#vast circumference

[pangeen]

" Baobab, a prehistoric species which predates both mankind and splitting of continents over 200 million years ago. Baobabs (Adansonia) are distinctive trees with incredibly large trunks. They can store tremendous amounts of water, as their trunks noticeably swell during the rainy season. Tree is native to African savannah, where climate is extremely dry and arid, it is a symbol of life and positivity in a landscape where little else can thrive. African baobab (A. digitata) has a vast range throughout the arid parts of Africa; six additional species are native to the Indian Ocean island of Madagascar, off south-east Africa; and an eighth species is native to north-west Australia. The largest known living baobab is the Sagole Big Tree, a specimen of A. digitata located in Masisi, Vhembe, South Africa, near the border with Zimbabwe. Based on its most recent measurements, Sagole has an extremely large base that covers 60.6m², a height of 19.8m and a total wood and bark volume of 414m³. Its aboveground dry mass is estimated to be 54 tonnes. Baobab trees grow in 32 African countries. Tree known for its longevity and some specimens in Africa have been dated to between 1100-2500 years old and reach up to 30m high and up to an enormous 50m in circumference. Baobab trees can provide shelter, food and water for animals and humans, many savannah communities made their homes near Baobab trees. Baobab also looms among ancient mounds and remains scattered around them are invariably early medieval or Portuguese. " // © Dr. Mohammad Firoz Khan

[rjzimmerman]

Excerpt from this press release from the Center for Biological Diversity:

A judge has rejected federal agencies’ approval of activities in the California Desert Conservation Area, including a vast network of off-road vehicle routes in the West Mojave Desert. The activities are driving desert tortoises and other threatened and endangered wildlife toward extinction.

Tuesday’s ruling is a victory for conservationists. In 2021 environmental groups sued the Interior Department, Bureau of Land Management and Fish and Wildlife Service over the 2019 West Mojave Route Network Project, which failed to minimize off-road vehicles’ harms to public lands and protect endangered and threatened species and their habitats.

U.S. District Judge Susan Illston ruled that the Bureau violated the Federal Land Policy and Management Act by designating off-road vehicle routes without basing its criteria on minimizing damage to resources. That includes habitat for species such as the endangered Lane Mountain milk vetch, which is found only in the western Mojave Desert.

The judge also ruled that the Bureau wrongly assumed that there would be no growth in off-road vehicle activity or harm to air quality from the new routes.

Under the West Mojave plan, the BLM adopted nearly 6,000 miles of dirt roads for off-road vehicle use (that’s enough to go approximately one-quarter of the way around the Earth’s circumference). This has led off-roaders to create hundreds of new illegal roads in fragile habitat that is supposed to be protected for desert tortoises. The desert tortoise population has now declined to unsustainable levels in the western Mojave Desert.

The court also invalidated the Fish and Wildlife Service’s biological opinion, ruling that the agency violated the Endangered Species Act by ignoring studies showing threats to the desert tortoise and harm from off-road vehicles and by relying on unenforceable mitigation measures. The judge also said the Fish and Wildlife Service used an irrational “surrogate” approach to determine the number of desert tortoises that would be killed or taken and failed to require enforceable measures to minimize harm to the animals. The Bureau violated the Act by relying on the Fish and Wildlife Service’s flawed analysis, the judge ruled.

[inanaincarneetinsidus]

Shatabhisha, The veiling star 🌟

Shatabhisha or Shatabishak is the 24th nakshatra set entirely in Aquarius Rashi between 6’40 to 20 degrees. Under the rulership of both Rahu, Shatabhisha is the apex of said north node of the Moon and Saturn (Shani), Shatabhisha is the nakshatra that embody the most aquarian qualities.

Shatabhisha translated from Sanskrit means “100 healers” or “100 medicines”. Shatabhisha is the one “possessing a hundred healers”. An alternative name Shatataraka means “possessing a hundred stars”. Therefore, by its many names, we can establish that Shatabhisha relates inherently to the Collective, to groups, associations which are all 11th house and Aquarius subjects. Shatabhisha is the “ability to conceal secrets”, thus is best represented by a circle. The Circle reflects firstly the collective theme of this nakshatra as the circle is made up of numerous points which are all at an equal distance from the origine point, but the circle is also a symbol of containment, of protection. The circle imposes a boundary by its circumference; hence it differentiates what is inside from what is outside, it draws a boundary. The space defined by the limits of the circle is protected, fortified, dissimulated and thus kept secret. The circle also connotes an idea of elitism, discrimination: only those who form a close circle around a person have access to them, are intimate with them. Magic is often performed around a circle, those who have been initiated to the occult form a circle, they are “kept in the secret”. Magical charms can take the round form of the circle, talismans, objects of protection are round: The Evil eye is a round eye. The circle in its harmonious quality represents the infinite world of creation: Time, which is the tool that helps us conceive material reality, is circular. This circular nature of time is reflected in what we experience existing within it: you are born weak and fragile as a baby, then you grow strong, only to rediscover your fragility in old age: Life’s cycle, Life’s circle.

The circle is also a symbol of objectivity and in objectivity you discover the truth. To attain objectivity the circle multiplies the points of views and this addition of all these points of views helps to uncover what is true everywhere for everything. Shatabhisha is “the one who struggles with the truth”. Shatabhisha main concern will be truth, therefore will try to acquire objectivity by looking at every aspect of a situation. Shatabhisha Trimurti is Shiva, dissolution and reflects this concern because to truly discover what is true, you need to dissolve what is illusory, your unbased beliefs about the subject, you need to challenge your opinions to see if they can be transformed into thoughts. In this lunar mansion a lot of transformation occurs on the psychic level.

The deity of Shatabhisha is Varuna, chief of the Asuras. Varuna is the one who “binds the ocean”, he rides Makara which is the mythical crocodile and is the god of the Oceans. Therefore Shatabhisha association with Varuna reveals it’s universal qualities, the Oceans are vast and infinite, Oceans are also wide and profound and reflect The process of introspection. Shatabhisha's stage in life happens after Dhanistha where one enjoyed riches and fame, and is now looking for deeper contentement, that exists outside of material abundance. The figure of the adventurer who takes the sea to find himself might be relevant in this case.

Varuna holds a pot containing Soma, the drink of the god granting them immortality: Soma rejuvenates the body but also intoxicate much like Ambrosia in greek mythology. He also holds medicinal herbs representative of the power of healing of Shatabhisha: "Bheshaja Shakti".

Shatabhisha holds the persuavive power of the media by being the apex of Rahu. The people controlling medias are not in the eye of the public, they stay behind the scenes, dissumalated. Media is based on Maya (illusion) which is the domain of rahu.

[honeybeezgobzzzzz]

𓅨 Love in the Dark: Chapter Thirteen

Love in the Dark: You discover an intense connection with a dream lover, yearning for a love beyond physical appearances. As your encounters blur the lines between the waking world and the Dreaming, your grapple with the complexities of desire, friendship, and mortality. Can you truly love in the dark?

Warnings: Explicit Language, Explicit Material.

To Note: Morpheus/Dream x NAMEDFem!Reader.

Word Count: ~3.7k

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You trace your fingers down Morpheus' torso, admiring the way his muscles twitch under your touch. You revel in the power that you hold over him in this moment, a power that he has willingly surrendered to you.

Morpheus watches you with hooded eyes, his chest rising and falling rapidly. He's trying to keep his composure, you know he has patience for it, but you can see the strain on his face, the way his hands clench into fists at his sides. Itching to touch you, to grab your thighs, buck against your hot, wet cunt straddling him.. He wants more, needs more, but he's waiting for your command.

His arousal stands tall and proud against his stomach, a tantalizing sight that has your mouth watering. You let your gaze wander over him, taking in every inch of his body. His skin is dusted with what looks like tiny stars, a beautiful sight that leaves you breathless.

Slowly, teasingly, you let your hand wander lower, tracing muscles you could feel and carving fiery paths of pleasure. Your fingers trail down until they reach the base of his cock and you marvel at how beautifully crafted his parents had made him. For the briefest moments your fingertips linger around the circumference of his cock. Morpheus sucks in a sharp breath at the contact, his hips bucking up into your touch.

"You're so impatient," you tease him, giving him a pointed look as you wrap your fingers around him. It was nice to turn the tides for once. Morpheus groans in response, the sound a symphony as he throws his head back against the pillow.

"And you never designed to be this cruel, beloved," he replies, his voice strained with desire.

You smile, a slow, seductive curve of your lips, and begin to move your hand along his length, your touch firm but teasing. "Patience, Morpheus," you purr, your voice dripping with sensuality. "All good things come to those who wait. Including me."

His eyes lock onto yours, the intensity of his gaze making your heart race. You can see the struggle within him, the battle between his need for control and his overwhelming desire for you. It's an intoxicating feeling, knowing the power you hold over him in this moment. You had it in your dreams, surely, but not like this.

You continue your slow, deliberate movements, driving him closer and closer to the edge without giving him the release he craves. His body trembles beneath you, his breaths coming in short, ragged gasps. You can feel the tension in his muscles beneath your thighs, the way he fights to maintain his composure, and it only spurs you on.

Morpheus' hands clench and unclench the bedding beneath him, his knuckles white with the effort of keeping them still. His eyes burn with a mixture of frustration and longing, and you can see the thin veneer of control slipping away with each passing second.

"Please," he finally groans, his voice a rough whisper. "I need you. I want you. I long for your embrace."

Your smile widens, a slow, seductive curve of your lips. "Do you?" you ask, your voice a tantalizing whisper. "How much do you need me, Morpheus?"

His response is immediate, his voice filled with a raw, desperate need. "More than anything. Beloved, it has been agony since you left and I should not like to spend a moment more without knowing your touch. You are my solace," he continues, his voice growing more passionate with each word. "In this vast universe of dreams and nightmares that I command, you are the only thing that brings me peace. You are the light to my shadows," he finishes, his eyes nearly brimming with tears. "And I do not wish to exist without you."

You watch Morpheus closely, taking in the agony and desire that play across his face. Your heart aches at his words, and you feel a fierce surge of love for this being who has brought you so much happiness in your dreams. You want that to continue, you want that so much. Your eyes glow with determination.

"Come for me, Morpheus," you command, your voice firm but laced with love. "I want to feel your release on my hands."

