Lead Me Home

Oh Lord live inside me, lead me on my way

Lead me home, lead me home¹

It’s time to return home. To go to the place we remember. No matter how much how long it’s been, we will find our way. We go through the night, over strange lands, through tribes of strangers, without maps and asking of odd personages we meet along the road, “What is the way?”²  Because, it is time to go back to home, back to what is rightfully ours³.

Oh Lord in the darkness, lead me on my way

Lead me home, lead me home¹

It’s time to go home. Not a physical place where you live⁴, but a place to which we belong. A place somewhere in time, rather than space. Where we can feel whole again². A place where a thought or a feeling can be generated, maintained and cherished instead of being torn away from us by force. A place where people understand us⁴. That is home.

It’s time to return home. A place where there is not only time to contemplate, but also to learn, and uncover the forgotten, the disused, and buried. A place where we can explore the wreck, the damage that was done and the treasures that prevail. Contemplating our scars maps, and learn what led to what and where we will go next. A place where we can imagine the future².

Gifs by Fabi

Oh, my love, take me home, and make that place be your home⁵. The place where all is as it should be, where all the noises sound right, and the light is good, and the smells make us feel calm rather than alarmed. The place that gives us balance. This is home. Take me home is make that place bearable⁴. A place that allows us to experience wonder, vision, peace, freedom from worry, freedom from demands,  freedom to be who we are².

It’s time to return home. The cries of the suffering world cannot all be answered by a single person all the time². We need to rest from the daily struggles and hard work. We must get away from the demands of others. Let them paddling their own boat.

It’s time to return home. You coming with me⁶?

My home is where I am, my home is in my mind, my thoughts are my home, my home is thinking about the things I think. This is my home. My home is not a material place around … My home is in my mind.

Bob Marley

References and Notes

Thank you to each of you with your reading time, comments, links or citations make La Loba a  home, and especially  Fabi by her talent and dedication to this home, which is not only my but her too!

1.   Jamie Commons – Lead Me Home

Inserir legenda de vídeo aqui

2. Estes, C. P. 1994. Women who run with the wolves. Editora Rocco, Rio de Janeiro.

3. The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (2012) – IMDb

4. BBC One – Spooks

5. Robin Hood (2006 TV series)

6. BBC – Drama – North and South

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English version _Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)

No question that Guy of Gisborne is the character to turn to when work is treating one badly, is there?

me + richard armitage

Text extracted Women who run with the wolves

Clarissa Pinkola Estés

All creatures must learn that there exist predators. Without this knowing, we will be unable to negotiate safely within our own forest without being devoured. To understand the predator is to become a  mature animal who is not vulnerable out of naïveté, inexperience or foolishness. In fairy tales and stories the villain symbolizes this sinister force that must be recognized for what it is: an aspect of the psyche contrary to the nature of the soul that opposes the development of psyche and attempts to kill off all soul.

A force that is split off from its lifegiving aspect and needs to be overcome and contained. This is a crucial fact that we must acknowledge. Though we might have mercy upon it, our first acts must be to recognize it,  to protect ourselves from its devastations, and ultimately to deprive it of its murderous energy.

Too, in day to day life, there are a plenty of soul-thieves and consciousness-killers afoot. The predator does not feel, so he does not wish for his your victim to feel either. This is exactly the intention of the predator, for  the unredeemed aspect of the psyche does not feel, and in its insane envy of those who do, it is driven to a cutting hatred.

In the animal world, puppies learn to recognize the predator through the teachings of the parents. Among  wolves when the bitch leaves her pups to go hunting, the young one try to follow her out of the den and down the path. She snarls at them , lunges at them, and scares the bejeezus out of them till they run slipping and sliding back to the den.

Their mother knows her pups do not yet know how  to weigh and assess other creatures. They do not know who is a predator and who is not. But in  time she will teach them, both harshly and well.

Like the wolf pups, we need a similar initiation, one which teaches that the inner  and  outer world are not always happy-go-lucky places. However, many people do not even  have the basic teachings about the predators that the mother wolf gives her cubs. Without parents’  loving guidance, the child will certainly be prey early in life, since at the beginning of our lives our viewpoint is very naive, meaning that our emotional understanding of the covert is very faint. At this stage we are likely to perceive only the overt.

However, at this phase of our life, we are not only naive about our mental processes, but we are easily seduced by the pleasures of the ego. With extreme ease renounce our wild soul seduced by sweet dreams of ease, lilting enjoyment, of various pleasures, elevated status,  of increased security, eternal love and so we launched a very confusing situation.

Family, mentors, teacher and friends are not supposed to be destructive to the child if and  when they feel envy, but some  decidedly are, in both subtle and not so subtle ways. Even with careful parents, the child can be taught not to see the predator and, instead to “make pretty” all manner of grotesqueries whether they are lovely or not. In that sense, the basic training for children to “be nice”, especially girls, cause them to override their intuition about the predator. Imagine a wolf mother teaching her cubs to “be nice” in the face of a rattlesnake. The covenant made ​​unhappy by the child to be “good girl”, never say no to be loved with constancy, not only does not prepare them to recognize the predator, but actually purposefully taughtto submit to the predator. To be trained thuslygives enormous power to the innate predator and set one out  to be prey for others.  In the future, while it may be a external predator who denigrates and dismantles them life, the innate predator within them own psyche concurs with it.

But, besides young and naive animals, the predator has a taste for prey that is in some way  soul-hungry, soul-lonely  or in some other way disempowered. When we hambre del alma, a starved soul, we take something, anything that seems similar to the stolen from us. In this situation, the person burns with hunger for anything that will make her feel alive again. That is the trouble with famine. If something looks like it will fill the yearning, we will seize it, no questions asked.

Like the hungry soul, the wolf has  been portrayed as vicious, ravenous, killing to kill,  never knowing whenenough is enough. However,  only when there is trauma to an individual wolf  or pack does as a whole that the normal pattern of behavior changes. There are two ins intances in which a wolf kills excessively. In both, the wolf is not well. The wolf  may kill indiscriminately when it is ill with rabies or distemper. A wolf may  kill excessively after a period of famine. Also a starved  soul can become so filled with pain,  a person can no longer bear it and bursts into a destructive spiral.

