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• kaajoo: World’s Most Beautiful Abandoned Places Italian product manager and web designer Francesco Mugnai recently added a collection of images to his blog touting some of the most beautiful images of abandoned spots and modern ruins that he’d ever seen. The images Mugnai has captured come from empty castles, shuttered power plants, and dilapidated churches around the world. From a sunken yacht in Antarctica to a forever-closed amusement park in Japan, these images all make up a sort of anti-phoenix; rather than rising as new from the ashes, these husks remain preserved in decomposition, forcing viewers to confront the strange beauty of ruination.

  24 mars 2013

  kaajoo: World’s Most Beautiful Abandoned Places Italian product manager and web designer Francesco Mugnai recently added a collection of images to his blog touting some of the most beautiful images of abandoned spots and modern ruins that he’d ever seen....

• instagram: The Week on Instagram | 69 News NPR: Live From North Korea, An Instagram Feed Huffington Post: Rob Lutter Cycling The World, Sharing Story Via Instagram Mashable: See Your Favorite Food Combos as Artistic Instagram Paint Chips Today: Bunny lost ‘n’ found: Instagram rescues toddler’s toy from trash Get Involved Weekend Hashtag Project: #WHPimadethis. View photos from the last project, #WHPfirstphotoredo. Around the Community International Women’s Day 2013 @SituStudio’s Times Square “Heartwalk” The Philippine Tarsier Sanctuary in Corella

  10 mars 2013

  instagram: The Week on Instagram | 69 News NPR: Live From North Korea, An Instagram Feed Huffington Post: Rob Lutter Cycling The World, Sharing Story Via Instagram Mashable: See Your Favorite Food Combos as Artistic Instagram Paint Chips Today: Bunny...

• classicalmusicaday: (Feb.19.2013) Marc Chagall, aka “Magician of Color.” (Click through the pictures to see the titles!) Marc Chagall - he was a Russian-Jewish artist and a pioneer of modernism. He worked mainly in Paris, Berlin, and St. Petersburg. Chagall knew how to play with basic shapes, harsh brush strokes and strident colors to create surreal and dreamy emotions. He is so charming in a way that even little details of the paintings are telling us a story. In Chagall’s world, animals and objects can talk, are humane, and have strong identity or spirit like us. Mostly they are beautiful. But sometimes - I get this vague feeling that I might get trapped into this dream of his, which frightens me a little.  Hope you enjoy the fanciful works of Chagall. ☁☾ Follow me if you would like to get daily recommendations of classical music and paintings! And check out the Music of the Day~ 

  22 février 2013

  classicalmusicaday: (Feb.19.2013) Marc Chagall, aka “Magician of Color.” (Click through the pictures to see the titles!) Marc Chagall - he was a Russian-Jewish artist and a pioneer of modernism. He worked mainly in Paris, Berlin, and St. Petersburg. Chagall...

• instagram: The Week on Instagram | 68 News Fast Company: Instagram Has 100 Million Monthly Users (Read co-founder Kevin Systrom’s letter to the community here) ABC News: Instagram Opens Lens on North Korea New York Times: Instagram Your Local Escapes Get Involved Weekend Hashtag Project: #WHPfirstphotoredo. View photos from the last project, #WHPleanwithit. Around the Community #InstagramMeansToMe Instagramming from North Korea, with @dguttenfelder Architecture Feature: Cynulliad Cenedlaethol Cymru

  03 mars 2013

  instagram: The Week on Instagram | 68 News Fast Company: Instagram Has 100 Million Monthly Users (Read co-founder Kevin Systrom’s letter to the community here) ABC News: Instagram Opens Lens on North Korea New York Times: Instagram Your Local Escapes...

