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COURAGE NEED NOT BE FIERCE OR AGRESSIVE. IT MAY BE A CALM, QUIET THOUGHT: “PERSIST. TRY AGAIN TOMORROW”.
Category Archives: ART
Paintings, photography, aesthetic objects, beautiful communication, and anything I consider to be art, artful, artistic, artsy or whatever.
Art is subjective. It is a quality of communication can be contributed to by the viewer through empathy or agreement with its creator.
TWIN SOULS
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What are Twin Souls?
Twins and soul mates are two entirely different things. If you do believe in reincarnation and past lives, you could literally have thousands of soul mates out there, people you have bumped into constantly over your many, many lives along with the karma which comes with it.
But the Twin is different. It is literally your missing half from the beginning of Time. You can have 1000’s of soul mates but there is only one Twin.
The reunification of Twins is also a very, very holy event.
According to folklore, myths, stories through the ages, all of us are Divine sparks from the Source, eons ago, we were WHOLE, not separated, in a state of constant bliss. The Classical Greek philosopher Plato talks about it in the “Speech of Aristophanes” in his book “The Symposium”. The ideas expressed in highly symbolic form.
Twins are marked by several characteristics: parallel life stories, eery and insane coincidences, communication which borders on the telepathic and an overwhelming sense of familiarity between you, like you’ve known each other forever.
Various myths and traditions around the world describe when Twins became separated: In Christianity/Islam/Judaism, it is the Fall of Man, when Adam and Eve are cast out of Paradise. In Egyptian mythology, it is when Set angered the Sun God RA so deeply when he killed his brother Osiris and cut him into 14 pieces, forever separating him from his Twin, Isis.
This awful event caused Twins to separate and the search of true love is really a search for the missing Twin. Their reunification is holy because it is literally the coming together of a PRIMARY energy from Source itself. Meaning, the energy Twins generate is of such a high frequency and so pure, that the work that Twins do together is of immense importance and usually helps inspire humankind to evolve to a higher state of consciousness, which is why Twins finding each other during this time of transition would go a long way.
Twinship is not about romance, candle lit dinners, great sex, buying a condo together and shared investments and retirement savings plans. It is about two souls coming together to be of benefit and service to humanity, usually by inspiring and leading others with the creative work they do together, whether that be the books they write together, the ideas they come up with together, the healing work they do together, the artistic and creative output they do together etc. The works they produce together usually live on, long after they have gone.
It is usually a male, female configuration, but not always. It may manifest itself as brother and sister (Richard and Karen Carpenter) or teacher and student from time to time (Socrates and Plato) Think of John Lennon and Yoko Ono.
Or consider Joseph Campbell, the father of modern mythology and Jean Erdman Campbell, the two never had children, but instead, focused on their work. With his books like “Hero with a Thousand Faces”, Campbell influenced everyone from George Lucas and Star Wars to writers around the world. Jean, was a principal dancer for the Martha Graham Dance Company and revolutionized modern dance.
Other legendary Twins: St. Francis of Assisi and Claire of Assisi, St. Francis established the Franciscan Order of monks, Clare founded the Order of the Poor Ladies
Peter Abelard and Heloise: Medieval theologian, Peter Abelard was considered one of the greatest minds in Europe in the 12th century. For a time Abelard was Heloise’s tutor and eventually lover. When Heloise’s uncle tore them apart and had Abelard castrated, he ended up becoming a monk and Heloise became an abbess, one of the greatest in France. Their letters have survived the centuries and are a testament to the redemptive power of love.
Pierre and Marie Curie, the father and mother of radioactive theory and Nobel prize winners in chemistry and physics, the two were pioneers in the field.
Will and Ariel Durant, best known for The Story of Civilization, 11 volumes written in collaboration between 1935 and 1975, the Durants presented history to the common man and most of all made it interesting. Durant was a gifted prose stylist and storyteller who won a large readership in great part because of the nature and excellence of his writing, which, in contrast to formal academic language, is lively, witty, charismatic, colourful, ornate, epigrammatic, in short, “humanized.”
Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan and his queen Mumtaz Mahal, a heart-broken Shah Jahan built the Taj Mahal, the most architecturally beautiful building on Earth, as a tomb for his beloved Mumtaz.
Katherine Hepburn and Spencer Tracy, considered the two most talented actors during Hollywood’s Golden Age, Tracy and Hepburn would spend 27 years together until his death, made 9 films together and went down as one of the most mythical love stories in Hollywood history.
The late playwright Patricia Joudry wrote the book “Twin Souls: Finding Your True Spiritual Partner” and she likened it to a single person climbing a mountain by themselves, with the struggle, the pain, the difficulty. Suddenly you find yourself alone at the top and feel proud and happy of what you’ve accomplished. Suddenly the fog lifts and you see there is another mountaintop not far from you and your Twin is there, alone, looking right back at you.”
