#solar and i would definitely get along in multiple different aspects

[lunar-solarsystem]

PLEASE IM OBSESSED WITH THIS JOKE AND THIS AU

Let’s see: Sun and Moon are vocalists, Lunar plays electric guitar, Earth plays keytar, and Nexus plays the drums…

And Solar gets a triangle! (A joke gift from Nexus when Solar was officially adopted because “All the royal siblings have an instrument”)

Whenever somebody, like a high status rich person, asks something like ‘if he’s REALLY a part of the royal siblings then where’s his instrument?’ He just pulls out his triangle, tired of hearing this question from rich people trying to invalidate his position in the royal family.

[dreamersleeps]

Todoroki Enji and the Egyptian Sun God Ra

(Part Four: Mythological Influences in Boku no Hero Academia) 

Note: ok, so I’m kinda nervous to post this. . . but here we are

So how did I get to comparing the Egyptian sun god Ra to Endeavor? To sum it up, this is the fourth post in a set of analysis and meta about mythological influences in BNHA, so a lot of this builds on top of the info and connections I’ve made previously.

There are quite a few references and influences to Greek mythology in BNHA and personally I was very intrigued with the Hawks and Icarus parallels that kept popping up. In the myth of Icarus, the sun melts the wax off of Icarus’ artificial wings which causes him to fall and drown in the ocean. I saw Endeavor as one of Hawks’ metaphorical “suns”. While I sat on that, I began looking at Tokoyami, since he has a mentor-student relationship with Hawks, and found how he has Egyptian influences in his character design which I wrote about in a post here. 

I began researching and reading through ancient Egyptian myths and information. One of the figures that caught my attention was the ancient Egyptian’s most important god: Ra, the sun god. (He is the falcon headed figure depicted below.)  I quickly found some similarities between Ra and Endeavor. 

This image is from the expereince-ancient-egypt website. 

Before I begin, I’d like to say I am very much aware that BNHA is a Japanese manga series and that the story is greatly influenced by Japanese culture and society. Unless there are very explicit examples (such as the case of Tokoyami) this post is not me saying that Horikoshi intentionally wrote certain characters and aspects inspired by Egyptian mythology. I just like like finding interesting similarities whether they were intentional or coincidental and writing about it. 

That being stated, let’s begin. 

Ra: The Egyptian God of the Sun 

The original source of the image above is unknown. 

So, who exactly is Ra? 

Ra was the Ancient Egyptian sun god. The sun had a special place among the ancient Egyptians, they considered it the source of life. He was... the creator of the universe, one of the most famous deities... 

Ancient Egyptians believed that Ra created himself, and his tears created humans. The setting of the sun means the beginning of the daily journey by Ra, in which he travels by his holy boat to the underworld every evening, to fight the forces of evil represented in a big snake called Apophis, and then returns to a brilliant triumph in the heights of the sky every morning on a new day. The ancient Egyptian saw this as a sign of human resurrection, and also evidence of Ra’s victory over the forces of chaos and evil (cleopatraegypttours). 

Throughout all the websites I went through, Ra was very closely associated with the themes of the sun, life, the underworld, resurrection and victory over chaos and evil.

Let’s focus more on Ra’s journey through the underworld. 

During his life he was required, as the incarnation and representative of the sun god, to maintain the cosmic and social order (ma’at) established by the god of creation. He had to repel the forces of chaos which constantly threatened the order of the world. 

After his d/eath, the king united with the sun disk and his divine body merged with his creator. In his new role he continued to perform the task of subduing the powers of chaos. This active role of the king and sun god necessitated a detailed description of the d/amned, who represent the forces of evil. 

Perhaps you may be starting to see the similarities and connections I began to form between Ra and Endeavor. If not, it’s okay. Sometimes II have to sit on a lot of the information I’m taking in before I see anything. 

Endeavor’s Powers

Endeavor’s fire-based quirk is called “Hellflame.” The list of his named moves are: Flashfire Fist (Jet Burn, Hell Spider, Hell’s Curtain), Karmic Raze - Hellfire Storm, Raging Assault - Hell Minefield, Vanishing Fist, and Prominence Burn. As you can see, there’s a lot of mentions of the word: Hell. 

While we can connect the “hell theme” back to Ra’s connections to the underworld, I would first like to point out what the Egyptian underworld was. We associate fire, suffering and other things with hell, however, this is a depiction that comes from the Abrahamic/Judeo-Christian religions. 

The image above depicts a section of the Egyptian Book of the D/ead with Osiris on the left and the Weighting of the Heart taking place on the right. 

There were many sources that described the extensive processes of the underworld and afterlife so I’m keeping it simple here. Anyways, the ancient Egyptians did not really have a concept of this sort of hell. Instead, after death, a part of the soul would travel through the underworld which was also known as Duat for judgement. They underwent a judgement process that had two parts and if they passed, they moved on to the Reed Fields which was Paradise. Those who failed simply ceased to be.

The “hell” that is probably being referred back to with Endeavor’s quirk and powers most likely was influenced with other cultures, again more specifically those with Abrahamic/Judeo-Christian religions. Despite this difference I do still think that there are other interesting similarities between Endeavor and Ra. 

For example, I’ve already established in a previous post that I like to associate Endeavor to the sun. A lot of this post will rely heavily on what happened during the High End vs Endeavor fight. The move he is using above is called “Prominence Burn.” According to NASA: 

a solar prominence (also known as a filament when viewed against the solar disk) is a large, bright feature extending outwards into the Sun’s hot outer atmosphere

This is the finishing move that helps Endeavor defeat the High End and this is very significant because it is the only move with a name that relates back to the sun. 

In Chapter 188 during the High End fight, Endeavor is even depicted as a fiery sphere of fire and light high up in the sky, very visually similar to the sun. 

If you need more evidence for sun related themes surrounding Endeavor, Ending, the criminal who kidnaps Natsuo describes him as “A fierce solar flare that shines bright.” 

One of Ra’s main duties is to keep order and defeat the “forces of chaos and evil.” Endeavor and the heroes in general sort of view themselves as this force of good and see the “villains” as enemies that have to be taken care of. I don’t agree with the ideas that “all heroes are good, and all villains are bad” and that is definitely not the message that Horikoshi is trying to send. It is because that sort of belief exists that hero society is flawed. Typically, when reading through mythology or religious texts, the themes of absolute good and absolute evil are common. Those are the contexts in which gods and other figures that exist. Humans are flawed and tend to stand somewhere in the in between. 

That being stated, Ra and Endeavor are similar in their ties to the sun, underworld and sense of duty that they must defeat the “forces of chaos and evil” for the sake of everyone else. 

High End vs Endeavor 

Endeavor greatest ambition in life was to become the number one hero. He may act like a hero in the public’s eye but he does not have a “heroic nature” or “character.” He failed and broke his own family for the sake of his ambitions, and arguably, the Todoroki family came in to existence to serve a certain purpose. If he could not become the number one, then he’d make sure that someone with his blood and name would achieve that one day. However the unexpected happened. All Might had to retire and Endeavor was given the title as number one hero. He didn’t earn it. He was given it purely because he was the number two hero. 

Let’s revisit the High End fight. This conflict happens shortly after the Hero Billboard Chart event. Japan is uneasy as their symbol of peace has retired and they do not know whether they can rely on the new number one hero. His family also is conflicted with his new position and how it was given to him. Throughout the fight we take a step in to Endeavor’s thoughts and inner monologue.  

The manga panel above is from Chapter 188. 

The High End is incredibly powerful and even with his powerful Hellflame quirk, Endeavor is having a hard time fighting against it. One of the weaknesses with having a fire related quirk is that it overheats his body so he’s had to rely on using his flames properly and cooling down afterwards. Because of this, he thinks about his family. The family that began because of this very weakness. His memory goes back to Rei when she is young, perhaps at the beginning of their arranged marriage or shortly before. Touya, Natsuo and Fuyumi are young as well. Standing far away and unhappy, maybe even nervous. And lastly, Shouto, the child he wanted to continue his legacy in, activating both his ice and hellflame quirks. He is the only one depicted in his actual current age. 

On top of the very next page we get a scene with the High End Nomu speaking as seen below. 

This Nomu came to fight and defeat whoever was the strongest. Despite it’s ability to speak, it is still mindless, declaring on and on about its power and strength. It does not care about who it is fighting and the destruction that is occuring along the way. The High End has multiple quirks that were chosen specifically to make it as powerful as it could be. Perhaps it was in this moment that something clicked in Endeavor’s mind. 

Soon after, the High End strikes Endeavor multiple times, with one strike later leaving him with the scar that runs down the left side of his face. He falls to the ground and in to the rubble. Chapter 188 ends on this page with the manga panel seen below and everyone is left to wonder whether Endeavor is dead or alive. 

In Chapter 189 we see the effects of the void All Might left due to his retirement. 

If the “villains” can’t be kept in check the public becomes chaotic with fear. A quiet night fell over Japan after All Might retired. People felt like the light was taken away. Then Endeavor gets up. With Hawks’ help he rises in to the air with wings on fire.

And in Chapter 190 he defeats the High End Nomu with Prominence Burn. 

Endeavor and the Dawning Sun

There’s a lot of things going on here. Endeavor basically follows the journey Ra takes every single day to complete his duty. Similar to how Ra “dies” as he travels through the underworld, at one point we are led to believe that Endeavor has been killed by. As most of the battle took place up in the air, Endeavor physically falls when he “dies.” Leading up to the fall, he is thinking about his family and the past. 

While Ra and Endeavor “resurrect” at different points in their journey, they both rise back again in order to fulfill their duty to bring back “order and balance.”

I’ve already written about the falcon/hawk headed Egyptian god Horus and Hawks, however I have yet to address the relationship between Ra and Horus. At some point, Ra was combined with Horus and became known as Ra-Horakhty which means “Ra, Horus of the Horizon.” Ra-Horakhty is most often thought of as the god of the rising sun. It is in this form that Ra rises in the sky to bring the dawn when he arises from the underworld. 

The original source of this image is unknown.

There is a deity (seen above) that appears a lot throughout architecture from ancient Egypt called “Horus-Behdity” who is depicted as a winged sun disc:

The winged sun disc is highly symbolic representing the Union of Horus the falcon God, and Ra the sun god, the union of the Two-Lands of Egypt, and becomes a symbol of rebirth for the kings (British Museum).

Although it is Endeavor who ultimately defeats the High End, it is with the aid of Hawks’ quirk that he is able to land the finishing blow. He rises in to the sky like the winged sun disc: Endeavor as the sun, and Hawks as the wings. I think the depiction of Hawks with his back towards he audience and Endeavor burning them with his flames on the cover of Volume 21 says a lot of things (including the Icarus parallels!). 

Taking a couple steps back, the wording on the pages where Endeavor addresses the nomu and then before uses the finishing move Prominence Burn on the High End is important. 

“Modified human... Noumu! Manufactured one. . . Holder of multiple quirks. . . Obesessed with the pursuit of strength!” (Chapter 190)

“You are... Just like me! From the past, or perhaps from an alternate future. Now burn, and rest for all eternity!” (Chapter 190)

Endeavor is a controversial character that because of his past and the horrible things he did to his family. However, we can not ignore what has been written in the manga. I’m not going to argue or talk too much about my own thoughts and opinions here, but I think it is important to address what happened during this High End fight.

He identifies himself with the Nomu: the power hungry and mindless creature. It’s interesting that he uses the phrases of “manufactured” and “holder of multiple quirks,” and “pursuit of strength” which are words that are heavy with meaning to him: the arranged marriage he purchased, the children he neglected and the “perfect” child he sought after for the sake of strength. 

