Hermann Melville, Moby Dick, 1851

"Call me Ishmael. Some years ago - never mind how long precisely - having little or no money in my purse, and nothing particular to interest me on shore, I thought I would sail about a little and see the watery part of the world. It is a way I have of driving off the spleen, and regulating the circulation. Whenever I find myself growing grim about the mouth; whenever it is a damp, drizzly November in my soul; whenever I find myself involuntarily pausing before coffin warehouses, and bringing up the rear of every funeral I meet; and especially whenever my hypos get such an upper hand of me, that it requires a strong moral principle to prevent me from deliberately stepping into the street, and methodically knocking people's hats off - then, I account it high time to get to sea as soon as I can"

 

Can't wait to get to the sea again, this year, somewhere, just to get lost in its beautiful vastity and contemplate my beloved clouds playing above it.

  

Hermann Melville, Moby Dick, 1851

"Chiamatemi Ismaele. Alcuni anni fa – non importa quanti esattamente – avendo pochi o punti denari in tasca e nulla di particolare che m'interessasse a terra, pensai di darmi alla navigazione e vedere la parte acquea del mondo. È un modo che ho io di cacciare la malinconia e di regolare la circolazione. Ogni volta che m'accorgo di atteggiare le labbra al torvo, ogni volta che nell'anima mi scende come un novembre umido e piovigginoso, ogni volta che mi accorgo di fermarmi involontariamente dinanzi alle agenzie di pompe funebri e di andar dietro a tutti i funerali che incontro, e specialmente ogni volta che il malumore si fa tanto forte in me che mi occorre un robusto principio morale per impedirmi di scendere risoluto in istrada e gettare metodicamente per terra il cappello alla gente, allora decido che è tempo di mettermi in mare al più presto."

 

Non vedo l'ora, quest'anno, di ritornare sul mare a perdermi da qualche parte nella sua affascinante immensità e contemplare le mie nuvole adorate mentre vi giocano sopra.

  

L found a place to park his cars! I didn't dare move them so I could practice, but instead asked him sweetly to move them to another place (where we wouldn't trip over them!). He agreed without a fuss :-) ...no meltdown...everyone's happy. But how creative of him...the cars fit so snuggly between the keys!

Looking north to St. Andreas' Church.

 

"Karlstadt is a town in the Main-Spessart in the Regierungsbezirk of Lower Franconia (Unterfranken) in Bavaria, Germany. It is the administrative centre of Main-Spessart (Kreisstadt), and has a population of around 15,000.

 

Karlstadt lies on the River Main in the district (Landkreis) of Main-Spessart, roughly 25 km north of the city of Würzburg. It belongs to the Main-Franconian wine-growing region. The town itself is located on the right bank of the river, but the municipal territory extends to the left bank.

 

Since the amalgamations in 1978, Karlstadt's Stadtteile have been Gambach, Heßlar, Karlburg, Karlstadt, Laudenbach, Mühlbach, Rohrbach, Stadelhofen, Stetten, and Wiesenfeld.

 

From the late 6th to the mid-13th century, the settlement of Karlburg with its monastery and harbor was located on the west bank of the Main. It grew up around the Karlsburg, a castle perched high over the community, that was destroyed in the German Peasants' War in 1525.

 

In 1202, Karlstadt itself was founded by Konrad von Querfurt, Bishop of Würzburg. The town was methodically laid out with a nearly rectangular plan to defend Würzburg territory against the Counts of Rieneck. The plan is still well preserved today. The streets in the old town are laid out much like a chessboard, but for military reasons they are not quite straight.

 

In 1225, Karlstadt had its first documentary mention. In 1236, the castle and the village of Karlburg were destroyed in the Rieneck Feud. In 1244, winegrowing in Karlstadt was mentioned for the first time. From 1277 comes the earliest evidence of the town seal. In 1304, the town fortifications were finished. The parish of Karlstadt was first named in 1339. In 1369 a hospital was founded. Between 1370 and 1515, remodelling work was being done on the first, Romanesque parish church to turn it into a Gothic hall church. About 1400, Karlstadt became for a short time the seat of an episcopal mint. The former Oberamt of the Princely Electorate (Hochstift) of Würzburg was, after Secularization, in Bavaria's favour, passed in 1805 to Grand Duke Ferdinando III of Tuscany to form the Grand Duchy of Würzburg, and passed with this to the Kingdom of Bavaria.

 

The Jewish residents of the town had a synagogue as early as the Middle Ages. The town's synagogue was destroyed on Kristallnacht (the Night of Broken Glass, 9 November 1938) by Nazi SA men, SS, and Hitler Youth, as well as other local residents. Its destruction is recalled by a plaque at the synagogue's former site. The homes of Jewish residents were attacked as well, the possessions therein were looted or brought to the square in front of the town hall where they were burned, and the Jews living in the town were beaten.

 

Lower Franconia (German: Unterfranken) is one of seven districts of Bavaria, Germany. The districts of Lower, Middle and Upper Franconia make up the region of Franconia. It consists of nine districts and 308 municipalities (including three cities).

 

After the founding of the Kingdom of Bavaria the state was totally reorganised and, in 1808, divided into 15 administrative government regions (German: Regierungsbezirke, singular Regierungsbezirk), in Bavaria called Kreise (singular: Kreis). They were created in the fashion of the French departements, quite even in size and population, and named after their main rivers.

 

In the following years, due to territorial changes (e. g. loss of Tyrol, addition of the Palatinate), the number of Kreise was reduced to 8. One of these was the Untermainkreis (Lower Main District). In 1837 king Ludwig I of Bavaria renamed the Kreise after historical territorial names and tribes of the area. This also involved some border changes or territorial swaps. Thus the name Untermainkreis changed to Lower Franconia and Aschaffenburg, but the city name was dropped in the middle of the 20th century, leaving just Lower Franconia.

 

From 1933, the regional Nazi Gauleiter, Otto Hellmuth, (who had renamed his party Gau "Mainfranken") insisted on renaming the government district Mainfranken as well. He encountered resistance from Bavarian state authorities but finally succeeded in having the name of the district changed, effective 1 June 1938. After 1945 the name Unterfranken was restored.

 

Franconia (German: Franken, pronounced [ˈfʁaŋkŋ̍]; Franconian: Franggn [ˈfrɑŋɡŋ̍]; Bavarian: Frankn) is a region of Germany, characterised by its culture and Franconian dialect (German: Fränkisch).

 

Franconia is made up of the three Regierungsbezirke of Lower, Middle and Upper Franconia in Bavaria, the adjacent, Franconian-speaking, South Thuringia, south of the Thuringian Forest—which constitutes the language boundary between Franconian and Thuringian— and the eastern parts of Heilbronn-Franconia in Baden-Württemberg.

 

Those parts of the Vogtland lying in Saxony (largest city: Plauen) are sometimes regarded as Franconian as well, because the Vogtlandian dialects are mostly East Franconian. The inhabitants of Saxon Vogtland, however, mostly do not consider themselves as Franconian. On the other hand, the inhabitants of the Hessian-speaking parts of Lower Franconia west of the Spessart (largest city: Aschaffenburg) do consider themselves as Franconian, although not speaking the dialect. Heilbronn-Franconia's largest city of Heilbronn and its surrounding areas are South Franconian-speaking, and therefore only sometimes regarded as Franconian. In Hesse, the east of the Fulda District is Franconian-speaking, and parts of the Oden Forest District are sometimes regarded as Franconian for historical reasons, but a Franconian identity did not develop there.

 

Franconia's largest city and unofficial capital is Nuremberg, which is contiguous with Erlangen and Fürth, with which it forms the Franconian conurbation with around 1.3 million inhabitants. Other important Franconian cities are Würzburg, Bamberg, Bayreuth, Ansbach and Coburg in Bavaria, Suhl and Meiningen in Thuringia, and Schwäbisch Hall in Baden-Württemberg.

 

The German word Franken—Franconians—also refers to the ethnic group, which is mainly to be found in this region. They are to be distinguished from the Germanic people of the Franks, and historically formed their easternmost settlement area. The origins of Franconia lie in the settlement of the Franks from the 6th century in the area probably populated until then mainly by the Elbe Germanic people in the Main river area, known from the 9th century as East Francia (Francia Orientalis). In the Middle Ages the region formed much of the eastern part of the Duchy of Franconia and, from 1500, the Franconian Circle. The restructuring of the south German states by Napoleon, after the demise of the Holy Roman Empire, saw most of Franconia awarded to Bavaria." - info from Wikipedia.

 

Summer 2019 I did a solo cycling tour across Europe through 12 countries over the course of 3 months. I began my adventure in Edinburgh, Scotland and finished in Florence, Italy cycling 8,816 km. During my trip I took 47,000 photos.

 

Now on Instagram.

 

Become a patron to my photography on Patreon or donate.

Black-throated Blue Warbler

Setophaga caerulescens

  

Conservation statusRequires tracts of unbroken forest for nesting, so undoubtedly has declined in some areas. Could be vulnerable to continued loss of habitat in both summer and winter ranges.

 

FamilyWood Warblers

 

Habitat -Interior of hardwood and mixed deciduous-coniferous forests. Breeds in large areas of relatively undisturbed forests of maple, birch, beech, eastern hemlock, spruce, and fir; mainly in forest containing a dense undergrowth of shrubs (especially rhododendron bogs) and vine tangles. During migration, tends to be in shrubby or forested places. In winter, inhabits dense tropical woods as well as fence rows and gardens.

 

The lazy, buzzy song of the Black-throated Blue Warbler comes from the undergrowth of leafy eastern woods. Although the bird usually keeps to the shady understory, it is not especially shy; a birder who walks quietly on trails inside the forest may observe it closely. It moves about rather actively in its search for insects, but often will forage in the same immediate area for minutes at a time, rather than moving quickly through the forest like some warblers.

 

Migration

Migrates mostly at night. Travels to and from Caribbean mostly via Florida; rare farther west on Gulf Coast. Fall migration often lasts through October, and strays in West may appear even later.

  

Feeding Behavior

More methodical in its foraging than many warblers, working over an area thoroughly in the forest understory or lower levels of trees. Forages by gleaning insects among foliage or by hovering briefly to take items from undersurface of leaves. Males tend to forage higher than females in summer. Frequently seen robbing insects from spiderwebs. Will join mixed flocks with other birds on migration and in winter. Establishes winter feeding territories, chasing away others of its own kind.

  

Eggs

4, sometimes 2-5. Creamy white, with blotches of reddish brown and gray concentrated at larger end. Incubated by female only, 12-13 days. Cowbirds rarely parasitize nests, possibly because this species tends to nest deep in forest interior. Young: Fed by both parents. Young leave nest after 8-10 days, but fly poorly at this stage. Male often becomes sole provider for fledglings, while female begins 2nd or 3rd nest. Female usually becomes main provider for last brood of season. 2 or occasionally 3 broods per summer.

  

Young

Fed by both parents. Young leave nest after 8-10 days, but fly poorly at this stage. Male often becomes sole provider for fledglings, while female begins 2nd or 3rd nest. Female usually becomes main provider for last brood of season. 2 or occasionally 3 broods per summer.

 

Diet

Mostly insects. In summer, feeds mostly on insects, especially caterpillars, moths, and crane flies, also spiders. In winter, continues to eat many insects, but also takes seeds, berries, small fruits, and flower nectar. Will visit hummingbird feeders for sugar water.

  

Nesting

Some males have more than one mate. Pairs are faithful between seasons, 80% of returning birds nest with previous year's mate. Nest site in thick shrubs (such as laurel, alder, rhododendron, viburnum) or saplings, in a fork within 6' of ground, sometimes with leaning dead branch as extra support. Female builds nest, male helps by supplying materials; nest is open cup of bark strips, cobwebs, plants fibers, lined with pine needles, moss, and hair.

   

My biggest work of art to date...

 

14 Months

272 Stations

12 Trips

 

First bit? Random Bakerloo Line stations to Harrow and Wealdstone in October 2023 - became more methodical after that!

 

Last bit? Northern Line to High Barnet and Mill Hill East on 30 December 2024. Waiting for Kentish Town to re-open!

 

Very last station: Mill Hill East.

 

Favourite bit? Too many to mention. Love my home station at Morden, loved the rainy wet photography on the Piccadilly line up to Rayners Lane. Loved the mossy stone roundels on the Hainault Loop. Loved the sunny warm spring day on our trip to Amersham followed by a Burger at Baker Street. Loved the Canadian family we met on the Hammermith and City who we chatted with all the way from Aldgate East to Edgware Road. They were going to Blackfriars!

 

What's next? Have already started DLR.

 

Four stations do not have roundels: Wimbledon, Richmond, Barking and Upminster (all Network Rail stations rather than TfL). We got a name board instead.

 

Interesting Roundels: Ealing Broadway, Edgware has a crossing not standard "W". All the stations with sub-names "South Wimbledon (Merton)"; "South Woodford (George Lane)"; "Hillingdon (Swakeleys)".

 

I have recently produced an Authenticity Policy: www.flickr.com/people/ryantaylorphotography/

 

This image is obviously a composite and the Tube Map is not my own work but sets the context for the production.

 

www.phoenix-rpc.co.uk/

Some test shots from the square 24mm by 24mm pinhole camera using 3D printed parts. I have made several small adjustments and I'm working in the right direction. There are still some adjustments to make but I'm working through them in a methodical manner.

 

One issue I've worked through is the .05mm pinhole I started with. That is simply too small and caused light turbulence at the opening resulting in a very fuzzy image. The larger .10 pinhole is better but it is over-exposing due to the very short 11mm focal length. The .05 pinhole was f260 while the .10 pinhole is f110. A sunny-16 light situation is 1.9 seconds on the .05 pinhole and is 1/2 second on the .10 pinhole. That's awfully fast, even for the pinch-and-reveal method.

 

It appears I am exposing the sprockets in the frame so I need to work on lowering the film just a bit. That shouldn't be too much of an issue but I'll tackle that after I finalize the lensboard/shutter design that uses magnets. I am printing an updated version that is a bit thicker than the working version to see if I can address some of the light leak in the image.

 

After these issues are addressed I will be working on the sprocket-calculated film advance mechanism (currently a 1/2 turn-or-so-guesstimation system) so there is no film wasted.

 

Camera: 135 Pin V7.0

Lens: 0.10mm Laser Drilled Pinhole from Fireseller66 on eBay

Film: Ultrafine Extreme 100

Developer: Xtol

Scanner: Epson V600

Photoshop: Curves, Healing Brush (spotting)

Cropping: None

Photographed at San Antonio Open Space, Los Altos, California

 

*Thanks to Michael Mammoser for correcting my original, incorrect identification of this bird as a Purple Finch.

  

Love watching this House Finch methodically separating the thistle seed from it's "parachute" before cracking the exterior shell and eating the seed. Until I took these photos, I really didn't know the process.

 

Canon 7D Mark II 1/2000 f/5.6 Canon EF 500mm f/4L 700mm

 

1AB2A8295-1_fConcatSF5KFlkr

Montréal, Arr. sud-ouest, Série 1 de 4

J'ai choisi quatre dernières images pour clore cette série sur l'épervier de cooper, observé du balcon de Michel Paquin. Un détail, qu'il me semble important de partager, c'est le rituel dans la manière de l'épervier d'attaquer son repas. Il a du respect pour sa proie, et une séquence rigoureuse dans l'apprêt de son repas. Lorsqu,il mange, il fait d'une manière posée, et non empressée comme certains oiseaux...

 

To wrap up this Cooper's Hawk series, taken at Michel Paquin's house, last week, I have chosen four images. I was amazed to notice that the Cooper had a kind of a ritual with its prey, a very respectful one. He was not in a rush to eat, he was eating very methodically.

With Tamron SP AF 70-300mm F/4-5.6 Di VC USD Lens

 

The intermediate egret or yellow-billed egret (Mesophoyx intermedia) is a medium-sized heron, stalks its prey methodically in shallow coastal or fresh water, including flooded fields. It eats fish, frogs, crustaceans and insects. It often nests in colonies with other herons. It is a resident breeder from east Africa across the Indian subcontinent to Southeast Asia and Australia.

 

Gajaldoba is a small village on the western side of Teesta River in the Oodlabari area of Jalpaiguri district (West Bengal, India). Gajaldoba is famous for the dam on River Teesta, constructed for irrigation of agricultural lands, which resulted in a large waterbody upstream and has become home to many migratory birds during the winter. The natural beauty of the place with its view of the forest, river and majestic Kangchenjunga is awe inspiring!

 

The wetland with sprawling vegetation and reedbeds is a safe haven of at least 100 species of birds, primarily the waterfowls, which attracts a number of winter migrants. Birds from Europe, Central and southeast Asia, Ladakh and Himalayas winter here. Gajaldoba now host at least 20,000 waterfowls in the peak season (November to March) and becoming a significant global waterfowl habitat.

 

Gajaldoba took increased prominence due to the state government's initiative to promote a mega tourism hub in the area. An area of more than 200 acres has been demarcated for the purpose and infrastructure is being developed. In the near future, the area is expected to become one of the high end tourist destinations of Bengal.

They are very methodical about looking for food crumbs dropped by passing tourists around the Manning Park lodge.

REAR VIEW of Indian Cuckoo (Cuculus micropterus)

  

The generic name derives from the onomatopoeic name for a cuckoo, based on the bird's call, in Old English = coccou or cukkow, in French = coucou and in Greek = kokkux or kokkyx. The specific name results from a combination of two Greek words: micro = little or very small and ptero = wing. Together, the name literally means "small winged cuckoo" which is reflected in an early common name.

 

Other common names: Short-winged Cuckoo, Indian Hawk-Cuckoo.

 

Taxonomy: Cuculus micropterus Gould 1837, Himalayas.

 

Sub-species & Distribution: Two races are recognised, both of which are found in this region:

 

micropterus Gould 1837, Himalayas. Ranges from India, Nepal, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Myanmar and Thailand, east to E China, Mongolia, Korea and E Russia. It winters south to the Andamans and Nicobars, West Malaysia, Singapore, Sumatra, Java, Borneo and the Philippines.

 

concretus S. Müller 1845, Borneo. This smaller resident form is found in Borneo, Sumatra and Java. It is also found from Phattalung, in S Thailand, south to Johore (Medway & Wells 1976).

 

Similar species: It is very similar to two other Cuculus species. The Common Cuckoo C. canorus does not occur in this region. The Oriental Cuckoo C. saturatus is a rare winter visitor and passage migrant. Both these birds do not have a broad black sub-terminal band, tipped with white, on the tail.

 

Size: 12½ to 13" (31 to 33 cm). Sexes differ slightly.

 

Description: Male: Head and neck dark ashy-grey tinged with brown, paler on the lores, chin, throat and upper breast. Remaining upperparts, scapulars and wing coverts dark ashy-brown, the primaries and secondaries similar but barred with white along the inner webs. Tail dark ashy-brown with a broad black sub-terminal band and tipped with white. Basally, the tail feathers have a series of alternating white and black bands, more on the outer feathers than the inner ones, often with white or rufous notches along both edges. Lower breast and abdomen creamy-white, boldly barred with dark blackish-brown bars, the vent, axillaries, undertail and underwing coverts more narrowly barred with blackish-brown.

 

Female: Very like the male, with the throat and breast tinged with rufous.

 

Immature birds: Juvenile birds appear largely white to rufous-white with dark brown bars on the head, nape, upper back, chin, throat, sides of neck and breast, the face and ear coverts less heavily marked. Remaining upperparts, including wing coverts more rufous, the feathers broadly edged with rufous-buff and tipped with white. Lower breast, belly and vent pale buffy-white, broadly barred with blackish-brown, more so on the flanks. The tail appears largely to be barred with rufous and black, with more numerous bars than adult have. They, too, like the adults, have a broad black sub-terminal tail band.

 

Gradually, the white and rufous edges on the upperparts disappear, the throat and upper breast turn ashy, and the bars on the underparts become more defined. Within five months of leaving the nest, the young are almost in adult plumage, the rufous band across the upper breast being ultimately lost except in females. However, they often have rufous or whitish tips to the flight feathers and upperwing coverts (Oates & Blanford 1895).