Thus, to recognize the predator we must learn to recognize the strategies used by him to attack the vitality of  prey. First, the complex predatory, using the voice of the ego, attacks our creativity, our ideals and our dreams. Second, the predator has the ability to twist human perceptions and vital comprehensions we need to develop moral dignity, visionary scope, and responsive action in our lives and in the world.

The devices used are denigration  of the victim’s purpose,  disparaging language used  to to describe the prey, blind judgments, proscriptions, and unwarranted punishment unjustifiable. These are the means by which the predator changes the life-giving messages between the soul and the psyche into death-dealing messages that cut hearts, cause shame, and even more importantly inhibit us from  taking rightful actions.

In our personal psychic work , we receive switched messages from the predator constantly_ “I am good, I am not so good. My work is deep work, my work is silly, I am making a difference, I am not getting anywhere, I am brave, I am a coward, I am knowing, I ought to be ashamed of myself.”

 This psychic ambush  is meant to loosen your faith, not only faith in yourself but in the very careful and delicate work  you are doing in the unconscious. Finally, the predator in his final assault he mutilates us. He mutilate our ability to feel, see and heal. He causes us to lose our psychic ability to grasp, to hold, to help ourselves or others. This is how all poscrastinations which give rise to   self-hatred, all shame-feelings which are pushed down and away to fester, all the new beginnings which are sorely needed, and all the long overdue endings are not met. Wherever the predator lurks and works, everything is derailed, demolished and decapitated.

So how we can to frustrate a predator? The basic tactics of a predator is a surprise, is not being detected by the prey. So the first step is to learn to sniff. What is behind the visible? What is it which causes that shadow in the middle of savannah? If there is a shadow something, if there is a forbidden something  it needs to be looked into. Those who would develop aconsciousness pursue all that stands behind the readily observable: the unseen chirping, the murked window, the lamenting door, the lip of light beneath a sill. They pursue the mysteries until the substance of the matter is laid open to them. They’re not afraid of darkness deeper psyche, of investigate the worst. They are not afraid to discover the bodies, viscera and bones.

Once the a prey detects a predator it backtracks and  loops. The prey dives into the ground to escape the predator  and then unexpectedly surfaces behind him.  This is the psychic maneuver we must to do in order to reestablish our sovereignty over our own lives. Thus, the prey stalls for time, it bides its time, it plan its strategy and calls up its power internally, before it makes an external change. In the process of confronting the predator, no matter how we feel exhausted, to survive we must force ourselves forward anyway, we can not give in to the fatigue.

In the psychoanalytic milieu the antidote is consciousness of one’s foibles and gifts, so that the complex is unable to act on its own. Analysis, dream interpretation, self-knowing,exploration, all are undertaken because they are ways of backtracking and looping. They are ways of diving down and coming up behind the issue and seeing it from a different perspective. We dismantle the predator by countering its diatribes with our own nurturant truths. Predator: You never finish anything you start. Yourself: I finish many things. We capture invidious thoughts before they become large enough to do any harm, and we dismantle them. We dismantle the predator by maintaining our intuitions and instincts and by resisting the predador’s seductions. We dismantle the assaults of the natural predators taking to heart and working with what is truthful in what the predador says and then discarding the rest.
Ultimately, the mature animal, the wild soul does not romanticize the  predator. He knows what is integral, knows what needs to thrive, knows a predator when he sees one, know what to do about it. Even when pressured by the most distorced cultural  or psychic messages, even with a predator  loose in the culture or in our personal psyche, we can all still hear  the original wild instructions, and follow them.

That’s what we learn when we dig down to the wild and instinctive nature, when we do the work of deep initiation and development of consciousness. We take on a massive enabling through the development of uninterrupted sight, hearing, being and doing. We learn to look for the predator instead trying to shoo it away, ignore it or to be nice to it. We learn the tricks,  disguises and the way the predator thinks. We learned to read between the lines in messages injunctions, expectations or customs that have been perverted from the truthful into manipulative.

We learned to extract energy from the predator and turn it into something else. The predator’s rage can be rendered into a soul-fire for accomplishing a great task in the world.  The predator’s craftiness  can be used to inspect and understand things from a distant. The predator’s killing nature can be used to kill off whathat which must properly die in our lives. Then, whether the predator is emanating from our own psychic milieu or from the culture outside oneself or both, we are shrewd and able to meet it head-on and do what needs  be done.

Reference

1. Estes, C. P. 1994. Women who run with the wolves. Editora Rocco, Rio de Janeiro.

2. Robin Hood (2006 TV series)

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Dream in Sydney – Part II

Dreaming is waking up inside.

Mario Quintana

Dreams are as portals to our inner world. This is my reading of my dream in Sydney. There are many symbols and messages in this dream. Some part, I understand and part of that comprehension, I share with you. Some are secrets that I still keep with me. As always you are welcome to share your thoughts!

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Read before: Dream in Sydney

1. Each woman manifested throughout her life the different faces of the Goddess, the feminine energy. In the dream this feminine energy first appears as the face of the crone Goddess who represents the midwife, the Witch, the Wise Woman, because she knows the occult and the spiritual world. It is the Queen of Mysteries and also the Goddess of Healing. It governs the endings, the knowledge, the transformation and death. In the dream called to deal with the hidden face of the Goddess is so strong that I appear as the Night Queen, dressed in a long black dress. The significance of the color black is mystery, protection, and control of the self. However, as a friend reminded me, the black can also reveal our vulnerabilities and fears. Here is the meaning of the Night Queen by Jessica Galbreth.

