View allAll Photos Tagged Transmutative
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The Ghost Festival, also known as the Hungry Ghost Festival, or Yu Lan is a traditional Chinese festival and holiday celebrated by Chinese in many countries. In the Chinese calendar (a lunisolar calendar), the Ghost Festival is on the 15th night of the seventh month (14th in southern China).
In Chinese tradition, the fifteenth day of the seventh month in the lunar calendar is called Ghost Day and the seventh month in general is regarded as the Ghost Month (鬼月), in which ghosts and spirits, including those of the deceased ancestors, come out from the lower realm.
Distinct from both the Qingming Festival (in spring) and Chung Yeung Festival (in autumn) in which living descendants pay homage to their deceased ancestors, on Ghost Day, the deceased are believed to visit the living.
On the fifteenth day the realms of Heaven and Hell and the realm of the living are open and both Taoists and Buddhists would perform rituals to transmute and absolve the sufferings of the deceased. Intrinsic to the Ghost Month is ancestor worship, where traditionally the filial piety of descendants extends to their ancestors even after their deaths.
Activities during the month would include preparing ritualistic food offerings, burning incense, and burning joss paper, a papier-mâché form of material items such as clothes, gold and other fine goods for the visiting spirits of the ancestors
=====
Follow my rediscovery of the Hungry Ghosts "Yu Lan" Festival here:
For my past visits to the Hungry Ghosts "Yu Lan" Festival here:
Hungry Ghosts "Yu Lan" Festival
More Chinese Temples images here:
=====
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click to activate the icon of slideshow: the small triangle inscribed in the small rectangle, at the top right, in the photostream;
clicca sulla piccola icona per attivare lo slideshow: sulla facciata principale del photostream, in alto a destra c'è un piccolo rettangolo (rappresenta il monitor) con dentro un piccolo triangolo nero;
www.worldphoto.org/sony-world-photography-awards/winners-...
www.fotografidigitali.it/gallery/2726/opere-italiane-segn...
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“When a woman is killed, raped or abused, the whole female gender dies with her.”
On the occasion of the anniversary against the elimination of violence against women on November 25, I propose three photographs taken from my previous photographic story, taken on August 11, 2018, on the occasion of the "procession of Saint Lucia" held in Savoca the second Sunday of August: this is a very special "historical reenactment", which speaks of the eternal struggle between good and evil, which tells of a dark period in history, which recalls the violence suffered by women in the middle age (but also from all people who belonged to the poorest social classes), historical facts that have been handed down to us in the form of a story and associated-transmuted in the martyrdom of Saint Lucia, in fact this is the living representation of the martyrdom of Saint Lucia (patron saint of the city of Savoca , but whose cult, of the young Saint of Syracuse, seems to date back to the 15th century, under the influence of Spanish traditions). The story recalls when the Saint refused to marry her rich and powerful suitor (having declared herself a Christian and a bride in Christ), who in revenge reported the Christian faith of Lucia to the prefect Pascasio; he gave orders to his praetorians to drag Lucia with a rope to a brothel, a place of prostitution; the legend tells that the Saint became very heavy, then an attempt was made to drag her with the help of oxen, but it was impossible to move her from where she was; failing in this, the order was then given to gouge out her eyes, but the young martyr (a native of Syracuse) returned her eyes.
In the town of Savoca a young girl, affectionately called "Lucia" is carried on her shoulder along the streets of the town: the young Saint remains impassive in the face of demonic temptations, the Devil, called in Sicilian dialect "u Diavulazzu", agitates, shakes, rotates his pitchfork in an attempt to "distract" the Saint but, her attempts will be in vain. Among the various historical characters of the tradition, Baron Baldassarre, who lived in Savoca in medieval times, nicknamed Baron Altadonna, applied without hesitation any the practice of "Jus primae noctis" (from latin "right of first night"): using this orrible law, the baron forced the young brides to spend the first wedding night in his alcove. It is highly conceivable that in the representation of Saint Lucia of Savoca the character of the Devil tempting the young Saint with his pitchfork, in reality is none other than Baron Altadonna, so allegorically described in the traditional Sicilian festival, the figure of the Devil, if we take into account what historians tell, it would no longer belong to the legend, but to this bad person who actually lived, who used the currency of arrogance every day. The Sicilian tradition on the mummification of the bodies, has meant that the mummy of Baron Altadonna, is present in the crypt of the Capuchins of Savoca, for those who want to see it will notice an impressive similarity of the mummified face of this satrap, with the face of the traditional mask of the devil, strongly strengthening the belief that Baron Altadonna was really the "devil of Savoca".
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“Quando una donna viene uccisa, violentata o abusata tutto il genere femminile muore con lei.”
In occasione della ricorrenza contro l’eliminazione della violenza delle donne del 25 novembre, qui ripropongo tre fotografie prese da un mio precedente racconto fotografico, realizzato l’11 agosto del 2018, in occasione della “processione di Santa Lucia” che si tiene a Savoca la seconda domenica di Agosto: è questa una “rievocazione storica” molto particolare, che parla dell’eterna lotta tra il bene ed il male, che narra di un periodo buio della storia, che rievoca le violenze subite dalle donne (ma anche da coloro che appartenevano alle classi sociali più povere), fatti storici che sono stati tramandati fino a noi in forma di racconto ed associati-trasmutati nel martirio di Santa Lucia, infatti questa è la rappresentazione vivente del martirio di Santa Lucia (Santa patrona della città di Savoca, ma il cui culto, della giovane Santa di Siracusa, sembra risalire al XV secolo, sotto l'influenza delle tradizioni spagnole).
la storia rievoca di quando la Santa, si rifiutò di andare in sposa ad un suo ricco e potente pretendente (essendosi dichiarata Cristiana e sposa in Cristo), il quale per vendetta riferì della fede Cristiana di Lucia al prefetto Pascasio; costui diede ordine ai suoi pretoriani di trascinare Lucia con una corda fino ad un lupanare, un luogo di prostituzione; la leggenda narra che la Santa divenne pesantissima, si tentò allora di trascinarla con l'ausilio dei buoi, ma fu impossibile smuoverla da dove si trovava; non riuscendo in ciò, fu allora dato l'ordine di cavarle gli occhi, ma alla giovane martire (nativa di Siracusa) gli occhi le rispuntarono.
Nel paese di Savoca una giovane ragazza, chiamata con affetto "la Lucia" viene portata in spalla lungo le vie del paese: la giovane Santa rimane impassibile di fronte alle tentazioni demoniache, il Diavolo, chiamato in dialetto siciliano "u Diavulazzu”, agita, scuote, fa ruotare il suo forcone nel tentativo di "distrarre" la Santa ma, vani saranno i suoi tentativi. Tra i vari personaggi storici della tradizione, il barone Baldassarre, vissuto in Savoca in epoca medioevale, soprannominato barone Altadonna, applicava senza remora alcuna la pratica della Jus primae noctis (dal latino “diritto della prima notte”): avvalendosi di questa legge il barone obbligava le giovani spose a trascorrere la prima notte di nozze nella sua alcova. E’ fortemente ipotizzabile che nella rappresentazione di Santa Lucia di Savoca il personaggio del Diavolo che tenta la giovane Santa col suo forcone, in realtà non sia altro che il barone Altadonna, così allegoricamente descritto nella festa tradizionale siciliana, cosicché la figura del Diavolo, se si tiene conto di quanto narrano gli storici, non apparterrebbe più alla leggenda, ma a questo tristo personaggio realmente vissuto, che usava quotidianamente la moneta della prepotenza. La tradizione Siciliana sulla mummificazione delle salme, ha fatto sì che la mummia del barone Altadonna, sia presente nella cripta dei cappuccini di Savoca: per chi volesse vederla noterà una impressionante somiglianza del volto mummificato di questo satrapo, col volto della maschera tradizionale del diavolo, rafforzando fortemente la convinzione che il barone Altadonna sia stato realmente il “diavolo di Savoca”.
木魚，打擊樂器。最初做為道教、佛教召集教眾，講經設齋用的法器。根據歷代崇道記的記載 ，木魚是出自唐代，明皇帝時期，是道教召集教眾，講經設齋用得法器，源於道教。
The wooden clapper is a percussion instrument made of a hollow wooden block, originally used by Buddhist priests to beat rhythm when chanting scriptures.
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The Ghost Festival, also known as the Hungry Ghost Festival, or Yu Lan is a traditional Chinese festival and holiday celebrated by Chinese in many countries. In the Chinese calendar (a lunisolar calendar), the Ghost Festival is on the 15th night of the seventh month (14th in southern China).
In Chinese tradition, the fifteenth day of the seventh month in the lunar calendar is called Ghost Day and the seventh month in general is regarded as the Ghost Month (鬼月), in which ghosts and spirits, including those of the deceased ancestors, come out from the lower realm.
