Environmental Graffiti

All images via English Russia posts here and here

Bursting out of a plateau in a remote region of the Ural Mountains – like the gnarled fingers of some giant subterranean monster – the seven rock formations of Manpupuner in the Komi Republic are as veiled in mystery as they sometimes are in snowstorms and fog. Known as the “7 strong men”, these gargantuan stone towers are rightly considered one of the Seven Wonders of Russia, and with its air of inscrutability, Manpupuner draws visitors from across its vast country.

Despite all this, Manpupuner – which in the Mansi language means “little mountain of the gods” – is not widely known outside Russia, lying as it does in the isolated and inhospitable north. And while since time immemorial these giant stone totems have been the source of all manner of myths and fables, information regarding their true origins is hard to come by.

According to one source, the beginnings of this extraordinary natural marvel go back some 200-300 million years, when in its place stood a mountain. With the steady onslaught of time, erosion caused by rain, wind, frost and other meteorological phenomena slowly but surely wore away at the softer rock, leaving the seven pillars standing today.

Less open to any debate is the imposing impression Manpupuner makes on those who witness it firsthand. Standing alone on a featureless expanse with no other stones or mountains in sight, these geological figures are unequivocally massive, dwarfing people at their base and making most ancient human megaliths look like the relatively minor slabs of stone they are.

It seems that whatever trick Mother Nature used to fashion this monumental assemblage, her efforts puts those of our ancestors into the shade.

What’s more, these towering rock totems are not only incredible by dint of their size and location, but also because of their astonishing forms and strange, some might say whimsical, distribution. Some of the columns are narrower at the base, and while six are huddled together, the seventh stands aloof or guardian-like as if observing them from afar.

The great height and unusual shapes of the stone-faced 7 strong men make them inaccessible to even experienced rock-climbers – the marked overhangs projecting out above the heads of people on the ground enough to discourage even the most fearless or foolhardy. Of course, some might beg to differ.

Adding to Manpupuner’s general sense of impenetrability, it is not only the summits of these rock colossuses that are difficult to reach; getting to their feet is challenging enough in the first place. The harsh environment of this mysterious site – where blizzards rage in the winter – is enough to deter less single-minded sightseers.

All this said, for those who can brave the elements of the northern Ural mountains – among the oldest mountain ranges on earth and the natural boundary between Europe and Asia – this spectacular prize waits. Travellers with the drive to get there can savour an entirely different view on the world – and feel what it is like to walk among giants.

See more English Russia photos here and here

Sources: 1, 2

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A lucky gannet surrounded by thousands of sardines
Image: Alexander Safonov, used with permission

A bird diving and swimming underwater seems like a paradox but then, our feathery friends are crafty when it comes to reaching tasty prey like fish – some birds even dive a few feet deep to catch it! Dippers, gannets, kingfishers, gulls, swans and cormorants all perform the most amazing stunts when it’s time to feed their bellies.

Gannets for example often dive from a height of 30 m and reach the water at speeds of 100 km/h. This propels them down much more than most airborne birds, providing them with a larger variety of prey. Not only that – they are also smart and wait for large schools of fish to swim by when migrating to have the easiest access to a large amount of food.

Alexander Safonov’s breathtaking picture below of a gannet diving won the Wildlife Photographer of the Year 2009 award.

Yippee, all-you-can-eat buffet!

Image: Alexander Safonov, used with permission

Gulls are notorious food snatchers, plunging down on unsuspecting shore visitors who are consuming food. It is therefore not surprising that they will go to any lengths as well if they spot tasty prey underwater.

An Alaskan gull kamikaze-diving for its food:

Image: Kierstyn

We’re not sure if the black swan in the next picture is taking a casual peek under water or if it has spotted a specific piece of food. In either case, swans are a good example of birds diving from the water’s surface – like ducks, cormorants and penguins, so-called foot-propelled diving birds as opposed to wing-propelled ones.

What’s going on down here?

Image: Stephanie Carter

Ducks and geese don’t commit to either element – when they need something below the water’s surface, they simply stick the top part of their body underwater and keep the rear outside. Not too elegant but effective.

Their view must be similar to this puffin’s:

Image: Jerry Frausto

Though not yet underwater, we loved the next picture because of the bird’s grace and determination: It’s upside down and fully stretched out, beak ready to dive in first to catch the precious prey, nothing else on its mind. Makes you almost feel bad for the fish but such is life.

Fishy, here I come:

Image: Peter Salanki

This action-packed photograph shows one double-crested cormorant (Phalacrocorax auritus) having just emerged from the water with a fat fish while the other looks on, hungrily. Cormorants frequently catch fish by diving underwater and often eat smaller fish right away before emerging, whereas bigger prey is brought to the surface and eaten somewhere safe.

Image: Mila Zinkova

In fact, cormorants are so adept at fishing – much more than humans – that fishermen in China, Japan and Macedonia once exploited their skill for catching big fish.

No such danger for dippers as they are interested in insects only. Dippers are amazing birds that can use their strongly muscled wings as flippers underwater. Their dense plumage allows them to brave even the iciest waters and their large preen gland is perfect for waterproofing their feathers.

Dippers perch on rocks and look for food at the edge of streams but they also check under rocks for small invertebrates. If nothing is found there or they rather feel like having aquatic insects, small fish or fish eggs, they submerge themselves partly or fully or even dive underwater. There, they look under small stones for prey and use their wings like flippers to swim around.

In this amazing video, an American dipper parent has to feed its hungry chick. With military precision, the dipper not only dives underwater and hunts for aquatic insects, but seems to fly there as well!

