Zen in the Art of Make-Up

Found a beautiful video at The Guardian, which shows and talks about the incredible artwork by make-up artist Alex Box.

The two images you see here have been taken from that video. They are - naturally - copyright of the artist and/or photographer, but I want to show them here so you have an expectation of what you'll see - if you share my enthusiasm.
Alex Box, at least as far as make-up goes (I don't know anything about her than what's in the video), is clearly someone who thinks outside the box - and that quality is something I surely do appreciate.

It's certainly not the type of make-up I see people use in the village I live in, but I'd sure appreciate to see faces like these in reality.

Related Book: Alex Box - The Make Up Artist
Photography: Copyright © Rankin

Yoni - What Does it Mean? On Google and Bling?

First of all, Yoni is a term borrowed from India's ancient language, Sanskrit or devanagari ("divine language"). It can be translated by several English concepts ("origin", "source", "womb", "female genitals") and is the most respectful word available for naming what our modern languages refer to as vulva, pussy or cunt; or other equivalents.

The term Yoni heralds from a culture and religion in which women have long been regarded and honored as the embodiment of divine female energy - the goddess known as Shakti - and where the female genitals are seen as a sacred symbol of the Great Goddess.

Because Tantrics and others worship the Divine in the form of a Goddess, the term yoni has also acquired other, more cosmic meanings, becoming a symbol of the Universal Womb, the Matrix of Generation and Source of All.

Second, and most unfortunate for a) people interested in the Yoni and b) many male Israeli's, Yoni is the short version for men named Jonatan. It's a grievance to them, and it's a grievance to all of those who'd like the term YONI in a search on Google or Bling to only bring up information about the Sanskrit YONI.

Well, here's a kind of temporary solution. Search for yoni woman, yoni massage, yoni portraits, yoni art or yoni sanskrit - and you'll find way more relevant pages than by searching for yoni alone.

Image: Copyright © Christina Camphausen. For more about her work, check out this blog.

The Art of Discrimination

Nowadays, the term discrimination is most often seen as something wrong, negative, chauvinist ... you name it. It's a pity that this has happened, because discrimination is - in fact - one of the most important forms of thinking and intuiting. To be able to discriminate is not only important in perceiving the world more or less correctly, it is actually needed for our very survival.

One is, for example, well advised to discriminate between eating food that is nutritious and healthy - and stuff that poses as food while it actually consists of garbage, plastic and poisons. One also does well to discriminate between vampire-like people who zap one's energy by being both selfish and stupid, and others who aid one's development, honestly share opinions and insights, offer respect and friendship; perhaps even agape of some kind.

However, intelligent discrimination does need nurturing, training, education ... it is almost as difficult as it is for the young girl in this photograph to climb those stairs in the equatorial heat; carrying water to her home in the village on top.

With the following quote, I like to provide an example of how difficult discrimination can be, but also how important for our perception of what is called reality.

Try to make up your mind whether or not the following resembles fiction rather than reality, is misguided conspiracy fantasy or honest assessment of a situation by a daring mind.

"(He) had had too many dealings with the idiots on Capitol Hill to feel anything but contempt for them. Those whose arteries weren't already sufficiently hardened to cut off oxygen to their brains were so venal they never managed to get their snouts out the river of graft that year after year granted them certain return to their privileged sinecures."

And let me remind you that it says Capitol Hill only because the author of this is an American - if another name suits you better, please do exchange it when thinking about this.

Photograph: Village on Nias (Indonesia). Copyright © CCRCC
Quote: Eric Lustbader. Black Blade. London, 1997 (page 613)

Health Care versus Health Scare

There's no need - for a European - to talk about the possibly emerging US health care system - it is something most more or less civilized nations have - and have had for quite a while.
I also know that it would be - given the state of the world we live in - most difficult to change the mind-set of profit driven insurance companies and the medical establishment at large with a bit of Chinese wisdom.


However, I like everyone of my readers to know and consider the following.

In ancient China, way before the idea of communism ever existed, they had an admirably smart system one can only envy! I think it is the best health care system ever conceived. You'd pay your personal physician (GP in modern terms) a certain fee every month as long as you were healthy, as long as she or he kept you advised as to how to stay that way.
However, the very moment you'd fall ill, contract some disease, feel pain here or there ... any payment of yours would be suspended - until, that is, you were well again.
There's nothing or little to praise about modern China ... but the ancients often did have a specifically wise way to look at things.

In our present system, a GP would possibly send his flu carrying kids to school - because contaminating others could perhaps be good for business. The equivalent Chinese GP - a long time ago - would certainly keep them at home ... because it could easily be bad for business.

Street advert in Hongkong, 1981 Copyright © CCRCC

High Speed Penetration

Such is the penetration of internet services in Europe that even this small village on Crete - counting just 400 inhabitants and from which I view the world - has high speed broadband access to the World Wild Web.

In the background, Mt. Malaxa, to the right (invisible) a bay and a port - and further on an airport - to the left (invisible) the White Mountains (Greek: Lefka Ori).

Photograph: Copyright © CCRCC [click on image to enlarge]

Intimate Part - Delicate Art

Judging by this image, it seems that the world-wide Atheist Club and their ingenious ad-campaign have inspired others to get on the bus as well.

After all, being on a Big City Bus assures a rather large audience, and it may - perhaps - create quite a Buzz.

However, in this case the message seems to be for a rather different club, because the word Yoni is mainly known to people who speak ancient Sanskrit, apart from a few hundred thousand others who have read books about Her, books about the Goddess, books about Gyn-Ecology.

Now if you're not one of this club, perhaps the image at left will say more than the proverbial thousand words. It is just as the title of this item announced ... Yoni Portraits is a book showing - in gorgeous colors - women's most intimate part in the form of delicate art. And the artist who created these intimate portraits (of 49 daring women) is a woman as well. She is Dutch and her name is Christina Camphausen.

So the advert on the bus is about a book featuring her art ... and to find out more about it you can best move your hand for a fraction so that the mouse can click on this link which goes to the website where you can find out all about the artist and her book ... not to mention order it - if you like what you see and read.

Click on the image for a large version.

Copyright © Christina Camphausen - All Rights Reserved. Used here with permission.