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October 1
The plant Pammy gave me is startin to turn into its own little Jungle. I’ve been askin’ Orchid to water it when I’m out, and I dunno what she’s been waterin’ it with, but that little guy is happy. Her and Pam should exchange gardening tips. Sweet kid, that Orchid. Doesn’t say much, but she seems to mean well. I have no idea what Waller offered her to stick around. Come to think of it, I don’t really know anything about her at all. Except she’s bonkin’ Patten upstairs.
Ugh.
BUT, we’re not here to discuss petals and the crackpot, we’re here for somethin’ else. GUESS. WHO I HAD. IN MY OFFICE THIS MORNING. C’mon guess! (Naw you’ll never guess, you’re a journal). None other than LEX. FREAKIN’. LUTHOR. That’s right! He disappeared for a while after that whole Cloudburst disaster Digger and Floyd were tellin’ me about, then he popped up again, get this, completely penniless, tryin to steal from a bake shop! He got thrown into the general clink, but Amanda pulled all the right strings and got him on the Squad purely just to humiliate him. Normally I’d be kinda appalled, but if anyone deserves it, it’s him. Either way, I was sent to “analyze” ole baldy, and hoo boy, it was a riot. . .
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Excerpt from Harley’s tape recorder:
The sound of chairs being pushed around on the floor rings out briefly. Papers are laid on the table
Harley, warmly: Hello, Mister Luthor, let me be the first t’welcome you here to lovely Belle Reve.
Luthor, entirely flat: You’re hardly the first. Don’t I know you, Doctor . . . ?
Harley: Quinzel! Doctor Quinzel.
Luthor, more animated: Quinzel. Harley Quinn? You’re my ‘psychiatrist’? *Luthor laughs* Alright, Now I know this is one of your boyfriend’s sick pranks.
Harley, entirely calm: I’ll have you know Mister Luthor, I am a trained an’ seasoned pro. And my ‘boyfriend’ and I haven’t spoken in some time. In fact, I kinda hope he’s dead.
Luthor: Well, at least we have that in common. So tell me, what is it that you want to talk to me about?
Harley, flipping through papers: Welllll, it says here that I’m supposed to see if you’re fit for field missions, but let’s not insult both of our intellects, huh? Instead, I wanna talk to ya about The Big Blue Boy Scout.
There is about a minute of silence. Then;
Luthor: Didn’t you bite my head once?
Harley: Let’s just try an’ see past that. What is it, about Superman, that drives you so bananas?
There is another pause, and then:
Luthor: Well, ‘Doctor’ Quinn, it’s a number of things.
Harley: Let’s start with the most basic.
Luthor: Well, to start, he’s not even really a man. He’s not even of this earth. By that reasoning alone, Superman is a fraud. He masquerades as a symbol of hope, of human perfection, and yet his very name is a deception. Am I the only person left who remembers he’s not even one of us?
Harley: So to you, he’s unworthy of his hero-worship.
Luthor scoffs: Unworthy doesn’t begin to describe it. He isn’t god. He hasn’t helped humanity progress. He merely catches purse snatchers and the occasional radioactive psychopath. And yet humanity treats him as a supreme being, holding all our lives in his hands.
Harley: So, you see him as a false god?
Luthor: Indeed. Humanity is its own maker: Its own supreme being. Only we as a species have propelled ourselves this far. It only follows that Superman would represent a Demiurge, in the Gnostic terms. We’re human beings, it’s only natural that we follow the strongest and most cunning of our kind. That arrogant caveman has been basing his motivations off of that fact alone for centuries. But when the strongest and most cunning are not only a fraud in their name, but their ideals, that is something that weakens humanity. Take his principles for instance. Hell, just take one. Take Justice. An abstract concept, with no true definition. In a sense, Justice could mean anything. For some, it means sending a murderer to prison. For others, it’s removing the hands of a thief. Would Superman allow a thief’s hands removed? Of course not. Justice is too broad a concept for one ma-, excuse me, one being, to fully encompass.
Harley: Fascinating. And if not for Superman, who do you think would stand in that place, leading humanity?
Luthor chuckles: Well, I don’t wish to self-aggrandize, but me, naturally. Look at me, the peak of human intelligence, the peak of human physicality. I was hewn for this role.
Harley: Ah, and that’s why you masqueraded as him for so long, protecting Metropolis yourself.
Luthor, getting energized: That was the only point when the world was as it should be. And for a time, I thought he and I could work in harmony. But, as I should have anticipated, he abandoned me, and cast aside both my help and my trust.
Harley: Now, an’ excuse me for sayin’ this, but dressin’ up in a big red S and protecting Metropolis, doesn’t sound like hatred for an enemy. It sounds a lot like hero worship.
Luthor says nothing.
Harley: I’d even go so far as to say that, maybe, deep down, you even . . . love him.
Luthor, angry: Hold your tongue, woman.
Harley: I mean think about it! Everyone always accused my “Ex-Boyfriend” of bein in love with Bats, even me after a while, and it’s such a similar thing! The two of you are always buildin’ death traps tailor-made, you’re dressin’ up in their costumes and sometimes takin’ on their roles. Look at you, you’ve done so much workin’ out so achieve his body on yourself. Hell, Mercy once told me at a party y’sleep with a picture of him under your pillow! That’s crazy stalker girlfriend stuff, Lex!
Luthor, angrier: Shut up, SHUT UP! I loathe every fiber of his being. I want nothing more than his insipid, vacant smile wiped from the face of this earth. I – no, no I see what you’re trying to do. You’re trying to get me angry on purpose. I don’t know why. Maybe because That Bitch in charge told you to. Well, I’m not going to be goaded into violence for your amusement.
Harley, after a decent pause: You want to have sex with Superman.
The sound of angry shouting, yelling, and crashing. The table audibly flips, a chair smashes. The sound of prison shoes on metal walls is heard. The creak of the door and sounds of struggle as guards manage to subdue Luthor.
There is panting, and silence, then:
Luthor, quietly, scathingly: I hope That Bitch blows your head clean off you psychopathic little clown.
There is the sound of him spitting, then being dragged bodily out of the room.
The sound of footsteps, heels on the tile floor, the door shutting, and the heels returning. The chair squeaks.
Then, the sound of Harleen Quinzel laughing uproariously. It echoes around the room. She’s laughing so hard, tears are in her eyes, then there is a click on the recorder, and nothing.
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I'm not gonna lie, I could have just made the entire arc this conversation.
Well here's my version of the Bronze Age Clayface -- Preston Payne.
- Transmits viral infection that courses through his body into others. He is immune to his own power to some extent, his touch causes organic matter to bubble, blister and melt into a pool of protoplasm.
- Gifted with an enhanced intellect that enabled him to graduate top of his class at Hudson University, and become a researcher at S.T.A.R. Labs immediately following graduation.
- Cannot exist outside of his special exoskeleton or else anything he comes into physical contact with will dissolve. In addition, Payne suffers massive migraines -- he refers to as the "fever" -- which can only be alleviated by transmitting his virus to another resource, ultimately killing them.
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I took some liberties instead of going for a faithful comic book design. The helmet, I would have preferred to use regular clear helmet instead of this one, if only I could have found the damn thing. I really should organize my parts better than just dumping them in my large "minifig parts" plastic bin. Since he's a former S.T.A.R. Labs employee I gave him a lab coat instead of using a blue cape/cloak.
Overall he's a pretty simple custom. But gets the job done, I just have to finish getting the parts for his wife Lady Clay and I'll be done with my Mud Pack.
C&C is always welcomed and appreciated.
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The Mud Pack:
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- Preston Payne
"The creation of something new is not accomplished by the intellect but by the play instinct."
- Carl Jung
"It is a happy talent to know how to play."
- Ralph Waldo Emerson
Thanks a lot for stopping by, my friends, I truly appreciate it...!
Best seen on black - press L or click on image above.
disuse, noun...the state of not being used.
"Just as iron rusts from disuse, even so does inaction spoil the intellect."
Leonardo da Vinci
...better keep those brain cells busy then!
textures thanks to Skeletalmess
Broadway & Columbus, San Francisco, CA.
I was curious of the name of the club "Hungry I" and looked it up on wikipedia. There are multiple explanations for the "I", it might be for "it", or "intellect" or the popular theory, "id".
The Hungry I has a long history in SF, dating prior to 1950 at different locations. Back then, it wasn't a strip club but a nightclub presenting comedy and music acts. Some notable performers included Bill Cosby, Mort Sahl, Lenny Bruce, Barbara Streisand, Dick Cavett and Woody Allen.
The name was eventually sold and became the strip club that it is now.
The Basque Hotel is now the home to the restaurant "15 Romolo", but was once a restaurant and hotel catering to Basque shepherds.
Before, one could borrow books. Now one can borrow books & vinyl (and this is not 1997; with our inflation, today needs a borrowing system more than ever). But feelings for this place are not something one can borrow and give back. It’s always here.
"50 shades of ... blue!"
Blue like the sea and the sky .. Blue represents the intellect, truth, fidelity, constancy; it is the color of great depth, the feminine principle. It is the color of calm, infinity, peace, emotional serenity and harmony.
Tilly wears: Gzhel tatoo by *Find the Fish* 🐟🐠
Lorez wears: Gzhel Face Tattoo by *Find the Fish* & Slavic Siren Tintable by *Find the Fish*
Where can you find them?
