front, while the two arms at the back represent his presence in the spiritual world. The Upanishad Gopal Uttartapani describes the four arms.

The Shreevatsa mark is on his chest, symbolizing his consort Lakshmi.

He wears the auspicious "Kaustubha" jewel around his neck and a garland of vaijayanti flowers (Vanamala). Lakshmi dwells in this jewel, on Vishnu's chest.

A crown adorns his head: The crown symbolizes his supreme authority. This crown sometimes includes a peacock feather, borrowing from his Krishna-avatar.

He wears two earrings: The earrings represent inherent opposites in creation — knowledge and ignorance; happiness and unhappiness; pleasure and pain.

He rests on Ananta, the immortal and infinite snake.

 

Vishnu is always to be depicted holding four attributes:

 

A conch shell or Shankha, named Panchajanya, is held by the upper left hand. It represents Vishnu's power to create and maintain the universe. Panchajanya represents the five elements or Panchabhoota – water, fire, air, earth and sky or space. It also represents the five airs or Pranas that are within the body and mind. The conch symbolizes that Vishnu is the primeval Divine sound of creation and continuity. It also represented as Om. In the Bhagavad Gita, Krishna avatara states that of sound vibrations, 'He is Om'.

The Chakra, a sharp, spinning, discus-like weapon, named "Sudarshana", is held by the upper right hand. It symbolizes the purified spiritualized mind. The name Sudarshana is derived from two words – Su, which means good, superior, and Darshana, which means vision or sight; together. The Chakra represents destruction of ego in the awakening and realization of the soul's original nature and god, burning away spiritual ignorance and illusion, and developing higher spiritual vision and insight to realize god.

A mace or Gada, named "Kaumodaki", is held by the lower right hand. It symbolizes that Vishnu's divine power is the source of all spiritual, mental and physical strength. It also signifies Vishnu's power to destroy materialistic or demonic tendencies (Anarthas) that prevent people from reaching god. Vishnu's mace is the power of the Divine within us to spiritually purify and uplift us from our materialistic bonds.

A lotus flower or Padma is held by the lower left hand. It represents spiritual liberation, Divine perfection, purity and the unfolding of Spiritual consciousness within the individual. The lotus opening its petals in the light of the Sun is indicative of the expansion and awakening of our long dormant, original spiritual consciousness in the light of god. The lotus symbolizes that god is the power and source from which the universe and the individual soul emerges. It also represents Divine Truth or Satya, the originator of the rules of conduct or Dharma, and Divine Vedic knowledge or Jnana. The lotus also symbolizes that Vishnu is the embodiment of spiritual perfection and purity and that He is the wellspring of these qualities and that the individual soul must seek to awaken these intrinsic Divine qualities from Vishnu by surrendering to and linking with Him.

 

To this may be added, conventionally, the vanamaala flower garland, Vishnu's bow (Shaarnga/Kodand) and his sword Nandaka. A verse of the Vishnu Sahasranama stotram states;vanamālī gadhī shārngī shanki chakri cha nandaki / shrīmān nārāyaņo vişņo vāsudevo abhirakşatu//; translation: Protect us Oh Lord Narayana who wears the forest garland,who has the mace, conch, sword and the wheel. And who is called Vishnu and the Vasudeva.

 

In general, Vishnu's body is depicted in one of the following three ways:

 

Standing on a lotus flower, often with Lakshmi, his consort, beside him on a similar pedestal.

Reclining on the coiled-up thousand-hooded Shesha Naga, with Lakshmi seated at his feet; the assemblage rests on the "Kshira Sagar" (ocean of milk). In this representation, Brahma is depicted as sitting on a lotus that grows out of Vishnu's navel.

Riding on the back of his eagle mount, known as Garuda. Another name for Garuda is "Veda atma"; Soul of the Vedas. The flapping of his wings symbolizes the power of the Divine Truth of Vedic wisdom. Also the eagle represents the soul. Garuda carrying Vishnu symbolizes the soul or jiva atma carrying the Super soul or Param atma within it.

 

AVATARS

Ten avatars (dashavatara) of Vishnu are the most prominent: Apart from the most prominent incarnations there are believed to more.

 

The most commonly believed incarnations of Vishnu are:

 

Matsya, the fish that kills Damanaka to save the vedas and also saves Manu from a great flood that submerges the entire Earth.

Kurma, the turtle that helps the Devas and Asuras churn the ocean for the nectar of immortality.