The Night Queen is about to embark on a journey. She looks back at us to see if we are ready to go with her. While she does not know where she going, she knows why she is going. She seeks wisdom and is willing to venture into the unknown to find it. She wraps herself in a black cloak, the color of the night, but underneath she’s uncloted, a symbol of her vulnerability during this trip to the unknown world. Her companion is a raven who will help you whisper  secrets and the messages. In her hand she carries a representing the purpose of her quest: to unlock the door to  mysteries. The Night Queen  invites us to visit the dark corners of our soul and the uncharted realms of the spiritual world. Realize that this is not a pleasurable ramble through the woods, with sunlight spilling through the leaves. Instead, we will be asked to bare your soul and face our fears.

2. To balance the feminine energy of Queen, arises Richard Armitage represented the King in his fullness. There is an atmosphere of seduction and complicity between the couple, who share secrets and intimacy. He knows where I’m going, and why I’m going. The actor tells me the chorus of the song The Garden by Einsturzende Neubauten, with a slight variation. I first heard this song of saturnine temperament when I was very young. For me, the song speaks about the passage of time. The time required for the awakening of consciousness and maturity of the soul. To heal our wounds and being whole in a relationship. Above all it talks about waiting, waiting for the other person’s time. That is the promise in my dream: You’ll find me in the garden waiting for you  when you are ready for it. If not, send me the rain.

You will find me if you want me in the garden unless it’s pouring down with rain You will find me waiting through sping and summer You will find me waiting waiting for the fall You will find me waiting for the apples to riped You will find me waiting for them to fall You will find me by the banks of all four rivers You will find me at the spring of conciousness

3. The door symbolizes the crossing point between two states, between two worlds, between the known and the unknown. The door opens on a mystery. But it has a dynamic psychological value, because not only indicates a passage, but invites cross it. It is an invitation to journey into the unknown.

4. I let the Goddess in her crone aspect and I become the maiden, the seed of than will become. I go back in time, to my university days and my world is a colorful place and full of dreams. I bring here the words of a friend, because I can not express myself as well as she: “I was a basically happy young woman, ambitious, but eager to  learn and try new things. When we are young there is a world of possibilities open to us. I can have everything and be what I want. I’ll find a job, the right job, and I’ll be great for him. My research will always fascinate me. I’ll always love you.” So I meet this other version of myself. A version that made different choices of what I did. I have a sense of mourning for all the choices I did not, for all the broken dreams or not realized, the loss of that version of myself. But, “what kicks me in the stomach is the sudden reminder of the longing I feel for that kind of unburdened relationship with the universe and fate.” However, sea water washes my feet, getting rid of all the blame that we carry for our choices and the weight of our broken dreams.

5. The otter symbolizes feminine energy in its perfect balance. She lives on earth, but your home is always near water. The elements Earth and Water are the female elements by exelencia. Otter is always moving and is very curious. With its sporty and adventurous spirit, the Otter believes that everyone around him are its friends, until they prove otherwise. These character traits are the characteristics of a well balanced female side, our side that allows others to enter our lives without our suspicions or prejudices. Otter teaches us that well balanced female energy is not jealous or malicious, is a spirit of brotherhood, always happy to share her good fortune, as well as enjoy the good fortune of others. Otter teaches us that a loving relationship, it is important to nurture and support each other without compromise the your own individuality.

6. The end of the dream refers to very old tale that deals with the most important for soul: the return to the true home, the return to your own being. The story is commonly called “The Seal Maiden” or Selkie-o, Pamrauk, Little Seal. I first read the book Clarisse Estés Pinkola, Women who run with the Wolves in the story called Sealskin, Soulskin (Homing: Returning to OneSelf). The story tells about where we truly come from, what we are made of, and how we must all, on a regular basis, use our instincts and find our way back home. It tells about the loss of wild soul because of naïveté, poor insight into the motivations of others, inexperience in projecting what might happen in the future,  not pay  attention to all the clues in the environment. The pelt in the story is not so much an article as representation of a  feeling state and a state of being _ a state that is cohesive, soulful and of the wildish female nature. Thanks, Richard, for helping me to return my home.

The song is “Sealwoman/Yundah” by Mary Mclaughlin

Shadow of dream, ancient mystery Oh how I long for your sweet caress Oh how I long for your gentleness Torn between sea mists and solid land Nights when I’ve ached for a human hand I’ll come to you when the moon shines bright But I must go free with the first streak of light Over the waves you call to me Shadow of dream ancient mystery Oh how I long for your sweet caress Oh how I long for your gentleness

7. The fishermen and the dolphins have to do with guilt and fears. At the moment, I have a huge task ahead, my own journey to Erebor. The symbolism of the dolphin can be read in “Dolphin Dream“, and talks mostly about keeping rhythm. My unconscious, overcome with guilt because the energy spent in this world “Richard Armitage” and the fear that it may cause the loss of Erebor, it sends me that  image terrible. As in the dream, I’ll deal with the “terrible things” at the appropriate time, ie, when they happen, and if they happen.

Thanks for reading!

Ana Cris

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Dream in Sydney

Yesterday before going to sleep I was listening to the song The Garden by Einsturzende Neubaten, while reading the latest news of the day about Richard Armitage (I’m sorry, reader for disappoint you, but I do not read about the global economic crisis before I go to bed, or on the Syrian situation!). So, I went to visit Servetus’s blog, and a smile was put upon my face when I saw her kindness of linking my last two posts. I clicked on “I wish this would be your color” to read it not as the author of the text, but as an external reader, to try and capture its feeling. Finally, I visited some friends’s blogs she linked in her post. I read about their expectations of going to meet Richard Armitage in Sydney, at an event hosted by PopcornTaxi in Hayden Orpheum, Cremorne. I feel happy for them! As the event is on the other side of the world, there is no way I could go. But a girl can dream …
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I walk through the hall of a hotel in Sydney. The dim light, the high ceiling and glass wall reflect the sophistication of the place and give it an air of mystery. I walk alone, without haste, wearing a long black dress, which has a small tail, which sinuously crawls across the floor. I have my bare back, but my hair to down to my waist in a cascade black, like the wings of a crow. I’m a grown woman, aware of my femininity and power (1). I walk toward Richard Armitage, which is being awaited for a press conference. He is perfect in his black leather jacket and he has been growing his beard again. An adult man, mature, in the fullness of his masculine energy. We crossed, and I turn slightly my head to offering my face to him, and looking at the floor. His shoulder partially blocks my way and he holds me gently by the arm, whispering in my ear: You will find me if you want me in the garden, unless you send me the rain (2). My shoulders sliding against his shoulder and my hands touch her ​​waist, and then I turn away from him. I smile slightly and follow toward the outer door (3).

