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why-this-kolaveri-machi · 3 years

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For the ask game: 2, 3, 6

2. when do you think the climax of the show is?

i think it’s 8.23: sacrifice.

it works as a fitting climax on a number of levels: for starters, as a spectacle, it’s probably the last truly Epic finale that the show has given us. there was genuine tension, enormous stakes, and final moments that were both frightening and awe-inspiring. before s8, spn had given us a number of finales like this but alas, none since.

the scale of it is absurd, but not the farcical kind of absurd that the later seasons delve into (though it is its own kind of interesting) like personifying primordial concepts like the darkness and god and reaching into alternate universes. the first big arc in spn ended with the gates of hell being opened to let demons out. now we have an attempt to close them for good, tying in everything else we’ve discovered along the way: angels and their weird politics, castiel’s downfall being his weird devotion to the winchesters, prophets, old angelic languages, and the winchesters with the power to change the world for good, but not condemn it forever because of their failure because honestly, who’s that powerful?

i also feel like it was the last finale with genuine, palpable conflict between the brothers and the closest we get to looking at the connective threads between the winchesters’ dysfunction and the world lurching from apocalypse to apocalypse (way before chuck is introduced as god/the ultimate scribe and ends up muddying the waters).

sam has had a taste of what his life could be beyond hunting, of what it means to move on and build a future instead of building a monument to grief and guilt, and season 8 was a near endless parade of sam being told how deeply, fundamentally wrong he was. for his reality to be dismissed as gauzy fantasy while dean literally lied about what happened to castiel when he left purgatory. for him to be bent and broken and reshaped into this creature who would willingly endure unimaginable pain and sacrifice himself for this mission. and what was this mission? it was absurd from the start. locking away all demons forever? this is an objective without sense or pragmatic consideration beyond being something to Work Towards As Hunters Again. dean was willing to have the people he once helped save killed all over again if it meant this could happen, negating his own lectures about hunters having a responsibility to keep people safe. this mission created a domino effect of events that continued all the way to the series finale. and it is in season 8 that we see this connection the most closely.

the mission wins, in a spectacularly sad scene where sam self-flagellates and burns himself inside out both literally and figuratively for dean’s love. it’s depressing, but the show’s depressing. the very last scene of 15.20 is depressing. sam and dean become samndean after this in a way that’s depressing. it’s the perfect climax.

3. Describe the different ways in which limnality shifts as a central theme in Supernatural (or a specific arc/character given)

it exists as physical spaces: living out of the car and motels, heaven and hell and earth and entire universes as porous planes, living everywhere but belonging nowhere. it exists in the psychic split between your body and your essence; that you can exist as just body, or just soul, or just mind, or somewhere in between all three. it exists in the way samndean swing on the cusp of saving the world and condemning it; at the uncomfortable intersection of their violence and love. it exists as death: a place in between two breaths, two blinks, that can disappear like it never existed.

sam and dean aren’t really hunters but they aren’t really men of letters either. they aren’t quite human, not quite Other--they’ve had their body and soul split apart and other things fill the cracks, killed the devil and raised hell, but it still only takes a misplaced nail and bad timing to kill them. they are separated from any kind of permanent community, cycling through friends and lovers (some more tenacious than others) who kill and die for them. and they end their story in an eternal ellipse, having changed nothing at all despite having shaped their own god in their image--

6. Do you have any psychological headcanons (or canon interpretations) of the characters?

i’ve said this a hundred times before and i will say it a hundred times again: soullessness is a wonderful depiction of the changes that a person might undergo after great trauma, how those changes aren’t going to be something socially palatable or something their loved ones can recognise, that person’s own desire to revert to a Before state despite not understanding what that even means and the terrible mix of good intention and inhuman coercion that goes into ‘correcting’ them.

i don’t like to ascribe diagnoses to anybody outside of a professional setting--even if it’s fictional characters--and i can only look at traits that suggest a bigger picture. that said, the portrayal of the central relationship as a progressively abusive one with all of its ups and downs and the despairing black hole right at its centre? masterful.

EDIT: oh, oh, oh! how could have i forgotten s7′s hallucifer? i think sam continues to hallucinate him, especially during times of great stress. hallucifer is distinct from lucifer himself in that he is sharper, and meaner: a product entirely of sam’s brain.

castiel taking on sam’s trauma in 7.17 (analogous to acute psychiatric treatment so that sam has the strength and resources to build his own wall, so to speak) and seeing hallucifer was like the imprint of a bright light on your retina after you close your eyes. hallucifer was bright, and loud, and everywhere. and every so often, he comes back.

( ask me questions about spn! )

#supernatural #samndean #sam winchester #meta #katsidhe

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zevveli · 6 years

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Quarantine of Colony CR-7-4

Log of Captain Esserth. Captain of the Amathi cruiser Arterrion assigned to the Quarantine of Colony CR-7-4.

Quarantine Day 1:

The Amathi are a cold-dwelling race, this is known. Our thick fur and stout bodies are perfectly adapted to the dwelling of Amath, a small planet far enough away from its small star that temperatures range between bitter-cold and not much better, our summers barely reach temperatures high enough to melt the thick snow that accumulates over the rest of the year, consequently we do not handle the heat well. It is not so much overheating that is the problem, but rather that heat causes our blood to rot, Blood-Rot is a terrible disease whose most debilitating effect is that it can cause the blood of other Amathi to rot. It does not always set in in high temperatures, but when it does it is devastating. In the 7th star system discovered in the CR sector of Amathi space there were three planets within the zone in which temperatures enabled the existence of liquid water. Of those three the 2nd and 3rd planets were deemed too warm for our fragile blood, but the 4th seemed to be well within bounds. We were unaware of the highly variant cycle of CR-7, and after the colony was well established the sudden surge is CR-7′s radiance caused CR-7-4 to bypass that threshold into the territory where Blood-rot can take hold. Amathi were advised to stay indoors as much as possible to keep their core temperature down, but it was not enough, as yesterday a case of Blood-rot was confirmed. In accordance with standard procedure a Quarantine Blockade was immediately established. The population of CR-7-4 numbers 3.4 billion Amathi, protocol states that we are not to allow any ship that enters the blockade or touches down on the surface to leave until there have been no confirmed cases for a period of three months. I have never put much stock in the gods or spirits of Amath, but I find myself praying to them for the protection of the people down below, I know how quickly the Rot can take even the healthiest of Amathi.

Quarantine Day 3:

I have given the order to disable all shuttles from the ship unless authorized by the three ranking officers on board. It was a difficult decision, but necessary. Lieutenant Emfvans came to me last night asking for permission to journey to the surface of CR-7-4. He claimed that he had a wife and two children on the colony, to his credit he was not asking to bring them back thus endangering the crew, but rather expressed his desire to be with his family should the worst come to pass as well as expressed an unwillingness to continue on without them. I told him to speak with me tomorrow as such a decision is not to be made lightly. In this I can say I did not lie, I considered granting his request, but decided that his skill as a communications officer was too great to risk in this manner. Selfish? Perhaps. Merciful? Definitely not. The correct decision? Only time will tell, that being said I have ordered security to keep an eye on him, and ordered medical to be prepared in case I need to order a suicide watch. I pray it does not come to this.

Quarantine Day 7:

My worst fears came to fruition. Initial reports confirm an outbreak, the initial report estimates between one and three hundred Amathi suffering from the Blood-rot, mostly in the poorer sectors. Those initial cases have died. I sent word to Amath.

Quarantine Day 10:

We stopped a trading vessel today. An independent Merchant from Earth-space. I explained that the planet was under Quarantine and for safety reasons no trade could be established by blockade ships. I was expecting a protracted argument, it is well known that Humans are stubborn and stupid creatures so I was pleasantly surprised when are warnings were acknowledged and the trader departed. We received images from the surface of CR-7-4, it was sickening. The infection has skyrocketed, while the disease progresses quickly it seems that every Amathi who dies infects ten before their suffering eases. Approximately four thousand show symptoms, approximately five hundred lie dead.

Quarantine Day 37:

I thought that the number of infected was declining, but the cases have suddenly blossomed again. Lieutenant Emfvans has been increasingly agitated lately, I can hardly blame him. I doubt he is the only Amathi with family on the surface. Amath has ordered us to stand strong. A ship was launched from the surface, they protested that they were all healthy when we ordered them back. They argued that they would remain in low orbit for the requisite three months to prove that they were uninfected. After a discussion with my first mate we decided to allow them to wait out the quarantine in orbit.

Quarantine Day 38:

One of the passengers on the ship we stopped yesterday began exhibiting symptoms of Blood-rot. We know this because the Captain of the ship ordered it to self destruct. We have sent down word to the surface of CR-7-4, no more vessels will be allowed to attempt to wait out the Quarantine in orbit or attempt to escape early by doing so. All ships attempting to leave the surface will be fired upon. Not an hour later I was forced to make good on this threat. Gods have mercy on me.

Quarantine Day 40:

Word came from the surface. Those currently exhibiting symptoms number around 14 thousand, those dead, at least half-again as many. Emfvans was so distraught by the news that he almost missed the signals of ships dropping out of Hyperspace. A battle-group of Earthforce vessels dropped out and hailed us. We explained about the Quarantine and they acknowledged stating they were merely escorting a ship that wished to enter the Quarantine zone. I explained our protocol and the Humans agreed. I suppose the Deathworlders would have nothing to fear from Blood-rot. The squad opened and the vessel that passed by was beautiful, and not at all what I expect from an Earth-vessel. She was pure white except for two large red lines that intersected each other next to her name proudly painted on her side. “E.R.C.M.S. NIGHTINGALE” She passed by silently and headed towards CR-7-4.

Quarantine Day 57:

Horrid news from the surface. The infected rate has climbed to 50 thousand, even worse, three of the confirmed infected are humans. If Deathworlders are susceptible to Blood-rot, then the entire Galaxy could be at risk. I contacted the head of the Earth-force battle group about this. One Commodore Johnson. His response was typical of humans, he claimed that it was a risk, but that it was worth it, he explained that the doctors aboard the Nightingale felt that if whatever caused the Blood-rot was capable of infecting humans it would make it easier to diagnose and develop a treatment because we have more experience treating humans rather than Amathi.

