tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-55058877187866970322024-02-07T19:37:18.199-05:00swimming with shaRQshaRQ-bait features original creative works in various mediaShar Qaanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12437811464432879555noreply@blogger.comBlogger49125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5505887718786697032.post-73426039162991402492016-10-03T19:46:00.000-04:002016-10-03T19:46:17.651-04:00The Christ VirusLegend holds that some 2000 years ago, a man named Jesus of Nazareth, imbued with the power of Christ, was executed for threatening the livelihood of the moneychangers of the time, among other reasons. Many wondrous deeds are attributed to the man: walking on water, feeding a multitude, transforming water to wine, healing the sick, casting out evil spirits, even raising the dead and return from death himself. <br />
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This man's legacy continues to this day, and many anticipate his return to remake human culture into paradise. While this would be a boon to all mankind, it has the negative effect of promoting passivity to the current state of mankind. "Why spend a life in service to fellow man when Jesus the Christ will return to do this?" <br />
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It's my belief that when Jesus died on the cross at Golgotha, the power of Christ that lived in him shattered into infinitely many pieces, almost virus-like. Like a virus, these tiny pieces of Christ have dispersed throughout humanity from then to present day. Unlike a Biblical plague, these "viruses" have quite a different effect. Through his execution and death, Jesus infected humanity with Christ, and innumerable humans all over the world now have some fraction of the power of Christ. Christ can't return to re-make human culture and society because it never left us -- it is within us. Consequently, it is incumbent upon us to carry on the legacy left by Jesus the man, rather than waiting indefinitely for Jesus' return. <br />
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I see evidence of this all across the globe. Individual humans with some unique gift have chosen not to use their gift only for their own aggrandizement, but to benefit society at large. One of my favorite examples is that of the creator of LINUX, Linus Torvalds, who incited a movement to bring computing to everyman. Today,we know this movement as FOSS: free and open-source software, and it has leveled the playing field for developing nations by releasing them from the onerous costs of packaged software. <br />
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We cannot afford the indulgence of passivity. Find your gift; claim it and make it your own. Develop it, then return it to humanity. In this way, we can remake humanity...through you.Shar Qaanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12437811464432879555noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5505887718786697032.post-67930233230387693012015-09-17T22:36:00.000-04:002015-09-17T22:36:45.598-04:00Myō-ō Sentinels upon Dhyani Meadows<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<br />Shar Qaanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12437811464432879555noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5505887718786697032.post-23981160197045832332012-04-27T18:04:00.004-04:002015-09-17T22:38:49.613-04:00Subspatial Scaffolding, Aetheric Architecture<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoHPiQzSX78raT3RNxh4yvxEJB5TofYuRLjjR3uVA_N04PNtpFoU9wT4ZY7J_zffuOMDTE2qpbAsX4lldfPo-RPd_zuWmh7IxSKYRWcZ-td2QA4ejHZwdh_UcRn3HzUGxpDS7CpwEID_Y/s1600/bagua_hypercube.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoHPiQzSX78raT3RNxh4yvxEJB5TofYuRLjjR3uVA_N04PNtpFoU9wT4ZY7J_zffuOMDTE2qpbAsX4lldfPo-RPd_zuWmh7IxSKYRWcZ-td2QA4ejHZwdh_UcRn3HzUGxpDS7CpwEID_Y/s320/bagua_hypercube.png" width="320" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;">This graphic attempt to convey the notions of subspace, or the </span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;">architecture of volumetric space</span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;">. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;">It is easy to take space for granted, like we assume a fish takes water for granted. Indeed, were there no water, there'd be no fish -- likewise for space and ourselves. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;">It's not so easy to wrap one's mind around non-volumetric reality, though some are familiar with '<a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0814106/">Flatland</a>,' a fictional 2-D world.</span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;"> Space normally provides an habitat for objects to occupy, but under certain conditions, intense gravitation does not allow space to exist as we understand it. Under those conditions, space is presumed to collapse. From this we may conclude that some 'thing' or force exists that gives space the rigidity to resist gravitationally-induced collapse. To this point, physicist David Bohm once remarked in <u>The Holographic Universe</u> that "</span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;">every cubic centimeter of empty space contains more energy than the total energy of all the matter in the known universe</span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;">." We propose that this role is fulfilled by an architecture, hypothesized in the above graphic.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhttNWANo-Dg8heBVfpDbtEp3CXJ-fGq1TBZsI04P2X8TM4kg31wtZRjjQyidTwGh-4rIBICY9TFmJoLlynjfCzOIMNmBXp_ToMiBAT0hai5iE3LjIx-m9Qo2Vgj-2ZEmD_L1yXylrVPGk/s1600/bagua_hypercube_frame.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="290" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhttNWANo-Dg8heBVfpDbtEp3CXJ-fGq1TBZsI04P2X8TM4kg31wtZRjjQyidTwGh-4rIBICY9TFmJoLlynjfCzOIMNmBXp_ToMiBAT0hai5iE3LjIx-m9Qo2Vgj-2ZEmD_L1yXylrVPGk/s320/bagua_hypercube_frame.png" width="320" /></a></div>
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Mutually complementary elements intersect on orthogonal axes. </span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;">This arrangement is presumed to produce a framework that 'erects' space and maintains its volume, similar to the way that a balloon maintains its shape from the force exerted by the gas within.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;">Complementarity is depicted via the axes of 'opposing' color pairs: red and blue, yellow and green. These opposing pairs span opposite corners of the bounding box. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;">The nexus of the four axes at the center of the figure suggests a combination of the four axes that intersect there. This is perhaps whence the proposed structive force emerges.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;">We note that the central nexus is adjoined by the apexes of six square pyramids, the bases of which comprise the faces of the bounding box and its enclosed cube.</span><br />
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Shar Qaanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12437811464432879555noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5505887718786697032.post-36448092230942471062012-04-27T01:45:00.000-04:002012-09-20T13:15:43.524-04:00Modern Yarrow Oracle<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbkcavUanh8K8rhaoUBZiAzhfVObAtQ-T4jC7ssaVPbXtVq0vritjmE6PRLqwvPuAJzD26d0SUr3zD9e3g12RYoDhL42vUAX0yrIiNdMaF8e3oWp2fSrJF7DBAqCpDWXqob8EEb2IwGcM/s1600/yarrow_oracle.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="218" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbkcavUanh8K8rhaoUBZiAzhfVObAtQ-T4jC7ssaVPbXtVq0vritjmE6PRLqwvPuAJzD26d0SUr3zD9e3g12RYoDhL42vUAX0yrIiNdMaF8e3oWp2fSrJF7DBAqCpDWXqob8EEb2IwGcM/s400/yarrow_oracle.jpg" width="400" /></a><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;">This handmade, boxed set of sixteen colored cubes is a modern version of the yarrow oracle of Chinese antiquity. The four colors and their proportions to the total yield the same probabilities as would be produced by manipulating the forty-nine yarrow stalks; provided the cubes are selected singly, randomly, and with replacement.</span></div>