While crossing it, one day bright and full of life opens before me. People come and gone in a day full of light, but not of work. I am young again  in my twenties, wearing a flowered dress in pale pinks, just above the knees, white sneakers and a denim jacket(4). My hair is its natural color, light brown and I carry with me some books. I’m in Sydney, and I cannot believe it! I spread a grin from ear to ear.

I see a craft fair in a central square in the city. I go  there apace. I walk among the countless stalls, noting the items that are sold to tourists. Then, I go to a square where artists sell their paintings. I see a gallery of outdoor art, from painting to painting for their color palette. Framed art  flying towards me and I find myself going into colorful landscapes, green fields, blue skies, colorful flowers. It is as if the city would become a Monet painting. I catch sight of the Opera House Sails on the other side of the square, but the sea separates us. However, there are narrow walkways or bridges on the surface, which are ways for people to cross walking the ocean.

I take out my shoes and start walking on one of them. On all sides there is the deep sea and the small waves wet my feet (4). Far away, there is a fishing boat, offering severed heads of dolphins, which they sell to tourists to attract sharks. I think this is a horrible thing, but I decide not to think about it until the right time (7). I sit for a moment on the walkways to try to see the otters, my fingers scratch the water  calling them. I wait…

Bit by bit a couple of otters approaches me (5). They glide through the clear blue water. Their acrobatics appear spontaneous and energetic to as they swim together in a synchronized display, but they maintain their individual swimming routes. I lay on the walkway and stretching my arms in the water to try to get my fingers in its glossy hair. They come to the surface and expel air on my face, splashing water. Like a child I let out a laugh and try to protect me from the water. I move my hands in his silky fur and they plunge back into the sea and disappeared.

So, I meet an old friend (4). We hugged happy and I wonder what she is doing in Sydney. She says  was studying to go to university, but married, had children, and was in Australia. I speak that great, and I’m really happy for her, but I feel a certain sadness in my heart, do not let that show in my face. She asks me what I’m doing in Sydney. Well, I say I’m a touris.  I could not make the student exchange in Australia, with which I had dreamed so much, but I had admission to a PhD program at a Brazil university in a great project, and was very excited about it. We hugged and parted wishing the best for each.

So I come to the garden surrounding the Opera House Sails, I walk slowly to a bank where a man is sitting alone. A sigh out of my chest, Richard Armitage. I smile at him and walk in his direction. At each step, the years of my life keep adding up, and I become again the old woman I am. As I approach it tells me: You did it, you’re in the place you always dreamed of! And he extends his arm, giving me a black cloak. I sit beside him, laying my head on his chest and tell him: Thank you, my dear, for returning  my otter skin (6).

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Interpretation: Dream in Sydney – Part II

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Inspire yourself

Today is a day of celebration! The day we celebrate the beginning of Fabi’s collaboration at La Loba. After a year, we have already 13 posts made ​​in partnership. Then nothing more appropriate than talking about inspiration to celebrate the day! Numerous ideas for the blog are born by our exchanges of emails, from a sentence of Fabi: Why don’t you write about it at La Loba? But her inspiration goes far beyond that, Fabi brings a unique energy to the blog, leonine, solar, optimistic and a Hobbit way of being! Today’s post was born about few months ago, one day I was down and Fabi sent me a selection of Richard Armitage pictures with some motivational phrases. So, you know, an idea came to me and I challenged her to transform those images into gifs! Fabi accepted the challenge and today we have the result. So, to all those who visit La Loba we leave you with one single challenge: “Inspire yourself”!

Text  from J.D. Meier of Sources of Insight

Inspiration is a powerful force, and inspired action is one of the most powerful ways to motivate yourself. If you inspire yourself, you light your fire from the inside out. Here are six ways to light the fire and inspire yourself to take action:

1. Be decisive. Make a decision and “go.”  If you waffle back and forth on things, or can’t make up your mind, you spend a lot of energy in  paralysis.  Instead, decide on something you want, and test it.  The act of making a decision and taking action will build momentum, and fuel your fire and fan your flames.  Rather than trying to figure everything out up front, start taking action, test your path, and learn and adapt along the way.

2. Draw from inspirational words of wisdom. Quotes are your friend.  Whenever you need to summon your inner-strength, it helps if you have little one-liner reminders that keep you going.  One of my favorites is by Winston Churchill, “If you’re going through hell, keep going.”

3. Stand on the “shoulders of giants.” Find some role models and heroes to use to lift your spirits and paint a canvas of possibility.  Just having some examples under your belt can inspire you to new levels. Chances are, no matter what problem or challenge you’re up against, somebody’s been there and done that.  If not exactly, then at least you can draw from similar experiences.

4. Play the favorite scenes in your mind. We all have favorite scenes from movies over the years.  It’s those scenes of triumph, or courage, or an incredible move that inspires us.  Have these at your mental fingertips and draw from them.  Continue to fill and expand your collection by paying attention to the scenes that move you.  You can also draw from scenes in real life.  We all have our shining moments.  Keep those close, and think of them as flash cards to whip out when you need it most.  Simply see the scene in your mind, remember the feeling, and use that to fire you up.

5. Observe the nature. The world around us is full of stories. Inspire yourself for nature, in its eternal cycle of birth, death and rebirth. Inspire yourself from the wildlife and the beauty of the flowers, it bring us numerous solutions to the different challenges of life. Just observe its lessons.

6. Listen to music. Most of the time when I’m writing, or need to make a decision, I’ll listen to music. Certain songs I listen  to give me ideas or energy for action. Need not be the best song in the world, just need to take the right hit!