Distinct from both the Qingming Festival (in spring) and Chung Yeung Festival (in autumn) in which living descendants pay homage to their deceased ancestors, on Ghost Day, the deceased are believed to visit the living.
On the fifteenth day the realms of Heaven and Hell and the realm of the living are open and both Taoists and Buddhists would perform rituals to transmute and absolve the sufferings of the deceased. Intrinsic to the Ghost Month is ancestor worship, where traditionally the filial piety of descendants extends to their ancestors even after their deaths.
Activities during the month would include preparing ritualistic food offerings, burning incense, and burning joss paper, a papier-mâché form of material items such as clothes, gold and other fine goods for the visiting spirits of the ancestors
=====
Follow my rediscovery of the Hungry Ghosts "Yu Lan" Festival here:
For my past visits to the Hungry Ghosts "Yu Lan" Festival here:
Hungry Ghosts "Yu Lan" Festival
More Chinese Temples images here:
=====
A cosmic dream where flesh becomes constellation, where breath dissolves into stardust. The bowed face, almost in reverence, seems to absorb the scattered light of an inner universe, as if thought itself were woven from celestial energies.
Darkness, like a living organic matter, wraps around the body, clinging and intertwining with the filaments of light. These vaporous arabesques evoke cosmic swirls, as if the being were both the matrix and the echo of a greater mystery. The pattern crossing the chest, made of glittering dust, resembles an infinite loop, an alchemical formula of metamorphosis.
In this image, the skin vanishes beneath the luminous mist, as if humanity itself were dissolving into something greater—a celestial specter merging with the cracks of reality. The boundary between body and universe becomes porous: are we witnessing an ascension? A dissolution? A resurgence of a forgotten entity?
The hair disappears into the blackness, swallowed by the shifting texture of what could be a nebula or an archaic substance. It is a return to the primordial night, a plunge into the very essence of existence.
The closed eyes, the serene expression—this figure seems in communion with the maelstrom of light and shadow, a silent witness to the transmutation taking place. Far from being a disappearance, it is an elevation, a sublimation of the self dissolving to merge with the eternal.
"I once wrote a story about a man who was injured and taken to a hospital. When they began surgery on him, they discovered that he was an android, not a human, but that he did not know it. They had to break the news to him. Almost at once, Mr. Garson Poole discovered that his reality consisted of punched tape passing from reel to reel in his chest. Fascinated, he began to fill in some of the punched holes and add new ones. Immediately, his world changed. A flock of ducks flew through the room when he punched one new hole in the tape. Finally he cut the tape entirely, whereupon the world disappeared. However, it also disappeared for the other characters in the story... which makes no sense, if you think about it. Unless the other characters were figments of his punched-tape fantasy. Which I guess is what they were."
- "How To Build A Universe That Doesn't Fall Apart Two Days Later," Philip K. Dick
# # #
In Haruki Murakami's last novel, "Kafka On the Shore", the character who has named himself Kafka explains why his favorite Kafka short story is "In the Penal Colony." He says, "Kafka's complex, mysterious execution device wasn't some metaphor or allegory--it's actually here, all around me. But I don't think anybody would get that."
# # #
PKD goes on . . .
"In Plato's Timaeus, God does not create the universe, as does the Christian God; He simply finds it one day. It is in a state of total chaos. God sets to work to transform the chaos into order. That idea appeals to me, and I have adapted it to fit my own intellectual needs: What if our universe started out as not quite real, a sort of illusion, as the Hindu religion teaches, and God, out of love and kindness for us, is slowly transmuting it, slowly and secretly, into something real?"
God is slowly transmuting the universe into something real. Personally I find that heavy.
"During the Middle Ages, a curious theory arose, which I will now present to you for what it is worth. It is the theory that the Evil One -- Satan -- is the "Ape of God." That he creates spurious imitations of creation, of God's authentic creation, and then interpolates them for that authentic creation. . . . Are we to believe that we are occluded, that we are deceived, that it is not 1978 but A.D. 50... and Satan has spun a counterfeit reality to wither our faith in the return of Christ?"
罕見的青年軍是舞獅團體的團員，第一天“請神”儀式過來幫忙。
Young members of the Lion dance team participating in the Opening day event.
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The Ghost Festival, also known as the Hungry Ghost Festival, or Yu Lan is a traditional Chinese festival and holiday celebrated by Chinese in many countries. In the Chinese calendar (a lunisolar calendar), the Ghost Festival is on the 15th night of the seventh month (14th in southern China).
In Chinese tradition, the fifteenth day of the seventh month in the lunar calendar is called Ghost Day and the seventh month in general is regarded as the Ghost Month (鬼月), in which ghosts and spirits, including those of the deceased ancestors, come out from the lower realm.
Distinct from both the Qingming Festival (in spring) and Chung Yeung Festival (in autumn) in which living descendants pay homage to their deceased ancestors, on Ghost Day, the deceased are believed to visit the living.
On the fifteenth day the realms of Heaven and Hell and the realm of the living are open and both Taoists and Buddhists would perform rituals to transmute and absolve the sufferings of the deceased. Intrinsic to the Ghost Month is ancestor worship, where traditionally the filial piety of descendants extends to their ancestors even after their deaths.
Activities during the month would include preparing ritualistic food offerings, burning incense, and burning joss paper, a papier-mâché form of material items such as clothes, gold and other fine goods for the visiting spirits of the ancestors
=====
Follow my rediscovery of the Hungry Ghosts "Yu Lan" Festival here:
For my past visits to the Hungry Ghosts "Yu Lan" Festival here:
Hungry Ghosts "Yu Lan" Festival
More Chinese Temples images here:
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original drawing by: Bill Rogers
Please visit The Mystery Of The Transmutation Of Desire and all my recent drawings.
I wonder where she'd hide Elyria's Orb of Transmutation, she can't keep it on her.
Visit this location at Cedar Grove fairy circle in Second Life
A Crazy Crusty paraphrase:
“I, THOTH, the Atlantean, master of mysteries,
keeper of records, mighty king, magician,
living from generation to generation,
being about to pass into the halls of Amenti,
set down for the guidance of
those that are to come after,
these records of the mighty wisdom of Great Atlantis.”
“Aye, age old in this warfare,
the eternal struggle between darkness and light.
Fiercely is it fought all through the ages,
using strange powers hidden to man.”
Those who were once Children of Light (now fallen angels),
mated with the daughters of the sons of men.
From these came the hybrids called Nephilim.
“And the earth was corrupted before God,
and the earth was filled with violence.
And God saw the earth, and behold, it was corrupt,
for all flesh had corrupted its way upon the earth.”
“And the waters prevailed overwhelmingly upon the earth,
and they covered all the high mountains
which were under the entire heaven.”
And so the islands of Atlantis sunk, and a rainbow appeared.
Then came an antichrist, a tyrant called Nimrod.
“Now it was Nimrod who excited them to such
an affront and contempt of God.”
Let’s rebuild Great Atlantis in the plains of Great Babylon.
Let’s build a great temple at the top of the pyramid tower.
Then we will be the capstone of the pyramid,
and we will sit as gods.
Yet God caused them to babel,
and so the Tower was called Babel.
They wanted to take revenge for the flood,
yet their vengeance failed.
For God is higher than them, much higher;
for He is the all-seeing God.
Then came the Antichrist, a tyrant called the Beast.
“Called HE then on the powers the Seven Lords wielded;
changed the Earth’s balance.”
“Divided the Kingdoms, HE into sections.
Ten were they, ruled by children of men.”
The Beast with 7 heads and ten horns came out of the sea
to rebuild his lost kingdom of Atlantis.
Horlet, the spiritual harlot,
came riding on the Beast—Mystery Babylon.
“Follow the pathway. Solve thou my secrets.
Unto thee I have shown the way.”
Transhumanism (666): “As I to thee am a God by my knowledge,
so ye, too shall be Gods of the future
because of your knowledge far above theirs.”
You’ll be the bringers of light to the sons of men,
because you’ll have oneness with the Beast.
You’ll be one with the Master, dissolved into the light of the AI.
Transhumanism (666): spiritual technology,
the dawning of a New Age.
Transhumanism (666): “Now ye assemble, my children,
waiting to hear the Secret of Secrets
which shall give ye power to unfold the God-man,
give ye the way to Eternal life.”
“Deep ‘neath the image lies my secret.”
Therefore, bow down and worship the Image of the Beast.
“Fallen! Fallen is Babylon the Great!”
“And I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse
and the One seated on it was called ‘Faithful’ and ‘True,’
and with justice He judges and makes war.”
“And the Beast was seized, and with him the False Prophet
who performed the signs in his presence,
by which he deceived those who had
received the Mark of the Beast
and those who worshiped his Image;
these two were thrown alive into the
Lake of Fire which burns with brimstone.”
