I saved this painting by Klimt from my previous post. It says a lot about what we’re really missing these days.

Please don’t be upset if I get back on this, somehow unpleasant, subject. I know that quite a few of my friends don’t even like to think about it. But I believe it is an essential factor in our current time and to handle it is unavoidable.

I don’t really know how to begin to talk about my thoughts all about this issue. Why should I have doubt? What is happening to us? We are becoming more and more alienated.

Lately, I have to work more often as a retired for earn money because the expense of living is going up, and my pension isn’t enough. I think it’s general affected! Of course, this is not a surprise. What I want to say is the behaviour and reflection of the people in these days.

The elders are cool! They don’t worry about what the news from the government is clamour every day about the measures. When I want to pick up the passengers, I tell them that they have a free choice to take front-seat or backseat. The older ones take the front seat gladly. They mean that in front-seat it is more space. Of course, until recently, the young people also Have had no problem sitting in the front seat.

But last time, I had a guest, a young woman in my taxi from a hospital, who sat in the backseat and wanted to the city. She wore such a thick (FFC) mask, and in the whole trip (about ten minutes), she coughed! Every few seconds: oh, oh, oh! I didn’t say anything until we reached the point where she wanted to get off. When she wanted to pay me, I turned to her and saw her young beautiful face behind this huge mask. At this moment, I couldn’t stop my feeling of compassion and said: when you go out, please take off this horrible mask, you can take a breath in the fresh air then.

Her answer was quick: I don’t do that! I am a nurse, and I believe in this virus!! I was not just surprised but even shocked. It sounded to me like we’re talking about the existence of God, And I expect a nun to gainsay her beliefs. I mentioned that I heard her coughing all the time, and I just wanted her well being. But she didn’t need my advice, she said and repeated: she’s a nurse and believe in it.

I am sad and terrified. It seems that we’re diverging tremendously. What a pity! I wish we’d remember our trust and need for each other. I do hug every loving buddy of my own. There are no inhibitions for me. I hope you’ll do it as well.

Here is a research about how important is Hugging. I give a big HUG to you all until the good days come back again! 🤗🤗💖

RESEARCH: The importance of embracing in the digital age

By SearchingTheMeaningOfLife with thanks 🙏💖

In a world where hugs are shrinking, scientists point to the benefits of touching the body and soul MARIANINA PATSA

Non-touch epidemic. The hugs we give are diminishing as we communicate more and more through the internet. Adults in big cities limit the time they spend with their loved ones. The seniors of the metropolises spend a partial 5 days a week without seeing or touching the “soul” that the speech says. But being hugged is essential for our quality of life, mental and physical health.

A hug protects, says a similar study by researchers at Carnegie Mellon University and confirms the fact that the more we hug, the less likely we are to get sick. “Touch increases the number of cells in the first line of the immune system. Serotonin (ie the body’s natural – antidepressant hormone) is also increased. So those who receive more hugs are more protected from inflammation and infections that threaten the health of our bodies.

Tiffany Field, the founder of the Touch Research Institute at Miami Medical School, is studying neglected touch and its effects on health. “We know from science what happens under the skin when pressure receptors are stimulated. “Heart rate slows down, blood pressure drops and stress hormone decreases, cortisol, ” he told the Guardian.

But the benefits do not end there as ” another person’s touch soothes the effects of social exclusion,” according to new UCL research. “We have shown for the first time that a gentle touch from a stranger can reduce feelings of social exclusion following a social rejection,” said study lead author Mariana von Mohr (UCL Clinical, Education & Health Psychology). The discovery follows recent findings that emotional social contact can be encoded by a special physiological system that connects the skin to the brain. Only three other studies have directly examined the effects of touch encouragement on social interactions.

But not all touches are the same: Researchers have found that those who received a faster and more “neutral” touch had reduced feelings of social exclusion compared with those who received a hug or a touch that was the result of real emotion. Of course, neither of them managed to completely eliminate the negative consequences of social exclusion, but one has to start somewhere.

source: https://www.doctv.gr/

Via a very knowledgeable and wise friend of mine Laurent Tremblay

I do not agree for many reasons, like for the one, if this “kills himself” means suicide. Usually, it is not the “I” alone who kills itself, but a painful pathological complex that takes over the “I”. And if you want control over yourself to the point to destroy yourself, obviously, a control complex is already taking control of you.

What is your opinion?

Do or do not. There is no try! Said Yoda in Star Wars, Ep. 5.
If you have watched it or are a fan of these series, you may know what I’m talking about. This is not such a committing suicide, but It is a battle with the self.

And how wondrous Shakespeare shows in his works the inner challenge of humans. Always when his characters confront the evil, their own evil. I must think of Hamlet, who suddenly got the truth from his dead father’s soul about the terrible thing that happened to him, and there the tragedy begins. Here comes a question: To Be or Not To Be

Hamlet is thinking about life and death. It is the great question that Hamlet is asking about human existence in general and his own existence in particular – a reflection on whether it’s better to be alive or to be dead.