Varaha, the boar that rescues the Earth and kills Hiranyaksha.

Narasimha, the half-lion half human, who defeats the demon Hiranyakashipu.

Vamana, the dwarf that grows into a giant to save the world from King Bali.

Parashurama, "Rama of the battle axe", a sage who appeared in the Treta Yuga. He killed Kartavirya Arjuna's army and clan and then killed all the kshatriyas 21 times.

Rama, the prince and king of Ayodhya who killed the Demon King Raavan.

Krishna, the eighth avatar of Vishnu, who takes part in the Mahabharata epic. Krishna is worshipped as the Supreme Avatar of Vishnu (Supreme Personality of Godhead) in Gaudiya-Vaishnava philosophy.

Buddha, the ninth avatar of Vishnu.

Kalki, the tenth Avatar of Vishnu and said to be the harbinger of the end Kali Yuga. This avatar of Vishnu is yet to come.

 

Some versions of the above list include Hayagreeva among the Dashavataras while some include Buddha as ninth avatar of Vishnu. Another 22 avatars are given in Chapter 3, Canto 1 of the Bhagavata Purana, although it states that "the incarnations of the Lord are innumerable, like rivulets flowing from inexhaustible sources of water".

 

BEYOND HINDUISM

 

SIKHISM

Guru Granth Sahib of Sikhism mentions Vishnu, one verse goes:

 

The true Vaishnaav, the devotee of Vishnu, is the one with whom God is thoroughly pleased. He dwells apart from Maya. Performing good deeds, he does not seek rewards. Spotlessly pure is the religion of such a Vaishnaav; he has no desire for the fruits of his labors. He is absorbed in devotional worship and the singing of Kirtan, the songs of the Lords Glory. Within his mind and body, he meditates in remembrance on the Lord of the Universe. He is kind to all creatures. He holds fast to the Naam, and inspires others to chant it. O Nanak, such a Vaishnaav obtains the supreme status.

 

BUDDHISM

While some Hindus consider Buddha as an incarnation of Vishnu, Buddhists in Sri Lanka venerate Vishnu as the custodian deity of Sri Lanka and protector of Buddhism. Lord Vishnu is also known as upulvan, or uthpala varna, meaning "Blue Lotus coloured". Some postulates that Uthpala varna was a local deity who later merged with Vishnu while another belief is that Uthpala Varna was an early form of Vishnu before he became a supreme deity in Puranic Hinduism. According to Chronicles "Mahawamsa", "Chulawamsa" and folklore in Sri Lanka, Buddha himself handed over the custodianship to Vishnu. Others believe that Buddha entrusted this task to Sakra(Indra) and Sakra delegated this task of custodianship to god Vishnu. In contrary to vedic Hinduism, in assimilation of Hindu god Vishnu into Sinhalese Buddhism, Vishnu becomes a mortal being and a Bodhisattva aspiring Buddhahood. Additionally, Vishnu is considered as the god of home and hearth representing mercy, goodness, order and stability. Many Buddhist and Hindu shrines are dedicated to Vishnu in Sri Lanka. In addition to specific Vishnu "Kovils" or "devalayas", all Buddhist temples necessarily house shrine rooms (Devalayas) closer to the main Buddhist shrine dedicated to Vishnu. John Holt in his groundbreaking study examines the assimilation, transformation, and subordination of the Hindu deity Vishnu within the contexts of Sri Lankan history and Sinhala Buddhist religious culture. He then explores the role and rationale of medieval Sinhala kings in assimilating Visnu into Sinhala Buddhism. According to Holt the veneration of Vishnu in Sri Lanka is evidence of a remarkable ability, over many centuries, to reiterate and reinvent culture as other ethnicities have been absorbed into their own. Though the Vishnu cult in Ceylon was formally endorsed by Kandyan kings in early 1700s, Holt states that vishnu images and shrines are among conspicuous ruins in the medieval capital Polonnaruwa. In Buddhist mythology, when Vishnu failed to traverse the universe in three steps, he was given the title "Ardha Vishnu (Half-Vishnu)" and when Vishnu banished demons from the Vaishali (Vishala)in India, he became "Mulu Vishnu or Whole Vishnu". The extreme significance of god Vishnu in Sinhala society is reflected in recitals of the traditional "Offerings to dwarfs and crossing the door frame (bahirwayanta dola pideem saha uluwahu peneema)" that starts with Sri Vishnu invocation.In the recitals,mentioning of the aspiring Buddhahood of Vishnu which is of prime importance to Buddhists and wishes for him to live five thousand and more years highlight the central role of Vishnu in the psyche of Sri Lankan Buddhists.