 

Soft parts: Iris dark yellowish-brown, orbital ring orange-yellow. Upper mandible black, lower mandible greenish-horn tipped with black, gape orange-yellow. Legs and feet orange-yellow, claws black.

 

Status, Habitat & Behaviour: A common winter visitor and passage migrant, is found throughout Singapore, the earliest date being 14th September, the latest date 19th May (Wang & Hails 2007). Between these two dates, this bird has not been recorded in Singapore, which suggests that C. m. concretus, the resident form found south to Johore in west Malaysia, does not occur in Singapore.

 

The nominate form is a vagrant to Borneo where C. m. concretus, a smaller and darker form, is also the resident race (Smythies & Davison 1999), up to 1100 m (3300 feet) in the Kelabit Highlands of Sarawak. In Sabah, it is found in primary, peatswamp and logged forests (Sheldon et. al. 2001).

 

In Singapore, it is more usually found in forests, along forest edges, in mangroves, secondary scrub and, occasionally, in gardens and parks (Wang & Hails 2007). In West Malaysia, both resident and migrant forms are found to 760 m (2500 feet), in the canopy of lowland and hill forests, as well as on offshore islands (Medway & Wells 1976). In India and Nepal, where it is very common in summer, it can be found in fairly wooded country to 2300 m, even up to 3700 m (Baker 1927).

 

A solitary and shy bird, it is generally found singly and easily overlooked, keeping to the treetops or flying hawk-like over the forest canopy. During the breeding season, however, it becomes very vocal, calling incessantly during the early hours of dawn and again at dusk, far into the night, especially on moonlit nights, even calling on the wing during courtship chases (Ali & Ripley 1969).

 

Food: It mainly eats caterpillars, ants, locustids, fruit, butterflies and grasshoppers (Smythies 1968), sometimes coming down to the ground, hopping about awkwardly to pick up insects from within the leaf litter (Ali & Ripley 1969). In Singapore, it was found feeding at a termite hatch (Subaraj 2008).

 

Voice and Calls: In India, its most common four-note call is a fine melodious pleasing whistle from which evolved some of its popular local names, Bo-kota-ko in Bengali (Jerdon 1862), Kyphulpakka (Oates & Blanford 1895), and the "Broken Pekoe" bird in English (Baker & Inglis 1930). The call has also been variously annotated by several other authors: as "crossword puzzle" (Ali & Ripley 1969), a far-carrying wa-wa-wa-wu (Medway & Wells 1976), a flute-like ko-ko-ta-ko (King, Woodcock & Dickinson 1975), as reminiscent of the beginning of Beethoven's 5th symphony (Sheldon et. al. 2001). There are several other interpretations of its call (Tsang 2010).

 

In the Kelabit Highlands of Sarawak, its call was continuously heard in late February over sub-montane forest at 900 m (3000 feet). The loud four-note call was fairly musical, koh-koh-koh-kok, the first three syllables on the same pitch, the third sometimes higher, the last note always lower. It was persistently uttered for several minutes at a time, each burst of four-note lasting slightly over one second with about two seconds between each burst, occasional with a fifteen to thirty seconds break between each set of notes. Once or twice, it made a more rounded fluting and musical variation of the same four notes. Most of the time, the call was echoed, almost synchronously, by a four-note squeaking call, much more shrill and softer, sometimes in a lower key (Sreedharan 2005).

 

It usually calls from the tops of tall trees or when flying from tree to tree (Jerdon 1862), and much more persistently during breeding season, often calling all night long (Smythies 1968). The call is uttered intermittently for hours on end, for more than five minutes at a stretch, at about 23 calls per minute, and, while courting a nearby female, the wings are dropped, the tail spread wide and erected, the bird pivoting from side to side (Ali & Ripley 1969).

 

Breeding: Very little is known of the breeding of this Cuckoo. It is brood parasitic and, instead of building its own nest, it surreptitiously lays eggs in the nests of several host species, its choice of victim varying from location to location. The nominate form, C. m. micropterus, does not breed in our area. The local form, C. m. concretus breeds in peninsular Malaysia.

 

The breeding season varies from May to July in northern China, March to August in India, January to June in Burma and January to August in the Malay Peninsula.

 

In India, the host species are said to be Streaked Laughing-Thrush Garrulax lineatus, White-bellied Redstart Hodgsonius phoenicuroides, Indian Bush-Chat Saxicola torquata and Indian Blue Robin Luscinia brunnea, all of which lay blue or bluish eggs, similar to those of this Cuckoo (Baker 1927).

 

Additionally, it is said to victimise species such as Fork-tailed Drongo Dicrurus adsimilis, Ashy Drongo Dicrurus leucophaeus but other species, "in whose nests putative eggs of this cuckoo are claimed to have been found, or have been observed feeding its young", include the Asian Paradise-flycatcher Terpsiphone paradisi, the Streaked Spiderhunter Arachnothera magna and, in Sri Lanka, the Black-hooded Oriole Oriolus xanthornus (Ali & Ripley 1969).

 

Given the difficulty in determining the identity of young cuckoos, it is hardly surprising that these two authors have included a caveat, stating that the available data on the breeding biology of this bird, indeed, of all parasitic cuckoos are, "by and large, meagre, and of dubious authenticity. Most accounts are vague, largely conjectural and often contradictory. The whole subject calls for a more methodical de novo re-investigation".

 

Currently, this picture (Ong 2008), of a juvenile Indian Cuckoo fostered by a Black-and-yellow Broadbill Eurylaimus ochromalus provides the only incontrovertible evidence of a confirmed host in Malaysia. In Amurland, Siberia, its main host is the Brown Shrike Lanius cristatus, the cuckoo's eggs hatching in about 12 days, two to three days sooner than that of the shrike (Ali & Ripley 1969).

 

Oviduct eggs from females are said to be of two types: whitish with small reddish-brown dots, closely matching drongo eggs, or pale greyish-blue, like those of the Turdinae, the eggs c. 25 x 19 mm in size (Ali & Ripley 1969).

 

Migration: Seventeen night-flying migrants, attributed to C. m. micropterus, were caught at Fraser's Hill from 10th October to 27th November and 7th to 14th April between 1966 and 1969. Birds on passage were also collected in November at One Fathom Bank Lighthouse and on Rembia and Pisang islands. None of these belonged to the resident races have been handled (Medway & Wells 1976).

 

Moult: In the Family Cuculidae, moult strategy is quite complex, occasionally suspended. The primaries moult from two centres, P1 to P4 descendantly, P5 to P10 ascendantly. The secondaries, too, have two centres, S1 to S5 centripetally, S6 to S9 ascendant and alternate. Tail moult is irregular. They moult twice annually, undergoing a partial summer moult and a complete winter moult which finishes in early spring (Baker 1993).

 

None of the migrant birds from the off-shore sources were in moult. The migrants caught at Fraser's Hill in autumn were all in post-juvenile or adult plumage, indicating that the annual moult is completed in the breeding grounds, before they reach winter quarters (Medway & Wells 1976).

 

This is a tighter crop of the picture below, there were three Gulls intimidating the Buzzard, he did move on eventually, but in his own carefree methodical time, circling to get hight and leave them behind :-)

Long-eared Owls are nimble flyers, with hearing so acute they can snatch prey in complete darkness. In spring and summer, listen for their low, breathy hoots and strange barking calls in the night.The long-eared owl has mottled orange-brown feathers, distinct white eyebrows and striking orange eyes. It has large head feathers or ‘ear tufts’ which become raised when the owl is alarmed; normally the tufts are flattened. It is medium in size, with a wingspan of 95cm. It looks deceptively long and thin when in flight, but is actually no bigger than a wood pigeon.

 

Interestingly, Long-eared Owls don’t actually have long ears. The tufts perched atop their heads are not ears at all; instead, they are small groups of specialized, long feathers that stand up when the owl is alarmed and in need of camouflage. By resembling sticks, these feather tufts enable them to blend into trees and dense foliage when feeling threatened. Tiny muscles control the rise and relaxation of these tufts.

 

These nocturnal hunters roost in dense foliage, where their camouflage makes them hard to find, and forage over grasslands for small mammals.

 

Long-eared owls live in mixed and coniferous woodland, preferring the cover of dense, shrubby thickets, hedgerows and conifer trees. They are found across the UK, although there are fewer birds in Wales and the South West.The species appears to be more abundant in Ireland than it is within Britain, perhaps because of reduced competition from the Tawny Owl,

 

Long-eared Owls are secretive, nocturnal, and superbly camouflaged. One good way to find them is to listen at night in spring and summer for their long, low hoots. During winter these owls often roost in large numbers, and this can make them easier to find. Methodically search pine stands or shelterbelts near grassland or pasture for roosting owls, often close to the tree trunk among dense branches. Also look along the ground for pellets (gray, roughly oval cylinders of regurgitated fur, feathers, and bone).

 

Read more at www.wildonline.blog

To make this piece, I followed a method I created around this time last year that involves cutting spaces out of a large image, pasting it on a piece of cardstock, filling in the gaps with doodles, and then collaging on top. I enjoy inventing methods of doing things, following these methods consistently, and seeing how they gradually evolve over time. If you are a fellow artist, is your process more methodical or fluid?

 

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Went downtown today to see what the hubub was all about. Outside of my comfort zone. Photographing people and events isn't my forte'. I am mainly into the slow and methodical landscape photos. Living close to DC my wife and I sometimes like to go downtown and witness history. We wanted to see the happenings around the White House. This is the day after the media announced Biden the winner. This isn't meant to be a political statement, just a moment in time.

How appropriate that today is International Coffee Day. Coffee is quite the habit around our house. Here you have brewed coffee, roasted beans and green (unroasted) coffee beans all on a coffee sack from El Salvador. Once again I got to consume the photo prop, I'm beginning to like this habit too!

AI creation on Nightcafe with Crystal Clear XL Lightning

 

digging up an old prompt, making fun of the Wild West and Banana Art.

  

PROMPT:

"wild west surrealism. medium shot. wild bill hickup holding a banana to the head of a little chibi monster. macro. in the styles of otto rapp, emek, and paul cunha. vivid colors, magic realism textures, intricate details. methodical, mixed media collage. elaborate cryptid taxidermy in the background, set in a fantastical, mystical landscape. sunset"

By way of immediate action, a stand must first be made against thought, against mental processes. "I do not know" - it is said - "anything which, when unbridled, uncontrolled, unwatched, untamed, brings such ruin as thought, and I do not know anything which, when bridled, controlled, watched, tamed, brings such benefits as thought."

 

Thought, which everyone lightly says is "mine," is, in reality, only to a very small degree in our power. In the majority of cases, instead of "to think" it would be correct to say "we are thought" or "thought takes place in me." In the normal way, the characteristic of thought is its instability. "Incorporeal" - it is said - "it walks by itself": it "runs hither and thither like an untamed bull." Hard to check, unstable, it runs where it pleases. In general, it is said that, while this body may persist one year, two years, three years or even up to a hundred years and more in its present form, "what we call thought, what we call mind, what we call consciousness arises in one manner, ceases in another; incessantly, night and day"; "it is like a monkey who goes through the forest, and who progresses by seizing one branch, letting go of it, taking hold of another, and so on."

 

The task is to "arrest" thought: to master it and to strengthen the attention; to be able then to say: "Once this thought wandered at its fancy, at its pleasure, as it liked: I today shall hold it completely bridled, as a mahout holds a rut-elephant with his goad."

 

A few explanations.

 

If one day normal conditions were to return, few civilizations would seem as odd as the present one, in which every form of power and dominion over material things is sought, while mastery over one's own mind, one's own emotions and psychic life in general is entirely overlooked. For this reason, many of our contemporaries - particularly our so-called "men of action" - really resemble those crustaceans that are as hard-shelled outside with scabrous incrustations as they are soft and spineless within. It is true that many achievements of modern civilization have been made possible by methodically applied and rigorously controlled thought. This, however, does not alter the fact that most of the "private" mental life of every average and more-than-average man develops today in that passive manner of thought that, as the Buddhist text we have just quoted strikingly puts it, "walks by itself," while, half-unconscious, we look on. Anyone can convince himself of this by trying to observe what goes on in his mind, for example, when leaving his house: he thinks of why he is going out but, at the door, his thoughts turn to the postman and thence to a certain friend from whom news is awaited, to the news itself, to the foreign country where his friend lives and which, in turn, makes him remember that he must do something about his own passport: but his eye notices a passing woman and starts a fresh train of thought, which again changes when he sees an advertisement, and these thoughts are replaced by the various feelings and associations that chase each other during a ride through the town. His thought has moved exactly like a monkey that jumps from branch to branch, without even keep-ing a fixed direction. Let us try, after a quarter of an hour, to remember what we have thought - or, rather, what has been thought in us - and we shall see how difficult it is. This means that in all these processes and disordered associations our consciousness has been dazed or "absent." Having seen this, let us undertake to follow, without disturbing them, the various mental associations. After only a minute or two we shall find ourselves distracted by a flood of thoughts that have invaded us and that are quite out of control. Thought does not like being watched, does not like being seen. Now this irrational and parasitical development of thought takes up a large part of our normal psychic life, and produces corresponding areas of reduced activity and of reduced self-presence. The state of passivity is accentuated when our thought is no longer merely "spontaneous" and when the mind is agitated by some emotion, some worry, hope, or fear. The degree of consciousness is certainly greater in these cases - but so, at the same time, is that of our passivity.

 

These considerations may throw some light on the task that is set when one "ceases to go", one reacts, one aims at being the master in the world of one's own mind. It now seems quite incomprehensible that nearly all men have long since been accustomed to consider as normal and natural this state of irrationality and passivity, where thought goes where it will - instead of being an instrument that enters into action only when necessary and in the required direction, just as we can speak when we wish to, and with a purpose, and otherwise remain silent. In comprehending this "according to reality," we must each decide whether we will continue to put up with this state of affairs.

 

In its fluid, changeable and inconsistent character, normal thought reflects, moreover, the general law of samsāric consciousness. This is why mental control is considered as the first urgent measure to be taken by one who opposes the "current." In undertaking this task, however, we must not be under any illusions. The dynamis, the subtle force that determines and carries our trains of thought, works from the subconscious. For this reason, to attempt to dominate the thought completely by means of the will, which is bound to thought itself, would almost be like trying to cut air with a sword or to drown an echo by raising the voice. The doctrine, which declares that thought is located in the "cavern of the heart," refers, among other things, to thought considered "organically" and not to its mental and psychological offshoots. Mastery of thought cannot, therefore, be merely the object of a form of mental gymnastics: rather, one must, simultaneously, proceed to an act of conversion of the will and of the spirit; inte¬rior calm must be created, and one must be pervaded by intimate, sincere earnestness.

 

The "fluttering" of thought mentioned in our text is more than a mere simile: it is related to the primordial anguish, to the dark substratum of samsāric life that comes out and reacts since, as soon as it feels that it is seen, it becomes aware of the danger; the condition of passivity and unconsciousness is essential for the development of samsāric being and for the establishment of its existence. This simile illustrates an experience that, in one form or another, is even encountered on the ascetic path.

 

The discipline of constant control of the thought, with the elimination of its automatic forms, gradually achieves what in the texts is called appamāda, a term variously translated as "attention," "earnestness," "vigilance," "diligence," or "reflection." It is, in point of fact, the opposite state to that of "letting oneself think," it is the first form of entry into oneself, of an earnestness and of a fervid, austere concentration. When it is understood in this sense, appamāda constitutes the base of every virtue. It is also said: "This intensive earnestness is the path that leads toward the deathless, in the same way that unreflective thought leads, instead, to death. He who possesses that earnestness does not die, while those who have unstable thought are as if already dead." An ascetic "who delights in appamāda - in this austere concentration - and who guards against mental laxity, will advance like a fire, burning every bond, both great and small." He "cannot err." And when, thanks to this energy, all negligence is gone and he is calm, from his heights of wisdom he will look down on vain and agitated beings, "as one who lives on a mountaintop looks down on those who live in the plains."

 

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Julius Evola: The Doctrine of Awakening - Part II., Chapter 2. - Defence and consolidation (excerpt)

 

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painting by Vincent after Doré

  

Part 2

After exploring a little more I discovered the perfect camping area with a rock-ringed fire pit just inside the tree line. Next to the fire pit was a stash of gear covered by a tarp with a laminated sign on top weighted down by a rock, it said: “Aquatic Restoration Gear.”

I decided I would spend tonight here so I went back to where I had slept last night, took down my tent, packed up my stuff and brought it all back to the campsite I had just discovered. When I got back to the fire pit, I took my pack off and leaned it against a pine tree that had long ago fallen either in wind or rain, it's bare white trunk stripped of bark.

Then I spent a few hours just collecting the wild blueberries from the bushes that clung to the bases of the pines that lined the meadow. As much as I wanted to save some for later I couldn't help but eat them all straight off of the bushes. I also munched on some wild onions that grew up in the shade beneath the towering pines. I wandered further and further away from where I had started collecting the berries and as I rounded one of the larger trees I noticed something just below eye level on it's trunk. I looked closer and saw that it was a plaque that someone had nailed to it many years ago, long enough for the tree to start growing around it as the bark curled over the plaque's edges obscuring the first and third words. It read, “In Memory Of My Friend Jim Potts”. I took a moment to wonder who he was and how long ago he had passed, his ashes probably had been scattered amongst these trees and within this meadow. I wondered which of these thousands of lakes he had visited, which mountains he had climbed and which paths his feet had tread. I wondered what wonderful memories he had had of these mountains and what memories his friends have of him, if they are still alive, as they wandered these High Sierra trails together, enjoying wild blueberries as I do now, or sitting 'round crackling campfires beneath starry skies as the smoke from their fire swirls and rises to join with the milky way. After the moment of reflection I continued my hunt for the sweet and tart berries.

Not long after, I had had my fill and I headed back to my pack. I lied down on the fallen pine that I had leaned my pack against earlier, I used a wadded up jacket as a pillow and took a nap. I do not know how long I slept but I was awoken to the sound of a dull clanking bell and hoof beats upon the earth. Sitting up I saw two horses, two mules and a rider emerging out of a dust cloud. In front was a white horse with a rider dressed in an authentic cowboy getup riding on her back, followed by a brown mule, a black mule and a white and black speckled horse bringing up the rear. When they saw me they stopped apprehensively and the driver had to gently reassure them to get them moving again. Once they did he raised a hand in greeting and I returned it.

As soon as he was close enough to talk to me without yelling he stopped the horses and asked, “Are you with the restoration crew?”

“No.” I answered.

“I'm here to pick up their gear, have you seen 'em?” He inquired.

“I haven't seen anyone all day.” I answered.

“Alright, they should be coming down soon.” He Said.

He got the the train moving again and stopped them a short distance away, dismounted and untied them, one by one, from each other, then tied each of them to their own tree. He gave each of them a feed bag and as they munched on oats he the methodically took the gear, saddles and all the equipment off of each of them. Once that task was done and the feed bags empty, he let them loose to roam the meadow and graze where they pleased. The first thing they all did was drop down and roll around in the dust.

The bell I had heard was tied around the neck of the white horse. I asked him why only that horse had a bell and he answered, “She's the dominate one, wherever she goes the others follow. The bell is for me so I know where they are.”

After talking more I found out that his name was Reeve and he operated the pack station out of Tuolumne Meadows.

Since this was one of Ansel Adams favorite camping spots I wanted to do some black and white photography of the meadow as a tribute to him so I headed out and found a good composition next to the river and snapped a few shots with the horses grazing in the meadow.

 

Here is the original photo that Ansel Adams took in this general area

shop.anseladams.com/v/vspfiles/photos/5010119-u-2.jpg

notice the same peak in the distance, I didn’t get the exact location but it is the same river and mountains

The photo was awarded the Gold medal at the TRIERENBERG SUPER CIRCUIT 2012, in the "Unusual" category.

 

Prints available on my website HERE.

 

I like Poe's work a lot, I really do. I particularly admire how his writings are methodically crafted, how the mood and feelings are calculated, how everything is bent in the intention of emphasizing a peculiar effect.