 In this scene in which Hamlet says his famous narration: “to be or not to be” (as some take it for having fun), he brings up the choice for living on or not. As he continues:

That is the question; whether ’tis nobler in the mind to suffer, the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune, Or to take arms against a sea of troubles? And by opposing end them. to die, to sleep- no more – and by a sleep to say we end the headache and the thousand natural shocks… You surely know it well.

This “putting an end” is, of course, for a moment: the idea of killing himself and solving the problem. It’s not for a painful psychological complex, but this is only a big shock, which man must master, and it can be not so easy!

We all have two sides: the light and the dark. Or let the Master speak:

And finally, I think it is a severe and heavy subject, and we must give an immense effort to find out how to understand it. But in my opinion, it is to find the balance. There is a duality in everything, and balance is the only solution.

The music might be helpful! Here is Moody Blues with (Question of) Balance. Have a peaceful weekend, everybody. 🤗🙏💖

“The Balance”

After he had journeyed,
And his feet were sore,
And he was tired,
He came upon an orange grove
And he rested
And he lay in the cool,
And while he rested, he took to himself an orange and tasted it,
And it was good.
And he felt the earth to his spine,
And he asked, and he saw the tree above him and the stars,
And the veins in the leaf,
And the light, and the balance.
And he saw magnificent perfection,
Whereon he thought of himself in balance,
And he knew he was.

Just open your eyes,
And realize, the way it’s always been.
Just open your mind
And you will find
The way it’s always been.
Just open your heart
And that’s a start.

And he thought of those he angered,
For he was not a violent man,
And he thought of those he hurt
For he was not a cruel man
And he thought of those he frightened
For he was not an evil man,
And he understood.
He understood himself.

Upon this, he saw that when he was of anger or knew hurt or felt fear,
It was because he was not understanding,
And he learned compassion.

And with his eye of compassion.
He saw his enemies like unto himself,
And he learned love.
Then, he was answered.

Just open your eyes,
And realize, the way it’s always been.
Just open your mind
And you will find
The way it’s always been.
Just open your heart
And that’s a start.

https://www.nosweatshakespeare.com/quotes/soliloquies/to-be-or-not-to-be/

Let’s again have another opportunity to adore the land of Egypt, the magic land. Here I want to share with you about Ahmose-Nefertari, “The Wife of the God”.

Ahmose-Nefertari was the first Egyptian queen to hold the title of “God’s First Wife of Amun”.

Ahmose-Nefertari (Ancient Egyptian: Jꜥḥ ms Nfr trj) was the first Great Royal Wife of the 18th Dynasty of Ancient Egypt. She was a daughter of Seqenenre Tao and Ahhotep I, and royal sister and wife to Ahmose I. Her son Amenhotep I became pharaoh and she may have served as his regent when he was young. Ahmose-Nefertari was deified after her death. Wikipedia

Was Queen Ahmose Nefertari the mother of Ancient Egypt’s glittering 18th dynasty? The 17^th dynasty in Ancient Egypt was a time of turmoil and conflict. It was a time in Egypt known as the Second Intermediate Period when Lower Egypt was ruled by a group of invaders called the Hyksos, who were an Asiatic people. They were also known as ‘the Shepherd Kings” or “Desert Princes.” It was the Hyksos that introduced the chariot and the horse into Egypt. The Hyksos had initially infiltrated the Eastern Delta and created their capital at Avaris. They extended their rule as far as Middle Egypt, but never gained control of Lower Egypt which remained under the control of the Kings in Thebes. It was the last couple of these Theban Kings of the 17^th dynasty who went to war and expelled the Hyksos invaders. But one of the truly remarkable things about this period is some of the strong and talented women who helped to rule the country and defeat the invaders, (more here)

As we see, the feminine part of the human being has left a strong influence on our history. This is an important issue, from which we can learn a lot.

Here are details of this artistic silhouette of the Wife of Amun: The Goddess. By Marie Grillot, with heartfelt thanks. 🙏💖

Représentation d’Ahmès-Nefertari dans une tombe thébaine

via https://egyptophile.blogspot.com/

The silhouette of Queen Ahmes-Nefertari stands out against a blue-grey background and seems to be shrouded in foliage: perhaps she is represented under a canopy, or an arbour, from which bind bindweed twigs fall. Indeed the “Convolvulus” took, in the Pharaonic era, a function not only nourishing but also protective. “At the late Ramesside period, we see forms of ‘convolvulus’ with five lobes, surrounding royal personalities”, specify Frédéric Dupont and Cyril Malouet in their study on this plant.

The sovereign, turned to her right, is recognizable by her black skin. “If we tried to explain this black colour in the past, by the fact that the queen must have been Nubian, we know it since that this thesis was rejected by the examination of her mummy, whose white pigmentation of the skin shows, that ‘ she was not from this region. “specifies Christian Leblanc in his” Queens of the Nile “.