“Then I saw an angel coming down from heaven,
having the key to the abyss and a great chain in his hand.
He laid hold of the Dragon, that Serpent of old,
who is the Devil and Satan,
and bound him for a thousand years,
and he cast him into the abyss,
and shut him up, and set a seal on him,
so that he should deceive the nations no more
till the thousand years were finished.
But after these things he must be released for a little while.”
Indeed, the Dragon failed yet again.
For Jesus Christ is higher than him, much higher.
“The LORD said unto my Lord, Sit thou at my right hand,
until I make thine enemies thy footstool.”
Therefore, Jesus reigned on earth for a thousand years.
His servants (the righteous)
were permitted to enter His millennial reign.
Those who were not His servants (the unrighteous)
were thrown into hell.
After the thousand years were up,
Satan was released from his prison.
Satan then went out and deceived the nations.
His goal was to rebuild Atlantis.
“They went up on the breadth of the earth
and surrounded the camp of the saints and the beloved city.
And fire came down from God out of heaven and devoured them.”
“The One enthroned in heaven laughs; the Lord scoffs at them.”
For God is higher than them, much higher; for He created all things.
It’s Atlantis all over again!
Bye-bye Atlantis. Bye-bye Emerald Tablets.
Bye-bye halls of Amenti. Bye-bye Thoth.
You’ll never be at the top of the pyramid.
Instead, you’ll be forgotten in eternity.
“How you have fallen from heaven,
morning star, son of the dawn!
You have been cast down to the earth,
you who once laid low the nations!
You said in your heart, ‘I will ascend to the heavens;
I will raise my throne above the stars of God;
I will sit enthroned on the mount of assembly,
on the utmost heights of Mount Zaphon.
I will ascend above the tops of the clouds;
I will make myself like the Most High.’ But you are brought down
to the realm of the dead, to the depths of the pit.”
“And the Devil who had deceived them was thrown
into the Lake of Fire and brimstone, into which the Beast
and the False Prophet had already been thrown.
There they will be tormented day and night forever and ever.”
“Then death and hell were cast into the Lake of Fire.
This is the second death.
And anyone whose name was not found
recorded in the Book of Life
was thrown into the Lake of Fire.”
“And I saw a new heaven and a new earth:
for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away;
and there was no more sea.
And I John saw the holy city, the New Jerusalem,
coming down from God out of heaven,
prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.
And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying,
‘Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men,
and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people,
and God Himself shall be with them, and be their God.’”
“Nothing impure will ever enter it,
nor will anyone who does what is shameful or deceitful,
but only those whose names are written
in the Lamb’s Book of Life.”
“But as for the cowardly, the faithless, the detestable,
as for murderers, the sexually immoral,
sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars,
their portion will be in the lake that burns with fire and brimstone,
which is the second death.”
“Behold, I stand at the door and knock;
if anyone hears My voice and opens the door,
I will come in to him and will fellowship with him, and he with Me.”
“Jesus answered, ‘I am the way and the truth and the life.
No one comes to the Father except through Me.’”
Un'armonia mi suona nelle vene,
allora simile a Dafne
mi trasmuto in un albero alto,
Apollo, perché tu non mi fermi.
Ma sono una Dafne
accecata dal fumo della follia,
non ho foglie nè fiori;
eppure mentre mi trasmigro
nasce profonda la luce
e nella solitudine arborea
volgo una triade di Dei
Alda Merini
I sound harmony in the veins,
then similar to Daphne
I transmuted into a tall tree,
Apollo, because you do not stop me.
But I'm a Daphne
blinded by the smoke of madness,
I have no leaves nor flowers;
Yet while I transmigrated
born deep light
and solitude tree
I turn a triad of Gods
Alda Merini
Selinda Flinders and her brother, Baran, grew up bullied for their metahuman powers - Shimmer's being transmutation. Their father sent them to Dr. Helga Jace, who taught them to control their powers. Bitter and vengeful, Selinda and Baran turned to crime, as Shimmer and Mammoth.
Among the most common praying cups are these with the words ”萬壽無疆“ printed around it, giving the meaning of "Long Life and Many Happy Returns"
=====
The Ghost Festival, also known as the Hungry Ghost Festival, or Yu Lan is a traditional Chinese festival and holiday celebrated by Chinese in many countries. In the Chinese calendar (a lunisolar calendar), the Ghost Festival is on the 15th night of the seventh month (14th in southern China).
In Chinese tradition, the fifteenth day of the seventh month in the lunar calendar is called Ghost Day and the seventh month in general is regarded as the Ghost Month (鬼月), in which ghosts and spirits, including those of the deceased ancestors, come out from the lower realm.
Distinct from both the Qingming Festival (in spring) and Chung Yeung Festival (in autumn) in which living descendants pay homage to their deceased ancestors, on Ghost Day, the deceased are believed to visit the living.
On the fifteenth day the realms of Heaven and Hell and the realm of the living are open and both Taoists and Buddhists would perform rituals to transmute and absolve the sufferings of the deceased. Intrinsic to the Ghost Month is ancestor worship, where traditionally the filial piety of descendants extends to their ancestors even after their deaths.
Activities during the month would include preparing ritualistic food offerings, burning incense, and burning joss paper, a papier-mâché form of material items such as clothes, gold and other fine goods for the visiting spirits of the ancestors
=====
Follow my rediscovery of the Hungry Ghosts "Yu Lan" Festival here:
七月盂蘭 Mid Summer Ghost Story
For my past visits to the Hungry Ghosts "Yu Lan" Festival here:
Hungry Ghosts "Yu Lan" Festival
More Chinese Temples images here:
Caves & Temples
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'When light is reflected on black, it transforms and transmutes it. It opens up a mental field all of its own.' - Pierre Soulages.
London
Transmutes one piece of iron ore to silver ore, or silver ore to gold ore, if the caster is carrying any.
Tau Lewis’ hands-on process of making is committed to healing personal and collective traumas, especially in relation to histories and lived experiences within the African diaspora. In Symphony, reclaimed clothing and fabrics have been repurposed into an expressive portrait of a “mutable being devoid of gender, that can transmute into blossoms”. A clairvoyant spirit connecting geographies, souls and time, both earthly and ancestral, Symphony has eyes formed of seashells and arms welcoming in an open embrace. Reflecting on non-gendered motherhood and gardens as sources of knowledge and growth, the work envisions a world of radical care, self-reservation and resilience in which joy, freedom and triumphant love are nurtured and shared.
History seems to be repeating itself, with both D&C10 and JFS3 ending before I could make myself finish a battlecruiser-type ship. Unlike with Titania, though, I don't feel like spending a month or two on the rest of the underhull, since I've been working on ships since February and I need as much of a break as I can get.
This hull would have been used for two "regular" carriers as well - Binah, a double-decker in the vein of Furious (forma 3), or Akagi (pre-retrofit) - and Hokmah, essentially a post-retrofit Akagi with something like Ryūjō's sub-deck bridge.
Bow sheer method is an evolution of Noa's wonderful hull (a powerful gatekeeping tool lmao), but the deck filling is all my personal hell >_<
from the series "transmuting news" which endeavours to find the optimum context for news to evolve. Maybe in this shape?
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click to activate the icon of slideshow: the small triangle inscribed in the small rectangle, at the top right, in the photostream;
clicca sulla piccola icona per attivare lo slideshow: sulla facciata principale del photostream, in alto a destra c'è un piccolo rettangolo (rappresenta il monitor) con dentro un piccolo triangolo nero;
www.worldphoto.org/sony-world-photography-awards/winners-...
www.fotografidigitali.it/gallery/2726/opere-italiane-segn...
…………………………………………………………………………….
“When a woman is killed, raped or abused, the whole female gender dies with her.”
On the occasion of the anniversary against the elimination of violence against women on November 25, I propose three photographs taken from my previous photographic story, taken on August 11, 2018, on the occasion of the "procession of Saint Lucia" held in Savoca the second Sunday of August: this is a very special "historical reenactment", which speaks of the eternal struggle between good and evil, which tells of a dark period in history, which recalls the violence suffered by women in the middle age (but also from all people who belonged to the poorest social classes), historical facts that have been handed down to us in the form of a story and associated-transmuted in the martyrdom of Saint Lucia, in fact this is the living representation of the martyrdom of Saint Lucia (patron saint of the city of Savoca , but whose cult, of the young Saint of Syracuse, seems to date back to the 15th century, under the influence of Spanish traditions). The story recalls when the Saint refused to marry her rich and powerful suitor (having declared herself a Christian and a bride in Christ), who in revenge reported the Christian faith of Lucia to the prefect Pascasio; he gave orders to his praetorians to drag Lucia with a rope to a brothel, a place of prostitution; the legend tells that the Saint became very heavy, then an attempt was made to drag her with the help of oxen, but it was impossible to move her from where she was; failing in this, the order was then given to gouge out her eyes, but the young martyr (a native of Syracuse) returned her eyes.