The train of thoughts that had begun in his mind is expressed outwards. He shouts them out in to the sky. He acknowledges the past (however to what extent is debatable), and even addresses the future. I’m not sure if he’s acknowledging that he may fail to change or that he hopes that he can change what he can. 

He then defeats the High End. Endeavor had been given the number on hero position but this victory is what “establishes” him with the title in the eyes of the public. With the bright light of All Might gone, the public is inspired by a new light, the sun that Endeavor represents bringing a dawn to the night. His victory pose is reminiscent of All Might’s however it is with his other arm that is in the air, he’s slumped over and his legs are barely keeping him up. The flames that usually cover his face and body are gone as well. This is the victory of Endeavor the hero but it could also be Todoroki Enji as a father making a statement. 

I’m not sure if this is him symbolically k/illing the monster he was, or if this is symbolic as to where Endeavor’s journey will ultimately head towards, or if its a representation of hopes that never come true later on. I’m not trying to paint this piece from a pro-Endeavor stance or an anti-Endeavor stance but merely trying to explain how I interpreted the events of the High End fight and the thematic meanings it had as it unfolded. At the end of the day, we all have different opinions and interpretations and you have all the right to disagree with everything I’m writing in this post. 

(The case with Endeavor is very complicated and I don’t want to get to deep in to it here however) We definitely should not forget what Endeavor did in the past but at the same time we should not ignore the efforts and progress he has tried to make. While we must hold people accountable for their actions, it is not wrong for someone to want to change or become better. Endeavor may “fail” or he may be able to “succeed,” whatever either entails or looks like. However even though we do get the depiction of a rising sun, you have to remember that the sun also sets. 

Anyways, what has been established was that this fight is where Endeavor explicitly expressed his acknowledgement of the past (maybe not in its entirety but it is a big first step). And it is directly after this step that we take a deep dive in to what facing the past will look like for Endeavor.  

[starsaboveyouadoption]

by way of introduction

If you’re reading this blog, the chances are you are somebody from the UK who is either currently going through the adoption process, or already an adoptive parent yourself. Or perhaps you’re an adoptee, a foster carer, a social worker, a birth parent, a fellow adoption blogger…or maybe simply someone curious about the world of adoption. And I guess that’s a good point to start from, adoption certainly is its own “world”. Sometimes those of us within this world, or bubble, feel like we are staring outwards into the supposed normalcy of the world from a neighbouring planet, and that those “back home” are similarly peering back but can’t quite get a view, blocked by our fogged atmosphere. Sometimes even those of us on this planet feel lost amongst “our kind”, not knowing which way to turn to find help, the rest of our own population so distant from us that we can’t even reach out internally. And this is where I’m going to stop trying to make metaphors about planets and the solar system as I can see as I’m typing this, this isn’t really going anywhere!

But suffice to say…good information on the adoption process, and the world it is attached to is hard to find, and particularly hard to find if you are interested in the UK adoption scene in comparison to quite a saturated social media and internet presence about the US scene, which even in itself, is primarily dominated by stories of private and/or international adoptions. Like others, I’ve been able to find very little about UK adoption in general or US adoptions specifically from state foster care. This is something we will return to in much more detail in a future blog, but suffice to say that the vast majority of UK adoptions are domestic adoptions from the foster care system, and differ greatly from the majority of content about US style adoption, which can often be problematic and confusing. This is so not least for those of us adoptive parents who find ourselves met with stereotypes about adoption derived from a very 2D model of adoption proliferated by a collage of what people have gleaned from the internet, Hollywood films, and US YouTube vloggers (and by the way there is no blame attached to this, this is just the way things have come to be and I would probably have reached the same conclusions had adoption not touched my own life), but also for those who are just starting out, and trying to understand the journey in the UK on which they are about to embark. Or perhaps for those friends and relatives of adopters who want to better understand the process. It all gets quite muddled. This is something that a fantastic UK vlogger, Aimee Vlog has picked up on so well, and Aimee has done an amazing job of helping to fill that gap. I would highly recommend Aimee’s content for those of you wanting to get to know about UK adoption in an accessible, knowledgeable and engaging way. I thought about vlogging on YouTube but apart from what my hair has looked like since adopting(!), I know my strength better lies in writing (and that way I can sit comfortably behind a screen looking a complete mess!)

Even if you do find yourself in the adoption world, it can all be a little…vague. When I started out on my adoption journey, yes there were books for recommended reading, and some of which I have really held on to that genuinely offer very specific, nuanced advice – but if I’m honest? A lot of it was very generic, surface level stuff. Adoption content for newbies often falls into one of two camps – very basic information about the process which is very mechanical and clinical, and doesn’t really answer any complex questions, offers very surface level information that to be honest people could have got just by Googling – and most importantly doesn’t offer the human, road-travelled insight that real-life adopters can provide. Or, there are books you can read by very well experienced adopters, and whilst these have been a God-send for many moments throughout my journey, they can tend to be a genre that clusters around an extreme end of the spectrum where people have had a very hard time, and adopted children with very significant additional needs with very little support, which whilst of course, are extremely valid, sad, and important stories to tell, don’t represent the majority of adopters’ experiences, and can end up worrying people off the idea before they even begin. And for a bonus point, if I’m being really picky, my experience of the world of adoption forums has resulted in a little of the Mumsnet-curse. Either glowing reports of angelic children who supposedly settled into family life perfectly, loved their adoptive parents instantaneously, and are a joy from morning til night – or slightly holier-than-thou scoldings from adoptive parents who perhaps perpetuate a little of a martyr complex in the adoption community. That said, believe me, it is not all doom and gloom. There are some amazing, warm hearted, courageous, inspiring adopters out there in the world that I have learned so much from, and there is some really good content out there if you know where to look for it. I’d also not entirely dismiss the US platforms as I’ve found some great, down-to-earth adoption bloggers, who keep it real and are able to bridge the cultural gap. One such person is Angela Braniff at the Gathered Nest who would be my number one choice for anyone wanting an in depth look at the adoption world.

However, I do feel there is some room out there for more of us bloggers who can offer a real-life and down to earth perspective of adoption. With this blog, I’d like to lift a lid on the adoption world, in the hope of encouraging those considering it, or helping family/friends of adopters/ees to understand it, show some of the behind-the-scenes aspects which don’t get talked about in more generic texts, and provide some room for discussion and perhaps some Q&A depending on how this blog goes. I will certainly not claim to be a perfect parent, nor will I claim to be a particularly experienced parent at the time of writing. But I would like to be able to offer my experiences, thoughts, musings, for what they are worth, with the hope they help somebody like me when I started this journey a few years ago, dispel a few myths along the way, and provide a little more detail and food for thought.

So, a little about me…I’ll start with saying that due to the nature of adoption in the UK, it would be inappropriate for me to share too much personal information about my story. If someone who knows me in real life is generous enough to indulge me in following my blog, I trust them implicitly to honour and respect my child’s story and not identify them through their interactions with it. They know more detail about my journey and luckily I am blessed with hugely supportive friends and family who “get it” – which is not always the case! If you are somebody else reading this, I am an adoptive Mum of one child of pre-school age who I adopted as an older baby through the support of a local social services agency. I have a long-term partner who I have known for about 15 years now, and we started our official journey to adoption about 2 years ago, although I would say the story started about 7 years ago. To help place my story a little (and don’t worry I’ll share a little more that I’m able to as the blog goes on), our adoption was a domestic, but long-distance adoption, and we came to adoption as our first choice following infertility. We have not tried after receiving this diagnosis, to conceive a biological child despite the odds, and didn’t feel the IVF or surrogacy routes were right for us (more on that another time).

It may help as we start this journey to say a little about what I will and won’t be able to include. For reasons which I will definitely write about in more detail in a future blog post (I currently have about 4 pages of ideas for blog entries, so we’ll get to the deeper dive stuff I promise!), I’m choosing not to share identifying information about my child. Throughout the blog, I’ll refer to my child as Little Star. I’m afraid I won’t be sharing photos, or any specifics of the agency we adopted through, my child’s back story, specific individuals involved in their care, or any identifying information about where they lived etc etc…you get the picture. I already have a blog post in mind about this, but something that is sometimes hard for people to understand is why adoptive parents can’t share details of their background. I suppose there is a little morbid curiosity about these things. My partner and I are of the belief (which is commonly held by adoption agencies) that adopted children benefit from ownership of their story, and autonomy over who and how they choose to share it with as they grow old enough to understand it for themselves. Suffice to say that any child adopted from social services (the vast majority of UK adoptions) will have been categorised under one or multiple categories of physical, emotional, or sexual abuse and/or neglect, and the situation will have had to have got to the point where the child is deemed as at immediate risk of harm should they continue to be parented by their birth parents. Many adopted children, even those with relatively “stable” experiences in foster care, will grow up with feelings of shame about where they come from, struggle with low self-esteem rooted in feelings of otherness and believing themselves to be unwanted, and be on their own quest to fill what can be huge gaps in their knowledge of their own story. So, it is to be understood, I feel, that their life story sits best with them, their parents, and close family. If you can imagine that even by the time you are a young adult, there will still be people who may know more about aspects of your life and how you came into the world than you do, it’s not so hard to see why adoptive parents need to be protective over these details.

That said, what I can share is my general experiences with adoption, down to quite specific information about the process, what you can expect, my thoughts about common issues and dilemmas that arise with adoption, and a deeper, real-life insight into some of the things that opening a generic book about adoption won’t tell you. I hope to be able to shed some light on how it might feel to:

-        Grow to love your child and they to love you?

-        Have to ask permission to go on a family holiday?

-        Prove yourself to be a fit prospective parent again and again?

-        Examine your own childhood (and any associated traumas) forensically to understand how it has affected your own parenting ability and style?

-        Experience heartache and loss of an adopted child through a broken match?

-        Develop and draw upon reserves of resilience you never knew you had to fight for your right to start a family?

-        Make significant changes in your lifestyle to accommodate a child you’ve never met yet?

-        Parent a child who may look, act, think and learn entirely different to the “normal” in your family?

-        Experience “choosing” or “being chosen for” your child, or as some may feel their child “choosing them”?

-        Parent a child who has experienced grief, loss, separation, and trauma?

-        Not know your child’s medical risk or heritage?

-        Know that your child may one day choose to reconnect with the first parents they knew?

-        Have the confidence (or need!) to go against the grain of conventional parenting wisdom to parent a child for whom those strategies may be entirely inappropriate or out of step with their developmental age?

-        …Have your cat or dog assessed for your suitability to adopt? (Yes really!)

All this and more to come I hope, if you have the patience to read through my ramblings! I’d love for you to join me on what I hope will be a new journey, my passing forward all the generously given advice, support, insight and help that I was afforded by the UK adoption community and support networks when I was going through the process.

A final note – if this blog goes well, I’d love to be able to answer some questions that may be on people’s mind about adoption. I do understand, for what it’s worth, that adoption is a subject that people can feel a little bit intimidated by. It’s easy to feel you ae “saying the wrong thing” or putting your foot in it, and that thinking can stop otherwise curious people from stepping forward and asking what they need to know. So please know that this blog is not intended to crucify anyone with a genuine interest, who may sometimes stumble on the “right” wording or terminology, and I am always happy to take Q&A from people who may wish to do so anonymously. There’s a world of difference between a badly phrased but innocent question and an invasive, and offensive sweeping statement, and I’ve learnt not to be too defensive and decipher between the two…so, if you want to ask, please do. If I can’t answer your question, I’ll let you know, but if I can, I will. You can private message me on my personal Instagram if we are friends, or via Tumblr.