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I wish this would be your colour

It’s not the red of the setting sun. The morning sheet’s surprising stain. It’s not red of which bleed. The red of Cabernet Sauvignon. A world of ruby  all in vain¹.

It’s not the  scarlet of the Ibis², reborn. Neither the noble red of  Louis XIV or insurgent red  that would rather die than be false to yourself³. Red roses dedicated to Aphrodite or sensuous Crimson, vital and dangerous⁴. It’s  not that red.

It’s not as  golden as the Zeus’ famous shower^1,5. It’s doesn’t come from above. It’s in the open but it doens’t get stolen. It’s not that gold¹. It’s not gold of Versailles. It’s not as golden as memory or age of the same name¹. It’s  not that gold.

It’s not selfish, hypocritical and opportunistic as the dragon⁶. But generous, compassionate and loving, as the  Lion⁷. Solar on its highest level of  knowledge, spirituality and  understanding of self and soul⁸.

It’s not as green as the Nut’s stars  pours upon the earth⁹. It’s not that green. Neither the hopeful green  Jade spikes on butterfly wings to attract love¹⁰. The unconditional love of sacred stone of Venus¹¹.

The green sapphire¹², stable and sturdy, has the lasting strength to deal with adversity⁸. A serene Water-Lily Pond¹³. It’s not that green. It’s not as green as the Amazon¹⁴ that ascends to heaven and poured out upon the earth. It’s not that green. Not at all.

It’s not the gloomy gray  of El Guernica¹⁵. It’s not as dark as the storm arrives. It’s not the drab gray that dominates the urban landscape. The practical and utility  industrial gray, do not want to be seen. It’s not that lifeless gray⁸.

The conservative and neutral cardigan. The balance between black and white. The gray graying of maturity and responsibility⁸. It’s not that gray. Not at all.

It’s not as fulvous¹⁶ as the wild beasts or the movement¹⁷ of the same name. The safety and soundness of the Earth. The confident and bold eye of the tiger^18,19ruled by the Sun.  It’s not the pale tan²⁰ of the wings of eagles. Simple, uncomplicated, natural, eternal and timeless. Not so brown and bitter as the grains²¹ of the Olmecs, the Mayas and the Aztecs. It’s not  fulvous. Not at all.

It’s not  the blue sky on a clear summer day. It’s not  the azure blue  of  toxic dart²². The Blue Bin Weevils²³ of boys’ room. It’s not that blue of Cameron²⁴. It’s not that blue.

It’s not  as dark as the blue of Prussia²⁵ of Picasso²⁶. The nostalgic cobalt blue²⁷ of The Umbrellas²⁸. The deep and thoughtful Lapis²⁹. The idealism of blue jeans that it stays on the maturity of the King³⁰.  The dream blue of Starry Nights³¹. The tranquil blue of Caribbean³². It’s not that blue. Not at all.

I wish this would be your colour…

It is that black^1,33.

It is as black as Malevich’s square¹. The cold furnace in which we stare. It is a starless winternight’s tale. It  is that black¹. The total eclipse of the sun. The dark protective womb of Mother Earth against the emotional stress external⁸. As black as silence and introspection of Saturn, which creates a barrier between you and the outside world⁸. The hidden side of the moon, protecting the emotions and feelings⁸. The black of Onix³⁵, which covers the personality, hiding their vulnerabilities and insecurities. It is that black. It suits you  well. It is that black¹.

I wish this would be your colour…

Your colour, I wish¹.

The meaning of the colors in the words of the Master:

"Instead of trying to exactly what I see before me, I make more arbitrary use of color to express myself more forcefully." Vincent van Gogh

“Colors, like features, follow the changes of the emotions.“ Pablo Picasso

"Color is my daylong obsession, joy, and torment."Claude Monet

“I want a red to be sonorous, to sound like a bell; if it doesn’t turn out that way, I add more reds and other colors until I get it.” Pierre-Auguste Renoir

“Colour is the place where our brain and the universe meet.” Paul Cézanne

“Mere color, unspoiled by meaning and unallied with definite form, can
speak to the soul in a thousand different ways.” Oscar Wilde

“I sensed a scream passing through nature. I painted . . . the clouds as actual
blood. The colour shrieked.” Edvard Munch, on his painting The Scream

References and Notes

(Thanks Fabi, for help in search of the meaning of colors)

1. Sabrina – Einstürzende Neubauten

The song talks about the colours of Germany.

2.  Scarlet Ibis (Eudocimus ruber), bird endangered that reappeared in Cubatao, Brazil, a city that was once considered the most polluted in the world.

3. Colors of the French Revolution

4.  Carmen Opera

 

5. In Greek mythology, Danaë was a daughter of King Acrisius of Argos and his wife Queen Eurydice. She was the mother of Perseus by Zeus. Disappointed by his lack of male heirs, Acrisius asked an oracle if this would change. The oracle que Told him he would be killed by his daughter’s son. She was childless and, meaning to keep her so, he shut her up in a bronze tower or cave. But Zeus came to her in the form of golden rain, and impregnated her. Soon after, Their child Perseus was born.

6. Smaug the Golden.

7. Color that represents the sign of Leo

8. To understanding the Meaning of Colors see Color Psychology

9. Malachite – In the Egyptian Book of the Dead it is said that the goddess of the sky, Nut ", drops stars on the earth in the shape of green stones.

10. Jade is an ancient love attracting stone, carved into a butterfly, in China it is worn to draw love.

11. The emerald is the sacred stone of the goddess Venus.

12. Sapphire

 

13.Claude Monet, "Water-Lily Pond"

14. Amazon Rainforest

15. Pablo Picasso, El Guernica

16. Fulvous

17.Fauvism

18. Eye of the Tiger

19. Tiger Eye

20. Tan

21. Cacau

 

22. Blue Poison Frog (Dendrobates azureus). These amphibians are often called "dart frogs" due to the Amerindians‘ indigenous use of their toxic secretions to poison the tips of blowdarts.

23. Quote from Richard Armitage: Bunnyboo1923: If you were to make a Bin Weevil, what color would you be? Richard: I would choose blue.

