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New book! Epic Landscape Photography: The Principles of Fine Art Nature Photography!

 

www.facebook.com/epiclandscapephotography/

 

instagram.com/elliotmcgucken

 

Join my new 45EPIC fine art landscapes page on facebook!

facebook.com/mcgucken

 

Working on a couple photography books! 45EPIC GODDESS PHOTOGRAPHY: A classic guide to exalting the archetypal woman. And 45EPIC Fine Art Landscape Photography!

 

More on my golden ratio musings: facebook.com/goldennumberratio

instagram.com/goldennumberratio

 

Greetings all! I have been busy finishing a few books on photography, while traveling all over--to Zion and the Sierras--shooting fall colors. Please see some here: facebook.com/mcgucken

instagram.com/elliotmcgucken

 

Let me know in the comments if you would like a free review copy of one of my photography books! :)

 

Titles include:

The Tao of Epic Landscape Photography: Exalt Fine Art with the Yin-Yang Wisdom of Lao Tzu's Tao Te Ching!

 

The Golden Number Ratio Principle: Why the Fibonacci Numbers Exalt Beauty and How to Create PHI Compositions in Art, Design, & Photography

facebook.com/goldennumberratio

 

And I am also working on a book on photographing the goddesses! :) More goddesses soon!

 

Best wishes on your epic hero's odyssey!:)

 

instagram.com/45surf

 

I love voyaging forth into nature to contemplate poetry, physics, the golden ratio, and the Tao te Ching! What's your favorite epic poetry reflecting epic landscapes? I recently finished a book titled Epic Poetry for Epic Landscape Photographers:

 

www.facebook.com/Epic-Poetry-for-Epic-Landscape-Photograp...

 

Did you know that John Muir, Thoreau, and Emerson all loved epic poetry and poets including Shakespeare, Milton, Homer, and Robert Burns?

 

I recently finished my fourth book on Light Time Dimension Theory, much of which was inspired by an autumn trip to Zion!

 

www.facebook.com/lightimedimensiontheory/

 

Via its simple principle of a fourth expanding dimension, LTD Theory provides a unifying, foundational *physical* model underlying relativity, quantum mechanics, time and all its arrows and asymmetries, and the second law of thermodynamics. The detailed diagrams demonstrate that the great mysteries of quantum mechanical nonlocality, entanglement, and probability naturally arise from the very same principle that fosters relativity alongside light's constant velocity, the equivalence of mass and energy, and time dilation.

 

Follow me on instagram!

instagram.com/elliotmcgucken

 

Join my new 45EPIC fine art landscapes page on facebook!

facebook.com/mcgucken

Now selling epic 45SURF t-shirts & hoodies!

 

shop.spreadshirt.com/45surf/45surf+hero's+odyssey+mytholo...

 

Epic Malibu Sea Caves 2018 Caledar!

www.zazzle.com/elliotmcgucken

 

My book on Epic Landscape Photography!

www.amazon.com/Epic-Landscape-Photography-Principles-Comp...

 

Photographing the Venus Archetype!

www.amazon.com/Photographing-Women-Models-Photography-Arc...

 

Greetings mate! As many of you know, I love marrying art, science, and math in my fine art portrait and landscape photography!

 

The 45surf and gold 45 revolver swimsuits, shirts, logos, designs, and lingerie are designed in accordance with the golden ratio! More about the design and my philosophy of "no retouching" on the beautiful goddesses in my new book:

 

www.facebook.com/Photographing-Women-Models-Portrait-Swim...

 

"Photographing Women Models: Portrait, Swimsuit, Lingerie, Boudoir, Fine Art, & Fashion Photography Exalting the Venus Goddess Archetype"

 

If you would like a free review copy, message me!

 

Epic Landscape Photography! New Book!

www.facebook.com/epiclandscapephotography

 

And here's more on the golden ratio which appears in many of my landscape and portrait photographs (while shaping the proportions of the golden gun)!

 

www.facebook.com/goldennumberratio/

'

The dx4/dt=ic above the gun on the lingerie derives from my new physics books devoted to Light, Time, Dimension Theory!

 

www.facebook.com/lightimedimensiontheory/

 

Thanks for being a fan! Would love to hears your thoughts on my philosophies and books! :)

 

facebook.com/mcgucken

http:/instagram.com/elliotmcgucken

instagram.com/goldennumberratio

 

Beautiful swimsuit bikini model goddess!

 

Golden Ratio Lingerie Model Goddess LTD Theory Lingerie dx4/dt=ic! The Birth of Venus, Athena, and Artemis! Girls and Guns!

 

Would you like to see the whole set? Comment below and let me know!

 

Follow me!

instagram.com/45surf

facebook.com/mcgucken

instagram.com/elliotmcgucken

 

I am working on several books on "epic photography," and I recently finished a related one titled: The Golden Number Ratio Principle: Why the Fibonacci Numbers Exalt Beauty and How to Create PHI Compositions in Art, Design, & Photography: An Artistic and Scientific Introduction to the Golden Mean . Message me on facebook for a free review copy!

 

www.facebook.com/goldennumberratio/

 

The Golden Ratio informs a lot of my art and photographic composition. The Golden Ratio also informs the design of the golden revolver on all the swimsuits and lingerie, as well as the 45surf logo! Not so long ago, I came up with the Golden Ratio Principle which describes why The Golden Ratio is so beautiful.

 

The Golden Number Ratio Principle: Dr. E’s Golden Ratio Principle: The golden ratio exalts beauty because the number is a characteristic of the mathematically and physically most efficient manners of growth and distribution, on both evolutionary and purely physical levels. The golden ratio ensures that the proportions and structure of that which came before provide the proportions and structure of that which comes after. Robust, ordered growth is naturally associated with health and beauty, and thus we evolved to perceive the golden ratio harmonies as inherently beautiful, as we saw and felt their presence in all vital growth and life—in the salient features and proportions of humans and nature alike, from the distribution of our facial features and bones to the arrangements of petals, leaves, and sunflowers seeds. As ratios between Fibonacci Numbers offer the closest whole-number approximations to the golden ratio, and as seeds, cells, leaves, bones, and other physical entities appear in whole numbers, the Fibonacci Numbers oft appear in nature’s elements as “growth’s numbers.” From the dawn of time, humanity sought to salute their gods in art and temples exalting the same proportion by which all their vital sustenance and they themselves had been created—the golden ratio.

 

The Birth of Venus! Beautiful Golden Ratio Swimsuit Bikini Model Goddess! Helen of Troy! She was tall, thin, fit, and quite pretty!

  

Read all about how classical art such as The Birth of Venus inspires all my photography!

www.facebook.com/Photographing-Women-Models-Portrait-Swim...

 

"Photographing Women Models: Portrait, Swimsuit, Lingerie, Boudoir, Fine Art, & Fashion Photography Exalting the Venus Goddess Archetype"

   

West Yellowstone Wolves Montana Winter Wolfpack Sony A1 ILCE-1 Fine Art Wolf Apex Predator Photography! Canis Lupus Sony Alpha 1 & Sony FE Telephoto Zoom 70-200mm f/2.8 GM OSS E-Mount Lens SEL70200G West Yellowstone Snow! Elliot McGucken Fine Art Wildlife Alpha1

 

I had great fun photographing wolves, bears, and eagles with the awesome Sony Alpha 1 and two of my favorite Sony Gmaster lenses -- the 70-200mm f/2.8 GM OSS E-Mount Lens SEL70200G and the Sony Alpha 1 & Sony FE 200-600mm f/5.6-6.3 G OSS E-Mount Lens SEL200600G ! The Sony A1 is the best wildlife I have ever used!

 

All my photography celebrates the physics of light! The McGucken Principle of the fourth expanding dimension: The fourth dimension is expanding at the rate of c relative to the three spatial dimensions: dx4/dt=ic .

 

Lao Tzu--The Tao: Nature does not hurry, yet everything is accomplished.

 

Light Time Dimension Theory: The Foundational Physics Unifying Einstein's Relativity and Quantum Mechanics: A Simple, Illustrated Introduction to the Unifying Physical Reality of the Fourth Expanding Dimensionsion dx4/dt=ic !: geni.us/Fa1Q

 

"Between every two pine trees there is a door leading to a new way of life." --John Muir

 

Epic Stoicism guides my fine art odyssey and photography: geni.us/epicstoicism

 

“The clearest way into the Universe is through a forest wilderness.” --John Muir

 

Epic Poetry inspires all my photography: geni.us/9K0Ki Epic Poetry for Epic Landscape Photography: Exalt Fine Art Nature Photography with the Poetic Wisdom of John Muir, Emerson, Thoreau, Homer's Iliad, Milton's Paradise Lost & Dante's Inferno Odyssey

 

“The mountains are calling and I must go.” --John Muir

 

Epic Art & 45EPIC Gear exalting golden ratio designs for your Hero's Odyssey:

geni.us/9fnvAMw

 

Support epic fine art! 45surf ! Bitcoin: 1FMBZJeeHVMu35uegrYUfEkHfPj5pe9WNz

 

Exalt the goddess archetype in the fine art of photography! My Epic Book: Photographing Women Models!

geni.us/m90Ms

Portrait, Swimsuit, Lingerie, Boudoir, Fine Art, & Fashion Photography Exalting the Venus Goddess Archetype: How to Shoot Epic ... Epic! Beautiful Surf Fine Art Portrait Swimsuit Bikini Models!

 

Some of my epic books, prints, & more!

geni.us/aEG4

 

Exalt your photography with Golden Ratio Compositions!

geni.us/eeA1

Golden Ratio Compositions & Secret Sacred Geometry for Photography, Fine Art, & Landscape Photographers: How to Exalt Art with Leonardo da Vinci's, Michelangelo's!

 

Epic Landscape Photography:

geni.us/TV4oEAz

A Simple Guide to the Principles of Fine Art Nature Photography: Master Composition, Lenses, Camera Settings, Aperture, ISO, ... Hero's Odyssey Mythology Photography)

 

All art is but imitation of nature.-- Seneca (Letters from a Stoic - Letter LXV: On the First Cause)

 

The universe itself is God and the universal outpouring of its soul. --Chrysippus (Quoted by Cicero in De Natura Deorum)

 

Photographs available as epic fine art luxury prints. For prints and licensing information, please send me a flickr mail or contact drelliot@gmail.com with your queries! All the best on your Epic Hero's Odyssey!

Step into the serene grounds of the D.T. Suzuki Museum in Kanazawa, Japan, a tranquil haven dedicated to the celebrated Buddhist philosopher Daisetz Teitaro Suzuki. This image captures the museum's water reflection garden, a key element that embodies Suzuki's teachings on Zen and mindfulness. The mirror-like surface of the water perfectly reflects the surrounding trees and the textured stone wall, creating a harmonious blend of natural and man-made beauty.

 

The stone wall, with its light-colored, textured surface, features a small rectangular opening near its base, inviting curiosity and contemplation. The wall serves as both a visual anchor and a symbol of the boundaries and connections between the physical and spiritual worlds. The lush greenery surrounding the pond includes a mix of vibrant green and autumnal hues, adding a rich tapestry of colors to the scene.

 

This tranquil setting encourages visitors to pause, reflect, and connect with nature. The garden's design, characterized by simplicity and elegance, aligns with the principles of Zen, offering a peaceful retreat from the hustle and bustle of everyday life. The water reflection garden is not only a visual delight but also a place for meditative practices, drawing visitors into a deeper state of mindfulness.

 

Whether you are a devotee of Zen philosophy or simply seeking a quiet moment of reflection, the D.T. Suzuki Museum provides an enriching experience that celebrates the harmony between nature and human artistry. This serene garden invites you to explore the depths of Zen teachings and the beauty of mindful living.

Sharp, on the tongue bright

questions, gazes left alone

this clean and worn path.

 

-abandoned Six Flags, New Orleans

-cross-processed Fuji Velvia+

facebook | Twitter

11 May 2009. I got another email from former councillor Harry Lister, until 13 May 2009 Chief Whip of Haringey Labour Group.

 

This is the third instalment on this topic.

Click here for Part 1 ; and here for Part 2.

________________________________________________

 

The story so far.

 

Our hero, Hank Lister, former Marshal of Haringeyville, is tipped-off by the councillor-with-no-name that Al Stanton has bin a-postin' on the notorious Flickr website. Al is tellin' inconvenient truth an' askin' awkward questions about some fine upstandin' citizens & pillars of the local political community.

 

Stubbin' out his ceegar and loadin' up a top-secret report, Marshall Lister heads fer the Civic Centre and a showdown at High 7 pm.

 

§ Link to councillor-with-no-name theme music. (Updated 15 June 2012. Thanks to JS.)

§ Great version by the Ukulele Orchestra of Great Britain.

(Yup Hank, pardner. Them's a-playin' yor toon.)

 

Click the BACK button to return to Haringeyville.

 

¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯

From : Cllr Harry Lister, Chief Whip, Haringey Labour Group

To : Cllr Alan Stanton

Sent : Monday, May 11, 2009 1:08 PM

Subject : Special Group Meeting

 

Alan,

 

I urge you to attend the meeting on Tuesday at 7pm at which point you will get sight of the report. This is completely in accordance with the rules. I had hoped to discuss the matter in more detail on the 5th of May but this is an opportunity you declined to accept.

 

As you will see in Clause XIII (Breach of Rule), 3.A. of Chapter 13 of the Labour Party Rule Book, I am required to ensure that there is no party discussion on the proposed action outside the meeting with the group officers that I held last week. This is made especially hard because you have decided to make this process public. That is why you cannot expect me to be flexible with the rules and give you confidential, internal information when you are not entitled to it.

 

You are quite right that you will be allowed to speak either by way of rebutting my particular findings or in mitigation but contrary to what you might believe, there is no provision for you to have early sight of my report. I have laid out the rules that I think you have broken (the charges) on a number of occasions; I will present my evidence at the meeting as required and I look forward to seeing you there.

 

Regards,

 

Harry

 

----- Original Message -----

From : Alan Stanton

To : Cllr Harry Lister

cc : Labour Councillors

Sent : Monday, May 11, 2009 4:27 PM

Subject : Special Group Meeting

 

Cllr Lister

 

I got your email above. I note that you once again you refuse to give me the evidence for your 'charges'. And that I must wait until "Tuesday at 7pm at which point you will get sight of the report" .

 

Your 'explanation' that I am not entitled to it because it "contains confidential, internal information" is laughable. How "internal" and "confidential" can anything be which you say I've posted on a website or which has appeared in a newspaper?

 

Can I please refer you to Clause XI. 3.B of the Labour Party Rules which appears to say that the matter shall be determined with "evidence taken in writing, from the defendant and from witnesses as necessary".

 

Are you proposing that I attend the meeting tomorrow evening and write my evidence at the same time as I read your report and listen to you present it? And at the same time as I consider questions; and respond to questions from other people?

 

Even were you to email me your report this evening, I will not have time to read it and write my response.

 

I may indeed wish to call witnesses, but until I see your report and the evidence you base it on, I don't know which witnesses, if any, may be appropriate.

 

I've already explained why I didn't attend your investigatory meeting. Once again, for the record, you did not tell me the details of what you were investigating. In any case, I believe you have a conflict of interest, are not impartial, and should not have conducted any such investigation.

 

I realise that the principles of Natural Justice are sometimes a little inconvenient.

 

You are a full time official of UNISON, a union with a proud tradition for ensuring justice in the workplace. Would this process stand up to their / your scrutiny?

These Seven Principles of Human Learning taken from the National Academies Press free ebook Learning and Understanding (2002).

 

"During the last four decades, scientists have engaged in research that has increased our understanding of human cognition, providing greater insight into how knowledge is organized, how experience shapes understanding, how people monitor their own understanding, how learners differ from one another, and how people acquire expertise. From this emerging body of research, scientists and others have been able to synthesize a number of underlying principles of human learning. This growing understanding of how people learn has the potential to influence significantly the nature of education and its outcomes."

 

Image licensed under Creative Commons by *Blunight 72*: www.flickr.com/photos/blunight72/164070593/

New book! Epic Landscape Photography: The Principles of Fine Art Nature Photography!

 

www.facebook.com/epiclandscapephotography/

 

instagram.com/elliotmcgucken

 

Join my new 45EPIC fine art landscapes page on facebook!

facebook.com/mcgucken

 

Working on a couple photography books! 45EPIC GODDESS PHOTOGRAPHY: A classic guide to exalting the archetypal woman. And 45EPIC Fine Art Landscape Photography!

 

More on my golden ratio musings: facebook.com/goldennumberratio

instagram.com/goldennumberratio

 

Greetings all! I have been busy finishing a few books on photography, while traveling all over--to Zion and the Sierras--shooting fall colors. Please see some here: facebook.com/mcgucken

instagram.com/elliotmcgucken

 

Let me know in the comments if you would like a free review copy of one of my photography books! :)

 

Titles include:

The Tao of Epic Landscape Photography: Exalt Fine Art with the Yin-Yang Wisdom of Lao Tzu's Tao Te Ching!

 

The Golden Number Ratio Principle: Why the Fibonacci Numbers Exalt Beauty and How to Create PHI Compositions in Art, Design, & Photography

facebook.com/goldennumberratio

 

And I am also working on a book on photographing the goddesses! :) More goddesses soon!

 

Best wishes on your epic hero's odyssey!:)

 

instagram.com/45surf

 

I love voyaging forth into nature to contemplate poetry, physics, the golden ratio, and the Tao te Ching! What's your favorite epic poetry reflecting epic landscapes? I recently finished a book titled Epic Poetry for Epic Landscape Photographers:

 

www.facebook.com/Epic-Poetry-for-Epic-Landscape-Photograp...

 

Did you know that John Muir, Thoreau, and Emerson all loved epic poetry and poets including Shakespeare, Milton, Homer, and Robert Burns?

 

I recently finished my fourth book on Light Time Dimension Theory, much of which was inspired by an autumn trip to Zion!

 

www.facebook.com/lightimedimensiontheory/

 

Via its simple principle of a fourth expanding dimension, LTD Theory provides a unifying, foundational *physical* model underlying relativity, quantum mechanics, time and all its arrows and asymmetries, and the second law of thermodynamics. The detailed diagrams demonstrate that the great mysteries of quantum mechanical nonlocality, entanglement, and probability naturally arise from the very same principle that fosters relativity alongside light's constant velocity, the equivalence of mass and energy, and time dilation.

 

Follow me on instagram!

instagram.com/elliotmcgucken

 

Join my new 45EPIC fine art landscapes page on facebook!

facebook.com/mcgucken

Sony A7 r & Super Sharp Carl Zeiss 55mm Glass! The awesome Sony Sonnar T* FE 55mm f/1.8 ZA Lens!

 

Fine Art Ballet Photography! Pretty Ballerina Portraits! Dancing Classical Ballet in Pointe Shoes! Golden Ratio Composition Ballet Dancer Photography! Graceful Portrait Photography of Professional Ballerina! Leotard & Tutu! Carl Zeiss 55mm f/1.8 ZA Lens & A7 R!

 

Epic Art & 45EPIC Gear exalting golden ratio designs for your Hero's Odyssey:

geni.us/9fnvAMw

 

Support epic fine art! 45surf ! Bitcoin: 1FMBZJeeHVMu35uegrYUfEkHfPj5pe9WNz

 

Exalt the goddess archetype in the fine art of photography! My Epic Book: Photographing Women Models!

geni.us/m90Ms

Portrait, Swimsuit, Lingerie, Boudoir, Fine Art, & Fashion Photography Exalting the Venus Goddess Archetype: How to Shoot Epic ... Epic! Beautiful Surf Fine Art Portrait Swimsuit Bikini Models!

 

Follow me my good friends!

Facebook: geni.us/A0Na3

Instagram: geni.us/QD2J

Golden Ratio: geni.us/9EbGK

45SURF: geni.us/Mby4P

Fine Art Ballet: geni.us/C1Adc

 

Some of my epic books, prints, & more!

geni.us/aEG4

 

Epic Poetry inspires all my photography: geni.us/9K0Ki Epic Poetry for Epic Landscape Photography: Exalt Fine Art Nature Photography with the Poetic Wisdom of John Muir, Emerson, Thoreau, Homer's Iliad, Milton's Paradise Lost & Dante's Inferno Odyssey

 

Exalt your photography with Golden Ratio Compositions!

geni.us/eeA1

Golden Ratio Compositions & Secret Sacred Geometry for Photography, Fine Art, & Landscape Photographers: How to Exalt Art with Leonardo da Vinci's, Michelangelo's!

 

Epic Landscape Photography:

geni.us/TV4oEAz

A Simple Guide to the Principles of Fine Art Nature Photography: Master Composition, Lenses, Camera Settings, Aperture, ISO, ... Hero's Odyssey Mythology Photography)

 

All my photography celebrates the physics of light! dx4/dt=ic! Light Time Dimension Theory: The Foundational Physics Unifying Einstein's Relativity and Quantum Mechanics: A Simple, Illustrated Introduction to the Physical: geni.us/Fa1Q

 

Ralph Waldo Emerson. The happiest man is he who learns from nature the lesson of worship.

The moment I wake up

Before I put on my makeup…

#MacroMondays #ReadyfortheDay 2018-05-21

 

Santa Monica Pier Sunset Red & Orange Clouds Fine Art California Landscape Seascape Photography! Sony A7R III & Sony FE 16-35mm f/2.8 GM G Master Lens! High Res 4k 8K Photography! Elliot McGucken Fine Art Pacific Ocean Sunset! Sony A7RIII A7R3!

 

Epic Poetry inspires all my photography: geni.us/9K0Ki Epic Poetry for Epic Landscape Photography: Exalt Fine Art Nature Photography with the Poetic Wisdom of John Muir, Emerson, Thoreau, Homer's Iliad, Milton's Paradise Lost & Dante's Inferno Odyssey

 

Epic Art & 45EPIC Gear exalting golden ratio designs for your Hero's Odyssey:

geni.us/9fnvAMw

 

Support epic fine art! 45surf ! Bitcoin: 1FMBZJeeHVMu35uegrYUfEkHfPj5pe9WNz

 

Exalt the goddess archetype in the fine art of photography! My Epic Book: Photographing Women Models!

geni.us/m90Ms

Portrait, Swimsuit, Lingerie, Boudoir, Fine Art, & Fashion Photography Exalting the Venus Goddess Archetype: How to Shoot Epic ... Epic! Beautiful Surf Fine Art Portrait Swimsuit Bikini Models!

 

Follow me my good friends!

Facebook: geni.us/A0Na3

Instagram: geni.us/QD2J

Golden Ratio: geni.us/9EbGK

45SURF: geni.us/Mby4P

Fine Art Ballet: geni.us/C1Adc

 

Some of my epic books, prints, & more!

geni.us/aEG4

 

Exalt your photography with Golden Ratio Compositions!

geni.us/eeA1

Golden Ratio Compositions & Secret Sacred Geometry for Photography, Fine Art, & Landscape Photographers: How to Exalt Art with Leonardo da Vinci's, Michelangelo's!

 

Epic Landscape Photography:

geni.us/TV4oEAz

A Simple Guide to the Principles of Fine Art Nature Photography: Master Composition, Lenses, Camera Settings, Aperture, ISO, ... Hero's Odyssey Mythology Photography)

 

All my photography celebrates the physics of light! dx4/dt=ic! Light Time Dimension Theory: The Foundational Physics Unifying Einstein's Relativity and Quantum Mechanics: A Simple, Illustrated Introduction to the Physical: geni.us/Fa1Q

 

Ralph Waldo Emerson. The happiest man is he who learns from nature the lesson of worship.

 

Lucius Annaeus Seneca: On entering a temple we assume all signs of reverence. How much more reverent then should we be before the heavenly bodies, the stars, the very nature of God!

 

John Muir: All the wild world is beautiful, and it matters but little where we go, to highlands or lowlands, woods or plains, on the sea or land or down among the crystals of waves or high in a balloon in the sky; through all the climates, hot or cold, storms and calms, everywhere and always we are in God's eternal beauty and love. So universally true is this, the spot where we chance to be always seems the best.