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Shar Qaanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12437811464432879555noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5505887718786697032.post-81740198376365163472012-04-27T01:42:00.002-04:002012-04-27T01:42:31.082-04:00"Platonic Relations"<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<br />Shar Qaanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12437811464432879555noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5505887718786697032.post-32084155401100775952012-02-19T13:17:00.001-05:002013-02-10T21:05:08.290-05:00Don't Spill My Heart<span style="font-size: large;">The heart is a cup. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">We fill it with all manner of libation: </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">joy, envy, regret, pity, disappointment, even love. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Within, these mix to form the exquisite elixir we enjoy as emotional life. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Like all vessels, however, it has its limit, and must not be filled to the point of spilling. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Nor should we sip from it to the point of drunkenness.</span>Shar Qaanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12437811464432879555noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5505887718786697032.post-29870512511121858722012-01-24T00:27:00.000-05:002012-07-19T16:19:53.261-04:00Constructing the Natal Hexagram<br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><span id="i6p1" style="font-style: normal; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="color: black;"><b>Deriving the Hexagram According to One's Natal Horoscope</b></span></span></span> <span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span><span style="font-style: normal; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span style="font-style: normal; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: small;">Sample Natal hexagram construction:</span></span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-style: normal; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="color: black;"><b><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><u>ZODIAC</u></span></b></span></span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;" width="25%"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><b><u>SUN</u></b></span></td><td style="text-align: center;" width="25%"><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">SCORPIO</span></td><td style="text-align: center;" width="25%"><span style="color: blue; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">WATER</span></td><td width="25%"><div style="background-color: transparent; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px;">
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<span style="font-style: normal; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="color: purple; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: x-large;">⚎</span></span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;" width="25%"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><b><u>ASCENDANT</u></b></span></td><td style="text-align: center;" width="25%"><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">CAPRICORN</span></td><td style="text-align: center;" width="25%"><span style="color: blue; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">EARTH</span></td><td width="25%"><div style="background-color: transparent; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px;">
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;" width="25%"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><b><u>MOON</u></b></span></td><td style="text-align: center;" width="25%"><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">LIBRA</span></td><td style="text-align: center;" width="25%"><span style="color: blue; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">AIR</span></td><td width="25%"><div style="background-color: transparent; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px;">
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<span style="font-style: normal; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="color: purple; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: x-large;">⚌</span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">An individual desiring to construct their own natal hexagram would simply use their birth horoscope to fill in the middle two columns of the chart. The contents of the final column are determined by the following schema*, which maps the astrological elements to the Chinese x<i>iang</i> (symbols):</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-large;">⚌</span>: Greater YANG = AIR</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-large;">⚏</span>: Greater YIN = EARTH</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-large;">⚎</span>: Lesser YANG = WATER</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: x-large;">⚍</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">: Lesser YIN = FIRE</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br /></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Once the final column is completed, the three symbols are simply copied line-for-line to form an hexagram.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">Resulting Natal Hexagram (from sample data above)</span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">⚎</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-large;"> </span><span style="font-size: large;">☶</span> (MOUNTAIN)<br /><span style="font-size: x-large;">⚏</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-large; font-weight: bold;"> </span><b>==></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-large; font-weight: bold;"> </span><b>=============</b> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><b>==></b></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"> <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-large;">䷨</span> #41 (DECREASE)</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">⚌</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-large;"> </span><span style="font-size: large;">☱</span> (LAKE)</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br /></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">A thorough treatment of this topic would offer some explanation for the ordering of the three signs used to compute the natal hexagram. In Taoist literature, Mankind is often depicted or written as being crucified between Heaven and Earth. That line of thinking can be leveraged here in the sense that the Sun can be held to represent Heaven's power. Since the Ascendant is the quasi-literal intersection of Sun and Earth (it's the sign in which sunrise occurs at birth), we can argue this represents Mankind. This leaves the Moon to represent Earth. Both are YIN, and Moon influences emotion, also YIN.<br /><span style="font-size: small; font-style: normal; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="color: black;"><br /></span></span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span style="font-style: normal; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="color: black;">**</span></span></span><span style="font-size: xx-small;">Corresponding Tarot trump: XX (JUDGEMENT)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-style: normal; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="color: black;"><br /></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-style: normal; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="color: black;"><br /></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-style: normal; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="color: black;">This presentation is derived (with minor modification) from the works of: </span></span><br /><span style="font-style: normal; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="color: black;">Charlie Higgins, “Mensionization Complementation: Construction of an I Ching/Astrological Natal Hexagram” (1997) </span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-style: normal; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="color: black; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">**Steve Krakowski's, “An Ancient and Occult Genetic Code” (1996) provides the mapping between Tarot trumps and I Ching hexagrams.</span></span><br />
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</div>Shar Qaanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12437811464432879555noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5505887718786697032.post-4723848887029536682011-12-18T06:58:00.002-05:002012-05-06T04:36:59.515-04:00The Tarot of Heaven and Earth<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAecmjQgMXzcw-uedLl-8nFnjqJE6lmDwKo_htRSyRI9exEAvOXs9oIssC6MKaWoQTGcuzixnoMY1tTBXpA5BdpRbkfTCXkF59WQ6pT1lTYPg4ijnfDV12o_z3PCSbKq6mkDhIDghH8no/s1600/tarot.4.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAecmjQgMXzcw-uedLl-8nFnjqJE6lmDwKo_htRSyRI9exEAvOXs9oIssC6MKaWoQTGcuzixnoMY1tTBXpA5BdpRbkfTCXkF59WQ6pT1lTYPg4ijnfDV12o_z3PCSbKq6mkDhIDghH8no/s320/tarot.4.png" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />Shar Qaanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12437811464432879555noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5505887718786697032.post-67128096900827159572011-11-11T23:48:00.004-05:002011-12-13T08:54:41.619-05:00Strange Fruit Loops<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbkLh5fZCuL_6PiMjvjEz9aGVoT6Dxh2c6SVGHCKRie06LEgp0EmxVzLg_QKkHVXV71w4ARTwdazjSZKIGXagMUMjUtaUtWCIUT-PvF8hW6yrmUGY0SqwF7_Y1uoYfT1b72Od3fXZJhx8/s1600/mjolnir.1.xcf.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbkLh5fZCuL_6PiMjvjEz9aGVoT6Dxh2c6SVGHCKRie06LEgp0EmxVzLg_QKkHVXV71w4ARTwdazjSZKIGXagMUMjUtaUtWCIUT-PvF8hW6yrmUGY0SqwF7_Y1uoYfT1b72Od3fXZJhx8/s640/mjolnir.1.xcf.png" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;">"Seed, Tree, & Fruit"</span></td></tr>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;">Return from Fruit to Root from Seed </span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;">Has need of air, rain, flame and earth.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;">Latter's birth as pome, its</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;">Flesh decayed, consumed; laid</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;">To abide in hallowed mound for</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;">Incarnation's clarion.</span><br />