Inworld 1: maps.secondlife.com/.../Buenos%20Aries.../146/218/26
Inworld 2: maps.secondlife.com/secon.../Serena%20Upolu/45/210/30
For the psychedelic trance musical band, see Astral Projection (band). For physical travel to other stars, see Interstellar travel."The Separation of the Spirit Body" from , a Chinese handbook on alchemy and meditation
Astral projection (or astral travel) is a term used in esotericism to describe a willful out-of-body experience (OBE), a supposed form of telepathy, that assumes the existence of a soul or consciousness called an "astral body" that is separate from the physical body and capable of travelling outside of it throughout the universe where it interacts with other astral bodies and is capable of implanting ideas into other people's minds. The idea of astral travel is rooted in esotericism and occultism, and was promoted by 19th century Theosophists—philosophers who explored the mystical and preternatural origins of the natural world.It is sometimes reported in association with dreams, and forms of meditation.Some individuals have reported perceptions similar to descriptions of astral projection that were induced through various hallucinogenic and hypnotic means (including self-hypnosis). There is no scientific evidence that there is a consciousness or soul which is separate from normal neural activity or that one can consciously leave the body and make observations..Claims of scientific evidence of astral projection are pseudoscientific.According to classical, medieval and renaissance Hermeticism, Neoplatonism, and later Theosophist and Rosicrucian thought the astral body is an intermediate body of light linking the rational soul to the physical body while the astral plane is an intermediate world of light between Heaven and Earth, composed of the spheres of the planets and stars. These astral spheres were held to be populated by angels, demons and spirits.The subtle bodies, and their associated planes of existence, form an essential part of the esoteric systems that deal with astral phenomena. In the neo-platonism of Plotinus, for example, the individual is a microcosm ("small world") of the universe (the macrocosm or "great world"). "The rational soul...is akin to the great Soul of the World" while "the material universe, like the body, is made as a faded image of the Intelligible". Each succeeding plane of manifestation is causal to the next, a world-view called emanationism; "from the One proceeds Intellect, from Intellect Soul, and from Soul - in its lower phase, or that of Nature - the material universe".Often these bodies and their planes of existence are depicted as a series of concentric circles or nested spheres, with a separate body traversing each realm.[18] The idea of the astral figured prominently in the work of the nineteenth-century French occultist Eliphas Levi, whence it was adopted and developed further by Theosophy, and used afterwards by other esoteric movements.
Biblica
Some have claimed that the Bible contains mentions of astral projection.[weasel words]Carrington, Muldoon, Peterson, and Williams—renowned experts in the field of astral projection—claim that the subtle body is attached to the physical body by means of a psychic silver cord. The final chapter of the Book of Ecclesiastes is often cited in this respect: "Before the silver cord be loosed, or the golden bowl be broken, or the pitcher be shattered at the fountain, or the wheel be broken at the cistern." Scherman, however, contends that the context points to this being merely a metaphor, comparing the body to a machine, with the silver cord referring to the spine
Paul's Second Epistle to the Corinthians is more generally agreed to refer to the astral planes; "I know a man in Christ, fourteen years ago, (whether in the body I know not, or out of the body I know not, God knows) such a one caught up to the third heaven..."This statement gave rise to the Visio Pauli, a tract that offers a vision of heaven and hell, a forerunner of visions attributed to Adomnan and Tnugdalus as well as of Dante's Divine Comedy.
Ancient Egypt
Similar concepts of soul travel appear in various other religious traditions. For example, ancient Egyptian teachings present the soul (ba) as having the ability to hover outside the physical body via the ka, or subtle body
China
Taoist alchemical practice involves creation of an energy body by breathing meditations, drawing energy into a 'pearl' that is then "circulated". "Xiangzi ... with a drum as his pillow fell fast asleep, snoring and motionless. His primordial spirit, however, went straight into the banquet room and said, "My lords, here I am again." ... When Tuizhi walked ... with the officials to take a look, there really was a Taoist sleeping on the ground and snoring like thunder. Yet inside, in the side room, there was another Taoist beating a fisher drum and singing Taoist songs. The officials all said, “Although there are two different people, their faces and clothes are exactly alike. Clearly he is a divine immortal who can divide his body and appear in several places at once. ..." ... At that moment, the Taoist in the side room came walking out, and the Taoist sleeping on the ground woke up. The two merged into one."
India
Similar ideas such as the Lin'ga S'ari-ra are found in ancient Hindu scriptures such as the YogaVashishta-Maharamayana of Valmiki. Modern Indians who have vouched for astral projection include Paramahansa Yogananda who witnessed Swami Pranabananda doing a miracle through a possible astral projection, and Osho (Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh) who practiced it himself.The Indian spiritual teacher Meher Baba described one's use of astral projection:In the advancing stages leading to the beginning of the path, the aspirant becomes spiritually prepared for being entrusted with free use of the forces of the inner world of the astral bodies. He may then undertake astral journeys in his astral body, leaving the physical body in sleep or wakefulness. The astral journeys that are taken unconsciously are much less important than those undertaken with full consciousness and as a result of deliberate volition. This implies conscious use of the astral body. Conscious separation of the astral body from the outer vehicle of the gross body has its own value in making the soul feel its distinction from the gross body and in arriving at fuller control of the gross body. One can, at will, put on and take off the external gross body as if it were a cloak, and use the astral body for experiencing the inner world of the astral and for undertaking journeys through it, if and when necessary....The ability to undertake astral journeys therefore involves considerable expansion of one’s scope for experience. It brings opportunities for promoting one’s own spiritual advancement, which begins with the involution of consciousness.Astral projection is one of the Siddhis considered achievable by yoga practitioners through self-disciplined practice. In the epic The Mahabharata Drona leaves his physical body to see if his son is alive.
Japan
The 'ikiryō' as illustrated by Toriyama Sekien.
In Japanese mythology, an ikiryō (生霊?) (also read shōryō, seirei, or ikisudama) is a manifestation of the soul of a living person separately from their body. Traditionally, if someone holds a sufficient grudge against another person, it is believed that a part or the whole of their soul can temporarily leave their body and appear before the target of their hate in order to curse or otherwise harm them, similar to an evil eye. Souls are also believed to leave a living body when the body is extremely sick or comatose; such ikiryō are not malevolent.[
Inuit In some Inuit groups, people with special capabilities are said to travel to (mythological) remote places, and report their experiences and things important to their fellows or the entire community; how to stop bad luck in hunting, cure a sick person etc., things unavailable to people with normal capabilities.
Amazon
The yaskomo of the Waiwai is believed to be able to perform a "soul flight" that can serve several functions such as healing, flying to the sky to consult cosmological beings (the moon or the brother of the moon) to get a name for a new-born baby, flying to the cave of peccaries' mountains to ask the father of peccaries for abundance of game or flying deep down in a river to get the help of other beings.
"Astral" and "etheric"
The expression "astral projection" came to be used in two different ways. For the Golden Dawn and some Theosophists[ it retained the classical and medieval philosophers' meaning of journeying to other worlds, heavens, hells, the astrological spheres and other imaginal landscapes, but outside these circles the term was increasingly applied to non-physical travel around the physical world.Though this usage continues to be widespread, the term, "etheric travel", used by some later Theosophists, offers a useful distinction. Some experients say they visit different times and/or places:"etheric", then, is used to represent the sense of being "out of the body" in the physical world, whereas "astral" may connote some alteration in time-perception. Robert Monroe describes the former type of projection as "Locale I" or the "Here-Now", involving people and places that actually exist: Robert Bruce calls it the "Real Time Zone" (RTZ) and describes it as the non-physical dimension-level closest to the physical. This etheric body is usually, though not always, invisible but is often perceived by the experient as connected to the physical body during separation by a “silver cord”. Some link "falling" dreams with projection.According to Max Heindel, the etheric "double" serves as a medium between the astral and physical realms. In his system the ether, also called prana, is the "vital force" that empowers the physical forms to change. From his descriptions it can be inferred that, to him, when one views the physical during an out-of-body experience, one is not technically "in" the astral realm at all.Other experients may describe a domain that has no parallel to any known physical setting. Environments may be populated or unpopulated, artificial, natural or abstract, and the experience may be beatific, horrific or neutral. A common Theosophical belief is that one may access a compendium of mystical knowledge called the Akashic records. In many accounts the experiencer correlates the astral world with the world of dreams. Some even report seeing other dreamers enacting dream scenarios unaware of their wider environment.The astral environment may also be divided into levels or sub-planes by theorists, but there are many different views in various traditions concerning the overall structure of the astral planes: they may include heavens and hells and other after-death spheres, transcendent environments, or other less-easily characterized states
Notable practitioners
Emanuel Swedenborg was one of the first practitioners to write extensively about the out-of-body experience, in his Spiritual Diary (1747–65). French philosopher and novelist Honoré de Balzac's fictional work "Louis Lambert" suggests he may have had some astral or out-of-body experience.
