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Picture Diary 132

May. 24th, 2026 03:09 pm
poliphilo: (Default)
[personal profile] poliphilo
 Picture Diary 132

1. Sizeable object


Y6UDK8qVCeMqwVIDfuC7--0--NRJ0E.jpeg

2. I'll take the high road

5LeKImKZpJfQCJtQveP1--0--uu4r_.jpeg

3. I have raised strangers

1v6fjEAJ3YhuXjh7ZcHQ--0--Um1Qi.jpeg

4. Home planet

uSYKNj7Ja4oUzGktWeHd-Qzgdj-adjusted.jpeg

5. Cottingley 2026

iPyKtEUXk27tIRibh3Um--0--r2Jk3.jpeg

6. Mem'ries


R26ATn1EohKe9U7SLDTR-ZQwmZ-adjusted.jpeg

Where do the Ansells live?

May. 24th, 2026 02:30 pm
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[personal profile] regshoe
The 'ugly little town' where the Ansells live is oddly non-specific in comparison to the rest of the book's locations. I think here it's the household rather than the town that counts, but also I can't resist a geographical puzzle, and so:

A geographical puzzle much more complicated than it looks but also much simpler than it looks )
poliphilo: (Default)
[personal profile] poliphilo
 I gather Pope Leo is going after Vatican corruption- and three Cardinals are under investigation. They thought he'd back down or consent to a cover-up as other Popes have done, but he's a toughie.

The Pentagon has released more info on UFOs. They're holding back the good stuff but letting us know they know. Call it a softening-up exercise. Others are following suit- the Japanese for instance- and the moment is fast approaching when a world leader gets up on a podium and says, "Me and my guys have got something to tell you.... " History knocks on the door- like Jesus in that horrid Victorian painting- the Light of the World- and it's a question who will get there first and shoot back the bolt. Could the current US President bear it if Putin or Xi or Pope Leo beat him to it? I doubt it. Future generations may forget everything else about our era but they'll remember the name of the person who made that particular paradigm-changing announcement.

Petrichor

May. 23rd, 2026 11:41 am
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[personal profile] poliphilo
 Bank Holiday weekend, temperature in the mid 20s, the faint sounds of jollity that rise and swell on the breeze will be coming from the funfair in Princes Park. Later in the day there'll be a Carnival Procession along the front. It crossed my mind that the Quakers should be taking part, but I dismissed it; Quakers and Carnival are not an obvious mix- though we've said we'll participate in the Pride March later in the year.

I bought a hat at the Tip Shop to wear at Pride. I think it may have started out on the head of a Morris dancer.

IMG_0436.jpeg

Damian is up on his roof with his two two stepsons replacing and repairing tiles. I just cut the grass. Since Wendy took over the bottom half of the lawn for a vegetable patch there's a good deal less of it to deal with.  Ailz says the scent of new mown grass is in fact the grass sending out a warning to other grass in the vicinity, though how grass is supposed to defend itself I really don't know. Ailz says the name for that scent is petrichor.....

One Of The Gifts Of Age

May. 23rd, 2026 09:15 am
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[personal profile] poliphilo
 They say that when you look back on your life from the other side of the veil it seems to have gone by in no time at all. In a snap of the fingers, a blink of the eye. Probably because on the other side of the veil there is no time at all.

I'm getting a foretaste of that now. 

As if my life were a landscape that I'm viewing through a powerful telescope. The events of seventy years ago, fifty years ago, twenty five years are all up close and in sharp focus. 

As if there were no intervals between them,

As if they were all happening at once. 

Our Quaker study group is going to be discussing ageing tomorrow- and this may be one of the thing I'll choose to talk about....

Jim

May. 22nd, 2026 10:01 am
poliphilo: (Default)
[personal profile] poliphilo
 I find myself thinking about Jim Morrison.

He came from privilege, his dad an Admiral, if you can call it privilege to have been dragged around the globe in the wake of an alpha male.

He told the world his parents were dead, only they weren't.  He grew his hair, dressed in leather, talked Rimbaud, waved his dick around.  A vid I just watched tells me the new persona was fully formed before he found a vehicle for it in the Doors.

Oh, he was so fortunate to happen upon those musicians! They created the sound- the hypnotic sound- the carnival sound- that backed his carrying on. He needed them. Have you read the art he created on his own- the poetry? It's not very good. He'd have been nobody very much without them.

Would he have been happier as a nobody? That's the road untravelled.

As he aged he wanted out of the act. It was making him ill. He wanted to be Jim- only who was Jim? Was Jim even a thing?