 

In his poem "Alone", he described how his perception of the world was different from the common view, and how that made him feel lonesome at times. In order to illustrate it, I knew from the beginning that I would have to choose a normal scene, and turn it into something that would represent his own experience of it.

 

After many hours of research on the Internet, I finally found that tree-lined road, one hour away from home. The weather was relatively poor that day, but I went there and shot it nonetheless. Back at home, I began to bend the trees to create the oppressing atmosphere I had in mind. It worked quite nicely, but there were many holes between the branches, due to the foliage being non dense enough. So I decided to clone leaves everywhere around the picture, in order to completely hide the sky, and create that relative darkness that would suit the mood I wanted to achieve. After a few hours of work, I had the background there, in front of my eyes, and I knew this was going well. I added the tombstones and the bird for some more details, and it was that.

 

At this stage, I still had no idea about how would Poe interact with the scene. It was quite unusual for me, as I often plan everything from day one, but it just didn't happen there. After reading the poem again and again, it was obvious a cloud would have been great, but how to show one without showing the sky? This is where the pipe idea appeared, and its cloud of smoke shaped as a demon (which finally became a skull, since it was the most convincing shape I managed to create). Of course, I had no pipe, so one was quickly bought, and I disguised myself as Poe the best I could for a studio shooting session. I also shot the smoke that day, using the classical incense sticks method. After that, some more hours of processing, and the scene was almost done.

 

Almost... because I spent many, I mean many hours on the final step. I tried so many curves, colored filters, saturated and desaturated moods, B&W, greenish, blueish, yellowish atmospheres that I kinda lost myself among all the options. Nothing was really good in my eye. So again, I read the poem a few times. Finally, the "autumn tint of gold" gave me the key, and I went for a darkish approach of such colors. As soon as it was done, it really popped there in front of me, and it became obvious this was the way to go.

I am quite proud of the result I must say!

 

I would like to finish -of course!- with the poem itself.

 

Alone

 

From childhood's hour I have not been

As others were; I have not seen

As others saw; I could not bring

My passions from a common spring.

From the same source I have not taken

My sorrow; I could not awaken

My heart to joy at the same tone;

And all I loved, I loved alone.

Then- in my childhood, in the dawn

Of a most stormy life- was drawn

From every depth of good and ill

The mystery which binds me still:

From the torrent, or the fountain,

From the red cliff of the mountain,

From the sun that round me rolled

In its autumn tint of gold,

From the lightning in the sky

As it passed me flying by,

From the thunder and the storm,

And the cloud that took the form

(When the rest of Heaven was blue)

Of a demon in my view.

 

--Edgar Allan Poe

Insomnia persists

I count sheep

unsure if I am asleep

or still awake

the black sheep

take over

instead of jumping

methodically

over fences

they gather around

and weave a

fairy tale

of sparkly veils

neon sea dragons

and faraway places

to help me fall

to help me sleep

 

The alarm hits Shauzia Bhatia like ice water. At first, she thinks it’s a dream; the blaring of the sirens, the shouting of someone over the loudspeaker, and the swinging open of her door. She rubs the back of her neck and grimaces as her fingers run over the little ‘x’, branded there, healing slowly.

 

She waits a few minutes until she sees two men in prison uniforms rush by, shouting to each other over the alarm about a “gear room”, and how the “missions keep getting more abrupt.” Slowly, cautiously, she steps out of her cell, hands pressed to her ears for the noise, and begins to walk after them.

 

Across the walkways, another man strides the opposite direction.

 

His brain pulsing, he wanders casually through the hallways as prisoners shout and screech at him, clawing past their bars or hammering on their glass. Some of them recognize him. The ones he wants to recognize him recognize him. The others, seeing anything else, continue their mad jabbering.

 

He smiles despite himself. He had originally turned down Rustam’s offer to join Onslaught, but after the second time, after he considered the possibilities, it was too tasty to say no.

 

Casually, he opens a door, his mental shield cloaking himself. Inside, one man, in tunic and tiny hat, darts around frantically, as another, in full costume, lays prone in bed.

 

Boomerang, shouting: Bloody hell Lawton, how’n God’s name are ya sleeping through this bally row! S’like the screeching o’ all the castrated angels in Heaven!

 

Deadshot, asleep: zzzzzzz

 

Boomerang kicks him: Strewth mate, wake the hell up! We got a ruddy emergency and you’re off in dreamland!

 

Captain Boomerang, with a mighty shove, kicks Deadshot out of bed and onto the floor. His slumber is unbroken. Amused, their observer remains.

 

Suddenly, the alarm cuts out. There’s a moment of silence save for the raving of Boomerang. Then, the alarm clock next to Deadshot’s bed springs to life, spitting out a tinny rendition of “Cats in the Cradle.” The radio only get four words in before it’s shattered by a bullet.

 

Deadshot: Damn, I hate that song.

 

Boomerang: Oh NOW you’re all rise and shine. There’s a bloody war or something going on out there, mate.

 

Deadshot: War can wait. Needed my sleep.

 

He sits up and adjusts his eye-piece, looking automatically around the room. Suddenly, he stands and trains both his wrist guns at the door.

 

Boomerang, panicked: What, WHAT, Bloody what?

 

Deadshot: Dunno who or what you are, but you better cut that invisible man shit out. I just woke up, and I don’t have much patience when I just wake up.

 

Boomerang: or ever, really.

 

Their observer smiles, takes a step forward, and lowers his mental shields. He smiles, his brain visibly pulsating, his pink eyes glaring out from under his chalky brow.

 

Their observer: Hello, gentlemen, my name is Psimon, how do you do.

 

Deadshot: Doesn’t matter. Hope your house is in order, Psi.

 

Deadshot tries to fire, but for some reason, he can’t make himself do it.

 

Psimon: Ah, ah, ah, tiger, not so fast. I don’t think you wanna harm little old me. You just wanna stand there a minute. Maybe wake up a little. Rub the sleep outta your eyes.

 

Boomerang slides a ‘rang out from the back of his belt, and gets ready to slice it through the air underhand. He doesn’t know what kind of boomerang it is; he’s hoping it’s explosive. Strangely, he can’t bring himself to toss it either.

 

Psimon: Now my good captain, you don’t want to hurt me, no, no, I think you want to hurt our friend here. Why don’t you tell him how you feel. What’s hidden deep in your mind.

 

Boomerang: Yeah . . . Yeah! I bloody well will! Y’know what Lawton, y’think you’re so high’n Mighty, just cause The Wall placed ya in charge. Well y’ain’t really in charge! You’re just some drongo poser, takin’ all the credit, and all the glory for yerself!

 

He throws the boomerang from his belt at Deadshot, who just manages to break free and dodge it. It explodes on the far wall. Digger flicks two razor-boomerangs into his hands and advances,

 

Boomerang: Waller came to me, y’know, didn’t even come see ya in person. Y’just assumed leadership! Nobody asked ya! Especially not me!

 

Deadshot raises his hands defensively as Boomerang tackles him hard and begins to slash at him, his boomerangs clanging against the steel of Deadshot’s wrist-cannons.

 

Boomerang: Well I. Have had. E-fucking-nough!

 

He breaks past Deadshot’s arms and begins to stab him in the torso. Deadshot shouts in frustration. He makes a split-second decision. He grits his teeth, and fires.

 

A shot rings out as a bullet tears through the left cheek of Digger Harkness, sending blood and skin and a few teeth spattering against the wall. Captain Boomerang howls and rolls to the floor. Deadshot stands, bleeding and panting. Psimon merely laughs.

 

Psimon: Nowww, you’re not going to stand for that sort of insubordination, are you Deadhead? Tut, tut, such a sore loser. Do us both a favor and finish him off, will you?

 

Deadshot takes aim. There’s a screaming in the back of his head that he can’t hear. For the first time, its’s a true struggle to pull the trigger. He begins to sweat, to try and tear his arms away from the bloody, writhing Australian on the floor. He feels his trigger fingers begin to twitch.

 

Psimon’s laughing reverberates through the room, shrill and mirthful. He laughs until his eyes are closed. When he opens them again, he finds himself in a cold, white room, entirely stark. In confusion, he begins to feel around, mentally probing the edges, sending out thought waves. He attempts to cast an illusion, but nothing happens. Frantically, he begins to search for an out. To shriek and cry and pound at the walls with his fists, both physically and mentally.

 

Psimon: What is this? Who’s there? Who dares try to pull the wool over Psimon’s eyes?

 

But he gets no response in the cold white nothing.

 

In a guardroom of Alcatraz penitentiary, Shauzia Bhatia couches in front of Psimon’s comatose body, swirling her fingers methodically, saying something under her breath. Finally, she stands.

 

Deadshot: You must be the new kid. Hypnota?

 

Shauzia: . . . You are correct mister –

 

Deadshot: Lawton. Floyd Lawton. Deadshot. Pleasure.

 

Hypnota: Pleasure, mister Lawton.

 

Amanda Waller, having just come in from inside, stands in the center of the room with her hands clasped behind her back. Fire still reflects in her eyes.

 

Waller: And you’re certain he’s comatose, Ms. Bhatia?

 

Hypnota: Oh yes, Mrs. Waller, he will not raise from that slumber for a very long time. Maybe ever.

 

Waller: Alright, at least there’s some good news. As for you two-

 

She glares first at Floyd Lawton, smoking blankly, then to Digger Harkness, holding a compress to his bleeding cheek.

 

Waller: I know Psimon’s rap sheet, I know what he’s capable of, and can surmise what happened, but I think there’s something that needs to be said here.

 

There’s a few moments of silence. Then Finally,

 

Digger, quietly,: Lawton, ole mate, I er uh, wanna apologize fer what happened back there. I uh, I weren’t me’self . . . well, you know . . .

 

Floyd, also quietly: It’s fine, Harkness. You didn’t mean no harm, enemy did. Bet you’re glad you got that all off your chest though.

 

Digger: yeah . . .Yeah I guess I am.

 

Floyd: Sorry for shootin’ you.

 

Digger: Hey, snapped me outta it, it did.

 

Waller: Good. At least the blood’s not any worse between you two than it ever was.

 

She hits the intercom on the wall.

 

Waller: Damage report, Patten?

 

Harley, over intercom: Hiya, guys!

 

Answer, also over intercom: Well uh, if you couldn’t tell, the shrink’s holed up in here with me. We managed to purge Djinn from the electronic systems, in a masterstroke of engineering. You can thank us later. Damage is at it’s worst out in the front yard, but that’s nothing a little lawn-work won’t fix. Murph figures we lost about fifteen guys with ten more in the infirmary. Not our best, but not our worst either. Squad itself suffered no casualties save for Donny, and of the Jihad/Onslaught/Burning whatever guys, Ravan was taken alive. The rest were KIA by our own merry band.

 

Waller: Thank you both. As long as all systems are operational, and this island hasn’t sunk into the bay we’re alright. Patten, I want you to work with Murph and send out condolences to the families of all those lost. Ms. Bhatia, if you could please return to your cell, I’d appreciate that greatly.

 

Shauzia nods politely, then heads down the hall back to her cell.

 

Floyd finishes his cigarette, but instead of flicking it into the trash bin across the room, he simply sets the butt on the nightstand and lights another. He hands it to Harkness, who winces as he takes a drag. Floyd, gently pats his bandaged stab wounds, clasps his hands, and stares into nothing.

 

Waller: As for you two. It might be shocking to hear me say this, but as volunteers, as employees of this penitentiary, you’ve gained a substantial amount of vacation days. I advise you both to utilize them. Floyd, go see Michelle and Zoe. Digger, there’s some mail of yours you should see.

 

Digger: You go through my mail?

 

Waller: Please, I go through everyone’s mail.

 

Answer: Insert obvious Playboy joke here.

 

Waller: Don’t you have reprogramming to do?

 

Answer: yeah, yeah, I can joke and program at the same time (shit, that’s the wrong code.)

 

Waller, heading out the door: Vacation days, both of you. That’s an order.

 

Floyd Lawton and Digger Harkness watch her go, then resume their pained smoking in silence.

 

This male ruby throated hummingbird was very close to me and took a methodical turn around this salvia bush. The bird was so close I had to back off the zoom to fit the whole body in frame.

 

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Just how does an 85 year-old machine that has over 340,000 miles on it...since it was "retired"...survive to become the envy of the entire tourist railroad industry? It's Tender, Loving Care, pure and simple. To a man, the crews at Strasburg all speak fondly of Great Western #90 and they treat her like the grand old lady that she is...with great care and respect. Here, the fading sunlight highlights one of Strasburg's finest as he methodically checks the temperature of each axle and bearing the way a parent would check a child's temperature...with his bare hand. They all do it...at every stop...it is religion. It is because these folks care so much that we still have machines like #90 and will likely have them for generations to come. Thanks for all you do guys!

One symptom of my illness was self-harm. Cutting is often a methodical, ritualised act and is a way of keeping control of emotions or situations, or to create pain where numbness only seems to exist. It reminds cutters that we can still feel.

 

Part of a series called 'Out of My Mind', documenting my personal journey through mental illness, inspired by the works of Jo Spence and Cindy Sherman.

 

Photographed on 35mm Black and White film and processed and printed by me on 10x8 gloss paper.

A storm clears the Pedrick House. This building is the original building that was built in 1770 on the Marblehead side of Salem harbor. The building had many purposes over the years and it's link to Salem was through one of it's owners. William Story bought the building from Pedrick and intended to run his business from there as he was a ship captain and he sailed as Captain of the 1797 version of the Friendship (The link to Salem). The park service managed to get the building transferred to them and Salem's NHS (National Historic site) and then a labor of love began as it was taken apart very methodically and brought to Salem. It was then piece by piece put back together and it sits much as it had in the 1770s through the early 1900s..

hi. i had just moved house...set my pc up methodically and turned it on...needless to say it went nova and i have been pc-less since then. well it's finally fixed and man have i been craving processing! (mortal kombat and dragon age helped alleviate the pain somewhat but i have missed photography...big time!).

 

dri | three exposures | iso200 | f/8

 

i thought i would come back with a bit of experimentation in terms of blending. this one is a dri of three exposures one stop apart. i've also been messing around with the final jpg before uploading it. i've found that there is a huge loss of quality when reducing it down to 1200 pixels...definitely needs some sharpening, colour boost etc.

 

anyway sorry for neglecting all your wicked photos lately but i'm back and will do my best to catch up :o)

 

u-ziq...patrick rothfuss | the name of the wind (3rd time through)

 

embiggen to fight compression...press L

We're grazing on wild berries, the brothers and I and my

Lust for the sugary gems in a thicket north of town.

We kneel and bury our heads among the vines. The brothers

 

Are like two lost urchins, hungry and always foraging,

Philosophical about their abandonment in this world. We're

Having the same old argument about where the soul resides,

 

Wrestling it down to our level. Little Rabbi licks his

Purple lips. We test each berry between forefinger and thumb

For softness before we gentle it free, cautious to avoid thorns.

 

We bend close, unhurried, as methodical as heart surgeons and

Reluctant to sever the lifeline of the marginal berries which need

More sun. The ripe ones burst like aneurysms at the slightest

 

Touch. The soul is non material, I say, like wind filling a sail.

Curlytop spits his half chewed mash onto the ground. Souls are on

The bottom of your feet, he says. His mind is nimble for a nine

 

Year old. I've seen mine leave my body, Little Rabbi says, once

At the ballfield. I remember, too, a pickup game last summer.

He went down hard midway to second base for no good reason.

 

His eyes rolled up into whiteness. We all stopped breathing

For the duration, 10 or 15 seconds. A puff of silver light,

He says, rose through my forehead, I saw and felt it, then

 

Saw myself flat on my back, floating on the grass and wanting

To sink under all that green if I willed it, if I could

Keep rising, but then I felt a thud in my chest and pain

 

And somebody trying to pour warm cherry cola down my throat.

A bramble snags my wrist. It makes its point apparent. We

Go on eating, silent among the vagrant bees, our wine stained

 

Hands mauled by greed for what hangs just beyond our reach.

I don't like the sour ones, Curlytop says, spitting. Or those

Shriveled ones. The ones with little black, charred souls.

--Miguel deO

 

Well, here it is. At last. My F-4J MOC, in the VF-74 "BEDEVILERS" Naval Fighter Squadron. It took loads of work and lots of hours, but I'm so glad I can say I finally did a Phantom.

 

Initially designed with the U.S. Navy in mind, the McDonnell aircraft company -- creator of the F-4 Phantom -- of the early 1950s tirelessly and methodically analyzed the Navy's needs and desires. They determined that the jet ideal for current and future carrier operations was an aircraft that was quick, technologically advanced, and able to fill multiple roles (i.e., dogfighting, ground attacks, etc.). Initially, designers from McDonnell wanted to modify their F3H Demon aircraft to simply be faster, more modular (to perhaps have different nose or cockpit variations), and more efficient. However, while beginning to proceed with this idea, many Naval officers consented that they had the role of an attack fighter already fulfilled by emerging aircraft from other companies. Eventually, McDonnell started working on a highly-requested all-weather defensive interceptor that would become the F-4 Phantom. Though this was a tall order to fill, F-4 deliveries began in the early 1960s to the U.S. Navy, and, proving highly versatile, eventually was given to the U.S. Marine Corps and U.S. Air Force.

 

The F-4J is one, later variant of the Phantom family, and with modifications to the airframe, engines and weapons systems, it was certainly one of the more advanced models. In fact, it was the first fighter in the world to incorporate a look-down/shoot-down targeting system. Among the Naval Fighter Squadrons that recieved the F-4Js, the VF-74 "BEDEVILERS" were certainly some of the finest that received them. Transitioning from their F-4Bs to the new F-4Js in the early 1970s, they partook in aerial combat in Vietnam, and didn't lose a single aircraft to enemy forces. They were also successful elsewhere, winning many awards during peacetime -- one of which was the Admiral Joseph Clifton Award, rendering them as the top Naval Fighter squadron in 1976. My F-4J is in a typical, later skin they'd use on the USS Forrestal (CV-59) aircraft carrier.

 

My model itself features dual, opening canopies, room for two minifigures in their respective tandem cockpit arrangement, functioning landing gear, and a simulated loadout of two AIM-7 Sparrows and four AIM-9 Sidewinders. I worked very tirelessly on both the diorama and the jet, and I do hope you like it. Comments, faves, and constructive criticisms, as always, are greatly appreciated!

Followed this fella as he worked his way methodically along the Valley Oak foraging for oak worms. He finally nabbed one for a nice meal. Photos were taken along Elk Slough, Yolo County, California.

This Ridgway's Rail was methodically prowling the dried reeds for prey. Clouds are reflecting off the water in the background.

 

Arrowhead Marsh, MLK Shoreline RP, Oakland, CA

© Jeff R. Clow

 

Just after sunrise in Banff National Park and I leave the cabin early to drive up to Moraine Lake before the crowds descend. As I round the corner on the nine mile trip, I see this grizzly alongside the road gorging on hawthorne berries.

 

My heart starts racing and I slowly drive up alongside. He looks up at me for a second and then resumes his eating. I roll down the window and I pick up my camera and lens and I find that my hands are shaking.

 

I calm down a bit and point the lens with one foot on the accelerator and one on the brake.....and I begin to photograph this magnificent creature that is less than ten feet away. He pays me no more notice and then another car rounds the corner behind me and he looks up at it for a split second and I get this shot.

 

I was with him alone for about five minutes - and I realized then that it was probably a once in a lifetime moment. And every time I look at this shot, I remember the soft rain and the sounds he made as he methodically cleaned the bushes of berries...and the feeling of pure, raw adrenaline running through my veins.

Couldn't resist posting these images.... while I watched, this little racoon climbed up a slick metal pole and methodically started poking his nose and then his paw into the holes of this Purple Martin birdhouse, one by one, side by side... I waited until he got to the side where his little bandit face was looking at me, and then snapped these photos... like a flash, he was gone!

 

He didn't find any eggs, though! He came up empty handed.

Because there is no way he could feel awake without drinking his specially blended and methodically brewed tea every morning.

