Remedios Varowas a Spanish-Mexican Surrealist painter who believed that randomness and darkness ruled the world. Her art attempts to represent the internal state of the soul externally.
Ephemereal and unusual, Varo’s work resembles the world of dreams, and oddly their similarity to waking life.
Fantasy, abandoned by reason, produces impossible monsters; united with it, she is the mother of the arts and the origin of marvels. – Francisco de Goya.
Varo was good friends with fellow Surrealist Leonora Carrington, and also went to school at San Fernando Fine Arts Academy in Madrid, Salvador Dali’s alma mater.
Remedios Varo – Surreal Goddess of Psychedelic Art Gallery
Experiencing the Overview Effect isn’t yet a realistic option for many of us, however we can enjoy the next best thing while we wait for Public Space Travel to become affordable.
These Timelapse Earth videos are a wonderful way to gain a new perspective on our Planet, each other, and ourselves.
As always, please make sure to watch these videos in High-Definition.
For pictures of the Earth from Space go:here, here, and here.
Timelapse Earth | Fly Over View from Space | NASA, ISS
The Voyagers is a beautiful short film by video artist and filmmaker Penny Lane, made of remixed public domain footage — a living testament to the creative capacity of remix culture — using the story of the legendary interstellar journey and the Golden Record to tell a bigger, beautiful story about love and the gift of chance.
Lane takes the Golden Record, “a Valentine dedicated to the tiny chance that in some distant time and place we might make contact,” and translates it into a Valentine to her own “fellow traveler,” all the while paying profound homage to Sagan’s spirit and legacy.
In 1977, NASA launched two unmanned missions into space, Voyager 1 and Voyager 2. Though originally intended to study Saturn and Jupiter over the course of two years, the probes have long outlasted and outtraveled their purpose and destination, having recently exited our Solar System entirely. Attached to each Voyager is a gold-plated record, known as The Golden Record — an epic compilation of images and sounds from Earth encrypted into binary code, the ultimate mixtape of humanity. Engineers predict it will last a billion years.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, the Golden Record was conceived by the great Carl Sagan and was inspired by his childhood visit to the 1939 New York World’s Fair, where he witnessed the famous burial of the Westinghouse time capsule. And while its story is fairly well-known, few realize it’s actually a most magical love story — the story of Carl Sagan and Annie Druyan, the creative director on the Golden Record project, with whom Sagan spent the rest of his life.
It’s hard to imagine the Golden Record being made now. I wish Carl Sagan were here to say, ‘You know what? A thousand billion years is a really long time. Nobody can know what will happen. Why not try? Why not reach for something amazing?’ There is no way to forestall what can’t be fathomed, no way to guess what hurts we’re trying to protect ourselves from. We have to know in order to love, we have to risk everything, we have to open ourselves up to contact — even with the possibility of disaster. – Penny Lane
Acupuncture and medical marijuana have been around for thousands of years. However, they didn’t have a shared connection until a group of outside-the-box thinkers at Shanghai Jiao Tong University in China discovered one.
Their findings, published online by the National Institutes of Health, show how electro-acupuncture – an electrified version of traditional acupuncture used to treat pain – works by increasing activity of natural painkillers in the body called cannabinoids.
The researchers say they weren’t the first to discover that acupuncture causes an increase in the body’s cannabinoids:
According to the latest reports in the American journal of Nature Neuroscience, acupuncture has been found to cause the human body to release some natural painkillers.
They were, however, the first to explain why. Using rat models of arthritis pain, the researchers found that repeated treatment with electro-acupuncture resulted in an increase in cannabinoid receptors in a part of the brain called the striatum.
That’s where it gets complicated, because the striatum is also full of dopamine cells. Previous studies show that marijuana can increase dopamine as well, and the current study seemed to confirm this. The researchers found that electro-acupuncture also led to an increase in dopamine receptors, but whether dopamine played a part in pain relief was not clear.
Overall, the rats appeared to be in less pain after receiving acupuncture – a treatment that the authors say is endorsed by the World Health Organization (WHO) for over 40 disorders.
And if cannabinoids are the reason acupuncture works for pain, then perhaps it’s time the WHO endorsed marijuana as well.
