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Monday, July 29, 2013

The Theory of Colors by Goethe

Goethe's Theory of Colours



              
 
The interest of Johann Wolfgang von Goethe was instigated by the colours of nature and the optical phenomenon coloristic tradition of Renaissance paintings with which they had contact in his first trip to Italy between the years 1786 and 1788.

Theory of Colours (Zur Farbenlehre) Goethe was originally published in 1810. In his treatise on colors 1400 pages, Goethe reformulated the theory of colors in an entirely new way, being the first to dare to confront Newton's ideas about light and color. Newton saw the colors as a purely physical phenomenon, involving light hitting objects and enters our eyes.

Goethe conceived the idea that the color sensations that arise in our mind are also shaped by our perception - the mechanisms of vision and the way our brain processes such information.

The work of Goethe continued to fascinate scientists for many years, among them we can highlight greats such as Hermann von Helmholtz, Werner Heisenberg, Walter Heitler and Carl Friedrich von Weizsäcker.

Recently, the theory of Chaos, Mitchell Feigenbaum, referring to the work of Goethe, he was surprised to find that "Goethe had performed an extraordinary set of experiments investigating the colors" and was correct in his observations.
To support its vision in which the main characteristic of the colors are symmetry and complementarity, Goethe proposed to modify the circle of Newton who had sustained seven colors unequal angles. Creates a symmetrical circle where the complementary colors are located in diametrically opposite positions on the circle.

Title used in the introduction of Goethe's Theory of Colours. "If our things are true or false, so will still defend that for life. After our death, the children, who now play, will be our judges. "

For Newton, only the colors of the spectrum could be regarded as fundamental. Goethe, based on their experiments, concludes that colors such as magenta, a color spectrum not, have an important role to complete the circle of colors, which is supported by the most modern systems of colors.

Artists who handled colors felt more attracted by the proposed Goethe than by Newton.

A painter strongly influenced by the ideas of Goethe was J. M. W. Turner (1775-1851), whose painting "Light and Colour (Goethe's Theory)" is displayed in the 'Tate Britain' in London.

Aristotle's theory

Early studies of color were made by Aristotle in ancient Greece. According to him the colors existed in the form of rays sent by God. His theory was not challenged until the Renaissance when more sophisticated color systems were developed by Aguilonius and Sigfrid Forsius.

For Aristotle, the colors were those of the simplest elements: earth, air, fire and water.

His view was based on his conception of color, the observation that the sunlight, crossing or reflecting on an object, its intensity is reduced, darkens.

Through this process would be produced color, or color would be derived from a transition from light to dark, or otherwise, through the Aristotle as a blend, a composite, an overlap of black and white.

This view, which remained until the time of Newton (1642-1727), has the sun as a light so pure and colorless, the color should be some kind of constituent objects and allowing media to be opaque or transparent, being able to degrade the purity of the incident light.

Some doubts about the theory of Aristotle began to be raised at the beginning of the seventeenth century due to the discovery of interfering colors - colors of very thin films, such as a soap bubble - that change dramatically as the angle of observation. These films appeared to have all the colors themselves and at the same time degrading the incident sunlight in different ways depending on the angle of observation.

Leonardo da Vinci, like Aristotle, believed that the colors are the property of objects. In his treatise on painting wrote: "The first of all single colors is white, while philosophers will not accept both white and black as colors because white is the cause or receiver of all colors, and black is a total deprivation of them . But as painters can not do without both, put them among the others. (...) We can put white as representative of light without which no color can be seen, yellow for earth, green for water, blue for air, red for fire and black for the darkness. "

The greatest difficulty with the approach proposed by Aristotle's perception is the claim that the relevant sensory faculties of the senses become similar to the objects they perceive. "Sensitive knowledge, sensation, assume a physical fact, namely, the action of the object on the sensitive organ that feels, immediate or remote, through the movement of a medium. But the physical fact becomes a psychic fact, that is the feeling itself, because of the specific college and sensory activity of the soul.
 
The sense receives the qualities of these materials without matter, as wax receives the impression of the seal without its matter. The feeling though limited objective is always true with respect to the object itself; falsehood, or the possibility of falsehood, begins with the synthesis, with the judgment.
 
The sensitive itself is perceived by one sense, that is, the specific sensations are perceived, respectively, by the various senses, the sensible policy, the general qualities of things size, figure, rest, movement, etc.. are perceived by most senses. Common sense is an inner faculty, having the function to coordinate, unify the various isolated sensations, which converge to it, and become, therefore, representations, perceptions. "

Newton's theory

Current knowledge of light and color began with the work of Isaac Newton (1642-1726), a series of experiments whose results were published in the "New Theory of Light and Colours" in 1672, in a formal letter to the Royal Society of London. The main experiment consisted in having a prism near his window, projecting a spectrum, created by the refraction of a ray of white light circular, on a wall, showing the color components:

red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo and violet.

Beginning with the observation that the image created was not circular, the radius original Newton inferred from the principles of its new theory: sunlight would be formed from a mixture of different radii "refratabilidade."