 

These Seven Principles of Human Learning taken from the National Academies Press free ebook Learning and Understanding (2002).

 

"During the last four decades, scientists have engaged in research that has increased our understanding of human cognition, providing greater insight into how knowledge is organized, how experience shapes understanding, how people monitor their own understanding, how learners differ from one another, and how people acquire expertise. From this emerging body of research, scientists and others have been able to synthesize a number of underlying principles of human learning. This growing understanding of how people learn has the potential to influence significantly the nature of education and its outcomes."

 

Image licensed under Creative Commons by Perecca: www.flickr.com/photos/irvaas/2492506956/

New book! Epic Landscape Photography: The Principles of Fine Art Nature Photography!

 

www.facebook.com/epiclandscapephotography/

 

instagram.com/elliotmcgucken

 

Join my new 45EPIC fine art landscapes page on facebook!

facebook.com/mcgucken

 

Working on a couple photography books! 45EPIC GODDESS PHOTOGRAPHY: A classic guide to exalting the archetypal woman. And 45EPIC Fine Art Landscape Photography!

 

More on my golden ratio musings: facebook.com/goldennumberratio

instagram.com/goldennumberratio

 

Greetings all! I have been busy finishing a few books on photography, while traveling all over--to Zion and the Sierras--shooting fall colors. Please see some here: facebook.com/mcgucken

instagram.com/elliotmcgucken

 

Let me know in the comments if you would like a free review copy of one of my photography books! :)

 

Titles include:

The Tao of Epic Landscape Photography: Exalt Fine Art with the Yin-Yang Wisdom of Lao Tzu's Tao Te Ching!

 

The Golden Number Ratio Principle: Why the Fibonacci Numbers Exalt Beauty and How to Create PHI Compositions in Art, Design, & Photography

facebook.com/goldennumberratio

 

And I am also working on a book on photographing the goddesses! :) More goddesses soon!

 

Best wishes on your epic hero's odyssey!:)

 

instagram.com/45surf

 

I love voyaging forth into nature to contemplate poetry, physics, the golden ratio, and the Tao te Ching! What's your favorite epic poetry reflecting epic landscapes? I recently finished a book titled Epic Poetry for Epic Landscape Photographers:

 

www.facebook.com/Epic-Poetry-for-Epic-Landscape-Photograp...

 

Did you know that John Muir, Thoreau, and Emerson all loved epic poetry and poets including Shakespeare, Milton, Homer, and Robert Burns?

 

I recently finished my fourth book on Light Time Dimension Theory, much of which was inspired by an autumn trip to Zion!

 

www.facebook.com/lightimedimensiontheory/

 

Via its simple principle of a fourth expanding dimension, LTD Theory provides a unifying, foundational *physical* model underlying relativity, quantum mechanics, time and all its arrows and asymmetries, and the second law of thermodynamics. The detailed diagrams demonstrate that the great mysteries of quantum mechanical nonlocality, entanglement, and probability naturally arise from the very same principle that fosters relativity alongside light's constant velocity, the equivalence of mass and energy, and time dilation.

 

Follow me on instagram!

instagram.com/elliotmcgucken

 

Join my new 45EPIC fine art landscapes page on facebook!

facebook.com/mcgucken

A Fazenda do Lobo, localizada na Região Sudeste do Brasil, no Estado de Minas Gerais, é uma propriedade privada dedicada, exclusivamente, à preservação ambiental, da fauna e da flora, estando em constante plantio da flora natural, que atraem animais e pássaros, das mais variadas espécies (lobos, raposas, felinos, aves de rapina, tucanos e muitas outras aves), que crescem em número a cada novo ano.

Localizada em uma linda região montanhosa, a Fazenda do Lobo, possui um grande número de nascentes, sendo cortada por pequenos e perenes riachos, de água corrente e límpida, cuidadosamente preservados. Distando, quilômetros, dos grandes centros urbanos, o céu, à noite, é como um negro tapete de estrelas, cujo silêncio só é interrompido pelo uivar dos lobos e pelos misteriosos arrulhares das corujas. Um paraíso na terra.

 

O Estado de Minas Gerais está localizado no Sudeste do Brasil, fazendo divisa com os Estados de São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, Espírito Santo, Bahia, Goiás, Mato Grosso do Sul e Distrito Federal. Possui uma área de 588.384 quilômetros quadrados, dos quais 5.030 são ocupados por lagos e rios. Minas possui 16 bacias fluviais. A altitude média do Estado é de aproximadamente 700 metros (9% das terras apresentam altitudes superiores a mil metros, com montanhas entre 1,5 mil e 2,9 mil metros). A temperatura varia em torno de 18ºC, com médias de 9ºC no Sul e máximas de 33ºC no norte do Estado. CLIMA: tropical Brasil Central (tropical de altitude com temperaturas médias anuais inferiores a 20ºC na maior parte do estado.

 

The Farm of the Wolf, located in the Southeastern Region of Brazil, in the State of Minas Gerais, is a private property dedicated, exclusively, to the ambient preservation, of the fauna and the flora, being in constant plantation of the natural flora, that attract animals and birds, of the most varied species (wolves, foxes, felinos, birds of robbery, toucans and many other birds), that they grow, in number, to each new year. Hunting and fishing are forbidden. Located in a pretty highland, the Farm of the Wolf, possesss a great number of springs, being cut by small perennial streams, of current and limpid water, carefully preserved. Distant, kilometers, of the great urban centers, the sky, at night, is like a black carpet of stars, whose silence alone is interrupted by the howling of the wolves and the mysterious sounds of the owls. A paradise in the land.

 

The State of Minas Gerais is located in the Southeast of Brazil, having made verge with the States of São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, Espirito Santo, Bahia, Goiás, Mato Grosso of the South and Federal District. It possesss an area of 588.384 kilometers squared, of which 5,030 are busy for lakes and rivers. Minas Gerais possess 16 fluvial basins. The average altitude of the State is of approximately 700 meters (9% of lands present superior altitudes the 1 thousand meters, with mountains between 1,5 thousand and 2,9 thousand meters). The temperature varies around 18ºC, with averages of 9ºC in the South and principles of 33ºC in the north of the State. CLIMATE: tropical Central Brazil (tropical of altitude with average temperatures annual inferiors 20ºC for the most part of the state.

 

en.easternlightning.org/faith-and-life/studying-bible-mor...

 

3 Principles for How to Meditate on the Word of God

 

By Xiao Xiao, France

 

Contents

1. When reading the Bible, quieting your heart before God is a precondition for gaining the Holy Spirit’s enlightenment and guidance.

2. Don’t read aimlessly, but select corresponding passages according to your actual problems and difficulties.

3. Focus on pondering God’s words and understanding their inner meaning.

 

Let’s look at the following words from the Lord: “Truly I say to you, Except you be converted, and become as little children, you shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 18:3). “But let your communication be, Yes, yes; No, no: for whatever is more than these comes of evil” (Matthew 5:37). We can see in God’s words that He loves honest people and is disgusted by liars and cheaters. Only honest people can enter the kingdom of heaven, while sinister and crafty people cannot pass its gates. Only by praying and pondering God’s words can we understand that God wants us to be honest people, as innocent and open as a child with no trickery or deception. Once we’ve thought about things to that point, we can continue to seek: Do we have dishonest parts? By reflecting on our thoughts and actions, we can see that we still display a lot of deceitfulness. Sometimes when we’re before God in prayer, we say all sorts of wonderful things and set our resolve many times, but in our real lives we hardly ever match up to that. Sometimes we do something wrong and want to acknowledge our mistake to someone else, but we’re afraid they’ll look down on us, so in order to preserve our own face and name, we tell a half truth and cover up the truth. Sometimes when we’re talking about our experiences, we’re willing and ready to talk about how we do put God’s words into practice, but very rarely speak of the ways we defy and resist God, and our manifestations of not practicing the truth. We often pretend to be something we’re not so that others will maintain a good image of us. Sometimes we see brothers and sisters doing things that are not in line with God’s will and want to share fellowship with them, but we’re concerned about injuring their pride, or afraid that they won’t accept our opinion and will judge us, so we go on with one eye open and one eye closed, pretending we don’t know anything. The list goes on. Through reflection, we can see how much deceitfulness we display—we are not at all honest people who are pleasing to God. So, how could people such as us enter the kingdom of heaven? After understanding these things, we must continue to mull over the path to becoming an honest person in God’s words. First, we cannot lie with our words, but must speak in accordance with the truth. One is one, and two is two. But primarily, we need to have honest hearts. We cannot have crookedness or deceitfulness within our hearts; anything we say or do is subject to God’s scrutiny. We cannot lie or cheat to protect our own status, reputation, or face, but when we encounter an issue we should be able to forsake our own incorrect motives, speak honestly, and speak out what’s in our hearts. If we can live up to this, we start to enter into the truth of being honest people. If we always earnestly ponder God’s words in this way, seeking to understand the essence of the truth through the literal meaning of God’s words, we will understand the finer points of the truth more and more, and then what we practice in our lives will be more correct. We will become closer to God’s will and requirements and we will feel more and more steady, at peace, and content in our souls.

  

Related Reading:

3 Practices to Develop a Powerful Prayer Life in 2020

 

Image Source: The Church of Almighty God

 

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Cape Flattery Olympic Peninsula Washington Coast Sunset Ocean Art Seascape Fine Art Landscape Photography Fuji GFX100 Medium Format! Elliot McGucken Master Fine Art Nature Photographer Pacific Northwest Fuji GFX 100s & GF Lens Washington Coast PNW Olympic Peninsula!

 

Dr. Elliot McGucken Fine Art Spacetime Sculpture dx4//dt=ic:

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All my photography celebrates the physics of light! The McGucken Principle of the fourth expanding dimension: The fourth dimension is expanding at the rate of c relative to the three spatial dimensions: dx4/dt=ic .

 

Lao Tzu--The Tao: Nature does not hurry, yet everything is accomplished.

 

Light Time Dimension Theory: The Foundational Physics Unifying Einstein's Relativity and Quantum Mechanics: A Simple, Illustrated Introduction to the Unifying Physical Reality of the Fourth Expanding Dimensionsion dx4/dt=ic !: geni.us/Fa1Q

 

"Between every two pine trees there is a door leading to a new way of life." --John Muir

 

Epic Stoicism guides my fine art odyssey and photography: geni.us/epicstoicism

 

“The clearest way into the Universe is through a forest wilderness.” --John Muir

 

Epic Poetry inspires all my photography: geni.us/9K0Ki Epic Poetry for Epic Landscape Photography: Exalt Fine Art Nature Photography with the Poetic Wisdom of John Muir, Emerson, Thoreau, Homer's Iliad, Milton's Paradise Lost & Dante's Inferno Odyssey

 

“The mountains are calling and I must go.” --John Muir

 

Epic Art & 45EPIC Gear exalting golden ratio designs for your Hero's Odyssey:

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Support epic fine art! 45surf ! Bitcoin: 1FMBZJeeHVMu35uegrYUfEkHfPj5pe9WNz

 

Exalt the goddess archetype in the fine art of photography! My Epic Book: Photographing Women Models!

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Portrait, Swimsuit, Lingerie, Boudoir, Fine Art, & Fashion Photography Exalting the Venus Goddess Archetype: How to Shoot Epic ... Epic! Beautiful Surf Fine Art Portrait Swimsuit Bikini Models!

 

Some of my epic books, prints, & more!

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Exalt your photography with Golden Ratio Compositions!

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Golden Ratio Compositions & Secret Sacred Geometry for Photography, Fine Art, & Landscape Photographers: How to Exalt Art with Leonardo da Vinci's, Michelangelo's!

 

Epic Landscape Photography:

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A Simple Guide to the Principles of Fine Art Nature Photography: Master Composition, Lenses, Camera Settings, Aperture, ISO, ... Hero's Odyssey Mythology Photography)

 

All art is but imitation of nature.-- Seneca (Letters from a Stoic - Letter LXV: On the First Cause)

 

The universe itself is God and the universal outpouring of its soul. --Chrysippus (Quoted by Cicero in De Natura Deorum)

 

Photographs available as epic fine art luxury prints. For prints and licensing information, please send me a flickr mail or contact drelliot@gmail.com with your queries! All the best on your Epic Hero's Odyssey!

New book! Epic Landscape Photography: The Principles of Fine Art Nature Photography!

 

www.facebook.com/epiclandscapephotography/

 

instagram.com/elliotmcgucken

 

Join my new 45EPIC fine art landscapes page on facebook!

facebook.com/mcgucken

 

Working on a couple photography books! 45EPIC GODDESS PHOTOGRAPHY: A classic guide to exalting the archetypal woman. And 45EPIC Fine Art Landscape Photography!

 

More on my golden ratio musings: facebook.com/goldennumberratio

instagram.com/goldennumberratio

 

Greetings all! I have been busy finishing a few books on photography, while traveling all over--to Zion and the Sierras--shooting fall colors. Please see some here: facebook.com/mcgucken

instagram.com/elliotmcgucken

 

Let me know in the comments if you would like a free review copy of one of my photography books! :)

 

Titles include:

The Tao of Epic Landscape Photography: Exalt Fine Art with the Yin-Yang Wisdom of Lao Tzu's Tao Te Ching!

 

The Golden Number Ratio Principle: Why the Fibonacci Numbers Exalt Beauty and How to Create PHI Compositions in Art, Design, & Photography

facebook.com/goldennumberratio

 

And I am also working on a book on photographing the goddesses! :) More goddesses soon!

 

Best wishes on your epic hero's odyssey!:)

 

instagram.com/45surf

 

I love voyaging forth into nature to contemplate poetry, physics, the golden ratio, and the Tao te Ching! What's your favorite epic poetry reflecting epic landscapes? I recently finished a book titled Epic Poetry for Epic Landscape Photographers:

 

www.facebook.com/Epic-Poetry-for-Epic-Landscape-Photograp...

 

Did you know that John Muir, Thoreau, and Emerson all loved epic poetry and poets including Shakespeare, Milton, Homer, and Robert Burns?

 

I recently finished my fourth book on Light Time Dimension Theory, much of which was inspired by an autumn trip to Zion!

 

www.facebook.com/lightimedimensiontheory/

 

Via its simple principle of a fourth expanding dimension, LTD Theory provides a unifying, foundational *physical* model underlying relativity, quantum mechanics, time and all its arrows and asymmetries, and the second law of thermodynamics. The detailed diagrams demonstrate that the great mysteries of quantum mechanical nonlocality, entanglement, and probability naturally arise from the very same principle that fosters relativity alongside light's constant velocity, the equivalence of mass and energy, and time dilation.

 

Follow me on instagram!

instagram.com/elliotmcgucken

 

Join my new 45EPIC fine art landscapes page on facebook!

facebook.com/mcgucken

Epic Zion National Park Autumn!

 

New book! Epic Landscape Photography: The Principles of Fine Art Nature Photography!

 

www.facebook.com/epiclandscapephotography/

 

instagram.com/elliotmcgucken

 

Join my new 45EPIC fine art landscapes page on facebook!

facebook.com/mcgucken

 

Working on a couple photography books! 45EPIC GODDESS PHOTOGRAPHY: A classic guide to exalting the archetypal woman. And 45EPIC Fine Art Landscape Photography!

 

More on my golden ratio musings: facebook.com/goldennumberratio

instagram.com/goldennumberratio

 

Greetings all! I have been busy finishing a few books on photography, while traveling all over--to Zion and the Sierras--shooting fall colors. Please see some here: facebook.com/mcgucken

instagram.com/elliotmcgucken

 

Let me know in the comments if you would like a free review copy of one of my photography books! :)

 

Titles include:

The Tao of Epic Landscape Photography: Exalt Fine Art with the Yin-Yang Wisdom of Lao Tzu's Tao Te Ching!

 

The Golden Number Ratio Principle: Why the Fibonacci Numbers Exalt Beauty and How to Create PHI Compositions in Art, Design, & Photography

facebook.com/goldennumberratio

 

And I am also working on a book on photographing the goddesses! :) More goddesses soon!

 

Best wishes on your epic hero's odyssey!:)

 

instagram.com/45surf

 

I love voyaging forth into nature to contemplate poetry, physics, the golden ratio, and the Tao te Ching! What's your favorite epic poetry reflecting epic landscapes? I recently finished a book titled Epic Poetry for Epic Landscape Photographers:

 

www.facebook.com/Epic-Poetry-for-Epic-Landscape-Photograp...

 

Did you know that John Muir, Thoreau, and Emerson all loved epic poetry and poets including Shakespeare, Milton, Homer, and Robert Burns?

 

I recently finished my fourth book on Light Time Dimension Theory, much of which was inspired by an autumn trip to Zion!

 

www.facebook.com/lightimedimensiontheory/

 

Via its simple principle of a fourth expanding dimension, LTD Theory provides a unifying, foundational *physical* model underlying relativity, quantum mechanics, time and all its arrows and asymmetries, and the second law of thermodynamics. The detailed diagrams demonstrate that the great mysteries of quantum mechanical nonlocality, entanglement, and probability naturally arise from the very same principle that fosters relativity alongside light's constant velocity, the equivalence of mass and energy, and time dilation.

 

Follow me on instagram!

instagram.com/elliotmcgucken

 

Join my new 45EPIC fine art landscapes page on facebook!

facebook.com/mcgucken

New book! Epic Landscape Photography: The Principles of Fine Art Nature Photography!

 

www.facebook.com/epiclandscapephotography/

 

The Epic Seascape! Malibu Sea Caves!

 

Landscape photography is not only about traveling through space, but it is also about traveling through time. One may return to the same beach time and again throughout the seasons to find a million different universes, changing in an infinitude of manners with each passing wave.

 

Not only do we voyage outwardly to get the shot, but we travel even further inwardly. While I spend my year trekking along the John Muir Trail, and on through Zion, Yosemite, the Grand Canyon, Death Valley, and the Colorado Plateau, my heart always finds its home in these Malibu sea caves, where I have stood in awe during all hours of the day and night.

Included within are a few shots that only I have so far captured, including a miraculous winter solstice sunrise.

 

Best wishes throughout the coming year!

 

instagram.com/elliotmcgucken

 

Join my new 45EPIC fine art landscapes page on facebook!

facebook.com/mcgucken

 

Working on a couple photography books! 45EPIC GODDESS PHOTOGRAPHY: A classic guide to exalting the archetypal woman. And 45EPIC Fine Art Landscape Photography!

 

More on my golden ratio musings: facebook.com/goldennumberratio

instagram.com/goldennumberratio

 

Greetings all! I have been busy finishing a few books on photography, while traveling all over--to Zion and the Sierras--shooting fall colors. Please see some here: facebook.com/mcgucken

instagram.com/elliotmcgucken

 

Let me know in the comments if you would like a free review copy of one of my photography books! :)

 

Titles include:

The Tao of Epic Landscape Photography: Exalt Fine Art with the Yin-Yang Wisdom of Lao Tzu's Tao Te Ching!

 

The Golden Number Ratio Principle: Why the Fibonacci Numbers Exalt Beauty and How to Create PHI Compositions in Art, Design, & Photography

facebook.com/goldennumberratio

 

And I am also working on a book on photographing the goddesses! :) More goddesses soon!

 

Best wishes on your epic hero's odyssey!:)

 

instagram.com/45surf

 

I love voyaging forth into nature to contemplate poetry, physics, the golden ratio, and the Tao te Ching! What's your favorite epic poetry reflecting epic landscapes? I recently finished a book titled Epic Poetry for Epic Landscape Photographers:

 

www.facebook.com/Epic-Poetry-for-Epic-Landscape-Photograp...

 

Did you know that John Muir, Thoreau, and Emerson all loved epic poetry and poets including Shakespeare, Milton, Homer, and Robert Burns?

 

I recently finished my fourth book on Light Time Dimension Theory, much of which was inspired by an autumn trip to Zion!

 

www.facebook.com/lightimedimensiontheory/

 

Via its simple principle of a fourth expanding dimension, LTD Theory provides a unifying, foundational *physical* model underlying relativity, quantum mechanics, time and all its arrows and asymmetries, and the second law of thermodynamics. The detailed diagrams demonstrate that the great mysteries of quantum mechanical nonlocality, entanglement, and probability naturally arise from the very same principle that fosters relativity alongside light's constant velocity, the equivalence of mass and energy, and time dilation.

 

Follow me on instagram!

instagram.com/elliotmcgucken

 

Join my new 45EPIC fine art landscapes page on facebook!

facebook.com/mcgucken

New book! Epic Landscape Photography: The Principles of Fine Art Nature Photography!

 

www.facebook.com/epiclandscapephotography/

 

instagram.com/elliotmcgucken

 

Join my new 45EPIC fine art landscapes page on facebook!

facebook.com/mcgucken

 

Working on a couple photography books! 45EPIC GODDESS PHOTOGRAPHY: A classic guide to exalting the archetypal woman. And 45EPIC Fine Art Landscape Photography!

 

More on my golden ratio musings: facebook.com/goldennumberratio

instagram.com/goldennumberratio

 

Greetings all! I have been busy finishing a few books on photography, while traveling all over--to Zion and the Sierras--shooting fall colors. Please see some here: facebook.com/mcgucken

instagram.com/elliotmcgucken

 

Let me know in the comments if you would like a free review copy of one of my photography books! :)

 

Titles include:

The Tao of Epic Landscape Photography: Exalt Fine Art with the Yin-Yang Wisdom of Lao Tzu's Tao Te Ching!

 

The Golden Number Ratio Principle: Why the Fibonacci Numbers Exalt Beauty and How to Create PHI Compositions in Art, Design, & Photography

facebook.com/goldennumberratio

 

And I am also working on a book on photographing the goddesses! :) More goddesses soon!

 

Best wishes on your epic hero's odyssey!:)

 

instagram.com/45surf

 

I love voyaging forth into nature to contemplate poetry, physics, the golden ratio, and the Tao te Ching! What's your favorite epic poetry reflecting epic landscapes? I recently finished a book titled Epic Poetry for Epic Landscape Photographers:

 

www.facebook.com/Epic-Poetry-for-Epic-Landscape-Photograp...

 

Did you know that John Muir, Thoreau, and Emerson all loved epic poetry and poets including Shakespeare, Milton, Homer, and Robert Burns?

 

I recently finished my fourth book on Light Time Dimension Theory, much of which was inspired by an autumn trip to Zion!

 

www.facebook.com/lightimedimensiontheory/

 

Via its simple principle of a fourth expanding dimension, LTD Theory provides a unifying, foundational *physical* model underlying relativity, quantum mechanics, time and all its arrows and asymmetries, and the second law of thermodynamics. The detailed diagrams demonstrate that the great mysteries of quantum mechanical nonlocality, entanglement, and probability naturally arise from the very same principle that fosters relativity alongside light's constant velocity, the equivalence of mass and energy, and time dilation.

 

Follow me on instagram!

instagram.com/elliotmcgucken

 

Join my new 45EPIC fine art landscapes page on facebook!

facebook.com/mcgucken

Pretty Blue Eyes Blonde Wavy Hair Homer's Iliad Helen Swimsuit Bikini Surf Girl Malibu Beach Model! Golden Ratio Composition Nikon D800 E & AF-S NIKKOR 70-200mm f/2.8G ED VR II Lifestyle Portrait Surfboard Photoshoot! Gorgeous Long Blonde 45EPIC dx4/dt=ic

 

Epic Poetry inspires all my photography: geni.us/9K0Ki Epic Poetry for Epic Landscape Photography: Exalt Fine Art Nature Photography with the Poetic Wisdom of John Muir, Emerson, Thoreau, Homer's Iliad, Milton's Paradise Lost & Dante's Inferno Odyssey

 

Epic Art & 45EPIC Gear exalting golden ratio designs for your Hero's Odyssey:

geni.us/9fnvAMw

 

Support epic fine art! 45surf ! Bitcoin: 1FMBZJeeHVMu35uegrYUfEkHfPj5pe9WNz

 

Exalt the goddess archetype in the fine art of photography! My Epic Book: Photographing Women Models!

geni.us/m90Ms

Portrait, Swimsuit, Lingerie, Boudoir, Fine Art, & Fashion Photography Exalting the Venus Goddess Archetype: How to Shoot Epic ... Epic! Beautiful Surf Fine Art Portrait Swimsuit Bikini Models!

