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Something or nothing?
There are only two alternatives, something or nothing? Existence or non-existence?
Existence is a fact!
We know something exists (the physical universe),
but why?
Two questions arise …why is there something rather than nothing?
And where did that something come from?
Obviously, something cannot arise from nothing, no sane person would entertain such an impossible concept. However, an incredible fantasy that the universe created itself from nothing, has been proposed by some, high profile atheists, and presented to the public as though it is science. A sort of ‘theory of everything’ that purports to eliminate a creator.
For example, the campaigning, militant atheist Lawrence Krauss has written a book which claims the universe can come from nothing, ‘A Universe from Nothing’.
Anyone who is silly enough to spend money on a book which makes such a wild, impossible claim, soon realises that Krauss’s ‘nothing’ is not nothing at all, but an exercise in ‘smoke and mirrors’. His ‘nothing’ involves the pre-existence of natural law and quantum effects- gravity, energy and quantum particles (matter and antimatter).
Krauss’s ‘nothing’ turns out to be just part and parcel of the existing universe. He confuses ‘space’, which is an integral part of the existing universe, with the ‘nothing’ he claims preceded the universe.
In other words, he is claiming that some properties of the universe existed before the universe, and those properties (regarded as 'nothing' by him) brought the universe into being.
So, Krauss's proposition is; that a natural, temporal, contingent, existing thing can be regarded as an infinite, non-contingent ‘nothing’, which gave rise to all other natural, temporal, contingent things. It is like saying; an effect (without a cause) is the first cause of all other effects.
Another well, publicised example of the universe allegedly being able to arise from nothing was that presented by the late Professor Stephen Hawking, and summed up in a single sentence:
“Because there is a law, such as gravity, the universe can and will create itself from nothing”
It is not intelligent, sensible or scientific to believe that everything created itself from nothing.
In a genuine state of infinite and eternal nothingness, nothing exists and nothing happens - EVER.
Nothing means absolutely ‘nothing’. Nothing tangible and no physical laws, no information, not even abstract things, like mathematics. If no thing exists there can be no numbers or anything based on numbers.
Furthermore, you don’t need to be a genius, or a scientist, to understand that something CANNOT create itself.
Put simply, it is self-evident that - to create itself, a thing would have to pre-exist its own creation to carry out the act of creating itself. In which case, it already exists in some form.
And, if anything at all exists, i.e. in this example ‘gravity’, it cannot be called 'nothing'.
Furthermore, ‘gravity’ cannot be a creative agent, it is merely an inherent property of matter – it is obvious that a property of something cannot create that which it is a property of. And also, How can something pre-exist that which it is a property of? Thus, we are obliged to conclude that nonsense remains nonsense, even when presented by highly regarded scientists.
“Fallacies remain fallacies, even when they become fashionable.” GK Chesterton.
Such nonsensical propositions are vain attempts to undermine the well, established, law of cause and effect (the dominant principle of classical physics), which is fatal to all atheist ideology.
Incredibly, Hawking's so-called replacement for God completely ignores this law of cause and effect which applies to ALL temporal (natural) entities, without exception.
Therefore, Stephen Hawking's natural, 'theory of everything' which he summed up in a single sentence can, similarly, be debunked in a single sentence:
Because there is a law of cause and effect, the universe can't and won't create itself from nothing.
"something can come from nothing" says Richard Dawkins
In this video clip: the militant, atheist, Richard Dawkins tries to define 'nothing' as 'something' and is shocked when the audience sensibly reacts with laughter.
The Law of Cause and Effect tells us that a cause has to be adequate for the effect it produces. In other words, an effect CANNOT be greater than its cause or causes.
It makes sense, even to a child, that something CANNOT give what it doesn't possess, or give more than it possesses.
THE ESSENCE OF AN EFFECT IS COMMENSURATE WITH ITS CAUSE.
IF THE CAUSE IS 'NOTHING' - THE EFFECT IS NOTHING.
NO CAUSE = NO EFFECT!
It is foolish to look within nature (physical evidence) for an explanation of the origin of nature, i.e. the contingent, finite, physical universe.
There is not anything within the contingent, temporal, finite universe capable of bringing the universe into being.
Sed contra, the temporal universe cannot contain within itself the cause of its own existence. To look for non-contingency within the contingent, or non-temporal within the temporal, is counter-intuitive
The question of why there is something rather than nothing can only be answered by looking to the infinite, which relies on nothing outside itself for its existence.
The role of religion?
Once we admit the obvious fact that the universe cannot arise of its own accord from nothing (nothing will remain as nothing - forever), the only alternative is that ‘something’ has always existed – an infinite ‘something’. For anything to happen, such as the origin of the universe, the infinite something, cannot just exist in a state of eternal, passive inactivity, it must be capable of positive activity.
If we examine the characteristics, powers, qualities and attributes which exist now, we must conclude that the ‘something’, that has always existed, must have amazing (godlike) powers to be able to produce all the wonderful qualities we see in the universe, including: information, natural laws, life, intelligence, consciousness, etc.
If the effect (I.e. the universe) is wonderful and amazing, the original cause of it MUST be wonderful and amazing.
This means we need to believe in some sort of ‘godlike entity’. The only question remaining is - which god?
Is the godlike entity a supernatural creator, or simply nature or natural forces as atheists claim?
Seeking an answer to that question is the essential role of (rational) religion which, in harmony with scientific principles and the laws of nature, utilises logic and reason, rather than relying entirely on blind faith.
Why God MUST exist ...
There are only two states of being (existence) – temporal and infinite. That. which has a beginning, is ‘temporal’. That which has no beginning is ‘infinite’.
Everything that exists must be one or the other.
The temporal (unlike the infinite) is not autonomous or non-contingent, it essentially relies on something else for its beginning (its cause) and its continued existence.
The universe and all natural things are temporal. Hence, they ALL require a cause or causes.
They could NOT exist without a cause to bring them into being. This is a FACT accepted by science, and enshrined in the Law of Cause and Effect.
The Law of Cause and Effect tells us that every, natural effect requires a cause. And that - an effect cannot be greater than its cause/s.
This is a fundamental principle, essential to the scientific method.
“All natural science is based on the hypothesis of the complete causal connection of all events” Dr Albert Einstein. The Collected Papers of Albert Einstein, Hebrew University and Princeton University Press p.183
No temporal effect can be greater than (superior to) the sum-total of its cause or causes
It is obvious that - something cannot give what it doesn’t possess.
A temporal entity can be a subsidiary cause of another temporal entity, but cannot be the initial (first) cause of the entire, temporal realm - which includes ALL natural effects and entities. The first cause of everything temporal must be infinite.
Consider this simple chain of causes and effects:
A causes B
B causes C
C causes D
D causes E
‘A, B, C & D’ are all causes and may all look similar, but they are not, there is an enormous and crucial difference between them. Causes B, C & D are fundamentally different from cause A.
Why?
Because A is the very first cause and thus had no previous cause. It exists without a cause. It doesn’t rely on anything else for its existence, it is completely independent of causes - while B, C, D & E would not exist without A. They are all entirely dependent on A.
Causes; B, C & D are also effects, whereas A is not an effect, only a cause.
So, we can say that the first cause ‘A’ is both self-existent and necessary. It is necessary because the rest of the chain of causes and effects could not exist without it.
We also must say that the subsequent causes and effects B, C, D and E are all contingent. That is; they are not self-existent, they all depend entirely on other causes to exist. We can also say that A is eternally self-existent, i.e. it has always existed, it had no beginning.
Why?
Because if A came into being at some point, there must have been something other than itself that brought it into being … which would mean A was not the first cause (A could not create A) … the something that brought A into being would be the first cause. In which case, A would be contingent and no different from B, C, D & E. We can also say that A is adequate to produce all the properties of B, C, D & E.
Why?
Well, in the case of E, we can see that it relies entirely on D for its existence. E can in no way be superior to D, because D had to contain within itself everything necessary to produce E.
The same applies to D, it cannot be superior to C. Furthermore, neither E or D can be superior to C, because both rely on C for their existence, and C had to contain everything necessary to produce D & E.
Likewise, with B, which is wholly responsible for the existence of C, D & E.
As they all depend on A for their existence and all their properties, abilities and potentials, none can be superior to A, whether singly or combined. A had to contain everything necessary to produce B, C, D & E including all their properties, abilities and potentials.
Thus, we deduce that; nothing in the universe can be superior in any way to the very first cause of the universe, because the whole universe, and all material things that exist, depend entirely on the abilities and properties of the first cause to produce them.
Conclusion …
A first cause must be uncaused, must have always existed, and cannot be in any way inferior to all subsequent causes and effects. In other words, the first cause of the universe must be eternally, self-existent and omnipotent (greater than everything that exists). No natural entity can have those attributes, that is why a Supernatural, Creator God MUST exist.
Entropy
The initial (first) cause of the temporal realm had to be something non-temporal (uncaused), i.e. something infinite.
The word ‘temporal’ is derived from tempus, Latin for time. - All temporal things are subject to time - and, as well as having a beginning in time, natural things can also expect to naturally degenerate, with the passage of time, towards a decline in energy potential, function, order and existence. The material universe is slowly in decline and dying.
The natural realm is not just temporal, but also temporary (finite). Science acknowledges this in the Second Law of Thermodynamics (law of entropy).
As all natural things are temporal, we know that the initial (first), infinite cause of everything temporal cannot be a natural agent or entity.
The infinite, first cause of everything natural can also be regarded as ‘supernatural’, in the sense that it is not subject to natural laws that are intrinsic only to natural things, which it caused.
This fact is verified by science, in the First Law of Thermodynamics, which tells us that there is no ‘natural’ means by which matter/energy can be created.
However, as the first cause existed before the natural realm (which is subject to natural laws, without exception), the issue of the first cause being exempt from natural laws (supernatural) is not something extraordinary or magical. It is the original and normal default state of the infinite.
If the material universe itself was infinite, entropy wouldn’t exist. Entropy is a characteristic only of natural entities.
The infinite cannot be subject to entropy, it does not deteriorate, it remains the same forever.
Therefore, we know that the material universe, as a temporal entity, had to have a beginning and, being subject to entropy, will have an end.
That which existed before the universe, as an original cause of everything material, had to be infinite, because you cannot have an infinite chain of temporal (material) events. The temporal can only exist if it is sustained by the infinite.
As all natural entities are temporal, the (infinite) first cause could not possibly be a natural entity.
So, the Second Law of Thermodynamics supports and confirms the only logical conclusion we can reach from the Law of Cause and Effect, that a natural, first cause is impossible, according to science.
This is fatal to the atheist ideology of naturalism because it means there is no alternative to an infinite, supernatural, first cause (a Creator God).
The Bible explains that the universe was created perfect, without the effects of entropy such as decay, corruption and degeneration. It was sustained in such a state of perfection by an infinite God, until the sin of humankind (exercised by free choice) corrupted the physical creation, undermining its perfection and resulting in physical death and universal entropy ...
Scripture: Romans 8:18–25
"I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us. For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God; for the creation was subjected to futility, not of its own will but by the will of him who subjected it in hope; because the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to decay and obtain the glorious liberty of the children of God. We know that the whole creation has been groaning in travail together until now; and not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the first fruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies. For in this hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what he sees? But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience."
Wisdom 1:13-15; 2:23-24
God did not make death,
nor does he rejoice in the destruction of the living.
For he fashioned all things that they might have being;
and the creatures of the world are wholesome,
and there is not a destructive drug among them
nor any domain of the netherworld on earth,
for justice is undying.
For God formed man to be imperishable;
the image of his own nature he made him.
But by the envy of the devil, death entered the world,
and they who belong to his company experience it.
Can there be multiple infinite, first causes? It is evident that there can be only one ‘infinite’ entity. If, for example, there are two infinite entities, neither could have its own, unique properties.
Why?
Because, unless they possessed identical properties, neither would be infinite. However, if they both possessed the very same properties, there would be no distinction between them, they would be identical and thus a single entity.
To put it another way …
God, as an infinite being, can only be a single entity, if He was not, and there was another infinite being, the properties which were pertinent to the other infinite being would be a limitation on His infinite character, and vice versa. So, neither entity would be infinite.
Creation - an act of will?
For an infinite cause to produce a temporal effect, such as the universe, an active character and an act of will must be involved. If the first cause was just a blind, mechanistic, natural thing, the universe would just be a continuation of the infinite nature of the first cause, not temporal (subject to time). For example, if the nature of water in infinite time was to be frozen, it would continue its frozen nature infinitely. There must be an active agent involved.
Time applies to the temporal, not the infinite. The infinite is omnipresent, it always was, it always is, and it always will be. It is the “Alpha and the Omega” as the Bible explains.
Jesus claimed to be omnipresent, when referred to Himself as “I am”. He was revealing that His spirit was the infinite, Divine spirit (the infinite, first cause of everything temporal).
Therefore, what we know about the characteristics of this supernatural entity, are as follows:
The single, supernatural entity:
1. Has always existed, has no cause, and is not subject to time. (is infinite, eternally self-existent, autonomous and non-contingent).
2. Is the first, original and deliberate cause of everything temporal (including the universe and every natural entity and effect).
3. Cannot be, in any way, inferior to any temporal or natural thing that exists.
In simple terms, this means that the single, infinite, supernatural, first cause of everything that exists in the temporal realm, has the capability of creating everything that exists, and cannot be inferior in any powers and attributes to anything that exists. This is the entity we recognise as the creator God.
The Bible tells us that we were made in the image of this God. This is logical, because it is obvious we cannot be superior to this God (an effect cannot be greater than its cause).
So, all our qualities and attributes must be possessed by the God in whose image we were made.
All our attributes come from the creator, or supernatural, first cause.
Remember, the logic that something cannot give what it doesn’t possess.
We have life. Thus, our creator must be alive.
We are intelligent. Thus, our creator must be intelligent.
We are conscious. Thus, our creator must be conscious.
We can love. Thus, our creator must love.
We understand justice. Thus, our creator must be just, etc. etc.
Therefore, we can logically discern the character and attributes of the creator from what is seen in His creation.
This FACT - that an effect cannot be greater than its cause/s, is recognised as a basic principle of science, and is it crucial to understanding the nature and attributes of the first cause.
It means nothing in the universe that exists, resulting from the action of the first cause, can be in anyway superior to the first cause. We must conclude that, at least, some attributes of the first cause can be seen in the universe.
For the origin of all our attributes, and those of all the temporal realm, we must look to their source - the infinite first cause - God.
Atheists frequently ask; how can we possibly know what God is like?
The Bible (which is inspired by God) tells us many things about the character of God, but regardless of scripture, the universe itself gives us some evidence of God’s nature.