 

OTHERS

James Freeman Clarke, Richard Leviton, James Cowles Prichard, and others have noted the similarities between Vishnu and Ancient Egyptian God Horus.

 

During an excavation in an abandoned village of Russia in the Volga region, archaeologist Alexander Kozhevin excavated an ancient idol of Vishnu. The idol dates from between the 7th and 10th centuries. In the interview Kozhevin, stated that, "We may consider it incredible, but we have ground to assert that Middle-Volga region was the original land of Ancient Rus. This is a hypothesis, but a hypothesis, which requires thorough research"

 

THOUSAND NAMES OF VISHNU

Vishnu's many names and followers are collected in the Vishnu Sahasranama, (Vishnu's thousand names) from within the larger work Mahabharata. The character Bheeshma recites the names before Krishna on the battlefield of Kurukshetra, praising him (Vishnu) as the supreme god. These Sahasranama are regarded as the essence of all Vedas by followers of Vaishnavism, who believe sincere chanting of Vishnu Sahasranama results in spiritual well-being and a greater awareness of God.

 

The names are generally derived from the Anantakalyanagunas (meaning: infinite auspicious attributes).

 

According to the Siddhartha-samhita there are twenty-four forms of Lord Vishnu. The twenty-four forms are

 

Vasudeva

Sankarshana

Pradyumna

Anirudha

Keshava

Narayana

Madhava

Govinda

Vishnu

Madhusudana

Trivikrama

Vamana

Sridhara

Hrishikesha

Padmanabha

Damodara

Purushottama

Achyuta

Narasimha

Janardana

Hari

Krishna

Adhokshaja

 

Upulvan, Uthpala Varna - In Sri Lanka, Vishnu is also referred to as Upulvan ( Blue Lotus Coloured)

 

WIKIPEDIA

ASBESTOS FACTORY PORTER IND

[should be Chesterton, Indiana]

 

Date: Circa 1911

Source Type: Postcard

Publisher, Printer, Photographer: P. L. Huckins

Postmark: None

Collection: Steven R. Shook

Remark: This photograph shows a production facility of the Sall Mountain Asbestos Manufacturing Company. The present day location of this image would be north of Morgan Avenue and between Jackson Boulevard and Indiana Avenue near the Elgin, Joliet & Eastern Railway Company tracks.

 

The facility was originally constructed by the American Brass Works, a brass manufacturing concern from Massachusetts during the early 1890s. American Brass Works went bankrupt soon after the start of the Panic of 1893, which resulted in a financial depression in the United States.

 

In October 1895, the Warren Featherbone Company of Three Oaks, Berrien County, Michigan, purchased the site as a branch manufacturing facility. Featherbone manufacturing took place here for only a few years. In January 1905, the property passed into the hands of the Sall Mountain Asbestos Manufacturing Company, a manufacturer of rubber and mica roofing, as well as fire-proofing materials. In 1912, Sall Mountain Asbestos Manufacturing Company had 105 employees, making it the largest employer in Porter County at that time. The company ceased operations in Chesterton in 1923.

 

Between 1990 and 1996, a city park (Jackson Park) was located on this site. The park was permanently closed and play equipment removed when it was discovered that three locations in the park tested positive for asbestos at a depth of six to twelve inches in concentrations as high as 30 percent.

 

A concrete skate park was installed at the location and opened for use in 2010. A parking lot was also established at the west end of the site to allow better access to the Prairie Duneland Trail.

 

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The following news item concerning the Warren Featherbone Company appeared in the July 24, 1890, issue of The Tribune:

 

The Warren Featherbone company of Three Oaks, Mich., is looking for a new location. They claim their capacity for securing help in Three Oaks has reached its limit and the proprietors are unable to find a sufficient number of women and girls to keep up with their orders, and want to get into a town where they can get plenty of female help. Chesterton don't want a girl managed factory. We're no "she-town" and don't want to be. Those who ever have been in a Massachusetts "she-town" know what one is. Give us factories that emply [sic] able-bodied men and keep the women folks at home, where they belong.

 

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The October 11, 1895, issue of the Chesterton Tribune, contains this column concerning this site:

 

A NEW INDUSTRY FOR PORTER.

The Warren Featherbone Company Buys the Brass Factory.

