Tuesday, July 27, 2004

Position of Folk Category of Emotion in Estonian's Collective Consciousness

The semantic space of a language, which could also be called the
collective consciousness of the users of this language, is said to
consist of cognitive domains that concentrate knowledge, experi-
ences and meanings by subjects (Langacker 1987). Such cognitive
domain or at least an independent natural category is also made up
of emotion-related cognitive knowledge and experiences, which have
crystallised in the language as emotion lexis.

http://64.233.167.104/search?q=cache:_77ByMkemA4J:haldjas.folklore.ee/folklore/vol21/emotions.pdf+%22soov%22+definition&hl=en&ie=UTF-8

Monday, July 26, 2004

Aboriginal Dreamtime



The Australian Aborigines speak of jiva or guruwari, a seed power deposited in the earth. In the Aboriginal world view, every meaningful activity, event, or life process that occurs at a particular place leaves behind a vibrational residue in the earth, as plants leave an image of themselves as seeds. The shape of the land - its mountains, rocks, riverbeds, and waterholes - and its unseen vibrations echo the events that brought that place into creation. Everything in the natural world is a symbolic footprint of the metaphysical beings whose actions created our world. As with a seed, the potency of an earthly location is wedded to the memory of its origin. The Aborigines called this potency the "Dreaming" of a place, and this Dreaming constitutes the sacredness of the earth. Only in extraordinary states of consciousness can one be aware of, or attuned to, the inner dreaming of the earth.

- Faces of the First Day: Awakening in the Aboriginal Dreamtime by Robert Lawlor

Sunday, July 25, 2004

The Flower Songs of Hungry Coyote



"We will pass away. I, NezahualCóyotl, say, Enjoy! Do we really live on earth? Ohuaya ohuaya! Not forever on earth, only a brief time here! Even jades fracture; even gold ruptures, even quetzal plumes tear: Not forever on earth: only a brief time here! Ohuaya ohuaya!" -- The Flower Tree

"I erect my drum, I assemble my friends. Aya! Here they find recreation, I make them sing. Thus we must go over There. Remember this. Be happy. Aya! Oh my friends! Ohuaya ohuaya!" -- I Erect My Drum

Translations: John Curl

Poetic Discourse Structures of Mayan Hieroglyphic Writing



tz’ap lakam tun
   wa’wan yax sak tomaj was erected, the great stone
  it was stood up, Yax Sak Tomaj
 
tz’apiji(y) lakam tuun
   wa’wan k’an tuun(?)-il uk’ab’a’ was erected, the great stone
  it was stood up, Precious Stone was its name
 
chami tzipti’ ch’ahom
               tzipti’ nuun he died Tzipti’ the youth (?)
                 Tzipti’ the broken speaker (?)
 
uxte’ maax pujwi ajaw
   ’kak’ ti’ chan ma ajaw 3 Monkey Lord of Pujwi
  Fire-is-the-Mouth-of-the-Snake Lord of Ma
 
b’olon iplaj b’aak nab’(?) k’in
           susaj b’aak uchamali(y) many strengths bone painting (?) ceremony
                         the bones of the dead one were cut

Letters to God's Eye

"Why are YOU measuring the measure? The measure is the same. Even after Great One, the bones will be broken. I am telling YOU. Relic should believe me.

Where after religion you believe in religion and wish that to Ora. Emptiness is that what Baby God's Eye is fighting for.

Eye of God, you are measuring empty religion for the world. Your aim, not religion, is living in you.

Eye, be careful. You should remember one holy freedom and eternal conscience" -- John Stojko's translation of the Voynich manuscript

Undeciphered writing systems

The writing systems listed below have yet to be deciphered or have only been partially deciphered. In some cases the writing systems have been deciphered but the languages they were used to write remain a mystery.

Sunday, July 18, 2004

Charter 77



"Charter 77 is a free informal, open community of people of different convictions, different faiths and different professions united by the will to strive, individually and collectively, for the respect of civic and human rights in our own country and throughout the world..."

Wednesday, July 14, 2004

The Benefits of Regenerative Design



"The real news in all of this is that if living machines are allowed to develop in the twenty-first century, we begin to break down (and this was what Bucky was getting at) the old inequities between north and south and rich and poor; they don't exist in the same way in this new context.

