"Blessed Dominic, head and illustrious father of the Preachers, who shone like a new star at the end of the 12th Century, was a native of Spain, of the Kingdom of Castille, from the town of Calaruega in the Diocese of Osma. It was fitting that, at the close of the century, when the light of the world was sinking, it was from the farthest reaches of the earth that God brought forth in the west a light that would illuminate with its beams the whole world, a world wrapped in darkness.

So God, who knows the future and desired to show the Church what the quality and grandeur of this blessed man would be, decided to manifest Dominic’s future by several revelations. Before conceiving him, his mother saw herself in a dream bearing in her womb a young dog; it was holding a burning torch in its mouth and, once it had emerged from her womb, it seemed to set the whole world on fire. This was the announcement that she would give birth to an eminent preacher who, with his flaming torch of eloquence, would rekindle that fire of charity which was being extinguished in the world. This proved to be true by the subsequent course of events. Dominic was able to reprove wickedness admirably, to fight against heresy and to exhort the faithful with great zeal.

His father was a venerable man, rich in worldly goods. His mother showed herself to be virtuous, chaste, prudent, full of compassion for the poor and the afflicted. Among all the women of the region she was outstanding for her good reputation.

In fact, his mother was most compassionate. More or less in the period that I have mentioned, she saw the sufferings of the afflicted and, having already given extensively of her property, she exhausted it by distributing to the poor the contents of a cask full of wine, a cask which was well known to the neighbourhood. As her husband was returning and approached Calaruega, his neighbours came up to him and some of them told him about the wine which had been given to the poor.

When he arrived home, in the presence of these neighbours, Felix asked his wife to pour him some wine from the cask in question. She, with no little sense of embarrassment, went down into the cellar where the cask was, and falling on her knees prayed to God in these words: ‘Lord Jesus Christ, even if I am not worthy to be heard by reason of my merits, hear me for the sake of your servant, my son, whom I have placed at your service.’ For this mother knew the holiness of her son. Then, rising up full of faith, she immediately went to the cask and found it full of the best wine. Giving thanks to the giver of every grace, she poured some of this wine for her husband and for the others, and it flowed in great abundance. Everyone was amazed."

– from the 'Chronicle of the Saints' by Rodrigo of Serrato.

 

Today, 2 August, is the feast of Blessed Jane, mother of St Dominic. This stained glass window is in the chapel of the St Cecilia Motherhouse in Nashville, TN.

 

I had never read any unicorn lore before I started working on a picture for the theme “Be like a unicorn and seek pure hearts” (for the weekly photo challenge in the Facebook group Blythe Pure and Simple.) What does this phrase mean, I wondered? It turns out that unicorns were considered to be so virtuous that they would only appear to the pure of heart. That’s why I chose Spright Beauty for this picture; her ethereal loveliness speaks of innocence and purity to me. She is joined in this photo by a Momiji unicorn doll called Little Starlight Girl.

Ataraxia (Ἀταραξία "tranquility") is a Greek term used by Pyrrho and Epicurus for a lucid state, characterized by freedom from worry or any other preoccupation.

  

For the Epicureans, ataraxia was synonymous with the only true happiness possible for a person.

It signifies the state of robust tranquility that derives from eschewing faith in an afterlife, not fearing the gods because they are distant and unconcerned with us, avoiding politics and vexatious people, surrounding oneself with trustworthy and affectionate friends and, most importantly, being an affectionate, virtuous person, worthy of trust.

I see no evil, hear no evil, and speak no evil

In one particular garden at the cemetery, rows of stone statues of children represent unborn children, including miscarried, aborted, and stillborn children. Parents can choose a statue in the garden and decorate it with small clothing and toys. Usually the statues are accompanied by a small gift for Jizō, the guardian of unborn children, to ensure that they are brought to the afterlife. Occasionally stones are piled by the statue; this is meant to ease the journey to the afterlife.

 

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Z%C5%8Dj%C5%8D-ji

 

En un jardín en particular en el cementerio, filas de estatuas de piedra de niños representan a los niños por nacer, incluidos los niños abortados, abortados y nacidos muertos. Los padres pueden elegir una estatua en el jardín y decorarla con ropa y juguetes pequeños. Por lo general, las estatuas van acompañadas de un pequeño obsequio para Jizō, el guardián de los niños por nacer, para asegurarse de que sean llevados al más allá. Ocasionalmente, la estatua amontona piedras; esto está destinado a facilitar el viaje a la otra vida.

 

Mizuko kuyo (水子供養 Mizuko kuyō, "servicio memorial para un feto abortado") es una ceremonia japonesa para las mujeres que han sufrido un aborto espontáneo, aborto inducido o mortinato. Esta práctica es más evidente desde la creación de santuarios en la década de 1970 para tal ritual, con el fin de la tranquilidad de la gestante, descanso del alma del feto y evitar la venganza del espíritu del bebé. Originalmente el mizuko kuyo fue usado para ofrendar a Jizo (Ksitigarbha), un Bodhisattva supuesto protector de los niños. Durante el Período Edo, cuando una embarazada era empujada a cometer aborto o infanticidio por su pobreza, la práctica era adaptada para satisfacer la situación. Hoy día, la práctica del mizuko kuyo continúa en Japón, aunque no es claro su autenticidad histórica en las prácticas del budismo en Japón. La ceremonia varía entre templos, escuelas e individuos. Es común que en los templos budistas se ofrezcan estatuillas de Jizo vestidas a lo largo de los pasillos para este propósito. Algunos de estos servicios han sido criticados por aprovecharse y abusar de las creencias que los japoneses tienen acerca de la posible venganza de los espíritus de los bebés abortados.

 

es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mizuko_kuy%C5%8D

www.kirainet.com/jizo/

 

Mizuko kuyō (水子供養) meaning "water child memorial service", is a Japanese ceremony for those who have had a miscarriage, stillbirth, or abortion. This practice has become particularly visible since the 1970s with the creation of shrines devoted solely to this ritual. Reasons for the performance of these rites can include parental grief, desire to comfort the soul of the fetus, guilt for an abortion, or even fear of retribution from a vengeful ghost.

Mizuko (水子), literally "water child", is a Japanese term for an aborted, stillborn or miscarried baby, and archaically for a dead baby or infant. Kuyō (供養) refers to a memorial service. Previously read suiji, the Sino-Japanese on'yomi reading of the same characters, the term was originally a kaimyō or dharma name given after death.The mizuko kuyō, typically performed by Buddhist priests, was used to make offerings to Jizō, a bodhisattva who is believed to protect children. In the Edo period, when famine sometimes led the poverty-stricken to infanticide and abortion, the practice was adapted to cover these situations as well.

Today, the practice of mizuko kuyō continues in Japan, although it is unclear whether it is a historically authentic Buddhist practice. Specific elements of the ceremony vary from temple to temple, school to school, and individual to individual. It is common for temples to offer Jizō statues for a fee, which are then dressed in red bibs and caps, and displayed in the temple yard. Though the practice has been performed since the 1970s, there are still doubts surrounding the ritual. Some view the memorial service as the temples' way of benefiting from the misfortune of women who have miscarried or had to abort a pregnancy. American religious scholars have criticized the temples for allegedly abusing the Japanese belief that the spirits of the dead retaliate for their mistreatment, but other scholars believe the temples are only answering the needs of the people.

The ceremony is attended by both parents or by one, not necessarily the mother. The service can vary from a single event to one that repeats monthly or annually. Though the service varies, common aspects resemble the ceremony for the recent dead, the senzo kuyō (先祖供養). The priest faces the altar and evokes the names of various Buddhas and bodhisattvas. Mantras, often the Heart Sutra and the 25th chapter of the Lotus Sutra, known as the "Avalokiteśvara Sutra", are performed, as are calls of praise to Jizō. Gifts are offered to the Buddha on behalf of the mourned, typically food, drink, incense or flowers. A kaimyō is given to the deceased, and a statue of Jizō is often placed on temple grounds upon completion of the ceremony.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mizuko_kuy%C5%8D

 

Los seis Jizō es una antigua leyenda japonesa perteneciente al budismo, cuyo protagonista es el bodhisattva Jizō (地蔵) o Ksitigarbha (地蔵菩薩), tal como se le conoce en Japón. Jizō es el encargado de proteger las almas de los bebés que no han nacido y de los niños que han muerto siendo muy pequeños, a los que se les llama mizuko (水子) o niños del agua. Jizō es el protector de las mujeres embarazadas y de los niños, así como también de los bomberos y viajeros.

De acuerdo con la leyenda, una pareja de ancianos vivía en un hogar humilde y pasaban por muchas necesidades. Se ganaban la vida vendiendo sombreros de paja que fabricaban con sus propias manos. Sin embargo, eran tan pobres que al llegar el día de Fin de Año no tenían dinero para comprar algo especial para cenar y celebrar dicha fecha. El anciano entonces le prometió a su esposa que iría al pueblo, vendería los sombreros y le compraría algo para cenar. El anciano había llevado consigo cinco sombreros de paja, pero al no conseguir venderlos se propuso a regresar a su hogar. Una gran nevada le sorprendió durante el camino de vuelta y divisó a lo lejos seis estatuas de Jizō, de las cuales sintió pena al estar cubiertas de nieve. El anciano quitó la nieve de las estatuas y les ofreció los sombreros que venía cargando con él. A ver que faltaba un sombrero para una de las estatuas, el anciano se quitó su propio sombrero y se lo colocó al sexto Jizō. Más tarde esa noche, la pareja oyó ruidos fuera de su casa y al salir se encontraron con arroz, mochi, pescado y monedas de oro en su puerta. Posteriormente vieron a las estatuas de Jizō con los sombreros en sus cabezas, quienes agradecieron a la pareja por su bondad.

es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Los_seis_Jiz%C5%8D

 

Kasa Jizō (笠地蔵) is a Japanese folk tale about an old couple whose generosity is rewarded by the bodhisattva Kṣitigarbha, whose name is Jizō in Japanese. The story is commonly handed down by parents to their children in order to instill moral values, as it is grounded in Buddhist thought. An alternative title, Kasako Jizō can be found in Iwate and Fukushima Prefectures. Its origins belong in the Tōhoku and Niigata regions, with the oldest dispensations coming from Hokuriku, as well as areas of Western Japan such as Hiroshima and Kumamoto Prefectures. Its precise origin, however, remains unknown.

One day in the snowy country there lived an incredibly impoverished elderly couple. On New Year's Day, the couple realized that they were unable to afford mochi (a staple form of rice eaten during the New Year). The old man decided to go into town to sell his home-made kasa, but his endeavors proved unsuccessful. Due to the horrible weather conditions, the old man gave up the task and made his trek back home. In the blizzard, the old man came across a line of Jizō statues, to whom he decided to give his kasa as an offering, as well to keep their heads clear of snow. However, he only had enough kasa on hand to give to all but one statue. He gave the remaining statue his tenugui and went on his way. Upon returning home, he relayed the scenario to his wife, who praised him for his virtuous deed, without criticizing his inability to purchase any New Year mochi. That evening, while the couple was asleep, there came a heavy thumping sound from outside the house. They opened the door to find a great pile of treasures, consisting of such goods as rice, vegetables, gold coins, and mochi. The old couple watched on as the Jizō statues marched off into the snowy distance. Having repaid the old man for his selflessness, the couple was able to celebrate the New Year.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kasa_Jiz%C5%8D

 

In the Chroverse, Faltan was an ancient Toa of Earth, who was nearly obliterated in the Metru Nui Civil War. Rebuilt to be a robotic upholder of justice, he mercilessly destroyed hundreds of combatants in an effort to ensure peace. Eventually he was able to rediscover his past and break free of his reprogramming, becoming the virtuous keeper of justice he was intended to have been all along.

I am so sick of people saying that he's changed.

Especially when they credit Camilla for it. people grow up. Three years

does a lot to a person. Whether or not he's bouncing off

walls or screaming, "There are no cars in Oklahoma!",

 

He is most definitely still virtuous, grateful, loving, and

funny. Nick and Kevin are changing too, but nobody's

blaming it on their girlfriends. Honestly, green is an

ugly color to wear..

 

Our secret, not our picture. DO NOT TAKE.

 

Want more of what you see? www.flickr.com/photos/ooedits2/

Maison aux Îles Lofoten en Norvège.

Notez l'absence de volets.

 

La première explication est que dans les pays nordiques le soleil est assez rare.

La deuxième explication a une origine religieuse.

A l'époque le protestantisme était très répandu dans les pays nordiques et l'absence de volets permettaient de montrer que l'on vivait une vie vertueuse et que l'on n'avait rien à cacher, à ses voisins et à Dieu.

 

House in the Lofoten Islands, Norway.

Note the lack of flaps.

The first explanation is that in the Nordic countries the sun is quite rare.

The second explanation has a religious origin.

At that time, Protestantism was widespread in the Nordic countries and the lack of flaps showed that one lived a virtuous life and had nothing to hide from his neighbors and God.

 

D'après diapositive.

 

During my last day of shooting in Le Puy-en-Velay (March 9, 2023), I managed to complete all the subjects that required additional photography, and to extensively shoot the last item on my bucket list, i.e., the spectacular Saint-Michel d’Aiguilhe chapel which I will show in a few days.

 

My first goal was to photograph the “inner” statuary in the canons’ cloister, i.e. the items that are only visible from the central space (préau in French), as opposed to the galleries. In monasteries, that space was often used as an herb garden, particularly when safe space was at a premium elsewhere. However, in the case of Le Puy and its secular canons, very often the offspring from the wealthiest families, there were other sources of supply, should herbs be needed, and aside from framing the central well, the purpose assigned to that space was most probably very similar to what it is now: a pleasure garden.

 

Bearing that in mind (and, no doubt, the designers of the cloister did), it is not surprising that we should find, on this inner side, one of the wildest collections of monsters, devils and sinners ever devised by the fertile imagination of Mediæval sculptors: while meditation in the galleries took place among virtuous and God-pleasing representations, the canons (or those who cared, at least) were reminded by that gallery of monsters and vices that basking leisurely in the sun in the garden wasn’t too good for their karma, if I dare say.

 

This is the Siren I mentioned yesterday in my captions. Stylistically, it is very different from the monk and the nun, and the keystone also looks different, very recent: I suspect this is a 19th century replacement. Let6s only hope it was copied as faithfully as possible...

 

When they did something like that in the 1800s (and Satan knows it happened often enough!), they would normally document the piece they were replacing with a drawing, so maybe there is, somewhere in the archives of the bishopric or of the département of Haute-Loire, a forgotten sheet of paper bearing a representation of what the original Siren looked like...

Church of St. James, Bondleigh Devon stands next to Bondleigh Barton farmhouse

Originally a 12c Norman church, it was rebuilt in 15c .

Before the Reformation it was dedicated to St Mary.

It consists of chancel, nave, north aisle, south porch, and three stage crenellated west tower with 4 bells, built of local stone slate and sandstone rubble walls with some granite ashlar to the tower.

 

The earliest part is the 12c Norman south doorway www.flickr.com/gp/52219527@N00/KBq2M7U0RD with a carved tympanum showing the Agnus Dei between two birds www.flickr.com/gp/52219527@N00/h6dzRTT129 - the nave may also incorporate some Norman fabric.

The bowl of the Norman font survives, resting on a central and four smaller shafts of a later date. www.flickr.com/gp/52219527@N00/tFzsCCM6aL

At the east end of the north aisle, built into the wall, are some remains of Norman work apparently the capitals of two pillars, in a remarkably good state of preservation. www.flickr.com/gp/52219527@N00/2J43qw0X10

The chancel was probably rebuilt or remodelled in the 15c when the Easter sepulchre was built on the north wall in which lies the effigy of a priest, wearing a surplice and pointed chasuble. www.flickr.com/gp/52219527@N00/h39Rv38bSR On each side of the chancel windows are two niches for lost saints with canopies much mutilated.

The tower and south porch are also probably 15c

The north aisle is considerably later and might even be post-reformation late 16c One window has some ancient glass surviving. www.flickr.com/gp/52219527@N00/qT2WG8y045

The old wagon roofs survive with moulded purlins and carved bosses - larger and more elaborate to the aisle which also has running foliage carved wall-plates.

The belfry screen contains some portions of the old chancel screen.

 

There are two windows on the south side of the nave, one containing some old glass showing the Annunciation. www.flickr.com/gp/52219527@N00/92yE0zKaFv

 

Over the porch is a sundial inscribed "Sensum sini Sensu Anno Dom 1706. Dial's the name that all men call me by, I measure time and time sweeps all away." www.flickr.com/gp/52219527@N00/39659VyGbh

 

The west door has for security, four openings for two bars, one at the top the other at the bottom.

 

All restored in 1890 when a number of the windows were renewed.

 

A slate tablet enclosed in wood is inscribed:

"Sacred to the Memory of Mary wife of Joseph Goss of this Parish who from her husband and eight dear children was in the prime of a virtuous well spent life summoned to meet her God that gave her existence, Feb. 6th 1798. Aged 37 years - Beneath this table rests the mortal part

Of her who once delighted every heart

How good she was and what her virtues were

Her Guardian angel can alone declare

The Friend that now this little tribute pays

Too exquisitely feels to speak her praise

Yet would'st thou know ye pious life she spent

How many from her hands received content

How many Breasts that poverty had chilled

Her charity with Peace, with rapture filled

The village nigh shall gratify thy ears

And tell thee some with words but most with tears

Also to the Memory of Mary Ann Daughter of ye said Joseph and Mary Goss who at ye period of 15 years of Her age was summoned to meet her God that gave her existance, April 9th 1798 - Like Birds of Prey, Death snatch'd away this tender Harmless Dove whose soul's so pure and now secure we hope in Heaven above."

 

The registers date are dated: baptisms, 1813; marriages, 1754; burials, 1813

 

Picture with thanks - copyright Liz Mary britishlistedbuildings.co.uk/101326420-church-of-st-james...

The Brotherhood of the Holy Sepulchre, or The Holy Community of the All-Holy Sepulchre, is the Orthodox monastic fraternity that for centuries has guarded and protected the Christian Holy places in the Holy Land. A sepulchre is a burial chamber and in this case Holy Sepulchre refers to the burial chamber of Jesus, believed to be in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre.

 

The Brotherhood also administers the Greek Orthodox Church of Jerusalem. The Greek Orthodox Patriarch of Jerusalem is the chief, president, governor, and hegumen of the Brotherhood of the Holy Sepulchre and is commemorated as “Our Father and Lord, the Most Holy Beatitude, Patriarch of the Holy City of Jerusalem and of all Palestine.”

 

Members of the Brotherhood are the administrative officers of the Patriarchate; and the metropolitans, archbishops, bishops, archimandrites, hieromonks, hierodeacons, and monks of the Patriarchate of Jerusalem are members of the Brotherhood.

 

The Brotherhood of the Holy Sepulchre was traditionally founded in 313 (which corresponds with the Edict of Milan and legalization of Christianity in the Roman Empire) and the foundation of the Churches in the Holy Land by Constantine and St Helen, which is traditionally dated to 326. At first, it bore the name "Order of the Spoudaeoi (studious, zealous, industrious, serious)," or "The Spoudaeoi of the Holy Resurrection of Christ."

 

The Brotherhood consisted of the ordained clergy charged with the care and preservation of the Holy Sepulchre and other holy places in Jerusalem. They were distinguished primarily for their observance of uninterrupted mental prayer and heartfelt supplication. At the same time, the Members of the Brotherhood were renowned for their virtuous and diligent ascetic life. According to findings of contemporary researchers, they were living ascetic lives before 326 and were organized as an Order during the visit of St Helen to the Holy City. St Cyril of Jerusalem makes mention of them.

I finished the virtual race to Buckingham Palace, I'm in there somewhere, pushing my way through the cheering crowds in Hyde Park, but when I reached Buck Place I didn't stop to linger, I fell straight into a hotel, had a virtual supper and a virtuous glass or two and savoured the day :)

La ópera china es el nombre que recibe el teatro tradicional en China. El director Wang Yida, definió el teatro chino como "arte que sintetiza actuación, acrobacia, artes marciales, bellas artes, música y poesía".1

Se remonta a la dinastía Tang con el Emperador Xuanzong (712-755), fundador del "Jardín de los Perales" (梨园), la primera compañía documentada en China, y casi exclusivamente al servicio de los emperadores.nota 1 Durante la dinastía Yuan (1279-1368), se introdujeron en la ópera las variedades como el Zaju (杂剧), con actuaciones basadas en esquemas de rima y personajes tipo: "Dan" (旦, femenino), "Sheng" (生, masculino) y "Chou" (丑, payaso). En el siglo XXI, las profesiones de la ópera son todavía llamadas Disciplinas del Jardín de los Perales (梨园子弟).

es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ópera_china

 

La Ópera de Pekín (en chino: 京剧 jīngjù o 京戏 jīngxì), es una clase de Ópera China que se inició a mediados del siglo XIX y que se hizo extremadamente popular entre la corte de la dinastía Qing. Está considerada como una de las máximas expresiones de la cultura de China.

El 16 de noviembre de 2010, la Unesco declaró la Ópera de Pekín como Patrimonio Cultural Inmaterial de la Humanidad1

La ópera de Pekín tiene cuatro tipos diferentes de personajes, tres masculinos y uno femenino:

Jing: Personaje masculino dotado de una gran fuerza de voluntad. Se le reconoce con facilidad ya que

siempre lleva un maquillaje excesivo.

Sheng: Personaje masculino que presenta tres variantes diferentes; el Sheng Guerrero, el Sheng joven y el Sheng mayor.

Ch’ou: Personaje masculino. Es el bufón de la obra.

Tan: Personaje femenino. Este personaje tiene también distintas variantes: Tan mayor, Tan flor (una joven alegre y un tanto descarada), Tan verde (mujer joven y de gran rectitud) y Tan del caballo y la espada (una mujer que domina tan bien la caligrafía como el arte de la guerra).

Es importante también el color del vestuario que utilizan los actores. Así el color negro representa un carácter atrevido; el blanco sirve para representar a una persona mentirosa; el azul indica a un personaje frío y calculador; y el rojo se utiliza para personajes valientes y leales. Los colores dorados y plateados se utilizan para representar a dioses.

Los argumentos de la ópera de Pekín son muy variados y van desde las intrigas de la corte hasta hazañas militares. Importa tanto la música como los gestos, las acrobacias y los cantos. Algunas representaciones pueden durar hasta seis horas.

es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ópera_de_Pekín

Yueju Opera (Chinese: 越剧),is a Chinese opera popular in China. It originated in Shengxian County(namely Shengzhou). The word "Yue" in Chinese means Zhejiang province and the regions around it. "ju" means (Chinese) opera. At present, Yueju Opera is the second most popular opera in China, after the Beijing Opera.

simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yueju_Opera

 

Traditional Chinese opera (Chinese: 戲曲; pinyin: xìqǔ; Jyutping: hei3 kuk1), or Xiqu, is a popular form of drama and musical theatre in China with roots going back to the early periods in China. It is a composite performance art that is an amalgamation of various art forms that existed in ancient China, and evolved gradually over more than a thousand years, reaching its mature form in the 13th century during the Song Dynasty. Early forms of Chinese theater are simple, but over time they incorporated various art forms, such as music, song and dance, martial arts, acrobatics, as well as literary art forms to become traditional Chinese opera.[1]

There are numerous regional branches of traditional Chinese opera, including the Beijing opera, Shaoxing opera, Cantonese opera and kunqu and Lvju.

 

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_opera

 

Peking opera, or Beijing opera (Chinese: 京剧; pinyin: Jīngjù), is a form of Chinese opera which combines music, vocal performance, mime, dance and acrobatics. It arose in the late 18th century and became fully developed and recognized by the mid-19th century.[1] The form was extremely popular in the Qing dynasty court and has come to be regarded as one of the cultural treasures of China.[2] Major performance troupes are based in Beijing and Tianjin in the north and Shanghai in the south.[3] The art form is also preserved in Taiwan (Republic of China), where it is known as Guójù (traditional Chinese: 國劇; simplified Chinese: 国剧; "National theatre"). It has also spread to other countries such as the United States and Japan.[4]

The roles on the Peking Opera stage fall into four major roles-Sheng (生), Dan (旦), Jing (净), Chou (丑).[44]

Sheng (生): refer to men, divided into Laosheng (老生)，Xiaosheng (小生)，Wusheng (武生)

Dan (旦): refer to women, divided into Zhengdan (正旦), Laodan (老旦), Huadan (花旦), Wudan (武旦), Daomadan (刀马旦)

Jing (净): refer to painted-face role, know popularly as Hualian, divided into Zhengjing (正净), Fujing (副净), Wujing (武净), Maojing (毛净)

Chou (丑): refer to painted-face role, know popularly as Xiao hualian, divided into Wenchou (文丑), Wuchou (武丑), Nüchou (女丑)

The Dan (旦) refers to any female role in Peking opera. Dan roles were originally divided into five subtypes. Old women were played by laodan, martial women were wudan, young female warriors were daomadan, virtuous and elite women were qingyi, and vivacious and unmarried women were huadan. One of Mei Lanfang's most important contributions to Peking opera was in pioneering a sixth type of role, the huashan. This role type combines the status of the qingyi with the sensuality of the huadan.[54] A troupe will have a young Dan to play main roles, as well as an older Dan for secondary parts.[49] Four examples of famous Dans are Mei Lanfang, Cheng Yanqiu, Shang Xiaoyun, and Xun Huisheng.[55] In the early years of Peking opera, all Dan roles were played by men. Wei Changsheng, a male Dan performer in the Qing court, developed the cai qiao, or "false foot" technique, to simulate the bound feet of women and the characteristic gait that resulted from the practice. The ban on female performers also led to a controversial form of brothel, known as the xianggong tangzi, in which men paid to have sex with young boys dressed as females. Ironically, the performing skills taught to the youths employed in these brothels led many of them to become professional Dan later in life.[56]

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peking_opera

 

My regular constitutional has a number of permutations, but the one I like most has the disadvantage of this difficult stretch. Even in summer it is seldom dry underfoot, but in winter, as you see, it is a quagmire. Still, I'd rather this than asphalted paths, dog "poo" bins, shaven grass and Other People. I remembered that the steel-toecapped warehouse boots I slyly hung on to when I retired were claimed to be anti-slip and water-repellent, which makes them admirably suited to the role of walking boot. The route is precipitously uphill in the early stages, giving me a bit of "cardio-vascular", but this is soon over and I am able to feel virtuous for the gently descending remainder of my walk. A little drizzle or light rain is perfectly acceptable and has the advantage of keeping others indoors. Rags of mist hang among the Forestry Commission spruce trees and I have only the occasional buzzard for company, uttering its unearthly cry.

"Then, leaving the crowds, he went to the house; and his disciples came to him and said, ‘Explain the parable about the darnel in the field to us.’ He said in reply, ‘The sower of the good seed is the Son of Man. The field is the world; the good seed is the subjects of the kingdom; the darnel, the subjects of the evil one; the enemy who sowed them, the devil; the harvest is the end of the world; the reapers are the angels. Well then, just as the darnel is gathered up and burnt in the fire, so it will be at the end of time. The Son of Man will send his angels and they will gather out of his kingdom all things that provoke offences and all who do evil, and throw them into the blazing furnace, where there will be weeping and grinding of teeth. Then the virtuous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. Listen, anyone who has ears!’"

– 13:37-43, which is part of today's Gospel at Mass.

 

Stained glass detail from a window in the National Cathedral in Washington DC.

... or more ruff people.