To show that the prism was not coloring the light, the light was refracted collimated again, so getting the white.

The artists were fascinated by the demonstration of Newton that only light would be responsible for color and created an array of colors in a circle of concepts, allowing to have the primary colors (red, yellow, blue) diametrically opposed to their complementary ( for example, red would be opposed to green), so as to show the complementary color would be opposite to each other through an optical contrast effect.

Newton was the first to arrange the colors in a circle. His circle had seven main colors that was related to the seven planets and the seven musical notes of the diatonic scale: red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, violet. The theory of three primary colors: red, yellow and blue was originally proposed a century later by Frenchman Jean C. Le Bon, which was published on the one treated pigment blend. This theory has become since then the basis for any work involving colored pigments.

Goethe's Theory

Goethe argues that the look is always critical. Just look would not be a stimulus, a stimulus is an experience that goes beyond simply observing, creates a bond theory and leads the viewer to draw their own conclusions.

Jedes Ansehen geht  über in Betrachten, in ein jedes betrachtendes Sinnen,  verknüpft in ein jedes Sinnen, und so kann man sagen, dass wir schon bei jedem aufmerksamen Blick in die Welt theoretisieren. Dieses aber mit Bewusstsein, Selbsterkenntnis, mit Freiheit und eines sich Wagens und des Wortes, auch mit Ironie zu tun und vorzunehmen,. Dafür ist eine solche Wort-gewandheit nötig, wenn die Abstraktion, vor der sich jeder scheut  unschädlich und als Erfahrungsresultat dargestellt wird in der Hoffnung, dies recht lebendig und nützlich zu gestalten. (Zur Farbenlehre. Didaktischer Teil - Vorwort - Goethe)

Every look involves an observation, each observation reflection, each reflection a synthesis: to look closely at the world we are theorizing. We must, however, theorize and proceed with awareness, self-knowledge, freedom, and - if necessary use a bold word - with irony: this skill is essential for the abstraction, we fear, is not harmful, and the empirical result, we desire,  is useful for us and vital. (Doctrine of Colors. Outline of a Doctrine of Colours - Goethe (translation of Marco Giannotti)

For Goethe sensitivity is not just receptivity, but also impulsivity.

The colors are interpreted as doubly Leiden (passion) and how Tat (action) of light.

Die Farben des sind Taten Lichts, Taten und Leiden. In diesem Sinne k ¨ Onnen wir von denselben Aufschl usse ¨ ¨ uber erwarten of Licht. Licht und Farben stehen Zwar untereinander in dem genaustenVerh ¨ altnis, aber wir m ¨ USSEN each beide als der Natur ganzen angehorig denken: sie denn es ist ganz, die sich dem Sinne des dadurch Peeks besonders offenbaren will. (Zur Farbenlehre. Didaktischer Teil - Vorwort - Goethe)

The colors are actions and passions of light. Accordingly, we expect them some indication of the light. In fact, light and colors relate perfectly, though we think them as belonging to nature as a whole: it is so full that wants to reveal the sense of sight. (Doctrine of Colors. Outline of a Doctrine of Colours - Goethe (translation of Marco Giannotti)

Nature is something built by our eyes, and it exists only when it is revealed to the senses.

"Natural laws are made and related to each other as the School of the judge were produced for their own use."

The color is not only light, but also impulsivity that is born in passion, in the eyes as a way to create nature.

The light is not only within each, as ends up identifying with the subject.

At this point, Goethe seems to approach the work of Kant. In his Critique of Judgment nature is placed in an "aestheticized" because man thinks nature the same way that interprets a work of art.

The style of this work of Goethe is alternately a speech rigorously scientific or poetic discourse, and sometimes called a literature.
 
On the one hand the work shows up as a report of a versatile writer, poet and skillful investigator of nature, heir to the Aufklarung, the other is a tortuous story, the result of a lengthy investigation that lasted more than twenty years and never seemed be completed is called Ein Entwurf (an outline).

Goethe's work is an attempt to sort and combine the chromatic phenomena to understand the principles that govern them and how this sort leads to a differentiation in terms of aesthetics.

Die Lust zum Wissen wird bei dem Menschen zuerst dadurch angeregt, dass er bedeutende Phänomene gewahrt, auf die sich seine seine Aufmerksamkeit richtet. Damit diese andauern,  muß es zu einer  innigeren Teilnahme kommen, die nach und nach jeden Gegenstand miteinander  bekannter macht. Alsdann bemerken wir erst eine größere Mannigfaltigkeit, als die, die jede  Menge für sich darbringt. Wir sind  dann wieder genötigt, wieder Unterscheidungen zusammenzustellen, wodurch zuletzt eine Ordnung entsteht, die sich mit mehr oder weniger Zufriedenheit übersehen lässt. (Zur Farbenlehre. Didaktischer Teil - Einleitung - Goethe)

 Man is taken by the desire to learn and to know more on if remarkable phenomena will draw on his attention. To continue with such studies, there must be a deeper interest to which he is drawn in order to approach  closer to  the concerned objects. We observed a great diversity before us. We are forced to separate it, distinguish it and recompose it, resulting in an order that can be enjoyed with more or less satisfaction. (Doctrine of Colors. Outline of a Doctrine of Colours - Goethe-Introduction (translation of Marco Giannotti)
Stimuli incidents are first analyzed, and thus separating decomposing the multitude of the world we observe. After this breakdown process begins at step synthesis, assembly, through which extract information, characteristics and meanings, making it possible to memorize, comparison and assessment.