For example: can the properties of human beings, in any way, be superior to the first cause?
To suggest they are, would be to violate the scientific principle that an effect cannot be greater than its cause.
All the powers, properties, qualities and attributes we observe in the universe, including all human qualities, must be also evident in the first cause.
If there is life in the universe, the first cause must have life.
If there is intelligence in the universe the first cause must have intelligence.
The same applies to consciousness, skill, design, purpose, justice, love, beauty, forgiveness, mercy etc.
Therefore, we must conclude that the eternally, self-existent, non-natural (supernatural), first cause, has life, is conscious, has intelligence and created the temporal as an act of will.
We know, from the law of cause and effect, that the first cause cannot possibly be any of the natural processes frequently proposed by atheists, such as: the so-called, big bang explosion, singularity or quantum mechanics.
They are all temporal, moreover, it is obvious that none of them are adequate to produce the effect. They are all grossly inferior to the result.
To sum up:
Using impeccable logic and reason, supported by our understanding of established, natural, physical laws (which apply to everything of a natural, temporal nature) acknowledged by science, humans have been able to discover the existence of a single, infinite, supernatural, living, intelligent, loving and just creator God.
God discovered, not invented!
Contrary to a narrative perpetuated by atheists, a personal, creator God is not just a “human invention”, and He is certainly not a backward thinking substitute for reason or science, but rather, the reality of His existence and character is an enlightened, human discovery, based on unimpeachable logic, reason, rationality, natural laws and scientific understanding.
The real character of atheism unmasked.
Is belief in God just superstitious, backward thinking, suitable only for the uneducated or scientific illiterates, as atheists would have us believe?
Stephen Hawking is widely acknowledged as the best brain in modern atheism, his natural explanation for the origin of the universe "Because there is a law, such as gravity, the universe can and will create itself from nothing" was claimed by some, to have made belief in a creator God redundant. This is an atheistic, natural, creation myth, summed up in a single sentence. A sentence which is possibly the most bizarre and contradictory sentence in the history of science.
When we realise what atheists actually believe, it doesn’t take a genius to understand that it is atheism, not monotheism, which is a throwback to an unenlightened period in human history. It is a throwback to a time when Mother Nature or other natural or material, temporal entities and idols were regarded by some as having autonomous, godlike, creative powers –
“the universe can and will create itself from nothing”
The discredited concept of worshipping nature itself (naturalism) or various material things (Sun, Moon, idols etc.) as some sort of autonomous, non-contingent, creative, or self-creative agents, used to be called paganism. Now it has been re-invented as 21st century atheism ...
The truth about modern atheism is it is just pagan naturalist beliefs repackaged.
“It is absurd for the Evolutionist to complain that it is unthinkable for an admittedly unthinkable God to make everything out of nothing, and then pretend that it is more thinkable that nothing should turn itself into everything.” - G.K. Chesterton.
God’s power.
Everything that exists is dependent on the original and ultimate cause (God) for its origin, continued existence and operation.
This means God affords everything all the power it needs to function. Everything operates only with God’s power. We couldn’t even lift a little finger, if the power to do so was not permitted by God.
What caused God?
Ever since the 18th century, atheist philosophers such as David Hume, Bertrand Russell etc. have attempted to debunk the logical evidence for a creator God, as the infinite, first cause and creator of the universe.
The basic premise of their argument is that a long chain of causes and effects, going back in time, did not necessarily require a beginning (no first cause, but rather an infinite regress). And that, if every effect requires an adequate cause (as the Law of Cause and Effect states), then God (a first cause) could no more exist without a cause, than anything else.
This latter point is summed up in the what many atheists regard as the killer question:
“What caused God then?”
This question wasn’t sensible in the 18th century, and is not sensible today, but incredibly, many atheists still think it is a good argument against the Law of Cause and Effect and continue to use it.
As explained previously, the Law of Cause and Effect applies to all temporal entities.
Temporal entities have a beginning, and therefore need a cause. They are all contingent and dependent on a cause or causes for their beginning and existence, without exception.
It is obvious to any sensible person that the very first cause, because it is FIRST, had nothing preceding it.
First means 'first', it doesn’t mean second or third. If we could go back far enough with a chain of causes and effects, however long the chain, at some stage we must reach an ultimate beginning, i.e. the cause which is first, having no previous cause. This first cause must have always existed with no beginning. It is essentially self-existent from an infinite past and for an infinite future. It must be completely autonomous and non-contingent, not relying on any cause or anything else for its existence. Not temporal, but infinite.
So, the answer to the question is that - God was not caused, only temporal entities (such as ALL natural things) essentially require a cause.
God is the eternally, self-existent, ultimate, non-contingent, supernatural, first. infinite cause of everything temporal.
As explained earlier, the first cause could not be a natural entity, it had to be supernatural, as ALL natural entities are temporal and contingent (they all require causes).
Is the atheist, infinite regress argument sensible?
This is the argument against the need for a first cause of the universe. The proposition is that; a long chain of natural causes and effects, going back in time, did not necessarily require a beginning (an infinite regress). This proposition is nonsensical.
Why?
It is self-evident that you cannot have a chain of temporal effects going backwards in time, forever. It is the inherent nature of all temporal things to have a beginning. Likewise, for a long chain of temporal causes and effects, there must be a beginning at some point in time. Contingent things do not become non-contingent, simply by being in a long chain.
Temporal + temporal can never equal infinite.
Moreover, the Second Law of Thermodynamics tells us that everything physical is subject to entropy.
Therefore, it is an absurd notion that there could be a long chain of temporal elements in which, although every individual link in the chain requires a beginning, the complete chain does not. And, although every individual link in the chain is subject to the law of entropy, the chain as a whole is not, and is miraculously unaffected by the effects of entropy, throughout an infinite past, which would have caused its demise.
What about the idea that infinite regress is acceptable in maths?
Maths is a type of information - and information, like truth, is not purely physical.
It can require physical media to make it tangible, but while the physical media is always subject to entropy, information is not. 1+1 = 2 will always be true, it is unaffected by time, or even whether there are any humans left to do mathematical calculations.
Jesus said; Heaven and Earth may pass away, but my words will go on forever. Jesus is pointing out that truth and information are unaffected by entropy.
For example: historical truths, such as the fact that Henry VIII had six wives, will always be true. Time cannot erode or change that truth. Even if all human records of this truth were destroyed, it would never cease to be true.
As the Christian, apologist Peter Keeft has made clear, maths is entirely dependent on a positive integer, i.e. the number one. Without this positive integer, no maths is possible. 2 is 2 ones, 3 is 3 ones, etc.
The concept of the number one also exists as a characteristic of the one, infinite, first cause. - God is one. - God embodies that positive integer (number one/first cause), essential for the operation of maths. Without the number one, there could be no number two or three, etc. etc. There could be no positive numbers, no negative numbers and no fractions.
The fact that an infinite ‘first’ cause exists, means that number one is bound to exist. In a state of eternal and infinite nothingness, there would be no information and no numbers and nothing would be ‘first’. So, like everything else, maths is made possible only by the existence of the one, infinite, first cause (God).
The Law of Cause and Effect
"Dominant Principle of Classical Physics
Chance Events? Nothing happens by chance! Classical Science, which dominated studies
of the physical universe before the Twentieth Century, generally held an opinion that
there are no events that happen by chance. For many centuries, it seemed obvious that
all things were caused by something physical or mental. This idea was expressed by
Hippocrates of Cos (c. 460-377 B.C.): “Every natural event has a natural cause.” [1, p.
12].
History of the Concept of Cause and Effect. The concept of order maintained by the law
of cause and effect is a scientific principle with a history traceable through Hebrew,
Babylonian, Greek, and modern civilizations.
Hebrew Concept of Causality. Certain Hebrews acknowledged the role of causality in the
universe before the Babylonians and Greeks. These Hebrews denied chance and its offspring
chaos:
That they may know from the rising of the sun to its setting
That there is none besides Me;
I am the LORD, and there is no other;
I form the light and create darkness,
I make peace and create calamity;
I, the LORD, do all these things.…
Shall the clay say to him who forms it, “What are you making?”
Or shall your handiwork say, “He has no hands”?…"
FOUNDATIONS OF SCIENCE
The Law of Cause and Effect. Dominant Principle of Classical Physics. David L. Bergman and Glen C. Collins
www.commonsensescience.net/pdf/articles/law_of_cause_and_...
"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."
The fog is an illusion—
A master of disguise,
Which hides the tangible
Before our very eyes.
But when the fog has lifted
Everything’s still there,
And the tangible
Only seemed to’ve disappeared.
In the early morning
Or late at night,
The fog descends
Upon various sites.
It gives an air of mystery
That has long prevailed.
Dangerously intriguing
Is the fog’s foggy veil.
---- Matera (Italy), beginning of October, 2019 -----
---- Matera (Italia), inizio d’ottobre, 2019 -----
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click to activate the icon of slideshow: the small triangle inscribed in the small rectangle, at the top right, in the photostream;
clicca sulla piccola icona per attivare lo slideshow: sulla facciata principale del photostream, in alto a destra c'è un piccolo rettangolo (rappresenta il monitor) con dentro un piccolo triangolo nero;
Qi Bo's photos on Flickr Hive Mind
www.fotografidigitali.it/gallery/2726/opere-italiane-segn...
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A trip to…Matera: it is an Italian city of Basilicata, its origins are very ancient, remote; Matera is characterized by the so-called "Sassi", they are a complex of districts consisting of Houses-Caves dug into the rock; in the past these houses-caves were evacuated (in 1952) by order of the then government, to prevent the Sassi from being a tangible manifestation of a poor and backward southern Italy, with the simultaneous construction of districts made up of new houses. Currently things have changed, the Sassi have been rediscovered and enhanced, they host B & Bs, restaurants, museums, exhibition halls in which to find exhibitions of modern art, and, thanks to their rediscovery, the Sassi have been recognized by UNESCO, heritage of humanity, and moreover, Matera has also been elected Capital of Culture of 2019.
The Sassi of Matera are therefore districts that constitute the oldest part of the city, there is the Sasso Barisano, there is the Sasso Caveoso, which are separated from each other by a Big Rock on which there is the "Civita", which is the central part of the old city, on top of which is the cathedral and noble palaces. In ancient times the inhabitants of the Sassi, exploiting the friability of the calcareous rock, created a complex system for conveying water into canals, which led to a network of cisterns, thus water, a precious element for those lands, immediately became available.
The Patron Saint of Matera is the Our Lady of Bruna, whose denomination has uncertain origins (there are various theories), I have photographed Her icon, visible in the Mother Church, and the Her statue with the Little Jesus in Her arms, which is carried in procession. The Sassi, due to their landscape features, were very often chosen to set a large number of films, just to mention a few, "the roaring years" by Luigi Zampa, "the Gospel according to Matthew" by Pier Paolo Pasolini, "Christ stopped at Eboli" by Francesco Rosi," the Passion of Christ" by Mel Gibson.
In my wanderings among the Sassi, I met many Street Artists, among them the artist Benedict Popescu, I also met a very nice Capuchin friar with a passion for photography, some sweet girls, Koreans, Beneventans and of Matera.
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Una gita a…..Matera: essa è una città italiana della Basilicata, le sue origini sono antichissime, remote; Matera è caratterizzata dai cosiddetti “Sassi”, sono un complesso di rioni costituiti da Case-Grotte scavate nella roccia; queste Case-Grotte in passato furono evacuate (nel 1952) per ordine dell’allora governo, per impedire che i Sassi potessero essere una manifestazione tangibile di una Italia meridionale povera ed arretrata, con la contemporanea realizzazione di rioni costituiti da case nuove. Attualmente le cose sono cambiate, i Sassi sono stati riscoperti e valorizzati, essi ospitano B&B, ristoranti, musei, sale espositive nelle quali trovare anche mostre di arte moderna, e, grazie alla loro riscoperta, i Sassi sono stati riconosciuti dall’UNESCO, patrimonio dell’umanità, ed inoltre, Matera è stata anche eletta Capitale della cultura del 2019.
I Sassi di Matera sono quindi rioni che costituiscono la parte più antica della città, c’è il Sasso Barisano, c’è il Sasso Caveoso, i quali sono separati tra di loro da una rocca sulla quale c’è la Civita, che è la parte centrale della città vecchia, sulla cui sommità si trova la cattedrale ed i palazzi nobiliari. In epoche remote gli abitanti dei Sassi, sfruttando la friabilità della roccia calcarea, si ingegnarono nel realizzare un complesso sistema di convogliamento delle acque in canali, che conducevano in una rete di cisterne, in tal modo l’acqua, elemnto preziosissimo per quelle terre, diveniva immediatamente disponibile.
La Santa Patrona di Matera è la Madonna della Bruna, la cui denominazione ha origini incerte (vi sono varie teorie), io ho fotografato sia la sua icona, visibile nella chiesa Madre, sia la statua con in braccio il Bambinello, che viene portata in processione. I Sassi, per le loro caratteristiche paesaggistiche, sono stati molto spesso scelti per ambientare numerosissimi film, solo per ricordarne alcuni, “gli anni ruggenti” di Luigi Zampa, “il Vangelo secondo Matteo” di Pier Paolo Pasolini, “Cristo si è fermato ad Eboli” di Francesco Rosi, “la Passione di Cristo” di Mel Gibson.
Nel mio peregrinare tra i Sassi, ho incontrato molti Artisti di Strada, tra essi l’artista Benedict Popescu, credo unico nel suo genere, ho incontrato inoltre, un gentilissimo frate cappuccino con la passione della fotografia, delle dolcissime ragazze, Coreane, Beneventane e di Matera.
I have posted over 65535 Hindu blogs ,,shot Hindu culture , rituals Kumbh Maha Kumbh, Naga Sadhus Tantriks ..including the Marriammen feast .. and all this thanks to my two Gurus Late BW Jatkar and Shreekant Malushte Sir ,,including some great photographer friends at PSI Mumbai my camera club..
Most of the Hindu feasts in Bandra I hardly shoot and most of them are now being shot by my 3 year old granddaughter @nerjisasifshakir
She has shot Advocate Ashish Shelars Ganpati for last two years.
I live in Mumbai my parents were not bigots , they gave us the best upbringing even the Marathi bai that worked with us when we were kids our mother insisted we call her Aiee ,, Mother ,,and all this has culminated in shooting my cultural inheritance ,,and so for those who do not wish to see this part of my documentation you can unfriend and block me ,, I shall not hold it against you as most of you I added recently was because you were also friends with my Peersabs son Syed Farid Chishty Sabri I did not see your profile just added you blindly when you sent me a friends request .