24. Avatar

25. Prussian blue

26. Picasso’s_Blue_Period

27. Cobalt Blue

28. The Umbrellas – Palette Renoir

29. Lapis lazuli

30. Blue is the color of Thorin Oakenshield, King under the Mountain.

31.  The Starry Night – Vincent van Gogh

32. Caribbean Blue

33. Quote from Richard Armitage: I try not to wear black, but I end up choosing black more than anything else.

34. Black Square – Kasimir Malevich.

35. Onix

My color is black. As Renoir: "I’ve been 40 years discovering that the queen of all colours was black."

I usually wear black, earth tone colours, militar green and eventually blue. Hardly yellow, red, pink and orange. But these colors are present in the decoration of my house.
What color do you want to be Richard Armitage’s or your color?

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The wind will carry us – Le vent nous portera

Do not be afraid of the road^1,2. Of the empty that arises in the chest. Do not be afraid to venture into the beyond. Do not be afraid to launch into the unknown. You have to see it, you have to live it. It’s necessary to experiment the meander of life. The wind will take us.
And everything will be okay.

The wind will take our prayers to the Big Dipper. You have to believe. Even an instant of velvet. That nothing is useless. Each moment has a purpose. The dream, the fantasy, the love. That’s our flying carpet. The wind will take it away.

And everything will disappear.

The prejudice and pride. These wounds that keep us apart. The wind will carry it away. The palaces of the yesterday, today and tomorrow. The walls that surround us. The wind will cast it into the atmosphere.

And everything will be okay.

The dust in our minds. The perfume of our dead years. The genetics that weighs on our shoulders. The memories that bind us to the past. The wind will carry it away. As the tide rises.

And everything will disappear.

Do not be afraid of shadows. The deeper parts of your kidneys. Fears, disappointments, broken dreams. Everything will disappear. The wind will carry it away.

And everything will be okay.

Infinity of destinies knocks on your door. Which will you choose? Everyone’s caught their accounts. We are not sure of tomorrow, but our flying carpet, our immortal soul, the wind will take it to the Big Dipper. And those wounds that keep us apart.

Everything will disappear.

I’m not afraid of the road. Of the empty that is on my chest. I’m not afraid to throw myself into the unknown. Of the meander of our body. Let’s just see, let’s just live. The wind will take us away.

And everything will be okay.

References and Notes

1. Shophie Hunger – Le Vent nous Portera (lyrics and translate)

2. Noir Desir – Le Vent nous Portera

3. Richard Armitage as John Thornton and Daniela Denby-Ashe as Margaret Hale in North and South. DVD. BBC. Images available in RAnet

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Best Bloopers

Interviewer: The joy of having home entertainment releases and blu rays is the fact that there are loads of stuff that we didn’t get to see behind the scenes stuff, bloopers, blah blah blah, that you can shove on there as extras.

Richard Armitage: Yeah. Are there bloopers? Oh my goodness!

Ana Cris (in my mind): Please, no!

Interviewer: Well, it’s that kind of thing. but is there something that you think that happened on set that we will never see on a blooper but you do have to tell me about!

 

 

 

 

Richard Armitage: Um, Oh my goodness! possibly, possibly me vomiting into a bucket after the escape from the globin tunnels’ cause we were so hot and tired and I remember coming around the corner and taking a massive gulp of water and the throwing it up. Hopefully that’s not on dvd.

^{Source gifs: cloudy-line}

Ana Cris (in my mind): Poor Richard, I know what that is!

Interviewer: Hi Ana Cris, and you, I Imagine that in your life there are some good blooper too. Could you tell us some?

Ana Cris: Well, there are some, but I think the best was the latest. How Richard I was tired, but happy that finally the weekend arrived, and would no longer have to deal with Goblin King. But then I have some problems  with gravity, especially in steep surfaces, uneven and slippery, which some call the stairs.

Richard Armitage: Some of your friends told me that you have problems dealing with flat surfaces, perfectly regular too.

Ana Cris: No, it is opposition intrigue!

Interviewer: I think we have some images here!

Source gifs: Fabi

Ana Cris: Oh, my God!

Richard Armitage: Ok, Ana Cris. That’s a beautiful image!

Ana Cris: I know, the trophy “The best bloopers”  is mine! (laughing)

References and Notes

1. Richard Armitage on the bloopers

2. Penguin Fail – Best bloopers

 

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10 Things Richard Armitage ruined in my life!

Text by Fabi and Ana Cris

The following text has no intention to offend the fans of the characters, actors, films or genres cited. Images are for illustration purposes only.

1. Mr. Darcy

Mr. Darcy used to be "My Romantic Hero" of period films. He used to be, just until the day I watched BBC North & South miniseries and put my eyes on Mr. Thornton, master of smoldering and brooding, the tall and devastatingly handsome cotton mill owner in Milton. During the tea scene at Hale’s home, still on the 1st episode, I totally fell in love with that character, the energetic, stern, dedicated, honored and yet deeply passionate Victorian entrepreneur and, consequently, the actor who gave him life, his eyes like blue steel and his interpretation based on subtle facial and body expressions. Sorry Mr. Darcy, the crown now belongs to another!

2. Robin Hood

After watching the BBC series Robin Hood where Richard Armitage portrayed the anti-hero Guy of Gisborne, supposedly one of the villains of the series, I now consider that one who had always been my childhood hero a mere coadjuvant of the story and worse, I was fervently hoping for the Black Knight had a twist in his destiny and find his way to redemption with Lady Marian. Blame it the costume designer? In part: who could resist all that black leather? But mainly because of Armitage’s complex interpretation that grewmore and more in every season. Too bad the writers were not militants of Armitage Army!

