Tarot of the Twin Sun

22/10/2024

This is no hunter's language; he that strikes the venison first shall be lord of the feast

04/09/2024

Before you pull out the sword, make sure to come from a place of peace.

26/04/2024

An image of a chain pump in a work of Ismail al-Jazari from 1206 depicts a Möbius strip configuration for its drive chain. Chain pump with a Möbius drive chain, by Ismail al-Jazari (1206).

28/03/2023

Green flash on a Fata Morgana

Have you ever seen a green flash? ❇️

This features a peculiar flash of green just above a sunset at Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory (CTIO) in Chile. Known as a green flash, they are an elusive meteorological phenomenon due to the refraction of sunlight in Earth’s atmosphere. However, there is another optical trick at play: the closer you look, the more you will notice a distinct layering. This is a Fata Morgana mirage taking place concurrently, displaying several green flashes stacked on top of each other.

Showcased as NASA’s Astronomy Picture of the Day (APOD) on 28 March 2023, this rare image was craftily captured by two photographers from the recent National Science Foundation (NSF)’s NOIRLab 2022 Photo Expedition.

https://noirlab.edu/public/images/iotw2313a/
Credit: CTIO/NOIRLab/NSF/AURA/T. Slovinský & P. Horálek (Institute of Physics in Opava) Petr Horálek Photography

25/03/2023

لو صحبك عسل متلحسهوش كله

"If your friend is honey, don't lick it all"

08/03/2023

إِنْ شَاءَ ٱللَّٰهُ,

19/01/2023

The lion was said by the ancients to erase his footprints with his tail.

De Coelesti Hierarchia

19/01/2023

modicum, n.

Pronunciation: Brit. Hear pronunciation/ˈmɒdᵻkəm/, U.S. pronunciation/ˈmɑdəkəm/
Forms: late Middle English– modicum, 1600s moddicom, 1600s moddicome, 1600s modicom...
Frequency (in current use): Show frequency band information
Origin: A borrowing from Latin. Etymon: Latin modicum.
Etymology: < classical Latin modicum...
1. A small quantity or portion; a moderate or limited amount. (Often modified by little, small, tiny.)

a. Of food, drink, or the like.
In quot. 1609 apparently a slang term for: something eaten in order to stimulate thirst.
c1400 (▸c1378) W. Langland Piers Plowman (Laud 581) (1869) B. xviii. 215 For til modicum mete with vs..Wote no wiȝte..what is ynough to mene.
▸ ?a1500 R. Henryson tr. Æsop Fables: Two Mice l. 236 in Poems (1981) 13 Ane modicum is mair ffor till allow, Swa that gude will be kerver at the dais, Than thrawin vult and mony spycit mais.
1542 N. Udall tr. Erasmus Apophthegmes f. 336v As the mercatemenne..dooe bryng out a litle modicum of wheate..in a treen dishe for a saumple.
1580 J. Lyly Euphues & his Eng. (new ed.) f. 15 Age seeketh rather a Modicum for sustenaunce, then feastes for surfets.
1605 R. Armin Foole vpon Foole (new ed.) sig. D2 There was no boote to bid runne for drams to driue downe this vndisgested moddicome.
1609 T. Dekker Guls Horne-bk. sig. B2v Lay open all thy secrets & ye mystical Hierogliphick of Rashers ath coales, Modicums & Shooing hornes.
a1670 J. Hacket Scrinia Reserata (1693) i. 74 Eat it up all, or not a whit, for a Modicum will Gripe the Belly.
1725 R. Bradley Chomel's Dictionaire Œconomique at Treacle Drink a small Modicum of good Wine upon it.
1840 F. Marryat Poor Jack xxviii. 193 ‘Well, Tom,’ said Ben, after he had finished the small modicum of beer left him by my father.
1859 A. Trollope West Indies (1860) iii. 42 With the cup of coffee comes a small modicum of dry toast.
1875 H. C. Wood Treat. Therapeutics (1879) 306 It is probable that but a modicum of the poison was absorbed.
1946 D. C. Peattie Road of Naturalist (U.K. ed.) ii. 28 The tiny modicum of water produced by breathing-combustion is..circulated round and round inside the powder-post beetles.
1992 B. Unsworth Sacred Hunger ###i. 309 What I generally have at this time of afternoon..is a syllabub of cream and thin cider, sweetened with a modicum of honey.