 

Follow me my good friends!

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Fine Art Ballet: geni.us/C1Adc

 

Some of my epic books, prints, & more!

geni.us/aEG4

 

Exalt your photography with Golden Ratio Compositions!

geni.us/eeA1

Golden Ratio Compositions & Secret Sacred Geometry for Photography, Fine Art, & Landscape Photographers: How to Exalt Art with Leonardo da Vinci's, Michelangelo's!

 

Epic Landscape Photography:

geni.us/TV4oEAz

A Simple Guide to the Principles of Fine Art Nature Photography: Master Composition, Lenses, Camera Settings, Aperture, ISO, ... Hero's Odyssey Mythology Photography)

 

All my photography celebrates the physics of light! dx4/dt=ic! Light Time Dimension Theory: The Foundational Physics Unifying Einstein's Relativity and Quantum Mechanics: A Simple, Illustrated Introduction to the Physical: geni.us/Fa1Q

 

Ralph Waldo Emerson. The happiest man is he who learns from nature the lesson of worship.

 

Lucius Annaeus Seneca: On entering a temple we assume all signs of reverence. How much more reverent then should we be before the heavenly bodies, the stars, the very nature of God!

 

John Muir: All the wild world is beautiful, and it matters but little where we go, to highlands or lowlands, woods or plains, on the sea or land or down among the crystals of waves or high in a balloon in the sky; through all the climates, hot or cold, storms and calms, everywhere and always we are in God's eternal beauty and love. So universally true is this, the spot where we chance to be always seems the best.

The Atheist Bus Campaign, set out to convince you that a loving creator God does not exist, that you have no prospect of eternal life and that all you can look forward to is eternal oblivion.

 

Atheists have no evidence to back up that assertion. In fact logic, natural law and the basic principles of the scientific method rule out their naturalistic alternative to a creator as impossible.

 

They invent all sort of bizarre scenarios to replace a supernatural first cause (God), they even try to present their fantastical, naturalistic replacements for God as 'scientific'. Please don't be taken in by it.

Their naturalistic replacements for God are illogical, they all violate natural laws and the basic principles of science.

 

Atheism is rightly referred to as the no-hope philosophy.

Their ultimate goal and pinnacle of their short life is - eternal oblivion.

And, quite perversely, they want to convince you that is all you can look forward to.

Please don't be dragged down with them into that depressing pit of hopelessness.

The Good News is that they are entirely wrong, and furthermore, it is not just an opinion. It can be satisfactorily demonstrated by logic, natural law, and the basic principle of the scientific method ......

 

Read on .... and you will understand, why atheists can never replace God, however much they try.

 

Their Atheist Bus Campaign is deceitful because atheists have no logical or scientific grounds for claiming "There's Probably No God", in fact, the evidence of applied logic and natural law, is completely the contrary. The atheist claim that there's probably no God is just an unsubstantiated opinion based only on their own ideological beliefs.

You may wonder why they inserted the word 'probably'? Obviously, they knew that if they were challenged to present evidence for the truth of their advertisement and had to defend it in court, they would be unable to do so. Science and logic can be used to prove they have no alternative to a supernatural first cause, and they know it.

 

For atheists to propose that believing there is no God, is somehow a reason to stop worrying and the recipe for an enjoyable life, is perverse in the extreme.

For most sane people it would be the opposite - a road to depression, hopelessness, and a feeling that this short existence is worthless. It will all end in oblivion, and you might as well never have lived.

 

Thankfully, atheists are demonstrably wrong, there is every reason for hope - as we will show - a loving Creator definitely does exist. Your life is not a few short, stressful and worthless years leading to eternal oblivion. You are a unique, valuable, person, specially created out of supreme love, every human life is of infinite value right from the moment of conception. Humans really are special and not just intelligent apes, or a mere collection of atoms, as atheists would have you believe You can live forever in eternal bliss - that is the gift of life the loving Creator of the universe offers you, and it is all offered for free.

 

Please don't be fooled ... people who think for themselves (the REAL freethinkers), are able to see right through the atheist hype and propaganda. Ignore the relentless bombardment of atheist propaganda, such as the atheist bus campaign. Seek out and learn the real truth and the truth will set you free.

 

Please read on and you will understand ......

 

Because there is a law of cause and effect, the universe can't and won't create itself from nothing.

 

Consider this ....

A creator God (or supernatural first cause) has been made redundant and the final gap (pertaining to the so-called God of the gaps) has now been filled ... who says so?

Atheists, along with the secularist pundits in the popular media.

Why do they say that?

Because they believe that the greatest brain in atheism - Stephen Hawking, has finally discovered the secret of the origin of the universe and a naturalistic replacement for God.

 

The atheist replacement for God is summed up in a single sentence written by Hawking:

"Because there is a law such as gravity, the universe can and will create itself from nothing"

That is it .... problem solved - apparently!

 

The secularists in the popular media loved it, as far as they were concerned the problem certainly was solved. Hawking had finally dealt the fatal blow to all religion, especially Christianity. No need to question it, if a revered scientist of his calibre, is so sure of how the universe came into being, it must be correct.

The new atheists loved it, they wasted no time in proclaiming the ultimate triumph of 'science' over religious mythology and superstition.

 

So just how credible is the atheist claim that God has been made redundant?

And just how 'scientific' is Hawking's replacement for God?

 

Shall we analyse it?

"Because there is a law of gravity ....

 

So,

1) If the law of gravity existed, how is that nothing?

AND -

2) Where did the law of gravity come from?

AND -

3) How can a law of gravity exist before that which gravity relates to ... i.e. matter?

 

"the universe can and will create itself from nothing"

 

4) How can something create itself, without pre-existing its own creation?

(A) could possibly create (B), but how could (A) create (A)? Of course it can't.

 

5) What about the 'nothing' that is not really nothing, as most people understand 'nothing', but a bizarre 'nothing' in which a law of gravity exists. A nothing which is actually a 'something' where a law of gravity is presumably some sort of eternally, existent entity?

AND -

6) Is Hawking implying that the self-creation of the universe is made possible by the pre-existence of the law of gravity?

Of course, natural laws are not creative agents, they simply describe basic properties and operation of material things. They can't create anything, or cause the creation of anything. Something which is a property of something, cannot create that which it is a property of.

 

So, even if we ignore the law of cause and effect which definitively rules out a natural, first cause of the universe, the atheist notion of the universe arising of its own volition from nothing is still impossible, and can be regarded as illogical and unscientific nonsense. Hawking's naturalistic replacement for God, presented in his single sentence, and so loved by the new, atheist cabal, is obviously just contradictory and confused nonsense.

 

The truth, which atheists don't want to hear, is that atheism is intellectually and scientifically indefensible. That is why they always duck out of explaining how the concept of an uncaused, inadequate, natural first cause is possible.

The best they ever come up with, is something like "we don't really know what laws existed at the start of the universe".

However, the atheist claim that - we don't really know... is completely spurious.

We certainly do know that the Law of Cause and Effect is universal, there is no way round it.

The only reason atheists don't want to accept it, is ideological.

 

And ... isn't it strange, that the only laws atheists dispute are precisely those that interfere with their beliefs. For example, atheists seem pretty sure that one law existed .... the law of gravity (even prior to that which gravity is a property of … matter).

Why are they so sure that the law of gravity existed?

Because their naturalistic substitute for God, summed up in the sentence by Stephen Hawking, apparently requires that the law of gravity existed before anything else …..

 

Here it is again ...

‘Because there is a law such as gravity, the universe can and will create itself from nothing’ Stephen Hawking.

 

So atheists DO KNOW for sure that the law of gravity existed, but they don’t really know what other laws existed at the start of the universe. They especially doubt that the Law of Cause and Effect existed.

AMAZING!

 

Well, how about this for a refutation of Hawking’s replacement for God, also summed up in a single sentence?

 

Because there is a Law of Cause and Effect, the universe can’t and won’t create itself from nothing!

 

That is something Stephen Hawking conveniently forgot.

Apparently, he accepts that the law of gravity existed, because he thinks it suits his argument, but he ignores the existence of other laws that positively destroy his argument.

 

So now you know the truth about the best substitute for God that atheists have ever come up with.

IMPRESSED? I think not!

 

Why is it ATHEISTS that try to dispute the universality of natural laws?

 

According to their claims, atheists are supposed to be the champions of science. Yet we find in practice that it is actually theists who end up defending natural laws and the scientific method against those atheists who try to refute any laws and scientific principles that interfere with their naturalistic beliefs.

Whatever happened to the alleged conflict between science and religion?

That is revealed as purely, atheist propaganda. There is obviously much more conflict between atheism and science.

 

Why is the law of cause and effect so important?

Because it tells us that all natural entities, events and processes are contingent.

They are all subject to preceding causes. It tells us that natural entities and events are not autonomous, they cannot operate independently of causes.

That is such an important principle, it is actually the basis of the scientific method. Science is about looking for adequate causes of ALL natural events. According to science, a natural event without a cause, is a scientific impossibility.

Once you suggest such a notion, you are abandoning science and you violate the basic principle of the scientific method.

 

What about the first cause of the universe and everything?

How does that fit in?

 

Well, the first cause was obviously a unique thing, not only unique, but radically different to all NATURAL entities and occurrences. The first cause HAD to be an autonomous entity, it HAD to be eternally self-existent, self-reliant, NON-CONTINGENT ... i.e. it was completely independent of causes and the limitations that causes impose.

The first cause, by virtue of being the very first, could not have had any preceding cause, and obviously didn't require any cause for its existence. When we talk about the first cause, we mean the very first cause, i.e. FIRST means FIRST, not second or third.

The first cause also had to be capable of creating everything that followed it. It is responsible for every subsequent cause and effect that is, or has ever been. That means that nothing, nor the sum total of everything that followed the first cause, can ever be greater, in any respect, than the first cause.

So the idea that the first cause could be a natural entity or event is just ludicrous.

 

We know that the first cause is radically different to any natural entity, it is NOT contingent and that is why it is called a SUPERNATURAL entity, the Supernatural, First Cause (or Creator God). All natural events and entities ARE contingent without exception, so the first cause simply CANNOT be a natural thing.

That is the verdict of science, logic and reason. Atheists dispute the verdict of science and insist that the first cause was a 'natural' event which was somehow able to defy natural laws that govern all natural events.

Consequently, atheism can be regarded as anti-science. Which means .... the real enemy of atheism is science, not religion. And the real enemy of science is atheism, not religion.

 

An idea which seems to be popular with atheists at present, is a continuously, reciprocating universe, one which ends by running out of energy potential and then rewinds itself in an never ending cycle ..... this is an attempt to evade the fact that an uncaused, natural, first cause is impossible. They claim that, in this way a first cause, is not necessary. And that matter/energy is some sort of eternally existent entity.

So is it a valid solution?

 

Firstly .....

Matter/energy cannot be eternally existent in a cycle with no beginning).

Why?

Because all natural things are contingent, they have to comply with the law of cause and effect, so they cannot exist independently of causes. The nearest you could get to eternally existent matter/energy would be a very, long chain of causes and effects, but a long chain is not eternally existent, it has to have a beginning at some point. At the beginning there would still have to be a non-contingent first cause. So a long chain of causes and effects simply pushes the first cause further back in time, it can't eliminate it.

Secondly ....

It is pretty obvious that the idea of the universe simply rewinding itself in a never ending cycle, which had no beginning, is complete, unscientific nonsense. How such a proposal can be presented as serious science, beggars belief.

It seems atheists will try anything to justify their naturalist ideology. They apparently have no compunction about completely disregarding natural laws.

The Second Law of Thermodynamics rules out such atheist, pie-in-the-sky, origins mythology.

There is no such thing as a free lunch, the idea of a rewinding universe is tantamount to applying the discredited notion of perpetual motion - on a grand scale, to the universe.

Contingent things don't just rewind of their own accord.

The Second Law (not to mention common sense) rules it out.

Where does the renewed power or renewed energy potential come from?

If you wind up a clock, it doesn't rewind itself after it has stopped.

The universe had a beginning and it will have an end. That is what science tells us, it cannot rewind itself.

Such ridiculous, atheist musings are just a desperate attempt to wriggle out of the inevitable conclusion of logic, and the Law of Cause and Effect which are the real enemies of atheist ideology.

Once again atheism is hoisted on its own petard by natural law and science, not by religion.

 

A variation of the cyclical universe is the argument proposed by some that the universe just is?

Presumably they mean that the universe is some sort of eternally-existent entity with no beginning - and therefore not in need of a cause? Once again an eternally self-existent universe is not possible for the same reason outlined above.

In addition ....

The Second Law of Thermodynamics tells us the universe certainly had a beginning and will have an end. The energy potential of the universe is decreasing from an original peak at the beginning of the universe. Even the most rabid atheists seem to accept that. Which is why most of them believe in a beginning event, such as a big bang explosion.

So the question is how did it (the universe) begin to exist, not whether it began to exist?

Which takes us back to the question of the nature of the very first cause.

It can only be one of two options,

an uncaused, natural first cause

OR

an uncaused, supernatural first cause.

An uncaused, NATURAL first cause is impossible.

Thus the only possible option is a supernatural first cause, i.e. God.

 

Atheists can’t refute the Law of Cause and Effect which is so devastating to their naturalist agenda, so they regularly invent bizarre scenarios which ignore natural laws, and hope people won’t notice. If anyone does they just brush it off with remarks like “we just don’t know ” what laws existed prior to the beginning of the universe.

Sorry, the atheist apologists may not know …. but all sensible people do know, we certainly know what is impossible ….

And we certainly know that you cannot blithely step outside the constraints of natural laws and scientific principles, as atheists do, and remain credible.

We know that natural laws describe the inherent properties of matter/energy. Which means wherever matter/energy exist, the inherent properties of matter/energy also exist - and so do the natural laws that describe those properties. if the universe began, as some propose, with a cosmic egg. or a previous universe, those things are still natural entities with natural properties, and as such would be subject to natural laws. So the idea that there were natural events leading up to the origin of the universe that were not subject to natural laws is ridiculous.

The atheist claim; that we just don't know, is not valid, and should be treated as the silliness it really is.

 

The existence of the law of cause and effect is essential to the scientific method, but fatal to the atheist ideology.

SO ....

Is the law of cause and effect really universal?

 

Causation is necessary for the existence of the universe, but ALSO for the existence of any natural entities or events that may have preceded the creation of the universe.

 

In other words, causation is necessary for all matter/energy and all natural entities and occurrences, whether within the universe or elsewhere.

ALL natural entities are contingent wherever they may be, whether in some sort of cosmic egg, a big bang, a previous universe or whatever.

Contingency is an inherent character of all natural entities, so it is impossible for any natural entity to be non-contingent.

 

Which means you simply CANNOT have a natural entity which is UNCAUSED, anywhere.

If, for example, matter/energy was not contingent at the start of the universe, or before the universe began, how and why would it be contingent now?

Why would nature have changed its basic character to an inferior one?

 

If matter/energy once had such awesome, autonomous power - if it was, at some time, self-sufficient, not reliant on causes for its operation and existence, and not restricted by the limitations causes impose, it would effectively mean it was once an infinite, necessary, self-existent entity, similar to God.

 

Now if matter once had the autonomous, non-contingent powers of a god, why would it change itself to a subordinate character and role, when it became part of the universe?

Why would it change to a role where it is limited by the strictures of natural laws. And where it cannot operate without a preceding, adequate cause?

 

To claim matter/energy was, at one time, not contingent, not subject to causes (which is what atheists have to claim) – is to actually imbue it with the autonomous power of a god.

That is why atheism is really just a revamped version of pagan naturalism.

By denying the basic, contingent character of matter/nature, atheism effectively deifies nature, and credits it with godlike powers, which science clearly tells us it doesn’t possess.

 

Thus, if anyone dismisses causality, they effectively deify matter/nature.

Which means they have chosen the first of the 2 following choices …

 

1. Atheism ... the unscientific, illogical belief in a natural, uncaused god (of matter or nature) which violates natural laws - which science recognises restrict its autonomy?

 

2. Theism ... the logical belief in an uncaused, supernatural God, which created matter and the laws that govern matter. And therefore does not violate any laws, is not contingent, and thus has completely unrestricted autonomy and infinite powers?

 

Which one would you choose?

 

Which one do scientists who respect natural laws and the scientific method choose?

The great, scientific luminaries and founders of modern science, such as Isaac Newton, Michael Faraday, Louis Pasteur etc., in fact, nearly all of the really great scientists and founders of modern science, had no doubts or problem understanding that choice, and they readily chose the second (theism), as the only logical option.

So, by choosing the second - a supernatural first cause – rather than meaning you are anti-science or anti-reason or some sort of uneducated, superstitious, religious nut (as atheists frequently claim) actually puts you in the greatest of scientific company.

 

To put it another way, who would you rather trust in science, such scientific giants as: Newton, Pasteur, Faraday, Von Braun, Copernicus, Kepler, Galileo, Mendel, Marconi, Kelvin, Babbage, Pascal, Herschel, Peacock etc. who believed in a supernatural first cause?

OR,

the likes of: Richard Dawkins, Sam Harris, Christopher Hitchens, Lawrence Krauss, Stephen Hawking, Andrew Denton etc. who believe in an uncaused, natural first cause?

No contest!

 

We can see that atheists are anti-science, because they treat natural law and the whole principle of the scientific method with utter contempt, and all the while, they masquerade as the champions of science to the public.

 

The question of purpose ....

A further nail in the coffin of bogus, atheist science is the existence of order.

 

Atheists assume that the universe is purposeless, but they cannot explain the existence of order.

The development of order requires an organizational element.

To do useful work, or to counter the effects of entropy, energy needs to be directed or guided.

Raw energy alone actually tends to increase the effects of entropy, it doesn't increase order.

The organizational principle in living systems is provided by the informational element encoded in DNA.

Atheists have yet to explain how that first, genetic information arose of its own volition in the so-called Primordial Soup?

 

Natural laws pertinent to all natural entities, they guide the behaviour of energy and matter, but also serve to limit it, because natural laws are based only on the inherent properties of matter and energy.

So ... natural laws describe inherent properties of matter/energy, and natural processes operate only within the confines of natural laws which are based on their own properties. They can never exceed the parameters of those laws.

 

The much acclaimed, Dawkinsian principle that randomness can develop into order by means of a sieving process, such as shaken pebbles being sorted by falling through a hole of a particular size is erroneous, because it completely ignores the regulatory influence of natural laws on the outcome, which are not at all random.

If we can predict the outcome in advance, as we can with Dawkins' example, it cannot be called random. We CAN predict the outcome because we know that the pebbles will behave according to the regulatory influence of natural laws, such as the law of gravity. If there was no law of gravity, then Dawkins' pebbles, when shaken, would not fall through the hole, they would not be sorted, they would act completely unpredictably, possibly floating about in the air in all directions. In that case, the randomness would not result in any order. That is true randomness.

Dawkins' randomness, allegedly developing into order, is not random at all, the outcome is predictable and controlled by natural laws and the inherent properties of matter. He is starting with 2 organizational principles, natural laws and the inherent, ordered structure and properties of matter, and he calls that randomness!

Bogus science indeed!

This tells us that order is already there at the beginning of the universe, in the form of natural laws and the ordered composition and structure of matter .... it doesn't just develop from random events.

 

A major problem for atheists is to explain where natural laws came from?

In a purposeless universe there should be no regulatory principles at all.

Firstly, we would not expect anything to exist, we would expect eternal nothingness.

Secondly, even if we overlook that impossible hurdle, and assume by some amazing fluke and contrary to logic, something was able to create itself from nothing ….. we would expect the ‘something’ would have no ordered structure, and no laws based on that ordered structure. We would expect it to behave randomly and chaotically.

This is an absolutely fundamental question to which atheists have no answer. The basic properties of matter/energy, and the universe, scream …. ‘purpose’.

Atheists say the exact opposite.

Furthermore, if we consider the accepted, atheist belief; that matter is inherently predisposed to produce life and the genetic information for life, whenever environmental conditions are conducive (so-called abiogenesis), where does that predisposition for life come from? Once again, atheists are hoisted on their own petard, and the atheist idea of a random, purposeless, universe is left completely in tatters.

 

It is the atheist ideology that is anti-science, not necessarily individual scientists.

There may be sincere, atheist scientists who respect the scientific method and natural laws, but they are wedded to an ideology that - when push comes to shove, does not respect natural laws.

It is evident that whenever natural laws interfere with atheist naturalist beliefs, the beliefs take precedence over the rigorous, scientific method. It is then that natural laws are disregarded by atheists in favour of unscientific fantasies which are conducive to their ideology.

Of course, in much day-to-day practical science and technology, the question of violating laws doesn't even arise, and we cannot deny that in the course of such work, atheists will respect the scientific method of experiment and observation within the framework of the Law of Cause and Effect and other established laws of science.

Bizarrely, It is a different matter entirely, when it comes to hypotheses about origins. It then becomes an 'anything goes' situation. The main criteria then seems to be that it doesn’t matter whether your hypothesis violates natural laws (all sorts of excuses can be made as to why natural laws need not apply), all that matters is that it is entirely naturalistic, and can be made to sound plausible to the public.

However, the same atheist scientists would not entertain anything in general, day-to-day science, that is not completely in accordance with the scientific method, they make an exception ONLY with anything to do with origins, whether it be the origin of the universe, or the origin of life, or the origin of species.

 

Atheism is not simply passive non-belief, you can only be a ‘genuine’ atheist if you proactively believe in the following illogical and unscientific propositions:

 

1. A natural, first cause of the universe that was ‘uncaused’.

 

2. A natural, first cause of the universe that was patently not adequate for the effect, (a cause which was able to produce an effect far greater than itself and superior to its own abilities).

 

3. That the universe created ITSELF from nothing.

 

4. That natural laws simply arose of their own accord, without any reason, purpose or cause.

 

5. That energy potential at the start of everything material was able to wind itself up from absolute zero, of its own accord, without any reason, purpose or cause.

 

6. That the effect of entropy (Second Law of Thermodynamics) was somehow suspended or didn’t operate to permit the development of order in the universe.

 

7. That life spontaneously generated itself, of its own volition, from sterile matter, contrary to: the Law of Biogenesis, the laws of probability, the Second Law of Thermodynamics, Information Theory and common sense.

 

8. That the complete human genome was created by means of a long chain of copying mistakes of the original, genetic information in the first living cell, (mutations of mutations of mutations, etc. etc.).

 

9. That the complex DNA code was produced by chemical processes.

 

10. That the very first, genetic information, encoded in the DNA of the first living cell, created itself by some unknown means.

 

11. That matter is somehow inherently predisposed to develop into living cells, whenever conditions are conducive to life. But such a predisposition for life just arose of its own accord, with no purpose and with no apparent cause.

 

12. That an ordered structure of atoms, guiding laws of physics, order in the cosmos, order in the living cell and complex information, are what we would expect to occur naturally in a purposeless universe.

 

The claim of atheists to be the champions of science and reason is clearly bogus.

They think they can get away with it by pretending to have no beliefs.

However, when seriously challenged to justify their dogmatic rejection of a Supernatural First Cause, they indirectly espouse the unscientific beliefs outlined above, in their futile attempts to refute the evidence for a supernatural first cause.

Of course, whenever possible, they avoid declaring those beliefs explicitly, but you don’t need to be very astute to realize that relying on those beliefs is the unavoidable conclusion of their arguments.

 

That is why atheism is intellectually bankrupt and is doomed to the dustbin of history. And that is why we are seeing such a rise in militant, evangelizing, atheist zealots, such as Richard Dawkins and the late Christopher Hitchens.

Their crusading, bravado masks their desperation that the public is so hard to convince. What Dawkins et al need to face is that they are in no position to attack what they consider are the bizarre beliefs of others, when their own beliefs (which they fail to publicly acknowledge) are much more bizarre.

 

What about Christianity and pagan gods?

