MYTHIC MONDAY - EGYPT 16, SESHAT

“Writing is an extreme privilege but it's also a gift. It's a gift to yourself and it's a gift of giving a story to someone.” - Amy Tan 

Seshat, under various spellings, was the Ancient Egyptian goddess of wisdom, knowledge, and writing. She was seen as a scribe and record keeper, and her name means ‘she who scrivens’ (i.e. she who is the scribe), and is credited with inventing writing. She also became identified as the goddess of accounting, architecture, astronomy, astrology, building, mathematics, and surveying. These are all professions that relied upon expertise in her skills. She is identified as Safekh-Aubi in some late texts. Mistress of the House of Books is another title for Seshat, being the deity whose priests oversaw the library in which scrolls of the most important knowledge were assembled and spells were preserved.

One prince of the fourth dynasty, Wep-em-nefret, is noted as the Overseer of the Royal Scribes, Priest of Seshat on a slab stela. Heliopolis was the location of her principal sanctuary. She is described as the goddess of history. In art, she was depicted as a woman with a seven-pointed emblem above her head. It is unclear what this emblem represents. Pharaoh Tuthmosis III (1479-1425 BCE) called her Sefket-Abwy (‘She of seven points’). Spell 10 of the Coffin Texts states “Seshat opens the door of heaven for you”.

Usually, she is shown holding a palm stem, bearing notches to denote the recording of the passage of time, especially for keeping track of the allotment of time for the life of the pharaoh. She was also depicted holding other tools and, often, holding the knotted cords that were stretched to survey land and structures. She is frequently shown dressed in a cheetah or leopard hide, a symbol of funerary priests. If not shown with the hide over a dress, the pattern of the dress is that of the spotted feline. The pattern on the natural hide was thought to represent the stars, being a symbol of eternity, and to be associated with the night sky.

As the divine measurer and scribe, Seshat was believed to appear to assist the pharaoh in both of these practices. It was she who recorded, by notching her palm, the time allotted to the pharaoh for his stay on earth. Seshat assisted the pharaoh in the ‘stretching the cord’ ritual. This ritual is related to laying out the foundations of temples and other important structures in order to determine and assure the sacred alignments and the precision of the dimensions. Her skills were necessary for surveying the land after the annual floods to reestablish boundary lines. The priestess who officiated at these functions in her name also oversaw the staff of others who performed similar duties and were trained in mathematics and the related store of knowledge. Much of this knowledge was considered quite sacred and not shared beyond the ranks of the highest professionals such as architects and certain scribes.

She also was responsible for recording the speeches the pharaoh made during the crowning ceremony and approving the inventory of foreign captives and goods gained in military campaigns. During the New Kingdom, she was involved in the Sed festival held by the pharaohs who could celebrate thirty years of reign. Later, when the cult of the moon deity, Thoth, became prominent and he became identified as a god of wisdom, the role of Seshat changed in the Egyptian pantheon when counterparts were created for most older deities. The lower ranks of her priestesses were displaced by the priests of Thoth. First, she was identified as his daughter, and later as his wife.

After the pairing with Thoth the emblem of Seshat was shown surmounted by a crescent moon, which, over time, degenerated into being shown as two horns arranged to form a crescent shape, but pointing downward (in an atypical fashion for Egyptian art). When the crescent moon symbol had degenerated into the horns, she sometimes was known as Safekh-Aubi, meaning she who wears the two horns. In a few images the horns resemble two cobras, as depicted in hieroglyphs, but facing each other with heads touching.

MUSIC SATURDAY - GUSTAV HOLST

“The way that I see astrology is as a repository of thought and psychology. A system we’ve created as a culture as way to make things mean things.” - Eleanor Catton 

Gustav Theodore Holst (born Gustavus Theodore von Holst; 21 September 1874 – 25 May 1934) was an English composer, arranger and teacher. Best known for his orchestral suite “The Planets”, he composed a large number of other works across a range of genres, although none achieved comparable success. His distinctive compositional style was the product of many influences, Richard Wagner and Richard Strauss being most crucial early in his development. The subsequent inspiration of the English folksong revival of the early 20th century, and the example of such rising modern composers as Maurice Ravel, led Holst to develop and refine an individual style.

There were professional musicians in the previous three generations of Holst’s family and it was clear from his early years that he would follow the same calling. He hoped to become a pianist, but was prevented by neuritis in his right arm. Despite his father’s reservations, he pursued a career as a composer, studying at the Royal College of Music under Charles Villiers Stanford. Unable to support himself by his compositions, he played the trombone professionally and later became a teacher—a great one, according to his colleague Ralph Vaughan Williams. Among other teaching activities he built up a strong tradition of performance at Morley College, where he served as musical director from 1907 until 1924, and pioneered music education for women at St Paul’s Girls’ School, where he taught from 1905 until his death in 1934. He was the founder of a series of Whitsun music festivals, which ran from 1916 for the remainder of his life.

Holst’s works were played frequently in the early years of the 20th century, but it was not until the international success of “The Planets” in the years immediately after the First World War that he became a well-known figure. A shy man, he did not welcome this fame, and preferred to be left in peace to compose and teach. In his later years his uncompromising, personal style of composition struck many music lovers as too austere, and his brief popularity declined. Nevertheless, he was a significant influence on a number of younger English composers, including Edmund Rubbra, Michael Tippett and Benjamin Britten. Apart from The Planets and a handful of other works, his music was generally neglected until the 1980s, when recordings of much of his output became available.

“The Planets”, Op. 32, is a seven-movement orchestral suite by Holst, written between 1914 and 1916. Each movement of the suite is named after a planet of the Solar System and its corresponding astrological character as defined by Holst.