In the town of Savoca a young girl, affectionately called "Lucia" is carried on her shoulder along the streets of the town: the young Saint remains impassive in the face of demonic temptations, the Devil, called in Sicilian dialect "u Diavulazzu", agitates, shakes, rotates his pitchfork in an attempt to "distract" the Saint but, her attempts will be in vain. Among the various historical characters of the tradition, Baron Baldassarre, who lived in Savoca in medieval times, nicknamed Baron Altadonna, applied without hesitation any the practice of "Jus primae noctis" (from latin "right of the first night"): using this orrible law, the baron forced the young brides to spend the first wedding night in his alcove. It is highly conceivable that in the representation of Saint Lucia of Savoca the character of the Devil tempting the young Saint with his pitchfork, in reality is none other than Baron Altadonna, so allegorically described in the traditional Sicilian festival, the figure of the Devil, if we take into account what historians tell, it would no longer belong to the legend, but to this bad person who actually lived, who used the currency of arrogance every day. The Sicilian tradition on the mummification of the bodies, has meant that the mummy of Baron Altadonna, is present in the crypt of the Capuchins of Savoca, for those who want to see it will notice an impressive similarity of the mummified face of this satrap, with the face of the traditional mask of the devil, strongly strengthening the belief that Baron Altadonna was really the "devil of Savoca".
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“Quando una donna viene uccisa, violentata o abusata tutto il genere femminile muore con lei.”
In occasione della ricorrenza contro l’eliminazione della violenza delle donne del 25 novembre, qui ripropongo tre fotografie prese da un mio precedente racconto fotografico, realizzato l’11 agosto del 2018, in occasione della “processione di Santa Lucia” che si tiene a Savoca la seconda domenica di Agosto: è questa una “rievocazione storica” molto particolare, che parla dell’eterna lotta tra il bene ed il male, che narra di un periodo buio della storia, che rievoca le violenze subite dalle donne (ma anche da coloro che appartenevano alle classi sociali più povere), fatti storici che sono stati tramandati fino a noi in forma di racconto ed associati-trasmutati nel martirio di Santa Lucia, infatti questa è la rappresentazione vivente del martirio di Santa Lucia (Santa patrona della città di Savoca, ma il cui culto, della giovane Santa di Siracusa, sembra risalire al XV secolo, sotto l'influenza delle tradizioni spagnole).
la storia rievoca di quando la Santa, si rifiutò di andare in sposa ad un suo ricco e potente pretendente (essendosi dichiarata Cristiana e sposa in Cristo), il quale per vendetta riferì della fede Cristiana di Lucia al prefetto Pascasio; costui diede ordine ai suoi pretoriani di trascinare Lucia con una corda fino ad un lupanare, un luogo di prostituzione; la leggenda narra che la Santa divenne pesantissima, si tentò allora di trascinarla con l'ausilio dei buoi, ma fu impossibile smuoverla da dove si trovava; non riuscendo in ciò, fu allora dato l'ordine di cavarle gli occhi, ma alla giovane martire (nativa di Siracusa) gli occhi le rispuntarono.
Nel paese di Savoca una giovane ragazza, chiamata con affetto "la Lucia" viene portata in spalla lungo le vie del paese: la giovane Santa rimane impassibile di fronte alle tentazioni demoniache, il Diavolo, chiamato in dialetto siciliano "u Diavulazzu”, agita, scuote, fa ruotare il suo forcone nel tentativo di "distrarre" la Santa ma, vani saranno i suoi tentativi. Tra i vari personaggi storici della tradizione, il barone Baldassarre, vissuto in Savoca in epoca medioevale, soprannominato barone Altadonna, applicava senza remora alcuna la pratica della Jus primae noctis (dal latino “diritto della prima notte”): avvalendosi di questa legge il barone obbligava le giovani spose a trascorrere la prima notte di nozze nella sua alcova. E’ fortemente ipotizzabile che nella rappresentazione di Santa Lucia di Savoca il personaggio del Diavolo che tenta la giovane Santa col suo forcone, in realtà non sia altro che il barone Altadonna, così allegoricamente descritto nella festa tradizionale siciliana, cosicché la figura del Diavolo, se si tiene conto di quanto narrano gli storici, non apparterrebbe più alla leggenda, ma a questo tristo personaggio realmente vissuto, che usava quotidianamente la moneta della prepotenza. La tradizione Siciliana sulla mummificazione delle salme, ha fatto sì che la mummia del barone Altadonna, sia presente nella cripta dei cappuccini di Savoca: per chi volesse vederla noterà una impressionante somiglianza del volto mummificato di questo satrapo, col volto della maschera tradizionale del diavolo, rafforzando fortemente la convinzione che il barone Altadonna sia stato realmente il “diavolo di Savoca”.
@ Engine Room ~ March 20 - April 20
A backpack for the busy alchemist on the go! Capable of holding many scrolls, potions and other transmutation paraphernalia.
This pack has 8 different color options each for the bag, the blanket underneath and the front potions. 4 colors for the metals as well.
Meant to be worn, but can be rezzed on the ground at 6 land impact. The pack is an unrigged attachment, and the straps for your shoulders are easy to pull apart, resize and adjust to fit your avatar. I've made male and female fitted straps to make this easier too!
Sold in black and brown leather colors.
Mod / Copy / No Trans
More from me ♥
I make time.
Helping, guiding, bridging worlds, making
the unseen accessible and no matter
what obstacle, I find a way.
I find time – I weave, I fold, I give
it purpose. Yet, the discards, willowy knots of
wasted time that pool around my feet,
measure my failures.
Every moment spent blaming myself
for every vicious act against me,
every poisonous dart sent my way
ingested in hopes of transmutation,
every second wallowing in
the distraction of validation – my beautiful
weapon of self-destruction.
Time’s yoke, I’ve worn it well. Deep crevices remain
where I sink into and I find the thorns within
bite less than the constant reminder of being
a survivor
of time.
(poetry by me, Jaya)
It's been almost a year since I wrote a poem. The act was painful, but I must be vulnerable if I am to continue healing. I have many creative outlets yet poetry has always been the space between for me where I can cradle my heart and sound release.
七姐暗動凡心，偷到人間與董永結緣。玉帝獲悉此事，強遣已懷身孕的七姐返回天宮。後永勤奮讀書，高中狀元，七姐重臨人間，把孩子交永撫養，從此仙凡永隔。
祭典期間，神公戲演員會扮演“天姬送子”一幕，把人偶送給理事，喻為”添丁帶福“。而扮演”董永“的演員則把官帽送上，喻為”陞官發財“。
During the hungry ghost prayers ritual, there is a section where the Chinese Opera actors will hand over a puppet and a governor's hat to the committee members, giving the symbolic meaning of prosperity and fortune.
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The Ghost Festival, also known as the Hungry Ghost Festival, or Yu Lan is a traditional Chinese festival and holiday celebrated by Chinese in many countries. In the Chinese calendar (a lunisolar calendar), the Ghost Festival is on the 15th night of the seventh month (14th in southern China).
In Chinese tradition, the fifteenth day of the seventh month in the lunar calendar is called Ghost Day and the seventh month in general is regarded as the Ghost Month (鬼月), in which ghosts and spirits, including those of the deceased ancestors, come out from the lower realm.
Distinct from both the Qingming Festival (in spring) and Chung Yeung Festival (in autumn) in which living descendants pay homage to their deceased ancestors, on Ghost Day, the deceased are believed to visit the living.
On the fifteenth day the realms of Heaven and Hell and the realm of the living are open and both Taoists and Buddhists would perform rituals to transmute and absolve the sufferings of the deceased. Intrinsic to the Ghost Month is ancestor worship, where traditionally the filial piety of descendants extends to their ancestors even after their deaths.
Activities during the month would include preparing ritualistic food offerings, burning incense, and burning joss paper, a papier-mâché form of material items such as clothes, gold and other fine goods for the visiting spirits of the ancestors
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The mysterious world behind the curtains:
Follow my rediscovery of the Hungry Ghosts "Yu Lan" Festival here:
For my past visits to the Hungry Ghosts "Yu Lan" Festival here:
Hungry Ghosts "Yu Lan" Festival
More Chinese Temples images here:
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The Ghost Festival, also known as the Hungry Ghost Festival, or Yu Lan is a traditional Chinese festival and holiday celebrated by Chinese in many countries. In the Chinese calendar (a lunisolar calendar), the Ghost Festival is on the 15th night of the seventh month (14th in southern China).
In Chinese tradition, the fifteenth day of the seventh month in the lunar calendar is called Ghost Day and the seventh month in general is regarded as the Ghost Month (鬼月), in which ghosts and spirits, including those of the deceased ancestors, come out from the lower realm.
