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Spotted Giraffe @[email protected] · 2022-12-02 · 01:51 UTC

I FINALLY FOUND A COPY!! 🥰
I am so honored to have my cosplay showcased in Star Trek Explorer Mag!
It’s been quite a #StarTrek year for me from being on @strangenewpod to having a panel at #sdcc, all the way to becoming a Romulan on the #StartTrekDay stage… and now the Star Trek Explorer mag?!! Thank you all for being in this with me, I am blessed to have you all in my life - Ex Astris Scientia Amicitasque ! 🖖🏾❤️ #cosplay #blackcosplayer

#startrek #sdcc #starttrekday #cosplay #blackcosplayer

Spotted Giraffe @[email protected] · 2022-12-02 · 01:51 UTC

I FINALLY FOUND A COPY!! 🥰
I am so honored to have my cosplay showcased in Star Trek Explorer Mag!
It’s been quite a #StarTrek year for me from being on @strangenewpod to having a panel at #sdcc, all the way to becoming a Romulan on the #StartTrekDay stage… and now the Star Trek Explorer mag?!! Thank you all for being in this with me, I am blessed to have you all in my life - Ex Astris Scientia Amicitasque ! 🖖🏾❤️ #cosplay #blackcosplayer

#startrek #sdcc #starttrekday #cosplay #blackcosplayer

Spotted Giraffe @[email protected] · 2022-12-02 · 01:51 UTC

I FINALLY FOUND A COPY!! 🥰
I am so honored to have my cosplay showcased in Star Trek Explorer Mag!
It’s been quite a #StarTrek year for me from being on @strangenewpod to having a panel at #sdcc, all the way to becoming a Romulan on the #StartTrekDay stage… and now the Star Trek Explorer mag?!! Thank you all for being in this with me, I am blessed to have you all in my life - Ex Astris Scientia Amicitasque ! 🖖🏾❤️ #cosplay #blackcosplayer

#blackcosplayer #cosplay #starttrekday #sdcc #startrek

Spotted Giraffe @[email protected] · 2022-12-02 · 01:51 UTC

I FINALLY FOUND A COPY!! 🥰
I am so honored to have my cosplay showcased in Star Trek Explorer Mag!
It’s been quite a #StarTrek year for me from being on @strangenewpod to having a panel at #sdcc, all the way to becoming a Romulan on the #StartTrekDay stage… and now the Star Trek Explorer mag?!! Thank you all for being in this with me, I am blessed to have you all in my life - Ex Astris Scientia Amicitasque ! 🖖🏾❤️ #cosplay #blackcosplayer

#startrek #sdcc #starttrekday #cosplay #blackcosplayer

Peter @[email protected] · 2026-04-12 · 05:52 UTC

If you're a bit of a space geek, or "of an age" where you remember the early Apollo flights, this might be of interest.

A creator put together an "ambience" video that is just the spacecraft and flight directors' NASA control room chatter from the undocking of the Apollo 11 lunar lander from the command module to the first step on the moon. No music.

It had me holding my breath from the "Go for landing" to the touchdown. I mean, I know the ending, but it still grabbed me by the ear holes.

Interestingly, the Apollo 11 mission patch, designed by Collins, is one of only two to NOT include the names of the astronauts; the idea was that the patch represented the thousands of people involved with the mission, not just the astronauts, and emphasised the mission's theme of "For all mankind".

Apollo 13 was the other nameless patch, and Lovell had a concept in mind: "Ex Luna, Scientia" emphasising the knowledge gained.

https://youtu.be/NHC5YXzCk7U

#NASA #Apollo #MoonLanding #Artemis

#nasa #apollo #moonlanding #artemis

Carmelite Quotes @[email protected] · 2025-09-28 · 17:01 UTC

Quote of the day, 29 September: St. Edith Stein

Since September 29 we’ve had a new Mother who would like me to write something again.
Saint Edith Stein
Echt, 5 November 1940

Just now I am gathering material for a new work since our Reverend Mother wishes me to do some scholarly work again, as far as this will be possible in our living situation and under the present circumstances. I am very grateful to be allowed once more to do something before my brain rusts completely.

Echt, 17 November 1940

I am going about my new task like a little child making its first attempts at walking.

Echt, 16 May 1941

Please, will Your Reverence also pray a little to the Holy Spirit and to our Holy Father John for what I am now planning to write. It is to be something for our Holy Father’s 400th birthday (24 June 1942)…

Echt, 8 October 1941

Because of the work I am doing I live almost constantly immersed in thoughts about our Holy Father John. That is a great grace. May I ask Your Reverence once more for prayers that I can produce something appropriate for his Jubilee?

Echt, 18 November 1941

Dear Mother,

… I am satisfied with everything. A scientia crucis [science of the cross] can be gained only when one comes to feel the Cross radically. I have been convinced of that from the first moment and have said, from my heart: Ave, Crux, spes unica!

Echt, December 1941

Dear Sister Maria,

… while working on this task it often happened when I was greatly exhausted that I had the feeling I could not penetrate to what I wished to say and to grasp. I already thought that it would always remain so. But now I feel I have renewed vigor for creative effort. Holy Father John gave me renewed impetus for some remarks concerning symbols. When I finish this manuscript I would like to send a German copy to Father Heribert [Discalced Carmelite provincial in Germany] to have it duplicated for the monasteries.

The only reason I write so little is that I need all the time for Father John.

Echt, 9 April 1942

My dear ones,

A [Red Cross] nurse from [Amsterdam] intends to speak today with the Consul. Here, every petition [on behalf] of fully Jewish Catholics has been forbidden since yesterday. Outside [the camp] an attempt can still be made, but with extremely little prospect. According to plans, a transport will leave on Friday. Could you possibly write to Mère Claire in Venlo, Kaldenkerkeweg 185 [the Ursuline Convent] to ask for [my] manuscript if they have not already sent it. We count on your prayers. There are so many persons here who need some consolation and they expect it from the Sisters.

In Corde Jesu, your grateful

B.

Westerbork transit camp, 5 August 1942

Saint Edith Stein’s opening sentence of the foreword to The Science of the Cross.

Mother Antonia Ambrosia Engelmann, O.C.D. was elected prioress of the Carmel of Echt on 29 September 1940. It is to her that we owe a debt of gratitude for Saint Edith Stein’s ultimate volume, The Science of the Cross. Gelber and Leuven (1993) note that although it was her final work, the manuscript was published as Vol. I in Edith Steins Werke. When Edith and Rosa were arrested in August of 1942, the completed portions of her manuscript had already been sent to a typist. Unaware of the fate that awaited her, Edith asks to retrieve that manuscript as if to continue working on it while in prison.

Stein E 1954, Kreuzeswissenschaft, E. Nauwelaerts, Louvain. | Wikimedia Commons

Stein, E. 1993, Self-Portrait in Letters, 1916-1942, Sister Teresa Benedicta of the Cross, Discalced Carmelite, translated from the German by Koeppel, J, ICS Publications, Washington DC.

Featured image: Vintage Remington Portable typewriter with German text. Original Flickr source no longer available.