From its premiere to the present day, the suite has been enduringly popular, influential, widely performed and frequently recorded. The work was not heard in a complete public performance, however, until some years after it was completed. Although there were four performances between September 1918 and October 1920, they were all either private (the first performance, in London) or incomplete (two others in London and one in Birmingham). The premiere was at the Queen’s Hall on 29 September 1918, conducted by Holsts friend Adrian Boult before an invited audience of about 250 people. The first complete public performance was finally given in London by Albert Coates conducting the London Symphony Orchestra on 15 November 1920.

Here is “The Planets” suite:
0:00 Mars
7:27 Venus
14:52 Mercury
18:39 Jupiter
26:11 Saturn
35:26 Uranus
41:12 Neptune

FOOD FRIDAY - VEGETARIAN STEW

“Winter is the time for comfort, for good food and warmth, for the touch of a friendly hand and for a talk beside the fire: It is the time for home.” ― Edith Sitwell 

We have been having more crisp winter days in Melbourne, and as the evening falls earlier and earlier with the night cold and dark, some hearty comfort is definitely needed. Here is a favourite vegetarian dish of ours that foots the bill!

Vegetable and Bean Winter Stew
Ingredients
3 tbsp of olive oil
+ 2 tbsp of olive oil
1 tender celery stick, finely chopped
1 leek, white part, finely chopped
1 large onion, finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
400g can of chopped tomatoes
2 tablespoons tomato paste
2 sweet red capsicum, finely chopped
2 cups vegetable stock
salt and pepper to taste
1/2 tsp ground coriander seed
1/2 tsp ground turmeric
1/2 tsp ground sage
1/2 tsp ground smoked paprika
4 cups of a mixture of cooked and drained, black-eyed beans, haricot beans and butter beans
Chopped parsley and red chilli (if desired) for garnish

Method
Heat the 3 tbsp of oil in a large saucepan over a medium heat. Add the celery, leek and onion and stir. Cook until the celery looks almost transparent and then add the garlic and tomato paste and cook for a minute, stirring all the time.
Add the canned tomatoes, red peppers and 2 cups of vegetable stock and boil for about 30 minutes, stirring to break down the tomatoes, until the sauce is starting to reduce and the peppers are soft.
In a skillet, put the 2 tbsp of oil and once hot, add the drained beans, stirring through to heat up. Add the herbs and spices, stirring thoroughly.
Add the beans to the vegetable mixture and boil for about 15 minutes, stirring now and then. Add a little water if the mixture becomes too thick. Season with salt and pepper.
When ready, serve in individual warmed bowls and top with some chopped parsley and chilli if desired.

This post is part of the Food Friday meme.

POETS UNITED - OCEANS

“Contrary to what the cynics say, distance is not for the fearful; it's for the bold. It's for those who are willing to spend a lot of time alone in exchange for a little time with the one they love.” — Meghan Daum

When the one we love is far away from us we discover a new way of loving. The experience of our affections alter in quite subtle ways and hits us with quite a punch in our everyday life. The longer the period of absence is protracted, the greater our change and our every action and thought begins to be coloured by that absence. The poem below is for the Poets United Midweek Motif, “Oceans”.

.
Across the Oceans

Though far away, you are close to me,
Because your distant presence
Attunes within my heart, your heart.

Though far away, I hear your voice,
When you call me; and its lingering echo
Resonates deep within my soul.

Though far away, I see your face,
Your smile a distant sun that warms
Each ice-cold fibre of my body.

Though far away, I taste your kiss,
Each time I bite into a ripe strawberry,
Fragrant, lush, juicy and succulent.

Though far away, I speak your name,
And my winged words fly out,
Across the oceans, swiftly to find you;
And in their beaks they carry my kisses,
And in their claws grasp my solitude.

Though far away, you’ll hear my words,
Calling your name, giving you kisses.
And my solitude, delivered to you, will be no more,
As you open your arms and in your dream of me
Will feel my love enveloping you softly.

Across the oceans, distance is annulled,
Love bends both time and space, taming them
And the oceans lose their breadth and depth;
Together our souls will meld and fly above
The crashing waves to find our sunny place.

TRAVEL TUESDAY #82 - CASTELLAMMARE DEL GOLFO

“A poor fisherman who knows the beauties of the misty mornings is much richer than a wealthy man who sleeps till noon in his palace!” ― Mehmet Murat ildan 

Welcome to the Travel Tuesday meme! Join me every Tuesday and showcase your creativity in photography, painting and drawing, music, poetry, creative writing or a plain old natter about Travel.

There is only one simple rule: Link your own creative work about some aspect of travel and share it with the rest of us. Please use this meme for your creative endeavours only.

Do not use this meme to advertise your products or services as any links or comments by advertisers will be removed immediately.   

Castellammare del Golfo (Sicilian: Casteddammari) is a town and ‘comune’ in the Trapani Province of Sicily. The name is roughly translated ‘Sea-Fortress (castle [on the] sea) of the Gulf’, deriving from the medieval fortress in the harbour. The body of water it sits upon also takes its name from the fortress, Golfo di Castellammare.

In ancient times, Castellammare had been the harbour of Segesta, one of the main towns of the Elymian people.  Fishing has been important in Castellammare del Golfo dating back to ancient times. Today the town’s economy continues to be based on fishing with the addition of tourism.

