Magic Essay examples - 973 Words

Magic Prologue Ah, you can see me. It is good to know that these fingers can still weave a spell or two. Three years ago I retired from my position as Zouverin of the Tower of High Magic and Arcanery in Tantos. My successor, young as she is, has done well in my place until now. Last eve, the tower was burglarized. The tome of ancient magic and power was stolen from the Zouverins personal library, while the tower as a whole slept. As competent a mage the Zouverin is, she is not a good investigator, and I feel that the thief is one of her apprentices. She helped me screen the apprentices before my retirement, so I fear she may not have the objective eye that you do. I ask you to make use of this magical connection†¦show more content†¦You draw energy out of the gem, and transfer it to your intended target. For example, let us say I draw one hundred Joules of energy from this gem. I can then transfer it to this rock as say potential energy, and lift the rock then two meters. Oh, this rock has a mass of five kilograms. In contrast, I could grant this rock Kinetic Energy, and shoot it off at about six and a third meters per second. What kinds of energy are possible? All forms of energy can be converted this way. Potential, Kinetic, work against friction, general work, what have you. It can also be used to cancel energy. For example, say I leap from a tower and fall reaching some speed, acquiring three thousand joules of kinetic energy. If I have that same amount of energy available to me I can stop my fall by canceling out that much energy. This is quite preferable to striking the cobblestones at such a speed. What else can be done with magic? As a wizard grows in power they can focus their energy more and more. A skilled mage, for example can channel kinetic energy directly to a bodys cells to accelerate healing, or kill off infection. They can be used to speed up the fabric of air, and cause it to seemingly ignite into balls of flame. How do you rate gems? A gem is rated by circle. A 5th circle gem has five thousand joules of energy, while a 30th circle has thirty thousand joules. Persons Zouverin The Zouverin was my starShow MoreRelatedDo You Believe in Magic746 Words   |  3 Pagesthat was magic; now, it’s a person who rips off people by learning tricks from You-tube and adding extra pockets to their sleeves. By my age, most kids believed magic to be something that kids believed in, then grew out of when they discovered the opposite gender at about 12 or 14. I believe in magic. I still do. Not the ordinary magic that involves tricks of deceit with white rabbits and doves, though this may sound like a cheesy romantic comedy line or a spiritual guidance line, magic is everywhereRead MoreMagic And Ritual Of The Trobriand Islanders2033 Words   |  9 PagesMagic and ritual are often associated with vengeful gods and bloody sacrifices, possibly due to their representation in book, movies, and other forms of entertainment. One might think that they have no power to bring a community together, other than through fear. However, through the lives of the Trobriand islanders, well observed by the polish anthropologist and ethnographer BronisÅ‚aw Malinowski, we see that rituals and customs maintained by a powerful connection to magic is a mechanism of socialRead MoreDoes Magic Really Exist? Essay881 Words   |  4 Pages Some people have a strong belief in magic and say that it is all around us. Others scoff at the idea of something being deeme d magical and say that there is a rational explanation for anything and everything. Magic, and whether or not it does exists, is in the eye of the beholder. Every person is going to have a different view on magic, if asked, because it means something different to each being. Magic is something that cannot be described with one explanation; the word has too much meaningRead MoreWhy Magic Should Not Be Confused With Witchcraft1402 Words   |  6 Pagesof when they hear the word magic? Is it Harry Potter and his friends fighting off Lord Voldemort or perhaps as Black Sabbath sings â€Å"witches at Black Masses?† It is probably a bit of both depending on your age and religious beliefs. This was not the case during the time period extending from antiquity to the early modern period. People in this time believed that magic could explain things they did not understand or could not explain. It was not for entertainment. â€Å"Magic probably claimed to provideRead MoreEssay abou t Witchcraft, Magic and Rationality2265 Words   |  10 PagesWitchcraft, Magic and Rationality Social Anthropology seeks to gauge an understanding of cultures and practices whether they are foreign or native. This is achieved through the studying of language, education, customs, marriage, kinship, hierarchy and of course belief and value systems. Rationality is a key concept in this process as it affects the anthropologist’s interpretation of the studied group’s way of life: what s/he deems as rational or plausible practice. Witchcraft and magic pose problemsRead MoreRudolfo Anayas Use of Magic Essay705 Words   |  3 PagesUse of Magic Rudolfo Anaya uses the universal theme of magic in order to help you understand Ultimas deep, spiritual personality, and to let you in on her Curandera ways. Magic has been used in many different ways and in many different cultures, and has led many people to believe it to either prevent things from happening or to make things happen. We see magic and mystisim throughout the day but do we