Dow Harris

Artist/Writer - Generate ideas, develop concepts, execute designs.

[Dow Harris @msdh1976]

"Now come, write it on a sealed tablet, as a book engrave it. Let it be a witnessing until the last day, a testimony for all time."
-Isaiah 30:8

[Dow Harris @msdh1976]

“This is the reality of what’s at stake, what we are facing now,” Gabbard says in the video. “Because as we stand here today, closer to the brink of nuclear annihilation than ever before, political elite warmongers are carelessly fomenting fear and tensions between nuclear powers.” Gabbard went on to suggest that powerful people are confident they’d have access to “nuclear shelters” and would therefore be unaffected by any consequences.

“It’s up to us, the people, to speak up and demand an end to this madness. We must reject this path to nuclear war and work toward a world where no one has to live in fear of a nuclear holocaust,” she continues...

“President Trump has repeatedly stated in the past that he recognizes the immeasurable suffering, and annihilation can be caused by nuclear war, which is why he has been unequivocal that we all need to do everything possible to work towards peace,” Henning said in a statement. “DNI Gabbard supports President Trump’s clearly stated objectives of bringing about lasting peace and stability and preventing war.”...

Gabbard’s comments come as the Trump administration continues negotiations with Iran over a nuclear deal. Trump told reporters on Monday Iran rejected a U.S. proposal that would have stopped the nation from enriching uranium — fuel that could be used to build nuclear weapons.

The former Democratic congresswoman and presidential candidate has a long history of criticizing war hawks and warning of nuclear war prior to her endorsing then-candidate Donald Trump for president and switching parties last year. During her presidential campaign launch in 2019, she warned the world is “on the precipice of nuclear war,” and she was a strong advocate for strengthening nuclear treaties while in Congress.

“The warmongers are trying to drag us into WW3, which can only end in one way: nuclear annihilation and the suffering and death of all our loved ones,” Gabbard wrote in a post on X in 2023. “Zelensky, Biden, NATO, congressional and media neocons are insane. And we are insane if we passively allow them to lead us into this holocaust like sheep to the slaughter.”
https://t.co/bliqGLmw2y

[Tulsi Gabbard 🌺 @TulsiGabbard]

I recently visited Hiroshima, and stood at the epicenter of a city scarred by the unimaginable horror caused by a single nuclear bomb dropped in 1945. What I saw, the stories I heard, and the haunting sadness that remains, will stay with me forever.

[Dow Harris @msdh1976]

Alabama fans might enjoy "The Saban Leader," a recent AI project I did that remasters all of Nick Saban's quotes and monologues on leadership and the winning process into a unified pep talk geared more towards rising political leadership, combined with another reference text by Helena Roerich called "Guidance For the Leader," written in the 30s while she was advising FDR prior to WW2. I reformatted the final product in Photoshop and made into a 11" x 17" poster.

[Dow Harris @msdh1976]

In an ongoing art recovery project, I remastered 16 more works from the "Star Rock Elements"" series from a lost USB memory drive from Santa Barbara 2014-16. Included among the scans there, along with the original works, was also the card back design piece, based on a diagram of the Phi Golden Ratio, by R.A. Schwaller de Lubicz.

I also found that this project was bigger than I remembered, took me longer into 2016 rather than just 2015, and really was not quite complete, with only 75 of the projected 84 works done. So, am considering finishing it off as time permits. A decade has brought a lot of perspective and some fresh ideas for preserving the best elements of the effort.

And what does a fat man standing on planet Jupiter have to do with diplomacy on war torn Earth in these troubled times?

Find out more about that and also the unique scope of this series in a new essay on art and creative process:
https://t.co/XvjvPWp43m

[Old Sovereign Publishing @OldSovPub]

Today we are launching our Pocketbook Philosophy series. This series was conceived under the inspiration of the late, great, Sir Roger Scruton to whom it is dedicated.

Beyond imparting a formal education to his students, Scruton was keen to make them well rounded and cultured individuals as well as philosophers. To this end he was prone to making off-hand recommendations over the dinners in the garden room of London's Reform Club, that always followed our formal lecture session.

These recommendations would often be followed by him whimsically noting that these are books that all cultured persons should be conversant with.

To that end we are offering them to you in hardbound editions which are suitable to be carried around with you in most jackets or purses, allowing you to dip in and out of them during the course of your daily routine. Making your daily routine a conversation with culture.

A foreword to the series is included, written by Dr Sebastian Morello, one of Roger's students and the only one (so far) to have published a monograph of his work.