Quarantine Day 78:

The infection continues to spread. The aside from the five humans who were infected none of the others have shown signs of the Blood-rot. Additionally word came from several of the encampments where the humans are present that the infection in those areas has begun to slow, and that the humans do have an effective treatment, although they are running low on it.

Quarantine Day 79:

Another 8 of the white ships dropped out of hyperspace today. We gladly let the E.R.C.M.S. Salk, Pasteur, Domagk, Blackwell, Drew, Fleming, Lister, and Yegorov pass by into the quarantine zone. Additionally an Earthforce vessel known as the E.A.S.T.V. Loxodonta arrived. It stopped outside of the Quarantine rim and launched a series of Drop-vessels towards the surface of the planet near where the Nightingale had landed.

Quarantine Day 85:

Another ship arrived, it was not white, and was identified as the E.A.S.R.V. Anning. According to their captain they carried a number of mathematicians, biologists, botanists, ecologists, and pathologists that had questions that needed to investigate CR-7-4 to be sure. We allowed them in. After they were gone I called in to Amath, we needed more vessels in case the Humans tried to break quarantine. While there have been no more reported cases of human Blood-rot, we still cannot be too careful.

Quarantine Day 100:

We received more images from the surface. It was horrid, the humans walk around in suits of yellow and orange as they treat our people. There are massive pyres of our dead being burned, and entire sections of town engulfed in flames! But worst of all when they encounter our people they shave their fur off! Of course they give them clothing made of silvery Mylar afterwards, but still! To shave off their fur! There was, however some good news. One of the humans sent a message to our ship, they managed to find Lieutenant Emfvan’s family. The mother was showing symptoms of Blood-rot and is being treated but his daughters are perfectly healthy. We were also told that the next step is to implement “Vector Control.”

Quarantine Day 123:

More Humans arrived today. They came aboard Ships of varying names all with the preceding moniker C.P.T.V. They breached the line and approached CR-7-4. They flew over the cities and plains and began to release billions of some kind of Earth-bug which began to fly throughout the air searching for food and a place to roost.

Quarantine Day 136:

We were hailed by the humans today. They sent over a crate to each ship in our fleet containing bottles of fur-cleaner and some kind of spray. We were advised to wash to wash utilizing the fur-cleaner and to utilize the spray on all “soft” surfaces such as beds, furniture, carpets, curtains, as well as all tall grasses that may be present. Similar goods were being sent to other colonies. This was apparently part of the “Vector control.” To prevent the spread of Blood-rot.

Quarantine Day 209:

Against all odds it has been 3 months since the last confirmed case of Blood-rot, or as the humans call it, Yersinia Pestis. The final death count was a staggering 1.3 Million Amathi, and 4 humans. Lieutenant Emfvams was reunited with his daughters, sadly his wife passed away due to the Blood-rot. The humans explained that the Blood-rot was not due to an inherent defect in our physiology but rather due to a disease which lies dormant in certain insects that feed on blood. These creatures become immobile in a death-like state in cold temperatures but become active when things warm up. They will bite an individual who is infected and then spread the disease to others. Hence the release of creature which feed on these bugs, as well as the cleaners to get rid of them and their eggs, the so called “vector control.” The humans also explained that, by sheer coincidence, the bacteria which caused this was identical to a strain which had wiped out nearly a third of the human population in ancient times, a fact they found as a relief due to an initial fear that the disease was brought to CR-7-4 by an unethical trader who ignored proper quarantine protocol, however our extensive documentation of the rare outbreaks proves that it was merely a case of coincidental evolution. The humans expressed regret that they could not do more, and disclosed to us the responsive treatment of the Blood-rot.

By my authority granted by the Grand Council of Amath I hereby lift the Quarantine around CR-7-4.

#Zev's writing #humans are space orcs

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the-truth-behind-redacted · 6 years

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Dome’s Way Home

Dear Locket, Entry 5

While it's not exactly the most thrilling for me, it's now blatantly clear to me that there is more than the Sp-Tem(s) exist in this place. I also have reason to suspect that they are sentient on some level. Of course, the word I could be looking for is sapient but I have no way to check even if it is. The flashes of explosions break the field of vision and the calls of many different things echo above. It's very clear to me this is a war front and not some happenstance battle of two giant beasts. What worries me is that I'm slowly moving forward to that locations though it's angled off from my path.

However, the main fear I have about this is that war is an organized institution, or however you would describe it, and it requires some form of societal structure. I'm not saying it has to be advanced or even something like ours but a group with a unified reason to fight against another is near textbook war. This should go without saying that I am by no means at this point an expert of how things work here so for all I know this is a territory battle between two apex preditor groups that just because of the very alien way of these beings has caused me to confuse it for war. Hell, what the fuck do I know?

Way before I reached my current position where the battle is as clear as it is now, I decided to do a few other tests. The first one was just for documentation, however embarrassing it may have been, of testing sexual functions. I covered in either my first or second entry that many psychical functions don't affect me. This being the need for sleep, lack of fatigue, food and water, and the need for restrooms. Also, besides the auto weapon, no physical strain has been happening to me. This left one obvious bodily function that I needed to test while inside this undefined place.

To make a very uncomfortable story short, the answer is yes. I did feel an increase in body temperature during the progress as well as self-lubrication. Climax also happened with the excretion of climaxal fluid. Thought this was a humiliating process an interesting thing to note after is that I did feel a form of physical fatigue after climax. This, however, has made it clear that my bodily functions are still working, they just seem to be in a form of suspended animation until some very exact stimulus activates them. Why sexual stimulation is one of them, I don't know but it's very strange to me. That is to say, slightly more strange than literally everything else that's been going on.

Now on to the real reason why I'm writing this entry, I have found some semblance of a civilization in this deranged world. I call it a semblance because all that's left seems to be shattered domes that I can only guess served as some sort of shelter. This is built in the center of a mass of intersecting paths which only seems to suggest that these paths weren't built. They just seem to have been here beforehand. That would explain why these paths just stretch on endlessly without any seeming purpose or reason of existence.

There's something unspeakably horrific about this. It all seems so humanoid. Of course, it's not like any human structure I've seen but once more drawing back from old history, there was a group of people known as Esca-to. They were a group of nomadic people who lived in frigid temperature. I'm not quite sure how one would live in the cold without technology but they survived there for hundreds of thousands of years, supposedly. Then again, there wasn't a climate on Gee-Gerotous that could be considered cold. It is pretty temperate all over.

Anyways, the Esca-tos lived in the upper Northern Hemisphere of the planet Earth where it was mostly fridged. There was a lot of ice and snow that covered everything. Well, because of the climate in these areas, there weren't as many basic building resources. So instead of wood or clay, they used compactable snow. These igloos basic structure featured a dome of compacted snow with a relatively small crawl space for a person to get in.

Now, this information is the only common beliefe from what we have. Ancient historians disagree about much of this, especially the condition to why Igloos were the common form of housing, if they were even the common form of housing, if the Esca-tos were even the pioneers of this form of housing, and much more. Hell, there isn't even an agreement if the word Igloo was even used to refer to these housings. This is just the current working theory. It's hard to be 100% about anything if you don't have an active site to investigate, which brings me to this ruin (though I don't think snow would preserve well over thousands of years).

The site was massive, and I'm still quite impressed with how many different paths intersected in this one area to create as much space as it has. Many of the domes have caved in over time. In total there are 13 large domes and it's hard to tell how many smaller ones existed. It seems that before whatever was here simply abandoned this site, many of the smaller destroyed domes were piled together. Of the small domes that still exist there are about 15, only slightly more than the big ones. I guess the ones that weren't destroyed when they left are now the ones that caved over time.

It's important to mention that the terms small and big are absolutely relative terms to each other. I'm a decently sized woman, 5'8 (173cm), and the "crawl spaces" open up to well over my body size. If I was to estimate the size of the entire platform this was made on is about 5.5km*6km. The size kept within each of the large domes are larger than what most usual household sizes are from my world. Each large dome could house many families with enough space to segregate each family with walls to allow privacy. However, looking at some of the basic structures found in the domes that haven't completely collapsed suggest that they were used to only house one being.

The most intact large dome had only the entrance collapsed and some of the very center of the ceiling which fell into the housing. It took quite a while to move much of the mysterious crystal substance which seemed to compose everything in this world. Upon entering the first thing I saw was a bed structure. For the first time ever it was something that wasn't purple! Drape over a rectangular base was a golden "fur." Touching it wasn't comfortable at all. The fibers were like needles and I did puncture the tip of one of my fingers. If I die from an infection because of this, I'm going to be pissed. Well dead but I'm going to be pissed while I die that is if suffering doesn't consume me which it most likely will.

Carefully pulling it off saw what was underneath. The case was hollowed out and there was some kind of comforter. It was seamed together with a hardy pelt. It did bend and flow like a pillow but it wasn't quite as soft. I made a knife as a tool from my weapon, which only took a bit of focus, and cut it open. I pulled out what looked to like scales. Their color was a glistening velvet, green, and sea blue. They were surprisingly malleable. Each segment was lined and seamed together. Honestly, it looks now a bit more like a sofa than a bed but it really doesn't share a similar look. Maybe if I flipped it but it's just a crystal flat surface. I don't understand its design.

I glanced around the room and much of the furniture was very much overside for me. Many of the chairs were like the oversized bar stools that go up to your waist. These were quite a bit larger, going up to my chest. I lifted myself up onto one and looked at the desk. There was an assortment of little nick-nacks. An object I recognized was an object to represents the physical property for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction. Known to us as the Casacal's Formation, named after the physicist from the group that uplifted our civilization to our current technological level, it has a set of objects evenly held together and lined up, in which one pulls one side of the formation letting it go and collide with a part that is resting which will cause the other end to launch out, pull back, and hit the resting part of the formation causing this to happen until one stops it or friction drags to a stop. Here, its called "Newton's cradle."