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<br /></div>Shar Qaanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12437811464432879555noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5505887718786697032.post-37275598902415873962011-11-08T15:08:00.000-05:002011-11-08T15:08:34.141-05:00Quincunx II<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1PDaDr4d5WBKYa7M3lxeqi0Q3xMPIXR3F_m8cKTbKQPBfddGGhk5Nu5vJCeks2lzVgvpqV2bFbe3r96DcU_ZDfBJeNR3OjxqZk3xEPkQ_0X2rbFMlxCnEYmdCgNTxHV-GsgAGbgCq2Ho/s1600/xiang_cube--20-12.xcf.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1PDaDr4d5WBKYa7M3lxeqi0Q3xMPIXR3F_m8cKTbKQPBfddGGhk5Nu5vJCeks2lzVgvpqV2bFbe3r96DcU_ZDfBJeNR3OjxqZk3xEPkQ_0X2rbFMlxCnEYmdCgNTxHV-GsgAGbgCq2Ho/s320/xiang_cube--20-12.xcf.png" width="320" /></a></div>Shar Qaanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12437811464432879555noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5505887718786697032.post-90862769532025463102011-11-04T17:22:00.000-04:002015-02-03T14:15:31.426-05:00Adventures in Prose<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br />
</span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;"> Edward IV, just ruler of a mid-sized duchy, fathered two children by his first wife, who unexpectedly died giving birth to the last. Edward was not as grief-stricken as one might have guessed, for his marriage to Endleia had been politically arranged, and he bore no particular affections for the woman.</span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;"> Four months after Endleia's death, was the celebration of the country's independence. Banquets, carnivals, and other festivities were held . Before the festivities were to begin, it was Edward's duty as the land's regent to say some words to remind the people of the true significance of the holiday. After he had finished speaking, the merry-making began. </span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;"> Edward found himself ambling about from place to place exchanging words with his people, insuring all was proceeding as it should, and overseeing things in general. Well-loved by his citizens, there was little need for personal security; nonetheless, his bodyguards were present to ensure his safety. Edward amused himself by trying to spot all of them. He walked accompained by one armed guard in uniform, but several others moved throughout the crowds in disguise, never maintaining a constant position. Edward lamented the necessity of such protection, but knew that assassination was a threat everpresent, for reasons to be later explained.</span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;"> He rarely participated in any of the festivities, not because he was above such things, but because he derived little enjoyment from them. Hearing a great cheer arise from the jousting fields, he decided to walk over to see what had occurred. After arriving, he took a seat and began to watch. Soon bored with the jousts, Edward began to watch the spectators at the jousting competition. Idly, his eyes swept the crowd. Occasionally, a citizen would catch him watching, and would wave in greeting. Edward returned all these salutations warmly, for even though he was of the royal house, he was a duke at one with his people. What bothered them, affected him to a similar degree. Unlike most other rulers of the realm, Edward disdained shows of fealty and obeisance. He was greatly respected, but without all the regale and pomp that others demanded. He preferred a kind word and a sincere handshake, to a token bow. This, Edward knew, was true respect, something most rulers secretly longed for.</span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;"> He moved to depart, but his eyes fell upon a woman that looked faintly familiar to him, though he knew that he had never seen her before, for he surely would have remembered. Immediately, he was struck by her grace, poise, and loveliness. Her hair was dark as night interspersed with streaks of mahogany; it spilled down her back, past her arms to the bench upon which she sat, bound by a single silver band. Her skin was smooth, a deep chestnut brown, enveloping a slender, lightly-muscled frame. She had delicate, refined features coupled with full lips, and large, liquid, luminous brown eyes; eyes that changed shade as one looked in them. In a short span of time, Edward found himself hopelessly lost in the beauty he gazed upon.</span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;"> Mali (her name as Edward would later discover) must have felt eyes upon her, because she turned abruptly and caught Edward unashamedly staring at her. Their eyes locked for a long instant, then Mali dropped her eyes and blushed deeply. Immediately taking the initiative, Edward made his way through the crowd to her side and introduced himself. She rose and curtsied, introducing herself as Mali of the house of Enduval. It was then that his unconscious suspicions were confirmed: she was elven, from the southern mountainous reaches of the Realm; virtually identical to the other subraces of elves but for their dark complexions.</span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;"> They left the jousting fields and walked about, side-by-side, adjourning to the Botanical Gardens for refreshment and respite. The day was bright and warm, and large billowing clouds nimbly roamed the heavens, managing never to obstruct the sun's light. The planting season was upon the land, and sounds of farmers tillings the lands could be heard in the whispering breeze. Mali told Edward of her plans, already in progress, to buy a small estate on which to live. She also told him why she left her father's household.</span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;"> It seemed that her father, Lord Enduval, held the office of Counciliator, first advisor to the Regent. However, the current Regent had just died from wounds sustained in a hunting accident, leaving the throne unoccupied. As Counciliator, he held the throne temporarily, until the new Regent was appointed. As Counciliator, he could not arbitrarily name the successor, but any seeker of the Regency with his support was virtually guaranteed to be the next occupant of the throne. Though Enduval had already chosen who would receive his support, a certain shadowy faction was exerting its influence, pressuring him to endorse their chosen successor. Foreseeing that the cabal might seek to subdue him through threat of harm to his only daughter, he sent her to safety.</span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;"> At this point, she drew a silver chain from around her neck, revealing a small cylindrical pendant. Mali removed the small roll of parchment bearing a waxen seal embossed with an elvish rune. Before handing the roll to Edward, she incanted the arcane syllables to disarm the glyph that would destroy the message and grievously injure the reader who lacked such knowledge. Edward broke the seal and read the contents of the letter: </span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br />
</span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br />
</span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;"> Edward,</span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;">I come to you a man in need. Due to recent political complications, It falls upon me to make a decision as to who shall become the new Regent. While I have already made my choice, a group not unknown to me intends to see their puppet placed upon the throne. This cannot be allowed. While I am in little danger, I fear that they may try to force me to alter my decision through threat of harm to my daughter. To thwart their intents, I have resolved to place her in a place of safety. This was where I found some difficulty. Obviously, I cannot send her to stay with any of my contingents, for she could be reached there. Amid all of the recent turbulence, I am not sure of who I can trust. Then I remembered the alliance meeting, and my answer was clear.</span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;"> So, I send her to you, where she is least likely to be found, knowing you will keep her safe, away from danger. I have sent her with adequate funds to provide for her every need, as not to further burden you. Keep her safe. I am forever in your debt.</span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br />
</span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br />
</span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;">E</span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br />
</span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;"> Edward finished the letter. Now he knew from whence he remembered Mali--her father; the resemblance between the two was uncanny. Thoughts of Enduval also revived memories of the alliance meeting. Edward had met Mali's father there, seven years ago.</span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;"> In an effort to rid the countrysides of bandits, goblins, orcs and the like, Enduval had invited all the rulers of the surrounding lands to the treaty table to discuss a means to accomplish this goal. During the talk, Edward had been a cornerstone, keeping the discussion flowing smoothly, proposing new ideas, and ending petty bickering between the other attendees. This would not be so surprising but for the fact that Edward, not yet the duke, had been sent in his father's stead. Edward was merely a youth of nineteen years. In two years, Edward III would die, and Edward IV would assume the title.</span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;"> In the end, the goal was accomplished, and more: and alliance had been formed. Now, many years hence, Enduval called upon the "youth" that had so impressed him at the alliance meeting.</span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;"> Enduval, it seems, had made the wisest choice possible, for by now, Edward had already committed himself to insuring the welfare of this elven maiden he by whom was so irrevocably smitten. After Mali had become established (Edward had personally overseen all arrangements), they began seeing each other quite often....</span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br />