There are many twentieth century publications on astral projection,although only a few authors remain widely cited. These include Robert Monroe,Oliver Fox,Sylvan Muldoon, and Hereward Carrington,and Yram.Robert Monroe's accounts of journeys to other realms (1971–1994) popularized the term "OBE" and were translated into a large number of languages. Though his books themselves only placed secondary importance on descriptions of method, Monroe also founded an institute dedicated to research, exploration and non-profit dissemination of auditory technology for assisting others in achieving projection and related altered states of consciousness.Robert Bruce,William Buhlman, and Albert Taylor,have discussed their theories and findings on the syndicated show Coast to Coast AM several times. Michael Crichton gives lengthy and detailed explanations and experience of astral projection in his non-fiction book Travels.The soul's ability to leave the body at will or while sleeping and visit the various planes of heaven is also known as "soul travel". The practice is taught in Surat Shabd Yoga, where the experience is achieved mostly by meditation techniques and mantra repetition. All Sant Mat Gurus widely spoke about this kind of out of body experience, such as Kirpal Singh.Eckankar describes Soul Travel broadly as movement of the true, spiritual self (Soul) closer to the heart of God. While the contemplative may perceive the experience as travel, Soul itself is said not to move but to "come into an agreement with fixed states and conditions that already exist in some world of time and space".American Harold Klemp, the current Spiritual Leader of Eckankar practices and teaches Soul Travel, as did his predecessors, through contemplative techniques known as the Spiritual Exercises of ECK (Divine Spirit).
In occult traditions, practices range from inducing trance states to the mental construction of a second body, called the Body of Light in Aleister Crowley's writings, through visualization and controlled breathing, followed by the transfer of consciousness to the secondary body by a mental act of will.There is no known scientific evidence that astral projection as an objective phenomenon exists.There are cases of patients having experiences suggestive of astral projection from brain stimulation treatments and hallucinogenic drugs.Robert Todd Carroll writes that the main evidence to support claims of astral travel is anecdotal and comes "in the form of testimonials of those who claim to have experienced being out of their bodies when they may have been out of their minds."Subjects in parapsychological experiments have attempted to project their astral bodies to distant rooms and see what was happening. However, such experiments have produced negative results.According to Bob Bruce of the Queensland Skeptics Association, astral projection is "just imagining", or "a dream state". Although parallel universes are mathematically possible,Bruce writes that the existence of an astral plane is contrary to the limits of science. “We know how many possibilities there are for dimensions and we know what the dimensions do. None of it correlates with things like astral projection.” Bruce attributes astral experiences such as "meetings" alleged by practitioners to confirmation bias and coincidences.The psychologist Donovan Rawcliffe has written that astral projection can be explained by delusion, hallucination and vivid dreams.Arthur W. Wiggins, writing in Quantum Leaps in the Wrong Direction: Where Real Science Ends...and Pseudoscience Begins, said that purported evidence of the ability to astral travel great distances and give descriptions of places visited is predominantly anecdotal. In 1978, Ingo Swann provided a test of his alleged ability to astral travel to Jupiter and observe details of the planet. Actual findings and information were later compared to Swann's claimed observations; according to an evaluation by James Randi, Swann's accuracy was "unconvincing and unimpressive" with an overall score of 37 percent. Wiggins considers astral travel an illusion, and looks to neuroanatomy, human belief, imagination and prior knowledge to provide prosaic explanations for those claiming to experience it.A recent study, The AWARE Study, conducted by medical researcher Sam Parnia, was designed to get information on possible OBEs during cardiac arrest.
ON THE ALTERNATE WORLD OF EARTH-1315208
Determined to finally take down the Dark Knight, our loveably villainous KILLER MOTH struck a deal with the alien Zotaxian race and their leader, GYPSY MOTH! Tactfully staging a hostage situation at Arkham Asylum to bait the naive protector of Gotham, the militarized, intergalactic force under the command of Killer Moth's incredible intellect vanquished not only Batman, but the entire Justice League that attempted a meager retaliation! Soon, countries from every corner of the globe will only know One Nation,
UNDER MOTH!
*Hope everyone likes this little vignette; I just purchased a shipment of 8 classic Insectoids minifigures, and I think they're pretty rad. When I learned that one of them was actually named Gypsy Moth by The Lego Group, I couldn't resist a team-up with my favorite C-List evildoer!
“In the morning I bathe my intellect in the stupendous and cosmogonal philosophy of the Bhagavad Gita in comparison with which our modern world and its literature seems puny.”
(Henry David Thoreau - American Poet and Philosopher, 1817-1862)
This man was having a ritual bath in the holy waters of the Ganges at Munshi ghat in Varanasi (Benaras).
Maybe his mind was then connected to the study of the origin and development of the universe mentioned by Henry David Thoreau...
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"There's more to life than fighting and training and -- y'know -- the whole bat thing ..."
('Batgirl' and motorcycle by DC Collectibles / DC Icons 'Batgirl of Burnside' Deluxe Figure)
History
The John Rogers who bought Riverhill in 1840 was an only child, with a modest fortune, and a fine intellect. He became a classics scholar, a scientist and a friend of Charles Darwin. He was one of the first members of the Royal Horticultural Society and a patron of the plant collectors of the day.
He chose Riverhill because its sheltered situation offered an ideal lime free hillside where he could hope to establish newly introduced trees and shrubs. From his garden notebook, it can be seen that planting started in 1842. Subsequent generations, continued the planting and in 1910 Colonel John Middleton Rogers created what is now known as ‘The Wood Garden’ a fine collection of Japanese Maples, Rhododendrons and Azaleas. His wife, the infamous Muriel, created many additions including the now hidden Rock Gardens.
Until the beginning of the 2nd World War, eight full time gardeners kept Riverhill looking immaculate. Since the war years, however, a shortage of manpower and a lack of money has meant that the garden was allowed to deteriorate, with many parts of the original planting lost to everyday use and visitors.
Today, four generations of the Rogers family live at Riverhill,
The estate is managed by Edward Rogers (Great-great-great-grandson of the John Rogers who bought Riverhill in 1840) and his wife, Sarah.
Zeyon: One of the last Great Beings Know as the Ventrillions. Zeyon is One of if Not the most powerful being in the Multiverse Capable of taking on Huge armies Single handily, His Super speed ,Strength, time Manipulation , strategic Capabilities , And Genius intellect Make him A match for anyone!
Alice: Diana has really gotten my curiosity up, Batman. Quite a declaration! The greatest mind in the Justice League!
Batman: ...
Wonder Woman: (thinking) Oh no, I know that look. Alice, be careful with what you say. Should I interrupt? No, it would do no good.
Alice: Why, it's actually like a gauntlet being thrown down. I think such an intellect should be tested.
Batman: ...
== Markovia- Five Months Ago==
Slade Wilson. If anyone asked who was the best killer in the business, chances are, his name would be the first to come up every time. Trained in the US army, he was the only one in his squad to volunteer for the experiments that would grant him enhanced strength, intellect and a healing factor. When Strange recruited him in Markovia, toppling a monarchy of some kind, he was quick to suss out his true agenda (or one of them at least). The only member to know the truth about Arkham City, Strange was adamant he be put in charge, the only one he was sure he could trust. So long as the money didn't run out, which was never going to be an issue with the Court of Owls.
====Today====
*The fire basks them in an orange glow.*
Talia- Tea?
Miranda- Yes.
*She pours a stream of Chinese tea from the teapot, and they drink*
Talia- Your father was once a powerful man, and a friend of the League. He must be proud of you.
* "He is." she replies, not taking her eyes off the tea, sipping it slowly in case it's poisoned. Talia watches her curiously, it was ten years ago when they first drank tea together, and she had been just as suspicious then*
Talia- Good. I'm glad.
Miranda- Still with *your* dad, I presume?
*Talia stokes the flames with a wooden stick*
Talia I work with him, yes. But, I am here now, not as your enemy, but as an old friend, and as a sister, warning you. Turn back.
*Miranda rises*
Miranda- Yeah, no, I don't think so. Thanks for the tea. And, uh, knocking out Chancer for a bit.
Talia- Please. There is no safe space for your family. Ra's Al Ghul is a man of great resources, you know this. If The Demon's Head has decided that your family must be punished, that your husband must pay, you must understand that there is no place on earth where they can go where they can't reach them. But it is not too late for you. My father is still fond of you, if you would only-
Miranda- I'm not going back Talia. You should be the one joining *me.* Help us stop him, before he destroys Gotham, or whatever it is he's planning.
...
Talia- My father has sired hundreds of children, many of whom have perished in the name of his cause. In spite of his fondness for myself and for you, he will not hesitate to sacrifice either of us, if we were to stand in his way. He may be a man of honour, but even he has his limits. And he is tired of betrayal. Unfortunately for you, neither Hugo Strange nor The Court of Owls follow those same principles. Do you truly believe your husband has any hope in completing the Trials?
*Miranda had no intention of killing her. But in that moment, she was contemplating slapping her across the face*
Talia- I mean no disrespect, but he is not you, he is not my beloved, nor is he my father. You know that toys or not, he is but one man who's "training" has been conducted solely by arsonists and drug addicts in asylums and prisons, and when he challenges him, my father will draw his sword through his chest, and end him.
==San Francisco- Four Months Ago==
Alcatraz Island has changed a lot in the last year. The present home of the Suicide Squad, it has been completely renovated to accommodate the task force, and the scores of potential members and prisoners. One such inmate caught the attention of Senator Wade Eilling four years ago, when he fought the entire Justice League to a standstill. His real name may be purged from any computer database in the world, but his alias is well known by every government agency from Washington to Louisiana. Prometheus. He would become the second recruit of Task Force XI, much to the protests of Amanda Waller, who's warnings went unheeded. He didn't need to be a team player, Eilling thought, he didn't need to like the feds. He just needed to wear that helmet, and wear it well.
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*Those were Black Mask's men they'd past. Preparing for a siege of some kind. Armour, guns, makeshift tanks. Selina growled. Roman Sionis was far from a friend of hers, and she'd very much like to keep out of his territory*
Selina- Just where are we going?