The Warren Featherbone Company, of Three Oaks, Mich., have purchased the Brass Works and taken possession. The sake was made last week, and Monday morning the company sent a foreman here to prepare the plant for operation. The boilers were put in repair, and the building containing the foundry is being floored and changed into a room suitable for the manufacture for featherbone. E. K. Warren, president, expects to start up with a force of fifty within ten days, the only thing to prevent being the inability to get machinery placed. This concern has a large business, and now work a force of 275 at Three Oaks. It also has a factory in Paris, France. The object of coming to Porter was not, as the president emphatically states, to leave Three Oaks, but to establish another plant. That factory has grown to the capacity of the town to furnish help. The buildings are of frame. The company wisely concluded that two factories separated were better than one in a fire. All the machinery used in the manufacture of featherbone is made by the company, and cannot be bought on the market. A great deal of this will be made at the Porter plant. The great attraction here was the wonderful shipping facilities. The Featherbone Company gets feathers from all over the United States, and now have the largest collection of quills on earth -- the product of forty million turkeys. It is the intention to to ship direct to Porter, work up the heavy portion here, and do the finishing at Three Oaks. The concern largely employ women, but also uses a number of men. They expect to be working a force of 100 by spring.

 

One thing about the concern that deserves attention: Its president came here, paid a fair price in cash for the plant, asked for no bonus, and began business at once. Other towns have tried to induce the company to move, but, as Mr. Warren said, "Unless I had business in a town, I would not go to it for all the money its people were worth. I am not in the manufacturing business for bonus."

 

Such concerns rarely fail. They come to stay. The brick company is the same. Of all the bonused companies that have come here, not one survived the first cold blast. We want no more of them.

 

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The following news item appeared in the October 28, 1904, issue of The Chesterton Tribune:

 

A NEW INDUSTRY SECURED.

The Sall Mountain Asbestos Mfg. Co. Buys the Featherbone Property.

Will Enlarge the Plant and Soon to be in Operation.

Immediately upon his return from Massachusetts in September, Mr. Darling, president of the Porter Land Co., got into correspondence with the owners of the Featherbone plant, which resulted in his having the property placed into the hands for disposal. Among the several buyers to whom he showed the property, one especially, the Sall Mountain Asbestos Mfg. Co., proved to be the strongest financially and from every business standpoint. After a thorough examination of the property and surroundings the above named company decided to purchase, although the present buildings do not contain more than one half the capacity they will require, and two large additional buildings are to be constructed by the coming spring. Monday C. K. Warren was here, when all details were decided upon with the principals, and possession is to be given in thirty days. They pay all cash for the property and ask for no concession.

 

The members of the Sall Mountain Asbestos Mfg. Co. consist of J. W. Bingham, of Milwaukee, president; C. M. Clarke, Chicago, general manager; C. E. Cook, secretary, and ---?--- Wilson superintendent. Within thirty days the company expects to begin the removal of some portion of their Chicago works, although alterations and enlargements of the buildings may cause further delay. By January 1st, they expect to begin the manufacture of their roofing product in the east building.

 

On Oct. 29, 1899, Mr. Clark started the present business by the employment of two men, he doing the office work, and the business has steadily grown until at the present time they are employing 83 men at wages ranging from $2 to $3 a day. Mr. Clarke says he will bring 35 skilled men, mostly men with families, from Chicago, at the start, and that the general office force will also be located at their Porter works.

 

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The following news item appeared in the November 11, 1904, issue of The Chesterton Tribune:

 

Chesterton Chips.

The new purchasers of the Featherbone plant shipped their first carload of machinery here last week. It will be a short time now before the old familiar whistle of the plant will be calling a lot of skilled men to work. We understand that no girls are employed in the works.

 

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The following news item appeared in the November 17, 1904, issue of The Chesterton Tribune:

 

The Warren Featherbone Deal Consummated.

On Thursday of last week the abstract for the Warren Featherbone property near Porter Junction, Ind., was accepted by the purchasers of that property, the Sall Mountain Asbestos Mfg. Co., of Chicago, the deed was passed and the property was paid for in full. The deed has become of record at Valparaiso and names $25,000 cash as the purchase price of the property.

 

Thus the Warren Featherbone Co. of Porter, Ind, passes into history, and one of the largest and most prosperous manufacturing companies in Chicago takes its place, which immediately insures a new era in the history of Porter’s industrial center.

 

J. T. Darling, president of the Porter Land Co., is entitled to the highest congratulations from every one interested in the development of Porter county for his untiring efforts in ensuring a manufactory which means so much to the future of our community.

