In Pure Spirit

For open minds

  • Brains
  • Peculiar
  • Beliefs
  • Places
  • Meanings
  • Gaia
  • About

Waterfall giant is modern masterpiece

May 16, 2014 by Andrew Leave a Comment

fall-face

Looking at this picture you might well think ancient man helped carve a natural rock waterfall into this shape. However, this impressive landscape is entirely modern and part of the Swarovski experience.

Created by Andre Heller for Swarovski Crystal Worlds, the giant has lured more than 9 million visitors into its depths – where they find a cafe and a shop. The surrounding park also has a maze and art garden.

In Pure Spirit

Have you ever visited the Swarovski Crystal Worlds in Wattens? What did you make of your time there?

Amazing footage from Der Grüne See

June 10, 2012 by Andrew Leave a Comment

Der Grüne See – “The Green Lake” – is a meadow valley in Austria. While the meadow is in full spring bloom, the snow on the mountains all around it melts and runs off into the valley. The result is a crystal clear flood that can be up 11 metres deep.

The water is near freezing but this does not stop divers exploring the meadow. Alexander Benedik braved the icy waters to film this amazing footage. If you’re wondering how the fish get into the meadow it is because fishermen release them into the water.

More pictures from The Green Lake

Awesome or scary? The Christmas devil parade of Krampuslauf

December 13, 2011 by Andrew Leave a Comment

Who is Krampus?. The short answer is that Krampus is the other side of the coin to Santa Claus. Krampus punishes wicked children in the same way Santa rewards good ones.

Krampus is mainly still talked about in Austria, Slovenia and Croatia but on Krampusnacht in Germany they dress up as the demon.

This video is from Krampusaluf Graz, in Austria, last year and it is in equal measures awesome and scary.

In Pure Spirit

Are you tempted? I mean; are you temtped to tell naughty children to be good or risk a visit from Krampus?

Who is Krampus?

November 19, 2011 by Andrew Leave a Comment

Krampus is the evil alternative to Santa Claus, the demon version of St. Nicholas.

The Krampus stories are most common in Austria, Slovenia and Croatia but is traced back to countries with pre-Christian alpine traditions.

Krampus is a devil like creature who punishes children who have been bad – the opposite of Santa Claus rewarding children who have been good for the year.

The word “Krampus” is German in origin, being old high German for “claw”. The date December 5th is a strong date for Krampus as in some towns he will roam the streets chasing children and women with bells and chains. Otherwise he will accompany Saint Nicholas. December 6th is Krampusnacht in some parts of Bavaria and elsewhere in Germany.

Krampus, the holiday devil, may have a match in Frau Perchta. On Krampusnacht, in Germany, when the men dress up as strange demons the women dress up as Perchta – the Nordic goddess. Frau Perchta may be an aspect of Freyja, the fertility goddess.

This YouTube pop video shows how Krampus is still very much of modern alpine culture.

In Pure Spirit

Will you be warning children of the dangers of Krampus visiting if they’re not well behaved kiddie-winks?

Is religion is dying?

March 24, 2011 by Andrew Leave a Comment

Researchers in America working for the Northwestern Universityand the University of Arizona have concluded that people the West are finding religion to be less useful. They suggest that religion itself may die out in nine nations.

To get to these results, the research team used mathematical techniques, nonlinear dynamics, to mine data from census results going back a full centruy from Australia, Austria, Canada, the Czech Republic, Finland, Ireland, the Netherlands, New Zealand and Switzerland.

At the core of the prediction is teh suggest that social groups that have more members are more attractive to join. Social groups have status, utility or both. For example, it’s useful to speak the language of the largest social group in your area and you join that group by learning the language.

The survey and modelling is available online from the Cornell University Library.

Richard Weiner, a researcher at teh University of Zrizona and one of the authors, walked press through some of the conclusions. He said;

“There’ll be a continuing loss of membership among people that identify themselves as belonging to a religion. Over time, we could reach a time where society is dominated by people who claim religious non-affiliation,”

In the Czech Republic nearly 60% of people identified themselves as non-affiliated with religion. That was the highest recorded in the study. Countries like The Netherlands have a non-believer percentage in the 40% area but that figure is predicted to soar to 70% by 2050. That’s less than 40 years.

In Pure Spirit

Are you a non-believer? Do you think this is a natural course of the development of society or does the possible exctinction of religion in some countries herald a terrible tradigy?

Photo credit: Jerzy Kociatkiewicz

Search

Trending

The meaning of itches and their omens
A list of standing stones in Wales
The Mill Pond Wizard of Easton Conservation
The meanings of the days of the week

Join us

Join us

In Pure Spirit via Email

Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

Join 2,005 other subscribers.

Disclosure

This blog discusses ideas and causes. Urban myth, science and faith combine here. So do editorials and technology; In Pure Spirit uses affiliate marketing and some links might earn us money. You can read more about that here.

Policies

  • Contact us
  • Privacy
  • How we earn money
  • Writing about belief

Member of The Internet Defence League

Copyright © 2023 · Beautiful Pro Theme on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in

 

Loading Comments...