Patterns of life and death beneath the steel

I am wondering a lot these days. I wonder about patterns, about spirals (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Golden_spiral)

 and screws

(https://www.princeton.edu/~maelabs/mae324/04/04mae_17.htm)  

and dendrites. I wonder about life and about death. Yes, I have a reason, but there is no reason involved, or better, more than reason it is that is involved.

 There are these curling, swirling patterns in the steel... steel I found in the woods.

Of course you can explain this metallurgically sound: These are deviations in the carbon content or - distribution. In the forging process you break up the dendrites of, say Wootz steel or crucible steel... and only then, when you submit it to fire and work, will these patterns show. Steel is not a gentle material. It is cold as death, and even more so when you look at these dendrite structures or the swirling patterns in the steel of the blade.

For some reason I have always emotionally connected dendrites and crystals with death.

There is this association of winter with death, and winter is full of flakes, of scales of ice and snow. Maybe it is because of this. But dendrites are not only found in crystals, but also elsewhere.

Some people mock at me because I am that fond of spirals. And spirals are everywhere and have become a symbol of blossoming and prosperity, of fertility and renewal with mankind. And yet, when you look at the way dendrites grow in screw dislocations, they are there, also.

And if you look at the famed Mandelbrot simulation, which is a diagram of the formula z->z²+c and is an evaluation of imaginary and concrete numbers, there you have it, too:

And what do you have there, when you look at it from a mythogrammatical or poetologic point of view, is something very weird. Reality, well, is just reality, but what is imaginary? The word derives from Latin "imago" and stands for a picture. And yet "Imago mundi" is more than just a picture of the world, as the name might imply. It is more of a view. What, then, you ask, is a view?

And then there is the different between the semantic properties of  "image" versus "picture" or depiction. The image of a person is that which is made of a summary of his real and imagined properties and the way he or she portrays him or herself in public. Sometimes it is just wishful thinking. Now, wishful thinking can be seen as negative quite easily. But sometimes you need imagination to change yourself. Say, you are a bit huge around the hips. You have to envision yourself with a sixpack (and I am not talking  Coronas here ;-)), or even a tiny bit leaner, to even start losing fat. Then you can achieve a goal in the first. So the imago, as I want to call it from now on, starts becoming reality. Just for theory modelling I want to define the imago as the properties not given concretely in reality a priori, but by will or another impetus becoming a "goal" and therefore standing a chance of becoming real. This is a constant process.

I constantly ponder the question: How does the fern know how to grow? And why is the world made from patterns of spirals, dendrites, honeycombs, flakes and structures that have an immanent logic and are capable of being reproduced mathematically? Yeah, there are a lot of short and long answers to it, from "all is Gods creation" to "everything can be explained", but that´s not the culprit.  

The "other world", the "yonder", "heaven" (or hell, if you so will), in that theoretical context, seems to be much, much more than is portrayed in all the mythologies of the world. More so, it can be mathematically and physically explained, even if the complex and real numbers and consequentially the Mandelbrot set are just one aspect of this relationship of "mind and matter";-).

How, for instance, does a tree grow out of dendrites and spirals and root and stem and crown? What do the structures in the bark tell us? No, I do not think, there is only one "plan" and the tree just follows through. The way it grows is fractal. Say, the seed is resting in the earth and "wants" to grow out of the ground. Now postulate there are several universes and in each one of them there is a tiny detail that is different. Let us just look at two of them: In one plot the sapling simply grows straight out of the ground, so it becomes straight as an arrow. In the other a heavy branch had fallen from the crown over the sapling. Now there are several more plots. One possibility is that the seed dies and the sapling never grows. Another is that it has to grow around the branch... and a lot more I cannot think of now, and each and every one opens up new possibilities. The tree follows through a course of circumstances. These circumstances are not arbitrary in themselves, but fractal. Each fractal complex is interconnected with the other. The whole unit is so complex that I can safely argue that it is not to be described.

 

And look at this: This is not a renaissance ornament. It is a pine cone. Above you can watch an inspiring video by video artist Vi Hart with a bit of humour ;-).