Another object was some weird singularity. Contained in a black tinted glass container, there is a swirling mass of energy that expands, contracts, and then condenses again in a flash of light before separating into two other masses of energy colliding and begin the cycle again. On the base on which the glass sphere containing the singularity it's labeled as "Matter Apperation Separation Cycle." It certainly doesn't seem to be scientific like Casacal's Formation as it didn't seem to be any kind of natural source causing the separation and recombination of the energy contained inside. There is also a warning on it saying to be careful when handling. I can only assume because the energy could cause massive damage if broken. I decided to put this in my bag in case I need a makeshift grenade.

There were three other objects on the desk. Two of the items seemed to be a computer. At least that what I think it is. Another object is a complicated assortment of in grove details, crystals that aren't purple (I'm sure God doesn't even know where the fuck those came from), and a broken set of what appears to be wires. Looking at what I would assume to be the computer tower, there's a massive empty section inside plus a bunch of other things that look like this world's tech. There's another object that looks like what I would think are fans. They are weird inserts with tubes running into them that have slits that air could pass through.

I don't know for sure but it all seems to be intact. All that appears to be damaged is what I would guess to be an internal power source. Near the possible internal power source and a possible computer tower is what could possibly be a monitor. It is really fucking big and very flat and has some kind of thin film screened over what reflects back as, what else, purple. I can see myself in its reflection and boy have I seen better days. This isn't important!

This old thing (I assume it's old) has really sparked my interest. Hopefully, somewhere around here there are instructions about this thing or at least manufacturing notes. Actually, wouldn't manufacturing notes be rarer than basic instructions of the product? Oh god, I'm beginning to treat this journal like it's a person that can answer my questions. I'm losing it. FUCK, focus you, dumb bitch. Alright, beyond the rest weird furniture that is around this place there doesn't seem to be anything else of interest. There are still quite a few other locations for me to check out. For now, I'll cut this and do another entry on the rest I find in the other caved in domes. I'll also check the crystal piles as well.

#Update #Purple #Story Tag: Beginnings of Rapture #Story Tag: Locket account #Chapter 1: You were better off not knowing #Simple Pondering #There's something here #Echo Echo #Time tag: Uncertain #Area Tag: ?!?

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tomasorban · 6 years

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The Zodiac and Esoteric Astrology: A Short Introduction; part I.

Human beings have probably probed the cupola of the heavens in search of meaning since the birth of ego consciousness. This was a time when celestial and terrestrial events succeeded one another for reasons known only to the divine autogenerator of the cosmos, when everything deemed unconscious and inert could speak its mind, when magic was the world language, and when the fundamental cohesion of all life was an acknowledged and unspoken fact. Back then everything on the earth below was thought to mimic and imitate conditions simulated in the Great Above; the stars, planets, comets and other celestial bodies were the shining genies whose words and whispers, actions and reactions, agreements and disputations might incite minor and sometimes large-scale consequences for the lives of all corporeal inhabitants. Eclipses, conjunctions, oppositions, depressions, exaltations and other celestial events worked like knee-jerk reactions, exacting benefic or malefic influence, facilitating particular conditions, or awakening transpersonal formative forces which would work through tribal personalities. This Platonic-flavoured cosmos in which everything was Aeolian, alive and functioned through a system of meaningful correspondences entrenched itself deep in the collective psyche of human beings and has never quite relinquished its hold.

Hence, it would not be erroneous to suggest that the religious function of the human psyche first found voice in archaic astrology, a philosophy which assumes that the systematic, recurring but sometimes volatile behaviours of the celestial inhabitants mediate over all corporeal phenomena and their relationship to human life. Of course the mere fact that exact situations involving the celestial bodies in the heavens are recapitulated periodically and can be calculated with mathematical precision can only mean that the qualities, influences and relevant conditions that these events are inexplicably connected with are predictable. If, then, the path of the human condition is foreseeable through this sidereal divination then the oikoumene must, in fact, have been hewn by a conscious and creative mind that transcribed general details relating the fate of all its divine, semi-divine and mortal inhabitants, as well as its own into the plastic and intangible “ether” somewhere. Here we get a taste of the spiritual and holistic origins of archaic astrology, which, when broken down anatomically, consisted of three primary aims: to descry one’s future for a chance at changing the trajectory of fate (astrology); for meteorological purposes that included the prediction of weather (meteorology); and the transcription of stellar cycles and arrangements whose movements would have been tracked to determine an appropriate time for the inception of agricultural endeavours (astronomy).

The Chaldeans or Assyrians introduced tangible markers for the qualitative and quantitative assessment of the heavens in the second millennium bce. The star-gods, genies or divinities governed a pre-established and insurmountable destiny that vacillated between auspicious and inauspicious conditions brought on by specific stellar arrangements, and all of life on earth basically swayed or reacted to the configuration of these heavenly waters. Each was ascribed rulership over a specific day or month, forcing a dissection of time. The Chaldeans proceeded to define the band of sidereal space that encompasses the wheel of heaven and interacts with the ecliptic orbit; the equinoctial markers, embraced by the zodiacal signs of Aries and Libra, could be found at the intersection of equator and ecliptic whilst their polar opposites, the tropical or solstitial markers, were to be found in in Capricorn and Cancer. The just mentioned zodiacal signs, twelve in all, were represented zoomorphically, anthropomorphically or as composite creatures using motifs derived from Babylonian mythology, and contained an exact conformation of stars known as a constellation. With respect to each individual “sign”, the stars contained in one constellation pervaded the sidereal space taken up by the imagined zodiacal image in the night skies.

Proceeding along an analogous line of reasoning, the ancient Egyptians developed a calendrical system by observing the heliacal rising and setting of individual stars. In this arrangement the year was divided into thirty-six ten-day periods known as decans, each heralded by the heliacal rising of a particular star. The star Sothis or Sirius, a celestial embodiment of the Egyptian goddess Hathor-Isis, stood sentry over the thirty-six divisions as the inaugurator of the entire year. In the third century bce, when knowledge of oriental astrology and its esoteric philosophy of astral determinism reached Egypt through a Hellenistic dispensation enabled by Alexander the Great (356-323 bce), the zodiacal and decanal systems merged and three decans were incorporated into each zodiacal sign. A few acclaimed esotericists like René Adolphe Schwaller de Lubicz (1887 – 1961) have argued against a Chaldean importation of astral determinism into Egypt, claiming that the Egyptians were holistic thinkers and believed that each part of the human body was under the mediation of a different star-god or genie that could be invoked to heal illnesses pertaining to its respective part. Despite its innovative potential and viability, the theory is disparately related to the current discussion and will not concern us for the time being.

A little before Alexander’s conquest the holistic tradition of esoteric astrology began to differentiate into subcategories. Meteorology became a distinct branch but it wasn’t until the time of Johannes Kepler (1571-1630) that the mechanistic natural protoscience known as astronomy and the animistic qualitative cosmogony of astrology parted company. The latter matured fully during the second century ce, a period when Claudius Ptolemy (90-168 ce) penned an astrological treatise entitled the Four Books, or Tetrabiblos in Greek. It was a comprehensive volume of horoscopic astrology, a subcategory of the divinatory art that seeks to comprehend meaning and answer questions using a celestial chart or horoscope which captures an exact moment in time. The work transcribed the qualities of the astrological signs, the twelve zodiacal constellations on the wheel of heaven that subsisted through the ages and remain both meaningful and functional to this very day.

In entertaining an esoteric interpretation on the zodiac one sees that the universe is united as One but at the same time coloured by archetypal forces or elemental blueprints that originate from a mother membrane and act upon the existing spectrum of variegated consciousness. Of vital importance is the acknowledgement of the twelve established signs as functioning symbols; while our ancestors almost certainly imagined shapes and signs in cupola of the star-studded night, their choice of animals and figures , real or imagined, are not as random as some might believe. As unlikely as it seems, the ascribed zoomorphic, anthropomorphic or composite creatures exhibit qualities that correspond dynamically to the inherent nature of the group of stars in their respective corner of the heavens. To give an example the stars of Cancer are symbolically depicted by the crab; the latter habitual tendency to seek and never veer far from the comfort of its home, a trait almost universal amongst all modes of being born under its section of the sky. While individual stars may belong to a collective archetype in the manner that a group of human cells belong to one organ and work in conjunction with one another to achieve a common aim, their unique positions, magnetism and gravitational force within the astral configuration permits a degree of freedom from collective law. This is why the zodiacal band of sidereal space was sometimes depicted in an active state of unfurling like a parchment of Nile papyrus.

The name given to this precession of imagined figures that comprise real cosmic phenomenon–zoe-diac, or circle of life–is wholly appropriate given that the general archetypal patterns or transpersonal influences of being that exist manifest through all complex life irrespective of time and space and are deemed to repeat for all eternity like a broken record. The fiery, restless, urgent and explosive Martian formative force that wishes to subjugate, to divide and dissect, to compartmentalize, to create, to own, to dominate and to ascend the evolutionary ladder, for instance, is indigenous to the fixed stars of Aries. This energy seeps down into consciousness, sometimes in copious amounts and sometimes in minute quantities, depending on the trajectory of the sun’s annual circuit and its conjunction with the stars of the respective constellation. In fact the nature of the latter’s influence is determined by the conjunction of the sun with the stars of the head, of the horns, of the hindquarters, of the forepaws, and so forth. The bold head of the ram is aggression; the horns raw abundance and virility; his hindquarters signpost stamina but sometimes a gross overestimation of strength; his forepaws vulnerability and restlessness. Notwithstanding its waxing and waning powers, the Arian sign is ubiquitous and indestructible, an inhabitant of the timeless zone that subjects and bends everything to its will. This indissoluble will is why all animation is fated to endure an endless cycle of everlasting repetition...