#monasticLife #obedience #StEdithStein #StJohnOfTheCross #TheScienceOfTheCross

#thescienceofthecross #stjohnofthecross #stedithstein #obedience #monasticlife

Carmelite Quotes @[email protected] · 2024-10-02 · 02:58 UTC

I saw three Carmelites dressed in their mantles and long veils. It appeared to me they were coming for our mother, but what I did understand clearly was that they came from heaven. In the depths of my heart, I cried out: “Oh! how happy I would be if I could see the face of one of these Carmelites!” Then, as though my prayer were heard by her, the tallest of the saints advanced toward me; immediately I fell to my knees. Oh! what happiness! The Carmelite raised her veil or rather she raised it and covered me with it. Without the least hesitation, I recognized Venerable Anne of Jesus, Foundress of Carmel in France.

Saint Thérèse of Lisieux

Manuscript B, folios 1v-2v
Letter to Sister Marie of the Sacred Heart (excerpt)
8 September 1896

As we celebrate St. Thérèse of Lisieux’s feast day, we also reflect on the recent beatification of Blessed Anne of Jesus, a key figure in expanding the Carmelite reform. Anne’s leadership established Carmels across France, including Dijon, where St. Elizabeth of the Trinity would later flourish.

In a dream in 1897, Anne appeared to Thérèse, offering reassurance about her Little Way—the simple, yet profound path of trust and love. This dream affirmed Thérèse’s spiritual path during a time of great physical and emotional suffering.

Anne of Jesus also had a lasting influence on other great Carmelites, including the Blessed Carmelite Martyrs of Compiègne and Blessed Mary of Jesus Crucified, who entered Carmel at Pau. Their spiritual lineage traces back to the foundational work of Anne, whose legacy continues to inspire today.

Meanwhile, Thérèse’s influence as a Doctor of the Church, recognized by St. John Paul II in 1997, affirms the depth of her teachings. As the Pope wrote in his Apostolic Letter Divini Amoris Scientia, Thérèse’s Little Way embodies a profound understanding of the Gospel, making her a guide for all those who seek God’s face.

Listen to the episode “Anne and Thérèse: A Living Legacy” embedded below to discover more about their intertwined lives and how their spiritual legacies continue to shape the Church today.

https://youtu.be/Ykk-xrQv5Lw?si=nC2ogsKc5A3KLEiA

Thérèse & Foley, M 2005, Story of a Soul: The autobiography of St. Thérèse of Lisieux, Study edn, translated from the French by Clarke, J, ICS Publications, Washington DC.

Featured image: On the left, this detail of a portrait of Venerable Anne of Jesus is a treasured 17th c. painting at the Carmel of Pontoise, France. Found in the online database of the French Ministry of Culture, this portrait of Venerable Anne is a reduced and simplified copy of a painting kept in the Carmel of the Incarnation in Clamart, France. It is based on an engraving by the famous Antwerp artist Hieronymus Wierix (1553–1619). [Photo credit: © Ministère de la Culture (France), Médiathèque du patrimoine et de la photographie, diffusion RMN-GP]. On the right, Austrian artist Emil Beischläger (1897–1977) created this oil on canvas portrait of St. Thérèse around 1925, which was the year of her canonization [Image credit: artnet.com].

https://carmelitequotes.blog/2024/10/01/s2ep24annetherese/

#BlessedAnneOfJesus #DiscalcedCarmelites #DoctorOfTheChurch #dream #founder #France #heritage #nuns #Podcast #StThérèseOfLisieux #StJohnPaulII

#stjohnpaulii #stthereseoflisieux #podcast #nuns #heritage #france

Carmelite Quotes @[email protected] · 2019-12-09 · 05:42 UTC

St. John of the Cross Novena, Day 4: Walking in love

Reading

The soul that walks in love neither tires others nor grows tired.

Sayings of Light and Love, 97

Scripture

If I have all the eloquence of men or of angels, but speak without love, I am simply a gong booming or a cymbal clashing. If I have the gift of prophecy, understanding all the mysteries there are, and knowing everything, and if I have faith in all its fullness, to move mountains, but without love, then I am nothing at all. If I give away all that I possess, piece by piece, and if I even let them take my body to burn it, but am without love, it will do me no good whatever.

Love is always patient and kind; it is never jealous; love is never boastful or conceited; it is never rude or selfish; it does not take offense, and is not resentful. Love takes no pleasure in other people’s sins but delights in the truth; it is always ready to excuse, to trust, to hope, and to endure whatever comes.

Love does not come to an end.

1 Corinthians 13:1-8

Meditation

“Love makes _____.”

How would you complete this sentence?

Our answers may give us clues as to how we understand love: God’s love, our love for God, and how love, in all its forms—filial, erotic, and caritative—is at work in our lives. In his first letter to the Corinthians, St. Paul is talking about charity, or what some refer to as agape love (αγαπη).

And like a professor standing at a blackboard or whiteboard, Paul defines his term, including both what love is and what it is not. We can feel fairly certain that he is sketching some of the basic parameters of love… as St. John of the Cross might define it in his saying, an untiring love.

Now, nowhere in this passage of his first letter to the Corinthians is St. Paul scolding the Church for possessing a lack of love or a warped concept of love. The context of this chapter is an instruction on worship in the Corinthian church, and how any worship—no matter how glorious it may be—that lacks the spiritual gift of charity, i.e. love, is so much dust in the wind. Hence that famous verse that we so often hear at weddings: “Love never ends; as for prophecies, they will pass away; as for tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will pass away” (1 Cor 13:8)

It was in reading these chapters that St. Thérèse of the Child Jesus found her inspiration one day. “I opened the Epistles of St. Paul to find some kind of answer. Chapters 12 and 13 of the First Epistle to the Corinthians fell under my eyes… the Apostle explains how all the most PERFECT gifts are nothing without LOVE. That Charity is the EXCELLENT WAY that leads most surely to God” (Ms B, 3r-3v). Therefore, St. Paul urges the Corinthians, “make love your aim” (1 Cor 14:1).

St. John Paul II noted this inspired reading of First Corinthians in his 1997 Apostolic Letter Divini Amoris Scientia:

She discovered hidden treasures, appropriating words and episodes, sometimes with supernatural boldness, as when, in reading the texts of St Paul (cf. 1 Cor 12-13), she realized her vocation to love (cf. Ms B, 3r-3v). Enlightened by the revealed Word, Thérèse wrote brilliant pages on the unity between love of God and love of neighbor (cf. Ms C, 11v-19r).

St. Thérèse did not develop her mad love for God in a vacuum. Love was her aim from her youth, as she testified time and time again in her autobiographical manuscripts and letters. St. John Paul II explained the nature of her formation when he declared Thérèse to be a Doctor of the Universal Church:

Her doctrine, as was said, conforms to the Church’s teaching. From childhood, she was taught by her family to participate in prayer and liturgical worship. In preparation for her first Confession, first Communion and the sacrament of Confirmation, she gave evidence of an extraordinary love for the truths of the faith, and she learned the Catechism almost word for word (cf. Ms A, 37r-37v).

So what was this untiring love that St. Thérèse learned in her family? What did it look like? Who were her models?