 

The memorial to William Gee and his two wives, Thomasina and Maria, and six children in the south quire aisle in York Minster. The panel underneath has a charming little ode to Sir William, with a sting in the tail:

 

Stay Gentle Passenger and Read

A Sentence Sent Thee From Ye Dead

 

Ye Wisdome, Wealth, Honor or Honesty

Chastity, Zeale, Faith, Hope or Charity

If Universal Learning, Language, Law

Pure Piety, Religions Reverend Awe

Firme Friends, Fayre Issue; if A Virtuous Wife

A Quiet Conscience, A Contented Life

The Clergies Prayers or Ye Poor Mans Tears

Could Have Lent Length To Mans Determined Years

Sure As Ye Eat Which For Our Fault We Fear

Proud Death Had Nere Advanced This Trophy Here

In It Behold Thy Doom Thy Tombe Provide

Sir William Gee Had All These Pleas(ures) Yet Died

Yep, still doing interludes. World building is fun. Well, at this point it's more 'World-restructuring' as a lot of these interludes were originally on Mocpages. They were crap though, literally just dialogue. On the bright side, I did a lot of them, so I can re-use them. So in this one, we get to see Wonder womans origin. Really went out there on this one, so please let me know what you think. Also, this one will have repercussions in the main series.

 

The true origin of Diana Prince.

 

A boat weaves its way through the jagged rocks that pave the way to Aganos island. Virtually abandoned, the island is more commonly referred to as 'The forbidden isle'. It has a strange aura. Like Tartarus, the realm of the dead. But there is one being that lives there. Lives. More like condemned. Condemned to live out her seemingly immortal life on Aganos island.

 

A cloaked figure steps out to the beach, smirking at the boat. "By the Gods, she actually survived". The boats occupant, a woman, dressed in armour, brings the boat into the shoreline, letting it wash up on the beach. Hippolyta, Immortal Queen of the Amazons steps out. She holds in her hand a large sack, dripping with a plethora of coloured liquids.

 

She tosses the sack, so that it lands inches from the cloaked figures feet. "I've completed your challenges Witch. Now, I demand you keep your end of the bargain". The cloaked figure removes her hood to reveal...Circe, the sorceress. "You've done well, your highness" She says, mockingly. "As you command, we shall begin the ritual immediately. Provided of course, you have procured the necessary items."

 

The Witch is playing with her. Hippolyta is about to speak, but bites her tongue. She needs the witch to complete her ritual. Instead of speaking, she merely follows.

 

The sorceress empties the sack into her cauldron, stirring it with a stick as she does so. She's old. In her youth, she would be able to simply transmute the items with her bare hands. But her time in exile has left her weak. She must take to the long path for this ritual. She takes from her cloak one more ingredient: A straw doll, brown in colour, as if it's rotting from the inside out.

 

Hippolyta shuffles, uneasy about what is about to happen. What she is doing now goes against the will of the Gods. But the will of the Gods means little to her. She asked them for a child, begged them even. She made sacrifices. Yet they refused to yield. Her reflections are interrupted by the witch.

 

"Now, in order for this ritual to be a success, there is one final ingredient. A blood sacrifice must be made."

 

Hippolyta raises grips her blade in her hand. She will do anything for this. She is about to make the cut, when the witch speaks.

 

One more thing. In order for this to work, an equivalent exchange must be made."

 

"The equivalent exchange being?" Hippolyta asks, expecting the witch to ask for some sort of compensation for her efforts. She is shocked when the witch answers.

 

"Simply put, your highness, one life for another."

 

"Is...is there no alternative?"

 

"Oh, there is one" the sorceress says, admiring her nails. "Your immortality, or a portion of it, would do just fine"

 

Hippolyta is shocked, although she half expected this, she was unprepared to make tis decision. She should have taken someone with her. Should she sacrifice her immortality? Is a child really worth such a sacrifice? She decides.

 

"Then I gladly surrender my immortality to my child" She says, cutting her and with her sword. As the blood hits the liquid, a reaction takes place. The witch's eyes roll upwards, towards the skies. She reaches up with her hands, praying to the dark Gods. A bolt of lightening hits the cauldron with a mighty crack, splitting the cauldron in two.

 

The liquid spills onto the sand, lapping at Hippolytas feet. In one half of the cauldron lies a baby. She is beautiful. She is everything hippolyta has dreamt of. She picks her up, and stands to fa e the witch.

 

"Thank you Circe. You have my eternal gratitude"

 

"You can keep it. Now go, leave this wretched place. And be sure to put in a word with the Gods for me."

 

Hippolyta nods, and, child in arms, she boards her boat, rowing off, back into the mist.

 

As soon as she is out of sight, Circe drops her composure. That queen is insufferable. So virtuous and kind. But not for long. "She's mortal now" Circe croons, before letting out an ear splitting cackle. She can't guide that child forever, and once the queen is dead, Circe can take over. That child will be Circe's. Her invincible champion.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shah_Abdul_Latif_Bhittai

 

Shah Abdul Latif Bhittai (also referred to by the honorifics Lakhino Latif, Latif Ghot, Bhittai, and Bhitt Jo Shah) (1689 – 1752) (Sindhi: شاھ عبدالطيف ڀٽائيِ, Urdu: ,شاہ عبداللطیف بھٹائی) was a Sindhi Sufi scholar, mystic, saint, poet, and musician. He is widely considered to be one of the greatest poets of the Sindhi language. His collected poems were assembled in the compilation Shah Jo Risalo, which exists in numerous versions and has been translated to English, Urdu, and other languages. His work frequently has been compared to that of Rūmī: Seyyed Hossein Nasr, Professor of Islamic studies at George Washington University, described Shah Latif as a "direct emanation Rūmī's spirituality in the Indian world."[1]

 

He settled in the town of Bhit Shah in Matiari, Pakistan where his shrine is located. The major themes of his poetry include Unity of God, love for Prophet, religious tolerance and humanistic values.

 

Shah Abdul Latif Bhittai was born in 1689 in Hala Haveli's village Sui-Qandar located near Hyderabad, Pakistan. Shah Abdul Latif was son of Syed Habibullah and grandson of Syed Abdul Quddus Shah.

   

Shah Abdul Latif Bhittai (also referred to by the honorifics Lakhino Latif, Latif Ghot, Bhittai, and Bhitt Jo Shah) (1689 – 1752) (Sindhi: شاھ عبدالطيف ڀٽائيِ, Urdu: ,شاہ عبداللطیف بھٹائی) was a Sindhi Sufi scholar, mystic, saint, poet, and musician. He is widely considered to be one of the greatest poets of the Sindhi language. His collected poems were assembled in the compilation Shah Jo Risalo, which exists in numerous versions and has been translated to English, Urdu, and other languages. His work frequently has been compared to that of Rūmī: Seyyed Hossein Nasr, Professor of Islamic studies at George Washington University, described Shah Latif as a "direct emanation Rūmī's spirituality in the Indian world."[1]

 

He settled in the town of Bhit Shah in Matiari, Pakistan where his shrine is located. The major themes of his poetry include Unity of God, love for Prophet, religious tolerance and humanistic values.

 

Shah Abdul Latif Bhittai was born in 1689 in Hala Haveli's village Sui-Qandar located near Hyderabad, Pakistan. Shah Abdul Latif was son of Syed Habibullah and grandson of Syed Abdul Quddus Shah.

  

The early life

Debal, mid-1500sMost of the information that has come down to us has been collected from oral traditions. A renowned Pakistani scholar, educationist, and a foremost writer of plays, dramas and stories, Mirza Kalich Beg has rendered a yeoman service to Sindhi literature by collecting details about the early life of Shah Bhittai, from the dialogues that he has constantly held with some of the old folks, still living at that time, who knew these facts from their fathers and grandfathers for they had seen Shah Latif in person and had even spoken to him.

 

“ "The next day I sat down, and listened to the Story of the 'Vairagis.' Their salmon-coloured clothes were covered with dust. The lonely ones never talk to anyone about their being. They move about unmarked amongst the common folk." ........Shah Latif Bhittai

”

 

He was born around 1689 CE (1102 A.H.) to Shah Habib in the village Sui-Qandar a few miles to the east of the present town of Bhit Shah (named after him), on Safar 14, 1102 A.H. i.e. November 18, 1690 CE. He died at Bhit Shah on Safar 14, 1165 A.H., i.e. January 3, 1752 CE. In his memory, every year, on 14th Safar of the Hijri Calendar, an Urs is held at Bhit Shah, where he spent the last years of his life and where his elaborate and elegant mausoleum stands.

 

Latif got his early education in the school (maktab) of Akhund Noor Muhammad in basic Persian (the government language at that time) and Sindhi (local spoken language). He also learned the Qur'an. His correspondence in Persian with contemporary scholar Makhdoom Moinuddin Thattvi, as contained in the Risala-i-Owaisi, bears witness to his scholastic competence.

 

“ "Beloved's separation kills me friends, At His door, many like me, their knees bend. From far and near is heard His beauty's praise, My Beloved's beauty is perfection itself." .....Bhittai [Sur Yaman Kalyan]

”

  

The UrsThe Urs is a grand festival in Sindh, where people from almost every village and town of Sindh and from different cities of other provinces of Pakistan - rich and poor, young and old, scholars and peasants - make a determined effort to attend. The Urs commences every year from 14th Safar (2nd month of Hijra calendar) and lasts for three days. Along with other features, like food fairs, open-air markets selling Ajrak and Sindhi Caps among others, and entertaining and competitive sports, a literary gathering is also held where papers concerning the research work done on the life, poetry, and message of Bhittai, are read, by scholars and renowned literary figures. His disciples and ascetics, singers and artists, gather around and sing passages from his Risalo. Scholarly debates and exhibitions of his work and traditional Sindhi artefacts are also organised.

 

“ "Sleeping on the river's bank, I heard of Mehar's glory, Bells aroused my consciousness, longing took its place, By God! fragrance of Mehar's love to me came, Let me go and see Mehar face to face." .....Bhittai [Sur Suhni]

”

 

The mausoleum over his tomb was built by Mian Ghulam Shah Kalhoro, to commemorate his victory over the Rao of Kuchh a Maratha ally in the Thar Desert.

   

Education

Shah Abdul Latif Bhittai, had emerged as a very popular figure during his lifetime, due to the increasing and growing numbers of his followers.Young Shah Abdul was raised during the golden age of sindhi culture. His first teacher was Noor Muhammad Bhatti Waiwal. Mostly, Shah Latif was self-educated. Although he has received scanty formal education, the Risalo gives us an ample proof of the fact that he was well-versed in Arabic and Persian. The Qur'an, the Hadiths, the Masnawi of Maulana Jalaluddin Rumi, Shah Inayatullah, along with the collection of Shah Karim's poems, were his constant companions, copious references of which have been made in Shah Jo Risalo. He is also known for his famed Calligraphic, and hand written skills he made several copies of the Qur'an.

 

Shah Abdul Latif Bhittai, received his higher education in the Maktab of Akhund Noor Muhammad in basic Persian (the official language of the Mughal Empire) and Sindhi. He is also known to have memorized vast passages of the Qur'an. His correspondence in Persian with contemporary scholar Makhdoom Moinuddin Thattavi, as contained in the Risala-i-Owaisi, bears witness to his scholastic competence. In his poems he writes about Sindh and its neighbouring regions, he mentions the distant cities such as Istanbul and Samarqand, he also writes about Sindhi sailors (Samundi) their navigation techniques voyages as far to the Malabar coast, Sri Lanka and the island of Java.

 

Appearance and characteristics

Shah Abdul Latif Bhittai, mentions his travels in the Risalo.

Sindhi historians believe that the Tambura was invented by Shah Abdul Latif Bhittai.In appearance, Bhittai was a handsome man, of average height. He was strongly built, had black eyes and an intelligent face, with a broad and high forehead. He grew a beard of the size of Muhammad's beard. He had a serious and thoughtful look about himself and spent much time in contemplation and meditation, since he was concerned about his moral and spiritual evolution with the sole purpose of seeking proximity of the Divine. He would often seek solitude and contemplate on the burning questions running through his mind concerning man's spiritual life:

 

Why was man created?

What is his purpose on this earth? What is his relationship with his Creator?

What is his ultimate destiny?

Although he was born in favoured conditions, being the son of a well-known and very much respected Sayed family, he never used his position in an unworthy manner, nor did he show any liking for the comforts of life. He was kind, compassionate, generous and gentle in his manner of speech and behaviour which won him the veneration of all those who came across him. He had great respect for woman, which, unfortunately, the present day Vaderas (the landlords) do not have, and he exercised immense reserve in dealing with them, in an age when these qualities were rare. He hated cruelty and could never cause physical pain to any man or even to an animal. He lived a very simple life of self-restraint. His food intake was simple and frugal, so was his dressing which was often deep yellow, the colour of the dress of sufis, jogis, and ascetics, stitched with black thread. To this day, his relics are preserved at Bhitsah (where his mausoleum stands), some of which include a "T"-shaped walking stick, two bowls, one made of sandal-wood and another of transparent stone, which he used for eating and drinking. His long cap and his black turban are also preserved.

 

“ "Cloud was commanded to prepare for rain, Rain pattered and poured, lightning flared. Grain hoarders, hoping for high prices, wring their hands, Five would become fifteen in their pages they had planned. From the land may perish all the profiteers, Herdsmen once again talk of abundant showers, Latif says have hope in God's blessed grace." ......Bhittai [Sur Sarang]

”

 

Quest for religious truths

Shah Abdul Latif Bhittai, traveled throughout Sindh, Punjab, Baluchistan and the Thar Desert.In quest of religious truths, Shah Abdul Latif Bhittai traveled to many parts of Sindh and also went to the bordering lands as far as Multan. He became well known to the rulers at height of the power and rule of Kalhoras in Sindh. However he independently traveled with Sufi brotherhoods visiting towns and cities, to preach the teachings of Islam. Throughout his travels he went to hills, valleys, riverbanks, fields and mountains where he met the ordinary simple people. He is known to have traveled to the Ganjo Hills in the south of Hyderabad, Sindh.

 

He also writes about the adventures of Samundis (Sindhi Sailors) and how they voyaged to Lanka and Java, in the Sur Surirag and Sur Samundi, he writes a detailed account on Thatta and the port Debal. He is known to have traveled with Baloch nomads and tribes into the mountains in Las Bela, Balochistan. For three years, he traveled with these jogis and sanyasis, in search of the truth, peace, and harmony. At several places in the Risalo, mention has been made of these jogis and of his visits to these wonderful, holy and peaceful places. He also traveled to such far away places in the Thar desert such as Junagadh, Jaisalmer.

 

“ "In deserts, wastes and Jessalmir it has rained, Clouds and lightning have come to Thar's plains; Lone, needy women are now free from care, Fragrant are the paths, happy herdsmen's wives all this share." ..........Bhittai [Sur Sarang]

”

 

Piety and ascetismBy the time he was a young man of twenty one years, he began to be known for his piety, his ascetic habits and his absorption in prayers. Observation and contemplation were chief traits of his character. A number of people flocked round him adding to the already large number of his disciples. This aroused jealousy of some powerful, ruthless, tyrannical persons - landlords, Pirs, Mirs, and Rulers - who became his enemies for some time. Later, seeing his personal worth, and the peaceful and ascetic nature of his fame, abandoned their rivalry. At this time he was living with his father at Kotri, five miles away from the present site of Bhitshah. It was here that his marriage was solemnised in 1713 CE with Bibi Sayedah Begum, daughter of Mirza Mughul Beg. She was a very virtuous and pious lady, who was a proper companion for him. The disciples had great respect for her. They had no children.

 

In the true ascetic spirit, Shah Latif was now in search of a place where in solitude, he could devote all his time in prayers and meditation. Such a place he found near Lake Karar, a mere sand hill, but an exotic place of scenic beauty, four miles away from New Hala. This place was covered by thorny bushes surrounded by many pools of water. It was simply and aptly called 'Bhit' (the Sand Hill). On the heaps of its sandstones he decide to settle down and build a village. As it was sandy, he along with his disciples dug out the hard earth from a distance and covered the sand with it to make the ground firm. After months of hard labour, carrying the earth on their heads and shoulders, the place was now fit enough for the construction of an underground room and two other rooms over it, along with a room for his old parents. A mosque was also built and the houses of his disciples properly marked out. In 1742, whilst he was still busy setting up a new village, Bhit, he got the sad news of the death of his dear father.. Soon after this Shah Latif shifted all his family members from Kotri to Bhitsah, as the village now began to be called. His father was buried there, in accordance to his will, where his mausoleum stands only eight paces away, from that of Shah Abdul Latif, towards its north.

  

The final years

For the last eight years of his remarkable life, Shah Latif lived at Bhitshah. A few days before his death, he retired to his underground room and spent all his time in prayers and fasting, eating very little.

 

“ "Laggi Laggi wa'a-u wiarra angrra latji, Pa-i khanen pasah-a pasan karran-i pirin-a jay." ......Bhittai "Wind blew! The sand enveloped the body, Whatever little life left, is to see the beloved."

”

 

After 21 days in there, he came out and having bathed himself with a large quantity of water, covered himself with a white sheet and asked his disciples to sing and start the mystic music. This went on for three days continuously, when the musicians, concerned about the motionless poet, found that his soul had already left for its heavenly abode to be in the proximity of the Beloved for who he had longed for, all his life, and only the body was there. He suffered from no sickness or pain of any kind. The date was 14th Safar 1165 Hijra corresponding to 1752 CE. He was buried at the place where his mausoleum now stands, which was built by the ruler of Sindh, Ghulam Shah Kalhoro. His name literally means 'the servant of the Shah'. He, along with his mother, had adored and revered Shah Latif and were his devoted disciples. The work of the construction of the mausoleum was entrusted to the well-known mason, Idan from Sukkur. The mausoleum, as well as the mosque adjoining it, were later repaired and renovated by another ruler of Sindh, Mir Nasir Khan Talpur. A pair of kettle drums, that are beaten every morning and evening even till today by the fakirs, jogis and sanyasis, who frequent the mausoleum, were presented by the Raja of Jesalmeer.

 

“ "Korren kan-i salam-u achio a'atand-a unn-a jay." "Countless pay homage and sing peace at his abode."

 

"Tell me the stories, oh thorn-brush, Of the mighty merchants of the Indus, Of the nights and the days of the prosperous times, Are you in pain now, oh thorn-brush? Because they have departed: In protest, cease to flower. Oh thorn-brush, how old were you When the river was in full flood? Have you seen any way-farers Who could be a match of the Banjaras? True, the river has gone dry, And worthless plants have begun to flourish on the brink, The elite merchants are on decline, And the tax collectors have disappeared, The river is littered with mud And the banks grow only straws The river has lost its old strength, You big fish, you did not return When the water had its flow Now it's too late, You will soon be caught For fishermen have blocked up all the ways. The white flake on the water: Its days are on the wane." ......Bhittai [translated by Prof. D. H. Butani (1913-1989) in The Melody and Philosophy of Shah Latif

”

 

According to Sindhi historians young scholars such as Abul Hassan Thattvi (author of the Muqadamah as-Salawat, Hanafi Compendium) also wrote and sought advise from the elderly Shah Abdul Latif Bhittai and frequently traveled to Bhit Shah.

   

The Seven Queens of SindhThe women of Shah Abdul Latif's poetry are known as the Seven Queens, heroines of Sindhi folklore who have been given the status of royalty in Shah Jo Risalo. The Seven Queens were celebrated throughout Sindh for their positive qualities: their honesty, integrity, piety and loyalty. They were also valued for their bravery and their willingness to risk their lives in the name of love. The Seven Queens mentioned in Shah Jo Risalo are Marvi, Momal, Sassi, Noori, Sohni, Sorath, and Lila.

 

Perhaps what Shah Abdul Latif Bhittai saw in his tales of these women was an idealised view of womanhood, but the truth remains that the Seven Queens inspired women all over Sindh to have the courage to choose love and freedom over tyranny and oppression. The lines from the Risalo describing their trials are sung at Sufi shrines all over Sindh, and especially at the urs of Shah Abdul Latif every year at Bhit Shah.

  

Fountains Abbey is one of the largest and best preserved ruined Cistercian monasteries in England. It is located approximately 3 miles (5 km) south-west of Ripon in North Yorkshire, near to the village of Aldfield. Founded in 1132, the abbey operated for 407 years, becoming one of the wealthiest monasteries in England until its dissolution, by order of Henry VIII, in 1539.

 

In 1983, Studley Royal Park including the ruins of Fountains Abbey was purchased by the National Trust. The abbey is maintained by English Heritage.

 

After a dispute and riot in 1132 at the Benedictine house of St Mary's Abbey in York, 13 monks were expelled, among them Saint Robert of Newminster. They were taken under the protection of Thurstan, Archbishop of York, who provided them with land in the valley of the River Skell, a tributary of the Ure. The enclosed valley had all the natural features needed for the creation of a monastery, providing shelter from the weather, stone and timber for building, and a supply of running water. The six springs that watered the site inspired the monks to give it the name of Fountains.

 

After enduring a harsh winter in 1133, the monks applied to join the Cistercian order, which since the end of the previous century had been a fast-growing reform movement and by the beginning of the 13th century had more than 500 houses. In 1135 Fountains became the second Cistercian house in northern England, after Rievaulx. The monks of Fountains became subject to Clairvaux Abbey in Burgundy, which was under the rule of St Bernard. Under the guidance of Geoffrey of Ainai, a monk sent from Clairvaux, the group learned how to celebrate the seven Canonical Hours according to Cistercian usage and were shown how to construct wooden buildings in accordance with Cistercian practice.

 

According to archaeologist Glyn Coppack, after Henry Murdac was elected abbot in 1143 the small stone church and timber claustral buildings were replaced; the new church was similar in plan to the church at Vauclair Abbey that Murdac had previously commissioned. Within three years an aisled nave had been added to the stone church, and the first permanent claustral buildings, built in stone and roofed in tile, had been completed.

 

In 1146 an angry mob, annoyed at Murdac because of his role in opposing the election of William FitzHerbert as archbishop of York, attacked the abbey and burned down all but the church and some surrounding buildings. The community recovered swiftly from the attack and founded four daughter houses. Henry Murdac resigned as abbot in 1147 upon becoming archbishop of York. He was replaced first by Maurice, Abbot of Rievaulx (1147-8), then, on the resignation of Maurice, by Thorald (1148-50). Thorald was forced by the now archbishop, Henry Murdac, to resign after two years in office.

 

The next abbot, Richard, who held the post until his death in 1170, restored the abbey's stability and prosperity. During his 20 years as abbot he supervised an extensive building programme that involved completing repairs to the damaged church and building more accommodation for the increasing number of recruits. At his death, the chapter house was completed, and the new church almost finished. The work was continued by his successor, Robert of Pipewell. Pipewell was considered a benevolent and virtuous abbot by William Grainge, writing in the nineteenth century.

 

The next abbot was William of Newminster, a noted ascetic, who presided over the abbey from 1180 to 1190. He was succeeded by Ralph Haget, who had entered Fountains at the age of 30 as a novice after pursuing a military career. Prior to his abbacy at Fountains, from 1182 to 1190/1 he was abbot of Kirkstall Abbey. During the European famine of 1194 the abbey provided support for six months to local people in the form of food, shelter and spiritual care. Famine was joined by the spread of disease, and the abbey helped those who needed treatment. During the late thirteenth and early fourteenth centuries, the north of England was subject to increased taxation, Fountains Abbey included. According to William Grainge, writing in Annals of a Yorkshire Abbey: A Popular History of the Famous Monastery of Fountains, the taxation of temporal goods had reduced from £343 in 1292, to £243 in 1318. Grainge interprets this reduction as evidence for detriment to the estate of the abbey. By 1330s, the abbey was no longer working to surplus, but having to borrow money.

 

During the first half of the 13th century Fountains increased in reputation and prosperity under the next three abbots, John of York (1203–1211), John of Hessle (1211–1220) and John of Kent (1220–1247). These three abbots managed to complete another expansion of the abbey's buildings, which included enlarging the church and building an infirmary.

 

By the second half of the 13th century the abbey was in more straitened circumstances. It was presided over by eleven abbots, and became financially unstable largely due to forward selling its wool crop, and the abbey was criticised for its dire material and physical state when it was visited by Archbishop John le Romeyn in 1294. The run of disasters that befell the community continued into the early 14th century when northern England was invaded by the Scots and there were further demands for taxes. The culmination of these misfortunes was the Black Death of 1348–1349. The loss of manpower and income due to the ravages of the plague was almost ruinous.

 

A further complication arose as a result of the Papal Schism of 1378–1409. Fountains Abbey and other English Cistercian houses were told to break off contact with the mother house of Citeaux, which supported a rival pope. This resulted in the abbots forming their own chapter to rule the order in England. They became increasingly involved in internecine politics. In 1410, following the death of Abbot Burley of Fountains, the community was riven by several years of turmoil over the election of his successor. Contending candidates John Ripon - Abbot of Meaux and Roger Frank a monk of Fountains, were locked in conflict until 1416 when Ripon was finally appointed, ruling until his death in 1434.

 

Fountains regained some stability and prosperity under abbots John Greenwell (1442–1471), Thomas Swinton (1471–1478), and John Darnton (1478–1495), who undertook some much needed restoration of the fabric of the abbey, including notable work on the church. During Greenwell's abbacy, he reduced the debts of the abbey by 100 marks, and survived what was characterised as a poisoning attempt by a monk called William Downom. Swinton kept a detailed 'Memorandum Book', which provides exceptional detail on the life of the abbey during his abbacy. Marmaduke Huby (1495–1526) expanded the number of monks from twenty-two to fifty-two, and undertook a building programme which included a new tower at the north end of the transept and extending the infirmary. Known to visitors as Huby's Tower, it was decorated with the abbot's insignia, as well as religious texts.

 

At Abbot Huby's death he was succeeded by William Thirsk, who was accused by the royal commissioners of immorality and inadequacy, was dismissed as abbot, retired to Jervaulx Abbey, and was later hanged for his involvement in the Pilgrimage of Grace. He was replaced by Marmaduke Bradley, a monk of the abbey who had reported Thirsk's supposed offences and testified against him. Furthermore Bradley paid 600 marks to essentially buy the abbacy for himself. In 1539 it was Bradley who surrendered the abbey when its seizure was ordered under Henry VIII at the dissolution of the monasteries.

View On Black

 

Happiness does not consist in pastimes and amusements but in virtuous activities.

 

Aristotle

Proverbs 12:4

A virtuous woman is a crown to her husband ... (KJV)

 

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Dürnstein was first mentioned in 1192, King Richard I of England was held captive by Leopold V, Duke of Austria after their dispute during the Third Crusade. Richard the Lionheart had offended Leopold the Virtuous by casting down his standard from the walls at the Battle of Acre.

Gnosticism (from Ancient Greek: γνωστικός gnostikos, "having knowledge", from γνῶσις gnōsis, knowledge) is a modern name for a variety of ancient religious ideas and systems, originating in Jewish Christian milieux in the first and second century AD. These systems believed that the material world is created by an emanation or 'works' of a lower god (demiurge), trapping the divine spark within the human body. This divine spark could be liberated by gnosis, spiritual knowledge acquired through direct experience. Some of the core teachings include the following:

All matter is evil, and the non-material, spirit-realm is good.

There is an unknowable God, who gave rise to many lesser spirit beings called Aeons.

The creator of the (material) universe is not the supreme god, but an inferior spirit (the Demiurge).

Gnosticism does not deal with "sin," only ignorance.