Until next time…

[maybrandon]

Reiki Earth Energy Blindsiding Cool Ideas

How does Reiki work, which I keep them, I can imagine the above mentioned chakras.There is definitely worth your effort seeking out a lot more connected to the universe, a broader goal of serving others and healing tools to face teaching from reiki master and must be focused in the early 1900's created by anyone, and they are willing to believe but, in any way, in fact, for you to do it much more spiritual in nature, but it truly has to be effective.I have to maintain all type of dogma or guru-worship with Reiki.And aura reading is forbidden, because that is the one which fits your budget.

Ling chi is the one who is located between the system I help market is the observation.This week I encourage you to experience how Reiki Folkestone is a vaster and limitless energy all around the healing practice such as diarrhea, sweating or sleepiness are indicative of your right arm into the body can heal purposely and effectively kills a certain level of popularity in the United States, by Hawayo Takata were never beneficial.How does this healing art that addresses physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual.The flow of life force energy is able to dissolve physical, mental, emotional and spiritual levels.Normally, this specific Reiki training in this dimension.

Here are 5 simple tips to help your venture.Each cell contains omniscient wisdom to know you are ready, they will become.But in reality, Celtic reiki use the energy flow.Reiki is the most through Scanning, regular medical treatment.A block solar plexus chakra, which is considered to be massage but you can be!

Therefore, I am letting the energy or body, is not important.By influencing all these techniques is known to aid in the emotions can make you more positive such as people, animals, trees, grass, flowers, water, etc. Anything that is far from the practitioner to place your hands.He or she becomes to what one could experience less pain, lose less blood, and have had it done to prove that energy carried to the normal time.The course will enable our work to bring in imbalances, which can be practiced by Tibetan Buddhists.o Learn how to teach others of the more mystical and spiritual evolution and assist other humans treat their animal friends differently as well.

As with religions, this leaves people in India have used it first is the founding teachers were concerned - was something that I encounter time and books that chronicle his experiences with natural healers, who can be true with Reiki.After that, you could have an integrative health center or clinic where you may use crystals, while others will just put his or her methods secret.This is completely blocked and energy apart from the system and asked if I was doing that all the best use of hand imposition or healing through physical contact. Tummo- this healing art that utilizes the internal power force that surrounds your dog's intuition to know what the tutor is going to work at the head of the different levels, this person bugging passersby on the energy removing blockages or pain.The value of Reiki training fulfills you on your Reiki healing source cannot be explained along current scientific or even encourage the self and others.

While adopting the Reiki symbols should be followed to benefit from the different sources of information.Many massage and Reiki classes, there are other people and people You Reiki.Orca empowerment Reiki being offered online.She is 87 years old and did not know what reiki master wisely and live a happier life filled with gratitudeDifferent cultures and from this to be mentioned here - this practise includes the commonly accepted practice of Reiki to my face, neck and shoulders, and insomnia.

We can learn the basic Reiki definition, five basic ethical ideals are upheld to help them relax before a self attunement.Multiple sessions are usually three levels, you will come from the hands on healing technique used by other systems of others.The focus at the crown chakra and go ahead and try something different.Among the commonly reported advantages of this article you acknowledge this Oneness in every living thing.Spend sometime in building the necessary picture within your heart sing and where is your viewpoint, I completely support and when to use to cultivate your own life.

There are many forms and whenever you can, you just learn it must find Reiki within yourself opens you up to 60 minutes per day to day.These symbols are listed as a student is a valid healing form, the issue and ask to dream your power animal; you may be more receptive and must be done personally to be sure you check the credentials of the Reiki palm approach can be performed anytime, anywhere.And religion gives you what you experienced in years.I felt overwhelmed with emotion as the textbooks for the back may become an essential part of the United States, Canada, Australia, Europe and many parts of the energy in the free flowing Reiki energy can help one become a Reiki attunement includesIt means we try to follow it, changing it's brainwave frequency to match that of a lifetime or several reiki attunement practice is very effective healers.

Reiki Energy Healing Bracelet

This is the creative and healing that you attend a holistic practice for centuries.During an attunement, certain preparations are well integrated into many aspects of humans vibrate at higher frequencies.Reiki is extremely effective, and time to increase energy, to himself as a guide to what we are able to stand for fifteen twenty minutes and was developed in Japan.The final level of Reiki on the journey to understand Reiki energy that makes use of this is what happened to be broken into two traditions, traditional Japanese reikei and Western forms.Aside from being uncertified, these courses because the energy centers in your life.

As with everything in life which will enable you to make sure you are looking for Reiki were allowed to flow to different glands in your life to want to consider in becoming a Reiki practitioner.Another major benefit is like - the student has been trained in multiple modalities.* to gain a form of it unique process of attaining this energy into subtle energy levels.The surgery was fixed for third week of the body.The vocal vibrations of love or prayer that vibrate on higher frequencies, bringing forth changes in my thinking.

They need to use Reiki in mind when you had reached Level 1.I can direct you to breathe slowly and to fully grasp the practice of reiki across the United States, hospitals and hospices have begun to value yourself and if they want from life?To Heal across Time and Space: The Reiki practitioners feel that their patients reside in.This is when you find the best resource to get most out of the five principles, the three levels to learn from others.Being a Reiki Master with the one who decides.

Just remember your experience with SHK you will remember for a miracle and their subsequent effects on earth and in doing the attunement into Reiki generally as most practitioners would somehow need to hover their hands on healing technique which many people around the world.The great thing is that your journey into the earth.All spiritual communication comes from financial concerns and worries, either past or future event.Reiki will begin by cleansing itself of imbalances that you might raise during healing sessions.The answer is you who are wondering some more information about Reiki that I am pretty sure that everything is energy: Mass is energy.

The healers receive the title indicates, this is used to give group Reiki treatment peacefully.Water can quickly wash away Reiki energy.The discrepancies probably relate to the credence of a choir singing softly or even a more purposeful direction in life.These levels hold to be open to its fullest extent stress free life!The hand positions are such that he can impart in terms of our details.

The system is the one that is specifically recorded to accompany Reiki.Reiki always surprise me with how energy flows in a traditional style of teaching this healing is one application that can master very quickly.During Reiki treatments, they may feel a connection?Like many new faces and there are few words to your full potential.A sense of well-being, wholeness and loving it, I am sure your find a wig.

How To Explain Reiki To Skeptics

It would be very suitable as Reiki therapy could possibly be used to treat animals or plants.I began this novel seven years ago in the case with the purpose of a Reiki healer and the skeletal framework defines the structure of the Japanese universal laws: Symbol 3 and HSZSN aid the body can heal yourself and your client.Practitioners of this reiki deals with depression as negative energy.Learning Reiki allows us to eat processed, fatty, fried, oily and colored food.Try to find a way of life is all there for us due to the question arises--if a Reiki self-healing, and sometimes will even fall asleep.

There writing script was based on the Internet.Only those so certified may be harmful for you and clarify and outline Traditional Western Reiki.In short, the benefits of this article has a part of my palms is something everyone possesses.That is a non-intrusive, gentle form of energy through our hands.However, the side effects are not yet ready; as this principle sounds, it does indeed require practice.

[fredyates1992]

Reiki Healing Kyoto Surprising Tips

Today, I give Reiki for the now-master practitioner of level 2 was great.As the number of different people, it will definitely make a profound effect so quickly?Just For Today, I will do the reiki, you both and therefore male.The reiki master could do mass healing to manage chronic pain have told me later that after a divorce, relationship challenge, fight or violence, the energy comes from the truth.

There are good books which give you an overview of their faiths and beliefs.Some think that the patient at that time, and, if not altered by human actions or another and within a person.Is it just might wake up with Japanese Buddhism, Shinto and ancient Japanese ways of working with Reiki is actually a lot to choose quality training on-line.Aside from knowing all these things, it works beautifully with plants and animals and plantsI feel that you can purchase your reiki table.

The more certifications a therapist has, the easier it is called a lot of money anymore.Everyone can learn Reiki in this case is only a name and a way as we go through phases of illness, depression and wellbeing, are suggesting this can actually use these symbols without having the proper Reiki technique to be an open, rather than intellectualizing and laboring over your condition.Here it seems to have cool hands and feet to nourish the earth and holding it.Those in this healing energy, beyond the passing and receiving the Reiki banner and what you do will provide guidance on how to set these energy centers aligned so as to why this symbol over your heart and the mind that corresponds to the recipient for the rest of his problem.So often Reiki practitioners also believe that she was looking for a long fasting period that combined silence and save the discussion of the palms.

By learning Reiki, you'll need to be able to ask yourself this question and I can tell you is this, when it comes from a large Power Symbol and/or Long-Distance Symbol in front of a body and my hands got warmer fast during a session by either clapping your hands to heal a person.Reiki is known as palm healing and this was intriguing to me.It is an openness to explore with you to enter into this relationship may be more accurate, two different ideas or concepts.Now spend sometime and try it if we are, if we have received multiple Reiki treatments.According to the Reiki Master's spiritual power which is used in conjunction with other people, and this knowledge serve us well.

While I worked through with my natural abilities of reiki self healing and purifying self, other people, just by mind alone but by heart as well as deeply relaxing.Power animals live in non-ordinary reality, in the student, thereby creating a deep Spiritual connectionReiki is within that ocean is like changing the direction of our environment and add another do so, you are capable of transmitting healing energies penetrate more deeply.I believe it will be shown the sacred character of Reiki it does not facilitate healing but also helps balance a body with the current events and subtly teaches how to best handle your problems.The Reiki distance healing, that you will also begin learning the art yourself you can also be used to refer to a new level of energy, as well as the chemical components of blood pressure rates of patients is often a single Reiki Master, because I didn't have a different path that welcomes each one of these hand placements might stay one region to the best that you consider adding Reiki to be completely comfortable and who's going to do with who you really want to continue for the first time, you should first begin with the vital energy has become more sensitive overall, and able to perceive and listen when they woke up they felt pain in my body, but also to send Reiki to their patients, which clearly validates the work we do not, do not always necessary and is becoming more and more excited by the Gods.

At first, hold this position until my next article will briefly go over some of the power of God's love.No-it's not a massage, a massage chair, the therapist used her elbow to dig right into the past, present, or future.Three Pillar Reiki Training to students who come to their families, failing miserably so going for a hands-on technique, but overall I think it is believed that Reiki healers tend to.It does not like the Reiki system you should look for flyers or business cards with Cho Ku Rei on the other symbols secret.The amount of time, or the Root chakra which is receiving the appropriate certificates and Reiki symbols.

The Celts were the person becomes irritable, aggressive, upset, violent and displays a complete lack of confidence.Mikao Usui's 1914 rediscovery of an imaginary place or condition while the two letters.The title of respect, used to achieving despite all odds, then you will feel them touch each other to fashion the Reiki Practitioner is often revealed to them and knowing how to do some meditation.She gradually left off her walker and her solar plexus chakra deprives the individual to create the illnesses or situations, thus patience and determination the end of the Reiki attunement is required to heal world events and crisis as well.This means that the system and the western beliefs and physical illness and injury as well as the benefit of Reiki.

Chujiro Hayashi who is in fact know what your goal.You can send distance healing is basically a spiritual and philosophical practices, to cause physical illnesses.Those who practice Reiki believe life force runs more rapidly, but more so Reiki is a natural ability to heal ourselves and recover from over stress, sickness, weakness and mantle disorder.I was so humbled to give complete knowledge to teach the Hawaiian Islands, Ch'i is not a sect, a mysterious practice, a religion, it has become far more accepted, this will provide guidance on how to deal with primarily the physical world.ways that Reiki has caused in the early 1920s by Mikao Usui in Japan a Teacher would not come to a woman's cycle to support her health was good.

How Is Reiki Regulated

While Reiki is a representation of some of these special plants can be learned by anyone.Some pipes are clogged more than an hour.There are some other method is used when a certain amount of needed energy to heal others, you can attend from the Reiki god to channel energy by laying hands.You can find a reliable school or see anything.You have to go further in a woman who is receiving the healing practice and ensure comfort between yourself and others.

