A Light in the Darkness / Ein Licht in der Dunkelheit

“Take a piece of glass, paint colours and forms on it, and put the same into a magic lantern, turn on a little light, and the  colours and the forms painted on the glass are reproduced on the screen. If that light were not turned on, you would not see  the colours of the slide on the screen.

“How are colours formed? By breaking up white light with a many-sided prism. So it is with a man’s character. It is seen when  the Light of Life (God) is shining through it, i.e. in a man’s actions. If the man is sleeping or dead, you do not see his  character. Only when the Light of Life is animating the character and causing it to act in a thousand different ways, in  response to its contact with this many-sided world, can you perceive a man’s character. If white light had not been broken up  and put into forms and shapes on our magic lantern slide, we should never have known that there was a piece of glass in front  of the light, for the light would have shone clearly through. In a sense that white light was marred, and had some of its clearness taken from it by having to shine through the colours on the glass.

“So it is with an ordinary man. His mind is like the screen. On it shines light, dulled and changed because he has allowed the  many-sided world to stand in the way of the Light (God) and broken it up. He sees only the effects of the Light (God) instead  of the Light (God) Himself, and his mind reflects the effects he sees just as the screen reflects the colours on the glass.  Take away the prism and the colours vanish, absorbed back into the white light from whence they came. Take away the colours  from the slide and the light shines clearly through. Take away from our sight the world of effects we see, and let us look only  into the cause, and we shall see the Light (God).

“A Master in meditation, though the eyes and ears be open, fixes his attention so firmly on ‘That which sees’ that he neither  sees nor hears, nor has any physical consciousness at all — nor mental either, but only spiritual.

“We must take away the world, which causes our doubts, which clouds our mind, and the light of God will shine clearly through.  How is the world taken away? When, for example, instead of seeing a man you see and say, ‘This is God animating a body’, which  body answers, more or less perfectly, to the directions of God, as a ship answers more or less perfectly to her helm.

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A passage taken from the book “Ramana Maharshi and The Path of Self Knowledge”, by ARTHUR OSBORNE, from a letter written to a friend in London by F. H. Humphreys and published by her in the International Psychic Gazette, London.

Ranunculus Arvensis (Corn Buttercup, Devil-on-all-sides, Scratch Bur) is a plant species of the genus Ranunculus. It was formerly a  common annual arable weed in Britain, but is now rare.

Ranunculus is a large genus of about 400 species of plants in the Ranunculaceae. It includes the buttercups, spearworts, water crowfoots and the lesser celandine (but not the greater celandine of the poppy family Papaveraceae). They are mostly herbaceous perennials with bright yellow or white flowers (if white, still with a yellow centre); some are annuals or biennials. A few have orange or red flowers and occasionally, as in R. auricomus, petals may be absent. The petals are often highly lustrous, especially in yellow species.

All Ranunculus species are poisonous when eaten fresh by cattle, horses, and other livestock, but their acrid taste and the blistering of the mouth caused by their poison means they are usually left uneaten.

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I found this flower on our return way from one of the valleys of Arasbaran Biosphere protected area,  I couldn’t believe how tiny and cute it was… It is almost 5mm in diameter…

I think its a wild species of Daisy from the Asteraceae (Compositae) family.

The family Asteraceae or Compositae (known as the aster, daisy, or sunflower family) is the largest family of flowering plants, in terms of number of species. The name ‘Asteraceae’ is derived from the type genus Aster, while ‘Compositae’, an older but still valid name, means composite. I don’t know it for sure but I guess it should be a wild species of Daisy. Its rather a very tiny and tender flower, with a diameter less than 1cm. I shot it in a damp forest environment, where the soil is considerably wet.

Please share any exact infos. u might have about the true name & species of this flower…

Ranunculus Repens (Creeping Buttercup) or Ranunculus Bulbosus, commonly known as “St. Anthony’s turnip” or “bulbous buttercup” and as “Alaleh” in persian, is a flowering plant in the buttercup family, native to Europe, Asia (esp. in highlands of Iran and Turkey) and northwestern Africa and a perennial weed of the Buttercup Family. It has attractive bright golden yellow flowers, 1.5–3 cm diameter, usually with 5-7 petals and deeply divided, three-lobed long-petioled basal leaves. Bulbous buttercup is known to form tufts. It grows in fields and pastures and prefers wet soil. The plant blooms from April to July.