The tropical world is so poor, and the northern world has some of the mineral resources, the libraries, and knowledge to bring to bear. The arid areas, now so "depoverished," have certain kinds of intelligence that are brought to bear in this age. So living machines actually can do as well in Beirut as they can in Iowa. This kind of concept of an ecological design is breaking down the global inequities. It strikes right at the heart of so much of Bucky's thinking.

We know and have already proven that living machines could reduce the amount of space that humans require by 90 percent. In other words, we could give back the wilderness to itself, by miniaturizing the processes that sustain us. That's extraordinary."

-- John Todd

Tuesday, July 13, 2004

Koko



"Lips fake candy give-me." -- Koko

Nomadic Shaman



Al-Jailani asserts that there is a difference between mediums, magicians, and the fugara. He maintains that not all mediums are magicians, and often they cannot fulfil all the functions of a magicians. The powers of a medium are generally limited to writing hujub (plural of hijab, generally meaning a spell which is either beneficial or harmful) and such. As for the fugara, they are the group that says "La ilaha illa Allah" (they are true believers). -- Rami Sajdi

Salamanders



Fire: Salamanders

The salamanders are the spirit of fire. Without these beings, fire cannot exist. You cannot light a match without a salamander's being present. There are many families of salamanders, differing in size, appearance, and dignity. Some people have seen them as small balls of light, but most commonly they are perceived as being lizard-like in shape and about a foot or more in length. The salamanders are considered the strongest and most powerful of all the elementals. Their ruler is a magnificent flaming being called Djin. Those who have seen him say that he is terrible, yet awe-inspiring in appearance. Salamanders have the ability to extend their size or diminish it, as needed. If you ever need to light a campfire in the wilderness, call to the salamanders and they will help you. It has also been said that salamanders (and the other elemental beings) can be mischievous at times. For example, a fiery temper and inharmonious conditions in a person's home can cause these beings to make trouble. They are like children in that they don't fully understand the results of their actions.

Beach Assemblage



Beach Assemblage: Lanny Quarles

Wednesday, July 07, 2004

Phobos


The Dynamic Labyrinth

The liberation of behaviour requires a social space that is labyrinthine,
but at the same time continually subject to modification. There will no
longer be any centre to be reached, but instead an infinite number of
moving centres. There will no longer be any chance of getting off track
in the sense of getting lost, but rather in the more positive sense of
finding previously unknown paths. Under the influence of these "detours,"
the labyrinth itself changes shape. I call this uninterrupted process of
creation and destruction the "dynamic labyrinth." Practically nothing is
yet known about this dynamic labyrinth. It is clear that such a process
could only be planned or projected while at the same time being carried
out, which will be impossible as long as society maintains is utilitarian
nature. In a ludic society, urban planning will automatically have the
attributes of a dynamic labyrinth.

The continual creation and re-creation of modes of behaviour requires the
endless construction and reconstruction of their setting.

This, then, is unified urbanism.

-- Constant, The Principle of Disorientation

Virtual Om

Ran across this strange site this morning: Virtual Om. Strange stuff! While you're at it, you might want to visit James Koehnline's galleries.

Tuesday, July 06, 2004

Northern Alligator Lizard



Saw this little critter on a hike in the Columbia River Gorge this weekend. Quite a cute little thing, I must say. I believe this is a Northern Alligator Lizard, the Northwest's only true native lizard. It was just hanging out on the trail. When we approached, it made a mad dash for the brush. Note the similar coloration and shading of the lizard to the leafy brush around it. Great camoflage!

Friday, July 02, 2004

Decasia



Inspiring and infinitely suggestive, this haunting tapestry of long lost, partially erased images - a procession of missionary nuns, the rescue of a man from drowning, a boxer relentlessly targeting his mysteriously obliterated opponent - testifies not only to the fragile nature of film but to the transience of all human endeavour. Set to an eerie symphonic score by Michael Gordon which has been likened to the sound of a plane crashing in slow motion, Decasia reminds us, as Morrison himself puts it, of 'the many dreams we forget upon waking'.

This film came out on DVD a while ago, and I recommend it for any fans of old cinematic footage. There are some phenomenal sequences in this film. The music is haunting and creepy and really fits the mood of the footage. Check it out!