When a Doctor of the Universal Church is born to a pair of Saints, one doesn’t have to look very far because ‘the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.’ In fact, one particular letter from her mother, Saint Zélie Guérin Martin to her father, Saint Louis Martin, provides us with an example of the untiring love that was taught by example in the Martin family home. Written during the summer of 1873 after the birth of Thérèse, Zélie takes Pauline and Marie with her to visit her brother and the Guérin family in Lisieux. Can you read untiring, selfless love in the following lines?

Lisieux, August 31, 1873

My dear Louis,

We arrived yesterday afternoon at four-thirty. My brother was waiting for us at the station and was delighted to see us. He and his wife are doing everything they can to entertain us. This evening, Sunday, there’s a beautiful reception in their home in our honor. Tomorrow, Monday, we’re going to Trouville. Tuesday there will be a big dinner at the home of Madame Maudelonde and, perhaps, a drive to the country house of Madame Fournet. The children are thrilled and if the weather were good, they’d be ecstatic.

As for me, I’m finding it hard to relax! None of that interests me! I’m absolutely like the fish you pull out of the water. They’re no longer in their element and they have to perish! This would have the same effect on me if I had to stay a lot longer. I feel uncomfortable, I’m out of sorts. This is affecting me physically, and it’s almost making me sick. However, I’m reasoning with myself and trying to gain the upper hand. I’m with you in spirit all day, and I say to myself, “Now he must be doing such and such a thing.”

I’m longing to be near you, my dear Louis. I love you with all my heart, and I feel my affection so much more when you’re not here with me. It would be impossible for me to live apart from you.

This morning I attended three Masses. I went to the one at six o’clock, made my thanksgiving and said my prayers during the seven o’clock Mass, and returned for the high Mass.

My brother is not unhappy with his business. It’s going well enough.

Tell Léonie and Céline that I kiss them tenderly and will bring them a souvenir from Lisieux.

I’ll try to write you tomorrow, if possible, but I don’t know what time we’ll return from Trouville. I’m hurrying because they’re waiting for me to go visiting. We return Wednesday evening at seven-thirty. How long that seems to me!

I kiss you with all my love. The little girls want me to tell you that they’re very happy to have come to Lisieux and they send you big hugs.

Zélie

Family correspondence CF 108

Prayer

O St. John of the Cross
You were endowed by our Lord with the spirit of self-denial
and a love of the cross.
Obtain for us the grace to follow your example
that we may come to the eternal vision of the glory of God.

O Saint of Christ’s redeeming cross
the road of life is dark and long.
Teach us always to be resigned to God’s holy will
in all the circumstances of our lives
and grant us the special favor
which we now ask of you.

Mention your request

Above all, obtain for us the grace of final perseverance,
a holy and happy death and everlasting life with you
and all the saints in heaven.
Amen.

Let’s continue in prayer

Day 1 — Self-trust
Day 2 — Self-giving
Day 3 — Cleansing
Day 4 — Walking in love
Day 5 — Trust
Day 6 — Prayer
Day 7 — Humility
Day 8 — Eternal Silence
Day 9 — Silent love

Saint John of the Cross
17th c. French painting
Saints Pierre et Paul des Etangs (Leucate), Diocese of Carcasonne-Narbonne
Photo credit: Ministère de la Culture (France), Médiathèque de l’architecture et du patrimoine, diffusion RMN-GP

The novena prayer was composed from approved sources by Professor Michael Ogunu, a member of the Discalced Carmelite Secular Order in Nigeria.

We always refer to the website of the Archives of the Carmel of Lisieux for the vast majority of our quotes concerning Saint Thérèse, Saint Zélie, and Saint Louis Martin. If you would like to purchase English translations for the collected works of St. Thérèse, please visit the website of our Discalced Carmelite friars at ICS Publications.

All scripture references in this novena are from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Catholic Edition, copyright © 1989, 1993 the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America as accessed from the Bible Gateway website.

Don’t become discouraged and give up prayer, says St. John of the Cross. We offer varying novenas to Our Lady of Mount Carmel, as well as novenas to St. Teresa of Avila, St. John of the Cross, St. Thérèse of Lisieux, Sts. Louis and Zélie Martin, St. Elizabeth of the Trinity, and St. Joseph.

Let us unite in prayer

#agape #archives #carmelDeLisieux #carmelOfLisieux #charity #diviniAmorisScientia #doctorOfTheChurch #doctrine #johnOfTheCross #letter #letters #lisieux #love #novena #sanJuanDeLaCruz #stJohnOfTheCross #stJohnPaulIi #stJohnPaulIiDocuments #stTherese #stThereseOfLisieux #stThereseOfTheChildJesus #stZelieGuerin #stZelieMartin #stsLouisMartinAndZelieGuerin

#stslouismartinandzelieguerin #stzeliemartin #stzelieguerin #stthereseofthechildjesus #stthereseoflisieux #sttherese

Jona Lendering @[email protected] · 2026-05-21 · 04:32 UTC

Faits divers (52)

Zomaar een reliëf (Museum van Lleida)

Een nieuwe aflevering in de onregelmatig verschijnende reeks faits divers, en anders dan in de vorige afleveringen, waarin ik meestal een stuk of drie onderwerpen aansneed, heb ik er vandaag een heleboel.

Antieke seksualiteit

Wat is de bestudering van de Oudheid eigenlijk? Eigenlijk zetten we drie stappen.

We bestuderen de oude wereld om een samenleving te leren kennen die voorgoed voorbij is en wezenlijk anders.
Als je meent dat de Oudheid ook belangrijk is (maar waarom zou je?), kun je de verschillen identificeren met onze wereld.
Daarna zoek je voor die verschillen een verklaring om zo je eigen denkwereld beter te doorgronden. Feitelijk draait het dus om zelfkennis.

Meestal blijft voorlichting echter beperkt tot stap één. Hoe het desondanks óók kan, kunt u lezen in dit artikel over de vrouwelijke seksualiteit. Waarom denken wij anders dan de mensen toen, en wat zegt dat over onszelf?

Blauw zien

Een bekende misvatting is dat de oude Grieken kleuren anders zagen, en het is waar: Homeros noemt de zee wijnrood. De Grieken leden echter niet aan kleurenblindheid: Josine Schrickx vertelde al eens over het algemene patroon waarmee talen namen geven aan kleuren. Wellicht is er een biologische verklaring voor het verschijnsel dat andere talen minder kleurnamen hebben.

Diodoros van Sicilië

Over Diodoros van Sicilië heb ik eerder geblogd. Hij is belangrijk, want hij biedt bijvoorbeeld de enige doorlopende geschiedenis van Griekenland in de vijfde en vierde eeuw. In dat eerdere blogje, gewijd aan de vertaling van de boeken één tot en met vijf, opperde ik dat het fijn zou zijn als de boeken over Griekenland ook eens zouden worden vertaald. En wat zo leuk is: daar blijkt een begin mee te zijn gemaakt. Dank je wel, John Nagelkerken, voor de boeken elf tot en met dertien.

Vindonissa

Windisch in Zwitserland is de Romeinse stad Vindonissa. Dat was tevens een belangrijke legioenbasis, waar XIII Gemina de weg naar de Alpenpassen verdedigde. Over het ontstaan van Vindonissa begint langzamerhand meer duidelijkheid te ontstaan.