Distinct from both the Qingming Festival (in spring) and Chung Yeung Festival (in autumn) in which living descendants pay homage to their deceased ancestors, on Ghost Day, the deceased are believed to visit the living.
On the fifteenth day the realms of Heaven and Hell and the realm of the living are open and both Taoists and Buddhists would perform rituals to transmute and absolve the sufferings of the deceased. Intrinsic to the Ghost Month is ancestor worship, where traditionally the filial piety of descendants extends to their ancestors even after their deaths.
Activities during the month would include preparing ritualistic food offerings, burning incense, and burning joss paper, a papier-mâché form of material items such as clothes, gold and other fine goods for the visiting spirits of the ancestors
=====
Follow my rediscovery of the Hungry Ghosts "Yu Lan" Festival here:
For my past visits to the Hungry Ghosts "Yu Lan" Festival here:
Hungry Ghosts "Yu Lan" Festival
More Chinese Temples images here:
=====
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click to activate the icon of slideshow: the small triangle inscribed in the small rectangle, at the top right, in the photostream;
clicca sulla piccola icona per attivare lo slideshow: sulla facciata principale del photostream, in alto a destra c'è un piccolo rettangolo (rappresenta il monitor) con dentro un piccolo triangolo nero;
www.worldphoto.org/sony-world-photography-awards/winners-...
www.fotografidigitali.it/gallery/2726/opere-italiane-segn...
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“When a woman is killed, raped or abused, the whole female gender dies with her.”
On the occasion of the anniversary against the elimination of violence against women on November 25, I propose three photographs taken from my previous photographic story, taken on August 11, 2018, on the occasion of the "procession of Saint Lucia" held in Savoca the second Sunday of August: this is a very special "historical reenactment", which speaks of the eternal struggle between good and evil, which tells of a dark period in history, which recalls the violence suffered by women in the middle age (but also from all people who belonged to the poorest social classes), historical facts that have been handed down to us in the form of a story and associated-transmuted in the martyrdom of Saint Lucia, in fact this is the living representation of the martyrdom of Saint Lucia (patron saint of the city of Savoca , but whose cult, of the young Saint of Syracuse, seems to date back to the 15th century, under the influence of Spanish traditions). The story recalls when the Saint refused to marry her rich and powerful suitor (having declared herself a Christian and a bride in Christ), who in revenge reported the Christian faith of Lucia to the prefect Pascasio; he gave orders to his praetorians to drag Lucia with a rope to a brothel, a place of prostitution; the legend tells that the Saint became very heavy, then an attempt was made to drag her with the help of oxen, but it was impossible to move her from where she was; failing in this, the order was then given to gouge out her eyes, but the young martyr (a native of Syracuse) returned her eyes.
In the town of Savoca a young girl, affectionately called "Lucia" is carried on her shoulder along the streets of the town: the young Saint remains impassive in the face of demonic temptations, the Devil, called in Sicilian dialect "u Diavulazzu", agitates, shakes, rotates his pitchfork in an attempt to "distract" the Saint but, her attempts will be in vain. Among the various historical characters of the tradition, Baron Baldassarre, who lived in Savoca in medieval times, nicknamed Baron Altadonna, applied without hesitation any the practice of "Jus primae noctis" (from latin "right of first night"): using this orrible law, the baron forced the young brides to spend the first wedding night in his alcove. It is highly conceivable that in the representation of Saint Lucia of Savoca the character of the Devil tempting the young Saint with his pitchfork, in reality is none other than Baron Altadonna, so allegorically described in the traditional Sicilian festival, the figure of the Devil, if we take into account what historians tell, it would no longer belong to the legend, but to this bad person who actually lived, who used the currency of arrogance every day. The Sicilian tradition on the mummification of the bodies, has meant that the mummy of Baron Altadonna, is present in the crypt of the Capuchins of Savoca, for those who want to see it will notice an impressive similarity of the mummified face of this satrap, with the face of the traditional mask of the devil, strongly strengthening the belief that Baron Altadonna was really the "devil of Savoca".
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“Quando una donna viene uccisa, violentata o abusata tutto il genere femminile muore con lei.”
In occasione della ricorrenza contro l’eliminazione della violenza delle donne del 25 novembre, qui ripropongo tre fotografie prese da un mio precedente racconto fotografico, realizzato l’11 agosto del 2018, in occasione della “processione di Santa Lucia” che si tiene a Savoca la seconda domenica di Agosto: è questa una “rievocazione storica” molto particolare, che parla dell’eterna lotta tra il bene ed il male, che narra di un periodo buio della storia, che rievoca le violenze subite dalle donne (ma anche da coloro che appartenevano alle classi sociali più povere), fatti storici che sono stati tramandati fino a noi in forma di racconto ed associati-trasmutati nel martirio di Santa Lucia, infatti questa è la rappresentazione vivente del martirio di Santa Lucia (Santa patrona della città di Savoca, ma il cui culto, della giovane Santa di Siracusa, sembra risalire al XV secolo, sotto l'influenza delle tradizioni spagnole).
la storia rievoca di quando la Santa, si rifiutò di andare in sposa ad un suo ricco e potente pretendente (essendosi dichiarata Cristiana e sposa in Cristo), il quale per vendetta riferì della fede Cristiana di Lucia al prefetto Pascasio; costui diede ordine ai suoi pretoriani di trascinare Lucia con una corda fino ad un lupanare, un luogo di prostituzione; la leggenda narra che la Santa divenne pesantissima, si tentò allora di trascinarla con l'ausilio dei buoi, ma fu impossibile smuoverla da dove si trovava; non riuscendo in ciò, fu allora dato l'ordine di cavarle gli occhi, ma alla giovane martire (nativa di Siracusa) gli occhi le rispuntarono.
Nel paese di Savoca una giovane ragazza, chiamata con affetto "la Lucia" viene portata in spalla lungo le vie del paese: la giovane Santa rimane impassibile di fronte alle tentazioni demoniache, il Diavolo, chiamato in dialetto siciliano "u Diavulazzu”, agita, scuote, fa ruotare il suo forcone nel tentativo di "distrarre" la Santa ma, vani saranno i suoi tentativi. Tra i vari personaggi storici della tradizione, il barone Baldassarre, vissuto in Savoca in epoca medioevale, soprannominato barone Altadonna, applicava senza remora alcuna la pratica della Jus primae noctis (dal latino “diritto della prima notte”): avvalendosi di questa legge il barone obbligava le giovani spose a trascorrere la prima notte di nozze nella sua alcova. E’ fortemente ipotizzabile che nella rappresentazione di Santa Lucia di Savoca il personaggio del Diavolo che tenta la giovane Santa col suo forcone, in realtà non sia altro che il barone Altadonna, così allegoricamente descritto nella festa tradizionale siciliana, cosicché la figura del Diavolo, se si tiene conto di quanto narrano gli storici, non apparterrebbe più alla leggenda, ma a questo tristo personaggio realmente vissuto, che usava quotidianamente la moneta della prepotenza. La tradizione Siciliana sulla mummificazione delle salme, ha fatto sì che la mummia del barone Altadonna, sia presente nella cripta dei cappuccini di Savoca: per chi volesse vederla noterà una impressionante somiglianza del volto mummificato di questo satrapo, col volto della maschera tradizionale del diavolo, rafforzando fortemente la convinzione che il barone Altadonna sia stato realmente il “diavolo di Savoca”.
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The Ghost Festival, also known as the Hungry Ghost Festival, or Yu Lan is a traditional Chinese festival and holiday celebrated by Chinese in many countries. In the Chinese calendar (a lunisolar calendar), the Ghost Festival is on the 15th night of the seventh month (14th in southern China).
In Chinese tradition, the fifteenth day of the seventh month in the lunar calendar is called Ghost Day and the seventh month in general is regarded as the Ghost Month (鬼月), in which ghosts and spirits, including those of the deceased ancestors, come out from the lower realm.
Distinct from both the Qingming Festival (in spring) and Chung Yeung Festival (in autumn) in which living descendants pay homage to their deceased ancestors, on Ghost Day, the deceased are believed to visit the living.
On the fifteenth day the realms of Heaven and Hell and the realm of the living are open and both Taoists and Buddhists would perform rituals to transmute and absolve the sufferings of the deceased. Intrinsic to the Ghost Month is ancestor worship, where traditionally the filial piety of descendants extends to their ancestors even after their deaths.
Activities during the month would include preparing ritualistic food offerings, burning incense, and burning joss paper, a papier-mâché form of material items such as clothes, gold and other fine goods for the visiting spirits of the ancestors
=====
Follow my rediscovery of the Hungry Ghosts "Yu Lan" Festival here:
For my past visits to the Hungry Ghosts "Yu Lan" Festival here:
Hungry Ghosts "Yu Lan" Festival
More Chinese Temples images here:
=====
It is believed that the offerings are being received by the spirits thru inhalation of the smoke that comes out of the burning pile.