Penguins, as flightless, aquatic birds, are probably what come to mind when we think of birds swimming underwater. They are made for swimming – their former short wings have fully evolved into flippers, making them fast and elegant swimmers. The close-up below of a colourful representative of the species shows that they are still birds, just very adept at being underwater.

Disco penguin at the Monterey Bay Aquarium:

Image: LightFlier

Sources: 1, 2, 3, 4

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Simon Bishop

A race of intelligent, diminutive hominids co-existing alongside humanity in South-East Asia? In the year 2003, a creature from mythology stepped out of the shadows and into the cold, hard light of science when an archaeological dig revealed what appeared to be a new species of hominid that matched closely with local myths of a creature known as the Ebu Gogo.

Peter Schouten and the National Geographic Society

The remote island of Flores in Indonesia is thought to have been unaffected by the most recent of Earth’s glaciation periods, and it was here that a unique collection of species once flourished, including now-extinct giant rats and the pygmy elephant Stegodon. But archaeologists looking for evidence of the presence of Homo sapiens in ancient times were shocked to find fossils of what appeared to be a completely new species. They named it after the island on which it was found, but while it is known to science as Homo floresiensis, its small stature has led it to be constantly referred to in the media as the ‘hobbit’. The enormous success of Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings movies round about this time was certainly an influence!

Rosino

The hobbit stood at just over 1m tall, making it significantly smaller than even the pygmies of Africa. It was heavier-set and presumably stronger than Homo sapiens, with scientists having gone on record as saying that it could easily have crushed the arm of any modern man foolish enough to engage in a bout of arm-wrestling with it. The unusual teeth, the lack of a definite chin, and the small size of its brain, even allowing for its height, all point to the hobbit being a unique species. We know that it used sophisticated tools and fire, that it hunted and ate Stegodon, and that it had regions of the prefrontal cortex in the brain associated with self-awareness that are about the same size as those of modern man. The most contested claim is that the hobbit may even have been capable of some form of speech. Most astonishing of all, the hobbit appears to have been the last other hominid on Earth to have lived alongside modern man, as it survived until at least 12,000 years ago.

Chris Turney

Throughout recorded history, mankind has not shared this Earth with any other intelligent hominid, so we have very little experience to go on to imagine the effects of such co-habitation. How would the two species have interacted? Did they make war? Did they trade? Did they regard one another simply as another dangerous animal to be wary of, or something more? We know that hominids as ancient as Neanderthal man and Homo erectus exhibited some aspects of religion, and it is tempting to wonder what place these species, so clearly related, played in their understanding of the world. Whatever the interaction, it came to a sharp end some 12,000 years ago, when a volcanic eruption apparently put an end to this relic population.

Avandergear

Of course, such dramatic developments in science rarely pass without controversy. The discovery of the hobbit has been shrouded in almost constant controversy since 2003, with scientists taking cheap pot-shots at one another and griping – when they aren’t refuting each other’s work in respected scientific journals. The main contention has been that the ‘hobbits’ were merely a dwarfish group of Homo sapiens that exhibited a condition known as microcephaly, in which the head fails to develop properly, and remains small throughout adulthood. Not only this, but after the discovery, the Indonesian government prevented reputable press organizations such as the BBC from visiting the cave where the remains were found for four years. Critics maintain that they wished to prevent any possibility of the conclusions being proved false.

Controversy still rages, but the current situation looks more in favour of the hobbit being a new species, with recent studies showing that the structure of the hobbit’s joints and feet in particular show stark differences from those of humans, and are in fact more similar to other living hominids such as chimpanzees and extinct ones such as the African Australopithecus.

Ryan Somma, uploaded by Funkmonk

The true answer may never be known. But whether the hobbit was the last of its noble kind or simply a crippled, pitiful remnant of humanity, and whether or not it clashed with Homo sapiens, it will continue to cause rifts in the world of anthropology for some time to come.

Sources: 1, 2, 3

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‘Stranded’: Juan Cabana

When speaking of art, we speak of creation, sometimes forgetting the word’s religious or supernatural sense – the many myths depicting the beginnings of earth, life and the universe. All artists, it can be argued, are playing god when they bring their works into the world, but while some of these creations aim to please through their beauty, others are geared to cause pain as well as pleasure, fear as much as fascination. These objects of sublime horror have been sent to haunt our dreams; take a browse through this bizarre bestiary and you’ll see what we mean.

‘Omi’: Juan Cabana

Celebrated and self-trained, Tampa Bay-based taxidermy artist Juan Cabana has been delighting and disturbing audiences with his strange, lifeless life-forms since 2001. Mermaids are his special fascination, but he presents many variations on this theme. Among the other sinister sea monsters conceived in his workshop: a Cyclops known as ‘Omi’; a massive mammalian-jawed monstrosity, ’Stranded’; a skull-faced manfish called ‘Nereus’; and a winged sea faerie, ‘Oceanic Pixy’.

‘Oceanic Pixy’: Juan Cabana

Juan told Environmental Graffiti why it is sea creatures are so central to his macabre menagerie: “I was always attracted to strange creatures. Later I became obsessed with the reported accounts of mermaids and sea monsters as described by sailors around the world. I believe we humans evolved from a yet to be discovered ancestor that lived in the sea. We are created in a watery environment and our blood is like salt water.”

“I want my sculptures to be as real as possible,” he concluded. “In that aspect I think I have succeeded. I receive emails from around the world asking me if the photos on my website are authentic mermaids and sea monsters.”

‘Nerina’: Juan Cabana

‘Nereus’: Juan Cabana

Incorporating real fish skins, fins and teeth together with the remains of other assorted animals – including parts of baboons used for their humanlike hands and miniature skulls – the eerily life-like composite specimens Cabana creates convey a deep and lifelong interest in cryptozoology and mythology as well as science fiction. While the marine depths have offered muses for many of his creations, the more infinite expanses of outer space have also provided ample inspiration.

