Der von Osten
meinem Garten anvertraut,
Gibt geheimen Sinn zu kosten,
Wie’s den Wissenden erbaut.
Ist es ein lebendig Wesen,
Das sich in sich selbst getrennt?
Sind es zwei die sich erlesen,
Daß man sie als eines kennt?
Solche Frage zu erwidern,
Fand ich wohl den rechten Sinn;
Fühlst du nicht an meinen Liedern,
Daß ich eins und doppelt bin?
J. W. Goethe
“Der Heilige Geist und die Natur sind eins: Täglich ist die Natur ein Licht aus dem Heiligen Geist und lernt von ihm, also kommt es im Menschen während der Tiefe der Nacht. Das Wissen der kalten Vernunft hat verblendet das Licht der Weisheit und das Licht der Natur; so herrscht eine fremde Doktrin und hat beider Erkenntnis zwischen Stühle und Bänke gesetzt. Die dieser fremden Doktrin anhängen, versuchen die Wahrheit beider Lichter zu verdunkeln und wollen sogar das Licht des Ewigen und der Natur auslöschen.
Nun merkt, dass Christus und die Seinen dem Licht der Natur nichts genommen haben, aber die Scholare mit ihrem pharisäischen Sauerteig wollen der Natur ihre Macht brechen und nehmen, und zwar weil sie selbst weder Christus nachfolgen noch dem natürlichen Licht. Sie sind die Toten, die die Toten begraben. Kein Leben ist in ihrem Tun, denn sie lernen weder etwas vom Licht der Ewigkeit noch vom Licht der Natur und wollen’s doch beide sein.
In der Natur ist ein Licht, das heller scheint als das Licht der Sonne; in diesem Licht werden die unsichtbaren Dinge sichtbar”
PARACELSUS “Vom Licht der Natur und des Geistes”
Panorama composed of three images, Aletsch glacier, view from below Märjelensee, July 2024
In July we took the path from Bettmerhorn along the Aletsch glacier towards Eggishorn and the glacier’s gate, which is located a few hundred meteres below Märjelensee. As we headed back, I was able to take some photos of the arena sans people, except for two persons in the distance, which give a reference of the glacier’s actual size.
The Aletsch is the largest glacier in the Swiss Alps and for a long time has withstood weather or climate changes. However, lately it is decreasing every year. The former entrance gate, where people could stand upright infront of the clear blue ice mass, has nearly vanished. Currently you have to kneel in order to still catch a glimpse of the stunning ice blue colors underneath.
Our hike back turned out longer than planned but granted us stunning views of the evening sun casting its rays through isolated clouds and dipping the blooming highland meadows into a warm golden light.
With a walking distance of 20 km this has been my longest hike so far. Our four year old walked at least of half of it on his own and mastered the climb to and from the glacier ice all by himself.
November impressions – macro and close-up, rain drops, long exposure, motion blur and bokeh effect
November is named so because it used to be the ninth month in the Roman calendar. It is also known as Windmond, Wintermonat and Nebelung. It is the darkest month, hostile and chaotic. It brings storms, disorder and weird dreams. The November full moon is also known as freezing moon or frost moon and beaver moon.
It is raining and snowing and the earth is being saturated with water. The cold grayness is lit up by bright saffron blossoms, colorful tree branches and berries. Wild cherry trees color their crowns red; what looks like a fiery shield or warning sign is actually an invisibility shield against herbivores. By dropping their leaves the trees now ultimately strike their solar sails. Simultaneously the fallen leaves re-assemble to form a protective and nurturing blanket on the ground, for myriads of organisms to spend the winter underneath. Here the magic happens that alchemists seek to master. All of nature’s actions are inherently logical and perfectly adjusted.