</span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;">FLESH THIS OUT</span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br />
</span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;"> Edward courted Mali for six months, and by this time, she was deeply in love with this handsome, perceptive, sensitive young duke. He proposed to her in the castle's flower gardens, in classic style. She accepted, interrupting him halfway through his proposal and they closed in a tender embrace. Two weeks later, in early winter, during a private ceremony, Mali and Edward were married. To preserve her anonymity, the marriage was kept secret.</span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br />
</span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;">POLITICAL COMPLICATIONS BECAUSE EDWARD IS AN OSTENSIBLE BACHELOR</span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br />
</span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;"> Ten months later, Rhys was born. He grew up strong and healthy, and as planned, only he and his parents knew the truth of his birth. Rhys was a darkly handsome youth. His complexion was roughly between that of his parents, but closer to that of his mother's. He inherited his mother's features, but his father's build. Rhys was tutored as if he were Edward's acknowledged son: he was taught reading, arithmetic, writing, archery, swordsmanship--all by the best masters available.</span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;"> Early on, he showed a natural talent with weapons and tactics, so at fifteen, he was sent to an academy to learn the finer points of the martial arts. For a year, everything ran smoothly, and Rhys progressed well. He was not an overly friendly youth, but made friends easily. He was secretly envied by many of the other boys at the academy. Every Sixthday, the headmaster would allow them to enter town to enjoy themselves. There, Rhys's good looks and easy smile brought him the admiration and attention of many young ladies. While not a natural dancer, through practice he became moderately good, and this brought him even more attention. However, unknown to him, the jealousy of some of the other boys was gradually turning into hate. He had excellent coordination, and through much practice, had become exceptionally skilled with the short bow, short sword, and the spear. It wasn't long before he was besting some of the younger instructors in mock combats. </span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;"> During in the second year at the academy, the boys began learning attack and defense against multiple opponents, and again, Rhys excelled. Later that year, the headmaster invited the parents of the boys to the school for them to view their sons' progress. The parents watched drills, arms practice, the daily exercise regimen, attended the classroom sessions, and more. For later that evening, contests were scheduled. There would be competitions in swordplay, wrestling, archery, and other combat arts. Rhys placed first in the archery and spear competitions, and close second in the blind-fighting and swordsmanship events. The last event of that evening would be the one-on-one swordplay competition, fought with tar-coated wooden blades. There were twenty competitors. They were matched off in pairs to fight. Four strikes total or two strikes in a vital area with the sword during a match would constitute a defeat. The first ten matches were single elimination matches. A defeat would eliminate the competitor from the contest. Rhys won his match, and the twenty was reduced to ten. The next five matches were also single-elimination. Rhys won this match also, and the ten was reduced to five. Each of the final five competitors was to fight each of the other four once, for a total of ten matches. The one with least number of losses would be proclaimed the winner. Quickly and efficiently, Rhys dispatched each of his five opponents, winning the competition, only suffering a total of three strikes in all. Then came the surprise: as a consolation for the losers, the swordmaster decided that Rhys would face four opponents simultaneously in a final match. The runner-up being the one suffering the least number of strikes. Rhys would need to take three strikes to be "killed", and his opponents, one each.</span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;"> Early in this final match, Rhys suffered a slash to his right leg, leaving him with two strikes and four opponents. Employing all of his knowledge and skill, he slowly, carefully, "killed" two of the remaining four, leaving two. He took another strike. One more would be the end for him. He took a desperate gamble that paid off and eliminated one of the two. Now it was one-on-one, and the other boy couldn't match Rhys's skill. Foolishly, the other boy overextended himself in a brash overhead blow. Rhys calmly stepped aside and slashed him, gently, along the ribs. The match was over, and all of the parents were standing, applauding him. He stood, exhausted in the center of the circle and rested.</span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;"> While none of the boys' parents was disappointed with their sons' performance, each of the final four took their defeats personally and felt humiliated. Among these were some of his jealous rivals who'd long conspired against Rhys. Later that night when the parents had left, the four congregated secretly and plotted revenge against Rhys. Meanwhile, Rhys slept, tired out from the day's efforts. </span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;">Two nights later as all was still (supposedly), this same group stole into Rhys's room. They entered the room singly, but before the first had taken two steps, Rhys was up and ready. The element of surprise already lost, the remaining three charged into the room. Outnumbered four-to-one and facing weapons (clubs and small knives), Rhys was still no easy prey. He downed two before one of the others caught him from behind with a lucky blow, downing him. </span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;"> They bound him to a chair and gagged him, then after reviving the other two, began torturing him. First, they beat him in the face and head. Then, they broke his left arm and right leg. Finally, they took knives and cut him cruelly in the face, one scar going from the corner of his right eye to the corner of his mouth.</span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;"> The agony was unbearable, and he blacked out several times, but they merely shook him awake and began again. About three hours before dawn, they finished and left him, tied to the chair, broken and bleeding.</span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;"> The next morning at breakfast, the headmaster abruptly became aware of Rhys's absence. He walked up to the boy's room, and discovered him there, still tied to the chair. The headmaster ran back to the great hall, summoned three of the teachers and a healer, and returned to the room. They untied him and began to administer medical aid. They splinted the broken bones and rubbed healing ointments on the bruises and bandaged the cuts.</span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br />
</span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;">WHY WERE EDWARD OR MALI NOT NOTIFIED OF THIS EVENT?</span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;">WHY WAS RHYS NOT SENT HOME FOR TREATMENT?</span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br />
</span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;"> Rhys regained consciousness three days later. The headmaster questioned him as to who had done it, but Rhys refused to implicate any of the four boys.</span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;"> Over the next month, he slowly regained his health and strength. It was fully a month before Rhys was able to resume his studies and training, and the scars never went away. This time, Rhys was sure not to shine so brightly in his tutors' eyes. For the next two months, Rhys trained with a fury, determined to regain his former proficiency. One night, exactly six months after his ordeal, Rhys retired to his room with vengeance topmost in his thoughts.</span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;"> Early the next morning, when the headmaster entered the great hall to begin preparations for breakfast, he was horrified to discover the bodies of four youths sitting at the table, tied to chairs, in a grim parody of life. There were signs of rope burns and strangulation on the necks, and by the way the heads lolled on the necks, it was obvious that the necks has been neatly snapped.</span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;"> There was a folded piece of paper on the table addressed to the headmaster. With trembling hands, he took and opened it. Written in black ink, in Rhys's flowing script were the words: </span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;">Verdict: Guilty. </span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;">He did not bother to check the boy's room, for he knew the boy was gone...</span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;"> Knowing that the fathers of the slain boys would see to his imprisonment and shortly subsequent execution, Rhys had gone to the one place where he knew he could be safe--the Rogues' Gallery.</span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br />