‘Roswell’: Juan Cabana

Devil / Demon: Superbia / Miguel

Cabana’s style makes more than a passing side-glance at the sideshow hoaxes of the 18th and 19th centuries – particularly Barnum’s famous fake of the Fejee Mermaid – but far from Florida, other current practitioners of this grisly form of expression have been creating their own taxonomies of creatures usually confined to the vaults of legend. After seeing some of the glut of J-horror movies – from The Ring to Audition – it comes as little surprise to learn that the next collection of palaeontologist nightmares was found at a suitably cryptic Japanese website.

Devil / Demon: Ira / Miguel

Depictions of the devil – or at least of demons made in his diabolical image – figure among the most fiendish of these creepy creations, but there are others born of the darker recesses of the human imagination. A hand-like organism rears up at the observer, the gaping mouth in its palm reminiscent of the eye-in-hand cultural icon that can be seen everywhere from ancient Hindu and Native American mythology to the terrifying monster featured in the movie, Pan’s Labyrinth. Still other beings defy description or at least any description safe for work.

Bizarre creature: Luxuria / Jose

Hand-like monster: Avaritia / Jose

Traditional taxidermy has long been deemed an art, but some in this morbid yet strangely life-imbuing world do not consider creating creatures without real, live counterparts true to its set aesthetic form. When in 2004, a group dubbed the Minnesota Association of Rogue Taxidermists held their inaugural show of Capricorns, chimeras and assorted mythical monstrosities and hybrid oddities, it provoked far less disgust – and more enjoyment – than they might have imagined, the most cutting criticism coming from the conservative taxidermy establishment.

‘Chimera’: Sarina Brewer via Creative Electric Studios

‘Capricorn’: Sarina Brewer via Creative Electric Studios

The bone of contention seems to have been that it’s okay to go meddling with the corpses of dead creatures so long as they stay resembling the way Nature intended them to look in life. Or something. For their part, the dark-humoured rogue taxidermists reckon they’re doing no harm; hell, they’re animal lovers who take pride in only using road-kill and dead donations – thus adhering to a policy of recycling and reuse. When people use animal parts as the medium for bucking the trend in art, some are sure to take offense – even if their reasons are difficult to fathom.

Sources: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7

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Image: cacoseraph

Super-size isn’t just the American way; it seems Nature has been dealing out enormous portions for thousands of years – and the fast food nation just got on the bandwagon. Yep, through the course of evolution, many gigantic species have come to light, quite a few of which have gone back to the black of extinction. It’s the giants among animals we normally consider small that concern us here.

1. Goliath Frog

Image via Queensland Frog Society

Whoa. We know. That thing is as big as a baby. Who knew frogs came this big? Not us until now. The Goliath Frog is the largest frog on the planet. It grows to more than a foot long and weighs up to eight pounds – which for the record is much heavier than any Subway.

Pet to be or put on a platter? Captured Goliath Frog

Image via Amphibian Research Centre

This outsized amphibian can live for up to 15 years on a diet of crabs, insects and smaller frogs, and despite its size keeps a low profile because it has no vocal sac. A good job too. That would be some rebbit. Found in a small part of West Africa, the Goliath Frog’s numbers are dwindling due to habitat destruction and its collection for consumption as food and use in the pet trade.

2. Giant African Land Snail

Image via Georgia Faces

Even the French – excuse the crass national stereotyping – might take one look at this sucker and think, nope, that’s just too big to stomach. The Giant African Land Snail is the world’s largest land snail and less laudably is also known as one of its worst invasive species.

Newfound friend: Palming a Giant African Land Snail

Image via Springhill Care

Reaching a length – and it’s not boasting – of over eight inches, this super-sized snail eats a range of plant material, fruit and vegetables, and even sand and small stones – pretty much anything it can get its antennae on, including in rare cases other snails. It’s native to East Africa, but has been widely introduced to other parts of the world where it is seen as a pest.

3. Giant Rats

Giant Rat Caught in China Image via freakart productions

Tails of giant rats are the stuff every city’s sewer myths, but some recent discoveries have put such hearsay monster vermin into the shade. In early 2009, a specimen was caught in China that was reportedly armed with 1-inch long teeth, had a 12-inch tail, and weighed in at a heavyweight six pounds. The beast was identified as a bamboo rat, a slothful rodent usually found burrowing for roots in remote areas.

Ignorance is bliss: Giant Rat found in Papua New Guinea

Image via The Green Guy

More recently, an entire new species – this time a true rat – was found deep in the jungles of Papua New Guinea that at over 2.5 feet long is much larger than your average city rat. Bigger than a small cat, the three-pound critter was almost as cute too, and held no fear of humans.

4. Giant Beetles

Titan Beetle Image via Taskbook

By gum, this beetle’s big. Imagine finding that sucker in your back yard. The rare Titan Beetle is reckoned to be the biggest of all beetles and one of the largest known insect species in the world. Found in the forests of Central and South America, this bad boy can grow to a colossal 6.5 inches, and it is said its mandibles can snap pencils in half and slice human flesh. Ouch.

Whole lotta chunk: Goliath Beetle gets a hand

Image via Its Nature

Measuring up against the Titan Beetle is Africa’s Goliath Beetle, which boasts a bulk and weight to better its New World opponent. This chunky champion of the Scarab beetle family is capable of reaching 5.9 inches in length and weighing a scale-tipping 3.5 oz-plus. Oh, and it eats dog food in captivity. Well ard.