• freeze-that-frame: On connait J.R.R. Tolkien pour ses écrits tout à fait remarquables pour lesquels le prendrais bien une année sabbatique complète afin de tout lire, voire, entendre tant l’étendue de son œuvre est vaste. Mais la plupart ne savent pas qu’il était également illustrateur et de ce fait, c’est lui qui a illustré Bilbo le Hobbit, le Silmarillion, le Seigneur des Anneaux (même elles ne paraîtront pas dans la première édition car le livre était très couteux à produire). Très jeune, il peint des aquarelles et même si son éducation ne lui laisse pas tellement le temps, il ne mettra jamais vraiment de côté le dessin. Il a toujours eu quelques lacunes avec l’anatomie des personnages, c’est pourquoi on retrouve souvent des paysages réels ou imaginaires inspirés par ses lectures. Il existe trois recueils d’illustrations posthumes de Tolkien. Cet homme est probablement celui que j’aurais le plus aimé rencontrer dans ma vie (après Hugh Jackman bien mais ça c’est encore possible !). Trève de plaisanterie : effectivement il incarne un modèle d’intelligence et de passion à qui j’aimerais ressembler, ou même posséder un quart, que dis-je un dixième de son talent et je pourrais mourir heureuse. Étant athée, cela ne serait pas une aberration que de dire qu’il équivaut plus ou moins à un dieu pour moi. Il a créé un monde, La Terre du Milieu, extrêmement vaste et riche, de sa formation physique aux peuples multiples qui y vivent en passant par l’invention de leurs langues autant qu’elles sont, les coutumes, les modes de vie, l’élaboration de toute l’Histoire de ce monde, sa végétation, sa faune, ses créatures merveilleuses avec une exactitude et une précision si méticuleuse que j’ai même cru que oui, cette civilisation avait existé quelque part. Je ne suis pas sûre que pareil auteur ait été plus investi dans son œuvre et j’espère qu’il y aura d’autres hommes et femmes de cet acabit pour nous faire rêver, réfléchir et déclencher des passions comme cet homme a fait pour moi.

  13 janvier 2013

  freeze-that-frame: On connait J.R.R. Tolkien pour ses écrits tout à fait remarquables pour lesquels le prendrais bien une année sabbatique complète afin de tout lire, voire, entendre tant l’étendue de son œuvre est vaste. Mais la plupart ne savent pas...

• unhistorical: July 27, 1890: Vincent van Gogh shoots himself. He died two days later, at age thirty-seven. In late 1888, van Gogh, desperate and growing increasingly unstable, had confronted his friend Paul Gauguin with a knife, before using it to cut off part of his own ear. He was taken to a hospital, where he remained in a delirious state (the locals called him “the redheaded madman”) before committing himself to an asylum in Saint-Rémy-de-Provence. Here, the artist painted one of his most beloved works - The Starry Night. And ironically, it was while van Gogh was in an asylum that interest in his work actually began to build, drawing attention from men like Monet and Pissaro. He left  Saint-Rémy in May 1890 to stay in Auvers-sur-Oise, where he spent the last days of his life. On July 27, 1890, van Gogh shot himself in the chest with a revolver, though the initial impact did not kill him; in fact, he walked all the way back to the house where he had been staying before an infection began to take effect. His brother Theo, one of the few people with whom van Gogh remained in close correspondence with all his life, visited him before his death. His last words were, according to Theo: The sadness will last forever. In his entire lifetime, Vincent van Gogh sold only one painting (Red Vineyard at Arles). 

  19 février 2013

  unhistorical: July 27, 1890: Vincent van Gogh shoots himself. He died two days later, at age thirty-seven. In late 1888, van Gogh, desperate and growing increasingly unstable, had confronted his friend Paul Gauguin with a knife, before using it to cut...