Paul Kiritsis

#esoteric #astrology #consciousness #metaphysics #hermeticism #gnosis #philosophy

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you-are-another-me · 7 years

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The Great Secret The great secret of alchemy is the Divine Marriage of opposites which gives birth to the Spirit Body of transcendence associated with liberation of the soul. The exact process of metamorphosis leading to the creation and birth of the spirit body within the physical body has long been veiled in mystery and secrecy. The spirit body is not to be confused with the subtle body or subtle bodies which one already has from birth. The creation and birth of the spirit body is an entirely unique process found within the various world traditions of alchemy. The spirit body has gone by names like Deva Deha, Siddha Deha, Golden Pearl, Merkaba, Rainbow Body, Diamond Body, Star Body, and Immortal Body of Light. You can find the most revealed aspects of this process in Chinese Taoist Alchemy and East Indian Tantric Alchemy. Traditionally, the process was taught from teacher to student in a step by step series of initiations. One did not progress until first mastering each successive step. The foundation for this process can be found in traditional Yoga comprised of physical postures, breathing and mantra sound meditation. Yoga means union with the absolute. Depending upon the culture, the opposites were variously know as Fire and Water, Sun and Moon, Soul and Spirit, Male and Female, Mercury and Sulfur, King and Queen, Heaven and Earth, Shiva and Shakti, Kan and Li, Yin and Yang, Ka and Ba, Isis and Osiris, Soma and Agni. Also this marriage parallels the practice of Tantric sexual union and unfoldment of the inner life energy referred to as the Kundalini. This process is also mirrored in the Jewish mystical tradition of the Kabbalah when ascending the Tree of Life, which esoterically is the seven energy centres or chakras that run up the spinal column to the brain. The alchemical marriage of opposites can be seen in the symbolism of the intersecting triangles of the Jewish Star of David, Seal of Solomon, and the Sri Yantra of India. The upward pointing triangle symbolizes the male or fire principle, and the downward pointing triangle symbolizes the female or water principle. The Bindu point in the centre of the Sri Yantra symbolizes the point of transcendence. The Yantra is a graphic symbol of the Mantra. The Mantra corresponds with the Five Elements and Logos or Word of God. Also the marriage of opposites can be seen in the symbolism of the Christian Cross. The ancient Caduceus symbol used by the modern medical establishment symbolizes on an esoteric level the alchemical process. The staff represents the spinal column which correlates with the Sushumna Nadi channel of yogic esoteric anatomy. The two ascending spirals of snakes represent the solar and lunar currents known as the ida and pingala of the kundalini life force. The spiral pattern is similar to the spirals of the human DNA. The symbolism of Jacobs Ladder or Stairway to Heaven corresponds with the Staff of Life. The sphere at the top of the staff represents the energy centre of the brain or the seventh chakra, also known as the thousand-petalled lotus. The wings at the top of the staff represent the culmination of the alchemical process. They represent freedom or liberation of the soul from the cycle of birth and death. One transcends the bonds of ego and bodily identification. The spirit is released from the confines of matter. Ultimately, this is the unfoldment of consciousness whereby one realizes one’s self to be infinite - also known as self-realization. Most esoteric symbolism and myth reflects the process of alchemical transformation in both its inner and outer aspects. Dragon symbolism is a reflection of the life force. The Uraeus headdress of the Egyptian pharaohs in which the serpent protrudes from the forehead symbolizes the unfoldment of the Kundalini. The Phoenix bird rising from the ashes represents the alchemical process of transformation, rebirth, and liberation. The Christmas tree can be seen as a reflection of this process. Also the Biblical story of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, although edited by orthodoxy, also represents the alchemical process. The Fruit of the Tree of Life can be equated with Elixir and Apotheosis. One of the most well known references to alchemy in the Bible is the passage attributed to Jesus in John 3, "I assure you, unless you are born again, you can never see the Kingdom of God. The truth is, no-one can enter the Kingdom of God without being born of Water and the Spirit." From the esoteric perspective, this is the marriage of opposites. Spirit is synonymous with Fire and breath. The Kingdom of God is apotheosis. The idea of rapture, resurrection, transfiguration, ascending to heaven and becoming an immortal is based upon this process. There are numerous stories throughout history of those who practiced alchemy becoming immortal. This relates to the development and birth of the spirit body. This is the great spiritual rebirth, enlightenment or illumination. Through the marriage of opposites, one becomes whole or holy, or to become born again. This can also be seen as the marriage of Soul and Spirit and an expression of the highest form of healing. It is the exact process of how to create this marriage which has always been secret. Gnosis or direct experience makes up the Gnostic tradition of Esoteric Christianity. Both Jesus and Mary Magdalene are considered to be key figures in the alchemical nature of Esoteric Christianity. The exoteric or outer rituals of orthodox religion like the Seven Holy Sacraments; Baptism, Anointing, Christening, Consecration, Holy Water and the Eucharist are a reflection of the esoteric or inner practice of alchemy where faith is replaced with direct experience, and death is replaced with embodied liberation. The anthropomorphic deity is transcended and the infinite is realized. The human body is the ultimate temple or alchemical laboratory where transformation takes place. The Spirit Body developed within the physical body is the ultimate vehicle of resurrection, ascension and transcendence. It is said that to have a human body is an extremely rare gift and there are countless souls without a body waiting to take birth. Through the body and mind, one can realize one’s true self. The focus of alchemy is to accelerate the growth of the human soul within one lifetime to completion or perfection. One overrides the process of normal evolution involving countless incarnations, where the soul is led by desire and attachment to the temporal which keeps one bound to the cycle of birth and death. The experience of the phenomenal world and its associated pleasures do not give lasting happiness. Humans are programmed by nature to continually seek happiness which is essentially a search for one’s true self. For most, happiness is sought outwards in temporal pleasure. Self-realization is about turning inwards and finding eternal happiness, peace and fulfilment. The trials, tribulations and lessons of life reach their culmination and fulfilment in self-realization. One transcends phenomenal creation and realizes the infinite source of creation within. With this awakening of awareness, one sees all of creation as an aspect of one’s self. Alchemy accelerates the process of evolution, thereby allowing one to step off the wheel of birth and death. One transcends desire, duality, karma, space and time. One’s true nature is realized, which is infinite. http://www.ascensionnow.co.uk/alchemy--enlightenment.html

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thegreenlassie · 8 years

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D is for documentaries

This selection of 15 documentary films and series shows the extent and effects of the global waste problem (Plastic Planet, Plastic Paradise, Plasticized, Trashed, Addicted to Plastic) and gives and insightful overview of the environmental issues that products such as plastic bags (Bag It) and bottles (Tapped, Divide in Concord) cause.

Waste Land (BR, GB 2010)

directors: Lucy Walker, Karen Harley, cast: Vik Muniz

The film follows artist Vik Muniz as he journeys from his home base in Brooklyn to his native Brazil and the world's largest landfill, Jardim Gramacho, located on the outskirts of Rio de Janeiro. There he photographs an eclectic band of pickers of recyclable materials. Muniz recreates photographic images of the so called catadores out of garbage and reveals both their dignity and despair as they begin to re-imagine their lives.

The Secret Life of Rubbish (GB, 2012)

director: Chris Durlacher

A two-part BBC series offers an original view of the history of rubbish collection in modern Britain. As the programme sifts through the rubbish of the mid-20th century, we discover how the Britain of Make Do and Mend became a consumer society (Episode 1). Episode 2 deals with the 1970s and 1980s, when two big ideas emerged in the waste management industry: the privatization of public services and environmentalism.

Plastic Planet (A, D, 2009)

director: Werner Boote, writer: Werner Boote, cast: Werner Boote, John Taylor, Peter Lieberzeit

Werner Boote presents an up-close and personal view of the controversial and fascinating material that has found its way into every facet of our daily lives: plastic. He takes us on a journey around the globe, showing that plastics have become a threat for both environment and human health (http://www.plastic-planet.at/). - If you live in Germany, you can watch the film here: http://m.bpb.de/mediathek/187448/plastic-planet

Plastic Paradise: The Great Pacific Garbage Patch (USA, 2013)

director: Angela Sun, writer: Angela Sun, cast: Lewis Goldsmith, Angela Sun

Angela Sun's journey of discovery to one of the most remote places on Earth, Midway Atoll, to uncover the truth behind the mystery of the Great Pacific Garbage Patch. Along the way she encounters scientists, industry, legislators and activists who shed light on what our society's vast consumption of disposable plastic is doing to our oceans, and what it may be doing to our health (http://plasticparadisemovie.com/).

Plasticized (BR, ZA, AUS, K, SGP, USA, 2011)

director: Michael Lutman, cast: Marcus Eriksen, Anna Cummins

Plasticized follows the 5 Gyres Institute on a scientific expedition to understand the extent of plastic pollution in the South Atlantic Ocean. An eye-opening look at one of the institute's global missions, studying the effects, reality and scale of plastic pollution around the world (http://www.plasticizedthemovie.com/).

Bag It (USA, 2010)

director: Suzan Beraza, writer: Michelle Curry Wright, cast: Jeb Berrier, Anne Reeser

The film follows Jeb Berrier in Colorado as he makes a resolution to stop using plastic bags at the supermarket. He embarks on a global journey to unravel the complexities of our plastic consumption leading him to question the role of plastic in his life. What starts as a film about plastic bags evolves into a funny and relatable investigation into plastic and its effect on our waterways, oceans, and our own bodies (http://www.bagitmovie.com/).

The Clean Bin Project (CDN, 2010)

director: Grant Baldwin, cast: Grant Baldwin, Jenny Rustemeyer

Partners Jen and Grant go head to head in a comedic battle to see who can swear off consumerism and produce the least amount of garbage in an entire year. Featuring interviews with lecturers and pollution expert, the film presents the serious topic of waste reduction with optimism, humor, and inspiration for individual action (http://www.cleanbinmovie.com/).

No Impact Man (USA, 2009)

directors: Laura Gabbert, Justin Schein, cast: Colin Beavan, Michelle Conlin

For one year, the Beavan family swore off plastic and toxins, turned off their electricity, went organic, cycled. Together they attempted to make zero impact on the environment while living right in the heart of Manhattan, and this is the sensational, funny, and consciousness-raising story of how they did it (http://noimpactproject.org/movie/).

Trashed (USA, 2012)

director: Candida Brady, writer: Candida Brady, cast: Jeremy Irons, Evangelos Kalafatis, Clive Oxenden

Jeremy Irons sets out to discover the extent and effects of the global waste problem, as he travels around the world to beautiful destinations tainted by pollution. This is a meticulous, brave investigative journey that takes Irons (and us) from skepticism to sorrow and from horror to hope (http://www.trashedfilm.com/).

Addicted to Plastic (CND, 2008)

director: Ian Connacher

This Canadian documentary explores the worldwide production and environmental effects of plastic. The host takes a 2-year trip around the world to give us a better understanding of the life cycle of plastic. It is an in-depth look at plastic and how we have indeed become addicted to what we have been made to believe is a necessary item.