Morpheus groans, his eyes rolling back in his head as he gives himself over to your touch. His body tenses, every muscle coiled like a spring, and you know he's on the edge. You continue to stroke him, your touch firm and steady, and he lets out a hoarse cry as his release surges through him, seed spilling onto your hands in thick, pearlescent streams.

As his orgasm washes through him, you withdraw your fingers to your lips. Eyes connecting with Morpheus' softly glowing ones, your tongue darts out and licks at your fingers.

As Morpheus' orgasm subsides, you feel a deep sense of satisfaction at having brought him such pleasure. But you are eager to taste him once more, this time with your mouth. You suck on your fingers for a few more moments, lips curved into a smirk as he watches you with bated breath, his eyes filled with longing and anticipation.

Sliding your last finger from your lips with a pop, you settle your hands on his hips and scoot yourself backward until you were satisfied that your mouth had full, easy access to his straining cock. It stands proud and erect, almost begging for more.

"Kora," Your name rumbles from his lips. You lower your head, your gaze never leaving his, and dive in to explore the velvety expanse between his legs. The scent of his powerful pheromones fills your senses, and you can't help but inhale deeply, savoring the unique scent that is Morpheus. That has always been Morpheus.

His handsome, sculpted abs flex as you nuzzle your nose against his pelvis. Your tongue darts out to lave the base of his cock, and he lets out a shuddering groan that sends tingles up your spine. You lick him again, this time tracing the length of his shaft, causing his body to tense beneath you.

As you continue your exploration, you can't help but marvel at the beauty of Morpheus' cock. His cock is perfect, both in form and function; a work of art that you are honored to experience firsthand. And to think you had been sucking off a masterpiece all this time.

You pause to admire your handiwork, looking up to meet Morpheus' gaze. His eyes are filled with a mixture of desire and worship, and it's clear that he is yours in that moment, completely and utterly devoted to you. It truly is intoxicating, knowing that you have the power to reduce this powerful being to a quivering mass of need and desire.

You decide to tease him a little more, to draw out the experience and savor the exquisite torture you're inflicting upon him. Your tongue jets out to lap at the bead of see that drips from the tip of his cock, and he bucks his hips upward, the brief moment of contact clearly driving him wild with desire.

You pull back, just far enough to deny him the contact he craves, and lap at the seed that have pooled at the base of his shaft. His taste had always been incredible, something you looked forward to even, and now you find yourself growing hungry for more.

Morpheus groans, his hands reaching down to grip your hair, not to encourage but to stroke the strands and revel in the pleasure you bestow upon him. You chuckle at Morpheus' growl of frustration as you drag a finger teasingly down his shaft, coating it with his own seed. He's so desperate for your touch, for your mouth wrapped around his cock, that he can barely contain himself. But you're not ready to give in yet. Not when you're enjoying this game of teasing and denial so much.

With a sly grin, you draw your finger into your mouth, sucking it clean and making a show of it for Morpheus' benefit. His hips buck involuntarily, and you can see the strain in his face as he tries to hold back from begging you for more. But you know he won't be able to resist for long.

You continue to tease him with soft kisses and licks, tracing patterns on his sensitive skin with the tip of your tongue. Morpheus' breathing quickens, and his grip on your hair tightens as he thrusts his hips upward, seeking more contact with your mouth.

"Please," he whispers hoarsely, his voice rough with desire. You can feel the tension coiling in his body, and you know he's on the verge of losing control. And that's when you decide it's time to give him what he wants.

You part your lips and slide them over the tip of his cock, savoring the velvety softness of his skin against your tongue. Morpheus lets out a low moan as you take more of him into your mouth, his hips thrusting upward as if to urge you to take him deeper.

With each bob of your head, you feel Morpheus' cock harden even more, if that's even possible. His hands are no longer stroking your hair but gripping the sheets beneath him, his knuckles white with the force of his grip. He's completely lost in the sensations you're creating, and it fills you with a sense of power and satisfaction.

You continue to suck him off, increasing the speed and depth of your strokes. Morpheus' moans grow louder, echoing through the room, and you can tell he's close to the edge. You redouble your efforts, using your hand to stroke the base of his cock while your mouth works its magic on the tip.

Morpheus' body tenses, and you know the moment is near. With a final, desperate thrust, he empties himself into your mouth, his seed painting your tongue and the roof of your mouth. You swallow greedily, savoring the taste of him as he gasps for air, his body shuddering with the force of his release.

As Morpheus' orgasm subsides, you draw back, licking your lips to savor the last drops of his essence. His eyes are still closed, his chest heaving as he tries to catch his breath. You can't help but feel so happy that he is blissed out and within your bed, looking so beautiful.

Morpheus finally opens his eyes, a look of blissful contentment on his face. He reaches up to cup your cheek, his fingers gentle against your skin. "Thank you," he whispers, his voice still rough with desire. "For giving me such incredible pleasure."

You smile, climbing up so you can lean in and press a kiss to his lips. "It's my pleasure," you reply, your voice filled with pure affection. "But I am not done."

You straddle Morpheus' hips, his cock still hard and throbbing between your thighs. His eyes are dark with desire, watching you intently as you begin to move. You start slowly, raising yourself up until his tip is just inside you, then lower yourself back down with exquisite care.

Morpheus' breath catches in his throat, and he grips your hips tightly, his fingers digging into your skin. You can feel the warmth of his touch, the strength in his grasp, as you continue to ride him at a leisurely pace. Each time you raise yourself up, you feel the delicious tension build, and each time you descend, you're greeted by the thickness of his shaft filling you completely.

His eyes never leave your face, drinking in your every expression as you move above him. You can see the desire burning in his gaze, and it spurs you on, knowing that you have the power to bring him such pleasure.

As the seconds stretch into minutes, you increase your pace slightly, relishing the feel of Morpheus' cock inside you. His gasps grow louder, his hips thrusting upward to meet your every downward motion. The sensations are so intense, you can hardly believe it's possible to feel so alive, so connected to another person. To an Endless.

You lean forward, caging him in with your arms as your lips brush his ear. "I love you," you whisper, your voice barely audible above the sound of your ragged breathing. Morpheus' grip on your hips tightens, and you can feel his cock twitch inside you as he struggles to hold back his release.

But you're not ready for it to end just yet. You continue to ride him, your rhythm growing faster and harder with each passing second. Morpheus' hips are bucking wildly now, his control slipping as he's consumed by the pleasure you're giving him. One of his hands departs your hip to grasp your breast and he gives it a gentle squeeze, his thumb brushing over your nipple, sending shivers down your spine.

"All I want is you," You begin to chant between your gasps of pleasure. "All I want is you, all I want is you."

Your words are like a mantra, driving both of you closer to the edge. The intensity of your movements increases, your pace becoming almost frantic as you chase the climax that hovers just out of reach. Morpheus matches your urgency, his thrusts powerful and precise, each one sending a wave of pleasure crashing through you.

The tension builds to an almost unbearable peak, your bodies moving in perfect harmony, every touch, every kiss, a testament to the love and desire you share. You can feel the climax approaching, a wave of ecstasy that threatens to sweep you away.

With a final, powerful thrust, Morpheus finds his release, his body shuddering beneath you as he cries out your name. The sensation of his seed filling you pushes you over the edge, your own orgasm crashing over you with a force that leaves you trembling.

You scream as you come around his cock, your cunt rippling and clenching around his cock while your fingers clenching the bedsheets so tightly that your knuckles turn white. The intense sensations of pleasure course through your body, your thighs shaking uncontrollably as wave after wave of ecstasy crash over you and spill down your limbs until your fingers and toes are tingling.

You feel him twitch inside you, his cock stirred by your orgasm and tight squeezes your cunt gives it. The warmth and slickness of his seed is almost too much to bear, but it only adds to the incredible sensations that you're experiencing.

When your orgasm begins to subside, your arms tremble and you begin to collapse on top of Morpheus. Yet instead of landing on his body in a slump of buzzing and half numb limbs, Morpheus is moving faster than you can blink. He has your positions reversed in between your heavy exhale and inhale, and when your brain finally registers what has happened, you are splayed out on your bed beneath him.

Your eyes are wide and filled with the after affects of your orgasm, bliss and ecstasy, and Morpheus gazes down at you like you are the most beautiful entity he has ever laid eyes upon because in his mind, you are. Your eyelashes flutter up at him as your mind, once again, marvels at his beauty. You raise your hand and brush your fingers along his jaw, carving paths across his lips.

You feel Morpheus's weight bearing down on you, his body flush against yours as he claims your mouth in a passionate kiss. His hands roam across your skin, setting it ablaze with every touch. You can't help but moan into his mouth as his tongue dances with yours, the intensity of his kisses matching the fierce burn in your veins.

Morpheus slides his cock back into you with a satisfied sigh. Your body hums in response, the earlier climax still echoing in your veins. His eyes never leave yours as he begins to move, his pace slow and deliberate. The sensation of him inside you, filling you so completely, is overwhelming.

His hands roam your body as he moves, tracing the curve of your breasts, the dip of your waist, the swell of your hips. Each touch is a testament to his desire for you, his love for you. You wrap your legs around him, ankles locking together and pulling him deeper into you with each thrust.

Morpheus leans down to capture your lips in a heated kiss, his tongue exploring your mouth once more with an intensity that leaves you breathless. You can taste yourself on his lips, taste him, you can even taste the very stars that burn so brightly within his hypnotic gaze. It only serves to stoke the fire within you.

His thrusts grow more insistent, each one hitting a spot deep inside you that makes stars dance behind your fluttering eyelids. You clutch at his back, your nails digging into his flesh as you struggle to keep up with his relentless pace. He is a being that will never tire, never need to recover from intense orgasms, never falter in his relentless pursuit of your pleasure. Each thrust drives deeper, hitting that perfect spot inside you that makes you see stars, your breath coming in ragged gasps. You can barely keep up with him, your body responding to his with a fierce, primal need.

"Morpheus," you gasp, your voice a desperate plea. The sensation of his powerful thrusts, combined with the feel of his hands gripping your hips, is almost too much to bear. The pressure is building again, the tension coiling within you like a spring ready to snap.

His response is a deep, guttural growl, his lips capturing yours in a searing kiss that leaves you breathless. His tongue dances with yours, the kiss reflecting the intensity of your connection. His control is slipping, his need for you driving him to the brink.