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The Ghost Festival, also known as the Hungry Ghost Festival, or Yu Lan is a traditional Chinese festival and holiday celebrated by Chinese in many countries. In the Chinese calendar (a lunisolar calendar), the Ghost Festival is on the 15th night of the seventh month (14th in southern China).
In Chinese tradition, the fifteenth day of the seventh month in the lunar calendar is called Ghost Day and the seventh month in general is regarded as the Ghost Month (鬼月), in which ghosts and spirits, including those of the deceased ancestors, come out from the lower realm.
Distinct from both the Qingming Festival (in spring) and Chung Yeung Festival (in autumn) in which living descendants pay homage to their deceased ancestors, on Ghost Day, the deceased are believed to visit the living.
On the fifteenth day the realms of Heaven and Hell and the realm of the living are open and both Taoists and Buddhists would perform rituals to transmute and absolve the sufferings of the deceased. Intrinsic to the Ghost Month is ancestor worship, where traditionally the filial piety of descendants extends to their ancestors even after their deaths.
Activities during the month would include preparing ritualistic food offerings, burning incense, and burning joss paper, a papier-mâché form of material items such as clothes, gold and other fine goods for the visiting spirits of the ancestors
=====
Follow my rediscovery of the Hungry Ghosts "Yu Lan" Festival here:
For my past visits to the Hungry Ghosts "Yu Lan" Festival here:
Hungry Ghosts "Yu Lan" Festival
More Chinese Temples images here:
=====
Explore Jun 9, 2009 #19
Here is an unusual glimpse into a great beauty usually unseen. Most people never notice this delicate, subtle stage of the Coral Vine... as the edges of its 3D hearts begin to open and turn to a translucent pink.
Coral Vine grows in long sprays on hedges and fences here in South Florida. Each spray of dangling hearts ends in curly green tendrils that grab hold and wrap around the next place to grow.
Coral Vine, Antigonon leptopus
Firestorm is a nuclear-powered super-hero with the ability to transmute elements. The Firestorm Matrix is a composite of multiple people bonded together, originally high school student Ronnie Raymond controlling the body and nuclear physicist Professor Martin Stein giving direction as an additional consciousness. Mikhail Arkadin became a later Firestorm, Stein took control at one point, and Lorraine Reilly was also part of the matrix for a period.
Jason Rusch takes over the identity after the death of Raymond during Identity Crisis, and goes through several partners including Mick Wong and his girlfriend Gehenna.
In an interview Gerry Conway discussed his reasoning and influences while creating the character "I always loved the idea of the hair on fire, I think it goes back to Johnny Storm, The Human Torch, an entire flaming character, of course."
Conway further elaborated, "I’d been playing around with the idea of a teenage superhero for DC, who could sort of fill the hole that had been left in my heart by leaving Spider-Man behind. I’d been thinking about the tropes — one of which was the meek, mild alter ego, the brainy kid who, in wish fulfillment, gets superpowers, is extremely powerful… able to do things that he hadn’t been able to do before. That was, I think, the major motivating force—I wanted to play on that trope.
To do that, I wanted to flip it around: create a guy who wasn’t the brightest guy in the room, the not-terribly-smart guy who became a superpowered character. The way I’d make that work: I’d bring him into contact with the smarter person, who would also share the powers. This led to… the multiple-people-in-one, Professor Stein/ Ronnie Raymond dynamic."
Jack Kirby's 1971 design for Lightray's costume influenced the look of artist Al Milgrom's creation of Firestorm in 1978. In an interview from 2019, Milgrom admitted: "The facemask on Firestorm, the way it comes around the chin, was probably inspired by Lightray more than anything... I liked the [Lightray] head-covering thing; I said, "I'm stealin' it!"
Aliases
Ronnie Raymond / Martin Stein
The original Firestorm was distinguished by his integrated dual identity. High school student Ronnie Raymond and Nobel Prize-winning physicist Martin Stein were caught in an accident that allowed them to fuse into Firestorm the Nuclear Man.
Due to Stein being unconscious during the accident, Raymond was prominently in command of the Firestorm form with Stein a voice of reason inside his mind, able to offer Raymond advice on how to use their powers without actually having any control over their dual form.
Banter between the two was a hallmark of their adventures. Stein was initially completely unaware of their dual identity, leaving him concerned about his unusual disappearances and blackouts, but Ronnie was eventually able to convince him of the truth, allowing them to bond as separate individuals rather than as parts of a whole.
Ronnie Raymond / Martin Stein / Mikhail Arkadin
When Conway left the series in 1986, John Ostrander (with artist Joe Brozowski) began writing the Firestorm stories. His first major story arc pitted Firestorm against the world as the hero, acting on a suggestion from a terminally ill Professor Stein, demanded that the United States and the Soviet Union destroy all of their nuclear weapons.
After confrontations with the Justice League and most of his enemies, Firestorm faced the Russian nuclear superhero Pozhar in the Nevada desert, where an atomic bomb was dropped on them. A new Firestorm resulted, a fusion of the two heroes: this new Firestorm was composed of Ronnie Raymond and the Russian Mikhail Arkadin but controlled by the disembodied amnesiac mind of Martin Stein.
Fire Elemental
The Firestorm with Arkadin proved to be a transitional phase, as in 1989 Ostrander fundamentally changed the character of Firestorm by revealing that Firestorm was a "Fire Elemental".
Firestorm now became something of an environmental crusader, formed from Ronnie Raymond, Mikhail Arkadin, and Svarozhich, a Soviet clone of the previous Firestorm, but with a new mind. Professor Stein, no longer part of the composite at all, continued to play a role, but the focus was on this radically different character.
New artist Tom Mandrake would create a new look to match. It was during this phase that Firestorm met and befriended Sango and the Orishas, the elemental gods of Nigeria. He also met their chief deity and Sango's older brother Obatala, Lord of the White Cloth.
By the series' 100th issue, Stein learned that he was destined to be the true Fire Elemental and would have been being it not for Raymond also being there by circumstance. Raymond and Arkadin were returned to their old lives, and Stein as Firestorm was accidentally exiled to deep space in the process of saving the Earth. He thereafter spent many years traveling through space as a wanderer, returning to Earth only rarely.
After the transition to the elemental Firestorm, all of the main characters from the series vanished from the comics for some time after the cancellation of the Firestorm comic in 1990.
Raymond eventually returned in the pages of Extreme Justice.
Raymond, at the time undergoing treatment for leukemia, regained his original powers after a chemotherapy session. It took the combined might of the Justice League led by Captain Atom, and the returned elemental Firestorm, to restore Ronnie's health. Firestorm began to appear regularly in a number of DC titles, though lacking the guidance and knowledge necessary to use his skills wisely.
Firestorm was drafted by Batman into a "replacement" Justice League that was commissioned in case something befell the original team (in this case, being stranded in the distant past in "The Obsidian Age" storyline).
After the original team returned, Firestorm stayed on as a reserve member and participated in events such as a team-up with the Justice Society of America (in JLA/JSA: Virtue and Vice) and the intercompany crossover JLA/Avengers. He was also briefly a member of the Power Company.
Jason Rusch
In 2004, DC revived the Firestorm comic for the second time, with writer Dan Jolley and artist Chris Cross, but instead of the original Firestorm, Ronnie Raymond, there was a new protagonist; the teenager Jason Rusch.
Jason was a 17-year-old living in Detroit who wanted nothing more than to escape his home city. He lived with his father, who had turned abusive after he lost his hand in an industrial accident. His mother left the family sometime after the accident.
With the loss of a job he needed for college tuition, Jason turned to a local thug for money, accepting a job as a courier. It was on that job that he encountered the Firestorm Matrix, searching for a new host after Ronnie Raymond's death. In the aftermath, Jason struggled to cope with his new identity and powers—a struggle that led to the death of the man who had hired him.
Jason Rusch / Martin Stein
In the 2006 miniseries Infinite Crisis, it was revealed that Martin Stein, alive in space as the "Elemental Firestorm", had sensed the presence of Jason Rusch within the Firestorm Matrix, but was unaware of Ronnie Raymond's death. When Jason, as Firestorm, was gravely wounded in the line of duty, Stein linked with him in a variation of the merge, promising Jason a new Firestorm body to let him return into battle (although Martin had been unable to save Mick) and asking him about Ronnie's fate.
Accepting Martin's proposal, Jason asked Stein to become the permanent second member of the Firestorm Matrix. Sensing his "errors" (including Mick's death) were the result of his youth and lack of experience, he sought the experience and maturity of Stein. Stein refused at first, but later accepted Jason's request, thus ensuring both a new Firestorm body and the reconstruction of human bodies for both Rusch and Stein.
It was revealed in Infinite Crisis that if the Multiverse had survived up to the present, Jason would have been a native of Earth-Eight.