This edition is beautified with the artistic photography of @kazu_artwork

In celebration of the launch of this series, we are offering free shipping over the next month if you purchase this book, and any other book in our catalogue.

[Dow Harris @msdh1976]

In one of those fortunate accidents, I recently stumbled over a misplaced USB Memory Drive from 10 years ago, containing original scans of 72 artworks that I did in 2014-15, at the weekly Santa Barbara Arts & Craft Show...
New essay on art & process:
https://t.co/4GJarRIRif

[Classical Odyssey @Rux_Dacoromana]

Imagine you’re in this train station, by yourself, the vibrating hot air makes you drowsy, you’re captivated by the silence around you and you start dreaming about a different world. Then, the seemingly never ending reminds you to check your watch: in 40 minutes you need to tune in with me and @DavidBanicaRO for our first Eliade Space

[Classical Odyssey @Rux_Dacoromana]

https://t.co/AO8GrMURCi

[Dow Harris @msdh1976]

Crossroads Folk Art Festival in Columbus, Georgia yesterday…It was not a good day for a roadtrip to this show from Coosa County to the border of Alabama/Georgia yesterday, with heavy rains. And I had to break down my booth only minutes after I set up. But it was a great venue!

[Dow Harris @msdh1976]

EMF Map 21: Barbarossa, is a work from an older oil pencil/pastel series I started in Costa Rica in 2009, that takes up the sleeping king in the Kyffhauser Mountain myth, recasting Frederick as awakening through an erupting volcanic version of Uncle Sam w/ red beard as lava. The then active volcano, Arenal, was near where I was making art. And I was a gringo in Costa Rica reading European legends at that time.

[Classical Odyssey @Rux_Dacoromana]

Practice

[Dow Harris @msdh1976]

@CollinRugg Hands off our pork! Fools wasting their time, whose idea of "rising up" is defending the Leviathan bureaucracy or feigning fury at the annihilation of the Deep State - conservatives of the old establishment status quo, political theater funded by George.
Trump is the revolution.

[Dow Harris @msdh1976]

The Parzival Element:
Stillness in Motion as Paradox in Western Spirituality
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Themes: knighthood vs monastic asceticism, warrior vs monk, path of initiation vs devotion, Grail Studies, Esoteric Christianity in the New Age...
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Note: These narrative aids are created from stills generated in @NightcafeStudio and then remastered in Photoshop using a novel application of its animation function combined with composited elements. The phasers in these storytelling types of projects are archived as unique assets (NFTs) on the EVRmore blockchain(https://t.co/rEpi4iZAiD). They are intended as meditation tools or visual supplements to various studies & readings in literature, history, philosophy, psychology and religion.
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"To win the Empire through action and to master it,
That is the way that leads to failure.
For the Empire is a divine vessel,
Which cannot be seized and acted upon.
One who desires to grasp it, does not understand it.
One who desires to take it, loses it.
He believes he is getting ahead, but falls behind.
He believes he is increasing, but he dwindles away.
He thinks himself strong, and reveals his weakness.
He thinks himself superior, and is defeated."

-from the Tao te Ching
---

"The picture of chivalry that Parzival presents is uncommonly rich and full. We are introduced not only to the traditional phases, such as jousting for a damsel in distress, playing at the game of love, or battling with a mortal enemy. We see knighthood in all its ramifications and activities, depicted not in an allegorically bookish or clerky manner, but with reference to life and first-hand experience. The effect is that of a drama of human characters and destinies in all its facets. But the work goes deeper than all that. It deals with the transfiguration of a knight to something higher and more perfect, more pleasing to God, for Parzival ultimately becomes the spiritual leader of Christendom. This spiritual element, however, is not to be confused with asceticism, monasticism, or mysticism, or mysticism, but is so skillfully linked with liberal humanism and with a sympathy for the world's joys and sorrows that it blends with them. Wolfram presents the knightly and the religious elements not in juxtaposition, still less in conflict; although the latter winds in predominance, the two combine into a unit.

Basically the plot of this long verse-narrative is simple enough. It is the story of the gradual maturing of a naive young lad who becomes a doughty knight, but falling prey to thoughtlessness and selfishness, thinks that he has been wronged by God, and acts blasphemously. He is shown the error of his ways and, after doubt and pangs of conscience, is led to a true understanding of and love for God. In unfolding this story, Wolfram introduces a wealth of characters and a maze of subordinate action, so deftly worked into the main plot, that the unity of the poem is not destroyed. Throughout his masterpiece, Wolfram reveals his high regard for women of character and advocates conjugal fidelity - a note rarely struck in his day. Not celibacy and "holiness" but full-blooded living in the forms of decency, loyalty, and warm-heartedness are the keynotes.