"All I want is you," you chant again, your voice a mantra that seems to fuel his desire. "All I want is you."

Morpheus' eyes darken with an unspoken promise, his thrusts becoming even more forceful, driving you both closer to the edge. The sound of skin against skin, your shared moans, and the rhythm of your bodies moving in perfect harmony create a symphony of pleasure that fills the room.

Your body responds to his every movement, your hips meeting his thrusts, your hands exploring the hard planes of his back. You can feel the muscles tensing beneath your fingers, the raw power of his body a constant reminder of his endless stamina.

As the tension within you builds to an almost unbearable peak, you cry out his name, your voice filled with a mixture of desperation and ecstasy. "Morpheus!" Hearing you cry out his name with such sweet ecstasy, ambrosia dripping from your lips.

You can feel another orgasm building within you, the tension coiling tighter and tighter until you're certain it will consume you. Morpheus seems to sense this because he increases his pace even more, driving into you with a fervor that leaves you gasping.

"Let go," he murmurs against your ear, his voice a low growl that sends shivers down your spine. "Let go for me."

His words are all it takes to push you over the edge once more. Your body convulses beneath him as waves of pleasure crash over you. Your screams echo in the room as the world narrows down to just the two of you; Morpheus and Kora.

As the waves of pleasure recede, leaving you spent and sated beneath him, Morpheus continues to move within you, his thrusts slow and gentle now. His lips brush against your forehead in a tender kiss, his body covering yours in a protective cocoon.

Morpheus, still inside you, is a comforting weight. His breaths puff against your skin in rhythmic waves, syncing with your own. His hand strokes languid patterns on your back, lulling you into a drowsy stupor. His other hand, once entwined with yours, now gently cradles your head, fingers threading through your hair.

"Sleep," he murmurs, the command as soft as a lullaby. "Rest."

You blink for a few moments before stretching out an arm to grasp for your bottle of melatonin. Morpheus' hand prevents you from taking it.

His chest rumbles with a soft sigh. "Kora," he says, his voice carrying a note of reprimand. "You need to dream."

"No." The word is stubborn, resolute.

His fingers still in your hair. "Why?" he asks, the single word heavy with unspoken questions. Tinged with pain even.

"I..." You falter, searching for words that won't come. You don't want to explain that dreaming means facing reality - the reality that Morpheus is not yours to keep.

"Is it because of me?" he asks suddenly. The question startles you. You lift your head to look at him, meeting his intense gaze. He looks serious, concerned even. Guilt and fear riddles yours.

"I... It's complicated," you admit. No it isn't, you just don't want to face your fear of being right that he isn't yours.

His thumb strokes the side of your face in a gentle caress. "Then let me simplify it for you," he says softly. "Dreaming is essential for your health, Kora."

"But..." You trail off, unsure how to voice your fears.

"But nothing," he interrupts firmly. "You are harming yourself by avoiding sleep."

"But if I dream..." you start again, then stop.

"If you dream... what?" He prompts gently.

"I'll have to face reality," you whisper.

He sighs, the sound echoing in the quiet room. "Kora, avoiding reality won't make it disappear. You have to face it eventually."

"But it hurts," you admit quietly.

His hand tightens in your hair. "I know," he says softly. "But know this, beloved, you are mine. In this plane and the next. You are mine."

You want to believe him, you really do. But the fear of waking up alone, of facing a world without Morpheus by your side, is too great.

"Please," he whispers, his voice barely audible. "For me."

The plea in his voice breaks through your defenses. With a shaky sigh, you nod against his chest. "Okay," you whisper back.

"Thank you," he murmurs, pressing a soft kiss to your forehead.

As sleep tugs at your senses, Morpheus's arms tighten around you, as if he's trying to anchor you to him. He is, making sure that you know he will still be yours when you wake from your dreams. And in that moment, you let yourself believe that maybe - just maybe - you can face reality with him by your side.

Date Published: 10/28/24

Last Edit: 10/28/24

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[i-am-minty-fresh]

(Here you are @certain-arcade-dinosaur)

Luffy blinks away the heavy weight of sleep to the harsh feeling of the sun baring down directly into his eyes. As his eyes finally open, he’s met only with the sun right above his head. Normally, he can’t look at the sun for too long or Chopper will tell him it can give his eyes ‘perforated damage’…but Chopper’s not here so he can stare all he wants!-

Choppers not here! He looks around him to find only sand, with waves pushing and pulling onto the nearby coast. He taps him head in contemplation before quickly noticing the familiar weight of his hat is neither on his head nor between his shoulder blades. He attempts to twist all the way around but finds something rigid on the back of his neck limits such contortions. Defeated by the rock in his neck he rushes onto his feet to turn around and look the boring way.

He’s met with an almost deserted island. Some spots of grass, a couple of shrubs, and one coconut tree. The island is small enough that he can walk the whole circumference of it without much thought. Turning away from the island and towards the sea he looks squints to look as far as he can. The sea sways and dips at will, but the reflection of the sun remains ever present amongst the waves.

His crew isn’t here. Something tells him that. He doesn’t quite know where here is but he knows that even if he could find his way off the island, only sea awaits him. Never a lions figurehead, never a blue nose, never orange or green hair, never warm food or lullabies.

Lonely?

Something whispers into Luffy’s mind. He turns to the island and squints, still seeing nothing of substance.

Our sea is vast but our path is never clear

He looks up to find his strawhat perched on a high-up branch on the lone tree in the middle of the island. He scrambles towards the base and starts his climbing, smiling widely at the thought of his treasure returning to him.

Why set out to sea at all if nothing is certain?

A few splinters and scraps cover his body before he finally gets to the branch holding his hat. Perching himself safely onto the thicker side, he gleefully places his hat onto his head, pulling the brim close, as a smile cuts through his face.

So much suffering, caused by my ignorance, how could anyone dream of something as selfish as sailing?

Finally, Luffy looks to the highest branch, only just out of reach to him, paying some acknowledgment to the noise.

I have no right for adventure when people need liberation….but how could I ever bring freedom at a time like this?

Hanging from the end of the branch is something familiar. A rotund purple fruit covered in swirls.

What adventures could even await me if we know only this land exists?

Staring back into the horizon, Luffy can make out the sun slowly setting.

I must rest.

The sun dies in a brilliant flash only for the water to get coated in the ink of the night sky. Luffy furrows his brow,

“Don’t give up, old man, they’re just not here yet!”

We alone carry the burden of liberation, we alone must sail-

“But that’s so boring! Once my nakama come, you’ll get what I mean! Nami and Jinbei are much better at sailing than we are, anyway! Plus if anyway’s sick, Chopper can help. If anyone’s hungry, Sanji can help. If anyone dead, Robin can help. My nakama are all so helpful! Besides…” Luffy stands on the small branch, steady even as the it lurches under his weight, “we’re pirates! We’re supposed to be selfish!” He smiles….

Islands start to erupt from the sea. Birds come into view along the horizon alongside thousands of ships. One ship, faster than the rest, expertly cuts through the island like icebergs coming from the sea bed. As it gets closer, the sound of laughter is better heard. Despite its multiple undocked anchors it arrives at the shore in record time. An out of tune guitar, a handmade flute, a well-loved violin and a bunch of untrained voices sing along to an old pirate shanty.

White clouds fill like fog around the coconut tree.

“What do you say, old man?” The pirate king turns to face a god older than time, “you wanna join my pirate crew?”

Was it always this easy?

“Only if you let it be!”

The dawn finally comes.

[endofunktor]

All numbers are imaginary. Some are useful.

So, @lipshits-continuous (I like your blog very much!) was bringing to my attention someone who was, let's say, a little frustrated about having to learn "imaginary numbers". You know. They're not even real.

I don't want to write about that person specifically, I don't know them at all.

But.

My siblings in crisis.

There are no "real" numbers in this world. The act of counting is already an abstraction. If you have an apple and a pear, then counting them as two pieces of fruit is an act of forgetting all the properties that distinguish them and remembering only those that unite them. Same goes for two apples of course.

So the number 2 is already entirely imaginary. Made up. Nonsense.

This gets worse very quickly, by the way. You can't have negative apples! Sure, you can have positive fractions of apples, but I can assure you: Two halves of an apple do rarely make one apple, except when they are the two halves of the same apple. And even then: Having them cut up makes it impossible to rejoin them. Think about that.

Now you know where this is going, because let's talk about the so-called ""real"" numbers. Nasty little things. Have a look at the irrational numbers. First, there are comparatively tame irrationals: Algebraic numbers. These arise as roots of integer polynomials. You know, like our favorite, the square root of 2, the positive zero of X^2 - 2.

Did you know that the Pythagoreans believed that everything was in integer relation to each other. (For example: the lengths of a rectangular triangle could be 3-4-5, meanging one cathetus is 4/5, the other 3/5 the length of the hypotenuse.) And that when someone found out that sqrt(2) was indeed not in integer relation to, say, 1, they had him murdered? That didn't change the fact that they were wrong though. (This story is not true, of course, like all good stories. You could say: it is imaginary, but nonetheless an interesting tale to tell!)

And now, the non-algebraic, so called transcendent numbers. Like pi. We know (the abstract concept of) pi well enough to calculate the circumference of the observable universe up to the accuracy of a neutrino (or so they say, I'm not a physicist). We don't have to know it any better. We could quit at however many digits we know and that would be pi. Perfectly rational. Because if we are looking for """real""" numbers only, why should we ever even concern ourself with those nasty things?

Did you know that transcendent numbers make the vast majority of real line? Of course you do! Rationals are countable, integer polynomials are countable and thus are their roots. The real line is famously uncountable, so must be the transcendent numbers.

So. Our so called """"real"""" numbers are mostly non-precisely calculable numbers. (Arbitrarily precise, but not precise.)

Do you know what kind of numbers are used in electrical engineering? Me neither because I'm not an electrical engineer. That's right, complex numbers! Actual engineers have to actually work with the actually imaginary square roots of negative one.

Maybe Numbers aren't a thing of this world.

Maybe Abstraction is a thing of our worldview.

And maybe we can learn to cherish abstract math the way we learn to cherish abstract art: Not always a true representation of reality, but a thing of interest and beauty in itself.