Florence Quentin (“The Great Sovereigns of Egypt”) analyzes the representations of Ahmès-Nefertari as follows: “She is represented with a complexion declined in shades ranging from the deepest black to green or dark red, one of her distinctive marks – venerated in this seemingly obscure, even dark aspect, for she is none other in the eyes of her successors, but one of the manifestations of the Great Mother protecting her children beyond death, just as much as the goddess of rebirth, the embodiment of fertility, like the fertilizing silt of the Nile “.

In front of her face is drawn her cartridge. Her tripartite wig is covered with the remains of a vulture, the headdress of the royal mothers, surmounted by a mortar in which are stuck two straight feathers against which is plated, at the base, a red solar disk.

Her dark complexion meant that the artist had to “adapt” her colours; thus the eyebrows, the eyes, the lips, the folds of the neck, as well as her earrings and bracelets are treated in white.

She is adorned with a large ousekh necklace, which uses the same tones as her headdress. They are also found in the flexible vegetable sceptre that she squeezes with her right hand, arm folded under her breast. His left-hand embraces a lotus stem with a blooming flower, a symbol of rebirth.

She is dressed in a long, loose-fitting white linen dress, the transparency of which hints at her shapes, the contours of which are traced in red. The garment, which has sleeves ending at the elbow, appears to be pleated at the top. It is attached under the chest by a belt that falls in two coloured sections: one in shades of blue with white and blue circular patterns and the other, red with almost identical patterns but slightly larger. And, the charming and lovely detail: the end of each side ends with the pattern and colour of the other …

“Ahmes-Nefertari is shown here in a flowing, pleated dress; typical of depictions of elite women from the Ramesside period. (circa 1295-1069 BC) rather than how long the queen was alive. She wears the vulture headdress of the goddess Mut, wife of Amun of Thebes, surmounted by a solar disk and ostrich feathers. The cobra on her crown and the flail in one hand indicates her royal status. The lotus flower was often held by deceased women, representing the rebirth: “specifies the British Museum”.

This fragment of the scene, measuring 45 cm by 20 cm, is incomplete. It comes from the Theban tomb TT 113, which is precisely in the sector of el-Khokha. Its owner, Kynebou, was an ouab priest of the secrets of the domain of Amun. He exercised his functions during the reign of Ramses VIII, and the representation of the queen, deified in her tomb, is the testimony that she was still venerated, alongside Amenhotep I, four centuries after their death.

The Porter & Moss states: “The tomb is now largely destroyed; this register is shown intact, in a drawing by Robert Hay (BL Addmss 29822 f. 117): the owner of the tomb makes offerings to Amenhotep I, Ahmose Nefertari (in a sanctuary), and a Djed-clad pillar “.

In “Twelve queens of Egypt”, Pierre Tallet brings these interesting details on the representations of the sovereign in Thebes: “We record her presence in forty-eight Theban tombs, and she appears on several occasions in the bas-reliefs of Karnak, memorial temples of Seti I and Ramses II on the west bank. There are still about twenty votive statues in his image and many mentions of him in jewellery, graffiti, ostraca. In all of this material, Ahmès Néfertari is regularly mentioned with her titles of a royal wife and royal mother: She also appears as ‘the Wife of the God’ and takes on the aspect of a divinity who borrows from Hathor some of her distinctive features, working for the protection of the dead in the afterlife “.

This fragment (along with two others) was acquired in 1868 from Robert James Hay by the British Museum, where it is exhibited under the reference EA37994.

Marie Grillot

sources:

tomb-painting

https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/Y_EA37994

Reines du Nil, Christian Leblanc, The Library of the Untraceable, 2009

The great sovereigns of Egypt, Florence Quentin, Perrin, 2021

12 queens of Egypt who changed history, Pierre Tallet

TOPOGRAPHICAL BIBLIOGRAPHY OF ANCIENT EGYPTIAN HIEROGLYPHIC TEXTS, RELIEFS, AND PAINTINGS I. THE THEBAN NECROPOLIS PART 1. PRIVATE TOMBS BY THE LATE BERTHA PORTER AND ROSALIND LB MOSS, B.Sc. (OxoN.), FSA, AssistedURNE by ETHEL W. SECOND EDITION REVISED AND AUGMENTED GRIFFITH INSTITUTE ASHMOLEAN MUSEUM OXFORD

http://www.griffith.ox.ac.uk/topbib/pdf/pm1-1.pdf

Interpretation of the “convolvulus” of Egyptologists by Cynanchum acutum L. (Asclepiadaceae), Frédéric Dupont & Cyril Malouet

https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/12538078.2003.10516007

Honestly, I didn’t want to get back on this issue again, but this almost new occurrence made me react to it and share my thoughts. As I might mention before, I had a great expectation of freedom (especially freedom of the press) in western countries because of my job as a journalist. But it came out, slowly but surely, that it is not the fact. Of course, I don’t mean that here in the West, something like dictatorism prevails. But there is a power, which is much stronger than any dictator, and that is money.