• ancientpeoples: Göbekli Tepe South-eastern Turkey, 1994. German archaeologist Klaus Schmidt, while working in Şanlıurfa, comes across a hill known to the locals as Göbekli Tepe, or “Potbelly Hill”. The region had been surveyed before in the 1960’s, but researchers had deemed it of very little interest. Schmidt, however, saw that the site wasn’t a Byzantine cemetery, as had been suggested, but something much older. Göbekli Tepe lies some eight miles from Şanlıurfa, in the north area of the Fertile Crescent, and rears up about 50 feet above the landscape. Schmidt and his team have been excavating here since ’94, and have unearthed quite the sight: on the hill, various circles of limestone pillars were erected. These pillars vary in height, with the highest being around 16 feet and weighing anywhere between seven and ten tons. The circles all have more or less the same layout: two T-shaped pillars in the middle, surrounded by smaller, inward facing stones. They all carry bas-reliefs of animals, in greater or lesser detail. Carbon-dating has shown that the limestone circles in Göbekli Tepe have been raised approximately 11,500 years ago - seven millennia before Stonehenge was built -, and has continued to be expanded upon until approximately 8,000 BC. The particular layout of the hill, more than 90% of which is still under the sand, has grown out of this expansion. There is evidence that the circles each at one point had been buried by the builders themselves, to be replaced by a new, smaller circle of stones. Strikingly enough, they seemed to have developed backwards: the earliest, larger circles show a remarkable sophistication of carving and construction not met by the newer ones. Underneath the rings, deep pit tests have revealed, are floors of hardened limestone. Many tools were found, which seems to suggest that the pillars were carved, if not directly on the hill, at least not far away from it. Another feature of the area is the presence of tens of thousands of animal bones. These bones seem to belong to animals slaughtered on site or close-by for food, and include gazelle bones and other game such as boars and deer, as well as various birds. There is no evidence, however, of a settlement on the hill, and it has therefore been suggested that Göbekli Tepe is a Neolithic religious centre: the earliest temple found to date. This would be supported by the appearance of the pillars, which might depict deities. The T-shape is reminiscent of a stylized human, and the animals that have been depicted are almost exclusively dangerous, deadly creatures: from scorpions to lions and vultures. The latter was in some cultures considered a vehicle that transported the dead towards heaven, which, together with the fragments of human bone that have been discovered, seems to suggest a cemetery. The culture which is responsible for the construction of this site, is likely to have started out as a hunter-gatherer’s society, turned agricultural community some five centuries after. Why they choose to depict these particular animals instead of those they would hunt themselves, or even what the actual purpose of Göbekli Tepe was, is unknown. Six millennia before writing had been invented, the prehistoric context of the symbolism leaves us with no evidence to do anything but take wild stabs in the dark as to their meaning. Archaeologists, however, have their theories, one of which is the temple/burial ground theory Schmidt himself adheres. Other suggestions pertain to the idea that the builders depicted these dangerous animals in order to conquer their own fears, for example. For now, much remains uncertain, though when Schmidt and his team can penetrate the hill deeper and find out what lies underneath the limestone slabs, we might find out more about this peculiar site. Images courtesy of Smithsonian Magazine

  31 janvier 2013

  ancientpeoples: Göbekli Tepe South-eastern Turkey, 1994. German archaeologist Klaus Schmidt, while working in Şanlıurfa, comes across a hill known to the locals as Göbekli Tepe, or “Potbelly Hill”. The region had been surveyed before in the 1960’s, but...

• caelums: Going back in time to 2006, Mark Chadwick did a series of ‘mechanical’ paintings using various devices such as remote control toy cars and power tools to create the marks. This first painting is Motorcar painting number 1, 2006, using bump and go toy cars boxed in the centre area of the painting. All decisions made regarding number of layers, colours type of brush etc were made by a random draw out of a hat. You can find out more on his website.

  30 janvier 2013

  caelums: Going back in time to 2006, Mark Chadwick did a series of ‘mechanical’ paintings using various devices such as remote control toy cars and power tools to create the marks. This first painting is Motorcar painting number 1, 2006, using bump and...

• artmastered: ARTIST OF THE WEEK: Pieter Bruegel the Elder, c.1525-1569 Pieter Bruegel is perhaps the most well-known member of the Flemish Brueghel dynasty of painters (he removed the ‘h’ from his name in 1559). He was the father of Pieter Brueghel the Younger and Jan Brueghel the Elder, and the grandfather of Jan Brueghel the Younger, but there are many other names to consider in the artistic study of this exceptionally talented family. However, if you ever hear someone mention the name Bruegel without specifying, they are most likely to be referring to Pieter the Elder. One of the first paintings I ever looked at whilst studying art history, is Bruegel’s Landscape with the Fall of Icarus (top). This is the story of Icarus from Greek mythology, who flew too close to the sun using the wings his father had constructed out of feathers and wax. Icarus fell back to earth after the wax melted from the sun’s heat and drowned in the sea. I love the humour in this piece: you can see where Icarus has fallen (just in front of the large ship) but he is so small and compositionally insignificant, it just makes me laugh! Life goes on, as they say.

  17 février 2013

  artmastered: ARTIST OF THE WEEK: Pieter Bruegel the Elder, c.1525-1569 Pieter Bruegel is perhaps the most well-known member of the Flemish Brueghel dynasty of painters (he removed the ‘h’ from his name in 1559). He was the father of Pieter Brueghel the...