Drury- The old GCPD precinct. About a hundred yards that way
Selina- The one you burnt down?
Drury- The one Gar- Yeah, that was us. We can set up a camp there, meet up with Miranda, and contact Chuck, Chuck Brown. He'll know what's going on.
Norbert- If he's alive.
Drury- Don't think like that Norbert.
*And yet, amidst the ruins and gunfire, it was hard for either of them not to rule it out. If only they knew all the Misfits had been through, and all which was still to come.*
==Brazil- Three Months Ago==
The Copperhead Gang was born out of poverty, living in the slums of Rio, quickly taking over the favellas and establishing a vicious syndicate of drugs, murder, and occasionally cannibalism. Only two ever left for the States, the most talented out of all of them. One, Larissa Diaz, specialised in poisons, and acrobatics, currently resides in Central City, as one of the city's biggest crime bosses. The other, a John Doe, a body contortionist, was deported to a Brazilian jail after Edward Nygma sent out an anonymous tip when a previous team-up saw him throttled one too many times. This Copperhead's skills are just as great as his unpredictability, but there was no doubt in Strange's mind he'd come in handy.
========
She brought him to an old warehouse, filled with C-Listers. A few glared at him. The Iceberg Shooting, and the ensuing hunt had hurt them badly. They didn't quite like Needham. He didn't blame them. But of course, they liked Penguin even less. Rigger offers a handshake, and Needham takes it, addressing the assembly.
Needham- None of you shoulda come here. You don't know what Penguin's capable of.
Rigger- We knew what we signed on for. Didn't we lads? We're getting you out of here, and we're doing it tonight.
*A pair of gloved hands clap, and from behind Zeiss emerges*
"Actually, I don't think you do. Penguin isn't the one you have to worry about. It's me"
Rigger- And who the hell are you, Mohawk Man?
*Dragonfly spits on the ground*
Meghan- Zeiss. His name is Zeiss.
He smirked. "My reputation precedes me. Let's make this interesting." He slicks back his hair, and he tosses his guns to the side, and empties his pocket. "Now we've leveled the playing level... Let's begin"
Ten was first. He ran at Zeiss with everything he had, but was thrown to the ground almost instantaneously. Rigger was next, firing blasts of Napalm from his gun, none landing their mark. He was grabbed from behind and pushed into the dirt. To add insult to injury, Zeiss jumped on his leg, snapping it in two. A perfect compound fracture. Dragonfly flew in furiously, trading blows, but he sweeped her off her feet, knocking off balance, leaving her vunerable enough for him to take her out next. Then came the Spiders. Eric Needham was done letting people get hurt because of him- he and Violet rushed Zeiss, and for a while it looked like they might just beat him. Then he pinned Needham's arm behind his back, and dislocated it. Then he did it again with the other arm. Distracted, and rushing to Needham's aid, Silken Spider was the last to fall.
Zeiss- What a disappointment. Oh we-
A squirt of ketchup covers his face. And he snarls. "Almost forgot about you." Mitchel Mayo, bottle in hand stands defia- he stands. "I... I should've used the peanut oil." Zeiss nods mockingly. "Well, it'd be a shame to break up the set."
==Manchester- Two Months Ago==
And lastly, the wildcard. Ever since he was a boy Abner Krill had an obsession with the round, the dotted and the circular. Some blamed it on autism, others claimed it was a form of OCD. But, whatever the case, as he drank from a perfectly round coconut, atop a bar stool in the middle of his living room, one thing was certain- it was one hell of a quirk, and manifested itself in nearly aspect of his life. His latest in a long line of girlfriends was a Geordie called Dot.
With a gimmick like his, many wrote him off as a C-Lister. He let them believe that, kept the attention away from him. If they took a second to think about exactly how much power he has, he'd never get a moment's peace from the idiots wanting to have a go with his tech. He turns to his visitors, a bald man with a pair of dark glasses and a beard that couldn't possibly be real and his equally bald colleague with a spruce moustache, and reached into his pocket.
"Skittle?"
"No," Strange replies. Abner shrugs, and pours the whole packet into his mouth, washing it down with some more coconut milk straight from the source
"Sorry about that, was a bit peckish. So what's this job anyhow?"
==========
Len- Chuck.
Chuck- Len.
Len- You look like shit.
*"You don't. Soda please" he replies faintly. Len nods, and fills the glass with something that's definitely not cola.*
Chuck- You shouldn't be here. Bartending. Not here.
Len- Neither should you. Needham escapes, you were the last one to see him... If I can connect the dots, then so can-
Chuck- I can't explain it, not now, not-
"Well, you better explain it. Fast."
Sionis- Where's my Spider, Charlie?
==Arkham City- Four Days Ago==
"I want in."
Strange turned to the bearded, shaggy haired imbecile behind the glass. He'd stop scratching the walls. That was some progress, though they'd still spot him pacing about on all fours every now and again. They'd caught him nine months prior, when he'd broken into Julian Day's cell with a kitchen knife, and he had been hissing at the guards ever since. Strange, the file said he had brown eyes, but it was green ones staring at him now.
Strange- Absolutely not.
"I'm a wild animal Doc. Need to feel the wind on my face, need to kiss a girl or two. Need a cell that's not two meters big!"
Strange- And how can you assure me you won't simply kill me or Mr Day?
"Can't. But you're a shrink. Admit it, you're curious"
Strange- Very well Thomas. I will see what I can do.
He kicked his lips. Then spat out a hairball.
"What?"
With each visit to Ladakh, I end up writing an essay on beauty. Has happened before and it happens again this time around. I'm not even surprised.
If there is one reason why Ladakh pulls me back year after year, it would be 'The People'. Not only are they genuinely kind and soft hearted but they define the word 'Beauty' in true sense.
In a world where beauty is applied in layers, smiles measured in grams and deeds connected to returns, here we have a place in middle of no where, away from all the madness of our "developed" world - with locals leading life as it's meant to be. Keeping it real and keeping it simple.
The idea of beauty is not the physical appearance of a person. Rather, it is an understanding of their culture, lifestyle and mannerisms that gives perceptual experience to one’s eyes, ears, intellect, and moral sense. Natural, powerful, real beauty originates from within the heart of individuals and when it blossoms, it is expressed in the most captivating, exquisite, and alluring manner which is hard to contain. Its contagious and I get a good dose of it with every visit to Ladakh. It's these people - the Ladakhis - who define the idea of beauty to me - in and out - period.
Yet another image of Padma Lamu - The Aryan. Everything said above holds true for this little girl. She defines beauty the right way.
#NikonD5 #Nikkor85mm
#TMLE2017 #PhotowalkDubai #Workshops
#SoulTherapy #Ladakh2017
Dedicated to Tuvok
Security Chief – Spaceship Voyager – TV Series “Stark Trek”
To me he represents the energy of Logos, Apollo, Intellect, Rationalism I call A5.
HKD
Ansichtssache
Thema Nr. 9
Was sind meine Ansichten über den Intellekt? – A5
Wissen – Bewusstsein – Spiritualität – Religion
Für mich ist der Intellekt die Fähigkeit des Erkennens und der Differenzierung. Über ihn habe ich gelernt, mir selbst Rechenschaft über meine emotionale und schließlich geistige Befindlichkeit abgeben zu können.
Wer bin ich? Woher komme ich? Wo stehe ich? Welche Richtung schlage ich in meinem Leben ein?
Die Fragen selbst formulieren sich mit Hilfe des Intellekts und die Antworten sind das Ergebnis einer ausgiebigen Expansion des philosophischen und psychologischen Wissens.
Durch die Funktion des Intellekts wird die Emotionalität als solche und ihre Färbungen erkannt. Zweifellos drücken auch Tiere Emotionen aus, doch der mit seinem Schwanz wedelnde Hund besitzt nur den körperlichen Ausdruck seiner Freude.
Als kleines Kind lag die Motivation zur Ausbildung von Sprache und Wissen in mir verborgen und diese Sehnsucht nach Licht und Erkennen, das Streben nach „Gott“ und schließlich die Rückanbindung an „Ihn“ (religio = Rückanbindung) entwickelte sich aus ein und derselben Motivationskraft, nämlich der innerpsychischen Funktion des Intellekts, der für mich zur Grundkraft des Logos gehört.
Logos, Intellekt, Ratio… Ich verwende diese Begriffe häufig analog, manchmal differenziere ich sie noch untereinander, doch fasse ich sie in meinem Konzept unter der Bezeichnung Motivationskraft A5 zusammen.
Ich habe dieser Kraft in meinem Leben den Umstand meiner relativen Freiheit von der Ignoranz zu verdanken.
Durch Erkenntnis der Notwendigkeit der Vereinigung der Gegensätze von Logos und Eros, öffnete ich mich auch für die Hinwendung zur konkreten Erfahrung des Geistes und seiner Aspekte.
Der Logos führte mich zu Schamanen im Himalaya nachdem ich in Kathmandu (Nepal) zuvor die Stupa von Bodnath (buddhistisches Heiligtum) besucht und dort meine geistigen und intellektuellen Wurzeln geehrt habe.
Neben Ägypten liegt die andere Hochburg antiker geistiger Hochkulturen in Nordindien und dem heutigen Pakistan. Der philosophische und psychologische Buddhismus, den ich so nenne, um ihn respektvoll von der Volksreligion und ihren Regeln zu unterscheiden, gehört für mich zu den höchsten Erkenntnissen über die Aspekte des Geistes. Natürlich speist sich auch der Buddhismus aus noch älteren Quellen der Weisheit, ich möchte nur die indische „Advaita“ Tradition nennen.