There is some journalist for sure, who still are working heartily and honestly for digging out the truth. They still do not belong to the top. At the top, they will have responsibilities to governments! And that is the point that I don’t feel good about it.

There have been a few examples over the years I’ve lived and witnessed here, but now it’s something brand new. Bild magazine (Bild Zeitung) is famous for issues on gossip. I think there are some similarities in the world. And there is no wonder that it also does with the machos and man’s world.

We must thank here the New York Times Magazine, which helped to rescue the German free press! Otherwise, it might never come out. You know, unfortunately, the Germans are somehow tamed, and the millionaires like Axel Springer publisher knows it well. Therefore, The truth remained hidden.

Here is a part of the report by the NYTimes:

The editor, Julian Reichelt, had been accused of abusing his power involving a relationship with a junior employee at Bild, a tabloid owned by the media giant Axel Springer.

Bild, a center-right tabloid that has fed popular anger at Chancellor Angela Merkel and her Covid-19 restrictions, dismissed the editor in chief, Julian Reichelt, after The New York Times reported on details of Mr. Reichelt’s relationship with a trainee, who testified during an independent legal investigation that in 2018 he had summoned her to a hotel near the office for sex and asked her to keep a payment secret. Hours after Mr. Reichelt was ousted, the newsmagazine Der Spiegel published allegations that Mr. Reichelt had abused his position to pursue relationships with several women on his staff.

Mr. Reichelt took a leave of absence in March after Der Spiegel, a German newsmagazine, reported that Axel Springer was investigating allegations of abuse of power and complaints that he had relationships with female employees.

Twelve days later, he returned after the investigation, conducted with help from the Freshfields law firm, concluded that Mr. Reichelt had mixed his personal and professional lives but had not broken any laws. The investigation found no evidence of sexual harassment or coercion, Axel Springer said at the time.

The courageous warrior, who didn’t give up, was of course a woman. Thank Goddess! She had stubbornly fought until the truth came out.

But the reporter who had written that investigation,,Juliane Löffler, had the lead byline on an article published Monday in the magazine Der Spiegel, which first broke the news this spring of the investigation into Mr. Reichelt. The article described Mr. Reichelt as a man “obsessed with power” who had a “pattern” of both promoting and seducing young women at Bild.

The magazine also raised further questions about Axel Springer’s internal investigation, which had promised anonymity to women who testified. Nonetheless, one of the women received a message from a “confidant” of Mr. Reichelt, urging her not to speak to investigators, Der Spiegel reported.

The Frankfurter Rundschau, based in Frankfurt am Main, one of the regional newspapers owned by the Ippen Media company that had planned to publish the investigation, ran an editorial on Monday calling the decision damaging to their relationship of trust with their readers.

The German Journalists’ Association criticized Ippen’s decision not to publish the investigation. But journalists discussing the reporting also raised questions about why the world of German publishing had struggled to have its own MeToo reckoning, and why it took attention from American media to prompt this action.

As the German media world focused on the turmoil at Axel Springer, the staff of Politico, whose acquisition by Springer is expected to close as soon as this week, was largely focused elsewhere. Journalists there are considering forming a union, and organizers have set a deadline of this month to gather support.

His sexual relationships with women on his staff were known in Bild’s office, Der Spiegel reported.

That is a stony path: the way in freedom and democracy. And when there is much powerful influence, it will be hard. But we have to conquer fear because we will be successful.

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/10/18/business/media/julian-reichelt-axel-springer.html

I heard only his name, those days in Iran when I have been studying arts and inner architecture. We had to learn colours and how to work with them. I have known him and his masterworks truly here in Germany.

Gustav Klimt In Brief

He is one of the most advanced painters who have mastered geometry and the appropriate colour of the painting.

And, of course, the beauties of the curves!

Here is a well-done video by Great art explained, in which James Payne discusses ‘The Kiss’. (der Kuss)

This central late work by Gustav Klimt is one of his great allegories, in which he uses a bold composition to thematize the cycle of human life. The first sketches on paper were made in 1908, the execution in oil from 1910. On the occasion of the first presentation at the International Art Exhibition in Rome, in 1911, Klimt received the gold medal. For reasons that were not known in detail, he decided to fundamentally revise the picture in 1915. Klimt achieves the dissonant entanglement of life and death through the formal and motivic contrasting of a stream of naked human bodies: enveloped in colourful ornaments and flowers, mother and child, an old woman and a pair of lovers – on the right, and the solitary figure of death in dark clothes on the left side. The original probably has had a gold-coloured background but turns grey in the final version, death – wrapped in a blue ornamented cloak, and with a raised small red club, which appears dynamic and alive, designed in bright colours. It is also condensed with further figures and ornaments. (Here in original)

I have seen a austrian made movie from the young Kimt, though I can’t remember the name. Anyway, here is a trailer of a documentary on him.