• artmastered: ARTIST OF THE WEEK: August Macke, 1887-1914 Lady in a Green Jacket (1913), Self-Portrait (1906), View into a Lane (1914) August Macke was a German painter and member of the Expressionist group Der Blaue Reiter (The Blue Rider), along with Wassily Kandinsky, Alexej von Jawlensky and others. The group was active between 1911 and 1914, also the year of Macke’s death, and came at a crucial stage in the development of an avant-garde German art. Macke’s interests in Fauvism and Cubism are both pretty clear in his works, and it is this combination that I believe makes his style so distinctive (if you are particularly fond of this painting style, then have a look at the work of Italian Scoula Romana painter Raffaele Frumenti: I have always thought his work looks influenced by Macke’s, specifically concerning colour and form.) You can view a complete online gallery of his work at AugusteMacke.org.

  03 mars 2013

  artmastered: ARTIST OF THE WEEK: August Macke, 1887-1914 Lady in a Green Jacket (1913), Self-Portrait (1906), View into a Lane (1914) August Macke was a German painter and member of the Expressionist group Der Blaue Reiter (The Blue Rider), along with...

• artmastered: ARTIST OF THE WEEK: J. M. W. Turner, 1775-1851 Easily one of the greatest English artists of all time, Joseph Mallord William Turner was a painter of the Romanticist movement, specialising in landscapes and seascapes. His work is considered to be crucial to the formation of Impressionism, which in turn led to a contemporary focus on abstraction, after the work of the Post-Impressionists. I suppose what I am trying to say is that because of his influence on artists such as Monet and Whistler, Turner’s role in the birth of modernism should not be overlooked. In 1984, the first annual Turner Prize was organised by and held at the Tate Britain. The award was named in honour of Turner and has become a greatly successful, albeit famously controversial, award ceremony. It has become increasingly associated with conceptual art, a far cry from the work of our master landscapist, and recent winners have included video and sound artists. Sometimes I like to tell people than Turner is my great-x7 grandfather (because my surname is Turner, not because I think people are quite that gullible). A girl can dream ..

  02 février 2013

  artmastered: ARTIST OF THE WEEK: J. M. W. Turner, 1775-1851 Easily one of the greatest English artists of all time, Joseph Mallord William Turner was a painter of the Romanticist movement, specialising in landscapes and seascapes. His work is considered...

• historicalbirthdays: April 15, 1452: Happy Birthday, Leonardo da Vinci! Leonardo di ser Piero da Vinci was born on April 15, 1452 in the town of Vinci, then controlled by the Republic of Florence.  Little is known about his early life, though it is suspected he received some schooling in Latin, geometry, and mathematics.  At the age of fourteen, he was apprenticed to the famed Florentine artist Verrocchio, where he learned drawing, painting, sculpting and modeling.  After studying under Verrochio for six years, Leonardo qualified as a master in the Guild of St. Luke, and began his own professional life. While much of his life is conjecture, Leonardo did earn wide repute as an artist, architect, scientist and thinker.  From 1482 to 1499, he lived in Milan, where he was commissioned to paint two of his most famous works: the Virgin on the Rocks, and the Last Supper. After leaving Milan, he lived for several years in Florence and Rome, developing a longstanding rivalry with fellow Italian master Michelangelo, whom some art scholars label his only superior.  It was during this time that he painted the Mona Lisa, whom many call the most famous and recognizable painting of all time.  When King Francis I of France took Milan, Leonardo entered the service of the King and moved to France.  He worked until his death at the Clos Lucé, Amboise, France, on May 2, 1519. Leonardo da Vinci is remembered for his countless paintings, drawings, sculptures, maps, architectural designs, scientific journals, anatomical notes, and engineering innovations. His manuscripts show outlines for a tank, a helicopter, a calculator, and several other inventions that simply were not possible in the Renaissance period.  His legacy is one of both technical and artistic genius, one that redefined both fields during his lifetime and became the standard for the Western trope, the “Renaissance man.”

  16 avril 2013

  historicalbirthdays: April 15, 1452: Happy Birthday, Leonardo da Vinci! Leonardo di ser Piero da Vinci was born on April 15, 1452 in the town of Vinci, then controlled by the Republic of Florence. Little is known about his early life, though it is suspected...