 

Atheists frequently try to dismiss and ridicule the idea of a Creator by comparing it to the numerous, pagan gods that people have worshipped throughout history.

 

Do they have a good point?

 

Certainly not, this is just a red herring ….

Other gods, cannot be the first cause or Creator.

Idols of wood or stone, or the Sun, Moon, planets, Mother Nature, Mother Earth etc. are all material, contingent things, they cannot be the first cause.

They are rejected as false gods by the Bible and by logic and natural laws.

They are considered gods by people who worship things which are 'created' rather than the Creator, which the Bible condemns.

In fact, they are much more similar to the atheist belief in the powers of a naturalistic entity to create the universe, than they are to the one, Creator God of Christianity.

For example, the pagan belief in the creative powers of Ra (the Sun god) is similar to the atheist belief that raw energy from the Sun acting on sterile chemicals was able to create life.

 

So atheist mythology credits the Sun (Ra) with the godlike power of creating life on Earth. And thus, atheism is just a revamped version of paganism.

Just like paganism, atheism rejects worship of a Supernatural, First Cause, and rather chooses to worship created, natural entities, imbuing them with the same godlike powers, that theists attribute to the Creator.

There is nothing new under the Sun ... We can see that atheism is just the age old deception of ancient paganism, revisited.

 

The Creator is a Supernatural, First Cause, which is not a contingent entity, nothing like the pagan gods, but rather a self-existent, necessary entity. As the very first cause of everything in the universe, it cannot be contingent (it cannot rely on anything outside itself for its existence, i.e. it is self-existent) and therefore it cannot be a material entity.

The first cause is necessary because, not being contingent, it necessarily exists.

If anything exists that is not contingent, it has to have within itself everything necessary for its own existence. If it is also responsible for the existence of anything outside itself (which as the first cause of the universe, we know it is) it is also necessary for the existence of those things, and has to be entirely adequate for the purpose of bringing them into being and maintaining their continued existence. It is not subject to natural laws, which only apply to natural events and effects, because, as the first cause, it is the initiator and creator of everything material, including the laws which govern material events, and of time itself.

 

The atheist view of a natural first cause is not even rational, to propose that all the qualities I have mentioned above could apply to a material entity is clearly ridiculous. But apparently, atheism has no regard for natural laws or logic. Atheists get round it by simply dressing up their irrational beliefs to make them appear ‘scientific’.

This combined with rants and erroneous and derisory slogans about religious myths and superstition makes it all seem perfectly reasonable. Unfortunately, those with little knowledge, or who can’t be bothered to think for themselves are taken in by it.

 

Atheists repeatedly claim that they have refuted the law of cause and effect by asking : So what caused God then?

How true is that?

 

The ... what caused God? argument is a rather silly argument which atheists regularly trot out. All it demonstrates is that they don't understand basic logic.

 

The question to always ask them is; what part of FIRST don't you understand?

If something is the very FIRST, it means there is nothing that precedes it. First means first, not second or third.

That means that the first cause cannot be a contingent entity, because a contingent entity depends on something preceding it for its existence. In which case, if something precedes it, it couldn't be FIRST.

All natural entities, events and effects are contingent ... that is why the Law of Cause and Effect states that ... every NATURAL effect requires an adequate cause.

That means that the first cause cannot be a natural entity. An UNCAUSED, NATURAL event or entity is ruled out as not possible by the Law of Cause and Effect.

Therefore the very FIRST CAUSE of the universe, which we know cannot be caused, by virtue of it being FIRST (not second or third) CANNOT be a natural entity or event.

Thus we deduce that the first cause ... cannot be contingent, cannot be a natural entity, and cannot be subject to the Law of Cause and Effect.

So the first cause has to be non-material, i.e. supernatural.

The first cause also has to have the creative potential to create every other cause and effect that follows it.

In other words, the first cause cannot be inferior in any respect to the properties, powers or qualities of anything that exists...

The effect cannot be greater than the cause....

So we can thus deduce that the first cause is: UNCAUSED, SUPERNATURAL, self-existent, and capable of creating everything we see in the existing universe.

If there is life in the universe, the first cause must have the ability to create life,

If there is intelligence in the universe, the first cause must have the ability to create intelligence.

If there is information in the universe, the first cause must have the ability to create information.

If there is consciousness in the universe, the first cause must have the ability to create consciousness. And so on and on. If it exists, the first cause is responsible for it, and must have the ability to create it.

That is the Creator God … and His existence is supported by impeccable logic and adherence to the demands of natural law.

 

Atheists often say: you can’t fill gaps in knowledge with a supernatural first cause.

 

But we are not talking about filling gaps, we are talking about a fundamental issue ... the origin of everything in the material realm.

The first cause is not a gap, it is the beginning - and many of the greatest scientists in the history of science had no problem whatsoever with the logic that - a natural, first cause was impossible, and the only possible option was a supernatural creator.

Why do atheists have such a problem with it?

 

Atheists also seem to think that to explain the origin of the universe without a God, simply involves explaining what triggered it, as though its formation from that point on, just happens automatically.

This has been compared by some as similar to lighting the blue touch paper of a firework. They think that if they can propose such a naturalistic trigger, then God is made redundant.

That may sound plausible to some members of the public, who take such pronouncements at face value, and are somewhat in awe of anything that is claimed to be 'scientific'.

But it is obvious to anyone who thinks seriously about it, that a mere trigger is not necessarily an adequate cause.

A trigger presupposes that there is some sort of a mechanism/blueprint/plan already existing which is ready to spring into action if it is provided with an appropriate trigger. So a trigger is not a sole cause, or a first cause, it is merely one contributing cause.

Natural things do only what they are programmed to do, i.e. they obey natural laws and the demands of their own pre-ordered composition and structure. Lighting blue touch paper would do absolutely nothing, unless there is a carefully designed and manufactured firework already attached to it.

 

What about the idea proposed by some atheists that space must have always existed, and therefore the first cause was not the only eternally, uncaused self-existent power?

This implies that the first cause was limited by a self-existent rival (space,) which was also uncaused, and therefore the first cause could not be infinite and could not even be a proper first cause, because there was something it didn’t cause i.e. ‘space’.

There seems to be some confusion here about what ‘space’ actually is.

Space is part of the created universe, it is what lies between and around material objects in the cosmos, if there were no material objects in the cosmos, there would be no space. The confusion lies in the failure to distinguish between empty space and nothing. Nothing is the absence of everything, whereas space is a medium in which cosmic bodies exist. ‘Empty’ space is just the space between objects. So space is not an uncaused, eternally self-existent entity, it is dependent on material objects existing within it, for its own existence.

What about nothing? Is that an uncaused eternally self-existent thing? Firstly, it is not a thing, it is the absence of all things. So has nothing always existed? Well, yes it essentially would have always existed, but only if the first cause didn’t exist. If there is a first cause is that is eternally self-existent, then there is no such thing as absolute nothing, because nothing is the absence of everything. If a first cause exists (which it had to), then any proposed eternal ‘nothing’ has always contained something, and therefore can never have been ‘nothing’.

What about the idea that the first cause created everything material from nothing? Obviously, the ‘nothing’ that is meant here is … nothing material, i.e. the absence of any material entities.

The uncaused, first cause cannot be material, because all material things are contingent, so the first cause brought material things into being, when nothing material had previously existed. That is what is meant by creation from nothing.

So what existed outside of the eternally existent first cause? Obviously no other thing existed outside of the first cause, the first cause was the only thing that existed. So did the first cause exist in a sea of eternally existent nothingness?

No! the first cause was not nothing, it was ‘something’. So to ask what surrounded the something that is the first cause is not a valid question, because if something exists that is not ‘nothing’. This means that such a notion of ‘nothing’ didn’t exist, only something – i.e. the eternally existent first cause. If you have a box with something in it, you wouldn’t say there is both something and nothing in the box. You would say there is something in the box, regardless of whether there was some empty space around the thing in the box.

 

Atheists invent all sorts of bizarre myths to explain the origin of the universe and matter/energy.

Such as the utterly, ludicrous notion of the universe creating itself from nothing. Obviously for something to create itself, it would need to pre-exist its own creation, in order to do the creating!

They are clutching at straws and anyone with any common sense understands that.

 

So to sum up .....

The atheist ideology is illogical, unscientific nonsense. Even worse, it has no compunction in treating natural laws and the basic principle of the scientific method with utter distain and contempt whenever they interfere with atheist beliefs.

Science is the real enemy of atheism, and atheism is the real enemy of science.

 

So please ignore the atheist bus slogans, they are not worth the ink the are printed with.

 

FOUNDATIONS OF SCIENCE

The Law of Cause and Effect. Dominant Principle of Classical Physics. David L. Bergman and Glen C. Collins

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"The Big Bang's Failed Predictions and Failures to Predict: (Updated Aug 3, 2017.) As documented below, trust in the big bang's predictive ability has been misplaced when compared to the actual astronomical observations that were made, in large part, in hopes of affirming the theory."

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All art is but imitation of nature.-- Seneca (Letters from a Stoic - Letter LXV: On the First Cause)

 

The universe itself is God and the universal outpouring of its soul. --Chrysippus (Quoted by Cicero in De Natura Deorum)

 

Best wishes on your Epic Odyssey!

 

Homer: Tell me, O muse, of that ingenious hero who traveled far and wide after he had sacked the famous town of Troy. Many cities did he visit, and many were the nations with whose manners and customs he was acquainted; moreover he suffered much by sea while trying to save his own life and bring his men safely home. . . --Homer's Odyssey, Book I

 

Photographs available as epic fine art luxury prints. For prints and licensing information, please send me a flickr mail or contact drelliot@gmail.com with your queries! All the best on your Epic Hero's Odyssey!

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Exalt your photography with Golden Ratio Compositions!

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Golden Ratio Compositions & Secret Sacred Geometry for Photography, Fine Art, & Landscape Photographers: How to Exalt Art with Leonardo da Vinci's, Michelangelo's!

 

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A Simple Guide to the Principles of Fine Art Nature Photography: Master Composition, Lenses, Camera Settings, Aperture, ISO, ... Hero's Odyssey Mythology Photography)

 

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Beautiful Surf Goddesses! Athletic Action Portraits of Swimsuit Bikini Models! Athena, Artemis, Helen, and Aphrodite!

These Seven Principles of Human Learning taken from the National Academies Press free ebook Learning and Understanding (2002).

 

"During the last four decades, scientists have engaged in research that has increased our understanding of human cognition, providing greater insight into how knowledge is organized, how experience shapes understanding, how people monitor their own understanding, how learners differ from one another, and how people acquire expertise. From this emerging body of research, scientists and others have been able to synthesize a number of underlying principles of human learning. This growing understanding of how people learn has the potential to influence significantly the nature of education and its outcomes."

 

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Greetings all! I have been busy finishing a few books on photography, while traveling all over--to Zion and the Sierras--shooting fall colors. Please see some here: facebook.com/mcgucken

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Let me know in the comments if you would like a free review copy of one of my photography books! :)

 

Titles include:

The Tao of Epic Landscape Photography: Exalt Fine Art with the Yin-Yang Wisdom of Lao Tzu's Tao Te Ching!

 

The Golden Number Ratio Principle: Why the Fibonacci Numbers Exalt Beauty and How to Create PHI Compositions in Art, Design, & Photography

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And I am also working on a book on photographing the goddesses! :) More goddesses soon!

 

Best wishes on your epic hero's odyssey!:)

 

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I love voyaging forth into nature to contemplate poetry, physics, the golden ratio, and the Tao te Ching! What's your favorite epic poetry reflecting epic landscapes? I recently finished a book titled Epic Poetry for Epic Landscape Photographers:

 

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Did you know that John Muir, Thoreau, and Emerson all loved epic poetry and poets including Shakespeare, Milton, Homer, and Robert Burns?

 

I recently finished my fourth book on Light Time Dimension Theory, much of which was inspired by an autumn trip to Zion!

 

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Via its simple principle of a fourth expanding dimension, LTD Theory provides a unifying, foundational *physical* model underlying relativity, quantum mechanics, time and all its arrows and asymmetries, and the second law of thermodynamics. The detailed diagrams demonstrate that the great mysteries of quantum mechanical nonlocality, entanglement, and probability naturally arise from the very same principle that fosters relativity alongside light's constant velocity, the equivalence of mass and energy, and time dilation.

 

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New book! Epic Landscape Photography: The Principles of Fine Art Nature Photography!

 

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The Epic Seascape! Malibu Sea Caves!

 

Landscape photography is not only about traveling through space, but it is also about traveling through time. One may return to the same beach time and again throughout the seasons to find a million different universes, changing in an infinitude of manners with each passing wave.

 

Not only do we voyage outwardly to get the shot, but we travel even further inwardly. While I spend my year trekking along the John Muir Trail, and on through Zion, Yosemite, the Grand Canyon, Death Valley, and the Colorado Plateau, my heart always finds its home in these Malibu sea caves, where I have stood in awe during all hours of the day and night.

Included within are a few shots that only I have so far captured, including a miraculous winter solstice sunrise.

 

Best wishes throughout the coming year!

 

instagram.com/elliotmcgucken

 

Join my new 45EPIC fine art landscapes page on facebook!

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Working on a couple photography books! 45EPIC GODDESS PHOTOGRAPHY: A classic guide to exalting the archetypal woman. And 45EPIC Fine Art Landscape Photography!

 

More on my golden ratio musings: facebook.com/goldennumberratio

instagram.com/goldennumberratio

 

Greetings all! I have been busy finishing a few books on photography, while traveling all over--to Zion and the Sierras--shooting fall colors. Please see some here: facebook.com/mcgucken

instagram.com/elliotmcgucken

 

Let me know in the comments if you would like a free review copy of one of my photography books! :)

 

Titles include:

The Tao of Epic Landscape Photography: Exalt Fine Art with the Yin-Yang Wisdom of Lao Tzu's Tao Te Ching!

 

The Golden Number Ratio Principle: Why the Fibonacci Numbers Exalt Beauty and How to Create PHI Compositions in Art, Design, & Photography

facebook.com/goldennumberratio

 

And I am also working on a book on photographing the goddesses! :) More goddesses soon!

 

Best wishes on your epic hero's odyssey!:)

 

instagram.com/45surf

 

I love voyaging forth into nature to contemplate poetry, physics, the golden ratio, and the Tao te Ching! What's your favorite epic poetry reflecting epic landscapes? I recently finished a book titled Epic Poetry for Epic Landscape Photographers:

 

www.facebook.com/Epic-Poetry-for-Epic-Landscape-Photograp...

 

Did you know that John Muir, Thoreau, and Emerson all loved epic poetry and poets including Shakespeare, Milton, Homer, and Robert Burns?

 

I recently finished my fourth book on Light Time Dimension Theory, much of which was inspired by an autumn trip to Zion!

 

www.facebook.com/lightimedimensiontheory/

 

Via its simple principle of a fourth expanding dimension, LTD Theory provides a unifying, foundational *physical* model underlying relativity, quantum mechanics, time and all its arrows and asymmetries, and the second law of thermodynamics. The detailed diagrams demonstrate that the great mysteries of quantum mechanical nonlocality, entanglement, and probability naturally arise from the very same principle that fosters relativity alongside light's constant velocity, the equivalence of mass and energy, and time dilation.

 

Follow me on instagram!

instagram.com/elliotmcgucken

 

Join my new 45EPIC fine art landscapes page on facebook!

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Yosemite National Park Fine Art! Epic National Parks Fine Art & Nature Landscape Photography: Elliot McGucken Fine Art Nature Photography!

The Scriptures present us with a variety of visible images which signify the presence and action of the Holy Spirit. These signs include wind, fire, breath, and rivers of living waters. You and I have been called to experience the adventure of life in and with the Holy Spirit. We all need the Fire of the Holy Spirit in our lives. In fact, Ephesians 5:18 urges us to constantly be filled with the Spirit. If you are in a place of hunger for more, you will be blessed by this teaching entitled Fire of the Holy Spirit.

 

Signs of fire in Scripture signify in a special way God’s holy presence, power, and glory, as well as the purification and cleansing action of the Holy Spirit. Some examples include:

• The Burning Bush – Exodus 3

• The Pillar of Fire in the wilderness – Exodus 13:21-22

• The Consuming Fire on Mount Carmel – 1 Kings 18:17-40

• The Burning Coal that purified the lips of Isaiah the Prophet – Isaiah 6:6-7

• The Tongues of Fire at Pentecost – Acts 2:1-4

• God’s Consuming Fire in the new heavenly Jerusalem – Hebrews 12:22,28

 

The role of the Holy Spirit is not an ‘optional extra’ for Christians; He is the very essence of our relationship with the Father and the means to accomplish what we have been called to do. We have generations of people that don’t know what it means to experience the Holy Spirit, and that in itself is heart-breaking. However, ordinary people filled with Fire can make all the difference.

 

I feel it is right to show you this life changing teaching and pray that the principles expressed in the teaching will take root in your life. For over four decades we as a ministry have seen the Holy Spirit radically transform people’s lives, bodies, relationships and circumstances. We’ve seen millions set on Fire from above and we want to see that same Fire released in your life.

 

FIRE OF THE HOLY SPIRIT

Now Moses was tending the flock of Jethro his father-in-law, the priest of Midian, and he led the flock to the far side of the wilderness and came to Horeb, the mountain of God. There the angel of the Lord appeared to him in flames of fire from within a bush. Moses saw that though the bush was on fire it did not burn up. So Moses thought, “I will go over and see this strange sight—why the bush does not burn up.” When the Lord saw that he had gone over to look, God called to him from within the bush, “Moses! Moses!” And Moses said, “Here I am.”

 

So now, go. I am sending you to Pharaoh to bring my people the Israelites out of Egypt. ”But Moses said to God, “Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the Israelites out of Egypt?” And God said, “I will be with you. And this will be the sign to you that it is I who have sent you: When you have brought the people out of Egypt, you will worship God on this mountain.” Exodus 3:1-4 & 10-12

 

YOUR WILDERNESS IN LIFE – THE PERFECT CONDITIONS TO CATCH FIRE

The first thing I want you to notice is the location where Moses encountered the Fire of God. I want you to notice that it doesn’t say that when Moses encountered the Fire he was lying next to a lush green pasture next to a cool bubbling brook of water surrounded by lilies. It doesn’t say that he encountered the Fire of God sitting in a 5-star resort getting massages. The Bible says that when Moses encountered the Fire of God he was in the desert.

 

In fact, let me take it one step further, the Bible actually says that Moses was on the backside of the desert when he encountered the Fire of God. Now, how many of you know that the desert is a dry place, the desert is a thirsty place, the desert is a lonely place. Yet, this is the place where God chose to reveal himself to Moses through this burning bush of fire.

 

We all go through times of difficulty, we all face trials. Maybe as you sit and read this teaching you don’t feel the presence of God, maybe you’re going through the most challenging wilderness experience you’ve ever experienced. I have good news for you; the dryer a piece of wood is, the quicker it catches on fire.

When the Lord Jesus began his public ministry, the first thing that John the Baptist said about him was:

“He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire” (Matthew 3:11 and Luke 3:16).

What does it mean to be baptized with the fire of God's Spirit?

 

When the Holy Spirit comes he sets our hearts on fire with the love of Jesus Christ. Paul the Apostle tells us that,

“God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us” (Romans 5:5).

When we surrender our lives to Jesus Christ, and pray for the Holy Spirit to be fully released in our lives, what happens – what does the Holy Spirit do?

 

• The Holy Spirit opens our ears to hear God’s voice – the Spirit enables God’s Word to come alive in us so that God’s word becomes a living and life-changing Word that is sharper than any two-edged sword – Paul the Apostle calls the Word of God the Sword of the Spirit (Ephesians 6).

• The Spirit opens our eyes to give us vision of what God is doing today in the Church, the world, and our personal lives. “Without vision the people perish” (Proverbs 29:18)

• The Spirit opens our minds to give us knowledge, wisdom, and understanding of God and his ways (Isaiah 11:2). Jesus said the Holy Spirit will teach us the truth and help us remember all that Christ has taught (John 14:26; 16:13).

• The Spirit opens our tongues to praise God and to speak his word with faith, conviction, and boldness and to encourage the fainthearted, the hopeless, and the weak.

• The Spirit anoints our hands to bring blessing, healing, comfort, and help to others.

• The Spirit equips our feet with speed and haste to bring the good news of the Gospel to every neighbor near and far.

• The Holy Spirit purifies our hearts and minds and sets us on fire with the love of Christ.

 

When Jesus began his ministry, he was led by the Holy Spirit to proclaim the good news of the kingdom to every village, town, and region of Israel. The Spirit gave force or power to every word Jesus spoke. The Spirit revealed the thoughts and intention s of people’s hearts to Jesus. The Spirit empowered Jesus to perform signs and wonders and miracles, and power to free people from Satan’s oppression in their lives.

 

We are Christ’s body – members of his church on the earth. Jesus calls us to do the same works he did and he equips us with spiritual gifts to carry on the work which he began.

 

Saint Theresa of Avila (1515-1582) wrote:

“Christ has no body now but yours. No hands, no feet on earth but yours. Yours are the eyes through which he looks compassion on this world. Yours are the feet with which he walks to do good. Yours are the hands through which he blesses all the world. Yours are the hands, yours are the feet, yours are the eyes, you are his body. Christ has no body now on earth but yours.”

Outpouring of the Holy Spirit today

Why is God pouring out his Holy Spirit today, with signs, healings, and spiritual gifts? I believe one reason is that the Gospel and the Christian people are under unprecedented attack today. We need spiritual power to counter this attack and to proclaim the Gospel in the joy and power of the Holy Spirit. The charismatic renewal is a key part of God’s work to renew, restore, and equip God’s people to stand strong in faith and courage, to persevere with unwavering hope, and to be on fire with the love of Christ. Our task is to make Jesus known and loved by all who will receive him and the good news of salvation he brings.

 

Our role in the charismatic renewal movement

We are first foremost disciples of Jesus – disciples who are personally committed to the Lord Jesus, to follow him and obey him and to submit to his word for our lives.

The Lord Jesus calls us to be servants just as he came "not to be served, but to serve." As his servants who use their gifts, talents, and time to generously and selflessly serve others to help them grow in faith, hope, and love. We use our gifts, not to build up ourselves, but to build up the body of Christ and to advance his mission in the world.

 

The charismatic renewal is a sign of what God is bringing about through the gift of being baptized in the Holy Spirit. It is a visible public sign of the Lord’s work of renewal in bringing people into a revitalized relationship with God and a sign of the unity he desires for all of his people. The Spirit unites, Satan divides. A true sign and fruit of charismatic renewal is love for our church – our church leaders and members, and for all believers who are brothers and sisters in Christ. A sign can’t do everything – but it can point to God and to the work of the Holy Spirit to renew the churches and to bring God’s people into greater unity and love for one another.

 

Some traps or pitfalls we must avoid

We don’t lead or serve to draw attention to ourselves, to gain esteem, praise, or applause. We serve in humility like John the Baptist who said, “He [Jesus] must increase, but I must decrease” (John 3:30). Our reward comes from our Master Jesus Christ. He suffered abuse, mistreatment, and even rejection, and yet he loved his own to the very end (John 13:1), even those who rejected him and those who nailed him to the cross. Paul the Apostle said, “It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me” (Galatians 2:20).

 

THE FIRE COMES FIRST

The next thing I want you to notice about this story. This encounter Moses had was the precursor to Moses being sent to Pharaoh, and once Moses went to Pharaoh the greatest story of God’s deliverance and God’s supernatural power that has been recorded, possibly in history, began to unfold. It all started right there at that burning bush; and I see a principle here that is enduring. Before God sends you to Pharaoh, before God sends you to your destiny, before God sends you to do that thing that you were made to do, He is first going to send you to the Fire.