Nature is revealed to the sense of sight through the light and colors and so it is possible to distinguish one object from another, or the various parts of an object. The visible world is rebuilt, and it creates a dissociation between what is and what appears to be. Goethe takes up this point, the idea of Kepler 3, who defines the human eye as a producer of mechanical paintings, defining "see" how to "paint", and painting as formative of nonlinear retinal image. Kepler was the first to separate the physical problem of the formation of retinal images (the world seen) the psychological problems of perception (the perceived world).

Enlightenment

Kepler was a striking figure in the scientific revolution. Born in Germany, he became an astronomer, mathematician and astrologer. He is best known for his laws of motion of the planets. It is sometimes referred to as the first theoretical astrophysicist, although Carl Sagan prefer to call him the last astrologer scientist.

Und wir - erbauen aus diesen so sichtbaren Dreien  die Welt und diese mit der  Malerei zusammen machen es dadurch zugleich möglich,  welche auf der Tafel eine weit  vollkommenere sichtbare Welt als sein kann als die Wirkliche hervorzubringen vermag. (Zur Farbenlehre. Didaktischer Teil - Einleitung - Goethe)

And we build the world visible from the course, and the dark color, and they also make it possible to paint, which is capable of producing, in the plane, a world visible much more perfect than the real world. (Doctrine of Colors . Outline of a Doctrine of Colours - Goethe-Introduction (translation of Marco Giannotti)

Goethe was convinced that the whole of nature is revealed, like through a glass, the sense of sight, through the dialectic between split and merge, intensify and neutralize. It is therefore through the opposition and the implementation in the world of perception concepts are born, and thus results enjoyment and creates the aesthetic as an object.

Die Farbe ist ein elementares Naturphänomen als die sie sich wie alle übrigen auch durch Trennung Gegensatz, Durchmischung durch und Vereinigung demn flüchtigen Blick darstellt. Ebenfalls durch Neutralization, Mitteilung und so weiter wird eine Verbreitung manifestiert. Dies kann allgemein und am besten als naturgegeben angeschaut und  begriffen  werden . (Zur Farbenlehre. Didaktischer Teil - Einleitung - Goethe)

(...) The color is a phenomenon of nature to elementary sense of sight, which, like all others, is manifested to divide and oppose, mingle and merge, intensify and neutering, to be shared and distributed, and can be Highly sensed and designed in such formulas nature. (Doctrine of Colors. Outline of a Doctrine of Colors - Introduction - Goethe (translation of Marco Giannotti)

"For Goethe the vital principle of nature is at the same time, the human soul itself, both having the same equal rights, but coming from the unity of being, which, in the diversity of its settings, develops creative principle of equality, so that man can find in his own heart the whole secret of being, and perhaps also the solution. "(Simmel)

"Another important aspect to be mentioned is the fact that the divergence of Goethe against Newton is not reduced to a personal dispute because eventually involved a controversy between German idealism and Newtonian physicists. Actually, what was behind this division is the clash of two completely different ways of thinking about nature. German idealism refuses to mechanistic viewpoint, since both nature and interprets the art from the idea of the body, an inner purpose. The color can not be simply caused by light and must be considered in relation to the specific organ. "(Marco Giannotti)

The first three sections of the work of Goethe deal with colors on it physiological point of view, physical and chemical: Physiological Colors (Physiologische Farben), Physical Colors (Physische Farben) Colors and Chemicals (Chemische Farben).

Also betrachteten wir die Farben zuerst, insofern sie dem Auge moit dem Auge wahrnehmbar sind  beruhend auf einer Wirkung und Gegenwirkung desselben ; ferner als die  Aufmerksamkeit auf sich ziehend, indem wir sie an farblosen Mitteln oder durch deren Mithilfe wahrnehmen. Bemerkensert wurden jedoch erst, wenn sie als dem anderen Objekt als zugehörig angesehen und betrachtet wurden. Die ersten nannten wir physiologische , die zweiten physische, dritten chemische  Farben. Erdtere sind als unaufhaltsam fließend in ihrer eigenschadt zu bezeichnen, die anderen als ineinander übergehend aber allenfalls verweilend, und die letzten als weitgehend andauernd festzuhalten. (Zur Farbenlehre. Didaktischer Teil - Einleitung - Goethe)