Oud manuscript (1): Paulus

Als een tekstvondst de nationale media haalt, moet het wel iets bijzonders zijn. En jawel: er is nieuws over een zesde-eeuws manuscript met de brieven van Paulus, de zogeheten Codex H. Bernard de Montfaucon, de auteur van een beroemde achttiende-eeuwse oudheidkundige encyclopedie, heeft als eerste die Codex H geïdentificeerd en vastgesteld dat het boek op zeker moment uit elkaar was gehaald, dat de inkt van het perkament was afgeschraapt en dat de vellen vervolgens waren gebruikt voor andere doelen (een zogeheten palimpsest). Het zou natuurlijk leuk zijn als we alle bladen van het gerecyclede manuscript terugvonden, en daarbij hebben onderzoekers nu aanzienlijk succes. Nederlandse uitleg hier, wetenschappelijke publicatie daar.

Wat betekent dat? We kennen de tekst van de brieven van Paulus toch? Ja zeker. Maar de hoofdstuk- en versindeling die wij kennen, is betrekkelijk recent. Dankzij de nieuwe informatie zien we hoe men in de Late Oudheid de tekst verdeelde, en dat zou best weleens gevolgen kunnen hebben voor de uitleg. Ter vergelijking: kijk eens waar het Scheppingsverhaal eindigt – is dat aan het einde van Genesis 1 of na de eerste regels van Genesis 2? Anders gezegd: is de zesde dag, met de schepping van de mens, de climax, of is dat de zevende dag? Dit zijn geen trivialiteiten.

Oud manuscript (2): Caedmon

De laatste grote gebeurtenis uit de Oudheid is het ontstaan van de islam en het Kalifaat. Beide worden ingeleid door het optreden van de profeet Mohammed. Zijn roepingsverhaal kent een wonderlijke, vrijwel contemporaine parallel in de roeping van de Ierse monnik-bard Caedmon. Dat een verhaal zich in korte tijd verplaatst van Arabië naar de Atlantische kust, zegt veel over de snelheid van de mondelinge traditie in de toenmalige wereld. Dat maakt de Ierse auteur interessant. Van een van de liederen van Caedmon is nu een manuscript gevonden. Dat werpt vanzelfsprekend geen enkel licht op de snelheid van de mondelinge informatieoverdracht, maar leuk is het wel.

Archeologie in Jeruzalem

Archeologie in Israël is nationalisme met andere middelen: ik schrijf al jaren over zionistische archeologie en ben niet de enige. Men leze de roman De genesis van het verraad van Martine van den Berg. Voor de actualiteit schakelen we over naar Jeruzalem, waar Palestijnen uit hun huizen worden gezet om ruimte te maken voor een archeologisch park.

Klimaatwetenschap

Een van de grote publieksvragen is hoe oudheidkundigen weten wat ze weten. Uitleg van de technieken waarmee ze het antieke klimaat reconstrueren is dan ook al zeker een kwart eeuw een desideratum. Gelukkig is er dit verhelderende stuk over het onderzoek van eeuwenoud ijs.

En tot slot

Ik had een vrolijk gesprek met Krijn Soeteman, de hoofdredacteur van de wetenschapsnieuws-website Scientias, over archeologie, oude geschiedenis en oude talen. We hadden het over de wijze waarop sensationalistische wetenschapscommunicatie de oudheidkunde beschadigt: dus over de IDOHZOtjes waarmee de classici achter andermans actualiteit aanhuppelen, over archeologen die zonder kennis van andere oudheidkundige bloedgroepen wat roeptoeteren en over bizarre toepassingen van AI. En we hadden het ook over de zaken die wél in het nieuws zouden moeten komen, want die zijn er volop. Dat vrolijke gesprek werd een podcast.

Het ziet er niet best uit voor Libanon. Als u meer wil weten over dat geteisterde land, lees dan mijn boek. Deze blog kunt u ook volgen via een Whatsapp-kanaal.

Deel dit: #BernardDeMontfaucon #Caedmon #DiodorosVanSicilië #FaitsDivers #Jeruzalem #JohnNagelkerken #kleurenblindheid #klimaatonderzoek #MartineVanDenBerg #palimpsest #podcast #seksualiteit #Vindonissa #Windisch #XIIIGemina #zionistischeArcheologie

#bernarddemontfaucon #caedmon #diodorosvansicilie #faitsdivers #jeruzalem #johnnagelkerken

Carmelite Quotes @[email protected] · 2024-08-04 · 21:50 UTC

Echt, 1942 | Photo credit: Discalced Carmelites

Since September 29 we’ve had a new Mother who would like me to write something again.
Echt, 5 November 1940

Just now I am gathering material for a new work since our Reverend Mother wishes me to do some scholarly work again, as far as this will be possible in our living situation and under the present circumstances. I am very grateful to be allowed once more to do something before my brain rusts completely.

Echt, 17 November 1940

I am going about my new task like a little child making its first attempts at walking.

Echt, 16 May 1941

Please, will Your Reverence also pray a little to the Holy Spirit and to our Holy Father John for what I am now planning to write. It is to be something for our Holy Father’s 400th birthday (24 June 1942)…

Echt, 8 October 1941

Because of the work I am doing I live almost constantly immersed in thoughts about our Holy Father John. That is a great grace. May I ask Your Reverence once more for prayers that I can produce something appropriate for his Jubilee?

Echt, 18 November 1941

Dear Mother,

… I am satisfied with everything. A scientia crucis [science of the cross] can be gained only when one comes to feel the Cross radically. I have been convinced of that from the first moment and have said, from my heart: Ave, Crux, spes unica!

Echt, December 1941

Dear Sister Maria,

… while working on this task it often happened when I was greatly exhausted that I had the feeling I could not penetrate to what I wished to say and to grasp. I already thought that it would always remain so. But now I feel I have renewed vigor for creative effort. Holy Father John gave me renewed impetus for some remarks concerning symbols. When I finish this manuscript I would like to send a German copy to Father Heribert [Discalced Carmelite provincial in Germany] to have it duplicated for the monasteries.

The only reason I write so little is that I need all the time for Father John.

Echt, 9 April 1942

My dear ones,

A [Red Cross] nurse from [Amsterdam] intends to speak today with the Consul. Here, every petition [on behalf] of fully Jewish Catholics has been forbidden since yesterday. Outside [the camp] an attempt can still be made, but with extremely little prospect. According to plans, a transport will leave on Friday. Could you possibly write to Mère Claire in Venlo, Kaldenkerkeweg 185 [the Ursuline Convent] to ask for [my] manuscript if they have not already sent it. We count on your prayers. There are so many persons here who need some consolation and they expect it from the Sisters.

In Corde Jesu, your grateful

B.

Westerbork transit camp, Wednesday 5 August 1942

Saint Edith Stein’s opening sentence of the foreword to The Science of the Cross.