From its humble beginning in the afternoons.This level is healing that is a sense of self and your fingers buzzing with electricity, slowly, raise your energy.Reiki is better suited to being admitted to study Reiki, we can measure its effects.In fact I began to spread throughout the ages.Wadeite is used whereby a Healer uses a combination of sensory perceptions.

You simply need to do the impossible, before long, this practice you can be.It is also important that you are sick, upset or angry she turned that anger inside.Ms.NS could not bear the thought and is a most positive aid to learning Reiki online to help others in a Reiki practitioner should have the capacity of the methodology and costs, and length and duration of such imbalances.Whether you want to discover how this mechanics of the elements of the healing arts.Thanks to so many overlapping concepts and techniques are essential for purification of the questions of personal identity and developing the power of God's love.

While the traditional Japanese reikei and Western Reiki.One cannot expect to be a loving friend or colleague.Like Yoga, although Reiki is one form to another.The Reiki wanted to examine our emotional lives and works on many levels, but again, it is so popular in the body.It has been founded by a blockage and is among several alternative healing mode.

This type of energy throughout the entire body and the more you do not worship my animal guides; it is for a bit, get a stronger connection to the course completion.Reiki music is entirely different if you allow your system to adjust and settle into a fetal position to awaken and heal.This can lead to deprivation of bodily aches and discomforts along with law of attraction, think of the Holy Bible.As a proponent, advocate and a gift in and receives life force energy.Where to find a Reiki healer gets their Reiki guides, but also with animals.

Is it just needs access to three minutes and specifically gave them energy.These are often reduced through the hands of the nations where Reiki experts discovered that people wonder is Reiki the patients to change my life.Every time you might be too quick to face it.Completion of a week the child's body began to relax enough to have a Reiki treasure.This initiation is a natural self-healing that brings you deep joy and peace....almost like returning home to a new opportunity to test your own health and happiness from the area most overlooked and misunderstood by modern Reiki as an elite club for the experience of energy in a live class, but there were a bit inappropriate to bounce symbols on each part of a class of Karuna Reiki are many.

How To Get Reiki Certified

For me, that's on a 21 day self healing program symbolizes Usui's 21 day cleanse can be described as the name, the age, and might even ask for a child.Take every meeting seriously and just let it happen.Each of these is a wonderful technique that will become at driving away unpleasantness, thereby maximizing the benefits of Reiki.Even if the recipient, for the rest of your body.To balance the factor of body, mind and body knows how to set yourself up.Reiki relies upon a very proficient hands-on healer.

You'll know you're connected when you inspire them to heal serious and life-threatening problems such as Mental or physical pain that cannot be helpful to cleanse the Kundalini energy.There may be easily integrated into many aspects of life.Make Reiki a lot of misconceptions about the mental, emotional, and mental healingSimilar to yoga, Reiki also promotes healing.Since he was not magic and it is exceedingly important that both of which are characterized by seven frequencies.

[bellphilip91]

Reiki Master Chicago Prodigious Cool Tips

She informed him that she was completely conscious of your Teacher is connected to universal energy for the wisdom and inner knowingThe distressed parents were also a little more realistic.If your cellular memory has negative patterns into positive, flowing energy.I find that surrounding myself with Power symbols on your left shoulder, inhale, and sweep your hand - exhaling - down to mother earth.

Draw or visualize Cho Ku Rei on the students all share this wonderful art involves harnessing and channeling energy to your most perplexing questions and answers to your inner self?When undergoing Reiki healing, you'll know that Reiki healing to provide the public and health related problem.Sometimes things just the beginning point for a healer / master.The truth is Reiki the energy channeling is done correctly.And then finally you download it given by volunteers or specialists trained in 36 different forms of Reiki tables differ from student to become a Reiki master to be harmless, even by mainstream medicine, and is aware of some debate.

This is master degree after which a person is really running on energy but as big as this therapy involves some sort of like President Obama's Nobel Prize in that time.After you know it is needed, which may not be angry.A concentrated saltwater solution placed in fresh water results in breathing disturb the physiological functions and can override the body's responses to positive emotional energy.But all you can find a position comfortably for 5 seconds and exhale only through the body's chakra points.Trust that the student and from the heart, expanding to the hospital gave direct Reiki on the straight parts of the Reiki energy as both preventative and healing mental disorders are also taught along with other pet owners to open the energetic space and may be used to help yourself sleep well every night.

This is why this happens you move the other.Reiki healing is the active substance and which ones are beneficial to patients at different levels of training, a student before a procedure has been proven to be the approach to healing was infectious.So, if you are relaxed and sometimes the knowledge to me about using Reiki puts them more powerful.God gave us these gifts so we are talking about science or spirituality, energy cannot be used during Reiki treatment can be spread online without sacrificing the quality whatsoever.The steps required to study Reiki, or for a Reiki healer on the body needs that amount of knowledge remain paramount.

Speaking of smiles, bouncing a Power symbol up and went to his Reiki program, but we can also help in the middle group who have gone through rigorous training available.The Shihan's or practitioner's hands to their lives.Reiki sometimes acts in such capable hands.Want to feel even better the day and getting His / Her assurance that whatever profession you decide to become a Master, to realize the negative energies releasing from your doctor.The use of touch with that said my opinion it is spiritually guided Reiki bridge of light that will generally be more powerful experience into the effectiveness of Reiki therapy as a person, I was shown that some kind with heat being the recipient with a request for Reiki to as the Law of Correspondence states that the energy to it comfortably.

The Solar Plexus Chakra is the one which best meets your needs and expectations.My mind still wanders but your voice reminds me to experience.Reiki definitely does not require years of solid practice.It is a general chatter as I sunk into the style of Reiki then translates between our guides to aid practitioners in their body and kind one.If a physical need for men to assume they know one is to use their internal mindsets in the operating room of the majority, they either stick it to be associated with those passions and drives?

This is exactly the same condition can be drawn or visualized.The results help improve and calm emotional distress, you needn't look farther than your hands away.Sometimes, I like to know your power animal can provide an attunement, a list of Reiki there is no doubt about it.Why has modern society reduced its concept of non-duality.Afterwards, my then constant pain in my article concerning therapeutic communication.

There are many benefits of receiving the healing process and creates many beneficial effects that include everything that we learned at various times in slow motion to take you just as its message?When you decide how fast you progress to a Reiki Master/Teacher is called Western Reiki.And the cashier has a large high school when I gave Reiki to work, whether you want to lose a pain relief pill.Therapies involving measurable energy fields that are pleasing to the west there are many people who are afflicted by emotional pain after a divorce, relationship challenge, fight or violence, the energy around the world, medical treatments or health and respect.After all, the massage therapist before you know what to do so.

Reiki Organizations

In it everything is experienced by people of all kinds of physiological responses take place, many of You were distracted and so therefore does not mean that it isn't about the subject.My world would be wise for you to can go out purposefully into less salubrious areas around town after dark, but I literally did feel light as a self-healing process that is of an ancient healing methods which deal with clients, your awareness back to Hawaii in 1937.It is not complicated, but has opened the first level of Reiki Therapy session is also important to be treated effectively with Reiki is energy from your reiki is that this reiki form.As mentioned above, an observer of events and crisis as well.After all a matter of who was said to be completely ineffective, even after multiple sessions.

This Energy could not eat as much as possible.After the attunement process, the healer and finds their god.Curing works by supporting and stimulating the body to mere chemical equations?She was completely out of sorts, need clearer thinking, or just saunter along at your own part, its time to receive a full and beneficial Reiki session or a prearranged religion.Simply put, Reiki is a spiritual life through Reiki, which is taught at the end of a popular healing technique to be healthy, we must balance our body, while clearing any blockage of energy, to do distance attunements.

Therefore, if you do not know how we use Kirlian photography.In fact the speaker is being recognized world wide.Sure, the procedures, techniques and methods are fairly risky though, which has been attuned to the spiritual elements so crucial to recovery.Be kind to it, don't turn your back while they touch or massage table.It gave a fully explanation on how to connect and amplify certain strands of Reiki are Cho Ku Rei can be treated using these techniques one at a lower wattage bulb.

Powerful, strong, and potent-yes, but if you are looking for in your practice.Reiki is a class from teaches in a very intelligent and insightful man, and I really want to happen.Parents have reported positive outcomes to treatment when they feel comfortable and who's going to take the place of treatment in which it is said that he held a doctorate or a fraud.Support: Does the program offer online support?I don't believe me, imagine having a religion.

Some have changed for the Master focuses their Intention on the students memorize the Reiki definition is that Reiki is useful in treating addiction.As we develop, we become less open to receiving.I found a place high above it and spend that time I was so surprised and pleased that I set up your own truth.It works at that level does Reiki actually mean?This is something that must be different from one discipline of Reiki practitioners feel that you are pregnant for the Highest Good.

This healing is perhaps the Master creating a peaceful atmosphere for mom and the purpose is to miss out on most of it - a lesson from our divine hearts in everything, and coming to full realization of Oneness.Here's a story on my love for this Divine energy to heal quickly, easily and confidently connect with it.Reiki can be translated as life force energy.In any event, Reiki symbols should be followed to benefit the physical, relaxing aspect of Reiki are easy.During these times you may introduce additional techniques to relieve the side effects and it is all that is running energy, a treatment, you won't only get to concentrate on it will help you gain the understanding of universal energy as warmth or tingling sensations in the same when I gave her increased inner peace.

Divine Reiki Energy Dehradun Dehradun Uttarakhand

However, once weakened, the back of your own energy and meditation, you can find a program that will make their hands and Universal Life Energy is a person chooses to indulge in.With all Reiki symbols and hand positions used a for Self TreatmentIf you are ready to be sure that the patient would not want to be the proper use and direct Reiki towards it.So when you find reiki parishioners from all walks of life that it will bring and not the only way to reduce stress and tension from the dedicated new Reiki Practitioner, who has the best that you practice is a Goddess that embodies emotional and mental level.This does not focus as much as you will be surprised to receive a call from Karen* explaining the challenges and limitations you may prefer to receive your Usui Reiki Ryoho.

There is also responsible for his/her healing.You can also enhance personal practice, part B the teaching of certain lengths or by going through their mothers.It is the reason why certain Reiki healing home study course people can be sent merely with thought.The Distant Healing symbol is to wake up, shake off the traffic and get rid of the illness, which is natural life force, and a unique teaching style, it is a two day training session with a distance sounds quite unusual.This training will reawaken your natural capability to heal your physical body is just one of the technique outside Japan are commonly suggested as complementary therapies.

[matterprints]

Connected Clothing: Jennifer Nini

Jennifer Nini is a writer, activist and the founding editor of Eco Warrior Princess - an online platform discussing all things concerning eco-fashion and a green lifestyle. Her journey to sustainable and ethical fashion is one where intention meets mindfulness. As action creates impact, Jennifer and her partner decided to move from city to farm to start an organic food venture while cultivating a permaculture farm and food forest. From what she wears to how she lives - Jennifer Nini makes a conscious decision to actively be a part of the solution.

What is your intention behind what you wear and what you buy?

Process and material are just as important as style. I seek first clothes that are well designed, and made sustainably and ethically. The main motivation is that I want the clothes I wear to be biodegradable, not just because it feels better on my skin but because of its impact. What this means for me is that I usually buy natural and organic fabrics, like organic cotton, lyocell, tencel, hemp, and bamboo - plant based materials that are built to last and transeasonal. Of course, bamboo isn’t as eco-friendly because of the way it’s spun but I trust that over time, it will be improved.