And if you comment adversely on my Hindu or Shia blogs I will block you instantly,, I am a photo journalist documentarist I dont promote any religion caste or creed I promote India and my Indianess ..
Thanks .
Kali, also known as Kalika (Bengali: কালী, Kālī / কালিকা Kālīkā ; Sanskrit: काली), is a Hindu goddess associated with death and destruction. The name Kali means "black", but has by folk etymology come to mean "force of time (kala)". Despite her negative connotations, she is today considered the goddess of time and change. Although sometimes presented as dark and violent, her earliest incarnation as a figure of annihilation still has some influence. More complex Tantric beliefs sometimes extend her role so far as to be the "ultimate reality" or Brahman. She is also revered as Bhavatarini (literally "redeemer of the universe"). Comparatively recent devotional movements largely conceive Kali as a benevolent mother goddess.
Kali is represented as the consort of god Shiva, on whose body she is often seen standing. She is associated with many other Hindu goddesses like Durga, Bhadrakali, Sati, Rudrani, Parvati and Chamunda. She is the foremost among the Dasa-Mahavidyas, ten fierce Tantric goddesses.[1]
Contents [hide]
1 Etymology
2 Origin
3 In Tantra
4 In Bengali tradition
5 Mythology
5.1 Slayer of Raktabija
5.2 Daksinakali
5.3 Maternal Kali
5.4 Mahakali
6 Iconography
6.1 Popular form
6.2 Mahakali form
6.3 Shiva in Kali iconography
7 Development
8 In New Age and Neopaganism
9 See also
10 Notes
11 References
12 Further reading
13 External links
Etymology
Kālī is the feminine of kāla "black, dark coloured" (per Panini 4.1.42). It appears as the name of a form of Durga in Mahabharata 4.195, and as the name of an evil female spirit in Harivamsa 11552.
The homonymous kāla "appointed time", which depending on context can mean "death", is distinct from kāla "black", but became associated through folk etymology. The association is seen in a passage from the Mahābhārata, depicting a female figure who carries away the spirits of slain warriors and animals. She is called kālarātri (which Thomas Coburn, a historian of Sanskrit Goddess literature, translates as "night of death") and also kālī (which, as Coburn notes, can be read here either as a proper name or as a description "the black one").[2]
Kali's association with blackness stands in contrast to her consort, Shiva, whose body is covered by the white ashes of the cremation ground (Sanskrit: śmaśāna) in which he meditates, and with which Kali is also associated, as śmaśāna-kālī.
Origin
Kali appears in the Mundaka Upanishad (section 1, chapter 2, verse 4) not explicitly as a goddess, but as the black tongue of the seven flickering tongues of Agni, the Hindu god of fire.[3] However, the prototype of the figure now known as Kali appears in the Rig Veda, in the form of a goddess named Raatri. Raatri is considered to be the prototype of both Durga and Kali.
In the Sangam era, circa 200BCE–200CE, of Tamilakam, a Kali-like bloodthirsty goddess named Kottravai appears in the literature of the period.[citation needed] Like Kali she has dishevelled hair, inspires fear in those who approach her and feasts on battlegrounds littered with the dead.
It was the composition of the Puranas in late antiquity that firmly gave Kali a place in the Hindu pantheon. Kali or Kalika is described in the Devi Mahatmya (also known as the Chandi or the Durgasaptasati) from the Markandeya Purana, circa 300–600CE, where she is said to have emanated from the brow of the goddess Durga, a slayer of demons or avidya, during one of the battles between the divine and anti-divine forces. In this context, Kali is considered the 'forceful' form of the great goddess Durga. Another account of the origins of Kali is found in the Matsya Purana, circa 1500CE, which states that she originated as a mountain tribal goddess in the north-central part of India, in the region of Mount Kalanjara (now known as Kalinjar). However this account is disputed because the legend was of later origin.
The Kalika Purana a work of late ninth or early tenth century, is one of the Upapuranas. The Kalika Purana mainly describes different manifestations of the Goddess, gives their iconographic details, mounts, and weapons. It also provides ritual procedures of worshipping Kalika.
In Tantra
Mahakali YantraGoddesses play an important role in the study and practice of Tantra Yoga, and are affirmed to be as central to discerning the nature of reality as the male deities are. Although Parvati is often said to be the recipient and student of Shiva's wisdom in the form of Tantras, it is Kali who seems to dominate much of the Tantric iconography, texts, and rituals.[4] In many sources Kali is praised as the highest reality or greatest of all deities. The Nirvana-tantra says the gods Brahma, Vishnu, and Shiva all arise from her like bubbles in the sea, ceaselessly arising and passing away, leaving their original source unchanged. The Niruttara-tantra and the Picchila-tantra declare all of Kali's mantras to be the greatest and the Yogini-tantra, Kamakhya-tantra and the Niruttara-tantra all proclaim Kali vidyas (manifestations of Mahadevi, or "divinity itself"). They declare her to be an essence of her own form (svarupa) of the Mahadevi.[5]
In the Mahanirvana-tantra, Kali is one of the epithets for the primordial sakti, and in one passage Shiva praises her:
At the dissolution of things, it is Kala [Time] Who will devour all, and by reason of this He is called Mahakala [an epithet of Lord Shiva], and since Thou devourest Mahakala Himself, it is Thou who art the Supreme Primordial Kalika. Because Thou devourest Kala, Thou art Kali, the original form of all things, and because Thou art the Origin of and devourest all things Thou art called the Adya [primordial Kali. Resuming after Dissolution Thine own form, dark and formless, Thou alone remainest as One ineffable and inconceivable. Though having a form, yet art Thou formless; though Thyself without beginning, multiform by the power of Maya, Thou art the Beginning of all, Creatrix, Protectress, and Destructress that Thou art.[6]
The figure of Kali conveys death, destruction, fear, and the consuming aspects of reality. As such, she is also a "forbidden thing", or even death itself. In the Pancatattva ritual, the sadhaka boldly seeks to confront Kali, and thereby assimilates and transforms her into a vehicle of salvation.[7] This is clear in the work of the Karpuradi-stotra, a short praise to Kali describing the Pancatattva ritual unto her, performed on cremation grounds. (Samahana-sadhana)
He, O Mahakali who in the cremation-ground, naked, and with dishevelled hair, intently meditates upon Thee and recites Thy mantra, and with each recitation makes offering to Thee of a thousand Akanda flowers with seed, becomes without any effort a Lord of the earth. 0 Kali, whoever on Tuesday at midnight, having uttered Thy mantra, makes offering even but once with devotion to Thee of a hair of his Sakti [his female companion] in the cremation-ground, becomes a great poet, a Lord of the earth, and ever goes mounted upon an elephant.[8]
The Karpuradi-stotra clearly indicates that Kali is more than a terrible, vicious, slayer of demons who serves Durga or Shiva. Here, she is identified as the supreme mistress of the universe, associated with the five elements. In union with Lord Shiva, who is said to be her spouse, she creates and destroys worlds. Her appearance also takes a different turn, befitting her role as ruler of the world and object of meditation.[9] In contrast to her terrible aspects, she takes on hints of a more benign dimension. She is described as young and beautiful, has a gentle smile, and makes gestures with her two right hands to dispel any fear and offer boons. The more positive features exposed offer the distillation of divine wrath into a goddess of salvation, who rids the sadhaka of fear. Here, Kali appears as a symbol of triumph over death.[10]
In Bengali tradition
Kali is also central figure in late medieval Bengali devotional literature, with such devotees as Ramprasad Sen (1718–75). With the exception of being associated with Parvati as Shiva's consort, Kali is rarely pictured in Hindu mythology and iconography as a motherly figure until Bengali devotion beginning in the early eighteenth century. Even in Bengali tradition her appearance and habits change little, if at all.[11]
The Tantric approach to Kali is to display courage by confronting her on cremation grounds in the dead of night, despite her terrible appearance. In contrast, the Bengali devotee appropriates Kali's teachings, adopting the attitude of a child. In both cases, the goal of the devotee is to become reconciled with death and to learn acceptance of the way things are. These themes are well addressed in Ramprasad's work.[12]
Ramprasad comments in many of his other songs that Kali is indifferent to his wellbeing, causes him to suffer, brings his worldly desires to nothing and his worldly goods to ruin. He also states that she does not behave like a mother should and that she ignores his pleas:
Can mercy be found in the heart of her who was born of the stone? [a reference to Kali as the daughter of Himalaya]
Were she not merciless, would she kick the breast of her lord?
Men call you merciful, but there is no trace of mercy in you. Mother.
You have cut off the headset the children of others, and these you wear as a garland around your neck.
It matters not how much I call you "Mother, Mother." You hear me, but you will not listen.[13]
To be a child of Kali, Ramprasad asserts, is to be denied of earthly delights and pleasures. Kali is said to not give what is expected. To the devotee, it is perhaps her very refusal to do so that enables her devotees to reflect on dimensions of themselves and of reality that go beyond the material world.[14][15]
A significant portion of Bengali devotional music features Kali as its central theme and is known as Shyama Sangeet. Mostly sung by male vocalists, today even women have taken to this form of music. One of the finest singers of Shyama Sangeet is Pannalal Bhattacharya.
Mythology
Slayer of Raktabija
"Kali Triumphant on The Battle Field," Punjab, circa 1800–20CE)In Kali's most famous myth, Durga and her assistants, Matrikas, wound the demon Raktabija, in various ways and with a variety of weapons, in an attempt to destroy him. They soon find that they have worsened the situation, as for every drop of blood that is spilt from Raktabija the demon reproduces a clone of himself. The battlefield becomes increasingly filled with his duplicates.[16] Durga, in dire need of help, summons Kali to combat the demons. It is also said that Goddess Durga takes the form of Goddess Kali at this time.
The Devi Mahatmyam describes:
Out of the surface of her (Durga's) forehead, fierce with frown, issued suddenly Kali of terrible countenance, armed with a sword and noose. Bearing the strange khatvanga (skull-topped staff ), decorated with a garland of skulls, clad in a tiger’s skin, very appalling owing to her emaciated flesh, with gaping mouth, fearful with her tongue lolling out, having deep reddish eyes, filling the regions of the sky with her roars, falling upon impetuously and slaughtering the great asuras in that army, she devoured those hordes of the foes of the devas.[17]
Kali destroys Raktabija by sucking the blood from his body and putting the many Raktabija duplicates in her gaping mouth. Pleased with her victory, Kali then dances on the field of battle, stepping on the corpses of the slain. Her consort Shiva lies among the dead beneath her feet, a representation of Kali commonly seen in her iconography as Daksinakali'.[18]
In Devi Mahatmya version of this story, Kali is also described as an Matrika and as a Shakti or power of Devi. She is given the epithet Cāṃuṇḍā (Chamunda) i.e the slayer of demons Chanda and Munda.[19] Chamunda is very often identified with Kali and is very much like her in appearance and habit.[20]
Daksinakali
Bhadrakali (A gentle form of Kali), circa 1675.
Painting; made in India, Himachal Pradesh, Basohli,
now placed in LACMA Museum.In her most famous pose as Daksinakali, it is said that Kali, becoming drunk on the blood of her victims on the battlefield, dances with destructive frenzy. In her fury she fails to see the body of her husband Shiva who lies among the corpses on the battlefield.[21] Ultimately the cries of Shiva attract Kali's attention, calming her fury. As a sign of her shame at having disrespected her husband in such a fashion, Kali sticks out her tongue. However, some sources state that this interpretation is a later version of the symbolism of the tongue: in tantric contexts, the tongue is seen to denote the element (guna) of rajas (energy and action) controlled by sattva, spiritual and godly qualities.[22]
One South Indian tradition tells of a dance contest between Shiva and Kali. After defeating the two demons Sumbha and Nisumbha, Kali takes residence in a forest. With fierce companions she terrorizes the surrounding area. One of Shiva's devotees becomes distracted while doing austerities and asks Shiva to rid the forest of the destructive goddess. When Shiva arrives, Kali threatens him, claiming the territory as her own. Shiva challenges her to a dance contest, and defeats her when she is unable to perform the energetic Tandava dance. Although here Kali is defeated, and is forced to control her disruptive habits, we find very few images or other myths depicting her in such manner.[23]
Maternal Kali
Another myth depicts the infant Shiva calming Kali, instead. In this similar story, Kali again defeated her enemies on the battlefield and began to dance out of control, drunk on the blood of the slain. To calm her down and to protect the stability of the world, Shiva is sent to the battlefield, as an infant, crying aloud. Seeing the child's distress, Kali ceases dancing to take care of the helpless infant. She picks him up, kisses his head, and proceeds to breast feed the infant Shiva.[24] This myth depicts Kali in her benevolent, maternal aspect; something that is revered in Hinduism, but not often recognized in the West.
Ekamukhi or "One-Faced" Murti of Mahakali displaying ten hands holding the signifiers of various Devas
Mahakali
Main article: Mahakali
Mahakali (Sanskrit: Mahākālī, Devanagari: महाकाली), literally translated as Great Kali, is sometimes considered as greater form of Kali, identified with the Ultimate reality Brahman. It can also simply be used as an honorific of the Goddess Kali,[25] signifying her greatness by the prefix "Mahā-". Mahakali, in Sanskrit, is etymologically the feminized variant of Mahakala or Great Time (which is interpreted also as Death), an epithet of the God Shiva in Hinduism. Mahakali is the presiding Goddess of the first episode of Devi Mahatmya. Here she is depicted as Devi in her universal form as Shakti. Here Devi serves as the agent who allows the cosmic order to be restored.
Iconography
Statue from Dakshineswar Kali Temple, West Bengal, India; along with her Yantra.Kali is portrayed mostly in two forms: the popular four-armed form and the ten-armed Mahakali form. In both of her forms, she is described as being black in color but is most often depicted as blue in popular Indian art. Her eyes are described as red with intoxication and in absolute rage, her hair is shown disheveled, small fangs sometimes protrude out of her mouth and her tongue is lolling. She is often shown naked or just wearing a skirt made of human arms and a garland of human heads. She is also accompanied by serpents and a jackal while standing on a seemingly dead Shiva, usually right foot forward to symbolize the more popular Dakshinamarga or right-handed path, as opposed to the more infamous and transgressive Vamamarga or left-handed path.[26]
In the ten armed form of Mahakali she is depicted as shining like a blue stone. She has ten faces and ten feet and three eyes. She has ornaments decked on all her limbs. There is no association with Siva.[27]
The Kalika Purana describes Kali as possessing a soothing dark complexion, as perfectly beautiful, riding a lion, four armed, holding a sword and blue lotuses, her hair unrestrained, body firm and youthful.[28]
In spite of her seemingly terrible form, Kali is often considered the kindest and most loving of all the Hindu goddesses, as she is regarded by her devotees as the Mother of the whole Universe. And, because of her terrible form she is also often seen as a great protector. When the Bengali saint Ramakrishna once asked a devotee why one would prefer to worship Mother over him, this devotee rhetorically replied, “Maharaj, when they are in trouble your devotees come running to you. But, where do you run when you are in trouble?”[29]
According to Ramakrishna darkness is Ultimate Mother or Kali:
My Mother is the principle of consciousness. She is Akhanda Satchidananda; indivisible Reality, Awareness, and Bliss. The night sky between the stars is perfectly black. The waters of the ocean depths are the same; The infinite is always mysteriously dark. This inebriating darkness is my beloved Kali.