The study was conducted by researchers at Shanghai Jiao Tong University and funded by grants from the National Basic Research Program of China, National Natural Science Foundation of China , Shanghai Leading Academic Discipline Project, Shanghai Municipal Natural Science Foundation, and Shanghai Famous TCM academic research project.
This is an amazing BBC documentary about acupuncture, an ancient Chinese therapy.
Acupuncture is a collection of procedures which involves the stimulation of points on the body using a variety of techniques, such as penetrating the skin with needles that are then manipulated manually or by electrical stimulation. It is one of the key components of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) and is among the oldest healing practices in the world.
As part of the documentary, you will see a young women having open heart surgery without any anesthetics, just acupuncture. You will also see how it helps to treat migraines and many other conditions. Millions of people have started to believe that acupuncture works better than conventional medicine . This documentary explains the astonishing healing power of acupuncture and its booming market in the western world.
Binaural beatswere originally discovered in 1839 by physicist Heinrich Wilhelm Dove. He discovered when signals of two different frequencies are presented separately, one to each ear, your brain detects the phase variation between the frequencies and tries to reconcile that difference.
In doing so, as the two frequencies mesh in and out of phase, your brain creates its own third signal — called a binaural beat — which is equal to the difference between those two frequencies.
Research has shown that introducing a binaural beat will cause the brain to begin resonating in tune with that beat. This technique can be used to quickly and easily guide your mind into a desired state.
The concept that music can change your mood is, of course, nothing new. I am unsure if binaural beats offer an improvement over typical music, placebo or otherwise.More conclusive studies are required, but if you do find you enjoy the beats, there are many free options available so you won’t have to pay for the service.
(*Headphones required*)
This binaural study aid features many different frequencies between 4 & 14 Hz. It begins at 4Hz and rises slowly, ending with a 14hz Alpha tone at around the 50 min mark. The pitch remains constant throughout. Adjust the volume accordingly and feel free to mix with music, though it is advised to spend some time adjusting to the tone by itself first.
***PLEASE READ THE DESCRIPTION*** / HEADPHONES REQUIRED FOR BINAURAL BEATS
The 6-minute hypnosis at the start (STAGE #1) is there to help you fall asleep within the first 10-minutes of the lucid dream inducement (STAGE #2). It’s therefore recommended that you listen to STAGE #1 before every session until you’re confident that you can fall asleep without it, in which case just click on the annotation at the start to skip straight to the induction. The reason you have to sleep within 10 mins of STAGE #2 is so that the peak of your REM sleep/dream activity syncronizes with the triggers/affirmations at 1:11:28 secs.
STAGE #1 has the added benefit of providing several affirmations to prepare your mind for lucidity; “Tonight I will lucid dream”, “I am the master of my dreams” etc. (see below)
The first 65 minutes of STAGE #2 will guide your brainwaves into a deep Delta sleep, while the remainder will transition your mind into Theta, the state in which REM sleep and dreams (at their peak intensity) occur. From 65 mins of Stage #2 onwards, there will be a number of affirmations designed to trigger lucidity. You are advised to skip to these now so that you can adjust volume levels accordingly. (1:11:28 secs )
It is important to develop the habit of performing ‘reality checks’ throughout the day as the affirmations will prompt you to perform these in your dream. Of course you may even trigger lucidity without this audio – but this is just a tool to help you speed up the process. The key to getting results is persistence.
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STAGE #1 AFFIRMATIONS (before and after the relaxation hypnosis)
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“The next time I am dreaming, I will know that I am dreaming
“I am the master of my dreams”
“Tonight I will have a lucid dream”
“When dreaming, I recognize that I am dreaming”
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STAGE #2 AFFIRMATIONS (From 1Hr 11 Mins 28 secs onwards)
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“You are dreaming”
“Do a reality check”
“This is a dream”
“You are taking control of your dream”
“You are now dreaming”
“Is this a dream?”
“Perform a reality check”
“I am awakening within my dream”
“I am becoming consciously aware”
Deep Delta Sleep Meditation
Deep delta brainwave audio for meditation, relaxation and sleep.
Headphones are not needed as this uses Sonic Harmonics audio technology.
Binaural Beats for High Mental Activity | Gamma Waves
High gamma binaural beats are associated with high mental activity. Ideally when we are actively and deeply focused on task or during meditation, our brain generates frequency higher than normal (between 25-100 Hz).
Share your experiences with Binaural Beats below, we’d love to hear them.