In all of the literature of the Holy Grail we find no treatment so novel, so complete, and so satisfying as Wolfram's, and none so reverent and yet so secular. The hero's pursuit of the Grail is not a transcendental striving, not even a struggle for ethical perfection. It is merely a search to find his Redeemer and thereby peace and earthly happiness. To Wolfram the Grail is not a sacramental church relic, perhaps not even descending from heaven, but a stone of wonderful virtue, a sort of philosopher's stone. Itself a symbol, it may go back to pagan symbolism, infiltrated with Christian elements. It represents the goal for which Parzival strives, at first falsely and hence in vain, but at last with supreme success - that human purification, atonement, and sacrifice which symbolize man's love of the Redeemer and thus renew his faith in Him. This symbol, the Grail, is kept purposely non-orthodox, embracing subordinate elements of a worldly nature." (Introduction, pg. 2-3)

-Edwin Zeydel, from The Parzival of Wolfram von Eschenbach. University of North Carolina, 1951, 2020. https://t.co/N7Q5Lsj5eL
---

"Christ stands in the middle as the one who brings the Parzival Element into the modern age, who through his very being, and not through his power, induces the others to overcome themselves so that the others overcome themselves rather than being overcome by him."
-Rudolph Steiner, from "The Mystery of Death: Christ in Relation to Lucifer & Ahriman." CW 159. May 18, 1915.
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"In spite of everything, Christianity revived the generic sense of a supernatural transcendence. The Roman symbol offered the idea of a universal regnum, of an aeternitas carried by an imperial power. All this integrated the Nordic substance and provided superior reference points to its warrior ethos, so much as to gradually usher in ine of those cycles of restoration that I have labeled "heroic" in a special sense. And so, from the type of the mere warrior the figure of the knight arose; the ancient Germanic traditions of war waged in function of Valhalla developed into the supranational epic of the "holy war" or crusade; a shift occurred from the type of the prince of a particular race to the type of the sacred and ecumenical emperor, who claimed that the principle of his power had a character and an origin no less supernatural and transcendent than that of the Church.

This true renaissance, however, this grandiose development and wonderful transformation of forces, required an ultimate reference point, a supreme center of crystallization higher than the Christian though Romanized ideal, and higher than the external and merely political idea of the Empire. This supreme point of integration was manifested precisely in the myth of the Grail's regality, according to the intimate relation it had with the several variations of the "imperial saga." The silent problem of the Ghibelline Middle Ages was expressed in the fundamental theme of that cycle of legends: the need for a hero of the two swords, who overcomes natural and supernatural tests, to really ask the question: the question that avenges and heals, the question that restores power to its regality.

The Middle Ages awaited the hero of the Grail, so that the head of the Holy Roman Empire could become an image or a manifestation of the Universal Ruler; so that all the forces could receive a new power; so that the Dry Tree could blossom again; so that an absolute driving force could arise to overcome any usurpation, antagonism, laceration; so that a real solar order could be formed; so that the invisible emperor could also be the manifest one; and finally, so that the "Middle Age" could also have the meaning of an "Age of the Center."

Anyone who follows the adventures of the heroes of the Grail up to the famous question is bound to have the clear and unmistakeable feeling that something, all of a sudden, prevents the author from speaking freely, and that a trivial answer is given to conceal the real one. In fact, what really matters is not so much to know what are the objects according to the Christianized fable or to the ancient Celtic and Nordic legends, but rather to feel the tragedy of the paralyzed or wounded king; once one achieves that inner realization, the symbol of which is the Grail, what matters is to assume the initiative of the absolute action that brings about a restoration. The miraculously redeeming power that is attributed to the question can be perceived as extravagant only from this perspective. To ask is the equivalent of stating the problem. After all the conditions of the earthly and spiritual knighthood have been realized and the Grail has been known, the indifference that is considered a serious fault on the part of the hero is the indifference he displays when he witnesses without questioning the spectacle of the coffin and the surviving king, who is either maimed, killed, or retaining a merely artificial semblance of life. As I have already said, the dignity of the hero of the Grail is a dignity that obliges; such is its specific, prevalent, and antimystical character. Historically speaking, the kingdom of the Grail, which was supposed to be restored to even higher heights, is the Empire itself; the hero of the Grail, who would have become the "lord of all creatures," the one who has received the "supreme power," is the same historical emperor, Federicus, in the event he would have realized the mystery of the Grail, or would have been the one who becomes the Grail itself.