Mother Antonia Ambrosia Engelmann, O.C.D. was elected prioress of the Carmel of Echt on 29 September 1940. It is to her that we owe a debt of gratitude for Saint Edith Stein’s ultimate volume, The Science of the Cross. Gelber and Leuven (1993) note that although it was her final work, the manuscript was published as Vol. I in Edith Steins Werke. When Edith and Rosa were arrested in August of 1942, the completed portions of her manuscript had already been sent to a typist. Unaware of the fate that awaited her, Edith asks to retrieve that manuscript as if to continue working on it while in prison.

Stein E 1954, Kreuzeswissenschaft, E. Nauwelaerts, Louvain. | Wikimedia Commons

Stein, E. 1993, Self-Portrait in Letters, 1916-1942, Sister Teresa Benedicta of the Cross, Discalced Carmelite, translated from the German by Koeppel, J, ICS Publications, Washington DC.

Stein, E 2002, The Science of the Cross, The Collected Works of Edith Stein, Book 6, translated from the German by Koeppel, J, ICS Publications, Washington D.C.

Featured image: The Continental Silenta typewriter was made in the 1930s in Germany. It was produced throughout the war until 1942 and was the most advanced and complicated machine of that time. The Boatworks blog, which devotes many posts to classic typewriters, indicates that the Continental Silenta now has a cult status as a super-silent typewriter. Image credit: Skitterphoto / Pexels (Stock photo)

https://carmelitequotes.blog/2024/08/04/edith-5aug42science/

#author #AveCruxSpesUnica #CarmelOfEcht #manuscript #MotherAntoniaAmbrosiaEngelmann #StEdithStein #StJohnOfTheCross #StTeresaBenedictaOfTheCross #TheScienceOfTheCross #Westerbork

#author #avecruxspesunica #carmelofecht #manuscript #motherantoniaambrosiaengelmann #stedithstein

Carmelite Quotes @[email protected] · 2024-08-04 · 21:50 UTC

Echt, 1942 | Photo credit: Discalced Carmelites

Since September 29 we’ve had a new Mother who would like me to write something again.
Echt, 5 November 1940

Just now I am gathering material for a new work since our Reverend Mother wishes me to do some scholarly work again, as far as this will be possible in our living situation and under the present circumstances. I am very grateful to be allowed once more to do something before my brain rusts completely.

Echt, 17 November 1940

I am going about my new task like a little child making its first attempts at walking.

Echt, 16 May 1941

Please, will Your Reverence also pray a little to the Holy Spirit and to our Holy Father John for what I am now planning to write. It is to be something for our Holy Father’s 400th birthday (24 June 1942)…

Echt, 8 October 1941

Because of the work I am doing I live almost constantly immersed in thoughts about our Holy Father John. That is a great grace. May I ask Your Reverence once more for prayers that I can produce something appropriate for his Jubilee?

Echt, 18 November 1941

Dear Mother,

… I am satisfied with everything. A scientia crucis [science of the cross] can be gained only when one comes to feel the Cross radically. I have been convinced of that from the first moment and have said, from my heart: Ave, Crux, spes unica!

Echt, December 1941

Dear Sister Maria,

… while working on this task it often happened when I was greatly exhausted that I had the feeling I could not penetrate to what I wished to say and to grasp. I already thought that it would always remain so. But now I feel I have renewed vigor for creative effort. Holy Father John gave me renewed impetus for some remarks concerning symbols. When I finish this manuscript I would like to send a German copy to Father Heribert [Discalced Carmelite provincial in Germany] to have it duplicated for the monasteries.

The only reason I write so little is that I need all the time for Father John.

Echt, 9 April 1942

My dear ones,

A [Red Cross] nurse from [Amsterdam] intends to speak today with the Consul. Here, every petition [on behalf] of fully Jewish Catholics has been forbidden since yesterday. Outside [the camp] an attempt can still be made, but with extremely little prospect. According to plans, a transport will leave on Friday. Could you possibly write to Mère Claire in Venlo, Kaldenkerkeweg 185 [the Ursuline Convent] to ask for [my] manuscript if they have not already sent it. We count on your prayers. There are so many persons here who need some consolation and they expect it from the Sisters.

In Corde Jesu, your grateful

B.

Westerbork transit camp, Wednesday 5 August 1942

Saint Edith Stein’s opening sentence of the foreword to The Science of the Cross.

Mother Antonia Ambrosia Engelmann, O.C.D. was elected prioress of the Carmel of Echt on 29 September 1940. It is to her that we owe a debt of gratitude for Saint Edith Stein’s ultimate volume, The Science of the Cross. Gelber and Leuven (1993) note that although it was her final work, the manuscript was published as Vol. I in Edith Steins Werke. When Edith and Rosa were arrested in August of 1942, the completed portions of her manuscript had already been sent to a typist. Unaware of the fate that awaited her, Edith asks to retrieve that manuscript as if to continue working on it while in prison.

Stein E 1954, Kreuzeswissenschaft, E. Nauwelaerts, Louvain. | Wikimedia Commons

Stein, E. 1993, Self-Portrait in Letters, 1916-1942, Sister Teresa Benedicta of the Cross, Discalced Carmelite, translated from the German by Koeppel, J, ICS Publications, Washington DC.

Stein, E 2002, The Science of the Cross, The Collected Works of Edith Stein, Book 6, translated from the German by Koeppel, J, ICS Publications, Washington D.C.

Featured image: The Continental Silenta typewriter was made in the 1930s in Germany. It was produced throughout the war until 1942 and was the most advanced and complicated machine of that time. The Boatworks blog, which devotes many posts to classic typewriters, indicates that the Continental Silenta now has a cult status as a super-silent typewriter. Image credit: Skitterphoto / Pexels (Stock photo)

https://carmelitequotes.blog/2024/08/04/edith-5aug42science/

#author #AveCruxSpesUnica #CarmelOfEcht #manuscript #MotherAntoniaAmbrosiaEngelmann #StEdithStein #StJohnOfTheCross #StTeresaBenedictaOfTheCross #TheScienceOfTheCross #Westerbork

#westerbork #thescienceofthecross #stteresabenedictaofthecross #stjohnofthecross #stedithstein #motherantoniaambrosiaengelmann

Jona Lendering @[email protected] · 2026-05-21 · 04:32 UTC

Faits divers (52)

Zomaar een reliëf (Museum van Lleida)

Een nieuwe aflevering in de onregelmatig verschijnende reeks faits divers, en anders dan in de vorige afleveringen, waarin ik meestal een stuk of drie onderwerpen aansneed, heb ik er vandaag een heleboel.

Antieke seksualiteit

Wat is de bestudering van de Oudheid eigenlijk? Eigenlijk zetten we drie stappen.

We bestuderen de oude wereld om een samenleving te leren kennen die voorgoed voorbij is en wezenlijk anders.
Als je meent dat de Oudheid ook belangrijk is (maar waarom zou je?), kun je de verschillen identificeren met onze wereld.
Daarna zoek je voor die verschillen een verklaring om zo je eigen denkwereld beter te doorgronden. Feitelijk draait het dus om zelfkennis.

Meestal blijft voorlichting echter beperkt tot stap één. Hoe het desondanks óók kan, kunt u lezen in dit artikel over de vrouwelijke seksualiteit. Waarom denken wij anders dan de mensen toen, en wat zegt dat over onszelf?