</span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;">WHAT IS THE ROGUES' GALLERY?</span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br />
</span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;"> What started out as a simple idea blossomed into an undertaking of some difficulty. Although almost everyone enjoyed knowledge of its existence, extremely few knew its location. Rhys began his search by asking the townsfolk of its whereabouts. After a week of such, he was amazed at the number of misinformed barkeeps, tongueless beggars, and ignorant whores and serving girls.</span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;"> Two nights later as he returning to the inn that he'd made his temporary home, he noticed he was being followed by three burly, scruffy-looking men. Rhys led his pursuers through a maze of turns and branches, but they remained on his tail. Then, accidentally, he took a wrong turn into a blind alley. Two of the men grabbed his arms, and the last put a blindfold over his eyes and said, "Remove this blindfold before you're told, and you're a dead man."</span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;"> Rhys responded by politely inquiring where he was being taken. He received no response, and correctly assumed that the short dialog was over. He heard a noise like paving stones sliding on each other, and was pushed into a passage that led underground to the sewers. Over the next hour, he was exchanged to other "escorts" at least three times, led out of and back into the sewers at least six times, and through so many turnings that five men could not have remembered them all.</span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;"> Finally, he was led into a house, taken upstairs and roughly pushed into a chair and told to remove his blindfold. Rhys removed the sash from around his eyes, and was blinded by the the light of more than two hundred candles reflected at him. After a moment's contemplation, he replaced the sash over his eyes.</span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;"> He was addressed by a deep, rumbling voice, and asked why he saw seeking the Rogues' Gallery. He answered truthfully that he was seeking to join.</span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br />
</span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;">flesh out</span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br />
</span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;"> Three years later, late one night he was returning from "work". He headed toward the waterfront (the Guild's location), making sure he was not being followed. He never made it there. From a distance, he could see the City Guard milled all about the waterfront, and the men he had considered friends were being led from the waterfront in irons, and many lay dead.</span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;"> Once more he fled-to the forest. It was here that he learned a solemn reverence for nature and a kinship with the animals. Later, he sought out and befriended a clan of sylvan elves who taught him further in the ways of the forest. He spent the next two years in the company of the elves.</span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;"> Not having seen his mother in nearly (seven years), he realized she was ignorant of the fact that he still lived. He decided to leave and visit her for a fortnight. After traveling for two days, he arrived at her house. The reunion was all that he had hoped for, and more. That night, they sat and discussed the events of the last six years. He told her of his escapades (and escapes), and she told him of the death of his father.</span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;"> Edward had been a man of noble words and actions, and it was these actions which had attracted the attention of certain enemies of the King. It seemed that Edward was aware of various plots to by an evil brotherhood to assassinate the King and assume control of the kingdom. One could only imagine of what would happen next.</span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;"> Operating clandestinely, Edward and his forces had balked the cabal at every turn. Finally, the fell group decided to eliminate the problem at the source ... to kill Edward. However, Edward knew of the plot through a spy he had planted when he became aware of the group's existence. He and a group of his most trusted and powerful allies secretly stormed the evil ones' fortress, and met them in a final battle. In the end, the cabal was utterly destroyed, but Edward had suffered a fatal wound, and died.</span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;"> That ended the recapping of the last six years' events, and they retired for the evening. Rhys stayed for the next two weeks, then left, though sadly, but knew he could always return. He began the journey back to the elven citadel.</span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;"> On the second day he was alarmed to discover the tracks of a large group of trolls traveling to the elves' home. Anxiously, he began to run hoping that the elves had defeated the trolls, but he knew in his heart that it was not so. When he arrived, it was as he had feared. The citadel was ransacked, the halls had been burned to the ground, and elven bodies lay strewn on the ground horribly mutilated. The trolls had done a thorough job, and not a soul was left alive. </span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;"> In later years, Rhys revenged the murder of the elves, and assumed his father's title and throne, but that is another story...</span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><br />
</div>Shar Qaanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12437811464432879555noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5505887718786697032.post-73479178301606368922011-11-04T17:21:00.001-04:002011-11-04T17:21:33.662-04:00The Mind is a Ghetto<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;">we may have been raised from humble circumstances, and we may have lived in what could be characterized by some as ghettos, but ghetto is a state of mind, and so we never truly lived in the ghetto, but in the estates of our imagination. for this reason, although we appreciate and love hip-hop, our experience lacks some crucial ingredient to hip-hop's most popular recipes. but for every deficit, a remedy is supplied, with a bonus. so while hip-hop has long been a language of political rebellion, a lament for the oppressive circumstances under which many of its adherents survive and labor, and a medium through which to vent rage and violence; we add to it an appreciation for things beautiful, a reverence for all the wonders of creation, and a somber respect for the horrific and fearsome.</span>Shar Qaanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12437811464432879555noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5505887718786697032.post-69202940630341100682011-11-04T17:19:00.000-04:002012-02-07T15:57:49.375-05:00This and That, Negated<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;">is it not strange how our own feelings and motives are seemingly so transparent to ourselves,</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;">yet are vague and obscure to others?</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br />
</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;">it is even more peculiar that we may cite the faults of others with facility,</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;">yet be blind and ineffectual to our own flaws.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br />
</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;">between the moments, i have made a science of inscrutability</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;">and have calculated it out to superfluous precision.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;">it is the curse i have incurred of my own volition.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br />
</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;">you are as the cure for my sickness, </span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;">but a cure i have denied myself out of an ill-placed sense of honor or dignity.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br />
</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;">i ask a boon of you: i ask that you encourage me to listen more intently to the fragrant breeze that is your voice, that you help me to quell my own ego and contain the odd brand of cruelty that is my tattoo.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br />
</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;">i am the sinning saint, the diabolical angel, the savior that destroys, neither this nor that.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>Shar Qaanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12437811464432879555noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5505887718786697032.post-50809569050591520362011-11-04T17:18:00.000-04:002011-11-04T17:18:35.269-04:00(Untitled)<pre class="western"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;">the Pains that Bind
Emotional scars are as iron bars; those
Adamantine chains retain Heaven's rains.
Earth's bountiful plenty thereby refrains from
Dispensing the life-giving force that sustains.