The small town is noted, however, for having been the birthplace of many American Mafia figures, including Salvatore Maranzano, Stefano Magaddino, Joseph Barbara, Gaspare Milazzo, Peter Magaddino, Giovanni Bonventre, Pietro Caiozzo, Gaspare DiGregorio, Matteo DiGregorio, Sebastiano Domingo, Giovanni D’Anna, Francesco Puma, Camillo Galante, Pietro Crociata, Michele Adamo, Girolamo Asaro, Francesco Garofalo, Giovanni Fiordilino, Giovanni Tartamella, Joseph Buccellato, Francesco Buccellato, Vito Buccellato, Natale Evola, Vincenzo Danna, Charles DiBenedetto, Jimmy Costa, Giovanni Romano, Sasa Parrino, Cola Schiro, Joseph Notaro and Joseph Bonanno. From this name comes also the Castellamarese war, fought by Joe Masseria clan against Salvatore Maranzano clan for the leadership of the Italian Mafia in New York City.

This post is part of the Our World Tuesday meme,
and also part of the Ruby Tuesday meme,
and also part of the Wordless Wednesday meme. 

Add your own travel posts using the Linky tool below, and don't forget to be nice and leave a comment here, and link back to this page from your own post:

MYTHIC MONDAY - EGYPT 15, HEH

“We live on a placid island of ignorance in the midst of black seas of infinity, and it was not meant that we should voyage far.” - H. P. Lovecraft 

Ḥeḥ (also Huh, Hah, Hauh, Huah, Hahuh and Hehu) was in Egyptian mythology, the personification of infinity or eternity in the Ogdoad, his name itself meaning “endlessness”. His female counterpart was known as Hauhet, which is simply the feminine form of his name. Like the other concepts in the Ogdoad, his male form was often depicted as a frog, or a frog-headed human, and his female form as a snake or snake-headed human. The frog head symbolised fertility, creation, and regeneration, and was also possessed by the other Ogdoad males Kek, Amun, and Nun. Together with his female counterpart Ḥauḥet, Ḥeḥ represented a member of the Ogdoad of eight primeval deities whose worship was centred at Hermopolis Magna. The other members of the Ogdoad , Nu and Naunet, Amun and Amaunet, Kuk and Kauket, who joined together to create the cataclysmic event that gives rise to the sun and sun god, Atum. 

The other common representation depicts him crouching, holding a palm stem in each hand (or just one), sometimes with a palm stem in his hair, as palm stems represented long life to the Egyptians, the years being represented by notches on it. Depictions of this form also had a shen ring at the base of each palm stem, which represented infinity. Depictions of Heh were also used in hieroglyphs to represent one million, which was essentially considered equivalent to infinity in Ancient Egyptian mathematics. Thus this deity is also known as the “god of millions of years”.

The god Ḥeḥ was usually depicted anthropomorphically, as in the hieroglyphic character, as a male figure with divine beard and lappet wig. Normally kneeling (one knee raised), sometimes in a basket (the sign for “all”), the god typically holds in each hand a notched palm branch (palm rib). These were employed in the temples for ceremonial time-keeping, which use explains the use of the palm branch as the hieroglyphic symbol for rnp.t, “year”. Occasionally, an additional palm branch is worn on the god's head. In Ancient Egyptian Numerology, Gods such as Heh were used to represent numbers in a decimal point system. Particularly, the number 1,000,000 is depicted in the hieroglyph of Heh, who is position in his normal seated position.

The personified, somewhat abstract god of eternity Ḥeḥ possessed no known cult centre or sanctuary; rather, his veneration revolved around symbolism and personal belief. The god’s image and its iconographic elements reflected the wish for millions of years of life or rule; as such, the figure of Ḥeḥ finds frequent representation in amulets, prestige items and royal iconography from the late Old Kingdom period onwards. Heh became associated with the King and his quest for longevity. For instance, he appears on the tomb of King Tutankhamen, in two cartouches, where he is crowned with a winged scarab beetle, symbolizing existence and a sun disk. The placement of Heh in relation to King Tutankhamen's corpse means he will be granting him these “millions of years” into the afterlife.

ART SUNDAY - ALEXANDER BOGOMAZOV

“I think cubism has not fully been developed. It is treated like a style, pigeonholed and that’s it.” - David Hockney 

Alexander Bogomazov or Oleksandr Bohomazov (Russian: Александр Константинович Богомазов, Ukrainian: Олександр Костянтинович Богомазов; born April 7, 1880 in Yampol, Russian Empire – died on June 3, 1930 in Kiev, Ukrainian SSR, Soviet Union) was a Ukrainian painter, known artist and modern art theoretician of the Russian Avant-garde (historically the term “Russian Avant-garde” refers to the art of all countries which were parts of Russia/USSR in the beginning of 20th century). In 1914, Alexander wrote his treatise “The Art of Painting and the Elements”. In it he analysed the interaction between Object, Artist, Picture, and Spectator and sets the theoretical foundation of modern art. During his artistic life Alexander Bogomazov mastered several art styles. The most known are Cubo-Futurism (1913–1917) and Spectralism (1920–1930).

Alexander Bogomazov was born in Yampol, Kharkov Governorate, as a second child to Konstantin Bogomazov. His mother Anisia abandoned the family shorty after his baptism. His ethnic background was Russian, yet Alexander spent virtually all his life in Kiev. From 1896 to 1902, Aleksander Bogomazov attended the Institute for Agriculture in Kherson. From 1902 to 1905, he attended the Kiev Art School (KKHU), at the same time he had close contact with Alexander Archipenko and Aleksandra Ekster.

In 1905, he participated in political demonstrations and strikes. In the same year he was expelled from the Kiev Art School. In 1906, he studied in the studio of S. Swiatoslavskiy. Bogomazov had an exhibition in Kiev, together with Archipenko. That year he moved to Moscow and became the student of Fyodor Rerberg and Konstantin Yuon. In 1907, he returned to Kiev. After 1907, he had regular exhibitions in Kiev, including the Association of Russian Artists and the Moscow Society of Independent Artists. In 1908, he participated in the exhibition with the group of artists Zveno (“The Link”) in Kiev together with David Burliuk, Wladimir Burliuk, Aleksandra Ekster and others.