To achieve salvation, one needs gnosis (knowledge).

The Gnostic ideas and systems flourished in the Mediterranean world in the second century AD, in conjunction with and influenced by the early Christian movements and Middle Platonism. After the second century, a decline set in. In the Persian Empire, Gnosticism in the form of Manicheism spread as far as China, while Mandaeism is still alive in Iraq.

A major question in scholarly research is the qualification of Gnosticism, based on the study of its texts, as either an interreligious phenomenon or as an independent religion.

 

Gnosis refers to knowledge based on personal experience or perception. In a religious context, gnosis is mystical or esoteric knowledge based on direct participation with the divine. In most Gnostic systems, the sufficient cause of salvation is this "knowledge of" ("acquaintance with") the divine. It is an inward "knowing", comparable to that encouraged by Plotinus (neoplatonism), and differs from proto-orthodox Christian views.[1] Gnostics are "those who are oriented toward knowledge and understanding – or perception and learning – as a particular modality for living".

 

The usual meaning of gnostikos in Classical Greek texts is "learned" or "intellectual", such as used by Plato in the comparison of "practical" (praktikos) and "intellectual" (gnostikos). Plato's use of "learned" is fairly typical of Classical texts.

 

By the Hellenistic period, it began to also be associated with Greco-Roman mysteries, becoming synonymous with the Greek term musterion. The adjective is not used in the New Testament, but Clement of Alexandria[note 3] speaks of the "learned" (gnostikos) Christian in complimentary terms. The use of gnostikos in relation to heresy originates with interpreters of Irenaeus. Some scholars[note consider that Irenaeus sometimes uses gnostikos to simply mean "intellectual",[note 5] whereas his mention of "the intellectual sect" is a specific designation.

 

The term "Gnosticism" does not appear in ancient sources,[note 10] and was first coined in the 17th century by Henry More in a commentary on the seven letters of the Book of Revelation, where More used the term "Gnosticisme" to describe the heresy in Thyatira. The term Gnosticism was derived from the use of the Greek adjective gnostikos (Greek γνωστικός, "learned", "intellectual") by St. Irenaeus (c. 185 AD) to describe the school of Valentinus as he legomene gnostike haeresis "the heresy called Learned (gnostic)."

 

Origins

The earliest origins of Gnosticism are obscure and still disputed. The proto-orthodox Christian groups called Gnostics a heresy of Christianity,] but according to the modern scholars the theology's origin is closely related to Jewish sectarian milieus and early Christian sects. Scholars debate Gnosticism's origins as having roots in Neoplatonism and Buddhism, due to similarities in beliefs, but ultimately, its origins are currently unknown. As Christianity developed and became more popular, so did Gnosticism, with both proto-orthodox Christian and Gnostic Christian groups often existing in the same places. The Gnostic belief was widespread within Christianity until the proto-orthodox Christian communities expelled the group in the second and third centuries (C.E.). Gnosticism became the first group to be declared heretical.

 

Some scholars prefer to speak of "gnosis" when referring to first-century ideas that later developed into gnosticism, and to reserve the term "gnosticism" for the synthesis of these ideas into a coherent movement in the second century.No gnostic texts have been discovered that pre-date Christianity,and "pre-Christian Gnosticism as such is hardly attested in a way to settle the debate once and for all."

 

Jewish Christian origins

 

Contemporary scholarship largely agrees that Gnosticism has Jewish Christian origins, originating in the late first century AD in non rabbinical Jewish sects and early Christian sects.

 

Many heads of gnostic schools were identified as Jewish Christians by Church Fathers, and Hebrew words and names of God were applied in some gnostic systems. The cosmogonic speculations among Christian Gnostics had partial origins in Maaseh Bereshit and Maaseh Merkabah. This thesis is most notably put forward by Gershom Scholem (1897–1982) and Gilles Quispel (1916–2006). Scholem detected Jewish gnosis in the imagery of the merkavah, which can also be found in "Christian" Gnostic documents, for example the being "caught away" to the third heaven mentioned by Paul the Apostle. Quispel sees Gnosticism as an independent Jewish development, tracing its origins to Alexandrian Jews, to which group Valentinus was also connected.

 

Many of the Nag Hammadi texts make reference to Judaism, in some cases with a violent rejection of the Jewish God. Gershom Scholem once described Gnosticism as "the Greatest case of metaphysical anti-Semitism". Professor Steven Bayme said gnosticism would be better characterized as anti-Judaism. Recent research into the origins of Gnosticism shows a strong Jewish influence, particularly from Hekhalot literature.

 

Within early Christianity, the teachings of Paul and John may have been a starting point for Gnostic ideas, with a growing emphasis on the opposition between flesh and spirit, the value of charisma, and the disqualification of the Jewish law. The mortal body belonged to the world of inferior, worldly powers (the archons), and only the spirit or soul could be saved. The term gnostikos may have acquired a deeper significance here.

 

Alexandria was of central importance for the birth of Gnosticism. The Christian ecclesia (i. e. congregation, church) was of Jewish–Christian origin, but also attracted Greek members, and various strand of thought were available, such as "Judaic apocalypticism, speculation on divine wisdom, Greek philosophy, and Hellenistic mystery religions."

 

Regarding the angel Christology of some early Christians, Darrell Hannah notes:

 

[Some] early Christians understood the pre-incarnate Christ, ontologically, as an angel. This "true" angel Christology took many forms and may have appeared as early as the late First Century, if indeed this is the view opposed in the early chapters of the Epistle to the Hebrews. The Elchasaites, or at least Christians influenced by them, paired the male Christ with the female Holy Spirit, envisioning both as two gigantic angels. Some Valentinian Gnostics supposed that Christ took on an angelic nature and that he might be the Saviour of angels. The author of the Testament of Solomon held Christ to be a particularly effective "thwarting" angel in the exorcism of demons. The author of De Centesima and Epiphanius’ "Ebionites" held Christ to have been the highest and most important of the first created archangels, a view similar in many respects to Hermas’ equation of Christ with Michael. Finally, a possible exegetical tradition behind the Ascension of Isaiah and attested by Origen's Hebrew master, may witness to yet another angel Christology, as well as an angel Pneumatology.

 

The pseudepigraphical Christian text Ascension of Isaiah identifies Jesus with angel Christology:

 

[The Lord Christ is commissioned by the Father] And I heard the voice of the Most High, the father of my LORD as he said to my LORD Christ who will be called Jesus, ‘Go out and descend through all the heavens...

 

The Shepherd of Hermas is a Christian literary work considered as canonical scripture by some of the early Church fathers such as Irenaeus. Jesus is identified with angel Christology in parable 5, when the author mentions a Son of God, as a virtuous man filled with a Holy "pre-existent spirit".

 

Neoplatonic influences

See also: Platonic Academy, Neoplatonism and Gnosticism, and Neoplatonism and Christianity

In the 1880s Gnostic connections with neo-Platonism were proposed.Ugo Bianchi, who organised the Congress of Messina of 1966 on the origins of Gnosticism, also argued for Orphic and Platonic origins.Gnostics borrowed significant ideas and terms from Platonism, using Greek philosophical concepts throughout their text, including such concepts as hypostasis (reality, existence), ousia (essence, substance, being), and demiurge (creator God). Both Sethian Gnostics and Valentinian Gnostics seem to have been influenced by Plato, Middle Platonism, and Neo-Pythagoreanism academies or schools of thought. Both schools attempted "an effort towards conciliation, even affiliation" with late antique philosophy, and were rebuffed by some Neoplatonists, including Plotinus.

 

Persian origins or influences

Early research into the origins of Gnosticism proposed Persian origins or influences, spreading to Europe and incorporating Jewish elements. According to Wilhelm Bousset (1865–1920), Gnosticism was a form of Iranian and Mesopotamian syncretism,[29] and Richard August Reitzenstein (1861–1931) most famously situated the origins of Gnosticism in Persia.

 

Carsten Colpe (b. 1929) has analyzed and criticised the Iranian hypothesis of Reitzenstein, showing that many of his hypotheses are untenable. Nevertheless, Geo Widengren (1907–1996) argued for the origin of (Mandaean) Gnosticism in Mazdean (Zoroastrianism) Zurvanism, in conjunction with ideas from the Aramaic Mesopotamian world.

 

Buddhist parallels

 

In 1966, at the Congress of Median, Buddhologist Edward Conze noted phenomenological commonalities between Mahayana Buddhism and Gnosticism, in his paper Buddhism and Gnosis, following an early suggestion put forward by Isaac Jacob Schmidt. The influence of Buddhism in any sense on either the gnostikos Valentinus (c. 170) or the Nag Hammadi texts (3rd century) is not supported by modern scholarship, although Elaine Pagels (1979) called it a "possibility".

 

Characteristics

Cosmology

 

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The Syrian–Egyptian traditions postulate a remote, supreme Godhead, the Monad. From this highest divinity emanate lower divine beings, known as Aeons. The Demiurge, one of those Aeons, creates the physical world. Divine elements "fall" into the material realm, and are locked within human beings. This divine element returns to the divine realm when Gnosis, esoteric or intuitive knowledge of the divine element within, is obtained.

 

Dualism and monism

Gnostic systems postulate a dualism between God and the world, varying from the "radical dualist" systems of Manichaeism to the "mitigated dualism" of classic gnostic movements. Radical dualism, or absolute dualism, posits two co-equal divine forces, while in mitigated dualism one of the two principles is in some way inferior to the other. In qualified monism the second entity may be divine or semi-divine. Valentinian Gnosticism is a form of monism, expressed in terms previously used in a dualistic manner.

 

Moral and ritual practice

Gnostics tended toward asceticism, especially in their sexual and dietary practice. In other areas of morality, Gnostics were less rigorously ascetic, and took a more moderate approach to correct behaviour. In normative early Christianity the Church administered and prescribed the correct behaviour for Christians, while in Gnosticism it was the internalised motivation that was important. Ritualistic behaviour was not important unless it was based on a personal, internal motivation. Ptolemy's Epistle to Flora describes a general asceticism, based on the moral inclination of the individual.

 

Concepts

Monad

 

In many Gnostic systems, God is known as the Monad, the One. God is the high source of the pleroma, the region of light. The various emanations of God are called æons. According to Hippolytus, this view was inspired by the Pythagoreans, who called the first thing that came into existence the Monad, which begat the dyad, which begat the numbers, which begat the point, begetting lines, etc.

 

The Sethian cosmogony as most famously contained in the Apocryphon ("Secret book") of John describes an unknown God, very similar to the orthodox apophatic theology, but different from the orthodox teachings that this God is the creator of heaven and earth. Orthodox theologians often attempt to define God through a series of explicit positive statements: he is omniscient, omnipotent, and truly benevolent. The Sethian hidden transcendent God is, by contrast, defined through negative theology: he is immovable, invisible, intangible, ineffable; commonly, "he" is seen as being hermaphroditic, a potent symbol for being, as it were, "all-containing". In the Apocryphon of John, this god is good in that it bestows goodness. After the apophatic statements, the process of the Divine in action is used to describe the effect of such a god.

 

Pleroma

Pleroma (Greek πλήρωμα, "fullness") refers to the totality of God's powers. The heavenly pleroma is the center of divine life, a region of light "above" (the term is not to be understood spatially) our world, occupied by spiritual beings such as aeons (eternal beings) and sometimes archons. Jesus is interpreted as an intermediary aeon who was sent from the pleroma, with whose aid humanity can recover the lost knowledge of the divine origins of humanity. The term is thus a central element of Gnostic cosmology.

 

Pleroma is also used in the general Greek language, and is used by the Greek Orthodox church in this general form, since the word appears in the Epistle to the Colossians. Proponents of the view that Paul was actually a gnostic, such as Elaine Pagels, view the reference in Colossians as a term that has to be interpreted in a gnostic sense.

 

Emanation

 

The Supreme Light or Consciousness descends through a series of stages, gradations, worlds, or hypostases, becoming progressively more material and embodied. In time it will turn around to return to the One (epistrophe), retracing its steps through spiritual knowledge and contemplation.

 

Aeon

 

In many Gnostic systems, the aeons are the various emanations of the superior God or Monad. From this first being, also an æon, a series of different emanations occur, beginning in certain Gnostic texts with the hermaphroditic Barbelo, from which successive pairs of aeons emanate, often in male–female pairings called syzygies. The numbers of these pairings varied from text to text, though some identify their number as being thirty. The aeons as a totality constitute the pleroma, the "region of light". The lowest regions of the pleroma are closest to the darkness; that is, the physical world.

 

Two of the most commonly paired æons were Christ and Sophia (Greek: "Wisdom"); the latter refers to Christ as her "consort" in A Valentinian Exposition.

 

Sophia

 

In Gnostic tradition, the term Sophia (Σoφíα, Greek for "wisdom") refers to the final and lowest emanation of God. In most if not all versions of the gnostic myth, Sophia births the demiurge, who in turn brings about the creation of materiality. The positive or negative depiction of materiality thus resides a great deal on mythic depictions of Sophia's actions. She is occasionally referred to by the Hebrew equivalent of Achamoth (this is a feature of Ptolemy's version of the Valentinian gnostic myth). Jewish Gnosticism with a focus on Sophia was active by 90 AD.[citation needed]

 

Sophia, emanating without her partner, resulted in the production of the Demiurge (Greek: lit. "public builder"),[50] who is also referred to as Yaldabaoth and variations thereof in some Gnostic texts.[43] This creature is concealed outside the pleroma;[43] in isolation, and thinking itself alone, it creates materiality and a host of co-actors, referred to as archons. The demiurge is responsible for the creation of mankind; trapping elements of the pleroma stolen from Sophia inside human bodies.[43][51] In response, the Godhead emanates two savior aeons, Christ and the Holy Spirit; Christ then embodies itself in the form of Jesus, in order to be able to teach man how to achieve gnosis, by which they may return to the pleroma.[52]

 

Demiurge[edit]

 

A lion-faced deity found on a Gnostic gem in Bernard de Montfaucon's L'antiquité expliquée et représentée en figures may be a depiction of Yaldabaoth, the Demiurge; however, cf. Mithraic Zervan Akarana[53]

Main article: Demiurge

The term demiurge derives from the Latinized form of the Greek term dēmiourgos, δημιουργός, literally "public or skilled worker".[note 20] This figure is also called "Yaldabaoth",[43] Samael (Aramaic: sæmʻa-ʼel, "blind god"), or "Saklas" (Syriac: sækla, "the foolish one"), who is sometimes ignorant of the superior god, and sometimes opposed to it; thus in the latter case he is correspondingly malevolent. Other names or identifications are Ahriman, El, Satan, and Yahweh.

 

The demiurge creates the physical universe and the physical aspect of humanity.[55] The demiurge typically creates a group of co-actors named archons who preside over the material realm and, in some cases, present obstacles to the soul seeking ascent from it.[43] The inferiority of the demiurge's creation may be compared to the technical inferiority of a work of art, painting, sculpture, etc. to the thing the art represents. In other cases it takes on a more ascetic tendency to view material existence negatively, which then becomes more extreme when materiality, including the human body, is perceived as evil and constrictive, a deliberate prison for its inhabitants.

 

Moral judgements of the demiurge vary from group to group within the broad category of Gnosticism, viewing materiality as being inherently evil, or as merely flawed and as good as its passive constituent matter allows.[56]

 

Archon[edit]

Main article: Archon (Gnosticism)

In late antiquity some variants of Gnosticism used the term archon to refer to several servants of the demiurge.[51] In this context they may be seen as having the roles of the angels and demons of the Old Testament.[citation needed]

 

According to Origen's Contra Celsum, a sect called the Ophites posited the existence of seven archons, beginning with Iadabaoth or Ialdabaoth, who created the six that follow: Iao, Sabaoth, Adonaios, Elaios, Astaphanos, and Horaios.[57] Similarly to the Mithraic Kronos and Vedic Narasimha, a form of Vishnu, Ialdabaoth had a head of a lion.[43][58][59]

 

Other concepts[edit]

Other Gnostic concepts are:[60]

 

sarkic – earthly, hidebound, ignorant, uninitiated. The lowest level of human thought; the fleshly, instinctive level of thinking.

hylic – lowest order of the three types of human. Unable to be saved since their thinking is entirely material, incapable of understanding the gnosis.

psychic – "soulful", partially initiated. Matter-dwelling spirits

pneumatic – "spiritual", fully initiated, immaterial souls escaping the doom of the material world via gnosis.

kenoma – the visible or manifest cosmos, "lower" than the pleroma

charisma – gift, or energy, bestowed by pneumatics through oral teaching and personal encounters

logos – the divine ordering principle of the cosmos; personified as Christ. See also Odic force.

hypostasis – literally "that which stands beneath" the inner reality, emanation (appearance) of God, known to psychics

ousia – essence of God, known to pneumatics. Specific individual things or being.

Jesus as Gnostic saviour[edit]

Jesus is identified by some Gnostics as an embodiment of the supreme being who became incarnate to bring gnōsis to the earth,[61][52] while others adamantly denied that the supreme being came in the flesh, claiming Jesus to be merely a human who attained divinity through gnosis and taught his disciples to do the same.[citation needed] Among the Mandaeans, Jesus was considered a mšiha kdaba or "false messiah" who perverted the teachings entrusted to him by John the Baptist.[62] Still other traditions identify Mani and Seth – third son of Adam and Eve – as salvific figures.

 

Development[edit]

Three periods can be discerned in the development of Gnosticism:[63]

 

Late first century and early second century: development of Gnostic ideas, contemporaneous with the writing of the New Testament;

mid-second century to early third century: high point of the classical Gnostic teachers and their systems, "who claimed that their systems represented the inner truth revealed by Jesus";[63]

end of second century to fourth century: reaction by the proto-orthodox church and condemnation as heresy, and subsequent decline.

During the first period, three types of tradition developed:[63]

 

Genesis was reinterpreted in Jewish milieus, viewing Jahweh as a jealous God who enslaved people; freedom was to be obtained from this jealous God;

A wisdom tradition developed, in which Jesus' sayings were interpreted as pointers to an esoteric wisdom, in which the soul could be divinized through identification with wisdom.[63][note 21] Some of Jesus' sayings may have been incorporated into the gospels to put a limit on this development. The conflicts described in 1 Corinthians may have been inspired by a clash between this wisdom tradition and Paul's gospel of crucifixion and arising;[63]

A mythical story developed about the descent of a heavenly creature to reveal the Divine world as the true home of human beings.[63] Jewish Christianity saw the Messiah, or Christ, as "an eternal aspect of God's hidden nature, his "spirit" and "truth", who revealed himself throughout sacred history".[25]

The movement spread in areas controlled by the Roman Empire and Arian Goths,[65] and the Persian Empire. It continued to develop in the Mediterranean and Middle East before and during the 2nd and 3rd centuries, but decline also set in during the third century, due to a growing aversion from the Catholic Church, and the economic and cultural deterioration of the Roman Empire.[66] Conversion to Islam, and the Albigensian Crusade (1209–1229), greatly reduced the remaining number of Gnostics throughout the Middle Ages, though a few Mandaean communities still exist. Gnostic and pseudo-gnostic ideas became influential in some of the philosophies of various esoteric mystical movements of the 19th and 20th centuries in Europe and North America, including some that explicitly identify themselves as revivals or even continuations of earlier gnostic groups.

 

Relation with early Christianity[edit]

Dillon notes that Gnosticism raises questions about the development of early Christianity.[67]

 

Orthodoxy and heresy[edit]

See also: Diversity in early Christian theology

The Christian heresiologists, most notably Irenaeus, regarded Gnosticism as a Christian heresy. Modern scholarship notes that early Christianity was very diverse, and Christian orthodoxy only settled in the 4th century, when the Roman Empire declined and Gnosticism lost its influence.[68][66][69][67] Gnostics and proto-orthodox Christians shared some terminology. Initially, they were hard to distinguish from each other.[70]

 

According to Walter Bauer, "heresies" may well have been the original form of Christianity in many regions.[71] This theme was further developed by Elaine Pagels,[72] who argues that "the proto-orthodox church found itself in debates with gnostic Christians that helped them to stabilize their own beliefs."[67] According to Gilles Quispel, Catholicism arose in response to Gnosticism, establishing safeguards in the form of the monarchic episcopate, the creed, and the canon of holy books.[73]

 

Historical Jesus[edit]

See also: Jesus in comparative mythology and Christ myth theory

The Gnostic movements may contain information about the historical Jesus, since some texts preserve sayings which show similarities with canonical sayings.[74] Especially the Gospel of Thomas has a significant amount of parallel sayings.[74] Yet, a striking difference is that the canonical sayings center on the coming endtime, while the Thomas-sayings center on a kingdom of heaven that is already here, and not a future event.[75] According to Helmut Koester, this is because the Thomas-sayings are older, implying that in the earliest forms of Christianity Jesus was regarded as a wisdom-teacher.[75] An alternative hypothesis states that the Thomas authors wrote in the second century, changing existing sayings and eliminating the apocalyptic concerns.[75] According to April DeConick, such a change occurred when the endtime did not come, and the Thomasine tradition turned toward a "new theology of mysticism" and a "theological commitment to a fully-present kingdom of heaven here and now, where their church had attained Adam and Eve's divine status before the Fall."[75]

 

Johannine literature[edit]

The prologue of the Gospel of John describes the incarnated Logos, the light that came to earth, in the person of Jesus.[76] The Apocryphon of John contains a scheme of three descendants from the heavenly realm, the third one being Jesus, just as in the Gospel of John. The similarities probably point to a relationship between gnostic ideas and the Johannine community.[76] According to Raymond Brown, the Gospel of John shows "the development of certain gnostic ideas, especially Christ as heavenly revealer, the emphasis on light versus darkness, and anti-Jewish animus."[76] The Johannine material reveals debates about the redeemer myth.[63] The Johannine letters show that there were different interpretations of the gospel story, and the Johannine images may have contributed to second-century Gnostic ideas about Jesus as a redeemer who descended from heaven.[63] According to DeConick, the Gospel of John shows a "transitional system from early Christianity to gnostic beliefs in a God who transcends our world."[76] According to DeConick, John may show a bifurcation of the idea of the Jewish God into Jesus' Father in Heaven and the Jews' father, "the Father of the Devil" (most translations say "of [your] father the Devil"), which may have developed into the gnostic idea of the Monad and the Demiurge.[76]

 

Paul and Gnosticism[edit]

Tertullian calls Paul "the apostle of the heretics",[77] because Paul's writings were attractive to gnostics, and interpreted in a gnostic way, while Jewish Christians found him to stray from the Jewish roots of Christianity.[78] In I Corinthians Paul refers to some church members as "having knowledge" (Greek: τὸν ἔχοντα γνῶσιν, ton echonta gnosin).[79] James Dunn claims that in some cases, Paul affirmed views that were closer to gnosticism than to proto-orthodox Christianity.[80]

 

According to Clement of Alexandria, the disciples of Valentinus said that Valentinus was a student of a certain Theudas, who was a student of Paul,[80] and Elaine Pagels notes that Paul's epistles were interpreted by Valentinus in a gnostic way, and Paul could be considered a proto-gnostic as well as a proto-Catholic.[60] Many Nag Hammadi texts, including, for example, the Prayer of Paul and the Coptic Apocalypse of Paul, consider Paul to be "the great apostle".[80] The fact that he claimed to have received his gospel directly by revelation from God appealed to the gnostics, who claimed gnosis from the risen Christ.[81] The Naassenes, Cainites, and Valentinians referred to Paul's epistles.[82] Timothy Freke and Peter Gandy have expanded upon this idea of Paul as a gnostic teacher;[83] although their premise that Jesus was invented by early Christians based on an alleged Greco-Roman mystery cult has been dismissed by scholars.[84][note 22] However, his revelation was different from the gnostic revelations.[85]

 

Major movements[edit]

Syrian-Egyptian Gnosticism[edit]

Syrian-Egyptian Gnosticism includes Sethianism, Valentinianism, Basilideans, Thomasine traditions, and Serpent Gnostics, as well as a number of other minor groups and writers.[86] Hermeticism is also a western Gnostic tradition,[66] though it differs in some respects from these other groups.[87] The Syrian–Egyptian school derives much of its outlook from Platonist influences. It depicts creation in a series of emanations from a primal monadic source, finally resulting in the creation of the material universe. These schools tend to view evil in terms of matter that is markedly inferior to goodness and lacking spiritual insight and goodness rather than as an equal force.

 

Many of these movements used texts related to Christianity, with some identifying themselves as specifically Christian, though quite different from the Orthodox or Roman Catholic forms. Jesus and several of his apostles, such as Thomas the Apostle, claimed as the founder of the Thomasine form of Gnosticism, figure in many Gnostic texts. Mary Magdalene is respected as a Gnostic leader, and is considered superior to the twelve apostles by some gnostic texts, such as the Gospel of Mary. John the Evangelist is claimed as a Gnostic by some Gnostic interpreters,[88] as is even St. Paul.[60] Most of the literature from this category is known to us through the Nag Hammadi Library.

 

Sethite-Barbeloite[edit]

Main article: Sethianism

Sethianism was one of the main currents of Gnosticism during the 2nd to 3rd centuries, and the prototype of Gnosticism as condemned by Irenaeus.[89] Sethianism attributed its gnosis to Seth, third son of Adam and Eve and Norea, wife of Noah, who also plays a role in Mandeanism and Manicheanism. Their main text is the Apocryphon of John, which does not contain Christian elements,[89] and is an amalgam of two earlier myths.[90] Earlier texts such as Apocalypse of Adam show signs of being pre-Christian and focus on the Seth, third son of Adam and Eve.[91] Later Sethian texts continue to interact with Platonism. Sethian texts such as Zostrianos and Allogenes draw on the imagery of older Sethian texts, but utilize "a large fund of philosophical conceptuality derived from contemporary Platonism, (that is, late middle Platonism) with no traces of Christian content."[31][note 23]

 

According to John D. Turner, German and American scholarship views Sethianism as "a distinctly inner-Jewish, albeit syncretistic and heterodox, phenomenon", while British and French scholarship tends to see Sethianism as "a form of heterodox Christian speculation".[92] Roelof van den Broek notes that "Sethianism" may never have been a separate religious movement, and that the term refers rather to a set of mythological themes which occur in various texts.[93]

 

According to Smith, Sethianism may have begun as a pre-Christian tradition, possibly a syncretic cult that incorporated elements of Christianity and Platonism as it grew.[94] According to Temporini, Vogt, and Haase, early Sethians may be identical to or related to the Nazarenes (sect), the Ophites, or the sectarian group called heretics by Philo.[91]

 

According to Turner, Sethianism was influenced by Christianity and Middle Platonism, and originated in the second century as a fusion of a Jewish baptizing group of possibly priestly lineage, the so-called Barbeloites,[95] named after Barbelo, the first emanation of the Highest God, and a group of Biblical exegetes, the Sethites, the "seed of Seth".[96] At the end of the second century, Sethianism grew apart from the developing Christian orthodoxy, which rejected the docetian view of the Sethians on Christ.[97] In the early third century, Sethianism was fully rejected by Christian heresiologists, as Sethianism shifted toward the contemplative practices of Platonism while losing interest in their own origins.[98] In the late third century, Sethianism was attacked by neo-Platonists like Plotinus, and Sethianism became alienated from Platonism. In the early- to mid-fourth century, Sethianism fragmented into various sectarian Gnostic groups such as the Archontics, Audians, Borborites, and Phibionites, and perhaps Stratiotici, and Secundians.[99][31] Some of these groups existed into the Middle Ages.[99]

 

Samaritan Baptist sects[edit]

According to Magris, Samaritan Baptist sects were an offshoot of John the Baptist.[100] One offshoot was in turn headed by Dositheus, Simon Magus, and Menander. It was in this milieu that the idea emerged that the world was created by ignorant angels. Their baptismal ritual removed the consequences of sin, and led to a regeneration by which natural death, which was caused by these angels, was overcome.[100] The Samaritan leaders were viewed as "the embodiment of God's power, spirit, or wisdom, and as the redeemer and revealer of 'true knowledge'".[100]

 

The Simonians were centered on Simon Magus, the magician baptised by Philip and rebuked by Peter in Acts 8, who became in early Christianity the archetypal false teacher. The ascription by Justin Martyr, Irenaeus, and others of a connection between schools in their time and the individual in Acts 8 may be as legendary as the stories attached to him in various apocryphal books. Justin Martyr identifies Menander of Antioch as Simon Magus' pupil. According to Hippolytus, Simonianism is an earlier form of the Valentinian doctrine.[101]

 

The Basilidians or Basilideans were founded by Basilides of Alexandria in the second century. Basilides claimed to have been taught his doctrines by Glaucus, a disciple of St. Peter, but could also have been a pupil of Menander.[102] Basilidianism survived until the end of the 4th century as Epiphanius knew of Basilidians living in the Nile Delta. It was, however, almost exclusively limited to Egypt, though according to Sulpicius Severus it seems to have found an entrance into Spain through a certain Mark from Memphis. St. Jerome states that the Priscillianists were infected with it.

