cyril connolly—the secret of art

cyril connolly—the secret of art

( cyril connolly makes an educated guess on the true nature of the secret of art.  )

"but the secret of art? there have been so many infernos and so few paradises in european art that the infernos would seem our true climate. yet those who have survived satanism, war or passion have cared only for paradise. in that sense religion is the sequel to art and the sequel to love, as paradise regained follows half-heartedly after paradise lost."

cyril connolly, the unquiet grave.


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russell page--bedside gardening

''andre malraux once spoke to me of classical chinese books on landscape gardening and of how the chinese landscape maker strove above all that his garden should reflect and symbolize not only the changes of the seasons but the passage of each day. he wondered whether it was possible even in china to induce the morning and evening mists to linger over shallow lotus-ponds and strange shaped rocks.''

russell page, the education of a gardener.

nancy wasserman--rubberpratyhara

''in my opinion, the most effective instruction available to prepare oneself for the practice of pratyhara remains aleister crowley's liber iii vel jugorum. ... crowley's instructions in liber jugorum state that the aspirant should, with each transgression, make a cut in his forearm with a razor blade. this may not be a viable option for many people. i have had good results using a thick, tight rubber band around the wrist. with each transgression, a sound thwack did the trick!''

nancy wasserman; yoga for magic, chapter-pratyhara.

russell page--bedside gardening

[modulor fish]

''much of chinese gardening would seem to have been within walls this led in a way that europe has never known, to the invention and construction of fantastic artificial landscapes within formal enclosures. chinese gardeners made little mountains of fretted stones dragged from the bottom of an indo-chinese bay. they worked on each crevice and hole and carved them into even wilder shapes; they set them in strangely shaped pools canopied by the rounded glaucous leaves of lotus. these sheltered shoals of gold-fish bred specially for their protruding eyes and for their waving silken fins of silver and orange, gold and black.''

russell page, the education of a gardener.

aleister crowley--pratyhara

''he should also practice assiduosly liber iii. vel jugorum. the essence of this practice is that you select a familiar thought, word, or gesture, one which automatically recurs fairly often during the day, and every time you are betrayed into using it, cut yourself sharply upon the forearm with a convenient instrument.''

aleister crowley, eight lectures on yoga.