In 1911, he journeyed to Finland. From 1912 to 1915, he taught at a school for the deaf and mute in Kiev. From 1913 to 1914, he studied the works of the Italian Futurists. At this time he developed art theories, and published his essay The Art of Painting and the Elements. In 1914, he organized the exhibition Kiltse (“The Ring”) in Kiev, together with Aleksandra Ekster, Eugène Konopatzky among others. In 1915, Bogomazov moved to the Caucasus, where he worked as a teacher and painter. In 1919, he taught at the First State Studio for Paintings and Decorative art in Kiev. From 1919 to 1920, he was the Head of the Department for Art Education in the Ukrainian Commissariat for Visual Art. At the same time he was the co-founder of the Ukrainian Agitprop Movement, and created designs for the Agitprom movement.

From 1922 to 1930, he taught at the Kiev Art Academy (KKHI) together with Vadim Meller, Vladimir Tatlin, Victor Palmov. In 1927, he was a founding member of the Association of the Revolutionary Masters of Ukraine (ARMU), together with D.Burliuk, V.Meller, V.Palmov, V. Yermilov and others. In the same year, he participated in the All-Ukrainian Exhibition Ten years October (Kharkov, Kiev, Odessa), together with Tatlin, Meller, Palmov, Epshtein among others. Alexander Bogomazov died on June 3, 1930 in Kiev.

The painting above is his “Sharpening Saws” of 1927.

MUSIC SATURDAY - TOMASO ANTONIO VITALI

“Wonder rather than doubt is the root of all knowledge.” - Abraham Joshua Heschel 

Tomaso Antonio Vitali (March 7, 1663 – May 9, 1745) was an Italian composer and violinist from Bologna, the eldest son of Giovanni Battista Vitali. He is known mainly for a ‘Chaconne in G minor for violin and continuo’, which was published from a manuscript in the Sächsische Landesbibliothek in Dresden in Die Hoch Schule des Violinspiels (1867) edited by German violinist Ferdinand David). That work’s wide-ranging modulations into distant keys have raised speculation that it could not be a genuine baroque work.

Vitali studied composition in Modena with Antonio Maria Pacchioni, and was employed at the Este court orchestra from 1675 to 1742. He was a teacher, whose pupils included Evaristo Felice dall’Abaco, Jean Baptiste Senaillé, Girolamo Nicolò Laurenti and Luca Antonio Predieri. Authentic works by Vitali include a set of trio sonatas published as his opus numbers 1 and 2 (1693), sonatas da camera (chamber sonatas), and violin sonatas (including his opus 6) among other works. Among those that have been recorded include all of the op. 1 (on Naxos 8.570182), three of the violin sonatas (on the Swiss label Gallo), and some of the sonatas from the opp. 2 and 4 sets (opus 4, no. 12 on Classica CL 101 from Finland). He died at Modena.

A chaconne is a musical form used as a vehicle for variation on a repeated short harmonic progression over a ground bass. The Chaconne was marked by the copyist, at the time of transcription, in the upper margin of the first page of the Dresden manuscript as “Parte del Tomaso Vitalino” (Tomaso Vitalino’s part), who may or may not be Vitali. One striking feature of the Vitali Chaconne’s style is the way it wildly changes key, reaching the far-flung territories of B-flat minor and E-flat minor, modulations uncharacteristic of the Baroque era, as change of key signature became typical only in Romanticism. The manuscript, Sächsische Landesbibliothek Dresden, Mus. 2037/R/1, has more recently been identified as being in the hand of Jacob Lindner, a known copyist who was working at the Dresden Hofkapelle between 1710 and 1730, which lends credit to its authenticity.

Despite musicological doubts, the piece has been ever popular amongst violinists. For example, Jascha Heifetz chose it, in a very much arranged and altered version, with organ accompaniment, to open his New York debut in Queen’s Hall on 5 May 1920. Arrangements of it exist for violin and piano by Ferdinand David and by Léopold Charlier, for violin and organ, for violin and orchestra by Ottorino Respighi, and there are transcriptions of it for viola and piano by Friedrich Hermann (1828-1907) and by Alan Arnold (contemporary American violist and music publisher, owner of “Viola World Publications”) and for cello and piano by Luigi Silva.

Here are Vitali’s ‘Trio Sonatas, Op. 1’, played by Semperconsort.

And here is the ‘Chaconne in G Minor’ played by Oliver Colbentson accompanied by Erich Appel.

FOOD FRIDAY - VEGETARIAN LENTIL PIE

“One kind word can warm three winter months.” - Japanese Proverb 

A favourite Winter warmer dish that we often have at home is this vegetarian pie. Its rich spicy flavour and the variety of vegetables used, blend with the lentils and potato mash to give a satisfying and filling meal.

Vegetarian Cottage Pie
Ingredients
2 tbsp olive oil
2 large onions, diced
4 cloves garlic, crushed
1 cup lentils (cleaned and washed)
400ml vegetable stock
200ml water
2 bay leaves
2 parsnips, diced
4 carrots, diced
1 (400 g) tin of diced tomatoes
2 tablespoons tomato paste
1 tsp curry powder
1/2 tsp allspice
1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
Salt and pepper to taste
4 potatoes (floury type), peeled and diced
3 tablespoons butter
1 sprig fresh thyme
60ml milk
180g grated cheddar cheese

Method
In a large saucepan add the olive oil and heat. Add the onions and garlic and stir until golden. Add the lentils and bay leaves and stir through, adding the water and stock.
Bring to a boil then reduce to a simmer for 30 minutes. Add parsnip and carrot, return to a boil then reduce to a simmer for 10 to 15 minutes or until the vegetables and lentils are soft. Stir in the tinned tomatoes and tomato paste, spices, Worcestershire sauce and heat through, simmering for 10 minutes. Remove the saucepan from the heat and discard the bay leaves.
Put the potatoes on to boil and when soft, drain and discard the water. Mash the potatoes with the butter, salt and thyme. Whisk in the milk until light and fluffy then add 1 cup of the cheese. In a baking dish pour the lentil mixture then top with a layer of mashed potato. Bake in a 180˚C oven until warmed through, sprinkle with remaining cheese then serve.
Instead of making up in a single large baking dish, you may use individual serve ramekins, if you so desire.