There are some texts in which such a theme is introduced in an even more immediate fashion. Once the chosen knight arrives at the castle, he directly addresses the king and asks in an almost brutal fashion, skipping every ceremonial form, "Where is the Grail?" meaning: "Where is the power of which you should be the representative?" Once this question is asked, a miracle ensues.

At this points fragments of ancient Atlantic, Celtic, and Nordic traditions are mixed with confused images of the Judeo-Christian religion. Avalon; Seth; Solomon; Lucifer; the diamond-thunderbolt; Joseph of Arimathea; the White Island; the fish; the Lord of the Center and the symbolism of his seat; the mystery of the revenge and the deliverance; the "signs" of the Tuatha de Danaan, who in turn are confused with the race that brought the Grail to earth - they all form a whole in which the various elements, as I have endeavored to show, reveal a logical unity to those who are capable of penetrating its essence.

For about a century and a half, the entire knightly West lived intensely the myth of the court of King Arthur and his knights seeking the Grail. It was a progressive saturation of a historical climate that shortly after was followed by a break. This awakening of a heroic tradition connected to a universal imperial idea was destined to arouse inimical forces and lead to a clash with Catholicism.

The true reason why the Church became such a staunch antagonist of the Empire was the instinctive perception of the true nature of the force gaining momentum behind the external forms of the knightly spirit and the Ghibelline ideal. Even though on the other side, among the defenders of the Empire, an adequate awareness was present only in part, because of compromises, contradictions, and indecisions of which Dante himself was not exempt, the instinct of the Church was nevertheless absolutely correct. Hence the drama of medieval Ghibellinism, of the great knightly orders, and in particular, of the Order of the Knights Templar.

...It is hard to say through what representatives of the Holy Roman Empire the top of the hierarchy established an invisible connection with the center of the "Universal Ruler." Outside the Grail cycle, I have already mentioned legends foreshadowing the mysterious mandate that the Hohenstaufens allegedly received, a mandate that they sometimes took on and sometimes failed to understand or even lost. In any event, it was not a coincidence that the popular imagination was led to relive through their persons the myth of the emperor who in the end will reawaken and triumph."
J. Evola, from The Mystery of the Grail: Initiation and Magic in the Quest for the Spirit. Inner Traditions, 1996, pg. 121-7.
---

[Dow Harris @msdh1976]

Trithemius - 1462-1516 AD - Father of Cryptography, Benedictine Abbot, Polymath, Prophet...
---
"In that shadowy hinterland which divided the acceptable theology of medieval Christian thought from the pagan derived speculations of astrology, there developed a complex literature pertaining to the nature of the spiritual beings...

The great 15th century esotericist Trithemius, who has left his stamp on many late medieval esoteric ideas, elected not to denote Christian rank when he described the seven rulers of the epochs. He was recording a tradition which was already ancient...
the seven planetary angels had been dealt with by Trithemius, who had named the leader of his Secundadeians ("Servants of God"), Michael...Trithemius had specified 1881 as marking an important turning point in Western Civilization.

The support of the superior archangel Michael - who would be taking charge of the developing civilizations in 1881 was clearly an important task which responsible humans might shoulder...in 1881, something of profound momentum was going to happen in the Western world, due to the change of planetary rulership...

In earlier times - before preparations for the Michaelic age became a matter of urgency - the majority of esotericists who were involved in the construction of Washington D.C., must have asked themselves frequently how it would be possible to invite the power or virtue of [the angel] Hamaliel - of the intelligency of Virgo - into the life of the city which was to be the spiritual hub of their federal wheel. It was one thing to construct a city which, at its triangular hub, reflected in its form and symbolism the nature of a specific constellation; it was another to ensure that this "house of the gods" would be worthy of a particular god. The ancient Egyptians, and after them the Greeks and Romans, had constructed temples in such a way that these could become the physical body of the god or goddess they invited by means of prayers and supplications to live within. The esoteric builders of the magnificent Christian structures also constructed their churches and cathedrals in the certainty that these would become the center of activity of the angels, and a suitable repository for the power of Christ. Had this not been the case, the cathedrals would have had no function other than that of ceremonial, bereft of true spirituality...