Consider, first, as the colors that belong to the eye, and depends on their ability to act and react. Then attract the attention since the colorless realized by means of or with the assistance thereof. Finally, are noteworthy insofar as we think of them as part of the object. Physiological of the first call, the second of the third to physical and chemical properties. The former are constantly fleeting, the latter are passing, although they have a certain permanence. The latter have long lasting. (Doctrine of Colors. Outline of a Doctrine of Colors - Introduction - Goethe (translation of Marco Giannotti)

The fourth section is a general perspective of internal relations being addressed aspects of the emergence and identification of colors. According to Goethe, a set of colors is created by the incidence of light on the retina, which is a legitimate reaction because of the sensitivity of the eye to light. The colors can be determined by the opposition, polarity between blue and yellow; action and deprivation, light and shadow, strength and weakness, light and dark, hot and cold, proximity and distance, repulsion and attraction, affinity with acids and alkalis affinity.

In dieser steten Reihehaben wir, soviel wie möglich Erscheinungen zu bestimmen und zuzuordnen versucht. Jetzt können wir, da wir nicht mehr befürrchten müssen, sie zu vermischen oder sie durcheinander zu bringen, es unternehmen, erstlich als allgemein anzugeben, was sich von diesen Erscheinungen innerhalb des geschlossenen Kreises darstellt, zweitens ebenfalls darauf hinzuweisen,  wie sich dieser besondere Kreis an die übrigen Glieder verwandter Naturerscheinungen anschließt und sich mit Ihnen verkettet. (Zur Farbenlehre. Vierte Abteilung - Allgemeine Ansichten nach Innen - Goethe)

Wherever possible, we seek to determine, separate and sort the phenomena according to this continuum. Now that we are not afraid to mix them or confuse them, we take first the task of judging, in the circle, which is the universal phenomena, then to point out how this particular circle is linked together and joins the rest of the phenomena natural like. (Doctrine of Colors. Fourth Section - Goethe (translation of Marco Giannotti)

Goethe in the fifth section analyzes the different relationships that color sets with many different disciplines: Philosophy, Mathematics, Technical Dye, Physiology and Pathology, Natural History, General Physics, Music, Language and Terminology.

Dass ein gewisses Verhältnis der Farbe zum Ton/Schattierung stattfindet, hat man jeher von gefühlt, was Vergleiche des öfteren   teils vorläufig, teils auch sehr umständlich beweisen. Der Fehler, den man hiebei oft begangen hat,   beruht nur auf folgendem: Vergleichen lassen sich untereinander Ton und Farbe auf keine Weise, aber beide lassen sich auf eine Formel  bringen die obere Höhe betreffend. Beide, jedoch jede Farbe für sich allein. Wie zwei Flüsse, die auf einem Berg entspringen jedoch  unter verschiedenen Bedingungen in zwei ganz entgegengesetzte Weltgegenden laufen, so dass auf dem ganzen beiderseitigen Wege keine Stelle einzeln mit der anderen verglichen werden kann. So sind auch Farbe und Ton. Beide sind allgemein elementare Wirkungen nach dem Gesetz des allgemeinen Trennens und Wieder-Zusammenstrebens, des Aufsteigens und des Abschwächens, wirkend im Hin und Herwägens jedoch nach ganz verschiedenen Seiten, in verschiedenen Weisen und für verschiedene Sinne reagierend auf verschiedene Zwischenelemente. Möchte jemand die Art und Weise, wie wir die Farbenlehre an die allgemeine Naturlehre anknüpfen, recht fassen und dasjenige, was dabei übersehen wurde, durch Glück und Genialität zu ersetzen, so wird die Wellen-Tonlehre sich nach unserer Überzeugung an die Allgemeine Physik vollkommen anzuschließen sein. Zur Zeit stellt sie sich  nur innerhalb derselben gleichsam als historisch abgesondert dar. Jedoch darin eben  liegt die gtößte Schwierigke. Für die in jeder Musik  auf seltsamen positiven - empirishen - zufälligen Wegen mathematischen, ästhetischen, genialischen Ursprungs Befürwortung zu Gunsten einer physikalischen Behandlung zerst zu hören und dann erst ihre  in physische Elemente aufzulösen. Vielleicht wären wir hier auch auch zu dem Punkte gelangt, wo sich Zeit und Gelegenheit anbietet, daß sich Wissenschaft und Kunst nach manch einer schöne Vorarbeit zusammenfinden . (Zur Farbenlehre. Vierte Abteilung - Allgemeine Ansichten nach Innen - Goethe)

Always realized that there is some relationship between color and sound, as evidenced by the frequent comparisons sometimes passing, sometimes sufficiently detailed. The error committed therein is due to the following: color and sound can be compared in any way, although both higher refer to a formula, from which it can be deduced each. Both are like two rivers that are born on the same mountain, but due to various circumstances run on opposite regions, so that throughout the ride there is no point at which they can be compared. Both effects are general and elementary according to universal law that tends to separate and unite, weave, weighing now one side, now on the other side of the scale, but as aspects, ways, intermediate elements and senses completely separate. (Doctrine of Colors. Quinta Section - Goethe (translation of Marco Giannotti)

In the last section Goethe talks about the effects sensitive, moral and aesthetic that arise. For each color, a hue for each color, Goethe analyzing their characteristics and their effect on our eyes. Establish relations of harmony and complementarity between all the colors of the color wheel.