This post is part of the Food Friday meme.

POETS UNITED - SMOKING

“Smoking is related to practically every terrible thing that can happen to you.” - Loni Anderson

This week, Poets United is celebrating the World No Tobacco Day, 31 May 2017. The Challenge for participants is to: “Write a new poem in which you address your experience (or thoughts) about smoking tobacco.” Here is mine:

Solace

That tawny booze in sparkling glass
Promises me forgetfulness;
And I drink it, sip after stinging sip,
Even though it burns my mouth
And ignites the lining of my gullet.
I drink it seeking solace…

That hateful cigarette in elegant packaging,
Promises me comfort;
And I smoke it, puff after stifling puff,
Even though it chokes my breath
And irritates the lining of my raw airways.
I smoke it seeking solace…

That pitiful ageing woman, made up to hide her sins
Promises me intimacy;
And I buss her, kiss after cardboard kiss,
Even though her lips are like sandpaper
And abrade the self esteem of my skin.
I kiss her seeking solace…

That crashing discordant noise, passing off as music
Promises me fun;
And I hear it, chord after jangling chord,
Even though the crashing rhythm deadens me
And rasps my eardrums till they puncture.
I hear it seeking solace…

That medication in the prescription bottle
Promises me sleep;
And I swallow it, pill after sugar-coated pill,
Even though it dulls my intellect,
And gives me nightmares in fitful sedation.
I swallow it seeking solace…

And solace I find not, it is long gone,
Like your promises;
And I seek you and find you not,
For you have disappeared, vanished, gone away,
And left me here bereft, disconsolate,
Seeking the solace I’ll never find
In alcohol, nicotine, sex, rock’n’roll or drugs…

TRAVEL TUESDAY #81 - LUCCA, ITALY

"Inspiration is an awakening, a quickening of all man's faculties, and it is manifested in all high artistic achievements." - Giacomo Puccini 

Welcome to the Travel Tuesday meme! Join me every Tuesday and showcase your creativity in photography, painting and drawing, music, poetry, creative writing or a plain old natter about Travel.

There is only one simple rule: Link your own creative work about some aspect of travel and share it with the rest of us. Please use this meme for your creative endeavours only.

Do not use this meme to advertise your products or services as any links or comments by advertisers will be removed immediately.   

Lucca is a city on the Serchio river in Italy’s Tuscany region. It’s known for the well-preserved Renaissance walls encircling its historic city centre and its cobblestone streets and the medieval houses.

The walls encircling the old town remained intact, even as the city expanded and modernised, unusual for cities in the region. Initially, built as a defensive rampart, once the walls lost their military importance, they became a pedestrian promenade, the Passeggiata delle Mura Urbane, a street atop the walls linking the bastions. Each of the four principal sides of the structure is lined with a different tree species than the others.

The town includes a number of public squares, most notably the Piazza dell'Anfiteatro, site of ancient Roman amphitheatre; but also Piazzale Verdi; Piazza Napoleone'; and Piazza San Michele. The 'Casa di Puccini' is the house of the opera composer, Giacomo Puccini, which is now  a museum. At the nearby Torre del Lago, where the composer summered, a Puccini opera festival takes place every July-August.

Lucca Cathedral (Italian: Duomo di Lucca, Cattedrale di San Martino) is a Roman Catholic cathedral dedicated to Saint Martin. It is the seat of the Archbishop of Lucca. Construction was begun in 1063 by Bishop Anselm (later Pope Alexander II). Of the original structure, the great apse with its tall columnar arcades and the fine campanile remain. The nave and transepts of the cathedral were rebuilt in the Gothic style in the 14th century, while the west front was begun in 1204 by Guido Bigarelli of Como, and consists of a vast portico of three magnificent arches, and above them three ranges of open galleries adorned with sculptures.

This post is part of the Our World Tuesday meme,
and also part of the Ruby Tuesday meme, 
and also part of the Wordless Wednesday meme.

Add your own travel posts using the Linky tool below, and don't forget to be nice and leave a comment here, and link back to this page from your own post:

MYTHIC MONDAY - EGYPT 14, IMENTET

“The life of the dead is placed in the memory of the living.” - Marcus Tullius Cicero 

Imentet (Ament, Amentent or Imentit, meaning “She of the West”) was a goddess in Ancient Egyptian religion representing the necropolises west of the Nile. She was the consort of Aqen, a god who guided Ra through parts of the underworld. Although she was never officially worshipped in her own cult, she was mentioned in various hymns and passages of the Book of the Dead.

As goddess of the deceased, she lived in a tree looking out at the entrance to the Underworld. Her main duty, other than being a minor fertility goddess, was to offer food and drink to the newly dead, which would restore their spirits enough to travel to the “field of reeds” which was essentially paradise in Ancient Egyptian religion, however, she was so closely linked with Hathor and Isis in their afterlife roles that she may be less an independent deity than an alternate form of those two goddesses. Though she might have been considered in some contexts as the daughter of Hathor and Horus.