 

The Fire comes first, that encounter with the presence of God comes first. When Jesus was about to go to heaven He looked down at His disciples and He said I want you to go to Jerusalem, and what? Wait. I want you to go and wait. Now, think about this for a moment. These 12 men were the most experienced and educated and qualified men in things pertaining to Jesus Christ of anybody that has ever walked the earth. Who else got to spend 3 ½ years, every day and every night with Jesus? These men had a PhD in the Jesus Christ school of ministry. If they were alive today, I am sure that every denomination in the world would give them honorary credentials and I’m pretty sure that every Christian University would give them an honorary Doctorate. If ever anybody was qualified to go and preach about Jesus, it was those men. Yet, Jesus looked them square in the eye and said you’re not ready, go to Jerusalem and wait.

 

What did He say to wait for? It was the promise of the Father. Do you know what the promise of the Father was? It was the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. Jesus knew that those men, if they were really going to be able to make a difference in the world, they were going to need the power of the Holy Ghost.

 

I’m convinced that when it comes to the infilling of the Holy Spirit, one of the main ingredients, if not the main ingredient is hunger. Just hunger! You can have what you want, you can have as much of God as you desire. Do you want Him today? Are you hungry for Him today?

 

LASTING FIRE OF THE SPIRIT

In Exodus 3:3 when Moses saw the bush he turned aside to see why the bush wasn’t burnt. I want you to notice that it was not the fact that there was a burning bush that impressed Moses so much. A lot of people don’t understand this, they think that it was some unusual sight, some unusual phenomenon and that was the reason Moses thought it was so interesting.

 

The Bible doesn’t say that Moses was interested because a bush was burning. In fact, there are indeed bushes in the wilderness that spontaneously combust. I’m sure that Moses had seen plenty of them, he had lived there for 40 years. He was interested because a bush kept on burning. I imagine it happened like this. Maybe one day Moses was walking through the wilderness with his sheep, following behind him and he passed this particular spot and looked over to his left side and there he saw the burning bush and he thought to himself, very interesting, one of those burning bushes and he kept going. On his way home that night with the sheep still following behind, he passed that spot and he looked and he saw it was still burning, he said wow, that is the toughest wilderness bush I have ever seen in my whole life and he kept walking.

 

The next week, Moses was on his way back on that trail again and when he came to that spot he looked and he said I could have sworn that was the same tree that was burning this time last week, but that’s impossible all these bushes look the same, and he kept walking. That night on his way home he saw it again and it was still burning. By this point Moses was starting to get curious, maybe he took some rocks piled them on the path and he said next week when I come back on this way I’m going to check that bush and see what’s happened to it. So he went home.

 

The next week as he was passing he saw that pile of rocks on the path, it reminded him. Oh yes, that bush was burning here and when he approached it he looked to his left side. Surprise, surprise, the bush was still burning. Maybe, it was at that point that Moses decided to turn aside to see what was going on with this bush.

 

I remember, when I was first filled with the Holy Spirit as a teenager. Well my friend, that was over 20 years ago now, and I have good news for you. I’m burning brighter today than I was back then and I believe 20 years from now, I will be burning brighter than I am today. The Fire of the Holy Ghost never goes out! Somebody said, ‘How do you keep the Fire burning?’ That’s the wrong way round, the Fire keeps me burning.

 

The Lord saw that Moses turned aside, that’s when the Lord spoke to him. People ask me all the time about how I hear God’s voice? Notice that the burning bush didn’t start shouting to Moses as he was walking by on the path taking care of his sheep.

 

The Holy Spirit is patient; He can wait for a long time. What is He waiting for? He’s waiting for you to turn aside and listen. People ask me, why is it that I don’t hear the voice of God? I think most of the time the answer is very simple, you are not listening. If you don’t believe me, let me ask you a question, a little diagnostic. When was the last time you sat in a room for 20 minutes quietly, without the television on, without the radio on, without praise and worship music on, without your mobile phone, without Facebook, without e-mail, you turned everything off and you sat there and said Holy Spirit I have no other agenda, I’m just here to listen, I’m not even here to talk, I’m not here to fill your ears with all of my needs, I’m just here to listen? When was the last time you did that?

 

DISTINGUISHED BY THE SPIRIT

So Moses turned aside and the Lord spoke to him. Now, I don’t know how many bushes there are in the wilderness, I assume there are a lot. One thing I do know is that there was only one bush in the wilderness that caught Moses’ attention. It was the one bush that was burning with the presence of the living God.

 

What is the world looking for? Are they looking for us to build nicer buildings? Are they looking for us to have more eloquent preachers? Are they looking for us to have better music? Or better marketing programmes? What is it they want? What we think is relevant to the world is completely irrelevant. We have just begun to become like them, sound like them and act like them, we never confront them, we never offend them, we think that we will win them by looking like them. The church has thought that we can convince the world that they need what we have, by looking, just like they look.

 

I tell you what we need, Elijah the Prophet discovered it thousands of years ago, when the people of Israel were serving their false God named Baal. Elijah stood up and he said today we have got to make a choice. I say it to you, we have got to make a choice. If Baal is god serve him, if money is your god then serve it, if popularity and acceptance is your god give your life to that, if partying and pleasure is god then live for that, but if Jehovah is God, Elijah said, then serve Him! This was the test, Elijah knew his God and he knew that the authentic God would be able to demonstrate His power.

 

Elijah said, ‘meet me on top of the mountain, bring all of your 700 prophets and I will stand there as one lonely man representing Jehovah, and we will find out whose God is the true God. The prophets of Baal began to dance and sing, try to call down the fire, Elijah was falling asleep. Not even a puff of smoke from Baal’s alter. After a while Elijah stood up, he said, ‘guys I hate to interrupt it looks like you’re having lots of fun. Don’t worry, maybe Baal is locked in the bathroom - it’s okay. I understand how it is, these gods are unpredictable. Maybe he’s gone on vacation.’ Then Elijah said, ‘Gentlemen before it gets too late, before the sun goes down let me pray. I don’t need a long time, I don’t need to scream and shout, I don’t need to cut myself, all I need to do is speak to God because He’s living.’

 

Elijah prayed, ‘Lord hear me, let these people know that you are God and that You’ve turned their hearts back to you in the fire.’ The Bible says fire fell from heaven, it consumed the sacrifice and the wood and the stones, it even lit up the water in the trench. Our God is a consuming fire! The world is not looking for pyrotechnics, they are not looking for Rock-n-Roll music, they are not looking for great entertainment. What they are looking for is the reality, the demonstration of the power of God and when they see it they will fall on their faces as the children of Israel did and begin to declare the Lord, He is God.

 

WHAT ARE YOU BURNING FOR?

This burns in me, we need revival in this nation. We have generations of people that don’t know what it means to experience the Holy Ghost, and it breaks my heart.

 

Some of us are way too dignified. Often caring too much about what people think or about how we look. If you care more about how you look than receiving the Holy Ghost then you are not hungry, that’s all I can say. A hungry man doesn’t give a flying leap what anybody else thinks. A hungry man has one agenda, to get that food and when you’re hungry for the Holy Ghost everything else in your life will come second to that. You will desire Him more than the air you breathe, you will desire Him more than the food you eat, you will desire Him more than your dignity, you will desire Him more than your reputation, you will desire Him more than your ministry, you will desire Him more than anything!

 

It is true that people will look at you and look down their nose and say it’s one of those crazy Pentecostals. Oh my friend, don’t worry, I’ll tell you what you do, let that unbelieving sceptic go to a football game. You follow that unbelieving mocker down to the stadium and watch as their team score the goal that wins the game in overtime. Then you will make a discovery, everybody burns! Some people burn for sports, some people burn for money, some people burn for popularity and power and sex and style and fashion. But everybody burns for something. The difference between us and them is that we burn for something that matters!

 

Yours in the harvest,

  

Evangelist Daniel Kolenda

 

www.cfan.org.uk/connect/bible-studies/fire-holy-spirit

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A Simple Guide to the Principles of Fine Art Nature Photography: Master Composition, Lenses, Camera Settings, Aperture, ISO, ... Hero's Odyssey Mythology Photography)

 

All my photography celebrates the physics of light! dx4/dt=ic! Light Time Dimension Theory: The Foundational Physics Unifying Einstein's Relativity and Quantum Mechanics: A Simple, Illustrated Introduction to the Physical: geni.us/Fa1Q

 

Ralph Waldo Emerson. The happiest man is he who learns from nature the lesson of worship.

 

Lucius Annaeus Seneca: On entering a temple we assume all signs of reverence. How much more reverent then should we be before the heavenly bodies, the stars, the very nature of God!

 

John Muir: All the wild world is beautiful, and it matters but little where we go, to highlands or lowlands, woods or plains, on the sea or land or down among the crystals of waves or high in a balloon in the sky; through all the climates, hot or cold, storms and calms, everywhere and always we are in God's eternal beauty and love. So universally true is this, the spot where we chance to be always seems the best.

New book! Epic Landscape Photography: The Principles of Fine Art Nature Photography!

 

www.facebook.com/epiclandscapephotography/

 

instagram.com/elliotmcgucken

 

Join my new 45EPIC fine art landscapes page on facebook!

facebook.com/mcgucken

 

Working on a couple photography books! 45EPIC GODDESS PHOTOGRAPHY: A classic guide to exalting the archetypal woman. And 45EPIC Fine Art Landscape Photography!

 

More on my golden ratio musings: facebook.com/goldennumberratio

instagram.com/goldennumberratio

 

Greetings all! I have been busy finishing a few books on photography, while traveling all over--to Zion and the Sierras--shooting fall colors. Please see some here: facebook.com/mcgucken

instagram.com/elliotmcgucken

 

Let me know in the comments if you would like a free review copy of one of my photography books! :)

 

Titles include:

The Tao of Epic Landscape Photography: Exalt Fine Art with the Yin-Yang Wisdom of Lao Tzu's Tao Te Ching!

 

The Golden Number Ratio Principle: Why the Fibonacci Numbers Exalt Beauty and How to Create PHI Compositions in Art, Design, & Photography

facebook.com/goldennumberratio

 

And I am also working on a book on photographing the goddesses! :) More goddesses soon!

 

Best wishes on your epic hero's odyssey!:)

 

instagram.com/45surf

 

I love voyaging forth into nature to contemplate poetry, physics, the golden ratio, and the Tao te Ching! What's your favorite epic poetry reflecting epic landscapes? I recently finished a book titled Epic Poetry for Epic Landscape Photographers:

 

www.facebook.com/Epic-Poetry-for-Epic-Landscape-Photograp...

 

Did you know that John Muir, Thoreau, and Emerson all loved epic poetry and poets including Shakespeare, Milton, Homer, and Robert Burns?

 

I recently finished my fourth book on Light Time Dimension Theory, much of which was inspired by an autumn trip to Zion!

 

www.facebook.com/lightimedimensiontheory/

 

Via its simple principle of a fourth expanding dimension, LTD Theory provides a unifying, foundational *physical* model underlying relativity, quantum mechanics, time and all its arrows and asymmetries, and the second law of thermodynamics. The detailed diagrams demonstrate that the great mysteries of quantum mechanical nonlocality, entanglement, and probability naturally arise from the very same principle that fosters relativity alongside light's constant velocity, the equivalence of mass and energy, and time dilation.

 

Follow me on instagram!

instagram.com/elliotmcgucken

 

Join my new 45EPIC fine art landscapes page on facebook!

facebook.com/mcgucken

New book! Epic Landscape Photography: The Principles of Fine Art Nature Photography!

 

www.facebook.com/epiclandscapephotography/

 

instagram.com/elliotmcgucken

 

Join my new 45EPIC fine art landscapes page on facebook!

facebook.com/mcgucken

 

Working on a couple photography books! 45EPIC GODDESS PHOTOGRAPHY: A classic guide to exalting the archetypal woman. And 45EPIC Fine Art Landscape Photography!

 

More on my golden ratio musings: facebook.com/goldennumberratio

instagram.com/goldennumberratio

 

Greetings all! I have been busy finishing a few books on photography, while traveling all over--to Zion and the Sierras--shooting fall colors. Please see some here: facebook.com/mcgucken

instagram.com/elliotmcgucken

 

Let me know in the comments if you would like a free review copy of one of my photography books! :)

 

Titles include:

The Tao of Epic Landscape Photography: Exalt Fine Art with the Yin-Yang Wisdom of Lao Tzu's Tao Te Ching!

 

The Golden Number Ratio Principle: Why the Fibonacci Numbers Exalt Beauty and How to Create PHI Compositions in Art, Design, & Photography

facebook.com/goldennumberratio

 

And I am also working on a book on photographing the goddesses! :) More goddesses soon!

 

Best wishes on your epic hero's odyssey!:)

 

instagram.com/45surf

 

I love voyaging forth into nature to contemplate poetry, physics, the golden ratio, and the Tao te Ching! What's your favorite epic poetry reflecting epic landscapes? I recently finished a book titled Epic Poetry for Epic Landscape Photographers:

 

www.facebook.com/Epic-Poetry-for-Epic-Landscape-Photograp...

 

Did you know that John Muir, Thoreau, and Emerson all loved epic poetry and poets including Shakespeare, Milton, Homer, and Robert Burns?

 

I recently finished my fourth book on Light Time Dimension Theory, much of which was inspired by an autumn trip to Zion!

 

www.facebook.com/lightimedimensiontheory/

 

Via its simple principle of a fourth expanding dimension, LTD Theory provides a unifying, foundational *physical* model underlying relativity, quantum mechanics, time and all its arrows and asymmetries, and the second law of thermodynamics. The detailed diagrams demonstrate that the great mysteries of quantum mechanical nonlocality, entanglement, and probability naturally arise from the very same principle that fosters relativity alongside light's constant velocity, the equivalence of mass and energy, and time dilation.

 

Follow me on instagram!

instagram.com/elliotmcgucken

 

Join my new 45EPIC fine art landscapes page on facebook!

facebook.com/mcgucken

Grand Canyon National Park South Rim Winter Snow Fuji GFX100 Arizona Fine Art Landscape Photography! Elliot McGucken Fine Art GCNP American West Landscape Nature Photography! Master Medium Format Fine Art Photographer! Fujifilm GFX 100 & Fujifilm FUJINON Lens!

 

Epic Fine Art Photography Prints & Luxury Wall Art:

geni.us/elliotmcguckenprints

 

Support epic, stoic fine art: Hero's Odyssey Gear!

geni.us/45surf45epicclothing

 

Follow me on Instagram!

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All my photography celebrates the physics of light! The McGucken Principle of the fourth expanding dimension: The fourth dimension is expanding at the rate of c relative to the three spatial dimensions: dx4/dt=ic .

 

Lao Tzu--The Tao: Nature does not hurry, yet everything is accomplished.

 

Light Time Dimension Theory: The Foundational Physics Unifying Einstein's Relativity and Quantum Mechanics: A Simple, Illustrated Introduction to the Unifying Physical Reality of the Fourth Expanding Dimensionsion dx4/dt=ic !: geni.us/Fa1Q

 

"Between every two pine trees there is a door leading to a new way of life." --John Muir

 

Epic Stoicism guides my fine art odyssey and photography: geni.us/epicstoicism

 

“The clearest way into the Universe is through a forest wilderness.” --John Muir

 

Epic Poetry inspires all my photography: geni.us/9K0Ki Epic Poetry for Epic Landscape Photography: Exalt Fine Art Nature Photography with the Poetic Wisdom of John Muir, Emerson, Thoreau, Homer's Iliad, Milton's Paradise Lost & Dante's Inferno Odyssey

 

“The mountains are calling and I must go.” --John Muir

 

Epic Art & 45EPIC Gear exalting golden ratio designs for your Hero's Odyssey:

geni.us/9fnvAMw

 

Support epic fine art! 45surf ! Bitcoin: 1FMBZJeeHVMu35uegrYUfEkHfPj5pe9WNz

 

Exalt the goddess archetype in the fine art of photography! My Epic Book: Photographing Women Models!

geni.us/m90Ms

Portrait, Swimsuit, Lingerie, Boudoir, Fine Art, & Fashion Photography Exalting the Venus Goddess Archetype: How to Shoot Epic ... Epic! Beautiful Surf Fine Art Portrait Swimsuit Bikini Models!

 

Some of my epic books, prints, & more!

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Exalt your photography with Golden Ratio Compositions!

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Golden Ratio Compositions & Secret Sacred Geometry for Photography, Fine Art, & Landscape Photographers: How to Exalt Art with Leonardo da Vinci's, Michelangelo's!

 

Epic Landscape Photography:

geni.us/TV4oEAz

A Simple Guide to the Principles of Fine Art Nature Photography: Master Composition, Lenses, Camera Settings, Aperture, ISO, ... Hero's Odyssey Mythology Photography)

 

All art is but imitation of nature.-- Seneca (Letters from a Stoic - Letter LXV: On the First Cause)

 

The universe itself is God and the universal outpouring of its soul. --Chrysippus (Quoted by Cicero in De Natura Deorum)

 

Season of mists and mellow fruitfulness

Close bosom-friend of the maturing sun

Conspiring with him how to load and bless

With fruit the vines that round the thatch-eves run;

To bend with apples the moss'd cottage-trees,

And fill all fruit with ripeness to the core;

To swell the gourd, and plump the hazel shells

With a sweet kernel; to set budding more,

And still more, later flowers for the bees,

Until they think warm days will never cease,

For Summer has o'er-brimm'd their clammy cells. --To Autumn. by John Keats

Click here to join my Facebook page!

 

GIMP

 

Hi everyone!

The first levitation shot in the 52 Weeks project!

 

Last Friday my photo Principles of Levitation pt. 2: Reading to improve the technique was featured as "Photo of the day" in the Berlin subway, yes, the whole day you could see my photo between news, the weather and some other ads.

 

Yes, I also took a ride in the subway just to see my photo :D, and yes, I am still happy about this little achievement.

 

In the background on the top you can see my photo displayed in the right screen with my name and description in the left one.

 

In other news, I am really hating this "new" Flickr layout, I really hate it!

 

Well, now time to go to the balcony and enjoy of a delicious watermelon water and the nice weather!

 

Have a great Sunday you all!

New book! Epic Landscape Photography: The Principles of Fine Art Nature Photography!

 

www.facebook.com/epiclandscapephotography/

 

instagram.com/elliotmcgucken

 

Join my new 45EPIC fine art landscapes page on facebook!

facebook.com/mcgucken

 

Working on a couple photography books! 45EPIC GODDESS PHOTOGRAPHY: A classic guide to exalting the archetypal woman. And 45EPIC Fine Art Landscape Photography!

 

More on my golden ratio musings: facebook.com/goldennumberratio

instagram.com/goldennumberratio

 

Greetings all! I have been busy finishing a few books on photography, while traveling all over--to Zion and the Sierras--shooting fall colors. Please see some here: facebook.com/mcgucken

instagram.com/elliotmcgucken

 

Let me know in the comments if you would like a free review copy of one of my photography books! :)

 

Titles include:

The Tao of Epic Landscape Photography: Exalt Fine Art with the Yin-Yang Wisdom of Lao Tzu's Tao Te Ching!

 

The Golden Number Ratio Principle: Why the Fibonacci Numbers Exalt Beauty and How to Create PHI Compositions in Art, Design, & Photography

facebook.com/goldennumberratio

 

And I am also working on a book on photographing the goddesses! :) More goddesses soon!

 

Best wishes on your epic hero's odyssey!:)

 

instagram.com/45surf

 

I love voyaging forth into nature to contemplate poetry, physics, the golden ratio, and the Tao te Ching! What's your favorite epic poetry reflecting epic landscapes? I recently finished a book titled Epic Poetry for Epic Landscape Photographers:

 

www.facebook.com/Epic-Poetry-for-Epic-Landscape-Photograp...

 

Did you know that John Muir, Thoreau, and Emerson all loved epic poetry and poets including Shakespeare, Milton, Homer, and Robert Burns?

 

I recently finished my fourth book on Light Time Dimension Theory, much of which was inspired by an autumn trip to Zion!

 

www.facebook.com/lightimedimensiontheory/

 

Via its simple principle of a fourth expanding dimension, LTD Theory provides a unifying, foundational *physical* model underlying relativity, quantum mechanics, time and all its arrows and asymmetries, and the second law of thermodynamics. The detailed diagrams demonstrate that the great mysteries of quantum mechanical nonlocality, entanglement, and probability naturally arise from the very same principle that fosters relativity alongside light's constant velocity, the equivalence of mass and energy, and time dilation.

 

Follow me on instagram!

instagram.com/elliotmcgucken

 

Join my new 45EPIC fine art landscapes page on facebook!

facebook.com/mcgucken

I know it is kind of repetitive but I really wanted to try this one... I think I like the result....

 

well, after my last Principles of Levitation shot, my back is hurting me again, I think I really need a massage...

 

in other news, it is almost the weekend!!! and looks like we will have some beers with all friends from my German course :D

 

Peace!!!

An anti-establishment view or belief is one which stands in opposition to the conventional social, political, and economic principles of a society. The term was first used in the modern sense in 1958, by the British magazine New Statesman to refer to its political and social agenda. Antiestablishmentarianism (or anti-establishmentarianism) is an expression for such a political philosophy.

 

In the UK anti-establishment figures and groups are seen as those who argue or act against the ruling class. Having an established church, in England, a British monarchy, an aristocracy, and an unelected upper house in Parliament made up in part by hereditary nobles, the UK has a clearly definable[citation needed] Establishment against which anti-establishment figures can be contrasted. In particular, satirical humour is commonly used to undermine the deference shown by the majority of the population towards those who govern them. Examples of British anti-establishment satire include much of the humour of Peter Cook and Ben Elton; novels such as Rumpole of the Bailey; magazines such as Private Eye; and television programmes like Spitting Image, That Was The Week That Was, and The Prisoner (see also the satire boom of the 1960s). Anti-establishment themes also can be seen in the novels of writers such as Will Self.

 

However, by operating through the arts and media, the line between politics and culture is blurred, so that pigeonholing figures such as Banksy as either anti-establishment or counter-culture figures can be difficult. The tabloid newspapers such as The Sun, are less subtle, and commonly report on the sex-lives of the Royals simply because it sells newspapers, but in the process have been described as having anti-establishment views that have weakened traditional institutions. On the other hand, as time passes, anti-establishment figures sometimes end up becoming part of the Establishment, as Mick Jagger, the Rolling Stones frontman, became a Knight in 2003, or when The Who frontman Roger Daltrey was made a Commander of the Order of the British Empire in 2005 in recognition of both his music and his work for charity.

 

Anti-establishment in the United States began in the 1940s and continued through the 1950s.

 

Many World War II veterans, who had seen horrors and inhumanities, began to question every aspect of life, including its meaning. Urged to return to "normal lives" and plagued by post traumatic stress disorder (discussing it was "not manly"), in which many of them went on to found the outlaw motorcycle club Hells Angels. Some veterans, who founded the Beat Movement, were denigrated as Beatniks and accused of being "downbeat" on everything. Lawrence Ferlinghetti wrote a Beat autobiography that cited his wartime service.

 

Citizens had also begun to question authority, especially after the Gary Powers U-2 Incident, wherein President Eisenhower repeatedly assured people the United States was not spying on Russia, then was caught in a blatant lie. This general dissatisfaction was popularized by Peggy Lee's laconic pop song "Is That All There Is?", but remained unspoken and unfocused. It was not until the Baby Boomers came along in huge numbers that protest became organized, who were named by the Beats as "little hipsters".

 

"Anti-establishment" became a buzzword of the tumultuous 1960s. Young people raised in comparative luxury saw many wrongs perpetuated by society and began to question "the Establishment". Contentious issues included the ongoing Vietnam War with no clear goal or end point, the constant military build-up and diversion of funds for the Cold War, perpetual widespread poverty being ignored, money-wasting boondoggles like pork barrel projects and the Space Race, festering race issues, a stultifying education system, repressive laws and harsh sentences for casual drug use, and a general malaise among the older generation. On the other side, "Middle America" often regarded questions as accusations, and saw the younger generation as spoiled, drugged-out, sex-crazed, unambitious slackers.

 

Anti-establishment debates were common because they touched on everyday aspects of life. Even innocent questions could escalate into angry diatribes. For example, "Why do we spend millions on a foreign war and a space program when our schools are falling apart?" would be answered with "We need to keep our military strong and ready to stop the Communists from taking over the world." As in any debate, there were valid and unsupported arguments on both sides. "Make love not war" invoked "America, love it or leave it."

