The Humanized and Sacred Space

Gaston Bachelard wrote, in his book "The Poetry of Space", that metaphysics is rooted in geometry. Whether we like it or not, there is a basic spatial quality in thought. Man exists in space much more than he exists in time. We define ourselves in the expressions of our space, much more than in any other way. The combination of the concepts ''outside'' and ''inside'' created a dialectic of division. This is a clear geometry that blinds us once we bring it into action in reality. It is very similar to the dialectic of "yes" and "no", which decide everything. If one is not careful, it becomes the basis for images that control all positive and negative thoughts. Contrary to this, these concepts, because of their proximity, are also in intimate relations. They are always willing to change direction and convert their hostility. As a result, in the images of space we are in an area where exaggeration and reduction are easy and common. We live through reducing and exaggerating them. We strive to define existence and by doing so, elevate all situations to create a super-situation. The dialectic of ''here'' and ''there'' has thus been elevated to an absolute level, whereby these two unfortunate adverbs are adorned with the uncontrolled powers of a determined being.

In his book "Air and Dreams," Bachelard wrote that the landscape is a process of witty changes, in which the imaginary is present in the reality. It lead and amplify the powers of the soul. The real journey on earth is a journey to the imaginary land. In real psychology, imagination is primarily a form of spiritual mobility, of the best, most vivid and exciting kind. There is nothing more correct than to grant the land, which mobilizes all our forces, to be employed in it, an imagination that will elevate it from the level of materialism and give it a life of its own. We experience the face of the earth through the ability to renew our hearts and minds. Imaginary life with real laws controls its images, and they create an invitation for a journey, which we feel within us as feelings of liberation and relief. Imagination is not a condition; it is the embodiment of human experience.

Rocks that resemble the human figure, whether wholly or partially, are one of the most common phenomena in nature and are some of the best attractions for humankind. Around the world there are many sites where such forms appear, and there are many that are concentrated in one place, such as canyons. One of the most famous places in the world of human forms carved in the rock is the Red Rock Canyon of Petra.

For the Chinese there is even more significance to the forms of mankind in the rocks, since according to ancient Chinese religion the origin of the gods is in the mountains cliffs. In the heart of the Imperial Palace in the Forbidden City of Beijing are gardens with a number of large natural limestone rocks, pierced by many natural holes in a variety of shapes, whose purpose is to evoke the human imagination of the connection between the human figure and the landscapes of nature.

Martin Gray writes that throughout the ages, many cultures have described the geographical space in which they existed, and expressed this in a variety of ways. One expression of these concepts was the establishment of holy places.

Perhaps the oldest form of sacred geography is that of the Aborigines of Australia.

According to their ancient legends, in the mythological period of the beginning of the world, known as the 'dream', different creatures in the form of totem animals and humans emerged from the surface of the earth and began to roam the earth. They wandered across the earth, forming features of the landscape through everyday activities such as birth, play, singing, fishing, hunting, marriage and death. At the end of each dream these characteristics became clear as stones, and the bodies of their forefathers became hills, rocks, caves, lakes and other landscapes.

Prominent places, such as Ayers Rock, have become holy places. The Aborigines followed the paths of their fathers' dreams. The paths that the totem fathers passed through the landscape were called dream trails, or songs, and they connected the holy places with special powers. The mythological births of these ancestors gave the Aborigines a sacred geography, a tradition of pilgrimage, and a nomadic way of life for more than forty thousand years, making their culture the most lasting in the world.

The ''elephant and fish'' rock in Petra, the world's number one tourist site, all of which are natural anthropomorphic forms carved in the canyon's walls, alongside which the Nabataean curved monuments.

The cafe on the shore of the lake is an illustration of a dialectic between 'inside' and 'outside'

  

A rock garden in the heart of the Imperial Palace in the Forbidden City of Beijing

  

The Ouluru is a large, isolated desert rock. It is about 330 meters high and the base diameter is about 9 kilometers. It's the world's largest monolith. It is located almost exactly in the geographical center of Australia. It is sacred to the Aboriginal population.

The book Anthropomorphic Maps

Modern technological revolutions did not make the location less significant. On the contrary, they have increased its importance, because humans have become more aware of themselves. There is no more natural in our time than to combine the spectacular views of the earth's surface and outer space with new images.

Anthropomorphism, which is the provision of human qualities and appearance to inanimate objects and animals, is very common in world cultures as a means of expression. Within the framework of all known religious beliefs, this principle is used on a daily basis, but modern technologies also require the use of it in order to improve the connection between the machine and the person.

The great popularity of Anthropomorphism rests on the fact that the human body is the focal point of attention to cultivation, nutrition and health. The human body is a miniature world in which the outside world is reflected. Therefore, there is a historical collaboration between medical professionals and artists for the purpose of illustrating the anatomy by the most graphic and artistic methods, even at the expense of pure scientific description.

In the book "Anthropomorphic Maps" are described, in the first part - ''anthropomorphism", the origins of anthropomorphism.

The second part, "The Anthropomorphic Map," describes the sources of these maps, in which the surface is described as a human figure.

The third section, "Historical Anthropomorphic Maps," covers the development of these maps from the dawn of history to the present.

In the fourth section, "Other Anthropomorphic Maps", original maps of different regions of the world, from continents, through states to islands, are presented.

The fifth part - "Map of the Human Figure of the Holy Land" - deals with the original work of the author of this book, which sheds light on the origins and meaning of Jewish faith.

The sixth part - "The Anthropomorphic City" - deals with the city. The city is a whole expression of Anthropomorphism in space.

The seventh part - "Earth and Outer Space" - is devoted to the Anthropomorphic landscapes that are revealed in outer space.