I could continue with his painting here endlessly! He is a magician in his arts.

Sources:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gustav_Klimt

By Gustav Klimt – 1. The Yorck Project (2002) 10.000 Meisterwerke der Malerei (DVD-ROM), distributed by DIRECTMEDIA Publishing GmbH. ISBN: 3936122202.2. Neue Galerie New York, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=153485 (Paintings)

Open culture (Gustav Klimt)

https://www.openculture.com/2021/10/gustav-klimts-masterpieces-destroyed-during-world-war-ii-get-recreated-with-artificial-intelligence.html

https://www.openculture.com/2021/10/gustav-klimts-masterpieces-destroyed-during-world-war-ii-get-recreated-with-artificial-intelligence.html

https://www.vienna-unwrapped.com/gustav-klimt-artwork/

preface

I would just like briefly to report on my break and hope you won’t be so bored! That was actually my plan to set myself back a bit and to reduce the pressure on my mind. But as if! That was a stressful, exhausting time.Not only because I had to work to earn the needed money, but also because of other issues (difficulties) that came upon me without grace.One of them was that I had to take care of my grandchildren more often. As a dear grandpa, of course, that’s always a wish for me and of every grandpa to do it, but at my age sometimes it’s very exhausting, especially when I had to do it alone! Phew, they have such claims! And then my young neighbour from the top floor came along, who wanted at any case, to cut the branches of the trees in the garden and as I am not the one who sits quietly and watch, I had to join in! Besides, my dear wife, Regina, has planned to go south for an “alkaline fasting”. Of course, I couldn’t let her drive that far without really wanting to prepare our ten-year-old car. That meant that I had to drag the winter tires from the cellar into the car and drive to the car service station. I tell you: I had such a feeling when I went to bed, I fell like a log on the mattress. Well, I know and appreciate some adorable friends who have wished me a good rest and maybe even missed me. But unfortunately, I cannot speak of any recovery, maybe next time!!

Now I want to celebrate Nietzsche, Friedrich Wilhelm, who was born on October 15, 1844. He was a philosopher, cultural critic, composer, poet, writer, and philologist, and for sure, with a controversial soul who was hated and loved by many.

Of course, Nietzsche, by his statement: “God is dead”, does not deny the existence of God but missing its presence.

Friedrich Nietzsche in Thus Spoke Zarathustra says:

“The higher we soar, the smaller we appear to those who cannot fly.”

And

“But the worst enemy you can meet will always be yourself; you lie in wait for yourself in caverns and forests. Lonely one, you are going the way to yourself! And your way goes past yourself, and your seven devils! You will be a heretic to yourself and witch and soothsayer and fool and doubter and unholy one and villain. You must be ready to burn yourself in your own flame: how could you become new if you had not first become ashes?”

Here, I have a piece to share with you from our Greek friends, Searching The Meaning Of Life, to have another look at this Genius. <And it is always useful such a lesson, when the freedom of man become tight!>
Happy birthday and thanks for your insane genius.

By https://searchingthemeaningoflife.wordpress.com/author/searchingthemeaningoflife/

Our treasure is in the hive of our knowledge. And we always go there since we are winged insects of nature and collectors of the honey of the mind.

Like Schopenhauer, (and C.G.Jung), Nietzsche was interested in his youth, in the range of Eastern philosophies converging in India. The heir to a long spiritual tradition-oriented towards his knowledge, Ramana Maharsi was perhaps the last “great guru” to work with the instrument that makes us human: the mind.

Ramana encouraged his students to form the question: “Who am I?”. As soon as he learned that he had advanced cancer, he reassured his students, telling them, “I am not going anywhere. “Where could I go?”

Nietzsche compares the conquest of intellect to a bee, flying to the hive to create the purest honey, while Maharshi described the journey to the interior of each: “Like a pearl fisherman tying a stone in the middle of the belt, and sinks to the bottom of the sea to collect them, so each of us must be armed with “the renunciation of all”, to dive inside ourselves and acquire the pearl of ourselves “.

And to find this pearl, one does not need to go on a pilgrimage to India or engage in complicated spiritual exercises. It is enough to look inside of own calmly.

Most psychological warfare begins with what is not said rather than what is said. Let us recall the following scene: A got angry with B and cut him off since the latter forgot to wish him a happy birthday. At first, A may have wanted to say to him, “Listen, do you not know what the day it was yesterday?” the silence. B finally got angry with A, because he suddenly stopped answering his phone calls, while the only time he managed to talk to him, he seemed to be unhappy. A has a childish situation but much more common than one can imagine.

How many couples are angry at misunderstandings that take days or months to come to light? Is not the lack of communication the root of many conflicts at work?

Not saying things on time is an important stressor for those around us, as it creates a multitude of interpretations that end up against us.