• museumdetoulouse: Deux drôles d’oiseaux sont sortis des réserves du Muséum! L’Harfang des neiges et le Lagopède Alpin vous accueillent dès l’entrée pour des vacances spéciales “neige et glace”. L’Harfang des neiges (Nyctea scandiaca), est une chouette de la toundra et de la taïga eurasienne. Le mâle adulte est plus blanc que la femelle qui est plus grosse que lui. Il se nourrit de lemmings, de lièvres et d’oiseaux. La femelle niche au sol et pond de 6 à 10 oeufs. Le spécimen collecté en 1807 vient d’Astrakhan (Russie) collection Besaucèle. C’est la plus ancienne naturalisation du Muséum de Toulouse Le Lagopède alpin, Lagopus mutus vit dans les Alpes mais on le retrouve aussi dans les Pyrénées, et jusqu’en Ecosse, et dans les forêts boréalesd’Eurasie. Son pelage entièrement blanc en hiver devient brun et gris en été. Apparenté au tétras, il se nourrit de végétaux et d’insectes . Le spécimen présenté au Muséum vient d’Arkhangelsk (Russie), collection Hamonville.

  28 février 2013

  museumdetoulouse: Deux drôles d’oiseaux sont sortis des réserves du Muséum! L’Harfang des neiges et le Lagopède Alpin vous accueillent dès l’entrée pour des vacances spéciales “neige et glace”. L’Harfang des neiges (Nyctea scandiaca), est une chouette...

• abisyjan: “Aussi, appelons-nous toujours à une véritable insurrection pacifique contre les moyens de communication de masse qui ne proposent comme horizon pour notre jeunesse que la consommation de masse, le mépris des plus faibles et de la culture, l’amnésie généralisée et la compétition à outrance de tous contre tous. A ceux et celles qui feront le XXI ème siècle, nous disons avec notre affection : CRÉER, C’EST RÉSISTER. RÉSISTER C’EST CRÉER.”

  28 février 2013

  abisyjan: “Aussi, appelons-nous toujours à une véritable insurrection pacifique contre les moyens de communication de masse qui ne proposent comme horizon pour notre jeunesse que la consommation de masse, le mépris des plus faibles et de la culture, l’amnésie...

• artmastered: William Blake, Pity, c.1795 From the Tate: This image is taken from Macbeth: ‘pity, like a naked newborn babe / Striding the blast, or heaven’s cherubim horsed / Upon the sightless couriers of the air’. Blake draws on popularly-held associations between a fair complexion and moral purity. These connections are also made by Lavater, who writes that ‘the grey is the tenderest of horses, and, we may here add, that people with light hair, if not effeminate, are yet, it is well known, of tender formation and constitution’. Blake’s interest in the characters of different horses can also be seen in his Chaucer’s Canterbury Pilgrims, hanging nearby.

  23 février 2013

  artmastered: William Blake, Pity, c.1795 From the Tate: This image is taken from Macbeth : ‘pity, like a naked newborn babe / Striding the blast, or heaven’s cherubim horsed / Upon the sightless couriers of the air’. Blake draws on popularly-held associations...

• toulouseshooters: Le Capitole - #iroadridertravel #igerstoulouse #igersfrance #igers #landscape #travelingram #instatravelover #instatravelhub #travelspirit #travelphotograph #mytravelgram #instatravel #instanature #nature #instanaturelover #photooftheday #bestoftheday #picoftheday #mtgang #instagood #instagramers #instamood #visiteztoulouse #We_Toulouse #toulouseshooters by iroadrider http://instagr.am/p/WewOHVHu6A/

  05 mars 2013

  toulouseshooters: Le Capitole - #iroadridertravel #igerstoulouse #igersfrance #igers #landscape #travelingram #instatravelover #instatravelhub #travelspirit #travelphotograph #mytravelgram #instatravel #instanature #nature #instanaturelover #photooftheday...

• gongnews: Le Festival Made In Asia number 6 revient du 7 au 23 février à Toulouse ! Cette année, le festival s’intéresse plus particulièrement au Japon.  De la danse à la littérature, du cinéma à la céramique, du manga à la gastronomie, Made in Asia invite à entreprendre ce voyage troublant et sensible qui mène sur les chemins de l’universel. Une expérience unique ! > Plus d’infos. 