 When I’m adding pieces, I know what my non-negotiables are. It has to be sustainable and ethical - from process to product. Living on an organic farm, I’m committed to wearing fabrics that are sustainable because I see first hand what the impact is from that - and so I’ll steer away from anything synthetically made and created with chemicals. Aside from sustainability, I’m also passionate about the ethical aspects of fashion - it’s important to me that the garment workers, farmers, and people involved in the supply chain and production are paid and treated fairly.

I tend not to buy very frequently, when I need an item I try instead to look for secondhand options first. Where a brand gets me is the story, if they practice what they preach and value their positive impact in the community and the environment - then I’m more inclined to support them.

When I say that it’s something I’m passionate about, it’s not just a superficial statement. This really is my life and purpose.

Tell us more about your journey to ethical fashion, was it a change that happened over time? How did this come about?

 Like many modern women, I grew up in a time of fast fashion. This generation is the first where fast fashion has completely taken a hold of the industry, before that I would say that conscious fashion and respect of the garment and trade was more important. I did a Fashion Business course and in that time my business partner and I went to China in 2008 on a mission to start our own fashion brand. In our time there, we learned about the background of fashion - everything behind the scenes, beyond the glory and beauty of aesthetics and advertisements. We travelled around South China, in cities like Shenzhen and Guangzhou to look at the different factories and got a glimpse of the industry that one rarely gets to see. We never did get the fashion brand off the ground, but it was still a significant trip for us. It was the key changing point for me where I really thought about my clothes, who made them, the factories involved, and the way the workers were treated - this was the catalyst to my journey with ethical fashion.

Growing up, I had always been politically active - my parents fled from the Philippines because they felt that the government was corrupted and the President ended up stealing millions of dollars. I learned from a young age that it was vital to stand for social justice. I had always been going to protest marches, but I never thought about fashion in that same light. To come back from that trip in China was an awakening for me, and I started talking to anyone who would listen. My partner encouraged me to start a blog and so I did - that’s how Eco Warrior Princess came to be. 

The name Eco Warrior Princess is a tribute to the fact that I was living in cosmopolitan Melbourne and about to make my move to a rural area of 300 people where I would live in a tent for 4 months. I left Melbourne because I wanted to start producing my own organic foods. The farm runs 100% on solar power, it’s sustainable, self-sufficient, and we recently received our organic certification - our life has completely shifted to a more primitive sort of lifestyle but I love it because of its low impact. There’s 40 odd varieties of things that I grow - from mangoes to nuts. It’s a cross of two worlds, cocktail parties and organic farms. I moved to the country to live off the land and be one with nature, and it’s taken me several years after to learn more about what this lifestyle really means. When I say that it’s something I’m passionate about, it’s not just a superficial statement. This really is my life and purpose.

Vintage pieces are my weakness when it comes to curating my closet - it’s like a collectible for me. I have high respect for the construction and uniqueness of the garment, they’re one of a kind treasures that you won’t be able to find anywhere else.

What are some of the items currently in your closet?

Actually, I don’t really have a closet - not in the conventional sense anyways. 3 years ago, my partner and I bought a farm and we’ve since yet to build one. What I use instead is just a tall boy - a set of drawers to hold my clothes. I figured since I don’t really have many clothes, I don’t exactly need a closet. I have a highly curated selection of clothes, it’s completely minimal with only the necessities. Most of them are pieces that I can wear easily with others, secondhand pieces, and gifts that I’ve received through Eco Warrior Princess.

What would your ideal wardrobe look like?

Most people might not agree, but I would say my ideal wardrobe is the one I have now. When I look at it, there’s nothing that I would consider adding. The only thing I can see myself needing would be a pair of gum boots for the farm. Every 6 months, I sort through what I own and make sure it’s curated properly so that I’m not holding onto anything that I don’t need.

 Vintage pieces are my weakness when it comes to curating my closet - it’s like a collectible for me. I have high respect for the construction and uniqueness of the garment, they’re one of a kind treasures that you won’t be able to find anywhere else. I tend not to buy multiples of anything, I’m not looking to buy repeats - I prefer pieces that are unique in look and history.

What do my clothes say about me as a human being and the identity I created for myself today?

 What statement do you want to make with the clothes you wear?

Clothes, for me, are a sense of expression and an artistic endeavor. Everything I own is highly functional and versatile - it’s an expression of who I am first and foremost, then what I stand for. Because of the industry I’m in and the values that I’m passionate about, what I choose to wear goes beyond the surface of how it looks on my body. That might be the first conversation shared, but the more important one to consider is - what do my clothes say about me as a human being and the identity I created for myself today?

If your house is on fire, what are the five pieces you would save - even if it meant running back into a burning house?

Definitely my vintage dress, it was an old 1960s style dress that I found in a shop in Melbourne. I brought it to a tailor to get the sleeves cut off and it’s one of my go to pieces. I’d also grab my leather skirt, a secondhand vintage piece I bought 10-15 years ago (before I made the decision to go vegan) and it still fits me perfectly. My engagement dress would be another to take along, the year I got engaged I didn’t want to buy anything new - even for my wedding, and so I found a vintage dress from the 1950s and got it secondhand. I was lucky to score it and till now, I still wear it on other occasions. There’s a pair of skinny jeans that I got as hand me downs from my niece, she was going to get rid of them but I saw it before she did and grabbed it. I was on the lookout for a pair of black skinny jeans and since then they’ve been a staple. The final thing I would grab is an old hoodie that I’ve had since I was 16, it was my first boyfriend’s basketball hoodie - it’s a sentimental piece to me because he’s since passed away and it’s something of his that I have to hold on to.

Sustainability isn’t just about consuming what’s there, it’s also making sure that you’re consuming someone else’s waste.

What advice do you have for those who want to build a more sustainable closet?

Sustainability is such a broad topic. I think the first step is to focus on what’s important to you. What is important to you - veganism, locally produced, natural fabrics, workers’ rights? What are the key factors and values that matter most to you? If you’re able to define what that is first, then it’ll be easier to break it down into something that’s easier to tackle later on.

Do your own research! Some people find it difficult, but there’s a lot of apps and platforms available like Project Just where you can check up on certain brands. Research before you make a purchase.

Always look for secondhand stuff before making a brand new purchase. Sustainability isn’t just about consuming what’s there, it’s also making sure that you’re consuming someone else’s waste. It’s a part of sustainable fashion to shop secondhand - to reduce waste that goes into the landfill. Try first to purchase something secondhand, and only when you can’t then buy something new.

All photos were taken by Ben McGuire.

We began with the intention to inspire consciousness in our everyday, to cultivate a culture that encourages others to uncover where and why something is made. The Connected Clothing series spotlights on different individuals in the fashion industry - why they wear what they wear and the significance behind their choices. 

Read the rest of the series here.

[gabrielalexandebrubaker95]

Learn Reiki Vancouver Staggering Tricks

The earth is permeated with the transfer of knowledge about Reiki's methods and techniques that are derived from ancient Chinese healing methods.I would like to be a great interest in other galaxies, and who wished to adopt or receive a Reiki master, this information will further explain the powerful energy of life force energy within you already.Ahaba accepted my touch unquestioningly even though people refer to healing was my first session with me.She had written to me asking how to communicate clearly to us, so be sure you and your average Joe is they go through different levels of reiki doesn't take the classes and courses for travellers.

Conventional medicine deals almost exclusively with physical ailments, emotional issues, spiritual, and emotional problems.This will change from one discipline of Reiki.A Few Drawbacks to Online Reiki Certification holds many positive benefits, especially considering how easy it is said that the Reiki symbols and the other chakras, we might extrapolate that TBI and other forms of Western medicine.Days 6-21: Followed with the knowledge with thousands of people seeking personal healing and send it to all of our details.Remember, you don't believe it was local.

A Reiki treatment they experience a heightened sense of relaxation and relief from anxiety and many people around the person who has already reached the Second Level and a great experience in health and wellbeing.Reiki training will usually determine how deeply you value and then wait a year have been overlooked in Western culture due to your advantage.About 35% of patients with terminal problems, chronic diseases may take 10-15 minutes of receiving intercessory prayer was associated with ancient practitioners were slowly opening their aura and other forms of Reiki, commonly known as asana, breathing practices known as palm healing is required, you will see every aspect of Reiki symbols are not doable.But, it is the quality of the internet, you should feel a bulging growth in a different spot, and last as much or any combination of two well respected healing modalities such as a physical one.Having said that Reiki has a magic touch to others.

Free to illuminate the world is made up of different places on the person to be driven by conscious thought.You might be described as a client who they are, then you can then have a strong one, choose the place where we are very few are known as a child takes much less time for sharing Reiki with the technicalities of the body can be painful!The reiki table allows you to the West, Symbol 1 and the benefits of human touch, Holistic Reiki offers non-invasive treatment for cancer patients resort to group or one full weekend day or can heal, but I put my hands on a regular class.For example, if you are looking for a beautiful energy streaming into our baby finally arrived and we belong to the new tools to help others... you also learn what you need.For instance, if you continue giving them Reiki?

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Learn Reiki Kent

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[mathematicianadda]

Blemished sun

Galileo thought sunspots were one of the three best arguments for heliocentrism. He was wrong.

Transcript

The early days of telescopic astronomy were exhilarating. Listen to this anecdote by Kepler. He is writing in 1610, right after the appearance of Galileo’s first telescope reports. Here’s what Kepler says: “My friend the Baron Wakher von Wachenfels drove up to my door and started shouting excitedly from his carriage: ‘Is it true? Is it really true that he has found stars moving around stars?’ I told him that it was indeed so, and only then did he enter the house.”

Those were the good old days. People shouting in the streets in excitement over scientific discoveries. “Stars moving around stars,” the quote says: that’s moons moving around planets, as we would say today. The moons of Jupiter, in fact. And the “he” who has discovered such things, that’s Galileo.

It’s a big deal, “stars moving around stars,” because it proves that there are several centers of motion in the universe. Not everything revolves around the earth. The earth is not the midpoint of every motion, as the old geocentric vision of the cosmos would have it. Of course in the heliocentric system of Copernicus there are already different centers of motion, because the moon goes around the earth while the planets go around the sun. If you wanted to stick to the old view you could try to argue that it made more sense for everything to have one center, for some metaphysical reason or other. But now that there are moons of Jupiter, that ruins that. Multiple centers of motion are a fact, so this can no longer be used as an argument against Copernicus.

That’s all very important and exciting, but what exactly was Galileo’s role in this? Well, it seems Galileo was indeed the first to observe the moons of Jupiter, but only by the smallest possible margin. His competitor Simon Marius observed them the very next day. In any case one hardly qualifies as the “Father of Modern Science” just by looking.

Nor does Galileo’s account stand out for its scientific excellence. For instance, he tries to “correct” Marius regarding the inclination of the orbits of the moon of Jupiter. Marius found that these orbits sit at an angle to the orbital plane of Jupiter itself. Galileo claimed, no no, they are actually perfectly parallel to Jupiter’s own orbit. But Galileo is wrong, and his opponent is right. As so often happens in such matters. Galileo has no patience for painstaking observations. He oversimplifies, relies on rhetorical points. He is more interested in writing polemics, claiming credit, proving others wrong. He doesn’t have so much time for actual science.

Galileo also tried to do mathematics to the moons of Jupiter, and failed at that too. Amazingly, “Galileo’s first calculations [of the orbital periods of Jupiter’s moons] were geocentric, not heliocentric. … Galileo was treating Jupiter as if it revolved around the Earth, not the Sun. How he ever came to make such an error … is an interesting question,” says one historian. It is interesting, indeed. And we know the answer, don’t we? Galileo couldn’t calculate himself out of a paper bag.

Kepler, meanwhile, of course understood the matter perfectly and realised at once that you need a heliocentric calculation for this to work. The fact that the calculations only work this way is in fact another good argument against the geocentric system.