Nietzsche, who was certainly not one of those whose tongues were hairy, teaches us that it is better to express what we feel – even if we do not find the right words – than to offend the other with our silence.

“The Regarding of the certainties that shape our reality, there is a modern narrative, ‘The Fairytale Company’, which talks about the danger of being imprisoned by our beliefs, as Nietzsche warns.

Once upon a time, there was a man who lived next to a public street and sold some delicious buns. The work was going so well that this man neither listened to the radio, nor read newspapers, nor paid much attention to television. His work was going so well that he was able to invest in advertising. People were buying their buns. And each time he got better and better and each time he invested more in his work.

In the summer he was visited by his son, who had returned from university where he was doing his master’s degree in business administration. The son, seeing the whole opening in means, lands and buns, said to him: -Father, do you not listen to the radio and do not read newspapers? We are in a huge crisis. All this is sinking.

The father thought: “My son has studied. He is informed. He knows what he’s talking about. “

So buy fewer ingredients to reduce bun production. He reduced a lot of expenses and curbed his advertising investment. Sales were declining day by day and after a while the business began to be in deficit. The man called his son at the university and told him:

You were right my son. “We are in a very big crisis.”

The man who would think of himself as absolutely good would be spiritually stupid.

If our conscience makes us human, then imperfection is a distinctive feature of our species. We humans spend most of our time correcting mistakes – it is enough to read any newspaper – rather than making things of value.

Accepting this element of human character helps us to be humble and even more importantly, makes us realize the vast field before us for improvement. Every failure or mistake teaches us at the same time how to achieve the best. Rigid people, who try to do everything well, already suffer the consequences of their imperfect actions. They tend to blame others for what they do badly and lose their temper when someone points out a mistake they may have made.

Nietzsche’s spiritual contribution is this: We can not always aspire to be good and do everything well, as long as we are willing to do things a little better today than we did yesterday.

The Japanese have a word, wabi-sabi, which defines the art of imperfection , in that which is incomplete, irregular and temporary there is beauty and life, because it contains the longing of nature to perfect itself.

Allan Percy: “Nietzsche: 99 Lessons in Everyday Philosophy” (2nd)

source: by Antikleidi, https://antikleidi.com

GOOD NIGHT!

It’s a lovely heritage from the old magical Egypt, which shows us such a loving relationship between a family.

In this 12th dynasty tomb painting, the deceased Amenemhat (also spelt Amenemhet) is embraced by his living father Intef and his deceased mother Iy, as his living sister Hapy looks on from the right. We know this from a close reading of the offering formula to the deceased above the figures, and the name-and-relationship hieroglyphs beside the living figures. Upon the offering table, succulent cuts of beef are piled up with garlic, vegetables, and bread for the sustenance of the deceased in the afterlife. (Ancient Egypt)

Now let’s read the details of this beautiful and a lot of narrative Stele. With hearty thanks to Marie Grillot. via https://egyptophile.blogspot.com/

This “Amenemhat funerary stele” is painted on limestone, 30 cm high, 50 cm wide. It is dated to the Middle Kingdom, around 2000 BC.

The colours are soft (which is unusual for the time). It’s with a dominant white and gentle green.

The scene can be split into two “sequences”: On the left side, three figures are seated on an elegant black wooden bench with a lion’s feet and small white and green backsplashes.

The first character is a woman, charming, thin and slender. She wears a black, three-part wig, which goes down to below the shoulders while leaving the ear open.

His eyes, stretched out, are bordered with a black line, the pupil and the eyebrow, are also black. Around her neck, a large, soft green necklace, in the same colour as the wrist and ankle bracelets. She is wearing a long, tight dress, immaculate white. The garment, held by a strap, leaves the breast uncovered; its point, strongly marked, is materialized in black. Under her, a lovely little basket with a handle, very feminine, is placed, from which protrudes the recognizable handle of a mirror.

In front of her is a man: he turns his back to her; she rests her right hand on his right arm, while her left hand rests on his left shoulder.

The man looks young. He has black hair that falls in layers to the back of his neck. He wears a simple white loincloth; on his neck hangs a necklace, and, on his wrist, a large bracelet of the same gentle green.

In front of him seats a man who looks like him but appears older. He is coiffed and dressed in the same way. The difference is that he wears a black beard, and his collar is wider.

These three characters hold each other’s arms and their hands. The bonds of affection between them are palpable and displayed.

In “Treasures of Egypt – The Wonders of the Egyptian Museum in Cairo”, Rosanna Pirelli gives us the following details: “At the far right, appears the owner of the stele, Amenemhat, on the left, his wife and, in the centre, Antef, the couple’s son. The scene is striking in its naturalness since the three characters are associated in a scene, testifying to their intimacy: the woman holds her son’s shoulders with both hands, her left arm crossing her right arm. Amenemhat, with his left hand, holds his son’s right hand. “

Behind the three figures is an offering table that opens the second part of the scene. The harness is treated in white with black patterns. On each side of the central foot is placed a loaf of almost conical shape. As for the tray, it is crumbling under the food piled up there, meat and vegetables: “The funeral offering consists of bread, beer, pieces of beef and poultry for the venerable (s).