 

Someone new, and the most adorable little boy ever. He is destined to be someone else entirely, but he looked like a little duke in these clothes and I couldn't resist. He will be Duke Glen for a while, before he transforms into the little brother of someone you know well ^_^

Huffington Post post about Billy Gomez.

 

The translation of the text that appears in the blog (which you can read below) is the work of Mark Donnelly . A great thank you to Mark for always looking for the best translation and to Billy Gomez for his great work and collaboration.

 

Don´t forget that you can share this on facebook, tweet, mail, subscribe etc…

 

Shadow Hunter

 

There are methodical photographers who dedicate hours to every photo controlling every little detail of light and composition. On the opposite side there are those who armed with their cameras are hungry for images like a hunter looking for his prey. They don’t know where nor when they’ll find this image. They’re not familiar with the place, the light or “the model”. But at any given time they’ll stumble upon it and shoot without thinking twice, feeling the rush of the hunter becoming the hunted.

 

Billy Gómez belongs to this lineage of camouflaged, instinctive, risk-taking, quick draw and crack shot photographers. He has become a creative and active witness of the streets of Seoul. Its inhabitants are the driving force behind his work with their hectic routines, their depression and loneliness etched on their faces. The metro, train and the streets are his usual scenes. As in this image, the people he photographs are alone, lost in thought and with an expression of defeat almost as if they were prisoners to a life they hadn’t dreamt of. They look through the windows with their imagination trying to escape but all they find are others like them who are just as lonely and lost.

 

Billy is aware of the fact that with his camera he is going to steal sad and intimate moments in public places with no previous permission and this has its risks. However this also turns the moment of capture into something exciting, disturbing and unpredictable. With his sensitive and lyrical voyeurism he turns everything he sees into art.

 

He develops his photographs in a way to increase the loneliness of the lives of the human beings he portrays. By adding a vignette to every one of his subjects and darkening the borders it seems like they are surrounded by shadows. With his camera he immortalizes these sad inhabitants and it can be said that his voyeurism of anonymous men and women is taxidermal.

 

Billy Gómez (Los Angeles, 1971)

 

Born in America he moved to Seoul in 2005 to teach English. His job leaves him with a lot of free time and soon he decides to make the most of it by taking photographs. After a few years of fooling around, experimenting and searching he starts to define his style - a combination of voyeurism and spontaneous portrait. The result is a lucid and sad x-ray of a city, Seoul and its inhabitants.

 

With a telephoto lens, a 50mm and lately an iPhone that allows him to go unnoticed, he hits the streets in search of the right light and perfect moment. Not being able to control light as one would in a studio makes post-production more laborious. The search for the right light is now one of this visual poet’s priorities in the streets of Seoul. A hunter of light and above all shadows.

Sandro Botticelli’s Venus : Italian Renaissance Masterpiece Painting

18 October to 15 December 2013

 

The Italian Consulate of Hong Kong and Macao, the Italian Cultural Institute and the University Museum and Art Gallery (UMAG) are honoured to present to the public a true Italian masterpiece – Venus (ca. 1482) by Florentine Renaissance painter Sandro Botticelli (1445–1510). Patronised by noble families including the Medici, Botticelli produced a number of unique Venus paintings one of which, a treasure from the celebrated Galleria Sabauda in Turin, will be on view in Hong Kong for the first time from October 17th through December 15th, 2013. An iconic image of the high artistic achievement of the Renaissance (14th–16th centuries), Botticelli’s carefully executed tempera painting on wood relates to ancient classical sculpture and the tradition of depicting the goddess Venus as a heroine, symbolising love, beauty, fertility and prosperity in Greco-Roman mythology. A rebirth of Antiquity, the Italian High Renaissance is significant for the sophisticated stylistic and technical advances in science and art, and the methodical study of nature and the human body. Botticelli’s painting, a depiction of the nude, exemplifies these values in which the verisimilitude and beauty of the human condition as an ideal form is achieved by the finest artists in early modern Europe.

 

UMAG plans an unprecedented public outreach programme to welcome this true sensation to our community to enchant and to educate interested members of our community, collectors and scholars, as well as students from local and international schools. In collaboration with two Italian scholars in HKU’s Fine Arts department, students will be able to learn, teach and exchange art-historical and cultural knowledge, while bringing together the wider public for whom lectures, workshops, and seminars will be organised at the museum.

 

This exhibition is made possible through the generous support of Ms Pansy Ho.

  

波提切利之《維納斯》：意大利國寶級文藝復興盛期名畫

二零一三年十月十八日至十二月十五日

 

意大利駐香港及澳門總領事館、香港意大利領事館文化處及香港大學美術博物館攜手呈獻意大利國寶級藝術傑作 －文藝復興時期的佛羅倫斯畫派名家桑德羅‧波提切利（一四四五至一五一零）之力作《維納斯》（約一四八二年）。

 

波提切利受米迪池等貴族所寵遇及賞識，創作一系列以描繪維納斯為主題的獨特作品；當中的《維納斯》為意大利都靈著名的薩包達美術館所珍藏，並將首次來港展出，展期為二零一三年十月十八日至二零一三年十二月十五日。

 

作為文藝復興巔峰時期（十四至十六世紀）的代表作品，波提切利的《維納斯》畫作是一幅精心製成、畫於木材的坦培拉（俗稱蛋彩畫），充分表現了文藝復興時期以古代雕刻為基礎的精神以及宣揚維納斯在希臘羅馬神話中代表愛情、美麗、孕育和繁榮的傳統。

 

意大利文藝復興讓古典重生。以成熟風格、科學與藝術的技術突破及有條不紊的大自然和人體研究聞名。波提切利畫筆下出現的裸體，展現了人類美態的理想藝術形式及早期現代歐洲藝術家的卓越成就。

 

香港大學美術博物館將於展期中為廣大市民舉辦講座、工作坊及研討會，並與兩名香港大學美術系的意大利學者合作開班，讓參觀的學生學習、教導和交流藝術歷史和文化上的知識。

 

是次展覽得到何超瓊女士的慷概支持。

 

Please view in large size^^

Telaga Biru/The Blue Lake (1,575m a.s.l.)

Location: 1.5 km/15 minute walk from Cibodas Gate (Gunung Gede Pangrango National Park). The name derives from the presence of blue-green algae which colour the water.

 

The observant visitor might weel be rewarded with views of the white-crowned forktail (Enicurus leschenaulti), a striking pied bird which methodically searches streams and lake margins for food. The surrounding area is transitional from sub-montane to montane vegetation.

Enochian is an angelic language used by angels in Heaven. They communicate over angel radio using this language, though in more recent years, they began communicating in English predominately. The angels, the Knights of Hell, and the Men of Letters are also familiar with an archaic dialect of the angelic language called "Pre-Enochian" or "Old Enochian". Castiel used sigils from this Enochian dialect to bind Alastair in a devil's trap he made. The Knights of Hell like Abaddon used the old Enochian sigil associated with them as their crest, leaving it behind in areas where they strike. Belphegor reveals that very few demons like Lilith, Crowley, and Abaddon have been known to understand Enochian. Enochian sigils are powerful glyphs that can be used against angels and demons and protect an area from angelic and demonic interference. Throughout Season 5, Castiel uses one to conceal Sam, Dean, and Adam from every angel in creation by carving it into their ribs.

www.supernaturalwiki.com/Enochian

 

Enochian has also been used in reciting various spells that can be used against some of the most dangerous creatures in all creation. Lily Sunder became a practitioner of Enochian Magic after Ishim taught her all their secrets, using spells that burn off pieces of her soul in exchange for longevity and access to angelic powers until it's completely burned away. The Whore of Babylon uses what appears to be an Enochian spell to harm Castiel. Lucifer's Cage can be opened and closed with the rings of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse and an Enochian phrase. When angels are reverted to their "factory settings", they relay any information hidden in their minds encrypted in Enochian.

  

The Two of Swords shows a blindfolded woman, Pamela Smith has become an impetrant, she begins her initiation into Enochian magic, the artist is dressed in a white dress, holding two crossed swords. The blindfold tells us that Pamela is confused about her inner light and cannot clearly see either the problem or the solution. She may also be missing relevant information that would make her decision much clearer if she were to get it. The swords she holds are in perfect balance, suggesting that she is weighing her thoughts and addressing both sides of the situation to find the best resolution.

Behind the woman is a body of water dotted with rocky islets. Water represents emotions, and while the costume of swords is traditionally associated with the mind and intellect, its presence shows that Pamela must use both her head and her heart to weigh her options. The islands represent obstacles in his path and suggest that his decision is not as clear cut as it seems. It will have to consider the situation as a whole. The crescent moon to her right is a sign that Pamela should trust her intuition to make her choice. Pamela is also alone on the beach. His eyes are blindfolded, his arms are tied. Eight swords planted in the ground form a prison around her. However, the circle is not completely closed. So there is an exit that the blindfold prevents you from seeing. The Two of Swords indicates that you are faced with a difficult decision, but you do not know which option to take. Both possibilities may seem equally good – or equally bad – and you don't know which will lead you to the better result. You need to be able to weigh the pros and cons of each choice and then make a conscious judgment. Use both your head (your mind and intellect) and your heart (your feelings and intuition) to choose the path that is most in alignment with your Higher Self.

 

Pamela Smith represented in this card wears a blindfold, indicating that she cannot see the entirety of her circumstance. You may lack the information you need to make the right decisions. You may be missing something, such as the threats or potential risks, alternative solutions or critical pieces of information that would help guide you in a particular direction. Once you remove the blindfold and see the situation for what it really is, you will be in a much better position to find your best path forward. Research your options more, seek outside opinions and feedback and ask yourself what you might be missing.`` Alone, far from the city and its ramparts, this woman seems very isolated. The sky is gray, the landscape is bleak. There emerges from the Card a feeling of uncertainty and absence of hope. The Eight of Swords symbolizes the feeling of helplessness of the Consultant. Lost, disoriented, the Consultant does not know what to do to overcome the obstacles or challenges of his environment. The Consultant experiences the very unpleasant feeling of being “stuck”, trapped. However – and this is important to stress – the Eight of Swords is not a fatalistic card. On the Map, the young woman could free herself from her fabric ties and remove the blindfold covering her eyes. She could regain the comfort and safety of the city behind her. The blockage, the "prison" of these Swords planted in a circle therefore symbolize first of all a situation created by the Consultant himself. Quite logically, he or she could get rid of it and get by on his own. The blockage is notably due to limiting beliefs on the part of the Consultant. These limiting beliefs go on and on: “You are not capable of…”; “A man like that, caring about you!? Do not even think about it ! » ; "Returning to training at your age to change paths will never work..." These limiting thoughts end up defining our possibilities and therefore we are no longer able to do otherwise, innovate or find solutions. It also happens that the feeling of helplessness is generated by external circumstances. The Consultant “wakes up”, dissatisfied with his environment and his life and wonders how he or she could have come to this.The Eight of Swords reveals that you feel trapped and restricted by your circumstances. You believe your options are limited with no clear path out. You might be in an unfulfilling job, an abusive relationship, a significant amount of debt or a situation way out of alignment with your inner being. You are now trapped between a rock and a hard place, with no resolution available. However, take note that the woman in the card is not entirely imprisoned by the eight swords around her, and if she wanted to escape, she could. She merely needs to remove the blindfold and free herself from the self-imposed bindings that hold her back. When the Eight of Swords appears in a Tarot reading, it comes as a warning that your thoughts and beliefs are no longer serving you. You may be over-thinking things, creating negative patterns or limiting yourself by only considering the worst-case scenario. The more you think about the situation, the more you feel stuck and without any options. It is time to get out of your head and let go of those thoughts and beliefs holding you back. As you change your thoughts, you change your reality. Replace negative thoughts with positive ones, and you will start to create a more favourable situation for yourself. The Eight of Swords assures you there is a way out of your current predicament – you just need a new perspective. You already have the resources you need, but it is up to you to use those resources in a way that serves you. Others may be offering you help, or there may be an alternative solution you haven’t yet fully explored. Be open to finding the answer rather than getting stuck on the problem. The Eight of Swords is often associated with a victim mentality. You surrendered your power to an external entity, allowing yourself to become trapped and limited in some way. You may feel that it isn’t your fault – you have been placed here against your will. You may feel like the victim, waiting to be rescued, but is this energy serving you? If not, it is imperative you take back your power and personal accountability and open your eyes to the options in front of you. The fact is you do have choices, even if you do not like them. You are not powerless. At times, the Eight of Swords indicates that you are confused about whether you should stay or go, particularly if you are in a challenging situation. It is not as clear-cut as you would like, making the decision very difficult. You have one foot in, hoping things can work out, but your other foot is out the door, ready to leave. The trouble is that you worry either option could lead to negative consequences, and so you remain stuck where you are. Again, this card is asking you to get out of your head and drop down into your gut and your intuition so you can hear your inner guidance. Your thoughts are not serving you right now, but your intuition is. Trust yourself. In any case, it is necessary to "take back control" of the circumstances and to remember that in life, we always have a choice. The possibilities in front of you may not be ideal, easy or desired… but they exist! You have to be able to look them in the face, and choose the best… or the least bad.

 

www.biddytarot.com/tarot-card-meanings/minor-arcana/suit-...

 

www.biddytarot.com/tarot-card-meanings/minor-arcana/suit-...

 

In 1903 Waite succeeded Yeats as Grand Master of the Golden Dawn. His first act under his new status was a reform of the fundamental principles of the Order: he proclaimed the primacy of spiritual achievement (emphasis on esoteric knowledge and the search for Truth) over material fulfillment (which occultism in general, and magic in particular, presupposes). Seeing in this act of negating the very foundation of the Golden Dawn (namely the practice of the occult sciences) the outright annihilation of the Order, former Grand Master Yeats strongly opposed Waite.

Two camps were then formed: one bringing together the supporters of the reform and represented by William Alexander Ayton, (relatively fearful in terms of operability), Waite's right-hand man, and the other bringing together, alongside the former Grand Mr. Yeats, the curators. The feud lasted two years, after which the Yeats camp ended up going on to found its own order (La Stella Matutina, the "Morning Star")—a perfect transposition of the Golden Dawn before Waite's reform, seceding from what took then the name of Holy Order of the Golden Dawn ("Holy Order of the Golden Dawn"; the expression "holy order" illustrating more the new mystical tendencies instilled by Waite) and which continued to be shaken by internal strife until disbanded in 1915, following Waite's departure.

 

After this "schism of 1905", which was the real coup de grace for the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, certain initiates who had remained neutral in the struggle between Camp Yeats and Camp Ayton preferred to go and found, alone or in groups, their own brotherhood.

 

Arthur Edward Waite (1857-1942), wanted to be a true scholar in occultism. He wrote, among other things, "The Holy Kaballah" and "The Key to the Tarot", published in London in 1910. For Waite, symbolism is the key to the Tarot. In "The Key to the Tarot" he says, "True tarot is symbolic; it uses no other languages or other signs". One of the unique characteristics of the Arthur Edwart Waite tarot and one of the main reasons for its popularity is that all the cards, including those of the Minor Arcana, depict scenes complete with figures and symbols. The images of all Pamela Coman-Smith's cards lend themselves to an interpretation based on the conscious and unconscious reading of the scene, without the need to consult explanatory texts.

What is striking in the Tarot Rider-Waite, therefore, is above all the Minor Arcana, which are difficult to translate with the Tarot of Marseilles for most of those interested, but have suddenly become emblematic with the Tarot that Waite offers us. Therefore, these mysteries illustrated with scenes are easier to interpret.The Tarots of Wirth and Knapp Hall are to be considered to be Tarots based on "hermetic science". A science which will be strongly included in the broad fields of esoteric exploration to which the golden dawn will give access...The first decks that can be designated as decks born from the ideologies of the Golden Dawn and created according to their cosmogony is undoubtedly the Tarot Rider-Waite... It is the result of a long and meticulous research on esoteric symbols and their correspondence.

 

But the first member of the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn to have designed a Tarot is obviously doctor Gérard Encausse, Papus, who joined the members of the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn in 1895. The Papus tarot would have been designed around 1899... At the beginning, it was certainly reserved for a few insider circles only... It was seen for the first time in illustration in the works of Papus, among others in "Le Tarot des Bohémiens , absolute key to the occult sciences" (1889), but the book will only be really known and accessible to the general public from its 3rd edition published in 1926. Then will follow the work "The divinatory tarot. Key to card printing and fates" (1909), reissued in large circulation also the same year of 1926. From then on, the Tarot of Papus will gain much popularity and the public will seek to obtain it... The Tarot of Papus will be diffused little by little print from the 1930s.

 

While the tarots of Papus, Wirth and the Knapp Hall were appearing almost simultaneously, the renowned house of Grimaud, for its part, was preparing to publish the Tarot which would become the reference for the general public, it was this famous modified reproduction of the Conver, proposed by Paul Marteau. It will appear in 1930 and will become the most fashionable tarot... Despite the modifications made to this Tarot, it has no affiliation with occult groups and is intended to be a Tarot in the tradition of the Tarot de Marseille.

 

That said, the Tarot which will set the tone and which will be the reference for the members of the Golden Dawn is undoubtedly the Tarot developed by Rider and Waite.

 

There are already a hundred decks that derive directly from the tarot originally designed by Rider-Waite. Not to mention pirated copies, clones, etc... This tarot has long been a reference for budding occultists and kabbalists... It still is...

 

So, in fact, there are many tarots that were designed in the ideology of the Golden Dawn!!!

 

It will first be the Tarot of Aleister Crowley which, following the Rider-Waite, will stand out and bring modifications to the "esoteric" Tarot, always with reference to the Golden Dawn, to the Kabbalah, to ancient Egypt initiates, etc... With in addition, references to sexual magic...The members of the Golden Dawn mainly used the Tarot of Waite, but during the 1950s, 1960s, they put a lot of effort into creating a Tarot that could finally be directly linked to the precepts and esoteric teachings of the Golden Dawn... A Tarot which originally wanted to be, once again, a Tarot exclusively reserved for members of the Order. This is the famous "Tarot of the Golden Dawn", so the Tarot which wants to be "officially" attested by the order...

 

But beware !! This name known as "Tarot of the Golden Dawn" is confusing... Several Tarots are decked out with the label "of the Golden Dawn"...

 

In truth, of all these tarot cards there is only one that is truly recognized by the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn and as such, and that is the one developed by Israel Regardie and Robert Wang from esoteric works of Samuel Liddel Matthers.

 

Robert Wang will also create the "Jungian Tarot", very appreciated also by the followers of the Golden Dawn; and perhaps even more by those interested in "modern theosophy" and in the principles elaborated by Jung.

 

The "Jungian Tarot" is quite similar to the so-called "Golden Dawn" Tarot, but is intended more for "personal evolution" than for the initiatory journey of the Order, strictly speaking... In truth these two tarots are the results of extensive research in matters of esotericism, research that has been carried out by the study centers of the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn. Its construction, on the basis of the four elements, the celestial phenomena, the Holy Kabbalah, and a highly evolved psychology, can apparently lead its followers into the inner recesses of psychic and intuitive awareness.

 

Above all, this tarot can be used as a basis for occult study, in order to learn to possess all the aspects of the traditional "center-wisdom", and "high-science" kabbalistic... (There are many Rosicrucian references , and also references to Freemasonry and alchemy).

 

Originally, the Golden Dawn Tarot was only reserved for members of the official Order. It began to be broadcast from 1975.

 

Despite the claim of these creators, it should still be known that the vast majority of members of the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, will study the Tarot from the "Tarot B.O.T.A.", or the original Rider-Waite. What is striking in the Tarot Rider-Waite, therefore, is above all the Minor Arcana, which are difficult to translate with the Tarot of Marseilles for most of those interested, but have suddenly become emblematic with the Tarot that Waite offers us. Therefore, these mysteries illustrated with scenes are easier to interpret.

THE TAROT B.O.T.A.

 

It is actually a very special version of the Rider-Waite Tarot presented in a "black and white" version, and the members were invited to color their own tarots... The study of symbolism esoteric was first done using this Tarot Rider-Waite in its original version (in black and bench). Indeed, the Waite-Rider Tarot in its black and white version is the most used by Golden Dawn followers and should be considered the official Golden Dawn Tarot.