[auroraswanderlust]

Aix-la-Chapelle Cathedral, Aachen, Germany

This chapel located in Aachen, Germany is the first cathedral our group of students visited to begin study abroad. I remember being struck by the vast expanse of the cathedral paired with the incredibly detailed artistry lining every inch of the interior.

I selected this cathedral because of the impact it left on me. I still vividly remember walking in for the first time. The sense of awe that I felt then, returns in memory.

The cathedral was commissioned by Charlemagne, the Holy Roman Emperor himself. There was no staple architecture style at this time so Charlemagne hired architects from Italy and other areas in Europe to collaborate on the Cathedrals design. The result became the origin of many European style churches to follow.

Because so many architects were called to work on this cathedral aspects of the architecture can be sorted into categories based on region. The Greek and Italian style marble collumns. The large mosaic dome and bronze doors bear the imprint of Byzantine tradition.

The stained glass was originally designed to portray Bible stories to the illiterate.

Aachen was Charlemagne’s favorite city. So much so that he was buried in this cathedral and his remains can still be found there today.

I was surprised by the magnitude of mosaics found in this cathedral. Every wall is covered upon entry and completely envelops the circumference of the chapel. I personally love mosaics and similar ceramic art. Knowing the time and planning that goes into completing a small mosaic, I was astounded by the time, effort, and attention to detail which was evident in the masterful artwork I saw on the walls.

[tomoleary]

William Blake (1757–1827) “The Ancient of Days” First printed 1794 in “Europe a Prophecy” Source, source, source

Wikipedia “Because of Blake's production process of hand colouring each print, each image has its own unique qualities.”

“In his hand, he took the Golden Compasses, prepared in Gods Eternal stone, to circumscribe This Universe, and all created things One foot he center'd, and the other turn'd Round through the vast profundity obscure, And said, thus farr extend, thus far thy bounds, This be thy just circumference, O World.”

[julie09tarot]

Osho Zen card of the day

Change

The symbol in this card is an enormous wheel representing time, fate, karma. Galaxies spin around this constantly moving circle, and the twelve signs of the zodiac appear on its circumference. Just inside the circumference are the eight trigrams of the I Ching, and even closer to the center are the four directions, each illuminated by the energy of lightning. The spinning triangle is at this moment pointed upward, toward the divine, and the Chinese symbol of yin and yang, male and female, creative and receptive, lies at the center. It has often been said that the only unchanging thing in the world is change itself. Life is continuously changing, evolving, dying and being reborn. All opposites play a part in this vast circular pattern. If you cling to the edge of the wheel you can get dizzy! Move toward the center of the cyclone and relax, knowing that this too will pass. Osho: Life repeats itself mindlessly - unless you become mindful, it will go on repeating like a wheel. That's why Buddhists call it the wheel of life and death, the wheel of time. It moves like a wheel: birth is followed by death, death is followed by birth; love is followed by hate, hate is followed by love; success is followed by failure, failure is followed by success. (...)

[bbybladeee]

mars enters shatabhisha nakshatra on march 24th @ 6am EST

Mars is now in Shatabhisha (शतभिषा) nakshatra, a nakshatra that fully resides within the constellation of Aquarius. It moved into this nakshatra @ 6am EST. For the next 18 days (from March 24th until April 10th), we are inspired to liberate ourselves from all obstacles and challenges that prevent us from going after our goals and aspirations. We are alchemizing the anger or fear that we have been holding on to and turning it into fuel for our desires. Shatabhisha is embedded with bheshaja shakti—the power to heal in the sacred waters. And with the transiting Mars relating to your need to face life’s challenges head-on while Shatabhisha helps you let go off deep-seated emotional baggage, we begin to learn that a lot of the things we perceived as major obstacles were really just small bumps in the road. The only one holding ourselves back is ourselves. We must change the way we see the world in order to change the way we see our own lives.

Shatabhisha comes from the Sanskrit words one hundred (शत) and remedy (���िषज्). One meaning of Shatabhisha is “a hundred cures,” indicating strength, perceptivity, and an aptitude for healing. Shatabhisha nakshatra is ruled by the stars of γ-Aquarii, a bright binary star system in the Aquarius constellation, asking us to accept the duality that exists within our reality. The constellation of Aquarius represents a person standing over a stream or river who is pouring water from a vessel that is infinitely deep, continuously pouring water in this body of water for eternity. γ-Aquarii symbolizes the actual water that is being poured from the vessel. The water in the symbol of Aquarius deals with the spiritual knowledge and understanding that comes with Aquarius. Aquarius is an air sign so there are cerebral and cognitive abilities like all other air signs, but Aquarius takes it a step further and connects logic with spiritual understanding. Mars in Shatabhisha encourages us to look at the mundane and spiritual when calculating how you want to accomplish your objectives in life. Look at the whole picture when deciding how you should be moving forward.

Shatabhisha is symbolized by an empty circle. The circumference of the circle divides the space into inner space and outer space of the circle. This suggests a sort of separation or containment. There is an idea of a circumferential fence that protects the inner being from outer space and any danger. It even signifies the prevent from joining the outer and greater whole by holding it captive and separate. This might be a time where you will have to leave a situation you have found yourself in and separate yourself in order to fulfill your purpose in the long run. We either have the choice of remaining in this cyclical state or transcending the confines of repetition. Shatabhisha represents the limitless possibilities. You either free yourself from the demands of others and the cyclical nature of life, or you drown in illusion.

Shatabhisha is ruled by Varuna, a form of Vishnu that presides over the vastness of the sky and ocean. As the sky and ocean are boundless, Varuna is the protector of the vast ocean of consciousness (not only individual consciousness but also collective consciousness). He awakens within us an understanding that we are all connected together, inspiring us to look at things from its all-encompassing and all embracing perspective. He imparts cosmic order and justice upon the world, washing away our sins in the sacred waters and allowing us to ascend towards the heavens. Shatabhisha is the protector of truth and righteousness. Varuna continuously tries to keep us on the right path. This is a nakshatra of penance and repaying for our karmic debts through action. Sometimes, in order for our earthly learning process to be successful, Shatabhisha also needs to give us back some of our less pleasant karma and make it manifest itself in our lives as disease, poverty, or loss. Often those so-called misfortunes become a turning point for an individual and allow us to finally learn our life lessons and heal ourselves on a much deeper level. This nakshatra inspires us to heal our mind from all polluting thoughts, so our inner ocean can become pure once again—and so the light of truth and Divine inspiration can shine through it. Because when our mind liberates itself from those limiting influences, the body automatically starts heading towards healing, too. Acceptance is the first step in that process. Shatabhisha will be inspiring them throughout life to have a little bit more faith in Divine justice and to realize that nothing ever happens to anybody without a reason – but it is merely a manifestation of our karmic lessons and debts, that we need to pay and go through in order to progress in life. Varuna does not see reality through the lens of “good” or “bad.” These descriptions do not even exist to Varuna, as he is the fluid being of water and akasha, or spirit. He will allow you to reach your fullest potential and guide you through earthly and material desires.

Shatabhisha is also connected to Rahu, the lunar apogee of material attachments and the shadowy ego (and the cause of our eclipses). Rahu is the other half to Ketu. Together they symbolize the dragon with Rahu being the head and Ketu being the body. Rahu is seen as an insatiably hungry head that wants to consume all material things to fill the void of losing its body Ketu. Rahu is seen as angry and easily frightened. This lunar apogee is reactive, aggressive, and deeply insecure, but can be healed through understanding what triggered Rahu and learning how to integrate what Rahu represents rather than trying to ignore how Rahu makes us feel. So, Shatabhisha takes us to the deep waters to wash away the pain and trauma we’ve been holding on to so we can be born anew. This nakshatra encourages us to humbly accept all that life gives us, be it sweet or bitter, and to try our best to learn our karmic lesson and pay our karmic debts. Shatabhisha, because of its connection to the circle, can sometimes also symbolize ouroboros, the ancient snake that eats its own tail. The insatiable taste of Rahu and the cyclical expansion of the cosmic circle reminds us of ouroboros. This symbol is often interpreted as the eternal cyclic of life or the eternal cycle of death. This symbol has been used to describe the kundalini force, a concept that is also often related to Shatabhisha. The shedding of a snake’s skin also symbolized the idea of renewal of self. The snake biting its own tail is a fertility symbol in some religions and cultures; and the tail of the snake is a phallic symbol, the mouth is a yoni symbol. There are major sexual undertones throughout Shatabhisha’s symbolism.

Individual Interpretation

Mars is connected to our primal nature, behavior, attitude, and instincts. This planet describes our strength, endurance, stamina, and confidence. You are feeling more ambitious and driven during this transit. You are setting your sights high on a goal and working hard to achieve it. But this could be a project that you need to work on by yourself, without the assistance from others. It’s important to organize your thoughts, lay out your priorities, and proceed step by step in a systematic way, leaving no details out of your plan. Shatabhisha derives its power from secrecy and concealment. Shatabhisha Mars seeks things that are hidden and gains power from them. Spending more time in isolation and alone could be beneficial for your spiritual growth. And this does not mean isolation to the point of feeling lonely, but learning how to enjoy your own personal time by yourself (and even learning the importance of keeping secrets to yourself). This is a time to choose what you say wisely. You may not realize the consequence of saying too much to someone until it is too late. You are prone to feeling misunderstood, restricted, and lonely. This could negatively impact your mental health and lead to strong feelings of apathy and loathing. Shatabhisha Mars is a highly sensual and sexual transit. There could also be an influx of piercings and tattoos during this time as Mars associates blood and pain with accomplishment and Rahu enjoys the destructive creativity of the piercing and tattoo industry. Avoid the usage of harsh drugs as Shatabhisha Mars may also inspire many to escape the heaviness of reality through muddying their senses. Many are more prone to addictions and won’t be afraid to go to extremes, even if this has a negative impact on their health and well-being.

Mars relates to our physical fitness, nutrition, and overall health and vitality. Shatabhisha allows us to rid ourselves of our negative vices and habits. Thus, this could be a good time to get on a cleaner diet. You don’t have to change your entire diet overnight (which is highly unrecommended by most reliable doctors and nutritionists), but rather choose a few habits that you think you should change for the better and do the proper research to maintain these habits. Things like eating more fresh fruits and veggies, cutting down on your complex carbohydrate intake, increasing how much protein you consume, and drinking plenty more water can be helpful to this new lifestyle change. There could be an influx of people wanting to go to the gym to tone and build muscle. Bottomline is, you want to know more about your body and how it operates for you. Get to know what foods make you feel good, how much sleep you need to feel well-rested, and how much exercise you can consistently manage on a day to day basis. Self-care practices such as solitude, meditation, yoga, and spending quality time in nature can maximize your strengths while minimizing your negative tendencies. Finding a balance between physical strength and spiritual endurance is important.