 

It will be recalled that, nine years ago, Mr. Darling made strenuous efforts to secure the Stromberg Carlson Telephone Co. for the original works known as the American Brass Co., subsequently the Warren Featherbone Co., but at that time he did not have the necessary cooperation to carry out his plans. Since that time it has developed that the Stromberg Carleson Co. has grown into an organization now employing in Chicago, and in their country plant near Syracuse, New York, more than 2,500 hands. All of which Porter should have had and would have had if Mr. Darling had received the cooperation to which he was entitled at that time. Had Westchester secured the Stromberg Carleson Telephone Co. in 1895 we would have had a city of Twelve thousand souls now, with much modern facilities and advantages as only a city can command. Let every citizen of our community put his should to the wheel and help the cause along.

 

He says however that he has now secured a company which promises equal developments as those which the former company have experienced, and he speaks advisedly when he says that the Sall Mountain Asbestos Mfg. Co. will have their entire property, five acres, covered with manufacturing buildings within five years if they secure the hearty cooperation of Porter county people which means the construction for houses for their employes.

 

Mr. Clarke, manager of the company, says emphatically that they are not house buildings, that they are manufacturers straight from the shoulder and propose to push the developing interests just as fast as they are able to meet them.

 

They are removing from Chicago primarily for the reason that they are cramped for space at their present location, and that they move out on account of excessively high rents and with the expectation that they can manufacture their goods much cheaper than they have heretofore been doing.

 

Their rents and cartage bills for the past year have amounted to about $10,000. Quite a little saving in itself, when they get their Porter works into operation.

 

Before January 1st it is their intention to have one building constructed along the entire north end of their combination of buildings, 147 feet in length by 45 feet in width, for a shipping department lying broadside with their private switch.

 

They have also completed plans for the construction of another building to the east of the Featherbone storage building, to be used in connection with the last named building for the manufacture of their roofing products. The storage building is to be somewhat remodeled so as to admit of the setting up of two machines which weigh 40 tons each.

 

Thus the music of the trowel, the saw and the hammer will soon be heard and rapid developments may be confidently expected.

 

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The following news item appeared in the December 15, 1904, issue of The Chesterton Tribune:

 

Porter Pointers.

President Clark and Superintendent Wilson, of the Sal Mountain company, were here last Thursday night, and spent the greater part of the night making plans for the preparation of the buildings for their plant, which will be removed here from Chicago immediately after the holidays. The electric plant was running, and the entire factory was heated and lighted for them. The carpenters are nearly done with their new building, and they will soon be out of the way. A gang of men are now putting in the needed steam fittings, and getting everything ready for the move. The Chicago plant is overwhelmed with orders, and it has been impossible to begin tearing down the machinery until after the holidays, but when the work does begin, it will be rushed. The company is highly pleased over the fact that there will be no trouble in getting help here, and is very anxious to get started so that the men booked can go to work. The community is very fortunate in getting such a good concern here, and appreciates the fact very much.

 

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The following news item appeared in the January 7, 1905, issue of The Chesterton Tribune:

 

CHESTERTON ITEMS.

The Sall Mountain Asbestos M'nf'g Company is now busily engaged in placing its machinery in the plant formerly occupied by the Warren Featherbone company. They are putting in a twenty ton roofing machine and one receiving tank in the east building. This department will be devoted to the manufacture of Reliance Rubber and Mica Roofing. The west building is being fitted up for the manufacture of asbestos pipe covering, and the numerous other articles made of asbestos materials. The north building, just completed by contractor Ameling, is to be used as the shipping department. Two large tanks and a furnace are being placed in the shed east of the east building, for melting the composition used in the work. Every inch of space in the plant is to be utilized. An air compressor is to be installed this week. Mr. Wilson, the superintendent, is out here this week, directing the work. Mr. Clark, the general manager of the concern, is very anxious to have the plant started up at once, as the rush season is now over, and the change can be made better now than later, but the immense amount of preparatory work to be done renders it impossible to say just when the start will be made, but it will not be later than the middle of February, we have reason to believe.