Blauw zien

Een bekende misvatting is dat de oude Grieken kleuren anders zagen, en het is waar: Homeros noemt de zee wijnrood. De Grieken leden echter niet aan kleurenblindheid: Josine Schrickx vertelde al eens over het algemene patroon waarmee talen namen geven aan kleuren. Wellicht is er een biologische verklaring voor het verschijnsel dat andere talen minder kleurnamen hebben.

Diodoros van Sicilië

Over Diodoros van Sicilië heb ik eerder geblogd. Hij is belangrijk, want hij biedt bijvoorbeeld de enige doorlopende geschiedenis van Griekenland in de vijfde en vierde eeuw. In dat eerdere blogje, gewijd aan de vertaling van de boeken één tot en met vijf, opperde ik dat het fijn zou zijn als de boeken over Griekenland ook eens zouden worden vertaald. En wat zo leuk is: daar blijkt een begin mee te zijn gemaakt. Dank je wel, John Nagelkerken, voor de boeken elf tot en met dertien.

Vindonissa

Windisch in Zwitserland is de Romeinse stad Vindonissa. Dat was tevens een belangrijke legioenbasis, waar XIII Gemina de weg naar de Alpenpassen verdedigde. Over het ontstaan van Vindonissa begint langzamerhand meer duidelijkheid te ontstaan.

Oud manuscript (1): Paulus

Als een tekstvondst de nationale media haalt, moet het wel iets bijzonders zijn. En jawel: er is nieuws over een zesde-eeuws manuscript met de brieven van Paulus, de zogeheten Codex H. Bernard de Montfaucon, de auteur van een beroemde achttiende-eeuwse oudheidkundige encyclopedie, heeft als eerste die Codex H geïdentificeerd en vastgesteld dat het boek op zeker moment uit elkaar was gehaald, dat de inkt van het perkament was afgeschraapt en dat de vellen vervolgens waren gebruikt voor andere doelen (een zogeheten palimpsest). Het zou natuurlijk leuk zijn als we alle bladen van het gerecyclede manuscript terugvonden, en daarbij hebben onderzoekers nu aanzienlijk succes. Nederlandse uitleg hier, wetenschappelijke publicatie daar.

Wat betekent dat? We kennen de tekst van de brieven van Paulus toch? Ja zeker. Maar de hoofdstuk- en versindeling die wij kennen, is betrekkelijk recent. Dankzij de nieuwe informatie zien we hoe men in de Late Oudheid de tekst verdeelde, en dat zou best weleens gevolgen kunnen hebben voor de uitleg. Ter vergelijking: kijk eens waar het Scheppingsverhaal eindigt – is dat aan het einde van Genesis 1 of na de eerste regels van Genesis 2? Anders gezegd: is de zesde dag, met de schepping van de mens, de climax, of is dat de zevende dag? Dit zijn geen trivialiteiten.

Oud manuscript (2): Caedmon

De laatste grote gebeurtenis uit de Oudheid is het ontstaan van de islam en het Kalifaat. Beide worden ingeleid door het optreden van de profeet Mohammed. Zijn roepingsverhaal kent een wonderlijke, vrijwel contemporaine parallel in de roeping van de Ierse monnik-bard Caedmon. Dat een verhaal zich in korte tijd verplaatst van Arabië naar de Atlantische kust, zegt veel over de snelheid van de mondelinge traditie in de toenmalige wereld. Dat maakt de Ierse auteur interessant. Van een van de liederen van Caedmon is nu een manuscript gevonden. Dat werpt vanzelfsprekend geen enkel licht op de snelheid van de mondelinge informatieoverdracht, maar leuk is het wel.

Archeologie in Jeruzalem

Archeologie in Israël is nationalisme met andere middelen: ik schrijf al jaren over zionistische archeologie en ben niet de enige. Men leze de roman De genesis van het verraad van Martine van den Berg. Voor de actualiteit schakelen we over naar Jeruzalem, waar Palestijnen uit hun huizen worden gezet om ruimte te maken voor een archeologisch park.

Klimaatwetenschap

Een van de grote publieksvragen is hoe oudheidkundigen weten wat ze weten. Uitleg van de technieken waarmee ze het antieke klimaat reconstrueren is dan ook al zeker een kwart eeuw een desideratum. Gelukkig is er dit verhelderende stuk over het onderzoek van eeuwenoud ijs.

En tot slot

Ik had een vrolijk gesprek met Krijn Soeteman, de hoofdredacteur van de wetenschapsnieuws-website Scientias, over archeologie, oude geschiedenis en oude talen. We hadden het over de wijze waarop sensationalistische wetenschapscommunicatie de oudheidkunde beschadigt: dus over de IDOHZOtjes waarmee de classici achter andermans actualiteit aanhuppelen, over archeologen die zonder kennis van andere oudheidkundige bloedgroepen wat roeptoeteren en over bizarre toepassingen van AI. En we hadden het ook over de zaken die wél in het nieuws zouden moeten komen, want die zijn er volop. Dat vrolijke gesprek werd een podcast.

Het ziet er niet best uit voor Libanon. Als u meer wil weten over dat geteisterde land, lees dan mijn boek. Deze blog kunt u ook volgen via een Whatsapp-kanaal.

Deel dit: #BernardDeMontfaucon #Caedmon #DiodorosVanSicilië #FaitsDivers #Jeruzalem #JohnNagelkerken #kleurenblindheid #klimaatonderzoek #MartineVanDenBerg #palimpsest #podcast #seksualiteit #Vindonissa #Windisch #XIIIGemina #zionistischeArcheologie

#bernarddemontfaucon #caedmon #diodorosvansicilie #faitsdivers #jeruzalem #johnnagelkerken

Jona Lendering @[email protected] · 2026-05-21 · 04:32 UTC

Faits divers (52)

Zomaar een reliëf (Museum van Lleida)

Een nieuwe aflevering in de onregelmatig verschijnende reeks faits divers, en anders dan in de vorige afleveringen, waarin ik meestal een stuk of drie onderwerpen aansneed, heb ik er vandaag een heleboel.

Antieke seksualiteit

Wat is de bestudering van de Oudheid eigenlijk? Eigenlijk zetten we drie stappen.

We bestuderen de oude wereld om een samenleving te leren kennen die voorgoed voorbij is en wezenlijk anders.
Als je meent dat de Oudheid ook belangrijk is (maar waarom zou je?), kun je de verschillen identificeren met onze wereld.
Daarna zoek je voor die verschillen een verklaring om zo je eigen denkwereld beter te doorgronden. Feitelijk draait het dus om zelfkennis.

Meestal blijft voorlichting echter beperkt tot stap één. Hoe het desondanks óók kan, kunt u lezen in dit artikel over de vrouwelijke seksualiteit. Waarom denken wij anders dan de mensen toen, en wat zegt dat over onszelf?

Blauw zien

Een bekende misvatting is dat de oude Grieken kleuren anders zagen, en het is waar: Homeros noemt de zee wijnrood. De Grieken leden echter niet aan kleurenblindheid: Josine Schrickx vertelde al eens over het algemene patroon waarmee talen namen geven aan kleuren. Wellicht is er een biologische verklaring voor het verschijnsel dat andere talen minder kleurnamen hebben.

