El Parque Nacional Grand Teton (Wyoming, EEUU) es un lugar bellísimo por la omnipresencia de la espectacular cordillera de Teton, con multitud de lagos a sus pies. La panorámica está tomada desde lo alto de Signal Mountain, mirador privilegiado del parque.

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

ETYMOLOGY

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

 

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

 

SACRET TEXTS - SHRUTI & SMRITI

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

 

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

 

SHRUTI

 

VAISHNAVA CANON

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

 

VEDAS

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

RIGVEDA

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

 

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

 

An alternate translation is provided by Wilson according to Sayana:

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

THREE STEPS

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

BRAHMANAS

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

SMRITI

 

VISHNU SMRITI

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

 

BHAGAVATA PURANA

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

 

VISHNU PURANA

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

 

aiśvaryasya samagrasya vīryasya yaśasaḥ śriyaḥ

jñāna-vairāgyayoś caiva ṣannāḥ bhaga itīṇganā

 

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

 

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

bhagavac-chabda-vācyāni vinā heyair guṇādibhiḥ

 

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

 

SANGAM LITERATURE

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

 

Paripadal by kaduvan iLaveyinanAr:

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

āyiram viritteḻu talaiyuṭai aruntiṟaṟ

 

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

 

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

 

THEOLOGICAL ATTRIBUTES

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

 

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

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

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

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

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

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

 

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

 

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

 

FIVE FORMS

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

 

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

 

RELATIONS WITH OTHER DEITIES

 

SHIVA

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

 

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

 

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

 

LAKSHMI

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

 

SARASWATI & GANGA

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

 

GARUDA

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

 

ICONOGRAPHY

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

 

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

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

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

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

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

He rests on Ananta, the immortal and infinite snake.

 

Vishnu is always to be depicted holding four attributes:

 

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

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

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

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

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

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

 

AVATARS

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

 

The most commonly believed incarnations of Vishnu are:

 

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Buddha, the ninth avatar of Vishnu.

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

 

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

 

BEYOND HINDUISM

 

SIKHISM

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

 

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

 

BUDDHISM

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

 

OTHERS

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

 

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

 

THOUSAND NAMES OF VISHNU

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

 

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

 

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

 

Vasudeva

Sankarshana

Pradyumna

Anirudha

Keshava

Narayana

Madhava

Govinda

Vishnu

Madhusudana

Trivikrama

Vamana

Sridhara

Hrishikesha

Padmanabha

Damodara

Purushottama

Achyuta

Narasimha

Janardana

Hari

Krishna

Adhokshaja

 

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

 

WIKIPEDIA

Just trying to get comfortable in this chair.

 

Rooster represents fidelity and punctuality

 

Gold represents wealth and prosperity.

 

Oddly enough, red is an unlucky color for those born a Rooster [1957, 1969, 1981, 1993] I wonder how that works since red seems omnipresent for good luck??

   

Gandhara is the name given to an ancient region or province invaded in 326 B.C. by Alexander the Great, who took Charsadda (ancient Puskalavati) near present-day Peshawar (ancient Purusapura) and then marched eastward across the Indus into the Punjab as far as the Beas river (ancient Vipasa). Gandhara constituted the undulating plains, irrigated by the Kabul River from the Khyber Pass area, the contemporary boundary between Pakistan and Afganistan, down to the Indus River and southward towards the Murree hills and Taxila (ancient Taksasila), near Pakistan"s present capital, Islamabad. Its art, however, during the first centuries of the Christian era, had adopted a substantially larger area, together with the upper stretches of the Kabul River, the valley of Kabul itself, and ancient Kapisa, as well as Swat and Buner towards the north.

   

A great deal of Gandhara sculptures has survived dating from the first to probably as late as the sixth or even the seventh century but in a remarkably homogeneous style. Most of the arts were almost always in a blue-gray mica schist, though sometimes in a green phyllite or in stucco, or very rarely in terracotta. Because of the appeal of its Western classical aesthetic for the British rulers of India, schooled to admire all things Greek and Roman, a great deal found its way into private hands or the shelter of museums.

  

Gandhara sculpture primarily comprised Buddhist monastic establishments. These monasteries provided a never-ending gallery for sculptured reliefs of the Buddha and Bodhisattvas. The Gandhara stupas were comparatively magnified and more intricate, but the most remarkable feature, which distinguished the Gandhara stupas from the pervious styles were hugely tiered umbrellas at its peak, almost soaring over the total structure. The abundance of Gandharan sculpture was an art, which originated with foreign artisans.

  

In the excavation among the varied miscellany of small bronze figures, though not often like Alexandrian imports, four or five Buddhist bronzes are very late in date. These further illustrate the aura of the Gandhara art. Relics of mural paintings though have been discovered, yet the only substantial body of painting, in Bamiyan, is moderately late, and much of it belongs to an Iranian or central Asian rather than an Indian context. Non-narrative themes and architectural ornament were omnipresent at that time. Mythical figures and animals such as atlantes, tritons, dragons, and sea serpents derive from the same source, although there is the occasional high-backed, stylized creature associated with the Central Asian animal style. Moldings and cornices are decorated mostly with acanthus, laurel, and vine, though sometimes with motifs of Indian, and occasionally ultimately western Asian, origin: stepped merlons, lion heads, vedikas, and lotus petals. It is worth noting that architectural elements such as pillars, gable ends, and domes as represented in the reliefs tend to follow the Indian forms

.

 

Gandhara became roughly a Holy Land of Buddhism and excluding a handful of Hindu images, sculpture took the form either of Buddhist sect objects, Buddha and Bodhisattvas, or of architectural embellishment for Buddhist monasteries. The more metaphorical kinds are demonstrated by small votive stupas, and bases teeming with stucco images and figurines that have lasted at Jaulian and Mora Moradu, outpost monasteries in the hills around Taxila. Hadda, near the present town of Jalalabad, has created some groups in stucco of an almost rococo while more latest works of art in baked clay, with strong Hellenistic influence, have been revealed there, in what sums up as tiny chapels. It is not known exactly why stucco, an imported Alexandrian modus operandi, was used. It is true that grey schist is not found near Taxila, however other stones are available, and in opposition to the ease of operating with stucco, predominantly the artistic effects which can be achieved, must be set with its impermanence- fresh deposits frequently had to be applied. Excluding possibly at Taxila, its use emerges to have been a late expansion.

  

Architectural fundamentals of the Gandhara art, like pillars, gable ends and domes as showcased in the reliefs, were inclined to follow Indian outlines, but the pilaster with capital of Corinthian type, abounds and in one-palace scene Persepolitan columns go along with Roman coffered ceilings. The so-called Shrine of the Double-Headed Eagle at Sirkap, in actuality a stupa pedestal, well demonstrates this enlightening eclecticism- the double-headed bird on top of the chaitya arch is an insignia of Scythian origin, which appears as a Byzantine motif and materialises much later in South India as the ga1J.qa-bheru1J.qa in addition to atop European armorial bearings.

 

In Gandhara art the descriptive friezes were all but invariably Buddhist, and hence Indian in substance- one depicted a horse on wheels nearing a doorway, which might have represented the Trojan horse affair, but this is under scan. The Dioscuri, Castor and Pollux, familiar from the previous Greek-based coinage of the region, appeared once or twice as standing figurines, presumably because as a pair, they tallied an Indian mithuna couple. There were also female statuettes, corresponding to city goddesses. Though figures from Butkara, near Saidan Sharif in Swat, were noticeably more Indian in physical type, and Indian motifs were in abundance there. Sculpture was, in the main, Hellenistic or Roman, and the art of Gandhara was indeed "the easternmost appearance of the art of the Roman Empire, especially in its late and provincial manifestations". Furthermore, naturalistic portrait heads, one of the high-points of Roman sculpture, were all but missing in Gandhara, in spite of the episodic separated head, probably that of a donor, with a discernible feeling of uniqueness. Some constitutions and poses matched those from western Asia and the Roman world; like the manner in which a figure in a recurrently instanced scene from the Dipankara jataka had prostrated himself before the future Buddha, is reverberated in the pose of the defeated before the defeater on a Trojanic frieze on the Arch of Constantine and in later illustrations of the admiration of the divinised emperor. One singular recurrently occurring muscular male figure, hand on sword, witnessed in three-quarters view from the backside, has been adopted from western classical sculpture. On occasions standing figures, even the Buddha, deceived the elusive stylistic actions of the Roman sculptor, seeking to express majestas. The drapery was fundamentally Western- the folds and volume of dangling garments were carved with realness and gusto- but it was mainly the persistent endeavours at illusionism, though frequently obscured by unrefined carving, which earmarked the Gandhara sculpture as based on a western classical visual impact.

  

The distinguishing Gandhara sculpture, of which hundreds if not thousands of instances have outlived, is the standing or seated Buddha. This flawlessly reproduces the necessary nature of Gandhara art, in which a religious and an artistic constituent, drawn from widely varied cultures have been bonded. The iconography is purely Indian. The seated Buddha is mostly cross-legged in the established Indian manner. However, forthcoming generations, habituated to think of the Buddha as a monk, and unable to picture him ever possessing long hair or donning a turban, came to deduce the chigon as a "cranial protuberance", singular to Buddha. But Buddha is never depicted with a shaved head, as are the Sangha, the monks; his short hair is clothed either in waves or in taut curls over his whole head. The extended ears are merely due to the downward thrust of the heavy ear-rings worn by a prince or magnate; the distortion of the ear-lobes is especially visible in Buddha, who, in Gandhara, never wore ear-rings or ornaments of any kind. As Foucher puts it, the Gandhara Buddha is at a time a monk without shaving and a prince stripped off jewellery.

  

The western classical factor rests in the style, in the handling of the robe, and in the physiognomy of Buddha. The cloak, which covers all but the appendages (though the right shoulder is often bared), is dealt like in Greek and Roman sculptures; the heavy folds are given a plastic flair of their own, and only in poorer or later works do they deteriorate into indented lines, fairly a return to standard Indian practice. The "western" treatment has caused Buddha"s garment to be misidentified for a toga; but a toga is semicircular, while, Buddha wore a basic, rectangular piece of cloth, i.e., the samghiifi, a monk"s upper garment. The head gradually swerves towards a hieratic stylisation, but at its best, it is naturalistic and almost positively based on the Greek Apollo, undoubtedly in Hellenistic or Roman copies.

 

Gandhara art also had developed at least two species of image, i.e. not part of the frieze, in which Buddha is the fundamental figure of an event in his life, distinguished by accompanying figures and a detailed mise-en-scene. Perhaps the most remarkable amongst these is the Visit to the Indrasala Cave, of which the supreme example is dated in the year 89, almost unquestionably of the Kanishka period. Indra and his harpist are depicted on their visit in it. The small statuettes of the visitors emerge below, an elephant describing Indra. The more general among these detailed images, of which approximately 30 instances are known, is presumably related with the Great Miracle of Sravasti. In one such example, one of the adjoining Bodhisattvas is distinguished as Avalokiteshwara by the tiny seated Buddha in his headgear. Other features of these images include the unreal species of tree above Buddha, the spiky lotus upon which he sits, and the effortlessly identifiable figurines of Indra and Brahma on both sides.

  

Another important aspect of the Gandhara art was the coins of the Graeco-Bactrians. The coins of the Graeco-Bactrians - on the Greek metrological standard, equals the finest Attic examples and of the Indo-Greek kings, which have until lately served as the only instances of Greek art found in the subcontinent. The legendary silver double decadrachmas of Amyntas, possibly a remembrance issue, are the biggest "Greek" coins ever minted, the largest cast in gold, is the exceptional decadrachma of the same king in the Bibliotheque Nationale, with the Dioscuri on the inverse. Otherwise, there was scanty evidence until recently of Greek or Hellenistic influences in Gandhara. A manifestation of Greek metropolitan planning is furnished by the rectilinear layouts of two cities of the 1st centuries B.C./A.D.--Sirkap at Taxila and Shaikhan Pheri at Charsadda. Remains of the temple at Jandial, also at Taxila and presumably dating back to 1st century B.C., also includes Greek characteristics- remarkably the huge base mouldings and the Ionic capitals of the colossal portico and antechamber columns. In contrast, the columns or pilasters on the immeasurable Gandhara friezes (when they are not in a Indian style), are consistently coronated by Indo-Corinthian capitals, the local version of the Corinthian capital- a certain sign of a comparatively later date.

 

The notable Begram hoard confirms articulately to the number and multiplicity of origin of the foreign artefacts imported into Gandhara. This further illustrates the foreign influence in the Gandhara art. Parallel hoards have been found in peninsular India, especially in Kolhapur in Maharashtra, but the imported wares are sternly from the Roman world. At Begram the ancient Kapisa, near Kabul, there are bronzes, possibly of Alexandrian manufacture, in close proximity with emblemata (plaster discs, certainly meant as moulds for local silversmiths), bearing reliefs in the purest classical vein, Chinese lacquers and Roman glass. The hoard was possibly sealed in mid-3rd century, when some of the subjects may have been approximately 200 years old "antiques", frequently themselves replicates of classical Greek objects. The plentiful ivories, consisting in the central of chest and throne facings, engraved in a number of varied relief techniques, were credibly developed somewhere between Mathura and coastal Andhra. Some are of unrivalled beauty. Even though a few secluded instances of early Indian ivory carving have outlived, including the legendary mirror handle from Pompeii, the Begram ivories are the only substantial collection known until moderately in present times of what must always have been a widespread craft. Other sites, particularly Taxila, have generated great many instances of such imports, some from India, some, like the appealing tiny bronze figure of Harpocrates, undoubtedly from Alexandria. Further cultural influences are authenticated by the Scytho Sarmatian jewellery, with its characteristic high-backed carnivores, and by a statue of St. Peter. But all this should not cloud the all-important truth that the immediately identifiable Gandhara style was the prevailing form of artistic manifestation throughout the expanse for several centuries, and the magnitude of its influence on the art of central Asia and China and as far as Japan, allows no doubt about its integrity and vitality.

 

In the Gandhara art early Buddhist iconography drew heavily on traditional sources, incorporating Hindu gods and goddesses into a Buddhist pantheon and adapting old folk tales to Buddhist religious purposes. Kubera and Harm are probably the best-known examples of this process.

  

Five dated idols from Gandhara art though exist, however the hitch remains that the era is never distinguished. The dates are in figures under 100 or else in 300s. Moreover one of the higher numbers are debatable, besides, the image upon which it is engraved is not in the conventional Andhra style. The two low-number-dated idols are the most sophisticated and the least injured. Their pattern is classical Gandhara. The most undemanding rendition of their dates relates them to Kanishka and 78 A.D. is assumed as the commencement of his era. They both fall in the second half of the 2nd century A.D. and equally later, if a later date is necessitated for the beginning of Kanishka`s time. This calculation nearly parallels numismatics and archaeological evidences. The application of other eras, like the Vikrama (base date- 58 B.C.) and the Saka (base date- 78 A.D.), would place them much later. The badly battered figurines portray standing Buddhas, without a head of its own, but both on original figured plinths. They come to view as depicting the classical Gandhara style; decision regarding where to place these two dated Buddhas, both standing, must remain knotty till more evidence comes out as to how late the classical Gandhara panache had continued.

   

Methodical study of the Gandhara art, and specifically about its origins and expansion, is befuddled with numerous problems, not at least of which is the inordinately complex history and culture of the province. It is one of the great ethnical crossroads of the world simultaneously being in the path of all the intrusions of India for over three millennia. Bussagli has rightly remarked, `More than any other Indian region, Gandhara was a participant in the political and cultural events that concerned the rest of the Asian continent`.

   

However, Systematic study of the art of Gandhara, and particularly of its origins and development, is bedeviled by many problems, not the least of which is the extraordinarily complex history and culture of the region.

   

In spite of the labours of many scholars over the past hundred and fifty years, the answers to some of the most important questions, such as the number of centuries spanned by the art of Gandhara, still await, fresh archaeological, inscriptional, or numismatic evidence.

 

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gandhara

 

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gautama_Buddha

Fetishiah's transformation into a "Succubus of lust" and her subsequent actions are detailed through a series of significant events, beginning with her origin as an "angel of the shining light" and culminating in her quest for ultimate power through the "cave of greed.

  

Origin and Corruption

 

Fetishiah initially existed as one of the "angels of the shining light," beings composed of shiny latex residing in a celestial realm described as "heaven for good latex girls." These angels were intended to embody light and purity. However, the spread of darkness, characterized by "greed, lust, and wickedness," corrupted some of these angels, including Fetishiah. She transformed into a "latex fallen angel of the black-gloss," adopting whips as her weapons, symbolizing her shift from purity to darkness. This corruption led her to infiltrate Latexetal, the high temple and source of shiny latex clothing. In an act of defiance, she sat upon the throne of Latexetal, which was meant to remain unoccupied. This act caused the throne and the temple to turn into black shiny latex, signifying her dominance and the pervasive corruption.

  

Confrontation and Defeat

 

Fetishiah's actions resulted in the "falling of Universes" under her dark influence. Rubberrocken, then known as Shiny-Stacey and the "Goddess of protection," confronted Fetishiah. Shiny-Stacey used her "Sword of destruction" to cut the corrupted throne of Latexetal in two, thereby stripping Fetishiah and the temple of their power. This decisive act ended Fetishiah's reign of corruption over Latexetal. Following her defeat, Fetishiah was taken into the timeless void along with Rubberrocken and the other angels. In this new state, Fetishiah transformed into a "Succubus of lust," further evolving her dark nature to be specifically associated with temptation and desire.