5. Giant Centipede

Image: Eleanor Hill

Five words. Not to be f***ed with. Regularly reaching lengths of ten inches and sometimes exceeding 12, this many-legged scoundrel is not only massive but mean. Native to northern and western regions of South America and the islands of Trinidad and Jamaica, the Giant Centipede has anything but a laid back temperament.

No thanks: A Giant Centipede explores an arm

Image: cacoseraph

Carnivorous as they come, this quick-stepping critter eats frogs, birds, lizards, mice and even bats, killing its prey with modified claws that curl around its head to deliver venom to the unfortunate victim. This extremely potent chemical weapon is toxic to humans and causes severe swelling, fever and weakness. Big, bad and not tasty however you fry it.

Sources: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7

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Templar knights pray at the grave of St. George / Germany medieval ms
Robertus Monachus: History of the first Crusade,
St. Gallen, Stiftsbibliothek, Cod. Sang. 658, 1465.
Digital image -­ renzodionigi / flikr

Heresy trials, convictions and death by burning at the stake awaited the Templar leadership in France where the hatred of Philip IV prevailed over an indecisive Pope. In many countries, the Templars ‘melted away’, except in Portugal where they were long established and members of the royal family had joined the Order of Christ.

Thunderstorms Build on the Templar Horizon -

As the 13th century draws to a close, the Templar situation is grave. France was overcome with jealousy and hate against the Templars who would not finance Philip IV’s war against England. Christendom was driven out of the Middle East and the Kingdom of Jerusalem was defeated. The French would withdraw their support of the crusades to retake Jerusalem. Nonetheless, in Europe and the Middle East, the Templars remained wealthy and powerful. They owned vast tracts of land, castles, churches, farms, vineyards, a fleet of ships, and for a time the entire island of Cyprus.

Crusader fortress city of Acre
Map -­ Marc Carrie (c) 2007

Templar quarter in crusader fortress city of Acre
Map ­ Marc Carrie (c) 2007

The fortress city of Acre fell on May 18, 1291 after a six week siege, although the Templars held out in their quarter for another ten days. The remaining crusader cities in the Levant fell by mid-August, 1291. The Templars relocated to Cyprus and attempted to continue their military adventures from this island base. They acquired fleets, and attacked Egypt and Syria, but failed to establish themselves on the Island of Ruad in the Tortosa which they held only briefly. Recruits were everywhere, and individual motivation remained religious salvation, but the Order was adrift. The world that demanded the ‘Ferocious Charge’ had disappeared, the Rule of the Templar Order as a military manual had become irrelevant.

In 1291, Templar Knights once again defended Acre, but this time were defeated and all Templar knights within the city walls died. The Holy Land was lost, 20,000 Templars had died in its defense.

Jacques de Molay, the last Grand Master, took office in 1292 and toured Europe to garner support for the Knights Templar. Pope Boniface VIII granted the Templars the same privileges on Cyprus that they had in the Holy Land. Edward I of England and Charles II of Naples were particularly sympathetic but Antioch – the last Templar fortress – fell to Islam in 1299.

The Court of Philip IV / Gilles de Rome, Le Régime des princes – 15th century
Digital image file ­- Acoma / Wikimedia

Philip IV of France plots the Templar Downfall -

Military defeats in the Holy Land aside, the Templars remained extremely powerful because of their pan-European banking system and the vast estates and tracts of land that they owned. Their terrible strategic mistake proved to be refusing a loan request from the French King Philip IV for his war with England. Philip quickly followed with a request to the Pope to excommunicate the Templars that Bonifice VIII refused. Philip then accused the Pope of heresy. Rescued by the people of Agni, the aged Boniface VIII died from shock due to the physical ‘rough and tumble’. His successor died eight months after becoming Pope and may have been poisoned by Philip’s agent. French and Italian cardinals appointed Bertrand de Both (Clement V), a childhood friend of Philip IV, as the next Pope, and he agreed to investigate the Templars.

From Denmark to Spain, from Ireland to Cyprus, the Templars owned vast properties. They were the premier bankers and financiers to much of Europe.

There were other reasons for Philip IV to hate the Templars in addition to their refusal of his loan request. As the Teutonic Knights did when they founded Prussia, the Templars wanted to set up their own state in either Languedoc (southern France) or on Cyprus. Philip had inherited land in the Champagne region where the Templar headquarters were located. In 1306, they supported a coup on Cyprus that forced Henry II to abdicate in favor of his brother Amalric of Tyre. Struggling to create a unified French state, Philip IV plotted the downfall of the Knights Templar with a reluctant Pope.

On October 13 (Friday) 1306, Philip IV rounded up every Templar he could find in France and only a few escaped. This event is the origin of our superstition that Friday 13th is an ‘unlucky day’, perhaps a cursed day. While the terrible Inquisition had yet to be born, in the early 14th century the Vatican had a group of interrogators and clergy who were available throughout Europe to investigate charges of heresy. Drawing blood was not allowed, so suspects were tortured by any means that avoided leaving a visible wound.

France / Philip IV – gold coin
Coin -­ PHGCOM / Wikipedia

Some Templars quickly admitted to the charges made against them, believing that to be the first step in a well known formality that led to rich ransoms being paid for prestige prisoners who were then set free. Sadly Philip IV had a relentlessness of his own and was ‘dead’ serious in his mission to destroy the Knights Templar. Tortured until they confessed to heresy, the French Templar leadership was then burnt at the stake.

The Templars did ask the Pope for help but all that he did was send letters to King Philip. The Templars’ great wealth, failure to secure the Holy Land against repeated Muslim attacks – an unrealistic expectation given the small number of fighting knights – and a very complex, almost congenial relationship with Islam in spite of their battle ferocity, may have threatened the Pope who at times was weak and insecure.