November’s weird dreams are messages of wyrd – the weaveress, who spins, weaves and cuts the thread that forms the fabric of a person’s fate or destiny. Noteworthy, is wyrd not only the base word for modern English weird. Today the word weird denounces something supernatural, uncanny or unexpected. But wyrd is also connected to the German werden = to become, Wort = word as well as Wurz = a herb. Originally these terms, to become and to grow (as a plant) and the concept of wyrd (fate) may have been closely linked. Indeed, the wort cunner uses herbs to change a person’s destiny. The shaman or healer uses herbs to drive out sickness and avert death, which increase in the absence of day light.
The weaveress is present in many different pantheons. Sometimes she is part of a triad of goddesses of fate such as the Norse Norns, the Greek Morai and Roman Parcea. Other times she is an ancient mother goddess presiding over the souls of the unborn and the work of women, especially spinning and weaving. Germanic tribes knew her as Holle/Holda, today also identified with Perchta. Slavic peoples knew her as Mokosh or Zorya.
Frau Holle is envisioned to guard a deep well or pool from which she releases the souls of children to be born and into which she receives again the souls of the stillborn. She guards the cycle of life and death, birth and rebirth. Likewise she judges the work of man, blesses those, who finish their tasks in time and punishes those who are late or lazy. In the short month of November we are reminded that the year is in its final quarter and that we too must come to a close with our projects and rituals, but also, that we must take care of ourselves.
Since the birth of our son I did not have time to post anything new. But back in March, I did take a few photos of the blooming cherry tree and doves in our yard.
Ein bisschen Mondfinsternis, von heute Abend. Das erste Bild ist vom Mond, der den Kernschatten der Erde tangiert, aufgenommen um 20.13 Uhr. Die übrigen Bilder zeigen den Mond im Halbschatten mit rötlichem Hof, aufgenommen kurz nach 19.00 Uhr.
A bit of lunar eclipse, from this evening. First photo shows the moon touching upon the earth’s umbra, at 20.13. The other photos show the full moon in the earth’s penumbra with a red halo, at around 7 pm.
I recently submitted an application for a photo book voucher from Saal Digital and received it promptly. 👍 The voucher code lasts for 14 days.
For compiling the book, I tested the free design software provided by Saal Digital. In the first step, I chose the book format and style: a simple matte look and 28 by 28 cm square format with 28 pages. Further pages can be added or pages deleted later (it became 34 pages). The software allows to switch between auto-layout and manual layout. The photos are added by simple drag and drop and the program arranges them in a smart way. In addition, one can chose between different layout templates, including text. The only glitch I encountered was, that the text formatting kept jumping back to default value when changing the images. 👎 Else I found the software handy and easy to employ. 👍 I was especially curious how images and text spread across two pages would turn out.
Altogether I spent a whole day, selecting, editing and arranging the photos. It was a fun work and I found myself browsing archives spanning over nearly a decade.
I submitted my order digitally on the 9th of May. The voucher code was to be entered at the end of the order process. I ended up with a total of 11,90 Euro instead of 51,90 Euro (with shipping included). The confirmation e-mail told me to expect my book to be delivered on the 15th of May, but I already received it on Monday, 13th of May. 👍
I am very pleased with the overall quality. The matte paper is thick and not translucent at all. 👍 The biggest benefit to me are no fingerprints, as well as a natural look and feel, 👍 even though the colorful images may also look nice on glossy paper. The photos look vivid and show great detail in print. 👍 Any deviations in color are owed to my mean Photoshop skills (they show and I will correct them next time). Thanks to the layflat binding, the large images flow across two pages seamlessly (without any offset). 👍 I am further pleased with the crispness of the lines on my black and white illustration. 👍 Finally, I allowed for a tiny QR code to be added at the backside. It is really unobtrusive, but can also be left out (for a 5 Euro extra fee).
I tested the basic photo book without any extras. Next time I may opt for a black background on the cover and a smaller font. It may also be interesting to try out options with leather or linen weave, though 20 Euro extra on top of the 40 Euro base price are a bit of an obstacle. 👎
👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍 8 thumbs up for the overall service, quality and free software
👎👎 2 thumbs down for the text formatting glitch in the software and the comparably high prices on professional photo books
Wiebke Rost 