Diodoros van Sicilië

Over Diodoros van Sicilië heb ik eerder geblogd. Hij is belangrijk, want hij biedt bijvoorbeeld de enige doorlopende geschiedenis van Griekenland in de vijfde en vierde eeuw. In dat eerdere blogje, gewijd aan de vertaling van de boeken één tot en met vijf, opperde ik dat het fijn zou zijn als de boeken over Griekenland ook eens zouden worden vertaald. En wat zo leuk is: daar blijkt een begin mee te zijn gemaakt. Dank je wel, John Nagelkerken, voor de boeken elf tot en met dertien.

Vindonissa

Windisch in Zwitserland is de Romeinse stad Vindonissa. Dat was tevens een belangrijke legioenbasis, waar XIII Gemina de weg naar de Alpenpassen verdedigde. Over het ontstaan van Vindonissa begint langzamerhand meer duidelijkheid te ontstaan.

Oud manuscript (1): Paulus

Als een tekstvondst de nationale media haalt, moet het wel iets bijzonders zijn. En jawel: er is nieuws over een zesde-eeuws manuscript met de brieven van Paulus, de zogeheten Codex H. Bernard de Montfaucon, de auteur van een beroemde achttiende-eeuwse oudheidkundige encyclopedie, heeft als eerste die Codex H geïdentificeerd en vastgesteld dat het boek op zeker moment uit elkaar was gehaald, dat de inkt van het perkament was afgeschraapt en dat de vellen vervolgens waren gebruikt voor andere doelen (een zogeheten palimpsest). Het zou natuurlijk leuk zijn als we alle bladen van het gerecyclede manuscript terugvonden, en daarbij hebben onderzoekers nu aanzienlijk succes. Nederlandse uitleg hier, wetenschappelijke publicatie daar.

Wat betekent dat? We kennen de tekst van de brieven van Paulus toch? Ja zeker. Maar de hoofdstuk- en versindeling die wij kennen, is betrekkelijk recent. Dankzij de nieuwe informatie zien we hoe men in de Late Oudheid de tekst verdeelde, en dat zou best weleens gevolgen kunnen hebben voor de uitleg. Ter vergelijking: kijk eens waar het Scheppingsverhaal eindigt – is dat aan het einde van Genesis 1 of na de eerste regels van Genesis 2? Anders gezegd: is de zesde dag, met de schepping van de mens, de climax, of is dat de zevende dag? Dit zijn geen trivialiteiten.

Oud manuscript (2): Caedmon

De laatste grote gebeurtenis uit de Oudheid is het ontstaan van de islam en het Kalifaat. Beide worden ingeleid door het optreden van de profeet Mohammed. Zijn roepingsverhaal kent een wonderlijke, vrijwel contemporaine parallel in de roeping van de Ierse monnik-bard Caedmon. Dat een verhaal zich in korte tijd verplaatst van Arabië naar de Atlantische kust, zegt veel over de snelheid van de mondelinge traditie in de toenmalige wereld. Dat maakt de Ierse auteur interessant. Van een van de liederen van Caedmon is nu een manuscript gevonden. Dat werpt vanzelfsprekend geen enkel licht op de snelheid van de mondelinge informatieoverdracht, maar leuk is het wel.

Archeologie in Jeruzalem

Archeologie in Israël is nationalisme met andere middelen: ik schrijf al jaren over zionistische archeologie en ben niet de enige. Men leze de roman De genesis van het verraad van Martine van den Berg. Voor de actualiteit schakelen we over naar Jeruzalem, waar Palestijnen uit hun huizen worden gezet om ruimte te maken voor een archeologisch park.

Klimaatwetenschap

Een van de grote publieksvragen is hoe oudheidkundigen weten wat ze weten. Uitleg van de technieken waarmee ze het antieke klimaat reconstrueren is dan ook al zeker een kwart eeuw een desideratum. Gelukkig is er dit verhelderende stuk over het onderzoek van eeuwenoud ijs.

En tot slot

Ik had een vrolijk gesprek met Krijn Soeteman, de hoofdredacteur van de wetenschapsnieuws-website Scientias, over archeologie, oude geschiedenis en oude talen. We hadden het over de wijze waarop sensationalistische wetenschapscommunicatie de oudheidkunde beschadigt: dus over de IDOHZOtjes waarmee de classici achter andermans actualiteit aanhuppelen, over archeologen die zonder kennis van andere oudheidkundige bloedgroepen wat roeptoeteren en over bizarre toepassingen van AI. En we hadden het ook over de zaken die wél in het nieuws zouden moeten komen, want die zijn er volop. Dat vrolijke gesprek werd een podcast.

Het ziet er niet best uit voor Libanon. Als u meer wil weten over dat geteisterde land, lees dan mijn boek. Deze blog kunt u ook volgen via een Whatsapp-kanaal.

Deel dit: #BernardDeMontfaucon #Caedmon #DiodorosVanSicilië #FaitsDivers #Jeruzalem #JohnNagelkerken #kleurenblindheid #klimaatonderzoek #MartineVanDenBerg #palimpsest #podcast #seksualiteit #Vindonissa #Windisch #XIIIGemina #zionistischeArcheologie

#bernarddemontfaucon #caedmon #diodorosvansicilie #faitsdivers #jeruzalem #johnnagelkerken

To Contrive & Jive @[email protected] · 2026-05-19 · 10:00 UTC

What Was the First Meme?

Cause of Death: Replaced by Itself, But Faster.

Subject Introduction: A Very Small Joke With Very Big Ambitions.

Before memes were screenshots, reaction images, or oddly specific jokes about ‘that one friend who…’, they were… an idea.

Literally.

Richard Dawkins coined the word ‘meme’ in The Selfish Gene to describe how ideas spread—like ‘cultural genes’, hopping from brain to brain, mutating as they go.

Which means, technically, the first meme wasn’t even funny.

Much like about 87% of modern memes, if we’re being brutally honest.

Ahem.

A disappointing start, I know.

But if I’m performing a proper cultural autopsy, I have to ask a more important question: what was the first recognisable meme? The first thing humans collectively saw, copied, and thought, yes, this… but slightly worse when I do it?

Candidates include:

Kilroy Was Here (a doodle man peeking over walls during WWII).
Dancing Baby (a slightly cursed 90s CGI infant – seriously, don’t Google it, you’ll have nightmares).
“All Your Base Are Belong To Us” (early internet chaos in sentence form).

Each one carries the same DNA: repetition, variation, and a quiet insistence on being seen again.

Cause of Death: The Internet Got Involved (Obviously).

The first meme didn’t die because it failed.

It died because it succeeded too well.

Once the internet arrived, memes stopped being rare cultural oddities and became… everything, really.

What was once:

Slowly shared.
Slightly altered.
Passed between small groups.

…became:

Instantly global.
Aggressively remixed.
Posted 47,000 times before brunch. ☕

Memes didn’t just evolve. They accelerated beyond survivability.

The lifecycle shrank dramatically:

Birth (someone posts it).
Peak (everyone posts it).
Irony phase (people mock it).
Death (people mock people who still use it).
Resurrection (someone posts it again three years later, ironically).