 

Valentinianism[edit]

Main article: Valentinianism

Valentinianism was named after its founder Valentinus (c. 100 – 180), who was a candidate for bishop of Rome but started his own group when another was chosen.[103] Valentinianism flourished after the middle of the 2nd century. The school was popular, spreading to Northwest Africa and Egypt, and through to Asia Minor and Syria in the east,[104] and Valentinus is specifically named as gnostikos by Irenaeus. It was an intellectually vibrant tradition,[105] with an elaborate and philosophically "dense" form of Gnosticism. Valentinus' students elaborated on his teachings and materials, and several varieties of their central myth are known.

 

Valentinian Gnosticism may have been monistic rather than dualistic.[note 24] In the Valentinian myths, the creation of a flawed materiality is not due to any moral failing on the part of the Demiurge, but due to the fact that he is less perfect than the superior entities from which he emanated.[108] Valentinians treat physical reality with less contempt than other Gnostic groups, and conceive of materiality not as a separate substance from the divine, but as attributable to an error of perception which becomes symbolized mythopoetically as the act of material creation.[108]

 

The followers of Valentinius attempted to systematically decode the Epistles, claiming that most Christians made the mistake of reading the Epistles literally rather than allegorically. Valentinians understood the conflict between Jews and Gentiles in Romans to be a coded reference to the differences between Psychics (people who are partly spiritual but have not yet achieved separation from carnality) and Pneumatics (totally spiritual people). The Valentinians argued that such codes were intrinsic in gnosticism, secrecy being important to ensuring proper progression to true inner understanding.[note 25]

 

According to Bentley Layton "Classical Gnosticism" and "The School of Thomas" antedated and influenced the development of Valentinus, whom Layton called "the great [Gnostic] reformer" and "the focal point" of Gnostic development. While in Alexandria, where he was born, Valentinus probably would have had contact with the Gnostic teacher Basilides, and may have been influenced by him.[109] Simone Petrement, while arguing for a Christian origin of Gnosticism, places Valentinus after Basilides, but before the Sethians. According to Petrement, Valentinus represented a moderation of the anti-Judaism of the earlier Hellenized teachers; the demiurge, widely regarded as a mythological depiction of the Old Testament God of the Hebrews, is depicted as more ignorant than evil.[110]

 

Thomasine traditions[edit]

The Thomasine Traditions refers to a group of texts which are attributed to the apostle Thomas.[111][note 26] Karen L. King notes that "Thomasine Gnosticism" as a separate category is being criticised, and may "not stand the test of scholarly scrutiny".[112]

 

Marcion[edit]

Marcion was a Church leader from Sinope (present-day Turkey), who preached in Rome around 150 CE,[113] but was expelled and started his own congregation, which spread throughout the Mediterranean. He rejected the Old Testament, and followed a limited Christian canon, which included only a redacted version of Luke, and ten edited letters of Paul.[114] Some scholars do not consider him to be a gnostic,[115][note 27] but his teachings clearly resemble some Gnostic teachings.[113] He preached a radical difference between the God of the Old Testament, the Demiurge, the "evil creator of the material universe", and the highest God, the "loving, spiritual God who is the father of Jesus", who had sent Jesus to the earth to free mankind from the tyranny of the Jewish Law.[113][2] Like the Gnostics, Marcion argued that Jesus was essentially a divine spirit appearing to men in the shape of a human form, and not someone in a true physical body.[116] Marcion held that the heavenly Father (the father of Jesus Christ) was an utterly alien god; he had no part in making the world, nor any connection with it.[116]

 

Hermeticism[edit]

Hermeticism is closely related to Gnosticism, but its orientation is more positive.[66][87]

 

Other Gnostic groups[edit]

Serpent Gnostics. The Naassenes, Ophites and the Serpentarians gave prominence to snake symbolism, and snake handling played a role in their ceremonies.[113]

Cerinthus (c. 100), the founder of a heretical school with gnostic elements. Like a Gnostic, Cerinthus depicted Christ as a heavenly spirit separate from the man Jesus, and he cited the demiurge as creating the material world. Unlike the Gnostics, Cerinthus taught Christians to observe the Jewish law; his demiurge was holy, not lowly; and he taught the Second Coming. His gnosis was a secret teaching attributed to an apostle. Some scholars believe that the First Epistle of John was written as a response to Cerinthus.[117]

The Cainites are so-named since Hippolytus of Rome claims that they worshiped Cain, as well as Esau, Korah, and the Sodomites. There is little evidence concerning the nature of this group. Hippolytus claims that they believed that indulgence in sin was the key to salvation because since the body is evil, one must defile it through immoral activity (see libertinism). The name Cainite is used as the name of a religious movement, and not in the usual Biblical sense of people descended from Cain.

The Carpocratians, a libertine sect following only the Gospel according to the Hebrews

The school of Justin, which combined gnostic elements with the ancient Greek religion.

The Borborites, a libertine Gnostic sect, said to be descended from the Nicolaitans[118]

Persian Gnosticism[edit]

The Persian Schools, which appeared in the western Persian province of Babylonia (in particular, within the Sassanid province of Asuristan), and whose writings were originally produced in the Aramaic dialects spoken in Babylonia at the time, are representative of what is believed to be among the oldest of the Gnostic thought forms. These movements are considered by most to be religions in their own right, and are not emanations from Christianity or Judaism.

 

Manichaeism[edit]

 

Manicheanism priests writing at their desks, with panel inscription in Sogdian. Manuscript from Khocho, Tarim Basin.

Main article: Manichaeism

Manichaeism was founded by the Prophet Mani (216–276). Mani's father was a member of the Jewish-Christian sect of the Elcesaites, a subgroup of the Gnostic Ebionites. At ages 12 and 24, Mani had visionary experiences of a "heavenly twin" of his, calling him to leave his father's sect and preach the true message of Christ. In 240–41, Mani travelled to the Indo-Greek Kingdom of the Sakhas in modern-day Afghanistan, where he studied Hinduism and its various extant philosophies. Returning in 242, he joined the court of Shapur I, to whom he dedicated his only work written in Persian, known as the Shabuhragan. The original writings were written in Syriac Aramaic, in a unique Manichaean script.

 

Manichaeism conceives of two coexistent realms of light and darkness that become embroiled in conflict. Certain elements of the light became entrapped within darkness, and the purpose of material creation is to engage in the slow process of extraction of these individual elements. In the end the kingdom of light will prevail over darkness. Manicheanism inherits this dualistic mythology from Zurvanist Zoroastrianism,[119] in which the eternal spirit Ahura Mazda is opposed by his antithesis, Angra Mainyu. This dualistic teaching embodied an elaborate cosmological myth that included the defeat of a primal man by the powers of darkness that devoured and imprisoned the particles of light.[120]

 

According to Kurt Rudolph, the decline of Manichaeism that occurred in Persia in the 5th century was too late to prevent the spread of the movement into the east and the west.[121] In the west, the teachings of the school moved into Syria, Northern Arabia, Egypt and North Africa.[note 28] There is evidence for Manicheans in Rome and Dalmatia in the 4th century, and also in Gaul and Spain. From Syria it progressed still farther, into Palestine, Asia Minor and Armenia. The influence of Manicheanism was attacked by imperial elects and polemical writings, but the religion remained prevalent until the 6th century, and still exerted influence in the emergence of the Paulicians, Bogomils and Cathari in the Middle Ages, until it was ultimately stamped out by the Catholic Church.[121]

 

In the east, Rudolph relates, Manicheanism was able to bloom, because the religious monopoly position previously held by Christianity and Zoroastrianism had been broken by nascent Islam. In the early years of the Arab conquest, Manicheanism again found followers in Persia (mostly amongst educated circles), but flourished most in Central Asia, to which it had spread through Iran. Here, in 762, Manicheanism became the state religion of the Uyghur Empire.[121]

 

Mandaeanism[edit]

Main article: Mandaeanism

 

Mandaean house of worship in Nasiriya, Iraq

The Mandaeans are Semites and speak a dialect of Eastern Aramaic known as Mandaic. Their religion has been practised primarily around the lower Karun, Euphrates and Tigris and the rivers that surround the Shatt-al-Arab waterway, part of southern Iraq and Khuzestan Province in Iran. Mandaeanism is still practiced in small numbers, in parts of southern Iraq and the Iranian province of Khuzestan, and there are thought to be between 60,000 and 70,000 Mandaeans worldwide.[124]

 

The name of the group derives from the term Mandā d-Heyyi, which roughly means "Knowledge of Life". Although the exact chronological origins of this movement are not known, John the Baptist eventually came to be a key figure in the religion, as an emphasis on baptism is part of their core beliefs. As with Manichaeism, despite certain ties with Christianity,[125] Mandaeans do not believe in Moses, Jesus, or Mohammed. Their beliefs and practices likewise have little overlap with the religions that manifested from those religious figures and the two should not be confused. Significant amounts of original Mandaean Scripture, written in Mandaean Aramaic, survive in the modern era. The primary source text is known as the Genzā Rabbā and has portions identified by some scholars as being copied as early as the 3rd century. There is also the Qolastā, or Canonical Book of Prayer and The Book of John the Baptist (sidra ḏ-iahia).

 

Middle Ages[edit]

After its demise in the Mediterranean world, Gnosticism lived on in the periphery of the Byzantine Empire, and resurfaced in the western world. The Paulicians, an Adoptionist group which flourished between 650 and 872 in Armenia and the Eastern Themes of the Byzantine Empire, were accused by orthodox medieval sources of being Gnostic and quasi Manichaean Christian. The Bogomils, emerged in Bulgaria between 927 and 970 and spread throughout Europe. It was as synthesis of Armenian Paulicianism and the Bulgarian Orthodox Church reform movement.

 

The Cathars (Cathari, Albigenses or Albigensians) were also accused by their enemies of the traits of Gnosticism; though whether or not the Cathari possessed direct historical influence from ancient Gnosticism is disputed. If their critics are reliable the basic conceptions of Gnostic cosmology are to be found in Cathar beliefs (most distinctly in their notion of a lesser, Satanic, creator god), though they did not apparently place any special relevance upon knowledge (gnosis) as an effective salvific force.[verification needed]

 

Islam[edit]

The message of the Islamic prophet Muhammad shows close similarities to many Gnostic ideas. The Quran, like Gnostic cosmology, makes a sharp distinction between this world and the afterlife. The notion of four rivers in heaven, as mentioned in the Quran, separating this world from the other , also appears frequently in Mandaean literature. God is commonly thought of as being beyond human comprehension. In some Islamic schools of thought, somehow identifiable with the Gnostic Monad.[126][127] However, according to Islam and unlike most Gnostic sects, not rejection of this world, but performing good deeds leads to the heaven. And according to the Islamic belief in strict Oneness of God, there was no room for a lower deity; such as the demiurge.[128] According to Islam, both good and evil come from one God, a position especially opposed by the Manichaeans. Ibn al-Muqaffa depicted the Islamic deity as a demonic entity who "fights with humans and boasts about His victories" and "sitting on a throne, from which He can descend". It would be impossible that both light and darkness were created from one source, since they were regarded as two different eternal principles.[129] Muslim theologists countered this accusation by the example of a repeating sinner, who says: "I laid, and I repent";[130] this would prove that good can also result out of evil.

 

Islam also integrated traces of an entity given authority over the lower world in some early writings: Iblis is regarded by some Sufis as the owner of this world, and humans must avoid the treasures of this world, since they would belong to him.[131] In the Isma'ili Shia work Umm al Kitab, Azazil's role resembles whose of the Gnostic demiurge.[132] Like the demiurge, he is endowed with the ability to create his own world and seeks to imprison humans in the material world, but here, his power is limited and depends on the higher God.[133] Such Gnostic anthropogenic can be found frequently among Isma'ili traditions.[134] However, Ismailism were often criticised as non-Islamic. Ghazali characterized them as a group who are outwardly Shias but were actually adherence of a dualistic and philosophical religion. Further traces of Gnostic ideas can be found in Sufi anthropogenic.[135] Like the gnostic conception of human beings imprisoned in matter, Sufi-traditions acknowledges the human soul is an accomplice of the material world and subject to bodily desires similar to the way archontic spheres envelop the pneuma.[136] The Ruh must therefore gain victory over the lower and material-bound psyche, to overcome his animal nature. A human being captured by his animal desires, mistakenly claims autonomy and independence from the "higher God", thus resembling the lower deity in classical gnostic traditions. However, since the goal is not to abandon the created world, but just to free oneself from ones own lower desires, it can be disputed whether this can still be Gnostic, but rather a completion of the message of Muhammad.[129] It seems that Gnostic ideas were an influential part of early Islamic development but later lost its influence. However the Gnostic light metaphorics and the idea of unity of existence still prevailed in later Islamic thought.[127]

 

Kabbalah[edit]

Gnostic ideas found a Jewish variation in the mystical study of Kabbalah. Many core Gnostic ideas reappear in Kabbalah, where they are used for dramatically reinterpreting earlier Jewish sources according to this new system.[137] The Kabbalists originated in 13th-century Provence,[note 29] which was at that time also the center of the Gnostic Cathars. While some scholars in the middle of the 20th century tried to assume an influence between the Cathar "gnostics" and the origins of the Kabbalah, this assumption has proved to be an incorrect generalization not substantiated by any original texts.[139] On the other hand, other scholars, such as Scholem, have postulated that there was originally a "Jewish gnosticism", which influenced the early origins of gnosticism.[140]

 

Kabbalah does not employ the terminology or labels of non-Jewish Gnosticism, but grounds the same or similar concepts in the language of the Torah (the first five books of the Hebrew Bible).[141] The 13th-century Zohar ("Splendor"), a foundational text in Kabbalah, is written in the style of a Jewish Aramaic Midrash, clarifying the five books of the Torah with a new Kabbalistic system that uses completely Jewish terms.[142]

 

Modern times[edit]

Main article: Gnosticism in modern times

The Mandaeans are an ancient Gnostic sect that have survived to this day and are found today in Iraq.[143] Their namesake owes to their following John the Baptist and in that country, they have about five thousand followers.[143] A number of ecclesiastical bodies that think of themselves as Gnostic have set up or re-founded since World War II, including the Ecclesia Gnostica, Apostolic Johannite Church, Ecclesia Gnostica Catholica, the Gnostic Church of France, the Thomasine Church, the Alexandrian Gnostic Church, the North American College of Gnostic Bishops,[144] and the Universal Gnosticism of Samael Aun Weor.[145]

 

A number of 19th-century thinkers such as Arthur Schopenhauer,[146] Albert Pike and Madame Blavatsky studied Gnostic thought extensively and were influenced by it, and even figures like Herman Melville and W. B. Yeats were more tangentially influenced.[147] Jules Doinel "re-established" a Gnostic church in France in 1890, which altered its form as it passed through various direct successors (Fabre des Essarts as Tau Synésius and Joanny Bricaud as Tau Jean II most notably), and, though small, is still active today.[148]

 

Early 20th-century thinkers who heavily studied and were influenced by Gnosticism include Carl Jung (who supported Gnosticism), Eric Voegelin (who opposed it), Jorge Luis Borges (who included it in many of his short stories), and Aleister Crowley, with figures such as Hermann Hesse being more moderately influenced. René Guénon founded the gnostic review, La Gnose in 1909, before moving to a more Perennialist position, and founding his Traditionalist School. Gnostic Thelemite organizations, such as Ecclesia Gnostica Catholica and Ordo Templi Orientis, trace themselves to Crowley's thought.

 

The discovery and translation of the Nag Hammadi library after 1945 has had a huge effect on Gnosticism since World War II. Intellectuals who were heavily influenced by Gnosticism in this period include Lawrence Durrell, Hans Jonas, Philip K. Dick and Harold Bloom, with Albert Camus and Allen Ginsberg being more moderately influenced.[147] Celia Green has written on Gnostic Christianity in relation to her own philosophy.[149]

 

Alfred North Whitehead was aware of the existence of the newly discovered Gnostic scrolls. Accordingly, Michel Weber has proposed a Gnostic interpretation of his late metaphysics.[150]

 

Sources[edit]

Heresiologists[edit]

Prior to the discovery of the Nag Hammadi library in 1945 Gnosticism was known primarily through the works of heresiologists, Church Fathers who opposed those movements. These writings had an antagonistic bias towards gnostic teachings, and were incomplete. Several heresiological writers, such as Hippolytus, made little effort to exactly record the nature of the sects they reported on, or transcribe their sacred texts. Reconstructions of incomplete Gnostic texts were attempted in modern times, but research on Gnosticism was coloured by the orthodox views of those heresiologists.

 

Justin Martyr (c. 100/114 – c. 162/168) wrote the First Apology, addressed to Roman Emperor Antoninus Pius, which criticising Simon Magus, Menander and Marcion. Since this time, both Simon and Menander have been considered as 'proto-Gnostic'.[151] Irenaeus (died c. 202) wrote Against Heresies (c. 180–185), which identifies Simon Magus from Flavia Neapolis in Samaria as the inceptor of Gnosticism. From Samaria he charted an apparent spread of the teachings of Simon through the ancient "knowers" into the teachings of Valentinus and other, contemporary Gnostic sects.[note 30] Hippolytus (170–235) wrote the ten-volume Refutation Against all Heresies, of which eight have been unearthed. It also focuses on the connection between pre-Socratic (and therefore Pre-Incantation of Christ) ideas and the false beliefs of early gnostic heretical leaders. Thirty-three of the groups he reported on are considered Gnostic by modern scholars, including 'the foreigners' and 'the Seth people'. Hippolytus further presents individual teachers such as Simon, Valentinus, Secundus, Ptolemy, Heracleon, Marcus and Colorbasus. Tertullian (c. 155–230) from Carthage wrote Adversus Valentinianos ('Against the Valentinians'), c. 206, as well as five books around 207–208 chronicling and refuting the teachings of Marcion.

 

Gnostic texts[edit]

See also: Gnostic texts and Nag Hammadi library

Prior to the discovery at Nag Hammadi, a limited number of texts were available to students of Gnosticism. Reconstructions were attempted from the records of the heresiologists, but these were necessarily coloured by the motivation behind the source accounts.

 

The Nag Hammadi library [note 31] is a collection of Gnostic texts discovered in 1945 near Nag Hammadi, Upper Egypt. Twelve leather-bound papyrus codices buried in a sealed jar were found by a local farmer named Muhammed al-Samman.[152] The writings in these codices comprised fifty-two mostly Gnostic treatises, but they also include three works belonging to the Corpus Hermeticum and a partial translation/alteration of Plato's Republic. These codices may have belonged to a nearby Pachomian monastery, and buried after Bishop Athanasius condemned the use of non-canonical books in his Festal Letter of 367.[153] Though the original language of composition was probably Greek, the various codices contained in the collection were written in Coptic. A 1st- or 2nd-century date of composition for the lost Greek originals has been proposed, though this is disputed; the manuscripts themselves date from the 3rd and 4th centuries. The Nag Hammadi texts demonstrated the fluidity of early Christian scripture and early Christianity itself.[note 32]

 

Academic studies[edit]

Development[edit]

Prior to the discovery of Nag Hammadi, the Gnostic movements were largely perceived through the lens of the early church heresiologists. Johann Lorenz von Mosheim (1694–1755) proposed that Gnosticism developed on its own in Greece and Mesopotamia, spreading to the west and incorporating Jewish elements. According to Mosheim, Jewish thought took Gnostic elements and used them against Greek philosophy.[33] J. Horn and Ernest Anton Lewald proposed Persian and Zoroastrian origins, while Jacques Matter described Gnosticism as an intrusion of eastern cosmological and theosophical speculation into Christianity.[33]

 

In the 1880s Gnosticism was placed within Greek philosophy, especially neo-Platonism.[29] Adolf von Harnack (1851–1930), who belonged to the School of the History of Dogma and proposed a Kirchengeschichtliches Ursprungsmodell, saw gnosticism as an internal development within the church under the influence of Greek philosophy.[29][155] According to Harnack, Gnosticism was the "acute Hellenization of Christianity."[29]

 

The Religionsgeschichtliche Schule ("history of religions school", 19th century) had a profound influence on the study of Gnosticism.[29] The Religionsgeschichtliche Schule saw Gnosticism as a pre-Christian phenomenon, and Christian gnosis as only one, and even marginal instance of this phenomenon.[29] According to Wilhelm Bousset (1865–1920), Gnosticism was a form of Iranian and Mesopotamian syncretism,[29] and Eduard Norden (1868–1941) also proposed pre-Christian origins,[29] while Richard August Reitzenstein (1861–1931), and Rudolf Bultmann (1884–1976) also situated the origins of Gnosticism in Persia.[29] Hans Heinrich Schaeder (1896–1957) and Hans Leisegang saw Gnosticism as an amalgam of eastern thought in a Greek form.[29]

 

Hans Jonas (1903–1993) took an intermediate approach, using both the comparative approach of the Religionsgeschichtliche Schule and the existentialist hermeneutics of Bultmann. Jonas emphasized the duality between God and the world, and concluded that Gnosticism cannot be derived from Platonism.[19]

 

Contemporary scholarship largely agrees that Gnosticism has Jewish or Judeo-Christian origins;[19] this theses is most notably put forward by Gershom G. Scholem (1897–1982) and Gilles Quispel (1916–2006).[156]

 

The study of Gnosticism and of early Alexandrian Christianity received a strong impetus from the discovery of the Coptic Nag Hammadi Library in 1945.[157][158] A great number of translations have been published, and the works of Elaine Pagels, Professor of Religion at Princeton University, especially The Gnostic Gospels, which detailed the suppression of some of the writings found at Nag Hammadi by early bishops of the Christian church, has popularized Gnosticism in mainstream culture,[web 3][web 4] but also incited strong responses and condemnations from clergical writers.[159]

 

Definitions of Gnosticism[edit]

According to Matthew J. Dillon, six trends can be discerned in the definitions of Gnosticism:[160]

 

Typologies, "a catalogue of shared characteristics that are used to classify a group of objects together."[160]

Traditional approaches, viewing Gnosticism as a Christian heresy[161]

Phenomenological approaches, most notably Hans Jonas[162]

Restricting Gnosticism, "identifying which groups were explicitly called gnostics",[163] or which groups were clearly sectarian[163]

Deconstructing Gnosticism, abandoning the category of "Gnosticism"[164]

Psychology and cognitive science of religion, approaching Gnosticism as a psychological phenomena[165]

Typologies[edit]

The 1966 Messina conference on the origins of gnosis and Gnosticism proposed to designate

 

... a particular group of systems of the second century after Christ" as gnosticism, and to use gnosis to define a conception of knowledge that transcends the times, which was described as "knowledge of divine mysteries for an élite.[166]

 

This definition has now been abandoned.[160] It created a religion, "Gnosticism", from the "gnosis" which was a widespread element of ancient religions,[note 33] suggesting a homogeneous conception of gnosis by these Gnostic religions, which did not exist at the time.[167]

 

According to Dillon, the texts from Nag Hammadi made clear that this definition was limited, and that they are "better classified by movements (such as Valentinian), mythological similarity (Sethian), or similar tropes (presence of a Demiurge)."[160] Dillon further notes that the Messian-definition "also excluded pre-Christian Gnosticism and later developments, such as the Mandaeans and the Manichaeans."[160]

 

Hans Jonas discerned two main currents of Gnosticism, namely Syrian-Egyptian, and Persian, which includes Manicheanism and Mandaeanism.[19] Among the Syrian-Egyptian schools and the movements they spawned are a typically more Monist view. Persian Gnosticism possesses more dualist tendencies, reflecting a strong influence from the beliefs of the Persian Zurvanist Zoroastrians. Those of the medieval Cathars, Bogomils, and Carpocratians seem to include elements of both categories.

 

Gilles Quispel divided Syrian-Egyptian Gnosticism further into Jewish Gnosticism (the Apocryphon of John)[89] and Christian Gnosis (Marcion, Basilides, Valentinus). This "Christian Gnosticism" was Christocentric, and influenced by Christian writings such as the Gospel of John and the Pauline epistles.[168] Other authors speak rather of "Gnostic Christians", noting that Gnostics were a prominent substream in the early church.[169]

 

Traditional approaches – Gnosticism as Christian heresy[edit]

The best known example of this approach is Adolf von Harnack (1851–1930), who stated that "Gnosticism is the acute Hellenization of Christianity."[161] According to Dillon, "many scholars today continue in the vein of Harnack in reading gnosticism as a late and contaminated version of Christianity", notably Darrell Block, who criticises Elaine Pagels for her view that early Christianity was wildly diverse.[162]

 

Phenomenological approaches[edit]

Hans Jonas (1903–1993) t

We were supposed to be going to a dinner/dance with a group of friends but I think it's best for me to sit this one out. I am feeling better but not up to partying yet. So I am sending Phill to party on my behalf (he can nurse the sore head tomorrow - whilst I can feel virtuous!)

 

I wish you all good health and as much happiness as you can muster in 2011

 

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!

 

www.youtube.com/watch?v=J5fUP5eoJ8Y

  

Alte Pinokathek, Munich

 

(From Left to Right)

 

LEFT WING

 

Left wall:

 

Top: The Reconciliation of the Romans and Sabines (ca. 1625); bottom: The Dying Seneca (ca. 1612-13), Meleager und Atalante (ca. 1635); Christ and the Repentant Sinners (ca. 1616-17)

 

Left doorway:

 

The Fall of the Angels (1621-22); A Lioness Slays a Wild Boar (ca. 1620-25); [?]; The Coronation of the Virtuous Hero (ca. 1613-14); Lion Hunt Peter Paul Rubens with Jan Wildens (1621)

 

CENTRAL CANVAS

 

The Great Last Judgment (ca. 1617)

 

LEFT WING

 

Left wall:

 

Battle with Hippopotamus and Crocodile (ca.1616); The Abduction of the Daughters of Leukippos (ca. 1618)

 

Right doorway:

 

Left wall:

 

Top: Two Young Lions Chase a Roebuck (ca. 1620-25)

 

Bottom: Allegory of Fertility (ca. 1617)

 

Right of doorway:

The Virgin of the Apocalypse (ca. 16 23-25)

 

Right wall:

Helene Fourment "In a Wedding Dress (ca. 1630-31); Rubens and Isabella Brant in the Honeysuckle Bower (ca. 1609-10)

 

Top:

Allegory of Peace (ca. 1630-32)

   

Not great Vesuvius, in all his ire,

Nor all the centuries, could hide your shame.