Mars symbolizes our assertive nature, need for dominance, and how we approach confrontations.This is a time for healing your anger and aggressions. It’s becoming more clear to you now more than ever that holding on to your anger is not benefiting you nor are you finding yourself able to easily move on. Many people are dealing with irritations that are completely justified, but their reactions and what they say in the heat of the moment could’ve been expressed in a better way. Shatabhisha Mars is helping us tweak the way we approach what bothers us so that we can transmute these emotions rather than having to keep dealing with the same triggers. In some people, they may find that feeding their anger can actually lead to physical illness and conditions associated with the stress of agitation. You have a difficult time detaching yourself from your pain. You may want to spend your time doing therapy whether that means going to a licensed professional therapist or performing self-healing techniques on yourself at your leisure.

Collective Interpretation

Mars is connected to scientific discoveries and medical advancements. There could be some sort of scientific discovery pertaining to surgical instruments and technologies being innovated. Under this sort of transit, scientists are usually focusing their attention towards finding cures to various biological ailments and conditions. Unfortunately, some individuals will discover new diseases they didn’t realize they had or conditions they were aware of could potentially flare up if there are any negative aspects in their chart colliding with this transiting Mars. In the medical field, there could be more people looking to ease their physical pain or the symptoms of their mental conditions. If you are a scientist, biologist, chemist, engineer, doctor, surgeon, paramedic, pharmacist, pharmacy technician, drug dealer, or herbalist you may find an influx of discoveries or customers in your line of work over the next two and a half weeks.

Mars symbolizes civil servants (specifically those that are suppose to keep the public safe) such as firefighters and police officers. Mars, the planet of fire and blood, being in connection to Rahu could increase the public's need for safety. There could be an influx of accident, fires, electrical issues, and water damage (because of Shatabhisha's connection to water). At the worst, there could be more crime, riots, police brutality, and terrorism. Shatabhisha Mars could create more division amongst the people and the state as the state weaponize its police and military to suppress the public. There could be boiling tensions between world leaders and the people they are suppose to be leading. This is likely due to the world leader's inability to meet the needs and standards of the people they are to be ruling over. And because the world is feeling more desperate for safety and security, this encourages outcastes of society to look towards violence and crime to meet their needs. Thus stealing, scamming, and fraud.

Mars is also related to the military and war. And Rahu, at its worst, can relate to war as well but genocidal wars and various war crimes. Although Shatabhisha has the unifying energies of Varuna, Shatabhisha being ruled by Rahu is not the most promising sign for the collective. In order to Shatabhisha to not give way to the destructive tendencies of Rahu, each individual would have to accept that they are a part of a bigger collective. The collective is working through a lot of anger and trauma together, however the anger and trauma is caused by wanting to be separated. Mars representing (the perceived) enemies of the state and Shatabhisha being a nakshatra separate from what is perceived to be boundless, this could continue to encourage the genocides that are currently going on. Shatabhisha could inspire sides to further divide themselves and Rahu’s influence (especially with the eclipse in 24 hours) may blind the oppressive, genocidal side into thinking they are being attacked when they are not. This transit could inspire the oppressive side to also focus on technological advancements that they can weaponize against the defensive side. Shatabhisha rules oceans, lakes, rivers, streams, and reservoirs so there could be an offensive attack on water in order to drown people or pollute their drinking water. Shatabhisha also rules the sky and clouds so there could be more airstrikes. This negative influence will be the strongest between March 24 - 28 (when Shatabhisha Mars travels through the first pada and during the Lunar Eclipse in Hasta) and again between April 2 - 7 (when the Sun conjuncts Rahu and Mercury semisquares Mars).

[madamlaydebug]

Haha! Makes sense. 🤓

📷: Art by Ahmed Elblas

MER: THE GREAT PYRMID OF GIZA

The Great Pyramid Of Giza Known as Mer to the ancient Kemites is the most enigmatic structure on the face of the planet. Mer which translates to the “Place of Ascension” is the only surviving wonder of the ancient world and has inspired much speculation as to why it was built and what was its function.

According the the ancient Kemites themselves the Pyramids served as a ritual center for the Per Ankh schools of initiation. The Kings and Queens chambers were designed to harness resonance frequencies to induce higher states of conciousness. The structure of the pyramid was designed using sacred geometry which allowed the structures to tap into the subtle energies of the earth and the cosmos. The ancients harnessed this enegery for a number of purposes. It is said that the Pharaohs would use the Mer structures which were incased in highly reflective white limestone, capped with gold to "Turn night into day". A feat of such greatness would surely ensure their names and legacies would live on for thousands of years. They were right.

The mathematical accuracy and astronomical information encoded into the structure has baffled scientists for decades. The great pyramid is aligned within three sixtieths of a degree of true north, a more accurate alignment than any other structure on earth. It is not only aligned almost perfectly to the cardinal points, but its placement on the earth is intentional as well placing it directly in the center of the world's landmass.

The level of technological sophistication used to build this great monument far exceeds the capabilities of today’s greatest minds and we could not build anything close to the great pyramid today even with our perceived advanced technology and building machinery. The ancient Kemites did not use the inch as they do in our modern system.

They used the royal cubit which is one 25 millionth of the polar diameter of the earth which is the exact distance from the north to the south pole. If you chop that distance into 25 million pieces you get the royal cubit.

The length of a base side at the base socket level is 9,131 inches which translates to 365.242 royal cubits. This just happens to be the earthly year right down to a quarter day. The measurements of the length and width of the perimeter of the great pyramid corresponds to an exact fraction of both the longitude and latitude measurements at the equator. Scaled up this means the great pyramid directly corresponds to the circumference of the equator as well as the measurements from the equator to the pole, making it a scale model of the northern hemisphere.

If you take the location of the Great pyramid as a coordinate this number sequence matches the speed of light traveling through space measurement in meters per second. None of this is a coincidence and the vast information encoded about the earth and its relation to the cosmos points to the fact that these ancient Africans were far more advanced than we could ever imagine and the methods in which they collected and incorporated these high sciences into their structures and cities still escape scientists today.

Today I give thanks to the ancient Kemites and those that came before for their contributions of Mathematics, Sacred Geometry, Architecture & Astronomy. I am grateful for these gifts you gave to the world.

Black Genesis by Robert Bouval and Thomas Brophy

https://www.amazon.com/Black-Genesis.../dp/159143114X

𓊵𓏏𓊪 𓋹 Hotep Be at peace

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"I have not spoken angrily or arrogantly. I have not cursed anyone in thought, word or deeds." ~ 35th & 36th Principals of Ma'at

[parafrazerofhistory]

The God of the Corycian Cave

“Nothing yet found at Olba [in Anatolia, modern-day Republic of Türkiye] throws light on the nature of the god who was worshipped there under the Greek name of Zeus. But at two places near the coast, distant only some fourteen or fifteen miles from Olba, a deity also called Zeus by the Greeks was revered in natural surroundings of a remarkable kind, which must have stood in close relation with the worship, and are therefore fitted to illustrate it. In both places the features of the landscape are of the same general cast, and at one of them the god was definitely identified with the Zeus of Olba. The country here consists of a tableland of calcareous rock rent at intervals by those great chasms which are characteristic of a limestone formation. Similar fissures, with the accompaniment of streams or rivers which pour into them and vanish under ground, are frequent in Greece, and may be observed in our own country [i.e., England] near Ingleborough [a mountain] in Yorkshire. Fossil bones of extinct animals are often found embedded in the stalagmite or breccia [a type of sedimentary rock] of limestone caves. For example, the famous Kent's Hole near Torquay [in England] contained bones of the mammoth, rhinoceros, lion, hyaena, and bear; and red osseous breccias, charged with the bones of quadrupeds which have long disappeared from Europe, are common in almost all the countries bordering on the Mediterranean. Western Cilicia is richer in Miocene deposits than any other part of Anatolia, and the limestone gorges of the coast near Olba are crowded with fossil oysters, corals, and other shells. Here, too, within the space of five miles the limestone plateau is rent by three great chasms, which Greek religion associated with Zeus and Typhon. One of these fissures is the celebrated Corycian cave.

Corycian Cave, exterior view.

(Source: Zde, CC BY-SA 4.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0, via Wikimedia Commons)

“To visit this spot, invested with the double charm of natural beauty and legendary renown, you start from the dead Cilician city of Corycus on the sea, with its ruined walls, towers, and churches, its rock-hewn houses and cisterns, its shattered mole [harbor], its island-fortress, still imposing in decay. Viewed from the sea, this part of the Cilician coast, with its long succession of white ruins, relieved by the dark wooded hills behind, presents an appearance of populousness and splendour. But a nearer approach reveals the nakedness and desolation of the once prosperous land. Following the shore westward from Corycus for about an hour you come to a pretty cove enclosed by wooded heights, where a spring of pure cold water bubbles up close to the sea, giving to the spot its name of Tatlu-su, or the Sweet Water. From this bay a steep ascent of about a mile along an ancient paved road leads inland to a plateau. Here, threading your way through a labyrinth or petrified sea of jagged calcareous rocks, you suddenly find yourself on the brink of a vast chasm which yawns at your feet. This is the Corycian cave. In reality it is not a cave but an immense hollow or trough in the plateau, of oval shape and perhaps half a mile in circumference. The cliffs which enclose it vary from one hundred to over two hundred feet in depth. Its uneven bottom slopes throughout its whole length from north to south, and is covered by a thick jungle of trees and shrubs—myrtles, pomegranates, carobs, and many more, kept always fresh and green by rivulets, underground water, and the shadow of the great cliffs. A single narrow path leads down into its depths. The way is long and rough, but the deeper you descend the denser grows the vegetation, and it is under the dappled shade of whispering leaves and with the purling of brooks in your ears that you at last reach the bottom. The saffron which of old grew here among the bushes is no longer to be found, though it still flourishes in the surrounding district. This luxuriant bottom, with its rich verdure, its refreshing moisture, its grateful shade, is called Paradise by the wandering herdsmen. They tether their camels and pasture their goats in it and come hither in the late summer to gather the ripe pomegranates. At the southern and deepest end of this great cliff-encircled hollow you come to the cavern proper. The ruins of a Byzantine church, which replaced a heathen temple, partly block the entrance. Inwards the cave descends with a gentle slope into the bowels of the earth. The old path paved with polygonal masonry still runs through it, but soon disappears under sand. At about two hundred feet from its mouth the cave comes to an end, and a tremendous roar of subterranean water is heard. By crawling on all fours you may reach a small pool arched by a dripping stalactite-hung roof, but the stream which makes the deafening din is invisible. It was otherwise in antiquity. A river of clear water burst from the rock, but only to vanish again into a chasm. Such changes in the course of streams are common in countries subject to earthquakes and to the disruption caused by volcanic agency. The ancients believed that this mysterious cavern was haunted ground. In the rumble and roar of the waters they seemed to hear the clash of cymbals touched by hands divine.

