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Something beautiful for a change . . .

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Along the theme of beautiful things here are some things I think are:

A salmon leaping:
Salmon-at-Riverside.jpg


A Cuttlefish Displaying:
383541.png


A Tigress Carrying her Cub:
tiger-camera-trap-kosi-river-wwf.jpg


A baby Crocodile hitching a Ride:
alligator-with-baby.jpg


A Falcon flying:
2014-09-ECAP-cover-peregrine-falcon.jpg


A Termite City:
termiteskyscraper.jpg


A Pufferfish's "garden":
photo2.jpg


A Gardener Birds Garden (Built to attract a mate):
article-0-191F772C00000578-940_634x427.jpg


A Treefrog:
Tree_frog_congo.jpg



You may notice there are no pictures of people, this is deliberate:
I see all these creatures as beautiful, however if I was on there "menu" I might feel quite differently!
Humans are much the same, in that: they can be very beautiful but are also extremely dangerous.
 
All beautiful. Thank you, Han. I'm stunned by the Gardener Bird's Garden. I'm stunned by the aesthetic sense in all animals but especially in what this bird designs. The aesthetic sense goes deeper, though, in the ways in which animals feel, when safe and at rest, about their worlds, their ecological niches in the natural wealth of this planet. 'Wealth' in the sense in which Wallace Stevens intends in this poem:

The Planet On The Table

Ariel was glad he had written his poems.
They were of a remembered time
Or of something seen that he liked.

Other makings of the sun
Were waste and welter
And the ripe shrub writhed.

His self and the sun were one
And his poems, although makings of his self,
Were no less makings of the sun.

It was not important that they survive.
What mattered was that they should bear
Some lineament or character,

Some affluence, if only half-perceived,
In the poverty of their words,
Of the planet of which they were part.
 
Coming back to the Dukha in Mongolia for moment, this page is important, describing their need for some outside help, especially the support of a veterinarian for their essential reindeer. We can see that, compared with other indigenous people around the planet, the Dukha have been blessed with many natural supports for their beautiful style of existence and, accordingly, also by their ideas about existence as part of natural being. But their way of life depends on the continued propagation of the deer around whom they've structured their lives. More about this:

We are Dukha: This is the Way of Our People; The Totem People's Preservation Project | Cultural Survival
 
I have just finished watching a 3 part series called hunters of the south seas, I hope that somebody uploads it to youtube because it is very interesting, yet sad at the same time. I am not sure how the BBC operates in other countries so you could try looking it up, I will keep an eye out, and if it appears I will post the link here or in the TV section.
EDIT: here is episode 1:

Edit2:
part 2:

part 3:
 
Han said:
I have just finished watching a 3 part series called hunters of the south seas, I hope that somebody uploads it to youtube because it is very interesting, yet sad at the same time. I am not sure how the BBC operates in other countries so you could try looking it up, I will keep an eye out, and if it appears I will post the link here or in the TV section.
EDIT: here is episode 1:

Edit2:
part 2:

part 3:
Click to expand...


Thanks. I have a BBC channel on my cable and will look for this.
 
I especially like the kiva bowl fourth up from the bottom. Do you know what the pipe-like element is? Is it perhaps a handle attached to the apparent cover for the bowl, or could it be a flute?
 
Yes it is a Ladle, here is the sellers description:


TULAROSA MESA VERDE KIVA OLLA 800 to 1,200 years B.P. From the Four Corners area of Utah.

Olla’s of this size are as well rare and are seldom offered for sale. The workmanship on both pieces is eye stopping and would enhance any collection 100%. These are both museum quality pieces and here is your chance to have 2 fantastic pieces of pre historic pottery that will continue to do nothing but go up in value as time goes by. The ladle has about 1% professional restoration, the olla has about 3% professional restoration done to it on the bottom, other wise both pieces are broken and glued.

The design appears to be mountains and wind with passages into the under world. Of coarse this is just my opinion of what the design represents.

The ladle is 11 ¼” long, the bowl is 4 ¾” by 5 ¾” by 2 ½” deep. The olla is a massive 13 ½” in diameter by 11 ¼” tall.

source: ANASAZI MESA VERDE TULAROSA BLACK ON WHITE KIVA OLLA
 
Thanks for all that information. It makes sense -- the ladle would be used to catch the seeds poured out from the olla in springtime. (I read in enlarging that image that kiva bowls are thought to have been used to preserve seeds.) I'm curious about what meaning or meanings various ancient peoples attached to the spiral. It's such an organic form that I suspect it often signified organic growth.
 
RE: spirals I had never really thought about this question, my gut instinct says that they draw the eye in, if that makes sense.
I feel that they represent movement, or cycles of life.

I know that spirals can be hypnotic.

Thank you very much you have really got me thinking now!
 
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