-Sri Ramakrishna
Throughout her history artists the world over have portrayed Kali in myriad poses and settings, some of which stray far from the popular description, and are sometimes even graphically sexual in nature. Given the popularity of this Goddess, artists everywhere will continue to explore the magnificence of Kali’s iconography. This is clear in the work of such contemporary artists as Charles Wish, and Tyeb Mehta, who sometimes take great liberties with the traditional, accepted symbolism, but still demonstrate a true reverence for the Shakta sect.
Popular form
Classic depictions of Kali share several features, as follows:
Kali's most common four armed iconographic image shows each hand carrying variously a sword, a trishul (trident), a severed head and a bowl or skull-cup (kapala) catching the blood of the severed head.
Two of these hands (usually the left) are holding a sword and a severed head. The Sword signifies Divine Knowledge and the Human Head signifies human Ego which must be slain by Divine Knowledge in order to attain Moksha. The other two hands (usually the right) are in the abhaya and varada mudras or blessings, which means her initiated devotees (or anyone worshiping her with a true heart) will be saved as she will guide them here and in the hereafter.[30]
She has a garland consisting of human heads, variously enumerated at 108 (an auspicious number in Hinduism and the number of countable beads on a Japa Mala or rosary for repetition of Mantras) or 51, which represents Varnamala or the Garland of letters of the Sanskrit alphabet, Devanagari. Hindus believe Sanskrit is a language of dynamism, and each of these letters represents a form of energy, or a form of Kali. Therefore she is generally seen as the mother of language, and all mantras.[31]
She is often depicted naked which symbolizes her being beyond the covering of Maya since she is pure (nirguna) being-consciousness-bliss and far above prakriti. She is shown as very dark as she is brahman in its supreme unmanifest state. She has no permanent qualities — she will continue to exist even when the universe ends. It is therefore believed that the concepts of color, light, good, bad do not apply to her — she is the pure, un-manifested energy, the Adi-shakti.[32]
Mahakali form
The Dasamukhi MahakaliKali is depicted in the Mahakali form as having ten heads, ten arms, and ten legs. Each of her ten hands is carrying a various implement which vary in different accounts, but each of these represent the power of one of the Devas or Hindu Gods and are often the identifying weapon or ritual item of a given Deva. The implication is that Mahakali subsumes and is responsible for the powers that these deities possess and this is in line with the interpretation that Mahakali is identical with Brahman. While not displaying ten heads, an "ekamukhi" or one headed image may be displayed with ten arms, signifying the same concept: the powers of the various Gods come only through Her grace.
Shiva in Kali iconography
In both these images she is shown standing on the prone, inert or dead body of Shiva. There is a mythological story for the reason behind her standing on what appears to be Shiva’s corpse, which translates as follows:
Once Kali had destroyed all the demons in battle, she began a terrific dance out of the sheer joy of victory. All the worlds or lokas began to tremble and sway under the impact of her dance. So, at the request of all the Gods, Shiva himself asked her to desist from this behavior. However, she was too intoxicated to listen. Hence, Shiva lay like a corpse among the slain demons in order to absorb the shock of the dance into himself. When Kali eventually stepped upon her husband she realized her mistake and bit her tongue in shame.[33]
The Tantric interpretation of Kali standing on top of her husband is as follows:
The Shiv tattava (Divine Consciousness as Shiva) is inactive, while the Shakti tattava (Divine Energy as Kali) is active. Shiva, or Mahadeva represents Brahman, the Absolute pure consciousness which is beyond all names, forms and activities. Kali, on the other hand, represents the potential (and manifested) energy responsible for all names, forms and activities. She is his Shakti, or creative power, and is seen as the substance behind the entire content of all consciousness. She can never exist apart from Shiva or act independently of him, i.e., Shakti, all the matter/energy of the universe, is not distinct from Shiva, or Brahman, but is rather the dynamic power of Brahman.[34]
Kali in Traditional Form, standing on Shiva's chest.While this is an advanced concept in monistic Shaktism, it also agrees with the Nondual Trika philosophy of Kashmir, popularly known as Kashmir Shaivism and associated most famously with Abhinavagupta. There is a colloquial saying that "Shiva without Shakti is Shava" which means that without the power of action (Shakti) that is Mahakali (represented as the short "i" in Devanagari) Shiva (or consciousness itself) is inactive; Shava means corpse in Sanskrit and the play on words is that all Sanskrit consonants are assumed to be followed by a short letter "a" unless otherwise noted. The short letter "i" represents the female power or Shakti that activates Creation. This is often the explanation for why She is standing on Shiva, who is either Her husband and complement in Shaktism or the Supreme Godhead in Shaivism.
To properly understand this complex Tantric symbolism it is important to remember that the meaning behind Shiva and Kali does not stray from the non-dualistic parlance of Shankara or the Upanisads. According to both the Mahanirvana and Kularnava Tantras, there are two distinct ways of perceiving the same absolute reality. The first is a transcendental plane which is often described as static, yet infinite. It is here that there is no matter, there is no universe and only consciousness exists. This form of reality is known as Shiva, the absolute Sat-Chit-Ananda — existence, knowledge and bliss. The second is an active plane, an immanent plane, the plane of matter, of Maya, i.e., where the illusion of space-time and the appearance of an actual universe does exist. This form of reality is known as Kali or Shakti, and (in its entirety) is still specified as the same Absolute Sat-Chit-Ananda. It is here in this second plane that the universe (as we commonly know it) is experienced and is described by the Tantric seer as the play of Shakti, or God as Mother Kali.[35]
Kali and Bhairava (the terrible form of Shiva) in Union, 18th century, NepalFrom a Tantric perspective, when one meditates on reality at rest, as absolute pure consciousness (without the activities of creation, preservation or dissolution) one refers to this as Shiva or Brahman. When one meditates on reality as dynamic and creative, as the Absolute content of pure consciousness (with all the activities of creation, preservation or dissolution) one refers to it as Kali or Shakti. However, in either case the yogini or yogi is interested in one and the same reality — the only difference being in name and fluctuating aspects of appearance. It is this which is generally accepted as the meaning of Kali standing on the chest of Shiva.[36]
Although there is often controversy surrounding the images of divine copulation, the general consensus is benign and free from any carnal impurities in its substance. In Tantra the human body is a symbol for the microcosm of the universe; therefore sexual process is responsible for the creation of the world. Although theoretically Shiva and Kali (or Shakti) are inseparable, like fire and its power to burn, in the case of creation they are often seen as having separate roles. With Shiva as male and Kali as female it is only by their union that creation may transpire. This reminds us of the prakrti and purusa doctrine of Samkhya wherein prakāśa- vimarśa has no practical value, just as without prakrti, purusa is quite inactive. This (once again) stresses the interdependencies of Shiva and Shakti and the vitality of their union.[37]
Gopi Krishna proposed that Kali standing on the dead Shiva or Shava (Sanskrit for dead body) symbolised the helplessness of a person undergoing the changing process ( psychologically and physiologically) in the body conducted by the Kundalini Shakti.[38]
Development
In the later traditions, Kali has become inextricably linked with Shiva. The unleashed form of Kali often becomes wild and uncontrollable, and only Shiva is able to tame her. This is both because she is often a transformed version of one of his consorts and because he is able to match her wildness.
Bharatanatyam dancer portraying Kali with a tridentThe ancient text of Kali Kautuvam describes her competition with Shiva in dance, from which the sacred 108 Karanas appeared. Shiva won the competition by acting the urdva tandava, one of the Karanas, by raising his feet to his head. Other texts describe Shiva appearing as a crying infant and appealing to her maternal instincts. While Shiva is said to be able to tame her, the iconography often presents her dancing on his fallen body, and there are accounts of the two of them dancing together, and driving each other to such wildness that the world comes close to unravelling.
Shiva's involvement with Tantra and Kali's dark nature have led to her becoming an important Tantric figure. To the Tantric worshippers, it was essential to face her Curse, the terror of death, as willingly as they accepted Blessings from her beautiful, nurturing, maternal aspect. For them, wisdom meant learning that no coin has only one side: as death cannot exist without life, so life cannot exist without death. Kali's role sometimes grew beyond that of a chaos — which could be confronted — to that of one who could bring wisdom, and she is given great metaphysical significance by some Tantric texts. The Nirvāna-tantra clearly presents her uncontrolled nature as the Ultimate Reality, claiming that the trimurti of Brahma, Visnu and Rudra arise and disappear from her like bubbles from the sea. Although this is an extreme case, the Yogini-tantra, Kamakhya-tantra and the Niruttara-tantra declare her the svarupa (own-being) of the Mahadevi (the great Goddess, who is in this case seen as the combination of all devis).
The final stage of development is the worshipping of Kali as the Great Mother, devoid of her usual violence. This practice is a break from the more traditional depictions. The pioneers of this tradition are the 18th century Shakta poets such as Ramprasad Sen, who show an awareness of Kali's ambivalent nature. Ramakrishna, the 19th century Bengali saint, was also a great devotee of Kali; the western popularity of whom may have contributed to the more modern, equivocal interpretations of this Goddess. Rachel McDermott's work, however, suggests that for the common, modern worshipper, Kali is not seen as fearful, and only those educated in old traditions see her as having a wrathful component. Some credit to the development of Devi must also be given to Samkhya. Commonly referred to as the Devi of delusion, Mahamaya, acting in the confines of (but not being bound by) the nature of the three gunas, takes three forms: Maha-Kali, Maha-Lakshmi and Maha-Saraswati, being her tamas-ika, rajas-ika and sattva-ika forms. In this sense, Kali is simply part of a larger whole.
1947 TIME Magazine cover by Boris Artzybasheff depicting a self-hurting Kālī as a symbol of the partition of IndiaLike Sir John Woodroffe and Georg Feuerstein, many Tantric scholars (as well as sincere practitioners) agree that, no matter how propitious or appalling you describe them, Shiva and Devi are simply recognizable symbols for everyday, abstract (yet tangible) concepts such as perception, knowledge, space-time, causation and the process of liberating oneself from the confines of such things. Shiva, symbolizing pure, absolute consciousness, and Devi, symbolizing the entire content of that consciousness, are ultimately one and the same — totality incarnate, a micro-macro-cosmic amalgamation of all subjects, all objects and all phenomenal relations between the "two." Like man and woman who both share many common, human traits yet at the same time they are still different and, therefore, may also be seen as complementary.[39]
Worshippers prescribe various benign and horrific qualities to Devi simply out of practicality. They do this so they may have a variety of symbols to choose from, symbols which they can identify and relate with from the perspective of their own, ever-changing time, place and personal level of unfolding. Just like modern chemists or physicists use a variety of molecular and atomic models to describe what is unperceivable through rudimentary, sensory input, the scientists of ontology and epistemology must do the same. One of the underlying distinctions of Tantra, in comparison to other religions, is that it allows the devotee the liberty to choose from a vast array of complementary symbols and rhetoric that which suits one’s evolving needs and tastes. From an aesthetic standpoint, nothing is interdict and nothing is orthodox. In this sense, the projection of some of Devi’s more gentle qualities onto Kali is not sacrilege and the development of Kali really lies in the practitioner, not the murthi.
A TIME Magazine article of October 27, 1947 used Kālī as a symbol and metaphor for the human suffering in British India during its partition that year.[40]
In New Age and Neopaganism
A Western Shacan representation of KaliAn academic study of Western Kali enthusiasts noted that, "as shown in the histories of all cross-cultural religious transplants, Kali devotionalism in the West must take on its own indigenous forms if it is to adapt to its new environment."[41] The adoption of Kali by the West has raised accusations of cultural misappropriation:
"A variety of writers and thinkers [...] have found Kali an exciting figure for reflection and exploration, notably feminists and participants in New Age spirituality who are attracted to goddess worship. [For them], Kali is a symbol of wholeness and healing, associated especially with repressed female power and sexuality. [However, such interpretations often exhibit] confusion and misrepresentation, stemming from a lack of knowledge of Hindu history among these authors, [who only rarely] draw upon materials written by scholars of the Hindu religious tradition. The majority instead rely chiefly on other popular feminist sources, almost none of which base their interpretations on a close reading of Kali's Indian background. [...] The most important issue arising from this discussion – even more important than the question of 'correct' interpretation – concerns the adoption of other people's religious symbols. [...] It is hard to import the worship of a goddess from another culture: religious associations and connotations have to be learned, imagined or intuited when the deep symbolic meanings embedded in the native culture are not available."[42]
The man who popularised the religion of Wicca, Gerald Gardner, was reportedly particularly interested in Kali whilst he was in the far east, before returning to England to write his seminal works on Wicca[citation needed
Dutch Holocaust Memorial of Names
Seventy years after the Second World War, more than 102,000 victims of the Holocaust finally have their own memorial in Amsterdam. A memorial with the names of all the Dutch Holocaust victims. This has finally provide the Netherlands with a tangible memorial where the 102,000 Jewish victims and 220 Sinti and Roma victims can be commemorated individually and collectively.
Between 1933 and 1945, the Nazi's murdered an estimated 6 million Jews and hundreds of thousands of Sinti and Roma. Of the 140,000 Jews who lived in the Netherlands in 1940, 102,000 did not survive the war. Not all Jews were murdered in the gas chambers of the exterminations camps as Auschwitz-Birkenau. Many were murdered in mass executions or died as a result of sickness, hunger, exhaustion or slave labour. The Dutch Holocaust Memorial of Names commemorates all these victims.
In 2016, the Dutch Auschwitz Committee, together with architect Daniel Libeskind, presented the new design for the Dutch Holocaust Names Memorial. This national memorial is located in the heart of the former Jewish Quarter of Amsterdam, there where it all happened more than seventy years ago. The opening was in 2021.
The memorial consists of four Hebrew letters that make up a word that translates as ‘In memory of’. When visitors enter the memorial, they find themselves in a labyrinth of passageways flanked by two-metre-tall brick walls that convey the message ‘In memory of’. Inscribed on each of the 102,000 bricks is a name, date of birth and age of death, in such a way that the name of each victim can be touched. The walls of names support the four letters in reflective stainless steel.