 

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The following news item appeared in the February 2, 1905, issue of The Chesterton Tribune:

 

LOCAL NEWS OF THE WEEK

The Sal Mountain Asbestos Mfg. Co, have begun dismantling their Chicago plant, now located on Ontario street and by the first of the coming week several cars loads of machinery will be in transit to their new works, formerly the Warren Featherbone Works. During the past two months Contractor Ameling has been constructing new buildings and remodeling the old ones preparatory for the new industry, and a complete plant is now ready for the Chicago equipment. On Friday last Manager Clark informed Mr. J. T. Carling that they hoped to go through the complete transition by March 1, and at that time, to be manufacturing their full line of products in their new works. Mr. Clark expressed much gratification over the outlook and is in hopes to be able to command sufficient labor, unskilled and skilled, to enable the development of their business as rapidly as their growing trade demands. This is the most favorable opportunity for the installation of a new industry as the temporary surplus of labor caused by the destruction of the brick yards, can be utilized until that plant is rebuilt and new conditions adjust themselves.

 

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The following news item appeared in the February 23, 1905, issue of The Chesterton Tribune:

 

LOCAL NEWS OF THE WEEK

The Sall Mountain Asbestos Company with works in Chesterton, have complied with the foreign corporation law by taking out a permit to do business in this state. They are an Illinois corporation, and pay on a capital of $7,500 in this state.

 

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The following news item appeared in the March 2, 1905, issue of The Chesterton Tribune:

 

LOCAL NEWS OF THE WEEK

The Chicago works of the Sal Mountain Asbestos company have been closed down, and the work of transferring the plant to this place is being pushed with vigor. A large number of men are now employed in this work, and it will not be long now before the works here will be in operation. The machine for the manufacture of asbestos paper was started March 1.

 

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The following news item appeared in the March 9, 1905, issue of The Chesterton Tribune:

 

LOCAL NEWS OF THE WEEK

Saturday's Chicago Chronicle says -- The Sall Mountain Asbestos Manufacturing company, 123 Ontario street, has closed its plant and removed its machinery to Porter, Ind., where it has completed the construction of extensive manufacturing building which will be put into operation during the present month. The object of the removal is threefold -- first, to enable it to meet the necessary developments of the business; second, immunity from labor troubles, and third, cheaper labor.

 

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The following news item appeared in the January 9, 1913, issue of The Chesterton Tribune:

 

Local, Personal, Social

Contractor Ameling has just closed a contract with the Sall Mountain Asbestos Co., for the erection of a $2,000 addition to their factory on the west side. This factory has shown a growth every since its location here. The company is also expanding its Scranton, Pa., plant.

 

Sources:

Chesterton Tribune, Chesterton, Porter County, Indiana; October 11, 1895; Volume 12, Number 27, Page 1, Column 2. Column titled "News of the Week."

 

The Chesterton Tribune, Chesterton, Porter County, Indiana; October 28, 1904; Volume 21, Number 30, Page 9, Column 6. Column titled "A New Industry Secured."

 

The Chesterton Tribune, Chesterton, Porter County, Indiana; November 11, 1904; Volume 21, Number 32, Page 7, Column 4. Column titled "Chesterton Chips."

 

The Chesterton Tribune, Chesterton, Porter County, Indiana; November 17, 1904; Volume 21, Number 33, Page 1, Columns 5-6. Column titled "The Warren Featherbone Deal Consummated."

 

The Chesterton Tribune, Chesterton, Porter County, Indiana; December 15, 1904; Volume 21, Number 37, Page 4, Column 1. Column titled "Porter Pointers."

 

The Chesterton Tribune, Chesterton, Porter County, Indiana; January 26, 1905; Volume 21, Number 43, Page 1, Column 7. Column titled "Chesterton Items."

 

The Chesterton Tribune, Chesterton, Porter County, Indiana; February 2, 1905; Volume 21, Number 44, Page 5, Column 5. Column titled "Local News of the Week."

 

The Chesterton Tribune, Chesterton, Porter County, Indiana; February 23, 1905; Volume 21, Number 47, Page 5, Column 5. Column titled "Local News of the Week."

 

The Chesterton Tribune, Chesterton, Porter County, Indiana; March 2, 1905; Volume 21, Number 48, Page 5, Column 5. Column titled "Local News of the Week."

 

The Chesterton Tribune, Chesterton, Porter County, Indiana; March 9, 1905; Volume 21, Number 49, Page 5, Column 6. Column titled "Local News of the Week."

 

The Chesterton Tribune, Chesterton, Porter County, Indiana; January 9, 1913; Volume 29, Number 42, Page 5, Column 4. Column titled "Local, Personal, Social."

 

The Tribune, Chesterton, Porter County, Indiana; July 24, 1890; Volume 7, Number 15, Page 5, Column 2. Column titled "A New Industry for Porter. The Warren Featherbone Company Buys the Brass Factory."