  

The Cave of Greed and the Quest for Power

 

In a subsequent timeline, Fetishiah discovered the "cave of greed" and the trapped goddess of greed, Goldglossin. Goldglossin was compelled to grant wishes because she had taken so much, and specifically needed to find ten "queens of lust" to fulfill her obligations. Fetishiah, being a "latex lady of lust" herself, recognized an opportunity. To avoid being trapped in the cave like Goldglossin, Fetishiah made a deal: if she found ten females with a very high level of lust for Goldglossin, she would receive 100 wishes. Fetishiah, understanding the implications of such power from her past in Latexetal, knew that 100 wishes would grant her control over "all existence and non-existence and all power." Her ultimate goal was to sit on the "very highest throne," be the "most beautiful most stunning of all time," and even "rewrite every timeline" to her will, effectively undoing Rubberrocken's intervention. She planned not to return to the cave until all ten individuals were sent there. Beings aware of the cave actively tried to keep others away from it.

  

Search for Queens of Lust

 

Over the years, Fetishiah sought out lustful individuals by entering their dreams. She traversed many worlds but spent most of her time in the world of Dommalex, specifically on an island called Anddies. Anddies was located southwest of the temple of time, which was dedicated to Aeon, the god of time. This temple was part of Latxrubbero, also known as the land of rubber, and was one of the "12 kingdoms and queendoms." The "cave of wishes" was situated to the south of Anddies.

 

Ten thousand years later, Fetishiah discovered Silverleaf, a "very selfish very hedonistic latex queen." Silverleaf was characterized by her constant attire of shiny latex and her strong fetish for latex, sex, and sexual pleasure, always in latex and always desiring more. Fetishiah visited Silverleaf in her dreams. Silverleaf experienced a "very kinky dream where she was have all the sex she could ever want in the most sluttyest ways" When awoke to find Fetishiah, the shiny latex succubus, sitting on her. Fetishiah then informed Silverleaf that if she desired "more," it could be found within the "cave of greed"

 

Fetishiah's journey is a continuous narrative of corruption, defeat, and an unyielding pursuit of ultimate power, driven by her insatiable lust and greed, culminating in her strategic manipulation of the "cave of greed" to achieve her ambitions. Her powers include Oneirokinesis (dreamwalking), illusion manipulation, psychic abilities, powerful magic spells, the power of beauty and lust to bend others' will, energy absorption through sexual contact, teleportation, portal creation, and the ability to increase her beauty and maintain eternal youth through feeding on lust and engaging in sexual acts. She had also made made her own pocket dimension within the word of Dommalex which she with more power wants to expand into the real dimension of time and space.

 

Fetishiah's ultimate goal is to gain control over "all existence and non-existence and all power" by acquiring 100 wishes from Goldglossin in the "cave of greed," which she intends to achieve by finding ten "queens of lust" to fulfill Goldglossin's obligations. This power would allow her to sit on the "very highest throne," become the "most beautiful most stunning of all time," and "rewrite every timeline" to her will, effectively undoing Rubberrocken's past intervention.

  

More about: Fetishiah

 

Race: fallen angel - succubus

 

Height : 5,7

 

Hair colour: Blonde

 

Live's: within her own pocket dimension.

 

Eye colour: red

 

Favourite colours: red and black but will sometime wear gold, hot-pink and dark-purple.

 

Sexually: bisexual

 

Personality: intelligent, power-hungry, idolizing herself, narcissistic, selfish, greedy, mean, dominant, slutty, kinky, sly. flirtatious, and sometime coy

 

Favourite fashion: Sexy shiny latex clothing,

 

Favourite clothing, short-skirts, skin-tight catsuits, corsets, and high-heel boots. all kinds of very sexy hot latex outfits, from very dominant to cute and sassy.

 

Obsessions: power, Latex, and sex and pure sexual pleasure

 

Her Wish: To control over "all existence and non-existence and all power

 

How she would talk:

 

a low, husky purr, incredibly seductive and smooth. Every word would be enunciated with deliberate precision, carrying an undertone of promise and forbidden pleasure. She would speak with an air of absolute confidence and self-possession, never hurried, always in control. Her language would be rich with innuendo and double entendre, subtly hinting at desires you didn't even know you possessed. She might use terms of endearment that feel both intimate and possessive, like "my dear," "sweetheart," or "little one," delivered with a tone that suggests she sees right through you. Her speech would be laced with flattery, expertly tailored to your ego, making you feel uniquely seen and desired. She would ask questions that seem innocent but are designed to probe your deepest desires and vulnerabilities, always with that alluring, knowing smile.

  

Her power list

 

1) Oneirokinesis also known as dreamwalking = the power to walk into the dreams of others and contoll them.

 

2) illusion manipulation = To show things which are not there. or duplication of her self.

 

3) psychic

 

4) powerful magic spells.

 

5) the power of beauty and lust = she is a very sexy lady who knows the lust and dreams of otheres, she will always where the most shinyest latex outfits but she will where the hottest oufits to what you lust over most, this is to get you to bow to her and do what she wants, bending their will to the user's desires.

 

6) Energy Absorption= when she have sex with another or kissing them, she will take there powers adding to her power.

 

7) Teleportation = can telport to awaywhere she can thing of anywhere in space and even between dimensions.

 

8) Portal creation = can open a door way to let otheres in and out.

 

9) space and even between dimensions.

 

10) Power to increase her beauty = The more sex she has and the more lust she feeds on the more beauty stunning she will become. this stops her from ageing forever looking youthful which will there for trigger off more lust in others to worshippship her. She cab have sex in or out of a dream.

  

More than 25 years into democracy, a racial divide is still omnipresent within certain activities and areas in South Africa. Wine Festival in Stellenbosch, February 2017.

 

Follow me on Twitter: twitter.com/T_Schildbach

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The banner(s) on the fence of the parking lot staging area tell us what we were expecting: the remodel of the Horn Lake Target is imminent - the store's first major remodel in it's 24-year history. And my prediction of said staging area becoming "a veritable little city..." is well on it's way to becoming a reality, only I wasn't really expecting to see those tent-like (Walmart Garden Center like!?) structures! I don't believe the currently-remodeling Target at Poplar and Forrest Hill Irene (in Germantown, or somewhere thereabouts :P) has any of those structures. Sadly, my very recent photos of that store's remodel staging area didn't turn out, but it's remotely possible I'll venture back out there for a full photoshoot in the near future...

_______________________________

Target, 1999-built (2023 remodeled), Interstate Blvd. near Goodman Rd., Horn Lake MS

This is a lovely sculpture outside Vancouver’s convention centre overlooking Burrard Inlet. Titled The Drop, it “pays homage to the element of water and the untamable forces of nature which are omnipresent in Vancouver.”

 

It’s by the German public art group Inges Idee, four artists – Hans Hemmert, Axel Lieber, Thomas Schmidt and George Zey, and it’s their first installation in North America.

Updated version of this post here

 

The practice of dumping grannies in the mountains to die, as a form of euthanasia is more a product of Japanese folklore than a real historical practice. But had the Japanese have carried out such a practice, it is possibly to see how, in certain circumstances it would be evolutionarily favoured. Species that are able and willing to dump their forebears in the mountains at such time as they are no longer providing sufficient wisdom or child-minding -- soft or hard contributions to society -- but are still eating and requiring assistance will be ridding themselves of a burden. Killing societal burdens could be argued to be beneficial to society, at least by the Nazis. There would be drawbacks. Any society in which such a practice were overtly carried out would promote the fear, uncertainty, and mutual distrust. It is for these reasons that it is very likely that granny dumping was confined to folklore rather actually taking place. But what if such a nastiness were to occur naturally?

 

The existence of cancer strikes me as being very difficult to explain. When Steven Fry, an atheist, was asked, 'what would you say to an omnipotent being should you meet one after you die?". As quick as a flash Fry replied, "brain cancer in children?" He proceeded to outline the Dostoyevski defence; an omnipotent deity that created a world like this, with childhood brain tumor, deserves no respect. If worshipping such an entity were the ticket to heaven, then it would be appropriate to say "sorry, but no thanks." "I most respectfully return him the ticket" (Dostoyevski, 1880, ch 35).

 

Even from the standpoint of evolution, however, cancer still remains difficult to explain. I don't think that there is some bloke with a slide rule doing intelligent design, but all the same things happen for a reason, an evolutionary reason. Random pain and tragedy happen, but it seems bizarre that organisms should inflict such horror upon themselves.

 

From a perusal of Google Scholar, and the advice of a friend, it seems that there are three ways in which cancer can be explained from an evolutionary perspective.

 

The first is that cancer is an example of survival of the fittest at a cellular level. Normal cells mutate to become cancer cells that replicate more rapidly, marshal resources more effectively, and are in that sense fitter than their non cancerous peers (Nowell, 1976). This logic is at once irrefutable -- cancers really do mutate in such a way as to survive -- but at the same time seems to require further explanation. Evolution predominates at the level of species and their genes. Evolution cares not for individuals, be they grannies or cells. Bearing that in mind, it is difficult to see why a species of human did not evolve to have an immune system capable of dealing with greedy, destructive cancer cells, unless cancer were beneficial to the species as a whole.

 

A second explanation for the evolution of cancer is that cancer is carrying out the prime objective of evolution the replication of the fittest variation, where variation implies death. If it were not for the fact that we have built in obsolescence, that we are programmed to age and die, then there would never be variation just a stagnant gene pool of nonagenarians or much older, and above.

 

But this explanation still does not cut the mustard. Ageing, wearing out, a weakened ability for cell replication is all very understandable but why should there also be this horrible self destruct mode? Cancer seems to be too violent, and gratuitous to be explained solely as another ageing mechanism, though it is generally related to age.

 

Another possibility (that I have yet to see expressed) is that cancer is an essential by-product of evolution in that species that evolve need to mutate so therefore they will inevitably experience mutation at the cellular level. This is an evolutionary explanation of the first explanation. Species that evolve need to made of stuff that mutates and evolves at an individual, and cellular level. Species are no more than the sum of their parts, so the parts and the whole necessarily correspond to each other in their tendency to mutate and evolve. This explanation sounds plausible too.

 

However, is this really how evolution occurs? When the proto rhino returned to the sea and evolved into a whale was it by cancerous mutation that its snout moved back to become a blow-hole? Did a cancer ever evolve into anything useful? Were the cells in our retina, prefrontal lobes or opposable thumbs ever once a tumour in one of our ancestors? I am inclined to think not. Cancerous mutation and inter-individual and inter-generational variation, appear to be different things. This is an argument merely from visual confirmation but, cancers just look different from all the variations, big noses, small jaws, and variations in height that we see between individuals and generations. A medical practitioner of my acquaintance tells me that you can spot a cancer. Cancers are not merely different, but cancer-like, and incidentally grotesque.

 

Further, upon reflection, there are some species of animal such as naked mole rats that do not suffer from cancer. It follows therefore that cancer is not a necessary by-product of evolution due to the covariance of species and cell, else naked mole rats would never have evolved at all.

 

So what was the evolutionary force that propelled this natural monster into existence?

 

To explain the titular theory I need to introduce two fields of research, and cut to the chase.

 

The first research field is that of paleopathology, scholars of ancient causes of death, find that cancer is rarer in our ancient ancestors. There is a striking rarity of malignancies” in ancient human remains (David & Zimmerman, 2010; see Johnson, 2010). The "cancer is a modern disease" meme allows some to conclude that it is caused by our industrial environment, or the prevalence of cigarettes. Again, this physical environment explanation is persuasive, but didn't our ancestors come in contact with shale tar, or enjoy a paleolithic toke? I suggest something else has changed, an aspect of our diet, which brings me onto the second area of research.

 

Another fascinating area of research research is that of Dr Valter Longo who finds that fasting is as effective as chemotherapy at alleviating and preventing cancer(e.g. Raffaghello, Safdie, Bianchi, Dorff, Fontana, & Longo 2010; Lee, & Longo, 2011). Fasting is found to improve the effectiveness of chemotherapy, make the after effects of chemo less unpleasant, and even more importantly, cause cancers to self-destruct due to the effects of fasting alone. During a fast normal cells go into hibernation whereas cancerous cells want to eat and eat even themselves.

 

So, cutting to the conclusion. For much of our paleolithic past humans lived in hunter gather societies in which game and gather were a non continuous source of calories. For much of our evolutionary past therefore, it seems likely that we should have been forced to fast. Individuals in hunter gather societies would have been forced to fast unless that however, they had access to the resources of their peers.

 

Bearing in mind that cancer tends to effect older persons, and that it can be prevented in large part by periods of low calorie consumption, could it be the case therefore that cancer was a natural granny and grandpa dump? Social species such as humans may have evolved a mechanism called cancer, such that older persons who did not undergo periods of low calorie consumption, and were likely therefore in those societies to have been being a burden on their hunter gatherer peers, should self destruct.

 

If this is the evolutionary origin of cancer, it would mean that cancer today is even more utterly gratuitous than it appears. In the modern world where older persons are capable of supporting themselves and through their skills, knowledge, and sagacity benefiting the general community, then there is every evolutionary reason for keeping them alive. But for those millennia when humans lived on the calorific brink of extinction, a natural method of finishing off free-loaders may have been evolutionarily preferred.

 

This is the only explanation for this horror that I can think of, and it still does not explain childhood brain cancer.

 

The only positive take home from this conclusion is that it may be a good idea to periodically fast, especially in the unfortunate event that one has cancer.

 

Addendum

If the above hypothesis were correct, then the tendency to get cancer would be expected to correlate to the ability or tendency to freeload. I predicted that animals that do not get cancer would be those that lead a completely solitary existence. It seems however, that the animal most famed for not getting cancer, the naked mole rat is "eusocial". That is to say that rather than being independent, they are the most dependent of mammals, living in communities in which (like bees, wasps, termites and ants) individuals have specific bio-social roles such as breeding queens, and sterile workers. The fact that cancer free naked mole rats are eusocial does not disprove the cancer as granny dump hypothesis. Rather their highly interdependent social existence and freedom from cancer conversely suggests a link. Eusocial animal communities contain individuals that are essentially free-loaders: foraging for food is not a omnipresent function of the naked mole rat. It would make no evolutionary sense, therefore, for mole rats to self-destruct.

 

Another mammal that is almost entirely cancer free is the bow whale. Bow whales live in isolation or in small groups of up to six. They filter the oceans for sustenance so may have very limited ability to help or sustain their aged, or otherwise compromised, peers, very little opportunity for freeloading, and no need of cancer.

 

Dr. James DeGregori discusses the evolutionary origins of cancer from about the 40 minute mark in this video

www.youtube.com/watch?v=rXByvyVgHrI

Contra what I suggest above regarding a possible difference between oncogenic and evolutionary mutation, he is suggesting that they are the same thing, at least in the case of lactose tolerance in adults. And he is saying that the prevalence of cancer in older people is just because natural selection does not protect those that are past the breeding age so cancer is essentially another form of ageing. But then how does he explain those naked mole rats? I have not gotten to the end of the video.

 

Bibliography

Dostoyevsky, F (1880) The Brothers Karamazov.

Lee, C., & Longo, V. D. (2011). Fasting vs dietary restriction in cellular protection and cancer treatment: from model organisms to patients. Oncogene, 30(30), 3305-3316.

Nowell, P. C. (1976). The Clonal Evolution of Tumor Cell Populations. Science, 194(4260), 23-28.

Raffaghello, L., Safdie, F., Bianchi, G., Dorff, T., Fontana, L., & Longo, V. D. (2010). Fasting and differential chemotherapy protection in patients. Cell Cycle, 9(22), 4474-4476.

 

Image: Granny Dumping Moon by Yotoshi in the Tokyo Metropolitan museum.

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Respectfully.

 

#alchemy - #research - #creation

 

Thunderstorms, Fascinating natural electric arcs, we are all sensitive to them, they intrigue us - the result of an "imbalance" that these light discharges allow us to readjust - they are like an omnipresent natural electricity, with consequences that are mostly imperceptible to Humans.

It will be DETERMINING in this chapter to understand that "balance" as it is perceived in the collective consciousness has only a value as a philosophical concept, like an "artist's view".

 

Indeed, within the natural world, balance simply does not exist, a "more or less large gap in terms of values between a positive and a negative leading to discharges that help to reduce this gap that has become too large between this (+) and this (-)" would be more accurate, thus was born the Movement, architect of universal systems.

Let us note with attention that if this notion of balance is assimilated for us as an "objective" to be reached, it is no less essential to systematically fail to reach it without ever ceasing to try, by essence no movement can be triggered in case of balance, within the living it is a notion synonymous with nothingness.

 

Once again, from the macroscopic to the immensity the patterns are invariably the same, within our muscles there is a perpetual electrical activity, and even the smallest of these generates low intensity electromagnetic fields during a contraction, just as electricity from power lines generate electromagnetic fields according to the intensity of the current flowing through them and ONLY when it is in motion, matrix dynamics therefore.

 

Let's imagine that the blood stops circulating for a moment, that the rotation of our planet is interrupted or that the solar radiation no longer reaches us, no need to draw a picture, the consequences are known, they are only obvious.

Marine currents are generated by temperature differences at different depths, these phenomena of thermodynamic "depressions" are also observable in the atmosphere, wherever life follows are short, whatever the soil, the terrain, the matter, the light, the environment, the conditions, the constraints, it is an immense "Everything" put into action by as many veins trying to reach their respective goals, the so-called "balance", approaching it then moving away from it tirelessly for all eternity.

 

It is the friction of the hot air rising naturally from the ground that forms condensation as it cools, then "densifies" generating friction in the atmosphere by charging the water droplets thus formed (this friction effect is comparable to that of a cloth on the skin). Once the accumulation becomes too important, by influence, an electric field is formed between the base of the cloud (-) and the ground (+), within the cloud; the same story, another discharge pole (+) is present at the top of the cloud, lightning flashes during discharges between the ground and the base of the cloud are therefore perceptible to us, let's now take a little more altitude.