She was usually depicted as a queen in robes wearing the hieroglyph for west on her head or a sceptre and an Ankh in her hands. She often appears in tombs welcoming the deceased into the afterlife, sometimes with wings, and sometimes as a Kite because of her connection to Isis and Nephthys.

Her title “She of the West” is not just a statement related to geography, but also related as her role in mythology because, as the sun sets towards the west, it was to be accompanied by death, which was where Imentet usually reigned. Additionally, amenti (or amentet) was thought to be where the sun set, and where the entrance to the Underworld was located, although later the term began to associate itself with graveyards and tombs as well.

ART SUNDAY - IMRE ÁMOS

“The Holocaust illustrates the consequences of prejudice, racism and stereotyping on a society. It forces us to examine the responsibilities of citizenship and confront the powerful ramifications of indifference and inaction.” - Tim Holden

Imre Ámos (1907 in Nagykálló, Hungary – 1944 or 1945 in Ohrdruf, Germany) was a twentieth century Hungarian Jewish painter. Following his studies at the Technical University, Budapest from 1927 to 1929, he enrolled in the Art School where he was a pupil of Gyula Rudnay. He married Margit Anna, also a painter.

His painting was initially influenced by József Rippl-Rónai and Róbert Berény. From the mid-1930s onwards, his style emulated that of Chagall whose influence affected his artwork in his paintings such as ‘The Old Church Servant Thinks of Heaven’, and ‘The Dream of Bear Leader’. In 1936, he was elected to be a member of the New Society of Artists, which entailed working in Szentendre during the summer months.

He visited Paris in 1937 where he met Chagall. Ámos became a member of the National Salon in 1938. Some of his works show the influence of legends about the famous Chassidic Kaliver Rebbe, Rabbi Yitzchak Isaac Taub (1744–1828), who was also from Nagykálló.

In 1940 during World War II he became a victim of the Holocaust because he was Jewish. He was taken to a forced labour camp in Vojvodina, then to the battlefield in the east. In 1944 he was deported to a concentration camp in Saxony where he later died cruelly. Throughout the war he painted about his tragic experiences in shocking visions such as ‘A Series of Dark Times’, ‘Escaping’, and ‘War’.

He died aged only 37 or 38. Some of the works by Imre Ámos and his wife can be seen in the Museum of Margit Anna and Imre Ámos in Szentendre. On 23 June 2014, the Jewish Historical Institute opened the exhibit “Where is your brother? - Imre Ámos and the 20th century.”

The painting above is “Sötet Idok VIII: Ember par Apokalipszis ben”. I have been unable to find a good translation of this title, but it encapsulates the notion of a dark couple in an apocalyptic setting. It is a rich yet sombre work, looking toward the past but somehow being oddly prophetic too. It has the immediate appeal of a depiction of a couple enjoying music and literature (perhaps Abelard and Heloise?), but in the background through the open window, the world seems to be collapsing, as it was happening in WWII Europe…

MUSIC SATURDAY - SEBASTIAN BODINUS

“The distance between insanity and genius is measured only by success.” - Bruce Feirstein 

Sebastian Bodinus (ca. 1700 – 19 March 1759) was a German composer about whom very little is known. Bodinus was born in the village of Bittstädt in Saxe-Gotha and trained as a violinist. It is known that in 1718 he entered the service of the Margrave Karl III of Baden-Durlach at the court in Karlsruhe. Bodinus worked elsewhere but always returned to Karlsruhe and was concertmaster there for two periods.

He left Karlsruhe in 1752, returned in a disoriented state in 1758 and was committed to an insane asylum in Pforzheim where he died. His compositions include concertos and symphonies but there are predominantly chamber works in the late Baroque style, including not only solo and trio sonatas but also quartets, a considerable rarity at the time he composed them in the 1720s and 1730s. Of his quartets it has been said that this “minor master appears to have written first-rate music.”

Here are his “Divertissements” played by Camerata Köln:
1. Siciliana En Pastoral
2. Adagio
3. Giga, Allegro
4. Allegro Assai
5. Adagio Ma Un Poco
6. Giga, Presto/Allegromente
7. Allegromente
8. Adagio
9. Presto
10. Allegro
11. Adagio
12. Allegro
13. Presto
14. Adagio Un Poco
15. Allegro
16. Adagio Ma Un Poco, Allegro
17. Andante E Non Adagio
18. Allegro

FOOD FRIDAY - FRUIT LOAF

“Winter is a season of recovery and preparation.” - Paul Theroux 

I love the cool, misty days of Autumn when afternoon sun comes out and shines warm, but quickly gives way to a rapidly falling night. Leaves turn yellow and fall, rain comes and goes, puddles shine like silver platters and soon, Winter shows up with cold, dark days when rain, sleet, snow and frost savour the season as if it were tossed in sea salt. Winter afternoons hanker for lots of fragrant, hot tea and a spicy, rich cake… Nothing like this wonderful fruit loaf, the recipe for which was given to us by a dear family friend, who unfortunately has passed away. She is remembered fondly.

Fruit Loaf for Afternoon Tea
Ingredients
150 g dried apricots
150 g pitted dates
100 g dried figs
100 g sultanas
100 g mixed candied peel
2 cups orange juice
1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
1 cup brown sugar
1 tablespoon honey
2 eggs, lightly beaten
2 cups Self-Raising Flour
1 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground allspice
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
Butter or mascarpone cheese, to serve (optional) 

Method
Preheat oven to 180°C. Grease and line a 7cm deep, 10cm x 21cm (base) loaf pan with baking paper.
Combine dried fruit and juice in a saucepan over low heat. Cook, stirring, for 20 minutes or until liquid has been absorbed. Stir in bicarbonate of soda. Set aside for 10 minutes.
Transfer fruit mixture to a bowl. Stir in honey, sugar and eggs. Sift flour and spices over fruit mixture. Stir gently to combine. Spoon into prepared loaf pan.
Bake for 50 to 60 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean.
Stand for 10 minutes in pan. Turn onto a wire rack to cool. Serve slices at room temperature or toasted, spread with butter or mascarpone cheese if desired.