There are parallels with Elvis. The King, the Lizard King, two legends built on sand. The Fat Elvis and the Fat Jim of their later years have the same blank moon-face. The face of a Fool.

But we are all fools. If you are a Tarot reader or a Shakespearian you'll know that being the Fool is a good thing.

He stopped showing up for the Doors. Then he went to France. There are reports that at the end he wasn't always drunk or high, but would sit at cafe tables staring into space- scribbling in a note book, writing a new self.

Changing his skin.

As with Elvis there's a theory that he faked his own death. It's not impossible; people do.

You gotta die to live.......

jim-morrison-the-doors-v0-1vw5dpuk81hd1.jpeg.webp

Parricide

May. 21st, 2026 08:33 am
poliphilo: (Default)
[personal profile] poliphilo
 Ah yes, Oedipus: the son kills the father. He does it unknowingly but....  but the overbearing old man on the road is a symbol of the father- and is asking to be killed- only then turns out to be the actual father- and the laudable or understandable act of self-defence is revealed as parricide- worst of crimes.

Why is it the worst? Because the fathers- who are afraid of their sons- declared it to be so. 

Every son wants to kill his father. Really? Oh yeah. I wanted to kill mine.....

"Kill" in the sense of rid myself of his influence, get out from his shadow, be free, be my own man....

A son writes to his father, "I need to defend myself against you," The father is taken aback. He hadn't realised he was such a monster......

The sacred king in the grove at Nemi, beating the bounds, sword in hand. He is all but a god, but always in fear of the young man who will eventually step up and challenge and kill him and become king in his turn. An endless cycle.

How to end it? Get rid of fathers, get rid of sons......

Hello There!

May. 20th, 2026 05:34 pm
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[personal profile] plottingmyreads posting in [community profile] addme
Name: Ana

Age:36



I mostly post about: Book, Manga, Manhwa, and Manhua reviews or anything related to literature



My hobbies are: Reading, Learning Spanish, Chinese, and Korean



My fandoms are: Dragon Ball Z, Sailor Moon, Naruto, Stephen King, Game of Thrones, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Doctor Who, Anime, Manga, Manhwa, Manhua, Jurassic Park, The Walking Dead, Supernatural, Sherlock, The Lord of the Rings, Disney, Studio Ghibli, Saiyuki, etc.



I'm looking to meet people who: Share some of my interests, so I don't feel like I'm talking into the void when I post, and give me something to read on my page. Ideally, I'd like to meet people around my age.



My posting schedule tends to be: Sometime I post weekly or sporadic depend on my mood.



When I add people, my dealbreakers are:Close-mindedness. Rudeness.



Before adding me, you should know: I post a lot about books, manga, or anything literature, which isn't for everyone. Also, I'm socially awkward and take a while to respond to comments or DMs. I try my best to comment, but sometimes I'm not able to think of something to say, so if it's okay with you, I might comment late on posts I've read.

(no subject)

May. 20th, 2026 11:19 pm
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[personal profile] fox_in_me posting in [community profile] addme
Name: Mr. Fox


Age: 30-something


I mostly post about:
Fragments of life, memory, war, and the strange feeling of trying to remain human while the world changes around you.

I write honest personal entries about life in Ukraine during wartime not as news reports, but as lived emotions. Memories of peaceful years, quiet evenings by the sea, conversations, fears, hope, exhaustion, music on empty streets, radio signals in the night, thoughts about humanity, loneliness, survival, and the fragile beauty that still somehow exists beside all of this.

Before the war, my life was deeply connected with the sea, travel, ships, people from different countries, and long roads between places. Some of those stories still appear here too.

This journal was reborn after a long silence. Every entry is published both in English and in its original language. I also share my own photography : small visual fragments of different periods of my life, usually connected to the mood of a specific post.

If I had to describe this journal simply:
these are probably letters from a person trying not to lose himself completely.

My hobbies are:
Photography (almost professionally), lomography and everyday street photography, music (acoustic, post-rock, instrumental covers, atmospheric music), psychology, radio communication, history, classical literature, travel, long night walks, and collecting strange little moments that most people pass by without noticing.

I love meaningful conversations and people who still know how to feel deeply.

My fandoms are:
Not really fandom-oriented.

But I love thoughtful writing, old internet culture, personal blogs, atmospheric media, documentaries, literature, music, photography, and people with their own inner worlds.

I'm looking to meet people who:
...feel something when they read my words.

Kind people. Thoughtful people. Quiet observers. Those who still value sincerity on the internet.

You absolutely do not have to share my experiences to understand the emotions behind them.