 

A nearly similar version is still used by members of the B.O.T.A. and followers of hermetic schools. (The initials B.O.T.A. mean "Builders of the Adytum", it is a traditional and fraternal association founded by Paul Foster Case, continued and extended by Ann Davies...

 

A popular theory is that author William Walker Atkinson co-wrote the legendary "Kybalion" tome with Paul Foster Case. This theory is often defended by members of the "Builders of the Adytum". B.O.T.A. offers courses and techniques based on the study of the mystical teachings of the Holy Qabalah and TAROT. In fact, this confusing story about the Tarot B.O.T.A. and writing the "Kybalion", seems to have started with a breakaway group from the B.O.T.A., "The Brotherhood of Hidden Light" (which emphasizes the "secret (or lost) knowledge of the sages of Atlantis") .

 

The members of the Golden Dawn like the members of the B.O.T.A., consider that the Rider-Waite tarot is the ultimate "reference"...

secretsdutarot.blogspot.com/2013/01/les-tarots-dits-de-la...

This dissertation seeks to define the importance of Waite’s interpretation of mediaeval and Renaissance esoterica regarding the contacting of daemons and its evolution into a body of astrological and terrestrial correspondences and intelligences that included a Biblical primordial language, or a lingua adamica. The intention and transmission of John Dee’s angel magic is linked to the philosophy outlined in his earlier works, most notably the Monas Hieroglyphica, and so this dissertation also provides a philosophical background to Dee’s angel magic. The aim of this dissertation is to establish Dee’s conversations with angels as a magic system that is a direct descendant of Solomonic and Ficinian magic with unique Kabbalistic elements. It is primarily by the Neoplatonic, Hermetic, Kabbalistic, and alchemical philosophy presented in the Monas Hieroglyphica that interest in Dee’s angel magic was transmitted through the Rosicrucian movement. Through Johann Valentin Andreae’s Chymische Hochzeit Christiani Rosencreutz anno 1459, the emphasis on a spiritual, inner alchemy became attached to Dee’s philosophy. Figures such as Elias Ashmole, Ebenezer Sibley, Francis Barret, and Frederick Hockley were crucial in the transmission of interest in Dee’s practical angel magic and Hermetic philosophy to the founders of the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn.

Enochian Angel Magic: From John Dee to the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn www.academia.edu/921740/Enochian_Angel_Magic_From_John_De...

 

The rituals of the Golden Dawn utilized Dee’s angel magic, in addition to creative Kabbalistic elements, to form a singular practice that has influenced Western esoterica of the modern age. This study utilizes a careful analysis of primary sources including the original manuscripts of the Sloane archives, the most recent scholarly editions of Dee’s works, authoritative editions of original documents linked to Rosicrucianism, and Israel Regardie’s texts on Golden Dawn practices."In Whose hands the Sun is as a sword, and the Moon as a through- thrusting fire." An elegant equation, defining the parameters of the. creation. The god declares dominion over planetary forces (Sun-Moon) and elemental forces (fire-air). He also declares control over the two types of dualities: those in which one pole is projective and the other responsive (Sun-Moon) and over those in which two forces of similar polarity are balanced (fire-air). Within the area of creation, the positive pole is attributed to the element of swords, Air, and the anti-positive pole is attributed to the element of Fire. This is reflected in the precedence followed by the elements throughout the Tablets and Calls: Air first, then Water, Earth, and Fire. "Which measure your garments in the midst of my vestures..." The word translated here as "garments" is used uniformly to mean "creation" or "being" elsewhere in the Keys. Another word is used for

"garments" in the next sentence of this same Key. Another word is also used for "midst" further on in this Key. So the translation here is questionable. A magickal image given to define this phrase shows the scene through the god's eyes as he pulls endless threads of living light out of a lamen on his chest.

Enochian magic is a system of ceremonial magic based on the 16th-century writings of John Dee and Edward Kelley, who wrote that their information, including the revealed Enochian language, was delivered to them directly by various angels. Dee's journals contain the record of these workings, the Enochian script, and the tables of correspondences used in Enochian magic. Dee and Kelley believed their visions gave them access to secrets contained within Liber Logaeth, which Dee and Kelley referred to as the "Book of Enoch".In the early 1580s, John Dee had become discontented with his progress in learning the secrets of nature. Dee wrote: I have from my youth up, desired and prayed unto God for pure and sound wisdom and understanding of truths natural and artificial, so that God's wisdom, goodness, and power bestowed in the frame of the world might be brought in some bountiful measure under the talent of my capacity... So for many years and in many places, far and near, I have sought and studied many books in sundry languages, and have conferred with sundry men, and have laboured with my own reasonable discourse, to find some inkling, gleam, or beam of those radical truths. But after all my endeavours I could find no other way to attain such wisdom but by the Extraordinary Gift, and not by any vulgar school, doctrine, or human invention. Enochian magic involves the evocation and commanding of various spirits.He subsequently began to turn energetically towards the supernatural as a means to acquire knowledge. He sought to contact spirits through the use of a scryer or crystal-gazer, which he thought would act as an intermediary between himself and the angels. Dee's first attempts with several scryers were unsatisfactory, but in 1582 he met Edward Kelley (1555–1597/8), then calling himself Edward Talbot to disguise his conviction for "coining" or forgery, who impressed him greatly with his abilities.Dee took Kelley into his service and began to devote all his energies to his supernatural pursuits. These "spiritual conferences" or "actions" were conducted with intense Christian piety, always after periods of purification, prayer and fasting. Dee was convinced of the benefits they could bring to mankind. The character of Kelley is harder to assess: some conclude that he acted with cynicism, but delusion or self-deception cannot be ruled out. Kelley's "output" is remarkable for its volume, intricacy and vividness. Through Kelley, the angels laboriously dictated several books in this way, some in a previously unknown language which Dee called Angelical — now more commonly known as Enochian.The two pillars of modern Enochian magic, as outlined in Liber Chanokh, are the Elemental Tablets (including the "Tablet of Union") and the Keys of the 30 Aethyrs. The Enochian model of the universe is depicted by Dee as a square called "The Great Table" (made up of the 4 Elemental Tablets and incorporating the Tablet of Union), surrounded by 30 concentric circles representing the 30 Aethyrs or Aires. The Angelical Keys:

The essence of Enochian magic involves the recitation of one or more of nineteen Angelical Keys, which are also referred to as Calls. These keys are a series of rhetorical exhortations which function as evocations when read in the Enochian language. They are used to effect the "opening of 'gates' into various mystical realms." The first eighteen keys are used to 'open' the realms of the elements and sub-elements, which are mapped onto the quadrants and sub-quadrants of the Great Tablet.[clarification needed][citation needed]. The nineteenth key is used to 'open' the Thirty Aethyrs. The Aethyrs are conceived of as forming a map of the entire universe in the form of concentric rings which expand outward from the innermost to the outermost Aethyr. The Great Table: The angels of the four quarters are symbolized by the Elemental Tablets — four large magical word-square Tables (collectively called "The Great Table"). Most of the well-known Enochian angels are drawn from the Elemenal Tablets of the Great Table. Each of the four tablets (representing the Elements of Earth, Air, Fire and Water), is collectively "governed" by a hierarchy of spiritual entities which runs (as explained in Crowley's Liber Chanokh) as the Three Holy Names, the Great Elemental King, the Six Seniors (aka Elders) (these make a total of 24 Elders as seen in the Revelation of St. John), the Two Divine Names of the Calvary Cross, the Kerubim, and the Sixteen Lesser Angels. Each tablet is further divided into four sub-quadrants (sometimes referred to as 'sub-angles') where we find the names of various Archangels and Angels who govern the quarters of the world. In this way, the entire universe, visible and invisible, is depicted as teeming with living intelligences. Each of the Elemental tablets is also divided into four sections by a figure known as the Great Central Cross. The Great Central cross consists of the two central vertical columns of the Elemental Tablet (the Linea Patris and Linea Filii) and the central horizontal line (known as the Linea Spiritus Sancti). In addition to the four Elemental Tablets, a twenty-square cell known as the Tablet of Union (aka The Black Cross, representing Spirit) completes the representation of the five traditional elemental attributes used in magic - Earth, Air, Water, Fire and Spirit. The Tablet of Union is derived from within the Great Central Cross of the Great Table. The Thirty Æthyrs : The 30 Aethyrs are numbered from 30 (TEX, the lowest and consequently the closest to the Great Table) to 1 (LIL, the highest, representing the Supreme Attainment. Magicians working the Enochian system record their impressions and visions within each of the successive Enochian Aethyrs. Each of the 30 Aethyrs is populated by "Governors" (3 for each Aethyr, except TEX which has four, thus a total of 91 Governors). Each of the governors has a sigil which can be traced onto the Great Tablet of Earth.

The Holy Table: a table with a top engraved with a Hexagram, a surrounding border of Enochian letters, and in the middle a Twelvefold table (cell) engraved with individual Enochian letters. According to Duquette and Hyatt, the Holy Table "does not directly concern Elemental or Aethyrical workings. Angels found on the Holy Table are not called forth in these operations."

The Seven Planetary Talismans: The names on these talismans (which are engraved on tin and placed on the surface of the Holy Table) are those of the Goetia. According to Duquette and Hyatt, "this indicates (or at least implies) Dee's familiarity with the Lemegeton and his attempt, at least early in his workings, to incorporate it in the Enochian system."] As with the Holy Table, Spirits found on these talismans are not called forth in these operations. The Sigillum dei Aemeth, Holy Sevenfold Table, or 'Seal of God's Truth': The symbol derives from Liber Juratus (aka The Sworn Book of Honorius or Grimoire of Honorius, of which Dee owned a copy). Five versions of this complex diagram are made from bee's wax, and engraved with the various lineal figures, letters and numbers. The four smaller ones are placed under the feet of the Holy Table. The fifth and larger one (about nine inches in diameter) is covered with a red cloth, placed on the Holy Table, and is used to support the "Shew-Stone" or "Speculum" (crystal or other device used for scrying). Scrying is an essential element of the magical system. Dee and Kelly's technique was to gaze into a concave obsidian mirror. Crowley habitually held a large topaz mounted upon a wooden cross to his forehead. Other methods include gazing into crystals, ink, fire or even a blank TV screen.Little else became of Dee's work until late in the nineteenth century,[citation needed] when it was incorporated by a brotherhood of adepts in England. The rediscovery of Dee and Kelley's material by Samuel Liddell MacGregor Mathers of the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn in the 1880s led to Mathers developing the material into a comprehensive system of ceremonial magic. Magicians invoked the Enochian deities whose names were written on the tablets. They also traveled in their bodies of light into these subtle regions and recorded their psychic experiences. The two major branches of the system were then grafted on to the Adeptus Minor curriculum of the Golden Dawn.

 

According to Aleister Crowley, the magician starts with the 30th aethyr and works up to the first, exploring only so far as his level of initiation will permit. According to Chris Zalewski's 1994 book, the Golden Dawn also invented the game of Enochian chess, in which aspects of the Enochian Tablets were used for divination. They used four chessboards without symbols on them, just sets of colored squares, and each board is associated with one of the four elements of magic. Florence Farr founded the Sphere Group which also experimented with Enochian magic.Aleister Crowley's work with Enochian magick generally follows the Golden Dawn system. He is known primarily for his explorations of the 30 Aethyrs, published in "The Vision and the Voice". This work established the idea that Aethyr might represent a means of initiation, and set a standard for methodical exploration, which few have equaled. It also fixed Crowley's particular perspective on the process of transcendence in the minds of many students of the occult. Crowley envisioned the Aethyr as being related to the sephiroth of the tree of life in groups of three. He also mentions that each Aethyr "bends" into the next Aethyr above it, in a way, so that in progressing through the Aethyrs from the last to the first, one also withdraws one's being from the lower levels and already experienced (this is parallel to the technique he describes in the Liber Yod, in which the magician achieves union with the deity by gradually banishing all other levels and powers.Under this conception the Aethyrs ZAX, whose parts have names formed from the cross of union, is the highest of the three attributed to Chesed. Thus, it is the last Aethyr encountered before entering the Supernal Triad and achieving transcendence. Crowley envisioned this movement as crossing an "abyss" or space, during which the magician encounters an Enochian devil named Choronzon dwelling therein. Crowley's other contribution to Enochian magick was adapting the pyramid system of the GD for use with the sex magick of the O.T.O. In this technique, physical representations of the pyramids are made for an angel's name, but inverted to form the square "cups". These serve as talismans, which are charged using the end product of the sex magick operation.

 

Paul Foster Case (1884–1954), an occultist who began his magical career with the Alpha et Omega, was critical of the Enochian system. According to Case, the system of Dee and Kelley was partial from the start, an incomplete system derived from an earlier and complete Qabalistic system, and lacked sufficient protection methods. Case believed he had witnessed the physical breakdown of a number of practitioners of Enochian magic, due to the lack of protective methods. When Case founded his own magical order, the Builders of the Adytum (B.O.T.A.), he removed the Enochian system and substituted elemental tablets based on Qabalistic formulae communicated to him by Master R.The first Enochian Key or Call is a recapitulation of the steps by which the creator of the system brought it into being. The Key follows the same macrocosmic-to-microcosmic progression used in the example consecration ritual, but then supplements this with a response from the microcosm directed at the macrocosm. Note that the description of the downward current contains seven significant phrases, suggesting the planets and sun, the macrocosm, while the description of the response contains five significant phrases, suggesting the four elements and elemental spirit, the microcosm."...and trussed you together as the palms of my hands." The magickal image continues by showing the god gathering the fibers of light into a bundle or cable. The god concentrates the energies within the area of work in preparation for shaping."Whose seats I garnished with the fire of gathering, which beautified your garments with admiration." Having generated the positive or spiritual pole of the creation, the god now looks to the anti-positive or material pole. The "seats" are the squares of the tablets in their two-dimensional form. The god embodies a part of his will in the Tablets, defining the order and place to which the spiritual energies will be attracted and attached. When the energies are attached to the Tablets, the pattern of will embodied in the Tablets extends back along their path to the positive pole, conditioning all the perceptible expressions (the "garments") of the energies.. The usual assumption of later magicians (which is not universally accepted) is that the remaining Calls refer to the "Minor Angles" within the Tablets.

 

The Golden Dawn method of associating the Callings with the tablets and Lesser Angles has become the accepted "standard". Donald Tyson recently proposed an alternative method which has received some attention

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enochian_magic

 

SUMMARY OF PATH POSITIONS IN ACHAD'S TREE OF LIFE

Path Trump Connects with:

Aleph The Fool Malkuth Yesod

Beth The Magician Malkuth Hod

Gimel The Priestess Yesod Hod

Daleth The Empress Malkuth Netzach

Heh The Emperor Tiphereth Geburah

Vav The Hierophant Hod Netzach

Zain The Lovers Hod Tiphereth

Cheth The Chariot Yesod Netzach

Teth Strength Netzach Tiphereth

YodT he Hermit Hod Geburah

Kaph The Wheel of Fortune Kether Chokmah

Lamed Justice Netzach Chesed

Mem The Hanged Man Yesod Tiphereth

Nun Death Geburah Chesed

Samek Temperance Chesed Chokmah

AyinThe DevilTiphereth Binah

PehThe Tower Geburah Binah

Tzaddi The Star Binah Chokmah

Qoph The Moon Tiphereth Chesed

Resh The Sun Tiphereth Chokmah

Shin Judgement Kether Tiphereth

TauT he Universe Kether Binah

"To whom I made a law to govern the holy ones," The word translated as "holy ones" appears to derive from the same root as the enochian words for "fire", suggesting that the holy ones are those who possess the spiritual will. The god specifies the manner in which his creation will respond to the mages and adepts."Moreover, you lifted up your voices and sware obedience and faith..."The connection between the two poles having been made, and the conditions of their interaction being set, the angels of the creation voice their response to the god, swearing to continue to follow the god's will. "...to him that liveth and triumpheth," The spirits of the Tablets affirm the existence of their creator by saying that he lives, and affirm the success of the act of creation by saying that he triumphs. The echoing of the god's statements by the spirits of the tablets also suggests that the conditions the god laid on the creation as a whole

are reflected in miniature within the creation. It shall be shown that this is the case with the Tablets as we proceed.In the remainder of the Key, the magician using it calls upon the

spirits to respond to him fully and openly. The word translated here as "servant" might be better rendered as "minister" or "representative". The magician asserts that he has a right to demand a response from the spirits because his acts are in accord with the will of their creator.

www.sacred-texts.com/eso/enoch/1stkey.txt

 

Angelic chatter, but very little solid information. Additionally, the reader must deal with forays into apocalyptic religion, Elizabethan politics, Dee's and Kelly's personal issues, and the various irrelevant issues Dee insisted on inserting into the work. Chronologically, Dee and Kelly's work falls into three highly productive periods separated by months when nothing of particular value was received. The material received in each period generally stands on its own, and is only loosely related to that of the other periods. but the term is often applied to all work. First Period: The Heptarchia Mystica. Equipment: Ring, Lamen, and Holy Table The angels claimed that the ring they designed for Dee was the same one used by Solomon to control demons. The ring had a full band, to which was attached a rectangular plate. The letters PELE (coming from Latin for "he will do miracles") were inscribed in the four corners. In the center was a circle crossed by a horizontal line, with the letter "V" inscribed above and the letter "L" below. Two different lamens were given to Dee. The first bears a generic resemblance to various sigils of goetia being an assortment of free-form lines and oddly placed letters. The giving being indicated that it was to be made of gold and worn every time and place for the purpose of protection. given by an evil spirit. During the spring session of 1583, the angels indicated that a session had been scheduled in which detailed instructions would be given for the use of Heptarchic magick. If this session took place, it is not in the records that have survived; but some idea of the general technique can be gathered from the comments in other parts of the recording. The magician would be seated at the Holy Table, wearing the ring and lamen. table in front of him. He would hold an appropriate Heptarchic king's talisman in one hand, with a talisman of the names of the king's ministers placed beneath his feet. The magician would then invite the king with petition and prayer, followed by petitions to his prince, and invocations of the six chief ministers. They would appear in the stone of clairvoyance, whereupon the magician would instruct them to accomplish the task he desired.The Liber Loagaeth is the most mysterious part of Dee and Kelly's work. It is also known by different names like

book of Enoch and the Liber Mysteriorum Sextus et Sanctus. So far no one has seriously attempted to use it, or to understand its nature, beyond what is found in the diaries. According to the angels, "loagaeth" means "speech of God", this book is supposed to be, literally, the words by which God created all things. It is supposed to be the language in which the "true names" of all things are known, giving power over them. As described in the Liber Mysteriorum Quintis, the book was to consist of 48 "leaves", of which each contains a 49x49 grid. Infact, the book actually presented to Kelly is somewhat different. It contains 49 "invocations" in an unknown language, 95 square tables filled with letters and numbers, 2 similar tables not filled, and 4 drawn tables twice the width of the others. 2 "leaves" are recorded, but these are not included in the final book, and apparently serve as an introduction or prologue to the work. this term. There is no translation by which this could be judged in detail, but the text lacks the logical repetitions and word placements which are characteristic of the 48 Enochian invocations given in later years. There is no apparent grammar in the text. Donald Laycock remarks that the language is strongly alliterative and repetitively rhyming, while Robert Turner calls it "glossolalic". many "languages", all being spoken immediately. The purpose of the Loagaeth has been said to be the unleashing/introduction of a new age on earth, the last age before the end of all things. Instructions for use for this purpose were never given; the angels continually put it off, saying that only God could decide when the time has come. During the presentation of the two leaves of the Liber Mysteriorum Quintis, in the stone of clairvoyance an angel moved successively towards letters, and Kelly pronounced the names of the angelic character. Dee transcribed a version using the Roman alphabet, apparently with the intention of redoing it in angelic characters at a later date. of Kelly; this light was seen by both of them. Once the light entered Kelly's head, his consciousness was transformed so that he could understand the text as he read it. He was strongly commanded not to provide a translation, explaining that God would choose the time for it to be revealed. He provided the translation of a few of the words, but it was insufficient to capture the meaning of the text as a whole. When the light withdrew from Kelly's head, he immediately ceased to understand the text, and could no longer see it in the stone. On a few occasions, the light continued to work within him for a short time after the session ended, and at those times Dee noticed that Kelly said many wonderful (and unrecorded) things about the nature of the texts. But the moment the light went out, Kelly couldn't understand it anymore, nor remember what he had said during the previous moment. The record indicates that the 23rd line of the first leaf was a preface to the creation and distinction of the angels, and the 24th line a pleasant invitation to the good angels. Nothing else is recorded concerning the purpose of this book.