 

Copyright 2015. Some rights reserved. The associated text may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without prior written permission of Steven R. Shook.

The Great Architect of the Universe (also Grand Architect of the Universe or Supreme Architect of the Universe) is a conception of God discussed by many Christian theologians and apologists. As a designation it is used within Freemasonry to represent deity neutrally (in whatever form, and by whatever name each member may individually believe in). It is also a Rosicrucian conception of God, as expressed by Max Heindel. The concept of the demiurge as a grand architect or a great architect also occurs in gnosticism and other religious and philosophical systems.

Contents1Christianity2Freemasonry3Hermeticism4Rosicrucianism5Gnosticism6Others7See also8ReferencesChristianity.The concept of God as the (Great) Architect of the Universe has been employed many times in Christianity. An illustration of God as the architect of the universe can be found in a Bible from the Middle Ages[1] and the comparison of God to an architect has been used by Christian apologists and teachers. Saint Thomas Aquinas said in the Summa: "God, Who is the first principle of all things, may be compared to things created as the architect is to things designed (ut artifex ad artificiata)."Commentators have pointed out that the assertion that the Grand Architect of the Universe is the Christian God "is not evident on the basis of 'natural theology' alone but requires an additional 'leap of faith' based on the revelation of the Bible".John Calvin, in his Institutes of the Christian Religion (1536), repeatedly calls the Christian God "the Architect of the Universe", also referring to his works as "Architecture of the Universe", and in his commentary on Psalm 19 refers to the Christian God as the "Great Architect" or "Architect of the Universe".Freemasonry;Masonic historians such as William Bissey,Gary Leazer (quoting Coil's Masonic Encyclopaedia),[5] and S. Brent Morris,assert that "the Masonic abbreviation G.A.O.T.U., meaning the Great Architect of the Universe, continues a long tradition of using an allegorical name for the Deity." They trace how the name and the abbreviation entered Masonic tradition from the Book of Constitutions written in 1723 by the Reverend James Anderson. They also note that Anderson, a Calvinist minister, probably took the term from Calvin's usage.Christopher Haffner's own explanation of how the Masonic concept of a Great Architect of the Universe, as a placeholder for the Supreme Being of one's choice, is given in Workman Unashamed:"Now imagine me standing in lodge with my head bowed in prayer between Brother Mohammed Bokhary and Brother Arjun Melwani. To neither of them is the Great Architect of the Universe perceived as the Holy Trinity. To Brother Bokhary He has been revealed as Allah; to Brother Melwani He is probably perceived as Vishnu. Since I believe that there is only one God, I am confronted with three possibilities:They are praying to the devil whilst I am praying to God;They are praying to nothing, as their Gods do not exist;They are praying to the same God as I, yet their understanding of His nature is partly incomplete (as indeed is mine — 1 Cor 13:12)It is without hesitation that I accept the third possibility.." Christopher Haffner, Workman Unashamed: The Testimony of a Christian Freemason, Lewis Masonic, 1989, p.39

The Swedish Rite, which has the prerequisite of professing to Christian Faith, uses the form "The Threefold Great Architect of the Universe".Hermeticism; The Great Architect may also be a metaphor alluding to the godhead potentiality of every individual. "(God)... That invisible power which all know does exist, but understood by many different names, such as God, Spirit, Supreme Being, Intelligence, Mind, Energy, Nature and so forth." In the Hermetic Tradition, each and every person has the potential to become God, this idea or concept of God is perceived as internal rather than external. The Great Architect is also an allusion to the observer created universe. We create our own reality; hence we are the architect. Another way would be to say that the mind is the builder.Rosicrucianism; In Heindel's exposition, the Great Architect of the Universe is the Supreme Being, who proceeds from The Absolute, at the dawn of manifestation. For a detailed discussion, see The Rosicrucian Cosmo-Conception.Gnosticism; The concept of the Great Architect of the Universe occurs in gnosticism. The Demiurge is The Great Architect of the Universe, the God of Old Testament, in opposition to Christ and Sophia, messengers of Gnosis of the True God. For example: Gnostics such as the Nasoræans believe the Pira Rabba is the source, origin, and container of all things, which is filled by the Mânâ Rabbâ, the Great Spirit, from which emanates the First Life. The First Life prays for companionship and progeny, whereupon the Second Life, the Ultra Mkayyema or World-constituting Æon, the Architect of the Universe, comes into being. From this architect come a number of æons, who erect the universe under the foremanship of the Mandâ d'Hayye or gnôsis zoês, the Personified Knowledge of Life.[8]

