The Heavens As They Were On April 25, 1384 (CE) By The Persian Polymath Mahmud Ibn Yahya Ibn Al-Hasan

‘The Heavens as they were on April 25, 1384 (CE)’ by the Persian polymath Mahmud ibn Yahya ibn al-Hasan al-Kashi ( 1410 - 11 C.E.)

Gold Hyksos Headband with Heads of Gazelles and a Stag, ca. 1648–1540 B.C. via The Met. This diadem inspired many of the crowns and belts in Valentino’s Fall 2015 Couture collection.

Trompe-l’oeil ceiling with trellis, vines, and birds, and in the center a roundel with the arms of the Medici family. Galleria degli Uffizi, Florence.

“I hope you live without the need to dominate, and without the need to be dominated. I hope you are never victims, but I hope you have no power over other people. And when you fail, and are defeated, and in pain, and in the dark, then I hope you will remember that darkness is your country, where you live, where no wars are fought and no wars are won, but where the future is. Our roots are in the dark; the earth is our country. Why did we look up for blessing — instead of around, and down? What hope we have lies there. Not in the sky full of orbiting spy-eyes and weaponry, but in the earth we have looked down upon. Not from above, but from below. Not in the light that blinds, but in the dark that nourishes, where human beings grow human souls.”

—

Ursula K. Le Guin, “A Left-Handed Commencement Address” (Mills College, 1983)

this passage planted itself in my consciousness when i was 24, and 10 years later, it informs so much of my approach to living, thinking, creating.

(via nostalgicfuturity)