 

The ionosphere of our atmosphere is located between 60 and 800 km above us, there is a quantity of movement imperceptible to our eyes, unaware that in this part interact cosmic rays and atoms, the first and its monstrous amount of energy "tear" electrons from the atoms forcing them to charge (+), here also transit low and high frequency (Hz) radio waves (say low and high altitude to simplify), here rages the "war of the waves" that telecommunications operators engage in when allocating transmission frequencies.

 

Here too, there is naturally present gas, which is constantly bombarded by the radiation of our sun and becomes electrically charged, interfering with the earth's electromagnetic field. Here, a plasma is created (a state of matter that is neither liquid, solid nor gaseous) and a fourth state is "revealed"; the result is a series of action potentials within a systemic dynamic, of which we can still only perceive the gap. Here was born one of the main threads of Mr. Tesla.N's research, indeed his major project aimed at using this natural "conducting ocean" for the transport and diffusion of energies, this layer and its almost 800km thickness seem to be intended for a similar use.

 

Let us note that the electromagnetic field of the Earth finds its source in the heart of the "boiling" plasma of the Earth's crust, and that it is to be dissociated from the ionospheric plasma which is obtained by a reaction at low temperatures, here the gas, which is usually a perfect insulator when electricity passes through, is transformed into an ultra-conductive fluid, over, for the record, 800 km thick all around our beautiful blue, the loop is closed.

 

...Continued part 2

 

Mde. Dugourd - Mr. Martin

 

Category

Science and Technology

Le symbole corse Liberté, la tête noire avec un ruban blanc, est omniprésent sur l´île.

  

hairaultjacky.wix.com/au35photos

A environ 11 km au sud d'Édimbourg, la chapelle de Rosslyn (Rosslyn Chapel), anciennement nommée Collégiale de saint. Matthieu, est une église construite au XVe siècle dans le village de Roslin en Écosse. Elle fut dessinée par William Sinclair, héritier d'une famille noble écossaise, descendant des chevaliers Normands de Saint-Clair et, selon la légende, liée aux Chevaliers du Temple.

 

Les fondations du monument débutèrent en 1440, mais ce n'est que 6 ans plus tard que la construction proprement dite débuta. La chapelle nécessita quarante années de travaux et fut achevée en 1486, soit 6 ans après le décès de son créateur William Sinclair qui y fut enterré. Détériorée lors de la Réforme protestante de la fin du XVIe siècle. les prêtres furent contraints en 1571 de quitter l'établissement en abandonnant leurs biens, plusieurs statues de la chapelle furent détériorées, et l'autel d'origine détruit.

 

En 1650, si les troupes de Oliver Cromwell ravagèrent la région et détruisirent le château de Rosslyn, ce dernier fit épargner la chapelle. Mais la foule s'en chargera en 1688, dans le sillage de la glorieuse Révolution qui renversa le roi catholique Jacques II d'Angleterre (Jacques VII d'Écosse). En 1736, la chapelle passa entre les mains du Général James Sinclair, qui commença sa restauration. Elle reçut la visite de William Wordsworth en 1803 et fut utilisée à nouveau comme chapelle épiscopale, sous l'autorité de l'évêque d'Édimbourg. Une seconde phase de restauration débuta en 1862, confiée à l'architecte écossais David Bryce, où certains éléments furent ajoutés, comme des vitraux, le baptistère, et l'orgue.

 

Les fouilles réalisées au XIXe siècle suggèrent que la chapelle faisait partie autrefois d’un ensemble plus grand, dont la construction aurait été interrompue à la mort de William Sinclair. La chapelle est soutenue par 13 piliers, un quatorzième pilier entre ceux de l’avant-dernière paire crée une séparation entre la nef et la chapelle de la Vierge.

 

La chapelle est connue pour son nombre important de sculptures, gravures et décorations, tant à l'extérieur, qu'à l'intérieur. Parmi ces éléments, deux de ses piliers sont remarquables : le pilier de l’Apprenti et le pilier du Maître, de chaque côté du pilier de l’Artisan. Bien que des scènes bibliques soient représentées, il faut remarquer que leur nombre est minoritaire comparé aux autres styles de sculptures, d'inspiration celtique, nordique, et même païenne ou islamique. On dénombre pas moins d'une centaine d’Hommes verts et la végétation est omniprésente. Des protubérances sculptées en carrés, décorés de signes et de symboles, sont omniprésentes sur les arches de la chapelle. S'il y a quelques représentations de la crucifixion, la majorité relate des passages de l'Ancien Testament plutôt que du Nouveau comme habituellement dans une chapelle chrétienne : pas de chemin de croix, par exemple (cf. wikipédia).

La Svastika a été reprise (et inversée) par Hitler par goût pour l’ésotérisme et en lien avec une pseudo identité aryenne fantasmée.

 

Mais dans le sous-continent indien, ce signe est un signe sacré, aux nombreuses significations pour les différentes religions. Il est donc omniprésent dans l'art sacré en Inde.

 

Varanasi / Bénarès, Uttar Pradesh, India / Inde.

 

Commercial vehicles often get produced by multiple companies, and this is omnipresent with the PSA Group, and their Renault Trafic-based vehicles, namely including the Opel/Vauxhall Vivaro, and this much rarer example, a Nissan Primastar. This Primastar was Spanish registered, and was driving through Hull. Unsurprisingly, I don't see many foreign Primastars at all, this is only my 3rd known one I've seen from abroad in the UK.

 

Kingston upon Hull, United Kingdom

No smart comments, you! The blowhole is the hole in the rock, not me! Photo courtesy of my wife, from a great distance away (still got salt water on the lens, too). The

 

splash is coming *down* from the spout, right on me.

 

I dig the water, and the action, and the omnipresent spray...

Évora, [Portugal].

Rose Macro

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

 

Facts About Rose and Roses

The birthplace of the cultivated Rose was probably Northern Persia (Current IRAN), on the Caspian, or Faristan on the Gulf of Persia.

Historically, the oldest Rose fossils have been found in Colorado, dating back to more than 35 million years ago.

Roses were considered the most sacred flowers in ancient Egypt and were used as offerings for the Goddess Isis. Roses have also been found in Egyptian tombs, where they were formed into funerary wreaths.

Confucius, 551 BC to 479 BC, reported that the Imperial Chinese library had many books on Roses.

Ancient Sumerians of Mesopotamia (in the Tigris-Euphrates River Valley) mentioned Roses in a cuneiform tablet (a system of writing) written in approximately 2860 BC.

The English were already cultivating and hybridizing Roses in the 15th Century when the English War of Roses took place. The winner of the war, Tudor Henry VII, created the Rose of England (Tudor Rose) by crossbreeding other Roses.

While no Black Rose yet exists, there are some of such a deep Red color as to suggest Black.

Roses are omnipresent and grown over all parts of the globe.

The Netherlands is the world's leading exporter of Roses.

The Netherlands, with about 8000 hectares of land under Rose cultivation, is the global leader in Rose cultivation. 54 per cent (about 5000 hectares) of the cultivated land in Ecuador is under Rose cultivation!! Zambia, a small nation, had 80 per cent of its cultivated land under Roses.

Classification of Roses

Broadly, Roses are divided into three classes-

 

Species Roses

Species Roses are often called Wild Species Roses. Species Roses often have relatively simple, 5-petaled flowers followed by very colorful hips that last well into the winter, providing food for birds and winter color.

 

The most popular Rose species for sale today is Rosa rugosa owing to its superior hardiness, disease resistance, and extremely easy maintenance. Species roses are widely hybridized. Wild Species Roses include many different varieties. Wild Species Roses usually bloom once in the summer.

 

Old Garden Roses

Old Garden Roses have a delicate beauty and wonderful perfume, not often found in modern hybrid tea roses. Old Garden Roses are a diverse group from the those with a wonderful fragrance and great winter hardiness to the tender and lovely tea roses, which are best suited for warm climates.

 

Old Garden Roses comprise a multifaceted group that in general are easy to grow, disease-resistant and winter-hardy. Old Garden Roses grow in several shrub and vine sizes. Although colors do vary, this class of Roses are usually white or pastel in color. These "antique Roses" are generally preferred for lawns and home gardens. Several groupings of Roses classified as Old Garden Roses are China Roses, Tea Roses, Moss Roses, Damask Roses, Bourbon Roses, etc.

 

Modern Roses

Old Garden Roses are the predecessors of Modern Roses. Any Rose identified after 1867, is considered a Modern Rose. This group of Roses are very popular. The Modern Rose is the result of crossbreeding the hybrid tea with the polyanthus (a variety of primrose).

 

The colors of Modern Roses are varied, rich and vibrant. The most popular roses found in the class of Modern Roses are the Hybrid Tea Roses, Floribunda Roses, and Grandiflora Roses. Although Modern Roses are adored by florists and gardeners, they do require proper care, and do not adapt well to colder environments.

 

Facts About Roses

The birthplace of the cultivated Rose was probably Northern Persia, on the Caspian, or Faristan on the Gulf of Persia.

Historically, the oldest Rose fossils have been found in Colorado, dating back to more than 35 million years ago.

Roses were considered the most sacred flowers in ancient Egypt and were used as offerings for the Goddess Isis. Roses have also been found in Egyptian tombs, where they were formed into funerary wreaths.

Confucius, 551 BC to 479 BC, reported that the Imperial Chinese library had many books on Roses.

Ancient Sumerians of Mesopotamia (in the Tigris-Euphrates River Valley) mentioned Roses in a cuneiform tablet (a system of writing) written in approximately 2860 BC.

The English were already cultivating and hybridizing Roses in the 15th Century when the English War of Roses took place. The winner of the war, Tudor Henry VII, created the Rose of England (Tudor Rose) by crossbreeding other Roses.

While no Black Rose yet exists, there are some of such a deep Red color as to suggest Black.

Roses are omnipresent and grown over all parts of the globe.

The Netherlands is the world's leading exporter of Roses.

The Netherlands, with about 8000 hectares of land under Rose cultivation, is the global leader in Rose cultivation. 54 per cent (about 5000 hectares) of the cultivated land in Ecuador is under Rose cultivation!! Zambia, a small nation, had 80 per cent of its cultivated land under Roses.

Classification of Roses

Broadly, Roses are divided into three classes-

 

Species Roses

Species Roses are often called Wild Species Roses. Species Roses often have relatively simple, 5-petaled flowers followed by very colorful hips that last well into the winter, providing food for birds and winter color.

 

The most popular Rose species for sale today is Rosa rugosa owing to its superior hardiness, disease resistance, and extremely easy maintenance. Species roses are widely hybridized. Wild Species Roses include many different varieties. Wild Species Roses usually bloom once in the summer.

 

Old Garden Roses

Old Garden Roses have a delicate beauty and wonderful perfume, not often found in modern hybrid tea roses. Old Garden Roses are a diverse group from the those with a wonderful fragrance and great winter hardiness to the tender and lovely tea roses, which are best suited for warm climates.

 

Old Garden Roses comprise a multifaceted group that in general are easy to grow, disease-resistant and winter-hardy. Old Garden Roses grow in several shrub and vine sizes. Although colors do vary, this class of Roses are usually white or pastel in color. These "antique Roses" are generally preferred for lawns and home gardens. Several groupings of Roses classified as Old Garden Roses are China Roses, Tea Roses, Moss Roses, Damask Roses, Bourbon Roses, etc.

 

Modern Roses

Old Garden Roses are the predecessors of Modern Roses. Any Rose identified after 1867, is considered a Modern Rose. This group of Roses are very popular. The Modern Rose is the result of crossbreeding the hybrid tea with the polyanthus (a variety of primrose).

 

The colors of Modern Roses are varied, rich and vibrant. The most popular roses found in the class of Modern Roses are the Hybrid Tea Roses, Floribunda Roses, and Grandiflora Roses. Although Modern Roses are adored by florists and gardeners, they do require proper care, and do not adapt well to colder environments.

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

 

From the flower Expert

www.theflowerexpert.com/content/mostpopularflowers/rose

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

The Meaning of Rose Colors

Red Rose--------------Love, Beauty, Courage and Respect, Romantic Love, Congratulations, "I Love You", "Job Well Done", Sincere Love, Respect, Courage & Passion

Red Rose (Dark)-------Unconscious beauty

Red Rose (Single)-----"I Love You"

Deep Burgundy Rose----Unconscious Beauty

White Rose------------Purity, Innocence, Silence, Secrecy, Reverence, Humility, Youthfulness, "I am worthy of you", Heavenly

White Rose(Bridal)----Happy love

Pink Rose-------------Appreciation, "Thank you", Grace, Perfect Happiness, Admiration, Gentleness, "Please Believe Me"

Dark Pink Rose--------Appreciation, Gratitude, "Thank You"

Light Pink Rose-------Admiration, Sympathy, Gentleness, Grace, Gladness, Joy, Sweetness

Yellow Rose-----------Joy, Gladness, Friendship, Delight, Promise of a new beginning, Welcome Back, Remember Me, Jealousy, "I care"

Yellow Rose, Red Tip--Friendship, Falling in Love

Orange Rose-----------Desire, Enthusiasm

Red and White Rose----Given together, these signify unity

Red and Yellow Rose---Jovial and Happy Feelings

Peach Rose------------Appreciation, Closing the deal, Let's get together, Sincerity, Gratitude

Pale Peach Rose-------Modesty

Coral Rose------------Desire

Lavender Rose---------Love at first sight, Enchantment

Orange Rose-----------Enthusiasm, Desire, Fascination

Black Rose------------Death, Farewell

Blue Rose-------------The unattainable, the impossible

Single, any color-----Simplicity, Gratitude

Red Rosebud-----------Symbolic of purity and loveliness

White Rosebud---------Symbolic of girlhood

Thornless Rose--------"Love at first sight"

Macro / Rose Flower / Rose Macro / Macro Rose / closeup rose / peach / closeup rose / Rose closeup

 

From the site:

www.rkdn.org/roses/colors.asp

  

 

Seagulls are omnipresent here at Gloucester Docks. They are also very elegant and fast flyers and they make quite artistic moves when airborne.

My Images on Facebook

 

In other words, they are the ideal subject to find out how good the autofocus of my 70D in combination with the Tamron 70-200mm VC works!

 

It is also a new field in photography for me and I must admit, I had a lot of fun shooting these birds. So here is the first picture of a little series - and I have a feeling, that a few more will come... ;)

O, según la antigua numeración, DD-8150. Continuamos con la cuarta entrega de fotografías de material remolcado, inaugurando en este caso la sección de furgones de equipajes, que tan útiles fueron hasta la supresión de los servicios de correos y paquetería hace unos 20 años, con la serie 8100, procedente de la amplia serie 8000, omnipresente en nuestros trenes de viajeros desde la década de los 60 hasta bien entrados los años 90, y cuyos coches, pertinentemente reformados, han llegado a prestar servicio hasta hace muy poco, como la serie 7100.

La serie 8000 fue encargada por RENFE y construida entre 1961 y 1973, estando formada por un total de 883 coches, basados en los coches UIC-X que la DB tenía en servicio desde los años 50. La fabricación corrió a cargo de diversas empresas; así, los primeros coches fueron construidos por las empresas Werkspoor, Linke-Hofmann-Busch, DMWM y Westwaggon (de origen holandés y alemán), y el resto por las españolas MMC, CAF, Macosa, Euskalduna y SECN. Los más de 800 coches pueden dividirse en varias subseries y tipologías, a saber:

 

- 115 coches de primera clase (AA-8000).

- 15 coches de segunda clase de diez departamentos (BB-8000), transformados posteriormente a coches-literas de la serie BBL-8100.

- 6 coches mixtos de primera y segunda clase (AAB-8000).

- 445 coches de segunda clase de doce departamentos (BB-8500).

- 137 coches-literas, de los cuales los últimos quince fueron transformados de coches de segunda clase (BB-8000).

- 8 coches restaurantes (RRR-8000).

- 177 furgones de diversos tipos (DD, DDT y DDET).

 

Todos los coches portaban bogies Minden-Deutz, y contaban con freno de vacío y de aire comprimido (instalado posteriormente) que les autorizaban a rodar a 120 km/h. No contaban con climatización (a excepción de los coches restaurantes RRR-8000), si bien la calefacción era en un principio de vapor (posteriormente eléctrica), y la energía necesaria para el alumbrado la proporcionaba una dinamo acoplada al bogie. Un gran número de estos coches fueron reformados entre los años 80 y 90, mejorando notablemente sus prestaciones y equiparándolos a los modernos 9000 y 10000, que por aquel entonces eran el último grito en material remolcado, dando lugar a las subseries 7100, 11000, 12000, 15000, 16200 y 16300; sin embargo, a pesar de estas reformas, la vida útil de estos vehículos ni siquiera llegó a los 10 años (con excepciones), siendo gran parte de ellos vendidos o desguazados, al igual que sus hermanos los antiguos 8000, de los cuales solamente queda uno conservado.

Respecto a los furgones, hubo tres tipologías anteriormente comentadas: DD, DDT y DDET.

 

- Los furgones DD-8100 fueron construidos por CAF, Macosa y Vers. Se fabricaron un total de 90 vehículos en 1973, y cumplían con la función de furgón de equipajes, si bien disponían de un departamento de jefe de tren.

 

- Los furgones DDT-8000 fueron fabricados entre 1964 y 1966 por CAF, Euskalduna, Vers, CAT, Grasset y Los Certales), arrojando un total de 62 vehículos. Se trataba de furgones para el transporte de equipajes y dotados con una caldera de gasoil para el suministro de calefacción de vapor al tren. Uno de ellos (el DDT-8085) fue equipado con un pantógrafo experimental.

 

- Los 25 furgones de la serie DDET-8000 fueron construidos por CAF, Astilleros de Cádiz, CAT de Villaverde, Vers y Euskalduna en 1964. Disponían de un departamento postal, otro de equipajes y de una caldera para el suministro de calefacción a vapor.