The island-fortress and mole at Korykos (Corycus).

(Source: Dosseman, CC BY-SA 4.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0, via Wikimedia Commons)

“If now, quitting the cavern, we return by the same path to the summit of the cliffs, we shall find on the plateau the ruins of a town and of a temple at the western edge of the great Corycian chasm. The wall of the holy precinct was built within a few feet of the precipices, and the sanctuary must have stood right over the actual cave and its subterranean waters. In later times the temple was converted into a Christian church. By pulling down a portion of the sacred edifice Mr. [James Theodore] Bent had the good fortune to discover a Greek inscription containing a long list of names, probably those of the priests who superintended the worship. One name which meets us frequently in the list is Zas, and it is tempting to regard this as merely a dialectical form of Zeus. If that were so, the priests who bore the name might be supposed to personate the god. But many strange and barbarous-looking names, evidently foreign, occur in the list, and Zas may be one of them. However, it is certain that Zeus was worshipped at the Corycian cave; for about half a mile from it, on the summit of a hill, are the ruins of a larger temple, which an inscription proves to have been dedicated to Corycian Zeus.

Ruins of a basilica at Korykos.

(Source: Ingeborg Simon, CC BY-SA 3.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0, via Wikimedia Commons)

“But Zeus, or whatever native deity masqueraded under his name, did not reign alone in the deep dell. A more dreadful being haunted a still more awful abyss which opens in the ground only a hundred yards to the east of the great Corycian chasm. It is a circular cauldron, about a quarter of a mile in circumference, resembling the Corycian chasm in its general character, but smaller, deeper, and far more terrific in appearance. Its sides overhang and stalactites droop from them. There is no way down into it. The only mode of reaching the bottom, which is covered with vegetation, would be to be lowered at the end of a long rope. The nomads call this chasm Purgatory, to distinguish it from the other which they name Paradise. They say that there is a subterranean passage between the two, and that the smoke of a fire kindled in the Corycian cave may be seen curling out of the other. The one ancient writer who expressly mentions this second and more grisly cavern is Mela, who says that it was the lair of the giant Typhon, and that no animal let down into it could live. Aeschylus puts into the mouth of Prometheus an account of ‘the earth-born Typhon, dweller in Cilician caves, dread monster, hundred-headed,’ who in his pride rose up against the gods, hissing destruction from his dreadful jaws, while from his Gorgon eyes the lightning flashed. But him a flaming levin bolt, crashing from heaven, smote to the very heart, and now he lies, shrivelled and scorched, under the weight of Etna by the narrow sea. Yet one day he will belch a fiery hail, a boiling angry flood, rivers of flame, to devastate the fat Sicilian fields. This poetical description of the monster, confirmed by a similar passage of Pindar, clearly proves that Typhon was conceived as a personification of those active volcanoes which spout fire and smoke to heaven as if they would assail the celestial gods. The Corycian caverns are not volcanic, but the ancients apparently regarded them as such, else they would hardly have made them the den of Typhon.

An engraving of Typhon, from the first volume of Athanasius Kircher's Oedipus Aegyptiacus (1652-54).

(Source: Athanasius Kircher, Public Domain, via Wikimedia)

“According to one legend Typhon was a monster, half man and half brute, begotten in Cilicia by Tartarus upon the goddess Earth. The upper part of him was human, but from the loins downward he was an enormous snake. In the battle of the gods and giants, which was fought out in Egypt, Typhon hugged Zeus in his snaky coils, wrested from him his crooked sword, and with the blade cut the sinews of the god's hands and feet. Then taking him on his back he conveyed the mutilated deity across the sea to Cilicia, and deposited him in the Corycian cave. Here, too, he hid the severed sinews, wrapt in a bear's skin. But Hermes and Aegipan contrived to steal the missing thews and restore them to their divine owner. Thus made whole and strong again, Zeus pelted his beaten adversary with thunderbolts, drove him from place to place, and at last overwhelmed him under Mount Etna. And the spots where the hissing bolts fell are still marked by jets of flame….

A photograph of Mount Ætna in Sicily, by Immanuel Friedlaender (1910).

(Source: Immanuel Friedlaender, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons)

“About five miles to the north-east of the Corycian impassable rocks, is another and very similar chasm. It may be reached in about an hour and a quarter from the sea by an ancient paved road, which ascends at first very steeply and then gently through bush-clad and wooded hills. Thus you come to a stretch of level ground covered with the well-preserved ruins of an ancient town. Remains of fortresses constructed of polygonal masonry, stately churches, and many houses, together with numerous tombs and reliefs, finely chiselled in the calcareous limestone of the neighbourhood, bear witness to the extent and importance of the place. Yet it is mentioned by no ancient writer. Inscriptions prove that its name was Kanyteldeis or Kanytelideis, which still survives in the modern form of Kanidiwan [Kanlıdivane, in the Republic of Türkiye]. The great chasm opens in the very heart of the city. So crowded are the ruins that you do not perceive the abyss till you are within a few yards of it. It is almost a complete circle, about a quarter of a mile wide, three-quarters of a mile in circumference, and uniformly two hundred feet or more in depth. The cliffs go sheer down and remind the traveller of the great quarries at Syracuse [in Sicily]. But like the Corycian caves, the larger of which it closely resembles, the huge fissure is natural; and its bottom, like theirs, is overgrown with trees and vegetation. Two ways led down into it in antiquity, both cut through the rock. One of them was a tunnel, which is now obstructed; the other is still open. Remains of columns and hewn stones in the bottom of the chasm seem to show that a temple once stood there. But there is no cave at the foot of the cliffs, and no stream flows in the deep hollow or can be heard to rumble underground. A ruined tower of polygonal masonry, which stands on the southern edge of the chasm, bears a Greek inscription stating that it was dedicated to Olbian Zeus by the priest Teucer, son of Tarkuaris. The letters are beautifully cut in the style of the third century before Christ. We may infer that at the time of the dedication the town belonged to the priestly kings of Olba, and that the great chasm was sacred to Olbian Zeus.

The chasm at the center of the ruins of the Greek city once known as Kanyteldeis.

(Source: Elelicht, CC BY-SA 3.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0, via Wikimedia Commons)

“What, then, was the character of the god who was worshipped under the name of Zeus at these two great natural chasms? The depth of the fissures, opening suddenly and as it were without warning in the midst of a plateau, was well fitted to impress and awe the spectator; and the sight of the rank evergreen vegetation at their bottom, fed by rivulets or underground water, must have presented a striking contrast to the grey, barren, rocky wilderness of the surrounding tableland. Such a spot must have seemed to simple folk a paradise, a garden of God, the abode of higher powers who caused the wilderness to blossom, if not with roses, at least with myrtles and pomegranates for man, and with grass and underwood for his flocks.… In rainless countries the sky-god is deprived of one of the principal functions which he discharges in cool cloudy climates like that of Europe. He has, in fact, little or nothing to do with the water-supply, and has therefore small excuse for levying a water-rate on his worshippers. Not, indeed, that Cilicia is rainless; but in countries bordering on the Mediterranean the drought is almost unbroken through the long months of summer. Vegetation then withers: the face of nature is scorched and brown: most of the rivers dry up and only their white stony beds, hot to the foot and dazzling to the eye, remain to tell where they flowed. It is at such seasons that a green hollow, a shady rock, a murmuring stream, are welcomed by the wanderer in the South with a joy and wonder which the untravelled Northerner can hardly imagine. Never do the broad slow rivers of England, with their winding reaches, their grassy banks, their grey willows mirrored with the soft English sky in the placid stream, appear so beautiful as when the traveller views them for the first time after leaving behind him the aridity, the heat, the blinding glare of the white southern landscape, set in seas and skies of caerulean blue.

The ruins of Kanyteldeis, now known as Kanlıdivane.

(Source: Dosseman, CC BY-SA 4.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0, via Wikimedia Commons)

“We may take it, then, as probable that the god of the Corycian and Olbian caverns was worshipped as a source of fertility. In antiquity, when the river, which now roars underground, still burst from the rock in the Corycian cave, the scene must have resembled Ibreez [at Cappadocia in Anatolia], where the god of the corn and the vine was adored at the source of the stream; and we may compare the vale of Adonis in the Lebanon, where the divinity who gave his name to the river was revered at its foaming cascades. The three landscapes had in common the elements of luxuriant vegetation and copious streams leaping full-born from the rock. We shall hardly err in supposing that these features shaped the conception of the deities who were supposed to haunt the favoured spots. At the Corycian cave the existence of a second chasm, of a frowning and awful aspect, might well suggest the presence of an evil being who lurked in it and sought to undo the beneficent work of the good god. Thus we should have a fable of a conflict between the two, a battle of Zeus and Typhon.

Temple of Zeus in Olba, in the Republic of Türkiye.