To those working within an esoteric tradition, it might have appeared a relatively easy thing to prepare for the new era of Michael, which was to begin in 1881. Besides enacting special rituals and prayers, designed to invite the participation of the archangel, it would also be propitious to ensure that Washington D.C., was completed, according to the original plans, in preparation for the New Age. This is exactly what certain individuals - including many in the Masonic fraternity - must have done, for, shortly before that year began, a concentrated effort was made to complete the building of Washington D.C., and return it to some of the arcane principles visualized by the founders of the city. After 1881 came a tremendous flowering of the Virgoan imagery in the city, and the widespread introduction of zodiacs. There are over 20 important zodiacs in Washington D.C., and, with the exception of 2 in the Capitol building, all postdate the year 1881. From that year, the Virgin began to display her beautiful form, her symbols of corn, and her cornucopia, everywhere in the center of the city."

-David Ovason, from The Secret Architecture of Our Nation's Capital: The Masons and the Building of Washington D.C. Harper Collins, 2000.

[Dow Harris @msdh1976]

The Perpetual Lamp of Tulliola

"During the papacy of Paul III, in 1540 AD, a tomb was found on the Appian Way in Rome, containing the entire body of a young girl swimming in a bright liquor, which had so well preserved it that the face was beautiful and lifelike itself. At her feet burned a lamp, whose flame vanished upon the opening of the selphuchre.

From some engraved signs it was found to have been buried for over 1500 years and supposed to have been the body of Tulliola or Tullia, Cicero's daughter [who died in 45 B.C., one year prior to Caesar's death]."
-H.P. Blavatsky, from Isis Unveiled, Vol. 1.

[Dow Harris @msdh1976]

@MarketTrendAdv Thanks! Glad to know you now. And thanks for the input and joining the Order of the Ice Raven!

[Dow Harris @msdh1976]

Ice Raven 16 up on the EVRmore chain!

This is a project geared to rising EVR miners and those who would like to begin to get into GPU mining with a chain on the cutting edge of DeFi development. These unique assets (NFTs) are badge IDs in the Order of the Ice Raven, awarded to miners who post a picture or clip of their mining rigs here in the reply section. This effort is aimed to help spread visibility for the process of Proof-of-Work mining on EVRmore, carrying on the tradition of Bitcoin & Ravencoin, and the original crypto notion of true decentralized finance, in a world of economic uncertainty and the loss of faith in legacy financial models like central banks and custodial exchanges.

If not smart contracts, then what? Then...EVRmore.

"…Like Ravencoin, Evrmore is based on the Bitcoin UTXO model is mined publicly and transparently using Proof-of-Work, is free and open source and is open for use in any development or jurisdiction. Evrmore’s focus is DeFi… A primary goal of Bitcoin as decentralized money is to ensure only the owner controls the use of the cryptocurrency while making theft and confiscation impossible. Nevertheless, scams and hacks have been a growing problem in the cryptocurrency space since the very beginning. Many of the largest losses were caused by custodial centralized exchanges…It was thought that DeFi would eliminate theft by providing non-custodial exchanges while also providing more attractive blockchain based alternatives to traditional mainstream savings and investment vehicles. The reality thus far has proven quite different. Social engineering scams continue to be a problem for investors of all kinds and probably always will be. But failures of DeFi technology due to smart contract hacks have become an even larger, ever-growing problem…Implementing DeFi functionality using powerful and general purpose smart contracts is not the correct solution..."
-from the EVRmore Whitepaper
https://t.co/Zm1tIPwPuV

CAESAR#16_Ice_Raven_Lenore_EVR:
https://t.co/Dm5VUukdx5

[Evrmore @EvrmoreOfficial]

💠 Details about the new Asset Toll Metadata and Mutability features currently live on testnet! 💠

The toll system can be thought of as a trustless on-chain royalty collecting mechanism for digital assets.

To achieve this, we utilize the following new metadata fields;

toll_amount: The amount in EVR paid per quantity of the asset on transfer, with a minimum of 0.00005 EVR and a maximum of 1 Billion EVR.

toll_address: The Evrmore address where tolls (royalties) are sent

toll_amount_mutability: Can be True (changeable, can only decrease later) or False (fixed). Once set to False, cannot be changed back to True.

toll_address_mutability: Similarly, can be True or False, with the same restriction.

For unique assets (NFTs), the quantity is 1, so toll_amount is the fixed royalty per transfer.

This is particularly useful for digital art, where artists can receive a percentage on resales, or for in-game items where developers get a cut on secondary market trades.

Testing these new features on the Evrmore testnet is crucial for its eventual deployment to mainnet.

By participating, you can help identify bugs, ensure stability, and validate functionality, which helps accelerate the development process.

We will be walking through how to use these new features step by step in the coming days.