There is the little window where you came,

With eyes that woke the demon of desire,

And lips like rose leaves, fashioned out of fire;

And from the lava leaps the molten flame

Of your old sins. The walls cry out your name -

Your face seems rising from the funeral pyre.

 

There must have dwelt, within your fated town,

Full many a virtuous dame, and noble wife

Who made your beauty seem as star to sun;

How strange the centuries have handed down

Your name, fair Julia, of immoral life,

And left the others to oblivion.

 

Words by Ella Wheeler Wilcox

 

♫ - It's Wonderful

 

for Flickriver - Sophie Shapiro

.

I Giardini della Reggia sono oggi diventati uno stretto connubio tra antico e moderno, un dialogo virtuoso tra insediamenti archeologici e opere contemporanee. La monumentale statua dell’Hercole Colosso, originariamente posizionata all’interno della Fontana dell’Ercole, dialoga con le opere di noti artisti contemporanei come Giuseppe Penone e Giovanni Anselmo, il tutto incorniciato in un'incomparabile visione all'infinito che non ha riscontri analoghi fra i giardini italiani per la magnificenza delle prospettive e la vastità del panorama naturale circondato dai boschi del Parco della Mandria e dalla catena montuosa delle Alpi.

I giovani Giardini della Reggia di Venaria, inaugurati solo nel 2007, superata la prima fase di assestamento, stanno entrando, come un adolescente, in un momento importante della loro crescita ed evoluzione durante la quale iniziano a delinearsi in maniera più evidente e definita gli elementi caratterizzanti e la "forza" del loro disegno, a testimonianza di una continua trasformazione naturale che nel panorama dei grandi giardini storici europei rappresenta un'esperienza unica. La loro visita può dunque costituire una piacevole sorpresa anche per chi li ha già visitati in passato.

Oltre ad una semplice passeggiata o alle visite guidate con specifici itinerari didattici, i Giardini possono essere esplorati in altri modi divertenti, come con il trenino Freccia di Diana, la Gondola o la Carrozza a cavallo.

 

I Giardini della Reggia di Venaria fanno parte della rete dei Grandi Giardini Italiani.

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The Gardens of the Reggia have now become a close union between ancient and modern, a virtuous dialogue between archaeological sites and contemporary works. The monumental statue of the Hercules Colossus, originally positioned inside the Fountain of Hercules, dialogues with the works of well-known contemporary artists such as Giuseppe Penone and Giovanni Anselmo, all framed in an incomparable vision of infinity that has no equal among Italian gardens for the magnificence of the perspectives and the vastness of the natural landscape surrounded by the woods of the Mandria Park and the mountain range of the Alps.

The young Gardens of the Reggia di Venaria, inaugurated only in 2007, after the first phase of adjustment, are entering, like an adolescent, an important moment of their growth and evolution during which the characteristic elements and the "strength" of their design begin to emerge in a more evident and defined way, bearing witness to a continuous natural transformation that in the panorama of the great historical European gardens represents a unique experience. A visit to these gardens can therefore be a pleasant surprise even for those who have already visited them in the past.

In addition to a simple walk or guided tours with specific educational itineraries, the Gardens can be explored in other fun ways, such as with the Freccia di Diana train, the Gondola or the Horse Carriage.

 

The Gardens of the Reggia di Venaria are part of the Great Italian Gardens network.

 

Translated with www.deepl.com/Translator (free version)

In one particular garden at the cemetery, rows of stone statues of children represent unborn children, including miscarried, aborted, and stillborn children. Parents can choose a statue in the garden and decorate it with small clothing and toys. Usually the statues are accompanied by a small gift for Jizō, the guardian of unborn children, to ensure that they are brought to the afterlife. Occasionally stones are piled by the statue; this is meant to ease the journey to the afterlife.

 

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Z%C5%8Dj%C5%8D-ji

 

En un jardín en particular en el cementerio, filas de estatuas de piedra de niños representan a los niños por nacer, incluidos los niños abortados, abortados y nacidos muertos. Los padres pueden elegir una estatua en el jardín y decorarla con ropa y juguetes pequeños. Por lo general, las estatuas van acompañadas de un pequeño obsequio para Jizō, el guardián de los niños por nacer, para asegurarse de que sean llevados al más allá. Ocasionalmente, la estatua amontona piedras; esto está destinado a facilitar el viaje a la otra vida.

 

Mizuko kuyo (水子供養 Mizuko kuyō, "servicio memorial para un feto abortado") es una ceremonia japonesa para las mujeres que han sufrido un aborto espontáneo, aborto inducido o mortinato. Esta práctica es más evidente desde la creación de santuarios en la década de 1970 para tal ritual, con el fin de la tranquilidad de la gestante, descanso del alma del feto y evitar la venganza del espíritu del bebé. Originalmente el mizuko kuyo fue usado para ofrendar a Jizo (Ksitigarbha), un Bodhisattva supuesto protector de los niños. Durante el Período Edo, cuando una embarazada era empujada a cometer aborto o infanticidio por su pobreza, la práctica era adaptada para satisfacer la situación. Hoy día, la práctica del mizuko kuyo continúa en Japón, aunque no es claro su autenticidad histórica en las prácticas del budismo en Japón. La ceremonia varía entre templos, escuelas e individuos. Es común que en los templos budistas se ofrezcan estatuillas de Jizo vestidas a lo largo de los pasillos para este propósito. Algunos de estos servicios han sido criticados por aprovecharse y abusar de las creencias que los japoneses tienen acerca de la posible venganza de los espíritus de los bebés abortados.

 

es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mizuko_kuy%C5%8D

www.kirainet.com/jizo/

 

Mizuko kuyō (水子供養) meaning "water child memorial service", is a Japanese ceremony for those who have had a miscarriage, stillbirth, or abortion. This practice has become particularly visible since the 1970s with the creation of shrines devoted solely to this ritual. Reasons for the performance of these rites can include parental grief, desire to comfort the soul of the fetus, guilt for an abortion, or even fear of retribution from a vengeful ghost.

Mizuko (水子), literally "water child", is a Japanese term for an aborted, stillborn or miscarried baby, and archaically for a dead baby or infant. Kuyō (供養) refers to a memorial service. Previously read suiji, the Sino-Japanese on'yomi reading of the same characters, the term was originally a kaimyō or dharma name given after death.The mizuko kuyō, typically performed by Buddhist priests, was used to make offerings to Jizō, a bodhisattva who is believed to protect children. In the Edo period, when famine sometimes led the poverty-stricken to infanticide and abortion, the practice was adapted to cover these situations as well.

Today, the practice of mizuko kuyō continues in Japan, although it is unclear whether it is a historically authentic Buddhist practice. Specific elements of the ceremony vary from temple to temple, school to school, and individual to individual. It is common for temples to offer Jizō statues for a fee, which are then dressed in red bibs and caps, and displayed in the temple yard. Though the practice has been performed since the 1970s, there are still doubts surrounding the ritual. Some view the memorial service as the temples' way of benefiting from the misfortune of women who have miscarried or had to abort a pregnancy. American religious scholars have criticized the temples for allegedly abusing the Japanese belief that the spirits of the dead retaliate for their mistreatment, but other scholars believe the temples are only answering the needs of the people.

The ceremony is attended by both parents or by one, not necessarily the mother. The service can vary from a single event to one that repeats monthly or annually. Though the service varies, common aspects resemble the ceremony for the recent dead, the senzo kuyō (先祖供養). The priest faces the altar and evokes the names of various Buddhas and bodhisattvas. Mantras, often the Heart Sutra and the 25th chapter of the Lotus Sutra, known as the "Avalokiteśvara Sutra", are performed, as are calls of praise to Jizō. Gifts are offered to the Buddha on behalf of the mourned, typically food, drink, incense or flowers. A kaimyō is given to the deceased, and a statue of Jizō is often placed on temple grounds upon completion of the ceremony.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mizuko_kuy%C5%8D

 

Los seis Jizō es una antigua leyenda japonesa perteneciente al budismo, cuyo protagonista es el bodhisattva Jizō (地蔵) o Ksitigarbha (地蔵菩薩), tal como se le conoce en Japón. Jizō es el encargado de proteger las almas de los bebés que no han nacido y de los niños que han muerto siendo muy pequeños, a los que se les llama mizuko (水子) o niños del agua. Jizō es el protector de las mujeres embarazadas y de los niños, así como también de los bomberos y viajeros.

De acuerdo con la leyenda, una pareja de ancianos vivía en un hogar humilde y pasaban por muchas necesidades. Se ganaban la vida vendiendo sombreros de paja que fabricaban con sus propias manos. Sin embargo, eran tan pobres que al llegar el día de Fin de Año no tenían dinero para comprar algo especial para cenar y celebrar dicha fecha. El anciano entonces le prometió a su esposa que iría al pueblo, vendería los sombreros y le compraría algo para cenar. El anciano había llevado consigo cinco sombreros de paja, pero al no conseguir venderlos se propuso a regresar a su hogar. Una gran nevada le sorprendió durante el camino de vuelta y divisó a lo lejos seis estatuas de Jizō, de las cuales sintió pena al estar cubiertas de nieve. El anciano quitó la nieve de las estatuas y les ofreció los sombreros que venía cargando con él. A ver que faltaba un sombrero para una de las estatuas, el anciano se quitó su propio sombrero y se lo colocó al sexto Jizō. Más tarde esa noche, la pareja oyó ruidos fuera de su casa y al salir se encontraron con arroz, mochi, pescado y monedas de oro en su puerta. Posteriormente vieron a las estatuas de Jizō con los sombreros en sus cabezas, quienes agradecieron a la pareja por su bondad.

es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Los_seis_Jiz%C5%8D

 

Kasa Jizō (笠地蔵) is a Japanese folk tale about an old couple whose generosity is rewarded by the bodhisattva Kṣitigarbha, whose name is Jizō in Japanese. The story is commonly handed down by parents to their children in order to instill moral values, as it is grounded in Buddhist thought. An alternative title, Kasako Jizō can be found in Iwate and Fukushima Prefectures. Its origins belong in the Tōhoku and Niigata regions, with the oldest dispensations coming from Hokuriku, as well as areas of Western Japan such as Hiroshima and Kumamoto Prefectures. Its precise origin, however, remains unknown.

One day in the snowy country there lived an incredibly impoverished elderly couple. On New Year's Day, the couple realized that they were unable to afford mochi (a staple form of rice eaten during the New Year). The old man decided to go into town to sell his home-made kasa, but his endeavors proved unsuccessful. Due to the horrible weather conditions, the old man gave up the task and made his trek back home. In the blizzard, the old man came across a line of Jizō statues, to whom he decided to give his kasa as an offering, as well to keep their heads clear of snow. However, he only had enough kasa on hand to give to all but one statue. He gave the remaining statue his tenugui and went on his way. Upon returning home, he relayed the scenario to his wife, who praised him for his virtuous deed, without criticizing his inability to purchase any New Year mochi. That evening, while the couple was asleep, there came a heavy thumping sound from outside the house. They opened the door to find a great pile of treasures, consisting of such goods as rice, vegetables, gold coins, and mochi. The old couple watched on as the Jizō statues marched off into the snowy distance. Having repaid the old man for his selflessness, the couple was able to celebrate the New Year.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kasa_Jiz%C5%8D

 

ਧਨਾਸਰੀ ਛੰਤ ਮਹਲਾ ੧ ॥

Dhanaasaree, Chhant, First Mehla:

 

ਪਿਰ ਸੰਗਿ ਮੂਠੜੀਏ ਖਬਰਿ ਨ ਪਾਈਆ ਜੀਉ ॥

Your Husband Lord is with you, O deluded soul-bride, but you do are not aware of Him.

 

ਮਸਤਕਿ ਲਿਖਿਅੜਾ ਲੇਖੁ ਪੁਰਬਿ ਕਮਾਇਆ ਜੀਉ ॥

Your destiny is written on your forehead, according to your past actions.

 

ਲੇਖੁ ਨ ਮਿਟਈ ਪੁਰਬਿ ਕਮਾਇਆ ਕਿਆ ਜਾਣਾ ਕਿਆ ਹੋਸੀ ॥

This inscription of past deeds cannot be erased; what do I know about what will happen?

 

ਗੁਣੀ ਅਚਾਰਿ ਨਹੀ ਰੰਗਿ ਰਾਤੀ ਅਵਗੁਣ ਬਹਿ ਬਹਿ ਰੋਸੀ ॥

You have not adopted a virtuous lifestyle, and you are not attuned to the Lord's Love; you sit there, crying over your past misdeeds.

 

ਧਨੁ ਜੋਬਨੁ ਆਕ ਕੀ ਛਾਇਆ ਬਿਰਧਿ ਭਏ ਦਿਨ ਪੁੰਨਿਆ ॥

Wealth and youth are like the shade of the bitter swallow-wort plant; you are growing old, and your days are coming to their end.

 

ਨਾਨਕ ਨਾਮ ਬਿਨਾ ਦੋਹਾਗਣਿ ਛੂਟੀ ਝੂਠਿ ਵਿਛੁੰਨਿਆ ॥੧॥

O Nanak, without the Naam, the Name of the Lord, you shall end up as a discarded, divorced bride; your own falsehood shall separate you from the Lord. ||1||

 

ਬੂਡੀ ਘਰੁ ਘਾਲਿਓ ਗੁਰ ਕੈ ਭਾਇ ਚਲੋ ॥

You have drowned, and your house is ruined; walk in the Way of the Guru's Will.

 

ਸਾਚਾ ਨਾਮੁ ਧਿਆਇ ਪਾਵਹਿ ਸੁਖਿ ਮਹਲੋ ॥

Meditate on the True Name, and you shall find peace in the Mansion of the Lord's Presence.

 

ਹਰਿ ਨਾਮੁ ਧਿਆਏ ਤਾ ਸੁਖੁ ਪਾਏ ਪੇਈਅੜੈ ਦਿਨ ਚਾਰੇ ॥

Meditate on the Lord's Name, and you shall find peace; your stay in this world shall last only four days.

 

ਨਿਜ ਘਰਿ ਜਾਇ ਬਹੈ ਸਚੁ ਪਾਏ ਅਨਦਿਨੁ ਨਾਲਿ ਪਿਆਰੇ ॥

Sit in the home of your own being, and you shall find Truth; night and day, be with your Beloved.

 

ਜਾਇ ਬਹੈ ਸਚੁ ਪਾਏ ਅਨਦਿਨੁ ਨਾਲਿ ਪਿਆਰੇ ॥

Without loving devotion, you cannot dwell in your own home - listen, everyone!

 

ਨਾਨਕ ਸਰਸੀ ਤਾ ਪਿਰੁ ਪਾਏ ਰਾਤੀ ਸਾਚੈ ਨਾਏ ॥੨॥

O Nanak, she is happy, and she obtains her Husband Lord, if she is attuned to the True Name. ||2||

 

ਪਿਰੁ ਧਨ ਭਾਵੈ ਤਾ ਪਿਰ ਭਾਵੈ ਨਾਰੀ ਜੀਉ ॥

If the soul-bride is pleasing to her Husband Lord, then the Husband Lord will love His bride.

 

ਰੰਗਿ ਪ੍ਰੀਤਮ ਰਾਤੀ ਗੁਰ ਕੈ ਸਬਦਿ ਵੀਚਾਰੀ ਜੀਉ ॥

Imbued with the love of her Beloved, she contemplates the Word of the Guru's Shabad.

 

ਗੁਰ ਸਬਦਿ ਵੀਚਾਰੀ ਨਾਹ ਪਿਆਰੀ ਨਿਵਿ ਨਿਵਿ ਭਗਤਿ ਕਰੇਈ ॥

She contemplates the Guru's Shabads, and her Husband Lord loves her; in deep humility, she worships Him in loving devotion.

 

ਮਾਇਆ ਮੋਹੁ ਜਲਾਏ ਪ੍ਰੀਤਮੁ ਰਸ ਮਹਿ ਰੰਗੁ ਕਰੇਈ ॥

She burns away her emotional attachment to Maya, and in love, she loves her Beloved.

 

ਪ੍ਰਭ ਸਾਚੇ ਸੇਤੀ ਰੰਗਿ ਰੰਗੇਤੀ ਲਾਲ ਭਈ ਮਨੁ ਮਾਰੀ ॥

She is imbued and drenched with the Love of the True Lord; she has become beautiful, by conquering her mind.

 

ਨਾਨਕ ਸਾਚਿ ਵਸੀ ਸੋਹਾਗਣਿ ਪਿਰ ਸਿਉ ਪ੍ਰੀਤਿ ਪਿਆਰੀ ॥੩॥

O Nanak, the happy soul-bride abides in Truth; she loves to love her Husband Lord. ||3||

 

ਪਿਰ ਘਰਿ ਸੋਹੈ ਨਾਰਿ ਜੇ ਪਿਰ ਭਾਵਏ ਜੀਉ ॥

The soul-bride looks so beautiful in the home of her Husband Lord, if she is pleasing to Him.

 

ਝੂਠੇ ਵੈਣ ਚਵੇ ਕਾਮਿ ਨ ਆਵਏ ਜੀਉ ॥

It is of no use at all to speak false words.

 

ਝੂਠੁ ਅਲਾਵੈ ਕਾਮਿ ਨ ਆਵੈ ਨਾ ਪਿਰੁ ਦੇਖੈ ਨੈਣੀ ॥

If she speaks false, it is of no use to her, and she does not see her Husband Lord with her eyes.

 

ਅਵਗੁਣਿਆਰੀ ਕੰਤਿ ਵਿਸਾਰੀ ਛੂਟੀ ਵਿਧਣ ਰੈਣੀ ॥

Worthless, forgotten and abandoned by her Husband Lord, she passes her life-night without her Lord and Master.

 

ਗੁਰ ਸਬਦੁ ਨ ਮਾਨੈ ਫਾਹੀ ਫਾਥੀ ਸਾ ਧਨ ਮਹਲੁ ਨ ਪਾਏ ॥

Such a wife does not believe in the Word of the Guru's Shabad; she is caught in the net of the world, and does not obtain the Mansion of the Lord's Presence.

 

ਨਾਨਕ ਆਪੇ ਆਪੁ ਪਛਾਣੈ ਗੁਰਮੁਖਿ ਸਹਜਿ ਸਮਾਏ ॥੪॥

O Nanak, if she understands her own self, then, as Gurmukh, she merges in celestial peace. ||4||

 

ਧਨ ਸੋਹਾਗਣਿ ਨਾਰਿ ਜਿਨਿ ਪਿਰੁ ਜਾਣਿਆ ਜੀਉ ॥

Blessed is that soul-bride, who knows her Husband Lord.

 

ਨਾਮ ਬਿਨਾ ਕੂੜਿਆਰਿ ਕੂੜੁ ਕਮਾਣਿਆ ਜੀਉ ॥

Without the Naam, she is false, and her actions are false as well.

 

ਹਰਿ ਭਗਤਿ ਸੁਹਾਵੀ ਸਾਚੇ ਭਾਵੀ ਭਾਇ ਭਗਤਿ ਪ੍ਰਭ ਰਾਤੀ ॥

Devotional worship of the Lord is beautiful; the True Lord loves it. So immerse yourself in loving devotional worship of God.

 

ਪਿਰੁ ਰਲੀਆਲਾ ਜੋਬਨਿ ਬਾਲਾ ਤਿਸੁ ਰਾਵੇ ਰੰਗਿ ਰਾਤੀ ॥

My Husband Lord is playful and innocent; imbued with His Love, I enjoy Him.

 

ਗੁਰ ਸਬਦਿ ਵਿਗਾਸੀ ਸਹੁ ਰਾਵਾਸੀ ਫਲੁ ਪਾਇਆ ਗੁਣਕਾਰੀ ॥

She blossoms forth through the Word of the Guru's Shabad; she ravishes her Husband Lord, and obtains the most noble reward.

 

ਨਾਨਕ ਸਾਚੁ ਮਿਲੈ ਵਡਿਆਈ ਪਿਰ ਘਰਿ ਸੋਹੈ ਨਾਰੀ ॥੫॥੩॥

O Nanak, in Truth, she obtains glory; in her Husband's home, the soul-bride looks beautiful. ||5||3||

  

Hukamnama at Gurdwara Sahib Fremont on new year's day.

  

Pretty amazing - pretty perfect. Aside from the fact that it was read/sung so beautifully by Harpreet Singh. As soon as we finished saying Fateh after the Hukamnama, Bhenji and I turned to each other and... We both felt the same way. Somehow, it was just perfect as "the year's Hukamnama". I used to be pretty attached to this Shabad when I was younger, but I didn't know what it meant then. It means so much more to me now that I at least vaguely understand it.

 

I've been doing this a lot lately - I'll upload a picture, and forget to unprivate it after I add the title/description, because I'm so used to my private uploads lately. I realized it a couple of days later, but I wasn't feeling that same feeling as when I first uploaded it, so I decided to wait. I was really hesitant about uploading this in the first place {not reallyy sure about the editing}, and the second time around, it was even worse.. But here we are! haha

 

GS is so cute - he was blushing within seconds of me walking up with my camera. Like, his cheeks actually turned red ^_^

"A man multiplies offerings by keeping the Law;

he offers communion sacrifices by following the commandments.

By showing gratitude he makes an offering of fine flour,

by giving alms he offers a sacrifice of praise.

Withdraw from wickedness and the Lord will be pleased,

withdraw from injustice and you make atonement.

Do not appear empty-handed in the Lord’s presence;

for all these things are due under the commandment.

A virtuous man’s offering graces the altar,

and its savour rises before the Most High.

A virtuous man’s sacrifice is acceptable,

its memorial will not be forgotten.

Honour the Lord with generosity,

do not stint the first-fruits you bring.

Add a smiling face to all your gifts,

and be cheerful as you dedicate your tithes.

Give to the Most High as he has given to you,

generously as your means can afford;

for the Lord is a good rewarder,

he will reward you seven times over.

Offer him no bribe, he will not accept it,

do not put your faith in an unvirtuous sacrifice;

since the Lord is a judge

who is no respecter of personages."

– Ecclesiasticus 35:2-15, which is today's 1st reading in Mass.

 

Photograph taken during Mass in St Dominic's Priory church, the Shrine of Our Lady of the Rosary in London.

In the very centre of Hell, condemned for committing the ultimate sin (personal treachery against God), is the Devil, referred to by Virgil as Dis (the Roman god of the underworld; the name "Dis" was often used for Pluto in antiquity, such as in Virgil's Aeneid). The arch-traitor, Lucifer was once held by God to be fairest of the angels before pride caused his rebellion against God and resulted in his expulsion from Heaven. Lucifer is a giant, terrifying beast trapped waist-deep in the ice, fixed and suffering. He has three faces, each a different color: one red (the middle), one a pale yellow (the right), and one black (the left):

... he had three faces: one in front bloodred;

and then another two that, just above

the midpoint of each shoulder, joined the first;

and at the crown, all three were reattached;

the right looked somewhat yellow, somewhat white;

the left in its appearance was like those

who come from where the Nile, descending, flows.

Dorothy L. Sayers notes that Satan's three faces are thought by some to suggest his control over the three human races: red for the Europeans (from Japheth), yellow for the Asiatic (from Shem), and black for the African (the race of Ham). All interpretations recognize that the three faces represent a fundamental perversion of the Trinity: Satan is impotent, ignorant, and full of hate, in contrast to the all-powerful, all-knowing, and all-loving nature of God.Lucifer retains his six wings (he originally belonged to the angelic order of Seraphim, described in Isaiah 6:2), but these are now dark, bat-like, and futile: the icy wind that emanates from the beating of Lucifer's wings only further ensures his own imprisonment in the frozen lake. He weeps from his six eyes, and his tears mix with bloody froth and pus as they pour down his three chins. Each face has a mouth that chews eternally on a prominent traitor. Marcus Junius Brutus and Gaius Cassius Longinus dangle with their feet in the left and right mouths, respectively, for their involvement in the assassination of Julius Caesar (March 15, 44 BC) – an act which, to Dante, represented the destruction of a unified Italy and the killing of the man who was divinely appointed to govern the world.In the central, most vicious mouth is Judas Iscariot, the apostle who betrayed Christ. Judas is receiving the most horrifying torture of the three traitors: his head is gnawed inside Lucifer's mouth while his back is forever flayed and shredded by Lucifer's claws. According to Dorothy L. Sayers, "just as Judas figures treason against God, so Brutus and Cassius figure treason against Man-in-Society; or we may say that we have here the images of treason against the Divine and the Secular government of the world."

At about 6:00 P.M. on Saturday evening, Virgil and Dante begin their escape from Hell by clambering down Satan's ragged fur, feet-first. When they reach Satan's navel, the poets pass through the center of the universe and of gravity from the Northern Hemisphere of land to the Southern Hemisphere of water. When Virgil changes direction and begins to climb "upward" towards the surface of the Earth at the antipodes, Dante, in his confusion, initially believes they are returning to Hell. Virgil indicates that the time is halfway between the canonical hours of Prime (6 a.m.) and Terce (9 a.m.) – that is, 7:30 A.M of the same Holy Saturday which was just about to end. Dante is confused as to how, after about an hour and a half of climbing, it is now apparently morning. Virgil explains that as a result of passing through the Earth's center into the Southern Hemisphere, which is twelve hours ahead of Jerusalem, the central city of the Northern Hemisphere (where, therefore, it is currently 7:30 P.M.).

Virgil goes on to explain how the Southern Hemisphere was once covered with dry land, but the land recoiled in horror to the north when Lucifer fell from Heaven and was replaced by the ocean. Meanwhile, the inner rock Lucifer displaced as he plunged into the center of the earth rushed upwards to the surface of the Southern Hemisphere to avoid contact with him, forming the Mountain of Purgatory. This mountain – the only land mass in the waters of the Southern Hemisphere – rises above the surface at a point directly opposite Jerusalem. The poets then ascend a narrow chasm of rock through the "space contained between the floor formed by the convex side of Cocytus and the underside of the earth above,"moving in opposition to Lethe, the river of oblivion, which flows down from the summit of Mount Purgatory. The poets finally emerge a little before dawn on the morning of Easter Sunday (April 10, 1300 A.D.) beneath a sky studded with stars (Canto XXXIV).

The Inferno tells the journey of Dante through Hell, guided by the ancient Roman poet Virgil. In the poem, Hell is depicted as nine concentric circles of suffering located within the Earth; it is the "realm ... of those who have rejected spiritual values by yielding to bestial appetites or violence, or by perverting their human intellect to fraud or malice against their fellowmen." As an allegory, the Divine Comedy represents the journey of the soul toward God, with the Inferno describing the recognition and rejection of sin

The poem begins on the night before Good Friday in the year 1300, "halfway along our life's path" (Nel mezzo del cammin di nostra vita). Dante is thirty-five years old, half of the biblical life expectancy of 70 (Psalms 89:10, Vulgate), lost in a dark wood (understood as sin), assailed by beasts (a lion, a leopard, and a she-wolf) he cannot evade, and unable to find the "straight way" (diritta via) – also translatable as "right way" – to salvation (symbolized by the sun behind the mountain). Conscious that he is ruining himself and that he is falling into a "low place" (basso loco) where the sun is silent ('l sol tace), Dante is at last rescued by Virgil, and the two of them begin their journey to the underworld. Each sin's punishment in Inferno is a contrapasso, a symbolic instance of poetic justice; for example, fortune-tellers have to walk with their heads on backwards, unable to see what is ahead, because that was what they had tried to do in life:

they had their faces twisted toward their haunches

and found it necessary to walk backward,

because they could not see ahead of them.