Brick is a building material used throughout the Netherlands and western Europe. In combination with the highly reflective geometric forms of the steel letters, the brickwork connects Amsterdam's past and present. A narrow void at the point where the brick walls meet the metal forms makes it appear that the steel letters float, symbolizing the interruption in the history and culture of the Dutch people.
Rijnboutt Architects was the coordinating and executive architect for the Names Memorial. With its knowledge of local construction practice, it supported Studio Libeskind by detailing its wonderful design in compliance with Dutch laws and regulations.
SandScape is a tangible interface for designing and understanding landscapes through a variety of computational simulations using sand. Users view these simulations as they are projected on the surface of a sand model that represents the terrain. The users can choose from a variety of different simulations that highlight either the height, slope, contours, shadows, drainage or aspect of the landscape model.
Interested in Sandscape? Come and see it at the Ars Electronica Center.
Fotocredit: Ars Electronica / Martin Hieslmair
For Macromondays New Years resolutions. essence Explore#91 for a nanosecond ;-)
I feel that more of my photographs deserve the right to be printed. I am also needing to re connect with drawing, it is a skill I have not visited for a long time. If I am to try my hand at tattooing I need to be fluent with a pencil once again.
Super Shooter
ID-UV
Red Filter
part of the Tangible Project
the recipient of this polaroid (and a shark's tooth) is Penny .
“Red sky at night, sailor’s delight.
Red sky at morning, sailor’s warning.”
There should have been some warning given to me. Some old man of the sea to say, “No child, don’t pick anything up off that beach. Once you do, you become theirs, thusly marked by what things you hold like treasure in your hands.”
There was no old man of the sea. No lifeguard further down to shout warnings of terrible beasts in the deep cutting through the frothing surf. Is it strange to think back and realize that there were no boats out there that morning? Not even a single fisherman on the shore casting out for a chance at momentary greatness by landing something of memorable size or having the fight of his life?
I did not think it strange then but I do now. But then, am I not a thought now too? A memory of someone’s or a warning tale to be told as the children tug at their mother’s hand and gesturing wildly to something on the shoreline that holds their interest just as the mother tries to tell them to watch the sea, always watch the sea…
I stopped watching the sea but the sea still watched me as I bent to the shore and took from it little treasures that I thought were meant for me - a broken sand dollar, a piece of coral, and the greatest prize of all - a shark’s small tooth. Should I have wondered then when I found the next tooth and the one after that where this would all end? The teeth were left there for me to follow like a little trail and I followed, taking each one and pocketing them until I had six or seven and showed the sea my own toothy grin of triumph and strangely, gratitude.
That’s how they lure you in - with sea treasures and your own dreams. They prefer the dreamers and the loners, and the ones who feel the sea in their blood like the pounding surf after a storm. I thought his smile was far too fierce and his eyes too black - he was one of the storied shark people that I thought I had made up in my mind, but here he was and he was real. I had found his teeth he said and he wanted them back.
All I had to do was give them back and I was free but I couldn’t move my hand. I was afraid the slightest movement would undo the spell and I would die. Instead, I found my hand in his and the sandpaper feel of it against mine sent chills down my spine but I followed him into the sea and all I saw was red.
Remember this: be careful what you take from the beach.
Commentary.
Fionnphort (top right) is at the far western extremity of the Ross of Mull, a special journey in itself.
The ferry to Bailé Mòr, the main settlement on Iona is a pilgrimage in more ways than one.
It is regarded as a blessed place, being where St. Columba first brought Christianity to Britain over 1,450 years ago.
But religious or not, this place has a spirit, an ambience, an ethereal magic that transcends logic.
It feels like a little piece of heaven, paradise on Earth.
I cannot explain it, but it is tangible.
It feels like it has been here for ever.
It is a place that gets into your psyche,
and that you simply cannot forget!
A daytime addition to using the Canon7 - the 50mm lens is quite amazing with this film/developer combo.
“You have nice manners for a thief and a liar," said the dragon.”
The bells were ringing in the dale
And men looked up with faces pale;
The dragon's ire more fierce than fire
Laid low their towers and houses frail.
-J.R.R. Tolkien (The Hobbit)
[I am soooo happy to have this concept out of my head and into a tangible form. Thought of this one over a month ago, and was basically just waiting for the right time to create it. Also, this is my first black and white upload to flickr! Huzzah!
My amazing grandmother helped me again, and glued all of these tealights onto my back for me! I am sad she's heading back to Oregon tomorrow, but I had the most amazing time with her during her visit.
It should be known, if it's somehow not yet known, that I am basically obsessed with dragons and also Tolkien, but particularly The Hobbit. You can imagine how excited I am for the movie to come out. Been waiting for a *long* time for this one. I don't even need company when I go see it, and I'll dress up like an elf--the whole nine yards. I have no shame. None whatsoever.]
the pleasant hours of our life are all connected by a more or less tangible link, with some memory of the table.
Charles Pierre Monselet, French author (1825-1888).
St Monans Windmill is the most tangible reminder of salt production,
an industry that for centuries blighted the environment of coastal communities right along both shores of the Firth of Forth. Salt extraction remains mostly in a series of placenames alongside the River Forth involving "pan" or "pans". The most well known of these is Prestonpans, where industrial salt extraction continued until as recently as 1959. Salt production at St Monans is due to Sir John Anstruther, who became the local laird in 1753 and 1771 he and his business partner, Robert Fall, established the Newark Coal and Salt Company. Coal was extracted from land immediately to the north of the windmill from a mine whose site is now occupied by Coal Farm. The salt pans were housed in nine buildings on the raised beach below the windmill, whose locations can still be seen today. The role of the windmill was to provide the power to pump sea water from tidally-fed reservoirs cut into the rocks offshore into the salt pans. Production went on round the clock and at the height of operations the salt pans employed 20 men, while the colliery serving it employed a further 36 men. More information at
Akbar at Engelse Reet
Dedicated to Akbar and friends.
This beer café is one of Amsterdam’s oldest, and it’s as ‘brown’ (as the Dutch like calling their local pubs) as they come. Four generations of traditionally clad bartenders have made sure everything looks and feels like you’ve just traveled 125 years back in time – from the original sandy floor boards to the yellowed pictures on the wall. The stories that undoubtedly went down here over the years are almost tangible – they even have little name plates adorning the seats of their regulars through the years.
What I love most about places like this is that they make you want to act as the atmosphere suggests. You want to sit down in their creaky chairs, turn off your mobile phone, order three portions of ossenworst and Dutch cheese (they also sell eggs for 50 cents, because who would let the alcoholics go home to their wives on an empty stomach?) and talk about books all night, whilst trying at least six of the great array of special beers and jenever they have on offer.
Details about this spot .
De Pilsener Club | Bars, Snacks | Boiled egg € 0.50
Begijnensteeg 4 | Center
Mon – Thu 12:00 – 01:00, Fri – Sat 12:00 – 02:00
Eén van de kroonjuwelen van de Amsterdamse horeca is ongetwijfeld café De Pilsener Club, door intimi liefkozend De Engelse Reet genoemd. De Pilsener Club bestaat 115 jaar en is al 80 jaar in handen van horecadynastie Van Veen. In de Pilsener Club wordt het Pilsener Bier van Heineken als hoofdbiermerk getapt, maar met gepaste trots verkoopt eigenaar Teun al jaren ook een perfect glas Brand Pilsener. Vier generaties Teun - zoals alle Van Veens van voren heten - zorgden ervoor dat alles bij het oude bleef: het zand op de vloer, geen muziek of speelautomaten en een uitgelezen collectie bieren van het vat (8) en op fles (15). Tot de cliëntèle van De Engelse Reet behoren uitgevers, schrijvers, journalisten en boekverkopers. Gevestigd op Begijnensteeg 4, slechts 50 meter van het Begijnenhof. Geopend van maandag tot en met donderdag van 12.00 tot 01.00 uur. Op vrijdag en zaterdag sluit De Engelse Reet een uurtje later.
Zondag en feestdagen gesloten.
My parents divorced when I was a toddler. One of the things that meant a lot to me growing up was finding things that linked back to him and my parents marriage. I would like to think all children of divorced parents felt the same. Knowing my mother saved me this Nativity set given to her by my father brings me a warm feeling. It's in these actions that I know I was loved. When I look at baby Jesus every year at this time it brings me piece. It is my family heirloom. The only thing tangible that was passed down to me from both of my parents.
St Monans is located in Fife Scotland.
St Monans Windmill is the most tangible reminder of an industry that for centuries blighted the environment of coastal communities right along both shores of the Firth of Forth: salt production.
The industry was started by Sir John Anstruther, who became the local laird in 1753. In 1771 he and his business partner, Robert Fall, established the Newark Coal and Salt Company. Coal was extracted from land immediately to the north of the windmill from a mine whose site is now occupied by Coal Farm. The salt pans were housed in nine buildings on the raised beach below the windmill, whose locations can still be seen today. The role of the windmill was to provide the power to pump sea water from tidally-fed reservoirs cut into the rocks offshore into the salt pans. Production went on round the clock and at the height of operations the salt pans employed 20 men, while the colliery serving it employed a further 36 men.
This goofy grin was brought to you by:
16x24" High Gloss Metal Print Goodness!
Ah! This metal printing method is amazing. The clarity, colors, depth, glow- definitely progression in the business. And, now- frames are not needed! It costs more, but once you take into account there is no money spent on frame, matte, and glass- I'd say it's damn great price. Do a google search on "metal printing" and you'll get plenty of options and companies.
If you'd like to have something like this of one of my images, send me a message. I'm giving considerable discounts. I'm in a Recession, maybe you're in a Recession- so I'm giving Recession prices.
I'm going to try and hand deliver this baby to my customer up in Seattle this weekend or next week. Any of you Seattle-ites want to grab a beer?
The digital revolution of photography that we all immensely benefit from has it's goods and bads over film. One of the big bads is that we rarely ever see/touch/experience our images in a tangible, non-digital way. It's a sad thing that 90% of our "exposures" will only exist in binary fashion of "1's" and "0's" forever bound to hard drive prisons.
If you've had one of your pictures printed out on a nice print- I think you know the joy I'm talking about of seeing and holding the picture for real. You film folks- you've had and will always have this over our digi setups.
210|365
Today I am catching up on my Be Still 52 class... week 9 was Tangible, we were encouraged to get our pictures off the computer, make some prints, hold them in your hands, feel the paper, treasure the experience. I wish I had followed a theme better for this assignment but glad I finished one.
(gouache and graphite on tea-stained paper) --- Ellen Lesperance (born 1971) is an American artist and educator, known for her paintings. Her works are typically gouache paintings that pattern the full-body garments of female activists engaged in Direct Action protests.
Lesperance was born in 1971 in Minneapolis and raised in Seattle. She was raised in a large, mixed-race family with adopted siblings, which she cites as providing her with "raw, tangible feelings regarding inequity and what it means to fight for justice."
Ellen Lesperance employs various art mediums, but she often relies upon the visual language of knitting patterning. In a 2017 article for Frieze magazine, Jen Kabat writes that Lesperance's work "transmits messages about history, feminism and labour through the art of knitting." Citing inspiration from years of working as a pattern knitter for Vogue Knitting magazine, Bauhaus-era female weavers, the Pattern and Decoration Movement, and body-based feminist artists of the 1970s and 1980s, Lesperance's gouache paintings on paper can be followed as patterns to recreate historic knit garments.
(Wikipedia)
Today would have been the annual Pinedorado Parade in Cambria. But instead we must satisfy our nostalgia by looking back at last year's. These cars are always my favorite part of the event, and to me they are the very spirit of nostalgia made tangible. Now, on top of that feeling, even a photo of them from last year is a look back to another era, when we were relatively carefree and couldn't imagine that one year hence we'd be living anxiously in a quasi-wartime world.
Anyway, on the technical side of it, I continue to be impressed by how Capture One handles my RAFs. And consequently I'm also gaining new respect for my Touit. It's often stated that it doesn't have the Zeiss pop, and it's true that it does not give the pronounced sense of depth and form that I get from my vintage 25mm Distagon, but I realized today that when C1's lens correction is applied, it doesn't straighten out barreling as I expected, but instead appears to correct for pincushioning, and as a result of either its inflating of the center (or maybe it's actually undoing a baked in correction?) the lens suddenly gains some Zeiss pop! The flat subject reaches out as soon as the correction is applied, and suddenly the Touit isn't just an optically capable lens, it's the Zeissy lens I think we all want it to be. Maybe not to the extent of some of the classics, but this lens already conveyed depth better than the XF35, and now it's been given a still greater advantage in that area. Seeing the results it's capable of in attractive lighting has reaffirmed my decision to set aside the XF in favor of the Touit several years ago.
This also reminded me of five years ago when I was shooting almost exclusively with my Nikon and 35/1.8G, which is a very barrel distorted lens that utilizes significant in-camera correction. When I started shooting in raw and processing in Lightroom, I was surprised to find that I was consistently turning on the distortion correction, comparing the results, and then turning it back off. While the lens needed the correction to not obviously distort straight lines or very close subjects, in normal uses I realized that correcting the lens flattened the results, while leaving it distorted preserved more depth and realism. What I discovered today with the Touit in C1 was the same thing: turning its correction on was the same as turning LR's off for the Nikon, only the effect is even more pronounced. So not only is this a pleasing discovery in itself, it's also a bit like running into an old friend.
Edit: I looked it up and the Touit does naturally have slight barrel distortion as I recalled. And the OpticalLimits review notes that C1's correction strangely corrects it from 2% barrel to 1% pincushion. And yet, in my version of C1, it appears straight to me without correction, and when correction is applied I see barrel added. So I don't know what's going on, and I haven't tested enough to draw conclusions, but it feels as if the barrel is being corrected automatically, and C1 made a decision to apply an aesthetically pleasing correction that overrides the automatic? If that's not the case, then I just have no idea why its correction adds barrel to a lens that has it to begin with. Whatever the case, I'm glad they do what they do.
(DSCF1641c)
Digital prints on metallic paper: original photos from he Department of Anthropology, National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian institution, series of 70
[In]tangible Tangles (2021) is a series of found images of moccasins from the archives of the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History’s anthropology department. The series began from pandemic scrolling through various museums’ archives, but these specific images grabbed her attention because the shoes are displayed with their soles facing the camera, instead of at an angle to show as much of the shoe as possible. “You really having this feeling there are bodies in them, like they’re lying down,” Myre said.