Hier liegt also das Grundgesetz aller Harmonie der Farben und davon mag sich jeder durch eigene Erfahrung überzeigen kannwovon sich jeder kann, indem er sich mit den Versuchen, die wir in der Abteilung der physiologischen Frben aufgezeigt habn, genau bekannt macht. Wird nun die Farbentotalität außen vor das Auge als Objekt gebracht, so erscheint sie dem Auge erfreulich, weil ihm die Summe der eigenen Tätigkeit zuerst von dieser harmonischen Zusammenstellung als Netzwerk der Realitätt entgegen kommt. (Zur Farbenlehre. Sechste Abteilung - totalit at ¨ und Harmonie - Goethe)

Here lies the fundamental law of all chromatic harmony, in respect of which any one may be convinced by experience, to make the acquaintance of the experiments described in the physiological colors.
If the entire chromatic appears outwardly to the eye as an object, it becomes enjoyable for him, because the result of their own activity it looks like reality. We will deal first of these harmonic compositions. (Doctrine of Colors. Sixth Section - Wholeness and Harmony - Goethe (translation of Marco Giannotti)


Leonardo Carneiro de Araujo
 
Goethe's Theory of Colours

Afterlife is Real ! source See also: Inside The Mind Of Lucid Dreamers: People Who Can Control Their Dreams And Perform Actions Publicada por curadora64 à(s) 19:04 0 comentários Enviar a mensagem por e-mailDê a sua opinião!Partilhar no TwitterPartilhar no Facebook Etiquetas: Afterlife Is Real, English, MessageToEagle.com source See also: Inside The Mind Of Lucid Dreamers: People Who Can Control Their Dreams And Perform Actions Publicada por curadora64 à(s) 19:04 0 comentários Enviar a mensagem por e-mailDê a sua opinião!Partilhar no TwitterPartilhar no Facebook Etiquetas: Afterlife Is Real, English, MessageToEagle.com

Afterlife Is Real - Neurosurgeon Says He Has Proof Of Heaven And Advanced Higher Life-Forms


MessageToEagle.com - What happens after death? Is there really an afterlife? Is  death just and illusion and do we continue our existence in a parallel Universe?
 
These questions have been debated since the dawn of our own existence. A majority of all ancient philosophers, pagans and Christians alike, agreed that death is the separation of a soul and a body. But happens to your soul once your body ceased to function?
 
Modern scientists have so far been unable to offer anything than speculation on the subject of near-death experience. The "other side" remains unknown.
 
Perhaps it is necessary to have an out-of-body experience in order to learn more about what happens to us when we die?
Dr Eben Alexander, a Harvard-educated neurosurgeon was skeptical to the idea of an afterlife. However, an accident forced him to reevaluate his views and he became convinced there is a heaven.

In 2008 Dr. Alexander fell into coma for seven days. What happened to him changed his entire life.
 
"As a neurosurgeon, I did not believe in the phenomenon of near-death experiences. I grew up in a scientific world, the son of a neurosurgeon.
 
I followed my father's path and became an academic neurosurgeon, teaching at Harvard Medical School and other universities.
 
 I understand what happens to the brain when people are near death, and I had always believed there were good scientific explanations for the heavenly out-of-body journeys described by those who narrowly escaped death," Dr. Alexander an essay for American magazine Newsweek
 
As a scientist Dr. Alexander did not put much, if any faith in God. And he would hardly describe himself as a believer.
In 2008 during his coma, Dr.Alexander's brain was inactivated and he says that he experienced something so profound that it gave him a scientific reason to believe in consciousness after death.


What happens to our soul when we die?

 "I know how pronouncements like mine sound to skeptics, so I will tell my story with the logic and language of the scientist I am.
Very early one morning four years ago, I awoke with an extremely intense headache. Within hours, my entire cortex-the part of the brain that controls thought and emotion and that in essence makes us human-had shut down.
 
Doctors at Lynchburg General Hospital in Virginia, a hospital where I myself worked as a neurosurgeon, determined that I had somehow contracted a very rare bacterial meningitis that mostly attacks newborns. E. coli bacteria had penetrated my cerebrospinal fluid and were eating my brain.
 
When I entered the emergency room that morning, my chances of survival in anything beyond a vegetative state were already low. They soon sank to near nonexistent. For seven days I lay in a deep coma, my body unresponsive, my higher-order brain functions totally offline.
 
Then, on the morning of my seventh day in the hospital, as my doctors weighed whether to discontinue treatment, my eyes popped open.


Alexander discusses his experience on the Science channel's 'Through the Wormhole.'