Total lifespan: roughly the length of a lukewarm cup of tea.

The ‘first meme,’ whatever it was, couldn’t survive in this new ecosystem. Not because it wasn’t strong, but because modern memes reproduce at a rate that would concern scienticians, epidemiologists, and at least one exhausted moderator on Reddit…

Surviving Relatives: The Chaos Continues.

Though the original has long dissolved into the cultural bloodstream, its descendants are thriving.

Modern equivalents include:

Reaction images (emotion, but outsourced).
Absurdist memes (logic has left the chat).
Hyper-specific memes (you either get it, or you don’t—and that’s the point).

There’s also a noticeable shift: memes are no longer just shared.

They’re layered.

A meme references another meme, which references a cultural moment, which somehow references an emotion you had in 2013 and never properly recovered from.

At this point, understanding a meme sometimes requires:

Context.
Research.
A degree.

Which feels like a lot for something featuring a blurry cat. 🐈

And yet we persist.

Legacy: What the First Meme Says About Us.

The first meme, wherever it came from, revealed something quietly profound:

Humans like to repeat things.

Not just repeat them, but reshape them. Personalise them. Make them ours, then send them back out into the world slightly altered, like a message in a bottle that now includes a joke.

Richard Dawkins probably did not expect his academic concept to eventually produce Minions saying things like ‘Wine O’Clock.’ 😂

Memes are, at their core, a form of connection.

A way of saying:

“I saw this.”

“I felt this.”

“Did you also feel this?”

Even the most ridiculous meme carries that same underlying impulse.

Which means the first meme didn’t really die.

It just… multiplied.

Endlessly.

Mutating.

Slightly more unhinged each time.

Final Diagnosis.

The first meme:

Status: Deceased (technically).
Cause of death: Extreme reproduction and cultural overstimulation.
Legacy: Alive in every slightly overused joke you’ve ever sent.

And perhaps the strangest conclusion of all:

We’re not just observing memes.

We are the transmission system.

Which raises an uncomfortable but important question:

If memes evolve through us, who, exactly, is in control here?

Which means humanity may have accidentally evolved into a giant emotional forwarding system.

It’s enough to make you want to dance…

Source.

What do you think of memes, reader? Terminally online art form or humanity’s final evolutionary stage? 👀

Ciao :)(:

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To Contrive & Jive @[email protected] · 2026-04-28 · 10:00 UTC

The Fearsome Kushtaka

Or, Never Trust Anything That Holds Hands While It Sleeps. 🦦

There are two types of people in this world: those who see an otter and think, ‘Aww, look at its tiny hands!’ And those who don’t. Especially after reading about the Kushtaka. These people think:

‘That thing absolutely has a side hustle stealing souls.‘

And like most bad decisions in human history, it starts with trust.

We’ve collectively decided that anything fluffy, floaty, and mildly smiley is incapable of wrongdoing.

This is how we ended up with emotional support animals, suspiciously charming villains, and absolutely no contingency plan for shape-shifting land-otter people lurking in the forests of Southeast Alaska. 🦦

Oh yes, you read that correctly.

So… what is the Kushtaka? And more importantly, should we be side-eyeing all otters?

The Folklore: The Lie of the Fluff.

In the traditions of the Tlingit and Tsimshian peoples, the Kushtaka (literally ‘land otter people’) are not your average woodland mischief-makers. These are shape-shifters. Tricksters. Emotional manipulators with a flair for theatrical timing.

Well, who doesn’t?

They lure people.

With cries for help.

A baby. A friend. Your name.

Your brain saying, “Just one more episode.” And if that doesn’t unsettle you, here’s the part where it gets worse:

In the best-case scenario, you’re turned into one of them. Best case. Worst case? Well, let’s just say you’re not coming back for dinner. Heck, you are dinner.

Alternate worst case: you come back… different.

They’re not just spooky for the sake of it, either. The Kushtaka exist in a world where the line between life and death is fragile, where disappearing into the wilderness or sea wasn’t just possible, but common.

In that context, the Kushtaka aren’t random monsters. They’re an explanation. A way of saying: something took them, and it wasn’t nothing.

Which is deeply unsettling, because it suggests the universe has a customer service department—

and it’s run by otters.

Bloody otters. 🦦

The Fact: Otters Are… Suspiciously Capable.

Now, before we accuse every otter of running an interdimensional recruitment scheme, let’s look at the facts.

Otters are incredibly intelligent. They use tools. They’ve been around for millions of years. They live on nearly every continent. They hold hands while sleeping so they don’t drift apart, which is super adorbs.

And yes, they are what scienticians call ‘charismatic megafauna,’ which is a polite way of saying they’re so cute we stop asking questions, and a phenomenal name for a band.

But here’s where things get interesting. Humans have a habit of projecting our own emotions onto animals. We see an otter floating peacefully and assume it’s thinking peaceful thoughts, like ‘I love my friends,’ or ‘This pebble is sure swell.’

We do not consider that it might be thinking:

‘Step one: gain their trust. Step two: become legend. Step three: no witnesses.’

Well, I do, but I’m not most people…

The Twist: Maybe the Kushtaka Isn’t About Otters at All.

Here’s the part where everything flips slightly sideways.

What if the Kushtaka isn’t about evil otters at all… but about humans being dangerously trusting?

Think about it. The Kushtaka often appear as someone you know. Someone familiar. Someone you’d follow without question. It’s not the claws or the teeth that get you, it’s the moment you think, ‘That’s safe.’

In that sense, the Kushtaka isn’t a creature. It’s a warning.

Don’t wander off alone. Don’t follow every voice. Don’t assume something is harmless just because it looks comforting.

Which, frankly, applies just as well to late-night online shopping and ‘quick five-minute scrolls.’

Even very trustworthy-looking people with excellent PR teams.

So… Should You Fear Otters?

No. Probably not. I think. Well, not unless one asks you to follow it into the woods. Then maybe just… politely decline.

But the Kushtaka does leave us with a slightly uncomfortable truth: the things we trust most easily are often the things we understand least.

For example, me and online delivery time estimates.

Also, and this is important, if something is too cute, it may simply be hiding something.

Don’t trust pandas.

No reason. Just… don’t. 🐼

The Real Monster Might Be… Us (But in a Chill Way).

In the end, the Kushtaka isn’t here to ruin your next zoo visit. It’s here to remind you that the world is a strange place, full of stories that blur the line between reality and meaning.

And maybe that’s the point.

We take something as simple as an otter and turn it into a symbol of danger, mystery, and transformation, because humans are very good at turning uncertainty into stories we can live with.

Even if those stories occasionally involve soul-stealing woodland cryptids.

So next time you see an otter—online, in a documentary, or just living its best little life—stop and take a moment.

Appreciate the cuteness.

Respect the mystery.

And maybe… don’t follow it anywhere.

Because nobody wants to become an otter.

…actually, that sounds quite nice.

Take me, Kushtaka. I’m ready. 🦦

The Kushtaka. Source.

Be Sure to Check Out My Other Cryptids & Mysteries By Clicking the Titles Here!

Be honest, reader—would you trust the otter… or the story?

Ciao :)(: