May 7, 2016

The Fire Of Jerusalem. Eugene Alexis Girardet

Siege of Jerusalem, May 7, 1099 by Godfrey of Bouillon, a medieval knight who was one of the leaders of the First Crusade.  He became the first ruler of the Kingdom of Jerusalem. Instead of the title of King, Godfrey preferred the title of Advocatus Sancti Sepulchri = Advocate of the Holy Sepulchre. He is also known as the “Baron of the Holy Sepulchre” or the “Crusader King”.

On May 7, 1915, less than a year after World War I (1914-18) erupted across Europe, a German U-boat torpedoed & sank the RMS Lusitania, a British ocean liner on route from New York to Liverpool, England. Of the 1,900 passengers & crew members on board, 1,100 perished. Nearly two years would pass before the United States formally entered World War I, but the sinking of the Lusitania played a significant role in turning public opinion against Germany, both in the United States & abroad.

Death-day in 973 of Otto the great. Otto inherited the kingship of the Germans, unifying all German tribes into a single kingdom & greatly expanded the king’s powers at the expense of the aristocracy. Otto transformed the Roman Catholic Church in Germany to strengthen the royal office & subjected its clergy to his personal control.

By 961, Otto had conquered the Kingdom of Italy & extended his realm’s borders to the north, east, & south. The patronage of Otto facilitated a limited cultural renaissance of the arts & architecture. Following the example of Charlemagne, Otto was crowned Emperor in 962 by Pope John XII in Rome.

Casper Fredrich

Death-day in 1840 of Casper David Fredrich, a German Romantic landscape painter, considered the most important artist of his generation. He came of age during a period when, across Europe, a growing disillusionment with materialistic society was giving rise to a new appreciation of spirituality. This shift in ideals was often expressed through a re-evaluation of the natural world, as a “divine creation, to be set against the artifice of human civilization”.

Friedrich’s paintings characteristically set a human presence in diminished perspective amid expansive landscapes, reducing the figures to a scale that, directs “the viewer’s gaze towards their metaphysical dimension.”

~   ~   ~

Odilon Redon

~Learning Peace:

O it’s easy to know

The air when it whips my face,

When the wind is still, I forget the smell of lilacs…

Walking thru town, I turn longingly to the sea,

On the shore, I gaze back to the city…

When there’s much talk, I withdraw into silence,

When it is quiet, I strain to hear some song…

Having no woe,

I create some to keep the day interesting…

& on & on &…

~hag

~   ~   ~

Maki Horanai

Tomorrow I will give the origins of Mother’s Day, for today, rest in the warmth of Saturn-day

Until soon

Blessings & Peace –

~hag = Hazel ArcherGinsberg