This post is part of the Food Friday meme.

POETS UNITED - FLOWERS

“You cannot eat apples planted from seeds. They must be grafted, cloned…” - Michael Pollan

I’ve had a break from Poets United for a few weeks as I have had to attend to several pressing work matters and these did not allow my mind to turn to poetry. As things slowly get back to normal, today’s theme of “Flowers” at Poets United inspired this, my offering for the Midweek Motif this week:

Spring Flowers

Looking at Spring flowers in the garden

Blooming recklessly in the cold wind,

Fulfilling with expediency their purpose,

Repaying in full the gardener’s ministrations,

Reminds me of their origin:

Hailing from some humble wild blossom,

Carefully cultivated for years on end;

Torn from the fickle hillside and grown under glass,

Long inbred, carefully tended, crossed –

So that each new generation breeds true.

Once pale and fresh but insignificant,

Now a gaudy, dazzling display of colour,

But lucklessly sterile…

As for their propagation,

They rely on cuttings,

And the gardener’s whimsical affection,

Their seeds but a distant,

Almost forgotten remembrance...

PS: "Double-flowered" describes varieties of flowers with extra petals, often containing flowers within flowers. The double-flowered trait is often noted alongside the scientific name with the abbreviation fl. pl. (flore pleno, a Latin ablative form meaning "with full flower"). The first abnormality to be documented in flowers, double flowers are popular varieties of many commercial flower types, including roses, camellias and carnations. In some double-flowered varieties all of the reproductive organs are converted to petals — as a result, they are sexually sterile and must be propagated through cuttings. Many double-flowered plants have little wildlife value as access to the nectaries is typically blocked by the mutation.

TRAVEL TUESDAY #80 - THE AZORES

“The only good thing that comes from the East is the sun.” - Portuguese Proverb 

Welcome to the Travel Tuesday meme! Join me every Tuesday and showcase your creativity in photography, painting and drawing, music, poetry, creative writing or a plain old natter about Travel.

There is only one simple rule: Link your own creative work about some aspect of travel and share it with the rest of us. Please use this meme for your creative endeavours only.

Do not use this meme to advertise your products or services as any links or comments by advertisers will be removed immediately.  

The Azores (Portuguese: Açores), officially the Autonomous Region of the Azores (Região Autónoma dos Açores), is one of the two autonomous regions of Portugal, an archipelago composed of nine volcanic islands in the North Atlantic Ocean about 1,360 km west of continental Portugal, about 1,643 km west of Lisbon, in continental Portugal, about 1,507 km from the African coast, and about 1,925 km southeast of Newfoundland, Canada. Its main industries are agriculture, dairy farming, livestock, fishing, and tourism, which is becoming the major service activity in the region. In addition, the government of the Azores employs a large percentage of the population directly or indirectly in the service and tertiary sectors.

The main settlement of the Azores is Ponta Delgada. There are nine major Azorean islands and an islet cluster, in three main groups. These are Flores and Corvo, to the west; Graciosa, Terceira, São Jorge, Pico, and Faial in the centre; and São Miguel, Santa Maria, and the Formigas Reef to the east. They extend for more than 600 km and lie in a northwest-southeast direction. All the islands have volcanic origins, although some, such as Santa Maria, have had no recorded activity since the islands were settled. Mount Pico, on the island of Pico, is the highest point in Portugal, at 2,351 m. The Azores are actually some of the tallest mountains on the planet, measured from their base at the bottom of the ocean to their peaks, which thrust high above the surface of the Atlantic.

The climate of the Azores is very mild for such a northerly location, being influenced by its distance to continents and the passing Gulf Stream. Due to the marine influence, temperatures remain mild year-round. Daytime temperatures normally fluctuate between 16 °C and 25 °C depending on season. Temperatures above 30 °C or below 3 °C are unknown in the major population centres. It is also generally wet and cloudy. The culture, dialect, cuisine, and traditions of the Azorean islands vary considerably, because these once-uninhabited and remote islands were settled sporadically over a span of two centuries. 

This post is part of the Our World Tuesday meme,
and also part of the Ruby Tuesday meme,
and also part of the Wordless Wednesday meme.

Add your own travel posts using the Linky tool below, and don't forget to be nice and leave a comment here, and link back to this page from your own post:

MYTHIC MONDAY - EGYPT 13, BES

“Egypt is a great place for contrasts: Splendid things gleam in the dust.” ― Gustave Flaubert 

Bes (also spelled as Bisu) and its feminine counterpart Beset are an Ancient Egyptian deity pair worshipped as protectors of households, and in particular, of mothers and children and childbirth. Bes later came to be regarded as the defender of everything good and the enemy of all that is bad.

While past studies identified Bes as a Middle Kingdom import from Nubia, more recent research indicates that he was present in Egypt since the start of Old Kingdom. Mentions of Bes can be traced to pre-dynastic Nile Valley cultures; however his cult did not become widespread until the beginning of the New Kingdom.

Images of the deity were kept in homes and he was depicted quite differently from the other gods. Normally Egyptian gods were shown in profile, but instead Bes appeared in portrait, ithyphallic, and sometimes in a soldier's tunic, so as to appear ready to launch an attack on any approaching evil. 