b. Of money or other property.
1583 B. Melbancke Philotimus (new ed.) sig. D3 v Whether it is better liuing contentedly with thy modicum, augmenting it with industry, or sette all on sice sinke, whether thou shalt haue thine owne or nothinge, iudge you.
1604 T. Dekker & T. Middleton Honest W***e i. ii. 22 Theres alittle modicum more porter for making thee stay.
1628 R. Burton Anat. Melancholy (ed. 3) ii. iii. v. 316 As Alcumists spend that small modicum they haue to get gold.
1647 W. Lilly Christian Astrol. cl###v. 784 It may also import some parcell of Land or acquisition of some modicum by the decease of a Kinsman.
a1734 R. North Examen (1740) i. iii. §123. 203 Upon Search of his Pockets, there was found his ordinary Modicum of Guineas.
1749 H. Fielding Tom Jones II. v. viii. 181 St. Paul hath taught me to be content with the little I have. Had the Modicum been less, I should have known my Duty. View more context for this quotation
1875 A. Maclaren Serm. 2nd Ser. i. 14 A true, lofty life may be lived with a very small modicum.
1990 Amer. Rifleman Feb. 61/1 Those DCM juniors we select can expect a travel allowance from their home to Fort Benning and back, housing and a modicum of spending money for meals.

c. gen. (chiefly of immaterial things).
1606 S. Hieron Truths Purchase in Wks. (1620) I. 59 So you must euen giue all, euen for one little modicum of hearty obedience to the truth.
1609 W. Shakespeare Troilus & Cressida ii. i. 70 What modicums of wit he vtters. View more context for this quotation
1620 T. Venner Via Recta vii. 115 They are also cooling, notwithstanding the modicum of heate in them.
1676 J. Evelyn Philos. Disc. Earth 30 Such [Earth] as having a modicum of Loam naturally rising with it, to entertain the moisture, does neither defile the Fingers, nor cleave much to the Spade.
1782 W. Cowper Conversation in Poems 212 Though nature weigh our talents, and dispense To ev'ry man his modicum of sense.
1836 Tait's Edinb. Mag. June 390a Though of a frush temper, he had a modicum of honesty about him.
1859 J. Bright Speeches 7 And no law can pass, not the smallest modicum of freedom or of justice come to you.
1878 W. Stubbs Constit. Hist. (ed. 2) III. xix. 371 The monastic and other schools placed some modicum of learning within reach of all.
1924 A. J. Small Frozen Gold xiii. 288 With a modicum of luck they might even be able to record every claim they had pegged—and then get rid of them at throw-away prices.
1951 Sport 27 Apr. 10/2 I expect that the club legislators will approach this question with a modicum of caution.
1988 Pract. Photogr. Mar. 15/1 Pictures taken with just a modicum of imagination.


†2. humorous. A person of small stature. Occasionally derogatory: a young woman (cf. piece n. 9b, bit n.2 7). Obsolete.
1611 T. Middleton & T. Dekker Roaring Girle sig. B (init.) I haue culled out for him..a daintier bit or modicome then any lay vpon his trencher at dinner.
1623 P. Massinger Duke of Millaine ii. i. sig. E1v Marc. Where are you? You Modicum, you Dwarfe. Mari. Here, Giantesse, here.
1632 J. Shirley Changes v. 65 Heaven blesse your worship, and the sweet fac'd modicum in your company.

†3. slang. The female genitalia. Obsolete.
1660 Pract. Part of Love 67 There was no medium nor modicum like that between Helena's legs if good parts and..fine words could but rime to C***y.
1700 E. Ward Dancing School 3 Charming Bubbies, Plump Hips, Soft Bellies, Condescending Mo-Mo-Modicums.
1712 E. Ward Merry Observations in Misc. Writings III. 105 A Dutch-Woman, were she in England, would be glad, six Weeks before the time, to keep a Stove under her Petticoats, to keep her Modicum from freezing.
1732 Spiritual Fornication 21 Her Bum He kiss'd, and eke her modicum.

11/01/2023

cœnobite | cenobite, n.