(Source: HALUK COMERTEL, CC BY 3.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0, via Wikimedia Commons)

“On the whole we conclude that the Olbian Zeus, worshipped at one of these great limestone chasms, and clearly identical in nature with the Corycian Zeus, was also identical with the Baal of Tarsus, the god of the corn and the vine, who in his turn can hardly be separated from the god of Ibreez. If my conjecture is right the native name of the Olbian Zeus was Tark or Trok, and the priestly Teucers of Olba represented him in their own persons. On that hypothesis the Olbian priests who bore the name of Ajax embodied another native deity of unknown name, perhaps the father or the son of Tark. A comparison of the coin-types of Tarsus with the Hittite monuments of Ibreez and Boghaz-Keui led us to the conclusion that the people of Tarsus worshipped at least two distinct gods, a father and a son, the father-god being known to the Semites as Baal and to the Greeks as Zeus, while the son was called Sandan by the natives, but Hercules by the Greeks. We may surmise that at Olba the names of Teucer and Ajax designated two gods who corresponded in type to the two gods of Tarsus; and if the lesser figure at Ibreez, who appears in an attitude of adoration before the deity of the corn [i.e., of the grain] and the vine, could be interpreted as the divine Son in presence of the divine Father, we should have in all three places the same pair of deities, represented probably in the flesh by successive generations of priestly kings. But the evidence is far too slender to justify us in advancing this hypothesis as anything more than a bare conjecture.”

—J. G. Frazer, Adonis, Attis, Osiris, part 1 (The Golden Bough, vol. V, 1914, pp. 152-161)

A sarcophagus in the Temple of Zeus Olbius.

(Source: Cobija, CC BY-SA 3.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0, via Wikimedia Commons)

[coutelier]

Here's the whole first 2,000 words of a new short story, which does contain spoilers and bit of a summary for what happens in Irongate (on Kindle, and next month will be released on many other stores through Draft2Digital) as its set shortly after:

A graphic on the news showed a green cloud spreading from Irongate, like the tendrils of some vast eldritch terror gripping the Earth. A ‘terrorist’, as it was reported, had turned synthetic organisms intended to purify pollutants in our atmosphere into a mutagen intended to destroy all humanity. An anonymous source had leaked details of a vaccine to every lab and university on the planet, but much of the mutagen had ascended to the mesosphere, could descend anywhere, potentially mutate and evolve unpredictably. The source of it all had been the company Stag Corp, a subsidiary of Meridiem who had promised a full investigation into the rogue CEO and were offering whatever aid they could to governments and militaries to contain any outbreaks. They had acted quickly to capitalize on the situation, almost as if they’d known it would happen. The only thing certain was that the world would never be the same, but life - in whatever form it took - would go on. The advice for now was to stay indoors.

So it was that even as the networks competed to be the first to report the fall of civilization, Jennifer Airhart reassembled a music box amid the clutter that spanned the circumference of her workshop. The fair haired lighthouse keeper had been alone since the disappearance of her parents - while working for the aforementioned companies - but recent events had left her with an eleven - nearly twelve - year old ward. Tenley Tych flitted side to side of her, asking every minute, “is it fixed yet?”

“Almost,” Jenn sighed wearily each time, adjusting her magnifying lens as she tweezered another cog into place. Yet she smiled, in truth enjoying this project. Usually she tinkered with robots, computers, other devices much of whose operations were invisible to the naked eye and for all most knew might as well have been powered by pixies. There was something very satisfying about being to see how every part of a machine fitted, how every component worked together. It felt so much more real. For the first time since her parents had left her, it felt like there was life here.

Tenley did another circle of the room, curiously regarding the other contraptions inside. The most recent - that Jenn had just started that day - was a metallic ring, a couple of feet across, stood vertically on one of the benches. Stag Corp and Meridiem had been hiding many things, including the existence of a type of hyperspace - The Witch Way. But exploring it had been slow since anything from our realm that went in was instantly crushed and annihilated. The one being they’d created that had survived and learned to navigate that space they couldn’t control, and now she was gone and her secrets with her.

Still there was no need to rush with that. At Tenley’s insistence Jenn had prioritized the music box and at long last began closing it up, the black haired tween practically bouncing as she waited to see if the operation had been a success.

 Tenley piped excitedly, “you need to wind it up!”

“Oh,” Jennifer nodded as if she’d been expecting just to push a button, “all right.” She cleared her throat, looked sternly down on the box, and began wagging her finger, “you miserable music box! Bet you couldn’t play a tune if it was just one note over and over! A singing sea bass has more artistic merit than you!”

Tenley’s head tilted, dark eyes glowering at Jennifer who pushed on undeterred:

“Your mother was a shoe-box, and your dad was a glass armonica!”

The tween blinked at her three times then stated flatly, “you’re not funny.”

“Aww, come on,” Jenn inhaled, glancing up at the growing tendrils on the monitor, “who knows if there’ll ever be a chance to use that one again.”

It would all blow over soon, she was sure; or at least the news would lose interest once it became clear it was going to take a much longer time before anything really dramatic happened and they went back to animals on skateboards. Sighing she wound the box up again - this time using the key - rolling her chair back to allow Tenley to see as the lid popped open and a blue fairy stood up and danced, pirouetting round and around to the dulcet chimes.

An immediate change came over Tenley; every muscle in the child’s body loosening at once, eyes drooping as she cradled the box, slumping into a swivel chair as the fairy transported her to another realm where the troubles of this one couldn’t harm her. It was still strange to Jennifer that Tenley really was just a kid, yet a kid capable of punching a hole in her chest, grabbing her spine, and pulling her inside out in under a second. Therefore although it warmed Jenn’s heart to see the girl so peaceful, she resisted the urge to hug unbidden.

She did ask, “why is that box so important?”

Tenley rolled her head back to rest on the pad of her chair, nostrils rising and deflating before she softly answered, “I just can’t sleep without it.”

Of the things Tenley had taken from her old home to the lighthouse - the box, a couple of Dinosaurs, one doll, a few books - it was clear the box was very special to her. Jenn didn’t push to find out why, knowing the girl felt a jumble of sometimes contradictory emotions about her old life being raised alone by a militant mother. She instead relaxed into her own seat, reflecting, “I used to have a teddy bear to help me sleep. One that would play tunes when you pressed her paw. I called her Candy because she had a scarf with red and white stripes.”

“What happened to her?” Tenley yawned.

“You know, I’m not really sure. But I suspect, well, mother was always trying to get me to throw things away. She thought I collected too much junk.”

Tenley’s dark eyes surveyed the interior of the lighthouse; benches loaded with bots in various states of repair, tools, microscopes and other devices whose function she couldn’t even guess at, monitors on every wall, thick wires and cables dangling everywhere. “No? Really?”

“Hm-hm. So, when I was ten a lot of my old toys started disappearing. I fear poor Candy was just one of the casualties of my mother’s purge,” Jenn sagged sulkily, still bitter.

“I don’t ever want kids,” Tenley admitted, “it seems moms always just end up hurting them.”

“I’m sure they mean well. Usually,” Jenn spun her chair around, peering through one of the monitors. There were already people blaming what had happened on everything from aliens to trans rights activists. It would have been a sad, disheartening indictment on the state of humanity, but Jenn’s glassy blue eyes narrowed as if trying to focus on something far more distant. “But I suppose that wasn’t really my family,” she whispered, “I’m not really me.”

Then Tenley peered confusedly and a little bit annoyed at her, “what are you going on about? Of course you’re you. Who else would you be?” In her mind it was that simple, and after all this was the only Jennifer she had ever known. But her adopted adult continued to stare away.

“I was just made to replace someone else.”

Which was sad - that a kid had died a long time ago - but Tenley didn’t see how it made her Jennifer less of a person. She did see, however, that Jenn was likely to mull on it for a long, long time, unless someone stopped her. “Alright,” the music box snapped shut and was put aside, “that’s enough, okay? Let’s go get ice cream.”

Jenn shook her head, unclear if she even heard Tenley at this point. “Years I spent waiting for my parents to come home, but all those memories might have just been a lie…”

Tenley groaned in growing frustration, “you’re just making yourself sad.”

Jennifer still only saw fog. “Did they really care about me at all, or was I just an experiment…”

“Oh for heaven’s sake,” Tenley sprung to her feet, and in a desperate bid to pull them both back from an evening of maudlin existential anguish, grabbed a spanner and threw it at the metal ring.

She didn’t think she had thrown it that hard, but for Tenley ‘not hard’ was a knock-out blow to a heavyweight boxer. The metal ring clanged and hummed, and like a bubble bursting in reverse a sphere formed inside it. Tenley quickly took hold of a desk as loose wires whipped up and small and the very air in the room began being sucked into the portal. This emergency did grab all of Jennifer’s attention, as she had to duck to avoid a hammer whizzing past her, so in that regard the plan had been a complete success.

As Tenley held on, Jenn pulled herself along the floor by a cable until she could reach the switches and yank out the wires powering the device. It was to no avail. “What?!” She blinked in astonishment at a monitor, straining against the wind, “it’s drawing power from the other side! Maybe if I invert this waveform…” a little keyboard tapping and the bubble popped out of existence just as quickly as it appeared. With a relieved sigh Jenn stood, patting down her loose messy hair and blouse. “Please warn me if you’re going to do anything like that again.”

In her old home Tenley would have expected a far harsher response. She opened her mouth to answer, perhaps even issue an apology, only to be interrupted by a muffled trilling ring. Scrunching her face she asked, “what is that?”

Jenn squinted confusedly at a spot under the lighthouse’s winding stairs. “The telephone?” She wondered. It definitely was, but, “the old telephone…” pushing aside some junk she revealed a dark box attached to the wall with an old dial and handset hanging on the side. She then stood back, twiddling her fingers as it continued to ring and shake, seeming unsure what to do. Eventually she turned to Tenley, “I-I suppose you’ve never seen a phone like this. To call someone you had to put your finger in there and spin it around to here.”

“I know how a phone works,” Tenley puffed, folding her arms over her chest, “I’ve seen old movies. And you’re not actually that much older than me, you know. Trying to act like you’re some wizened old crone who rode to school on a Woolly Mammoth or something.”

“Sorry.”

“Are you going to answer it? The noise is really annoying.”

“I didn’t know it was still connected,” Jenn bit her lip, now tapping her fingernails, “I mean, it’s probably just scammers or telemarketers. There’s no one else who would have this number.”

“But you won’t know unless you answer,” Tenley pointed out.

“You don’t understand - those people are pushy! It can take hours to find a way to wriggle out of the conversation.”

Tenley was continually baffled by how someone as clever as Jenn was also completely hopeless. “If it’s a scammer,” she sighed impatiently, “you just tell them to get lost, then hang up.”

“I-I,” Jennifer flushed and shifted nervously, aware that she was by all appearances the adult, but, “I just can’t do that. I can’t be rude to strangers. It’s just not how I was raised, I suppose.”