Ready to jump in? Sync testnet and check out the Mastering Evrmore documentation by @Hans_Schm1dt on Github!

#EVR #onchain #royalties #defi #assettolls #IPFS

@EvrFoundation

[Dow Harris @msdh1976]

@PeaceKiller303 Thanks, man! Just gettin’ warmed up. Let’s keep attracting new miners to EVR and catch the coming wave!

[Dow Harris @msdh1976]

"...on his last night Caesar dreamed that he was soaring above the clouds and then shaking hands with Jupiter, while his wife Calpurnia dreamed that the pediment of their house collapsed and that her husband was stabbed in her arms; and suddenly the bedroom door burst open of its own accord.

These warnings, and a touch of ill health, made him hesitate for some time whether to go ahead with his plans or whether to postpone the meeting. Finally Decimus Brutus persuaded him not to disappoint the Senate, who had been in full session for an hour or more waiting for him to arrive. It was just about the fifth hour of the day when he set off. As he went, someone handed him a note containing details of the plot against his life, but he merely added it to the bundle of petitions in his left hand, which he intended to read later...

'The Ides of March have come,' he said. 'Aye, they have come,' replied the prophet Spurinna, 'but they have not yet gone.'

As soon as Caesar took his seat the conspirators crowded around him as if to pay their respects. Tillius Cimber, who had taken the lead, came up close, pretending to ask a question. Caesar made a gesture of postponement, but Cimber caught hold of his shoulders. 'This is violence!' Caesar cried, and at that moment one of the Casca brothers slipped behind and with a sweep of his dagger stabbed him just below the throat. Caesar grasped Casca's arm and ran it through with his stylus; he was leaping away when another dagger caught him in the breast. Confronted by a ring of drawn daggers, he drew the top of his toga over his face and at the same time ungirded the lower part, letting if fall to his feet so that he would die with his lower body decently covered. Twenty-three dagger thrusts went home as he stood there. Caesar did not utter a sound after Casca's blow had drawn a groan from him, though some say that when he saw Marcus Brutus about to deliver a blow he reproached him in Greek with 'You too, my son?' The entire Senate then dispersed in confusion, and Caesar was left lying dead for some time until three of his household slaves carried him home in a litter, with one arm hanging over the side. The physician Antistius came to the conclusion that none of the wounds had been mortal except the second one in the breast. The conspirators had decided to drag the dead man down to the Tiber, confiscate his property, and revoke all his edicts, the fear of Mark Antony, the consul, and Lepidus, the master of horse, kept them from making their plans good...

Some of his friends suspected that, having no desire to live much longer because of his failing health, he had taken no precautions against the conspiracy and neglected the omens and warnings of well-wishers. It has also been suggested that he placed such confidence in the Senate's last decree and in their oath of loyalty that he dispensed even with the armed Spaniards who had hitherto acted as his permanent escort. A contrary view is that, as a relief from taking constant precautions, he had deliberately exposed himself to all the plots against his life which he knew had been formed. Also, he is quoted as having often said, 'It is more important for the commonwealth than for myself that I should survive. I have long been sated with power & glory; but, should anything happen to me, the commonwealth will enjoy no peace. A new civil war will break out under far worse conditions than the last.'

Almost all authorities, at any rate, believe that he welcomed the manner of his death. He had once read in Xenophon about the funeral instructions given by Cyrus on his deathbed, and said how much he loathed the prospect of a lingering end - he wanted a sudden one. And on the day before his murder he had dined at Marcus Lepidus' house, where the topic discussed happened to be 'the best sort of death.'

'Let it come swiftly and unexpectedly,' cried Caesar."

-Suetonius, from The Twelve Caesars, circa 122 AD

[Dow Harris @msdh1976]

"The syncopated rhythms found in the best rags were meant to evoke a looseness, natural flow, and drive revealed by reading and performing the music exactly as it is written. If performed correctly, the effect of the syncopation against the steady duple meter bass created an air of excitement and spontaneity not inherently found in most published music of the time."
- from "History of Ragtime," Library of Congress
https://t.co/vgUyyEt5VI

[Dow Harris @msdh1976]

"Then I met a fellow traveler who, although Christian, searched for the same as I. We agreed to move to the wilderness of Arabia because we had been told of the many holy hermits who lived in the area. They lived here so that they would be undisturbed in their search for the skills of their art..."

-Abraham von Worms, The Book of Abramelin: A New Translation. ed. Georg Dehn. tr. Stephen Guth, Ibis Press, 2015.