Tapped (USA, 2009)

directors: Stephanie Soechtig, Jason Lindsey, writers: Josh David, Jason Lindsey, Stephanie Soechtig, cast: Sally Bethea, Earl Blumenauer, Amanda Brown

This documentary creates an insight into the unregulated and unseen world of an industry that aims to privatize and sell back the one resource that ought never to become a commodity: our water. It explores the social, economical and environmental risks of a seemingly harmless item and portrays the lives affected by the bottled water industry by featuring those caught at the intersection of big business and the public's right to water.

Divide In Concord (USA, 2014)

directors: Kris Kaczor, Dave Regos, producers: David Regos, Jaedra Luke, cast: Jean Hill

This feature-length documentary follows an 84 year-old-woman trying to take down the third largest industry in the world. Resident Jean Hill is waging a seemingly unwinnable battle as she tires to ban the sale of bottled water in her town Concord, Massachusetts, while facing opposition from local merchants and the bottled water industry (http://divideinconcord.com/).

Garbage Warrior (GB, 2007)

director: Oliver Hodge, cast: Michael Reynolds, Chris Reynolds, Shauna Malloy

This feature-length documentary tells the story of US architect Michael Reynolds and his fight to introduce radically sustainable housing. An extraordinary tale of triumph over bureaucracy, Garbage Warrior is above all an intimate portrait of an extraordinary individual and his dream of changing the world (http://www.garbagewarrior.com/).

Hugh’s War on Waste (GB, 2015)

director: Minoo Bhatia, cast: Autumn DePoe-Hughes, Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall

This BBC series follow celebrity chef, television personality and journalist Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall on his mission to find out why we waste so much and how he campaigs against waste by food producers, retailers and consumers.

Baykeepers (AUS, 2014)

directors: Michael Lutman, writer: Michael Lutman, cast: Neil Blake

After hearing about expansive amounts of plastic in every major ocean, Port Phillip Baykeeper Neil Blake finds the sands of his local beaches in Victoria, Australia, are turning into a kind of micro-plastic confetti. In his journey to measure how far plastics has invaded the bay, Blake discovers a growing community striving to protect Port Phillip's health for generations to come.

also soon to come:

A Plastic Ocean (HK, 2016)

director: Craig Leeson

Journalist Craig Leeson discovers plastic waste in what should be a pristine ocean when searching for the elusive blue whale. Together with an international team of divers and scientists he travels to twenty locations around the world over four years to explore the fragile state of our oceans, uncover alarming truths about plastic pollution, and reveal working solutions that can be put into immediate effect (http://www.plasticoceans.org/film/).

#films #movies #documentaries #plastic rubbish #plastic bags #bottled water #trash #oceans #great pacific garbage patch #pollution #waste

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jerrytackettca · 6 years

Text

Could You Live Without Plastic?

Plastic is made from a number of different chemicals, some of which are known to act as endocrine disruptors. An endocrine disruptor is similar in nature to a natural sex hormone and interferes with the normal functioning in your body.

While not visible, plastic chemicals can be found in fast food packaging, processed and boxed foods, including those marketed as organic.1 Use has skyrocketed from 2 million metric tons in 1950 to 380 million metric tons in 2015.2

This represents an astonishing 18,000 percent increase over 65 years. At this growth rate, the Earth could very well be covered in plastic in another 65 years, demonstrating the power manufacturers have to destroy life.

Macro and Microplastics Are a Problem

This urgent worldwide problem is demonstrated by the number of plastic particles the average person ingests every year via food, water and dust particles landing on their plates during meals. Today, tap water, bottled water,3 sea salt4 and a variety of seafood5 all come with a “side order” of microplastic.

Although you've likely seen tragic photos of sea turtles and other marine life entwined in plastic bags, six-pack rings or dying of malnutrition as plastic debris block their intestinal tract, some of the most pernicious problems cannot be seen with the naked eye.

Microplastics range in size from 5 millimeters to microscopic and are ingested by fish, plankton and other marine life, ultimately landing on your dinner plate. The consequences of this vast worldwide pollution may still be unknown, but it's unlikely to be harmless.

Plastic is not thoroughly eliminated from your body and cannot degrade inside your system or in the environment.6 Many of the chemicals are known to disrupt embryonic development, dysregulate hormones and gene expression, and cause organ damage.

Plastic pollution and chemical absorption has been linked to obesity, heart disease and cancer. Today, a new consumer movement to living without plastic hopes to fight the problem using a powerful way to start change — at a grassroots level.7

Can You Live Life Without Plastic?

Plastic has been a harmful convenience, much of which ends up in our oceans and on land each year. From single-use plastic containers to microfibers from your washing machine, each poses a serious threat to marine life and our food supply.

Although much media attention has been given to plastics ending up in the ocean, it is estimated four to 23 times greater amounts are released on land than the ocean by way of biosolid fertilizers.8

The rapid development of new plastic chemicals has been fueled by a throwaway mentality, and although several companies have begun pledging reduction in the use of straws and plastic cups, it's going to take greater change to make a significant impact on the environment and human health.

To that end, a grassroots effort is growing, spurred on by anger over the impact of single-use plastic products. As families and groups share ideas, going plastic-free has become sustainable and even a mainstream concept. For many, their move toward living plastic-free developed gradually in an effort to reduce plastic pollution and even to reduce waste. Kiran Harrison commented:9

“Some people are cynical about how you can sustain a lifestyle like this, or cynical about making a small contribution when big companies produce so much waste, but I’m not down with the ‘what’s the point of doing anything, we’re all doomed’ brigade — it’s far too apathetic for my liking.”

She recommends doing things gradually so they become habit. Beth Terry has the same advice.10 First she focused on her kitchen, gradually getting rid of shopping bags, pre-washed salads in plastic tubs and processed foods.

From there, she moved on to the bathroom to switch out bottles of shampoo, toothpaste tubes and toothbrushes, shopping at specialty stores catering to her needs.11 New York Times12 journalist Steven Kurutz comments “that as a marketing term, ‘plastic-free’ is emerging as the new ‘no-carbs.’”

New stores in New York and London don't carry products with any plastic and instead sell silicone water bottles and iPhone cases made of flax. In the summer of 2019, Procter & Gamble and PepsiCo plan to test products using aluminum bottles, refillable non-plastic containers and glass bottles.13

Plastic — Threat to Life Beginning at Production and Ending in 1,000 Years

Plastics can take up to 1,000 years to break down. Researchers estimate a single plastic coffee pod may take up to 500 years, the duration of the Roman Empire.14 While most of the focus on the impact of plastic is on manufacturing or disposal, a new report released by the Center for International Environmental Law, in partnership with six other environmental organizations, finds:15

“This report demonstrates that each of those stages interacts with others, and all of them interact with the human environment and the human body in multiple, often intersecting, ways.”

The report associates plastics with numerous forms of cancer, neurological, reproductive and developmental toxicities, as well as diabetes, organ malfunctions and a significant impact on eyes and skin. Although it appears plastic is cheap and convenient, Graham Forbes, Global Plastics Project Leader for Greenpeace, commented the true cost is reflected in how:16

“Plastics are harming or killing animals around the globe, contributing to climate change and keeping us dependent on fossil fuels, entering our air, water, and food supplies, and seriously jeopardizing human health throughout their lifecycle.”

Plastic pollution is pervasive, infiltrating water and food supplies and adversely affecting the environment, on which humanity depends for food, water and natural resources. In an email to Environmental Health News, David Azoulay, one author of the report and managing attorney for the Center for International Environmental Law commented:17

"Health problems associated with plastics throughout the lifecycle includes numerous forms of cancers, diabetes, several organ malfunctions, impact on eyes, skin and other sensory organs, birth defects. And those are only the human health costs, they do not mention impacts on climate, impacts on fisheries or farmland productivity."

Human exposure is increasing with production and use of plastics, posing significant risk on a global scale. As reported by Environmental Health News, there are health risks associated with each phase in the life cycle of plastic manufacturing, including the following:18

Extraction of fossil fuels, used in manufacturing plastic, results in air and water pollution and in a number of other direct effects to communities such as increased traffic and pipeline construction (more than 99 percent of plastic made today is made using fossil fuels)

Refining and producing plastic resins and additives releases cancer-causing compounds and other toxics, some of which "can be difficult to detect" as they "are colorless and tend to have mild-to-no odor”

Plastic products and packaging, when in the consumer's hands, lead to inhaled or ingested toxic and/or plastic particles

Plastic incineration releases toxic compounds

The degradation of plastic leads to microplastics getting into people, wildlife, soil and water

Recycling Is Vastly Underutilized

Only 8 percent of plastic is ever recycled,19 and even then, some of the items tossed in the recycling bin may never make it to the recycling center. Some end up contaminating entire loads of recyclables that would otherwise have gone on to other uses.

While it’s best to verify guidelines for your local facility, anything smaller than a Post-It note cannot be sorted properly, so unless you screw on bottle tops it's better to throw them away. Bubble padded envelopes, wax paper and diapers are not recyclable. Paper cups with shiny coatings or paper food bowls with plastic lining will not be accepted.

In contrast, Norway recycles nearly 97 percent of plastic bottles as a result of an environmental tax producers must pay if they don't reach a recycling minimum target of 95 percent. Reverse vending machines make it easy for consumers to bring their plastic bottles back for recycling. Additionally, companies are limited in the types of plastic chemicals they can use.

While companies like Patagonia and Polartec use recycled bottles to conserve and reduce waste, breaking plastic bottles into millions of fibrous bits of plastic may prove worse than doing nothing at all. Washing clothes releases microfiber waste treatment plants are not equipped to filter, thus releasing microplastics into the waterways.

It's worth remembering mankind had a zero-waste lifestyle up until about 100 years ago. There were no plastic wraps around the foods and items you bought, and virtually every scrap was repeatedly reused and creatively repurposed into new products. For ways to become a recycling expert, see my previous article, “Top 11 Tips to Become an Expert at Recycling.”