 

Actualmente, de todos los coches de la serie 8000, solamente en estado original se conserva uno (el BB-8743), mientras que en el panorama de furgones (apartados en 1997 de forma definitiva), hay varios más que han tenido la suerte de no sucumbir ante el soplete, a saber: el DDT-8043, el DD-8144 (cedido a la ASOAF), el DD-8145 (cedido al Muferga), el DD-8150 (cedido a la AAFM), el DD-8153 (propiedad de la ARPAFER) y el DD-8187 (cedido también a la ASOAF), además de un DDT (DDT-8047) que se conserva a duras penas en Canfranc. Otros furgones fueron reformados, pasando a formar parte del "Al-Ándalus".

En la fotografía, el DD-8150, preservado por la AAFM, cierra la composición del "Tren de los 80" a Santander, que en ese momento se encontraba detenido en Palencia.

From left to right: Haystack Rock, The omnipresent Moon, Venus, unknown star, and then the shy, but extremely large Jupiter. All hanging out at our planet's largest ocean. All this without a tripod and on ISO 100 because I'm a big dummy and forgot about my ISO settings at the end of a very long, but awesome day. This was Saturday's sunset, on the one and only Cannon Beach.

Bourdelle, omniprésent à Montauban

El Rompido inspira 'Princesa de mi cuento'

El faro es el punto de partida y la base de la novela de Manuel Jesús Soriano y Sergio Contreras

  

El Rompido y sus encantos han sido el escenario elegido por el escritor onubense Manuel Jesús Soriano y el cantante, también de Huelva, Sergio Contreras, para el desarrollo de la trama de su última novela, Princesa de mi cuento, título de una de las canciones del último disco de Contreras. La publicación vio la luz el pasado 2 de diciembre y ya es número uno en ventas de su segmento en librerías Beta, según señaló Soriano, quien especificó igualmente que ambos autores han estado en distintos actos firmando ejemplares en Huelva, Sevilla, Jerez, Cádiz y Córdoba.

 

Según subrayó tanto Soriano como Contreras, la elección de El Rompido para inspirar el relato obedece a que este enclave del litoral onubense es un "paraíso costero", cuyo "faro omnipresente es el punto de partida y la base de esta novela romántica manchada con tintes dramáticos, poéticos y crueles…".

 

Después del éxito de la novela juvenil 6+5=#amor, la más vendida durante tres meses de su segmento en España, ambos autores regresan con una historia contada por un octogenario al amor de su vida, que en el ocaso de su existencia le revela por última vez como se enamoraron en su adolescencia, y los tragos que la vida da muchas veces para que los sentimientos nunca sean correspondidos como uno quisiera o deseara.

 

La historia arranca pues en plena adolescencia y se va trasformando en músicas coloreadas de intrigas, revelaciones y un sinfín de acontecimientos que el viejo faro de El Rompido aunará para que el olvido no se instale entre sus viejos ladrillos solapados por las golondrinas que surcan la bahía de dulce sabor a mar. El cimbreante vaivén de las alas hará que las sombras del pasado florezcan de nuevo en el presente y las viejas heridas nunca lleguen a cicatrizar.

 

En definitiva, se trata de una historia "dura de contar, con emotivas imágenes de la vida real".

 

De esta forma, Manuel Jesús Soriano y Sergio Contreras se alían otra vez para dar nuevas pinceladas a los miles de fans que ya les siguen en todo el territorio nacional, amén de las redes sociales, donde cuentan con seguidores de todos los rincones del Planeta.

 

Se trata de una novela con cerca de 300 páginas, en las que el lector no dejará de vibrar hasta el punto y final.

 

El pistoletazo de salida tuvo lugar el pasado 2 de diciembre, con la puesta en venta de la novela en librerías de toda España. A partir de ahora, y tras un pequeño parón navideño, ambos autores proseguirán a partir del próximo 12 de enero firmando ejemplares en Almería, Granada, Jaén y Málaga, para completar la geografía andaluza. Después proseguirán por más de una decena de ciudades de toda España, para concluir en las dos citas literarias más importantes de nuestro país: el día de Sant Jordi, en Barcelona, y la Feria del Libro de Madrid.

 

Soriano cuenta ya en su haber con las novelas 14 de abril,Ojos de gata, La dama culta y La casa del Conquero, mientras que el conocido cantante Sergio Contreras ya ha publicado anteriormente la novela El espejo. En común, cuentan con la ya reseñada 6+5=#amor, tras cuyo éxito no descartan "seguir ahondando en sus personajes a través de una segunda entrega".

 

"Alguien dijo una vez que en el momento en que te paras a pensar si realmente quieres a alguien, en ese instante ya has dejado de amarle para siempre. Princesa de mi cuento es una novela emotiva, trágica, dinámica, con fuerza. Un relato desgarrador. Un gran ejemplo de cómo se debe amar. Contada de forma apasionada por el protagonista de la novela al amor de su vida. Te llegará a lo más profundo de tu alma, aflorarán tus sentimientos más íntimos. Una mágica novela sobre las trampas del deseo, la tragedia del amor y los lazos inalterables de él. Una reflexión sorprendente sobre el amor. Una historia llena de hechizo, pasión y secretos", afirman ambos autores en la sinopsis.

   

Probably the least spot-worthy car of the Netherlands. These city bugs are omnipresent. But this one has been owned by a friend of mine for the last 6 years, and has on the moment of writing probably passed 200.000km. I don't think he has ever taken a picture of it, so I will do it to prevent it going into oblivion.

 

On this picture he was picking me up to go get my BX, which was in winter storage at his parents' farm.

 

edit: 2-2024, after having just passed his APK (MOT) the head gasket blew. A rare event for these engines, according to the specialist. At 235.000km it just wasn't worth repairing and has been replaced by a Kia XCeed PHEV.

Created in DALL-E 3.

 

"Give me your data, your activity, your information yearning to be surveilled."

 

See more here: www.youtube.com/@journeymanplayer7459

www.youtube.com/watch?v=6FQmJoLe2Tg&feature=related

3) Tableaux d'une exposition Moussorgsky Ravel Harmonie de Lens

  

En parlant des Tableaux, le compositeur écrivit à Vladimir Stasov (1824-1906), dédicataire de l’œuvre : «Hartmann bouillonne comme bouillonnait Boris; les sons et les idées sont suspendus dans l’air, j’en absorbe jusqu’à m’en gaver, et j’ai à peine le temps de les coucher sur papier.» (juin 1874).

 

Les titres originaux, soigneusement choisis par le compositeur, recourent à six langues: russe, français, italien, polonais, latin et allemand. Le cycle se compose d’une suite de dix pièces, entre lesquelles un interlude, la «Promenade», est intercalé sporadiquement. On y reconnaît le profil corpulent du compositeur-visiteur, se déplaçant d’un pas lourd d’un tableau à l’autre. Moussorgsky s’est plu à utiliser la variation, procédé qui lui est cher, pour transformer les cinq apparitions de la «Promenade», au gré des différents Tableaux. On retrouve dans l’œuvre les thèmes de prédilection du compositeur: le folklore, omniprésent, depuis la mélodie pentatonique de la «Promenade» jusqu’aux sonorités de cloches dans «La Grande Porte de Kiev», les scènes populaires et rurales, («Bydlo», «Samuel Goldenberg und Schmuyle», «Limoges. Le marché»), le fantastique («Gnomus», «La Cabane sur des pattes de poules»), l’enfance («Tuileries», «Ballet des poussins dans leurs coques»), l’ancienne Russie épique («La Grande Porte de Kiev») et la mort («Catacombae»).

History of the Vienna State Opera

132 years house on the Ring

(you can see pictures by clicking on the link at the end of page!)

State Opera (K.K. Court Opera) 1901

About three and a half centuries, until the early Baroque period, the tradition of Viennese opera goes back. Emperor Franz Joseph I decreed in December 1857 to tear down the old city walls and fortifications around the city center of Vienna and to lay out a wide boulevard with new buildings for culture and politics, the ring road.

The two Court Theatres (a speech and a musical theater) should find a new place on the ring. For the Imperial and Royal Court Opera House was chosen a prominent place in the immediate area of ​​the former Kärntnertortheatre. This by the public that much loved opera theater was demolished in 1709 due to its confinement .

State Opera (K.K. Court Opera) 1903

The new opera house was built by the Viennese architect August Sicardsburg, who designed the basic plan, and Eduard van der Null, who designed the interior decoration. But other eminent artists had been involved: just think of Moritz von Schwind, who painted the frescoes in the foyer and the famous "Magic Flute", cycle of frescoes in the loggia. The two architects did not experience the opening of "their" opera house any more. The sensitive van der Null committed suicide since the Wiener (Viennes people) denigrated the new house as lacking in style, his friend Sicardsburg succumbed a little later to a stroke.

1869 - 1955

On 25 May 1869 the House was with Mozart's DON JUAN in the presence of Emperor Franz Joseph, the highest building owner, and Empress Elisabeth opened.

However, with the artistic charisma under the first directors Franz von Dingelstedt, Johann Herbeck, Franz Jauner and Wilhelm Jahn grew the popularity of the building. A first highlight experienced the Vienna Opera under the director Gustav Mahler, renewing the outdated performance system from scratch, strengthening precision and ensemble spirit and also using significant visual artists (including Alfred Roller) for the shaping of the new stage aesthetic.

In the ten-year-period of his Directorate (1897-1907) continued Gustav Mahler, this very day, in the concert halls of the world as the most important member of a Symphony Orchestra at the turn of the 20th century omnipresent, the intensive fostering of Wagner, Mozart's operas and Beethoven's Fidelio were redesigned, the with Richard Strauss initiated connection to Verdi was held upright. Austrian composers were promoted (Hugo Wolf), the Court Opera was opened to European modernism.

Image: Emperor Franz Joseph I and Emperor Wilhelm II during a gala performance at the Vienna Court Opera in 1900 resulting from the "Book of the Emperor", edited by Max Herzig.

Technique: Lithography

from www.aeiou.at

In addition to the classics of the Italian repertoire were and are especially Mozart, Wagner and Richard Strauss (himself 1919-1924 director of the House), the musical protection gods of the Vienna State Opera.

staatsoper_81.jpg (28138 bytes)

The modern also always had its place: the twenties and thirties witnessed the Vienna premieres of Krenek's Jonny spielt auf, Cardillac Hindemith, Korngold MIRACLE OF Héliane and Berg's Wozzeck (under President Clemens Krauss). This tradition was interrupted with the seizure of power by the National Socialists, yes, after the devastating bomb hits, on 12 March 1945 the house on the ring largely devastating, the care of the art form itself was doubtful.

The Viennese, who had preserved a lively cultural life during the war, were deeply shocked to see the symbol of the Austrian musical life in ruins.

But the spirit of the opera was not destroyed. On 1 May 1945 "State Opera Volksoper" was opened with a brilliant performance of Mozart's THE MARRIAGE OF FIGARO, on 6 October 1945 was followed by the re-opening of the hastily restored Theater an der Wien with Beethoven's Fidelio. Thus there were two venues for the next ten years, while the actual main building was rebuilt at great expense.

staatsoper_84.jpg (14707 bytes)

Visitors flock to the opera. Reopening on 5th November, 1955.

Image from © www.staatsvertrag.at / bildarchiv austria / ÖGZ / Hilscher

As early as 24 May 1945 the State Secretary of Public Works, Julius Raab, had announced the reconstruction of the Vienna State Opera, which should be placed in the hands of the Austrian architects Erich Boltenstern and Otto Prossinger. Only the main façade, the grand staircase and the Schwindfoyer (evanescence foyer) had been spared from the bombs - with a new auditorium and modernized technology, the Vienna State Opera was brilliant with Beethoven's Fidelio under Karl Böhm on 5 November 1955 reopened. The opening ceremonies were broadcasted from Austrian television and in the whole world at the same time as a sign of life of the resurrected 2nd Republic understood.

staatsoper_83.jpg (33866 bytes)

State ceremony to the reopening on 5 November 1955. On the far right under the box of the Federal President a television camera of the Austrian Broadcasting Corporation is visible which broadcasted the event. Image from © www.staatsvertrag.at / ÖGZ / Cermak

1955 to 1992

The dictum that the Vienna State Opera survives every director, is attributed to Egon Seefehlner which himself for many years run the businessses of the house. And yet marked he and the thirty-one other directors of the Vienna State Opera since 1869, great musicians or musical administrators, in their own way the profile of this world-famous institution:

staatsoper_82.jpg (13379 bytes)

Performance for the reopening of the Vienna State Opera on 5 November, 1955.

Image from © www.staatsvertrag.at / bildarchiv austria / ÖGZ / Hilscher

After the Second World War there were first the conductors directors Karl Böhm and Herbert von Karajan - the latter insisted on the title "Artistic Director" and opened the Ensemble house to the international singer market, had the opera rehearsed in original language and oriented his plans to "co-productions" with foreign opera houses, however, which were only realized after his term.

It followed as directors Egon Hilbert, Heinrich Reif-Gintl, Rudolf Gamsjäger and the mentioned Egon Seefehlner, who was appointed for a second time at the top of the house after the departure of his successor in office Lorin Maazel. Claus Helmut Drese (State Opera director from 1986 to 1991) stood with Claudio Abbado an internationally renowned music director by his side. At the beginning of the 90s the forrmer star baritone Eberhard Waechter, at that time director of the Volksoper (People's Opera), charged with the direction. Only seven months have been granted to him as a director.

The era Ioan Holender (1992 to 2010)

After Waechter's tragic death in March 1992 took over general secretary Ioan Holender, a former singer (baritone) and owner of a singer Agency, the office to continue the tradition of perhaps the most important opera institution in the world over the millennium to 2010.

His play plan design relies besides an extremely wide repertoire with the columns Mozart, Wagner, Verdi and Strauss mainly on premieres. Mention may be made of Bellini's I Puritani (1993 /94), Massenet Hérodiade (1994 /95), Verdi's Jerusalem and Britten's PETER GRIMES (1995 /96), Verdi's Stiffelio and Enescu OEDIPE (1996 /97), Rossini's GUILLAUME TELL and Lehár's operetta THE MERRY WIDOW (1998/99) and Schoenberg's THE JAKOBSLEITER, Hiller's PETER PAN, Donizetti's ROBERTO DEVEREUX, Britten's Billy Budd, Verdi's Nabucco (2000/ 01), Bellini's LA SONNAMBULA, Gounod's Roméo et Juliette, Janácek's Jenufa (2001/02), Verdi's SIMON BOCCANEGRA, Krenek's Jonny spielt auf, Donizetti's La Favorite, Hiller's PINOCCHIO, Wagner's TRISTAN UND ISOLDE (2002/ 03), Verdi's FALSTAFF, Wagner's FLYING DUTCHMAN and PARSIFAL, Strauss's Daphne (2003/ 04) and the world premiere of the original French version of Verdi's DON CARLOS (2003/ 04). A particular success of the recent past, the rediscovery of Fromental Halévy's La Juive Grand (1999 ) must be considered. Two premières concerned 1995 Adriana Hölszky's THE WALLS (co-production with the Vienna Festival at the Theater an der Wien ) and Alfred Schnittke's Gesualdo. On 15 June 2002 also THE GIANT OF STONE FIELD (Music: Peter Turrini: Friedrich Cerha libretto) premiered with great success, another commissioned work of the Vienna State Opera.

State Opera - © Oliver Thomann - FOTOLIA

Image : Vienna State Opera

In recent years it came up, in each case on 18 May, the anniversary of the death of Gustav Mahler, to concerts of the Vienna Philharmonic at the Vienna State Opera. These were under the direction of Seiji Ozawa (who since the 2002 /03 season the Vienna State Opera director Holender as music director of the house stands to the side) (1995), Carlo Maria Giulini (1996), Riccardo Muti (1997), Lorin Maazel (1998), Zubin Mehta (1999), Giuseppe Sinopoli (2000 ), Riccardo Muti (2001) and again Seiji Ozawa (2004).

Furthermore, was on 16 June, 2002 for the first time by the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra (conducted by Seiji Ozawa) a CONCERT FOR AUSTRIA organized. More CONCERTS FOR AUSTRIA followed on 26 October 2003 (Zubin Mehta) and 26 October 2004 (under Valery Gergiev).

At the Theater an der Wien Mozart's Così fan tutte experienced a triumphant new production conducted by Riccardo Muti. This Mozart cycle under Muti continued with DON GIOVANNI and 2001 LE MARRIAGE OF FIGARO, 1999.

more...