Pope Clement V rides away from the Mother Church
Digital image – renzodionigi / flikr

The female figure in this manuscript illustration is a female saint who represents the Mother Church. The symbolism is unusual. Pope Clement V has turned his back on the Mother Church and is riding away from her. Was the artist a Templar, or Templar supporter, who believed that when Pope Clement V decided to support Philip IV, he had turned his back on the true Mother Church whom the Templars had supported with unswerving devotion and battlefield ferocity?

Phillip IV relentlessly built up the case against the Templars, who were unable to adequately defend themselves.

Public opinion in Paris was decidedly against the Templars. In response, and abetted by bullying from King Philip, Pope Clement V issued a bull that ordered all Christian monarchs in Europe to arrest all Templars and seize their assets. Most kings did not believe the charges but the opportunity to take Templar wealth was a prize impossible to ignore. Proceedings were begun in England, Iberia, Germany, Italy and Cyprus. Likely not believing the charges he lodged at the 1308 Tours Assembly, the opportunity for Philip to free France from the debt owed the Templars had immediate benefits and was too great to ignore. France was going broke and Philip’s hold on the throne was weakening.

Templars burned at the stake /
Chronik, “Von der Schöpfung der Welt bis” 1384 – “Creation of the World until 1384″
Digital image file­ – Mattes / Wikipedia

Philip IV reacted ferociously by creating a situation wherein Pope Clement V would be forced to take a final decision during the Council of Vienna in 1312. Subdued by the French King, the Pope issued a bull on March 22, 1312 that abolished the Knights Templar although he did state that this action was not the condemnation of heresy. He then ordered a general arrest throughout Europe to ‘find the truth’. Did the Pope ‘sell out’ the Templars knowing full well they were innocent of heresy and the other charges lodged against them? It appears that Pope Clement V could not stand up to the cold, hateful mania that Philip IV unleashed upon the Knights Templar.

Templar execution – burned at the stake / medieval ms
Digital image file ­- Acoma / Wikimedia

The trial period of the Templars took 5 years with protests occurring throughout Europe. More than 5,000 arrests were made in France. Thirty-eight, mostly elderly Templars were tortured, 105 ‘confessed’ and 69 leaders were burnt at the stake. Ordinary soldiers who confessed were given prison terms, then allowed to join other Orders. Beyond France, Templars were arrested in England, Sicily, and Cyprus. Outside France, the Templars were often treated with kindness and leniency. In spite of the arrests in Aragon and Castille, the strongest Templar support was in Iberia.

Jacques de Molay and Geoffrey de Charney burned at the stake, March 18, 1314 / Chronicle of France or St. Denis – 14th century
Digital image file -­ Darsie / Wikipedia

In France in 1314, Jacques de Molay, the last Grand Master of the Templars, was convicted as a relapsed heretic. He cursed the king and Pope and challenged them to appear before God before the year’s end. Geoffrey de Charney and the Grand Master were roasted horrifically and slowly over a fire on the evening of March 18, 1314, on the Isle des Juifs. Within 7 months, Philip IV had fallen from a horse and died. The Pope himself lived only one month after the execution. The legend of Templar magical powers was noticeably strengthened.

Seal of Philip IV / 13th century
Digital image file -­ Acoma / Wikimedia

Scandal had enveloped the Templars and seriously damaged their reputation and integrity. The Vatican feared that further delay would give the Templars opportunity to ’squander’ the great wealth lavished upon them by the Church. Aside from belief in and continued support of the Templars and their cause, the kings of Europe awaited the seizure of the Templar assets with mixed emotions. Templar lands and accounts were seized, but many were very skeptical, convinced there was only a mercenary motive for the persecution. Philip IV only informed the Pope very late in the plot. Perhaps the bottom line was that the French crown was in a financial crisis, owed money to the Templars and it was Philip’s duty to purify his realm. Then again…?

Phillip IV, King of France, was successful. Trials were held, mostly in France, and the last two Grand Masters were burned alive in 1314. The Knights Templar appeared to be destroyed, but did they survive elsewhere?

Question 1 / Philip IV -

There are questions – mysteries yet to be solved – about this period of severe persecution against the Knights Templar, particularly in France. There are noticeable contradictions in the actions of Philip IV although most history focuses on his demonstrated ‘hatred’ for the Templars. Ironically, he had signed an alliance against the Pope with the Templars in 1303. And the day before that fateful Friday 13th, Philip has asked Grand Master Jacques de Molay to be a pall-bearer at the funeral of the King’s sister. Why did the King of France then turn against the Knights Templar with extreme anger and violence? Or were these actions of Philip only subtle maneuvering intended to keep the Knights Templar off guard? Was the Templar persecution by Philip IV really just about a debt owed by the throne and cold hearted banking, or was there something else the French king felt must be destroyed ?

Question 2 / The Chinon Parchment -

France – Chinon Castle / Moulin Tower – Keep
Photo ­- OliviaRodolphe/ flikr

Ironically, Pope Clement V absolved the Knights Templar in 1308 by official decree as attested to in the rediscovered Chinon Parchment. The Chinon Parchment remained hidden in the Vatican Secret Archives until rediscovered by scholar Barbara Frale in 2002 – see Source #3. Note that ‘secret’ applied to these archives does not have the usual meaning. ‘Secret archives’ at the Vatican only indicates that this library is that of the Pope and not a department of the Roman Curia.

The Act of Chinon parchment records the absolution given to Jacques de Molay and other heads of the Knights Templar after they had repented and asked to be forgiven by the Church. The leading members of the Order were reinstated in Catholic Communion and re-admitted to receive the sacraments. The Act of Chinon represents Pope Clement V’s belief that he could guarantee the survival of the Knights Templar, although he had planned a radical reform that would include merger into one body with the Knights Hospitaller.