What You Can Do to Reduce Your Use

There is a generational impact as a result of exposure to chemicals found in plastics, such as phthalates. It is wise to take proactive steps to reduce your exposure. For a list of choices to consider, see my previous article, “Phthalate Exposure Threatens Human Survival.”

If you would like to take the next step after recycling, reduce your plastic use for an even greater impact. As Harrison recommended, it’s important to start slowly and build gradually so the changes become habit and stick. Consider beginning with the following:

Use reusable shopping bags for groceries

Take your own leftovers container to restaurants

Bring your own mug for coffee, and bring drinking water from home in glass water bottles instead of buying bottled water

Request no plastic wrap on your newspaper and dry cleaning

Store foods in glass containers or mason jars rather than plastic containers and plastic freezer bags

Avoid disposable utensils and straws and buy foods in bulk when you can

Opt for nondisposable razors, washable feminine hygiene products for women, cloth diapers, handkerchiefs instead of paper tissues, rags in lieu of paper towels and infant toys made of wood rather than plastic

Avoid processed foods (which are stored in plastic bags with chemicals). Buy fresh produce instead, and forgo the plastic bags

Consider switching to bamboo toothbrushes and brushing your teeth with coconut oil and baking soda to avoid plastic toothpaste tubes

from http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2019/03/06/living-without-plastic.aspx

source http://niapurenaturecom.weebly.com/blog/could-you-live-without-plastic

0 notes

paullassiterca · 6 years

Text

Could You Live Without Plastic?

Macro and Microplastics Are a Problem

Although you’ve likely seen tragic photos of sea turtles and other marine life entwined in plastic bags, six-pack rings or dying of malnutrition as plastic debris block their intestinal tract, some of the most pernicious problems cannot be seen with the naked eye.

Can You Live Life Without Plastic?

Although much media attention has been given to plastics ending up in the ocean, it is estimated four to 23 times greater amounts are released on land than the ocean by way of biosolid fertilizers.8

The rapid development of new plastic chemicals has been fueled by a throwaway mentality, and although several companies have begun pledging reduction in the use of straws and plastic cups, it’s going to take greater change to make a significant impact on the environment and human health.

New stores in New York and London don’t carry products with any plastic and instead sell silicone water bottles and iPhone cases made of flax. In the summer of 2019, Procter & Gamble and PepsiCo plan to test products using aluminum bottles, refillable non-plastic containers and glass bottles.13

Plastic — Threat to Life Beginning at Production and Ending in 1,000 Years

“This report demonstrates that each of those stages interacts with others, and all of them interact with the human environment and the human body in multiple, often intersecting, ways.”

“Health problems associated with plastics throughout the lifecycle includes numerous forms of cancers, diabetes, several organ malfunctions, impact on eyes, skin and other sensory organs, birth defects. And those are only the human health costs, they do not mention impacts on climate, impacts on fisheries or farmland productivity.”

Refining and producing plastic resins and additives releases cancer-causing compounds and other toxics, some of which “can be difficult to detect” as they “are colorless and tend to have mild-to-no odor”

Plastic products and packaging, when in the consumer’s hands, lead to inhaled or ingested toxic and/or plastic particles

Plastic incineration releases toxic compounds

The degradation of plastic leads to microplastics getting into people, wildlife, soil and water

Recycling Is Vastly Underutilized

While it’s best to verify guidelines for your local facility, anything smaller than a Post-It note cannot be sorted properly, so unless you screw on bottle tops it’s better to throw them away. Bubble padded envelopes, wax paper and diapers are not recyclable. Paper cups with shiny coatings or paper food bowls with plastic lining will not be accepted.

In contrast, Norway recycles nearly 97 percent of plastic bottles as a result of an environmental tax producers must pay if they don’t reach a recycling minimum target of 95 percent. Reverse vending machines make it easy for consumers to bring their plastic bottles back for recycling. Additionally, companies are limited in the types of plastic chemicals they can use.

It’s worth remembering mankind had a zero-waste lifestyle up until about 100 years ago. There were no plastic wraps around the foods and items you bought, and virtually every scrap was repeatedly reused and creatively repurposed into new products. For ways to become a recycling expert, see my previous article, “Top 11 Tips to Become an Expert at Recycling.”

What You Can Do to Reduce Your Use

Use reusable shopping bags for groceries

Take your own leftovers container to restaurants

Bring your own mug for coffee, and bring drinking water from home in glass water bottles instead of buying bottled water

Request no plastic wrap on your newspaper and dry cleaning

Store foods in glass containers or mason jars rather than plastic containers and plastic freezer bags

Avoid disposable utensils and straws and buy foods in bulk when you can

Avoid processed foods (which are stored in plastic bags with chemicals). Buy fresh produce instead, and forgo the plastic bags

Consider switching to bamboo toothbrushes and brushing your teeth with coconut oil and baking soda to avoid plastic toothpaste tubes

from Articles http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2019/03/06/living-without-plastic.aspx source https://niapurenaturecom.tumblr.com/post/183258859476

0 notes

foulthingyouth-blog · 7 years

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modalert

Next week, we decided to go to Stonehenge, to carefully examine everything, touch the stones and sit next to them. Stephen took the didgeridoo, intending to play a ritual melody of the sunset, and I - a diary and a few pens, so that there was more than possible to write down possible messages and unexpected guesses. Our guide, Philip, had a good knowledge modalert of both general information about Stonehenge, and related esoteric knowledge. He said that before there were fifty six wooden poles standing around the stones. (The number 56 is remarkable in that it is twice the number of days in the lunar cycle.) - According to historians, these poles were about 10 meters high. They were made most likely from oak, and used to determine the phases of the moon - it was necessary for agriculture, - said Philip. I remembered my former life as a Babylonian priest-astronomer, when the movement of the stars we celebrated along the columns of the temple. "There are thirteen ley lines intersected at Stonehenge," continued our guide. - And this is also noteworthy, because in the year thirteen full moons. Again the moon energy of the goddesses! Philip led us to a large stone that indicated the position of the sun at the time of the summer solstice; there were also two smaller stones - they denoted the spring and autumn equinox. "There are many hypotheses about how the stones got to Stonehenge," Philip said. "Legend has it that Merlin sent them here through the air from Ireland." After all, bluish stones are found only in Wales and Ireland, five hundred kilometers from here. And between Wales and Salisbury, where Stonehenge is located, are entirely mountains and rivers, and not a smooth plain at all. At the entrance to Stonehenge hung a picture depicting hundreds of men trying to move the stone blocks - people pulled the stones with ropes. Alas, all the generally accepted scientific assumptions about Stonehenge and the Egyptian pyramids are based on modern ideas of humanity about material objects. Scientists do not take into account the possible esoteric ways of overcoming the earthly "laws" of physics. ; I remembered a message from Archangel Michael: "Where they are now, these stones came from the vibration measurement of Avalon. A high vibration of thought made iterate the molecules of the stones and allowed them to move from one place to another. " Of course, it sounds like a quote from a fantastic story, but is it really impossible to train your thoughts to such an extent as to learn how to move physical objects? In the end, scientific research has proved the reality of telekinesis - the mental impact of material objects. I read a lot of articles about how a person's thought worked on gaming machines, computers, random number generators, etc. Why people who did not get distracted like us - they did not have TVs, and they did not go in the morning in the office to work, - why could not they direct their energy to dematerialize and rematerialize objects? Especially if they aspired to it with all their might. I also remembered what Nicholas told me in Greece: "The ancient people overcame the power of attraction with music. The priests lifted stones into the air with the help of musical Undoubtedly, all this is possible only thanks to crystal clear intentions and deep faith. The Great Teacher Jesus repeatedly said: "According to your faith, it will be given to you." New children show how we can be, help us remember the abilities we had in the days of Atlantis and Avalon. The Healing Messages of Stonehenge

I entered the circle of Stonehenge, took off my shoes and burrowed my toes into the dark mossy soil. The sun was already setting, and with all my being I felt a great love coming from thousands of angels and ancient sages who surrounded me. An energy vortex appeared in the center of the circle, and I heard the stones chanting the mantra - this sound was very low. The stones told me how much pain and suffering Stonehenge had seen and how much human pain absorbed his stones. I distinctly distinguished the eyes, cheekbones and mouths of stone people - the confidants of priests and priestesses who came here with their sorrows. The stones sang about the ancient astronomers who captured the movement of stars on their surfaces. Thanks to telepathic communication, these astronomers knew about the plight of people - and about poverty, poverty, and other wasted waste of valuable natural gifts. The mysteries of Stonehenge were passed on from generation to generation by spiritual shepherds who served in the modafinil stone circle. Once all the priests-druids were cut out: they were branded as "barbarians" because of their pagan faith. But the souls of these highly spiritual people were able to immediately return to earth: in the world there is a relocation of souls, and it is based not on coercion, but on goodwill. Stephen played the didgeridoo, and his melody reflected from the rays of the setting sun of the stones. I sat down in the distance and began to ask the stones questions: - How does Stonehenge have a relationship to healing? The stones answered immediately: - The healing energy of the ancients is still enveloping this earth, turning it into a temple of healing. It is because of this sweet mother energy that many people - including you - love and adore England. Archangel Hanil was here - she is still here, at once on several levels of being. She is an angel of moonlight; she was worshiped here and called Diana and Demeter. We remember many of our meetings with Khanil and her divine hypostases. These words made me stop and remember the visions of a past life in Babylon. The conducted studies clearly indicated the connection between Hanil and Babylon, its involvement in the appearance of the star powder, which we used. Now these vertically standing stones reported that Haniyel and Diana are one and the same person! Of course, they are both goddesses of the Moon! Demeter, the Greek goddess of the plentiful harvest, was also one of the hypostases of Haniyel. And I knew that it was Khanil who should be thanked for the abundance. I wonder whether the archangels were present on Atlantis or not? Maybe they are manifestations of gods, goddesses and deities of different world cultures and religions? Reflecting on this, I asked the stones for their origin and how they got to Salisbury. That's what they said to me: "You've already been told everything in Glastonbury." We were safe and sound through the portal of Avalon and Atlantis - these civilizations developed synchronously. They held back the evolution of human thinking, as people began to invent and create weapons and other medicine means of destruction and cruelty. We were spread out into small particles of thought forms and brought to the intersection of vortices coming from Glastonbury and Jerusalem. - But how could Atlantis and Avalon develop simultaneously? I asked. "After all, the Atlanteans lived before Jesus, and the Avalon appeared after, did not they?" "This is a lesson of simultaneous realities," the stones answered, "because there are many coincidences and correspondences in the world, Avalon is an ancient land, its spatial and temporal boundaries intersected with the borders of Atlantis. When Atlantis died, the Avalon changed a lot, but its very essence was preserved in what you call "the times of Arthur." The ancient energy of Avalon was embodied in us [stones], so eternity still exists. We are invulnerable keepers of light; the light is always with us, it condenses inside us. "So you are like the Ark of the Covenant, which, being the ultimate object, saved the flame of eternity?" I asked. "The" ultimate "is not the best definition of our structure or structure of the Ark," the stones responded. - But there is something common between us, of course. Stephen approached me and said that our guide Philip showed him a carved image of a dagger with some marks on one of the stones. "It is believed that the dagger is Greek," the husband stressed. "How interesting!" "Does Stonehenge have anything to do with Athens?" I asked the stones. - Healing springs appeared here at the same time, when patients in Asclepius were treated with consecrated water. - And what do you say about the treatment with light, crystals and color?