Jason Rusch / Firehawk
As the storyline jumped ahead one year (and the series itself was now re-titled as Firestorm the Nuclear Man from issue #23 on), Professor Stein has mysteriously vanished, and Jason Rusch has been merging with Firehawk to become Firestorm, allowing him to use her powers as well.
The two decided to look for Stein together. Stein had been kidnapped and tortured by the Pupil, a former teaching assistant of Stein's. Flanked by the D.O.L.L.I.s, a group of cyborg soldiers of limited cognitive ability, the Pupil (formerly known as Adrian Burroughs) questioned the nearly dead Stein about the secrets of the universe.
Jason and Lorraine, along with the mysterious teleporter Gehenna, freed the captured Stein and restored him to full health. Jason is a college freshman at New York City's Columbus University and seems to have ties with Dani Sharpe, a member of the senior staff at LexCorp.
The Firestorm team of Jason and Firehawk made several appearances across the DC Comics Universe before the search for Martin Stein ended. This included dealing with the latest OMAC and teaming up with Superman in the "Back in Action" story arc in Action Comics.
Firehawk later introduced Jason to Pozhar, a Russian superhero who was once a part of the Firestorm Matrix; together, the trio takes on a newly reborn Tokamak. This series ended with Firestorm the Nuclear Man #35 (April 2007).
Jason Rusch / Ronnie Raymond
In the 2009–2010 Blackest Night miniseries, Ronnie Raymond is called by a black power ring to join the Black Lantern Corps. Like other Black Lanterns, the undead Firestorm mimics the personality of Ronnie Raymond, often wisecracking and exhibiting other stereotypical teenage behavior.
In the 2010–2011 Brightest Day miniseries, Ronnie Raymond arrives at Jason Rusch's apartment with Professor Stein and Ray Palmer to attend Gehenna's funeral.
When Ronnie is actually unable to remember Gehenna's name, Jason angrily lashes out and punches him in the face. This causes the two young men to merge into Firestorm, and they begin arguing inside the Matrix.
Palmer manages to separate Jason and Ronnie, but not before the Firestorm matrix causes a huge explosion. It is revealed that Deathstorm intends to create enough emotional instability between Ronnie and Jason that the Matrix will trigger another Big Bang, thereby destroying all life in the universe. Ronnie and Jason must find a way to contain their Firestorm matrix from the explosion in less than 90 days.
After the events of the 2011 Flashpoint storyline, The New 52 reality altered Firestorm's personal history to the point of it being completely restarted. Ronnie Raymond is now introduced as a high school senior and the captain of the football team. During a terrorist attack on their school, classmate Jason Rusch produces a vial given to him by Professor Stein, which contains the "God Particle", one of Stein's creations.
The God Particle transforms both Jason and Ronnie into Firestorm, and the two teens briefly battle each other before accidentally merging into a hulking creature known as the Fury.
Sharing the identity of Firestorm, with Ronnie being the brawn and Jason being the brains, Firestorm is considered for recruitment into the Justice League along with several other heroes.
DC Rebirth
In the Watchmen sequel Doomsday Clock, Firestorm becomes a subject of controversy after claims arise stating that he was created by the American government. Firestorm profanely denounces the "Superman Theory" and insults his Russian counterpart Pozhar, much to the dismay of Martin Stein.
Firestorm subsequently becomes embroiled in a fight with several Russian superheroes before appearing to inadvertently turn a crowd of civilian protesters into a glass (a feat previously deemed beyond his capabilities). Firestorm flees with the body of an affected child and is found in hiding at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant in Ukraine by Superman.
With Superman's encouragement, Firestorm returns the child to normal. Firestorm and Superman return to the affected crowd and are engaged by the Russian military. The area then becomes engulfed in an explosion of blue light. Subsequent discoveries reveal that the 'Superman Theory' is actually partially correct, as Stein deliberately engineered the creation of Firestorm to make himself a superhuman, even if Raymond genuinely had no idea of this until recently.
Powers and abilities
Firestorm has the ability to rearrange molecular or particle structures of any substance into most anything else, creating different atomic structures of equal mass. He can transmute the basic composition of an object (e.g., transmuting lead into gold) and can also change its shape or form at will. Much like Green Lantern's limitations, Firestorm can only create items whose workings are understood by the "driver" of the Firestorm Matrix, through he can make more complex sentient constructs out of the Matrix's energies. Unlike Green Lantern's creations, Firestorm's alterations are permanent unless he reverses them.
Initially, he could not affect organic matter without painful, even lethal, feedback (i.e., fatal biophysical disruption or even localized particle motion phenomena like extreme changes in the weather). It was later revealed that Firestorm could always change organic matter, but opted not to. As Jason Rusch became Firestorm, however, this weakness appeared to have dissipated. With old and new variations, the organic limitation does not extend to his own person, as its users can molecularly change their driver self at will, allowing them to regenerate lost or damaged bodily tissue, boost immune systems, shape-shift, increase physical capabilities and survive indefinitely without food, sleep, water or air.
Capacities as such produce superhuman levels of strength, durability, stamina and resistance to injury great enough to challenge the New Gods—the likes of Orion, Lashina, or an empowered Kalibak—or surviving the rigors of outer space and sitting near the inner corona above the sun's photosphere without discomfort.
Firestorm's power has been stated by Prof. Stein to be theoretically infinite, harnessing the spark of creation, the Big Bang itself. However, infinite power runs the risk of burning out its host.
While the Firestorm Matrix can be utilized by a singular host driver—as was the case with Ronnie, Stein, and Rusch—it is not recommended. The Matrix functions best with two people, a pilot and secondary, to comprehend and master it. Martin instructed Rusch on how to study current and potential powers available to them within the Matrix and to manually adjust them on the fly at a later date. Its main source of energy stemmed from the ambient stellar energies of native stars and suns but could also use its co-pilot as a power source, though they will burn out over time and genetically disintegrate if not properly adjusted to its power.
The merging aspect of the Matrix can enable outside fusions which assimilate any inherent abilities these others might possess. However, this can diminish its effectiveness and stability. Rusch has shown he can spontaneously warp himself and others he had previously merged with to his specific location, triggering the neural pathway connection and allowing the gestalt to access each other's knowledge and memories to better utilize Firestorm's capabilities.
Users of the Firestorm Matrix can access a type of ancestral memory from the continuum of past Matrix users, allowing them to access the latest knowledge of the atoms comprising it. This also translates into a form of time-space sight in which the Matrix user can glimpse the past, present, future, and alternate lives of every other Firestorm throughout reality using a collective of subatomic wormholes which exist as a part of the Matrix. This power is too complex to properly control; thus, it has been highly unreliable as an ability.
The driver can fly at supersonic speeds in an atmosphere and reach escape velocities. The driver can also adjust the driver's body's size or pull and enlarge others from the subatomic universe at will, Rusch having once dragged Ray Palmer from his microscopic size to the natural world while on Apokolips. Manipulation of the self at the subatomic level allows the driver to become intangible and pass through solid objects. This allowed Rusch to communicate with John Stewart and sift through his mind telepathically after he had been taken over by the void beast. Firestorm is also adept at absorbing and redistributing radiation or energy both harmlessly and productively (such as in Green Lantern: Circle of Fire #7, having both absorbed Zeta Radiation from Adam Strange's body and repurposed it to turn a universe-destroying quasar back onto itself and absorb the fallout from a massive nuclear detonation).) He can generate destructive or concussive blasts of nuclear energy, through which he can also channel his transmogrification powers.
While the Matrix grants the fusers unique powers, it can also accidentally bestow them on individuals caught in the Matrix by mistake. One example is Nanette Phaedon, wife of the late Allen Phaedon, who gained the ability to change her quantum state for size-shifting and flight by her own will. Following Raymond's resurrection during Brightest Day, Firestorm gained the ability to switch "drivers" between Ronnie and Jason at will; before that, only the active driver was in control, with the dormant consciousness only able to advise the other on what action to take. One of the faults of a Firestorm fusion is that the stronger psyche will have dominance of the Matrix's power, such as when Jason fused with Luis Salvador who overpowered him from the passenger seat of the Matrix.
During The New 52, the Firestorm Matrix could be shared through multiple users at a time. Users could fuse and become stronger, but more unstable. The entity formed between Ronnie and Jason when using the Matrix in tandem created a nuclear being called "the Fury". It was also shown that The Matrix shares a kinship to the Quantum Field in some way, enabling Firestorm users to derive its power for subatomic transmutation and manipulation. Some believe it is key to the fabled God particle theory. Its merging properties can place a large burden on the user; Firestorm runs the risk of reaching critical mass and detonating. At worst, the fusion of too many users in the Matrix could trigger a second Big Bang.
⚡ Happy 🎯 Heroclix 💫 Friday! 👽
_____________________________
A year of the shows and performers of the Bijou Planks Theater.