I’m open to meeting people from different countries and backgrounds — as long as empathy still exists in them.

(And yes, one exception remains:
I do not welcome people who support or justify the war.)

My posting schedule tends to be:
Usually several times a week.
Sometimes more often when thoughts become too loud to keep inside.

When I add people, my dealbreakers are:
Cruelty, dehumanization, propaganda, or people who completely lost the ability to empathize with others.

Otherwise, I prefer discovering people naturally through conversation and writing.

Before adding me, you should know:
I’m Ukrainian.
And I think that inevitably shapes many things I write now.

Still, this journal is not built around politics alone.
It is about trying to preserve memory, humanity, warmth, irony, curiosity, and the ability to notice beauty even during difficult times.

Welcome aboard.
These are still my messages in a bottle.

The Tree Of Life

May. 20th, 2026 08:51 am
poliphilo: (Default)
[personal profile] poliphilo
 So I'm rereading Dion Fortune's The Mystical Qabalah.

Dion Fortune- aka Violet Mary Firth (1890-1946)- was a ceremonial magician.

Here she is, doing her thing 

Dion_Fortune_in_regalia.jpeg

I don't have the temperament or the intellect for ceremonial magic. I can't remember- or be bothered to remember- all those lists of correspondences. Ceremonial magic ain't spontaneous. And I like spontaneity.

Still, if you want an introduction to Cabala- which is how I prefer to spell it- Dion Fortune is straightforward and readable- even chatty. She was also a Jungian and wrote novels. I'll acknowledge that she's very much out of date- but then I like old books.

She calls the Cabala the "Yoga of the West". It's roots are in Judaism, it was developed and elaborated by Jews and Christians through the Middle Ages- and taken up and made accessible to the modern mind by 19th and 20th century occultists. At its heart is the glyph known as The Tree of Life which "is an attempt to reduce to diagrammatic form every force and factor in the manifested universe and the soul of man."  It looks like this

TE_Kabbalah.jpeg
The circles are known as sephiroth and represent those forces and factors aforesaid. Malkuth at the bottom is the sphere of earthly manifestation and Kether at the top is the all but unknowable Godhead. The straight lines are paths that can be travelled {which the moderns have identified with the major Trumps of the Tarot) and the entire glypth tells you how things hang together. We used it a bit in Wicca.- and I once wrote a longish poem in which I travelled all round the tree- of which only parts still survive. The rest, the parts I ditched, were superficial and glib because what do I know?

I don't understand quite why I'm revisiting Cabala now, except that a dream seemed to be telling me to- and one must pay attention to dreams.....

In Dreams

May. 19th, 2026 08:32 am
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[personal profile] poliphilo
 Last night's dream had a lot of talking in it- but I forget what was said. Our taxi driver had taken us to his home where we met his wife and I was impressed by the books she had on the shelf behind her . I remember one of them- a fat volume entitled The Tree of Life 

In dreams we go to the astral and do what I suppose you might call inner work. One doesn't have to remember them because the inner work will have been done whether we remember it  or not. Still, the things we do remember will tell us where our inner selves are at. Dream imagery, unless we've become lucid, is always going to be a rough and ready translation into the stuff of waking life of apprehensions waking mind would otherwise find it hard to grasp. In dreams we apprehend our real life- the life that lies behind/ transcends the playacting we're engaged in on Earth.

So.....

Taxi driver = Spirit Guide

Taxi driver's wife = Anima or Higher Self

Tree of Life = Cabala

I was very much into Cabala in my forties- and I still have cabalistic books on my own shelves. I think I'm being prompted to take a second look.

A Cat I Know

May. 18th, 2026 08:01 am
poliphilo: (Default)
[personal profile] poliphilo
 We were looking after a cat last week - as we do from time to time. This commits us to a couple of visits a day, hanging out a bit and making sure the food and water bowls are topped up.

Ruby is a man's cat. She likes her male owner better than her female owner and me more than Ailz. 

She is getting louder with age- just as our own Marlowe is. Cats don't talk to one another but work out along the way that humans aren't very good at telepathy and mainly communicate by making noises. It's a pity cats don't have prettier voices. Why can't a cat be more like a bird? I don't mean like a gull, of course; gulls and cats sound very alike; I mean, for instance, a blackbird.... 

The highlight of Ruby's day in to go out into the enclosed back garden and drink rain water out of a big plant pot......

Hello there!

May. 16th, 2026 08:27 pm
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[personal profile] yourivy posting in [community profile] addme
I just recently returned from a health-related hiatus and thought I'd like to meet a couple new people :)

Name:
Tina.
Age: Freshly turned 38 six days ago!