In addition to the visible wear and tear on the soles, the shoes are also photographed with tags stating their acquisition number and tribal affiliations. Some were acquired as early as the 1860s, while others are newer, having entered the museum’s holdings only a few decades ago. What the photographs don’t show is under what circumstances they were acquired. Many are shoes for children, reminding Myre of residential schools in both the US and Canada, which separated Indigenous children from their parents in order to assimilate them into the culture of their colonizers and have them forgot their cultural traditions and languages. Often, the children were routinely abused; many were killed there.
These ships are really amazing. There was a tangible connection to the past when walking the decks of these ships, especially the trans-oceanic ones.
I was exploring the San Francisco Maritime Museum on labor day with my wife and decided to test out the New Portra 400 film with the 500 C/M handheld (with the flash-grip - without the flash - and a prism finder). I also mistakenly scanned this at 100MegaPix. The results astounded me. This Film is SHARP! (and my scanner is better than I thought it was). The Wide-angle 50mm Distagon lens is not the sharpest in my collection, but this shot and scan shows it is much better than I thought it was. I was attempting hyperfocal but I slightly missed the focus as foreground objects seem a little sharper than background objects (yet I *still* see a hint of the vertical wires on the distant bridge).
Kodak (new) Portra 400 - C-41
SEKONIC L-778 DUAL SPOT F METER (shot @ 400ASA)
Hasselblad B60 POLARIZER
(Exposure Unrecorded - spot-metered through the filter)
Hasselblad 500 C/M w/50mm f4 Zeiss Distagon CF T*
Epson PERFECTION V750-M PRO SCANNER
(20110906_SFmaritimeMus_Portra400new_03193001)
The Life and Doctrines of Jacob Boehme,
Man in his cosmic aspect is a being very superior to that which is commonly looked upon as a "man," and which is described in books on anthropology, anatomy, &c. Such external sciences deal only with the grossly material body of external terrestrial man, while the essential body of macrocosmic and microcosmic man is beyond the reach of external observation. In the study of man as a cosmic being there are three subjects to be considered, although the three are only three aspects of one. These three subjects are God, Nature, and Man, and neither one of them can be understood in its inner essence without an understanding of the other two. External science, "natural philosophy," and theology seek to separate them. They regard man as a being separated, distinct, and independent of nature, and nature as something independent of man; while of God they know nothing, and regard the divine power, which is the cause of all life, as if it were something external to nature and man, and beyond their reach. For this reason the "man" of modern science has become an unnatural being, without any conceivable object for his existence, and nature is to him an organism evolved by accidence and subject to no other than mechanically acting law. The divine, spiritual, creative, and hidden powers in man and in nature are entirely removed from the field of perception of the "rationalist." spirit, a self-conscious, luminous sphere of unimaginable extent; as, in fact, at present the mental sphere of man has no defined limits; it reaches as far as his thoughts can go. He was created for the purpose of being the image of God. The glory of God was residing in him, and he was penetrated by the light of divine love. In man is contained everything, God, and the Christ, and the angels, the celestial and terrestrial kingdoms, and the powers of hell. Outside of him is nothing of which he can conceive; he can know nothing except that which exists in his mind. No god or devil, no spirit or any power whatever, can act within man unless it enters into his constitution. Only that which exists in him has existence for him. Without a realisation of this fact the mysteries of religion will remain incomprehensible. It may be interesting and amusing to speculate about all the different gods and celestial hosts that go to make up the Pantheons of the various nations, but such a study does not constitute real knowledge. Only when man's spiritual perceptions are unfolded and he attains divine knowledge of self, then will he know the Christ and all the celestial powers whose aggregate goes to make up the kingdom of God existing within himself.
"The Spirit of God resides from eternity to eternity only in heaven—that is to say, in His own essence, in the power of the majesty. When it became inbreathed into the image of man, then was heaven in man; for God willed to reveal Himself in man, as in an image created after His own likeness, and to manifest the great wonders of His eternal wisdom." (Stiefel, i. 36.) "Simultaneously with the introduction of His divine image, Adam received also the living word of God (spiritual intelligence) to furnish food for his soul." (Menschwerdung, i. 3, 24.) "God created Adam to (enjoy) eternal life in Paradise in a state of paradisiacal perfection. Divine love illumined his interior, as the sun is illuminating the world." (Stiefel, i. 36.) "In Paradise there is perfect life without disturbance, and a perpetual day, and the paradisiacal man is clear like transparent glass, and he is fully penetrated by the light of the divine sun." 1 (Signature, xi. 5 1.)
His body likewise appeared luminous, because its terrestrial substance was absorbed in the celestial essence. It radiated a pure, divine light. 2
"The inner holy corporeity of the pure element penetrated through the four elements and kept the Limus of earth—that is to say, the external sulphuric (terrestrial) body within itself as in a state of absorption. Nevertheless, that body was actually present, but in such a way as darkness dwells in light, so that the darkness cannot manifest itself on account of the light." (Mysterium, xvi. 6.) "All the qualities of the inner and holy body, together with the external ones, were in primordial man attuned in one harmony. Neither of them lived in its own state of desire; but they had their desire in the soul wherein the divine light was manifest. This, the divine light radiated through all the qualities, and produced in them an equal, harmonious temperature." (Mysterium, xvi. 5.) "The inner man kept the external one imprisoned within itself and penetrated it in a manner comparable to iron, which glows if it is penetrated by fire, so that it seems as if it were itself fire. But when the fire becomes extinct, then does the black, dark iron become manifest." (Mysterium, xvi. 7.) "The pure element penetrated through the external roan and overpowered the four elements; moreover, the power of the heat and the cold was in the flesh. But as the light of God was shining therein, they were in equal harmony, so that neither one of them became manifest before the other. Thus God the Father is called a wrathful, jealous God and a consuming fire, and He is all that in regard to His qualities; but of these qualities nothing becomes manifest in His light." (Stiefel, xi. 75.) "Primordial man in Paradise, being fixed therein, was in a state such as time is before God and God in time. As time is a spectacle before God, likewise the external life of man was a spectacle before the inner and holy man, who was the true image of God." (Mysterium, xvi. 8.) In the same sense the Bhagavad Gita says that the true self, the God, Atma, or " Christ," is not a participator, but merely a spectator in that which concerns the external illusion. "The inner body was a dwelling-place of the Godhead, an image of divine substantiality. In that body the soul had her meekness, and her fire was rendered mild thereby, for she received there the love and meekness of God." (Tilk., i. 233.) Owing to this resemblance to God, Adam's will and thoughts were as one. His mind was pure and uncomplicated, childlike, unsophisticated, and devoted to God; he did not need to speculate about the unknown, because he had the power to perceive that which he wanted to know. He enjoyed the perception of divine and terrestrial things. 1 "The mind of Adam was innocent like that of a child, playing with the wonders of its Father. There was in him no self-knowledge of evil will, no avarice, pride, envy, anger, but a pure enjoyment of love." (Threefold Life, xi. 23.) "When Adam was created in Paradise, there his life was burning like a flame of pure oil. Therefore his perception was celestial, and his intelligence was surpassing and comprehending things beyond nature." (Signature, vii. 2.) "The inner man stood in heaven; his essences were the Paradise; his body was indestructible. He knew the language of God and the angels, and the language of nature, as may be seen by Adam giving names to all creatures, to each according to its own essence and quality." (Forty Questions, iv. 7.) "Adam, after having been created by God, was in Paradise in a state of joy and glorification, beautiful and filled with knowledge. God then brought before him, as the lord of the world, all the animals, so that he might behold them, and give a name to each according to its special essence and power. And Adam knew that he was within every creature, and he gave to each its appropriate name. God can see into the hearts of all things, and the same could be done by Adam." 1 (Three Principles, x. 17.) In this state of godlike being he had power over all things; for all things existed in him and he in all, and there was nothing that could have done him any external injury. To express it in other words, all things existed subjectively in his mind, as they now do in ours, but his mind was his " body," and where the centre of his consciousness was, there was his "form." 2 "As God is a Lord over all, so man in the power of God was to be a lord over this world." (Menschwerdung, i. 4, 7.) "The soul in the power of God penetrates through all things, and is powerful over all, as God Himself; for she lives in the power of His heart." (Three Principles, xxii. 17.) "As gold is incorruptible in the fire, so man was subject to nothing, only to the One God dwelling in him, and manifested in him by the power of His holy being." (Mysterium, xvi. 12.) "Everything was subject to Adam; his rule extended into heaven and over the earth, and in all elements and stars. This was because divine power was manifested in him." 1 (Mysterium, xvi. 2.) "The will-spirit of man penetrated through all creatures, and was injured by none, because none could grasp it. No creature can apprehend the power and light of the sun in its own will, but must remain passive to become penetrated by it; thus it was then the case with the will-spirit of man." (Grace, vii. 2.)
"Before his fall, man could rule over the sun and the stars. Everything was in his power. 2 Fire, air, water, and earth could not tame him; no fire burned him, no water drowned, no air suffocated him; all that lived stood in awe of him." (Threefold Life, xi. 23.) "No heat, no cold, no sickness, nor accident, nor any fear could touch or terrify him. His body could pass through earth and rocks without breaking anything in them; for a man who could be overpowered by the terrestrial nature, or who could be broken to pieces, would not be eternal." 3 (Menschwerdung, i. 2, 13.) Likewise that nature which surrounded him, and which is called Eden, was illuminated by the celestial light, and it was thereby exalted to paradisiacal magnificence. "Adam was in Paradise, that is to say, in the temperature. Thereby he was placed in a certain locality, namely, in that where the holy world was blooming out through the earth and bearing the fruits of Paradise." (Grace, v. 34.) "'Eden' means the locality, but 'Paradise' is the out-flowing or the life of God in divine harmony." (Letters, xxxi. 28.) "In Paradise the substance of the divine world penetrated the substance belonging to time, comparable to the power of the sun penetrating a fruit growing on a tree, and endowing it with such qualities as render it lovely to the sight and good to the taste." (Mysterium, xvii. 5.) "Thus the holy divine world was predominant through all the three principles of the human quality, and there was an equal accord, and no enmity or opposite will was manifest betwixt the principles." 1 (Mysterium, xvii. 20.) There were in Paradise all the products which we meet in the terrestrial world, but they were there in a state of ethereality and of supernatural beauty. This paradisiacal beauty was, however, not manifested in all parts of the world. "In Paradise there are growths, the same as in this world, but not in (terrestrial) tangibility. There Heaven is in the place of the earth, the Light of God instead of the sun, and the Eternal Father in the place of the power of the stars." (Three Principles, ix. 20.) "The Paradise is not anything corporeal or tangible in a terrestrial sense, but its corporeity and tangibility is like that of the angels. It is there a clear,
visible, substance, as if it were material, and it is actually "material;" but it is formed only out of the power, without any addition of terrestrial matter, and it is, therefore, perfectly transparent." (Three Principles, ix. 18.)
"The tangible world, or nature, before the time of the wrath of God, was thin, ethereal, lovely, and clear, so that the sourcive spirits could look through everything and penetrate it. There were therein neither terrestrial rocks nor earth, and there was no created light needed, such as it is now; but the light was generated in all things in the midst of each thing, and everything was in the light." (Aurora, xviii. 29.) The whole world would have been all Paradise if it had not been corrupted by Lucifer. But as God knew that Adam was going to fall, it bloomed out in only one place, wherein man might find a suitable dwelling-place, and be fortified therein." (Mysterium, xvii. 7.) "God saw and knew that man was going to fall, and therefore the Paradise did not bloom and bear fruits in the whole of the world by means of the earth, although it was manifest everywhere, but only in the Garden of Eden, wherein Adam was tempted, did it become revealed in its full magnificence." 1 (Letters, xxxix. 28.) For all that, man, although having been endowed with great splendour by the Creator, did not yet enjoy true similarity with God. 2 "In Adam was manifest the kingdom of grace, the divine life, because he lived in the temperature (harmony) of the qualities, but he did not know that God was revealed in him. Likewise his self-will did not know that which is good, because it had as yet experienced no evil. How could there be any joy where no sorrow is known?" (Grace, ix. 15.) "The soul was in her own essence from eternity, but as a created thing she was formed to represent the image of God at the time of the creation of the body. Nevertheless she is per se not yet the true image, but only an essential fire for its production." (Tilk., i. 81.)
"The soul of man, which has been breathed into him by God, is from the Eternal Father; but with that she has not yet attained the birth of the Son, wherein is the end of nature, and from which no created being issues." (Three Principles, ix. 13.)
Man can attain real similarity to God and perfect beatitude only by decisively willing to put his will into the Son, as the Heart or Light of the Father. "God has the eternal and unchangeable will to generate His Heart and his Son, and thus the soul should put her immutable will into the heart of God. Then would she be in heaven and Paradise, and enjoy the inexpressible happiness of God the Father, which He enjoys in the Son, and she would hear the inexpressible words in the heart of God." 1 (Three Principles, x. 14.) "Adam was conceived in the love of God and born into this world. He was in possession of a divine substantiality, and his soul was of the will, the first principle, the quality of the Father. This will should be directed, together with the imagination, into the heart of the Father, that is to say, into the Word and the Spirit of love and purity. Then would man's soul retain the substance of God in the Word of Life." (Menschwerdung, i. 10,
"The living soul, from the eternal will of the Father, was breathed into man, and this will has no other purpose than to give birth to His only Son. 1 Of this will God the Father infused into man, and this is the eternal soul of man. The soul ought to put her regenerated will into the eternal will of the Father, in the heart of God. Then will she receive the power of the heart of God and also His holy eternal light, wherein arises the Paradise and the celestial kingdom and eternal joy." (Three Principles, xxvi. 16.) "If the soul sinks her will into the meekness, i.e., the obedience of God, she becomes a fountain of the heart of God, and receives divine power, and all her essences become angelic and joyful. Then her harsh essences will also be useful to her, and appear to her more mild and useful, than if they had already originally been entirely sweet and mild." (Three Principles, xiii. 31.) It was within his power to decide, and he was free to do so, because there was in him not only the principle of light, but also the fire-principle,—not only perception, but will. "The light and the power of the light is a desire, and wants to come in possession of the noble image made after God's likeness, because it has been created for the world of light. Likewise the dark world or the craving wrath desires the same, for man has all the worlds within himself, and there is a great battle taking place in man. That principle with which he identifies himself with in his desire and his will, will rule in him." (Tilk., i. 381.) "As the soul is essential and her very substance is a
desire, it is clear that she is in two kinds of Fiat. The first is her own soul-property; the other belongs to the second principle, issuing from the will of God in the soul. The soul desiring for God for the purpose of forming herself in His image and likeness, this desire of God acts as a Fiat in her own centre; for the desire of God wants to possess the soul. On the other hand, she herself desires to possess the centre in the power of the fire, wherein the life of the soul originates." (Eye, vii.)