Directors since 1869

Franz von Dingelstedt 07/01/1867 - 18/12/1870

Opening 5/25/1869

Johann von Herbeck 12/19/1870 - 30/04/1875

Franz von Jauner 01/05/1875 - 18/06/1880

Director College:

Karl Mayerhofer, Gustav Walter and

Emil Scaria 19.06.1880 - 31.12.1880

Wilhelm Jahn 01.01.1881 - 10.14.1897

Gustav Mahler 10/15/1897 - 31/12/1907

Felix Weingartner 01.01.1908 - 28.02.1911

Hans Gregor 01.03.1911 - 14.11.1918

Franz Schalk 15.11.1918 - 08.15.1919

Richard Strauss/Franz Schalk 16/08/1919 - 31/10/1924

Franz Schalk 1/11/1924 - 8/31/1929

Clemens Krauss 01/09/1929 - 15/12/1934

Felix Weingartner, 01.01.1935 - 08.31.1936

Erwin Kerber 09/01/1936 - 08/31/1940

Henry K. Strohm 09.01.1940 - 19.04.1941

Walter Thomas 02.01.1941 - 19.04.1941

Ernst August Schneider 04/20/1941 - 02/28/1943

Karl Böhm 03.01.1943 - 30.04.1945

Alfred Jerger,

State Opera in the Volksoper 01.05.1945 - 14.06.1945

Franz Salmhofer,

State Opera in the Theater an der Wien, 18.06.1945 - 31.08.1955

Karl Böhm 01.09.1954 - 31.08.1956

Herbert von Karajan 01.09.1956 - 31.03.1962

Herbert von Karajan/Walter Erich Schäfer 01.04.1962 - 08.06.1963

Herbert von Karajan/Egon Hilbert 09.06.1963 - 31.08.1964

Egon Hilbert 01.09.1964 - 18.01.1968

Heinrich Reif- Gintl 19.01.1968 - 31.08.1972

Rudolf Gamsjager 01.09.1972 - 31.08.1976

Egon Seefehlner 01.09.1976 - 31.08.1982

Lorin Maazel 01.09.1982 - 31.08.1984

Egon Seefehlner 01.09.1984 - 31.08.1986

Dr. Claus Helmut Drese 01.09.1986 - 31.08.1991

Eberhard Waechter 01.09.1991 - 29.03.1992

Ioan Holender 01.04.1992 - 31.08.2010

Dominique Meyer since 01/09/2010

 

Opera world premieres

Abbreviations:

Od = the Odeon

Ron = Ronacher

TW = the Theater an der Wien

 

1875 10:03. Goldmark The Queen of Sheba

1877 04:10. Brüller Der Landfriede

1880 26.05. Riedel The Accolade

15.12. Brüller Bianca

1883 04.01. Leschetitzky The first fold

21.02. Bachrich Muzzedin

1884 26.03. Bachrich Heini of Styria

1886 30.03. Hellmesberger jun. Fata Morgana

4:10 . Hager Marffa

19.11. Goldmark Merlin

1887 03:04. Harold pepper

1889 27.03. Fox The Bride King

4:10. Smareglia The vassal of Szigeth

1891 19:02. Mader Refugees

1892 01.01. J. Strauss Ritter Pasman

16.02. Massenet Werther

19.11. Bulk Signor Formica

1894 20.01. Heuberger Miriam

1896 21.03. Goldmark The Cricket on the Hearth

1899 17:01. The Goldmark prisoners of war

1900 22:01. Zemlinsky It was once

1902 28.02. Forster The dot mon

1904 18:02. Wolf The Corregidor

1908 02.01. Goldmark The Winter's Tale

1910 12:04. The musician Bittner

18.05. Goldmark Götz von Berlichingen

1911 09:11. Bittner The mountain lake

1912 16.03. Oberleithner Aphrodite

1913 15.03. Schreker The game works and the Princess

1914 01.04. Schmidt Notre Dame

1916 04:10. R. Strauss Ariadne auf Naxos (Vienna version)

1917 23.11. Zaiszek-Blankenau Ferdinand and Luise

1919 10.10. R. Strauss Die Frau ohne Schatten

1920 13.05. Weingartner Champion Andrea/The Village School

1921 09.04. The Bittner Kohlhaymerin

1924 20.09. Beethoven/R. Strauss The Ruins of Athens

1925 24.02. Kienzl Sanctissimum

27.03. Frank The image of the Madonna

1931 20.06. Wellesz The Bacchae

1932 10:11. Heger The beggar Nameless

1934 20.01. Lehár Giuditta

08.12. Bittner The violet

1935 26.12. Salmhofer lady in dream

1937 06.02. Wenzl - Traun rock the atonement

17.04. Frank The strange woman

18.11. Weinberger Wallenstein

1938 09.03. Salmhofer Ivan Tarasenko

1939 02:02. Will King ballad

1941 04:04. Wagner Régeny Johanna Balk

1956 17.06. Martin The Storm

1971 23.05. The visit of an old lady

1976 17.12. A Love and Intrigue

1989 25.11. The blind Furrer (OD)

1990 06:12. Krenek last dance at St. Stephen's (Ron)

1995 20.05. Hölszky The walls (TW)

26.05. Schnittke Gesualdo

2002 15.06. Cerha Der Riese vom Steinfeld

2007 15:04 Naske The Omama in the apple tree

2010 28.02. Reimann Medea

2010 10:05. Eröd dots and Anton

www.wien-vienna.at/index.php?ID=484

Le quartier du Petit Champlain repose au pied du Cap Diamant à Québec. Son nom vient de la rue du Petit-Champlain, une rue étroite dont les maisons à l'ouest longent la falaise.

S'ajoutent les rues Sous-le-Fort, du Cul-de-Sac, du Marché-Champlain et une partie de la rue Notre-Dame et du boulevard Champlain.

Des artisans et des commerçants se sont regroupés en coopérative en 1985 et y tiennent des boutiques. Les décorations soulignant fêtes populaires ou grands rassemblements sont omniprésentes mais particulièrement féériques durant la période de Noël.

Unborn, yet continuing without interruption,

neither coming nor going, omnipresent,

Supreme Dharma,

unchangeable space, without definition,

spontaneously self-liberating--

perfectly unobstructed state--

manifest from the very beginning,

self-created, without location,

with nothing negative to reject,

and nothing positive to accept,

infinite expanse, penetrating everywhere,

immense, and without limits, without ties,

with nothing even to dissolve

or to be liberated from,

manifest beyond space and time,

existing from the beginning,

immense ying inner space,

radiant through clarity

like the Sun and the Moon,

self-perfected,

indestructible like a Vajra,

stable as a mountain,

pure as a lotus,

strong as a lion,

incomparable pleasure beyond all limits,

illumination, equanimity,

peak of the Dharma,

light of the Universe,

perfect from the beginning.

 

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Union_of_the_Sun_and_Moon

 

Text Analysis of the Union of Sun and Moon Tantra (nyid zla kha sbyor rgyud) from the Tibetan Renaissance Seminar

 

Background

 

The Tantra of the Great Secret Union of the Sun and Moon (Nyi ma dang zla kha sbyor) is one of the Seventeen Tantras (rgyud bcu bdun) within the Nyingma (rnying ma) school’s Seminal Heart (snying thig) tradition. According to Nyingma sources, this tantra was first taught in India by Garab Dorje (dga’ rab rdo rje), who lived three hundred and sixty years after the historical Buddha, to Manjusrimitra. Eventually, it was transmitted to Tibet. The Emporer Trisong Detsen hid the scripture in the eighth century, and it was revealed as Terma (gter ma), or treasure text, by Dangma Lhüngyel (Davidson, 230). According to Ronald Davidson, the written version of the seventeen tantras was most probably a product of the Chè (lce) clan in the eleventh and twelfth centuries (228).

 

The contents of this text deal with the teaching of the bardos (bar do), or intermediate states, that all beings are subject to. Although the number of intermediate states ranges from four to six depending on the source, the Tantra of the Great Secret Union of the Sun and Moon names five: the bardo of nature, the bardo of the state of samadhi, the bardo of dream, the bardo of birth and death, and the bardo of existence. This discussion on the bardos predates the more popularly known treatment of the bardos in the fourteenth century treasure text, Self Liberation Through Hearing (Bar do thos grol) .

 

Character

 

This tantra is in sangiti form, in which the buddha Dorje Chang (rdo rje chang, Skt. Vajradhara) teaches esoteric Buddhist doctrine to a bodhisattva (Orofino, 20). The bodhisattva in this tantra is Mitog Thuba (mi rtog thub pa) who asks Dorje Chang a series of questions concerning how sentient beings can attain liberation in the various intermediate states. Most of the text is in verse.

 

Summary

 

The first section of this text, discussing the Bardo of Present Life (rang bzhin bar do) is not available in English translation. It contains detailed explanations of a yoga system that allows practitioners to control and channel their physical and mental energies towards the goal of spiritual enlightenment (Orofino, 20).

 

The second section of the text is devoted to the Bardo of Death (’chi khai’i bar do). Mitog Thuba asks Dorje Chang to explain the signs of death, and methods of preventing death if one sees these signs. Dorje Chang discusses various signs of death. For example, if one’s nose flattens out, he will die in five days, or, if black spots appear on one’s tongue, he will die after two days (Orofino 22-23). He goes on to explain magical rituals that one can perform to reverse the course of death. Then, the buddha in the dialogue suddenly switches from Dorje Chang to Vajrasattva. Mitog Thuba asks Vajrasattva, how one is to recognize the pure state of wisdom at the moment of death.

 

Vajrasattva’s reply begins with a description of the physical process of death: at death, the various elements of one’s body dissolve into each other - earth into earth, water into water, fire into fire, and air into air. Each of these dissolutions is accompanied by a physical sign like the cooling of the body or the stiffening of the limbs.

 

The moment of death, though, also represents an opportunity to unify one’s mind with the wisdom of the Buddha, thus achieving enlightenment. This involves taking the "position of the sleeping lion," entering into a state of profound meditation, and then directing the mind to the eyes. In a moment of pure focus, where pure awareness is concentrated into a single point, the person achieves enlightenment and does not have to wander in the bardo. This, however, is a very difficult task to perform.

 

Vajrasattva outlines particular ways that a master or dharma brother can help a dying practitioner perform this task.

 

The third section of this text deals with the Bardo of Essential Reality (chos nyid bar do). Vajrasattva explains that during the Bardo of Essential Reality, one sees visions of the mandala of the five rays of light. One sees "subtle, mobile, trembling, quivering, scintillating" masses of multi-coloured light which shine "disctinctly and marvelously". One experiences the light from one’s heart engaging with these visions. Finally, one experiences the eight ways in which the light arises. This represents an opportunity for liberation - if one understands that these visions are manifestations of one’s own mind, one attains enlightenment. If not, one will be frightened, and will enter into the next bardo, the Bardo of Existence.

 

The final section discusses the Bardo of Existence (srid pa’i bardo) where the individual begins the process of being reborn into a new body. In this intermediate state, the individual sees visions of the six types of beings: gods, demi-gods, animals, hungry spirits, hell-beings, and humans. One also sees visions of temples, houses, hoards of people, desert land, caves, ruins, and precipices. The latter three visions represent future rebirth in a womb. Vajrasattva then describes the development of the fetus after the individual has entered into the womb, and finishes by reminding Mitog Thuba that transmigration is an unending cycle that one can only escape through wisdom.

 

Analysis and Interpretation

   

Life and Death

 

One of the most remarkable things about this text is its treatment of the themes of life and death. In our culture, death is seen as a profoundly negative thing. Suffice to say, death is not a preferred topic of discussion either in the public or the private sphere. Death represents failure--the failure of the surgeon to fix a child’s heart, the failure of an individual to "hold on" to life, or the failure of a cancer patient to "beat" the illness. In contrast, life is what people desperately hold onto, and, in their quest for eternal life, people willingly spending large sums of money on face lifts, anti-aging creams, and antioxidants. In our culture, we tend to focus on life and to be in a perpetual state of denial about death.

 

In the Tantra of the Great Secret Union of the Sun and Moon, on the other hand, life is not particularly glorified and death is not particularly belittled. This text speaks of life and death in a candid and matter-of-fact sort of way. In keeping with basic Buddhist doctrine, the tantra describes life as impermanent, and invokes a series of similes: life is like a "dream," "rushing water," "wind," "magical enchantment," "illusion," and itinerant "pilgrim," and a "rain cloud" that will pass over soon (Orofino, 31). These similes convey a sense of the ungraspable nature of life; no matter how hard we try, we can never make things stand still. The naturalistic similes of rushing water, wind, and rain clouds convey a sense of naturalness to the course of life, while the similes of dream and magical enchantment convey a sense of the fleeting nature of both the things that we encounter in life and life itself. The simile of the itinerant pilgrim conveys how life, as much as we oftentimes celebrate it, is a long and tiring journey. Despite this, life is generally seen as an important moment for learning the Buddhist dharma because it represents an opportunity where one can attain spiritual enlightenment. Buddhist tantric practitioners are also instructed to practice diligently during their lifetimes in order to take advantage of this opportunity. Thus, although life is definitely not something entirely negative, it is certainly not seen as something that is particularly extraordinary.

 

In the same way that life is not seen as something extraordinary, death is also seen as a perfectly ordinary event the inevitably occurs over the course of time. There is a certain nonchalance in the tone of the tantra’s discussion of death: Death is not a failure but is simply when "one’s life is exhausted" and when the "elements of one’s body is consumed" (Orofino 36, 32). Death is a perfectly inevitable natural occurrence. The one occasion where death seems to be something that one should fear is when Vajrasattva describes death as something "sudden," "not forseen," and "unstoppable" (Orofino 32). The implication is that death can hit us at any time, and that we should be prepared. Nevertheless, death also represents a rare opportunity for spiritual enlightenment. According to Tantric Buddhist teachings on the intermediate states, if we are able to recognize the clear light at death, or the light found in the subsequent intermediate states as the projection of one’s mind, one attains instantaneous enlightenment.

 

In fact, life and death are portrayed in the Tantra of the Great Secret Union of the Sun and Moon as rather similar phenomena. Both are natural occurrences over the course of time, neither is privileged over the other, both represent an opportunity to attain enlightenment, and neither are inherently sacred or special. Both life and death go hand in hand: life is an opportunity to prepare oneself for death, and death is an opportunity to attain buddhahood in an efficient way. Life and death are not polarized to the extent that they are in our culture.

 

Existence, Material Existence

 

An important polarization in the Tantra of the Great Secret Union of the Sun and Moon is the privileging of disembodied enlightened existence over material unenlightened existence. Though this type of polarization may seem unsurprising in a tradition where spiritual enlightenment and freedom are the ultimate goal, it is particularly interesting that this polarization is also reflected on a textual level: the imagery and metaphors of this text reflect this greater argument.

 

In the Bardo of Essential Reality, the individual receives a taste of what enlightenment could be like. In this bardo, one no longer has a physical body of flesh and blood, but a "body of light" that "is free of impurities, and all visions manifest themselves in the dimension of happiness" (Orofino, 45). The link to the physical senses is severed, and one only comes into contact with "mental knowledge (Orofino, 45). The visions that one sees are stunning: one sees five-coloured light that appears "beyond material limits," without inside or outside, and "subtle, mobile, trembling, vibrant, quivering, scintillating" (Orofino, 46). Furthermore, the individual is not a passive observer; she participates in the process when light from her heart joins with the light of the manifestations around her. This is described as "the union of the state of pure Awareness with the light" (Orofino, 47). The images of light, movement, and the intangible suggest a certain spontaneity, freedom, and joy to enlightened reality.

 

In contrast to this, the imagery in the Bardo of Existence is dominated by images that suggest a grimy, trapped, and painful existence. As the individual moves from the previous bardo to the Bardo of Existence, she loses the spiritual freedom and contentment of the former bardo. Instead, she feels "provoked" by past desires, and feels pressured into becoming "involved" (52). The visions that she sees suggest the gloomy din of industrial towns and cities: she sees "temples, houses, fire, fog, rain and the sounds of groups of people" (53). "Damned" to a rebirth, she sees "desert, caves, ruins, precipices," all of which represent the womb (54). Thus, the womb is not seen as a fertile symbol of life, but a symbol of entrapment in the ceaseless cycle of rebirth. In a series of evocative similes, the tantra conveys the predicament that the individual finds herself in:

 

One feels the desire to move but feels held back by a net because one is blocked, like straw that has taken fire, or like being stuck in the mud./ One is like a bird in a trap that has been dug in the earth: in the trap of desire without control, that is transmigration. (53)

 

Images like the net and the bird in a trap suggest the imprisonment of the individual in the cycle of transmigration, while images like the "mud" and "earth" suggest the griminess of the samsaric condition. Finally, the simile of the "straw that has taken fire" suggests the visceral immediacy of the pain found in cyclic existence.

 

Therefore, the Tantra of the Great Secret Union of the Sun and Moon reflects the privileging of disembodied enlightened existence over material unenlightened existence even on the level of metaphor and imagery. The metaphor and imagery have the effect of acutely conveying a larger argument that privileges the freedom of enlightenment over the suffering of cyclic existence.

 

Works Cited

 

Orofino, Giacomella. Sacred Teachings on Death and Liberation: Texts from the most ancient traditions of Tibet. Bridport: Prism Press, 1990.

 

Davidson, Ronald. Tibetan Renaissance: Tantric Buddhism in the Rebirth of Tibetan Culture. New York: Columbia University Press, 2005.

collab.itc.virginia.edu/wiki/renaissanceold/Text%20Analys...

L’oeil omniprésent, et tout se transforme!

 

L’œil …peut être ballon, sphère, œuf, forme originelle, soleil, astre, araignée, tête coupée (œuf encore), fleur, spirale, enroulement, roue, il est toujours motif inscrit dans un cercle, entier, demi ou quart de cercle dont le centre géométrique est le plus souvent le centre d’intérêt de l’œuvre. A cela aucune explication satisfaisante, sinon la volonté quasi obsessionnelle de Redon de capter notre attention en ce point fixe absolument immobile, pour y inscrire des êtres en mouvement dans un espace et un temps totalement indéterminés. Les œuvres de Redon réfutent toute explication. Le commentaire n’élude pas le mystère de leur magique présence. Elles sont quête de transcendance jusque dans l’utilisation ultérieure de la couleur, d’abord aux pastels par dessus les noirs du fusain, puis, plus tard, aux pastels, ou accessoirement à l’huile, la couleur toujours, utilisée pour sa toute puissance d’expression symbolique.

Pourtant, malgré l’utilisation de la couleur, originale, mystique, comme celle des nabis et de l’ami Gauguin (la première image qui illustre cet article, l’affiche de l’expo, en est un exemple), cette deuxième partie de l’œuvre est moins convaincante. Laissons de côté les dernières salles de l’exposition. Trop de ces bouquets de fleurs y expriment un plaisir quasi alimentaire de peindre et de plaire pour un résultat médiocre comme il advient des œuvres qui nous semblaient plus belles lorsque nous les regardions reproduites dans les livres…

rillon.blog.lemonde.fr/2011/04/29/odilon-redon-anti-natur...