Turn the pine cone, and there are the scales formed by a golden ratio spiral in the third dimension.

This is what we tend to forget: That even two - dimensional diagrams and concepts can be three- or four - dimensional. When we watch Vi Hart drawing lines on paper, two-dimensional gets a third dimension that is essentially the fourth: Time.

In a time lapse of a fern we see it grow. And trees grow. They grow year rings, but what we see...

Are scales on the bark, and similar patterns.

It grows in dendrites, and the stem is forked...

And when we look at it, we have to keep in heart that it grows at this very moment.

 

If you look at a screw from above, you´ll see a spiral...

Snow crystals grow in dendrites... but essentially they are water.

There are patterns that repeat themselves...

Rhythms...

...

...

...

I am not a mathematician. I can barely understand the Mandelbrot set. I am a writer, a poet maybe. But to understand the beauty of these dynamics, I need not know. I just have to see.

And there is so much to see. Spirals from spirals stem to dendrites and spirals... winter from summer, and summer from winter. Oh, true, also the life of my old mother which is currently in danger. But my mother is not just what she is now, but she is everything she always was and will be. Her life is something that I cannot fathom, as I cannot fathom mine. I´d wish she would get well again, of course, but I have to remind myself that she is more than just the momentary person, but a dynamic process embedded into a complex pattern. She IS the complex pattern, and will be and was, for, if you look at a screw from above, it is a spiral. If you look at a life from outside, there is no time dimension, or more than time, so to say. Words (or even maths) are not made to describe this. But one can feel it. One can feel the spirals turning and swirling. How can that be?

Now on another occasion I have stated that I have the strong suspicion that there is a connexion between the whiplash line and a dynamic yin yang in satori, flow or eucharist: http://fimbulmyrk.blogspot.de/2013/06/the-whiplash-line-what-mountainbike.html

This connexion is an interspersion of fractal systems. Let´s talk flow for starters. Say, a climber or mountainbiker experiences flow in a natural environment... The experience is called "autotelic" in sports psychology. This means that, since Hogrebe (1995: Metaphysik und Mantik)  along the lines of Hegelian dialectic, stated that semantic orientation in the human mind is vectorial, "telic" (the term deriving from Greek: telos: missile, javelin, arrow), the semantic experience of flow is returning onto itself and similar to itself, like the Mandelbrot set is. This is a feature of fractal logic. So, one can assume that flow a priori is fractal. Flow takes place in natural environments (Williams / Harvey 2001: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S027249440190204X) and is triggered by e.g. forest environments.

Now that mountainbike rider rides through a trail in the woods where he experiences flow. And, to my personal experience, flow occurs often when there are a lot of dynamics shifts of weight and balance involved and at roundabout 80% of your own capability. Now many efficient moves in mountainbiking (bunny hop, manual, wheelie, even pedal strokes) follow circular and golden ratio spiral patterns (especially the bunny hop):

Look closely at the motion of the handlebar when the rider pulls at it.

Now this is not just about riding bikes and certainly no tutorial. If you feel so inclined, feel free to practice your hopping skills no less, but even in the intro of the vid you can see when you look at the movements of the bikes and riders through the berms, that their movements are smoothly and dynamically following circular or spiralling patterns. The system of all their movements during their descent is "constructed" fractal. And, according to my experience, it is trails like that in the video that are inclined to induce flow. Now add to all this that it takes place in a forest, on a trail that is subject to constant dynamic changes, that are self-similar in themselves, and the feeling of flow is par definitionem self-similar and self-directed.

Now flow would be just a psychological feature of some superficial members of the leisure society doing some fun sport, were it not described in books and stories far older than even the bicycle, let alone the mountainbike scene. From epiphany, hierophany, bodhodaya, satori, the descriptions of this dynamic psychological status are legion and congruent. It is in epiphany (according to Christian belief) alone that one can agnize that Christ is the son of God. It is called bodhodaya, when Arjuna in Hindu myth agnizes that his charioteer Krishna indeed is the incarnation of God (Bhagavadgita), and only in this state of mind he is able to do so. Flow therefore might be the state of mind to dissolve the conflict between the tininess of our agnition capacity and the fractal vastness of the universe. It´s so simple it would be a laughing matter. Of course I would like to continue on this topic...