"The will of the soul is free, and she can either sink into nothing within herself and conceive of herself as the nothing, when she will sprout like a branch out of the tree of divine life, and eat of the love of God; or she may in her own self-will rise up in the fire and desire to become a separate tree." 1 (Forty Questions, ii. 2.) There existed in man also the third principle, wherein resides sensual desire. He was not endowed with this principle for the purpose of surrendering himself to it, but that he might introduce it into the light of God, and glorify Him by means of that light."Man was a mixed individuality, and destined to be an image according to the inner, and also according to the outer world; but as the symbol of God, he was to rule with the inner consciousness over the external one." (Menschwerdung, i. 3, 13.) "When man remains in harmonious order, so as not to let one world into the other, he is then the likeness of God; but the image or the mirror of the world. of light he should surely introduce into the external world." (Six Theosophical Points, vi. 12.) "The constellation (the astral influences) of the macrocosm should not be permitted to rule over man; but he has his own constellation (the spirit, the idea) within himself, which is capable of becoming attuned to the harmony of the rise and evolution of the divine world within." (Letters, i. 8.) "All of man's desire should have been placed into the light; then would the light have shone within his essence and desire, and filled everything as with one will." (Tilk., i. 542.) "The soul of Adam could have ruled powerfully over the external principle if she had entered again with her will into the heart of God, into the word of the Lord." 1 (Forty Questions, iv. 2.) Thus it was intended that, by means of the instrumentality of man, the paradisiacal splendour should be continually spread out and increased over terrestrial nature, and that all the hidden treasures of nature should be uncovered. "The external world is also of God and belonging to God, and man has been created therein, so that he may bring again the external into the internal one; the end into the beginning." (Letters, xi. 18.) "Adam was also created in the external quality, so that he may manifest in forms and execute in works that which had been perceived in eternal wisdom." (Menschwerdung, i. 4.) "Man has been created in Paradise, for it was out-blooming through the earth, and from the earth of Paradise was Adam's body created, because he was a lord of the earth, and it was his destiny to unfold the wonders of the earth. If it had not been for that purpose, God might have endowed him with an angelic body; but in that case the substantiated being with its wonderful qualities would not have been unfolded." 1 (Menschwerdung, ii. 12.)
'Unseen Stillness' by Duncan Rawlinson bridges the gap between the tangible and the conceptual, leveraging the capabilities of AI with the eye of a photographer. This piece ventures into landscapes that exist nowhere in the physical world, offering a visual meditation on places conceived in the digital expanse. It's an exploration of serenity and depth, rendered in black and white to draw out the stark beauty of these uncharted terrains. Through this image, viewers are encouraged to contemplate the tranquil solitude of spaces that are as profound as they are purely imagined.
A crystalline riddle — a breach within the fabric of the tangible world.
The wall, once mundane, is transformed into a living manuscript: vines and roots creep like petrified veins across the peeling turquoise skin. Yet within this organic decay, a geometric interloper erupts — a form both alien and familiar, as though summoned from a fractured algorithm or a lucid dream gone rogue.
It is not stone. Nor glass. It reflects the chaotic pulse of nature but resists its rhythm. It is mirror-matter, vectorial flesh — a rift in the logic of growth.
Where the organic twists, the synthetic slices. Where the roots spiral in entropy, the shard ascends in calculated defiance.
This is a vision of emergence. Of quiet rebellion. The structure appears as a future relic or an ancient whisper crystallized — an entity rewriting the rules of presence. It is the dream of a machine embedded in the memory of ivy. A ghost of geometry awakening in the epidermis of decay.
At the amusement park, it seems everything spins or moves. There is the tangible spinning object, for example, this ride. And then there is the metaphorical, the carnival barker and the spin of his solicitations and viewpoint to persuade me.
I think of just how elusive finding the true fixed "objective" spot is. It turns out that what looks like the fixed is not really fixed. For example, the fixed rail that I grasp onto slowly shifts as the dirt moves and the tectonic plates slide. That plate sits is on the earth, which rotates on its axis at roughly a thousand miles an hour. And the earth in turn, spins around the sun at 67,000 miles an hour. Oh, and our star? It also rotates in its orbit around the Milky Way galaxy as it moves.
There is a whole lot of spinning and moving going on. Everything has spin, even down to the electrons spinning in their probability shells around their atom's nucleus.
My head spins just thinking about it as my feet stay firmly planted on these stairs in front of this spinning ride on terra firma.
It seems for now about the only thing I can do to escape is find a spin zone that is more to my liking. I think I will go home, plop down on my big reclining chair, and turn on Bill O'Reilly's no-spin zone news editorial for some comfort.
Editor’s Note: There are a myriad of tangible benefits resulting from research and technology demonstrations performed aboard the International Space Station. Throughout the months ahead, we will release stories from the updated “International Space Station Benefits for Humanity” book to highlight the ways in which the station impacts life on Earth. The current Veggie investigation on station provides lighting and nutrient supply for a space garden, which may also supply fresh food for crew members on the orbiting laboratory and on future long-duration missions like the Journey to Mars. This and previous plant growth studies, like the one below, help create technology to enable NASA exploration to the planets beyond while improving plant growth methods on Earth.
Some of the most important tasks in space biology include the creation of reliable and effectively functioning life support systems, and providing sustaining food sources for crew members. For long-term interplanetary spaceflights and planetary bases, the human life support system and food production has to be based on regenerating the living environment from life support products through physical/chemical and biological processes. Greenhouses will most likely be designed for the cultivation of vegetables, primarily greens and herbs. However, in order to implement these plans, plants must grow, develop, and reproduce in spaceflight with cultivation productivity similar to Earth. To address this need, a series of 17 Rasteniya experiments were conducted from 2002-2011 using the Lada greenhouse on the Russian segment of the International Space Station.
Credits: NASA
Read full article:
www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/news/russian_...
More about space station research:
www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/index.html
Flickr Album: Space Station Research Affects Lives:
www.flickr.com/photos/nasamarshall/sets/72157634178107799/
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These official NASA photographs are being made available for publication by news organizations and/or for personal use printing by the subject(s) of the photographs. The photographs may not be used in materials, advertisements, products, or promotions that in any way suggest approval or endorsement by NASA. All Images used must be credited. For information on usage rights please visit: www.nasa.gov/audience/formedia/features/MP_Photo_Guidelin...
The tangible signs of the Chase Line electrification are now showing, with the erection of the masts well advanced. The down side is that clear shots of the line are disappearing at an equally fast rate, with the showing Class 170 No. 170632 departing from Bloxwich on 9th June 2018 while forming the West Midlands Railway 2K59 1042 Birmingham New Street - Rugeley Trent Valley serviced. The original Bloxwich station, which closed in 1965, was positioned beyond the background bridges and closer to the centre of the town. The new station opened in 1989 and is better located for the large housing estates that were built in the surrounding area during the late 1950s and early 1960s. Copyright Photograph John Whitehouse - all rights reserved
The Story
Edsel Ford's 1934 Model 40 Special Speedster
Part of the permanent collection of Edsel & Eleanor Ford House in Grosse Pointe Shores, Michigan, the 1934 Model 40 Special Speedster is an example of the elegance and artistry of Edsel Ford's impact on design and the style revolution of the 1930s.
Its rich history began in 1932 after Edsel returned from a trip to Europe. He asked Ford's chief designer, E.T. "Bob" Gregorie to design and supervise the construction of a personal sports car similar to those he'd see "on the continent."
The first design reportedly disappointed Edsel because it wasn't lower and racier. But Gregorie, who was adept at turning Edsel's visions into tangible designs, went to work on a more dramatic, streamlined design. This "continental" roadster may have started with a stock 1934 Ford (aka Model 40) frame, but its subsequent chassis was radically altered. The Model 40 Special Speedster was unlike anything Ford Motor Company had built up to that time.
At 113 inches, the Speedster's wheelbase is approximately the same as the standard 112-inch wheelbase of a 1934 Ford roadster. Yet, it appears longer and lower. This illusion was achieved by modifying and lowering the car's chassis, positioning the cockpit toward the rear of the car and extending the tail section.
Gregorie, Robbie Robinson, supervisor of the Lincoln plant, and Ford Aircraft Division personnel, fabricated a topless, taper-tailed aluminum body with cut-down door openings and mounted it over a custom welded tubular aluminum structural framework.
It was believed that the Speedster's fenders were modified Trimotor Aircraft "wheel pants," but Ford's aircraft fabricators undoubtedly fashioned them from scratch. The custom-designed front cycle wings were mounted so they turned with the car's Kelsey-Hayes wire wheels. The all-aluminum bodywork followed the best aircraft practice - light and very strong.
The Speedster was painted Pearl Essence Gunmetal Dark; the interior upholstered in complementary gray leather. The flat, engine-tuned instrument panel incorporated period Lincoln instruments. The 2,100-pound Speedster was powered by a stock 75-bhp, Ford Model 40 flathead, with straight exhausts that were enclosed by the bodywork with only the tips protruding.
The Speedster had low-mounted faired-in headlights; an enclosed radiator with a concealed cap, a starter button on the instrument panel; minimal chrome trim and no running boards - features that didn't appear on production Fords for years.
The Speedster's shapely hood had louvered side panels that subtly matched the angle of the radiator grille and the windscreen. A pair of narrow vee-ed grilles with a single row of louvers (vents) running the length of each side of the hood limited the flow of cooling air. The Speedster had a tendency to overheat.
Two period photographs of the car show two different louver treatments. One shows a single row of side louvers; the other features two rows of louvers, one atop the other. It's reasonable to suspect that because of overheating issues, the hood was modified between the times these photos were taken.
Reportedly, a winter freeze in 1939-40 cracked the engine block; a new 239-cid, 100-bhp 09A Mercury V-8 was installed. This would have been the most powerful version of the Ford flathead V-8 available at the time.
By 1939, Gregorie had designed wider twin grilles for the Lincoln-Zephyr, so it followed that he would take the same approach for the Speedster. He redesigned the Speedster's front end by shortening the upper grilles and fabricating a wide, horizontal grille for improved cooling. The new design, which required extensive modifications to the hood, was likely completed in 1940. The instrument panel may have been updated at the same time with a 160-mph racing type speedometer and matching Stewart-Warner accessory instruments.
"The Model 40 Special Speedster was only enjoyed by Edsel for a few short years before his death in 1943, but its journey was just beginning," said Ford House President Kathleen Mullins. "Ford House is proud to give life to Edsel's original vision for a unique, continental roadster."
The Model 40 Special Speedster has moved through almost eight decades of owners and modifications and has returned to its early design elegance. After Pebble Beach, its journey will continue, ultimately returning home . . . to Ford House.
[Text from www.fordhouse.org]
www.fordhouse.org/experience/edsel-fords-1934-special-spe...
The Special Speedster was one of the cars displayed as part of the 'Art Deco Cars' exhibit, shown in the North Carolina Museum of Art while I was in Raleigh. The car is quite stunning, and was a 'must' for a future build.
Whole Brittany is ripe with old, gracefully decaying buildings, but Mont Saint-Michel is really saturated with the signs of ancient times.
Bright Brussels 2018
Bright Brussels is a light festival, a fascinating route through the city consisting of a dozen light installations that are artistic, interactive, playful,... and simply captivating. Bright Brussels is a free event that is open to all from 18:30 to 23:00, for four nights from 22 to 25 February.
For this edition, a massive, must-see installation is hanging in the extraordinary setting that is the Citroen garage on place de l'Yser/IJzerplein. The route then stretches over the historical heart of the city through the Beguinage - Dixmude and Dansaert neighbourhoods, from Sainctelette to Sainte-Catherine/Sint-Katelijne. Come and (re-)discover these neighbourhoods' rich architectural heritage thanks to the magic of light!
TETRO (FR) + Whitevoid (DE) - Stalactite
At the heart of the majestic structure of the Citroen building, with its clean lines, is an enormous suspended structure, floating above the visitors. It generates light motifs and complex shapes to the rhythm of the electronic music of Boris Divider. This artistic light display by Christopher Bauder is called Stalactite. It offers an immersive experience of the madness of the 21st century.
Venue: Former Citroen garage
OCUBO and Telmo Ribeiro (PT) - Underlight
'Underlight' is a simulation of the aurora borealis. It combines coloured lasers, smoke machines and the wind to create lighting effects. These form a coloured curtain with the accompaniment of haunting music to plunge the audience into a splendid sound and light show.
Venue: Quai du Commerce and Parc du Quai a la Houille
Aerosculpture (FR) - Lumiere d'eau (Light in water)
What becomes of the basins of our fountains when winter robs them of their water? Are they filled to the brim with other, highly illuminated wavelengths, in the hope that a school of flying fishes will be attracted by the light and come to take possession of their banks? This is the story told by the installation 'Lumiere d'eau' with its moving, glittering lights spread over the surface of the basin and about a hundred lighter-than-air fish, caught by invisible hooks, that are lit by the colours of this imaginary water to offer us a thousand reflections moving and swirling in the wind.
Venue: Vismet, Fontaine Anspach
Estudio Sergio Ramos (ES) - Triple jet
This installation reminds us of the need to recover the identity of our cities by valuing their diversity and plurality. 'Triple jet' uses a strong symbol with an internationally recognised graphic identity, the Mannekenn Pis, who has landed in a public place as the main protagonist of a new urban landscape.
Venue: Institut Pacheco
OCUBO (PT) - Flower Power
'Flower Power' is an experimental immersive video mapping show. It is based on experimentation with the physical forces of water and gravity. It explores the aesthetic of one of the most beautiful and colourful phenomena in nature, flowers. Inspired by the colour, movement and fusion of these phenomena, the project transforms the everyday image of a flower into something magical and poetical.
Venue: Place du Beguinage
Tetro and Trafik (FR) - 160
'160' is an interactive sound and light installation that offers an intuitive instrument for exploring representation, projection and the relationship in space of shapes, colours and sound. It consists of 20 square arches, each containing eight lit segments. 160 light strips are deployed over the 60 m of the structure.
Venue: Vismet
Mathilde Lemesle (FR) - Aux fenetres de Bruxelles - Appel d'air (At the windows of Brussels - Drawing in air)
'At the windows of Brussels - Drawing in air' is a light installation created for the 2018 Bright Brussels Festival. This exterior video mapping show is located on the facade of a house and plays with the features of that setting. Lighting effects are a way for visitors to rediscover the many sides of places.
