Lunarpunk

Stumbling on a piece of glowing wood out in the forest sounds like a magical experience, but it is possible. Under specific conditions, certain species of mushroom will fluoresce as they consume wood, although it’s rare and hard to recreate.

Now, scientists at Empa have managed to induce those conditions to make glow in the dark wood. The most effective combo turned out to be ringless honey fungus (Desarmillaria tabescens) and balsa wood, which was able to fluoresce for up to 10 days in wavelengths of 560 nanometers – a classic green glow.

Posted by Benjamin Young Savage on Mastodon (@benjancewicz@mastodon.social)

To go in the dark with a light is to know the light.
To know the dark, go dark. Go without sight,
and find that the dark, too, blooms and sings,
and is traveled by dark feet and dark wings.

—Wendell Berry, The Selected Poems of Wendell Berry (1998)

(via Paul Bogard, The End of Night (2013))

crossposted from: https://beehaw.org/post/15522640

Shielding of lights is an important aspect. Instead of having an open light, flat lights or shielded lights that prevent spill upward are crucial. They direct light to the ground, and not up into the sky.

In Canberra, the Australian Capital Territory government and light operator Omexom have been changing streetlights to do exactly this – no upward spill, and controllable lights.

In doing so, Canberra has reduced its light pollution by about 30% in only a few years, as my colleagues and I report in a forthcoming paper.

I bought a glowing plant. It led me down a rabbit hole of radiant mushrooms, 19th century experiments and a modern rivalry between scientists in Russia and the Americas.

I spent the day and evening visiting a close friend, and one of the things that we did was that we shared gifts as usual. They had an idea that they had made for me given my lifestyle, being a jar full of little trinkets they've gotten, with them having a sigil and a spell placed upon it specifically for the purpose of strengthening connections. They called it a blessing jar.

The idea of the jar is that I would take items from it, and share with another person to create a connection and foster friendship, and if they want to, they can share with me something they may have, and that is what got me thinking of this idea. A gathering with jars, each with items filled by the person. Maybe satchets of herbs and materials if that is you, or jars with items in them, or such, and freely exchanging in a group setting if can, else, just simply sharing what we have.

Just an idea I had.

Recent research has revealed a fascinating phenomenon: bioluminescence is more prevalent among deep-sea shrimp than previously recognized. The study has identified 157 species with the ability to emit light, expanding our understanding by 65% compared to earlier estimates.

These shrimp illuminate the ocean depths in various ways – some by ejecting glowing secretions, others through sophisticated organs in their bodies designed specifically for light production, and a few employing both methods.

A modern coven must thwart a looming eco-cataclysm and find the key to the bright future we need in , The Working, the debut #lunarpunk novel by Brightflame published by Water Dragon Publishing.

The synopsis reads:

Betsy's a modern-day Witch with an ageless problem: she's worried about screwing up her coven's ritual. Again. But the coven has a bigger issue to face — the destruction of their home thanks to a fracked gas pipeline. And then an even bigger problem — a greed-fueled entity will soon obliterate Earth’s ability to support life.

Tarot cards indicate the coven must sort among allies and threats, human and ethereal.

Follow Betsy, Sail, Fire, Mari, and Tal as they disentangle the truth and seek the magic to avert the cataclysm.

Fans of The Once and Future Witches and The City We Became will love The Working for its feminist, justice-seeking, ensemble cast. Readers hail The Working for its diverse characters, real magical practice, and tilt towards hope.

"Tarot & Acid Communism" Live at Tenderbooks in London

The launch party for 'The Philosopher's Tarot' at Tenderbooks in London on November 23, 2022.

Acid Horizon's first live event extends Mark Fisher's concept of 'acid communism' through prominent figures featured in the work of the podcast.

Humans have long been fascinated by organisms that can produce light. Aristotle, who was a scientist as well as a philosopher, wrote the first detailed descriptions of what he called “cold light” more than 2,000 years ago. More recently, pioneering researchers like World War II Army veteran Emmett Chappelle and deep submergence vehicle pilot Edith Widder advanced the study of this phenomenon with novel technologies.

At least 94 living organisms produce their own light through a chemical reaction inside their bodies – an ability called bioluminescence. Examples include luminous fireflies, algae that create “glow-in-the-dark” bays, small crustaceans with intricate courtship displays, and deep-sea fish and coral. Yet despite its widespread occurrence, scientists don’t yet know when or where it first emerged, or its original function.

The Association of Space Explorers reached out to their fellow astronauts to pass on a simple message of solidarity, hope and collaboration to combat climate change and reach our political leaders during such a crucial time.

Simone Weil (1909 — 1943) was a French philosopher, labor activist, ascetic and mystic.

The author of the introduction, Gustave Thibon, shares the circumstances of his meeting Weil:

In June 1941 the Reverend Father Perrin, a Dominican friend then living at Marseilles, sent me a letter which I do not happen to have kept but which ran more or less as follows: ‘There is a young Jewish girl here, a graduate in philosophy and a militant supporter of the extreme left. She is excluded from the University by the new laws and is anxious to work for a while in the country as a farm hand. I feel that such an experiment needs supervision and I should be relieved if you could put her up in your house.’