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The above article was originally post on the May 2, 2012 Blog post of the Earth Energy Reader
NEW AUDIO BOOK! VERMEER – PORTRAITS OF A LIFETIME
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I am VERY pleased to announce that the Audible.com production of my book VERMEER: PORTRAITS OF A LIFETIME has been released and is now availabe through AUDIBLE.COM. The book narration is performed by Mr. Alan Douglas. Here is a brief overview of the book:
“Vermeer: Portraits of A Lifetime is a revolutionary reexamination of the mystique and mythology surrounding the 17th Century Dutch Master painter, Johannes Vermeer. For the first time in over 300 years names of people who posed for his paintings are identified. An unknown portrait of Vermeer, painted by his friend, Gerard ter Borch, is exposed. This book is an empathetic retrospective, built on observations that reveal answers to dozens of speculations about his paintings, his wife, his daughters, and contemporaries who were the subjects of his art, and with whom he shared his brief life in Delft. The PDF version of this book includes full color plates of each of the remaining works of Vermeer. The paperback version contains black and white plates of each of his paintings. Researched and written by Lawrence R. Spencer, author and master oil painter who, without training, “remembered” how to paint at the age of 30.
The few existing paintings by Vermeer our priceless works of art, housed in the most prestigious art museums of the world. In July 2004 Vermeer’s painting Young Woman Seated at the Virginals’ was sold at auction for $42 million. The value of an undisputed Vermeer would likely exceed $100,000,000. The authenticity of Young Woman Seated at the Virginals is disputed which explains the relatively low sales price. Because the few authenticated Vermeers are all in museum collections , the only way to acquire a Vermeer is to steal one which happened in 1990. The Concert was stolen from the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston and has not been recovered.”
©2010 – 2099 Lawrence R. Spencer (P)2012 Lawrence R. Spencer
DOWNLOAD YOUR COPY FROM AUDIBLE.COM
Coming Soon on iTunes and Amazon.com
Q & A HAIKU
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TEN UNTRANSLATABLE WORDS
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Language is composed of symbols to which significance or meaning have been assigned. It cannot express the ineffable. The following article, by Esther Inglis-Arkell, illustrates the ineffability of certain concepts.
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“English is so limited sometimes. There are so many kickass words in other languages, that describe concepts that we just don’t have one word for in English. And that’s a shame, because sometimes we find ourselves in situations that English just can’t describe.
Science fiction and fantasy are full of those sorts of quirky situations and concepts, in fact. Here are 10 words that have no English equivalent, and the science fiction and fantasy classics that you’d want to use them to describe.
10. Aware (Japanese)
The Meaning: Aware is a word, quite well-known, for the bittersweetness of a brief and fading moment of transcendent beauty. It’s that “last burst of summer” feel, or the transience of early spring.
The Work: The Lord of the Rings is the work that most needs this word to describe it. Sure, it’s an adventure and linguistics tale, but backing the battles is an ever-present tone. The whole point of this fantasy trilogy is a chronicling of the end of an era. The days of magic, both terribly evil and extraordinarily beautiful, are coming to an end. With destruction of the ring — the ultimate evil in the world — all the good of the dwarves and hobbits and elves retreat from the world as well, and the age of myth gives way to the more prosaic age of humans.
9. Maya (Sanskrit)
The Meaning: This word is one that could be applied to a lot of protest movements and many political speeches. It refers to belief — the often unfortunate belief — that the symbol of a thing is the same as the thing itself. It’s the, “Ceci n’est pas une pipe,” of the literary world.
The Work: V for Vendetta is a work that plays with symbolism and how symbolism becomes real in the eyes of the populace. The eponymous V is armed with a mountain of symbols, from the letter and roman numeral of his name to a particular kind of rose to London buildings to the Guy Fawkes mask that he always wears. Whether this mistaken belief — that a guy playing around with cops and bombs can free a whole country — would actually lead to the kind of sweeping social change depicted in the book is up to you to decide.
8. Wei-wu-wei (Chinese)
The Meaning: Wei-wu-wei is conscious nonaction. It’s a deliberate, and principled, decision to do nothing whatsoever, and to do it for a particular reason.
The Work: Zone One, by Colson Whitehead is the non-action zombie novel. Leaving aside stupid comparisons in reviews that shall remain linkless, it is an understandably frustrating book. The narrative meanders through the current clean-up job, past wanderings, and extended social commentary of a man in a post-apocalyptic zombie wasteland. It’s light on action and heavy on description and sustained metaphor. Whether you think this is a good thing or a bad thing, you know it’s a deliberate thing. Our own Charlie Jane Anders review of the book states, “you get the sense, after a while, that Whitehead is deliberately trying to deny the reader any feeling of narrative satisfaction, through denseness and obfuscation.” It’s a definite wei-wu-wei novel.
7. Bricoleur (French)
The Meaning: A bricoleur is someone who starts building something with no clear plan, adding bits here and there, cobbling together a whole while flying by the seat of their pants.
The Work: Oh, golly. We can all think of at least five different series that were worked on by some real bricoleurs, can’t we? But I’d have to say that Lost is the most recent, and the most startling, one of them. They seemed to be making it up since the beginning and hoping no one noticed. Bricoleurs don’t always make a shamble of things. The word can also refer to someone whose loose and improvisational style leads to an inventive and engaging whole. Doctor Who, in its continuous broadcasting under many different creative directors, can be said to be a, um, bricolage? And the series has built an engaging world with something for everyone.