... and since he wanted so to see ahead,

he looks behind and walks a backward path.

Allegorically, the Inferno represents the Christian soul seeing sin for what it really is, and the three beasts represent three types of sin: the self-indulgent, the violent, and the malicious.These three types of sin also provide the three main divisions of Dante's Hell: Upper Hell, outside the city of Dis, for the four sins of indulgence (lust, gluttony, avarice, anger); Circle 7 for the sins of violence; and Circles 8 and 9 for the sins of malice (fraud and treachery). Added to these are two unlike categories that are specifically spiritual: Limbo, in Circle 1, contains the virtuous pagans who were not sinful but were ignorant of Christ, and Circle 6 contains the heretics who contradicted the doctrine and confused the spirit of Christ. The circles number 9, with the addition of Satan completing the structure of 9 + 1 = 10.

 

Purgatorio

Having survived the depths of Hell, Dante and Virgil ascend out of the undergloom, to the Mountain of Purgatory on the far side of the world. The Mountain is on an island, the only land in the Southern Hemisphere, created by the displacement of rock which resulted when Satan's fall created Hell[18] (which Dante portrays as existing underneath Jerusalem[19]). The mountain has seven terraces, corresponding to the seven deadly sins or "seven roots of sinfulness."The classification of sin here is more psychological than that of the Inferno, being based on motives, rather than actions. It is also drawn primarily from Christian theology, rather than from classical sources.However, Dante's illustrative examples of sin and virtue draw on classical sources as well as on the Bible and on contemporary events.Love, a theme throughout the Divine Comedy, is particularly important for the framing of the sin on the Mountain of Purgatory. While the love that flows from God is pure, it can become sinful as it flows through humanity. Humans can sin by using love towards improper or malicious ends (Wrath, Envy, Pride), or using it to proper ends but with love that is either not strong enough (Sloth) or love that is too strong (Lust, Gluttony, Greed). Below the seven purges of the soul is the Ante-Purgatory, containing the Excommunicated from the church and the Late repentant who died, often violently, before receiving rites. Thus the total comes to nine, with the addition of the Garden of Eden at the summit, equaling ten.Allegorically, the Purgatorio represents the Christian life. Christian souls arrive escorted by an angel, singing In exitu Israel de Aegypto. In his Letter to Cangrande, Dante explains that this reference to Israel leaving Egypt refers both to the redemption of Christ and to "the conversion of the soul from the sorrow and misery of sin to the state of grace." Appropriately, therefore, it is Easter Sunday when Dante and Virgil arrive.The Purgatorio is notable for demonstrating the medieval knowledge of a spherical Earth. During the poem, Dante discusses the different stars visible in the southern hemisphere, the altered position of the sun, and the various timezones of the Earth. At this stage it is, Dante says, sunset at Jerusalem, midnight on the River Ganges, and sunrise in Purgatory.

 

Islamic philosophy

In 1919, Professor Miguel Asín Palacios, a Spanish scholar and a Catholic priest, published La Escatología musulmana en la Divina Comedia ("Islamic Eschatology in the Divine Comedy"), an account of parallels between early Islamic philosophy and the Divine Comedy. Palacios argued that Dante derived many features of and episodes about the hereafter from the spiritual writings of Ibn Arabi and from the Isra and Mi'raj or night journey of Muhammad to heaven. The latter is described in the Hadith and the Kitab al Miraj (translated into Latin in 1264 or shortly before as Liber Scalae Machometi, "The Book of Muhammad's Ladder"), and has significant similarities to the Paradiso, such as a sevenfold division of Paradise,[39] although this is not unique to the Kitab al Miraj.

Some "superficial similarities" of the Divine Comedy to the Resalat Al-Ghufran or Epistle of Forgiveness of Al-Ma'arri have also been mentioned in this debate. The Resalat Al-Ghufran describes the journey of the poet in the realms of the afterlife and includes dialogue with people in Heaven and Hell, although, unlike the Kitab al Miraj, there is little description of these locations,and it is unlikely that Dante borrowed from this work.Dante did, however, live in a Europe of substantial literary and philosophical contact with the Muslim world, encouraged by such factors as Averroism ("Averrois, che'l gran comento feo" Commedia, Inferno, IV, 144, meaning "Averrois, who wrote the great comment") and the patronage of Alfonso X of Castile. Of the twelve wise men Dante meets in Canto X of the Paradiso, Thomas Aquinas and, even more so, Siger of Brabant were strongly influenced by Arabic commentators on Aristotle. Medieval Christian mysticism also shared the Neoplatonic influence of Sufis such as Ibn Arabi. Philosopher Frederick Copleston argued in 1950 that Dante's respectful treatment of Averroes, Avicenna, and Siger of Brabant indicates his acknowledgement of a "considerable debt" to Islamic philosophy.

Although this philosophical influence is generally acknowledged, many scholars have not been satisfied that Dante was influenced by the Kitab al Miraj. The 20th century Orientalist Francesco Gabrieli expressed skepticism regarding the claimed similarities, and the lack of evidence of a vehicle through which it could have been transmitted to Dante. Even so, while dismissing the probability of some influences posited in Palacios' work,Gabrieli conceded that it was "at least possible, if not probable, that Dante may have known the Liber scalae and have taken from it certain images and concepts of Muslim eschatology". Shortly before her death, the Italian philologist Maria Corti pointed out that, during his stay at the court of Alfonso X, Dante's mentor Brunetto Latini met Bonaventura de Siena, a Tuscan who had translated the Kitab al Miraj from Arabic into Latin. Corti speculates that Brunetto may have provided a copy of that work to Dante.René Guenon, in The Esoterism of Dante, rejected the influence of Ibn Arabi (direct or indirect) on Dante.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inferno_(Dante)

History:

Gage Garnet has always been a man obsessed with doing what is right, no matter the costs to himself or to others. During his youth, he was obsessed with comics and yearned to be like those men on the colorful pages. He and his brother Jack would spend hours dressing up like superheroes imagining that they were saving the world. As Gage matured, he showed more of an interest in writing and moved to the big city to pursue his interests. While working for The City Tribune, Gage covered a series of stories involving the rise of real heroes in the city. Men and women who put on costumes to fight crime, it was like his dream come true and here he was on the front lines documenting their rise to power. Tragically, in the midst of Gage’s rise to success as a reporter, his family home is robbed and his parents are tragically murdered by the robbers. His younger brother Jack manages to escape the violence and will grow up to join the NBPD. Feeling helpless and responsible for the murder, Gage crafts his own costume and trains with the help of Gothic. He soon adopts his alter ego The Crimson Cloak, and decides to track down those responsible for the murder. It isn’t long before Gage is covering the stories of his own exploits, articles that soon reach the attention of a fledgling group of masked heroes known as the League of Heroes. The Cloak is invited to join the League. For the next few years, Gage fights crime alongside the virtuous members of the League of Heroes, keeping the city safe. As the League of Heroes grows stronger and more powerful, Cobalt Cyclone, Silver Sentry, and Viridia all decide that it would be best to remove their masks publicly to gain the trust of the citizens and to remove any doubt that could be cast upon them by a growing crowd of skeptics. The Crimson Cloak disagrees with this measure, as he does not want his career in vigilantism to hurt his brother’s reputation at his new job on the police force. The Cloak declares that he will step down from the team and leave his career as a superhero behind. Gothic, a fellow teammate and also a detractor of this measure, does not wish to have his identity revealed though he will make an even more public statement of protest. The day arrives for the big reveal; the heroes are all assembled on the steps of City Hall, Cobalt Cyclone steps up to the microphone and address the crowd… and BOOM! A bomb explodes from underneath the podium killing the Cobalt Cyclone, severely injuring Silver Sentry, and sending the crowd into a panic. The Crimson Cloak swings into action, and begins investigating the crime. By following the clues he soon comes to the conclusion that The Skull, the most powerful crime boss in the city was behind the plot, though he is in for an even bigger surprise when he discovers that The Skull is in fact his former friend and teammate Gothic. In the wake of the bombing, the League of Heroes falls apart. Public support for masked heroes hits an all-time low. The Crimson Cloak decides that he will be all that stands between the evil that plagues the city and the justice that he feels the citizens deserve. Becoming darker and more detached, The Crimson Cloak becomes obsessed with his self-imposed duty even at the expense of losing his own identity in the process.

 

* The Crimson Cloak is a creation of Jeremy Green

 

Built for the League of Lego Heroes

www.flickr.com/groups/llh/

Even if you’re not a believer I really encourage you to read this, it may be important to you :

 

The mirror plays funny games. My smile has disappeared behind the foggy, blur that my wet eyes gaze through. My mouth is sour from the lasting taste of sick. I shut my eyes, feeling the burning heart beat behind their doors. However, your mind is not like your eyes. You can’t turn it off or keep it closed. The images etch themselves as deep as the permanent memory of his hands carefully unzipping and unbuttoning things that should not be opened. I tried to pretend it was alright, tried to pretend he’s just trying to get closer look at my heart. Then the memory passes and the nausea rips through my body like lightning, getting caught in my veins, then stomach, then throat until I can’t contain all the pain and hate that I have for myself. Once again my mouth is full of that bitter taste. It’s gruesome and rude yet it’s all I seem to know.

Value is merely what we are worth and if I sold myself for something so worthless how can I be of any value? It was there that my mind, my eyes, my stomach, and my heart all faltered and everything went black.

 

This is more for the girls. How many times have you skipped a meal, cut yourself, scratched yourself, started crying, screamed, or isolated yourself because you felt ugly?

You know what my best friend told me today. She said, “I think happiness is so beautiful. Like, you never look at someone who is smiling and think they’re unattractive because they aren’t. They’re so gorgeous.” I was taken back because it’s so true. We get angry and upset and depressed because we feel ugly when the truth is, we are ugly because we believe these lies.

I once told a friend suffering through an eating disorder that “the only perfect person thinks you’re beautiful”. And that broke me inside because I’ve spent the last year feeling the way I described in that writing above. Coming from someone who knows it, fights with it every day, has and is still living it, and someone who will overcome it. I will. I have to say this :

1. No matter how much you want to be accepted, no guy can fill that hole inside of you. Each and every time they will just make it bigger.

2. You can spend as much time in front of the mirror as you want but beauty fades over time and that personality and heart you had will be crushed by your obsession with appearance and perfection.

Proverbs 31: 10 “Who can find a virtuous wife, for her worth is far above rubies,”

A Godly wife, means so much more than riches and treasures. God looks at us that way and sees us like this. He doesn’t see what we’ve done because like the bible says “As far as the east is from the west, so far has He removed our transgressions from us” Psalms 103:12, he sees the beauty and potential inside of us and forgives us of our wrongs, no matter how gruesome and sickening we find them. God wants you to be happy and feel beautiful because he created you in his image, the most perfect person alive. By that it’s obvious, you are valuable to him in a way that is deserving of the most amazing love.

 

If a man cannot love you in a way that honours you then he is surely not deserving of you.

 

Proverbs 31:30 “Charm is deceitful and beauty is passing, But a woman who fears the LORD, she shall be praised.”

1 Samuel 16:7 “…For the LORD does not see as man sees, for man looks at the outward appearance but the LORD looks at the heart.”

I have a friend who is a guy and who is heart broken by this and how lust and young girls search for love in all the wrong places. That right there is my hope that one day God will give me someone who values me like the word tells him too and someone who loves me purely and rightly. I hope the same for all of you.

So here’s the final question, what will you let matter more? Your face that you paint on every day just to get attention and interest for a fake version of yourself? Or are you going to let yourself shine through that enough so your heart doesn’t die in the process?

God thinks we’re all so beautifully made yet all of us can deny that. It’s hard to be comforted by that but the fact is, I know now, that when you look in the mirror and stop seeing your reflection and start seeing YOU…there’s a change, a happiness, a real, raw beauty that is indescribable.

In one particular garden at the cemetery, rows of stone statues of children represent unborn children, including miscarried, aborted, and stillborn children. Parents can choose a statue in the garden and decorate it with small clothing and toys. Usually the statues are accompanied by a small gift for Jizō, the guardian of unborn children, to ensure that they are brought to the afterlife. Occasionally stones are piled by the statue; this is meant to ease the journey to the afterlife.

 

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Z%C5%8Dj%C5%8D-ji

 

En un jardín en particular en el cementerio, filas de estatuas de piedra de niños representan a los niños por nacer, incluidos los niños abortados, abortados y nacidos muertos. Los padres pueden elegir una estatua en el jardín y decorarla con ropa y juguetes pequeños. Por lo general, las estatuas van acompañadas de un pequeño obsequio para Jizō, el guardián de los niños por nacer, para asegurarse de que sean llevados al más allá. Ocasionalmente, la estatua amontona piedras; esto está destinado a facilitar el viaje a la otra vida.

 

Mizuko kuyo (水子供養 Mizuko kuyō, "servicio memorial para un feto abortado") es una ceremonia japonesa para las mujeres que han sufrido un aborto espontáneo, aborto inducido o mortinato. Esta práctica es más evidente desde la creación de santuarios en la década de 1970 para tal ritual, con el fin de la tranquilidad de la gestante, descanso del alma del feto y evitar la venganza del espíritu del bebé. Originalmente el mizuko kuyo fue usado para ofrendar a Jizo (Ksitigarbha), un Bodhisattva supuesto protector de los niños. Durante el Período Edo, cuando una embarazada era empujada a cometer aborto o infanticidio por su pobreza, la práctica era adaptada para satisfacer la situación. Hoy día, la práctica del mizuko kuyo continúa en Japón, aunque no es claro su autenticidad histórica en las prácticas del budismo en Japón. La ceremonia varía entre templos, escuelas e individuos. Es común que en los templos budistas se ofrezcan estatuillas de Jizo vestidas a lo largo de los pasillos para este propósito. Algunos de estos servicios han sido criticados por aprovecharse y abusar de las creencias que los japoneses tienen acerca de la posible venganza de los espíritus de los bebés abortados.

 

es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mizuko_kuy%C5%8D

www.kirainet.com/jizo/

 

Mizuko kuyō (水子供養) meaning "water child memorial service", is a Japanese ceremony for those who have had a miscarriage, stillbirth, or abortion. This practice has become particularly visible since the 1970s with the creation of shrines devoted solely to this ritual. Reasons for the performance of these rites can include parental grief, desire to comfort the soul of the fetus, guilt for an abortion, or even fear of retribution from a vengeful ghost.

Mizuko (水子), literally "water child", is a Japanese term for an aborted, stillborn or miscarried baby, and archaically for a dead baby or infant. Kuyō (供養) refers to a memorial service. Previously read suiji, the Sino-Japanese on'yomi reading of the same characters, the term was originally a kaimyō or dharma name given after death.The mizuko kuyō, typically performed by Buddhist priests, was used to make offerings to Jizō, a bodhisattva who is believed to protect children. In the Edo period, when famine sometimes led the poverty-stricken to infanticide and abortion, the practice was adapted to cover these situations as well.

Today, the practice of mizuko kuyō continues in Japan, although it is unclear whether it is a historically authentic Buddhist practice. Specific elements of the ceremony vary from temple to temple, school to school, and individual to individual. It is common for temples to offer Jizō statues for a fee, which are then dressed in red bibs and caps, and displayed in the temple yard. Though the practice has been performed since the 1970s, there are still doubts surrounding the ritual. Some view the memorial service as the temples' way of benefiting from the misfortune of women who have miscarried or had to abort a pregnancy. American religious scholars have criticized the temples for allegedly abusing the Japanese belief that the spirits of the dead retaliate for their mistreatment, but other scholars believe the temples are only answering the needs of the people.

The ceremony is attended by both parents or by one, not necessarily the mother. The service can vary from a single event to one that repeats monthly or annually. Though the service varies, common aspects resemble the ceremony for the recent dead, the senzo kuyō (先祖供養). The priest faces the altar and evokes the names of various Buddhas and bodhisattvas. Mantras, often the Heart Sutra and the 25th chapter of the Lotus Sutra, known as the "Avalokiteśvara Sutra", are performed, as are calls of praise to Jizō. Gifts are offered to the Buddha on behalf of the mourned, typically food, drink, incense or flowers. A kaimyō is given to the deceased, and a statue of Jizō is often placed on temple grounds upon completion of the ceremony.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mizuko_kuy%C5%8D

 

Los seis Jizō es una antigua leyenda japonesa perteneciente al budismo, cuyo protagonista es el bodhisattva Jizō (地蔵) o Ksitigarbha (地蔵菩薩), tal como se le conoce en Japón. Jizō es el encargado de proteger las almas de los bebés que no han nacido y de los niños que han muerto siendo muy pequeños, a los que se les llama mizuko (水子) o niños del agua. Jizō es el protector de las mujeres embarazadas y de los niños, así como también de los bomberos y viajeros.

De acuerdo con la leyenda, una pareja de ancianos vivía en un hogar humilde y pasaban por muchas necesidades. Se ganaban la vida vendiendo sombreros de paja que fabricaban con sus propias manos. Sin embargo, eran tan pobres que al llegar el día de Fin de Año no tenían dinero para comprar algo especial para cenar y celebrar dicha fecha. El anciano entonces le prometió a su esposa que iría al pueblo, vendería los sombreros y le compraría algo para cenar. El anciano había llevado consigo cinco sombreros de paja, pero al no conseguir venderlos se propuso a regresar a su hogar. Una gran nevada le sorprendió durante el camino de vuelta y divisó a lo lejos seis estatuas de Jizō, de las cuales sintió pena al estar cubiertas de nieve. El anciano quitó la nieve de las estatuas y les ofreció los sombreros que venía cargando con él. A ver que faltaba un sombrero para una de las estatuas, el anciano se quitó su propio sombrero y se lo colocó al sexto Jizō. Más tarde esa noche, la pareja oyó ruidos fuera de su casa y al salir se encontraron con arroz, mochi, pescado y monedas de oro en su puerta. Posteriormente vieron a las estatuas de Jizō con los sombreros en sus cabezas, quienes agradecieron a la pareja por su bondad.

es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Los_seis_Jiz%C5%8D

 

Kasa Jizō (笠地蔵) is a Japanese folk tale about an old couple whose generosity is rewarded by the bodhisattva Kṣitigarbha, whose name is Jizō in Japanese. The story is commonly handed down by parents to their children in order to instill moral values, as it is grounded in Buddhist thought. An alternative title, Kasako Jizō can be found in Iwate and Fukushima Prefectures. Its origins belong in the Tōhoku and Niigata regions, with the oldest dispensations coming from Hokuriku, as well as areas of Western Japan such as Hiroshima and Kumamoto Prefectures. Its precise origin, however, remains unknown.

One day in the snowy country there lived an incredibly impoverished elderly couple. On New Year's Day, the couple realized that they were unable to afford mochi (a staple form of rice eaten during the New Year). The old man decided to go into town to sell his home-made kasa, but his endeavors proved unsuccessful. Due to the horrible weather conditions, the old man gave up the task and made his trek back home. In the blizzard, the old man came across a line of Jizō statues, to whom he decided to give his kasa as an offering, as well to keep their heads clear of snow. However, he only had enough kasa on hand to give to all but one statue. He gave the remaining statue his tenugui and went on his way. Upon returning home, he relayed the scenario to his wife, who praised him for his virtuous deed, without criticizing his inability to purchase any New Year mochi. That evening, while the couple was asleep, there came a heavy thumping sound from outside the house. They opened the door to find a great pile of treasures, consisting of such goods as rice, vegetables, gold coins, and mochi. The old couple watched on as the Jizō statues marched off into the snowy distance. Having repaid the old man for his selflessness, the couple was able to celebrate the New Year.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kasa_Jiz%C5%8D

 

French postcard in the series Portraits de Stars by L'aventure carto, no. 8, 2003. Photo: Marcel Thomas / Collection Gérard Gagnepain.

 

French actor of Spanish origin Louis de Funès (1914-1983) was one of the giants of French comedy alongside André Bourvil and Fernandel. In many of his over 130 films, he portrayed a humorously excitable, cranky man with a propensity to hyperactivity, bad faith, and uncontrolled fits of anger. Along with his short height (1.63 m) and his facial contortions, this hyperactivity produced a highly comic effect, especially opposite Bourvil, who always played calm, slightly naive, good-humored men.

 

Louis de Funès (French pronunciation: [lwi də fynɛs]) was born Louis Germain David de Funès de Galarza in Courbevoie, France in 1914. His father, Carlos Luis de Funès de Galarza had been a lawyer in Seville, Spain, but became a diamond cutter upon arriving in France. His mother, Leonor Soto Reguera was of Spanish and Portuguese extraction. Since the couple's families opposed their marriage, they settled in France in 1904. Known to friends and intimates as ‘Fufu’, the young De Funès was fond of drawing and piano playing and spoke French, Spanish, and English well. He studied at the prestigious Lycée Condorcet in Paris. He showed a penchant for tomfoolery, something which caused him trouble at school and later made it hard for him to hold down a job. He became a pianist, working mostly as a jazz pianist at Pigalle, the famous red-light district. There he made his customers laugh each time he made a grimace. He studied acting for one year at the Simon acting school. It proved to be a waste of time except for his meeting with actor Daniel Gélin, who would become a close friend. In 1936, he married Germaine Louise Elodie Carroyer with whom he had a son, Daniel (1937). In 1942, they divorced. During the occupation of Paris in the Second World War, he continued his piano studies at a music school, where he fell in love with a secretary, Jeanne Barthelémy de Maupassant, a grandniece of the famous author Guy de Maupassant. They married in 1943 and remained together for forty years until De Funès' death in 1983. The pair had two sons: Patrick (1944) and Olivier (1947). Patrick became a doctor who practiced in Saint-Germain en Laye. Olivier was an actor for a while, known for the son roles in his father's films, including Le Grand Restaurant/The Big Restaurant (Jacques Besnard, 1966), Fantômas se déchaine/Fantomas Strikes Back (André Hunebelle, 1965) starring Jean Marais, Les Grandes Vacances/The Big Vacation (Jean Girault, 1967), and Hibernatus (Edouard Molinaro, 1969) with Claude Gensac as De Funès’ wife, a role she played in many of his films. Olivier later worked as an aviator for Air France Europe.

 

Through the early 1940s, Louis de Funès continued playing piano at clubs, thinking there wasn't much call for a short, balding, skinny actor. His wife and Daniel Gélin encouraged him to overcome his fear of rejection. De Funès began his show business career in the theatre, where he enjoyed moderate success. At the age of 31, thanks to his contact with Daniel Gélin, he made his film debut with an uncredited bit part as a porter in La Tentation de Barbizon/The Temptation of Barbizon (1945, Jean Stelli) starring Simone Renant. For the next ten years, de Funès would appear in fifty films, but always in minor roles, usually as an extra, scarcely noticed by the audience. Sometimes he had a supporting part such as in the Fernandel comedy Boniface somnambule/The Sleepwalker (Maurice Labro, 1951) and the comedy-drama La vie d'un honnête homme/The Virtuous Scoundrel (Sacha Guitry, 1953) starring Michel Simon. In the meanwhile, he pursued a theatrical career. Even after he attained the status of a film star, he continued to play theatre. His stage career culminated in a magnificent performance in the play Oscar, a role which he would later reprise in the film version of 1967. During this period, De Funès developed a pattern of daily activities: in the morning he did dubbing for recognized artists such as Renato Rascel and the Italian comic Totò, during the afternoon he worked in film, and in the theater in the evening. A break came when he appeared as the black-market pork butcher Jambier (another small role) in the well-known WWII comedy, La Traversée de Paris/Four Bags Full (Claude Autant-Lara, 1956) starring Jean Gabin and Bourvil. In his next film, the mediocre comedy Comme un cheveu sur la soupe/Crazy in the Noodle (Maurice Régamey, 1957), De Funès finally played the leading role. More interesting was Ni vu, ni connu/Neither Seen Nor Recognized (Yves Robert, 1958). He achieved stardom with the comedy Pouic-Pouic (Jean Girault, 1963) opposite Mireille Darc. This successful film guaranteed De Funès top billing in all of his subsequent films.

 

Between 1964 and 1979, Louis de Funès topped France's box office of the year's most successful films seven times. At the age of 49, De Funès unexpectedly became a superstar with the international success of two films. Fantômas (André Hunebelle, 1964) was France's own answer to the James Bond frenzy and lead to a trilogy co-starring Jean Marais and Mylène Demongeot. The second success was the crime comedy Le gendarme de Saint-Tropez/The Gendarme of St. Tropez (Jean Girault, 1964) with Michel Galabru. After their first successful collaboration on Pouic-Pouic, director Girault had perceived De Funès as the ideal actor to play the part of the accident-prone gendarme. The film led to a series of six 'Gendarme' films. De Funès's collaboration with director Gérard Oury produced a memorable tandem of de Funès with Bourvil, another great comic actor, in Le Corniaud/The Sucker (Gérard Oury, 1964). The successful partnership was repeated two years later in La Grande Vadrouille/Don't Look Now - We're Being Shot At (Gérard Oury, 1966), one of the most successful and the largest grossing film ever made in France, drawing an audience of 17,27 million. It remains his greatest success. Oury envisaged a further reunion of the two comics in his historical comedy La Folie des grandeurs/Delusions of Grandeur (Gérard Oury, 1970), but Bourvil's death in 1970 led to the unlikely pairing of de Funès with Yves Montand in this film. Very successful, even in the USA, was Les aventures de Rabbi Jacob/The Mad Adventures of Rabbi Jacob (Gérard Oury, 1973) with Suzy Delair. De Funès played a bigoted Frenchman who finds himself forced to impersonate a popular rabbi while on the run from a group of assassins. In 1975, Oury had scheduled to make Le Crocodile/The Crocodile with De Funès as a South American dictator, but in March 1975, the actor was hospitalised for heart problems and was forced to take a rest from acting. The Crocodile project was canceled.

 

After his recovery, Louis de Funès collaborated with Claude Zidi, in a departure from his usual image. Zidi wrote for him L'aile ou la cuisse/The Wing and the Thigh (Claude Zidi, 1976), opposite Coluche as his son. He played a well-known gourmet and publisher of a famous restaurant guide, who is waging a war against a fast-food entrepreneur. It was a new character full of nuances and frankness and arguably the best of his roles. In 1980, De Funès realised a long-standing dream to make a film version of Molière's play, L'Avare/The Miser (Louis de Funès, Jean Girault, 1980). In 1982, De Funès made his final film, Le Gendarme et les gendarmettes/Never Play Clever Again (Tony Aboyantz, Jean Girault, 1982). Unlike the characters he played, de Funès was said to be a very shy person in real life. He became a knight of France's Légion d'honneur in 1973. He resided in the Château de Clermont, a 17th-century monument, located in the commune of Le Cellier, which is situated near Nantes in France. In his later years, he suffered from a heart condition after having suffered a heart attack caused by straining himself too much with his stage antics. Louis de Funès died of a massive stroke in 1983, a few months after making Le Gendarme et les gendarmettes. He was laid to rest in the Cimetière du Cellier, the cemetery situated in the grounds of the château. Films de France: “Although fame was a long time coming, Louis de Funès is regarded today as not just a great comic actor with an unfaltering ability to make his audience laugh, but practically an institution in his own right. His many films bear testimony to the extent of his comic genius and demonstrate the tragedy that he never earned the international recognition that he certainly deserved.”