Enochian Magic and the Apocalypse

There are 2 major threads of thought in Christian millennialism. One thread, called postmillennialism, is largely utopian in nature. He sees the millennium as the beginning of a period of progressive perfection of conditions on Earth; the basic principle is that the world must be perfected and the city of God built on earth before Christ returns, and only after Christ returns will the world end. Two decades after Dee, this form of millennialism was the driving force behind the religious groups shoeing the English colonization of America. Dee's own thought contains many post-millennial ideals in the search for Enochian magick, one of his goals was to gain means to bring earthly governments and societies to God's design, thereby bringing the return of Christ closer. quickly. The other thread, called premillennialism, is the more catastrophic variety. In this version, the typical scenario is the return of Christ, and then mankind's current "evil" societies will be destroyed in worldwide disasters, while the elect are preserved from evil. After the world is destroyed, Christ will join the faithful in a city built by God to rule over the earth for a thousand years. While there is a strong millennial flavor to the angel's statements, they are almost uniformly of the postmillennial variety. The angels divided the world into four ages. The first of these ages began with the creation and ended with the flood; the second ended with the appearance of Christ. The revelation of Liber Loagaeth ended the third age and triggered the final age, in which the world would be brought to perfection before Christ's return. . A particular passage makes this clear.

The Enochian Magical System of Golden Dawn

Regardie, Israel, The Golden Dawn, Llewellyn Publications, 1971, St Paul, MN. Reprinted at regular intervals. Contains detailed descriptions of the Enochian Magical System developed from GD. Zalewski, Pat. Golden Dawn Enochian Magic, Llewellyn Certainly there are influences of the Qabalah (the Sigillum Dei Aemeth, the communications of Uriel, Michael...) but this is not the originality and the strength of the system. Some practitioners of Enochian magic said that it was a Qabala (when I hear a Qabala I tend to write Kabbalah, like in the theater) that put into action the world of Atziluth, the highest of the four Qabalah classic. It's quite difficult to verify...even ! (See the introduction to the Necrono-micon at Belfond Editions).

 

But back to Enochian magick proper. The successors of the G.. D.. today reorganize its system and Schueler in his Enochian Magic) gives the material and the rituals "step by step" ("step by step"). Americans (and us too) like to practice if it is simple and impressive... The investigation by Enochian magic generally gives results, we cannot really say that they are controllable since they do not correspond to any standard of experiences already lived by the inventors of this practice.

 

Be that as it may, the Enochian, this language with its grammar and its syntax, this magical system and its original Theogony, remains a mystery that should not be taken for a simple variant of this or that traditional system already known. It is therefore useful when approaching it to master the fundamental elements which are used for its use without being subservient to the rituals of the pentagrams and hexagrams, to their signs, to the notions of Qabala of the G., D.., etc. This will make it possible to know what is original or what is borrowed in the Enochian, and what one can think of such or such contemporary development. A culture that will provide some points of reference in our consumer society where the practice of magic has much in common with video games or the daily television session.

 

In this, the most honorable goal (if it can be a question of honour) is the success of the experience known as the "Knowledge and Conversation of the Holy Guardian Angel", i.e. contact with one's true will, devoid of intention, in other words his heart. But it also applies to solving the various problems of life. After all, a magic is white or black only according to the use that is made of it... Let's say that we are still far from the religious John Dee. In fact not, for if Dee's conscious aims and methods were very far from those of our contemporaries, would ultimately the adventures and misadventures of his life, the problem of his relationship with Kelly evidently culminating in the ritually ordered exchange what they did with their wives would not be indications that this practice was beginning to ferment the elements of their consciences into a quintessential non-conformist?

 

MATTHEW LEON.

 

This text constitutes the introduction to the "Book of the gathering of forces" Editions RAMUEL 1994

 

Today we can no longer answer, lacking the benchmarks of a conventional morality no longer existing in the heart of the modern magician. But what is left? On what do we base ourselves if our practice has not yet allowed us an unambiguous contact with our heart, if our magical training lets us wander in the imagination that we have shaped? Publications 1990, St Paul, MN.

 

Synesthesia (American English) or synaesthesia (British English) is a perceptual phenomenon in which stimulation of one sensory or cognitive pathway leads to involuntary experiences in a second sensory or cognitive pathway. People who report a lifelong history of such experiences are known as synesthetes. Awareness of synesthetic perceptions varies from person to person. In one common form of synesthesia, known as grapheme–color synesthesia or color–graphemic synesthesia, letters or numbers are perceived as inherently colored.In spatial-sequence, or number form synesthesia, numbers, months of the year, or days of the week elicit precise locations in space (e.g., 1980 may be "farther away" than 1990), or may appear as a three-dimensional map (clockwise or counterclockwise). Synesthetic associations can occur in any combination and any number of senses or cognitive pathways. Little is known about how synesthesia develops. It has been suggested that synesthesia develops during childhood when children are intensively engaged with abstract concepts for the first time. This hypothesis—referred to as semantic vacuum hypothesis—could explain why the most common forms of synesthesia are grapheme-color, spatial sequence, and number form. These are usually the first abstract concepts that educational systems require children to learn. The earliest recorded case of synesthesia is attributed to the Oxford University academic and philosopher John Locke, who, in 1690, made a report about a blind man who said he experienced the color scarlet when he heard the sound of a trumpet. However, there is disagreement as to whether Locke described an actual instance of synesthesia or was using a metaphor. The first medical account came from German physician Georg Tobias Ludwig Sachs in 1812. The term is from the Ancient Greek σύν syn, 'together', and αἴσθησις aisthēsis, 'sensation'.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Synesthesia

When Pamela Coleman Smith was attending the Pratt Institute of Art, she realized that she possessed a high degree of sound-color synesthesia, i.e., she was able to visualize colors and forms while listening to music and could transmit those visualizations into tangible works of art. Modern psychologists define synesthesia as a crossing-over of sensory input. Depending upon the type of synesthesia, individuals are able to hear colors, see music, smell words, etc. Many people, particularly artists, possess this phenomenon to some extent; however, Pamela possessed sound-color synesthesia to an exceptionally high degree. She was able to create sound paintings just by unconsciously drawing while listening to passages of music. She embodied the Symbolist ideal in this area. Many examples of her work in this area have survived, including three watercolors in the possession of the Stieglitz/Georgia O'Keeffe Archive. In July 1908, an article appeared in The Strand Magazine entitled "Pictures in Music." The article included six black and white images of her music paintings (see below) and provided a long quotation by her which described how her art was created. A pertinent excerpt from that article is as follows: Do you see pictures in music? When you hear a Beethoven symphony or a sonata by Schumann, do mystic human figures and landscapes float before your eyes ? It is by no means new or uncommon for a composer to have a distinct picture in his mind when he sets himself to create a work. Schumann saw children at play in an embowered wood, dancing merrily until, lo ! the sudden advent of a satyr sent them shrieking to their homes. Few, however, have been able to delineate their hallucinations born of music.

Mendelssohn, who was no mean draughtsman, was often asked to do so, but always refused. "It is like asking a sculptor to paint a portrait of his statue," he once said. " All art is one, just as the human body is one, but each of the members has its functions. It is the function of music to hear, not to see." Nevertheless, it is highly interesting to see music translated in the terms of a sister art, and this is what a clever artist, Miss Pamela Colman Smith, has done, in pictures which are published now for the first time in The Strand Magazine. Many of the compositions selected by the artist will instantly be recognized as conveying, in quite a surprising way, a vivid idea of the music as a whole. Every reader can ascertain for himself whether he possesses this peculiar psychic gift—this power of conjuring up music pictures. When you next hear a famous sonata, close your eyes and see what, if any, "pictures" pass before the eye of your brain. Under the magical influence of music the soul has glimpses of wondrous shapes, lit by the light that never was on sea or land. "You ask me how these pictures are evolved," said Miss Colman Smith. "They are not pictures of the music theme — pictures of the flying notes—not conscious illustrations of the name given to a piece of music, but just what I see when I hear music—thoughts loosened and set free by the spell of sound. "When I take a brush in hand and the music begins, it is like unlocking the door into a beautiful country. There, stretched far away, are plains and mountains and the billowy sea, and as the music forms a net of sound the people who dwell there enter the scene; tall, slow-moving, stately queens, with jewelled crowns and garments gay or sad, who walk on mountain - tops or stand beside the shore, watching the water - people. These water-folk are passionless, and sway or fall with little heed of time; they toss the spray and, bending down, dive headlong through the deep. "There are the dwellers, too, of the great plain, who sit and brood, made of stone and motionless; the trees, which slumber till some elf goes by with magic spear and wakes the green to life ; towers, white and tall, standing against the darkening sky— Those tall white towers that one sees afar, Topping the mountain crests like crowns of snow. Their silence hangs so heavy in the air That thoughts are stifled. "Then huddling crowds, who carry spears, hasten across the changing scene. Sunsets fade from rose to grey, and clouds scud across the sky. "For a long time the land I saw when hearing Beethoven was unpeopled; hills, plains, ruined towers, churches by the sea. After a time I saw far off a little company of spearmen ride away across the plain. But now the clanging sea is strong with the salt of the lashing spray and full of elemental life; the riders of the waves, the Queen of Tides, who carries in her hand the pearl-like moon, and bubbles gleaming on the inky wave. "Often when hearing Bach I hear bells ringing in the sky, rung by whirling cords held in the hands of maidens dressed in brown. There is a rare freshness in the air, like morning on a mountain-top, with opal-coloured mists that chase each other fast across the scene. "Chopin brings night ; gardens where mystery and dread lurk under every bush, but joy and passion throb within the air, and the cold moon bewitches all the scene. There is a garden that I often see, with moonlight glistening on the vine-leaves, and drooping roses with pale petals fluttering down, tall, misty trees and purple sky, and lovers wandering there. A drawing of that garden I have shown to several people and asked them if they could play the music that I heard when I drew it. They have all, without any hesitation, played the same. I do not know the name, but— well, I know the music of that place."

 

pcs2051.tripod.com/synesthesia.htm

  

beinecke.library.yale.edu/digitallibrary/asgo.html

Petersburg National Battlefield Park

 

Prologue

 

Between May and mid-June of 1864 the Union army, under General Ulysses S. Grant, and the Confederate army, under General Robert E. Lee, engaged in a series of hard-fought battles in what is now called the Overland Campaign. Cold Harbor was the last battle of this campaign and was a crushing Union loss. This forced Grant to abandoned his plan to capture Richmond by direct assault.

 

The Key to Richmond

 

Only twenty-five miles south of Richmond, Petersburg was an important supply center to the Confederate capital. With it's five railroad lines and key roads, both Grant and Lee knew if these could be cut Petersburg could no longer supply Richmond with much needed supplies and subsistence. Without this Lee would be forced to leave both cities.

 

The Siege

 

Grant pulls his army out of Cold Harbor and crosses the James River heading towards Petersburg. For several days Lee does not believe Grant's main target is Petersburg and so keeps most of his army around Richmond. Between June 15-18, 1864 Grant throws his forces against Petersburg and it may have fallen if it were not for the Federal commanders failing to press their advantage and the defense put up by the few Confederates holding the lines. Lee finally arrives on June 18 and after four days of combat with no success Grant begins siege operations.

 

This, the longest siege in American warfare, unfolded in a methodical manner. For nearly every attack the Union made around Petersburg another was made at Richmond and this strained the Confederate's manpower and resources. Through this strategy Grant's army gradually and relentlessly worked to encircle Petersburg and cut Lee's supply lines from the south. For the Confederates it was ten months of hanging on, hoping the people of the North would tire of the war. For soldiers of both armies it was ten months of rifle bullets, artillery, and mortar shells, relieved only by rear-area tedium, drill and more drill, salt pork and corn meal, burned beans and bad coffee.

 

By October 1864 Grant had cut off the Weldon Railroad and continued west to further tighten the noose around Petersburg. The approach of winter brought a general halt to activities. Still there was the every day skirmishing, sniper fire, and mortar shelling.

 

In early February 1865 Lee had only 45,000 soldiers to oppose Grant's force of 110,000 men. Grant extended his lines southwesterly to Hatcher's Run and forced Lee to lengthen his own thinly stretched defenses.

 

By mid-March it was apparent to Lee that Grant's superior force would either get around the Confederate right flank or pierce the line somewhere along it's 37-mile length. Th Southern commanders hoped to break the Union stranglehold on Petersburg by a surprise attack on Grant. This resulted in the Confederate loss at Fort Stedman and would be Lee's last grand offensive of the war.

 

The End

 

With victory near, Grant unleashed General Phillip Sheridan at Five Forks on April 1, 1865. His objective was the South Side Railroad, the last rail line into Petersburg. Sheridan, with the V Corps, smashed the Confederate forces under General George Pickett and opening access to the tracks beyond. On April 2, Grant ordered an all-out assault, and Lee's right flank crumbled. A Homeric defense at Confederate Fort Gregg saved Lee from possible street fighting in Petersburg. On the night of April 2, Lee evacuated Petersburg. The final surrender at Appomattox Court House was but a week away.

 

I was amazed to see how fast she worked to hog tie her quarry. Yet she seemed methodical and very thorough. It's not like the Huntsman was ever going to escape, even if he were still alive.

I've gotten an ID on this large bee for which I had posted two photos a couple days ago. Since then, I remembered hearing a talk a few years ago from Indiana bee expert Robert Jean, and was fortunate to find his business card that I picked up at that meeting. I sent him photos and asked if he knew this bee. He says it is "a fairly recent addition to the Indiana bee fauna." It is native to Japan and China. I did not ask if he knew anything about how it got to the U.S. I also did not ask if there is any opinion among experts as to whether it might nicely blend into our fauna or if it might become a pest. Hopefully it will not become a pest.

 

This bee is quite large, being every bit as large as an average bumblebee. However, compared to a bumblebee, its shape is less compactly stout, and more elongate. The head appears large compared to the thorax and abdomen when compared to most typical hymenoptera.

 

In my prairie/meadow planting right now, the available flowering plants are mostly Culver’s root (Veronicastrum virginicum), yellow coneflower (Ratibida pinnata) and rattlesnake master (Eryngium yuccifolium). This bee was working over only the Culver’s root. Although I don’t remember seeing this bee in previous years, there were quite a few of them. Their behavior was quite interesting in that they very slowly and methodically worked their way around the entire flowering head of the Culver’s root, seeming to be in no hurry at all related to the duty at hand. I noticed that many other species of bees and bumblebees visiting the flowers had noticeably full pollen baskets, but this bee was carrying no visible pollen.

 

After the disaster of Thursday with my very poor photography of the Small Copper i returned yesterday to Merry's Meadows near Greetham in Rutland to rectify some of my errors.

It was very sunny with a breeze to make life interesting in capturing this stunning little butterfly but i quickly found one quickly flitting around either side of the the well trodden path i was on and resting only briefly on various flowers including buttercups, plantains and sorrel.

I think the image of the Small Copper on the sorrel is of a female possibly laying eggs as she dragged herself over the top slowly but methodically down the flower. It is one of their favoured plants for their larva along with other docks!

I took this photo last May on Mackinac Island. It was interesting because if there were any tourists there, I didn't see any. But there were a lot of workers methodically going around getting things ready........Like the painter in front of the porch. It was cold but he seemed to like his scraping and painting. Very leisurely feel to the place right then.

 

View On Black

 

Textures from chromaticaberrations & Skeletalmess

Artist

Edwin Georgi (1896 - 1964)

Circa 1948?

 

Read More about Edwin Georgi at the end of the Algonquin Roundtable recount..

****************************************************************

“We were telling stories, trying to guess if the tale told was fact or fiction. M… came up with this story, chilling in the way it was so wretchedly confessed to us. Most of us thought it was fact, but didn’t really want to believe it.

 

(read fact or fiction? At the end of the background section)

 

BACKGROUND

  

“Algonquin Round Table writers, a group of town wits who had converged on New York in the late 1910s. From their positions as columnists, essayists, and drama critics, this "all-star literary vaudeville," as Edmund Wilson called them, nourished a light, sharp, mocking tone aimed at well-known personalities, among whom they counted themselves. Wartime friends Franklin P. Adams, Harold Ross, Heywood Broun, and Alexander Woollcott were among the bantering quipsters who began meeting for daily lunches at the Algonquin Hotel. With so many clever wordsmiths, this self-named "vicious circle" soon became famous for its ingenious puns, quips, and insults appearing immediately in print in someone's column.”

 

The Algonquin Round Table was a celebrated group of New York City writers, critics, actors and wits. Gathering initially as part of a practical joke, members of "The Vicious Circle", as they dubbed themselves, met for lunch each day at the Algonquin Hotel from 1919 until roughly 1929. At these luncheons they engaged in wisecracks, wordplay and witticisms that, through the newspaper columns of Round Table members, were disseminated across the country.

 

"Their form of social media was just that: social. Imagine having the time every day to break for a couple hours to have lunch with your funny, intelligent friends? They didn’t post witty replies on Facebook. They said them face-to-face, such as the time Dorothy Parker was asked to use the word “horticulture” in a sentence: “You can lead a horticulture but you can’t make her think.” Was her quick response.

  

Daily association with each other, both at the luncheons and outside of them, inspired members of the Circle to collaborate creatively. The entire group worked together successfully only once, however, to create a revue called No Sirree! which helped launch a Hollywood career for Round Tabler Robert Benchley.

  

In its ten years of association, the Round Table and a number of its members acquired national reputations both for their contributions to literature and for their sparkling wit. Although some of their contemporaries, and later in life even some of its members, disparaged the group, its reputation has endured long after its dissolution.

**************************************************************************************************************************************************************************

 

An elderly lady known to one of us was from the States, was visited with quite often before she passed on. She was a school chum of Tallulah and related this Roundtable tale told to her.

 

We would be quite interested to learn more of the story and possibly about the incident retold below. If anyone is aware of an occurrence similar to this one in or even outside of Pennsylvania please feel free to tell us about it.

 

Fact or Fiction?

 

As Related to Emily over afternoon Tea one spring day……..

 

“We were playing a game, telling each other stories, and then trying to guess if the story was fact or fiction. Darling Harpo had suggested playing it after the reaction he had received for mischievously calling out a distraught Bea on the facts for a bit of society gossip she had been relating….”

  

“ We gone midway round the circle, and When challenged, M… came up with this story, chilling in the way it was so wretchedly confessed to us. Most of us thought it was fact, but didn’t really want to believe it had occurred. “

  

“I give the story as best I can through memory, only ever hearing it the one time years ago now. I believe I have captured its’ essence, but I could never in words captured the tortured look, or trembling manner that was shown when it was told before the group. All I can say is, either way; it was a masterful performance….”

 

The Confession ( story):

 

M lit a cigarette, and after sending a few wisps of smoke up to dance upon the ceiling, began the tale…

 

“I have done may things in my life I have later regretted, but this one, in particular, I have never told a living soul until now….” Drawing a deep breath, the story was continued.

  

“I have always had a curious streak to observe people’s reactions when in various situations. To get a better grasp of how my characters should act. It greatly piqued me to watch, without being seen, a person’s true emotions coming into play. Ralph Waldo Emerson once famously quoted that “ People do not seem to realize that their opinion of the world is also a confession of character” ... and that intriguing thought was what originally sent me on my quest..

  

Sometimes I was the protagonist behind the scenes whom, unbeknownst to the victims, had set them up. Sometimes I just followed and watched their behavior. I never intended for anyone to get hurt, emotionally or physically. But sometimes they did! Then I would solace my conscience by telling it that I was only doing it to improve upon my craft. But, then this one time, I probably did go a little bit too far….”