 

cargocollective.com/Kunstkabinett/Noirs-by-Odilon-Redon

  

Fig. 2 Odilon Redon, L’Œil, comme un ballon bizarre se dirige vers l’Infini

Album À Edgar Poë, planche I [M : 38], cliché BNF, Paris.

textyles.revues.org/docannexe/image/1321/img-2-small580.jpg

Fauvette mélanocéphale.

Omniprésente dans le maquis corse !

Sometimes I wonder why his ears are like this.

 

Anyway, Happy Furry Friday everyone!

28 mai 2022, col de Pailhères (09), le genêt purgatif est omniprésent

Paris in the summer

 

is a dream.

 

The trees,

 

heavy with leaves,

 

shimmer in rare bouts

 

of sunlight

 

that pours

 

over the city streets

 

like white gold.

 

Even the rain

 

and omnipresent clouds

 

that blanket the bleached sky

 

shimmers against

 

Paris's candy-colored architecture,

 

as the days linger long,

 

like trailing words spilling slowly

 

off the phrases of lovers.

  

--

 

Interested in viewing all of my France posts so far? Here they are:

 

France Through the Lens

 

Looking for these (and more) Paris photos to view larger? Here you go (click or tap on each photo to view larger):

 

Paris

  

---

 

Information about my New York City photography book which is releasing in stores and online in the autumn of 2014 (including where to order it):

 

NY Through The Lens: A New York Coffee Table Book

---

  

View my New York City photography at my website NY Through The Lens.

 

View my Travel photography at my travel blog: Traveling Lens.

 

Interested in my work and have questions about PR and media? Check out my:

 

About Page | PR Page | Media Page

  

To use any of my photos commercially, feel free to contact me via email at photos@nythroughthelens.com

South Shore 14 arriving Randolph St., June 1979. Note the omnipresent (at least for this era) IC boxcars in the background at left and the old switchman's shanty at right. The switches at the terminal throat were all hand thrown.

Omniprésente en haute vallée, la Renoncule de Kuepfer souligne toujours avantageusement les paysages printaniers. Les sols sablonneux, dépourvus de cailloux comme ici dans le Lau, lui conviennent bien.

Le "Colvert" des terres islandaises, il est vraiment omniprésent et superbe à observer.

Le barattage de la mer cosmique ou mer de lait, est omniprésent sur les sites d'AngkorLe barattage de la mer de lait est un mythe originaire de l'Inde mais repris par la culture khmère.Dans une action commune, les dieux (deva) et les démons (asura) barattent pendant 1 000 ans la mer de lait pour en créer un breuvage d'immortalité (l'amrita).Ils utilisent un serpent, nommé Vasuki. Ce dernier est enroulé comme une corde autour d'une montagne appelée Mandara. Ceci permet ainsi de faire tourner le mont dans un mouvement de va et vient, grâce à l'action des dieux et des demons, qui tirent à tour de rôle sur le corps du serpent. Le dieu Vishnu, situé au centre de la scène, supervise le déroulement du barattage.C'est dans l'une des galeries du sanctuaire d'Angkor Vat que l'on peut admirer la scène sur quelques 49 m de long.

Sur le cliché : Le dieu Vishnu se trouve au centre de la scène de barattage. il tient le serpent qui sert à baratter le mer de lait. En réalité, il est deux fois représenté : sous sa forme traditionnelle et sous la forme de l'un de ses avatars, la tortue Kurma, sur laquelle repose la montagne. cette dernière n'est pas réellement visible car la scène semble inachevée.

en bas du cliché , les artistes khmers pour faire comprendre que la mer est démontée,ont représenté des animaux aquatiques morcelés et en tous sens ...

Rose Macro (close up) - Visiting the local garden shop

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

 

Facts About Rose and Roses

The birthplace of the cultivated Rose was probably Northern Persia (Current IRAN), on the Caspian, or Faristan on the Gulf of Persia.

Historically, the oldest Rose fossils have been found in Colorado, dating back to more than 35 million years ago.

Roses were considered the most sacred flowers in ancient Egypt and were used as offerings for the Goddess Isis. Roses have also been found in Egyptian tombs, where they were formed into funerary wreaths.

Confucius, 551 BC to 479 BC, reported that the Imperial Chinese library had many books on Roses.

Ancient Sumerians of Mesopotamia (in the Tigris-Euphrates River Valley) mentioned Roses in a cuneiform tablet (a system of writing) written in approximately 2860 BC.

The English were already cultivating and hybridizing Roses in the 15th Century when the English War of Roses took place. The winner of the war, Tudor Henry VII, created the Rose of England (Tudor Rose) by crossbreeding other Roses.

While no Black Rose yet exists, there are some of such a deep Red color as to suggest Black.

Roses are omnipresent and grown over all parts of the globe.

The Netherlands is the world's leading exporter of Roses.

The Netherlands, with about 8000 hectares of land under Rose cultivation, is the global leader in Rose cultivation. 54 per cent (about 5000 hectares) of the cultivated land in Ecuador is under Rose cultivation!! Zambia, a small nation, had 80 per cent of its cultivated land under Roses.

Classification of Roses

Broadly, Roses are divided into three classes-

 

Species Roses

Species Roses are often called Wild Species Roses. Species Roses often have relatively simple, 5-petaled flowers followed by very colorful hips that last well into the winter, providing food for birds and winter color.

 

The most popular Rose species for sale today is Rosa rugosa owing to its superior hardiness, disease resistance, and extremely easy maintenance. Species roses are widely hybridized. Wild Species Roses include many different varieties. Wild Species Roses usually bloom once in the summer.

 

Old Garden Roses

Old Garden Roses have a delicate beauty and wonderful perfume, not often found in modern hybrid tea roses. Old Garden Roses are a diverse group from the those with a wonderful fragrance and great winter hardiness to the tender and lovely tea roses, which are best suited for warm climates.

 

Old Garden Roses comprise a multifaceted group that in general are easy to grow, disease-resistant and winter-hardy. Old Garden Roses grow in several shrub and vine sizes. Although colors do vary, this class of Roses are usually white or pastel in color. These "antique Roses" are generally preferred for lawns and home gardens. Several groupings of Roses classified as Old Garden Roses are China Roses, Tea Roses, Moss Roses, Damask Roses, Bourbon Roses, etc.

 

Modern Roses

Old Garden Roses are the predecessors of Modern Roses. Any Rose identified after 1867, is considered a Modern Rose. This group of Roses are very popular. The Modern Rose is the result of crossbreeding the hybrid tea with the polyanthus (a variety of primrose).

 

The colors of Modern Roses are varied, rich and vibrant. The most popular roses found in the class of Modern Roses are the Hybrid Tea Roses, Floribunda Roses, and Grandiflora Roses. Although Modern Roses are adored by florists and gardeners, they do require proper care, and do not adapt well to colder environments.

 

Facts About Roses

The birthplace of the cultivated Rose was probably Northern Persia, on the Caspian, or Faristan on the Gulf of Persia.

Historically, the oldest Rose fossils have been found in Colorado, dating back to more than 35 million years ago.

Roses were considered the most sacred flowers in ancient Egypt and were used as offerings for the Goddess Isis. Roses have also been found in Egyptian tombs, where they were formed into funerary wreaths.

Confucius, 551 BC to 479 BC, reported that the Imperial Chinese library had many books on Roses.

Ancient Sumerians of Mesopotamia (in the Tigris-Euphrates River Valley) mentioned Roses in a cuneiform tablet (a system of writing) written in approximately 2860 BC.

The English were already cultivating and hybridizing Roses in the 15th Century when the English War of Roses took place. The winner of the war, Tudor Henry VII, created the Rose of England (Tudor Rose) by crossbreeding other Roses.

While no Black Rose yet exists, there are some of such a deep Red color as to suggest Black.

Roses are omnipresent and grown over all parts of the globe.

The Netherlands is the world's leading exporter of Roses.

The Netherlands, with about 8000 hectares of land under Rose cultivation, is the global leader in Rose cultivation. 54 per cent (about 5000 hectares) of the cultivated land in Ecuador is under Rose cultivation!! Zambia, a small nation, had 80 per cent of its cultivated land under Roses.

Classification of Roses

Broadly, Roses are divided into three classes-

 

Species Roses

Species Roses are often called Wild Species Roses. Species Roses often have relatively simple, 5-petaled flowers followed by very colorful hips that last well into the winter, providing food for birds and winter color.

 

The most popular Rose species for sale today is Rosa rugosa owing to its superior hardiness, disease resistance, and extremely easy maintenance. Species roses are widely hybridized. Wild Species Roses include many different varieties. Wild Species Roses usually bloom once in the summer.

 

Old Garden Roses

Old Garden Roses have a delicate beauty and wonderful perfume, not often found in modern hybrid tea roses. Old Garden Roses are a diverse group from the those with a wonderful fragrance and great winter hardiness to the tender and lovely tea roses, which are best suited for warm climates.

 

Old Garden Roses comprise a multifaceted group that in general are easy to grow, disease-resistant and winter-hardy. Old Garden Roses grow in several shrub and vine sizes. Although colors do vary, this class of Roses are usually white or pastel in color. These "antique Roses" are generally preferred for lawns and home gardens. Several groupings of Roses classified as Old Garden Roses are China Roses, Tea Roses, Moss Roses, Damask Roses, Bourbon Roses, etc.

 

Modern Roses

Old Garden Roses are the predecessors of Modern Roses. Any Rose identified after 1867, is considered a Modern Rose. This group of Roses are very popular. The Modern Rose is the result of crossbreeding the hybrid tea with the polyanthus (a variety of primrose).

 

The colors of Modern Roses are varied, rich and vibrant. The most popular roses found in the class of Modern Roses are the Hybrid Tea Roses, Floribunda Roses, and Grandiflora Roses. Although Modern Roses are adored by florists and gardeners, they do require proper care, and do not adapt well to colder environments.

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

 

From the flower Expert

www.theflowerexpert.com/content/mostpopularflowers/rose

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

The Meaning of Rose Colors

Red Rose--------------Love, Beauty, Courage and Respect, Romantic Love, Congratulations, "I Love You", "Job Well Done", Sincere Love, Respect, Courage & Passion

Red Rose (Dark)-------Unconscious beauty

Red Rose (Single)-----"I Love You"

Deep Burgundy Rose----Unconscious Beauty

White Rose------------Purity, Innocence, Silence, Secrecy, Reverence, Humility, Youthfulness, "I am worthy of you", Heavenly

White Rose(Bridal)----Happy love

Pink Rose-------------Appreciation, "Thank you", Grace, Perfect Happiness, Admiration, Gentleness, "Please Believe Me"

Dark Pink Rose--------Appreciation, Gratitude, "Thank You"

Light Pink Rose-------Admiration, Sympathy, Gentleness, Grace, Gladness, Joy, Sweetness

Yellow Rose-----------Joy, Gladness, Friendship, Delight, Promise of a new beginning, Welcome Back, Remember Me, Jealousy, "I care"

Yellow Rose, Red Tip--Friendship, Falling in Love

Orange Rose-----------Desire, Enthusiasm

Red and White Rose----Given together, these signify unity

Red and Yellow Rose---Jovial and Happy Feelings

Peach Rose------------Appreciation, Closing the deal, Let's get together, Sincerity, Gratitude

Pale Peach Rose-------Modesty

Coral Rose------------Desire

Lavender Rose---------Love at first sight, Enchantment

Orange Rose-----------Enthusiasm, Desire, Fascination

Black Rose------------Death, Farewell

Blue Rose-------------The unattainable, the impossible

Single, any color-----Simplicity, Gratitude

Red Rosebud-----------Symbolic of purity and loveliness

White Rosebud---------Symbolic of girlhood

Thornless Rose--------"Love at first sight"

Macro / Rose Flower / Rose Macro / Macro Rose / closeup rose / peach / closeup rose / Rose closeup

 

From the site:

www.rkdn.org/roses/colors.asp

  

Yesterday was the first day in this year I had the chance to drive with my bicycle through my wonderful area and to discover all the beautiful wildflowers along my way.

This is a shot of two Stellarias (Greater stitchwort or Stellaria holostea). Momentarily, Stellarias are omnipresent on the wayside... one of my favorite flowers...

 

Hope everybody have a wonderful sunday...

 

All the best,

Lars

Paris in the summer

 

is a dream.

 

The trees,

 

heavy with leaves,

 

shimmer in rare bouts

 

of sunlight

 

that pours

 

over the city streets

 

like white gold.

 

Even the rain

 

and omnipresent clouds

 

that blanket the bleached sky

 

shimmers against

 

Paris's candy-colored architecture,

 

as the days linger long,

 

like trailing words spilling slowly

 

off the phrases of lovers.

  

--

 

Interested in viewing all of my France posts so far? Here they are:

 

France Through the Lens

 

Looking for these (and more) Paris photos to view larger? Here you go (click or tap on each photo to view larger):

 

Paris

  

---

 

Information about my New York City photography book which is releasing in stores and online in the autumn of 2014 (including where to order it):

 

NY Through The Lens: A New York Coffee Table Book

---

  

View my New York City photography at my website NY Through The Lens.

 

View my Travel photography at my travel blog: Traveling Lens.

 

Interested in my work and have questions about PR and media? Check out my:

 

About Page | PR Page | Media Page

  

To use any of my photos commercially, feel free to contact me via email at photos@nythroughthelens.com

7 niveau pour l’échelle ésotérique. À partir du 4 c’est cool pour la création dans le 7 on traverse les murs... le 1 a gauche c’est juste une place livraison possible pour ascenseur.... Message alchimiste?

  

Oui absolument, il y a 10 niveau de conscience. 10/ 3 accessible et 3/1 Divin. L’échelle représente les 10 niveaux . À 3 on est bloqué car après on disparaît dans le Tout. A 10 c’est la faim et l’envie 9 on commence avoir du goût entre bon et mauvais 8 on peut contrôler 7 on peut créer ( artistes) 6 génie 5 disparition de l’égo et de la faim 4 voyage hors du corps lévitation totem 3 le corps va disparaître 2 séparation de l’âme et de l’esprit 1 esprit pur universel. La rue de l’échelle mesure la civilité ? On peut pédaler dans l’ombre pour franchir la pierre aguicheuse. Le message est comme un rébus, échelle, pierre d’angle, franchissement du mur, vélo équilibre, ombre confusion réel. Je travaille énormément sur moi en ce moment. C'est pas facile de quitter pas mal de chose... Tu es très jeune et jolie alors c’est normal, le désir est omniprésent. À mon âge c’est beaucoup plus facile d’être dans la vacuité de l’âme. Ne t’inquiète pas. C’est déjà bien que tu décides de pas rester immobile avec un Monde uniquement centré sur la comparaison entre les choses. Tu es une belle personne riche avec du talent..... Tu sais, je louerais toujours le ciel de placer des personnes comme toi sur mon chemin (le hasard n'existe pas)... Tu fais parti des personnes qui m'ont poussé à commencer ce travail. Tu crois en moi plus que je ne crois en moi, tu as vu des choses en moi que je ne voyais pas... Et tout cela m'a poussé à me demandé pourquoi je ne me voit pas comme les personnes qui disent de mon âme qu'elle est belle me voient... C'était le début de mon nouveau voyage dans mon moi.... Et je me suis rendu compte qu'il y a tellement de choses qui m'alourdissent. Je me suis laissé transformer par le monde dans lequel je vis.. La peur, le doute sont des ennemis redoutables... Et lorsque la vanité, la cupidité et l'ego viennent se joindre à eux... J'ai compris que le véritable problème c'est moi. Je ne peux pas changer les autres mais je peux changer et tout améliorer dans ma présente existence sur cette terre.. Raison pour laquelle je t'ai écrit une fois " je sais que je peux tout faire". Oui continue à bien penser, mais peut-être qu’il faut aussi m’être ou..mettre tes pensées en équilibre comme un vélo ? Jamais arrêter de pédaler pour ne pas perdre ton équilibre.

  

Le sens littéral de l’échelle : à la fin de l'antiquité, pour Origène, l'échelle représente la métempsychose ou réincarnation: à la mort de l'individu, l'âme tente de s'élever vers le haut de l'échelle (l'union avec la divinité ou, si vous préférez, le "paradis"). Mais si elle a péché, elle ne peut franchir une certaine hauteur et retombe vers la terre pour se réincarner en un autre corps. Pour Théodoret, elle représence la providence divine (les anges qui descendent du ciel pour accomplir les ordres divins).

 

-allégoriquement, pour Eustache, elle figure la croix du Christ, qui donne accès au ciel par les tribulations et les épreuves, voire la souffrance (ce qui n'est pas du mascochisme mais la conscience de la difficulté de l'entreprise).

 

-symboliquement, pour Philon, l'échelle représente l'âme. la base représente la sensation, le dernier échelon, l'intellect pur, et les autres échelons les degrés de la contemplation.

 

-tropologiquement: Pour Tertullien, l'ascension de l'échelle représente la vie du juste, dont les échelons sont les vertus, les bonnes actions qui permettent de parvenir à l'excellence morale.

 

-anagogiquement, les échelons de la sphère symbolisent la hiérarchie céleste des anges et des saints.

  

1. Le premier plan est le moins élevé. C’est celui de la conscience instinctive qui est proche de l’animal. L’être sur ce premier plan est primitif et cherche avant tout a satisfaire ses besoins sexuels et ne connait pas l’amour. Il est totalement inconscient.

 

2. Le deuxième plan est celui de la conscience collective. A ce niveau la personne développe son sens des relations humaines. Elle est plus sélective dans le choix de ses partenaires mais plusieurs peuvent lui convenir. Elle ne connait pas encore l’amour véritable mais le copie. Elle est possessive et considère son partenaire comme lui appartenant. L’égo est très fort à ce niveau. Ce plan est émotionnel et c’est la que se situe la majorité de l’humanité de notre belle planète.