Act of Chinon, 1308 / Vatican Secret Archives
Vatican parchment – IATG / Wikimedia

Pope Clement V – audience
Digital image – renzodionigi / flikr

Ironically, Pope Clement V had absolved the Order in 1308 by official decree as attested to in the rediscovered Chinon Parchment. The Chinon parchment was not circulated, and we have to assume that this decree was unknown to European kings at this time. The Templar persecution went forward and we are left with a large question. Why did Pope Clement V absolve the Order of heresy in an official decree, then ensure that decree would be hidden away for several centuries?

Heresy and Secret Knowledge – Question 3 / What was Baphomet?

Charges of Heresy included the usual list: worshiping an idol; spitting, trampling, or urinating on the cross; while naked, being kissed obscenely by the receptor on the lips, navel and base of the spine; eating ashes of the dead; and impregnating virgins. This is ‘same-old, same-old’, the Vatican’s shopping list of charges that were always lodged against ‘heretics’. However in the Templar case, there is an interesting addition to the list of heresies.

Baphomet / stone sculpture, Convento de Cristo, Tomar Portugal – 16th century
Relief sculpture ­- Mattes / Wikimedia

One charge stands out for its uniqueness and interest – worship of a ‘magical’ head – although there is no ‘hard evidence that the Templars did so. Sometimes called ‘Baphomet’, some believed the image was a Muslim idol, possibly representing Muhammed. This head has numerous descriptions and it is not possible to decide what it looked like. Take your pick: a mystical head with three faces, head with four feet, a face with no feet and/or horns, or skull encrusted with jewels. Any of these could be the revered relic of a former grand master, John the Baptist, Euphemia, one of Ursula’s eleven maidens or Hugues de Payens.

To Be Continued -

If the Templars had found the Dead Sea Scrolls, as some believe, and had learned secretive rituals and esoteric knowledge possessed only by the Essenes, and/or some had converted to Sufi Islam, then we have an inner circle of Templars who were very knowledgeable about transcendental mystical truths. That is knowledge that engenders fear, if a sense of it leaks into the world-at-large which forever persecutes transcendental, tolerant, knowledgeable religiosity.

Templars Playing Chess / “Livre des Echecs” by Alphonse le Sage (Alfonso X), 1283
Medieval ms painting ­- PHGCOM / Wikimedia

Many Templars did survive accusations of heresy and persecution by Philip IV. A tiny minority of the Knights Templar were burned at the stake. Unfortunately, this small figure included the Order’s leadership in France. Overall, there is no controversy about Templar survival. Outside France, trials were much less frequent and often led to a verdict of ‘not guilty’ or sentence with mild conditions such as a demand to enroll in another military order.

Also outside the borders of France, the Pope transferred a great deal of Templar property to the Knights Hospitaller, who accepted many Templar knights into their membership. The Kingdom of Aragon had been an early supporter of the Knights Templar and, together with the Order of Montesa, acquired Templar assets. In Portugal, the Knights Templar had established themselves in 1128 and long enjoyed the support and friendship of the royal family. They would continue for a long time in Portugal, where the name of the Order was changed to the Order of Christ. In the two centuries to follow, the Order of Christ in Portugal had an extraordinary influence upon Portugal and the world.

A longer and more detailed version of this article is online at ahrtp.com. The first article in this series at EG looks at Templar origins, the Ferocious Charge, and their fighting in Near East on behalf of the crusades. The next article will look at Templar survival and transformation in Portugal and Spain. Members of the royal family joined the Order of Christ in Portugal as did Prince Henry the Navigator, and Vasco da Gama. Portugal and the Order of Christ catalyzed the Age of Discovery for Europe and thereby changed the world forever.

Sources -

1, 2, 3, 4

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“Behavior is the mirror in which everyone shows their image” Goethe

“FUSE” (2007-2008):
All images provided courtesy of Arario Gallery Seoul unless otherwise noted

A photograph is flat, isn’t it? Think again when you view the following life-size photo statues. In the capable hands of Korean sculptor Osang Gwon, hundreds of photographs become a life-size copy of the original, turning reality a bit on its head. People, horses, cars and bags suddenly take on a life of their own. If you missed Osang Gwon’s recent New York exhibition, here’s a cross-section of his work.

Contemporary woman warrior à la Gwon – “Metabo” (2009):

Installation view of Osang Gwon’s solo exhibition at Arario Beijing Gallery in Beijing, China

Unlike many of his contemporaries, Osang Gwon decided not to leave Korea for international shores but to pursue his passion right in his birth place of Seoul. The 35-year-old artist first created international waves with his exhibition Deodorant Type, first shown in 1999 in Korea and in 2005 in Los Angeles.

“Error” (2005-2006) from the back…

… and front view:

Though his photo collages have been compared to David Hockney’s joiners, photo montages made up of many individual Polaroid photographs and often linked to cubism, Gwon has taken this method a step further by making life-size sculptures, therefore transcending into the 3D realm.

“Gaze Motion” (2005):

“A Statement of 540 Pieces on Twins” (1999):

He’s even gone another step further by photographing his models and pasting their life-size replicas together out of hundreds of their photographs, distorting reality by making viewers look at details of a person captured at one point in time and assembled to reflect reality, yet leaving them with an impression that something is off.

“A Statement of Meaningless 360 Pieces” (2000):

This is exactly the effect Gwon was aiming for. He mentioned in an interview with Flavorwire last month:

“The early works were more distorted than the ones I’m making now. That said, I’ve never aimed at making a totally realistic figure. It’s always going to turn out differently, and that’s in line with my series title, Deodorant Type.”