Thibon later shares how he gained possession of Weil's writings which would become Gravity and Grace:

I saw her for the last time at the beginning of 1942. At the station she gave me a portfolio crammed with papers, asking me to read them and to take care of them during her exile. As I parted from her I said jokingly, in an attempt to hide my feelings: ‘Goodbye till we meet again in this world or the next!’ She suddenly became serious and replied: ‘In the next there will be no meeting again.’ She meant that the limits which form our ‘empirical self’ will be done away with in the unity of eternal life. I watched her for a moment as she was disappearing down the street. We were not to meet again: contacts with the eternal in the time order are fearfully ephemeral.

The Philosophize This! podcast has a four part introductory series on Simone Weil (with transcripts). There are short videos from this series on their clips channel on YouTube.

The Talk Gnosis podcast hosted a discussion about Weil's work featuring two poets.

Interesting tidbit: the creator of this video was arrested in the 1990s during the Satanic panic.

Silvia Federici's Caliban and the Witch is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License. Full text can be found on:

libcom.org | theanarchistlibrary.org | gitbooks.io

This solarpunk book of shadows will guide you in surviving and resisting climate crisis and dystopian political systems so you can take radical action towards a positive future. Longtime activist and practicing witch Justine Norton-Kertson introduces a fresh approach to witchcraft at a time when it’s desperately needed.

Drawing on the natural connections between modern paganism and the literary, artistic, and activist movement known as solarpunk, Norton-Kertson provides meditations and correspondences for developing a spiritual practice rooted in nature, the Sun, and a powerful belief in our ability to build a better world. Readers will also find a host of spells to use in the fight against climate change, fascism, and inequality. These politically conscious magickal practices forge a new spiritual praxis to guide us as we work together to envision and create the future we want to see.

Utopian Witch hits stores on July 23, 2024 and pre-orders are already shipping. If you missed the Kickstarter you can still get all the rewards on Pledgemanager

Watch the summer solstice LIVE from Stonehenge with the first of our two FREE live streams!

Wherever you are in the world, you won't miss a moment of this special occasion. Our cameras will capture views of Stonehenge set to a relaxing soundtrack, allowing you to connect with this spiritual place from the comfort of your own home. Our stream begins at 20:00 BST (this is 15:00 EDT/EST), with sunset occurring at 21:26 BST.

During springtime in the Northern Hemisphere, the Sun appears on the horizon farther north each day. Annually, around June 20 or 21, this motion appears to stop in what is known as the summer solstice. During that time, the Earth’s axis is angled toward the Sun, and the intensity of sunlight on the Northern Hemisphere is greatest.

As a historian of astronomy, I am interested in the role astronomical events had on ancient people and continue to have in modern times. My ancestors lived on the Central Mexican Plateau, where for many Indigenous cultures, both past and present, the rising and setting of the Sun during equinoxes and solstices were sacred events.

June 2024’s full Moon is the Strawberry Moon, and this year it coincides with the summer Solstice, which makes its appearance a little stranger — and darker — than usual. Read on to learn what’s going on with this year’s Strawberry Moon, how to get the best view, and how June’s full Moon may also have lent its name to a romantic tradition in the Middle Ages.

From gazing at the night sky while sleeping on her family’s rooftop in Palestine, to buying her first telescope on eBay in seventh grade (for the sky-high bid of $100), to earning her degree in astrophysics and becoming a NASA/JPL Solar System Ambassador, Abuisnaineh has spent much of her life looking up. During the partial solar eclipse in October 2023, Abuisnaineh brought together her community with what may very well be a first-of-its-kind event in the country: a viewing party that also included the Islamic solar eclipse prayer: salat al-kusuf.

Atlas Obscura spoke with Abuisnaineh about the power of stargazing as a community, the shock of an old man witnessing an eclipse for the first time, and how her religion inspires her to never stop reveling in the majesty of the universe.

On April 8, 2024, millions of Americans will be able to see a rare celestial occurrence: a total solar eclipse.

It’s going to be awesome. If you’re in the center of the moon’s shadow, known as the totality, the sky will go dark for a few minutes in the middle of the day. The temperature will drop, stars will appear, and birds will become confused and start chirping their nighttime songs.

And it’s all because of a cosmic coincidence: From the Earth, the moon and the sun appear to be roughly the same size.

This will be the last total solar eclipse over the contiguous United States for 21 years. Don’t miss it!

A bioluminescent petunia could help people recognize plants for the complex creatures they are.

An eerie glow has been emanating from Wales' forests and rockpools for the country's annual dark skies week.

David Atthowe, a nature guide from Norwich, was invited to shine his ultraviolet (UV) torches on some of the best nature spots in Pembrokeshire and Monmouthshire.

His photos of temperate rain forest in Wales reveal shapes, structures and colours that rival a coral reef.

Big news: I’ve signed with Water Dragon Publishing to bring you my debut lunarpunk novel, The Working! I look forward to you meeting the coven who must thwart a looming eco-cataclysm and find the key to the bright future we all need. Expected launch: Summer 2024.

(No dragons in my book, but plenty of Witches!)

I liken the book to a contemporary The Once and Future Witches by Alix E Harrow intersecting The City We Became by NK Jemisin.