6. Schlimmbesserung (German)
The Meaning: A schlimmbesserung is a supposed improvement that makes things worse. There are actually a lot of words for this in a lot of languages, and that makes me think that English needs to get on the ball and coin a native word for this concept. Everyone needs it.
The Work: Did people want the ‘first’ episodes in the Star Wars series? You bet they did. Did they need them? Debatable. Did that new-old trilogy add anything to what was already there? No. Quite the opposite. And you could say the same for the many re-released CGI upgrades that the original movies received over the years. Some things shouldn’t be improved. Or at least, certainly not in the way they were.
5. Orenda (Huron)
The Meaning: Orenda is the invocation of the power of human will to change the world around us. It is set up to be the opposing force to fate or destiny. If powerful forces beyond your control are trying to force you one way, orenda is a kind of voiced summoning of personal strength to change fate.
The Work: For me, the most interesting part of the Matrix Trilogy was the part that can be described by orenda. I wasn’t too impressed by the first movie’s reveal of Neo as the chosen one, or the idea of all of reality being fake. What I liked was when we got to the second movie, and all that ‘chosen one’ stuff fell victim to the power of predictability and statistics. Neo wasn’t the chosen one. He was a familiar protocol, and he and his fellow humans would obey the dictates of that protocol. Changing that, and the moment when he went from embracing his ‘destiny’ to fighting it, was the point of the series, I thought.
4. Gâchis (French)
The Meaning: This one means ‘a wasted opportunity.’ Specifically it means an opportunity that was wasted by ineptness being hurled at it from all directions.
The Work: Sounds like the on-air run ofFirefly to me. I’m not among those fans who think that Firefly would have been a runaway success. It was a risk. It was a niche genre in a niche genre. Still, it seems like jumbling up the episodes and airing them, you know, whenever, was a bad way to handle an original concept.
3. Weltschmerz (German)
The Meaning: It could be termed world-weariness or ennui, but this particular has the quirk of almost only being applied to privileged young people.
The Work: Can anyone place the follow lyrics: Life can’t be easy/ It’s not always swell./ Don’t tell me truth hurts, little girl./ ‘Cause it hurts like hell. The fact that this was sung to, and about, a fifteen-year-old LARPing suburbanite with a room over-crowded with toys, a closet full of costumes, and a loyal pure-bred sheep dog makes Labyrinth the perfect movie to embody this word. What makes it even better is it is a call for such people to grow up and be more mature, all the while adding in enough dramatic elements that real-life people in the same situation (and let me reluctantly raise my hand, here) felt that it really spoke to them. I still love Labyrinth. It’s a fun and well-done movie. But it definitely resonated with a certain demographic.
2. Kalpa (Sanskrit)
The Meaning: Time passing on a cosmic scale
The Work: That’s what 2001: A Space Odyssey is all about. Everything, from the music to the subject matter to the deliberate invocation of shapes and symbols as a way of signalling both change and continuity, was meant to show how the ‘cosmic’ passage of unimaginable amounts of time. Since we’re now well past 2001, perhaps Kalpa would have been a better title for the movie, and novel, in the first place. But who knew – for sure – that it had that kind of staying power?
1. Razbliuto (Russian) Update: Or English!
The Meaning: This word, pronounced ros-blee-OO-toe, describes the feeling that a person (generally meant to be a man) has for the person who he once loved, but now no longer loves.
The Work: Take your pick. I have my eye on a few big franchises nowadays that I think will cause a lot of people some razbliuto in a few years. Maybe even a few months. For me personally, though, I suppose I’ve come full circle to The Lord of the Rings. I adored it at one age, and read it over and over on car trips and at school under the desk, and late at night with my room light being switched off – not at all sneakily, I’m sure – whenever my parents came by. And while I respect the work and world-building that went in to it, I have no desire to pick it up ever, ever again. I didn’t even see the movies. And there’s a reason why I added the pronunciation guide to this particular word. I think it needs to get in to circulation in general, since everyone knows the feeling of loving a story at one particular time in their life, and then that love falling away. But I suspect this kind of feeling is particularly strong in sci-fi and fantasy fans. These works don’t just offer a book to love, but an entire world to immerse oneself in, with every character, situation, and story a shining possibility. The stories in these genres can mold themselves to people’s inner lives more than realistic fiction can. But inner lives change, and the things that fill us with joy and inspiration at one point in our lives simply aren’t relevant at other points. While there are plenty of sci-fi and fantasy stories that endure, there are many that drop away as we change. There are some former Ann Rice fans out there who have something to say to Twilight fans. There are people who love Xena who have something to say to fans of Katniss. But to say it, they have to know the word. So say it with me: ros-blee-OO-toe.”
THIS IS A REPOST OF AN ARTICLE BY Esther Inglis-Arkell, from the book They Have a Word for It by Howard Rheingold, via io9