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

 

Sends a few more puffs of his cigarette wafting in smoky curls upwards as if in thought on how to actually begin…

 

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

“As a young man I would attend all different sorts of functions from all different levels of society to come up with ideas. I ran the gauntlet, from cock fights, hobo’s gathering around a campfire, to a wedding reception worthy of the Rockefellers. I noticed that I felt more at home with the hobos, than the fat cats. A condition, I am sure, caused by some flaw in my character. “

  

“But this instance, the function I encountered definitely belonged to the latter, Rockefeller fat cat , set.

  

The event, I soon learned, was the Homecoming of a small private College in a wealthy Pennsylvania community. Not my Alma Mater, but just a place I happened to be passing through which I had stopped whilst traveling home. “

  

“That there was a function going on in that little place was not hard to miss; the attendees were pouring out onto the streets from all sorts of establishments, and into others, including the bar I was holed up in. After a while I noticed a change in dress of the revelers costumes. School blazers and sensible dresses began to be replaced by tuxes and swishing satin gowns and colourful frocks. Their adornments also changed, from school ties to bow ties, Boaters (straw hats) to top hats for the men: Gold jewelry was replaced by sparkling necklaces and rings upon gloved hands for the ladies.”

  

“Another change was, that by then, the lot of them was pretty much plastered, but then, so was I!”

  

“ Finally I was flushed out of my hiding spot , and went for a walk outside to escape the noisy crowd.

  

I started to circle the upper portion of a large rural park that ran next to my late hiding spot. As I strolled, I noticed a man with a heavy coat and cap, rather sinisterly watching the crowd, standing against a tree just up ahead of me. When he saw me coming towards him, he turned down a path leading into the shadowy depths of the woods. I watched him go down for a minute, and observed that it led down to a small valley, where in the middle, surrounded by trees, stood a quite deserted football field. The path less traveled tonight, I thought to myself.

  

I kept to the path well-travelled however, and soon after turning a corner, came upon a young couple snogging on a bench. I stopped to watch, my mind racing with a mixture of drink inspired contemplations upon the little scene before me! “

  

“She was dolled up like a picture actress. Wearing a slithery glossy red gown that shined in the gas lamps pooling light, with matching gloves and a shimmering gold purse, she was a breathing Pygmalion . The jewels she was adorned with, rhinestones, I assumed, glittered happily as she moved. He was in a tux, an Errol Flynn moustache and gold watch chain and fob at his waist. They had no idea anyone was near them! Of course, Then, my cursed foot gave me away all too soon, as it stepped upon a twig, snapping it loudly, calling the couples attention to my peeping. Seeing me they got up and walked past me, snooty noses up in the air. She made a rude noise that would have better fitted an old mare in a barn. Well pardon my eyes I though, stinging from the obvious smite upon my character, which I always had held in high regard. Why dress in that manner and think no one deserves to take notice unless they meet with your approval? The princess was obviously not amused…”

  

“ I watched with disdain, and then , still transfixed, followed at a discreet distance as they walked back the way I had come. For some reason I was mesmerized by the pair of snobs, watching as they moved, her red gown swishing and swirling like a red waterfall upon the paved stones. They were holding closely onto one another, once again totally oblivious to their surroundings. There was a story there, if only…. “

  

“They stopped, and I went into the shadow of a tree. Looking back up the path they had come, I thought they may have seen my shadow. For they then looking again to each other, she murmured something and they turned down the very path, the path less travelled, that the heavy coated man had slinked away down. I felt maybe I should have run up and cautioned them against taking that path, but I was still stung by their rude reaction… Besides, I was rather curious to see if anything would happen.

  

In for pence, in for a pound I remember repeating to myself, as I discreetly continued my stalk.”

  

“I went into the shadows, seeing a large set of rocks beside the path I climbed up, getting a view of the path winding down into the small valley. I was just above a gas lamp that lit the path as it reached the valley floor below. The lamps lite effectively shadowed the rock whence I was perched. I could see the pair walking in and out of the shadows of the trees. Just as they reached the circle of light below me they stopped and embraced. I watched, totally unabashed.

  

Then, as I grew bored, or maybe my drink induced fog was started to clear my mind back to reality, I slowly started to make an exit stage right , when a shadow detached itself from a tree directly below me. I stayed mute and froze in my tracks, watching the event I knew was going to occur, began to unfold. The man’s shadowy figure approached the oblivious couple carefully, I could see his head jerking about making sure that the couple was alone, and unprotected. Picking up a chunk of wood he entered the circle of light, which now formed a small stage where a tragedy worthy of Shakespeare was most likely about to unfold!”

  

“I watched as the startled lovers became aware and tried to stare down the newcomer.

  

Now in the light, I could see He had shed his coat and gained a mask, but it was definitely the same sinister man I had seen earlier, obviously up to no good. The Errol Flynn wannabe put the girl behind him in defense, the masked man merely raised branch and whacked him on the side of his head, it broke with a sickening crunch, and her gallant defender went down like a sack of cement.

  

The sinister figure then turned his attention to the now helpless damsel in distress. Raising a cupped hand up he said something in a raspy voice that startled her. Apparently he was asking for her jewels, and the horror struck damsel had arrogantly not yet realized she was being mugged. The ladies long earrings shimmering as she shook her head no in response. The rings on her gloved fingers flashed as her hand went to her throat as she clearly cried out,” not my necklace”, in a hapless act of defiance. In my mind came a picture of a small kitten trying to defy a snarling wolf. She threw the gold purse at him, but he merely caught it, and placed it in his pocket. I remember feeling strangely detached, It may have been shock, but I found myself watching without one ounce of regret. The only thought I could remember was her glittering necklace, maybe they had not been rhinestones, which meant that she actually was wealthy and probably had been looking down her snooty nose upon me, like she probably did her own servants !!.

  

Well than she obviously did not desire my help, I decided, like she had quite rudely not desired my looking at her earlier… and after all , in her world, servants should be standing quietly in the background, seen but not heard. So, I decided that I wasn’t going to help unless absolutely life or death. Let the little lamb be trimmed of her rich wool I said to myself. She did show spunk, I will admit, but that’s all it was, a show. She went limp as he reached up, grabbing her hand away, than began pulling of the rings as she stood mute with disbelief. The diamond bracelet was wrenched unceremoniously from her wrist. Dropping her hand, he pocketed her rings and bracelet. Than he once again went for her necklace, and she backed up, shaking her head, earrings again shimmering as the pair innocently bounced away from her long hair. Then I saw a flash of silver in his hand, and she fainted dead away at the sight of his ugly blade…”.

  

“The masked man knelt over to her fallen body. The shiny red gown had spilled around her on the ground, Laying about her inert svelte figure like a pool of red lava. Reaching down and in he claimed her necklace, grasping it up and away from her throat. He looked at it for a few seconds, letting it sparkle in the moon’s light like slivery falling rain.

  

Then squatting beside her, he pulled away her hair, and yanked her taunting earrings free. He methodically felt along her figure, missing nothing. Then he again produced the knife, slicing off the brooch from her gown’s sash.

  

He pulled off her red high heels and threw tem deep into the woods.

  

Then he left her and went over to the unconscious escort, the bloody limb next to him” in quick, precise fashion, ‘Errol’s’, watch chain and fob were pulled free and pocketed. Then he reached in and pulled out the unlucky devils pocket book. Then pulling off ‘Errol’s’ shoes they soon joined the ladies high heels.

  

Arising calmly, he slowly looked around as he stowed the stolen articles and his knife away. He spent a split second longer on the area I was hidden, causing a shiver to make itself felt! Then, removing the mask he walked to where his long coat lay, and reclaiming it, he continued serenely on his way down the path. I watched in heavy silence as he disappeared in the woods, only to reappear by the football field. It was then that I stole away back up the path, careful not to be seen.”

  

“And no, I did not give any cry of alarm, did not involve myself by seeking or giving the hapless couple aid. I simply turned and left. I came away with nothing, no ideas, no new feelings for a character, just a sour taste in my mouth and an upset stomach, which I soon tried to relieve by stopping in at the next drinking establishment I came across. Beer didn’t help, so I switched to Scotch…!”

  

“ About an hour later I heard a siren and sensed commotion outside the confides of my prison. I did not go out to investigate.”

  

“After a fit less night of unrestful sleep, I left the next morning, daring not to read a paper, or stop there for breakfast ( having a late tea later a few hours away , I put the place and its memories to my back. “

  

“Ashamedly I did not render any assistance those poor souls, and I admit what I what I did was criminal.. But then in my defense , they ………………….., ”

 

“Yes?”

  

“It was at this point that the confession was interrupted by the appearance of a messenger boy sent for M….. Who took his leave, with a wicked smile that seemed to convey relief that an outcome of the story would not have to be faced?

  

Obliviously loving the mystery it created by the timely appearance of the messenger.” He never could be persuaded to return to his story only smiling that wicked little smile.

  

So, the worse of it was we never knew… because of the messenger boy’s interruption, never to learn to our satisfaction if the story was true or not..”

  

“How we all did hate that!”

****************************************************

 

There is some question as to the identity of M…. There are six members with M in their initial. It could have been a non-regular or even a nickname. If anyone else has heard of this tale, or could place a finger for us as to who M… may have been, we would welcome the enlightenment.

 

Charter members of the Round Table included:

Franklin Pierce Adams, columnist

Robert Benchley, humorist and actor

Heywood Broun, columnist and sportswriter (married to Ruth Hale)

Marc Connelly, playwright

Ruth Hale, freelance writer who worked for women's rights

George S. Kaufman, playwright and director

Dorothy Parker

“The cure for boredom is curiosity. There is no cure for curiosity.”

“If you want to know what God thinks of money, just look at the people he gave it to.”

“What fresh hell is this?”

Robert E. Sherwood, author and playwright

John Peter Toohey, publicist

Alexander Woollcott, critic and journalist

"The English have an extraordinary ability for flying into a great calm."

 

Membership was not official or fixed for so many others who moved in and out of the Circle. Some of these included:

Tallulah Bankhead, actress

Edna Ferber, author and playwright

Margalo Gillmore, actress

Jane Grant, journalist and feminist (married to Ross)

Beatrice Kaufman, editor and playwright (married to George S. Kaufman)

Margaret Leech, writer and historian

Neysa McMein, magazine illustrator

Harpo Marx, comedian and film star

Alice Duer Miller, writer

Donald Ogden Stewart, playwright and screenwriter

Frank Sullivan, journalist and humorist

Deems Taylor, composer

Estelle Winwood, actress

Peggy Wood, actress

 

Courtesy of Chatwick University Archives

  

*******************************************************************************

 

Edwin Georgi

(1896 - 1964)

A leader in the second wave of "pretty-girl" artists: more like pin-ups without actually being pin-ups. Largely self-taught, learning his way up in ad and art agencies. A pilot in WWI. Style ranged from simple, posteresque lines and colors to his more famous pointillist pieces with boldly directed light, a unique use of warm shadows, and sparkling colors. Ads for Webster Cigars, Woodbury, Ford Mercury, Crane paper, Yardley, The Italian Line. In-demand illustrator for Goldenbook Magazine, Fortune, Redbook, Woman's Home Companion, Cosmo, True, Esquire, Ladies' Home Journal,Saturday Evening Post, American Girl, Liberty.

 

Edwin Georgi was born in 1896 and died in 1964 at the age of 68. He was a pilot in WWI– though I was unable to gather details about his specific tour of duty. Upon returning from the war, he attended Princeton. Eventually he abandoned his education to pursue writing as a full time profession. He was very ambitious, but a turn of fate pushed him another way. He was hired on to write copy for an ad agency , but was persuaded by his employer that he would make a better painter than a writer. Thus his career in illustration began.

 

Remarkably, he was largely self-taught. He worked his way up the artistic food chain with experience at various ad groups and agencies. His work is known in several national publications; Cosmo, Esquire, Redbook, Ladies’ Home Journal, and The Saturday Evening Post.

 

Edwin’s style is striking. Very few artists exude the dynamic movement of color as he does. His paintings have a texture that is entirely unique– his staccato strokes seem akin to pointillism, and weave a mesh of breathtaking pallets . Most noir art is obsessed with light and shadow, but Edwin Georgi’s art oscillates betwixt hue and contrast.

  

"The rich song of the Warbling Vireo is a common sound in many parts of central and northern North America during summer. It’s a great bird to learn by ear, because its fast, rollicking song is its most distinctive feature. Otherwise, Warbling Vireos are fairly plain birds with gray-olive upperparts and white underparts washed with faint yellow. They have a mild face pattern with a whitish stripe over the eye. They stay high in deciduous treetops, where they move methodically among the leaves hunting for caterpillars." Cornell

Forest, Drifting Fog. Yosemite Valley, California. March 1, 2014. © Copyright 2014 G Dan Mitchell - all rights reserved.

 

Winter evening fog drifts among forest trees, Yosemite National Park

 

Winter is a special time in Yosemite Valley, and during the first weekend of March it was special for all the usual reasons and a few others. The Yosemite Renaissance XXIX opening reception opening took place on Friday and the Range of Light Film Festival was going on all weekend. Not only did this provide opportunities to view beautiful interpretations of the Sierra and the park by a wide range of visual artists, but it also meant that the place was full of painters, sculptures, photographers, and film-makers, among whom were a good number of personal friends. It seemed like wherever I went I found people I knew. Many were doing their work, but there was a relaxed quality that led to plenty of sitting on rocks, looking at views, conversations, and even a few dinners.

 

But even without all of that, the Valley seems to me to be at almost its most attractive at this time of year. We arrived on a rainy late afternoon, with snow falling along the upper reaches of the Valley. Clouds and fog and mist were everywhere, blocking the light one moment and then moving to allow bits of light here and there to highlight ridges, trees, cliffs, and peaks. Even photographers who usually shoot somewhere else headed to familiar lookouts such as Tunnel View, and I found myself there more than once. For me, the primary attractions of that place at this time of year — in addition to running into friends and yakking it up — are the vignettes of bits of cloud-shrouded ridges and trees above and the frequent fogs floating through the forest on the Valley floor. So I put on a long lens and pointed the camera either up or down towards these subjects and watched the show. As I was photographing the fog drifting among trees down in the Valley, as in this photograph, I remarked to a nearby photographer friend that this subject forced me to toss out any attempt to work slowly and thoughtfully and methodically. The fog was inconstant motion among the trees and momentary compositions would coalesce in one or another part of the Valley below, only to disappear as quickly as they had appeared. In the time it takes to carefully frame and compose an image the momentary subject would simply disappear, either become completely obscured or else losing its magic as the fog thinned. Quick and instinctive work was and is the only thing that works here!

 

G Dan Mitchell is a California photographer and visual opportunist whose subjects include the Pacific coast, redwood forests, central California oak/grasslands, the Sierra Nevada, California deserts, urban landscapes, night photography, and more.

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Text, photographs, and other media are © Copyright G Dan Mitchell (or others when indicated) and are not in the public domain and may not be used on websites, blogs, or in other media without advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

This 8 shot panorama of the Exeter River will be the last of its kind. Just days after this was taken and processed, they began the process of removing the dam that created this pool of water. Today, as they methodically tear down the dam, there sits nothing but a mud puddle. Once complete, the Exeter river will flow freely through the town.

My latest trip broke the usual routine, moving Southeast rather than North or West. Visiting the old DRGW in Utah was a itch I needed to scratch. While on property I had time to do some thinking. My thoughts are cheap- fire sale.

 

Utah- it's beautiful, everything I like about photographing in the West. The preferred subject- a train is the ingredient often missing. When you do get a train, good light and good power is often too much to ask.. which can be frustrating. It makes the highs so high, and the lows, well.. low.

 

My advice- adapting and accepting is key, and ignorance is bliss. Forget about what could have been 20-30 years ago and you might find a sliver of joy. As much as I wish I could follow this I can't. For the rest of us, I think a envious stew boils deep inside us. How can you put in 10x the investment and get a tenth of a shot some random guy who pointed his camera in the opposite direction of the sun 40 years ago? I don't mean to boil it down to something so simple, shooting film was a skill which needed investment and practice. But in the same token, at least the railroads ran trains for practice. Those who got a good wedgie with a well composed foreground and background go as walking legends nowadays. In the modern era you can perfect a comp for hours just to piss away the last light- the usual culprit (no crews, notch restrictions, 15,000 ft no fitters, the eternal shitlist) throwing a wrench into the heart of the railroad. The usual ending- you don't get your shot.

 

I have always respected the challenge of railroad photography.. its not just farting around in a meadow shooting flowers. Its a methodical prediction of the weather, travel time, and what the railroad is going to do. When it all comes together, it is truly exhilarating. This challenge has forged all of us into being sharp photographers, capable of some magic when put under pressure. Today there is even more pressure- no trains! Screw those damn traditional shots you can't get anyways- let's do more with less.

 

Is that enough rambling? Here's a humbling shot after talking so high and ho.. a IPP empty heads East in the dying light. 1/400 wasn't fast enough for the descent down the hill West of Green River, UT. And yes, these are the DPU's.

Entrance on the corner of River and Lake Streets.

 

Description

 

Council Rock is situated at the corner of Lake and River Streets within the Village of Cooperstown. It is a 1.25 acre site on the west bank of the mouth of the Susquehanna River. Stone steps lead from the street to the Lake.

 

Not only does the park offer a magnificent view of the lake, but it is also an important site in the history of Cooperstown [Council Rock and Clinton/Sullivan Expedition of August 9, 1779]. Its entrance is marked by two stone columns with Historical Markers and a large painted arrow which indicates true North.

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The 1779 Sullivan Expedition, also known as the Sullivan-Clinton Expedition, or Sullivan Campaign was an extended systematic military campaign during the American Revolutionary War against Loyalists ("Tories") and the four Nations of the Haudenosaunee which had sided with the British. It has been described by some historians as a genocide due to the magnitude and totality of its violence towards and destruction of the Haudenosaunee.

 

The campaign ordered and organized by George Washington and his staff was conducted chiefly in the lands of the Iroquois Confederacy (also known as the Longhouse Confederacy) "taking the war home to the enemy to break their morale", and the expedition was largely successful in that goal as they destroyed more than 40 Iroquois villages and stores of winter crops, breaking the power of the six nations in New York all the way to the Great Lakes, as the terrified Indian families relocated to Canada seeking protection of the British. Today this area is the heartland of Upstate New York, and with the military power of the Iroquois vanquished, the events also opened up the vast Ohio Country, the Great Lakes regions, Western Pennsylvania, West Virginia, and Kentucky to post-war settlements.

 

Led by Major General John Sullivan and Brigadier General James Clinton, the expedition was conducted during the summer of 1779, beginning June 18 when the army marched from Easton, Pennsylvania, to October 3 when it abandoned Fort Sullivan, built at Tioga, to return to George Washington's main camp in New Jersey. While the campaign had only one major battle, at Newtown (since the tribes evacuated ahead of the large military force) along the Chemung River in western New York, the expedition severely damaged the Iroquois nations' economies by burning their crops, villages, and chattels, thus ruining the Iroquois technological infrastructure. With the Native Americans' shelter gone and food supplies destroyed, thereafter the strength of the Iroquois Confederacy was broken. The death toll from exposure and starvation dwarfed the casualties received in the Battle of Newtown, in which about 1,000 Iroquois and Loyalists were decisively defeated by an army of 3,200 Continental soldiers.

 

Sullivan's army carried out a scorched earth campaign, methodically destroying at least forty Iroquois villages throughout the Finger Lakes region of western New York, to put an end to Iroquois and Loyalist attacks against American settlements as had occurred the previous year of 1778, such as the Cobleskill, Wyoming Valley and Cherry Valley massacres. The survivors fled to British regions in Canada and the Niagara Falls and Buffalo areas. The devastation created great hardships for the thousands of Iroquois refugees who fled the region to shelter under British military protection outside Fort Niagara that winter, and many starved or froze to death, despite strenuous attempts by the British authorities to import food and provide shelter via their limited resources.