ever stop to think maybe its all the real thing? There is much to say about magic. ItsRead MoreMy Magic Fitbit And The Power Of Tracking777 Words   |  4 PagesMy Magic Fitbit and the Power of Tracking By Sherry Essig | Submitted On August 11, 2015 Recommend Article Article Comments Print Article Share this article on Facebook Share this article on Twitter Share this article on Google+ Share this article on Linkedin Share this article on StumbleUpon Share this article on Delicious Share this article on Digg Share this article on Reddit Share this article on Pinterest Expert Author Sherry Essig A few months ago I spent nine glorious days vacationingRead MoreThe Myth Of Witchcraft : The Belief Of Magic And Its Powers1347 Words   |  6 PagesThe history of witchcraft goes back for centuries, differentiating from culture to culture. A concrete definition is unwritten but the main concept of witchcraft is the belief in magic and its powers. It is a form of sorcery, â€Å"the magical manipulation of supernormal forces through the casting of spells and the conjuring or invoking of spirits, for either good or bad purposes† (Guiley 378). Witchcraft is usually associated with the devil and considered harmful. However, in the ancient world, witchRead More Prospero’s Magic in Shakespeares The Tempest Essay2107 Words   |  9 PagesProspero’s Magic in Shakespeares The Tempest In order to understand the full effect the character of Prospero, in Shakespeares The Tempest, would have had on the audience, it is important to understand how magic was regarded during the time. During the Tudor and early Stuart periods, interest in magic ran high, and attitudes toward magic were varied and complex. For instance, magic was to be avoided by God-fearing men, but God permitted magic partly to demonstrate, by its overthrow,Read MoreEssay on Magic and Superstition in the Middle Ages3515 Words   |  15 Pagesthat â€Å"Magic was not accepted as a part of philosophy, but stands with a false claim outside it† (Chronology of Modern Christianity: Timeline of Witches and Witchcraft). Magic, evidently, had its own metaphysical classification with its own set of customs and laws surrounding it. Ever since the separation of Christians from Jewish faith, there have been conflicts, in practices, beliefs, and rituals. Notably, this conflict in interests saw the birth of many enduring superstitions. Magic was feared

Essay on the Internet - 1407 Words

Duncan 1 Dimaikys D. Duncan Paolo Javier English 101 May 30, 2013 Does the Internet make us smarter or dumber? There is a complex debate over the Internet and whether it is making society smarter or dumber. For that matter the debate focuses on the Internet and the intellectuality of individuals, and if the Internet hinders or it progresses society as a whole. Other critics argue that the Internet contributes to the decline of our mental state. On the other hand, others argue that the Internet promotes and encourages literacy by its ability in providing limitless amount of information at the stroke of a key. In†¦show more content†¦We become mere signal processing units, quickly shepherding disjointed bits of information into and then out of short-term memory. Carr illustrates how the Internet is making us more superficial as thinkers. He also states how the internet is an information rich environment that the net creates for us and that’s why we use it so much, he refers to w ords, sounds, pictures, texts and what this tends to do for us is promote a sort of compulsive behavior which we’re constantly checking our smartphone, constantly glancing at our e-mail inbox, and we are living in this perpetual state of distraction and interruption which is dangerous according to Carr because that mode of thinking, crowds out the more contemplate and calmer mode of thinking, and that focused calmed thinking is actually how we learn. That is a process is named memory consolidation. That means that the process of information from our short term working memory to our long term memory and its through moving information from your working memory to your long term memory that you create connections between that information and everything else you know. Carr believes that â€Å"attention is the key, and if we loose control of our attention or are constantly dividing our attention then we don’t really enjoy that consolidation process†. I disagree with t his quote because I believe that we can also enjoy thatShow MoreRelated The Internet Essay597 Words   |  3 Pagesnbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;Webster’s dictionary defines the Internet as â€Å"a widely used networking interface, connecting several very large information servers† (193). The Internet is a good way for companies or anyone to get information out to the entire world. Electronic marketing (e-marketing) is a very large part of the Internet. E-marketing is â€Å"the process of creating, distributing, promoting, and pricing products for targeted customers in the virtual environment of the Internet† (Ferrell 597). There are many advantagesRead MoreEssay on Internet Addiction636 Words   |  3 PagesInternet Addiction Since its initial arrival in the average household, the Internet has become a very widely exercised source of communication. At any given moment, there is an endless amount of information streaming through Internet accessible computers. The chance to interact with other people is another tempting feature of the Internet. Unfortunately, with this new commodity, also comes