 

Sources: Steve Shelokhonov (IMDb), Films de France, Wikipedia, and IMDb.

 

And, please check out our blog European Film Star Postcards.

In one particular garden at the cemetery, rows of stone statues of children represent unborn children, including miscarried, aborted, and stillborn children. Parents can choose a statue in the garden and decorate it with small clothing and toys. Usually the statues are accompanied by a small gift for Jizō, the guardian of unborn children, to ensure that they are brought to the afterlife. Occasionally stones are piled by the statue; this is meant to ease the journey to the afterlife.

 

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Z%C5%8Dj%C5%8D-ji

 

En un jardín en particular en el cementerio, filas de estatuas de piedra de niños representan a los niños por nacer, incluidos los niños abortados, abortados y nacidos muertos. Los padres pueden elegir una estatua en el jardín y decorarla con ropa y juguetes pequeños. Por lo general, las estatuas van acompañadas de un pequeño obsequio para Jizō, el guardián de los niños por nacer, para asegurarse de que sean llevados al más allá. Ocasionalmente, la estatua amontona piedras; esto está destinado a facilitar el viaje a la otra vida.

 

Mizuko kuyo (水子供養 Mizuko kuyō, "servicio memorial para un feto abortado") es una ceremonia japonesa para las mujeres que han sufrido un aborto espontáneo, aborto inducido o mortinato. Esta práctica es más evidente desde la creación de santuarios en la década de 1970 para tal ritual, con el fin de la tranquilidad de la gestante, descanso del alma del feto y evitar la venganza del espíritu del bebé. Originalmente el mizuko kuyo fue usado para ofrendar a Jizo (Ksitigarbha), un Bodhisattva supuesto protector de los niños. Durante el Período Edo, cuando una embarazada era empujada a cometer aborto o infanticidio por su pobreza, la práctica era adaptada para satisfacer la situación. Hoy día, la práctica del mizuko kuyo continúa en Japón, aunque no es claro su autenticidad histórica en las prácticas del budismo en Japón. La ceremonia varía entre templos, escuelas e individuos. Es común que en los templos budistas se ofrezcan estatuillas de Jizo vestidas a lo largo de los pasillos para este propósito. Algunos de estos servicios han sido criticados por aprovecharse y abusar de las creencias que los japoneses tienen acerca de la posible venganza de los espíritus de los bebés abortados.

 

es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mizuko_kuy%C5%8D

www.kirainet.com/jizo/

 

Mizuko kuyō (水子供養) meaning "water child memorial service", is a Japanese ceremony for those who have had a miscarriage, stillbirth, or abortion. This practice has become particularly visible since the 1970s with the creation of shrines devoted solely to this ritual. Reasons for the performance of these rites can include parental grief, desire to comfort the soul of the fetus, guilt for an abortion, or even fear of retribution from a vengeful ghost.

Mizuko (水子), literally "water child", is a Japanese term for an aborted, stillborn or miscarried baby, and archaically for a dead baby or infant. Kuyō (供養) refers to a memorial service. Previously read suiji, the Sino-Japanese on'yomi reading of the same characters, the term was originally a kaimyō or dharma name given after death.The mizuko kuyō, typically performed by Buddhist priests, was used to make offerings to Jizō, a bodhisattva who is believed to protect children. In the Edo period, when famine sometimes led the poverty-stricken to infanticide and abortion, the practice was adapted to cover these situations as well.

Today, the practice of mizuko kuyō continues in Japan, although it is unclear whether it is a historically authentic Buddhist practice. Specific elements of the ceremony vary from temple to temple, school to school, and individual to individual. It is common for temples to offer Jizō statues for a fee, which are then dressed in red bibs and caps, and displayed in the temple yard. Though the practice has been performed since the 1970s, there are still doubts surrounding the ritual. Some view the memorial service as the temples' way of benefiting from the misfortune of women who have miscarried or had to abort a pregnancy. American religious scholars have criticized the temples for allegedly abusing the Japanese belief that the spirits of the dead retaliate for their mistreatment, but other scholars believe the temples are only answering the needs of the people.

The ceremony is attended by both parents or by one, not necessarily the mother. The service can vary from a single event to one that repeats monthly or annually. Though the service varies, common aspects resemble the ceremony for the recent dead, the senzo kuyō (先祖供養). The priest faces the altar and evokes the names of various Buddhas and bodhisattvas. Mantras, often the Heart Sutra and the 25th chapter of the Lotus Sutra, known as the "Avalokiteśvara Sutra", are performed, as are calls of praise to Jizō. Gifts are offered to the Buddha on behalf of the mourned, typically food, drink, incense or flowers. A kaimyō is given to the deceased, and a statue of Jizō is often placed on temple grounds upon completion of the ceremony.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mizuko_kuy%C5%8D

 

Los seis Jizō es una antigua leyenda japonesa perteneciente al budismo, cuyo protagonista es el bodhisattva Jizō (地蔵) o Ksitigarbha (地蔵菩薩), tal como se le conoce en Japón. Jizō es el encargado de proteger las almas de los bebés que no han nacido y de los niños que han muerto siendo muy pequeños, a los que se les llama mizuko (水子) o niños del agua. Jizō es el protector de las mujeres embarazadas y de los niños, así como también de los bomberos y viajeros.

De acuerdo con la leyenda, una pareja de ancianos vivía en un hogar humilde y pasaban por muchas necesidades. Se ganaban la vida vendiendo sombreros de paja que fabricaban con sus propias manos. Sin embargo, eran tan pobres que al llegar el día de Fin de Año no tenían dinero para comprar algo especial para cenar y celebrar dicha fecha. El anciano entonces le prometió a su esposa que iría al pueblo, vendería los sombreros y le compraría algo para cenar. El anciano había llevado consigo cinco sombreros de paja, pero al no conseguir venderlos se propuso a regresar a su hogar. Una gran nevada le sorprendió durante el camino de vuelta y divisó a lo lejos seis estatuas de Jizō, de las cuales sintió pena al estar cubiertas de nieve. El anciano quitó la nieve de las estatuas y les ofreció los sombreros que venía cargando con él. A ver que faltaba un sombrero para una de las estatuas, el anciano se quitó su propio sombrero y se lo colocó al sexto Jizō. Más tarde esa noche, la pareja oyó ruidos fuera de su casa y al salir se encontraron con arroz, mochi, pescado y monedas de oro en su puerta. Posteriormente vieron a las estatuas de Jizō con los sombreros en sus cabezas, quienes agradecieron a la pareja por su bondad.

es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Los_seis_Jiz%C5%8D

 

Kasa Jizō (笠地蔵) is a Japanese folk tale about an old couple whose generosity is rewarded by the bodhisattva Kṣitigarbha, whose name is Jizō in Japanese. The story is commonly handed down by parents to their children in order to instill moral values, as it is grounded in Buddhist thought. An alternative title, Kasako Jizō can be found in Iwate and Fukushima Prefectures. Its origins belong in the Tōhoku and Niigata regions, with the oldest dispensations coming from Hokuriku, as well as areas of Western Japan such as Hiroshima and Kumamoto Prefectures. Its precise origin, however, remains unknown.

One day in the snowy country there lived an incredibly impoverished elderly couple. On New Year's Day, the couple realized that they were unable to afford mochi (a staple form of rice eaten during the New Year). The old man decided to go into town to sell his home-made kasa, but his endeavors proved unsuccessful. Due to the horrible weather conditions, the old man gave up the task and made his trek back home. In the blizzard, the old man came across a line of Jizō statues, to whom he decided to give his kasa as an offering, as well to keep their heads clear of snow. However, he only had enough kasa on hand to give to all but one statue. He gave the remaining statue his tenugui and went on his way. Upon returning home, he relayed the scenario to his wife, who praised him for his virtuous deed, without criticizing his inability to purchase any New Year mochi. That evening, while the couple was asleep, there came a heavy thumping sound from outside the house. They opened the door to find a great pile of treasures, consisting of such goods as rice, vegetables, gold coins, and mochi. The old couple watched on as the Jizō statues marched off into the snowy distance. Having repaid the old man for his selflessness, the couple was able to celebrate the New Year.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kasa_Jiz%C5%8D

 

photo rights reserved by B℮n

 

Wat Si Phan Ton, also known as the Temple of a Thousand Kilns, is a Buddhist temple located in Nan, a province in northern Thailand. This unique temple is known for its extraordinary architecture and the use of ceramic tiles that come from ancient pottery kilns. The temple is made of bricks and ceramic pieces, including vases, plates and other objects produced in the past. Over the years, the temple has experienced wear and tear and damage. Fortunately, efforts have been made to preserve and restore the temple, preserving its unique architecture and artwork for future generations. Buddhist monks live in Wat Si Phan Ton, including the venerable monk Chao Abbot. In Thai temples such as Wat Si Phan Ton, monks perform several roles: Prayer and Meditation, Buddha's Teachings, Community Service, and Almsgiving. Monks may be involved in community service, such as providing spiritual guidance to those in need, attending ceremonial events, and providing moral support. They follow a strict set of precepts and devote their lives to the pursuit of spiritual development, meditation and spreading the Buddha's teachings. Monks spend a significant portion of their time in prayer and meditation. This enables them to achieve inner peace and gain profound insights. Monks can be involved in community service, such as providing spiritual guidance to those in need, attending ceremonial events, and providing moral support. In Buddhism, it is considered virtuous to give food and donations to monks. Monks often enter the community early in the morning to receive alms as a way to promote spiritual connection. Monks lead a simple lifestyle and have minimal material possessions. They wear traditional orange robes and shave their heads as a sign of renunciation of worldly vanity. Wat Si Phan Ton is not only a place of worship, but also a cultural and historical site.

 

Venerable Monk Chao Abbot, residing at Wat Si Phan Ton temple in Nan, humbly accepts alms from the community. His serene presence and profound spiritual wisdom endear him to many. As the custodian of the temple, he plays a vital role in imparting the teachings of Buddha to seekers. Beyond his religious responsibilities, he provides moral support and guidance to those in need, compassionately lightening the burdens of others.

 

Wat Si Phan Ton, ook wel bekend als de Temple of a Thousand Kilns, is een boeddhistische tempel gelegen in Nan, een provincie in het noorden van Thailand. Deze unieke tempel staat bekend om zijn buitengewone architectuur en het gebruik van keramische tegels die afkomstig zijn van oude aardewerkovens. De tempel is gemaakt van bakstenen en keramische stukken, waaronder vazen, borden en andere voorwerpen die in het verleden zijn geproduceerd. Door de jaren heen heeft de tempel te maken gehad met slijtage en beschadiging. Gelukkig zijn er inspanningen geleverd om de tempel te behouden en te restaureren, zodat de unieke architectuur en kunstwerken bewaard blijven voor toekomstige generaties. Er wonen boeddhistische monniken in Wat Si Phan Ton zo ook de eerbiedwaardige monnik Chao Abt. In Thaise tempels zoals Wat Si Phan Ton, vervullen monniken verschillende rollen: Gebed en Meditatie, de leer van Boeddha, Gemeenschapsdienst en Aalmoezen. Monniken kunnen betrokken zijn bij gemeenschapsdienst, zoals het bieden van spirituele begeleiding aan mensen die dat nodig hebben, het bijwonen van ceremoniële gebeurtenissen en het bieden van morele ondersteuning. Ze volgen een reeks strikte leefregels en besteden hun leven aan het nastreven van spirituele ontwikkeling, meditatie en het verspreiden van de leer van Boeddha. Monniken besteden een aanzienlijk deel van hun tijd aan gebed en meditatie. Dit stelt hen in staat om innerlijke vrede te bereiken en diepgaande inzichten te verwerven. Monniken kunnen betrokken zijn bij gemeenschapsdienst, zoals het bieden van spirituele begeleiding aan mensen die dat nodig hebben, het bijwonen van ceremoniële gebeurtenissen en het bieden van morele ondersteuning. In het Boeddhisme wordt het als deugdzaam beschouwd om voedsel en donaties te schenken aan monniken. Monniken gaan vaak in de vroege ochtend de gemeenschap in om aalmoezen te ontvangen als een manier om spirituele verbondenheid te bevorderen. Monniken leiden een eenvoudige levensstijl en hebben minimale materiële bezittingen. Ze dragen traditionele oranje gewaden en scheren hun hoofd als teken van verzaking van wereldse ijdelheid. Wat Si Phan Ton is niet alleen een plek van aanbidding, maar ook een culturele en historische plek.

 

A Iranian woman enveloped in a chador and headscarf takes a photo in a historic religious site. Photo taken on August 07, 2008 in Ba Yazid Bastami Tomb, Bastam, Semnan Province, Iran.

The Fresco.

In ancient times the unhappy love of Phaedra towards her stepson Hippolytus inspired many artists, both painters and sculptors. This fresco represents the main characters in their house: Phaedra with her nurse and Hippolytus ready for the hunt.

Phaedra, richly dressed, sits on a sumptuous throne. The lovesick heroine is portrayed as a desirable woman of high social standing: a diadem embellishes her head, her robe slips Venus—like from the shoulders, and her right arm is resting softly on the back of the throne hidden by her cloak. Phaedra exhibits her naked body without shame, and the left hand gesture, caught in the act of moving away the edge of the light dress from her shoulder, has a deep meaning of intimacy. Overcome by her longing for her handsome stepson, who is preparing to depart for the hunt, she turns the head to avoid seeing Hippolytus who, wearing only a chlamys, stands in front of her, holding a spear or lance in his left hand. His perfect heroic body, presented frontally to the viewer, contrasts effectively with the flaccid, wrinkled skin of the old nurse next to him. She is holding out her right hand in entreaty or supplication. A young servant accompanies Hippolytus holding the reins of a horse.

 

The Myth.

Daughter of Minos, king of Crete, and Pasiphae. She married Theseus, king of Athens, and bore him two sons, Acamas and Demophon. At the core of her legend is her relationship with her stepson Hippolytus, Theseus’ son by the Amazon Antiope (or Hippolyte). In what seems to have been the traditional story told by Apollodorus (Epit. I, 18-19), “Phaedra, after she had borne two children, Acamas and Demophon, to Theseus, fell in love with the son he had by the Amazon, to wit, Hippolytus, and besought him to lie with her. Howbeit, he fled from her embraces, because he hated all women. But Phaedra, fearing that he might accuse her to his father, cleft open the doors of her bed-chamber, rent her garments, and falsely charged Hippolytus with an assault.

Theseus believed her and prayed to Poseidon that Hippolytus might perish. So, when Hippolytus was riding in his chariot and driving beside the sea, Poseidon sent up a bull from the surf, and the horses were frightened, the chariot dashed in pieces, and Hippolytus, entangled in the reins, was dragged to death. And when her passion was made public, Phaedra hanged herself.” (Sir James George Frazer, Ed)

Phaedra was the subject of at least three Attic tragedies, two by Euripides entitled Hippolytus and a Phaedra by Sophocles. According to Euripides’ second and extant Hippolytus (428 BC), Phaedra is the innocent victim of the struggle between divine powers, and the plain story of Apollodorus is treated with great psychological refinement. Phaedra is a virtuous woman and has been made to fall in love by Aphrodite, who is getting her revenge on Hippolytus, the chaste follower of Artemis, for ignoring her worship. Phaedra, ashamed of this dishonorable love, has struggled to conquer her passion in silence – but to no avail, and so now she is trying to starve herself to death. Her nurse, alarmed because of her obvious illness, worms her secret out of her; and it is the nurse, anxious to ease her mistress’ sufferings, who reveals her love to Hippolytus.

He responds to these well-meant overtures with bitter rage against women in general and Phaedra in particular, and she, afraid that he will tell everything to Theseus, writes a letter to her husband accusing Hippolytus of rape, a slander designed to protect her children from a disgrace they do not deserve. “This day I shall die” she says, “and bring pleasure to Aphrodite, my destroyer. I shall be the victim of a bitter love. But there is another whom I will hurt in dying ….” Then she hangs herself from the rafters. Theseus returns to find his wife dead, to read the letter, and to curse Hippolytus to death by the bull from the sea.

 

Source: Jennifer R. March. “Dictionary of Classical Mythology”.

 

Fresco 104 cm x 104 cm

AD 60 - 79 (4th style)

From Ercolano

Naples, “Museo Archeologico Nazionale”

Exhibition: “Ovidio: Loves, Myths & Other Stories”

Scuderie del Quirinale, Rome

 

(Fuente: Ileana Ros-Lehtinen @RosLehtinen)

========================================================

Día de la Independencia

 

Mediante la firma del Acta de la Declaración de Independencia el 5 de julio de 1811, los venezolanos de la época toman la decisión, apoyados por varias circunstancias políticas, de desprenderse del reino español y construir una nueva nación a partir de premisas de igualdad entre los individuos, abolición de la censura y consagración de la libertad de expresión como principio constitucional, premisas radicalmente opuestas a las prácticas políticas, culturales y sociales que habían regido durante trescientos años anteriores.

 

Acto de significativo valor para todos los venezolanos, herederos legítimos del más imperecedero e inalienable legado del 5 de julio: entregarle a los habitantes de este territorio, a la sociedad toda, la soberanía sobre sus asuntos públicos.

   

Acta de Independencia de Venezuela

 

Firmada el 5 de Julio de 1811

 

En el nombre de Dios Todopoderoso, nosotros, los representantes de las provincias Unidas de Caracas, Cumaná, Barinas, Margarita, Barcelona, Mérida y Trujillo, que forman la Confederación Americana de Venezuela en el continente meridional, reunidos en Congreso, y considerando la plena y absoluta posesión de nuestros derechos, que recobramos justa y legítimamente desde el 19 de Abril de 1810, es consecuencia de la jornada de Bayona y la ocupación del trono sin nuestro consentimiento, queremos, antes de usar de los derechos de que nos tuvo privados las fuerzas, por más de tres siglos, y nos ha restituido el orden político de los acontecimientos humanos, patentizar al universo las razones que han emanado de estos mismos acontecimientos y autorizan el libre uso que vamos a hacer de nuestra soberanía.

 

No queremos, sin embargo, empezar alegando los derechos que tiene todo país conquistado, para recuperar su estado de propiedad e independencia; olvidamos generosamente la larga serie de males, agravios y privaciones que el derecho funesto de conquista ha causado indistintamente a todos los descendientes de los descubridores, conquistadores y pobladores de estos países, hechos de peor condición, por la misma razón que debía favorecerlos; y corriendo un velo sobre los trescientos años de dominación española en América, sólo presentaremos los hechos auténticos y notorios que han debido desprender y han desprendido de derecho a un mundo de otro, en el trastorno, desorden y conquista que tiene ya disuelta la nación española.

 

Este desorden ha aumentado los males de la América, inutilizándole los recursos y reclamaciones, y autorizando la impunidad de los gobernantes de España para insultar y oprimir esta parte de la nación, dejándola sin el amparo y garantía de las leyes.

 

Es contrario al orden, imposible al gobierno de España, y funesto a la América, el que, teniendo ésta un territorio infinitamente más extenso, y una población incomparablemente más numerosa, dependa y esté sujeta a un ángulo peninsular del continente europeo.

 

Las sesiones y abdicaciones de Bayona, las jornadas del Escorial y de Aranjuez, y las órdenes del lugarteniente Duque de Berg, a la América, debieron poner en uso de los derechos que hasta entonces habían sacrificado los americanos a la unidad e integridad de la nación española.

 

Venezuela, antes que nadie, reconoció y conservó generosamente esta integridad para no abandonar la causa de sus hermanos, mientras tuvo la menor apariencia de salvación.

 

América volvió a existir de nuevo, desde que pudo y debió tomar a cargo su suerte y conservación; como España pudo conocer, o no, los derechos de un Rey que había apreciado más su existencia que la dignidad de la nación que gobernaba.

 

Cuántos Borbones concurrieron a las inválidas estipulaciones de Bayona, abandonando el territorio español, contra la voluntad de los pueblos, faltaron, despreciaron y hollaron el deber sagrado que contrajeron con los españoles de ambos mundos, cuando, con su sangre y sus tesoros, los colocaron en el trono a despechos de la Casa de Austria; por esta conducta quedaron inhábiles e incapaces de gobernar a un pueblo libre, a quien entregaron como un rebaño de esclavos.

 

Los intrusos gobiernos que se abrogaron la representación nacional aprovecharon pérfidamente las disposiciones que la buena fe, la distancia, la opresión y la ignorancia daban a los americanos contra la nueva dinastía que se introdujo en España por la fuerza; y contra sus mismos principios, sostuvieron entre nosotros la ilusión a favor de Fernando, para devorarnos y vejarnos impunemente cuando más nos prometía la libertad, la igualdad y la fraternidad, en discursos pomposos y frases estudiadas, para encubrir el lazo de una representación amañada, inútil y degradante.

 

Luego que se disolvieron, sustituyeron y destruyeron entre sí las varias formas de gobierno de España, y que la ley imperiosa de la necesidad dictó a Venezuela el conservarse a sí misma para ventilar y conservar los derechos de su Rey y ofrecer un asilo a sus hermanos de Europa contra los males que les amenazaban, se desconoció toda su anterior conducta, se variaron los principios, y se llamó insurreción, perfidia e ingratitud, a lo mismo que sirvió de norma a los gobiernos de España, porque ya se les cerraba la puerta al monopolio de administración que querían perpetuar a nombre de un Rey imaginario.

 

A pesar de nuestras propuestas, de nuestra moderación, de nuestra generosidad, y de la inviolabilidad de nuestros principios, contra la voluntad de nuestros hermanos de Europa, se nos declara un estado de rebelión, se nos bloquea, se nos hostiliza, se nos envían agentes a amotinarnos unos contra otros, y se procura desacreditarnos entre las naciones de Europa implorando su auxilio para oprimirnos.

 

Sin hacer el menor aprecio de nuestras razones, sin presentarlas al imparcial juicio del mundo, y sin otros jueces que nuestros enemigos, se nos condena a una dolorosa incomunicación con nuestros hermanos; y para añadir el desprecio a la calumnia se nos nombra apoderados, contra nuestra expresa voluntad, para que en sus Cortes dispongan arbitrariamente de nuestros intereses bajo el influjo y la fuerza de nuestros enemigos.

 

Para sofocar y anonadar los efectos de nuestra representación, cuando se vieron obligados a concedérnosla, nos sometieron a una tarifa mezquina y diminuta y sujetaron a la voz pasiva de los ayuntamientos, degradados por el despotismo de los gobernadores, la forma de la elección; lo que era un insulto a nuestra sencillez y buena fe, más bien que una consideración a nuestra incontestable importancia política.

 

Sordos siempre a los gritos de nuestra justicia, han procurado los gobiernos de España desacreditar todos nuestros esfuerzos declarando criminales y sellando con la infamia, el cadalso y la confiscación, todas las tentativas que, en diversas épocas, han hechos algunos americanos para la felicidad de su país, como fue la que últimamente nos dictó la propia seguridad, para no ser envueltos en el desorden que presentíamos, y conducidos a la horrorosa suerte que vamos ya a apartar de nosotros para siempre; con esta atroz política, han logrado hacer a nuestros hermanos insensibles a nuestras desgracias, armarlos contra nosotros, borrar de ellos las dulces impresiones de la amistad y de la consanguinidad, y convertir en enemigos una parte de nuestra gran familia.

 

Cuando nosotros, fieles a nuestras promesas, sacrificábamos nuestra seguridad y dignidad civil por no abandonar los derechos que generosamente conservamos a Fernando de Borbón, hemos vistos que a las relaciones de las fuerzas que le ligaban con el Emperador de los franceses ha añadido los vínculos de sangre y amistad, por lo que hasta los gobiernos de España han declarado ya su resolución de no reconocerle sino condicionalmente.

 

En esta dolorosa alternativa hemos permanecido tres años en una indecisión y ambigüedad política, tan funesta y peligrosa, que ella sola bastaría a autorizar la resolución que la fe de nuestras promesas y de los vínculos de la fraternidad nos habían hecho diferir; hasta que la necesidad nos ha obligado a ir más allá de lo que nos propusimos, impelidos por la conducta hostil y desnaturalizada de los gobiernos de España, que nos ha relevado del juramento condicional con que hemos sido llamados a la augusta representación que ejercemos.

 

Mas nosotros, que nos gloriamos de fundar nuestro proceder en mejores principios, y que no queremos establecer nuestra felicidad sobre la desgracia de nuestros semejantes, miramos y declaramos como amigos nuestros, compañeros de nuestra suerte, y partícipes de nuestra felicidad, a los que, unidos con nosotros por los vínculos de la sangre, la lengua y la religión, han sufrido los mismos males en el anterior orden; siempre que, reconociendo nuestra absoluta independencia de él y de otra dominación extraña, nos ayuden a sostenerla con su vida, su fortuna y su opinión, declarándolos y reconociéndolos (como a todas las demás naciones) en guerra enemigos, y en paz amigos, hermanos y compatriotas.

 

En atención a todas estas sólidas, públicas e incontestables razones de política, que tanto persuaden la necesidad de recobrar la dignidad natural, que el orden de los sucesos nos han restituido, en uso de los imprescriptibles derechos que tienen los pueblos para destruir todo pacto, convenio o asociación que no llenan los fines para que fueron instituidos los gobiernos, creemos que no podemos ni debemos conservar los lazos que nos ligaban al gobierno de España, y que, como todos los pueblos del mundo, estamos libres y autorizados para no depender de otra autoridad que la nuestra, y tomar entre las potencias de la tierra, el puesto igual que el Ser Supremo y la naturaleza nos asignan y a que nos llama la sucesión de los acontecimientos humanos y nuestro propio bien y utilidad.

 

Sin embargo de que conocemos las dificultades que trae consigo y las obligaciones que nos impone el rango que vamos a ocupar en el orden político del mundo, y la influencia poderosa de las formas y actitudes a que hemos estado, a nuestro pesar, acostumbrados, también conocemos que la vergonzosa sumisión a ellas, cuando podemos sacudirlas, sería más ignominiosa para nosotros, y más funesta para nuestra posterioridad, que nuestra larga y penosa servidumbre, y que es ya de nuestro indispensable deber proveer a nuestra conservación, seguridad y felicidad, variando esencialmente todas las formas de nuestra anterior constitución.

 

Por tanto, creyendo con todas estas razones satisfecho el respeto que debemos tener a las opiniones del género humano y a la dignidad de las demás naciones, en cuyo número vamos entrar, y con cuya comunicación y amistad contamos, nosotros, los representantes de las Provincias Unidas de Venezuela, poniendo por testigo al Ser Supremo de la justicia de nuestro proceder y de la rectitud de nuestras intenciones, imploramos sus divinos y celestiales auxilios, y ratificándole, en el momento en que nacemos a la dignidad, que su providencia nos restituye el deseo de vivir y morir libres, creyendo y defendiendo la santa, católica y apostólica religión de Jesucristo. Nosotros, pues, a nombre y con la voluntad y la autoridad que tenemos del virtuoso pueblo de Venezuela, declaramos solemnemente al mundo que sus Provincias Unidas son, y deben ser desde hoy, de hecho y de derecho, Estados libres, soberanos e independientes y que están absueltos de toda sumisión y dependencia de la Corona de España o de los que se dicen o dijeren sus apoderados o representantes, y que como tal Estado libre e independiente tiene un pleno poder para darse la forma de gobierno que sea conforme a la voluntad general de sus pueblos, declarar la guerra, hacer la paz, formar alianzas, arreglar tratados de comercio, límites y navegación, hacer y ejecutar todos los demás actos que hacen y ejecutan las naciones libres e independientes. Y para hacer válida, firme y subsistente unas provincias a otras, nuestras vidas, nuestras fortunas y el sagrado de nuestro honor nacional. Dada en el Palacio Federal y de Caracas, firmada de nuestra mano, sellada con el gran sello provisional de la Confederación, refrendada por el Secretario del Congreso, a cinco días del mes de julio del año de mil ochocientos once, el primero de nuestra independencia.

diaspatrios.yaia.com/venezuela57.html

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ACT OF INDEPENDENCE.