Armadillo is a band that sprouted out of a creative coincidence in Valledupar, Colombia (the land of Vallenato). Mauricio Álvarez (Cero39) and Diego Maldonado (DeJuepuchas & La MiniTK del Miedo), met up with a bunch of local musicians in that town and started a jam session. The result, an album with 9 tracks, a musical journey through the sounds and timbres of vallenato, mixed with electronic and IDM beats and sequences.
The video centers around symbols and elements inherent to the culture and imaginarium of the Valle de Upar (later called Valledupar). Animals, colors and textures appear throughout the video undergoing change and evolve, as life does. ‘It’s a metaphor about culture in life’ says RAMA, it’s creator. More about Armadillo here. – Boing Boing
Slugabed – Quantum Leap
Birdy Nam Nam The Parachute Ending
Ayahuasca DMT: Drug Trip Sequence
A clip from the movie Renegade (aka Blueberry) in which the main character drinks Ayahuasca which contains dimethyltryptamine, and has a mind blowing trip.
Blockhead – The Music Scene
From Blockhead’s album ‘The Music Scene’ – released 18 January 2010 on Ninja Tune.
From the new Gong album 2032 – You can buy the CD (with lyrics booklet) from http://www.planetgong.co.uk A wonderful manga animation of Daevid Allen’s drawings by ace Japanese team Mood Magic, who also made System 7’s Hinotori.
The Buddha never claimed to be God, or his emissary on Earth. He was a human being who, in a world of unavoidable pain and suffering, found serenity, which he said others could find too.
Why do human beings suffer? What constitutes ethical behavior? How is it possible to find peace and serenity?
These were questions which the Buddha asked, and which the film explores by giving an account of his spiritual journey.
Directed by award-winning filmmaker David Grubin and narrated by Richard Gere. The documentary is woven through with animation and draws upon paintings and sculptures across 2 millennia by some of the world’s greatest artists, as well as fragments of the Buddha’s world still present in India and Nepal today.
The Buddha – A Documentary Story of the Buddha’s Life
I have seen many a film on Buddha, but few of them have succeeded as well as this one in so lucidly and compellingly presenting the transformative elements of his dharma. – Paul Knitter, Professor, Union Theological Seminary
French street artist Dran uses his artistic talent to criticize society, and it’s conditioned conventions. Typically ironic in approach, his similarities to English graffiti artist Banksy have earned him the nickname, “the French Banksy”.
Dran’s social criticisms are varied in scope, and although many of his works are naturally playful, they manage to retain their intended message.
Finally, I would be remiss if I did not mention Dran’s site, it has a lot of cool interactions built in (don’t click on the spider!).
These Sounds of Heaven are radio waves emitted by celestial objects that are then turned into sound. Science fiction and reality continue to inch ever closer together.
NASA Voyager Recordings – Symphonies Of The Planets 3
A fantastic recording from the space flights of Voyager I & II launched in 1977. The true ambient space sounds that come from electronic vibrations of the planets, moons and rings, electromagnetic fields of the planets and moons, planetary magnetosphere, trapped radio waves bouncing between the planet and the inner surface of it’s atmosphere, charged particle interactions of the planet, it’s moons and the solar wind, and from charged particle emissions from the rings of certain planets. All sounds are space sounds, there are no engine sounds from the space probes.
One’s creative juices can be augmented by a pleasant workspace environment.
If you’re having trouble with your creative output, taking a look at how successful creationists have traditionally set up their inspiring workspaces may help.
Although the spaces are unique to each artist, one over-arching theme is an aura ofpeace and solitude.
In 2005, artist Jennifer Kanary’s sister-in-law committed suicide while suffering from a psychotic episode.
This event led Jennifer to develop Labyrinth Psychotica, an experience designed to give people more insight into how it feels to suffer through psychosis.
Empathy is key to being able to help those suffering from psychosis. Jennifer hopes that her wearable technology will:
Help people understand what it’s like to have strange thoughts and to experience different realities simultaneously.
To achieve this goal, users are strapped into virtual reality gear and transported into the mind of a psychotic girl named Jamie. The whole experience lasts twelve minutes, during which ‘normal’ reality gets increasingly intertwined with Jamie’s psychotic reality, making it more and more difficult to distinguish between what’s real and what’s not.