 

As the 1960s simmered, the anti-Establishment adopted conventions in opposition to the Establishment. T-shirts and blue jeans became the uniform of the young because their parents wore collar shirts and slacks. Drug use, with its illegal panache, was favored over the legal consumption of alcohol. Promoting peace and love was the antidote to promulgating hatred and war. Living in genteel poverty was more "honest" than amassing a nest egg and a house in the suburbs. Rock 'n roll was played loudly over easy listening. Dodging the draft was passive resistance to traditional military service. Dancing was free-style, not learned in a ballroom. Over time, anti-establishment messages crept into popular culture: songs, fashion, movies, lifestyle choices, television.

 

The emphasis on freedom allowed previously hushed conversations about sex, politics, or religion to be openly discussed. A wave of radical liberation movements for minority groups came out of the 1960s, including second-wave feminism; Black Power, Red Power, and the Chicano Movement; and gay liberation. These movements differed from previous efforts to improve minority rights by their opposition to respectability politics and militant tone. Programs were put in place to deal with inequities: Equal Opportunity Employment, the Head Start Program, enforcement of the Civil Rights Act, busing, and others. But the widespread dissemination of new ideas also sparked a backlash and resurgence in conservative religions, new segregated private schools, anti-gay and anti-abortion legislation, and other reversals. Extremists[clarification needed] tended to be heard more because they made good copy for newspapers and television.[citation needed] In many ways, the angry debates of the 1960s led to modern right-wing talk radio and coalitions for "traditional family values".

 

As the 1960s passed, society had changed to the point that the definition of the Establishment had blurred, and the term "anti-establishment" seemed to fall out of use.

 

In recent years, with the rise of the populist right, the term anti-establishment has tended to refer to both left and right-wing movements expressing dissatisfaction with mainstream institutions. For those on the right, this can be fueled by feelings of alienation from major institutions such as the government, corporations, media, and education system, which are perceived as holding progressive social norms, an inversion of the meaning formerly associated with the term. This can be accounted for by a perceived cultural and institutional shift to the left by many on the right. According to Pew Research, Western European populist parties from both sides of the ideological spectrum tapped into anti-establishment sentiment in 2017, "from the Brexit referendum to national elections in Italy." Sarah Kendzior of QZ opines that "The term "anti-establishment" has lost all meaning," citing a campaign video from then candidate Donald Trump titled "Fighting the Establishment." The term anti-establishment has tended to refer to Right-wing populist movements, including nationalist movements and anti-lockdown protests, since Donald Trump and the global populist wave, starting as far back as 2015 and as recently as 2021.

Harry Clasper (5 July 1812 – 12 July 1870) was a professional rower and boat builder from Tyneside in England. He was an innovative boat designer who pioneered the development of the racing shell and the use of outriggers. He is said to have invented spoon-shaped oars.[citation needed]

 

He was the first of three well-known Tyneside oarsmen, the other two being Robert Chambers and James Renforth.

 

Early history

Harry Clasper was born in Dunston,[1] now part of the Metropolitan Borough of Gateshead, but then an independent village on the south bank of the River Tyne, a mile upriver from Gateshead. Later his family moved to Jarrow, also on the south bank of the Tyne, downriver from Newcastle. At the age of 15, he began to work at Jarrow Pit, which was notorious for firedamp. After a while, Clasper decided that mining did not suit him and he became apprenticed as a ship's carpenter in Brown's Boatyard, Jarrow. There he learnt about woodworking and the principles of boatbuilding. This would be useful to him in later life.

 

After a while, his family moved back to Dunston and Clasper became employed as a coke burner and wherryman for the Garesfield Coke Company at nearby Derwenthaugh. His work as a wherryman would also serve him well in later life. Clasper then worked for a while at Hawks, Crawshay, and Sons Ironworks around the mid-1830s.

 

In 1836 he married his cousin Susannah Hawks, a member of a wealthy family. Their wedding certificate shows Clasper signing with a cross, as he could not read or write, whilst Susannah signed her name.

 

Racing

Clasper formed a racing crew with his brother William and two other men. Harry rowed as stroke (the oarsman who sits nearest the stern, opposite the cox and who sets the stroke rate) and another brother, Robert, acted as cox. The boat was named "Swalwell". The crew started well, winning several races and became known as the Derwenthaugh crew.

 

Clasper took over the tenancy of the Skiff Inn, Derwenthaugh, and in addition to being a pub landlord, he began to build boats on the same site. He built two skiffs for himself, the Hawk in 1840 and the Young Hawk in 1841. With the latter he won the Durham Regatta Single Sculls race in 1842.

 

Race against the Thames

The Derwenthaugh crew was dominating the rowing scene on the Tyne and the logical progression was to challenge a crew from the River Thames. This was done and the race was held on the Tyne on 16 July 1842. The race was rowed over a five-mile (8 km) course from the Tyne Bridge to Lemington for a stake of £150 a side. The Thames crew gained an easy victory. The Derwenthaugh crew's boat, St Agnes, although much narrower than the Thames boat (29 inches as against 40 inches), was 60% heavier than the Thames boat. Clasper realised that he needed to design and build a much lighter boat for future races.

 

The Five Brothers

Clasper had already started to build a new four-oared boat, called The Five Brothers. The completed boat had a five-strake, mahogany hull that had been French polished. It also had outriggers, as had the previous boat, the St Agnes. Outriggers had been used before, but were not universally in use. Despite being much lighter than the St Agnes, the new boat was still about 20% heavier than the boats being raced on the Thames. The Five Brothers made an appearance at the Thames Regatta in 1844 when the Derwenthaugh crew won a prize of £50 and narrowly missed winning the £100 top prize, the Champion Fours.

 

Lord Ravensworth

In 1845 Clasper took another four-oared boat, the Lord Ravensworth, to the Thames Regatta. This latest boat was a further improvement on The Five Brothers. The crew was all Claspers, consisting of Harry at stroke, brothers William and Robert with uncle Ned, and brother Richard as cox. The Derwenthaugh crew won the Champion Fours, beating two other crews, including one from London. They were given the title of four-oared "World Champions". The crew were given a hero's welcome on returning to Newcastle. Clasper then sold the Lord Ravensworth for £80.

 

Later career

In the next fifteen years, Clasper, with a variety of other crewmembers, won the Champion Fours at the Thames Regatta six further times. His crewmembers included his eldest son, John Hawks Clasper and Robert Chambers, later to be World Sculling Champion. His last victory was in 1859, when he was 47 years old.

 

For many years he was a champion sculler on the Tyne and in Scotland, but was never successful as a sculler at the Thames Regatta. His last competitive race was a sculling race on the Tyne in 1867, when he was 55; his younger opponent beat him easily.

 

Clasper became a rowing coach using his experience of many races. He recommended rest, light and regular meals, walking and running, as well as two sessions on the water each day. He coached Robert Chambers, who became Tyne, Thames, England and World Sculling Champion.

 

During his time racing and coaching he continued to be a pub landlord, and ran a succession of pubs, including the Skiff pub in Gateshead and the Clasper Hotel on Scotswood Road, Newcastle. He moved on from there and finally settled at the Tunnel Inn, Ouseburn. He ran this until his death in 1870.

 

Death

He died on 12 July 1870, probably of a stroke. For his funeral, the coffin was transported from the Tunnel Inn, Ouseburn to St Mary's Church, Whickham. Part of the journey was by paddle tug on the river, travelling over part of the course that had seen so many of his triumphs. Many thousands watched the funeral procession and burial.

 

Effect on boat design

Clasper realised early in his rowing career that, to produce faster racing boats, it was necessary to reduce the area of the hull in contact with the water, so as to produce less drag. At the time, boats were wide in the beam because the oar was attached to the gunwales, and the oarsman needed sufficient leverage. Wide boats had a large surface area in contact with the water. A way of getting round this problem was to attach outriggers to the side of the boat and attach the oars to the outer ends of the outriggers. This meant that the boat could be made as narrow as possible, thus reducing surface area, without affecting the leverage exerted by the oarsmen.

 

Wooden outriggers had first been tried out on the Tyne in 1828, fitted to a sculling boat. Two years later, iron outriggers were fitted to a boat. It cannot be claimed that Clasper originated the idea of the outrigger, but he saw its potential in allowing the boat designer to produce a slimmer faster boat. In the early years, when the Derwenthaugh crew was racing against crews from the Thames, it was doing so in narrow-beamed boats with outriggers whereas the Thames crews were in wide beamed boats. The sight of Claspers boats winning races helped to establish the use of outriggers as a standard in rowing.

 

Shell hulls

At the time when Clasper was starting to design racing boats, the standard boat hull was constructed of a number of strakes (or planks), with a keel projecting from bottom of the hull. Together with Matthew Taylor, another Tyneside boat-builder, he worked to reduce the surface area and drag. They did this by placing the keel inside the hull of the boat and constructing the hull with a single strake on each side. The surface would then be given several coats of varnish to give as smooth a finish as possible.

 

It is difficult to say who was the first to initiate the idea of a single-strake hull. Robert Jewitt a boat-builder of Dunston on Tyne claimed that Clasper had copied the idea from him, a claim that Clasper denied. It was, perhaps, unfortunate for Jewit that Claspers fame meant that he received the credit.

 

Sliding seats

John C. Babcock, of the Nassau Rowing Club of New York, is credited with inventing the sliding seat, which allowed oarsmen to add the power of their legs to the stroke. There were several attempts to develop one without success until Babcock showed that it could be used successfully in 1870.

 

Prior to that, Clasper's crews, and other Tyneside oarsmen had developed a technique of sliding on their fixed seats so as to make some use of their legs in producing a longer more powerful stroke. This became known as the "traditional Tyne stroke".

 

Scotswood Bridge is one of the main bridges crossing the River Tyne in North East England. It links the west end of Newcastle upon Tyne on the north bank of the river with the MetroCentre and Blaydon in Gateshead on the south bank. It is situated 5.2 km (3.2 mi) upstream of the better-known city centre bridges.

 

The Chain Bridge

Scotswood Bridge over River Tyne Act 1829

The first bridge across the river at this location was the Old Scotswood Bridge, or "The Chain Bridge" as it was known locally. It was a suspension bridge with two stone towers, from which the road deck was suspended by chains. An act to authorise the building of the bridge was passed by Parliament in 1829 (10 Geo. 4. c. x) and designed by John Green, with construction beginning that year. It was opened on 16 April 1831.

 

The toll to cross the bridge was abolished on 18 March 1907. In 1931 the bridge needed to be strengthened and widened. The width was increased from 17 ft (5.2 m) to 19.5 ft (5.9 m) with two 6 ft (1.8 m) footpaths. The suspension cables and decking were also strengthened, allowing the weight limit to be raised to 10 tonnes (9.842 long tons; 11.02 short tons). The bridge eventually proved too narrow for the traffic it needed to carry and its increasing repair costs proved too much. After standing for 136 years, it was closed and demolished in 1967 after its replacement had been completed.

 

Current bridge

Scotswood Bridge Act 1962

A replacement for the Chain Bridge had been proposed as early as 1941. Permission was finally granted in 1960, and authorised by an act of Parliament, the Scotswood Bridge Act 1962. A new bridge was designed by Mott, Hay and Anderson and built by Mitchell Construction and Dorman Long. Construction commenced on 18 September 1964. It was built 43 m upstream of the Chain Bridge, which continued operating during the new bridge's construction. The bridge was opened on 20 March 1967. It is a box girder bridge, supported by two piers in the river and carries a dual carriageway road. Combined costs for demolition of the old bridge and construction of the new one were £2.5 million.

 

Scotswood Bridge carried the traffic of the Gateshead A69 western by-pass from 1970 up until the construction of Blaydon Bridge and the new A1 in 1990. Between June 1971 and January 1974 traffic on the bridge was limited to single file to enable strengthening work to take place, which was needed to address design concerns. It has required further strengthening and repairs a number of times since; between 1979 and 1980, in 1983 and in 1990.

 

Newcastle upon Tyne, or simply Newcastle is a cathedral city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. It is located on the River Tyne's northern bank, opposite Gateshead to the south. It is the most populous settlement in the Tyneside conurbation and North East England.

 

Newcastle developed around a Roman settlement called Pons Aelius, the settlement became known as Monkchester before taking on the name of a castle built in 1080 by William the Conqueror's eldest son, Robert Curthose. It was one of the world's largest ship building and repair centres during the industrial revolution. Newcastle was part of the county of Northumberland until 1400, when it separated and formed a county of itself. In 1974, Newcastle became part of Tyne and Wear. Since 2018, the city council has been part of the North of Tyne Combined Authority.

 

The history of Newcastle upon Tyne dates back almost 2,000 years, during which it has been controlled by the Romans, the Angles and the Norsemen amongst others. Newcastle upon Tyne was originally known by its Roman name Pons Aelius. The name "Newcastle" has been used since the Norman conquest of England. Due to its prime location on the River Tyne, the town developed greatly during the Middle Ages and it was to play a major role in the Industrial Revolution, being granted city status in 1882. Today, the city is a major retail, commercial and cultural centre.

 

Roman settlement

The history of Newcastle dates from AD 122, when the Romans built the first bridge to cross the River Tyne at that point. The bridge was called Pons Aelius or 'Bridge of Aelius', Aelius being the family name of Roman Emperor Hadrian, who was responsible for the Roman wall built across northern England along the Tyne–Solway gap. Hadrian's Wall ran through present-day Newcastle, with stretches of wall and turrets visible along the West Road, and at a temple in Benwell. Traces of a milecastle were found on Westgate Road, midway between Clayton Street and Grainger Street, and it is likely that the course of the wall corresponded to present-day Westgate Road. The course of the wall can be traced eastwards to the Segedunum Roman fort at Wallsend, with the fort of Arbeia down-river at the mouth of the Tyne, on the south bank in what is now South Shields. The Tyne was then a wider, shallower river at this point and it is thought that the bridge was probably about 700 feet (210 m) long, made of wood and supported on stone piers. It is probable that it was sited near the current Swing Bridge, due to the fact that Roman artefacts were found there during the building of the latter bridge. Hadrian himself probably visited the site in 122. A shrine was set up on the completed bridge in 123 by the 6th Legion, with two altars to Neptune and Oceanus respectively. The two altars were subsequently found in the river and are on display in the Great North Museum in Newcastle.

 

The Romans built a stone-walled fort in 150 to protect the river crossing which was at the foot of the Tyne Gorge, and this took the name of the bridge so that the whole settlement was known as Pons Aelius. The fort was situated on a rocky outcrop overlooking the new bridge, on the site of the present Castle Keep. Pons Aelius is last mentioned in 400, in a Roman document listing all of the Roman military outposts. It is likely that nestling in the shadow of the fort would have been a small vicus, or village. Unfortunately, no buildings have been detected; only a few pieces of flagging. It is clear that there was a Roman cemetery near Clavering Place, behind the Central station, as a number of Roman coffins and sarcophagi have been unearthed there.

 

Despite the presence of the bridge, the settlement of Pons Aelius was not particularly important among the northern Roman settlements. The most important stations were those on the highway of Dere Street running from Eboracum (York) through Corstopitum (Corbridge) and to the lands north of the Wall. Corstopitum, being a major arsenal and supply centre, was much larger and more populous than Pons Aelius.

 

Anglo-Saxon development

The Angles arrived in the North-East of England in about 500 and may have landed on the Tyne. There is no evidence of an Anglo-Saxon settlement on or near the site of Pons Aelius during the Anglo-Saxon age. The bridge probably survived and there may well have been a small village at the northern end, but no evidence survives. At that time the region was dominated by two kingdoms, Bernicia, north of the Tees and ruled from Bamburgh, and Deira, south of the Tees and ruled from York. Bernicia and Deira combined to form the kingdom of Northanhymbra (Northumbria) early in the 7th century. There were three local kings who held the title of Bretwalda – 'Lord of Britain', Edwin of Deira (627–632), Oswald of Bernicia (633–641) and Oswy of Northumbria (641–658). The 7th century became known as the 'Golden Age of Northumbria', when the area was a beacon of culture and learning in Europe. The greatness of this period was based on its generally Christian culture and resulted in the Lindisfarne Gospels amongst other treasures. The Tyne valley was dotted with monasteries, with those at Monkwearmouth, Hexham and Jarrow being the most famous. Bede, who was based at Jarrow, wrote of a royal estate, known as Ad Murum, 'at the Wall', 12 miles (19 km) from the sea. It is thought that this estate may have been in what is now Newcastle. At some unknown time, the site of Newcastle came to be known as Monkchester. The reason for this title is unknown, as we are unaware of any specific monasteries at the site, and Bede made no reference to it. In 875 Halfdan Ragnarsson, the Danish Viking conqueror of York, led an army that attacked and pillaged various monasteries in the area, and it is thought that Monkchester was also pillaged at this time. Little more was heard of it until the coming of the Normans.

 

Norman period

After the arrival of William the Conqueror in England in 1066, the whole of England was quickly subjected to Norman rule. However, in Northumbria there was great resistance to the Normans, and in 1069 the newly appointed Norman Earl of Northumbria, Robert de Comines and 700 of his men were killed by the local population at Durham. The Northumbrians then marched on York, but William was able to suppress the uprising. That same year, a second uprising occurred when a Danish fleet landed in the Humber. The Northumbrians again attacked York and destroyed the garrison there. William was again able to suppress the uprising, but this time he took revenge. He laid waste to the whole of the Midlands and the land from York to the Tees. In 1080, William Walcher, the Norman bishop of Durham and his followers were brutally murdered at Gateshead. This time Odo, bishop of Bayeux, William's half brother, devastated the land between the Tees and the Tweed. This was known as the 'Harrying of the North'. This devastation is reflected in the Domesday Book. The destruction had such an effect that the North remained poor and backward at least until Tudor times and perhaps until the Industrial Revolution. Newcastle suffered in this respect with the rest of the North.

 

In 1080 William sent his eldest son, Robert Curthose, north to defend the kingdom against the Scots. After his campaign, he moved to Monkchester and began the building of a 'New Castle'. This was of the "motte-and-bailey" type of construction, a wooden tower on top of an earthen mound (motte), surrounded by a moat and wooden stockade (bailey). It was this castle that gave Newcastle its name. In 1095 the Earl of Northumbria, Robert de Mowbray, rose up against the king, William Rufus, and Rufus sent an army north to recapture the castle. From then on the castle became crown property and was an important base from which the king could control the northern barons. The Northumbrian earldom was abolished and a Sheriff of Northumberland was appointed to administer the region. In 1091 the parish church of St Nicholas was consecrated on the site of the present Anglican cathedral, close by the bailey of the new castle. The church is believed to have been a wooden building on stone footings.

 

Not a trace of the tower or mound of the motte and bailey castle remains now. Henry II replaced it with a rectangular stone keep, which was built between 1172 and 1177 at a cost of £1,444. A stone bailey, in the form of a triangle, replaced the previous wooden one. The great outer gateway to the castle, called 'the Black Gate', was built later, between 1247 and 1250, in the reign of Henry III. There were at that time no town walls and when attacked by the Scots, the townspeople had to crowd into the bailey for safety. It is probable that the new castle acted as a magnet for local merchants because of the safety it provided. This in turn would help to expand trade in the town. At this time wool, skins and lead were being exported, whilst alum, pepper and ginger were being imported from France and Flanders.

 

Middle Ages

Throughout the Middle Ages, Newcastle was England's northern fortress, the centre for assembled armies. The Border war against Scotland lasted intermittently for several centuries – possibly the longest border war ever waged. During the civil war between Stephen and Matilda, David 1st of Scotland and his son were granted Cumbria and Northumberland respectively, so that for a period from 1139 to 1157, Newcastle was effectively in Scottish hands. It is believed that during this period, King David may have built the church of St Andrew and the Benedictine nunnery in Newcastle. However, King Stephen's successor, Henry II was strong enough to take back the Earldom of Northumbria from Malcolm IV.

 

The Scots king William the Lion was imprisoned in Newcastle, in 1174, after being captured at the Battle of Alnwick. Edward I brought the Stone of Scone and William Wallace south through the town and Newcastle was successfully defended against the Scots three times during the 14th century.

 

Around 1200, stone-faced, clay-filled jetties were starting to project into the river, an indication that trade was increasing in Newcastle. As the Roman roads continued to deteriorate, sea travel was gaining in importance. By 1275 Newcastle was the sixth largest wool exporting port in England. The principal exports at this time were wool, timber, coal, millstones, dairy produce, fish, salt and hides. Much of the developing trade was with the Baltic countries and Germany. Most of the Newcastle merchants were situated near the river, below the Castle. The earliest known charter was dated 1175 in the reign of Henry II, giving the townspeople some control over their town. In 1216 King John granted Newcastle a mayor[8] and also allowed the formation of guilds (known as Mysteries). These were cartels formed within different trades, which restricted trade to guild members. There were initially twelve guilds. Coal was being exported from Newcastle by 1250, and by 1350 the burgesses received a royal licence to export coal. This licence to export coal was jealously guarded by the Newcastle burgesses, and they tried to prevent any one else on the Tyne from exporting coal except through Newcastle. The burgesses similarly tried to prevent fish from being sold anywhere else on the Tyne except Newcastle. This led to conflicts with Gateshead and South Shields.

 

In 1265, the town was granted permission to impose a 'Wall Tax' or Murage, to pay for the construction of a fortified wall to enclose the town and protect it from Scottish invaders. The town walls were not completed until early in the 14th century. They were two miles (3 km) long, 9 feet (2.7 m) thick and 25 feet (7.6 m) high. They had six main gates, as well as some smaller gates, and had 17 towers. The land within the walls was divided almost equally by the Lort Burn, which flowed southwards and joined the Tyne to the east of the Castle. The town began to expand north of the Castle and west of the Lort Burn with various markets being set up within the walls.

 

In 1400 Henry IV granted a new charter, creating a County corporate which separated the town, but not the Castle, from the county of Northumberland and recognised it as a "county of itself" with a right to have a sheriff of its own. The burgesses were now allowed to choose six aldermen who, with the mayor would be justices of the peace. The mayor and sheriff were allowed to hold borough courts in the Guildhall.

 

Religious houses

During the Middle Ages a number of religious houses were established within the walls: the first of these was the Benedictine nunnery of St Bartholomew founded in 1086 near the present-day Nun Street. Both David I of Scotland and Henry I of England were benefactors of the religious house. Nothing of the nunnery remains now.

 

The friary of Blackfriars, Newcastle (Dominican) was established in 1239. These were also known as the Preaching Friars or Shod Friars, because they wore sandals, as opposed to other orders. The friary was situated in the present-day Friars Street. In 1280 the order was granted royal permission to make a postern in the town walls to communicate with their gardens outside the walls. On 19 June 1334, Edward Balliol, claimant to be King of Scotland, did homage to King Edward III, on behalf of the kingdom of Scotland, in the church of the friary. Much of the original buildings of the friary still exist, mainly because, after the Dissolution of the Monasteries the friary of Blackfriars was rented out by the corporation to nine of the local trade guilds.

 

The friary of Whitefriars (Carmelite) was established in 1262. The order was originally housed on the Wall Knoll in Pandon, but in 1307 it took over the buildings of another order, which went out of existence, the Friars of the Sac. The land, which had originally been given by Robert the Bruce, was situated in the present-day Hanover Square, behind the Central station. Nothing of the friary remains now.

 

The friary of Austinfriars (Augustinian) was established in 1290. The friary was on the site where the Holy Jesus Hospital was built in 1682. The friary was traditionally the lodging place of English kings whenever they visited or passed through Newcastle. In 1503 Princess Margaret, eldest daughter of Henry VII of England, stayed two days at the friary on her way to join her new husband James IV of Scotland.

 

The friary of Greyfriars (Franciscans) was established in 1274. The friary was in the present-day area between Pilgrim Street, Grey Street, Market Street and High Chare. Nothing of the original buildings remains.