Deodorant Type is an unusual title for an exhibition but one that the artist has put quite a bit of thought into:

“For me, it means covering something up and changing its odor. It implies not showing the exact thing, but transforming it. … In making this work, I want the finished figure to be off a bit, too. … I’m commenting on contemporary society, which is filtered through the advertisements of today.”

The artist wants to reflect on this influence of magazines and ads on society and got the title inspiration after seeing a foreign deodorant ad that clearly hadn’t taken the Asian context into account. (There are virtually no deodorant ads in Korea as the problem of perspiration does not arise. If it does, it is regarded as so serious that surgery is considered. Guess you didn’t know that – we surely didn’t.)

“Red Sun” (2005-2006):

“A Statement of 280 Pieces on the Absolute Authority and Worship in Art” (1999):

Seeing the amount of detail that goes into these works, many visitors of Osang Gwon’s exhibitions wonder how long it takes him to make one sculpture. According to Gwon’s estimate, about three to four hours to photograph every part of the model’s body, sometimes longer.

Of course, he first has to draw a sketch of the planned project. Below is a page from Gwon’s sketchbook for his solo exhibition Deodorant Type: Sculptures by Gwon Osang at Manchester Art Gallery from June 21-December 21, 2008.

Sketch for the policeman on a horse:

Drawing: Osang Gwon

Photographing the subject, in this case a Greater Manchester Mounted Police Officer:

Image: Manchester Art Gallery

Then, he sorts the hundreds of photographs into neat piles before carving the sculpture’s body out of Styrofoam. All’s left to do is stick the images on and gloss the final piece over. Sounds easy but it is a process that takes anywhere from one to two months, depending on how much help Gwon has and how many sculptures he’s working on simultaneously.

The artist in front of the finished piece:

As for finding the actual models for his work, Gwon’s situation has completely changed as his fame and recognition grew: First, he worked with friends and family, his brother and sister especially, because they “wouldn’t get angry at having to stand for three hours while being photographed.” Now, celebrities like the British band Keane have approached him and Gwon is currently working on collaborations with Fendi and Nike.

“KEANE Chaplin” (2008):

Osang Gwon debuted his first photo-sculpture in 1999, not so much out of inspiration but more out of necessity: As a sculpture major at Seoul’s HongIk University, working with stone and metal all the time made his back hurt. So he was looking for a light alternative and voilà, the first photo sculpture was born. We’re sure glad it worked out this way.

With special thanks to Arario Gallery Seoul and Manchester Art Gallery for granting permission to use their photographs and providing information about Osang Gwon.

Sources: 1, 2

Jiyoon Lee. “Gwon Osang: Towards A New Kind of Sculpture.” Essay provided by Arario Gallery Seoul.

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Photo: David Spurdens

A mounted thoroughbred gallops through the shallows, while a bloke on a board getting dragged behind skids across the water’s surface, landing jumps and flips over the incoming breakers. Spectacular certainly, but as extreme action goes it all seems rather British. This is horse surfing. Yes, horse surfing. Just the name of this new spin on board sports is enough to raise a few eyebrows – neigh, even elicit a few WTFs – but as with anything, don’t pooh-pooh it before you’ve given it a pop.

Photo: David Spurdens

Horse surfing is a relatively recent addition to the list of more bizarre extreme sports. It’s similar to kite surfing and wakeboarding – whose boards have been adapted to this equine equivalent – but instead of harnessing the force of the wind or the thrust of a speedboat, horse surfers literally harness the power of the horse. A tow rope is attached to a special saddle, and the boarder is dragged along as horse and rider thunder along the shoreline. “Like environmentally friendly wakeboarding,” is how guinea pig kite surfer Denzil Williams described it.

Photo: Extreme Horse Riding

Unfortunately, all this means horse surfing isn’t about some gnarly anthropomorphised bronco waxing up his very own surfboard and taking to the waves – but we’ll let that slide. As in wakeboarding, the boarder starts squatting in the water, feet strapped to the board while holding a bar attached to a tow rope. Then they dig the board in as the horse moves away and begin to pick up speed – and if pounding along at 30 to 40 mph isn’t a big enough buzz for you, those with the skills can start pulling off tricks to get chicks.

Photo: David Spurdens via Extreme Horse Riding

The guy who got hit by the brainwave of combining the power of the horse with the power of the swell was trick rider Daniel Fowler-Prime. Bored on a British beach back in 2005, Daniel hooked up with a couple of kite surfer buddies to begin wet running the then colt of a sport. Understandably, there were nerves at first about being at the mercy of an animal with its own temperament, but this unpredictability is part of the rush – and there’s always a trained rider at hand in case the stallion gets too spirited, or the filly too feisty.

Photo: Extreme Horse Riding

Daniel himself is an extreme horse rider by trade, so hanging off the side of a galloping horse is how he gets his kicks – and in fact makes his living – doing live shows and appearing in films including The Da Vinci Code with his partner, thoroughbred Rohan. Asked to distinguish between his experiences in the saddle and those strapped to a board, Daniel told Environmental Graffiti:

“From the point of view of tricks and the adrenalin rush, extreme horse riding is a lot more intense. With the horse surfing, like any surfing, it can be quite hectic or quite pleasant – it depends on your mood and how you’re surfing. It depends on the horses too. Obviously different horses do have a different feel – some can be quite smooth, some quite powerful and aggressive.”

