Vladimir Nabokov on butterflies and timelessness
Advertisements
Modern Mysticism
A mix of Maori, Eastern and Celtic Pagan mysticism.
Strange Victorian Journeys Into the Fourth Dimension
The last gasp of Victorian spirituality infused cutting-edge science with old-school mysticism. Theosophy was all the rage; Many weird and and wonderful ideas being developed at the turn of the century around death, ghosts, the fourth dimension filled the Victorians with a palpable sense of possibility.
The high-spirited thoroughbred
The great affair, the love affair with life, is to live as variously as possible, to groom one's curiosity like a high-spirited thoroughbred, climb aboard, and gallop over the thick, sunstruck hills every day. Diane Ackerman
A frog in a well never knows the vast ocean
A frog in a well never knows the vast ocean There is an ancient Taoist expression that 'A frog in a well never knows the vast ocean'. This is a reminder to be humble and to accept the world as being vast, with our own knowledge of it limited. We must never assume to have…
Continue reading ➞ A frog in a well never knows the vast ocean
The Enlightenment of Everyday Objects
In ancient Japanese tradition, when a treasured household item reaches the end of usefulness, it is given the proper funerary send off that it deserves. This unusual ritual harks back to two ancient philosophies. The Shinto Animist philosophy that all things alive or otherwise have a soul. And the Nichiren Buddhist philosophy that when a…
Ancient words of the day: Glamour and grammar
Glamour is an 18th Century corruption of the word grammar. Or the occult processes that were traditionally associated with learning during the middle ages. The words grammar and glamour are also associated with the word grimoire - a spell-book. Glamourie: witchcraft, magic, fascination or a spell Glaumerify: to cast a spell over or bewich Glamour-bead:…
Continue reading ➞ Ancient words of the day: Glamour and grammar
The ruthless Unspoken
At night I lie awake In the ruthless Unspoken, knowing that planets come to life, bloom, and die away, like day-lilies opening one after another in every nook and cranny of the Universe... Diane Ackerman Wild woman quote: show your soul ''Try to be a rainbow in someone’s cloud.'' Maya AngelouInside of the walls of…
Life on a low flame
One can live at a low flame. Most people do. For some, life is an exercise in moderation (best china saved for special occasions), but given something like death, what does it matter if one looks foolish now and then, or tries too hard, or cares too deeply? Diane Ackerman
A flower
A flower's fragrance declares to all the world that it is fertile, available, and desirable, its sex organs oozing with nectar. Its smell reminds us in vestigial ways of fertility, vigor, life-force, all the optimism, expectancy, and passionate bloom of youth. We inhale its ardent aroma and, no matter what our ages, we feel young…
Wallace Stevens – Somnambulisma
On an old shore, the vulgar ocean rolls Noiselessly, noiselessly, resembling a thin bird, That thinks of settling, yet never settles, on a nest. The wings keep spreading and yet are never wings. The claws keep scratching on the shale, the shallow shale, The sounding shallow, until by water washed away. The generations of the…
Diogenes on the human race
Not least for those who are called foreigners, for they are not foreigners. For while the various segments of the earth give different people a different country, the whole compass of this world gives people all people a single country, the entire Earth, and a single home, the world. Diogenes of Oenoanda Diogenes of Oenoanda,…
Effective online marketing advice by Weird Al Yankovic
'I saw your blog postIt was fantasticThat was sarcasticBecause you write like a spastic' - Weird Al Yankovic breaks it down for all of us online spastics
Ancient word of the day: Uncanny
The ancient word of the day is Uncanny. This is the feeling of encountering a landscape, person or object that is both frightening and unsettlingly dissonant. Freud coined a similar word for this “unheimlich”— which is to say, eerie and both homely and unhomely. I'm sure you would be able to recall some uncanny encounters,…
Album Review: Robohands ‘Green’
In case you have been living under a rock, Robohands is a UK jazz musician whose real name is Andy Baxter. His debut album Green which came out in mid-2018 is superb. With almost zero effort to promote the album, Robohands has grown in underground popularity getting over a million views on his album and…
Boring Yet interesting: Drone Music
Drone music doesn't change much in tonality or tempo. The nature of this means that it can confuse some people and attract others. Unlike most other types of music, drone cultivates a unique emotional soundscape that allows people to sink deeply into it. Some drone music is less like a warm fuzzy hug and more…
Before Time Began: Latin Quotes on Ancient Sundials
Ancient sundials of Greece, Egypt and Babylon often featured provocative and emotional expressions in Latin. They were succinct and powerful calls to action which were designed to waken up the senses and peel back the blinkers on what really matters. These concise messages highlighted the passing of time, mortality, life, death and enjoying one’s brief…
Continue reading ➞ Before Time Began: Latin Quotes on Ancient Sundials
An indepth exploration of the aesthetics of cosiness
There’s a lovely subreddit I recently found called Cosy Places, which calls for people to submit their log cabins, hideaways and cosy loungerooms. This is a veritable treasure trove of different ideas for cosiness. Someone even parsed the photo content in the subreddit and came up with the recipe and criteria that make up a…
Continue reading ➞ An indepth exploration of the aesthetics of cosiness
How to banish the harsh inner critic – by Nick Cave
Nick Cave's incredible blog The Red Hand Files features Ask Me Anything question and answers. It's a beacon of pure creative joy for anyone in search of inspiration. Here's an unforgettable nugget of wisdom from Nick on how to forge on with big ideas and ignore the asshole inside of you, telling you to stop…
Continue reading ➞ How to banish the harsh inner critic – by Nick Cave
Enoshima Dreaming on Content Catnip TV
This surfy, ultra chill and slightly magical island was more amazing than we imagined.
Film Review: Cornershop (Kjötborg)
This feel-good documentary is set in Reykjavík, Iceland on corner of Ásvallagata and Blómvallagata streets. Where there is a little unassuming grocery store called simply Kjötborg or Corner Shop. Two brothers own and run the local shop, which they inherited from their parents. This is the last bastion of stores like this, as many others…