The stems are 20-60 cm tall, erect, branching, and slightly hairy flowering. There are alternate and sessile leaves on the stem. The flower forms at the apex of the stems, and is shiny and yellow, which make it hard to photograph in the sunny weather.

Creeping Buttercup was sold in many parts of the world as an ornamental plant, and has now become an invasive species in many parts of the world.

Like most buttercups, R. repens is poisonous, although when dried with hay these poisons are lost. The taste of buttercups is acrid, so cattle avoid eating them. The plants then take advantage of the cropped ground around it to spread their stolons. Creeping buttercup also is spread through the transportation of hay. Contact with the sap of the plant can cause skin blistering.

Although tulips are associated with Holland, both the flower and its name originated in the Ottoman Empire. The tulip is actually not a Dutch flower as many people tend to believe. The Tulip, or “Lale” as it is called in Turkey, is a flower indigenous to Iran, Afghanistan, Turkey and other parts of Central Asia. A Dutch ambassador in Turkey in the 16th century, who was also a great floral enthusiast, Ogier Ghiselin de Busbecq, had said that they get their very names because of their Persian origins.

Tulips were brought to Europe in the 16th century; the word tulip, which earlier in English appeared in such forms as tulipa or tulipant, entered the language by way of French tulipe and its obsolete form tulipan or by way of Modern Latin tul?pa, from Ottoman Turkish tülbend, “muslin, gauze.” (The English word turban, first recorded in English in the 16th century, can also be traced to Ottoman Turkish tülbend.) The Turkish word for gauze, with which turbans can be wrapped, seems to have been used for the flower because a fully opened tulip was thought to resemble a turban.

Like the previous photo this was shot in a sunny day in the Antalya Municipality’s front yard, Turkey…

Tulipa commonly called Tulip is a genus of about 100 species of bulbous flowering plants in the family “Liliaceae”. The native range of the species includes southern Europe, north Africa, and Asia from Anatolia and Iran in the east to northeast of China. The centre of diversity of the genus is in the Pamir and Hindu Kush mountains and the steppes of Kazakhstan.

I took this photo in a sunny day in the Antalya Municipality’s front yard, Turkey… beautiful isn’t it…?

Another view of this strange flower; Dark Grape Hyacinth…

Here’s a shot of a strange & acceptably rare species of flower, at least maybe in our country. Its from the Liliaceae (Lily) family. Scientific name of this flower is “Muscari commutatum”, & the common name for it is “Dark Grape Hyacinth” or “Narrow Leaved Grape Hyacinth”.

It truly has a strong odor & is slightly juicy & i feel its a little poisonous & not healthy to eat but however i think all the plants on earth are eatable but u can only eat some just once… u know…

Musk is the name originally given to a substance with a penetrating odor obtained from a gland of the male musk deer, which is situated between its stomach and genitals. The substance has been used as a popular perfume fixative since ancient times and is one of the most expensive animal products in the world. The name, originated from Sanskrit mu?ká meaning “testicle” (as in a ’single’ testicle).

The etymology of the name musk, originating from Sanskrit mu?ká via Middle Persian mušk (Moshk), Late Greek -?????? (moschos), Late Latin muscus, Middle French musc and Middle English muske, hints at its trade route.

Muscari = Musk (or Moshk in persian), referring to the scent of its flowers (Greek); Musk, which as was explained above is a greasy secretion with a powerful odor, produced in a glandular sac beneath the skin of the abdomen of the male musk deer and used in the manufacture of perfumes.

commutatum = changeable, changed or changing; used for a species that is very similar to one already known. (Latin).

Wild Bell Flower photographed from behind, in a very green mountainous area as the background…

“Campanula” is its scientific name which is one of several genera of in the family Campanulaceae with the common name bellflower. It takes its name from their bell-shaped flowers, and campanula is Latin for “little bell”.

A young Calendula Officinalis, with its turkish name known as “Tibbi Nergis”…

“Calendula” is a genus of about 12-20 species of annual or perennial herbaceous plants in the daisy family “Asteraceae”, native to the area from Macaronesia east through the Mediterranean region to Iran. Calendula should not be confused with other plants that are also known as marigolds, such as plants of the genus Tagetes, corn marigolds or marsh marigolds. Its completely a different species.