Der Philosoph und Mystiker Ramesh Balsekar ist ein neuzeitlicher Vertreter dieser Weisheit. Seinen logisch präzisen Aussagen und nachvollziehbaren Schlussfolgerungen habe ich viele Erkenntnisse zu verdanken unter anderem die Auflösung der Restbestände meines christlichen Schuldbewusstseins.
Erkenntnis ist befreiend. Das Licht übte auf mich stets eine magische Anziehungskraft aus. Doch ich bin kein Lichtarbeiter. Ich kann meine emotionalen Wurzeln nicht leugnen, meine dunklen menschlichen Aspekte wie Neid, Eifersucht, Antipathie, Angst und Gier.
Natürlich ist meine ethische und gute Seite nicht erfreut über diese unbequemen Emotionen, doch werden sie vom Intellekt anerkannt und nicht verurteilt. Hagel, Sturm und Winter sind, was sie sind. Ich bin ein logisch orientierter Vertreter der Mitte, des mittleren Pfades und in so fern bringe ich das Licht des Herzens.
Der Weg zurück ins Herz, in dem Himmel und Erde, irdische Lust und geistige Klarheit vereint werden können, war für mich der logisch richtige Schritt. Logos und Eros sind antagonistische Pole – aus der Perspektive der Einheit in ihrer stärksten Ausprägung jeweilige Extreme. Daher erschien es mir unmöglich, ein nur geistiges Leben zu führen, wie es stark von A5 motivierte Menschen wollen und können.
Wer aus den Star-Trek-Serien Mr. Spok oder Tuvok kennt, hat Abbilder vor Augen, die ganz hervorragend auf „Menschen“ passen, die extrem von der Logik beherrscht werden. Aus der Sicht der Mitte, wird ein Mensch tatsächlich von einer Motivationskraft beherrscht. Sie macht mit ihm, was sie will und er kann sich nicht beherrschen, ob bei Schokolade, Sex oder geistiger Bildung.
Ohne die Motivationskraft die dem Logos, dem Intellekt oder der Ratio entspringt wäre mir Selbsterkenntnis nicht möglich. Ich danke den Gottheiten Apollon, Manjushri und allen anderen Göttern des Lichtes, die mir mit ihrer Einsichtsfähigkeit den Weg zurück ins Herz ebneten.
Im Licht ihrer Sonne vereinen sich Selbstliebe und Selbsthass zum Abenteuer Leben.
HKD
Digital Art – own resources
HKD
Olieverf op canvas, 137,5 x 104,5
Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum, Glasgow
Wie de man op het schilderij is, is een onderwerp van voortdurende discussie. Klassieke helden, zoals Achilles, of goden, zoals Mars en Apollo, zijn voorgesteld, terwijl krijgergodinnen zoals Bellona en Pallas Athene (de Romeinse Minerva) ook zijn voorgesteld op grond van de jeugdige trekken van het onderwerp en de prominente pareloorring. Deze laatste bewering wordt ondersteund door de aanwezigheid van een uil - een heilig symbool voor Athene - in reliëf in de voorhoofdsplaat van het pantser.
Het meest waarschijnlijke onderwerp van het schilderij is echter de succesvolle Macedonische koning Alexander de Grote. Hij was beroemd om zijn intellect, jeugd en militaire bekwaamheid en, zoals veel soldaten in de klassieke oudheid, vereerde Athene - die hier allemaal vertegenwoordigd zijn.
Several years ago I created a group for women called WIIPS (Women of Intellect, Influence, Power & Strength) I believe a woman can be a most delicate, refined and elegant creature but beneath that demure facade lies a fierce warrior....Mari
Breaking Benjamin - Blow Me Away (Good Song)
www.youtube.com/watch?v=pTjnhS96Nyo
Bonnie Tyler-I Need A Hero
www.youtube.com/watch?v=OBwS66EBUcY
Where have all the good men gone and where are all the gods ?
Where's the street-wise Hercules to fight the rising odds ?
Isn't there a white knight upon a fiery steed ?
Late at night I toss and I turn and I dream of what I need
I need a hero, I'm holding out for at hero 'till the end of the night
He's gotta be strong and he's gotta be fast
And he's gotta be fresh from the fight
I need a hero, I'm holding out for a hero 'till the morning light
He's gotta be sure and it's gotta be soon
And he's gotta be larger than life, larger than life
Doo doo doo doooo, doo doo doo doooo, doo doo doo doooo
Aaahhh, aaahhh
Somewhere after midnight, in my wildest fantasy
Somewhere just beyond my reach
There's someone reaching back for me
Racing on the thunder and rising with the heat
It's gonna take a superman to sweep me off my feet
I need a hero, I'm holding out for a hero 'till the end of the night
He's gotta be strong and he's gotta be fast
And he's gotta be fresh from the fight
I need a hero, I'm holding out for a hero 'till the morning light
He's gotta be sure and it's gotta be soon
And he's gotta be larger than life
I need a hero, I'm holding out for at hero 'till the the end of the night
Up where the mountains meet the heavens above
Out where the lightning splits the sea
I could swear there is someone somewhere, watching me
Through the wind and the chill and the rain and the storm and the flood
I can feel his approach, like a fire in my blood
I need a hero, I'm holding out for a hero 'till the end of the night
He's gotta be strong and he's gotta be fast
And he's gotta be fresh from the fight
I need a hero, I'm holding out for a hero 'till the morning light
He's gotta be sure and it's gotta be soon
And he's gotta be larger than life
I need a hero, I'm holding out for a hero 'till the end of the night
He's gotta be strong and he's gotta be fast
And he's gotta be fresh from the fight
I need a hero, I'm holding out for a hero 'till the morning light
He's gotta be sure and he's gotta be soon
And he's gotta be larger than life
I need a hero, I'm holding out for a hero 'till the end of the night
An organic entity found wounded and close to death, the BR4-1N was grafted into a spaceship to ensure her survival. She now serves as part of the fleet using her superior intellect to strategise attack patterns before relaying them to the other fighters.
This is the 3rd ship in my fleet of Neo Classic Space inspired attack craft.
If you were to break me up into nine different people, these are most likely the people you'd get:
1) The gangster
2) The computer geek
3) The professional
4) The daddy
5) The photographer
6) The sports nut
7) The preppy bully
8) The gamer
9) The intellect
Strobist:
AB800 w/ Softbox above camera
AB800 w/ reflector camera left and behind high
Triggered with Cybercyncs
“In the morning I bathe my intellect in the stupendous and cosmogonal philosophy of the Bhagavad gita, since whose composition years of the gods have elapsed, and in comparison with which our modern world and its literature seem puny and trivial; and I doubt if that philosophy is not to be referred to a previous state of existence, so remote is its sublimity from our conceptions.
I lay down the book and go to my well for water, and lo! there I meet the servant of the Bramin, priest of Brahma and Vishnu and Indra, who still sits in his temple on the Ganges reading the Vedas, or dwells at the root of a tree with his crust and water jug. I meet his servant come to draw water for his master, and our buckets as it were grate together in the same well. The pure Walden water is mingled with the sacred water of the Ganges.”
― Henry David Thoreau, Walden: Or, Life in the Woods
Here's a so-called Phantom Cranefly, Ptychoptera sp. (I think: contaminata). It's decorating a Spring-green Bramble leaf. I watched it land and it was carefully folding in its wings, almost geometrically. Ptychoptera, in fact, comes from the Greek and means something like: Folded Wings.
I wonder what they do all day. I read somewhere that the adults don't eat or only very little. Perhaps they just wait to multiply although I suspect Geometric Multiplication is just above their intellects.
Whatever... but they're really quite beautiful.
2016 Sydney Chinese New Year: Opera House lit red
Year of the Monkey
"People born in the Year of the Monkey are fun-loving, energetic and inquisitive. Their intellect allows them to adapt to any situation, they are confident, charismatic, loyal and inventive.
Sometimes, the Monkey can be a little too curious for his or her own good, as well as careless, restless, immature and arrogant."
The Standard Poodle combines expansive intellect and stunning good looks. This Poodle is COCO MILLER, a flamboyant redhead (who wears a goatee) and a country gentleman.
An organic entity found wounded and close to death, the BR4-1N was grafted into a spaceship to ensure her survival. She now serves as part of the fleet using her superior intellect to strategise attack patterns before relaying them to the other fighters.
This is the 3rd ship in my fleet of Neo Classic Space inspired attack craft.
It would be a lie to say Belle Reve Penitentiary had seen worse days. Even in times of riot, attack by supervillains, and the occasional inspection by the IRS, Belle Reve had stood strong, and retained an air of cold defiance in the face of adversity.
But Belle Reve had never seen anything like this. Thick, twisted kudzu gripped its fingers around every surface that unrecognizable fungi did not grow. Brilliant flowers twisted into themselves, each petal pronged and barbed. There was not a surface of the facility that was not covered in foliage
And absolutely none of it was natural.
A green flash vomits the Squad violently to the border of the verdant invasion, a good seven hundred feet from the Belle Reve doors.
Boomerang: Strewth, what a landing.
Deadshot: Bend, what the hell?
Angelo Bend, baffled, shakes his device with a ferocity, hitting any button, hoping for any results.