In the Name of the All-powerful God,

 

WE the Representatives of the united Provincesof CARACAS, CUMANA, VARINAS, MARGARITA, BARCELONA, MERIDA, and

TRUXILLO, forming the American Confederation of Venezuela, in the South Continent, in Congress assembled, considering the full and absolute possession of our Rights, which we recovered justly and legally from the 19th of April, 1810, in consequence of the occurrences in Bayona, and the occupation of the Spanish Throne by conquest, and the succession of a new Dynasty, constituted without our consent: are desirous, before we make use of those Rights, of which we have been deprived by force for more than three centuries, but now restored to us by the political

order of human events, to make known to the world the reasons which have emanated from these same occurrences, and which authorise us in the free use we are now about to make of our own Sovereignty.

 

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We do not wish, nevertheless, to begin by alleging the rights inherent in every conquered country, to recover its state of property and independence; we generously forget the long series of ills, injuries, and privations, which the sad right of conquest has indistinctly caused, to all the descendants of the Discoverers, Conquerors, and Settlers of these Countries,

plunged into a worse state by the very same cause that ought to have favoured them; and, drawing a veil over the 300 years of Spanish dominion in America, we will now only present to view the authentic and well-known facts, which ought to have wrested from one world, the right over the other, by the inversion, disorder, and conquest, that have already dissolved the Spanish Nation.

 

This disorder has increased the ills of America, by rendering void its claims and remonstrances, enabling the Governors of Spain to insult and oppress this part of the Nation, thus leaving it without the succour and guarantee of the Laws.

 

It is contrary to order, impossible to the Government of Spain, and fatal to the welfare of America, that the latter, possessed of a range of country infinitely more extensive, and a population incomparably more numerous, should depend and be subject to a Peninsular Corner of the European Continent.

 

The Cessions and Abdications at Bayona, the Revolutions of the Escorial and Aranjuez, and the Orders of the Royal Substitute, the Duke of Berg, sent to America, suffice to give virtue to the rights, which

 

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till then the Americans had sacrificed to the unity and integrity of the Spanish Nation.

 

Venezuela was the first to acknowledge, and generously to preserve, this integrity; not to abandon the cause of its brothers, as long as the same retained the least hope of salvation.

 

America was called into a new existence, since she could, and ought, to take upon herself the charge of her own fate and preservation; as Spain might acknowledge, or not, the rights of a King, who had preferred his own existence to the dignity of the Nation over which he governed.

 

All the Bourbons concurred to the invalid stipulations of Bayona, abandoning the country of Spain, against the will of the People;—they violated, disdained, and trampled on the sacred duty they had contracted with the Spaniards of both Worlds, when with their blood and treasure they had placed them on the Throne, in despite of the House of Austria. By such conduct, they were left disqualified and incapable of governing a Free People, whom they delivered up like a flock of Slaves.

 

The intrusive Governments that arrogated to themselves

the National Representation, took advantage of the dispositions which the good faith, distance, oppression, and ignorance, created in the Americans, against the new Dynasty that had entered Spain by means of force; and, contrary to their own principles, they sustained amongst us the illusion in favour

of Ferdinand, in order to devour and harass us with

 

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impunity: at most, they promised to us liberty, equality, and fraternity, conveyed in pompous discourses and studied phrases, for the purpose of covering the snare laid by a cunning, useless, and degrading Representation.

 

As soon as they were dissolved, and had substituted and destroyed amongst themselves the various forms of the Government of Spain; and as soon as the imperious law of necessity had dictated to Venezuela the urgency of preserving itself, in order to guard and maintain the rights of her King, and to offer an asylum to her European brethren against the ills that

threatened them; their former conduct was divulged: they varied their principles, and gave the appellations of insurrection, perfidy, and ingratitude, to the same acts that had served as models for the Governments of Spain; because then was closed to them the gate to the monopoly of administration, which they meant to perpetuate under the name of an imaginary King.

 

Notwithstanding our protests, our moderation, generosity, and the inviolability of our principles, contrary to the wishes of our brethren in Europe, we were declared in a state of rebellion; we were blockaded; war was declared against us; agents were sent amongst us, to excite us one against the other, endeavouring to take away our credit with the other Nations of Europe, by imploring their assistance to oppress us.

 

Without taking the least notice of our reasons, without presenting them to the impartial judgment of

 

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the world, and without any other judges than our own enemies, we are condemned to a mournful incommunication with our brethren; and, to add contempt to calumny, empowered agents are named for us, against our own express will, that in their Cortes they may arbitrarily dispose of our interests, under the influence and force of our enemies.

 

In order to crush and suppress the effects of our Representation, when they were obliged to grant it to us, we were submitted to a paltry and diminutive scale; and the form of election was subjected to the passive voice of the Municipal Bodies, degraded by the despotism of the Governors: which amounted to an insult to our plain dealing and good faith, more than a consideration of our incontestible political importance.

 

Always deaf to the cries of justice on our part, the Governments of Spain have endeavoured to discredit all our efforts, by declaring as criminal, and stamping with infamy, and rewarding with the scaffold and confiscation, every attempt, which at different periods some Americans have made, for the felicity of their country: as was that which lately our own security dictated to us, that we might not be driven into a state of disorder which we foresaw, and hurried to that horrid fate which we are about to remove for ever from before us. By means of such atrocious policy, they have succeeded in making our brethren insensible

to our misfortunes; in arming them against us; in erasing from their bosoms the sweet impressions of

 

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friendship, of consanguinity; and converting into enemies a part of our own great family.

 

At a time that we, faithful to our promises, were sacrificing our security and civil dignity, not to abandon the rights which we generously preserved to Ferdinand of Bourbon, we have seen that, to the relations of force which bound him to the Emperor of

the French, he has added the ties of blood and friendship; in consequence of which, even the Governments of Spain have already declared their resolution only to acknowledge him conditionally*.

 

In this mournful alternative we have remained three years, in a state of political indecision and ambiguity, so fatal and dangerous, that this alone would suffice to authorise the resolution, which the faith of our promises and the bonds of fraternity had caused us to defer, till necessity has obliged us to go beyond what we at first proposed, impelled by the hostile and unnatural conduct of the Governments of Spain, which have disburdened us of our conditional oath, by which circumstance, we are called to the august representation we now exercise.

 

But we, who glory in grounding our proceedings on better principles, and not wishing to establish our felicity on the misfortunes of our fellow-beings, do consider and declare as friends, companions of our fate, and participators of our felicity, those who, united to us by the ties of blood, language, and religion,

 

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have suffered the same evils in the anterior order of things, provided they acknowledge our absolute independence of the same, and of any other foreign power whatever; that they aid us to sustain it with their lives, fortune, and sentiments; declaring

and acknowledging them (as well as to every other nation,) in war enemies, and in peace friends, brothers, and co-patriots.

 

In consequence of all these solid, public, and incontestible

reasons of policy, which so powerfully urge the necessity of recovering our natural dignity, restored to us by the order of events; and in compliance with the imprescriptible rights enjoyed by nations, to destroy every pact, agreement, or association, which does not answer the purposes for which governments were established; we believe that we cannot, nor ought not, to preserve the bonds which hitherto kept us united to the Government of Spain; and that, like all the other nations of the world, we are free, and authorised not to depend on any other authority than our own, and to take amongst the powers of the

earth the place of equality which the Supreme Being and Nature assign to us, and to which we are called by the succession of human events, and urged by our own good and utility.

 

Notwithstanding we are aware of the difficulties that attend, and the obligations imposed upon us, by the rank we are about to take in the political order of the world; as well as the powerful influence of forms and habitudes, to which unfortunately we have been

 

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accustomed: we at the same time know, that the shameful submission to them, when we can throw them off, would be still more ignominious for us, and more fatal to our posterity, than our long and painful slavery; and that it now becomes an indispensable duty to provide for our own preservation, security,

and felicity, by essentially varying all the forms of our former constitution.

 

In consequence whereof, considering, by the reasons thus alleged, that we have satisfied the respect which we owe to the opinions of the human race, and the dignity of other nations, in the number of whom we are about to enter, and on whose communication and friendship we rely: We, the Representatives of the United Provinces of Venezuela, calling on the SUPREME BEING to witness the justice of our proceedings and the rectitude of our intentions, do implore His divine and celestial help; and ratifying, at the moment in which we are born to the dignity which his Providence restores to us, the desire we have of living and dying free, and of believing and defending the holy Catholic and Apostolic Religion of Jesus Christ. We, therefore, in the name and by the will and authority which we hold from the virtuous People of Venezuela, DO declare solemnly to the world, that its united Provinces are, and ought to be, from this day, by act and right, Free, Sovereign, and Independent States; and that they are absolved from every submission and dependence on the Throne of Spain, or on those who do, or may call

 

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themselves its Agents and Representatives; and that a free and independent State, thus constituted, has full power to take that form of Government which may be conformable to the general will of the People, to declare war, make peace, form alliances, regulate treaties of commerce, borders, and navigation; and to do and transact every act, in like manner as other free and independent States. And that this, our solemn Declaration, may be held valid, firm, and durable, we hereby mutually bind each Province to the other, and pledge our lives, fortunes, and the sacred tie of our national honour.

 

Done in the Federal Palace of Caracas; signed by our own hands, sealed with the great Provisional Seal of the Confederation, and countersigned by the Secretary of Congress, this 5th day of July, 1811, the first of our Independence.—

 

For the Province of Caracas, Isidoro Antonio Lopez Mendez,

Deputy of the City of Caracas.—

 

Juan German Roscio, for the district of the Town of Calabozo.—

 

Felipe Fermin Paul, for the district of San Sebastian.

 

Francisco Xavier Uztariz, for the district of San

Sebastian.—

 

Nicolas De Castro, Deputy for Caracas.

 

Juan Antonio Rodriguez Dominguez, President,

and Deputy for Nutrias in Barinas.—

 

Luis Ignacio Mendoza, Vice-President, Deputy of Obispos in Barinas.

 

Fernando de Peñalver, Deputy for Valencia.

 

Gabriel Perez de Pagola, Deputy of Ospino.—

 

Salvador Delgado, Deputy for Nirgua.—

 

The Marquis del Toro, Deputy for the City of Tocuyo.—

 

Juan Antonio Dias Argote, Deputy for the Town of Cura.—

 

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Gabriel de Ponte, Deputy for Caracas.—

 

Juan José Maya, Deputy of San Felipe.—

 

Luis José de Cazorla, Deputy of Valencia.—

 

Dr. José Vicente Unda, Deputy of Guanare.—

 

Francisco Xavier Yanes, Deputy

of Araure.—

 

Fernando Toro, Deputy of Caracas.

 

Martin Tovar Ponte, Deputy of San Sebastian.—

 

Juan Toro, Deputy of Valencia.—

 

José Angel de Alamo, Deputy for Barquisimeto.—

 

Francisco Hernandez, Deputy for San Carlos.—

 

Lino De Clemente, Deputy of Caracas.—

 

For the Province of Cumaná

—Francisco Xavier de Mayz, Deputy for the

Capital.—Jozé Gabriel de Alcalà, Deputy for ditto.

 

Juan Bermudez, Deputy for the South.—

 

Mariano de la Cova, Deputy for the North —

 

For Barcelona— Francisco Miranda, Deputy of Pao.—

 

Francisco Policarpo Ortiz, Deputy for San Diego.—

 

For Barinas— Juan Nepomuceno de Quintana, Deputy for Achaguas.

 

Ignacio Fernandez, Deputy for the Capital of

Barinas.—

 

Ignacio Ramon Briceño, Representative

of Pedraza.

 

José de Sata y Bussy, Deputy for San Fernando de Apure.—

 

José Luis Cabrera, Deputy for Guanarito.—

 

Ramon Ignacio Mendez, Deputy for Guasdualito.—

 

Manuel Palacio, Deputy for Mijagual.

 

For Margarita—Manuel Placido Maneyro.—

 

For Merida.—Antonio Nicolas Briceño, Deputy for

Merida.—

 

Manuel Vicente de Maya, Deputy for La

Grita—

 

For Trujillo Juan Pablo Pacheco—

 

For the Town of Aragua, in the Province of Barcelona.—

Jozé Maria Ramirez. (Seal.)

 

Legalised.—Francisco Isnardy, Secretary.

 

scholarship.rice.edu/jsp/xml/1911/9253/1/aa00032.tei.html...

The quote "All men's souls are immortal, but the souls of the righteous are immortal and divine" is attributed to Socrates. It suggests a belief in the immortality of the soul for all humans, but with a distinction for the souls of those who live virtuous lives, who are considered to be of a higher, even divine, quality in their immortality.

Created for : Challenge 191 Ancient Greece

pixlr. gimp coins google

Magnificent Manipulated Masterpieces

During my last day of shooting in Le Puy-en-Velay (March 9, 2023), I managed to complete all the subjects that required additional photography, and to extensively shoot the last item on my bucket list, i.e., the spectacular Saint-Michel d’Aiguilhe chapel which I will show in a few days.

 

My first goal was to photograph the “inner” statuary in the canons’ cloister, i.e. the items that are only visible from the central space (préau in French), as opposed to the galleries. In monasteries, that space was often used as an herb garden, particularly when safe space was at a premium elsewhere. However, in the case of Le Puy and its secular canons, very often the offspring from the wealthiest families, there were other sources of supply, should herbs be needed, and aside from framing the central well, the purpose assigned to that space was most probably very similar to what it is now: a pleasure garden.

 

Bearing that in mind (and, no doubt, the designers of the cloister did), it is not surprising that we should find, on this inner side, one of the wildest collections of monsters, devils and sinners ever devised by the fertile imagination of Mediæval sculptors: while meditation in the galleries took place among virtuous and God-pleasing representations, the canons (or those who cared, at least) were reminded by that gallery of monsters and vices that basking leisurely in the sun in the garden wasn’t too good for their karma, if I dare say.

 

Another, quite effective, sample in the series of “scary dæmons”. This one seems to sport curved horns.

Housewives, My kind of women

Don't act like a housewife

But be a housewife

Breath like a housewife

Walk like a housewife

But don't just act like a housewife

Have diner ready

Prepare yourself

Touch up your make-up

Put a ribbon in your hair and be fresh looking

He has just been with a lot of work worry people

Be a little gay, little more interesting

Prepare the children

Take a few minutes to wash the children’s hands and faces

Comb their hair, and if necessary

Change their clothes

Minimize all noise

Eliminate the noise of the washer, dryer, dishwasher, vacuum

Eliminate the noise, (quiet) paradise on earth

Try to encourage the children to be quiet

Don't greet him with problems or complaints

Don't complain if he is late for dinner

Arrange his pillow and offer to take off his shoes

Speak in a low, soft, soothing and pleasant voice

Listen to him

You may have dozens of things to tell him,

But the moment of his arrival is not the time

et him talk first

Never complain if he does not take you out to dinner or other pleasant entertainments

Like getting drunk

Yeah, just like getting drunk

Cadillac’s, Chryslers, fords, Toyotas, Mercedes

In the modern world, everyone knows the price of almost everything,

But few the value of anything

Many value the valueless, but do not price the pricelessWho can find a virtuous woman?

For her price is far above Cadillac’s, Chrysler, fords, Toyotas, Mercedes

Maybe I forgot a few brands, but then don't worry

It'll come back soon

Little good things are simply ignored

A good husband is a faithful man

A faithful man is not always a good husband

A husband today is a man who has a funky housewife

Good

Little keys open big doors

Little doors open big keys

Large crowds, huge sums of money, spectacular accidents and shocking scandals

Large crowds, huge sums of money, spectacular accidents and shocking scandals

The love for her husband is deep

She would often do things for her husband

Without ever asking him anything in return or even expecting him to know what she has done for him

However, long she has been married to her husband, she treats him with respect and tenderness

And she always dresses herself neatly and pleasantly, never extravagantly, nor vulnerable, nor Gucci or Versace

My kind of women, housewives

Respect and tenderness, respect and tenderness

To be lonely, without being alone

Is a bitter loneliness

To be alone, without being lonely

Is sweet solitude

Fresh food and cold beer

Loneliness is one of the most unnoticeable,

And yet one of the most cruel punishments,

Any human being could ever suffer

Irrespective of one's race

And the infinite joy and learning

By her example she inspires her husband to be just and kind to all people

And to live a cool and meaningful life

She greatly helps him to do more and better work

And with greater fun and energy

She makes him feel he is among the blessed of men

She is her husband's comfort and consolation

She is his source of joy and peace

A sort of joystick

Better than any drug, she is his paradise on earth

Loneliness is one of the most unnoticeable,

And yet one of the most cruel punishments,

Any human being can ever suffer

Irrespective of one's races, religion, national origin, sex and even health and wealth

I am hungry, feed me nowLoneliness is suffered by countless millions throughout the world

So damn hungry, feed me now

Solitude is quite another thing

Please lady

No buildings, no pools, no gardens, however big and expensive

Can ever replace the tender love, the true affection, the respect and cool funky feeling

That the young accord to the old, honour thy father and thy mother, and thy motorbike

Therefore, those fine housewives serve their parents in their own homes

With love, respect and devotion, fresh food and cold beers are truly among the best of Mankind

My kind of women, housewives

 

Housewife (the conversation) by Daan

Romanian postcard by Casa Filmului Acin.

 

French actor of Spanish origin Louis de Funès (1914-1983) was one of the giants of French comedy alongside André Bourvil and Fernandel. In many of his over 130 films, he portrayed a humorously excitable, cranky man with a propensity to hyperactivity, bad faith, and uncontrolled fits of anger. Along with his short height (1.63 m) and his facial contortions, this hyperactivity produced a highly comic effect, especially opposite Bourvil, who always played calm, slightly naive, good-humored men.

 

Louis de Funès (French pronunciation: [lwi də fynɛs]) was born Louis Germain David de Funès de Galarza in Courbevoie, France in 1914. His father, Carlos Luis de Funès de Galarza had been a lawyer in Seville, Spain, but became a diamond cutter upon arriving in France. His mother, Leonor Soto Reguera was of Spanish and Portuguese extraction. Since the couple's families opposed their marriage, they settled in France in 1904. Known to friends and intimates as ‘Fufu’, the young De Funès was fond of drawing and piano playing and spoke French, Spanish, and English well. He studied at the prestigious Lycée Condorcet in Paris. He showed a penchant for tomfoolery, something which caused him trouble at school and later made it hard for him to hold down a job. He became a pianist, working mostly as a jazz pianist at Pigalle, the famous red-light district. There he made his customers laugh each time he made a grimace. He studied acting for one year at the Simon acting school. It proved to be a waste of time except for his meeting with actor Daniel Gélin, who would become a close friend. In 1936, he married Germaine Louise Elodie Carroyer with whom he had a son, Daniel (1937). In 1942, they divorced. During the occupation of Paris in the Second World War, he continued his piano studies at a music school, where he fell in love with a secretary, Jeanne Barthelémy de Maupassant, a grandniece of the famous author Guy de Maupassant. They married in 1943 and remained together for forty years until De Funès' death in 1983. The pair had two sons: Patrick (1944) and Olivier (1947). Patrick became a doctor who practiced in Saint-Germain en Laye. Olivier was an actor for a while, known for the son roles in his father's films, including Le Grand Restaurant/The Big Restaurant (Jacques Besnard, 1966), Fantômas se déchaine/Fantomas Strikes Back (André Hunebelle, 1965) starring Jean Marais, Les Grandes Vacances/The Big Vacation (Jean Girault, 1967), and Hibernatus (Edouard Molinaro, 1969) with Claude Gensac as De Funès’ wife, a role she played in many of his films. Olivier later worked as an aviator for Air France Europe.

 

Through the early 1940s, Louis de Funès continued playing piano at clubs, thinking there wasn't much call for a short, balding, skinny actor. His wife and Daniel Gélin encouraged him to overcome his fear of rejection. De Funès began his show business career in the theatre, where he enjoyed moderate success. At the age of 31, thanks to his contact with Daniel Gélin, he made his film debut with an uncredited bit part as a porter in La Tentation de Barbizon/The Temptation of Barbizon (1945, Jean Stelli) starring Simone Renant. For the next ten years, de Funès would appear in fifty films, but always in minor roles, usually as an extra, scarcely noticed by the audience. Sometimes he had a supporting part such as in the Fernandel comedy Boniface somnambule/The Sleepwalker (Maurice Labro, 1951) and the comedy-drama La vie d'un honnête homme/The Virtuous Scoundrel (Sacha Guitry, 1953) starring Michel Simon. In the meanwhile, he pursued a theatrical career. Even after he attained the status of a film star, he continued to play theatre. His stage career culminated in a magnificent performance in the play Oscar, a role which he would later reprise in the film version of 1967. During this period, De Funès developed a pattern of daily activities: in the morning he did dubbing for recognized artists such as Renato Rascel and the Italian comic Totò, during the afternoon he worked in film, and in the theater in the evening. A break came when he appeared as the black-market pork butcher Jambier (another small role) in the well-known WWII comedy, La Traversée de Paris/Four Bags Full (Claude Autant-Lara, 1956) starring Jean Gabin and Bourvil. In his next film, the mediocre comedy Comme un cheveu sur la soupe/Crazy in the Noodle (Maurice Régamey, 1957), De Funès finally played the leading role. More interesting was Ni vu, ni connu/Neither Seen Nor Recognized (Yves Robert, 1958). He achieved stardom with the comedy Pouic-Pouic (Jean Girault, 1963) opposite Mireille Darc. This successful film guaranteed De Funès top billing in all of his subsequent films.

 

Between 1964 and 1979, Louis de Funès topped France's box office of the year's most successful films seven times. At the age of 49, De Funès unexpectedly became a superstar with the international success of two films. Fantômas (André Hunebelle, 1964) was France's own answer to the James Bond frenzy and lead to a trilogy co-starring Jean Marais and Mylène Demongeot. The second success was the crime comedy Le gendarme de Saint-Tropez/The Gendarme of St. Tropez (Jean Girault, 1964) with Michel Galabru. After their first successful collaboration on Pouic-Pouic, director Girault had perceived De Funès as the ideal actor to play the part of the accident-prone gendarme. The film led to a series of six 'Gendarme' films. De Funès's collaboration with director Gérard Oury produced a memorable tandem of de Funès with Bourvil, another great comic actor, in Le Corniaud/The Sucker (Gérard Oury, 1964). The successful partnership was repeated two years later in La Grande Vadrouille/Don't Look Now - We're Being Shot At (Gérard Oury, 1966), one of the most successful and the largest grossing film ever made in France, drawing an audience of 17,27 million. It remains his greatest success. Oury envisaged a further reunion of the two comics in his historical comedy La Folie des grandeurs/Delusions of Grandeur (Gérard Oury, 1970), but Bourvil's death in 1970 led to the unlikely pairing of de Funès with Yves Montand in this film. Very successful, even in the USA, was Les aventures de Rabbi Jacob/The Mad Adventures of Rabbi Jacob (Gérard Oury, 1973) with Suzy Delair. De Funès played a bigoted Frenchman who finds himself forced to impersonate a popular rabbi while on the run from a group of assassins. In 1975, Oury had scheduled to make Le Crocodile/The Crocodile with De Funès as a South American dictator, but in March 1975, the actor was hospitalised for heart problems and was forced to take a rest from acting. The Crocodile project was canceled.

 

After his recovery, Louis de Funès collaborated with Claude Zidi, in a departure from his usual image. Zidi wrote for him L'aile ou la cuisse/The Wing and the Thigh (Claude Zidi, 1976), opposite Coluche as his son. He played a well-known gourmet and publisher of a famous restaurant guide, who is waging a war against a fast-food entrepreneur. It was a new character full of nuances and frankness and arguably the best of his roles. In 1980, De Funès realised a long-standing dream to make a film version of Molière's play, L'Avare/The Miser (Louis de Funès, Jean Girault, 1980). In 1982, De Funès made his final film, Le Gendarme et les gendarmettes/Never Play Clever Again (Tony Aboyantz, Jean Girault, 1982). Unlike the characters he played, de Funès was said to be a very shy person in real life. He became a knight of France's Légion d'honneur in 1973. He resided in the Château de Clermont, a 17th-century monument, located in the commune of Le Cellier, which is situated near Nantes in France. In his later years, he suffered from a heart condition after having suffered a heart attack caused by straining himself too much with his stage antics. Louis de Funès died of a massive stroke in 1983, a few months after making Le Gendarme et les gendarmettes. He was laid to rest in the Cimetière du Cellier, the cemetery situated in the grounds of the château. Films de France: “Although fame was a long time coming, Louis de Funès is regarded today as not just a great comic actor with an unfaltering ability to make his audience laugh, but practically an institution in his own right. His many films bear testimony to the extent of his comic genius and demonstrate the tragedy that he never earned the international recognition that he certainly deserved.”

 

Sources: Steve Shelokhonov (IMDb), Films de France, Wikipedia, and IMDb.

 

And, please check out our blog European Film Star Postcards.

Pictures of the newest Fashionistas--too many to do all, but these were the ones I found the most fascinating.

 

What sculpt is this? Brand new? Modified existing? Just a bad pic???

 

Please visit/like Papusile Mele's facebook page and check out the rest.

www.facebook.com/PapusileMele/?hc_ref=SEARCH

 

At this rate there will be too many dolls for my collection to handle--But I may end up being virtuous and not buy any of them because they are still non-jointed.

Every year In Lahore, Pakistan there is a festival of lights ( Mela Chiraghan) held in the spring season. In this festival all the malangs and dervaish ( Faithful devotees of Love and God) throng to the Tomb of saint Madhu LaL. This devotee was also there with a certain arrogance of his own kind in his standing with his God. His name is Alif Saayien. He believes in killing ones desires and adapting a simple life.

"Do not abandon yourselves to despair.

We are the Easter people and hallelujah is our song."

(Pope John Paul II, 1920 – 2005)

 

This Bell, known in Sanskrit as Ghanti is in a Shiva temple facing the Ganges on the way to Gai Ghat in Varanasi (Benaras).

It is used in all poojas for invoking God, producing the auspicious sound "Om", the universal name of the Lord.

"Agamaarthamtu devaanaam Gamanaarthamtu rakshasaam Kurve ghantaaravam tatra Devataahvaahna lakshanam,

(I ring this bell indicating the invocation of divinity, So that virtuous and noble forces enter (my home and heart); And the demonic and evil forces from within and without, depart)".

 

In some Christian countries, the ringing of the church bells on every day of the week of Easter represents the announcement of the new life spring brings and also frightens off the spirits of darkness and evil.

Easter is the central religious feast in the Christian liturgical year.

According to Christian scripture, Jesus was resurrected from the dead on the third day after his crucifixion.

 

Happy easter to all of you.

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It s really been a great pleasure and honor for me to stand by the Avilion folk at their campsite in the virtuous event, RFL. It was really fun as well.