“A woman, dressed as Iy, is standing, her right arm brought to her chest and her left arm hanging alongside her body, palm open. She has been represented smaller: “Hieroglyphics designate her as” her venerable sister “, and some interpretations indicate her as the” daughter-in-law “of Amenemhat.”

The skin of the two women is treated in light yellow while that of the men is in ocher-brown. Their harmony is perfect: black hair, white clothes, almost identical green jewellery…

Above the figures, over the entire width of the stele, runs a beautiful hieroglyphic inscription: “The line of inscription in hollow hieroglyphs is an invocation of food offerings in favour of Amenemhat and his wife Iyi; the names of Antef and Hapy respectively accompany the image of their son and daughter-in-law. “

This stele has a freshness and a tenderness which can only seduce us: it gives us the impression of entering into the intimacy… and into the eternity of a particularly loving, warm and harmonious family.

It was discovered during the First World War, which, during excavations carried out in 1915-1916 by the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York in the Assassif, concession held since the 1912-1913 season.

The team is then led by the Egyptologist Ambrose Lansing, to whom Harry Burton, Egyptologist and a great photographer, is associated. (To whom we owe in particular, the reporting of wonderful discoveries: including that of the tomb of Meketré and that of Tutankhamun).

It is at the foot of the temple of Hatshepsut: “to the left of the courtyard of the tomb MMA 37, where several small tombs have been found. They have got the numbers R1 to R12”. Dated from the Middle Kingdom, they respect funerary architecture.

The stele was in tomb R4 and was recorded in the Journal of Entries of the Egyptian Museum in Cairo under number JE 45626.

Marie Grillot

Sources:

Stela of Amenemhat’s Family http://www.globalegyptianmuseum.org/record.aspx?id=15268

The Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin, may 1917

Treasures of Egypt – The Wonders of the Egyptian Museum in Cairo, Francesco Tiradritti
The treasures of ancient Egypt at the Cairo museum, National Geographic

Obviously, it’s time for this old man, taking a break! I wish you all, my lovely friends, a good time. I will try to get back soon. And I have tried to find the last drops of gasoline in the last scenes in the Graduate movie, but I couldn’t find my wishing clip, only these both. Anyhow, I hope they show that I have no stuff anymore! 😜🤓🤡🙏💖

I want to talk with you again about one of my greatest masters in mind and thought, Socrates. It is not only because of his being great in philosophy but also because I love him!

There’s also one other reason to write this article: It’s because of the reactions around a post which I shared on Facebook some days ago, and they were so different and some of them so unexpectedly, that I was surprised and almost shocked! You might know that on FB, there are different emojis to react to any post, including laughing. And laughing at this article was something improper for me. (Even some of my adorable friends did the same, though I believe that they hadn’t read the post!)

I know that philosophy is not everybody’s matter, and Socrates is not easy to understand. But when I share something special on FB, I look for the relevant group and expect the appropriate reactions.

I know that with humanity in general, it is difficult to say: I don’t know! Is it because of the Arrogance? Or the fear not to be mocked? Despite the fact that we can never know everything. And when a great philosopher, like Socrates says: I know that I know nothing, some people laugh, merely to hide their ignorance!

Honestly, I have rarely met one who says that magic word or has no problem with “not knowing”. Though, I think if first we accept that, we open the door towards knowledge. There will be a big chance for all of us, if we’d just imagine that the wisdom is limitless.

“I know that I know nothing” is a saying derived from Plato‘s account of the Greek philosopher Socrates. It is also called the Socratic paradox. The phrase is not one that Socrates himself is ever recorded as saying.

This saying is also connected or conflated with the answer to a question Socrates (according to Xenophon) or Chaerephon (according to Plato) is said to have posed to the Pythia, the Oracle of Delphi, in which the oracle stated something to the effect of “Socrates is the wisest.”

One of my reason to love Socrates, is his method of analysis in finding the truth. Plato shows in his books how fascinating and amusing were Socrates meeting and discussions. Here I add only a part of the analysis of one of his discussions, because Socrates used to spend a long time digging into the bottom to clear all indistinctness.

Concluding his conversation with Meno,  Socrates says, “If we were right in the way in which we spoke and investigated in this whole discussion, virtue would be neither an inborn quality nor taught, but comes to those who possess it as a gift from the gods which is not accompanied by understanding.” After Meno agrees with this, Socrates says, “It follows from this reasoning, Meno, that virtue appears to be present in those of us who may possess it as a gift from the gods.” Going on, he says that it would be easier to understand this if he and Meno first determined “what virtue in itself is.” However, Socrates now takes his leave, telling Meno to convince Anytus of what they’ve determined, “in order that he may be more amenable.” “If you succeed,” he adds, “you will also confer a benefit upon the Athenians.”

