Jack’s Walk

©voyager, all rights reserved

Much like leaves in autumn, white trilliums put on a bit of a show before they disappear, turning delicate shades of pink as they begin to wither. Their passing marks the end of the showy spring flowers in the forest. The mayapples are still to bloom, but their flowers hide under big umbrella leaves and are barely seen. The buttercups and forget-me-nots that linger are small and fragile and just don’t command the same attention as a trillium or bloodroot or Jack-in-the-pulpits. The forest is losing its frills.

©voyager, all rights reserved

The Art of Book Design: The Book of Lies

Aleister Crowly. The Book of Lies, which is also falsely called Breaks. The Wanderings or falsifications of The One Thought of Frater Perdurabo which Thought is itself Untrue. London, Wieland & Co. 1913

According to Wikipedia, Crowly was,

…an English occultist, ceremonial magician, poet, painter, novelist, and mountaineer. He founded the religion of Thelema, identifying himself as the prophet entrusted with guiding humanity into the Æon of Horus in the early 20th century. A prolific writer, he published widely over the course of his life.

In the Wiki article specifically about The Book of Lies, the author says,

“This book deals with many matters on all planes of the very highest importance. It is an official publication for Babes of the Abyss, but is recommended even to beginners as highly suggestive.”[1]

The book consists of 91 chapters,[2][3] each of which consists of one page of text. The chapters include a question mark, poems, rituals, instructions, and obscure allusions and cryptograms. The subject of each chapter is generally determined by its number and its corresponding Qabalistic meaning

Well, that clear up everything.

 

via: The Pulp Girls

Jack’s Walk

©voyager, all rights reserved

I can see a tinge of pink on the many of the white trillium flowers in our forest which means they’ll soon be gone for another year. Before they go, I thought I’d share one of the larger patches we see every day. It’s been an excellent year for trilliums and Jack and I consider ourselves very lucky to have this so nearby. I’m sorry about the bad light. It’s another cold and dreary day here.

 

May Light

It’s that wonderful time of month when Nightjar shares her photo essay about the conditions of light.

I confess that I haven’t been as inspired lately, and that’s in part because light is becoming too bright and harsh for my taste already. I find autumn’s golden light and winter’s low and cool light so much more interesting to work with. But May is the month of flowers and bugs, and you can never go wrong with a random assortment of flowers and bugs under May sunlight, right?

©Nightjar, all rights reserved

[Read more…]

The Art of Book Design: A Book about Bees

Jenyns, Charles Fitzgerald Gambier. A book about bees. Their history, habits, and instincts; together with the first principles of modern beekeeping for young readers.
London, W. Gardner, Darton, & co., 1886.

I thought this book was a nice complement to Nightjar’s Bee Orchids of earlier today.

 

via: The Internet Archive

Wild Orchids

We have something special from Nightjar today.

Remember this (https://freethoughtblogs.com/affinity/2019/01/16/surrounded-by-rocks-an-exploration-series-chapter-5/) when I said that visiting that limestone hill during Spring would be more interesting because of all the wild orchids? Well, this month I did just that and managed to find 4 species of wild orchids! The Bee and Yellow Bee orchids I found mostly on my way up, while the Pyramidal and Mirror orchids were everywhere at the roadside verges around the hill. I was thrilled to find so many Mirror orchids this year, they are among my favourite wild flowers just because of how glossy and shiny they are. Mirror orchids are pollinated exclusively by a single species of solitary wasp and I love how far their mimicry goes, eyes and everything!

Bee Orchid – Ophrys apifera 1 ©Nightjar, all rights reserved

[Read more…]

Jack’s Walk

©voyager, all rights reserved

Jack-in-the-pulpits are one of my favourite spring flowers and they won’t be around for much longer so I’m sharing while I still can. This has been an excellent year for them in our wee forest. They’re literally all over and many of them have grown to be a foot tall or more. Obviously, they like this year’s wet and dreary type of spring much more than I do.

©voyager, all rights reserved

Close Encounters of the tiny kind

During lunch break walk at work, I have encountered this little fellow. He flew by and sat on the macadam right next to me – a very conspicuous bright green jewel on the grey dull road. It was really tiny – about the size of a thumbnail. And of course I did not have my camera and macro lenses on me, so you have to do with this rather poor pictures made with my phone.

© Charly, all rights reserved. Click for full size.

© Charly, all rights reserved. Click for full size.

Tree Tuesday

Forestscape by photographer Manuelo Bececco – source

Once or twice a year I get down on the forest floor to take a few photos of the tall trees in our wee Carolinian Forest. I love the perspective. I’m not the only one it seems who like to look up. Italian photographer Manuelo Bececco has created a stunning group of forest photographs by pointing his camera up.

“In the middle of the woods, I seem to see everything in my own way—giant trees or branches that form barriers, irises of the eyes,” Bececco tells My Modern Met. “These are things that I only see in my mind and that I can sometimes turn into photographs.”

Photographed across different seasons and different times of day, the forest’s changing ambiance is expertly harnessed by Bececco. The Italian photographer is able to use the light, and the mood it generates, to his advantage and capture a mystical moment in the quiet of the woods. This forest photography is deeply personal for Bececco, as each photograph is inspired by an important time in his life. And for him, it’s been a pleasant surprise to see how well it’s been received by the public.

I’ve included a few of his photos here to whet your appetite, but I encourage you to check out the link at My Modern Met to see the entire grouping. Mr. Bececco has captured not only the many moods of the forest, but also the deeply felt emotions that being amongst such giants elicits. My thanks go to rq for pointing this story my way.

Forestscape by photographer Manuelo Bececco – source

Forestscape by photographer Manuelo Bececco – source

Forestscape by photographer Manuelo Bececco – source

 

Story courtesy of My Modern Met