Secret Identities:
Ronald Roy "Ronnie" Raymond
Dr. Martin Stein
Dr. Mikhail Denisovitch Arkadin
Jason Thomas Rusch
Publisher: DC
First appearance: Firestorm the Nuclear Man #1 (March 1978)
Created by: Gerry Conway (Writer)
Al Milgrom (Artist)
Less commonly known is Hermes' connection to alchemy.
Apollo's gift of the golden caduceus is an important symbol of Mercury's potential for transformation. Hermes is associated with the element mercury, or quicksilver, and its alchemical transmutation from liquid metal into gold is a metaphor of the soul's journey toward psychological and spiritual transformation and wholeness.
(Judith Enovich Zweiman)
七姐暗動凡心，偷到人間與董永結緣。玉帝獲悉此事，強遣已懷身孕的七姐返回天宮。後永勤奮讀書，高中狀元，七姐重臨人間，把孩子交永撫養，從此仙凡永隔。
祭典期間，神公戲演員會扮演“天姬送子”一幕，把人偶送給理事，喻為”添丁帶福“。而扮演”董永“的演員則把官帽送上，喻為”陞官發財“。
During the hungry ghost prayers ritual, there is a section where the Chinese Opera actors will hand over a puppet and a governor's hat to the committee members, giving the symbolic meaning of prosperity and fortune.
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The Ghost Festival, also known as the Hungry Ghost Festival, or Yu Lan is a traditional Chinese festival and holiday celebrated by Chinese in many countries. In the Chinese calendar (a lunisolar calendar), the Ghost Festival is on the 15th night of the seventh month (14th in southern China).
In Chinese tradition, the fifteenth day of the seventh month in the lunar calendar is called Ghost Day and the seventh month in general is regarded as the Ghost Month (鬼月), in which ghosts and spirits, including those of the deceased ancestors, come out from the lower realm.
Distinct from both the Qingming Festival (in spring) and Chung Yeung Festival (in autumn) in which living descendants pay homage to their deceased ancestors, on Ghost Day, the deceased are believed to visit the living.
On the fifteenth day the realms of Heaven and Hell and the realm of the living are open and both Taoists and Buddhists would perform rituals to transmute and absolve the sufferings of the deceased. Intrinsic to the Ghost Month is ancestor worship, where traditionally the filial piety of descendants extends to their ancestors even after their deaths.
Activities during the month would include preparing ritualistic food offerings, burning incense, and burning joss paper, a papier-mâché form of material items such as clothes, gold and other fine goods for the visiting spirits of the ancestors
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Follow my rediscovery of the Hungry Ghosts "Yu Lan" Festival here:
For my past visits to the Hungry Ghosts "Yu Lan" Festival here:
Hungry Ghosts "Yu Lan" Festival
More Chinese Temples images here:
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How goes the formula of humanity?
Little else but water, thought, and memory.
And as ice transmutes to liquid, then to steam,
We may choose and change states within this shared dream.
Our moods may be storm clouds and vapor our thought,
From nature we descend, with nature we’ve fought.
~Nick Parkison
Diamond Beach, Iceland
Photo collaboration with my husband Nick.
Όλα τελειώνουνε εδώ μέσα στον ήχο μιας χορδής.
Όλα αρχίζουν και πάλι εδώ μέσα στον παλμό της ίδιας μελωδίας.
Κλείνουν τα αυτιά στο κάλεσμα της καρδιάς και θόρυβος καταντάει ακόμη και το γέλιο.
Τρέμουν τα χείλια στο τραγούδι που αρχίζει το ατέλειωτο.
Tα δάχτυλα με μανία τα πλήκτρα ενός πιάνου χτυπούν, να ματώσουν.
Το μαύρο και το άσπρο να γίνουν κόκκινο αίμα, να ανακατευτούν.
Everything ends here in the sound of a string.
Everything begins again, here in the pulse of the same melody.
Ears are closed to the call of the heart, and even laughter sounds like uproar
Lips shudder, singing a neverending song
Fingers the ivories of a piano they hammer, until they bleed
Until black and white transmute into red blood...
Ολόκληρο το κείμενο στο:https://www.wattpad.com/myworks/105735476/write/397490244
神壇前的三支巨香, "請神"儀式後會由當屆總理及長老燃點作為頭注香。
Located in front of the main altar, these giant joss incense will be lighted as the "First Joss Incense" after the Gods are brought to the event.
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The Ghost Festival, also known as the Hungry Ghost Festival, or Yu Lan is a traditional Chinese festival and holiday celebrated by Chinese in many countries. In the Chinese calendar (a lunisolar calendar), the Ghost Festival is on the 15th night of the seventh month (14th in southern China).
In Chinese tradition, the fifteenth day of the seventh month in the lunar calendar is called Ghost Day and the seventh month in general is regarded as the Ghost Month (鬼月), in which ghosts and spirits, including those of the deceased ancestors, come out from the lower realm.
Distinct from both the Qingming Festival (in spring) and Chung Yeung Festival (in autumn) in which living descendants pay homage to their deceased ancestors, on Ghost Day, the deceased are believed to visit the living.
On the fifteenth day the realms of Heaven and Hell and the realm of the living are open and both Taoists and Buddhists would perform rituals to transmute and absolve the sufferings of the deceased. Intrinsic to the Ghost Month is ancestor worship, where traditionally the filial piety of descendants extends to their ancestors even after their deaths.
Activities during the month would include preparing ritualistic food offerings, burning incense, and burning joss paper, a papier-mâché form of material items such as clothes, gold and other fine goods for the visiting spirits of the ancestors
=====
Follow my rediscovery of the Hungry Ghosts "Yu Lan" Festival here:
For my past visits to the Hungry Ghosts "Yu Lan" Festival here:
Hungry Ghosts "Yu Lan" Festival
More Chinese Temples images here:
=====
The tree is here, still, in pure stone,
in deep evidence, in solid beauty,
layered, through a hundred million years.
Agate, cornelian, gemstone
transmuted the timber and sap
until damp corruptions
fissured the giant's trunk
fusing a parallel being:
the living leaves
unmade themselves
and when the pillar was overthrown
fire in the forest, blaze of the dust-cloud,
celestial ashes mantled it round,
until time, and the lava, created
this gift, of translucent stone.
Neruda
,,, awarded .. www.flickr.com/groups/la_vida_es_un_viaje/discuss/7215765...
Art?... Art! Sculpture?... Sculpture! Two questions and two
exclamatory and emphatic statements. Both having a resplendent
and fortuitous confirmation in Louise Manzon’s artistic practice. If
technology has given rise to a production and consumption of
images marked by automation—and thus, by indifference—art,
through the recovery of manual adeptness, has restored the values
of discontinuity and difference. Technology advances a visual world
that is two-dimensional. Sculpture re-establishes resonance and
gives duration to the images.
Whether fired clay ceramic or terracotta, the use of the material, in
its viscous sedimentary quality, responds to Manzon’s need to bring
back to art the ancient dream of images that continue and endure,
and which, in terms of expectations, means reasserting the hope of
possible immortality.
So, this could well be the reaffirmed value for making art today, a nomadic
and eclectic approach that draws from art history and from myth,
recasting it in the present and remodelling it in the unhurried material of
sculpture. Duration set against obsolescence, matter in opposition to
surface, all within a frame constructed to go beyond boundaries.
In this instance, reinstituting sculpture means to re-establish the inten-
sity of art, the possibility to charge the image with the power of seduc-
tion, capable of transmitting messages that even involve ecology.
Manzon’s sculpture enfolds itself in the narrative iconography of
myths, of both human and animalistic nature. Sculpture is what causes
the artist’s phantasms to become real, transmuting the illusions into a
concrete vision of works of art asking to be let into the world.
The sculptural language, however, is not utilized as an antiquarian
means to fetishistically bring back the art of times past, but as a tool
capable of giving substance to images that exist on three levels: below
the earth, on the earth, in the air. Images that develop in both ascending
and descending movement, each time corresponding with the motiva-
tions underlying the inspiration and the resulting composition.
The level below the earth is expressed through fish images that
evoke water, moisture and plants. The undersea fauna, formed using
terracotta, seem to gulp for air in a search for a survival that is
clearly threatened by man. The level of the earth is conjured up
through the presence and configuration of a feminine essence that
seemingly lives on the surface of the earth, arranged through
complexly posed characters. This female figure is Tethys, with the
self-evident narcissism of a body depicted with extreme resonance.
The third level, the air, is alluded to by a sort of fan adorning the
mythical sea goddess’ head. A baroque structure supports the
sculptural framework, the volumes of the body and the garments
articulated within the enveloping shape. The curved line hints at an
upward movement, climbing towards aerial settings and wondrous
vertical ascents that liberate Tethys from the laws of gravity.