Others; James Hopwood Jeans, in his book The Mysterious Universe, also employs the concept of a Great Architect of the Universe, saying at one point "Lapsing back again into the crudely anthropomorphic language we have already used, we may say that we have already considered with disfavour the possibility of the universe having been planned by a biologist or an engineer; from the intrinsic evidence of his creation, the Great Architect of the Universe now begins to appear as a pure mathematician."To that Jinarajadasa adds his observation that the Great Architect is "also a Grand Geometrician. For in some manner or other, whether obvious or hidden, there seems to be a geometric basis to every object in the universe."The concept of the Demiurge as a benevolent great architect or grand architect of matter occurs in the writings of Plato, including in the Timaeus. The concept of a Great Architect of the Universe also occurs in Martinism. Martinist doctrine is that the Great Architect must not be worshipped. Martinists hold that whilst it is possible to "invoque" Him, it is not to adore Him.

References

Jump up ^ Hog, Erik. "The depth of the heavens: Belief and knowledge during 2500 years" (pdf file) Europhysics News, (2004), 35(3), p. 78, .

Jump up ^ Summa Theologica I. 27, 1, r.o. 3.

Jump up ^ Stephen A. Richards (2006). "Thomas Aquinas (1225–1274)". Theology. Pelusa Media Group.

Jump up ^ William K. Bissey (Spring 1997). "G.A.O.T.U.". The Indiana Freemason.

Jump up ^ Gary Leazer (2001). "Praying in Lodge". Masonic Research. Archived from the original on 13 August 2006.

Jump up ^ S. Brent Morris (2006). The Complete Idiot's Guide to Freemasonry. Alpha/Penguin Books. p. 212. ISBN 1-59257-490-4.

Jump up ^ Mary Ann Slipper, The Symbolism of the Eastern Star Pages 35 and 36.

Jump up ^ Wikisource-logo.svg Herbermann, Charles, ed. (1913). "Nasoræans". Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company.

Jump up ^ JOC/EFR (February 2006). "Quotations by James Jeans".

Jump up ^ "Mathematics and Mysticism". Wisdom's Frame of Reference. Advaita Vedanta. 2005-11-04.

Jump up ^ Curuppumullage Jinarajadasa (1950-11-17). "Introduction to the third edition". Occult Chemistry.

Jump up ^ Aurifer (2005-09-11). "The Martinist Doctrine". Sovereign Grand Lodge of the Ancient Martinist Order.

 

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Architect_of_the_Universe

The Monastery of the Three Holy Hierarchs is located in the old centre of Iasi, on Stefan cel Mare si Sfant Boulevard, formerly known as the Princely Street.

 

The "Trisfetite" Church, built during Prince Vasile Lupu’s reign (1637 -1639), was intended to be a royal burial ground; it reflects the founder’s aspiration to the Byzantine world as it combines traditional structures and shapes with precious materials and a sumptuous decoration. Metropolitan Varlaam consecrated this holy place on the 6th of May 1639, and two years later Saint Paraskeve’s relics were moved here. The monastery accommodated a printing house and the "Schola Basiliana", the future Princely Academy. In 1970 the monastery was closed and the only religious services to be officiated were the celebration of the feast day of the Three Hierarchs (30th January) and the Union Day on 24th of January. Following the 1989 events, the monastery was reopened.

 

The monument is renowned for its embroidery in stone (most of it preserved in its original form) that decorate the outer walls. Thirty different carved stone decoration bands cover the entire outside walls of the church from the base to the top of the steeples; they are inspired from the national old wood carvings and embroideries blended with Asian and Western elements. An impressive threefold twisted cord – a symbol of the Holy Trinity – makes the architectural complex of the church absolutely perfect.

 

This centre of Romanian spirituality was to be the starting point of the Greek Independence War (1821). The first signal for the liberation of Greece was given in the monastery’s premises by Alexander Ypsilanti who read a proclamation (28th of February 1821) stating the objectives of the Filiki Eteria in the war to free the Balkan peoples.

 

Source: The Three Holy Hierarchs Monastery

Core of my heart, my country.

Land of the Canada cold.

For flood and fire and famine,

She pays us back threefold.

 

Look over the thirsty rain clouds,

Watch, and after many days:

The cloudy veil of grayness,

May diminish as you gaze.

 

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Country Walk Series

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