I mostly post about: My daily life and musings. Sometimes I also post surveys/memes, will share a song I found if I think my friends are going to like it and I do a weekly "What are you reading Wednesday?" post. My personal entries often contain pictures, but if there are more than three of them, I'll put the rest of them under a cut to spare your reading list.

My hobbies are: Reading, listening to music, hanging out with friends, taking walks, playing Pokémon Go (yes, "still"), taking pictures, going to concerts (when I can afford it), travelling (same), cuddling my cat, doing word searches, jigsaw puzzles.
My fandoms are: I don't really have any? I mean, I am a "fan" in the sense of liking things but I don't read/write fanfiction or the like. I don't have anything against fandom culture, in fact I love how passionate and creative people get about it! I just never got into it personally.

I'm looking to meet people who: are kind, empathetic, understand that life isn't always sunshine and puppies, and have a sense of humour. Shared interests are a plus, but not necessary - I have made some great friends on here who I have almost nothing in common with. I also find it so intriguing to learn about what people love and what makes them so passionate about it!
My posting schedule tends to be: I try to post at least once a week (not counting the "Reading Wednesday" entry). Same with commenting on my flist, if I have enough spoons.

When I add people, my dealbreakers are: The usual (anti-feminism, queer-/transphobia, racism etc.). Both extreme zionists and anti-semites. I have been going through some health struggles in the past year or so (both physical and mental) and want to feel free to whine on my journal sometimes, so if you are a person who doesn't like "too much negativity", you might want to give me a pass. I don't mean to be an asshole, it's just that I am never sure where the line to "too much" would be crossed and in the end, either of us could get uncomfortable. I hope that makes sense?

Please also give me a pass if you think that autism spectrum disorders and/or ADHD are "overdiagnosed" or self-diagnosis isn't valid. I am very possibly on the spectrum myself and have been trying to seek an official diagnosis for years but it seems nigh impossible where I am, so this is a sensitive topic for me.

Lastly, I unfortunately have a tendency to put my foot in my mouth or just phrase things badly, which has lead to misunderstandings/drama before. So please, if I ever say something that ends up offending you, try to give me the benefit of the doubt and talk to me about it. I never intend to hurt anyone, and if I do, will apologize and do my best to make up for it. Sometimes I will just not realize I was being offensive, and I truly even appreciate the learning experience!

Before adding me, you should know:
I think I've pretty much covered that above? Just wanted to say that I might sound "complicated" or unapproachable, but in reality I am really quite nice and love getting to know people from all walks of life. Please do comment on here before adding me, thank you so much ♥

As The Prophet Says

May. 16th, 2026 08:52 am
poliphilo: (Default)
[personal profile] poliphilo
 I dreamed that my son- the one who has recently fallen out with me- gave an hour long lecture without notes. He was just a kid and I was proud of him....

No, "proud of him" isn't the right phrase, just a convenient one. One should be more precise. "Pleased for him" would be better.

In the dream, as I remember, I was hesitant to congratulate him, I suppose because I knew that in waking life he's gone beyond caring for my approval.

And in waking life what I am is pleased not proud. He's a successful man (gosh, all my kids are middle-aged now!) but his success is his own and nothing to do with me. It doesn't reflect backwards. The kind of success he's achieved isn't the kind I've wanted for myself or particularly wanted for him. It's his, nothing to do with me. We're on different paths.

As Kahlil Gibran's Propet says, "Your children are not your children"......

Making Lists

May. 15th, 2026 08:17 am
poliphilo: (Default)
[personal profile] poliphilo
 So, when you're drawing up a list of 100 best novels, or movies or whatever, do you let your heart or your head rule you?

I guess for most people it's a bit of both.

The head has to have it's say. If I'm drawing up a list of great movies I'm unlikely to include some piece of fluff that I love for no better reason than I watched it on a first date. Let's see, I love The Alamo, John Wayne's version- because it obsessed me when I was a kid- and I really, really wanted to be Laurence Harvey-  but I'm mainstream enough to recognise that it's not exactly a cinematic milestone. 

On the other hand a list ruled entirely by the head would have to include all sorts of things I don't like at all but know to be culturally important. For instance a list of great movies would have to include Battleship Potemkin- a film I consider downright nasty- crudely manipulative, dishonest- and a list of novels arrived at in that way would have to include something by Sir Walter Scott- who I find unreadable.

But the more heart we allow into the equation the more our lists are going to disagree. Subjectivity takes over, objectivity goes out the window.

I've already given you my number one novel. My number one movie is Powell and Pressburger's A Canterbury Tale.