 

3. Le troisième plan est celui du mental. Là, l’individu situe son JE. Il commence a s’individualiser. C’est le plan du pouvoir personnel, de l’énergie, des idéologies (religieux, politiques, économiques). C’est le plan des leader. Il fonctionne selon la dualité du mental (amour-haine, dominant-dominé etcc). C’est l’amour échange qui n’est pas le véritable amour mais s’en approche. C’est le plan de la prise de conscience, de la réflexion. L’individu a ce niveau élargit ses connaissance soit en ésotérisme, en spiritualité. Il prend conscience qu’il existe une autre dimension.

 

4.Le quatrième plan est causal. C’est le plan ou vous pouvez vous connecter à votre âme. A ce niveau, vous pénétrez dans la partie de l’âme, celle de l’amour (l’amour spirituel). A ce niveau, vous pouvez vivre l’amour avec une âme-soeur. Votre partenaire est tellement proche de vous qu’il n’y a aucun effort a faire, aucune concession. L’AMOUR EST. C,est la fusion. C’est le plan des créateurs, des artistes, qui expriment la beauté sous toutes ses formes. A ce niveau on a envie de donner et d’ETRE.

 

5.Le cinquième plan est celui de la super-conscience. L’amour est manifesté et exprimé pleinement. C’est celui de la pensée symbolique. A ce niveau on peut se passer de sexualité. C,est le niveau des grands comme Beethoven, De Vinci, Pythagore et… La seule partenaire possible est son âme-jumelle, son complément, son miroir. C’est le plan des guides spirituels, des Maîtres. Ses dons psychiques se développent naturellement, et elle accroit sa capacité de guérison. On atteint ce niveau par une illumination. Elle enseigne l’amour et guide l’humanité.

 

6.Le sixième plan est celui de la buddhi, ou conscience intuitive de l’âme. A ce niveau l’être n’a plus d’égo, il n’est plus qu’une âme rayonnant d’amour et de lumière. Il est un message vivant de l’harmonie universelle. Il a réalisé le mariage mystique (union divine). Il représente Dieu sur terre.C’est l’ermite solitaire constamment dans la béatitude. Il n’a plus de personnalité car il fait partie du TOUT. Il est proche de la fusion définitive avec l’ESPRIT ETERNEL.

 

7.Le septième plan est celui du divin, de la conscience cosmique. Le corps s’embrase, le feu monte dans les canaux éthériques et l’énergie divine vous transforme en ETRE DE LUMIERE. Vous tombez dans la conscience cosmique et l’illumination, et vous y restez pour l’éternité.

 

Pour Saint Augustin, l'échelle de Jacob est le signe de l'ascension possible des hommes, pour Saint Jérôme, l'échelle de Jacob redonne confiance au pécheur et rend humble le juste, alors que pour Chromace d'Aquilée, comme dans le texte antérieur d'Hippolyte, cette échelle dressée de la terre au ciel est la croix du Christ, qui peut mener au ciel...

 

Un autre thème qui continuera à occuper une place importante dans l'exégèse médiévale, et qui aura des prolongements dans l'iconographie, est celui des quinze psaumes graduels...sans doute chantés par les pèlerins juifs sur la route de Jérusalem...ces cantiques des montées évoquent la joie, l'appel à l'aide ou l'espérance dans le cheminement vers Sion ...ces cantiques qui manifestent les portes du ciel, par la comparaison avec l'échelle de Jacob ; et les cinq livres de Moïse (le Pentateuque), avec les dix préceptes de la Loi, en forment les quinze échelons...

 

Ce symbolisme de quinze étapes spirituelles, trouve un second fondement dans l'exégèse de la description du Temple d'Ezéchiel...les sept degrés qui mènent aux portes du parvis extérieur, ajoutés aux huit degrés des portes du parvis intérieur, dans la vision du Temple futur de la nouvelle Jérusalem...les quinze marches du Temple, et l'échelle de Jacob...

 

Le symbolisme de l'échelle ne se limite pas à l'utilisation des textes de l'Ancien Testament... Certes l'échelle de Jacob elle-même en est le signe direct...Nous verrons que les deux montants de l'échelle de Jacob signifieront, pour la Règle de Saint Benoît, le corps et l'âme, ou l'amour de Dieu et l'amour du prochain...mais au IV siècle, Zénon de Vérone voit dans ces montants l'image des deux Testaments...

Genèse 28 , 10-17 : l'échelle de Jacob

(trad. Louis Segond)

 

28:10 - Jacob partit de Beer Schéba, et s'en alla à Charan.

28:11 - Il arriva dans un lieu où il passa la nuit; car le soleil était couché. Il y prit une pierre, dont il fit son chevet, et il se coucha dans ce lieu-là.

28:12 - Il eut un songe. Et voici, une échelle était appuyée sur la terre, et son sommet touchait au ciel. Et voici, les anges de Dieu montaient et descendaient par cette échelle.

28:13 - Et voici, l'Éternel se tenait au-dessus d'elle; et il dit: Je suis l'Éternel, le Dieu d'Abraham, ton père, et le Dieu d'Isaac. La terre sur laquelle tu es couché, je la donnerai à toi et à ta postérité.

28:14 - Ta postérité sera comme la poussière de la terre; tu t'étendras à l'occident et à l'orient, au septentrion et au midi; et toutes les familles de la terre seront bénies en toi et en ta postérité.

28:15 - Voici, je suis avec toi, je te garderai partout où tu iras, et je te ramènerai dans ce pays; car je ne t'abandonnerai point, que je n'aie exécuté ce que je te dis.

28:16 - Jacob s'éveilla de son sommeil et il dit: Certainement, l'Éternel est en ce lieu, et moi, je ne le savais pas!

28:17 - Il eut peur, et dit: Que ce lieu est redoutable! C'est ici la maison de Dieu, c'est ici la porte des cieux !

History of the Vienna State Opera

132 years house on the Ring

(you can see pictures by clicking on the link at the end of page!)

State Opera (K.K. Court Opera) 1901

About three and a half centuries, until the early Baroque period, the tradition of Viennese opera goes back. Emperor Franz Joseph I decreed in December 1857 to tear down the old city walls and fortifications around the city center of Vienna and to lay out a wide boulevard with new buildings for culture and politics, the ring road.

The two Court Theatres (a speech and a musical theater) should find a new place on the ring. For the Imperial and Royal Court Opera House was chosen a prominent place in the immediate area of ​​the former Kärntnertortheatre. This by the public that much loved opera theater was demolished in 1709 due to its confinement .

State Opera (K.K. Court Opera) 1903

The new opera house was built by the Viennese architect August Sicardsburg, who designed the basic plan, and Eduard van der Null, who designed the interior decoration. But other eminent artists had been involved: just think of Moritz von Schwind, who painted the frescoes in the foyer and the famous "Magic Flute", cycle of frescoes in the loggia. The two architects did not experience the opening of "their" opera house any more. The sensitive van der Null committed suicide since the Wiener (Viennes people) denigrated the new house as lacking in style, his friend Sicardsburg succumbed a little later to a stroke.

1869 - 1955

On 25 May 1869 the House was with Mozart's DON JUAN in the presence of Emperor Franz Joseph, the highest building owner, and Empress Elisabeth opened.

However, with the artistic charisma under the first directors Franz von Dingelstedt, Johann Herbeck, Franz Jauner and Wilhelm Jahn grew the popularity of the building. A first highlight experienced the Vienna Opera under the director Gustav Mahler, renewing the outdated performance system from scratch, strengthening precision and ensemble spirit and also using significant visual artists (including Alfred Roller) for the shaping of the new stage aesthetic.

In the ten-year-period of his Directorate (1897-1907) continued Gustav Mahler, this very day, in the concert halls of the world as the most important member of a Symphony Orchestra at the turn of the 20th century omnipresent, the intensive fostering of Wagner, Mozart's operas and Beethoven's Fidelio were redesigned, the with Richard Strauss initiated connection to Verdi was held upright. Austrian composers were promoted (Hugo Wolf), the Court Opera was opened to European modernism.

Image: Emperor Franz Joseph I and Emperor Wilhelm II during a gala performance at the Vienna Court Opera in 1900 resulting from the "Book of the Emperor", edited by Max Herzig.

Technique: Lithography

from www.aeiou.at

In addition to the classics of the Italian repertoire were and are especially Mozart, Wagner and Richard Strauss (himself 1919-1924 director of the House), the musical protection gods of the Vienna State Opera.

staatsoper_81.jpg (28138 bytes)

The modern also always had its place: the twenties and thirties witnessed the Vienna premieres of Krenek's Jonny spielt auf, Cardillac Hindemith, Korngold MIRACLE OF Héliane and Berg's Wozzeck (under President Clemens Krauss). This tradition was interrupted with the seizure of power by the National Socialists, yes, after the devastating bomb hits, on 12 March 1945 the house on the ring largely devastating, the care of the art form itself was doubtful.

The Viennese, who had preserved a lively cultural life during the war, were deeply shocked to see the symbol of the Austrian musical life in ruins.

But the spirit of the opera was not destroyed. On 1 May 1945 "State Opera Volksoper" was opened with a brilliant performance of Mozart's THE MARRIAGE OF FIGARO, on 6 October 1945 was followed by the re-opening of the hastily restored Theater an der Wien with Beethoven's Fidelio. Thus there were two venues for the next ten years, while the actual main building was rebuilt at great expense.

staatsoper_84.jpg (14707 bytes)

Visitors flock to the opera. Reopening on 5th November, 1955.

Image from © www.staatsvertrag.at / bildarchiv austria / ÖGZ / Hilscher

As early as 24 May 1945 the State Secretary of Public Works, Julius Raab, had announced the reconstruction of the Vienna State Opera, which should be placed in the hands of the Austrian architects Erich Boltenstern and Otto Prossinger. Only the main façade, the grand staircase and the Schwindfoyer (evanescence foyer) had been spared from the bombs - with a new auditorium and modernized technology, the Vienna State Opera was brilliant with Beethoven's Fidelio under Karl Böhm on 5 November 1955 reopened. The opening ceremonies were broadcasted from Austrian television and in the whole world at the same time as a sign of life of the resurrected 2nd Republic understood.

staatsoper_83.jpg (33866 bytes)

State ceremony to the reopening on 5 November 1955. On the far right under the box of the Federal President a television camera of the Austrian Broadcasting Corporation is visible which broadcasted the event. Image from © www.staatsvertrag.at / ÖGZ / Cermak

1955 to 1992

The dictum that the Vienna State Opera survives every director, is attributed to Egon Seefehlner which himself for many years run the businessses of the house. And yet marked he and the thirty-one other directors of the Vienna State Opera since 1869, great musicians or musical administrators, in their own way the profile of this world-famous institution:

staatsoper_82.jpg (13379 bytes)

Performance for the reopening of the Vienna State Opera on 5 November, 1955.

Image from © www.staatsvertrag.at / bildarchiv austria / ÖGZ / Hilscher

After the Second World War there were first the conductors directors Karl Böhm and Herbert von Karajan - the latter insisted on the title "Artistic Director" and opened the Ensemble house to the international singer market, had the opera rehearsed in original language and oriented his plans to "co-productions" with foreign opera houses, however, which were only realized after his term.

It followed as directors Egon Hilbert, Heinrich Reif-Gintl, Rudolf Gamsjäger and the mentioned Egon Seefehlner, who was appointed for a second time at the top of the house after the departure of his successor in office Lorin Maazel. Claus Helmut Drese (State Opera director from 1986 to 1991) stood with Claudio Abbado an internationally renowned music director by his side. At the beginning of the 90s the forrmer star baritone Eberhard Waechter, at that time director of the Volksoper (People's Opera), charged with the direction. Only seven months have been granted to him as a director.

The era Ioan Holender (1992 to 2010)

After Waechter's tragic death in March 1992 took over general secretary Ioan Holender, a former singer (baritone) and owner of a singer Agency, the office to continue the tradition of perhaps the most important opera institution in the world over the millennium to 2010.

His play plan design relies besides an extremely wide repertoire with the columns Mozart, Wagner, Verdi and Strauss mainly on premieres. Mention may be made of Bellini's I Puritani (1993 /94), Massenet Hérodiade (1994 /95), Verdi's Jerusalem and Britten's PETER GRIMES (1995 /96), Verdi's Stiffelio and Enescu OEDIPE (1996 /97), Rossini's GUILLAUME TELL and Lehár's operetta THE MERRY WIDOW (1998/99) and Schoenberg's THE JAKOBSLEITER, Hiller's PETER PAN, Donizetti's ROBERTO DEVEREUX, Britten's Billy Budd, Verdi's Nabucco (2000/ 01), Bellini's LA SONNAMBULA, Gounod's Roméo et Juliette, Janácek's Jenufa (2001/02), Verdi's SIMON BOCCANEGRA, Krenek's Jonny spielt auf, Donizetti's La Favorite, Hiller's PINOCCHIO, Wagner's TRISTAN UND ISOLDE (2002/ 03), Verdi's FALSTAFF, Wagner's FLYING DUTCHMAN and PARSIFAL, Strauss's Daphne (2003/ 04) and the world premiere of the original French version of Verdi's DON CARLOS (2003/ 04). A particular success of the recent past, the rediscovery of Fromental Halévy's La Juive Grand (1999 ) must be considered. Two premières concerned 1995 Adriana Hölszky's THE WALLS (co-production with the Vienna Festival at the Theater an der Wien ) and Alfred Schnittke's Gesualdo. On 15 June 2002 also THE GIANT OF STONE FIELD (Music: Peter Turrini: Friedrich Cerha libretto) premiered with great success, another commissioned work of the Vienna State Opera.

State Opera - © Oliver Thomann - FOTOLIA

Image : Vienna State Opera

In recent years it came up, in each case on 18 May, the anniversary of the death of Gustav Mahler, to concerts of the Vienna Philharmonic at the Vienna State Opera. These were under the direction of Seiji Ozawa (who since the 2002 /03 season the Vienna State Opera director Holender as music director of the house stands to the side) (1995), Carlo Maria Giulini (1996), Riccardo Muti (1997), Lorin Maazel (1998), Zubin Mehta (1999), Giuseppe Sinopoli (2000 ), Riccardo Muti (2001) and again Seiji Ozawa (2004).

Furthermore, was on 16 June, 2002 for the first time by the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra (conducted by Seiji Ozawa) a CONCERT FOR AUSTRIA organized. More CONCERTS FOR AUSTRIA followed on 26 October 2003 (Zubin Mehta) and 26 October 2004 (under Valery Gergiev).

At the Theater an der Wien Mozart's Così fan tutte experienced a triumphant new production conducted by Riccardo Muti. This Mozart cycle under Muti continued with DON GIOVANNI and 2001 LE MARRIAGE OF FIGARO, 1999.

more...

Directors since 1869

Franz von Dingelstedt 07/01/1867 - 18/12/1870

Opening 5/25/1869

Johann von Herbeck 12/19/1870 - 30/04/1875

Franz von Jauner 01/05/1875 - 18/06/1880

Director College:

Karl Mayerhofer, Gustav Walter and

Emil Scaria 19.06.1880 - 31.12.1880

Wilhelm Jahn 01.01.1881 - 10.14.1897

Gustav Mahler 10/15/1897 - 31/12/1907

Felix Weingartner 01.01.1908 - 28.02.1911

Hans Gregor 01.03.1911 - 14.11.1918

Franz Schalk 15.11.1918 - 08.15.1919

Richard Strauss/Franz Schalk 16/08/1919 - 31/10/1924

Franz Schalk 1/11/1924 - 8/31/1929

Clemens Krauss 01/09/1929 - 15/12/1934

Felix Weingartner, 01.01.1935 - 08.31.1936

Erwin Kerber 09/01/1936 - 08/31/1940

Henry K. Strohm 09.01.1940 - 19.04.1941

Walter Thomas 02.01.1941 - 19.04.1941

Ernst August Schneider 04/20/1941 - 02/28/1943

Karl Böhm 03.01.1943 - 30.04.1945

Alfred Jerger,

State Opera in the Volksoper 01.05.1945 - 14.06.1945

Franz Salmhofer,

State Opera in the Theater an der Wien, 18.06.1945 - 31.08.1955

Karl Böhm 01.09.1954 - 31.08.1956

Herbert von Karajan 01.09.1956 - 31.03.1962

Herbert von Karajan/Walter Erich Schäfer 01.04.1962 - 08.06.1963

Herbert von Karajan/Egon Hilbert 09.06.1963 - 31.08.1964

Egon Hilbert 01.09.1964 - 18.01.1968

Heinrich Reif- Gintl 19.01.1968 - 31.08.1972

Rudolf Gamsjager 01.09.1972 - 31.08.1976

Egon Seefehlner 01.09.1976 - 31.08.1982

Lorin Maazel 01.09.1982 - 31.08.1984

Egon Seefehlner 01.09.1984 - 31.08.1986

Dr. Claus Helmut Drese 01.09.1986 - 31.08.1991

Eberhard Waechter 01.09.1991 - 29.03.1992

Ioan Holender 01.04.1992 - 31.08.2010

Dominique Meyer since 01/09/2010

 

Opera world premieres

Abbreviations:

Od = the Odeon

Ron = Ronacher

TW = the Theater an der Wien

 

1875 10:03. Goldmark The Queen of Sheba

1877 04:10. Brüller Der Landfriede

1880 26.05. Riedel The Accolade

15.12. Brüller Bianca

1883 04.01. Leschetitzky The first fold

21.02. Bachrich Muzzedin

1884 26.03. Bachrich Heini of Styria

1886 30.03. Hellmesberger jun. Fata Morgana

4:10 . Hager Marffa

19.11. Goldmark Merlin

1887 03:04. Harold pepper

1889 27.03. Fox The Bride King

4:10. Smareglia The vassal of Szigeth

1891 19:02. Mader Refugees

1892 01.01. J. Strauss Ritter Pasman

16.02. Massenet Werther

19.11. Bulk Signor Formica

1894 20.01. Heuberger Miriam

1896 21.03. Goldmark The Cricket on the Hearth

1899 17:01. The Goldmark prisoners of war

1900 22:01. Zemlinsky It was once

1902 28.02. Forster The dot mon

1904 18:02. Wolf The Corregidor

1908 02.01. Goldmark The Winter's Tale

1910 12:04. The musician Bittner

18.05. Goldmark Götz von Berlichingen

1911 09:11. Bittner The mountain lake

1912 16.03. Oberleithner Aphrodite

1913 15.03. Schreker The game works and the Princess

1914 01.04. Schmidt Notre Dame

1916 04:10. R. Strauss Ariadne auf Naxos (Vienna version)

1917 23.11. Zaiszek-Blankenau Ferdinand and Luise

1919 10.10. R. Strauss Die Frau ohne Schatten

1920 13.05. Weingartner Champion Andrea/The Village School

1921 09.04. The Bittner Kohlhaymerin

1924 20.09. Beethoven/R. Strauss The Ruins of Athens

1925 24.02. Kienzl Sanctissimum

27.03. Frank The image of the Madonna

1931 20.06. Wellesz The Bacchae

1932 10:11. Heger The beggar Nameless

1934 20.01. Lehár Giuditta

08.12. Bittner The violet

1935 26.12. Salmhofer lady in dream

1937 06.02. Wenzl - Traun rock the atonement

17.04. Frank The strange woman

18.11. Weinberger Wallenstein

1938 09.03. Salmhofer Ivan Tarasenko

1939 02:02. Will King ballad

1941 04:04. Wagner Régeny Johanna Balk

1956 17.06. Martin The Storm

1971 23.05. The visit of an old lady

1976 17.12. A Love and Intrigue

1989 25.11. The blind Furrer (OD)

1990 06:12. Krenek last dance at St. Stephen's (Ron)

1995 20.05. Hölszky The walls (TW)

26.05. Schnittke Gesualdo

2002 15.06. Cerha Der Riese vom Steinfeld

2007 15:04 Naske The Omama in the apple tree

2010 28.02. Reimann Medea

2010 10:05. Eröd dots and Anton

www.wien-vienna.at/index.php?ID=484

To say we live in tumultuous times is an understatement. But is it one we could have predicted? Prognostication has always interested humanity. Who wouldn’t like to know the future? We’re always looking for signs and pathways from the historical (Nostradamus) to the sketchy (astrologers and palm readers). We want to be prepared and know what to expect. Data is now the currency of prediction. The stock market and politicians rely on past performances and historical trends to predict market swings and elections. But as we’ve learned, polls often fail to tell us what’s coming. It’s not the data; it’s the interpretation that fails us.