Angle-Man: I . . . The device won’t work, I dunno! Look, Every time I try and use it, it shorts out.
Sonar: Perhaps your inferior intellect has finally broken it.
Deadshot: Don’t start, Wladon. Bend, you’ve gotta have a damn good reason for this.
Angle-Man: I don’t know! I tell you, I don’t know! Maybe it really has just shorted out finally!
Armageddon: Uh, ‘scuse me for talkin’ out of turn here, but uh, that Exclamation fellah mentioned any tech they send in they lose communications with. Maybe this is the same kinda thing?
Sonar thinks for a minute, then attempts one of his sound blasts. All he succeeds in is blowing one of his own fingertips off.
Sonar: AAAHH, Aaahh, Sweet lord, what has brought this upon me?!
Boomerang: I’d say y’own inferior intellect, eh?
Deadshot: So the both of you are dead weight, got it.
He rips off a shred of Sonar’s cape and wraps it around his half a finger.
Deadshot: Just as well, if Flag and Co. never came out, there’s nothing saying we will either. May as well have a few guaranteed survivors.
At their feet, there’s a noticeable difference in the grass. At the border of where the surreal foliage stops, the grass is longer, coarser, and a deeper shade of green. None of them notice however. None but Mike Aparo, plucking a single blade and inspecting it closely. He hisses in his mask, and tears the blade in half.
Deadshot: Alright, Harkness, Conway, Aparo, you’re with me. Aparo?
Boomerang: Looks like he’s scarpered, mate.
And indeed, a trail of footprints imbedded in the soft grass, the size and shape of Mike Aparo’s boots, leads steadily into the greenery.
-----------------------------------------------------
The sound of birdsong is a sound entirely out of place in Belle Reve, and yet, the sing-song twittering of birds unknown came from the rafters far overhead. The architecture appears to have shifted slightly, but it was impossible to tell in that strangling, suffocating foliage. Vines snaked their way through old windows, up cell bars and darted in and broke down doors.
Bodies lay strewn about in violent, and impossible positions. One corpse is practically reduced to a skeleton, a vine jammed through his hip-bone, crawling through his ribcage and ripping through his skull. There’s a broken, frail pair of glasses next to him.
Captain Boomerang’s eye is caught by a glint below his feet. He bends down to inspect it, and stands again with a pair of dog tags in his fingers.
“Doc Evans,” He reports, quietly.
The other two stop and turn around slowly.
“He one of the Task Force fellas?” Asks Armageddon. There’s a hint of anxiety in his drawl.
“Yeah,” replies Deadshot, “the brainiest one. Doesn’t bode well.” Despite the birdsong, there’s a stillness to the air. It makes him uncomfortable. He shifts on his feet, and wishes for a rifle.
Boomerang flips the tags through his fingers absently and says “Y’notice he’s nothin’ but bones? I may not be a genius cobber, but even I know y’can’t melt down to ya clackers in only a matter of hours.”
After a minute, Deadshot replies, “You’re not wrong, but that’s not the issue at hand.”
Then it hits them, the faint smell of chemicals. “Sirs,” Armageddon pipes up again, “I think I found the trail of our Mister Orange.”
Slashed like a gaping wound through the foliage, a sizzling, chemical burned trail snakes out in front of them. Following it, carefully stepping over thick roots and passing spiny plants, eventually they come across Agent Orange, wildly spraying some corrosive chemical over everything around him. He cackles gleefully as he arcs poison in all directions.
“Oh the glorious, delicious scent of pesticide!” He cries.
Deadshot shouts his name, and hurries up to him, careful not to get any of the sizzling fluid on himself. He wraps his hands around Agent Orange’s collar
“Breathe deeply,” says Aparo, “Inhhaallle all the flavorrrrr.”
“This isn’t a goddamn vacation,” Deadshot hisses acidly, “You stick to the mission, you follow my lead, you defoliate what I point at. Understood?”
Agent Orange giggles and nods, but says nothing of intelligence. Deadshot lets him go, and orders Armageddon to the front. Armageddon and his Axe. He swings mightily and chops heavily, carving through the undergrowth like so much butter.
“So eh, have we got a cardinal in mind eh?” Asks Boomerang, swatting away at an insect species that never existed before today.
“Come again?” says Deadshot, flatly.
“A direction, mate. Otherwise we’ll just wander around this bloody jungle ‘till we too are moldy bones.”
“I say we get to the monitor room,” Says Deadshot after a minute. “At the very least, maybe we can salvage some footage from last night, maybe find out what went wrong.”
“Do we actually plan on extracting the other team, sir?” Huffs Armageddon, his arms slowly growing weary.
“If we come across ‘em,” Deadshot replies, his scope training on a passing bird, “If not, we know what happened to at least one of ‘em.”
In the distance, comes a rattling wheeze that quickly descends into a dismal, low moan. Steadily, it grows, and grows, exploding into a crescendo of wailing, mournful, ear-splitting noise. A wicked, teeth-shattering bawl. The Squad all drop and ready their weapons, whirling their heads in every direction, but nothing comes.
The moaning stops.
“What the hell was that?!” Shouts Boomerang.
“Doesn’t matter,” Deadshot manages to spit out. “Doesn’t matter. Let’s just keep moving.”
---------------------------------------------
In the mess hall, the first signs of violence made themselves truly apparent. Frozen bodies, petrified with lichens and rigor mortis, lay strewn everywhere. One prisoner’s remains grew into one of the long tables, bisected in half by it’s surface. One duo died locked in combat, scratching and biting at each other’s throats. Another still, had stabbed forks into his own hands, and remained seated upright, long after death. Dozens of bodies rested in this way. And all of them were covered in mushrooms.
Boomerang makes the effort to wrap his scarf around the lower part of his face, thankful that the accessory finally had a use except as a handle for The Flash to grab him by. Silently, grimly, the four pass through the mess hall, and down into the nearest corridor.
The corridor, they realize, leads to the guardrooms. This did not use to be the case. The staircase, once straightforward and short, winds down and down, plunging into the earth, winding in spirals. The walls, soft and slimy to the touch, seemed to heave lightly, as if breathing on their own. As if alive. Tiny, incandescent plants lined the walls, and provided low light in the descent.
The Guardroom, when they reached it, seemed surprisingly unchanged, save for a thick layer of dust over everything, ashen and gray.
“Alright,” Says Boomerang, “We need ta take bloody stock.”
“Meaning?” Replies Deadshot.
“I don’t understand,” Says Armageddon shakily, “I ain’t been here long, but I don’t remember any of this place bein like this.” He buries his face in his hands, muttering something about “them walls, them walls . . . “
“Meaning,” says Boomerang, “meaning that th’rookie’s right. The stairs didn’t used to go in bloody circles. And what happened to all those poor blokes up there, eh? What drove em to mad killin’? Why’s this room been mostly untouched. What the hell is going on in here?”
Agent Orange fiddles with his gun, muttering about green.
Deadshot looks to each of the squaddies. He senses the growing restlessness. As calm as he possibly can, he says,
“I can’t pretend I know. But if we can find the monitor room, maybe we can figure it out.”
“Yeah,” says Boomerang after a minute, “yeah, fair enough.”
Then, there’s a humming. A buzzing. At first, like a cloud of bees, then like a swirl of dissonant voices, coming from the stairs behind them. It grows louder, slowly, but steadily. It grows closer just as fast. A warm, gold light begins to slowly trickle in ahead of it.
“Run.” Whispers Deadshot.
Boomerang, Armageddon, and Agent Orange all bolt out the door to the rear that didn’t exist until today. Deadshot takes a deep breath as the sputtering voices grow louder. For a second, he considers facing it. For a second, he considers fighting. Then, on the wall, a small, framed picture of a girl, almost entirely obscured by dust, catches his eye. He picks it up, dusts it off, places it on his belt, and sprints off after the others.
1. I, the pure, stainless and infinite Consciousness beyond maya, look upon this body in action like the body of another.
2. The mind, the intellect, the senses, etc. are all the play of Consciousness. They are unreal and seem to exist only due to lack of insight.
3. Unmoved by adversity, a friend of all the world in prosperity, without ideas of existence and non-existence, I Live free from misery.
4. Inactive am I, desireless, clear as the sky, free from hankering, tranquil, formless, everlasting and unmoving.
5. I have now clearly understood that the five elements, the three worlds and I myself are pure Consciousness.
6. I am above everything ; I am present everywhere ; I am like space; I am that which (really) exists; I am unable to say anything beyond this.
7. Let imaginary waves of universe rise or fall in me who am the ocean of infinite Consciousness ; there is no increase or decrease in me.
8. How wonderful that in me, the infinite ocean of Consciousness, waves of jivas (individual souls) rise, sport for a while and disappear according to their nature.
9. The world which has come into existence on account of my ignorance has dissolved likewise in me. I now directly experience the world as supreme bliss of Consciousness.