 

The Sullivan Expedition devastated the Iroquois crops and towns and left them dependent upon the mercy of the British for the harsh winter of 1779. With the Iroquois population decimated by disease and battle, the Indian morale never fully recovered, and the Iroquois thereafter mostly limited their incursions into the new United States to isolated hunting parties, the main populations having permanently migrated north of the border.

 

When the American Revolutionary War began, British officials as well as the colonial Continental Congress sought the allegiance (or at least the neutrality) of the influential Iroquois Confederacy. The Six Nations divided over what course to pursue. Most Mohawks, Cayugas, Onondagas, and Senecas chose to ally themselves with the British. But the Oneidas and Tuscaroras, thanks in part to the influence of Presbyterian missionary Samuel Kirkland, joined the American revolutionaries. For the Iroquois, the American Revolution became a civil war.

 

The Iroquois homeland lay on the frontier between the Province of Quebec and the provinces of New York and Pennsylvania. After a British army surrendered after the Battles of Saratoga in upstate New York in 1777, Loyalists and their Iroquois allies raided American Patriot settlements in the region, as well as the villages of American-allied Iroquois. Working out of Fort Niagara, men such as Loyalist commander Colonel John Butler, Sayenqueraghta, Mohawk military leader Joseph Brant, and Seneca chief Cornplanter led the British-Indian raids. Commander-in-chief General George Washington never allocated more than minimal Continental Army troops for the defense of the frontier and he told the frontier settlements to use local militia for their own defense.

 

On June 10, 1778, the Board of War of the Continental Congress concluded that a major Indian war was in the offing. Since a defensive war would prove to be inadequate the board called for a major expedition of 3,000 men against Fort Detroit and a similar thrust into Seneca country to punish the Iroquois. Congress designated Major General Horatio Gates to lead the campaign and appropriated funds for the campaign. In spite of these plans, the expedition did not occur until the following year.

 

On July 3, 1778, Loyalist commander Colonel Butler led his Rangers accompanied by a force of Senecas and Cayugas (led by Sayenqueraghta) in an attack on Pennsylvania's Wyoming Valley (a rebel granary and settlement along the Susquehanna River near Wilkes-Barre), practically annihilating 360 armed Patriot defenders lured out of their defenses at Forty Fort.

 

In September 1778, revenge for the Wyoming defeat was taken by American Colonel Thomas Hartley who, with 200 soldiers, burned nine to twelve Seneca, Delaware and Mingo villages along the Susquehanna River in northeast Pennsylvania, including Tioga and Chemung. At the same time, Butler's Rangers attacked German Flatts in the Mohawk Valley, destroying all the houses and fields in the area. Further American retaliation was soon taken by Continental Army units under William Butler (no relation to John Butler) and John Cantine, burning the substantial Indian villages at Unadilla and Onaquaga on the Susquehanna River.

 

On November 11, 1778, Loyalist Captain Walter Butler (the son of John Butler) led two companies of Butler's Rangers along with about 320 Iroquois led by Cornplanter, including 30 Mohawks led by Joseph Brant, on an assault at Cherry Valley in New York. While the fort was surrounded, Indians began to massacre civilians in the village, killing and scalping 16 soldiers and 32 civilians, mostly women and children, and taking 80 captive, half of whom were never returned. In vain, Brant, who was blamed for the attack, actually tried to stop the rampage. The town was plundered and destroyed.

 

The Cherry Valley Massacre convinced the American colonists that they needed to take action. In April 1779, American Colonel Van Schaick led an expedition of over 500 soldiers against the Onondaga, destroying several villages. When the British began to concentrate their military efforts on the southern colonies in 1779, Washington used the opportunity to launch a larger planned offensive towards Fort Niagara. His initial impulse was to assign the expedition to Major General Charles Lee, but he, Major General Philip Schuyler, and Major General Israel Putnam were all disregarded for various reasons. Washington first offered command of the expedition to Horatio Gates, the "Hero of Saratoga," but Gates turned down the offer, ostensibly for health reasons. Major General John Sullivan, fifth on the seniority list, was offered command on March 6, 1779, and accepted. Washington's orders to Sullivan made it clear that he wanted the Iroquois threat completely eliminated:

 

Orders of George Washington to General John Sullivan, at Head-Quarters (Wallace House, New Jersey) May 31, 1779

 

The Expedition you are appointed to command is to be directed against the hostile tribes of the Six Nations of Indians, with their associates and adherents. The immediate objects are the total destruction and devastation of their settlements, and the capture of as many prisoners of every age and sex as possible. It will be essential to ruin their crops now in the ground and prevent their planting more.

 

I would recommend, that some post in the center of the Indian Country, should be occupied with all expedition, with a sufficient quantity of provisions whence parties should be detached to lay waste all the settlements around, with instructions to do it in the most effectual manner, that the country may not be merely overrun, but destroyed.

 

But you will not by any means listen to any overture of peace before the total ruinment of their settlements is effected. Our future security will be in their inability to injure us and in the terror with which the severity of the chastisement they receive will inspire them.[5]

 

Washington instructed Gen. Sullivan and three brigades to march from Easton, Pennsylvania to the Susquehanna River in central Pennsylvania and to follow the river upstream to Tioga, now known as Athens, Pennsylvania. He ordered Gen. James Clinton to assemble a fourth brigade at Schenectady, New York, move westward up the Mohawk River Valley to Canajoharie, and cross overland to Otsego Lake as a staging point. When Sullivan so ordered, Clinton's New York Brigade was to march down the Susquehanna to meet Sullivan at Tioga, destroying all Indian villages on his route. Sullivan's army was to have totaled 15 regiments and 5,000 men, but his Pennsylvania brigade entered the campaign more than 750 men short, and promised enlistments never materialized. In addition, the third regiment of the brigade, the German Battalion, had shrunk by casualties, sickness, and desertion (the three-year term of enlistment of its soldiers had expired on June 27) to only 100 men, and was parceled out in 25-man companies as flank protection for the expedition. Armand's Legion was recalled by Washington to the Main Army before the campaign began. Because of these and other shortages, Sullivan's army, including two companies of local militia totaling only 70 men, never exceeded 4,000 troops.

 

The main army left Easton on June 18, marching 58 miles to an encampment on the Bullock farm in the Wyoming Valley, which it reached on June 23. There they awaited provisions and supplies that had not been sent forward, remaining in the Wyoming Valley until July 31. The army marched slowly, paced by both the mountainous terrain and the flatboats carrying the army's supplies up the Susquehanna, and arrived at Tioga on August 11. They began construction of a temporary fort at the confluence of the Chemung and Susquehanna Rivers they called Fort Sullivan.

 

Sullivan sent one of his guides, Lt. John Jenkins, who had been captured while surveying the area in November 1777, with a scouting party to reconnoiter Chemung. He reported that the village was active and unaware of his presence. Sullivan marched the greater part of the army all night over two high defiles and attacked out of a thick fog just after dawn only to find the town deserted. Brig. Gen. Edward Hand reported a small force fleeing towards Newtown and received permission to pursue. Despite flankers, he had gone only a mile when his advance guard was ambushed with six dead and nine wounded. The entire brigade assaulted but the ambushers escaped with minimal if any casualties. Sullivan's men spent the day burning the town and destroyed all of its grain and vegetable crops. During the afternoon the 1st New Hampshire Regiment of Poor's brigade was fired on, either from ambush or possibly by fire from other troops, inflicting another soldier killed and five wounded. Ambushes also occurred on August 15 and August 17, with combined casualties of two killed and two wounded. On August 23, the accidental discharge of a rifle in camp resulted in one captain killed and one man wounded.

 

After two-weeks' portage of supplies, Clinton's brigade set up camp on June 30 at the south end of Otsego Lake (now Cooperstown, New York), where he waited for orders that did not arrive until August 6. The next day he began his destructive march of 154 miles (248 km) to Tioga along the upper Susquehanna, taking all of his supplies with him in 250 bateaux. The actions at Chemung made Sullivan suspicious that the Iroquois might be trying to defeat in detail his split forces, and the next day he sent 1,084 picked men under Brig. Gen. Enoch Poor north to locate Clinton and escort him to Fort Sullivan. The entire army assembled on August 22.

 

On August 26, the combined army of approximately 3,200 men and 250 pack horse teamsters left Fort Sullivan, garrisoned by 300 troops taken from across the army and left behind under Col. Israel Shreve of the 2nd New Jersey Regiment. Marching slowly north into the Six Nations territory in central western New York, the campaign had only one major battle, the Battle of Newtown, fought on August 29. It was a complete victory for the Continental Army. Later a 25-man detachment of the Continental Army was ambushed, and all but five captured and killed at the Boyd and Parker ambush. On September 1 Captain John Combs died of an illness.

 

Sullivan's forces reached their deepest penetration at the Seneca town of Chenussio (also called Little Beard's town, Beardstown, Chinefee, Genesee, and Geneseo), near the present Cuylerville, New York, on September 15, inflicting total destruction on the Iroquois villages before returning to Fort Sullivan at the end of the month. Three days later the army abandoned the fort to return to Morristown, New Jersey, and go into winter quarters. By Sullivan's account, forty Iroquois villages were destroyed, including Catherine's Town, Goiogouen, Chonodote, and Kanadaseaga, along with all the crops and orchards of the Iroquois.

 

Appointed the British governor of Quebec in 1778, Frederick Haldimand, while kept informed of Sullivan's invasion by Butler and Fort Niagara, did not supply sufficient troops for his Iroquois allies' defense. Late in September, he dispatched a force of about 600 Loyalists and Iroquois, but by then the expedition had successfully ended.

 

Further west, a concurrent expedition was undertaken by Colonel Daniel Brodhead. Brodhead left Fort Pitt on August 14, 1779, with a contingent of 600 men, regulars of his 8th Pennsylvania Regiment and militia, marching up the Allegheny River into the Seneca and Munsee country of northwestern Pennsylvania and southwestern New York. Since most native warriors were away to confront Sullivan's army, Brodhead met little resistance and destroyed about 10 villages, including Conewango. Although initial plans called for Brodhead to eventually link up with Sullivan at Chenussio for an attack against Fort Niagara, Brodhead turned back after destroying villages near modern-day Salamanca, New York, never linking up with the main force. Washington's letters indicate that the cross-country trek east to the Finger Lakes region was considered too dangerous, limiting this smaller expedition to a raid north.

 

The final operation of the campaign occurred September 27. Sullivan sent a portion of Clinton's brigade directly back to winter quarters by way of Fort Stanwix, under Colonel Peter Gansevoort of the 3rd New York Regiment. Two days after leaving Stanwix, near their origination point of Schenectady, the detachment stopped at Teantontalago, the "Lower Mohawk Castle" (also known as Thienderego, Tionondorage and Tiononderoga) and carried out orders to arrest every male Mohawk. Gansevoort wrote "It is remarked that the Indians live much better than most of the Mohawk River farmers, their houses [being] very well furnished with all [the] necessary household utensils, great plenty of grain, several horses, cows, and wagons". The male population was incarcerated at Albany until 1780 and then released.

 

The action dispossessed the Mohawks of their homes. Local white settlers, homeless after Iroquois raids, asked Gansevoort to turn the homes over to them. Both actions were criticized by Philip Schuyler, then a New York representative to the Continental Congress, because all the Mohawks of Lower Mohawk castle had rejected fighting with the British, and many supported the Patriot cause. Ironically, Schuyler had been Washington's personal preference for command of the expedition, but his relief of command of the Continental Army's Northern Department had led to private service with the army until he could resign his commission, which he did in April 1779.

 

Exhausted from carrying heavy military equipment, Sullivan's horses reached the end of their endurance on their return route home. Just north of Elmira, New York, Sullivan euthanized his pack horses. A few years later, the skulls of these horses were lined along the trail as a warning to settlers. The area became known as "the Valley of Horses Heads" and is now known as the village and town of Horseheads, New York.

 

Sullivan, whose illness had slowed the expedition at times, resigned his commission in 1780 when his health continued to worsen.

 

More than 5,000 Iroquois refugees went to Canada (modern Ontario) for the British to feed. A report from 1778 by John Butler on the Haudenosaunee: "The Indians in this part of the Country are so ill off for Provisions that many have nothing to subsist upon but the roots and greens they gather in the woods" in May, 1778 – i.e., before the expedition. Fearing attack, many Tuscarora and Oneida defected to the British cause. The British granted the Indians 675,000 acres of land in Canada. About 1450 Iroquois and 400 allies lived at one new reserve at Grand River.

 

In February 1780, retired General Schuyler, now in the Congress, sent a party of pro-rebellion Indians to Fort Niagara to appeal for peace with the British-allied Iroquois. Suspecting a trick by Schuyler, those Iroquois rejected the proposal. The four messengers were imprisoned where one of them died.

 

Despite widespread dispersion, Washington was disappointed by the lack of a decisive battle and the failure to capture Fort Niagara. Although in truth, Washington's guidance to Sullivan had been that he take Ft Niagara, "if possible," an option not easily within Sullivan's means given the limitations of his artillery (no guns bigger than six inch field howitzers) and his logistics. Iroquois warriors and Loyalists continued to periodically raid the Mohawk and Schoharie Valleys during 1780 and 1781, causing widespread devastation of property and crops, and killing more than 200 settlers. The destruction of Minden on August 2, 1780 was the most destructive raid of property in the course of the four-year civil war. The last significant raid devastated a 20-mile swath of the lower Mohawk Valley in October 1781, but was defeated at the Battle of Johnstown on October 25, 1781. Walter Butler was killed in battle on October 30 at West Canada Creek during the Tory retreat.

 

The homelands and infrastructure of Iroquois life had been devastated by the campaign. In the long term, it became clear that the expedition broke the Iroquois Confederacy's power to maintain their former crops and utilize many town locations; the expedition appeared to have caused little more than famine and dispersion of the Iroquois people.

 

Following the war much of the Iroquois land was secured by the United States government in the peace Treaty of Fort Stanwix (1784) agreed to by the six nations of the Iroquois League. This land was later absorbed by treaties with the State of New York.

 

Much of the native population of these lands would move to Canada, Oklahoma, and Wisconsin. In the wake of the Treaty of Paris (1783), European-Americans began settling the newly vacant areas in relative safety, eventually isolating the remaining pockets of demoralized Iroquois into villages and towns cut off under land treaties with New York State (Wikipedia).

By way of immediate action, a stand must first be made against thought, against mental processes. "I do not know" - it is said - "anything which, when unbridled, uncontrolled, unwatched, untamed, brings such ruin as thought, and I do not know anything which, when bridled, controlled, watched, tamed, brings such benefits as thought."

 

Thought, which everyone lightly says is "mine," is, in reality, only to a very small degree in our power. In the majority of cases, instead of "to think" it would be correct to say "we are thought" or "thought takes place in me." In the normal way, the characteristic of thought is its instability. "Incorporeal" - it is said - "it walks by itself": it "runs hither and thither like an untamed bull." Hard to check, unstable, it runs where it pleases. In general, it is said that, while this body may persist one year, two years, three years or even up to a hundred years and more in its present form, "what we call thought, what we call mind, what we call consciousness arises in one manner, ceases in another; incessantly, night and day"; "it is like a monkey who goes through the forest, and who progresses by seizing one branch, letting go of it, taking hold of another, and so on."

 

The task is to "arrest" thought: to master it and to strengthen the attention; to be able then to say: "Once this thought wandered at its fancy, at its pleasure, as it liked: I today shall hold it completely bridled, as a mahout holds a rut-elephant with his goad."

 

A few explanations.

 

If one day normal conditions were to return, few civilizations would seem as odd as the present one, in which every form of power and dominion over material things is sought, while mastery over one's own mind, one's own emotions and psychic life in general is entirely overlooked. For this reason, many of our contemporaries - particularly our so-called "men of action" - really resemble those crustaceans that are as hard-shelled outside with scabrous incrustations as they are soft and spineless within. It is true that many achievements of modern civilization have been made possible by methodically applied and rigorously controlled thought. This, however, does not alter the fact that most of the "private" mental life of every average and more-than-average man develops today in that passive manner of thought that, as the Buddhist text we have just quoted strikingly puts it, "walks by itself," while, half-unconscious, we look on. Anyone can convince himself of this by trying to observe what goes on in his mind, for example, when leaving his house: he thinks of why he is going out but, at the door, his thoughts turn to the postman and thence to a certain friend from whom news is awaited, to the news itself, to the foreign country where his friend lives and which, in turn, makes him remember that he must do something about his own passport: but his eye notices a passing woman and starts a fresh train of thought, which again changes when he sees an advertisement, and these thoughts are replaced by the various feelings and associations that chase each other during a ride through the town. His thought has moved exactly like a monkey that jumps from branch to branch, without even keep-ing a fixed direction. Let us try, after a quarter of an hour, to remember what we have thought - or, rather, what has been thought in us - and we shall see how diffi¬cult it is. This means that in all these processes and disordered associations our consciousness has been dazed or "absent." Having seen this, let us undertake to follow, without disturbing them, the various mental associations. After only a minute or two we shall find ourselves distracted by a flood of thoughts that have invaded us and that are quite out of control. Thought does not like being watched, does not like being seen. Now this irrational and parasitical development of thought takes up a large part of our normal psychic life, and produces corresponding areas of reduced activity and of reduced self-presence. The state of passivity is accentuated when our thought is no longer merely "spontaneous" and when the mind is agitated by some emotion, some worry, hope, or fear. The degree of consciousness is certainly greater in these cases - but so, at the same time, is that of our passivity.

These considerations may throw some light on the task that is set when one "ceases to go"; one reacts, one aims at being the master in the world of one's own mind. It now seems quite incomprehensible that nearly all men have long since been accustomed to consider as normal and natural this state of irrationality and passivity, where thought goes where it will - instead of being an instrument that enters into action only when necessary and in the required direction, just as we can speak when we wish to, and with a purpose, and otherwise remain silent. In comprehending this "according to reality," we must each decide whether we will continue to put up with this state of affairs.

 

In its fluid, changeable and inconsistent character, normal thought reflects, moreover, the general law of samsāric consciousness. This is why mental control is consid¬ered as the first urgent measure to be taken by one who opposes the "current." In un¬dertaking this task, however, we must not be under any illusions. The dynamis, the subtle force that determines and carries our trains of thought, works from the subconscious. For this reason, to attempt to dominate the thought completely by means of the will, which is bound to thought itself, would almost be like trying to cut air with a sword or to drown an echo by raising the voice. The doctrine, which declares that thought is located in the "cavern of the heart," refers, among other things, to thought considered "organically" and not to its mental and psychological offshoots. Mastery of thought cannot, therefore, be merely the object of a form of mental gymnastics: rather, one must, simultaneously, proceed to an act of conversion of the will and of the spirit; inte¬rior calm must be created, and one must be pervaded by intimate, sincere earnestness.

 

The "fluttering" of thought mentioned in our text is more than a mere simile: it is related to the primordial anguish, to the dark substratum of samsāric life that comes out and reacts since, as soon as it feels that it is seen, it becomes aware of the danger; the condition of passivity and unconsciousness is essential for the development of samsāric being and for the establishment of its existence. This simile illustrates an experience that, in one form or another, is even encountered on the ascetic path.

 

The discipline of constant control of the thought, with the elimination of its automatic forms, gradually achieves what in the texts is called appamada, a term variously translated as "attention," "earnestness," "vigilance," "diligence," or "reflection." It is, in point of fact, the opposite state to that of "letting oneself think," it is the first form of entry into oneself, of an earnestness and of a fervid, austere concentration. When it is understood in this sense, appamāda constitutes the base of every virtue. It is also said: "This intensive earnestness is the path that leads toward the deathless, in the same way that unreflective thought leads, instead, to death. He who possesses that earnestness does not die, while those who have unstable thought are as if already dead." An ascetic "who delights in appamāda - in this austere concentration - and who guards against mental laxity, will advance like a fire, burning every bond, both great and small." He "cannot err." And when, thanks to this energy, all negligence is gone and he is calm, from his heights of wisdom he will look down on vain and agitated beings, "as one who lives on a mountaintop looks down on those who live in the plains."

 

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excerpt from The Doctrine of Awakening by Julius Evola