...but in the meantime...

...I think...

...I´ll just have a cuppa forest.

        

 

Following the fox-a spiritual bimble to the Hünenpforte (giant´s gate)

 I was feeling a bit queasy*ggg* all day and thought of foxes.... erm, WE thought of foxes all the time*ggg*.

 So I remembered the local legend of the "giant´s gate" (Hünenpforte):


"Ein armer Wanderer war vom Rheine hergekommen und wollte nach Limburg an der Lenne. Ein Stündchen hinter Schwelm, nicht weit von Voerde. fragte er nach dem nächsten Wege. Der Gefragte war ein Zwerg und gab zur Antwort:„Der kürzeste Weg geht durch den Berg. Hier ist der Eingang. Doch damit du nicht irregehst, so nimm diesen Fuchs mit dir! Du brauchst dich nur an seinem Schwanze festzuhalten, so bringt er dich sicher ans Ziel." Unser Wandersmann befolgte den Rat und kam in die Klutert, eine Höhle mit vielen Gängen, die sich stundenweit ins Gebirge erstreckt.
Nicht immer konnte er aufrecht gehen; manchmal musste er auf allen Vieren kriechen; immer hielt er jedoch den Fuchsschwanz fest. So sah er endlich den Ausgang schimmern. Da hörte er plötzlich ein sonderbares Geräusch. Vorsichtig streckte er seinen Kopf heraus. Wie erschrak er, als er dicht vor sich auf dem Rasen einen gewaltigen Riesen sah, der sich im Schlafe geschüttelt hatte!
Rasch versteckte er sich in den Felsspalten der Höhle. doch so, dass er den Riesen immer im Auge behielt. Der erwachte mit großem Geschnarche, richtete sich auf er war wohl sieben Ellen hoch - reckte sich und stöhnte, dass die Felsen widerhallten. Dann schritt er zur nahen Quelle, füllte sein mächtiges Horn und nahm seinen Mittagstrunk. Endlich aber wendete er die Nase nach allen vier Winden. „Es muss ein Mensch in der Nähe sein“, sprach er bei sich, doch so, dass der arme Wicht in der Höhle jedes Wort verstehen konnte.„ „Wie gut sollte er mir schmecken, wenn ich ihn nur hätte! Hungrig bin ich ja noch; die drei Häschen, die ich heute erst gespeist, haben mich noch nicht satt gemacht!“ Er fing an zu fluchen und stöberte zwischen allen Felsen umher; nur dachte nicht daran, in die Höhle zu blicken. Denn dass der Mensch da zu finden sein könne, fiel ihm nicht ein. So entging ihm die Beute. Er wusste sich endlich vor Zorn und Wut nicht mehr zu fassen, riss Bäume aus mit ihren Wurzeln und wälzte sie den Berg hinab; auch mächtige Steinblöcke riss er los und schleuderte sie ins Tal. Bis dahin hatte der arme Hans immer noch seinen Fuchs festgehalten. Als er aber das grässliche Getöse vernahm, erschrak er so, dass er den Fuchsschwanz fahren ließ. Der Fuchs ließ sich`s nicht zweimal sagen, dass er nun frei sein sollte. Voller Freude sprang er aus der Höhle heraus und an dem Riesen vorbei in den Wald. Der Riese lief mit großen Schritten hinter ihm her und erhob sein Jagdgebrüll, das wie Donner rollte. Aber es ward immer schwächer, je mehr sich der Riese von der Höhle entfernte, und unserem Reisenden kam die alte Munterkeit wieder. Er eilte aus seinem Versteck hervor und lief spornstreichs hinunter nach Limburg, das vor ihm im Sonnenstrahl erglänzte. Aber es dauerte noch einige Zeit, bis er sein fröhliches Lied wieder anstimmen konnte. Seit der Zeit wird die Öffnung der Höhle, vor der der Wandersmann den Riesen getroffen hat, das Hünentor genannt." From:http://kudg-holthausen.de/holthausen/interessantes/huenenpforte/sage-huenenpforte.htm