3. Spy movies.

Diving into the dark world of espionage, full of characters with ambiguous morality, intrigues and conspiracies, which resemble film noir mixed with shootouts and  breathtaking chases, is certainly a great choice for the weekend. Of course, Bond is the  most famous agent of the genre, but he is far from being the spy of spies, although recently he had some introspective  and deep moments. However, Richard Armitage goes much deeper into the psyche of his troubled hero Lucas North, the agent of ethereal beauty of MI-5. Armitage described Lucas as "very ambiguous, and" a bit of a double edged sword, so he is not completely white. He is a bit of a dark horse. "Like most of us, Lucas is trying to adjust to the outside world, with the best he can do with his emotional and psychological difficulties. But if it’s for Richard Armitage to encarnate a Bond, so be the "The Spy who Loved Me", because "Nobody Does it Better."

4. Action Movies

Who says that action films, shooting, violence, made ​​almost exclusively for male public consumption can not be appreciated by women, who originally would abominatee this genre? Such a person never watched Strike Back, where the ex-SAS John Porter demonstrates that under all those muscles and exacerbated testosterone may rather be a many-sided hero, torn between the duty to his country and the humanitarian ideals. A heart that feels love, compassion, honor and loyalty throughout his hunt for terrorists groups. Richard Armitage with his deep blue eyes, muscles of steel and talent, once for all buries the vast collection of alpha males, with sculpted bodies, but dispossessed of complexity. Sorry, guys, you are still out of our radar!

5. Marvel heroes

Every girl needs a hero to call hers. And Marvel provides a wide range of physical types, abilities and personalities. Wolverine was my favorite Marvel hero, the typical anti-hero, the taciturn nature, irreverent, rebellious, rude and lonely. But it was just Richard Armitage appear as the enigmatic villain, Heinz Kruger, so I move to the dark side! Kruger is a highly expert secret agent, an innate killer, loyal to his country. He is intelligent and highly trained, skilled in combat, armed or not, he almost manages to escape from Steve Rogers, a super soldier of laboratory. The scenes of Armitage in Captain America, exploding the laboratory with his lighter, in a car chase and escape in a submarine are the most memorable of the movie. Who needs heroes in Lycra leotard with vibrant colors? Gave us Richard Armitage, a well-lined suit, and no one will want to be saved!

6. The Peoples of Middle-earth

The literature of Tolkien is direct heir of mythologies and fairy tales, so no wonder that it is the natural habitat of different peoples and creatures that populate the fictional world of Middle-earth. Elves, Men, Hobbits, Dwarves, if you read "The Lord of the Rings" by Tolkien, or took the shortcut and dived in the trilogy by Peter Jackson, you found a diversity of cultures and races that probably fueled your imagination or at least was good to your eyes through the beautiful landscapes of New Zealand. All we wanted of PJ for The Hobbit were old, grumpy and bearded dwarves, with faces of Tolkien’s dwarves. But Tolkien has not described them, only the size of their beard and the color of their hats. But PJ had to tarnish our beloved Middle-earth with hot dwarves! Worse, he had to do Thorin a flawed hero with the face of Richard Armitage. Neither Sauron would think such wickedness. Yet, if he knew it was enough to have Richard Armitage: One Actor to rule them all, One Actor to find them, One Actor to bring them all and in the "fangirling" bind them, Sauron would not have wasted so much time looking for a ring. By the way, where is "My Precious"?

7. Geeks

We all attended high school and come across that geek, weird boy like Sheldon and co. from the Big Bang Theory TV series. Unsightly, dull, sexless, socially inept, and boring "I-know-everything" guys. But again we have Richard Armitage to break paradigms and overcome prejudices. After all, he is a geek! For example, when preparing for the role of Thorin Oakenshield, he went deep down and read almost all Tolkien books! Most of his co-stars barely read The Hobbit. The interviews made to publicize the film showed well this fact, he just knows Middle Earth as few. Review your concepts: geeks can be sexy!

8. Books.

Sometimes I identify myself as the donkey in It’s a Book animation based on the book by Lane Smith. Can you blog about Richard Armitage? Can you twitter about? Make a fanvideo? Fanart? Fanfictions? Can you create a Tumblr? Select scenes and make gifs? Attend a forum, twitter, chat? Doesn’t seem to have enough time in the day for so many activities related to Richard Armitage. In the Paleozoic, I sat on the bus, and read a book along the way. All waiting time was a time to reading! Now, I am connected by these names, wireless, iPhone, smartphone, tablet, iPad, iPod, etc. Read a book? It’s an audiobook of Richard Armitage? Sometimes I need to remember … No, it’s a book!

9. Talk Shows.

I never was a fan of talk shows. It is a genre that seems to have proliferated in recent years. Or just now I started paying attention to its existence (very likely). In general, the programs are based on the personality of interviewer, leading a conversation apparently unscripted or improvisated. Anyway, the impression I have is that the interviewers know very little about their interviewees, and what we have is more of the same! (Probably both statements are not entirely true!). Here is a list of the 10 Most Influential Talk Shows. Proving my ignorance about talk shows, I just know Ellen DeGeneres. And every interview I ask myself: Ellen, why not Richard Armitage? He dances like nobody! And I do not mind if it’s more of the same!

10. My reputation.

As Bilbo Baggins, most people considered me very respectable, because they believed that the time of adventures and unexpected things was left behind in my youth. And so they could learn about any subject without the bother of asking me. But as Bilbo, I met Thorin and company, and I found myself doing and saying things totally unexpected, and embarked on the adventure. So, I may have lost the respect of some neighbors, but what I gained from this? Well, you’re going to see if I won anything at the end!

 

Ruined by:

Warning: If you are not a fan of Richard Armitage.

Stop! The following images can ruin your life!

 

If Richard Armitage ruined something in your life,

Please share with us!

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What you’re seeing here? Reversing how we think about Richard Armitage.

This week I was reading a scientific article Reversing how to think about ambiguous figure reversals of Mitroff, Sobel & Gopnik on the neural processes of interpretation of ambiguous figures. The introduction of the article brings us: Every view of our visual world gives rise to an infinite number of interpretations. Only through a series of inferential processes do we perceive a consistent and stable environment. These inferences occur so smoothly that they are rarely noticed. However, certain stimuli can create problems for the visual system and in so doing allow for a glimpse into the inferential processes. One such class of stimuli is ambiguous figures – single images that can give rise to multiple interpretations. For example, if you look at Figure 1, your percept should occasionally reverse – alternating between a ‘young’ and a ‘old’ woman (Mitroff et al., in press).