The eighth part - "Means of Transport" - deals with the car, the ship, and the airplane, through which mankind travels from place to place, and in the way gives them humanized qualities.

Yiddish and the Holocaust

Conversation about the Holocaust after a Yiddish concert in Central park, New York, between three people from the audience, in June 2018.

The Domes of Paris

When the Dreyfus affair broke out in 1895, a very important development in the field of aviation also occurred, the invention of Zeppelin. The zeppelin was a German invention, which the French were very afraid of. Behind them were 100 years of almost exclusive control of the air. This was thanks to the invention of the hot-air and hydrogen manned balloons, back in 1783, seven years before the French Revolution. Now, for the first time, there was an aircraft not at the mercy of the winds. Zeppelins could reach anywhere, at any time, and stay above the target as much as they wished. The military and political reality has changed completely. World War I broke out and was largely influenced by the air raids of the German zeppelins. It shaped the modern state.

The period of the Dreyfus trial is also known as the "beautiful period" or the "Belle Epoque" in the history of France. During this period French culture reached its peak. The balloon was the technological symbol, as well as the cultural source of inspiration. All sectors of were influenced by it, especially architecture and painting. Everything that was high was decorated in detail. The most notable feature was the Eiffel Tower, which was originally designed for tying balloons as part of the international trade fair in honor of the 100th anniversary of the French Revolution. But the most appropriate architectural and periodical symbol was the ornate dome, which was built in many institutions in Paris at that time. These ornate domes resemble the first balloons, which were made of silk sheets. On the outside, the domes are prominent features in the urban landscape and are integrated as architectural pearls between the roofs. Anyone who enters them is immediately impressed by their unique size and decoration. Time stands and the soul expands.

It is important to say that unlike the domes of religious buildings around the world, the Parisian dome is secular. It is located in public buildings of all kinds. It is addressed for the secular citizen. The domes illustrate the French worldview during the Belle Epoque. They saw the sky as a painting of unlimited inspiration, not only religious, but cultural and human in general. It was now possible to use the sky as a colorful background for Impressionist painting, which became the flagship of French culture. This is expressed in the city's most important museums.

Paris was completely rebuilt during the Belle Epoque period, with Large squares leading to long boulevards. The boulevards cross the city like air routes. There are dialogues between the square and the boulevard, the circle and the straight line, the dome and the long hall. The dome and the square are a place of convergence and a sense of eternal perfection. In contrast, the long hall or the boulevard represent a story plot developing over time.

The dome or the square can be compared to the French ''macron'' cookie, which was created at the beginning of the 20th century, as a cookie made up of two discs, including a filling. The macron is considered difficult for baking.

The long hall or boulevard can be compared to the baguette, the long and narrow French bread. The baguette is a simple bread and was invented in World War I. when French did not have enough time to puff the dough for complex breads during the war nights.

Map of the human figure of the Holy Land

Anthropomorphism is one of the most characteristic traits of humankind. It is the provision of human qualities and appearances to inanimate objects and animals. It is very common in world cultures as a means of expression. The great popularity of it rests on the fact that the human body is a central focus of attention in human society. This principle is used on a daily basis in the framework of all known religious beliefs. Anthropomorphism in the modern world is also required, in order to improve the connection between the machine and the person. The human body is a miniature world in which the outside world is reflected and vice versa. Anthropomorphism is greatly aided by the brain's ability to perceive vague stimuli as familiar and meaningful, especially in its vigorous activity in recognizing human faces.

Maps are powerful means of transmitting messages using cultural symbols. Many ancient maps represented a visual essence of knowledge combined with the worldview of their creators. Although modern scientific mapping uses sophisticated means of measurement, accurate maps also represent an interpretive and tendentious perspective. At the same time, there is a historic collaboration between medical professionals and artists in order to illustrate the anatomy by the most graphic and artistic methods, even at the expense of pure scientific description.

Anthropomorphic maps, in which the surface is described as a human figure, exist since the dawn of history. These maps offer a reflection of the personal and collective identity of the human body. These maps were created in a lengthy procreation process. The landscape is not exactly the character of man. A complex transformation process is required to make geography a human portrait. But this is possible because there is constant dialogue between man and landscape, as a process of refined dynamic and image in action.

Early Anthropomorphic maps are the Zodiac maps identified with the entire universe and the maps of the inhabited world of antiquity and the Middle Ages. What gradually evolved in modern times are Anthropomorphic maps of countries and continents, which are based on an imaginary identification of the surface with the human face and body. Atlases of these maps were very successful until the twentieth century. Nowadays, political cartoons are sometimes shaped as humanized maps and they are important geopolitical tools.

The concept of 'the image of God' is of great importance in Judaism, but the image of man is not connected to the Land of Israel. This is despite the fact that in the Bible it is written that God, the people of Israel, and the Land of Israel are one entity. This definition determined the fate of the Jewish people, because in contrast to the clear concreteity of the people and the laws, the boundaries of the land remained vague and undefined.

The map of the Holy Land as a human figure, created by Avinoam Amizen, is a revolutionary description of the geography of greater Israel. The map is the result of research in time and space, body and mind. The human form includes the land between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea as a human face, the Negev Heights as a neck, and the Sinai Peninsula as a torso. Completing the picture are Edom mountains as the hair and Lebanon mountains as the rays of an angel.

In the process of creating the map, the landscape was examined by many photographs and maps in relation to human, anatomical and artistic, figures. The level of correlation between the regions of the earth and the human body is incomparably greater than that found in any other anthropomorphic map. This is the level of correlation that calls for a scientific examination of the relationship' as a physical reality with a unique relief, engraved in the soul and elevating it.