I translate:


"Once upon a time, a poor wanderer, coming from Rheine, wanted to get to Limburg at the Lenne. One hour of travel after Schwelm he met a dwarf in Voerde and asked him of the direction. He replied: The shortest passage is the one through the mountain. Here is the entrance. And unto you should not go amiss, I give this fox to you. he knows well where to go. Cling to his tail, and he will guide you." The wanderer took the advice and came into the Klutert cave, which is a  widespread tunnel system reaching for hours deep into the mountains, and always did he cling to the fox´s tail, until he saw daylight. But how frightened was he when he learned that near the entrance slept a giant, well over ten feet high! With a mighty roar he awoke, shuffled over to the nearby well and filled his giant drinking horn and took his lunchtime drink. Finally he sniffed along the four winds and muttered: "There must be a human  around!How well must he taste, for I have but eaten three little hares today, and they could not satisfy me!" He started to curse under his breath and rummaged around the cave, between the rocks, and by the well, but that the wanderer was in hiding in the cave, he could not think of. So he could not find the poor wanderer, who sat there in hiding, utterly frightened, and he was getting more and more furious.And the wanderer cowered ever lower in his hiding, until he let go of the fox´s tail. The fox ran away, and passed the giant. And the giant let go his hunting roar and pursued the animal, and ever farther away from the cave the fox led him. The wanderer, however, escaped and finally arrived at Limburg, but it was a long time until he found his blissful song again."

 The weather was being fine, and the woods were murky... a very special atmosphere lingers around the place, and I took it in in deep breaths. The saga is old. Could it be that the dwarf and the fox might act as psychopomps? Is there a Shamanic background? The Klutert cave has never had a connection to the Hünenpforte geologically. So why has the saga been told that way? Is it a case of simple analogy? Who is this giant? Local legends often have an older saga as  a predecessor, and you can rely on dwarfs, giants, animals, white women and other figures and personae relating back to pagan times. The older versions were corrupted for several reasons:

-folkloristic trading often leads to many things getting lost in the process
-Christian monasterical recording in most cases corrupted local legends by purpose
-Adaptation of graver topics as child-adequate in the enlightment movement
-Romanticism often went to grave libetries with the subject

If you know how it was being made, you get a grammar as to how the subject might have been changed.

 The path is narrow, though, and truth is hard to find;-) and the trail was narrow and difficult indeed, with a good deal of climbing involved.

 Raspberries were blossoming.

 Evergreen covered the ground, thick as a matress. There was this contrast of light and murk everywhere. I passed by the ruins of an ancient tower. 

 Submerged deep in the green, there lies the arch of the giant´s gateway, all but undisturbed by the roaring traffic on the highway below.

 Into the darkness I ventured, deep into the stronghold of the earth.

 At the entrance, at the side with the well, there was this "rock formation";-). Below it someone had heaped roses and wildflowers, draped systematically. There, I offered my respect to the place and the force of the land, and to the Earth mother, and I sat down and meditated.

 It was happening when I was deep in meditation when a pointed nose and two pointed ears, clad in red fur looked around the corner. In broad daylight, a fox came by the place. It was so unreal, I was asking myself if I was dreaming. Of course, I fumbled my camera. And he seemed to grin as he went on his merry way. I wished him a good journey. I was sitting there, quite amazed, but with a deep peace filling my heart and soul.

I left the place.

 Through the giant´s gate I went, into the enchanted sunlight.

And on my way back, a legend was forming in my mind.

Watch this place;-).

Spirals on a tree or the secret of the freeclimbing hardcore snails

 Now, back to earth...;-), I set out to do some foraging again... winter will come sooner than I´d like... got myself some hawthorn berries (crataegus laewigata, in German: Weißdorn, Mehlbeeren) to take home for starch, but as is, I am way too hoggish, and that was it... snacked them all up while walking, soooo I´ll have to do it all over again.