10. I prostrate to myself who am within all being, the ever free Self abiding as inner consciousness.
---
Yoga Vasishta Sara - SELECTED VERSES - Meditation on the Self
“Totalitarianism is not a historical coincidence. In the final analysis, it is the logical consequence of mechanistic thinking and the delusional belief in the omnipotence of human rationality. As such, totalitarianism is the defining feature of the Enlightenment tradition.” ‒ Mattias Desmet
Totalitarianism is a product of the Enlightenment tradition. It places faith in human rationality. It’s a belief system in which man’s intellect can save man, the world, and the universe. Man will solve man’s problems, thus bringing salvation to mankind. Its priests desire to form a new society built on rationality. They want a world without pain and suffering. They even want to conquer death. Science, man’s new religion, has its own creation story. In this story, man has been reduced to particles that interact according to the laws of mechanics. Life and mankind were randomly produced without any purpose or direction. Man is seen as a machine; he works (repetitively) as a machine; he will merge with machine. The universe is also a machine, and it too will eventually be manipulated. The spiritual elect of this religion look forward to an artificial heaven on earth, where man and nature have been replaced by perfect technological clones. Once this happens, man will have conquered both man and nature. He will then gain eternal life. He will synthetically live forever. “Amen and Hallelujah!” shout the transhumanists. As a result, the totalitarians will have realized their goal of a superman/super race like the New Soviet Man/Aryan Race. The idolatry of science, which aims to create a perfect world, will ultimately result in a dystopian nightmare. Their rationality will become irrational. Secular humanism will fail.
“Man is at last becoming aware that he alone is responsible for the realization of the world of his dreams, that he has within himself the power for its achievement.” – Humanist Manifesto I
With science came technological advancement. These advances separated man from nature, tradition, and family. The industrial revolution changed the social fabric of society. Before industrialization, most families lived in rural areas and did agricultural work. The family worked together to support itself. Multiple generations lived together in the same area. Extended families were an important part of society. After industrialization, many families moved to urban areas and did manufacturing work. They became cogs in the machine, working meaningless jobs. This movement split up the extended family unit. Then there was one: the nuclear family. “The dynamics of industrialization contributed to the rise of single-parent families. Factors such as increased divorce rates, the normalization of out-of-wedlock childbirth, and the empowerment of women to raise children independently all played a role in this shift.” As you can see, the nuclear family has not fared too well. Technology produced the radio, television, and social media, which have created an antisocial society. Technology was supposed to make life easier; it was supposed to make us happier, yet it has made us lonely and unhappy. Society has lost its meaning. People come home from meaningless jobs, only to live meaningless social lives online. Wolves chase after those separated from the herd, because they are easy targets. When the isolated are rounded up and killed, no one will fight for them because they are isolated from the herd. Those who are alone and isolated will be seen as useless eaters by their enemies. “To keep you is no gain; to kill you is no loss.” Indeed, a lonely society is very prone to accepting totalitarianism.
The Enlightenment was supposed to empower us, yet we have become more powerless. The Enlightenment was supposed to make us more independent, yet we have become more dependent. Plus, technology is controlled by the few. With science, a perfect artificial world is being built. It’s creating a fake Garden of Eden that is full of genetically modified foods, lab-grown meat, sex dolls that look like Eve, and synthetic-fiber clothing to hide our naked bodies of sin. Don’t eat the genetically modified fruit, it will kill you! Automated machines, robots, and artificial intelligence will replace man’s toil. Artificial wombs will replace the pain of childbirth. The digital paradise being constructed dehumanizes us. It steals our humanity. It makes us insecure, unempathetic, narcissistic, apathetic, cowardly, lonely, and isolated. An insecure society is less resilient. An insecure society is easier to control. An unempathetic, narcissistic, apathetic, and cowardly society will look the other way when people are rounded up and killed. A lonely and isolated society is weak and submissive. They feel empty and meaningless, and they have little self-worth. Such a society yearns for direction and authority. They are weak and lazy and want someone (the state) to take care of them.
We have a dumbed-down society. The education system teaches us how to be cogs in the machine. Mass media is a giant propaganda machine, indoctrinating the masses. The ignorant zombies have been trained to listen to the experts. These experts lead the sheep with twisted data and statistics. Thus, the people are easily led. Safety: give up your freedom of privacy to fight terror. Misinformation: give up your freedom of speech to fight hate speech. 15-minute cities: give up your freedom of movement to fight climate change. Mass immigration: give up your culture for multiculturalism. Abortion is women’s health. Euthanasia is good. By the way, how many genders are there? Society has been molded and shaped. You have been taught what to think, not how to think.
“I don’t want a nation of thinkers, I want a nation of workers.” ‒ John D. Rockefeller
Students have been indoctrinated and radicalized by feminism, gender theory, critical race theory, and decolonialism. The goal: abolish women, gender, race, borders and nations. All hail the tranhumanist new world order! The youth are taught that capitalism is bad and socialism is good. They’ve been taught to hate their own country, traditions, values, and culture. They’ve been taught to hate their own race! Humiliation is a tool of control to shape and guide them. If a person loses their identity, they can be easily manipulated and brainwashed. Our youth have been taught that a communist revolution is necessary to overthrow capitalism. The end justifies the means! Therefore, radicals in the education system have raised up an army of woke activists. These woke evangelists have been poisoned by envy, hate, and bitterness. It doesn’t help that subversive billionaires are pouring hundreds of millions of dollars into supposed ‘organic’ protests, which are being organized by professional protesters (communist agitators). Wokeism is the new puritan movement of today, with its moral values and commandments. These born-again socialists preach the dialectic gospel of social(ist) justice and equality. These radicalized saints promise a perfect world. A radicalized society is prone to accepting totalitarianism. In fact, it’s extremely prone to accepting totalitarianism. Especially when the youth are radicalized!
“Give me just one generation of youth, and I’ll transform the whole world.” ‒ Vladimir Lenin
Science, the religion of the day, has become corrupted. Fraud in scientific research is increasing. Falsified scientific papers are becoming more and more common. The perception of reality can be steered by crunching numbers in any desired fashion. (Climate change data is famous for distorting numbers.) Totalitarians mold the perception of reality with propaganda. The COVID-19 hysteria, with its “follow the science,” was proof of its degeneration. People blindly became disciples of the experts. Their apostles commanded: Mask up, even though it’s ineffective! Social distance, even though it’s useless! Take a PCR test, even though it’s unreliable! Take the vaccines, even though they haven’t been properly tested! Ivermectin is bad, even though it can help some patients! The population must be locked down, even though it’s physically and mentally bad for their health and weakens their immune system! Herd immunity, what’s that? Small businesses must be shutdown, even though big corporations like Walmart can stay open! Schools must be shut down, even though the average age of death is 70+ years old! Fire the unvaccinated healthcare workers, even though the emergency rooms are supposedly full and short-staffed! TicTok nurses! Dance, baby, dance! We’re in a pandemic, can’t you see!?! Falsely mark down unrelated deaths as COVID deaths—beef up those numbers! Big numbers, big money! Since this is science, we must suppress opposing ideas! Science that censors different opinions is not science. Much of society faithfully trusted the science, with its religious experts and scientific doctrines, numbers and graphs. In Nazi Germany, children were conditioned to accept any form of authority without question. Without question, many people blindly obeyed the COVID restrictions. To this day, some people mask up in public. They are religious zealots! They still haven’t woken up from their indoctrination. The science of today: take a big pharma flu shot, rather than rely on your own immune system; take a big pharma flu shot, rather than eat foods that are high in antioxidants like vitamin C. Could you not just find a natural vitamin C supplement? Nope! We love big pharma! We love big corporations! We love Big Brother! We love fascism! Since you’ve been trained to be a consumer, you’ll consume what has been marketed to you. Oh, the science of propaganda! Ah, the science of marketing!
“Scientism has remained to this day one of the strongest Gnostic movements in Western society.” – Eric Voegelin
During COVID-19, people were not only begging for totalitarian measures, but they were applauding them. They wanted strict rules to ease their uncertainty, fear, and insecurity. They coped with their insecurity by running others down. The big bad enemies were not the Jews, but the unvaccinated. Fear needs an enemy! People were calling for the unvaccinated to be rounded up. Some even wanted the unvaccinated killed. This made them feel more secure, like they had the upper hand. They had the camaraderie of the mob; they felt like they belonged! The extra rules helped ease their anxiety. They felt more in control of their fear. The fellowship of the mob helped to further ease their stress and insecurity. There is security in numbers! They rebuked, denounced, and excommunicated heretical friends and relatives who strayed from the holy narrative. They felt righteous, because they were supposedly fighting for a righteous cause. This made them feel virtuous. They were crusaders for the truth, and they felt heroic! They felt relief as they took out their frustrations on their enemies. They blew off steam! They felt good! They felt energized!
These people had an authoritarian mindset. Their true selves, their true natures, came to the surface. They had a mob mentality. They had a pack mentality. These people were so filled with fear, hysteria, and panic that they could not think straight. They lost their ability to calm down and think things through. They could not regulate their fears and emotions. As a result, they could not think critically. How can one think critically in a panic? In fact, since they were taught to be cogs in the machine, they weren’t really taught to be critical thinkers. Just as a child must learn how to walk, a child must be taught how to critically think. They were taught to solve problems related to the machine, but they were not taught to think outside the machine. That is why they say things like: I support free speech, ‘but’ not hate speech. They don’t even understand how speech operates under the framework of free speech. They literally can’t understand the concept of free speech! It’s over their heads. Will these people ever change? Nope, I’ve yet to see any of them apologize for their actions during COVID. Given the right crisis, our society will accept totalitarianism.