  05 février 2013

  gongnews: Le Festival Made In Asia number 6 revient du 7 au 23 février à Toulouse ! Cette année, le festival s’intéresse plus particulièrement au Japon. De la danse à la littérature, du cinéma à la céramique, du manga à la gastronomie, Made in Asia invite...

• victongai: Mayfly Victo Ngai A full page illustration is for the last New Yorker fiction “Mayfly” by Kevin Canty.  Big thanks to AD Jordan Awan who suggested that we could create an edge to edge butterfly piece focusing on the first paragraph of the story: “Driving across the Utah desert on I‐70, James hit a butterfly with his car. Then another. Then a shower of them, hitting the windshield like hail, wings trapped in the wipers, orange and black. The noise of them, muted but steady, woke Molly from her trance, and she looked out the windshield, at broken wings and yellow smears.”   You can read the process post on my drawger. 

  04 février 2013

  victongai: Mayfly Victo Ngai A full page illustration is for the last New Yorker fiction “Mayfly” by Kevin Canty . Big thanks to AD Jordan Awan who suggested that we could create an edge to edge butterfly piece focusing on the first paragraph of the story:...

• adamferriss: El Matador Print Sale!! 8x10” — $50.00 Hey guys, I’m selling prints! You wanna buy some? Feel the warmth of the bright colors in these cold winter months! They are archival inkjet prints on a really really nice Hahnemuhle Smooth Matte photo rag paper. Open edition, signed & dated on the verso. Shipping and tax included If you’d like to pick one up send $50.00 via paypal to aferriss@gmail.com and leave your name and mailing address in the comments. Thanks & Reblog!

  23 janvier 2013

  adamferriss: El Matador Print Sale!! 8x10” — $50.00 Hey guys, I’m selling prints! You wanna buy some? Feel the warmth of the bright colors in these cold winter months! They are archival inkjet prints on a really really nice Hahnemuhle Smooth Matte photo...

