.
This went on also in the 1640s, when people were convinced the end of the world was at hand. After the Battle of Edgehill the local shepherds saw ghost battles in the sky. Now we see things from the other end of the lens. The second temple was not like the first. The fissure keeps expanding. People have their backs to some sort of invisible wall, they are too busy glancing constantly behind themselves and then dusting the threatening implications off their shoulder blades even to keep up with the latest signs bearing down on them out of Revelations.
Overview of the 2nd fissure on Fimmvörðuháls, close to Eyjafjallajökull, as the lava flows down towards the north, turning snow into steam: photo by Boaworm, 2 April 2010
(And a simple click on the image will yield the whole -- doubtless artificially enhanced if not indeed induced -- Watteau/Tintoretto Revelations lava flow glow.)
ReplyDeleteTom,
ReplyDeleteWow, thanks (!) And here the sun has just now risen over shoulder of ridge. . . .
5.2
pink cloud in pale blue sky above black
ridge, whiteness of moon above branches
in foreground, sound of wave in channel
so fast that act as present,
pen and ink on paper
being, “in light” of bright,
as what shows itself
white cloud in pale blue sky on horizon,
sunlit shoulder of ridge across from it
surfing above the fault line
ReplyDeleteKaboom is around the corner
The other end of the lens, indeed. The telescope was invented in the generation before that battle. I wonder whether the shepherds might have thought to use one to aid in their sky ghost survey? Now, obviously, we’ve trained magnifying lenses and sensors on the earth from the heavens. Backs to the wall, glancing behind, dusting implications off shoulder blades, bearing down –- that’s all very true.
ReplyDeleteFor a more cynical “street” view, complete with the “latest signs”, you might want to look at the work of the DirtyBeach.tv sand sculptors, which appeared in the London Photo Of The Day blog earlier this week:
http://4.bp.blogspot.com/__5EyI8Ck-Lw/S8zF3Zq8BLI/AAAAAAAAR3g/7ZMv6L5fyIQ/s1600/IMG_1053.jpg
Stephen's
ReplyDeletepink cloud
being, “in light” of bright,
as what shows itself
adds to this wobbly assemblage.
Two weeks ago, as the Icelandic eruptions raged, and the talk shows bugled the apocalyptic trumpet, I found this comment on a news website:
"With all the huge earthquakes, fires and floods around the world, it makes us stop and think about the last book of the Bible, Revelations. No, the world will not come to an end, but it will never be the same..."
Those stories about the ghostly night sky battles over Edgehill, when all the clashing sounds of conflict were re-enacted for shepherds and passers-by, have long haunted.
Even harder to dispel from mind, perhaps, the semi-fabulous tale regarding the peasant at Edgehill, who, ordered off the field as hostilities began, expressed surprise and interest that the parties in question were engaged in arms, as he had heard nothing about a war.
There is also the account in Clarendon's history of the King's standard bearer Sir Edmund Verney, who rode into the battle without weapons or armour, because he was fighting for a cause he did not respect.
As the shades of night come down over dying systems of thought, is it better to defend oneself or not? To have or not to have cable?
As to banking on history...
Here is Curtis's apt link, not at all diminishing that curious sense of fissure in Belief.
And while we're on Icelandic Banking ...
Tom,
ReplyDeleteThanks for all this followup, and that wonderful sand photo, Curtis!