You Should Make More Music
Love is a melody that valiantly plays
To the length of one's span and the breadth of one's days.
To the depth of one's art, and the beat of one's heart,
It shouts and drowns out discordant malaise.</span></pre>Shar Qaanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12437811464432879555noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5505887718786697032.post-35662678506407854212011-11-03T03:26:00.001-04:002011-12-13T09:24:32.410-05:00On Loving<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">as commonly defined, to 'make love' is to engage in sexual intercourse.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">put simply, 'making love' is 'having sex,' but this former phrase is</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">ascribed a status lacked by the latter. making love is sex with all the</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">frills--intimacy, emotion, affection, romance, et cetera; where having sex</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">assumes none of these things, and is more a general description of the act.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">i am not sure whether the phrase under discussion qualifies as an</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">idiom or not, but for the sake of critical analysis, let us interpret it</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">literally to gain an alternate view on its meaning. 'make love,' as it is</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">commonly understood, means to engage in an act of loving, or to have sex</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">lovingly. what if 'make love' were interpreted as an act of creating love</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">where it previously existed in lesser quantity? more to the point, by way</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">of the physical act of sexual intercourse, the emotion, love, is elicited</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">from either participant and directed toward the other.this interpretation</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">casts our subject in a new light; it implies that love is a by-product of</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">the sexual act. while viewed somewhat distastefully by modern moral</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">standards, this understanding seems to jibe well with common experience.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">it is certainly true that pleasurable sex can and does evoke a powerful</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">emotional response, and that this response in any other context would</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">qualify as love.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">i do not ascribe any mystical or magical attributes to love. love, to me,</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">is a relative quantity, and may be understood very simply. it is the most</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">powerful feeling of affective attraction that a being has thus far</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">experienced. so often i have heard persons decry the "crushes" and</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">infatuations of youth as cheap folly. i deny this. those immature</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">feelings were as genuine as the mature love we come to experience years</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">later. the love from youth was likely not of the same depth of feeling nor</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">did it likely carry the same objective breadth. regardless of these</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">deficiencies, the feelings held as much validity in their own time as do</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">the loving feelings we now cherish.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">juvenile love is simple, innocent, humble, undemanding. if love were</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">likened to a drug, our tolerance to it when young is pitifully low. it is</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">no surprise that adolescents can and do fall do irrevocably in love, as did</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">romeo and juliet. as our tolerance for emotion grows, we are better</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">prepared to forestall the gravitic effect of attraction in order to</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">deliberate in the experience of acquaintance. that process of "getting to</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">know you" (GTKY) is so precious, (normally occurring only once, if that</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">often) that i deem it essential to conduct thoroughly and enjoy just so.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">for reasons not thoroughly understood, after initially making love, the</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">process of acquaintance sometimes changes in character. sometime the act</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">of sex can stunt an acquaintanceship; sometimes it can catalyze.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">regardless of the outcome, it can hardly be denied that once physically</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">engaged, a couple will never be the same. the consequences are sometimes</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">obvious; without taking the time to determine what is required to allow the</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">personalities to mesh, relations are like to be ill-founded.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">i am of the belief that most any two personalities can mesh agreeably IF</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">compromises, concessions, and the like are made and adhered. in this way,</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">relations are like nations sharing a border. war can be avoided if both</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">nations are dedicated to the idea of peaceable relations, and harmony can</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">thrive in an atmosphere of peace. during GTKY, assessments reveal the</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">initial level of compatibility, and the character of the relation to ensue.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">even a passive nation can have harmonious relations with a warlike nation,</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">if it submits to the other. if the appropriate treaties are not set in</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">place and adhered, if the appropriate appraisals and compromises do not</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">occur, if the partners don't agree to agree, the relation may not work.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>Shar Qaanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12437811464432879555noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5505887718786697032.post-40595454021067158342011-11-03T03:23:00.001-04:002011-11-04T17:21:42.847-04:00Night's Tour<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;">While traveling o'er the barren moor,</span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;">the knight takes pause along his tour</span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;">to offer tribute and salute</span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;">the vision of a lady fair.</span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br />
</span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;">His speech, though brief, hangs in the air,</span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;">its strident tones dispel dispair.</span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;">The words resound with echo clear;</span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;">his visage mirrors the truth they bear.</span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br />
</span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;">She is unmoved; she speaketh not;</span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;">her face does not reveal her thoughts.</span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;">It would seem she did not see</span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;">or hear his act of courtesy.</span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br />
</span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;">He intends to find a friend</span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;">and may not pass this way again;</span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;">so he delays, a while he stays</span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;">to ponder how this path might end.</span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br />
</span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;">But as though she were made of stone,</span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;">this matriarch on her black throne</span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;">behaves haughtily and spitefully.</span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;">Our hero goes his way alone.</span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br />
</span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;">In days to come her face may change,</span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;">but he'll have crossed that lonely range,</span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;">and ventured to pastures more green,</span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;">to find a truly worthy queen.</span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><br />
</div>Shar Qaanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12437811464432879555noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5505887718786697032.post-55937855357967346622011-11-03T03:21:00.001-04:002011-11-04T17:21:42.866-04:00Spectres of Together<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;">At day's end, when slumber calls, so too your body beckons me: softly, urgently.</span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br />
</span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;">I muse of whispering caresses and pine for the feel of your limbs entwined about my body.</span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;">Memories of your skin, sleek and fragrant against my own, linger, wraith-like.</span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br />
</span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;">In semi-conscious reverie,</span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;">My mouth traces your placid peaks and tender valleys,</span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;">Kissing your lips and your lips.</span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br />