At that point, I stopped reading the article. I closed my eyes, and I, isolating me from the outside world, thought: What exactly do we see when we look at a image of Richard Armitage? Applying the definition of Mitroff et al. An ambiguous image (actually complex), a stimulus which can give rise to multiple interpretations of the actor. In psychology, the study of perception is very important because people’s behavior is based on their interpretation of reality, not reality itself.

Traditionally there have been two competing theories of how one’s   interpretation of an  ambiguous figure reverses, but this issue remains, at best, ambiguous. According to the satiartion theory  (a bottom-up explanation)ambiguous figures reversals occur through a process analogous to neuronal fatigue  when perciving color  afterimages. If you stare for a  green color patch, and then shift your gaze to  a white patch, you will perceive red. The initial exposure to green fatigues the filiring"green neurons" and when you shift to a white patch, the "red neurons" which are not fatigued, dominate (Mitroff et al. In press).

Figure 2. Richard Armitage for Fault magazine.

Thus, extnding this analogy, perceiving a young woman in Figure 1 will eventually fatigue the neurons that represent the  "young"interpretation, giving way to the percept of the old woman. Alternatively, a cognitive theory (a top-down explanation) suggests that a reversal can occur only if: a) an observer knows  the figure is ambiguous, b) knows the two specific interpretations of the figure,and  c) has the intended to reverse.

To investigate these hypotheses, Mitroff et. al  presented the 34 children aged 3 to 5 years old with the ambiguous figures task and ‘metacognitive’ theory of mind tasks (See the article for details). Twelve of 34 (35.3%) children spontaneously reversed the ambiguous figures. Twenty of the remaining 22 children  reversed the figures after they were informed of the ambiguity and two failed to make any reversal. Therefore, the results do not support either of the two hypotheses of ambiguous figure reversals. Only a hybrid model that incorporates both bottom-up and top-down contribution can account for these findings (Mitroff et al. In press). However, the  results provide crucial piece to an puzzle. First, to reverse an ambiguous figure, informed or otherwise, observers need to possess certain mental representational capacities. Without  understanding that a single image can have multiple percepts, observers will perseverate on a single interpretation. Second, to reverse a figure spontaneously,  observers must posses additional capabilities, above and beyond understanding that a single image can have more than one percept. Without the ability to reason about multiple representations of more complex, or ‘metacognitive’ manner, it is unlikely that observers will a) infer the ambiguity, b) infer the potential perceptions, and then c) discover the bistability of ambiguous figures (Mitroff et al. In press) . But what is metacognition? Portilho (2009) and other authors define the term as "cognition about cognition", "thinking about thinking" or "knowledge about knowledge itself."

In other words, we can say that metacognition involves knowing your own knowledge, be able  to think about yourself in a "movement to back the eyes to yourself  and  discover yourself" (Portilho, 2009).

Figure 4. Gnothi seauton, Know thyself. Tattoo Lucas North,  character of the series Spooks, British TV, BBC.

So what exactly do we see when looking at a picture of Richard Armitage? As the authors of the article, we do not have enough data to answer this question. Each point of view will give rise to an infinite number of interpretations. However, analysis of our inferential processes can reveal crucial elements of our interpretation of reality.

As in the satiation theory, our process may be dominated by bottom-up mechanisms, once we  fatigued  our  neural network with the interpretation X, we can move to the interpretation Y, using our receivers not fatigued, thus expanding our understanding of the actor (and/or his admirers). Alternatively,  top-down mechanism (cognitive theory) may also be involved. When we accept that what we see may have different interpretations, we know two or more specific interpretations and we intend to reverse, we can extend our interpretation of reality. This mechanism is very present in participants of forum discussions, blogs, etc, where different observers discuss their unique and personal interpretations, and thus broaden their mental representational capacities  of reality. However, without the acceptance that a single image can have multiple perceptions, observers will persevere in a single interpretation, generally considering their "right" or "true".

Finally, without the ability to reason about yourself, about your own knowledge, beliefs and values​​, your memories and experiences, without  delve into your inner world and undertake the essential journey of self. It is unlikely that observers will infer ambiguity, perceptions potential and  stability of different interpretations. As we gain new information about ourselves, our perception changes. Generally, people are afraid to look at theirselves, to see theirselves as they really are, and thus transmute what belongs to the realm of shadows. In general, we project the other what we reject in ourselves, i.e., our shadow, creating a distorted image of reality that surrounds us.

A final aspect to be considered is the fact that the perception of certain aspects related to human characteristics, or even the "construction of perception" of certain human characteristics, can also be socially constituted. Issues of gender, race, nationality, sexuality and others, can also be interfered with by a form of perception that is socially constructed (Barros, 2005). Thus, for example, the way we perceive what "being a man" or "being a woman" is also a social construction,  as well as how societies perceive the different ways of experiencing sexuality (Barros, 2005). And within society, there are some who consider themselves guardians of the collective tradition, people who support the status quo without questioning it, and that may disparage or discourage efforts that do not harmonize with their preferences.

The teacher of our group finished reading the article quoting Amit Goswami, "reality" is also a matter of perspective.I open my eyes back to the present moment: young-old-youngold, duck-rabbit-duck-rabbit, Ana Cris-Richard Armitage. The images have not changed, it was that I saw in another manner.

Reference

Barros, J. d’Assunção. (2005). Igualdade, desigualdade e diferença: em torno
de três noções. Análise Social, vol. XL (175), 2005, 345-366. Available only in Portuguese.

Mitroff, S. R., Sobel, D. M., & Gopnik, A. (in press). Reversing how to think about ambiguous figure reversals: Spontaneous alternating by uninformed observers. Perception.

Portilho, E. M. L. O desafio de conhecer-se para conhecer. In: PAROLIN, I. (Org.). Sou  Professor. A Formação do Professor Formador. Curitiba: Positivo, 2009. Available only in Portuguese.

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