desert war

The four twisted blades, veined and frosted like the wings of a giant dragonfly, had already been overgrown by the trellises of crystals hanging downwards from the near-by trees. The fuselage of the craft, partly buried in the ground, had blossomed into an enormous translucent jewel, in whose solid depths, like emblematic knights mounted in the base of a medieval ring-stone, the two pilots sat frozen at their controls. Their silver helmets gave off an endless fountain of light.

Ballard / The Crystal World / 120

homo signorum

Guidebook / magic mirror

Richmond
Henry VII died here. His blood, which he ordered to be sprinkled on the wall, is still to be seen in the room wherein he died. Many old written and printed books are in the Palace. Also a large circular mirror, in which King Henry VII by means of magic saw what was passing everywhere both by sea and land. The secret passages used by this king were first discovered under Queen Elizabeth.

Notes on England / Johann Jacob Grasser / c 1606

Richmond

In the palace, remark the Library of King Henry VII, for the most part consisting of manuscripts, of which Library nothing was known until the time of Queen Elizabeth. One of the books is on magic or the black art, called "Modus et Ratio Divinae Contemplationis". Here also is a large mirror in which Henry VII was able to see what he wished; but this mirror broke in pieces when the King died. His inkstand is likewise here. A portrait of the King when a young man, together with his wife; also the genealogies of all the Kings of England. King Henry VII's chamber wherein he is said to have died, the wall of which is besprinkled with his blood, but this is not permitted to be seen by everyone.

England as seen by foreigners / William Brenchley Rye / Friedrich I Duke of Wittenberg

Nero's emerald
Pliny (NH 37,64 ):
Iidem plerumque concavi, ut visum conligant. quam ob rem decreto hominum iis parcitur scalpi vetitis. quamquam Scythicorum Aegyptiorumque duritia tanta est, ut non queant volnerari. quorum vero corpus extentum est, eadem qua specula ratione supini rerum imagines reddunt. Nero princeps gladiatorum pugnas spectabat in smaragdo.

'Smaragdi' are generally concave in shape, so that they concentrate the vision. Because of these properties, mankind has decreed that 'smaragdi' must be preserved in their natural state and has forbidden them to be engraved. In any case, those of Scythia and Egypt are so hard as to be unaffected by blows. When 'smaragdi' that are tabular in shape are laid flat, they reflect objects just as mirrors do. The emperor Nero used to watch the fights between gladiators in a 'smaragdus'.1

imago amoris

The picture of Venus above which is written
imago amoris the image of love
on the forehead
procul et prope far and near
on the crown
mors et vita death and life
at the feet
hyems at aestas in midwinter in midsummer
and beneath all
in hac poesi figurantur proprietates amoris

unknown watchman / unknown painter / 1560

remember : them : that wache. and ward for you : their prince : and : realme : and suche. as doo' wythe, blvdy, swets : ofte tymes, deserve to gayne :























LAYING A GHOST (12 S. iii. 504). The
service as performed at Castle Acre in Norfolk,
early in the nineteenth century, consisted in
requisitioning the services of three of the
neighbouring clergy, who read in rotation
verses of Scripture, the ghost also reading
and keeping pace with them. If the clerics
managed to get a verse ahead, their power
was established and - the ghost laid.

Cordon sanitaire

Zones of Offensive Opacity

…Slips away from the apparatus, saturates it, blows it away. Is not limited to the possibilities authorized by the apparatus…

the Big Picture

Short Eyes, known as See, and the House Dick, known as Prick, are unofficial operatives of Special Operations. Prick is a burly ex-policeman with a cop's florid face and a cop's mean, angry eyes. They are rarely used against enemy agents, but rather against civilian targets: writers, artists, filmakers, intellectuals, inventors and researchers who are considered a danger to the Big Picture.

Big Picture involves escape from the planet by a chosen few… After that, an extermination program will be activated. needless to say, Big Picture is a highly sensitive project. Even to suspect the existence of Big Picture is unwholesome. As the poet says: 'After such knowledge, what forgiveness?"

burroughs / The Western Lands/ 51

…………

Wu Ming We are all February of 1917