Big government, with its increased bureaucracy, administration, and management, loves to make ever-increasing rules and regulations. We are drawing closer and closer to totalitarianism. We will soon have a totalitarian system with digital biometric IDs, central bank digital currencies, and social credit scores. We are becoming a total surveillance society. Our data is being collected, tracked, analyzed, and sold. COVID caused a worldwide hypnosis, a mass hysteria, in which the masses were ready to trade their freedoms for safety. Nothing much has changed. The world’s population is slowly being boiled like a frog; it’s slowly being corralled into a worldwide authoritarian system. Like Nazi Germany, many today would pick totalitarianism if they were promised economic solutions in a time of financial hardship. If we had another great depression like the 1930s, many in our decadent society would pick a totalitarian system. They would choose digital IDs, CBDCs, and social credit scores if they could receive universal basic income to feed their families. Is it really a stretch to see why people would accept the Mark of the Beast?
In the fourth industrial revolution, man will physically merge with technology. Of course, this technology is supposed to make man smarter and healthier. It’s supposed to turn man into the perfect superman. How can the imperfect make the perfect? Man is an imperfect sinner. He has sinned against God. God is perfect, and sin is imperfect. Perfection and imperfection do not mix. Righteousness and sin do not mix. Light expels darkness, God expels sin. God’s punishment for sin is death. God will permit sinful man to utilize his strength and rationality to attempt to work out his own salvation. Ultimately, man will fail. Christ will return to stop man from destroying all life on earth at the battle of Armageddon (Matthew 24:22). Jesus will destroy those who, in their sin, are destroying the earth (Revelation 11:18). Jesus first came as a sacrificial Lamb for the atonement of sins. The second time, Jesus will come as a roaring lion to destroy His enemies. His enemies will choose His imposter, the antichrist. They will accept the transhuman Mark of the Beast. As a result, they will forfeit salvation. Only in Christ (the perfect sacrifice) is sin forgiven. Will you accept His salvation? Or will you try, in your sin, to work out your own salvation?
Revelation 3:20 “Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in and fellowship with him, and he with Me.”
In mythology, and in the study of folklore and religion, a trickster is a character in a story (god, goddess, spirit, human, or anthropomorphisation), which exhibits a great degree of intellect or secret knowledge, and uses it to play tricks or otherwise disobey normal rules and conventional behaviour.
"Final and perfect happiness can consist in nothing else than the vision of the Divine Essence...
Consequently, for perfect happiness the intellect needs to reach the very Essence of the First Cause. And thus it will have its perfection through union with God as with that object, in which alone man's happiness consists."
– St Thomas Aquinas, Summa theologiæ, Ia IIæ, 3, 8.
Detail from a painting in the Cathedral of San Cristobal de La Laguna in Tenerife.
My sermon for Trinity Sunday 2020 can be read here.
LILAC will align and balance all of the chakra centers of the body and it spiritualizes the intellect. It awakens mental clarity and its essence can help us to link more productively with the kingdom of nature spirits. Lilac draws protective spirits into one’s life and it is a wonderful fragrance to use in meditation to open to your spirit guides. Sitting near or beneath a lilac while meditating opens doors to the Faerie Realm. Lilac also activates greater clairvoyance. The faeries of this flower are musical in their communication. Mostly, it helps us realize that there is an inherent beauty within all things. This is a time to balance spiritual activities with intellectual activities. Spirit is close and willing to work with you. Now is the time to open and develop trust with your guides. ~Nature Speaks - Ted Andrews
There are many reasons why people feel empty; they only mask the problem hidden under a dress of artificial light. Right now we have so much chaos and destruction on this planet because people are feeling this void, and they are looking outside themselves to repair it. Or, out of frustration and loneliness, they hurt others to release these feelings. None of this will solve the problem, however. At the heart of emptiness is the lack of love for oneself.
I think I'm pretty good at reading people .... My first thought about John was that I myself never looked so good in a crisp blue pinstripe shirt and sharp white linen clamdigger drawstring pants ..... and I've certainly never been able to grow my beard with that wild and beautiful abandon .... but after spending our first few moments together ... I wasn't quite sure if John was a college lecturer and eccentric ... or just bat shit crazy and homeless ... After several more connections over time I'm afraid my assessment confirmed the latter two .... I saw still that John's sharpness and clarity was always somewhat there ... but most times it was distant and gave way to flights of near insanity and delusions ... well ... there's the rub .... I've been around a few blocks and seen alot of stuff in my time ... yet still couldn't at first glance draw a clear distinction between the two .... in truth turns out John embodies both of those natures ... articulate and precise and charming - (I think you can clearly see those qualities in his eye's twinkle) - but here he is ... in spite of that charm and intellect that I first saw ... he was living on the street ... sometimes dapper ... other times discheveled .... some times coherent ...most times not .... and I'd come to know also that apparently he's in and out of trouble with the police ... I guess the point is that life itself can be pretty delicate .... and just to be aware and careful to always try to walk that fine and fragile line that guides us to our higher spiritual nature .... and try ... like your life depends on it ... to keep the balance ....
Life is always inspiring, the scenery around us, the situations we find ourselves in and the people we meet can all contribute to some great moments of inspiration.
Our entire environment is interconnected with its life forms, which are interconnected and inter-reliant on each other. The complexity is enormous, perhaps beyond the scope of the limited human intellect. Within this fabric of life there is a perfect consistency and response to influences, until man steps in and begins breaking apart the individual elements thread by thread without understanding the fabric which is the whole.
If you look at a piece of fabric or knitting, there is always one side that looks beautiful. Then, when you turn it over, there is the messy side. The side that contains all of the loose yarns and threads. You can't have one side without the other. Both are necessary for creating the finished piece. And, the same can be said about life. It's not about perfection but opening to the life that you are living and working with what life presents you.
Problems are the texture in the fabric of life, nothing more. Without them, our lives would be flat, lacking excitement and fulfillment.
Our basic emotions like Joy, Acceptance, Fear, Surprise, Sadness, Disgust, Anger & Anticiaption forms a base of the fabric with the interwoven complex emotions like Love, Disappointment, Contempt, Aggressiveness, Optimism and Submission creating the design pattern of life.
So at the end it again boils down to the singular most important thing, Our Attitude is creating the fabric of our life... We are all provided with the same base of fibers, what fabric we create is always different.
Have a nice Fabric...
Taken: Tana Bana (Weaving) Festival at Lok Virsa Museum, Islamabad, Pakistan
OK, what do I say here. This is tough. I'm not going to be around much since I'll be starting this new job on Monday. As wonderful as it is to finally have work after such a long drought, I am going to miss the time I've been able to share my thoughts, feelings, panicky outbursts, joys, humor, life and art with you all here terribly. I'll still post when I have the chance of course, but I doubt there'll be much opportunity to leave those in-depth commentaries where word matches image so uniquely. That does pain me greatly, since I know how much it's been appreciated by everyone. I will comment and make my presence known on your photo pages and groups whenever I can, as much as possible, so please don't think I have forgotten you. God, how could I possibly after all we've been through together? Oh, brother, OK...
I just need to say this.....I doubt any of you will ever truly know just how much you've helped me to grow as a photographer, but even moreso, as a person. Your suggestions and critiques, your love and compassion, your generosity and consideration, have all been a boon to my spirit for these past 11 months. You have shown me it's OK to express myself openly and honestly, to admit to being flawed, to try new things regarding my work, and to stand tall in the face of adversity. I have said many times that photography has been my salvation - from depression and anxiety, from self-pity and creative malaise. It's pulled me up from the depths and helped me to breathe again. And when I felt like I was sinking under the weight of the world, I reached out a hand and someone HERE grabbed it, and lifted me back above the darkness. How can one adequately thank another for that kind of devotion? I cannot even begin to come close. All I can hope is that you can FEEL the fervent thumping of my heart, and know it's because of you.
As I've written before, this online community in particular flourishes because we're all truly connected in our words and deeds. Each of us counts on the other for inspiration and encouragement. And when it comes to simply wanting an "escape," we can rely on our neighbors in Flickrland to offer a shoulder to cry on, a joke to lighten our spirits, or a picture that will leave our jaws hanging with a beauty we'd never expect to witness in our bleakest of hours. What a wonderful gift to be blessed with in life!
So, THANK YOU - humbly and deeply and completely - for every small and enormous thing. If I could wrap my arms around the world, I would embrace you all. Know that down every challenging path, in every worrisome moment, in every beautiful and wondrous instance, that you walk beside me. You are my family. You are my friends. Walter Winchell said "A real friend is one who walks in when the rest of the world walks out." Thank you for walking in to MY LIFE.
I love you, each and every one......
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If you can, please make a contribution towards the disaster relief
efforts in New Orleans by donating to the American Red Cross.
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As a way of returning the extraordinary generosity and support you
have all shown me in this great community, whenever I upload a new
pic or series of shots this year, I'll provide a link to another flickr
photog whose work, personality, or spirit I feel you should discover.
Visit and introduce yourself. Make a friend. Share the love.
Open your eyes to Deena_Rooney today.
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“Intellect takes us along in the battle of life to a certain limit, but at the crucial moment it fails us. Faith transcends reason. It is when the horizon is the darkest and human reason is beaten down to the ground that faith shines brightest and comes to our rescue.” - Mohandas Gandhi
Seen on our afternoon walk.
Rebirth, wisdom, fluidity, wholeness, transmutations, sexuality, look for transitions, changes and new opportunities. Creative forces are awakening with heightened intuition. Snake can teach about shedding what is not needed; perceptions, attitudes, ideals. Snake shows how to access vitality, ambitions and dreams along with intellect and personal power. What things are surfacing that you need to strike out and take advantage of? Perhaps a time to rest and reflect? Listen to your intuition and visions at this time. Contemplate the colors, striking ability and activity of the snake type to further understand what snake is saying.