 But I got some cartload of blackberries (rubus sectio rubus, in German: Brombeere, British: brambles). This is a plant that has many properties. For instance, the leaves can be used as an antiseptic for inflammations of the mouth and pharynx. The dried leaves of lightly haired kinds can be used as a medicinal against mild diarrhoea. I even heard a preparation can be used externally against milder cases of neurodermitis or other chronical inflammations of the skin. In any case, the berries taste great to boot and can be used to make jam, jelly or cordial, wine and liquor. The plant might even hint to the Kenning of Muin, an Ogham letter, as a substitution for red wine grapes in ancient time. Its connotation after Mc Manus and Ranke - Graves is also "mountain of poesy". That did not help them a bit from being eaten by me, though;-).

....or by some wasps, coming to think of it....

On an elderberry twig I stripped I met this teenie-weenie-mini snail.... did not eat it, though, I am not THAT hoggish, mind you;-).

Went to the bank, too. Some idiot insists on leaving his crap in the woods, always at the same place, neatly stacked. So, since there´s a refund of 0,25€ on each of those cans, I took them GLADLY with me. 2,00€ quickly earned, and a cleaner wood in the bargain.

Then it was getting slightly strange. This snail stuck to a blackberry vine in some 2 m height. Quite a feat of freeclimbing, if you ask me!

Got some Chrome-Vanadium steel (or any such like stainless steel) stuck in the earth.

More elderberries (sambucus nigra, in German: Holunderbeeren). They have some interesting medicinal properties, too. Good as a tea (dried berries) against the flu, against mild kidney affections, and sweat inducing and bettering bloodflow. The berries are rich with Vitamin C and contain many flavonoids and the pigment antocyan, which is said to have an antiocarcinogenic effect. Green berries and other parts of the plant are rumoured to be toxic, containing the cyanogenic glycoside Sambunigrin. This might explain, why one old blacksmith told me a recipe for tempering knife and chisel blades in finely ground green elderberries, urine, soot and letting a piece of pork meat or rawhide rot in that concoction, and then tempering in it. It should get better with every turn... maybe I´ll try that some day...

 In any case, the berries were also used as a pigment in ancient times, for dyeing cloth and leather or even as a make-up or for colouring red wine. In Germany, myth had it told that Lady Holda / Holla, (Frau Holle) lived in a holly bush and one should tip one´s hat when passing. The plant had not to be hurt without offering to the tree or apologising in any way to it. I have also heard it should be good against witches, but I do not believe this crap any more*g. No plant whatsoever is good against witches.*g

This tree especially was full of snails, giving the impression of many spirals sprouting every which way. Im not much one for snails in any case, but this was a beautiful sight to behold. I dreamt that night and I saw a white tree with spiral branches and leaves... have to paint or draw that sometime soon.;-)

A nearby HAZEL bush (especially for my favourite harper, this one;-)) also bristled with snails, all at an impossible height. Weird.

Spot the snail....witches always grow between birches..., erm and hazel... and holly, that is.

Now you got me trapped, I forgot the name of this one. But the seeds (which are the wooly part) are great as tinder. If any one of you can enlighten me, you are very welcome, it will spare me hours of research in a fusty library;-).

This was kind of strange, too., normally, raspberries are done over here when blackberry season starts. But here they were, juicy, fruity, prosperous. Rubus Idaeus, in German: Himbeere. They are rich with vitamin C and many other vitamins. Find a very good instruction on raspberry leaf tea here.


It was an arduos day. I could go on endless, and I ´d certainly have posted more photos, but my camera gave up halfway through the hike. I did quite the hike, and then dropped by my mother´s place to prepare the berries and cook some more jam and drying some more fruit. I came home in the dark, fell into my bed, and had some weird, weird dreams. Not that this would be unusual in any case*g. (Hey, I only but recently learned to grin on the internet, and it´s fun!)