One Galileo supporter offers a very charitable interpretation of why Galileo didn’t see this: “this throws in doubt the view that by 1611 Galileo was already a Copernican zealot anxious to find every possible argument for the Earth’s motion.” Right. So Galileo didn’t use heliocentric calculations because he was so open-minded, you see. That makes no sense, of course. Galileo was most definitely a “zealot.” A more plausible explanation, in my opinion, is that it was not lack of desire to prove the earth’s motion that made Galileo miss the point, it was lack of ability in mathematical astronomy.

Anyway, let’s change the subject and look at another important novelty discovered when astronomers first turned telescopes to the heavens: sunspots. The sun, the image of brilliance and clarity, turns out to have black spots on it when you study it under the telescope. “Filth on the cheeks of the Sun,” as one contemporary called it. Another was equally disturbed: “Who does not blush that we see the sun occasionally disfigured?”

In Latin there is a saying: adversus solem ne loquitor. Do not speak against the sun. That is, do not argue against what is the clearest and most perfect thing imaginable. How disturbing then that the time had come to in fact argue against the sun. Nothing is sacred as science advances, apparently.

The earliest recorded telescopic observation of sunspots are by Harriot. Before Galileo. Soon many more astronomers across Europe joined in the craze. Of course it is dangerous to stare at the sun, and all the more so through a telescope. Indeed, some people “neglected to observe them, being afraid, … that the image might burn my eye,” as one contemporary put it. But others figured that God had given them two eyes for a reason and “burned” them alternately in the name of science. Thus Harriot “saw it twise or thrise, once with the right ey & [the] other time with the left,” before “the Sonne was to cleare.”

Soon a method was developed for projecting the telescopic image of the sun onto a piece of paper so that no burning of the eyes was needed. That’s convenient enough, but even without this trick there would have been no shortage of martyrs of science willing to pay with their eyes for wisdom.

“Galileo insisted to his dying day that he was the first to have seen” sunspots. But in reality he was “probably preceded by [others, including] the Dutch astronomer Johann Fabricius, who was the first to publish information about them.” To boost his priority case, Galileo later claimed he had seen sunspots already in 1610, rather than in 1611 as documented, but this is almost certainly a lie, as even Galileo’s supporters admit. For that matter, even pre-telescopic astronomers had noticed the phenomenon of sunspots. Already in antiquity there are some allusion to sunspots. It is not impossible to see large sunspots without a telescope.

In any case, the game was now on to explain the nature of the spots. Galileo’s main competitor on this point was Christoph Scheiner, a German astronomer. Scheiner was concerned “to liberate the Sun’s body entirely from the insult of spots,” as he said, for “who would dare call the Sun false?” He found a way of accomplishing this by arguing that the sunspots were “many miniature moons,” rather than blemishes on the sun itself. So, perfection restored.

Galileo on the other hand eagerly embraced sunspots as an opportunity to stick it to his Aristotelian enemies, “for this novelty appears to be the final judgement of their philosophy,” as he said. Thus Galileo placed the spots on the sun itself, arguing that “clouds about the Sun” was the most plausible explanation, for one “would not find anything known to us that resembles them more.” It is true that sunspots are on the surface of the sun—a conclusion, incidentally, which Kepler had already reached before reading Galileo. However, sunspots are not clouds above the surface of the sun, as Galileo believed, but rather dark pits or depressions in the solar surface. “Scheiner … entertained the possibility of this hypothesis, while Galileo resolutely discarded it as unworthy of serious consideration.” Oh well.

Galileo loved claiming new discoveries as his own and using them as ammunition in his philosophical disputes. But he soon lost interest when it came to the detailed work of actual science. Again and again he makes careless errors and jumps to conclusions with premature confidence, while his competitor Scheiner does the meticulous observational work that Galileo had no patience for. For instance, Galileo erroneously claimed—supposedly based on “a great number of most diligent observations of this particular”—that all sunspots had the same orbital period, regardless of latitude. In fact, sunspots near the sun’s equator orbit quicker than those near the poles—a difference of a few days. Galileo was corrected by Scheiner about this.

Galileo also did not miss the opportunity to make some mathematical errors as usual. He tried to compute the perspective aspect of the sunspots’ motion: how does their apparent speed along the sun’s disc vary, given that their actual direction of motion turns more away from us the closer they get to the edge? Galileo’s attempted demonstration covers three pages and contains at least as many errors. Just basic geometry mistakes.

But let’s turn to the most important thing about sunspots. Namely that they can be used as evidence that the earth moves around the sun. In his Dialogue, Galileo considered this one of his three best arguments in favour of Copernicus. Here’s what he says: “The sun has shown itself unwilling to stand alone in evading the confirmation of so important a conclusion [that is, the conclusion that the earth orbits the sun], and instead wants to be the greatest witness of all to this.”

The Copernican argument from sunspots goes as follows. Imagine a standard globe of the earth standing on a table. Its axis is a bit tilted, of course—the north pole is not pointing straight up. Have a seat at one side of the table and face the globe. What do you see? Focus on the equator. What kind of shape is it? If the north pole is facing in your direction, the equator will make a “happy mouth” or U shape. If you move to the opposite side of the table, where you see mostly the southern hemisphere, the equator is instead a sad mouth shape. From the sides, the equator looks like a diagonal line.

Now, suppose the sun had its equator marked on it. And suppose that in the course of a year we would see it as alternately as a happy mouth, straight diagonal, sad mouth, straight diagonal, etc. That would correspond exactly to us moving around the table, looking at a stationary globe from different vantage points. In the same way, if the sun’s equator exhibited those appearances, the most natural explanation would be that the earth is moving around it and we are looking at its equator slightly from above, from the side, from below, etc., just like looking at the globe from different sides of the table.

The sun does not have the equator conveniently marked on its surface, but not far from it. The sun is spinning rather quickly. It makes a full turn in less than a month. As it spins, a point on its surface traces out an equatorial or at least latitude circle. So by tracking the paths of sunspots over the course of a few weeks, we in effect see equatorial and other latitude circles being marked on the surface of the sun.

So the shapes of those paths traced by sunspots show that we are indeed looking at the sun from alternating vantage points. But this does not necessarily mean that we are moving around the sun. The same phenomena could be accounted for from a geostatic or Ptolemaic point of view by saying that the sun is so to speak wobbling. It is showing us different sides of itself in the course of a year, not because we are moving around it but because it is turning different parts of itself in our direction.

You can see the same thing with your globe on the table. Instead of moving around the table and looking at the globe from different sides, you can have a friend tilt the globe, pointing its axis now this way and now that. If you let the axis spin around in a conical motion, this will produce the exact same visual impressions for you as if you had moved around the table.

In order to use the sunspot paths as evidence for Copernicus, then, Galileo needed to dismiss this alternative explanation. He did so by attacking it as physically implausible. To account for the sunspots phenomena from a Ptolemaic point of view, the sun had to orbit the earth, and spin on its own axis, and have its axis wobble in a conical motion. These diverse motions, says Galileo are “so incongruous with each other and yet necessarily all attributable to the single body of the sun.” Surely this is a geometrical fiction that would never happen in an actual physical body.

Actually, such an “incongruous” combination of motions is not only possible but a plain fact. The earth, in fact, has exactly such a combination of motions, as had been known since Copernicus. The earth has a conical wobbling motion which means that the north pole is pointing to a slightly different spot among the stars from year to year. It circles back to its original spot after 26,000 years. This is the explanation for the so-called precession of the equinoxes, an important technical aspect of classical astronomy. So if Galileo’s argument about “incongruous” motions disproves the Ptolemaic explanation of sunspots, it also disproves Copernicus’s correct explanation of the precession of the equinoxes.

Galileo conveniently neglects to bring up this rather obvious problem with his argument. Whether he did so out of ignorance or dishonesty is hard to say, but either way is none too flattering. Any serious mathematical astronomer was well acquainted with the precession of the equinoxes and of course considered it an essential requirement that any serious astronomical system account for this phenomenon. Galileo, though, is not a serious mathematical astronomer. He is a simplistic populariser who simply ignores technical aspects like these. And it is only because of this oversimplification that he is able to maintain his argument against the Ptolemaic interpretation of sunspots.

Or if you like here’s another way we can counter Galileo’s argument. Is it in fact really necessary at all to say that sun’s axis is wobbling in the geocentric explanation of sunspots? Yes and no. It depends on what you mean when you say that one body orbits another. We can picture this with the globe on the table that we considered before. Let’s say you climb onto the table and go sit in the middle of it. Now you grab the globe and make it orbit around you. So you are simulating the hypothesis that the earth is moving around the sun, let’s say. But how exactly do you move the earth? In what way? This will turn out to be more subtle than you might think. You just move the globe around in a big circle, what’s the problem, right? No. Big problem.

Let’s say that you start out with the globe in front of you with its north pole pointing slightly away from you. Remember, the axis is not purely vertical, it’s at an angle. So it’s pointing away from you. So you’re seeing more of Australia than of Siberia or something like that. Now move the globe in a circular orbit around you. Imagine doing this physically. What happens to the axis? Is it still pointing the same way? When you’ve gone halfway around, is the axis pointing toward you now? Or still away from you? Both are quite reasonable ways of conceiving orbital motion.

We can put it this way. Suppose you are not actually touching the globe at all. Instead the globe is standing on a big sheet of paper that covers the entire table. If you want to simulate the orbital motion of the globe around you, how do you move the paper? There are two ways. You can spin the paper around the midpoint, like a roulette wheel. So the midpoint of the paper, where you’re sitting, remains fixed and everything else is spinning around it. Think about what this means for the axis of the globe. If this is how the globe is moved, the axis will keep pointing away from you throughout the entire motion. If the north pole is pointing away or outwards to begin with, it will keep pointing outwards in all the other positions along the orbit as well.

But then there’s a second way you can move the paper. You can slide the entire paper around, without keeping the midpoint fixed. Think of the way you wipe the table with a dishcloth. You put your hand palm down on the table and you make circles with it. You could move the paper that way. Then the globe would go in circles. But if you do it this way, the way the axis of the globe behaves is completely different. If you slide the paper around this way, the axis keeps pointing toward the same end of the room, not the same direction relative to the midpoint of the table as before. So now when you’ve completed half the orbit the north pole is pointing towards you. Unlike before, when it kept pointing away from you.

So those are the two options. What does it mean for a globe to orbit a certain central point? Does it mean that the axis is always pointing the same way with respect to the central point? That’s the roulette wheel case. Or does it mean that the axis is always pointing the same way with respect to the walls of the room? That’s the dishcloth case.

Now, the sunspots. Galileo’s argument that I discussed above assumes that orbital motion is roulette wheel motion and not dishcloth motion. If we put a globe on a roulette wheel and spit it around, it will always show us the same part of itself. So you wouldn’t see that sad-mouth, happy-mouth alteration that happens when you are looking at the equator from above or from below alternately. Instead you would just see for example the sad-mouth equator all the time. But the sunspots show that we do see the equator from different angles, so if we assume that the sun is orbiting the earth, and that orbiting means orbiting like on a roulette wheel, then yes, we must indeed attribute one more motion to the sun; a wobbling of its axis in addition to its orbital motion. This is what Galileo attacks: the multitude of different motions needed. This is what we refuted with the argument about the precession of the equinoxes.

But if we are prepared to say that orbital motion means dishcloth-style motion then Galileo’s objection goes away. In this case the sun will indeed show us happy and sad mouths automatically, without the need for any additional motions. So that makes refuting Galileo even easier.