the possibility of abuse and addiction. Internet addiction has becomeRead MoreEssay on The Internet1096 Words   |  5 Pagesmight well remember it less as the time man walked on the moon and more as the time when the Internet was born. The Advancement Research Projects Agency Network, known as the ARPANET, was developed in the 1960s by the U.S. Department of Defense. This was the worlds first operational informational sharing network, and the predecessor of what we now call the Internet. Although the creation of the Internet was primarily to allow the sharing of resources, its true popularity came in the ability toRead More Internet Essay1535 Words   |  7 PagesInternet Speech to Motivate a. Speech title (Tip - Should have a literary quality): â€Å" The Lungs of the Earth† b. Topic (Tip - narrow and adapt to audience, see ch. 5 in text): The Amazon Forest c. Purpose Statements (See sample W.O.R.M.S. and ch. 5 in text): 1. General Purpose: To persuade my audience. 2. Specific Purpose: To persuade my audience to do one of these things to help preserve the Amazon Forest: write a letter, recycling, form and support a organization, or/andRead More The Internet Essay702 Words   |  3 Pages The Internet nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;Imagine a place where people interact in business situations, shop, play video games, do research, or study and get tutoring. Now imagine that there are no office buildings, no shopping centers, no arcades, no libraries, and no schools. These places all exist in a location called the Internet - quot;an anarchic eyetem (to use an oxymoron) of public and private computer networks that span the globe.quot; (Clark 3). This technological advance not onlyRead More The Internet Essay1535 Words   |  7 Pagesneeded to make them work. nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;To start with, you must know that they require a system of computers connected to a LAN (Local Area Network) server. The most commonly used and largest LAN server in the world is the Internet. Since the internet hosts the majority of all IM (Instant Messaging) and E-Mail servers, then you must know the beginnings of it. nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;The Internet’s precursor was the ARPANET. The ARPANET was a large wide-area network created byRead More Internet Essay575 Words   |  3 Pages(Bishop237) and communication. Despite the recent hype, the Internet is not a new phenomenon. Its roots lie in a collection of computers that were linked together in the 1970s to form the US Department of Defenses communications systems. It is a technology that would be invented today if it hadnt been invented in the past because of the world need for high tecnology. nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;Millions of people worldwide would be using the Internet to share information, make new associations and communicateRead MoreEssay on Education and the Internet698 Words   |  3 PagesEducation and the Internet Due to the expansion of the Internet in recent years, schools and universities around the world have been incorporating more technology into their classrooms. Computers are ever present on college campuses, and many teachers are including them for class activities on a daily basis. With email, a teacher or can be in contact with his or her students outside of the classroom to discuss class work. Computers in the classroom are extremely beneficial for students,Read MoreEssay On Internet Privacy1471 Words   |  6 Pages Subhajit Debnath SUID 331531789 IST 618 Summer 2017 online Policy Essay #2 Privacy In today’s world, Privacy and Security comes hand in hand with internet. Technology allows us free speech and freedom of information over the internet, by imposing strict laws and policies regulating the privacy and security of our information. According to Richard Clarke, free expression over the internet and its privacy are two sides of the same coin (Privacy and security(n.dRead MoreInternet Plagiarism Essay1355 Words   |  6 Pagesassignments or resources go to the Internet , copy and paste . Most of them don ¡Ã‚ ¦t know that ¡Ã‚ ¦s called plagiarizing and that it ¡Ã‚ ¦s ethically wrong. In the following report I will discuss the problem of Internet Plagiarism, the problems affect on teachers and students as well as solutions to detect this problem. II. Definition of Internet Plagiarism What Internet Plagiarism is Internet Plagiarism hasn ¡Ã‚ ¦t been easy as it is today . Before the Internet age , resources were limited so when

John the Baptist Portrayed in Art Free Essays

Saint John The Baptist There are countless portrayals of John the Baptist and the representation of his relationship to Jesus and to the Church. John has been one of the saints most frequently appearing in Christian art. The Baptism of Christ was one of the earliest scenes from the life of Christ to be frequently depicted in Early Christian art. We will write a custom essay sample on John the Baptist Portrayed in Art or any similar topic only for you Order Now John’s tall, thin, and bearded figure is already established and recognizable by the 5th century. In the Gospel of Luke, we are first introduced to him when Mary goes to tell her cousin, Elizabeth, the news of her pregnancy. Elizabeth, already six month’s pregnant, felt the unborn child â€Å"jump for joy† in her womb. According to the Gospels, John declared, â€Å"I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness, ‘Make straight the way of the Lord. ’† Christians