“What’s rude is people calling you at home to try and trick you out of money.”

“I’m sure they don’t really want to. They’re just forced into it by their economic circumstances.”

“And they’ll be used to people hanging up all the time. Why do you worry so much about everything?”

“I-I—”

“Fine. I’ll do it.”

“W-wait,” Jennifer meekly lifted a hand, but there was no stopping the determined tween. “Don’t be rude!”

Rolling her eyes, Tenley lifted the handset and politely spoke, “Airhart Retirement Home. What the hell do you want?” The response was silence. Tenley thought the ancient thing must be broken, until she saw Jenn making circular motions with her fingers.

“Other… other way round,” she muttered, “the wire should be at the bottom.”

With another eye roll Tenley turned the handset the right way up. “Hello—” she leapt back, dropping it as a high-pitched whistle pierced her ear. Even Jenn had to cover hers as shrieking filled the lighthouse. Since its construction all the systems in the lighthouse were connected to Irongate University’s AI experiment - HULL - so although struggling once again to reach a screen, Jenn was able to analyze the signal.

“Looks like whatever’s coming through is unusually high energy,” Jenn winced, unsure if her ears were bleeding as she rapidly tapped keys, “trying to compensate… there!”

[moormoormoor]

    "Never shall I forget the sensations of awe, horror, and admiration with which I gazed about me. The boat appeared to be hanging, as if by magic, midway down, upon the interior surface of a funnel vast in circumference, prodigious in depth, and whose perfectly smooth sides might have been mistaken for ebony, but for the bewildering rapidity with which they spun around, and for the gleaming and ghastly radiance they shot forth, as the rays of the full moon, from that circular rift amid the clouds which I have already described, streamed in a flood of golden glory along the black walls, and far away down into the inmost recesses of the abyss."

Edgar Poe, "A Descent into the Maelstrom".

When I read the gorgeous story by Poe for the first time, I thought that the church organ would be a perfect instrument to accompany the scene.

[popculturelib]

Today, August 7th, is National Lighthouse Day in the US! The event was established during the bicentennial of when the US government created the US Lighthouse Establishment in 1789.

To kick off a week of lighthouses, we're starting with a book by the National Park Service and the Cabrillo Historical Association about the Old Point Loma Lighthouse (1978), located in San Diego, California. Included here are two pages about how the lighthouse was lit. Image transcripts below the cut.

For more information, check out these links:

National Lighthouse Day history from the US Lighthouse Society

The Lighthouses of Point Loma by the National Park Service

The Old Point Loma Lighthouse in our catalog

The Browne Popular Culture Library (BPCL), founded in 1969, is the most comprehensive archive of its kind in the United States.  Our focus and mission is to acquire and preserve research materials on American Popular Culture (post 1876) for curricular and research use. Visit our website at https://www.bgsu.edu/library/pcl.html.

Image caption

Fresnel (fra-nel) lighthouse lenses came in seven different "orders," or sizes; first, second, third, three and a-half, fourth, fifth, and sixth. The first order were the largest, and the sixth the smallest. Generally, the larger the lens the greater its range. The larger lenses could be seen from further away than the smaller ones. Also, if a lens was high above sea level, it could be seen from further away than if it was at the water's edge. The ranges given in the illustration are median distances for a lens with a 1,000 watt bulb.

Lenses and Illuminants

Until the 1850's, nearly every lighthouse in the United States used a number of Argand lamps and parabolic reflectors for illumination. These lamps were placed "side by side around the circumference of a circle," and the number of lamps used depended upon the arc of the horizon it was desired to illuminate. For years a bulls-eye magnifying lens was used on each lamp, but these lenses were practically useless, and in 1840 they were removed, leaving the reflectors.

This system, which had become known as the American system, had but one virtue—the lamps were inexpen-sive. But their faults were legion: They were complicated, they used a vast amount of oil, they required constant attention, and, most important of all, they produced relatively little light.

In 1822 Augustin Fresnel, a French physicist, developed a lens apparatus which was to revolutionize lighthouse illumination. A Fresnel lens is like a glass barrel whose outer surface is made up of prisms and bulls-eyes. In a revolving or flashing light, the bulls-eyes are surrounded by curved, concentric prisms, concentrating the light of a central lamp into several individual beams, radiating like the spokes of a wheel. In the fixed, or steady light, the bulls-eyes become a continuous "lens belt," with the prisms [next page] parallel to it, producing an uninterrupted, horizontal sheet of light. Fresnel lenses were classified into seven orders. The order was determined by focal distance—that is, the distance from the illuminant to the lenses.

The United States was slow to adopt the Fresnel lenses, and for years a controversy raged in this country over the merits of the old and new systems. Finally, in 1841, the United States purchased its first Fresnel lens and installed it at Navesink Light, New Jersey, to test the new system. The Fifth Auditor conducted the experiment with all deliberate speed (the accent being on deliberate); 10 years later there were only three light stations in the country which had Fresnel lenses. On March 3, 1851, Congress expressed confidence in the new system by approving an appropriation bill which included permission for the Secretary of the Treasury to place the Fresnel lens system in new lighthouses, in lighthouses not having lenses, and in lighthouses requiring new ones.

Image caption

In the fall of 1855 craftsmen installed a third order, fixed light lens in the lighthouse lantern. Made in Paris, it stood over five feet high and three feet wide. In the center, a lamp with three circular wicks, one inside the other, produced a flame of 168 candlepower. The finely ground and highly polished prisms, and the bulls-eye that encircled the lens, captured the light from this flame, focused and magnified it to about 19,000 candlepower, and sent it out in a horizontal sheet of light. According to the 1862 edition of the "Directory for the Pacific Coast of the United States," the lens of the Point Loma light which is 462 feet above sea level "illuminates the entire horizon, and in clear weather should be visible—From a mast height of 20 feet above the sea, at a distance of 28 miles."

[lexical-lushes]

Widening Gulf

Everyone you care about lives at arm's length - past the cool glass of your monitor, tethered to you only by a hundred miles of copper cable and fiberoptic line. Digital simulacra.

Cooped up in your tiny room, your computer gives you a window into the rest of the world, a way to experience it without letting it touch you. A way to socialize without ever having to leave your shell.

You can barely function, after all. It's all so much without the distance.

Over the years, you drift between communities as friends move on and your darker moods leave bridges burned. A few figures stick around through it all - though you find they slowly fade into the background the more you get used to their presence, becoming dull rock effigies.

But despite it all, despite the distance and listless wandering through ephemeral digital landscapes and the cold glass barrier you keep behind, you find companionship.

Friends.

Lovers.

You find people willing to reach through the vast web of the internet to press their hands against the inside of your screen.

It's… alien, at first. Imposing.

You don't know how to be someone's girlfriend, you plead.

They promise to teach you. You trust them.

And god… you didn't know how badly you needed it, how badly your isolation hurt.

It's… cozy. Confusing, sometimes. A whirlwind of new experiences, your lovers whispering encouragement to you, bouying you up, building the confidence in yourself you always lacked.

…but it doesn't last.

You feel it growing, slowly, a gulf between you. You're so hesitant, so unwilling to raise your voice to ask to join in.

You watch them together, always from behind the safety of your screen.

They're bright and enthusiastic in calls. They visit one another.

…they're good together.

When they start talking about moving in together, you know you can't compete.

The gulf grows.

And it grows.

You spend more nights crying, clutching your singular sad plush.

You wouldn't even know you felt lonely if they hadn't shown you what having something felt like.

Sometimes they reach out, say they miss you, that they're worried about you.

You brush it off. You tell them you've just not been feeling well.

They must buy it, because they stop asking.

You follow their move, dimly.

They talk online less and less. No more posts, no more calls, no more beautiful selfies.

You watch as another community - your community - dries up and leaves you alone again. More alone than you've ever been before.

…and then you get a message.

The last time she spoke to you was months ago by the timestamps, but there it is, a new message bright with the monitor's glow.

"We miss you. We know how isolated you feel. We have a way to bring you home to us, if you'll still trust us."

You don't answer right away.

So many feelings fight for dominance in your heart and in your head - anger, resentment, despair, hesitation… hope.

They abandoned you.

…you abandoned them.

But maybe it doesn't have to end that way.

The instructions that follow seem like a joke, but you're too desperate to care.

You choose to trust them.

Your next expedition into the oppressive Realness of the world returns with the supplies they told you that you'd need.

A round mirror, hung on the middle of your wall.

You break it as instructed, then paint over it with white until you can hardly see the cracks.

Your own personal Pale Moon, they tell you. Whatever that means.

The rest of the paint coats your room, applied layer after layer on wall and floor and furniture like a creeping, pure-white void until it's half-consumed your tiny world.

Candles. A circle in black around the mirror, carefully copied glyphs ringing its circumference.

"Don't fret about them being exact, love. Just do your best. She knows what you intend."

You spend hours getting them perfect anyway.

When your shrine is finished after so many sleepless nights, you hesitate for just a moment before you slice your hand open and smear your blood in a circle above the mirror and its glyphs.

It stands out so vibrantly against the white.

You almost cry as you wait for something to happen. You desperately hope this wasn't some sick prank, that it's real.

Then the Pale Moon begins to bleed.

Thin trickles of black ichor seep from between its fractures, slowly at first, then faster, thicker, tracing streams and rivulets down your wall, pooling on the white white floor…

Reaching towards your feet.

You try to dance away in shock but the black liquid catches you, clings to you, slips up your leg cool and wet and flowing. You start to hyperventilate, flailing as it begins to coat you like a second skin.

Like a glistening tide it wraps around your every curve and crevice, pours down your throat to drown the singular scream you attempt to let loose.

It sinks into your very essence.

You feel yourself dissolving.

You think of your lovers.

You let go.

When oblivion fades and you drift back to consciousness, your slow rise from the floor sloughs off what's left of your old body, nothing but a bleached, papery husk.

All that's left is shimmering, flowing red, and you wonder at what you've become.

Your eye catches the painted mirror upon the wall, your Pale Moon.

It's red now, liquid and pulsing with the same phantom heartbeat you are.

Tentatively, you reach out and touch a frond to it… and your loves reach right back out in return.

They've missed you.

They're so sorry it took this long.

They're so sorry they let you feel alone.

They're here now.

You're here.

You only need to join them.

…and so you do.