Photo via Kiteboarding News

And the sense of living slightly on edge while horse surfing comes from the sea’s side as well as the horse’s. “Unlike in normal surfing, you don’t want too much in terms of waves,” explains Daniel. “The board needs just of few inches of water. The secret to getting speed is to stay as shallow as possible – but it’s a gamble too because if you catch the sand with your board you’re going to fall down hard.”

Face plant. Nice. Still, such risks haven’t deterred Daniel nor indeed stopped horse surfing from spreading to other shores. After the splash that was made a couple of years ago, other horse surfers have followed suit. Here’s a vid from Australia to prove it, complete with tricks, though these guys are using wakeboards:

Visit Extreme Horse Riding to find out more or to book yourself onto a course.

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All images: The Berg

As if Berlin wasn’t by many estimations already Europe’s most buzzing city, plans are afoot to make the German capital literally tower above the competition. An idea for a 1000-m, tall man-made mountain branded The Berg has been put forward by zany architect Jacob Tigges. Complete with verdant alpine slopes and a winter snow-capped peak, The Berg is being billed as Berlin’s next big thing – an iconic landmark beyond belief.

The Berg would be built on the site of Berlin’s now closed Tempelhof Airport, obliterating the historic but disused transport hub in the way only a massive mountain can. In 2008, the demolition of the airport – identified by Nazi architect supremo Albert Speer as key to Berlin’s reconstruction and designed during the late 1930s – divided the German capital, but there seem few such split loyalties over the building of The Berg.

Skiing is one of the big anticipated attractions, and the idea has already received support from Berliners – not to mention globetrotting fans on Facebook thrilled at the prospect of jetting over to Berlin for some en piste action. The German press seem particularly enamoured with the concept, with some publications waxing lyrical as if The Berg has already become a reality.

“Some people think that The Berg has not yet come into existence,” mused Berlin art and fashion mag Sleek. “But The Berg doesn’t need rock from Austria or construction technologies from Japan to exist… This is a special mountain, a mountain that can grow… But there’s a problem: The Berg can only be seen at its full size when you know that it can grow, and it can only grow when you see it at its full size.” Indeed.

Something isn’t right here – and it’s no wonder the noises from some quarters are that the whole business is one giant-sized joke. “We’re all about adding green space to urban environments,” declared Inhabitat. “But devoting an enormous amount of time, energy and resources into a gigantic landmass that isn’t even inhabitable on the inside seems like a huge mound of you-know-what.” The only thing is – the signs are that it was meant that way.

One commenter reckoned “the entire project is intended as a tongue-in-cheek artistic/political statement. It’s a satirical jab at local Berlin politicians for their lack of imagination in determining a future for the Tempelhof airport property.” Read the Berg’s manifesto and it certainly sounds ironic, taking swipes at cities around the globe hungry for high-rises and hotels, plus the envy and Middle Eastern copies The Berg will inspire.

The people behind The Berg are perhaps at their most frank when they describe it as a project “at the intersection of architecture, contemporary art and photography.” We are in a peculiarly postmodern place where the boundaries blur – between different disciplines and, yes, between fact and fiction too. Is it all an elaborate hoax? To be honest we don’t care. If it isn’t, it’s a pretty inspiring pipe dream, and if it is it sure as a sugar heap fooled a few folks.

You can check out The Berg’s website here. Extra sources: 1, 2

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Image: NASA

Since the 1960s, space enthusiasts and international space agencies have had one dream: to collect solar power and use it on earth. What seemed utopic more than 40 years ago is about to become reality: the Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency JAXA especially is hell-bent on harvesting solar energy from space by 2030.

A solar power satellite as envisioned by NASA in 1976:

Image: NASA

A model of a solar cell satellite today:

Image via USEF

As one can imagine, this will not be an easy feat. Tough solar cells would have to be developed capable of capturing solar energy that is five times stronger in space than on earth. Then, of course, there is the question of transmission. Once collected, the solar energy would have to be beamed down to earth through clusters of lasers or microwaves and into gigantic parabolic antennae.

A model of microwave transmission:

Image via USEF

According to JAXA, the transmission technology would be safe but studies with 1,000 randomly selected participants revealed that the public is skeptical of the project, half expecting “laser beams shooting down from the sky, roasting birds or slicing up aircraft in mid-air.”

The advantages of collecting solar energy in space instead of on earth are apparent: no more dependency on cloud-free days and no more sunless periods at night. Plus, in traditional solar harvesting, much energy is lost on its way through the atmosphere through reflection and absorption. As the diagram below shows, space-based solar power systems convert energy outside the atmosphere to avoid this loss.

Image: Chabacano

The Japanese Science and Economy and Trade Ministry are currently pushing the project, set to launch in 2030. Just last month they put together the Institute for Unmanned Space Experiment Free Flyer (USEF) consortium consisting of several high-tech giants such as Mitsubishi Electric, NEC, Fujitsu and Sharp. Given that Japan has few energy resources of its own and therefore relies heavily on oil imports, it is no surprise that the country has long been a leader when it comes to solar and other renewable energies.

Stairway to earth – an artist’s rendition of solar power transmission:

Image: lowem

Problems that the ambitious Space Solar Power System (SSPS) plan will face are potential radiation damage, micrometeoroid impacts but also financial viability. After all, there is no point harvesting solar energy in space if the produced electricity is so expensive that it can’t compete with traditional or other alternative energy sources.

Solar panels on earth – soon a fad of the past?

Image: Lance Cheung

Currently, the 130 researchers working for JAXA on this project are targeting a “one gigawatt system, equivalent to a medium-sized atomic power plant, that would produce electricity at eight yen (cents) per kilowatt-hour, six times cheaper than its current cost in Japan.”

Ambitious and exciting. Soon the sun will be ours. Do we hear not so faint evil laughter?

Sources: 1, 2, 3, 4

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