interpret this to mean that John was sent to prepare for the coming of the Messiah. John does just this, when he is the one who recognizes Jesus as the Messiah and baptizes him. The baptism marks the beginning of Jesus’ ministry. Because this was said to be the beginning, John is know as John the Baptist and John the Forerunner. We will describe the appearance of John the Baptist further in our analysis and how this depicts his life hundreds of years later. The first work, titled â€Å"John the Forerunner† was done by an unknown iconographer in the typical Orthodox style during the 11th Century. It follows the prototypes established for John the Baptist within the Eastern tradition. In fact, the orthodox often refer to John as the Forerunner, as you see in this piece, because as stated before, he led the way for Christ’s arrival. As most orthodox works are, John is very still and lacking emotion, and there is no emphasis on three dimensionality. The mosaic relies heavily on symbolism instead, by portraying John with a scroll in his left hand and a gesture pointing up to Jesus Christ with his right hand. The iconic imagery of the scroll symbolizes John’s importance and holiness as a preacher of God. The scroll reads â€Å"ECCE AGNUS DEI, QUI TOLLIT PECCATA MUNDI†, or â€Å"Behold, the lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world,† marking John’s prediction of the Messiah’s approach. Typically, we see John dressed in his camel tunic, but here, we see the specifics of his clothing may vary. John the Baptist is also depicted with a halo, emphasizing his ainthood and his major contribution to the life and mission of Christ. In Donatello’s bronze statue of Saint John the Baptist, we see his tunic made of camel hair, along with the iconographic imagery of his raised right arm and his symbolic staff and scroll in his let arm. Although the imagery is still present, Donatello gives St. Joh n emotions with the expression of pain or grief on his face. The adding of emotion was a fairly common trait of the Florentine High Renaissance period, and it also signifies a slight shift in representation compared to our previous Orthodox work. For quite some time, there was debate over the completion date of the sculpture. In 1973, the restoration of the piece revealed a signature and date of 1438. The date confirms that Donatello carved the sculpture in Florence for the Venetian confraternity of the Florentines. The Renaissance was a time of innovation within religious art. We start to see it with Donatello’s work, but it is strikingly clear in Jacopo del Sellaio’s circa 1480 version of St. John. Sellaio abandons the iconic scroll, traditional clothing, and even John’s gesture made toward the heavens. Instead, Sellaio shows us a youthful John the Baptist, wearing bright, impressive colors. Included is a small bowl, placed at John’s feet to symbolize the baptism of Christ. Other than that, most of the religious symbolism has transferred to political symbolism, evident in the detail of the landscape. In the distance, we see the Palazzo Vecchio, Brunelleschi’s dome cathedral and the campanile designed by Giotto. Therefore, this work would have appealed to the Church and the people of Florence by combining a sense of religious, social, and political pride, which was also not uncommon during the Renaissance in Florence. The Sermon of Saint John the Baptist, by Pieter Bruegel, was done in the elaborately detailed Baroque style during the Reformation Period of Northern Europe. In the painting dated 1566, and done with oil on wood, we recognize a village preacher at one of the countless religious congregations that took place during the Reformation. The preacher is identified as John the Baptist, as he is in his traditional camel cloak. St. John is almost lost in the heart of the picture, leaving the colorful, unorganized crowd to be the principal subject of the painting. We must search for the meaning of the painting by looking closely; scanning to see what story the painter intended to tell. John the Baptist therefore is not in the traditional iconic format here. The size, detail, and landscape seem to be more of the focus, which is a quality of Baroque Reformation art. This change in focus served as a statement for the Protestants, insinuating that the salvation of humankind lies within the individual’s faith alone, not solely with the canons of the Catholic Church. Our group looked at this painting and immediately noticed the â€Å"light at the end of the tunnel†, or how the path forward, is lit up so brightly. John the Baptist is almost preaching and pointing the way from the dark to the light, from wrong to right, towards the path of Christ. This painting is now on display in the Museum of Fine Arts in Budapest. Dutch artist, Bartholomeus Breenbergh, completed his version of The Preaching of John the Baptist circa 1634, which is again in the Baroque Reformation period. Breenbergh does represent John the Baptist traditionally for the most part, keeping his right hand pointed to the sky and his left hand holding a staff. On the contrary though, the attention to individuality and landscape still presents itself, much like Bruegel’s work. The crowd around John the Baptist seems to be preoccupied and somewhat inattentive, further symbolizing the Catholic and Protestant split. John the Baptist may be talking of the Saviors arrival, and has scared those who do not or refuse to believe. Breenbergh’s piece can be viewed in person