 

The friary of the Order of the Holy Trinity, also known as the Trinitarians, was established in 1360. The order devoted a third of its income to buying back captives of the Saracens, during the Crusades. Their house was on the Wall Knoll, in Pandon, to the east of the city, but within the walls. Wall Knoll had previously been occupied by the White Friars until they moved to new premises in 1307.

 

All of the above religious houses were closed in about 1540, when Henry VIII dissolved the monasteries.

 

An important street running through Newcastle at the time was Pilgrim Street, running northwards inside the walls and leading to the Pilgrim Gate on the north wall. The street still exists today as arguably Newcastle's main shopping street.

 

Tudor period

The Scottish border wars continued for much of the 16th century, so that during that time, Newcastle was often threatened with invasion by the Scots, but also remained important as a border stronghold against them.

 

During the Reformation begun by Henry VIII in 1536, the five Newcastle friaries and the single nunnery were dissolved and the land was sold to the Corporation and to rich merchants. At this time there were fewer than 60 inmates of the religious houses in Newcastle. The convent of Blackfriars was leased to nine craft guilds to be used as their headquarters. This probably explains why it is the only one of the religious houses whose building survives to the present day. The priories at Tynemouth and Durham were also dissolved, thus ending the long-running rivalry between Newcastle and the church for control of trade on the Tyne. A little later, the property of the nunnery of St Bartholomew and of Grey Friars were bought by Robert Anderson, who had the buildings demolished to build his grand Newe House (also known as Anderson Place).

 

With the gradual decline of the Scottish border wars the town walls were allowed to decline as well as the castle. By 1547, about 10,000 people were living in Newcastle. At the beginning of the 16th century exports of wool from Newcastle were more than twice the value of exports of coal, but during the century coal exports continued to increase.

 

Under Edward VI, John Dudley, Duke of Northumberland, sponsored an act allowing Newcastle to annexe Gateshead as its suburb. The main reason for this was to allow the Newcastle Hostmen, who controlled the export of Tyne coal, to get their hands on the Gateshead coal mines, previously controlled by the Bishop of Durham. However, when Mary I came to power, Dudley met his downfall and the decision was reversed. The Reformation allowed private access to coal mines previously owned by Tynemouth and Durham priories and as a result coal exports increase dramatically, from 15,000 tons in 1500 to 35,000 tons in 1565, and to 400,000 tons in 1625.

 

The plague visited Newcastle four times during the 16th century, in 1579 when 2,000 people died, in 1589 when 1700 died, in 1595 and finally in 1597.

 

In 1600 Elizabeth I granted Newcastle a charter for an exclusive body of electors, the right to elect the mayor and burgesses. The charter also gave the Hostmen exclusive rights to load coal at any point on the Tyne. The Hostmen developed as an exclusive group within the Merchant Adventurers who had been incorporated by a charter in 1547.

 

Stuart period

In 1636 there was a serious outbreak of bubonic plague in Newcastle. There had been several previous outbreaks of the disease over the years, but this was the most serious. It is thought to have arrived from the Netherlands via ships that were trading between the Tyne and that country. It first appeared in the lower part of the town near the docks but gradually spread to all parts of the town. As the disease gained hold the authorities took measures to control it by boarding up any properties that contained infected persons, meaning that whole families were locked up together with the infected family members. Other infected persons were put in huts outside the town walls and left to die. Plague pits were dug next to the town's four churches and outside the town walls to receive the bodies in mass burials. Over the course of the outbreak 5,631 deaths were recorded out of an estimated population of 12,000, a death rate of 47%.

 

In 1637 Charles I tried to raise money by doubling the 'voluntary' tax on coal in return for allowing the Newcastle Hostmen to regulate production and fix prices. This caused outrage amongst the London importers and the East Anglian shippers. Both groups decided to boycott Tyne coal and as a result forced Charles to reverse his decision in 1638.

 

In 1640 during the Second Bishops' War, the Scots successfully invaded Newcastle. The occupying army demanded £850 per day from the Corporation to billet the Scottish troops. Trade from the Tyne ground to a halt during the occupation. The Scots left in 1641 after receiving a Parliamentary pardon and a £4,000,000 loan from the town.

 

In 1642 the English Civil War began. King Charles realised the value of the Tyne coal trade and therefore garrisoned Newcastle. A Royalist was appointed as governor. At that time, Newcastle and King's Lynn were the only important seaports to support the crown. In 1644 Parliament blockaded the Tyne to prevent the king from receiving revenue from the Tyne coal trade. Coal exports fell from 450,000 to 3,000 tons and London suffered a hard winter without fuel. Parliament encouraged the coal trade from the Wear to try to replace that lost from Newcastle but that was not enough to make up for the lost Tyneside tonnage.

 

In 1644 the Scots crossed the border. Newcastle strengthened its defences in preparation. The Scottish army, with 40,000 troops, besieged Newcastle for three months until the garrison of 1,500 surrendered. During the siege, the Scots bombarded the walls with their artillery, situated in Gateshead and Castle Leazes. The Scottish commander threatened to destroy the steeple of St Nicholas's Church by gunfire if the mayor, Sir John Marley, did not surrender the town. The mayor responded by placing Scottish prisoners that they had captured in the steeple, so saving it from destruction. The town walls were finally breached by a combination of artillery and sapping. In gratitude for this defence, Charles gave Newcastle the motto 'Fortiter Defendit Triumphans' to be added to its coat of arms. The Scottish army occupied Northumberland and Durham for two years. The coal taxes had to pay for the Scottish occupation. In 1645 Charles surrendered to the Scots and was imprisoned in Newcastle for nine months. After the Civil War the coal trade on the Tyne soon picked up and exceeded its pre-war levels.

 

A new Guildhall was completed on the Sandhill next to the river in 1655, replacing an earlier facility damaged by fire in 1639, and became the meeting place of Newcastle Town Council. In 1681 the Hospital of the Holy Jesus was built partly on the site of the Austin Friars. The Guildhall and Holy Jesus Hospital still exist.

 

Charles II tried to impose a charter on Newcastle to give the king the right to appoint the mayor, sheriff, recorder and town clerk. Charles died before the charter came into effect. In 1685, James II tried to replace Corporation members with named Catholics. However, James' mandate was suspended in 1689 after the Glorious Revolution welcoming William of Orange. In 1689, after the fall of James II, the people of Newcastle tore down his bronze equestrian statue in Sandhill and tossed it into the Tyne. The bronze was later used to make bells for All Saints Church.

 

In 1689 the Lort Burn was covered over. At this time it was an open sewer. The channel followed by the Lort Burn became the present day Dean Street. At that time, the centre of Newcastle was still the Sandhill area, with many merchants living along the Close or on the Side. The path of the main road through Newcastle ran from the single Tyne bridge, through Sandhill to the Side, a narrow street which climbed steeply on the north-east side of the castle hill until it reached the higher ground alongside St Nicholas' Church. As Newcastle developed, the Side became lined with buildings with projecting upper stories, so that the main street through Newcastle was a narrow, congested, steep thoroughfare.

 

In 1701 the Keelmen's Hospital was built in the Sandgate area of the city, using funds provided by the keelmen. The building still stands today.

 

Eighteenth century

In the 18th century, Newcastle was the country's largest print centre after London, Oxford and Cambridge, and the Literary and Philosophical Society of 1793, with its erudite debates and large stock of books in several languages predated the London Library by half a century.

 

In 1715, during the Jacobite rising in favour of the Old Pretender, an army of Jacobite supporters marched on Newcastle. Many of the Northumbrian gentry joined the rebels. The citizens prepared for its arrival by arresting Jacobite supporters and accepting 700 extra recruits into the local militia. The gates of the city were closed against the rebels. This proved enough to delay an attack until reinforcements arrived forcing the rebel army to move across to the west coast. The rebels finally surrendered at Preston.

 

In 1745, during a second Jacobite rising in favour of the Young Pretender, a Scottish army crossed the border led by Bonnie Prince Charlie. Once again Newcastle prepared by arresting Jacobite supporters and inducting 800 volunteers into the local militia. The town walls were strengthened, most of the gates were blocked up and some 200 cannon were deployed. 20,000 regulars were billeted on the Town Moor. These preparations were enough to force the rebel army to travel south via the west coast. They were eventually defeated at Culloden in 1746.

 

Newcastle's actions during the 1715 rising in resisting the rebels and declaring for George I, in contrast to the rest of the region, is the most likely source of the nickname 'Geordie', applied to people from Tyneside, or more accurately Newcastle. Another theory, however, is that the name 'Geordie' came from the inventor of the Geordie lamp, George Stephenson. It was a type of safety lamp used in mining, but was not invented until 1815. Apparently the term 'German Geordie' was in common use during the 18th century.

 

The city's first hospital, Newcastle Infirmary opened in 1753; it was funded by public subscription. A lying-in hospital was established in Newcastle in 1760. The city's first public hospital for mentally ill patients, Wardens Close Lunatic Hospital was opened in October 1767.

 

In 1771 a flood swept away much of the bridge at Newcastle. The bridge had been built in 1250 and repaired after a flood in 1339. The bridge supported various houses and three towers and an old chapel. A blue stone was placed in the middle of the bridge to mark the boundary between Newcastle and the Palatinate of Durham. A temporary wooden bridge had to be built, and this remained in use until 1781, when a new stone bridge was completed. The new bridge consisted of nine arches. In 1801, because of the pressure of traffic, the bridge had to be widened.

 

A permanent military presence was established in the city with the completion of Fenham Barracks in 1806. The facilities at the Castle for holding assizes, which had been condemned for their inconvenience and unhealthiness, were replaced when the Moot Hall opened in August 1812.

 

Victorian period

Present-day Newcastle owes much of its architecture to the work of the builder Richard Grainger, aided by architects John Dobson, Thomas Oliver, John and Benjamin Green and others. In 1834 Grainger won a competition to produce a new plan for central Newcastle. He put this plan into effect using the above architects as well as architects employed in his own office. Grainger and Oliver had already built Leazes Terrace, Leazes Crescent and Leazes Place between 1829 and 1834. Grainger and Dobson had also built the Royal Arcade at the foot of Pilgrim Street between 1830 and 1832. The most ambitious project covered 12 acres 12 acres (49,000 m2) in central Newcastle, on the site of Newe House (also called Anderson Place). Grainger built three new thoroughfares, Grey Street, Grainger Street and Clayton Street with many connecting streets, as well as the Central Exchange and the Grainger Market. John Wardle and George Walker, working in Grainger's office, designed Clayton Street, Grainger Street and most of Grey Street. Dobson designed the Grainger Market and much of the east side of Grey Street. John and Benjamin Green designed the Theatre Royal at the top of Grey Street, where Grainger placed the column of Grey's Monument as a focus for the whole scheme. Grey Street is considered to be one of the finest streets in the country, with its elegant curve. Unfortunately most of old Eldon Square was demolished in the 1960s in the name of progress. The Royal Arcade met a similar fate.

 

In 1849 a new bridge was built across the river at Newcastle. This was the High Level Bridge, designed by Robert Stephenson, and slightly up river from the existing bridge. The bridge was designed to carry road and rail traffic across the Tyne Gorge on two decks with rail traffic on the upper deck and road traffic on the lower. The new bridge meant that traffic could pass through Newcastle without having to negotiate the steep, narrow Side, as had been necessary for centuries. The bridge was opened by Queen Victoria, who one year later opened the new Central Station, designed by John Dobson. Trains were now able to cross the river, directly into the centre of Newcastle and carry on up to Scotland. The Army Riding School was also completed in 1849.

 

In 1854 a large fire started on the Gateshead quayside and an explosion caused it to spread across the river to the Newcastle quayside. A huge conflagration amongst the narrow alleys, or 'chares', destroyed the homes of 800 families as well as many business premises. The narrow alleys that had been destroyed were replaced by streets containing blocks of modern offices.

 

In 1863 the Town Hall in St Nicholas Square replaced the Guildhall as the meeting place of Newcastle Town Council.

 

In 1876 the low level bridge was replaced by a new bridge known as the Swing Bridge, so called because the bridge was able to swing horizontally on a central axis and allow ships to pass on either side. This meant that for the first time sizeable ships could pass up-river beyond Newcastle. The bridge was built and paid for by William Armstrong, a local arms manufacturer, who needed to have warships access his Elswick arms factory to fit armaments to them. The Swing Bridge's rotating mechanism is adapted from the cannon mounts developed in Armstrong's arms works. In 1882 the Elswick works began to build ships as well as to arm them. The Barrack Road drill hall was completed in 1890.

 

Industrialisation

In the 19th century, shipbuilding and heavy engineering were central to the city's prosperity; and the city was a powerhouse of the Industrial Revolution. Newcastle's development as a major city owed most to its central role in the production and export of coal. The phrase "taking coals to Newcastle" was first recorded in 1538; it proverbially denotes bringing a particular commodity to a place that has more than enough of it already.

 

Innovation in Newcastle and surrounding areas included the following:

 

George Stephenson developed a miner's safety lamp at the same time that Humphry Davy developed a rival design. The lamp made possible the opening up of ever deeper mines to provide the coal that powered the industrial revolution.

George and his son Robert Stephenson were hugely influential figures in the development of the early railways. George developed Blücher, a locomotive working at Killingworth colliery in 1814, whilst Robert was instrumental in the design of Rocket, a revolutionary design that was the forerunner of modern locomotives. Both men were involved in planning and building railway lines, all over this country and abroad.

 

Joseph Swan demonstrated a working electric light bulb about a year before Thomas Edison did the same in the USA. This led to a dispute as to who had actually invented the light bulb. Eventually the two rivals agreed to form a mutual company between them, the Edison and Swan Electric Light Company, known as Ediswan.

 

Charles Algernon Parsons invented the steam turbine, for marine use and for power generation. He used Turbinia, a small, turbine-powered ship, to demonstrate the speed that a steam turbine could generate. Turbinia literally ran rings around the British Fleet at a review at Spithead in 1897.

 

William Armstrong invented a hydraulic crane that was installed in dockyards up and down the country. He then began to design light, accurate field guns for the British army. These were a vast improvement on the existing guns that were then in use.

 

The following major industries developed in Newcastle or its surrounding area:

 

Glassmaking

A small glass industry existed in Newcastle from the mid-15th century. In 1615 restrictions were put on the use of wood for manufacturing glass. It was found that glass could be manufactured using the local coal, and so a glassmaking industry grew up on Tyneside. Huguenot glassmakers came over from France as refugees from persecution and set up glasshouses in the Skinnerburn area of Newcastle. Eventually, glass production moved to the Ouseburn area of Newcastle. In 1684 the Dagnia family, Sephardic Jewish emigrants from Altare, arrived in Newcastle from Stourbridge and established glasshouses along the Close, to manufacture high quality flint glass. The glass manufacturers used sand ballast from the boats arriving in the river as the main raw material. The glassware was then exported in collier brigs. The period from 1730 to 1785 was the highpoint of Newcastle glass manufacture, when the local glassmakers produced the 'Newcastle Light Baluster'. The glassmaking industry still exists in the west end of the city with local Artist and Glassmaker Jane Charles carrying on over four hundred years of hot glass blowing in Newcastle upon Tyne.

 

Locomotive manufacture

In 1823 George Stephenson and his son Robert established the world's first locomotive factory near Forth Street in Newcastle. Here they built locomotives for the Stockton and Darlington Railway and the Liverpool and Manchester Railway, as well as many others. It was here that the famous locomotive Rocket was designed and manufactured in preparation for the Rainhill Trials. Apart from building locomotives for the British market, the Newcastle works also produced locomotives for Europe and America. The Forth Street works continued to build locomotives until 1960.

 

Shipbuilding

In 1296 a wooden, 135 ft (41 m) long galley was constructed at the mouth of the Lort Burn in Newcastle, as part of a twenty-ship order from the king. The ship cost £205, and is the earliest record of shipbuilding in Newcastle. However the rise of the Tyne as a shipbuilding area was due to the need for collier brigs for the coal export trade. These wooden sailing ships were usually built locally, establishing local expertise in building ships. As ships changed from wood to steel, and from sail to steam, the local shipbuilding industry changed to build the new ships. Although shipbuilding was carried out up and down both sides of the river, the two main areas for building ships in Newcastle were Elswick, to the west, and Walker, to the east. By 1800 Tyneside was the third largest producer of ships in Britain. Unfortunately, after the Second World War, lack of modernisation and competition from abroad gradually caused the local industry to decline and die.

 

Armaments

In 1847 William Armstrong established a huge factory in Elswick, west of Newcastle. This was initially used to produce hydraulic cranes but subsequently began also to produce guns for both the army and the navy. After the Swing Bridge was built in 1876 allowing ships to pass up river, warships could have their armaments fitted alongside the Elswick works. Armstrong's company took over its industrial rival, Joseph Whitworth of Manchester in 1897.

 

Steam turbines

Charles Algernon Parsons invented the steam turbine and, in 1889, founded his own company C. A. Parsons and Company in Heaton, Newcastle to make steam turbines. Shortly after this, he realised that steam turbines could be used to propel ships and, in 1897, he founded a second company, Parsons Marine Steam Turbine Company in Wallsend. It is there that he designed and manufactured Turbinia. Parsons turbines were initially used in warships but soon came to be used in merchant and passenger vessels, including the liner Mauretania which held the blue riband for the Atlantic crossing until 1929. Parsons' company in Heaton began to make turbo-generators for power stations and supplied power stations all over the world. The Heaton works, reduced in size, remains as part of the Siemens AG industrial giant.

 

Pottery

In 1762 the Maling pottery was founded in Sunderland by French Huguenots, but transferred to Newcastle in 1817. A factory was built in the Ouseburn area of the city. The factory was rebuilt twice, finally occupying a 14-acre (57,000 m2) site that was claimed to be the biggest pottery in the world and which had its own railway station. The pottery pioneered use of machines in making potteries as opposed to hand production. In the 1890s the company went up-market and employed in-house designers. The period up to the Second World War was the most profitable with a constant stream of new designs being introduced. However, after the war, production gradually declined and the company closed in 1963.

 

Expansion of the city

Newcastle was one of the boroughs reformed by the Municipal Corporations Act 1835: the reformed municipal borough included the parishes of Byker, Elswick, Heaton, Jesmond, Newcastle All Saints, Newcastle St Andrew, Newcastle St John, Newcastle St Nicholas, and Westgate. The urban districts of Benwell and Fenham and Walker were added in 1904. In 1935, Newcastle gained Kenton and parts of the parishes of West Brunton, East Denton, Fawdon, Longbenton. The most recent expansion in Newcastle's boundaries took place under the Local Government Act 1972 on 1 April 1974, when Newcastle became a metropolitan borough, also including the urban districts of Gosforth and Newburn, and the parishes of Brunswick, Dinnington, Hazlerigg, North Gosforth and Woolsington from the Castle Ward Rural District, and the village of Westerhope.

 

Meanwhile Northumberland County Council was formed under the Local Government Act 1888 and benefited from a dedicated meeting place when County Hall was completed in the Castle Garth area of Newcastle in 1910. Following the Local Government Act 1972 County Hall relocated to Morpeth in April 1981.

 

Twentieth century

In 1925 work began on a new high-level road bridge to span the Tyne Gorge between Newcastle and Gateshead. The capacity of the existing High-Level Bridge and Swing Bridge were being strained to the limit, and an additional bridge had been discussed for a long time. The contract was awarded to the Dorman Long Company and the bridge was finally opened by King George V in 1928. The road deck was 84 feet (26 m) above the river and was supported by a 531 feet (162 m) steel arch. The new Tyne Bridge quickly became a symbol for Newcastle and Tyneside, and remains so today.

 

During the Second World War, Newcastle was largely spared the horrors inflicted upon other British cities bombed during the Blitz. Although the armaments factories and shipyards along the River Tyne were targeted by the Luftwaffe, they largely escaped unscathed. Manors goods yard and railway terminal, to the east of the city centre, and the suburbs of Jesmond and Heaton suffered bombing during 1941. There were 141 deaths and 587 injuries, a relatively small figure compared to the casualties in other industrial centres of Britain.

 

In 1963 the city gained its own university, the University of Newcastle upon Tyne, by act of parliament. A School of Medicine and Surgery had been established in Newcastle in 1834. This eventually developed into a college of medicine attached to Durham University. A college of physical science was also founded and became Armstrong College in 1904. In 1934 the two colleges merged to become King's College, Durham. This remained as part of Durham University until the new university was created in 1963. In 1992 the city gained its second university when Newcastle Polytechnic was granted university status as Northumbria University.

 

Newcastle City Council moved to the new Newcastle Civic Centre in 1968.

 

As heavy industries declined in the second half of the 20th century, large sections of the city centre were demolished along with many areas of slum housing. The leading political figure in the city during the 1960s was T. Dan Smith who oversaw a massive building programme of highrise housing estates and authorised the demolition of a quarter of the Georgian Grainger Town to make way for Eldon Square Shopping Centre. Smith's control in Newcastle collapsed when it was exposed that he had used public contracts to advantage himself and his business associates and for a time Newcastle became a byword for civic corruption as depicted in the films Get Carter and Stormy Monday and in the television series Our Friends in the North. However, much of the historic Grainger Town area survived and was, for the most part, fully restored in the late 1990s. Northumberland Street, initially the A1, was gradually closed to traffic from the 1970s and completely pedestrianised by 1998.

 

In 1978 a new rapid transport system, the Metro, was built, linking the Tyneside area. The system opened in August 1980. A new bridge was built to carry the Metro across the river between Gateshead and Newcastle. This was the Queen Elizabeth II Bridge, commonly known as the Metro Bridge. Eventually the Metro system was extended to reach Newcastle Airport in 1991, and in 2002 the Metro system was extended to the nearby city of Sunderland.

 

As the 20th century progressed, trade on the Newcastle and Gateshead quaysides gradually declined, until by the 1980s both sides of the river were looking rather derelict. Shipping company offices had closed along with offices of firms related to shipping. There were also derelict warehouses lining the riverbank. Local government produced a master plan to re-develop the Newcastle quayside and this was begun in the 1990s. New offices, restaurants, bars and residential accommodation were built and the area has changed in the space of a few years into a vibrant area, partially returning the focus of Newcastle to the riverside, where it was in medieval times.

 

The Gateshead Millennium Bridge, a foot and cycle bridge, 26 feet (7.9 m) wide and 413 feet (126 m) long, was completed in 2001. The road deck is in the form of a curve and is supported by a steel arch. To allow ships to pass, the whole structure, both arch and road-deck, rotates on huge bearings at either end so that the road deck is lifted. The bridge can be said to open and shut like a human eye. It is an important addition to the re-developed quayside area, providing a vital link between the Newcastle and Gateshead quaysides.

 

Recent developments

Today the city is a vibrant centre for office and retail employment, but just a short distance away there are impoverished inner-city housing estates, in areas originally built to provide affordable housing for employees of the shipyards and other heavy industries that lined the River Tyne. In the 2010s Newcastle City Council began implementing plans to regenerate these depressed areas, such as those along the Ouseburn Valley.

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St. Hilda’s By The Sea is a small Anglican church in Sechelt. Set among the verdant green trees of the temperate rainforest, it is an eclectic mix of old and new: retired British pensioners polish the altar crystal and set out flowers for Sunday services, presided over by a gay Chinese-Canadian priest. Tai chi mixes with Celtic mysticism in a melange that is somehow stronger than its parts. And isn’t that what community is all about?

 

From the official website:

 

Walking the labyrinth is an ancient spiritual act that is being rediscovered during our time.

 

Usually constructed from circular patterns, labyrinths are based on principles of sacred geometry. Sometimes called “divine imprints”, they are found around the world as sacred patterns that have been passed down through the ages for at least 4,000 years. When a pattern of a certain size is constructed or placed on the ground, it can be used for walking meditations and rituals.

 

Labyrinths and their geometric cousins (spirals and mandalas) can be found in almost every religious tradition. For example, the Kabbala, or Tree of Life, is found in the Jewish mystical tradition. The Hopi Medicine Wheel, and the Man in the Maze are two forms from the Native American labyrinth traditions. The Cretan labyrinth, the remains of which can be found on the island of Crete, has seven path rings and is the oldest known labyrinth (4,000 or 5.000 years old).