There is no scientific explanation for the fact that while my body lay in coma, my mind-my conscious, inner self-was alive and well. While the neurons of my cortex were stunned to complete inactivity by the bacteria that had attacked them, my brain-free consciousness journeyed to another, larger dimension of the universe: a dimension I'd never dreamed existed and which the old, pre-coma me would have been more than happy to explain was a simple impossibility.
 
But that dimension-in rough outline, the same one described by countless subjects of near-death experiences and other mystical states-is there. It exists, and what I saw and learned there has placed me quite literally in a new world: a world where we are much more than our brains and bodies, and where death is not the end of consciousness but rather a chapter in a vast, and incalculably positive, journey.


People who have near-death experiences often recall seeing a white light.

 I'm not the first person to have discovered evidence that consciousness exists beyond the body. Brief, wonderful glimpses of this realm are as old as human history. But as far as I know, no one before me has ever traveled to this dimension (a) while their cortex was completely shut down, and (b) while their body was under minute medical observation, as mine was for the full seven days of my coma," Dr. Alexander says.
 
While being in coma, Dr. Alexander says he visited heaven where he met beautiful blue-eyed woman in a "place of clouds, big fluffy pink-white ones" and "shimmering beings".
 
"It took me months to come to terms with what happened to me. Not just the medical impossibility that I had been conscious during my coma, but-more importantly-the things that happened during that time. Toward the beginning of my adventure, I was in a place of clouds."


Dr. Alexander say he was taken to a place above the clouds.

 He continues: "Birds? Angels? These words registered later, when I was writing down my recollections. But neither of these words do justice to the beings themselves, which were quite simply different from anything I have known on this planet. They were more advanced. Higher forms."
 
The doctor adds that a "huge and booming like a glorious chant, came down from above, and I wondered if the winged beings were producing it. The sound was palpable and almost material, like a rain that you can feel on your skin but doesn't get you wet."
 
"Seeing and hearing were not separate in this place where I now was. I could hear the visual beauty of the silvery bodies of those scintillating beings above, and I could see the surging, joyful perfection of what they sang," Dr. Alexander explains.
 
"I know full well how extraordinary, how frankly unbelievable, all this sounds. Had someone-even a doctor-told me a story like this in the old days, I would have been quite certain that they were under the spell of some delusion. But what happened to me was, far from being delusional, as real or more real than any event in my life. That includes my wedding day and the birth of my two sons.
 
What happened to me demands explanation.
 
Modern physics tells us that the universe is a unity-that it is undivided. Though we seem to live in a world of separation and difference, physics tells us that beneath the surface, every object and event in the universe is completely woven up with every other object and event. There is no true separation," Dr. Alexander says and he is now more convinced than ever that there is an afterlife and heaven is real.



Ever heard of Bealtaine Cottage and its permaculture Garden ? Awesome !

http://laurabruno.wordpress.com/2013/07/28/where-permaculture-meets-buddhism/


Where Permaculture meets Buddhism

28 Jul

Permaculture and BuddhismThere has been hardly a day this Spring and Summer when Bealtaine Cottage has not welcomed visitors.

permaculture and BuddhismOften times I am left exhausted by the challenge of working, to keep production going and keeping a "welcome for all"

Permaculture and BuddhismThere have been occasions when I have had to turn away requests to visit…and I spend time regretting it, but I work on my own and have others to care for at times.

Bealtaine, where Permaculture meets BuddhismThis morning I received an email from visitors who came to see Bealtaine on Friday last.

Permaculture and BuddhismI thought I would share this with you, for what Michael has to say is thoughtful and profound. 

Hi Colette 

This is Michael!

I visited you on Friday with my partner Mairead.

Anyway I just wanted to say thanks again.

You've really awakened in me the real magic and mysticism held within our mother earth.

I was beginning to think permaculture was just another ego trip men were on, trying to use wacky methods to grow food, rather than cherishing and learning to live in harmony with mother earth and all her creatures.

The voluntary work I had done with some 'permaculture' enthusiasts had left me feeling very uneasy that this might be another path of excess, rather than simplicity and harmony.

I sort of turned away from the permaculture ideas.

I felt the Buddhist ideas of how to live simply and compassionately towards all of the earth's sentient beings were being left out of this approach. Permaculture and Buddhism

Michael goes on to say…

I watched this documentary http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FumyvVOVbaY a few months ago and was extremely moved and humbled by how simply the monks lived in harmony with their surroundings taking very little from it and not disturbing any of the life around them.

I began meditating in the Zen tradition a while ago.

And after initially thinking it would be a way for me to find some peace and quiet in a busy world, the practice soon began to awaken in me the sacredness of the world around me and soon the practice became my life.

Visiting your place has made me realise how much the earth wants to come to life.

It's hard to describe but the plants and insects and all the life in Bealtaine seem so alive and ultimately happy!

Its like the teachings I've been reading in Buddhist texts are alive in Bealtaine.

It's like a microcosm of how the world would be, if we lived compassionately for all creatures, down to the tiniest microbes in the soil.

