Las Pozas ~ Mexico

Las Pozas (“the Pools”) is a sculpture garden built by Edward James, the eccentric English poet and artist, and patron of the Surrealist movement. More than 2,000 feet above sea level, in a tropical rain forest in the mountains of Mexico, it includes more than 80 acres of natural waterfalls and pools interlaced with towering Surrealist sculptures in concrete.

Las Pozas is near the village of Xilitla, San Luis Potosí, a seven-hour drive north of Mexico City. In the early 1940s, James went to Los Angeles, and then decided that he “wanted a Garden of Eden set up ~ saw that Mexico was far more romantic” and had “far more room than there is in crowded Southern California.” In Cuernavaca, he hired Plutarco Gastelum, then a young manager of a telegraph office, as a guide. The two found Xilitla in November 1945.

In Xilitla, Plutarco married a local woman and had four children. They all lived with “Uncle Edward”, as the children called James, in a house Plutarco had built, a mock-Gothic cement castle, now a hotel – La Posada El Castillo.

Between 1949 and 1984, James built thirty-six concrete follies – palaces, temples and pagodas, including the House on Three Floors which has Five or Four or Six, the House with a Roof like a Whale, and the Staircase to  Heaven. There were also plantings and beds full of tropical plants, including orchids – there were, apparently, 29,000 at Las Pozas at one time – and a variety of small casas (homes), niches, and pens that held exotic birds and wild animals from the world over. Massive sculptures up to four stories tall punctuate the site. The many trails throughout the garden site are composed of steps, ramps, bridges and narrow, winding walkways that traverse the valley walls. Construction of Las Pozas cost more than $5 million. To pay for it, James sold his collection of Surrealist art at auction.

Read more HERE

I used this place as inspiration for 'The Heaven Stone' quarter ~ Book Two. 

The above flower ruin becomes a very special place.

Love and light,

Trace

xoxo

Banking - Researching for book three - Shining Sword.

Researching for book three - Shining Sword.

Genre: Fantasy

I don't like politics, never have, but for this book, I wanted to play with various ideas on how a society can be manipulated by a self-indulgent minority and at what point the people would start to rebel. Obviously just looking around at the world at present stirred many thoughts. Money is power, so that's where my research started.

Did you know?

The word for credit comes from the latin word  'Credere' meaning to believe. 

Banks really do create money out of thin air. 

I found a fabulous video that explains banks in a non-complicated way. Usually, the jargon puts me off, but this video managed to hold my interest. I've learnt a lot from it and wanted to share it with you.   

97% - 98% of money created (digital) is bank 'debt money' by private banks. 

Electronic money has 100% profit as no production costs. 

Money doesn't come out of economic activity - meaning employment

i.e ~ the process of people doing things. 

Isn't it odd that we buy products that during their manufacture have destroyed forests, polluted seas, and contaminated the air we breathe just because we can't afford the more expensive product. Money is at the heart of all our lives and it's a good time to understand what money is and how it works.

By understanding how money really works, we can become more socially and environmentally conscious which can make a positive difference to our world and financial well-being.

~ The Money Reform Party 

Tolkien and Industrialisation

The industrial revolution, a period of rapid change beginning in Britain around 1750 and lasting well into the 1800s, transformed the cultural and physical landscape of England.

Handmade products crafted in small-town shops gave way to urban factories and mechanised production. Textiles, shipbuilding, iron, and steel emerged as important industries, and the country's population increasingly migrated to urban areas to work in the factories. Coal fueled these industries, polluting the air with black smoke and dotting the countryside with mining spoil.

The Black Country in Birmingham. The foundries, the forges, and the ironworks glowed – sheets of sparks, 50 foot high. The fires never went out. It looked like hell. That may have inspired Lord of the Rings, Mordor. Tolkien could have been writing about how the industrial revolution turned the Midlands from Hobbiton to Mordor.

Although born well after the industrial revolution, Tolkien witnessed the lasting effects of industry on the environment, first as a child in Birmingham and later as an adult in Oxford.

Tolkien's concern for nature echoes throughout The Lord of the Rings. Evil beings of Middle-earth dominate nature and abuse it to bolster their own power. For example, Saruman, the corrupt wizard, devastates an ancient forest as he builds his army.

The Elves, in contrast, live in harmony with nature, appreciating its beauty and power, and reflecting a sense of enchantment and wonder in their artful songs.

Read more HERE

Love and light,

Trace

xoxo