</span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;">As the honeybee seeks nectar from the demure rose,</span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;">I also delve between velvety petals, foraging for bliss.</span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;">Your face brushes against my own as we share the primal kiss.</span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;">I forget myself in visions of you: regal, graceful, in restful repose.</span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br />
</span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;">Passionate lament resounds through the halls of my remembrance.</span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><br />
</div>Shar Qaanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12437811464432879555noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5505887718786697032.post-89207094682869581122011-11-03T03:07:00.001-04:002011-11-04T17:21:42.912-04:00Quantum Logos<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;">we bind our thoughts in linguistic prisons,</span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;">confining them to stencils of semantic.</span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br />
</span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;">thought is fluid and chimaeric; prolific,</span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;">birthing twin siblings of homophone and homonym.</span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br />
</span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;">mental concepts dance and flitter, bridging</span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;">the lacunae betwixt a meaning and its shades</span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;">(for shade is shadow, and a spirit is a shade;</span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;">thus is a spirit of usage also a shade of meaning).</span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br />
</span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;">words are as diamond lattice, transparent entrapments</span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;">within which we cage these gleeful shapeshifters,</span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;">limiting them to singular dimension.</span></div>Shar Qaanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12437811464432879555noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5505887718786697032.post-10909676806211355642011-11-03T03:04:00.001-04:002011-11-04T17:21:43.132-04:00Mist in the Wind<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br />
</span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;">Crystal-clear and placid is contemplation's basin;</span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;">a pensive splash of sustenance, remote, atop a crag.</span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;">Helios and Luna console and caress</span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;">yon humble creation, knows it aught of distress?</span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br />
</span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;">Yet surely you sense the wistful lament; </span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;">gay breeze bears aloft impalpable tears.</span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;">No image of weary wayfarer to echo;</span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;">no sojourning eagle to sip at its shores.</span></div>Shar Qaanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12437811464432879555noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5505887718786697032.post-49079795371805290852011-11-03T03:02:00.001-04:002011-11-04T17:21:43.154-04:00Idyll of the Calends<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;">In sequestered place from time and space</span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;">surveying wordlessly the chase</span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;">of years by year, and day by days</span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;">as sundial's shadow seasons trace;</span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;">impassively he stands in place</span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;">hourglass eyes in square clockface.</span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br />
</span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;">The sun reigns hazy, mid-day heat,</span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;">fat droplets soak the asphalt street</span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;">forming puddles--deep, abysmal pools;</span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;">clear, cool draughts for muddled fools</span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;">that abruptly vanish and retreat</span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;">to distance safe from aimless feet.</span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br />
</span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;">In the evening of the year</span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;">red-orange leaves scorn passing feet</span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;">and trodden twigs make cryptic speech</span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;">like "whisper-crack" and "rustlescratch."</span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;">they gossip tactical retreat:</span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;">"earth withdraws strength for needed sleep;</span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;">summer has fled the fall frontier."</span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br />
</span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;">Silent, frosty, winter nights hide</span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;">joyous lakes 'neath skies of ice</span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;">gurgling ancient, arcane melodies,</span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;">unknown to all but archmage wise.</span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;">To him the water bodies sing</span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;">the ballad "Battle Winterspring." </span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br />
</span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;">But for return of life to a land near-dead</span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;">all beings, great and small, rejoice--</span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;">Behold the rebirth of dormant earth;</span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;">each child of nature lifts its voice.</span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;">Old rivals hail; loved ones embrace.</span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;">The game's rejoined; resume the chase!</span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br />
</span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;">Beyond the threshold of the world,</span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;">this fleeting realm of wroth and pain,</span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;">our sentinel keeps watchful eye</span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;">without surcease, without refrain.</span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;">His calendar reads dusk to dawn,</span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;">sunrise to set, and back again.</span></div>Shar Qaanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12437811464432879555noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5505887718786697032.post-70995112013352146602011-11-03T03:00:00.001-04:002011-11-04T17:21:43.172-04:00Heaven and Earth<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;">How warmly, brightly her spirit shines <br />
across his sea of space and shadow. <br />
Her song moves him as the pliant willow, <br />
whispers through him like a breeze through pines. <br />
<br />
Cloaked in darkness, She undresses. <br />
Under leather, wool, and cotton <br />
next to her skin, are his caresses; <br />
in ardent cries, her pain forgotten. <br />
<br />
Amid the rays of brightest day, <br />
they frolic within streams of light. <br />
Yet, as radiance wanes away, <br />
They sway to rhythms of the night. <br />
<br />
Her form is grace and elegance, <br />
primal wisdom, sensuality, <br />
forged from femininity, quenched, <br />
then honed with artful diligence. <br />
<br />
Gaia's child devoted, true; <br />
Her vitality is passion. <br />
He is the Son and the Sun of Heaven, <br />
restrained, possessed only by one. </span>Shar Qaanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12437811464432879555noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5505887718786697032.post-74815623946888401562011-11-03T02:57:00.001-04:002011-11-04T17:21:43.189-04:00Desire's Reply<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br />
to embrace her, to be embraced by her; <br />
<br />
<br />
to partake in the same spark of warmth that infuses her being; <br />
to sustain it so that the burdens of my soul are made lighter; <br />
<br />
<br />
to know complementarity in four dimensions: <br />
harmony of spirit, peerage of intellect, mutual empathy, and physical compassion; <br />
<br />
<br />
to find sanctuary in her presence; <br />
to feel the care that she bears for me even in her absence; <br />
<br />
<br />
to share peace within a joyous sphere; <br />
to replenish and have replenished the vessels of truth, love, and courage; <br />
<br />
<br />
to understand how i have come to feel this way; <br />
to know why i yearn for her affections as for no other; <br />
<br />
</span><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;">to love her, to be loved by her.</span></div>Shar Qaanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12437811464432879555noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5505887718786697032.post-22128375037760860102011-10-25T15:18:00.000-04:002011-11-03T04:07:33.705-04:00Character Dis-armoring<div><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: small;"><i>When people are born they are soft and supple when they perish they are hard and rigid</i></span></div><div><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: small;"><i>--TTC ch.76</i></span></div><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: small;"><br />
</span><br />
<div><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: small;">In this verse, rigidity and stiffness are associated with death while softness and suppleness are associated with life. This comparison can be interpreted literally or metaphorically, as can virtually all of the TTC. The obvious literal interpretation is that toward the end of his span, man is often physically rigid. Muscles, joints, and tendons are stiff from disuse. Bones have turned brittle, more likely to shatter than bend at a fall. Certainly after death this is the case. </span></div><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: small;"><br />