 

In Europe, the Celts and later the early Christian Celtic Church revered labyrinths and frequently built them in natural settings. Sacred dances would be performed in them to celebrate solar and religious festivals. During the Middle Ages, labyrinths were created in churches and cathedrals throughout France and Northern Italy. These characteristically flat church or pavement labyrinths were inlaid into the floor of the nave of the church.

 

The Chartres Labyrinth

 

The labyrinth constructed at St. Hilda’s is an 11-circuit labyrinth. It is a replica of the one embedded in the floor of Chartres Cathedral in France. The design of this labyrinth, and many of the other church labyrinths in Europe, is a reworking of the ancient labyrinth design in which an equal-armed cross is emphasized and surrounded by a web of concentric circles. As with many Christian symbols, this was an adaptation of a symbol; that is known to have predated the Christian faith. This medieval variation is considered a breakthrough in design because it is less linear than the preceding, more formal, Roman design that developed from quadrant to quadrant. The medieval design made one path as long as possible, starting at the outer circumference and leading to the centre. Fraught with twists and turns, the path’s meanderings were considered symbolic representations of the Christian pilgrim’s journey to the Holy City of Jerusalem and of one’s own journey through life. This classical design is sometimes referred to as “the Chartres Labyrinth” due to the location of its best known example. The labyrinth was built at Chartres in the early 13th century (~ 1215 A.D.). No one knows the source of this classical 11-circuit labyrinth design, and much of its spiritual meaning and use has been lost.

 

The Chartres Labyrinth is located in the west end of the nave, the central body of the cathedral. When you walk in the main doors and look towards the high altar, you see the center of the labyrinth on the floor about 50 feet in front of you. It is approximately 42 feet in diameter and the path is 16 inches wide. At Chartres, the center of the Rose Window mirrors the center of the labyrinth. The cathedral is perfectly proportioned, so that if we put the west wall of the cathedral on hinges and folded it down on the labyrinth, the Rose Window would fit almost perfectly over the labyrinth.

 

Labyrinth or Maze?

 

The difference between a labyrinth used for meditation and mazes can be confusing. Mazes often have many entrances, dead-ends and cul-de-sacs that frequently confound the human mind. In contrast, meditation labyrinths offer only one path. By following the one path to the center, the seeker can use the labyrinth to quiet his or her mind and find peace and illumination at the center of his or her being. “As soon as one enters the labyrinth, one realizes that the path of the labyrinth serves as a metaphor for one’s spiritual journey. The walk, and all that happens on it, can be grasped through the intuitive, pattern-discerning faculty of the person walking it. The genius of this tool is that it reflects back to the seeker whatever he or she needs to discover from the perspective of a new level of conscious awareness.”

 

The Labyrinth is a Universal Meditation Tool

 

Anyone from any tradition or spiritual path can walk into the labyrinth and, through reflecting in the present moment, can benefit from it. A meditation labyrinth is one of many tools that can be used for spiritual practice. Like any tool, it is best used with a proper, good, intention. A church or temple can be used simply as a refuge from a rainstorm, but it can be so much more with a different intention. The same is true of the labyrinth. The seeker is only asked to put one foot in front of the other. By stepping into the labyrinth, we are choosing once again to walk the contemplative spiritual path. We are agreeing to let ourselves be open to see, to be free to hear, and to becoming real enough to respond. The labyrinth is a prayer path, a crucible of change, a meditation tool, a blueprint where psyche meets soul.

 

The best way to learn about the labyrinth is to walk a well-constructed one a few times, with an open heart and an open mind. Then allow your experience to guide you as to whether this will be a useful spiritual tool for you.

 

The Chartres Labyrinth and the Pilgrim’s Journey

 

Pilgrims are persons in motion – passing through territories not their own – seeking something we might call completion, or perhaps the word clarity will do as well, a goal to which only the spirit’s compass points the way.

Richard R. Niebuhr in Pilgrims and Pioneers

 

“The tradition of pilgrimage is as old as religion itself. Worshippers on pilgrimage traveled to holy festivals whether to solstice celebrations, to Mecca to gather around the Ka’aba for the high holy days of Islam, or to Easter festivals in the Holy City of Jerusalem. Pilgrimages were a mixture of religious duty and holiday relaxation for the peasant, the commoner and rich land owner alike. The journey was often embarked on in groups with designated places to stay at night. The pilgrims were restless to explore the mystical holy places, and many were in search of physical or spiritual healing.

 

The Christian story, which emphasized the humanity of Christ, fascinated the pilgrims. In the Middle Ages, most people did not read. As a result, they were much more oriented to the senses than we are today. They learned the story by traveling to Jerusalem to walk where Jesus walked, to pray where he prayed, and to experience, in a solemn moment, where he died. Unlike today, Pilgrims encountered the truth of the Christian mystery through an ongoing intimacy with all their senses.

 

When a person committed his or her life to Christ in the early Middle Ages, they sometimes made a vow to make a pilgrimage to the Holy City of Jerusalem. However, by the 12th century when the Crusades swept across Europe and the ownership of Jerusalem was in tumultuous flux, travel became dangerous and expensive. In response to this situation, the Roman Church appointed seven pilgrimage cathedrals to become “Jerusalem” for pilgrims. Consequently, in the pilgrimage tradition, the path within the labyrinth was called the Chemin de Jerusalem and the center of the labyrinth was called “New Jerusalem”.

 

The walk into the labyrinth marked the end of the physical journey across the countryside and served as a symbolic entry-way into the spiritual realms of the Celestial City. The image of the Celestial City – taken straight out of the Book of Revelation to John – captivated the religious imagination of many during the Middle Ages. The wondrous Gothic cathedrals, with painted walls either in bright, even gaudy colours, or else white-washed, were designed to represent the Celestial City. The stained glass windows – when illuminated by the sun – created the sense of colourful, dancing jewels, allowing the pilgrim to experience the awesome mystery of the City of God.”

 

The Journey of Life

 

A fundamental approach to the labyrinth is to see it as a metaphor for life’s journey. The labyrinth reminds us that all of life, with its joys, sorrows, twists and turns, is a journey that comes from God (birth) and goes to God (death). It is a physical metaphor for the journey of healing, spiritual and emotional growth and transformation. Following the path is like any journey. Sometimes you feel you are at or nearing your destination, and at other times you may feel distant or even lost. Only by faithfully keeping to the path will you arrive at the physical center of the labyrinth, which signifies God, the center of our lives and souls.

 

Applying the Three Fold Mystical Tradition to the Labyrinth

 

In the Christian mystical tradition, the journey to God was articulated in the three stages. These stages have become recognized as being universal to meditation: to release and quiet; to open and receive; and to take what was gained back out into the world.

 

The Three Stages

 

The first part of the Three- Fold Mystical Path is Purgation. This archaic word is from the root word “to purge”, meaning to cleanse, to let go. Shedding is another way of describing the experience. The mystical word is empting or releasing. It is believed that monks journeyed the first part of the labyrinth Purgation on their knees as a penitential act. This was not done for reasons of punishment as we might think, but as a way to humble oneself before God.

 

The second stage of the Three-Fold Path, Illumination, is found in the center of the labyrinth. Usually it is a surprise to reach the center because the long winding path seems “illogical” and cannot be figured out by the linear mind. After quieting the mind in the first part of the walk, the center presents a new experience: a place of meditation and prayer. Often people at this stage in the walk find insight into their situation in life, or clarity about a certain problem, hence the label “illumination”. As one enters the

center, the instruction is simple: enter with an open heart and mind; receive what there is for you.

 

The third stage, Union, begins when you leave the center of the labyrinth and continues as you retrace the path that brought you in. In this stage the meditation takes on a grounded, energized feeling. Many people who have had an important experience in the center feel that this third stage of the labyrinth gives them a way of integrating the insights they received. Others feel that this stage stokes the creative fires within. It energizes insight. It empowers, invites, and even pushes us to be more authentic and confident and to take risks with our gifts in the world. Union means communing with God.

 

The Monastic Orders experienced a union with God through their community life by creating a fulfilling balance between the work that was assigned, sleep and the many hours of worship attended daily. Our times present a similar challenge: we struggle to find balance between work, sleep, family and friends, leisure and spiritual life. The lack of structured communities in which people share work responsibilities and the “every person for himself or herself” mentality (or every family for itself) prevalent in our highly individualistic society makes the task of finding balance even more difficult.

 

Monastic communities offered a mystical spirituality that spoke to highly intuitive and intensely introverted people and (paradoxically to some) at the same time provided an economic structure throughout Europe. Monasteries during the Middle Ages provided schools and hospitals managed by monks; yet, at the same time, cloistered life helped the monks stay inwardly directed. Today, without any reliable structure directing us, the way of union needs to be re-thought. Our times call for most of us to be outer-directed. We are called to action in every aspect of our society in order to meet the spiritual challenges that confront us in the 21st century. Gratefully, there are still people in religious orders holding the candle for deep contemplation, but the majority of people involved in the spiritual transformation are searching for a path that guides them to service in the world in an active, extroverted, compassionate way. The third stage of the labyrinth empowers the seeker to move back into the world replenished and directed – which makes the labyrinth a particularly powerful tool for transformation.

 

Walking the Labyrinth: The Process

 

The purpose of all spiritual disciplines – prayer, fasting, meditation – is to help create an open attentiveness that enables us to receive and renew our awareness of our grounding and wholeness in God.

 

The Experience of Walking Meditation

 

Many of us have trouble quieting our minds. The Buddhists call the distracted state of mind the “monkey mind”, which is an apt image of what the mind is frequently like: thoughts swinging like monkeys from branch to branch, chattering away without any rhyme or conscious reason. When the mind is quiet, we feel peaceful and open, aware of a silence that embraces the universe.

 

Complete quiet in the mind is not a realistic goal for most of us. Instead, the task is to dis-identify with the thoughts going through our minds. Don’t get hooked by the thoughts, let them go. Thomas Keating, a Cistercian monk who teaches Centering Prayer (meditation) in the Christian tradition, described the mind as a still lake. A thought is like a fish that swims through it. If you get involved with the fish (“Gee what an unusual fish, I wonder what it is called?”), then you are hooked. Many of us have discovered through learning meditation how difficult it is to quiet the mind; yet, the rewards are great.

 

In the labyrinth, the sheer act of walking a complicated, attention demanding path begins to focus the mind. Thoughts of daily tasks and experiences become less intrusive. A quiet mind does not happen automatically. You must gently guide the mind with the intention of letting go of extraneous thoughts. This is much easier to do when your whole body is moving – when you are walking. Movement takes away the excess charge of psychic energy that disturbs our efforts to quiet our thought processes.

 

Two Basic Approaches to the Walk

 

One way to walk the labyrinth is to choose to let all thought go and simply open yourself to your experience with gracious attention. Usually – though not always – quieting happens in the first stage of the walk. After the mind is quiet, you can choose to remain in the quiet. Or use the labyrinth as a prayer path. Simply begin to talk to God. This is an indication that you are ready to receive what is there for you, or you allow a sincere part of your being to find its voice.

 

A second approach to a labyrinth walk is to consider a question. Concentrate on the question as you walk in. Amplify your thoughts about it; let all else go but your question. When you walk into the center with an open heart and an open mind, you are opening yourself to receiving new information, new insights about yourself.

 

Guidelines for the Walk

 

Find your pace. In our chaotic world we are often pushed beyond a comfortable rhythm. In this state we lose the sense of our own needs. To make matters worse, we are often rushed and then forced to wait. Anyone who has hurried to the bank only to stand in line knows the feeling. Ironically, the same thing can happen with the labyrinth, but there is a difference. The labyrinth helps us find what our natural pace would be and draws our attention to it when we are not honouring it.

 

Along with finding your pace, support your movement through the labyrinth by becoming conscious of your breath. Let your breath flow smoothly in and out of your body. It can be coordinated with each step – as is done in the Buddhist walking meditation – if you choose. Let your experience be your guide.

 

Each experience in the labyrinth is different, even if you walk it often in a short period of time. The pace usually differs each time as well. It can change dramatically within the different stages of the walk. When the labyrinth has more than a comfortable number of seekers on it, you can “pass” people if you want to continue to honour the intuitive pace your inner process has set. If you are moving at a slower pace, you can allow people to pass you. At first people are uncomfortable with the idea of “passing” someone on the labyrinth. It looks competitive, especially since the walk is a spiritual exercise. Again, these kinds of thoughts and feelings, we hope, are greeted from a spacious place inside that smiles knowingly about the machinations of the human ego. On the spiritual path we meet every and all things. To find our pace, to allow spaciousness within, to be receptive to all experience, and to be aware of the habitual thoughts and issues that hamper our spiritual development is a road to self-knowledge.

 

Summary of How to Walk the Labyrinth

 

Pause at the entry way to allow yourself to be fully conscious of the act of stepping into the labyrinth. Allow about a minute, or several turns on the path, to create some space between yourself and the person in front of you. Some ritual act, such as a bow, may feel appropriate during the labyrinth walk. Do what comes naturally.

 

Follow your pace. Allow your body to determine the pace. If you allow a rapid pace and the person in front of you is moving slower, feel free to move around this person. This is easiest to do at the turns by turning earlier. If you are moving slowly, you can step onto the labyrs (wide spaces at the turns) to allow others to pass.

 

The narrow path is a two-way street. If you are going in and another person is going out, you will meet on the path. If you want to keep in an inward meditative state, simply do not make eye contact. If you meet someone you know, a touch of the hand or a hug may be an important acknowledgement of being on the path together.

 

Symbolism and Meanings Found in the Chartres Labyrinth

 

Circles and Spirals

 

The circle is the symbol of unity or union and it is the primary shape of all labyrinths. The circle in sacred geometry represents the incessant movement of the universe (uncomprehensible) as opposed to the square which represents comprehensible order. The labyrinth is a close cousin to the spiral and it, too, reflects the cyclical element of nature and is regarded as the symbol of eternal life.

 

The labyrinth functions like a spiral, creating a vortex in its center. Upon entering, the path winds in a clockwise pattern. Energy is being drawn out. Upon leaving the center the walker goes in a counter clockwise direction. The unwinding path integrates and empowers us on our walk back out. We are literally ushered back out into the world in a strengthened condition.

 

The Path

 

The path lies in 11 concentric circles with the 12th being the labyrinth center. The path meanders throughout the whole circle. There are 34 turns on the path going into the center. Six are semi-right turns and 28 are 180° turns. So the 12 rings that form the 11 pathways may symbolically represent, the 12 apostles, 12 tribes of Israel or 12 months of the year. Twelve is a mystical number in Christianity. In sacred geometry three represents heaven and four represents earth. Twelve is the product of 3 x 4 and, therefore, the path which flows through the whole is then representative of all creation.

 

The obvious metaphor for the path is the difficult path to salvation, with its many twists and turns. Since we cannot see a straight path to our destination, the labyrinth can be viewed as a metaphor for our lives. We learn to surrender to the path (Christ) and trust that he will lead us on our journey.

 

The path can also be viewed as grace or the Church guiding us through chaos.

 

The Cruciform and Labyrs

 

The labyrinth is divided equally into four quadrants that make an equal-armed cross or cruciform. The four arms represent in symbol what is thought to be the essential

 

structure of the universe for example, the four spatial directions, the four elements (earth, wind, water and fire), the four seasons and, most important, salvation through the cross. The four arms of the cross emerging from the center seem to give order to the would-be chaos of the meandering path around it.

 

The Chartres labyrinth cross or cruciform is delineated by the 10 labyrs (labyr means to turn and this is the root of the word labyrinth). The labyrs are double-ax shaped and visible at the turns and between turns. They are traditionally seen as a symbol of women’s power and creativity.

 

The Centre Rosette

 

In the Middle Ages, the rose was regarded as a symbol for the Virgin Mary. Because of its association with the myths of Percival and the Holy Grail at that time, it also was seen as a sign of beauty and love. The rose becomes symbolic of both human and divine love, of passionate love, but also love beyond passion. The single rose became a symbol of a simple acceptance of God’s love for the world.

 

Unlike a normal rose (which has five petals) the rosette has six petals and is steeped in mysticism. Although associated with the Rose of Sharon, which refers to Mary, it may also represent the Holy Spirit (wisdom and enlightenment). The six petals may have corresponded to the story of the six days of creation. In other mystical traditions, the petals can be viewed as the levels of evolution (mineral, plant, animal, humankind, angelic and divine).

 

The Lunations

 

The lunations are the outer ring of partial circles that complete the outside circle of the labyrinth. They are unique to the Chartres design.

 

Celtic Symbols on the St. Hilda’s Labyrinth

 

The Celtic peoples have given us seven enduring spiritual principles:

 

1. A deep respect of nature, regarding creation as the fifth Gospel.

 

2. Quiet care for all living things.

3. The love of learning.

4. A wonder-lust or migratory nature.

5. Love of silence and solitude.

6. Understanding of time as a sacred reality and an appreciation of ordinary life, worshipping God through everyday life, and with great joy.

7. The value of family and clan affiliation, and especially spiritual ties of soul friends.

To show our respect for such wisdom, two Celtic designs adorn the St. Hilda’s labyrinth.

 

To mark the entrance to the labyrinth is a Celtic zoomorphic design painted in red. Traditionally, Celtic monks used intricate knotwork and zoomorphic designs (odd animals intertwined in uncomfortable ways) as mere filler for their illuminated gospel texts. They had no discernible meaning.

 

However, because of their unique design components, zoomorphs are now associated with transformations.

 

Transformation, change, action, and passion are also associated with red, the colour of fire. Therefore, this entrance symbol may well be an appropriate sign for the journey ahead.

At the labyrinth’s centre is a Celtic triquetra. This interlocked knotwork design of three stylized fish (whales) is often interpreted as the Trinity knot. It is a perfect representation of the concept of "three in one" in Christian trinity beliefs. Having the design enclosed within the centre circle further emphasizes the unity theme.

 

The triquetra can also be considered to represent the triplicities of mind, body, and soul, as well as the three domains of earth- earth, sea, and sky.

 

Final Reflection: The Labyrinth as a “Thinning Place”

 

In Celtic Christianity, places where people felt most strongly connected with God’s presence were referred to as thin places. It was these places in nature (forest groves, hilltops and deep wells) that the seen and unseen worlds were most closely connected, and the inhabitants of both worlds could momentarily touch the other. Today our churches, temples and sacred sites are the new thin places to meet the Divine. Here, at St Hilda’s, we have opportunities to encounter many thinning places – whether it be during Eucharistic or Taize services, while singing or praying, or through the love of a welcoming inclusive community. The labyrinth is a welcome addition; and with the right intent can also become a new thinning place for the modern pilgrim/spiritual seeker.This outward journey is an archetype with which we can have a direct experience. We can walk it. It can serve to frame the inward journey – a journey of repentance, forgiveness and rebirth, a journey that seeks a deeper faith, and greater holiness, a journey in search of God.

 

This 360° High Dynamic Range panorama was stitched from 66 bracketed photographs images with PTGUI Pro, tone-mapped with Photomatix, processed with Color Efex, and touched up in Aperture.

 

Original size: 20000 × 10000 (200.0 MP; 1.04 GB).

 

Location: St. Hilda’s By The Sea Anglican Church, Sechelt, British Columbia, Canada

New book! Epic Landscape Photography: The Principles of Fine Art Nature Photography!

 

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Working on a couple photography books! 45EPIC GODDESS PHOTOGRAPHY: A classic guide to exalting the archetypal woman. And 45EPIC Fine Art Landscape Photography!

 

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Greetings all! I have been busy finishing a few books on photography, while traveling all over--to Zion and the Sierras--shooting fall colors. Please see some here: facebook.com/mcgucken

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Let me know in the comments if you would like a free review copy of one of my photography books! :)

 

Titles include:

The Tao of Epic Landscape Photography: Exalt Fine Art with the Yin-Yang Wisdom of Lao Tzu's Tao Te Ching!

 

The Golden Number Ratio Principle: Why the Fibonacci Numbers Exalt Beauty and How to Create PHI Compositions in Art, Design, & Photography

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And I am also working on a book on photographing the goddesses! :) More goddesses soon!

 

Best wishes on your epic hero's odyssey!:)

 

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I love voyaging forth into nature to contemplate poetry, physics, the golden ratio, and the Tao te Ching! What's your favorite epic poetry reflecting epic landscapes? I recently finished a book titled Epic Poetry for Epic Landscape Photographers:

 

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Did you know that John Muir, Thoreau, and Emerson all loved epic poetry and poets including Shakespeare, Milton, Homer, and Robert Burns?

 

I recently finished my fourth book on Light Time Dimension Theory, much of which was inspired by an autumn trip to Zion!

 

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Via its simple principle of a fourth expanding dimension, LTD Theory provides a unifying, foundational *physical* model underlying relativity, quantum mechanics, time and all its arrows and asymmetries, and the second law of thermodynamics. The detailed diagrams demonstrate that the great mysteries of quantum mechanical nonlocality, entanglement, and probability naturally arise from the very same principle that fosters relativity alongside light's constant velocity, the equivalence of mass and energy, and time dilation.

 

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3 November is the feast day of Martin de Porres OP.

 

He was born in Lima, Peru in 1579, the son of a Spanish nobleman named Juan and a black freedwoman, Anna Velasquez. Among all the saints, he bears witness to the sufferings and oppression of the black peoples in the New World. He was a barber’s assistant until he sought to be associated with Saint Dominic’s Order and was enrolled among the laity of the Priory of Our Lady of the Rosary in Lima, where in 1603 he was admitted to solemn vows.

 

Endowed with marvellous simplicity, innocence and faith, he gained a reputation for his humble gifts, and indeed was exalted by God with heavenly gifts and charisms. With a burning piety for the eucharist and the passion of our Redeemer, he lived a life fully devoted to the poor through works of love, and especially the sick, and even to animals.

 

He has worthily been designated the heavenly patron of co-operator brothers. He loved fasting, the harshest penance, and prayer, especially at night, after the example of Jesus, drawing from that shining light in a marvellous way the principles of Christian doctrine.

 

Martin died at Lima on 3 November 1639, was beatified by Gregory XVI in 1837 and canonised by John XXIII on 6 May 1962. He draws to himself the souls of all inhabitants of America, both North and South, not only on account of his remarkable humility, attractive though that is in itself, but because he was in his own person a signal leading people to holiness.

 

This painting of the saint is in the patriarchal basilica of San Domenico in Bologna, Italy.

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That shed perfumes, and whispering thus address'd:"

--Homer's Iliad, George Chapman

 

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Lucius Annaeus Seneca: On entering a temple we assume all signs of reverence. How much more reverent then should we be before the heavenly bodies, the stars, the very nature of God!

 

Ralph Waldo Emerson. The happiest man is he who learns from nature the lesson of worship.

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All my photography celebrates the physics of light! The McGucken Principle of the fourth expanding dimension: The fourth dimension is expanding at the rate of c relative to the three spatial dimensions: dx4/dt=ic .

 

Lao Tzu--The Tao: Nature does not hurry, yet everything is accomplished.

 

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"Between every two pine trees there is a door leading to a new way of life." --John Muir

 

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“The clearest way into the Universe is through a forest wilderness.” --John Muir

 

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“The mountains are calling and I must go.” --John Muir

 

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All art is but imitation of nature.-- Seneca (Letters from a Stoic - Letter LXV: On the First Cause)

 

The universe itself is God and the universal outpouring of its soul. --Chrysippus (Quoted by Cicero in De Natura Deorum)

 

Season of mists and mellow fruitfulness

Close bosom-friend of the maturing sun

Conspiring with him how to load and bless

With fruit the vines that round the thatch-eves run;

To bend with apples the moss'd cottage-trees,

And fill all fruit with ripeness to the core;

To swell the gourd, and plump the hazel shells

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And still more, later flowers for the bees,

Until they think warm days will never cease,

For Summer has o'er-brimm'd their clammy cells. --To Autumn. by John Keats

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Epic books, prints, & more!

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Epic Landscape Photography:

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