It's truly a living revelation.

I had these strong questions in my mind about how to connect the material and spiritual world in a harmonious way, so that we can live balanced between the two, not giving too much time to either so that all life can flourish.

I had asked a lot of people, including monks and meditation teachers, but it took seeing your place to realize what needs to be done.

I think I had spent too much time over the last while being to into spiritual practices, thinking the earth might be better off without humans, but seeing your place has given me an understanding, that as conscious beings, we have been given the role of caretakers of the planet, but its something we've yet to realise.

I've read so much about balance, but It took seeing your place to see what balance is.

I've met so many teachers who seem to cling to one approach but my intuition has always kept me thinking that both the outer and inner worlds are equally important and need equal care.

Bealtaine really is this sacred balance and thank you for nurturing it to life!

I hope to visit it many times and please keep us informed of any courses. 

I thought I'd share this page with you..

there are some great lectures. the first one by Dr Vandana Shiva and the ones by Deepak Chopra and Helena Nordberg Hodge are particularly inspiring.

well have a great summer and hopefully we get to visit again in the not too distant future. and if you ever need a hand with anything, please let me know, I'd love to come and learn from you!

namaste

Michael

Permaculture and Buddhism

Here comes a beautiful Videoabout Bealtaine Garden

http://www.youtube.com/user/BealtaineCottage

Contrastmary sent you a video: "Bealtaine Cottage Garden tour"

Contrastmary has shared a video with you on YouTube
Bealtaine Cottage Garden tour
Moving Images of a Permaculture Garden
©2013 YouTube, LLC 901 Cherry Ave, San Bruno, CA 94066

Magical Gardening at Laura Bruno's

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Magical Gardening

by laurabruno

Today was a day of call and response with the Universe. A day full of answers to requests just made. A day of abundance, sharing, and lots and lots of freebies! You know I love that. ;)

It actually started yesterday when David's sister emailed me about how excited she is to can some of our tomatoes at the end of August. David and I don't do much in the way of canned foods (other than Eden brand beans with kombu), so at first I thought this was just a "for Linda thing." I figured that canning would be a good skill to learn, but I planned to dehydrate most of our excess tomatoes, as I've done the two previous years. The more I thought about it, though, the more excited I got, too. David's mom is a veteran canner who lived through the Great Depression. Having a chance to learn this old art from someone who really used it to feed her family feels like an honor. Plus, I now have eight tomato plants, several of which are already producing more tomatoes than I can handle. Having a canning option to give away large quantities feels like a relief!

In the meantime, I decided that I'll need to dehydrate a batch of tomatoes ASAP, because we just have way more than we, David's parents, our friends and neighbors need right now. There's nothing quite like a homegrown dehydrated tomato in the middle of winter, though -- or even as a thickener for a raw food marinara sauce over kelp noodles. As I pondered the August canning, I sent out a very quick request to the Universe that we get more canning jars before then. Since canning's not really a lifestyle for us largely raw folks, I really didn't want to spend any money on these jars.

Well! Not even 28 hours after I made the request, along comes a Facebook post for David asking if anyone in Goshen could use dozens and dozens of extra canning jars of various sizes. Score! We drove about eight blocks and picked up a huge trash bag full of jars and lids. We are ready for August. About two hours later, another older friend of ours came by to look at the gardens. We told her about canning the tomatoes and getting the free jars, and she offered us even more jars that she has "just lying around collecting dust." We accepted and will add her to the canned tomato gravy train.

Yesterday afternoon, I made the sad call to cut down my Boston Marrow Squash in crates, because the squash beetles had decimated them right after I took their picture for the last garden update. This was a serious bummer, but I have now concluded that squash in crates is not an ideal option, at least not with the potting mix I used. It was too difficult to regulate the moisture properly, which stressed out the plants and made them more vulnerable to attack. I was still feeling a bit sad about my poor squash, when I noticed a missed phone call from our friend who wanted to see the gardens. She had been gifted way too many squash leftover from yesterday's Farmer's Market and didn't know what to do with it all!

free squash

In total, she gave us eight squash, some of which I will dehydrate into zucchini chips and share with her ... and some of which will make a lovely steamed summer entree. Nature truly wants to show me her abundance! I've lost five squash plants, but apparently, that doesn't matter, because the free harvest continues anyway. In the above photo, you can also see just some of our many tomatoes awaiting tomorrow's dehydrator adventure with the zucchini. Our Early Girl plant has another 12 tomatoes that should be perfectly red tomorrow morning.