We could likewise discuss spiritual death. We could say that people are mentally or behaviorally inflexible towards life's end. Their experiences have often closed them off from the ultimate variety to be found in life, and they dwell in the pain of the past errors or in the staid comfort of habit. Near unto death, many humans generally will have ceased learning and growing. Opinions have become fixed, attitudes and habits likewise ingrained. </span><br />
<div><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: small;">One might be inclined to infer a cause-effect relationship here. Old age brings hardness, brittleness, and stiffness, and eventually death. In the U.S., for example, it's fairly common to observe middle-aged citizens who can scarcely walk unassisted, and even with assistance, move rather slowly. Contrast this with a common depiction of elderly Chinese citizens, who are often vital and active well into their twilight years, having practiced Tai Chi and Chi Gung.</span></div><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: small;"><br />
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: small;"></span><br />
<div style="font-family: FreeSerif;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"></span></span><br />
<div style="font-family: FreeSerif;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: small;">One of the author's worst fears was once the long decline into old age, and the suffering that often result from progressive loss of health. Since discovering yoga, I know that this is a foolish fear. Stiffness, pain, and brittleness need not herald death's approach. In fact, flexibility training will likely will do much to forestall death and the chronic suffering that often signals it. Understanding this, is there any surprise that women tend to outlive men on average?</span></span></span></div></div><div style="font-family: FreeSerif; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: small;"><br />
</span></span></span></div><div style="font-family: FreeSerif;"></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: small;">I've already written an essay about the great benefits I derived from adopting yoga into my fitness practice. For most of my adolescent and adult years, fitness was predominantly geared towards strength training. While I acknowledged decline in my ability to flex and bend limbs over time, I ignored the symptoms until they became too painful to ignore. Yoga's benefit is that it requires limbs to act in concert with each other in equilibrium. Some of the postures can be navigated for a time with strength alone, but this is rather exhausting. Moreover, difficulty in yoga indicates regions of the body where stiffness has taken hold. When one experiences fatigue in yoga, the cause is often not weakness, but stiffness and unbalanced muscle groups. This is a common affliction in the western culture, where one's ability to lift and push is prized, but one's ability to reach, stretch, and bend is generally not. As a result bodily abductors are exercised more than the adductors; consequently, yoga is difficult and wearisome.</span></span></div></div><div style="font-family: FreeSerif; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: small;"><br />
</span></span></div><div style="font-family: FreeSerif;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Yoga taught me that I bear stress in the hips, back, and upper legs. Through sustained practice, I've located several pockets of muscular rigidity in those regions, so I'm now in an ongoing campaign to banish such rigidity wherever I encounter it. My practice has also made me more aware of any difficulty experienced in movement so that I am more likely to notice it whenever bodily movement betrays it. In theory, the body should be balanced across its central axis, the spinal column. I should have the same range of motion on one side as on the other. Granted, the left and right halves of the body are not identical; practices and habits will have modified the natural balance between left and right hemispheres for better or worse. I am developing a practice intended to bring the left and right halves of my body into closer balance and harmony.</span></span></div></div><div><div style="font-family: FreeSerif;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: small;"><br />
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<div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">The deeper connection is that evolution generally flows from within to without, and here is the reasoning:</span></div><div><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: small;"> 1) Our bodily condition is largely the sum of decisions, attitudes, actions, habits, and practices over a lifetime. I've seen it written that the only true exercise of so-called "free will" is the object of one's attention. At any moment, we are free to choose which objects to attend with our mental faculties, again for better or worse. We are conscious of those objects to we we apply our attention, and we tend to develop and evolve "in the direction" dictated by our consciousness. Our power of will is exerted exclusively on those objects in our sphere of attention. We co-create our existence around those objects in our sphere of attention, and this is how we exercise our vaunted free will. Consequently, it becomes very important to exercise some judiciousness over the objects we allow access to our power of will and sphere of attention. Maintaining improper focus can have negative effects over a lifespan, as we might imagine.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: small;"> 2) Any inflexibility or stiffness in the body therefore has its likely cause not in the body (barring congenital or acquired defect), but in our non-material essence. Therapy is a long, drawn-out process aimed at locating the source of such internal causes and curing them through some sort of cathartive process/method. What should be apparent, is that non-material causes cannot be remedied through material means.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: small;"> 3) In quantum mechanics, there is a principle known as time-reversal symmetry (TRS). TRS essentially posits that processes can be undone by reversing in space-time the process of creation. I don't know how to reverse the flow of time, but I do know how to undo stiffness through the practice of yoga. The logical consequence, is that by undoing the material effect, you can confront and dispel the cause of stiffness, which is ultimately non-material (mental/spiritual) in nature.</span></div><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: small;"><br />
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<div><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: small;">This is still a work in process, so I can't sell you a DVD yet, but let's determine if it makes sense from a logical perspective. Let's suppose that somewhere in our consciousness, there is a bastion of rigidity, based in belief, attitude, habit, or practice. It acts in such a way to diminish our physical capacity to act/move (i.e. pain). We do not need to know the precise mechanism by which the illness acts. What we do know are the features of our experience which attempt to inform us that we are suffering. In response, we engage in activity to counteract the effect of the purported illness. The question we need answered is whether the activity performed </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">is sufficient </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">to remedy the effect of the illness -- not simply to negate the effect, but to eradicate the cause. The root cause was clearly sufficient to create a physical manifestation of pain. Can our response defeat the cause? Not directly. Our response in this case is physical, corresponding to the effect.</span></div><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: small;"><br />
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<div><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: small;">Pain is a signal of an unhealthy condition, it can be understood as a cry for help or attention, which as you may recall, is the source of consciousness. By stimulating the pain response, a phenomenon attempts to enter your consciousness and receive attention. By engaging in measures to alleviate the pain, you answer the call for help. By performing behaviors to address the pain-effect you now demonstrate self-compassion or self-love. By sustaining those measures, you move toward wholeness and health. The decision to change behavior is a non-material response to address the non-material cause of the pain. So long as the behavior persists, reason for the pain has no longer cause to persist.</span></div><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: small;"><br />
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<div><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: small;">In the film, "The Matrix" is a scene where a young adept is bending spoons with the power of his mind. He admonishes Neo, "You cannot bend the spoon, it is impossible. Instead try to understand the truth that there is no spoon, then you'll see that it is not the spoon that bends, it is only yourself." Reflecting on this and the opening quote I now suspect that "bending the self" is not metaphysical advice but practical counsel. We all enter this world soft and tender, pliable and supple. It is only through experience and our response to it that we acquire the attributes of death. Perhaps all we require is sustained training to return to the primal state of suppleness and softness in order to cultivate life and greater power as suggested in the film.</span></div>Shar Qaanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12437811464432879555noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5505887718786697032.post-35891340294439629242011-10-23T04:45:00.000-04:002011-11-03T04:09:57.329-04:00<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNVNQfApS9_k4DC9t-X5HzcBlqy21epGbyGNtJLtecwvTNEMm69rF_-B6QguzfRMDdcAUHZYg3A4xdrqNhgnqFmM13rtaXr6rNtJR3MTp_UB0_8AjHSuZYtu36YTeiSDpW-2E7eEUKvVY/s1600/tree_of_life_stencil.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNVNQfApS9_k4DC9t-X5HzcBlqy21epGbyGNtJLtecwvTNEMm69rF_-B6QguzfRMDdcAUHZYg3A4xdrqNhgnqFmM13rtaXr6rNtJR3MTp_UB0_8AjHSuZYtu36YTeiSDpW-2E7eEUKvVY/s320/tree_of_life_stencil.png" width="182" /></a></div>Shar Qaanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12437811464432879555noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5505887718786697032.post-87883794751319398652011-10-23T04:44:00.000-04:002011-11-03T04:09:57.330-04:00<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCdSWFwyXF8ygUTz8T_AOCRN9LV4M7obaEJCJvSzC8EVygbWO7z91pYk4O42jv0VKfbzFnCTlAG8qjDGUhH4ZhjuTrGU1yeZ4tb-uA1mYcXC3QUClmy9ZB7y6W-3RwA6AkFKp82rxfVnQ/s1600/dnadroid.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCdSWFwyXF8ygUTz8T_AOCRN9LV4M7obaEJCJvSzC8EVygbWO7z91pYk4O42jv0VKfbzFnCTlAG8qjDGUhH4ZhjuTrGU1yeZ4tb-uA1mYcXC3QUClmy9ZB7y6W-3RwA6AkFKp82rxfVnQ/s1600/dnadroid.png" /></a></div>Shar Qaanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12437811464432879555noreply@blogger.com0