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wallythayer · 7 years

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How Exercise Affects Circulation (and Vice Versa)

What comes to mind when you think of the circulatory system? For many people, it’s blood and the means by which it moves throughout the body. But there’s so much more going on.

Circulation, a primary function of the circulatory system, delivers oxygen and nutrients via blood to each of your body’s 50 trillion cells while also ushering away toxins. Known interchangeably as your cardiovascular system, the circulatory system -includes not just the heart but also 60,000 miles of blood vessels. It’s essential for keeping you alive.

This intricate network, increasingly considered by some experts to be an organ in its own right, leaves no cell or body system untouched. It powers your brain, lungs, stomach, intestines, liver, waste and lymph systems, and muscles in important ways. Healthy circulation allows you to not only survive but thrive.

While there are many factors that affect the circulatory system (including genetics and lifestyle factors, such as nutrition), exercise is notably effective. Movement of all kinds keeps your heart pumping well and your vascular system strong and clear. In a beautiful cycle, the better your circulatory system works, the better you move — and perform — in the gym and in life.

“The circulatory system loves exercise,” says Donald Dengel, PhD, director of the Laboratory of Integrative Human Physiology at the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis. He explains that exercise makes the circulatory system stronger, more flexible, and more expansive — all at the same time. A healthy circulatory system then returns the favor by boosting athletic performance.

Still, we often overlook how circulatory health and exercise benefit one another. While we can see and feel the effects of our fitness efforts as we lose fat, gain strength, and build endurance, improvements in our circulation aren’t as visible. Unless there is a problem — be it a blocked artery that leads to a heart attack or stroke, or impaired blood flow that leaves feet cold or tingly — it’s a system that hums along quietly, a diligent but silent worker that doesn’t ask for much in order to give a great deal in return.

Just because it’s quiet, however, doesn’t mean the circulatory system doesn’t deserve some attention when you hit the gym. Let’s explore this intersection of exercise and blood flow, and discover how small changes to your fitness routine can make a measurable, long-term impact.

How Your Circulatory System Works

The circulatory system is often thought of as a static network of tubes that simply shuttles blood around the body — but it’s so much more. Also called the cardiovascular system (or sometimes just the vascular system), it’s composed of the lungs, lymph tissue, heart, and blood vessels, and it works in concert with your liver, stomach, intestines, and other organs. Moreover, the circulatory system is metabolically active, supports optimal immune function, and serves as an important waste-removal system.

Illustration by Stuart Briers

1. Heart

This muscular pump contracts and relaxes some 80 times a minute on average (depending on a person’s genetic profile and fitness level), moving enriched blood through your arteries to your brain, organs, tissues, and bones. The oxygen and nutrients it delivers fuels every cell in your body. Regular exercise helps strengthen and enlarge the heart.

2. Lungs

When you inhale, your lungs fill with oxygen. Then, in a process known as gas exchange, oxygen crosses over from the lung tissue to the bloodstream via a web of capillaries. Exercise has been shown to improve the efficiency of gas exchange. This newly oxygenated blood then flows into the left side of the heart.

3. Blood Vessels

This network of arteries, capillaries, and veins reaches every nook and cranny of your body. Blood travels the whole loop — from the heart to every cell and back to the heart again — in about one minute. The 5 to 6 quarts of blood in your system accounts for as much as 7 percent of your body weight. Those who exercise regularly tend to have greater blood volume.

4. Liver

Your liver detoxifies your body, filtering waste via your blood and bile. Exercising regularly improves blood flow by strengthening the heart and blood vessels, bolstering this filtration system. In turn, overall energy and well-being — including athletic performance — are improved if your body’s natural detox method is functioning well.

5. Stomach and Intestines

Your blood absorbs nutrients from digested food via capillaries in your gastrointestinal system; your blood vessels then distribute these nutrients throughout your body. Exercise not only increases the formation of “collateral” blood vessels, which improves nutrient delivery — regular movement also improves digestion and makes you more regular.

6. Waste System

In addition to delivering oxygen and nutrients to your body’s tissues, your blood picks up waste products, like carbon dioxide and lactic acid. Exercise boosts overall circulation, which moves waste out of the body through the capillaries. Blood then travels back to the heart and lungs, where the cycle starts all over again.

Circulation by the Numbers

2.5: Number of times the 60,000 miles of arteries, capillaries, and veins in your body would wrap around the circumference of the earth.

42, 048, 000: Number of times your heart beats each year — about 4,800 times an hour and 115,200 times a day.

23,000: Number of breaths the average person typically takes every day — about 8.4 million a year.

145: Gallons of oxygen you breathe into your lungs daily. Your lungs boast a total surface area the size of a tennis court to facilitate oxygen transfer to your blood.

Exercise RX

A solid fitness regimen benefits your entire body by boosting your circulation in surprisingly varied and vital ways, which makes sense when you remember how much of your body is touched by your vascular system. These are some of the key ways working out can improve your circulatory health.

1. Exercise promotes blood-vessel health.

A healthy vascular system can be measured in two ways: structure and function.

“Arteries are like tubes, with an outer wall and inner wall, and we can talk about both pieces being in good or bad health,” explains Dengel. “In terms of wall thickness, being too thick is not structurally sound — we don’t want stiff vessels. We want them to be very flexible.”

That leads directly to function. When vessels are flexible, they have elastic properties, like the ability to constrict and dilate when presented with changes in volume and pressure. Elasticity is the definition of a healthy artery.

Exercise boosts vessel flexibility because “blood pressure goes up temporarily when we exercise, which forces the blood to flow faster and creates turbulence against the wall of the artery,” he says. “It is like the artery itself is exercising.”

It’s especially important to maintain vessel flexibility in middle age and beyond.

“Vessels are very plastic and can take a lot of abuse when we’re young,” says Dengel. “As we age, unhealthy lifestyle habits — consuming a lot of low-quality fats and sugary food and drinks, for instance — have more effect. Our vessels become more rigid.”

A wealth of research supports the idea that exercise helps prevent — and can even correct — some of that arterial damage. A 1993 study published in the journal Circulation examined 146 men and women, ages 21 to 96. Researchers found that higher physical-conditioning status, determined by VO2 max, was associated with reduced arterial stiffness.

Another study found that the reduction of stiffness was associated with improvement of insulin resistance in type 2 diabetics.

In addition to keeping blood vessels bendy, regular exercise has been shown to reduce arterial inflammation and reduce the dangerous buildup of arterial plaque.

In a 2009 study of mice, researchers found that a consistent daily exercise program over six months helped make existing plaques stronger and less likely to rupture (plaque ruptures can cause a heart attack or stroke).

Regular exercise has also been shown to prevent and dissolve blood clots by enhancing fibrinolysis, a process by which enzymes break down fibrin, a component of blood clots.

2. Exercise helps inoculate against chronic disease.

Vascular endothelial cells line every surface of the circulatory system, sheathing the heart, veins, arteries, and capillaries. These cells were once thought to be nothing more than a sort of biological cellophane wrapper, with only one function: to let a bit of water and some electrolytes pass through to tissues.

Researchers now know that these cells play a major role in maintaining optimal health. Damage to the endothelial lining has been linked to cardiovascular disease, stroke, insulin resistance, diabetes, kidney failure, and cancer.

Exercise puts pressure on the vascular endothelium — and that’s a good thing. Experts believe the various types of stresses exercise induces prepare the endothelial cells to withstand everyday threats, whether it’s inflammation from eating too much sugar or damage to the lung tissue from breathing smoggy air.

3. Exercise reduces heart-disease risk.

Movement improves vascular hormone production. In as little as a few weeks, exercise has been found to increase the production of atrial natriuretic peptide (ANP), the vascular hormone that counterbalances high blood pressure.

“Research has shown that older individuals who engage in exercise over the long term can see blood pressure improvements” similar to results from ACE inhibitors prescribed for hypertension, says Brad Dieter, PhD, research fellow at Providence Medical Research Center in Spokane, Wash.

High circulating levels of the vascular hormone brain natriuretic peptide (BNP), on the other hand, have been associated with increased risk for heart failure. According to a 2012 study published in the Journal of Cardiovascular Disease Research, endurance exercise, in particular, was found to reduce circulating concentrations of BNP.

4. Exercise bolsters athletic performance.

A stronger heart pumps more blood, more efficiently, to your lungs and throughout your body. The result? More oxygenated blood reaches your muscle tissue — and when muscles have more oxygen for fuel, they can work harder, improving athletic performance.

Over time, this higher volume of blood widens the blood vessels (another benefit) and builds new ones. “When you exercise, you create collateral vessels,” says Dengel. So not only is more oxygen-rich blood being pumped by a stronger heart, but that blood has more routes to reach muscle tissue.

At the same time, aerobic activity improves lung capacity — and greater lung capacity means more staying power in your favorite game or activity.

5. Exercise improves lymphatic function.

The lymph system — an extensive network of tissues, organs, and vessels that transport lymph fluid throughout the body — has two primary functions: balancing the fluids in the body and producing white blood cells that help fight off infection. The lymph system works in close concert with the blood vessels, and the robust circulation of lymph fluid is essential for optimal health.