In addition to the free squash, our friend brought us two bags of basil, right after I got the hit to make and freeze loads of pesto. For some reason, I'm not real jazzed about pesto in the summer, but come winter, I crave it. We have plenty of basil for daily harvesting and the occasional pesto meal, but I was wondering how this extra basil would manifest so I could use up the lemons that need using and make enough pesto for many meals. Enter ... free purple basil to add to my own harvest:

free basil

Thinking about all this food prep got me thinking about what else I might want to can, and how the heck to use up all the dandelion blossoms currently crowding our freezer. David suggested I throw them out, since we will have plenty more next year, but let me tell you: that was some neck straining work this Spring! I'm not tossing those babies out. Uh-uh. I've got one container of blossoms defrosting so I can make dandelion vinegar, which works as a tonic to help release the calcium in greens. Supposedly, greens eaten with a bit of herb or dandelion vinegar increase calcium absorption by at least 1/3. Nice!

free dandelions for jam

Sooo, with my free dandelions and some apple cider vinegar, after about six weeks in a dark corner, I'll have a super potent, mineralizing health tonic that will last indefinitely. Click here to learn how to make your own herbal vinegars.

Of course, this barely makes a dent in my dandelion blossoms, so I started looking for dandelion jam or jelly recipes that use birch sweetener (also known as xylitol, or as we call it, "Berkano.") Sure enough, I found a lavender infused dandelion xylitol jam recipe that will make fine faery use of the smaller canning jars we just inherited. The lavender has convinced me to make a go of this one, and it will make the whole canning process that much more exciting. I guarantee David's mom has never canned dandelion jam!

The big impetus for relieving the freezer of dandelion flowers really comes from my recent daydreams about our Fall and Winter gardens. Oh, yes, Spring and Summer are just a phase here. I've spent all week figuring out whether to make or buy a cold frame and if we need a dedicated winter garden bed. Indeed, we do. The black sides of all our current garden beds should keep the soil warmer for a month on each side of the traditional gardening season, but the InstaBeds and repurposed Sleep Number Bed frame pose some interesting challenges in terms of cold frames. We considered creating a huge hoop house to cover all the beds, but that feels like a bigger project than we want to take on this year.

After much research and weighing cost versus time, I think I've decided on a combo raised bed/cold frame unit. Easy assembly. Twelve year warranty on the bed. Two year warranty on the cold frame. This 4' x 8' x 10.5" structure will allow me to plant a wide variety of crops that need to get started before some of my bigger plants have completed their life cycle. Our raised beds have offered so much produce already compared to anything we've put in the ground that it seems like a no brainer to start another raised bed with winter crops, rather than try to force our soil into something it's not (yet).

I've been reading Eliot Coleman's "Four Season Harvest," and he makes all those Fall and Winter veggies sound so delectable that I'm turning into even more of a foodie than I already am. I started looking at current plants that could make room for new crops in the next couple weeks, and I decided that my cilantro that's gone to seed will come out (duh), but also that I can pull the lemongrass that has taken over the west side of an InstaBed.

this is from a few weeks ago, but already you can see the lemongrass looking like a huge ornamental in the round bed.

this is from a few weeks ago, but already you can see the lemongrass looking like a huge ornamental in the round bed.

I started thinking about all the carrots I could plant in the lemongrass spot and began researching how to preserve lemongrass for tea and all that yummy Thai soup I'll crave come winter but not right now. It's totally doable, but man, those plants are telepathic! I went outside to harvest a little bit for tonight's stirfry, and I swear that plant drew blood. It has never done that before, but I think it was mad that I'd discard it so easily when it's so beautiful. The grass part is very sharp, and you do need to be careful with lemongrass. Still, it reminded me exactly of the times I've harvested stinging nettles with nary a prick until I've heard them say inside my head, "That's enough now!" Whenever I've ignored that message and taken "just a little bit more," then whammmmm! Those nettles have stung me something fierce. I'm currently negotiating with the lemongrass about the possibility of becoming an overwintered indoor plant -- just one stalk to start, and only if she promises to behave inside. No cuts on chapped winter skin!

Anyway, I apparently need to watch my thoughts not only around my plants, but also inside the house. Just like in The Secret Life of Plants, they really are listening and aware. I'm relieved to know that other gardeners and herbalists have had similar experiences with plants and that science appears to support claims of plant telepathy. I know my garden also grows even better after someone comes by and praises it. The next day, the plants and flowers puff up and glow with pride.

Tonight, they got quite the compliment from our friend, whose husband was a passionate gardener until he passed away four years ago. She has been telling me all about his love of plants, wild food foraging and gardening, about how he planted the fruit bushes and trees in Goshen Woods, and how a chance meeting in a wild strawberry patch led to them finding their delightful lakeside home. She has shared stories to the point where "Loris's green thumb" has taken on mythic proportions. Tonight she said, "Well, I can't believe it, but your garden is even more lush than his, and he was gardener his entire life." My mouth about hit the wood mulch, but I'm sure the plants are happy. Between that vote of confidence and the synchronously arriving eight squash, I feel OK about losing the squash beetle battle. It's the cycle of life, right? And that loss has underscored something even more amazing, which I already knew but can always realize anew:

We live in an exuberantly abundant, joyful and generous Universe. Remember that. Breathe that in and live it. Then pass it along.

What a magical 24 hours! Blessed Be.

Your Garden will not green-grow
-if you do not water it properly-