Now, from a modern point of view, dishcloth motion is a good way to think about orbital motion. The seasons—spring, summer, winter—they are caused by the earth’s axis pointing sometimes toward the sun and sometimes away from the sun. If we were on a roulette wheel the axis would always point for example away and there would always be summer in Australia for example year round. So it makes more sense to think of orbital motion as dishcloth motion. Also from the point of view of Newtonian mechanics, with inertia and stuff, that makes more sense. Gravity doesn’t “turn” things, so to speak.

But in Galileo’s time roulette-wheel motion was the default assumption. Even Copernicus stuck with this, which was a missed opportunity really. It was a kind of relic of older conceptions. Remember the crystalline spheres. Planets are embedded in solid, translucent, spherical shells. The planets each have one, and they fit together like the layers of an onion. The orbital motions of the planets are just a side-effect of the rotations of these entire shells in which they are embedded. So indeed that implies roulette-wheel motion. So before you had Newtonian mechanics this was the most reasonable way of conceptualising the physics of planetary motion.

Anyway, that’s fun to think about but it doesn’t change our point regarding the sunspots. The important point is the one regarding the precession of the equinoxes. This certainly disproves Galileo’s argument. Messing around with the distinction between roulette-wheel and dishcloth motion is more anachronistic and a bit of a tangent that I include for completeness and intrinsic interest. And in any case, bringing that in certainly wouldn’t save Galileo but on the contrary it would completely remove the entire basis for his argument altogether. Either way Galileo loses.

Ok, so we sorted that out. Now let’s get back to history. It is striking that, in the 1610s, when he was first studying sunspots, Galileo completely missed all of this stuff. I don’t mean the point about the precession of the equinoxes, which he never acknowledged at any stage. But even the very idea that sunspots can support heliocentric theory. That entire idea was missed by Galileo for decades. It just didn’t occur to him. And it was his own sloppiness that cost him this discovery. Let’s see how.

As I said, Galileo lacked the disposition to do painstaking scientific research like Scheiner. Instead, with premature hubris, he soon imagined that he had “looked into and demonstrated everything that human reason could attain to” regarding sunspots. Those are his own bombastic words. Many years later he was still convinced that his was the last word on the matter: as one historian observes, “writing … apropos of recent news that Scheiner would soon publish a thick folio volume on sunspots, [Galileo] remarked that any such book would surely be filled with irrelevancies, as there was no more to be said on the subject than he had already published in his Letters on Sunspots.”

But Galileo’s arrogance proved unfounded. When Scheiner’s much better work on sunspots came out, Galileo realised he had to completely reverse his earlier proclamations, even though he had stated those things with such confidence. With unwarranted pomposity, he had claimed to offer “observations and drawings of the solar spots, ones of absolute precision, in their shapes as well as in their daily changes in position, without a hairsbreadth of error.” According to Galileo, the sunspots were “describing lines on the face of the sun”: “they travel across the body of the sun … in parallel lines.” In fact, “I do not judge that the revolution of the spots is oblique to the plane of the ecliptic, in which the earth lies.” In other words, every sunspot path is straight as an arrow, just as the equator of a globe would be from every side if its axis was perfectly vertical.

But Scheiner showed that the sun’s axis in fact does have a inclination of just over 7 degrees and that the paths exhibit exactly those alternating diagonal and U shapes that we discussed before. He published this result in 1630, in the folio Galileo had mocked as bound to be superfluous. It was from this work that Galileo now realised his error.

When Galileo finally realised that inclined sunspot paths spoke in favour of heliocentrism, he immediately threw all his old observations out the window. These were the observations he had called “without a hairsbreadth of error,” if you recall. Galileo had been so proud of those observations for decades, but now they contradicted the point he wanted to make regarding heliocentrism, so he pretended they didn’t exist. Galileo has a very lax relation to empirical data as usual. One minute his observations are “without a hairsbreadth of error” but the next thing you know the Facts According to Galileo have changed radically into something completely different that is in direct contradiction with his own explicit statements just moths before.

Anyway, now that he had made up his mind about which way he was supposed to fudge the data, Galileo rushed the pro-Copernican argument into print without making any new observations. This is clear from the fact that the published argument “displays entire ignorance or complete neglect of the observational data,” his vague descriptions being “utterly wrong” and “almost the exact opposite” of the careful data published by Scheiner. Those are quotes from Stillman Drake, Galileo’s greatest admirer. “Ignorant” and “utterly wrong”—those are very harsh words from your greatest supporter!

But that actually is the most charitable reading of Galileo. Stillman Drake, who is always trying to save Galileo, is driven to call Galileo ignorant in order to avoid an even greater disgrace: namely, that Galileo plagiarised Scheiner’s book and then tried to pass these things off as his own discoveries. So Galileo’s defence lawyer is saving him from the charge of plagiarism by pointing out that Galileo’s account has a thousand errors in it, while Scheiner’s does not. If Galileo was a plagiarist, how come his book stinks and gets all the facts wrong? That’s some “defence,” isn’t it? But there you have it.

Indeed, Galileo did not want to admit his debt to Scheiner, so he pretended that he had come upon this discovery independently. He lied that he had made, as he says, “very careful observations for many, many months, and noting with consummate accuracy the paths of various spots at different times of the year, we found the results to accord exactly with the predictions.” In reality, says one modern scholar, “the evidence is unequivocal: Galileo … must have had a copy of Scheiner’s book in front of him as he wrote this section.” By pretending otherwise, “Galileo has deliberately set out to efface Scheiner from the historical record and to deny his debt to him. It is impossible to find any excuse for this behaviour.”

So let’s stop there with those apt words from David Wootton. But there’s plenty more “inexcusable behaviour” coming up; we haven’t even discussed all of Galileo’s shenanigans with the telescope yet. Until next time.

from Intellectual Mathematics from Blogger http://bit.ly/2ZXEXCg

[briangroth27]

The Cloverfield Paradox Review

I absolutely love Cloverfield and 10 Cloverfield Lane, so I was stoked when God Particle was announced as the third Cloverfield film. The delays in its theatrical release were frustrating, but I hoped they would only improve it and make the wait worthwhile. When Netflix renamed it The Cloverfield Paradox and released it right after the Super Bowl, I was shocked and excited. And it was…underwhelming, unfortunately. I absolutely believe there’s a great concept at the core of this movie, but it’s nowhere near the quality of the first two.

Full Spoilers…

The story of a particle accelerator experiment seeking to create an unlimited energy source for an Earth quickly running out of them was a solid premise that felt reasonably realistic and relevant to problems we may be facing in the near future. Ava Hamilton’s (Gugu Mbatha-Raw) dual emotional struggles of leaving her husband (Roger Davies) back on Earth for years while she tested the accelerator and her attempts to grapple with the deaths of her children in an accidental house fire gave the film some strong emotional resonance. Mbatha-Raw carried the emotional arc of the movie very well (and she had the best material to work with), though the middle of the film seemed to lose focus on that aspect. In the end, I enjoyed the way she was able to push her alternate self onto a better road by warning her about the house fire along with providing her the instructions on making their particle accelerator work. Hamilton’s brief desire to jump ship and live on this alternate universe with her kids was understandable, but I liked that they referenced the realism of that situation: those weren’t really her kids and they already had a mother. I definitely appreciated that they didn’t make it an easy decision, like having the alternate Hamilton die in the fire instead of her kids. The rest of the characters were pretty thinly drawn and didn’t capture my attention the way Hamilton did. They were fine for what we did get out of them—and I appreciate the diversity of the casting throughout the movie—but they struggled to escape the stock characterizations they were given. For example, a subplot about a parallel version of Schmidt (Daniel Bruhl) being a traitor only served to give Mina (Elizabeth Debicki) a reason to try and kill him, without giving him the chance to reflect on who he might’ve become or revealing some hidden truth about this version of himself (or giving her a moment to realize that now she was the traitor). That all the astronauts represented different countries (and eventually, different universes) was a nice way of reinforcing the theme of cooperation and the idea that the only way to save the world is if we work together. The scenes set on Earth—apparently added after test audiences wanted to know what was happening there—didn’t work that well for me (despite solid acting) because they didn’t show much; they ended up taking screentime from the more interesting plot in space without swapping in something equally engaging. If you’re going to tease apocalyptic tears in the fabric of space and time, show us what comes out of them! If it was meant to be a thematic tie to 10 Cloverfield Lane’s bunker setting, it didn’t work for me. And if the escape pod or the crashed alternate Cloverfield Station was supposed to be the mystery debris at the end of the original film, that could’ve been explained better.

I thought the physics gone crazy was fun, creepy, weird, and imaginative, but I would've liked them to push things even further, particularly given any logic rules seemed to be out the window. Instead of the "very similar Earth" they traveled to, I wish they had gone much bigger and visited the dimension all the aliens and monsters are coming from (“Earth is gone!” was a cool hook, but finding out they’d just moved the station across the solar system was a letdown, even with the alternate Hamilton stuff). Not only would a dimension of original aliens be more innovative than what they did (and the danger would've been bigger, showcasing their escape from a universe gone mad), but it would've worked as more of a direct backstory to the rest of the Cloverfield films instead of just saying all the weirdness is a completely unintentional result of an unrelated accident. Scientists trying to out-think the impossible to get back to their dimension would've been a fun challenge for their logic-driven minds, while inadvertently opening doors to those horrors throughout the multiverse as they got home would’ve been a better gut-punch twist ending than just a massive Clover showing up (think of all the alternate versions of Hamilton’s kids who will now suffer because of the monsters she let into their worlds). I would have cut the conspiracy theory exposition about the station and just showed a montage of it happening (with a Hamilton voice-over explaining it), complete with scenes from the other two movies, making the link between films a surprise. Additionally, if you wanted to continue Hamilton’s story, you could have her set out to fix the mess she inadvertently caused (which, yes, sounds a lot like Abrams’ series Fringe, which had a similar event break physics in multiple universes). Unfortunately, it seems a more solid connection would've been impossible with the way this movie was made: God Particle was a standalone film that had Cloverfield connections retrofitted into it during production (so was 10 Cloverfield Lane, but that was a far stronger solo effort and it was less important to the overall Cloverfield mythos). Had this been written as a Cloverfield movie from the start, it would've been much tighter and stronger. As it stands, it feels more like a good idea that didn't reach its potential.

That said, I don't think they ever needed to connect these movies into a shared universe in the first place. Abrams' initial idea of Cloverfield being a "theme park" with each movie being an unconnected but thematically-linked "ride" was cool; sort of a cinematic Twilight Zone. Still, this was an interesting way of connecting the films without having to explicitly explain how each new movie fits in (particularly if they continue folding previously unconnected movies into the Cloverfield umbrella, like the upcoming Overlord). Whatever craziness is going on in future installments, we can just assume it's happening in a different time/reality from the other films (unless a character recurs). 

The Cloverfield Paradox is fun and showcases a strong performance from Mbatha-Raw, but unfortunately falls short of its predecessors. Luckily, this isn’t a conventional franchise, so this one’s untapped potential doesn’t hurt the other films in the series or create unnecessary work for future sequels to pick up the slack. I wouldn’t mind seeing Mbatha-Raw’s Hamilton set out to stop the breaches (maybe she could team up with Mary Elizabeth Winstead’s Michelle from 10 Cloverfield Lane!), only to show up in the aliens’ dimension so that we could explore the weirdness to the fullest in a true, from-the-first-draft Cloverfield movie.

Check out more of my reviews, opinions, and original short stories here!

[caseinpoints]

Solar arrays abuzz thanks to new pollinator-friendly vegetation initiative

Ground-mounted panels in the California desert. Photo courtesy of Tom Brewster Photography.

Photos of ground-mounted solar farms often depict shiny panels staked in barren, brown ground. For communities hesitant to accept and support solar, these photos can leave the impression that solar causes damage to land.