He scared away demons from houses, so his statue was put up as a protector. Bes was a household protector, throughout ancient Egyptian history becoming responsible for such varied tasks as killing snakes, fighting off evil spirits, watching after children, and aiding (by fighting off evil spirits) women in labour (and thus present with Taweret at births). 

Since he drove off evil, Bes also came to symbolise the good things in life - music, dance, and sexual pleasure. Later, in the Ptolemaic period of Egyptian history, chambers were constructed, painted with images of Bes and his wife Beset, thought by Egyptologists to have been for the purpose of curing fertility problems or general healing rituals.

Many instances of Bes masks and costumes from the New Kingdom and later have been uncovered. These show considerable wear, thought to be too great for occasional use at festivals, and are therefore thought to have been used by professional performers, or given out for rent. In the New Kingdom, tattoos of Bes could be found on the thighs of dancers, musicians and servant girls.

Like many Egyptian gods, the worship of Bes or Beset was exported overseas, and he, in particular, proved popular with the Phoenicians and the ancient Cypriots meanwhile she got popular in Minoan Crete. In the late 500s BC, images of Bes began to spread across the Persian Empire, which Egypt belonged to at the time. Images of Bes have been found at the Persian capital of Susa, and as far away as central Asia. Over time, the image of Bes became more Persian in style, as he was depicted wearing Persian clothes and headdress.

The Balearic island of Ibiza derives its actual name from this god, brought along with the first Phoenician settlers 654 BC. These settlers, amazed at the lack of any sort of venomous creatures on the island thought it to be the Island of Bes. Later Romans called it Ebusus.

ART SUNDAY - RICHARD GERSTL

“It is always consoling to think of suicide: in that way one gets through many a bad night.” - Friedrich Nietzsche  

Richard Gerstl (14 September 1883 – 4 November 1908) was an Austrian painter and draughtsman known for his expressive psychologically insightful portraits, his lack of critical acclaim during his lifetime, and his affair with the wife of Arnold Schoenberg which led to his suicide.

Richard Gerstl was born in a prosperous bourgeois family, Emil Gerstl, a Jewish merchant, and Maria Pfeiffer, non-Jewish woman. Early in his life, Gerstl decided to become an artist, much to the dismay of his father. After performing poorly in school and being forced to leave the famed Piaristengymnasium in Vienna as a result of “disciplinary difficulties”, his financially stable parents provided him with private tutors.

In 1898, at the age of fifteen, Gerstl was accepted into the Academy of Fine Arts Vienna, where he studied under the notoriously opinionated and difficult Christian Griepenkerl. Gerstl began to reject the style of the Vienna Secession and what he felt was pretentious art. This eventually prompted his vocal professor to proclaim, “The way you paint, I piss in the snow!” Frustrated with the lack of acceptance of his non-secessionist painting style, Gerstl continued to paint without any formal guidance for two years.

During the summers of 1900 and 1901, Gerstl studied under the guidance of Simon Hollósy in Nagybánya. Inspired by the more liberal leanings of Heinrich Lefler, Gerstl once again attempted formal education. Unfortunately, his refusal to participate in a procession in honour of Emperor Franz Joseph I of Austria further ostracised him and led to his departure. Gerstl felt that taking part in such an event was “unworthy of an artist”. His final exit from Lefler’s studio took place in 1908.

In 1904 and 1905, Gerstl shared a studio with his former academy classmate and friend, Viktor Hammer. Although Hammer had assisted in Gerstl’s admittance to Lefler’s tutelage and their relationship was friendly, it is difficult to determine how close the two men were as Gerstl did not associate with other artists. Regardless of their personal feelings, by 1906, Gerstl had acquired his own studio.

Although Gerstl did not associate with other artists, he did feel drawn to the musically inclined; he himself frequented concerts in Vienna. Around 1907, he began to associate with composers Arnold Schoenberg and Alexander von Zemlinsky, who lived in the same building at the time. Gerstl and Schoenberg developed a mutual admiration based upon their individual talents. Gerstl apparently instructed Schoenberg in art.

During this time, Gerstl moved into a flat in the same house and painted several portraits of Schoenberg, his family, and his friends. These portraits also included paintings of Schoenberg’s wife Mathilde, Alban Berg and Zemlinsky. His highly stylised heads anticipated German expressionism and used pastels as in the works by Oskar Kokoschka. Gerstl and Mathilde became extremely close and, in the summer of 1908, she left her husband and children to travel to Vienna with Gerstl. Schoenberg was in the midst of composing his Second String Quartet, which he dedicated to her.

Mathilde rejoined her husband in October. Distraught by the loss of Mathilde, his isolation from his associates, and his lack of artistic acceptance, Gerstl entered his studio during the night of 4 November 1908 and apparently burned every letter and piece of paper he could find. Although many paintings survived the fire, it is believed that a great deal of his artwork as well as personal papers and letters were destroyed. Other than his paintings, only eight drawings are known to have survived unscathed.

Following the burning of his papers, Gerstl hanged himself in front of the studio mirror and somehow managed to stab himself as well. The incident had a significant impact on Arnold Schoenberg and his opera ‘Die Glückliche Hand’ is based on these events. After his suicide at the age of twenty-five, his family took the surviving paintings out of Gerstl’s studio and stored them in a warehouse until his brother Alois showed them to the art dealer Otto Kallir in 1930 or 1931.

Although Gerstl had never managed to mount an exhibition of his works during his lifetime, Kallir organised one at his Neue Galerie. Shortly afterward, the Nazi presence in Austria hindered the further acclaim of the artist and it was not until after the war that Gerstl became known in the United States. Sixty-six paintings and eight drawings attributed to Gerstl are known, although it is possible he destroyed many more or that others could have been lost over the years.

The painting above is a detail of a portrait of Arnold Schoenberg from 1905.