Ombros Hieros

ομβρος ἱερος - ombros hieros - sacred, or holy, rain. This is from line 1428 of Sophocles' Oedipus Tyrannus, Oedipus the King.  Hence, in English, hieratic, priestly or of priests; hierarchy, a graded priesthood, etc. I don't know if French ombre, shade, & hence English umbrage, umbrella, etc, is derived from ombros or not. Perhaps someone can tell me? 

The Beara Peninsula in Ireland

These photos were taken on the Beara Peninsula last Sunday. The top one looks down into the valley where the village of Allihies lies, a former copper mining town. The others show the Healy Pass through the mountains.

Look! No instagram!

Why does the individual exist?

Man is essentially a question mark. We don't know what man is, or where he is destined to go when he outgrows his essential immaturity.

We have individuals because we don't know what man is.  Each individual exists as a tentative answer to this question mark, a tentative exploration of man's possible maturity.

Every attempt to submerge the individual in the crowd is driven by the fear of this mystery. Plato's Republic is the classic instance of this at the political & philosophical level.

But every day men & women try to take flight from their individuality, because it is a reminder of the unknown. They seek what is acceptable, what is the norm.

In psychotherapy we try to work all the time against this tendency, to make men & women a little less afraid of the great experiment we are each embarked upon.

Blossoms in the breeze

A young swan

O, great star ...

"O, great star! What would your happiness be if you did not have those whom you light?" Thus Spake Zarathustra, First Part, Opening Scene.