So bite me!

Novels

May. 14th, 2026 08:17 am
poliphilo: (Default)
[personal profile] poliphilo
 The Guardian is giving us a list of the 100 greatest novels,  starting at the bottom and counting up. What I've seen so far doesn't greatly please me. There's too much recent stuff,  too much anglophone stuff.

The golden age of the novel ended round about the time the golden age of cinema began. Anything published after Ulysses is an afterthought. Graham Greene is fun but what does he add to Dostoevsky and Conrad? 

I predict that future readers of the list, if there are any, will run their eyes down it, going, "What's this? What's this?" Most novels have a very short shelf life- and great novels are rare. 

What am I reading at the moment? I'm rereading Ishiguro's The Buried Giant. I like Ishiguro a lot but will he still be read in 50 years? I wouldn't count on it. 

If it were my list what would come in at number one?  In certain moods I'd be inclined to say Wuthering Heights. I'm not even sure I like it, but it packs one hell of a punch.

Still Emily isn't my favourite Bronte; that would be Charlotte- and my favourite Bronte novel is Villette

So, I'll stick with a book I actually love as well as admire- and say Alice in Wonderland.

Seen It All Before

May. 13th, 2026 08:11 am
poliphilo: (Default)
[personal profile] poliphilo
 Does it really matter who the British Prime Minister is? The next person who fills the role will sweat under the same sun as the current one does, bow before the same wind.

Nevertheless the media make a great to-do about it- and once again we're treated to the spectacle of an office holder clinging on by their fingertips and refusing to let go. This particular one is deeply unpopular, is being buffeted by scandals both personal and political and has just presided over an election that was disastrous for his party. "I'll change," he says, "I'll prove the doubters wrong" - just like the half dozen Prime Ministers before him. There are only so many times you can watch Harold Lloyd dangle from the clock face and still find it thrilling and funny......

HaroldLloyd2.jpeg

Alices

May. 12th, 2026 11:51 am
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[personal profile] poliphilo
 John Tenniel's illustrations to the Alice books are definitive- and all the artists who have come after him have worked in his shadow. In spite of that there have been a lot of them.

The very first illustrator, preceding Tenniel, was Lewis Carroll himself. His pictures weren't for public consumption but accompanied the MS of what was then entitled Alice's Adventures Underground. They are amateur but spirited. Here's how he chose to picture Alice- as a pre-Raphaelite maiden with long tangly locks....

Lewis-Carroll-Alice-Under-Ground-17.jpg.webp

There are some real oddities in the bunch. Mabel Lucie Atwell, purveyor of chubby, rosy-cheeked children to the Middle classes, had a go. Here's her White Rabbit- cute and unthreatening

58e9177fcfbecd54988679087fd82dd7.jpeg

And here- at the opposite extreme- is Salvador Dali's White Rabbit- who seems intent on biting your head off. "Mary Ann, Mary Ann, fetch me my gloves this moment". Dali's Alice is not to be parted from her skipping rope. She has it in all his pix. And why not?

82ec6aff-d4c7-478d-89bf-20b05bc59c95_sd7.jpg.webp.jpeg

The greatest and most influential illustrator post-Tenniel is Arthur Rackham. He updates Alice to his own Edwardian era- and his compositions are mostly crowded and unsettling. Here's the Duchess in her kitchen with the cook lobbing dishes at her. Cool!

arthurrackham_alice7.jpg.webp

Finally back to basics. Here's one of Lewis Carroll's photographs of the girl who inspired the stories,  Alice Pleasance Liddell. I was asked why the Alice in my AI illustrations wasn't blonde- and this is the answer.....

Dressed_in_Her_Best_Outfit.jpeg

The Courage To Be Disliked

May. 12th, 2026 07:29 am
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[personal profile] poliphilo
 "Have the courage to be disliked" says Fraya Mortensen in a Youtube video that tumbled into my pathway this morning. I'd never heard of her before, but that's synchronicity for you; when you need to be told a thing someone or something will make sure you get the message.

Yeah, there are people who dislike me, most hurtfully members of my own family, but so what? That's their business. Nothing to do with me. And the worst thing I can do is bend to their opinion and put on an act to make myself more likeable. It's better to be disliked than inauthentic. Everything that happens in the world is neutral- just energy playing itself out- and it's I who accord value to it and call it good or bad and feel it as good or bad. This is a hard saying- but something the very wise- especially in the Buddhist tradition- have been saying since forever. 

Never resent, never explain, just be the Truth that is baked into your clay.

You have limitations. Accept them.