Pronunciation: Hear pronunciation/ˈsiːnəʊbʌɪt/Hear pronunciation/ˈsɛnəʊbʌɪt/

Frequency (in current use): Show frequency band information
Etymology: < late Latin coenobīta, < coenobium; see below. Compare French cénobite... (Show More)

A member of a religious order living in a community; opposed to an anchoret, who lives in solitude.

a1638 J. Mede Wks. (1672) iii. 688 Cœnobites which live in society.
1776–88 E. Gibbon Decline & Fall ###vii. (R.) The monks were divided into two classes: the cœnobites..and the anachorets.
1841 M. Elphinstone Hist. India I. ii. i. 109 The progress from single monks to cenobites.
1856 A. P. Stanley Sinai & Palestine i. i. 50 The anchorites and cœnobites were drawn by the sight of these wild mountains.
attributive.
1819 Q. Rev. 22 63 The coenobite, it was argued, was preferable to the solitary life.
1876 C. M. Davies Unorthodox London (rev. ed.) 156 The cœnobite brethren.

10/01/2023

supermundane, adj.

Pronunciation: Brit. Hear pronunciation/ˌsuːpəmʌnˈdeɪn/, Hear pronunciation/ˌsjuːpəmʌnˈdeɪn/, U.S. Hear pronunciation/ˈˌsupərˌmənˈˌdeɪn/
Frequency (in current use): Show frequency band information
Origin: A borrowing from Latin. Etymon: Latin supermundanus.
Etymology: < post-classical Latin supermundanus above the world, heavenly (6th cent.) < super- ...
1.

a. Of or relating to a region above or beyond the earthly world; otherworldly, divine. Also: above or superior to worldly affairs.
1623 S. Purchas Kings Towre 44 How then could they know that third Kingdome and World, meerely supernaturall, and supermundane?
1678 R. Cudworth True Intellect. Syst. Universe i. iv. 546 The Platonists..had..several Distinctions amongst them concerning their Gods, as between..The Supermundane and the Mundane Gods.
1756 J. Penn Var. Tracts 263 A certain supermundane Soul, which was..the Opificer and Creator of the World.
1788 T. Taylor tr. Proclus Philos. & Math. Comm. I. 159 In a distribution of mundane and super-mundane figures, you will always find that the circle is of a diviner nature.
1818 T. Jefferson Writings (1830) IV. 309 Perhaps, in that super-mundane region, we may be amused with seeing the fallacy of our own guesses.
1855 H. H. Milman Hist. Lat. Christianity VI. xiv. ii. 405 The triple and novene division ran throughout, and connected,..almost identified the mundane and supermundane Church.
1903 H. B. Swete Stud. Teaching Our Lord v. 144 Life in a Divine Kingdom must have a supermundane source.
1938 J. C. Powys Enjoyment of Lit. xviii. 436 Mindless and meaningless Chance..became..a supermundane Mischief, that with an ironic and goblinish malice persecutes the luckless children of its wanton creation.
2001 Econ. & Polit. Weekly 7 July 2556/2 Final causes and ultimate ends determined by a super-mundane power and accessible only to some through the grace of god.

b. In humorous or ironic use. Fanciful, fantastic, chimerical.
1851 Morning Chron. 17 July 4/3 Lord Chief Justice Campbell has mounted from the very utilitarian inquiry, ‘Shall we keep the Crystal Palace?’ to the most exalted and supermundane speculations in casuistry.
1878 N. Amer. Rev. May 489 According to this super-mundane argument, the rule of the Southern States was justly given over to the armed minority.
1919 Bakersfield Californian 30 Apr. ii. 6/3 He calls her [sc. England] a ‘usurper’, a ‘tyrant’... If this is not villifying a nation, then I lack the mental capacity to comprehend such supermundane logic.
1996 Computer Weekly 3 Oct. 6/1 I have long suspected that the most efficient district council is one that doesn't exist, or at least exists in a minimal form... Sadly, no council has reached such an economically-advanced state, though there are some that seem to have this as their supermundane goal.

†2. Situated or occurring above the ground or earth. Obsolete.
1833 Daily National Intelligencer (Washington) 21 Mar. The buoyant, yet hard frozen atoms of snow were suddenly converted into a moving and irresistible super-mundane torrent.
1867 North Amer. & U.S. Gaz. (Philadelphia) 14 May An aerial railroad is the latest suggestion..travellers and merchants will as readily exchange from the mundane cars to the supermundane as they did from the old stages to steam cars.
1883 P. Schaff et al. Relig. Encycl. II. 950 Heaven is in this case [i.e. Genesis 8:20] supermundane..distinct from the earth.

22/12/2022

Shortlist solstice research!

22/10/2022