• artover9000: The wonderful watercolor paintings of John Salminen

  15 mai 2013

  artover9000: The wonderful watercolor paintings of John Salminen

• ancientpeoples: Egyptian Magic Magic in our western world is seen as extraordinary, something we do not see every day and mostly magic is beyond that which we define as logical. It is immediate, we whip our wands and something happens or we say in incantation and the change happens. There are some people who still believe (semi-) magical powers, such as the powers of nature and an earth goddess (like wiccans), or voodoo rituals where there are offerings to a god but also the ability to hurt another person. There is absolutely no judgment whether this is right or wrong but Egyptian magic works quite differently than this. Magic was thought to come from the Egyptian gods themselves (through magic they created the world) and was then bestowed on the Egyptians by the creator god. Magic was practiced by the most respected and well-educated men in the entire country, the priests in the state regulated temples. Besides their temples duties and rituals these men were taught how to practice magic. They were given spell books, wands, amulets, oils and other necessary attributes to practice magic. Egyptian medicine was often completely interwoven with magic, so heavily that the difference is hard to see by modern eyes. Concepts and categories Egyptian magic is based on the concepts of sympathetic magic, the idea of associative thought and possibility of the transference of qualities between objects by touch or resemblance. For example, an comb which Hitler has used may be considered to be more evil because an evil man has touched it. Qualities of Hitler (in this case his evil nature) is partly transferred to the comb. Sympathetic magic can be divided into two subcategories:  homeopathic magic and contagious magic. Homeopathic magic operated on the idea of similarity between ideas, objects or people, whereas contagious magic operated on the idea that things that have been in contact once, however briefly, will always remain in contact. For example, homeopathic magic allows for magical dolls who represent a person and then that person can be harmed or helped through manipulation of that doll. Contagious magic can transfer a person essence to an object, for example small plucks of hair can be added to a homeopathic doll to ensure that the magic works on that specific person. Egyptian magical practices can is divided into three categories of : productive,- destructive and defensive magic. Productive magic was used to increase business or products from farmlands and is relatively common. For example, magical spells or rituals to ensure a good harvest or a prayer to a god that one’s investments will proof fruitful. Destructive magic is rare and mostly used in state regulated rituals for the protection of Egypt as a whole. For example, in order to keep Egypt’s foreign enemies submissive, destructive rites were performed in state temples. Clay figurines of Nubians or Asians were made, hands bound behinds their back, and then destroyed by burning them or rendering them otherwise harmless. There is also a spell where the figurines are made out of bread dough and then completely burn them. However, we now see this as destructive and maybe dangerous behavior but for the ancient Egyptian this was completely normal and accepted because it was for the protection of the land. Defensive magic was by far the most used in Egypt. It was practiced to protect the weaker members of society, such as pregnant women, women giving birth, infants, the sickly, the elderly. Objects and spells were placed in and around the household as a precaution against evil forces.  We may accept that every ancient Egyptian household had its own collection of spells and magical objects to protect the house and its inhabitants. These spells were enhanced by accompanying gestures and amulets or other objects. The threats in and around the house comprised of diseases, stings and bites from dangerous animals and all the transitional phases in life. Vital points of transition in life were birth, puberty, becoming an adult, marriage, parenthood and death. Defensive magic in private spheres was used for the avoidance of personal harm and, unlike religious activities, undertaken simply when it was required in times of need, and a household would need constant protection. It is possible that these efforts were undertaken by the ancient Egyptians on a regular basis, such as daily protective spells for young children or rituals on specific celestial events. Gods All the gods in ancient Egypt were invoked for protection, help and guidance. However, there are a few gods who were specifically meant for the protection of women and children and invoked the most by ‘regular’ ancient Egyptians. Two gods stand out in the Egyptian pantheon; the dwarf god Bes and the pregnant hippopotamus goddess Taweret. Bes Bes can be presented in several ways; in profile playing an instrument, frontally squatting, or strangling snakes (and sometimes he is accompanied by the goddess Taweret). Bes was a grotesque looking genie or dwarf who warded off evil spirits and demons with his looks in difficult times, such as childbirth. He was a hybrid god, with feathers, a lion’s mane and tail. There are images of Bes beating a drum or tambourine, these images were particularly popular because this noisy act was believed to repel the malevolent spirits away from women (especially in childbirth) and young children. However, Bes was not only associated with the protection of women and children, he was also the protector of those who were asleep, like he protected Re in the underworld against his enemies. He was the protector of the dead, and he was associated with warfare, to ensure a victory over human enemies. Bes was also the god of celebration and by playing his music he helped deliver babies and scare away evil spirits. Taweret Taweret was a deity in the form of a pregnant hippopotamus with a crocodile tail and lioness’ muzzle, a fierce and very frightening creature. This deity was able to scare of danger and evil-spirits with her looks, and hippo’s were known for their fierce protection of their offspring. Therefore this goddess was primarily associated with the protection of children and to aid a women in childbirth, she was the guardian deity of all (soon to be) mothers. There are many amulets in the form of this goddess worn by women in all circles of Egyptian society. It is believed that men could have worn rings with her image for Taweret’s protection and regenerative qualities. Taweret was very popular in magical practices of daily life in the New Kingdom, along with Bes. Animals were also often made into amulets to be worn on the body, but not just for protection. A frog was seen as an animal that could spontaneously regenerate itself and was therefore seen as a powerful fertility symbol. Wearing a frog could enhance fertility, as could many other amulets. In a society where child mortality was as high as it was in ancient Egypt, is was of essential importance to have many children, and once the babies are conceived they needed to protected. 

  27 mars 2013

  ancientpeoples: Egyptian Magic Magic in our western world is seen as extraordinary, something we do not see every day and mostly magic is beyond that which we define as logical. It is immediate, we whip our wands and something happens or we say in incantation...

• animalesnocturnos: Detalles & Tolouse12 (Fotografías_iPhone4) 

  17 avril 2013

  animalesnocturnos: Detalles & Tolouse12 (Fotografías_iPhone4)

• mydarkenedeyes: Ryan Hewett

  23 mars 2013

  mydarkenedeyes: Ryan Hewett

• Statue d'un chien au jardin des plantes #statue #sculpture #bronze #canon #eos1100d #nofilter #toulouse #jardin #park #igersfrance #igerstoulouse

  14 juin 2013 ( #statue, #sculpture, #bronze, #canon, #eos1100d, #nofilter, #toulouse, #jardin, #park, #igersfrance, #igerstoulouse )

  http://instagram.com/p/ai421By5Kh/

• I Love Art → John William Waterhouse (1849-1917)

  21 janvier 2013

  I Love Art → John William Waterhouse (1849-1917)