 

I look at a person’s past behavior, whether a friend or a public figure, to predict what they will do or say—how they will act. People are generally consistent. But I see it only as a guide, and sometimes I’m wrong. But a general sense is good enough for me. It’s a way of protecting myself and my expectations.

 

In 2000, Radiohead released their album, Kid A. It was a massive reset for them. “Kid A was Radiohead’s first No. 1 album in the U.S. Its foreboding music and non sequitur lyrics were off-putting to critics and fans at first. But today, they evoke the feeling of everyday life, from ‘glitchy cell reception’ and ‘decontextualized social-media updates’ to ‘the modern reality of omnipresent technological interconnectivity at the expense of genuine human connection,’” says music critic Steven Hyden in his book, This Isn’t Happening.

 

In a recent interview with The Wall Street Journal, Hyden says, “When you heard the album in 2000, it didn’t make sense—as rock music, as a Radiohead record, even as songs. But when I listen to it now, it feels like what it’s like to experience daily life. We live in this world where we’re being inundated with information.” The 21-year-old Kid A conveys the destabilization we feel now. “We can’t really take it all in. We absorb as much as we can, the best we can, and we assume we’re right in the conclusions we make.”

 

Saul Bass’ 1968 iconic short film, Why Man Creates, celebrates the creative spirit, one that can sustain us as we traverse those ups and downs. The film notes the cyclic nature of our lives and humanity throughout. But there is one scene that always stops me when I come to it, a digression in the storyline in which two snails are talking with each other. One says to the other: “Have you ever thought that radical ideas threaten institutions, then become institutions, and in turn reject radical ideas which threaten institutions?” For one sentence, this packs quite a punch. This is the recurring nature of our civilization and our lives. A novel idea threatens accepted institutions and meets with resistance. Eventually, that idea may supplant the traditional thought until another discovery comes along and jeopardizes the sanctity of that belief. And, once again, it is met with resistance. People’s lives are made better or destroyed along this fault line.

 

Capitalism is a perfect example of this type of adjustment. For over a century, it has referred to an economic system in which privately or corporately owned companies produce products and services sustained by the accumulation and reinvestment of profits. During the duality of the Cold War, it was the bulwark against communism. Now, many, including politicians like Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and CEOs such as Ray Dalio, Co-Chief Investment Officer & Chairman of Bridgewater Associates, the world’s largest hedge fund, are reimagining capitalism. Income inequality is at one of its highest points in our history. Each wants to restructure the system to reduce the profits going to mostly CEOs and stockholders (today American CEOs make 351 times more than workers; in 1965, it was only 15 to one) while including companies’ workers in the profits. This is a hard sell on Wall Street. And, along with other initiatives that aim to redistribute our country’s wealth, conservatives call this socialism. Fervent opposition greets the new idea that challenges the old paradigm.

 

Boomers like myself have lived history. We’ve experienced many of society’s cycles. Sometimes we’ve been taken to a precipice like the Cuban Missile Crisis or a shared sorrow like the assassination of John F. Kennedy or 9/11. And, because of that experience, we assume that as shocking as such events can be, we will bounce back. That’s the way it was. But is that the way it is now?

 

When I was young, the pace of these phases was slower than it is today. There were sharp jags every so often, but our culture’s main direction, while often chaotic, wasn’t inundated with the amount of conflicting information we receive today. The speed of change has accelerated so much that many try to put their feet on the brake pedal. I often hear my fellow Boomers wax poetic about the 1960s and 1970s (which were anything but optimistic). Time has a way of leveling those good and bad times. Our children, who’ve only experienced our current pace, are not immune to its effects. Depression and suicide amongst teens and young adults are at an all-time high.

 

Opposing messages bombard us hourly. Not only is this broadcasted to us, we actively engage each other with these contradictory ideas via social media. Boom, boom, boom. It’s debilitating. Today’s contradiction: should we get COVID booster shots? The FDA’s decision to greenlight it for people over 65 is far from a firm YES! The CDC is still monitoring the situation, and there is still a question of whether the science supports it. And, if so, when will we know? We’re looking for an answer now when we may not have one yet. Politicians and federal and state governments haven’t adjusted to this new norm any better.

 

The pandemic presents us with an ongoing dilemma. Forget the anti-vaxxers and vaccine-hesitants for a second. Even if you believe in science and the efficacy of vaccines, this is unfamiliar territory. Science isn’t “facts.” It represents a process by which we learn facts. And these facts can change. So, scientists may not know the answers or may differ in their opinions. And, as new information becomes available, they may even change their minds. Many accuse Dr. Anthony Fauci of flip-flopping when all he’s doing is altering his opinion based on updated findings. When scientific inquiry meets public expectations, anger ensues. For people expecting answers, this makes them anxious and suspicious. After a year and a half, many are tired and stressed with nothing definitive to go on. In the spring, we thought we might see the end of the pandemic. Euphoria broke out with talk of a new “Roaring 20s.” Then, along came the delta variant. Once again, we’re trapped in this sped-up loop of additional problems and updated solutions supplanting old ones over and over.

 

This acceleration of change and influx of ideas has led to greater polarization. The Constitution tells us we’re a nation of individuals with personal rights. But look what’s happening when we plant our feet firmly in our belief systems and cling to our biases. We aren’t agile enough to live with so many unknowns, so many buckle down. Our system of governance is not changing to meet this new reality and engender confidence. Our inability to address the pressing issues that divide us (affordable health care, reasonable gun control, addressing mental health, teaching critical thinking, just to name a few) led to the authoritarian presidency of Donald Trump. The Republican Party’s platform, based entirely on opposition, has kept us in the same place even after Trump has left office. Radiohead predicted this dystopian world. And here it is.

 

Can we acknowledge the truth of our lives right now? Unlike the game “Truth or Dare,” this is both a truth and a dare. The truth is, we are in the vortex where one idea challenges another multiple times a day. We’re overwhelmed and insecure. And that insecurity has consequences that exacerbate solutions. It’s not the data; it’s how we interpret it that’s important.

 

I’m also daring us to accept and use this reality to alter our lives. Not only must we survive this chaos, but we can also change our country’s trajectory by our own actions. If we don’t, we might lose it all.

  

Feel free to pass this poster on. It's free to download here (click on the down arrow just to the lower right of the image).

 

See the rest of the posters from the Chamomile Tea Party! Digital high res downloads are free here (click the down arrow on the lower right side of the image). Other options are available. And join our Facebook group.

 

Follow the history of our country's political intransigence from 2010-2020 through a seven-part exhibit of these posters on Google Arts & Culture.

Henro Boke[H]-Photography

Rose Macro - close up of rose petals

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Facts About Rose and Roses

The birthplace of the cultivated Rose was probably Northern Persia (Current IRAN), on the Caspian, or Faristan on the Gulf of Persia.

Historically, the oldest Rose fossils have been found in Colorado, dating back to more than 35 million years ago.

Roses were considered the most sacred flowers in ancient Egypt and were used as offerings for the Goddess Isis. Roses have also been found in Egyptian tombs, where they were formed into funerary wreaths.

Confucius, 551 BC to 479 BC, reported that the Imperial Chinese library had many books on Roses.

Ancient Sumerians of Mesopotamia (in the Tigris-Euphrates River Valley) mentioned Roses in a cuneiform tablet (a system of writing) written in approximately 2860 BC.

The English were already cultivating and hybridizing Roses in the 15th Century when the English War of Roses took place. The winner of the war, Tudor Henry VII, created the Rose of England (Tudor Rose) by crossbreeding other Roses.

While no Black Rose yet exists, there are some of such a deep Red color as to suggest Black.

Roses are omnipresent and grown over all parts of the globe.

The Netherlands is the world's leading exporter of Roses.

The Netherlands, with about 8000 hectares of land under Rose cultivation, is the global leader in Rose cultivation. 54 per cent (about 5000 hectares) of the cultivated land in Ecuador is under Rose cultivation!! Zambia, a small nation, had 80 per cent of its cultivated land under Roses.

Classification of Roses

Broadly, Roses are divided into three classes-

 

Species Roses

Species Roses are often called Wild Species Roses. Species Roses often have relatively simple, 5-petaled flowers followed by very colorful hips that last well into the winter, providing food for birds and winter color.

 

The most popular Rose species for sale today is Rosa rugosa owing to its superior hardiness, disease resistance, and extremely easy maintenance. Species roses are widely hybridized. Wild Species Roses include many different varieties. Wild Species Roses usually bloom once in the summer.

 

Old Garden Roses

Old Garden Roses have a delicate beauty and wonderful perfume, not often found in modern hybrid tea roses. Old Garden Roses are a diverse group from the those with a wonderful fragrance and great winter hardiness to the tender and lovely tea roses, which are best suited for warm climates.

 

Old Garden Roses comprise a multifaceted group that in general are easy to grow, disease-resistant and winter-hardy. Old Garden Roses grow in several shrub and vine sizes. Although colors do vary, this class of Roses are usually white or pastel in color. These "antique Roses" are generally preferred for lawns and home gardens. Several groupings of Roses classified as Old Garden Roses are China Roses, Tea Roses, Moss Roses, Damask Roses, Bourbon Roses, etc.

 

Modern Roses

Old Garden Roses are the predecessors of Modern Roses. Any Rose identified after 1867, is considered a Modern Rose. This group of Roses are very popular. The Modern Rose is the result of crossbreeding the hybrid tea with the polyanthus (a variety of primrose).

 

The colors of Modern Roses are varied, rich and vibrant. The most popular roses found in the class of Modern Roses are the Hybrid Tea Roses, Floribunda Roses, and Grandiflora Roses. Although Modern Roses are adored by florists and gardeners, they do require proper care, and do not adapt well to colder environments.

 

Facts About Roses

The birthplace of the cultivated Rose was probably Northern Persia, on the Caspian, or Faristan on the Gulf of Persia.

Historically, the oldest Rose fossils have been found in Colorado, dating back to more than 35 million years ago.

Roses were considered the most sacred flowers in ancient Egypt and were used as offerings for the Goddess Isis. Roses have also been found in Egyptian tombs, where they were formed into funerary wreaths.

Confucius, 551 BC to 479 BC, reported that the Imperial Chinese library had many books on Roses.

Ancient Sumerians of Mesopotamia (in the Tigris-Euphrates River Valley) mentioned Roses in a cuneiform tablet (a system of writing) written in approximately 2860 BC.

The English were already cultivating and hybridizing Roses in the 15th Century when the English War of Roses took place. The winner of the war, Tudor Henry VII, created the Rose of England (Tudor Rose) by crossbreeding other Roses.

While no Black Rose yet exists, there are some of such a deep Red color as to suggest Black.

Roses are omnipresent and grown over all parts of the globe.

The Netherlands is the world's leading exporter of Roses.

The Netherlands, with about 8000 hectares of land under Rose cultivation, is the global leader in Rose cultivation. 54 per cent (about 5000 hectares) of the cultivated land in Ecuador is under Rose cultivation!! Zambia, a small nation, had 80 per cent of its cultivated land under Roses.

Classification of Roses

Broadly, Roses are divided into three classes-

 

Species Roses

Species Roses are often called Wild Species Roses. Species Roses often have relatively simple, 5-petaled flowers followed by very colorful hips that last well into the winter, providing food for birds and winter color.

 

The most popular Rose species for sale today is Rosa rugosa owing to its superior hardiness, disease resistance, and extremely easy maintenance. Species roses are widely hybridized. Wild Species Roses include many different varieties. Wild Species Roses usually bloom once in the summer.

 

Old Garden Roses

Old Garden Roses have a delicate beauty and wonderful perfume, not often found in modern hybrid tea roses. Old Garden Roses are a diverse group from the those with a wonderful fragrance and great winter hardiness to the tender and lovely tea roses, which are best suited for warm climates.

 

Old Garden Roses comprise a multifaceted group that in general are easy to grow, disease-resistant and winter-hardy. Old Garden Roses grow in several shrub and vine sizes. Although colors do vary, this class of Roses are usually white or pastel in color. These "antique Roses" are generally preferred for lawns and home gardens. Several groupings of Roses classified as Old Garden Roses are China Roses, Tea Roses, Moss Roses, Damask Roses, Bourbon Roses, etc.

 

Modern Roses

Old Garden Roses are the predecessors of Modern Roses. Any Rose identified after 1867, is considered a Modern Rose. This group of Roses are very popular. The Modern Rose is the result of crossbreeding the hybrid tea with the polyanthus (a variety of primrose).

 

The colors of Modern Roses are varied, rich and vibrant. The most popular roses found in the class of Modern Roses are the Hybrid Tea Roses, Floribunda Roses, and Grandiflora Roses. Although Modern Roses are adored by florists and gardeners, they do require proper care, and do not adapt well to colder environments.

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From the flower Expert

www.theflowerexpert.com/content/mostpopularflowers/rose

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The Meaning of Rose Colors

Red Rose--------------Love, Beauty, Courage and Respect, Romantic Love, Congratulations, "I Love You", "Job Well Done", Sincere Love, Respect, Courage & Passion

Red Rose (Dark)-------Unconscious beauty

Red Rose (Single)-----"I Love You"

Deep Burgundy Rose----Unconscious Beauty

White Rose------------Purity, Innocence, Silence, Secrecy, Reverence, Humility, Youthfulness, "I am worthy of you", Heavenly

White Rose(Bridal)----Happy love

Pink Rose-------------Appreciation, "Thank you", Grace, Perfect Happiness, Admiration, Gentleness, "Please Believe Me"

Dark Pink Rose--------Appreciation, Gratitude, "Thank You"

Light Pink Rose-------Admiration, Sympathy, Gentleness, Grace, Gladness, Joy, Sweetness

Yellow Rose-----------Joy, Gladness, Friendship, Delight, Promise of a new beginning, Welcome Back, Remember Me, Jealousy, "I care"

Yellow Rose, Red Tip--Friendship, Falling in Love

Orange Rose-----------Desire, Enthusiasm

Red and White Rose----Given together, these signify unity

Red and Yellow Rose---Jovial and Happy Feelings

Peach Rose------------Appreciation, Closing the deal, Let's get together, Sincerity, Gratitude

Pale Peach Rose-------Modesty

Coral Rose------------Desire

Lavender Rose---------Love at first sight, Enchantment

Orange Rose-----------Enthusiasm, Desire, Fascination

Black Rose------------Death, Farewell

Blue Rose-------------The unattainable, the impossible

Single, any color-----Simplicity, Gratitude

Red Rosebud-----------Symbolic of purity and loveliness

White Rosebud---------Symbolic of girlhood

Thornless Rose--------"Love at first sight"

Macro / Rose Flower / Rose Macro / Macro Rose / closeup rose / peach / closeup rose / Rose closeup

 

From the site:

www.rkdn.org/roses/colors.asp

  

Citando a Lordfocus: Eres una ilusión de solidez formada por partículas en movimiento y la percepción de tus sentidos, interpenetrada por un vacío omnipresente.

If at all there is a God then it should be "Light". Omnipresent, omnipotent, infinite and immortal !!! I think that's why our ancestors worshiped sun as God. See His play here !!!

  

வெளியாய் அருளில் விரவுமன்பர் தேகம்

ஒளியாய்ப் பிறங்கியதும் உண்டோ பராபரமே !!!

  

தாயுமானவர் பராபரக்கண்ணி