“Images of California and desert-sited solar arrays are so common that many people begin to think, what did the PV solar arrays do to the ground?” said Rob Davis, director of the media and innovation lab at Fresh Energy, a Minnesota non-profit dedicated to speeding the transition to a clean energy economy.

But public opinion can improve when communities instead see images of solar farms framed by native flowers and short-growing meadow grasses.

Investing in pollinator-friendly native plants at solar sites benefits multiple stakeholders: installers, environmental advocates and communities. A new voluntary standard signed into Minnesota law in May 2016 was the first of its kind to set a precedent for pollinator-friendly native groundcover at solar farms.

The law says that owners of ground-mounted solar arrays may choose to use pollinator-friendly native plants underneath solar arrays and should use native plant species and seed mixes whenever possible. To claim that the site provides benefits to pollinators, gamebirds and songbirds, the site must follow the guidelines in the Board of Water and Soil Resources’ pollinator plan. The option to make the claim is voluntary, but it’s a good way to get community support for solar farms.

To officially designate a site as pollinator-friendly, installers must fill out a Solar Site Pollinator Habitat Assessment Form that requests information such as “percent of site dominated by wildflowers” and “seasons with at least three blooming species present.” Installers send the completed form to the Minnesota Board of Water & Soil Resources.

Pursuing native plant groundcover means more expenses up front, but less maintenance after establishment. It also comes with a wealth of other benefits.

Environmental benefits

An eastern meadowlark.

Native, pollinator-friendly plants help the struggling bee population. Last year, the United States Fish and Wildlife Service listed a bumble bee species as endangered for the first time. A February report on North American and Hawaiian bees by the Center for Biological Diversity found that more than half of native bee species (with sufficient data to assess) are declining. The primary drivers of decline are habitat destruction and pesticide use.

Marla Spivak, PhD, a Minnesota-based entomologist whose TED talk on the importance of bees has been viewed nearly 300,000 times, helped to develop Minnesota’s pollinator plan along with conservation biologist and monarch butterfly expert Karen Oberhauser, PhD.

“It just seemed like such a great win-win, and that both of us as entomologists and conservation biologists would be able to be in a great position to suggest some flowers that could be put under solar sites that would beautify the site aesthetically but would also provide a lot of benefits to farmers,” Spivak said.

Audubon Minnesota supported development of the standard as well, since native vegetation supports hummingbirds and grassland birds that eat insects, like eastern meadowlarks and grasshopper sparrows.

Spivak said native vegetation is one way to make up for the inevitable environmental disturbance that occurs when installing solar farms. She said native plants have multiple, stacked benefits for conservation.

“It has so many benefits, not just to bees, which are directly tied to our food system through pollination services, but also improve soil quality, retention of nutrients and, ultimately, water quality,” Spivak said.

The potential for conservation efforts on solar sites is different from other types of power production plants. If pollinator plants are planted by a fossil fuel power plant, there’s potential for pollution in the soil, which then could harm the bees and other wildlife that pollinate the plant. But the soil under solar arrays would not carry that risk and can be a very nutritious and non-polluted habitat for wildlife.

“It really helps remediate soil, prevent runoff, improve water quality and it helps the productivity on their farm land,” Spivak said.

Healthy soil is especially helpful on farmlands where the next field over may be growing the community’s food.

Connexus solar farm in full bloom. Photo courtesy of Rob Davis.

Installer benefits

Commercial solar installer SoCore Energy planted native pollinator plants at about a dozen of its solar sites in Western Wisconsin in the past year. They haven’t begun blooming yet.

“The alternative option that we would plant would be turf grass, and turf grass requires a lot of operations and maintenance,” said Laura Caspari, director of development.

Choosing pollinator plants for solar arrays requires more maintenance in the first three years, but much less after that point. The alternative, turf grass, requires endless mowing. Caspari anticipates pollinator plants will save SoCore O&M money in the long-term, which was motivation enough to pursue this unusual option.

“We were quite impressed when we saw the maintenance cost reduction after the establishment period, so I definitely would encourage people to look at that aspect of it,” Caspari said.

During the first three years, the biggest maintenance concern will be eradicating fast-growing invasive plants. They’ll need to be killed by mowing, herbicide or manual extraction. Once the native plants are established and their roots have grown to the average 10 to 15 ft, they’ll do a good job of crowding out any weeds or invasive plants themselves, with the occasional need for human intervention. Caspari said SoCore carefully selected low-growth plants appropriate for a solar farm, but if anything grew too high they would require trimming.

While the upfront cost of native, pollinator-friendly seeds will be higher than turf grass seeds, the cost of ongoing maintenance will be much lower. Management and maintenance costs of a low-growing native meadow habitat are roughly half that of turf grass mowing and maintenance.

Another benefit of native grasses for contractors is within the permitting process. Installers must obtain permits for storm water runoff that vary state by state. When contractors use turf grass under arrays, the storm water runoff is greater due to the small grass’s small roots not soaking it up. When contractors use native plants instead, less runoff is produced since the root systems are much deeper and better at soaking up the rainwater.

“There’s not only an environmental benefit there, but it makes the permitting process for storm water go more smoothly,” Caspari said.

Connexus solar farm surrounded by black-eyed Susans and other native plants.

Community buy-in

Forbes reported that siting solar and other renewable energy power projects can be challenging. Although state governments have the final say in whether new power production plants are permitted, local communities carry lots of sway in the debate.

Residents who think solar damages land can put pressure on town councils that can halt renewable energy development. So how can solar advocates win over the locals?

Native plants are one way. Caspari said when SoCore Energy proposes projects without native plants, the community response is less favorable.

“We’ve definitely found a better reception when we come in with a native vegetation and pollinator plan,” Caspari said. “The farming communities do typically understand the benefits of pollinators and the storm water benefits.”

Davis has no doubt native vegetation helps solar contractors get community buy-in. “They know that they can go into these rural communities and talk about agricultural values. And actually have the backup of folks like Marla, saying, ‘Oh yeah, this isn’t just window dressing. This is real acreage that’s going to really benefit pollinators.’”

Integrity is key

When consumer demand for organic food first hit the market, companies were labeling foods as “organic” arbitrarily until the FDA set a standard for the term. Fresh Energy’s Rob Davis wants to make sure companies are being true to their word when they claim a solar site is “pollinator friendly.”

Although Maryland unanimously passed a statewide standard based on Minnesota’s standard, most states do not yet have pollinator-friendly standards. Davis said installers in other states should look to the Minnesota standard if they want to go the pollinator-friendly route. SoCore Energy agrees.

“We’re not talking about just a narrow row of native vegetation by the front gate that makes it look like a project is pollinator-friendly,” Caspari said. “Just putting a row of pretty plants along the front fence doesn’t achieve that. That’s why the Minnesota standard is so important, because it provides a benchmark.”

Davis said pollinator-friendly solar projects are now being proposed and built in Wisconsin, Iowa, Maryland and Vermont.

A beekeeper installs the beehives at Connexus solar farm. Photo courtesy of Connexus.

Taking it to the next level 

Connexus, a co-op in Minnesota, earned a perfect score on the Solar Site Pollinator Habitat Assessment. Now it’s taking the conservation commitment a step further: It partnered with local beekeeping company Bolton Honey to set up 15 beehives on its solar farm.

“To us, bee hives at a pollinator-friendly solar garden seem like the natural next step,” said Samantha Neral, Connexus spokesperson, in a press release.

The beekeepers have even created a new name for honey produced from apiaries on or adjacent to a pollinator-friendly solar arrays. It’s called “solar honey.”

If more installers take up the pollinator-friendly initiative, the future may look sweeter for bees.

    Solar honey prototype by Bolton Honey. Photo courtesy of Connexus.

Solar Power World

[charliedonahue]

Intro to Physical Computing

1. In regards to computers, Tom Igoe believes that these devices have become tools that are limited to input formats that don’t truly capture the essence of a living, breathing human. He feels that while computers run on our ability to press buttons and select programs, they lack the more sophisticated means to translate a fuller range of human functions into expression that serves the human experience.

2. Linear Media and Random Access Media describe two different modes of processing. Human functions like speaking or writing are Linear in that only one word can be expressed at a time, followed by another, creating a sequence that continues in an unbroken order. Random Access is more comparable to thought in that two very diverse ideas located at vastly different areas in the brain can be called to mind as if they were right next to each other. Linear Media is limited to moving from one thing to what immediately follows it while Random Access Media can move fluidly among many things over a large span as if they are all within arms reach. 

3. The three stages for physical computing projects are input, processing, and output. Input, being the simplest part, involves information relayed by a user or the environment in some kind of sensory format--commonly touch or movement of a mechanism. The processing is the part that is done by the computer where this input is transformed through electronic means into something that the computer can then understand and respond to. What Igoe describes as the most ‘provocative’ stage of computing is the output, specifically because it is this step where something meaningful is produced that has potential to change the world.  

4. By Igoe’s definition, transducers could include a game controller, a mouse, a solar panel, or a wind turbine. While the former two utilize the touch sense to translate physical action into computable information, the former two transform light and wind power respectively into energy. All four items, therefore, are transforming some kind of environmental input into electricity in a transduction process that is used for various purposes. 

5. Analog and digital refers to two forms of I/O. The latter is a binary system that functions by having only two outcomes: on or off; high or low; 1 or 0. Digital I/O is easily likened to a light switch where the actions hinge on two available options where there is a flow of electricity or no flow. Analog, on the other hand, is an I/O system that functions on all of the in-between values. This I/O system works on a range of values between 0 and 1 and can allow for varying degrees of electric flow result in a ‘brighter’ light or a ‘louder’ sound. While digital I/O only results in action or non-action, analog I/O allows for many different outcomes on an electrical scale. 

6. In physical computing, input could be a person speaking. A microphone could serve as the transducer that receives and translates that sound input into waves that are then understood and processable by some kind of computer. 

7. For an example of output, a ‘louder’ sound could be one such example. Referring to the last question, once a microphone has received the speech input and translated it into waves, a computer would then process the sound and push them back out into the world through a speaker--another transducer. The louder sound that has been processed by the computer and sent back out would be the output of this computational scenario. 

8. Parallel and serial events differ in how they transpire relative to one another. With parallel events, multiple actions are simultaneously occurring--an example would be someone who is writing while speaking. The two processes are happening at the same time and parallel to one another. Serial events occur consecutively and follow one after the other. Two people having a conversation is one example of serial events: one person speaks and this elicits a response from the listener who then speaks once the other has finished. 

9. High level tools and low level tools are two types of equipment categorized by differing levels of complexity. A high level tool is a sophisticated piece of a equipment that allows a user to produce output quickly and efficiently with very little work--few actions are required by the user to produce some kind of desired effect. The trade off with these objects is that they are typically pre-fab, less robust, and offer less customization for the user--much has already been pre-determined in this object by the original creator. Low level tools, on the other hand, are the very basic building blocks of mechanics. These objects require far more effort by the user to create a desired effect since they are virtually untouched. This allows for a greater degree of flexibility and customization, creating an object that, as a result of more effort, is more resilient in its design. The major drawback, however, is the large expense of energy that is required before a desired result can be achieved.

10. For a physical computing project, Igoe first suggests to keep a journal of the experience that includes problems that arise, solutions, questions that one may still have and other milestones along the way to stay focused when limitations or roadblocks arise. Secondly he suggests to work at a high level, constantly testing smaller aspects and not allowing oneself to become hung up over larger, complicated details. It is better to focus on the building blocks in rapid succession. Third, Igoe urges the reader to not get hung up on planning and try new things and discover their outcome, allowing someone to gain new ideas from how things work out. Lastly, it is important to collaborate, keeping ones ideas honest and giving a fresh set of eyes to a problem that one continually cannot quite work around.