Certain exercises promote the flow of lymph fluid. Jumping on a trampoline for just 10 minutes can enhance lymphatic activity. Inversions, like shoulder stands in some yoga practices, help drain lymph fluid and accelerate the rate at which lymph fluid is cleansed and filtered.

6. Exercise makes the heart bigger and stronger.

“Endurance training — like running or rowing — provides specific benefits to the heart,” says Dieter. “The chambers of the heart get bigger.”

That process is called eccentric remodeling, and it allows the amount of blood being pumped out of the heart to increase with each heartbeat. That’s why endurance athletes’ resting heart rates are so low. Their hearts don’t have to beat as often because each contraction pumps out a higher volume of blood.

Strength training has a different effect on the heart. “If you’re weightlifting, your heart will increase in size, but the chamber won’t get bigger. That’s called concentric remodeling,” he explains.

Concentric remodeling increases pressure across the chamber of the heart, so the heart wall gets thicker.

“The heart is a muscle, so just like other muscles, weightlifting makes the heart muscle get stronger,” he says.

(To learn about the possible cardiac risks of extreme, high-intensity endurance training, visit “Out of Rhythm“.)

While strength and endurance training may confer different specific benefits, experts agree that any fitness regimen is a win for the circulatory system. “There is a baseline benefit to any type of movement,” says cardiologist Mimi Guarneri, MD, FACC, author of The Heart Speaks: A Cardiologist Reveals the Secret Language of Healing.

The simple advice to move more — no matter what type of movement you choose — recalls the old saying that the best exercise is the one you will actually do. So whether your passion is golf, doing cartwheels, or Olympic lifting, the fact that you are moving is what matters. Movement is medicine for circulatory health.

The Truth About Circulation

Can exercise help varicose veins? Are there quick fixes for cold hands? Learn what’s true, and what’s false, when it comes to circulation.

Q | Can certain exercises cure varicose veins?

A | Not really, says osteopathic doctor Spencer Nadolsky, DO, of Olney, Md. Varicose veins are largely genetic and exercise only does so much. If your legs ache and feel heavy, which can accompany varicose veins, elevating your legs might help. Try doing legs-up-the-wall, for example. (For directions, go to “The Restorative Workout“.) People who stand or sit for many consecutive hours are more likely to develop varicose veins. Compression socks may also help with discomfort.

Q | Will compression socks aid my circulation and improve my athletic performance?

A | Yes and no, says University of Minnesota exercise physiologist Donald Dengel, PhD. Compression socks and sleeves might improve circulation when you sit for a long time on a plane, for example, and they support the healthy movement of lymph fluid throughout the body. But research is scarce on their performance-enhancing ability. (For more on compression socks, see “Expert Answers: Does compression gear work?“)

Q | Are cold hands and feet due to poor circulation?

A | “Yes, it very well could be,” says Brad Dieter, PhD, a research fellow at Providence Medical Research Center. Exercise improves blood flow, both in the moment (do enough burpees and dead bugs and your whole body will heat up, even your fingers and toes) and over the long term, thanks to the creation of collateral blood vessels, which pump more blood and oxygen to your extremities.

Q | Does massage improve circulation?

A | Yes. Researchers at the University of Illinois, Chicago, found that massage improves blood flow and vascular function in both regular exercisers and sedentary individuals. But don’t use this as license to skip your workout and rely solely on massage for blood-flow benefits; exercise has unique circulatory benefits that can’t be replicated.

That said, there is a specific type of massage, called manual lymph drainage, that is thought to improve lymph circulation. While some practitioners believe that manual lymph drainage has little benefit for those who have not undergone lymph-node removal or other chest surgery, others say that it can help the lymph flow in all individuals, aiding the body’s ability to fight infections and detoxify.

This appeared as “Pumped Up: How Exercise Affects Circulation (and Vice Versa)” in the June 2017 print issue of Experience Life.

Get the full story at https://experiencelife.com/article/how-exercise-affects-circulation-and-vice-versa/

#brain

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you-are-another-me · 8 years

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The Great Secret The great secret of alchemy is the Divine Marriage of opposites which gives birth to the Spirit Body of transcendence associated with liberation of the soul. The exact process of metamorphosis leading to the creation and birth of the spirit body within the physical body has long been veiled in mystery and secrecy. The spirit body is not to be confused with the subtle body or subtle bodies which one already has from birth. The creation and birth of the spirit body is an entirely unique process found within the various world traditions of alchemy. The spirit body has gone by names like Deva Deha, Siddha Deha, Golden Pearl, Merkaba, Rainbow Body, Diamond Body, Star Body, and Immortal Body of Light. You can find the most revealed aspects of this process in Chinese Taoist Alchemy and East Indian Tantric Alchemy. Traditionally, the process was taught from teacher to student in a step by step series of initiations. One did not progress until first mastering each successive step. The foundation for this process can be found in traditional Yoga comprised of physical postures, breathing and mantra sound meditation. Yoga means union with the absolute. Depending upon the culture, the opposites were variously know as Fire and Water, Sun and Moon, Soul and Spirit, Male and Female, Mercury and Sulfur, King and Queen, Heaven and Earth, Shiva and Shakti, Kan and Li, Yin and Yang, Ka and Ba, Isis and Osiris, Soma and Agni. Also this marriage parallels the practice of Tantric sexual union and unfoldment of the inner life energy referred to as the Kundalini. This process is also mirrored in the Jewish mystical tradition of the Kabbalah when ascending the Tree of Life, which esoterically is the seven energy centres or chakras that run up the spinal column to the brain. The alchemical marriage of opposites can be seen in the symbolism of the intersecting triangles of the Jewish Star of David, Seal of Solomon, and the Sri Yantra of India. The upward pointing triangle symbolizes the male or fire principle, and the downward pointing triangle symbolizes the female or water principle. The Bindu point in the centre of the Sri Yantra symbolizes the point of transcendence. The Yantra is a graphic symbol of the Mantra. The Mantra corresponds with the Five Elements and Logos or Word of God. Also the marriage of opposites can be seen in the symbolism of the Christian Cross. The ancient Caduceus symbol used by the modern medical establishment symbolizes on an esoteric level the alchemical process. The staff represents the spinal column which correlates with the Sushumna Nadi channel of yogic esoteric anatomy. The two ascending spirals of snakes represent the solar and lunar currents known as the ida and pingala of the kundalini life force. The spiral pattern is similar to the spirals of the human DNA. The symbolism of Jacobs Ladder or Stairway to Heaven corresponds with the Staff of Life. The sphere at the top of the staff represents the energy centre of the brain or the seventh chakra, also known as the thousand-petalled lotus. The wings at the top of the staff represent the culmination of the alchemical process. They represent freedom or liberation of the soul from the cycle of birth and death. One transcends the bonds of ego and bodily identification. The spirit is released from the confines of matter. Ultimately, this is the unfoldment of consciousness whereby one realizes one’s self to be infinite - also known as self-realization. Most esoteric symbolism and myth reflects the process of alchemical transformation in both its inner and outer aspects. Dragon symbolism is a reflection of the life force. The Uraeus headdress of the Egyptian pharaohs in which the serpent protrudes from the forehead symbolizes the unfoldment of the Kundalini. The Phoenix bird rising from the ashes represents the alchemical process of transformation, rebirth, and liberation. The Christmas tree can be seen as a reflection of this process. Also the Biblical story of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, although edited by orthodoxy, also represents the alchemical process. The Fruit of the Tree of Life can be equated with Elixir and Apotheosis. One of the most well known references to alchemy in the Bible is the passage attributed to Jesus in John 3, "I assure you, unless you are born again, you can never see the Kingdom of God. The truth is, no-one can enter the Kingdom of God without being born of Water and the Spirit." From the esoteric perspective, this is the marriage of opposites. Spirit is synonymous with Fire and breath. The Kingdom of God is apotheosis. The idea of rapture, resurrection, transfiguration, ascending to heaven and becoming an immortal is based upon this process. There are numerous stories throughout history of those who practiced alchemy becoming immortal. This relates to the development and birth of the spirit body. This is the great spiritual rebirth, enlightenment or illumination. Through the marriage of opposites, one becomes whole or holy, or to become born again. This can also be seen as the marriage of Soul and Spirit and an expression of the highest form of healing. It is the exact process of how to create this marriage which has always been secret. Gnosis or direct experience makes up the Gnostic tradition of Esoteric Christianity. Both Jesus and Mary Magdalene are considered to be key figures in the alchemical nature of Esoteric Christianity. The exoteric or outer rituals of orthodox religion like the Seven Holy Sacraments; Baptism, Anointing, Christening, Consecration, Holy Water and the Eucharist are a reflection of the esoteric or inner practice of alchemy where faith is replaced with direct experience, and death is replaced with embodied liberation. The anthropomorphic deity is transcended and the infinite is realized. The human body is the ultimate temple or alchemical laboratory where transformation takes place. The Spirit Body developed within the physical body is the ultimate vehicle of resurrection, ascension and transcendence. It is said that to have a human body is an extremely rare gift and there are countless souls without a body waiting to take birth. Through the body and mind, one can realize one’s true self. The focus of alchemy is to accelerate the growth of the human soul within one lifetime to completion or perfection. One overrides the process of normal evolution involving countless incarnations, where the soul is led by desire and attachment to the temporal which keeps one bound to the cycle of birth and death. The experience of the phenomenal world and its associated pleasures do not give lasting happiness. Humans are programmed by nature to continually seek happiness which is essentially a search for one’s true self. For most, happiness is sought outwards in temporal pleasure. Self-realization is about turning inwards and finding eternal happiness, peace and fulfillment. The trials, tribulations and lessons of life reach their culmination and fulfillment in self-realization. One transcends phenomenal creation and realizes the infinite source of creation within. With this awakening of awareness, one sees all of creation as an aspect of one’s self. Alchemy accelerates the process of evolution, thereby allowing one to step off the wheel of birth and death. One transcends desire, duality, karma, space and time. One’s true nature is realized, which is infinite.

#ascension #hieros gamos

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