Venue: Rue du Nom de Jesus
Dolus and Dolus (FR): Stratum
'Stratum' is an interactive installation that uses gesture to influence a 'lit area'. Running one's hand over a capture interface reproduces it in space using layers of light. This reaction generates a visible and tangible reflection of the gesture, like an ephemeral geology of movement.
Venue: Rue du Marche aux Porcs
Collectif Coin (FR) - Child Hood
'Child Hood' is a cloud. Comprising a multitude of luminous balloons, it hovers between numerical minimalism and a monumental kinetic installation. It invades space. The wind rushes in between the balloons. Like the ultimate interpreter, it injects a note of chaos into a finely measured sound and light composition.
Venue: Place du Nouveau Marche aux Grains
THEORIZ (FR) - Crystallized
'CRYSTALLIZED' is an immersive sculpture composed of steel, sounds and holographic images. Inspired by Bismuth crystal and built according to the laws of light propagation, CRYSTALLIZED is a mysterious, ever-changing sculpture that goes from atoms to liquid-crystal. The audience is drawn to appreciate the infinite, hypnotising lighting effects of the work from its different perspectives.
Venue: Former Atelier Coppens
TELSTAR LOGISTICS UNVEILS MODEL 442 SHAREHOLDER VALUE GENERATOR
New Device Converts Nebulous Energy into Tangible Results
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
SIERRA NEVADAS, Calif., 03-MAY-2006 Telstar Logistics is proud to announce the successful completion and deployment of the Model 442 Shareholder Value Generator, an event which marks the beginning of a new and more exciting era of production.
Installed underground in a remote mountain facility, Model 442 leverages innovations in Terrestrial Infiltration, Marine Buoyancy, and Aerospace Propulsion developed by Telstar Logistics while delivering our best-of-breed services.
Designed to provide stable, seamless solutions in any environment, the Shareholder Value Generator converts hybrid media energy into robust and scalable output. The impactful results quickly pay off where it matters most -- on the customer's bottom line.
"Telstar Logistics is the only company poised to deliver a product that customers can actually use," said Steve Jurvetson, senior test pilot for Telstar Logistics Aerospace Systems. "With the Model 442, organizations can easily increase production of an existing application without changing the application and still maintain high levels of performance."
Patents pending. NSFW. Batteries sold separately.
About Telstar Logistics
Telstar Logistics is a leading provider of integrated services via Land, Air, Sea, and Space. For more information about Telstar Logistics, its products, and its history, visit our Investor Relations page.
From the journals of Raphael of Gannetgul, recorded during his time in exile.
Though, the door was not attached to any tangible surface, Raphael noticed that the wooden door felt heavy and the hinges seemed rusted and resisted his weight as he pushed it open. As the wooden slab labored open, Raphael beheld a spectacular sight. A marble throne room, bedecked in crimson. Elegant in its simplicity. A single table was placed near the center of the room, upon it was a golden vase that held a bouquet of humble poppies and a set of metallic scales. Two ornate peacocks roamed around the table displaying their visual cacophony of plumage for the visitors. Raphael had never seen this place before, yet it felt strangely familiar. He suddenly felt at home in this great hall.
“Ahai!” a melodic voice came from a female figure seated upon the throne at the far end of the hall. Raphael found it strange that he had not noticed the woman before. “Come in friends. I have been expecting you for some time now.”
The woman arose from her throne and gracefully walked toward Raphael and the Ruler of the Realm Between All Realms. The woman was tall and had flowing chestnut hair that was smartly worn in a style that displayed the graceful lines of her neck. She was garbed in a soft white toga that shimmered like icy cirrus clouds illuminated by the setting sun. Sprouting from her shoulders was a set of gossamer wings, which she wore folded upon back. In her hand she grasped a familiar sword.
Raphael suddenly recognized the fair creature before him. Scrambling to drop to his knee, he hurriedly took off his wide-brimmed hat and averted his eyes respectfully.
“My goddess! Lady Anora… I am not worthy of such an audience.”
“Arise,” the goddess Anora said with authority, as she stepped before Raphael, “Do you know what this is?” She held the sword that she clutched in her hands out to Raphael for him to inspect.
“Aye goddess. It is a sword that I found in the desert. At the time I believed it to be your answer to my prayers.” Raphael stood, but continued to look down at his feet.
“Look upon me Rapahel of Gannetgul, and hear what I have to say.” Anora lifted Raphael’s chin with her slender fingers until their eyes met. “This is no ordinary sword. It was the blade of my lover, High King Jude of Willowstone. The skeleton that you took such care to bury in the desert was all that remained of him. Your actions have shown great compassion and an unending sense of justice.”
“Goddess, it was nothing, truly. I was only doing what was right.”
“You are pure of heart Raphael of Gannetgul, and I am truly sorry for the course that your life has taken.” Anora guided Raphael to the table, “I cannot bring back what you have lost, nor can I ease your suffering. However, I can give you the instruments that will aid you in delivering my justice upon the unjust.”
Raphael now noticed upon the table a brace of dark steel pistols and two curved sabres sheathed in chocolate brown leather.
“Take these Raphael, they will aid you and others as you journey across Galacia and beyond.” Anora stepped back toward her throne, hugging the sword of the High King to her chest. “Know that I will not forget what you have done for me Raphael, and that I will never forsake one with a heart as pure as yours. Farewell Raphael... and Farewell to you too Lunarius, my old friend.”
Anora was suddenly gone, and Raphael was left alone in the great hall with the Ruler of the Realm Between All Realms.
“Come, we must now travel behind the red door.” The gaunt man held open the wooden door for Raphael.
“So, you’re name is Lunarius, eh?” Raphael gathered his weapons from the table and followed his host through the portal.
For the entire story, click here... www.flickr.com/photos/10211834@N07/sets/72157635218437758...
For more information on the Vastari Desert, or to follow Raphael's progress... Click this link... www.flickr.com/photos/10211834@N07/9508632581/
Comments and feedback are always welcome!
"It's tangible, it's solid, it's beautiful. It's artistic, from my standpoint..."
Donald Trump
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* Lightbox: Best seen in larger size on black (click image above)
"Wilderness of Your Weight"
i bought a blue dress so i could slip into the sky;
to cradle tangibility with camouflage,
dusk’s disappearance transpiring, the poison seeping, pooling around my ribs.
begging for affection from anyone while indian summer rain races towards wet earth,
feeling the wilderness of your weight.
blue fades,
to midnight,
to three.
i’ve heard death is like water.
and you were born in the morning.
your tiny eyelashes painting a silver sunset inside our mother.
settling like cobalt ash raining onto my shoulders.
unearthing blue
you are the other woman and your voice is strong and wild when it billows in the wind, dissipating like grey confetti.
i hear it in oregon, speaking amongst the thunder.
(the rain sounds like a skittish heart)
i hear your gentle whisper embedded in my sheets (always).
how on earth can you harness love?
such became a death sentence,
your shadow of silver, holding my body in the light.
i feel you deepest when i want love the most.
“Light makes photography. Embrace light. Admire it. Love it. But above all, know light. Know it for all you are worth, and you will know the key to photography.” -- George Eastman
It is not often I post things to my stream that were not taken by me, but this is one occasion. Simply, this is a glass negative found across the street at the Salvation Army. If I had to guess I would say it is probably a bit over 100 years old, considering that was the era when glass plates were being shot.
Say the 1890's. Amazing huh?
So at about 3 pm today I found myself holding a piece of glass with an image of three gentlemen on it over 100 years old.
I love my job.
But more importantly, I love photography. This really just sort of blows my mind. I start thinking about the fact that I am holding a once-sensitized piece of glass, that contains the imprint of light that bounced off of these three men over 100 years ago. In a sense it is almost a "light shadow" cast by them and captured on this glass.
And here I am using a state of the art scanner to digitize that image and bring it on to the web. Once again, amazing.
I don't want to make it seem like I am taking a dig at digital photography (digital imaging is why this image exists on the web right now) but this is a very big reason why I shoot film. The tangible nature. Being able to hold a piece of film that was struck by the very light that came off of the subject. Thinking that, that very same piece of film may one day be pulled from a box in someone's attic 80 years down the road, and that someone can hold it up to the light and see what I saw. They will even be able to still print it or scan it.
But it is not the ability to still print it or scan it that so amazes me. It is the physical evidence that light has left behind on this particular piece of film, or paper, or glass. Digital doesn't have that. The sensor carries no trace of that light, rather it is converted into electronic bits and bytes. A digital copy. A replica of what that light cast. There is nothing tangible, nothing physical to hold unless a print is made, which so often it never is.
And in some way this makes me deeply uneasy. I don't like thinking of the work of my life as being so intangible. It scares me in a sense and I never feel quite easy with digital images, despite the many amazing shots I have taken on digital cameras. And also despite how careful and redundant I am in backing those same images up. But it is not just my work. I think of all the pictures snapped every day. All those snap shots of sons and daughters. Mothers and grandmas. Beautiful sunsets and sunrises. And I think of what awful percentage of those images will have ceased to exist within ten years. Or twenty. Let alone a hundred years from now.
I know that even film is not permanent, nothing is really. Not our negatives. Nor us. Or our planet, or even our universe. But nonetheless, I am pretty certain that I will not be able to pull any of my CDs of digital files out of a box in 100 years and still have them be usable. Nor any CF cards. My external drives won't last more than 10 years I bet. My digital files won't ever be anything more than bits and bytes. Sure I can print them, but those are just copies of copies. Better than nothing, but still far lacking.
And so I shoot film, because I like to think each of those negatives carries the physical effect of light off of a beautiful waterfall striking it. Or the light bouncing off of my son Owen playing when he was 6 months old. And then again when he was 12 months old. Or even the very light that reflected off of an old friend no longer living. It is not so hard to hold a negative, or a plate like this, in your hand and feel like you are holding just a tiny shred of some past time itself. The last physical remainder of a moment long extinct, and that when I hold a negative in my hand, I am touching that light again. And that is one of the things that drives me to shoot film. That deep sense of not just recording light and time, but preserving it.
“What makes photography a strange invention is that its primary raw materials are light and time.” -- John Berger
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If you have not browsed through it, the photo stream run by the Library of Congress is amazing. Really sit down and take your time taking it in. Don't just browse, really give yourself the time to look.
Bright Brussels 2018
Bright Brussels is a light festival, a fascinating route through the city consisting of a dozen light installations that are artistic, interactive, playful,... and simply captivating. Bright Brussels is a free event that is open to all from 18:30 to 23:00, for four nights from 22 to 25 February.
For this edition, a massive, must-see installation is hanging in the extraordinary setting that is the Citroen garage on place de l'Yser/IJzerplein. The route then stretches over the historical heart of the city through the Beguinage - Dixmude and Dansaert neighbourhoods, from Sainctelette to Sainte-Catherine/Sint-Katelijne. Come and (re-)discover these neighbourhoods' rich architectural heritage thanks to the magic of light!
TETRO (FR) + Whitevoid (DE) - Stalactite
At the heart of the majestic structure of the Citroen building, with its clean lines, is an enormous suspended structure, floating above the visitors. It generates light motifs and complex shapes to the rhythm of the electronic music of Boris Divider. This artistic light display by Christopher Bauder is called Stalactite. It offers an immersive experience of the madness of the 21st century.
Venue: Former Citroen garage
OCUBO and Telmo Ribeiro (PT) - Underlight
'Underlight' is a simulation of the aurora borealis. It combines coloured lasers, smoke machines and the wind to create lighting effects. These form a coloured curtain with the accompaniment of haunting music to plunge the audience into a splendid sound and light show.
Venue: Quai du Commerce and Parc du Quai a la Houille
Aerosculpture (FR) - Lumiere d'eau (Light in water)
What becomes of the basins of our fountains when winter robs them of their water? Are they filled to the brim with other, highly illuminated wavelengths, in the hope that a school of flying fishes will be attracted by the light and come to take possession of their banks? This is the story told by the installation 'Lumiere d'eau' with its moving, glittering lights spread over the surface of the basin and about a hundred lighter-than-air fish, caught by invisible hooks, that are lit by the colours of this imaginary water to offer us a thousand reflections moving and swirling in the wind.
Venue: Vismet, Fontaine Anspach
Estudio Sergio Ramos (ES) - Triple jet
This installation reminds us of the need to recover the identity of our cities by valuing their diversity and plurality. 'Triple jet' uses a strong symbol with an internationally recognised graphic identity, the Mannekenn Pis, who has landed in a public place as the main protagonist of a new urban landscape.
Venue: Institut Pacheco
OCUBO (PT) - Flower Power
'Flower Power' is an experimental immersive video mapping show. It is based on experimentation with the physical forces of water and gravity. It explores the aesthetic of one of the most beautiful and colourful phenomena in nature, flowers. Inspired by the colour, movement and fusion of these phenomena, the project transforms the everyday image of a flower into something magical and poetical.
Venue: Place du Beguinage
Tetro and Trafik (FR) - 160
'160' is an interactive sound and light installation that offers an intuitive instrument for exploring representation, projection and the relationship in space of shapes, colours and sound. It consists of 20 square arches, each containing eight lit segments. 160 light strips are deployed over the 60 m of the structure.
Venue: Vismet
Mathilde Lemesle (FR) - Aux fenetres de Bruxelles - Appel d'air (At the windows of Brussels - Drawing in air)
'At the windows of Brussels - Drawing in air' is a light installation created for the 2018 Bright Brussels Festival. This exterior video mapping show is located on the facade of a house and plays with the features of that setting. Lighting effects are a way for visitors to rediscover the many sides of places.
Venue: Rue du Nom de Jesus
Dolus and Dolus (FR): Stratum
'Stratum' is an interactive installation that uses gesture to influence a 'lit area'. Running one's hand over a capture interface reproduces it in space using layers of light. This reaction generates a visible and tangible reflection of the gesture, like an ephemeral geology of movement.
Venue: Rue du Marche aux Porcs
Collectif Coin (FR) - Child Hood
'Child Hood' is a cloud. Comprising a multitude of luminous balloons, it hovers between numerical minimalism and a monumental kinetic installation. It invades space. The wind rushes in between the balloons. Like the ultimate interpreter, it injects a note of chaos into a finely measured sound and light composition.
Venue: Place du Nouveau Marche aux Grains
THEORIZ (FR) - Crystallized
'CRYSTALLIZED' is an immersive sculpture composed of steel, sounds and holographic images. Inspired by Bismuth crystal and built according to the laws of light propagation, CRYSTALLIZED is a mysterious, ever-changing sculpture that goes from atoms to liquid-crystal. The audience is drawn to appreciate the infinite, hypnotising lighting effects of the work from its different perspectives.
Venue: Former Atelier Coppens