in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, in New York City. Spanish artist, El Greco is credited for his Counter Reformation work in his rendition of St. John the Baptist. The detailed landscape we have discussed previously is still incorporated, however, the focus and iconography are extremely emphasized. Paying tribute to the traditional St. John the Baptist, El Greco removes the confusion of the Reformation style and retains his pose, staff, camel tunic, and lamb. The images we have seen so far have not included the lamb, but in earlier images of St. John the Baptist, the lamb was commonly interchangeable with the scroll or staff. If the scroll or staff were absent from the image, then a book or object with a picture of a lamb on it would be present, in order to keep the iconography of Jesus Christ within the context. We see El Greco taking the initiative and mixing the Catholic Church’s traditional conventions with the Baroque style, which essentially is the definition of Counter Reformation art. Another example of Counter Reformation art during the Baroque period can be seen in Mattia Preti’s Saint John the Baptist Preaching. Similar to El Greco’s work, the symbolism and iconography is much more in-depth compared to the Reformation art in the north. The Counter Reformation style resorts back to the heavy emphasis on symbolism in art, a quality that seemed to fade during the Renaissance. This return to symbolism served as the Catholic Church’s statement on the importance of tradition and its restoration after the Protestant Reformation. John the Baptist looks almost exhausted, assumed from preaching, as the background shows the sun setting after a long day. The lamb is also laying down, looking towards where John is pointing to the coming of Jesus. In Philippe de Champaigne’s 1657 version of John the Baptist, we are able to see him up close and large in size in comparison to other portrayals as well as to the background of this painting in general. De Champaigne has St. John looking out, assuming that he does not yet have your attention. His glare seems to take you in and point you in the direction of an approaching figure. As the Forerunner, Jesus’ precursor, John the Baptist is announcing the coming of the Messiah with the staff and scroll announcing â€Å"Behold the Lamb of God, that taketh away the sins of the world. † John the Baptist is about to hand over his reign as preacher to the greater one who is on His way. This painting almost transcends time, John is not just pointing us back to the past, but to how Jesus’ mission is still in the future. The picture shows Jesus as someone we haven’t met, haven’t heard of, and can barely see yet. It is showing its viewer the coming of Jesus then and as He will come again, as the scripture tells us. The life-size marble statue of St. John the Baptist, by Giuseppe Obici, shows that during the 19th century, the Catholic Church was still holding strong to its iconic representation of St. John the Baptist. By this point, the traditional conventions displayed in this sculpture should be obvious, furthering the importance of iconography in art, at least by the Catholic Church’s standards. Just twenty-two years after Obici’s ever-symbolic John the Baptist, French sculptor Auguste Rodin breaks the mold of the Church’s iconographic representation. In Rodin’s version, St. John is stripped of his normal tunic and left nude, a feature that would not have been popular amongst the ideals of the Roman Catholic Church in the 19th century. The religious symbolism is also removed from this work. The lamb representing his holiness as a preacher is left out, and although it appears St. John’s gesture towards heaven remains, this convention is left out also. Sources say that the statue was originally holding a cross in his right hand, but was soon removed to take away any narrative context for the figure. Without the cross, there aren’t any religious connotations involved with this piece, other than its title. Some may consider this to be a sign of the Church’s declining influence on art and a beginning to the contemporary age of the 20th century. Moving on to Modern art, the work done last year by a young English artist, Lara French, entitled â€Å"John the Baptist† after its inspiration, the medieval work on the right. This abstracted piece of modern art removes itself even further from the original icon of John the Baptist, maybe as far as physically and symbolically possible. We speculated and talked as a group about any possible connections between the two, and came up with very few. We therefore look forward to hearing what our classmates have to say and to see if they find any features that we missed. In conclusion, we have looked at works ranging from the 11th century to today. The early Orthodox works appear highly iconographic and unconcerned with anything else. The Renaissance introduced to the world new ways to look at religious art. This was mainly due to the growing power and pride of Popes, aristocratic families, and the politics of Florence at the time. The Church lost some of this power during the Reformation, in which the Protestants used art to make statements about their beliefs. In reaction, the Catholic Church did the same by restoring their tradition and iconography in their art. Finally, as the need for patrons declined and the presence of artistic freedom increased, iconography in art is now generally decided by artists themselves. 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