It’s often easy to forget that, despite his intense devotion to philosophy and logic, Socrates is quite pious. Of course, some readers interpret his words at this moment as facetious, but there is reason to believe that Socrates truly believes virtue is granted by the gods without “understanding.” After all, this acceptance of ignorance perfectly aligns with his belief that true wisdom means recognizing one’s own intellectual shortcomings. What’s more, he doesn’t let this lack of “understanding” deter him from going through the process of intellectual inquiry. In turn, he demonstrates his belief that engaging in the life of the mind is worthwhile even when it’s impossible to draw definitive conclusions. Meno by Plato via LitCharts

And here is the mentioned post on FB. (I think the pic here perplexed some in mistake to laugh!)

The Socratic Paradox, “I know that I know nothing”, is a saying derived from Plato’s account of the Greek philosopher Socrates. This dictum is not an apology for ignorance, but rather a way to model epistemic humility: Socrates’ dialectic method of teaching was based on that he as a teacher knew nothing, so he would derive knowledge from his students by dialogue. In many ways, this methodology is diametrically opposed to that favoured by the Guru archetype: the omniscient, omnipotent and benevolent parental figure who knows all the secrets to the universe and can enlighten us with a mere gaze, as long as we pledge our supreme devotion to their egoless persona. Our thirst for benevolent guidance and a general state of anomie and lack of meaning gets exploited and projected all over social media by unhinged wellness/yoga/pop-psychology influencers who aren’t usually interested in advancing a discourse that promotes dialectical critical thinking and nuanced sense-making; for the most part, they’re self-absorbed grifters who mistake their limited and subjective reality tunnels for Objective Reality and their misinformed and biased opinions for Wisdom and Truth. How many times do we need to hear a thirty-something glorified manchild rave about adolescent ideas of “body sovereignty” and medical libertarianism, elementary-school-level metaphysics they derived from a DMT trip or generic, regurgitated and misinformed conspiracy fantasy tinged with recycled pseudo-spiritual and anti-Semitic tropes before we realise that they are not really interested in knowledge, kindness or Truth: they are simply grifters weaponising their arrogance and charisma, preying on our loneliness and our thirst for meaning and connection to sell us one single product: themselves.Epistemic humility is a virtue much needed in times when Certainty runs rampant amongst the least qualified. Certainty is hardly an appropriate response to the intricacies of how the world works, let alone the deeper Mysteries. “All I know is that I know nothing” seems like the better mantra. From the FB page: Healing from Healing

There were some comments, but this one I’d liked most.

BEGINNER’S MIND: There is a beautiful “state” which is aimed for in Zen called “beginner’s mind.” It’s like having the eyes of a child and perceiving fresh and anew – a state of emptiness so one can get renewed and refreshed/ refilled. We place such a value of “knowledge” that we often can’t see beyond our beliefs and conceptions.. Not to degrade knowledge, but there are wonderful moments of intuition where one sees freshly… Looking through another’s eyes… Seeing free of our preconceptions, expectations or “confirmation biases.” Zamin K. Danty

So, It is always good (better) to take time and look (read) and not only think, but as the Germans say: Nachdenken! (Ponder) then, make a decision. 🙏💖

Sources: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I_know_that_I_know_nothing

What I’ve always been wishing is to meet a fairy in the woods or forest! At this very moment, I might be excited but never feared. And I have ever had a preference for the Scandinavian countries. Therefore, when I found this fascinating Fairy, Nymph or Goddess from there, I began to dream. 😉

Skogsrå, Råndan or Huldran. (lit. ’the Forest Rå‘) is a mythical female creature of the forest in Swedish folklore. It appears in the form of a small, beautiful woman with a seemingly friendly temperament. She appears like a woman from the front but seen from behind she often has a hollow back and a tail.

A hulder (or huldra) is a seductive forest creature found in Scandinavian folklore. Her name derives from a root meaning “covered” or “secret”. … She is known as the skogsrå “forest spirit” or Tallemaja “pine tree Mary” in Swedish folklore, and ulda in Sámi folklore. Her name suggests that she is originally the same being as the völva (Germanic paganism, a seeress) divine figure Huld and the German Holda (Frau Holle by the Brothers Grimm)

The hulders were held to be kind to charcoal burners, watching their charcoal kilns while they rested. Knowing that she would wake them if there were any problems. They were able to sleep, and in exchange, the humans left provisions for them in a special place. A tale from Närke illustrates further how kind a hulder could be, especially if treated with respect. (Hellström 1985:15).

Origin: A tale recounts how a woman had washed only half of her children when God came to her cottage; ashamed of the dirty ones, she hid them. God decreed that those she had hidden from him would be hidden from humanity; they became the hulders. (Isn’t it fascinating? I love Folklore!)

Anyhow, when you are lost in the woods, just call them!

Sources:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skogsr%C3%A5

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hulder